Yui stepped out of the train station, admiring how beautiful of a day it was in Inaba. It was a bit hard to believe she was really here, but a chattering voice nearby assured her of the truth.
"Thanks to the incident last year, I realized something important. The world is overflowing with things that may deceive us. The things we do in the pursuit of justice, may truly be big mistakes! One man is not enough to ultimately judge these things. A young group of teenagers taught me this. I want to honor their lesson to me, and help us all work towards this town's future!" Namatame told his audience as he stood on top of a box.
"He's running for office now? How fast things change." Yui thought to herself.
Yui looked around, quickly noticing that Dojima and Nanako hadn't shown up to greet her.
"I thought I told Dojima it was today…" Yui said aloud.
Yui made her way to Dojima's house, looking exactly the same as when she last saw it. After ringing the doorbell and knocking a few times, it appeared to Yui that nobody was home. She decided to call Dojima and find out what was going on.
"Hello?" Dojima said as he answered the phone.
"Hi Dojima-san! It's me, Yui!" Yui greeted.
"Oh! Yui! Was that today? I'm so sorry, but my hands are tied right now…" Dojima said regretfully.
"It's OK, I understand." Yui replied.
"You should call one of your friends. I'm sure they'd love to see you!" Dojima suggested.
"Sure! I'll see you later, Dojima-san!"
Yui hung up and quickly dialed Chie's number, eagerly hoping to hear from her. To her disappointment, she didn't answer.
"Hmm...I guess she's busy too…"
Yui decided to visit the Junes Food Court, immediately feeling nostalgic while sitting at a table. On her way there, she noticed that the old shopping district seemed much livelier than when she was last there, with more customers and even some new shopkeepers setting up shop.
"Yosuke should notice me any second now, right?" Yui muttered to herself.
She heard someone giggling from nearby, causing her to look in the direction of the noise.
"Shut up! You're gonna give us away!" Yosuke whispered harshly.
"I can't help it! This is gonna be awesome!" Teddie chuckled.
Yui rolled her eyes with a smile on her face and walked over to where they were hiding.
"Oh dang, we blew it. Never mind, just wing it!" Yosuke whispered.
Yosuke jumped out from behind the bush he was hiding near, dramatically raising his arms to the sky.
"Surprise!" Yosuke cheered.
After a brief delay, Teddie also popped out from behind the bush, mimicking Yosuke's pose.
"Rah! I'm a bear!" Teddie growled happily.
Yui broke into laughter at this display.
"That was so clumsy!" Yui giggled.
"Come on, guys! That wasn't what we planned!" A familiar voice called out.
At that moment, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise and Naoto all came out of their hiding places, rushing to meet with the others.
"Chie-chan!" Yui cheered happily.
"Yui-chan!" Chie responded enthusiastically.
Chie ran into Yui's arms, hugging and kissing her as though they hadn't seen each other in decades.
"I missed you so much!" Chie muttered happily.
"I missed you, too! Oh look at you! You look amazing!" Yui stated.
Chie had grown her hair out slightly, and wore a yellow top, grey short jacket, sports leggings and a black ribbon necklace. This new look served to make Yui's heart flutter.
"You look really great, yourself! Guess you've embraced the urban artist look." Chie commented.
"I DID use graffiti as one of the materials in the last piece. Maybe I am a vandal..." Yui said quietly.
"Senpai! I'm so happy you're here!" Rise cheered.
Rise was wearing a flashy new dress, a halter top with salmon pink, cyan and yellow stripes, a blouse with a ruffled collar, a bead and shell necklace, hoop earrings and dark pink sunglasses on her head. She was also wearing her hair down, forgoing her signature pigtails for the first time.
"It's good to see you, Rise-chan. You look dazzling as always." Yui said with a smile.
"Were you surprised, Yui-chan?" Yukiko asked.
Yukiko had tied her hair up and was wearing a blue top with a white dress, practically beaming at Yui.
"Surprised to see that everyone has changed so much. And yet...not too much. Teddie and Yosuke are basically the same as I remember." Yui said.
"Hey, I couldn't change so much you wouldn't recognize me anymore, right?" Yosuke said with a grin.
"Yes, unlike someone…" Yukiko said with a snicker.
"Eh?" Yui asked.
"How are you doing, senpai?" Kanji spoke up.
