What if Nanako was the protagonist and Yu was the Justice social link? I died of cute overload. This had to be written. Even though it's a retelling of the scene from Junes, I hope the switch in main character and social link comes through. It's a one shot, though I'm writing "Just Like Heaven" as well, to see Nanako fight using personas. Again, it'll be a retelling, but with at switch in characters. Anyone want to read that? Let me know.

Monday, May 2nd. Raining.

The ringing of the Narukami home telephone interrupted a delicious fried chicken dinner between Nanako Dojima and her little cousin, Yu. Her uncle hadn't come home yet, which was par for the course for him. The seven-year-old boy across the table gave glowing reviews to the food, and she knew he was excited about tomorrow. Not only was it Golden Week, but his father had promised they would enjoy the festivities together. She couldn't help but smile at his giddiness. He always acted older than he needed to due to his father's work, so this chance to simply be a kid without any worries was in itself...golden.

"Maybe it's daddy!" He ran to the phone, standing on his tip toes to reach it, and answered. Yu was pretty small for a kid his age.

Nanako continued to eat through the light conversation, though her curiosity peaked when Yu's voice dipped to a more sedate tone. She'd made the same sound of disappointment too many times in her life to mistaken it for anything else. It didn't help that her uncle had a track record of disappointing his son, even if it wasn't intentional. Yu stayed at home by himself too much.

"I understand," he walked the phone lethargically over to his cousin. "Daddy said he wanted to talk to you."

She took it, feeling her heart drop as Yu ran up the stairs to his room. She already knew what to expect. "Hello?"

"Hey there," Ryotaro Narukami's voice answered sadly. "Sorry, but I'm going to be working late tonight. Feel free to lock the door and hit the sack if you want."

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh, and...about us taking off the 4th and the 5th..." Ryotaro sighed. "One of our rookie detectives got pretty sick, and it doesn't look like the case he was working on will wait 'till he gets back, so I'm stuck filling in." His tone mimicked one who's just issued a regrettable judgment.

She could hear the click of keyboard keys subtly in the background amid muted phones demanding attention. She didn't doubt his regret, but she knew Yu had spent the last couple of nights hardly able to sleep from excitement.

"I'm sorry to cancel like this. If you could watch over Yu for me, I'd really appreciate it."

She bit her lip, wanting to tell him to own up to his promise, but she didn't have enough courage to face her uncle like that. He was a hard-boiled detective bearing heavy secrets she knew nothing about. Aggravating him might make the situation worse. Better to keep her mouth shut. "Yeah, of course."

"Thanks." The call ended.

Nanako listened to the monotone beep of the phone telling its user it needed to be put back on the hook, and stared at the abandoned dinner plate and empty seat cushion. She looked to the stairs.

Once again, Yu's little heart would be broken.

"Good mornin'!" Chie saluted as soon as the front door to the Narukami home slid open.

"Chie?" Nanako blinked. She hadn't expected anyone to come over. Living alone for so long had taught her not to expect random acts of company, though her new friends were chipping away at her programming. Each one of them made her question more about who she really was, and what she'd been missing out on. Plus, she was still in her pink and white bunny pajamas, and her hair was tied in a messy bun. There was no way she'd be seen in public dressed like this.

"So, are you free today? 'Cause if you are, you wanna hang with us? Yukiko will be there," her voice slid into an obligatory eye-rolling tone. "And if we have to, we can invite Yosuke, too."

Nanako sighed. "Sorry, but I can't today." It was supposed to be a lazy day in with her little cousin, after all, since their plans for Golden Week dissolved the night before.

The sound of small feet padding against the floor drew Chie's attention. She peered past her friend to see into the house, spotting the slim silver-haired boy in a long grey baseball shirt and dark grey pajama pants watching them near the stairs. His odd hair and eye color were completely out of the norm, but for this little guy, it made him completely adorable. "Hm? Oh," she smiled and leaned down to be more at his eye level. "You must be Yu. Whadaya say, you wanna join us?"

Yu bit his lip, staying back. He'd always been taught to steer clear of strangers, though the small smile on his cousin's face and the assurance that it would be fun put him at ease. "You sure it's ok?" he ventured.

"'Course it is!" Chie's smile remained. "And you'll have a great time."

Any butterflies in Yu's stomach vanished. He liked this girl. She seemed nice, and his older cousin approved. He nodded and giggled.

"Can we go now?"

Yu hurried to put on his shoes as Nanako went upstairs to get dressed, and left holding his cousin's hand all the way.

