Summary: Yuri Hikawa reflects on moments of her tumultuous past.
Friday, August 11th 20XX, Evening
Hikawa Manor, Sapporo Central
Out in the suburbs of Sapporo stood a stately mansion belonging to the Hikawa family. Bearing a fancy, pseudo-Western architectural style, it dated around a century and a half, back to Sapporo's foundation as a Japanese city. One of the larger rooms on the first floor had been converted to a personal gymnasium where Yuri could train on her own time. The fact that the Hikawas had built such a facility in their own home was a testament not only to their wealth, but how much they spoiled their daughter when it came to her gymnastics career. It was here that, late into the evening, Yuri Hikawa slavishly devoted herself to practicing her four routines for tomorrow's finals, long after her personal coach had retired for the day.
But Yuri could not stop training, even on her own. Just the day before, she witnessed in shock and horror as her all-around victory was snatched away from her by, to add insult to injury, the same winner from her disastrous senior debut at Saint Petersburg, Elena Plisetskaya. In the middle of her ribbon routine, an intricate medley of difficult and stylish moves, she leapt up to catch her baton after a toss, landing in a somersault. But when she got back up to transition into her next move, she looked down and discovered, to her dismay, that a knot had formed near the end of her ribbon. Had this happened in a real competition, it would have been a devastating penalty in terms of both time and score. For Yuri, this was absolutely unacceptable. Furious over her own failure, she threw her ribbon all the way across the room, roaring and swearing loudly.
This outburst drew the attention of Yuri's mother, Emi Hikawa. Hearing her daughter's outburst from the hall outside, she cautiously opened the door to the gym. "Y-Yuri-chan," she called meekly, "are you alright, honey?"
"What does it ****ing look like!?" Yuri retorted angrily. "I ****ed up my ****ing routine for the hundredth ****ing time tonight!"
Emi gasped in shock at her daughter's filthy mouth. "Yuri! That is no way to speak to your mother!" Yuri had nothing to say in response. She simply seethed in silence, letting Emi step closer and firmly plant her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Listen to me, Yuri-chan! You need to take a break and calm down. If you keep on working this hard tonight, you'll just tire yourself out tomorrow "
"But I have to keep practicing! If I don't pull off my routines perfectly, that Russian bimbo Elena's going to walk all over me in the finals tomorrow! Just like she did in the qualifiers!"
"Yuri-chan…" sighed Emi. "Please, be patient. I know you're disappointed about what happened yesterday, but you don't have to defeat her now. You still have a lot of competitions ahead of you."
Even though Yuri's temper began to cool down, she was still not satisfied. "So what?" she argued. "You don't care if I lose tomorrow? You don't care about my dream? I've looked forward to my senior debut all my life! I was all set to prove I was the world's best gymnast! And now I find out I'm still a hundred years behind all those ****ing Russians?"
By now, Yuri was breaking down into tears, prompting her mother to take a more tactful approach. Softening her voice, she said, "That's not true, Yuri-chan. I really do believe that you are a wonderful little gymnast. You're just not used to performing at this level. If you keep at it, I'm sure you'll come out on top eventually." To punctuate this promise, Emi brushed aside her daughter's bangs and planted a light kiss upon her forehead. "But for now, you need your rest for tomorrow. I can have the maids give you a rubdown and set up a bath. Would that make you feel better?"
"Fff…" Yuri hissed. But instead of another expletive, she merely sighed, "…fine." Feeling deflated, she traipsed out of the gym and upstairs to her private bathroom. Yuri peeled off her clothes, dropping them haphazardly on the floor, and wiped her sweat-drenched body with a fluffy white towel. Leaving it wrapped around herself for modesty, she lay face-down upon a nearby massage table, not having to wait long before one of the family's hired maids arrived. The maid let the bath fill up while she massaged Yuri's legs and back. Being a highly-trained massage therapist, as nothing less would suffice for the Hikawas' precious daughter, each press of her hands did its part to revive the muscles which the gymnast had run ragged throughout the course of the day.
