*Chapter 5: So No Regrets This Time*
Yu finally found Kanji and Naoto who, surprisingly, were very calm about the entire thing. "Yeah honestly I mean…it sucks that me and Naoto are like married-not-married. But honestly. I don't feel that bad compared to Yosuke-senpai or Teddie." Kanji said, while drinking some soda. He finished his drink and crushed the can with a single hand. "Yes, the thing that stung less was that we didn't lose anything in the process. We had a plan, we were to have children later on in life anyways. We did not necessarily lose anything near and dear to us, which softened the blow." Naoto said, looking out to the city. The three friends spent a bit of time looking out onto the city from atop the hill gazebo, sodas in hand. "Still though, you guys must have SOME things you miss." Yu asked, hoping that a card may form for them to look and recall. "Hm, I cannot say for now. We lost nothing but we did gain memories. Good memories, as a matter of fact." Naoto said, hugging Kanji close to her. "It still is very strange to see you with your bleached hair and piercings. It's cute." Kanji looked down at Naoto with embarrassment before noticing that she still had her hat and blue short hair. "Yeah, well not as much as your hair and hat, huh?" Kanji said, chuckling to himself as Naoto pouted and lightly jabbed his arm. "Actually, Senpai, I did get something good from that experience in my pockets." Kanji said, reaching into his pockets. He pulled out a weird slip of paper, with an airline logo on the corner. "BOOM. A free plane ticket to Paris! We can save this and use it whenever we want, Naoto!" Kanji said in excitement. "Uh Kanji, that ticket doesn't work. The date is entirely wrong and on top of that, this airline company doesn't exist yet." Naoto pointed as Kanji looked down in sadness. "Damn, I thought I was onto somethin'." Kanji said, with disappointment in his voice.
"Actually Senpai, speaking of, were any foreign objects found in your pockets?" Yu realized that throughout this entire experience, he never once checked his pockets. He emptied out everything he had in his pants and jacket and pooled them onto the table. There was his wallet, his car keys, his apartment keys, the dog tags for his dog, Skip. And…Yu recognized something in the pile he was ashamed of. Kanji must have noticed because he picked up the crumpled ball of paper and was confused. "The hell is this?" Kanji asked as he uncrumpled the paper. He gasped as he saw in big bold letters what it was. They were the divorce papers that Chie and Yu signed. "Divorce?! You-why the hell would you divorce Chie, Senpai?! You two are like, super in love!" Kanji asked, his voice becoming sad. Yu decided that hiding the truth would do nothing but cause problems later. So he spoke up. "Ok, remember when I said I felt…something took over my actions. It did…stuff to me. I got aggressive towards Chie, it increased my intolerance for children, and it made me feel…angry and bitter towards everything. Like Adachi." Yu shuddered at the thought. He never wanted to be compared to that creep but…he couldn't deny it. "Yes we went over that, but if that were the case, then why has Chie been so scared towards you? Angered, yes. But why was she fearful towards you?" Naoto said, rubbing her chin. Yu knew that what he was about to say next would be terrible. Especially coming from him.
"I prefaced that because the day everything ended for us, me and Chie were arguing. Then I insulted her father and she slapped me, so I slapped back. Slapping led to punching let to kicking and no matter what, I couldn't stop. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Then she was weak and crying but I…picked her up, threw her into our tv, and I…killed her." Yu said, looking at the ground with shame. Naoto looked surprised and put her hands over her mouth with disgust. Kanji was shocked but then slowly, was filled with rage. "You…piece of…SHIT!" Kanji said, running towards Yu and tackling him onto the ground. He got on top of him and nearly slammed his fist into his chest when Naoto screamed at him to stop. Kanji looked at Yu, who was mortified and looked at his eyes that were filled with fear and sadness and got off and helped him up. "Sorry…I…gotta remember that whatever you did after the wedding…wasn't you." Kanji sat down with Yu racking his brain around what could've happened. "But what could've changed ya, man? Was it your teaching job? Something happened AT your wedding? What was it…" Yu was thinking but then remembered one thing. Tick…tick…tick. His father's words. Whatever they were, they triggered…something in him. He then realized how much of an idiot he was to let a joke his father say affect him that much. "If I never listened to my dad, Chie wouldn't…" Yu said, clenching his fists in anger, tears dripping onto his hands. "Hey hey, I remember that too. Listen, don't let what your old man says get to your heart. It was a joke, nothin' more all right. Unless that Izanami lady did some shit with that to mess with your head." Yu realized what Kanji said was right. He knew that he had one last stop to make. And this one was the most important. "I'll see you guys later at Junes. Yosuke's having a party there." Yu ran off waving to Naoto and Kanji. He was headed to the one place he knew Chie would be. Samegawa Riverbank.
