Chapter 35 – Yukiko's Castle Extra Boss: Emperor Arcana, The Contrarian King/Hunger Rank 2
{May 2, 2011} {Cloudy}
[Yu Narukami's Room, Midnight]
After getting into his sleeping clothes, Yu sat down on the black-colored love seat in his room, he let out a yawn.
"So what was so special about Marie's comb? Is it something to worry about?" Yu curiously asked the Japanese God who casually floated like a ghost in front of him.
"No… But…" Izanagi hesitated to speak his mind…
"What was it about that old comb that startled you so much"?" Yu questioned Izanagi of what he meant.
"I had the EXACT SAME COMB! In my youth anyways…" Izanagi exclaimed rather astonished that Marie had an identical bamboo comb like the one he had that is totally not related.
"Is that all? I mean Marie said that was the only thing she remembered having…" Yu rubbed his right eye from sleep.
"Well that is odd… Bamboo Combs were gifts between lovers in my time… My creator told me once that beautiful hair can make any women beautiful, So I always combed Izanami's hair everyday so that she would always be the most beautiful."
"Creator? Also I never knew that, whatever happened to your comb?" Yu grew somewhat interested in Izanagi's story.
"I burned it when I was trying to get her back from the shadow world, it was dark down there so I used it as a torch to see… and well…" Izanagi trailed off, Yu realized why he did…
"Oh… so that's how it's happened… Sorry, I didn't mean to pry…" Yu apologized sheepishly, his persona simply waved it off.
"It's fine really, let's get some sleep we'll figure out what's unique about Marie's comb…" Izanagi faded away and now rested inside Yu's head. The grey-haired protagonist readied his futon for the night…
{May 3, 2011} {Rainy}
Yu Narukami with his white umbrella and school bag walked to Yasogami's entrance for the day to start. Suddenly, Yu turned his head to see Yukiko Amagi running up to meet him, with a red umbrella in hand matching her cardigan…
"Good Morning." Yukiko greeted Yu as they stopped right on the school entrance.
"It's raining. It's not going to last past nightfall, though. Every time it rained while I was "over there," you must have been…" Yukiko's eyes lowered in guilt, she then realized how she was sounding.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be gloomy." Yukiko apologized vehemently to the transfer student with a wide-eyed look Narukami playfully waved it off.
"I know! Golden Week starts tomorrow, right? Do you have any plans?" Yukiko asked with a smile.
"I have plans with my Uncle and Cousin…" Yu replied with a somewhat sad look, Poor little Nanako.
"I-I see. That must be tough." Yukiko noticed how Narukami came off as a little down about it.
"But, at least it looks like we're going to have clear skies all week. It'd be nice if it could stay peaceful like this, but the mystery hasn't been solved yet. Perhaps we should visit "over there" once in a while so we can become stronger." Yukiko suggested to the leader of the Investigation Team. The two began walking into the school ground…
[Class 2-2, Afternoon]
Mr. Morooka with a big vein popped out on his head went on his usual and colorful lectures while the students make the feeble attempt to actually listen. Some students like Chie were very bored out of their minds during this. Yosuke and others were trying to stay awake but their sleep restriction from early school mornings was really hitting hard today. Yukiko and a few took notes during the lecture but the Amagi girl was trying to piece together a cooking recipe for something but the list of ingredients confused even ME! Yu was the sole student to make honest effort to listen to King Moron even if it was extremely pointless to.
"I'm hearing a lot of chatter about Golden Week, but don't forget that first and foremost, you're students! Your duty is to study! You don't have time to fool around, alright!? Do not misunderstand what freedom means! It does not mean that you can live without taking responsibility!" Morooka shouted at the students with his signature harsh tone about being responsible students and members of society.
"Even Pythagoras said, "As soon as laws are necessary for men, they are no longer fit for freedom!" Next order of business! Midterms are coming up next week! The results will be posted to humiliate low-scoring losers! If you don't want to be shamed, study hard! It's that simple! If you do well, who knows!? You may become a more popular cretin! And you know, popularity leads to intimacy! On top of that, my reputation goes up. It's a win-win situation, people! Like I said, study hard!" As Morooka spoke, the ears of the students twitched at the uttering of "Midterms" from the all so pleasant King Moron! Chie, Yosuke and others began to look visibly panicked because they have to get ready for next week's exam as both Yu and Yukiko start reviewing notes by themselves…
[Yasogami High – Classroom Building 2nd floor, After School]
It was still rainy…
After many of the students packed up and left, Yu had just finished up reviewing his notes from classes today. Chie and Yukiko said their goodbyes to him as they went, Yosuke already left for an early shift at Junes. The transfer student from the city neatly packed and organized his paperwork inside his book bag before getting up from his desk and leaving too…
"I predict that this upcoming examination of what thou have learned in the past days will be fairly trivial and easy!" Izanagi chirped cheerfully and confident inside the head of his user.
