A/N: Welcome, welcome. I don't know how much mileage this story will get, but I hope it is well received and liked by both fans of my writing and fans of the series. This is my first foray into the Persona series with writing, so I will be doing what I can. This story spawned from playing Persona 4 Golden after Persona 5 and I've decided to take a swing at it.

A few things before we begin. I'm taking a few liberties with what happened to give some spice and flair to the story. I don't argue that Atlus is top notch when it comes to crafting stories and even relatable characters, but there is a limit to what can be done with a silent protagonist and I feel like I can bring out the emotion of things by adding just a tiny bit more flair.

This story is set after the True Ending of Persona 4 Golden. Another liberty I'll be taking is the year. Japan had an election for the Prime Minister Position in 2014, so I'm going to say that Persona 5 is taking place in the year 2014. I know it's not, but whatever. I'm also bumping the date of Persona 4 Golden forward by a year, so from 2012-2013. Just bear with me on this.

And lastly, the canonicity of certain events that happen in other games or media, I'm throwing out the window. I don't have a lot of time anymore to watch the animes, and I'm horrible at fighting games to be playing Persona 4 Arena. I'm not saying the events aren't canon, but that I'm sticking with Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5.

Let's get this started and let this story write itself, yeah?

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 4 or Persona 5. Both are properties of Atlus Co. Ltd. I make no profit from writing this story. This will be the only disclaimer of the story.

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 4 GOLDEN AND PERSONA 5.

Sometimes Lighting Does Strike Twice

Chapter One: The Return of Izanagi

There was a soft sigh as he walked through the backstreets of Shibuya. He knew that he should have been worried, the rise of rumored criminal elements going through his head, but it was hardly something that scared him. His university courses scared him more than some thugs with what would likely amount to some knives. Given what he had faced, some thugs with knives hardly worried him. He brushed a hand through his silver hair. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time that he confronted someone with a knife without thinking of the consequences. And he was more trained now than he had been then in the art of physical defense.

A memory tugged at his consciousness, but he decided to wait, focusing more on his feet moving him through the alleyways. Those were memories best enjoyed in private, not in the open like he was. Those memories could either be crippling or they could be invigorating. And he had no control over which they would be until it was already happening to him. They would either be a welcome reminder of the events that had taken place during his second year of High School, or they would be a reminder of his failures towards his friends in the time since he had returned from Inaba.

Life was… mundane for one Yu Narukami. And while there were indeed things he wished he could have changed about it, he enjoyed the mundane. There was something… refreshing about being able to really predict everything that was likely to occur in the day to day. Especially after the hectic and dangerous year that he spent in Inaba. Though his time in that sleepy little town had been thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying, there had been no doubt about the danger there. Serial murders, kidnappings, and the twisted personifications of humanity's desires had certainly kept him busy.

Yu hardly looked to fit in, even as he moved through the back alleyways that would have him cut across Shujin Academy. Dressed in a simple pair of charcoal grey slacks, a white dress shirt, and a charcoal grey blazer, Yu kept an appearance of professionalism while he went to University. Perhaps it had been the time he spent in High School, perhaps it was seeing Kanji dressed so casually that had made him want to keep the appearance of a modicum of professionalism. Either way, even with his choice in attire, he usually made for an interesting head turning individual. Being as tall as he was and with natural silver hair, he was hard to miss.

"Initiating travel."

The mechanical voice of a phone snapped Yu from his musings and he glanced up. He saw a trio of Shujin Academy students looking around, apparently having missed him some five meters away coming out of an alleyway. He felt a tug at his body and he felt like he was about to throw up. The world around them rippled. His vision swam and spun as he felt something inside of him snap like a rubber band. He braced himself against a wall lightly, even as his knees buckled from his weight. The suddenness of the transition and the presence of a weight on his shoulders had been… unexpected

"How about Panther?" A female's voice helped Yu to focus. He forced himself to stand up once more. Something in the back of his mind screamed at him to get up, to stand and be prepared, so he did so as best as he could.

"I like it." A male's voice, some distance away.

Yu felt his body tense with a certain pressure. It was a pressure that he was very familiar with. Someway, somehow, he was in the TV World. But… he hadn't fallen into a TV. He stepped back around the corner of the alley he came out of and pressed his back to the wall. He glanced out of the alleyway, hoping that he might be able to come up with some form of answers.

