Chapter 25: Inaba Day One
The trip to Inaba was thankfully uneventful. Some traffic along the way, but nothing that had delayed their arrival by any significant amount of time. Yu even showed his knowledge of Okina city and Inaba proper by taking the back roads and avoiding the popular destinations that his friends might be currently hanging about at.
He saw it soon enough, the large and sprawling complex that was the Amagi Inn. It wasn't huge, per say, but it was definitely sizeable. It acted as a popular inn, and when it was at capacity, it could get busy and crowded. It was all mostly on one floor, and as they pulled up, they could see the large walled partition of the hot springs. Yu parked the van towards the back of the parking lot, seeing a few number of cars.
The festival usually made it busy at the Amagi Inn.
"Alright, let's go." Yu said and he got out. The others soon began to follow suit, making for quite the sight as they climbed from the van. "I'm sure once we're inside, the Investigation Team will be along shortly. In fact, I'm making sure of it." He and Akira passed out everyone's bag. "Don't talk about Persona or Mementos with them. We're saving it for tomorrow. Akira, you and I will be shopping for some curry ingredients tomorrow, I want to do that tomorrow night. A sort of sit down over good food and talk. Expect my uncle and cousin there, but I'm sure they'll leave after the food. Unless I've missed something in the year and a half I've been gone, Nanako almost always gets tired after eating, and the girl has a stomach on her. Okina city and Inaba proper are just a bus ride away. I know Yukiko has some pamphlets in the inn with the routes." He paused a moment as he shouldered both his bags. "And lastly, for goodness sakes, don't go into Mementos while we're here."
Naoto gave him a look and shook her head a bit. "You're over thinking things Yu-kun." she said.
"Probably." Yu said.
Akira took his glasses off his face and tucked them away. "Well, let's see what's up, yeah?"
They must have made for quite the sight, walking towards the Amagi Inn. Nine teenagers carrying bags, walking as a group. "Yukiko has an odd sense of humor, and Rise and or Teddie, depending on who is around, will play into it. She might also be a bit stressed with the work right now." Yu said. "The Amagi Inn is almost always busy during the festival."
"It's such beautiful architecture, and the scenery is quite the sight." Yusuke said, glancing all about.
Yu stepped through the open doors to the Inn where he saw Yukiko working the reception counter. All her dark hair was piled up into an elegant bun, two ornamental sticks through it. She was dressed in a tasteful pink kimono with a flora design to it. "Welcome to the Amagi Inn- Yu-kun!" she recognized him and immediately bolted around the corner to rush him.
And he suddenly had a fifty five kilogram missile impacting into his chest, wrapping him up in a hug. A hug that Yu was all too quick to return, bending down and hugging her tightly. "It's good to see you Yukiko." he said.
"Me? Look at you." She smacked his chest as she stepped back, only lightly. "You helped everyone out, through thick and thin, and now you're here again after barely talking to us for almost two years."
Yu chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I'll be better about it, I promise." he said. "But that's a conversation for another time, alright?" He pulled his phone out, a slight grin forming on his face. "Naoto-kun, Yukiko." He motioned to them as he stepped to the side and set his camera up. He wrapped an arm around Yukiko's shoulders, with Naoto beside the taller girl for just a moment as he snapped a picture.
"A selfie, Yu-kun?" Yukiko asked, sounding confused.
"Nope." Yu attached the picture into a text. "A message."
"Ah… Yes, that would work quite clearly." Naoto said, figuring his plan out almost immediately.
Yu sent the text message to one Rise Kujikawa before he tucked his phone away. That would likely get his friends to come running. Rise would grab Kanji, Kanji would grab Yosuke and Teddie and Rise would then go grab Chie as well, and the group would come mob him up at the Amagi Inn.
Yukiko shook her head a moment. "Let's get you all settled in. I'm sure you had a long drive." She went back towards the desk. She began to type at the computer set up back there, bringing up the intended rooms before she went and grabbed the key. "Girls' room, Boys' room, and your room Yu." She set the three sets of plastic keys on the counter. "Interestingly enough, we had to get electronic key readers on the door after some complaints of screaming. An investigation led us to find out a group of boys had ventured into another set of rooms. Wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you Yu-kun?" she asked.
Yu took the plastic card up and passed the spare over to Naoto. "Nope." He said. He did know what she was talking about. Undoubtedly it had been when Yosuke, Teddie, and Kanji had decided they were going to sneak into the girls' room in an attempt to get back at them for the earlier debacle regarding the mix up of the hotspring times. Only they had found Kashiwagi and Hanako. Yu had tried to warn the guys about going into the room. "Wouldn't happen to know about hotspring times mix ups, would you?"
Yukiko gave him a bit of a glare, even as a blush formed on her face. "That's not fair." She said.
"Then, no, I don't know anything about three guys being idiots while a fourth tried to talk them out of being idiots. For like the hundredth time." It had been a recurring theme. Yu would try to talk the guys out of being idiots, the others wouldn't listen to him. It was maddening some times.