"Yeah, I guess you can say that!" Yu smiled with confidence as he mentally spoke with his persona. He walked out the door of the classroom and somewhat surprisingly, his kohai Yumiko from class 1-2 was waiting on him. Yumiko lit up with a cheerful expression as she noticed him outside the back end door of the classroom.
"Hey Senpai! I was wondering if you wanted to spend time with me for bit… I'd like to speak with you about something." Yumiko asked her senpai as she approached him from the window side of the school hallway.
"Hmm… It's thou call on how to go about this, either spend time with thy pupil or go inside the TV world…" Izanagi stated, Yu thought for a second before taking too long but Yumiko already beat him it.
"I promise not to take up too much of your time if you have plans later…" Yumiko showed Yu a pleasant and considerate expression, she placed her hands behind her back with a cute tilt of the head.
"Well sure! Where would you like to go?" Yu agreed and asked his kohai about where she'd like to talk.
"The hill near Samagawa Floodplain…" Yumiko answered with an excited tone for the occasion. The two friends walked down the stairs to the first floor of the classroom building, Yu and Yumiko both got their shoes from their personal lockers. Yu readied his white umbrella, he then noticed the first year girl was without one…
"Want to share the space under the umbrella? How'd you get to school without getting wet?" Yu was pretty curious about that and presented the odd girl his own umbrella for use.
"Eh, I don't mind the rain so getting drenched isn't a big deal… but I also don't mind if we shared a close space together senpai~" Yumiko stood right next to her senpai so he'd get the message, Izanagi chimed in at that moment.
""I'm getting flashbacks of miss rise-san." The Japanese God uttered inside Yu's Head, the two walked outside and into the rain…
"Don't remind me…" Yu responded back, remembering his clingy idol friend.
[The hill overlooking town, After School]
The rain kept pouring down. The two kids went under the wooden shelter nearby to take a break from walking in the rain. Yu and Yumiko sat at the wooden table underneath the shelter… the two watched down pour quietly.
"Why did you want to come here?" Yu asked Yumiko next to him, she continued to watch the rain…
"I wanted a somewhat reclusive space to talk…" She turned her head toward him with a smile.
The silence between them rose for a time…
"I see something in you senpai, great potential…" Yumiko added to break the silence, the grey-haired boy raised an eyebrow at what she meant by that.
"Potential…?" Yu uttered to her, rather a little confused.
"You're new to a place like Inaba, right? Since you transferred here from the big city…" Yumiko said in a pretty relaxed tone, swinging her legs on the table bench.
"I guess; I came here when I was very little… My mother came to her family here; she was born here." Yu told her somewhat like a confession, he couldn't reminisce about the first time he because he was a toddler… wonder if his still had the weird 90s hair like in an old photo he found around the Dojima residence.
"Is that so? I always lived here…" Yumiko passively stated, Yu noticed that her face had a neutral expression… what she said next caught him by surprise a little.
"…Do you feel alone sometimes, senpai?" Yumiko asked curiously, she faced the rain continuing to pour down, the raindrops continued to sound above the shelter… silence returned for a bit.
"Well, ever since I came here, I feel kind of different from when I was in Tokyo… I can't really describe it but it's a good feeling…" Yu explained in the best way he could to his kohai, this place really did change who he was before…
"But yeah, I do feel alone sometimes. Growing up, my parents would always work but… when they were around for occasions, I didn't feel it as much… I felt content…" Yu told her with a small smile, Yumiko looked a little surprised to hear that…
"Content… so you don't feel alone when people are around you…" Yumiko stated to him with clear understanding, Yu nodded in affirmation.
"I guess you're like me; I grew up alone without parents… even in this humble place where everyone knows each other, a small town…" Yumiko confessed, Yu wondered what her life was like before.
