Chapter Text
As the train chugged to its destination of Tatsumi Port Island, Yu Narukami let out a quiet sigh, wishing the train would move faster so he could do what needed to be done before nightfall. If it weren't for college class scheduling and having to visit his Inaba family during the summer, he would've booked a much better train. Yu was starting to regret no taking Mitsuru Kirijou's offer of better transportation, but he didn't want her to know one of the true reasons for his sudden visit. The first reason was discussing the events of the past year and the possibility of a future Shadow Operative career with its leader Mitsuru. The other reason was... paying respects to two people he never should've met.
It all started back in January, when everything felt weird. His classmates seemed more happier than he usually seen them, and when checking up on the Investigation Team online he saw that they similarly like that. It occurred to Yu that something was amiss in the world, but he and the gang were far too busy to investigate in the month of January, so they had no choice but to postpone any reunion till March at the very least.
So, Yu did his best to focus on his studies despite his unease over the plastered smiles floating around the college campus and worry that his friends got caught up in whatever's going on (He couldn't help but feel suspicious at Yosuke's mention of "long-time girlfriend of several years" and worried when Dojima mentioned a "partner".)
Then, on one seemingly normal February night, Reality shifted in multiple directions like it was caught in a hurricane. Yu's head hurt like it never had before, and a torrent of really forgotten memories flooded his mind. Labyrinths, school festivals, movie theaters, Junessic Park, Rei, Zen, Hikari, Doe, Nagi, Phantom Thieves, Makoto Yuki, Kotone Shiomi, and Shinjiro Aragaki. All these names and places came back to Yu, along with the feelings of happiness and sorrow. They completely overwhelmed his brain and made him pass out on his bed.
He woke up the next morning groggy and head slightly pounding, but he still remembered everything. The memories should've been forgotten,but came back because of some unseen but clearly supernatural means.
Yu immediately got his phone and scrolled through his contact list for the Shadow Operatives. He needed to tell them about the Phantom Thieves so they can properly reunite and so they can meet Labrys for the first time as well. He also couldn't wait to see Yuki and Aragaki-san—
Wait.
Yu's thumb stopped scrolling when he thought about it. Thinking back to the Red Fog incident, Yu found it extremely odd that Makoto and Shinjiro weren't there to help rescue their kidnapped friends. While being out of the country was one logical explanation, but what Mitsuru said during their "first" meeting of how he reminded her friend and that she owed her life to a "him"....
Yu turned off his phone and took out his laptop, plugged it in and started his online search while munching on a granola bar. Yu's first search was Aragaki Shinjiro Gekkoukan. It didn't take long for a link titled Gekkoukan High School hosts student's memorial service to catch his eye. He clicked on the link... and immediately regretted it. The memorial service was for Shinjiro himself, and it detailed how he died along with some disparaging comments from classmates.
Yu took his fingers off the keyboard to compose his rapid thoughts. Poor Akihiko must've grieved the most out of S.E.E.S, and Makoto probably beat himself up for letting a teammate die on his watch. And Ken... Ken always acted weirdly wary around Shinjiro-san and wanted to avenge his Mother's death from whatever killed her, but there wasn't any connection between him and Shinjiro's death, right? Right??
A flash of Kotone crossed his mind and how devastated she would've been hurt Yu's heart. Since she was Yuki's counterpart and if anything bad happened to him...!
Yu's typing went several miles per hour as he desperately tried to look up Makoto Yuki's information. The various links he clicked on just showed Yuki in his clubs and in the Gekkoukan class of 2009, worrying because there were none for the 2010s. Unfortunately, his suspicions were proven correct when clicked on the link Gekkoukan Student Suddenly Dies. His heart dropped to his stomach when he read about how Makoto Yuki was pronounced dead after he was found unconscious on the school roof. And since Kotone's universe is a mirror to his.... then the same thing happened to her as well.
Yu's phone vibrated with such intensity in his pocket that it could be considered a miniaturized earthquake, but he was far too grief stricken to care. His Wild Card Sempais' were dead, leaving just Ren, Aigis, and himself. He can't even fathom what managed to kill Elizabeth and Theodore's guests and why—
Wait a minute. Elizabeth.....
Margaret said that her sister told her a fairytale about a soul that made itself a seal against the World's Despair at the edge of the Sea of Souls before leaving the Velvet Room. When they fought at the Grand Prix, she mentioned that the reason why she wanted to fight him was because she was on a journey to make her wish come true, so does that mean she....?
His headache intensifying and clock ticking away to the start of class, Yu groaned and stopped his investigating thoughts, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Like he guessed, his friends felt the same phenomena he did and were messaging him about it. Some of them sounded kind of freaked out, like they were forcefully shaken out of a good dream. Yu gave them a short message telling them that there would be a chat meeting later, then got ready for college classes. For the rest of the day, Yu Narukami nursed his grief for Makoto, Kotone, and Shinjiro in complete and utter silence.
