Chapter 25
The next day, it was time for Yu to depart for Inaba.
The post-rain freshness offered a brief respite from Tokyo’s summer heat, a welcome relief for those suffering from the sweltering weather.
Yu waited for his train at the platform, his parents, having taken time off work, seeing him off. They waved goodbye as the train doors closed and pulled away from the station.
“Honestly, there was no need to see me off.”
Muttering to himself, Yu leaned against the train door and opened his phone.
Upon learning of his summer trip to his uncle’s place, the Phantom Thieves had expressed their envy, jokingly saying they wanted to go too, wishing him a safe journey and reminding him to check in upon arrival.
Yu scrolled through the messages, then tilted his head slightly.
“No message from Ren.”
Yu scrolled through the messages again, incredulous, then checked his private messages with Ren, confirming that Ren hadn’t sent him anything.
No one was more attuned to social cues than Yu. He was considerate, resilient, and gentle, his perceptive nature allowing him to see through people’s facades. He was certain that his relationship with Ren had deepened the previous night.
In Confidant terms, they were nearing max rank.
So why hadn’t Ren even sent a simple farewell message? It didn’t make sense.
The train departure signal sounded. Yu sighed softly, walking towards his seat. Just as he took a step, the train started moving. The rhythmic swaying of the train triggered a sudden, absurd thought: Could Ren not have messaged because he was here in person?
The thought was so ridiculous that Yu dismissed it immediately.
Yet, even as he dismissed it, he found himself running towards the window, searching for any sign of Ren.
Just as the train pulled away from the platform, he saw a fleeting glimpse of a black-clad figure standing there, disappearing almost instantly.
Yu’s fingers twitched. He gently pressed his hand against the window, as if touching a wisp of air, an intangible cloud. After a long moment, he lowered his hand, returning to his seat, taking out his phone. The screen reflected his face.
Yu realized he was smiling.
Outside the station, Ren calmly found an empty bench, planning to escape the heat and play on his phone.
Mona poked his head out of the bag.
“Ren, you’re acting strange.”
“Strange how?”
“You secretly came to see him off without telling anyone. You didn’t approach him because his parents were there, and he left without even knowing you were here.”
“Wasting time isn’t the Phantom Thief way.”
Ren: …
He pushed Mona back into the bag, ignoring his indignant protests about the stuffy confines.
It stung a little, but he had wasted time on far more pointless endeavors. This was nothing.
Coming here secretly had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, driven by a jumble of emotions he couldn’t quite decipher. He hadn’t told Yu, and by the time he reached the station, he saw Yu talking to his parents.
Knowing how busy Yu’s parents were, how rarely they were together, Ren hadn’t wanted to interrupt.
So he had watched Yu board the train, waiting until it was out of sight.
He turned on his phone, seeing several unread messages. The latest one was from Yu.
Ren opened Yu’s chat, pausing at the message.
[Yu Narukami: The first rule of being a Phantom Thief is stealth. Looks like the leader still has much to learn.]
He had been discovered.
Ren raised an eyebrow, glancing in the direction the train had departed, then replied.
[Ren Amamiya: This is the real world. There are no Phantom Thieves here.]
[Ren Amamiya: Be careful what you say. You might get reported.]
Yu chuckled, reading Ren’s message three times before replying.
[Yu Narukami: I thought you were practicing being a real-life Phantom Thief by lurking in the shadows like that. You almost had me fooled.]
[Ren Amamiya: …]
[Ren Amamiya: Being discovered is embarrassing enough. No need to tease me about it.]
[Yu Narukami: Not at all!]
[Yu Narukami: I was happy.]
[Yu Narukami: When I saw you at the station.]
The notification vibrated intensely, making Ren’s fingertips tingle, his heart skipping a beat.
He exhaled, thinking: He should probably turn off the vibration.
Morgana, watching their exchange, yawned widely.
Humans were so easily flustered.
Stepping off the train, the familiar scent of Inaba, mixed with the summer heat, washed over Yu. He couldn’t help but stretch, a sense of relief washing over him as he set foot on familiar ground.
After stretching, Yu walked towards the exit, gazing at his surroundings with a nostalgic smile.
Inaba was still Inaba, unchanged by the passing months. His friends, waiting near Junes, were also the same, at least in personality, if not in appearance.
Before returning to his uncle’s house, Yu was dragged to a table outside Junes by his friends.
“Hey, I heard there’s another world in Tokyo too?” Chie Satonaka asked. “What’s that about?”