"I don't know why but I feel less alone when I'm with you, you're different compared to others." Yumiko added as she faced away and started watching the rain again.
"I want to understand others; I know this might sound odd but I feel like it's my duty to. I want to make everyone happy…" Yumiko told Yu her most deep desire, Yu thought it felt a little cliché but he understood.
"You're the friendliest, compassionate, and hardworking. Such qualities that many people like, you help them realize what really matters… they become better people because of you…" Yumiko complimented her senpai, Yu waved it off with a smile.
"How did you know?" Yu was curious how she knew so much about him…
"I watch you… B-But not like in a weird way, ok!? J-Just when I'm passing by!" Yumiko waved both her hands at Yu in a panic, the grey-haired boy chuckled.
"Will you help me understand people?" She pleaded to him with hands clasped, Yu pondered for a bit.
"I'll give it a shot." Yu told her with a small smile.
"Thank you senpai! I lov-! I-I mean you're so awesome!" Yumiko retracted from saying anything too much from the heart, she stood up from the bench, Yu looked up at her.
"I know you have somewhere to be… So for time's sake, that's all I wanted to say! Bye!" Yumiko waved off before cheerfully skipping in the rain, Yu just worried that she might get sick…
[Yukiko's Castle, After School]
After making their way back up to the top, the newly filled Inaba Investigation Team took a breather from fighting all sorts of shadows found in the castle, including those rare Gold hands. A tired Yu leaned up against the castle wall before the big set of doors before the Throne Room…
*Breathing Heavily* "Man, I don't remember those being that tough. They use to drop chest keys too…" Yu caught his breath as he sat down on the rugged floor for a minute, laying his sheathed katana by his side.
"Those Shadows even resisted my own attacks, and I'm in prime form…" Izanagi stood next to Yu by the wall with folded arms, resting.
"D-Did You say something Yu-kun…?" Yukiko was plopped on the floor, exhausted from intense training up for what lied ahead. A standing Konohana Sakuya was in front of her and handed Yukiko a Tap Soda can to refresh her…
"It's Nothing…" Yu calmly told her in response as he continued to rest. Meanwhile off to the side by Yukiko, Chie was doing squats as Tomoe coached her on…
"Come on, Master! We've been training for this moment; don't say you're tired already!" Tomoe drilled her user as she completed a fourth set of 50 squats…
"No!" Chie strained to speak to Tomoe as she began doing push ups…
"Those two need to relax; I mean that strong shadow can't be that bad right?" Yosuke chatted up with his persona Jiraiya by the other side of the hallway as they relaxed before going beyond the door.
"…" Jiraiya silently remembered how hard that stupidly strong shadow hit him and Yosuke with its Rampage skill… he can still feel the bruises subconsciously…
"Uh, Jiraiya…?" Yosuke grew concerned by his silence.
"Thanks for helping me in getting rid of that shadow, sensei!" A Cheerful Teddie hung around by the resting leader of the Inaba Investigation Team and Izanagi.
"We're not done yet… Let's go everyone…" Yu got up from his resting place and commanded the team to form up by the Throne room's doors. Yu and the others rush into the throne room with Teddie running to the sidelines, The Contrarian King stood before them, the Large Shadow prepared itself as the group surrounded it, weapons drawn…
"Yukiko! Focus on support! Don't attack it with Fire!" Yu with his katana in hands, shouted over to Yukiko who stood right behind the King-type Shadow's back side while Yosuke and Chie stood on its sides...
"Huh? …A-Alright!" Yukiko stood by as her friends prepared themselves to face off with The Contrarian King.
"Let's go, Tomoe!" Chie Kicks her persona card to summon Tomoe. Twirling her naginata, Tomoe casted Rebellion on her user, enabling her to get more good shots in…
"Yosuke, Support Chie!" Yu then shouts over to Yosuke. The Prince of Junes wielding kunai gave a head nod of confirmation.
"Okay! Let's do this Jiraiya!" Yosuke sliced his persona card to summon Jiraiya. With a flashy spin, Jiraiya casted Sukukaja on Chie, allowing her to steady her attacks. In response, The Contrarian King Casted the spell Red wall, creating a red colored barrier around itself.
"Yu-kun, he's protecting himself from Fire. Are you sure he's not weak to it!?" Yukiko inquired with confusion as the Leader did not allow her to attack before...
