Chapter Text
Haru Okumura couldn’t remember her last moments before she died. For Haru, the more terrifying aspect was that she didn’t recall the exact moment. In fact, she couldn’t recall if she even died at all. She could only recall going to bed on February second and waking up almost three years in the past on the third.
Waking up would be the wrong term to describe it. Instead, Haru went to bed on February second and then snapped back into consciousness in her room. A room that reverted back to how it was before she redecorated. Three years ago.
The first thing she noticed was a lamp on the table broke two years ago. Then, a desk she knew she replaced a couple months ago. The stars that lined the bed that Ren just gave her were missing. The calendar had pictures of Persian cats instead of hummingbirds.
She thought it was a dream, it had to be a dream. Yet everything made sense, too much sense, a dream was odd, it flowed from place to place while the explanations from those places remained ludicrous. Haru rushed across her room, grabbing her phone. Directly in front of her had the date.
February third, 2014.
After the initial shock of the moment and confirming that she wasn’t dreaming, she managed to piece together her first order of business, to see her father. She wanted to see him for her own eyes, or better yet, what type of person he was.
Instead, she decided to check her phone instead, staring down at that familiar black and red eye that resided on her phone. That part wasn’t much of a surprise, she could still feel the presence of Astarte, her Persona, inside her. The more stressful part was heading inside the app.
There was no history listed, though everything seemed to work the same as before. She quickly went into the search feature, staring at the screen asking for her to input a name.
There was no use in hesitating. She had dealt with her father’s palace already, so if she catches it now, she might be able to deal with it far before it becomes a real problem. If whatever just happened actually happened, and she wasn’t in some sick dream created by the world, she could get a second chance to help fix her father. Better yet, perhaps she can do more than that, she could find her friends again and stop Shid-
“Haru?”
Haru’s eyes shot up from the screen, staring at her father standing in the doorframe. He was in one of his nicer suits, which she had last seen him wear years ago before it got stained, and he replaced it. Her heart began racing and her thoughts grew all jumbled when she laid eyes on him, somehow alive again. She didn’t know exactly the man he was at the moment. Three years ago… was he already demanding her to be the perfect heir, or was he the father she chose to remember? Was he still the man she chooses to remember over the man he became at the end?
Nonetheless, her father, against all odds, was alive. She didn’t know if she should feel excited or terrified.
“Yes father?” she managed to mutter out, noticing that the prolonged silence was making things awkward for him.
“Aren’t you getting ready? The banquet is starting in an hour,” Kunikazu Okumura asked in a neutral tone. Haru must have stared at him like a deer in the headlights before he signed. “Aren’t you planning to wear that dress you just bought?”
Something about hearing him speak again was surreal to her, to the point where she had to catch herself before she started screaming about how he was supposed to be dead… That would be crazy. All of this was crazy. She felt like she was going crazy. She turned away from her father and pinched herself just to confirm she wasn’t hallucinating.
Haru looked over at the closet, noticing the dress in question hanging there. It was nothing special, just a lavender silk dress with a black sheer over the skirt. She recalled all her middle school friends going crazy about the new collection by some famous designer she couldn’t recall at the moment. While it wasn’t anything impressive to Haru now, back then, it had been so exciting to get it.
“Oh! That banquet!” Haru clapped her hands together, her face lighting up in recognition. Three years ago, she and her father went to a banquet hosted by one of her father’s colleagues. The exact specifics about it were completely lost to her. Though, to be fair to her, it wasn’t like the exact specifics of the event ever mattered. It was a night where a lot of politicians were looking for investors to build their reputations for the next election in three years. At least, that’s how her father and Mari-san described them. If this night was the one she was remembering…Shido should be there.
“Yeah… I know you aren’t a massive fan of these types of events but…”
“No no, it’s fine!” Haru cut him off. “I was just looking at something…on my phone.” Haru began to stand up, rushing towards her dress. Her father gave her a nod and took that as a cue to walk back downstairs.
Haru looked down at the dress, gripping the soft fabric in her hands. Should she have run up to hug him? Ask him questions? No, neither would have been a good idea if she was the only one who went back in time. She should just act natural, figure out what was going on…and pinch herself again, just to be sure this wasn’t all a dream.
