towerofanimus | 011 | ❝Those long days passing by from that door...❞

Characters: Yu Narukami, and you
Setting: Room 2-02 → Floor 13 → Floor 11
Format: I'll match you.
Summary: It's his cousin's birthday, and while she isn't here... he knows that this date has significance for others, too.
Warnings: Silent protags, all the feels... I'll update later.

Once the pumpkins began appearing in the cafeteria, Yu knew without a doubt which month it now was. Knew, yet as he woke up on the fourth day to notice the date... nothing could prepare him for that sucker-punch to his gut.

The fourth of October... Nanako-chan's birthday. If he remembered right, that would make her eight years old were she here. The thought of her being present made him sick to his stomach, too. For someone so innocent to be subject to the horrors of this place, but at the same time, the thought of her being dead and gone and not even possible to one day reunite with her in Yomi where he would have ended up subject to whatever retribution a certain goddess of death and creation deemed fit for how he handled the life and world he and his friends had brought about...

He only paused to change, stare at the family photo he kept framed even when he carried it around, stuck the sword in his belt, and pick up a small package before leaving the dorm unless one of his roommates stop him.

Floor 13

It's quiet in the chapel as usual, and he doesn't mind it at all as he knelt there on the floor, lighting a stick of incense before his family photo. One was there before, but the other...

Yu closed his eyes, praying what was probably one of the simplest desire any older brother could have.

'Please... Let my little sister be happy and safe on her birthday, wherever she may be. May she never have to experience these horrors...even if it means we never see each other again... her safety is enough.'

If there was just one possibility, please... let her be alive somewhere or in a timeline where the world they fought to protect isn't gone...

For some reason, he felt even closer to his Persona as he stood there, a single tear falling down his cheek before no more could come. ...Probably going to be there for a little while, too... since he's also praying for the others. He doesn't know why, but for some reason Aragaki-senpai's name came to mind.... as did Ken's.

Floor 11

For some reason, should one wander to the eleventh floor, one may find a certain bowlcut leaning against the staircase, eyes closed. Had he fallen asleep listening to the roar of the many waterfalls on this floor?

'Can't get my mind out of those memories...Now time to tell them "Don't take my dream."'

...Not likely. More like he just needed the fresh air, and this... was more serene than the crushing emptiness above.

Anywhere else, you can probably find him wandering. Good luck getting him to say much today, though.

~~and no one ate dinner that night-- i mean whut~~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There were always exceptions to the 'rule.' This day seemed to be one day for both of them that they would make those exceptions.

He's a little longer, mainly because even after he was done, he was still staring at the picture of him and his family. All three of them were smiling and relatively carefree, even though he and his uncle had both been working on the same case at the time... and Dojima had no idea just how deeply involved he was.

It was almost funny to think those days as 'simple,' now.

"Happy birthday...imouto."

Yu sighed, mask reforming as he took the family photo back in his hands with a silent promise ('I won't lose my way again... I'll make sure we're able to smile when we get out of this.'). Of course, it isn't long before he noticed Ken. He nodded faintly, standing as he realized something.

'...Aragaki-senpai.'

There were no bonds strengthening his Hierophant Arcana within this tower...

Ken stood, and headed over towards Yu, staying quiet. He held the photo tightly in his hands.

... He didn't have to say anything. There really was nothing to say.

Yu nodded faintly, noticing the photo in Ken's hands too. He had a feeling when his roommate had left that comment on the network that something had happened in their time on this date, though he hadn't thought to ask what. It was their story to tell, after all.

Still, he would wait for Ken to say the details. Until then, he would at least let him see the picture of his own family. No words needed to be said, because sometimes... the silence could be just as vocal.

... After a few more long moments, Ken bit his lip before starting to speak.

"... October 4th, 2007 is when my mother died. Shinjiro and some others from SEES were hunting a Shadow. They chased it to where I was living, but Shinjiro lost control of his Persona and my mother..."

He didn't want to go into detail.

"Two years later I confronted him. I was going to kill him... but Takaya showed up. He tried to shoot me... but Shinjiro protected me. It... it was the day before I came here..."

It was still pretty fresh, even after his time in the Tower.

"...Ken."

It was all he could say at that point, before nodding slightly and bending down to place a hand on his friend's shoulder. Ken didn't need to go into detail (he'd seen Castor go berserk in the labyrinth, after all) so when his voice trailed off... it was easy to put the pieces together.

Shinjiro's Persona had killed her, hadn't it.

"I'm sorry." There wasn't anything he could say about that, because he knew what it was like to lose a family member. To watch others protect oneself in the face of death. It's still fresh in his mind, too... how that felt.

And what it was like to be betrayed.

Ken shakes for a moment, before turning and wrapping his arms around Yu. He needed comfort, he needed to be held, he needed to be a little kid for a moment. It was okay. It was understandable today. He could allow himself to cry into Yu's shirt, like he was starting to do.

Yu smiles sadly, his heart aching and heavy as he wrapped his arms around Ken as well. It always hurt him to see another break down in tears, even if it was necessary and perfectly understandable. It was fine that his shirt was being soaked in his friend's tears, and a few fell down his cheek as well.

Ken remembered this day, but Yu... he remembered it for a life he'd likely never see again. It was better than remembering the date of her kidnapping (which he did) or the close call (all too clearly), he tells himself. They're both hurting and missing someone important to them...

Ken holds on tightly, letting himself cry it all out. It's been a long time since he let himself cry like this. After his shaking stops, he sniffs, and pulls away a little, wiping his face with his jacket sleeve. He'll clean it in the shower later.

"I... I miss her. I thought she'd want me to take revenge... but that's not it at all. I wanted to kill him, and then kill myself, but that wasn't really justice. It wasn't even really revenge. It'd have just ended up in two dead people and nothing... nothing solved. It... it wasn't like he did it on purpose. It still hurts... but she would have wanted me to live my life, I think."

Yu nodded at that silently, glad that at least Ken understood that truth that he had to find on his own the hard way. He always was glad when a friend discovered it, because it meant they were taking a step forward rather than wandering lost in a perpetual darkness.

Kind of ironic, with everything that happens in their world and its many realities.

"Mm... She probably would have." Most family would want those who survived to live, after all. To not make mistakes out of their ensuing anger and hurt and grief. What isn't said is in his gaze; that she's probably glad that he didn't enact vengeance then end his own life even though it will likely always hurt in some way.

011 | ❝Those long days passing by from that door...❞

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