#another that's found yusuke's weakness

[thuganomxcs]

dirty teasing meme / accepting / @vartouhix​

[ LAP ] ― my muse sits on your muses’ lap and teases them

Why…WHY?!? ‘Mmmh y’ know alien ass feels just as good as hum- NO don’t think about it you freakin’ idiot she can read your mind.’ The young man continues to berate himself within his own head as she simply made herself comfortable atop of him. No context, no purpose she was just on his lips, arms over his shoulders and it all seemed so sensual as well. DAMMIT, he was always used to being the one leading the charge of a perverted attack that now that he was the recipient he…doesn’t know what to do. ‘Fuck..if I don’t say anything..she’ll think I’m just wimping out.’ He thought once more.

“......” Nothing, he couldn’t say a single thing as brown doe eyes looked at her as though he was in a trance. ‘Say somethin’ dumbass!!!..say ANY word right now!!’ He thought to himself once more but HOW could he?! God she was so freaking hot and her she was teasing the living hell out of him and Yusuke couldn’t even say a word. Though he did make a few pleasing hums here and there. “Dirty..trick.”

[hypogryffin]

TELL US ABOUT THE PRINCESS KNIGHT AU PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PL

ok sorry its been like two months but anyways lets talk abt the princess/knight au!!!

haru is a princess, specifically the only heir to king kunikazu. yusuke is sort of a knight, but it's more that he's haru's personal bodyguard!

his mother was a court painter. she was pretty physically weak and fell ill a lot, and after she had yusuke, she realised that, while her and her family were able to live with the royal family for now due to her work, if and when her sickness claims her, her son would no longer be welcome in the castle. since she was all the family yusuke had, that would mean hed likely live the rest of his life on the streets, and as a young child, he wouldnt have the means to make that rest of his life a very long one.

so she made a deal with the king, haru's father, and it was decided he would grow up as harus retainer.

[image ID slash written text for those who cant read my handwriting (😔):

(servant, holding a 1 year old haru in their arms): do you see him, princess? [a shot of a small baby sleeping] his name is yusuke. from now on, his job will be to protect you.

a note next to the drawing of baby haru reads "yusuke is a year younger than haru, as in canon, but it was decided very early on in his life that he would be haru's personal guard!"

a drawing of a young yusuke and haru with another note that says "he began learning how to wield a sword and bow basically as soon as he was physically able, but until he was learned enough to protect haru, he just acted sort of as an escort to her {while a retinue guarded both of them}"

end id.]

its a good thing it was decided so early, too: yusukes mother succumbed to illness before yusuke was even three years old. (he has no memory of her. haru doesnt either, but she DOES remember the funeral that was held.)

(one of the last pieces yusukes mother ever painted was of a young haru holding a baby, a man who would one day become her guard. it became a pretty significant piece for the okumura kingdom for a while, actually: it was used to mean "serve the royal family and it shall serve you, in turn". its hung up on the stairwell into the castle guards' quarters.)

anyway, so yusuke and haru grew up together. they were paired so early on into their lives that neither of them have any memory of a time without each other: for all it matters to them, they were born hand-in-hand with their roles set in place.

they were very close as children, especially before yusuke was considered sufficiently trained in his weapons. it was very common for them to walk around the castle holding hands, and they barely ever separated, only ever doing so for things like sleep or bathing, or lessons-- though the last of those wasnt always true. yusuke would have lessons alongside haru in things like etiquette, of course, but could also be found in the room for things such as history, or her music lessons. likewise, haru would watch yusuke train, though she wasnt allowed to wield a sword or bow herself and could only cheer him on.

(not until they were a bit older, when yusuke taught her how to fight with a sword himself. even then, they used wooden swords, so that haru wouldnt get hurt.)

yusuke was the only boy other than the king himself allowed in harus bedroom, since the only others given access were the handmaids responsible for things like cleaning her room, dressing or bathing her, et cetera. he used to enter as he pleased as such, and only got into the practice of properly knocking and announcing his presence as they got older. hes all-together almost completely stopped actually going into her room, opting instead to stand at her door until she leaves, herself.

as they grew up, they were steadily more and more discouraged from being as physically affectionate as they were as children. yusuke was punished for doing things like holding her hand if they were seen, and was taught to instead be a silent presence to her side or two paces behind her, seen and not heard, the way a "guard" ought to be. at the same time, harus etiquette lessons taught her the necessary decorum to be a princess and one day a queen, and there was no room for a friendship with a retainer, even if it was yusuke. though they care for each other just as much as when they were children, perhaps even more devoted, youd be fair to miss it, since neither of them are able to be open with each other anymore.

(yusukes still slightly more touchy-feely than whats probably expected of a guard. its not really physical affection in the same way, but he'll do things like brush dust or pluck lint off of haru's dresses himself or adjust her hair or jewelry or clothes-- of course, only to make sure her highness looks her best, so its forgiven to the outside observer, but still something technically not of his station.)

haru is a lot different that she was when they were children. proper etiquette is extensive, obviously, and the young girl that was considered the country's daughter, kind and open whenever seen in processions, has long since been stripped for parts. her public face has matured quite a bit by necessity, though her kindness and permanent smile remains-- it's simply that it's more of a part she plays, at this point, any of her natural disposition worn to steel, as a certain amount of control is necessary for a woman of her station.

she doesnt regret the person shes become, even if somewhat conniving-- after all, she needs a certain amount of cunning to keep her head above water in the political scene. or its more that she's not able to regret it, as she's never had any other option than to become as jaded as she is today.

still, it's hard not to yearn for the old days, when they were innocent children. shes not quite aware of it, herself, but she certainly misses yusuke, her friend. its just hard to figure that out when to this day, yusuke, her guard, remains as staunchly by her side as her best friend always has.

when i made the initial drawings for the princess/knight au, i wrote the beginning of a short story of a yusuke pov that i unfortunately must have tossed it because i dont have it anymore, but his character is defined by his devotion. hes never known anything other than being haru's, after all, and considers everything he does a labour of love for her. every moment he spends training is for her, every injury for her sake, every callous a simple, unavoidable byproduct of his servitude. he keeps the posture he learned in his etiquette classes even in private, because erring once is to live with the knowledge of his erring forever, and more than that, risking forming the habit of being anything less than the perfect knight for his lady is something he can't bear the thought of.

luckily, there isnt much danger living in the castle, so yusuke only trains as ardently as he does as precaution for the most part, but there was one incident in which the castle was attacked by royal detractors. haru wasnt actively targeted, being only 8 years old at the time, but there was a spot of trouble where he had to protect her. yusuke, being 7, wasnt fully learned in his swordsmanship yet, and sustained a few scars, including but not limited to one on his eyebrow he hides behind his hair, but considers himself barely harmed, especially considering that that was the incident that took many other castle guards' lives, as well as the life of the queen, haru's mother.

king kunikazu and the kingdom at large is currently pretty uneasy due to a war brewing just a bit away; neither the kingdom nor any of its current allies are being actively threatened, but its one of already many due to one kingdom's ancient rome-esque conquering of a path of smaller countries, and the "okumura" kingdom looks as if it will be on the warpath sooner or later. due to this, the kingdom's engaged with an alliance with a comparatively smaller kingdom that it neighbours. the alliance is going to be officiated with a marriage: haru is kunikazu's only heir, but due to some societal stuff, as a woman she's considered unfit to rule as a monarch. so, she's now to be married with one of the sons of said neighbouring kingdom, who will act as ruler with her at his side:

akira is the son of the king and technically an eligible heir to the kurusu kingdom, but due to his place as the 4th son, he's not a crown prince/not considered to be in line for the throne-- or at least, not to his home nation, as he's now set to be the king of the okumura kingdom.

he seems to be of the same mind as haru: uninterested in her in a romantic sense, but has accepted the marriage for the sake of his country. however, he also seems completely uninterested-- or perhaps actively against-- the prospect of being king, not of his own country and not of the okumura kingdom. it seems that hes grown up acting as more of a free spirit; hes pretty crafty, and has a reputation amongst his own retinue for always managing to sneak off, running away as soon as hes left unattended by his father or instructors, or disappearing overnight (much to the grief and distress of his caretakers), though he's always returned, apparently rather aware of his own limits, or at least capable of getting himself out of whatever trouble he ends up getting into, without drawing the ire of either the common people or his father, the king.

because of his nature, he either sees himself as unfit for king, or merely feels stifled by the idea of the position, and in private talks has disclosed to haru that hed much rather her take her (in his words) rightful place as the queen and head of the nation, and is more than alright with her being the brains/power of the operation, even if in the end it has to be him giving speeches when necessary.

however, while disliking the idea of being a king in general, and also disinterested in haru as anything more than a confidant (having also privately disclosed to her that he does have his eye on someone), he seems attached to the arrangement of this marriage, for “some unknown reason”.

((thats right baby its ALSO a kitashu au get fucked))

akira and haru are officially engaged at the time of the story, and are in the midst of planning for the wedding! they tentatively become friends, since theyre both kind of stuck with each other presumably for the rest of their lives. hes seemingly made a goal to make haru let her guard down, and has even convinced her at some point to sneak out of the castle with him (at a point where he and his father were visiting) to explore the surrounding town without their retinues-- something that gave yusuke specifically about 7 heart attacks, as its something harus never done before.

oh yeah, and by the way, yusuke fucking hates akira.

haru really liked seeing the town without her guards, and without having to put on the air of princess. it was freeing to act as a commoner, and the first time shes been able to strip herself of her etiquette-- something she cant do around anyone in the castle, not even yusuke, at least not to the extent she has to to blend in with the townspeople. she liked it so much that it becomes a regular thing whenever akira is at the castle and not in his own country.

some of harus caretakers have noticed her disappearances, including yusuke, who is at her side in almost every waking moment: he greets her in the morning to escort her to breakfast and brings her to her room at night. when hes not standing at her side, hes guarding the room shes in, and only leaves her when its time for him to turn in for the night, as well. obviously hes noticed this sudden habit of disappearing, and more than that, HES the one who ends up tasked with discouraging harus maids from disclosing this to king kunikazu, since haru isnt aware theyve figured her out, and their social standing disallows them from discussing it with her themselves. haru asked yusuke to keep her and akira's outings a secret from her father when he confronted her after the first time, so its his duty to make sure its a secret.

its not that yusuke resents akira for giving him more work-- hes more than happy to do something as trivial as this for haru, his princess, but its more that this means yusukes forced to be idle while distinctly aware that haru, who hes spent his entire life protecting and caring for, is off somewhere unknown, could be in danger or could be physically harmed, and hes not only none the wiser but also complicit, by allowing her to do this. though he cant ask her to stop, because its clear haru is happier with these momentary escapes. its a miserable position to be in, and he fully blames akira for being the one to put him there

(and resents him for the fact that akira is an outsider and a newcomer. despite this, its clear that hes doing something for haru that yusuke hasnt been able to, not since they started growing up. hes making her happy, and comfortable.

its anxiety over harus safety, and an intense, burning jealousy that hes not really able to identify in the same way)

[text id:

yusuke looking angry as he says "my lady's happiness is of the utmost importance to me. it is for this reason alone that i will allow these escapades to go on, without reporting them to the king or your father." "this marriage will be essential to this country's future, and i have no intention of interfering in your relationship with your fiancée, even considering my role as her loyal servant."

the second drawing reveals him to have cornered akira, seemingly pinning him to a wall, as he continues "however, if i find you to ever, ever put the princess's life in danger, then this country as well as your own be damned, i will strike you down myself, and i swear on my life to make your death ten thousand times as painful as whatever harm you have caused to her highness. do you understand, my lord?"

akira is blushing heavily, knees cowed slightly. he stutters out a "uh. uh-huh" like he's in a trance. an arrow points to him with a note that reads "his gay ass is NOT listening!"

end id]

for some actual story…

during a banquet held in celebration of akira and haru's engagement, king kunikazu suddenly collapsed and lost his life in that room. it was discovered that the cup he was drinking from was poisoned.

no one has any idea who assassinated the king-- it could very well be some of the many citizens that disliked the king's rather strict policies. the taxes are high, and punishment for crimes tend to be much stricter than in other countries. however, a common rumour among many of the townsfolk is that it was the world of the neighbouring kingdom: a ploy to get prince akira in power in order to take over the nation and subsume it as part of the kurusus' country.

regardless of whether or not that has any merit or is simply baseless rumour, the wedding has been temporarily postponed so that the country-- and haru-- may focus on the investigation. akira, at the least, seems more than willing to help. if it really the scheme of his nation, or of his father, he seems both unaware and unwilling to be a part of it, offering every aid he can to haru, even if it ends up only effectively being an open ear.

yusuke remains by her side, as he always had and as he always will-- perhaps a bit more protective of her, somehow, but the entire castle is on edge, so its not as if thats unexpected. as a knight, a simple extension of his lady's will, he cant do much for her to solve her problems, not possessing the intelligence to solve the case of her father's murder, the political knowhow to aide her and her fathers advisor who's acting as regent pro tempore in ruling, nor a magical ability to bring king kunikazu, someone who he had come to see as his own father in some form, himself, back from the land of the dead. still, he is harus humble servant, and devoted to her above all else, and whatever his lady needs, he will do his best to provide.

the story is about the political aspect of haru and akiras ascension to ruling and of trying to find a culprit, but also about the relationship between the three of them: akira getting closer to both of them, and yusuke and haru reconnecting. :)

[milaisreading]

🌱🩷: 9th story of the Christmas special... I was a little too silly goofy here...

Pairings: Oliver Aiku x Isagi's sister!Yn (Post-Blue Lock tl)

Warnings: Reader uses she/her. Angst...

⚽️Blue Lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura ⚽️

🎄Dec 18th🎄

'Finally back home.' Oliver smiled as he walked down the familiar streets of Tokyo, specifically one of the wards, Shinagawa. Oliver expected nothing less than a cold day, since it was December 20th already. He returned from Italy the night before, and after a good night of rest, the pro-player decided to explore the capital. Everything was in festive mood, and Oliver couldn't help but be in awe with the decorations. It was nearly as good as the ones he saw in Italy, but these ones had a more personal touch to them. During his walk, he did get recognized by some fans and took pictures with them.

Oliver chuckled as he remembered a few of the girls trying to flirt with him. While he did flirt back, he couldn't help but feel nothing while doing so.

"They seem... pretty happy." Oliver muttered and stopped when he noticed a couple a few meters away, laughing and carrying some presents. Oliver's smile turned into a frown as a familiar heartache hit him... for the 5th time that month.

'Is she single? Or did she find someone else?' Oliver gulped and shook his head when the last thought hit him. He doesn't expect (Y/n) to stay single forever, or wait for him... but her being with someone else did sadden him.

'I made my own bed. It's what I get for what I did all those years ago.' Oliver took a deep breath and went to look for a café, trying to forget about her.

'(Y/n)... I wonder how she is doing? Does she ever think of me.'

🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️

Years prior...

"I hate you! I hate that I even trusted you!" (Y/n) sobbed as Oliver flinched at her sobs and tried to move closer to her, but she recoiled and glared at him.

"Is... is it so hard to just love me? And stay faithful?"

Oliver said nothing, too ashamed to really say anything.

'What am I supposed to even say? Sorry you found me kissing another girl?' Oliver flinched as he watched her wipe a few tears away. He really didn't mean any of this. He wanted to make her happy, unlike last time. But it looks like he made this worse than last time.

"Do... do you hate me so much that you can't break up properly?"

"I don't hate you!" Oliver yelled back, but the glare she sent him was enough to shut him up.

"Really? The first time you broke up with me was over text, in the most dry way possible. And now, now you do this! You could have just told me that you can't do long distance!"

"(Y/n), I really do love you! I am sorry, I was weak for a moment and I couldn't help it."

She rolled her eyes and went to pick up the suitcase that was left on the floor.

"Where are you going?" Oliver gulped, walking after her.

"Please-"

"I am over this. You are a unreliable jerk, who can't be loyal to someone for 4 months?! And as to where I am going, it's none of your business. I am not your worry anymore."

She glared at him and was about to leave the apartment, but Oliver grabbed her shoulder.

"Of course you are my worry. I love you and-"

"No, you don't!" (Y/n) yelled back, moving out of his grip. Oliver moved away, both afraid of her rage and sad by the disdain she held in her eyes.

'Last time we saw each other, it was love.' Oliver recalled. (Y/n) took a deep breath and spoke up again.

"You don't hurt the people you love. If you dare to even follow me, I will scream. Got it?"

Oliver gulped and nodded his head as she put on her shoes.

"Goodbye, Aiku. Feel free to have as much fun as possible." She huffed and left the apartment. Oliver watched her leave and slowly closed the door behind himself. He was fighting the urge to puke.

'Is it really over?'

☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄☃️🎄

'I screwed up so bad... I wish I could go back in time.' Oliver sighed as he watched his cup of hot chocolate. Not even its sweetness could sheer him up anymore. He ignored the people in the the background and just went back to his phone. He smiled as he saw some new pictures of (Y/n) that were posted. For the first 4 months after the break up, Oliver didn't hear much about her. Just a few things from Barou or Aryu, if they felt like saying anything. After that, pictures of her modeling in Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, and Rome started slowly appearing on his social media. It surprised Oliver, since he knew (Y/n) as a more private person, who always tried to stay away from cameras. But, things seemed to have changed after the break-up, he guessed.

'Modeling does suit her, she looks beautiful-'

"Aiku? You are here, too?"

The pro-players heart stopped for a moment and he looked up to find (Y/n)'s shocked face.

'Beautiful.' He gulped and blinked a few times before getting up from his seat.

"(Y-Y/n)... you are here? In Japan?" Oliver asked, dumbfounded as the older Isagi slowly nodded her head, feeling a little awkward.

'Thank God there aren't many people here to cause a scene.' Oliver thought, looking at the half-empty café.

"Yeah...uhm.... I came here a few days ago. I am guessing they gave you in Ubers a week off too."

"They did. Oh! Sit down, please. Don't stand there." Oliver offered her the seat across from him.

"Thanks, but I will be going soon. We just came here to buy some pastries."

"Ahh~ Ok, I understand. Wait, we? Is your bro here too?"

(Y/n) blushed and shook her head, then pointed at a familiar redhead standing in front of the cashier.

"Sae? You... you and Sae are friends now?" Oliver blinked, trying to not show any distaste at the idea.

"We... uh, Sae and I are engaged, actually." (Y/n) answered silently, showing a ring that was on her left hand. Seeing the item, Oliver felt nausea come over him.

"T-that's great. I didn't know..." He trailed off. He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"Yeah, Sae and I wanted to keep this relationship out of public eye. But we plan on announcing the engagement in the next few days." (Y/n) smiled brightly. Oliver couldn't help but to notice that this smile was way... brighter than the once she gave him back in the day.

'It's like, she is completely herself with Sae.' He bit the inside of his cheek, then gave her a tight smile.

"Happy to hear that. I am... glad to see that you are doing well. Congratulations."

"Thank you. I haven't been this happy in a long while." (Y/n) admitted.

'Are you happier with him than with me?' Oliver wanted to ask, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"Hope you are doing great, too. Yoichi told me Ubers did pretty well last season." (Y/n)'s words woke him up from his thoughts.

"Yeah. We have been doing good. I am, happy with my life so far."

'I really am not.' Was what Oliver wanted to say, but (Y/n) is no longer the one to who he can talk about those things. She wasn't responsible for it, anymore.

"(Y/n), let's go. We need to pick up Rin and Yoichi from the airport." Sae called out, causing (Y/n) to nod her head, then she turned to look back at Oliver.

"It was great meeting you again... and thank you for everything. The good and even the bad times, they really helped me grow." (Y/n) said softly as Oliver slowly nodded his head.

"Thank you for everything, too. Hope you have a good holiday with everyone."

The pro-player said, raising his hand for a fist-bumb. The girl smiled and nodded her head.

"Thanks. Have a great Christmas, too."

With a fist-bumb, (Y/n) left Oliver's side and walked over to where Sae was. The black-haired player fought back a few tears as he saw (Y/n) take Sae's hand and leave the café. It hurt more than when she had left 4 years ago.

"Damn it..." Oliver muttered as he sat down on his chair again and hid his face in his hands.

'It's another goodbye... How ironic that it happened again during this time of the year.'

[chosen-hero-inari]

Whumptober Day 5: Shivering (Alt. Prompt)

Winter Wonderland

Yusuke is cold.

That’s not impossible for him, obviously, though he knows how to cope with it when he doesn’t feel like wasting money on turning on the space heater in the dorm.

In the Metaverse, though, that’s a problem, and Yusuke can’t help but worry that it’s why he hasn’t heard from anyone since they got separated.

Just when you think you understand something about Mementos, an alteration happens, they sink through the floor, and instead of just taking them down a level the entire group gets separated and the floor you were just on is now covered in frost.

“Oracle?” Yusuke asks out loud again, and his breath is visible in front of him. He’s getting very desperately worried.

He’s fine. Cold, but fine. How would the others fair? Would Ann be able to use her powers to keep herself warm or would her weakness to Ice prove detrimental in this weather? There’s a logic to the Metaverse, but it's not intuitive.

Hopefully, he’s the only one here, and he just needs to find the stairs. 

He knows the way, walking carefully so as to avoid large shadows and slipping on the patches of ice on the ground.

Though, now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t seen any shadows down here. 

There’s the crunch of someone stepping on snow, and Yusuke turns the corner to see a large blob of shadows barreling toward him.

He grips his sword and prepares for a fight, but the shadow runs past him, squeaking. 

It’s scared.

The stairs are in the direction the shadow ran away from.

Yusuke tightens his grip and continues carefully in that direction. He almost reaches the stairs before tripping on something.

No, someone.

Futaba.

She’s frozen solid, which is fine, right? Because they’ve all been frozen at some point (not Yusuke, really, but that’s not important), it’s another status effect.

Though Yusuke doesn’t have any skills or medicine for status effects so…

Yusuke takes a deep breath and carefully drags the frozen-solid Futaba to the escalator and up a level. It seems once they’re far enough away, the effect wears off and she pops right up.

“-adow!” Futaba screams, then she looks around and lifts her goggles off her head. “Uh, what happened?”

“I found you frozen downstairs,” Yusuke explains between breaths. “We got separated from the others.”

“Right, yeah that Shadow, it seemed stronger than the others,” Futaba says. At least she’s acting normally. 

Mementos is nothing if not consistent.

Futaba summons Necronomicon and Yusuke gets back up.

“Ok, good news and bad news!” Futaba says. “Good news, I can tell everyone’s on the lower floor.”

“And the bad news?”

“The bad news is everyone except Joker and Panther are frozen, and Panther’s using a lot of magic already. You’ll have to find them and get everyone back up here.”

“Could defeating the Shadow that–”

“No.” Futaba says instantly. “Not even worth risking. Maybe if we were a bit stronger and better prepped we could take it on, it’s not the Reaper, but now is definitely not the time.”

Yusuke nods. “I’ll go meet Joker and Panther then.”

“Right, I’ll call them.”

Yusuke heads back down and with Futaba’s help, finds Ann and Akira pretty quickly. He doesn’t even say anything before Joker hands him a thermos of coffee, which Yusuke takes gratefully.

“Oracle caught us up,” Akira says. 

“We were just thinking we could find Mona first, unfreeze him, and then get everyone all at once,” Ann says.

“But if we run into the Shadow again, everyone might end up refrozen.” 

Akira nods. “Yeah, that’s why I was thinking: thanks to Ann I was able to switch to a Persona that resists ice, what if I keep the Shadow busy while you two get the others.”

“That seems dangerous.”

“That’s what I said,” Ann mutters.

“There’s not an option that isn’t dangerous,” Akira points out. “And the most dangerous thing is staying in one place too long.”

Yusuke and Ann share a look. Akira’s always too willing to put himself in harm's way.

“I could do it,” Yusuke offers. 

“I have all the supplies,” Akira counters.

“What if I go with you,” Ann says.

“Ice spells, Panther.”

“I’ll stay back, focus on healing and fire, you keep the bulk of its focus,” Ann says. 

“You’ll have me to watch your back!” Oracle says. “And you don’t even really have to fight it, you just need to keep it away from the person Fox is grabbing.”

“But–”

“If there’s one person well suited to being down here on their own,” Yusuke says, “it’s me.”

Akira grits his teeth like he wants to pull rank but doesn’t. “Ok, fine, but the first sign of trouble, Panther I want you out of there.”

“No problem.”

They split up, Yusuke following Futaba’s instructions to find the frozen bodies of his friends buried under snow, while Ann and Joker lure the Shadow away from him.

He tries not to let the sound of gunshots, of clashing metal, of Futaba’s squeaks get to him, he just moves as fast as he can.

Ryuji’s the last one he finds, and being pure muscle on top magically being frozen solid, is the heaviest by far.

Yusuke does his best to lug him to the escalator when he hears Futaba shout in his head.

“NO NOT THAT WAY!”

“We don’t have a lot of other options!” Ann shouts, but Yusuke doesn’t hear it over the comms, he hears it echoing down the hallway. 

With a heavy grunt Yusuke tries to pick up his pace, reaching the escalator just in time to hear the click of Ann and Akira’s heels on the ice and see them turn the corner followed by a ghastly figure wrapped in a thick cloak.

“Sorry Skull,” Yusuke mutters before dumping him on the escalator and letting him ride up himself.

Yusuke rushes back towards Ann and Akira, just as Ann trips.

Without thinking, Yusuke throws himself in front of her, taking the attack the Shadow sent.

Yusuke’s worked too long in the cold before, not wanting to waste Sensei’s money on a heater. At some point, the hand holding the brush didn’t just feel cold, it ached, like a thousand tiny needles were digging into his skin.

That’s how he feels now, except instead of his hand, it’s his entire insides. It feels like frost might have formed on his lungs.

He can't think of anything except the cold.

Luckily he doesn’t need to think for Goemon to counter the Shadow’s next strike, parrying its snow-white staff with his own pipe.

Once the Shadow is on its back foot (metaphorically, as it doesn’t appear to have feet), Ann lets out a screech and sends a fireball at it.

Then another, then another.

Then Akira throws a bomb.

When the smoke clears, all that’s left is a silver coin glittering on the frost.

Ann collapses to the ground, and Akira runs over to Yusuke, helping him up.

“Are you ok?” Akira asks. 

“Yes, it just knocked the wind out of me,” Yusuke says. Akira clearly doesn’t believe him, because he takes off his coat and wraps it around Yusuke before going to pick up the coin.

“Morozko, huh?” he mutters.

“Akira,” Ann sighs from the ground. “Tell me whatever that bastard dropped is enough to pay for a whole day at a sauna.”

“No, sorry,” Akira replies. “But I can fuse it as a Persona.”

That causes Ann to sit up and look at him. “If you ever summon that thing in front of me I’m dumping you.”

“Fair enough.”

The three of them head back to the escalators and regroup, and Yusuke's never been so happy to see normal Mementos in his life.

“Fox, are you ok?” Haru asks, taking off her glove. “You’re burning up.”

Yusuke’s about to insist he’s fine again, but instead he sneezes.

“And you look paler than usual dude,” Ryuji adds.

“He took a bad hit for me,” Ann says. “Thanks by the way.”

“D-don’t mention it,” Yusuke says, pulling Joker’s coat around him tighter.

“You might need extra help,” Makoto says, also starting to look concerned.

“Y-you all were frozen,” Yusuke points out. “You’re fine.”

“Yes, but we were frozen all at once,” Makoto says. “You’ve just been running around in the cold and then took a direct hit which might be, I don’t know, different. Also you look worse than any of us.”

Akira pats him on the back. “C’mon big guy, let’s get you back to Leblanc and full of curry and coffee and hopefully that’ll fix everything.”

Yusuke sneezes again.

“Maybe you should also stay over.”

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

"I was scared…of losing you," he murmurs. "So I lied. Both to you, and to myself. Because…" He looks away. Glares at the Sayuri. At the mother looking at her son with an expression of pure bliss. The sort of feeling he'd only just begun to understand. He wanted to be happy. He felt love and belonging. And it'd made him just as delusional and weak as Maruki. "Because I'm a fool." Nothing ever works out for him. Nothing ever could. He'd just wanted…to pretend, just for a little while, that maybe… Maybe. A tear finally streaks down his cheek. A moment later, someone is wiping it away. Someone else takes his hand and holds it firmly. "Goro-senpai," says Sumire. She cups his cheek, standing on her tiptoes to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry." Akira intertwines his fingers with Goro's. "You might have to leave eventually. But…you're here now. So…please, Goro. Stay." Goro continues to stare at the Sayuri. Yusuke told him about the story behind her, once. He'd found it to be both pitiful and tragic, what happened to the woman who painted it. He couldn't find any of the beauty Yusuke did in it. The art had just been one final delusion of a sick, doomed woman, before the universe ripped yet another mother from her son. And yet still, she felt happy. For a short time, she'd found meaning. Hope. Maybe it was foolish. Maybe the ending to her story was made that much more depressing for it. But…in that moment, there'd been goodness. A goodness that not even Madarame, for all his efforts, could erase. He whispers, "Okay."

the climax of code violet has been posted!! at 17k words, this chapter's a doozy, but i'm super proud of it. enjoy <3

[le-amewzing]

a little sunshine does you good

Hmm. Prolly my only YYH fic… O.o… Set after the Four Beasts arc early in the manga.

