November 26 Saturday

Yu stood at the arrival gates at the Tokyo airport. Kanji was due to arrive any minute now. Ren was already at home waiting to be picked up along with Morgana, so they just had to clear this errand first. He had said he'd text Naoto as soon as he got in, but so far Naoto's phone had been silent. Naoto stood next to Yu, staring intensely at her phone as if trying to psychically will Kanji's text message to appear. Yu turned from people watching to his partner.

"Grip the phone any harder and you'll break it." Yu offhandedly commented.

Naoto sighed and put down her phone. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"That's some pretty aggressive thinking." Yu dryly stated, slipping his hands into his pockets as they waited.

Naoto looked at her partner, as if searching for something. "You're right. It's just... I'm kind of frustrated at Kanji." Naoto turned to look at nothing in particular. "I'm a grown woman and here he is believing he is rushing to my rescue. Don't get me wrong, I love him, but I don't want him to think I'm some sort of fragile creature."

Yu thought about it for a minute watching people reunite with love ones around him. "I don't think Kanji believes he is coming to rescue you, I believe his true desire is to support you. He follows you around like a puppy because he honestly thinks he doesn't deserve you. So he does everything he can to stay by your side, because he's afraid you'll wake up one day and leave him."

"That's preposterous!" Naoto exclaimed. "If anything I don't deserve him."

Yu let a light chuckle pass his lips. "And that's why you two will grow old together."

Naoto looked up at Yu and shook her head. "You really are good with relationship advice."

"It's a gift. Granted…" Again the words from the night before weighed on him. "I don't always follow my own."

Naoto raised an eyebrow at that comment and Yu could see she was going to get information from him before she even opened her mouth. "Something going on between you and Rise?" There was a carefulness to Naoto's words that Yu was appreciative of.

"No. Maybe?" Yu sighed. If there was any other woman besides Rise Yu trusted the opinion of, it was Naoto. There was no doubt Yu trusted the other members of the investigation team, it was just that Naoto was wise beyond her years. Also she was his partner. "Yosuke told me last night Rise wants to marry me."

"And this is a problem how?" Naoto asked seemingly not understanding the problem.

"That's the problem, there really isn't one. But I just feel it's not a good time." Yu tried to explain.

"Well. We are currently regularly fighting for our lives in another world and aiding a wanted criminal." Naoto kept her voice low as he spoke as so the words won't travel. "It really isn't the right time, but what about after?"

Yu thought about it. Naoto had a point about their current situation. This was all chaos and to introduce something like a marriage proposal would just add to that chaos. Then again, they were fighting and while Yu had confidence everything would work out in the end, there was always this lingering doubt in the back of his mind. If everything collapsed, would he want Rise to understand how much he truly loved her? Sure she understood, but asking her that question would no doubt dispel any doubts she had. Rise was his life. He couldn't imagine his life without her, even if they lived very different lives.

"I need a ring." Yu suddenly stated after he thought about it.

Naoto let out a laugh. "Alright Yu. We are in Tokyo. Surely there are enough jewelry shops around here for you to find one. Hell I'll even help you pick out one if you need it."

"Thanks Naoto." Yu gave his partner a fond look.

"No problem Yu. We're partners, I'll always have your back." Naoto affirmed as her phone chimed signaling she had gotten a message. "Looks like Kanji arrived."

Both detectives glanced towards the arrival gates to wait for Kanji. It wasn't too long before a towering figure could be spotted among those arriving at the gate. Yu caught the smile that spread across Naoto's face, it was that sappy kind of smile she only got around Kanji. Kanji really was her weakness, but that wasn't a bad thing. As soon as Kanji cleared the gate, Yu waved to him to catch his attention. He must have spotted them as he made a b-line for them.

"Naoto you look beautiful." Was the first thing to come out of Kanji's mouth as he set down the duffle bag he was traveling with.

Naoto's cheeks quickly lit up light pink. "W-what do you mean? I look normal."

"That's cuz ya always look beautiful." Kanji stated it in such a matter of fact way that caused Naoto to flush a deeper shade of red. "I love you Naoto."

Yu had to give Kanji points for that. Naoto let a small smile linger on her lips at Kanji's remark before she pulled his lumbering form down into a kiss. After greeting his girlfriend, Kanji turned his attention to Yu, to which he pulled into a large bro hug.

