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Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Persona 5

"Hey, uh… are you okay senpai?"

Niijima Makoto blinked at the question, Amamiya Ren's voice breaking her from the thoughts she'd unknowingly fallen into. Her shoulders, her jaw, her fists, all were forced to relax — Makoto had no idea how tense she'd been until her leader brought her back to reality. The others were watching, her friends scattered about the interior of Café Leblanc for one of their collective study sessions. She brushed some of her short brown hair away from her face and shook her head.

"Everything's fine Ren. It's nothing bad, I promise, it's just…I suppose my mind is more frazzled than I thought."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The curly-haired boy across from her in the booth pushed at the fake glasses he still wore despite the entirety of the Phantom Thieves knowing his vision was perfectly fine. He just wore them to appear more disarming, given his unjustly labeled past. Still, a smile found its way to Makoto's lips.

"I'm a bit nervous. As you all may know it's only myself and my sister. We have no other family left…at least that we know of. I've looked, but my resources were rather limited and Sis always had better things to do. For years I've accepted we're the only Niijimas around. Yet…Sis received a call about a month ago claiming someone else had discovered a familial relationship and that he wished to meet us. Apparently he's the only one left in his family as well and hoped to discover some long-lost relatives. It's incredibly distant, a many-times cousin. Sis was skeptical of course but even she couldn't deny the factual evidence provided by the Speedwagon Foundation."

Sakamoto Ryuji whistled, impressed. The dyed blonde was hunched over on his booth's bench as though looking closer would burn the information from the textbook into his eyes, but at Makoto's declaration his head shot up. "Damn, senpai! Those guys have their fingers in everything nowadays! I guess if anyone could dig something up, it's them."

"What's the Speedwagon Foundation?"

All eyes turned to the small black cat lounging on the café's bar; a girl with short fluffy hair seated upon a nearby stool reached out and gave the unnatural feline a fond scratch beneath his chin.

"Think of it this way Mona-chan," Okumura Haru began. "Even my father would have thought twice about insulting the Speedwagon Foundation. Well, publicly anyway. It's a worldwide organization with branches all over the world — there's actually one here in Tokyo and I've frequented it several times in the past to peruse their notes on raising crops. Its original focus was on advancing medicine and humanitarian efforts but over the decades, especially from the 90's on, they've expanded into a multitude of other fields as Ryuji-kun mentioned." The heiress to the Okumura fast food dynasty gave a gentle sigh. "I've hoped to eventually push my family's corporation in a similar direction and use our excessive fortune to help others. I admire their efforts, and perhaps it will one day redeem the stain my father's merciless profiteering has placed upon our name. But for now I have to continue playing nice with the shareholders and board of directors and let them think they too have me acting as their airheaded puppet…until the time comes I may show them the error in their thinking."

Haru giggled behind her hand, a sweet sound similar to a bell. It was a beautiful, innocent thing.

It sent a disturbed chill down the spines of everyone in the room.

Morgana shook his head quickly, ears flapping as he banished the cold settling in his fur. "A-anyway! So they managed to trace your family lineage and find a connection so far back? That's amazing!"

"Yes. It's a more recent function the Foundation provides. I'm just…nervous about the meeting, is all. It's this Sunday at St. Gentlemans, that bakery that opened last October. Sis agreed to keep things casual — she doesn't show it all that well but I can tell she's just as anxious as I am."

"So what's the guy's name? What's he look like? Where's he from? Ooooh is he foreign?!" Takamaki Ann asked excitedly, twintails brushing against the booth's backing as the young woman turned her head to peer at her friend. Makoto continued to smile as everyone awaited her response, yet the seconds ticked by loudly without a peep. The senior's cheeks began to take on an interesting shade of red in the silence which only worsened when Ren raised an eyebrow and smirked at her.

"Those…are good questions," the senior eventually said in a near whisper.

Ann broke first with a snort. Her reaction set off the rest; even Yusuke politely chuckled as the older girl's blush went as nuclear as her Persona's techniques.

"In all the excitement the information Sis told me slipped my mind! B-but I remember his family name is similar to ours! And I know he lives a few prefectures over!"

"Oh? Which one?"

Makoto huffed, trying to calm herself against the amusement of her peers. "It's one of those smaller towns, outside of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture. A suburb named…oh drat, what was it again? Oh yes…it's called Morioh."

Sakura Sojiro glanced up from his newspaper as the bell above the door chimed, signaling a potential customer. Two in fact. The pair of unfamiliar men looked around questioningly as Sojiro folded the paper and turned to his guest with a well-practiced smile. They certainly looked like odd characters. What was it called? Cosplay? Either that or "fashion" had grown far beyond anything Sojiro ever experienced over his years.

"Ah, welcome to Café Leblanc. If you're in the mood for coffee and curry then you've come to the right place. It's been a while since I've had any new customers. Are you gentlemen from out of town?"

The taller one grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Was it that easy to tell?"

Sojiro chuckled lowly. "To be fair you've got that look of wide-eyed wonder about you. Come in, come in. Sit anywhere you'd like. As you can see you've got run of the joint at the moment."

The man laughed and took a seat at the counter, his companion following slowly after with a look of heavy concentration upon his rough features.

"Well…it's not like we're from the sticks or anything but Morioh's busiest intersections during the summer tourism have nothing on an average Tokyo day."

"Morioh! Now that's a name I haven't heard in some time."

The second man's head jerked up, and when he spoke it was with a voice as smooth as gravel. "You've been to Morioh Cho?"

"Oh sure. It's been years. I was curious about the beaches and seafood recipes and decided to check it out for myself. Plus I wanted to get my hands on some genuine Budo-ga coffee beans. Interesting palate, mildly acidic but with a sweeter aftertaste almost like wine."

