The past few days for Yu had been, in a word, eventful. Not only did he and Yosuke rescue Chie and see her unlock her own Persona, but he also got to hang out with Marie and learn more about her. She was rude and very rough around the edges, but he found it endearing. Yesterday, she confided in him that she had no memories of anything and was found with an old bamboo comb on her. Even her clothes were property of the room she worked for, which explained their strangeness. He promised to help her recover her memories, but truthfully, he had no clue where to even start. How could one just lose memories like that? He thought about asking Uncle Ryotaro during dinner, but the man wasn't there so it was just him and Nanako eating alone. His other thought was on Yukiko. It was better to save her sooner than later, right?
After school, he gathered up Yosuke and Chie and told them they'd spend their afternoon searching the Other Realm for Yukiko.
"Yes! I'm ready, Yu-kun!" Chie nodded, pumping her fists.
"So soon? If you think it's best." Yosuke shrugged.
"I do. We shouldn't be lazy and make a habit of it. The weather's unpredictable. We could get several days of rain tomorrow!" Yu said. "Plus…she's our friend. We shouldn't keep her suffering."
"Let's go!" The three cheered, making sure they were alone before ducking into the camera. Yu was sure they made a weird sight, as he somehow still had the shovel from what felt like ages ago, Yosuke somehow had twin hammers, and Chie had….nothing.
"Hey, how are you going to fight?" Yosuke asked as they wandered through the expansive halls.
"My feet and fists, duh!" Chie responded proudly. "Though I wish I had brought one of my staffs…"
Their first few fights against Shadows, Yu didn't even want to recount. They were weaklings yet he had to get in most of the hits half of the time. Chie kicked too low or too high and Yosuke threw the hammers and made them go long in the distance. They'd groan and apologize, and Yu would tell them they had nothing to apologize for, which was true. They weren't going to get it right on their first tries.
"I sense someone inside!" Raccoon's voice sounded from somewhere above them as Yu slid open a door at the end of another long corridor. Heading inside, the trio gasped as they beheld a familiar stream of black hair.
"Yukiko!" Chie raced forward, only to be stopped when the girl turned around.
She wore her hair in a loose ponytail as well as heavy silk layers of red, green, orange, and gold, a red robe peeking out from under the huge kimono. Her face was made up in very pale white and vibrant red. The most standout feature of hers, however, was the yellow glowing eyes she sported.
"Goodness! Three new guests to my palace? I didn't even make any tea! How foolish of me!" She giggled. "I'm just not prepared at all! Oh well! With my prince, I won't need to worry about anything! Now! My first impossible task is…come and find me!" Yukiko laughed and raced off, vanishing into the distance easily despite her huge and heavy kimono.
"No way that was Yukiko. That must've been her Shadow." Chie decided.
"Like what happened to us..hey!" Yosuke yelled when he spied Chie running off alone. "We've talked about this!"
The two ran after her, Yu's mind racing.
"I wonder if she's truly okay. The Shadow's super unsettling." He thought of meeting Yukiko that day in the rain, her demeanor demure yet friendly. Such a sharp contrast from the girl they were chasing through the castle like madmen, dolled up luxuriously. He just hoped she got to work through whatever was bothering her like the others did.
After a few battles, the trio ran up a flight of stairs and threw open more doors, Yukiko's girlish laughter hanging over their heads. Where was she?!
Finally, Yosuke opened a door at the end of the corridor again, finding Yukiko standing there in another empty room, this time gently petting a horse. Atop the horse was a black-armored warrior with a spear that Yu swallowed at.
"You passed my first impossible task! Now for my second. Whoever beats this knight shall pass! My prince must be able to defend himself, after all!" She laughed and ran off again, leaving the black horse to rear and neigh loudly.
"I can't do this," Yosuke shivered.
"Coward!" Chie scolded.
"We're just some kids without real weapons!"
"We can do it!" Yu tried to encourage them, running forward and slamming his shovel down hard on the horse's rump. It bucked hard and neighed, throwing the rider off with a groan. Unsure of what to do next, Yu and Yosuke grabbed their makeshift weapons and smashed in the enemy's face that wasn't blocked by the helmet while Chie delivered a swift kick to the stomach. The enemy groaned and struggled to get up, but Chie shoved off the helmet and Yu hit the enemy on the back of its head with the shovel, knocking it over. It never moved again.
The trio ran away, panting from the intensity of the battle, going up another flight of stairs. Once they reached another winding hallway that smelled of sweet sake, Chie suddenly collapsed to her knees, shivering.
"You okay?" Yu was by her side within a second, checking her for injuries.
"We killed someone! We just killed something with our own bare hands! It'll never come back, you know!" She cried suddenly.
"It would've killed us had we done nothing!" Yosuke shot back.
Yu had no clue what to do so he just held her close, feeling her tremble in his arms. He heard girls hated blood and cried or fainted or threw up when they saw it. There wasn't any blood, but they did bash a Shadow's head in. What would Chie do?