Fic: "a little sunshine does you good" [FFN] [AO3]

Pairings/Characters: implied/pre-Hiei/Kurama

Rating: K

Words: ~770

Additional info: friendship, romance, 3rd person POV

Summary: With Hiei on bodyguard duty and Kurama dropping by, there's no place to escape when Kurama decides to chat…except the things Kurama says get under Hiei's skin.

      Koenma better have payment for me later, Hiei thought as he glanced down at the demon imposters of Yusuke and Kuwabara. True, the real Yusuke and Kuwabara, along with Hiei himself and Kurama, had only recently returned from the Demon Plane and still were recovering, but Hiei didn't feel like frying small fish today. On the other hand… Koenma was annoyingly sharp. When he'd reminded Hiei of Yusuke's injuries, he'd been implying a question of protection.

      Not one to back away from a challenge, no matter how insignificant, Hiei had gone to the human world and had been watching over the two nearly invalid dunces. Of course, this could give Hiei the chance to beat Yusuke once and for all…

      "What am I thinking?" the demon quietly chided himself, but he was smirking nonetheless.

      "Quite a lot of bloodlust in the air, eh?"

      Hiei jolted. He hadn't even heard Kurama approach him atop the school's roof! He grimaced. "Don't sneak up behind me."

      He heard Kurama stifle a chuckle, and it took much willpower for Hiei not to turn around and intimidate what he was certain would be a smug expression off that pretty face. "Then don't let your guard down," the red-haired male teased in a soft voice.

      "My guard is never down."

      "Is that so? Surely it shan't be down around so many of those demons below," Kurama said, coming up beside Hiei to look over the roof's edge and see the monster horde.

      Hiei's eye twitched. Kurama excelled at condescending others without condescending them in simple, upfront tones. "Care for a small match, then? You're weak, but you could still give me a decent workout."

      To Hiei's further irritation, Kurama unabashedly chuckled. Not a laugh—it was that bloody chuckle he had, the one that carried a hint of I'm-better-than-you-ness. "I'm not here to rile you, Hiei. …much."

      The short demon turned and glared up at his companion—and was thrown off by the kind (or was it mischievous?) smile on Kurama's face. "What?" Hiei hissed.

      "It's nice having friends, isn't it?" Kurama asked softly, staring out into the blue sky.

      Hiei eyed him, wondering what his game was. "…I don't need…friends," he finally said, the emphasized word rolling off his tongue like a heavy, lead weight.

      Kurama sighed. "All right. You have the freedom to say that." He looked at Hiei. "But Yusuke's in some nasty pain right now. Don't try fighting him at this point, Hiei."

      "I'm not going to fight him!"

      The red-haired male blinked. "Really? Huh. Then I suppose…"

      "Keep your suppositions to yourself."

      "…that those demons are going to go after Yusuke and Kuwabara. How sad. Two strong, strong fighters, so weakened by current events…anyone could defeat them—wouldn't you say so, Hiei?" Kurama seemed to play with the word "anyone" in his mouth.

      Hiei could only glare back at him.

      "Yes, even those low-level demons could beat them right now. Beat even Yusuke! And didn't he beat you?"

      "I'm not going to listen to another word," the demon spat.

      "Right. You're too busy looking out for your friends."

      "I'm not the Underworld's slave, got it? I'm just putting in my—'community service'!"

      "I understand."

      "Yes! Now goodbye!" Hiei pushed, hoping Kurama would leave.

      "Poor Yusuke, stuck fighting third-rate demons. But what do you care?"

      "I don't," Hiei asserted.

      Kurama finally shut up. Hiei began to wonder if that meant he'd be alone again. A while passed between them in silence. And then: "You'll care someday, Hiei. We all do."

      Hiei snorted. "I doubt it."

      "…even I care."

      The demon looked back at him and found that insipid smile gracing those features once again. Hiei bit his tongue to keep from cursing or threatening Kurama again. "I—they don't want your care."

      "They do," Kurama mused as he backed away from the edge. He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Friends always do." He stared at Hiei. "You don't?"

      "I don't want or need your friendship."

      Kurama grinned good-humoredly. "Oh, do you want to be special?"

      Hiei's glare intensified, but he found his scarf now made his neck quite warm. He gritted his teeth. "Get away from me!" he barked.

      Kurama backed off, but he couldn't stop teasing his friend a little more. "Okay, Hiei-ppi. See you later, Hiei-ppi."

      "Agh! Don't give me a nickname, you!" Hiei watched Kurama disappear, and he only returned his focus to Koenma's task once that door had shut.

      NOW I need a workout! Hiei thought as he ignored the sudden heat of his collar and cracked his knuckles. Might as well take care of those demons….

:] I used to watch/read YYH when I was little, but that was a long time ago… I was in the library and found the manga, though, and got a little inspired. I might write other things but dunno yet. I actually have a small Keiko/Yusuke idea, so maybe we'll see that soon. So, should I further the Hiei/Kurama slash (i.e, in another fic)? ;D Btw, some of the dialogue is verbatim v5 of YYH, and therefore belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi-sensei. Ahhh, rereading manga is fun…!

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave an anon/unsigned review via the FFN link or comment via the AO3 link at the top of the post, especially if you enjoyed this!

~mew

2023 note: SO. If you're familiar with my works in other fandoms, you'll know I've been revisiting…p much all my works to edit things in order to cross-post to AO3 and to tumblr. Some things require a bit more work, such as this piece, since there was a lot of formatting to fix as it was one of the few works I didn't have directly saved on a flash drive (it was a write in the DocX and post sort of deal on FFN XD). I confess, as this is from 2011, I dunno what that "small Keiko/Yusuke" idea from then might've been, bc I can't find anything in my files or notes on it. ;w; Granted, at some point if I do a proper reread of YYH…I'll prolly return and write fic for it. I'm still v fond of the series, but I deffo enjoy the fanart side of the fandom as a casual fan. :'D Hope ppl still got a smile out of this, tho! (I will always love Kurama and also Hiei the hothead. XDDD)

[thuganomxcs]

━━   ❝   𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧?   ❞  Sometimes he felt like his life was just a soap opera that Botan and Koenma watch on a flatscreen television. Because the timing is also too immaculate. Then it came to Botan being rather 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡 with his soul. It was cute..well it’d probably only cute since THEY knew the context. “Then I’ll fight a bit hard t’ make sure it's you that I see guiding me.” He nodded and sat beside her and took that little ride Reikai. The way the world magically transitioned from one another was always..something he admired no matter how many times he’s seen it.

“So what’d ya think Binky King found?” He tucked his hands into his pockets as it was now a stroll among the celestial clouds until they arrived at his grant castle. Meanwhile the King himself looked into similar cases to Yusuke with a disheartening frown on his face.

“I know that look sir, what’s bothering you this time your majesty?” Ogre spoke towards the king.

Koenma couldn’t even answer this with any wit this time, the situation was dire but there was still a sliver of hope in Yusuke’s future. He could only wish the idiot came to them so much sooner, they would have had soo much time to put this hail mary plan into action. But..he couldn’t exactly be surprised. Yusuke will always be Yusuke. Once they entered his office he crosses his arms over his chest. “Nice mess you’ve gotten yourself into. By now Botan I think you’ve notice that this curse is unlike anything you’ve seen before..or me for that matter.” 

Yes, the curse even preceded the Current king, however, there were a few cases during his father’s earlier reign..eons ago, within another civilization. “This is really dark stuff we’re dealing with, it does exactly what he described. By the dawn of the seventh day Yusuke’s soul will be forcefully ripped from his body and condemned into the flaming circles.” Said Koenma as Ogre hands him what looks like a flashdrive. “On this are several cases where people and yokai alike were in your shoes, my father of course kept a close watch but why he never interfered is beyond me..would he have tried to weaponize it in his favor?” He wondered.

Either way without further adieu Koenma connects the drive towards the television and numerous individuals came on screen, each cursed as Yusuke and it was…the same one after another in quick instances. The first day would be normal, the second day was followed with some misfortune, the third day the victims will experience mild cases of heat despite being within freezing temperatures. Food and drinks turn into ash in their mouths to prolong their suffering, some even had hallucinations and saw hounds, demonic spirits of the like. The fourth day things had gotten worse as their bodies began to grow weak due to malnourishment and the hallucinations worsens. “This is Yusuke’s stage.” Koenma utters.

“Hmmm..well I can see why I didn’t go crazy..i’m used t’ seeing things like…that…” He spoke out, it appeared that he was feeling weaker.., sweating profusely but that’s to be expected from the curse.

On the fifth day most of these people already went completely mad and tried ending things on their own terms, no matter what they did, how much they’ve destroyed and mutilated their bodies they would simply NOT die. The sixth day they remained completely lethargic and on the dawn of the seven they were engulfed in flames and their bodies dragged by the minions of hell into the fiery pits. “That’s what we’re dealing with here.” Said Koenma. “Not even my Father managed to track down a reversal spell..but as you said it’s STILL a spell, so when killing the caster is out of the window it’s all about deconstructing it and find a counter. By any chance are you able to use Seikoki? It’d really save us the trouble of looking for an actual Angel.”

𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒 when his does. Seeing some of the warmth return to his face, the way he grins at her and ruffles her hair. She scrunches her nose embarrassedly but doesn't swat his hand away. Instead, she smiles sheepishly.

"I have to be, how else would I contend with you," the teasing is weak but it's there. The warmth of it calms her spirit, a weight lifted from her shoulders.

"It has to be. Reikai wasn't always so... administrative, especially before the barrier was erected. Nowadays there are whole departments dedicated to recording souls. And I don't imagine she'd go too far, in case you do find some way to tamper with the curse. It's also easier to hide from someone if you know where they're searching," the idea that this witch might be lurking near by, observing their conversation sent a shiver down her spine. She shifts anxiously at her own inexperience, wishing she had more answers. "I-- I don't know. I'm still young for a Shinigami, I've only been working for a little over a decade. But I'm sure if it did happen, there would be records somewhere in the archives. And Koenma would certainly have more knowledge of such things. He's quite a bit older than me, even if he doesn't look it--"

She jolts with surprise when she hears Koenma's voice. No matter how much Reikai relied on telepathy, it would never fail to startle her. And she could only hope he hadn't heard her comment about his age. She shakes the chills away, nodding her head.

"Yes, sir. We'll be right there," she said aloud, staring into the distance before her attention snaps back to Yusuke. "Koenma wants to see you, let's hope he's found something," Botan stands, dusting herself off before stepping away from the house. Her oar materializes, her body shifting from human to spirit with the inclusion of her usual pink kimono. "Oh, and Yusuke... No matter what happens, I want you to remember..." she turns to look at him, taking a breath to steel herself before stamping her oar on the ground. "Only I'm allowed to herald your death. It'll be upon my boat that you'll ascend to the afterlife. I won't let anything else take my job," she affirms rigidly. She worked too hard to get him back into his body, she's not about to let some haggard witch claim her job.

Having said her piece, she reaches out a hand to guide him through the barrier. And with one quick boat ride, they're both walking briskly through the palace, Botan shouldering past any other staff to march straight into Koenma's office.

[kurama-is-love]

Kurama: A fearsome and cruel character?

I want to talk about how people view Kurama as a character and enemy throughout the series. I found a thread on reddit that can be found here. And while I mostly agree that Kurama is the most dangerous “non-villain” character in YYH, there are some things I highly disagree with and I want to explain them with phrases the users said and why I disagree with it.

(Please note, that I just want to share my view of Kurama and why I don’t agree with some of the points regarding of (maybe their lack of knowledge behind these scenes) the situation they called out for Kuramas “rutheless” and showing no mercy. I don’t want to attack or offend any of the posters of reddit or people who share the same opinion of Kurama, I just want to clarify some points that didn’t get mentioned)

Secondly, he's ruthless. While Kurama might seem like an intelligent man, one who is good with words, he's easily the least sensitive non-villain character in the series. Kuwabara probably takes the spot as the most sensitive and biggest heart out of the crew, even Hiei has his sensitive moments with his sister and Mukuro and has a great arc that develops his humanity, and Yusuke was never really lacking humanity in the first place despite being a delinquent. He still has a sense of justice. But Kurama...he's straight up asked in the Dark tournament if he believes in mercy and the dude just straight up said..."no"

I agree that Kuwabara has the biggest heart and even Hiei shows some mercy sometimes, but the user totally leaves out, that Kurama has a really big heart for his family and his friends, and this friends include Yusuke and the others. Kurama would never let them get hurt without getting angry and punish the enemy for hurting his friends. He also had some human nature moments from the moment he met Yusuke for the first time. Hiei and Kurama are both influenced by Yusukes kindness and learned to understand humans. And let’s not forget, that the person in the example, where Kurama didn’t showed mercy, was Roto. The filthy little bastard that used Kuramas mother / family to take advance in battle. And if there is one thing, we have learned about Kurama: Do. Not. Fuck. with. his. mother. Or family. Don’t do this. He’ll lose all his good natured sides if you put someone in danger, that Kurama is bond with. Let’s be honest here, it’s just natural to protect the ones you love. Everyone would react the way Kurama react when his family is put in danger. Kurama hadn’t killed Roto, if he hadn’t pulled this dirty trick. Kurama has mercy. He really has and it’s shown several times while he fought. He even says to one of his enemies: “I’ll help you… But not by death, this world has enough of that. You can keep your life as long as you change the way you live it. It’s never too late, believe me.” Kurama even says it: It’s never too late to change, he went through this change aswell. Just because he rarely shows mercy with his enemies is just because his enemies were threats that has to be rid of.

He pretty much kills everybody he comes in contact with too, there really is no mercy.

Genbu dies. The only person in the Dark Tournament that he doesn't kill is Ura Urashima and that's because someone kills him first. He makes Kaito lose his soul in the word game, kills the game master...

There's a lot of people Kurama has killed, when they could of been spared in some way. To be fair, not a lot of the people he faces deserves mercy, as they either are in a situation where death is the only way out, or they're threatening his mother, but the point still stands.

Hiei was capable of showing mercy to a man who beat and tortured his sister, of whom he swore his life to protect. Kurama hasn't ever shown that kind of mercy.

He doesn’t kill everybody. Genbu is a bad example, everyone of the Sacred beasts died. Besides.. almost every enemy the group faced died o_O Thats the nature of these old shonen anime. Killing your enemies. I don’t like this handling of enemies but.. you can’t blame Kurama for killing his enemies when everyone killed their enemies too. It was just.. how the show handled antagonists. He also didn’t killed Gama, Gama died from blood loss and exhaustion because he wanted to attack Kurama with his blood to make him weak for his next fight. Hell, Kurama even warned him about his attacks: “No, don’t. You will die, when you continue like this.” Does that look like “he has no mercy” to you? I can’t really remember the case with Kaito, but I absolutely guarantee that he didn’t wanted to kill the Game Master boy. He felt terrible afterwards (and if we face the truth, he had no other choice as to kill the boy. It was either him or the boy and if Kurama had died at that phase, the others weren’t able to stop Elder Toguro. Speaking of which, Kurama had no mercy with him because he made him “kill” a child. That’s the main reason why Kurama seemed to have no mercy when he trapped Toguro in the eternal torture plant. And not because Kurama is a sadistic asshole who enjoys killing and making others suffers. All his “merciless” actions came from emotional decisions and only shows how much he cares for what he does and what others do. Kurama never killed someone as “non-chalantly” as Hiei killed Zero in the Dark Tournament. And ... about “Hiei showing mercy to the man who beat and tortued his sister”.. Uhm.. Nope. Hiei would’ve beaten him to death if Kurama hadn’t intervened by telling Hiei, that it’s forbidden for a demon to kill a human and the punishment from Koenmas father would be so frightening that even Hiei stopped his personal vendetta. That’s what actually happened during those episodes.

I feel like the comments are cut short in only showing Kuramas resulted actions and not why he acted this way in the first place.

I won’t say the people are completely wrong, Kurama is a quite complex and mysterious character. But he is not evil. He cares for his friends and he even cares for humans, like he even decided not get attracted to humans anymore after what happened to Maya, a person who was in love with him, but he didn’t loved her back. Despite that he didn’t loved her, he thinks it’s his own fault that she was dragged into this and to save other humans from being used against him, he decided not to get close to them anymore. That actually sounds quite compassionate and kind.

Of course, he’ll show his enemies another side of him. A more cruel side, but only because his enemies are pure evil. He never even fought someone who was at the “good” side, aside from Yusuke at the beginning. And if we recall what happened, he haven’t even fought him. He begged Yusuke to let him have the mirror until he wished for his mothers life and then giving it back and hand himself in. All other of his enemies tried to kill him and were evil. It is his right to defend his life and showing no real mercy when his enemies don’t have mercy too. He may be a good guy, but that doesn’t mean he is naive enough to let an evil and dangerous creature live until something happens.

I dunno, maybe my thoughts are just because I like him, but.. You know guys, I’ve been told that I have a very good grasp for characters and portray them In-character (Canons and even OCs that are not mine. I wrote several commissions for people and I only had a briefing of the OC and they said I did an amazing job in writing their personality. So.. maybe my grasp for Kurama is not bad either..), so I hope my opinion makes sense.

It’s just not true that Kurama is more ruthless as Hiei. Kurama is the reason why Hiei is not that merciless anymore.

[inkwell1013]

Feeding the Starving artist - Persona 5

Pairings: Various platonic ships. Mostly Yusuke and the Phantom Thieves, but also includes Yusuke and Sojiro (familial)

Genre: Angst, but also fluff, oneshot, found family, friendship

Word count: 5.2k

Warnings: This fic deals with some difficult topics including disordered eating habits and child abuse/neglect (implied/referenced).

Summary: Yusuke Kitagawa is the epitome of a starving artist - in more ways than one - and when Ren find out that his friend is dangerously underweight, he and the rest of the Phantom Thieves hatch a plan to help Yusuke with his bad eating habits. Because sometimes the solution is just as simple as it sounds.

- - - - -

Yusuke was stick thin. He always had been, even as a child. The reason was simple: he had never had enough to eat. When he lived in the atelier, complete meals were rare, and he was used to eating meagre scraps of whatever Natsuhiko could find in the cupboards. There just wasn’t enough food to go around.

Even after he left that place in the wake of Madarame’s arrest, unable to shirk the dark memories that clang to it like a thick fog, Yusuke stuck to those same eating habits. It was a comfort. It was familiar. It was enough.

As much as the school nurse told him that he was underweight and insisted that he needed to eat more, he refused to believe her. He was eating the same amount that he ate as a child and saw no reason to change his habits.

He was fine.

In truth, he was not fine. His diet was beginning to affect him, as much as he hated to admit it. He was tired constantly, and every time he stood up too fast, he felt his head spin wildly. Yusuke’s constant exhaustion meant that he was falling asleep at every possible opportunity – on Ren’s shoulder while they drove around mementos, at his desk at school or while they were just hanging out. No one minded, just like no one minded how Yusuke stole food from them when he thought they weren’t looking, chalking his behavior up to his usual eccentricity. It took a few months of this for any of them to notice that something was wrong.

And it was easy to not notice, as Yusuke was good at coming up with excuses. “I’m fine,” he would say. “Just stayed up late finishing a piece. Don’t worry about me.” Or “I just forgot my lunch. Thought I’d borrow some of yours.”

Even so, the more perceptive of the phantom thieves, especially Ren, Makoto and Haru, couldn’t help but worry about their friend.

It all came to a head during their summer vacation. Yusuke had come to visit Ren and left Le Blanc at about six o’clock, insisting that he needed to get back to the dorms before curfew. Ren had gone to take out the trash a little later that evening, and found his friend, sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.  

“Sojiro!” he yelled. “It’s Yusuke. He’s fainted!”

“What do you mean he’s fainted?” asked Sojiro. “I swear to God, if this is some stupid prank…”

“No. I swear he’s really unconscious. I think he might be hurt. Please.” Ren could hear the terror in his own voice, and he knew that Sojiro could hear it too, because there was a great clatter in the kitchen and Sojiro came running. He swore under his breath when he saw Yusuke, and quickly placed a finger to his wrist.

“His pulse is weak, but it’s there,” he said finally. “We need to get him inside. Can you pick him up?”

Ren dug his hands underneath Yusuke’s shoulders, and hoisted him upright, throwing one of Yusuke’s arms over his shoulder and putting his arm around Yusuke’s waist. He was horrified to see that he weighed almost nothing. “Is he heavy?” asked Sojiro. “Do you need help?”

“No… I don’t. He weighs nothing.”

“He can’t be that light. Pass him here.” Ren complied, allowing Sojiro to take on most of Yusuke’s weight.

Sojiro’s eyes widened. “He’s lighter than Futaba,” he whispered.

Futaba was a good foot shorter than Yusuke. He should have weighed much more than her, not so much less.

“We need to get him inside,” said Ren. From his hand’s position on Yusuke’s side, he could feel every one of his ribs. This was bad. How did he not notice that something was wrong before?

He shouldered Yusuke’s slight frame into Le Blanc and laid him down in one of the booths. “Fetch the doctor,” ordered Sojiro. “I’ll watch him.”

Ren wasn’t a particularly fast runner; he wasn’t slow, but he wasn’t especially fast either. Even so, as he ran to fetch the doctor, the world became a blur behind him. A single word repeated in his mind, repeatedly:

“Shit. Shit. Shit.”

He burst into Takemi’s clinic, grabbing her by the arm. “No time to explain,” he panted, trying to drag her out the front door. “You have to come.”

“Give me a second to lock the door kid,” said Takemi. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Yusuke… my friend… he fainted… and somethings really wrong. He weighs literally nothing. He’s so light.”

“That does sound serious. Where is he?”

“Le Blanc. Hurry.”

***

Takemi’s face fell when she saw Yusuke - who had thankfully begun to stir slightly - and Ren understood why. Yusuke’s appearance was almost ghoulish, he was white as a sheet and there were deep bags under his eyes.

“Is he another one of yours Sojiro?” asked Takemi, in a feeble attempt to lighten the mood. “How many kids do you have tucked away back there?”

“No, he’s not,” said Sojiro. “He’s… He’s Ren’s friend. Just spends a lot of time here. You know how it is.”

“You called the doctor?” whined Yusuke, trying to sit up. “That was completely unnecessary. I’m fine.”

“Yusuke, you literally fainted. You’re not okay,” said Ren, placing a hand on Yusuke’s chest and pushing him back down. “Don’t try to stand up, you might faint again.”

“But I’m fine!”

“I’ll be the judge of that, thank you,” said Takemi, reaching into her bag and pulling out a stethoscope. She pressed it to Yusuke’s chest, and listened a moment. Frowning, she lifted in away. “You have a weak heartbeat. I’ll bet you have a dangerously low blood pressure too. Do you feel any numbness or coldness in your extremities?”

“A little. I thought that was normal.”

“It’s a sign of poor circulation, likely due to your weak heart. Do you know how much you weigh?”

“Umm… the last time we had physical examinations at school I weighed fifty-three and a half kilos.”

“And how tall are you?”

“A hundred and eighty-one centimeters.”

Takemi pulled her phone out her pocket and jabbed a few numbers into it. She scowled. “Your BMI is 16.3. You’re severely underweight. It’s no wonder you’re having health problems.”

Somehow, to Ren, even the word ‘severely’ feels like an understatement.

“I’m surprised your parents weren’t contacted,” she continued. “This stuff is serious.”

Yusuke stared down at the ground, not saying anything. Sensing the tension, Takemi spoke again. “I feel like I’ve touched on a sensitive issue here. You are under no obligation to tell me, but is everything alright at home?”

“He’s in jail,” came the quiet response. “My fathe- my mentor got arrested… for child abuse. And my mother is dead.”

Takemi took in a sharp breath, looking desperately at Ren and Sojiro. “You have a place to stay, right?” she asked. “Because if you don’t, I’m sure Sojiro will…”

“I’m living in my school dorms. I’m fine.”

“That’s good. Look, I can prescribe you some medication to lessen some of your symptoms, like your fatigue and low blood pressure, but the best thing you can do is try to get to a healthy weight. Given your height, you should aim to gain roughly ten to fifteen kilos over the next few months.” She handed him a business card. “If you need any further help, you can call me or come to my clinic.”

She packed up her things and pulled Sojiro to one side, safely out of earshot. “This kid has some serious problems,” she whispered. “I don’t know if it’s an eating disorder or just bad habits, but he’s going to need help. I know it’s a lot to ask but—”

Sojiro interrupted her. “I will. I’ve done this before with my daughter. She had similar issues. I know that I can help him.”

Takemi nodded, begrudging respect in her eyes. “Besides,” continued Sojiro. “The kid has good friends. I’m sure they’ll help him out too.”

Sojiro saw Takemi out the door, but once he was sure she was gone, he headed back to check on Ren and Yusuke. Sojiro’s heart broke a little in his chest as he saw Yusuke’s expression. His eyes were watering, and he looked so confused and lost. When Ren patted him on the shoulder, Sojiro couldn’t help but notice that Yusuke jumped a little at the touch.

“I need to get back to the dorms or I’ll miss curfew,” he mumbled, sitting up.

“Let me drive you,” said Sojiro.

“That’s not necessary,” replied Yusuke, a tad sharply.

Sojiro sighed. “Just accept my help kid. It won’t kill you.”

Yusuke begrudgingly allowed Sojiro to drive him back to the dorms, after Sojiro insisted that he’d rather not find him passed out on the street again.

By the time Sojiro got back to Le Blanc, Ren was already asleep upstairs. He went to lock up the café, craving a cigarette for the first time in years. For the first time since… Since Wakaba died.

It was funny to think that just a few years ago he didn’t consider himself to be a fatherly person and now he had a whole troop of kids. Sighing, he put the key in the lock and turned it, before making the slow trudge home.

***

Ren let out a deep sigh. Pulling out his phone, he made a group chat and invited all his friends, save for Yusuke.

Ren: I’m calling an emergency meeting. Don’t tell Yusuke.

Ryuji: Why not?

Makoto: This is about him, isn’t it? About the thing we discussed.

Haru: I hoped we were wrong.

Ren: Yes, it’s about that.

Ryuji: Why are you all being so cryptic?

Ren: Meet me at Le Blanc at 10am tomorrow. Don’t be late.

Ren: That means you Ryuji.

Ryuji: Dude!

Ren: @Ann Make sure Ryuji gets here on time.

Ann: Will do.

Ryuji: Don’t encourage him!

Ryuji: Seriously, what’s going on? I’m so confused.

Ren: I’ll bring Futaba. Remember, do not tell Yusuke. He can’t know about this.

Turning off his phone, Ren set it down on the table and took in a long, deep breath. He needed to tell them. He needed to be a good leader. He needed to be who everyone else needed him to be.

He was a Joker, expected to fit into any gap, and designed to be a wild card. He could do anything, fill any role, and tomorrow, his role would be that of the messenger, bearing terrible news. He didn’t want to do it, but he had no choice.

***

When Ren stirred the next morning, memories of the previous night flooded his mind. Shit. He dragged himself out of bed and went to feed Morgana. Anticipating the promise of food, Morgana jumped off the windowsill, and onto the table, where Ren portioned out a tin of tuna for him.

“What are you sighing so much for?” asked Morgana between bites. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s about Yusuke,” explained Ren. “And it’s pretty serious.”

“How serious?”

“I had to call an emergency meeting.”

“But those are only for—”

“When someone’s life is in danger. I know.”

Morgana cocked his head. “It’s that bad?”

“Yeah, it is. He fainted, he’s so thin, he’s not eating enough, and I’m really worried about him.”

Morgana flicked his tail. “I had to deal with some food insecurity back before I met you all,” he began.

“When you were a stray?”

“I wasn’t a stray. I’m not a cat!” snapped Morgana. “But yes, when I was homeless, food was hard to come by. Maybe Yusuke’s dealing with something similar?”

“Maybe. He is technically homeless…”

It sounded bad when he said it, which it was. Yusuke had technically been homeless for several months. Even so, it had never been a problem, as he had been living in the Kosei dorms since Madarame’s arrest. It wasn’t like he was out roaming the streets or something.