Akira took the keys to the boys' room and passed them out. Makoto doing the same with the girls. For the time being, the Phantom Thieves seemed to be just quiet and getting a feel for Yukiko at the moment.
Yukiko led them along to each of their rooms, all three rooms being near each other so that their group was dealing with their group's antics. Yu and Naoto both dropped off their bags in the room and began to walk with Yukiko back to the entrance while the others got settled in.
"Wait, Yu-kun, Naoto-kun, where are you going?!" Yukiko asked, surprised to watch them heading for the door. "What about when the others get here?" she asked.
"I'm going to see Uncle Dojima and Nanako-chan first." Yu said with a wave.
"But what about-"
Yu turned to see the concerned expression on Yukiko's face. He headed over to her and offered a smile, reaching out to touch her shoulder briefly. "Relax. I know I promised answers. Soon, I swear. Tomorrow night. Just hold out until then, yeah?"
Yukiko looked at him with her dark eyes for a while, searching his eyes. The den mother of the Investigation Team had a slightly upset look to her eyes as well before she smiled a bit. "Alright then. Give Nanako-chan my love. Just remember, tomorrow night you're going to be getting grilled."
"I know, just let us settle in today, we've had a long drive." And Yu did all the driving, even if Makoto offered since she just got her license. He then pulled away from Yukiko and headed out towards the van with Naoto. "And where are you going?" he asked.
"I'm coming with to say hello to Dojima-san and Nanako-chan." Naoto said. "But I'll then be taking my leave to head to my apartment, I have a couple of things I want to get that I wasn't really able to properly pack when I left for Shibuya, as well as a few things from Shibuya I'd rather have here."
Yu nodded as he got in the van and started it up. Naoto slipped in on the other side and they began to drive towards Dojima's residence. Yu found himself taking oh so familiar roads, roads that he had trail blazed on Dojima's scooter. He was so happy to be back, taking in the sights of people walking the streets.
He parked in front of where the garden had used to be, and he was glad to see it was still set up, tomatoes apparently being planted at the moment. He got out of the van and just looked around the neighborhood for a while. Finally, he tucked his hands in his pockets and headed towards the front door.
"You ready for this?" Naoto asked as she slipped an arm around his and leaned into him a bit.
"Yeah." He said, offering a smile to his girlfriend. Dojima and Nanako knew about their relationship, so it wasn't like they had to try and keep it a secret. He reached up with one hand and knocked firmly on the door. Oh he knew where the spare key was, hell he still had a spare key on his keyring, but he didn't want to just barge in.
Family or not, there was just some things that weren't done. Barging in on an armed cop was stupid.
"Coming!" Nanako called from inside and he smiled broadly at hearing her voice, even muffled as it was. The door knob turned and a young girl peeked through a small crack in the wall. The door was then flung open as Nanako stared up at him with wide eyes. "Big Bro!" she cried out.
Yu was assaulted for the second time that day by a ballistic female. He bent down and hugged Nanako as she impacted with his chest, wrapping his cousin up in a warm hug. "Hey Nanako-chan." he said. He slowly pulled back and got a good look at her, putting his hands on her shoulders. He gave a smile as he put his hand on the top of her head and brought it over towards his chest. "You haven't gotten any taller I see."
He got a smack to his stomach for that quip. "Don't be so mean!" Nanako said before she gave an adorable pout mixed with a scowl.
"You tell him Nanako-chan." Naoto said from his side. Ooh, he definitely didn't earn any points with his quip about Nanako's heights. Oh well.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?" Nanako asked, looking up with big huge eyes.
"I wanted to surprise you and Uncle Ryotaro. Speaking of, I saw his car wasn't in the driveway. He at work?" Yu asked. As a career detective, he wouldn't be surprised if his uncle was at work.
"Mm." Nanako nodded her head. "It didn't sound urgent when he went in, so he should be back later tonight. How long are you staying Big Bro?"
"I'm staying through the Festival." Yu said as he ruffled Nanako's hair. "How's your cooking coming along?"
"Better!" Nanako said cheerfully. "I can make some grilled cheese if you'd like."
Yu nodded his head. "I definitely would." They didn't exactly stop much for an actual lunch in Yu's haste to get to Inaba. The Phantom Thieves hadn't minded, giving him some understanding assurances that it was okay.
Yu stepped inside as Nanako pulled him by his hand inside of Dojima's home. The first place that Yu could honestly call home. It looked exactly the same as it always did. Though he did note a few more pictures on the wall, Nanako with the various members of the Investigation Team, Teddie more than most, as well as pictures of her and Dojima. But he paused at the picture of him, Nanako, and Dojima taken just before Nanako had been taken by Namatame. He brushed his fingers against the glass.
He was home.
Take Your Time
Rise Kujikawa washed her hands up from handling the tofu of her grandmother's shop. She gave a content sigh, humming one of her songs under her breath as she cleaned up. She removed the scarf from her hair and brushed her fingers through it, shaking it out a bit.
