Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Monday, February 14 

MORNING 

“Nanako-chan, did you make chocolates for anyone?” 

Nanako Dojima looked up from her phone, caught off-guard by the question.

“Oh, uh, no! Not this year!” she said with a big smile. The two girls sitting in front of her, Hana and Hanako, weren’t really Nanako’s friends, but they were friendly enough. Hanako looked disappointed.

“Aw. I thought for sure if anyone was going to have a special someone for Valentine’s Day it’d be you.” 

“Me?” 

“Well, obviously,” said Hana. “You’re beautiful, smart, nice, a well-respected member of the student council. You’re a total catch.” 

“Aha, you’re being too nice,” said Nanako. “Besides, I don’t really have time for a boyfriend right now.” 

“Such a dependable thing to say,” Hanako said with a dreamy sigh. “If I were more like you, maybe I’d have a boyfriend…” 

The morning chime rings and the class settles down. The door swung open and the homeroom teacher strode in confidently - if a tiny bit late.

“Good morning, class.” 

The class answered in unison: 

“Good morning, Hanamura-sensei.” 

And another day began. 

Maybe it was because it was homeroom and Yosuke was her teacher, or maybe because it was Valentine’s Day, or maybe it was because of the dreams she was having lately, but Nanako couldn’t concentrate. Her mind felt like it was in a fog, drifting from thought to thought, never quite coalescing into a meaning train. 

Everything felt empty. 

Empty was a good word for it. Once the word crossed her mind, she realized it described the feeling she’d been having for a while. 

As the Hanas had said, Nanako was doing well. Her grades and class ranking were good, she was well-liked, she had a lot of responsibility in the student council, she even did well on the volleyball team. By all markers of modern Japanese society, she should be happy - riding the high of being on top of her game. And sure, maybe she didn’t have a pile of chocolate on her desk, but that wasn’t what she was missing, either. There had been a couple of boys who had flirted with her early in the year, but she had shut that down immediately. She could have led that along, if getting a boyfriend had been important to her. 

But it wasn’t.

Nor was doing well in school, or being liked by her classmates. 

Nanako went through the motions, because she was expected to, and she cared enough to not ruin her future by slacking off. 

But where was the meaning? 

She flipped her notebook open to a blank page and started making a list. 

“Things that are important.” 

Number one: Dad. 

Ryotaro Dojima was still a cop through and through, but things had gotten so much better in the last ten years. Especially seven years ago.

Number two: Mom. 

Against all odds, Ryotaro Dojima had fallen in love when Nanako was 8. And against all odds, he got married when Nanako was 9. Her name was Kaho, and if Nanako had sat down and written a list of traits she wanted in a mother, she would’ve had a perfect score. She was kind to Nanako, loved her father enough to be stern with him when he needed it and yet care for him and his tremendous stress. She was an amazing cook, loved to go on day trips and vacations, and make even the simple things a celebration. 

Nanako remembered when she was ten when she asked if she could call Kaho “mom.” Not that Nanako felt any disrespect to her birth mother, Chisato, but…her memory had already started to fade by then. Nanako had been so young when she died. But Kaho worked hard to always honor Chisato during important holidays, and the whole family always celebrated her birthday. 

Number three: Big bro. 

Yu was back in Tokyo, living the city life and working on his career. He came to Inaba often, though, and her fondness for Yu had never faded. 

Even if she had since backed off her childhood dreams of marrying him. 

Number four, in no particular order: Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, Naoto, Teddie, and Yosuke. The rest of her family, the people she could count on day or night, no matter how far away  they were or how long it had been since they talked. 

Number five: ____.

She thought for a few minutes, but couldn’t think of a number five. 

And maybe that was the problem. 

She hadn’t found anything for herself that was important. 

Her closest friends were actually big bro’s friends - people that were ten years older than her and in the middle of building their careers. And while she loved them dearly, and they her, they weren’t…peers. Somehow in that bizarre summer of 2011, they had become bonded together. 

If Nanako was honest with herself, she had to admit that she’d been waiting for the same thing to happen to her. She figured that once she got to high school, she’d find her own group - just like big bro and his friends. 

But they didn’t appear.

“Didn’t appear yet,” Nanako whispered to herself. There was still time. She was ending her first year, but there were two more to go. Maybe being amazing would pay off in the long run and she’d find her forever friends. 

“Dojima,” the kid in front of her whispered. She looked up from her notebook and saw that he was passing back a worksheet.

“Sorry,” Nanako whispered and took her assignment. 

Chapter Text

“Dojima-san! There’s a problem!” 

Nanako looked up from her lunch. Two girls from class 1-C had just burst into the room, looking a little out of breath. She ran through her mental list: Emiko Ito and Fumi Gara. She didn’t know either personally, so this must be a student government issue. 

“How can I help?” Nanako asked. Ito looked around, then leaned in close to whisper. 

“We were just peeped on. And I think he took pictures, too.” 

Nanako got to her feet immediately, scowling.

“Who?” 

“It was Okura,” Gara whispered. 

Sadao Okura, class 1-B. Nanako was in his class in middle school. He was a quiet kid, smaller than most of the other boys, and preferred to read than join in any school events. Nanako had a few conversations with him in middle school, and he’d always been polite. Peeping seemed out of character for him - but she had to admit that she didn’t really know him. 

“I’ll handle this,” Nanako declared. Both of the girls looked relieved, and Nanako knew why. Accusing someone like that, without proof, could be messy. If Nanako did it on behalf of them and the student government, Nanako would be protected from retaliation. 

It made Nanako angry to think that the system was so stacked against the victims, but she didn’t have time to fume about it now. She strode out of her classroom and into the hallway. First she went to Okura’s classroom, but he wasn’t there. 

Maybe he snuck off to the library? 

She went to the second floor, but he wasn’t there either. And the allotted lunch time was running out. 

The roof? 

It was what her gut told her, and seeing as she didn’t have any other leads, she went with it. She rushed up the stairs and pushed onto the roof.

Okura was perched beneath one of the solar panels, clutching his head. 

“Okura!” Nanako yelled, pointing her finger across the distance. There wasn’t anyone else on the roof. 

“A-ah! Dojima-san!” Okura stumbled, trying to get off the solar panel, but instead he hit his head on the underside of the panel. His glasses skittered across the roof. He fell to his hands and knees, groping around for the glasses while still wincing from his head. 

“Why would you do something like that? You know you’ll have to turn yourself in, right?”

“I-I didn’t do it!” he yelped, practically squeaking. “Dojima, you have to help me, I’m being framed!” 

Nanako paused and examined her suspect. “The truth comes slowly” her dad had always told her. If she rushed to conclusions, then she might miss out on a clue. If she waited a little, he might give himself up. 

“Explain, then,” Nanako said, crossing her arms. 

“I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was walking down the hallway, past the classroom. All the guys were outside waiting for the girls to finish changing. Then Ueno slid the door open and took a bunch of pictures with his phone. The speakers was still on and the sound of the click was still very audible. It just so happened that I was looking at my phone at the same time. Before I could do anything, Ueno grabbed me and yelled that I was the one peeping and taking pictures.” 

Daizo Ueno, son of a local politician and all-around irritating rich asshole. Nanako had the distinct displeasure of seeing him at a few events the police held every year. He hit on every girl he met and acted like he was doing them a favor. 

“Let me see your phone,” Nanako said.

“Huh? Why?” 

“If you didn’t do it, you wouldn’t have pictures on your phone,” she said. Okura nodded slowly and reached into his pocket, handing it to her. 

“B-but, it’s been about twenty minutes, isn’t that enough time to delete the pictures?” 

“Mm, true, but there’s always data ghosts we could look for. For the record, Okura, I believe you. I still need to bring this to the principal, but once we show him your clean phone and Ueno’s probably-dirty phone, it’ll all get sorted out.” 

“Really?” 

“Really,” Nanako said with a reassuring smile. “Let me hold onto the phone in the meantime, just so we can prove you didn’t tamper with it.” 

“Okay, that’s a good idea,” Okura said. His breathing was starting to get under control again. 

“Don’t worry, Okura. Justice will be served.” 

Chapter Text

AFTER SCHOOL

“I’m afraid we’ll have to contemplate expulsion over this,” the principal said.

Okura looked like he was going to fall over and die. 

“What?!” Nanako yelled. It took every ounce of self-control she had to not leap out of the chair. “But didn’t you hear what I said? Ueno was the one who took the pictures, I’ve had Okura’s phone all day.” 

“But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have deleted the pictures,” the principal said dryly. 

“That can be checked. The police have methods of looking for data ghosts - traces of old information that remains on a computer or phone even after it’s been deleted.” 

“Ms. Dojima, I don’t have any intention of bothering the police with a school matter.” 

“My father is a detective, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind-” 

“Dojima,” the principal interrupted. “You’ve done your duty as a member of the student government, and I thank you for that. However, this is now no longer your concern. This is now a matter for Okura and his parents. You must leave.” 

Nanako stood. She opened her mouth. 

The rage inside her belly felt like it could incinerate the whole school. But she said nothing. 

“Yes sir,” she said. She turned around, but looked at Okura before walking out.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“You tried. Thank you,” Okura said. He voice quavered. 

Nanako went into the hallway before the tears could escape. They felt boiling hot on her cheeks, as if superheated by her rage. 

Ueno. 

She stormed down the stairs and through the front gates of Yasogami High. Ueno was sauntering down the street with a couple of his buddies when Nanako caught up to him.

“Ueno! You liar!” 

The group of guys turned around. 

“Oh snap, Daizo, I didn’t know you got it in with Dojima. Nice!” 

“Looks like you pissed her off though, what’d you do?” 

“Hey man, be careful, her dad’s a cop.” 

Ueno ignored the comments. 

“What’s up, Nana-chan?” 

“Don’t call me that. And you know what’s up. You took some pictures of the girls in 1-C, then you blamed it on Okura!” 

“Did I?” 

“You did, and you know it. You have to go in and tell them the truth, the principal is talking about expelling Okura!” 

“So? Shouldn’t he be expelled? Sexual harassment is a big deal. He should be punished for those horrible acts.” 

“But you’re the one that committed them! He’s innocent, and you’re about to ruin his life!” 

“So you want me to ruin mine, instead? Why do you get to decide who’s punished and who’s not? Are you God?” Ueno said. 

“Come on, you gotta be kidding me, your dad wouldn’t let something bad like that happen to you, you’d probably just get a slap on the…” 

And then it clicked for her. 

As much as she hated the idea, she had thought that if Ueno turned himself in he’d get a reprimand and then let go, because his father was too influential. But she was wrong.

This was his father’s influence. He didn’t want his son in any type of trouble, so he was more than willing to sacrifice Okura. 

“You…” Nanako said through grit teeth. 

“Ah, you finally understand. Listen, Nana-chan, it’s been great, but I gotta get going. But hey, if you wanna see me sometime, just text me.” 

He winked. He and his crew sauntered down the road. 

“Darn it,” Nanako hissed to herself. 

Normally Nanako went straight home, but today she let herself wander the streets of Inaba. 

It wasn’t fair. 

None of it. 

Even the principal, whom she had respected, wasn’t above the petty influence of politicians. There was probably money involved, too. 

And Okura…Okura, who had always tried to blend in, to never be noticed. Now he was noticed and going to suffer for it. 

Would he go to court? To jail? 

Would that record follow him the rest of his life?

Her wandering took her into the Tatsuhime Shrine. She wasn’t very religious, so she usually only came to the shrine when it had to do with her mother. But right now, the place was calm and spiritual.

“Why is it I’m nothing but anger and emptiness?” Nanako said to the shrine. The ema, the wooden wishes, jostled a little with the wind. 

“I used to be so happy. And I still am but…when something like this happens…I just…” 

She reached into her bag and pulled out some coins and placed them into the shrine box. Then she picked up one of the blank ema and started writing on it with a marker. When she finished it, she read it aloud. 

“I wish for Justice, and for Okura to be spared this unjust fate.” 

She put it on the shrine and bowed her head in a small prayer. 

“How serious are you about that wish?” 

Nanako spun around. 

Sitting nearby was a beautiful fox with a red apron tied around its neck. Nanako’s eyes widened.

“Hey…I remember you,” she said. “Did…did you just talk?” 

“Over here, Dojima.” 

Nanako heard the voice again, but it was more to her left. Nanako turned her head and saw the figure standing nearby. 

“O-oh. Oops.”

She looked at the fox. She could swear it smiled at her before it padded off. 

She turned back to the figure and swallowed.

It was Ren Amamiya. 

Ren Amamiya was Nanako’s crush back in year one of middle school.

There was something…otherwordly, about him. He was graceful, even at that age. He was tall and lithe, like a cat. His eyes were strikingly beautiful. And he was so effortlessly stylish. Even in his school uniform, the way he carried himself just oozed confidence and darkness. Not an evil darkness -  a mysterious one. Like he was just a little bit dangerous.

Of course, he was also a little bit of a prankster in middle school, which had contributed to the fading of her crush in the middle of year two. But there was still something about him that made Nanako nervous. Especially since he’d matured in the last year of high school.

“Amamiya-kun,” Nanako said. “It’s not polite to listen to other people’s wishes.” 

“You wrote it on an ema. Anyone can see it,” he pointed out.

“That’s not the point,” she said, trying to sound indignant. 

“You didn’t answer my question. How serious are you about that wish?” 

“Very. Something happened today with Okura, from-” 

“I know. I was there.” 

“You were?” Nanako said, shocked.

“Yes. I saw what happened. It was definitely Ueno, and Okura’s taking the fall for it. And I’m sure his dad had something to do with it,” Amamiya said. 

“That’s what I thought too. But if you saw it, you can be a witness. You can go in tomorrow and tell the principal, and-” 

“And nothing will happen.” 

“But that’s evidence!” 

“Did you have any evidence today?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did, Okura’s phone. If I can get it to the police station, they can determine with certainty whether or not Okura took any pictures.” 

“Then why didn’t you do that?” 

“The principal kept the phone and said it wasn’t a police matter.” 

“So you have hard evidence that could prove his innocence, but the principal isn’t acting on it. What makes you think my testimony would do anything?” 

He had a point. Nanako frowned, and crossed her arms. 

“Okay, so then I guess you can’t help me.” 

“I didn’t say that. Your dad’s a cop, right? He could check for the data, couldn’t he?” 

Nanako almost laughed at the thought of her father trying to check data. He was a good detective, but he still struggled with technology. That wasn’t the point Amamiya was making though, so she just nodded.

“Okay. So we get the phone, you run the test, and then the cops can figure out the rest.” 

“We can’t get the phone, the principal still has it. I’m sure it’s locked in his office,” Nanako said. 

“I can get it. I just need a little help from you.” 

“Get it? You mean steal it?” 

Amamiya shrugged. “It’s not their phone, it’s Okura’s. Just think of it as getting it back for him.” 

“Okay, I get it. This is a joke. You listened to me pour my heart out in front of this shrine and you felt like the best thing to do was tell a joke. Way to go, joker. You’ve just rubbed a pound of salt into my wound.” 

“The school gates are shut when club activities are done. Then there’s an alarm system that goes up. Anyone that steps on campus after that time has to enter an alarm code within in twenty seconds. The doors are pretty simple locks, but the alarm is the major problem.” 

“…You’re telling me you can pick the locks?” Nanako asked.

“Just a hobby of mine,” Amamiya said before flashing his dashing smile. Nanako’s heart skipped a beat. 

He wasn’t wearing his glasses, she realized. At the beginning of the year, he had started wearing glasses. And he’d started slumping more, being more quiet in class, and disconnecting from his friends. At school he was almost like Okura. 

But now…now he was back to his old self. In fact, he was even more cool and stylish than before. 

“Let’s pretend I’m going to ignore the fact you’re breaking and entering and just tackle this pragmatically. You obviously have thought about how to get in, so you must have a way to deal with the alarm, right?” 

“No. That’s why I need you,” he said. “See, the principal changes the alarm code every six weeks, and only he and the vice-principal know it.” 

“What does that have to do with me?” 

“There’s one little exception to the alarm system. The police have their own universal code they enter into an alarm system when they respond to a call. I need you to get that code.” 

“What?!” 

“It’s the only way the plan works. You get me the code, I break and and grab the phone, hand it to you, and we go our separate ways,” Amamiya said. 

“This is…insane! I can’t do this. My dad’s a cop! Not to mention how wrong it is to break in and steal something!” 

“More wrong than ruining a kid’s life?” 

She didn’t have an answer for that. 

“This is why I asked you how serious you were. I can grant you the wish, but you have to have the stomach to do your end, otherwise I can’t do anything,” Amamiya siad. “So, are you serious?” 

“…I need to think about it.” 

Amamiya nods once, reaching into his pocket and pulling on a pair of glasses. 

“You probably have a couple of days, at most. Think quickly.” 

Nanako watched as he hunched over and blended back into his un-assuming posture. She wanted to say something else to him, but she suddenly felt disoriented and dizzy.

There was something about…putting on glasses…it felt familiar and somehow important…

She shook her head and looked around at the shrine. The fox was standing nearby again.

“What do you think I should do?” 

The fox looked at her, then walked over to the ema. The fox pawed one of them, then walked away. Curious, Nanako walked over. It was the ema that immediately next to one she hung. 

“I wish for evil hearts to change,” Nanako read aloud. 

She sighed.

That would be nice, wouldn’t it? 

Chapter Text

-EVENING- 

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” 

“Hm?” Nanako looked up from her plate to see her mom setting a small package of chocolate in front of her. “Oh, thanks.” 

“Everything all right?” 

“Yes, just…thinking about something.” 

Nanako watched as her mom stared at her. Then she looked over to her dad, who was engrossed in his own thoughts. 

Mom nudged dad. 

“Hm?” Dad said. Mom made a meaningful look at dad, dad looked obliviously back at her. 

Mom sighed.

“You two are too much alike…” 

That made Nanako smile. 

“Dad, what do you do when the people in power above you do the wrong thing?” 

Nanako had to be careful with this. She wanted to know what her dad’s thoughts were, but he was a detective, and there was part of his detective brain that never turned off. Already the wheels were turning, trying to figure out why Nanako was asking.

“Depends. Sometimes I report it. Sometimes, unfortunately, I have to let it go. Why do you ask?” 

Interesting, he was trying for the direct approach. 

“Oh, it’s for a school paper,” Nanako said casually. This seemed to relax dad a little, but she could tell he didn’t entirely believe her.

“Ah. Well, to keep it vague…sometimes the laws aren’t written in a way that help people. Sometimes they are, but the people enforcing them interpret them in a way that isn’t helping the common person. Politicians, judges, all sorts of people in power play around with the law to get what they want. It’s sickening, but there’s only so much someone like me can do. If my bosses are the ones committing the corruption, who am I supposed to report it to?” 

Nanako nodded. “That makes sense. So let’s say an injustice was committed, and someone wanted to clear that person’s name. But to do it, some laws would have to be broken. How would you feel about that?” 

Dad laughed, shook his head, and took a drink of his beer. 

“I’m not a philosopher, Nanako.” 

“I know, but I still want to know what you think.” 

“Well, I think that would be fine,” mom interjected. “After all, a lot of horrible things that have happened in history have been perfectly legal.” 

“True,” dad said.  “As a police officer, I would be obligated to try and stop or catch the person breaking the law, even if it was for a good reason. Laws sometimes fail people, but in general they’re needed for society, and the minute people start taking the law into their own hands is the minute we start falling back into a world where the strongest get to make the rules. If a law doesn’t work, then it should be changed. That’s what the legislators and lawyers are for.” 

Nanako nodded, and used all of her willpower to keep herself looking politely interested. Inside, however, she felt completely crushed. It was the answer she was fearing, and now that she’d heard it, there was no way that-

“But…as a person…” dad took another sip of beer. “I guess it would depend on the injustice. But if it was clearly wrong, and there was no room for error…I would privately cheer them on.” 

Nanako smiled.

“Thanks, dad. That’ll help a lot with my paper.” 

Chapter Text

-MORNING- 

“Dangit, come on, where did it go…” 

Nanako had entered her classroom a little early. Yosuke was crawling around on the floor. She looked around, and seeing that no one else was there yet, said: 

“What’re you looking for, Yosuke?” 

Yosuke jumped up and hit his head on the desk.

“Ow…Nanako, I told you, Hanamura-sensei when we’re at school.” 

“There’s no one else here,” Nanako pointed out.

“Ah…still!” 

Yosuke pulled himself out from under the desk, rubbing his head. 

“I’m trying to find my phone.” 

“Did you leave it on the ground?” 

“No. I usually lock it in the drawer over in the desk. I could have sworn I put it there this morning and locked it when I got here. But I just opened it and it’s gone.” 

“Huh. Do you want me to call it?” 

“Oh yeah, good idea.” 

Nanako slipped out her phone and hit Yosuke’s number in her contact list. She listened to it ring.

But they heard nothing in the classroom.

“Darn it. That was a new model too…” 

“Do you have a tracking app on it?” 

“Yeah, I tried that, the computer said the last time it was pinged was here in the classroom, but it’s not pinging now. Maybe it ran out of power, too.” 

“I’m sorry, Yosuke.” 

The bell rings.

“Class is starting soon…if you see it, let me know, would you?” Yosuke said.

“Of course,” Nanako said. 

Chapter Text

AFTER SCHOOL 

Pi pi pi. 

Nanako’s phone went off right as class ended. She frowned and pulled it out. There was a message from Yosuke. 

YOSUKE: Meet me on the roof.

That was a weird request. Nanako messaged back.

NANAKO: You found your phone?

YOSUKE: Hurry, I won’t wait long.

That was very strange. Nanako tried calling back, but it went straight to voicemail. 

There was nothing else to do but head up to the roof. 

She shouldn’t have been surprised to see Amamiya waiting for her there, but somehow she was. She looked around.

“Where’s Hanamura-sensei?” 

“Right here,” Amamiya said, holding up a phone. With it’s bright orange case, there was no mistaking it - it was Yosuke’s phone.

“Hey! That’s not funny, taking a teacher’s phone could get you in big trouble.”

“Which is why I’m turning it in to the student government,” Amamiya said, holding it in front of him. Nanako took it.

“How did you send a message?” she asked. 

“He doesn’t lock his phone.” 

“…Seriously?” Nanako sighed. “Where did you find it?” 

“In the drawer.” 

“…The locked drawer? Or does he not lock that either?” 

“He did. It just didn’t stop me.” 

“What are you trying to accomplish here?” 

“Just showing you that I’m serious. I have the skills to pull off our mission, if you decide to go through with it. I didn’t want you having any doubts.” 

Nanako studied Ren Amamiya for a long moment. 

“Are you like…some sort of thief?” 

Amamiya laughed. “No. I just like tinkering with tools and stuff. Locks are fun to pick. I could teach you.” 

“No thanks.” 

“Have you decided?” 

“…Not yet. One more day.” 

“If we don’t move soon, you’ll lose your chance. Okura’s parents were called in yesterday, and I heard they’re coming back today to continue discussions with the principal. It doesn’t look good.” 

“That doesn’t mean that breaking in and stealing something is the right thing to do,” Nanako said. 

“You might be right. It might not even help. But I want to try.” 

“Why?” asked Nanako. “Is he your friend?” 

“No, not really.” 

“…Then you have to have some sort of reason…?” Nanako pushed. 

“I just understand what he’s going through right now. And if I can help him, I want to.” 

Though he was still wearing his glasses and slumped over, a little bit of his dark intensity returned. He seemed to realize it, and slumped back over. 

“Give me your contact info,” Nanako said. 

He did so. 

“I’ll let you know by tonight.” 

Amamiya nodded, then strode away through the roof door. 

Nanako checked Yosuke’s phone. True to Amamiya’s word, Yosuke didn’t have a password set on it. She went into the messages app to delete the ones sent to her, but found that Amamiya had already done that. 

She walked back into school and went to the faculty offices and requested to see Yosuke. When she got there, he was shuffling through his things on the desk.

