The Flower Princess of Fujiyama x The High Priestess of the Amagi Inn - Chapter 28

{April 28, 2011} {Rainy}

[Samagawa Floodplains, Early Morning]

It was raining once again, Yu Narukami and numerous other students were heading down their usual path to Yasogami High. The grey-haired protagonist had his umbrella over his head to cover himself from the rainy day as he walked… Izanagi began speaking clearly into his mind.

"Another Tarot from the Thoth deck, what does thou make of this?" Izanagi asked for his user's thoughts on this matter as he closely inspected the two strange-looking cards inside Yu's mind/soul dimension place. (his own sea of soul)

"It's very strange for sure, both Marie and Yumiko are new people I met this time around… but we can't really be suspicious of them for just that… we'll have to wait and see for ourselves if things don't start to add up or make sense…" Yu spoke to his Persona as he envisioned the two girls in his thoughts, his expression on the outside remained unmoving as his eyes watched ahead, Izanagi spoke again.

"Thou told me that Philemon regarded them as pretty important in thy dream. We assume that Marie-san is certainly not human given her status as a resident of the Velvet Room, but what about Yumiko-san? How did she even come to know Marie-san very well before us…?" The Japanese God of Creation started questioning about that strange detail they learned yesterday…

"That's what I'm thinking of right now, it's weird. As far as I've seen, Yumiko seems like just a normal teenage girl apart from maybe looking a little too much like me in a girly way, and even if she's living with someone like Adachi, I don't sense any malice from her or that's she's in danger of being a victim, I'll have to find some way to speak with Adachi about why Yumiko is staying with him of all people. Next, I have to ask Margaret privately if Marie was truly born in the Velvet Room when the time comes…" Yu formulated for a plan of action himself to solve these oddities, Izanagi nodded and agreed with him. Suddenly, a fast approaching yet familiar voice calls out to the walking grey-haired transfer student, Yu stopped and turned his head slightly in surprise.

"Perfect timing! Sorry, move over!" A slightly drenched and frantic Chie came running to her friend's side and forced herself under his umbrella... the grey-haired boy took a moment to gaze at Chie as she was catching her breath from running most of the way to Yasogami, he couldn't remember this ever happening before, not he that minds it… she stood close to him under the umbrella, both Izanagi and Tomoe stood together as well behind their users… Chie spoke up after taking one last pant of air.

"Sorry, I did have my own, but I saw this Kung Fu movie where they used an umbrella to pull off some sweet moves… and... I accidentally broke mine trying to mimic the movie…" Chie nervously explained to Yu, she was embarrassed to reveal that last detail to him, though Tomoe looked pretty entertained by that little accident that in particular.

"Master grows too excited sometimes when we're watching movies together, I personally thought she looked incredible with that umbrella stunt though…" Tomoe playfully told both the Wild Card and his Persona a little more about that, teasing Chie was a pass time of Tomoe's that she greatly missed.

"Wh-Why are telling him that Tomoe!?" Chie became mortified by her Persona adding more to her silly mistake… The woman warrior began patting the fidgeting back of her flustered Master whole-heartedly, Izanagi appeared amused by their own dynamic…

Yu was smiling at hearing that and chuckled a little at his female friend's misfortune in good fun. As Yu laughed, the blushing and embarrassed Chie retreated into her jacket's turtle collar to try and hide herself from her friend's face, Yu thought was endearing whenever she did that. The two were standing together under the umbrella, they were in the middle of the path as other students began passing around them as they continued walking. Both Yu and Chie noticed this and began walking together to school with Izanagi and Tomoe returning into their heads… The two of them began small talk for a brief time about trivial matters as they headed down Samagawa alongside many others… as they talked, Chie remembered something important she needed to mention.

"Oh, by the way! Yukiko told me that she'll be able to come to school again in two more days! Oh man, I'm glad. I'm so happy!" Chie expressed cheerfully to the tall boy next to her as they walked, Yu noticed the joyful smile on her face, she was visibly relieved to have Yukiko around again. The grey-haired boy knew in his heart that they couldn't have rescued Yukiko from the TV World without Chie's unyielding determination to save her.

"It's all thanks to you, Chie…" Yu genuinely told the energetic girl with a gentle tone of voice, his words of sincere gratitude had changed Chie's overjoyed expression into one of fluster from hearing them, the spunky girl began panicking in her mind of what to say in response… he was too kind.

