K'yo, everyone! VGJoker2015 here! For all of you who're enjoying my main project, Persona: Reborn from the Sea, thanks for reading. If you came for the MinatoxYukari pairing, you came to check out my work in general, or even both, I hope you like this.

So, let me just start off by saying this: I absolutely adore this pairing! I can never stop watching the Lover Social Link videos on Youtube, along with other certain videos that I will not mention because of spoilers. The stories for these two made me feel like they were made to be together. I've been making up their love story in my head for a long time. Now, I wanna show it to you. Hope you enjoy!

Persona 3: "You're Not Alone"

Chapter 1: Thanks for Today

Minato's been standing in front of the mirror above the sink in his room for ten minutes trying to decide if what he's wearing right now is good enough for today.

"Should I… try wearing something else?" he asks himself while keeping his eyes glued on the mirror. He stares at the bang of his short dark blue hair, then moves it out of the way to reveal his right eye.

"Maybe I should… get it cut?" He lets go of his bang and scratches the back of his head.

This is all so confusing. He's never really cared about his looks. He didn't care that he wore the same normal clothes every single day. He never cared how tidy or messy his hair is. Honestly, he never really cared about most things in his life. Not even the thought of death fazed him. A gun could be put to his head and he would still sport that blank as paper expression on his face. Just like he didn't about when or how he died, he didn't care about his appearance.

He lets out a deep sigh.

"Except… I've never been on a date before."

xxx

It's been a couple months since Minato moved back to his hometown, Iwatodai. After being tossed around for ten years by foster care after he was orphaned when his parents died in a terrible car crash, leaving him with no memories of his childhood and no family to look after him, he finally landed back here.

The first person he met in his return to this city was Yukari Takeba. She's a junior at Gekkoukan High School, the school he was transferred to, and a pretty popular one at that. Smart, beautiful, a member of the archery club, and bearing a cheerleader's aura. People described her as the whole package. All the guys in school are always trying to take their best shot at the pink sweater clad, brunette archer, but she easily dodges them and sends all of them running for the hills.

As for her and Minato, their meeting was… well, not on bad terms. More like strange ones. There was a train malfunction on his way to his dorm, so he had gotten to his assigned dorm really late and she was the first person to meet him in the lobby. What he didn't expect was for her to have a pistol latched to her thigh. Everything was fine in the morning. She even escorted him to the school herself and they ended going to class together. The rumor that they were going out wasn't very welcome, though.

A few nights after that, he learned the existence of the Dark Hour, a time period that exists between days and starts a midnight. During that time period, demons know as Shadows lurk around and attack the minds of any human they see, inflicting them with Apathy Syndrome, or turning them into living corpses that eventually commit suicide known as the Lost. (Side note: One of the victims was actually the reason behind the train malfunction when Minato arrived due to a successful suicide attempt.) Most people are actually sealed into coffins during the Dark Hour, but people with the potential to use Persona, the power to summon spirits that manifest a person's psyche to fight, are free to roam around.

Minato awakened to his power on the night of a full moon, when, apparently, a strong Shadow comes out, in order to protect Yukari after she failed to use her Evoker (that pistol) to replicate the act of death and summon her Persona when their dorm was attacked. After he woke up from a week's slumber caused by fatigue, Yukari apologized for not being able to protect him and hiding these things from him.

It caught Minato completely off guard when she came out and told him that she's all alone like him because her father died in an explosion in a Kirijo Group Laboratory and she's on really bad terms with her mother. She joined the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (S.E.E.S.) in order to find out the truth behind the incident. Wanting to protect the only person who could sympathize with him, Minato ended up joining S.E.E.S. and they've been close allies ever since.

xxx

This past week, however, Minato protected Yukari from some gang members on their way home from school. She ended up getting mad at him, saying that he didn't need his help, and it escalated into a fight that made things kinda awkward. She called him up to the school roof a few days to apologize, explaining that she thought she would be no different from her mother, who constantly messes around with random men, if she always relied on someone else for help. In the end, she saw that as her field leader and close friend that knows her pain, it will never be bad to rely on Minato for help, so she thanks him for saving her and tells him, in her own words, that he had no idea how happy she was when he came.

