Catch-22: The Calling Card Left Behind

By: M14Mouse

Summary: Akechi put Yu's knowledge of shadows to the test.

Disclaimer: Don't own them. This story is unbetaed.

You don't gamble to win. You gamble so you can gamble the next day.
-Bert Ambrose

"Explain. Who are you?"

"I am a member of Shadow Operative and our sole purpose is to hunt shadows that are a threat to mankind."

There was a moment of silence then he heard a soft hum.

"That actually made quite a bit of sense. From the conversations I had with the others, your knowledge on shadows is intensive. I thought that it was because of the conversations that you had with those shadows."

"Honestly, I just played cards with them. They seem lonely and I had time to kill when the others explode Mementos. It was fun and I learned some interesting tidbits of information."

"Lonely?"

"Shadows may be from a sea of souls but they still do have feelings. They feel happiness, anger, and yes…a little lonely. So, I'll talk to them."

"I would never imagine that I would have a conversation about shadows and their feelings. They are merely good for two things. One, to make you stronger and two, to make excellent tools."

He heard the mocking tone in his voice. He reminded him of Adachi especially toward the end. It made his heart ache.

It was just like before….but in a way, he was right. They can be tools. After all, they use them to navigate worlds beyond their own. Their personas were once shadows…voices inside their head…what they should be doing…what they should have said…but he never thought of them like that. He thought of them as a part of him.

Oh, don't listen to him, sugar. He is just jealous that you are so awesome. No one understands us and shadows better than you.

He grinned slightly at High Pixie. In his head, he can clearly see her blowing a kiss at him.

Suck up.

Be nice you two.

"Then we are going to have to disagree."

"I suppose that we will. I am curious."

"About?"

"Beside the ability to wield multiple personas, Joker's ability has allowed him to gather people to him. Strength in numbers. A moth to a flame if you will. Yours? You have an ability to calm the savage beast."

He frowned slightly. He never thought of talking to shadows as some sort of talent. They were just interesting to talk to.

Did he just call us beasts?

Genbu didn't sound very pleased at all.

Honestly…how long do you plan to let him ramble? Talk. Talk.

Enough.

Izanagi's voice cut through the others.

"I am curious to see it put to the test."

Quickly, he turned around to see Akechi make a Norn appear. His hand gripped his cane and watched Akechi do something that he had never seen before. He felt it. It was a dark and twisted energy that he had no words for. Akechi poured some dark energy into the shadow. He watched as the shadow's once golden skin turned black.

"My little talent is simple. I can turn any shadow psychotic…sometimes, I even break them. Very opposite of the scale of your little talent. I am curious as to whose ability will win. Let's see if you can save this shadow, shall we?"

He took out his deck of cards as the shadow screamed toward him.

-P4P5P4-

He picked up the screaming tea kettle from the stove and set it on the serving tray. He picked up the tray and headed toward the table in the living room. He set down the tray and picked up the oven mitt. He wrapped the cloth around the tea kettle and poured the hot tea into their respective cups. He took a seat on the opposite seat from Akechi and took a cup after adding some sugar cubes. Akechi smiled at him as he added some honey and sugar to his cup.

"I want to thank you for the meal. It was quite wonderful."

"Better than the convenience store?"

"I'm afraid that you are never going to let me forget that, are you?"

"No."

Akechi laughed. He grinned slightly.

"So, a detective and student, huh? Impressive. Kind of reminds me of Naoto."

Akechi blinked for a moment.

"You know Naoto Shirogane?"

His grin grew bigger and nodded. He wasn't too surprised by Akechi's almost fanboy reaction. A lot of people look up to Naoto. It was kind of funny and made him so proud. Although, it does make Naoto blush every time that he brought up another story of meeting a fan.

"Yes, she is a friend of mine," He said.

"I heard that she was in London."

"She is. The cases are interesting…the weather…not so much."

"Is it that bad?"

"Yes. She can't wait to come for the holidays just to get away from the weather. When I lived there, it was nice for about one or two days out of the month. The rest were rainy."
"Oh, how long did you live there?"

"Three months then I moved to New York…no Chicago after that."

"Moved around a lot?"

"Quite a bit."

"It must have been distorting to move from place to place."

"It is. How often did you move?"

He saw something flash across Akechi's face. It was a blink and he missed it.

"Most people said oh, how excited to see this and that place. No one asked how confusing or lost it is to be in a new place. Learning a new set of…everything"

"No one does….do they? To answer the question, once or twice a year."

Silence between them as they slipped the tea.

"This isn't how I foresaw this night going," Akechi said.

"Neither did I," He said.

He thought it over for a moment.

"Who do you think has the best chance of getting elected?"

End of The Gamble

Next Chapter: The Draw

A/N: To answer one of my reviewer's question, Hermes was my first impulse choice because I was obsessive with Greek mythology when I was a kid. Then there was Persona 3 and Mona's persona. So, I dropped it. In honesty, the more that I researched, the more that found that the persona didn't fit Yu at all.

Fun Author Fact: Yu's outfit is based on the gamblers of old with their fancy suits and hats.

Read and Review if you wish.