#i mean. even with kamoshida they only went through with trying to steal his heart because they were desperate and willing to risk him dying

[bobzora]

finally beat the first kingdom in p5t the other day and it was truly flabbergasting the way marie fuckin. dissolved. and morgana was like well that shouldn't have caused a mental shutdown... but i don't know for sure! and then moved on. LIKE HUH. WHY ARE NONE OF THE THIEVES. ACKNOWLEDGING THIS. LMAO?

[c-is-for-circinate]

I'd love to hear more of your thoughts about why P5R didn't quite land for you. I had the same reaction to it, but I've never quite been able to properly articulate why the last section fell so flat.

God okay so I've tried several times to answer this, and it seems like the answer is 'I still have way too many feelings, personally, to say this in anything less than thirty pages and fifteen hours of work', because Persona 5 the original is a game I loved a lot and care about a great deal. And most of the reasons I disliked Royal feel, in my head, like a list of ways it broke some of the things I liked best about P5--which means explaining them feels like I need to explain everything I loved about the original game, which is a book in itself, complete with referents to P3, P4, Jungian psychology, the Joseph Campbell mytharc, and fuck all even knows what. And that is too much.

But today I realized that I could instead describe it from an angle of, Persona 5 Strikers succeeds really well at doing the thing I think Royal was trying to do but failed at. And that I think I can talk about in a reasonable amount of wordspace, hopefully, behind this cut because I have at least one friend who hasn't played Royal yet.

Note for reblogs/comments: I HAVE NOT FINISHED STRIKERS YET. I got through the jail that pretended to be the final jail and have not yet gone into the obviously inevitable 'ohshit wait, you mean there's something more than simple human machinations behind all of this?' dungeon. (I got stuck on a really frustrating side quest, put the game down, and then dived into Hades to avoid throwing the Switch across the room for a while--and anyone around this blog lately knows how THAT'S been going.) Please no spoilers past Okinawa!

So, one of the many, many things I really appreciated about Persona 5 was its straightforward and unashamed attitude towards abusers and their acts of violence. Because, while yes P5 is a story about the use of power and control to make others suffer, it fundamentally isn't about those abusers themselves. It's about their victims, those that survive their crimes. And this shows up repeatedly over the course of the game.

We do not give a shit why Kamoshida wanted to beat and rape his students. We really don't. Kamoshida does not deserve our attention one moment longer than it takes to make him stop. Because, ultimately, that's the goal of P5, start to end. We don't know for sure if what we're doing is fair, if it's justice, if it's questionable. What we know is that people are being hurt, badly, actively, right now this second. What we know is that victims are suffering. What we know is that we, personally, us-the-protag and us the Phantom Thieves at large, are in danger. And in those circumstances, we don't care about the abuser's side any more. We don't. We don't have the space or time or capacity to care, because that is not the point.

The point is to help the weak. To save the people who need saving, right here and now. To give others the courage to stand up on their own behalf. We're not even out to change society, not really--that's a byproduct. We are reactions. We are triage. We are important.

There's something so empowering and validating about that as a theme, y'know? In a media landscape so full of "sympathetic villains", the idea that, you know, maybe sometimes you don't have to break yourself to show compassion that might possibly heal the bad guy--that sometimes you can just make the bad guy stop hurting people--feels both refreshing and satisfying. I really appreciate it as a message! I liked it a lot!

And yes, there's nuance to that theme, and the game is not without compassion. We save Futaba, because 'make the bad guy stop hurting people', in that case, means 'make this person stop hurting herself'. We give Sae a path forwards, help her fix her own heart. Yet it's worth pointing out that in both of those cases, while we were very glad to do those things, to save those people, we also went into both of those palaces for extremely practical reasons to begin with. We needed Futaba's help. We needed Sae's help. The fact that we chose to talk Sae into a change of heart rather than simply stealing her treasure, while ultimately a very good thing for her, was absolutely a practical choice predicated on the need for her palace to still exist to save our life. And yes, we wanted to save her, for Makoto's sake--yes, we wanted desperately to save Futaba. But Sae and Futaba let themselves be helped, too, and that doesn't change the overarching themes of the story itself.

Akechi (and to some extent Okumura) would not let himself be helped. Akechi's another interesting nuance to this theme, because of all our villains, we do learn the most about what drove him to the cruelties and crimes he's committed. He's at that intersection of victim and villain, and we want to help him, as a victim--but we also know that stopping him as a villain is more important. We'd like to save him from himself if we could, because we save people from their sources of trauma, it's what we do. We regret being unable to do so. But in the end, what matters to the story is not that Akechi refused to be saved--it's that Shido and Yaldabaoth need to be stopped, for the sakes of everyone else they're hurting now and may continue to hurt in the future.

The thing is, there's space and maybe even a need for a corollary discussion of those places where victim and villain intersect. It's an interesting, pertinent, and related topic. Strikers made an entire video game about it, a really good video game. It's centered in the idea that, yes, these people need to be stopped, and we will make stopping them our priority--but they're not going after us, and that gives us some space to sympathize. Even for Konoe, who specifically targets the Phantom Thieves--compare him to Shido, who actively destroyed the lives of both Joker and Futaba, who ordered Haru's father's death, who's the entire reason the team is still dealing with the trauma of Akechi's everything. Of course the game can be sympathetic to Konoe where it can't with Shido. There's enough distance to do that.

But right--Strikers is a separate game. It's a separate conversation. It's, "last time, we talked about that, so now let's take it one step further." And that's good writing. (It's something Persona has done before, too, also really well! Persona 3 is about terrible, occasionally-suicidal depression and grief. P4 is about how you can still be hurting and need some help and therapy even if things seem ok. Related ideas, but separate conversations that need to be separate in order to be respectful and do justice to either one. P5, as a follow-up to P4, is a conversation about how, ok, changing yourself is great and all, but sometimes the problem is other people so how do you deal with that? Again, still related! Still pertinent! Still alluded to in P4, with Adachi's whole thing--but it wasn't the time or place to base a quarter of the game around it.)

So one of Royal's biggest issues, to me, is that it tries to tack on this whole new angle for discussion onto a game that was originally about something else.

Adding Maruki's palace--adding it at the end, which by narrative laws suggests that it's the true point that everything else should be building up to--suddenly adds in about a hundred new dimensions at once. It wants us to engage with "what in this abuser/manipulator's life led him to act this way?" for basically the first time all game (we'll get to Akechi later). It wants us to engage with, "if the manipulator has a really good reason or good intentions, does that mean we should forgive them?" It requires us to reflect on, "what is the difference between control and cruelty?" It asks, "okay, but if people could be controlled into being happy, would that be okay?" (Which, based on the game so far, is actually a wild out-there hypothetical! Literally not a single thing we've seen in the game suggests that could ever happen. Even the people who think being controlled is safer and easier are miserable under it. Control that's able to lead to actual happiness is completely out of left field in the context of everything we've encountered all game so far.)

That's too much! We don't have time to unpack all that! We only have an eighth of the game left! Not to mention we are also being asked to bring back questions we put to bed much earlier in the game about the morality of our own actions, in a wholely unsatisfying way. Maruki attempts to justify his mass brainwashing because "it's the same as what you're doing", and we know it isn't, but the game didn't need Maruki calling it out in order for us to get that. We already faced that question when we started changing hearts, and again several times throughout the game, and again when we found our targets in Yaldabaoth's cells. The fact that we change hearts does not mean we think "changing hearts is fine and kind and should be done to everyone, actually." Changing hearts has been firmly established in this game as an act of violence, acceptable only because it prevents further systemic violence against innocents that we must prevent. The moral question has never once been about whether it's ok to change the hearts of the innocent, only about how far it's ethical to go against individuals who are actively hurting other people. Saying "you punched that guy to keep him from shooting a child, so punching people is good and I will save the world by punching everyone!" is confusing! and weird! and not actually at all helpful to the question of, how much violence is it acceptable to use to protect others! So presenting the question that way just falls really flat.

(And right, I love Strikers, because Strikers has time to unpack all that. Strikers can give us a main bad guy who wants to control the whole world for everybody's own good, because Strikers has earned that thematic climax. It has given us sympathetic bad guys who started out wanting to control the world to protect themselves and ended up going too far. It's given us Mariko Hyodo, who wanted to control the world to protect other people and went too far. It's given us a long-running thread about police, the desire to serve, and the abuse of power that can lead to. And since we are actively trying to care for the people whose hearts we're changing in Strikers, we can open the door to questions about using changes-of-heart and that level of control to make other people happy. We can even get a satisfying conclusion out of that discussion, because we have space to characterize the difference--Konoe thinks that changing peoples' hearts means confining them, but the Phantom Thieves think it means setting them free. We have seen enough sympathetic villains that we as an audience have had the space to figure out how we feel about that, and to understand the game's perspective of "stop them AND save them, if we can possibly do both." And that message STILL rests firmly on Persona 5's message of "it is Good to do what you have to do to stop an abuser so long as you don't catch innocent people in your crossfire.")

It's worth noting that the general problem of 'asking way too many new questions and then not answering them' also applies to how Royal treats its characters, too. P5 did have unanswered questions left at the end! The biggest one, and we all knew this, was Akechi, and what actually happened to him, and how we should feel about him, and how he felt about us. That was ripe for exploring in our bonus semester, and to Royal's credit they did in fact try to bring it up, but by god did they fuck up doing it.

Akechi's probable death in the boiler room was absolutely the biggest dangling mystery of the game. It was an off-screen apparent death of a key antagonist, so all of the narrative rules we know suggested that he might still be alive and would probably come back if the story went on for long enough. So when Royal brings him back on Christmas Eve, hey, great! Question answered. Except that the situation is immediately too good to be true, and immediately leads to another mystery, which leads to a flat suspicion that something must be wrong. We spend several hours of gameplay getting sly hints that, oooh, maybe he's not really alive after all, before it's finally confirmed by Maruki: yup, he really died, if we end the illusion we'll kill him too. Okay, at least we know now. Akechi is alive right now and he's going to be dead if we do this, and that doesn't make a ton of sense because every other undead person disappeared when the person who wished for them realized they were fake but at this point we'll take it. So we take down Maruki, and okay, Akechi really is dead! Probably! We're fairly sure! Aside from our lingering doubts!

And then we catch a glimpse of maybe-probably-could be him through the train window, and I just want to throw something, because come on.

Look, it is just a fact of storytelling: the more times you make an audience ask 'wait, is this character dead or aren't they?', the less they will care, until three or four reversals later you will be hard pressed to find anybody who gives a shit. Royal does this like four different times, and every iteration comes with even less certainty than the last. By the end, we somehow know even less than we did when we started! Did Akechi survive the boiler room to begin with and Maruki just didn't know? Or was Maruki lying to try and manipulate us further? Or was he actually dead and then his strength of will when Maruki's reality dissolved was enough to let him survive after all? Is that even actually him out the train window?

Where is he going! What is he doing! How did any of this happen! What is going on! We all had these questions about Akechi at the end of the original P5, and the kicker is that Royal pretends like it's going to answer them only to go LOL JK NO. It's frustrating and it's dissatisfying and it annoys me.

The one Akechi question that Royal doesn't even bother to ask, though, let alone leave ambiguous, is how does the protagonist feel about him? The entire emotional weight of the third semester rests on the protagonist caring about Akechi, Sumire, and Maruki. Maruki's the person we're supposed to sympathize with even as we try to stop him. Sumire's the person we're trying to save from herself. And Akechi is our bait--is, we are told, the one thing our protagonist wished for enough to actualize it in this world himself. Akechi's the final lure to accept Maruki's deal. Akechi's survival is meant to be tempting.

For firm Akechi fans, this probably worked out fine--the game wanted to insist that the protagonist cared for Akechi the same way the player did. For those of us who're a little more ambivalent, though (or for the many and valid people who hated him), this is a super sour note. Look, one of the Persona series' strengths is the way it lets players choose to put their time and emotional investment into an array of different characters, so the main story still has weight even if there's a couple you don't care about that much. It has always done this. The one exception, from P3 all the way through P4 to here and now, is Nanako Dojima, and by god she earned that distinction. I have never met a person who played Persona 4 who didn't love Nanako. Nanako is a neglected six-year-old child who is brave and strong enough to take care of herself and all of the housework but who still tries not to cry when her dad abandons her again and lights up like the sun when we spare her even the tiniest bit of time and attention. It is impossible not to care for Nanako. Goro Akechi is not Nanako.

And yet third semester Royal doesn't make sense if your protagonist doesn't feel linked to Akechi. The one question, out of all the brand new questions Royal throws out there, that it decides to answer all by itself--and it's how you as a player and your protagonist ought to feel about an extremely complex and controversial character. What the fuck, Royal. What the fuck.

In conclusion, I'll leave you with this. I played the original Persona 5 in March and April of 2017, as an American, a few months after the 2016 election and into the term of our then president. It felt painfully timely. A quick calendar google early on indicated that the game's 20XX was almost certainly 2016, and the closer our plot got to the in-game November leadup to an election destined to be dominated by a foul and charming man full of corruption and buoyed up by his own cult of personality, the more I wanted to laugh/cry. It felt timely. It felt important. It felt right.

I went through Royal (in LP form on youtube, not having a platform to play it on) in summer of 2020, with a hook full of face masks by my front door and protests about racial tension and local policing that occasionally turned into not-quite-riots close enough to hear at night if I opened the windows of my apartment. The parts of the game that I remembered felt as prescient and meaningful as ever, if not even more so. The new parts felt baffling. Every single evil in the game felt utterly, painfully real, from the opening moments of police brutality to the idea of a country led by a guy who probably would use his secret illegitimate teenage son as a magical assassin if the opportunity presented itself and he thought he could get away with it. Yaldabaoth as the cumulative despair of an entire population who just wanted somebody to take over and make things be okay--yes, yes, god, in summer of 2020? With streets full of people refusing to wear masks and streets full of people desperate for change? Of course. Of course that holy grail of safety should be enticing. Of course it should be terrifying.

And then Maruki. Maruki, who was just so far outside the scope of anything I could relate to the rest of the game or my own life. Because every single other villain in the rest of Persona is real. From the petty pandering principal to the human-trafficking mob boss. The corrupt politicians and the manmade god of cultural desire for stability. And this game was trying to tell me that the very biggest threat of all of them, the thing that was worse than the collective force of all society agreeing to let this happen because succumbing was easier than fighting back--that the very biggest threat of all was that the world could be taken over by some random nobody's misguided attempts to help?

No. Fuck no. I don't buy it. Because god, yes, I have seen the pain and damage done on a tiny and personal and very real level by the tight-fisted control of someone trying to help, it never looked like this. Not some ascended god of a bad therapist. All the threats to the world, and that's the one I'm supposed to take seriously? This one man is more of a threat than the fundamental human willingness to be controlled?

Sorry, but no. Not for me. Not in this game. Not in this real-life cyberpunk dystopian apocalypse.

[snowpeawritings]

Hi, I would like to request a Ren/Akira story where the reader got caught up in the palace transfer thing with PT and unlocks her persona after being told she will never be able to be as strong or of use like the others. Thanks and I really love you work!

yessss always wanted to write an awakening scene!

Reader is female

CW (CONTENT WARNING): Swearing

You wanted to change this rotten world for the better but you were a pacifist.

Your parents raised you to never fight violence with violence, lest it would continue this toxic cycle that will never end. As much as you hated the fact that you can’t do anything to change things physically, just being there emotionally is enough for you. As such, you weren’t easily the most picked on. No one disliked you, but no one particularly liked you.

And you were fine with that.

With the coming of the transfer student, students and teachers were already giving him shit. You knew Kamoshida's… actions in order to become the school’s fan favorite. It honestly pissed you off to no end, having a scumbag like him walk like he owns the place, but you really couldn’t stand up to him and his adoring fans. All you could do whenever the transfer student (you believed his name was Kurusu?) is getting ostracised from the school is giving him your time and becoming his first friend.

And you were fine with that.

Turns out he wasn’t the delinquent everyone made him out to be. He just wanted to have his normal future back and a normal high school life. While you could never grant him that wish, you’ll be his support when people weigh him down. Even the threat of expulsion of him, Ryuji and Mishima would keep him up, you would always be there. Even if there’s nothing more you could do than offer half-empty words.

And you were fine with that.

When news of Kamoshida’s confession spread, you really didn’t know what to think. The calling card that was posted across the school bulletin made you believe these ‘thieves’ but it was a far stretch. You were still Akira’s friend whom he hangs out with from time to time but you never knew that he was friends with Ryuji and Ann. Then the circle grew to Mishima, to a student from Kosei High, to Makoto Niijima–

And you were fine with being outside of his circle.

He certainly looked happier when he was with them. While he rarely smiles, you could see that glint of life in his dark eyes whenever Ryuji makes a corny joke and Ann has to smack him upside the head or when he says something witty that just encompasses how much of a dork he is. He even went so far as to try to serenade his cat when the feline clearly did not want to be held[1] (who knew he had such a great voice?).

He did smile when you were hanging out with him, but you never seen him truly look happy with you. For some reason, you were fine with that.

Akira still tries to hang out with you. You could tell when his eyes winced at his own disappointment when he rejected you spending some time with him. His circle of friends were his top priority as he always goes out with them seemingly every day. As much as you wanted to respect his private life, you yourself had to guess just where the heck they kept going, especially when they were a fairly big group.

You didn’t want to follow them but to be fair, it was sheer coincidence that you were there when the entire world shifted. And no, it wasn’t because you wanted to follow Ryuji because he still hasn’t paid his debt to you to buy that entire pack of Black Thunder chocolate.

The dilapidated and destroyed train station is what you saw when you opened your eyes. You were sure this was the station that you wait for your train but never in complete chaos like this. Honestly, the place isn’t what made you scream. What you screamed was when the weird-looking cat in front of you transformed into a van in front of a group of equally weird-looking people.

When the fellow in the black coat whipped his head, you knew those dark eyes anywhere.

“It’s you!?” You screeched, your voice echoing across the tunnel endlessly. “Y-You mean… this entire time, the Phantom Thieves were you guys!?”

The girl in red who you were sure was Ann waved her hands rapidly. “No, _______! We’re not—”

Her eyes widened in surprise at her mistake before slapping her gloved hands over her mouth. “Wait, no! I mean—”

The blonde boy beside her, Ryuji, stomped his foot at Ann’s glaring mistake. “Great way to eff it up, Panther! Now she knows who we are now!”

The way that ‘Panther’ had smacked Ryuji upside the head proved your hunch right; the ragtag group of vigilante thieves that steal hearts were also your own classmates.

“I mean…” You said shakily, trying to diffuse the fight between Ryuji and Ann. “It’s pretty obvious from your voice and hair. But seriously, w-where are we? What is this place?”

The comment about them being obvious was ignored for now. Instead, the brunette you knew to be Makoto stepped in and explained everything to an extent: the Metaverse, them being the Phantom Thieves of Heart, and a magical cat.

“But please, please keep this a secret.” Makoto-or Queen- pleaded with you. “Our entire work would be gone if you tell anyone else what we do.”

You waved your hand to calm her down. “I’ll keep this a secret, don’t worry. Besides, no one talks to me so it’s all good.”

You looked over to Morgana, the cat bus that seemed to regard you with what you guessed was slight interest. “So… how do you guys normally get out of here?”

Akira-or Joker-answered you. “There’s this app on our phones that lets us go in and out of the Metaverse. And right now, I’m getting you out of here.”

As much as you wanted to stay and see how they do their job, you nodded in agreement with him. He stepped close to you, phone in his hand as his finger hovered over an eerily-looking red eye. 

“I promise,” He whispered to you, his breath fanning against your ear which made you shiver,  “I’ll explain everything to you once we’re done here.”

Him being so close has your heart churning. And you were fine with that.

But the fleeting moment ended when you heard the sound of metal clanging against each other before Joker had been sent flying from you. Just a second he was standing so close to you. Now, he was sprawled on the floor, Queen healing him as the rest of the Thieves huddled together to protect their leader.