Haru shook the thoughts out of her head and rushed to dress herself. She grabbed her phone, wallet, and an extra lip gloss to pack in her clutch purse before coming down to meet her father. She took little time to style her hair and settled on a look with minimal makeup. She couldn’t recall if she ever wore much makeup when she was younger. She certainly owned a lot, with many gifts from her father’s colleagues and those who thought she needed to be more “presentable” for big events. It resulted in her being quite skilled with it, even if she still didn’t like to wear too much.
“When I said for you to hurry up, I didn’t mean in three minutes,” her father chuckled, surprising Haru with his calm and jovial attitude. His eyes softened when he laid eyes on her. “You look beautiful, just like your mother.”
Haru’s breath hitched for a moment. She couldn’t help but feel warm upon hearing that. Her father never mentioned her mother in the last couple years leading to his death. She had almost completely forgotten what it was like to receive a compliment like that from him or any compliment that didn’t sound manufactured or like a concealed insult. In only three years, somehow, her father had been completely corrupted, A transformation that ultimately led to his death. Or perhaps he may have hidden it better back then, but Haru quickly shook off the thought. She didn’t like thinking about her father’s death, but every time she glanced up and saw him, just standing there, she was taken back to when black blood ran from his eyes. His screams before falling to the ground still haunted her.
“Thank you,” Haru blushed. The two finished getting ready before heading to the banquet. The drive was rather quiet. She attempted to make some small talk with her father, but the words never escaped her mouth. What was fifteen-year-old Haru Okumura thinking about? Was she scared of her father, more open? Three years shouldn’t have been so long ago, yet somehow she can’t see her as the same person as before.
Haru looked over at her father again. If three years was enough to completely transform him, then perhaps it’s not a shock that she’s changed as well. Would he catch on to her change? Would he disapprove of her? The girl who awoke to a new power by betraying him. The girl who failed to save his life.
No, she shouldn’t blame herself for her father’s death. That wasn’t her fault… that belonged to…
Haru lost her train of thought, watching the car pull into the mansion. Her father’s friend was much more old money than her family, living in a mansion on the outskirts of the city. Haru quickly tried to flood her mind with the areas around her; despite the darkness of the night, the whole estate was illuminated by warm yellow lights, and Haru couldn’t help but feel jealous of the mansion, studying the older architecture as it first came into view through the car’s window.
A massive marble staircase acted as the centerpiece of the front of the mansion, dividing the area where the car dropped them off from the home of their host. Stepping out of the car, Haru watched her father offer his arm to Haru. When she was a child, she still could remember trying to reject him, stating that she was too old for such things. Right now, even if this was a dream, she wanted to take time and enjoy the moment. She locked arms with him, heading up the stairs, greeting old friends and smiling to the strangers.
It was only after thirty minutes of the banquet passed that Haru realized how little she missed days like this. The kind of people she encountered were some of her least favorites: rich folk bragging about their lavish vacations, opportunists trying to suck up to wealthy people like her father, and other braggarts who believed their wealth made them superior to those around them. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, all those years tailoring her to be perfect allowed her to be quite popular at the party. Her father was flooded with compliments about her behavior, with the other parents wishing their own children acted as mature as her.
Hearing this gave Haru a frightening sense of uneasiness as she imagined the kinds of demands these parents could eventually place on their children. If her memory served right, most of her peers who came from money acted like small adults, similar to herself.
Her father was much less pushy about her behavior, though he, too, was appreciative of how well she got along. So much so she must have been brought up in his other conversations, as another guest soon waved her over to chat.
Her father gestured to a mature-looking bald man that Haru recognized from a mile away. “This is Masayoshi Shido,” he introduced. “He’s an up-and-coming politician hoping to run for Prime Minister in the next election. He wished to speak to you as he’s trying to focus his efforts on the younger generation.” Haru rushed over and nodded politely, using all of her willpower to maintain a look of meek sincerity rather than the ire and disgust the man deserved. Shido narrowed his eyes at her before looking back up to talk to her father.
Haru recalled Sojiro mentioning that before his massive rise to power, Shido was nothing but a cocky minor politician that no one took seriously. Although listening to him talk to her father, she could see that he might have had at least some charismatic skills in these early stages of his career.
Haru listened intently as Shido talked about his future plans, sprinkling in positive policy ideas and “making a better future for the youth.” Things that, if she hadn’t known any better, would lead her to think he was endearing.
“You know, I’ve been debating getting into politics recently,” her father revealed.
“Really? Don’t you want to focus more on your company?” Shido narrowed his eyes. Watching her father’s next moves.