A couple of minutes later, the maid shut off the faucet and left Yuri to take her bath in peace and privacy. The water, piped in directly from a nearby hot spring, felt silky and comforting upon her skin as soon as she stepped in. But while her body felt its soothing effects in short order, her mind was not so easily comforted. Still clouded by anxiety, she sat with her legs bunched up, chin resting on her knees, and began to take a mental look back at how she got to this point in her life…
Twelve years ago
Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Aoyama 1-chome
Yuri Hikawa had been enamored with rhythmic gymnastics for almost her entire life. The oldest event she could remember was when her parents took her to Tokyo to attend the Junes Cup, the predecessor of the Madicce Cup. Her parents' company, the Hikawa Group, was a longtime sponsor of the tournament. At the time, Yuri was a child of four years old, innocent and clueless in the ways of the world. She had no idea of what the sport was all about, of how much hard work its athletes put into their performances, or even why her parents had taken her to watch this competition in the first place. But as she watched it unfold from her front-row seat, what transpired would dazzle her like nothing else she would witness for a long, long time. The glittering costumes, the skillful, graceful movements of both bodies and apparatuses… every element combined into a show Yuri would never forget. When it was all over, one thing was certain.
This is what Yuri Hikawa wanted to be when she grew up.
Back home in Sapporo, Yuri was enrolled in a prestigious kindergarten, but despite the top-flight education it provided, she suffered greatly in her social development, through no fault of her own. Her albino appearance made all the other children think of her as strange, and more than a few bouts of youthful teasing over her differences discouraged them from making friends with her. This pattern was evident to her teachers and parents, who agreed that some sort of extracurricular activity, like a sport, could help her social development. In addition to the physical benefits that came from taking up sports, they figured that it would give Yuri another, more positive talking point that she could use in making friends. With the fond memories of the Junes Cup still fresh in her mind, Yuri was quick to suggest rhythmic gymnastics, and her parents happily obliged. After trying to find a club in or near Sapporo, but being dissatisfied with the few choices available at hand, they simply created their own, which became known as Hikawa*R.G.
From the very start of her gymnastics career, Yuri showed great promise. Even though her parents would spoil her from time to time, as evidenced by the creation of her own team, all the time she put into the sport taught her the value that dedication and hard work had in fulfilling one's dreams. And with her social life still not making any progress, she had little to distract her from accomplishing the goals she set out for herself. This laser-focused dedication to her passion led to Yuri claiming victory in the child division of the All-Japan Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship, the nation's premier event for the sport, when she was only six years old. By any measure, she was a veritable gymnastic prodigy.
And this was just the beginning.
Three years ago
Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Aoyama 1-chome
Upon turning thirteen years old, Yuri Hikawa graduated up to the junior division, and with it, a new set of challenges and challengers opened up to her. When the next All-Japan Championship arrived, held in the same Tokyo arena where her life had changed almost a decade ago, she and two others from Hikawa*R.G. earned the honor of taking part. Still keeping herself isolated from her peers, she had no expectations from this event other than to win, but a chance encounter during the preliminary training session would challenge her outlook.
As usual, she broke from her teammates and disappeared off to a secluded corner of the gym, where she trained furiously while examining and analyzing her opponents. One of those opponents, a girl with a perky brown ponytail and a cute little mole below her left eye, happened to take an interest in Yuri. When she lifted herself up from one of her deep backbend stretches, she was surprised to find this person standing right in front of her. At first, Yuri said nothing, and merely eyed her suspiciously. After an awkward silence, she impatiently asked, "What are you staring at?" The other girl neither moved nor said anything as another moment passed. "Look, I'm a freak! I get it! Would you just get lost?"
"What? No!" The brunette was shocked at this rudeness, but disagreed politely. "I think you're beautiful, and really flexible, too. You must be a great gymnast!"
This compliment froze Yuri in her tracks. Nobody had ever called her beautiful before. At a loss over how to react, all she could answer with was, "Y… you really mean it?"
