Persona 5 x persona 4

chapter 38

December 10th Saturday

"Buckle up... This will not be a smooth ride." Naoto glanced at Goro as she inserted her key into the ignition of her Datsun and opened up the garage door that led out. Naoto turned the ignition and the Datsun roared to life, ready to unleash its fury upon the road.

Goro seemed to understand the meaning of Naoto's words and quickly buckled into the Datsun's Recaro racing seats. At this point Naoto would normally glance at the many extra gauges and the computer that powered the car, allowing its oil to warm in this weather. However this morning the Datsun would be having a cold start. Naoto revved the car a few times hoping the cold oil would still flow enough to protect the Datsun's supercharged engine well enough before Naoto pulled the car out of the garage with a start. Goro gripped the door as Naoto quickly spun the car towards the entrance of the Shirogane estate and floored it. The car, still a bit sluggish from the cold, responded well under the pressure of its owner's demands.

Under Naoto's demands, the car slowly started to come to life. No doubt all of Inaba could hear the mechanical growl of the Datsun as Naoto tore through town. She was probably the furthest out from Yu's place from the rest of the investigation team after all the Shirogane estate sat on the edge of town. Naoto, however, was determined to not let that stop her, even the fresh powder of snow on the ground that was tricky to drive through didn't stop Naoto. The detective could only thank her good luck that she had decided to put on her winter tires a week before they had left for Tokyo.

As the two detectives pulled up to Yu's house, Naoto pulled into the driveway and quickly turned off the car. In her haste, she still managed to notice Goro's look of total shock. The ride had been full of fishtails and high speeds on ground one typically was a bit more cautious on, no one would have blamed Goro for the pale look his face now sported. If this had been any other time. Naoto would have even tried to console the younger man but Naoto's only concern at that moment was getting to Rise.

The door was unlocked and Naoto let herself in, the sounds of sobbing instantly drawing her into the back room. Naoto forewent taking off her shoes to simply get to Rise. So what if she got Yu's house a little wet, Yu would have wanted her to take care of Rise. Naoto appeared in the bedroom to a hysterical Rise. The idol was sobbing uncontrollably and Yu was nowhere to be found. Naoto's heart sank slightly as she moved to Rise side of the bed.

"Rise..." Naoto reached out for her friend as she sat down on the bed next to the distraught woman.

"Naoto...?" Rise choked out before suddenly she shifted and threw her arms around Naoto crying into her shoulder.

Naoto shifted on the bed and put her arms around her best friend. As Rise let it all out, Naoto looked around the room. It was untidy but not what Naoto would call messy. Yu's phone sat on the nightstand on the other side of the bed and there was nothing that Naoto believed looked out of place but she honestly wasn't the expert on her partner's bedroom. From Rise's distress and the words Naoto got before she ended the call, everything of Yu's was still around. Which meant he didn't leave the house per se. As Naoto continued to look around, she noticed a folded piece of paper on Yu's side of the bed, with her current angle it was impossible to grab. Luckily Goro appeared in the doorway a little less pale.

"Grab that for me will you Goro-Kun?" Naoto motioned to the piece of paper laying on top of the bed.

Goro nodded and walked around to the other side of the bed. Picking up the piece of paper, Goro unfolded it. Naoto watched Goro's face very carefully as it took a sharp turn from curious to grim. That look alone raised all of Naoto's red flags. Goro flipped the piece of paper over so Naoto could read it from her spot consoling the upset Rise.