From the Ashes
(Version 3)
If you are new here My name is Fates and this is my 3rd and hopefully final rendition of my Persona Fanfic, From the Ashes which is P5R with P3 and 4 Characters with a new story following mostly the same path as P5 with my OC, Naoto's brother, Amaya Shirogane. I hope you enjoy.
Hello everyone, FatesAwakener here, for everyone who read this and possibly was waiting for more I apologize for taking so long to come back to this. I have been in very tough situations and have not had the real resolve to continue writing this for a long time but am hopefully back to my old self despite that. I am unfortunately going to be doing another revamp of this story as with the benefit of hindsight I see plenty of issues I had with the things I had written here with a few exceptions. I am going to try and fix issues I have with the story but would seriously appreciate it if you all could let me know your thoughts and if you like the story or not. I have close to no feedback and that was one of the reasons for me stopping this months ago with only the response of my long-time reviewer RosyMiranto18. I would greatly appreciate it if you would spend any amount of time letting me know what you think of the story and I will look at it and decide how I want to go with the story going forward with the rewrite. I hope you all enjoy the new iteration of this story.
Chapter 1: Candle Light
In a world full of darkness there are always traces of light that people are supposed to use to guide their way. Hopefully, the people can harness their light before it gets blotted out by the darkness that is always around them. Who harnesses their light and who loses it or tries stealing it from others? That is the question of the nature of living beings I suppose.
A teenage boy woke up in a cold sweat in the darkness of his room hearing the sound of the fan in his room and looked at his clock only to scoff in annoyance at the time displayed on it.
"Thirty past Midnight? Damn it."
The Boy got up and walked out of his room to a silencer which he lived in was lit by candlelight and has a strangely different feeling as to before he went to sleep. He dismissed this mentally thinking he was just not seeing things correctly and started walking to where the kitchen and living room would be but instead saw an almost empty room minus the chair with a sole being within it. The Boy was afraid to walk closer but felt a force shove him forward to see the figure was not breathing. Hurriedly the Boy began trying to check for a pulse only to not find anything and he started to cry knowing the older man in the chair was dead with black streams going down his cheeks and chin. Behind him, he heard distorted voices start to echo and start yelling his name along with other things but he only heard one thing that he registered.
"YoU dId ThIs! YoU cOuLd HaVe SaVeD hIm MoNsTeR!"
The Boy hearing this nodded.
"I am a monster... "
He looked up and saw a shadowy figure with yellow glowing eyes was suddenly where the chair and the man was, looking down at him. The figure reached an armored hand out to him but the Boy looked away and heard the sound of clinking armor before his vision went black and he heard an evil chuckle from where the voices in the darkness were before only seeing darkness and the void of sleep seemed to retake him.
"Gasp!"
'Bonk!'
"Ow!"
The Boy awoke from the nightmare only to hit his head against the window of the car he was in and rubbed the side of his head in the hope to stop the pain.
That hit to the head managed to wake Amaya Shirogane from his nightmare and upon the pain of hitting the window with his head looked out the said window at the night sky overhead that was starting to fill with storm clouds stretching to each side of the visible horizon.
As the miles and miles went by Amaya could see as the countryside became less rural bit by bit until even the rain was coming down hard enough to obscure his view. Amaya saw the beautiful Tokyo skyline far in the distance and even felt his breath catch seeing all of the different lights dotting the horizon now, overtaking that of any star currently visible in the sky, As Amaya finally began to calm down from his nightmare he heard thunder on the horizon and a lightning strike that light up everything around it. As the light began to die down Amaya saw something in his reflection out of the corner of his eye and tried to turn to it to see a glimpse of himself with yellow eyes that disappeared with the lightning's light only to be replaced by his normal reflection. Feeling uncomfortable for some reason Amaya pulled out his phone from his bag and decided to scroll the current news.
"Accident at Shibuya Crossing stops traffic for hours."
"Not now. Pass."
"Ex-Olympian Suguru Kamoshida promises to take his High School team to the top."
"Cool. Don't care. Pass."
"Famous Artist Ichiryusai Madarame opens a huge art exhibit later this year."
"Boring. Pass."
"Kids in Shibuya being taken advantage of by the Mafia."
"Damn that sucks. Pass."
"Medjed terrorizes the world!"
"These are chumps. Pass."
"Okumura Foods has become the number one food company in Japan."
"Good for them. Pass."
"Famous Detective Daichi Shirogane passes away at the age of 89."