"Of course!" The girl bowed. "My name's Kasumi. Kasumi Yoshizawa. I'm competing along with my sister, Sumire."
"P… pleased to m-meet you… Kasumi-san," she stammered as she stood up. Returning the bow, she introduced herself. "I'm Y-Yuri… Yuri Hi-Hikawa."
"Nice to meet you too, Yuri-chan! Would you like to train together?"
"Train… t-together?" Yuri was almost speechless at this suggestion. "B-but we're competing against each other! And besides, the stuff I do is p-pretty intense. I don't know if you can k-keep up…"
Proudly pumping her fist, Kasumi replied, "Don't worry about all that, Yuri-chan. I can handle everything you throw at me!" She was as good as her word. No matter what exercises Yuri led with, Kasumi possessed the flexibility and stamina to complete it with ease. She even challenged Yuri to follow some of her own workouts, which the pale prodigy copied with ease. Something about this amicable competition felt different to Yuri, in a way she had never experienced before. For the first time in her life, she had met somebody whose skills could give her own a decent challenge, and yet, her interest in competing was not to win, but merely for the experience of it all. For fun. It was an alien notion for her, but felt refreshing all the same.
Both Yuri and Kasumi were thoroughly impressed by each other's abilities, and spent the rest of the day training together and sharing a little bit about their lives, wishing each other luck in the tournament that was to follow. Once the tournament was through, Yuri finished in second place in the all-around rankings, sharing the podium with two more junior debutantes: Kasumi in first, and Hanako Natsuki in third. Yet, despite not quite taking the number-one spot, Yuri wasn't bitter about it in the slightest. In fact, she actually felt happy for Kasumi's victory, and proud of the award she did achieve. She believed it would capture Kasumi's attention and prove that she would be a worthy rival.
No, better than that, she realized. A friend.
Yuri had to leave for her home in Sapporo afterwards, but not before sharing contact information with Kasumi. The two friends kept in touch with each other online over the following year, until they next reunited at the next All-Japan Championship, which saw similar results to the year before. Kasumi Yoshizawa swept the top spots yet again, but from her second-place perch, Yuri managed to close the gap between their scores. They met after the award ceremony to congratulate each other. "Congratulations, Kasumi!" Yuri told her friend excitedly.
"Well done too, Yuri-chan!" They shared a hug together as Kasumi added, "My, you almost overtook me this time!"
"Thanks, I noticed." Yuri blushed and smiled at this acknowledgment of her growing abilities. "I bet I'll finally be able to beat you at next year's All Japan!"
"Oh, Goodness! I'd better train myself even harder, then!"
"I won't rest easy, either," vowed Yuri. "Let's keep pushing each other to do our best. Then, when we go out to world championships together, no one will stand in our way!"
"Of course! It'll be you, me, and Sumire! Where is she…?" Kasumi's beaming smile went away as she looked for her sister, who had snuck away to sulk over the lack of attention she felt she was receiving, but Yuri paid it no mind. As far as she cared, Sumire was a non-entity. Kasumi was the only friend she needed. With the two of them working together, her dream of turning Japan into the new powerhouse of rhythmic gymnastics would soon be realized.
But fate would intervene once again on a certain rainy March afternoon.
One year ago
Mizuho Gymnasium, Sapporo
Yuri remained unaware of Kasumi Yoshizawa's passing until a few days after it took place. While she did grow concerned when the friend with whom she had chatted online no longer responded to her messages, nobody else on Kasumi's side was able to explain her absence to Yuri, nor were they in the right emotional state to do so. Only later on would she learn the horrible truth, or at least a flawed understanding of the incident, from some of her peers at Hikawa*R.G. This marked the start of her transformation into the new kind of woman she had since become. The kind of woman who had no goals in life other than to win, at any cost.