“It’s nothing,” Yu shook his head, his tone reassuring. “We don’t need to worry about it. Tokyo’s other world has its own guardians.”
His words were met with puzzled looks. Only Yosuke, who already knew, sighed. “You’re talking about your new friend in Tokyo, right?”
“Oh! Teddie knows!” Excited by the topic, Teddie rushed to Yu, describing the battle he had witnessed with a flurry of adjectives.
“That person wore a black outfit with a tail and a mask!”
“A mask?” Yukiko Amagi mused. “Sounds like a masquerade ball.”
“So it was a girl?” Rise Kujikawa asked, curious about the person’s gender.
“Sounds like a shady character,” Kanji Tatsumi declared.
Teddie nodded emphatically. “His Persona also wore a mask! Black and red, like a bat!”
“As for girls… there was a beautiful girl!” Teddie’s face lit up. “A beautiful girl with red hair! Her Persona was gorgeous too!”
“Sensei, is she your girlfriend?”
Yu: …
If he didn’t stop Teddie, he would end up with eighteen girlfriends.
“No, Yoshizawa-san is Ren’s underclassman. She goes to a different school.”
“And we’ve only met a few times. I’m just more familiar with Ren, and he asked me for help.”
“So this ‘Ren’ is your new friend?” Yosuke asked, a playful look in his eyes. “Ren… that’s his name, right? You seem close. What’s he like?”
His friends were immediately intrigued, eager to hear more.
After all, this was another Persona user, someone who experienced a different other world in Tokyo!
“Is he a boy? Is he handsome?”
“Is he kind?”
“How did you meet?”
“Do you have a picture?”
“Does he have a criminal record? Have you checked his family background?”
Yu: …
The last question, of course, came from Naoto Shirogane, always straight to the point.
Yu patiently answered their questions, omitting the part about Ren’s criminal record.
Even Yu understood that his trust in Ren was based on their relationship and his understanding of Ren’s character. Expecting strangers to believe in the innocence of a boy with a criminal record was unrealistic. He didn’t want Ren to face unnecessary suspicion or his friends’ concerns to be confirmed.
For now, keeping it a secret was the best option.
But as for a picture…
He didn’t have a picture of Ren.
Yu checked his photo album, filled with pictures of him and his friends in Inaba, at the beach, the fireworks festival, the concert, the ski resort… but after returning to Tokyo, his album had remained unchanged.
Not seeing a picture, his friends didn’t press the issue. They weren’t truly interested in a stranger; they were just welcoming Yu back in their own way.
As they walked towards Dojima’s residence, chatting and laughing, Yu opened his phone and looked at his chat with Ren.
After a few seconds, he typed a message.
[Yu Narukami: Can I have a picture of you?]
Just as he sent it, Ren replied instantly, as if he had been waiting for his message.
[Ren Amamiya: ?]
[Ren Amamiya: I thought you’d be checking in, but you’re asking for a picture? Why?]
[Yu Narukami: My friends are curious about you, but I realized I don’t have a single picture of you, so I’m asking you for one.]
[Ren Amamiya: …That’s a strange reason.]
Despite his words, Ren sent a picture.
It was from the previous night, at the fireworks festival. Yu hadn’t arrived, so Ren had gone to look for him. Amidst the crowd and neon lights, he had spotted Yu, seemingly lost in the crowd, yet calm and composed, as if simply enjoying the night view.
Ren had taken a picture of him, then, after a moment of hesitation, had taken a selfie as well, curious about his own appearance.
He sent the picture to Yu and saw it was downloaded instantly.
Just as Ren assumed Yu wouldn’t reply and was about to move on to other things, Yu messaged him.
[Yu Narukami: Ren, just checking in. I arrived safely.]
Ren: …
He stared at the message for several seconds before replying.
He remained silent for a long moment.
Finally, he typed a single word.
[Ren Amamiya: Good.]
Seeing Ren’s reply, Yu smiled, saving the picture to his album, satisfied that it had finally been updated after leaving Inaba.
It was good. Something new.
“What are you smiling about? So happy?” Yosuke asked, slinging an arm around Yu’s neck.
“Yes, very happy,” Yu nodded seriously, his neck still in Yosuke’s grasp.
“Happier than knowing Izanagi-no-Okami has all affinities.”
His friends stared at him, shocked.
“Huh? What kind of comparison is that?!”
“Does that have anything to do with Persona affinities?”
“There he goes again, our eccentric Narukami-senpai!”
“But all affinities is really useful.”
“Haha, hahaha! Izanagi, all affinities… hahahahaha!”
“…Yukiko, you laugh too easily.”