"Please tell me you have some."

"You're in luck. It's not a common request but I do enjoy a cup myself once in a while."

The more affable customer grinned toothily. "That's great! Two Budo-ga coffees, with the curry special for both of us."

"Comin' right up. Ah, by the way I'm the owner of this place. My name's Sojiro Sakura but you can call me Boss."

The dishes were prepared after introductions and both men dug in with gusto. The less vocal of the pair actually squealed in delight, causing his friend to laugh uproariously between mouthfuls. Despite their…outlandish looks, Sojiro could tell that the two men were far more than they appeared at first glance. Just like a certain someone that lived in Leblanc's attic. Now that he actually knew the kid beyond the rumors, knew Ren was more than just an underage delinquent with a criminal record, it pained Sojiro to remember how snippy and demeaning he'd been towards the boy back at the start of their arrangement. Here he was, a middle-aged man, still learning the old adage about how there's always more to someone than meets the eye.

Eventually their time came to an end. A good meal with seconds left the two rather full, and stories about Morioh helped pass the time. Both men were eager to joke about their home city, and it seemed all it took to get the bulkier, rougher stranger to open up was to get his mind off of whatever was originally dominating his thoughts. A jaw-cracking yawn escaped him but as he stretched, his arms swept out in a wide sweep that accidentally caught his empty mug and dragged it from the counter. He flailed upon realizing his error and tried to turn and snatch it up only for the other man to beat him to the punch. Quick as the whip the taller fellow grabbed the edge of the bar with an iron grip even as he leaned back at a most uncomfortable angle, just about sliding off his stool as he went horizontal.

Sojiro couldn't see it well from his location but the sound of shattering porcelain never reached his ears. As the man righted himself he did so with a wholly intact mug in his hand. Sojiro was impressed by both the reflexes and the catch, but more importantly he didn't have to go through the trouble of replacing one of his cups.

"Nice save," he complimented before waving off the profuse apologies given since there was no harm done. The twosome paid the bill and left with a promise to return sometime. All alone once again Sojiro returned to his paper with a faint smile on his lips.

Once in a while the beloved monotony of running his business was broken by something new and exciting and it seemed today was one of those rare, out-of-place days.

Several blocks away Sakura Futaba stared at her center monitor in open-mouthed surprise. Sojiro's adoptive daughter always kept the live feed from the hidden cameras and microphones in Leblanc open and moved to one of her adjacent screens in order to always keep an eye on her father figure (and later, Ren) throughout the day. So when the two weirdos walked into the shop Futaba had to pay attention. Crazy clothes decked out in all kinds of accessories, and that hair! While the more thuggish of the two just slicked back his two-tone locks, the other had a full-blown pompadour of all things.

Yet despite their appearances they were friendly, if loud. Thug guy seemed like a goofball despite looking like it was a miracle he graduated high school, as Futaba estimated their ages to be well above hers. When he slapped the mug off the counter she cringed expecting to hear it break loud and clear over her speakers. Instead it was saved at the last second by the other man…and that's what frazzled Futaba's brain.

In every recording, from every angle she could pull up, the cup was beyond his reach and yet just shot back into his outstretched hand as if by magic. No matter how she tweaked the settings his actions remained unchanged. Nothing secret or invisible could be found. Infrared, ultraviolet, even night vision had nothing. Yet…she had watched on the live feed, before her very eyes, the savior's easygoing expression as it momentarily changed into one constructed from steel while he saved Sojiro's dinnerware from an untimely demise. Sojiro couldn't tell from his angle but her cameras covered the spread of the diner without blind spots.

A ghostly, disembodied forearm appeared from his grasping hand and snatched the mug with startling accuracy. It then reeled back and superimposed itself over the physical arm, cup left securely in the actual palm. It happened so quickly Futaba still wasn't sure if she imagined it or not. There was no evidence of it in her computer's memory save for the apparent telekinesis.

The thug saw it all. Yet he didn't react in the least.

The men left and that was that.

"What the flip did I just watch?"

Higashikata Josuke and Nijimura Okuyasu…the former was bizarre enough, but why did the latter's name seem to prickle her brain for some reason?

Then it hit her.

"No way."

Nijimura. Niijima. Similar family names.

"No way!"

But it couldn't be, right? Just because they were similar didn't mean Okuyasu was the one Makoto was waiting for…

RIGHT?!

"NO WAY!"

— TO BE CONTINUED

Wait a minute, this isn't RWBY or Fate. Well, I didn't want to start another story just for an idea I've held onto for years and only now decided to put it into words. I think I'll just turn this into a repository for any other ideas I come across as well besides just LSW. It'll be easier, and I don't think they'll be too much not centered around LSW.

Anyways yeah. It was another stray thought from a long time ago when I was like Niijima…Nijimura…wow their names are similar, what if they were related? And then Personas, Stands…I mean, you get the idea. Sadly I don't actually have much of a plot for something like this so if anyone else wants to try and do it justice, go right ahead.

Basically as stated, Okuyasu and Makoto are distant relatives from a common ancestor. This obviously takes place in an alternate reality where the universe wasn't rewritten in 2011 because of Pucci. There isn't a definitive year given for Persona 5 but since there's smartphones and that I didn't want people to be too old, I tentatively set it in 2014 for a relative modernity. Someone might have swiped a Stand arrow from the Speedwagon Foundation. Jotaro would show up. Jolyne isn't exactly with the Foundation but loves to spend time with her great-uncle Josuke and shows up. Rohan would probably show up to spite Josuke. Koichi's a family man. Giorno might show up.

Anyways I just wanted to get it out there so…here.