"Grrrrr. Pass."
"Special Investigations Unit takes a hammer to crime in Tokyo!"
"Corruption is being encouraged. Pass."
"This year's election is said to be the most interesting in decades!"
"Anyone who wins will be inept. Pass."
"Citizens of Tokyo are happier than they have been in decades."
"Why is this in the news? Pass."
"Lab construction shut down to make way for a Stadium in Odaiba."
"That's unfortunate. Pass. Goddamn, this is boring."
After scrolling the news for a few minutes Amaya was just getting annoyed the more stupid articles he saw as he scrolled down the browser until he saw an article that caught his eye and just as he opened it the window between the front seat and the back seat and back of the Van he was in opened.
"Amaya-san are you awake? We are nearing our destination."
Amaya thought for a second before responding.
"I'm awake Shiji, where too in Tokyo is Naoto going to be meeting us?"
"She wants to meet us in the parking garage for the building we are all going to stay in for at least this year."
"Having to live with HER after all this!? ...FINE!. I'll just pretend to be okay with this but once I get the chance I am going STRAIGHT BACK HOME."
"I understand exactly how you feel, Master. I just feel that you need to get a change of scenery. Naoto-san is truly trying her hardest to make up for you. I just hope someday you can learn to give at least some people a second chance."
"I'll give a second chance to those I feel have DESERVED it, Shiji. I just feel that she hasn't done enough to make up for joining Muko and the other Assholes in the family on his side."
Yakushiji seemed to contemplate this for a moment. "...I believe I understand sir. You think for forgiveness, action speaks louder than words."
"YES!. ...Before I possibly let out another outburst... where is the Penthouse again?"
"It is in Shibuya, in a building that also is the home of the CEO of the international fast-food chain Big Bang Burger."
"Where did Naoto get the type of money to get a Penthouse in a building with THAT type of person living there?"
"This is part of a deal made between your Sister and one of one of her past clients, Mitsuru Kirijo."
"How the hell does Naoto know a Billionaire?"
"That sir I do not know, maybe that might be something worth asking her about."
"...Nice try Yakushiji, almost got me."
"One can hope can't they?"
After this, there was only silence. Soon after this, the rain started letting up a bit and they entered Tokyo.
Amaya had seriously underestimated the effect that Tokyo's skyline has when in person rather than just through images. The lights and the shops and everything he saw as the car went conveyed a sense of enormity he had never thought to exist. As the drive went on throughout the city Amaya could almost feel his breath catch every time he saw a new thing and felt a strange feeling that almost felt like excitement begins to surface in his chest but almost as quickly it showed up he felt it start to drain away and he began to look forlornly at the lights.
After about ten minutes of driving, The car was driving past a lifting barrier and into the parking garage. After a few levels of turns and ramps, Yakushiji found a VIP parking space next to a Blue car and drove into it. After pulling in and the car went into park Amaya begrudgingly undid his seat belt and grabbed his bag before opening his door before stepping out alongside Yakushiji. As they started walking towards the door and elevator the automatic door opened.
"Ami!"
A woman in a blue coat, hat, and wearing black pants was standing before him before running up to Amaya and hugged him.
"Oh boy, here we go." Amaya thought as Naoto was squeezing him in a tight grip.
Naoto Shirogane was finishing up a case about a robbery in Sapporo when she got a call from her friend and advisor, Mitsuru Kirijo.
"Hey Mitsuru, how are things going?"
"Things are going smoothly Naoto. How are things on your end?"
"Just finished up a case and now have a clean slate if you need me for something."
"Excellent. "
"Do you have a mission for me?"
"I believe I do. Fuuka has noticed strange Shadow Nest readings The Shadow Operatives are currently unable to investigate so I was wondering if you and a few of your old teammates would be willing to investigate this for us."
"Why are you all unable to investigate?"
"Aigis and Labrys are currently getting fixed up after dealing with a Shadow Nest in Paris but the rest of the active Shadow Operatives other than myself and Fuuka are in America dealing with a Shadow Nest appearing in the North-West."
"Understood. Who among my team do you have in mind besides me?"
"I already asked Teddie who was willing to, since he can help access the Shadow Nest easily, I was also wondering if Narukami and Kujikawa could lend a hand."
"Yu is in University and Rise is on Tour. Do you think they will be available?"
"I feel you should ask them. I assume Kujikawa and Narukami will be more available than everyone else on the list of Team B."