"Thanks for takin' care of Naoto for me Yu." Kanji nodded.

"I didn't need to be taken care of, if anything I took care of Yu." Naoto quickly quipped.

"Can't argue with her on that. We ran into a reaper." Yu didn't need any more explanation than that.

"Whoa. You ran into one of those bastards and you're both still alive?" The surprise was clear in Kanji's tone.

"More like Yu ran into a Reaper. We defeated it with the help of the Thieves." Naoto reiterated before she reached for the car keys in her pocket. "We should get going. Ren-kun is waiting for us."

They all started to head to the car as Kanji threw his bag over his shoulder. "Who's this Ren person?"

"We'll explain once we get to the car." Naoto informed her boyfriend.

"Alright." Kanji nodded accepting that explanation for the moment.

After they got to the car, Naoto and Yu started to explain what the whole situation was in a way Kanji could understand. Kanji was always a little slow on the uptake, but Naoto had become quite the expert at explaining things in a Kanji friendly way. As they approached Leblanc, Yu texted Ren they were close so the teen could meet him and Morgana outside by the road. Like clockwork, Ren was walking up just as Naoto pulled up and quickly slipped into the car before anyone could really notice him. As soon as they got into the car Ren pulled down his hood and looked at the large guy that occupied the back with him.

"Ren-kun, Morgana. This is Kanji Tatsumi. My boyfriend and a fellow member of the investigation team." Naoto called to the teen as she glanced in her rear view mirror.

"Hey. Just call me Kanji. I don't like any of that san or senpai crap." Kanji smiled at the teenager.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Ren Amamiya." Ren bowed slightly to the older man.

"So you're Kanji." Morgana remarked as he slipped out of Ren's bag.

"What the hell! Ya actually are a cat!" Kanji exclaimed in surprise before he grabbed Morgana.

"Hey what?!" Morgana didn't know how to react as Kanji picked him and started to pet him. "What do you think you'-? Oh! Right there! Yeah... that feels so good." Kanji seemed to know how to properly pet a cat and Morgana quickly became putty in his hands.

"We told you he was a cat Kanji." Yu said from the passenger seat.

"Yeah but when you said cat I more figured something like Teddie; not a real freaking cat! Granted I ain't complainin' this guy is super freakin' cute." Kanji grinned down at Morgana.

"I already like this guy, but I'll have you now I'm not a real cat." Morgana stated.

"Makes sense I suppose. After all you can go into that other world so that makes ya pretty damn special." Kanji shrugged.

"Why can't Ryuji be like this guy? Could we trade Ryuji for him?" Morgana shot Ren a hopeful look.

Ren sighed shaking his head. "We aren't replacing anyone. We are growing."

"Fine…" Morgana sighed as he sat down on Kanji's lap.

"So who's this Ryuji person?" Kanji asked

"One of the Phantom Thieves. He kind of reminds me of you Kanji. He's also your best friend isn't he Ren?" Yu informed from the front seat.

"Yes." Ren answered simply. "I believe Shirogane-san's reports states him as. 'A loud, energetic boy that needs to do so to talk over his peers; who seems to hold him in little regard at times. His intentions range from perverse to delinquent but it would seem he holds a wealth of loyalty to those around him which is by far his best attribute"

"So you read my report?" Naoto asked glancing at Ren in the rear view mirror.

"Makoto was given Sae's copy and she gave it to me last night. It's quite detailed. I was a bit surprised how much you knew Naoto." Ren commented, sounding impressed.

"Well both Yu and I did do interviews with your friends the night you were captured and the day after we got you back. We had to get caught up quickly or we never would have been able to save you." Naoto turned the car into the familiar underground parking lot of Rise's condo. "Honestly Makoto was your best advocate, she understood the urgency we needed to get you out and held nothing back. Even though she didn't know us she answered all of our question honestly and inspired us in how we could fit into the plan that was already in motion."

"I see." Ren pondered as everyone got out of the car and Morgana jumped back into Ren's bag.

"Congratulations by the way." Yu remarked to his young protégé with a slick grin.

"Thanks." Ren returned the grin with one of his own as he pulled his bag up on his shoulder.

