PARALLEL (Yu Narukami x Reader)

Parallel – A Yu Narukami x Reader Fanfic

    You wake up to a soft light shining over your eyelids. Bangs are plastered across your face after a good night’s rest. Wondering why your alarm didn’t go off this morning as you moved your hair out of your eyes, you groggily get up out of bed and walk across the room to open up the blinds and take a look outside.
Something seems… off. Maybe? Does it? No, that would be ridiculous. You think as you quickly shake your head and lightly hit your cheeks a few times. However, for some reason, you can’t seem to shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right here. Where is your alarm clock? It should have woken you up a while ago! The sun is shining brightly outside through the window you still stand by. Your eyes seemingly close on their own as you take a moment to bask in its early morning warmth.
    Yu Narukami sat drinking juice in front of his TV watching the midnight channel once again. This time, the staticky image of a girl who had recently transferred to Inaba high school appeared. They had been friends a while before he had come to Inaba himself. She had left with her family to live in another city when her father had gotten a different job little more than a year before high school started. He fondly remembered seeing her again the first day. She had made brief eye contact with him before quickly looking away during her introduction… Yu smiled a little to himself before remembering someone had thrown her into a literal deathtrap. Right. Shit.
Yu intently focused back on the TV with renewed determination before nearly choking on his drink at what he saw. The girl on screen was dressed in a bright red, low cut dress with a flowing skirt and a slit traveling up to reveal most of one of her thighs. Yu coughed violently and beat his chest a few times before double checking that this girl on the screen could really be part of the cutesy, shy, girl he remembered. W-Well, I guess anything’s possible? Yu stared, transfixed with the girl dancing around on screen excitedly exclaiming something while making hearts with her hands.
Suddenly, his phone almost jumped off the couch, vibrating, Yosuke was probably calling to say something like “Are you seeing this dude?!” Sure enough, it was Yu’s partner and best bro yelling over the line “Holy shit dude! Are you seeing this!?!?!”
Over the bridge, a large stage has formed. Humongous candles dripping wax are on the far sides of the stage. The stage lights all click on in order of the outermost lights to the center lights. Steps rigidly descend from the back wall of the stage. They reach the floor with the loud sound of marble hitting marble.
    At this point, you think you hear someone yell something on top of the bridge, but the sound is quickly drowned out by a loud clack that echoed across the entire area. You could hear nothing else as a pair of bright red heels led a dazzling women down the long flight of stairs. Once she reached the magnificent stage floor, she struck a pose you defiantly wouldn’t have the confidence to make in that kind of dress. She elegantly brushed her hair out of her face with scarlet gloved hands to reveal a pair of piecing golden eyes.

    Strangely enough, the woman looked almost exactly like you.
    “W-Who are you?!” You called to the woman on stage. She looked back at you with a strange smile on her face. Your face. One that looked overly excited for what was to come.
    “Oh dearie, I’m you!~” She called back before laughing. More like cackling really.
    She said everything in this flirtatious way that reminded you of someone nothing like you. She changed poses to lean towards you more, somehow revealing even more leg than before, and pouted. The woman shot you the biggest smile you had ever seen. It looked so unnatural on your face.
    Suddenly, her head shot up, she twirled and swooned.

    The scarlet woman struck a more dramatic pose with one hand on her forehead. You turned around to find that Yu Narukami and his friends from Inaba had found you. How the heck did they get here? Where even is here?! You immediately flushed at the sight of Yu. If this woman really was you, Yu was most likely the knight she was talking about. You would admit you might have had a little crush on him way back when, but that was then! Gah! Why did that woman dress your body dressed like that! Now more than ever did you wish that the other you would pick a different way to stand.
    Wait a second, i-is he blushing too? I-It’s probably nothing!! It’s probably just the funky lighting in here. Right? Wait. That Yosuke kid’s here too. What the heck’s he staring at? What’s that bear-thing staring at?!

