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More from omegalupus
After reading an old fanfic of mine, I had the thought that 'Hey, I could've written this better!" Here's a retouched version of Warriors, where I try to focus more on the actual blooming friendship between two Persona-users rather than corny innuendos. This one-shot is a crossover of sorts between Morenatsu and Persona 3, and supposed to be part of the Personatsu series I've (yet) to write. Hope you like it! :)
When the Nishimura family decided to hold a funeral for their son, he wasted no time asking his parents to let him attend all the way in Port Island. However, the lack of a body caused the service to end much earlier than usual, leaving him with an entire day left before his return to Waterfront.
Torahiko trudged up the steps of the shrine late afternoon, his feet aching from a long day of walking. The sheer size of the city took him by surprise. He became accustomed to everything in his hometown being within walking distance, so using the monorail to get to and from different locales was a bit of a learning experience. Although, he did admit that it was an awesome one at that.
With the many attractions in the city, he considered himself lucky that Shin parted with his camera so easily. He spent much of his morning at the Paulownia Mall, the island’s largest shopping center. There, he toyed around with the various games at the arcade, dropping by the Chagall Café to try their Pheromone Coffee that they boast so much about. Feeling hungry, he paid a visit to the local strip mall, where he tried some… very peculiar takoyaki. On his way back to the rail station, he decided to make a small detour to steal a glance at the city’s high school. Gekkoukan High fit the city well, with its posh and sleek design that made him feel a little insecure about his own small and simple school, if only for a moment.
To finish up his tour, Torahiko decided to visit the Naganaki Shrine. He doubted he would get to see even half of what the city offered during his brief stay here, but at least he has a load of pictures that would make Kounosuke jealous to no end. While he was taking a picture of the shrine and the playground nearby, he reflected that there was something off about the whole experience. He could have sworn there was someone following him this entire time. He knew most would dismiss him as simply being paranoid, but was it truly paranoia when he had to battle for his life and possibly the fate of the whole world a few months ago?
Torahiko walked up to the shrine, clasping his hands together in a prayer for Hiroyuki, when he heard the footsteps behind him. He kept his back turned, thinking that someone else went up here to pray, but whoever it was seemed to be heading right towards him.
“Heads up!”
There was something in the other person’s gruff voice that put him on alert. With instincts that came from fighting Shadows, he darted to his right and barely dodged the other person trying to tackle him. In his mind, he could hear his Persona Vali stirring awake and growling at the unknown young man attacking him.
Clenching his fists, Torahiko barely got his guard up before his assailant was on him again, attacking him with a flurry of punches. He tried getting in some of his own punches but the guy was too fast, either deflecting his hits or dodging altogether. While the guy’s punches didn’t hurt very much (he’d developed a high pain threshold thanks to Juuichi), he knew that the damage from the constant hits would pile up soon. Swearing in frustration, he overextended in his punch and got a jab and a right hook to the gut in retaliation. Shit, did the guy practice boxing or something?
Vali didn’t like that; the big guy was alternating between growling out how to fight better and taunting him for getting his ass kicked, but he ignored it. Whatever, he’d fought worse and no way was he going down just one punk (he recognized the guy’s school uniform from Gekkoukan High School). He made a sweeping kick knowing the guy would try to avoid it, so Torahiko used his tail to trip the guy up. It worked and his attacker fell on the ground with a grunt. He didn’t know why the guy wanted to attack him, but he’d do his best to kick the crap out of the guy and (possibly) ask questions later.
He pounced on the young man and they struggled on the ground, trading blows and either trying to pin them down (in Torahiko’s case) or throw them off. A kick to the side made him grunt in pain and it knocked him back. They scrambled to their feet, looking disheveled and eyeing each other warily. There was a glint in the guy’s red eyes, a challenge to him that got Torahiko’s blood pumping and Vali’s approval. With a feral grin, he rushed his attacker, not surprised the young man did the same thing.
What started as a brawl turned into something that was sort of fun. It wasn’t something he could explain easily, but there was just something that was pulling him into the young man, something that made him see this guy as a worthy opponent. A lightning-fast punch to the face brought him out of his musings and he responded by grabbing the guy’s shirt and giving him a vicious headbutt. The guy staggered back and grabbed his head in pain and Torahiko rushed forward to press his advantage when he heard the guy bark out.