The group all headed to the elevators that headed up to Rise's condo. The living room was empty when they arrived but the smells from the kitchen seemed a strong indicator were everyone was. Naoto grabbed Kanji as they entered the apartment, heading in the direction of the room Naoto had been using while they were here in Tokyo. That just left Yu with Ren. Ren put down his bag on the couch letting Morgana out before giving Yu a look that told Yu he had a question. Yu returned the look with a passive one of his own silently giving the teenager his full attention.

"Yu-Senpai… What does it mean for a Persona to evolve?" Ren asked.

Yu let a pleasant look linger on his face. "So you achieved a true bond?"

"A true bond?" Ren questioned.

"Yeah. There are two ways a Persona can grow. When you, the wild card, reach a true bond with someone or they come to a realization about their true selves in the face of great hardships. I can't say I understand Personas entirely, after all there is much we don't know about them. I do know quite a bit as I am a wild card, but beyond what I learned from Igor and Margaret, that's pretty much it. I know someone by the name of Mitsuru Kirijo who is probably as close to an expert on them as they get. I'm sure there are things even she doesn't know. All of my friends have the third incarnation of their Personas and have had them since our time in high school." Yu started to explain before he sighed. "Granted in the past their Persona have reverted back to their basic forms from unknown reasons but that was shortly after our final battle with Izanami and honestly the fatigue from that battle probably affected us all. We had two incidents pretty much right after that battle. One involving the return of the midnight channel which turned into the P-1 gran prix, someone named Shadow Labrys was manipulating everything the first time around. The other involved one of Rise's debut events after she left being an idol for a while. That one was by far the weirdest because the world we got dragged into was here in Tokyo, but it was a non-violent place and we had to dance to beat the shadows that got dragged into that world."

Ren looked like he was about to say something but Morgana cut him off before the words could leave his mouth. "Dance?" Morgana questioned from his spot on the couch, his tone seemed to echo almost disbelief.

"Yes. Dance," Yu explained calmly.

Ren paused for a minute thinking. "So if I get a true bond with all of my friends, all of their Persona should change?" Ren asked as he put his hand to his chin thinking.

"In theory, yes. When they change they should gain more power as well." Yu educated his teenage companion.

"Got it!" The gleam in Ren's eye pointed towards the fact he seemed to have a new goal.

"Hey are you two going to continue to stand there chatting or come in and enjoy some brunch?" Rise called from the door that lead to the kitchen.

Yu paused apprehensively, instantly blocking Ren before he could approach the kitchen. There had been many attempts throughout the years to teach the girls how to cook, if Naoto wasn't with them it still wasn't safe to eat anything provided by them. Yu loved Rise but the idol still couldn't cook anything that didn't involve Tofu. Anything involving Tofu was 100 percent safe and actually really good, but too many Mystery Food X gave Yu bad flash backs. He was normally the one that cooked meals for those around him and that was an arrangement he was completely fine with. Rise seemed to notice Yu's apprehension and rolled her eyes.

"Yosuke cooked most of it. I just did what he asked." Rise announced with a bit of a huff.

"Good then it's safe." Yu let out the breath he had been holding.

The look Yu got from Ren meant that Ren didn't understand the danger he could have just been in. Granted Yukiko and Chie weren't here and if that was the case, Yu would have just removed Ren completely. The kid had enough problems and had no business being subjected to Mystery Food X; at least if Yu had anything to say about it. Yosuke after starting to date Yukiko had called him one night and told him he needed urgent cooking lessons if he was going to survive being with Yukiko and not have a sudden totally believable death from food poisoning. Since then Yosuke had been learning to cook both by himself and with Yu's help.

Knowing the coast was clear, Yu headed into the kitchen to find out what Yosuke was making. Ren and Morgana both followed after him. From the smell that had been wafting from the kitchen, Yu figured Yosuke had been making Okonomiyaki and as he walked in that was confirmed. A few large plates of the traditional Japanese savory breakfast pancakes sat out on the kitchen island ready to be consumed. Yosuke was just washing up some of the dishes and nodded to the men as they came in. Teddie sat at the dining table already devouring a piece as Rise moved to get a piece for herself.

"I just finished making the Okonomiyaki, it's warm and fresh so dig in. I figured since you guys had to wake up early to grab Kanji I could at least make breakfast." He looked at Ren and Morgana. "I didn't know if you guys had breakfast yet but help yourself. You're part of the group so I made enough for everyone."

