Persona 5 x persona 4

chapter 8

On the ride home a silence had once again elapsed between the two. Being naturally quiet people the silence wasn't by any stretch uncomfortable but more of an understanding between them that the day didn't need to be filled with a bunch of seemingly useless words. They had said all that needed to be said and that was it. Yu pulled up to the expensive apartment complex Rise's Tokyo condo was in.

Ren followed Yu into the building after getting past the front door security guard. This apartment complex held many people in the public eye, and there had been more than one occasion a fan tried to sneak in to meet their idol. Camera and more security greeted them in the lobby as Yu made his way to the elevators and pressed the button for the 5th floor. In total it was a 22 story building with each condo taking up one of the floors. Rise owned the whole 5th floor, her studio paying half for the condo with Rise's own money paying for the other half so she had a place here in Tokyo. There was a small threshold with a door between the elevator and the rest of the apartment so someone couldn't just go from the elevator straight into someone's apartments. Yu went to reach for his keys after he took his shoes off but as he did so the door suddenly opened.

"YU!"

Rise stood in the door way, wearing her pajamas and messy hair framing her face as red eyes stared at Yu. It took all but a heartbeat before the idol let out a wail and threw her arms around Yu, crying into his chest and muttering something completely inaudible. Yu glanced at Ren out of the corner of his eye, to see the teen with his hands in his pockets looking as if this was all completely normal. Yu wrapped his arms around Rise and sighed.

"See. I told you I was fine." Yu calmly spoke hoping to calm his girlfriend down, he reached out and put a hand to her cheek in an affectionate gesture.

Rise looked up at him from behind puffy eyes. "You're an idiot..." She took a step back wiping the tears from her eyes with the palm of her hand before speaking again. "Come on you two come in."

Rise retreated deeper into the condo, as Yu and Ren both followed her. Yu moved to close the door before he scanned the larger front room that preceded Rise's front door. Upon one of the two large 'L' shaped couches in the front room sat Yosuke, Naoto and sleeping at the end of the couch curled into tight ball was Teddie without his suit. Naoto was in the same clothes she had been in the day before, leaving Yu to deduce she was in the middle of another all-nighter writing reports when no doubt Rise had disturbed her. When Yu had left, he hadn't bothered checking the rest of the house to see if anyone was up. He had simply left. Yosuke was dressed no doubt having switched clothes at some point in the chaos of his absence. Teddie like Rise was also in a pair of pajamas.

"Welcome Ren-kun, please make yourself at home." Rise told Yu's accomplice with a slightly more cheerful voice.

"Thank you." Ren said with a slight bow.

"I'll make coffee," Yosuke said getting to his feet. "Hey Ren you work at a fancy coffee shop, do you wanna help me?"

"Sure." Ren replied clearly getting the hint Yosuke was laying down, before they both disappeared.

"I'm going to go take a shower now that Yu's back." Naoto made a quick exit clearing the room as quickly as Yosuke had done.

Yu turned to Rise ready to get an ear full, but Rise just watched the others go before sighing. Her gaze still a bit puffy found Yu's after a long minute of silence. "Next time leave a note. After today... I...I just didn't know what to think..." Rise folded her arms across her chest and looked towards the glass coffee table that sat in the middle of the room.

Yu stepped up to his girlfriend and pulled her close into his embrace. He understood why she had worried so much and honestly he didn't blame her. His nightmares had left him with more than a few sleepless nights. Normally pacing the house or absorbing himself in either work or a hobby, this was the first time he just left without a word to anyone. He hadn't been really acting himself since they had left Mementos. He had even gone to bed but unbeknownst to him, like Ren, sleep just wasn't something that was in the cards tonight for him either. Within his embrace, Yu slowly felt Rise relax and the two just sat there soaking in the moment.