Chapter 2
Akira Kurusu couldn't help his nerves as the train pulled into Yongen jaya station, it had been two long years since he had been there. And the stress admittedly was starting to get to him a bit.
He hadn't told anyone he was coming down, and he was worried they may not be around anymore, what with Ann's modeling career, Ryuji becoming a star runner, Yusuke a master artist worldly known, Haru taking complete control over super foods. Makoto, his girlfriend (who he hasn't seen in almost a year and is really missing her) finishing college, already one of the most renowned detectives since Goro Akechi.
Then him… Nothing remarkable. Absolutely nothing, it was so pathetic that it was almost a joke. The only time he had been worth something, atleast in his own eyes was when he was Joker, when the metaverse still existed.
The only ones he wasn't worried about was Morgana, who was sleeping in his bag, and Futaba, who finally started going to high school thanks to Sojiro .
"It will be okay, I'm sure they'll be glad to see us both." A sleepy voice said, he looked down at Morgana, the black cat's blue eye's glimmering friendly up at him.
"Right." Akira responded, to which Morgana sighed.
"Oh no you don't, you aren't going back to your little silent phase like two years ago just because your nervous, buck up Akira. They have totally missed you."
"Sorry Morgana, I can't help being nervous about some things." Akira said, twisting a strand of his unruly black hair, one of his habits when he was nervous.
"Makoto still loves you, so you can calm down about that too." Morgana said bluntly, making Akira blush a little.
"In any case, I'm sure you remember how to get there right?"
"Of course, I do, just a bit rusty but it's coming back to me." Akira said as he ducked through an alley, remembering a shortcut to get to Yongen, jogging a little with anticipation.
He turned the corner and slammed into someone, knocking them both down, Morgana yelling as he and the bag flew off a couple of feet away, the boy said something in a language he didn't know, which an adult beside him responded in the same language. By his tone it was a reprimand which made Akira think the boy cursed.
Then the older man stuck his hand out to help Akira up, which he took gratefully. "I apologize for my nephew, he wasn't watching where he was going, please forgive us." He said and bowed slightly, as the white-haired boy got up dusting himself off in frustration.
Akira took a better look at them both, they were clearly American, or at least mostly, both having the same hair color and facial structure, difference being the boy had unruly hair and his eye's were a startling amethyst color.
"MEEOOOWWW, how could you let him do that Akira!?" Morgana mewled, dragging himself out of the bag and leaping into Akira's arms.
Akira chuckled a little bit. "Sorry Morgana, and it's fine by the way sir, no harm done, I'm Akira Kurusu." He held his hand out to the older man.
He took it. "I'm Christopher Takumi, and this is my nephew Lucas, he just moved down from America today, so he's a bit tired and grumpy, plus he doesn't know a lick of Japanese."
The boy said something in English, Akira hardly understanding any of it, to which Christopher gave a stern glare, he then turned back to face Akira, noting how dirty his clothes had become cause of the fall.
"I'm sorry about your clothes, please allow me to pay for your dry cleaning, here, let me and your son get your contact info, so we can contact you, we live here in Yongen Jaya." Christopher said and took out his phone.
Akira took out his phone smiling until he saw what was on it, his body froze, and his throat closed up, staring right back at him was a red eye.
Why? Why is the Nav app back on my phone? We destroyed the Metaverse two years ago!
"Is everything okay Kurusu-kun? You look a little sick." Christopher noted.
Akira blinked a couple of times and shook his head. Quickly deleting the app from his phone, praying it wouldn't show up again. "I'm fine, just a bit tired myself, long train ride, here's my contact info." He said, a couple beeps ringing from his and Christopher's phone.
He then walked over to Lucas. Who was fiddling with his phone in annoyance. Akira chuckled. "Don't know what to do with it? Here, I'll do it for you." Akira said which Christopher translated.
Lucas eyed Akira with suspicion but handed him the phone, with a smile he went to add his number in, but nearly dropped the phone in shock, Akira went slack-jawed.
The Fucking Nav app was also on Lucas' phone, coming back to himself he quickly added his number to it and handed it back to Lucas, who took it a bit too quickly.
"Everything okay? You really look sick Kurusu-kun." Christopher said. Akira shook his head and forced a smile.
"I'm fine but I must be going now, nice meeting you guys!" He said and took off before they could respond.