“Mudoon!”
The memories of Shadows casting the dangerous spell flooded his mind so he stiffened and hurriedly put up his guard while clenching his eyes shut. He waited for the tell-tale lights to freeze him in place, telling himself that the instant death spell would never hit, it never usually did –
Wait, Mudoon?
Something wasn’t right. He wasn’t in those other worlds, so there was no way Mudoon should work in the first place. The only ones he knew capable of knowing about that spell were either Shadows or his friends in Waterfront who fought alongside him. So that would mean...
“I knew it,” the gruff voice called out.
He gaped at the young man across him, who was catching his breath and held up his hands in a placating gesture. The young man – a dog beastman, actually – was watching him with those blood-red eyes and wearing a triumphant expression on his face. He went on, “You have one too, don’t you?”
There really was only one thing to say in this situation. “What the hell?”
“Yeah, you took the words right outta my mouth.” The other guy brushed the dirt from his clothes. “Mine doesn’t work very well out here, but he could still smell the other you.” The dog paused, his eyebrows crinkling in concentration. “...You’re fire-based too, right?”
Jaws hanging open, it was at this moment that Torahiko concluded that he had collapsed from heatstroke somewhere and was hallucinating. It was the only possible explanation, really, because this white-furred canine just asked if Torahiko had a Persona. And judging from the boy’s words, he probably had one as well.
The guy grinned playfully at him. “Close your mouth. You’re letting all the flies in.”
Snapping his mouth shut, Torahiko put some distance between the two of them. “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, then prove it.”
“Being cautious, huh? Yeah, I would be too.” The dog looked directly at his eyes. “Lemme try this again. My other self's called Laelaps, previously Cerberus and from the Strength Arcana. I'm fire-based, but I can also dish out Mudo spells and even a multi-target version of Sukukaja. That good enough for you?”
He stared back at the other boy’s eyes, trying to find any traces of deceit. He really didn’t want to believe it, but the canine’s earnest expression only told the truth. Holy crap. There were other Persona-users. And one of them was a guy around his age too. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding and answered, “Mine was called Andhrimnir, from the Magician Arcana, but now he's known as Vali. I'm a jack-of-all-trades so I got some Agi skills, physical skills, healing skills and ways to remove an enemy’s buffs and debuffs.”
The dog let out a whoop. “I knew it! I knew there were other Persona-users out there as well.” While closing the distance between them, the other boy flashed him a sheepish grin. “Sorry, where're my manners? I forgot to introduce myself.” He extended a fuzzy hand and smiled. “I'm Koromaru Naganaki. Nice to meet you.”
“Torahiko Ooshima.” He took the dog’s hand and gave it a firm shake and asked the thing that was on the top of his mind. “So what the hell was up with attacking me like that?”
“Oh, that? Laelaps could smell that you’re pretty strong so I wanted to see how good you are!” Koromaru replied airily and gave him a few mock-punches.
“I guess I probably would’ve done the same.” Torahiko knew he’d also be curious about another Persona-user’s strength. Plus, he couldn’t help but like the guy’s hotblooded attitude. “Seeing how I kicked your ass, I think it’s safe to say that I’m pretty good.”
That got a bark-like laugh out of Koromaru. “Maybe you forgot about all those punches to your gut.”
“Yeah, those pretty light punches,” Torahiko shot back while flexing his arm. “You need to work out like me if you wanna get bigger!” While he wouldn’t call Koromaru weedy, he had that toned physique that reminded Torahiko of Kyouji.
“Doubt Sanada-senpai would agree to me buffing up with steroids,” Koromaru said in a teasing tone and Torahiko scowled at that. Okay, so maybe he was a bit beefier than a tiger for his age, but he took pride in getting his bulk with his own efforts, damnit. Koromaru seemed oblivious to him and jerked a thumb towards the playground instead. “Hey Ooshima, you mind if we sit down while we talk?”
Torahiko had a snarky reply to that but even he could feel the bruises forming on his body so maybe sitting down was a good idea. He followed Koromaru and they flopped down on the swings. Torahiko released a pent-up sigh. Damn, but sitting down like this felt good.
He saw the dog smiling at him, and he raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”
“It’s nothing, really.” Koromaru kicked his feet on the ground and started to swing. “I guess I’m still shocked that there’re other Persona-users out there. I just know Mitsuru-senpai’s gonna flip if she finds out, or as much as she does anyway.”
