Chapter Text
At first, Yosuke gets the impression that the new kid is kind of cold. But can you really blame him? He got kicked from the city out here in the boonies. Yosuke was sure as hell salty when he had to move, so he gets it. Maybe.
The new kid in question is named Seta Souji, and he's.. sort of blank. Seems pretty serious and keeps to himself. He's a little taller than Yosuke is, though he's hunched over his desk most of the time Yosuke sees him. A little timid? He's clearly startled when King Moron goes on his "rotten little shit list" mantra like he does for every new student, but wouldn't anyone? Naturally, Yosuke's a little curious so he keeps an eye on him, and he gets the feeling that if Chie hadn't bullied him into walking home with her and Yukiko, Seta wouldn't have had the initiative to talk to anyone on his lonesome. He's a guy of little words, replying quietly and not saying much at all, and looks very drawn into himself. A true turtle.
Yosuke only gets the "cold" impression from when Chie gets him in the nuts and Yosuke unceremoniously ends up on the floor. Chie steps over him with a huff, Yukiko offers a little sympathy, but all he gets from Seta is a lingering stare and a murmured "Maybe it's best to just leave him be.." and Yosuke wants to scream because c'mon, dude! Bro code! Help me out!, but he is too busy worrying about the state of his balls. This happens two more times, first with Yosuke horribly crashing his bike on his way to school and hurting himself yet again, and Seta only spares him a concerned glance before he continues on his way. The second time, Yosuke manages to fuck up so majorly that his ass ends up hanging out of a trash can, his arms stuck, with the only thing he's able to do is shout "Can maybe someone help!?" into what smells like a rotting corpse. Perhaps Seta's heart grew three sizes that day, because it's not long before Yosuke feels arms around his waist and hears a small grunt as he's freed. He blinks a few times, readjusting to the light difference (it's pretty dark inside a trash can, wouldn't you know) and is surprised to see the guy who'd blown him off two times prior as his savior.
That melts the "cold" thing a little, and Yosuke feels a smile grow on his face as he introduces himself because hey, maybe this guy's not so bad after all.
--
Yosuke's next impression is that Seta is totally a liar. Who would believe that your TV tried to eat you? That's just not possible, though it's kind of funny, imagining Seta's head stuck in his tiny television as he tries to wrestle himself out. Jokingly, he makes a remark the the TVs at Junes are probably big enough to fit into, and damn him for opening his mouth around Chie, because suddenly they're in the electronics department for no good reason. Yosuke reminds Chie once again that no, he cannot cut her a deal on a TV and he looks back at Seta and what the hell, how is his hand inside the TV. Seta only looks a little bit surprised, his eyes big and curious as he moves farther in, and Yosuke suddenly needs to piss and they are all making a Scene, so Chie's solution is to shove them all inside the.. TV?
Seta wastes no time after their messy landing getting up and looking around, blinking a few times as he tries to see through the fog. He says something, but it's a little hard to hear over Yosuke's groaning and Chie's panicked mumbling. It isn't until he feels a tap on his shoulder that Yosuke looks up, and sees Seta pointing at a figure in the fog, only offering a quiet "Wonder what that is?" before Yosuke and Chie both start screaming, and make a run for it. Seta makes a bewildered sound before he starts to follow, though he keeps glancing back behind him, trying to figure out what exactly that was. Yosuke's opinion is rapidly changing from liar to calm? Cool? Downright weird?
Weird seems to be winning him over at the moment. They're in a creepy-as-fuck room, with scratched-out posters and a noose hanging from the ceiling, Yosuke's bladder about to burst, and all Seta can find in himself to do is say "Nooses are bad" almost to himself as he looks around, the room engrossing him. Chie leaves with some bitter words as she gives Yosuke some privacy to relieve himself, but before he can do so, she lets out a shriek. It's astonishing, the speed from which Seta moves from inspecting the posters on the wall to Chie, though he stops short. Yosuke peers over his shoulder, trying to figure out why, and sees something that looks like a mascot out of a kids' show. Some freaky-looking bear that is also, unBEARably full of bear-related puns. Seta's totally enthralled with the little guy, though, his eyes wide, and Yosuke swears he's smiling a tiny bit. The bear (whose name is, of course, Teddie) seems fearful, babbling as he basically thrusts a pair of glasses into Seta's hands, telling him to put them on before he bolts away with incredible velocity.
The implications of such an action don't seem to occur to Seta at all as he dons the glasses with essentially no hesitation. He blinks once, twice, his mouth just ever so slightly open as he looks about with newfound curiosity. "I can see through the fog," he murmurs, and Yosuke has to admit to himself that Seta looks pretty damn good. Cool good, of course. The glasses match him pretty well, and yeah, Yosuke's thoughts of Seta are back on "cool as hell" as he watches the other's eyes narrow, and the stoic face is back.
"Cool as hell" turns into "cool as FUCK" pretty quickly, as Seta's slicing up some monsters with something he calls a "Persona". The intense concentration and focus is almost intimidating, and Yosuke can only watch in awe as he dispatches what he assumes are what the bear called "Shadows". He's open-mouthed as he watches Seta hold his hand out to a glowing card that disappears when he touches it gently, and flinches just a little when Seta looks down on him with a triumphant smirk.
Yosuke only feels butterflies in his stomach as he whispers, "Dude."