The being that attacked Joker looked like someone from Buddhist lore; its fists crackled with lightning before hurling a large bolt of thunder towards the group. The resounding clap of thunder soon followed, electrocuting everyone who and especially the severely weakened Joker. It was only Skull who was still standing but even he looked like he was about to faint from how everyone couldn’t stand up.

“Th-The hell!?” Skull gasped out, shakily bringing out an iron bat before sizing up the figure. “Where the hell did you come from!?”

Mona groaned out from his spot. “Don’t bother fighting it, Skull! He landed a critical hit on us!”

“Get ______ out of here!” Joker gasped out, his hands inching for his mask. “I’ll hold him back for you two to escape!”

His voice brought you some clarity. The gravity of the situation had just sunk in and right now, you didn’t know whether you wanted to collapse, vomit or both. The rest of the thieves were still trying to stand up in the face of the enemy but with it raising its fists, you don’t think they could dodge it in time.

With Skull quivering, with Joker yelling, and with you panicking, you had to move. You had to move you had to move you had TO MOVE–

“And what is this?”

The next moment you blinked, you were standing in front of the large figure with the Phantom Thieves behind you. The blood pumping in your ears muffled your hearing, the sounds you could only make out were your rapidly beating heart and the booming voice of the Buddhist deity.

“Quite a brave one to stand up to me,” he said to you, “you’ll be the first to die.”

You swallowed in your bile. “I… I can still hurt you, you know!”

He slowly moved down his fists and crossed his arms below his chest. “And what good will come out of it? Your comrades are down–”

Your ears cleared for a bit, only to hear the group’s desperate shouts for you to move.

“This one is still shaking–”

Skull was already heaving at this point.

“And you can do nothing about it.”

You can do nothing about it.

That’s always been your entire schtick. You can do nothing about it. You said you wanted to change the world for the better but you were just a teenager who has some social problems. You were always the last choice when all of the good ones are used up. You were always the one in the sidelines–

“And are you fine with that?”

A sharp pain, resounding across your head before battering against your brain like a ram.

“Are you fine sticking to the sidelines, only watching others change while you stay frozen?”

Your hands grasped your head, your saliva mixed with some bile dripping down on the ground as your head pounded. Nothing could be heard except the voice in your head and it felt so goddamn right.

“Nothing will change if you yourself won’t follow through with it. You’re only continuing this tireless cycle that you wanted to desperately break. And you’re fine with that?”

“I’m not…” You growled out. The pain was unbearable but it only fueled your spite you kept hidden all this time. Within your rising rage, you barely registered getting Skull’s bat.

With a roar, you ran towards the beast, raising the bat before smashing the side of his face. “I’m not going to stand still anymore!”

The voice chuckled. “Good. That anger coupled with my power… no one can stop us.”

“I am thou, thou art I… become the winds of change that fuels the rebellion inside people’s hearts! Show them the anger that you swallowed all this time!”

A red mask lined with gold adorned your face, the feather on the left temple danced wildly with the winds blowing from you.

As your fingers gripped the mask, your lips quirked into a smirk. “Sing your heart out… De Beauvoir!”

Everything blew back; the beast, the rest of the thieves, and your self-loathing. The navy blue that adorned your body whipped around from the wind, the coattails behind you gave the appearance of wings ready to take flight. From your hip, you grabbed your sabre and flourished it before pointing the tip at the beast.

The thieves behind you stared in awe at you and the feminine figure appearing behind you. Her ball gown danced about, showing the white petticoat underneath as a pale red veil covered her flowing locks.

“What awesome power…!” Mona breathed out. “I knew there was something special about her!”

De Beauvoir’s face was covered with a masquerade ball mask, a golden band that stretched across the upper part of her face in order to highlight the rage that was building in her azure eyes. Her painted lips parted, and a single note rang out that slowly transitioned into a vibrato as a pale green light shined on the group.

“A healing spell?” Queen questioned, her strength slowly getting back as she stood up.

Yusuke-or Fox-who had been silent since your arrival, gasped at your transformation. “Such form… I never expected her to have this much power.”

“Sorry for blowing you all away.” You called out to the group, your eyes narrowing at the beast. “But with me and De Beauvoir, allow us to thank you for granting us this power!”

You felt movement beside as you turned your eyes to see Joker smirking at you. His dark eyes shone with that same glint of life when you realized that he finally gave that look to you.

“Don’t run away now.” He jested.

You scoffed but your smirk still stayed. “Same to you!”

—————————-

[1] OKOK this was hella inspired by Xander Mobus and Robbie Daymond singing together and im sO ATTACKED BY XANDER!!!! 

AND THE THING OF HIM SERENADING MORGANA IS FROM THIS 

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 16: Waterloo

It was morning. Several students were gathered around the bulletin board. It was plastered end to end with copies of the calling card. Sumire was walking by and she saw the crowd. Normally, she’d be adverse to large gatherings, but something about this drew her in. “Um, excuse me” she said, making her way to the bulletin board.

She began to read. “Suguru Kamoshida, the bastard sinner of lust. You push your sick and twisted desires on the children you are supposed to teach. When you’re not working them to their breaking point, you treat the female students as your own personal escort service. It’s gotten so bad that there are people out there that wish to see you wallow in agony as they send you up in flames. We cannot stand idly by and wait for that to happen. Henceforth, we shall steal your desires and make you confess your sins with your own mouth. From, The Phantom Thieves of Heart." She looked next to the calling card itself to spy a crudely drawn portrait of a thief in a top hat.

The students around were in shock. “Steal desires?”

“So, those rumors about Kamoshida are true?”

“Who are these Phantom Thieves?”

“What’s this ‘flames’ comment mean?”

Ren, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana were watching from a distance. “This calling card is turning out great!” Morgana chimed.

“For real!” Ryuji said. “But, uh, what’s with that drawing?”

“Oh, I thought it needed something,” Ann said.

“OK, but doesn’t it look….” Ryuji began.

Ann was confused. “What?”

“Well, uh, how do I put this?” Ryuji said.

“It’s certainly eye-catching,” Ren said.

“Totally!” Ann said.

“...I think she missed your sarcasm,” Morgana said.

“WHAT?!” Ann said

“Yeah, it just doesn’t look good,” Ryuji said.

“Oh, like YOU could do any better” Ann huffed.

Kamoshida came walking through the halls and saw the crowd. “Hm?” He looked at the bulletin board. Once he was through reading it, his face went pale. “WHO DID THIS?” he screamed. “WAS IT YOU?! OR MAYBE YOU?!” The students cowered and ran. Sumire hid behind a wall and continued to watch Kamoshida as he approached Ren and her group. “Was it you?”

Ren put her arms behind her head. “I didn’t do it.”

Ryuji brushed his finger under his nose. “Me neither.”

Kamoshida glared at them. He looked at Ann. “What?” she said.

Kamoshida huffed. “I don’t care! I’m expelling you all! Laugh it up while you still have the chance!”

A sudden flash, and the thieves noticed their world turn black. They saw King Kamoshida standing there. “Heh. Come and take it. See if you can!”

They flashed back to reality. Kamoshida walked off. Sumire slinked away and to her classroom. Shiho walked up. “Huh?” she said. She looked at the board and read the calling card. “Hm. Heh” she muttered as she read it.

Another flash back to that all black scenery. Shiho was now in her Napoleon outfit. “You want a revolution? Well then, here it comes!”

They went back to reality once again. Shiho walked off. “Well, it seems to have worked,” Morgana said.

“Great! Now all we have to do is steal the treasure” Ryuji said, punching his palm.

“No turning back!” Ann cheered

Ren smirked. “Let’s do this.”

After school, the thieves met up. “Remember, we’ve only got one shot at this” Morgana reminded them.

“Yeah” Ryuji said.

“My heart is pounding” Ann said.

“Well, there’s no going back now” Ren reminded them.

“You’re right,” Ann said. “Let’s make this bastard pay.”

“And make sure Shiho doesn't become like him,” Ryuji said.

“Well put” Morgana said. “Let’s go!” The thieves transported to the other world. Once there, they found themselves in the village. “OK, I don’t think anyone has noticed us yet.”

“Revolutionaries!” The thieves heard Shiho shout. They peered around a house to see Shiho addressing the members of the village. “I know we had planned to take Kamoshida on May second, but something has happened. A band of thieves are trying to steal away our chance to get revenge on Kamoshida. So we must storm the castle now! Who’s with me?!” The crowd cheered.

“We’ve gotta move!” Morgana said.

“Yeah, I can tell things are going to get hectic” Ann said. The thieves headed towards the bridge to the castle.

Once at the castle, Ryuji remarked “Kamoshida’s also going to be on high alert.”

“Right. But all we have to focus on is the treasure” Ren. “Once we do that, everything should be alright, right Mona?”

Morgana nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then let’s go!” Ren said They walked in and hid. “I don’t think we’ve been noticed yet.”

“But there are guards all around here” Ann noted.”

“Yeah, but there’s a shortcut through that painting, right?” Ryuji said. “We just gotta book it through there, and then it’s a hop, skip, and a jump from the treasure.”

Ren nodded. “On the count of three. One...two...THREE!” The thieves started running through the main hall. The guards were confused. One by one the thieves passed through the portrait.

Just as Morgana passed through meeting up with the rest of them, they heard the hall door open one again. “Alright soldiers!” Shiho instructed. “CHARGE!” Voices erupted in yells. The revolutionaries clashed with the castle guards. They heard more people pouring in to the castle.

“We have to keep moving!” Morgana said.

“Right,” Ren said. They went on the move to the upper echelons of the castle. They managed to sneak by guards. They also heard the sounds of Shiho’s forces moving through the castle.

Pretty soon, they made it to the throne room. “Huh? It’s Open?” Ryuji said, surprised.

“And Kamoshida is nowhere to be found,” Ann said.

“Well, it makes sense,” Morgana said. “The revolutionaries aren’t after Kamoshida’s treasure, just Kamoshida himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in a secluded location being guarded by the highest ranking guards.”

“But we’ve explored a lot of the castle,” Ren said. “It’s hard to believe that there’s a place that’s more secluded.”

“Well, whatever” Ryuji said. “All we need to do is grab the treasure and get out of here. Then this madness will end.”

“Skull has a point,” Morgana said. “Let’s just go!” The thieves nodded. They walked through the throne room and back into the treasure room.

They saw a regular-sized crown. “Woah! So that’s the treasure” Ryuji said.

“Mm-hm” Morgana said, nodding. “That’s it.”

Ren looked at Morgana. “Um, Mona, you seem to be shaking. Are you alright?”

There was a sparkle in Morgana's eye. “Tre-treasure.” He jumped up on it and started playing with it like a yarn-ball. “MEOW!”

“Uh, is the cat OK?” Ryuji asked.

“Yeah, this is kind of weird,” Ann added.

“Meeeeeeow” Morgan said, continuing to play.

Ren grabbed Morgana. “Mona?” she said, looking at him

Morgana got embarrassed. “Ahem. Uh, sorry.  Guess I’m just attracted to human desire.”

Ren sighed. “Skull, just grab the treasure.”

“Yeah” Ryuji said. He grabbed the crown.

“LOOK, I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS EITHER!” Morgana yelled, defending himself.

“I guess it’s because he was created for the purpose of finding such things” Ann said. “If I’m remembering everything right.”

“Thank you Lady Aaaa- Panther” Morgana said. “I know you’d understand.

“Believe me, I’m at the epicenter of all of this,” Ren said. “I get it.”

“Thank you as well, Joker” Morgana said.

“Doesn’t make it any less weird” Ren said.

“Yeah, it-HEY!” Morgana said.

“We can debate the weirdness later!” Ann said. “Right now, we have to focus on getting out of here!” The thieves nodded. Ren put Morgana down and they headed back to the throne room. Once they entered, they saw Shiho standing over Kamoshida with a sword at his throat. “SHIHO!” Ann yelled.

Shiho and Kamoshida looked at them. Shiho laughed. “This bastard was waiting to ambush you and take his treasure back. Good thing I happened to notice a certain spinning portrait.”

“Drat!” Morgana said.

“Now I can finish this monster once and for all!” Shiho raised her blade to kill Kamoshida.

Ann struggled to comprehend the sight before her. “CARMEN!” she called. She blasted Shiho off of Kamoshida.

Ryuji raced to grab Kamoshida and put him between them and Shiho. ”Thanks,” Kamoshida said.

Ryuji kicked him in the face, knocking him out. “Shut up.”

Shiho got back up. “So, you’ll still defend this man? This man who does everything for himself and his ego. This man who breaks his students. He is truly the lowest of the low, and yet you still defend him?”

“We aren’t defending his actions” Ann yelled.

“Yeah, Kamoshda’s a real piece of shit!” Ryuji added. “We all know this!”

“We’re going to make him pay!” Morgana yelled.

“We just don't want you to sink to his level,” Ren told her.

“Heh” Shiho said. “You’re putting a lot of effort to protect someone who wouldn’t care if you died. You know how he thinks of you, right?” She waved her hand. Three books appeared. They opened to reveal Ann in a bikini with cat ears and a tail, Ren in prison garb with tears in it, and a Ryuji who looks sort of like a monkey completely broken down with no legs.”

“Uh, what’s going on?” Ryuji asked.

Morgana was shocked. “Oh no! She’s starting to take over more!”

“That’s not good,” Ren said.

Morgana shook his head. “If we want Kamoshida to confess, the palace still has to be his! All we have to do is keep Kamoshida alive and leave with the treasure. That way, she can’t fully control it.”

Ren readied herself. “Well then, I guess that's what we’re doing.”

“You STILL want to keep him alive?!” Shiho said in shock. “Even after knowing what he thinks of you?! How he sees you?! How he wants to destroy you completely?!”

“Hm” Ann chuckled. “You think I care what a scumbag like Kamoshida thinks? Well, you’re wrong! You wanna know what I care about?! I care about my best friend! And right now, she’s about to make a huge mistake! I’m here to stop her!”

Shiho glared at the thieves. “Very well.” She drew her sword. “I’ll just have to take you on myself.”

“Woah! Is she really going to fight us?” Ryuji asked.

“We have no other choice” Ann said. “It’s the only way to get through to Shiho!”

“Well, if you’re OK with it, then so am I” Ren said.

“Yah! The Phantom Thieves never back down!” Mornaga said. They all began to face off against Shiho. After a few rounds, Morgana remarked “Woah, she’s good.”

The castle started to break down. “Woah! What’s going on?” Ryuji asked.

“She’s taking more control of the palace!” Morgana said.

“She can’t gain full control so long as Kamoshida’s still alive, right?” Ren asked.

“Right!” Morgana said.

“I suggest we stay the course!” Ren said.

“Come in” said Kamoshida’s voice.

“Huh?” Ren said.

You wanted to see me?” Shiho asked.

“Where's this coming from?” Ryuji asked.

“Ah, Suzui-chan, great timing” Kamoshida’s voice said. “You’re friends with Takamaki-chan, right? Do you happen to know her number?”

Ann was horrified. “Don’t tell me!”

The Shiho in front of them nodded. “Yes. This is a real interaction I’ve had with Kamoshida.”

The conversation continued with Shiho’s voice. “Why do you need to know that?”

Kmaoshida laughed. “Because she’s smoking hot, and I’d like me some of that.”

“Grrrr” hissed Ann.

Shiho’s voice grew concerned. “Why would I give it to you now, after you just admitted to that?”

“Heh” said Kamoshida. “Because my word is law. If you don’t, you’re off the volleyball team!”

“You. You can’t do that!” Shiho exclaimed.

“Oh, but I can,” Kamoshida continued. “This school eats out of the palm of my hand. They wouldn’t believe you if you told them about this conversation.” Shiho could be heard starting to cry. ”Oh, don’t be like that,” Kamoshida said. “Tell you what. You’re pretty cute as well. If you don’t want to give me Takamaki’s number, you could just take her place. Tell you what? I’m feeling generous. I’ll give you a week for you to give me your answer. Takamaki. You. Or volleyball. The choice is yours.”

The voices stopped. Shadow Shiho spoke. “You still want to defend him? You still want to show him mercy?”

Ann was seething. Ren spoke up. “This doesn’t change anything!” she said. Ann was shocked. Ren looked at Ann and nodded.

Ann nodded back. She looked at Shiho. “Right. We KNOW Kamoshida is a piece of shit. That’s WHY we’re doing this in the first place. We’re going to make him confess his crimes with his own mouth. Then everyone will know how truly awful he is.”

“A lofty ideal,” Shiho said. “But I still want him dead!” They continued to fight.

After a few more rounds, the voices came back. “I can't,” Shiho said. “I can’t give up my best friend for volleyball. I just can’t. But… I don't want to go with him either.” The thieves listened intently. “This is an impossible choice! However… No. That’s crazy! But so is this…” She sighed. “I have time. If I can’t think of anything else… I’ll do it! I’ll jump!” As the voice stopped, the thieves were shocked.

“Shiho…” Ann said.

“NOW will you change your mind?” Shiho asked. “He doesn’t DESERVE the kindness you’re giving him!”

“No way!” Ryuji shouted. “It doesn’t have to be your life or his! We’re living proof of that!”

There was chatter.

“What was that?” Ann asked.

“Heh” Shiho said. “Those are my fellow revolutionaries. They want Kamoshida dead just as much. You can’t stop all of us.”

Ren gathered her team. “As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right. One of us needs to hide Kamoshida while the rest of us keep her distracted.”

“Who should it be?” Morgana asked.

Ren looked at Morgana and smiled. “Why don’t you do it?” she told him.

“Me?” Morgana said.

Ren nodded. “She knows the rest of us. You’re the odd one out here.”

“Well, yeah, but…” Morgana said.

“You can do it Mona!” Ann said.

Morgana smiled. “Well, if Panther thinks I can do it, then I shall.” Morgan went to gather Kamoshida.

Ren nodded. “ARSENE!” she called out. She attacked Shiho. Morgana was hiding Kamoshida, while the remaining three continued to fight.

After a few more rounds, the revolutionaries stormed the throne room. “HA!” Shiho called. “You’re too late! GET KAMOSHIDA!”

The revolutionaries searched the room. “Uh...Kamoshida isn’t here.”

Shiho was confused. “What?!” She looked behind the three thieves. “Where’d he go?!”

“Like we’d tell you!” Morgana said. He came out and performed a sneak attack on Shiho and then joined the rest of the group.

Shiho growled. “Spread out and find Kamoshida! They couldn’t have taken him too far!” The revolutionaries spread out in search of Kamoshida. “I’ll take care of these stubborn thieves.”

“Heh. We may be stubborn” Morgana said. “But we also know we’re right!” Shiho scowled. The fight continued on for a little while longer.

After trading some blows, Shiho fell to her knees. “No,” she said in agony. She started to cry. She covered her face with her hands.

The thieves were struck with a confusion hard to describe. This was the person threatening death at all costs not a moment ago. But they also knew she was just as much a victim as anyone else. “I’ve got this,” Ann said. She approached Shiho. “Hey...Shiho…”

Shiho looked up, tears covering her face. “I’m sorry!” She hugged Ann. Ann gently hugged her back. “Everywhere I looked was filled with darkness. I didn’t want to give you to someone like him. I didn’t want to give myself. I didn’t want to lose volleyball. I’m sorry. I’m just a selfish person.” She continued to cry.

Ann started to tremble a little as well. “Shiho. What happened, it wasn’t your fault. I should have done something sooner as well. But the real person to blame is Kamoshida. He’s nothing short of a monster.”

“But...but...I betrayed you,” Shiho said.

“You did no such thing” Ann said. “You just did the only thing you thought you could do. I don’t blame you for any of this.”

“So...So you’ll forgive me?” Shiho asked.

Ann smiled. “Of course I’ll forgive you!” Ann started to cry as well. “What are best friends for?!”

“Heh heh” Shiho said. She stopped crying, as did Ann. The two girls let go of each other.

Shiho smiled. “Thanks Ann. I feel like I needed this.”

“Yeah,” Ann said. “I feel that too.”

“I’ll see you back on the other side,” Shiho said as she faded.

The rest of the thieves awkwardly approached Ann. “So, is that it?” Ryuji asked.

