Chapter Text
It started a week ago. April 12th, the day Yu Narukami started school at Yasogami High. His first few days were a breeze, and by Friday he had already backtalked a teacher, gotten a love note in his shoe locker, and was already being requested to join clubs that hadn’t even opened registration yet. It was to be expected after all, someone from a huge city like Tokyo suddenly moving to such a small town where everyone was so close? He acted like he belonged there, like he had lived in Inaba all his life, and everyone seemed to gravitate towards him.
Well, everyone except for Yosuke Hanamura. He sits bitterly behind Yu throughout the day, wondering why he gets all of the attention. They both came from the same kind of place, so why didn’t anyone like him nearly as much? Is it his oddly colored hair? Or how calm he is around all of these strangers? It wouldn’t hurt to try and find out why… So, regardless of how he feels, Yosuke decides to talk to Yu and, possibly, become his friend.
However, Friday had been a bit too much for Yosuke. Faking smiles for the people who smiled at him, trying to talk to Yu only for him to be swept into a conversation with someone else, the immense amount of work that Kashiwagi assigned last minute (he wasn’t even sure it went with the topic they were studying), and a sudden graveyard shift at Junes overwhelmed him to no end.
So, it was no surprise that when he went to sleep that night he dreamed of a rather… strange room.
This was… The inside of a limousine? Yosuke had never been in one, which seemed to be reflected in the way the room appeared. In a sense, there was too much blue. So much that it nearly hurt his eyes. To his left, there was a drink bar below a set of windows that he oddly couldn’t see out of, and to his right sat a row of seats, a door, and another set of windows he couldn’t see through. Directly ahead of him sat two people; a man who sat hunched over with his head resting on his hands, and a woman next to him who wore too much of the blue that matched the rest of the room.
The man lifts his head, and Yosuke nearly flinches when he sees the size of his nose.
“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” the man says, “somewhere that does not exist in a specific place or time, and only those who have been invited are able to enter this room.. My name is Igor, and this is Margaret, my assistant.” Igor motions to the woman sitting next to him.
The woman - Margaret, nods and gives Yosuke a small smile.
What was this? A fever dream? Yosuke didn’t think he was sick before he went to bed, but this dream was probably just caused by stress. Probably.
Igor continues. “You are here tonight because it has become your time to face your darkest truths. Are you aware of what this means?”
Yosuke looks at him blankly for a moment. “I don’t think so.”
“Then perhaps you’ll better understand when it’s put into terms that people from your side use. Soon you will be facing your Shadow. ”
Yosuke vaguely recalls hearing something about “Shadows” on TV once, but doesn’t know much more than that. “I thought that people my age weren’t able to meet theirs yet.”
“Yes, but because most Shadows manifest when a person suppresses too much at one time, yours seems to have appeared early. They must be overcome for a person to continue to grow.”
“So I bottled up my emotions and now I have to talk to something that was made from them? Sounds simple enough, how do I do it?”
Igor shakes his head. “Your enthusiasm is welcomed, but it is not simply a matter of talking and going back to normal life afterwards. Were that the case, there would be no need for a Velvet room, and coincidentally, people would have no warning before meeting their Shadows.” After seeing the confused look on Yosuke’s face, Igor continues. “Allow me to explain. Some Shadows can become hostile, and others can drain their counterparts mentally, physically, and emotionally. Because of this, we allow each person to select one other to accompany them during this difficult time.”
Yosuke reflects on people he would be willing to take along with him before shaking his head. “Can I choose not to take anybody with me?”
“It is possible, but not recommended. I myself have personally seen other guests of the Velvet Room lose themselves to insanity shortly after selecting to go alone.”
“But this is a dream. I should be fine. If my Shadow tries to hurt me I can just wake up.” Yosuke’s more than less only telling himself that.
“That’s where you’re wrong, I’m afraid. Trying to wake yourself up while in the presence of your Shadow will only cause you harm. To wake up from one of these “dreams”, you will need to first accept part of what your Shadow has to say. And before you protest, it is never easy to accept truths that you have hidden from the world. Once again, I will offer you an opportunity to bring someone else with you.”
Yosuke sighs. “Okay. What kind of person should I choose?”
Igor turns to Margaret. “Would you care to explain?”
Margaret nods and pulls a thick book off of the table in front of her to set on her lap. “You must choose someone who you know personally. It is always recommended that you choose someone that you are close to, like a family member or best friend, because you’ll want to be able to trust them with your secrets. When they see your Shadow, it will affect them as well, so plan accordingly. Choosing the wrong person could result in disaster for both of you.”
“Someone that I’m close to.” That was an easy elimination. Yosuke could count the number of people he felt close to on one hand. Hell, even half of a hand. “What if nobody comes to mind?”
“Then choose someone else who you wouldn’t mind seeing the different sides of you.”
