A/N: This chapter is about Nana (aka Nami) in the past. Don't worry! We will back to the present on the next chapter!

Happy reading!

Disclaimer: Not own anything, except the OC(s).

Childhood Arc / Chapter One; Paper Cranes

"So…" A brown haired boy, no more than eight years old, looking anywhere except looking straight at a brown haired girl in front of him. "...Partner?"

The girl blinked, her face was blank. "Yes, Yosuke-kun?"

Hearing his name from the girl's mouth making him whiplashing his head, staring right at the girl's eyes. "How?!"

She shrugged, unconcerned unlike the boy in front of her.

He groaned, face-palming at the situation. "...Really?" He asked, as if he was questioning the reality.

"Sorry."

"It's not your fault, Partner."

And that's how the once-a-boy-now-a-girl met the-always-a-boy in elementary school.

Hanamura Yosuke, please meet your new Partner, Narukami-Yuu-now-Kato-Nanami.

…

…

"Ah, right. Please call me Nami now, Yosuke-kun."

"Whatever you want, Partner."

When everyone met the 'new' Yuu, aka Nami, all the girls looked excited.

"Now we can dressed Yuu—I mean, Nami-chan!"

"She looks cute now!"

"Kyaa~!"

And of course, there were also some people saddened at the new version of their leader.

"Why you guys looks sad?" Someone asked. "Senpai is still Senpai, regardless of gender."

"You seems wiser than your actual age, huh."

"What was that?!"

The 'protagonist' of the group, despite still having the blank face, sighing in relief.

"...Thank you, guys."

Everyone paused.

"Don't sweat it, Partner," Yosuke grinned, throwing his hand around his Partner's shoulder from behind, giving her a quick, reassuring hug. "You are still you, after all."

"Yep, what Kanji-kun and this idiot said," Chie flipped her long hair, ignoring their remarks of 'hey!' and booped Nami's nose with her finger. "See, still the same!" She chuckles, seeing the same reaction when she booped Yuu's nose with her finger.

"Ooh, should we cook you a comfort food?" Yukiko chimed in, her short hair still looks smooth like before.

"NO!" Yosuke, Kanji and Naoto rejected the idea immediately.

"And beside, can you reach the stove with your height, Yukiko-senpai?" Naoto asked.

Yukiko paused for a moment before answering, "...No."

Everyone laughed and smiled, giving their Leader an 'it's okay, we still love you' touch.

…

…

"But, still. Where's Teddie and Marie?" Chie asked, frowning at their group.

No one answered.

"You are… Yosuke-kun, right? Can I call you that?"

The said boy blinked before answering, "Uhh, yeah. Sure, Kato-san."

Kato Tsubame, the mother of Kato Nanami, looked at him with a tired smile. "Can you give me a few minutes? I just want to talk to you a little bit if that's alright with you?"

He took a quick glance at the upstairs before looking back at the Kato's matriarch. "Sure." He said with a shrug.

And with that, the young mother brought the brown haired boy to the kitchen. After she pouring a juice for the boy and a tea for her, she took a seat.

"First of all, I want to say thank you." She says after she seated.

Yosuke blinked once again. "...come again?"

She didn't explain it straight away, but stares at her tea cup. "What I mean is," She took a deep breath before continuing. "My daughter… She's very bad at expressing her own, you see. And it becomes worse since the incident."

He frowned at the 'incident' word. Did something happen to his Partner before their meeting?

"And because of that incident, we decided to move away. And we glad. We truly glad. She met you guys, and she— she," She paused, tears pooling at her eyes but she holds them off stubbornly. "She began, I don't know, learning about emotions. She now knows how to express herself. She began demanding our attention unlike before. I— we know she's still in the process of learning but we are so, so glad."

And she began sobbing.

All he could do was staring at her dumbbously. His brain was processing everything a little bit slower than usual. And when he completed his processing, his Partner and everyone has came to the kitchen and they began yelling at him.

Except Partner, of course.

"Yosuke! You idiot! What have you done to Nami's mother!" Chie yelled and kicked him, luckily for him he dodged it.

"Senpai! How could you—!" Kanji took the personal offense and tried to punch him. Fortunately for him, he dodged it.

Suddenly, a loud clap was heard and thus destroying their attentions (and trying to kicking and hitting) from Yosuke.

"Calm down, everyone," Tsubame called with a smile, her tears has dried out. "It's not Yosuke-kun's fault. It's mine. I'm just a little bit of emotional, that's all."

"Are you sure about that, Kato-san?" Naoto asked, her Detective persona slipped in automatically and began positioning herself between the mother and him.

He knew he should have felt insulted but he didn't because he was so damn proud of his team.

...Was this what Partner feeling back then?

Tsubame chuckled. "Yes, I am." She said, reassuring everyone once again with a motherly smile.

Everyone glanced at Rise and the former Idol nodded firmly, agreeing with the mother. "She is okay, everyone." And everyone began to calm down. He can't help but snorted. As if they never tried to hit and kicking him to death in the first place.

When Tsubame hoarding them off to the upstairs once again, he took a glance behind him and saw the mother staring at the group with happiness.

…

…

"Hey, Naoto-kun. Can you find me something?"

"What is it, Yosuke-senpai?"

"Well, it's about…"

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please tell me what you think!