"Morgana." Akira began but was interrupted by him.
"I know, I saw it too but… we destroyed the Metaverse, it shouldn't be on your phone let alone Lucas' and by the way he was acting he was just as confused. Which means he hasn't activated the app yet, chances are he's already deleted it at least once." Morgana said gravely.
"But what the hell does this mean then! Does it mean the Metaverse has returned?" Akira asked, frustration building inside him.
"I-I don't know! All we can do is speculate, for now the we should just head to Leblanc, some people are gonna be very happy to see us." Morgana said, happiness in his voice.
The words calmed Akira, and the excitement that was building inside him came back. Pushing the metaverse from his mind with a grin he started sprinting, completely remembering the way now.
A short while later he found himself in front of Leblanc, excitement full to bursting, Nostalgia filling him at the old look of the place, well maintained and taken care of.
He raised his hand to the door handle but froze, suddenly that excitement shifted to anxiety and he found it hard to stop his hand from shaking. He couldn't stop the depressing thoughts from running through his head.
What if Sojiro wasn't happy to see him? What if he didn't want too? What if he forgot about him? After all… he was just the kid with the criminal record. All his friends had become something special after he left, and he hasn't.
"Calm down Akira, the day you left two years ago, he was close to tears, I'm sure he'll be super excited to see you." Morgana, sensing his fears comforted him.
Akira nodded. "Right." He responded, to which Morgana sighed in content.
"What would you do without me around?" He joked.
Akira shook his head and opened the door, the chiming bell sending a wave of nostalgia through him. Sojiro was sitting at one of the bar stools working on a crossword puzzle with an elderly couple relaxing in one of the booths.
"Welcome to Leblanc, have a seat and ill be right with you." He said without looking up from his puzzle.
"Maybe later, when everyone else is here." Akira responded, Sojiro's eyes whipped up, dropping his puzzle in shock with widened eyes.
He stared at Akira, mouth opening and closing, but not speaking, he blinked a couple of times, then turned to the elderly couple sitting down, watching the exchange with curios eyes.
"I appreciate your patronage, but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave, A family emergency just came up." Sojiro said.
They elderly couple looked at each other, then got up and left without a word, Sojiro following behind them to close up the shop, he then turned back to look at Akira, surprisingly, there was anger behind his glasses.
"Two years, two goddamn years and not a single call, and of all times you show up here." Sojiro said while stalking towards a suddenly nervous Akira.
"Ahaha…. Sorry Boss, I lost the number to this place and couldn't remember it, I haven't even seen the others for over a year now, I'm sorry." Akira explained with hands raised in a surrender position.
Sojiro threw his arms around Akira, pulling him into a tight hug, Akira who was in shock took a moment to respond before smiling and returning the hug, Sojiro suddenly released him and shoved Akira away, a sheepish look on his face.
"That didn't happen okay you brat?" Sojiro said causing Akira to burst into laughter, all previous anxiety gone.
"You haven't changed much have you boss? Hey, can you call everyone here to Leblanc? I want it to be a surprise for them." Akira requested.
"Hmm sure kid, just let me close up shop fully. Hey, can you go out and get me more ingredients for the curry? Here's a list." Sojiro said, walking off to prepare for tomorrow.
Akira chuckled, "Of course Sojiro." He said and headed out.
Line break
Forty-five minutes later four young adults and one high-schooler walked into Leblanc, where Sojiro was waiting.
"Hello everyone." Sojiro greeted. "Thanks for coming."
"Yo wassup bossman?" A dyed-blond haired boy said, Ryuji.
"Good evening boss!" A stunning ash blond haired girl greeted with a grin, Ann.
"Sojirooooo, why'd you call me? I was in the middle of a run on my game." An orange haired high schooler mourned, Futaba.
"Oh, Hello Sojiro, I see Sayuri is still as radiant as ever." An elegant blue haired boy said, Yusuke.
"Sorry for the intrusion boss, and for our tardiness, I was in the middle of a case." A brown-haired girl apologized, Makoto.
"That's quite all right, you all have a seat, I'll bring you some curry." Sojiro said already grabbing plates.
"Of course, if you don't mind me asking how come you've called us all here today, it's been quite awhile since you have, oh by the way, Haru is going to be late, something came up with superfoods apparently." Makoto said.