    The woman on the stage shifted to an awkward looking position and exclaimed “Yu!~ I missed you soooo muuuuchh while I was away!~ I absolutely hated every moment away from you!~”
    You immediately retorted with “W-What?! T-That’s not true!!” Hate was a strong word! Sure, you missed him for a while, but that was only because you were friends! You made new friends after you moved! The woman on stage’s eyes only seemed to glow brighter with your comment. With this, she pulled another dramatic pose and said
    Her statement was quick, but the impact was strong. The air in the room suddenly felt heavier and was harder to breathe. The woman on stage was still burning holes through your head. “I-“ You tried to start, but someone interrupted “Don’t say it (y/n)!” All the same, you covered you face and yelled “I-I I don’t!!” and that was all the woman needed. The figure in the bright red dress on stage burst into a Phoenix. The Phoenix flew and spun in the air. It let out a startling laugh and flew quickly around the room. It spread its wings over the stage and exclaimed:
    You stood frozen in place, eyes wide, as the fiery bird got poised to dive bomb you. You willed your feet to move as hard as you could, but it felt as though your legs had turned to lead. The bird swooped down, getting closer and closer as you felt your hands go cold and your face burn from the heat. Suddenly, you felt someone quickly push you from behind before you both fell to the ground. You turned to face them and found…Yu. He was breathing heavily on top of you with hands on either side of your head. Both of you realized the awkward position you were in and flushed. Yu quickly stood and helped you to cover as the Phoenix screeched and fanned waves of flame towards the group. Everyone (except you obviously) had summoned their personas and were fighting their hardest against the other you.
Yu faced you and grabbed your hands. You could see that he was still blushing a little, even through the strange reddish lighting. He started, “(y/n), I’ve seen enough Shadow Selves to know that what those things say are true. Everyone here has faced themselves like you have to now.” He gripped your hands a little tighter and leaned towards you. Yu looked to the side for a brief moment, then looked at you again. “Y-You” Yu glanced away again like he was looking for the correct way to order his words. “D-Do” He looked back at you. “D-Did you… Did you really miss me?” Yu looked like he was bracing himself for your answer even though, if what he said was true, he already knew what you would say.
    “I-I” You didn’t know what to say at first. You looked over to the personas fighting the screeching Phoenix that was part of you as it blasted the others with another wave of harsh flames. “I did miss you.” You felt your face heat up as you said more quietly, “A-A lot”
The Phoenix let out a cry of anguish immediately after the words slipped out of your mouth. Its flames burst higher in rage and the room was engulfed in its fire. Yu quickly pulled you closer to him to protect you from the heat. Honestly, you through, it wouldn’t have mattered if you were at the heart of the sun right now, you felt like you could burst into flames yourself.
Yu looked you square in the eyes. You could see how nervous he was in his. He gulped before gently saying “D-Do you love me?” Your eyes widened. Never did you expect him to say anything like that to you. Your mind immediately went back to your Shadow Self on stage

    Something in the back of your mind told you he wasn’t asking just because he wanted to know. It said he just wanted to get this whole ordeal over with and never talk about this again. Maybe you’d be ok with that? He was just some friend from school, right? A really… cute friend. A really cute friend you maybe, maybe wanted to be a little more than friends with. When did he start wearing glasses? Wow… they made him look really… Ah! N-Nevermind! He had just saved your life moments ago, right? Did that mean anything? Maybe he did that for everybody with crazy monsters coming at them.
    Yet here, right in front of you, he seemed more anxious than you had ever seen him before. The usually pretty stoic guy you knew looked genuinely a little worried about what you would say. Yu saw your uneasiness and stated “Because… I r-really love you.” You swore his face get even redder. This surprised you and you felt your face get warmer too. You were so close, close enough to feel his breath.
What? Did he really feel that way?! You closed your eyes and thought back to before either of you went to Inaba. Back when you hung out regularly, talked together, laughed together. His smile was so pretty, you wish you could see it more. You suddenly realized that deep inside, you really wanted to just hold his hand and go on long walks. You wanted to just know he would always be there for you, and you him. Why didn’t you realize it earlier? You did love him, but you had always repressed your feelings out of fear of being rejected and ruining what you had. You loved him, and what were you doing? Just sitting here blankly while he confessed his love for you?

    The Phoenix gave one last animalistic scream before diving onto you once again. Yu quickly closed the distance between the two of you after you had stated your feelings. The two of you shared your first kiss together as the giant firebird exploded only meters above you. His arms wrapped around to embrace you as your persona card floated down, bathed in light.
    Yosuke strolled over to tap you both on the shoulder. “Hey lovebirds, get a room will ya’?” Yosuke sighed, seeming to be reminded of someone else.
    You accepted your persona and Yu started to explain what this place was and how they had found you. As you all started to walk toward the exit leading back the real world, you felt Yu intertwine his fingers with yours. You felt as though this was the start of something lovely.