“I found it,” Nanako said, holding up the phone. Yosuke sighed with relief.

“Thank you! Where’d you find it?” 

“On the roof,” Nanako said, without thinking. Yosuke frowned.

“How the hell did it get there?” 

Nanako shrugged. “Maybe someone put it up there as a prank.” 

“Psh, they call that a prank? Man, back when I was in school…” he suddenly snapped his mouth shut, realizing where he was. “Well, anyway, thanks.” 

“Yosuke…can I tell you something?” 

“Huh? Sure, Nanako-chan. Sit down.” 

Nanako told Yosuke about Okura and Ueno, excluding the parts about Amamiya and his plan. When she was done, Yosuke looked determined.

“You’re right Nanako. I’m going to talk to the principal right now.” 

Relief flooded through Nanako. Maybe she wouldn’t have to worry about making any decisions at all. The system was going to work as intended, because good people worked inside of it: people like Yosuke, and her bro, and her dad. She didn’t have to go breaking the law to make things right. 

She just had to tattle. 

Yosuke walked down towards the principal’s office, and Nanako decided to loiter in the hallway. There was no way she was going to be able to relax until she found out the results, so she might as well wait for them. 

Twenty minutes pass. 

Yosuke came out, his face unreadable. He let out a sigh, clenched his fists, then, strangely, reached into a pocket on the inside of his coat. He pulled out a pair of orange-rimmed glasses and looked at them. 

Then he saw Nanako.

“Oh, Nanako. I didn’t know you were waiting,” he said, slipping the glasses into his pocket.

“Did everything work out?” 

“…I’m sorry, Nanako. I’m really, really sorry. The principal won’t budge. And I know it’s because of Ueno’s father but…there’s nothing more I can do. They already threatened to fire me. I guess I could go to the school board but…” 

Nanako reached out and took his hand. Yosuke looked down at her, surprised. 

“It’s okay. You tried. Thank you.” 

“It wasn’t enough.” 

“It was for me. Maybe you’ll win next time. Just don’t stop fighting, okay?” 

“Nah, never. That’s why I became a teacher, after all.” 

They said their goodbyes. 

Chapter Text

-EVENING- 

A giant scarlet head and a long white T-shirt.

It grasps Nanako in grotesque fingers and squeezes her with desperation that she is too young to understand.

“Put her down!” Yu screams. It’s the sound of his voice that gives Nanako just enough hope to hold on. Her bro is here. 

She is safe.

Right?

“Persona!” 

The desk shook from Nanako sitting up abruptly. She felt like she could hardly breathe, and she felt droplets of sweat gathered on her forehead. She swallowed, and was met with a dry pain in her throat. 

She had fallen asleep while studying, she realized. Her notes were soaked from where her head lay. Her desk lamp was incredibly hot, which would explain the sweat. 

Nanako grumbled and untied the twin tails of her hair, then picked up her phone. It was 11:30 PM. Had she really been asleep for two hours? 

She got up from the desk and went her bed, where she pulled out a small journal. In it, she marked the date, time, and location of her last sleep, and then added a single line.

“Same dream.” 

Nine days in a row of the same dream, by her count. The longest streak yet. 

What was wrong with her? What did that dream mean? And why did it make her feel so…

She opened up the messenger app on her phone and tapped in the contact information. 

NANAKO: Amamiya-kun? 

She stared at her phone until he replied. 

AMAMIYA: Yeah. 

NANAKO: I’m in. I’ll get the code tomorrow afternoon. 

AMAMIYA: Great. Message me when you get it. I’ll give you more info then. 

Nanako then shut off her desk light, plugged in her phone, and got ready for bed.

Tomorrow was going to be busy. 

Chapter Text

-2/16-

-AFTER SCHOOL- 

In order to leave a little early, Nanako traded cleaning duty days with the Hanas. She was going to have to do two, since she owed one to each Hana, but it was a small sacrifice to pay for justice. 

So instead of clapping chalkboard erasers, Nanako went to the police station. 

The first step was to make sure her dad wasn’t there - which he wasn’t. At least his car wasn’t. That was as good as she was going to get without calling him to check, which would definitely put him on high alert. 

Nanako stood in front of the station, breathing heavily. 

Why was she so nervous? She was at the station all the time. There would be nothing weird about her being here. Nobody was going to look twice at her. 

Then why did it feel like they were going to find out right away?

The automated door slid open. There was an officer at the front desk, a middle-aged woman who glanced up at Nanako and smiled.

“Hello, Nanako-chan!” she said. 

“Hello, sorry to be a bother.” 

“Oh, no bother at all, go on back,” she said. Nanako thanked her and continued on. 

The fact that the officer waved her back made Nanako a little nervous. Not that she would know for certain where her father was, but it might mean he was here. But she kept walking steadily, not too fast or too slow. 

She was very aware of her gait, all of a sudden. She couldn’t remember how she walked, or if how she was walking was “normal.” Were people watching her? Could they tell something was wrong by the way she walked? She wanted to look around, but would that be suspicious? Or would staring straight ahead be more suspicious? Did she normally look straight ahead, or did she normally look around? She couldn’t remember. 

“Hey, Nanako-chan!” 

“Eep!” Nanako yelped, startled. A young man with an unfortunate hairline rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He wore big glasses that kept sliding down his large nose. 

“Sorry, Nanako-chan! I didn’t mean to startle you!” 

“Aha, it’s okay Yamamoto-san,” Nanako said, smiling as sweetly as she could. Yamamoto was her dad’s new assistant, and had been for the last ten years. He was a sweet and dependable guy and seemed to be content to be an assistant. 

“If you’re looking for your father, he’s not in. In fact, he told me he would be heading straight home after he was done his interviews,” Yamamoto said. 

“Ah yes, I know, he actually asked me to stop by and pick something up for him,” Nanako said. The pause after her words felt like an hour. Was Yamamoto staring at her facial expressions, reading the truth in her body language? 

“Okay! Just make sure you close the door when you’re done,” Yamamoto said. He walked over and slipped a key out of his pocket and opened a small office. Nanako stepped inside. 

Dad’s office. It wasn’t fancy. It was mostly stacks of paper on a utilitarian desk. There were a handful of pictures Nanako had made when she was a kid taped to the wall. On the desk there were three photographs. 

The first was mom and dad on their wedding day, both smiling larger than they ever had before. 

The second was one of those hinged pictures. On the left was a picture of Nanako as a kid, around six years old. On the right was her most recent school photo. It was endearing that he kept that around, but it was also a little embarrassing. 

Especially since she still wore her hair in twin-tails. Maybe it was time to update her look…

The last picture was about 5 years old. It was her, her dad, and big bro on the day of his graduation from university. 

She smiled at the picture. Seeing her big bro gave her a little bit of strength. Even if he might not entirely approve of what she was about to do…

She took a deep breath and looked at the desk. 

Dad knew how to use a computer to the level of writing emails, sending text messages, and doing whatever he had to do to complete his job. He still relied on paper for most things, which is why there was so much of it here. If there was a master password for the school’s alarm system, it would be written down somewhere. 

The desktop was probably where his most active stuff was. She wouldn’t dare touch it. Not only would he probably notice, but he wouldn’t keep such a random piece of information on his desk. 

She turned to the filing cabinets. 

This was the most likely. About twice a year, she and mom would come into the office and help dad “reset” the place to be a bit more organized. The filing cabinets were always a big job, and Nanako had spent lots of time putting things in the correct order. Of course, she hadn’t been paying close attention to what she was putting away at the time, so she didn’t remember if an alarm code was in there or not.

She opened one. 

She rifled through the filing tabs. Nothing.

She did another. Then another. Then another. 

By the fourth one, she was at the bottom filing cabinet. Dad was relatively tall, so it made sense that the bottom cabinet was full of files that he didn’t use that often, but still needed to keep around. 

And there it was, written in his big block letter handwriting: ALARMS. 

She flipped open the folder. There were a bunch of printouts from different companies, and a bunch of post-its and paperclipped scraps. She was dreading having to search it, when she realized that there was a note written on the folder itself.

ALL CODES CHANGED TO 1004.

October 4^th. 

Her birthday.

She smiled and shook her head and closed the folder. Mission accomplished. Now to get out of here and…

As she slipped the file back, she noticed that there were two larger folders on the end. She probably wouldn’t have given them a second glance, except for the names written on them.

CHISATO.

ADACHI.

Nanako froze. 

Were these dad’s old case files? 

She touched the edge of the folder marked CHISATO. It was thick with papers, but it was also dusty, untouched for years. 

When she was a kid, dad had been obsessed with finding her mother’s “killer.” But there was no real killer to find. Mom died in a car accident. No murder, no intent. And dad had hit dead end after dead end. It had nearly torn their family apart.

After the year big bro lived with them, he seemed to put it all behind him. But there the file was, still sitting there.

Why? 

Just another memory? 

Or was there something in there that he was going to show Nanako someday? 

Or was this just junk he forgot to throw out? 

She looked at the ADACHI file. It was even thicker than the CHISATO file. That was the case that happened the year big bro was there. Somehow he had been involved in it. Somehow, Nanako herself had been involved in it, but she never really understood how, and no one ever told her.

Did that file have answers? 

She reached out for the ADACHI file. 

Pi pi pi.

Nanako nearly yelped. She grabbed her phone and checked the text. 

DAD: Hey, bringing katsu home for dinner. You almost home? 

Well, if that wasn’t a sign to tell her to stop, she didn’t know what was. She closed the filing cabinet, leaving the files behind, and texted back.

NANAKO: Yes, be home soon. 

She left the police station. But as she did, she sent one more text. 

NANAKO: Got it. 

Chapter Text

Nanako was halfway through dinner with her family when her phone went off again. 

REN: Tonight.

“Nanako, no phones at the table,” dad grumbled. 

“Sorry dad, just forgot to silence it,” she said. Mom gave dad a side eye.

“Dear, I think it’s a little silly for you to insist no phones at dinner when you’re watching sports highlights on the TV…” 

Dad looked away from the TV to his wife, then to Nanako. He opened his mouth to say something, looking as if he was about to summon up all his fatherly authority. 

Then he just sighed.

“Fine, fine, just for tonight,” he grumbled, and went back to stuffing his face and watching the TV. 

Nanako mouthed “thank you” silently to her mom. Mom just smiled, completely self-satisfied.

NANAKO: I don’t know if I can get out tonight. 

AMAMIYA: Send me the code.

NANAKO: Oh sure, I’ll just leave evidence on both our phones, that’s a real great idea. You shouldn’t even talk about the code. 

AMAMIYA: Every day that goes by, the harder this will be to fix for Okura. We need to move as soon as possible. 

AMAMIYA: Meet me at school as soon as you can. 

Nanako slipped her phone onto her lap and kept her eyes locked on her food. Amamaiya had a point, the longer they waited, the less-likely that the evidence on Okura’s phone would work in time to save him from expulsion. But she had decided on her way home that she needed to be there when he went in. 

But that would mean having to lie to her parents. 

Try as she might, Nanako couldn’t remember a time where she intentionally lied to them. Sure, there were times where she might not be entirely honest about how she felt about a situation, but that was usually to try and make her parents happy - bad habit from her childhood, she supposed. Mom had been working with her the last couple of years to help Nanako express her feelings more. 

What would she even say to go out? She never went out on the weekdays, unless there was some sort of school festival she had to plan, and they would definitely know that wasn’t happening. 

“Um,” she said. Dad didn’t pay attention, but mom looked at her. “I was wondering if I could go over to Hana’s for a bit. We have a math exam tomorrow, and I could use a little review.” 

“Hana or Hanako?” Dad asked without turning his attention away from the TV. 

“Um,” Nanako said, her heartbeat smashing against her ribcage. “Both will be there, actually.” 

“On a school night? Not sure about that one. Let me call over to Hana’s house first and make sure,” Dad said. 

“Oh, well, uh…” Nanako stammered.

“Dear,” mom said. “Nanako’s in high school now. Don’t you think that’s a little…much?” 

“Much?” Dad said, finally turning away from the TV. 

“Well, I remember when I was a young girl and my father was very strict with me about going out with my friends. All that it accomplished was that I got very good at sneaking out,” mom said. “Nanako’s a very trustworthy person. We should try and keep it that way and let her go out to study math. Don’t you think?” 

There was a very long pause. Nanako got nervous. Dad might be the head of the house, but mom was the neck and could point him all sorts of directions. But even he had a limit. Was going out on a school night going to be a step too far for the father who had almost lost his whole family? For a father who was a cop and saw just how dangerous a small town like Inaba could be? 

“Be home by 10,” he said. 

“Thank you, dad.” 

“You better do well on this exam,” he said. 

“I will.” 

She finished eating and got dressed to go back out - dark blue jeans, a t-shirt and a dark gray hoodie. She had to take her school bag to keep up appearances, but she didn’t want that on her when she was near the school. She stopped at the shrine and set it down over by the ema, taking only her phone with her and sticking it in the hoodie pocket. 

She went to school, too nervous to text Amamiya, but also uncertain where they were supposed to meet. There was a gate in front of the school, and a long brick wall that sectioned off the perimeter. He could be anywhere along the exterior. 

Pi pi pi

“Ack!” Nanako jumped. She forgot to silence her phone, again. She grumbled, immediately set it to silent, and looked at the message.

AMAMIYA: Look straight ahead. Look carefully.

She looked straight ahead. 

Beside either end of the gate there was a large orb-shaped lantern to light up the entrance. The light on the left side of the gate was out. She stared at the shadowy portion until she could vaguely make out the shape of Amamiya leaning against the wall. She walked over to it quickly, drawing her hood over her head. 

“Nice work,” he said. “I knew you could make it.” 

Nanako felt her heart racing a bit again. She wasn’t sure if it was the guilt of lying to her parents, the fear of being caught, or skulking around the night with her middle school crush. It was probably a mixture of all three. 

“So, what’s the plan?” 

“I jump the fence, pick the locks, grab the phone and meet you back here. Then you take the phone to your dad.” 

“What about the alarm?” she asked. 

“I turn it off as soon as I get into the hallway. Give me the code.” 

Nanako took a deep breath and straightened up.

“No.” 

Amamiya looked confused. He leaned forward a bit, letting some of the ambient light catch his face. His gorgeous eyes and sharp features looked dark and mysterious. 

“What do you mean no? Are you out here to waste my time?” 

“No. I’m going with you.” 

“No you’re not,” he said.

“I am. This code is too important. Sure, you might use it today to get the phone, but if I give it to you, you might come back and steal all sorts of things,” Nanako said.

“Is that what you think of me?” Amamiya asked. 

“I don’t know what to think of you. I don’t know you,” Nanako pointed out. “But…I want to believe you’re doing this for the right reasons. And if you are, you’ll let me go with you.”

“You’ll get caught,” he said.

“Don’t be quick to judge me. I’m a cop’s daughter, after all, I know how to protect myself,” she said. She also thought about the beginning of middle school when Chie suddenly took it upon herself to train Nanako every day for a year. Nanako hadn’t exactly kept up with the regiment she had assigned her, but she was still in pretty good shape. 

“It’s a bad idea,” he said, his last, half-hearted plea. 

“This whole thing is a bad idea. But I can’t let it go.” 

“Very well,” Amamiya said, pulling his own hoodie up. “It’s showtime.” 

Chapter Text

Amamiya was faster than Nanako. 

He leaped up the side of Yasogami High School’s wall effortlessly. He draped himself over the side of the wall, long elegant hand held out for Nanako. 

She frowned and ignored it.

It took a second, but she managed to get to the top of the wall herself. 

“Next time take the hand,” Amamiya said. “We don’t have time.” 

“Right,” she whispered back. It felt good to show Amamiya that she didn’t need him, but he had a point. They needed to do this quickly. 

They both dropped down to the other side of the wall and ran to the front door of their high school. In a flash, Amamiya had a couple of tools in his hands, working dexterously at the lock. 

Nanako kept a lookout, her heart thundering in her chest. 

“Got it,” Amamiya said, then shouldered the door in. He melted into the darkness of the front hall, with Nanako close behind.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

“Your turn,” Amamiya said. Nanako scanned the wall until she saw the keypad. She reached out for it.

Amamiya’s hand closed around hers. Nanako jumped in surprise.

“You’re not wearing gloves,” he whispered. 

She was in fact, not wearing gloves, and she felt stupid for it. It was only then that she realized that Amamiya was wearing gloves - though she couldn’t remember seeing him put them on. Was he wearing them the whole time? 

“Give them to me,” she said.

“No time. Tell me the code.” 

“No.” 

“Fine. Use my hand.” 

She looked at him, and realized that he had his eyes shut, head turned away, and his other hand pressed on his face. His remaining hand floated in front of her.

This was stupid and childish, but he was right, there was no time. She took his hand and used his finger to press the keypad.

1004#. 

The alarm gave a cheery chime, then stopped its warning beep. 

“Let’s go,” Amamiya said. The two of them took off down the hallway, heading straight for the principal’s office.

The principal’s office was also locked, and Amamiya had to pick that. The whole time, Nanako kept running through her head all the things that could go wrong. What if putting in the police code into the alarm system alerted the police? Or the alarm company? Wouldn’t there be record of the code being used? Was her dad going to get in trouble? Would-

“I’m in,” Amamiya said, shouldering the door again. He glided into the next room and flicked on the light, which was harsh and glaring to Nanako’s eyes. 

“Hey, the light is a bad idea,” she said. 

“Can you find the phone without it?” 

She frowned but he was right. “You’re too good at this,” she said. 

“Is that an accusation?” 

“Just an observation,” she said. 

The two of them started to search the room. Nanako pulled a couple of tissues from a box on the principal’s desk and used them as makeshift gloves. They checked drawers and filing cabinets until Nanako pulled out the bottom drawer on the right side of the desk. There, sitting in a disorganized pile, was a bunch of phones that had been confiscated. 

Okura’s was right on top. 

“Got it,” Nanako said, holding it triumphantly above her head. 

The lights snapped off.

“Get down,” Amamiya ordered.

Nanako was seized with new terror, but it gave her the motivation to duck behind the desk quickly. Amamiya stood by the door, leaning against the wall. 

Nanako could hear voices. And footsteps. 

And they were getting closer. 

“Oooh, Kudo-san, taking me back to campus, how devlish~!” a sultry female voice cooed. 

“Shh, Kashiwagi-san, keep quiet,” a nervous male voice replied. 

“Oh, there’s nobody here, stop worrying and think about what we’re going to do. Do you want to do it in my classroom? The gym?” 

“But the alarm…ah, you’re right. I must have forgotten to set it earlier.” 

“No doubt too pre-occupied with tonight.”

The footsteps fade and the woman giggles. 

Nanako looked up at Amamiya and gave him a questioning look. He gave her a look and mouthed “ew.” 

So it was as Nanako thought. Kashiwagi, the older homeroom teacher who dressed and acted way too young for her age was about to have an affair with Kudo-san, the Vice Principal, who was also married. 

“Ew,” Nanako said aloud. Then she slapped her hans over her mouth, realizing what she had done.

Amamiya chuckled. Then laughed.

Then they both risked a laugh together. 

“I think we’re clear,” Amamiya said. “Let’s get out of here.” 

Amamiya opened the door and he and Nanako moved as quickly and quietly as they could - not quite running, but moving in a quiet speed walk. It took all of Nanako’s willpower to not break into a full-on sprint, especially as they got to the front hall. 

The front door swung open and they were hit with the cold night air. 

Nanako gasped in relief. Amamiya shut the door behind them, and they both rushed back to the front gate, vaulting themselves over. 

Nanako laughed again.

“I can’t believe we pulled that off…” she said. 

“You did great,” Amamiya said. 

“Me? You did all the hard stuff. And saved us from Kudo-san,” Nanako said. 

“You kept your cool, and found the phone,” Amamiya pointed out. 

“We were a team,” Nanako said with an air of finality. “Thanks again. Really. I…I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. Probably nothing, and I would’ve felt guilty about it.” 

Amamiya’s face was unreadable in that moment. Nanako could see a bunch of different emotions wrestling each other inside of him, though she wasn’t sure what. Or why. It seemed like this was very significant to him, but she couldn’t understand why. 

“Sorry,” he whispered.

“What do-”

Amamiya pulled up his hood and swung around. Before Nanako could say another syllable, his arms were pulling her close, his face bent down.

He kissed her.

Nanako’s eyes were wide open for a heartbeat. Then she let them flutter closed. How many times had she daydreamed about this moment back in middle school? And now…here, riding the emotions of their daring feats, he was kissing her in the icy winter darkness. 

This was more romantic than she could have ever planned for a first kiss. Did he really feel this strongly about her? Had they been harboring crushes with each other the whole time? 

She felt a bright light on her face. She opened one eye, and was met with the glare of a powerful flashlight.

“Hey, what are you kids doing out here?” the voice called out. 

Amamiya broke the kiss, then pulled Nanako close to his chest, obscuring her face with his coat.

“Nothing,” he said. “Just hanging out.” 

“Yeah, I can see that,” the voice said. The flashlight lowered a little, and Nanako could make out the shape of a police uniform. She gripped tighter onto Amamiya. She didn’t recognize this police officer, or know him by name, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t recognize her. 

“Hard to find privacy,” Amamiya said. “You understand, don’t you? You were young once.” 

Nanako couldn’t believe he was being that bold with a police officer. But there was something charming in Amamiya’s voice that made the police officer relent with a sigh.

“Head on home now, okay? I don’t want to write you a loitering ticket. Go straight home.” 

“Yes, right away, thank you,” Amamiya said. He held Nanako close, shielding her from the view of the officer. They walked like that for a long while until they turned. Once they turned, Amamiya released Nanako, and she took a step aside from him.

“That was close,” she said. 

“Sorry,” he said. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it! It was…” she wanted to say ‘nice’ and ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’, but instead she said “…necessary. It would be a big problem if someone told my dad.” 

He nodded. “Guess that’s it then. You want me to walk you home?” 

She didn’t live much further from here, but she said “yes, please.” 

They walked quietly down the road, side by side.

“What are you going to do now?” Amamiya asked.

“Tell my dad everything and give him the phone. I won’t tell him how I got the phone, just that Okura handed it to me before it was confiscated,” Nanako said. 

“He’ll believe it?” 

“I think so. He’ll believe me, because I basically never lie,” Nanako said. “Well, except for today.” 

“Sometimes the law isn’t always right,” Amamiya said. “We did the right thing.” 

“Yeah. We did.” 

Amamiya stopped about a block away from her house. 

“Well. See you at school, then,” Nanako said. 

“Goodnight, Dojima-chan,” Amamiya said. He started walking away. 

“Hey, Amamiya,” Nanako called out. “You can call me Nanako. We are partners in crime, after all.” 

Again, he looked at her with that conflicted emotion. He looked so brooding and troubled, as if he had such a weight on his shoulders.

“Goodnight, Nanako,” he said. 

Nanako finished her walk back to her house. It was only 9:30, dad would be happy she was home early. 

Not that she would be getting any sleep after the night she had.

First burglary and first kiss. Although the kiss was related to the burglary. Maybe it shouldn’t count.

Although she didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget it. 

Chapter Text

“Do you have any plans for the break, Nanako-chan?” asked one of the Hanas. Nanako wasn’t paying much attention, so she wasn’t sure which had asked. 

“Oh, uh, no, not really,” Nanako said. “I think we might go on a family trip if my dad can get the time off. Maybe to Tokyo to visit my brother.”

“That sounds fun,” Hana said. “I’m stuck here the whole time, being bored. You’ll post pictures won’t you?”

“Yeah, and some of that brother of yours too, he’s hot,” Hanako said. Nanako rolled her eyes.

“I’ll post a few,” Nanako said, which seemed to make them happy. They went back to chatting about how boring their breaks were going to be. 

Nanako went back to eating and thinking. 

