A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! It's been a long time, but I'm glad to be back here! I've been on a bit of Persona binge (as you can see the title is a reference to P4A) lately and couldn't help but write an MC/Chie fic. Anyways, I've tried to add stuff here and there so as not to be a straight retell of P4G (for those curious, yes I will be including some of the new Golden scenes when I get there). Anyways let me know what you guys think, constructive criticism is appreciated! –M/I
The classroom brimmed with anticipation, with the new second years eagerly gossiping about the latest rumors. Chie didn't pay much attention to the rabble, having learned to tune out such talk over years of practice, although she did make out something about some transfer student. The poor guy had no idea what he was about to step into. She sighed inwardly at her current predicament, which at the moment couldn't seem to get any worse. Thankfully her best friend, Yukiko Amagi was also in her class which made the situation slightly more tolerable.. Chie sighed inwardly. Great, not only is school back in session, but now I have to fail all my classes with King Moron as my homeroom teacher.
Mr. Morooka, more commonly known as King Moron by the student body, was infamous for his unending rants and the appearance of having hatred for all students, with his sole purpose seeming to be the undoing of them all.
Chie's thoughts were interrupted by Yukiko turning around in her seat. "Hey Chie," The raven haired girl began, "Did you hear the rumors? They say that there's a transfer student starting school here today. They even say he's from the city," Yukiko finished, her concluding comment tinged with a hint of curiosity.
Chie's interest was piqued at that part as well. "Really? So just like Yosuke huh?" Chie responded. Yukiko nodded in response. Man that guy's probably gonna be bored stiff out here in the boonies, there's hardly anything to do out here other than go to Junes. Her gaze shifted to Yosuke, a boy who had also transferred from the city last year and had become widely known as the son of the manager of huge department store Junes, earning him quite a reputation in the small town as the downfall of the old central shopping district. Hopefully he's more mature than Yosuke, that loser still hasn't given me back my Trial of the Dragon... If he lost it not even a steak would be able to save him. Chie narrowed her eyes unconsciously at the thought.
Becoming bored, Chie shifted her attention to a group of giggling school girls, who seemed to have confirmed the rumors of the transfer student being a guy, much to the chagrin of the male students. "I hope he's cute," one of them commented. "Yeah," another agreed, "It'd be a nice change of pace compared to all of these dorks." Chie rolled her eyes at the groups antics, she could never picture herself as on of those 'gossip girl' types, and she couldn't stand to be in their prolonged presence.
Mr. Morooka was quick to stamp out the activity with a loud yell, "Will you idiots stop fawning like a bunch of love struck bimbos! The transfer student'll be here any minute now and I see any of you so much as check him out and you go straight on my shit list!" As if on cue, moments later, a silver haired boy entered the class. "Ah," Mr. Morooka began, "here's the punk now, go on and introduce yourself loser."
If the new kid was bothered by Mr. Morooka's remarks he made no show of it, his voice coming out calm and collected, "My name is Yu Narukami," He bowed his head slightly and continued, "It's nice to meet you all." Chie examined the newcomer with curiosity. He seemed to have an almost magnetic personality, no doubt supplemented by his good looks. Chie mentally slapped herself at her last thought, suppressing a blush at her unusually 'girly' thoughts. Meanwhile Mr. Morooka went on and on about how the new kid better not hit on girls and stuff. Eventually the majority of the classes eyes were glazed over, not even bothering to continue listen to the teacher's never ending tirade.
Finally taking the initiative, Chie raised her hand, interrupting King Moron mid-rant. "Huh?" Mr. Morooka, apparently unaware of himself getting carried away as he finally took notice of her. "You!" He said pointing at her, "Whaddaya want!"
"Excuse me sir," Chie began politely, she certainly didn't want to end up on King Moron's 'shit list.' "Can the transfer student sit here?" She gestured to the vacant seat right next to her.
"Yeah, yeah," Morooka said, waving his hand dismissively. "Go on," He barked at the new kid, "sit your ass down!"
The new kid, Narukami rather, approached her desk, taking the place next to her. "Thanks for the save back there," He said appreciatively.
"Heh, no problem, he's the worst isn't he?"
"You don't say?" Narukami asked with a tinge of sarcasm and a raised eyebrow.
"I'm Chie Satonaka," Chie said, introducing herself, "Looks like we'll be stuck with each other for the year, huh?"
"Nice to meet you Chie," Yu said, smiling as he did, "It looks that way though, looks like it could've been worse though," he continued, gesturing at the gossipers Chie had noticed earlier.
Man, those girls are looking at him like a piece of juicy steak! Her stomach growled faintly with hunger at the thought, and soon Chie found herself drifting into a meat filled reverie as Mr. Morooka went on and on about moral purity or something other.
By the time Chie had returned to her senses, class had ended. Wonder if I can snag some steak after I talk with the new guy a bit.
Suddenly the PA notification came on, warning of some kind of incident and encouraging all students to go home immediately. Noticing that Yu was gathering his things, Chie offered, "Hey, if your going home, mind walking with me and my friend Yukiko?" Her friend walked toward them, introducing herself to Yu.
"Sure," Yu replied.
"Alright!" Chie said earnestly. "Hey mind if I ask you a bit about what the big city's like?"
"Shoot," Yu replied, shrugging nonchalantly as Chie began to bombard him with questions as they made their way out of the school.
Suddenly Yosuke approached the group, looking rather nervous about something. He quickly handed Chie her Trial of The Dragon copy and began to rub his neck sheepishly. "Hey Chie," He said apprehensively, "I watched the movie… it was really awesome and stuff."