On their way home, some other students caught them walking home together. It was while they were on the train headed back to Iwatodai.

"That's just messed up, man," says a guy with a backpack. "How does a new kid like him land Takeba before he even started going to Gekkou?!"

"Who knew she'd actually go for the cold, dark, mystery type?" says a guy with a bag. "I heard he's even ranked number one in class and the Kendo Team's MVP. He was even close to beating that beast Mamoru guy."

"Then, he'd be better off goin' for Mitsuru Kirijo! She's the current valedictorian! She's probably into guys like him! Take a shot at her and let us have Takeba!" Yukari groans in absolute disgust.

"Ugh, could those guys seriously be any louder?" she whispers. "And "Let us have Takeba"? Tch, perverts."

"Well, at least you won't have to worry about the junior guys hitting on you anymore," Minato mentions. "Or, well… any guys, for that matter?" Yukari crosses her arms.

"Yeah, but with how much I've been asked "Hey, how're you and the new kid doing?" or "How far have you guys gone?", I'm getting really close to actually miss being hit on all the time." Minato sighs and leans forward, resting his head on his arms.

"Yeah. Kenji does ask me about stuff like that everyday. Eh... I don't really care, though."

"Hmph. Yeah, that sounds like you."

"But… does the rumor really bother you that much?" Yukari glares at Minato. Not in anger towards him, though.

"Well, yeah! Of course it bothers me a lot! It's not even true!" Minato waits for Yukari to say something else… but it never came. Yukari notices the confused expression on his face.

"What?" she asks.

"And?" he leads.

"And what?"

"It bothers you cuz it's not true and?"

"Uh… and nothing. That's it."

"So, you're saying that the only reason the rumor bugs you so much is because it's not true?" Yukari starts getting a little irritated at him.

"Well, yeah! What's your point?!" Minato looks down at the ground to think, then looks at Yukari.

"Okay. So, let's say the rumor isn't about you and me. Let's say it's about… you and Junpei-" Yukari jumps from her seat, outraged.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! Don't pair me with Stupei-!" Minato puts his hand to her face to cut her off.

"Calm down! Just hear me out." Yukari takes a second to calm down before taking her seat.

"Okay. So now, the rumor's about you and Junpei," he says. "You've got millions of billions of zillions of reasons to be bothered by it now."

"Tch! Of course!" she exclaims. "He's obnoxious, he's sleazy, his brain's the size of a marble, he never thinks ahead, he's completely self-centered, all he does is play video games, you can't trust him to do crap, he has the worst hygiene-" Minato cuts her off with his hand again.

"Okay, okay. That's enough. I get it. So, overall, he's just... Junpei, right?"

"He's Stupei!" Yukari corrects. Minato nods.

"So, compared to the million of billions of zillions of reasons it would bother you if it was Junpei," he says. "The only reason it bothers you so much that it's me is because it's not true?"

"W-Well, yeah. Um… I mean, uh… " Yukari looks down as gets a light blush.

"Um… to be honest, it… it doesn't really bother me that much," she confesses. "I-I mean, you're totally different from Stupei. Y-You're really smart, really reliable, you're a good leader, and you seem you're always looking out for everyone. Plus, you're really strong and nothing ever seems to scare you." Yukari cracks a embarrassed smile.

"T-To tell the truth, out of all the guys in school, you seem like-" Yukari gasps, realizing what she's saying. Her face turns beat red and she shakes her head.

"Stupid! What're you making me say?!" she yells. "Hngh… We're done talking about this, got it?!" Minato sighs and gives Yukari a moment to calm down.