“Yes, that’s of course the priority. I want to secure a good future for my daughter and everyone else at Okumura Foods,” her father rephrased. “It’s mostly just an idea I’m throwing around for the future.”
“Well if you want, I would love to talk more about that. Perhaps I can give you some pointers as a seasonal veteran,” Shido suggested.
“You are?” Haru interjected, locking eyes with Shido. Shido looked down at her with mild surprise before smiling at her.
“Of course! I’m a current diet member, and I used to be an assemblyman,” Shido explained, taking the opportunity to toot his own horn just a little bit more. Haru was tempted to inform him that his all-to-average resume was supposed to be targeted at her father and not her. Instead, she settled this as an opportunity to make an attempt to shoot down his ever-growing ego.
“Oh, I never heard of you,” Haru commented. She blinked twice to add extra innocence to the statement, slowly watching as the man lost his cool and tried his best to keep it to himself. She could take solace in knowing that at least Shido was the same no matter what time or world she was placed in. It was almost endearing, knowing he was nothing but a puppet: someone who only got what he wanted because someone else was pulling strings. He was a man quick to anger, cocky, rude, and cruel. The only way he got anywhere is by a literal god manipulating the scenes to get him in the right spot. While it was far from the nicest aspect of the world, it was something she was used to. She needed all of the familiarity she could get in this situation.
She couldn’t be sure what level he was at, though she had to assume he wasn’t too far, with him begging her father for money and all. Haru put on the most innocent face she could as she continued to ask questions about Shido’s credibility and his history in politics. It was a petty taunt at best. It wasn’t like Shido could afford to lose his cool in front of her father, after all. If he did, it would help get him as far away from Shido as possible, so either situation would be a win for her.
“Now now, I’m sure Shido-san is a very busy man, it’s best to let him go for now,” her father finally put an end to her questioning. Shido looked four seconds away from risking it all to yell at a child, and Haru was hoping to push those final buttons, but oh well, perhaps next time. Haru watched Shido spin his heels and walk as far away from her as possible while her father began asking, “I never expected you to be so interested in politics, Haru.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m interested in getting into it, but you said you wanted to go into it yourself, so I wanted to learn,” Haru explained.
“I guess I did, though like I told Shido, it’s just some passing thoughts,” her father laughed. Haru mirrored his laugh, a slight shiver coming down her spine as she felt an odd feeling of someone watching her. She brushed it off, choosing to explain it away by her nerves.
The two continued through the night, Haru enjoying her father’s company as he admits that he, too, is getting really annoyed at listening to other people’s vacations. Haru suggested that they could come up with a fake vacation to astonish everyone, a scheme her father seemed quite excited to create with her. She recalled her father telling her stories about how he slowly grew his company and got acquainted with all the rich folk. The memories of her father truly began to flood in, of her father coming home to jokingly complain about the people he had to deal with. Telling Haru some of the insane things his colleagues did as bedtime stories.
The two began to weave a story of how one of her father’s British friends invited them to test out a new attraction in Europe, but omitting just enough details to send the other guests into a frenzy about how they had no knowledge of this fantastic spot that they were describing. They did have the advantage, her father reminding her that Okumura Foods recently opened up its first overseas location, creating the perfect setup.
It was starting to become an enjoyable night, in spite of how it started out. The little scheme she and her father were pulling added a nice bit of levity to her situation. It helped that, from the small bits of laughter she heard around the banquet hall, some of the more intelligent guests also found it amusing. It made Haru realize that even if the majority of the elite were nothing more than power-hungry showoffs, many others were still human and enjoyed breaks from the standard routine.
It became night where, even if this was a dream, she was happy to have it. Even if she had to wake up back three years later, she would cherish the memories of this night, for she had been given an opportunity to spend time with her father again. Her actual father.
Her only fear at the moment was if she woke up, once she woke up, she would forget it all.
She had almost completely forgotten about Shido until the end of the night when she spotted him head down the marble stairs.
Her father excused himself a few minutes prior, stating he wanted to say goodbye to a friend before they left, leaving her alone and waving goodnight to those whom she had met, the majority of their faces blurring together as she muttered repeated pleasantries she was trained to do. Shido didn’t pay her any mind aside from giving her a minor side eye that Haru matched with a light smile. She could feel Astarte laugh for her, enjoying any minor suffering she might have caused him.
Unfortunately, any semblance of enjoyment disappeared when she saw a familiar figure slip out of the shadows, standing right at the edge of the landing.
