A/N Not much to say other than I hope you enjoy this week's chapter! Next one will come two weeks from now as an FYI.
Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or any of its characters and I make no money off of this.
Chapter 31
"Akihiko…?" Yu uttered in disbelief.
The gray-haired man gave him a two-fingered salute and a knowing grin in response.
"Long time no see, huh?" he replied jokingly.
Sasaki rolled his eyes at the display. "Another one of yours, I take it?"
Knowing the answer to his own question, the kingpin moved in to make an example out of the newcomer for daring to get into his way. However, in a reversal of roles, Yu intercepted him well before he reached the man's position.
Sasaki glared into the Wild Card's eyes with a tired hatred. "You're beyond annoying, do you know that?"
"Just doing my job," he replied with a smirk.
A trio of Sae, Queen, and Joker moved in to strike Sasaki as he stood in place clashing with Yu. He backed away before they managed to set up a good strike, taking position at the far-end of the room once more. He wasn't given any room to breathe, however, as the trio that had just attacked him merely changed course.
The battle continued with Personas drawn out, but before he rejoined the fray, Yu looked over his shoulder, still not believing his eyes as they landed on the boxing fanatic of a police officer that had so conveniently shown up.
Akihiko chuckled, noticing the look that was being given to him. "We'll talk later. For now, it's probably best if we focus on cleaning up things in here, yeah? Besides, even if we wanted to catch up right now, I doubt these guys will let us."
He cracked his knuckles and began moving towards the Shadows that still flooded the area, all the while a blue mass of energy swirled gracefully around his body.
"Come forth… Caesar!"
Without missing a beat, the gray-haired man began pummeling every enemy in sight that was foolish enough to step into his range. Shadow after Shadow turned to dust, and though countless more continued to charge, they were torn to shreds by a mix of fists, metal, and thunder.
"…glad to see you haven't changed," Yu muttered to himself.
Elsewhere, the fight between Sasaki against Joker and the Nijima sisters raged on without any signs of slowing down. In one particularly powerful exchange of blows, a massive wave of elemental attacks fired off and erupted in a massive explosion that sent a shockwave throughout the entire room.
The smoke that resulted was cleared away by Sasaki in an instant, who was in no mood to have a repeat of earlier moves they'd already tried against him. He immediately saw the Trickster standing in place with his hand on his mask, ready to call out another Persona.
"Black Frost!" Joker shouted.
Even if the Persona itself was small by comparison to the titans he'd previously summoned, it called out a massive blizzard that eclipsed everything in front of it. Sasaki weathered the storm without breaking a sweat, merely ordering Gilgamesh to stand in front of him to absorb what little bite the attack had to it.
Doing damage had never been the Wild Card's intent, though. But by the time Sasaki realized that, it was too late.
When the snowy mist cleared, Astrea was already crashing down towards Gilgamesh with everything she had. Her swords relentlessly slammed into the armored warrior's frame, denting several of the gold plates as she batted the Persona around like a piñata. Despite all that, the demigod's body simply refused to break.
Sasaki scowled, recoiling slightly from the series of blows.
"That's enough!" he exclaimed.
Dozens of spears appeared around Gilgamesh in a flash and launched directly towards Astrea in an attempt to force her back. It worked just as he'd intended, and he quickly set about taking advantage of her hasty retreat.
He, however, was once again reminded that he wasn't fighting a lone opponent.
"Johanna!"
A massive nuclear burst slammed into the kingpin's Persona, shattering many of the floating weapons at its side and forcing it to stay in place. As it was trying to recover, Astrea took advantage, calling forth a dozen shards of bless energy that floated around her like arrows waiting to be let loose from an unseen bow. They slammed into Gilgamesh unimpeded, yet again causing it to stagger.
'Annoying little…!' Sasaki cursed in thought.
His anger would have to wait as he soon found himself under pressure from a frontal assault courtesy of Joker. The raven-haired Persona user moved in with staggering speed, his knife brimming with a twisted black aura as he approached.
Sasaki swapped his spear for a knife of his own, charging it with a blindingly golden light. He matched the Trickster blow for blow and even managed to get the upper hand after the first few exchanges. With one powerful swing of his arm, he forced his opponent back a fair distance. He twirled his knife and readied to move in for the kill, but that's when he noticed a smirk crossing the teen's lips.
"You might wanna keep a better eye on your back," Joker quipped.
The kingpin heard a static buzz sound off behind him and he quickly pivoted to guard his back, but he was too late. By the time he turned around, all he could see was Yu's sword, its steel bright and glowing with lightning as it hung overhead. In a split-second the blade sliced down and across Sasaki's shoulder with such speed and force that he couldn't even bring himself to react.
Joker then moved in from his end as well, all while Yu continued his attack from the other side. A symphony of thunder and darkness ripped through the air as the two Wild Cards sent slash after slash all across their opponent's body, never letting up for even a second.
It was only when their teammates were ready to move in that they finally backed off.
"Astrea!"
"Johanna!"
The goddess of justice let loose the fullest extent of her power in that moment, charging and firing off a Megidolan faster than most could have even perceived. In tandem, a barrage of nuclear attacks launched courtesy of Johanna, the end result of which was a powerful unison attack that caused an explosion that shook the entire battlefield.
As the flaming smoke spread into the air, Yu, Joker, Avenger, and Queen regrouped just outside of its range. They breathed heavily, having expended a great deal of their own energy in their last offensive.
"Did we get him?" Queen asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.
"Well, we definitely hit him," Sae spoke. Her eyes narrowed on the raging embers as she added, "Though whether or not he went down is another story."
Yu scowled. "I'm pretty sure he's still standing. Stay sharp."
A hearty laugh sounded off from within the smoke, causing all of them to take on a ready stance. They could hear approaching footsteps that possessed a familiar self-assured and controlling undertone to them.
Sure enough, Sasaki walked out of the ashen cloud, though he looked worse for wear. His entire body was covered with burn marks, and a particularly nasty wound was present on his left side. It was the most injured he'd been throughout the fight, and yet even so, he looked to be at his most confident.
"You're all strong. I'll admit that much," Sasaki complimented. He looked at the gash on his left side amusedly. "And I have to say, I'm impressed you actually managed to hurt me. Not that it matters, of course."
Right before the eyes of the four Persona users, the cut on his torso closed up; his skin quite literally stitched itself back together as if nothing had happened. Then, the burns and bruises that were strewn all across the rest of his body vanished altogether, revealing the kingpin to be fully healed.
"Did he just…?" Queen uttered in awe.
"Yes, I did, and yes, I didn't need a spell to do it. Then again, why would I? A simple thought is all it takes, which works out much better than using something as taxing as a healing spell," Sasaki stated blankly. He summoned his spear and primed it towards his opponents. "I told you before, didn't I? This is my world—and the second I reminded myself of that fact, this fight was over. But I don't suspect that'll be enough to get you to give up, will it?"
"That might be the one thing we actually agree on," Joker shot back.
Sasaki smirked. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Metaverse: Sasaki Compound – Control Room
Tetsuo Jirikishi stood absolutely still as he stood in front of the primary terminal of the control room, and he had for quite some time. He hung his head and leaned against the frame as he battled so desperately to force himself to do what needed to be done.
"C'mon, you're so close. You're so close!" Jirikishi muttered to himself. His efforts at self-encouragement failed, causing him to release a frustrated groan. "God dammit, are you kidding me?! I'm this far, and I still can't fuckin'…!"
