Seta-Gane Shorts

First Pair

"Souji?"

The silver haired protagonist looked at her innocently."What?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. He was at it again, playing games with her. Not like it bothered her too much, but he had a tendency to be able to pull at her in ways no one else did. His teasing at times was relentless, and while he knew how to get under anyone's skin, it was doubly frustrating that she of all people should be affected by him...

"Why on earth did you think it was funny to come to Inaba and visit me at work of all places?"

He shrugged nonchalantly."I thought it was a good surprise."

She growled slightly in frustration."I was at work, and you nearly gave me a heart attack."

Souji tilted his head in acknowledgement."That is true..."

She balled her fists under the table.

"And I like to have my dignity when I'm in public but someone keeps making me lose it." She narrowed on him which only turned his face of neutrality into a grin.

"My bad..." The sarcasm hit REALLY hard which caused her to lose control for a moment. In a flash of rage, she threw her cap at him which was met with a swift body movement to the side causing the article of clothing to miss. If anything it only mad her more angry.

"Fine..." She got up from the Kotatsu that they were sitting at and walked over to his side. Souji looked up, expecting a menacing glare or expecting her to pounce on him with a cuddle. His eyebrow rose in curiosity however when he saw her blank expressionless face. Something is off here...

-SMACK-

"Ouch," Souji doubled over to curl up in front of her as she pulled her leg back from a swift kick to his side.

"That's for coming down without telling me," she said plainly without emotion. Souji groaned while slowly rolling away from her,but she continued to stalk him.

-SMACK-

"That is for making me look silly in front of everyone." And again.

-SMACK-

"That is for a lack of forward planning." And again.

-SMACK-

"And that one is for getting me the day off." Naoto took a deep breath as her rage fell away. She looked down to inspect her work, Souji laid out flat at her feet. A small smile pulled at her lips. "That works surprisingly well..."

Souji held his side feebly. "F-Feeling better?"

"Most definitely." The silverette just shook his head as Naoto loomed over him, her relaxed expression now replaced with a shred of sympathy. She knelt next to her subdued boyfriend and tucked her much longer navy blue hair behind her ear.

"But I love you for coming to see me when you can." She laid a gentle kiss on his cheek. Her voice became lighter as she smiled serenely. "I know sometimes it can be tough, but I always appreciate how much you do and believe me, I'd rather have you here or be in the city with you full time." Her sweet smile caused Souji to blush heavily under her gaze. (Not something that happened often).

Souji coughed uncomfortably, forgetting the pain in his side. "I would say the same to you..." Naoto giggled.

"It's fine, you always show me you care..." She placed a hand at his cheek and stroked softly. Souji leaned into her touch, savouring the feeling.

"I miss this..." She leaned down again and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Same here." She ran her hand through his hair. She ruffled it slightly as she sighed. One of the biggest issues about their conflicting timetable was how much time they didn't have together. Souji had spent more time out of Inaba to avoid shadow incidents. Cursed with always having something flare up while he was in town, his trips to his home away from home became less frequent.

'I can't really blame him at this point; it can't be a coincidence after so long...' Souji coughed, which caused her attention to shift back to him.

"Naoto, I was thinking..." She tilted her head in curiosity, silently motioning him to continue.

"I would like to know if you want to move into the city with me?" He asked sheepishly. Souji very rarely asked things that hesitantly. Naoto recoiled very slightly; most people wouldn't notice but Souji picked up on it immediately.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you about it I-" Naoto put a finger to his lips as she looked at him sternly.

"Do you really think I'll dismiss a question like that right away?" Souji shrugged lightly.

"No, but I can imagine you are super busy out here." The sleuth shook her head.

"I'm never so busy that I'll disregard such a question. Souji-kun, I know we have a distance between us, but if there is anything that can bring us together on a more consistent basis then I can give it a go." She stroked his left cheek affectionately.