A month had passed since the events of Okura, Ueno, and the peeping. Things had played out as Nanako thought they would - her dad was a little suspicious, but he took the phone, and the case. He came to the school, called in all the parents and students and the principal. The investigation took dad a week to complete, and it was all anyone could talk about for two weeks. 

Okura was found innocent. Ueno was put on probation, and if the rumors were true, his father had taken away his car as punishment - not for the peeping, but for putting the family in a bad light. Dad had told the principal that he needed to be more thorough about serious allegations in the future, especially if they regarding a crime. 

Nanako hadn’t spoken to the principal since. The class president didn’t think it was a good idea, so most of her student government tasks had been reassigned “for now,” though Nanako wasn’t sure she was going to get any of them back. Or if she would even be allowed back into student government. 

But none of that mattered. Okura had been saved from injustice. Nanako could live without student government. 

What perplexed her, though, was Amamiya. 

She knew that the kiss was to save them from the police that night. It didn’t mean anything to him, clearly, since they hadn’t spoken a word since that night. At first Nanako had avoided talking to him too, paranoid that somehow hanging out with him would tip off the police that they had stolen the phone. She kept that up until the rumors died down, and she figured they might talk again after that.

Except they never did. 

It was partly her fault. She didn’t message him. She just thought he would have messaged her by now, though she wasn’t sure why she thought that. And why didn’t she just message him? 

Maybe it was just meant to a singular destined moment that they shared together. One of those weird stories that you have in high school that you tell your kids when you’re a parent, one of those peculiar memories that you cherish because they seem like they belong to someone else. To Nanako, that memory felt like it belonged to a much more interesting person.

If only she could stop thinking about that night. Then she could let it go and remember it fondly. 

Pi pi pi. 

She glanced at her phone and her heart skipped.

AMAMIYA: Meet me at the shrine. 

She frowned. That was awfully forward for a guy who hadn’t spoken to her in a month. She almost turned him down right then and there, but instead wrote: 

NANAKO: Why?  

AMAMIYA: Something I want to tell you. 

Nanako flet her heart pounding again, but she took a several deep breaths. She had to get herself under control. If she read too much into this, she could end up hurt and disappointed.

…But what if it was a love confession? 

No, Nanako, don’t do that, she told herself. Just go and find out what he wanted.

NANAKO: Okay. See you there. 

He didn’t reply, which made the rest of the school day slow and arduous. 

Chapter Text

It was a perfect spring day. 

The sakura blossoms hadn’t bloomed yet, but Nanako felt that everything else was as bright as could be. The sky was blue, the sunlight was clear and warm, and the breeze gentle and refreshing. 

The perfect day for a love confession? 

Nanako shook her head hard enough for her twin tails to whip into her cheek. No. That was ridiculous. She had to stop thinking about that. She was acting like a lovesick schoolgirl. 

…Although, she was a schoolgirl, so maybe acting that way wasn’t so inappropriate. 

Still. This could be about anything. They hadn’t spoken in a month, obviously if that daring kiss had meant something to him, then he would have said something already. 

Then again, this was Amamiya Ren, the most mysterious boy she knew. The boy who she had never expected to know how to pick locks, or care about random classmates at school. Maybe he was the kind of guy who needed to think about his feelings before leaping into anything.

Or maybe he was the kind of guy who would steal a kiss without a second thought.

Now she was frowning. 

I mean, did he have to kiss her to hide her from that cop? Couldn’t he have just hugged her? Or stood in a way that blocked her face from the officer? Was it just a bonus prize he saw he could snatch away? 

No, that didn’t make sense. The officer was clearly uncomfortable with what he had found and just wanted them to go away. If they hadn’t been kissing, maybe he would have asked more questions. 

Could Amamiya have thought that through so quickly? 

“Hi.” 

“Ack!” Nanako jumped. She whirled around to see Amamiya standing beside a tree with a bemused look on his face. 

“You okay?” 

“Y-yeah…sorry, I was just thinking about something,” Nanako managed, pretty lamely in her opinion. 

“I see. Well, this won’t take very long. I just wanted to…” he trailed off. Nanako managed to catch her breath and focus on what was going on in front of her. Although he had appeared beside the tree with his usual mysteriousness, Amamiya’s posture was a bit slumped. And yet it was also tense at the same time. He was uncomfortable with what he had to do next, Nanako realized. 

Fear settled in her stomach. She wasn’t sure what she was afraid of, exactly, but she could feel his tension. 

“I just wanted to say goodbye.” 

“What?” Nanako rushed from her spot by the steps to stand in front of him. “Goodbye? Why? Did I do something wrong?” 

Amamiya looked surprised. “No, not at all. It has nothing to do with you.” 

He leaned in a bit to study her face.

“You don’t know? I thought you might.” 

“Know what?” Nanako said, her voice edging on exasperated. “What’s going on?” 

“I’ve been expelled from Yasogami High,” he said. The fear rumbling in her stomach turned into a stone. 

“Why? Did somebody see us?” 

“No. I already told you, it has nothing to do with you. It was something that happened a year ago, actually. I thought maybe because your dad…well, it doesn’t matter. The court made its decision, and as of today, I no longer go to this school.” 

Her dad? What did her dad have to do with this? Was Amamiya in legal trouble? Did he commit a crime? Were all those skills he used to help her honed from actual thievery? 

“That’s terrible…” she said. He shrugged.

“There was no other way around it.” 

“But where are you going?” Nanako asked.

“Shujin Academy. It’s in Tokyo, and the only school willing to take me,” he said. “I’ll be living with a friend of my parents.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Nanako said. “Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe I can talk to my dad and-” 

He put his hand up to stop her.

“What’s done is done,” he said. The sadness I his voice sunk into Nanako’s heart and washed over the stone of fear in her belly. The fear was gone now, replaced with a growing grief. 

“I just wanted to say goodbye to you because I haven’t had any friends this last year. I didn’t see a point, since I knew something was going to happen to me. But then…well, what happened, happened. And it was the first time in a very long time that someone saw me for who I really am. You’re a good person, Nanako. You have a good heart that believes in the best in people, and I hope you have a good life.” 

The tears were in Nanako’s eyes now. She reached out and grabbed him, hugged him, pulled him close. It was impulsive, and way too forward, but she didn’t care. Her heart was so full of so much that she had to do something. 

“I’ll miss you, Ren,” she said. Then, realizing that she had used his first name, blushed. “I-I mean…”

“It’s okay,” he said. He hugged her back, gently. “And you won’t miss me. But it’s nice to hear, anyway.” 

As they pulled away from the hug, Ren slipped his hand into his coat pocket and pulled out his glasses. His whole demeanor once again transformed, slumping forward and turning into someone unremarkable and unimportant. 

“Bye, Nanako.” 

He flung his Yasogami High uniform jacket off his shoulders and left it on the ground in front of the shrine. Then he took long strides down the street, walking away from Nanako. 

Nanako picked up the jacket, wiped her tears with a sleeve, and straightened herself up. 

This couldn’t be right. 

Something had to be done. 

—

Nanako closed the office door a little too hard. Her dad looked up from his stacks of papers.

“Nanako, something wrong?” he said, his voice and demeanor in full-blown detective mode. 

“Amamiya Ren,” she said. “What happened to him?” 

Dad frowned, thought a second, the nodded.

“Right, the kid from your school. What about him?” 

“He said he’s been expelled. Is that true?” she asked. 

“Yes. Why do you want to know?” he leaned forward an inch. “Is he a friend of yours?” 

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. She should probably be nervous, since if Ren had done something illegal, this was going to put her in a bad position with her dad. But she wasn’t going to lie - she was his friend, even if their friendship was defined by the three strangest days of her life. 

“Why don’t you ask him then?” 

“Daddy, please…I need to know if he’s…” 

He stared stone-faced for a moment, then sighed and reached for his phone.

“Yamamoto, bring in the files for the Amamiya case, would you?” 

He hung up. 

Nanako sat down in the chair across from him. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a package of cookies and set them between them. 

Nanako ate one.

Yamamoto came in a few minutes later, file in hand. 

“Looks awful thin, Yamamoto,” dad said. 

“Yeah, weird isn’t it?” Yamamoto said with a big smile. He set it on the desk. “Hi Nanako-chan!”

“Hi, Yamamoto-san.” 

He grinned and left.

Dad flipped through the thin file. There had to only be six or seven pieces of paper in it. 

“He was arrested about a year ago for assault,” he said. 

“What kind?” she asked. Dad slowly closed the file folder and set it aside. He folded his hands and leaned closer to her.

“Nanako, you remember the other day when you were asking about injustice?” 

Nanako felt a renewed uneasiness. 

“I didn’t work on this case, but whoever did was pressured to do a lot of strange things. There’s almost no details in the case file, other than some notes that say that there’s a lot of classified details that can only be seen by a judge. If I wanted to get the rest of the information, I don’t think I could,” dad said.

“Why?” 

“More than likely the other person involved was an important figure. Politician, most likely, but could be a celebrity. Someone who didn’t want their name in the court records, but still wanted to make sure Amamiya was punished,” Dad said. 

Nanako, who thought she could feel no more big feelings after all she had been through, felt a white-hot center of anger in her chest. 

“So he was framed,” she said. 

“I don’t know for sure.” 

“But if the other important person was really wrongfully assaulted, why would they care about hiding their involvement?” Nanako asked. 

“That’s what I wonder, too,” Dad said. He had a small, half-smile on his lips, proud of Nanako’s deductions. 

“What will happen to him?” 

“He’s on probation for a year. If he can stay out of trouble, then he’ll be fine. If he messes up, though, he’ll go to juvenile jail,” he said. 

“I see,” Nanako said. There was a long silence. 

“Do you want another cookie?” 

“No thanks,” she said. She got up, smoothed out her skirt and adjusted her backpack. “Sorry I bothered you at work.” 

“It’s never a bother to have you here,” he said with a smile. “Hey, what do you want for dinner?” 

“Whatever you guys want is fine,” she said. “I’ll see you at home.” 

Chapter Text

Nanako spent most of the day silent.

She went home. She watched TV. She helped make dinner.

She ate. 

She went to her room.

She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. 

She was lost in thought. 

She decided to go through what she knew from the beginning. Ren had gotten into an altercation a year ago, that wasn’t being disputed. As a result, he was arrested, tried, and found guilty of assault. His punishment was being expelled from Yasogami High and since he was required to go to school, had to move to Tokyo to Shujin Academy, the only place that would take him. 

She also knew that the other party had erased themselves from the case, whether they were politician or celebrity, she didn’t know. Maybe they were trying to hide themselves from the embarrassment, but Nanako didn’t think so. More than likely, they were hiding something. 

She thought about Ren. Yes, he seemed strangely quiet, moved like a ninja-trained cat, and knew how to pick locks and charm his way past the police. He was like a gentleman thief from a novel.

If he had been arrested for theft, Nanako would believe that. But assault? She had a hard time picturing Ren maliciously attacking another person. 

“You don’t know him that well,” she said aloud. She had to say it aloud, to drive the point home in her head, in her heart, and whatever other part of her body made decisions. 

She was being clouded by her feelings for him, which were based on what? A middle school crush? The thrill of a kiss after a heist? This was the work of hormones. Or if not hormones, then of something interesting happening in her hum-drum life, and her unwillingness to let it go. 

Then why couldn’t she let it go? 

He seemed so sad when he had to leave. And to be told that she was the only person who had seen him in a year? They had spent three days together. Three days of friendship in a year of loneliness. 

And now what would happen to him? 

A new city,  a new school, a new home. Wouldn’t he be even lonelier? 

“Big bro,” she said.

It was just like him. He had come out to Inaba when her uncle and aunt had gone overseas for work. Big bro came here and had nobody, except an exhausted uncle and a little girl who didn’t even know him. 

She reached for her phone, slid through the contacts. Her thumb hovered over the call button. 

Then she backed out of that contact and looked at her full contact list. 

She chose another one and hit “call.” 

It rang twice.

“Hi, Nanako-chan,” said a graceful voice. 

“Hi, Yukiko…is this a bad time? I’m sorry for calling so late,” she said.

“No, not at all. Is everything okay?” 

“I just…need some advice,” Nanako said. “And I’m not sure who to ask.” 

“Come on over. You can help out at the inn,” she said. Nanako breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Thanks. I’ll be there soon.” 

She hung up, grabbed her bag and hoodie. 

The same gray hoodie she wore on that night. She shook it off and went back into the living room, where mom and dad were settled together watching TV. 

“I’m going to the Amagi Inn for a bit. They have a little work for me to do,” Nanako said. 

She waited for dad’s questioning, but between TV, his wife curled in his arms, and the half-finished beer in his hand he merely said “Don’t be home too late.” 

Nanako stepped out into freedom. 

—

The Amagi Inn, the jewel of Inaba. Business had picked up in the years following big bro’s arrival, in part because of a TV special that had run on it not long before, and in part because Rise had given an endorsement of it during a few interviews. 

Nanako wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse for Yukiko these days.

The inn was an exquisite example of traditional Japanese hospitality, and it was still one of the nicest places Nanako ever got to stay in - even though she had been a little girl at the time. But the memory of going with “the girls,” being treated as one of their own, even though they were so much more grown up than her, it was one of her most cherished memories. 

Nowadays, though, her time at the inn was more about cleaning.

And kids.

“Nanakoooo-chhaaaaan!” came the yell of a six year old boy running at full speed. Nanako bent down just fast enough to catch the boy before he tackled her legs. 

“Hi there, Tsuneo,” Nanako said. “Are you being a good helper today?” 

“Yes, obviously! I’m the oldest son, I have to be strong and proud, the new protector of the Amagi Inn!” 

He stood up straight and saluted, to which Nanako laughed. She gave a salute back before standing up. 

“Where’s your sister?” 

“Watching Nyan Nyan Par-…I mean,” Tsuneo adjusted his stance, trying to look older. “She’s watching some dumb baby cartoon. I’m too old for that now.” 

“I’m sure you are,” Nanako said. “Though you know, I still watch Nyan Nyan Parade now and again…”

“You do? Oh, well, I do too. It’s still pretty good, especially if you like it, Nanako-chan.” 

Nanako reached down and scruffled his hair a bit. “Where’s your mom?” 

“In the manager’s office.” 

“Why don’t you go watch your sister, I need to talk to her for a bit.” 

“Okay, but are you gonna stay for a while? Can you put us to bed?” 

Nanako chuckled. “We’ll see. Now go.” 

Tsuneo ran off, and Nanako turned down past the reception area to the manager’s office. She knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Yukiko called. Nanako opened the door.

Yukiko sat behind the desk, typing furiously away at her computer. Yukiko had always been a yamato nadeshiko, even as a teenager, but as an adult she had come into the true strength of what that meant. Her hair was still as long as ever, though somehow darker and silkier than before. She wore a pink flowered kimono which was now bulging at the center with her latest pregnancy. She had a pair of red glasses balanced on her nose, and her face focused in iron-like concentration. 

“Are you busy? I can come back,” Nanako said.

“Nonsense,” Yukiko said, hitting a key on her keyboard with an emphatic strike. “Just needed to finish that email. That’ll be the last time a vendor tries to bait and switch me…” 

Nanako laughed and sat down, though she made a note to never cross Yukiko when it came to the inn. 

“You look so great! Are you feeling well?” Nanako asked. Yukiko rubbed her belly.

“Yes, this one is being a lot more cooperative than Ai was in utero. Though Tsuneo was so easy in pregnancy and so difficult now that he’s born…” 

“Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” 

“We’re waiting this time to be surprised,” Yukiko said. Then, conspiratorially, she leaned forward and whispered “It’s a girl, I had to know, but don’t tell Sadao.” 

Nanako zipped her lips and smiled. 

“But now that that’s all out of the way, let’s focus on you. What’s going on?” 

Nanako took a deep breath. 

“It’s kind of a long story, and it…involves some things that you might not agree with,” Nanako said.

“Things that if your dad knew would make him upset?” 

“Very,” she said. Nanako felt herself shrinking into the seat. Yukiko thought about this for a moment.

“Well, I won’t promise that I won’t tell him, because some things a parent just has to know,” Yukiko said. “But, there are some things that a parent doesn’t need to know, too. I’ll make my decision after you tell me.”

This was the best Nanako could ask for, and honestly she found it a little bit of a relief. Hiding something from her parents had eaten away at her, and if Yukiko felt that they needed to be told, Nanako would do it herself. 

Nanako started at Valentine’s Day and went all the way through to this afternoon. She even left in the part about the kiss, though Nanako was blushing brighter than the sun through the whole thing. Yukiko listened patiently, stopping only to ask clarifying questions. 

“That’s quite a story,” Yukiko said. “But I’m not sure why you need advice. Amamiya-kun left. The story’s over.” 

“What if I don’t want it to be?” Nanako said. Yukiko raised her eyebrows, but kept herself composed.

“What do you mean?” 

“I just think…it’s not fair what he’s going through. He has to be in Tokyo all by himself, at a new school. And it won’t be long before someone leaks out that he has a criminal record, and what if it’s too hard to make friends after that? Or worse, what if the types of friends he makes are more criminals?” Nanako said.

“I’m pretty sure the school is required to keep that confidential,” Yukiko said.

“Schools are supposed to do a lot of things,” Nanako said, a hint of bitterness in her tone. 

“A fair point. But, and I’m sure you’ve already thought of this, you don’t know him that well, Nanako-chan. He’s not your responsbility,” Yukiko said.

“I know. I know this is foolish. But I also know what it’s like to be that lonely. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone in the whole world,” Nanako said. She stared down at her hands folded in her lap. 

“So you want to follow him to Tokyo,” Yukiko said.

“Yes.” 

“And what if he doesn’t want you to follow him?” 

“At least there’s a familiar face. Even if I’m annoying to him, at least there’s something he recognizes,” Nanako said. 

“This is too much to do for a boy,” Yukiko declared. “I wouldn’t allow you to do such a thing just to get his affection. However…I don’t think that’s the only reason you want to do this.” 

Nanako looked up, perplexed. “What do you mean?” 

“I love this inn,” she said, motioning to the walls around her. “But when I was your age, I thought of it as a cage. I didn’t want my whole life to be determined by what my parents and grandparents did. I wanted freedom. But…after some exploring, I realized that the inn was what I wanted after all. I wouldn’t have come to that understanding, however, if I hadn’t gone on that journey.” 

“Inaba is great, Nanako. But it’s not the whole world. If you don’t see the world, you can’t make a decision. So I say yes. Go. Go help your friend. Go live in Tokyo. Find out who you are and what you want,” Yukiko said. 

Nanako felt stupid, but there were huge tears pooled in her eyes now. She sniffled and wiped them on the sleeve of her hoodie. 

“What if my dad won’t let me?” 

“He will. Besides, it’s not like you’d be living alone, right? I’m sure Yu will let you stay there. If anyone will understand what you’re going through, it’s him.” 

Yukiko was right. Nanako had already decided that if she was going to follow Ren that she’d live with her big bro. Even if she wanted to go on an adventure, she needed family. 

“Thanks, Yukiko. This helped a lot.” 

“You know we’re always here for you,” she said. 

The door opened behind Nanako.

“Yuki, I fixed the furnace - oh hey, Nanako-chan!” said Sadao. Sadao, Yukiko’s husband, was a huge mountain of a man, standing 6 and a half feet tall and was built like a tank. He wore his hair in a traditional top-knot and had a wide easy smile. 

“Hi Sadao-san. Do you mind if I put the kids to bed? Tsueno already asked.” 

“Sure! Hey, any guesses on what the baby’s gonna be?” 

Nanako smiled innocently.

“I have no idea.” 

Chapter Text

The Dojima household was at war. 

Nanako had gotten advice from Yukiko on Monday.

Tuesday had been the last day of school, and the day where Nanako gathered up all of her courage and readied her arguments. 

Wednesday, today, she had gathered her mom and dad at the breakfast table and opened up with the surprise attack. 

“Have you lost your mind?!” Dad had yelled.

“Dear, please,” mom said, trying to calm him down. 

“You want to change schools to follow a boy? There is no way - no way in hell!” 

Nanako had prepared for this type of outrage, but even knowing it was going to happen didn’t help reduce the pain of it. She tried her best to keep her own anger and hurt in check. 

“You yourself said he didn’t do anything wrong!” 

“I said he probably didn’t do anything wrong, but come on Nanako, people who are totally innocent don’t find themselves in situations where they can be blamed for something,” Dad shot back. 

“That’s not true and you know it,” Nanako said. Dad growled and took a slug of his coffee to give himself a moment to think. 

“I just don’t understand. There are lots of boys at your school, you can meet any one of them! That Okura boy with the phone seemed nice enough,” Dad argued. 

“Dad, this isn’t about chasing a boy. It’s about doing what’s right. He’s being sent somewhere alone. It’s cruel.” 

“He’ll get over it.” 

“Or he won’t. Do you know what kind of pain loneliness causes?” 

There was a long silence after that. Nanako regretted it the moment the last syllable came out of her mouth.

Of course dad knew what kind of pain it caused. He had felt it himself when her mom, her first mom, died. He had also caused the pain when Nanako had been forced to grow up too quickly. 

Dad knew that. He had worked hard in the last years to make up for it, and he had. Nanako didn’t have one shred of resentment for him for that time. But he probably didn’t fully believe her. And now he was being told off, again. Forced to live the pain of his past mistakes. 

“I think everyone needs to sit down and start over,” mom said. Nanako couldn’t remember when she and her dad had started yelling on their feet, but Nanako obeyed, sitting demurely at the table. Dad paused a moment, took another drink of coffee, and sat down. 

“Nanako, you have put a lot of thought into this plan, and I can see it’s not just a spur of the moment decision,” mom said. Nanako had typed up and printed a full list of rationales, a budget for how she would live over in Tokyo, and a proposed visiting schedule where she would come back to Inaba at regular intervals to see them, including all the major holidays. “However…this is still a sudden and…unusual request.” 

“I know,” Nanako said. 

“Then you can understand why we need a little time to talk about this and think it over,” mom said.

“But…yes. I understand.” 

“Maybe give me and your dad a moment?” 

Nanako nodded and retreated to her room. When she got there, she kept the door cracked, lay on the floor, and stuck her ear out into the hallway to try and hear as much as she could.

“There’s no way this is happening,” dad said. 

“Dear, Shujin Academy is a great school, did you even look at the pamphlet Nanako printed out?” 

“That’s not the point,” Dad snapped. “I almost lost her once. I can’t do that again.” 

“I think you’re being a little dramatic,” mom said.

“I am not.” 

“You are. She wants to go to a different school, not join the circus. It’s Tokyo, not a war zone.” 

“Anything could happen,” Dad said.

“You’re right, it could. And that means anything could happen here, in Inaba. I understand, it’s hard to let go.” 

“You don’t understand it’s…” Dad said, stopping himself. 

“Don’t you dare say it, Ryotaro. That girl is my daughter too. I may not have given birth to her, but I love her from the depths of my heart.” 

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m upset.”

“You’re afraid. And that’s okay,” mom said. “I’m afraid too. She’s growing up so fast, and I’m afraid I haven’t done enough to prepare her for it. But someday she’ll leave us, whether it’s to get a job or get married or whatever. If we don’t let her leave, we run the risk of her being so angry that we never see her again after she becomes an adult.” 

“Nanako would never do that,” Dad said. Nanako had to agree. 

“Maybe not. But think of everything she could learn from this. And besides, she’s already said she’d come back to visit often. And she wouldn’t be alone. You trust your nephew, don’t you?” 

“Of course I trust him. He’s not just my nephew, he’s like a son to me,” Dad said. There was a pause, then the sound of dad getting up.

“I’m late for work. I’ll think about it.” 

“Of course. I love you.”

The sound of a kiss. Then the door. Then footsteps towards her room.

Nanako jumped off the floor and rushed over to her bed, trying to lay casually on it. But now that she was thinking about it, she couldn’t remember what she did when she was laying casually. Did she keep her arms above her head or at the side? 

Mom knocked on the door.

“Come in.” 

Nanako sat up. Mom took the desk chair. 