After the death of Kasumi, the next time Yuri and the younger Yoshizawa sister met was a few months later, at an inter-high tournament in Sapporo. This was the memory which the Phantom Thieves had witnessed at her Trauma Cell, and while Yuri herself was completely unaware of that fact, it was yet another moment that was indelibly burned into her psyche. Since Sumire was actualized as Kasumi at the time, her routines were direct facsimiles of those previously performed by her elder sister. Due to the limits of her own body, however, she could not perform them as smoothly. She managed to place third in the all-around rankings, but weighing her results against what Kasumi herself would have been capable of, she was unsatisfied. Meanwhile, Yuri ran circles around the competition, easily winning first place, but, for once, the victory felt hollow. Without Kasumi around to help push her further into greatness, she felt alone and emotionally adrift.
Before the finals, for which both rivals had secured places in all four events, Yuri confronted Sumire in the locker room and made her frustrations known. "What are you playing at, Sumire?" she asked, her expression sullen and stern. "First you killed Kasumi, and now you're stealing her moves?"
Startled, Sumire nonetheless kept her composure. "Yuri-chan? What do you mean?"
In a sudden burst of anger, Yuri slammed a palm against the lockers, right next to Sumire's head. "Kasumi died because you ran out into the street! If it wasn't for you, she'd still be alive! You killed her, Sumire!"
Taking a deep breath, Sumire reacted as Kasumi would have, and tried her best to keep calm in the face of such overbearing emotions. "Yes… but please don't misunderstand what happened. My sister only died trying to protect me. I'm terribly sorry it has to be that way, but I will not let it get me down anymore."
However, Yuri only saw this as Sumire refusing to own up to her actions, which frustrated her greatly. "Do you even realize what you've done!?" she screamed. "Kasumi was the only friend I ever had, and you took her away from me! Without her, I'm just a freak! A ghost-girl! A loner nobody wants to be with! Kasumi and I were going to take each other all the way to the top. We were going to make Japan the new superpower of rhythmic gymnastics! And you ****ed it all up!"
Ever so slightly, Sumire's resolve was beginning to chip away under the strain of Yuri's spiteful words, but she continued to hold her ground. "But… that was our dream, too. My sister and I made a promise to take the world stage together, and I'm going to fulfill it." In a last-ditch effort to make peace, Sumire held out a hand and affirmed, "That promise extends to you too, Yuri-chan."
"You!?" Yuri shrieked in offense. "You're an insult to Kasumi's legacy! You are not fit to ride her ***damn coattails! You show up in her place, perform a ****-poor copy of her routines, and just expect to pick up where she left off? **** you, Sumire! I'll make it to the top by myself if I have to, so you should just give up on your precious dreams now. You will never become a champion, Sumire Yoshizawa!" And just as she delivered her curse upon Sumire, the dam within Yuri's own heart finally burst. Tears streamed down her face as she turned away and ran into a nearby storeroom, found a secluded spot behind the piles of equipment, and cried herself dry. Subconsciously, the pain she had inflicted upon Sumire by shutting her out so viciously hurt herself just as much, but in her tempestuous mix of sadness and anger, she refused to see it. By the time her eyes finally dried out and her sobs went quiet, her thoughts had turned from sorrow to anger.
Sumire Yoshizawa… I don't need your help to fulfill my ambitions! I will make you pay for taking away my only friend!
Her words turned out to be prophetic, sooner than she realized. When the finals commenced, Sumire was still too mentally disturbed from Yuri's outbursts that her performance suffered drastically. She made mistake after mistake, winding up near the bottom of each event's rankings. On the other hand, Yuri felt even more determined than ever, having renewed her personal vow to win for herself, and it paid off when she claimed the first-prize awards in all of her events, in addition to the all-around trophy she had already secured. When she took stock of her victory, she came to a devious realization.
Man, Sumire was absolutely pathetic out there. Was she still shaken up about our argument? Heh, what a crybaby… Wait a minute. What if I can do that to other opponents? Dig up their dirty laundry, shove it back in their face, and ruin their state of mind… Why, I'll be unstoppable!
