The Return Of The Wild Card

Chapter 1 An Unexpexted Reunion

“Why are we here again? There’s nothing different here then before we left it last time!” Naoto nodded in agreement to Yosuke’s statement. They were inside the TV world because Teddie had insisted that something was wrong. It constantly agitated her because it was also the time of year that Souji Seta returned to Inaba for awhile. “Ugh! Let’s just go already!”

“No! You can’t go! There’s someone here!” Teddie’s desperate pleads caught Rise’s attention.

“Hmm? Someone’s here? Hang on. I’ll check.” At that she summoned her Persona Himiko and began scanning the area. They were in the usual entrance and exit lobby they used during the murder case before but nothing seemed wrong at all! “Guys, Teddie’s right! There’s some one here! I can’t tell who but... It looks like they’re in Naoto-kun’s dungeon!” That caught the young detective’s attention and she stared blankly at Rise as her Persona disappeared.

“My dungeon? Hmm...” Who would want to go there of all places? Surely Yosuke’s shopping district or Yukiko’s castle would have been a more... comfortable or at least normal environment, compared to a huge underground laboratory.

“Let’s go!” Souji called to the rest of the group as he began walking in the direction of said lab. ‘Great... At least I won’t have to deal with my shadow again...’ Ignoring the chill from the thoughts she drew her gun and followed the team.

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“You all doing okay?” Souji called behind him as they reached the stairs to the ninth and final floor. They had all been a little bit rusty after so long without even mentioning a persona never mind wielding one but they had reached their destination relatively easily. Everyone nodded in unison before he approached the automatic door that whirred to life as he drew near.

“Who’s there?” A voice strangely familiar called to them as they entered the room. Something suddenly slammed into the ground in front of the Investigation Team. A tiger-like shadow quickly dissolved in front of them as its destroyer stepped forwards. His eyes scanned them all in turn before both his and Naoto’s gaze locked together. They instantly froze as they both realised who the other was.

“N-naoto? Is that you?” The young detective just stared at him, utterly at a loss for words. She could feel her entire team’s attention turn to her in confusion but her eyes refused to break eye contact with the boy at the opposite side of the room.

“Er... Naoto? You know this guy?” She couldn’t tell who had asked her the question but even if she had heard it properly she found herself unable to answer, or respond at all! A few moments past until Naoto could force her voice to work.

“How...? You... No. It can’t be... It simply can’t!” Her disbelieving tone made the boy smile warmly at her.

“Come on now my little angel! What did I tell you about trusting me?” His voice grew nostalgic as the teams eyes widened at his use of words.

‘Clunk!’ Naoto’s gun dropped to the ground as tears began to well in her eyes and her face lit up in excitement! Completely forgetting her composure!

“Damn it! Where have you been all this time?!” She cried as she bolted towards him! Flinging her arms around his neck in a tight embrace she ignored the tears of pure joy that ran down her cheeks. His arms snaked round her waist and lifted her of the ground slightly before spinning her round on the spot in his own greeting. “I can’t believe it! It’s really you!” The tiny detective’s voice was laced with excitement as her gripped tightened slightly for the spin.

“I never expected to see you here Nao-chan! But this does look like your kind of place... Disregarding the massive drills and the operating table that is.” His voice was also filled with excitement in a caring sort of way. The two obviously knew each other well!

“Where have you been? It’s been far too long!” Naoto’s voice earned a confused sigh as if he didn’t really know himself. His expression never changed as he released the young detective.

“I’ll explain later. After all we still have an old tradition to uphold. Right?” They exchanged a challenging grin before locking each others hands together in a way that made sure that their wrists would never part unless one of them let go. Yosuke’s nervous mumble went unnoticed as the two started spinning in a circle, pulling each other into a tremendous whirl wind of blue speed! They were spinning at a ridiculous speed and it was almost impossible to tell the two apart like this!

They suddenly seemed to deliberately launch each other into opposite sides of the room! Both of them colliding painfully with metallic walls! Naoto quickly leapt to her feet with a look of triumph on her face as she casually approached her trademark cap that had fallen to the ground mere moments ago.

“I told you I would win the next time I saw you!” She called to the boy as she placed the cap in its rightful place and the boy stood up, looking rather dizzy.

“Er... Would someone tell us what the hell’s going on here?!” Yosuke’s voice seemed to make the two of them jump and turn to the Investigation Team as if they had completely forgotten they were there. She blushed as she pulled the rim of her cap down to cover her face, whilst the boy approached her.

“Oh er... My apologies. It would seem as though I got caught up in the moment... This is – ” Her embarrassed voice was cut short as the boy interrupted her.

“I’m Minato Arisato. Nao-chan’s boyfriend.” Wait what? Did he just...? Naoto turned to him in surprise as he spoke with the straightest face whilst everyone stared wide eyed with mouths agape. She suddenly clicked on as Minato winked at her and she smiled in amusement at her friends’ reactions. Especially Souji’s.

“Now I see why your such a jerk sometimes senpai. It is rather amusing to see your reactions to such a well timed joke.” Their shocked faces turned blank as she pointed it out. “The truth is, Minato-kun is my cousin and childhood friend. Don’t worry! I’m not ‘two-timing’ anyone!” She glanced at Chie before speaking again. “I believe I mentioned him before when you asked me why I always wear my cap, Chie-senpai.”

“So why don’t you introduce me to your friends Nao-chan? I always hoped I’d get to say that soon...” Disregarding his statement the young detective began the introductions.

“Okay, um... Minato-kun, this is, Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi, Yosuke Hanamura, Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa, Teddie and...” She hesitated before continuing. “Souji Seta... My um... my real boyfriend...” Minato’s eyes widened at her last words before he smiled kindly at Souji before speaking to everyone.

“Well it’s nice to meet you all. It’s not often this little angel makes friends of any kind.” With that he wrapped his arm round Naoto’s shoulder to pull her closer. She smiled at the gesture whilst hiding her face behind her cap. The moment suddenly shattered as a loud gunshot sounded far too close to where the pair stood...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Authors Note!

I'm on Fanfiction.net and I have a few other stories there as well but anyway enjoy!