"Aaah..." Akira sighed, relaxing into the hot volcanic waters. "This is nice..."
"Agreed." Yusuke replied, dumping a bucket of water over his head within the shower room before walking over to the open pool, the steam rising into the cool night sky. "A hot spring with such rich history would surely invigorate my painter's aptitude."
Ryuji snorted, leaning his back against the stones, polished from decades of use. "Always with the art, this guy..."
"Leave him alone." Morgana scolded, floating on a wooden bucket over the waters. "We all deserved to have a nice vacation like this. Though I wish I was human so I could actually swim in here..."
The ex-runner sighed, ruffling his short blond hair. "And we told you earlier, we can't let 'em find cat hair in the water."
Gray eyes slid over to the only silent person in the lake, lounging farther from the others. "What's wrong, Goro?"
His eyes snapped over to his leader. "I told you not to call me that." Akechi grumbled quietly, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "...Should we really be relaxing at a time like this when there are potential enemies gathering only a few meters away?"
"Aw, c'mon!" Ryuji grinned, stretching his arms up into the cool air. "You gotta learn 'ta relax!" Taking a deep breath, he dove under the waters and swam up to the detective, resurfacing with a gasp. Reaching out with an arm, he hung it around his shoulders, bringing him into a half embrace. "How about this. Since you've been doin' jack shit up until you joined us, let's get you to do somethin' you enjoy."
Akechi grunted, trying to shrug off his arm but to no avail. "And what might that be?"
Ryuji giggled as a perverted blush spread across his cheeks. "Well..." He drawled, eyeing the wooden partition that separated the hotsprings into two gendered sections. "...We could see what the girls are up to."
Making a disgusted noise, Akechi pushed him away and he fell back under the waters. "No thanks. Peeping is against the law and I am still willing to uphold justice."
Popping his head above the surface, Ryuji spewed out the water he accidentally swallowed. "H-Hey..." He coughed. "Not cool!"
Taking a small towel, Yusuke delicately wiped his shoulders and chest with the moist cloth. "There is no point in worrying." He stated calmly, relaxing in the waters. "We are The Phantom Thieves."
Akira snorted, giving him an amused smirk. "Former Phantom Thieves, remember? We aren't supposed to be doing any more thieving."
The artist gave him a mysterious smile. "Who would find out?"
Rolling his eyes, Akechi waded over to them near the divider. "We're done with that. You had promised to officially disband the group."
"Officially." Akira grinned slyly, slicking his bangs back with a wet hand.
"Hey Makoto, when'd you learn to drive?"
The guys perked up, glancing over at the partition that separated them from the girls. Though there wasn't a clear view, the recently erected wall was made up of several wooden poles, tied together with thick rope. It didn't stop them from overhearing the conversation from the other side, and Ryuji swam closer to listen in.
"Oh...Sis made me learn just in case. I got my license a few months ago."
Airi hummed. "...I'm wondering if I should do that too."
"You're turning eighteen soon, right Airi? You should." Makoto replied. "You were the one who drove Morgana first, right?"
"Yeah, but I had Akira take over. With how I was feeling inside Mementos, it wasn't safe for me to be driving..."
"It was really scary to see you inside Mementos...I-I didn't know what to do, or if Prometheus could help..."
"Don't worry, Futaba. It's all over now." Airi comforted, water splashed as she wrapped her arms around the younger girl. "Hopefully I'd never have to get that bad again."
"Don't jinx it!" Ann scolded. "Hey wait...Did you grow again?"
The males blushed as the conversation switched from solemn to whatever this was. Nodding to himself, Ryuji swam as close as he could to the partition, eyeing the minuscule cracks.
Akechi crossed his arms at his actions. "What do you think you're doing?" He glared disapprovingly.
Turning to the detective, he held up a finger in front of his mouth as he grinned, shushing him.
"Huh? I guess." Airi replied hesitantly. "They're not that impressive. Haru's are bigger."
"Aw, Airi-chan! I think we all have very nice pairs!" Haru chirped.
"Hehe..." Futaba snickered. "You guys sure do. Mako's got some catchin' up to do."
"Futaba!" Makoto scolded uncomfortably, water splashing around. "Th-That's very inappropriate to talk about..."
"Pshaw, we're all girls here!"
"Yes, but...Did you forget the guys are only a few meters away? They could be listening in..."
