This goes on just hours after Persona 5's true ending and about six years after Persona 4's true ending. It's a story I came up with shortly after finishing Persona 5 a second time.
Back Home.
The drive back to Akira's hometown had taken a little over four hours.
Yet finally at long last they where slowly driving into the small town where he had lived most of his life. "This place have not change much" the usually quiet boy said in a excited tone, as he looked out of the window.
"Yes it really does seem like a peaceful place, I am sure that I would be able to find a few nice sceneries to paint around here" Yusuke who was sitting behind him in the car said, already looking forward to painting the rice fields they where now driving past.
It was at that point Ryuji decide to share his two cents about the place. "I for one can not get over how unbelievable quiet this place is. Yet I can't help but feel like I have heard this town's name somewhere before, but I just can't remember where"
Slowly turning his head, Akira looked back at his blond haired friend. "You probably heard about it in the news, there was a couple of pretty grotesque murders here in Inaba a few years ago, Ryuji" Akira explained in far away tone. Even now after such a long time, there was still some people in town who disliked talking about those two murders, since they had been so weird and unbelievable hard to solve. Back then, Akira had even heard a few of the older people saying something about it being a vengeful ghost, that had been out killing people.
"Now that you mention it, I do remember hearing about that, it was all over the news a few years ago" Makoto said, as she took a glance away from the road and looked over at her boyfriend.
Reaching over, Akira gave Makoto's free hand a small squeeze. "The worse part about it, was that it turned out to be a cop who was responsible for the murders" Akira explained, thinking back to the few times he had seen Tohru Adachi walking calmly around town back then, like he hadn't done anything wrong.
"That's sick!" Ann said, trying hard not to shout too loudly since Futaba was resting up against her, sleeping soundly.
"Yeah it really is. I am sure that my father, was ashamed to be a cop back then" Makoto said, wondering for a brief moment how mess up in the head that murderous cop had to be, to do something so terrible.
Makoto did however not get long to think about that, when Akira suddenly called out for her to stop the car.
"Why?" She asked slightly surprised, since there wasn't any houses anywhere near them right now.
"Because I see a couple of familiar people out on the sidewalk" he answered with a huge smile.
Having barely stopped the car before Akira leaped out, Makoto shook her head at her boyfriend's excited behavior, as she pulled the hand brake got out of the car along with the rest of them, except Futaba who was still asleep.
Out on the sidewalk. "Hey you two wait up!" Akira called the two people walking not that far ahead of him.
Hearing the very voice of her younger cousin, who she hadn't seen for over a yeah now, Yukiko Amagi swirled around with such haste, that she would likely have tripped over her own feet, if it was not because of the silver haired guy beside her who was fast enough to quickly catch her.
"Aki-chan you are back!" Yukiko cried out in a happy tone, that could likely be heard far and wide.
Upon hearing her call him that again, after such a long time, Akira could not help but feel slightly disappoint that Yukiko had not forgotten all about that name in the time he had been gone. He really hated it when she or her friend Chie called him that, and the smirk he could see on Souji's face, didn't really help much on the annoyance he felt at the moment.
But since it had been such a long time since he had last seen Yukiko, Akira was quick to decide not to complain about the stupid name. "It's good to see the two of you again, how have you been?" He asked them.
Moving in, Yukiko wrapped her arms around her cousin and pulled him into a hug. "Both Souji and I have been just fine. It's great that you are finally home again Aki-chan. I think you have grown a bit since the last time I saw you" the young black haired woman said, as she slowly stepped away from him.
Smiling slightly at those words, Akira took a glance down at Yukiko's round belly. "Evidently not nearly as much as you" he stated.
Placing her right hand on her round pregnant belly, Yukiko rubbed it gently back and forth a few times. "Don't you start with that too, it's bad enough that Chie has to comment on, how much bigger I have gotten, every time she sees me" Yukiko complained, yet the huge happy smile on her face made it clear, just how much she was looking forward to being a mother.
