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Yosuke, in his panicked determination to save Nanako, doesn’t realize what the spinning of Nametame’s halo, spiraling like a clockwork mechanism, really means until it snaps down onto him, feels it twist his thoughts- feels himself stagger back in pain as something presses into his head, worms it’s way into his thoughts, and he feels it like the change in the air before a lightning strike-
No, this isn’t right, no, no, NO, I have to- I have to protect Nanako, from… from…
He less commands and more feels his body move, moving to stand between Souji and Namatame, eyes narrowing as he readies his Kunai, feels Chie and Naoto stand beside him-
He watches as his partner’s eyes, narrowed in confusion, slowly shifted wide in fear- watches as his posture grew even more tense.
Yosuke sees Naoto raise her gun beside him, feels his body tense in anticipation, feels some part of him preparing to strike-
No.
A loud clatter of metal snaps through the air as he drops his Kunai, and he sees Naoto and Chie flinch in confusion, gazes snapping to his dropped weapons in evident confusion.
Yosuke steps forward and holds out a hand to his partner, who tenses up even more as he approaches.
“Partner,” he speaks in the softest voice he can manage, despite the anger that burns in his chest at Souji’s clear desire to hurt Nanako, “You have to know this isn’t right. Let’s go home.”
He sees Souji stare in open confusion and fear at his hand, before looking up to meet his eyes.
“I can’t, I have to save her, I’d never hurt her, I-“
Of- of course Souji doesn’t, why would he ever want to hurt his- something is WRONG-
Something hurts in Yosuke’s head, pressing down, further, down-
Yosuke retracts his hand and stalks forward as anger flashes across his face, and he feels himself move to call his persona-
Souji’s eyes briefly snap to something above Yosuke’s head before meeting his eyes again, and something flashes behind those grey eyes, but before Yosuke can react-
“Partner, you trust me, right?”
Yosuke snaps stone-still and looks to Souji.
“If I’m wrong about this, we’ll talk about it after, Nametame’s trying to hurt me, and we need to- I need him to stop.”
Yosuke taps his foot and stares for a moment before a smile breaks out across his face despite the twisted halo still above his head.
“I’m glad you still got your head on straight, partner,” he says, before he heel-turns to face Naoto, Chie, and Nametame- “SUSANO-O!” He calls, feels the wind surround him as Magarudyne nearly sweeps Naoto and Chie off their feet, leaving Nametame shocked and off-balance, and no matter how painful the headache burning into his skull becomes, he stays to Souji’s side.
He knows it’s in part because Souji is a reasonable person- Yosuke will convince him soon enough- but also because, well.
Even if Souji leads them down the wrong path, leads them straight to a hell pathed by good intentions-
Yosuke would follow him anywhere.
That’s what partners are for, after all.