Yu was running around, everyone was finally at peace and ready to face the future. Everyone except…for the one he cared for the most. The girl he loved more than anything. He looked back and forth near the riverbank until finding a tree. There, he saw her. Sitting next to it, looking at a paper similar to his. He walked up to Chie who spotted him and was about to run away before he put his hands out. She got into a fighting stance but he could see she was scared and to be honest, he couldn't blame her. He saw though that she slowly let her guard down when she saw his face. Yu's face was that of regret. It was of sadness. It was the face of a man who truly felt like he hit rock bottom. Chie looked at Yu for a few seconds before Yu put his hands on her face. He simply put his head on hers and together, they both cried. "Chie…" Yu blubbered out, in between his crying. "Chie…I'm…so sorry. I'm so so sorry…" They both began to feel weak to their knees before finally kneeling down, still crying, embracing each other. "I don't know what came over me. I was…a monster. I wasn't the man you wanted or loved. I was broken. I don't care if it was Izanami or my father's fault. I should have…NEVER done those things to you." Yu said, wiping Chie's eyes and looking into them, her brown eyes were glistening and beautiful as always. "…did you mean it back there. In that…dream?" Chie asked, looking down, trying to calm herself.
"Did you…really not want children…?" Chie looked up at Yu who looked confused. "No! Hell no, Chie! I…i wanted nothing more than that! A little boy or girl…running around… with Spike and growing, laughing, crying. Enjoying life. That…is something I always wanted." Yu said, Chie finally breaking out of her cracked frown and slowly ascending into a small smile. "I wanted to have kids and have them learn with us. And see Rise and Yukiko's kids. And go through their own adventures. And I wanted to do it…all with you." Yu said, holding Chie's hands. She stared at Yu for a short while before locking her lips with his, both of them kissing for a long while before breaking off. "…Muri." Chie said. Yu was confused and looked at her not knowing what she meant. "Muri. If it's a girl. It was my great grandma's name. I wanna name our kid that. In the future, that is." Chie laughed. "I saw Yukiko's reaction and honestly, I'm not ready to have kids yet. Besides, my dad would kill you." Chie said, smiling at Yu brightly. "Honestly…yeah he would." Yu said, both of them chuckling.
Yu held Chie in his arms for a while as both of them stared at the sunset. It felt symbolic. As if their old lives, the lives they had and thought they were always going to have, changed. For the better this time. Yu thought his father was wrong. Having children with Chie wasn't going to ruin his life or not give him freedom or waste his time. It was going to give him purpose. A reason to live his life. And spending time with his child was going to help him or her succeed and be like their father. They stared at the ocean for a long while before Yu turned to Chie and said one thing. "I love you, Mrs. Narukami." Chie blushed but then hit Yu on the arm while chuckling "…idiot." They held each other for a while longer, looking out. Yu noticed that he forgot to wear the wristbands that Chie made for him a few months ago and quickly put them on, Chie noticed and held his wrists, hugging them close to her chest. But then something special happened. The card appeared, yes. But it wasn't blue. It was golden and it was two cards. Then, they both saw what was happening.
"Thou art we... And we art thou...Thou hast established an unbreakable bond...This unbreakable bond... shall be your eyes to see not only the truth, but to see your glorious future" The cards then blew up as a flurry of golden fireworks flew around them. Chie and Yu were astonished at what they saw and they looked at the cards they were given. It was their wedding vows and them in their respective wedding attire. Yu smiled for a moment before standing up and getting some sticks from the tree they were sitting next to. "What are you doin?" Chie asked in confusion. Yu said nothing as he scrounged around, and he found it. An old lighter Dojima lost and forgot about. He lit the leaves and sticks and make a small fire. "A…fire? On a summer night, Yu?" Chie said, still in confusion over what was happening. "Chie. That paper you have. That's our divorce papers right?" Yu asked, kneeling down next to Chie. Chie remembered and dug through her pocket. She pulled out the crumpled piece of paper and stared at it. "I…cannot believe this. This is what awaits us, huh?" Chie looked at the paper and was about to tear up. Suddenly, Yu snatched it from her, took the piece of paper from his coat pocket and ripped both of them to shreds, surprising Chie. "Like hell it will." Yu muttered, making sure that nothing was left behind. Then he took the shreds and fed them to the fire, Chie watching in astonishment. "Chie." Yu said, holding her up by her hands. "I promise you. No matter what. I will do ANYTHING to make you happy. You want a child? I can help you. You want 3 or 4 or 8 kids? Well. We'll get through it." Yu said, kissing her forehead. "Together." Chie looked up at Yu and started crying again. But not of sadness, but of happiness. Both of them.