Author's Note:

This is a glimpse of how Taiga's Social Link with Yu would go, and it's also the final chapter. It's been fun writing about Taiga and getting to know her a little better, and I really appreciate those of you who've joined me. :) Again, thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited, and those of you who just read and enjoyed.


Paper Airplanes
a Persona 4 (© ATLUS) fanfiction

Chapter Five
Gold Medal


Opening Song: "Give Your Heart a Break" - Demi Lovato

I know you're scared it's wrong,
like you might make a mistake
There's just one life to live
and there's no time to wait,
to waste


XIX - The Sun

( Rank 1 )

She's happier and her chest feels lighter, but Yu can tell that Taiga has kept her walls up. She smiles, tends to the others, tutors, volunteers more hours at work when she doesn't have the time to spare; she's confronted her Shadow but she's still so cluttered. When he asks Kanji about her, because she's his teammate now and he wants to get to know all of them, the bleach blond jumps on the defensive. "W-what do ya wanna know about her for!?" When Kanji realizes how red his face is, he shrinks back and runs away, which leaves Yu in a confused (yet, perhaps somehow enlightened) state. He decides he'll ask her himself.

"Can you help me with history?" he asks her one day after school. "I didn't do so well on the last test." It's a lie of course; he got the second highest score in the class, behind Yukiko.

Taiga would never suspect their leader, though. "Absolutely, Yu-san!"

They spend two hours in the library that day. Twenty minutes is spent on actual history, while the other hundred minutes are used to talk about band, soccer, the Investigation Team, the actual investigation, work, and every trivial subject in between. When Taiga notices the library giving them the signal to leave, she slaps a hand to her mouth in shock. "Oh goodness — I completely lost track of time. My apologies, Yu-san. I haven't been of any help to you at all."

He laughs and shakes his head. "No, you were great. Thanks, Taiga."

They clean up their things and leave, and he walks her halfway to her house. He makes a comment about how pretty her flower headband is, in which she stutters back a thanks. Before they part ways, she says, "Today's been grand. I hope we can spend more time together soon."

( Rank 2 )

He asks her to tutor him in history again, but this time he takes her to Aiya. "You've gotten a lot better at fighting," he says over a hot bowl of noodles. "How do you use your mallet like that? I mean, it looks really heavy."

"It's a matter of using its weight to my advantage," she explains. "If I use my hips and the momentum…"

They talking about Shadows and Personae and battle, and Taiga's a surprisingly good strategist. The position of right-hand man will always belong to Yosuke, but Yu has to admit that her ideas make a lot of sense. "You should speak up more," he says, "when we're talking about this stuff. I bet the others would agree with a lot of what you're saying. You could probably lead the team if you really wanted to, Taiga."

At that, she quickly shakes her head and shrinks into her seat. "I could never. I-I appreciate the compliment, but they're not that great… and I'm fairly certain that Yosuke-san would be upset if I were to usurp him of his position."

"You're always thinking about others, Taiga." She takes it as another compliment and misses the concerned undertone. Yu decides to bring it up another time.

( Rank 3 )

Taiga's in the music room with Ayane, discussing the upcoming concert. "Hey," he greets them. "What are you guys talking about?"

Ayane squeaks, the way she always does whenever Yu appears, while Taiga smiles warmly at him. "The concert for Music Club is coming up fairly soon, and I was offering to help Ayane-san with some extra practice. Granted, I don't quite know how to use a trombone, but I'm sure we can find a way around that."

"You really don't have to, Senpai!" Ayane says. "I know you have work and school—"

"And training," Yu adds mentally.

Taiga cuts her off. "Don't be silly. I want to help, truly."

"I'll help out too," Yu says, surprising both of them. Taiga opens her mouth to protest, but he holds up a hand to keep her from doing so. "We'll get more done quicker if both of us help out. Besides, we should all be willing to help out our fellow Music Club members, right?"