Yosuke can’t easily think of anyone else. A coworker… Maybe Saki? No, she had just started to treat him better. He didn’t want to mess that up so soon.
Home… School… Wait. There was still one more person who he could pick. After all, to him this was a dream, and it’s not like he has anything to lose with this relationship, right?
“Yu Narukami.” The name comes out before Yosuke gets a chance to think about it, and Igor stares at him with a gaze so piercing that Yosuke feels that he’s looking directly into his mind. He instinctively flinches.
“Hmm? It seems that the two of you don’t share a very strong bond. Are you sure you would be comfortable allowing this person to see those sides of you?”
He shrugs. “You said yourself that this was a dream, so what could go wrong? Besides, there aren’t many people that I’d want to pick in the first place.”
“It is better to have a stranger than nobody, I suppose. Margaret?”
Margaret opens the book in her lap and begins flipping through the pages. “This is the Soul Compendium. It contains information and ways to contact every currently living soul in existence. Are you certain about who you want to request for support?”
Yosuke nods.
“Very well. I will contact them and allow them the option of helping you in your endeavor. Please note that they will have the option to decline, as some people simply don’t have the capacity to deal with someone else’s struggles as well as their own. If I do not return with them, please don’t wish ill upon them.”
She stops at a page in the Compendium, stands up, and walks past Yosuke to the exit. It’s only now that he notices how tall she is compared to him.
“I shall return as quickly as possible.” She says before opening the door to a space that has nothing but a purple haze, and steps out.
A small white kitten pokes its head out from around one side of the Dojima residence, and Yu can’t help but smile. It must have smelled the food he set out for it. It wouldn’t be the first time in the week since he’s come to Inaba that he’s tried befriending a stray cat. The first two times were busts, apparently those cats hadn’t quite taken a liking to people yet, and they ran away.
This cat was nice, though. It walked past the food and straight to Yu’s outstretched hand, nuzzling up to it immediately. Maybe it started off as someone’s pet? No cat Yu had met so far had been this friendly.
Yu had gotten so caught up in petting the cat that he didn’t notice that the front door to his uncle’s house had changed completely, and he certainly didn’t notice the woman that stepped out of it.
“Excuse me.” Her voice startled both Yu and the cat.
He quickly stood up and turned around to face her. She looked elegant, certainly not anyone that Yu would have met during his stay here, wearing a dress in what could only be called the deepest shade of blue Yu had ever seen. The designs were intricate, and it left him wondering just who she was. The large book she was carrying only added to his curiosity.
“I have come to inform you of another soul’s request.”
“What?” He only just now noticed that the front door changed. “Who are you?”
The woman places a hand on her chest. “Ah, I neglected to introduce myself. I apologize. My name is Margaret, and I aid my master in a place called the Velvet Room. Do not worry, I have come to you within your dreams.”
Of course this is a dream. That kitten was too good to be true. But there’s something else on his mind now. “What is the “Velvet Room?””
“You may see for yourself soon enough. Now, as for my purpose for being here. A soul that you are acquainted with has requested your aid in what standard people would call, “facing themselves.”
Facing themselves? Yu’s heard a great deal of this before, but at the time he brushed it off as a silly rumor.
“Wait, isn’t that when people have to meet their “Shadows?””
Margaret nods. “That is correct. Would you like an explanation?”
“Yes, please.”
“A person’s Shadow is a manifestation of their innermost thoughts and often contain truths that a person does not wish to come to terms with. Shadows may become hostile and can drain a person mentally, emotionally, and physically. We understand that this may be extremely difficult for someone to take on by themselves, so we grant them the ability to take one other person with them to help keep them calm. Normally we recommend that they request someone they trust and are close to, but today one of our guests chose someone who is nearly a stranger to them. You.”
Someone to keep them calm? A stranger? Who would pick someone like that to see their secrets? And most importantly, who would pick him? He can’t think of anyone he’s met in the past few months who would, much less anyone that he would pick for himself.
“Who is it?”
Margaret opens the book and quickly flips to a page, turning it so that Yu can see lists of names and small portraits beside each one.. “Yosuke Hanamura.”
Oh, him. “He sits behind me in class and we talk occasionally, but… You weren’t joking when you said he was a stranger.”
“We don’t like to joke with matters such as these.” Margaret closes the book and holds it to her chest. “Now, you have a decision to make. You may either agree to assist him, or you can continue your dream unbothered. Don’t worry, the kitten will come back when I leave.” She smiles warmly.
The cat is tempting, but Yu can’t help but wonder why Yosuke would have chosen him. Maybe he didn’t understand the gravity of the situation? Or maybe…
“You said that you recommend that people choose someone they are close to, right?”
“That’s correct.”
Well that opens up a new idea. Maybe he just didn’t have anyone he was that close to. Ugh. Then Yu would only look like a jerk if he said no, and from what he’s seen so far, Yosuke wasn’t that bad of a guy.
