Author's Notes; To those who have mentioned it, no I haven't played Persona 4; Golden, I have however seen most of it on a youtube walkthrough. The only good walkthrough I was able to find isn't complete however, and last I checked, the one doing the game hasn't reached Adachi yet if I remember correctly, but they've done an amazing job thus far. I've seen the new Bike skills, the band they put together, and everything else thus far, so I'm not a complete newbie when it comes to the Golden edition lol. On that note however, I am far more familiar with the old version, but I will try to include what I can from Golden if it makes you guys happy. D Anyway, on with the story!
The next morning had Yu being woken up by the patter of little feet as Nanako ran down the hallway. He chuckled quietly to himself, having grown used to being back in his uncle's house already. Nanako always ran to the bathroom first thing in the morning and went through the routine of cleaning up and brushing her teeth. Say what you wanted about kids, Nanako was and had always been the exception.
Stretching his back when he stood up, Yu looked to the stack of boxes still left in his room and nodded his head in silent determination. Halfway through unpacking his belongings, he heard a knock on his door. "Big Bro? Are you up?" His small smile grew when he looked to the door and opened it, seeing Nanako was wide awake and practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Oh, are you unpacking? Do you want help?"
"Sure Nana-chan, I'd be happy to have you lend a hand." Yu replied before reaching up for one of his smaller boxes and laying it down on the floor. Nanako rushed over with a cheer and set to work. The box he had taken down had his small collection of books he had brought with him, and with Rise's help the night before, the shelf he had brought with him was already set up. "It doesn't matter the order Nanako, I'll probably organize it later." He said before she could ask, smiling at her when she nodded her head in determination. "So, how was school this year?" Yu asked, hoping to fill the silence with conversation. It was partly from a desire to distract himself from what laid before him and his friends this time, but mostly because he honestly wanted to know.
"It was good!" Nanako replied, missing the thoughtful look on her 'Big Brother's' face as she continued to shelve his books while he unpacked a box of his clothes and put them into the dresser nearby. "I've made a lot of new friends, and I learned a lot too! We went on a field trip just a few weeks ago. We went to the city, and saw the sights, it was fun! But I wish you could have went with us Big Bro."
"I went a couple years ago, but we only went to the local high school. Still, it was alright." Yu replied as he stood and went to the last of the boxes, finding his arts and crafts collection that he had forgotten about in his mad rush to get ready for his trip back to Inaba. "Hmm."
"What's that Big Bro? Oh, is that the stuff you made those cute little origami animals with?" She asked, and when Yu nodded, she looked to the box of supplies he set on the table that they had set up together. "Can you show me how to make origami?"
"Sure, it'll be something to look forward to Nanako. We can make a day of it." Yu wasn't surprised when the young girl nodded her head excitedly, looking forward to the plans they had made.
It wasn't until Yu's phone went off that he realized they had been folding bright colored paper into cute animals for the last hour. Nanako was pretty good, and the small collection of folded critters in front of her said as much. "Yu here. Oh hey Yosuke. I was just unpacking, and was hanging out with Nanako. Huh, sure we can come." It wasn't even a question in Yu's mind about bringing Nanako along to Junes as he turned to his cousin. "Hey Nanako, is everything done around the house?"
"Huh? Yeah, I just have to bring in the laundry, but we can go after that." The girl replied, running off to take care of the last of her chores just as her father came upstairs.
"Oh there you are. Hey where you going?" Ryo rubbed the back of his neck in confusion until he turned and saw the stuff on Yu's table. His confusion gave way to a small smile when he saw what they had been up to. "Not even a day here and you've already got her making origami. What are you going to do for the rest of the summer?" Dojima asked, his lips uplifting into a grin as he stared at his nephew, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm not sure, but I'm sure we'll think of something." Yu said, chuckling at the teasing look in his uncle's eyes.