June 20XX
Sibur Arena, Saint Petersburg
In addition to giving birth to her new, malicious modus operandi, Yuri discovered another upside to having lost Kasumi. With a pro like Kasumi gone, nobody else in the Japanese gymnastics scene could possibly pose a credible threat. The remainder of Yuri's final junior season saw her win first place in every tournament she entered, including that year's All-Japan Championship and Junes Cup. The latter event put her up against talented, highly trained junior-level challengers from Russia and other dominant nations, but with her own intense training, the mental barbs aimed at anyone she regarded a threat, and the graduation of the more dangerous opponents to the senior division, she conquered this as well. Every victory she claimed built up her ego more and more, and by the time she made her senior debut the following year, she felt that she could do no wrong.
The following year, Yuri's senior career started out strong as she, along with Hanako Natsuki, had secured the right to represent Japan at the Saint Petersburg Grand Prix. However, even before setting foot on Russian soil, there were signs that this excursion would not be all that she expected. The journey consisted of a 10-hour flight from Tokyo to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, followed by a shorter 90-minute flight to Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg. For Yuri, who was used to flying aboard her family's private jet, spending such a long time cooped up in economy-class seating proved almost unbearable. The friendly service of the flight attendants did little to comfort her as she endured the journey, managing to get very little sleep until she and Hanako finally checked into their hotel rooms and collapsed into bed.
The next day, they were chauffeured out to the colosseum where their gymnastic battles would be waged over the next few days. Sibur Arena, the venue of choice, was one of many sport facilities clustered on an island jutting out into the Neva Bay. The young stadium served as the home of Saint Petersburg's basketball team, in addition to hosting other sporting events, concerts, and even circuses. And now, it was about to add the Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix to its résumé. Yuri's first full day in town was dedicated to orientation and training, in preparation of the two days of qualifiers and one day of finals that were to follow.
But when those days of competition arrived, Yuri was in for a rude awakening. All her past successes had inflated her ego to the point where she considered herself among the top gymnasts of all time, but the truth was that she was only a big fish in a little pond. Now that she had graduated to the senior division, she found herself up against a new slate of competitors who were not only older and more experienced, but who also represented countries where rhythmic gymnastics was much more popular, and thus had far better resources for training. Some of them had taken part in the recent Olympic Games, and a few had even won medals. In the four qualification events, Yuri put on the best show of her career thus far, but even her best proved not to be enough. She simply couldn't match the gracefulness of Larisa Lebedeva, the talent of Yuliya Krylenko, the agility of Ayelet Weiss, or the precision of Elena Plisetskaya. In the end, Yuri failed to qualify for any of the four finals. Even her Japanese teammate Hanako made it to the hoop and ball finals, but Yuri had nothing to show for her efforts, not even any prize money. What should have been her grand coming-out had proved to be nothing more than a footnote of other people's success stories.
Upon returning to her home in Sapporo, the defeated Yuri became inconsolable for a time. The only emotional release she had left was EMMA, to which she shared her desperate desires to regain her title as the greatest athlete her sport had ever seen. Unbeknownst to her, these pleas for salvation led to the birth of her Metaverse Jail, as well as the control she exerted as its Monarch. Yuri thought nothing of it at first, but when she took part in a small local tournament, she felt a subconscious urge to share her EMMA keyword with a selection of her competitors. The results of doing so were even more drastic than she could have dreamed. Not only did the affected gymnasts perform poorly, they seemed outright incompetent, scoring far lower than even the lowest-ranking unaffected competitor. And sitting at the top of the leaderboard, predictably, was Yuri Hikawa.
Realizing the connection between EMMA and the sudden lack of will in those whom she affected, Yuri felt a wicked sense of satisfaction, and immediately began plotting her revenge. For her first step, she encouraged her parents to co-sponsor the upcoming Junes Cup. Meanwhile, someone at Madicce had noticed her meteoric rise as an EMMA influencer, and made a deal with the Hikawa Group. Working together, Madicce would purchase the tournament's naming rights in exchange for moving it to Sapporo, at the request of the Hikawas. They even signed Yuri on as a spokeswoman for the tech company. All the while, Yuri knew that she could not rely on her secret advantage alone. In order to make herself appear less suspicious, she still kept up her usual top-tier standards by training like never before. With all the angles covered, her trap for Elena, Ayelet, Yuliya, Larisa, and all the others who regarded her as insignificant was finally set.