Yu grabbed himself some breakfast and soon after Naoto and Kanji joined them; everyone sat down at the table for a group breakfast. As plates were cleaned of food then washed and everyone had their fill of Yosuke's fantastic cooking, a chat spurred about the plans they had today. The plan was to head to the circus and tackle the next show. Which one it would be was a mystery, but hopefully they'd get out just a bit after Shujin Academy would let out. That was because now that Ren understood what 'true bonds' were, his next target happened to be Ryuji. Morgana still seemed skeptical about the idea of 'true bonds' but Yu figured once he saw Makoto's new Persona he'd probably want a 'true bond' too.

Once the planned was solidified everyone got ready before moving to head out. Again two cars were needed and Ren was once again merged with Teddie's suit. Once they arrived at the circus, it was all business. Kanji needed both a codename and a badge to get in as he had made the predictable choice to come with them despite his jet lag. As Teddie quickly put his bear costume back on, the rest of the group all tried to figure out a new codename for their companion. Granted once Kanji saw both Joker and Morgana in their Phantom Thieves attire, you could say he was instantly impressed.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about. This kid has style!" Kanji stepped up to Joker examining his outfit. "That's some quality material too."

"We forgot to mention our friend here runs a textile shop. He may not look it but he's got an eye for design and cute things." Naoto explained.

Mona looked up at Kanji. "Of course! We Thieves are the pinnacle of style."

"Naoto!" A childish voice cut through the air as the child Akechi appeared from behind one of the circus carts and instantly clung to Naoto.

"Hello, Goro-kun" Naoto's personality seemed to instantly switch as she bent down to the young kid. "See I told you we'd be back!"

The young boy instantly gave up his cling on Naoto's pants instead throwing his arms around her neck. "And you brought everyone back to play with me!" He gave a large toothy grin to everyone around.

"Who is the kid?" Kanji asked clearly not super comfortable with some random kid getting that close to Naoto.

"This is Goro-kun. He is a fragment of Goro Akechi, the teenager we are trying to change the heart of." Naoto explained to her boyfriend.

"Yeah but he looks like he could be in elementary school." Kanji countered clearly not fully grasping the fragment part of Naoto's explanation.

"That's why he's a fragment! He is a representation of the childhood Akechi had to abandon to grow up too fast." Naoto corrected slower this time so Kanji could fully understand. Naoto was the one that normally had to explain things to Kanji because she after all was the smarter one between the two of them. Everyone just followed some kind of unwritten rule to let Naoto do the majority of explaining things to Kanji, after all when she explained things Kanji got less riled up.

"Ah." Kanji nodded clearly understanding.

Joker snapped his fingers. "Boulder..." Pulling the conversation back to Kanji's codename.

Rise chuckled. "I'll second that one."

"Me too it's fits him!" Teddie cheered.

"Boulder? I like it! It sounds manly" Kanji nodded.

"Boulder it is then." Mona nodded. "Now we just need to get him a badge and we can head back into the circus."

"Princess do you have any targets for us?" Naoto asked.

"I can, give me a second. Oracle's scanning power was a lot better than mine, but I think I can manage." Rise said as her Persona appeared behind her. A few long second passed as they all waited for a target before Rise spoke again. "The one at nine o'clock. He has what we need."

Yu glanced in the direction of the police officer. He was currently trying to direct traffic. Problem was there was no traffic to direct. So he just stood there out in the open miming to a bunch of cars that weren't there. Yu almost felt sorry for the shadow as Ren rushed forward and pulled out his gun. Several shots rang out as Joker with a flair of his own took down the shadow with just his gun alone.

"Why didn't we do that in the first place instead of using the van last time?" Yosuke asked.

"Ammo." Joker replied as he picked up the badge from the ground and tossed it to Kanji.

"Ammo? You are using a fake gun to blast through shadows and you still need to worry about ammo." Yosuke sounded surprise.

"Yeah, having infinite ammo isn't something realistic so all of us Thieves only get a set amount per Metaverse trip." Mona explained to Yosuke.

"What about you Agent?" Yosuke glanced at the other detective.

"It's different for me, I come into this other world with a gun loaded but I never actually use any of those bullets." Naoto pried herself from the young child that hung onto her before she pulled out her revolver from her holster. "This other word seems to supply me with ammunition, it's just as cognitive as Joker's gun. However I've never reached a limit on it, but my weapon is quite real as Joker's isn't."