Maybe the dorms were the problem. There was no one there to check that Yusuke was eating. He could engage in whatever unhealthy habits he wanted, and no one would ever find out.

Ren threw the empty tuna can in the bin, and went to help Sojiro with the café, hoping that having something to do with himself would lessen his anxiety somewhat. It worked, but only a little.

 Ren dragged Futaba - who was still groggy, having just woken up moments ago - to the meeting, before setting her down at the table with a fresh cup of black coffee. Morgana came slinking down the stairs a few minutes later. Makoto was the first to arrive after that, followed shortly after by Haru.

Ten minutes after the agreed upon time, Ann and Ryuji both burst into the room, bickering as always. “I can’t believe you made us late,” snapped Ann, sliding into the booth.

“I didn’t make us late,” replied Ryuji. “You were the one who just had to fix your hair before we left.”

“Only because it got messed up while I was helping you find your housekeys.”

“I didn’t know they would be under the sofa! I have no idea how they even got there!”

“You’re such a moron.”

“And you’re not much better.”

Ann rolled her eyes. “I love you anyway dumbass,” she said, giving Ryuji a peck on the cheek.

Once everyone was settled at the table, Ren retold the story of the previous night. A hush fell over the table, and Ryuji was the first to speak up.

“What can we do to help?” he asked.

Ren sighed. “I really don’t know. This is some serious shit. I mean, you guys weren’t there, but it was terrifying. I could count his ribs through his shirt.”

“We have to do something,” said Makoto.

“But Yusuke doesn’t want to be helped,” sighed Ren. “He insisted that everything is fine, even though we both knew it wasn’t.”

“We could just… give him food,” said Ryuji. “We don’t need to make this complicated.”

“Don’t be stupid Ryuji,” snapped Morgana. “There’s no way that would work.”

“No, I’m with Ryuji on this one,” said Ren. “It’s a simple plan, but it could work. So, are we in agreement?” There was a murmur of acknowledgement around the table.

“Alright. Let’s do this,” said Futaba, taking a sip of her coffee.

***

Makoto - always the most organized of the group - was the first to enact her part of the scheme: making Yusuke eat lunch. Her plan was simple and would hopefully work. She had prepared the first phase of her plan that morning, all she had to do now was ‘coincidentally’ run into Yusuke and enact phase two.

It wasn’t that hard to spot Yusuke on the train platform, as he tended to tower a good few inches over people, just as he was doing here. She reminded herself to play it cool.

“Hey Yusuke. Fancy seeing you here,” she said, walking up to him.

“Ah, Good morning Makoto. It’s not that unusual. We do catch the same train line up until the first stop.”

“You’re right,” said Makoto, shifting a little in place, and rearranging her grip on the bag she was holding. Just come out and say it already… The words just wouldn’t form on her tongue.

Thankfully, Yusuke brought it up first. “What do you have there?” he asked.

“Oh this? I accidentally made too much lunch today, and the rest wouldn’t fit in my backpack. It’s such a pain to carry it around though…”

Come on. Get the hint already.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Yusuke, glancing up at the noticeboard for train arrival times. This absolute moron…

“Why don’t you take it?” she offered. “You’d be doing me a favor; I really don’t want to have to carry it around all day.”

Yusuke frowned. “Are you sure? It’s your food.”

“I’m certain.”

“If you insist.” Yusuke took the bag from Makoto with a cautious reverence. He glanced at her one last time, as if making sure that it was really okay to take it, before opening his backpack and placing it inside.

“Oh. I’ll need the lunchbox back,” said Makoto. “You can just come by my house after school and drop it off.” At that moment, the train came screeching onto the platform, and she and Yusuke both stepped in.

Mission accomplished.

***

Yusuke was working on a new painting when his phone rang. He was about to decline the call, but he recognized Ann’s number and picked up. Clearing his throat, he spoke. “Good afternoon.”

“Hey Yusuke! I’m going to that new café in Shibuya tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?” asked Ann.

“Are you sure?” asked Yusuke. “I don’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s fine. I want to hang out with you.”

Yusuke thought for a moment but shook his head. “As kind as that is of you, I must decline, as I don’t have the money.”

“I’ll pay for you. Come on, it’s my treat.”

“I really shouldn’t…”

“I have pictures from that art showing I went to last week. I could show them to you.”

Yusuke was about to scoff – did Ann really believe that he could he bribed with pictures of an art showing? – but he stopped himself at the last moment.

He really wanted to see those pictures. He had been unable to attend the exhibit as it was during his exam week, but he had been following the artist online for some time and found their work both beautiful and inspiring.

Who knows if he’d get this chance again?

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll come.”

The next day, he arrived at the café at precisely the agreed upon time. Yusuke was one of those people who believe that being late was a terrible sin, comparable only to leaving one’s brushes in their water pot or wasting paint.

His eyes swept around the small café, and recognizing Ann’s distinctive blond hair, he walked over and sat down. There was already a wide array of cakes and pastries spread out across the table. Yusuke couldn’t stop his mouth from watering at the glorious sight, but he quickly reminded himself not to be greedy. This was Ann’s food, not his. He pulled his hands onto his lap, restraining himself.

Ann gave him a bright, cheery smile, and slid a slice of lemon cake towards him. “Here,” she said. “You like lemon cake, right?”

Yusuke stared down at the neat piece of yellow cake in front of him. His mother had made lemon cake for him once, when he was young. He didn’t remember the occasion – a birthday perhaps – but he remembered how it tasted. It was sour, yet sweet, and blindingly bright, like a drop of sunshine.

“Its my favorite,” he said, forcing back the memories. It wouldn’t do to cry over a piece of cake, like some kind of idiot. “How did you...?”

“Do you remember when Haru brought over those pastries the other day? When she offered you one, you reached right for the lemon cake without even stopping to look at any of the others. I assumed that’s because it was your favorite.”

“That was weeks ago. You remembered all this time?”

“Of course. It something that makes you happy, so I remembered it.”

“Huh.” Yusuke took the fork from the plate and cut himself a slice of the cake. It tasted just as good as he remembered.

He couldn’t help but remember what his mother said, as she handed him the piece of cake all those years ago. “That’s the great thing about this recipe. It lets you take something bitter and sad and turn it into something of melancholic beauty.”

“So, you wanted to see those paintings from the exhibit,” said Ann, pulling out her phone.

Ah, yes. That’s why they were here, wasn’t it? Yusuke almost didn’t care about it anymore; he just wanted to savor this flawless taste for one more moment. Blissful.

Even so, he pulled his attention towards Ann’s phone, where she had various pictures from the exhibition. He studied the artwork with a careful dedication, trying his best to etch every line and color into his mind. It was just as good as he expected from the young artist whose early work had enraptured him so.

As Ann rambled her way through many interpretations of the art that was on display, she made a point to push a few plates of sweets in front of Yusuke, who ate them dutifully.

Ann gave a secret smile.

***

Yusuke damn near tumbled over as Ryuji clapped him on the back, and he had to take a moment to steady himself. “Sup dude,” said Ryuji. “I’m going to the gym later. Wanna come?”

“I’m not really a fan of… those places…” mumbled Yusuke.

Ryuji was blissfully unaware of his friend’s apprehension. “I’ll treat you to beef bowl afterwards,” he offered.

Yusuke’s mouth watered at the promise, and he found himself nodding, quite without the preapproval of his mind. “Awesome man!” beamed Ryuji. “You don’t have to workout or anything if you don’t want to. You can just spot me. Anyways, I’ll see you there. What time do you wanna meet up?”

“Whatever time works for you.”

“Is like… five o’clock okay? I have to get changed into gym clothes and stuff.”

“As do I.” Did Yusuke even own gym clothes? He wasn’t certain. He had dropped out of gym class at the end of his first year of high school and never looked back. Even so, he was sure he’d find something to wear.

Rooting around in the deepest, most forgotten crevices of his drawers, he managed to find a pair of frayed, grey shorts and a tank top. These were classed as sporting attire, right? He pulled on the clothes and felt them completely dwarf his body.

He really didn’t want to ‘work out’ as Ryuji would put it. The last time he had done any massively strenuous exercise outside of the metaverse, which was sometime the previous year, he had fainted rather dramatically. It had been a particularly embarrassing moment, as it had happened in front of his entire class during gym and ended with him being carried off to the nurse’s office. He couldn’t help but fear that history would repeat itself.

He took a deep breath that did nothing to quell his nerves and left the dorms.

The gym smelt bad – that was Yusuke’s first thought. It absolutely reeked of sweat, and Yusuke couldn’t help but be a little intimidated by the various pieces of exercise equipment scattered around him that, in his opinion, looked more like torture devices.

Sometime while he was thinking, Ryuji snuck up on him and gave him a bone-crushing hug. “Sup dude. I’m so pumped about this!” said Ryuji. “I was gonna start with some cardio and then do some lifting. Do you want to join in?”

“Um… maybe?” mumbled Yusuke.

“Let’s just start and you can see how you feel. But go at your own pace and don’t push yourself too hard.”

Yusuke let out a murmur of agreement and headed towards the treadmills. If he was remembering correctly, running was cardio. He really didn’t want to run - it just made him feel tired and dizzy - but Ryuji was already setting up his machine, so Yusuke couldn’t drop out now.

He fiddled with the buttons until the treadmill was moving at a suitable pace and set himself into motion. It was invigorating, in a strange way. He even found himself somewhat enjoying the feeling of adrenaline pumping through his veins.

And then, once around half an hour had passed, Yusuke stumbled and had to grab ahold of the handle to keep from falling flat on his face. How graceful.

Ryuji turned off his machine and turned to his friend. “I think you’re a bit worn out,” he said. “Let’s take a break.”

Yusuke nodded breathlessly, and scrambled off the machine, desperately trying to catch his breath. When did he get this out of shape? He was startled when Ryuji threw him a bottle of water, which nearly smacked him on the side of the head.

“Go on,” said Ryuji. “Drink it.”

Yusuke’s thirst had gone unnoticed up until then, but he gratefully gulped down the drink. Somehow it had stayed graciously cool, even in the summer heat. Once he had drank all the water, Ryuji pressed something into his hand, going to drink his own bottle.

It was a protein bar. Yusuke had never had one of these before, but he knew that athletes ate them a lot. Even with the promise of chocolate chips – the message for which was printed on the side of the packet - Yusuke was cautious; he had never been a fan of new food.

He watched Ryuji tear open the packet of his bar and take a large chomp, looking for… something, though he wasn’t sure what. Permission maybe? He was used to asking others for food, whether that be Madarame, Natsuhiko or the school cook, and he wasn’t good at just taking things for himself.

Ryuji looked at him with a quizzical expression. “Why aren’t you eating? It’s really good. Give it a try.”

That’s all the permission Yusuke needed, and he took a bite. Not bad, actually. No one was more surprised than him when the entire bar was devoured in seconds. Maybe he was hungrier than he realized…

Ryuji took the empty bottle from him and threw it back into his backpack, before tossing the empty wrappers into the bin. “I’m going to do some weightlifting,” he said. “Will you spot me?”

“Of course.”

***

It was a hot day, and Yusuke was sweating like a pig. His back hurt too and he slightly regretted offering to help Haru with her gardening. Even so, Yusuke was a man of his word, and stubbornly refused to quit because of something as trivial as a little pain.

He rubbed the sweat from his brow and bent down to pull up the radish he was attempting to harvest. The damn thing just refused to move. He gave it one last tug and it suddenly came loose, sending him stumbling backwards, only just catching himself before he fell. Throwing the radish into the cardboard box at his feet, he went to start on the next row.

Haru appeared behind him and passed him a can of soda. It was chilled – she had probably got it from the vending machine – and Yusuke gulped it down in one go. Haru sipped her own can, glancing over at the box of vegetables she and Yusuke had spent all morning pulling out the ground. There was a good collection in there: some carrots, some radishes, a decent sized head of lettuce, a bag of green beans and more potatoes than Yusuke could count.

“We’ve had a good harvest,” said Haru.

Yusuke hummed in agreement, going back to pulling up radishes. Around an hour later, they were finally finished, and Yusuke said his goodbyes, about to collect his things and leave, when Haru stopped him.

“Wait a moment,” she said, pulling a plastic bag from her coat pocket, and picking a few handfuls of vegetables from the box. She handed them over to Yusuke with a smile. “Here, take these.”

“Are you sure?”

“Think of it as payment for your hard days work.”

Yusuke tightened his grip around the handle and nodded. “I’ve got to get home,” said Haru. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

***

Yusuke had spent the day with Ren, doing nothing in particular. At half past six, he announced his departure, but when he tried to leave, Sojiro stopped him, setting a hand on Yusuke’s shoulder. It was a strangely gentle touch, something Yusuke wasn’t used to, but he tensed under it regardless. “Why don’t you stay for dinner?” offered Sojiro. “I’m making curry.”

Ren appeared in the stairwell. “When are you not making curry?” he said.

“Watch your mouth young man,” laughed Sojiro.  Futaba giggled from her seat, and Ren smirked too. Yusuke couldn’t help but feel a little melancholic at the sight, longing for something he never really had. His hand twitched toward them, greedy and wanting, but he stopped himself.

“I want to stay,” he said. “But I’ll get in trouble. Curfew is at seven.”

“I’ll call your school and explain things. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Hesitation fluttered through Yusuke’s mind, but he forced it down. He wanted this, more than he had wanted anything in a long time. “Okay. I’ll stay.”

He let Futaba drag him all the way to Sojiro’s house, rambling all the way about an anime that she was watching, while Ren and Sojiro exchanged a secret grin behind him.

Yusuke had been in Sojiro’s house before, but this was the first time he had gotten a good look around. It really was just a normal house, with a slightly less normal family inhabiting it. Ren went to set the table, and Sojiro went to serve the food, Futaba helping him. Yusuke was caught in the middle, unsure of what to do. He didn’t want to get in trouble for doing something wrong, but at the same time, he hated just standing there, useless, and idle.

Eventually he settled for helping Ren lay the table, desperate to be at least a little helpful, and Ren did smile as he went over, which was a good sign. They laid the kitchen table together, and Yusuke surveyed the landscape. The kitchen was quite small, but a good enough size for a family of three. He wondered, briefly, if they ate breakfast together in the mornings.

The realization came to him, deep and cutting, that he hadn’t eaten breakfast, let alone a complete meal, with anyone since Natsuhiko left.  These days, he had grown used to eating his meals, when he remembered to eat them at all, alone in his dorm rooms, usually while working on something else. Food was always an after thought for him.

It was strange how much he missed it.

Sojiro came over, holding two plates of curry and Futaba trailed behind him, doing the same. Futaba handed a plate to Ren and Sojiro handed a plate to Yusuke. Once everyone was sat at the table, Yusuke waited for permission to eat, but wasn’t granted it.

It took a few moments for Ren to notice that something was wrong, but he eventually did, giving Sojiro a sharp nudge in the side and gesturing toward Yusuke. Sojiro quickly got the message and asked, “Why aren’t you eating son?”

The reply is simple, at least to Yusuke. “You didn’t tell me I could.”

“You can always eat here,” said Sojiro. “Whatever you want, and whenever you want it.”

Yusuke nodded slowly, picking up his spoon. Taking one last glance around the table, checking that it was really okay, he took his first bite. And then another. Soon, the plate was empty, and Yusuke had never felt so full in his life.

Futaba brandished her plate towards Sojiro like a knife. “I want seconds,” she demanded.

“Okay, okay. I’ll get you some more,” said Sojiro, standing up.

“I’ll have some more too,” said Ren, handing Sojiro his plate with just the slightest hint of a cocky smirk on his face. They all cast an expectant look to Yusuke.

Why not? He had room for a little more. “I’ll have seconds too,” he said. Sojiro smiled at him – a real genuine smile, something he had never seen from Madarame – and Yusuke decided he liked the feeling.

[shadow-scenarios]

Hello! How are you? If requests are open how would the boys in the phantom thieves snap their girlfriends out of their confusion during battle?

Hey Anon!! I’m doing alright, just blazing my way through requests.

This was a unique request. Status conditions are weird.

- Nexus.

Joker { Akira Kurusu }

✧ When the Phantom Thieves were attacked by an enemy that mainly used status effects, Noir was usually on hand to use Amrita Drop. The only problem? She currently was not on the front lines, as the enemy had taken them by surprise. Unable to switch out because everyone had been affected, Joker was frustrated. He knew that the weakness of the enemy was the element that his significant other used, so he opted to cure her first.

✧ Hastily, he changed Persona & focused his own power into an Amrita Drop for her. Curing the status, he suggested that she deal with the rest of the enemies. Very quickly, they dispatched of the shadows together. Knocking down all the enemies was easy for her & together they preformed an All-Out Attack together, turning the rest of them to dust.

✧ Once the others snapped out of it, Joker went over to her & ensured that there were no lingering effects from the status. Despite knowing that there should be none, he wanted to check anyway. Besides, it was a good excuse to sneak a kiss, even if he had to take his mask off in order to do so.

Skull { Ryuji Sakamoto }

✧ Things were not looking good. Queen was unconscious on the ground; Joker was struggling on his feet after Skull had pushed him out of the way of a fatal blow & his significant other was completely out of it, confused by one of the physical attacks of the enemy.

✧ Before the shadows could remove anyone else from the situation, he knew that waking her up was the most important thing. She could bring Queen back up & in turn would allow the rest of the team to heal up, which would give them the advantage. Dashing over to her, Skull was glad that he was an athlete. Even though his legs burned from usage, he was sure they would have killed him if he was not trained to withstand long distances.

✧ Vulnerable to the attacks of the enemies, she stood there, entirely wide open. They opted to ignore her for now because she was incapacitated but the Phantom Thieves needed her skills. So, he did the best thing he could think of at the time: Shaking her until she awoke from her daze. Honestly, he had not thought it through until she snapped back into reality, realising that they were in the middle of a battle & Queen was on the floor.

✧ Everyone was alright afterwards. With everyone healed up, Skull was quick to serve some justice with a powerful Physical attack & Joker followed up, gunning down the rest of them with ease.

Fox { Yusuke Kitagawa }

✧ Fighting enemies that could increase their own speed & confuse those who tried to hit them was just as dangerous as facing a powerful enemy. Although his aim with a blade was usually impeccable, Fox was struggling to land a single hit on any of them. Most had already been destroyed, with only two left & they were attempting to flee.

✧ If the Security Level were to rise too high, it would be difficult to continue infiltration, as backup would soon arrive. These enemies were weak to bullets but everyone aside from his significant other had run out of ammo from missed shots, meaning there was little way to down them.

✧ Taking their opportunity while everyone else was distacted, the opposition send out an attack towards her. However, Fox was swifter. He dove towards her, knocking her over in the process but preventing any serious harm. Replacing glazed over eyes was the focus of his significant other that he knew & they were quick to separate. Despite the enemies having increased speed, she was quick to gun them down.

Crow { Goro Akechi }

✧ There was something terribly thrilling about being on the front lines with his significant other. Although he knew that because of her association to the Phantom Thieves that he would eventually have to deal with her, at least he could relish in the fewer moments in which they could spend some time together.

✧ Besides, dying to the weak hands of a random shadow was pathetic. Bringing about the end of the group would be done properly, not by a miscalculation. Even though Sae had a Palace that consisted of weak enemies, status conditions were inconveniencing the entire group. Mona, who was resident healer, had accidentally healed all of the enemies & they seemed rearing to go as they launched another dazzling pattern, catching her right in the eyes.

✧ Sighing internally to himself, it was a good thing that Joker ensured everyone was prepared for any status conditions. For some reason, he insisted that a Hiranya would cure all statuses in the Metaverse. Though he severely doubted it, once the moment came, Crow supposed that it was worth a try. Using the item, he actually found that it worked, which was interesting information for later. Perhaps he would attempt to find something similar for his own trips to the Metaverse.

✧ Once she was alright, he pulled her onto her feet with one hand & soon the battle was won. He gave her a once over with his eyes to ensure that she was alright, then made a passing comment about moving on.

Word Count: 860

Publish Date: 15.10.20

[burnxngslash]

The sound of a fight erupts from an isolated alleyway, inside the alley were a number of larger men dressed rather 'formally' and just one young man that was no doubt a civilian. That very civilian's name is Yusuke Urameshi, former local bad boy on these streets, however, with his own absence in the past three years that reputation had dwindled down to nothing. His 'second' in command as some people would refer to the other 'delinquent' was nowhere to be found either, which left this neighborhood a spot up for grabs.

Families within the yakuza and also gang members were more than interested to gain full authority towards this turf, so much that the streets were always littered with some form of violent activity between the factions. Even the young by the ages ranging between 14 and 17 were often picked up for drug transportation or 'soldier recruitment', needless to say whilst things looked nice on the outside, the underworld was quite messy. But something happened in the past week, the young man known as Yusuke Urameshi had returned and it seemed he had come back stronger than ever.

He alone had been dealing with the members of the gangs and yakuza on his lonesome, within this very alley Yusuke continues his fight for justice. A punch throne here, and another kick there but he wasn't fast enough to dodge an incoming knife attack, or he simply wanted to take the slash to prove that even when wounded he would make sure to mop the floor with each and every one of them. “Aughh.” The screams of the weak and beaten echoes through the confined space. The young man had received a deep cut across his right arm that now leans at his side. “Remember if I ever have to catch your asses on MY turf again then next time I won't be so friggin' nice!!” He spoke towards them with so much authority, the men all bowed, each bruised, bloodied and beaten, apologizing towards the young man and scurries off. “Another successful morning work out..now If I heard 'em good enough they should have some kids selling their stuff on the east side of town.” The detective spoke ripping one of his own sleeves from his shirt and wraps it around his cut as a make-shift bandage as he left the alley and was now among the town folk upon the main streets. Brown eyes spotted a familiar hue of strawberry hair. Yes, it was him alright. Kurama always stood out like the stain on a white shirt. “Yo Kurama!” The young man calls out towards his vulpine companion. “Been awhile buddy, up for kicking a little ass with me today? Old time’s sake?” 

@pcrdiseseekers​ / starter call

[princekirijo]

Pspspspsp some Riku and Ann being bros headcanons???

OH FUCK YES THANKS BRO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG BUT Riku Ann friendship my beloved… This got super long so under a read more it goes 💀

OK so these two are literally chaos incarnate.

They have about two braincells between them. And they never use them.

Honestly apart? They're very intelligent (Riku has his mom's brains and Ann is intelligent in her own right) but whenever they're together it just cancels out.

Their number one favorite activity to do together? Annoy Makoto. At first it was unintentional because they just got up to their normal bullshit but it pissed Makoto off so much and they found it funny and now they do it deliberately.

Don't get me wrong they love Makoto and Ann really has no beef with her but Riku gets very annoyed at how "know it all" she is (he's exaggerating but she does it a lot you know? At least that's how I felt). But really it's harmless and they do back off it starts to upset her.

They also love to go shopping together! Ann will drag Riku to all the best boutiques in Tokyo and he just comes along for the fun of it. He also let's Ann pick out his outfits and buys her some clothes in return (he insists he's too lazy to pick out his own clothes but it's actually because he can see how happy Ann gets doing it and that makes him happy :] - not that he'd admit it)

They also sing a lot. They'll just randomly burst out into song in mementos and the only reason as to why no one has killed them yet is because they're both surprisingly good singers.

This is also accompanied by a lot of dancing. Riku had dance lessons as a kid and is actually super passionate about it and Ann loves watching him dance and rocking with him ofc. Makoto just wishes they wouldn't do it in the middle of a mini boss fight 😞

They constantly make stupid bets/dares with each other. Like Ann will be like "I bet that shadow is weak to magna" and Riku is like "buy me crepes and I'll find out" and before Ann can say deal Riku has already launched himself at it (and most likely gotten his ass yeeted across the field)

On a more serious note they're really supportive with one another when it comes to their trauma. Ann was the first person Riku properly opened up to about Hatanaka. She is very sympathetic with him and really helps him through his rough patches. In turn Riku is super supportive about Ann's own trauma and her feelings of guilt around what happened to Shiho

If either of them is having a bad day the other will show up on their doorstep with the cheesiest movies, 10000% packets of sweets and blankets just in case. They don't even talk sometimes, they just sit together in comfortable silence.

Riku will always come to Ann's modeling shoots if he can. He intimidates anyone who makes Ann (or any of the other models) feel uncomfortable and has the time of his life bullying Mika <3 (also because I hc Yukari as having her own modeling agency - don't ask I don't remember where that came from - he also gets to see his mom occasionally)

Ann has also offered to come to any fancy business party and bully old rich men for Riku if he needs it. She tends to come to any meetings he has and waits outside for him to get food after if he doesn't have plans (if he does Mitsuru will ask Ann if she wants to come to and ofc she'd agree).

The only time they ever butt heads (and even then it lasts like 10 seconds before it's all forgotten) is whenever Ann calls Yukari and Mitsuru milfs. Riku gets very annoyed and Ann thinks it's hilarious. Yukari thinks it's funny too and just laughs it off and Mitsuru has no idea what milf means. No one's gonna tell her either that it's not Mother I'd Like to be Friends with 💀💀💀💀

All in all they are very close and great buddies and I live for their dynamic. Also their dynamic with Yusuke. That's my phantom thief brot3 😌

[renxamamiya]

Theatre of Mirrors - Prologue

Here it is finally! I’m so excited to start this fanfic, with this au no less! This fanfic is going to be not only my longest in terms of written words, but also with chapters. I hope all of you are in for the ride, and also help me see through this fic to its conclusion!

Also, I’m thinking about putting this on AO3 also but idk, tell me your opinions pls I need it.

Warning though, this fic contains P5R spoilers for most, if not all, of the game. I’ve done my best to not include any within this chapter, but subsequent chapters WILL have them.

Special thanks to @digifangirl97​ for reading this beforehand, @rui-the-galax-angel​ for being my constant source of inspiration and motivation to even start writing this au, and @yusuke-of-valla​ for promoting it. Other special tags include @nowyoureblue​ and @mad4turtles​ for being my biggest fans!

Rain pattered upon the concrete streets of Tokyo, grey clouds obscuring the Sun, only allowing slithers of its golden rays to trickle out. This was uncommon weather during the Spring, rain being transitional after snow, watering plants that were starting to bloom anew. Underneath his umbrella Ren waited patiently for the crossroad lights to change, packed between crowds of unruly people, his umbrella acting as a personal sanctuary against the relentless shower poured from above.

“Hey.” Morgana murmured, popping out from the bag he often slung behind his arm, “Is this gonna take any longer? The rain’s starting to get heavier you know.” 

Ren rolled his eyes at the otherwise impatient cat, “I can only control so much, your majesty.” he replied sarcastically in his head, but held back his tongue as the crossroad lights turned green. He briskly started walking, no doubt not wanting to get caught up by the sudden torrent of movement, the risk of getting trampled by restless crowds did not appeal that much to him.

A year after his adventures within the Metaverse, where he stole the hearts of corrupt individuals and killed a God, Ren returned to the city from his country town. Pursuing an education of the culinary arts, he bought himself a small condo room using money he squirreled away from his adventures as the leader of the Phantom Thieves, his own sanctuary located within the bustling city. He lived on his own (if you excluded Morgana), his parents indifferent when he left them back at Inaba, not caring about their delinquent son; something he had counted on when applying for the education for a less traditional, ‘successful’ job.

“Have you got an email back yet?” Morgana asks, again perching his front paws on his shoulder, Ren shook his head.

“I’m going to check now.” he replied, before retreating into a small alleyway, reaching for his phone in his pocket. He pulled it out, glancing at the lock screen photo, an image of all his Phantom Thieves smiling at the camera, before sliding it open. Quicky tapping on the screen, he flicked through his emails, letters and words reflecting on the fake lens of his glasses. 

“Well?” 

“I’m trying to find the email, Mona.” Ren breathed, purposely controlling his tone of annoyance towards the animal. Scanning the multiple titles with his grey eyes, it took minutes to find the email he wanted, it being buried amongst a number of promotional letters. As soon as he saw the words ‘APPLICATION STATUS’ he tapped hopefully on it, reading it eagerly. However, he soon found his eagerness waning, disappointment instead replacing it.

“Dear Mr Amamiya,” the email started, the introduction formal, unassuming to the power it held for his future prospects.

“We regret to inform you that your application for the Matsuhisa School for Culinary Arts has been rejected, since you have not reached the target grade in order to within the program. If you think there is a mistake, please contact…..”

Ren stopped reading, turning off his phone and putting it in his pocket, too ashamed at himself to continue. He suppressed a cry, furiously wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his wrist. He didn’t want Morgana to witness his moment of weakness, especially while in public. 

“Ren? Are you okay?”