“He’ll think about it,” she said. 

“Okay.” 

“Now that it’s just the two of us, woman to woman, do you like this boy, Nanako?” 

A burning blush blazed on her cheeks. “I…I mean, I did. In middle school, I definitely liked him. But that faded. And now, I don’t know, I just got to know him again recently. Nothing special, just a few conversations. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but I really felt like I got to know him.”

Nanako sighed.

“I sound like a fool, I know,” she said.

“Not so much as you think. It only took two conversations with your dad for me to know that I was going to fall in love with him.” 

“Really? They must have been special conversations.” 

“Well, the first time I was actually giving a statement about a crime. But he was very patient and professional and I liked how he looked. Then I ran into him again at the supermarket, and I thought to myself ‘Kaho, go up and talk to that man and see if there’s more to him than being a detective.’ And I was right,” mom said. 

“I love that story. But I don’t think that’s what’s going on here,” Nanako said.

“Well, whatever is going on, your heart is big, Nanako, and you care about everyone. We just don’t want you to get that heart hurt or broken, because that would be a huge loss to the world.” 

“I get it, mom,” Nanako said. 

“Now, was Yu okay with you staying with him?” 

Nanako felt a pit in her stomach.

“I forgot to ask him!” 

“I thought so,” mom said as she got up. “You’d better call him before your dad does.” 

She left. 

Nanako rushed for her phone and called. 

“Hey Nanako,” her big bro said. He sounded hushed. “I’m in a meeting, what’s up?” 

“Oh, sorry!” Nanako said. She was about to say she’d call back, but instead said “Can I come live with you in Tokyo?” 

“What?” he said, a little louder.

“I want to transfer schools to Tokyo, so can I live with you?” 

Nanako heard a voice in the background, and then her big bro answer the voice, though she couldn’t make out what was being said. 

“Yeah, sure, that’s fine, I’ll call you later.” 

He hung up. Nanako sighed with relief and fell back on her bed. 

She had snuck out to talk to Yukiko, came up with a plan on how to get to Tokyo, strategically deployed it, then managed to con her big bro into agreeing to something without really understanding it.

Maybe Ren had rubbed off on her more than she thought. 

Ren. 

When she thought of him now, it wasn’t the cool and mysterious man of mystery. She thought of his sad eyes and his hopelessness. And that thought steadied the resolve in her heart.

“I won’t let you be alone,” Nanako whispered. 

Chapter Text

Nanako knocked. The door opened. 

“Nanako? Everything all right?” 

“Yeah,” she said. “Can I hide here for a while?” 

“Uh, sure. But I’m in the middle of filiming something…” 

“That’s fine. I’m just tired of walking around and don’t want to go home right now,” she said. “Unless this isn’t a good time, I can find somewhere else to be.” 

“Nah, come on in. You wanna work the camera?” 

Nanako looked at the expensive DSLR on the robotic-like tripod. Before she could answer, the whole device was placed into her hands. 

“Don’t worry about it being shakey, the gimbal will keep it steady. Just keep it pointed on the action.” 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to mess it up,” Nanako said.

“I’m sure, you’re doing me a favor. Okay, hit that red button on the back, then count me in from three.” 

Nanako found the button, pushed it, then lined up the shot to keep his face in center frame.

“Three….two…one…” Nanako said. 

“What’s up, punks! I’m Tatsumi Kanji, and welcome back to another episode of Badass Crafting! Today, I was gonna do another part of our cute little gopher family, but I’ve got a guest camera girl who’s an old friend of mine hanging out with me, so I’m gonna change it up. It’s important to go with your heart when inspiration strikes you. If anyone tells you otherwise, go tell them to kiss a squid.” 

Kanji walked through the workshop, which took up most of his house. Nanako followed, trying to keep the camera locked on him as best she could. The tripod, which Kanji had called a gimbal, had a bunch of motors on it that kept the camera level, even as she bounced up and down. It was pretty amazing how smooth it was.

“All right camera girl, pick an animal,” Kanji said. 

“How about a fox?” she said, remembering the fox from the shrine. 

“Fox, awesome. Now remember everybody, I got all these animal bodies made ahead of time cause I’m making them in such a huge batch, but you don’t gotta feel like you need to do that. If you need to make the base body for the doll, click on the link below and find the fox tutorial.” 

Kanji reached into a plastic bin and dug through it, retrieving a couple of doll bodies. They were adorable little plush bodies with fox noses and ears and tails, but they lacked any other detail. One was a traditional rust orange, the other was dark blue. 

“Which one?” he asked.

“Blue,” she said, surprising herself. 

“Good choice! Now, we got our little fox guy here, and like I said, sometimes it’s just good to let your inspiration pull you in whatever direction. If you’re in a crafting slump, or you need a break from a big project, it helps to just let your creativity run wild! In this case, I’m letting my camera girl do all the picking, which is a cool challenge too. Now, we gotta make this little fox guy badass! What do you think we should add on?” 

“Uh…” Nanako had to think about this. What was badass, anyway? “I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask what’s considered ‘badass.’” 

“We all have a little badass in us. Come on, when you hear the word, what do you think of?” 

“A sword?” Nanako said. 

“Yes, swords are totally badass! Let’s go with a katana.” 

Kanji dug through more drawers and started dropping all sorts of scraps of fabric, spools of thread, buttons, and other little accessories onto the table. Then he rapidly organized them on the worktable. One of the accessories was a small katana in its sheath. 

“Now we gotta give this little katana scabbard a little flair, so instead of leaving it black, I’m gonna wrap a layer of red fabric on it and then glue it down, then add some gold details here.” 

Nanako brought the camera closer to Kanji’s hands, trying to catch as many of the details as she could. Kanji spoke about the specific aspects of how he was doing the crafting, giving tips and tricks and things to look out for if someone was doing the same thing at home. 

When the sword was done, Kanji sewed it into the fox’s hand.

“Hey, there we go! Looking more badass already, huh? Now we gotta give the fox some clothes. What do you think, camera girl?” 

“Jackets are pretty badass,” Nanako said.

“Hell yeah they are!” 

This is how it went for the next twenty five minutes - Kanji asking a question, yelling “hell yeah!” and then explaining with extensive detail about how he was making each piece of his clothing. The final piece, they decided, was to give the little fox a white and blue striped sash. Kanji was finishing up the stitching on the sash.

“You know,” Kanji said without breaking his concentration on the sewing, “a lot of you at home are probably saying ‘man Kanji-senpai, I can’t do this, it’s too hard,’ or some crap like that. Well, you’re wrong, you can do it. I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I have lots of practice, so that’s why it may seem like it looks easy for me.” 

He kept sewing.

“You may also be saying things like ‘ah, but I’m not this creative’ or ‘I don’t have the patience to do something like this’ or ‘I really want to do this but I don’t think I can.’ You’re wrong about that too. People are complicated. We’re a lot of things at the same time, which means that if you look hard enough, you can find everything inside of you that you need and want to be. You wanna be better at design, then you can be better at design. If you wanna be better at stitching, you can do that too. You can be both badass and crafty, if you want. The important thing is to be true to yourself, and not let anyone else tell you what you should or should not be.” 

He finished the sash and set the little fox samurai on the table. 

“Look at this guy. He’s both cute and badass. But he’s more than a samurai. I bet he has all sorts of other parts of his life that you wouldn’t know by just looking at him. Hell, the real samurai would sit around and do all sorts of art when they weren’t fighting in wars. I bet our little fox guy is a painter.” 

He pat the top of the samurai fox. 

“That does it for today’s crash course project. If you got questions or suggestion, leave it in the comments! Until next time, remember to practice your craft, be true to yourself, and stand up to people who hurt others. Later!” 

Nanako hit the button. The camera beeped. Kanji let out a long breath.

“Wow, one take, that was a good one,” Kanji said. “Thanks a bunch, Nanako.” 

“You’re welcome. What you said at the end was really nice.” 

“Ah, it’s not much. I just say things I wish people had said to me when I was younger,” Kanji said. He worked on cleaning up his workspace, putting everything exactly where it was supposed to go. 

“I bet everyone that made fun of you had no idea you’d be a huge YouTube star,” Nanako said. 

“Yeah, I mean, it’s nice to be able to make money from these videos. But really, I just hope there’s at least one person out there like me who needs to hear what I’m saying.” 

He finished cleaning up and took the camera to upload the movie to his computer for editing later. Nanako sat on a plush couch and drank green tea out of an adorable black cat mug. 

“So, you sure everything’s okay?” Kanji asked. “I mean you’re welcome to be here whenever, but…” 

“I’m fine. Just kinda going through a thing. And I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I get that. Hey, you wanna bake something?” 

Nanako smiled. “Yeah, that sounds like fun.” 

\

Chapter Text

Dad came home late. Nanako and her mom ate dinner by themselves, pointedly not-talking about the issue at hand. They both ate cookies that Nanako had made at Kanji’s place. 

He was still on his phone when he walked through the door. 

“You’re sure?” he said into the phone. Pause. Dad sighed. “Okay. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll talk to you soon.” 

Nanako and her mom were watching TV. Mom shut it off when dad sat down at the table. Mom got up to warm up the leftovers. 

“That was Yu,” Dad said. 

“How’s he doing?” Nanako asked, unsure of what else to say. Dad narrowed his eyes at her. 

“Let’s be very clear on one thing, Nanako. The minute you step out of line, or your grades slip, or there’s any risky behavior going on, you’re on a train back to Inaba.” 

Nanako felt her heart leap. 

“You mean…I can go?” 

“If you can get into Shujin Academy, and if you agree to the rules of how you’re going to behave in Tokyo, and if you don’t give your cousin a hard time…then…yes.” 

Nanako leapt across the table and hugged her dad with all her strength. Excitement and relief rushed out at her all at once.

“Thank you, daddy! Thank you, thank you! You won’t regret this, I promise. And I’ll come home all the time, and call you and mom even more!” 

Dad grumbled, but hugged his daughter anyway. 

“There’s a lot to do, so you better get a start on it. I’ll sign whatever paperwork you need, but if you want to get into Shujin you’re going to have to do it yourself,” Dad said, as if somehow that was going to stop her. They both knew it wouldn’t - a little paperwork was a snap for Nanako. 

“Right, I better go look up the application right now,” she said, leaping up to her feet. “And I’ll need to figure out some good extra-curriculars, maybe find a list of the clubs, and I’ll most likely need letters of recommendation so I better email Yosuke and…” 

She kept listing off things as she ran to her room. 

Ryotaro Dojima sat in front of his reheated dinner with a mixture of pride and sadness in his heart. Where did the little girl who sang the Junes theme song go? 

But, he mused to himself, this was the nature of parenting. An endless cycle of frustration, joy, and sadness. 

His wife kissed him on the cheek.

“I’m proud of you.” 

“I just hope I don’t regret it,” he said. 

Chapter Text

SHINJUKU 

Ichiko Ohya was ready to get very drunk. 

It was a lull at Crossroads, which was her favorite, since it meant that she had Lala-chan all to herself. Lala-chan had grown an immunity to Ohya’s bitching and moaning, and so she could let it all out. Besides, Lala-chan was a bartender, it was part of the job to listen to confessions. 

Like a priest that served you booze. 

Lala-chan saw her in the doorway and had the first drink waiting for her before Ohya’s butt hit the stool. She tipped it back, letting the amber liquid burn down her throat, and then pushed the tumbler back towards Lala-chan.

“Another, please.” 

“Rough day again?” Lala-chan said, with no shortage of sarcasm. If having two drinks meant a rough day, then all of Ohya’s days were rough.

She wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that. 

“I swear they’re trying to kill me,” Ohya said. “I used to think they just wanted to drive me out of the paper. Now I think…no, I know they want me dead. Work me to death like so many 40 year old salarymen. Well, I’ll show them. You can’t kill me of stress if my blood is 10% alcohol.” 

“If your liver doesn’t get you,” Lala-chan said.

“Hush you. You get your money, don’t you?”

“I won’t if you die. Maybe I should have you pay off your tab more often,” she said.

“Lala-chaaaaaan, don’t be mean to meeeee…” 

Ohya put her head on the bar and enjoyed the cool wood on her forehead. 

She heard the door open but didn’t bother to look up. 

“What’ll it be, darling?” Lala-chan asked the newcomer. 

“Just a beer,” said a mellow voice. “Is she…?” 

“Too drunk to sit up? Not yet,” Lala-chan said. 

Ohya looked up. 

The newcomer was a man about her age, maybe a little older. He was strikingly handsome, wearing a well-fitted black jacket over a silver-threaded collared shirt that matched his platinum hair. He slipped into the stool next to hers, which caused Ohya to sit up. 

“I know you,” she declared. Yes, he wasn’t just strikingly handsome, but also familiar, though she couldn’t quite place it. 

“Do you? I was actually under the impression that you quite ignored me,” he said. Lala-chan brought over his beer. He gave it a sip. 

“Narukami,” she said. “That’s right. You’re Narukami. You work the entertainment beat too.” 

“That’s right,” he said with a small smile. “You don’t really pay much attention to the other entertainment reporters, so I wasn’t sure you’d recognize me.” 

“Pch. Well. It’s nothing personal,” Ohya said, grabbing her fresh drink and taking a gulp. “It’s just…”

“Below you,” he said. Ohya took another sip of her drink, but just a small one. This Narukami had followed her here for a reason. Nobody just randomly walked into Crossroads. 

“What’s your angle, Narukami? You here on behalf of the chief?” she asked. 

“No, not at all. I actually don’t like the chief that much.” 

Hm. That put a point in his favor, though the chief might have told him that. Ohya hadn’t made much effort to hide her distaste for her boss.

“You obviously followed me here, you obviously have something on your mind, so just say it. No sense dancing around,” she said. 

“I’m sure you’d make a great dance partner,” he said. 

Ohya felt a little flutter in her heart over that, and hated herself for it. 

“Spit it out, Narukami.” 

“The entertainment beat is below you. I get it. You didn’t get into the news business to report on sneakers and movies and-” 

“And mobile games with anime girls using giant guns to grab the attention of sex-crazed teen boys?” she said. “Yeah, you’re right, I didn’t.” 

“Neither did I,” he said. 

Ohya thought a little longer about Narukami. He was right, she didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about her co-workers, but she was a good reporter, and that meant knowing what she was working with. She had read his articles. 

“You write the idol articles,” she said. “And they’re good ones. You’re always scooping everyone else.” 

He shrugged. “It’s where they put me because I was nosing around some things I wasn’t supposed to. Sound familiar?” 

It did. That intrigued her, but also put up her guard. 

“Drink more beer,” she ordered. Narukami gave her a sidelong look, but did as he was told. 

“Why tell me?” Ohya asked.

“Because it’s hard to find people who want to reach out for the truth,” Narukami said. “And when you find them, you have to stick together.” 

“I don’t do partners,” Ohya said. Anymore, she almost said. 

“I don’t need a partner. But an ally might be nice. A confidant.”

“Scratch my back and I scratch yours?” she asked.

“Something like that.” 

She took another drink. 

“Maybe. I don’t trust you yet.” 

“Good, I don’t trust you either. But I’ll make the first move,” he said, reaching into his pocket. He slipped out a folded piece of printer paper, dropped it on the bar, then went to take another drink of his beer. Ohya picked it up and unfolded it.

There was a picture printed from a laser printer, along with a name: Tomohisa Aso. 

“Who’s this?” 

“The director of the Special Investigations Unit,” he said. “Know anything about him?” 

She thought. 

“No, not off hand. But I can check some of my notes. What’d he do?” 

“That’s more info than I’m willing to share,” he said. “But if you find anything, let me know?”

“And what do I get in exchange?” 

“My help, if I can give it. And knowing that you’re working for the truth,” he said. 

This was a bad idea. She was drinking, tired, lonely, and a good-looking guy was offering her an ally. It’d been so long since she’d had anyone that she could trust. She wanted it more than she wanted to admit.

She was probably walking right into a trap. 

And yet, Tomohisa Aso intrigued her. 

“Murakami Kayo,” she said in return. “Hear that name?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“If you do, tell me,” she said. 

“Deal.” 

He reached for his paper, but she snatched it up and stuck it into her pocket. 

“I’ll be keeping that,” she said.

“Suit yourself.” He turned and drained the rest of his beer, then put money - with a generous tip - on the counter. “Be seeing you around, Ohya-san.” 

She watched him stride to the door. When he got to the edge, he stopped.

“A little tip for you, get an informant about your entertainment topics. Speeds up the process and gives you more time to investigate the important things.” 

He left. 

When the door shut behind him, Lala-chan said, “Mmm, mmm, he was a dream wasn’t he? If you didn’t accept his offer, I was going to accept it for you. I could stand to have him around my place more often.” 

Ohya downed the rest of the second drink and waved the glass impatiently at Lala-chan. 

Chapter Text

“You’ll call when you get to Yu’s place safely. Call, not text,” Dad said. 

“Yes, of course.” 

“And call often. Mom is going to be worried about you,” he said. 

“Just mom?” Nanako teased. 

Her dad hugged her. Her mom wasn’t far behind. 

“I’m so proud of you. Have a good time, and we’ll look forward to hearing all about your adventure.” 

“Thanks for everything, mom.” 

She looked at both of them.

“I love you guys! Take care of Inaba for me!” 

Then she picked up her luggage and pulled it onto the train. 

She found a seat next to the window and put her luggage and backpack beside her. The train lurched forward and began to pick up speed.

Her parents waved until they were completely out of sight. 

Nanako let out a long breath and settled back in her seat. She was sad to be leaving them, of course. Sad to be leaving Inaba, too. It was home. It would always be home. But it, along with her parents, would be waiting for her when she got back. 

She pulled out a small notebook from her coat pocket and looked at the checklist. Already crossed off was “pack” “get snacks” “confirm train schedule and times” and “remind big bro.” 

Now she crossed off “go to Tokyo.” 

All that was left was “find big bro” “unpack” “go over school requirements.” 

It felt weird to just sit there and watch the world go by. The last few days had been such a whirlwind of activity and emotion between planning, packing, communicating with Shujin Academy, and all the ridiculous goodbye parties. Seriously, did she really need one from Yukiko, Kanji, and her parents separately? 

She had to admit it was nice, though. How could she be nervous or afraid when she had so much love sending her off? 

Nanako opened her backpack and got out the small pack of chocolate cookies she bought at the train station vending machine. She probably shouldn’t be eating cookies this early in the morning, but who was going to stop her?

She was on her own now. 

Chapter Text

“Nanako, over here!” 

Nanako’s heart leapt when she heard her big bro’s voice. She had just finished wrestling her luggage onto the platform and was about to text him when he called out.

“Hey big bro!” she called out. 

He swept in and hugged her. 

She’d last seem him at New Year’s, but it still felt like it had been an eternity. He was dressed sharply, as always, though his shirt was a little wrinkled and his face a little haggard. 

“You’ve been working too hard,” Nanako declared. 

“Me? Never. I slack off as much as I can,” he said with a grin. He grabbed the pull-handle of her luggage and led them away from the platform. 

“You do not,” Nanako said.

“I do! I don’t even write my own stories.” 

She rolled her eyes and he laughed. 

“Thanks again for letting me stay with you,” she said. “I wasn’t sure you were going to let me.” 

“You tricked me the first time,” he said.

Darn, how’d he figure that out? 

“Yeah, but it’s been almost a month, you could’ve backed out at any time. So thanks. I’ll try not to be in the way, I know there’s not a lot of space.” 

Yu frowned. “Huh? Oh. Right. When was the last time you saw my place?” 

Nanako thought for a moment. “I guess it’s been about two years. Why?” 

“I moved,” Yu said. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of space.” 

Nanako was surprised, but also glad. The last time she’d visited, he’d been living in a cramped one bedroom apartment next to the train tracks. Fortunately, big bro was neat and organized, but she had mentally prepared herself for sleeping on the living room floor and spending most of her time at the library or a cafe or something. Then again, big bro worked a lot, so she had hoped that maybe he’d be the one out all the time.

This was a welcome relief.

And maybe a sign that she was doing the right thing. 

Yu didn’t bother with taking the train back to his place and ordered a taxi instead. They got in, and Nanako stared at the window some more. 

“It’s so crazy that you live here,” Nanako said. “It’s just…so much. It’s almost too much.” 

“It’s definitely not Inaba,” Yu said. “But I grew up here, remember? You’ll get used to it. There’s a certain rhythm to the city. It’s faster, maybe a little more frantic, but you’ll be a cynical city-dweller in no time.” 

Nanako wasn’t quite sure about that. Already she was feeling a little more nervous. She’d been to Tokyo before, of course, to visit. But visiting a place was very different than living in it. 

“By the way…Dojima never told me why you wanted to come out here,” her big bro said. 

“Oh. He didn’t? Huh.” Nanako said.

“If that was you trying to avoid the question, you did an awful job,” Yu said. “Come on, I’m the one putting a roof over your head, don’t you think I deserve to know?” 

“Uh, well. It’s…I’m trying to do the right thing, you could say.” 

“For yourself?” 

“Yes. And for someone else,” she admitted.

“Aha. Then this person must be very important to you.” 

Nanako studied her big bro. He was tricking her. He was speaking with an easygoing tone and seeming to keep the questions light, but he was slowly closing in on the truth. He was just being very patient about it. 

“You’re trying to reporter me,” she said. 

“Yes I am, and it’s working rather well.” 

“I give up,” she said. Then she told him. Not quite everything - again the whole part about breaking and entering was glossed over and left vague. But she told him everything else: the shrine, Ren’s unjust situation, her desire to help him. 

By the time she was done, the taxi had pulled up to a shining apartment building in Shibuya. Yu unloaded the luggage and tipped the driver. A doorman opened the front door and then rushed to take the luggage from Yu, setting it on a luggage cart. 

Another doorman pushed the button to the elevator. When the elevator closed, Nanako turned to her big bro, shocked.

“This place is nice! How on earth do you afford it?” 

“Hey, I’m a good writer,” he said, sounding mock-offended. “I got a promotion recently. I thought maybe it was time to live a little nicer.” 

The elevator stopped, and the pair of them exited. The second doorman was already waiting by the apartment door with the luggage. Yu thanked him and then helped Nanako take it inside. 

The place was even more gorgeous on the inside. The living room had huge windows that led onto a balcony that overlooked the bustling city below. The living room itself had a nice couch in front of a huge television. There was a dining room table big enough to seat eight, and then a gorgeous modern kitchen with new, stainless steel appliances. 

“All of this for writing articles about idols…” Nanako said, amazed. Yu chuckled and motioned for her to follow.

“Your room in this way.” 

They walked down a short hallway to a bathroom and bedroom. The bedroom was done in a sleek modern style, with a bed, desk, bookshelf and dresser. It too had a window that looked out onto the city. 

“Will this do?” Yu asked.

“This is amazing! But you’re not sleeping on the couch or something, are you?” 

He laughed. “No, my room is on the other side of the apartment. It’s a three bedroom. You have free reign of the place, but I’d ask you to stay out of the other two bedrooms. One is mine, the other is my home office.” 

“Sure, of course. Thanks big bro, this is amazing.” 

“I’ll let you get unpacked and then we can get some dinner. Maybe you want to invite your friend?” 

Nanako looked confused. “My friend?” 

“Yeah, the one you were talking about. Amamiya.” 

“Oh. Uh. Well, he doesn’t actually know I’m here.” 

It was Yu’s turned to look surprised. 

“You didn’t tell him?” 

“I uh…no, I guess not. It sorta slipped my mind.” 

“What are you going to say to him when you see him?” 

“Uh…I…” Nanako felt a fresh new rush of panic. “I’m not sure.” 

“Well, you might want to tell him before you see him at school. I don’t know about him, but if someone from home followed me out to Inaba when I moved, I would’ve thought they were a bit…eccentric.” 

“You mean crazy. A crazy stalker.” 

Yu winced, but nodded. Nanako groaned. 