"Oh, that's true." Haru agreed. "But I would hope we could have more faith in them."
Ann snorted. "They're all perverts, Haru. There's no denying that fact."
"Even Yusuke-kun?"
"Especially Yusuke."
Inhaling sharply, said artist held a hand near his chest, offended at the accusation. "I am not-" He was muffled as Ryuji reached out with a hand and covered his mouth, the ex-runner still staring avidly at the partition.
"Nah. Inari's more...paintsexual than anything."
"..."Paintsexual"?" Airi asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, he gets a boner whenever he inhales the paint fumes."
"Ugh!" Ann splashed water at her. "Don't say that!"
The guys all gave each other weird looks. Was this what girls chatted about when they bathed together? Or was it only their female friends that were this weird? Wading even closer, Ryuji leaned against the wall, squinting through the cracks.
"Ryuji..!" Morgana hissed quietly, paddling his paws to propel his bucket closer. "Stop being such a pervert! I won't let you do this to them!"
"Hey, what do you think Mona would look like if he had a human form?" Futaba asked.
The feline paused, his bucket washing up against the wood of the wall. Ears sticking straight up, he listened in on the conversation, joining the person he was originally scolding.
"Hmm...Black hair?" Makoto speculated. "He has blue eyes, too...Maybe a foreigner?"
"You think maybe he'd be younger than us?" Airi asked. "Like, say twelve years old?"
"Oh, Mona-chan would be so cute!" Haru clapped her hands together. "Just imagining him in a middle school uniform makes me want to hug him!"
"Yeah, that would be pretty cute!" Ann laughed. "If only, huh..."
""If only"?..." Morgana whispered to himself, a blush on his muzzle. "Do I have a chance..?"
Akira sweatdropped, reaching out to pet the feline. "We'll see." He consoled. He didn't know if they could contact Igor again, especially so soon after their contract was "completed." But if there was any chance of Morgana changing into a human, it was through the long nosed man and Lavenza.
"I can't see..." Ryuji grumbled quietly, moving his head around to try to find an opening through the slivers of space. Akechi rolled his eyes, turning his back to them and sinking deeper into the spring, not wanting anything to do with this.
"Sooo..." Ann began. "Airi."
"Yeah?"
"You've been dating Akira for a couple of months now, right?"
Said male perked up, hearing his name in the conversation. Swerving his head toward the wall, he listened intently.
"Uh-huh..."
"Have you guys...done it yet?"
"Huh?!"
Four pairs of eyes drilled into the back of his head, and Akira sweated. Glancing to his left, he met Akechi's hard gaze. "Did you?" The detective mouthed venomously, brown eyes promising a second murder attempt. His eyes darted away, not wanting to answer.
"I'm not answering you."
"Then, how good of a kisser is he? He's taken you out on dates, right?"
"Oh yeah!" Futaba piped up. "I remember tracking your phones all the way to the amusement park before!"
"Futaba!" Airi reprimanded. "What did I say about tracking us?"
"Only in emergencies, but I got curious! I hacked your phone too and listened in on your conversations. He won you a bear, right?"
"Oh my days..." She groaned before sighing in resignation. "OK, yes. He is a very sweet guy and...I'm glad we're together. Sometimes, it's hard to believe we're actually going out."
"Why would you say that, Airi-chan?" Haru asked concernedly. "Of course he would love you. You've been together since the beginning, even as classmates."
"I mean...I'm not rich like you, Haru, or drop dead gorgeous like Ann, or ridiculously intelligent like Makoto..."
"And me?"
"...Are you saying you want to date your brother, Futaba?"
"NO! EW!"
Akira sweatdropped as the conversation began to derail to places he didn't ever want to think about, but...He smiled to himself, feeling his heart flutter as he heard his girlfriend talk about him. She had been there for him from the very beginning, of course he would fall in love.
"Anyway, it was just surprising. I'm glad though...I wouldn't trade this for anything." She murmured shyly. "He's the best thing to happen to me..."
"Aww, that's so sweet!" Haru remarked cheerfully.
"So how big is he?"
"FUTABA!"
Akira blushed, nervously swallowing as he felt the gaze of his other fellow males on his back. "You guys did it?!" Ryuji hissed incredulously.
He shrugged, not answering. He would neither confirm nor deny any such occurrence, as was his right as a lawful citizen, etc etc...