He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath before making another attempt. The sad thing was that he knew perfectly well what he needed to do and he knew he could do it. He could feel his brother's consciousness within reach…
But he still couldn't bring himself to take the final leap.
"…shit," Jirikishi said with a scowl.
The detective heard a number of explosions sound off from the security cameras monitoring the central area. He looked over out of reflexive curiosity, though he immediately wished he hadn't.
Everywhere he looked, he saw tired, almost beaten down teenagers and young adults struggling valiantly against an ever-growing hoard of Shadows, meanwhile Eiji Sasaki seemed to only be growing stronger with each passing minute.
"They don't have much time," Jirikishi thought aloud.
The truth was that he wasn't sure it was worth it for him to keep trying, but he knew what would happen if he didn't.
Yet again, he felt himself within reach of his brother's consciousness. He had nearly crossed the threshold; he could feel how painfully close he was with every fiber of his being. However, he simply couldn't bring himself to cross over.
The brown-haired young man refused to ack away, but his mind fought against him. It was like a tug of war with no ending in sight, which only made his annoyance grow as his time was quickly running out.
Then it happened. By some stroke of luck or fortune, he felt something push him forward.
A strange sensation washed over Jirikishi's body as a shifting wave of red and black swam all around him. It was enough to give motion sickness, however it didn't last very long.
The detective found himself standing in a familiar stetting, that being the garden of his childhood home.
Their childhood home.
Jirikishi knelt down to a grouping of nearby plants, wondering aloud, "Is this really inside his mind…?"
The attention to detail was so incredible that he could hardly believe what he was looking at was a product of cognition alone. Then again, his brother always had been that smart, so perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised.
"Tetsuo…?"
Though the voice that spoke out to him was warped, he could recognize who it came from. It sent a chill down his spine and filled him with unease, just as he'd imagined it would.
"…yeah, it's me," he answered as he mustered the courage to turn around.
Just seeing Eiji's appearance nearly made his stomach turn. He looked exactly like the version of him he'd seen in the security monitor's just moments go—golden tribal markings and all.
Worst of all was his eyes. The twisted gold orbs were filled with hate and hunger. They were like two bottomless pits that could never be filled; a well of greed that would never run dry.
However, in the end, Jirikishi had to accept that this was his brother, or at least what he had become. The version of Eiji Sasaki that he was looking at was who he was right down to the deepest, darkest depths of his consciousness.
Both inside and out, his brother had been consumed. There wasn't even an ounce of the person he used to be left in him, and seeing that for himself was almost too much for Jirikishi to bear.
It's your fault, isn't it?
A voice he couldn't recognize called out to him. It didn't matter whether it was one from inside his mind, a god, a demon, or even his brother's consciousness itself. All that mattered in that moment was that it spoke the truth.
And the truth was like a dagger into his heart.
You did this to him.
Another dagger.
This is what you made him. What you let him become.
And another.
Jirikishi jerked his head away, finding himself unable to maintain eye contact with the soulless orbs of his brother's Shadow. His sense of guilt simply wouldn't let him.
"Are you okay, Tetsuo?" Shadow Sasaki asked, stepping towards his brother softly. "You don't look well."
There was a silence between them as Jirikishi contemplated what he would actually say from there. There was simply so much that he wanted to get off his chest that it was almost impossible to decide how to lead into it.
"I'm sorry," Jirikishi finally spoke. "I'm… I'm truly sorry, Eiji."
The Shadow eyed him confusedly. "What on earth could you possibly be apologizing for?"
"For everything," Jirikishi replied. He steeled his nerves and looked at the twisted abomination right into its cold eyes once more. "What you've turned into… it's all my fault. If I'd stopped you from trying to get the White Masks gear, if I'd told you not to mess with that… with that thing. If I'd tried to stop you from pressing forward, if I'd tried to talk you down…! Maybe then you wouldn't have changed."
"What I've turned into is a god," Shadow Sasaki scoffed amusedly, waving off his words as utterly meaningless.
Jirikishi sighed. "And yet two weeks ago, you were Eiji Sasaki. You weren't a saint, and you'd made your share of mistakes, but you weren't this."
The entire home itself started to radiate a dark and ominous aura. Its root was clearly the Shadow, who's eyes formed a heavy glare that shot daggers at the brown-haired man.
"And what exactly am I now?"
In Jirikishi's heart of hearts, he knew that the creature in front of him was the culmination of every mistake that he'd ever made. Letting his brother kill Akashi Nijima, letting him know of the raid on the White Masks, and then letting him interact with that thing—all of them went against his better judgment, and though he knew that even at the time, he still did nothing.
And what he was looking at right now was the end result.
He didn't speak any of his thoughts aloud, but on some level the Shadow understood his feelings. At least it seemed that way based on what it asked next.
"Will you still stand by me until the end, Tetsuo?"
There was a silence as the two locked eyes. The detective clearly needed to consider his answer, though in the end, there was really only one thing he could find himself saying.
"What else is family for, right?" Jirikishi replied, sporting a light-hearted smile.
"I see. Good."
"Yeah," Jirikishi muttered plainly. He took out a cigarette and lit it, casually taking in a puff before next he spoke. "I'll be on my way, Eiji. Gotta clean up that mess on the outside, right?"
The Shadow nodded firmly, a cocky smile once again plastered across its face. Jirikishi then turned his back and walked away several feet, savoring another puff of his cigarette as he took in the nostalgic scenery of the garden in their childhood home.
In a way, it was happy to be met with the sight. After all, it's what he was most used to looking at when saying a final goodbye.
Jirikishi threw his cigarette down onto the ground and stomped it out, but as the flames from the tip thereof started to fade, red fires of a different kind started to swirl around his body.
He wasted no time doing what he simply knew needed to be done.
"Enkidu."
Metaverse: Sasaki Compound – Central Area
A barrage of lightning, curse, nuclear, and bless attacks shot towards Sasaki from all directions. As they approached, his Persona merely pounded the ground with the end of its spear, sending a shockwave out that caused the incoming elemental energy to evaporate altogether.
Sasaki himself could only smirk at the sight, but his satisfaction went well beyond dealing with the attack that was just sent his way. All around the area, he could sense the stamina of his opponents start to weaken. The war of attrition that had been building that entire time was quickly tipping in his favor.
Even the two Wild Cards, who were without a doubt the biggest obstacle left to his victory, were starting to slow, and their attacks began to pack less and less of a punch.
He, on the other hand, had energy to spare.
"My turn," Sasaki abruptly announced.
In a show of absolute confidence, the kingpin withdrew his Persona and pressed the attack all on his own. He moved far too quickly for his opponents to react, and before any of them had so much as blinked, he'd landed several blows on each of them and sent them flying outwards in all directions.
Each managed to land gracefully, but each scowled in agitation all the same. All they could think of was how they couldn't bring themselves to react to his strikes. And worse was that it seemed like he was far from done.
"Gilgamesh!" Sasaki exclaimed.
Once the gold-clad god appeared once more, Sasaki intended to end the fight then and there. However, before he gave his Persona any command whatsoever, he took notice of an odd feeling wash over him.
It was strange. So strange that it was beyond description. So strange that he could only stop in place so he could devote all of his attention into figuring out what it was.