“It’s okay, just tell him, like I said. And maybe tell him that you were interested in…uh…what’s at Shujin that might interest you?” 

“I’m going to volleyball practice tomorrow,” Nanako said. “The coach, Kamoshida-sensei, is a former Olympic athlete, and I hear Shujin has a really great team” 

“There you go. Think about using that.” 

“Isn’t that lying?” Nanako asked.

“Technically, yes.” 

“You want me to lie?” 

“It’s just a suggestion. Like I said, I’d think it was strange if someone followed me.” 

Yu nodded and left the room. Nanako set her luggage on the bed and unzipped it, beginning to unpack. 

Great. What was she going to say to Ren? 

There was still a couple of days before school started. She had time.

She could fix this. 

Chapter Text

When Nanako first arrived to Shujin, she found it a little intimidating. 

But at that moment, it was the last thing on her mind.

The school was just so sleek compared to Yasogami High. Sure, it was still essentially a school, but everything had a shine to it. Even the way the uniforms were designed, with their trendy little chevrons on the collar, and the bone white, pitch black and blood red colors, just seemed so much cooler. 

Sophisticated.

Maybe even dangerous.

It was the first time since arriving that she wondered if she was going to be too much of a country girl to fit in. 

But she wasn’t thinking about that anymore.

It was an open practice - anyone could show up. They weren’t exactly try-outs, but Nanako could definitely feel Kamoshida-sensei’s gaze locked on her every move. 

He was a nice enough guy, she figured. Gregarious, smiley - though there was a bit of an edge when he started talking about volleyball. That was to be expected of a coach, especially a former Olympian. 

The thing that she had noticed first though was just how large he was. He was tall, with a classic V-torso and hefty muscles. Nanako wasn’t sure she’d ever met someone so muscular in person before. Standing next to him was a little intimidating. 

She wouldn’t exactly call him handsome. His jaw was like a lantern and felt like it belonged more on a comic book character than a real person. But if the other teachers at Shujin were like him, she figured that she would be fine.

But she wasn’t thinking about Kamoshida, either.

The gym was nice. Nanako had brought her new PE uniform, snapped on some knee pads, made sure her twin-tails were secured, and got ready to play some volleyball. 

She wasn’t the best player, even back at Yasogami High. But she was athletic enough to be a decent teammate. She had filled the role of the defensive-support player on her old team, as well as team spirit leader. It was always fun to make posters for her teammates or just text them and see if they were doing all right. 

But she wasn’t thinking about her old team. 

As it turned out, being a mediocre player at Yasogami meant that she was a terrible player at Shujin. Everyone there - the boys and girls alike - had tremendous skill. They were quick, strong, and most importantly seemingly unafraid to dive for the ball, wherever it was heading.

It was like they didn’t feel the pain. Like it had been conditioned out of them, somehow. 

But that would’ve been fine by Nanako. She didn’t have to be good. She could practice and get better. It was all a stepping stone to something better. It was like Kanji in his videos, when he said that he had a lot of practice. She just had to apply herself. 

But she wasn’t thinking about that either.

“Why are you even here?” came the bemused taunt from the other side of the net. The girl had black hair tied into a ponytail, and looked at Nanako with total disgust. 

“I’m playing volleyball,” Nanako said. The girl held in a laugh.

“That’s not playing volleyball. You’re playing keepy-uppy. You want me to get you a balloon you can bounce around? If you’re a good girl, you can have a cupcake.” 

Nanako frowned. “What’s your problem?” 

“You. You’re gonna drag this time down if you join it. Even if Kamoshida keeps you on, you’ll never do well. But he’ll put you in as a pity move or something and you’re gonna blow an important play.” 

The girl walked right to the edge of the net, her nose nearly touching it.

“Go home,” she said.

“No,” Nanako said, standing straighter. “I have a right to be here.” 

“Then I’ll show you that you don’t belong,” the girl said. She walked over to the serve line. Nanako stood back to her defensive position, where another girl was standing. 

“Who’s that?” Nanako asked.

“Shiho Suzui, the best player on the girl’s team. Don’t talk to me, I don’t want to get in trouble from her.” 

The play started. Shiho served, Nanako returned it with a bump. But Shiho was already sky-high and spiked it down half-a-heartbeat after Nanako had bumped it.

The ball crashed into Nanako’s shoulder with enough force to knock her over. Shiho gave her a cold look, then a sneer. 

“Point for us,” she said.

This is the only thing that Nanako thought about.

Beating the sneer off of Shiho’s face.

Nanako ran for every play, put more hustle and effort into this practice than she ever did. She prayed to Chie, hoping that somehow she could lend Nanako her strength and athleticism. 

She gave it her absolute all. She was soaked with sweat, her knees were raw, and her feet were getting blisters from her new shoes. 

It wasn’t enough.

Nanako dove left to block Shiho’s shot, but Shiho had shot it to her right. Nanako lay face-down on the court. Shiho ducked under the net and knelt next to her.

“Game point, bitch,” Shiho muttered. “Don’t come back here.” 

There was a whistle, and everyone moved to clean up. 

“Hey, Nanako-chan,” Kamoshida said. He set his big hand on her left shoulder in a friendly, gentle sort of way. Nanako was sitting at the bench, working on putting her walking shoes back on. 

“Hi, sensei,” Nanako said. “I guess I didn’t realize how good you all were. Sorry for wasting your time.” 

Kamoshida smiled.

“Not at all, Nanako-chan. You were really sweatin’ out there. I don’t think anyone else put as much effort into this practice as you did. If they had your hustle, we’d win the championship for sure.” 

Nanako shrugged. It was kind of a lop-sided shrug, since Kamoshida still had his hand on her shoulder.

“I think you have a lot of potential. You have some growing to do, sure, but once you fill out your weak spots, you could be a very good player. I’d like to keep you on the team. I don’t know if you would be a starter, or how much game time you would get…but I can help you. I’d even work with you one on one for some specialized training,” Kamoshida said.

“That’s very nice of you, sensei. I’ll have to think about it.” 

“Of course,” he said, lifting his hand away from her shoulder. “Have a good evening, Nanako-chan.” 

He flashed a big smile over his extra large chin. Nanako smiled back politely, though she wasn’t really in a smiling mood. 

She made her way out of the gym and over to the school’s main gate. As she was walking out of the gate, she spotted two people looking at her.

The first was Shiho. The second was a tall girl with blonde hair and an amazing figure. Nanako thought she could be a model, though that just might be because she had pigtails like Rise. They were talking when she stepped out, but stopped when they spotted Nanako. 

They both stared her down. 

Nanako gave them a friendly wave, then turned to head to the train station. 

Chapter Text

Nanako lay in the bath back at her big bro’s apartment - though she supposed she had to start thinking of it as “her” apartment now. The water was able to get scalding hot, and it was surprisingly spacious. 

But not even the luxury living made Nanako feel better about her day. Firstly, she was sore all over. She was surprised to see that the ball that Shiho spiked had actually left a bruise on her shoulder. There were dozens of bruises along her legs and forearms too - nothing massive, but enough to make her feel a little self-conscious. There was also just the general ache of her exerting so much. 

She should’ve kept up the daily physical training regimen Chie had put her on…

She took a breath, put her nose at the surface of the water, and blew bubbles with it. 

The thing that troubled Nanako the most was how Shiho had acted. Maybe she was right and that Nanako wouldn’t do much for the team, but did she have to be so aggressive about it? Why not just talk to Kamoshida alone? Or better yet, why not just talk to Nanako herself and talk about the concerns? What was all this violence about? 

But, she could actually understand Shiho’s line of thinking. Nanako didn’t think it was right, but she could understand it. 

What she didn’t understand was the rest of the students. They no doubt saw Nanako get bullied, but nobody say anything. Not one person stood up for her, or quietly talked to Kamoshida, or even gave her an apologetic look. 

Was this the kind of place she had signed up to spend the whole year? A place where everyone is lethally competitive about everything? Would she be spending the year fighting off jealous and territorial popular girls? 

What would Ren do about this? 

He’d probably find a way to embarrass Shiho. Find out a dark secret, expose it in front of everyone.

No. He wouldn’t. He’d put on his fake glasses and fade into the background. 

The one time he’d broken the law was to save someone else.

Now Nanako’s stomach was tying itself in knots about Ren. She still hadn’t texted or called him. Yu’s suggestion to use the volleyball team didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. But even before her tryout fiasco, there was something about making up a lie to him that didn’t sit right with her.

But telling him the truth was scary. 

Was it because her feelings weren’t as altruistic as she was trying to convince everyone? Was she really doing all of this for a stolen kiss that may or may not have been real? Or rather, a stolen kiss that was more than likely not real? 

She groaned and sunk lower into the bath. 

Nanako had no one to blame but herself. She wanted an exciting life. 

Stress and disappointment is exciting too. 

Chapter Text

When Nanako was a child, she took control. 

Her mother had died. Her father had lost himself in alcohol, work, and grief. She was six years old, and the world no longer made any sense.

So she took control. 

She cooked, cleaned, and set her own bedtime. She watched her father’s emotions like a hawk, working hard to never make any trouble for him, and to make him feel better. The few times she asked for something - going on a trip, having a vacation - she always felt terrible about it afterwards. She felt guilty. Greedy. After all, her father had been in so much pain, how could she be so selfish? 

It was big bro that helped her realize that wanting those things was normal. And it was he who let her begin to reclaim her childhood. 

Of course, dad got better, and Nanako was able to reclaim a happy childhood. 

But that mechanism of taking control never left her. 

She’d only been to Shujin twice - once for the volleyball practice and once to meet the principal and her new homeroom teacher, Kawakami-sensei - and her life was already chaotic. Nanako hadn’t realized how much she was counting on the volleyball team as her starting point. Not only would it give her some purpose and structure to school, but it would have built in a social group, at least to start with. 

It also was a really convenient excuse for Ren. 

So Nanako made lists. 

Lists of possible excuses. Lists of possible other clubs to try. Lists of other sports to do. Lists of ways to make new friends. If she could make a solid plan, she could navigate through this awkward transition. 

“Did they give you homework already?” Yu asked. Nanako had set up all of her lists at the dining room table, spread out in an orderly grid. She was scanning over the lists again and again, looking for some angle or insight she might have missed. 

“No, these are just plans for starting school,” Nanako replied. Yu leaned over the table and scanned them. 

“Wow. You’re really planning for every possibility…’list of possible delinquent excuses’? What’s that one?” 

“Reasons I might have been forced out of Inaba. I…probably won’t use that list. It would require me to spread rumors about myself and that’s probably not the best way to start.” 

“No, I don’t think so,” Yu said kindly but firmly. “You’re not doing volleyball?” 

“I don’t know if it’s for me. I was okay back home, but this team plays on a different level,” Nanako said. “Did you join a sport in high school, big bro?” 

“Yeah, basketball,” he said. “Joined not long after I got to Yasogami.” 

“How’d that go?” 

He sat down beside her and thought.

“Well…I ended up helping the basketball ace deal with the fact that he was adopted and the sudden shift of his family no longer needing him to fulfill the family legacy.” 

“…What?” Nanako said, confused.

“Long story.” 

“…Okay. Did you do any other clubs?” 

“Drama,” he said.

“How’d that go?”

“Dramatically,” he said with a smirk. 

“Ha ha,” Nanako said flatly.

“No, really, see her father was dying…”

Nanako gave him an incredulous look. “Are you making this up to mess with me?” 

“No, honestly, it all happened. I just had a very strange year,” he said. He laughed, which made Nanako laugh. “Sorry, I guess that doesn’t help you much, does it?” 

“Not really,” she said. She took a deep breath and summoned up the courage to say what had been running in the back of her head for the last couple of days. “I think I made a mistake coming here.” 

“Moving is always hard, no matter how much planning you do. But a little adversity is good for you. And sometimes…” her big bro said, scooping up all the lists and putting them into a pile “Having no plan is the best plan. Just go tomorrow and see what happens.” 

“What about Ren? I thought you said I should have excuse ready?” 

He shrugged. “I did, but maybe I was wrong about that. Maybe you’ll go tomorrow, see him, and the perfect words will just jump into your head.” 

“And what if they don’t?” she asked.

“Then you’ll look like a fool. But that’s okay too. The hard part will be over. If the connection you felt you had with him was real, he’ll come around to you being there. And if it isn’t, then you’ll be here on an adventure anyway. And I get to spend a whole year with you, which I’m very happy about,” he said. 

Nanako’s heart filled to the brim. “Really? I was worried I’d be getting in the way. You know, your pesky little sister getting in the way of meeting women or something.” 

Yu laughed. “You don’t need to worry about that. All right, enough lists and planning. We’re going to a movie and then out to dinner. It’s your last day of break, you should enjoy it a little.” 

“Thanks, big bro.” 

Chapter Text

Nanako had the dream again. 

“Izanagi! Cut him down!”

She had never heard big bro yell with so much raw emotion. 

She was too little at the time to understand the mix of rage, fear, and desperation that strained his cries. 

Above her big bro was a man made of razor blades, a black coat and white bandanna trailing behind him as he slashed a naginata at the red demon in the white t-shirt. The demon battered the razor man aside, which caused her big bro to grunt in pain, the grip on his own katana slipping.

“I wIlL SaVe HeR!” the demon cried in a distorted voice. 

“Let Nanako go!” big bro cried, adjusting a pair of glasses on his face. “Persona change - Sraosha!” 

The razor blade man vanished and was replaced in a flash of blue, replaced by a mermaid-like angel with four wings. The angel rose high and unleashed bright white lights that barrage at the demon like missiles. 

The explosions rocked the demon, and Nanako with it.

“Big bro!” she cried out in a tiny voice. She felt herself falling.

And falling.

The dream was changing. Nanako had never seen this before. The paradise world, the red demon, her big bro, it was all gone, replaced by pitch darkness.

Then red. Dull red light expanded in front of her, in the shape of a bridge. Nanako grit her teeth, preparing for the impact, but like in every dream, she landed safely. 

She stood. She was tall again, returned to her full age. She looked up at the sky, wondering if she could see the paradise world above her, but was met only with a stone ceiling.

There was groaning all around her. 

She gasped and spun around in a circle, trying to find the source of the sound, but the dim red light prevented her from making anything out clear. 

Until she turned all the way back around.

Suddenly there was a door ahead of her. No, not a door. The door was not solid, but had bars. It was a prison cell. Red lights criss-crossed in frightening organic patterns that reminded her of veins, illuminating the cell in a dull red light.

A woman sat on the cell floor, leaning against the wall. She wore a structured blue dress that reminded Nanako of a military uniform, though far more elegant. The details of her dress shone with glints of gold that matched her platinum blonde hair and her almost glowing yellow eyes. 

She looked sad. No, worse than sad. Despondent. 

Nanako took a step forward. Her single footstep echoed loudly through the chamber, sharp and harsh compared to the dull moaning that permeated everything else. 

The woman turned to look at her, eyes narrowing. Nanako froze, frightened.

The woman peered closer, as if unable to believe her eyes. 

“Justice?” she asked. 

Nanako woke up. 

Chapter Text

Of course it rained on the first day of school. 

But Nanako was ready. 

She hadn’t been able to sleep well after her strange dream, so she’d woken up early to put on her uniform. She looked as sleek as the rest of Shujin in it, with its red buttons and small black bow against the bright white shirt and the stylish school crest with the double chevrons. She wore black tights beneath her skirt, and even matched the hair ties for her twintails to the matching scarlet red. 

She had the black school bag and a matching black umbrella. Normally, Nanako didn’t dare to break the uniform codes, but she attached one thing to her bag - the little fox samurai that Kanji had made for her before she left Inaba. Right now she felt like she needed an adorable badass protector. 

She prepared breakfast and watched TV while she ate it. In the background she could hear her big bro getting ready for his day too. 

“Hey, you better leave a little earlier today,” Yu called out. “There was another subway accident, so the train schedule might be affected.” 

“Okay,” Nanako said.

“You remember how to get to the right platform, right?” 

“We went over it twice yesterday,” she reminded him. 

“I know. Just making sure. I’ll be busy today, but text me if you need anything. Oh, I put a little extra money in your bag. Just in case.” 

She got up and gave him a hug.

“Thanks big bro.” 

She left early, braving the rain. Her heart was pounding with the excitement and nerves of navigating Tokyo rush hour in the rain. It seemed even more crowded with the sudden influx of students peppered around the station. She must have seen at least a dozen different uniforms. 

Like the white one that the boy who bumped into her wore.

“My goodness! My deepest apologies, I was caught up in observing the rain and I wasn’t paying attention!” said the boy with the blue hair and the rich deep voice. Nanako was rattled a bit from their collision, but wasn’t hurt.

“It’s okay,” she said. “The rain is beautiful.” 

“Yes, it is,” he said. “It lends an air of the ethereal to the mundane. Not to mention the symbolism of nature cleaning what man has wrought upon its soil.” 

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” Nanako said. The boy stared back at the rain. She waited a second for him to respond, but she realized maybe he hadn’t even heard her say anything. 

She was pretty sure he wasn’t paying any attention to her anymore.

“Well…have a good day!” Nanako said before heading back to the train. 

She crushed herself into train car and listened to the news. Most of it was on the subway accident from the day earlier, and all of the changes to the train schedule that were being made as a result. 

She got off.

She followed other Shujin students up the stairs and on their long march towards the front of school and the beginning of a new year. Students walked in groups of three or four and huddled beneath umbrellas.

This was it, she realized. The start of everything. She had spent the whole month turning her life upside down for this day. 

Would it be a special one? 

She stopped dead in her tracks.

There he was.

Amamiya Ren, looking as lithe and mysterious as ever, huddling under a building from the rain.

Standing next to a gorgeous blonde. 

Chapter Text

Where is the Investigation Team now? 

Yukiko Amagi

Age: 26

Relationship Status: Married, two children with one on the way.

After exploring the possibility of moving away from Inaba with Yu, Yukiko decided to stay in Inaba and take on the role of the next manager, continuing on her family legacy. When she graduated high school, she didn’t pursue further education, choosing instead to begin working full time at the inn immediately. Her life moved rapidly forward when at age 19 she met Sadao, a young man who came to work at the Inn as a gardener and handyman. They fell in love almost immediately, and the two were married within six months of meeting each other, much to the shock of her friends and family. 

Married life was hard at first, made even more difficult by Yukiko becoming pregnant within the year. She gave birth to her first child, a son named Tsuneo. At first, Yukiko wasn’t sure she could hold together being a mother, manager, and wife. After the first bitter year, Yukiko found her inner fire and iron will and matured into a truly admirable woman. Three years later, Yukiko had her daughter Ai, and now has one more on the way. Her relationship with her husband is stronger than ever, and the future of the Amagi Inn is in excellent hands. 

—

Kanji Tatsumi 

Age: 25

Relationship Status: ???

After high school, Kanji went to work full time at his mother’s textile shop at the Central Shopping District in Inaba. Business had continued to slow due to the influence of Junes and online shopping. Kanji watched trends carefully and realized that if they were going to survive, the store needed to be rebranded as a “high end boutique.” Kanji took to social media, making videos about how they did business, how they worked with local sources and local businesses, and why the quality of their products were higher. He even got Rise Kujikawa to endorse the business, which helped bring new awareness. 

As part of the video series, Kanji started making tutorials for small sewing projects, hoping that inspiring people to take up crafts would result in people purchasing more textiles. These soon became some of the most popular videos on their social media campaign, and Kanji quickly built a new channel to monetize the popularity of the videos. This is where he curated his “Badass Crafts” branding, remembering how he had struggled in his youth with his masculinity and his love of crafting. This took off like crazy, changing Kanji into a social media celebrity and securing the financial safety for himself and his mother. 

Kanji doesn’t let the “celebrity” status get to his head. He mostly focuses on driving business to his store, producing useful and wholesome content, and replying to comments left by other lost people struggling with their identities. 

—

Yu Narukami

Age: 26

Relationship Status: Single

After high school, Yu went to college to initially study to be a police detective. However, he found that enforcing the law was not enough for him and he wanted to expose deeper truths hidden by “the system.” He switched to studying journalism, where his charisma, dedication, and writing skills served him well. 

After graduation, Yu worked for a small investigative news blog, focusing on national politics. He garnered some attention for his work, but the blog was not financially solvent and collapsed within a year. After that, Yu got a job at Maiasa where he initially was assigned stories on local Tokyo politics. Yu wrote several pieces that gained more attention, but also got in trouble when one of the items he exposed ended up having ties to Maiasa’s owners. 

Yu was threatened to tone it down, which resulted in him pivoting to writing articles about the Japanese Idol scene. His investigative abilities have resulted in him always having the best scoops and most accurate information about idols, which boosted the readership massively. It is uncertain if Yu enjoys his job or not, but it seems like he’s working on something else in the background…

—

Yosuke Hanamura

Age: 26

Relationship Status: Single 

Nobody was more surprised about Yosuke’s decision to go into teaching than him, but it is a life that has suited him. After years of complaining about “living in the sticks,” Yosuke returned to Tokyo to go to university. He found that after living in Inaba he had grown accustomed to the small town life and longed to return to it. He switched his major from business to teaching, vowing to make Yasogami High School better than when he went to it. 

After graduation, Yosuke returned and got a job. He’s been a popular and effective teacher in his years at Yasogami High School. Students and faculty alike trust him, and he always works to the benefit of the community. Yosuke is also found serving on several community groups in Inaba, and there is rumor that he might run for a local election soon. 

—

Chie Satonaka: ???

Naoto Shirogane: ??? 

Rise Kujikawa: ???

Teddie: ??? 

Chapter Text

He was staring at her.

Why was he staring at her? 

I mean…yes, she was sorta stare-worthy. Tall, blonde, obviously part foreigner. And…well…alluring. Sexy. Larger than life in ways that Nanako couldn’t be. Even her…twin tails, were bigger than Nanako’s. 

She stood there in the rain and watched as Ren stared.

And then all of a sudden she was gone. Whisked away in a car. He watched the car drive away, his hand held up awkwardly, as if waving the ride off. He frowned, adjusted his glasses.

Then saw her.

Nanako wanted to turn and run. Or maybe just dive headlong into the street and let traffic handle the rest.

He leaned forward, as if not believing his eyes. Maybe if she stood still he’d just turn around and forget she was there. 

But that wasn’t what she wanted! She was here for him! 

The awkwardness spurred her into action. 

“Hi,” she said, waving.

“Nanako Dojima…?” he said. Nanako walked up to him, holding the umbrella up a little higher.

“Fancy seeing you here,” she said, trying to sound cool. Her voice wavered, though, ruining the effect. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“Um. Going to school,” she stammered. 

“Yeah, I can see that but…are you going to Shujin? Did you…follow me?” 

Before she could answer, another blonde plowed through them. 

“Damn that pervy teacher!” he yelled, shaking his fist at the road. Nanako stumbled but was suddenly steadied when Ren grabbed her wrist. 

“T-thanks,” Nanako said. Ren nodded, his eyes unreadable. He had put on his mask - that dead stare he had at school, the one he used to keep attention off of him. It was painful for him to look at her that way. 

“What are you looking at?” the other blonde said. He had an intentional delinquent vibe, complete with non-regulation T-shirt and dyed hair. Nanako might have thought him intimidating had she not grown up looking at pictures of Kanji with his blonde hair.

Kanji was also a lot more intimidating, even as a kid. 

“Hey, you’re the one who ran into us,” Nanako said. “Then yelling about perverts out in public.” 

“Psh, come on, you gotta think the same thing about Kamodshida too, right?” said the vulgar boy. 

“Who?” Ren asked. Nanako frowned.

“Kamoshida-sensei? The volleyball coach?” Nanako asked. Ren glanced at her, but said nothing. 

“Yeah. Come on, you can’t go to Shujin and not know what Kamoshida’s like…then again, I’ve never seen either of you before. But you’re both second years…” 

“We’re transfer students,” Nanako said. 