Taiga beams at him.

( Rank 4 )

She can't go out today because she's working an extra shift at Tatsumi Textiles, but Yu insists on tagging along and assisting. "You really don't have to," she says, though the bounce in her step shows her gratitude and happiness.

Kanji's also working, and he looks surprised when they come in together. "Y-Yu-senpai…? Taiga-senpai! Uh, you guys are…"

"I was on the way to work and Yu-san offered to help. I hope you don't mind."

"N-no. 'Course not."

They exchange small talk as Kanji and Yu restock some of the boxes and Taiga takes inventory. At one point, she has to go to the back room in order to get an accurate count, which leaves the two males alone. Yu is the first one to speak after a pregnant silence: "Hey, Kanji. Can I ask you something?"

Yu notices that Kanji looks a lot less stressed now that Taiga's gone. "Yeah. What's up?"

"Do you like Taiga?"

His answer is a scarlet face and a tumble mess of limbs and boxes of handkerchiefs, which is more definitive than any words. Taiga runs back into the room, yelling, "Kanji-san!" and tries to pull him from the sea of cardboard and fine fabric.

Later, after Kanji's closed shop and two have left, Yu asks her a similar question: "Are you and Kanji close?"

Her reaction is very much the same, sans the boxes of textiles.

( Rank 5 )

Taiga invites him over to her house for tea and cookies. "My mother's best," she says as they take a seat in the dining room. "Daddy used to tell me how he fell in love with her after he tasted one." Yu realizes that this is the first time she's mentioned her father since they fought her Shadow.

He meets Taiga's mother who's soft and demure, and Taiga's sister who's sharp-tongued and confident. They tell him about the older brothers who come around more often and "would love to meet Taiga's new friend." They share stories about Taiga's childhood, all in the small town of Inaba — how she always volunteered to do class duties no one else wanted, how she always asked for extra in her lunch so that she could share, how she'd give up her umbrella and get sick in the process. How she always clung to her father.

Her mother abruptly dismisses herself and Yuuka follows, just to make sure she's alright.

Yu turns to Taiga, who's wearing an unreadable expression. She pulls the bow headband from her auburn hair, allowing stray wisps to fall into her face. "My daddy told me I looked prettier when I kept my hair back. He gave me a new headband for my birthdays and Christmas, and sometimes Easter." She doesn't shed a tear, but she looks awfully lonely.

( Rank 6 )

They don't hang out for another two weeks. He notices her being more distant, but he doesn't push her; Taiga is someone who will lie and twist herself around to make the other person happy, and he doesn't want her to do that for him. He waits for her to come up to him on her own.

"Yu-san…" She simpers sheepishly. "I, ah… I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the bookstore today. Mom got some new books in today, and I think one of them is the one you've been looking for." They walk to Yomenaido Bookstore after school, talking about school, the investigation, and friends — skirting around the topic that's lingering in both of their minds.

Reiko Baisotei greets him with smile and a plate of her cookies, which she insists he take home to share with Doujima and Nanako. Taiga's takes him through the endless shelves and boxes of books before handing him the one he's been wanting to buy for weeks. As he goes to pay for it, he notices something bright out of the corner of his eye. "What's that?" he asks. When he stands up close, he immediately finds out and regrets it.

"Daddy's plaque," she answers behind him. He doesn't dare glance at her. "The one that says he's a hero. He died in the line of action, you know. Oh, of course you know; it was on television." She laughs, but it's forced and awkward and completely unlike her. "They want to dig a grave for him. They say it's time to, not for him but for us. There's nothing to bury, but they say it'll give us closure." Her face is hard and her eyes are glassy; it's the same expression she had when they televised her father's honor. "But to me, that just means he's dead, and I don't believe I'm ready for that quite yet."

His brow furrows. "Taiga… It's okay, you know."

She's confused. "What do you mean?"

"It's okay to cry."