"Yea man, we haven't all been together at once since we drove Akira back to his hometown two years ago." Ryuji said, a brief look of sadness appearing over his face.
"Today is the anniversary of the day Akira left to go back home, so I'd thought it'd be nice to call you all here." Sojiro half lied.
"Oh yea, it's March 20th today aint it, shit man I almost forgot about that." Ryuji said.
"To think today would be the day all of this technically ended, yet I find myself unable to complain." Yusuke said with a content smile.
"Totally, I didn't realize it until after he left but Akira was an amazing friend, I really miss him." Ann said smiling.
"Oh? Should I be concerned about that Takamaki-san?" Makoto responded with a cheesy grin, everybody chuckled.
"Hey boss-man, where's that curry you were promising, I'm stoked to eat it again." Ryuji said.
Sojiro chuckled. "I ran out of some ingredients, and forgot that I sent someone to get more, so I'll make it for you when he get's back then, on the house."
"That's like getting a boss item without fighting the boss! Of course that's always the case with me." Futaba bragged.
"Grr, your lucky you have such a cool dad Futaba." Ryuji growled at her, Futaba just grinned.
The store bell suddenly chimed and Akira strolled through the door. "Hey Sojiro, I got all the stuff you needed me to…." He trailed off as he stared at all his friends, Morgana already looking over his shoulder grinning his cat grin.
It was completely silent for a few seconds, everyone to shocked to move Except Morgana who jumped onto a table and started licking his paws waiting. The first person to move was Makoto, who literally screamed as she flung herself into Akira.
That broke the stunned silence, as everyone shouted and ran to Akira, patting him on the back and hugging him.
"D-don't hog him all for yourself Makoto!" Ryuji said, Makoto just squeezed Akira tighter, ignoring Ryuji.
"Why didn't you tell us you were coming by!?" Ann asked, a grin threatening to crack her face in half.
"I must say it brings me great joy to see you again my friend." Yusuke said, a hand on Akira's shoulder.
"Quest started! Hug the crap out of Akira!" Futaba said clinging onto his arm.
"Ha ha, I missed you guys too." Akira said, a smile dancing on his lips.
He finally returned Makoto's hug, who snuggled into him when he did so, he leaned down and whispered in her ear.
"I missed you the most Makoto, it's great to see you." He said making her breath hitch.
"I love you…" She whispered back, then finally released him.
"HEY! You all forget about me over here? I don't believe this, there are two people you haven't seen in a while." Morgana demanded.
"Nuh uh! You're a cat Morgana." Ryuji teased which made Morgana hiss at him.
Ann picked Morgana up and cuddled him to her chest, suddenly he got a lot happier. "We missed you too Morgana.
"I hope you didn't crush the ingredients during all of that." Sojiro said coming from behind the counter.
Futaba whirled around on him with a glare. "Why didn't you tell us he was coming!" She demanded.
"H-he wanted it to be a surprise! I wouldn't have hid it otherwise." Sojiro explained
"Let's not worry about that right now, Akira's back with us, this calls for one hell of a celebration!" Ann said.
"HELL YEA, LET'S DO THIS." Ryuji shouted, Ann smacking him upside the head.
"I want udon." Yusuke said.
"You'll just have to live with curry, coffee and soda Kitagawa-kun." Sojiro said, then looked at Akira. "You still know how to make curry kiddo?"
"Yea, want some help?"
"Put the stuff down and grab an apron, oh and don't forget to wash your hands." Sojiro commanded.
"Yea yea." Akira said.
LINE BREAK Lucas' POV
"Welcome to your new home Lucas, It's kinda modest but it's mine." Christopher said unlocking the door.
Modest my ass, this house is huge compared to the other ones in Yongen. Lucas thought as he looked around.
It looked like one of those old Japanese dojos' you see in anime, white and brown hardwood floors, A golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There were doors
Leading off to other rooms, (also old looking, they were those sliding doors, just wooden.) and from where he was standing he could see a kitchen that was double the size of his room in America.
"This is modest? I'm almost worried what counts as luxurious in Japan if this is modest uncle." Lucas called out as Christopher came out of another room in the house. A bedroom it looked like.
"That's right, You, Rebecca and Michael were not exactly rich weren't you." Christopher said, a sympathetic look on his face.
It irked a Lucas a little bit. "We weren't, but we made it work, we survived with each other, as a team and as a family…. But now…." Lucas choked on the last bit.