At first he wanted to move past it, but then that's when it happened. He heard a sound—a sound similar to breaking glass. It started off as barely recognizable, but the same sound started to loudly echo all around him.
'What the hell could that possibly…?' Sasaki wondered confusedly.
He didn't even get the chance to finish his thought before he could see small but visible cracks start to form on the walls of the arena. The gaps shined with a bright white light, and it didn't take long for him to understand just what that had meant.
There was no doubt in his mind that in the next few minutes, the very reality that surrounded him was about to come crashing down.
As Sasaki stood in place, a look of utter shock plastered all over his face, Yu and Joker took the opportunity and leapt towards him with their blades brought to bear. Each of their hits landed, and though they drew no blood, they clearly did some form of damage if his pained grunt was anything to go by. He attempted to retreat, but wasn't quick enough and found himself under a relentless assault up until he was finally able to force them back.
"What's the matter?" Yu asked blankly, staring at the kingpin with eyes even colder than the steel of his blade. "You're slowing down, Sasaki. Everything alright?"
"I was about to say the same thing," Joker added, his expression matching his fellow Wild Card's as he brandished his knife. "Those cracks showing up out of nowhere… they wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that, would they?"
Though the black-haired man's fists shook with rage, but he couldn't deny that they were right, nor could he deny that things would only get worse from there. He felt his power start to weaken, and unlike before, it had nothing to do with his own will being shaken.
'No… this time really is the end,' Sasaki thought.
Even though it wounded his pride greatly, he turned tail and began to race away to an open doorway on the back-end of the room. His only choice then and there was to flee, and he knew that better than anyone.
Both Ren and Yu were surprised, but by no means were they unprepared. They immediately began to chase after him, but found themselves blocked off by a hoard of Shadows that Sasaki had undoubtedly ordered to move in to block off any pursuers while he made his escape.
"Joker, Yu-san! Clear a path!" Queen abruptly shouted.
The two Wild Cards turned to see Johanna racing towards them with both Nijima sisters in its seat. They understood what the two were getting at, and so with as much strength as they could muster, they called on the one Persona they knew could create the meager opening they'd need to push through.
"Yoshitsune!" the two exclaimed.
A reality-shattering storm of swords ripped through countless Shadows, and though countless more still remained, the duo had cleared enough of a path just fast enough for Johanna to speed through. They wanted to follow, but more and more of the twisted demonic creatures moved in to bar their way.
For the time being, Sasaki's capture would have to be left to the Nijima sisters.
Sasaki raced up the staircase to a room on the upper levels, seeing the bright cracks that filled his world start to grow more and more with each passing second. He arrived at a room overlooking a window, and upon seeing it, relief washed over him.
He walked up to it with the clear desire to jump out to safety on the other end. However, without warning, a large bullet shot directly into the window's frame and forced Sasaki back. He jerked around and saw the shooter to be Sae Nijima, who was just then making her entrance into the room alongside her sister.
"Gilgamesh!" Sasaki roared, being in no mood to deal with minor annoyances.
Both Sae and Queen called on Astrea and Johanna respectively, but before the Personas could actually clash with one another, they vanished altogether. The ever-loudening cracking echoed more and more, serving as enough of an answer as to why.
The Metaverse itself was becoming more and more unstable. For all they knew, it could've been seconds to go before the cognitive realm finally shattered entirely.
"Typical…" Sasaki grumbled. He could feel his power still present, and as such he summoned two swords, one long and one short, into the palms of his hands. "But I suppose if I get to kill you both myself, today will have a silver lining after all."
Neither of the sisters said a word. Their sole desire was to ensure that he didn't slip away, and it was with that singular unmovable mindset that they drew their weapons and launched towards him with everything they had.
Despite the fatigue of all three of the individuals involved, the fight took place at a lightning-fast pace. Sasaki had a clear edge when it came to speed and strength, but the symphonic combinations of Sae and Makoto's attacks more than made up for the gap.
Sparks flew as steel collided with steel, and with each passing blow, the kingpin's desperation grew. The fight was thus far a stalemate, and that benefited them far more than it did himself.
Sasaki brought back his swords, readying to give the next few strikes as much power as he had left in him.
"Raaaa!"
He roared like a battle-starved beast as he swung his blades, using so much strength in the rapid flurry that he was actually able to cause Sae to lose her footing. Makoto moved in to ward him off, but that would prove to be her biggest mistake.
With the silver-haired beauty no longer providing the bulk of the offense, he was easily able to read the younger Nijima's movement. He dodged the punch that was flying towards his side and sent a kick into her ribcage with enough force that he could hear her gasp for air.
'Game over,' Sasaki thought triumphantly.
The finishing blow was ready to be struck, but when the cold steel of his weapons was just inches away from the brunette's throat, Sae's twinblade shot towards the incoming swords and swatted them away.
Sae didn't stop there, either. She pressed forward relentlessly, the strength behind her strikes being such that Sasaki found himself on the back foot almost immediately. In one particularly brutal swing, he was propelled backwards and nearly lost his posture.
She could have pressed further, but she instead chose to stand in front of her still-recovering sister, placing her blade firmly in front of her as if to silently tell Sasaki that there wasn't a chance in hell she'd let him come within ten feet of her.
Seconds later, as the kingpin stared in to her crimson eyes, both her weapon and her costume faded away. Everything around them shattered like glass, shards of red and black evaporating before they hit the floor. Gone were the vermillion tint and the twisted, whispering winds of the Metaverse, and in their place were ordinary hard-wood floors and simple crates.
Everything went silent save for the sound of traffic from the streetway just outside the window. That was until the elder of the sisters spoke.
"I dare you to run for it," Sae stated, her eyes narrowing heavily. "I'll at least give you the courtesy of knowing that it won't end well if you do."
Sasaki scoffed in bitter amusement. "You might want to make threats you can actually back up."
"Try me," she shot back.
"Sorry, there won't be any need for that."
The voice cut through the darkness as Tetsuo Jirikishi as he walked forward and made his presence known. Eventually he made his way into the dim light, revealing the gun that he'd held in his hand as he made his approach.
"You're timing couldn't be better, brother." Sasaki uttered in pleased relief. "We've got more than a few things to talk about, but before that, kill these two and then let's get out of here."
Sae immediately moved in front of Makoto to offer the bare minimum of shielding that she was able. Fear and determination filled her eyes, but it quickly became clear that her worry was misplaced.
Jirikishi shook his head. "Don't worry, this isn't for you."
The detective stepped past the sisters and pointed his gun squarely at his brother. There wasn't a soul in the room that wasn't both shocked and confused, but none more so than Eiji Sasaki himself.
All the pieces to an obvious puzzle began to quickly form in the kingpin's head. Yet he could still hardly believe it.
"It was you… you were the one who destroyed the compound. It had to have been you," Sasaki uttered in realization. His fists balled angrily. "Do you have any idea what you've done? Not killing Yu Narukami is one thing, but this…!It's over, Tetsuo—all of it!"
"It should've been over the second I let you kill Akashi Nijima," he replied plainly.
Just then, the two Wild Cards came racing into the room. They froze at the top of the staircase, taking in the sight that was before them. Thankfully though, it wasn't too difficult to gather from context.