There was something in Koromaru’s words that clued in Torahiko on what the dog was truly asking. Offering a smile of his own, he said, “Yeah, there’s more of us. Me and my friends never really said anything to anyone.” They tried not to talk about it too much either. The pain was still too fresh.
Shaking his head to chase away the morbid thoughts, Torahiko continued. “Besides, it just sounds too crazy, you know?”
Hell, even Kounosuke, the one they counted on to write about it to some magazine, was skeptical. He remembered the raccoon giving him this look and said, “Do you guys seriously believe any magazine would print up a story that whack-assed? They’d probably send some burly guys in white suits to put a straitjacket on me and send me to the loony bin. I’d be better off telling them some story about how Space Aztecs built a spaceship underneath Japan!”
“I guess you’re right. None of us try to talk about it much either since...” Koromaru paused and when Torahiko turned towards him, the canine had this intense look on his face. “Say, Ooshima, do you guys have someone who could change Personas? Mina – our Leader was like that.”
Torahiko stopped moving back and forth on the swing and felt his breath hitch. “Yeah, our Leader did that too,” he admitted quietly. “Is – is you’re Leader still around?”
“You could say that.” Though Koromaru kept his voice light, there was something about his tone that made Torahiko suspect something else was up.He didn’t know if it’d help, but he thought that maybe the guy would like to hear that somebody else had that ability. “Er, Naganaki, I was able to do that thing as well. Y’know, change Personas,” he added upon seeing the confused look on the dog’s face.
Koromaru eyes widened at that and he shared a sad sort of smile. “So you carry on their legacy, just like Ai-senpai.” Letting out a deep breath, the dog stood up and gave a mirthless chuckle. “Sorry this got awkward. Guess we both went through some shitty stuff, huh?”
Torahiko chuckled and shrugged. “Eh, it’s cool. I’m just glad to be alive.”
“You’re right.” Standing in front of him, Koromaru clapped him on the shoulder. “Still, I think I’d like to talk about that stuff with you sometime. You know, from one Persona-user to another.”
He recognized Koromaru’s offer and smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that. Just...not this day. I mean, it still feels like it’s way too soon to talk about it.” It was then that Torahiko remembered that he was supposed to head back to Waterfront tomorrow. “Ah, crap!”
“What’s wrong?”
Guess he’d better tell the truth. “I kinda have to go tomorrow. I’m not really from around here and only visited for...something.”
Koromaru hummed thoughtfully before nodding decisively. “That’s alright, I’ll just visit you instead,” he finished his statement with a warm smile.
That got his attention. “Wha? But – I live in Waterfront, and it’s kinda far away!”
Koromaru waved him off with a laugh. “It’s cool. I think getting to know another Persona-user’s gonna be worth it anyway. Besides, I can just head there during summer break, right?”
“I guess so.” The words ‘summer break’ only reminded him of Hiroyuki again and he fought not to wince. Wasn’t Koromaru’s fault, really, and maybe the dog’s offer of talking about it would help too. “There’s not much there, just some camping sites and a beach...but we got some hot springs in my family’s inn if you want.”
Koromaru’s crimson eyes lit up at that. “Your family owns a hot springs inn?”
“Yeah!” Shifting to manager mode, he recited the short sales speech his dad taught him. “With the healing properties of our hot springs, relaxing and beautiful ambiance of the country, high-quality meals prepared by our head chef and comfortable rooms staffed by our capable staff, we guarantee a hundred percent customer satisfaction at the Ooshima Inn.”
Koromaru took a long look at him and laughed. “Damn, you really do sound like an inn manager there. Fine, you got me convinced to stay there, so I hope you’d be there to service me well.”
Torahiko froze. He wasn’t sure, but Koromaru might have just hit on him.
The first thing he thought of was that the guy was actually pretty cute and he wouldn’t mind hitting that. The next thing he thought of was what a certain bear would be say about this. After the whole fight to save the world, he and Juuichi had developed this odd relationship stalemate of sorts where neither was able to figure out what they really had and he wasn’t sure he wanted to blow it up.