"All right. I think that's enough of this..." Makoto stated uncomfortably, water splashing as she moved to the edge, lifting herself out of the pool. "We should probably go and have dinner..."
"You've got a nice butt, Mako."
"Futaba!"
"No, she's right." Airi agreed. "It must be from all that kicking she does in the Metaverse."
"Airi!"
Ann snorted. "No need to be so embarrassed, Makoto. You should be proud of your butt!"
"Like how you're proud of devouring three cakes in under five minutes?" She retorted. "How do you keep your figure so well, anyway?"
"Doesn't your catsuit squeeze all your fat?" Futaba asked. "How do you not have a tan line from your boob window?"
"I do!" Ann argued. "It's faint, but it's so annoying! The magazine keeps having to edit it out."
"Let me see?" Haru asked, water splashing as she moved closer. "I think I have a whitening cream you can use for it...Oh, wow. You're very perky, Ann-chan!"
"I'm a little jealous." Airi confessed. "They're so perfectly round...Is it from your European genes?"
"Maybe, I don't know." Ann replied vaguely. "But your's are round and perfect too! And they're bigger than average...Should we compare?"
"Compare..?" Ryuji whispered, excitement coursing through his veins. "I gotta see!" He tried to squint through the tiny cracks but to no avail. The poles were tied too tightly to each other. Exhaling sharply, he reached up to one of the ropes, hoisting himself up the wall.
"What are you doing..?" Yusuke asked slowly, furrowing his brow. "It is prohibited for males to enter the female's side."
"I don't care!" Ryuji gritted his teeth, reaching up with his other arm to go higher. "They sound like they're about to get it on..!"
Akechi rolled his eyes and waded over to the edge, climbing out of the hot springs. "I'm leaving before the entire wall comes crashing down." Adjusting his towel, he walked into the shower room and out of sight. "If you get arrested, I don't know you and I won't be showing up for your bail."
"Ryuji!" Morgana hissed, jumping out of his bucket and onto the rocks next to the barrier. "Get down from there!"
"Hell no!" He retorted. "When's the next time we're gonna have a chance like this?"
Growling, the feline jumped up in one quick leap, sinking his claws into the ex-runner's waist towel as a foothold.
"Hey!" Ryuji yelped, wiggling his hips, trying to dislodge him. "Get off!"
"I will not let you besmirch Lady Ann's honor like this!" Morgana yelled. "Nor Haru's, or Airi's, or Makoto or Futaba's!" Unhooking a paw, he unleashed his claws on the ex-runner, swatting at his butt.
"OW!" He yelled, the sound reverberating through the entire back of the inn. The water stilled, the sounds of splashing from the other side stopping.
"What was that..? Was that Ryuji?"
"It sounded really close...like, REALLY close."
"Ugh! Is he trying to perv on us again?! I'm getting out before he gets any further..."
The loud splashing of water followed by the sound of wet footsteps echoed from the women's side, the glass door sliding close with a crack as the girls moved inside the building.
"Wait, no!" He bit his lip as he tried to climb higher, but the weight of a cat on his towel proved too much and the fabric unfurled to the ground, Morgana landing on his paws effortlessly.
"Ugh..." Akira covered his eyes as he climbed out of the waters. "Didn't need to see everything today, thanks."
"How distasteful." Yusuke shook his head as he headed toward the shower room.
"Uh...guys?" Ryuji called out from the top of the partition, now alone and naked in the hot springs. "Can someone help me down?...Guys?!"
Turning off the engine, Yu and Mari got out of the car and walked into the inn. Yukiko and Chie were waiting at the front desk, stalling their conversation once they saw the two come in. "Hey, Yu! Mari-chan!" Chie greeted awkwardly, trying to smile at the couple.
Yu nodded apprehensively. He didn't know if she was still mad from earlier. "Hey..."
"Hey guys!" Mari smiled at the two, unbuttoning her blazer as the temperatures inside the inn warmed them from the outdoor chill. "Is everyone already here?"
Yukiko nodded, gesturing down the hall. "I've already prepared one of the dining halls for us. The others are waiting for us now."
They walked down the hall, their dull footsteps echoing throughout the lobby as they made their way to one of the rooms. Sliding the door open, the host gestured for them to enter. Taking off their shoes, Yu and Mari walked into the room, greeting their other friends that were already sat at the large dining table, food laid out across the counter by the staff.
