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It was a normal day in Inaba, it was a cold day in January, the members of the investigation team are currently at the school hanging out at the roof
"Brr it's so cold today"
"Hehe really it's very cold"
"The school year almost ended we are going to be third years soon"
"Yeah that is true"
Yukiko and Chie were exchanging small talks with each other with everyone sitting there with them
"Third years huh ?"
Murmurs Yosuke under his breath
"In our case, it's the second year hehe, the time has sure flown fast," said Rise with a smile on the face
"But Rise, you will go back to showbiz by Spring right?"
"Yep, it's not going to be easy but I will do a comeback"
"We will cheer for you Rise"
"Thank you Yukiko-senpai and Chie-senpai"
Rise smiled on the two girls and awkwardly looked in Naoto and Yuu direction
"You guys too will leave ..."
"Yes I will return to my parents' house as well as my detective job"
Said Naoto with a small gentle smile on her face
"Partner ?"
"Yes ?"
"You look out of it, are you okay?"
"Yes don't worry"
Yosuke saw Yuu daydreaming and was worried about him who greeted him with a smile assuring him that there is nothing wrong
"Senpai you will return to the city in March right ?" Said Kanji
"Yes, my parents should be back in Japan by then"
"That's three people leaving"
Everyone suddenly went silent and the mood turned awkward
"Speaking of which," said Chie trying to break the awkwardness "is it I or the fog is getting less and less those days? I mean we beat Adachi but I don't remember the fog lifting after we did that, it's kinda weird"
Everyone looked in Chie direction
"What? Did I say something correctly for once hehe me and my big mouth"
Everyone was pondering on the Chie surprisingly intelligent remark, she is right, the fog is not thick as usual, pretty odd but no matter how the investigation team thought about it, there is no use as they couldn't think of a reason for this sudden phenomenon and since they no longer meet to go to the TV world, they just finished the rest of the day hanging out in June's like usual then went home for the day
Later, Yuu was walking down the neighborhood close to the Dojima house before he abruptly stopped
"Marie ?"
He said out of nowhere, he doesn't know why he remembered such a name, for some reason he felt like he knows someone of this name but he can't remember who, and it seem important
But that didn't continue as he decided to enter the house, greet Dojima and Nanako then went to his room to change from his uniform and as he shuffled through his things, he saw an expected item
" A hair brooch? Why do I have this ?"
For some reason, Yuu, a guy had a hair brooch that girls often wear and it's made out of wood too, is very old for a girl in this time and age to wear
He keeps inspecting the item in his hand with focus, he doesn't remember someone giving him this, it's like how he remembers the name "Marie" out of nowhere
Oh !!
"Marie ?!" This name, he heard it before, it is familiar to him, he knows this Marie person
"This brooch is theirs ?" The connection between the hair brooch and Marie is clear now and the realization hit him
Marie was a friend of his, She is a resident of the velvet room and this is the hair brooch she gave to him
He just takes off his school jacket before he decided to wear it again and leave the house
"Uncle I am going out for a bit"
"Ok don't be late, it's getting darker those days at this hour"
Upon hearing the parental advice, Yuu smiled in Dojima direction and left the house to go to the velvet room in the shopping district, fortunately, despite the darkness the street light, as well as both the book store and Deidara, were open at that hour
Now inside the Velvet room, Yuu was greeted by Igor and Margaret like usual
"I know you will come today, you came for Marie right ?" Said Margaret with a calm voice
"Yes"
"You finally remembered her, that troublesome girl made you and your friends forget about her"
"She did? But why? Isn't she supposed to be our friend?"
"It's because she is your friend is why she did it"
Yuu was dumbfounded and had a sad look on his face
"What happened to Marie ?"
"She decided to leave you guys to go somewhere afar in the TV world"
"How can we find her ?"
"I will tell you tomorrow since everyone needs to hear this piece of information"
"Ok I will gather them tomorrow"
And the next day couldn't have come fast enough since as the school day ended Yuu immediately gathered the Investigation team
"What is it Yuu ?" asked Yosuke
"I have found this in my room and I wanted to show it to you guys"
"Hair Brooch? why do you even have that ?"
"The thing is that ...."
