Note Two: A Persona 1 manga/video game fusion fic; I used P1 Protag manga's name, let every possible Sebec party member (+ Yukino) in the game go along for the ride, and used some of Elly's route dialogue. Also when you see Elly talking in random italics, it means she speaking English.
Near the end of middle school, Masao comes up with the (nay say nearly impossible) idea that he was going to get everyone to call him Mark. Well, everyone except his mom and teachers, although for the latter it was for obvious reasons. While Masao didn't mind the use of his real name from teachers, there was another issue with his mom. Despite his protest, she always insisted on calling him Massie. It's not that he was embarrassed by it...actually no, Masao was in fact totally embarrassed by it.
Masao may have been okay with Massie as a little kid and tolerated when he was in middle school, but he was entering his high school years. He needed something appropriate at least. It doesn't help that his mom likes to call him Massie in public.
And so on the first day of high school, Mark decided to start his (nay say nearly impossible) idea. Mark, to his utter disappointment, failed.
One of the first students he ended up meeting was Naoya Toudou. They were outside their classroom, and the two decided to have a small conversation.
By small conversation, it was Mark talking (er, bragging) about his art (graffiti is art, no matter who tells him otherwise). Naoya barely said anything, other than 'that’s cool'. Soon enough, their teacher was approaching the classroom, so the two decided to split to their seats.
"Talk to you later, Inaba."
(Naoya doesn't call him Mark until after they graduated high school.)
"You're Masao Inaba, right?" A sweet voice called out behind Mark, as he was about to exit St. Hermelin for the day. He doesn't remember what day it was, but it didn't matter. What matter most was it was the day he met her.
Mark quickly turns around to see who it was. It Maki Sonomura, and she had one of his many school notebooks in her hands. It was easy to tell that she was trying her best to look cheerful.
"I knew it. It had your name written on the inside."
Maki places the notebook into his hands (her hands were rather soft), and it seems she was about to smile at him before coughing into a small fit.
"Hey, are you okay?" Mark buried his brows in concern.
"Oh no...I'm fine. It's nothing. I hope to see you again." Maki quickly walked ahead, shaking her head as if she did something wrong.
(Whenever they saw each other after that, Maki usually calls him by his first name. He didn't mind though. When she became too ill to come to school anymore, Mark appreciated the few times she had enough strength to speak to him.)
"So, you want girl advice from the great and awesome me, huh? You didn't have to drag me somewhere private you know." Hidehiko Uesugi, or Brown, was strutting outside an empty blue store on Joy Street. Uesugi and Mark were somehow the only two people there. It wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't for fact what Uesugi said was a lie.
"What? No! You were the one that randomly decided to drag me here! And why do you think I have girl problems, Uesugi?"
"I can tell from the pathetic look in your eyes. I know your feelings for Maki Sonomura. But she's way out of your league. Besides, you do know she has a giant-ass crush on Nao, right?"
Mark's blood boiled at that last statement. "She does not have a crush on him, Brown! She just likes him a lot as a friend!"
"Stay in denial then. Just keep on telling yourself that, Mark."
(Uesugi ended up having that so call 'pathetic look' in his eyes when he keeps on taking about the transfer student Takami Uchida. It drove nearly everyone crazy.)
"Sorry Inaba, but you’re, like, not my type. I don't dig chubby dudes, even if you do have some sort of hidden talent at art."
"...I just wanted to ask you if you can move a bit. You're blocking the way."
"Oh." Yuka Ayase, who was hanging outside the school’s library with some of her 'friends' (why were they even outside the library to begin with was beyond him), gave a small gesture to them, and soon, the kogals were walking to another place in the school.
"Thank you, Ayase."
"Like, whatever."
"Am I really that chubby?" Mark muttered to himself, giving a soft poke at his stomach. Sure, he admits to having a small muffin top, but he wouldn't have considered himself chubby of all things. Besides, all the dancing he does in his free time should have lost those pounds.
If Mark wasn't so concern with his self image, he would have realize he was going to bump into a fellow student, who was had just checked out a book on economics.
The book flew out of said student's hands and landed onto the ground. "Watch where you’re going, you dumb ape!"
"Maybe if you weren't so self-absorbed with that book of yours, maybe you should have given me a warning of sorts!" Mark glared at Kei Nanjo, who, in Mark's opinion, was a major asshole.