She stepped into her bedroom and picked up her brush, taking it to her hair before pulling it back into her usual twin ponytails. She shook her head a moment before she changed out of the work scrubs and into a pair of casual tan pants with an orange tank top.
Her phone buzzed on her desk and she glanced over to it a moment, heading over. Picking it up, she smiled broadly at seeing that it was a text from Yu. While their conversations had been few and far between, she was still pleased to see that he texted her. Opening her phone, she was curious as to what he wanted.
She paused, seeing the attachment and she opened it. Her phone loaded the picture and she frowned a moment. It was a picture of Yu and Naoto with Yukiko. Why'd he send…
Rise's eyes went wide as she realized the implication and she went bolting out of her bedroom. "Grandma! I'm heading out! Senpai's back!" she shouted as she slipped her shoes on and grabbed her helmet. She went around the side of the shop to hop on her scooter and hopped on, starting it up and pulling out to the main street of the shopping district.
She paused in front of Tatsumi Textiles and leapt off, slamming the door open. "Kanji!" she shouted.
"What?!" he shouted back at her, not even looking up from what he was working on.
"Senpai's back!" she said. "Grab Yosuke and Teddie, I got Chie. Yukiko's place, now!" She saw him finally actually look up, showing he had been crocheting something. He blinked twice at her, as though not getting it. "Move it Moronji!" she shouted as she turned to leave.
"Oi! I told you stop calling me that! I got better grades than you. Ma! Yu's back, I'm gonna go see him!" the taller boy shouted to his mother who was in the back as he rushed for the door to grab his helmet. He had since gotten an actual scooter as well.
Rise was already on hers, throttling forward before he even started his up. She turned down the street, dredging up the memories of the way to Chie's house. It had been a bit since she had gone to see her friend, but she still remembered the way.
She parked her scooter and headed up the steps, taking them two at a time. She knocked quickly on the door. "Chie!" she called out.
There was some shuffling from inside, a loud thump. "Shoot!" Chie said before she opened the door, looking a little disheveled and sweating from working out. "What's up Rise?" she asked.
"Yu's back. Yukiko's place. I got Kanji grabbing the others." she said.
Chie's eyes widened and she nodded. She went and grabbed her shoes, slipping them on with a practiced ease before she also grabbed her helmet. "Why didn't Yukiko tell us he was coming?" Chie asked as she got on her scooter.
"I don't know! I bet Senpai has something to do with it." Rise said. Ooh… He was so in trouble when she got ahold of him. And so was Naoto. There was no way her bestie didn't know about it and then Naoto had never told her either.
Even if Rise had been grilling Naoto regarding some specific things about Yu, there was no reason for Naoto to withhold the information from her!
She and Chie began to drive up towards the Amagi Inn. They had to cut back down through the shopping district and head past Junes. It was because of this that she sent Kanji to grab Yosuke and Teddie while she went to grab Chie.
And sure enough, the boys came out from the Junes parking lot on their scooters. They went as a group, heading for the Amagi Inn. "You sure about this Rise?" Yosuke asked, coming up beside her.
"Of course I am! Yu sent me a picture of him standing with Yukiko." She said. She was anxious and excited to see him again. And she felt a twisting in her gut at going to see him. A lot of mixed feelings were pouring through her.
Of course, Naoto was her best friend. Rise would never do anything to hurt Naoto, not if she could help it. But the heart wanted what the heart wanted. And hers wanted Yu Narukami. She loved him. She had no idea how true the love was, or how deep it ran, but she had never had the chance to find out. Of course she was excited to see him, anxious to see him. But Naoto had Yu. Unequivocally had Yu. Rise couldn't help the pang of jealousy that cut her heart.
But she also wanted to see her friends. Naoto had been gone for months now, and Yu had grown so distant since he left Inaba. She didn't think it was because he forgot about them. But there were tiny little doubts in her mind. She thought about calling him up and getting together for some coffee or lunch whenever she was in Shibuya, but she thought it better if she didn't make it seem like she was going behind Naoto's back about it.
They arrived at the Amagi Inn and Rise locked her scooter down with practiced ease. She grabbed her helmet from her head and began to walk inside. She saw another of her friends. "Yukiko!" she said cheerfully, rushing over. Between everyone being busy with the next part of their lives, it had been difficult finding time to get together. "Where's Yu?" she asked.
"Just missed him." Yukiko said. Immediately, Rise felt her lower lip poking out into a pout, her shoulders slumped. "He was going to visit Dojima-san and Nanako-chan with Naoto-kun."
Rise perked right back up then. "So he is actually here, here to stay for a while?"
"Through the festival." Yukiko said and offered a smile.
"Yukiko! Why didn't you tell us?!" Chie asked, rushing over to take her friend's hands.
Yukiko smiled. "Small town, Yu-kun wanted to surprise Dojima-san and Nanako-chan as well as the rest of us." Her smile dropped a bit and she stepped in. "Yu-kun came with a bunch of teenagers, maybe a little younger than us. He's promised to give us answers tomorrow night, but I don't think he'd mind hanging out tonight." Her tone had dropped to a lower whisper.