With it being a pretty common occasions these days for Yukiko to disappear into her own thoughts about having their child, and what awaited the three of them in the future. Souji knew better than most just how unwise it was to interrupt her daydreaming, since that was one of those things which he and everybody else at the Amagi Inn had quickly noticed, seemed to piss her off a lot these days, and would result in her glaring at everybody and not saying a word for almost a whole day to the one responsible for putting an end to whatever daydream she was having. The only one who did not get a cold shoulder under those circumstances, was Nanako.
So leaving her to her daydreams, Souji step slowly over beside her and gave Akira a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Welcome back buddy. So beside the time you spend in juvenile hall, how did you like the big city?" The silver haired man asked, frowning slightly when he spoke the words juvenile hall, Souji really disliked knowing that one of his friends at spend so much time in prison, for something he hadn't done, and he was not about to hide the fact, that he seriously hated the stupid bastard, Masayoshi Shido, for putting him there in the first place. At least now Akira, was at long last cleared from the assault charge.
"School could be a little boring at times, but other than that it was quite an experience, I learned a lot of new things, and more importantly made a great many new friends. I am actually planning on talking with my parents about me going back there Souji, because umm" Akira said, as he turned his head and took a look over his shoulder at the brunette crimson eyed girl standing not that far behind him.
Seeing Akira look at that brown haired girl with such affection, Souji could of course very easily tell, that his old friend was very much in-love with that girl, since it was the exact same way he would look at Yukiko. And knowing that Akira might have found the love of his life while he had been gone made the smile on Souji's face grow even bigger.
"So me the city boy prefers the peace and quiet out here in Inaba, while you the country bumpkin prefers all the noise in the big city" Souji stated. It was very rare that he actually missed the big city life, he simply liked it so much better out here, where the air was fresh, and there were not so many people around. He particularly enjoyed going out on an evening stroll with Yukiko without having to listen to cars honking, loud music, or people yelling at each other.
"Yeah that does seem to be the case. Not that you can't find peaceful places back in Tokyo, Inokashira Park was really nice, and the Cafe Leblanc where I lived, could from time to time be pretty quiet during the evening so I could just sit around and read, one of my books" Akira said. While it was true that he very much preferred going out, to spend time with the people he had met at those hours of the day, there were times where he needed to relax, and just read, or play one of those old video games he had bought.
The short break in the conversation that followed after that, was one Makoto quickly decide to take advantage off, by asking her boyfriend the question she and the other Phantom Thieves members, was more than a little curious about after having seen Akira so utterly excited about talking with these two people. It was highly obvious to all of them, that he had missed these two a lot in the time he had been gone.
"Akira, who are these people?"
Looking back at her, Akira send her a big happy smile before he gave her an answer. "I'm sorry, I guess I forget to introduce them, this here is my cousin Yukiko Amagi, and her boyfri..."
Yet before Akira could finish that sentence, Yukiko snapped back out of her daydream and cut him off in a loud excited tone. "No not boyfriend, fiancé!. Souji and I got engaged not long after you left, Aki-chan. Yet we decide to wait to get married, until you got back, we want you to be at the wedding" the young pregnant woman happily told her cousin, while showing them all the red stone silver ring, on her left hand.
Taking a hold on her hand, to get a better look at the ring. "Congratulations you guys! I am so happy for you. You just say a date, and I'll be sure to be there" Akira promised, while letting go of Yukiko's hand again.
"Thank you" both Souji and Yukiko said back at the exact same time. Each one of them sincerely delighted to know, that Akira was going to be there at their wedding.
"So Aki-chan, who is your friends?" Yukiko asked.
With a small roll of the eyes at the pet name, Akira quickly introduced all of his friends to Yukiko and Souji. Yet the very second her name happened to be mentioned a fidgety Haru stepped slowly forward, and hesitatingly asked Yukiko if she could try and touch her round stomach, which was something that lead both Ann and Makoto to voice their interest in doing that too.