Geez what's his deal, he looks like someone's about to murder him or something… wait a minute…Come to think of it, he was acting kinda weird this morning…
"Anyways, gotta go bye!" Yosuke blurted out quickly making his way to the school exit.
"Hold it right there!" Chie yelled, grabbing him by the arm. She carefully opened the DVD case.
Meanwhile Yosuke pleaded desperately, "I'm really sorry, I'll make it up to you when I get my next pay check." Upon seeing the look of fury in Chie's eye he begged pathetically, "Please don't kill me…"
"My Trial of the Dragon!" Chie shouted indignantly, "Oh you idiot!" Upon that final declaration she delivered a swift kick to Yosuke's groin. As he crumpled to the ground, Chie brushed off her shoulders and humphed indignantly. "C'mon guys lets get out of here."
"Man at this rate I'll never be able to have children…"Yosuke groaned.
By the time they reached the flood plain Chie had managed to find out why Narukami had come to Inaba. "Just cause of your parents jobs huh? Man I thought it was something more serious."
"Sorry to disappoint," Yu said jokingly, a smile playing across his lips.
"Wha-," Chie began, "I didn't mean it like that. I mean…" Deciding quickly to change the subject, "So I bet you must think it's boring out here it the sticks, not much to do compared to in the city, huh?"
"Yeah," Yu agreed. "Its nice though, the people here are friendlier. Not to mention I was wandering around the shopping district when I came in and caught a whiff of some awesome smelling Chinese food."
"Oh you mean Aiya?" Chie asked. "Man their steak bowl is amazing! And their mega beef challenge is insane! They say if you finish it you get it for free but not even I can finish that!"
"Sounds like a challenge! I'm game," Yu said tenaciously.
"Big talk, but you haven't seen the bowl, it's like it leads to another dimension filled with meat! Even I haven't finished it yet and I eat a lot!"
"Yeah, I remember there was this one time we had Aiya cater at the inn-" Yukiko began, before being quickly interrupted by Chie.
"A-anyways!" Chie cut in, as her face flushed with embarrassment. "Speaking of the inn though, Yukiko is the daughter of the family that runs the local Amagi Inn! It pretty much keeps this place going." Quickly noticing how flustered her loose tongued best friend was getting Chie quickly decided to capitalize on the moment, "Hey Yu-kun, do you think Yukiko is cute?"
Yu, taken aback by her forwardness sputtered out, "W-well…"
"Chie!" Yukiko said, even more red with embarrassment than before. "Ignore her," she said pointedly to Yu. "She does this all the time…" Yukiko muttered under her breath.
"I didn't here a denial," Chie sing-songed. "Yukiko is really popular at school, and she's never had a boyfriend. Kinda weird huh?" Chie said, taking the time to admire her handiwork in the form of a flustered Yukiko and Yu. However she couldn't help but feel surprised at Yu's lack of response, most guys made no effort to disguise their attraction to Yukiko, many of them quickly meeting their demise with a well placed kick should they start acting creepy. Maybe she's not his type… maybe? Chie quickly mentally slapped herself. All the guys want Yukiko, Chie thought bitterly.
A series of hushed voices brought Chie back to reality. She noticed some excited housewives whispering excitedly about something. As they came closer they noticed obvious signs of police presence in the area. Suddenly a plainclothes detective ran past the barricade that blocked the public from the scene of the crime, promptly emptying the contents of his stomach in a nearby bush.
"Adachi!" A loud voice barked. "How long are you gonna keep acting like a rookie!" The green faced younger detective quickly apologized to his senior detective that was rapidly approaching the group. The older man seemed to recognize Yu. "Hey what are you all doing out here?"
Chie turned to face Yu, asking," You know this guy?"
"Yeah he's my Uncle, I'm staying with him while I'm here." He turned to face the man. "Sorry Uncle Dojima, we were just passing through and happened to stumble here."
Dojima scowled, "Damn school. I thought we told them to tell the kids not to come over this way." He sighed, then returned his gaze towards Yu. "You all should go straight home, there's nothing to see here. Come on Adachi, we need to do some questioning." With that he left along with the younger detective.
The apparent murder that had gone on was enough to derail Chie's plans to go with Junes with Yukiko and Yu. "Hey Yukiko, mind if we head to Junes some other time?" Yukiko promptly agreed and Chie turned to Yu, "Sorry, but I really think we should let the police do their thing. We'll hang out some other time 'kay?"
Yu smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Well," Chie began, "Starting tomorrow let's do our best neighbor!" Waving goodbye to Yu, she began to walk aside Yukiko to the bus stop that took her to the inn.
"… He seemed nice." Yukiko commented off-handedly.
"Yeah he did," Chie agreed. Suddenly Chie narrowed her eyes, "Wait… what are you getting at?"
"You said it was weird I never had a boyfriend, but-"
"Yukiko!"
"I'm back!" Chie yelled as she made her way back into her house, slipping off her shoes as she entered. She walked into the living room where her mother was currently preparing dinner. Maybe it'll be enough so I don't have to sneak out to Aiya's tonight… Then again with all this weird stuff that's going on…
Her mother cut into her thoughts, "So Chie, how was school today?"
"It was pretty good, I guess…" Random police incident and torture by your so called best-friend aside…
"Did you hear, that announcer woman was killed! Here in Inaba, my what has this town come to!" Chie's mother said, shocked that something so horrible could happen in their normally quiet town.
"So that's what that was…" Chie muttered.
"Did you say something dear?"
"Uhh no, don't worry about it!" Chie blurted out quickly in an effort to prevent further questioning.
Chie's mother looked unconvinced, but didn't venture further on the matter. "So," She began suddenly. "I heard that there's a handsome new transfer student in town…"
Chie groaned out loud, it was going to be a long night.