PERSONA 4 MYSTERIOUS MIST

Golden Week - Part I

" Nanako ... you're still young , there will be a time when you learn that ' I'm sorry ' isn't always enough ... "

That was the last thing Yu said , before he walked into the room and closed the door behind him , leaving Nanako to stare at the wooden door with confusion. Behind the door , he clutched his chest and let his back rest against the door , he slowly slide down until he was lying on the ground , he could feel many emotions welling up inside him , once again he found himself trapped between two forces each pulling him to one side , one screaming at him to reconcile with Yui , and the other fervently  barring him from even thinking about her , he felt so conflicted between these two forces that he could feel his heart swelling up , and he feared that it might burst out of his chest . While he was in his room , wrestling with these thoughts, his phone rang. With tired hands , he picked it up .

" hello , Yu-chan ! " his mother was on the other side

" oh ... hey , mom ! " he said , raising his voice to hide his internal feelings " how has work been ? "

" well, we're finally having some much needed break ! This week has been especially hectic , but now the initial presentation was a success, so we're going to celebrate after an hour or so "

" I see , that's great news "

" but more importantly, what about you , Yu-chan ? How has life been these past few weeks ? "

" it's ... it's been great ! I joined a sports club, I made some friends . You know ... school life ... " Yu replied with a facade of a laugh " honestly, other than that , this town is pretty boring . They only have Junes to hang out in , which couldn't be blander of a shopping center if it tried ! "

" really , Yu-chan ! " his mother laughed " I'm over here worried about the murders and kidnapping happening in Inaba , and you're complaining about being bored ! Well , if these are your biggest issues, then I suppose I was too worried "

" yeah , you were , mom . I'm telling you the news channels are blowing this out of proportion , since it's pretty much the only ' news ' in this town . You can even ask my uncle of how life is here , I'm sure he will say the same "

" that's good to know , I'm glad to see you're safe. And Yui ? How's she ? "

" I ... yeah ... she's fine ... " unwittingly, Yu let a sigh escape him , which was what signaled to his mother that something was wrong

" Yu-chan ... tell me what happened ... " she said gently through the phone " I could tell when something is upsetting you, so don't bottle it up, okay ? "

" mom ... I know you told me to stay close to Yui and support her, but she just doesn't want me in her life. Ever since I arrived at this town, she continued to see me in the worst light, I feel like I would disrespect myself just by asking her what time it is! At some point, I just decided I can't take anymore of her nonsense ! " Yu forgot himself while responding, and he found himself yelling at his mother through the phone, when he regained some of his composure, he apologized " I'm ... I'm sorry for yelling... I just ... I understand that she's been through a lot, but she needs to understand that we can't help her if she continues to push us away and antagonize us ! It's about time she learns what it means to lose the love of those close to her ! "

" deep breaths , Yu-chan " his mother replied to him softly " you sound like you've been bottling this up a lot lately, I'm sorry that I couldn't talk to you about this sooner "

" no ... it's not that ... I just ... I feel bad about it, Nanako just tried to help us make up, but I still didn't accept her apology. I can't lie to myself, I don't want to be around Yui right now ... or ever for that matter ! "