"Trust me, He loves Fire! Persona!" Yu crushes his card with his hand, summoning Izanagi.
Izanagi casted Matarukaja on Yu's allies and himself with all the might he had. Orange-colored aura enveloped their bodies in an instant, increasing their attacking power. The Contrarian King quickly approached Chie to attack her with Kill rush by using its scepter, she prepared her feet as he raised it against her… He struck but Chie successfully dodged the attack.
"Persona!" Chie quickly summons Tomoe to counterattack. Tomoe struck with Assault dive against the king and knocks it down… Chie called for an all-out attack, but Yu declined!
"Izanagi!" Yu summoned Izanagi to cast Ziodyne, a heavy electric bolt struck the downed Contrarian king from above, the Shadow endured the attack but its bodied was charred by the blast…
"He's getting back up!" Yosuke noticed the shadow wasn't completely out of commission, the King rose from its downed state.
"Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie! Use physical mirrors!" Yu called the others quickly, they instinctually reach their pockets and threw up physical barriers on their bodies to protect themselves from an incoming attack. Yu quickly assaulted the Shadow again with Izanagi's Tempest Slash as it staggered to get back up. The contrarian King casted Marakunda to weaken their bodies.
"Konohana Sakuya!" Yukiko breaks her card with her red fan to summon Konohana to heal Yu and Chie with Media while Yosuke chucked a handful of purifying salt into the air to cancel out the King's spell.
The King attacked with Rampage, an invisible force that struck so quick, it created dust around their battlefield, The King attempted to kill the party in one single berserker-like attack but it was repelled by the magic barriers, the physical force was heading towards unwavering Yu… the others watch as it struck but… Yu masterfully evaded all hits with a single step, Yu summoned Izanagi for another Ziodyne, Damaging The King's body more greatly than before… The Smoldering King grew more aggressive and focused on Yosuke to its left.
The King attacks with Hysterical slap, many projections of large hands appeared and started smacking Yosuke's face around but he endured it to the best of his ability…
"J-Jiraiya!" Yosuke had his Persona cast Dia on himself to heal up from that good slapping.
"Tomoe!" Chie called for Tomoe to strike with Assault Dive again, Knocking The Contrarian King down for the count!
"Haha! Here's our chance! Let's do it!" Chie called for an all-out attack, they all ganged up on the vulnerable king with their own weapons, enveloping into a big ball of violence. The Contrarian King stood up momentarily after the smoke cleared, before it's body combusted into many little shadows which proceeded to run away in fear…
"Oh! Did I level up?" Yukiko cheerfully expressed to the group, Yu was honestly getting baffled by the others saying that.
"Hey congrats!" Yosuke gave Yu a friendly slap on the back and pulled him in for a shoulder hug. Chie and Yukiko smiled at the two…
"Thanks, that's it for today guys…" Yu told the others, they headed back to the entrance, though Teddie stayed behind as the others made their way out the door.
"Wow, you guys didn't even need my help…" Teddie sadly expressed, he then quickly caught up to the others.
Omake #10 – A lot of dancing games trailers Woo Hoo! Persona 5 Anime!
{-The Velvet Room-}
The room between dream and reality, mind and matter lied in rather awkward silence today among its in-habitants… the blue-colored room itself was mostly bare saved for a large sofa and Igor's personal desk.
The protagonists of every major Persona were there, Igor and the attendants had taken their leave to give them some privacy. Minato now known as "Makoto Yuki" in the Persona official canon, sat quietly next to his sister "Minako" in the middle, she was visibly distraught by the news that Makoto, was no longer her brother since he had an official name… She was quivering in her seat.
Yu Narukami of Persona 4 was on Minako's right side on the sofa, he felt incredibly bad for her… Tatsuya, Maya, and Naoya were standing behind the sitting trio, each had a difficult time of what to do or say in their fellow protagonist's time of need…
"Mina… I mean, "Kotone" it's going to be okay." Narukami tried to reassure her the best he could but even he knew that the whole thing really did seem dire, he was trying at least…
"Okay…? HOW IS ANY OF THIS OKAY!?" A frustrated and upset Kotone suddenly turned towards Yu and grabbed him by his collar forcibly in an outburst of raw emotion, Yu was visibly shaken by the tense grip and expression of Kotone's face, it looked very angry but her eyes were feeble. Makoto calmly and without looking at the two, laid his hand gently on Kotone's shoulder to ease her from getting out of control… Kotone soon released Yu's collar, and faced the ground before her…
"Atlus has made me even more not canon… they took my brother away, my songs, and even Theo. Do they hate me? Did I do something wrong? Just why me…" Kotone began to tear up a little, she quickly covered face with her hands as she started to sob quietly, the others grew sullen, Makoto was stone-faced…
"Hashino is gone, maybe they'll allow you to have some sort of small dancing cameo in that Dancing Moon Night game with that Shinjoro guy and that dog Koromaru…" Tatsuya spoke out to her with some optimism, surprisingly. Despite being the negative nancy of the protagonist group, he was also trying for Kotone's sake.
