*Chapter 9: So There's A Bride And A Thief*
"Man, weddings are a pain in the behind…" A blonde haired boy with a limp walk said. "I gotta wear this uncomfortable ass suit and for what? Some people I don't even know?"
"I don't mind! Weddings of any kind are so beautiful and elegant! The romance, the vows, the dancing. Ahhhh, it's gorgeous!" A young teenage girl with blonde pigtails in a red dress said.
"You're just sayin' that cause the cake is huge right?" The blonde boy chuckled.
"I have my vices, Sakomoto. Don't judge me." The girl said, walking into the main beach area. "And a wedding on the beach! This is amazing!"
"The sand's getting all up in my fur though! But, if this sort of place makes Lady Ann happy, then I am proud to oblige!" A strange black cat with a yellow bowtie…said?
Just then the blonde boy got a message on his phone from a friend of his. "Look alive guys, I'm arriving."
"Ohohoho, is he gonna be in a limousine? It's totally that or a private jet!" The blonde boy said, jumping up and down with the girl in pigtails facepalming herself.
Just then, a black SUV arrived and a teenage boy with glasses, black messy hair, and a tuxedo emerged. The black SUV quickly left and the boy arrived to his friends.
"…sooooo, no limo?" The blonde boy sulked.
"Sorry, Ryuji. Maybe next wedding eh?" The boy turned to his friend chuckling, patting his shoulder while walking into the beach entrance.
"Well maybe when we finish everything up here, YOU can get us a limo, Skull!" The cat purred as it climbed up on the boy's shoulder, hitching a ride.
"As I said. Weddings are a pain in the behind." Ryuji sighed to himself as he walked into the beach with his friends. Ren headed over to the hotel nearby as that was where the main man was being prepared.
The place looked great outdoors. There was a long white carpet with a large white steeple, flower arches with blue and yellow buds all across, and it was all in front of the great big ocean. Yu was getting ready for the main event when he got a knock on the door of his hotel room.
"Yosuke?" He went up to the door and listened in. "Narukami, it's me!" Yu instantly recognized Ren's voice and let him in. He noticed he was dressed in a gorgeous black tuxedo, his glasses were a big crooked and his hair was a bit frizzy but other than that, he looked great.
"Thank you so much for coming, Ren. Now…" Yu looked down and up the hallway to see if anyone was there but it was empty.
"Not to worry, I made sure to enter as discreetly as possible. Nobody else should be in the building with us. I think…" Ren said, also checking his left and right.
"Well anyways, take this." Yu handed something to Ren…a card?
"Crush that card with your hand and you and your friends should be undetected by us and in a pocket sized version of that Mementos place you told me about. The only ones that CAN see you are other Persona users but seeing how my friends haven't awakened theirs in a long time, you should be safe." Yu closed Ren's hand which caused the card to immediately disappear.
"This is great. Also real quick, something else. Your tie is all wrong, lemme help with that." Ren said, adjusting Yu's bowtie which was horribly managed.
Just then, Yosuke, Kanji, and Teddie arrived upstairs via the elevator and noticed Yu with some strange boy they've never seen before.
"Yo partner, how's the star doing?" Yosuke went up to hug Yu and Ren stood behind them, awkwardly putting his hands into his pocket and staring at the ground.
"Who's the kid?" Kanji asked, pointing at Ren who was trying to avoid eye contact and was sweating.
"Oh, don't worry. This is Ren Amamiya. He's from Shibuya and…" Yu said, pulling out the Fool arcana card from his friend's chest. "A Persona user. Same one as me." All the guys looked surprised at Ren and asked him tons of questions, which he sheepishly answered some of them.
"Hey hey alright, the kid's probably nervous. Dontcha worry, your secret's safe with us, right?" Kanji remarked, looking at everyone else nodding.
"So uh shall we be off. The main event's about to start." Yosuke said, stretching his arm out to the elevator.
"Let's have a BEARY good wedding today, Sensei! For you and Chie-chan!" Teddie said, happily skipping down the hall. Yu motioned Ren to join them who shook his head and waved back at them. He went over to the window overlooking the beach and saw the wedding reception. Just then however, he spotted a black van out of nowhere and what seemed like…perfect looking imposters of him and his friends in their Phantom Thief uniforms, only slightly less high quality. "I got our guys." Ren said, texting Ann and running off to the next ride down.