"C-C'mon, you know it's because all three of us did our best. Actually, more like the three of us, and one animal-thingy...?" Chie told him rather shyly, she still had a flushed face while speaking. The two continued their route as the rain continued, albeit with a peacefully quiet air between them. Chie began thinking about her friend's kind words, she had a small smile to herself. Even if they just met a while back, there really was this sense of care for each other despite it. The usually spunky Chie perked up and noticed two gossiping girls from their school walking right behind them, playfully whispering to each other about stuff, they soon noticed Chie's glance toward them and made their own glances at Chie being close with the transfer student.

Chie began to panic inside about the possibility of new embarrassing rumors spreading at school about them being seen together like this… She didn't want to make Yu feel awkward around her and so she tried to come up with an excuse to leave in order to diffuse the situation.

Chie stopped walking with Yu stopping on the path as well, he looked at her in curiosity to see what was up as he held the umbrella over them… Chie began to feel uneasy on how to explain…

"Oh… U-Uhh… I-It's kinda awkward to only bring this up now, but… we're pretty close here… U-Um, I'm gonna just go ahead and run the rest of the way!" Chie hastily tooka couple steps out of the umbrella's cover and began walking into the rain, leaving her male friend's side. Yu didn't seem to mind if people saw them together at all, he didn't care much about school rumors either… she was important to him. Yu called out to her before she could run off completely.

"Don't worry about that, Chie. I honestly wouldn't want you to catch a cold if anything else…" Yu told her genuinely with visible concern in his eyes, Chie looked back at him with uncertainty in her eyes. She rethought for a moment about her decision. Does it really matter what people think if they saw a boy and girl share an umbrella? Guess maybe not, if they're just good friends after all! the short-haired girl gladly soon returned under the umbrella with the transfer student.

"Are you sure? Well, if you say it's okay then… I guess it's okay for me too. Thanks. Alright, let's go!" Chie expressed with renewed eagerness to not get drenched by the rain, they began walking together again while chatting more actively about stuff of interest as they reached near the end of the path to Yasogami. The two friends were now pretty much unconcerned about being too noticeable to the other students, they instead enjoyed their morning stroll while it continued pouring for the rest of the day.


[Amagi Residence AKA Yukiko's house of red things, Daytime]

The recuperating Yukiko in sleep wear sat calmly on a red colored pillow in her room, gazing slightly at the small red-colored table before her mindlessly for a moment, The Amagi girl then eyed over in the direction of the opened window…

Yukiko stared at the big empty bird's cage hanging over the window leading to the outside… even after having just a brief glimpse of her shadow's true form, she started wondering if "that" was how she really felt about inheriting her family's inn... as a bird trapped in a cage? She pondered these feelings deeply… until suddenly the sliding door to her room had opened, it was her "Persona" Konohana Sakuya holding tea prepared for the both of them. The feminine-looking persona came into the room and set the tea onto the small table, she then sat herself on the opposite end of her Yukiko-sama.

Konohana looked delighted that she's been reunited with her unusually beloved user… Yukiko wondered why she eager about this new lifestyle, but she could understand her Persona's feeling of joy all the same…

"Have you come to understand all of the things that I've told you, Yukiko-sama?" Konohana asked her still worn-out user as she gently set the tea onto the table and took a seat across from her…

"Sort of… You're saying you were that other me… my shadow in the pink princess dress, right? And now you're the strength of my heart?" Yukiko recalled some of the things she told by her Persona with her mind like she was taught to do, she then slowly took one of the tea cups and sipped it quietly…

"Yes, that is correct! I represent acceptance of your own true feelings and I'm the entity that'll protect you from all hardships you may face in life…" Konohana explained rather cheerfully to the tired Yukiko, the Amagi Girl began thinking about what happened recently…

"I just wish everything that happened wasn't so embarrassing though, Chie and the others witnessed my true feelings first hand… Oh man, it's going to be really awkward at school… UGH, I don't wanna go back…" The humiliated Yukiko suddenly faceplanted herself onto the small table with a thud in absolute cartoony misery, almost letting the tea spill from the impact of her head… She dreaded seeing Chie and the others and talking about what went down in that strange-looking world inside the TV, hot studs? What was she even thinking! Konohana was pretty startled by her display, the cherry blossom princess began to freak out about the possibility of Yukiko denying her own reality once again, she needed to act quickly before she reverts back to a shadow!