He sighed to himself, knowing he had to do the right thing. “Look, uh, you’re cute and all but I got this guy, and he, uh, might be upset at me if I did anything with you.” Upset was putting it mildly. Juuichi would probably use him as a training dummy for his judo throws. And if he survived that, then he’d probably get tied up with Juuichi’s judo belt while the bear started his punishment game. He suppressed a shiver.
Koromaru blinked blankly at him. Torahiko could see the gears grinding inside that head as the dog’s expression was replaced with an amused one. “Dude! You seriously thought I’d –?”
Fighting back a blush, he responded by trying to kick Koromaru’s shin instead, though he wasn’t surprised the dog was able to dodge it. “Not. A. Word.”
“Fine, fine. I guess I’d better watch my words or I’ll have your boyfriend giving me a black eye.”
He’d argue that Juuichi wasn’t his boyfriend, but he figured Koromaru wouldn’t understand. Hastily changing the subject, he asked, “So, hey, don’t suppose I can get your mobile number or e-mail address?”
Koromaru smiled but didn’t say anything. Instead, the canine took out a white cellphone and waited expectantly. Torahiko took out his brand-new cellphone (he was grateful that Fuunari finally had a cellphone reception) and exchanged contact information with Koromaru. It may just be simple contact information but Torahiko was glad that he could contact a new friend who could understand the things he went through. While he didn’t feel like talking about things just yet, there was something that he was aching to find out...
“So now that we know how to contact one another, what do you say we go for a round two, Naganaki?”
That bark-like laughter greeted him, confident and unwavering once more. “You mean you wanna have one last fight with me before going away, huh?” Koromaru responded to Torahiko’s enthusiastic nod by stepping away from him. The canine dropped into a fighting stance, the balls of his feet bouncing with energy and his arms relaxed and ready for action. With a challenging grin on his face, Koromaru crooked a finger at him. “Put ‘em up, Ooshima!”
Torahiko dropped into a fighting stance as well, matching the canine’s grin with his own. “Fine, but don’t blame me if I send you home crying, Naganaki!”
Well? How was it? I hoped you enjoyed reading this one-shot of mine. :) I originally wrote this after thinking what would happen if there are beastmen in the Persona-verse and immediately thought of Koromaru. I figured he'd be raised as an adopted son by the priest in Naganaki shrine before his adopted dad got killed by Shadows. Koromaru's a cheerful kid who loves challenges and beef bowls and would probably get along best with Shinjiro, Akihiko and Ken.
When the Nishimura family decided to hold a funeral for their son, he wasted no time asking his parents to let him attend all the way in Port Island. However, the lack of a body caused the service to end much earlier than usual, leaving him with an entire day left before his return to Waterfront.
Torahiko trudged up the steps of the shrine late afternoon, his feet aching from a long day of walking. The sheer size of the city took him by surprise. He became accustomed to everything in his hometown being within walking distance, so using the monorail to get to and from different locales was a bit of a learning experience. Although, he did admit that it was an awesome one at that.
With the many attractions in the city, he considered himself lucky that Shin parted with his camera so easily. He spent much of his morning at the Paulownia Mall, the island’s largest shopping center. There, he toyed around with the various games at the arcade, dropping by the Chagall Café to try their Pheromone Coffee that they boast so much about. Feeling hungry, he paid a visit to the local strip mall, where he tried some… very peculiar takoyaki. On his way back to the rail station, he decided to make a small detour to steal a glance at the city’s high school. Gekkoukan High fit the city well, with its posh and sleek design that made him feel a little insecure about his own small and simple school, if only for a moment.
To finish up his tour, Torahiko decided to visit the Naganaki Shrine. He doubted he would get to see even half of what the city offered during his brief stay here, but at least he has a load of pictures that would make Kounosuke jealous to no end. While he was taking a picture of the shrine and the playground nearby, he reflected that there was something off about the whole experience. He could have sworn there was someone following him this entire time. He knew most would dismiss him as simply being paranoid, but was it truly paranoia when he had to battle for his life and possibly the fate of the whole world a few months ago?
Torahiko walked up to the shrine, clasping his hands together in a prayer for Hiroyuki, when he heard the footsteps behind him. He kept his back turned, thinking that someone else went up here to pray, but whoever it was seemed to be heading right towards him.
“Heads up!”
There was something in the other person’s gruff voice that put him on alert. With instincts that came from fighting Shadows, he darted to his right and barely dodged the other person trying to tackle him. In his mind, he could hear his Persona Vali stirring awake and growling at the unknown young man attacking him.