“Not quite,” Morgana said. “We gotta get Kamoshida’s shadow to do the same.”

“So, where did you hide him?” Ren asked. Morgana knocked on a column and Kamoshida fell from the large bush at the top of it.

Kamoshida looked up to see the thieves pointing their long-ranged weapons at him. “Yo, we’re taking this,” Ryuji said, showing off the crown.

“You better go and confess your sins!” Ann demanded.

Kamoshida looked scared. “OK! I WILL!”

Ren pushed her gun against Kamoshida. “Promise?”

“I PROMISE!” Kamoshida said in a panic. “I...I don’t want to live in that darkness again…”

“Darkness?” Ann asked

“Probably a residual for the take over” Morgana explained.

Kamoshida’s shadow disappeared. “Well, now that that’s settled, let’s get out of here” Ryuji said. The castle started to shake. “What’s going on?!”

“We have to hurry!” Mogana said. “Now that we have the treasure and Kamoshida’s has returned to him, the palace is collapsing!”

“WHY’D YOU WAIT UNTIL NOW TO TELL US THIS WOULD HAPPEN?!” Ryuji asked.

“No time!” Ren reminded them. “Let’s move!” The Phantom Thieves quickly ran through the castle and the village, escaping the implosion.

Once they escaped, they found themselves in an ally in front of the school. “Location Deleted” the app said.

“Man, that was a close one,” Ryuji said.

“Yeah” said Ann.

“Which brings me back to my original question,” Ryuji remarked. “WHY THE EFF DID YOU NOT TELL US THIS BEFORE YOU STUPID CAT?!”

“Not so loud!” Ann said. “People might hear us.”

“I...I thought it was obvious,” Morgana said.

“How would that be obvious?!” Ryuji said.

“I mean, it IS a world created from the subconscious” Ren remarked. “Nothing really surprises me when it comes to this.”

“Yeah Ryuji. You should be more prepared!” Morgana chided.

“Don’t take his side!” Ryuji said.

“Yeah, you should have told us Morgana,” Ann said.

“...I’m sorry Lady Ann,” Morgana said.

“Well, we all escaped,” Ryuji said. “I guess that’s gotta count for something.”

“Yeah!” Ann said. “Now let’s see that treasure!”

“Huh? Oh yeah” Ryuji said. He lifted his hand to see not a crown, but a medal. “What? Where’s the crown?!”

“Hmm, If I had to guess, this is the actual treasure” Ren said. “It’s the thing that caused him to be the way that he is.”

“Bingo!” Morgana said.

“I thought bingo was a dog thing” Ren remarked.

“I-eh-uh” Morgana stuttered. “Nevermind. The point is, the treasure takes on a different form in the Metaverse than it does here.”

“Oh, I see,” Ryuji said. “I think. Basically, he thought of this medal as a crown. It’s what made him a king.”

“Precisely” Morgana said. “I guess even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”

“I’ll stop your clock!” Ryuji threatened.

“What does that even mean?” Ann asked.

“So, now what happens?” Ren asked. They all looked at her. “We have the medal, we’ve stopped Shiho from going through with her plan, and we’ve gotten Kamoshida to promise to confess. Now what?”

“We wait,” Morgana said.

“Seriously?” Ryuji said.

“Hey! This isn’t an exact science” Morgana said. “We just have to wait until Kamoshida confesses.”

The three teens stood silently for a bit. Ren chimed in “As much as I hate to admit it, there’s nothing else we can do for the time being.”

“Well, I know what I’m doing,” Ann said. “I’m going to go check on Shiho. Make sure she’s alright.”

Ren smiled. “I like that. I should do so too when I get the chance.”

“Yeah, same here” Ryuji said. “It feels like forever since I’ve hung out with her.”

“Yeah, it’ll be just like old times!” Ann said, a smile appearing on her face.

“So, what do we do with this?” Ryuji said, holding out the medal.”

“I guess I’ll take it for now,” Ren said. “We can figure it out later.”

“Fair enough,” Ryuji said, handing it over. “Well, I gotta get going. My mom’s expecting me for dinner tonight. Oh, and Ann.” Ann looked at him. “Give my best to Shiho. Seeya!” He ran off.

Ann blushed slightly. “I will.” Morgana pouted a little. Ren kicked him gently, but enough to make him stop.

“I should get going too. I don’t want Sojiro to worry about me” Ren said.

“Yeah,” Ann said. “Have a good night.”

“You too,” Ren said. She crouched down. “Alright kitty, get in the bag.” Morgana looked at her weird, but didn’t say anything as he hopped in the bag. She got back up and started to walk to the station.

Ann got out her phone and dialed Shiho’s number. “Hey Shiho. Is now a good time to talk?”

[purpli-writes]

The Jester Fathers the Fool (Chapter 2: The Respite of Revolution)

Summary:

Akira Kurusu has always been sure about his home life, even if it wasn't the best.

But after meeting the Inaba T.V. Killer, he's no longer sure.

And... also he's the leader of the Phantom Thieves.

Updates Every Two Weeks (hopefully)

Chapter Summary:

The Phantom Thieves see Kamoshida's change of heart.

Akira also realizes that peace is something out of his reach.

You can read it on AO3 here.

5/2, Monday:

Akira awoke to the sound of his phone going off rapidly. After rubbing his eyes, he grabbed at where he guessed his phone would be.

Unsurprisingly, it was the group chat with Ann and Ryuji. Akira had figured he would hear from them soon into the day.

ryuji: this isnt good

ryuji: guys?

ryuji: is anyone up

ryuji: hello?

ryuji: it isnt only my life on the line here!

ryuji: wake up

ryuji: wake up

ryuji: wake up

ann: WILL YOU SHUT UP?

ann: so today’s the big day huh?

ryuji: ann i dont want to get expelled

ann: please shut up

ann: it’s too early.

ryuji: guys we are so effin dead

ryuji: we are so so dead

akira: no we aren’t.

ann: yeah we’ll be fine

ryuji: its easy for you to say that

ryuji: youre not the one getting expelled today

akira: none of us are getting expelled ryuji.

ann: we’ve done everything according to plan

ann: there’s no way this can fail!

akira: yeah, we’ll be fine.

ryuji: but we cant be sure

akira: we’ll.

akira: be.

akira: fine.

ann: yep!

Akira frowned as he shut off his phone, rubbing his eyes once again. Ryuji’s fears weren’t unfounded. In fact, it was probably the most normal thing about their situation.

“Are you ready?” Morgana asked, staring at Akira worriedly. “Today’s the day, y’know.”

“I’m fine,” Akira said. “It’s a bit scary to just wait, but everything is going to fine.”

It just has to be, Akira thought. If it doesn’t… well that’s it, isn’t it?

“You don’t seem too sure,” Morgana said, tilting his head.

“I am,” Akira countered, turning to change. “Just tired, that’s all.”

Morgana sighed loudly but didn’t say anything more on the matter.

Some lies weren’t worth the trouble of uncovering them. Not that Akira would complain about Morgana’s newfound policy.

After getting dressed, Akira went downstairs with Morgana in tow. Sojiro had apparently just arrived.

“You hungry, kid?” Sojiro asked, staring at Akira. “You’ll have enough time for breakfast if you eat now.”

“No,” Akira said quickly. “I’m not really that hungry.”

Sojiro frowned. “Are you sure?”

Akira nodded.

“Make sure you flip the sign to open on your way out,” Sojiro said, turning away.

Akira turned away, making his way towards Leblanc’s door.

He didn’t understand why Sojiro seemed so disappointed in how he had skipped breakfast.

His only guess was quickly brushed off as he turned the sign, marking the cafe as open.

If his own parents hadn’t cared enough, he doubted that Sojiro would, no matter what kind of person Sojiro was.

It just wouldn’t make sense.

Going through the motions of the school day was nerve-wracking, although Akira barely showed it.

Or at least he hoped that he seemed calm.

He was grateful when it was finally time for the assembly, as he had figured that was the do or die moment.

Who thought that the most important thing in my academic career would be a school assembly and not an exam… Akira thought, trying to find humor. I guess life isn’t easy to predict.

Akira and Ann found each other in the hallway while their class walked to the assembly, both looking a little grim.

“This is a bit scary,” Ann whispered. “Especially since we have no clue what this is going to be about.”

“We can guess, can’t we?” Akira asked, gripping his backpack a bit tighter.

“If it was just about Kamoshida I doubt the school would call an assembly,” Ann said shaking her head. “They like to sweep his behavior under a rug.”

Akira nodded, frowning as they finally reached their destination. “Out of the frying pan into the fire, it seems.”

“Hopefully it isn’t anything like that,” Ann said before going in.

Akira and Ann separated, with Ann going towards the front and Akira lingering towards the back.

Principal Kobayakawa stood awkwardly on the platform, adjusting his shirt every few seconds.

Whatever he was about to say, Akira was sure he didn’t want to say it.

After a few minutes of waiting it seemed that the assembly was finally about to begin. Akira tried to ignore the fear that clawed up his chest.

“Hello everyone,” Kobayakawa began. “As you all may know our school has recently been victim to a tragedy.”

“However despite the circumstances, we have been informed that the student in question will make a full recovery over time.”

“We will move forward from this tragedy by putting our best foot forward.”

Kobayakawa paused for a second, most likely to continue his speech on morale, but he never got the chance.

The door closest to Akira opened with a bang, revealing Kamoshida behind it.

The man had looked different, Akira realized. As if he had seemed sorry instead of smug. The thought was a little jarring, but Akira simply tried to ignore it.

“I have been reborn,” Kamoshida began, a bit out of breath. “I have… a lot to confess to you all.”

Kamoshida slowly shambled to the stage, the walk a bit lackluster for a former Olympic medalist.

“I have done things unspeakable as a teacher,” Kamoshida said. “I viewed this school as my castle and I was right to do anything I saw fit.”

“I treated the volleyball team terribly,” Kamoshida continued. “I would continuously abuse them until they gave me the results I wanted.”

“Mister Kamoshida,” Kobayakawa said hurriedly. “Please get off the stage!”

“And to the female students I was no better,” Kamoshida said, ignoring Kobayakawa’s attempts to get him off the stage. “I sexually harassed them despite their repeated attempts to tell me no.”

“I am the reason that Suzui attempted to kill herself,” Kamoshida said. “And when students attempted to call me out on it I saw it fit to have them expelled.”

“I will of course rescind the request of their expulsion,” Kamoshida finished.

Kamoshida then went on his knees and started sobbing, confusing the student body even more.

“I am a shameful person,” Kamoshida said, barely comprehensible. “I am the scum of this very earth.”

“There’s no punishment worthy of me,” Kamoshida continued. “The only way I could ever think of repenting is by killing myself.”

“Yes, that’s the only punishment that would be fair!” Kamoshida cried out. “I will die in order to repent for my sins!”

“What, are you a coward or something?!” Ann yelled out, surprising everyone around her. “Shiho didn’t have a choice about whether or not to jump but you do.”

“You need to live to serve out a sentence,” Ann continued. “Otherwise you’ll just be running away from your crimes!”

“You’re right,” Kamoshida muttered. “I need to live to see this through. Only then will I receive proper punishment.”

“Could it be the rumors were true?” a student near Akira whispered. “He really was doing all that stuff…?”

“Doesn’t that mean that the Phantom Thieves are also real…?” another student whispered. “Because there’s no way he’d just confess to that stuff right?”

“Don’t be stupid, he probably was just caught,” a student hissed. “There’s no way something like ‘stealing hearts’ could really happen.”

“I guess you’re right…”

“Please everyone, calm down!” Kobayakawa yelled, trying to regain control. “And can someone get Mister Kamoshida out of here?!”

“Jesus,” Ryuji muttered, shaking his head. “That really happened, didn’t it?”

“I guess it worked,” Akira said.

“That’s a relief, isn’t it?” Ann asked. “His heart really changed so we don’t have to worry!”

“Yeah, I guess,” Akira said.

Did we really do the ‘right’ thing…? Akira thought. It’s not like he would’ve confessed on his own.

“I mean, I’m glad it worked and everything,” Ryuji said. “But still to believe he would’ve never confessed without us intervenin’ is effed up.”

“We were forced,” Ann said. “And it’s not like that asshole deserved any better.”

Before Akira or Ryuji could say anything else, Mishima and a few other students came up to the group.

“We’re sorry, Ann-chan for believing the rumors so easily,” the girl behind Mishima said. “Please forgive us!”

“Huh…?” Ann said.

“The rumors about you willingly being with Mister Kamoshida,” another girl explained. “Please forgive us!”

“It’s fine…” Ann said hesitantly. “It’s all in the past, right?”

“No matter what we do now, it’s already happened,” Ann finished. “It’s best not to worry too much about it.”

“Thank you, Ann-chan!” The group said, smiling brightly before walking off.

“Mishima, you’re not leaving yet?” Ryuji asked.

“I really owe you guys one, don’t I?” Mishima asked. “I mean, you had no reason to help someone like me…”

“What are you talking about?” Ryuji asked.

“I revealed Kurusu’s criminal record!” Mishima yelled. “And yet you guys still decided to help me…”

“I won’t forget that I promise.”

“I’m a bit confused,” Akira said. “But, if you’re feeling guilty about the record thing, don’t be.”

“I doubt that Kamoshida gave you much of a choice.”

“Yeah, Mishima, don’t worry about it too much,” Ryuji said. “We’re all good now, so it’s no sweat.”

Mishima apologized a bit more before leaving the group alone once again.

“That was… weird,” Ann said, twirling her hair. “I never knew he could be like that.”

“Enough about him,” Morgana said, popping out of Akira’s bag. “Is there anywhere private we can meet up to freely discuss?”

“Woah, I forgot you were even here,” Ryuji said.

“Hey! I’m an integral part of the team!”

“Maybe we should discuss this at the rooftop…?” Ann asked. “Unless Ryuji wants to look like an idiot arguing with a cat.”

“Lady Ann! I’m not a cat!”

“To the rooftop it is, then,” Akira said, pushing Morgana into his bag.

Once the group had arrived back onto the rooftop, the fighting between Morgana and Ryuji continued.

“I seriously don’t understand how you could just forget about me!” Morgana yelled, glaring at Ryuji. “I’m really important, y’know.”

‘Yeah yeah,” Ryuji said looking away. “But dude, you’re also a cat.”

“No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!”

“Guys guys we get it already,” Ann said, rolling her eyes. “But we can talk about something important now?”

“As soon as this idiot admits I’m not a cat!” Morgana said.

“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Ryuji said. “Because you totally are.”

“Guys,” Akira said. “This is nice and all, but I don’t think now is the time.”

“You guys can fight later,” Ann agreed. “But we have to talk about what happened with Kamoshida.”

“Well from what we’ve just witnessed, as long as the shadow isn’t destroyed by us then taking the treasure holds no risk to them,” Morgana said. “As long as we’re careful, everything should go fine.”

“So you mean we could get people to confess?” Ryuji asked. “Without killing ‘em?”

“In theory yes,” Morgana said. “It worked well for Kamoshida, didn’t it?”

“Guys, I’m glad you aren’t fighting, but maybe keep it down?” Ann said. “We’re still in a public place.”

“Sorry,” Ryuji whined. “But it’s not like anyone ever comes up here in the first place!”

“They could with how much noise you’re making!” Ann rebuffed.

“Anyways,” Akira said. “Is it true that Shiho’s going to make a full recovery?”

“Apparently,” Ann said, twisting her hair. “I mean, we can’t be sure just yet, but it’s Shiho so she’s going to be fine!”

“But…” Ann said, trailing off for a moment. “She’s not conscious for too long, but anything’s better than nothing, right?”

“Yeah,” Akira agreed. “She’ll improve in no time.”

“Well, didja get to talk to her?” Ryuji asked. “To find out why she… y’know…”

“Jeez, can’t you have any tact?!” Ann complained. “But yeah, I did.”

“What a pair of idiots we made,” Ann continued. “She found out about my ‘deal’ with Kamoshida… and I guess she just had enough of it.”

“So you were both trying to protect each other, huh,” Akira said. “You’re both good for each other, it seems.”

“Yeah,” Ann agreed. “Still, if we had only just… I don’t know…”

“It’s tough, yeah, but you can’t blame yourself for Suzui’s actions,” Ryuji said. “If anyone’s to blame it’s that bastard Kamoshida.”

“Yeah, it isn’t your fault Lady Ann!” Morgana added. “You did everything you could’ve!”

“And you know what’s even worse?” Ann asked. “Shiho’s mom is thinking about transferring her to a new school.”

“Damn,” Ryuji said. “That’s… got to be rough.”

“But it’s probably for the best,” Ann said. “Considering the reputation she has over here.”

“She’ll be fine,” Akira said, smiling slightly. “She has you to back her up, doesn’t she?”

“Of course she does,” Ann said. “It still just… sucks.”

“It’ll get better, Ann,” Akira said. “You’ve just got to be patient now.”

“Speaking of getting better,” Morgana said. “We’ve still got the treasure, don’t we?”

“Ohh yeah, we do!” Ryuji said. “What are we gonna do with it?”

Akira pulled out the olympic medal and placed it on the table. “We should probably sell it, shouldn’t we?”

“But how are we deciding shares?” Ryuji asked. “We all played an equal part, right?”

“We should split it, but…” Ann began. “I get to have Ryuji’s share.”

“Huh?!” Ryuji yelled. “What gives you the right?!”

“You owe me, that’s what.”

“What?! How?!”

“I lent you money,” Ann said, twirling her hair once again. “You never paid it back, so…”

“It’s got to be worth lots in interest at this point, right?”

“That ain’t fair!” Ryuji yelled. “You’ve already paid yourself back by now!”

“That doesn’t count,” Ann said. “You’ve got to pay back what you owe, y’know.”

“I think it’s best if we decide it later…” Morgana said. “I’ve got to take Akira to where we’ll sell it first.”

“I’m selling it?” Akira asked.

“Yeah,” Morgana said, stretching slightly. “It doesn’t look like those two are going to be done arguing anytime soon.”

Akira sighed, grabbing the medal once more.

It seemed they weren’t done with the drama of Kamoshida just yet.

This isn’t too bad at least, Akira thought. Although who knows where Morgana wants to sell this medal.

Akira and Morgana awkwardly defused themselves from the argument between Ann and Ryuji, quickly making their way back to Leblanc.

Once Akira was in the safety of the cafe, he texted the group chat, a little too curious about what Ryuji had even borrowed money from Ann for.

akira: so guys, how was dying today?

akira: i liked the part where the change of heart happened and we didn’t die.

ryuji: hey!

ryuji: it couldve not worked

ryuji: my fears were valid

ann: um… the fact that it did work

ann: proves your fears werent valid???

akira: anyways, i want to know what ryuji owes ann so much money for.

akira: did you buy a house or something.

ryuji: i bought something for my mom

ryuji: on a field trip

ann: not my fault that you didn’t have enough money!

ryuji: it was only 500 yen

ann: yeah but think of the interest…

ann: i could’ve bought so much candy with that.

ann: so really im doing you a favor

akira: maybe i’ll just keep the money.

akira: split it with morgana if i’m feeling generous.

ann: you can’t do that!

ryuji: thats unfair!

akira: i’m joking.

akira: we’ll figure out something.

“You look happy today,” Sojiro said once Akira turned off his phone. “Anything interesting happen?”

“Nope,” Akira said, shrugging. “A normal day, all things considered.”

“Alright then,” Sojiro said, not looking the slightest bit convinced. “Whatever you say.”

“You really believe that a delinquent student can’t live a normal life?” Akira asked, letting Morgana out of his bag when he saw there were no customers.

“Considering that it’s you we’re talking about?” Sojiro asked, smiling slightly. “You’ll have to forgive my skepticism.”

Akira smiled. “I don’t think I’m getting a fair chance here.”

“Maybe not,” Sojiro agreed. “But it’s not like you have any other choice.”

“Guess not,” Akira said. “You don’t mind if this ‘delinquent’ studies, do you?”

“As long as you close up,” Sojiro said. “You’re free to do whatever you want as long as you don’t burn down the cafe.”