"And do you, Chie Satonaka, take Yu Narukami as your lawfully wedded husband, in joy and in grief, in sickness and in health, til death do you part?" The priest said.
"I do." Chie said while smiling at Yu who was dazzled at her beautiful dress. Ann was joyous looking at such a happy couple being wed and looked over at Ren and Ryuji watching as well. She then noticed Ryuji dozing off and struggling to keep awake and nudged his leg with her heel.
"Mhm, nah i took like 2 of em, not 5…" Ryuji said, waking up finally.
"Blondie, shame on you. Can you not see that these two lovers are finally to be wed and you can barely witness such a momentous occasion?" Morgana purred, looking at Ryuji.
"Man, I just feel like we could've been explorin' Mementos or getting some training done." Ryuji said, shrugging and sinking lower into his seat.
"C'mon man, we can't just endlessly work our butts off, we need some downtime y'know? Plus, Narukami said there's gonna be tons of steak…" Ren said, chuckling and nudging Ryuji who instantly perked up.
"Ohhh that does sound great!" Ryuji said, noticing his stomach was growling loudly.
"Blondie's way too easy to please…" Morgana sighed.
"Shhh!" Ann said, motioning her three friends to be quiet. "They're saying their vows!" Just then, Yu pulled out a piece of paper and read his vows, Chie doing the same. Then after everything, the officiator announced "Then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce Chie Satonaka and Yu Narukami, husband and wife! You may kiss…"
Just then, Chie grabbed Yu, pulled him by his collar, and kissed him first, to the shock of everyone.
"…the groom then!" The officiator said, chuckling. The crowd instantly rose up all clapping as the married couple rushed down the hall. Just then, Ren sensed something. Something malicious. The couple made their way to the Amagi Inn, with a strange black van following their limousine.
"All right, time to bust heads n take names right?" Ryuji asked, smiling at Ren and nudging his side.
"The inn's not far, we can make it by foot." Ren said running towards their direction with Ann and Morgana following behind. "C'mon Ryuji! You and Ren trained for this!"
"WHAT, I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING BY CAR! IT'S…IT'S REALLY HARD TO RUN IN THIS SUIT Y'KNOW!" Ryuji said, panting and running even faster than his friends surprisingly.
Ren and his friends checked into the front and walked in. The place was gorgeous. The walls were filled with tons of flowers and paintings of Yu and Chie. And a giant display of balloons that were…dragons. "Huh, guess the bride's a bit hardcore huh?" Ryuji said, chuckling.
"Woah! That dragon is huge! For a second, I thought THAT was a Shadow!" Morgana said, holding onto Joker's shoulder.
"Relax hairball, even if it were a Shadow, I think we could take it, right bro?" "Of course." Ren said, chuckling with Ryuji, Ann rolling her eyes.
Just then, Yu arrived, greeting some of the guests then noticing Ren and his friends. He excused himself and ran up to Ren, waving at all of them. "It's good to see you all. How've you been? I know weddings can be a bit boring if you don't really know the person." Yu chuckled.
"It was beautiful, Mr Narukami! Your wife is gorgeous!" Ann said, beaming pure happiness.
"not as gorgeous as the look on the dude's faces when we pummel them." Ryuji whispered to Morgana, who hissed at him.
"Well, the dining hall is open so…when everything's done, help yourselves." Yu whispered before being called over by Chie, who wanted Yu to meet some of her nephews. "Be right back." Yu said, waving at Ren.
The three Phantom Thieves headed towards the hall before Ann noticed a strange man in a black robe jumping between chandeliers on the roof.
"Joker, I found our guy." Ann said, tapping Ren's shoulder and pointing upwards.
"All right gang, we'll have to save the cake for later. Let's get this job done." Ren said, crushing the card Yu gave him. Just then, in a flash of blue light, everything stood still for a few seconds. Then, everything reappeared and Joker and his gang were in some familiar outfits.
"Hell yeah, Skull is back! COME ON, CAPTAIN KIDD!" Ryuji cried out, as a skeleton pirate on a ship appeared behind him.
"Whew, finally I don't have to wear that ridiculous outfit. It was completely stupid. COME TO ME, ZORRO!" Morgana said, revealing his Persona to be a giant masked swordsman.
"I thought the yellow bowtie was cute, Morgana. ARSENE!" Ren said, summoning his Persona, a well dressed figure with a giant top hat and majestic black wings.