After a few more seconds, she took some deep breaths and hugged herself. "I-I'm fine now, I just needed a moment." She scooted away from Yu and slowly stood up. Most of her hair had come undone from her braid. He thought she still looked pale but also knew they needed to get a move-on. He gently nudged her, hearing faroff growls and grumbles, and they set off running once again.
Not only was there the smell of sweetened rice wine but there were voices too, distant echo-y ones Yu had to strain to hear.
Look at her, going to inherit the inn some day!
Wonder who the lucky man to marry her will be?
She's so beautiful in her kimono. She's truly our town's princess.
Shut up! Shut up shut up!
Despite the passionate anger behind the words, he still recognized the voice as Yukiko's and worried for her. How much pain had she been holding inside?
"I can sense her just beyond this door!" Raccoon gasped. Yu stretched and slid it open, revealing a large room modeled after the women's quarters of a palace. He recognized a box full of sewing supplies set up in one corner, another corner for musical instruments such as the koto, and another corner blocked from view because of several folded screens that had scenery of the countryside painted on. The room smelled sweetly of flowers and perfume. Kneeling in front of a set of stairs was Yukiko, still dressed how she was when Yu saw her in the rain, and glaring down at her was the fancily-dressed Yukiko.
"I knew it, that's her Shadow!" Yosuke said to himself.
"Yukiko!" Chie cried. Raccoon rushed into the room too.
"Oh my, so you three were my princes! Now I truly do feel bad for not preparing you tea! I'm so foolish!" Shadow Yukiko tittered. "But you've won, so come claim me! Take me! Violate me!"
"Does she want me to give her the gold?" Raccoon asked innocently.
"I just want some prince to win my heart and take me to some far off place! Like the moon! And now I have three possible princes here…" She laughed more. "But they're all worthless! They can't help me! Not even Chie!"
Chie looked down at that while Yukiko slowly stood up.
"Stop it…"
"Stop what?!" Her Shadow focused all of her attention on her instead. "All my life's been decided for me from my birth to my death! I don't want to run the inn, I don't want to get married! I just need someone who'll take me away from all this and bring me to where I truly belong! To hell with anything else!"
"I-I…I don't think that." Yukiko weakly protested.
"I don't care for any of it! In fact, it's bullshit! History, tradition, pride, being some elusive maiden? All of it is bullshit!"
"Shame on you…!"
"You know I'm right,"
"No you're not…you're…you're not me!" Yukiko cried.
Shadow Yukiko smirked, grabbing her chest and beginning to laugh wildly. "That's exactly what I hoped you'd say!" She laughed harder, spreading out her arms to reveal the fullness of her sleeves, which grew into feathers. Her face elongated before a yellow fog surrounded her and revealed her to be a red phoenix in a golden cage, the door swinging open. Yukiko herself fell to the ground.
"Yukiko! Just hang in there!" Chie cried.
"We have to save her!" Raccoon said. Yu nodded and focused entirely on the bird, who squawked.
"If you're so determined to stop me, then do so! Let's dance, my beloved princes!" She laughed in a mature, high-class voice.
Chie spun around and kicked the cage hard, rattling Shadow Yukiko inside.
"We need our Personas!" Yosuke shouted just as she breathed hot flames on the trio, knocking them over. Yu's head swam from the sudden heat and he looked down in vain to see holes had been singed into his clothing.
"Yeah!" Chie nodded. "Tomoe!" She spun around and was soon wielding her bo, a dizzying effect on top of her uniform. She danced around, unleashing a flurry of ice from around her waist, hitting Shadow Yukiko. She shivered and cawed weakly, unleashing another set of fire onto them. Yu just barely dodged, coughing.
He knew the Personas were a gift, almost divine, that should only be used in dire circumstances, but on the other hand, they didn't even have real weapons, let alone anything that could fight a creature like this. If they used them now, they'd be dead tired, but if they kept trying to fight normally….
He also thought of the newer Personas he created with the help of Igor and Margaret the other day. Strange as they were, they had helpful advice and genuinely wanted to see him succeed. What use was a gift, even divine, if one never used it?
Yu remembered the name of one of the ones he made, shouting it out and gasping as thin fairy wings burst out from his back. He quickly took to the air, flying up above the others and even the cage, holding his shovel up above his head.
Just don't look down…don't look down… He silently begged himself as he whacked Shadow Yukiko on the back of her head, making her fall out from her cage and crumble up on the ground. Chie spun around and raised her hand, delivering another shower of snow onto the bird. With a weak caw, she struggled to stand back up before collapsing again.
"Yukiko! Are you okay?!" Chie ran over to her, very slowly standing up. She looked at Chie and gasped deeply, paling. "It's just my Persona, don't worry!" She then grabbed Yukiko's hands. "I-I'm so sorry! This whole time…I only thought of myself! I caused trouble for Hanamura and Yu-kun, I never even thought you might have problems too! I've been so jealous of you, I wanted you to need me, but I needed you! I don't know what I'd do without you!" She cried, rubbing at her eyes.