"Senpai!" Rise beamed, waving enthusiastically. Her beauty and personality had remained mostly the same, though her body sported more womanly curves now that she was a full fledged adult in the multimedia world. "I'm so glad you were able to make it!"
Yu sweatdropped. "Hi, Rise. You don't have to keep calling me Senpai..."
She waved him away, scooting closer as he sat down on one of the cushions. "Nonsense! You'll always be Yu-senpai to me!"
"Yo!" Kanji waved, holding up a cup of shochu. He had long accepted that he didn't need to act tough to be accepted, keeping his hair black and wearing corrective glasses now. "Glad you made it."
Mari waved as she took a seat next to her longtime boyfriend. "Hi Kanji. How's the store?"
He grinned, rubbing his nose. "Great! I sold a couple more dolls today. One of the kids who've been attendin' every single workshop gave me her first ever hand made doll as a gift and I..." He smiled awkwardly, glancing away in embarrassment as a blush crept up his cheeks. "I kinda cried..."
"That sounds wonderful." Naoto stated quietly, a small smile on her face. She had kept her hair short to seem more professional while on the scenes, but had replaced her old coat for a shorter blue blazer that hugged her every curve, keeping her blue colored detective theme. "You'll have to catch me up. I'm afraid I spent too much time focusing on my case in Tokyo to remember much of anything else..."
"Speaking of which," Yosuke interrupted. "Tell us about that case, Naoto!" He had also kept his hair in the same style as he had back when they were teenagers, opting to replace his headphones every so often with a new pair. He replaced his old white fur trimmed jacket for a fur collar white trench coat, an orange shirt underneath as always. "The Phantom Thieves sounded way cool!"
"Yes!" Teddie chimed in. "Tell us, tell us!" The Shadow turned human had also remained mostly unchanged, wearing a white blouse shirt and black slacks at all times. Though no one could explain how, he had subtly aged a bit, the baby fat in his cheeks curving into smooth planes of adulthood. His eyes which were big blue sapphires were slightly narrower now, helping him with his "romantic" side. Letting his hair grow out, the shining blond strands flowed to his shoulders, loosely held together with a leather string. No matter how mature he looked now, he still kept his air headed and peppy personality.
Sliding the door closed, Yukiko took a seat, Chie following her example. "Perhaps we should begin with that before we explain why we had everyone gather here." The inn owner suggested, delicately picking up her cup of tea, taking a sip of the just boiled liquid.
Naoto nodded, relaxing on her cushion. "All right then. I probably shouldn't be letting such confidential information slip to civilians, but...We're not simple civilians, are we?" She smiled faintly. "To begin with, I was given a call around October once I had finished up another case up north in Hokkaido. The Tokyo police HQ had explained to me that they had captured the leader of The Phantom Thieves due to their involvement in Okumura Kunikazu's death, but his body disappeared after his apparent suicide." She explained quietly, lifting a cup of warm sake up to her lips.
"Shortly after that, active student detective Akechi Goro had disappeared, creating a void in the investigation team. I was asked to fill the spot, but once I had arrived during the beginning of December due to conflicting schedules, the vigilante group had already stolen would-be Prime Minister Shido Masayoshi's "heart," prompting his public confession which I'm sure you all had witnessed on TV."
"Yeah..." Chie crossed her arms. "That was a really messed up time. I never thought that someone who was supposed to be democratically elected could be so evil..."
"Indeed." Naoto inclined her head. "Then of course, we get to December 24th. I'm sure you all know what happened then." She glanced over at Yu who kept his head down. "Somehow, what seemed to be the TV world and the real world merged in Tokyo, creating some sort of hellish landscape that normal citizens couldn't detect. I was one of the rare ones to stare in shock at the bones and blood water raining down from the sky..." She shuddered at the memory, downing her shot. The alcohol burned her throat on the way down, and the warmth it provided kept her calm. "It was...horrifying to witness."
"How did that happen, Teddie?" Rise asked fearfully, hugging herself. "It was so scary...I was doing a shoot out in Inokashira Park and by the time I realized what happened, everything was over..."
Teddie sighed, slumping his shoulders. "I'm not really sure..." He shrugged helplessly. "I felt something when that happened though...As if the lines between Shadows and humans began to blur again. It was so confusing..." He held his head at the memory, trying to shake off the still lingering sensation even after months. "It was like being squished together and pulled apart at the same time..."