Clenching his fists, Torahiko barely got his guard up before his assailant was on him again, attacking him with a flurry of punches. He tried getting in some of his own punches but the guy was too fast, either deflecting his hits or dodging altogether. While the guy’s punches didn’t hurt very much (he’d developed a high pain threshold thanks to Juuichi), he knew that the damage from the constant hits would pile up soon. Swearing in frustration, he overextended in his punch and got a jab and a right hook to the gut in retaliation. Shit, did the guy practice boxing or something?
Vali didn’t like that; the big guy was alternating between growling out how to fight better and taunting him for getting his ass kicked, but he ignored it. Whatever, he’d fought worse and no way was he going down just one punk (he recognized the guy’s school uniform from Gekkoukan High School). He made a sweeping kick knowing the guy would try to avoid it, so Torahiko used his tail to trip the guy up. It worked and his attacker fell on the ground with a grunt. He didn’t know why the guy wanted to attack him, but he’d do his best to kick the crap out of the guy and (possibly) ask questions later.
He pounced on the young man and they struggled on the ground, trading blows and either trying to pin them down (in Torahiko’s case) or throw them off. A kick to the side made him grunt in pain and it knocked him back. They scrambled to their feet, looking disheveled and eyeing each other warily. There was a glint in the guy’s red eyes, a challenge to him that got Torahiko’s blood pumping and Vali’s approval. With a feral grin, he rushed his attacker, not surprised the young man did the same thing.
What started as a brawl turned into something that was sort of fun. It wasn’t something he could explain easily, but there was just something that was pulling him into the young man, something that made him see this guy as a worthy opponent. A lightning-fast punch to the face brought him out of his musings and he responded by grabbing the guy’s shirt and giving him a vicious headbutt. The guy staggered back and grabbed his head in pain and Torahiko rushed forward to press his advantage when he heard the guy bark out.
“Mudoon!”
The memories of Shadows casting the dangerous spell flooded his mind so he stiffened and hurriedly put up his guard while clenching his eyes shut. He waited for the tell-tale lights to freeze him in place, telling himself that the instant death spell would never hit, it never usually did –
Wait, Mudoon?
Something wasn’t right. He wasn’t in those other worlds, so there was no way Mudoon should work in the first place. The only ones he knew capable of knowing about that spell were either Shadows or his friends in Waterfront who fought alongside him. So that would mean...
“I knew it,” the gruff voice called out.
He gaped at the young man across him, who was catching his breath and held up his hands in a placating gesture. The young man – a dog beastman, actually – was watching him with those blood-red eyes and wearing a triumphant expression on his face. He went on, “You have one too, don’t you?”
There really was only one thing to say in this situation. “What the hell?”
“Yeah, you took the words right outta my mouth.” The other guy brushed the dirt from his clothes. “Mine doesn’t work very well out here, but he could still smell the other you.” The dog paused, his eyebrows crinkling in concentration. “...You’re fire-based too, right?”
Jaws hanging open, it was at this moment that Torahiko concluded that he had collapsed from heatstroke somewhere and was hallucinating. It was the only possible explanation, really, because this white-furred canine just asked if Torahiko had a Persona. And judging from the boy’s words, he probably had one as well.
The guy grinned playfully at him. “Close your mouth. You’re letting all the flies in.”
Snapping his mouth shut, Torahiko put some distance between the two of them. “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, then prove it.”
“Being cautious, huh? Yeah, I would be too.” The dog looked directly at his eyes. “Lemme try this again. My other self's called Laelaps, previously Cerberus and from the Strength Arcana. I'm fire-based, but I can also dish out Mudo spells and even a multi-target version of Sukukaja. That good enough for you?”
He stared back at the other boy’s eyes, trying to find any traces of deceit. He really didn’t want to believe it, but the canine’s earnest expression only told the truth. Holy crap. There were other Persona-users. And one of them was a guy around his age too. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding and answered, “Mine was called Andhrimnir, from the Magician Arcana, but now he's known as Vali. I'm a jack-of-all-trades so I got some Agi skills, physical skills, healing skills and ways to remove an enemy’s buffs and debuffs.”