"Joker, it was NOT!" Morgana hissed, Joker holding his hands out.
"Oh, cmon, it was adorable! DANCE, CARMEN!" Ann said, summoning a giant woman with chained men behind her. The gang knew what they had to do. Ann would be on the lookout for her imposter and scope the area, seeing where Naoto was and making sure she would be safe. Ryuji ran outside and started looking through the parking lot to see if any suspicious vehicles were to be spotted. Morgana was to be a distraction for the fake Thieves running around in the hidden spots of the inn…before being distracted himself, and Joker was to apprehend the fake Joker, or as he called himself, the Phantom.
"I'm gonna be honest, The Phantom is kind of a dumb code name. It sounds more like the name of a play." Ann said, talking to everyone in a four way call.
"Well Lady Ann, it seems that these thieves don't know what makes a good code-name if it smacked them across the face." "Heh, rich coming from you, Mona." "Zip it, Skull! Have you found any mysterious vehicles in your area?" "Hmmm, nope. Just some SUVs and some sports cars. Nothin' outta the ordinary." Ryuji reported, everyone else hearing his mic clip due to him running and panting.
Ren immediately knocked out the Phantom and was hiding his body near a concave area of the roof of the Inn and was zipping through the many many openings, looking downwards to see how the guests were doing.
Yosuke was with Yukiko, who was holding an enormous plate of food. "Found one of Narukami's friends. They seem to not be the target." Ren reported.
"Oh yeah also Joker, just wanted to tell ya that I've been writing down some profiles for the suspects n shit." "Wow, Skull is doing actual paperwork? Who would've guessed?" "Haha very funny Takamaki. Anyways, Mishima wanted to know them just in case he was allowed to use the data for the Phansite. So uh who're you looking at?" Ryuji asked.
Ren scanned the area and quickly descended, hearing the conversation take place without the couple noticing.
"Yukiko, that's your third steak! You're sure you're alright?" "I can't help it, I'm just hungry! It's like my stomach is a pit." "Well, at least they're getting some protein early on. Hm, wonder if I should've refilled." "Speaking of, Yosuke darling, could you please get me some lemonade? My glass is empty" "Of course, dear." Yosuke said, kissing his wife's forehead and leaving.
Ren instantly zipped up into the concave area of the roof again and turned on his phone again, realizing his gloves couldn't scroll through the screen and sighing, taking off one glove and feeling exposed. The things I do for my friends. He thought to himseld as he re-entered the call. "Yosuke and Yukiko were their names. Last names are Hanamura and Amagi respectively, if I remember what Narukami-san said." "Okey doke, any prevalent features whatever that means?" "See for yourself." Ren said, flashing a photo of the couple from above.
Ryuji got the message and replied "Christ, what a porker! No wonder she's got such a giant plate!" Ann immediately interrupted the call between Joker and Skull. "Sakomoto, watch your mouth! Joker told me why she looks that way! She's not fat, she's just pregnant!" "Yeah yeah sorry just…did not expect that. Okey doke, onto the next targets."
Ren zipped through more of the openings, almost tripping on one of the wooden beams before regaining his footing, looking at his clock. They only have about 8 minutes left before the card of Mementos would run out. They had to finish quickly. "Panther, found your doppelgänger?"
"Took care of her quickly. To be honest though, her looks are…painfully exaggerated compared to me. My bust isn't even that big." Ann sighed, witnessing her look-alike. "Well Lady Ann, any size that your breasts are, they will always be beautiful." "…thanks, Mona." Ann said dryly before hanging up.
Joker spotted another couple, someone in a bear outfit entertaining children while a woman sat next to him, hugging him and having a joyous expression. "Ok next targets don't seem to be involved. Lemme get their info." Ren zipped down before hiding behind an empty table listening in.
"Who wants to go on the Beary Express!" The bear said, lifting two children on his arms while the rest of the kids watched and laughed. "Teddie-bear, I forgot how great you are with kids!" "Well Rise-chan, children are the greatest joys to me ever! Except you, of course!" The bear said, kissing Rise while still lifting the children. Ren zipped up and instantly called his friends back.
"I think one of them is simply named Teddie and the other is…Rise Kujikawa." "FOR REAL!? THAT Rise?!" Ryuji replied, sounding dumbfounded.