Yuu proceeds to tell them about Marie, the girl without of the place outfit, short black hair who is way too honest and say whatever is on her mind
She gave Yuu her hair brooch before she disappeared and it's obvious how Yuu beat himself over it since he didn't realize her intention of going now that he thinks about it
"Come with me"
Everyone is now standing in the shopping district next to the bus stop
Everyone minus Yuu didn't know what to expect before seeing a figure approaching them
It was Margaret who left the velvet room
"I see everyone is confused but fear not, seeing is better the telling"
Everyone didn't know what to say when a random woman in blue starting to talk with them out of nowhere
"Who-"
Before Yukiko finish her question, Margaret waved her hand and everyone transported into a weird-looking place
"Wha-"
"This is the hollow forest, here is when you going to find Marie"
Everyone was silent for a minute
Suddenly Rise raised her hand
"Is this Marie person here ?"
"Yes she is"
"The name Marie sounded familiar but after what Yuu-senpai said I confirmed this feeling inside of me, I do indeed know someone of that name"
Everyone nodded after Rise's observation
"But we need clear something first, who are you ?" Naoto looked in Margaret direction
"I am Margaret, a velvet room attendant, I usually help him in his journey"
"You help him? I guess that makes sense it does seem like you know each other"
"A beautiful lady like her helping Yuu-Senpai out ..."
After a couple of seconds of silence, Margaret resumed
"This hollow forest is a place of seclusion where Marie decided to shut herself from the world, closing on herself in here as she believes that this is for the best, I brought you here to attempt to convince her and get her out of it"
Everyone was in awe of what they heard, closing on herself? Why?
"What is she exactly ?" Asked Kanji
"Sound similar to my case so perhaps a fellow shadow?" Answered Teddie
"Well whatever she is, she is our friend so let's save her," Said Yukiko determined
Everyone nodded in unison and decide it's time for a new rescue mission for the investigation team
And as they entered the forest, they find themselves in couples of misfortunes: their possessed items gone, them losing half of sp just by entering and long halls to get through without being able to keep track of where they were until they reach the last floor
As they keep advancing and fighting several shadows, they arrived at the 4th floor, everything was fogged, they concluded they as they get closer to the top floor it gets foggier
"Oh you guys finally came"
They stopped their paces out of nowhere as they heard a voice talking to them, that was not Marie, that was rather a distorted guy voice the kind of distortion a shadow have
"Who are you? show yourself !" Screamed Kanji
"Sure I will do just that" Mockingly answered the voice
They saw a shadow of a person .... a human being approaching them from afar and the closer it got the more clear their appearance is
"Congratulations you have overdone yourself and came this far but unfortunately have to go through me if you want to advance further" clapped the person as they approached
The investigation team faces went yellow, everyone was shocked at who they saw
It was Yuu Narukami in the flesh but Yuu is there with them so this means...
"Yes it's as you can see, I am a shadow of the true self of that guy over there"
Everyone eyes turn to look at Yuu who was not as less shocked as everyone beside him, both the shadow and the person stared at each other
"Man the look at your faces, are you guys stupid? Isn't this a normal occurrence that one of you met their shadow and have to fight them or something along those lines ?"
Shadow Yuu looked at them disappointed and bored, standing there waiting for them to react
"He is a cocky one," said Chie
"Yeah and just condescending" responded Yukiko with a slightly angry face
"So" the shadow clasped again to get the attention of everyone "let's start this shall we"
"Since I am shadow Yuu this means that he is hiding insecurities inside but what you all don't realize is that those said insecurities are in a way caused by you all" as he points at them with an angry face
"why you may ask? You count too much on this guy, it gave him anxiety trying to be the perfect leader or whatever the heck that is, humans can't be perfect" point to Yuu
"You are lonely, you hate to be alone and because they rely on you, you act like nothing phase you, sure you are a good student, a bit handsome and popular but at what cost? Trying to be something your not, the hypocrisy, you believe friends are everything? Untrue, they just add more to that anxiety, you moved a lot when you were young that you couldn't make friends and gave up on the idea, you became a cold-hearted person incapable of showing emotions on his face, you going to leave this March and nothing of this oh so-called friendship will stay, you will continue to be forever alone"
Oh this familiar view, it happened to each one of them before, they thought Yuu case was special because he awakens his persona with no trouble, they never had a case with someone facing their shadows after awakening their personas, it was just odd
"This is not like usual," said Teddie
Others nodded in unison and continue looking at Yuu and his shadow simultaneously
Yuu however was listening carefully, closed his eye for a sec then opened them again "You are right, I cannot deny this"
Everyone lowkey expected Yuu to disagree but he agrees with no hesitation, I guess he is their leader
"It's going to be nothing but a waste of time to fight it off, and it's the truth anyway so I ..."