"Well, whatever you do, I'm sure it'll be alright. But if you plan to go out, just make sure you lock up. Anyway, I gotta run, but I should be back tonight. See ya." Ryo said as he waved over his shoulder before walking out the door, but not before saying goodbye to his daughter. It was only after he left that Yu finally yielded to curiosity and put his hand on his pants pocket.
He sighed when he felt a stack of cards that hadn't been there last night, knowing without a doubt that his visit to the Velvet Room hadn't been merely a dream. Of course, he knew better to question, but a small part of him had hoped it had been anyway. He and his friends had saved the world already, let someone else do the heavy lifting for once. Still, that small part was silenced when he pulled out the cards and looked through them, unsurprised that they were still blank. Their power wasn't required yet, but he knew it'd only be a matter of time before they were needed.
Just as he was gathering up the materials needed for a sandwich, Nanako walked in, a laundry basket held in her arms. She smiled and walked upstairs, a spring in her step as she disappeared. Yu watched her go, still surprised she had grown so much in two years. Her pigtails were back, as were the pink clips she always wore when she tied her hair up. The slender, petite girl's brown hair had grown longer, along with the rest of her, but she still had the same compassionate soul he loved so much. Her brown eyes still shined with her same innocent charm, but he knew she was far stronger than she appeared. Having been raised alone by her father, she had had to grow strong, to compensate for the void left by her dead mother. All that and more had made Nanako into the young girl she was leaving behind, to become a strong, capable young woman. Her journey was far from over, but Yu was sure she'd be just fine.
"Ready to go?" Nanako asked when she came back down, to be greeted with a boxed lunch pack from her Big Brother. She let out an excited gasp, happily surprised to see he was more than ready. "Boxed lunches? Really?! Yay!" Despite her maturity, she was still a kid at heart.
Yu only chuckled but nodded his head, his hand falling on her shoulder as they left the house. His summer vacation had only just started, and despite the impending trouble on the horizon, he was looking forward to spending whatever time he had with his family and friends.
Once they got to Junes, Yu wasn't surprised to find Yosuke, hard at work in the produce aisle. "Hey bro, and hey Nana-chan. How's it going?" He had been too tired to notice yesterday, but Yu was surprised to see Yosuke's headphones were gone. Upon closer investigation though, he saw that they had simply been replaced by a much smaller pair of red earbuds, and the CD player on his hip had been replaced by a much more modern iPod. He'd finally gone digital it seemed, but that wasn't the only thing different about him. His unkempt, fawn colored hair had since been straightened out so that it fell over his shoulders and back, but Yu had a feeling before the day was over, it'd be back to its usual unkempt appearance. And while he was currently wearing his Junes apron, he had foregone the old Yasogami high school uniform, replaced with a black v neck and black pants. All in all, Yosuke was looking pretty sharp for once, no doubt taking his responsibilities as the Junes assistant manager more seriously than he used to back in the day.
"I'm good. Big Bro taught me how to do origami today! See?" Yosuke blinked when Nanako pulled out a small swan made from red paper. "What do you think?"
"It's good. Huh, you have a natural talent Nana-chan." Yosuke replied, nodding his approval when he looked away from the small swan in her hand to her 'Big Brother', a smirk on his face. "The gang's in the Food Court, just like always Yu. I'll be up there in a bit, gotta help restock a few shelves, but after that I have a break for a while. See ya!"
"See ya Yu, ready Nanako?" Nanako nodded her head again, smiling the whole way as they boarded the elevator and headed for the roof. It wasn't until the doors closed that Yu noticed her smile had disappeared.
Before he could ask what was on her mind, Nanako beat him to it. "It hasn't been the same without you, Big Brother. Everyone's been busy with their lives, but despite that, they've still tried to make time for me and daddy. Still, I missed you, Big Bro, I missed all the time we spent together. Because of you, we're a family again."
"Nanako…." Yu couldn't find anything to say to that as the doors opened, but he didn't have to as Nanako hugged him. He could only smile and return the favor with one arm, smiling down at his cousin in a new light. Just when he thought he knew everything about her, she turned around and surprised him.
