Persona: Life's Greatest Answer

Chapter 2: Moving On

March 5, 2033

Maki woke up early in the morning as she was getting ready to attend her graduation ceremony. Her mother Yukari and baby brother Minato would be arriving later so that they could watch as she graduated from Gekkoukan. Kojiro and Lance were waiting outside the gates of the school when the Yuki family arrived. Kojiro's parents Kotone and Shinjiro were waiting at the gates as well. "This must be little Minato huh Yukari-chan?" Kotone walked up to Yukari as she pointed her finger out for Minato to play with. Minato was now about 8 months old. Mitsuru, Junpei, and Chidori who was carrying Junpei's son showed up soon after. As they all walked inside to attend the graduation ceremony the took their seats where they were told to. Kenji stepped up to the podium as he spoke the names of every student graduating that year.

"Maki Yuki!" Kenji had called Maki to the stage, as she shook his hand he whispered to her, "Your father would be very proud of you. Congrats, you have a bright future ahead of you." As Maki stepped off the stage she began to cry tears of joy as everyone was clapping for her graduation. "Kojiro Aragaki!" Kojiro then stepped up as Kenji shook his hand telling him he was proud of him and that his parents are too. Kojiro thanked him before sitting down next to Maki. The graduation soon ended and everyone walked out to the gates of the school as they all talked about what was going to happen next.

"So Maki's going to attend the local college so that she can stay at home and help with Minato." Yukari began. "Akihiko was going to stop by on his days off to keep an eye on Minato while I work from home. You're all welcome to visit when you have time." Everyone thanked Yukari for the offer. Mitsuru made a side note in her head to visit Yukari and Maki often.

"Well Chidori and I are gonna head back home now that things have settled down and relaxed. We'll take good care of my little man though." Junpei gave his son a shake of his hair as they walked out to their car. 

"I need to take Aigis and Anton back to the lab so that they can be refurbished and help out as the latest shadow operatives. They'll visit from time to time but things are getting interesting in the world at large. The Kirijo Group is the second most successful family in all of Japan. Take a guess who holds the title for first?" Everyone took the question into consideration. Mitsuru looked at Yukari as she laughed. "Takeba knows the answer. Yuki made a habit of saving as much money as he could. He just so happened to make millions of Yen from Tartarus and then invested that into savings and stocks. He made his family 3 times as rich as the Kirijo group. In his will he made it a point that his family would inherit his massive wealth."

Yukari went through Makoto's belongings as she was trying to uncover as much as she could about all the things he'd been storing the past several years. She went into their bedroom as saw in a display case Makoto's Evoker, she had forgotten she set it up on their dresser a few days after he died. As she picked up the Evoker and examined it she turned it over to the right side and engraved in the side read, "I am thou. Thou art I. From the sea of thy soul I loveth thee. Yukari Takeba." Makoto had engraved one final message of love for her on the side of his old Evoker. She slumped to the floor crying as Mitsuru walked in and sat down next to her. She took the Evoker from Yukari as she read the engraving. "He always talked about you and Maki while he was working. When he first found out you were pregnant with Maki he came into my office as was filled with so much joy. You and her were the bright light in his life that kept him going."

Yukari and Mitsuru shared a very tender moment as the two best friends reminisced about Makoto. Yukari, Mitsuru, Maki, Kotone, and Kojiro were going through everything Makoto stored in the garage as they found plenty of memorabilia from all their adventures and time together. They found a mask from a festival Makoto took Yukari to, a picture from when they beat the final shadow, Yukari froze as she saw another photo in a box. "T-This is..." Mitsuru walked over and looked at the photo before giving a loud gasp. The others noticed as they walked over.

"I-Is that... You and dad getting married?" Maki asked as she looked wide eyed at the photo. Makoto and Yukari were walking down the isle after they just got married. The two looked so happy in the photo. Yukari took the photo and hugged it tightly. As everyone was remembering even more memories Maki saw him again, the last time she saw him he was on the roof of the school as they gathered to watch the sunset. Makoto reached out his arm and put it on Yukari's shoulder. She moved her hand to her shoulder but she didn't make contact. Instead her hand merged with Makoto's as he vanished once again. Yukari looked confused as she turned around. The only person behind her was Maki who was a couple feet away from her.

The next day Maki and Yukari were enjoying the day watching TV while caring for baby Minato. When Yukari went to the bathroom Maki switched channels and an old airing of the TV show turned action movie "Featherman Rangers: Rise of the Pink Ranger" showed. Maki didn't pay too much mind to the movie until she looked up from her phone and saw that the Pink Ranger was her mother Yukari. "What the? Mom! You were the Pink Ranger in Featherman?" Maki yelled from the living room to the bathroom. Yukari stepped out of the bathroom as she walked in and saw the TV.

"Oh God no. Why did 'that' have to air today?" She sighed. "Yes, I played as the Pink Featherman Ranger back a couple years after I left high school. Your father encouraged me to do it and I ended up getting a lot of love from fans when the show and movie came out. I'd rather forget that time though because it was kinda embarrassing." Yukari sat back down on the couch as she was about to change the channel. "Your time is up, fiendish doctor Wu!" Pink Ranger then took her bow and fired an arrow at the villain. Yukari and Maki watched the end of the movie as Yukari remembered the joy of that time. It was shortly after they helped solve the murder case back in Tokyo where she met Yu Narukami and his team of investigators. 

As the credits of the movie rolled Yukari heard a knock on their door. As she opened the door she was surprised to see who was at the door. "Hey Yukari, it's been a while huh?" Yu was at the door. "I heard about Makoto, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you guys. I... I can't even imagine how you're taking it." Maki walked to the door and saw Yu, the two locked eyes. "You must be Maki, your father spoke highly of you. I'm Yu Narukami. I was a friend of your father, I'm quite sad we never got to meet before." Yu shook Maki's hand as Yukari let Yu inside to talk some more. "So you're telling me that this little guy is Makoto's last gift to you? He sure knows how to pick his gifts." Yu gave Minato a shake of his hair before standing up. "It was nice to catch up. I've gotta get going though, work never sleeps in my line of work. You two stay save alright?" Yu stepped out the door and walked back to his car before taking off. Yukari and Maki waved goodbye to him as he left their driveway and headed out of the city back to Tokyo.

Yukari and Maki realized that they're finally fully moving on from Makoto's death. Neither of them would fully get over his death due to how tragic it was but they were getting by. Maki pulled out her phone and started texting Kojiro and she asked him if he was busy. Soon he replied to her and they planned to head to Paulownia mall to hang out the rest of the day. Yukari wished her daughter to stay safe while she was out. Maki said her goodbyes to Yukari before leaving for the mall. She and Kojiro spent the day playing at the arcade and singing karaoke. Kojiro and Maki found themselves bonding and spending more time together in a less platonic way more and more. Maki soon found herself falling for Kojiro despite the fact that she said she only wanted to be friends and that she wasn't interested in ever having a boyfriend.