"Well, it's not my job to warn you what's in your way. That was your own responsibility," Nanjo sneered to Mark, crossing his arms as if he was waiting for Mark to do something.
Mark scowls at the rich bastard. "You think you’re so high and mighty you can't pick up your own damn book," Mark said to him, picking up the book and handing it back to him.
"No, but I'm quite grateful you did it on my behalf though," thanked Nanjo, giving him a smirk before pushing Mark out his way.
Mark gritted his teeth together, his fist clenched together as Nanjo walked away. He can't believe the dickweed manage to trick him so easily. Mark is certain that karma will get him back one of these days.
(Yuka eventually apologize for the misunderstanding.)
"Oh, Inaba! Watch where you’re going, will you?"
Yukino Mayuzumi was a student Mark wanted to avoid. He wasn't even sure how it happened. Mark was making his way to an empty spot, when somehow he manages to accidentally bump into the back of the yanki. She was towering over Mark as if she was about to make mincemeat out of him any minute now. Actually, with way Yukino was playing with those razor blades in her hands, she was about to do it at this moment if he didn't apologize to her quick enough.
"I'm sorry, Mayuzumi! I didn't mean to bump into you. I wasn't paying attention, that's all!" Mark cried out in a panic to diffuse the situation. Well, wasn't that was the wrong thing to say.
After a hard, long glare that made Mark sweat like a pig, she gives a small sigh and hides her razor blades away. "Be more careful next time, you hear?"
Mark silently nods his head. He was so shaken up by it, he didn't ate much of his lunch his mom made him (leftovers weren't great anyway).
(It wasn't until the next school year that Yukino explained she didn't plan to turn him into mincemeat at all. In fact, she was already reform by the time they met. "Bad habits die hard, you know?" she jokingly explained.)
Despite all of his hard efforts, nearly everyone called him by his first or last name. There was one person who uses Mark, and it was Uesugi. Granted, it was a mutual thing between the two since they would call each other by their nicknames whenever they get angry or petty at each other.
It was a dumb idea anyway, Mark thought to himself. He was tagging inside the abandon factory, not paying at all to his surroundings. Well, it's not like anyone could blame him...
"Mark, may you come here for a moment? I need to ask you a question about something," Eriko 'Elly' Kirishima called out to him, signaling her spot at the library. She had many books of the occult surrounding her, but none of them was open. Instead, she was looking at a teenage magazine, of all things. Mark didn't have enough time to read what was on the page though, as she quickly flipped to another page.
"What's up, Kirishima? It is something important?"
"No. It's more of a personal question. Do you mind?"
Mark raised an eyebrow, but he didn't object at all. "Nah. What do you want to ask?"
"Well, it's about your friendship with Maki. I know you two are close, correct?" No matter how graceful Elly was, there were subtle hints that she was nervous about asking this particular question. Her fidgeting in her seat and averting her eyes at him were a dead giveaway.
"Well, yeah. I mean, we're not dating or anything. We're just good friends."
"I see," commented Elly, rubbing her chin as she was pondering over something. "Does the subject of school come up often whenever you visit her at the hospital?"
"Not really. We're swimming around that topic lately. And how do you know I visit her?"
"I saw you walking out of there one day. It was obvious that you didn't need medical attention."
"Oh."
"So she doesn't bring up school at all? Does she talk about her classmates?"
"No. She did ask about Yosuke and Chisato when she heard the news of their disappearance. After all, she was close with them. Why are you asking me though? Can't you visit her yourself?"
"I would, but I feel if things may be...awkward between us. I don't know Maki as well as you do. By the way, if you have plans to visit her today, give her my regards. I wish that she would get better soon. I do miss her at school."
(Mark would find out the real reason behind that bizarre conversation until much later. "Here I thought only Maki and Ayase like him. Man, I can’t believe Naoya got three girls going after him," complained Mark to Nanjo, as they were walking outside of school together. He wasn't sure when that started, but Nanjo made no objection to it at all.
"He’s such a lucky guy," said Mark, stretching his arms. "I wonder if anyone will admit to having a crush on me."
"Unlikely, going by the way you behave," Nanjo replied, before getting into his limo.)
"Move it," Reiji Kido ordered Mark, giving him one his 'legendary' death glares as well.