"But you work at the station-"

"No, I work there as a freelance detective and use it as a temporary base of operations. I spend more time training others than actually solving crimes within the area." She paused to pull his nose. "You know more than anyone I get most of my main cases when I travel abroad."

"Yeah, that's true." Souji flushed, knowing he was being lectured in a typical Naoto fashion.

"Remember, I maybe your girlfriend but I am still a Shirogane." She smiled as she tilted his face to her. "I'm free to move wherever I need to go to get a job done and I will still have to fly if I need to deal with cases."

"Yeah, I know." She stroked him lovingly.

"So moving to the city, while it would need some paperwork and an advance notice... I'm not against the idea." A small smile formed on Souji's lips.

"However I do have a question."

The former leader raised an eye brow. "Hmm?"

"Why do you not want to move here?" Souji sighed as he let go of a breath he'd been subconsciously holding.

"I feel responsible."

Naoto blinked in confusion."What?"

"I feel that I attract too much danger when I'm here. Every time I step into this town, something happens, something flares up and we as a group and the others around us have to deal with it."

Naoto's face turned to worry.

"You feel the P-1 and other events are your fault?" Souji nodded.

"Not exactly my fault, but things seem to get all out of hand when anything to do with the Wild Card is involved. To be honest, at this point I want to live a life and start looking towards the future."

"Does your future include me?"

Souji gave her a small smile and took her hand in his."Always, Naoto. If I was alone then this wouldn't be an issue."

She looked at him curiously."How so?"

"If I had no attachment to this place I wouldn't feel the need to return whenever there is danger. I wouldn't worry about the looming threat of Minazuki where ever I go. I wouldn't worry about Elizabeth's next attempt as using me as her guest's escape clause for his fate. I would just deal with them when the time comes, but..."

"Mmm?"

"But I have to think about the family here, the team, the people in the town and you." His smile shifted into a frown. "I don't want to be the reason why things keep happening here. When I'm in the city things are fine, probably even too quiet but hell, I'm not going to lie: I like the fact that no-one's life is in danger." She nodded in agreement.

"I see your point. It worries me too when the investigation team is needed for situations in this town. Plus I would prefer not to raise my gun at you ever again. That was one of the single hardest moments of my life."

Souji agreed solemnly. "So while I don't want to uproot you from the life you have here, I would be honoured for you to join me at my place in the city."

She leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips, just enough to reassure him of her feelings but also to tease that there might be more later.

"While I can't say right this second that it's a yes, I'll enquire about my situation with the utmost enthusiasm." She smiled.

"Naoto?"

"Yes?"

"You look beautiful." Naoto sputtered at the direct and intense compliment, her face tripling in colour instantly.

"Ah- Senpai..." Yeah, always Senpai when she was embarrassed. He reached up to run his hand through her longer navy locks.

"You look beautiful in any look you have." He was referring to the new image she had taken up since her last year of high school. She had let her hair grow long, and when she first revealed her new look following a lack of appearances at the team gatherings,the four male members of the group were left in embarrassed awe.

"Souji-kun, please stop. You know how bad I am with compliments." He smirked.

"You know that just makes me compliment you more right?" She huffed in faint annoyance.

"I'm aware of that too. Just cuddle me occasionally and I'll be fine." His smirk grew and he raised an eyebrow.

"Anything else?" She caught on to the implication and threw him a coy smile of her own.

"When it's quiet and no one is around, then I'm in your hands."

"Like now?"

"Maybe..." And with that she leaned down to kiss him again.

Ah finally after so long it's nice to be back for the moment. This will just be a a series of places to put various ideas of this pair down on paper. At the end of each one I'll give a timeline of where is all goes so it should make a bit more sense.

Timeline of this story (Brackets signify where my other fics go):

Persona 4 (When the Light Fades Understanding Me My Christmas Present) (Chocolate) Persona 4 Arena P4 Arena Ultimax The Golden P4 Dancing All Night Naoto x Detective (This Chapter)