Glancing over at his girlfriend, Yu placed a hand on her shoulder. "Mari? Any ideas?"
Letting her arms fall from her thinking pose, she bit her lip. "I might, but...To be honest, Inaba is my domain. I'm not powerful enough in the real world to have affected an entire city like that."
"Then what can you tell us?" Kanji downed another cup of shochu before refilling it. "It was that god, right? That giant...whatevermathing?"
She chuckled. "Yes. He called himself "Yaldabaoth"...I didn't think he would gain so much power to manifest in the real world like that."
Yosuke tilted his head, picking up a piece of sashimi with his chopsticks. "So...Who is he?"
Shifting in her seat, Mari began. "As you know, Izanami and Izanagi are gods that have existed in Japanese mythology for centuries, millennia. Gods like us exist due to human cognition. Enough people believed and we were born in the other world, birthing others and co-existing with other gods. Shadows are people's inner selves made into existence, so it could be argued that every Shadow is a "god" in a sense."
"So Teddie is also a god?" The bear-turned-human gasped in delight. "Then I will use my godly powers to draw all the women to me! Rise-chan! Chie-chan! Yukiko-chan! Naoto-chan!" He held his arms out, expecting any of his female friends to fall into his embrace.
Sticking a leg out, Chie kicked him over. "Not a chance, buddy." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Mari-chan. You're saying we've been...killing gods while in the TV world?"
"You don't kill Shadows like that." She shook her head. "As long as the person it comes from is alive, the Shadow will reform sooner or later. The only time a Shadow really disappears is when the person it's attached to dies in the real world or was killed in their own mindscapes. That would be the mental breakdowns from last year."
Yu crossed his arms. "So while they could be considered a god, they don't exist in multiple people's minds so they aren't powerful in the real world like you?"
Mari nodded. "Something like that. I can't really put it into words. One minute, I just...was." She shrugged. "I exist because people believe in my existence. And of course," She smiled shyly up at her lover, placing her hand on top of his. "Because all of you anchor me here. In any case, Yaldabaoth is something like a false god. He isn't real in the sense that people believed in him specifically, but more so that people didn't believe in anything."
"So..." Naoto grasped her chin thoughtfully, the explanation running through her head. "You're saying because of people's complacency, he gained power? Interesting..."
"People's complacency?" Yukiko blinked. "What do you mean? I don't think people actually wanted a god to take over..."
"Well..." Chewing on some fish, Naoto continued. "If you were in Tokyo at the time, you would understand. Rise, you said you were in the city then. Did you notice how people seemed to...not care?" She worded her question carefully. "As if nothing mattered. Shido Masayoshi outed himself on national television, but his approval rating stayed consistent as if the public ignored it."
Humming, Rise placed a manicured finger on her chin as she thought back. "Now that you say that, I did notice everyone start acting like it never happened, as if...their minds were wiped of all free thought..." Sighing, she picked up a fruity non-alcoholic drink, taking off her designer sunglasses. "This is too much. Are you saying people wanted to be enslaved..?"
"Exactly." Mari nodded, smirking as the idol glared lightly at her. Seemed like that'll never change. "He was the personification of discord. That he was able to manifest in the real world, merging the Shadow world with Tokyo, meant that more than enough people desired it."
They quieted at the thought. Did people really want to be enslaved again? Did they want it so much that their hearts bore another god to do it for them?
"...But The Phantom Thieves kicked his ass, right?" Kanji asked hesitantly, his fingers gripping his cup. "We're all fine now, yeah?"
"Too fine." Yosuke groaned, laying down on the floor. "No one remembers but us."
Yu nodded in agreement. "My other links remembered too but they're starting to forget."
"Hey..." Chie began hesitantly, furrowing her brow at a thought. "Didn't we forget too? Like, for a couple minutes, even though I was on that Phantom Aficionado website, I didn't remember The Phantom Thieves..."
"Oh yeah..." Yukiko gasped in realization. "I hadn't noticed at the time, but now that you say it, I couldn't remember anything about them until the TV showed them fighting against the god."
"Were we wiped?" Naoto furrowed her brow as she cross her arms in speculation. "We aren't immune, even with our Personas?"
"Speaking of Personas..." Chie glared at Yu who guiltily looked down. "According to Yu, we still have them. We could've helped them, just like old times!"
He kept his head down. "It would've been too late...Naoto was in the city, and she didn't even get there in time." He shrugged passively. "It was fine. The Phantom Thieves defeated him, right?"