The two were at the Mikage Sun Mall, outside of Judgment 1999. Mark didn't want to be pummeled to death by the teenager who had numerous followers in his dangerous gang (which was honestly one of the many different rumors that sprung up since he and his mother arrived to Mikage-cho six months prior), so the teenager side steps out of the way. Hey, it wasn’t worth the risk at all.
(Oddly enough, the timing of the Sebec incident just happened to put most of the nasty rumors to rest.
"Finally!" Reiji slam his hands into the table one day after school, after the last rumor was put down. "They were starting to get on my nerves.")
The whole Sebec incident changed many things. Nine high school students, who were acquaintances at best, became close friends. Mikage-cho got its five minute of fame from the world. Best off all, Maki's health got better to the point that she could attend school again. Everyone was glad with that last part, especially Mark.
If there was one thing Mark learned from this, it was that Uesugi was right; he was in denial about Maki’s crush on Naoya. He was in denial when they got to the hospital. He was in denial when they went to 'the other world' and saved Chisato and Yosuke. Mark eventually couldn't deny it anymore when he overheard Elly talking to Maki's unconscious body about her own unrequited crush on Naoya.
Mark didn't felt as heartbroken as he thought he would be. Was he upset that Maki never thought of him that way? Yes. Was it the end of the world for him? No. Mark knew that he was never going to stop being her friend, and Mark knew he was never going to stop loving her. He just didn't love her in that way anymore.
Besides, Naoya wasn’t that bad of a person. Naoya may not know it, but Mark could tell he too has that 'pathetic look' in his eyes whenever he and Maki interacted after she got out of the hospital. If Naoya ever figure out his feelings, Mark knew the two would make a great couple.
Life was pretty peachy-keen after that.
Mark gave a small smile as Naoya got drag away by the girls. "Looking at Maki now, that mess before seems like a bad dream."
Nanjo, who was in his own thoughts, said something that peaked Mark's interest. "Heh. Pandora, eh...?"
"Man, you're still stuck on that?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I only just remembered the last thing in Pandora’s box..."
Nanjo gave a small pause before speaking again. "Well then, Mark, shall we go?"
By this point, Nanjo was outside the Peace Diner, leaving Mark quite confused with what he just called him the minute right before. "What do you mean?" What was so important about the last thing in Pandora’s box, Mark thought, before realizing something else Nanjo said to him.
"Wait a sec, did you just call me Mark? Hey!" Mark quickly runs after him, fixing his backpack straps to get rid of the discomfort he had earlier.
"Can you slow down a minute?" Mark stopped running, hands on his knees, out of breath. For someone that walks slow as hell, Nanjo sure got a head start.
Nanjo, who was frankly in the position to continue on walking and leave a confuse Mark behind, had enough decently to walk back towards his friend.
"Yes?"
"Can...can you just..."
"Can I just what?"
"Just repeat what you said right before you left the diner."
"I said 'Well then, Mark, shall we go'. What's wrong with that?"
"When...when did you..."
"Decided to call you Mark? I don't know. I just felt like saying it back there. Besides, I seem to recall you had the dumb idea to get everyone to call you by that nickname."
"Well, yeah. But it's just like you said, a dumb idea. No one says it anyway."
"So you want me to go back to what I usually call you?" A small smirk sudden grew on Nanjo's already smug face. "Or do you want me to call you Massie instead?"
"What, no!" Mark was waving his hands in the air, face red with embarrassment. "It's embarrassing enough from my mom! Please just stick to Mark!"
Nanjo pushes the bridge of his glasses, and in that moment, Mark could have sworn the light made it look like the other student was smiling instead of smirking. "Since you ask politely, I guess it's only fair to call you that then."
With that last comment, he walked away, leaving Mark baffled once again.
"Well? Are you coming or not, Mark?"
Elly couldn't help but laugh at the sight of her friends getting off the roller coaster (she had already went on it with Yukino and Yuka). Brown had run off to the nearest restroom, with Naoya following suit. Maki was sitting on a nearby bench, fanning herself with her hand. Reiji was mostly stoic, but judging from the trembles in his hands the ride left him shook. Mark was clinging onto Nanjo, and it looked like he was going collapse on the floor at any given moment. Nanjo, meanwhile, was being his usual self, and teased his friend's poor predicament. Yukino could only shake her head in disbelief while Yuka ranted to Mark about how it's his punishment for making her cry earlier.
"Don’t worry. I'll handle it from here," Elly said to Nanjo, taking Mark off him.
(Elly couldn't help but admit they were quite the pair.)