The shadow sigh and clapped his hands unamused "I see I see, such an expected thing from the charismatic leader, continuing this act despite what I said but oh well"
He got closer to Yuu, unbelievably close, Yuu became uncomfortable and worried that despite what he said the shadow will attack them but he didn't, he smiled at Yuu and whispered in his ears
"Are you sure you are okay with this thought? It's true staying alone is hard but we wouldn't get this far if you didn't have those "friends" of yours, it's all because they exist in your life, you feel this bad that you will be going back to the city better erase them all, they won't stay your friends once you move anymore, you will always be alone so it doesn't matter but at least alone your mind is free of worry and anxiety where you try to appeal to people all the time"
Yuu face turn yellow, he looks directly into the shadow's eyes
"You choose but do it fast I have no patience, I might have to attack them after all"
Yuu was contemplating what to do
"Sensei? What did he say to you" said a worried Teddie
" I..... I am sorry"
"What are you being sorry for? This is like the usual so we will deal with it like normal"
"He is right senpai!! After all, a man should face themselves anyway no matter how long it takes"
"...."
"He is not apologizing about that you dumb blond and bear ...... so you decided have you?"
The shadow snickered at the others then looked into Yuu direction
"I do"
"I suppose what you said now is your answer?"
"Yes," he said with a detached mood
Yuu slowly go to the shadow direction with an emotionless face and face him, he put out his arm to him "Give me your power" he then said
The shadow with a wide smile accepted the offer and merged with Yuu
"This is no good, I feel bad energy around Senpai, watch out guys !"
Everyone took a fighting stance after hearing what Rise just said despite not understanding what happened but even Teddie feel it, this might get ugly
In front of them, a yellow-eyed Yuu took his Katana out and looked ready to attack them
"Let's finish this quick"
He advanced quickly in their direction and attempted to hit Chie who was the closest but she barely dodged it
"Ah, that was close! He is very serious, let's summon our personas or we might die"
And so everyone did but the attacks are not hitting because Yuu is too fast and agile
"Does the shadow that fused with him have his strength and agility? This is beyond what a human being can do !!!" Said Rise shocked
The clash of weapons could be heard from the distance even when they succeeded to hit, Yuu still be able to defend himself with his Katana skills
"Persona !" Said as he proceeded to summon different personas to attack everyone weaknesses
"That's sensei for you, he knows our weak points, we should avoid it at all cost," Said Teddie determined
Switching from sword fighting to summoning in a flash, Yuu was a very difficult opponent, it didn't help that the team didn't know what persona he will summon next
"Wait, everyone!"
Naoto was struck by realization as she stopped and said to the investigation team
"He summoned a lot of personas as of now right? But one thing wrong in all this, he never summoned Izanagi his main persona"
Everyone stopped as well as they started to realize the implication of her words
"Is it because he fused with his shadow and so technically speaking he is in a shadow phase ?" Responded Yukiko
"Perhaps the case, it seems the most logical hypothesis" pondered Naoto
"I like to say something real quick"
Everyone turned themselves to the person that has not talked much since earlier: Yosuke wondering what will he say
"We are out of time right? You guys should go and save Marie, I will stay here and take care of the Yuu case"
"What? You can't just do that alone it's way too dangerous"
"Yukiko is right, what are you even saying"
Chie and Yukiko screamed at Yosuke out of concern, he is grateful for them but Yosuke was determined
"I know but Yuu is my partner .... no my best friend and as his best friend I should be the one to beat it into him, I feel like I can do it and convince him"
Everyone looked not too sure what do they think but suddenly Kanji screamed
"The guy wants to take the matter in his hands for his best friend, he wants to battle it up like men, Yosuke senpai is the closest to Yuu senpai so what he saying makes sense, I think we should leave them be"
"But ..."
"It's okay Chie, I can handle it just trust me"
Chie was perplexed pondered a bit then looked at Yosuke straight in the eyes and said
"Both of you better make it alive or else you going to pay for it"
Yosuke smiled a bit "Yes will do"
Everyone sprinted past Yuu to do what they originally came for and leave Yosuke there, it's just him and Yuu
"Yuu what are you doing?"
"..."
He didn't answer him and kept quiet, Yosuke didn't know what to do, he is facing a huge disadvantage so unless she can talk Yuu out of it, he can never win
"Yuu listen, I know what you are thinking, leaving Inaba will make us cease to be friends and that's not true, at least not in my case, I treasure you as my best friend .... no, it's more appropriate to say boyfriend, I love you and you know that, far away from eyes but not far away from the heart, we might not see each other for a while but a true friendship will not cease just because of that"
"Liar! That's not true"
And so Yuu advanced quickly to attack Yosuke who barely defended himself
He summoned Takehaya Susano-o quickly to try to land a hit but Yuu was faster them him as he summoned Garuda that reflected Wind attacks but it didn't work because Yosuke's persona null wind
"Oh, crap not again !"