"Took you long enough," Jirikishi stated with a wry grin, not even turning to face the annoying young man he'd had the fortune of befriending. He flipped the safety on his pistol and tossed it to the ground, placing his hands up in the air. "We surrender. Go get Shirogane or Satonaka, I'm sure one of 'em has a pair of cuffs for each of us."
"Over my dead body!" Sasaki shouted angrily.
The heir to the Sasaki family reached for his leg. He pulled up the pantleg, revealing a gun that he kept hidden on his person. Jirikishi panicked, having not known about the hidden firearm; his brother made a point to never carry them before, and now should've been no different.
Clearly, he was wrong.
He sprinted towards his brother with everything he had, hoping desperately that he managed to tackle him before he did any more harm.
Several shots fired off with two of them hitting their mark on the brown-haired detective. Even as the bullets tore through his body, he managed to wrest control of the gun and toss it away, but that was the last thing he managed to do before his body started to slump forwards.
Sasaki, as cold-hearted as they came, did everything he could to toss his weakened brother off of him, but as soon as he'd done so, a hand gripped his shirt and yanked him up off the ground.
Without even a second's hesitation, Yu cocked back his fist and punched the kingpin's square in his face. Sasaki went flying into a nearby crate and slammed into it with such force that its wooden frame broke into pieces. He was left on the floor, grabbing his ribcage with his face contorted in pain as the impact shot across his body.
With that dealt with, Yu immediately turned towards Jirikishi and started to tend to him as best as he could. He started by propping him up against the wall nearby, if only to get a better look at his injury. The sight of the two bullet holes soaked in blood sent an ominous chill down his spine, and the detective more than noticed his reaction.
Jirikishi groaned as he tried to reposition himself, "Don't give me that look."
"Easy," said Yu, keeping his voice as calm. "Just hang in there, okay?"
The detective was about to give a dry remark, that was until he caught a glimpse of both of the Nijima girls walking towards him. Sae in particular ripped off the sleeves of her pantsuit, giving one to her sister before the two knelt down by his side.
"Fair warning, this might be uncomfortable at first," Makoto cautioned.
"Try your best to remain calm," added Sae.
Their hands were soon soaked in blood, so much so that it was more than obvious that no matter what they did, it was unlikely that their efforts would change what was going to happen. Despite that, they continued to try and put pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding.
That might've been the last thing that Tetsuo Jirikishi had ever expected to see, and oddly enough, it was probably going to be just that.
"…I'm not worth your kindness," Jirikishi said, chuckling at the irony of the situation.
He could feel his vision fading and his body quickly lose its strength, but he found himself smiling nonetheless. Even as his final moments approached, he felt a warmth he'd not felt in years wash over him. Still, there was one thing he wanted to do before it was too late. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a somewhat crumpled and awkwardly folded piece of paper before holding out towards Yu.
Jirikishi took one final, deep breath, saying, "Sorry things turned out like this, kid…"
The brown-haired man couldn't manage to get the note into the palm of Yu's hand before his body went limp. His breathing stopped, and his eyes went blank. A quick check of his pulse confirmed what was already obvious.
Though Yu didn't speak the words, he agreed with the now-dead man's parting words. His moment of solemnity was interrupted when his ears caught wind of the sound of Sasaki's heavy breathing. He turned around to see the gray-eyed man standing just in front of the window, clearly debating whether or not he was going to jump.
He, however, would never get the chance to make that decision for himself.
Yu moved towards the kingpin and pulled him up by his shirt, shoving him against the window's open frame. It was obvious that he couldn't fight back whatsoever, though the strained look on his face more than showed that he was trying.
The light breeze coming from outside grabbed Yu's attention. He peered down to see the bustling streetway a fair distance down, and it was then that he knew why Sasaki hadn't jumped out when he might've had the chance.
Even if the fall itself didn't kill him, the oncoming traffic certainly would.
Realizing that caused a cold look to take its place on Yu's face. He was hit with a sense of dejavu given that the irony of the moment was almost too perfect. If all he did was give a slight push, the kingpin would fall onto the asphalt only to be run down by a truck.
It was almost poetic, and the truth was, no one would've blamed him for doing it.
Everyone in the room seemed to understand to a degree what was going through his head. Especially the man that was held at his mercy.
"Thinking of letting me fall?" Sasaki asked tauntingly, his lips curled into a heavy scowl. "You haven't got the damn guts for that. If you did, I wouldn't still be standing here."
"…even if I wanted to, after everything you've done, it's not my decision."
With those simple words, Yu dropped the raven-haired crime lord and started to walk away. Sasaki in turn started to pick himself up with the help of the window frame, only for a kick to cut across his left cheek. He nearly fell to the floor, though he managed to stabilize himself just barely. Spitting up blood, he then looked up, seeing Sae Nijima standing overhead.
Sasaki recognized the look of unmatched hatred that was strewn across the young woman's face. Truthfully, he'd wanted Yu to push him out the window if only to deny Sae the satisfaction of killing him herself. He chuckled, accepting what was about to happen before she even spoke a word. He stood up, placing his back up against the window as if inviting the obvious.
"What are you waiting for? Just get it over with," Sasaki uttered tiredly. "Unless you're waiting for your sister's permission or something."
Though it was clear his words were meant to be mocking, she stole a glance at Makoto. She could see the conflict written on her face, and it was then and there that Sae was determined not to let her share in the burden. She simply didn't want her sister to bear any burden on her conscience if worse came to worse.
After all, even she didn't know quite what she'd decide to do.
Time passed until eventually, Sae's fists started to shake with rage, and her almost eternally calm visage started to show a sea of emotions. Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes, eventually falling in thin streams as she addressed Sasaki once more.
"I hate you from the very bottom of my heart. I'll hate you for as long as I live, and if there's an afterlife, I'll hate you even then," Sae stated, her voice shaking as she continued to speak. "But despite that, I'm not going to kill you. You're going to pay for everything you've done. You'll spend the rest of your miserable, horrible existence locked up in a prison cell, and I'll live just fine knowing that the man who killed our father was finally brought to justice."
Sasaki rolled his eyes at what he undoubtedly believed to be a stupid and pointless display of morality.
"Your father would be so proud," he remarked sarcastically.
His comment earned him a kick to the head that subsequently knocked him out cold. He slid down onto the floor, completely unconscious, but still alive.
Sae ignored him altogether after that. She walked back over to Makoto, wanting nothing more than to make sure her she was okay. It was in that moment as the two sisters stared eye to eye that reality truly sunk in.
Eiji Sasaki had finally been beaten.
A sadly familiar scene played out near a large warehouse on the south side of central Shinjuku. Just like the previous night at Leblanc, a sea of ambulances and police cars littered the area and flashing lights lit up the still night sky.
Unlike before, Ren found it oddly peaceful to look at. Perhaps that was because this time around, they knew the fight was over. There were no enemies left to fight, no crisis left to solve, and no random lead left to chase.
The EMT that was attending to him abruptly finished his examination.
"Okay, so other than a few bruises, it looks like you're perfectly fine," he spoke pleasantly as he packed up his instruments. "Ah, actually, would you mind waiting her a sec? There was one other thing I needed to check on before you go."
"Yeah, no problem," he replied casually.
The Wild Card thought nothing of it when the EMT walked away. He patiently awaited his return only to be taken completely by surprise when less than a minute later Futaba had shown up out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around him and held onto him so tightly that it was as if her life depended on it. Before he could even say anything, Ann joined in and held onto him in much the same way.