"Huh." Yosuke shrugged letting the conversation drop.

The group moved towards the entrance of the big top, it became clear their actions from the day before had an effect on the circus world. Sae's billboard now had a large red x over it with the words 'canceled' written along one of the vertical lines of the 'x'. Only three boards remained and if the acts on the billboard lined up with how the show progressed, they'd be facing Shido next. Hopefully this Shido would be a good practice against the one they'd be fighting on the cruise ship Palace.

"Na… err damn… Agent! Fuck, this codename thing is going to be fricking hard. Anyways is that you?" Kanji stumbled over his words as he pointed towards the billboard.

Naoto didn't even respond, she grabbed Kanji and child Akechi's hand. Quickly placing Kanji's badge on the box office counter before pulling him and Akechi into the tent. The rest of the group exchanged a look before following after them. Like before the whole tent was cloaked in darkness with the floor casting off an illuminating glow that lead once again to the bleachers. The bleachers had apparently been repaired or just reverted back to how they had been before Sae had trashed them the day before. As they all took a seat in the bleachers the spotlight once again turned on predictably panning over to the two talk show hosts.

"Tonight we've got a real show for you." The male started.

"Mhhm! Yes we do! Today we get to meet the man who promises to steer this country in the right direction with his muscles! Everyone give it up for Masayoshi Shido!" The female announced.

The young Akechi was the only one to clap as the spotlight swiveled around to a different ring than Sae had used the day before. The spotlight fixed on Shido as he stood in the middle of the circus ring. The politician had a large grin on his face as he flexed some exaggerated muscle he clearly didn't have in the real world. More spotlights turned on showcasing all the weights around him and among the objects another circus cage illuminated just outside of the ring. While the cage wasn't illuminated enough because the spotlights were focused on the ring, Yu did swear he saw movement within it.

Silence lapsed over the group as they focused on the man before them. Shido flexed several times before he stepped up to statue that looked like someone crying. "Behold! As the man that will carry the weight of the people's discomfort, I lift this weight!" Shido reached down and grabbed the statue.

But nothing happened.

Clearly Shido was struggling to pick up the statue, but he just couldn't. Several veins in his forehead seemed to pop slightly as he struggled before he just let go and moved onto the next thing he was going to lift. This time his weight was a large good luck symbol. "Behold! As the man that will lead this country into a prosperous future, I lift this weight!"

Again nothing happened as Shido again struggled with the weight.

Once again Shido tried for about 20 seconds longer to lift the weight, but it was clear he had no chance. Some strongman he was turning out to be. Yu glanced to his side to see Joker leaning forward. While his mask and the low light obscured most of the teenager's face, Yu could almost feel the intensity radiate off him. His left gloved hand, was playing with his dagger; flipping the knife back and forth in his fingers. It was if he expect to spring forward any minute and drive it into Shido's heart. Yu understood how barely contained the teen was, and reached for his katana. If Joker was going to dart forward to face his enemy, Yu was only going to be half a step behind him.

Shido moved to a new weight this one was group of several statues all bound together. "Behold! This country needs my Leadership, I lift this weight!" Like all previous attempts Shido was turning into a horrible strongman that could lift nothing. Shido didn't really struggle this time before he moved onto the next weight. This next one Shido moved to was the largest weight of them all. It took the form of a large set of dumbbells that happened to be impossibly large. "Behold. Here is my ego! I lift this weight!"

This time the unexpected happened. Shido grabbed the weight and lifted it above his head. A satisfied look appeared on the vile man's face as he proudly held the weight above his head. All seemed well before the weight begun to grow before everyone eyes. It ballooned bigger and bigger, making the man underneath it struggle to keep it above his head. He dropped to one knee, but the weight just kept getting bigger. Any sane person might have dropped the weight then, but Shido continued to hold it up as it started to morph into one of those American cartoon weights that characters use to try and drop on other characters. Yu caught Naoto shielding the young Akechi's eyes before the weight did the totally expected thing and crushed Shido beneath it. There was no gore; just one second Shido holding the weight up, the next second it comes crashing down and Shido was gone. Like a cartoon almost.