"Th-They're your friends Yukiko-sama, I'm very sure that they won't mind that at all!" Konohana tried her best to comfort the girl of the Amagi Inn. The gloomy-looking girl in the kimono lifted her head up to look at her Persona, her face was off the table…

"You're sure, Konohana? I'm worried what Chie may think. After seeing me like that… she always thought that I liked working at our Inn… that I took pride in it…" Yukiko uttered somberly to the princess as her sorrowful gaze went downward slightly, though the Persona of her soul had the answer she needed to hear…

"She's your dearest friend, is she not? I wouldn't worry if that was the case…" Konohana told Yukiko with absolute confidence in her voice, she then lifted her insect-like pink-colored helmet up slightly to reveal the lower portion of a human-like face that was hidden underneath… The Amagi girl looked on in both surprise and wonder at seeing her own persona's mouth was that of a normal human woman's… Yukiko couldn't see her whole face but she started speculating what Konohana Sakuya looked like with the helmet completely off… the Cherry Blossom Princess then took up her own tea from the table and gulped it whole… Yukiko was a little bewildered by that too… I mean it was still pretty hot right? Konohana then sighed in relief after drinking that refreshing tea she stole from the kitchen… She then adjusted her helmet to hide her face again….

"Okay, Enough of this doom and gloom Yukiko-sama! How about you ask some questions about me! Do you have some on your mind right now!?" Konohana told Yukiko with a cheery expression… the Amagi Girl pondered for a brief moment about what to ask…

"Well now that you mentioned it, I did wonder why you look like that…" Yukiko inquired to her pink-colored Persona, still curious of what Konohana's face looked like behind that mask of hers… was it her own face!? Or is it entirely different!? That's another mystery to solve!

"That's easy, I'm an accurate representation of your personality! Can you guess by just looking at me?" Konohana answered her user with a gleeful look in her eyes, she then extended her winged arms like a bird, the size of her wingspan almost reached both sides of the room…. Yukiko took a nice look at her Persona from head to toe…

"Huh, now that I think about it… I guess I'm more into Science Ninja Team Gatchaman than I thought, heh…" Yukiko began scratching the side of her head in slight embarrassment that she loved reading retro superhero manga during breaks at work… it wasn't very girly I suppose…

"…Wait what? You do mean Featherman R right, Yukiko-sama?" Konohana hadn't heard of that particular series ever existing before, she was baffled… the Persona caught Yukiko off guard with those words...

"O-Of course I did, Yes! …Still I do wonder why you're all pink though; I mean RED is my favorite color after all…" A teasing Yukiko remarked rather off-handedly to Konohana Sakuya as she gasped in over-exaggerated shock of her user saying such a thing…

"I-In your heart though, you're Feather Argus! Hmm!" An upset Konohana declared childishly to the Amagi girl, she pouted and turned away from her Yukiko-sama for her rude disparagement… Yukiko began snickering a little bit at her Persona's overreaction. Konohana had dearly missed Yukiko's sense of humor so she played along with the joke… the princess loved her laughing fits… ironically of course.

"I'm just kidding with you, Konohana… you're my own power right? …Please help me support my friends, I owe my life to them for saving me after all…" Yukiko told her Persona genuinely, she envisioned the dangers from monsters that her friends must had faced to rescue her… Konohana eagerly nodded at her request…

"I will do whatever I can for them and for you, Yukiko-sama!" Konohana professed to her user with this sense of fiery energy… Yukiko looked relieved even for just brief moment like this… Konohana spoke again…

"Well, you're about to return to school in a few days, so let's get going on your homework and class assignments that you've missed! I don't want you to do badly on your midterms!" Konohana cheerfully told Yukiko like an education mama… Yukiko pondered a little about something she said… Like all of it.

"Hold on, how does a Goddess of Mount Fuji already understand human concepts in the present…?" Yukiko was rather curious to know about that more then doing school work, she caught Konohana Sakuya really off guard with that questioning… you have to be careful with knowledge of the future you know…

"Oh… uh… N-Never mind that, Yukiko-sama! Enough questions! H-How about we study together, okay!?" Konohana quickly got up from her spot at the table and went over to Yukiko's closet to retrieve her school bag, and help her forgetIMEANstudy for her midterms! They're coming up after all!


Author's Notes: Sorry this took a while, I've been working at my new job, though this was mostly done like three days ago, I thought to release this during the weekdays instead.

- We enter the Meat Dimension in the very next chapter!