Looking towards their usual table, he saw that most of the group had already assembled. They hadn't noticed the scene playing out between them, and it was over when Nanako ran towards the table, the spring back in her step. Yu watched her go, glad to see the sadness had disappeared from her face again. That emotion had no place with her as far as he was concerned.
"Sensei!" Teddie shouted, waving his bear costume arms around rapidly from his ice cream stand he was behind at that moment. "Hey everyone, Sensei and Nana-chan are here!"
"Yeah, we know, stupid bear!" Kanji growled, but the grin on his face said something else altogether as he adjusted his glasses so that they were perched close to his face. Yu chuckled, expecting nothing less from their 'bad boy', who was anything but once you got past the tough exterior. "Hey Nana-chan, how ya doing?"
"I'm good now that I'm here!" Nanako exclaimed, sitting down next to Yu and Rise, who were across from Yukiko and Chie. Kanji and Naoto were at the far end of the table, leaving Yosuke and Teddie's spots empty for now. "Oh, big bro was teaching me how to make origami today. Yosuke said I had natural talent when I showed him one of the swans I made with his help."
"Cool! Can we see Nana-chan?" Chie asked, and Nanako nodded her head excitedly, digging out the folded piece of paper before setting it down in the middle of the table. "Whoa, you did that this morning? You're awesome Nanako."
"Not too bad kiddo. Might have to take lessons from you." Kanji said next, his customary grin in place as he picked up the paper swan and pulled on the tail, making the wings flap when he did. "Heh. Guess I ain't the only one into the cutesy stuff."
"You stole the words right out of my mouth Kanji." Rise replied before turning to Yu next. "I think it's pretty nice you teaching your 'little sister' one of your favorite hobbies Senpai." Yu blushed but managed to maintain his cool at his girlfriend's praise, even when she leaned against him. "I knew I fell in love with you for a reason." She teased, although he wasn't entirely sure she wasn't being partially serious at the same time.
"Thanks! I had help, but I did most of the folds after I got the hang of it. It's not that hard! It just takes patience." She replied firmly with a determined nod of her head.
"It's good to see that you have taken to passing along your skills Senpai." Naoto stated quietly, but her voice still drew everyone's attention to her. "You might not be truly brother and sister, but the bond you share makes that a moot point. You're closer than most blood related siblings I've ever seen, and besides, I can't imagine you being any other way from what I've seen of you for myself over the course of your life here. Whether your presence here was mere coincidence or not, I'm glad to have met you Senpai."
Everyone agreed with Naoto, but the festivities were interrupted when someone produced a game board. "Huh, what's this?" Yu asked, looking at the rectangles that were lined up across the board. They looked about the same size as the cards he had in his back pocket.
"It's a Duel Monsters game board! Rise, you play too?!" Nanako asked excitedly, getting a nod from the pop idol next to her. "Can you show me how to play?"
"Sure Nanako-chan. Let's see what you have first." Nanako dug out her deck and Rise looked through it, her brown eyes lighting up in recognition at the theme the young Dojima had gone for. "These are all Fairy and Spellcasters. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since you're such a sweet girl and all Nanako-chan." Rise beamed down at the girl, who blushed but nodded her head again, her own eyes lighting up in admiration from the woman's praise. "I'm guessing you went for cute over any potential strategy, but that's alright. I see a lot of potential here anyway. Fairy themed decks are pretty tough to beat if played right."
"Really?!"
"Yep. Take Kuribon for example. Play it right, and you have a shield against attacks from one monster. The only downside is that the attacking monster gives life points back to the controller for the difference." Rise explained, surprising the whole group by her knowledge of the game. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, the reason why I know so much is because I've been doing an announcer gig between my Risette performances. It was suggested I learn the game so I can do a better job, but I put together my own deck since it's a pretty fun game."