Those same three kids. Only now… now they were dressed oddly. The black haired young man was dressed in some sort of leather outfit, complete with red gloves, high boots, and a duster. He had a white domino mask over his face. "Alright then, let's see if we can't get that treasure." He said.

The blonde male punched one gloved fist into the other. He gave a cocky grin, even though part of his face was covered in a metal half skull face mask. He also wore leathers, though simpler in design. The red ascot was definitely eye catching. "Yeah, let's get that bastard. Kamoshida's gonna confess all his sins."

Yu frowned a moment. He pulled out his phone, just in case his body was playing tricks on him. No signal. Definitely not in Shibuya then. He glanced out again, catching the group leaving. How he missed the Shadow walking with them, Yu wasn't certain. But he stepped from his alleyway, only to see something that almost made him lose his composure completely.

How did he miss that?! Yu stared up at the castle that had taken place where Shujin Academy had been. He had been attempting to gather information. That was his only excuse. And what little he had gotten hadn't been useful. The rest of the area looked the same. The same apartments, the same alleyways, the same vending machine. But the red sky above definitely didn't bode well for things either.

He scrambled along the walls towards the front, open gate. "Damn." He allowed himself to mutter. Those kids had mentioned treasure. Were they some kind of thieves? He felt at least a little obligated to stop them, his strong sense of justice not wanting to see someone victimized by this place's power. This place wasn't some area for kids' games either. Did they not understand the danger that they had placed themselves into? The danger of the shadows was very real. It had only been a large dose of luck, some training, and plenty of medicine that had kept the Investigation Team from dying some times.

But the front courtyard held none of the kids. Where had they vanished to?

Yu then saw something that made his stomach want to do flips. A glowing blue… portal of some kind with bars across it in the shape of a doorway. A young girl with silver blonde hair pulled back into a simple braid and a distinct blue uniform consisting of a pair of black shorts and a blue long sleeved shirt stood with a clipboard, flipping it around between her hands. An inevitable doorway to somewhere special.

The Velvet Room. Did Igor and Margaret have something to do with this? Would Igor help a thief? Something told him that Igor definitely would if he felt the draw to do so. He could almost hear the half manic half sage like voice of Igor. He distinctly remembered the feel of Margaret's lips on his own.

He debated for a moment. Did he dare try to go through to the Velvet Room? Did he still have the power of his Persona inside of him? He had to right? They were just another aspect of himself. He had too many questions and not enough answers. And he couldn't leave either. He had no way of leaving. No Teddie to open the TV for them. Would that have even still worked? He didn't think he was in the representation of the TV World after all.

But if he just went charging in as he was, he'd definitely be in danger. While he certainly had the tools he had used back in Inaba, they were in a chest locked in his room. After all, those items he had gotten from when he finally destroyed that… Thing that chased them all over the place. A shudder rippled through him as he remembered what that had been like. He could still remember the gunshots, the way his friends scrambled for cover or sought to heal. It had been a merciless fight unlike any other.

Yu walked towards the front door. He had to deal with this. He had to. He couldn't let some bunch of kids screw around in a place like this. He tried the front door and pushed a bit, feeling it slowly swing open. He came to a grand foyer with a large staircase leading up and then to two sides. Plush red carpet softened the hardened soles of his shoes. But it was the large painting in the front of the Foyer that grabbed his attention.

Suguru Kamoshida.

Now there was a face Yu could have dealt without seeing that large. The man had a large, lecherous grin, and the yellow eyes of the portrait told Yu that it was the visual representation of the man's shadow self. Did Kamoshida have a chance to summon a Persona? A shudder ran down his spine at the thought. Kamoshida had rubbed him wrong during Yu's final year of High School at Shujin Academy. The man had pestered Yu about joining the Volleyball Team, but he had used the excuse of having to study for his University Entrance exams to be able to get out of that.

He preferred basketball as it was.

"iNtRuDeR!" The broken word cause Yu to spin to the right. Some golden armored knight was coming baring down at him with a sword. It then erupted like ink before something new formed out of it. It was some sort of horse of purple color with a white mane and two large green horns. It reared up and snorted before charging.