“I’ll try my hardest,” Akira promised.

Sojiro just sighed.

Maybe he had looked the tiniest bit fond.

Once Sojiro left, Akira pulled out a textbook ready to study earnestly.

After a particularly hard problem, Akira had paused, chewing on his pen slightly. “So, where are you dragging me to sell the medal, Morgana?” “You know that fake gun store that Ryuji dragged us to?” Morgana asked. “We’re going there.”

“Untouchable?” Akira asked. “You think he’ll buy the medal?”

“He gives off that sort of vibe,” Morgana said. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“You can’t just start judging people based on what ‘vibe’ they give off,” Akira said, turning his attention back to studying. “You give off a cat vibe, yet you claim to not be a cat.”

“I’m not a cat!”

“Sure.”

5/3, Tuesday:

When Akira woke up the next morning, all he could feel was relief. He hadn’t noticed before, but the weight of expulsion had worn heavily on him. Now that Kamoshida was gone for good, Akira could breathe again.

“You look different,” Morgana grumbled. “Have a good dream or something?”

“Something like that,” Akira said. “Didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“It’s fine,” Morgana said. “I probably wouldn’t have slept for much longer.”

“But be more careful next time!”

“I’ll try.”

After Akira changed into his daily clothes, he went downstairs to see Sojiro waiting for him.

“Kid, just the person I was hoping to see,” Sojiro said, staring Akira down. “I’m going to need you to do some chores around here.”

“Huh?” Morgana asked from the bag. “You can’t be doing chores, you have to sell the medal!”

“Can I do them when I get back?” Akira asked.

“No can do,” Sojiro said. “You’ll be helping me for the day.”

Akira sighed. “Alright, then.”

“Don’t look too sad about it, kid.”

After changing into an apron, Akira had begun to help Sojiro. He didn’t make any coffee, but he cleaned the dishes.

Morgana was stuck upstairs, thankfully silent, leaving Akira alone with his thoughts and the occasional small talk from Sojiro.

Before long, the T.V. blared to life, bringing with it apparent breaking news. Akira had tuned in just enough to hear about Kamoshida.

I wondered if he was turned in or if he turned himself in… Akira thought. Both are possible with the way he was acting.

“That’s from your school isn’t it?” Sojiro asked, staring at the T.V. worriedly.

“I guess so,” Akira said. “I’m not really paying attention to it.”

Sojiro frowned. “Get back to work.”

Akira nodded, continuing to wash dishes.

I guess if I wanted any more confirmation that’s as good as anything, Akira thought. That’s the final nail in the coffin.

After a bit longer of doing work in the cafe, it had seemed that Sojiro had finally taken pity on him.

Or at least he’d taken pity on Morgana.

“You can’t just leave your cat alone for so long,” Sojiro sighed. “At least not when you’re right here.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Akira said, putting away a recently cleaned dish. “He’s spent longer on his own.”

“It still isn’t good to just leave him!” Sojiro said. “Jeez kid, you should really care more about your cat.”

Akira smiled slightly. “I’m sure he’d be touched that you care so much about him.”

Sojiro frowned, crossing his arms slightly.

Akira wasn’t exactly sure what Sojiro was trying to get across.

“Do… you want me to go check on him?” Akira asked. “Don’t you need help around here?”

“I’m sure I’ll manage without your help,” Sojiro said. “Go check up on your damn cat already.”

Akira wasn’t one to question a break when he was given it, so he had quickly gotten out of his apron and went up into the attic.

Unsurprisingly, Akira found Morgana on the bed, sleeping peacefully.

Like I said, he didn’t mind even the slightest bit, Akira thought. At least Boss was worried about him…

Huh, if anyone here has gained Boss’s favor it’s Morgana, Akira thought. Must have a weakness for cute things.

“Hey Mona,” Akira said softly, shaking the cat. “It’s time to wake up.”

Morgana groaned, mumbling something about five more minutes. Akira just rolled his eyes. If he was going to spend time with Morgana he’d rather if the cat was awake.

“You’ve been sleeping the whole day,” Akira continued. “Are you sure you aren’t a cat after all?”

“Huh…?” Morgana mumbled. “What are you talking about… of course I’m a human…!”

Akira found that Morgana’s protests weren’t as effective under a layer of sleep, but at least he kept to his story about not being a cat.

“I don’t know… usually only cats sleep this long,” Akira said. “Are you really so sure?”

“Of course I’m sure!” Morgana said, more alert. “How could you ever think I’m a cat?”

He… can’t be serious, can he? Akira thought.

“I don’t know,” Akira decided to say. “Just a strange guess, I suppose.”

“Well you can be sure of it now!” Morgana said. “Especially since we’ll be phantom thieving with each other from now on!”

“We’re continuing?” Akira asked. “Are you really sure?”

And also… is that a word?

“Huh?” Morgana said. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“I mean, just don’t you think it’s a bit weird for us to be planning another heist?” Akira said. “We didn’t really have a choice for Kamoshida, but it isn’t everyday you run into someone like him.”

“Yeah, but like I’ve been saying, not everyone has a palace,” Morgana said. “It’s only the people who have distorted desires…”

“And at that point we might even be doing them a favor!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Akira said, going to pet Morgana. “But we should probably ask the others before we do anything.”

“I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to go against anything like Kamoshida with just the two of us,” Akira said. “I don’t think that’d bode well.”

“I’m sure Lady Ann and Ryuji will want to join us,” Morgana said. “They seemed pretty excited about Kamoshida’s change of heart.”

“But that can’t be the only thing on your mind,” Morgana continued. “You seemed a bit hesitant about the change of heart before…”

“But, now that’s it over with, do you still have any issues?”

“I’m not sure,” Akira admitted. “On one hand we did what we had to do, but still, forcibly changing someone like that…”

“Kamoshida wouldn’t have changed, and the situation wouldn’t have as well,” Akira finished. “But even so, it just puts a sour taste in my mouth.”

“Kamoshida wasn’t a good person,” Morgana said. “Most people who have palaces won’t be either.”

“Sometimes there’s only so much a person can do without resorting to something more drastic,” Morgana continued. “But I guess it’s good to have doubts, even if they were a bit annoying at first.”

“People with palaces won’t change on their own, and the change we bring should be for the better,” Morgana finished. “So you can’t just back out now, alright?”

“I wasn’t thinking about it,” Akira said. “I’ll learn to live with it.”

“Plus it isn’t so bad,” Akira admitted. “We’ll be making a change, won’t we?”

“Hopefully, yeah,” Morgana agreed.

“Then I’ll be fine,” Akira said. “Doing this is better than doing nothing.”

“That’s the spirit,” Morgana said. “Which is good for you too, because we still have a deal!”

“Mona, you’re part of the team, isn’t that enough?” Akira teased.

“Hey! You have to help me become human again,” Morgana yelled. “It wouldn’t be fair otherwise, y’know!”

“Human… again,” Akira repeated. “Denial is hard to get over, isn’t it?”

“You’re not funny!”

“I think I’m hilarious.”

After a few more minutes of aimless bickering, Akira heard the chime of Leblanc’s door ring one final time.

Akira faintly heard what he believed to be a sigh of relief before he heard his name called. “You and your cat can come down now.”

Both Akira and Morgana went downstairs, with Morgana in his usual spot in Akira’s bag.

“So, was he lonely?” Sojiro asked, staring at Morgana.

“I don’t know,” Akira said. “I did spend my time talking to him, so I sure hope not.”

“You talked to him… that entire time,” Sojiro said, staring at Akira blankly.

“Yep,” Akira said. “We had an interesting conversation.”

“Well kid, you should probably look for another career,” Sojiro said, turning his attention to a dirty cup. “Comedy is not your strong suit.”

I don’t think telling him I’m being serious would do me any favors… Akira thought. Sorry Morgana, looks like to Sojiro you’re just a normal cat after all.

“Hey, you should probably tell the others that you weren’t able to sell the medal today,” Morgana said. “No need for them to be excited over nothing.”

“They might just get more worked up,” Akira said. “But I’ll let them know, just in case.”

“You’re really talking to your cat, huh,” Sojiro said.

akira: hey guys, wasn’t able to sell the medal today.

akira: had chores.

akira: don’t be too angry.

ann: when are you going to sell it?

ann: i think i have an idea on what to do with the money

ryuji: if its just taking my share

ryuji: im not interested

ann: your share is my share

ann: and it’s nothing like that!

ann: we’ll all be getting equal benefit out of this!

ann: hopefully.

akira: i’ll be selling it tomorrow.

akira: hopefully.

akira: and as long as it’s just ryuji’s share going to ann, that’s fine.

ryuji: dude!

ryuji: what the eff

akira: sorry ryuji, but there’s not much i can do.

akira: you are in debt.

ryuji: it doesnt count!

“Of course he would say something like that,” Morgana huffed. “Doesn’t he know that any money he owes to Lady Ann should be paid as soon as possible?”

“I think in general it’s a good rule to pay off any debts,” Akira said. “Not just to Ann.”

“But especially to Lady Ann!”

akira: morgana says to pay off your debts soon, ryuji.

ryuji: apparently i dont get an effing choice

ryuji: dumb cat

“When will that idiot learn that I’m not a cat!” Morgana complained.

“Probably never,” Akira admitted, turning off his phone. “But that’s why we love him, right?”

“Speak for yourself.”

“Anyways,” Akira said. “You can probably lock up now, Boss.”

“Oh? You’re not planning on doing anything?” Sojiro asked. “I’m surprised.”

“The most I’ll be doing is studying,” Akira said. “Have to be a good student and all, right?”

“Somehow, when you say that it isn’t comforting in the slightest,” Sojiro said. “But I’ll leave this place to you.”

Akira grabbed his books, sitting in the middle booth with Morgana watching.

“Don’t go to bed too late now,” Sojiro said, going towards the door. “I’m not going to wake you up if you sleep the day away.”

“Alright, I won’t, “ Akira promised, beginning to get ready to work on the material.

Once Morgana was sure that Sojiro was gone, he began to complain in earnest. “Jeez, all you do is study.”

“Is there really anything else to do?” Akira asked, looking away from the book. “There isn’t exactly much near Leblanc.”

“I’ll show you tomorrow what you can do,” Morgana said. “Might as well study now since you started.”

Akira nodded, finally beginning to study.

There’s a lot planned… even now, Akira thought. I suppose that I should get used to it…

It isn’t so bad to be constantly busy, Akira thought. At least I’m never bored…?

Eh, I’ll think of something eventually.

5/4, Wednesday:

“Wake up,” a voice hissed into Akira’s ear. “You can’t spend the whole day sleeping, we have things to do!”

Akira groaned, furthering himself into his pillow. “Can’t I have five more minutes?”

“You’ve been asking for five more minutes the past four times!” the voice responded. “Enough is enough!”

“...Have I?” Akira asked. “I don’t remember.”

“That doesn’t matter!” the voice said. “You need to wake up now!”

Akira sighed, slowly opening his eyes. “Morgana, there’s got to be an easier way to do that.”

“Well maybe I would’ve been kinder if you had actually woken up the first time,” Morgana said. “Jeez, it’s bad when I wake up before you.”

“Well, what’s the big rush for today?” Akira said, rubbing at his eyes. “Is something big happening?”

“Well, you promised to sell the medal today, didn’t you?” Morgana asked. “We should probably at least try to get it done.”

“Yeah,” Akira agreed. “But why’d you wake me up so early?”

“It’s not early!” Morgana said. “It’s a normal time to wake up, actually.”

“Sure,” Akira sighed, grabbing at his phone. “I’ll let the group know that it seems I’ll be selling the medal today.”

akira: getting abused by morgana.

akira: woke me up just to tell me to sell the medal.

akira: a cruel world we do live in.

ann: that sucks

ann: maybe you could take a nap if you’re still tired?

ann: idk you probably should’ve been up by now tho.

akira: yeah, but it still sucks to be woken up.

akira: could’ve been having a good dream.

akira: now it’s gone.

ryuji: if youre having such a problem with the cat

ryuji: just throw him out

ann: ryuji wtf.

“Hey!” Morgana said, staring at the phone. “You can’t just let him get away with that!”

“Get away with what…?”

“Trying to get you to throw me out!” Morgana said. “How would he like it?!”

ann: you cant just be mean to mona!

ryuji: what is that cat going to do right now?

ryuji: he cant exactly text

akira: he can complain.

akira: i’m supposed to be fighting for him.

ryuji: dude whats he gonna do to you?

ryuji: hes a cat

akira: cats. have. claws.

akira: not a pleasant experience, ryuji.

ryuji: get him declawed man

ryuji: then he wont be able to do anything

akira: that’s something you do to cats.

ryuji: yeah

akira: i feel like i don’t have to tell you where this is going.

ann: that’d be really messed up.

“Gah, that idiot is such an asshole!” Morgana said. “Why does he think he can get away with saying stuff like that?!”

“Probably because you can’t text back,” Akira said. “I can send a message for you.”

“Tell him to watch out,” Morgana said. “Next time I see him he’ll be sure to regret it.”

akira: morgana said: watch out.

akira: he’s going to kill you.

ryuji: im so scared

ann: you say that now but you will be scared when mona comes at you.

ann: good luck!

akira: yeah, you’re on your own ryuji.

ryuji: its not like he can do anything to me anyways

akira: thats what he wants you to think.

ryuji: whos side are you on anyways?

akira: the winning one.

“Well, seems like you and Ryuji are getting along just fine,” Akira said, turning off his phone. “Some real comradery.”

“He started it!”

“I don’t think you’re exactly a saint in this situation, no matter who started it.”

“Well you should side with the victim!” Morgana said. “And it’s obviously me!”

Akira stared blankly at Morgana.

“Hey! Don’t give me that look.”

“Let’s just get ready to go to Untouchable,” Akira said. “The sooner the better, right.”

“Hey, don’t avoid picking a side!”

Akira changed quickly into his everyday wear, ignoring Morgana’s questions about whose side Akira was on.

Being honest with the cat wouldn’t have went well, as Akira could see that both of them were in the wrong.

He doesn’t really want to know where I stand, he just wants me to agree with him… Akira thought. I really don’t need to get into a fight with him over this.

When Akira went downstairs with Morgana in his back, still questioning him, Sojiro sent him an odd look.

“Get into a fight with your cat?” Sojiro asked.

“Something like that,” Akira said.

“Answer the question!” Morgana yowled. “Who’s in the wrong here, Ryuji or me?!”

Akira shook his head. “I’ll be back later, Boss, I have to go do some errands.”

“What errands could you possibly have?” Sojiro asked, looking a bit suspicious.

Before Akira could respond, a gray haired woman entered the cafe. From the way she carried herself, Akira couldn’t help but be the slightest bit intimidated.

It seemed Morgana felt similar as he had finally quieted down.

Or maybe he had just gotten tired.

“Am I interrupting something?” the woman asked, staring down at both Sojiro and Akira.

“Not at all,” Sojiro answered. “Take a seat.”

The woman sat down, frowning slightly. “The recent cases, mental shutdowns are really something, aren’t they?”

“Someone losing control and harming people,” the woman continued. “That’s certainly concerning, isn’t it?”

She’s… talking about the mental shutdowns? Akira thought. She can’t possibly be here for just coffee, can she?

“Ignoring that,” Sojiro said. “What can I get you to drink?”

“I’ll have the house blend, please,” the woman said after a short pause.

Akira felt frozen in place. Leaving now would seem a bit odd, and he also felt that he could get information out of her.

“Anyways, you’re a part timer, aren’t you?” the woman asked. “Which is shocking, I didn’t think this place could afford one.”

“I’m not exactly a part timer,” Akira said awkwardly. “Sakura-san is my guardian for this year.”

“Oh, that would make more sense,” the woman said. “I suppose you would attend a school around this area?”

“Yes,” Akira said. “Shujin Academy.”

“Oh? I know someone that goes there,” the woman said. “I believe there was another strange incident there recently.”

“Kamoshida… or someone by that name went through a strange ‘change of heart’, was it not?”

“That’s correct.”

“Ah, well I’m sure it’ll all be solved soon,” the woman said. “Is my drink finished yet?”

“Coming right up,” Sojiro said quickly.

The atmosphere was tense. If Akira was going to make his escape, he'd have to make it now.

Perhaps he felt a little guilty leaving Sojiro to be questioned by the woman, but he didn’t want any unneeded attention on himself.

After quickly leaving Leblanc, Akira sighed in relief.

“That woman,” Morgana said. “She sure asked a lot of questions, didn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Akira agreed. “She sure seemed to be on a mission of some sort.”

“I wonder why she came to Leblanc,” Morgana said. “Maybe she suspects Boss of something?”

“I don’t know if we want to find out,” Akira said. “We have enough on our plate for today, anyway.”

Yet somehow, even if I try to actively avoid her… I get the feeling I’ll be seeing a lot of her soon. Akira thought. There’s really never a dull moment around here, is there?

“You’re right!” Morgana said. “Let’s sell the medal and reap the reward!”

“That’s the spirit,” Akira smiled. “Let’s see how much crime pays.”

When Akira arrived at Untouchable, he suddenly realized he didn’t have much of a plan.

How exactly was he supposed to realistically sell an olympic medal? The only way he would’ve been able to acquire it was stealing.

Which, Akira supposed, wasn’t too far from the actual truth.

Faking confidence would be key, Akira decided. So he decided just to approach the owner head on, deciding that he didn’t have much to lose.

“I’d like to sell something,” Akira began, sliding the medal onto the counter. “How much will you take for this?”

The owner took one look at the medal before staring at Akira quizzically, “We don’t take fakes here, kid.”

“It’s not fake,” Akira insisted. “Please, just look at it?”

There goes the confidence.

The man looked at the medal a bit longer, eyes widening. “Where did you get this?”

Before Akira could answer, the man spoke again, “Nevermind, it’s probably best I don’t ask. I’ll pay 30,000 yen for this, though.”

“Works for me,” Akira said, taking the yen with ease.

“As a thanks for letting me buy this from ya,” the man continued. “Take this.”

Akira was handed a nondescript bag, which considering the circumstances wasn’t the most suspicious thing about the business deal.

“It’s probably best you don’t open that one, kid,” the man finished. “But be sure to bring it back here next time you come.”

That’s… not a good sign, is it? Akira thought. Really, anyone who would accept an olympic medal from a teenager probably isn’t the cleanest person to do deals with.

Oh well, really can’t complain.

“Alright,” Akira said, nodding as he adjusted his grip on the bag.

Before Akira could question anything more about the situation, two men came in. Similar to the woman, Akira could sense some sort of malicious intent from them.

The owner hadn’t looked the slightest bit surprised about their arrival and all Akira could do was question his impeccable bad timing.

“Munehisa Iwai,” the man closest to Akira began. “We would like to discuss some matters with you today.”

Oh no, Akira thought. This isn’t going to go well.

The men walked closer to the counter, while Akira walked past them to the door. Deciding to linger a bit, Akira listened into the conversation.

The other man began to speak. “You do know why we’re here today, correct?”

“I’m afraid, Detective-san,” the owner, now known as Munehisa, said, “that I don’t have a clue why you’re here.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if we searched around here a little bit would you?” the original detective asked. “If you really have no clue.”

“An upstanding citizen is supposed to respect the law, correct?” Munehisa asked. “But I assure you I have nothing to hide, so you’re free to search as you wish.”

“Are you really sure the lead was legitimate?” the other detective said. “Because he seems pretty calm to me.”

“There’s got to be something here!” the original detective said, turning to face Akira. “You.”

Oh.

Akira stared blankly at the detective.

“What’s in that bag?” the detective asked.

It isn’t lying… if you’re not sure, is it? Akira thought. Really, how do I keep getting into these situations…?

“I’m not sure that’s any of your business,” Akira said.

“Kid’s right,” Munehisa said. “He’s a regular around here, I just bagged one of his purchases for him.”

The original detective glared at Akira.

“Well, there’s no use in questioning that,” the other detective said.

Akira nodded, “If there isn’t anything else, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Come back soon,” Munehisa said.