“Well, I barely know him, but… Sure.” Yu prays that this isn’t about to be a mistake.
“You’re going to accept?”
He nods. “What do I have to do?”
“Simply offer him support. You are very kind for doing this, you know.”
Yu doesn’t get to respond, because with a wave of Margaret’s hand, there’s a flash of white light and suddenly he’s in a completely different place.
The door behind Yosuke opens again, and after seeing a familiar face step into the room, he breathes a sigh of relief. He had been starting to stress out about meeting his Shadow, and as what felt like minutes passed, he began worrying that maybe Yu wasn’t going to show up. It’s not like he could get upset about it, they barely knew each other and it was only a dream. It didn’t mean that the real Yu hated him.
Dream Yu, however, stood awkwardly near the door like he was ready to bolt at any second.
“Welcome to the Velvet Room, where only those who have been invited may enter. You have selected to accompany this boy in facing the truth, yes?”
Yu nods.
“Very well. I’m sure you have been made aware of the capabilities of Shadows already. Now, to return to consciousness of your own will, a bit of the Shadow will need to be accepted first. Of course, you will have to listen to what it will say first, and accept what it says as truth, because it is your own truth . Do not think this will be an easy feat. It will be difficult not to deny what it says, but you must prove to be stronger. Do you understand?”
Both of them nod.
“Good. Now step out and begin the first step in facing yourself.” The door opens by itself, still showing a purple haze outside of it.
Yosuke is the first one to walk through, and Yu forces himself to follow him out.
After walking through the haze of the Velvet Room, they stand in what seems to be the lobby of a superstore, only heavily distorted. Wallpaper is peeling off of the walls, carts in cart returns are stacked on top of each other and broken, one of two elevators has a sign on it that reads, “Broken! Please never enter again!”, and the area has an oddly red haze in it as well.
“Of course we ended up here.” Yosuke stares off at the elevators. “Sorry for dragging you into this.”
“It’s alright. Let’s go find your Shadow and get this part over with.” Yu walks forward but then stops. “Actually, do you want to lead? I’ve never been here.”
“You’ve never been to Junes?”
He shakes his head.
“Huh. I’ll lead then.”
The next few minutes are filled with an awkward silence as they make their way through each department. No words through the food sections, housewares, or even while walking through the women’s clothes department. Neither one of them really want to talk, the dream is far too outlandish. In Yu’s case, he mostly knows what to expect from it and knows that eventually he’s probably going to have to calm down someone he knows nothing about. Why did he even agree to go?
Neither one of them says anything until they get to the food court, when Yu’s curiosity gets the better of him.
“What made you pick me?” He asks. “I don’t really know you that well.”
Yosuke shrugs. “I don’t know. But this is just a dream, and it’s not like I really had any other options.”
“You’re not close to anyone?”
“I guess not.”
“So you’re willing to let someone who’s virtually a stranger see your “innermost thoughts”?” Yu quotes what Margaret said to him.
“Well.” Yosuke finally turns to look at Yu, and he smiles. “Better than no one, right?”
Yu only manages a nod before there’s a crash not far ahead of them. Yosuke runs ahead to see what it was, and comes face to face with someone who looks almost exactly like him. When Yu gets there, he’s more shocked than anything. They almost look identical, except one has eyes that are much more golden than they should be and an unsettling dark aura around them.
Yosuke backs away quickly and puts two tables of distance between him and his Shadow, while Yu stands a table away from the real Yosuke.
Yosuke’s Shadow starts talking in a voice that could sound like the real one, only much lower and distorted. “Well, look who finally decided to show up. What happened, did you get lost? You really kept me waiting here.” The Shadow stretches upwards, in a way similar to how Yosuke does when school is over.
“I didn’t know where you would be.”
“That’s a lie. You always knew I would be here. You know, the place you sometimes come to help out at just to watch other people live fulfilling lives with their friends ? How you sit by bitterly watching people laugh and talk to each other while wishing that you could have that too? Well guess what? You can't have it. You'll never have anything in this town.”
“You don't know that. I could find something.” Yosuke starts to look unnerved.
“And what? Stay here with it? You and I both know you hate this town and everyone in it.”
“I don't hate everyone.”
“Yeah, you only don't hate the people that act like they care about you. Until they ditch you, like everyone else. Then you hate them because they strung you along and suddenly stopped caring when you thought they still did.”
There's silence.
The aura around his Shadow gets darker. “What about all of the unnecessary stress you keep adding onto yourself? Taking a ridiculous amount of shifts at your good old Junes so you can afford….. What? Lunch with friends? You need friends to be able to do that first.”
“Getting the money is nice.”
“Yes, the money you waste on people the second they ask you for something. You think you can buy people's friendship so you work and work and work and then give people whatever they want from your measly paycheck. I bet-”
“Stop it.” Yosuke’s voice is strained, and he's leaning against a table for support.
