Disclaimer: I have never played Persona 4, so this is more likely than not wildly out of character and probably doesn’t make any sense. Also, I can’t run this into the ground hard enough.
Atsuya: “Raimon came to Hokkaido looking for a striker. It just so happened that that striker was good at defense, too. Everyone passes the ball to me so I can score goals. They don’t know it, but they’re not passing it to Shirou– they’re passing it to Atsuya. That’s how I delude myself, anyway. The truth is… although I’m Shirou, I myself am an excellent defender as well as an ace striker. I just reflect that particular trait onto someone else. Coincidentally, you reflect all of that ‘someone else’’s traits onto another part of your mind just so you can achieve perfection.”
Fubuki: It’s called ‘mental illness’, you…!
Atsuya: “Fact is, the real Atsuya is dead now. I was born from the trauma you felt the day your family died. I’m you. The part of you that you don’t want to admit to anyone else. You deluded yourself into believing you could be someone else so that you would never be alone again.”
Fubuki: “I didn’t do it myself! One day, I heard Atsuya’s voice again!”
Atsuya: “But aren’t you the one who willingly– most of the time, anyway– switches personalities depending on your position on the pitch? When you’re a defender, you call yourself Shirou. When you’re a forward, you call yourself Atsuya. But the truth is, that’s your own skill at work. You learned how to be a striker just so you could relive the past.”
Fubuki: “…!”
Atsuya: “Dad defined perfection as such: ‘With the two of you together’– me and Atsuya, that is– 'you’ll be perfect.’ Then the avalanche happened not five minutes later. Mom, Dad, Atsuya… All of them, dead. Well, Mom and Dad are gone for good, anyway. Atsuya is gone only for now, as I will carry on his legacy! It’s the only way I can be perfect and have friends!”
Fubuki: “No… Stop…”
Atsuya: “I don’t want to be alone! I know what it’s like to be completely alone, and I never want to go through that again! And yet, if I’m not perfect, everyone will leave me. I can’t be perfect without Atsuya, but Atsuya is dead now. So, what do I do? Recreate– become– Atsuya, of course! That’s how I will become perfect! That’s the only way I can have friends! The only way I can avoid being alone!”
Fubuki: “Stop! That’s not how I feel!”
Atsuya: “Oh, I understand. Despite everything, Atsuya’s dead. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. As hard as you try, you can’t become someone else. You may have partitioned a section of your mind to someone you only knew for five years, but you’re still only one person, and one person can only do so much. I feel the same. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m just a wannabe at heart. I’m not Atsuya. I can never be Atsuya. I’m you, and you’re me.”
Fubuki: “No…”
Atsuya: “Therefore, I can never be perfect, and I’ll be alone forever. That pain from five years ago? I’ll have to endure it for the rest of my life, all because I’m not perfect! Yet, despite these impossible odds, I keep going. Maybe, if I keep making goals for everyone… I can delay the inevitable for just a little bit longer. Wouldn’t you say, other me?”
Fubuki: “No! Stop! There’s a reason you go by someone else’s name– you’re not me!!”
Atsuya: “I am a shadow… The true self… Ahh, what’s stopping me from ascending!? Nothing except myself! If I shed my identity, I’ll become perfect, and then I’ll never be alone again! Just you watch!!“
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