"Okay, I'll ask them but what do you have in mind specifically? I am available and Teddie sounds like he is already in."
"I already got an idea. I own a Penthouse in Shibuya with six bedrooms. I'll let you and Teddie stay there as living quarters for as long as the case requires. Teddie needed a cover to not seem suspicious so I have him working as an Attendance worker at Shujin Academy. As for you, it will be much easier. You have a legitimate reason for doing a case. I think that is the easiest reasoning. As for pay, you will both get Fifty Thousand Yen a Month but if anything comes up to let me know. Does that sound good to you?"
"Indeed it does. That sounds like a plan Mitsuru thank you."
"No problem. I would like you in Shibuya by March 29th."
"Understood thanks Mitsuru, talk to you soon."
"Same Naoto."
-Call Ended.-
"Sigh. Guess I have another delay before going back to the Estate. That's unfortunate. I should go call Yakushiji."
"Ring Ring! Ring Ring! *Pickup* Hello? Naoto-san?"
"Hello Yakushiji, how are things at the Estate?"
"Unfortunately Naoto-san, not so well."
"What happened?"
"Master Daichi has recently passed away."
"What!? When!?"
"He passed away in the middle of the night on January 23rd"
"Nothing Malicious or noticeable at the scene?"
"Afraid not. Your brother seems to have suspicions but has shut himself in his wing as usual."
"Amaya? How is he doing through all this?"
"Worse than usual I'm afraid. He has once again regressed to being confined to his room and the kitchen when not in school."
"Why was I not told about all this?"
"The Family elected not to alert you which I expected and I apologize, I was going to call you sooner but I knew you were in a case so I decided to wait a little while."
"I understand Yakushiji, what happens with Amaya?"
"In Master Daichi's Will, most of his belongings go to you and Master Amaya. But as of now, you are Amaya-san's Guardian."
"...Does he know this?"
"He does..."
"I assume he still hates me?"
"He does… I've tried to change his viewpoint but there is no talking to a Shirogane when they have their mind made up I'm afraid."
"That's okay, I expected that."
"Do you have another case Naoto-san?"
"I do but I may have a way to do something this time."
"What do you have in mind Naoto-san?"
"I'll have to call someone but can I give you a call back so I can do that?"
"Certainly Naoto-san, I always have my phone on me."
"Thanks. Talk to you soon Yakushiji."
-Call Ended-
"Ami! I'm so glad to see you!" Naoto said as she hugged her Brother.
"...Good to see you too Nao."
Naoto could tell that Amaya was trying his best to force a response out as it didn't sound genuine in the slightest. Naoto quickly let go of him and stood back as Yakushiji walked out of the Elevator room with a large luggage trolley.
"Nice to see you Naoto-San."
"Likewise Yakushiji. Would you like me to help get the luggage on the trolley?"
"If you wouldn't mind. Amaya-San was determined to bring his entire backup computer set-up."
"... I need it to do my work," Amaya mumbled just loud enough so Naoto could hear it so she didn't respond.
"I'll get my stuff Shiji."
"Are you sure Ami?"
"I packed it. I don't want to burden other people with my stuff."
Amaya after saying that briskly walked to the trunk and tried lifting a huge plastic tote filled with electronics out of the trunk and was struggling. Before Naoto could offer to help Yakushiji grabbed one side of the tote and helped Amaya safely place it onto the trolley before grabbing more things. Amaya then walked to the back seat of the car where he had been sitting and grabbed a laptop bag, and a backpack, and put them on before placing them on the handles of the trolley and went to help Yakushiji get more of the stuff.
The whole time Naoto was stunned by the backhanded remark Amaya said to her. She had expected some sort of remark from him but not one with that much open malice behind it. Shaking her head Naoto steeled herself and went to help Amaya and Yakushiji get the luggage which she could tell Amaya was annoyed by but tried to hide it.
After the luggage was all placed on the trolley Yakushiji started pushing it toward the elevator and Naoto and Amaya helped him get it into the elevator before they got on it and Naoto pressed the button to go to the 18th floor. As the elevator ascended Naoto was able to glance at Yakushiji who pressed his back against the wall of the elevator to straighten it. She then looked at Amaya who was looking down at his phone and had a look in his eyes as if he would rather be any place on Earth than here. Feeling bad, Naoto turned to look at the elevator's floor display as it dinged for the last time, on their floor. The elevator opened and Amaya grabbed one end of the trolley and backed it out of the elevator and down the small hallway between the elevator and the door to the Penthouse. Naoto pressed a button on a small display screen next to the door.