Yu's eyes went wide before he brought up both arms in a cross, hoping to be able to block the attack. It was stupid to do so, dangerous. At the very least, he'd likely end up with bruises. At the worst, he was going to have broken arms. Better to have jumped to the side to try and dodge it, but he hadn't had time to think. He just reflexively brought his arms up to tank the hit. It slammed into him and he slid back about a foot. But as he did so, he noticed something that caused something warm to spread through his body.

He was unharmed and hope was blooming inside his chest.

Completely unscathed. Not even an ache where he should have ended up having bruises form. Yu felt his lips quirk up into that smirk his friends had always claimed he had when he was having fun and in control. He had many Persona that had the ability to completely negate physical damage. But there was only one in his mind at the moment. The last one he had been able to summon. The one that represented all of the bonds with his friends.

He raised a hand up at the twin horned horse. Before his very eyes, a blue Tarot card began to spin into existence. "Ziodyne!" The rush of air behind him signified the summoning of his Persona. It was a humanoid figure in a white business suit with a large blade and a metal face mask. The figure spun the sword around before it swung the sword down. A bolt of lightning blasted the twin horned horse, the sound of an explosion echoing out as the creature took the high powered bolt of lightning to the back.

It shattered into black dust like other Shadows did and Yu felt the warmth spreading through his body as Izanagi-no-Okami returned his energy to full. It was a familiar warmth that he had come to miss since he had summoned Izanagi-no-Okami a year ago. Izanagi-no-Okami then faded back into the usual nothingness that signified he was no longer needed.

Yu glanced around at the sound of metal footsteps and decided a retreat was in order. While he could likely take them with the massively powered Persona, he didn't know enough. And his mind, working through the adrenaline, came to the conclusion that he needed help in figuring this out. He turned and ran out the front door again, sprinting across the courtyard before spinning around and placing his back to the wall.

Exhaling he closed his eyes and tilted his head back. It was always a rush summoning a Persona. Draining as well. Even with Izanagi-no-Okami filling him with energy once more, Yu felt the familiar drain. He didn't have the same stamina that he had at the end of his year in Inaba. While he certainly had kept up with some physical training, it was nowhere near as exhausting as fighting for his life and racing through the miles and miles of what some people's inner world had been like.

He needed a moment to catch his breath, and he could honestly go for a Tap Soda right about then also. He focused on catching his breath, muscles slowly remembering and shaking off the dust of a year of lesser activity.

He didn't know how long he had stayed against that wall, just thinking about what he should do. He should head in after the kids once more, maybe try and keep from getting spotted so easily. But he could definitely go for having his things before that. A sword and some armor would definitely make him feel a lot better. He could definitely rely on Izanagi-no-Okami, but he didn't want to press his luck in something being able to defend against him.

The sound of booted feet caused him to straighten up and hold his breath. He pressed his back to the wall a bit more.

"Woo! Man, those guys were pissed, eh Joker?" A loud boisterous voice said, panting a little bit. "Haven't had to run like that in a while. Wonder what got them all riled up."

Yu used this moment to slip back towards the alley that he had been in. This proved to be a good idea, as he could see the group of four slowly coming back out towards the alley that they had entered this world from.

"Skull, don't be so dense!" The shadow's voice almost raked on Yu. But he had heard worse. He had lucked out with Teddie's voice. While his antics were a bit… perverse, the voice he had heard was definitely bearable.

So codenames huh? Joker, Panther, and Skull were what he had so far. His mind went through a few ideas for a codename of his own, but he decided to hold off. He still needed more information, and if they were fighting through that castle, then he definitely couldn't walk up and introduce himself alone. Even if he had Izanagi-no-Okami, he didn't want to assume a damned thing. It could very likely end in a confrontation, even a misunderstanding that would have both sides fighting. And he didn't have medicine or a healing Persona to help out.

He watched them pull out their cell phone before tapping something. "Returning to the Real World." The voice on the phone said before the rippling effect occurred once more. Yu didn't feel nearly as sick as he had when he transitioned over. He glanced out to see that their clothes had returned to normal.

A black and white cat stuck its head out of the bag. "Remember, we'll give it a two days for security to lower before we head back in. Rest up." Yu blinked a moment. Did that cat just talk? Okay. That was definitely strange.

