Persona 5 Royal: Makoto X Male Reader OC- The Forgotten Shadow (Part 1)

Strained Feelings (Chapter 16)

*After School May 9*

Taking the train to Central Street, you arrived at the arcade that Ryuji said to meet at. You quickly enter inside and see him on his phone, looking up, Ryuji smiles and goes to greet you.

Ryuji: Yo! What's up!

You: W..what's up..

Ryuji: Why the long face?

You: Just still sore AFTER you touched my shoulder!

Ryuji: Hey I didn't know alright, I'm sorry!

You: *Sighs* Finee.. Now you said you wanted to hang out?

Ryuji: Shit yeah I did! Wanted to hang out with my bud you know. We don't know a ton about each other and I figured this might be a good way to learn.

You: Not a bad idea, coming from you.

Ryuji: What's that supposed to mean?!

You *Laughs* Nothing, don't worry about it. Let's have some fun!

You spent the rest of the day with Ryuji playing games and enjoying each other's company. You felt your bond with Ryuji growing stronger. You learned more about what happened with him and the track team when Kamoshida sabotaged it and busted his knee for it. He seemed very passionate about track and running seemed to be the one thing he excelled at. You revealed to him that you were mostly a bookworm that spent a lot of his days alone reading, you made friends with the very characters you read and they were the things that kept you company for many years. Because of your social status and intellect, you had many troubles having friends or girlfriends.

Ryuji: Shit really?

You: Yeah. That's why I snapped earlier at you for teasing me. My experience with having girlfriends has always been one sided. They wanted my money or the fame of dating me, they never lasted longer than a few weeks, just long enough to show off that they dated me.

Ryuji: That's so messed up!

You: It's the life of someone who is rich and good at school. When you have no interest in physical sports or activities, you seem like an object to abuse for personal gain. I guess they thought since I was lonely that they could easily use my money or status to get ahead in life or something. Well intelligence is a two way road, they thought they could use me but in reality I was smart enough to deceive them for awhile. That's when I started getting bullied by a group because they didn't get anything from me. After that is when I had my incident and now I am here.

Ryuji: Man I hate it when people think they can walk over someone just because they seem like an easy target to manipulate! Gahh!

You: Calm down Ryuji.

Ryuji: No I won't! What happened to you was bullshit! You deserved better! No way in hell that was okay!

You: You are right that it wasn't but what's in the past is the past. Besides, if I didn't have my incident with them, I wouldn't have made a fresh start here and met you guys. So for that, I am grateful.

Ryuji: You really appreciate us that much don't you?

You: Yep. You guys are truly my friends. You, Ann, Ren, Mona, and everyone else I made a bond with here in Japan. I must say.. if my life had to be the way it had to be to end up here... I don't mind it.. really.

Ryuji: Y/N...

You: So that is why I want to work hard for you guys. Because... You are my friends. The only ones I got... And I will do anything to make sure to keep that friendship alive.