Ren turned to Morgana, the cat looking at him with worried, blue eyes. How he hated at times that Morgana was with him for most of the day, hiding comfortably in his bag while Ren walked around Tokyo, almost as a slave to him. Yet he admitted to himself a long time ago that he’d come to rely on the presence of the feline to keep him sane, preferring Morgana to his own thoughts. 

Ren blinked, grey eyes still shimmering with tears, blinking rapidly in thought, before he forced a smile on his lips. 

“I’m fine.” he lied.

A sharp, hot pain suddenly shot through his head, Ren wincing momentarily, it dissipating as quickly as it came, only to be replaced with a feeling of sudden nausea. 

“Morgana, what’s happen-” Ren slurred, another wave of nausea echoing in his brain, him trying to keep his balance as the world around him suddenly whirled at dizzying speed. The feeling was… unfamiliar. A feeling he felt he recognised, but the origin on the tip of his tongue.

“M-”

Before Ren could utter another word, he quickly lost consciousness, black abruptly consuming his vision.

“-en. R...n. Ren!”

Ren struggled to open his eyes, his head heavy, his mouth dry. 

“-en, get up.” 

He manages to blink them open somewhat, eyelids heavy, his hearing muffled. 

“Ren!”

A sudden burst of energy managed to allow his eyelids to flutter open, grey eyes hazy and unfocused. Another round of blinks managed to allow him to stir awake, him pulling himself into sitting upright on the floor. He rested his forehead in one of his hands, back curved outward, groaning as the last of the dizzy spell dissipated. 

“Ren, are you okay?”

“I’m fine Morgana.” he says, his head out from his hand, looking at his feline friend. It only takes him another minute to realise that Morgana’s standing on his hind legs.

“Morgana, why are you…” he trails off, taking a second this time to connect the dots. Morgana was standing perfectly on his hind legs. He stood on his hind legs only in the Metaverse. If he was on his hind legs here…. Then that means…..

They were both in the Metaverse.

The Metaverse had returned. 

But…. how?

The myth that cats have nine lives did not escape the fleeting thoughts of Morgana as he struggled to get himself off the concrete ground beneath him. He was nestled comfortably in Ren’s bag when his friend suddenly collapsed, the momentum of his falling body causing Morgana to be flung out of his vehicle. A blur of events later the cat found himself on the ground. 

“Ow……” Morgana groaned, feeling dull, throbbing pain on his head and body. It was a miracle that he was still alive, no doubt one of his nine lives evaporated as he impacted the ground. Still shaking, he spent another while on the concrete, his eyesight slowly coming back, strength gathering to his limbs. It took another breath for him to push himself into standing.

He took the time to gather his thoughts. He fell. Down. Hard. Because Ren… Ren…. Ren!

“Ren?” was Morgana’s first mutter since regaining his footing, memories flooding back. They were in an alleyway minutes ago, Ren reading one of his emails, his expression turning from hopefulness to one of hopelessness. Morgana asked what was wrong. Ren told him he was okay. Then. Then....

Morgana huffed, crossing his arms. The moment of realisation hit right after.

His eyes widened in shock, uncurling his arms and looking at his front paws. He was standing. On his hind legs. He reached to feel his neck, the familiar handkerchief wrapped around it in place of his bright yellow collar.

"The Metaverse?" he questioned out loud, and looking up he got his answer. The sky was coloured light red, a detail that often accompanied them when entering the bizarre dimension. 

"But why… no… that's not important right now. I need to find Ren and then get out of here." he thought to himself, shaking his head before starting to look around his surroundings. Spotting Ren sprawled on the floor a couple of feet away, Morgana hopped towards the boy. 

"Ren." The cat muttered, approaching his friend, his ears perking up in high alert. They were in a compromising spot, too open and vulnerable for shadows to attack them in this unknown realm. Ren was lying down on his stomach, his eyes closed, chest rising slowly up and down. Good, he was breathing. Morgana continued to scan their surroundings vigilantly. 

"Ren," Morgana continued to pester the unconscious body of the boy, hoping to stir him awake, "Ren. Ren!" 

Ren began to stir beneath his paws, Morgana running to see his face, the boy struggling to open his eyes. 

"Ren, get up!" 

Ren’s eyes fluttered, struggling to keep open, his consciousness threatening to ebb away. 

“Ren!”

Ren’s eyes shot open, grey and unfocused, darting around frantically. Morgana felt relief as Ren fluttered his eyes a couple of times. A groan escaped out of his throat, Morgana backing away from him, allowing his friend the space to regain his bearings. 

“Ren, are you okay?” he asks, Ren nodding in his hand in response.

“I’m fine Morgana.” Ren says, taking his head out from his hand to look at his feline friend. A moment later, Morgana held his breath as Ren’s eyes widened in shock. He had also realised that they were again in the Metaverse. 

“How?” Ren asked, again blinking rapidly, confusion solidifying on his face, his heart beginning to beat rapidly from a sudden wave of anxious fear. Taking a moment, he looked around, his expression more worried as the seconds ticked by “Morgana, what’s-”

“I’m just as confused as you are.” the cat muttered, looking at Ren, a significant detail popping into his head, “You’re not in your thief outfit as well. Something is definitely going on.”

“You’re…. You’re right.” Ren said shakily, just then reaching for the mask on his face that wasn’t there, “Morgana.” he breathes to his friend, masking his growing anxiety with a commanding tone, “We need to get… we need to get out here.” 

“No disagreements here.” Morgana nodded, “The fact that the Metaverse has returned, and you not gaining your thief outfit means that something’s definitely going on here. Something powerful.” he mused, “Something….. Unprecedented.” 

Ren nodded, agreeing with his partner in crime. He reached for his phone in his pocket. 

But it was empty. 

“Hey.” Morgana mutters, seeing Ren anxiously patting his trousers, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m trying to find my phone.” 

“Your phone?” Morgana asks, “You mean the one with the Metanav right?”

“Yeah.” Ren replies as he continues to grasp for his phone. Did they even get here via the Metanav? He wasn’t so sure, the gap in time between him in reality and him in the Metaverse too abstract for him to even recollect. 

“I remember you looking at it before we came here, are you-”

“Mona.” Ren sharply snapped, breath ragged, eyes wide and scared, pale hands shaking. Morgana recoiled back in shock. Ren was normally calm and collected, his cool head a feature that was crucial for him to function as the treasured leader of the phantom thieves. Under normal circumstances, Morgana reasons, this kind of behaviour would be unlike him. 

However, the circumstances they both found themselves in were anything but normal.

“Hey, Ren. Just calm down okay?” Morgana said, trying his best to comfort his friend as his own feelings of anxiety began to swell, “We’ll get out of this. We always do.”

Ren stopped his frantic searching to look at Morgana. 

“Yeah.” he smiled. Though Morgana’s words did little to help quell the anxious feeling swirling his stomach, he did appreciate what his friend was attempting to do, “But, if I can’t find my phone, what do you suggest we do, Mona?” 

Morgana hummed, crossing his arms in contemplation. His gaze drifted towards the horizon amongst the barren wasteland. He could see lights flickering invitingly. He peaked his ears, hearing the sounds of chatter, laughter and music coming from the same spot. 

“I think since we’re here, we do a little bit of reconnaissance, see what we’re up against.” he suggested to Ren, the boy following his gaze towards the commotion.

The source of the lights and laughter belonged to a theatre, it’s exterior grand and welcoming, reds and golds generously decorating the walls and staircase leading up to it, ornate statues gesturing towards the doors, ushering all who approached it inside. The building was tall. Long, glittering columns extended seemingly endlessly towards the heavens, figures that were carved within the marble supporting each distinct floor on their shoulders surrounded the width of the ornate, glass stained windows depicting unknown figures glowed with yellow light as both Morgana and Ren approached it.

“Whoa…” Morgana said, amazed at how beautiful, “What is this place? It looks amazing, right Ren?”

“It is.” Ren nodded in agreement, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about this structure. It looked… familiar. It felt familiar, as if he had once seen this particular palace in a dream. A feeling of dread settled in his stomach. He curled his lips into an unsure frown, “But….”

“But what?” Morgana asks, turning his head around to look at Ren, seeing the concerned expression behind the thick, framed glasses the boy wore. 

“It’s…. Nothing.” Ren shook his head before giving a toothy grin at Morgana, yet it did not reach his eyes, “I’m just worried about not having my infiltration outfit, that’s all. But the fact that the Palace owner - whoever it is - doesn’t see us as a threat is good. Kind of like Futaba in a way.”

“Yeah, until she decided not to.” Morgana huffed, crossing his arms, “Then she tried to kill us.”

“She was unconsciously pushing us away.” Ren shrugged, starting to climb the steps to the theatre, “I don’t blame her.” 

“True.” Morgana hummed in agreement, following Ren up the staircase, “You think the Palace owner is someone like her?”

“You mean, emotionally troubled and seeking help?” Ren asks, turning from Morgana towards the front of him, “I wouldn’t be surprised. My thief attire not appearing does support that. Maybe the owner really needs help. Maybe they want it.”

“You may be right, but it still doesn’t explain-" 

Morgana’s out loud thoughts were cut short as the both of them entered the theatre, the sight of the interior so grand it took both their breaths away. 

The amount of regalness of the interior of the theatre matched in grandness of its exterior. A sea of red carpet stretched wide on the floor, white marble walls were accented with glittering gold archways and columns. Velvet curtains hung next to the stained glass windows, golden lights glew upon golden chandeliers, the decorations luxurious without being gaudy. Ren however was drawn to the fountain nested between the staircase that curved upwards into the depths of the theatre, guests casually gliding up and down twin staircases, ignoring the boy and cat completely. 

“Wow, what a place. The owner sure has taste when it comes to luxurious decor.” Morgana said, marvelling the foyer of the theatre, humanoid cognitions avoiding them as they talked amongst themselves. 

“Yeah..” Ren trailed off, scanning the interior design with his eyes before him. Gery irises settled between the fountain nestled between the two staircases, and before he knew it he was walking towards the fountain, almost entranced by it. If he had paid closer attention to his surroundings like his feline friend at that moment, he would have quickly realised his fatal move. 

To Ren, the fountain seemed to call to him. Faces were carved within the smooth, black obsidian, masks of all expressions decorated the bottom, the foreheads carved with numbers seemingly at random, accented with gold. Within the middle of the fountain sat a figure sitting on a tipped jar in which water flowed from. They were surrounded by masks suspended seemingly by magic, yet these weren’t the same masks that decorated the bottom of the fountain, each of them an individual, unique shape, made out of what looked to be like crystal. Light green, yellow, pink, blue, white, dark green, purple, black, and pale gold. His eyes trailed from the glittery masks towards the figure. They were sitting cross legged, details of their long, flowing coat lovingly carved in stone, winklepickers curved, waistcoat accented with gold. Ren noted to himself that the figure’s costume looked just like…

The golden accented mask gave it all away.

Ren’s eyes widened in stunned alarm, stumbling back reflexively in complete disbelief. The masked man’s familiar smirk, the way his messy hair curled, his eyes, golden gems glittering in the light. No. No no no! It was impossible! Impossible! Ren turned to run, but as he turned, pairs of arms wrapped around each of his, grabbing tightly, Ren struggling within their hold, kicking and thrashing, twisting his body, yet their grip only tightened. 

“Morgana!” he screamed in desperation, craning his head back straining to hear his friend’s response, yet he could only hear the faint squeaks of frantic meowing as a blur of black blocked the view of the bipedal feline. 

“Get off of me!” Ren screamed, still twisting his body, trying to get away from the grip of the strong armed shadows, kicking and flailing as the shadows dragged him towards the old fashioned elevators that stood vigilantly next to the stairs. The cognitive people did nothing but watch, ‘ooing’ and ‘aahing’ as he was dragged into the claustrophobic box, Ren sickly noting that all of them were wearing inverted mockeries of his domino mask. The doors closed, and Ren gritted his teeth to repress a sob as the demented husks of the masses applauded joyfully at his the spectacle that was his misery, clearly entertained by it. 

The elevator shook with life before moving, Ren looking above to find them going up, the indicating lights ascending up a list of randomly placed numbers. 

“Where are you taking me?” He asks one of the shadows restraining him, turning to find the same mockery of his mask perched upon its featureless face as they ascended, “Please, answer me!”

“You’re expected by our lead actor,” the other answered, Ren whipping to look at the other shadow holding onto his other arm, “He wants you to meet him in the Fool’s Theatre, says he wants his special guest escorted to his dressing room. You know how those big shots are, they get their fifthteen minutes of fame and suddenly they act like they own the place.”

Ren wanted to laugh at the shadow’s dry joke, but he couldn’t.

The allure of the grand decorations intoxicated Morgana as he wandered within the foyer with Ren. While the cat often had his guard up (something an ‘expert thief’ was required to do) the atmosphere in this particular palace seemed to lull him into a false sense of security. It felt… comfortable. Like the makeshift bedroom in the attic of Leblanc, or the cozy room at Ren’s Tokyo apartment. Morgana couldn’t quite put his paw on it, but it felt like he was at home again, that it was familiar. 

He did not hear Ren leave his side, more occupied with the humanoid cognitions dotted around the foyer, all of them talking amongst themselves in hushed but excited tones, his ears pricking up at a conversation nearby.

“Is that him?” a woman asked her friend, looking over her shoulder. 

“It probably is!” her friend giggled in amazement, “Gosh, I’m getting all flustered, do you think if I asked for his autograph he’d give it to me?”

“Oh my god, do you think he’d take a picture with us if we asked him nicely?” 

Morgana turned to look at the two women, approaching them with caution.

“You should totally work your ‘womanly’ charms on him.”

“Do you think they’d even work on him? I think you’re just getting me to embarrass myself.”

“Of course! Then again, he’s so charming you’d probably fall flat on your face!”

Morgana looked around the theatre. There wasn’t any notable person that he could distinguish, most of the patrons looked like ordinary humans. Then again, Morgana reasons, this wasn’t a normal realm of existence.

“Who are they-”

“Oh my GOSH.” one of the girls squealed, Morgana turning his head to find the two women looking at him with wide, excited eyes. His own widened in terror. The two women were wearing masks, masks that look like Joker’s, as they continue to fawn over the feline thief, “It’s Mona-chan!”

“Mona-chan, may I get your autograph?!” her friend squealed as they approached Morgana, the both of them looking over him with disturbing glee, “Oh… you’re so cute, I could just hug you tightly like a plush!”

“Well, I appreciate the attention,” Morgana stammers, backing away from the two cognitions out of fear and disbelief, “But I’m currently in a ‘no-touch’ fur softening program, and-” 

He turns, twisting his slender body, and runs from them.

"Mona-chan, come back!!" the two conditions called out to the cat, running after him, clearly fanatical towards the cat "We just want an autograph and a picture!" 

"I'm sorry, my heart belongs only to Lady Ann!" he shouted back, weaving expertly between the legs of the cognitive guests, trying to find Ren amongst the sudden appearance of a large crowd. More whispers about what he presumed to be the Palace's owner muttered amongst the cognitions, yet he was too occupied to pay attention to their words. Peeking over his shoulder was the distraction that caused him to run into…

He stumbled back in a daze, but before he could react he was picked up by the shadow he impacted.

"There you are, you pesky cat." the shadow hisses as it picked Morgana up by the scruff of his neck. Morgana instinctively started to flail around, struggling against the sudden grip that he felt behind his throat, “You’re more trouble than you’re worth to find.”

“Let go of me!” Morgana shouted, continue to fight against the grip of the shadow, “If you don’t, I’ll-”

He heard Ren call his name in distress, the boy’s cries quickly being muffled by the crowd's cheer. With a new bolster of motivation of wanting to save Ren from the vulnerable young adult, Morgana continued to violently flail in the shadow’s grip, and has even resorted to clawing at the entity, trying desperately to force himself free from its grip. 

“Ugh, stupid cat!” The shadow spat with malice as he continued to grip roughly at Morgana, clearly taking him somewhere away from where Morgana wanted to go, “Why do I always get all the shitty jobs.” it muttered to itself, another shadow approaching Morgana and his captor. 

“Hey, what’s the hold up?” the newcomer asked in an exasperated tone, “Boss says he needs help with setting up the place for his guest. We got no time to waste in one stupid cat.”

“Yeah, but this pest won’t go willingly.” the shadow replied, still holding Morgana, “It’s fightin’ with all its might, can you give me a hand?” 

“Hey, I am not a pest!” Morgana shouted defiantly, offended that the shadows would refer to him as such, flailing even harder against his captor’s grip, “Get your hands off of me! I’m warning you guys, I can slice you in half before you can even land a finger on me!”

“Oh, he’s so cute.” the other shadow chortled as he watched the struggling cat, “It’s almost too bad that we have to throw him out, I would even consider myself a fan of him.”

“Yeah, but the boss said-”

“I know what the boss said.” the other shadow snapped, and Morgana noticed goop spilling out of the shadow’s eyes. It stepped back, contorting sickly, limb flying and bending inhumanely, its body stuttering as more ooze continued to drip from it. A pause of movement lapsed before it dissolved to the ground, before shedding its disguise, revealing it to be none other than a Dionysus. Morgana eyed the shadow in fear. 

“Hey, hold him still for a moment will you?” The Dionysus said, its fingers starting to crackle with electricity. Morgana’s eyes widened in alarm.

“C-C’mon you guys.” Morgana stammered, the moxie he showed instantaneously evaporating at the sight of the electricity dancing between the green shadow’s fingertips, “I’m s-sure you’ve got the wrong cat! Look, why don’t you let me go and I can talk it out with your boss? You wouldn’t hurt a little kitty cat like me would you?”

The two shadows looked at each other, amongst contemplatively, though their disingenuous smirks gave their true intentions away. 

“Ziodyne!”

The last thing Morgana heard before unconsciousness reaped his senses was the round of applause the cognitions gave to an unknown spectacle, Ren’s muffled yelps for help still echoing in his mind.

The sound of cars whirring past and the idle chatter of people was what stirred Morgana awake, wet concrete from a day’s rain cooled his belly, shadows cast by the buildings above sheltered him from the rays of the hazy sun. He smacked his lips as he felt himself slowly stirring from his slumber, ears folded downwards towards the sides of his head, his legs trembling somewhat as he got up from the ground. 

“Ren?” he asked, turning behind him, scanning the dark alleyway he suddenly appeared in, mind still heavy from whatever happened to him moments ago. His eyes drooped as he continued to lazily gaze into the shadows. 

“Ren?” he asked again, words slurred. Where was the boy? Where was- 

Oh. He suddenly remembered. 

His ears shot up, his senses on high alert, memories that were lost clicked back into place. He and Ren were investigating that Palace, Ren was captured and dragged further in, him getting thrown out with no way of getting back. The cat started to panic, adrenaline running through his small body, heart beating faster and faster, him feeling like he’s drowning on dry land. Ren was in danger, he was in danger and Morgana could do nothing to help his friend! He felt useless as he paced around the empty alleyway, tracing invisible circles with his tracks as he tried to come up with a plan. 

“Come on, Morgana.” he hissed at himself, his mind running full gear, yet the heavy fog of anxiety did nothing to help him come up with a plan. How to get into the Metaverse without a phone? Without a Nav? He was lost. Alone. vulnerable…

He gazed up at the sky. He felt so small. Like when he was alone after defeating the False God, disappearing in front of his friends, only to reappear alone in Shibuya. 

He looked at the passing pedestrians, until he was struck with inspiration. He found his way back to Leblanc on his own before, right? Then there was the possibility of him finding the route back to the rundown cafe yet again. He knew he had at least an ally there, a person who he could count on at least helping him rescue Ren, and so he set off, careful not to get trampled on amongst the stampede of legs as he navigated his way around the metropolis that was Tokyo. 

  The pestering rain had stopped within the hour in the afternoon, the air hot and humid as puddles settled in the crevices of concrete, reflecting the yellows and orange sky brought by the sinking sun. The sweet, soothing sound of bird singing as they emerged from man made shelters did nothing to pierce the roar that was the constant machine of the city. Despite this, Yongen - Jaya could be considered a haven away from most of the megacity, a sanctuary formed by the rapid rise of urban demands, tucked away from tourists and troublemakers alike. 

A girl walked out from the train station burrowed amongst the tightly squeezed buildings, head down as she was gazing at her phone behind dark framed glasses, oversized headphones hugging her neck as an accessory. Her natural hair was an oddity amongst the residents that lived in the small neighbourhood, but Futaba had lived there almost her whole life for anyone to give a second glance towards her.

She typed away on the screen, a piece of sucking candy resting between the roof of her mouth and tongue, effortly navigating around people and potholes, the narrow streets memorized from traversing them so much she knew each small detail like it was the back of her hand. 

Futaba: yooooooooo kana guess what!!! Futaba: sojiro gave me some cash to go buy school stuff!!!!! on my own!!! Kana: that’s great omg! I didn’t do anything as fun today (；￣Д￣) Futaba: oh f Kana: work is a paaain sometimes, but i’ve almost got enough money to buy some new uniforms Futaba: oooooooo!!!! Kana: ikr!!!! anyways youre still in shujin right? Futaba: yeah, it’s too easy (－_－) zzZ Kana: oof Futaba: like I know it’s not prestigious but like….. booooooring Kana: didn’t you like ask to be enrolled there???? Futaba: yeah lol Futaba: i wanted to go there bc a really good friend went there and like

"Futaba!"

The girl looks up from her phone at the sound of her name. 

"Futaba..." 

The voice sounded familiar…. wasn't that…

"Down here!" 

She looked down, a familiar black and white cat looking up at her with blue eyes. 

"Mona?!" she exclaimed, crouching down to meet Morgana at his level, "What are you doing here? Where's Ren?" her eyebrows knitted. It was an enigma to see the cat separated from his beloved owner, and while Morgana was known to wander the streets of Tokyo on his own, he almost never did so without Ren a stone’s throw away.

"That's exactly why I came here." he replied, mowing in great urgency, "Ren's in trouble, and we need everyone's help if we're gonna rescue him. And I need a place to stay." He added, the last sentence spoken with a sheepish tone.

Futaba's eyes widened at the news that her brother figure was in trouble.

“Ren is in…? Ren is in…!?”

She suddenly crouched down. 

“Ren is... is…”

Her breaths became fast and ragged and strained. 

“..is…”

Her heart drummed and thumped in her ears, consuming her hearing entirely. 

“Ren…”

She felt dizzy. Her eyes unfocused.

“Futaba?” Morgana asks, “Are you-”

She suddenly scoops the feline up, “What happened Mona?!” she shouted as she gently but firmly shook Morgana, “Did, did Shido’s men get him? Did someone else!? Please, tell me!”

“Futaba, stooooop!” Morgan shrieked, yet to all other bystanders, he was meowing furiously, “I think I’m gonna…”

“Oh, sorry.” she stops, gently putting the cat down, “But still, what’s going on?!”

Her voice started to crack. Morgana looked around their surroundings. 

“Let’s go somewhere private.” Morgan said, as he turned to lead the girl towards Leblanc, “Leblanc is still open, right?”

“Yeah, but you’re not allowed there Mona.” Futaba points out, suddenly grabbing the cat, Morgana yelping in surprise, “Remember? Sojiro doesn’t want pets around food. You were only allowed in because you were always in Ren’s bag.”

“Not always.” Morgana huffs. 

“Yeah right.” Futaba scoffs, though her anxiety did not quite dissipate from her voice, “Anyway, since we need a place to talk privately, I have somewhere in mind.”

“Where?”

“My room, you dumb.”

The only light in the room clicked on, Futaba wandering the cramp space with Morgana in her arms, her shopping bag full of stationary supplies hanging off her arm. She pushed the door to her room with her right foot, before settingling the contents she held onto her bed that sat nearby, Morgana hopping off and making himself comfortable amongst her untidy sheets as she dumped the bag she held before diving into her expensive looking office chair.

“So…” Futaba begins, eyeing the cat behind the frames of her glasses, brown eyes somewhat obscured by the lens from the glare of the lights above, “About….. About Ren.”

Morgana could tell that her facade was starting to crumble, her anxiety too overwhelming for her to swallow, hugging her legs, him thinking she was trying to comfort herself. He settled himself on the bed, before starting his explanation. 

“Well...” he began, yet he was unsure where to start, looking down at his white paws, “I haven’t really processed everything myself…”

“Mona, please! I need to know!”

Morgana looked at Futaba, seeing that she was starting to cry. 

“Okay… so… we were in Tokyo at around lunchtime. Ren was checking his emails for his letter of acceptance,”

“The one for that culinary school, right?” Futaba asks, Morgana nodding. 

“Yeah. I asked him what it said as I couldn’t see the screen when he checked, but before he could respond he suddenly fainted.” 

“He… suddenly fainted?” she asks, surprised, “Was he sick? Did he catch a cold earlier?” 

“Not that I recall.” Morgana hummed doubtfully, “He was fine this morning, jittery even. Him fainting came out totally from nowhere. And so… when he fell, so did I.”

“Ouch, that must have hurt.” Futaba winced, yet she silently motioned Morgana to continue. 

“Well, I woke up.”

“Yeah… but.”

“But what?”

Morgana looked down for a moment, hesitant to speak. Futaba gritted her teeth, anxiety again flaring up, squeezing her throat as her grip on her anxiety rapidly loosened between her fingers, “Mona. Mona I need to know.” her voice wavered, “Where did you wake up?”

“I... I woke up in the Metaverse.” 

Pause. Neither of them made a sound. Morgana’s eyes gazed down. Futaba was too stunned to speak, too alarmed about the news of the re-emergence of that other world. 

“You… you woke up in the Metaverse?!” Futaba half exclaimed, repeating Morgana to process the information for herself, yet she felt repeating the cat’s words with her voice only incurred more disbelief as she continued to inquire him, “The Metaverse.... It’s back?! How?!”

“That’s what I thought as well.” Morgana continued before Futaba’s thoughts could snowball into a panic attack, “But at the time, I was more concerned about Ren. He was dragged in there as well, and had no idea how we even got there.”

“Did he have his phone with him?” the girl asks, inching closer to the animal companion, “He must have accidentally tapped on the nav as it appeared.”

“That’s one of the things that bothers me about this situation.” Morgana admits, looking up at Futaba, “But, we woke up, his phone just… disappeared.”

“It… disappeared!?” 

“Yeah. He swore he had with him before. He must have had, but when we woke up it was gone.” 

“That’s… that’s…”

Morgana continued, “That wasn’t it. While Ren was looking for his phone I spotted-”

“A Palace.” Futaba finishes, Morgana nodding. 

“Yeah, a Palace. You should have seen the surrounding area though.” he says, “While the rest of the surrounding buildings would remain intact, this palace had absolutely nothing surrounding it. Nothing but barren land, like the desert surrounding your palace.” 

“A distortion that severe?” she mumbles, sitting back in her chair, “Whoever’s palace this is, definitely has a warped view on the World.”

“I agree.” Morgana nods, “So either the Palace Ruler only cares about nothing but themselves, or is a total shut in to have the surroundings distort that hard.”

“Like Shido… or me.”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm…” Futaba thinks, though her anxiety still caused the rapid thumping of her heart, “So the Palace Ruler sounds really powerful to be able to drag you into the Metaverse, but distorted enough to have the surroundings distort that much. What was the Palace anyway?”

“That’s another aspect of this that bothers me.” Morgana says, an ear of his twitching as he continued, “It was something really unexpected: it was a theatre.” 

“Why would someone, who has such a severe distortion, have a theatre as a palace?” Futaba points out quizzically, “That’s really, really weird!”

“There’s more.” Morgana informs her, “When we went in there were cognitions of people. They were wearing masks. Joker’s mask.”

An alarm rang in Futaba’s head.

“J-Joker’s mask?! Are we dealing with a fan of some kind?!”

"Seems like it." Morgana agrees, flicking his two as he contemplates the possibility  "It's the only explanation that makes sense. But that has to mean that the owner knows Ren is a Phantom Thief. But..." 

He sighs in frustration, Futaba feeling her own sense of perplexion at the situation they were in, "It just doesn't make any sense!" 

Futaba's gaze trails down towards the floor, silence falling between the two occupants. 

An idea struck her mind, Futaba quickly grabbing her phone, typing away. 

"What are you doing?" Morgana asks, perking somewhat in surprise. 

Futaba: hey guys we got a problem

Futaba: like a really super big boss level problem

"Messaging the others." she answers back flatly, "If the Metaverse has come back and Ren's in trouble, we gotta get the others into this." 

Her phone chimes with a new message:

Ryuji: yo what is it futaba Ryuji: did you forget to pre order a thing again

Futaba scoffs at Ryuji's message. Morgana jumps off her bed and onto her lap, the girl yelling at surprise by the sudden feeling of fur brush on her thighs. 

