Persona x Reader

Chihiro Fushimi x Male!Reader (P3)

'Alright, bookstore empty?'  You surveyed the shop carefully. 'Check.'

From what you could tell, the only people there were the old couple who owned it, whose presence you didn't mind. It was rather the presence of people your age you were wary of. 

To many your behaviour would look strange, but you had good reason. The bookstore might have looked old with the towers of yellowed books and musty hardback covers, but there were a lot of hidden gems! 

After finding a couple to call your own, the number of visits to the quaint shop increased, as well as your purchases. 

A smile unconsciously rose on your lips as you searched through the stacks, coming across a good find. A shoujo manga series! 

Your love of the genre was strong, but not as overwhelmingly strong as the anxiousness of thinking someone at school would find you here. Before you knew it, your visits became secretive, and you frequently made up excuses to your friends so you could instead go to the bookstore. 

It was fine though, you were always extra careful! Nobody knew about your hobby. You could enjoy reading shoujo and not worry about people finding out. 

After flicking through a couple, you made your decision. There were quite a few good ones, and you were looking forward to reading them when you had free time. All that was left was to buy them. 

The old man at the desk was friendly as usual, smiling at you as he handed you back the books. "There you go."

You returned the smile. "Thanks."  

He bid you a polite goodbye as you turned to leave, your eyes gazing down at your newly purchased manga. You were always entranced with the different art styles each series had.

In your daydream you had collided into something, or rather someone. In your surprise your hold on the books had released, them landing on the floor with a thump. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" you had started, but cut yourself off when you saw the horrified expression on her face. A girl about your age stared at you wide-eyed, her hands clasped in front of her chest. The glasses she wore were slightly lopsided from when she bumped into you.

You were pondering why she was looking at you like that when your eyes fell to the abandoned manga on the floor. The look on your face was slowly matching hers.

Quickly you picked them up, cramming them against your chest with your face feeling warm. 

"S-Sorry!" You apologised again, rushing past her. How did this happen? You were so careful!

As your feet carried you away at a fast pace, hers remained halted in the bookstore as she watched after your fading figure.  

                         ______________________________________________

 The next day at school you couldn't help but be on edge. Whenever you were chatting with friends you'd be expecting them to bring up your manga taste, but things only went on as usual.

You hadn't seen that girl again either... You really did feel bad for bumping into her, but the look on her face told you she wanted nothing to do with you. Was liking shoujo manga really that embarrassing...? 

It seemed so. With a sigh, you made your way up to the roof. You couldn't focus during class and got reprimanded more than once for it, but could they really blame you?

The roof seemed like a good place to clear your head anyhow, especially with how quiet it was. As expected, not many people were there.

For a while you just took to staring up at the cloudless sky, sorting out your thoughts. At times like these, reading your favourite manga would calm you down, but with your current situation...