November 17th

Yu slid into the well-worn benches that dotted the Junes food court. The nostalgic smell and atmosphere returned his mind to a time years ago when he was a younger man. It all felt like a lifetime ago that they were all teenagers investigating a world they knew very little about, coming face to face with shadows and murderers. Both suspect and real. Yu was blessed Dojima had been so busy that year working on the same case as he had been. If his old uncle ever had a clue of how much danger he and his friend had put themselves in, it would have meant the case might have never been solved. Still, even with all of that danger, there wasn't a moment he would have done differently. That year had been life-changing, to say the least. This wasn't time for such nostalgia, if the file Naoto had sent him that morning was anything to go on, then a new adventure was just around the corner.

The phantom thieves of hearts… Yu mind wrapped around the idea.

"Hey, partner." An all too familiar voice snaps his attention away from his reminiscing.

Yu looked up at his best friend; offering Yosuke a smirk. 5 years hadn't done much to his best friend's appearance. Yosuke still sported much of his teenage looks except for the addition of a goatee that gave his youthful face a bit more of a mature edge to it. No longer was he the prince of Junes but reigning as its king after his father moved back to the main offices 2 years ago. There had been others that wanted the manager job but none more qualified than him to take the role. A good word from his father helped too. The store as far as Yu knew was doing great, both helping to build up the community around it and giving job options to anyone who needed it. Junes had become loved in Inaba and Yu won't put it past the Hanamura line for doing a lot of that work.

"Yo," Yu responded.

Yosuke tucked into the other side of the bench across from Yu. "I gotta get some out here to repaint these things…" Yosuke offhandedly commented before turning his attention back to his best friend. "So what's this I hear about all the crazy stuff going on in Tokyo?" Looking around Yosuke also perked up. "Don't tell me we are the first one here."

Yu gives a brief nod. "There is a lot to talk about but we should wait for the others."

Yosuke sighs. "I told Ted we were meeting up a few minutes ago but there were some hot chicks that entered the TV department just as I told him." There was a depressed tone that followed Yosuke's statement.

"What's this I hear about you talking about hot girls, Yosuke!?" a new voice announced from behind Yu.

In a flash of blue, a wraith descended upon Yu's best friend. If the voice hadn't been familiar to Yu, he might have done something to protect Yosuke but he knew his partner had to deal with this situation himself. In a flash, Yosuke was in a headlock pin and Yu could only watch the defeat appear in his best friend's eyes as his body went limp. Yosuke knew better than anyone that struggling wasn't his best option in this particular situation. Yu offered him a sympatric look from across the table.

"In his defense; he wasn't looking at other girls," Yu said pointedly as his gaze locked onto the police officer that was holding his best friend captive at the moment.

Chie like Yosuke hadn't changed much in the past 5 years. A few inches taller, a bit more toned but same haircut and personality. Well, Yu chose to follow down the same path as Naoto for justice, Chie ended up taking her path. She had become a star in the Inaba police force, as due to the rural nature of the town most of the officers where near twice her age when she first joined. Her young spirit and thirst for justice even caught old Dojima's eye and Yu knew it wouldn't be too long before Chie became an investigator in her own right. In her personal life, the captain of the old basketball team, Kou Ichijo had worked up the courage and finally asked her out. He had left Inaba and had only returned last year, a bit of a more determined man that went after what he wanted. One of those things had been Chie. Something Yu was happy for both of them for. They had been going steady for the last almost a year now.

"Yeah Chie let me go, I'm innocent!" Yosuke pleaded not even bothering to struggle. He knew all too well what struggling amounted too.

"Oh really? If I catch you cheating on Yukiko don't think I won't throw you in jail for life Yosuke," Chie threatened and if Yu didn't know better just by the tone of her words, Chie was almost believable. Almost…

"Chie, please leave my boyfriend alone. I need him alive." The elegant voice of Yukiko seemed to flow over the group as she stepped up behind Chie.

The Amagi heiress seemed to appear from behind Chie, clad in a beautiful kimono and moving with the grace of someone twice her age. In high school, it was fair to say Yukiko Amagi was beautiful, but now she was stunning. She was reserved, soft-spoken, and no doubt the ideal woman in most men's playbooks. Age had done nothing but refine Yukiko, and honestly, Yu had to hand it to Yosuke for breaking down the Amagi inn's star and finally getting her to date him. How that exactly went down was a mystery Yu doubted even he and Naoto could solve but he was happy for the two of them. Neither of them was giving any clue how that happened, and most of the group respected that.

