100 followers (+1) gets its very own fic (besides these headcanons were all basically mini fics anyway right?)  I promise I will get to the other requests soon, I just wanted to get this one done first :) It’s got a little bit of Persona 4, a little bit of Arena, and the ending to the Golden just as a heads up.

Thanks, everyone, for reading, for liking, for reblogging, for commenting just… thank you.  I’m not sure you realize how awesome that is, especially since I am working to get something blushed, so these have becoming nifty little writing exercises to keep my brain working.  So yay to all of you, I <3 you!

Summary:  100 times Naoto could’ve said “I love you” and the 1 time she did.

7.

She takes a pretty nasty hit from a shadow, one so bad that it sends her flying across the red and black field.  Adachi’s twisted vision of Inaba is the most brutal dungeon they’ve ever faced and it’s beginning to take its toll.

Naoto doesn’t hit the ground.  She never does, lately, when she’s hit.  Instead Kanji is on the move, arms open and catching her, holding her for just a moment before he sends Rokuten Maoh after the large creature they’re facing.  Feeling its master’s rage, the giant persona manages to defeat it in one blow.

“You o.k.?”  Kanji asks.

“I will be fine,” Naoto whispers, but he can see her gently pressing her hand against her right shoulder, “We should continue.”

“Right.”

He never tries to tell her to stop fighting when they’re in battle.  He treats her like another fighter, another member of the team despite their relationship.  He’s still standing, which means that she can stand for that much longer.  He stands tall and she stands taller.  He knows this and doesn’t treat her like glass every time she’s hit, doesn’t try and get her to sit out.  He simply catches her when he needs to, lets her get back on her feet, and walks with her into the madness that is this miserably fucked up world. 

“Kanji-kun?”

“Yeah?”

“I… it’s nothing,” and they continue forward into the mad man’s playground.

19.

“But it’s Christmas, Naoto!  You should wear something special for him!  A cute dress and cake is absolutely necessary!”

“Rise, there is no need for-”

“Oh hush, I’ll help you pick one out!”

It’s blue, at least, but the skirt is much too frilly and the top is a bit too tight for her tastes.  But Rise already has purchased it, calling it a Christmas gift, and she sends Naoto on her way.  Naoto insists that Kanji is taking care of the cake part, avoiding Rise’s desire to by a cake that’s covered in vanilla flowers and candy hearts. 

Kanji watches as Naoto fidgets at his front door, blushing and reaching up to tug down a hat that she’s not wearing, “H-how do I look?”  She asks, hesitant, her voice much softer than it had been at the beauty pageant in October.

“Uncomfortable.”

Naoto looks up at him in surprise and she can’t help herself, she starts laughing, tension immediately lifting between them, “Extremely so, yes.”

“What the hell was Rise thinking?”

“I have no idea.”

“Come inside,” he says, “I don’t got any clothes that fit ya, but you can at least wear one of my shirts or somethin.’”

“That sounds wonderful, thank you.  One of the ones with a skull would be perfect.”

“I’ll make sure it’s big, maybe with flames comin’ out of the eyes or something.’”

The words are just at the tip of her tongue but never escape her lips.

37.

“Senpai is leaving tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Kanji says, “It ain’t gonna be the same without ‘im.”

Naoto frowns sadly, curling up closer to Kanji, “Everyone leaves, eventually.”

“That ain’t true,” he says, “Senpai’s gonna come back for Golden Week, and every other holiday you can think of.”

“… I suppose.”

“’sides, I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” then he leans down and kisses her, that lovable grin on his face, “So don’t think like that anymore.”

“… Kanji-kun?”

“Yeah?”

“… I… i-it is nothing, nevermind.”

40.

“Looks like we’re doin’ this one more time, yeah?”

“Hell yeah!”  This comes from Yosuke, Chie backing him up by throwing her fist into the air, “This is how we’re going to send our leader off!”

His enthusiasm hides the sadness, Naoto thinks.  Yosuke is going to miss senpai most of all.

Before they head into the endless void of fog Kanji takes Naoto’s hand, pulling her away from the others, “Got somethin’ to tell ya, before we go.”

“What is it?”

“I love you.”

Naoto stares at him, opens her mouth, eyes wide as she lets the words fully sink in.  She’s always known, she thinks, but it’s an entirely different feeling to actually hear him say it.