"Thank god you're okay," Ann uttered, speaking as if she were on the verge of tears.
"I swear, you and Sojiro are both just so… Ghhh!" Futaba groaned in frustration, strengthen her grip as she spoke.
"Geez, you two could at least try to keep your cool just a little bit, ya know," Ryuji said as he made his approach.
"I understand their sentiment, though," Yusuke remarked from the blond's side.
"Shut it, Ryuji, and thank you, Yusuke," Futaba replied.
The EMT that had brought them over in the first place chuckled at the interaction as he too made his way up to the group.
"Be sure to go easy on him, okay? He does still have a good number of bruises, remember?" he said.
"R-Right, sorry about that," Ann immediately apologized.
Both she and Futaba released their grip, though thankfully it didn't look like they'd done any damage to Ren. At least not if the genuine smile on his face was anything to go by.
"All the same, it's good to see ya in one piece," Ryuji abruptly spoke up, clear relief underlying his voice.
"Indeed," nodded Yusuke, sounding much the same. "It's fortunate for us that Ann and Futaba are talented with the 'puppy dog eyes', I believe they're called. The EMT was quite powerless to refuse their request to bring us to you once your examination was complete."
"Were you guys really that worried about me?" Ren asked confusedly.
Futaba glared daggers at him. "Of course we were! You scared the hell out of us back there, ya know! Or do you need a reminder of what happened before Yu-san showed up?!"
"But he's fine now, ain't he?" Ryuji casually interjected.
"Whatever," she replied dismissively. "Anyway, we're in-between tests right now, so we should probably get going before the paramedics we were with start to freak out."
"Probably a good call," Ren said with a chuckle.
"Oh, one more thing," began Ann. "Makoto and Haru were still getting examined and couldn't sneak off with us, but I'm sure they're just as worried about you as we were. You should go talk to them when you get a chance."
"Will do," he replied.
The group started to walk away, but Ryuji had noticeably chosen to walk away at a slower pace until he stopped altogether.
Ren raise a curious brow. "What's up? Why did you—"
Faster than he would have imagined, the blond-haired teen turned around and wrapped him in a bear hug. It might've even been tighter than the hold that Ann and Futaba had him in just moments ago.
"I'm glad you're okay, bro," Ryuji stated.
Ren smile genuinely and returned the gesture. "Same to you."
They stayed like that for some time, and when they eventually broke apart, the thuggish Persona user seemed to fight back tears. It was actually a very touching moment. Until a certain feline decided to put a stop to it.
"And to think that you actually had the nerve to give Lady Ann and Futaba a hard time for hugging him earlier," Morgana abruptly remarked.
Ryuji's brow furrowed as both he and his raven-haired friend looked down to see the cat sitting casually off to the side. Neither of them had heard him say a word thus far, so they genuinely didn't think he was there.
"And since when the hell have you been here?" Ryuji asked in surprise.
"Long enough to see how you 'keep your cool'."
"…you'd better not rat me out, cat," he muttered annoyedly.
Morgana gave him an honest smile. "Don't worry. I'll look the other way just this once. I think you've earned it after the day we've had."
Ryuji seemed almost embarrassed and averted his gaze yet again, scratching the back of his head as if he didn't know what to do in that situation. Again, another almost touching moment, but one that wasn't meant to last.
"Should I leave you two alone?" Ren asked cheekily.
Needless to say, his blond friend just rolled his eyes and walked away, though he found himself grinning all the while. He'd expected some kind of smartass remark at some point, so in a way it was almost comforting for him to hear.
Yu found himself staring blankly at Sae as she continued to be examined by the EMT's. She seemed to be in good spirits, but after what had happened, he just couldn't shake off his concern.
"A yen for your thoughts?"
The wielder of the Fool turned over his shoulder to see Akihiko walking up to his side. He stopped in place right next to him so that he could better understand what had captured his attention
"Just a bit worried is all," Yu replied.
"I feel the same way, though probably for different reasons," Akihiko replied, a tired sigh leaving his lips as he spoke. "And as much as I'd love to catch up with you after these last couple of years, we've got more important things to discuss."
"I gathered as much," said Yu, now giving his gray-haired friend the bulk of his attention. "So, let's get to it: What brings you here in the first place?"
The look that took its place in Akihiko's eyes quickly put Yu on edge. Though they'd not known each other for very long, in the time they did spend together, he came to understand that the boxing-crazed Persona user was as self-assured and stone-faced as they came.
Seeing him so apprehensive could only have been a bad sign.
"For the last four months, I've been on an urgent mission tracing an eerily familiar energy signature all across Japan. It went underground here in Tokyo several weeks back, but just a few hours ago, it popped up again. I didn't give it a second thought and moved in as fast as I could," Akihiko explained. "I tracked it to that distortion in the Metaverse, and you know the rest of the story. Heh, guess my timing was pretty good though, right?"
"No arguments here," Yu said, allowing himself a chuckle. There was a quiet that took hold over their conversation as the Wild Card's expression became far more somber. "When you said 'familiar energy signature'… you meant him, right?"
Akihiko nodded his head solemnly. "With how close I managed to get, yeah, I'm sure of it. I wish I were wrong, but Fuuka's tech has never lied to me before."
Just hearing that confirmation sent a chill down Yu's spine and filled him with reflexive worry. He trusted Akihiko's words, but that only made it worse given the fact that he'd just told him perhaps the last thing in the world he ever wanted to hear.
At the same time, a part of him wasn't surprised. That thing's involvement explained more than he'd care to admit, though how it fit into the broader picture still remained to be seen.
He had a feeling he'd find out soon enough, though.
"But how the hell is that even possible? We took him out years ago," Yu stated in disbelief.
"Or so we thought," Akihiko replied, allowing a brief silence as his words sunk in. "Either way, I've gotta get in touch with the boss lady and give her the bad news. She'll probably want to take point on this one herself."
"…how long do you think it'll be before she gets here?" Yu questioned.
"Tough to say. I know she's dealing with something important out of country, but if I had to guess, I'd say a few weeks, maybe a month or so," he answered. He raised a curious brow. "Why do you ask? Do you think he'll take off to another part of Japan?"
Yu shook his head. "There's not a doubt in my mind he'll stay put here in Tokyo."
"Then… why ask?"
There was a meaningful silence as Yu peered around the area, glancing at each of his teammates that his eyes could land on. He sighed to himself, lamenting what was likely to happen in the near future.
"Ideally, I'd prefer not to tell any of the others about this. Not yet," Yu stated. He let loose a deep sigh, adding, "After everything they've been through today and in recent weeks, the last thing they need to hear right now is about him of all things. They've more than earned a break, and I'd like to make sure they actually get it."
"Consider my lips sealed," assured Akihiko. "Still, they'll need to know eventually. Plus, how soon they find out is more up to him than us."
"And some of us would prefer to be enlightened now as opposed to later."
Naoto's voice cut in on their conversation, making it more than obvious that she'd been eavesdropping. Akihiko was taken completely by surprise, but Yu only found himself chuckling on account of half-expecting her to have been listening in the first place.
"How the hell…?" Akihiko wondered aloud, clearly stunned by her presence.
"I wouldn't be so surprised if I were you," said Yu with a grin. "And now's as good a time as any to get introductions out of the way."