Yui looked up at the boy with black hair, round glasses, a white shirt, black pants and a belt. It was only when she noticed the scar next to his left eye that she suddenly recognized him as Kanji, causing her to gasp in genuine surprise.
"Kanji-kun?!" Yui gasped in shock.
"H-hey! No need to freak out like that, senpai!" Kanji stammered.
"Ha ha ha ha! I knew you'd react like that!" Yukiko burst into laughter.
"Geez, you're as giggly as always." Chie said with a smile.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Yui stated.
"We've all changed in some way, since you left. It's just human nature." Naoto said thoughtfully.
"You certainly have a different aura about you, Naoto-chan." Yui commented.
Naoto was wearing quite a different outfit than usual, forgoing her hat and wearing a white sleeveless shirt with a blue undershirt, along with a small blue necklace.
"I assume you're going to ask about it. Yes, I'm not wearing my binder." Naoto stated.
"Yeah, I noticed." Yui replied.
"Simply put, some days I choose not to wear it. It is...freeing." Naoto said with a smile.
"Should we tell senpai?" Kanji asked Naoto.
"Ah yes, me and Kanji-kun are dating now."
"It was only a matter of time!" Yui giggled.
Yui's phone started ringing, and she noticed that the call was from Dojima.
"Hello?" Yui answered.
"Surprise!" Dojima stated.
"You were in on this, weren't you Dojima-san?" Yui asked with a grin.
"They asked me for help, so I had to pretend I wasn't home. Sorry about that." Dojima apologized.
"Hey, no worries. I really enjoyed it."
"I'm the best at seeing through lies, but when I'm the one who has to put on an act, I can't last…" Dojima groaned.
"You lasted long enough to fool me."
"Anyway, tell your friends to come over. I've got lunch ready!" Dojima said cheerfully.
Yui hung up and told her friends about Dojima's lunch invitation.
"Awesome! Let's go eat!" Kanji said eagerly.
"Kanji-kun! Where are your manners? This is for senpai's return!" Rise scolded.
"I know that!" Kanji retorted.
"Come on, everyone! I can't wait!" Yui cheered, taking Chie by the hand and leading the others to Dojima's house.
Yui greeted Dojima with a bow, while he greeted her with a warm hug.
"It's good to see you, Yui." Dojima said in his most welcoming voice.
"It's good to be back, Dojima-san." Yui said happily.
Yui looked around the living room, noting how practically unchanged it was since her last visit. However, there was one significant difference.
"What's with the piano?" Yui asked.
"Oh, I meant to tell you. Nanako's been taking up piano lessons. She's been so dedicated to it, I went and bought her own piano to practice at home." Dojima said proudly.
"Wow! That's amazing!" Yui exclaimed.
"Yeah. It was a pain in the ass to get in here, but it was worth it!" Dojima said with a laugh.
Dojima paused thoughtfully.
"You know, Chisato was a piano teacher. Like mother, like daughter, huh?"
"Where is she now?"
"She WAS at piano lessons, but by now she should be rushing home to see you."
After settling down with everyone, Yui and her friends dug into the various dishes Dojima had laid out for them, with Chie and Kanji in particular hungrily eating away.
"Ha ha ha, and here I was thinking I went and got too much food!" Dojima joked.
"Sorry about that. And thank you, Dojima-san!" Yosuke said gratefully.
"I'm home!" A voice called out.
Everyone turned to look at Nanako entering the house, who was wearing a pink and white dress and had her hair down.
"Onee-chan!" Nanako cheered.
"Nanako-chan!" Yui greeted back.
Nanako knelt down next to Yui and gave her a big hug, which Yui returned in full.
"I missed you so much, onee-chan!" Nanako chimed.
"I'm glad to see you, Nanako-chan! You've been growing up, huh?" Yui asked.
"Yeah! I'm playing the piano now!"
"So I've been told!"
"I wanna play for you and Dad sometime!"
"That sounds wonderful!"
Nanako sat down with everyone and took her share of food. For Yui, it was a near perfect reunion. Everyone she cared about most in her life was present, feasting and cheerfully chatting away. Everyone...except one person.
"Rise-chan?" Yui spoke up.
"Yes, senpai?" Rise replied.
"Has...has Marie-chan spoken to you at all lately?"