Finally, Chie released Yosuke allowing the Junes' King to finally get a full breath in over a minute. Yosuke sucked in a deep breath but as Yukiko slid next to him on the bench, Yu watched his best friend force himself to recover quicker from Chie's assault. It was almost comical to watch. Chie sat down on the other side of Yukiko, her attention turning to Yu and the folder he currently had in front of him.

"Geez this brings back memories, is everyone going to be here for real?" Chie inquired.

"Yes, everyone did agree to meet," Yu explained.

"We are just early Chie," Yukiko folded her hands in front of her.

"Well yeah, if I wouldn't have dragged you out of that place just now, we both know you'd still be rearranging the flowers in the front entry. Everyone at the inn was telling you to go. I don't know who is more of a workaholic you or Yosuke. Seriously though those flowers looked like they had been mugged with how rough you were handling them." Chie propped her elbow on the table. And with chin in hand; shot both of the other two investigation team members a pointed look.

Yukiko suddenly burst out laughing breaking her regal façade with a snort. "They looked… like they had been… mugged" Her loud laughter boomed across the Junes food court attracting the attention of some of the customers of the retail store. An audible sigh broke across the table but no one made any motion to stop the laughing heiress.

"Looks like we arrived on time, sorry Yu. I may have slept in." A new voice cut through the laughter.

"See, I told ya we'd be fine" A second voice echoed after the first in a much more casual tone.

Naoto Shirogane slid into the empty spot next to Yu. Now Naoto was someone that had changed quite a bit since their high school days. Well, she didn't fully embrace he femininity there was a huge difference between the Naoto then and the Naoto now. The woman that was Yu's official partner, wore her blue hair long and wore clothes closer to women's business professional then the suits and male clothing she wore in her youth. These clothes did well to show off the figure that the detective had been trying to hide for so long. She still wore her, by this point, signature cap most days, but she wasn't afraid to forgo it. That cap was something dear to her, a memento of her parents from what Yu understood. There were dark circles under her eyes and that was all the evidence Yu needed to deduce his partner hadn't slept much. Honestly, most days it was simply assumed. Knowing her habits, she had been probably working on a case late into the night.

"Shirogane." Yu regarded warmly in a professional way.

Yu didn't know when it started, but they had a habit of addressing each other by their last names when either they were in a professional setting or when one of them was slightly annoyed by the other. Luckily they got along so well they never really got too annoyed with each other, it was just a facet of their relationship. This counted as one of those professional settings after all they were presenting facts as detectives, not just as friends.

"Narukami." Naoto reflected the greeting as she pulled her folder from her briefcase.

Sitting down on the other side of Naoto, was Kanji Tatsumi. A man that was still a little rough around the edges had considerably softened in the wake of their youth. His black hair was slicked back and Yu knew about the tattoo sleeve of his personas that covered most of his left arm. Currently, that piece of art was hidden by a leather jacket, but the pink button-up shirt underneath showed a bit of his more softened personality. A five o'clock shadowed and a pair of dark green glasses framed his face as he moved to squeeze into the benches with everyone else. It had taken Kanji 2 years to work up the balls to ask Naoto out, but after 2 years even the ace detective had known about Kanji's feelings for her. They had been going steady since then, now the biggest challenge in their relationship was going to be happening soon. Kanji had asked Yu if his mother's wedding ring looked good, and was slowly working himself up to the day he could finally ask her the bigger question. Yu honestly was trying his best to keep the secret but with a sharp wit like Naoto's; Yu had to wonder what would break down first. Would Naoto find out or would Kanji man up?

"So we are only missing Rise and Teddie?" Naoto asked after taking a quick headcount.

Yosuke sighed. "I don't know where Ted went, he should be around here somewhere. You want me to find him?" Yosuke slowly rose to his feet.

"I'm sure he'll show up." Naoto dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Yu, I assume you know where Rise is?"

"Yes there," Yu stated dryly as the idol in question stepped into the area of the Junes food court.

Being an idol, Rise made an effort to keep herself on brand when on the stage which means besides the fact she was now in her 20s and had a more refined figure, she appeared on stage very similar to how she looked 5 years ago. However, when off stage to avoid the press and obsessive fans, Rise normally wore her hair down and donned large sunglasses. Currently covered in a long grey coat Yu recognized as his own the idol made her way over to the table. Sliding into next to Yu, she reached up taking off her glasses and offering everyone a warm smile. Life had been busy for Rise these last few years, she had finished school on the road and bounced between touring, Inaba, Tokyo, and were ever Yu was. Yu had been dating Rise since they were still investigating the murders. For the first few years, they had kept that information very private. Only confirming it for their friends after they had been dating for almost a year. Now their relationship was published but kept very low key as to not upset Rise's male fans. Rise tried to keep her stage life and her personal life separate but when you are crazy popular idol things bleed over.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late, had to dodge the press. Everyone wants to know why I'm hiatus and to take a statement. I think they are afraid I'll disappear again for a year. It's super tempting… " Rise sounded a bit exhausted and let herself lean against Yu. Yu responded by putting his arm around her in a small sign of affection.