I’m not sure I want to be involved in this… Akira thought. But, this is the only source of weapons…

Akira left quickly, making some distance from Untouchable in just a few seconds.

“Jeez,” Morgana said, popping out of his bag. “I wonder what that was about.”

“Seems like we’re just running into trouble today,” Akira sighed. “Really, we can’t catch a break, can we?”

“Huh, but maybe something can come out of this,” Morgana said. “You should open the bag and see what the detectives were after!”

“That’s… a bad idea,” Akira said. “We’ll be returning this to him, and if this is what the detectives were after… well…”

“Ugh, I guess you’re right,” Morgana said. “But we should open it at some point!”

“I’ll think about it,” Akira said. “We should probably get back to Leblanc soon, don’t want Sojiro to be too worried.”

“You think he was fine with that woman?” Morgana asked.

“Probably,” Akira said, putting the strange bag into his bag. “He doesn’t have anything to hide.”

“What if he’s also a persona user…?”

“Wouldn’t he have been able to hear you?”

“You never know!”

When Akira arrived at Leblanc, it was thankfully clear of any customers. Akira had had enough of strangers for one day.

“Ah, you’re back,” Sojiro said, pausing his cleaning. “Did you get your errands done today?”

“Yep,” Akira said. “Was a pretty productive day, all things considered.”

“Hm,” Sojiro said. “You’ve been pretty comfortable so far, but you shouldn’t forget your situation.”

“It won’t be easy for you,” Sojiro continued. “But you should try to keep yourself out of trouble.”

“I will, Sakura-san,” Akira said. “You don’t need to worry about me too much.”

“Oh, back to being formal?” Sojiro asked. “Boss is fine, kid.”

Akira nodded. “Alright, Boss.”

“Anyways, I don’t mean to hold you up,” Sojiro said. “Go do whatever you usually do around here.”

“Hey,” Morgana said. “If you’re not planning on leaving Leblanc then you should probably make some infiltration tools.”

“You never know when you’ll need them,” Morgana finished. “Would be a good use of time.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Akira said. “As soon as you’re ready to leave, you can lock up, I won’t be going out tonight.”

“Alright,” Sojiro said. “Have fun talking to your cat, or whatever it is you do.”

“I’ll try,” Akira said, making his way up to the attic.

Huh, I should probably tell Ann and Ryuji that we’ve finally got the money.

akira: we’re 30,000 yen richer and one olympic medal poorer.

ann: oh? you sold it

ryuji: finally man

ryuji: but how we gonna split it?

ryuji: ann cant be seriously taking my share

ryuji: is she?

ann: don’t worry!

ann: you guys just need to trust me…

ann: i’ve got the perfect place to spend it

ann: we’ll be doing it tmrw

ann: so uh just wait until then

akira: sounds fine.

akira: hopefully it’ll live up to the suspense.

ann: duh

ryuji: i do get a fair share right

ann: of course!!!

ann: dont doubt me !

ryuji: sheesh just making sure

Once Akira turned off his phone, he went to his work desk where Morgana was patiently sitting.

“What are you going to try to make?” Morgana asked, licking at his paw.

“Probably a lockpick,” Akira said. “Those locked chests always seem to hold something good.”

“Good idea,” Morgana said. “You could probably make two with the time we have.”

Akira nodded, beginning the process of making the lockpicks.

“So,” Morgana said in an effort to break the silence. “What do you think is going to happen?”

“Huh?” Akira said, focusing on the almost complete lockpick in his hand. “What do you mean?”

“I mean.. do you think we’ll continue going to palaces?” Morgana asked.

“We have to, don’t we?” Akira asked. “A deal’s a deal.”

“But, it’s probably best if we stay low for a little bit,” Akira said. “We need to be patient about what we do.”

“Hm,” Morgana said. “I guess that’s the right course of action… I just don’t know how to feel.”

“A little stir crazy, huh?” Akira joked, finishing the lockpick. “It’s best if we don’t think about it too much.”

“Take the peace for what it is,” Akira said. “Who knows how much of it we have left.”

[i-w-p-chan]

Deicide

Summary: Akechi Goro and Kurusu Akira are just two reincarnated souls who simply go about their life while life happens to them.

OR

AU!Akechi Goro and AU!Kurusu Akira are reincarnated in P5 ‘verse. Crack happens.

Note: This is basically a vent fic where I write crack just for the sake of winding down after having four final exams in two days. One right after the other. So this is a mess…

Warnings: Crack, Self-Indulgence To The Extreme, This Is A Mess, Zero Effort Went Into This, Things Finals Make Me Do, Reincarnation AU, Mentions Of Kamoshida And Kamoshida-esque Asshole-ness (By Which I Mean: Very Brief Mention Of Past Attempted Sexual Assault. It’s Very Tiny And Not Detailed), Akechi And Akira Be In An Open Relationship, Implied Sin, Brief Discussion Of Sugar Daddy-hood And Sugar Baby-hood, Insufferable!Akechi To Akira’s Sane Man, Too Much Fun With Warning Tags.

Disclaimer: Don’t own P5.

.

Akira stared pensively at the TV screen, taking in the features of the ‘second coming of the Detective Prince’; brown hair, reddish-brown eyes, a sweet smile, a gentle demeanor.

No wonder he already had fans.

Akira sighed.

The door to the apartment he lived in opened and a voice called out, “Honey, I’m home!”

Akira merely grumbled under his breath.

He could easily hear the footsteps approaching the living room where he was currently, and come up behind him.

“Oh, you’re watching that? The Detective Prince thing? My, oh my~ Do you have a thing for cute, brown-haired high school detectives?”

Akira huffed as a body climbed over the back of the couch to drop into his lap and wrap arms around his neck.

“Aren’t I just mysterious?” Akechi Goro purred, fluttering his eyelashes up at Akira.

Akira deadpanned and poked Goro’s cheek with a finger.

Goro sighed forlornly, “My sweet, charming beloved won’t even pay me any attention.”

“Attention whore.” Akira rolled his eyes and Goro gasped dramatically.

“Oh, woe is me~ My beloved just called me a. A. An attention whore! How scandalous! What if someone heard you?”

“You didn’t seem that concerned about it last week when we went to that new restaurant and called me an attention whore out loud because I was trying to get the waiter’s attention for my order.”

Goro’s eyes glinted mischievously, “Your order was, as I recall, ‘one hot waiter spread out for me on the table please’ with a wink added at the end for good measure.”

“Details.”

“Oho?” Goro raised himself up to press his body flush against Akira’s as he looked at him through half-lidded eyes, “Well, I know what you can have spread open for you on your bed~”

Akira poked Goro’s cheek again, “Not today, not in the mood.”

“Oh, darn.” Goro pouted and climbed off Akira’s lap, “You know where to find me in case you change your mind~” With a wink thrown over his shoulder, he sashayed his way to the bedroom.

Akira sighed for what must have been the umpteenth time that day and fished around the couch’s pillows, looking for the TV’s remote.

(At least Goro didn’t make any comment about having the body of a fifteen year old giving him more stamina and energy to go for a long while, this time.)

He let out a small victorious nose as he wrenched the remote from between the couch’s cushions and flipped through the rest of the TV channels. He blinked as his eyes caught sight of the new episode of the TV drama, Steal Yo’ Hearts and cranked the volume up to its highest settings as he settled down to watch.

Goro was bound to be finished messing around with himself by the time the episode was done.

He could hear the sounds of his neighbors as they scrambled about to increase the volume of their own TVs and music players to the highest setting possible.

Their next door neighbor living in the apartment on their right screamed, “GOD, NO! DON’T START YET! AT LEAST GIVE ME A FIVE-MINUTE HEADSTART!”

Akira could then hear her slam open the door to her apartment and storm outside, her footsteps loud as she rushed to the elevators.

If Goro found out he basically had the neighbors, uh, trained to his moods, he’d be even more insufferable.

Did he have to be so loud?

.

At some point during the episode, Goro had slipped out of the bedroom and into the bath to clean up, emerging fully showered after the episode ended and the credits were rolling, and heading straight to the kitchen.

“Akira! We don’t have food in the fridge and I hunger!”

“Tough luck! Remember it’s your turn to get groceries!”

“Ugh. I’ll get them later. I’ll just go get some food now.”

Akira called out as he heard Goro head to the door, “That food better not be paid for by one of your sugar daddies!”

“I don’t have sugar daddies!” Goro shouted as he was leaving the apartment.

“Tell that to the guy living a couple of blocks over!”

“Oh, come on!” Goro shouted again as he closed the door behind him, leaving to get food.

Akira sighed yet again, and then he straightened and his eyes flew open in shock before he vaulted over the back of the couch, rushing to the bedroom.

Goro had better not have left a mess on the bed behind! Akira slept on that bed!

.

.

.

Akira had lived a whole life in the company of Akechi Goro. Heck, he even followed him after death, reborn into a new life and a new world, and met him yet again, only to be sucked into Goro’s life again with disturbing ease.

(Not that Akira minded, but he thought he was the hurricane of the duo, not Goro.)

(It was probably the rebirth process that was making Goro a bit more… unrestrained.)

Besides, it wasn’t like it wasn’t fun to tease Goro and poke fun at him from time to time (okay, most of the time).

“You graduated from being a sugar baby to having a sugar baby?” Akira asked, amused, as he watched Goro pose for a Kosei student who wanted to (nay, needed) Goro to become his model.

His nude model.

“I told you.” Goro sniffed indignantly, “I didn’t, still don’t, have sugar daddies! And similarly, I’m not anyone’s sugar daddy let alone Yusuke’s.” Goro blinked and frowned contemplatively, “Not that Yusuke won’t benefit from me becoming his sugar daddy… actually…”

“And that’s your cue to stop right there, honey,” Akira drawled as he saw the wide-eyed look on Yusuke’s face.

“Don’t mind Goro, kiddo.”

Yusuke’s face scrunched, “But aren’t we the same age, Akira-san?”

“I see you haven’t dropped the –san yet.” Akira pouted, “But, yes, we are. I just have more Goro-based seniority.”

Yusuke blinked, “Alright, senpai.”

Akira pouted harder and Goro had to restrain the urge to laugh out loud, “Congratulations, Aki-kun, you’re now a recognized senpai.”

Akira let his eyes droop to half mast and leaned towards Goro, “Well,” He purred, “You’re still senpai, senpai.”

Goro blushed and chuckled breathlessly.

“Well, aren’t you a flirt?”

“Always have been, babe.”

The two turned their attention at Yusuke when he hummed thoughtfully, “Would you model for me as well, senpai?”

Akira blinked, “Me?” His plain ass?

Goro nudged him in the side. Hard.

(Akira highly suspected that Goro had a sixth sense for every time Akira called himself plain-looking.)

“Yes.” Yusuke nodded, “It seems your presence brings out another side of Akechi-san. You complement each other.” Yusuke looked deep in thought as he added, “Like you are each other’s foils.”

Goro cocked his head to the side with amusement, and Akira had to repress a chuckle.

“Akechi-san. Your pose.” Yusuke snapped out of his thoughts to send Goro an absolutely adorable reprimanding look.

.

.

.

When Akira had managed to convince his parents to let him move to Tokyo after he finished middle school, he applied and was accepted to Shujin, while Goro attended Kosei.

Goro had suggested that Akira apply for Kosei, but Akira had shot that idea down fast.

(Goro with his usual insufferable self would make some dramatic scene with him and cause rumors to spread about the whole school grounds, so no thank you.)

The decision to apply to Shujin turned out to have some unexpected… not exactly upsides but…

Let it be known that Akira did not tolerate people like Kamoshida Suguru, and the mere thought of what he could do in Shujin if left to run unsupervised due to how lax the principle was, made Akira shudder in disgust and rage.

Akira had never stopped nursing a grudge the size of the universe against sexual offenders since he was fifteen back in his previous life and had seen a temple priest attempt to drag Goro off to a secluded corner; since he was fifteen and had thrown himself at the priest, all claws and teeth to get him away from Goro, uncaring that the priest could literally call forth heavenly wrath to strike him where he stood.

Kamoshida was no temple priest, he had no access to any magic whatsoever, and had no contact with any deity he could seek protection from. Akira would tear him a new one, and he’d make him regret-

.

“-speaking of strange incidents.” The show hostess smiled blindingly, “There is the news of what happened with Kamoshida Suguru, former Olympic medalist and current teacher at Shujin Academy. What are your thoughts, Akechi-kun?”

Goro smiled back at the hostess, just as blindingly, “I have seen his face, and it looks like he ended up in a spat with a cat. A cat with quite the impressive set of claws; the scratches looked deep.”

“A cat?” The host chuckled, “You believe it’s a cat.”

“It’s highly likely, as anyone who’d seen his face could guess. Besides, I’ve had my fair share of scratches from my cat as well.”

“My!” The host honed in on the new bit of information, “A cat, you said? You own a cat?”

Goro chuckled, “I own the cat and the cat owns me, we have a mutual understanding between each other. He’s such an adorable, handsome floof with sharp eyes. Unfortunately he’s camera shy.” Goro pouted slightly.

.

“You called me a cat! On TV! I can’t believe you called me a cat!”

“But it’s the truth!”

.

.

.

Goro frowned and pressed his lips together into a displeased line, dragging Akira closer to him to bury his head into Akira’s messy hair.

He felt Akira turn around in bed to face him and wrap him in his arms, “Bad dream?”

Goro grumbled and let one of his eyes crack open slightly, “It’s that dream again. The one with the blue room and short man with long nose.”

Akira raised his hands to tangle them in Goro’s hair before he raised himself to press his forehead against Goro’s, letting their mental link open up and allow the memories to flood into Akira’s mind.

The two only rarely used their mental link due to the risk of information overload that could happen to either or both of them, but the recurring dreams Goro had been seeing for a year now about that very same blue room and the long-nosed man were worrying, as they seemed to press heavily on Goro’s mind, as if they were attempting to influence it in some way.

Akira was willing to take the risk to use the mental link to see for himself, so that they could find clues because Goro could never remember any other details. Hell, it was lucky he even recalled the few details he did.

Akira pulled back with a frown, unfortunately, the memories were already slipping from Goro’s mind, and so Akira couldn’t find anything he didn’t already know.

Goro took one look at Akira’s face and his frown deepened, “Nothing new, yeah?”

Akira nodded, “I think we should start actively looking for the cause.”

Goro pressed a hand to his own forehead and closed his eyes, digging deep into his psyche, if they were looking to confront whatever asshole trying to but in on their lives, then…

This world didn’t have the obstacles that demanded the two use their skills from their previous life to counter them; this world didn’t have people who could use magic, period.

And so, both Goro and Akira never had to call on to the power lying dormant in their cores.

But now…

.

.

.

“The word of the day is deicide.” Goro declared as he sat down on Sae’s desk and started flipping through the file in his hand.

Sae looked up at him, eyebrow raised, “If you’re referring to the mess with Shido, then I’d like to tell you that it’s completely inaccurate as Shido is no god and no one had killed him, not even in the metaphorical sense. Someone leaked information about his immoral dealings, true, but it’s the outrage of the public that’s causing the problems for Shido more than anything else.

“Now, get back to work on Madarame’s file, you personally asked to take care of his case and I indulged you, so you better not disappoint me.”

“Oh, that’s not what I mean.” Goro chuckled before he gestured towards the screen in the office, broadcasting a news coverage about a protest calling for Shido to go down, “It looks like someone killed the god of apathy, and suddenly, everyone cares.”

Sae snorted, “I told you to get back to work, didn’t I?”

Goro saluted her, “Yes, ma’am.”

.

End

[shsl-shipper-gamer-fangirl]

Phantom Confidants AU

In an alternate universe, I actually write about a P5 AU where the non-party social links are the phantom thieves of that universe. So Mishima, Hifumi, Shinya, Sojiro, Toranosuke, Iwai, Takemi, Ohya, Chihaya, Kawakami and even Sae. Honestly I would have loved to have an animal in the group but Morgana is the only animal social link and he's an original member. But hey it's still a pretty diverse group considering it's a mix of mostly adults, some teens, and a kid. They've got a pretty badass lineup to be honest so here's how I think it'll go. 

Full plot, codenames, and Mementos chats under the cut: 

(SPOILERS AHEAD) 

Plot Your Heart Out!

So first up, who would be the new protagonist? At first I figured Mishima because he's got that work-in-progress good guy vibes. But then I checked the list and realized that most of the group are adults and not really sure if Mishima can handle the leadership role. So who else? Then it hit me. Best dad Sojiro. Think about it. He had a direct connection with Wakaba who started this whole metaverse discovery. It's the perfect setup! He helped Wakaba with her research from time to time and during one of the experiments, they had discovered the metaverse. Maybe. I'm making this up as I go. Anyways! 

The general premise is that Sojiro was the first Phantom Thief in his youth and became an urban legend later on when he retired. When he took in Futaba, he promised he'd devote himself full time into raising her so he quit the calling card business. Except fast forward many years later, he was forced to wear/rip off his mask again. 

In this AU, Sojiro already changed Futaba's heart early on so Futaba was able to enroll at Shuujin Academy. It's all fine at first until she comes home and brings up Kamoshida and how no one not even adults can lay a hand on him. Her concerns bring out his instinct protect his child from such monster. When conventional methods failed and the rumors of sexual assault is less farfetched from the truth, he didn't hesitate to start stealing hearts again. 

During the infiltration he'll most likely be able to recruit Mishima and Kawakami (both obviously carry good reasons to get back at Kamoshida). Mishima has average stats which makes him a good support member. He gets stronger with baton pass! Someone give this child a confidence booster and he will plow you. Kawakami has the best buffs which makes life so much easier. They succeed and the school becomes safe so he thought his comeback was just a one time thing. Oh he was sorely mistaken. 

At this point, gossip about the Phantom Thieves have spread and such news have even reached our local back alley doctor. During the weeks before Kamoshida's confession, Sojiro had been striking up unethical deals for medicine from her and so she connects the dots. She confronts him at the cafe during a slow night. She doesn't plan on ratting him out however she wants in. She wants him to change the heart of this one doctor and gives him a deadline (she doesn't say at first that it's because of that one girl patient although they find out anyway during the confrontation in the palace). She somehow ends up joining them during infiltration, awakens and joins the team. She is probably the closest friend/acquaintance that Sojiro had among the group before they were phantom thieves. 

Then comes my favorite arc temporary title Guns Ablaze. They're somehow managing in the metaverse but medicine can only go so far. They need good equipment and when they realized that model guns were effective in the metaverse (courtesy of Mishima experimentally bringing one with him once because real guns are illegal), they decide to shop at Untouchable. Only to somehow get roped into his yakuza blackmail drama. 

Sojiro develops a camaraderie with Iwai because they're both single parents trying hard to raise their adopted child. Definitely share the father of the year award. He joins them at the first day of infiltration because this is his fight and he will settle this with them. Hell, he doesn't even hesitate to bring a real gun with him and shoot a shadow even without a persona. Turns out the shadow yakuza is stronger than a few bullets but he faces him head on and awakens. He is Sojiro's best bro and they talk about parenting a lot. 

Halfway through though they get stuck because the shadows are surprisingly agile. Gun attacks are effective but they keep missing their shots. And you guessed it. They're going to have a kid teach them how to shoot a gun. It's embarrassing really at first, especially for the adults, but they respect Shinya for his sharpshooting skills. They hang out with Shinya a couple of times and the kid grew on to them. One time though they decided to head to the palace after training/hanging out with him but they didn't know that Shinya followed them due to some undecided plot device. He wouldn't awaken in the palace tho but he's still in awe. Some time later, the mother issue happens and he asks for their help. He asks to join them when they decide to change her heart and that's how he awakens. He is best boy. They dote on him a lot. 