“Ah. Then yeah, that’s why you don’t know. Don’t worry, you will.” he said, anger and disappointment filling his eyes. “Kamoshida acts like the king of the castle.” 

“Right…” Nanako said. That hadn’t been her experience with Kamoshida. He seemed like a stern coach, but he had been kind to Nanako. 

“Come on,” the vulgar boy said with a sigh. “I’ll lead you to school. We’re gonna be late, but I know a shortcut.” 

He started walking. Nanako glanced at Ren. 

Ren shrugged and started following.

“We’re just going to follow him?” Nanako asked.

“We aren’t doing anything,” Ren said. “I’m following. Follow if you want.” 

Nanako felt her heart drop. 

This was worse than she could have imagined. The absolute worst. Never had she regretted something more than she did now. 

She followed a few steps behind, hoping that the boy’s shortcut would pay off. 

It wasn’t much longer of a walk. The boy took them through a few narrow alleys, then turned back onto the main road.

“Whoah,” Nanako said.

She rubbed her eyes.

“This is…” Ren said. 

“This is where the school is…” said the vulgar boy. “What the hell is going on?” 

Nanako looked up and down at the massive castle in front of them. It was entirely out of place in modern day Tokyo - in fact it seemed like there was a red aura around the whole place, and it was cast in an artificial night. In fact, now that Nanako noticed it, the whole world had turned to darkness. 

She examined the street signs. This was the right place, she’d been here twice before. And everything around the school was correct - the vending machine, the crosswalk, all of it was exactly where it should be.

So why was there a castle here?

Had she forgotten it was a castle? That didn’t seem likely. That would be a pretty big thing to forget…

She realized that Ren and the boy were walking ahead, so she shuffled up to catch up. 

The grand foyer of the castle bore a massive portrait of Kamoshida with a crown on his head. It was gaudy as hell, but still somehow finely painted. Nanako couldn’t believe her eyes, and went to rub them.

When she did, her vision went blurry. The castle faded, and the school started to appear, just for a second.

“What was that?” the boy asked. “Wasn’t that the school?” 

“Is this a prank?” Ren asked suddenly. The boy looked amused and irritated all at once.

“No this isn’t a prank, what kind of prank would this be?” 

“Then where are we?” Nanako asked.

“How the hell should I know?!” 

“Halt!” a voice called out. All three turned to watch as five huge suits of armor came trotting out. They had the three of them surrounded immediately, large broadswords drawn and their shields at the ready. 

“Hey come on, this is too far,” the boy said. “I mean those are really great costumes but- hey, what the eff!” 

One of the knights grabbed the boy and shoved him. Before Nanako could react, she felt a strong metal hand wrap around her wrist and yank her off-balance. Nanako cried out instinctively, frozen from pain and shock. 

“Nanako!” Ren cried. He sprung forward, leaping into the air and slamming a kick in the center of the knight’s body. It was enough to send him toppling to the ground and release Nanako. Before he could do anything else, though, two more guards had him by the arms. Another cuffed the vulgar boy in the back of the head and the remaining two grabbed Nanako’s arms.

“Take them to the dungeon and then inform King Kamoshida right away!” 

Nanako struggled the whole way there. She used everything she knew - the self-defense techniques from dad, the kung fu kick from Chie - even the “kick ‘em in the balls” method that Rise had once told her about. Nothing worked. The knights barely even acknowledged she was doing anything.

The stench of the dungeon hit her before anything else. It was cold and moldy from the running water, but also filled with the stench of filth and sweat. One knight went ahead and opened the heavy bars of the cell and shoved the boy and Ren into the cell. 

Nanako realized that Ren was unconscious now, along with the boy. They were splayed onto the ground like ragdolls. 

The knight was about to push Nanako in when one of the others stopped him. 

“No, put the girl separate. You know how the King is.” 

“Yeah, true.” 

The knight dragged Nanako one cell over and opened it, shoving her inside.

“Keep quiet if you know what’s good for you,” the knight said. He the turned and marched off. Nanako threw herself against the bars, scrambling to see if it was unlocked. Panic seized her for a moment, and she screamed, reaching out through the bars.

Not again.

She couldn’t be kidnapped again.

This was like last time. The weird world. The demonic beings. All of it.

Wait, but those were dreams. Not real. This isn’t real, is it?

Is it a dream? 

She gripped the bars and screamed again. No one came.

—

Nanako wasn’t sure how long she sat in the cell before someone came to open it. Two knights stepped in and tossed something at her feet.

“Put this on. King Kamoshida commands it.”

“Put what on?” Nanako asked. 

“That,” the knight said, motioning to the thing they had just tossed. Nanako was confused, so she bent down an picked it up.

It was a black bikini.

Sort of.

Actually it looked more like lingerie, in Nanako’s opinion. There was no way that the bottoms were going to cover her whole butt, and even her modest chest was going to have to squeeze into the top. 

“That’s…pretty wrong, you know,” Nanako said. “He’s a teacher. He could get in a lot of trouble for this. I don’t know what he’s doing down here, but if you don’t let me go, I’m going to be filing a very detailed report. My father is a detective, and-” 

Nanako cried out when the metal fist smashed into her mouth.

“Shut up, bitch! Just put on the clothes!” 

Nanako stood up and spat on the ground.

“No.” 

The knight punched her again, this time in the stomach. The pain was unbearable and Nanako doubled over and rolled onto the floor. The cold stone felt good on her cheek, especially as her head was spinning.

Then the world was spinning. 

And then the world was gone. 

Chapter Text

The spinning stopped.

“Hello again, Justice,” said a voice.

Nanako sat up. 

She was in a cell. No, wait, she wasn’t in a cell, she was outside a cell. And not the one in the strange castle - that same cell in the darkness from her dream last night.

The woman knelt at the very edge of the cell, her delicate fingers wrapped around the square bars. Her eyes seemed to glow in the dark. 

“Where am I?” 

“Difficult question. To be honest, I’m not exactly sure. I am glad to see you, though. Come a little closer.” 

Nanako looked around. There really wasn’t anywhere else to go in the inky void. She supposed that the pathway she stood on had to go somewhere if she walked in the opposite direciton…but nothing made sense. The woman was at least a tangible thing she could interact with. Much better than falling through an endless expanse of nothingneess. 

She went a little closer. 

“Ah…I see he’s kept up your bond. It’s very strong. Not as strong as it once was…but still very strong,” the woman said.

“Who are you?” Nanako asked.

“My name is Margaret. I met your cousin, once upon a time…though I suppose you know him as ‘big bro.’” 

“How do you know that?” Nanako demanded. She realized she was trying to pitch her voice a little lower and spoke in the same inflections her dad did when he was questioning someone. 

“I read it, just now. Your bond is bright and powerful and I can read it as easily as a book. But that’s not important now. What’s important is what is going to happen next,” Margaret said.

“What do you mean? I need to get out of here.” 

“Yes, and you’ll leave soon enough. But right now, I need you to realize that you are doing the wrong thing.” 

“What does that mean?” Nanako asked.

“The path you are walking on was never meant for you,” Margaret said. “Your fate lies elsewhere, far away from all of this. So you must make a choice, Justice.” 

“My name is Nanako,” she said. 

“A beautiful name. Now, the choice.” 

Margaret held out her left hand through the bars. There was a sudden blue flame that appeared and then floating in her hand was a stylized card of a scale. 

“The path of Justice, your true path. Take this, and you will be returned home. You will be living your first day of Yasogami High School as a second year, and the memories of the last month will be washed away, replaced by happy memories of a fun summer.”

“You can…do that?” Nanako asked.

“Yes. I am not as powerful as my master, and down here I am even weaker…but I have some strength in me still. Enough for one boon to you, because of the fond memories I have of your big bro,” Maragret said. 

“I just take that card and everything I did gets undone?” Nanako asked.

“Yes. You must feel it yourself, do you not? You were never meant to follow that boy. Every instinct you have is that you should have let him go, and that is your instinct trying to get you on the correct path of fate. There is no bright future along that path, Nanako-chan, only confusion and fear,” Margaret said. 

“What will happen to Ren?” Nanako asked.

“You cannot know. His fate and yours are separate. They have become entwined through your actions, and only by your actions can they be undone.” 

“So…I could stay?” Nanako asked. 

“Why would you do that?” 

“I…don’t know,” Nanako admitted. “I don’t know. I don’t want him to be alone. I just need to know he’ll have one friend, one good person in his life that will see him for who he is.” 

“And I can’t tell you that,” Margaret said. 

“So what, I’m supposed to just trust things will work out? I can’t do that. I would rather risk my life to help him than go home.” 

“Choosing that would make you a fool,” Margaret said as she pushed her right hand through the bars. A new card appeared in her hand, one with the shape of a man with a sack dancing near a cliff with his dog. 

“So that’s it? I choose to go home and be safe, or go back and be horribly murdered by knights?” 

“I’m sorry, but there is nothing else I can do. As it is, my master would probably be upset if he knew what I was doing…but then again, this game is already rigged. If they can cheat, than so can we,” she said.

“I don’t understand,” Nanako said.

“You are not meant to. You can only make the choice with the knowledge you have. But..if I were you, I would choose Justice. Very few of of us are given such a clear choice to happiness and peace, Nanako. Don’t let it slip by.” 

“I can’t,” Nanako said. “I know what you said, that I wouldn’t remember any of this…but I feel like I would. I feel like there’s already something that happened in the past that has been kept from me for my happiness. But I still dream about it. And if I let Ren face this danger alone, I feel like I would dream about it for the rest of my life.” 

She reached out for the Fool. 

The moment her fingers touched the card, Margaret’s hand snapped around Nanako’s wrist. She pulled Nanako forward, gripping onto her arm with both hands. Before Nanako could ask what was going on she felt a sudden rush of pain flowing through her arm. The pain ran from the center of her chest and pulled through her arm, as if Margaret were pulling something out of Nanako. 

“I only have enough power for one. You’ll have to find the rest on your own. Find the Compendium. Yu should have it.” 

“W-what are you talking about?” Nanako stammered, her lips quivering from the pain. 

“There’s no time left. Find the Compendium. Build up your bonds, for your bonds will grant you more power. We will meet again, Nanako! Good luck!” 

Margaret released Nanako, and suddenly Nanako felt like she was rising up ward, falling towards the sky. 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP 

The Fool: Margaret 

Level 1 

Chapter Text

Nanako’s eyes cleared. The pain in her stomach was back, throbbing. The knights were still huddled over her. 

“Hurry up, King Kamoshida doesn’t want to be kept waiting,” the knight grumbled.

“Let’s just strip her, it’ll be faster,” the second knight said.

Nanako heard something - a cry of pain or confusion, followed by…wind? An explosion? She couldn’t tell, but there was a lot of noise coming from the direction of the cell Ren and the boy had been shoved into. 

“What was that?” one knight asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s kill this one and go help.” 

A knight reached down and scooped Nanako up by the neck. She gasped and grabbed at his wrist, but his armored arm was too thick and powerful for her to do anything about it. The knight pinned her against the wall then held up his sword. 

He was going to kill her.

No. This couldn’t be. This couldn’t be the ending she chose. Why all that about the cards if she was going to just come back here and die? 

Is that what Margaret meant by being a fool? 

The pain in her arm. What was that about? 

She looked down at her arm and felt an odd burning sensation in her palm. 

Nanako’s eyes widened. Blue flame floated in her palm, and the card was back - the card with the strange dancing fool and his little dog. It rotated in mid-air, beckoning her.

“Per…” she whispered.

The knight took aim with the tip of his sword.

“So…” 

“Kill her already, hurry up!” the other knight said.

“Na!” 

Nanako squeezed the card. 

The world exploded in blue flame. The knight immediately let her go as the force of the mystical blue fire enveloped her from head to toe and filled half of the cell. She could feel something looming behind her, a tall presence that wasn’t there a moment ago. It stepped forward out of the flame.

It was the razor blade man - the warrior with the mask and long coat and the naginata. The spirit that big bro had called for in her dream. 

Izanagi. 

She didn’t know how, but she understood it fully. She understood its abilities, its strength, everything it could do flowed into her mind as if it were a common fact - something she had known her entire life. 

“W-what the hell is that?!” the knight called out as the blue fire died down. 

“Get it!” the second knight yelled, rushing forward. 

“Strike it down!” Nanako ordered, holding her hand in front of her. She realized even as she spoke that the words weren’t necessary - Izanagi was connected to her mind. She need only think about what had to be done, and it would happen. Izanagi rushed ahead of her and made two rapid strokes with his weapon: the first to knock the knight’s sword aside, the second to separate his head from his neck. 

The knight melted into black goo. 

“Damnit!” the second knight called out, reaching up to its mask. It pulled it off, and the shell of the knight melted away, revealing instead a floating jack o’ lantern wearing a witches hat and holding a lantern.  

Nanako frowned. What a weird thing to happen. The knight seemed scarier than this halloween decoration.

The Jack o Lantern held up his lantern and a blast of fire erupted from it. Izanagi swooped forward to absorb the blast. Nanako felt pain - not exactly the burning pain of fire, but a mental pain that shook her concentration. It was difficult to explain, but she quickly surmised that Izanagi could take a lot more damage than her physical body could, but it wasn’t invincible. 

A word danced at the back of her mind. It prickled at her tongue, until its meaning took shape in her mind. It was a strange word, one that she had never heard before. 

“Izanagi, zio!” 

The black-coated warrior lit up with the jagged arcs of electricity. With a flourish of his arm, Izanagi released a blast of lightning directly at the Jack o Lantern’s face. The blast exploded, and the being melted into a puddle of goop which in turn dissolved into the ground. 

Nanako took a moment to catch her breath. 

A million questions formed at once. Izanagi was real. Did that mean her dream was real? Or was Izanagi a result of her dream - the shape that the power Margaret gave her took because it was buried in her subconscious? Did big bro once use Izanagi? Had he been to this castle before? Where were they, exactly? 

She shook her head. She could think about this later. Right now, she had to get out of here. Maybe Izanagi could bend the bars and-

She looked around. Izanagi was gone! 

“No no no no, come back!” Nanako cried out. She then felt heat around her right hand again. She held it out and saw the card again, floating in a gentle rotation above her palm. 

Hm. Strange. It seemed that when she let her concentration falter that Izanagi vanished. Or transformed back into the card. Either way, it seemed she could call him back. 

“Izanagi!” she called, crushing the card. The card burst into blue fire and light, and her protector appeared above her again. She thought about the bars, and Izanagi rushed forward in response. He pulled at the bars until the whole door came exploded inward. He tossed the cell door to the side, then vanished. 

Nanako ran forward.

Then skid to a stop. Someone was rushing by, running in a panic, and it nearly knocked her over. There was the flourish of a cape and a golden shine of a…crown? 

Was that Kamoshida-sensei? 

…Where were his pants?

“Nanako!” 

She turned around. Ren stood at the entrance to his cell.

“W-what are you wearing?” Nanako asked. 

Ren was dressed in a….well, the best way to put it would be “costume.” He had new black pants, a metallic-accented waistcoat, a long black coat with tails, red gloves and a white mask. His posture was different, too - like he was back in Inaba when they were back in the school. Poised, graceful, ready to move. 

It was a little ridiculous. And also a little hot, if Nanako were being honest.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know what’s happening, but we need to get out of here. Are you all right?” 

“Yes. Where’s the other guy? The vulgar boy?” 

“Vulgar boy?” a second voice called. “The hell kind of name is that? I’m Sakamoto Ryuji.” 

“Dojima Nanako,” she replied. She noticed that Ren was staring over at her cell door.

“How’d you get out?” he asked. 

“Uh. Well, it’s hard to explain.” 

“Then explain it later, let’s get outta here!” Sakamoto said. Ren nodded in agreement and started down the dungeon. It looked like they were in the depths of the castle. 

The three of them stopped dead in their tracks when they heard a scream of pain. 

“Did you hear that?” Sakamoto asked. 

“Let’s check it out,” Ren said.

They ran. 

Chapter Text

Ren led the way. As he ran, blue fire swirled around his body, and his clothes transformed back to his school uniform. 

“H-hey! Your clothes!” Nanako called out. Ren skid to a stop and looked down at himself. 

“What’s going on?” Sakamoto asked. 

“I don’t know. But there’s no time. We should get out of here,” Ren said. They pressed on. 

They pushed open one heavy door after another, getting more and more lost in the labyrinthine castle. Nanako started to map it all out in her head, and she started to see the patterns in it. 

“We need to head up,” Nanako said. “I think the way out is over there.” 

She pointed across rushing water in the center of the dungeon. There was a drawbridge, but it was folded upward. 

“How do we get it down?” Sakamoto asked.

“I dunno. But we gotta try.” 

“Hey, you!” called out a small voice. They all turned.

“Over here! Let me out!” 

It was a cat. Sort of. It reminded Nanako more of a pirate mascot that belonged in a kid’s cartoon - that sort of innocent villain that couldn’t really hurt you, but was just menacing enough for a child to believe that it was the “bad guy.” 

“You guys aren’t soldiers of this castle, right? You have to let me out.” 

“No way you freaky monster cat. You’re obviously an enemy!” Sakamoto said. 

The cat glared.

“I am not a cat! And if I were an enemy, would they lock me up in here?” 

“Where’s your zipper?” Nanako asked. 

The cat pirate looked up at her, confused.

“What?” 

“Your zipper,” she repeated. “You’re awful short, maybe you’re a kid? But it’s a great costume. I have a friend who has a great costume like that, but his zipper is very visible. If you take off your costume, then it’ll prove that you’re a person.” 

“W-ha…b-but…” the cat pirate stammered. “This is not a costume! I have been transformed against my will! I am a human!” 

Ren stepped forward, withdrawing his hands from his pockets. Nanako saw the glint from his lockpicks in his hand, and he started working on the cell. 

“For real?! You’re gonna let him out?” Sakamoto said. 

“You can help us out of here, right?” Ren asked the cat pirate. 

“Ah, a negotiator. Yes, that’s a fair trade. But you amateurs are going to have to listen closely to everything I say. One mistake could mean death.” 

There was a loud metallic clunk, then screech of hinges as the cell door swung open.

“Ah, the sweet taste of freedom! My name’s Morgana, by the way. Follow me.” 

Morgana took the lead and went to a macabre statue of Kamoshida, pulling at the hidden lever that would deploy the drawbridge. Nanako watched Morgana, staring intently at his back.

Seriously, there had to be a zipper somewhere. He looked too much like Teddie for there to be any other explanation. 

Nanako fell forward onto her knees, gripping at her head. Her vision blurred, replaced by the dream. Except she was awake. 

“Nana-chan! We’ll save you!”  dream Teddie called. “Bear-sona!”

“Yo, Dojima!” Sakamoto called. 

“Nanako, are you all right?” Ren said, his hand on her shoulder. Nanako blinked, and the memory was gone. 

“Y-yes, sorry.” 

“You there!” called out a knight. They all turned to see two of them approaching from the drawbridge. There was a swirl of blue flame, and Ren was again transformed. 

“Oh crap! Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap!” Sakamoto yelled in a panic, falling on his butt and scrambling backward. 

“You there,” Morgana said, pointing at Ren. “You can fight, right? Follow my lead.” 

Out of nowhere, Morgana produced a cutlass. Somehow, this didn’t surprise Nanako. 

The knights pulled their masks off, producing two more jack o lanterns. Nanako held out her hand and summoned the card. Whatever Ren and Morgana though they were going to do, it was too dangerous for them to fight them without -

“Persona!” Morgana called. Rising out of more blue fire and light came a burly masked figure wielding a rapier. “Come, Zorro!” 

Zorro spun his rapier tip in a tight circle, creating a tornado made of green energy. He thrust his rapier at the first jack. The wind crashed into it, spinning it out of control and slamming it into the ground. The jack o lantern dissolved. 

“Arsene!” Ren called out. He reached to his face and pulled the mask off his face. The mask vanished, then he was coated in more blue fire. Ghostly chains also rose from the ground at Ren’s feet, tied to the Persona behind him. 

It was terrifying.

The armor of the Persona was blood red and stylized from Victorian England, complete with a waistcoat that matched Ren’s and a laced cravat. It had a top hat, a void of a face, fiery scars that outlined his mouth and eyes, and black angel wings. 

Or maybe they were demons wings. 

Ren held his hand by his face, one eye peeking between his fingers, his maniacal smile just underneath his palm. 

“Eiha!” he called out. 

Black-streaked red energy lashed out from Arsene and penetrated into the jack o lantern. Something inside the jack o lantern died, and it shriveled and dissolved. 

“Oh my God, what the eff! For real!?” Sakamoto cried. Nanako spun around and watched as a third knight transformed into a floating devil-like creature with a…protrusion…a modified codpiece…a sharpened phallus…

There was a thing on his ding-a-ling.

“Gross!” Nanako yelled. She rushed over towards Sakamoto, summoning the card in her palm and squeezing it shut. 

“Izanagi! Cut it down!” 

Izanagi burst between Sakamoto and the attacking devil. It made one decisive horizontal slash, which opened up an inky wound in the devil. It died. 

“Huh, you have a Persona too?” Morgana said. Nanako scanned the area, but didn’t see any more attacking knights. Izanagi faded away, as did Zorro and Arsene. Fire swirled around Ren again, and he was once again in his school uniform. 

“Persona?” Sakamoto asked. “Is that those weird ghosts that come out of you?” 

“Obviously,” Morgana said. “They’re the only way to fight Shadows.” 

The word rung familiar in Nanako’s head, though she didn’t know why. The dizziness of a memory threatened to take her again, so she shoved the thought aside and tried to focus on the now.

“The knights are shadows, right?” Nanako asked. Morgana grinned.

“Well, it looks like not all of you are useless. Yes, the knights are shadows. They live here in the palace and are part of this guy’s subconscious. There’s no time to explain, just know that they’re gonna try and kill us, so try to not make a lot of noise.” 

“Can’t we just fight our way out?” Ren asked. 

“You don’t have your power under control,” Morgana said. “Your clothes shouldn’t be changing back. And your clothes didn’t even change at all!” 

“Are they supposed to?” Nanako asked.

“Obviously! But we don’t have time for this. Come on, let’s go.” 

Morgana led the way again. Nanako did her best to try and memorize the route they were taking, just in case. It was also a very helpful way for her to keep her mind off of the memories threatening to intrude in on her. 

Because…that’s what they were, right? Memories. Not a dream. Not figments of her imagination. Memories. 

But memories of what?

What happened to her? 

“Whoah, wait up!” Sakamoto said, skidding to a stop. They stopped beside a cell, where another teenager wearing the Shujin PE uniform was huddled in a ball. 

“Come on, leave it,” Morgana said.

“No way, we can’t leave him here!” Sakamoto cried. Ren was at the lock in a flash. 

“He’s not real! We don’t have time for this, if we stay here any longer we’re gonna be-”

“Over there!” A knight called out before he transformed into a horse with a pair of twisted horns. 

“Persona!” Nanako yelled. “Electrify him, Izanagi!” 

Lightning clawed its way down the hallway. It swarmed the beast and destroyed it. 

“See what I mean?” Morgana snapped. “That person isn’t real, it’s a cognition. If we stay longer, the Shadows are going to swarm us and we’ll never get out of here.” 

Nanako held her head as Izanagi vanished. She was starting to feel dizzy, as if her spirit was running out of energy. 

“Ren…he’s right. We need to go. I can’t fight much more,” Nanako said. 

“But…” Sakamoto said. Ren stopped the lockpick. 

“If the cat’s right, then nobody is in danger. If he’s wrong, we’ll come back and get him, when we’re ready,” Ren said.

“I am not a cat.” 

Sakamoto grit his teeth. 

“Fine.” 

They had to battle five more shadows before they got to the end. They climbed through a vent, out through the outer wall, and were back in front of the castle. Nanako was exhausted from summoning Izanagi so many times. Ren was trying to hide it, but he seemed worn out from using Arsene, too. 

“This is where we go our separate ways,” Morgana said. “I still have something I need to do here.” 