The dog let out a whoop. “I knew it! I knew there were other Persona-users out there as well.” While closing the distance between them, the other boy flashed him a sheepish grin. “Sorry, where're my manners? I forgot to introduce myself.” He extended a fuzzy hand and smiled. “I'm Koromaru Naganaki. Nice to meet you.”
“Torahiko Ooshima.” He took the dog’s hand and gave it a firm shake and asked the thing that was on the top of his mind. “So what the hell was up with attacking me like that?”
“Oh, that? Laelaps could smell that you’re pretty strong so I wanted to see how good you are!” Koromaru replied airily and gave him a few mock-punches.
“I guess I probably would’ve done the same.” Torahiko knew he’d also be curious about another Persona-user’s strength. Plus, he couldn’t help but like the guy’s hotblooded attitude. “Seeing how I kicked your ass, I think it’s safe to say that I’m pretty good.”
That got a bark-like laugh out of Koromaru. “Maybe you forgot about all those punches to your gut.”
“Yeah, those pretty light punches,” Torahiko shot back while flexing his arm. “You need to work out like me if you wanna get bigger!” While he wouldn’t call Koromaru weedy, he had that toned physique that reminded Torahiko of Kyouji.
“Doubt Sanada-senpai would agree to me buffing up with steroids,” Koromaru said in a teasing tone and Torahiko scowled at that. Okay, so maybe he was a bit beefier than a tiger for his age, but he took pride in getting his bulk with his own efforts, damnit. Koromaru seemed oblivious to him and jerked a thumb towards the playground instead. “Hey Ooshima, you mind if we sit down while we talk?”
Torahiko had a snarky reply to that but even he could feel the bruises forming on his body so maybe sitting down was a good idea. He followed Koromaru and they flopped down on the swings. Torahiko released a pent-up sigh. Damn, but sitting down like this felt good.
He saw the dog smiling at him, and he raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”
“It’s nothing, really.” Koromaru kicked his feet on the ground and started to swing. “I guess I’m still shocked that there’re other Persona-users out there. I just know Mitsuru-senpai’s gonna flip if she finds out, or as much as she does anyway.”
There was something in Koromaru’s words that clued in Torahiko on what the dog was truly asking. Offering a smile of his own, he said, “Yeah, there’s more of us. Me and my friends never really said anything to anyone.” They tried not to talk about it too much either. The pain was still too fresh.
Shaking his head to chase away the morbid thoughts, Torahiko continued. “Besides, it just sounds too crazy, you know?”
Hell, even Kounosuke, the one they counted on to write about it to some magazine, was skeptical. He remembered the raccoon giving him this look and said, “Do you guys seriously believe any magazine would print up a story that whack-assed? They’d probably send some burly guys in white suits to put a straitjacket on me and send me to the loony bin. I’d be better off telling them some story about how Space Aztecs built a spaceship underneath Japan!”
“I guess you’re right. None of us try to talk about it much either since...” Koromaru paused and when Torahiko turned towards him, the canine had this intense look on his face. “Say, Ooshima, do you guys have someone who could change Personas? Mina – our Leader was like that.”
Torahiko stopped moving back and forth on the swing and felt his breath hitch. “Yeah, our Leader did that too,” he admitted quietly. “Is – is you’re Leader still around?”
“You could say that.” Though Koromaru kept his voice light, there was something about his tone that made Torahiko suspect something else was up.He didn’t know if it’d help, but he thought that maybe the guy would like to hear that somebody else had that ability. “Er, Naganaki, I was able to do that thing as well. Y’know, change Personas,” he added upon seeing the confused look on the dog’s face.
Koromaru eyes widened at that and he shared a sad sort of smile. “So you carry on their legacy, just like Ai-senpai.” Letting out a deep breath, the dog stood up and gave a mirthless chuckle. “Sorry this got awkward. Guess we both went through some shitty stuff, huh?”
Torahiko chuckled and shrugged. “Eh, it’s cool. I’m just glad to be alive.”
“You’re right.” Standing in front of him, Koromaru clapped him on the shoulder. “Still, I think I’d like to talk about that stuff with you sometime. You know, from one Persona-user to another.”
He recognized Koromaru’s offer and smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that. Just...not this day. I mean, it still feels like it’s way too soon to talk about it.” It was then that Torahiko remembered that he was supposed to head back to Waterfront tomorrow. “Ah, crap!”
