Strong Fox

7

a yawn escaped yusuke's mouth as the sun peeked its head through the curtains and warmed up his face. the same heavy feeling he felt in madarame's palace was back, causing him to look down at his chest.

"o-oh..." he blurted out, his cheeks becoming rosy at the sight of you curled up on his chest. he almost forgot that he ran into your room after he heard you yelling. placing a hand on your shoulder, yusuke shook you slightly.

"don't shake them, i'll wake them up from their dream."

with a sudden jolt your body moved and you proceeded to rub sleep out of your eyes. "good morning... i think..."

yusuke smiled at your greeting, not hesitating as he brushed a few strands out of your face. "good morning."

he sat up, rubbing soothing circles on your back to try and calmly wake you up. "get out of this sleepy daze, okay (n/n)?" he whispered, chuckling as you grumbled and eventually got up.

soundlessly you got up from your bed, moving into the bathroom connected to your room as you closed the door behind you. yusuke waited patiently.

the blue haired teen heard the sound of water running in the sink, prompting him to stand up and try to fix his hair with his hands.

with his attention on fixing his blue locks, he failed to hear the bathroom door open or a soft giggle coming from his childhood friend.

"hey..." you called, poking him with your hairbrush. "stuck with your precious locks? well here! i'll let you use it for free." a sweet smile painted your lips as yusuke chuckled.

he grabbed your hairbrush, your fingers brushing against one an another as a spark of warmth flickered through yusuke's face.

"for free hm?" he echoed, feeling satisfied as his hair was put in its place by your hairbrush. "you gonna start making me pay fees now?"

your eyebrows wiggled and a shadow painted your eyes for a brief second as (e/c) connected with grey eyes. "i mean, do you want to start paying fees pretty boy~?"

flustered and embarrassed, yusuke threw your hairbrush in your direction and raced into the bathroom.

🌼

the sun beat down on your skin as you leaned against the railing, the soft wind playing with your hair.

from right next to you morgana glanced in your direction. "yusuke, (y/n), we still need to explain the basics to you, don't we?"

ann hummed. "oh, you mean about the metaverse and the nav. yeah, i guess that stuff is pretty important."

while you raised an eyebrow yusuke nodded his head. "please elaborate."

"okay, let's start from the beginning." morgana meows, his ear swiveling from aide to side. "palaces are world's that take form from someone's cognition... a materialization of their reality."

"so we all hold palaces within ourselves too?" you questioned, eyebrow still raised.

the black and white cat shook his head. "no, not just anyone will have one. it's probably those with strong distorted desires..."

"they basically gotta be criminals. real bastards, like kamoshida or madarame." ryuji explains.

"on the other hand, palaces can't exist within persona-users. it's impossible for them to form." morgana points out.

(y/n) lightly frowns, confusion shining through their (e/c) orbs. "then why do i...?"

"feel so odd?"