Looking at each one of the three excited girls. While Yukiko could not deny that there were times these days, where she greatly disliked having anybody, even Souji, touching her stomach. Especially if she felt even the slightest bit nauseated. Yet seeing the hopeful expressions each of the girls had, Yukiko just couldn't bring herself to say no.
"Ok, but one at a time, Haru you first. Try not to press to hard, since that is uncomfortable" Yukiko said, as Haru stepped slowly forward and somewhat awkwardly place her hand on the pregnant woman's stomach.
"Now, now don't be so nervous, it wouldn't bite" Yukiko said, taking a hold on Haru's hand, guiding it to the place, where she was most likely going to be able to feel the baby kicking.
With Haru, Makoto and Ann keeping Yukiko distract, Akira quickly made a small gesture to Souji, to tell him, that he need to speak with him, a bit away from the four chatty girls.
Not sure what Akira want, Souji followed his friend a bit away from Yukiko and the other girls, who was now talking loudly about what the baby's name was going to be, and what gender it was.
"So what's up, Akira?" Souji asked, once he was relatively certain that the girls could not hear what the two of them where talking about.
Turning around, Akira send his silver haired friend a deeply serious look. "I assume that the Innkeeper training is going well for you guys. Yet one thing I really need to know Souji, before going there to visit my aunt and uncle, is if there is any improvement in the cooking, is the food there still worse than the slob I was feed in juvenile hall?"
Taking a glance back at Yukiko, to make absolutely certain that she was not listening in on his and Akira's conversation. "I assume you are not referring to the food I or the lead chef makes" Souji stated seriously.
"You know who's food I am referring to Souji, I still have nightmares about some of the weird stuff she has tried to feed me. How both her and Chie can be that bad in a kitchen is simply beyond me" Akira said, with a long shiver running down his spine, at the thought of what horrors those two girls could create in a kitchen.
Rubbing the back of his neck in a thoughtful manner. "It's better than it use to be, she can make a few easy dishes now, and everything else she makes is mostly eatable. It's just...from time to time when she is cooking, she has this weird habit of making the most bizarre mistakes" Souji explained, obviously greatly confused about some of the things Yukiko would do, when she was working in a kitchen.
Relieved to know that he did not have to fear, getting poisoned the next time he swung by the Amagi Inn. Akira let out a relieved sigh, yet before he had a chance to ask Souji about what he meant by bizarre mistakes, a displeased Yukiko did it instead.
"What exactly do you mean by bizarre mistakes?!" The girl asked loudly and with a pissed off glare on her face that demand a quick answer.
Knowing that he would probably end up sleeping on the couch tonight, if he did not quickly explain to his fiancée what he meant, and while ignoring the sympathetic look Akira was sending him, Souji stepped away from him and back over to Yukiko, where he placed both hands on her shoulders, looking directly into her deep brown eyes.
"Yukiko honey, last week you where making tomato soup. Yet for some reason when it was almost done, you decide that it did not look red enough, which made you put in strawberry jam. And just a few days ago, you where making pancakes where your final ingredient was a large amount of strong pepper. I am still kinda grateful for the fact, that your father was the one who tried one of those pancakes first" Souji said, even though he really had felt sorry for his future father-in-law back then. Souji did after all get along with Yukiko's father quite well, the man seemed to like having him around to play either shogi or mahjong against, and they had also gone out fishing a few times.
Still glaring at her fiancé, now more because she knew he was right, Yukiko really didn't understand why she made those mistakes. It was just that when she was cooking something, and it did not look precisely the way she want, she could not stop herself from adding a few extra ingredients, in an attempt to change the color. And while she did succeed in doing that at times, it rarely tasted all that great afterwards, Yukiko still felt guilty over the pepper incident, especially because her father had not said one word to her since. He had always been the type of person that preferred sweet food over spicy food, she had seen him act like he was about to die, over just a bit of wasabi. So getting a pancake with that much pepper in it, was not something he had been overly happy about.