Yu walked off. A plan was already forming in the mind of the former leader of the Investigation Team. He had to get home as it was, and he noticed that the sun was much lower than the afternoon sun they had left under. So time seemed to work the same. He pulled out his phone, glad to see service had returned. He couldn't call the police about this, he'd be laughed off the line.

It was the same damned thing with the situation in Inaba. But this time, he didn't have the others to back him up.

Yu got home and took a moment to take his street shoes off, tucking them in the empty cubby. He pulled his keys out, holding them in his hand for a moment, glancing down to stare at the unusual key on the keyring. It was a car key done in gold with vibrant blue. A gold 'V' was etched on either side. He still remembered the day that Margaret had given it to him. He had tried to return it to Igor once the events with Izanami had been finished, but the crazed looking master of the Velvet Room had told him it was his key. And while he was not going to ever be summoned to the Velvet Room, it did not mean he could not return of his own volition.

Before, he had felt it was a symbol of stranger times, just like other objects that had dotted his room. Now though… now he felt as though the key might be a lead. Something to help him. He had never been indecisive. He was the type of person to give his all. Hell, he had even put in one hundred percent for the Cross-Dressing contest back in Inaba. Yes, it had been weird. But he hadn't been required to wear women's undergarments, so he was able to make do. And he thought Yukiko had done a fine job with him.

Still got beat by Teddie, but then Yu wasn't sure how fair that was. Teddie didn't have the normal social norms that everyone else did.

But the fact of the matter was that the past year had changed him. And not necessarily for the better. He had been in contact with his friends back in Inaba, less and less. He still called and talked to Nanako quite often, but the others like Yosuke and Chie, it was getting to be less. Especially now, with Yosuke going to University for business and Chie working to become a police officer.

He put the keys in the bowl on the table towards the door. His parents were gone for another year, off on another business trip overseas in America. He wished them the best, naturally, but it left him alone in the house this time, a first year University student. They kept the bills paid and gave him money for grocery shopping, but it still left him in a quiet house with too much time to think.

Later

The dream had returned. No. Not a dream. A memory. Even now, he could smell the sickly sweet scent of rot. He felt the intense pressure of Izanami bearing down on him and his friends. He could smell the smoke of flames from Yukiko blasting the creature. Felt the cold from where Chie had tried freezing it.

"You cannot compare! I am a God above you mortals! Your pursuit of the Truth ends here!" Izanami swung her skeletal arm at Yu.

"Yu!" Yu could only stare as Yosuke, his first friend from Inaba slammed into him, pushing him to the side, falling on his ass and bruising his tailbone. A glowing portal with black skeletal hands appeared under him, and began to pull him down. Yosuke tried to fight, summoning Takehaya Susan'o and slashing with his kunai. But he was inevitably pulled under by Izanami's Thousand Curses.

And it was the start of a cascade of failures, over and over again. Yosuke. Chie. Yukiko. Kanji. Teddie. All of them had sacrificed themselves to Izanami's Thousand Curses in some vain attempt to keep him alive. Even as the battle continued on and Yu scrambled to his feet, it seemed Izanami would try again and someone else would take his place.

"You need to live Yu-Sen-!" Naoto screamed at him as she pushed him over again. But as she went down, she raised her revolver and took shots at Izanami, even as she was dragged down, skeletal hands tearing at her clothes, covering her mouth to silence her. He could see the blood on her cheeks where they dug in sharply.

Yu had gotten up, tears in his eyes as he fought on. Izanagi had then taken to toying with him. Healing him when he was on the brink of death, taunting him over his failures to save his friends. She plucked the flesh from his bones like one might pluck the strings of a bass.

Then she'd heal him and start again, able to dedicate her entire focus to him. Even Rise was helpless to help and eventually consumed by the Thousand Curses. Yu had lost track of how many times he should have died, only to have the Goddess cruelly bring him back. But even she grew tired of her game and forced him to succumb to the Thousand Curses.

Darkness had swallowed him. He had truly ended up in Hell. But from that darkness, he heard his friends, his confidants. Over and over and over they told him the same thing. Get up. Get up. Rise! Stand! Fight! Once more into the breach!

"You need to get up Yu-kun. Please. One more time. For me?" The gentle, quiet words had finally given Yu the strength to push himself to his feet, to his hands and knees. But what was the good of rising up? He was against a Goddess. He was alone.