Meanwhile the Phantom Thieves are gaining popularity, hence a greater demand in media. Ohya being one of those journalists assigned to write about them, accidentally discovers more than just your average article. However, good journalism is confirming facts before publishing half-truths and so she investigates further regarding Sojiro's group. She ends up frequenting either the cafe or the clinic (she tried the airsoft shop but that was too obvious). She ends up being a regular of Sojiro's curry and of Takemi's medicine (altho she just goes there to flirt err fish info). It takes a while, weeks even, but at some point, someone slips. She gets her evidence on them being Phantom Thieves but she has no plans on outing them just yet. She asks them to change the heart of her boss and they do, with her help even. She insists on tagging along and they couldn't shake her off so she comes with them. She awakens when she confronts her boss' shadow. From there on, she's been helping the team with selecting their targets because who better than a journalist? 

Recruiting Hifumi was probably the most obscure accident, mostly because I honestly can't think of a good connection just yet. There's the fact that she goes to church and Wakaba's grave is near there but even that is grasping straws. Maybe Hifumi put in a mementos request? Somehow got dragged by proximity when they went to mementos and she was just on her way to catch the late train home? I don't know. Someone help me. Chihaya too. I was thinking that Chihaya gets involved with Ohya's arc. Maybe they're friends since they both frequent the red light district. Yeah let's go with that. Chihaya is obviously the navigator of the group so she's a must have party member and Hifumi is the strategist also a must have. They work hard okay. 

Moving on! At some point they try to target the politician from Toranosuke's social link. But it becomes their shortest case ever. Tora had somehow figured that his old acquaintance could be targeted by the phantom thieves and he wants to stop the, but he has no way of contacting them. One day he went to visit that guy's place but coincidentally it was his place of distortion. Coincidentally, the phantom thieves were there and unaware of Tora's proximity. He gets pulled in with them. They never did manage to beat the Palace ruler. Instead Tora just talks it put with the shadow and the palace crumbles after negotiations succeed. Everyone's confused as to what just happened but they're not against it. Tora awakens on his own the next time he joins them, probably in Mementos. He refuses to fight but he always steps up to talk with shadows willing to negotiate. 

At this point, the phantom thieves reputation is skyrocketing. The hype is so strong that Sojiro gets a warrant of arrest. Sae hadn't confirmed it yet but she has made enough connections to point Sojiro as a suspect phantom thief. They do their own research to find out the best way to get out of this. During their investigation, they find out that there's been a suspicious pressure to have the phantom thieves arrested, abnormally so. They deduce that although Sae was an immediate threat, she was just being pulled by the strings. 

They needed to see the bigger picture and to so that, perhaps Sae was the key. They need her cooperation and to have that, they need her to have a change of heart except without the excessive guilt to render her incapacitated. They tried talking it out with her but when that failed they had no choice but had her face the facts, or rather face her shadow self. Sae awakens in her own palace, realizing how twisted her desires had become. When they escape, she asks if she could join their cause and they gladly welcome her. 

Shido is the last palace not just because of him being a corrupt prime minister but also considering the motherfucker had Wakaba murdered which makes this personal for Sojiro. After all, not only did Sojiro love Wakaba (romantically or not) but she was also the reason he was able to become a Phantom Thief in the first place. That fucking dildo Shido is long overdue to be brought down by Sojiro so that Wakaba can have some semblance of justice. Oh and Japan gets saved too I guess. (Yaldabaoth who?) 

>>Oh yeah, although Futaba isn't a thief here, it's not because she doesn't know. It's only because Sojiro forbade her and his word is law so she's still mad about that. She still helps as Alibaba though. Honestly best non-party member confidant of Sojiro and that's not just father bias talking. Okay maybe a little father bias but he's a proud dad okay. 

>>Also Morgana is a social link of Sojiro's. Except it's really just Sojiro being a softie with the cat. He has no idea what Morgana's meows mean (does he even talk/transform in this au?) but he is a good landlord and sometimes he feeds the cat better than he does Akira. 

>>Originally I didn't want Sojiro to be a Wild Card but due to Persona Tradition, in order to be a protagonist one must be a special snowflake with lots of facades inside. So I guess his velvet room would look like a cafe only without the coffee because Caroline and Justine (or just Lavenza) are kids and coffee is bad for them. Sojiro feels so uncomfortable with Igor behind the counter because for a barista to not touch them coffee beans at all, that's pretty suspicious. 

—

Codenames 'subject to change' 

Sojiro Sakura - Solo (single shot of espresso) 

Yuuki Mishima - Wolf (talk about wolf in sheep's clothing or is it the other way around?) 

Hifumi Togo - Jade or General (because shogi) 

Shinya Oda - Trigger (guns guns guns)

 Munehisa Iwai - Gecko (his tattoo) 

Tae Takemi - Witchdoctor or Plague (she protec but she also attac) 

Ichiko Ohya - Rebel (fight the power!) 

Sadayo Kawakami - Burnout (teachers have no chill) 

Chihaya Mifune - Tarot (fortune telling duh) 

Toranosuke Yoshida - Tiger (his name) 

Sae Niijima - Empress or Judge (her personality)

—

Mementos Chats: 

Ohya: No matter how much I drink every night, my body still gets hangovers sometimes. Hey, Takemi. You're a doctor, right? Know any good medicine for this? 

Takemi: I can actually prescribe you with the best medicine. Prevention. "Drink moderately" is an effectively proven motto to live by. 

—

Toranosuke: I tried checking this "phansite" and I keep seeing the "pound sign heart stolen", could you explain to me what that means? 

Mishima: ...Did you mean hashtag? I think I'll be explaining to you more than just that. 

—

Shinya: Are all adults like this? Stressed? I've been thinking about how I'm not growing up fast enough but now I think I just want to be a kid forever. 

Iwai: Smart move, kid. But don't let us get to you. Us adults are fun too, heh, when we're not too buried in bills and taxes.

— 

Iwai: Hey, know any good places to bring your kid? 

Sojiro: Depends on what he likes and the occasion. From what I heard, your kid already likes you enough so just go out and have fun with the kid. 

—

Mishima: Between studying and phantom thieving, I think I just might be better with the latter. 

Kawakami: Why? Last time I checked, your grades seem pretty okay. Are you having difficulties with any of your subjects recently? You know you can always ask me to teach you. 

—

Kawakami: I know I signed up for this but this is too exhausting! I don't even have the energy to check papers after. When I get home, I just collapse on my bed! 

Ohya: I know what you mean. I can't even make a pit stop at my favorite bar! 

—

Chihaya: I've seen shadows in my fortune tellings but to think that I'll be using it against literal shadows. The city sure is amazing ain't it. 

Hifumi: I'm not sure if it is exclusive to the city. Nevertheless, it is always fascinating to watch you work, Chihaya-san. 

—

Hifumi: Despite this group being composed mostly of adults, I find myself strangely at ease... 

Sae: Even as an adult, I agree with that sentiment. This is... a wonderful group to belong to.

—

Sae: I've been meaning to ask this but how do you juggle Phantom Thief work with your real world jobs? I honestly didn't think you had any free time to spare. As a case example, I myself only get by with four hours of sleep on slow days.

Takemi: We seriously need to reevaluate your working schedule... That or quit your job. Can't have you dying from exhaustion on us. 

—

Takemi: I may be a doctor but you all need to look after yourselves better. If any of you collapse, I'm not footing your hospital bills. 

Sojiro: What's this? Free medical advice? You've gotten soft. 

—

Sojiro: So you've been hanging out with Akira and Futaba lately? Those two can't be good influences on you. 

Shinya: They're cool, I guess. Heh, so what if they're bad influences? I hang out enough with you guys at night so that should balance it out, right?

—

Some other trivia: 

Since most of the group are adults with full time jobs, they do most of the phantom thief stuff at night 

They also work out a schedule because they have a lot of responsibilities outside phan stuff 

Still, since Sojiro is a veterinarian at this, they usually accomplish a lot in an hour or two so that helps 

Mishima and Hifumi are forbidden to do any phantom thief activities during exams week 

Meanwhile Kawakami excuses herself for the week after finals week (checking papers is exhausting okay) 

Kawakami is at the forefront of "long weekends do not touch" and "holidays touch them and you die" because teachers need those okay 

Kawakami volunteers to clean the dirty armor they find but on the condition that she gets first dibs on good armor 

Mishima still manages the phansite and he's super proud about the work they do 

Mishima visits the cafe a lot and eventually befriends Akira and Futaba 

Hifumi still speaks dramatically when giving orders or planning strategies in the metaverse 

Hifumi is actually very extra but they just let her be 

Toranosuke can't really fight much but damn he's good at them shadow negotiations 

Toranosuke can't join much because he campaigns at night but he makes it a point to be present at least once a week and during important meetings 

Shinya can't stay too late either so they either go in earlier sometimes or make up an excuse in unexpected cases 

You'd think Shinya would get teased a lot but he's actually doted upon 

Gee Shinya, how come you get to have three dads? 

Iwai and Sojiro are best dad friends and you can't tell me otherwise 

Iwai only cancels on them for father-son bonding and he usually gives them prior notice 

Ohya is the type who cancels at the last minute or arrives late 

Ohya is also the one who invites the adults out for drinks after 

Sojiro offers coffee as an alternative for those who want or may need it 

Takemi is the strict mom friend who doesn't let anyone get sick on her watch 

Takemi forbids anyone to do anything further the moment the first signs of exhaustion show 

Takemi has a special skill that makes her immune to status ailments (unlockable with social link rank up) 

Chihaya does their fortunes upon request with or without persona (she still uses her tarot cards either way) 

Chihaya still slips in her accent sometimes especially when they get ambushed 

Sae is super conscious about used to having a palace (and the only one in the team who had one) but the squad is understanding and she feels happy to be accepted even still 

Sae actually gets along pretty well with them despite their previous conflicts, which are all water under the bridge 

Sae is probably the most OP out of all of them, maybe it's because she had to face her own shadow, hmmm 

The women of the group do hang, sometimes even go out for drinks 

Hifumi joins mostly on weekends because those are in the mornings and Takemi forbids alcohol as long as the sun is out so they just window shop mostly or eat out 

More often than not, those hang outs extend into evenings so Hifumi excuses herself and Ohya now drags the rest to Crossroads 

Meanwhile the guys just chill at Cafe Leblanc, sometimes Iwai even brings his son 

They do have outings with the whole squad (sometimes plus Futaba!) 

They are a good squad, and god I love this AU

—

I uhhhh wanted to write down everything, like codename, outfit, persona, awakening scene, skills, mementos chats with each other, and all but I didn't have the time. Maybe I'll do them in another post? Maybe. Just know that I love them confidants and this au stole my heart. 

If anyone wants to add, draw, write for the Phantom Confidants AU then feel free to do so! Have fun with this idea and enjoy!!

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 29: Making a Plan

After school the next day, Ren messaged the group.

Ren: OK. Wanna meet at the access panel?

Ann: Wait, really?

Ren: Yeah. It’s our new hangout.

Ryuji: Wait, WHAT?!

Ren: Well, we can’t use the rooftop anymore.

Ren: Miss Nijima wouldn’t allow it.

Ren: And two of our members don’t even go to school here.

Sumire: Right. That makes sense.

Ryuji: OK, and why the access panel?

Ren: We’ve met there before, and we haven’t run into any problems really.

Ren: And I don’t think it’d be wise to meet at the diner constantly.

Ann: Yeah, I feel ya on that.

Ann: Always ordering food so it won’t get awkward.

Yusuke: I wouldn’t mind that though.

Ryuji: Of course you wouldn’t.

Jose: Did something happen?

Ryuji: Once he started eating last night, he was wolfing everything down like it was going out of style.

Yusuke: How dare you!

Ryuji: ...sorry

Yusuke: You make it sound like I was eating like a pig out of a trough.

Yuuke: When really, I was dining exquisitely.

Yusuke: Every bite had meaning.

Yusuke: I may have eaten fast, but I ate with flourish!

Ryuji: THAT’S what you’re upset about?

Yusuke: Indeed.

Sumire: Well, I also wouldn’t oppose going to a restaurant for the meeting place.

Sumire: But I can see how it would be a bit distracting.

Ren: Well then, it’s settled.

Ren: The access panel it is.

Ryuji: OK. Seeya there.

Ann: Later!

Sumire: Seeya.

Jose: We’ll meet you there.

Yusuke: Indeed.

The thieves gathered their things and left to meet at their new hideout. “Huh. So, this is the hideout” Yusuke said.

“That’s right” Ren replied nonchalantly.

Yusuke looked out the window. “How brazen.”

“Alright, so now what?” Ryuji said. “Do we take the palace today, or what?”

“Well,” Ren began, “I want to do a few things first.”

“OK then” Ryuji said.

“Like what?” Ann asked.

“Well, I called us here today to review the facts of the case before we begin,” Ren said. “This isn’t like Kamoshida where we were sure of everything.”

“The dude’s a dirtbag, what else is there to figure out?” Ryuji said bluntly.

“While that’s true, you all knew Kamoshida well enough to take on his palace” Sumire added. “However, while Jose and I seem to know bits and pieces, the one who knows Madarame the most is Yusuke-senpai.”

“She’s right,” Jose said. “If we understood Madarame better, we might have an advantage in his palace.”

“Plus, there’s also the matter of Kosuke,” Ren added. “Yusuke is the only one who knows him.” They all looked at him to his surprise. “Are you up for it?”

Yusuke got serious. “It’s time I face my inhibitions and awaken myself further.”

“Alright then” Ren said. “Where should we start? Madarame, or Kosuke?”

“I feel like we need to start with Madarame,” Ann said. “After all, Kosuke is only doing what he’s doing because of Madarame.”

“Very well,” Yusuke said. “To the general public, Madarame is an artist that is well-renowned for his mastery of various styles of art.”

“Yeah yeah, but he steals them from his students, we know this,” Ryuji said.

“Ryuji!” Ann said. “We’re doing this to help.”

“Sorry,” Ryuji said. “I just don’t see the point.”

“The point is to know your enemy,” Jose said. “That way, you can take them down more efficiently.”

“Oh. Is that so?” Ryuji said. “Well then, carry on, I guess.”

Ann sighed. “You’re just as much of a meathead as ever.”

“If I may,” Yusuke said. “As you said, Madarame’s public image differentiates from the Madarame I know. Madarame poses himself as a quiet and charming figure, but he has a tendency to unravel with his students.” Yusuke shuttered. “Still, the cruelty I’ve taken from Madarame pales in comparison to the Madarame we saw in the metaverse.”

“His shadow,” Morgana said. “I guess there are things he even hides from his students.”

“I’ll say,” Ryuji said. “That whole business of art is just a means to get rich or teaching the value of art to make people not oppose him makes me sick.”

“Yeah,” Sumire said. “If my coach believed in any of what Madarame said, it wouldn’t be long before we left.”

“Well, unfortunately, a lot of Madarame’s pupils don’t have that luxury” Yusuke said.

“Wait, couldn’t you just live in the dorms at Kosei Yusuke?” Jose asked.

“Ngh. Well, it’s true that I could” Yusuke said. “But… Madarame has been like a father to me my entire life. Giving that up would be one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. But since it’s come down to it, I’ll make that decision.”

The thieves smiled. “Way to go Yusuke!” Ann said. “But still… It pisses me off knowing that Madarame takes people like you under his wing. People with nothing in the world. Pretending to be a light in the darkness. And then he just takes it all away.”

“Is that how Kosuke came under the tutelage of Madarame?” Ren asked.

Yusuke hesitated a little bit. “Kosuke’s circumstances are… well… They’re not easy to listen to…”

“Well, I think we’re all used to that kind of thing…” Sumire lamented. “At least somewhat…”

“Very well,” Yusuke said. “Kosuke’s parents were murdered by the yakuza when he was a child. This has affected him greatly. In his teens, he was violent and rambunctious because he couldn’t trust anybody. No one wanted to adopt him, or be friends with him, and he would constantly be under watch by the police. It felt like nothing could reign him in.

However, his art teacher noticed he was quiet and dedicated during art. He happened to be friends with Madarame, and turned Kosuke to him. Eventually, Kosuke calmed down and stopped getting into fights over every little thing.

However, when Kosuke realized what Madarame was doing, he didn’t take it lightly. Most students are upset when they decide that they can’t handle the pressure anymore. But Kosuke took it to a whole new level.”

“I can understand why,” Ann said. “Your source of sanctuary being ripped away from you like that. It sounds just like what Kamoshida did to Shiho.”

“No wonder Kosuke wants Madarame dead so much,” Ryuji added.

“Was this when he found out about the Sayuri?” Ren asked. Everyone was surprised.

“Well, I wouldn’t know,” Yusuke said. “I only heard the Sayuri went missing. This whole ordeal is news to me.”

“Well, I bet the two at least correlated with each other” Jose said.

“So, what do you know about the Sayuri Jose?” Sumire asked. “It seems like it’s going to be the focal point of why Madarame is acting the way he is.”

“Wait, you’re saying the treasure is this Sayuri?” Ryuji asked.

“Huh?” Sumire responded.

“Did we not explain that to you guys? We’re sorry” Ann apologized.

Morgana jumped in. “The palace ruler’s treasure is the thing that distorts a person’s heart. It’s the reason they became who they are.”

“I see,” Jose said.

“So, what can you tell us about the Sayuri?” Ren asked.

Yusuke thought. “Well, it’s one of Madarame’s most well-known works. Its use of technique, as well as the subject matter itself, is nothing short of amazing. I know that whenever I look at it, I feel a wave of positive emotions flow through me. It’s what made me want to become an artist in the first place.”

“Is there a chance Madarame stole this one too?” Ren asked.

“Hmmmmm” Yusuke thought. “Well, from what I’ve heard, Madarame started stealing his student’s art a little bit after that, but I can’t be certain that Madarame stole the Sayuri.”

“I see,” Ren said.

“So, we have our facts in order,” Morgana said.

“Hold on” Ren silenced him. “There’s one other thing I need to know. Yusuke. Is there a chance that Kosuke would go back on his word?”

“What do you mean?” Yusuke said.

“He told us that he would do the deed on the final day of the exhibition” Ren explained. “Do you think he’d give us a false date?”

“I see,” Yusuke said. “In all honesty, no. Kosuke might be corrupted by this Eris person, but he is an artist at heart. He views him murdering Madarame as his masterpiece. He wouldn’t dare do anything to mess that up.”

“Hm. Interesting” Ren said.

“What’s up?” Ann asked.

“Well, I wanted to get a good time frame for how long we have,” Ren explained. “If possible, I’d like to make a few preparations before we raid the palace.”

“That’s a good idea,” Morgana said. “We don’t want to go in unprepared.”

“Plus, it’ll give some of us some breathing room,” Ren added. “I mean, we did just get done with midterms.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Ryuji said.

“So, now we have a schedule,” Ren said.

“Wait, when IS the last day of the exhibition?” Ann asked.

“Oh, right,” Yusuke said. “The last day is June 5th.”

“And today is May 17th, right?” Sumire said. “That gives us some time.”

“Alright, now that that’s settled, “ Ren began, “let’s start with one bit of prepwork we can do now. Yusuke. What do you want your codename to be?”

“Huh? Codename?” Yusuke said.

“Yeah,” Ann said. “We do it to conceal our identities. After all, we are in the minds and hearts of our enemies. We don’t want them to see us coming.”

“Plus, it’s kind of cute,” Sumire said.

“Hmmmm” Yusuke said. What are your guys' codenames? I don’t wish to break any particular pattern you have.”

“Well, I’m Skull,” Ryuji said. “She Joker, he’s Mona, he’s Sunshine, she’s Panther, and she’s Violet.”

“I see. English names” Yusuke said. “How delightful. Hm. I was going to call myself Kitsune between my outfit and my username, but maybe Fox is the better name.”

“Well, if you’re cool with that” Ryuji said.

“Fox it is” Yusuke said.

“Yeah!” Ryuji said. He glanced over. “Hm?”

“What’s wrong, Ryuji-senpai?” Sumire asked.

“Ah, nothin’. I just thought I saw something” Ryuji stated.

Ren looked over where Ryuji looked. She didn’t see anything. “Hm. Well, let’s try to keep our meetings a little shorter in the future, OK?” The thieves nodded.

Meanwhile, Makoto was hiding behind a wall after spying on the thieves. She sighed, relieved that they didn’t appear to catch her. “That was close.” She looked over again, only to find that they had since left.