Yusuke: I'm positive that Futaba has already pre ordered all the things she wants Ryuji, even if it seems pointless to you. Ryuji: i dunno man, i think it's kinda dumb to buy something really expensive just for some plastic…. Yusuke: She just sees value in things you don't, Ryuji. Ryuji: yeah says the guy who bought TWO LOBSTERS that one time Yusuke: That was a year and a half ago. When are you going to let go of that purchase? Ryuji: dude I'm just saying that you buy weird shit as well lol Ann: guys pls behave! futaba, I'm sorry you have to share a chat with these isiots omg Haru: What's the matter, Futaba-chan? Are you okay? Ann: *idiots Yusuke: What about that one occasion with that bracelet, Ryuji? Ryuji: i said it was an accident!

Futaba growled in annoyance as her phone continued to chime with messages.

Yusuke: 1,000 yen down the drain just because you lost it the next day. Makoto: Ryuji and Yusuke, are you seriously arguing about this now? Yusuke: At least my lobsters were key to developing my art. Ryuji: wtf yusuke you lost them the next day Ryuji: how did you lose a buncha lobsters??? Ryuji: IN A DORM Yusuke: I did not! They simply were thrown out by the staff… Makoto: It was silly to buy live lobsters without a proper container to house them… Haru: I remember everyone telling me about Yusuke’s lobsters when I first joined. Ann: guys didn’t futaba want to talk about something???

The ginger haired girl gritted her teeth in place of amusement. She loved her friends, but the last thing she needed was for them to mess around. 

Haru: I still can’t believe he did so, but at the same time it is a very Yusuke thing. Ryuji: god ikr haru??

Didn’t they know that Ren was in trouble? 

Ann: pfft that day was wild, i think we should go to the beach sometime again Ryuji: yeah so as long as uni doesn’t fuck me up again Yusuke: If you studied, university should be easy. Ryuji: I DO Yusuke: At least university is somewhat easier compared to the entrance exams… Haru: I would love to go to the beach with you guys! Makoto: I agree with Haru. I know I have a lot on my plate but I’ll be sure to plan ahead for all of you!

Futaba shakes with frustration. The phone in her hands shakes, she starts to tear up.

Haru: I really would have liked to, I’m still so jealous you got to go with Futaba! Makoto: We should ask Ren if he wants to go as well. Ryuji: oh yeah speaking of futaba, what’s ur prob girl Ann: og yeah futaba has a problem right?

She can’t take it anymore. 

Futaba: REN IS IN TROUBLE Makoto: I completely forgot, sorry Futaba, what were you about to say? 

Futaba sobs.Her tears falling down her face. Her phone fell silent. 

What seemed like an eternity, it rang back to life again.  

Ryuji: WHAT THE SHIT Ann: WHAT Haru: What???? Makoto: WHAT??? Yusuke: What happened? Futaba: mona came to find me Futaba: he said that the metaverse is back Makoto: Morgana is with you? Ryuji: but i thought we destroyed that shit! Ann: I thought we destroyed it!? Futaba: and there was a palace Haru: The Metaverse is back?! Yusuke: How is the Metaverse back? Futaba: and ren got caught Ryuji: OH FUCK Ryuji: BUT HOW?! Ann: how did he get caught!? 

Futaba wipes the tears off from her face with the sleeve of her jacket. Morgana, who was reading the chat logs alongside the girl, snuggled against her chest as an attempt to comfort her.

Makoto: That’s highly unusual of him. Yusuke: Ren is a dramatic person, but even he wouldn’t be so careless as to get himself caught during a palace exploration. 

“You should tell them.” Morgana suggests. He would have done it himself, lamenting the fact that he did not have hands or fingers. Futaba nodded, sniffling as her fingers still shook. 

Ryuji: how did he get caught? Ann: why didn’t he tell us? Futaba: mona said he didn’t have his powers. Futaba: his outfit was gone. Futaba: and he lost his phone. 

Another pause of silence. 

Ryuji: what the shit….. Ann: what the…. Ryuji: WHAT THE SHIT Haru: … Makoto: But… why? Futaba: mona thinks that it’s a phantom thief fan or something Futaba: but even he’s not sure Haru: What was the palace? Ryuji: FAN MY ASS Makoto: But that doesn’t make any sense! Futaba: it was a theatre Makoto: For Ren to not be considered a threat and to get kidnapped Ann: a theatre, like where plays are performed? Makoto: The ruler must know that Ren is a Phantom Thief! Futaba: i guess Haru: Could it be one of Ren’s other friends that was aware about his identity? Ryuji: dude if it turned out to be mishima i’ll be so fucking angry Ann: But didn’t we change his heart ages ago? Makoto: I don’t think it’s Mishima. Haru: Yeah, I agree with Makoto. Makoto: Although I wouldn’t rule it out, it’s highly unlikely to be him at least. Yusuke: Futaba, did Morgana catch a glimpse at the owner’s shadow? 

Futaba looked at the cat, who shook his head. 

Futaba: no Haru: How unfortunate Ann: uh guys. Ryuji: what is it ann Yusuke: Yes, Ann? Makoto: Where’s Yoshizawa-chanby the way? Ann: i got a weird notif on my phone Haru: She’s most likely at practise, she should be on soon.

Futaba’s eyebrows knit together. A strange notification? 

Futaba: from what app? Ann: i dunno but I don’t recognise it Futaba: can you tap it? Ryuji: probs an app you forgot you downloaded Yusuke: I got the same notification. Ryuji: wait what?! Makoto: I just did as well. Haru: Me too. I don’t remember downloading anything. Ryuji: shit me too, this is effing weird Ryuji: i’m gonna check it out

Her phone chimed, an alert sent to her phone as a banner dropped down on her screen. Sliding to properly assess the notification, she read it. 

“THIS IS YOUR INVITATION TO THE PREMIER TO WITNESS THE SHOW THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD. BOOK NOW TO…” the notification read. Under normal circumstances, Futaba would dismiss it, already tired with the constant advertisements that seem to be able to continually slither their way onto their phone. However she didn’t. What caught her eye was not the message itself, but the small icon next to it alongside the lack of an app name.

The icon was red, black and white. It looked like… Joker’s mask. 

She tapped on it, eager yet scared to see what it entailed. Her phone stopped for a second. Futaba waited impatiently, for she would have thought the phone had frozen on her had digital numbers of the internal clock had not ticked by past one minute after six.

Before she could utter a curse, the screen suddenly faded into black, transitioning to a screen she thought she’d never see again. 

“The Nav?” she says curiously, Morgana sitting up, the reappearance of the navigation app too peaked his interest. 

“Is there a bookmark?” Morgana asks, caning his head to meet her eyes, “Check to see if there is one.” 

Futaba nods, once again scanning the options of the demented Navigation App before tapping on ‘Bookmarks’. She sees there is one entry. She taps on it. 

Ryuji: what the FUCK Ryuji: FUCK 

Her eyes widened. Her mouth hung agape.

Makoto: What’s wrong, Ryuji? Ryuji: CHECK THE NOTIF Ryuji: NOW 

She covers her mouth as she choked a sob. Morgana rereads the entry over and over in utter disbelief. 

Ann: OH MY GOD Yusuke: Is this some kind of sick prank?! Ann: OH MY GOF

“T-that’s impossible.” Morgana stammers, the colour of Futaba’s face now flushed out, her shaking almost violently, tears again flowing along the cusp of her eyes. 

Makoto: I… I don’t even know what to say… Haru: Mona-chan said it was impossible! It should be, right? Ann: GUYS WHAT THE FUCK Ryuji: I KNOW RIGHT LIKE FOR REAL?!?!?!

“It should be!” the feline exclaims, “It should!”

Makoto: I don’t know how to feel. 

Yusuke: This is absolutely surreal. This must be a dream. 

Ann: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Yusuke: I even pinched myself.... Ryuji: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Futaba stares at the words. The key words. The key words to a palace. The key words to a palace that should be impossible to form. The key words to a palace that should not have existed.

The words taunted her. Glowing on her phone. She read them again, unable to keep her composure. 

They read: 

‘Name: Ren Amamiya. 

Distortion: Theatre. 

Location: The World.’

Darkness occupied his vision, Ren feeling the blindfold wrapped tightly around his eyes. It was before he entered the theater on the top floor did the shadows decide to blindfold him, a cruel joke he decided, still feeling the bruises on his arms from the attempt to free himself as they robbed him of his sight. His arms were tied to something hard. Arm rests, he assumed, rope digging into his wrists. He was at least thankful that whatever he was bound to was comfortable, his body sinking into plush material.

He waited. Even took a nap, but when he awoke barely anything in his surroundings stirred.

With nothing to do, his mind wandered back to the numbers of the elevator. They made absolutely no sense to him. Why were they in a particular pattern? 

Three, star, six, four, two, seven, nine, eight, two, zero. Three, star, six, four, two, seven, nine, eight, two, zero. What did they mean? Three, star, six, four, two, seven, nine, eight, two, zero. He thought some more. Three, star, six, four, two, seven, nine, eight, two, zero. He bit his lip in thought. Three, star, six, four- 

The door to his prison opened. Heels clicked satisfyingly on the hard floor, the flap of a long coat could be heard as the door thud shut. 

The mysterious newcomer hummed a tune somewhat recognisable by the bound boy. The footsteps got somewhat quieter. Ren could hear a rustle and the clink of ice knocking on glass, the swirling of liquid as it filled its container. The newcomer puts a container down, a sniff, a sip and a satisfied sigh. Ren said nothing. He dared not. 

The footsteps started again, getting louder, the rattle of ice in water knocking glass more audible. The figure still hummed, carefree as Ren could feel their gaze trail along his body. They stopped when Ren could feel someone in front of him, the slight clinking of glass and the breaths from his observer almost syncing with the frenzied beating of his heart that banged rhythmically on his eardrums. 

He felt a hand, a gloved hand, roughly grab the blindfold, yanking it upward. Ren yelps, the sudden action combined with the pain of the yank and the lights above seering his unfocused eyes that blinded him causing him pain. He squeezes his eyelids shut before opening them, blinking rapidly, the same gloved hand gently caresses his chin before tilting his head upwards.

When his eyes finally focused, he found familiar golden eyes framed behind a familiar mask staring back at grey.

[gabriel-gabdiel]

Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword Chapter 57: Living Sin (Part 9)

Hiei does his best to take care of Usui Uonuma, who’s gunning for his Jagan. In turn, Yusuke deals with his old behemoth of an enemy who was once merely B-Class in power level.

Kenshin in turn deals with an enemy from his past with the assistance of one of the Spirit World ferry-girls.

Credit for the pictures goes to Ozzy Oz da Vyrus. 

The original source of this idea comes from Chad Yang. I continued his story idea found here.

The rest of the chapters of my Yuyu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin crossover fan fiction are available here and here. Enjoy.

First | Previous | Next

Up above the Okushiri Military Base....

The flying fortress made of solidified reiatsu (spiritual pressure or pressurized spirit energy) care of the Quest-Class powers of Detective Daiji Matsudaira (the reincarnation of Aoshi Shinomori) landed on the helipad of the base, startling the soldiers there.

Yahiko had earlier requested Botan to fly even higher up than the flying castle with purple beams of light shooting out of it in order to get the drop on the structure.

Literally.

From 50 kilometers above the earth, Yahiko descended straight towards the moving castle, its concentrated jaki beams dissipating against the ghostly human missile and his neutralizing reiki.

He first skydived from the ferry-girl's oar (much to her surprise and chagrin) up in the stratosphere and did his imitation of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu's "RYU TSUI SEN! (DRAGON HAMMER FLASH!)" for starters.

The impact then cracked the topmost outer shell of the dense fortress.

A trickle of reiatsu leaked off of the spiritual construct, like scattering fireflies in the night.

He then did one of his own Revisal Techniques of the Kamiya Kasshin School, named, "DOU GAMI! (GOD ON EARTH!)", which rocked the castle further at its core and spread cracks all over its very foundations.

Daiji's solidified reiatsu then turned into a shower of outright sparks, the solidified energy sublimating and ionizing into pure spirit energy.

Finally, the Tokyo Samurai Spirit executed a "TEN GAMI! (GOD IN HEAVEN!)" that started the downward spiral of the moving building, the cracks turning into outright crags and debris as the teenaged ghost got jettisoned high above even the stratosphere, reaching instead all the way to the mesosphere.

He reached a height about 70 kilometers or 43 miles away from earth.

The young samurai kid drove the Onmyouji's prison that whole distance from heaven to earth with a sky-cleaving, earth-shattering strike, or at least a strike powerful enough to send cloudy shockwaves behind them as they broke through the speed barrier.  

"INGA GAMI! (KARMIC GOD!)"

Yahiko's first of two ultimate attacks had enough jaki-neutralizing power to push that huge pillar right into the middle of the military base like a meteorite. A shooting star.

The sublime mix of reiki (spirit energy) and jaki (negative energy) then ionized into their base forms, the kenki (swordsman energy) that bound them fading away into the ether.

All of these forms of energy were neutralized by Yahiko's own strange spirit energy. His own reiatsu or unique mixture of reiki and kenki.

His strike from his self-made sakabatou (Kenshin's reverse-edged sword that Yahiko manifested using his reiki) was powerful enough to warp time and space itself. Like a blunt version of the Jigen Tou.

Only a single helipad-sized spire of the formerly huge fortress was left by the time it crash-landed unto the base.

***

Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword

A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Original Concept by Chad Yang

The Kenshingumi will now take care of their loose ends before fighting the final boss of this arc. This battle is about to explode! FIGHT!

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted materials that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 57: Living Sin (Part 9)

***

Back at Kitaoimisaki Park...

Usui Uonuma shook his head. The newbie member of the New Ten Swords, Kuronue, was outwitted by the legendary demon fox Youko Kurama as well.

If you wanted something done right, do it yourself.

Amidst the burned shadows and silhouettes that were once Kuronue stood Usui, his previously broken Tinbe practically whole now.

With it now capable of withstanding the heat and impact of multiple Jaou-En-Satsu Kokuryuha (Dragons of Darkness Flames) from Jaganshi (Evil Eye User) Hiei, the black serpentine flames were unable to affect the turtle shell one way or another.

But Uonuma knew that Jaganshi Hiei had one more ace up his sleeve. The Chojin's spies had briefed him about the fire demon and his ability to absorb the power of the fiery dragon beings unto himself.

As expected, Hiei boosted his speed and power tremendously by absorbing the flame dragons of the Kokuryuha right into his body, his youki (demon energy) rising to astonishing levels. To S-Level and beyond.

Under the old Reikai rules, Hiei's presence there would've been considered outright illegal. A demon that powerful shouldn't be in the Ningenkai (Human World).

A demon that powerful was on par with one of the Chojin's Ten Swords.

'So this demon's name is Hiei, huh?' thought the blind man, waxing nostalgic. That was also the name of the mountain where the old Juppon Gatana (Ten Swords) stronghold was.

What a curious demon. He had the speed of Souiro "Heaven Sword" Seta and the strength (or even firepower) of Makoto Shishio.

If Usui could conquer this strong demon, then he'd get one more step closer to standing as equals with the Youkiri (Demon-Slayer) Tenro.

To sit at the right hand of an unborn god. To be able to challenge an unborn god and become one himself.

Nah, perhaps that last one was still a bridge too far for him. But this, defeating the fire demon, wasn't.

The dragons roared and gnawed against the Tinbe but like a mountain standing above the earth with a crown of clouds, it wouldn't yield.

His Tinbe then reformed completely, but there was a gap the size of a sword slash right on its upper top left corner.

That was where Hiei focused his attack, sticking the tip of his Jaou-En-Satsu Ken (Sword of Darkness Flame) right into it, forcing its way in.

Hiei learned a lot from Kurama's little trick earlier with the Demon World Moss. This time around, the jaganshi found a weak point before the shield was able to fully heal or reconstitute itself.

Hiei's aura of youki and black flames flared to life, increasing the pressure on that one little crack, like a pressure cooker about to burst.

More cracks appeared on the shield as the pressure built up further and further. It reached the boiling point and then went beyond it. Through this one weakness, Hiei was able to focus his demonic energies and bust through.

The Tinbe cracked apart in twain and then into a million pieces, and from there Hiei released all of the Dragons of Darkness Flame unto Usui's hapless form.

However, that was actually a ruse.

The blind swordsman and spearman had actually activated a second illusion from Jine Udo's Jagan as Hiei attacked with the full power of the Kokuryuha inside of him, knowing full well that his Tinbe wasn't complete yet.

However, by making Hiei dream that he had broken the false Tinbe, this bought Usui enough time to completely manifest his real Tinbe with the small crack or gap finally filled in.

It was this shield that stopped the Dragons of Darkness Flame cold.

Usui baited Hiei into wasting his one shot at him and it worked. Hook, line, and sinker.

Every last one of the flame dragons crashed uselessly against the reinforced and complete Tinbe, like the waves of the ocean crashing against the sea wall or dam. The tides turned but the wall remained unperturbed.

Hiei's Jagan was now his...!

However, as Uonuma began his counter Rochin stab with the intension of pinning both Hiei and Kurama into the nearest wall like twin butterflies, something felt amiss.

His body then literally fell apart into tiny pieces of meat cubes, red mist spraying all around him.

Usui was able to seal the crack on his Tinbe, but the gap of time he needed to do his counterstrike was all Hiei required to strike back.

In that fraction of a fraction of a second, the super-powered fire demon slashed at him at the rate of a hundred times per second. Or more.

Before Usui could block one strike with his shield. Or counter with a thrown spear to the heart or face.  Or even activate Jine's Jagan at the last second and create another illusion to fool Hiei with.

Moving faster than his sensitive hearing could detect. Or predict.

Moving faster than his mind could fathom.

Moving faster than sound itself.

***

About a hundred years ago, around the 1870s, inside Shishio's hidden fortress within Mount Hiei...

From out of the blue, Usui Uonuma asked Makoto Shishio a simple question.

"Between the Ten Ken (Heaven Sword) and myself, who is more powerful?" he had asked out of whimsy. "Who would win in a fight?"

Shishio chuckled, swirling the wine inside his wineglass as he considered Uonuma's unusual query. He decided to humor his former hitokiri (manslayer) rival.

"You can keep up with Sou-kun's speed up until he uses the Shun Ten Satsu (Instant Heaven Kill), which is him using both battoujutsu (sword-drawing techniques) and the Shukuchi (Reduced Earth) at the same time. If you're able to disable him before that, then you will win."

"Shun Ten Satsu, huh?" repeated Usui. "Why do you think that?"

Makoto drunk his drink in one shot and then gave the glass back to his courtesan and lover, Yumi Komagata.

"It's simple. You can counter anything you can hear, smell, sense, and react to, right? Sou-kun's Shun Ten Satsu is faster than sound. Your Shingan won't even hear him coming."

***

Back in 1993, at Mount Kannon...

Kenshin Himura sighed as he trudged on foot back to Mt. Kannon within the Hidaka Mountain Range of Hokkaido.

He had Kazuma Kuwabara place him near the mountain care of the trusty Jigen Tou (Dimension Sword).

Like in the case of the battle at Mount Kamui, Mount Kannon was outside of Okushiri.

Kenshin had absorbed enough spirit energy from all the Reikai Tantei (Spirit Detectives) earlier to manifest himself and his spiritual body on his own, without being wielded by any of them.

Although he was kind of curious what sort of powers would manifest if his sword were held by the likes of Yahiko Myojin, Natsuki Shinkai, Likka Ikumi, or Daiji Matsudaira.

Perhaps another time, they'd find out.

Most of the energy he soaked up came from Yusuke Urameshi, in fact. It should last him until the rest of the battle.

The fact that Yusuke's reiki was that immense was both reassuring and worrying.

Reassuring in that they had the big guns against the Shin Juppon Gatana (New Ten Swords) this time around. Worrying in that he wasn't sure if it was Rando's Kugai (World of Suffering) curse or Urameshi's own developing powers that led him to have this surplus of energy.

Without all those multiple seals that held back his power, Yusuke might still suffer from power incontinence. He might still be unable to control his full immeasurable strength.

Regardless, Himura had other concerns to deal with. He was busy taking care of this Chinese warrior earlier, who wounded him in battle that made it difficult for him to save Hajime Saito from Feng Xinhai's schemes and Toguro Ani's attempt at possession.

A Chinese warrior that ended up related to him and his dark past after all.

The stranger with white hair and crazed eyes that Kenshin fought was no stranger to him after all. He remembered who the man was.

The man's name was Enishi Yukishiro, all grown up. The younger brother of Kenshin's ex-wife, Tomoe.

Since Tomoe was Kenshin's ex-wife, that made Enishi his brother-in-law. A brother-in-law with a century-old grudge regarding Kenshin's (accidental) murder of Tomoe Himura (nee Yukishiro).

"...Tell me, Battousai. Is my sister smiling down on you from heaven?" so said Tomoe's brother, Enishi.

Enishi had somehow ended up in the Heisei Era and got himself mixed up in Kenshin's current affairs. Himura could've almost sworn that his brother-in-law had died back in the Bakumatsu.

The younger brother of Tomoe was one of many unsettled debts Kenshin left when he died fighting against Makoto Shishio back at Mount Hiei.

In their first meeting in a hundred years, Enishi even gave Kenshin the same wound that ultimately killed Tomoe.

Meanwhile, as Himura neared where he previously defeated the martial artist, the cross-shaped scar on his cheek flared with a twinge of pain. No, actually the cuts felt as painful and fresh to him as the first time they were made.

The scar somehow ached even more than the much deeper laceration on his chest that still hadn't fully healed.

Like a paper cut that microscopically tore through skin and thousands of nerve endings like a jagged handsaw.

As though Enishi's very presence had reactivated Tomoe's curse on him. The curse of the cross-shaped scar.

***

At the helipad of the Okushiri Military Base...

"Get the HELL out of THERE! Sadojima Houji!" beckoned Yahiko as he sheathed his sakabatou while Botan herself swooped down from above then behind him.

He further chided, "That strike wasn't enough to take you down, right? No, you still have the Chojin's powers inside you, you dirty rat. Of course that wasn't enough!"

"You're being too loud, Yahiko! You're bothering the military people!" was what Botan resisted herself from saying, inwardly reminding the Kaoru inside her, 'He's supposed to be loud, you silly goose! The Chojin and his forces are invading Okushiri, remember? If not Hokkaido altogether!'

The aforementioned military base had long ago been put on high alert ever since supernatural beings started attacking different parts of the island at once.

Many of their deployed teams didn't return to the base hours after deployment.

"Stand aside, kid!" one of the soldiers said, who in Yahiko's eyes should've looked more shocked at seeing the seeming U.F.O. land in the middle of their base. "Civilians aren't allowed in here. This is now official military business!"

Another private attempted to grab hold of Myojin, only for him to slip his grasp. The teenaged version of Yahiko willed his ghostly self to become incorporeal.

The Jieitai or JSDF (Japanese Self-Defense Forces) then surrounded what was left of Daiji's solidified reiatsu structure, their guns cocked and ready to go.

What remained of Matsudaira's seal broke apart like a hatching egg.

And from there came forth the Onmyouji (Occult Priest) in all his glory, wearing a mix of a business suit with an occultist robe serving as his overcoat. The true right-hand man of the Overfiend.

With purple glowing eyes and a miasmic aura that flowed all over his body like thick black and crimson smoke from a smoldering flame, Houji spoke in askance.

"Why do you want to fight me, Myojin Yahiko? Do you bear a grudge against me? Do you hate me from the bottom of your heart?"

Yahiko was taken aback by the question. "W-What...?"

"Right now, you have no such hate in your heart," said Houji the Onmyouji. "You're fighting out of a sense of duty to your friends. To your idol, Himura Battousai. Otherwise, you'd have no such quarrel against me."

Or perhaps Sadojima was merely acting as the representative speaker to one other person.

Perhaps Myojin was actually talking to the Chojin (Overfiend) himself. The mastermind behind all these resurrected baddies from the Meiji Era to the Heisei Era.

Just who the hell was the Chojin anyway? Was he Makoto Shishio? Or someone else entirely?

The Onmyouji's ghoulish shikigami (familiars) with their tattered robes and sharp scythes flew at the gathered soldiers, who fired at them to no avail.

"STOP!" screamed both Yahiko and Botan at the familiars prior to the massacre that was about to take place.

None of the military men stood a chance against these supernatural beings.

***

Back in Hokkaido, far away from Okushiri, at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

Kenshin witnessed Enishi's strength firsthand.

The Chinese warrior had become so powerful he drove Himura Battousai himself from the forests of Okushiri all the way to a whole separate mountain range in Hokkaido, miles away from the island.

By pure willpower and hatred, Enishi grew strong enough to give pause to even the powered-up version of Battousai that had his own magical Demon Sword.

The Overfiend had indeed prepared for every last contingency. He was every bit as cunning as Youko Kurama himself.

Earlier, Kenshin's chest actually got hit by Enishi Yukishiro's ultimate attack, the Kofuku Zetsu Tou Sei or Kofuku Zettousei (Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush), as a counter to the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash).

Kenshin was also distracted by the fact that Tomoe's brother managed to find him a century later to enact his rightful revenge. His Jinchu.

That was why he was defeated by a technique Enishi must've trained over and over again to counter all sorts of battoujutsu strikes, including the ultimate one devised for the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.

Luckily, instead of doing the follow-up strike that would've also missed, Kenshin had the foresight to do a more powerful version of the Dou Ryu Sen on the ground that was enhanced by the vortex created by the succession technique.

This last-minute creative counter was what initially buried Enishi right into the heart of Mt. Kannon.

Regardless, Kenshin arrived back at his earlier starting point.

By Himura's estimation, only he or maybe Yusuke could take Yukishiro out one-on-one. Enishi should not be allowed to join forces with the rest of the Shin Ju.

***

Yahiko manifested his neutralizing reiki and kenki all over the military base with a sparkling blue and yellow light that blended together and formed a green glow. This then warded off the raggedy evil spirits that served as the Onmyouji's shikigami.

It was his own form of spirit pressure. His spirit energy interacted with his swordsman presence in a way that sealed or canceled out the spiritual power of his opponents.

Botan, in turn, flickered back and forth between her original shinigami (death goddess) form and Kaoru Kamiya's form as she saved the soldiers from being reaped by Houji's soul reapers by using her floating boat oar like a bokken (wooden sword) or naginata (glaive).

The two Kamiya Kasshin Ryu practitioners made short work of the familiars before they could take one life of the JSDF military corps.

"Please evacuate from here. You're no match against them," explained Botan to one of the soldiers before swatting multiple weakened shikigami away with her weaponized boat paddle.

One of Myojin's shikigami-dissipating swings swiped mere inches away from Houji's face, creating a thin cut over the bridge of his nose.

"Swinging a sword mindlessly at someone out of hatred is just violence. Kenshin taught me that," said Yahiko. "My duty as the Son of Tokyo Samurai is to defeat you. That is all. I'll even stake my life on it."

Sadojima smirked. "So be it. Samurai-san."

From behind Houji teleported the ever-reliable Gatekeeper Itsuki.

Yahiko turned towards the blue-haired shinigami and told her, "Quick, call Boke (Moron) and tell him to come here right now."

"Boke...?" trailed off Botan.

"KUWABARA! Kuwabara Kazuma! We need him here now! If he needs healing, heal him up as well! He and his space sword are the only ones who can take on that green-haired yoga guy and his goddamn portals!"

"All right! I'll call him! Jeez," said Botan, who turned on her communicator.

"Language, Yahiko!" reprimanded the Kaoru inside her in turn.

Afterwards, Itsuki summoned a multitude of warp gates, this time rectangular and doorway-shaped instead of circular and hole-shaped.

Inside each dimensional door was either the corpse (as well as ashes) or unconscious body of the many different Shin Juppon Gatana members.

It was through these gates that the Occult Priest blasted his purple beams of negative energy. Before, they served as destructive pillars of neon plasma. Now, they were probably used to give the killed or otherwise heavily injured Shin Ju another lease on life.

"Oh no," said Botan. "Not again. He's not going to revive all the New Ten again, is he? Jeez, we just defeated those goons! Learn how to stay down and give up!"

The shining eyes of Houji the Onmyouji then dimmed and faded away, replaced with his actual normal eyes.

"Ah, you returned. The snotty little brat. How does it feel to go back to zero after all the effort you've spent killing the Shin Ju? Like Sisyphus and his rock, right?"

The boisterous nature of the Chojin's conduit had returned. Houji was seemingly awakened from his brief slumber earlier, when he actually sounded "cool" and "aloof" for a hot minute.

"Hey," said Yahiko. "What happened to you earlier? You weren't the one talking, were you?"