She never expected that her trap would risk being undone by the one girl whom she assumed would never pose a threat to her ever again.
Friday, August 11th 20XX, Evening
Hikawa Manor, Sapporo Central
Back in the present, Yuri awoke from her reverie. The tension in her body had melted away, but the stress in her mind would not go away entirely. Her thoughts incessantly lingered upon her two enemies, the two rival gymnasts against whom she held personal vendettas. The first was Elena Plisetskaya, the Russian. Out of all the girls who showed me up at Saint Petersburg, she reflected, why did she have to be the one who wasn't affected by my plan with Madicce? Not only is she a ***damn Olympic champion, but I haven't found any dirty laundry from her personal life to use against her! How can I get my revenge on someone like her? …I could frame her for doping. Those Russians have already been caught so many times, no one would suspect my involvement! …No, that would take too long to set up. Still worth it to pay her back in the long run, but until then, all I can do is practice. She sighed before adding, Mom's right. There's nothing more I can do about that tonight.
But then there was her other archenemy, Sumire Yoshizawa. Sumire… The one who took Kasumi, my only friend, away from me for good. Heh, she's nothing like Elena. Not only is she far less competent, but I can topple her heart so easily, she's practically a ***damn house of cards! And yet… every time life strikes her down, she always picks herself back up and gets on with her life, never bearing a grudge against anyone. And even if she is a hundred years too early to outperform me, she has been catching up lately. She even managed to land a spot in the ribbon finals! Something tells me I'm gonna have to deal with her for a long time before I can truly make her pay…
With resignation, Yuri stepped out of the bathtub, her pale skin bearing a faint glow from all her time spent in the hot water. A fresh towel and a lacy nightgown had been left for her by one of the maids. Once she dried herself off, she slipped on the nightgown and made her way over to her spacious bedroom. Finally, she climbed into bed, and let her fantasies of revenge fade into the sleep she so desperately needed.
AN: Special thanks, as always, go to Deathmanstratos and SupremeKnight3 for editing and support. This was a chapter I'm sure many of you, along with myself (I also wrote bits and pieces of this chapter long before completing the last few), have been waiting for. As anyone who's played Strikers will know, that game does a good job of fleshing out its villains to make them at least a little sympathetic, especially compared to the original Persona 5, and I wanted Yuri Hikawa to be no exception. In fact, when this story is over, I would like to write more about her and her gymnastic career… but that's (literally) a story for another day. As for this story, I would've posted it sooner, but a spot of extra Megami Tensei Wiki research forced me to rewrite how Yuri's plot with EMMA got started. I decided to post this without waiting for Stratos and Knight to give me their input on this last round of changes, so I hope it works out…
I named Yuri's mother Emi, but I had originally conceived that name for Yuri herself. I changed it early on because it sounded too much like EMMA, which I gradually realized would have been a bit too on-the-nose, especially for someone who's not meant to be the final villain of Strikers. On the other hand, I don't exactly recall how I came up with Saint Petersburg as the location of the Grand Prix, as this was set up way back at the start of this whole fanfic. There is a real-world rhythmic gymnastics Grand Prix held annually in Moscow. I could have sworn I read about a similar event held in Saint Petersburg as well, but when I tried to research it some more, I couldn't find anything whatsoever. Ah well, I guess the change in city is just another degree of separation to set this story's universe apart from our own. Although, Saint Petersburg was also a setting in my favorite James Bond movie, Goldeneye, so maybe that's why I ended up using it. …Yeah, let's go with that.
Characters from Persona 5 Royal TM & (c)2016 2019 Atlus
Text (c)2021 SpyHunter29