First shock, then a smile that's reminiscent of her mother's — soft, broken. "I don't want to burden anyone."

( Rank 7 )

Erin is the actress of the group, but Yu thinks that Taiga can put on a mask just as well. She smiles and laughs and offers her, "Truly, I don't mind"s, but the pressure and stress must be building up. He's scared of what'll happen to her when it all explodes, again.

They sit on the banks of the flood plain that afternoon, sipping at soda and munching on her mother's cookies. Taiga's really good at deflecting personal questions and trying to downplay her own worries, so Yu know that he has to be honest with her. "I'm worried about you," he says.

Her grey eyes widen in surprise. "I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have gone into training after working all day, but—"

"No, no, that's not what I'm talking about." He pauses, tries to collect his thoughts and put them to words. "I can tell that you're struggling. You always take on too much. And that's great; you love helping people out and you want them to feel good. But sometimes you forget about yourself."

"I don't want—"

"You're not burdening anyone, Taiga," he says firmly. "You're a really dependable person, but you need to realize that you need to depend on other people too. That's not burdening them; that's friendship." Then he smiles and places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to do everything on your own because you have all of us now. I know it would mean a lot to everyone if you could depend on them the same way they depend on you."

For a while, she keeps her focus on the soda can and Yu thinks he might have overstepped his boundaries. "Thank you, Yu-san," she whispers. She doesn't raise her head and he can't see her eyes, but he notices that her shoulders are shaking and, when he looks closer, there are wet spots on the can. "Thank you so much."

( Rank 8 )

Taiga invites the entire Investigation Team over to her house, which proves to be a tight squeeze. "It's been a long time since this house has felt so full," Reiko tells Yu when he helps her prepare the snacks, "and so warm."

Everyone has broken up into their little groups: Kagome admires the interior design of the house; Yosuke, Erin, and Chie crowd around the koi pond in the backyard; Yukiko and Katsu talk quietly over hot tea; Narashino and Seichi argue about superior battle strategies; Teddie goads Kazuto and Naoto into watching one of Nanako's favorite kid shows; Kanji paces back and forth nervously in the living room; and Rise and Michiyo sit beside Taiga, who's showing them her photo albums.

Everyone is so happy.

"What're you guys doing?" Yu asks as he walks over to the girls with a plate of snickerdoodles. He tries to peer over Michiyo's shoulder, but the shy girl jumps and squeals at the proximity.

While Michiyo buries her face in the couch cushion in embarrassment and Yu tries to understand what's happening, Taiga laughs softly. "I'm showing them some pictures of Daddy, when he first entered the Air Force. There are some pictures of his and Mom's wedding, too…" She flips through the pages and points out the impressive image of Fuuta Baisotei, whose bright grin resembles Taiga's so much. "Oh! Here are some of Kiba and Sano." Yu watches her face as she narrates the stories behind the pictures, and for once he doesn't see the shadow of repressed sadness — he sees a light.

"The snacks are ready!" Reiko announces. "Ah, Kanji-kun, could you help me out?" As everyone rushes to the table in the living room, Yu spots both Kanji and Taiga walk into the kitchen. He stands to assist as well, but stops around the corner before either of them can see him.

"You don't gotta carry 'em, Senpai," Kanji says, keeping his eyes lowered to the endless plates of cookies and lemon bars. "I got 'em."

"Please, let me assist you," she insists. "After all, I am the hostess!" He agrees with reluctance and both reach out to grab the same plate, accidentally brushing fingers in the process. Kanji yelps and they both pull back, red in the face. "M-my apologies, Kanji-san."

"C'mon, Senpai, I told ya to stop callin' me that…"

It's a long day spent in the Baisotei household and everyone slowly trickles out around eight in the evening. Yu stays to help clean up (and Kanji tries to as well after Yu volunteers, but Reiko demands that he take her treats to Tatsumi-san warm). While they're washing the dishes — she rinses, he dries — she casually says, "I really love all of you very much."