"One more question-" Yukari slams her hands in her lap, cutting him off.

"I just said we're done-!"

"Just one more! I promise I'll drop it if you answer." Yukari lets out a long groan, then sighs.

"Ugh… fine. What is it?" Minato closes his eyes for a moment, then looks at Yukari again.

"Would it really be that bad…" he says. "If it is true?" Yukari blushed again. At first, it looks like she gonna scream at him, but she hesitates. She's at a complete loss for words.

"U-Uh… I, well… that's… um… I-I'm sorry. What was the question again?" she stutters.

"Okay, let's try this. If I were to ask you, right here, right now, if you wanted to go out together sometime, what would you say?"

The rephrased question doesn't seem to embarrass Yukari that much. She's able to clearly think about this question. She looks down and twiddles her thumbs for a moment before answering.

"Well, uh… I… I guess… I'd say… Sure, when?" Minato, with his hands hiding the blush on his face, gulps.

"Um… what if I said… how about this Sunday around noon?" Yukari twiddles her thumbs again.

"Uh… I'd say… okay?" Minato looks down and gulps again.

"Uh… would you show?" he asks.

"Well, yeah. Of course, I'd show." Yukari answers.

"W-Would… would you really?"

"Huh?" Yukari is confused by Minato repeating his question. Why would he want her to promise she would show up? She looks at him and sees a bit of red on his face. She blushes as she comes to two realizations: 1. He's actually blushing. 2. This isn't some hypothetical question, he's actually asking her out.

Minato shakes his head.

"Uh, you know what? Forget I said anything. Sorry." Yukari is dumbstruck at Minato's disguised date offering attempt as the train stops.

xxx

Today is Sunday and it's 11:55 a.m. Minato, still standing in front of the mirror, pulls out his cell and looks at the text message she sent him that night.

It reads: "I promise I'll show. You'd better not stand me up, okay? ;)" He takes a deep breath and looks in the mirror.

"Screw it. This is fine."

xxx

Minato walk downstairs to the lounge, hands in his pockets like always, and sees that no one is around, except Yukari standing at the front door. To his surprise, she's wearing the same summer clothes she always wears: pink tank top, navy blue jeans, and white sandals, all topped off with her signature heart choker.

Yukari, hearing his footsteps drawing closer to her, turns and sighs in relief.

"Oh, good. You're not dressed up or anything," she says. Minato raises one eyebrow.

"You had that problem too?" he asks. Yukari rubs the back of her neck.

"W-Well, this is my first time on an actual date," she laughs nervously. "So, I, uh… Ha ha… I didn't know what to expect. In the end, I just went, "To hell with it"."

"Yeah. It's not like we're going to a ball or anything." Yukari sheepishly laughs with a light blush on her face. Minato scratches his head and blushes.

"So, um… where are we going?" Yukari asks.

"Well, I figured we'd just walk around like usual. Nothing special." Minato says with a shrug. Yukari nods.

"Yeah. Good idea."

xxx

Minato and Yukari did what they usually do on days after school: Just walk around in random areas. Today, they decided to go to Paulownia Mall. However, there was a different feeling in the air around them than when they usually walked together. The whole time, they felt their faces slightly turn red and their heart rates quicken due to them being so close together in this situation. They weren't even trying to be so close to each other.

Several hours passed by and the two actually did a lot more than they usually do. They spent some time at the arcade, did a little karaoke, went to the cafe, and even caught a last minute movie.

xxx

It was almost dark by the time they got back to the dorm with satisfied smiles on their faces. As they walk to the dorm's front door, Yukari giggles.

"Okay. I'm just gonna come out and say it," she says. "That was way more fun than I thought it would be!"

"Yeah. I guess so, huh?" Minato says. "Still can't believe we actually caught that movie, though."

"Yeah, and it was so good! Man, I can't wait for the sequel." As they reach the steps to the front door of the dorm, Yukari looks down in deep thought with her hands behind her back.