The whole group looked at each other in mock shock and disbelief at what just happened. It was Joker who moved first. Darting towards the ring, dagger out as if there was an enemy there that needed to be struck down. Yu caught the masked man's movement and got up merely a second behind. Joker closed the distance between him and the weight, running up to stab it with his dagger as if to make sure it posed no threat to anyone. The weapon clanged off the solid metal weight before Joker back-flipped. Bending down low, the intensity in his glare was solely focused on where Shido had disappeared. Yu stepped up to the weight, nudging it with his foot but it felt pretty solid.

"Well that gave us no information about how Shido would fight." Mona sighed as he entered the ring along with everyone else.

"Yeah," Rise stepped up to Joker and put a hand on his shoulder. "You can relax, his cognition is gone…"

"Tsk." Joker sneered before he slowly relaxed.

While the others had come to stare at the weight, Yu caught Naoto and the young Akechi head for the cage instead. Yu pulled his attention from the weight and stepped up behind his detective partner. With the lights it was hard to see into the cage, but a figure could be seen huddled in the corner. The closer the two detectives got to the cage, the smaller the figure tried get as it seemed to slink further into the corner of cage.

The young Akechi ran up to it and climbed up to the bars so he could look inside. "It's okay they are friends."

"They can't be friends… I tried to kill one of them… And other is way out of my league…" A depressed voice called from inside of the cage.

"No. You're wrong, they saved me. So they can definitely save you." The young Akechi thrust his arms through the bars reaching for the person huddled in the corner.

"How can you be so sure…?" There was a sigh in his voice before the figure slowly rose to his feet. "But I can't really lie to myself, can I?"

The figure stepped into the meager light that filtered into the cage to reveal a new Akechi. This one was thin and looked like he hadn't eaten a good meal in days. His eyes were bloodshot and had bags under them like he had been sobbing for some time before they arrived. He also had a dirty look to him, even though he wore the signature Akechi suit, as if he had been living on the streets. While older than the child Akechi, this one wasn't as old as his current self. 12-13ish by Yu's estimation. Not old enough to be a high schooler, but too old to be elementary. Slowly the rest of group filter over from the weight to the cage.

"Look its Naoto, our idol. She came here to save us!" Young Akechi informed his older self.

"Where is the key?" Naoto asked as she stepped up to the bars beside the younger Akechi.

"There is no need, I've unlocked it a while ago… But where else is there to go? It's not like anyone wants me." The young teen pointed towards the large weight. "He most certainly didn't want me."

"Well we want you." Naoto moved around the cage and opened the door reaching in for the boy.

He froze as he looked at Naoto before he recoiled back as if he had been struck. "Why would you want me?"

"Because she understand you and so do I!" Joker's voice cut through everything as he too stepped up to cage.

Akechi fled to the back of his cage as Joker stepped up. "I'm worthless. I was expected to die after my mother, but I was too much of a coward!" The boy let out a chuckle laced with madness that broke something inside of Yu at the sound of it. "I'm so worthless that I can't even take my own life! The only thing I'm good for is that other woman's machinations. Maybe they'll kill me, but I cling to some hope that someone might come rescue me from this fate, but I know it's a lie! I'll die alone there in that place but." There was life that suddenly flashed in his eyes as he glanced towards the weight. "My death will mean something than, right?"

Naoto suddenly closed the distance between her and the boy and encircled him in a hug. Yu could see tears starting to form at the corners of Naoto's eyes. "I'm sorry, I wish I would have come sooner." Naoto whispered.

The boy froze under Naoto's touch before he just begun to sob. The young Akechi jumped down from the outside of the cage before running around to enter it. Naoto held the younger teen as he just sobbed; clinging to Naoto's coat as he did so. Yu leaned against the cage as the sound of sobs filled every inch of the large tent. It was the sound of someone whose soul was broken, but also the first time someone reached out and tried to mend their pain. Akechi was definitely far more complex a person than it would originally seem. Yu was beginning to see what Naoto always seemed to see and why this boy needed to be saved.

Kanji stepped up to Yu and leaned against the cage with him. "This guy looks like he needs someone to teach him how to be a man. If Naoto believes he is someone that needs to be saved then I'm on board."

Yu nodded to his longtime friend. Understanding that Kanji needed to let someone know that while he had his apprehension about what Naoto was trying to do; those were all gone now. Kanji had become just as committed to the cause as everyone else here. Yu patted his old friend on the shoulder and just waited for the sounds of sobbing to end.