Christopher put his hand on his shoulder in sympathy. "Hey, I'm sorry. I- *sigh* I shouldn't have said that, I should have considered your thought's more and not spoke recklessly."
Lucas nodded his head. "I'm over it." He said.
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Okay then, follow me so I can show you your room, I had some people come in and clean it out already, and the stuff you couldn't take with you on the train is here already." Christopher said while walking up stairs, Lucas trailing behind him, bad thought's going through his mind.
"Here it is, I didn't know what room downstairs you would find fitting to your size, so I just went for this as a compromise." Christopher explained.
"It's big." Lucas said. Which was no lie, the room was at least double the size of his own room back in America, the same white and brown color's present here as they were downstairs.
"I hope that is a good thing, now I need to go to work okay? I'm a lawyer for the police and there's a case I need to get to, so I'll see you later okay? Feel free to roam around, you can go outside and wander around Yongen, but don't go any farther, not until you learn some Japanese understand?" Christopher asked.
"Kay."
Christopher hesitated for a second, then shook his head and walked away, leaving Lucas alone with his thoughts.
*Sigh* "I hate it here already, but there's nothing I can do about it now… God damnit dad why'd you have to go and kill yourself…" Lucas said to no one.
He walked over to the box that had his stuff in it. "Might as well unpack this crap."
Two hours later.
"Christ man that took way too long… ugh… no matter, what time is it anyway?" Lucas thought as he took out his phone.
"11:30? So late already? No wonder I feel so-" Lucas stumbled over his words as he looked at his app section.
"Why… why is the fucking creepy red eye back on my phone! I've deleted it three times already!" Lucas said to himself in anger. He dragged the app back to the trash bin on his phone, but the second it disappeared it materialized back where it was prior.
"Wha-what the hell?" Lucas wondered. "What the hell is this crazy shit?" Lucas tapped on the app to open it.
"It's some kinda navigation app, but why cant I delete it? Did coming to Japan put a virus on my phone?"
"Welcome to the metaverse navigation app! Here you can go into the palace's of those with distorted desires and steal them! However to use this app you must find someone with strong distorted desires, happy hunting Persona user!" A female robotic voice spoke out from Lucas' phone.
In a panic he dropped the phone, it bouncing across the wood floor under the bed.
"Distorted desires? Stealing? Persona user? Palace's?! I AM SO NOT DOWN WITH THIS CREEPY CRAP!" Lucas' yelled, fear clutching at his chest.
As he tried to calm down what he didn't know was that he wasn't the only one freaking out about this.
LINE BREAK AKIRA POV
"What…. What the hell?" Ryuji said to his phone, everybody's thought's on a similar wavelength.
"I-impossible, absolutely impossible, we destroyed it two years ago." Yusuke declared, his voice shaky with disbelief.
"I know right?! I thought we were done with all of this stuff when we defeated that malignant god Yaldabaoth." Ann said, a little fear in her voice.
"We beat the final boss, why is there an after scene that took this long to get too?" Futaba said, confused.
"Under no circumstances should this be possible… so why?" Makoto said, theorizing.
Haru who had finally shown up (Who nearly screamed with happiness when she saw Akira). "Maybe… there's more than we thought? After all… Morgana is here with us and he was created from the velvet room right?"
"That's very true, but Mementos, the metaverse and the Velvet room are completely different things. Not even I know everything." Morgana said.
Akira had gone quiet, his thoughts drifting to the American teenager and his uncle he'd met a few hours ago, Lucas his name was. He had the metaverse app on his phone.
"I… Have something I need to tell you guys." Akira announced, silencing his friends.
"What's wrong Akira?" Ryuji asked when Akira started to hesitate.
"We… aren't the only ones that have the metaverse app on our phones." Akira said.
Everyone's eyes widened. "H-how can you be certain?" Makoto asked.
"*Sigh* thank god Sojiro went home, I'm not sure he could handle this news." Futaba mumbled.
"To think another Persona user would be around us, I haven't been this shocked since we found out Akechi had a persona." Yusuke said.
"Yea but Akechi is dead so…" Ann trailed off.
"And he did betray us, granted nowadays I understand why he did what he did." Ryuji said.
"I still haven't forgiven him fully for what he did to my father, but I hope he finally is resting in peace." Haru said.