"Teddie, I'm back. Can you let us in?"
"Sure thing Naoto."
After a few seconds, a beep could be heard from the door and Naoto pulled down on the door handle and they walked in.
Amaya was a bit daunted by the sheer size of the Penthouse as he entered it. He saw a huge living room that housed a 20-inch large screen TV, three or so leather padded couches, a few expensive-looking recliners, a kitchen tucked away in the corner with a nice marble counter, and the thing that truly caught his attention, thick glass windows that covered one of the walls that showed the true majesty of the Tokyo Skyline in a first-person view.
Amaya tried his best to not show his awe on his face but he was pretty sure his still position sort of implied it. So he quickly forced himself out of his dazed state and was going to try going back on his phone again when a nice smell began to waft throughout the area which brought Amaya's attention back to the kitchen and he saw someone was there that he hadn't seen before. A tall man with neatly kept blonde hair and sky blue eyes was at the kitchen counter putting a few bowls and silverware down.
"Hello. You must be Yakushiji and Amaya. Nice to meet you. My name is Theodore Hanamura, Teddie for short. I know that your ride here was a long one so I made dinner if you would like some. Gero to Tokyo is definitely a long way."
"What is it?"
"I didn't want to make something extremely big as you both must be tired so I made some seasoned ramen noodles. If you would like some just let me know. Ramen is kind of nasty when it gets cool in my opinion."
"Where is my room Nao?"
"Oh! Um, I should tell you the layout first." Naoto pointed down the hallway to the left of them. "There are four rooms in both of these hallways. That hallway has my room, Teddie's room, Yakushiji's room, and the exercise room." She then pointed to the other one. "That hallway has your room, the two guest rooms, and the game room."
"Nice. Which is my room:? I want to put my stuff away before I eat."
"Second one on the left. Oh also, each hallway has a bathroom at the end of the hall."
"I'll go set up your Computer Amaya-San."
"Shiji, I'll do it."
"You haven't eaten a thing in the past two days. Please go eat the food Mister Hanamura made for all of us. I don't want to ask again."
"...Okay..."
"Good."
Yakushiji then dragged the Trolley away to Amaya's room and Amaya walked over to the Counter and Teddie poured him a bowl of ramen.
"Feel free to sit wherever. I would say the recliners aren't a good idea with Ramen though but that might just be because I am very clumsy on occasion."
"Thanks..."
Amaya went to the table with his food and began slowly blowing on it and eating it.
"Hmm. This is very good." Amaya thought to himself. Enjoying the Ramen he pulled out his phone again and began reading the article from earlier that caught his eye.
-Infamous Hacker steals information from a Renowned Laboratory-
"Nice. How'd you mess with them this time Alibaba?"
At the counter, Naoto was sitting on a stool eating her Ramen talking to Teddie.
"He's really tough to loosen up isn't he?"
"You have no idea. He's been like this since our Parents died seven years ago."
"Damn that's hard on a kid huh? Is there anything anyone has been able to do to help?"
"Yakushiji and my Grandfather were the only ones who could get to him and even they could only do so much. He has basically been a shut-in since 2010."
"...Wow, that must be horrible. ...Wait, you weren't able to talk to him?"
"Nope. I can tell he is barely hiding his anger from being seen. When we were on the elevator, he was pretending to look at his phone and I could tell because his left hand was clenched hard enough that it was turning red."
"Yikes! Do you think I can do anything?"
"Not really unless he lets you. I'd say basically just talking to him should be enough. He is apparently always on his Laptop in the back of a room when not during a lecture in school as well. Apparently, he just has headphones on and becomes almost impossible to get the attention of so people just leave him be. Including the teachers as he gets near-perfect grades."
"Then I'll try to do what I can."
"Thanks, Teddie. Oh, by the way, what is your progress on tracking down the Shadow Nest?"
"Oh! Well… not that much. I can definitely sense it here, specifically in Shibuya but I haven't found the right way of entering it. The Nest seems to be very specific in the entry method like the TV world was."
"Like something is choosing who goes in?"
"Kind of. Not completely though. I just feel I have found the door to the place but I don't have the key to open it and go inside."
"Ok. Then in that case we should do some more searching. Mitsuru expects us to find it but she knows how hard it is to get results for this type of thing."
