[ When he'd first gotten Izanagi, and then each and every subsequent Persona after as they'd fought to reach Yukiko, Souji found it a little funny. It was a sardonic humor, as he gained new masks to wear as the Wild Card, shuffling through cards as the situation dictated, a mask for every occasion. It was the same as the smiles and tightly secured masks he wore for people - new "friends" at school, the teachers who called him diligent and well-mannered, even his parents.
And then, at the end, he'd thrown away the final mask as he'd seen the truth as it was. Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko. Kanji, Rise, Naoto. Nanako, Dojima. Each and every single friend he'd made in Inaba had shaped him into who he was, the real person he was, and he would never forget that. A lonely child given the chance to be somebody, his own person, instead of what people expected, or what was easiest to move on after a year, half a year, a few months.
Looking back on it, he doesn't know who he was. If he was really even somebody beyond a mask. He doesn't really know his parents, either. Hardworking, certainly. And they do love him, in a distant way.
Souji thinks about it, and looks at Lux as she gives him the same melancholy back in her expression, that quiet hurt of loneliness that they try to hide, and... he knows that he'll do anything to prevent her from feeling that way while she's here, while he's here. It reminds him of himself, of his friends, his cousin turned sister - and he won't stand for it. Someone so obviously bright, so curious and friendly, truly deserves better than isolation.
When she offers him the pastries, he reaches in, taking out two. Yes, they're meant to be shared - he offers her one of them, his smile warmer at the corners. It reaches his eyes. ]
I think it's easy for anyone to forget that. To think that they have an obligation or duty to it as a norm, when they spend so long in that position, or one like it.
[ Souji believes that things happen with purpose, but also by chance. He wouldn't have shaken hands at the start of his journey only to find himself here if that weren't the case. ]
I would have stayed. My cousin became my sister, and my uncle treated me more like a son that I'd ever actually known. I wouldn't have been leaving my friends. [ His gaze drops to pick at his tart for a moment, contemplative. ] But I would have still come here, if it meant that I would be going back to Inaba afterwards.
[ His eyes flick up from under his fringe. ]
What would you choose? Would you have stayed, or left, if given the chance?
HERE WE GOOO
And then, at the end, he'd thrown away the final mask as he'd seen the truth as it was. Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko. Kanji, Rise, Naoto. Nanako, Dojima. Each and every single friend he'd made in Inaba had shaped him into who he was, the real person he was, and he would never forget that. A lonely child given the chance to be somebody, his own person, instead of what people expected, or what was easiest to move on after a year, half a year, a few months.
Looking back on it, he doesn't know who he was. If he was really even somebody beyond a mask. He doesn't really know his parents, either. Hardworking, certainly. And they do love him, in a distant way.
Souji thinks about it, and looks at Lux as she gives him the same melancholy back in her expression, that quiet hurt of loneliness that they try to hide, and... he knows that he'll do anything to prevent her from feeling that way while she's here, while he's here. It reminds him of himself, of his friends, his cousin turned sister - and he won't stand for it. Someone so obviously bright, so curious and friendly, truly deserves better than isolation.
When she offers him the pastries, he reaches in, taking out two. Yes, they're meant to be shared - he offers her one of them, his smile warmer at the corners. It reaches his eyes. ]
I think it's easy for anyone to forget that. To think that they have an obligation or duty to it as a norm, when they spend so long in that position, or one like it.
[ Souji believes that things happen with purpose, but also by chance. He wouldn't have shaken hands at the start of his journey only to find himself here if that weren't the case. ]
I would have stayed. My cousin became my sister, and my uncle treated me more like a son that I'd ever actually known. I wouldn't have been leaving my friends. [ His gaze drops to pick at his tart for a moment, contemplative. ] But I would have still come here, if it meant that I would be going back to Inaba afterwards.
[ His eyes flick up from under his fringe. ]
What would you choose? Would you have stayed, or left, if given the chance?