"Let's get back on subject guys, the other Persona user lives in Yongen of all places so he's close to us, also, he's American and doesn't know Japanese so communicating with him will be very difficult." Morgana explained.
"Wait he's American? Ann you have some competition." Ryuji teased earning a glare from her.
"What are you saying Morgana, that because of this we should leave him alone?" Makoto asked.
"NO! Not at all, I'm just saying we should think about this before we get potentially involved with him, what if he turns out to be a traitor like Akechi?" Morgana countered.
That made everybody go silent, Morgana had basically brought up the biggest hesitation in the group, the biggest what if, Akira spoke up.
"We'll have to take that risk, he could turn out to be a great ally, and it's better to try than to not try at all."
At his words everyone started smiling in agreement. But then Ryuji spoke again.
"Wait, hold up guys." Everyone turned to look at him, the sudden attention making him jump. "Wh-what if we cant use our Persona's anymore, after all we did destroy the metaverse, losing our ability to summon our Persona's in the process, what if we cant do anything?" He questioned.
"That's remarkably smart of you Ryuji, looks like you've gotten a bit smarter in these past two years." Futaba teased earning a glare from Ryuji, making everybody laugh as well. "But he is right as much as I hate to admit it, what do you think Morgana?"
"Hmm, I think we'll be okay, it stands to reason that since the metaverse is back, wouldn't our ability to summon Persona's be back as well, going based off that I think we'll be fine." Morgana answered.
"Then its settled then, tomorrow we reach out to the other Persona user, everybody, let's mark this as a special day, the return of the phantom thieves!" Akira said raising his fist to the air.
A cheer resounded through Leblanc.
"I don't feel like going home yet, so Iet's watch the news, you haven't heard about this yet probably Akira, but there's apparently a serial killer in Shibuya, body's are always found there, and it's been terrifying the public lately." Ryuji explained, while clicking on the tv.
"Apparently, according to the police another body has been found, this victim is the same as the other's as their heart is completely missing from their bodies, with a large X cut into the chest of the victim. This victim has been reported to be in his mid to late thirties, no name has been released as of this time, we will report back to you when we have more information. On a side note the Police have finally named this serial killer, his name from now on will be the Heart thief as he steals the hearts of his victims." The female newscaster said.
LINE BREAK Lucas Pov
"Steals the hearts of his victims? What is this fanfiction? Who comes up with these names?" Lucas said, huddling up under a blanket watching tv with English subtitles.
"Whatever, it doesn't concern me right now." He said and looked at his phone, when he finally calmed down enough to grab it from under the bed he immediately turned it off and hasn't cut it back on since.
"The metaverse…. And all the strange stuff about Persona's. *Sigh* why me?"
I'm tired…. Guess I'll just go to sleep, I have to go to Shujin tomorrow with uncle, and it's already 1:30, god I wish I could just sleep forever, it's so much better than facing reality, ever since my family died…. I want to die…
Those thoughts went with Lucas as he was dragged into the darkness of sleep.
LINE BREAK Akira
"Seems like everyone's finally gone, it's been awhile since it's been just us two." Makoto said to Akira.
"Yea, I agree I've missed you Makoto. You were the only thing on my mind for the most part on my way here." Akira responded, a smile dancing on his lips.
Makoto just about melted. "H-how can you say things like that so easily? Geeze you haven't changed at all."
"Ha ha! I just say the things I truly feel, I've missed you Makoto." Akira responded as he got up and sat beside her, cupping her face.
"I love you so much, it just about drove me mad when you hugged me an hour ago." Akira said, his trademark smirk on his face, making Makoto's chest dance.
Makoto had always thought it was remarkable how Akira's personality would switch, in public he was quiet and unassuming, however with all their friends he was sassy and teasing and joked around all the time.
These thoughts were going through her head as Akira's lips touched hers, making her brain short out, he gripped her sides and pulled her closer just about driving her mad as she gripped the collar of his shirt and basically tried to eat his face.
God I've missed this. Akira thought, knowing that Makoto was thinking the same thing.
With no one around they enjoyed a very romantic reunion together, about a year to late but… better late than never right?
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I made it a longer one in response to me having a very short chapter for my first one. I hope you enjoyed it, if you did please review and tell me what you think so far of the characters, especially my OC. I want to know how you all feel about him.