"Tada!" Yosuke slapped a plate of meat onto the white, round metal table in front of the little boy. "One giant steak!"

The cut was bigger than Yu's head, and it smelled spiced and delicious. "Wow! It looks yummy!"

Chie swiped the silver wear from Yosuke's hand with a growl. "My god, you're slow!" She offered it to their small guest, bearing the smile of a good hostess. "Here. Dig in, Yu. Eat it all up."

Yu thanked her politely. He couldn't wait to start eating. He hadn't had lunch yet that day, and his stomach grumbled quietly.

"You may have to chew it a lot," Yukiko stated. "They don't have the best quality steak here."

Yosuke balked. "Awe, come on. At least don't say that stuff while I'm standing right here." He flopped down in one of the mass-produced tin chairs that decorated matching tables around the court and sloppily pulled off the apron.

"Are you through with work now?" Nanako asked, taking a bite of her own steak. Sadly, Yukiko was right, but considering the pained reaction her taller friend had to Yukiko's truth, she let it be.

"Nah, I'm just on a break," He sighed and glanced around the busy rooftop. "But seriously, why are you guys wasting your whole Golden Week hanging out here at the Junes food court?"

"There's no where else to go," Chie stated, like he should know better.

"But what about Yu?" Yosuke frowned. "You bring him here? Of all the places you could take him?"

"Yeah," Yukiko's sad sigh slipped through the group, as if she were too depressed to eat the mediocre food. "I feel so bad for him."

"You know, there are worse places on earth," Yosuke tried to defend his father's livelihood, though it was quickly a loosing battle. That is until Yu perked up when the Junes jingle played over the loudspeakers.

"Every day's great at your Junes!" He sang along, rocking back and forth gleefully in the seat. "I love Junes!" He laughed.

Yosuke's heart soared. He'd been saved! "And I love Yu!" This little boy quickly made it to the top of his 'favorite persons' list in 4.5 seconds.

"The only thing missing is the picnic. We're supposed to have a picnic basket today," Yu carved a slice of steak out and chewed on it. The tall, beautiful girl in red was right, but he didn't care. He was at Junes!

"A picnic?" Yukiko leaned forward through Yosuke's aura of love and exultation. "Were you going to make the picnic?"

Yu shook his head and turned a knowing smile to his older cousin.

Nanako froze midway through a bite of steak when all eyes at the table turned to her.

"So," Yosuke sat up, impressed that the new, cute, transfer student had made such lofty plans. "You were going to make a mean picnic basket, huh?"

She smirked. "Yeah. Just for fun."

Chie leaned on one hand, grinning along. "Really? That's cool you were going to make a picnic for the whole family." Her smile widened through a wheedling tone. "Big sis."

Yu looked up at Nanako from his plate of steak and blinked. "...Big sis?" He'd never had a sibling. Was this what they did? Is this what it felt like to be part of a family like that?

"Seriously," Yosuke added with a light heart. "I think the fact that you were going to do that is totally impressive. It means you've already got better cooking skills than Chie." He laughed.

"Wait a sec!" Chie brandished her fork and knife threateningly. "What the hell makes you think I don't know how to cook, huh?!"

"Wait," Yukiko turned a genuinely confused expression to her life-long friend. "So you can?"

Nanako joined her shock, pausing through a cut of meat. "You can cook?"

Chie was not amused. Her teeth grit in pure determination. Oh, it was on! "Ok, it's a cook off between you and me!" She pointed accusingly at Yosuke.

He met her challenge with a smug grin. "Ok, bring it on."

She froze. She hadn't expected him –a guy—to so readily man up to the task. All she thought he could do was microwave cups of noodles. Now she couldn't back down. Crap, how was she going to get out of this? He wasn't supposed to call her on her bluff! The nerve of that guy!

"We'll need an impartial person to be our judge." He grinned at the little boy slurping down a soft drink clutched in both hands. "That's you, Yu."

He looked up, confused. "Huh?" Wait, what was he being dragged into? He hadn't been paying much attention. The food was good, and the jingle had played again while the big kids were talking. He kicked his feet beneath the table.

"Am I competing to?" Yukiko asked.

"I'm pretty good," Yosuke bragged. "I might even whip up something better than your own mom's cooking," He added a laugh to keep the mood light.

Nanako's hand froze. She glanced up from her food, locking her eyes on Yu.

The little silver-haired boy played with the red straw in his cup. "Probably. I don't have a mom," he said it like reporting the news. "She died in an accident." He sipped more of the lime-flavored fizzy liquid.