"How is the new album doing still? I know we can barely keep it in stock here at Junes." Yosuke asked.

"Better than my manager expected, they are biting at the bit to have me work on my next one or release my next single." Rise explained. "I will probably be in the recording studio over Christmas so sorry Yu." The idol shot her boyfriend an apologetic smile.

"It happens," Was all Yu could bring himself to reply, this wasn't exactly what he had wanted to hear, but it wasn't exactly something he didn't expect to happen.

Between school, being Naoto partner, and Rise's schedule, Yu was lucky to see Rise a few days a month. Granted their bond was beyond simple distance and it's just how everything worked out. Luckily the school was now out of the way as he had all the qualifications he needed to be Naoto's partner full time. Naoto on the other hand had finished school almost a year before her family's name and her lifelong learning as a detective had allowed her to accelerate through college. It had been a boon to Yu because well Naoto was a year younger then him, she quickly became his sensei and he didn't know if he would have been this far long into his education by now if not for the former detective prince.

Naoto opened up her folder containing the information to what they knew not very much. Yu had spent the morning bring himself up to speed on the information that Naoto's contact had provided. This wasn't the first time they had worked with the Kirijo group and it probably wouldn't be the last. Naoto had been approached sometime after the whole P-1 Tournament situation had been resolved. The Kirijo group wanted to know the whole details of the adventure after the events of that tournament. Well, Naoto could have done that all herself, she instructed them to bring Yu in. The two of them along with testimony from the rest of the group gave them a full account of their adventures in the TV realm and beyond. The information must have proven quite valuable after they offered full scholarships to Yu and Naoto and arranged their schooling for them at good schools. The other members of the investigation team were given a sum of money but Yu never bothered asking how much. Teddie was the only one not to receive money, instead, he was given proper paperwork and is a registered Japanese citizen.

"Let us begin. I'm sure Teddie will show up." Naoto instructed causing Yu to follow suit with his files.

"This is the logo of the group calling themselves the Phantom Thieves of Hearts," Naoto placed the bright red logo down for the whole group to see.

"That's some impressive artwork, whoever made this has gotta have an eye for design," Kanji commented.

"This group has claimed to change the hearts of 6 people so far every person that they have claimed to change the heart of has seemed to have a drastic change of heart. One named Junya Kaneshiro with what appears to have the biggest change of heart. He was a mafia boss in Tokyo running a huge drug and extortion ring, making millions off his illegal businesses. Then he gets sent a calling card." Naoto pulled out a photo of the calling card the police retained for evidence. "And the next day he turns himself in and starts confessing all his crimes."

"What?! So these guys steal the hearts of people and make them confess what they are doing?! Geez we could have used these guys when Adachi was running around!" Yosuke exclaimed reaching for the photo.

Naoto nodded. "Yes, but they only showed up May of this year with their first thief of the heart by a man named Suguru Kamoshida."

"Ah, that Kamoshida guy? I briefly heard about him, he abused kids at the school he worked at. Kou mentioned him a few times but I had no idea he got his heart stolen. I heard a student tried to commit suicide because of him and he confessed due to guilt." Chie explained as she pointed to the picture of the man in question that Yu had dragged out of his files.

"So who are the other 4 victims?" Rise asked leaning in closer to the table.

"A famous artist that is known as Madarame, a hacker group named Medjed and the president of Okumura foods, and lastly the principal of Shujin Academy, a Mr. Kobayakawa" Naoto pulled out the 3 remaining pictures and the symbol for the Medjed group.

"And your contact thinks this could be connected to the TV world? Has anyone been watching the Midnight channel?" Yosuke asked looking among the group.

Naoto paused for a minute as if trying to collect the right words. "Yes and no, the way my contact puts it that other world can manifest differently for different people. That other world reflects people's hearts deep down so well it is way different from the TV world it's not impossible for there to be some connection. If one wasn't physically thrown into the TV and instead their shadow was fought in that world it could lead to a change of heart as we see here." She put her hand to her chin as her eyes stared intensely at the pictures laid out of the table before they flickered up towards the group. "Granted this is just a theory and until Yu and I go down there I got no way to prove it," Naoto explained with a flick of her hands.