Rise giggled mischievously.
"Maybe?" Rise said coyly.
"Er, what?" Yui asked in confusion.
"Oh, look Nanako. The weather's about to come on." Dojima told Nanako as the news channel switched to the weather forecast.
"And now for the weather. It's looking like clear and sunny skies for the rest of the day today. As for tomorrow? What do you have for us, Ms. Kusumi?" The weather reporter asked a woman off-screen.
The camera switched to show a very familiar looking face, taking Yui by surprise.
"Marie-chan?!" Yui exclaimed.
"Hello, hello! This is Mariko Kusumi, with tomorrow's weather." Marie stated professionally.
Marie was wearing a black suit and black framed glasses, but was otherwise unchanged from the last time Yui saw her.
"Marie-chan's here! She's so cool!" Nanako cheered.
"She showed up again literally the second you left. We wanted to tell you, but she insisted we keep it a secret until you came back. Sorry…" Yosuke explained.
Yui was both extremely happy and extremely irritated at this information, and it took a lot of restraint to not curse in front of Nanako.
"You're telling me she came back the moment I left, and she kept it from me this entire time?! That actual, literal punk!" Yui said in exasperation.
Yui's friends laughed at her outburst, causing Yui to quickly cool down.
"Well, I'm glad she's doing alright." Yui restated.
"Nanako's a big fan of her. She always makes sure to watch the news just to see her." Dojima commented.
"Also, 'Mariko Kusumi'?" Yui asked.
"I still think that stage name is boring. But, she also kind of needed a 'real' name if she wanted to work. I don't see why she couldn't have just gone with 'Marie'." Rise stated, seemingly annoyed.
"Are you jealous of her or something?" Yui asked teasingly.
"It's like she got famous overnight! It's not fair!" Rise complained.
"You're happy for her!" Yui said with a grin.
"No...yes…" Rise grumbled.
"Up until yesterday, we had nothing but rain. So...I've decided to make it sunny starting today. After all that rain, we likely won't have to worry about water shortages! Besides, my best friend is in town now! I can't have it raining when she's here!" Marie stated, changing several days on the weather board from a rainy icon to a sunny icon.
"Oh, that's right. Marie-chan can control the weather. I hope she doesn't start abusing that…" Yui thought to herself.
"Oh, but if it gets too hot, I'll just make it rain again. She can let me know if she wants that." Marie muttered, perplexing the other reporters at the station.
"Marie-chan decides the weather, right? Whenever she says it'll be sunny, it's always sunny!" Nanako asked aloud.
"I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not…" Yosuke said with concern.
"I have a personal message today. To my…" Marie began to say.
Marie cleared her throat and turned towards the camera as a blush started creeping on her face.
"Wait, she's not seriously—" Yui asked.
"To my wonderful, beautiful girlfriend! I love you!" Marie proclaimed happily.
Yui and her friends all gasped in surprise at this display. Nanako in particular looked incredibly bewildered.
"Ehhh?! Can she say that on the air?!" One of the reporters asked aloud.
"A-alright Mariko! You can check out now!" Another reporter urged Marie.
"I hope you all have a gooood day!" Marie chimed.
As the news channel cut to a commercial, everyone looked at Rise, who was hiding her face in bashfulness.
"I can't believe she did that…" Rise squealed in embarrassment.
"She really just made a love confession on live TV...and came out at the same time." Chie said in disbelief.
"That's gonna land her with some complaints. Heh, young people…" Dojima chuckled.
"I may have witnessed TV history right there. Smart of her not to mention your name." Yui said with a laugh.
"Rise-chan? Are you and Marie-chan dating?" Nanako asked Rise.
"Yes...?" Rise answered with a sheepish grin.
"Last one to know…" Yui joked.
"Nanako, isn't there something you wanted to tell her?" Dojima asked Nanako.
"Are you ready, everyone?" Nanako asked Yui's friends.
Everyone else looked towards Yui with a smile.
"Three, two, one!" Nanako counted down.
"Welcome home!" Everyone cheered, with the exception of Kanji, who accidentally said a different phrase.
"Kanji-kun! You got it wrong!" Rise scolded.
"Why are we never in sync?" Chie asked.
"Geez, sorry! Give me a break!" Kanji said defensively.