"Agreed," Naoto stated plainly. She walked towards the gray-haired Persona user without missing a beat and extended her hand towards him. "I'm Naoto Shirogane, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Akihiko-san."
"Wait, as in Detective Naoto Shirogane?" he uttered in amazement. His previous self-annoyed expression vanished in an instant as he shook the hand that was offered to him. "You're a living legend! Oh, sorry, my name is Akihiko Sanada. I'm also a detective working here at the Tokyo Police Department, though I admit my other job takes me off duty more often than I'd like…"
"I assume you're referring to your status as a member of the Shadow Operatives," Naoto mused.
The Wild Card shook his head amusedly while Akihiko's jaw nearly dropped. His stunned reaction was understandable, though. Even if Naoto was who she was, there were collectively less than a hundred people on the planet that knew who the Shadow Operatives were; excluding its members, of course.
"You're… really not supposed to know that," Akihiko muttered awkwardly. He warily started to eye his silver-haired friend. "Please tell me you're not the one that told her. If so, not even you can talk your way out of the execution headed your way."
"Nope, never said a word," Yu replied calmly. "She's just resourceful. Trust me on that."
"You're both getting off topic, and my patience is currently running thin," Naoto stated. Her narrowed eyes landed specifically on her partner. "Start explaining. Now."
"Relax, I was already planning on telling you from the start," Yu said reassuringly, his words seeming to elevate her mood somewhat. "But before I do… I'd prefer that what we discuss stays between the three of us. At least for now."
Naoto nodded in understanding. "Very well. Now, if you would be so kind…"
"—and with that, you're all set, Nijima-san. And you as well, Okumura-san," a female EMT announced happily. "Just be sure to get some rest, okay?"
Before either of the girls could respond, a familiar voice cut in from off to the side.
"Good, looks like I'm right on time to hear the good news," Ren commented idly.
The two young women turned their heads towards him so quickly and adorably that the EMT nearly gave an audible 'awww'. She stopped herself simply due to not wanting to embarrass them, but it took everything she had to hold back.
Ren turned to the EMT abruptly, "I didn't mishear you, right? They're totally fine?"
"Ehem… yes, they're all good to go," she replied. "A-Anyway, I'll leave you three to it. I'm sure I'm needed elsewhere."
Haru perked up and seemed to understand what the woman was doing and realized that it might be best for her to do the same.
"Actually," she spoke abruptly, grabbing her friends' attention. "I just realized that I have a phone call to make. Sorry, I'll be back in a few minutes."
Makoto thought it was strange at first, but didn't think anything of it. That was until as she walked away, Haru turned over her shoulder and gave her a knowing grin. It went without saying that she was hit with a wave of embarrassment as a result, though Ren was right in front of her so of course she fought tooth and nail to keep it from showing.
"…was that weird, or is it just me?" Ren wondered aloud.
"O-Oh, well, you know…" Makoto trailed off awkwardly.
Even she was surprised by how absolutely horrible her response was. Truthfully though, she didn't have anything better to say.
"I'm sure I'm overthinking it," he mused with a shrug. His gaze returned to the brunette. "So, how're you holding up?"
"No injuries. Well, no serious injuries, anyway."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but that's not really what I was asking about," Ren stated pointedly.
"I'm managing, I suppose," she replied.
The uncertainty in her voice earned him a quirked brown from Ren. It was clear without him saying so that he wasn't going to let her slide by without giving him a real answer.
"I hate it when you give me that look," Makoto said as she shook her head, though a small smirk placed itself on her lips.
"That's half the reason I do it," he replied jokingly. "But really, how are you?"
"You know, the truth is… I don't really know," Makoto admitted, speaking as if it were half to herself. She looked off into space, clearly in a state of deep thought. "So much happened today that maybe I'm still processing it."
Ren nodded along. "I think everyone might be on that same boat. Still, if anything does come to your mind, I'm always here for you. I just wanted you to know that."
Her eyes drifted over towards him once again.
"…actually, now that I think about it, there is one thing I want to get off my chest."
"Hm? What is it?" Ren asked, having perked up.
In a turn of events that genuinely took him by surprise, Makoto moved in and wrapped her arms around him. Her hold was a bit stiff and rigid, and it should have felt somewhat awkward, but oddly it didn't. The emotions behind the gesture simply washed all of that away.
"I've really never been good at this kind of stuff," Makoto said through a giggle, feeling an odd comfort even though her cheeks were undoubtedly bright red. "I'm just… I'm just really glad you're okay, Ren."
The suddenness of the hug and the emotional tone of her voice struck the Wild Card with an awkward feeling he wasn't used to, but he shook it off in favor of hugging her back. He pulled her in close for a few brief moments, wanting nothing more than to reassure her as best as he could that he was perfectly fine.
"Same to you," Ren finally replied.
After a time had passed, the two broke apart, though it was clear to anyone watching from the outside that Makoto in particular did so with a bit of hesitation. Even so, she looked up at him in the aftermath and smiled warmly, thanking whatever greater powers may be that he was standing in front of her in one piece.
"Wow, I really must've made you worry for you to be looking at me like that," Ren remarked half-jokingly.
"H-Hm?" Makoto stammered. Her cheeks went red once more upon realizing how transparent her inner thoughts were. "I mean, I… W-Well, I'm not saying I…!"
The raven-haired teen failed to stifle a laugh as she continued to trip over her own words. In a way she was thankful, since it gave way to a wave of annoyance that allowed her to immediately get herself under control.
"I'm sorry, do you find my concern funny, Ren?" Makoto asked, her arms crossed and her lips curling into a visible scowl.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it," he replied. His trademark charming smile made an appearance, and with a quiet, solemn voice he added, "Still, I'm glad to see you're still the same as ever. After everything that went down today… it definitely makes me feel at ease to know that."
The sincerity shining in his beautiful gray orbs was almost too much for Makoto's heart to take, but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to look away. All she could do was continue to stare as if caught in a trance.
"That's sweet of you to say," Makoto replied.
In the moments that followed, the pair continued to look into one another's eyes. It was difficult to know what was truly going through either of their heads, or if they were even aware by that point of what they were doing.
Eventually, though, reality broke their moment apart.
"Makoto, over here."
"Ah, Ren, there you are."
Both Sae and Yu casually walked towards the teenage duo from opposite sides. It seemed that they hadn't the slightest idea of what they'd walked into, but it went without saying that the sound of their voices brought them both back down to earth.
"O-Oh, sis!" Makoto uttered somewhat awkwardly. "Everything okay?"
Ren seemed to recover far more gracefully as he turned to his fellow Wild Card and gave him a respectful nod as if nothing was off whatsoever.
"Yes, everything's fine. I was just coming over to say we should head home soon," Sae replied.
"I was about to say the same thing," Yu remarked, his gaze locked on the Thief of Hearts. "I've already checked up on everyone else, and if you've done the same, I figured we should be heading back to the apartment sooner rather than later."
"It's definitely been a long day," Ren said, giving off a sigh and a half-smile. His eyes shifted towards the brunette again. "I'll talk to you later. Be sure to get a good night's sleep, okay?"
"That's my line," Makoto shot back. "Good night, Ren. Same to you, Yu-san."
The four gave their farewells and went their separate ways. As they walked away, they found themselves appreciating the minor interaction.
It served as a brief reminder that they'd all made it out alive, after all.