But even though Yukiko did know she had messed up those times, and a lot of other times too. She did not liked being reminded of it, which made her mutter a few highly displeased words about Souji being mean to her, as she knelt down to pet, the black blue eyed cat, that had been sitting by Ann's feet this whole time, taking comfort from the feeling of it's soft fur, between her fingers. Yukiko had always liked animals, at times she still missed her pet bird, and wondered where it had ended up after it had flown away.
Looking up into the black haired girl's brown eyes, Morgana could not stop thinking about how unbelievable cute and gorgeous she was, and he found himself briefly wondering how she would look, in Lady Ann's skin tight red latex catsuit. Yet what really caught Morgana's attention was the ring on the girl's finger, it was sparkling, it was sparkling so much, it kinda reminded him of a treasure. One did not need his keen cat eyes to tell, that the red stoned ring was just as important to the black haired beauty, as one of the treasures he and the other Phantom Thieves members, would find inside somebody's Palace, which just made the ring that much more appealing to him.
"So sparkly, so pretty, I want it" the cat said.
The exact moment those words left the cat's mouth, Yukiko quickly pulled her hand away from the animal and stared at it in utter shock, forcing herself not to scream out loud. It was not like a talking cat was the most the bizarre things she had seen in her life. Since she had awoken her Persona, she had gone through a TV screen to another world, and fought monsters there, she had seen a mascot suit grow a human body that had no bones at all, and she was friends with a girl that could control the weather. So a talking cat wasn't really that big a deal, but knowing that it want to steal her engagement ring was more than enough reason for Yukiko to stop petting the animal.
Yet before Yukiko could even stand back up again, Makoto knelt down and swiftly picked up the animal using the fur at the back of his neck, looking straight into his deep blue eyes, as she said a few words to him in a whisper.
"Listen Morgana, if you as much as think about trying to steal that ring from her, we are swinging by the closest vet to get you castrate" she told him, and once she saw the frightened completely freaked out look in both of his blue eyes, Makoto smiled sweetly at him, as she put him back down again, which was all it took for him to hastily run off in the direction of the car, muttering something about animal abuse, and how Makoto would not be treating him like that, if he was a human.
Watching the sulking cat quickly disappear into the vehicle, Akira shook his head slightly as he let out a small tired sigh, sincerely hoping that Morgana would not be stupid enough to try and steal Yukiko's engagement ring, one day, the black haired boy did not even want to think about how unbelievable angry that would make his cousin. Akira knew that he had better make sure that Morgana knew that Yukiko's wrath, was not something you want turned upon you, she had this weird way of making everybody feel guilty, even the ones who hadn't done anything.
And as a long almost freezing cold shiver ran down Akira's spine, at the thought of a completely pissed off pregnant Yukiko, he slowly turned around and looked back at her and Souji, immediately noticing the deeply thoughtful look each one of them had on their faces, which instantly served to make him wonder if they had actually understood what Morgana was saying.
"What's with you two? Why the far away look guys?" Akira asked, sincerely hoping that it would not be necessary for him to explain where he had found a talking cat, to the two of them.
Shaking his head slightly. "It's nothing Akira, Yukiko and I where just kinda surprised to discover that you have a cat now. Before going to Tokyo, you were always more of a dog person" Souji stated.
Scratching the back of his neck, in a thoughtful manner. "Yeah well, I found him on one of my first days, after arriving in Tokyo, and while he can be a bit irritating at times, he is a pretty good friend to all of us" Akira explained to Souji and Yukiko, thinking a brief moment about how he and Ryuji had first met Morgana, inside Kamoshida's Palace.
Yet whatever thoughts Akira had about his first involuntarily venture inside somebody's Palace, instantly disappeared when a loud well known bepping sound could be heard, and while he wasn't entirely sure that it was actually his phone making the noise, Akira was still about to reach down into his pocket after the device. But quickly stopped once he saw Souji pull out his phone, and read the message he had just received.