Houji raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. It was the Chojin who talked to us back then, right?" asked Myojin. "Tell it to me straight: The Chojin is Shishio Makoto, isn't he? Of course, he is! Who else would start a war against the Spirit World with a team called the New Ten Swords? No one but him!"

The necromancer chuckled. "That's a... secret."

With a grunt, the samurai teen jumped and attacked the Chojin's right-hand man with a downward slash from the Jodan-no-Kamae (Fire Stance), which was then blocked by Houji's scythe.

They crossed blades, their different energies clashing against each other as arcs of lightning ripped through everywhere like light-filled cracks that broke through reality itself.

Houji's lack of formal training with his weapon was rendered moot due to his seemingly oceanic flow of negative energy that gave his simple block the weight of the world. Or at least the huge water pressure of the ocean depths.

However, regardless, the beams of purple plasma emanating from the dark priest flickered and wavered as it interacted with the reiatsu of Yahiko.

"That's it! You can do it, Yahiko!" said the Kaoru within Botan. "Show them why I consider you the number one pupil of the Kamiya Kasshin School!"

"Can you really do it, boy?" asked Houji, smirking. "Can you seal away the overflowing, overwhelming power of the Chojin himself? The Living Sin?"

The dimensional doors leading to the Shin Ju were then shut down. Or rather, slashed shut.

Gatekeeper Itsuki chuckled, his slashed eye that doubled as a dimensional portal opening. "He's here."

Sure enough, in one of the doors, the jaki beam was slashed in twain, the negative energy cut down by the spiritual might of the Jigen Tou.

It was from this door that Kazuma Kuwabara emerged, the transparent ghost of a recovering Sanosuke Sagara beside hiim.

"You called, Jo-chan (Missy)?" said Sano.

"YOSHA! (HELL YEAH!) Let's get this party started, samurai boy!" shouted Kazuma, the rambunctious teenager with bleached orange hair similarly styled like his best friend Yusuke Urameshi's hair.

***

And so there he was. Buried deep underneath Mt. Kannon itself like Son Goku the Monkey King from the literary masterpiece, "Journey to the West".

The rumbling inside the grumbling mountain roared deeper and harder. Like it was about to explode and turn into a volcano.

"...BATTOUSAI!" screamed Tomoe Yukishiro's little brother Enishi from underneath Kannon Mountain, spewing hot fire along with the brimstone and magma he was surrounded in.

His spectacles had long ago been lost or burned to smoke and ash by molten rock. The rest of his outfit remained intact though, probably protected by his body's significant aura.

Yukishiro crawled out of the hot magma pits of hell, or at least the otherwise dormant mountain in an explosion of fire, smoke, molten rock, and lava flow that scarred and burned the surrounding forest.

The singes and burns on Enishi's (literally) piping hot body, however, started healing right before Kenshin's eyes.

Not quite at the level of instantaneous regeneration as the Elder Toguro, but quick enough to survive a trip down a volcano and live to tell the tale. Still too quick compared to a normal mortal though.

Besides which, he wasn't supposed to only be burned from the fires of a river of magma anyway. It must've taken thousands of degrees of heat to even leave him slightly scalded at all.

His humongous amount of spirit energy kept him from suffering life-threatening injury. The same way Hiei or Yusuke would've survived such a predicament.

The red-hot blade of the Chinese-styled warrior didn't quite reach its melting point but it cooled down from the sheer blast of miasmic spirit energy from him.

If allowed to run rampant like the rest of the Ten Swords, Yukishiro could very well murder every last one of them. The Reikai Tantei, the Kenshingumi, and the Oniwabanshu.

All of them could die. This high-level martial artist could do what at least 8 of the 10 Shin Ju couldn't. He was a one-man army. He was like their Hajime Saito. A true wild card of sorts.

Kenshin foresaw it all through the Youtou Shinnoken.

The last thing Yahiko and the rest of the Reikai Senshi (Spirit World Warriors) needed right now while battling the Onmyouji and the Chojin's wealth of negative energy was a spanner in the works like Enishi.

***

The powers of most of the reincarnations or ghosts from the Meiji Era—most of Kenshin's comrades—were a result of how their spirit energy interacted with their swordsman energy or fighting spirit, creating what was known as reiatsu.

With Daiji Matsudaira (Aoshi Shinomori's reincarnation), it was the Quest-Class manifestation of objects and materials from his spirit energy.

With Natsuki Shinkai (Yutaro Tsukayama's reincarnation), it was the ability to manipulate kinetic momentum or acceleration, usually in the form of reflection or deflection.

With Likka Ikumi (Misao Makimachi's reincarnation), it was her skill to manifest her thoughts into reality, creating visual mirages or even holographic illusions seen by all.

With Sanosuke Sagara's soul, it was his pure fighting spirit that allowed his ghost to approach Regent-Class regeneration abilities, stamina, and pure brute force that allowed him to affect the physical plain like a rampaging poltergeist.

With Kaoru Kamiya's soul, it was a mix between Botan's soul reaper powers and Kaoru's past swordsmanship skills that allowed them to heal, boost, replenish, bind, manipulate, or otherwise enhance the spirit energy within them or of those around them.

With Kenshin Himura's soul, he became one with the Demon Sword, a demon-slaying blade that could arguably injure or kill a god. His own reiki, kenki, and reiatsu interacted with anyone who wielded his blade in ways that raised their very power levels.

Finally, with Yahiko Myojin's soul, his unique brand of spirit energy interacted with other spirit energy (whether it was human or demonic) in a way that suppressed or neutralized them into nothingness.

Yahiko's unique powers worked like how an acid and a base reacted quantitatively with each other when mixed until the acidity of the acid disappeared. Or how Hiei's Jaou-En-Satsu Kokuryuha was cancelled out by Shinobu Sensui's polar opposite power of Sei Kou Ki (Saint Light Ki).

Their reiatsu was different from the reiki and youki used by Yusuke Urameshi and their comrades due to the use of other forms of reiki within the Meiji Era reincarnations and the use of classic shinigami warrior techniques among the revived spirits.

Reiatsu was more comparable to something like Sensui's Saint Light Ki or Yusuke mixing his reiki and youki together to form something approaching Sei Kou Ki instead of either pure reiki or youki. Even jaki.

It was through these souls—these seeds of hope—that Koenma Daio intended to defeat the Chojin and his unnatural powers that defied death and the natural order of the Spirit World.

***

Kurama's board full of chess pieces were in their proper places, which kept the Chojin in check. They were practically on the verge of a checkmate, even.

The pawns were positioned to divide and conquer the Shin Juppon Gatana, with each Reikai Senshi paired up to their appropriate members.

Their source of power, Houji, had his borrowed negative energy suppressed by Yahiko. Their means of transportation, Itsuki, got sealed off by the Reikai's own Kuwabara and his Dimensional Sword.

Botan was there to heal and replenish reiki as well as assist Myojin tactics-wise care of Kaoru. Sanosuke himself was gradually recovering his spirit energy and fighting spirit for good measure as "Jo-chan" or the shinigami she fused with nursed his flickering body back to health.

Kuwabara regained his second wind even, which allowed him to not only create portals but to close or destroy them with his twin Dimension Swords.

This kept the annoying Gatekeeper from transporting jaki to the injured/dead Shin Ju or even getting the recovered members to help Houji out.

Even with his use of Sensui's seven personalities and the new powers it brought him, Kazuma kept him at bay.

As for the shikigami that served as the Onmyouji's infantry, Sanosuke punched them out with the "FUTAE NO KIWAMI! (DUAL EXTREME!)" while riding shotgun on Botan's oar.  

So why did Myojin feel like something was amiss? Like he had a bad feeling about everything? Like something terrible was about to happen?

A new enemy descended from an unseen sky portal that Kuwabara noticed, slashed apart, and closed too late.

"Huh!?" was Yahiko's reaction to the new arrival. This distracted him even as he ended up on the verge of disarming the untrained Houji. "Who is that? Is it another replacement Shin Ju?"

Kuwabara said, "We've already confirmed that Toguro Ani and Kuronue replaced Suzaku and Udo Jine! It's not one of the New Ten! Must be one of the Dai Shin Kan instead!"

Sanosuke's jaw dropped. "No way...!" which made Botan and Kaoru ask in unison, "Who is that supposed to be, Sano?"

Kazuma jumped into action, intending to slash a portal and kick the newcomer into it, only for his Jigen Tou's energy to start unraveling before his eyes.

The woman in courtesan clothes smiled as she floated down using her umbrella as a parachute (like goddamn Mary Poppins, Botan realized), crimson energy emanating from her pale white skin.

"Ah, it's all coming together now." Houji cackled. "Welcome back, Komagata Yumi. Get rid of these insects for me, if you would please."  

And so Makoto Shishio's personal courtesan and lover arrived, dressed in her classic Meiji Era garb but this time there was a hole in her chest where her heart used to be.

The very place where Shishio stabbed her in order to do a surprise attack on Battousai Himura.

Also, she had long fangs inside her mouth.

"Inner Blood Turmoil," Yumi said as she sapped Kuwabara of all his spirit energy using the Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu (Vampire Martial Arts) that Rando stole from her.

"SHIT! Now even Shishio's girlfriend has superpowers too?!" said Sanosuke, remembering the woman whom he did a bridal carry with as they traversed Shishio's Mt. Hiei stronghold.

"...BLOOD WIND!" she screamed, releasing a red energy-sapping tornado at the Reikai Senshi.

***

Originally, Kenshin was barely able to defeat Enishi and get back in time and save Sanosuke Sagara, Kazuma Kuwabara, and Hajime Saito from the nefarious machinations of Karasu, Feng Xinhai, Usui Uonuma, and Gatekeeper Itsuki at Mt. Kamui.

But now that his detour was over, he had to get back to his original business.

He had to. Or else Enishi would undo everything they'd done so far to suppress the New Ten Swords from conquering the island of Okushiri as well as Hokkaido.

"Sessha (This one) wonders why even though I thought I'd never met you before, you seemed to know everything about me de gozaru (that you did)."

"'Sessha'? 'De gozaru'?" Enishi repeated the words with a snarl and a dismissive snort. "Are you kidding me, Battousai? Why is the most fearsome hitokiri of the Bakumatsu acting like a gentle fool with flowery samurai language? Enough of your lies!"

"This one never thought to see you again after a hundred years. I was sure you were already dead," confessed Kenshin.

"I did die. But I live again. Reincarnated in a new era," said Enishi. "I willed this weak new body I was reborn into to become even stronger than I already was before you died in the hands of Shishio Makoto."

'So he survived the Bakumatsu after all,' thought Kenshin, who believed that Enishi had died of starvation as a little boy in the ensuing revolution.

"Now I will enact the revenge that I was robbed of a hundred years ago! If you've been dispensing Tenchu (Heavenly Retribution) in your time as a hitokiri, then this is Jinchu (Earthly Retribution) for all your sins! Prepare yourself, Battousai! ZETSUGI...!"  

From there, he didn't even give Himura the chance to breathe or any breathing room as he attacked, attacked, an attacked some more.

Tomoe's little brother had grown ridiculously strong. As though he'd been training the last hundred years for this one moment. Empowered purely by hate.

However, one way or another, Kenshin was able to contain Yukishiro's growing threat long enough to assist Saito's rescue or allow the Kenshingumi to go through their mission of taking out Houji.

Himura figured out how his Wattoujutsu (a mixture of Japanese swordsmanship and Chinese kung fu) worked after only seeing a couple of techniques from it.

The Demon Sword's blade then shone with an ethereal light before Kenshin's form changed altogether.

From a 30-year-old man, his body returned to his more youthful 15- to-16-year-old self.

The form he had before he developed the cross-shaped scars. When he was still known as the Hitokiri Battousai. This way, he could engage Enishi the same way he did against any other opponent.

Free of bias. Free of shame or guilt.

"SHUUGEKI TOU SEI! (KICKING SWORD RUSH!)"

This technique of Enishí's involved hitting his opponent from below then kicking the blunt side of his sword at the last second to maximize damage.

Thusly, Kenshin answered the technique back with his own, "SOU RYU SEN! (TWIN DRAGON FLASH!)"

"KAISHI TOU SEI! (BAYONET SWORD RUSH!)"

As for the Bayonet Sword Rush, it was a follow-up whirling counterattack or riposte involving Enishi putting the hilt of his sword against his opponent's sword to add momentum to his pivoting swing.

However, Kenshin had a similar counterstrike technique like that as well in the form of "RYU KAN SEN! (DRAGON WRAP FLASH!)"

"SHO HA TOU SEI! (PALM BREAK SWORD RUSH!)"

From the Jodan Stance, Enishi swept his sword starting from over his head down to the ground. Afterwards, he then placed the palm of his hand on the sword's blunt side to push it forward at full force.

The answer to this move that resembled the Dragon Hammer Flash was the "RYU SHO SEN! (RISING DRAGON FLASH!)", which was the natural Ryu Tsui Sen counter that doubled as a two-handed sword block wherein the sword was held by its handle and tip with either hand.

"CHOU TEN TOU SEI! (UP-AND-DOWN SWORD RUSH!)"

This was Wattoujutsu's version of the Ryu Sho Sen. It allowed Enishi to leap upwards using his sword as his pole vault then attack from the air by pulling his sword towards him by its hilt cord immediately after jumping.

Kenshin drew out the fearsome technique with a feinted Ryu Tsui Sen only to do the "RYU KAN SEN ARASHI! (DRAGON WRAP FLASH STORM!) at the last second, the multi-hit forward somersault sword strikes catching Yukishiro off-guard.

"Ugh!" Enishi landed bad on his ankle, his knees buckling from the force of the centrifugal strikes, the chainsaw-like windmill of strikes drawing a fine mist and squall of blood. "Damn you, Battousai...!"

Kenshin cut Enishi's cursing short with a jarring punch to his jaw.

Battousai Himura had a Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu answer to every one of the white-haired young man's Wattoujutsu techniques. He took advantage of Enishi's barrage of hateful, unfocused strikes with clinical precision.

The fact that Himura didn't realize who exactly he was fighting against until the last second helped him figure out the proper counters to Enishi's Wattoujutsu early on and even bury him right inside the Kamui Mountain itself. Albeit temporarily.

Kenshin imagined he'd have a harder time with the kung fu master swordsman were he distracted by his guilt for killing Tomoe and knowing Enishi's identity from the start.

"Is that all you've got, Battousai?" demanded the scuffed-up, bleeding-from-the-mouth Enishi, who spat away blood as his veins—no, his very nerves themselves—hypertrophied or thickened enough to become visible underneath his skin with vascular density.

This was his Kyokei Myaku (Nerves of Insanity) in action.

***

It was bedlam at the Military Base of Okushiri.

Ten things were happening at once, and barely anyone could keep up.

More soldiers were deployed to rescue the fallen and suppress the invaders.

They waged war against the Onmyouji's shikigami, even though many of them couldn't even see the grim reaper familiars.

They had to use their special thermal goggles to detect and shoot the enemy, but neither bullets nor grenades worked on them.

Botan had more luck dissipating the strange creatures into the ether, but that was because it was part of her job description as a soul reaper.

She did double duty in casting her healing and reiki-replenishing spells on Yahiko, Sanosuke, and Kuwabara while at the same time defeating her share of scythe-wielding reapers created from wayward earthbound spirits infected with the Chojin's jaki.

Also, the bodies were really hitting the floor now. Not due to the Kenshingumi (they were basically all ghosts) or their Reikai Tantei comrade falling into a dead faint.

It was because the vampire (or perhaps succubus) Yumi bit the necks and absorbed the blood of all the nearest JSDF soldiers to power her Kyuuketsuki Kakuto Ryu.

As for Gatekeeper Itsuki, he and Kuwabara were having a portal contest of sorts. He kept making portals while Kazuma kept slicing them apart.

Regardless, it took much longer for Yahiko to seal the power of the Chojin, the borrowed ocean of jaki overflowing with immense pressure from within gleeful Sadojima.

"TSUI GAMI...!? (HAMMER OF GOD...!?)"

Myojin's attempt at the sword-breaking, jaki-neutralizing Hammer of God was thwarted with a simple yet shuddering one-handed scythe swipe that belied Houji's actual physical strength.

"So you intend to beat me at this level of strength?" asked a smug Sadojima before releasing a pillar of jaki that made Yahiko kneel before him, as though bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Yahiko felt like he had plunged deep underwater, drowning in negative energy as the oceanic water pressure increased further and further the deeper he went.

Myojin grunted, grit his teeth, and rose up against the harsh and dense waves of pure jaki that bore down on him in waves, his green aura of reiatsu resisting the crushing force of the Overfiend's distant yet overbearing presence.

Like a black sun whose dark rays and heat reached the earth all the way from space despite being millions of miles away.

It was a tug of war between the Chojin's power boosts and Yahiko's neutralization skill.

Thanks to Botan and Kaoru, the ghost of Sanosuke had healed up and reenergized himself with reiki enough to summon his signature Zanbatou (Horse-Chopping Sword) again at long last.

He had more bandages than usual, half of which were spirit seals from Botan that kept his ectoplasm from escaping his ghostly form.

"ZANBATOU ATE! (ZANBATOU DISTANCE HIT!)"

Sanosuke's Zanbatou Ate, based on Anji Yukyuzan's Tou Ate (Bladed Distance Hit), created a landslide aimed at Houji, who shielded himself with his shikigami ghouls.

"ZANKUU ZANBATOU ATE! (ZANBATOU VACUUM DISTANCE HIT!) "

As for his Zankuu Zanbatou Ate, Sanosuke aimed it at the ensuing Blood Wind air funnel that the courtesan in revealing clothing fired off at him.

The last thing Sano expected was to use that 12-foot longsword against Shishio's lover, the non-fighter known as Yumi.

***

Enishi did a low split-legged crouch, only to charge with an onslaught of strikes instead of doing another Zettousei when he saw Kenshin sink his stance low in kind instead of taking his bait and attacking with the Hirameki.

"SENRAN TOU SEI! (WAR SWORD RUSH!)"

"RYU SOU SEN! (DRAGON NEST FLASH!)"

Sparks flew everywhere as though they were in a steel mill or foundry as they parried and attacked each other with impunity, their swords crossing and chipping at their edges.

Blood and ectoplasm stained the ground soon afterward from both combatants.

Enishi moved faster than Kenshin could react. Like an unswattable fly. Or perhaps a whole swarm of flies. Locusts. Bees. Wasps, even. A plague of wasps. His twitch muscles able to react to attacks or counterattacks by lightning-fast reflexes.

It was like dealing with Soujiro Seta's Shukuchi all over again. Himura couldn't even predict Enishi's strikes by reading his sakki (bloodlust) because he was exuding hatred and killer instinct at all times. At every waking moment.

Like the polar opposite of the Heaven Sword. It was no different to deal with someone who lacked bloodlust compared to someone who always exuded bloodlust. There was no sudden spike of killer instinct you could use to read an opponent's moves.

This forced Kenshin to take the initiative and jump high into the air in order to become the aggressor for a change, even if only to draw out a counterstrike that he could then counter.

"RYU TSUI SEN! (DRAGON HAMMER FLASH!)"

Yukishiro countered by also leaping vertically before Kenshin could drop him with the Dragon Hammer Flash. Afterwards, at the point where his jump force was equal to Earth's gravity, he jumped even further, thus essentially doing a double jump or what was known to basketball players as an airwalk.

"SHIKKU TOU SEI! (SLASHER SWORD RUSH!)"

Kenshin's youtou (demon sword) and Enishi's watou (Chinese-style katana) clashed hard against each other, their impactful vibrations strong enough to shatter steel. However, their mystical swords forged from spirit energy and the life force of their very souls both held true.

However, Battousai or no Battousai, the scarless Kenshin realized he had to take Yukishiro out before his own feelings of despair, depression, shame, and remorse got the better of him.

For even now, he felt like he deserved to get hit by every last strike from Enishi for the sin of accidentally killing his ex-wife in an attempt to rescue her from her kidnapper.

"KUZU RYU SEN! (NINE-HEADED DRAGON FLASH!)"

"UGH!"

Like water crushing rock over time, the constant barrage of counters from earlier finally took its toll on Enishi, leading to several lapses of attention that the Battousai took advantage of to great effect.

Kenshin's persistence paid off, with that last multi-hit attack finally landing on his nerve-filled brother-in-law.

He then prepared to do a supersonic noutoujutsu (sword-sheathing technique). The same one he used to disable the super sensitive hearing of Usui Uonuma's Shingan.

"RYU MEI...! (DRAGON CRY...!)"

Kenshin stopped short of doing his high-pitched sheathing technique when he saw a familiar young woman with jet-black hair, doe eyes, a white kimono, and purple shawl appear out of the half-burnt forest.

She brought with her a nostalgic, heartbreaking scent.

"T-Tomoe...?!" stuttered Kenshin before Enishi's Watou ended up stabbing him right in his chest, on the same wound made by the Zettousei that got him earlier.

The pair of scars on his left cheek reappeared. Bleeding with fresh blood (or, in his case, ectoplasm).

***

Back at the Okushiri Military Base...

The Blood Wind dissipated from the strength of Sanosuke's vacuum slash, but Yumi herself blocked the wind pressure with her open, glowing-red umbrella serving as her shield.

Ah, yes. The Blood Wind.

The double-edged, energy-sapping red tornado created from the heat of the spirit energy it stole and the coldness of an injured body that was losing blood.

However, this woman somehow managed to do Blood Winds without the need to be injured. Or perhaps the hole in her chest served as her injury?

Sagara originally thought it was one of Rando's ultimate moves, only to remember something about him stealing techniques. So this energy-sapping technique was actually her move, wasn't it?

Regardless, what was a desperation move for Rando was a normal move for her. It all made sense now. Or at least that part did.

"How the hell did you get superpowers too, lady?" Sano demanded to Yumi. "You even went so far as to change yourself into a vampire! You really are something else!"

"Stop acting so friendly around me, you boorish lout," said Komagata to Sagara with half-lidded eyes, parrying his probing zanbatou stab from more than 12 feet away with her closed umbrella that doubled as her sword. "You should've stayed as a ghost in the Spirit World. You'll regret crossing paths with us again after a hundred years, Sagara Sanosuke."

Sano left his cumbersome giant sword behind, charged unimpeded, and backhanded the woman. "Nothing personal, Neechan. We can't let you or your psycho boyfriend run amok again in this era either."

"...Bastard! You dare hit a lady?! Youki Duantoutai! (Spirit Guillotine!)" Yumi reeled from the slap that caught her by surprise but then kept Sanosuke at bay with the Spirit Guillotines.

"...Son of a bitch! Rando stole that move from you too?!" said Yahiko before breaking the paper-thin waves of demon energy with "Men (Head)" strikes from the Fire Stance and flying skyward with the God in Heaven technique.

"Not exactly," Yumi chatted with a nonchalant smirk. "I stole some of Rando's moves myself in exchange for the moves he stole from me. Tit-for-tat."

As for Sanosuke, his follow-up attempt at chopping Komagata in half with his 12-foot sword led to it getting blasted full of huge holes care of Itsuki. This made the zanbatou look like a macroscopic slice of grey Swiss cheese.

The scattershot blasts responsible for Sano's predicament originated from a gun attached to Itsuki's right arm. It shot out miniature black holes the size of pinholes but had event horizons the size of bowling balls or bigger. They ate up any type of matter nearest them.

It was a (literal) handgun with black holes as its bullets that the Gatekeeper developed through the help of Shinobu Sensui's Kazuya personality.

Itsuki's Black Hole Gun also ate up chunks of Sano's ghostly flesh whole.

"GUUAAAHH!"

The Gatekeeper had taken advantage of Sanosuke's moment of hesitation in killing Yumi. Sano remembered mid-swing how she had originally died by Shishio's hand and then had her corpse burn along with his in a sudden unintended funeral pyre.

Meanwhile, as the flying Myojin attacked Yumi from above, Botan attacked from below. She flew on her oar mere inches from the ground before getting off her ride and using her forward momentum to smash her paddle right into the vampire. She then let the more athletic Kaoru inside her do the rest.

Using jaki and youki together, the succubus imbued her foldable fan and her closed umbrella with enough blood-red energy to stop the oar cold with a cross-block. She then unfurled her umbrella in time to also prevent Yahiko's Ryu Tsui Sen from hitting her noggin.

From this close proximity, she then used her Inner Blood Turmoil to absorb her attackers' spirit energy unto herself, sapping the two of their reiki and making their souls flicker and fade.

Neither the living nor the dead were safe from this vampire queen.

***

"GOU TSUI TOU SEI! (FALLING BLADE SWORD RUSH!)" screamed Enishi after impaling the distracted Kenshin in the chest.

The Falling Blade Sword Rush allowed the white-haired martial artist to pin Battousai at last, lifting him high up and over his head with his sword and upper-body strength.

"At last. At long last. You're going to die, Battousai! You scum! You criminal! You took away everything from me! Now I will return the favor and take away everything from you! This is my Jinchu!"

The Guardian of the Youtou Shinnoken grunted and coughed, his eyes unable to tear themselves away at the visage and silhouette of his ex-wife Tomoe Yukishiro.

Red tears streamed down his cheeks and bloodstained scar.

"T-Tomoe? I-Is that really you?" he mumbled in disbelief, as though not even noticing Enishi's watou inside of him.

He was no longer Hitokiri Battousai (Battousai the Manslayer). Instead, he transformed back to Rurouni Kenshin (Kenshin the Vagabond).

"Tomoe" then told Enishi with an old man's deep voice, "My apologies. This is the best help I can give you for now. That damn Okashira stole all of the jaki that the Chojin gave me and sealed me and my precious Iwanbos away with it, turning the energy into solidified reiatsu."

"You did splendidly, Gein," said Enishi, who smiled for once. He couldn't face the reanimated corpse of his elder sister eye-to-eye, though. "Now please take that puppet away. I don't want you to soil my sister's memory with it."

Kenshin went pale. He'd been duped by one of Gein's puppets. However, his trickery paid off. He didn't feel like hurting Tomoe's little brother any longer.

"Did you know what I went through to get to this moment, Battousai? As an orphaned boy, I ate human flesh in the battlefield to survive. I was adopted by a rich couple, only for me to kill them because I hated how happy they were. I ended up becoming an arms dealer using their wealth for good measure. I then found out you already died, which sapped me of my will to live. Only to be reborn in this era after I found out you became the Demon Sword's guardian."

Enishi dragged Kenshin's bloody (or ectoplasmic) body all over the forest at the foot of Mt. Kannon, savoring the moment before pulling his sword out and stomping on the Battousai's bleeding wound for good measure.

"I'm not sure whether I should wield your damn sword myself or just destroy you along with that sword. Oh well. It doesn't matter. You could die a thousand deaths and it won't bring back my sister. Even after I died, I couldn't find her anymore. I've lost her forever. All that's left is to make you feel the despair I felt when you stole her away from me."

***

Back at the Okushiri Military Base...

Chaos continued. Fires broke out everywhere.  The wind howled like wolves to the moon. The base crumbled and turned into shambles. It was Hell on Earth.

Hell in Hokkaido.

Komagata's Inner Blood Turmoil created her own version of reiatsu—her youki mixed with the Kenshingumi's reiki, the blood of the soldiers she fed on, and the Chojin's jaki—before releasing that pent-up energy towards Yahiko in the form of the "BLOOD FIRE WAVE!" projectile.

However, thinking fast on her feet, Botan purified the surplus of jaki around them then used it to replenish the reiki she and Myojin lost from being in contact with Yumi.

'Wow. She's doing the thing! The same thing Urameshi did when he got hold of the Meikai's crystal ball thingy,' thought Kuwabara. 'She's purifying jaki into reiki!'

Again, Botan used spirit bandages that doubled as spiritual energy seals, acting more like a priestess than Hinageshi the Shrine Maiden or Houji the Onmyouji.

"Nice one, Tanuki-chan!" said Yahiko. "I mean, thank you, Botan."

Botan smiled at the samurai boy. "You're welcome. Now go get 'em."

'This woman is seriously getting on my nerves,' thought Yumi while eyeing the ferry-girl whose astral body housed two souls instead of just one.

A rejuvenated Myojin then did the sword-breaking "TSUI GAMI!" to neutralize the Blood Fire Wave and the pinhole-sized black holes that Itsuki's sneaky Kazuya personality shot right into his heart and head with the Black Hole Gun.

The samurai kid kept moving forward, practically swimming in the thick of "it", with "it" being the Chojin's ocean of jaki.

Meanwhile, Houji frowned, his arms crossed. 'This goddamn brat! For Chojin's sake, he sure is persistent.'