"Senpai..." Kanji furrowed his brow. "Why'd you lie to us? I thought...I thought Takeji-Zaiten was gone."
Sighing, Yu picked up the entire bottle of shochu before drinking straight from the rim, swallowing half of the bottle before slamming it against the table. He needed the alcohol for this. "I didn't lie. I only said they weren't needed anymore." He glared down at the table, not wanting to meet the gaze of his friends. He didn't want to see betrayal in their eyes. "I finished my contract with Igor and he disappeared. Once Marie became Mariko, there wasn't any more need for us to go into the TV world, so we were done. We said so ourselves, right?"
"But Sensei..." Teddie spoke quietly. "We could still fight, right? I know Kamui-Moshiri is still here..." He raised a hand to gently touched his chest. "In my heart."
"Yeah, but what was the point?" Yu retorted, taking another swig of his shochu. "There wasn't anyone to fight, there wasn't anyone to save. The fog was gone and we aren't needed. The Phantom Thieves are clearly our successors in the sense that they were chosen to deal with the new god, not us." He could admit he was bitter. As a teen, he never understood how his uncle could work long nights, smoke til his lungs turned black, and drank until he passed out. But now? Now he could feel that sense of oldness. Trying to find ways to distract himself from realizing that their adventure was done. Their time was over.
"Yu..." Mari whispered, shifting her legs until she was right next to him, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sorry. If I knew this was how you felt, I would've opened the portal again. I would've tried harder to find Nose..."
Letting out a sigh, he wrapped an arm around her as well, letting his hand rest on her hip. "No...I'm sorry. I should've been happy to stay here, becoming a detective like uncle, but..." He let out a bitter chuckle. "We went from our own heroes to just ordinary citizens. It's a little hard to move on, I guess, even though we said we would..."
"Senpai..." Rise murmured, holding a hand near her chest as she heard his reasons. "I understand. I also felt a little lonely once we defeated Izanami-no-Okami. It was like..." She sniffed, eyes clouding with tears. "It was like everything was over, and, and we didn't have any reason to be friends anymore..."
Frowning softly, Yukiko reached out to hug the superstar. "Of course we would stay friends, Rise-chan...We went through so much together."
"Yeah, but..." She sniffed, leaning into the older woman's embrace. "We didn't have any reason to stay together besides that. Senpai left for a while, I tour all over Japan, Naoto's solving cases out of town...Maybe I'm being salty but sometimes, I feel like the only reason why we're all still together is because we think, any day now, we'd be able to jump back into the action again."
Staring at the ornately carved ceiling, Yosuke exhaled despondently. "...I felt the same way. Like, once we beat the big boss, it was the end of our journey together." He huffed. "We promised to keep on moving on, to keep changing, but look at us now..."
Eyes darting from him to crying Rise to moody Yu, Kanji slammed his glass against the table. "C'mon, guys! So what if there's no action for us? We should be glad for that!" He argued weakly, tears also welling up in his eyes. "No one else is gettin' hurt while we're here, and we still have our Personas, right? If anyone gets hurt, or somethin' happens, we'll be there to help them!"
Biting her lip, Chie nodded determinedly. "You're right, Kanji. So what if there's no god for us to beat? Our job, our promise, is to help people. Whether or not it's with our Personas, we're still going to do it, right guys?" She swerved her head to her leader, a wide grin taking up her face. "Right, Yu?"
Gazing at her for a moment, Yu nodded, smiling faintly. Seemed he was forgiven. "Of course. Not just because we're police and we swore to protect the town, but also because that's how we roll. We're a team."
"Agreed." Naoto smiled, pride shining in her eyes at her friends. "We'll continue like always."
"Our hearts beat as one!" Teddie cheered, raising a glass of shochu that Yosuke immediately took out of his hand.
"Now that we've established that," Kanji grinned, wiping his eyes of any tears. "Yukiko, what didja want to tell us?"
The inn owner perked up, sitting back in her seat. "Well. It's about Personas actually." She began. "You all know we've been inactive for almost a decade now. We haven't felt our inner selves in quite a long while. Today, though..." She paused, her hands gripping each other on her lap. "We received some new guests. A group of nine teenagers on a roadtrip. When I made eye contact with one of them, a brunette with red eyes, I felt Sumeo-Okami again, just for a split second."