“I-”

“Come on you two,” Chie says, grinning, “You can make out later!”

“Ain’t no one makin’ out, senpai!”

40.5.

When the darkness begins to swallow her whole she can hear Kanji screaming.  His scream is the loudest amongst all of them and she can see him racing towards her with his hand outstretched hold on! he yells just hold on, I’m comin’ and she ain’t takin’ ya away from me! 

Naoto smiles sadly.  The irony, of course, is that she had previously said that everybody leaves.  She hadn’t realized that that included her, too. 

“Kanji-kun, I-”

41.

They all stay at the train station for longer than they should.  The train is long gone, but they all imagine that senpai is still waving to them with that sad smile on his face.  Kanji reaches down and takes Naoto’s hand, squeezing it tightly in his, “It’s all right,” he says, “He’ll be back.”

He knows that she hasn’t had many friends – if any.  He remembers her shadow, remembers it telling the story about a girl who couldn’t make any friends.  It’s not so bad he had said after they got out the T.V., I ain’t have many friends, either. 

“’sides,” he whispers, making sure that none of the others hear him, “I ain’t goin’ nowhere, remember?”

41.5

She just needs the closeness, the contact of another person.  She just needs to know that his words are true.  Senpai leaving?  That hurt will heal with time.  But Kanji is different.  Kanji is precious, and beautiful, and she needs to know that he intends on staying with her.

And he always seems to get her, seems to know what she needs.  She doesn’t have to say it, doesn’t need to cry about it.  He simply takes her hand and quietly pulls her into his bedroom, mindful of his sleeping mother.  He slowly pulls off all of her clothes, whispering words of I love you and stayin’ right here.  He doesn’t comment on the fact that a few tears do slip down her cheeks, doesn’t comment on her trembling, or how much she clings to him.

Neither does he comment on her covering her mouth with her hand, words muffled against her palm that he pretends to not understand as he takes her for the very first time.

62.

“I have a case to investigate,” she says.  They’re sitting at Junes, sharing lunch together.  Golden Week is just around the corner and Yosuke hasn’t been able to stop talking about it.

“That sucks.  Senpai’s comin’ back soon.”

“I… will try to be back in time.  If nothing goes wrong, I should be able to return with plenty of time to spare.”

“I hope so.  I’m sure he’s gonna want to see all of us.”

Naoto nods, a disappointed frown on her face as she sips on the rest of her drink.

“Hey, don’t look like that.  You got work to do, we all know that.”

“… right, of course,” she whispers.

“Naoto…”

“It is fine, you are right.”

But her eyes don’t look the same for the rest of their time together.

66.

Mitsuru Kirijo is an interesting woman who manages to catch Naoto off guard several times.  The biggest surprise, however, is when Kirijo leads her right back to the very thing that changed her life completely – the T.V. world.  She’s not sure what’s going on – never is when that world is involved – but she has no choice but to go in and find out.

Seeing Kanji there throws everything off balance.

Seeing senpai had been bad enough, but Kanji?  She doesn’t want to have to worry about him, not when such a strange case is in the making. 

However, it’s not really Kanji, not from his actions and the things he says to her.

But… he does say things to her, things that get to her, things that make her heart hurt in ways that she assumed he would never do.

How foolish of her, to let her guard down.

But after their battle she has time to think about it, to ponder the things his other self said.  His words… were not untrue, now were they?  She’s close to him, yes.  They have kissed and been intimate, but… she’s never truly given herself to him, has she?  She knows that she has him, but…

… does he truly have her?

66.5.

“Because you are the most insecure of them all.”

68.

“Naoto… listen, about what happened back there…”

“Do not concern yourself about it.”

“But… that stuff I-… I-I mean, it wasn’t me, but it… y-you know.”

“Yes, I know.  Now if you will excuse me, I should escort Kirijo-san home.”

69.

“He cares about you very much.”

“Yes, it appears that way.”

Mitsuru chuckles, lounging back in her limo as it stops in front of her lavish home.  Akihiko, Aigis, and Labrys have taken their leave, leaving Naoto alone with the red haired woman.

“I dare say it’s more than ‘care.’”

“It is.  He says that he loves me.”

“You say it like you don’t think he means it.”