"Big Bro!" came a voice that always caused a small smile to appear on Yu face. "I got something that belongs to you."

"Nana-chan." Came a sob that followed Nanako's voice.

Yu turned to see his 12-year-old cousin along with Teddie in his bear costume approaching the group. Nanako had only matured more in these past years, having grown almost a foot in height and starting to develop the character of a woman. Something that got Dojima a bit riled up, as Nanako was still seen as a little girl in his mind. Yu did not doubt over the next few years she'd fully blossom into a beautiful woman but just as with Dojima, anyone that messed with her would meet his wraith. No one messed with his little sis. Period.

The bear costume next to his favorite little sister had remained unchanged in these last few years, and the body that grew within it also hadn't changed much either except maybe a few inches. Maybe it was the fact Teddie was originally a shadow but he looked the same as he did when he first popped out of the costume. Same blue eyes, a little bit taller, but same everything else. Yu had spoken to Yosuke about the fact they had a teenager that didn't seem to age on their hands and Yosuke merely shrugged it off. They really couldn't hold human standards to a shadow that had trained and birth a human form for himself so as long as no one raised a fuss, they'd pretend not to notice. Teddie moved to join everyone at the benches as Nanako moved towards Yu and rested her chin against his shoulder. From her spot, she could look over Yu's shoulder at all the files scattered across the table.

"Big Bro, you got another case?" Nanako asked. "You aren't gonna almost get stabbed again are you?" With that Nanako poked the still raw bruise on his forearm from said incident.

Yu frowned and flinched slightly as pain shot down his arm. Out of the corner of his eye, Yu caught Rise's mortified look. He hadn't told her to keep her from worrying about the danger of being a detective entailed. The others except for Naoto all gave Yu a concerned look. Naoto on the other hand just sighed and shook her head.

"I mean that guy had a 12-inch knife Big Bro, you should be more careful." Nanako laid on thick, and Yu took that moment to realize what his little sister was doing. This was a little sis tattling on her big brother moment. She was concerned about him, and she wanted him to think twice before putting himself in a situation like that again.

"12 inches?!" Rise exclaimed. "When was this?!"

Nanako looked at Yu's girlfriend. "A week ago. What he didn't tell you?!" The look Yu got from Nanako was like a cat that had cornered a mouse.

"A week? What happened?" Rise directed her question at Yu and had a look on her face that meant if he didn't tell her now, bad things might happen.

"… We…" Yu started but stumbled under the weight of Rise's look.

"It was a stocker of a young girl. He fully believed the young lady was his property and was willing to kill anyone who stood between him and the object of his obsession. When we were taking a statement from the girl, the guy jumped out and attack us believing Yu was trying to make a move on 'his' woman. We managed to disarm this dangerous person, but Yu took a strong right hook to the shoulder before we were able to fully restrain him and handcuff him. Dojima was one of the responding officers after we called the police because this happened here in Inaba. We asked that the information not be made public in the interest of protecting the girl from further harassment. I'm guessing Nanako-chan heard about this from him." Naoto stated dryly as if testifying before a court in a more masculine tone to which Nanako nodded to confirm where she got her information.

"You guys both were attacked? Geez, thanks Yu for taking care of Naoto. Way to be a man!" Kanji grinned in Yu's direction the first time hearing about this as well. Naoto didn't want Kanji worrying about her on the job either, so she must have not mentioned it to him.

Yu shot Kanji a thumbs up but was quickly finding himself faltering under the concern gazes of the other members of the investigation team. "Look I'm fine," Yu started putting his hands up to try and ease the mounting tension.

"I'm surprised I didn't hear about this. Dojima must have put a gag order on it fast." Chie folded her arms across her chest as she thought about it.

"Are you both okay?" Yukiko's worried tone was almost as bad as the upset expression Rise was giving him.

"I assure you we are both very much fine," Naoto confirmed with a nod. "We are both trained to handle situations like this so you don't have to worry about us."

"Who are all these people?" Teddie lurched forward picking up the pictures scattered across the table and started to examine them.

Rise gave Yu a look that very much told him that she'd be talking to him later about his injury but for now he seemed to have a small reprieve. Everyone's attention turned back to the case files scattered across the desk. Even Nanako seemed to take interest and reached out picking up the red logo print out that was sitting among the papers. She examined it closely as a flash of recognition appeared on her face.