Rise frowned a moment. Yu hadn't… replaced them… had he? No. He wouldn't do that. Not after all they had been through together. So who were they? Why did they come with Yu? She had been doing the idol gig so long that she was having difficulty focusing in as the combat operator for the Investigation Team.
Rise looked to Yukiko. "Do you mind us hanging around until he gets back then?" she asked. While she considerably doubted that Yukiko would mind, it was always polite to ask.
"Not a problem." Yukiko said with a smile on her face.
"Uh… excuse me." The entire group turned to face a teen with black frizzy hair, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt on as well. Over one shoulder was a large bag slung. "Do you know where Yu went?" he asked, looking directly at Yukiko.
"He's one of the people Yu-kun brought." Yukiko said She offered a professional smile. Likely using it until such a time as she figured out where Yu stood with everyone, but Rise used one enough on her own to recognize it. "Yu-kun went to visit his uncle and cousin."
The teen nodded and inhaled. "Alright, thanks." He exhaled. "Time to leader up then." He muttered under his breath. Rise wasn't sure how many of the others might have heard it. "Do you guys have any recommendations on where we can get some food? Or if they might deliver up here?"
"Dude, it's the Amagi Inn." Yosuke said. "Pretty much every place that does deliver will deliver here." He was right. The Amagi Inn was a pretty noticeable landmark in Inaba. Unless he ordered something from Okina of course. "But as to what I'd recommend, probably Aiya's if you're looking for it to come here. If you're up for riding the bus, I'd recommend some of the smaller hole in the wall places. And of course, if you just need some snacks, there's a lot of local shops and Junes."
"Oh yeah!" Chie said, putting her hands on her hips and offering a generally cheerful smile. "There's a place right beside Aiya's, they sell the best steak skewers." she said.
"And of course if you can wait, dinner begins in about two and a half hours." Yukiko said with a smile still.
The dark haired teen nodded his head, making a mental note of everything and working through it in a similar fashion as to what Yu had used to do. "Alright thanks. By the way, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough, but Akira Kurusu." He offered a hand to the group.
Rise took it and gave a gentle nod of her head. "Rise." She simply offered, curious if he would act the fanboy. She was surprised when he just smiled, though he did seem to know the name. It started a cascade of the group shaking his hand. Kanji just went for a fist bump instead.
Akira then turned to walk away when Kanji spoke up. "How do you know Senpai?" The tallest of the group asked.
Akira turned to face them once more. "He's asked me not to talk about it until tomorrow night. Sorry." He offered an apologetic smile before he turned and headed back towards their rooms. Something poked out of his bag.
"Is he carrying a cat?" Chie asked, tilting her head a shocked look on her face.
"Well, Yu-kun had been quite adamant about a cat being in the boys' room." Yukiko offered.
Rise frowned a bit, her mind working through things. "Curious." she said. "Very, very curious." Yu was going to answer questions, their questions, tomorrow night. But the way Akira made it sound, it sounded like he was going to be there as well. Would the rest of their group? What sort of answers would her old Senpai have to offer?
What sort of questions did she have?
For the Idol, it was difficult, figuring out how she wanted to proceed. She watched Akira come back from the rooms with a girl, one dressed in a casual pair of black pants with a white top that seemed almost oversized. But it was cute. She watched the brown haired girl a moment longer, trying to figure things out.
"You okay Ted? You've been more quiet than usual." Yosuke asked.
It drew attention to the blonde haired boy who was frowning slightly. "I… don't know." He said. "I'm wondering if my nose is acting up." He scrunched his nose a moment. "Beary interesting."
"What is?" Rise asked, turning to the bear a bit fully. Was it coinciding with the thoughts she had with Yu? Just what was going on?
"I'm going to wait for Sensei." Teddie said firmly, nodding his head. "I think he'll answer our questions when he bears all."
The group gave a collective groan at the bad bear puns.
Rise herself went over to a lounge area, flopping down into one of the seats and biting her thumb a moment. Yu had returned. That was the good news. Better news, her bestie was with him, so that meant she had two of her friends back. Bad news, her heart was in turmoil over what she should do about Yu. She had meant it when she said if there was a girl she would be willing to share with, it'd be Naoto. Hell, Rise was willing to even experiment with the other girl.
Not that it likely was to happen. Polygamy was illegal in most countries, including Japan. And Naoto was possessive of Yu. There was very little chance she'd even be willing to consider the idea of sharing the man. And Yu was completely enamored with the sleuth. Rise had seen it in the final weeks of his being there in Inaba, he wasn't going to look in anyone else's direction for quite some time.
And Rise had good reason to believe that her bestie and Senpai had sex.
Naoto was usually never the type to talk about the sordid details of her private life, yet she had even talked about how Yu looked in boxers. No, excuse her, briefs. She talked about how he looked in briefs. Rise sighed in content, thinking about the mental image that such a talk had elicited.