"Hmm I guess we are running kinda late here, it's no wonder she is getting impatient" the silver haired man said in a low tone.
Looking curiously over at her fiancé. "Nanako?" Yukiko asked.
"Yeah she is sending quite a few angry emojis, and asking where we are and why it's taking so damn long, and that if we do not show up before the food gets cold, she is going to get Yosuke and Teddie to ask about our sex life..." Souji explained with a disturbed look on his face, sincerely hoping with all of his being that his twelve-year-old cousin would not do that, talking with those two about what he and Yukiko did in the bedroom, was the last thing Souji want to do.
"Eww gross, we can not allow that to happen, so we better get moving!" The pregnant girl said loudly, while she truly did care about Yosuke and Teddie a lot, Yukiko simply could not deny that she found each one of them kinda annoying these days. Ever since Souji and her had told the two dunderheads that she was pregnant, and that they where getting married when Akira got back home from Tokyo, they had complained almost none stop about being unable to find girlfriends. Yosuke had dated a few girls, that had all ended up telling him that he was a nice guy, that would make some girl very happy someday, and the only girl that showed any interest in Teddie was Hanako, that whenever she saw him, would chase him around town in a manner that quite frankly reminded Yukiko of a roadrunner cartoon. She was sure that it would only be a matter of time, before Hanako start making traps all over the place, to catch the fleeing bear.
An amused chuckled from Akira, made both Yukiko and Souji look over at him. "Heh heh, I never thought I would hear Nanako-chan blackmailing you two with something like that. I guess, you guys being engaged, and Yukiko being pregnant, is not the only thing that has changed around here. Please do say hello to her, and Dojima-san from me" the black haired teenager said. Ever since he had met Nanako-chan he had liked her, she was an adorable little girl that in his eyes was stronger than most adults. And Dojima-san was a person, Akira had a great deal of respect for, he had done a lot to help him out when he had been arrested, like getting him a homemade meal and a few mangas, that however was far from the only thing he had done, Dojima-san had also tried with all of his might to find the person that Akira had supposedly assaulted, but even with the help of Naoto Shirogane, they had been unable to find Shido's name back then. And since the two cops that had brought Akira in did not want to reveal the name, Dojima-san had told them under the suspicion of corruption, to clear out their desks, and NEVER to show themselves at Inaba's police station again, and that if he EVER found out that they had received money to keep the name a secret, he was going to throw them into the same jail cell as Tohru Adachi.
"I do not mind saying hello to the two of them from you, Akira. Yet since each of them does have the tendency to ask about you, whenever Yukiko and I spend any time with them, I think they would be delighted if you paid them a visited. My uncle has been quite a bit worried about you, since you were sent to Tokyo, for your probation, and you know how much Nanako loves playing those old retro video game with you" Souji said.
Nodding slowly. "It will be fun seeing them again, I'll see if I can not pay them a visit one of these days" Akira said, a bit annoyed by the fact that he hadn't bought a small present for Nanako-chan. Especially considering that Akihabara was just a small train trip away, he was certain that he could have found something there, the twelve-year-old girl would have been delighted to get, she was after all a pretty big fan of Magical Detective Love Line, so a figure of one of the characters from that show, would definitely have made a pretty good gift for Nanako-chan.
But while Akira did enjoy hanging out in Akihabara with his young friend Shinya, he had frankly lost a bit of interest in going to Akihabara near the end. Since the last time he had gone there, he had seen a weird purple haired girl, armed with a small blue umbrella, and a likewise weird brown haired boy armed with a microphone of all things, running around tearing peoples clothes off for some bizarre reason. Even now, Akira was wondering what the point of that was, and why the cops had not shown up to arrest the two of them.
Akira did however not get long to wonder, if Futaba ever found any useful information about those two crazy weirdos. Since he had asked her to look into them, and what they were doing, in case they had Shadows down in Mementos, he and the rest of the Phantom Thieves need to deal with. When yet another bepping sound from Souji's phone could be heard.