He thought that the Chojin allowing him more access to his boundless negative energy—enough jaki to, quite frankly, revive the long-dead kingdom of Meikai (Nether World)—was sufficient to neutralize the neutralizer.

However, Houji's jaki output remained relatively low and it even started dwindling.

Like opening your water main at full capacity yet still ending up with less water than you expected when filling up your bathtub. Defying the very will of the Overfiend himself.

'The boy is starting to get better control of his neutralization powers, isn't he?' the Onmyouji thought, tapping his scythe's handle to the ground impatiently.

To Yumi and Itsuki, he only had one command. "Kill him."

Yumi then made it rain blood like the Battousai would back in the Bakumatsu.

A literal rain of blood poured down on them, but each droplet contained razor-sharp scalpels. A bloody rain that cut you apart in order to induce a thicker bloodbath afterwards. It pelted the ground like suppressive fire from a machine gun.

She aptly named the technique, "Bloody Rain."

It was the bloodsucker's way of creating the energy-absorbing Blood Wind without having to sacrifice all the plasma that she had already drained from her other victims.

"I don't know who you are, lady, but you leave that boy alone!" said Kuwabara, who finally had time to intervene.

***

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island...

Yusuke Urameshi had actually been in a punching match with Toguro Ototo all this time.

Right in the middle of Okushiri Island, in fact. Along the Tsurikake River.

Instead of playing with the percentages of his power, the Younger Toguro instead went all out from the start, displaying 100% of his full strength.

'His B-Level strength,' was Yusuke's unsaid sentiment. He recalled how easily he manhandled the A-Level Rando earlier now that he wasn't faced with any distractions or dirty tactics.

So dealing with Toguro should be a cakewalk now, right?

In kind, Urameshi himself released his first pair of Spirit Cuffs. Just like the good ol' days, they ended up in a slugfest that turned the peaceful river into roiling rapids from the shockwaves of their punches.

"You've struggled in every encounter you've faced with the Chojin's forces so far yet won every time," said the Younger Toguro. "Why is that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, man," said Yusuke before blasting the gigantic hulking grey behemoth before him with the "SHOT GUN!" technique, bombarding him with the purest of reiki bullets.

The vascular and muscular Toguro pressed on, healing the missing pieces of his flesh instantly like his older brother would.

An impressive feat a power level or two ago. To Yusuke, it had somehow become old hat. Any S-Level worth their salt should be able to regenerate fast enough as long as they had an abundance of spirit or demon energy inside them.

"I took on Rando, Souther (Xinhai), Suzaku, the blind guy (Usui), and the rest of the Chojin's New Ten Swords fair and square. All I'm doing now is killing time and keeping you from ruining Kurama's plans to take your new gang out. Right until your big bad boss, the Chojin, shows up."

Toguro's eyes narrowed behind his shades. 'His reiki is... overflowing. It almost reminds me of the Chojin's own jaki. Immeasurable.'

Yusuke dodged the Shi Dan (Finger Flip Bullets) by reflex even though he had a feeling he could survive direct hits from Toguro's unnaturally strong finger flicks at this point in time.

It was a B-Level against an S-Level (albeit one who was holding his strength back), after all.

The Shi Dan were even more powerful than the strongest human punches, capable of blasting through concrete, but against Urameshi's wealth of spirit energy, he doubted that they'd even penetrate his skin.

Even with his powers sealed, he teetered from being a high A-Level to a low S-Level.  

'Are you hiding your present power level, Toguro? Is your 100% form not your full power?' Urameshi thought.

There was just no way that the likes of Rando, Xinhai, Usui, Saito, or Suzaku would end up stronger than the Toguro Ototo himself.

Then again, while it took Toguro 50 years to reach B-Level, it took only 10 years for Sensui to reach S-Level. Meanwhile, it took less than 3 years for Yusuke to surpass them both and take on a centuries-old S-Level archdemon, Yomi, to the brink of defeat.

To Toguro, Urameshi asked, "What happened to you deciding to stay in Hell for 100 million years to atone for all the crimes you've committed? Were you plucked from Hell by the Chojin and forced to work for him? Answer me, Toguro!"

"...We're not so different, you and I."

"OH, COME ON! Not this tired cliché again!" the teenaged living warhead told off the demonized human strongman in between bone-crushing punches.

He didn't want to hear such things from someone much weaker than him.

***

The veiny (actually nervy) Enishi got talkative all of a sudden, Kenshin realized.

His life story was as unfortunate as the vagabond expected. Maybe even more so. So he even killed a family after he was given a new lease in life? How much of a monster had he become?

This was a lot for Himura to take in. He could barely breathe right now; much less digest Yukishiro's words.

Meanwhile, Enishi snarled in remembrance of the things he'd been through. The people he killed. The opportunities of happiness he turned his back on in favor of a century-old grudge.

The innocents he murdered in order to harden his heart enough to take on a monster like the Battousai. When he died, he resisted the reincarnation cycle for so long, hoping against hope he'd find Himura's soul in the afterlife and drag him to Hell along with him, torturing him for a million years.

However, his chance had finally arrived only a few decades ago. He reentered the reincarnation cycle and avoided becoming an insect or a slug, getting instead the body of a Chinese boy with his memories of the past as a Japanese man intact somehow.

He then trained his body in martial arts, went to prison more than a few times, became a career criminal, and climbed the ranks of organized Chinese crime known as The Triad (what the Shanghai Arms Dealers eventually developed into a hundred years down the line).

In fact, until a few couple of years ago, Enishi occupied the position of Dragon Head that his protégé, Feng Xinhai, currently had. He had a Chinese name himself, but he long ago abandoned that identity in order to completely become Enishi Yukishiro.

He dedicated himself into becoming what he was in his past life and more.

It was because the Chojin himself reawakened his soul's past memories for the purpose of taking down Kenshin Himura.

Under the guidance of the Chojin and his reformed Shin Juppon Gatana, he even learned how to use his spiritual powers on top of reviving the lost martial arts of Wattoujutsu. He studied the Japanese language.

He began slaying demons himself by helping fund technology that linked the Demon World to the Human World with the money he made by being the Triad Dragon Head.

And now, while serving under Tenro the Demon-Slayer's Yakuza Family as one of his enforcers, he finally crossed paths with the man who stole his happiness a hundred years ago.

His revenge, his Jinchu, was literally a hundred years in the making.

"I will kill you now and then the rest of your friends afterwards. I'll break apart the Demon Sword or steal it for myself. Become its new master. From there, in the Spirit World, I will also hunt your ghost and kill you again until all memory of you is erased. Suffer like I did. Suffer for eternity, Battousai!"

Something stirred inside Kenshin when he heard those words. It was one thing for Enishi to swear to kill him. However, what did the rest of his comrades have to do with his revenge? Was he really going to kill the Kenshingumi or even the Reikai Tantei and the Oniwabanshu all in the name of his Jinchu?

Just as Enishi prepared to finish Himura off, a shinigami flew between them like a bolt from the blue.

The woman who sported a black kimono and raven hair zeroed in not on Enishi and Kenshin but instead on the Tomoe puppet of the Puppet Master.

'Ah, I remember her,' thought the Guardian of the Demon Sword. He met that death goddess before while assisting the training of Sanosuke and Yahiko when they first arrived in the Human World.

From his limited interactions with the shinigami, Kenshin surmised that she mainly did research work for Koenma Daio, not unlike the child inspector Sayaka.

'Ayame, was it? She's the shinigami that Kurama assigned to the Southeast Quadrant of Okushiri. Did she follow us all the way here?'

***

Yusuke wanted to end the fight with Toguro using one gigaton punch or one Chou Rei-Gan (Mega Spirit Gun), but he held back. Kept his cool.

He wanted to bet on a "maybe".  As in, "Maybe Toguro is holding back and is about to show me something more amazing than 100% of his power".

Otherwise, Urameshi would've already blasted Toguro back to Hell where he belonged and had a 100 million year sentence to serve. From there, the teenager would've waited for the Chojin or someone to arrive and force him use 100% of his power instead.

Finishing this fight early presented too much of a risk. Like eating an unripe fruit or something. Besides which, if Yusuke went all out, he'd wipe out several mountain ranges and riverbanks off of the map.

But maybe he was risking hundreds of thousands of lives over his own selfish whims.

'Fine. I'll push a little harder, then.'

The ensuing "REI-KOU-DAN! (SPIRIT WAVE BULLET!)" that fissured the surrounding ground and threatened to break the world in half was mostly absorbed by Younger Toguro's beefy body.

Toguro's 100% form before might instead be his 000.1% now. Maybe he'd been training all this time in Hell. Training from Hell.

Or maybe this was all wishful thinking on Urameshi's part now that he had outgrown his boogeyman from his past.

Yusuke put his hip into his last punch, manhandling the "ultimate" form of Toguro that earlier on threw him around like a rag doll the first time they fought.

"You want to rise to your greatest potential, but unfortunately you've already been there and done that and more. You've become too powerful," Toguro said after fixing his twisted neck that had his head staring straight behind him.

"You're not somehow begging for mercy, are you?" asked Yusuke as he hit another bone-crushing uppercut to Toguro's jaw.

"...Nothing challenges you anymore, but you don't want to sever your attachment to this world of weaklings."

Toguro flexed and did a full-powered tackling punch with enough force to move or even obliterate mountains. Alas, this version of Yusuke ate mountains for breakfast ever since achieving S-Level during his fight against Sensui.

This was nothing to him. Drop a building on him, and he'd wonder if it was raining.

He hated to think in such a way, but to him fighting Toguro now was akin to fighting Kuwabara. It didn't help that the behemoth fought straightforwardly and without trickery, unlike Xinhai and Rando.

"You honestly sound pathetic now, Toguro. What happened to you? Keiko can hit harder than that. Put your hips into it!"

But nothing major really happened to Toguro after dying back in the Ankoku Bujutsukai (Dark Martial Arts Tournament). It was Urameshi who had changed.

Any of the current roster of Roku Youkai (Six Demons) could take him on and turn him into roadkill, to be honest.

Toguro's form doubled or even tripled in size. He was now doing his "100% of 100%" technique that had him stake his very soul's life force in order to unleash his fullest potential.

However, his fullest potential ended up just B-Plus in the end. Not even at A-Level.

'Quit messing around and go 1,000% power or something already, Toguro!' Yusuke inwardly begged. But that never happened. He kept dealing with a Toguro who could barely make him flinch.

"In order to continue to live the lie you call your life, you're someone strong pretending to be weak so you could fit in with the rest of the weaklings."

"Stop yammering! I'm more impressed with your big mouth than any of your punches!"

Yusuke did his signature finger gun pose and focused his ocean of reiki at a single point of his index finger, gathering all that limitless energy into one concentrated shot.

"Great fighters refuse to lose, but you refuse to win just to get back that feeling and exhilaration of conquering something greater than you. So what do you do now that you're in a world where nothing is greater than you?"

"Jeez. Shut up already."

Yusuke sighed. If Toguro really was going to unleash a new superpower on him, he would've done so by now. Meanwhile, he himself hadn't even worked up a sweat.

Was this some sort of long-con, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" deal? Was Toguro hiding his power level like he always had, using only a small percentage of his potential? Or was this indeed his limits after his defeat in the Dark Tournament?

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I have been a little careless in my fights lately. However, in the end, I kept winning anyway. So who cares? It's my curse, I know. REI-GAN!"

***

Back at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

Ayame the Shinigami grabbed hold of the corpse puppet of Gein and cut off its spiritual connection with the mad scientist using her reaper powers.

She then said to Enishi, "There's no way your sister is smiling down on you in heaven! Not while you're doing something as terrible as this, stalking Himura-san for decades! A whole century!"

Enishi scowled at the impudent ferry-girl. How dare she say such things to him.

"What do you know? How can you possibly know the pain I've been through? The pain that my sister and her fiancé suffered from? You're nothing but a stranger! You have nothing to do with me!"

Kenshin tried standing up, but Enishi kicked his chest wound and pinned him down with a foot stomp. "And as for you, stay down! I'm not done with you yet!"

Yukishiro was about to punch Koenma's ferry-girl away when she chanted an incantation that led to the body double of his sister Tomoe to frown at him and cry tears of blood.

"Don't you hear it? Don't you hear the cries of despair of your dearly departed sister Tomoe from a hundred years ago? The last thing she wants to see is you suffering or making everyone suffer along with you!"

Enishi shook and shuddered before he himself screamed in anguish, screaming until his throat became ragged. Clutching his chest at that baleful look that rocked him to his very core.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Enough of your lies, Reikai! I don't believe any of them for a second!

However, he couldn't for the life of him kill even a puppet of his sister. Any young woman who reminded him of his sister, he couldn't bring himself to kill.

He damn well tried to though, his hatred rising. His cognitive dissonance assuring him these were all lies. That his sister had wanted to kill Battousai all along to avenge her fiancé's death.

That the rumor of how Battousai pledged to not kill ever since he killed Enishi's sister was just a rumor.

That Enishi hadn't wasted his multiple chances at a new lease on life for nothing.

He slashed the Tomoe corpse puppet apart with the Sho Ha Tou Sei, his own tears flowing down as he did so. Nauseated by the act, he moved away and puked soon after.

Even though she wasn't the real Tomoe.

'I have to do this. I have to destroy all their lies!'

He had waited for so long and come so far. In the end, it should still matter, right? If it didn't matter then what was the point of all this?

It was all Battousai's fault. He was the one who ruined his life. He was the one who forced him to suffer like this. Everything was perfect until he came along.

Even in the afterlife, Himura haunted him.

"Himura Battousai must die! Suffer! Die a thousand deaths! A million deaths! I won't rest until he has suffered as much as I have and MORE!"

Yukishiro prepared to do his ultimate attack on Kenshin, only for Ayame to get in his way.

This looked mighty familiar.

He hesitated for a whole second in cleaving the shinigami in half. Here was another woman the same age as his sister. Everywhere he looked, such maidens like her kept reminding him of what he had lost.

A second was an eternity in a fight, though.

Kenshin rose up and blocked Enishi's ensuing sword strike even though, unbeknownst to him, his brother-in-law intended to miss Ayame by a mile anyway.

Himura's heart swelled at doing so. Here and now, the vagabond was able to do the sword block that he failed to do against Shishio.

Had he done the same block against his hitokiri successor, would he have survived their mutually assured destruction? Had he not given up back then and decided to fight on, would he have been able to come back to Tokyo with the rest of the Kenshingumi? With Miss Kaoru?

Kenshin really wished he had fought on instead of giving up and dying along with Shishio. That he did.

"...I will fight to the end to protect those I hold dear! That is my truth!"

Himura's resolve in defeating Enishi finally hardened after wavering for so long, his cross-shaped scar seemingly glowing with a red bioluminescent light.

The crouching tiger faced off against the unhidden dragon one more time.

"KOFUKU ZETTOUSEI! (CROUCHING TIGER SEVERING SWORD RUSH!)"

"AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI! (HEAVENS GLIDING DRAGON FLASH!)"

Last time, the tiger was able to cut deep wounds into the flying serpent even though it was driven deep underground by sharp dragon claws.

Would the tiger finish what it had started? Or would the dragon have something hidden behind its upward flight into the heavens?

***

Kazuma attempted to create a portal to serve as a shield over Yahiko, only for Itsuki to seal that portal with Kazuya's Black Hole Gun, the twin rips in space-time canceling each other out.

However, Kuwabara expected the maneuver and teleported right in front of Itsuki in order to slash apart the firearm at pointblank range with the Jigen Tou.

"Motherfucker...!" shouted the foul-mouthed Kazuya possessing Itsuki's body, grasping his damaged handgun.

Itsuki then awoke Sensui's George personality in order to gain access to a hyperdimensional gun vault filled with Tommy guns, pistols, Desert Eagles, mini guns, shotguns, AK-47 rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and bazookas.

He had actually restocked his gun collection by stealing many of the armaments and ammunition available in the very military base they were invading right then and there. Knowing full well that ordinary guns were more useful against living, flesh-and-blood beings like Kuwabara versus the solidified souls of shinigami and ghosts from the past.

In retrospect, this made Houji's efforts to shoot Yahiko, a ghost, with a gun moot. However, Itsuki at least had a backup plan.

"I'll kill you all!" said Hitoshi. "I will purify the Human World by getting rid of all the humans!" His shtick was that he wished for human extinction.

However, before he could use one magazine or clip from his guns, he got pummeled to submission by a revived Sanosuke Sagara.

Botan had healed up the wounds of Sano's ghost yet again with purified jaki turned into reiki. He then got the jump on the green-haired youkai through brute strength instead of fancy teleportation techniques.

'Her again?' thought Houji, noticing how Battousai's woman served the same function as he did with the rest of the Shin Ju. 'That Reikai shinigami is making this mission of ours needlessly difficult.'

Furthermore, every attempt Itsuki made to get away from Sagara was blocked by Kuwabara, who himself punched the demon back into portals of his own that redirected him towards Sano's waiting fists and "FUTAE NO KIWAMI!"

"All right, enough of this!" declared Yumi, who shifted from targeting Yahiko to focusing her Spirit Guillotines and Blood Fire Waves at the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu kendoist turned shinigami Botan/Kaoru Kamiya.

Kaoru assisted Botan in deploying evasive maneuvers against the succubus, with her using the reiki-imbued boat paddle to bat and parry away the projectiles headed towards her before flying away from the bloodsucker.

She then ended up blocking the scythe of the unskilled but jaki-empowered Houji, which kept her from taking flight and escaping. "Keep still like a good girl."

Finally, a black hole appeared where her chest used to be. It was actually a dimensional rift that sucked the ferry-girl's ghostly flesh and ectoplasm away.

Gatekeeper Itsuki then closed the portal that mortally wounded Botan/Kaoru with a wave of his hand.

The ferry-girl's jaw opened, clenched, and froze at a silent scream, her red eyes rolling upwards until only her eye whites were visible.

"KAORUUU! BOTAAAAAN! NOOOO!" said Yahiko with an anguished, bloodcurdling shriek of his own.

Itsuki's mouth curved upwards in curiosity. 'What will you do now, Samurai-san? Is this enough to break you into pieces like what happened to my dearest Shinobu (Sensui) when he saw the Black Chapter Tapes?'

***

Back at the foot of Mt. Kannon...

As Enishi Yukishiro's heart wavered, Kenshin Himura's resolve hardened. Tempered by his will to protect those around him.

The Kofuku Zetsu Tou Sei should've countered the Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash by avoiding the first slash completely and countering the second slash with a well-time riposte, unfazed or even aided by the void created by the first slash.

The Zettousei was seemingly designed to break apart or deconstruct the Hirameki, as demonstrated earlier by Kenshin barely surviving it the first time it was used.

It should've halved the effectiveness of the second slash, but by Kenshin drawing the sword low and removing the ground-based leverage of his crouch, Enishi stood no chance.

Kenshin's much faster and stronger Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash hit low to weaken Enishi's strong crouch then hit high with the multiplied centrifugal force of the follow-up second strike of his ougi, the Crouching Tiger Severing Sword Rush buckling under pressure.

Enishi's counter was ultimately overpowered by the much stronger and better applied succession technique.

However, like before, even after his counter was countered by a more experienced, worldlier version of Battousai guarding a powerful demonic sword, he still kept standing.

Sure, Yukishiro shook like a leaf and heaved belabored breaths because his double-edged, hypertrophied Nerves of Insanity multiplied his pain to the point where an ordinary man would've blacked out in a dead faint.

But he wouldn't go down. He refused to go down. He'd rather die than go down.

Whether he was thrown into magma inside a mountain or cut down to oblivion with the Legendary Youtou Shinnoken (Demon Sword: The True Blade), his willpower continued to defy fate and destiny itself.

He braced himself for Battousai to deliver the finishing blow, relying on his twitch reflexes and his thick pulsating nerves that were practically on fire at this point to launch another counter.

Instead, Kenshin told him, "You didn't really mean to raise your sword at Miss Ayame, did you? Cutting down the fake Tomoe puppet to you was like ripping your heart out."

He spat, "What of it, Battousai?! That's just a puppet I tore apart, not my real sister! My sister that you killed!"

"It doesn't matter if the puppet was fake or not. Ripping her apart hurt you at your core. The pain you felt is real."

"DAMN YOU TO HELL! Push me any further, and I'll do the same to the shinigami!"

Himura replied, "Even though you've murdered others because you couldn't stand how happy they were, you hesitated in killing Ayame-dono. She reminded you too much of Tomoe to go through with it, didn't she?"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME, BASTARD! Her murderer has no right to do so!"

"...In the end, what stopped you was your sister. So I ask you the same question you asked me. Is your sister smiling down on you from heaven?"

Delirious, he started having visions.

Visions of his sister taking care of him when he was sick with the flu, sleeping at his bedside. Cooking for him. Taking care of him. Serving as the only family and mother figure that he ever knew.

His revenge against Kenshin was all he had left. All that mattered. His only reason for being, since Battousai robbed him of the original reason for his being. Without this one goal, he'd be nothing.

He could do anything as long as his sister was smiling back at him.

He closed his eyes. All he could see—the face he claimed was a lie made by the Spirit World—was his sister frowning at him with sad eyes full of pity.

The things he'd ignored earlier that bothered him also started making sense.

Why his sister threw herself in between Battousai and the leader of the Yaminobu.

Why his sister stayed with Battousai for so long and even became his wife (being a deep cover agent wasn't enough to explain that away).

Why Battousai vowed never to kill after "easily" killing so many people for such a long time.

'He did that because he felt guilty after killing my sister! And everyone around him! He's a criminal who's celebrated as a hero because he killed during a war when it's 'legal' to do so!'

He opened his eyes. The image of his unhappy, melancholic sister coalesced into Shinigami Ayame's face while bearing the same grim expression with her mouth.

He fell to his knees and broke down bawling. A broken man.

It wasn't the strike from a mystical demonic blade or the most powerful technique of a ghostly guardian from the Bakumatsu that brought him down to his knees.

No. It was him realizing his sister's disapproval of his Jinchu that unraveled his single-minded determination to kill Kenshin and/or make him suffer for an eternity and a day.

Only sheer willpower kept Enishi standing. So when Kenshin broke even that, he had nothing left.

His will to fight went away. All that was left was anguish, despair, and hopelessness.

"Neesan... Neesan...! (Big sis... Big sis...!)"

What was he supposed to do now?

***

To Be Continued...

The main event is about to start, and it's a doozy. Tenro will finally make his appearance to complete the Okushiri Arc!

Ciao, Abdiel

[milkbreadtoast]

Hey so! I’ve been wanting to share one of my Kurama(yu yu hakusho) headcanons for a while, but have been too lazy(and scared) to put it into words and share it w/ my followers ahah. But i’m finally gonna share it..! This is one of my headcanons that’s most crucial to how I interpret his character... and I want to preface this with saying that everyone has a different interpretation of a character, and that’s ok; u don’t have to agree. Interpretations can feel very personal sometimes...this one means a lot to me personally haha. Anyway, here goes: (BIG SPOILER WARNING!!!)

Basically... I think the current Kurama, “Shuichi” Kurama with the red hair, is LITERALLY a different person than he was in the past, due to the unique way he escaped death by merging with the unborn child of a human woman, and that his current personality makes a lot of sense if you think of him... as a fusion, in a sense... kinda like a Steven Universe fusion(not exactly, but hear me out)...

The present day Kurama is shown to be a really different person than the legendary thief Yoko Kurama. This difference becomes starkly apparent when the Yoko Kurama of the past makes his appearances in the dark tournament, and he’s very sadistic, cruel... very different from the Kurama shown until then. 

Although the current Kurama has the same memories and consciousness, intelligence, etc. and is still fully “Kurama”, and a 1000+ year old demon, he also seems to act...like a normal teenage boy. He giggles, jokes around, cares a lot about his friends, and of course, loves his human mother... 

Hiei describes Kurama in an internal monologue in ep 47, and it’s very interesting...

Kurama also describes himself in this way, in the same ep:

Although not in the manga, Kurama also says this in ep 108:

When Kurama talks about how he’s changed since being reborn, and how he’s become a different person...  I think... it's more than just a change of heart. He's literally a different person, because his soul merged with that of the boy who would have been born as Minamino Shuichi.

And moreover, Kurama himself seems to be aware of this? in the way he describes himself...the whole “we’re merged,” “while I am Kurama, I am also Minamino Shuichi,” “no longer the same Kurama that I used to be”... And perhaps most convincingly, in this line he delivers in “Two Shots”: 

Specifically describing himself as having a “human side”, despite also explaining to Yusuke in his introduction that he is fully a demon, despite his human appearance. 

Given his wisdom and intelligence, retained from his past as Yoko Kurama, this--his self-identity--is surely something he’s thought hard about over the years, and this is the conclusion he’s come to... Even though he is classified as a demon, this is the way he describes himself... as a fusion of sorts, as being part “human”... (and Hiei’s description is mostly likely influenced from what Kurama has told him, along with his own understanding of Kurama). 

The current Kurama shows a profound duality, and it makes him such a fascinating character... in certain moments, he shows a coldness, a brutality, a willingness to take lives, and wisdom and intelligence that certainly goes far beyond his human years. Yet... stuff like how he giggles and jokes, and how he outsmarted Kaito by making a funny face... to me, this is something new... something unique to his current self...something the old Yoko Kurama wouldn’t do. 

The way Kurama acts in the present day...  the way he's 100% a demon, yet distinctly...human... makes so much sense if you think of him as being like a fusion?? When “he merged with the body of the human who would have been born as Minamino Shuichi”, I think their souls also merged. (edit: This also makes sense if you consider that in his severely wounded state, Yoko Kurama was essentially reduced to a bare soul, disembodied and dying--If this fusion between his dying spirit and this fresh, living human soul did not take place, he would not have survived. The unborn baby is not yet conscious, so Kurama’s concsiousness took over completely, but the fusion still occurred...)

Kurama is still Kurama-- but there’s something added, something more.  I think the human who would have been born as Shuichi would have been a very gentle person... so some of that got absorbed into Kurama's soul when they merged... and so his current, softer personality is not JUST a cruel demon who got touched by human kindness and had a change of heart... but a fusion of the original yoko’s personality, and the personality of the human boy he merged with. He did have a change of heart, but this was facilitated by him gaining... a new capacity for feelings? in a sense? due to this fusion. 

This interpretation I have of him... it makes me feel so much for him...b/c even tho he's...not the same person anymore, he still has the same memories and consciousness; he both is, and isn't, the same person.  I think it probably contributes to the guilt and self hatred he feels on some level, which is evident in what he tells Yusuke in the beginning...

It’s true that he said he tried many times to leave throughout his life, to return to his previous life in the demon realm, but it’s also true that he was never able to. His mother’s smile, her sacrifice for him, her genuine warmth and love for him... it moved him, and he decided to stay, and to protect her and the things precious to him now. And I argue that the “human” side of him, the result of a fusion of souls, enhanced his capacity to be moved, weakened his resolve to return to his past life...

When other yokai accuse him of "going soft"... that's not quite what happened...it is, in some ways, but not the full story. Although he is still the ancient, 1000+ year old demon Kurama, and retains all his memories and sense of self... there is still a part of him, a new part, that really IS as young as he looks... one that is gentle, empathetic, kind, and constantly haunted by his past.

In some ways, this added layer of softness can be seen as a fallibility, an exploitable weakness... how convenient, for the cruel and merciless, cold and calculating thief to become “soft”... a soft point, a weak point, where there was only hardness before. But,

Kurama himself believes it is a strength. Although I do think he harbors some level of hidden self hatred, he doesn’t hate this side of himself. In fact, he embraces it, is proud of it, and will fight to protect what he has now with his life on the line. He has found people and things he wants to protect... he’s come to see the beauty of the human world around him, even the mundane... he’s come to see the beauty and power in something as simple and fragile as a rose. 

And the important people in Kurama’s life(e.g. Hiei), unlike the yokai who jeer and mock him, also see this part of him as a strength and not a weakness, and accept him as who he is today. 

Kurama has a war in his heart... and this inner conflict and duality makes so much sense with the fusion interpretation. Itsuki makes this observation:

“affection” and “carnage”... two sides of himself, at war... consistent with his past life of violence and cruelty, and the gentle human soul he merged with that literally made him a different person...  But again he’s still “Kurama”; he’s 100% yokai, not a human, and he remembers everything.

This headcanon of mine is why it doesn’t really feel right to me when I see people joke that Kurama’s just an old guy hanging out with a bunch of kids (like that steve buscemi meme lol). Again, in my interpretation... in some ways he IS just a teenage boy... even though he’s 1000+... which is why it makes sense that he genuinely enjoys having friends his “own age”... it’s more than just a facade of pretending to be a kid, I think. 