"It's the same for me too. I was so obsessed with trying to find an easy way out that I never even considered your feelings." Both girls were crying and holding each other then, Yukiko taking a moment to look at her Shadow, who had returned back to normal. "And the things you said about wanting to be rescued…they're me too. You're right."
She bowed deeply and walked into Yukiko, infusing her with a bright light. When it vanished, Yukiko was hovering and spinning above the floor, huge pink feathers on her arms. She smiled. "This must be my Persona too. Konohana Sakuya!" Her voice took on a mature, more regal tone.
"We have to get you out of here though. You're probably exhausted." Yu said as he watched Yukiko plant her feet back on the ground and sway.
"You all came to rescue me?" She asked in surprise.
He nodded. "Of course! You're our friend!"
Raccoon waddled over then, eyeing her. "Hey, do you know who threw you in here?"
"Hm? Who are you?" Yukiko looked him over too, gasping. "You have big balls! Are you a tanuki?"
"She took that way too well." Chie sighed.
"Yup! My name's Raccoon, at your service!" He bowed. "So? Who did it?"
"My memory is a blur…I apologize. Someone called my name, then I woke up here." Yukiko winced and finally fell over.
"Come on, let's continue this some other time! She's exhausted! Here, can you walk?" Chie rushed over and looped Yukiko's arm over her shoulder, slowly helping her stand up. The effect made them look like a huge bunch of limbs due to their Personas and it gave Yu a headache to keep looking at.
"At least we know someone really is throwing others in here," Yosuke said.
"Wait! You're leaving me again?!" Raccoon called after them, looking distressed.
"We'll come back." Yu promised him.
"Indeed! Please wait for me, Mister Tanuki!" Yukiko offered him a smile and rubbed his belly, making Racoon blush heavily.
"Pet me harder!" He purred.
"You creep!" Yosuke scolded him.
The four headed outside, all but collapsing in the food area of Junes, their Personas gone.
"I wish I could tell you more about what happened, but I really don't remember." Yukiko winced, grabbing her head.
"We're making such little progress!" Yosuke pulled on his hair. "All we know is these girls were kidnapped, and the Amagi-san we saw in the tabloids was the Shadow version."
"That's enough for now," Yu looked to him then at Yukiko, who was flushed. "She needs to rest."
"Right. Uh, some other day then." Yosuke nodded and saw the girls off, while Yu headed off home in the opposite direction. The evening bustle slowed him a bit, and when he got home, Nanako was reading while Uncle Ryotaro was talking to another, younger man.
"Evening! Did I miss anything?" Yu asked brightly.
"Nah. Oh, this is Adachi, my work partner. We got off work at the same time, so I thought he'd like to have some coffee here or something," His uncle shrugged.
"Nice to meet you." Yu bowed respectfully.
"That's me, your uncle's slave! He shoves all the stuff he doesn't want to do onto me!" Adachi chuckled. Dojima glared at him. "Oh yeah, you're friends with Amagi Yukiko, right? She returned home safe and sound earlier! What a relief, huh?"
Yu nodded, suddenly hungry. He pulled open the refrigerator and looked through it. He found a half-finished bottle of milk and took some sips, noting it had soured.
"It's so weird though. There's no trace of her from the past few days before she suddenly reappeared. It's like she truly vanished into thin air! Like there's something magical about that…"
Yu spat out the milk he was drinking all over the floor while Dojima slapped Adachi on the back. Yu coughed several times to clear his throat, staring at the stain he made.
"See what you're doing? Mop that up," Dojima sighed. "Let's get started on dinner."
Yu carefully let the stain be soaked by a rag, hiding how much his limbs burned. He helped out with dinner and went to bed that night physically exhausted but mentally warm.
-Shadow!Yukiko's outfit is a court kimono from the Heian period(794-1185). Specifically, she's wearing a jūnihitoe, or 'twelve-layers' though the actual amount of layers could vary from as little as five to as much as forty. The colors changed with the seasons much like the more modern kimono but had more importance placed on the brightness of the robes and patterns as women during the Heian period, more specifically noble women, would be shielded from men behind a screen where the only things visible were her sleeves and her bottom hem. The robe underneath was typically red due to the belief it helped ease menstrual pain. Also different to later periods, women wore vibrant white powder and red lip paint and also kept their hair flowing from a single tie to further emphasize their beauty. Even today in the West these kimono symbolize an iconic image of feudal Japan.
-Shadow!Yukiko is referring to the famous The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter or Princess Kaguya, where she says she'll only marry the man who completes her five impossible tasks, such as bringing her a colored jewel from the neck of a dragon or the Buddha's begging bowl.
-When I use the word 'refrigerator', I'm not referring to the modern appliance we have but rather the archaic image we today would recognize as an 'icebox'. That wooden cupboard with a block of ice at the bottom is being used in this story. However, refrigerator was used for these appliances up until the modern version replaced them, then they started being called 'iceboxes'. Some older sources such as advertisements used both words interchangeably. I'm just using the word because it's funny to see how 'old' some of our words in English are, and this is not the only example of this in the story either.