"Hey, Minato?" she speaks. "Um… what do you do on your days off? Not that I mean to pry. I'm just curious." Minato stops and thinks about it.

"Well… when I'm not getting supplies and weapons for our trips to Tartarus," he says. "I… I guess... I just I stay in my room and study." Yukari is surprised.

"Really?! Wait… besides the film festival and your Kendo tournament training… you weren't... in your room all day during summer break, were you?" Minato looks at the ground. Yukari takes it as a yes.

"You were?!" she gasps. "Aw... Oh man… I-I'm so sorry... I guess I never noticed cuz I never see you in the morning." Minato looks to Yukari with head cocked and a raised eyebrow.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asks her. "It's not your fault."

"You say that, but… I kinda feel like it is. We live in the same dorm, after all. You must've been so bored... and lonely." Minato scratches his head and looks down.

"Eh, don't worry about it," he says. "It's no big deal... I've been used to it for a long time now. I don't really care anymore." A light gasps escapes Yukari's mouth as her face floods with disbelief, having caught the hidden sadness in his grey eyes.

"... Minato..."

His words sting her heart like the a small swarm of bees. After her father died and she moved out of her mother's place, she's been alone for almost ten years. Although they aren't on the best of terms, she still has blood family, but Minato's been left on his own. No parents, siblings, aunts, uncles. Absolutely no one to care for him at all. After learning about Minato's past, her loneliness started to fade. She wonders if she can do the same for him.

She takes a deep breath and smiles.

"Well, get unused to it," she says.

"Huh?"

"Why don't you ask me out? You should totally ask me out. I honestly try to do something on my off days every time I get one." Minato blushes.

"Uh… A-Are you sure?" he asks.

"He he he. Hey, if dates with you are as much fun as today's was, I don't object. Like I said, it's boring being alone."

"Oh… well…" Yukari giggles.

"Seriously though, from now on when your free days, come knock on my door so I can save you from your boredom," she says. "We'll go somewhere together. Deal?"

Minato stares at Yukari, slightly moved by her offer, and gently smiles.

"Yeah, sure. Deal." Yukari nods and starts walking up the stairs.

"You'd better come straight to me," she warns. "Or I'll start banging on your door to wake you up. Besides..." She stops at the door.

"I… I think I've been having the most fun on the days I spend with you-"

"You're kidding, right?" Minato says, narrowing his eyes, remembering how she teased him at the flower shop. Yukari shakes her head.

"N-No… not this time. I-I'm dead serious… about this too…" Yukari turns to Minato, with a blushed gently smile on her face.

"I-I'm... really glad you asked me out today." Yukari's words and her smile took Minato by surprise. He could feel his heart skip a beat as he gazed at her. For the first time in his life, he thought someone was… beautiful.

...Only to have her mischievous smile ruin it.

"Psych~!" she shouts. The feeling stops in a flash and Minato facepalms himself, ticked off by her tease. Yukari starts laughing.

"Know what? Deal's off. I'm not talking to you anymore," Minato groans.

"Aha ha ha ha! No! No, no! I'm sorry!" Yukari shouts. "I couldn't resist!" Yukari wipes the tear from her right eye.

"Aha ha… I really did mean it. This… this is just proof. See?" Minato sighs.

"You're such a sick little tease, you know that?" he says. Yukari recovers from her laugh.

"Anyway… thanks a lot for today," she says. "I had a really good time." Minato smiles.

"No problem. I had a good time too."

"So, are we going to Tartarus tonight?" Minato shakes his head.

"Nah. We'll wing it today," he says. "We'll go tomorrow."

"Alright. Well… G'night." Yukari turns to the door and goes through. Minato stands there, looking at the sky above, thinking about all the stuff he did with Yukari.

"Thanks a lot for today." This was such a perfect day. There's no way he's gonna ruin it with Tartarus.

Chapter 1: End