“Suit yourself,” Sakamoto said. Nanako knelt beside Morgana.

“Thanks for your help, Morgana. We couldn’t have done it without you.” 

Morgana looked pleased with himself. “Well. It’s up to a veteran to take care of the rookies. Maybe we’ll cross paths again.” 

With that, Morgana jumped back up the window and into the castle.

And then the world began to bend. 

Chapter Text

“Welcome back to reality,” said a computerized voice from Ren’s phone. 

Nanako gasped. The air was still heavy and humid from the rain, but it still felt a million pounds lighter than the oppressive atmosphere they had just left. She bent over, gripping her knees, trying to find her center again. 

“What the hell was that…” Sakamoto muttered. “What was that place? And where did it go?” 

“I don’t know…but I can’t…” Ren said, holding his hand to his face. Nanako realized he was trying to reach for the mask that had been appearing in that world. Still bent over, she turned her palm over and tried to summon the card. 

Nothing happened. And yet, she wasn’t surprised by that. 

“Hey, you kids!” called out a woman’s voice. 

“Ah crap, the cops,” Sakamoto said. 

“You’re Shujin students, aren’t you? Why aren’t you in school?” the police woman yelled some more.

Oh. Crap.

Nanako leaned over and grabbed Ren’s hand.

“We have to go! Now! We can’t get caught!” Nanako hissed.

Ren looked confused, then hesitated. Then his face flashed to that same cunning thief that she’d seen back in Inaba. The same look he had in the palace. 

“Oh my God!” Ren said with a bit too much melodrama. “Look at that!” 

“Look at what?” the police woman said, spinning around. Now was the time. Nanako grabbed Ren and Sakamoto’s hands and started running forward. Sakamoto yelped, but picked up the plan quick. Soon she released them, and they charged down the street.

“Hey! You better be running to school! And you better not be doing any drugs or anything!” 

Eventually, they stopped running. 

Sakamoto took the lead to school, but the three of them were on edge. Nanako knew they were all thinking the same thing - were they going to walk right back into that castle? 

Apparently not. 

The school stood there, as it always had.

“This is hurting my head,” Sakamoto said. “There was a castle here, right? And we took the exact same route here.” 

“Maybe we should focus on getting into school,” Nanako said. “We’re really late.” 

“Ah, yeah, true.” Sakamoto started forward. Nanako was just about to follow too when Ren’s hand closed around her wrist.

“Hold on,” he said. “You never answered my question.” 

“What question?” 

“Did you follow me here?” 

After everything that happened, Nanako found the question pretty absurd. A magic castle, summoning spirits, repressed memories fighting to take over her headspace, a talking cat…after all that, the idea of being embarrassed about what she did was trivial. 

“Yes. I did.” 

“Why?” he asked.

“Because of what you said,” Nanako said. “That I saw you for who you were, and that you were going to be alone. I didn’t like that, so I decided to do something about it. So I moved here. I should’ve told you, I know, I’m sorry.” 

“That was stupid,” he said. Nanako flinched at the words, feeling pain strike her in the chest. 

“It wasn’t,” she insisted.

“It was. You left a great life behind in Inaba. You should go back to it.” 

“It wasn’t that great,” she said. 

“It’s better than what’s waiting for you here,” he said, frustrated. “I can’t control what you do. So if you want to stay at Shujin, stay. But stay away from me. They already know about the probation. I’m going to be an outcast the minute I walk through those doors. Do yourself a favor and keep as far away from me as possible. I promise I won’t let people know that we come from the same town.” 

“This isn’t why I did this,” Nanako said. “I came here to be your friend.” 

“And I appreciate that, more than you’ll ever know. Stay away.” 

He turned with a flourish and followed Sakamoto towards the stairs. 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP 

The Lovers: Ren Amamiya  

Level 1 

Chapter Text

It’d been an hour since those kids ran off, but the police woman was still annoyed.

How could she have fallen for such an obvious trick? Look over there. How much more pathetic could she get? 

There was a screech of tires and a crash. At he entrance to the Central Street shopping, a man had skid his moped to a stop and abandoned it. The pursuing police car couldn’t slow down fast enough and crashed into the metal barriers. Glass shattered and the front right wheel bent horribly out of shape. 

The police woman ran across the street and past the squad car.

“Hey! Freeze!” she called out after the man on the moped. The man, who had stopped to watch the police car crash, widened his eyes, turn and ran.

She grabbed her radio.

“This is Satonaka, I’m in pursuit over at Central Street! Suspect is on foot wearing a brown jacket and carrying a black backpack!” 

Chie let go of the radio microphone attached to her vest and focused on running. Dispatch was squawking something back at her, but she couldn’t hear it. It wouldn’t matter, back up would get here too late. 

“Stop! Police!” she called again. The suspect wasn’t going to stop, she knew that, but at least it warned people that they were coming through. The crowd was startled, but started to clear a path for her. The suspect darted in and out, frantically looking over his shoulder. He shoved one man towards Chie. She could have side-stepped him, but the man was losing his balance, so she leaned forward and caught him.

Once she righted his balance, she looked up. The suspect darted down an alleyway. She ran after him, turning left, and was confronted immediately with a sharp right turn. She took that turn, running past a model gun shop. 

The suspect grabbed a bunch of bikes parked nearby and threw them towards the ground, hoping to slow Chie down before he took off to the right. Chie just ran faster and cleared the bikes in a single leap. 

The suspect had turned right and was now running down the street back in the same way they had just come. By this time, most people had moved to the side of the street, talking about what had just happened in an excited chatter. When the suspect started running through again, dozens of phones came out of pockets to start filming. 

Chie blocked it all out. No distractions. Just catch the bad guy. 

The man ran across the street heading for the station square just as a group of pedestrians were rushing around the crashed squad car to help the officers inside. Chie picked up more speed.

She jumped.

She landed on top of the squad car.

She jumped again, clearing the crowd of pedestrians beneath her.

She landed and kept up her relentless pursuit, gaining on the suspect. He began to run faster, but more erratically, panic growing in his body. This is where she had to be careful - a desperate criminal could do anything. The last thing she wanted was for him to grab a hostage in the station.

She had to finish this, now. 

The suspect ran into the station and aimed himself for the stairs for the underground station. He practically fell down the stairs, taking them four at a time and needing to grab the railing near the bottom. 

Chie pulled her handcuffs off her belt and clasped one loop over her left wrist. 

She could probably get down the stairs just as quickly as the suspect had, but that would give him too much time to take a hostage or get on a train. So instead, she looked at the escalator. 

Or more accurately, the panel between the escalator, made of stainless steel paneling and sloped like a children’s playground slide. 

She vaulted over the railing and landed on her butt, sliding down. As she reached the end, she pushed up onto her feet and used the momentum from the slide to propel hersel forward. She tackled headlong towards the suspect, crashing her shoulders into his knees. 

He fell forward, hard. 

Before he could do anything else, Chie clasped the other end of the handcuffs around his ankle. 

“Yes!” Chie cried, pumping her other hand into the air victoriously. Everyone in the station turned to look at her. Realizing that doing a victory fist pump wasn’t the most professional thing, she sheepishly lowered it and reached over for her radio.

“This is Officer Satonaka, suspect secured, send back up to the lower station stairwell.”  

Chapter Text

The rest of Nanako’s morning had been a blur. 

She had been scolded for being so late on the first day, though thankfully her new homeroom teacher, Kawakami-sensei, made up the excuse that she and Ren hadn’t been feeling well on the first day and conveyed that to the class. Apparently she was more interested in avoiding trouble than shaming them in front of the class. She had been relived.

At first.

But the moment Ren was introduced, everything changed. 

“Is he the guy?” 

“He doesn’t look like a criminal.” 

“I don’t know, look at those eyes.” 

“Do you think that girl is his girlfriend?” 

“Maybe they’re both criminals together.” 

“I heard that he beat a guy up so badly he almost died.” 

“No way. I heard that if he doesn’t like the food of a restaurant, he leaves without paying.” 

“Quiet down everyone,” Kawakami snapped. The class obeyed and Ren and Nanako went to take their seats in the back corner. Ren sat behind the gorgeous blonde from this morning, and Nanako sat behind him. 

How did they know? 

Ren’s criminal record should have been sealed and confidential. Sure, maybe Kawakami-sensei would be told about it, but shouldn’t have been made public knowledge. 

Unless someone leaked it, intentionally.

But who would do that? And why? 

The question weighed on Nanako the rest of that morning, all the way until lunch time. She thought she might strike up a conversation or two with the other class members and see if she can find some information, but Kamoshida-sensei slid the door open. 

“Dojima-san, can I talk to you for a moment?” he called out. Nanako was surprised, but complied, rising up to meet him at the door. 

She ignored the whispers that followed her. 

They went to the PE office, where she was offered a seat. Kamoshida leaned against his desk. 

“I’m concerned about you, Nanako-chan,” he said. “You were very late today.” 

“I’m sorry, sensei. I got lost. It was my first time coming by myself, so…” 

“I understand. Mistakes happen, but don’t worry, I’ve already cleared it up with Kawakami-sensei and the principal. Nobody is calling your home.” 

“Oh. Thank you,” Nanako said. She hadn’t even considered that they’d call Yu over this, but she supposed it made sense. She wondered how he would’ve reacted if they had. 

“The thing I’m most concerned about are the two boys you came to school with,” Kamoshida said. “I know you’re new, but Sakamoto is not the kind of boy you want to be around, trust me. Did you know that he tried to assault me last year?” 

“Really?” Nanako said. 

“Yes. He has a terrible temper, probably brought about by his bad upbringing. His family is not the good sort, Nanako-chan.” 

Kamoshida pulled up a chair and sat down close to Nanako. Maybe a little too close.

Then he leaned forward and set a hand on her knee.

Now he was definitely too close.

“And that other kid, Amamiya. I shouldn’t be telling you this, I could get in a lot of trouble, but I care too much about you as a person to not warn you. He has a criminal record for assault,” he said. 

It took all of Nanako’s willpower to keep her face unreadable. She looked down, feigning being frightened, but really she couldn’t bear to look at him in the face.

It was him. He was the one spreading the information about Ren. She didn’t hae the proof, but she knew it in her gut. 

“Hey, don’t be frightened,” he said. He took his hand off her knee and used it to touch her chin, raising her head up to meet his gaze. “We’re going to keep an eye on them, okay? But you best stay away from them outside of school.” 

Kamoshida pulled his hand away from her face and went to adjust his hair. When he did, the whole world shifted.

Suddenly, they were in a throne room, covered in rich red velvets and shining gold. 

And Kamoshida was back. The one she saw in the strange castle, the one wearing the crown and cloak and…well, not much else. A pink speedo. 

He spoke, but with a strange echoing voice. His eyes were now yellow and glowed from some inner light.

“And when I get rid of them, I’ll add you to my harem.” 

“What?” Nanako said.

 The world reverted back to reality, and Kamoshida frowned, confused. 

“I didn’t say anything.” 

“Oh…sorry. I’m very tired. Thank you for the warning, Kamoshida-sensei. I promise I’ll be careful.” 

“Good. I hope you’ve reconsidered joining the volleyball team. Having a group of friends to support you will keep you away bad elements like Sakamoto and Amamiya.” 

“I’m still thinking about it,” Nanako said, standing up. “Thanks again, sensei.” 

“Have a good rest of your day, Nanako-chan.” 

She turned and walked towards the door. As she swung it open, she could catch Kamoshida’s reflection in the window.

He was licking his lips. 

Chapter Text

“Hey,” Sakamoto said. 

Nanako jumped, startled. He grinned. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya,” he said. “But uh…meet me on the roof, okay? We gotta talk about some stuff.” 

Nanako glanced over to Ren. He had been intercepted by their teacher on his way out of the classroom, and Nanako was waiting to spring her own trap on him. Yes, sure, she wanted to talk to Sakamoto about what they’d seen, but she really needed to talk to Ren, too. 

“Don’t worry about that guy, I’ll grab him too,” he said. Nanako nodded.

“Okay. See you up there.” 

She found the stairs and headed up. This time there were whispers and glances her way, but at least it was free from the ridiculous stage-whispering they had to endure earlier that day. 

The door squeaked when she pushed it open. The clean sunlight and fresh air felt good after being inside all afternoon. Of course, it was Tokyo clean, which was just a few shades dirtier than the light and air in Inaba. 

She took a deep breath. It didn’t smell the same here. It wasn’t a bad smell, but it wasn’t the smell of home.

She longed for it, all of a sudden. 

Nanako decided to be thorough and check the perimeter of the rooftop space. Unlike the rooftop at Yasogami, Shujin’s rooftop seemed to be relegated to being a junk storage area. There were tables and chairs and what looked to be leftover decorations from one of the school festival tucked in the side. 

Also there was a raised flower bed…? 

Nanako knelt beside it. Strange, this didn’t seem to be randomly discarded. In fact, it looked pretty new. She scanned through the little markers stuck into the soil. They said “Moonlight Carrot” and “Star Dragon Onion.” 

Huh. She’d never heard of those before, but Nanako was hardly an expert. Still, they had a tiny little garden back home. Actually, she and Yu had started it just as he had moved in. Nanako had kept it up over the years to provide some fresh produce for home. It was also a good stress reducer. 

Nanako then noticed that there was a second flower bed. Beside it were several seedlings, waiting to be transferred. But the seedlings looked like they’d been out for a couple of days, and were starting to wilt. 

Hm. That wouldn’t do. She looked around until she located a spade, then set to work on the transfer. 

By the time she heard the door squeak open, she was finished. 

“Nanako,” Ren called. His face shifts through a bunch of emotions: irritated, worried, confused, amused. “Are you…gardening?” 

“Ah, well, someone just didn’t finish, I thought I’d help out,” Nanako said. She dusted off her arms and set the spade back where she found it. Sakamoto came through a moment later. 

“Good, you’re both here…we have some shit to figure out,” Sakomoto said. He pulled out one of the discarded chairs and set it by a desk. Nanako did the same, but Ren preferred to stand and lean and be generally aloof. 

“So, you got a criminal record, eh?” Sakamoto began.

“How did you find out?” Nanako demanded. Sakamoto raised his hands in surrender.

“Everyone’s talking about it. But I can tell you who leaked it for sure - Kamoshida.” 

“What makes you say that?” Ren asked.

“We’re in the same boat, you and I,” he said. “Though I don’t know what he has against you. You meet him somewhere before or something?” 

“Not until today,” Ren said. 

“He looked so freaky in that castle,” Sakamoto said. 

“Freaky…how?” Nanako asked. 

“Oh, right, you weren’t there. I guess we better fill you in.” 

Nanako listened to Sakamoto tell the story. Ren added a few details, but was mostly silent. Nanako told her side of the story too - well, most of it. She kept the exact nature of how she gained Izanagi to herself, as well as what happened with Margaret.

She wasn’t sure why she did it. It was an instinct. 

“This is crazy,” Sakamoto said. “I mean, we all remember it…but was it real? Did we have some sort of…I dunno, shared hallucination? Maybe we breathed some fumes or something.” 

“No. It’s real,” Nanako said with a strange finality. It caught both Ren and Sakamoto off guard. “I’ve…been somewhere like it before. I think.” 

“What is it?” Ren asked. 

“I don’t know. I was a kid when it happened. But I keep having these flashbacks…I thought they were just dreams, but maybe they’re actually memories that I’ve forgotten.” 

“That’s what happened to you in the castle,” Ren said. 

“Yes. I’m sorry, we almost got killed because of it.” 

“It’s fine, we handled it,” Ren said. Sakamoto nodded. 

“You guys don’t know this, but there are rumors about Kamoshida and what he does to the volleyball team. Abuse. Sexual stuff with the girls. And he gets away with all of it because he’s a former Olympian who takes the school team to nationals every year.” 

Sakamoto’s voice grew more and more bitter. 

“You have a history?” Ren said. 

“Yeah, you could say that,” he said. Nanako thought back to what Kamoshida said. And did. And how he behaved. 

“He’s trying to get me to join the volleyball team,” Nanako said. “And…now that you mention it, he’s been a little aggressive about it. Maybe not directly, but he definitely wants me to join, and I’m not very good. Also the other volleyball players are really mean. I could see that maybe there was some abuse going on…maybe…but…” 

“But not enough for people to believe it,” Sakamoto said.

“Right. And not enough for police evidence,” Nanako added. Sakamoto glanced at Ren, confused.

“Her dad’s a cop,” Ren said. 

“Ah. So you two do know each other.” 

“We’re from the same town,” Nanako said. “Just…happened to move at the same time.” 

“I want to figure out what that place is,” Sakamoto said. “You guys are in, right?” 

“I am,” Nanako said. 

“Have fun,” Ren said.

“Oh come on, you can’t be like that,” Sakamoto said. “You’re curious too, I know it. Besides, you’re the one that transformed and summoned the demon. I probably can’t do it without you.” 

Ren shrugged and adjusted his glasses. 

“That’s his way of agreeing,” Nanako said. 

“All right! We’ll start figuring this out tomorrow. Don’t ignore me, okay? And by the way, you can call me Ryuji.” 

Ryuji hopped out of his seat and walked back to the door and the stairs. Nanako got up too, and she and Ren walked to the front gate together. 

“You’ve really been there before?” Ren asked in a low voice.

“Not that castle. But something like it. I’ll try and remember more.” 

“…Do you know an Igor?” Ren asked. Nanako frowned.

“No. Is that someone from Inaba?” 

Ren shook his head and waved it off. “Nevermind.” 

Chapter Text

“What the hell am I going to do with you, Satonaka?” 

“Huh?” Chie said. 

She stood in front of the chief’s desk at attention, having been called in at the end of her shift. She had spent part of the afternoon processing her suspect, filling out the reports, then finishing her foot patrol in the Shibuya area. When she had gotten the message to see the chief, she thought it was going to be a congratulations.

The chief is a grumbly man in his 40s with hair that’s too black from his hair dye and glasses that he’s constantly putting on and taking off his face. 

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, sir,” Chie pushed forward.

“You ignored officers that needed help, you engaged in a foot pursuit without back up, you ignored dispatch’s instructions, then you performed a highly risky take down maneuver using non-approved techniques,” The chief said, setting his glasses on the desk and rubbing his face. “The guy lost a tooth, Satonaka. He’s talking about suing.” 

“With all due respect, sir, he was getting away,” Chie said.

“He stole three boxes of Neo Featherman cards, Satonaka. He didn’t rob a bank.” 

“But the other officers-”

“The other officers are in trouble too. Smashing a squad card over some dumb kids game…I swear, it’s like the whole department is trying to turn their lives into an action movie.” 

“So you wanted me to let him go?” Chie asked, her voice bordering on accusatory. 

“I wanted you to follow orders. Dispatch said to go help the officers, and you didn’t. They’re both okay, but what if that car had caught fire? What if you had crashed into someone while you were in pursuit? The news would’ve had a field day with that - ‘officer causes old woman to break her hip while in pursuit of card thief!’” 

He put his glasses back on.

“You’re a truancy officer, Satonaka. Not Jackie Chan. You’re assigned to find kids and send them back to school.” 

“I don’t want to be a truancy officer, chief,” she said. “Don’t you see that I’m capable of a lot more?” 

“You’re capable of giving me a lot of headaches, Satonaka. But fine, if you don’t want to be a truancy officer anymore, I can arrange that. You’ll get a new assignment in the morning. Maybe.” 

Chie felt her stomach drop. 

“Dismissed, Satonaka.” 

The moment the door to her apartment shut behind her, Chie dialed.

“I’m getting fired,” she said when the line connected.

“You are not,” Yukiko said. 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I am this time.” 

“What happened?” 

Chie told Yukiko. 

“That sounds pretty amazing,” Yukiko said.

“I know, right? It was one of the best take downs I’ve ever done! And he didn’t appreciate it at all. I don’t know, Yukiko, I think I’m going to give up.” 

“You can’t give up. You’re Chie. You don’t give up.” 

“It’s just…not what I was hoping it would be,” Chie said. The microwave beeped and she pulled open the top of the instant meal. The steak looked gray and the rice was mealy and even though it was supposed to be teriyaki sauce the only flavor Chie could ever describe it as was “brown.” 

“Maybe I should just go back to Inaba. Dojima said they’d hire me. At least back home they’ll take me seriously.” 

“I wouldn’t hate it if you came back,” Yukiko admitted. “I miss you. The kids miss you. But I think you shouldn’t do it quite yet. I know you, Chie, if you give up on this now, you’re never going to forgive yourself for it. You’ve only been in Tokyo three years. I know you were expecting some sort of meteoric rise, but things take time.” 

“Don’t meteors fall?” 

“Seriously, Chie. Your chief isn’t the only ranking officer in the department. Someday, someone is going to take notice of what you can offer, and then you’ll get your chance. If you come home now, you’ll always wonder.” 

Chie took a bite of the steak. Rubbery. 

“You’re right, as usual. It was just…a hard day.” 

“I know. Maybe you should go visit Nanako and Yu on your day off, I’m sure Nanako would be thrilled to see you.” 

“Oh, that’s right! I forgot she was here! Has it been a month already? Geez.” 

Chie chewed and thought.

“…Hey, is Nanako still wearing her hair in twin tails?” 

“She was last time I saw her.” 

“And she goes to Shujin, right?” 

“Yeah. Why?” 

Chie narrowed her eyes. 

“Well played, Nanako-chan…well played…” 

Chapter Text

Nanako walked through the front door of Yu’s home.

Well, her home now.

She kicked off her shoes.

She dropped her bag on the ground.

She flopped onto the bed.

She fell asleep. 

When she finally woke up, it was 8:30. She felt tangled in her school uniform, especially since she hadn’t even unbuttoned her coat. She quickly changed out of the uniform and into a pink tank top and gray leggings. She even untied her hair and let it fall down her back - she didn’t want a single thing constricted on her body. 

She walked out into the dining room to see big bro was setting out take out food onto the table.

“We won’t eat take out every day, I promise,” he said with a smile. “But I was held up at the newspaper and you weren’t answering my texts, so I figured you had a long day too.” 

“You don’t know the half of it,” Nanako said.

“Let’s eat. Tell me about it.” 

A billion thoughts burst in Nanako’s heart and mind all at once. She was scared of getting answers to questions that had been plaguing her all day - what was the castle, what were Personas, how did he know Margaret? 

No. These questions had been chasing her longer than that. She had always wondered what had really happened to her as a kid. Not knowing the exact truth had left a strange gap in who she was. It had been there so long that she’d gotten used to it. She was also scared to admit that Kamoshida might have something to hide, and that somehow that world was connected to his possible abusive nature. 

But she wasn’t just scared. She was excited. Excited to share Izanagi with him. Excited to talk about all the adventures he went on, about what that world was and what she was supposed to do in it. 

She stuffed food in her face, ravenous from the adventures of the day. Her mind raced, uncertain on how to start the conversation. All the thoughts pushed against each other in a mad struggle to be spoken first. 

“What happened to me when I was kidnapped?” she blurted out. Okay, that was a weird way to approach this, but whatever.

Yu dropped his chopsticks.

“What?” 

“When I was a kid, and I was kidnapped. What exactly happened to me? The whole truth.” 

“Why are you asking about that?” Yu snapped. Nanako was surprised and noticed that Yu looked angry with a little bit of panic mixed in. She had better explain quickly. 

“See, I’ve been having these dreams and-” 

“We went through hell to save you,” Yu said, cutting her off. His eyes were shut and he breathed slowly. “Your dad and I…it was the worst time of our lives. We did everything we could to keep you protected from it. You don’t need to know all the details, Nanako. I wish I didn’t know them.” 

“But…big bro…I really need to…” 

“No, Nanako! We are not talking about this!” 

Pi pi pi. 

It was Yu’s phone. He grabbed it.

“Hello?…Really? Now?…Right. I’m on my way.” 

He ended the call.

“I’m sorry. I need to go.” 

“R-right,” Nanako said.