“Oh, n-no that… that is not it.  I know he loves me, I just…”

Mitsuru is quiet for a moment then she nods, “It’s not about what happened in that world.  You’re smart enough to know that the events that took place were mere fabrications.”

“To a certain extent, yes, but those fabrications were not untrue.  That creature we fought was right.”

“You mean you being insecure?”

Naoto nods, looking away from Mitsuru, “I should not still harbor these feelings after all this time.”

Mitsuru reaches over and places her hand against Naoto’s, shaking her head, “Just because you faced them doesn’t mean that they won’t still get to you.  The trick is to have someone who can help you realize the truth.”

“And what is the truth?”

“That you are wonderful, just the way you are, Ms. Naoto Shirogane.”

Naoto’s eyes widen and she feels her face flush, “W-when did you…?”

Mitsuru smiles, “Aigis informed me earlier.  I have to say, I am very impressed.”

“You were impressed before, when you thought I was male.”

“Yes, with your case records.  Now I am simply impressed by you.”

And Naoto feels a smile spreading across her face.

71.

“Another case?  That soon, huh?”

“Yes.  This one is going to be a few months.  I apologize.”

Kanji shrugs, smiling, “The world needs its greatest detective, yeah?  I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Thank you, Kanji.”

“… hey, Naoto?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

100.

“N-Naoto?!  Is that… oh wow!”

“Look at you!”

“You’re gorgeous!”

Naoto smiles at the three girls in front of her.  Long gone is the hat, the fancy coats, and the need to hide her chest.  Perfect strands of blue hair framing her face, the smile is breathtaking, the most beautiful that any of them has ever seen, “Thank you,” she says, “You all look nice as well.”

Rise beams, “Have to look nice!  Senpai is coming back to visit!”

Both Chie and Yukiko nod, “You got back in town just in time,” Chie says, “Yosuke is planning some surprise thing at Junes.”

“Wait until you see Kanji,” this comes from Rise who, of course, is the couple’s number one fan, “He’s so handsome!”

101.

Rise is most certainly right, but Naoto isn’t going to tell her that.  The person that stands in front of her hardly looks like the Kanji she knew.  The scar on his forehead, however, is still there, and when he smiles it looks like the exact same smile she-

“Kanji, it is good to see you again.”

“Y-you too, Naoto.  You look…”

“Yes, so do you.”

They wait until things get settled at Dojima’s house before finding a moment to be alone.  The main focus is supposed to be on senpai, who hasn’t stopped smiling since he got back.  Now that things have quieted down, Kanji and Naoto sit outside together.

“How did the case go?”

“It went well,” she says, “I am glad that I made it back in time for senpai’s visit.”

“Me too,” then Kanji reaches over, lacing his fingers in-between Naoto’s, “I really missed you.”

“I missed you too, Kanji.”

They sit in silence, looking up at the stars.  Behind them, they can hear the conversation going on inside the house.  Poor senpai is trapped between Yosuke and Rise, both making plans for him during his visit.  Yukiko finds this all very amusing, Chie telling her to quiet down as both Nanako and Teddie laugh with her. 

“Kanji?”

“Yes?”

Naoto rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes, smiling, “I love you.”

Kanji doesn’t look surprised at all, which is one of the reasons why Naoto loves him so dearly.  He smiles and holds her hand tighter, “I love you too, Naoto.”

“Sorry it took me so long to say it.”

“It’s not long at all if it means I get to be with you.”

“… your new look has turned you into a bit of a sap.”

“Right.  Says the one who is in love with me.”

They both laugh together, Naoto staying curled up against Kanji, “One hundred and one.”

“What’s that?”

“That is the amount of times I could have said it but chose not to.”

“That’s all?  I thought the count was higher.”

“No, I am fairly certain.”

Kanji pushes up his glasses, chuckling, “We might have to go over the details later.”

“I assure you it-”

“I meant for that to be sexual.”

“Oh,” then, “O-oh, yes… o-of course.”

Kanji smiles, “Still the same Naoto.”

“Yes, but except with breasts.”

When Kanji’s face turns a faint shade of pink the detective woman laughs.

“And still the same Kanji, I see.”

“H-hey!  Shut-up!”  He screams, his voice loud enough for the others inside to hear it.  Naoto just laughs more, shaking her head a bit.

Yes, definitely the same Kanji she had fallen in love with, one hundred and one times over.