"We have now arrived at Point Island Station. Please step off and enjoy the rest of your day." The train Intercom droned as the wheels grinded to a stop. Yu snapped out of his nostalgia- induced trance and grabbed both bags as he left the station with the other passengers. Stepping out into the Island city, Yu couldn't help but reminisce on Yasogami High's school trip to Gekkoukan all those years ago. To think he spent several days in the hometown of other Persona users without even knowing it...
The whole idea of talking to Mitsuru Kirijou belonged to Naoto, of course. She suggested that they should go straight to the Shadow Operatives and provide their experience with the January phenomenon to help with any investigation into it. "We don't know if they experienced the same trance-like state we did. But all know that it was not a location isolated incident since we were all in separate locations when the phenomena started and ended."
She then turned to Yu with the standard detective glare. "Now to fully reiterate, are you absolutely sure you didn't receive or been with anything that made you oddly euphoric, Sempai?"
Yu shook his head. "I just took college classes and lived life normally throughout the month, albeit on edge because of the red flags. Namely smiles on everyone's faces looking a bit unnatural, Dojima mentioning his partner like it was Adachi again, Nanako talking about her mother even though she died years ago, and you guy's messages. But it was just a bad feeling until that February night when reality turned back to normal." He declined to tell Naoto about his memories of the Labyrinths not just because of time paradox risk, but also because he learned from Dojima's interrogation that Persona related stories won't always be believed.
"I guess the Power of the Wild Card kept me from whatever it was, but I'm not sure if it really was the full reason why I wasn't affected." Yu shrugged. Naoto didn't seem to pick up on any sign that Yu was omitting something, to his own hidden relief. Instead, she sighed and looked downcast. "Unfortunately, we don't have any physical evidence of that time period, nor any connection to a 'culprit', supernatural or not. We don't even know why the phenomena occurred in the first place, unless it's goal was to make us happy and complacent, which it relatively succeeded up till that February day. I can't help but wonder if the Shadow Operatives or some other group of Persona users managed to stop it before it would become the permanent reality....
Yu saw an opportunity to make a connection and jumped in. " What about the Phantom Thieves? Their modis operandi of stealing hearts sounds supernatural, so they could've been the ones to take down the phenomena."
Naoto's expression morphed into frustration when he said that, making Yu bite back curses. He should've known that Naoto wouldn't have good feelings about the Phantom Thieves due to her detective work, subconscious memories or not. But instead of snapping at him, she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "As much as it is the most highly probability, I'm afraid that gathering information on them would be next to impossible. Ever since the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns started, I haven't been....cooperating with Pubsec peacefully."
She took a long sip of her iced tea and continued. "For the longest time, I didn't know why they withhold important information on the cases. At least, until Masayoshi Shido's confession. Turns out there were corrupt police officers and commissioners that were aligned with Shido and were covering up his crimes. No doubt he stymied the Shadow Operatives, most likely conducted the police raid during the Red Fog incident to steal Kirijo research, and withheld information about the Phantom Thieves including Goro Akechi, who vanished and the public stopped talking about for some reason..." Naoto let out a sigh of resignation. " In short, we have no leads to follow, so we have no choice but to consider this a cold case for now."
Yu was willing to go along with Naoto's statement at first, but then a lightbulb flickered in his mind. If he could use this as an excuse to go grave visiting without raising suspicion....
"The Shadow Operatives might've gotten past the bureaucracy after the confession, so maybe they managed to gather Intel they haven't been able to get before." Yu said, mentally crossing his fingers that this plan might work. "Why don't you and I go see Kirijou-san at Tatsumi Port Island sometime this summer? I need to see her about a potential job position in the Shadow Operatives, anyway."
Naoto gave a rather inquisitive look, making Yu fear that he slipped up. But instead, she smiled and said, "Sounds like a great idea, Sempai. Alright, I'll try to contact Mitsuru-san and see if she'll have some time to schedule a meeting with us between July and August."
Sure enough, Mitsuru managed to schedule them both in for a meeting in late August, giving Yu plenty of time for his Inaba family. But then, fortunately or unfortunately for the world, reports of strange behavior and the Calling Card of Alice Hiiragi connected the Phantom Thieves to the supernatural once again and made talking to Mitsuru about them all the more important.
In hindsight, Yu thought as he ate a stall croquette on a public bench. I probably didn't need an excuse to come here, but one would definitely be necessary if I ran into someone I know here.
Finishing the last bites of his food, Yu got up, grabbed both his bags and headed straight to his hotel.