Within the confines of a hospital room in central Shibuya, all was quiet as Yumiko Hebiza's eyes gradually started to open. The very first thing she came to see was her blonde-haired friend, who sat by her bedside staring at her as if time had frozen still.
"No, you're not hallucinating," Yumiko abruptly stated, offering her friend a teasing grin. "Where's Eury?"
Lanaya stepped off to the side and revealed the raven-haired teen to be sleeping peacefully
"Should I wake her up?" she asked. "She'd be overjoyed to see you."
"No, just let her sleep. She looks like she could use the rest."
The former information broker adjusted herself on her bedspread, groaning slightly as the soreness of her limbs started to hit her like a sack of bricks. Lanaya immediately took notice and stood up so that she could help limit her friend's discomfort.
"Please don't strain yourself, you've been in a comatose state for over twenty-four hours."
"That's not quite right, but it doesn't matter anymore," Yumiko replied. She looked into her friend's amethyst eyes, smiling softly as she said, "It's over, Lanaya… they actually managed to beat him."
The look of relief and the freedom that shined in her jade green orbs was far too genuine for her to have been lying. Somehow, someway, she simply knew.
Lanaya was overjoyed to hear those words, but just like all those years ago when they'd walked out on Sasaki the first time, one questioned burned at the back of her mind.
"So then… what happens now?" she asked.
"For starters, I need to speak with Yu Narukami and Detective Shirogane. We're overdue for a long chat," Yumiko stated. Her gaze then shifted towards Eury, who was still sound asleep just a short distance away. She smiled, adding, "As for the rest, we'll figure that out just like we always do: Together."
She gripped her friend's hand tenderly, and though Lanaya shifted awkwardly at first, there was a genuine smile that crossed her lips. Eventually, she squeezed back, finding a rare moment of solace in doing so.
The nightmare had finally ended.
The Nijima sisters entered their home in silence. When it closed, it marked the first time since the day began that they were all alone with one another. As they lingered in the family room for a few brief moments, and though they each felt as if a conversation with one another was more than needed, neither of them could bring themself to speak.
They simply walked towards their rooms, allowing the silence to continue on.
"Good night, Makoto," Sae stated as she was just about to enter her bedroom.
"Sleep well, sis," she replied with a smile.
Upon closing the door behind her, Sae stood in place and hung her head. There was so much racing through her head, so much that she could tell she wanted to say to her sister—and yet she couldn't bring herself to say any of it.
'Somehow, I can tell Makoto felt the same way,' Sae thought, releasing a tired sigh. 'Though I've no idea what exactly she wanted to say.'
"You could've found that out yourself if you'd chosen to speak up."
A warped voice she was all too familiar with spoke to her from her vanity, much like it had many, many times before. It felt almost natural by this point.
She walked towards the mirror and took a seat in front of it, facing her Shadow with a calm, emotionless expression etched across her features.
"Back again, I see," Sae remarked.
"Don't try and act like you didn't think this would happen," the Shadow replied, rolling her golden eyes and crossing her arms as she spoke. "We both know you walked into that door expecting to hear my voice."
"I did," she admitted. She eyed her other self curiously. "Though you're less agitated than I thought you'd be."
Shadow Sae's gaze hardened. "Don't mistake that for my having peace of mind, and I assume the same can be said for you."
Though the words themselves were vague and could have meant any number of things, Sae knew their intended meaning in an instant. Both she and her Shadow were bound by emotions that they shared, but they didn't always share them equally.
Right now, however, there was an odd balance between them. It felt as if they were truly of one mind, and that one, singular mind was plagued by one thing and one thing only.
Even though Eiji Sasaki had been stopped, and even though Makoto and the others were alive and well, the fact remained that he was still alive. The defining moment of when he was at her mercy standing in front of an open window overlooking a sea of trucks replayed over and over in her head, fueled only by her complete and total hatred for the man whose life she spared.
But that was just it. It wasn't in every replay that she chose to let him live.
She averted her gaze uncomfortably, though it didn't do her any good.
"Seems you've realized what I was trying to say," Shadow Sae abruptly remarked. "Are you comfortable with the choice you made?"
"…are you?" Sae asked, balling her fists in frustration.
There was a slight desperation in her voice that genuinely took her Shadow by surprise. What surprised her more was the fact that she didn't immediately have an answer. Just days ago, she'd have said that she wanted nothing more than for Sasaki to die a horrible, slow, and painful death. Now, however, she couldn't bring herself to say it, nor could she bring herself to say she wanted him to live to face justice, either.
It seemed the emotional balancing of scales was affecting them both.
"Strangely, I don't know," Shadow Sae replied.
Sae hung her head, muttering, "Neither do I."
Rise and Yu walked through the front doors to her apartment, the former letting loose a relieved sigh to finally be back home after all that had happened.
The redhead then headed straight for the couch and practically collapsed onto it, though the relieved smile on her face was proof enough that she'd done so simply to get off her feet for a time.
"Home sweet home," Rise uttered blissfully.
"Do you need help getting to bed?" Yu offered.
"I wouldn't say no to a princess carry," she replied with a playful smirk.
Yu chuckled. "That you're asking only means you don't actually need it."
"So, what? If I said I was fine, you'd actually have done it?" Rise asked confusedly.
"Not necessarily," Yu said. "I'd just wait for you to try and get up, and then when you started to fall all over yourself, then yeah, probably."
"Wait, why are you saying that like it's totally something you'd expect from me?" she pressed.
"Because you're stubborn," Yu answered plainly.
They both knew Rise wasn't the type of person to ask for help unless she was completely sure she needed it. Of course, her way of figuring that out would've been to risk falling on her own, so Yu was completely right.
Still, she didn't exactly take his response to heart.
"Pfft, that's rich coming from you," scoffed Rise, rolling her eyes at his response. "When you put your mind to something, you're even more stubborn than I am."
"Somehow, I doubt that."
"Oh, you wanna go down that road? Right here? Right now?"
"Well, as fun as that sounds, I think I'll settle with knowing you're home safe and sound and call it a night," he replied.
The soft look in his eyes almost immediately cased Rise's annoyance to wash away like water off a duck's back. She pouted inwardly, but couldn't stop the lovestruck smile that reflexively tugged at her lips.
"How do you always manage to do stuff like that?" Rise whispered, averting her gaze.
"Did you say something?"
"I-It's nothing, forget it."
"Okay, if you say so," he replied. "I'll take off then. Good night, Rise."
The songstress said the same before the two went their separate ways. Out in the hallway, Yu turned to see Ren leaning up against the wall of the hallway just outside the door where he'd been waiting patiently the entire time.
"I told you that you didn't have to wait," Yu stated.
"I may have forgotten to bring my key after this morning's excitement," Ren replied with a shrug. "I'll make sure to remember it next time we're dragged to a police station at nine in the morning."
"Good," Yu replied in a deadpanned tone.
The Trickster laughed as they made their way into their temporarily-joint apartment across the hall. They walked in bathed in the moonlight from the window on the far side of the room, and in that moment they each felt the incredible weight of the day's events lift from their shoulders.
Yu was intent on basking in the tranquility for a few more seconds, but a noticeable thud from off to his side caught his attention. He looked over to see Ren propping himself up on the kitchen countertop as if it was literally the only way he could remain standing.
"You okay?" Yu asked as he rushed to his side.