“What’s wrong?”
Guess he’d better tell the truth. “I kinda have to go tomorrow. I’m not really from around here and only visited for...something.”
Koromaru hummed thoughtfully before nodding decisively. “That’s alright, I’ll just visit you instead,” he finished his statement with a warm smile.
That got his attention. “Wha? But – I live in Waterfront, and it’s kinda far away!”
Koromaru waved him off with a laugh. “It’s cool. I think getting to know another Persona-user’s gonna be worth it anyway. Besides, I can just head there during summer break, right?”
“I guess so.” The words ‘summer break’ only reminded him of Hiroyuki again and he fought not to wince. Wasn’t Koromaru’s fault, really, and maybe the dog’s offer of talking about it would help too. “There’s not much there, just some camping sites and a beach...but we got some hot springs in my family’s inn if you want.”
Koromaru’s crimson eyes lit up at that. “Your family owns a hot springs inn?”
“Yeah!” Shifting to manager mode, he recited the short sales speech his dad taught him. “With the healing properties of our hot springs, relaxing and beautiful ambiance of the country, high-quality meals prepared by our head chef and comfortable rooms staffed by our capable staff, we guarantee a hundred percent customer satisfaction at the Ooshima Inn.”
Koromaru took a long look at him and laughed. “Damn, you really do sound like an inn manager there. Fine, you got me convinced to stay there, so I hope you’d be there to service me well.”
Torahiko froze. He wasn’t sure, but Koromaru might have just hit on him.
The first thing he thought of was that the guy was actually pretty cute and he wouldn’t mind hitting that. The next thing he thought of was what a certain bear would be say about this. After the whole fight to save the world, he and Juuichi had developed this odd relationship stalemate of sorts where neither was able to figure out what they really had and he wasn’t sure he wanted to blow it up.
He sighed to himself, knowing he had to do the right thing. “Look, uh, you’re cute and all but I got this guy, and he, uh, might be upset at me if I did anything with you.” Upset was putting it mildly. Juuichi would probably use him as a training dummy for his judo throws. And if he survived that, then he’d probably get tied up with Juuichi’s judo belt while the bear started his punishment game. He suppressed a shiver.
Koromaru blinked blankly at him. Torahiko could see the gears grinding inside that head as the dog’s expression was replaced with an amused one. “Dude! You seriously thought I’d –?”
Fighting back a blush, he responded by trying to kick Koromaru’s shin instead, though he wasn’t surprised the dog was able to dodge it. “Not. A. Word.”
“Fine, fine. I guess I’d better watch my words or I’ll have your boyfriend giving me a black eye.”
He’d argue that Juuichi wasn’t his boyfriend, but he figured Koromaru wouldn’t understand. Hastily changing the subject, he asked, “So, hey, don’t suppose I can get your mobile number or e-mail address?”
Koromaru smiled but didn’t say anything. Instead, the canine took out a white cellphone and waited expectantly. Torahiko took out his brand-new cellphone (he was grateful that Fuunari finally had a cellphone reception) and exchanged contact information with Koromaru. It may just be simple contact information but Torahiko was glad that he could contact a new friend who could understand the things he went through. While he didn’t feel like talking about things just yet, there was something that he was aching to find out...
“So now that we know how to contact one another, what do you say we go for a round two, Naganaki?”
That bark-like laughter greeted him, confident and unwavering once more. “You mean you wanna have one last fight with me before going away, huh?” Koromaru responded to Torahiko’s enthusiastic nod by stepping away from him. The canine dropped into a fighting stance, the balls of his feet bouncing with energy and his arms relaxed and ready for action. With a challenging grin on his face, Koromaru crooked a finger at him. “Put ‘em up, Ooshima!”
Torahiko dropped into a fighting stance as well, matching the canine’s grin with his own. “Fine, but don’t blame me if I send you home crying, Naganaki!”
Well? How was it? I hoped you enjoyed reading this one-shot of mine. :) I originally wrote this after thinking what would happen if there are beastmen in the Persona-verse and immediately thought of Koromaru. I figured he'd be raised as an adopted son by the priest in Naganaki shrine before his adopted dad got killed by Shadows. Koromaru's a cheerful kid who loves challenges and beef bowls and would probably get along best with Shinjiro, Akihiko and Ken.
Category Story / Fanart
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