"Wow, I didn't even know she was married! I do remember hearing something like that during a photo-shoot though…" "Well no matter, Skull, write down their names for Mishima's Phansite. I'll make sure to-Ohohoho, tuna salad!"
"Mona, now's not the time for-" Ren then immediately heard Morgana hang up.
"Welp, we lost him. All right, last two peo-FOUND HIM! HEY TUBBY GET BACK HERE!" Ryuji also hung up.
"I guess he found our suspect. I'll be logging off as well, Joker." "Good job Panther, we'll wrap this up and then relax." Ren headed out onto the last pairing.
After zipping through more openings, he saw her. Naoto Shirogane. A lot different than what her profile looked like. "Found the target. She seems to be with a rather burly well dressed man." "Cool, cool. Jeez, how fat is this dude, the rope barely even fits him." Ryuji called back, Ren hearing him grunt as if he was tying up someone.
"So uh quick question that i wanted to know the answer to. What's the chest situation?" "…eh?" Ren responded confused.
"WHAT!? W-why do we need that info, Sakomoto?!" Ann quickly responded to the call, chewing out her friend Ryuji. "What about knowing her breast size is going to help the case?!"
"H-hey I'm just asking! All right, gotta be knowing the details n all that, ok? So uh, Joker?" "Skull, as your best friend, I'm not going to go there and measure her bust." Ren replied, sounding uncomfortable and was sweating.
"Fine, fine, guess I'll tell Mishima that the measurement thing was a-bust." Ryuji chuckled, Ren feeling immense disappointment from Ann. "…" "Get it? Cause, y'know." "Yeah Sakomoto, we know. Anyways, that should be everything." Ann said, running towards the entrance.
"And on time too. I'll get my doppelgänger and head to where Ryuji is. Right parking lot near the forest right?" "Bingo, and gotta be honest, these guys were chumps." "Well, we have Personas and they don't, Ryuji. I think that tipped the scales a bit." Ren said, chuckling to himself as he hung up. He carried the body of his doppelgänger and headed into the forest. After he and his friends tied up the suspects and left a calling card, Ann called the police and the gang headed into the Inn to celebrate.
"Whew, case closed and the thieves stopped! Wasn't as awesome as our last escapade but y'know, I WAS pretty awesome." "Yeah and how're you going to explain the sweat all over your tuxedo, Sakomoto! Your mom's gonna kill you." Ann chuckled, pointing at Ryuji's armpits that were drenched in sweat.
"Well excuse me, I had to run ALL over the place looking for that van." "Shhh, grab a seat! The speeches are starting." Ren said to his friends as they found an empty table.
Yu and Chie were seated alongside their family as they were given some words of encouragement from all of their closest friends and family. Some heartwarming, some eye roll worthy, and some genuine. Finally, Yosuke went on stage to speak about his best friend.
"I was told to be on my best behavior otherwise Chie and Yu won't invite me to their next weddings." Yosuke joked followed by laughing in the crowd. "Of course when he does it, he gets some laughs." Yu groaned before Chie shused him.
"All right all right anyways. When I moved to Inaba, I was a nobody. A transfer student from the big city who couldn't wait to just grow up, move back into town, and never look back at some weird backwater town in the boondocks. But then…I met Chie and my wife, Yukiko. And they made me feel at home. Sure, they joked and teased me and I even got kicked MULTIPLE times in the crotch by Chie." Yosuke said, smiling and pointing at Chie who was flustered and hiding her face. "But I mean hey, didn't stop me huh?" He then pointed over to Yukiko who people could see was fully pregnant and clapped alongside Yosuke.
"But yeah after a few months, I met Yu. My best friend. My brother. Without him, I would've never connected to my friends or anybody else in Inaba. I would've never thought of going on dates or having adventures or doing a drag show with him and Kanji back in high school." Yosuke chuckled as Yu, alongside Chie, was hiding his face in shame. "But Yu is quite possibly one of the strongest people I know. He went through a lot here in Inaba back when we first met and he was brave throughout. From the whole fog incident to thinking his cousin Nanako, the flower girl, was medically dead for a few hours. He never broke down or was weak. He was strong throughout and will continue to be strong thanks to being with Chie. So, I raise a toast…to Mr and Mrs Narukami." Yosuke lifted his glass alongside everyone else. Even Ren and his friends joined along.