It had been like a strike through the heart as he realized the truth. No. He was never alone. He had made unbreakable bonds over his year in Inaba. He thought of everyone. Even the traitorous Adachi who had given him the final clue he needed to realize the truth of the matter of the Midnight Channel and that he couldn't just go home without pursuing the Truth one last time.

A foot fell and Yu pushed himself to stand. He squared his shoulders and licked his lips. He tasted copper on his lips. He thought back to his trip to Port Island. Izanami and Izanagi. He thought back to his first Persona. A warrior of lighting and blade. A blue card began to spin in front of him.

"Thou art I, and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul, I come. From the very moment of my emergence, I have been a guiding light shed to illuminate thy path. I am the original God. My name is…"

Yu opened his eyes to stare at Izanami's form. He hefted his sword and tightened his hand on the grip. He would not fall again. Not until Izanami did. Not until Inaba was safe from her machinations.

"Even now you spurn the reality!?' The Goddess demanded incensed. "The Truth you fought for is pointless! Humanity wishes for this fog!" She swung her arms again to summon up her Thousand Curses.

With tears in his eyes at his fallen friends, Yu stepped from the portal to death, ripping his legs from the grasping hands and swinging his sword with determination.

Her arms crossed and she swung them out. Clouds crackled to life above Yu and lightning came striking down upon him. He grit his teeth, even as his body was racked with pain. He exhaled as the blast ended and he continued staring up at the incensed Goddess with fury in his eyes. Another blast racked through his body and he dropped the sword to the ground. He almost fell forward onto his face but he roared his pain, stepping forward to better stabilize himself.

"Go to hell!" he snarled. "Humanity doesn't want your damned Fog!" He poured his soul into those words. The defiance he needed to command, it came flowing from his lips. He was usually better spoken, but in that instance he felt simple was necessary.

Another blast ripped through him, but he stayed on his feet.

"How?! Why?! Fall, damn you! Succumb! How can your powers rival mine?! How does the will of the few outweigh the Will of Humanity?!"

Yu stared up at the Goddess. The large, still rotting skeletal figure did nothing to intimidate him. He looked up at her, the one that had brought the damned fog. The one that had turned Adachi and Namatame into people similar to him. The entity that had taken his friends from him.

He reached up to grab the silver glasses on his face and he pulled them off. He didn't need them anymore. He tossed them to the side and forced his body to stand up straighter. He raised a hand up at Izanami. "Go to Hell." He reiterated. The spinning blue card appeared before his hand and he crushed it in one hand.

"IZANAGI-NO-OKAMI!" He roared the name of his ultimate Persona. He let the name bellow out, to sound out across the pillars in the depths of the Hellish realm that Izanami had dragged his friends to.

The Persona shot into the air behind Yu, sword held in on hand. Dressed in a white suit, complete with a white duster that billowed. The mere presence of the Persona shoved the fog back in all directions. Lightning flashed across the endless skies. It arced across the Persona's body, even across Yu, but it didn't hurt him. He held one hand up fingers extended before he closed his hand into a tight fist. "Myriad Truth." He said

Izanagi-no-Okami spun the sword around, even behind it before it lashed out. The eruption against Izanami as she took the powerful spell was impressive. And the Goddess began to topple, bones snapping off to land on the ground with a loud clatter.

But Yu… he fell to his knees and punched the ground. It didn't matter. It didn't matter that he won. It didn't matter that he summoned Izanagi-no-Okami to defeat the Goddess. None of that mattered. His friends were gone. He'd never hear their voices again. Yosuke talking about getting motorcycles. Chie talking about grilled steak or training martial arts moves. Yukiko talking with such passion about the people at the Amagi Inn. Kanji's embarrassed talk regarding the plush toys he made. Rise coming to the conclusion that every aspect of her were her. Teddie about what it was to be human. Naoto about the Tools of the Detective.

He punched the ground again. Hard enough that he felt something crack. It hurt. It definitely hurt. Even more than the lightning that had surged his body.

"-Pai." There was a sound and Yu forced his head up.

The ground shifted and he forced himself to race towards it. He found it soft like soil and actually began digging at it, unburying Naoto's face. "Yu-Senpai." The blue haired girl said, coughing a bit. The glasses were askew on her face, and the hat was off, but it was her! Yu set to work digging her out.