"That game isn't canon anyway so why does it matter?" Kotone argued through her sobbing face, she was right but hey another chance to be in SOMETHING other than a stage play and Portable.
"Here!" Maya, the most positive protagonist moved toward the couch and leaned in and began playfully ruffling Kotone's hair because she thought the girl would like that, and sure enough her successor raised herself from her hands at the feeling of her personal hero touching her, Kotone began to blush at Maya's hand on her head. She still had tears running down her face but felt a little at ease than before… Makoto spoke during this display of affection.
"Well, at least nobody makes fun of your name…" Makoto added with his rather rare little smile, Kotone perked up at his words for a moment, Maya pulled away slowly…
Somewhere in Tokyo, "Ren Amamiya" formerly known as "Akira Kurusu" started to feel like someone is laughing at him behind his back. It wasn't his senpai, was it? Nah…
"Haha…*sniff* that's true!" Kotone giggled at the thought of the P5 Protagonist's name, the girl's face grew a small smile, she still had teary eyes.
"And you're aren't Shin Kanzato from Trinitywhatever, god help that guy…" A thankful-sounding Makoto genuinely expressed to Kotone, he pulled out a handkerchief from his Gekkoukan uniform and slowly offered it to his former sister for all the crying that she did, Kotone gazed at Makoto's hand, surprised by his action. She carefully took it from him and comically blew her nose…
"Yeah… Thanks, Uh… Makoto." Kotone hesitated from calling him "Minato" since that wasn't his name anymore, Makoto reached out and held her hand gently, the female protagonist was confused since he wasn't acting like himself, the others watched on.
"So who cares what Atlus thinks, I mean they made DAN and Persona Q canon on whim and that was just silly wasn't it?" Makoto casually dismissed Atlus's word for how absurd they try to make the stories of those games make sense or seem interesting compared to the main games. (even though I personally like them for what they're worth…) Kotone seemed baffled by what Makoto was saying.
"It's not like being canon is easy anyway, they'll milk you for all your worth and then cast a new guy once they're done, people move on. I wouldn't want my sister to suffer that fate…" Makoto genuinely expressed towards Kotone whose gaze were fixated by the truth in his eyes. Makoto really loved her through and through despite acting like a really cold unfeeling dude with blue hair.
"Sister…" Kotone spoke under her breath, she honestly had trouble believing Makoto still wanted to see her that way even if the "Evil" Atlus denied her existence…
"You're still canon… to me, Kotone." Makoto then slowly pulled her into a tender hug, Kotone was frozen by his words for a moment… She looked at him with an almost joyful smile, she began to bawl once again into her brother's shoulder. Makoto gently patted her back for comfort… she still kept crying, the others around them just adored the sibling tenderness between the two.
"Wow, how sweet and corny. You know, I also a had a twin brother…" Naoya randomly added since he was sort of jealous by watching the two, his twin is dead Idk it's in the manga or something. The crying Kotone lifted her head to face Makoto.
"C-Can I call you Sakuya? You know, maybe just sometimes…" Kotone uttered nervously to her male counterpart, she was sort of embarrassed by asking him for that.
"Sure, even if I think that's too much of a girl's name…" Makoto stated to his sister with a complete deadpan look on his face. The two twins then embraced again in a very loving way, it was not incestuous at all!
"Well, at least the name Souji Seta is basically dead or else I would have to become Rise's boyfriend in-canon…" Yu remarked to himself quietly in his mind as he looked on at Makoto and Kotone, where Rise couldn't disturb him unless she knew where he was exactly, like EXACTLY where he was with the use of her Persona Himiko. Thank god "sweet" Yumiko is keeping her at bay for him…
Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait!