I do not Own any of the Persona games or any characters within.

I mostly developed this story after I completed the fourth game and got to thinking about why Persona 5's strongest persona is the Persona 4's ultimate persona. Not to mention how you can have instant access to this persona at the very beginning of Persona 5. The first thing that came to mind was the protagonists being one and the same. So I developed how it would feel if the main character of Persona 4 suddenly became the main character of Persona 5. For simplicity sake, I'm going with the anime names of the Persona characters. Yu Narukami and Ren Amamiya since I've watched the anime and haven't read the manga adaptations.

Chapter 1

(For those not use to Japanese names it may be confusing to keep track of the characters. I have no idea how to simplify this beyond using primarily their given name (first name) while occasionally using their family name (last name) (exceptions will be the female teacher and Akechi since they're known by their 'last names' anyway). I will use the western way of providing names, which is first name then last name, instead of the Japanese style of family name then given name.)

The train hummed warmly through the spring air, rolling along the tracks with the greenery splendor passing by. Yu Narukami, a seventeen-year-old boy famous for the sleek silver hair adorning his head, stared out the window with a small smile on his lips. Inaba was a small town, but the year he spent there was more memorable and cherished than any other memory in his life. Sure, when he first arrived he felt like a lion in a tiger's den, but fortune favored him as he quickly met his soon to be friends on the first day. Not a week passed by when a great mystery began fogging the whole town. Random murders and he never expected to be shoved into the middle of a supernatural phenomenon. It took them almost all year, but the solved it and prevented an apocalypse from descending on the world.

Obviously he couldn't go telling anyone about it, they would just zip him up in a special white jacket and ship him off to some hospital, but he didn't need to go bragging about it anyway. The mystery is solved and everyone involved grew from the experience. The protective justice oriented Chie Satonaka, the reforming popular idol Rise Kujikawa, the 'prince' of the new major store of Inaba Yosuke Hanamura, an upcoming owner of a popular inn Yukiko Amagi, a true softy acting as a delinquent Kanji Tatsumi, and even the over eccentric former-shadow Teddie. They were all the truest friends he could ask for.

Despite all of them though, there was one person he truly appreciates the most. Naoto Shirogane, the Detective 'Prince.' Despite the well renowned title, Naoto is actually a girl, a fact she originally wanted to conceal as her gender and age could never match her original perfect image of a detective. After her secret was exposed, she slowly began to accept her true self and began becoming more open with him, him especially. As he hung out with her something began blooming inside of him. He couldn't help but admire her tenacity and intelligence in spite of the backlash surrounding her. Though younger than him, she exemplified a true detective so it was unfathomable as to why she felt her gender disqualified her. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to stay by her side. It wasn't long till his feelings were exposed and the shy girl slowly grew to accept and even reciprocate them.

His thumb caressed the small detective badge in his hands. The smile broadening as the memory of it washed over his mind. It was after she finally confessed to him, she came up to his bedroom wanting to give him something. She was practically red in the face the whole time, trying to distract herself with everything else besides him in the room. Finally she gave him this badge. She made it herself, designed with a flasher. It was such a simple gift, but he couldn't stop the feeling of acceptance emanating from this small trinket. It wasn't her only gift to him, on Christmas she got him something just as elaborate. She crafted a silver watch, the same one wrapped snuggly around his left wrist. It not only looked posh, it had a special addition Naoto added to it herself. It was linked to Naoto's own watch so that they could always find each other, no matter what. Albeit, it did have a limited range of twenty meters, but the thought was nestled in the shiny time keeper and he just had to treasure it after seeing her so happy to give it to him.

Though every ounce of him wanted to return to Inaba, he had to go back home to Tokyo. When he graduates he most certainly will go back and probably live out the rest of his life with his friends. Until then, all he could do was keep in contact with everyone making sure to keep up to date on what they were all doing.

His sight blurred, a high pitched ringing echoing in his ears. Grunting he tried shaking it off, but vibrations reverberated into his skull causing him to close his eyes in pain. He pocketed the badge and rested his head on his hand. He couldn't tell what was happening, it was like when he first arrived in Inaba. When new powers were awakened within him.

He dragged his hand over his face and shook his head wildly, trying to stay focused. The more he fought though, the more his vision faded to darkness. As his whole world faded, he felt his lungs stop. Just before his vision darkened, blue flame filled around him till nothing remained.

With a jolt he sat up with a gasp. He coughed, covering it with a fist as the fog in his brain buzzed like tipsy night at a bar. Like when he and his friends were at that nightclub. Though Naoto kept insisting it wasn't alcohol and they were all just being idiots, Yu still felt that he had to have been given something.

Shaking his head he looked up at the people watching him with wide eyes. Nervously he waved a dismissive hand, "Sorry."

He froze, his face draining into a clammy pale. His hand brought up to his throat, clutching it. That wasn't his voice. Whatever came out of his mouth sounded more hoarse, less refined. Was it clogged? He cleared his throat, yet it felt the same.

"What's going on?" The voice was exactly the same, not even remotely back to it's original tune.

He pulled his hand away, peering into his palm as if the answer was engraved upon it. A cold chill trickled down his spine, the fingers in sight twitching in response. Those… this isn't my hand! The fingers were thinner, the wrist narrower, closer to a scarecrow. His eyes then darted to his sleeve. This isn't my school uniform!

Though black, this jacket's collar didn't stand up around his neck and the white dashes outlining his usual uniform were gone. He normally had his jacket unbuttoned in the front too, but now everything was fastened securely over his ribs. Even the attire adorning his legs were changed; the pants now had red lines making rectangular patterns and his shoes were more rigid and square. Looking up from himself he was hit with a sudden realization. The train itself was different. He didn't have a seat facing the front, he was on the side staring in, where other passengers were. Even though he got on a train alone with no one else.

His hand ran through his hair, trying desperately to come up with an idea of what was happening. His fingers etched through the frazzled forest on his head, it no longer smooth and neat. His fingers stopped upon hitting something hard on his ear. Pinching the object he pried it off his face and stared down at the glasses in his hands. He didn't need glasses, he had twenty-twenty vision. Except… he looked around, ignoring the bewildered looks of the other passengers. The blur meeting his vision strained his eyes, he couldn't read the words on the posters not ten feet away.

He pressed the spectacles back onto his face, clearing up the fog of his sight and turned to look at the window. Tall buildings and busy streets met his sight, but what caught his attention the most was the faint reflection looking back at him. A boy with raven black, bushy hair looked back.

With a flash of red, heat pulsated through his brain while flashes of images rushed through. A man on a dark street bleeding from the head, "Damn brat! I'll sue!"

A screaming women being pushed into a car by the same man and this strange boy's hand going up to pull the man away from her.

Like smashing into a brick wall, all the air came out of him as a revelation came pounding his brain. I am Ren Amamiya. After saving a woman from a sleezeball I was convicted of assaulting him and sentenced to probation. The woman I saved testified I attacked without provocation. Now I'm being sent to Tokyo, transferring to a school that would accept a 'criminal.'

His head pounded, a heart of its own. The fist he massaged against his temple did nothing to ease the tension. He was a criminal now? For a crime he didn't commit? What would Naoto think?

His heart plummeted as the small detective came to mind. His hand darted into his pocket, clutching at nothing more than inner linning of the pocket. "No, no, no." He jumped up and ducked down under the seat. A desperate gaze around proved fruitless. The badge was gone. He quickly checked his wrist, the watch, too, had vanished.

Empty, he sat up and plopped back down in his seat. The tips of his fingers keeping his head up as he pondered his predicament. Maybe if he called someone, see if he could find answers. He dug into his right pocket and brought out his cell phone… Ren's cell phone. Yu never got a smart phone, only his ever trusty flip phone.

Staring at the flat thing in his hands Yu… Ren… bowed his head and flopped the device into his lap. It was useless to try and use the thing. His didn't memorize the phone numbers of his friends and the memories he has of Ren proved that he had no one's contact information. Not even Ren's mother. He had no one to call. The phone lit and the boy's tongue choked back into his throat. The date… six years into the future. He looked up at the ceiling, the pressure in his eyes mounting. Unable to call anyone was one thing, the possibility of having no one to call sent ice into his stomach.

"Shibuya. This is Shibuya." A voice came on overhead.

Ren jumped and quickly grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. This was his stop. At least that's what Ren's memories said. With legs made of jello, he quickly strolled past the onlookers watching him closely. What they thought didn't matter at the moment. He just needed to keep moving before his mind melted further than it has.

Hissing the train's doors opened and he bolted out of the confined metal train and up some stairs. He exited the station on the open street looking around. A bustling city greeted his gaze. Swarms of cars littering the streets, packs of people bustling about trying to cross the streets, and a massive TV hanged over the whole crowd with a news report of a bizarre train crash. Though slightly different there was no mistaking his old home city. He was in Tokyo.

The anxiety built a lump in his throat, and he lacked the strength to swallow it down. He pulled out his phone and rummaged through it. He knew he left a note on here holding an address he needed to head to. About to open the note application, red blinked on the screen. Ren's eye shifted to the strange pulsating app on screen. His phone shouldn't have a strange application with a glowing red eye for an icon.

Curious, he tapped it. Then everyone around him stopped moving. Ren looked around, staring at the strangers who appeared to be paused in time. A flicker of blue in the corner of his eyes pulled him away from the crowd. From across the way, a large blue flame flickered and roared. Ren couldn't move at the sight. Yu's nostalgia igniting with the blue display before him. Is that… a persona?

Yu reached out his hand, ready to call upon his power. The blue flame vanished and everyone began moving again. Ren pulled his hand back, blinking away the thoughts he had. What was that? Unsure, he quickly deleted the app and made a beeline toward the next.\

"Yogen-Jaya. This is Yogen-Jaya." A feminine voice chimed through the train.

Ren stepped out onto the platform, eyes glazed over as the memories of two swarmed around him. Ren lived with his mom, no father to speak of. Yu lived with his mother and father who occasionally worked overseas in the United States. Regardless, he was now in Tokyo. Yu's original destination and now Ren's. His parents were suppose to pick him up… Yu's parents were suppose to pick him up. Everything was just mixing him up.

Yu shook his head and marched forward. He couldn't dwell on it now. Teddie was once an empty, yet strangely mobile, bear costume once. When he first saw the headless costume frantically searching for his limp head, Yu recovered the head and helped the bear moments latter. Something like this shouldn't keep him down. He just needed to search Ren's memories and figure out where to go. After that he'll then ponder what his next move should be.

From what he can tell, Ren was suppose to meet with this Sojiro Sakura. This man is going to be Ren's guardian for the rest of the year till he finished school, Shujin Academy. Was he going to have to live life as a second year in high school again? At least he has most of the material already, Yu was suppose to be a third year now... six years ago, though.

Yu clutched the back of his neck and bent his head side to side. He was getting distracted again. It's time to go on and find this Sojiro. He marched up the stairs and entered a small alley surprisingly filled with more people than he expected. He walked down the path and turned down a street. There was only one house there, so he didn't need to read the name plate that said, 'Sojiro Sakura' to know he arrived.

With a deep breath, Yu walked up to the gate and pressed the doorbell. Then waited… and waited. Maybe a few seconds latter a voice behind him spoke up. "Not home, huh?"

Turning around, Yu eyed the delivery man tsking away at his clipboard with a box under one arm. "Looks like I'll have to come back latter." He looked back at Yu and pointed further down the alley. "If you're looking for Sojiro, try his café. It's called Leblanc. Just keep going down till you see some secondhand shop. Turn left and it'll be the first door on your left."

"Thanks." Yu turned around and marched back into the alley and continued down. He found the… secondhand shop… it was a little small to be called a shop in his opinion. It was mostly an old man standing in an open room with enough tables and shelves holding odds and ends that he could have mistaken it for an open storage room. Probably was too. Still, he turned left and continued down the next alley. A fabric top over a door caught his gaze, 'Coffee & Curry Leblanc' were printed over it.

For a café it was quite out of the way, but the unmistakable aroma of coffee filled his nostrils. The smell… it pulled on his heart. 'I make the coffee in this house.' The smiling image of Yu's detective uncle, Ryotaro Dojima, appeared before him. Dojima had made him coffee a lot, especially after he gifted Yu a coffee mug after helping him reconnect with his own daughter, Nanako.

'Big bro!' the image of the little six-year-old cousin filled his mind.

Yu's knuckles whitened as his fist clenched. A cough escaped his throat and Yu regained his composure. He needed to get inside.

A bell jingled as he pushed open the door, revealing the café's retro little world. Three booths on the left, several stools in front of a counter to his right. Behind the counter was a whole wall of coffee beans in drawers. A very small kitchen in its own corner with a big pot boiling something. An elderly couple sat in the middle booth while a middle-aged man with an apron and a newspaper sat on a stool not far away from the couple.

The TV in the corner was on the news talking about some bus accident that occurred earlier. The elderly man turned to his partner with a sigh, "How frightening."

"What could be going on? Didn't something similar happen just the other day?" The woman nodded.

Sojiro, Yu was assuming, mumbled under his breath as he blinked down at the paper undeterred by his customer's concerns. "Vertical is… the name of a shellfish used for farming pearls…"

Must be looking at the crossword puzzles. After spending so much time with Naoto, Yu's been working on riddles and puzzles just to try and be on some level with her. Didn't work out as much as he had hoped, but still he's gotten better at them. "A clam?" The words just left his mouth before he could think.

Sojiro arched a brow and looked up from the paper. A scowl formed on his lips as his already sunken face fell further. "… oh, Right. They did say that was today." He sat back and tossed the paper onto the empty counter.

Gazing between them, the elderly man stood up and nodded to manager. "We'll be going now. The payments on the table."

"Thanks for coming." 'Sojiro' nodded toward his customers.

"This place is in the back alley, so there's no worries of a car crashing in here."

Yu smiled slightly at the small joke, but the manager shook his head in confusion. "A what now?"

Smiling faltering a little, the senior man clarified, "There's been a string of those rampage accidents, you know. I just hope nothing happens around here."

"It's none of my concern."

That response elicited a small reaction of uncertainty from Yu as he pondered the middle-aged man before him. Was he taking his business seriously?

Despite the curt response the senior chuckled with a shrug, "We'll see you next time." Then he turned to leave with the woman right behind him.

Yu stepped to the side to let them through, watching as the elderly couple open the door and exit through it. Once the door shut, the manager grunted, exasperated. "Four hours for a single cup of joe." He opened his eyes and looked Yu up and down. "So, you're the guy."

"Thanks for having me."

"Uh-huh. I'm Sojiro Sakura."

Yu relaxed at the name. He was right on the money.

Sojiro continued, "You'll be in my custody over the next year. I was wondering what unruly kid would show up, but you're the one, huh?"

Yu's mouth opened, but nothing came out. Maybe a warm greeting wasn't something he expected, but to be openly insulted on hour one wasn't on his list of expectations either.

Ignoring the fumbling look of the boy's, Sojiro spun around waving toward the back where the stairs were. "Follow me."

Shaking off the surprise, Yu rushed after him and climbed the stairs. Sojiro paused near the top and nodded his head toward the whole place. "This is your room."

Yu had to hold back a scoff. This was a room? It was more of a storeroom. Bags lingered on the floors, dust caked even the ceiling, random bits cluttered the shelves, a plastic sheet covered the desk tucked in the corner, and a ruffed up bed sat on the far side of the room. He half expected this place to be haunted by a disgruntled ghost.

With a challenging air Sojiro crossed his arms. "You look like you wanna say something."

Quickly standing up straight Yu nodded. "It's spacey."

"It's on you to clean it up." Okay. "I'll be leaving after locking up each day. You'll be alone at night, but don't do anything stupid. I'll throw you out if you cause any trouble."

Yu nodded once more. It seems it would be better to just placate the man who clearly didn't want anything to do with him.

Sojiro stepped back, shaking his head. "I got the gist of your situation. You protected some woman from a man forcing himself on her. He got injured, and sued you, right? That's what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between two adults. And now that you have a criminal record, you've been expelled from your school. The courts then sent you out here for school which your parents also approved. In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass."

A silent sigh was all Yu could muster. Thanks for the recap.

"It's best you not talk about anything unnecessary. I am in the restaurant business, you know. Behave yourself for the year. If nothing happens, your probation will be lifted. Cause any problems and you'll be sent straight to juvie."

Yu just met this guy, why was he already being lectured by him? Sojiro must think very poorly of him if he feels the need to explain everything. Still, the café manager was kind enough to accept Yu into his… house, so the teen had no right to complain... but still…

Sojiro uncrossed his arms and repositioned the glasses on his nose. "We'll be going to Shujin tomorrow. We'll introduce ourselves properly to the staff there. There's rarely a place that'll accept someone like you, you know."

That's true, Japan has a rather strict educational expectation. He would have felt honored about this, but Yu was suppose to be attending a prestigious school for his final year in high school and now he was in some random teen's body going to a different school after being framed for a crime that didn't happen. Like anyone would listen to that story though.

Sojiro snapped him out of his thoughts."What a waste of my Sunday."

Rude. Yu bit his tongue, gazing over the room/attic once more. The cold reception would make sense for an actual criminal, a person who completely disregards societal functionality isn't very well welcomed in that society. Unfortunately, kids involving themselves in adult matters falls under that category. Yu was one of those before this whole ordeal. When his uncle, Dojima, found out he was investigating the murders the detective didn't have any qualms about locking Yu up for the night.

"You're luggage came earlier; I left them over there." Sojiro nodded his head toward the big box in the middle of the floor before shuffling back down the stairs.

Listening to the steps heading down, Yu continued to stare at the box. His extra clothes and stuff must be inside. After a quick change into casual clothes he pushed the big box onto an empty shelf and looked about the room. It was going to take more than a day to clean all this up. With his mind still foggy from everything it was best he did something to clear his mind. So the teen pushed forward and got to cleaning.