Everyone's mood crashed. They all felt like they needed to bury their heads in the sand.

"Mm," Yosuke stammered, feeling like a first class moron. "I didn't know. Um..." He shut his eyes in regret. "Sorry."

"Why?" The small boy set the cup down and smiled slightly. He didn't want them to be upset. "I do just fine. I don't have a mommy, but I still have my daddy around, and," he blushed slightly. The next words made him feel good, included, and complete. "I have a big sister."

Nanako stared at her little cousin in disbelief. Had she really become that important to him? She'd be happy to take on that mantle if it meant seeing Yu smile and be a kid.

Yu wrapped his hands around the cup. "Plus, I got to visit Junes today." He looked up with a broad smile. "And it's really fun!"

This child had suffered a horrible ordeal none of them wanted to imagine, yet he faced it with a free spirit. No matter how much their parents irritated them, the thought of losing one or both forced them to appreciate what they had. No one at that table felt they could be as strong as little Yu Narukami.

The metal chair legs screech along the cement as Yosuke and Chie burst up from their seats.

"Whenever you want someone to play with you, Yu, just let us know! We'll be there!" Chie offered her time like a fine gift she was happy to impart.

"Yeah, just ask us," Yukiko chimed in.

Yu nodded. "Ok, thanks." His cousin's friends were so nice. He went back to slurping the soda and playfully kicking his feet beneath the tall chair.

Nanako's smile warmed at her friends' instant adoption of her cousin, and her new title of 'Big Sis.' Without doing much, that little kid earned a place in each of their hearts. They would do whatever it took to keep him smiling.

And so would she. No matter what happened.

Next Scent: It's Just Like Heaven.

Maybe. Here's a spoiler...

Nanako and her friends barreled through an arctic-white fog. Their shoes clicked against clean marble floors etched with blue and gold elaborate designs, and pillars of stone arched above them. Most bore draping ivy from hanging gardens that emitted an enticing smell of sweet flowers.

"What is this place. It looks like some storybook version of Heaven." Yukiko took in the castle entrance leading to a great, bright white courtyard. The similarity to her own wasn't lost on her at all.

Mom? Where are you? They all stopped at Yu's pleading voice surrounding them. "Why did you go? Why didn't you take me with you?"

Nanako adjusted her glasses to try to see more through the fog in her peripheral.

"Right," Yosuke's heart broke. "Heaven. Well that explains it."

She lowered her hand to stare at the slim beaded ring the little boy had made for her. He'd said it was because girls like jewelry, and that his teacher had said it would protect the one wearing it. He'd wanted to keep her safe. It should be the other way around. Nanako had to protect him, and the one time he needed her, she'd been unable to get there in time. All of her power as the Wild Card, and she'd failed.

"Yu." Her breath caught in her throat as anger swelled in her core. She wanted to hurt the one who'd taken her precious little brother. Namatame would feel her wrath.

"Look! Up there!" Yukiko pointed to two figures moving up a wide flight of stairs. The tall man dragged the small boy behind by the wrist.

"Yu!" Nanako yelled.

"Namatame!" Naoto cried out to stop him.

"That bastard!" Kanji cursed. He ran with the group hard after the kidnapper.

Namatame hauled his capture up the stairs and trapped him with one arm. "Did you follow me here?!" He scowled down at his pursuers. How dare they intervene.

"Yu!" Nanako reached the middle of the stairs at the head of the group.

The little boy turned tired silver eyes toward her familiar voice. His head pounded from a headache and his body was sore from being sick and forced through a strange place, but he couldn't see anything through the fog. What was going on? The tremble in his his voice betrayed his fear. "Big sis..."

"So then, you're Taro Namatame," Naoto glared from behind her friend.

"Who are you?" His eyes widened in sudden recollection. His crazed laughter shot barbs through him with its false victory. "You're the ones I've already saved!"

Kanji couldn't believe the bullshit spewing from this madman. "You what? You saved us?"

Yukiko clutched her hand near her heart, angered. "You honestly think that?"

Namatame's feral grin of delusion creased even deeper as he stroked the little boy's mop of silver hair. "Yes, and now I'll save this child."

Yu scrunched his eyes shut at the contact and whimpered. This man made him feel anything but safe. Lemme go! He thought, though he could hardly find the strength to walk, let alone cry. Big sis...help!

"Get your hands off him!" Nanako screamed her demand. She'd have turned it into a hundred razor-sharp katanas if she could. "Yu doesn't need your help!"