Meanwhile, at Madarame’s exhibit, there was a knock on the door to the security office. “Come in,” Kosuke said. Madarame entered, face full of fury. “Ah, Madarame sir. Is there anything I could help you with?”

Madarame glared at him. “You know why I’m here,” he said. “I could report you to the police.

Kosuke sighed. “Really? We’re going straight into this? No formalities? No chit-chat? Nothing? Well if you’re going to, I say do it. Let’s see what the police have to say about what I stole.”

“I’d tell them you’re lying!” Madarame snapped back.

“That might work,” Kosuke said, “IF I didn’t have the proof they needed. And once we’re in a holding cell together, you KNOW I can overpower you.” Madarame scowled. “But hey, I’m a generous man. I’m giving you the opportunity to be the master of the art world one last time. After all, you wouldn’t do anything to sully your reputation during your own exhibit, would you?”

Madarame stared at him. “Hm” Kosuke gloated. “It seems like I’m right.” He turned back to his work. “We’re done here.” Madarame started to leave. “If you can think of a way out of all this, then by all means. Just remember who you’re dealing with.”

Madarame left the room and closed the door. “Bah! ‘Remember who you’re dealing with.’ I’m dealing with a petulant child who wants the world to be more fair. Well life isn’t fair. You just have to make it unfair in your advantage.” He got out his phone. “I better make some preparations, just to be sure.”

Meanwhile, Kosuke was watching this on the cameras. “Hm. I guess I can apply one of your lessons after all. You’re so used to making it unfair in your favor that when the ball is in someone else’s court, you can’t handle it. This is almost too easy.”

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 17: Friends Stick Together

Ren walked back into Le Blanc. “Ah, you’re back,” Sojiro said. He looked Ren over. “You seem exhausted. Busy day at school? Or did you apply for a job?”

Ren looked at him confused. “I can apply for a job?” she asked.

Sojiro sighed. “You probably should if you want any extra spending money. I’d rather not have to keep giving you money.”

“No, what I mean is, I can apply for one given my...record?” Ren asked again.

“Oh. Right” Sojiro said. “To be honest, I almost forgot about that. But yeah. There are places that would hire you despite your record. Heck, I don’t even know how you’d plan on making a living on your own once you get out of school if you didn’t think that.”

“I see,” Ren said. “I’ll have to look into that.”

“You should,” Sojiro said. “It might be helpful.”

Ren knew Sojiro meant that in the best possible way, but she did feel some stings coming off of it where she knew he still wouldn’t believe her if she said she was innocent. She figured she'd take what she could get. She walked up to her room and got a message from the Phantom Thief group chat.

Ryuji: So, how’s Shiho doing?

Ann: Well…

Ann: When I called her, she was inside the school throwing up.

Ryuji: WHAT?!

Morgana, who was looking on, wondered “Could this be a side-effect of her losing at Kamoshida’s Palace?”

Ren: Morgana wants to know if it’s Metaverse-related.

Ann: I think it is.

Ann: She said that she’d just started, which would make sense with the timeline.

Ann: When I got there she was still going.

Ann: After she finished, she told me she was sorry again. For trying to organize a student-wide burning of the school.

Ann: I assured her everything was alright and got her home.

Ryuji: Well that’s nice of you. I hope she feels better soon.

Ren: She apologized again? Didn’t she apologize in the other world too?

“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Morgana said.

Ann: I thought that was strange as well.

Ann: I asked her how she came up with such an idea.

Ann: She told me that a mysterious figure came into her room one night and gave her an apple.

Ann: Once she took a bite of it, she had a vision about what to do.

Ren: Eris…

Ann: Yeah.

Ann: She doesn’t seem to remember what happened in Kamoshida’s Palace.

“That makes sense,” Morgana said. “Kamoshida’s shadow wouldn’t know exactly what happened either.”

Ren: Morgana says it’s the same with Kamoshida.

Ryuji: Yeah, I was wondering about that.

Ann: Shiho says she’ll be fine, but she is going to be absent from school until she feels better.

Ren: Well, you know I’m here if you need anything.

Ryuji: Yeah, same.

Ann: Thanks.

Ren: Hey, wanna meet up briefly tomorrow? I’m going to check around the subway station for some part-time jobs.

Ann: Sure!

Ryuji: I’ll come too.

Ren: Great! See you then.

Ann: Good night.

Ryuji: Good night.

Ren changed into her pajamas and sat down on her bed. Morgana pounced up to meet her there. “Is something on your mind?” he asked.

Ren was thinking about something. “So, do you want to talk about what happened with the treasure?” she asked.

“Oh, um, well…” Morgana said, embarrassed. He sighed. “We went over this. I’m apparently attracted to human desire.”

“Right,” Ren said, “but why?”

Morgana sat there for a few seconds. “...Well, I guess it’s because I have no real desires of my own. I was created with the purpose of guiding you. So, I don’t know what it’s like to have any desires of my own. I’m just here to lend a hand whenever I can. You said I’m always thinking about the job. It’s because I don’t have anything but the job to think about.” Ren chuckled. “What?!” Morgana asked, incensed

“Sorry,” Ren apologized. “But we both know that’s not true.”

Morgana was perplexed. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on,” Ren said. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed your affection for ‘Lady Ann’.”

“Uh-Well-I” Morgana stammered.

Ren giggled. “It's fine. Relax. People get crushes all the time.”

“Well...yeah...but…” Morgana said. “But I’m not a ‘person’. If I confessed my affection for Lady Ann, there’s no way she’d take me seriously.”

Ren empathized with him in that moment. “Aww, it’s OK,” she said, petting him. “We all have crushes like that from time to time.”

“Yeah, but, even if I find some other girl I like,” Morgana lamented, “they won’t take me seriously either because I’m a cat. Or I’m in the body of a cat. Argh! The point is, I can’t get a significant other no matter how hard I try!”

Ren thought for a moment. “Do you think you would fancy cats romantically?”

“WHAT?” Morgana said. “What kind of question is that?”

“I think it’s fairly reasonable,” Ren said. “If you’re in the body of a cat, why not try wooing a cat?”

Morgana growled. “I get your logic, but I’m not a cat.”

“But you’re not human either,” Ren said.

Morgana pouted. “I guess that’s true. But, I dunno. I...feel human. I know that doesn't make sense.”

“I think it does,” Ren said.

“Really?” Morgana said.

“Yeah” Ren answered. “Being human is complicated, and there’s no one more complicated than you.”

Morgana glared at her. “Very funny.”

“It’s true though,” Ren said. “Believe me, if being a human was easy, then people like Kamoshida wouldn’t exist.”

“I guess that’s a fair point,” Morgana said. “In a way, we’re trying to make people’s lives easier.”

“That’s the spirit!” Ren said.

“Still, trying to find love in this body is impossible” Morgana said, once again dejected.

Ren simply smiled. “It’s human nature to wish for the impossible sometimes. Heck, there’s even a book that says you should wish for six impossible things before breakfast.”

“Huh” Morgana said. “So, do you have any impossible wishes?”

Ren paused for a moment. “Well, despite the fact that I’m talking to a cat, while being chosen to save the world from an emissary of chaos by sneaking into a parallel dimension to steal hearts, yes.”

Morgana smiled. “Would they happen to do with Sumire?”

“I-uh-What?” Ren said, feigning ignorance.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed either,” Morgana said. “It’s subtle, but you lose some of your usual bravado around her. Plus, you put off the entire operation just for her.”

“Well… I would have done it for anyone” Ren said, nervously. Ren and Morgana looked at each other. “OK, let’s say hypothetically you’re right. What then?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter to me,” Morgana said. “You’re both human at least.”

“Yeah, but we’re also both girls…” Ren said.

Morgana got confused. “So? That shouldn’t matter. Love is love. If you think I’m the type of person to be judgmental, I’m a creation of a powerful being who looks, and sometimes acts, like a cat with a crush on a human. I don’t think I have much room to criticize.”

Ren laughed and then smiled. “You know, you’re better than some humans, Morgana. Maybe you should take pride in that.”

“I guess” Morgana said. “But I’d still like to be one.”

“Are you still sad?” Ren asked.

“Nope!” Morgana responded. “I’m just wishing for the impossible now!”

“That’s the spirit,” Ren said.

Magician-Morgana: Rank 2

“We should really get to bed,” Morgana said.

“Yeah” Ren said as she slid under the covers. She fell asleep soon after.

The next day, Ren and Morgana were out walking around Shibuya Station. “Yo!” Ryuji said, walking up to her. “How’s the job hunt?”

“I just got started,” Ren explained. They continued onward and started looking at some brochures.

“Hey!” Ann shouted. The two turn to her as she rushes to meet them. “How’s it going you two?”

“I think it’s going well,” Ren said.

“Yeah, same,” Ryuji said. He continued to look through the brochures. “Hmmm.”

“So, are you two really just looking for jobs?” Ann asked.

“I guess” Ryuji said.

“Well, that’s part of it,” Ren said. “But I also called you here to debrief.”

“De...brief…?” Ryuji said, confused and embarrassed.

“She means she wants to discuss what happened yesterday, you moron!” Morgana said.

“Oh. Yeah. I knew that” Ryuji said. “Stupid cat.” Morgana hissed at him.

“Oh. I guess that makes sense” Ann said.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure why you wanted to bring Ann job hunting,” Ryuji said. “She’s already a model.”

“Yeah,” Ann said. “Hey, would you want to be a model with me Ren? I think you’d be really good at it. You’re already super cute!”

Renn giggled. “I appreciate the gesture, but I’d rather not have more attention on me than need be.”

“Oh right,” Ann said. “I doubt that the modeling world is a place for someone on parole. It can be brutal at times.”

“You thinking of leaving?” Ryuji asked.

“Well…” Ann replied. “I’m not sure. There are things I enjoy about it, but at the same time… I need to think about it some more.”

“I see,” Ryuji said. “Well, whatever happens, I support you.”

“Thanks,” Ann said, smiling. She turned to Ren. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, how do you think yesterday went?” Ren asked.

“How it went?” An said.

“Yeah” Ren reiterated. “Chances are things are only going to get more difficult, so how did you feel about yesterday?”

“Huh” Ryuji said. “Well, I think it went pretty well, all things considered. We managed to steal the treasure while making sure Shiho didn’t kill Kamoshida.”

“Yeah, but we had to fight Shiho” Ren reminded them.

“Well, she did tell us Kamoshida was waiting to ambush us” Ann said. “I feel like we were going to have to fight either her or Kamoshida at that point.”

“Yeah” Ren agreed. “But also, Shiho managed to take over more.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Morgana asked. “Like I said, as long as we kept Kamoshida alive, the takeover wouldn’t be complete.”

“Yeah, but we originally planned on alerting Shiho specifically because we wanted to disorient her” Ren reminded them.

“Well, I think it did,” Morgana said. “It just disoriented Kamoshida even more. In fact, I think if we didn’t, we might have had to fight the both of them. Not to mention, we might have had a harder time convincing Kamoshida to confess his crimes.”

“Is that so?” Ren asked. Morgana nodded. Ren smiled. “Thanks.” She paused for a moment. “Ann. Ryuji.” They looked at her. “Are...are you OK with continuing this? I’m only asking because I’m the only one that HAS to do this. I kind of feel like I’m just dragging you along. Especially since it is probably going to get harder.”

Ryuji and Ann looked at each other, then back at Ren. “What are you talking about?” Ann asked. “We’re in this together!”

“Yeah!” Ryuji said. “I’m not one to give up when things get tough. Especially if it’s for a friend!”

“And if things are going to get as tough as you say they are, you’re going to need all the help you can get,” Ann told her.

Ren smiled. “Thanks guys. I...kind of needed that.”

Ann put her arm around Ren. “What are friends for?”

Ryuji did the same on the other side.”Yeah. We’re going to be by your side no matter what!”

Ren started welling up. “Heh heh.”

Ann fished her phone out of her pocket. She reached her hand out to take a selfie of the three of them. “Smile!” she said. She clicked the button. She broke off from the group embrace to check the photo. “Heh.” She sent it to Ren and Ryuji.

When Ren looked at it, she smiled. “This is good.”

“Thanks,” Ann said.

“No kidding” Ryuji added on. “You have a really good eye for this stuff.” Ann slightly blushed.

“Well, now that that’s settled,” Ren said, “I’m going to keep looking through this stuff.”

“You do that,” Ann said. “I think I’m going to go check on Shiho.”

“Oh yeah” Ryuji said. “Do you think we could visit her?”

“Well…” Ann said nervously, “she is still feeling a bit under the weather. I think it’d be best if only I went.”

“Oh” Ryuji said, somewhat disappointed. “Well, keep us updated. When she feels better, I definitely want to say hi.”

“Will do!” Ann said. “Seeya!” She walked off.

“Anyway, let’s continue,” Ryuji said. Ren and Ryuji continued looking through brochures to see if they could find a job they liked. Once they found a few things they linked, they took the brochures and headed back home for the day.

The next day at school, there were some murmurs. Shiho was still home sick from school, but Kamoshida was also nowhere to be found. “I wonder what’s going on?” Ann asked Ren when they met up in the hall during break.

Ms. Kawakami walked up to them. “Oh. Hey.” The two girls turned to face her. “Listen, you're probably going to hear things, so I just want to get out ahead of it. Especially when it comes to you two.”

Ren was confused. “Why us?”

“Well, more so Takamaki-chan” Kawakami said. “I’ve...heard things. I didn’t believe them, of course, but…” She sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Ann sat in silence for a moment. “No. I get it. You were probably just as wrapped up in Kamoshida’s influence as I was…”

“Yeah…” Kawakami said, dejected. “Anyways, I wanted to tell you as well since he called you into his office on your first day here. I don’t know what happened, but it’s evident there’s something between you and him.”

“Nothing really happened,” Ren informed her. “Thanks to Ann here.”

Kawakami was shocked. “Ugh. This whole thing is making my head spin.”

“Are you alright?” Ren asked.

“...Maybe” Kawakami answered. “I’ve had better days.”

“So, what did you want to tell us?” Ann asked.

“Oh, right,” Kawakami said. “Kamoshida said he was taking a leave of absence. He said he needed to reflect a little bit.”

“Huh” Ann said.

“I’m letting you know because you know how rumors are,” Kawakami said. “I just wanted you to know the truth before things get out of hand.”

“I see,” Ren said.

“Well, thanks for listening,” Kawakami said. She walked off.

“Huh” Ann said. “I think I’m starting to see Kawakami-sensei in a new light. She seems genuinely concerned about us.”

Ren nodded. “However, it seems like something is troubling her as well.”

“Yeah. I wonder what that could be though” Ann said. “If we knew, we could help.”

“Yeah,” Ren said. “Anyway, let’s meet up with Ryuji after school and tell him about this.”

After school, they told Ryuji. “No way! For real?! So, you think the change of heart worked?”

“Probably” Morgana said, poking his head out. “But we won’t know for sure for a bit.”

“Aw man!” Ryuji said. “I was kind of hoping he’d confess already.”

“Remember: Patience is a virtue” Ren said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ryuji said.

The group overheard some voices. “So, Shiho is sick?”

“Yeah. I guess she’s also not moving forward with that plan of hers huh.”

“I guess not.”

“Man, why did we even agree to such a crazy idea?”

“I know, right? There’s no way the staff didn’t hear about this.”

“Hey, wanna just let them know Shiho was planning on doing that? You know, get out ahead of it?”

“What?!” Ren said.

“Those jerks!” Ryuji said.

“Shiho!” Ann said.

Before any of them could do something, a voice screamed at them. “HEY!”

The thieves were shocked. “Was that Mishima?” Ann asked. They went to investigate.

Sure enough, Mishima was staring down a crowd of students. “Don’t pretend you all weren’t in on this! Don’t pretend Shiho was the only one angry enough to do this! Lucky for me, I wasn’t. But I’ve been keeping tabs. For the record, the teachers had no idea that any of this was happening. But if you tell them, then I’m going to have to list you all off as willing participants. So, you have a choice to make: Either keep quiet, or I reveal each and every one of you who was willing to go along with it. What’s it gonna be?” The other students stood there frozen for a bit. They then quietly shuffled off. “That’s what I thought.”

“Woah!” Ryuji said. “Mishima’s really scary.”

“Yeah…” Ann said. “But he really stood up for Shiho.” She walked up to Mishima.

“Oh, Takamaki-chan,” Mishima said, surprised.

“Thanks...for being on Shiho’s side,” she told him.

“Oh. It was nothing” Mishima said. “We’re teammates after all.”

Ren and Ryuji walked over. “Dude…” Ryuji said.

“Oh, Hey Sakamoto. Amamiya” Mishima greeted.

“I’m stunned,” Ren said. “I wasn’t sure you had it in you.”

“Well, what can I say?” Mishima responded. “Hey, if you’re stunned now, just wait until I show you this surprise I’ve been working on.”

Ren was puzzled. “Surprise?”

“What is it?” Ryuji asked.

“Why would I tell you right away? It’s a surprise” Mishima said enthusiastically.

“Well, alright…” Ren said. “I’ll trust you on this.”

“That’s great. See ya later!” Mishima told them. He walked off.

“Man, that Mishima is quite the character” Morgana noted.

“Yeah” Ryuji said. “But I don’t think he’s a bad guy.”

“Yeah” Morgana agreed. “Just kind of weird.”

“I thought you weren’t the judgmental type” Ren said, reminding him of their conversation last night.

“Well...uh…” Morgana stammered.

Ren giggled. “Just kidding.” Morgana pouted.

“Well, at least Shiho won’t have to worry so much once she gets back,” Ann said.

“Yeah” Ryuji said. “I’m glad for that.”

“Same” Ren added.

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 7: Rude Awakening

The next morning, Ren was on her way to class when she heard yelling. “LISTEN ASSHOLE!” shouted the distinct voice of Ryuji. Ren went towards the sound of the voice. It turns out she wasn’t the only one, as several students had gathered to watch the scene play out. The scene in question was Ryuji yelling at Kamoshida.

Ryuji continued. “I’m trying to help you here!”

Kamoshida seemed to be sweating bullets, but he regained his composure enough to say “I don’t need help from scum like you. I could have you suspended, even expelled for something like this.”

“Grr” Ryuji growled. “This isn’t about you or me anymore! This is about other people! Why won’t you listen?”

“Alright, I’ll play along,” Kamoshida said. “You want me to stop doing what I’m doing.”

“YES!” Ryuji shouted back.

“Well, what I’m doing is cultivating young talent and pushing them to be the best they could be,” Kamoshida answered. “I’m doing it for the sake of the school. Are you telling me you want the school to fail, Sakamoto?”

Ryuji growled again. “Stubborn to the bitter end, eh?” He stomped his foot on the ground. “There’s no point in hiding it! Everyone knows what you’re doing!”

“Do they, now?” Kamoshida said. He looked around. “It seems you’ve amassed quite an audience. Alright: Public forum time! Whoever knows these things Sakamoto-kun says I’m doing, tell us now.” There was a resounding silence, as there were only three types of audience members. Those who were afraid of Kamoshida, those who were already on Shiho’s side, and Ren. “See? You got nothing!’

“THIS IS BULLSHIT!” Ryuji shouted. “FINE! You don’t want me helping you like this? I can think of plenty of other ways to help!”

“Is that a threat?” Kamoshida said.

“I’M TRYING TO SAVE YOU!” Ryuji yelled back. “Your life is in danger! And you know it too! I saw you at the volleyball rally! But if me trying my hardest not to knock all of your teeth out isn’t going to work, then screw it!” Ryuji stomped off.

Kamoshida had a moment of reflection. He then looked at the crowd and said “WELL?! Get to class!” The crowd dispersed.

At lunch, Ann turned to Ren and said “Hey, I heard Ryuji got into a shouting match with Kamoshida this morning.” Ren nodded. “Do you know what it was about?”

“I was there,” Ren answered.

“Really?!” Ann asked. “What happened?”

“Well, it seems he knows of the threat on Kamoshida’s life, but Kamoshida wouldn’t listen to him,” Ren explained.