"Man, that…wasn't bad, y'know?" Ryuji said smiling. "I thought it was beautiful!" Ann said, crying into a napkin. After that, it was time for dining as Ren sat around, eating nothing but some rice and steak. Ryuji came back with a giant plate of assorted meats and Ann came back with a giant plate of desserts.
"Hey hey, we're not going to have a repeat of what happened back in the hotel right guys?" Morgana asked, scared of knowing what would come next.
"Nah don't worry, I'm cutting back. It's not gonna be like what happened." "Besides, I nearly got some cavities in some of my teeth from that. But I mean, look at this food!" "Ohhh man, all that running made me so hungry! Let's dig in!" Ryuji said, before stuffing mouthfuls of meat into his mouth. Ren took small bites of his food, looking over at Yu, dancing with Chie, and smiled knowing he helped his good friend.
Yu held Chie close to him during their couple's dance and looked over to see Rise, along with Teddie singing cheesy romantic songs. He rolled his eyes when he realized they were replacing some of the lyrics with both of their names but looked over at Chie, who was giggling and having a large smile on her face.
"I forgot how great our wedding was. It feels good to have it happen again." Chie said, laying her head on Yu's chest. "And it feels great for me too. Because I got to marry you all over again." Yu said, brushing Chie's hair with his fingers. He wanted to stay this way with his new wife, forever if it was possible. And this time, he knew he could stay this way because his life was now real.
They held each other closely as they danced the night away. After the dancing, they were about to head out before Yu excused himself and ran to Ren, who stood up to hug Yu. "Thank you for your help, Ren. Took care of those guys for me?"
"We sure as hell did!" Ryuji said, holding his fingers up in a y shape like a rockstar and smiling mischievously. "Good to hear. Well since the job is done, lemme pay you back." Yu said, reaching into his wallet. He held out a 10,000 yen bill and handed it to Ren, who waved his hand in retaliation. "No no, Narukami, we don't need any cash. Us being here is enough." Ren said smiling. "C'mon, I gotta pay you guys back somehow." "I'll take it then. Yoink!" Ryuji said, pocketing the bill into his back pocket. "Thank you so much for inviting us, Mr Narukami! The wedding was amazing!" Ann said, shaking Yu's hand. She picked up her belongings and left, with a smile on her face. "Well I should head out too. My mom's probably waiting in the parking lot. See ya, bro." Ryuji said, slapping Ren's back and peacing out. "I should be going too. Call me if anything bizarre pops up, ok?" Ren said, shaking Yu's hand and leaving. "Thank you for the wedding invitation! I hope you and Mrs Narukami live long and happy lives!"
Yu waved back and went back to Chie. He picked up his bride and went into the limousine, all of his friends cheering and throwing flowers at them until they left. After they got home, they opened the door and Yu was about to sit down to relax before Chie immediately pounced on him, kissing him up and down and taking his tie and shirt off. "W-we're doing this now?" Yu said, lifting his arms up so Chie could expose his chest. He reached into his wallet to pull out a condom before Chie slapped his hand away, making him drop it on the ground. "Yu, I waited too long for this. I want…a baby now." Chie said, removing her wedding dress. "…all right then. This is the fun part." Yu chuckled. The two started locking lips and tongues together, undressing themselves until Chie pushed Yu into their bedroom. They were now naked and ravaging their bodies as they instantly went under the covers, the night descending into giggling and moaning.
A few minutes later, Yu woke up and looked to see Chie next to him, fully undressed, her and Yu's clothes and undergarments strewn across the floor. She was sleeping after their intense session together, Yu still feeling the impact his wife did to him and panting heavily. He ran his fingers through Chie's short brown hair and kissed her cheek. "So…was it good for you?"
"Well considering you lasted more than 2 minutes, yeah. It was." Chie sighed, putting her hand on Yu's chest. "Heh, I guess that's another positive of that whole dream future. My sex drive got better, huh?" "All right, no need to get cocky. You still finished like…way too early." "...thanks for putting my spirits down, honey." Yu said dryly, Chie giggling and kissing Yu. "Heh, well good night. That was…intense. Love you." "I'm gonna go get something to drink." Yu said heading into the kitchen scrounging around in their fridge to get a beverage. He walked back slowly closing the door, sparkling water in hand and went back to their bed and noticed Chie murmuring. He leaned in closer and could hear Chie quietly whispering his name, smiling and then hugging his arm tight. Yu slouched back down into his bed, his eyes feeling heavy as he kissed her forehead. "I love you too, Chie."