This was why Rise was bad at making plans. She just couldn't keep her head on straight. It wasn't that she was an airhead, but that she tended to think of other things and get pulled on tangents. But she knew that Yu had a lot of questions to answer. Even if she never would have his love, there was one thing that had bothered her that she wanted to get to the bottom of.
Yu loved Naoto. That was not ever going to be questioned in Rise's mind. He loved the sleuth with as much passion as he had in him. It was… impressive to behold, beautiful to behold. But how many times did Rise try to be there for her best friend on days where Naoto had felt the stinging bite of loneliness? Valentine's day had been particularly rough on Naoto, even if the other girl would never say it.
And for that, that alone, for hurting the heart of her best friend, Rise was going to demand answers from Yu. She was going to ask questions that she would want an answer from. And she wasn't going to accept any half assed answers from him either.
"Everything okay?" Kanji asked as he took a seat near her.
"Yeah… just… thinking." Rise said. She looked at the blonde delinquent. "Do you think Senpai might have abandoned us?" She asked. She had to ask the tiny little doubt in her mind.
"Never." Kanji said fiercely. "Senpai ain't like that, and you know it."
Rise nodded her head. "Yeah… I just wish I had answers to the questions I got." They would come in time.
Take Your Time
Naoto parked her scooter by the rest of the scooters that her friends had brought to the Amagi Inn. She wasn't surprised to see them and she quickly made short work of locking hers down. She planned to do a few things in Inaba that would require her not being reliant on Yu or Makoto to drive them, and she figured that Yu would likely be giving the keys to Makoto to drive the van so that the Phantom Thieves at least had something more than bus or their own feet.
She also knew Yu wouldn't mind just taking the bus places.
Speak of the devil, Yu was pulling into the parking lot just then. He parked the van and got out of it, locking it up. He then went over to her. "Need any help?" he asked as she removed a few boxes from the storage compartment on her scooter.
"No, I got it." Naoto said. "Go on inside, say hi to everyone." She could see the nostalgic way he looked at the scooters. There was still a spot where it had been universally known where Yu parked and locked his scooter down.
"You sure?" he asked.
Naoto offered a smile. "Yu-kun. Go." She said with a little more firmness to her voice. She loved that her boyfriend was willing to help, but she knew that this trip was for him. It was for Yu to be selfish. It was for him to brag and show off what had come to be his hometown to their friends in the Phantom Thieves. It was a way for Yu to introduce his family of the Investigation Team to the Phantom Thieves.
"Right." Yu headed off, leaving Naoto alone. She grabbed one last package and tucked it under her arm before she headed inside the Amagi Inn.
She inclined her head to her friends, watching as Yu passed out hugs to everyone. Everyone was smiling and laughing and Naoto could only smile a bit. It was nice seeing a genuinely happy smile on Yu's face. It wasn't to say that he didn't smile like that with her, but for once there was nothing bothering him. Yu was truly home, he was among family.
She dropped the things she acquired from her apartment in her room with Yu. She then headed back towards the sort of sitting area where Yu was making introductions between the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves. She could see there was some tension. It was to be expected. Everyone of the Investigation Team was wondering the same thing 'Why?' and the Phantom Thieves were being complicit in Yu's request to wait until the next night where he gave all the answers that he had to give.
"Hello everyone." she said, stepping up to stand beside Yu. Despite the noticeable height difference, and the way that he accented her own smaller height, she just enjoyed standing next to him.
"Nao-chan!" Teddie practically grabbed her into a hug and she felt her ribs ache.
"Hugging!" Naoto shouted at the bear. "What have I said about hugging?!" Gah… Naoto didn't like being hugged except by Yu. But Teddie just had to be the huggy type. He had to hug her, every time they saw each other, she was getting a hug from him.
She was about to resort to drastic measures to make the bear let go when he pulled back from the hug and looked at her with bright blue eyes. "But I've missed you Nao-chan." he said.
Naoto jabbed her index and middle fingers into the left floating ribs of the bear. She hadn't had to take drastic measures against Teddie in a while, but every now and then his excitement got the better of him. And he pulled back, holding his ribs. "I have told you, repeatedly, about that nickname Teddie." She said. "Don't. Use. It. And the hugs, why does it feel like you're trying to break my ribs every single time? Bad Teddie."
Naoto took a moment to compose herself, straightening out her shirt and her hat. She noticed she was being looked at, some with bewilderment, some with sympathy. Yu was looking amused. She even ignored the crocodile tears that Teddie was offering her. She didn't care. She wasn't falling for them. She cleared her throat against her hand. "Hello everyone." she said again.
"What the hell?" Yosuke asked. "I've been trying to get him to calm down for two years, and you do it in less than two minutes?"
"There are very few things that the proper application of force in the proper location don't fix, Yosuke-senpai." Naoto said calmly. "I just happen to know the proper application and proper location for this particular instance."