"I thought I heard your voice when the local tournament was being announced on the news the other day, but I forgot all about it in the excitement of Yu's big return party." Yukiko explained, appearing thoughtful as she looked at the singer across from her. "When's the tournament, maybe we can see what all the fuss is about."
"It's in two days time. Entry is free, and the winner gets a cash reward, but the big prize is a chance to be chosen for the Duelist Kingdom tournament." Rise explained before looking at Yu a little too quickly for his liking. "Say, I bet you'd mop the floor with the competition Senpai. If you duel as well as you fought in the Midnight Channel, I bet you'd be unbeatable in the tournament."
"I'd say your chances of winning would be quite good in that regard Senpai." Naoto agreed, while Kanji nodded his head.
"Now hold on a minute. I don't even have a deck." Yet. He kept that last part to himself.
"Well, if you want to watch me and Nanako go a few rounds, maybe you'll get some insights into how the game works Senpai." Rise offered as she and Nakao took up spots on either side of the game board, while everyone else got situated around them. "Having a theme is important, an archetype that fits your personality, some say your very soul. I'm not sure I buy into that part, but when I put my Songstress deck together, it felt right to me. For example, say hello to this little number!" Rise threw down a card, turned sideways across one of the rectangles on her side of the board. It depicted a woman dressed in an orange strapless dress with a mic held between her hands, frozen with one eye shut in a flirty wink. "Orange Songstress, Ballabile, in Defense Mode! Normally I'd play her in face down defense position, but for the purpose of showing you how to play, I put her face up. See the numbers and the symbols on the card? That tells you what type, element, and how strong the card is. The stars determine the level, while the numbers determine how much attack and defense power it has."
"And because it has 2000 Defense points, it's a good monster to have out to protect yourself." Nanako replied, earning her a nod from Rise.
"Yep. Before I'm done, I think I'll throw down a face down and end my turn. The first turn doesn't have an attack phase, but after that, the gloves come off. Alright Nanako, let's see what you got." Rise's smile was infectious, and Nanako nodded her head in determination again as she looked at the cards in her hands. "The card I put down was a magic card. They come in two types, Trap and Spells. Traps can do quite a bit of damage, from taking away life points to destroying the entire field in a single move. Spells typically protect you, allowing you to revive monsters, sometimes at a cost, and to empower your forces."
"Like our Personas." Yu stated softly, but those three simple words had Rise, as well as most of the others, riveted to their seats, missing the play Nanako made.
"Wow, I never thought of it that way. Huh, you're right Yu. Oh, you moved." Rise said when the shock had worn off from her boyfriend's deep insight into the game and their own power.
"Yep. I put a monster face down, and I put two magic cards face down as well." Nanako replied, smiling widely.
"In order to play certain cards, you have to put them down first, or Set them in advance. Traps normally fall into this category, but some cards can be played right from the hand." Rise continued as she flipped over her face down card, revealing a Trap that forced Nanako to put her summoned monster back into her hand, while taking Life Point damage at the same time.
And so it went, Rise offering bits of advice as the duel progressed. The more Yu heard, the more he understood, as did his little cousin, who it turned out was a little better than appearances suggested. Under Rise's guidance, she was able to improve her game by the end of the fifth round, and came close to knocking Rise down a peg, as well as ruin her winning streak she had earned thus far. Just as the singer had said earlier, Nanako's Fairy deck had more power behind it than everyone had initially thought.
Despite everyone rooting for her, the duel came to a close with Rise still coming out on top. "Oh well, maybe next time Nanako-chan." Rise offered her hand, and Nanako shook it firmly, smiling from ear to ear.
"Yep! Thanks for showing me how to play better Rise!" She exclaimed, earning light hearted chuckles and applause from those gathered.