“Wait, really?!” Ann said. “Heh.” Tears started to well up.

Ren noticed. “Are you OK?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh yeah” Ann said. “It’s just, I thought for sure he would go with Shiho once she explained what she was doing. I’m just glad he didn’t.”

Ren smiled. “I see.” She crossed her fingers in a Gendo Ikari way. “However, it did appear that he was going to do something drastic. We should probably act soon just to be safe.”

Ann nodded. “Let’s meet after school then.”

Meanwhile, Shiho was spending her lunch gaining more and more converts for the “setting the school on fire” plan. She approached Kasumi. “Hello, Yoshizawa-chan.”

“Oh, hey Suzui-senpai” Kasumi responded. “How are things going?”

Shiho smiled. “Couldn’t be better. Listen, I’m not sure if you know this, but be careful around Kamoshida.”

“Oh” Kasumi said, shocked, and then slightly sad.

Shiho picked up on this. “Oh no. Did something happen?”

“Well, yesterday, he tried to…” Kasumi began explaining. Shiho gritted her teeth. “But Ren-senpai saved me before things got serious.”

“I see,” Shiho said. “Well, how do you feel about getting back at Kamoshida?”

“Huh?” Kasumi said.

Shiho smiled. “Kamoshida is truly irredeemable. So I’m gathering people to help take him down.”

Kasumi was cautious. “Take him down how?”

“We’re going to set fire to the school with him inside it,” Shiho said seriously.

“WHAT?!” Kasumi said. “Th-that’s insane!”

“True, but so is Kamoshida,” Shiho said. “You can’t fight a monster with conventional methods.”

Kasumi glared at her. “‘Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.’”

“Huh?” Shiho said.

“That’s a quote I learned in class.” Kasumi said. “I forget who said it, but I think it’s true.”

Shiho was taken aback. She then smiled and said “It’s OK. You’re new here. You’ll understand soon enough.” Shiho walked away. Kasumi was worried.

After school, Ren and Ann were preparing to leave for the infiltration when they were stopped by Kasumi. “E-excuse me. Ren-senpai. May I talk with you for a minute?”

Ren looked at Ann. “It’s OK. We’ll meet up later.” Ren nodded. Ann left.

Ren turned back to Kasumi. “What’s up?”

“Um… Oh boy, this is difficult” Kasumi said. “...Is it true that Shiho-senpai is going to try and burn Kamoshida to death?”

Ren was surprised, then solemn. “She told you her plan then, huh?” Kasumi nodded. Ren smirked. “Don’t worry your pretty little head.” Kasumi looked up in awe. “Ann and I have a plan to make sure that doesn’t happen. It’ll be OK. Trust me.” Ren flashed a smile.

Kasumi was even more awestruck. She was blushing ever so slightly. “Well, that’s good to hear,” she said. Ren nodded and walked off.  Once Ren was away, Kasumi started to blush even more. “My heart. It’s jumping out of my chest for some reason. Why am I feeling this way?”

Ren met up with Ann in front of the school. “So, what was that about?” Ann asked.

Ren got serious. “She knows about Shiho’s plan. She was worried, so I had to reassure her.”

Ann was shocked. “Wait! You didn’t tell her about that other world, did you?”

Ren shook her head. “I just told her we were doing something about it.”

“Well, good, I guess…” Ann said. “I don’t know how people would react to that world.”

Ren cocked a grin. “I’m not sure how many people would even believe what we’ve been doing.”

“True,” Ann said. She looked over Ren and saw Ryuji. “Huh?” He was carrying a bag of stuff that looked like weapons. “That can’t be good.”

Ren looked over and saw what Ryuji was doing as well. “We should go before he does something.” She began navigating.

Meanwhile, Ryuji was muttering to himself. “He doesn’t want me to help with words, huh? I’ll show him.” He checked his phone. “Huh? That’s weird. I don’t remember installing this weird eye app on here.” Suddenly, the world morphed around him. “What the?!”

He found himself in the same village that Ren and Ann had traveled back and forth from. “What’s going on?!” He looked around and saw Ren and Ann, but didn’t recognize them because they were in their outfits. “Huh?!”

“Alright, you ready to go steal Kamoshida’s desires, or whatever?” Ann said.

“Of course” Ren replied.

Morgana met up with them. “Are you ready?” Ren nodded. “Good. Then let’s go.” Ren, Ann, and Morgana walked off.

“Was that a talking cat?” Ryuji asked. “Am I feeling OK? How do I check for that?”

“Halt!” said a knight.

“Woh! Wait!” Ryuji said.

“Are you here to attack the King?” the knight asked.

“KING?!” Ryuji asked.

“Hm. I guess you are” the knight said, answering his own question. “Just look at that bag!”

“Huh?” Ryuji said, confused.

“You’re coming with me” the knight said.

“Hold on!” Ryuji shouted as he was getting captured.

As Ren, Ann, and Morgana were walking, Ann asked “So, where is Kamoshida’s desire anyway?”

“It’s located within the heart of the castle,” Morgana answered. “We’re going to have to face a lot of tough opponents and challenges to get it. But I’m sure we can do it, right?” Ann stopped. Morgana and Ren stopped and turned to her. “Right?” Morgana asked.

“Well…” Ann said.

“You did come prepared with gear and medicine, right?” Morgana asked.

“Not...exactly” Ann said.

“WHAT?!” Morgana shouted.

“Well, something happened,” Ren said. “We think someone is going to do something today, so we just kind of jumped in head first.”

“I see…” Morgana said. “Well, in any case, there seems to be no movement on this end. I mean, more and more villagers are joining the resistance, but that seems to be expected. Surprisingly, a few have refused.” Ren smiled. Morgana was shocked. “Wait. Don’t tell me that was your doing?!”

“Well, I’m not sure,” Ren said. “One person said that they declined because of me, but that’s all I know.”

“I see,” Morgana said. “Heh. You really are special.”

“ATTENTION!” a voice rang out. “WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL PRESENTATION PROVIDED TO YOU BY THE KING! A PUBLIC EXECUTION!”

“Execution?!” Morgana said.

Ann growled. “Come on. Let’s go!” Ann ran towards the announcement. Ren followed behind her.

“Hey! Wait up!” Morgana called as he followed.

The trio arrived to see Ryuji tied to a stake with Shadow Kamoshida there surrounded by guards. “Wait! Those clothes!” Ann said. “Is that the real Ryuji?! How did he get here?!”

“I don’t know,” Morgana said. “You might have brought him in on accident?”

“Well well well” said Kamoshida to the tied up Ryuji. “You were planning on making a threat on my life now, weren’t you?”

Ryuji was struggling. “Huh? No. I just wanted to rough you up a bit! Enough to send you to a hospital or something!”

“So you don’t deny you were going to attack me” Kamoshida said.

Ryuji got pissed. “YOU DIDN’T WANT TO LISTEN TO ME SO THIS WAS MY ONLY CHOICE!”

“Huh? Listen? To YOU?!” Kamoshida said. “Why would I listen to scum like you in the first place?!”

“I’M TRYING TO SAVE YOU, ASSHOLE!” Ryuji shouted back.

“Save me? From the revolution?” Kamoshida said. “Please, it’s not like they can actually do anything.”

“What? Revolution?” Ryuji said, confused.

“No matter,” Kamoshida said. “I’ll deal with them after I deal with you. Let’s see what you brought in your bag of goodies.” Kamoshida began digging through Ryuji’s bag and pulled out an assortment of melee weapons. He then found a gun. “What’s this? So you were going to kill me after all.” He then pointed it at Ryuji. “Well, how ‘bout I just kill you with this then? A fitting end for such lowly scum.”

Ryuji smiled. “Go ahead.”

Ren, Ann, and Morgana were shocked. “RYUJI!” Ann shouted.

“Huh?” Ryuji said. Ren acted quickly. She ran up, jumped, grabbed the gun out of Kamoshida’s hands, and shot one of the knights with it, making them disappear. “HOLY SHIT!” Ryuji shouted.

“Tch. You again” Kamoshida said. “Take care of them!” The knights surrounded Ren. Morgana and Ann came into help. The three of them continued to fight.

“It’s no use,” Morgana said. There’s just too many of them!” Suddenly, the knights began disappearing one by one. “Huh?”

They looked out to see Shiho leading some revolutionaries to attack the knights. “CHARGE!” Shiho commanded. The revolutionaries attacked and overwhelmed the knights.

Ren and Ann looked at each other and nodded. They went to untie Ryuji. Once he was untied, Ryuji demanded “Someone please explain what’s going on here!”

“That’s going to take a while,” Ann said.

“Huh? Takamaki?” Ryuji said. He fell to the ground after being untied. He looked up at Ren. “Wait, and are you that transfer student?”

Meanwhile, Kamoshida was cowering in fear as all of his knights were defeated. “Now,” Shiho said, “it’s time we deal with you!” She rushed to stab Kamoshida with a sabre. Ren rushed between them. Shiho stopped. Kamoshida ran away to his castle.

Shiho glared at her. “He got away.”

“SHIHO!” Ann shouted. “We’re NOT letting you kill him!”

“She’s right,” Ren said.

Shiho was taken aback. “He has no qualms with killing you! Why should we care about him?

“We’re not stooping to his level!” Ann said. “Kamoshida is terrible! No one here can deny that fact! But you… you’re my best friend. I don’t want you to be terrible too…”

Shiho regained her composure. “Sorry Ann. I can’t let him live. Not after everything he’s done.” She looked up. “Before I got this power, I felt hopeless. I wanted to die.” Everyone was shocked. “But now I can make him feel as bad as he makes me feel. And I won’t allow anyone to stop me.”

“BULLSHIT!” Ryuji shouted. Everyone looked at him. “You go on and on about how terrible Kamoshida is, and how he makes you feel? You’re not special! Kamoshida took EVERYTHING from me. Of course there were points when I wanted to just die! But I’m not giving that bastard the satisfaction.” He continued. “You keep saying there’s no other way. You may be right for all I know. But I don’t want you to do that! If it’s something dirty, just leave it to me! I’m already the lowest of the low. I’m not letting you come down here with me! Not while you can still make something of yourself! Not while you still have a chance!”

A powerful looking night came by, along with some support. “Quit disturbing the peace!”

“NO!” Ryuji shouted. “Not until Kamoshida stops disturbing ours!”

“Very well then” the knight said. “Looks like that execution will be taking place after all.” They began to attack.

“You say that now, but soon Kamoshida will be executed!” Shiho shouted.

“HELL NO!” Ryuji shouted. “DAMMIT!”

“You made me wait quite a while” a voice in Ryuji’s head. He began to struggle some more. “You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact. Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc? The ‘other you’ who exists within desires it thus.”

“Yes” Ryuji said, a mask forming on his face.

“I am thou, thou art I...There is no turning back...The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!”

Ryuji ripped off his mask, causing blood to flow down his face. “CAPTAIN KIDD!” After a burst of energy, Ryuji was now wearing a black dress shirt and black pants, with a skeletal structure on his shirt, elbow pads, knee pads, a red ascot, and bright yellow gloves. Behind him was his Persona, Captain Kidd. Everyone was in awe. “Alright, let’s take them down!” Ryuji and Captain Kidd dealt with the powerful shadow. Ren, Ann, and Morgana took out the other ones that they had brought along.

“Hell yeah!” Ryuji said. He pointed at Shiho. “And now YOU!”

Ren, Ann, and Morgana were distressed. “Ryuji wait!” Ann called out.

“Huh?” Ryuji said. Shiho ran away. Ryuji collapsed again.

“RYUJI!” Ann called out.

“Let’s get him out of here,” Morgana said.

Ren nodded. “Why don’t you come too?” she asked.

“Good idea,” Morgana said. He looked at Ryuji’s bag. “We should take that with us as well.” The four of them returned to the real world.

They hid in an alley right outside the school. “Ryuji, are you OK?” Ann asked.

Ryuji groaned a little bit. “Yeah. I think so” he answered. “I’m really tired though.”

“As to be expected when one first awakens to their Persona” Morgana said. Ren and Ann looked down to see an actual black cat instead of the form Morgana took in the Metaverse.

Ryuji looked at him too. “Um, why is that cat talking?”

“Well… how should we explain this?” Ann asked.

“Let’s just go over everything we know,” Ren said. “It might be easier once he knows the whole story.”

“Agreed,” Ann said. “Though, even I’m having trouble grasping some of the concepts.”

Ann, Ren, and Morgana did their best to explain what was going on to Ryuji. “Slow down,” Ryuji said. “So, basically, that was another world? And it’s being manipulated by Kamoshida and Suzui? And Suzui is being helped by some mysterious force?”

“Basically…” Ann said.

“And we can make sure that Suzui doesn’t kill Kamoshida AND make Kamoshida confess to all the shit he’s done?”

“Right,” Ren said.

“Heh” Ryuji said. “Count me in!” Everyone was surprised. “I mean, I don’t get everything about what’s going on, but all of it sounds good, right?”

“Right,” Morgana said.

Ryuji looked at him. “By the way, how are you talking?”

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering that myself” Ann said.

Morgana groaned. “It’s kind of hard to explain. But basically, since you can hear me talk in that other world, you can hear me talk in this one too.”

“Oh. I think I get it” Ann said.

“OK. So, what about the gun?” Ryuji asked.

“Oh yeah. You brought a gun with you” Ren said. “Are you sure you weren’t going to kill Kamoshida?”

“OF COURSE I WASN’T” Ryuji said. “It’s a model gun! A fake! But it looked real, so I thought Kamoshida might be intimidated by it.”

“That would explain it!” Morgana said. The three humans looked at him. “Since the world is a cognitive one, they thought it was a real gun. And since they thought that, it became real.”

“Holy shit” Ryuji said.

“That sounds kind of dangerous,” Ann said.

“True, but if we had other weapons like that, we’d have a good advantage going in,” Ren said.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself” Morgana said. “It’d be great if we could get some stuff to recharge us there as well.” The gang nodded.

“So, our plan is as follows:” Ren said. “Gather up supplies, and then once we do, take care of this Palace thing before the meeting.”

“Right!” everyone else said.

“By the way, what are we going to do about this one?” Ann asked, looking at Morgana.

“I can’t take him in,” Ryuji said.

“Um, if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to go with Ren” Morgana said. “After all, I was created to guide her.”

“Oh, um, sure,” Ren said.

“Then it’s settled,” Morgana said. “Um, can I ride in your bag?”

“Oh, um, sure” Ren repeated. She lowered her bag so that Morgana could hop in. Once she readjusted herself, she looked at Ann and Ryuji and said “Alright! I’ll contact you both when we’re ready to get this train a rollin’!”

“Oh, uh, shouldn’t we get each other’s contact information” Ryuji said, nervously.

“Smooth,” Ann said. “But you’re right.” The three of them exchanged numbers. “And done!”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting!” Ryuji said. “But man, am I in the mood for some meat right now. I’m going to go head home. Seeya!” Ryuji left.

“We should probably leave as well,” Ann said. Ren nodded, and the two of them started walking to the station. Ann seemed hesitant about something. “Um, Ren?” She looked at Ann. “What do you think about Ryuji?”

Ren smiled. “He’s a bit hot-headed, but I think he’s a good person under it all.”

Ann smirked. “Yeah. He is.” She looked distant again. “But that’s not what I meant.”

“Then how do you mean?” Ren asked.

Ann shook her head. “Never mind,” she said.

“Well, I’m here if you need me,” Ren said.

Ann looked at Ren. “Thanks.” They arrived at the station and went their separate ways.

Ren walked in to see a blue-haired goth-punk woman sitting at one of the booths. “Hi there,” she said.

“Hello yourself” the blue-haired woman replied. “What are you doing here so late? I didn’t think this was the kind of place teenagers hung out at at night?”

“Well, uh…” Ren spouted.

Sojiro walked out of the kitchen and saw what’s going on. “Hey! No talking to the customers!” he said sternly. “Sorry if she bothered you, doctor?”

The apparent doctor smiled. “It’s fine. It seems I might have bothered her more. Well, I’ll be going now.” She left Leblanc.

Sojiro sighed. Ren looked over. “Am I that much of a bother to you?”

Sojiro was surprised. “No. I agreed to take you in. I should take more responsibility. Just get upstairs.”

Ren walked up the stairs and let Morgana out. “Hey, did you hear?” he asked.

“Which part?” Ren asked.

“That lady was a doctor,” Morgana said. “Maybe we can get some medicine from her!”

Ren smiled. “You’re right. She seems to be close by, so let’s look around tomorrow.”

“What’s all this racket?” Sojiro said, coming up. He was shocked. “A cat?! Grrrr. This a restaurant. Animals are a no go.” He thought about it. “Then again, if you had something like this to focus on, you might stay out of trouble. Just be careful.”

“I will,” Ren said. “He’s smarter than he looks.”

“Where'd you even get this guy anyway?” Sojiro asked.

“I found him wandering around,” Ren answered. “He seemed lonely, so I helped him out, and now he’s taken quite a liking to me.”

“Hm. Well, I guess cats don’t see things like arrest records” Sojiro said. “Have you, uh, decided on a name?”

Ren smiled. “Morgana.”

“Morgana huh” Sojiro said.

“You sound disappointed,” Ren replied.

“Well, I was kind of hoping I could name it,” he admitted. “Hold on.” He went back downstairs.

Morgana seemed confused. “This was the guy you were telling me about on the way back, huh? It’s weird. He places up here in a dingy attic, but he also appears to have a soft side to him, huh.”

“Yeah, he’s a hard one to pin down,” Ren said. “But it wouldn’t be fun if it were so easy.”

Sojiro walked back up with a plate with some leftover food. “Here” He set it down for Morgana.

“Wow,” Morgana said. He started going to town on it.

“Heh” Sojiro said. “What a talkative little guy.” He looked at Ren. “Make sure he doesn’t speak up during business hours.”

“Got it,” Ren said.

“Oh, and wash that plate once he’s done,” Sojiro said. “I’m going to go close up, so you’ll have the opportunity to do so.”

“You never miss a beat, do you Sojiro?” Ren said, smiling. Sojiro was taken aback. He then smiled, and headed out.

Once Morgana was done, Ren went and cleaned the plate. When she got back up there, Morgana was excited. “Alright, now that that’s settled, it’s time I help you prepare one more thing.”

“What’s that?” Ren asked.

“Infiltration tools” Morgana said. “Here, let’s use this desk.” Ren looked at the desk across from her bed. She cleared it off and sat down. “Alright, let’s begin.” Morgana instructed Ren about making tools. Ren seemed to get the hang of it, but even then she wasn’t great at it. “It’s OK. Not everyone is great at things their first time.”

Once Ren finished crafting a few things, Morgana complimented her. “Great work.”

“Thanks,” Ren replied. “By the way, why come here?” she asked. “I know you were created to help me, but...

“Wel…” Morgana said. “To be completely honest, I was hoping you would help me out too.” Ren was curious. “See, while I was made to guide you, what I was to guide you to has changed drastically. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be anymore. I feel listless. So I thought, maybe, you could help me find my place too.”

Ren smiled. “It’s OK, kitty” She hugged him and scratched his chin. “I’m trying to find my place now too. But I can help you.” Morgana fussed. Ren stopped. “Too much?”

“No. It was just a bit sudden is all” he replied. He sighed. “I guess I’m a cat to most people, but I know I’m more than that. So why am I still a cat? If things have changed, why couldn’t I have been a human?”

“Do you not like being a cat?” Ren asked.

“Well, it’s not so bad…” Morgana said. “I just need to think things through.”

Ren smiled. “Well, you’ve been so helpful in the metaverse, I guess I can help you sort this out.”

Morgana smirked. “It’s a deal!”

I am thou... Thou art I… Thou hast acquired a new vow...

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Magician Persona I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.

“Well, we should go to sleep. We’ve got some work we gotta do tomorrow!” Morgana said.

“Right,” Ren said. There was a silence. “Um, if you don’t mind, could you not look as I get changed?”

“Of course” Morgana said. “After all, I am a true gentleman.” He looked away as Ren changed into her nightwear. The two of them then placed themselves on the bed and fell asleep.