They looked at her in surprise. "Whoa, really?" Yosuke quickly sat up from the mats, staring at her with wide eyes as he held Teddie's drink hostage. "You serious?"
She nodded. "And I'm not the only one. Chie?"
"Right." Chie scrunched up her face, scooting up to the table to grab a cup. "When I heard Yukiko's experience, I had to see for myself, so I sort of ambushed the group in the hallway while they were heading to the springs. They looked pretty interesting, to be honest. I've never seen so many attractive kids together in this town. Other than us, of course." She winked. "I got their first names and I also offered to show them around town tomorrow."
"Were there any cute girls?" Teddie asked hopefully, sliding a plate of rice down his mouth. "I hope they're cute!"
Rolling her eyes, the police officer continued. "When I made eye contact with the tall blond guy, I felt Haraedo-no-Okami again. Then I tried to walk past them and I accidentally brushed arms with him and..." She shuddered. "It felt like I was being shocked, like when Kanji would accidentally hit me!"
"Hey!" Kanji argued. "It was one time!...A-And another time..."
Reaching out with a hand, Naoto patted his back comfortingly. "So it felt like a Zio attack?" She asked. "And this only happened with one person specifically for you, right? Yukiko too?"
Yukiko nodded. "Yes. I didn't get the feeling when I was helping the chaperone, Kimisawa-san. Only with the other girl."
"We called Yu and he said they might be our counterparts." Chie explained, fidgeting with one leg. She turned to look at him. "What was it again?"
Swallowing a cup of sake, Yu nodded. "I said that each person in that group probably coincided with our's. I have a theory, actually..." He placed his cup down on the table. "I think they might be The Phantom Thieves."
"Huh?!" Everyone gasped, staring at him in shock. "Those kids?!" Chie yelped. "No way!"
Naoto crossed her arms. "We were young too when we fought a god. It's not impossible for it to be another group of teenagers. What were their names?"
"Uhh..." Chie furrowed her brow, trying to match each name with a description. "Airi for the pink haired girl, Akira for the black haired guy, Ann for the blonde haired girl, Ryuji for the blond haired guy, Makoto for the brunette, Yusuke for the blue haired one, Futaba with long orange hair, Haru with light brown hair, and Akechi with light brown hair too."
"Akechi? Akechi Goro?" Naoto pressed fervently, furrowing her brow. "He's here?"
"Oh!" Yukiko gasped. "You think that guy was Akechi Goro? The new detective prince that you were supposed to replace in Tokyo, right?"
Naoto nodded, frowning deeply. "Yes. He had disappeared just before Shido's confession...I had no idea that he was back, though. Where did he disappear to?"
Wiping the remnants of her tears, Rise sat up in her seat. "You think maybe...He was stuck in the TV?" She whispered hesitantly. "It's like when we were kidnapped, right? We disappeared without a trace because of Namatame-san, and Yu-senpai had to save us."
"We shouldn't jump to conclusions, though." Mari advised, taking a bite of steamed fish. "I know that they're powerful Persona users, I can sense them a few meters away, but are they really The Phantom Thieves?"
The former detective prince stilled. "...He was the one heading the investigation against The Phantom Thieves. I heard from one of his former co-workers that he was very...concerned with needing to arrest the group. Is it possible that he discovered a portal into the TV world, and then joined The Phantom Thieves himself once they saved him? That's the only conclusion I can think of for why he would be with this group..."
"But The Phantom Thieves steal hearts, right?" Teddie asked naively, scratching the top of his head. "Is that really saving people?"
"Of course." Yu replied instantly, frowning faintly. "You guys remember that girl from high school? The one who was all about art? She skipped town to Tokyo. She became one of Madarame's pupils." He stated grimly. "It was because of him that she was killed, and it's only thanks to The Phantom Thieves that he's in jail now. Otherwise, I don't think anyone would've caught him."
Rise covered her mouth in horror. "That poor girl..! I think I remember. She was in our class, right Kanji?"
Kanji nodded. "Yeah, I remember. She left town as soon as we graduated..." He sighed heavily, downing another cup of shochu. "Guess we should thank those kids..."
"Tomorrow, then?" Mari proposed, lightly grasping her cup, her finger tracing the trim. "I'm getting more and more interested in these kids...Does one of them represent Hope?"
"Tomorrow." Yu confirmed. They were going to confront The Phantom Thieves.