He was in a standard black suit, which she could assume was either a rental or stolen, with a small briefcase with a painted letter “A” circled around it in his hand.
Goro Akechi, another person that she could never forget, even if she wanted to.
While she was initially surprised to see him there, the more she thought about it, the more his appearance made sense. He could’ve easily slipped in by matching the behaviors of those around him or simply blending in with the shadows. His presence even explained the laughter in response to her scheme, as he was obviously smart enough to pick apart the truth from the lies and see her and her father’s intent with that story. It even helped justify the unsettling feelings of being watched she felt throughout the night. It all linked back to Akechi.
Haru narrowed her eyes at him after it all fell into place. For whatever reason, he wasn’t following Shido, instead opting to watch him as he left. Shido stopped in the middle of the stairs to take a call, and Akechi’s grip tightened around the suitcase.
The sight instantly had Haru’s mind kicking into overdrive. Akechi was obviously up to no good and planning something, but what? What could she do to stop him? She was perhaps five meters away from him, too far to approach him naturally, especially as she had no reason to talk to him. Shido was getting increasingly more frustrated by his phone call, muttering curses and losing semblance of his former persona, enough so that both she and Akechi were groaning at how he blew his nice guy act so easily.
Haru had to give props to Yaldabaoh where it’s due by somehow turning this man into one of Japan’s most respected. He was probably working overtime even at this moment.
As much as she wanted to indulge in Shido’s failures as a human being, she couldn’t afford to focus on that right now. This night. Why did she go back in time to this night? Why did Shido seem so powerless when she spoke to him? A man who can kill his enemies with a mental shutdown shouldn’t be begging for money and friendship from someone like her father. Akechi was watching Shido this whole time. He appeared stressed about something; he looked so young, lacking the confidence that he undeniably gained later on. It was quite easy to put together.
This could be the night that Goro Akechi first approached Shido.
Akechi was probably waiting for Shido to finish his phone call before he was to walk down the stairs and set himself on a path that would cause his death. An action that would set the course for her own father’s death.
Her father returned, his voice muffled as it attempted to pierce the haze of Haru’s overactive mind. After a wave to her face, Haru turned to him, temporarily snapping her attention away from Akechi.
She didn’t know what to do, and she could tell her father sensed her unease.
“Haru, are you alright? We’re heading home soon if you’re tired,” he said as he tried to comfort her. Haru tried to mutter something, her eyes going back to Akechi, Shido was saying his goodbyes on the phone call. She could swear his voice was deafening despite how far he was. She could hear Astarte whisper to her. A reminder.
Don’t you forget who you ar e…
Haru snapped back to reality, turning to her father while still keeping an eye on Akechi. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Haru tried to laugh. “I’ve been spacing out, I should have slept longer last night.” She reached into her bag, pulled out her lip gloss, and quickly reapplied it in front of him. “I’m so sorry for zoning out like that…”
A quick flick of her wrist was all she needed to do. It was a simple plan, one formulated in the spur of the moment as she recklessly tried to change the future. By all accounts, it shouldn’t have worked, but it did.
“Oh!” she exclaimed as she watched the small tube roll across the marble floor. Her father perked up in surprise as he watched the initially unassuming lip gloss slip from his daughter’s fingers. Haru watched as it rolled unassumingly toward its target, with her father only realizing what it was about to do when it was too late.
Akechi didn’t seem to notice the incoming projectile, too interested in trying to gather Shido’s attention as he headed down the stairs
Haru put a hand to her mouth as they both watched in almost slow motion. Akechi’s eyes widened as he felt his foot catch on something small and round, causing him to lose his balance and fall face-first down the stairs.
The rest of the world froze as everyone’s attention was drawn to the young boy tumbling down the steps before landing in a heap. Nobody moved for the next few seconds, staring at Akechi and hoping he would pick himself up. Guilt ran through Haru’s mind as she hoped against hope that he would get back up, simply being too embarrassed to try talking to Shido. The alternative was too scary.
A few more seconds went by.
A couple, whom Haru recalled directed the TV station, ran over to check. The man shouted to clear the way that his wife was a doctor.
Shido was muttering something. Her father was giving him a dirty look.
Haru just continued to watch in fear as her father called out that there was an accident.
The woman exclaimed that he was unconscious.
Everyone started shouting things.
Her father asked where the kid’s parents were and for them to step forward.
Haru knew no one ever would.