Ren offered a smile even as he struggled to stand up. "Just a bit worn out is all. I'm fine."
Clearly his fellow Wild Card didn't believe him in the slightest. Yu quickly went about propping Ren up over his shoulder before he began helping him over to his room so that he could presumably collapse on the bedspread and get some much-needed rest.
"Almost made it," Ren joked dryly. "Guess it's really just been that rough a day."
"I mean yeah, Sasaki nearly killed you."
"Hey, I had everything perfectly under control."
"I think we have very different definitions of 'under control'," Yu shot back.
"Clearly," Ren said, his voice laced with sarcasm.
The silver-haired Persona user finished helping him into his room and saw to it that he managed to get onto his bed as opposed to taking his night's sleep on the floor. Naturally Ren sprawled out on the bed just as soon as his body hit the mattress.
"Comfortable?" Yu asked amusedly.
"You have no idea," Ren stated. He peered over towards his fellow wielder of the Fool. "To be honest, I'm shocked you're even still standing."
"Well, doctors do say that 'not being stabbed' does wonders for your energy levels."
Ren sighed. "Are you just gonna keep bringing that up?"
"Maybe," he replied with a grin. "But for now, I'll let you off the hook. Get some rest, you've earned it."
They said their goodnights to one another and just like that Yu left Ren to what would hopefully be a good night's rest. He looked like he needed it, too. It was undoubtedly the most exhausted he'd ever seen his fellow Wild Card, but he couldn't really blame him.
Yu entered his room soon enough, and though he knew he had to have been dead tired, he couldn't bring himself to rest. He settled for sitting on the bedside and looking out the window, hoping that his mind would calm itself so that he could get some sleep.
The light of a full moon bathed him as he looked on into the night sky. Though it was a beautiful sight, it did little but remind him of bitter thoughts and memories. Whenever he saw it, he couldn't help but feel the presence of the boy that he'd seen crucified on the door within the Sea of Souls.
And thoughts of that very boy inevitably filled Yu with thoughts of him.
"I guess it's fitting that there'd be a full moon tonight of all nights," Yu thought aloud. "Sooner or later, he'll show up again. The question is: When?"
That was something that he didn't have the answer to. Still, the fact was that for now, things were peaceful.
He only hoped things would stay that way for as long as possible.
Eiji Sasaki sat handcuffed in the back of an armored car, hearing the constant blaring sirens of the parade of police cars that were escorting he and he alone towards the SPD's central precinct where he'd undoubtedly be kept until they decided what to do with him. The raven-haired man looked at the sole openings in the bars of the back door, having literally nothing better to do.
At least until the car abruptly stopped.
The kingpin's ears perked up when he recognized the sound of the driver doors being forcibly opened. All around him, he could hear and even see officers getting out of their cars, and in the moments that followed, a confrontation of some kind could be heard.
'Right on time,' Sasaki thought with a smirk.
Those were bound to be his men, paid for and hired in the good old-fashioned way. He wouldn't have been stupid to rely so heavily on brainwashing, of course. At least not until after he'd taken Shinjuku completely.
His beliefs appeared to be all but confirmed when the back door to the armored car was opened. He could see six officers standing at attention, clearly there with the intent of setting him free.
"Good work," Sasaki remarked.
The raven-haired man shoved his handcuffs in the direction of the officer that had set him loose, who in turn said not a word and stepped forward to unlock them. When the shackles came undone and fell to the ground, a pleased Sasaki rubbed his wrists with a grin spread from ear to ear.
"Let's get moving," he uttered casually. "We don't have much time before the police respond, so we shouldn't waste any time."
"Agreed."
A chill echoed throughout Sasaki's entire body. That was a voice that he wasn't expecting to hear—a voice that he shouldn't be able to hear. Not in the real world, certainly.
He of course thought he was hallucinating, but then he took a good hard look at his 'rescuers'. They were all zombified, each having eyes that were fully blackened as they stood at the beck and call of an unknown force. They were expressionless and devoid of any spark of life.
Abruptly, the darkened streets of Shinjuku began to turn red. A wave of pressure washed over the entire area as the Metaverse overrode reality in a small bubble surrounding the armored car.
Sasaki backed away as far as he could, but clearly his troubles were far from over. A cloud of blackness darker than the depths of the most bottomless abyss poured out from the officer that was standing just a few feet away.
The darkness quickly formed a human-like creature whose very body breathed off a black fog, save only for the two twisted red eyes on its head. Its very presence seemed to chill the air, something that could likely have been felt well beyond the confines of the armored car.
"You didn't think I'd forgive and forget, did you? Maybe you thought I wouldn't find you so soon after being freed?" the shadowy figure asked, giving a throaty chuckle. It stepped forward only a few paces, savoring every ounce of fear that each of them struck in the raven-haired man. "Or did you just think as long as you were in the real world, you were safe?"
Sasaki said nothing. Fear shined in his eyes as he tried to fathom a way in which he could actually escape his current situation. He couldn't feel even an ounce of the power he held in the Metaverse despite the fact that was clearly where he was.
The Shadow chuckled at how transparent his thoughts were. He didn't bother to speak them aloud, though. He was keen on just watching him squirm for a little bit longer.
"You know, in a way, I should be thanking you. I never thought I'd learn a lesson in humility, let alone from a human," it said, speaking almost wistfully. Its eyes narrowed. "So here… let me return the favor."
In an instant, the shaded being was directly in front of Sasaki, who in turn froze in place under the weight of its twisted presence. There was clear fear in his eyes, and the Shadow savored every second of it. It was almost as if he were feeling out the exact type of fear…
Which was exactly how it knew that then and there, Sasaki feared the end. And knowing that nearly brought a smile onto the creature's face.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you," the Shadow said reassuringly. It placed its fingers on the sides of the kingpin's head, staring deeply into the pits of his soul with its demonic red eyes. "That should be the least of your concerns."
Its obsidian fingers started to sink into Sasaki's skull, though they drew no blood. They just continued to press further and further as they reached into the fabric of his very mind.
An ear-wrenching scream like no other echoed in the dimly-lit streets of Shinjuku, accompanied only by the cold, sadistic cackle of the devil himself.
A/N Alright, so with that we're nearly done with this arc of the story. The next chapter will be posted in two weeks, so look forward to it!
Explanations:
What's Next?: The next chapter will be a wrap up for this arc with a lot of more serious conversations regarding what happened and how it affected certain members of the character cast etc. Post that will be a more slice of life section of the story that'll last for a while, I imagine. At least four of five chapters or so.
Sae & Makoto: I wanted to lay the grounds for what the next chapter will be, but obviously the entire thing with Sasaki affected them severely and the emotional climax and the true 'moving on' for them will take place next chapter.
Akihiko & Yu: So obviously the two know each other because they previously hunted the Shade in the years leading up to the start of the story. That will be explored in detail at a later point in time. One reviewer outright called it, so credit to him for knowing that at a glance.
The Shade: How it fits into all of this will be revealed more next chapter. Needless to say, he/it will be the next big baddie for the foreseeable future in the story.
Other P3 Characters: With Fuuka and a certain execution-happy boss-lady being mentioned, I can safely say at this point that both of those characters will make an appearance. I could name drop all of them now, but that wouldn't be any fun.
Sasaki: Not dead. Although fun fact, the last words the Shade says to him are (basically) the same ones he said to Yumiko before making her life a living hell.