Persona x Reader

Ryuji Sakamoto x Fem!Reader (P5)

The atmpsohere the school hallways of Shujin was heavy with anxiety and worry, and it was obvious even before entering the school. There had been murmurs of people being hounded after for money in Shibuya, as well as news of people suddenly getting well-paying jobs.

All of it sounded very fishy, and that's why you wanted to get to the bottom of it. The people involved didn't speak much about it, but from their body language alone you could easily notice something was up. Shifty eyes, fidgeting hands. That as well as the defensiveness you overheard in their conversations at times, it was clear. 

What could the students in Shujin be up to? From what you could see it looked like they didn't want to be in the situation they were currently placed in. The thought made you fists clench. As annoying as the constant gossiping  your classmates did, it just wasn't fair for them to be stuck in a mess bigger than they could handle!

Whether or not you could handle it, you weren't sure. But you couldn't sit and do nothing! 

You were about to do some more info-gathering when you saw Ann chatting to a boy in the classroom. He looked on edge, although you didn't know the exact reason since you were only peering in through the window. 

"What're you doin'?" 

You looked around, eyes falling to Ryuji. He was in your class, so you talked to him from time to time. You were one of the few, especially during spring. However it seemed like things were better for him now. You almost wished you could talk to him outside of class as well, but that was a bit difficult for you...

"I'm just... Daydreaming." You replied, re-adjusting your grip on your bag. "What about you? I thought you left already."

 He shook his head. "Nah, I gotta- ah, well... I have some stuff to do." 

You hesitated in your response. His answer felt so stilted, you couldn't help but wonder. Trying not to acknowledge the sudden nausea you felt, you questioned it.

"Like what?" You asked. 

He shrugged, looking off to the side before looking back to you. "Y'know, uh... Homework! I forgot it yesterday, so I gotta go hand it in."

Before you could ask more, Ryuji rushed away with a quick wave goodbye. You watched him go with a frown.

"We didn't have homework..." You mumbled, then sighed. If you were just a bit more sociable, you would have asked for more. Despite not knowing him as anything more than a classmate, you knew he wasn't the big delinquent everyone seemed to think of him as. But still, you couldn't help but worry.

Was he involved with what had been recently going on? You hoped not, but the churning in your stomach told you your concerns were true.

                             __________________________________________

A few days later and you has finally found a lead from listening in on conversations around school. Apparently people were just handing out jobs, whether it be in central street or by the station. The more conversations you listened in on, the heavier the weight on your heart got. They just wanted simple jobs, and instead got dragged into something much bigger than them. 

You were always wishing you could talk to them, to comfort your classmates instead of always hiding and being an unseen presence. However as much as you truly wanted to, and as many times as you found yourself seconds away from making your presence known, you froze up. 

With the newfound information you had though, you knew you not that you could help in other ways that didn't involve much speaking. That much, you could do.