"Nao-chan mean~!" Teddie said loudly, holding his ribs. He was promptly ignored by Naoto.
Rise smiled brightly. "Oh! I have a great idea! We have so many people, let's play a game." She said cheerfully.
"What… sort of game?" Akira asked, clearly being cautious.
"Ooh. We played Hide and Seek all the time, remember Yukiko?" Chie asked, glancing over to the dark haired girl that had changed from her kimono into something more casual.
"I do, but that was usually when the Inn was empty, or as close to empty as it gets." Yukiko said.
"I was thinking of a round two to the King's Game we played on Port Island." Rise said with a sly grin. "Come on, it'll be fun~!"
Kanji held both arms up in an 'x' form. "Count me out. Last time we played, I got my tonsils checked by Teddie."
Teddie straightened up with a smile. "It was beary fun last time!" he said. "I'm down."
"The hell?" Ryuji asked. "What's a King's Game?"
"King's Game. You draw from a series of chopsticks with numbers written on them. One of them has the end done in red, Whoever draws the title of King, gets to have the others do as they say." Yu supplied. "One number, one thing to do. The numbers are kept secret until the King gives the orders. The instance Kanji was talking about, Teddie drew to be King. He demanded a smooch from number three. Kanji had three and was then tackled to the floor, and had his tonsils checked by Teddie." The silver haired teen shook his head a moment. "Fine, I'll play. On the condition that you three," He motioned to Teddie, Yukiko, and Rise. "Don't act like you're drunk again."
Rise immediately pouted. "Taking the fun out of it." she said.
"Drunk?" Makoto asked surprised, clearly lost.
"We were at Club Escapade on Port Island." Naoto said. "They feigned having alcohol because the King's Game is often played at parties where the participants have had more than their fair share of alcohol." She said. "Senpai had to give Yosuke-senpai a piggy back ride."
"Ugh… don't remind me." Yosuke said, rubbing his face. "Screw it, I'll play." he said.
Rise looked giddy, even as the others slowly agreed to play. The only one that had dropped out was Kanji, for obvious reasons. Even Naoto was going to play again, regardless of the way things had proceeded the last time.
They got the chopsticks prepared, with Yu taking them and placing them on the table. Naoto watched as he made sure they were face down so no one could see which chopstick was which before he started to scramble them and shuffle them about.
Slowly, fifteen teenagers drew their chopsticks from the table. "Here we go… Second act." Yu said. "Who's the king?"
Naoto opened her hand and gave a sigh of relief. "It would seem that I have been made King. Or Queen, if you rather." she said. It didn't matter to her. The red end on the chopstick meant that she'd be quite able to determine how safe she could be.
"Oh boo!" Yukiko said from her spot in a chair. "Naoto-kun's going to start us off boring." she said.
"Number ten." Naoto said. "I demand a shoulder massage." she said in a feigned haughty tone.
"Can I pass it off to your boyfriend?" Ryuji asked, hope coloring his tone.
"King's word is law!" Rise said cheerfully.
Slowly, the blonde haired delinquent got up, staring wide eyed at Yu. He circled around Naoto and put his hands on her shoulders and started to rub. No, it was definitely not as good as Yu, but it was certainly amusing at the least. Finally, Ryuji plopped back down in his chair. "Jeez, Yu's intimidatin' and he ain't even tryin' to be."
The chopsticks returned to the table with Naoto mixing them up in a thorough manner. She made certain the others couldn't follow the chopsticks either, so that they wouldn't be any cheating.
"Huh… I guess it's my turn?" Makoto held up her chopstick that had the red end. She seemed to be confused.
"I'm starting to think this might have been a bad idea with this many people." Rise said. "She doesn't seem like the type to be fun."
Makoto gave the idol a look and she took an inhale. "Number fourteen, I want you to lay your head in my lap." Naoto thought that Makoto might have been trying to prove Rise wrong.
"Woo some escalation!" Yukiko said.
Akira flushed a moment before getting up from his seat. He hesitated briefly before he gathered his bravery and strode over. "Take good care of me my Queen." he said teasingly before he sat down at Makoto's feet and laid his head in Makoto's lap.
Makoto flicked his earlobe. "You shouldn't call me that Akira." She said with a healthy blush on her face.
The chopsticks were gathered and mixed up once more. "It is Teddie that has become King once more~!" Teddie declared, bolting to his feet. "And with so many pretty girls around, the King demands smooches once more!"
"Oi, a fair number of us are taken!" Kanji said from his spot.
"Quiet from the peanut gallery!" Futaba said, throwing a pillow at Kanji. "I'm starting to enjoy this."
"Number seven!" Teddie declared. "A smooch for the king!"
"Oh! Uhm…" Haru stood up and, blushing, went over and kissed Teddie on the cheek.
Naoto shook her head a bit as the chopsticks were gathered again and passed around. Small talk was made between each round, Yosuke asking about the Phantom Thieves, what they were studying and such, and what it was like in Shibuya. While Yosuke wasn't from a city as large as the Tokyo area, he was from a major city himself, so it was clearly interested.