A hand came out of another spot and he raced over and set to work unburying Rise. One by one, he helped his friends out, each of them gasping for air and none the worse for wear. A little scuffed, some torn clothes, but they were alive. Relief flooded his veins and suddenly all Yu felt was tired.

He actually fell on his ass and stuck his head between his knees, chuckling. It was over. It was finally over

Yu snapped awake from the dream, sweat dripping and clinging to the long sleeve shirt as he sat up in his futon. He hung his head a moment. It had been a reoccurring dream of his that had steadily gone away. But it resurfaced with such… vividness. He could still smell Izanami's rot. Hear her words about how she could not guarantee the happiness of humanity.

He got up and went to the bathroom, washing his face and staring in the mirror. Sweat made his hair cling to his skin. Was it Izanagi-no-Okami reminding him of his friends? Friends he had fallen out of contact with? Reminding him of the strong, powerful bonds that he had made over the year at Inaba? He knew if any of his friends were to ask, he would be in Inaba in a heartbeat.

But he needed to be there in Shibuya. There were things going on that he was wanting answers to. Answers that he wasn't sure he could get by himself. But was he really going to ask one of his friends to come to Shibuya and possibly endanger themselves? No. No, he wasn't going to ask just a friend.

"I love you."

The unbidden memory of the words and the subsequent blush on her face came to his mind. He made his way back to his bedroom and grabbed his cellphone from the charger, flipping the phone open. He pulled up his contacts and stared at the contact information inside. A simple button press. She would come if he asked. She would come if he mentioned summoning Izanagi again. A simple button press and he'd be dragging the only woman he had so resolutely loved into an issue that had nothing to do with them. They had defeated Izanami. They shouldn't have to get back involved in this issue.

It should have been a non-issue to him. Back during his time in Inaba, he'd have already made the phone call. But this… this was asking her to come from quiet, sleepy Inaba out to Shibuya. He'd be asking his lover to come back to danger, to put her life on the line once more. Did he dare call himself her lover still? It had been such a long time. He hadn't even considered another girl in that time, but he knew that Christmas and Valentine's Day had been… disappointing.

Yu briefly considered the two jobs that he had been working the past year, scraping together as much as he possibly could. That he had done it so they could be together was an excuse. An excuse he didn't even give himself the luxury of using. He hadn't been a very good boyfriend the past year. She deserved better than him. But there was no denying the longing in his heart, the deep seated desire to have and hold his girlfriend once again. Faintly, he could recall the sweet scent of her shampoo.

He glanced down at his phone, and a bit amusedly realized that it was a non-factor. He had been so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't realize that he had made the phone call. Regardless of the fact it was after midnight, Yu brought the phone up to one ear. He felt something tighten inside of himself. He had never shied away from anything, he wasn't going to be a coward and hang up before the phone call completed. Either she answered, or he left a message.

This was too important to be squeamish about things. And he'd rather have someone he could trust at his back with this new, strange world. So he waited. He waited, listening and just waiting.

"Yu-Senpai?" The voice on the other end of the phone asked, sounding tired but utterly surprised.

Yu felt his heart race and swallowed a little bit. "I'm sorry, I… shouldn't have called so late." He couldn't believe how lame he sounded. But he wasn't certain what to say. It wasn't like he could say 'Hey, drop everything and come to Shibuya.'

Even still, he needed to try to convince her to do just that.

-Chapter End-

A/N: Okay, so this is going to be the only time I do an Author's Note at both beginning and end of the chapter. I don't know how much demand there will be for this story, but it's been an ear worm for me. I was having this idea before the fight with Namatame for crying out loud.

I should iterate as well, I don't have much knowledge of the culture of Japan. I'll try my best not to make myself sound too much of an ignorant ass, but there are still a number of things that I won't know being from America. I do know a few things, but just… bear with me for a bit.

I'm not going to outright say who the pairings are with, but I already know who I've paired Yu and Akira with. The first few chapters will mostly be from Yu and his lover's perspective, but I'll swap to those of the Phantom Thieves soon enough.

I'm going to try and start posting 10k chapters, but for my first attempt at writing in months, I figured getting 5k out is a good start to brush off the rust.