"Hey Big Bro, you guys going after the Phantom Thieves?" Nanako asked looking up from the picture towards her big brother.

"You know something about them Nanako?" Yu questioned.

Nanako nodded before she set the picture down and pulled out her smartphone. After a few seconds, the preteen pulled up a mobile site on her phone and handed it to her brother. The color scheme of the site was identical to the logo and seemed to be some sort of fansite for the phantom thieves. As Yu scrolled through it, Naoto leaned in to get a better look at it herself before pulling the site up on her phone. Yu read a few more comments before handing the phone back to his little sister. Quietly Yosuke brought Teddie up to speed what he had missed.

"If it's you two investigating them, does that mean they are more than just a rumor? I know there are several people at my school that are cheering for them." Nanako explained as she put her hands in her pockets.

Yu shrugged. "It's a strong possibility but we won't know fully until we head to Tokyo."

"When are you guys going to Tokyo?" Rise asked.

"Tonight. We were already sent tickets this morning after we confirmed the case." Naoto said as she paged through some of the remaining parts of the files. "We are going mostly by train and most of our travel arrangements are already set. The Kirijo group wants us to look into this as soon as possible." Naoto pulled out the sheet that had all of their travel details and set it among the other papers.

A boy on the other side of the food court called Nanako's name. She responded waving to him before turning back to her big brother. "Nanako who is that boy?" Yu questioned looking at the young man that stood on the other side of the food court. Yu knew most of Nanako's friends but this boy was someone new.

"I love you Big Bro and I'll miss you," Nanako hugged her Big Bro before quickly excusing herself from the group and disappearing with the boy in question. Yu made a mental note of his face before turning back to the rest of his friends.

"That's Akito, Nana-chan sure likes to hang out with him lately." Teddie suddenly informed Yu.

"Oh…?" Yu raised an eyebrow at that information.

"That poor boy, he doesn't know what he's in for." Yosuke lamented.

"Yeah between Dojima and Yu… any boy that comes near Nanako-chan is doomed." Chie agreed, glancing in the direction the two had disappeared.

"She was quick to get him away, good luck Nanako-chan." Yukiko solemnly cheered with a nod.

"Ahem… We should get back to these files." Naoto's voice was slightly elevated to emphasize their point.

Yu pulled himself back into attention. He'd grill Nanako later but at the moment he couldn't afford to let something of this caliber distract him. If they were truly dealing with some else from that world then his wild card abilities would be needed more than ever. Naoto cleared her voice before continuing her explanation about each victim of the Phantom Thieves as well as something she wasn't entirely sure was connected and that was the mental shutdowns that seemed to happen around the same time. Most of the Thieves' activity seemed to follow a pattern except the newest victims, the Okumura CEO, and the Shujin principal. Either way, there were a lot of questions and not many answers to go around.

"That's pretty much all we know." Naoto finished explaining.

"There is a lot of information. Where do you guys plan to start once you hit Tokyo?" Yukiko had a pensive look on her face as she spoke.

"The public prosecutor's office is our first stop. We have a meeting with one of the prosecutors working the case. Also, there is someone I wish to meet that is also working in this case. You could say he is a protégé of mine even if we never met." Naoto explained as she begins to gather up the files and put them back into a folder in a specific order.

"Who's that? I thought Yu was your apprentice." Teddie asked giving Yu a confused look.

Yu exchanged a quick look with Naoto before his partner spoke again. "His name is Goro Akechi, and well I was known in my youth for my detective skills, people are calling this young man my successor as he seems to have the same unbridled success as a Detective as I had in my youth. A second detective Prince."

Yosuke whistle. "A second detective prince too, geez I can tell why you are called to investigate. But, you sure you both want to go there by yourselves? We can fight too."

Yu nodded. "We need to confirm what is going on."

Naoto expanded on what her detective partner was trying to say. "We aren't kids anymore, we are adults with lives and jobs. Until we can confirm one way or another what is truly happening in Tokyo, it's not fair to pull anyone from your lives here in Inaba. Keep your phones on, because if this is a thing, we might need you all."

"Both of you keep each other safe, but don't be afraid to call us down there," Chie smirked warmly.

"Yeah, I'm counting on all of you," Yu confirmed with a curt nod.

They say we are looking at about 6 months until the P5 Royal NA release. So I'll try and shoot for the fic to be done around then. I got another story that I'm going to be starting on soon, I want to try to write something original for once. I don't think that'll get in the way of my editing.

Unspecific Author Grumblings: I suck at editing my work and that bothers me to no degree.