Yu knows he should say something, because he was supposed to come with him for support, but the words don't come to him and he stays silent. Maybe if he had understood him better…
At this rate Yosuke’s shadow is very quickly wearing him out. It won't be long until it gets worse and he hasn't even been able to accept anything yet.
The Shadow’s insults don't stop and the aura around it continues to grow darker. “You're so desperate for people to like you that you'll gladly take even the smallest grain of kindness and transform it into thinking that they actually care about you.”
Yosuke starts regretting bringing Yu along in the first place. He could’ve gone alone if he wanted to, right? Now Yu probably thinks that he shouldn’t accepted because now Yosuke’s going to blow his act of kindness out of proportion and weird him out forever. He didn’t know what to expect and didn’t even want to know what his Shadow had to say. Now a stranger knows something that he’s tried to hide, something he didn’t want to have acknowledged.
And then, almost as if it was reading his mind, his Shadow laughs and nods towards Yu. “And what about him?”
Yu stays silent, but looks at the Shadow curiously.
“Do you think he wanted to come here? You dragged him along. A complete stranger. Are you really that desperate? You’d burden someone you don’t even know just so you can have an easier time? Pathetic.”
Those thoughts had been bothering Yosuke since they came to this distorted Junes and hearing his Shadow voice them out loud breaks his composure even further. He didn’t want Yu to hear that.
Defeated, he sinks into one of the chairs with his head down, staring at the ground instead of trying to fight. “Why would you-”
“Say it out loud? He deserves to know why his peace got disturbed.” The Shadow laughs and stares Yu down, who gives him a glare back.
“You’re here all because some self-important jerk wanted to stay calm. He didn’t even think about how you would feel about it.”
Yu almost feels insulted for a minute, but he remembers from a friend that Shadows often over-exaggerate what they say, making things sound more serious than they actually are. He knows that Yosuke’s Shadow is hurting him so he feels like he has to say something , and to be frank, he wants to go back to the dream he was having before.
“He’s not pathetic.”
Both Yosukes look at him, but Yu only looks at the real one.
“He’s not the only person who needed to bring someone else along. It’s only human nature to not want to go through possibly traumatic experiences alone.” Yu says the first things that come to his mind, hoping that something he says will work.
Yosuke looks back down. “But- maybe it’s right.”
Unknown to either of them, the Shadow takes a seat after hearing that. For a first encounter, all that was needed was for one simple thing to be accepted for the Shadow to become docile and quiet again.
Yosuke shakes his head. "I shouldn't have bothered you with this and-"
"Hey."
"-now I'm probably ruining your night and wasting your time or s-"
Yu sighs and walks towards him.
"-omething and now I'm weirding you out and giving you a bad impression of me and I honestly should have ju-"
"Yosuke."
He goes quiet and looks up to see Yu standing in front of him. "What-"
"I'm sorry for this, but everything you're saying is ridiculous." Yu takes one more step forward and punches Yosuke in the face with such surprising force that he falls out of his chair and hits the ground.
"What the- WHAT?!" Yosuke clutches the left side of his face as the pain catches up to him. "What was that for?!"
Yu looks as stoic as ever. "You needed some sense knocked into you."
"Wha-"
"You wouldn't listen to me. It was trying to get a rise out of you and you let it."
"But it was all true..." Yosuke looks back down and rubs his cheek.
"So? That was what your Shadow was supposed to do. What are you so worried about? As you kept saying, this is just a dream." Yu looks down at him.
"And you probably think less of me."
"My opinion of you shouldn't mean anything. And to be fair I didn't think much of you in the first place."
Yosuke snaps his head up and Yu realizes that saying that may have been a mistake.
"But that doesn't matter. You do know everyone has a Shadow, right?"
He nods.
"So everyone gets their "pathetic" side exposed. It's no big deal."
"It is when a stranger has to see it."
Yu almost gets the urge to punch him again. "You chose me!"
"You didn't have to accept!"
"And what? Be an ass to someone who would probably hate me if I declined?"
Yosuke doesn't respond, noticing the mention of what his Shadow was talking about.
Yu tries to soften his gaze. "Besides, after seeing all of this you look like you need somebody."
He smiles weakly. "I guess I do."
"See?" Yu holds his hand out. "Now you know what to expect next time."
Yosuke is about to take his hand when he suddenly freezes. "Wait- there's a next time?"
"You thought you only had to see your Shadow once to accept it?"
"Kind of?"
Yu laughs. "It'll be a few more times until that's possible."
"Damn..."
Eventually, Yosuke takes Yu's hand, and when he's pulled up, everything goes blue for both of them.
Yu wakes up suddenly, quickly sitting up when the sun breaking through the curtains blinds him. What kind of dream was that?