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Notice Me!!

Summary:

Souji and Naoto are more than happy together. At least, he thinks so. A visitor in his dreams thinks otherwise...Yes, it's as weird as it sounds. [A collection revolving around a couple working through their issues together.] [Cross-posted from FF.net]

Chapter 1: 1.1 - I'm back, Senpai!

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Wake up.

"Ugh…"

Souji's eyes opened slowly, reluctant to leave sleep behind. This hesitation quickly faded when he realized how odd the room looked. He sat up slowly, careful not to disturb his surroundings as he took in what he could see. Looking out the window quickly proved fruitless, as anything that would have been outside the apartment was awash in a haze of blue fog. "...That can't be good."

His mind was still groggy from sleep, so he didn't put too much thought into gently shaking Naoto by the shoulder. "Naoto...Naoto, look. Why is everything blue?"

"I can answer that, Senpai."

Souji froze, blinking a few times to clear his head before affirming that yes, Naoto had called him 'Senpai' for the first time in quite the long while. She was also speaking in a tone much higher than what he was used to. As the alarms in his head tripped one after another, he lowered his gaze to see a pair of glowing yellow eyes gazing dreamily back up at him. "Howdy, lover."

"AAAH!"

Souji dove out of the bed, landing hard on his butt as Shadow Naoto watched him with a catlike smirk on her face. "First reaction to seeing your girlfriend is to scream? And not in a good way? Senpai, I'm hurt."

Shadow Naoto sank down to all fours, slowly crawling down the bed and following him to the floor. Souji was rooted to the spot, confusion written clear on his face as he tried to process what was happening. She didn't particularly care. Shadow Naoto eyes twinkled as she sat down in front of him. This straightforward act seemed to baffle him further. "I'm not gonna attack you, Senpai, relax!"

She was surprised to see that Souji visibly did so after she said it. "Is this the part where we're supposed to talk it out, then…?"

"Yeah! I mean, if you trust me. The detective part's just shocked you're being so trusting."

"Well, we are dating. I don't think you've been harboring any murderous intent."

Souji frowned to himself and scratched his head lamely. "At least, I hope not."

Shadow Naoto smiled and inched closer, her voice sinking to the normal low Naoto usually spoke with. "We're dating, hmm…?"

Her normal self would wake up the next morning with a strange feeling of pride - of course, she wouldn't know it was because her Shadow was taking great pleasure in making Souji squirm. "W-well, we're dating, or at least Naoto and I are dating, but then, er, you're Naoto, too, so-"

Shadow Naoto rolled her eyes and pushed him to the floor, swiftly straddling his chest and pressing her lips to his. Before he could react to the bold move, she pulled away, smiling slyly and touching her lips. "Wow...I wish I, that is to say Naoto, would do that more often. Hey, hey, wanna touch my boobs while we're at it?"

"What? No!"

Shadow Naoto pouted, but didn't press the topic. Souji's bafflement only grew when he realized he actually felt a little bad about it. "I didn't mean it like that. Naoto, what are you doing? And why are you wearing a lab coat over your pajamas?"

She tilted her head slightly in confusion, slightly flattered that he wasn't referring to her as a Shadow. "Kissing you. Why?"

It was interesting that she completely ignored his second question. Souji decided it best to let it go. "No, I mean - hold it."

Souji caught her hand just as she tried to pinch his cheek. She complied with the command with a small grin. "Slow down. Let's...let's start with why you're here."

"Right! First off, you're still dreaming. That's why it looks so spoooky outside."

Shadow Naoto enunciated her statement by wiggling her fingers and cracking up only a moment later, fully aware of how silly it looked. Souji couldn't help but chuckle a bit at that. "So I'm sleeping, but we're talking in this ethereal realm thing."

"Top marks, Senpai."

"Okay. I've been through that once or twice."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Moving on…"

Shadow Naoto simply shrugged, half-disappointed that he wasn't going to elaborate. "I guess that means I can go back to sleep when you're satisfied."

"Yep!"

Souji breathed in and let it out slowly. "Okay. How can I help?"

"Right! So...you know I, that is to say Naoto...she's really shy sometimes."

"Aren't we all?"

Shadow Naoto stuck her tongue out in response. "I mean, she's in her own special league."

"...Go on."

"Sure. So I, that is to say Naoto, have a lot of things I'm still not comfortable with. That's not to say you haven't been doing a good job, though, ya stud!"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. So I, that is to say-"

Souji politely raised his hand to stop her before she could continue where she was going. "Okay, okay. Please stop doing that."

