Persona x Reader

Kanji Tatsumi x Fem!Reader (P4)

For you, it was quickly becoming a bad week. Even though you did your school work (and put a lot of effort into it) it turns out you had forgotten to place it back in your bag, leading your teacher to think you were just lying about doing it in the first place.

Then it poured when you didn't have an umbrella on you, so when you tried to rush home using only your bag for cover you slipped and fell into a puddle. You came home with your uniform soaked, which your mother got irritated at. As if you weren't mad about it yourself! 

Your bad luck only seemed to continue, and you were beginning to think perhaps a curse had been put on you. Especially when walking past the field a stray football hit you in the face. 

When you finally made it to your classroom, you collapsed on your desk. Your efforts to try and focus were in vain as you felt a sudden splitting headache coming your way. As one would expect, you got a lecture for not paying attention. 

Lunch break finally came after what felt like years, but you couldn't bring yourself to be excited about it. At least you managed to keep your lunch safe. You excused yourself to the roof, wanting to be alone. You felt that you wouldn't be very good company, especially with how much of a bad mood you've been in for the last couple of days. 

It was a bit cloudy, and from the small peeks of the sky you got from the spaces in between the clouds showed it was a drab and colourless grey. 

'What fitting weather.'  You thought with a frown, mindlessly poking at your food with your chopsticks.

The creaking sound of the door brought you out of your tired daydream, causing you to look towards the door. A boy with his school jacket over his shoulders, but without his arms through the sleeves walked over to you, looking awkward as he did so.

Yep, it was Kanji. Swallowing the food in your mouth, you questioned him.

"Kanji? What are you doing here?"

He avoided your eyes, scratching the side of his cheek. "Huh? No reason."

"No reason...?" You repeated. He groaned, suddenly defensive.

"Yeah! Do I need a reason to be up here, dammit?!" His voice raised, but only out of embarrassment. Being friends with him, you knew about his habits.

"What about you then? You're usually with Chie-senpai and the rest." He said.

You looked backed down at your lunch. "Yeah... I just felt like being alone."

"Oh, but you can stay if you want! I can't say I'd be good company though." You quickly told him sheepishly.

And so he did, sitting beside you but with some space in between. For a while it was silent when he coughed. 

You continued to say nothing. He coughed again, louder than before.

After a while you looked at him questionably. "Do you have a cold? Maybe staying up here isn't a good idea."

"It's not that!" He hurriedly answered, his face tensing. He let out a sigh. Then dug around in the pocket of his black school trousers. After a short while, he fished something out.

It was a cute little handmade figure of your favourite animal, looking like it was made out of soft fabrics. Kanji glanced at you to see your reaction, but quickly averted his eyes when he saw your awed expression.

"Just take it already." He muttered. 

You did so, looking at it closely. "I've never seen anything like this in shops. Wait... Did you make this?"

"S-So what if I did?" 

You chuckled a bit. "I'd say you're amazing! I heard some stuff from the others, but seeing it in person is completely different."

He let out a sigh, sounding relieved. "So you like it..."

"Hm?" 

"N-Nothing!"

You shrugged at his constant defensiveness, instead turning the small figure between your index finger and thumb carefully. Despite it fitting into the palm of your hand, the detail and stitching were immaculate. 

"Is it really okay for me to keep?" Was your query. It looked like it could be sold instead!

"Well yeah, that's why I made it." Kanji answered honestly. You turned your head back at him quizzically, causing his face to go pink.

"What do you mean?" You asked curiously. 

Kanji hesitated before clicking his tongue, looking down at his shoes. "You've seemed down for a while now, so I wanted to do somethin' for ya. T-that a problem, huh?!"

His tone was a little sharp, but his words were kind. After all the bad fortune you've had, this small act of kindness made your eyes feel a bit wet.

Hearing nothing but silence from you, he reluctantly looked up to meet your eyes, only to see they were tears. He leant back, arm raised in an effort to comfort you somehow but only hanging in the air uselessly as he was unsure. 

"W-Wha, what the hell you cryin' for? You sayin' it's no good?!" Kanji's flustered state only increased as did your number of tears, but you were beginning to laugh.

Confused, his face reddened. Still, seeing you finally laugh after you being so tired and sad over the last few days lifted an imaginary weight off his shoulders. When you finally composed yourself, wiping your tears and calming your laughter, Kanji somehow did as well.

"No, no, that's not it al all." You told him, giggling. "It's just really nice of you to try and cheer me up. Thank you, Kanji."

He slowly nodded, his panicking state finally fading away. 

"It's no big deal." He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. 

You smiled. You disagreed which his statement, but he'd most likely just get embarrassed. 

"This really is amazing though. I'd go cross-eyed if I tried to do stitches this small!" You said, observing the fabric figure.

Kanji chuckled. "You just gotta practice at it is all."

"Hmm. So then you can teach me?"

"Teach?!" He loudly repeated, staring at you slack-jawed. You nodded, grinning.

"Yeah, tell me your secrets!" You playfully asked, causing him to grumble under his breath.

He had seconds thoughts on giving you the gift, especially if you knew he made it himself, but knowing you were actually interested in his hobby made him happy. That was a fact he couldn't doubt. 

"... Fine, already. But don't you complain, y'hear me?!"

You saluted with a light laugh. "Got it, captain! Teach me everything!"

                            __________________________________________

A/N: It's quite short, but hopefully it's sweet as well. ^^

I was actually going to write a Yusuke oneshot instead of this but I had no idea how to continue the story from what I had wrote, so I scrapped it. I think I might be getting a bit of writer's block again but I'll still try update regularly!