FeMC Scenarios [Persona 5 Royal]

YUSUKE KITAGAWA [Romance Route | Rank 9/10]

I can't say I wasn't surprised when Yusuke asked me to come with him to Mementos, of all places. He has his quirks, sure, but everything he does has a purpose—that's a constant I've come to rely on, with him. They may not always be obvious, but if you bother to look closer, his reasons become plain as day. That's one of the things I like about him. The fact that everything has a deeper meaning, a deeper purpose, with him.

I cannot help be excited to find out what it will be today.

"This place never fails to amaze me, no matter how many times we come..." He tugs at the collar of his thief outfit, facing away from me. His gaze is captured by a gated-off section that likely houses a secluded section of Mementos designated to someone who might soon grow a palace.

I wonder if we have a request on them yet—or if we might get one soon. Not that now is the time or the opportunity to head in. Not without the team, and not without a calling card—or honoring our consensus rule, either.

"Where does this passage even go?" Apparently, Yusuke's just as curious. "It feels like I'm being sucked inside merely by gazing upon it."

He turns and shoves his mask up to sit on top of his head. "So this is the heart of man..." he says in a low, thoughtful voice. Though, for some reason, it seems to break towards the end. Just a little. He's staring past me, fumbling with his mask. "It is ugly... yet beautiful as well. That duality is what makes humanity such an interesting subject..."

The more he speaks, the more I get the feeling he's beating around the actual bush, for some reason. Mementos is the rawest image of the collective human soul, mind, and... yes, heart too. That's why he wanted to come here, he said, to learn more about it.

But he still hasn't told me the actual motivation for this. If it were only about painting the human heart, he wouldn't have needed to bring me. He's strong enough to come here whenever he pleases, for artistic purposes. No—I eye him through my own mask and my heart's suddenly hammering out of my chest—there's a reason he brought me here. Me, specifically. And he's not getting out of here lest he tells me... Then and there, I swear to myself.

"A... As you know, I have been confused recently about the reason for my art. Did I want to be recognized, or did I want to capture pure beauty? Was it due to my talent, or just my upbringing?" He shakes his head and shifts away. "... Each answer would seem correct at first, yet only prove itself false upon a more in-depth examination."

I'm leaning and twisting my neck to catch sight of his hidden face when he surprises me by meeting my gaze. "Rin..."

I jerk back a little and he takes a step forward. "When my mother was painting the 'Sayuri'... I have always asked myself what she could have been thinking about. How could one feel such pure, powerful emotions that could produce a piece such as that? I suppose a part of me was jealous—a part of me thought—until I too feel emotions like she, I could never even dream of reaching her level."

Then, he takes a stance before me. There's no visible insecurity left in him, and for some reason, my chest tightens at his determined gaze.

"I see clearly now," he says, and as though he means to take my hand, stretches out his own. "So... what do you think she was thinking about when my mother painted the 'Sayuri'?"

The passionate, determined, and so incredibly certain way he asks it catches me more off-guard than the question. I swallow.

> "Her love for her son."

"The pain of separation."

"I don't know."