"Definitely. Oh! Also, I got a reply from Rise and Yu. Yu is busy but says he can come by and help where he can. Rise, on the other hand, is busy with the Tour she is currently getting started but she told me it ends in July and she will be taking a break after it to help us out."
"Perfect. This will be much better with the two of them around."
"Agreed."
Yakushiji then came down from the hallway pulling the trolley that just had his stuff on it.
"Mister Hanamura, could you save a bowl of Ramen for me? I am going to put my stuff away in my room."
"Definitely."
Amaya then walked up to the counter with his empty bowl of Ramen.
"Where should I put my dishes?"
"Oh, just leave them here and I will put them through the dishwasher," Teddie said.
"Thank you. I'm going to go to bed."
"Night Ami," Naoto said.
"See you tomorrow." Said Teddie.
"Thanks..."
Amaya then walked toward his room and Naoto and Teddie continued their conversation before Yakushiji came back and they all began talking.
Today was an absolute fucking mess Amaya thought as he got to his room. He stopped and looked at his door and sighed.
"This is it. You have to live here now. For at least a year. Time to get used to it I guess."
Amaya opened the door and saw that Yakushiji actually set the entire room up. He has a nice desk against the back wall next to a window, his three monitors set up in a triple viewing position, his computer tucked underneath the desk in an out of the way place, but he also noticed his bed was set up, even his closet was set up with his clothes hanging from hangers.
"Fucking hell Shiji… If I could, I'd give you a bloody raise."
Amaya closed the door and locked it behind him and walked up to his computer set up and sat down and logged on.
"Welcome Back Amaya." His Computer said. "What is your Password?"
"FromtheAshes2012" Amaya typed on his keyboard.
"Password accepted." His computer then booted up and Amaya immediately logged onto his Private Messenger and saw a load of missed messages.
A- Hey, I cracked it. -4 Days Ago.
A- Phoenix? - 3 Days Ago.
A- Is something wrong? 2 Days Ago.
A- If you don't respond by Sunday I'm going to be kinda mad. -1 Day ago.
P- Hey, sorry I wasn't able to respond. Personal Stuff.
A- … (Typing)
A- Personal stuff? You haven't been gone for more than a day in the 2 Years since I met you.
P- Yeah I know, I'm sorry. Kinda… was forced to move on short notice.
A- You had to move!? Where did you move to?
P- I am in Tokyo now.
A- Tokyo? I live in Tokyo! If I wasn't afraid to step out of my room I'd say it might be a cool idea to meet up.
P- That would indeed be cool. I just have to get used to the new place and shit.
A- Yeah, that would take a while. Are you going to be going to school?
P- Dunno yet. Just moved in tonight. Don't even have all my stuff. This is the Backup setup I'm using right now to talk to you.
A- You trust it enough to encrypt our convo?
P- Yeah. I have it set up to a VPN that runs through my one back at my real place. Unless someone finds out my password to this account they aren't getting in. The one under my real name is actually a good cover.
A- That is a good plan. Okay. Well, I just had Ramen for dinner so I'm pretty sleepy. I'm gonna go to sleep and see how things go. Glad you are at least safe.
P- Thanks, Ali. Funny enough I had Ramen for dinner too. But yeah, have a good night.
Amaya signed off his secret account, logged onto his Amaya Shirogane account, turned the screens off, then pulled a pair of headphones out of his Laptop bag, turned on his music playlist, lay down in his bed, and went to sleep.
Hey, Fates here. Glad to actually be done with a chapter for the first time in about 8 months. I hope you enjoyed it and I apologize it took so long to come back. I had personal stuff come up that basically was pushing me down a flight of stairs each time I tried to go up like the Greek Myth of Sisyphus. I am going to try and stay on a more consistent schedule but at least I am hoping to have one chapter of any of my stories I'm going to be working on coming out in a month. I would greatly appreciate it if you could let me know your thoughts on this so I know what was well received and what wasn't. I am hoping to have the next Chapter of FTA done by the End of May but I can't really make promises. If there is feedback though it may be much faster.
Thanks again to RosyMiranto18 for the feedback that has kept me going on this story to this day.
Next FTA Chapter- The Dealt Hand
Other Projects- Project Aurora is being worked on and I will probably show more about it at a later date.
Other Projects coming soon.
P.S I am probably not going to write Peak of Progress anymore. That version of FTA doesn't really matter to the current story anymore so for the most part in this version Ultimax was the same as the game with a few differences that will be mentioned in later chapters.
Thanks again for reading and I hope to see you all on the next page. -Fates