"Doing what, Senpai?"

"The whole 'I, that is to say Naoto'...thing. I follow you a-hundred-percent. Please?"

Shadow Naoto's glowing eyes dimmed slightly as she crossed her arms in thought. Just as the silence was becoming a tad too awkward for Souji, she bounced in place and pumped her fist in the air. "Roger that, Senpai!"

Before Souji could thank her again, she stood up with a hop and swished the tails of her coat behind her dramatically. When she spoke again, her tone was notably lower, more analytical. "Allow me to elaborate. Naoto thinks she's not being a good girlfriend to you...my other half's worries, fears, insecurities and such are piling up. So much so, that it slowly gave way...to me."

She raised a hand, bringing it low across her stomach as she bowed to Souji from where he was still sitting. It brought her head to his level, so he was treated to the adorable smile she offered alongside a twinkle in her ever-glowing eyes and an increase in pitch. "So I'm gonna wake you up whenever there's a real problem and we can talk about it! I'm such a nice wingwoman, aren't I?"

Souji was nonplussed. He knew Naoto was shy, but this was pushing it a little bit. But then again, this didn't feel like a dream. To confirm, he reached out and tugged Shadow Naoto's cheeks gently. She batted his hands away and stumbled back, laughing all the while. Looking down at his hands and the feeling of what he just did was real enough…

"So...you manifested…" Shadow Naoto nodded quickly. "Because Naoto is insecure."

Another burst of nods. "Yep! Happy to be of service, Senpai!"

"But there's no pressing issue right now?"

Shadow Naoto hmm-ed softly and looked down at the floor in thought. Souji could practically hear the ding go off in her head when she met his gaze and grinned. "Nope! Just thought I'd tell you the deal. It wouldn't do if you thought I was some nightmare, right?"

"Great!" Souji clapped his hands together softly. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"What!? But we have so much we could be doing! Getting to know each other!"

Souji hesitated when she grabbed his sleeve, those odd yellow eyes glimmering with unshed tears; whether they were genuine or not was anyone's guess. He briefly wondered about how weird his life had become as he relented. "...What do I need to know about you that I don't already know about Naoto?"

Shadow Naoto beamed and insisted that he sit down somewhere more comfortable with a sweep of her arm. He decided on the edge of the bed, so she joined him, taking care to keep an oddly respectable distance. When he asked her about it, she shrugged again. "I'm not gonna assault you! Unless you're into that sort of thing...but this is still a dream, so…"

Souji pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded slowly after a beat. Shadow Naoto simply sat and watched his turmoil with a small, vaguely-intentioned smile. Her voice dropped to a lower register as she leaned in close. Contrary to the nigh-scandalous distance, her words were simple. "I suppose all you need to know about me is that I will be as honest as I can possibly be. Failure to communicate is why I was created, after all. Let me begin the confessions with one that has not changed - I love you. I don't think we tell you that often enough."

Souji conceded that Shadow Naoto was staying true to the honesty part. He still felt his face warm up when she so brazenly confessed to him, though…"I see."

"Then that is all. I would have liked to talk to you a tad longer, but…" She clicked her tongue and pointed dual finger guns at him, her voice returning to a childish high. "You need to sleep, buddy."

She scooted closer and raised her hands, slowly of course, so that Souji could stop her if he was uncomfortable. "Now, I dunno how you dealt with this dream mumbo-jumbo before, but I think I need to go manual on this. Bear with me, you'll be asleep in no time."

The Shadow words proved to be true, in line with her promise of honesty. Souji felt his vision blur, his mind slowly winding down as the world went dark. Despite how different it all was, Souji felt oddly relaxed. The last thing he saw before consciousness left him were two shining yellow eyes.

Notes:

I think you can tell the tone of these stories won't be very serious...

I almost forgot that Shadow Naoto had that kind of duality going on! It's super fun to write, too. I hope I got the gist regarding this little collection across clear enough. If you'd like me to explain more, or if you have something you'd like Shadow Naoto to address, toss a message my way.

This is just the start of another collection. I think scenarios will be split between night and day, so Souji will get to see Shadow Naoto and reality Naoto's reaction to what the topic is.

...It occurs to me that this sounds kinda confusing. It'll be fun, though! We'll work through it together! I'll have the 'Day' side of this chapter out a little later.