Makoto struck up a bit of talking with Chie, both of them having interest in martial arts. Ann and Rise talked, living a life of popularity with one being an idol and the other a model.
Rise was the next one to get picked, holding up the red chopstick. "Yes!" she declared, pumping a fist and bouncing slightly. She cut a look over towards Yu, clearly hoping for him. "Following King Teddie, number two., I would like a kiss on the lips." The idol even tapped her lips.
"Sorry Rise," Yu held up his chopstick. "One off." His was number three.
"Aw…" Rise's shoulders slumped as she pouted.
Naoto opened her hand around her own chopstick. "..." Number two. It just had to be her of course. She pushed herself to her feet, glancing at Yu. The man offered a slightly teasing look. "In for a penny…" Naoto muttered. "You're making this up to me Yu-kun."
"Making what up?" He asked confused.
Naoto stepped in front of Rise and cupped her by both cheeks, pulling her in. Naoto then gave a full on, heated kiss to Rise. Admittedly, Naoto got through the beginning by pretending it was Yu. Especially as she used her tongue against Rise's lips. The idol flailed, Naoto could feel her arms waving. And then Naoto pulled back from the kiss.
"Oh… Wow." Rise reached up, touching her lips with a healthy blush on her face, sitting down in her chair and zoning off.
Naoto sat down, pointedly not looking at anyone and keeping her gaze to her hands in her lap.
"Dude…" Ryuji said in awe from the spot he was sitting at.
The chopsticks were shuffled again. Yusuke spoke with Kanji regarding Kanji's family's textile shop. While as an artist most of his art went to painting and drawing, he clearly appreciated all forms of art, and the textile shop could be seen as artistic.
Futaba drew to be king and stood up. "Lucky me! Number nine, I want a piggy back ride!" she declared.
"Why is it always me?" Yu stood up and tossed the chopstick with nine onto the table before he headed over to the younger girl. He turned his back to her.
Futaba leapt up onto his back and even went so far as to climb up so her legs were on his shoulders. "Yeah! Dance for me pony!" She declared, much to the amusement of the others.
Yu grunted but showed that his size wasn't for nothing. He began to walk around with Futaba on his shoulders, his hands on her thighs to keep her from spilling down his back.
Not that it mattered much when Futaba swung back to let her hands dangle. "Wee!" Yu soon set Futaba down and she gave him a grin. "You make an excellent mount!" she declared. "One fit for the King!"
Yu sat down beside Naoto, shaking his head. "What? You act like she's heavy." Naoto said.
"She's not, I just wasn't expecting her to jump on me." Yu said.
The chopsticks were shuffled once more. Haru took the chance to speak with Yukiko about the Inn a little while, asking questions that related to business, explaining how she wanted to open her own little coffee shop some time in the future.
All in all, it seemed, superficially at least, that the Investigation Team was getting along with the Phantom Thieves.
"I am king! Finally, it comes home." Yu said as he held up the chopstick, twirling it about in his hand. "Unlucky number thirteen, most embarrassing story of your life."
Akira's head dropped into his hands. "Aw… man." he said. "So this prick!" he jerked a pointer finger at Yu. "Decides to play a prank on me." Yu burst out laughing, causing Naoto to look at her boyfriend. "Gets me a job working as a dishwasher at a bar. Fine, no big deal. Name of the bar is Crossroads and it's a bar that caters more to the gender fluid community. Drag queens and the like."
"You didn't." Yosuke held his hands up to his mouth, staring wide eyed at Yu like he grew a second head.
"Then, proceeds to tell me that I have to dress in drag to work there. And uses his stupidly high persuasive ability to convince me to go through with it, saying how it'd be a learning experience, how I could pick up a bunch of things working at a bar. And the first day I'm there, dressed in drag, it just so happens to be packed full for a Drag Queen contest." Akira said. He was openly scowling at Yu. "I'm getting you back for that one of these days."
Yu was still laughing, clutching his side.
"Senpai, that seems a bit mean." Naoto scolded.
"Best part," Yu said, sucking air in to try and breathe. "I still have the pictures of him dressed in drag!"
"Ooh, ooh! I wanna see!" Yukiko said, moving over to take a look.
Yu dug his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it while the chopsticks were gathered back on the table and scramble.
"Man partner, that's not cool. After what we went through?" Yosuke said.
"What's the problem?" Teddie asked, tilting his head, not understanding it still.
"Oh my god!" Yukiko said. "That's him?! He looks so good Yu."
"Senpai…" Kanji shook his head in disappointment.
Naoto couldn't help but actually look at the picture. Akira was blushing in the picture, dressed up like a girl. His hair had been straightened and pulled into a pair of twin tails, his glasses had been swapped out for something a bit more feminine. And he was dressed in a dress done in a sort of 'lolita' fashion. Naoto looked between the Akira sitting on the couch beside Ryuji, scowling at Yu, to the picture, and back. The blue dress was simple and didn't show much, but it was designed to make Akira look like a very cute girl.