Yosuke was struggling as all his hits have been stopped whatever Wind or Physical, he tried to lower the hit evasion of Yuu and heal with Diarama but he still not doing much damage as he found himself forced to go on the defensive
"Oh shit this is going nowhere"
He said as he guarded himself to try to at least decrease the attacks
"At this point, I am not going To hit at all so time for plan B," he said to himself
"Yo Yuu, are you like going to stop what are you doing, or do I have to do horrible stuff to make you stop ?"
Yuu didn't talk much the whole fight as he took advantage of the fact he was the investigation team's leader as he knows the strong and weak points of their personas, he didn't bother to talk to Yosuke
"Do you want to continue this? Will you hear me out at least? I am aware that I cannot win not when you can summon all kind of personas but let me at least tell you this, you are my partner for life and I mean it, we can always contact each other ever far away, there is no way after what we have gone through we will forget about our awesome leader, it's okay to be weak, it humanizes you more, we will always be together not physically sure but by the heart"
Yuu stopped moving after hearing Yosuke, he was in awe but also kind of confused
"It's okay you say, I am tired of being alone, no matter what friendship I make they end up stopping once I move out and I do that constantly almost every year because of my parents' job, I was grateful for the investigation team but ....."
Yosuke had a sad look at his face and decided to rush over and hug Yuu
"Remember when you hugged me that one time when I was mourning about senpai and I ended up crying? I want to do the same to you, I wanna be new for you when you were there for me, no matter what happened I love you"
"But I tried to kill you all"
"It's okay I mean all of us that faced their shadows before acquiring a persona tried to kill the few of us who was there, I tried to kill you and Teddie early April last year"
"But you were taken over by shadow and I am here conscious about my actions"
"Not true, it's the same for you even though it's a slightly different way but your shadow still manipulated you into fighting your friends highly doubt any of them is mad at you"
Yuu was shocked about what he heard, he didn't know what to do while Yosuke was hugging him as a form of comfort
"Is it okay to be weak ?"
"Yes, we are human being after all so that's normal, nobody is perfect even you"
"But won't you and everyone be disappointed?"
"No, because everyone has their anxieties and the like"
"I see"
Yuu put his head in Yosuke's shoulders and starting tearing up a bit, crying without noises but Yosuke knew and starting patting him on the bag as he continued hugging him
"It's okay let it all out"
They stayed like this for a couple of minutes like that, silent with Yosuke letting Yuu taking his time
He finally ends up drawing his head away from Yosuke's shoulder and looked into the void
"Sorry"
"It's okay it's okay no big deal"
"That's embarrassing"
"I know"
"I wanna dig my head into the floor"
"Relatable"
Both of them started laughing out of nowhere with a slightly red-eyed Yuu smiling with a bit of tear in his eyes that Yosuke procced to whip out as he saw his face
"You good ?"
Yuu just nodded at Yosuke question and hugged him back
"Thank you"
"That's normal, as your partner and boyfriend it's the least I can do"
Yuu patted a proud Yosuke head and murmured "good boy, good boy" as he was doing so
"Hey I am not a dog"
"Maybe not but you are as cute"
"Wah ??? What are you saying ???"
"I don't want to be the only one embarrassed here"
"Ugh, fair point but still ..."
Yosuke hid his face with his hand for a couple of seconds then as he slowly tore his hands off he looked in Yuu direction and rubbed his head of embarrassment
"Well since you feel better, we should maybe go meet the others or something"
"Yes"
Before they move or say anything, black smoke came up from Yuu and toke the shape of his shadow in front of them
"So this is your choice?" He said
"Yes thank you for everything" slightly bowed Yuu to him
"You thanking me? I did nothing good for you to say that"
"Because of you, I realized what is important to me, that real relationships stay no matter what"
"Is that so ?" Shadow Yuu said so as he marched in the opposite direction of Yuu and Yosuke "My job ended here bye" and then he disappeared and went back to Yuu as a yellow smoke instead of back
"Welcome back Izanagi" Yuu looked at his hand then close it then put it on his heart
He sighed and looked at Yosuke
"Don't tell anyone how you convinced me"
"Don't worry it's like saying to everyone we dating or something, I like to avoid that at least now"
"You right let's go now"
"Ah yes almost forgot, we should find the others now"
They starting walking side by side as they decided to hold hands, look at each other with a smile on the face then looked straight ahead with determination
Operation saving Marie officially start now