"That's just like you, truly." Naoto chuckled.
Even as her friends bickered, Yui was overwhelmed with joy, tearing up as she took in this perfect moment.
"Everyone?" Yui spoke up.
Everyone gave their attention to Yui again.
"Yes, Yui-chan?" Chie asked.
"I wanted to tell you all at the same time, but since Marie-chan's not here, I'll have to tell her later."
"Tell us what?" Yukiko asked further.
Yui took a breath and dried her eyes a bit.
"I've talked with my parents about...moving here." Yui declared.
The others became pleasantly surprised at this statement.
"It's an ongoing process, but in due time...I'll be living here in Inaba."
Chie happily hugged Yui upon hearing this.
"Oh Yui-chan! That's great news!" Chie cheered.
"I see! Do you need me to get your room ready?" Dojima asked with a smile.
"I would love that, Dojima-san." Yui stated.
"Onee-chan's going to live with us again!" Nanako beamed.
"It's good to have you back, sensei!" Teddie said happily.
"Also, I wanted to show you all something."
Yui stood up to retrieve something from her bag, and came back with some sheets of paper.
"It's not the kind of thing I usually make, but I wrote a song! I had a composer friend help make the sheet music." Yui said as she showed everyone the pages.
"You're getting into songwriting too, senpai?" Rise asked.
"Dabbling in it. I did it to show you all how much you mean to me." Yui stated proudly.
Yui held the sheet music in front of Nanako.
"Nanako-chan. Are you able to play this?" Yui asked.
Nanako looked over the sheet music.
"It looks kind of hard...but maybe if you help me!" Nanako said bravely.
"I'd be happy to! May we use your piano?"
"Yes!"
Yui and Nanako went over to the piano. They shared the seat, and started playing. Everyone else in the room listened intently as Yui started singing the lyrics:
Muji hi na kotoba dake ga detarame ni machi ni afureteru
(Irresponsibly ruthless words fill this town but)
Never more, setsunaku nagareteta koe
(Never more, will a painful voice flow by)
Nanigenai nichijou ga sayonara o tsuge
(Those days we spent casually are bidding farewell to us)
Bokura no kakegae no nai hi ushinawareteta
(As we lose those irreplaceable days)
Taiyou kakusu kirisame hikari o ubai
(The rain hides the sun, stealing away its light)
Shinjiru mono nakushiteta boku wa nayami dakedo
(I am troubled as I lost what I believed in)
Wasurenai yo, daiji na minna to sugoshita mainichi
(I won't forget those days that I spent with everyone precious to me)
Never more, kurai yami mo hitori janai sa
(Never more, will I be alone even in the darkness)
Mitsukedasu yo, daiji na nakushita mono o
(I will find it, that precious thing that I lost)
Never more, kimi no koe ga kitto sou, boku o michibiku yo
(Never more, because I'm sure your voice will guide me)
Yui continued to sing the song as her friends became incredibly impressed at both her singing and composition skills. It would surely become a cherished memory that Yui would never forget.
"Everyone ready?" Yosuke asked the group as he readied the camera.
Yui was preparing to pose for another group photo with her friends, and Marie in particular was eager to be a part of it.
"Ready!" Yui replied with a smile.
Yosuke started the timer and joined his friends. As Yui held Chie close, Kanji and Naoto leaned closer together, and Rise and Marie snuck in a kiss before the camera went off. At that moment, their happy instance in time was immortalized as a bright, shiny photo.
Author's Note(3-20-24): And with that, Arcane Shift is finally finished. It's wild to realize that this fic was written over the course of over 2 years, since a lot has happened in that time. While this rewrite is now officially finished, that doesn't necessarily mean I'll never do anything with the Persona 4 characters again. I still have the Persona 3 and Persona 5 fics to write after all. I'm open to the idea of shorter fics portraying the characters in smaller scenarios that aren't part of Persona 4's main story, but for the most part, all that I've written thus far is what I set out to do. So what I'm going to do instead is have this last chapter be a place for commenters to ask me anything about the story and my writing process. While I know most people only have time enough to read what they want and then go off to do other things, comments have always been a great source of validation for me, and help me learn what I can improve on in future works. To all those who have stuck with me until now, thank you so much for indulging in this humble little story, and I hope you'll join me for my other Persona fics.