And I mean...just look at him. HE...... IS BABIE 🥺🥺🥺

TL;DR I see the current Kurama as literally being a fusion of souls, literally “not the same Kurama” as before, and this colors the way I interpret him haha,,,

.............................

OK THIS POST IS ALREADY LONG AS ASS, WHY NOT MAKE IT EVEN LONGER BC THERE’S SMTH ELSE i WANTED TO POINT OUT

This might be unique to the anime, but it fits in nicely with my headcanon... In the original Japanese cast, Kurama(as Shuichi) is voiced by Megumi Ogata, and the Yoko Kurama of the past is voiced by Shigeru Nakahara (i.e., when he appears in the dark tournament, and in subsequent flashbacks to Kurama’s past). However, when Kurama transforms into his yoko form on his own in the Chapter Black arc, not by the influence of the potion that literally turns back time...he keeps his Megumi Ogata voice even in that form... whereas in flashbacks he's consistently voiced by Shigeru Nakahara.  ITS A REALLY NICE TOUCH....and it confirms what he says when he's like i haven't actually reverted back, my body just transformed due to my heightened yoki.

And not only his voice, he even looks different... his yoko form is given a slightly different design in Chapter Black arc. In the dark tournament, his outfit is sleeveless, he has frayed eyebrows, and his ears are smooth. 

In black chapters... for some reason they started giving him sleeves

and more solid eyebrows...

and raggety ears? vs smooth

(SO CUTE I LOVE THEM...) 

These differences are shown in this production note from the anime, indicating that this was a conscious design choice in the anime: 

(I can’t read the text, but I see that episode #90 is specified in the right pic, which is the ep Kurama transforms into his yoko form in Black Chapters)

Anyway, these are very subtle details, but to me they’re another indicator that even in his yoko form he's not the same Kurama as he was before...!

OK THAT WAS LONG AF BUT I’M DONE NOW I THINK......... enjoy these kuramas before u go ^_^

[laureviewer]

Persona 5 Royal: A Review

It’s finally time to review one of my all-time favourite games.

I first played Persona 5 around 3 years ago, and I’ve really grown since then in a few ways. A few thoughts before I begin: a) since my first playthrough, JRPGs have cemented themselves as one of my favourite types of games; b) I don’t hate all turn-based RPGs except Pokémon anymore!; c) after my first playthrough I went to Japan, and as Persona 5 is set in Tokyo, playing Royal was a lot of fun as I knew a lot of the locations, which meant I could dive into the setting deeper than the first time; and d) my 250 hours of playtime in total across both playthroughs can most likely be attributed to the incredible writing and masterful character development.

Warning: HEAVY story spoilers

I’m not trying to sell you a game. I want to give you an in-depth analysis of the story, characters, gameplay and all other aspects of this brilliant game, spoilers and all. I want a discussion. So, dive in and see what I really thought, no holds barred.

The Silence is Deafening

‘…’ – a direct quote from our protagonist, there. Our silent hero, codename Joker, is a victim of circumstance. Wrongfully accused of assault by a mysterious man who is angered that a kid prevented him from forcing a woman into his car et al., he must move away from his hometown to wait out his probation period and live a normal student life. Why must he live above a failing café under the guardianship of the cranky owner? Not to mention: why is he banished to Tokyo of all places, somewhere very likely much more exciting than wherever his hometown is?

Either way, Joker isn’t going to tell you. He’s quiet and lets the other many, many other characters do the talking for him—a usual trope of JRPGs, but it is still an issue as he is also put on a pedestal as an incredibly special, talented, empathetic and all-round great guy. He’s the only one capable of saving the world, as he has abilities no-one else has, for some reason.

But this isn’t as bad as I’m making it out to be. Sure, it doesn’t really make sense why you have such a huge following when you don’t have much of a personality, but that’s the beauty of the silent protagonist. You, the player, are the protagonist. The fact that you can even put your own name in as his name is telling. You make the decisions, you make the friends, and you carve out your own destiny from the choices you make. It’s always these kinds of games that, when I talk to my friends, I say ‘I messed up with Sojiro’ or ‘I went to the arcade today’—and it is me. Because even though I’m not a woefully silent Japanese male teenager with glasses, for the time I’m playing Persona 5, I am.

So, you are the protagonist. You learn that there are mental shutdowns all over Tokyo, making people go crazy and kill lots of people, such as a conductor crashing his train, or simply killing people on the spot. It’s weird, but what can you do? You’re just a student with his own problems: not only do many of the students avoid you because you are a delinquent, but the volleyball coach, Kamoshida, seems to be harassing students, from the ones on his team who seem terrified of him, to girls that are being hit on. When a strange app appears on your phone, you accidentally find yourself in the metaverse, along with Ryuji, who also has a good reason to get revenge on Kamoshida.

I Am Thou, Thou Art I

What teenager doesn’t have a rebellious self hidden deep within their subconscious? Well, these teens can utilise that hidden self past its usual constraints to overcome the crappy adults that suppress them and make detrimental decisions for them. Once Joker and Ryuji, and later many other young adults, realise this potential and recognise that these adults need to be stopped, they are awakened to their Personas. A Persona is a manifestation of a persona user’s personality, which the individual can use to face hardship and overcome injustice, even if just in the Metaverse, the collective unconscious world.

But, really, there’s no ‘just’ about it. Here in this world, which take the form of Palaces, the Phantom Thieves (you and your friends) can defeat the ruler of the Palace (the adult with a distorted desire) to convince them to change their heart. In this way, the ‘real’ them in the real world will atone for their actions and justice can be served. So, really, your actions are vital to solving crimes, dealing justice and, eventually, saving the world.

These Personas are like Pokémon for adults. You are special, as you can catch and wield multiple Personas, allowing you to have a whole array of powers, but your friends have one that they train and evolve throughout the course of the story. Catching them is a skill: you have to learn their weakness, and use a skill that takes advantage of it to ‘down’ the Persona. This gives you a chance to either: perform an ‘all out’ attack which sees all your allies fight them at once for increased damage; ask them for money or an item; or negotiate with them to convince them to become a part of you (and thus catch them for use later). This gets harder when there are multiple different Personas to battle at once, all with different weaknesses and strengths that means you must time your combat precisely to ‘down’ them at the same time.

Personas are one of the best parts of the game, as you can see.

Not happy with a persona’s moves, or you want to create stronger ones? Go to the Velvet Room, where Igor and the Twin Wardens Justine and Caroline will fuse two or more Personas together to create new ones.

This is where the Pokémon element is better and worse. You can get completely new and stronger Personas immediately, which is cool, but if you are particularly drawn to one it doesn’t make sense to keep using them as they will level up far quicker if you fuse them than if you keep them. I struggled with this at first, as Arsene is your first ‘official’ Persona, and I couldn’t quite believe you are only meant to have him for the first few hours. It’s like Ash giving up Pikachu after defeating Brock!

Also, have you seen how you have to fuse them? It’s so dark and unnecessarily vivid! You have to guillotine, electric chair or hang them in order to create these new Personas, which is so different to Persona 4 where the Personas are cards, making it less gruesome to get rid of your companions. It definitely made me feel bad for fusing them, but that didn’t stop me!

Essentially, the Persona franchise wouldn’t be the same without all the incredible Personas you fight and capture along the way. It really encapsulates what the games are like: stylized and deeply considered, exuding character and imagination throughout.

Take Over, It’s Time to Put You Down

Using these Personas are a lot of fun, too. The moves are elemental as well as physical, they can inflict ailments such as ‘sleep’ and ‘fear’, and evolve as you and your Personas level up. Personas all have strengths and weaknesses, and by fusing them, you can create Personas with stronger moves and resistances that, as you get towards the end of the game, means that you can fuse some incredibly powerful Personas that can fight any and all enemies, if you’re smart with the moves you inherit.

This all sounds very similar to Pokémon, right? Well, there are other more showy, fantastically fun elements that integrate beautifully with the stunning graphics to make every battle (which have the potential to become very repetitive) exciting and challenging. When a character manages to ‘down’ an enemy by using a move that is strong against it, they can either do another attack or choose to Baton Pass to an ally, chaining super-effective attacks to down multiple enemies in one round, which is useful if there are a lot of different enemies with different affinities and weaknesses. Then, once all enemies are downed, all allies can come together for an All Out Attack for an extra boost of damage.

As much as this is useful for the player, if the enemy downs one of your allies, they can also do a secondary attack, which means that they have the potential to wipe out your team very quickly. Plus, some moves are one hit kills, which may have low accuracy but is still extremely frustrating sometimes, particularly in regular 5 where I found the combat more challenging. The worst boss fight was Haru’s dad, where I actually had to change difficulty for the only time throughout the game—who decided it was a good idea to revive the robot shadows if you didn’t kill them in three moves?!

The Showtime moves, new for Royal, bring a fresh new element to the game. As you progress through the story, your allies start forming bonds, which will then be reflected in combat. At seemingly random times, they can join up with fantastic new animations (such as Yusuke cooking Ryuji some yummy food at a bar, who get interrupted by a shadow coming in the door, and they both take it out) and inflict massive damage. I was sad that Joker doesn’t get one, until the Royal section where baes Akechi and Sumire both team up with you respectively for new Showtimes. It made me wonder whether Joker just wasn’t as close to the rest of the team as he becomes to Akechi and Sumire, which actually also made me glad that I focused on both of them heavily in my playthrough!

Every song that plays throughout the game, including combat, is a banger, so even though my husband got annoyed hearing it coming out of my TV for 120 hours, this soundtrack will remain one of my favourites to date. Overall, the combat is great, and thankfully not too repetitive after so many hours of gameplay.

Adulting is Hard

The story of Persona 5 is deeply gripping, and keeps you invested and interested the whole way through. It didn’t absolutely destroy me like other JRPGs have done (see: Final Fantasy XV), but fun, emotive and has huge repercussions if you don’t succeed in your mission, including people dying and the world ending. No pressure, then.

Your actions, then, are crucial to making the world a better place: and the villains that you encounter are integral to succeeding. In true revolution fashion, it’s the kids that need to stand up to the adults to rid them of their distorted desires—but it’s not all random. The adults are truly abhorrent (the first one, Kamoshida, sexually assaults female students and physically abuses members of his volleyball team) and they continue a running thread from first to last—that is, the ones who you think aren’t connected at all seem to be connected to the final villain by the end. It’s very clever, and kept me gripped the whole way through—something that’s needed with 80+ hours of gameplay.

The writing is absolutely fantastic. All characters have their own distinct mannerisms, personalities and stories, which you get to explore with the Confidant mechanic (see below). The voice acting is great, and as I progressed through the Confidants, I really started to feel like they were becoming my friends, and that every time I turned on my PS4 I was hanging out with my pals again. It’s the way games should make you feel—like you actually care about what will happen to them.

This does make the game quite stressful (in a good way), as what you do has actual repercussions. It’s a bit frustrating sometimes that some of your dialogue doesn’t affect the game at large, as well as your romance choices. None of the characters acknowledge you have a girlfriend, and if you date Ann, for example, she won’t act any differently than if you decide to not even become her friend. While that’s disappointing, other dialogue choices can completely affect your game so that you always have to be very careful with your decisions. Will you get the ‘bad’ ending, where you fail to stop the final villain; the ‘good bad’ ending, where you accept his distorted view of the world; or the ‘true’ canon ending, where you revert the world to normal? A lot of choices throughout this lengthy game affect what ultimately happens, so you do feel like you’re affecting the story a lot more than, say, Pokémon. In fact, in Royal, you can even miss out on a whole section of the game…

Ascending to Royalty

As long as you max your Confidant links with Akechi (the renegade teen detective), Kasumi (the new gymnast freshman at your school) and Maruki (the school counsellor), you get to experience the 30+ hours that Royal adds to Persona 5. And—major spoilers here—once you’ve defeated the God of Control and exposed Akechi for the unhinged betrayer that he is, you should go to juvenile detention and your ability to use Personas should be gone for good, as Momentos has been destroyed.

However, in Royal, Maruki has figured out how to use cognitive psience—and you’re the reason why. His sessions with you has helped with his research, and so now he can make the world a better place by granting everyone’s desires in the collective unconsciousness.

As you can see by his actions, he’s not your typical antagonist. His heart is completely in the right place: he wants to make everyone happy by granting their desires for them, such as bringing back Futaba’s dead mother and helping Ryuji recover so he can get back on the track team. I resonated with that, and actually wondered whether it would be worse for certain characters, particularly Futaba and Haru who get to spend time with their respective dead parents, to reject the “blissful ignorance” reality that Maruki had created for them in favour of the truth.

By this point, I had grown rather fond of the deranged but entertaining firework that Akechi has revealed himself to be, and once I learned that Akechi would die (as he did in regular 5) if Maruki’s reality were to be revoked, I almost chose to accept it. But Akechi being adamant that he was going to stop Maruki no matter what as he didn’t want to live under anyone else’s rule helped make that choice for me. It was difficult, though. Akechi’s is a motive that is simultaneously selfish and noble: selfish as he doesn’t want anyone else to control him, even if that means other people are happy, but noble because he values the truth above all else. Plus, the fact that he was one of the main villains throughout the story up until this point made me question whether we should continue to trust him, even though he had decided to help us, even if it were primarily for his own gain. I think my fondness for him (perhaps because he is a fully-fledged Confidant in this game, unlike regular 5) and the wildcard elements he brought to the game made me feel a certain brand of loyalty towards him, and so I chose to honour his “dying wish”. And, of course, this path led to the ‘true’ ending!

This indecision is shown most clearly in Maruki’s palace, where you have to deduce what decisions in certain situations Maruki would think is the ‘right’ one. It really helps you understand where he’s coming from. For example, his question ‘if your friend is being attacked, and you don’t have much time before they get seriously hurt, would you a) run to get help but you might not make it back in time, or b) join the fight to help but you might get hurt yourself?’ Neither answer is necessarily wrong, but b) is correct as Maruki simply wants you to look out for yourself over others. The crux of his viewpoint is that you should endeavour to make yourself happy or safe, even if that means others may not be. It’s a very interesting conundrum, and one I enjoyed debating philosophically whilst playing.

The concept of right and wrong and mental health was also tackled in this game through Kasumi/Sumire. Ultimately, even though Maruki wanted to help her by allowing Sumire to pretend to be her dead sister, as she blames herself for her death, he ultimately did her more harm than good. With the support of Joker and the others Sumire was able to overcome her delusions and grow into a strong, confident young woman. This cemented for me how backwards Maruki was and that reality is the most important thing, even if it’s not always what we want, because that’s life. In this way, I feel that Royal added something to 5. Even though going into someone’s mind palace was about mental health, I never really considered it until Royal dealt with an innocent traumatised girl and a misguided man attempting to heal her. I applaud Atlas for tackling something so difficult pretty well.

Confident in my Confidants

It’s a good thing the player can really get into the story, because it’s heavily dependent on personal decisions and making friends.

In order to get stronger within the Metaverse, Igor, the man inside the Velvet Room, tells Joker that he needs to strengthen the relationship with his friends first. This is absolutely true—not just with your teammates, but with other individuals who live in Tokyo too, in the form of the Confidant mechanic. For example, while your teammates all get skills such as curing afflictions and taking fatal hits for Joker, others give just as much if not more valuable perks, such as Kawakami giving you more free time or Mishima allowing all teammates to gain experience even if they don’t contribute to the battle once you max them out.

The way you level them up is through socialising. This passes time, but is also incredibly interesting, as each Confidant has a gripping story (except Ohya!). You can’t downgrade a Confidant, but picking the right dialogue choices can make leveling them up much quicker in a game where time is everything. It’s also necessary to level up your stats, such as knowledge, kindness and charm, to allow you to progress with some Confidants and be empathetic or charming enough to deal with the situations thrown at you. I loved the dual play style of dungeon battles and social simulation—in a lengthy game, it broke up gameplay and kept it fresh.

As this was my second playthrough, I already knew that maxing certain Confidants would yield the best results, such as Kawakami and Yoshida who eventually allows you to negotiate with and catch shadows of a higher level than you. But in Royal, the new additions of Counselor, Faith & Justice—Maruki, Kasumi & Akechi—freshened things up. Technically, Justice isn’t new, but you can now hang out with him instead of his progress being facilitated purely by story.

Time to rate my friends from worst to best!

21: Ichiko Ohya Devil Arcana

I found this alcoholic journalist very annoying. Her story isn’t that interesting, she isn’t very nice, and the skills that she gives you to allow you to sneak around Palaces easier aren’t worth it either. I only maxed out her story near the end as I had time, but honestly, she shouldn’t be a priority.

20: Iwai Munehisa Hanged Man Arcana

Didn’t think anything of him until Royal, where I had more time to learn about his time in the Yakusa and his son. Useful for guns (which aren’t even an integral part of combat, really), but other than that I barely used his shop—plus you have to have high Guts in order to progress. Definitely better Confidants out there.

19: Tae Takemi Death Arcana

The fact that this doctor is a sexy goth is probably the best thing about her. You can level her up quite early on, so she is quite exciting at the beginning as she’s one of the only adults you can turn into a Confidant at that point, but after a while she stopped being interesting to me. In my Royal playthrough I found I didn’t need many healing items—SP was far more important!—and in the end I didn’t max her out. A fun outfit, but can leave her.

18: Shinya Oda Tower Arcana

Definitely annoying (but what little brother isn’t?) but there’s a sad reason for that—his mum is emotionally abusive, even if she doesn’t mean to be. In the end I wanted to max him out to save him from that life, but I never quite got that far. At least I managed to change his mum’s heart before I finished the game.

He’s also quite useful in buffing gun attacks and bonuses for downing and negotiating, so definitely useful for combat. I just ended up feeling bad for him, but he was also a bit of a shit, being a bully to his classmates; his big bro Joker helped with that!

17: Hifumi Togo Star Arcana

I never got to know her in my first playthrough, and I didn’t realise how useful she is for battles. She eventually allows you to swap players in combat, hastens escapes, improves money hauls, and allows back-up members to do follow up attacks. I’d definitely give her a shot for just those bonuses, even if you don’t want to romance her—but she is sweet, if very detached from the rest of the story.

16: Chihaya Mifune Fortune Arcana

I maxed her out pretty quickly so I could get the fortune readings; affinity was especially useful, as you can level up Confidants a tiny bit quicker, for a price. And, after she takes 100,000 from you near the beginning (!) and eventually gives it back, she’s lovely. Nothing special, and definitely not one to romance, but nice.

15: Twin Wardens Justine & Caroline Strength Arcana

Their Confidant path was slightly different: you have to show them Personas with specific moves, and they will level up. This was very interesting, and also put a natural brake on their relationship, as some Personas can’t be made until you are a certain level. They are also very useful as you eventually unlock group Persona fusions and can fuse Personas of a higher level than you, for a price. Always fun to get the ridiculous Personas a bit earlier on! Also, their story was super interesting, due to the mystery that surrounds their identities…

Also also, Royal gives a new element to your relationship with them. You can now take them out of the Velvet Room to show them ‘human things’, like aquariums and cinemas. I didn’t utilise this much as you only get skill cards, and no actual level progress, but I wish I had more time, as the dialogue in these sequences is hilarious as they try to understand why humans would do certain things. The fact that I’ve ranked them so low is telling—there are so many fun and useful Confidants that mean they rank this low. 

14: Yuuki Mishima Moon Arcana

I actually think you’re a bit mean to him—he’s definitely your friend, but every time you are asked to clarify this the dialogue choices make you seem like a dickhead when you say he’s only ‘sort of’ your friend! He’s helped you so much, stop being such a dick, player. Plus he helps increase EXP, as well as allows EXP to be given to back-up members so it’s definitely a good thing to max him earlier. Plus, he’s sweet, and gives you Momentos requests. Justice for Mishima!

13: Takuto Maruki Councillor Arcana

Lovely. What a gent. Shame he turned out to be distorted by deciding to change people’s realities by interpreting their vague wants instead of actually asking people if they’d WANT their realities changed or not. Sounds a bit like Thanos to me, but with a better reason to be evil.

The bonuses of Maruki though are: he’s interesting; he’s lovely; and his bonuses are mainly SP based, which is always hard to recover in Persona, especially in the early stages of the games. He raises your SP, gives you a chance to instantly recover ailments, gives you a chance to become focused and therefore raises your attack, and gives you a chance to recover your SP when low. Very useful, and you can’t play the Royal storyline without maxing him out before November 18th anyway.

12: Haru Okumura Empress Arcana

Again, I wasn’t too much of a fan of Haru on my first playthrough (perhaps because she’s quite a late addition to the team), but this time round, I had more time to get to know her. I really wanted to save her from her awful fiancé, and hoped I’d be able to say ‘don’t marry him, marry me!’ if I chose to romance her, but alas. I was also quite surprised with how business-orientated she is, which was a surprise. However, she was just too prim and proper for me, and even after her story showed her to be evolving into a confident woman, she didn’t evolve quite enough for me to be interested.

She’s useful, though, as all the Confidants are who are your team members, so leveling her up is a must, for help in combat and to evolve her Persona.

11: Morgana Magician Arcana

Morgana was the most useful as the support hero—I always wanted him in my party, particularly in hard battles, just to keep me and my allies alive. Plus, who doesn’t love a talking cat? Though, at one point, he does get moody and very annoying. While Morgana as a character was never that exciting past being the initial reason they can become Phantom Thieves and the mystery surrounding where he comes from, Royal switched that up by turning him into a dreamboat with piercing blue eyes when Maruki made his dream of being a human come true. They kept saying throughout this sequence how beautiful he was, which was amusing. A nice twist on the original game.

10: Toranosuke Yoshida Sun Arcana

I learnt to level this fallen-from-grace politician up quickly from my first playthrough as, once you max him out, you can negotiate easier with shadows of your own level, and negotiate with higher level shadows and add them to the compendium—absolutely necessary. Also, he’s basically a massive socialist leftie, so he rocks.

9: Yusuke Kitagawa Emperor Arcana

I didn’t like him much in my first playthrough, but now I appreciate him far more—he’s flamboyant, artistic and, best of all, happy to be in his own mind and be himself, no matter what people think of him. He’s a bit stuck up sometimes, but all in all he’s an outsider who fits in better than he really should. And he provides funny dialogue, particularly when interacting with Futaba. I also love his Showtime moves with Ryuji and Ann.

8: Ann Takamaki Lovers Arcana

I’m quite surprised she’s this low down for me, but even though she’s the first girl you befriend and she’s hopelessly beautiful to everyone who meets her, she doesn’t quite push past the ‘ditzy girl’ trope. The story does try to make her more nuanced, and to an extent it works—she’s also fun, thoughtful and empathetic—but there’s just too many misogynistic and ditsy jokes that even only a few years later don’t land anymore. Saying that, she literally uses her sexuality to break free of the misogyny that surrounds her body and the sexual abuse and prejudice she experiences, at the most from the volleyball teacher, and at the least from everyone around her. It’s a steep hill to climb, but she’s doing it.

I drew the picture below!

7: Sadayo Kawakami Temperance Arcana

Kawakami’s your teacher—what could possibly go wrong? Well, she’s also a sexy maid who comes over to clean up, though she won’t go any further as you’re her high school student. Yet. It’s a bit dodgy, especially as she acts like your mum, but even so, the forbidden fruit angle is fun. Her story is also compelling. Not only is she an interesting Confidant, but one of the most useful ones for the amount of extra time she gives you when you level her up. Why on both my playthroughs did I not level her up immediately?

6: Sojiro Sakura Hierophant Arcana

He’s your guardian who takes you in when you have to move from your hometown after your alleged assault to live out your probation. He starts out cranky, but has an absolute heart of gold. He ended up being one of my favourite Confidants—plus, he’s one of the most useful, as he is one of the only ways to get SP in the early game by making coffee and curry. You need to understand the pride I got from making coffee that met his expectations!

5: Futaba Sakura Hermit Arcana

Sojiro’s adopted daughter is so much fun that I romanced her in the first game. While some may think she’s more like a little sister, she’s just a bit more immature because of her hermit lifestyle and Arcana. She’s funny, loves games, and has great references; she is one of the only instances of a game that has a young girl who doesn’t sound like 40-year-olds trying to sound like teenagers. She has a heartbreaking story, but her personality keeps it light. She says it how it is, no matter what anyone else thinks. She’s great.

4: Kasumi/Sumire Yoshizawa Faith Arcana

I chose to romance the gymnast honour student in Royal, because how can you not romance the new girl? Though I wasn’t sure at first, as I found her quite twee at the beginning. However, she became a lot more nuance when she became Sumire, which is to be expected. Plus, she is really well integrated into the story and really makes you feel she cares about you. She has an amazing costume when she is Codename: Violet, and gives you some truly useful abilities, such as ambushing from a distance and avoiding being surrounded by shadows. She’s a great addition to an already great game.

3: Makoto Niijima Priestess Confidant

She’s bestgirl in terms of smarts, badassery, and simple relatability. She is Student Council President, an honour student, and has been manipulated by evil adults for their own distorted desires. Her parents have died, which instils her with deep guilt for being a burden on her sister. She’s also the only one whose Confidant story doesn’t actively revolve around herself: she changes, but it’s through helping her friend who may be a victim of trafficking rather than her own self-interests. She’s sharp, poised and even more badass when she awakens to her Persona, Johanna—it’s a freaking motorcycle!

2: Ryuji Sakamoto Chariot Confidant

Your best buddy. I’m always drawn towards these ones, who are treated a bit dumb but are loyal to the end. He’s also hilarious, like when he complains the Phantom Thieves are in the shadows and not getting any credit, and I chose the option ‘I like the shade’, he says ‘what are you, moss?!’ I really do wish I could romance him, because I can see a lovely storyline where he’s unsure at first but the fact that they’re soulmates transcends gender.

1: Goro Akechi Justice Confidant

I’m almost hesitant to admit I find him the most fascinating and fun. Not only is he dangerous, exciting and unhinged, he's at the centre of an incredible twist. He’s one of the most interesting characters, and you never know what he’s going to do next. I would definitely date him if Japanese games let gay relationships happen; he has all the best attributes for a crazy romantic relationship. Not IRL, but in a game, why not?

I love that he didn’t die and teams up with you in Royal, and that . He’s also the first character that Joker gets a Showtime move with, which made it quite special. When it is revealed just how evil and crazy he is, his whole character changes, including his Persona, his Phantom Thieves outfit, and his demeanor—it’s scary how excited he is by killing, but at the same time, he is absolutely certain of his viewpoints and won’t compromise for anyone. Many of these points would be a reason why he shouldn’t be my number one, but I can’t help it.

Honourable Mentions: Igor (Fool Arcana), Sae Niijima (Judgement Arcana) & Jose

Igor is the ruler of the Velvet Room, and the person who facilitates your rehabilitation in changing peoples’ hearts. However, ‘person’ isn’t quite right for Igor: he’s the God of Control, born from the desires of the collective masses who want to be controlled and be told what to do rather than make difficult decisions. It was a cool twist to realise that the God of Control had been impersonating the real Igor; I don’t know if Igor was lovely in the previous games, but he certainly is once you restore him at the end of 5. Despite him being interesting, I never felt like I had a connection with him, as you level up his Arcana automatically throughout the story, and he never tried to have a personal relationship with Joker.

Sae has her own palace and Arcana, but she’s not quite the same as the others. Like Igor, you level up automatically throughout the game when you confess to her the whole Phantom Thieves story, and while she does have a Palace, she doesn’t through any huge transformation other than realising that learning the truth is better than trying to win at any cost. She’s cool, and her outfit in her Palace is sexy, but you can’t romance her and can’t change much of what you say to her. I wish in Royal she could have been a fully fledged Confidant instead.

Jose counts even less. A new addition to Royal, he helps you change the cognition of Momentos by collecting stamps as you go further down, and he gives you items in exchange for flowers, so he definitely makes Momentos better. However, his addition is nothing world-shaking, and he only shows up randomly, which makes him quite annoying. I could have done without him, but at least he made Momentos more interesting than in the base game, which, compared to Palaces, was quite boring.

All in all, my main issue with the Confidant system as that you still can’t date boys. We’ve been saying for years ‘that’s just the Japanese way’, but considering the crazy hentai they bring out (still with only very little amounts of yaoi/gay hentai) it may be time to stop excusing them for not being with the times. Catherine: Full Body aimed to dispel that somewhat—perhaps Persona should too.

A Momentous Game

Overall, this is one of my favourite games of all time. The gameplay keeps me entertained for 100+ hours (though, to be fair, I do love long games) and the characters and writing makes me emotionally connect with the story they are telling. I’d suggest playing for at least 8 hours, as it’s a slow burn, but once that hurdle is jumped the real obsession begins.

Time to go and play Persona 4 Golden, as I’m not quite ready for the fun to be over yet.