And thanks for showing me why I have these cards. Yu silently mused, having observed every duel played with a critical eye for the rules and types of cards involved. They were similar to Personas, in that every card supported the others in some way or another, even when the entire field was swept clean by a well played card. There were strategies within strategies, elements of the game that while he had only seen the tip of the iceberg, encouraged Yu to learn all he could. If what Igor had foreseen came to pass, he'd need every trick he could muster, but before that, he'd need to learn how to unlock the power hidden in his own deck. So absorbed in the duels that had been played out in front of him, he never saw the light emanating from his back pocket. It wasn't until he pulled them out in sheer curiosity that he stopped and stared at the cards in his hand.
"Hey, I thought you said you didn't have a deck?!" Rise asked, being the first to notice the deck in his hand until he set it down on the table next to the game board.
"The cards were blank this morning." Yu said as he reluctantly picked up the deck and started flipping through them. "Wait, all of these, are Persona cards!" In his shock, he dropped several of them onto the table.
"It would make sense. You changed Personas all the time." Yukiko said, unable to keep the surprise from her voice as she took one of the cards that Yu had accidentally dropped when the realization had hit home. "This is-"
"Whoa, that's yours Yukiko!" Chie shouted, holding up Konohana Sakuya, her original Priestess Arcana Persona. "Is Tomoe in there too?!"
"Looks like it." Yu said, turning the card over in between his pointer and index finger, revealing the yellow armored warrior to the tomboy.
Yosuke had returned during the third duel, and grabbed the deck off the table before he started flipping through them himself. "Here's Izanagi, and Megatsu Izanagi. They're all here, every single one of our Personas. There's a few regular magic cards in here, but some of these are right out of our magic skills. Damn, why does Teddie get such a kick butt magic card?!" Yosuke shouted when he revealed Kamui Miracle to the group.
"At least your Ultimate Arcana Persona's in here Yosuke." Naoto stated when the deck was passed to her and Kanji. "As is mine, and Kanji's. It would seem you have a piece of all of us in your deck Narukami. I find that appropriate as well. I can only assume there's a reason you have these now." Yu nodded reluctantly, hoping to have figured out why he had the deck before he told his friends about it. "What haven't you been telling us Yu?"
Seeing no way out as his friends turned their gazes on him, Yu sighed and told them everything he knew for sure, which wasn't much. The rest was merely speculation, but he included that as well in his explanation. When he was done, Yu knew from the looks on his friends' faces, that he should have been straight up from the start. "I can see why you didn't want to say anything, but you should have known we'd have stood beside you stupid." Yosuke said, making Yu chuckle despite the worry that had been eating at him.
"I know, but I had hoped I was wrong. Still, whether or not something comes out of this new development, I'm sure we'll be able to pull through." Yu finally said, feeling better than he had in a long time. He still worried for their safety, but it seemed that his friends hadn't forgotten the strength they all had after all.
"You dumbass, of course we'll pull through, we always do!" Kanji shouted, slamming his right fist into his open left hand.
"We took on Namatame's corrupted Persona, Adachi and his Reapers, Amenani Sagori, and Izanami, the Goddess of the Underworld. However, given your reluctance to reveal this to us, I can only assume you thought we had forgotten what brought us together in the first place. I hope we've proven you wrong Yu." Naoto stated, and Yu nodded, this time without any hesitation. "The fact you feared for our well being just proves my earlier point. Even so, have more faith in us to stand together when the chips are down."
"I won't forget it again, I promise." Maybe, whatever was coming, they'd be able to see it through after all. Together.
Ending Notes; The duel I put in here was a small one, showing the basics of Duel Monsters, and the bare basics at that. That and the decks I have from Minaly aren't complete, so I couldn't do much more than what I did at the moment. Still, the duels later will hopefully be more complete, with actual Life Point scores and all that junk. D For now, hope this chapter will tide you rabid fans over for now lol. On that particular note, if anyone wants to send me decks for any potential non canon opponents, that'd be totally awesome, and it'd take the pressure off Minaly who's been doing all the hard work lol. At any rate, adios!