Watching her fiancé read the message, Yukiko titled her head slightly to the right in a curious manner. "Nanako again?" She asked softly.
"Yeah, she is taking the lasagne out of the oven now, so we better hurry up and get going before it gets cold, and she carries out her threat" Souji said, just as his stomach growled loudly at the thought of Nanako's homemade lasagne. He like everybody else did not know when it had happened, but for some reason, Nanako had grown very interested in making food from other countries. Especially Italian food was something the girl had a huge passion for, and was very good at making. So Yukiko and he was definitely in for a delicious meal.
"Hm a huge piece of lasagne sounds great right about now, I am hungry" Ryuji said, partially drooling at the thought of lasagne.
Rolling her blue eyes a single time at those words. "What else is new. Next to running, eating is the thing you do best, Ryuji" Ann told the blond haired boy.
Sending her a small displeased glare. "That is not true Ann, and you know it, I am also a totally awesome and brilliant Phantom Thi...Aww that hurt!" He yelped loudly when Ann stomped the heel of her foot, down into his foot, to get him to shut up, and before he had a chance to complain about what she had just done, Ann hurried grabbed onto his ear, then started dragging him along with her back to the car, mumbling angrily about why the heck it was so difficult for him to keep his trap shut about that.
Watching Ann shove the complaining Ryuji into the car by his ear, Akira slowly shook his head, then looked back at Yukiko and Souji that each had an amused expression on their faces, from watching Ann manhandle Ryuji like that.
Yet still somewhat worried that they might start asking questions about what Ryuji had been about to say, Akira quickly said goodbye to the two of them. "I'll come by the Amagi Inn tomorrow, I am looking forward to hear about what has been going on here in Inaba since I left" the black haired boy said, seriously hoping that Yukiko and Souji had forgotten all about Ryuji's slip up by then, he REALLY didn't want them to start asking question about the Phantom Thieves. And as Makoto said her goodbyes, the two of them swirled around and hastily began making their way back to the van, each of them mentally preparing to give Ryuji a piece of their minds, once nobody could hear them.
Watching the car quickly speed away, after Haru and Yusuke had entered the vehicle. The young engaged couple continued on their way to the Dojima household. Yet as they walked hand in hand down the street, Yukiko broke the silence with a question she was honestly quite a bit curious about.
"Souji that cat was talking, do you think he might be a Shadow like Teddie? You know a friendly Shadow".
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully at her question. "Hmm, he might very well be Yukiko, but it's hard to know for certain, not unless we ask Akira or the cat about it. Yet one thing we do know is that if that cat really is a Shadow, that means that Akira and all of his friends are likely Persona users. Now that I think about it, I could sense that Izanagi had been helping Akira out at some point" Souji said.
"If all of them are Persona users, does that mean that the TV world is acting up again?" Yukiko asked worried, while rubbing her round stomach.
Slowly shaking his head. "I don't think so Yukiko, I try at least once a week to see if I can stick my hand through the television screen in our room, and I fortunately haven't had much luck with that these last few years. So if Akira and his new friends did enter that world, they had to have found some other way in there, yet I don't think you have to worry to much about them honey, whatever task our creepy buddy Igor put them through, they seemed to have handle it just fine" Souji gently reassured his fiancée.
"You know Souji, after everything you have told me about this Igor person, I really don't like him" Yukiko said, with a small frown on her forehead.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, he is the type of person that always seems to be keeping his fair share of secrets. So he is kinda hard to trust even when he is helping you out" the young silver haired man said, thinking about how little he actually knew about the leader of the Velvet Room.
Yet he quickly shook those thoughts out of his head, when his phone started ringing, and of course knowing who it was, they increased their speed. Each one of them realizing, that they were in for a scolding, once they reached the Dojima household.
The End.
One question guys, am I the only one who don't really trust Igor? I always have this feeling, that he knows a lot more about what's going on, then he is telling.