Chapter Text
Yu stretches, placing down the fishing equipment before hooking a couple of bugs to the line and casting it with ease, letting his mind wander.
Inaba’s calm. His brain supplies, not an uncommon thought he has. It’s a far cry from the dense city he’s used to after all. Even the air’s different, cleaner somehow…
His mother describes it as a bit of a dull but ultimately very peaceful place. Just the thing he needs after the tumultuous amount of moving around they had done in the past.
But his mother’s comments about the place ended up being wrong. A series of murders began almost immediately after he step foot in the sleepy town.
He also has friends now. Something he's sure his mother would be even more surprised to hear about than the murders.
It’s odd to admit, but having real friends is nice.
Yu smiles as he feels a tug on the line, he tenses before wrenching it out of the water as much as he can, one hand pulling the wheel to reel the fish in.
A small trout meets his gaze on the end of the line flailing wildly in protest.
A small set of claps come from behind him.
Yu turns to see a small child just hanging out on the river bank behind him with a large book open on gangly knees.
The kid smiles, eyes shimmering with excitement. "That was really cool sir!" He ends the sentence with a slightly louder clap.
Yu blinks and jumps slightly, mind catching up with reality. His hands twitch around the pole, in slight shock. People wandering down to the riverside isn't the most unusual thing, especially at this time of day. No, what's odd is how this child can sneak up on him.
Yu didn't mean to brag, but his senses are sharper these days. The ever-present shadows in the TV world fray his nerves to no end, making him jumpy at the best of times.
Yosuke, the most light-footed of them all, can attest to that, especially after the incident at Junes.
But really Yu should've noticed this kid's presence way beforehand.
He glances at the kid closer. A bird's nest of slightly curly black hair sat atop a pale face, dark grey eyes shimmering with excitement. The boy wore primary school clothing a little too big for his frame and had several bandages plastered on his knuckles, shins, and knees, doing little to hide several friction burns and scrapes.
The boy shifts. "Um. You've kinda been staring for a while…"
Yu blinks out of analyzing the poor kid. "Oh. I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." He gives a soft smile to the kid.
He looks back at his surroundings noticing the still flailing fish. He unhooks the fish from the rope before depositing it in a small bucket of water.
"I'm sorry about that." Yu continues, re-baiting the line. "I was just a little surprised by you, that's all."
The boy squints and hums. "Ok, I'll choose to believe you!" He says with a toothy grin. "You're really good at catching fish!"
"Why thank you," Yu says, putting down the rod and shuffling closer to the kid. He leans down ever so slightly to match eye levels. "What's your name?"
The kid stands book clutched in his hands. "Uh…I don't know…" he mischievously smiles. "You go first, and then maybe I'll tell you."
"Alright, alright. I'm Yu Narukami" Yu gives the boy a soft smile.
"I guess that's good enough!" The boy giggles. "I'm Akira Kurusu."
A crack rang in Yu’s head, like a chain breaking. He stared in front of him only to see several oddly coloured threads coalesce into a card above Akira’s head, like the many he’s seen before.
The main face depicts a man looking right holding in his left hand a pure white rose and in his right a dagger. A crow sat upon the man's right shoulder seemingly whispering in the man's ear.
It's not something he thought a child would have and it looks relatively normal except… Unlike the others, the edges of the card aren’t the calm light blue but a shockingly bright cherry red.
A shimmering 0 sits below the figure.
Yu shivers, breath caught in his throat. An icy sense of dread strikes his core as he looks over the card once more. There's just something…
Odd about it.
Thou art I…
And I am thou…
Thou hast established a new bond…
It brings thee closer to the truth…
'Trickster…' Something whispered in his mind announcing the arcana like it has done so many times before. He frowns lightly and shakes his head.
"It's nice to meet you Akira-kun" Yu breathes and turns away picking up the fishing pole. Trying to hide his perturbed expression from the child. "Do you want to watch me fish?"
"Duh! I was already doing that!" Akira huffs, plopping down again on the grass, long fingers pushing against his bandaged shins."You just didn't notice."
"You do seem quite sneaky…" Yu smiles letting his eyes wander back to Akira. The card danced in the air tauntingly, the red almost staining its surroundings.
“It’s not like I’m trying to be..” Akira scoffs, opening his book with a grace Yu didn't expect from a child. “People are just bad at noticing things.”
Yu hums, reeling in another fish. “That’s true...”
The conversation dies off filling the air with a slightly tense silence. Yu keeps his eyes on the river watching through the clear waters as fish lazily swim about. The sound of crinkling paper cuts through the air occasionally.
His mind wanders.
He's collecting quite the group of bonds now. It's necessary as it sources his powers in the TV world as Igor says.
But Yu would be lying if he were to say that he's only using the bonds for strength. No, that couldn't be farther from the truth.
His friends and acquaintances were genuine after all. The thick ties that connect them grew ever more unbreakable the more he spent time with them and yet they all felt so different.
He can feel their emotions or at least the ones that form and evolve alongside the bond. He can feel Yosuke's grief and genuine friendship, as well as sense Nanako's sadness but also the happiness that he brought her. It's a bewildering situation honestly, almost like magic.
Probably because it is magic.
Yu deposits another fish in his bucket and turns to face Akira who's now sitting in an odd position, half sitting and half lying down, the card still floating tauntingly above his head.
The soft feeling of wonder gently emanates around the child, tugging at soft strings thst Yu could barely see.
He blinks purposefully, the card disappearing as he does.
"I think I'm going to head home."
"Already?" Akira looks up from his book.
"Ah yeah. I'm done fishing for now. If I do any more I'll be late." Yu starts to pack up.
Akira frowns, but doesn't comment any further, he only nods and goes back to his book. "Sure. See ya some other time Yu-san"
--(O)--
"It seems you've made quite an interesting bond." A high-pitched voice rings out.
Yu blinks.
He looks out into a blue limousine interior.
Igor sits in front of him, like always. A lithe old man with bulging eyes that always seem a little too large for his head. His most prominent feature though is the large long nose that dominated his face. His long hands crossing in front of his face do nothing to hide the impish grin.
"It is quite the rare sight," Igor speaks again, one hand swoops across the table revealing the Trickster card laying on it.
Margaret, Igor's assistant nods and continues. "A meeting that has changed fate itself."
"Should I be worried?" Yu questions. He frowns at the card that lays before him, its red border glittering in the dim light. "It's different from the others"
"Different doesn't mean bad." Marie, the last person in the limousine, scoffs.
Margaret hums. "No, it doesn't. All this means is that the bond you have formed was not meant to happen."
"But since it has." Igor chuckles. "The possibilities open to both you and him are almost endless."