The phone was soon promptly passed around.
"Most fascinating. Yu, where did you learn to do the makeup?" Yusuke asked as he looked at the picture.
"I'm a theatre student. I've had to do my own makeup." Yu said with a chuckle.
Haru's eyes widened a bit as she looked at the picture, then over to Akira. She blushed a moment.
Yu had to get up and grab his phone before it was passed over to Akira. The dark haired frizzy teen looked almost apocalyptic with anger, still scowling at Yu. "We're going to have words about this Narukami." The younger wild card said.
"Bring it any time, Aki-chan!" Yu said.
Naoto shook her head. "I'm disappointed in you Senpai. We'll definitely be talking about this more, later." She couldn't believe Yu did that.
"Aw, it was harmless." Yu said as he sat beside her.
Another drawing. "It would seem that I have become King." Yusuke said, holding up the chopstick. "I would like… four to model a pose for me."
Yosuke stood up. "Alright, whatcha got for me?" he asked.
"The Crucifction of Christ." Yusuke said, standing up. "You are aware of the pose, yes?"
"Something like this?" Yosuke held his arms out, standing a bit straight.
"No, no, no!" Yusuke said. "More dramatic! Show me the anguish he felt as he bore the sins of all mankind!"
"Yusuke give it up!" Akira said. "We already got in trouble at that church because of it."
And thus, Yosuke was able to get away from having to pose for Yusuke in a possibly embarrassing manner. The chopsticks were collected and shuffled once more. It continued like this, over and over again, more and more embarrassing acts and secrets spilling out. Ryuji even managed to get a kiss on the cheek from Ann when he was declared King.
But soon, the Shibuya group decided it was time to start relaxing and getting ready for bed. They had a long drive behind them, and needed a little bit of time to relax before the next days' events.
Naoto changed into her pajamas, her back turned to Yu within their room. "I'm still disappointed in you Yu-kun." She said. "But… There's a package on the table there for you." She hung her cap up.
Yu gave her an odd look before he went and retrieved the package. It was a blue box with a white ribbon around it. He gave her a bit of an odd look, gently shaking it. It wasn't a big package after all. "What is it?" he asked.
"Take a look." Naoto said. "It was meant for you after all."
Yu gave her another look before he finally pulled the ribbon off and opened the box carefully. Inside was a bit of chocolate. Naoto flushed a bit and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "I uh… I made it myself. Back for Valentine's day. Shipping it felt a little impersonal, and… bringing it with to Shibuya didn't feel right." She said. It was the second time she had made chocolate for Yu, and still she couldn't help the butterflies flutting about in her stomach, hoping for his approval again. "So I went over to my apartment and pulled it from the freezer and brought it with." She said.
Yu smiled a bit. "We'll definitely each this together." he said. It made Naoto's heart soar in her chest a little bit, hearing the warmth and love in his voice. He broke two pieces off and walked over, holding one out. Smiling, she took the offered piece with her mouth, starting to chew. It definitely tasted as good as when she made it. But hearing the sound Yu made, it made it all the more worth it. She smiled broadly as she watched him chew. "Your chocolate tastes amazing Nao-chan." He said. "Oops, guess you don't like that nickname."
"Don't be silly Yu-kun." Naoto stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Yu. "I don't mind it from you, and you know it. You also know when to use it." She said.
Yu chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I suppose I do. Thank you for this Nao-chan." He bent down and kissed her on the lips, a kiss she was all too eager to return.
"We need to talk soon." Naoto said softly, stroking the lower spine of her boyfriend through his pajama top. "About something that came up."
"Sure, of course." Yu said. "What is it?"
Naoto shook her head. "I'm keeping it a secret." She said. "At least until we need to discuss it. And right before bed is not the appropriate time to talk about it, and we'll both be busy tomorrow." She said.
After all, talking about Rise's attraction to Yu was not something that she wanted to talk about just before she cuddled with her boyfriend. IT was not something that had been discussed, but Naoto felt that, after the kiss she gave Rise, they would need to discuss it a little bit. Naoto never took herself for the bi-curious type, or even the type willing to share, but she could almost picture it.
"Alright then, let's get some sleep." Yu said softly.
Together, they laid down in the futon, covered up with Naoto resting her head on her boyfriend's chest. They were back in Inaba for a while, and she couldn't be happier for her boyfriend. He really was home.
Chapter End
A/N: So I suspect that two of the next chapters will be quite large. Likely the next one and then the one of the festival proper as I have to go through multiple characters and multiple perspectives.
Shout out to Jlargent, my 100th Reviewer for this story that requested a reenactment of the King's Game. Here's to you friend!
Speaking of the King's game, in order to get in the proper mood for it, I've been doing shots of alcohol for like the past two hours every fifteen minutes or so. And my whiskey is definitely hitting. Shorter chapter, but no less important, and I hope everyone enjoys.
Also, happy New Years.