"Huh?"

There's that warmness in her expression again. "You're all very special to me." He doesn't ask what brought this on because she looks truly happy.

( Rank 9 )

"My brothers are home," Taiga says, "and I'd really like you to meet them."

It's a little weird, he thinks, because they're not dating (he's ninety-nine percent sure that she and Kanji have a thing, and Yu's been spending a lot of time with Michiyo), but he acquiesces. Her brothers are sitting on the living room couch when they walk in after school, and Reiko has already prepared tea. "Oh, you're the kid Mom's been talking about," the older one, Kiba, says. "The one that's been watching over our imouto-chan."

The younger one, Sano, grins. (Yu inwardly notes that Sano most resembles Taiga and their father.) "Well, it looks like you've been doing a pretty good job."

They quiz him over a broad range of topics: where he came from, who he's living with, what clubs he's in, "the Tatsumi delinquent," how Taiga's been doing. They look more or less pleased when they're done, and Yuuka demands that they stop the interrogation so they can cook dinner. "I hope that wasn't too bad," Taiga says when they're gone. "Kiba and Sano are wonderful, but they're awfully protective of the three of us. … They seem to like you, though."

Yu finds that hard to believe considering the "I'm watching you" look Kiba discreetly gave him before he left. "Really? Ahaha, awesome…"

"I'm sure you think it's strange that I asked you to meet them," she continues. "But you're a dear friend of mine, Yu-san, and my family are the most important people in my life. You've helped me with my struggles like family would. I can never express my full gratitude to you."

Her words and feelings are sincere. "I know I can always depend on you, Taiga," Yu says, "and I hope you can depend on me, too."

She doesn't hesitate when she says, "I do, Yu-san."

( Rank 10 )

They go to the shrine on Sunday. He wears his usual winter wear, while she's dressed in a bomber jacket, white dress, black leggings, and lace up boots. Her hair is pulled up in a loose, high bun, and her hairband is decorated with a peacock feather. "My apologies for showing up late," she says. "Kanji-san asked me to help with his sewing workshop and there were so many people, so we went over the allotted time."

"It's fine," he replies.

"Since we're here, we should pray." They throw in a couple of coins each and claps their hands together in prayer. Taiga finishes and raises her head first. "They're continuing the investigation for Daddy." He drops his hands and turns to her quickly, searching her face, which is stretched in a large grin. "They say they might have found a lead. Of course, it's just the beginning stages and they're not certain about anything, but… Just a week ago they wanted to put up a tombstone for him. Now they think he might still be alive."

Yu's heart lifts at the news. "That's great. I'm really happy for you, Taiga."

She nods, then takes his hand into hers before releasing it. When he looks down, he sees a dog tag on a thin silver chain. "It's the first personalized dog tag my daddy gave me," she explains, reaching up to grasp the three tags that hang around her own neck. "I was so happy when I got it because I felt like I was like him — a hero. You've helped me so much, Yu-san. I'm still waiting for Daddy to come home, but you've shown me that I'm not waiting alone. You've shown me that it's okay to depend on others, that it doesn't make me weak."

Suddenly, Taiga gasps and Yu feels a tug on his chest. They both look up and see her Persona Ydunn hovering over her. The golden-haired Persona nods at Taiga, and in a burst of light transforms into an Egyptian woman with a snake wrapped around her shoulders. Taiga connects gazes with the new Persona, who announces itself: "I am Amunet. Your strength to overcome hardships has awakened new power. I shall fight by your side." And just like that, she's gone.

"New power," Taiga murmurs as she places a hand over her heart. "Please, Yu-san, allow me to help in any way I can. Because we're friends."

"I'm counting on you." He holds the dog tag firmly in his hand.


Closing Song: "Shake it Out" - Florence + the Machine


Annnnnd that's the end of Paper Airplanes! Thanks to all of you for sticking by! :)

xx, der kapitan