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. He scooped up his belongings and rushed out the front door. 

Nanako couldn’t believe it.

All the fear and excitement that had been swirling inside her was now buried in a mountain of sludgy sadness. 

Why had he yelled? 

Why didn’t he trust her to know the truth? 

How was she going to navigate all of this without him? 

Would he listen if she told him the truth? Or would he try and take control, push it all away, and send her home? Would he tell her dad to drag her back to Inaba and leave Ren alone to deal with whatever was going on? 

She wasn’t sure how to answer any of those things.

For the first time ever, she wasn’t sure she understood her big bro. 

She finished her meal. She ate steadily and quickly, because she was afraid if she stopped, she’d start to cry. 

=====

SOCIAL LINK
Justice: Yu Narukami
COLLAPSED

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP
Hierophant: Yu Narukami
Level 1 

Chapter Text

Nanako loved TV.

TV never let you down. TV never hid secrets from you. TV never made you feel unappreciated even though you turned your entire life upside down to help it. 

TV was there for Nanako. It only cared that Nanako could laugh, or cry, or feel suspense, or get information, or just feel nothing at all. The only thing TV asked for in return is to watch a few commercials. 

And time. 

Right now Nanako had lots of extra time and way too many feelings. So she paid TV with her time and in return, it numbed her.

She wondered how many hours of TV she’d watched in her life.

“Everyday’s great at your Junes…” she sung along to the theme song playing on the TV.

It was 11:34 PM. 

Falling asleep when she got home had turned out to be a mistake. After she had eaten, she had done a little bit of organizing of her homework, bathed (because she couldn’t help but wonder if the castle had infected her with something), and then tried to go to bed. She managed to fall int a light, restless sleep for an hour and a half before she decided that she just wasn’t going to be sleeping anytime soon. 

And so, TV.

Oddly enough, she liked TV more than she liked her phone. The phone demanded too much. Tap here. Scroll here. Pick the next video. Answer the next message. Do you like this picture? Do you want to comment on it? 

No, phones were needy. TV gave, and gave freely. 

11:35.

Yu still wasn’t home.

She stood up and walked to the other end of the apartment. She stood at the end of the little hallway, between the two doors she wasn’t supposed to enter. 

His office. His bedroom.

It had to be in one of them, right? 

She was mad enough to open the doors, she decided. A day ago, she would have never thought about violating big bro’s privacy, especially since he had made her room so nice. But now…now he was hiding things. Important things. And if she had to steal the truth away from him, then so be it. 

A little thrill fluttered in her heart.

It reminded her of stealing the phone with Ren. 

Bedroom first.

She screwed up her courage, clenched her teeth, frowned and grabbed the bedroom doorknob. This was it! She was going in!

Click click.

Locked.

“Aw,” Nanako said.

Clicaclickaclickaclickaclicka.

Nope, definitely locked.

She turned around to the office, this time grabbing the handle without the big buildup. The door swung open freely. 

The office looked like…well, an office. There was a desk and a bookshelf, a couple of side tables where papers were stacked neatly. Yu was quite fastidious. 

She turned on the light on her phone and started scanning around the room. She wasn’t sure why she was doing that, she could just turn on the room light. But she didn’t, just kept sweeping the little white circle back and forth, hoping to find a clue. Anything, really. 

Her light settled on a decorative trunk - the kind you would see on a steamship during the 1900s. It was black leather with brass buttons and a big latch. The latch was unlocked. 

Seemed sorta obvious to put a secret in a big chest, but she might as well start somewhere. She hefted the lid open.

“Whoah.” 

She pulled out a katana. 

The design was simple - black scabbard and hilt. She set her phone on a shelf and pulled out a couple of inches of the blade. Shiny and silver. And it looked sharp. 

“Back off, Shadows!”

The memory flashed in her head, less than a second long. He had been holding this sword when she was taken into that world. He had used it to fight the monsters, the shadows. 

She set the sword aside and kept looking.

Next was a small glasses case. She opened it. Black rims with some rainbow colored lines on the side. She unfolded them and put them on.

Yu wore glasses regularly these days, but these didn’t have a prescription. Or they did, they were pretty weak. 

There was only one more item in the chest, a ridiculously huge book. She hefted it out and held her light over it.

It was blue leather with gold bindings. In the center of the cover was a fancy “V” in embossed gold. It reminded her of Margaret’s outfit, now that she thought about it. The V was encircled by two words.

“Compendium Personae,” Nanako read. 

She put the sword back into the chest and shut it. She picked up her phone, took the Compendium, and head back out to the hallway. She clicked the door softly behind her, then rushed back to her bedroom, shutting the door and locking it behind her. 

She found her desk lamp and clicked it on, then set the book down. It was only now that she realized how ridiculous the book looked. It looked like it was plucked out of a wizard’s castle or from the library of a king. There were too many pages, and it was too heavy for her to carry it with one hand. 

She took a deep breath. Her heart was racing, her forehead a little sweaty from her mad dash down the hallway. 

What was inside? 

She opened the cover. 

The first page said “The Fool.” 

She turned.

Izanagi appeared on the next page. There were all sorts of words describing abilities that she only faintly understood. Reading it gave her an instinct into how Izanagi worked a little better, and how it worked within her own body. 

She turned the page.

Yomotsu-shikone, the page said.

She read the words, but it didn’t fill her with quite the same understanding. Somehow she felt like this persona was just a little bit out of reach…

Why did she have this? Why did Margaret want her to find it? 

It was at that point that she realized she was still wearing the glasses. She slipped them off her face and rubbed her eyes, then turned to continue looking at the book.

Except, the word s were gone.

And the picture was a little more…dull. Like it was a sketchy, faded version of itself. She frowned and held the glasses up to her face again.

Through the lenses, she could see the sharp, clear picture and the words. 

“Weird…” she said. Why did the glasses allow her to see the Compendium? 

Her head was filled with so many questions. But finally the exhaustion was catching up with her. It was almost midnight now, and she really needed to get some sleep, otherwise she’d be late for school again.

Even if Kamoshida would cover for her, she didn’t want to. 

She turned off the light, hid the Compendium in her school bag, and tucked herself into bed.

She fell asleep.

What Nanako didn’t know was that out in the living room, the channel changed.

Standing in the center of the TV, looking longingly out into the world, was a young blonde man with crystal blue eyes. 

Chapter Text

Protein shake. 

100 push ups.

100 sit ups.

50 kicks with each leg. 

Chie was nervous about what her “new assignment” was going to be, but she wouldn’t let it disrupt her routine. She still got up at 5:00 AM for her apartment workout. If she had a later shift, she’d add in a run, but she needed to be at the station at 8 today. 

Shower. Dress. Eggs while watching the news. Two cups of coffee. 

Maybe the chief would forget. He seemed pretty upset yesterday, but he was also a very busy guy, and reassigning an officer to another position just because she had arrested someone couldn’t possibly be on his priority list. Although, the lawsuit would probably be pretty high on her list…

But the guy was stealing Featherman cards. How was he going to afford a decent attorney? 

She got onto the train and yawned. 

She looked at her phone. She sent the best dog pictures and gifs to Yukiko and Kanji in their “Puppers” group chat. 

She arrived at the station and strode straight and steady, hoping to walk by Officer Jiro, who worked the reception desk. 

“Hey, Satonaka,” he called out. “Chief wants to see you.” 

“Darn it,” Chie said. She turned on her heel and walked to the Chief’s office. What she needed was a plan. Maybe get him a bagel? A coffee? Try to be cute? Try to be tough? Throw herself on the mercy of the court? 

“Good morning chief, I-”

“Your orders, Satonaka,” the chief said, not even looking up from his computer screen. He held out an envelope with his other hand. 

“Chief, I-”

“Don’t thank me. I had nothing to do with it. Report to the prosecutor’s office.” 

Chie took the envelope. “Yes, sir.” 

The prosecutor’s office wasn’t far from the police headquarters, so Chie just walked it. What the heck was going on? She wanted to open the envelope and peak at her orders, but she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to or not. This was the first time she’d ever been given written orders like this before. 

She walked into the prosecutor’s office and gave her name to the reception. She was directed to a conference room on the second floor. She walked in. 

“Officer Chie Satonaka reporting in, ma’am,” Chie said. 

The woman turned around. 

She was strikingly beautiful, with silver hair and crimson eyes. She was lithe and wore an amazing suit with her prosecutor’s badge pinned to her lapel. The conference room was empty, save for her. Her laptop was plugged into the wall on one end, and piles of papers were spread out across the table. 

“Officer?” she said, frowning.

“Y-yes?” Chie said. “Here are my orders.” 

She handed the prosecutor envelope. She opened it and scanned the page. 

“The hell is this…” the prosecutor muttered to herself. “I can’t believe this is happening.” 

“Ma’am?” 

“Sorry, I just didn’t realize we were getting a police liaison attached to this. But…” the prosecutor worked to put on a professional demeanor. “My name is Sae Niijima. Officer…” she glanced down at the papers, “Satonaka, what’s your expertise surrounding these mental shutdown cases?” 

Chie couldn’t hide her shock. She had heard of the series of strange accidents where people fell either into psychotic episodes or simply fell over and died. There had been all sorts of muttering within the police department about what was behind it, and who was supposed to investigate it. Was it a police matter? A matter of public health? Was someone doing this to someone with poison? Nobody knew what it was or who was supposed to be responsible for it.

Now, it seemed, she knew who was responsible for it. She was.

“I don’t have any expertise that I’m aware of,” Chie said honestly.

“Then why were you selected for this?” 

“I’m not entirely sure, ma’am.” 

“Oh, hello.” 

Chie heard the pleasant voice and turned around. A teenager with long brown hair wearing a school uniform gave a sweet smile. 

“I didn’t realize we were going to have police presence here this morning. I’m Akechi.” 

“Satonaka,” Chie replied. “And I apologize for showing up like this, I just found out this morning I was supposed to be here.” 

“And we’re just finding out whether or not she’s going to be useful,” Sae said. Chie frowned. Akechi shook his head.

“I’m sure Officer Satonaka has a lot of admirable qualities that will help us in this investigation,” Akechi said. “And I think it will be good to work alongside the police. It will be easier if we have one point of contact that we can trust, don’t you think?” 

“You were enough point of contact with the police for my taste,” Sae said. Akechi laughed.

“Well, that’s very kind of you to say, but we both know I don’t hold any official rank or power within their organization.” 

“Hey…” Chie said, looking at Akechi. His voice, his phrasing, it all started to come together. “You’re that Akechi. The one on TV. The Detective Prince.” 

“Ah, that’s a little embarrassing,” Akechi said. “But yes, that’s me. I hope you’ll forgive my media appearances. I know not all of the police appreciate the interviews I give.” 

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s funny, I know the first Detective Prince, so I guess I’m already used to this. Though I’m not sure how she would feel about losing her title…” 

“He’s more than welcome to it.” 

Chie spun around.

“Naoto?!”

Naoto stood in a sharp and stylish blue suit with a lightweight overcoat and blue cap. Her fell down to her shoulders. She was still pretty short, but she was as calm and collected as ever. 

“You’re the one that requested Officer Satonaka?” Sae asked. 

“Indeed I am. I apologize for not notifying you earlier, but things happened quicker than I had hoped. I am pleased for it.” 

“You two know each other,” Akechi stated.

“Yes, we are old friends,” Naoto said. “Which is why I think this will be the best choice. We all know that the SIU Director has been pressuring us to bring on a police liaison. Now we have one that I can trust.” 

“Fine, whatever helps us move on with the case,” Sae said. 

“Akechi-kun, you really need to get to school, and I’m sure you have a lot to do, Sae-san,” Naoto said. “Let’s skip the meeting for today. I will brief Officer Satonaka on what we have so far. I wouldn’t want to waste either of your time with reviewing information you already know.” 

Akechi smiled brightly. ‘That’s very kind of you, Naoto-san. You truly are an inspiring mentor. It was nice meeting you, Officer Satonaka.” 

Akechi bowed and rushed off. Chie turned to say goodbye to Sae, but she was already seated at her computer. 

“This way,” Naoto said. 

Chie followed her into the hallway.

“Man, she’s kinda bitchy,” Chie said. “What’s going on?” 

“Not yet,” Naoto said. Chie nodded. They walked into the elevator, where Naoto pushed the button for the parking garage. 

“So-”

“Not yet,” Naoto said. 

Hm. 

Even after all these years, Naoto could still be the most difficult to read. Her mind was always working on a level much faster than Chie’s - much faster than most people’s, actually. They were still friends, but she wasn’t the “make a group chat with dog pictures” kind of friend. Chie realized she hadn’t seen Naoto since Christmas, when the group always went back to Inaba. 

The elevator door opened and they stepped into the parking garage.

“I can’t believe that-” 

“Not yet,” Naoto said.

They found her car, a gorgeous classic car that looked like it was pulled from the 1930s. It was midnight blue with bright chrome ornamentation. The door was heavy and slammed shut with an almost ominous resonance. Naoto turned the ignition, and the engine rumbled like a beast. She didn’t say one word until they were out of the parking lot and on the road.

“Okay. Now.” 

“You’re working on the mental shutdown cases?” Chie said. “Well, of course you are, that makes total sense. But why pull me onto it?” 

“Because the case has gotten very complicated and I need someone I trust watching my back,” Naoto said.

“Aw, really? I’m honored. I’m going to do everything I can. And thank you for requesting me, you kinda saved me…” 

“It’s more than just the mental shutdowns,” Naoto interrupted. 

“What do you mean?” 

Chie watched Naoto’s face shift expression. She blinked several times as a tear slid out of each eye. She sniffed and gripped the wheel, trying to regain composure. 

“I found Teddie.” 

Chapter Text

Nanako grunted as she dropped her massively heavy bag onto her desk. The Compendium Personae took up most of her bag now. In fact, she had to carry a few of her other books in her hands this morning. 

She rubbed her shoulders. She’d have to figure out a different way to deal with it. 

She sat, slipped on her big bro’s glasses, and opened the Compendium, then slid it into the cubby hole in her desk. She could glance at it during class and maybe figure out why this was so important. 

Ren walked in a few moments later. He paused and glanced at her. 

“You don’t wear glasses,” he said. 

“Neither do you.” 

Chapter Text

“All right, listen up, there have been rumors moving around the school lately and I won’t tolerate them,” Ushimaru-sensei, the social studies teacher, said. “Foolish teens like yourself try to spice up your boring lives by inventing stories that simply don’t make any sense. So I hope that you’ll take these rumors and shut them up.” 

Nanako watched as a few students glanced towards her and Ren’s corner. She wasn’t sure if Ushimaru-sense was helping or hurting - or what his intention was. 

“In any case, we can really know what another person is thinking or feeling. At least, that was what the psychologist Karl Jung said. He theorized that there were two versions of who we are, one true inner self, and the one self that we presented to the outer world. Let’s see….Dojima, do you know what he called that outer self?” 

Nanako glanced around, looking for help. Was this in the reading last night? She had been so tired that she forgot to do it. Or had she done and it she didn’t remember it? 

She saw the Compendium and decided to take a shot at it.

“A persona,” Nanako said.

“Huh. Very good. Now…” 

Ushimaru-sensei started writing something on the board. Nanako could hear her classmates chattering around her.

“Hey, the girl knew that answer! It wasn’t even in the reading.” 

“Maybe she’s not really with the criminal.” 

“Or maybe she’s trying to save him, you know?”

“Maybe he’s saving her. In bed. If you know what I mean.” 

“Ew, gross.” 

Nanako sighed. 

Chapter Text

Nanako was relieved when the school day was over, which was an odd feeling for her. School was never something that she felt was a burden before. It was probably the lack of sleep, or at least that’s what she was hoping. Maybe it was because she kept glancing at the Compendium. 

Whatever the reason, she was glad it was over. She took an extra minute to sort out her books. If she was strategic, then she could leave a little bit to alleviate the weight of her bag. 

She stepped out of the classroom a minute later to see Ren waiting in the hallway, watching. She followed his gaze.

Kamoshida and Takamaki were having a conversation. 

Takamaki, the gorgeous blonde that Ren was talking to on their first day of school. The gorgeous blonde that sat in front of Ren every day. Nanako idly tugged on one of her own twin tails. They were straight and brown and…well, plain. Compared to the thick, voluminous clouds of gold that Takamaki had, they were pretty forgettable. 

She walked up to Ren’s side to try and hear what they were saying, but the conversation was over. Takamaki headed down the hallway. Kamoshida stared after her a moment.

“Tch,” he said before turning and heading up the stairs. 

“What was that about?” Nanako asked.

“Not sure,” Ren said. “Come on.” 

They walked together down to the front entrance of the school. Leaning by the front gate was Ryuji.

“All right, we ready to do this?” he said.

“Why are you so fired up about this?” Ren asked, as cool and casual as he could be. 

“Because this has to do with that bastard Kamoshida, somehow. I’m not letting this go until we figure it out.” 

“Don’t you think we need to protect people from him? If it’s true?” Nanako asked. Though she was speaking in general, she couldn’t help but wonder if Takamaki was getting the same sort of treatment Nanako was. Or worse. And she wondered if Ren thought that too.

And if he was worried about her.

Come on Nanako, now’s not the time for high school jealousy…

“Right. How do we do this?” 

“I figure we just retrace our steps until we find the castle. Come on.” 

Ryuji led the way, with Ren and Nanako flanking behind him. They walked along the road and circled back around to the spot where the three of them first met yesterday morning. 

“This is where we were…now we just need to follow the same path. You two keep an eye out for anything strange, got it?” Ryuji said.

“Yeah, sure,” Ren said. 

They walked. Nanako adjusted her bag strap. 

“Did you sleep okay?” Ren asked, suddenly. Nanako glanced over. 

“Yeah, I guess so. Why?” 

“Uh…well, you just look a little tired. That’s all.” 

“You should talk,” Nanako said. “You look a little worn out too.” 

“Yesterday was pretty intense,” he said. “And I had a pretty weird dream. Wasn’t very restful.” 

“Yeah. Well. There’s a lot of changes. That can be stressful for sure. It’s going to take us time to adjust.” 

“So…you’re staying then,” Ren said. 

“Yeah. Did you really think I was going to turn back now?” 

Ren let a small smile slip on his face. “No, I guess not.” 

“We’re in this together. Whatever ‘this’ is.” 

“Aw, come on! We’re back at school!” Ryuji yelled. “Okay, maybe I made a wrong turn…let’s try it again.” 

They tried it twice more, each time ending up at the school’s front entrance. 

“We must be doing something wrong…” Ryuji said. “Hey what was that navigation app?” 

Ren and Ryuji fell into a conversation, but Nanako wasn’t listening. She was back to trying to adjust her bag again. This book stupidly large. Really, who made it? Couldn’t they have printed this in paperback? Or better yet, a PDF she could put on her phone. 

The strap of her bag snapped. Everything came spilling out of her bag and onto the sidewalk in front of the school. Nanako sighed and crouched down to pick it all up. 

“Hey, let me help you there.” 

The voice came from a boy wearing a second year pin. He knelt next to her and started gathering up books and pens.

“Thanks, it’s okay, I got it,” Nanako said. 

“Hey, cool book,” the guy said, picking up the Compendium. “Heavy. What is it?” 

“It’s just a…” Nanako struggled for an explanation. “…Family heirloom.” 

“Nice. These cheap school bags aren’t really meant to hold things that heavy though…let me see…” the guy picked up the Compendium and looked at it from multiple angles. He then seemed to weigh it in his hand, then handed it to Nanako with a nod. Nanako noticed his hands were really strong. They also had a nice smell to them…like…leather. 

“Okay, got it. Meet me here tomorrow, okay? I’ll have the solution to your problem.” 

“Um…okay?”

“My name’s Satoichi Sano, by the way. Class 2-A.” 

“Nanako Dojima, class 2-D.” 

“Nice meeting you, Dojima-san. See you tomorrow!” 

“Bye…?” 

The young man stood up and walked away. 

“Hey, Nanako, over here!” Ryuji said. Nanako frowned, not remembering when she gave him permission to use her first name but she wasn’t going to make a thing of it. She got up, keeping the Compendium under her arm instead of in the bag, and walked over. 

Ren had his phone out with an app she didn’t recognize.

“What the heck is this thing?” Nanako asked.

“I think it’s how we get back,” Ren said.

“Beginning navigation.”  

Chapter Text

“Whoah, your clothes changed again!” 

Ren looked down at his hand and saw that it was gloved. Then he struck a pose.

“Not bad, right?” 

“You like it!?” Ryuji yelled.

“You would,” Nanako said, but she couldn’t help but laugh a little. It did suit him, somehow. Even with the curly toed boots. Maybe it was because the clothes seemed to change his posture a little. His demeanor. He shifted back towards the boy she had met that night two months ago. 

Nanako looked down at herself, but nothing had changed about her clothes. The Compendium, on the other hand, looked very different. Not only did it look as sharp and bright as it did when she wore Yu’s glasses, but it was glowing. She opened the book and had to squint as the light poured out of it. 

She slipped the glasses on and the glare of the light dimmed. The contents of the pages were the same, but when she opened it to Izanagi, she could see his card floating in the air. She reached out and grabbed it, and it became…attached, for lack of a better word. She could feel his presence within her now, and all she had to do was open her palm and bring forth his card. 

“Nanako?” Ryuji asked. “You okay there?” 

“Yeah, just getting ready,” she said. “By the way, very presumptuous of you to use my first name…” 

“Ah! S-sorry, I didn’t mean-” 

She smiled. “It’s fine. Just messing with you a little.” 

She opened up her school bag and pulled books and pens out of it, setting them by the front entrance. She’d get them on the way out. I mean, this was some sort of alternate dimension, right? Who was going to take her school supplies? With her bag empty, she put the Compendium in it and used the one functioning strap to hang it over her shoulder. 

“So it worked. And we found it. Now what?” Ryuji asked. Ren took a step forward, hands in his pockets, scanning the facade of the castle carefully.

“Hmm…well, the vent we used to get out should still be open. We can sneak back in that way and take a look around. We’ll move quietly and carefully. You in decent shape?” 

“You’re looking at the ex-track star,” Ryuji said, his voice tinged with a little irritation, but his smile full of confidence. “Yeah, I can handle myself. What about her?” 

Before Nanako could answer, Ren said, “She can handle herself.” 

She swelled with a little pride at this. 

“Besides, you’re the only one without a Persona,” Nanako said. Ryuji bristled at that. 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” 

“You rookies are back? After all the effort I went through getting you out of here safely?” 

The three of them spun around to look at Morgana. He was climbing out of the vent. 

“Call us stubborn,” Ren said. 

“We need to figure out what’s going on,” Nanako said. Morgana smiled and crossed his arms. 

“I suppose I could use a little back up. The guards in this palace have proven to be a lot more numerous than I thought. I’ve managed to get through the first couple of portions, but I’ll need a little muscle to push through the rest. Just hope that you’re not too clumsy or brainless.” 

“Hey, watch it kitty, I’ll-” 

Ren held up a hand to stop Ryuji. 

“Teach us what you know, sensei.” 

“Sensei? That has a nice ring. But I don’t want to be responsible for your entire education. Right now we’re just…confidants. Two thieves working for the same goal. Come on.” 

Morgana hopped back up the vent. Ren shrugged and darted to the edge, sliding up the side with ease. 

“You want a boost up?” Ryuji asked.

“I’m wearing a skirt,” Nanako reminded him.

“R-right, sorry.” 

Chie had once told her to always wear shorts. She should’ve listened. 

The interior of the palace was as real as ever. Only the very edges of her awareness seemed to betray the dreaminess of this world, especially the spots of her peripheral vision that she couldn’t see through the glasses. It was strange that these glasses worked in this world. She wondered where they were from. They weren’t exactly selling alternate dimension specs at Junes. 

They landed on the interior of the castle and started moving down the hallways as quietly as they could. Morgan and Ren took the lead, with Morgana slightly ahead. 

“So…what is this place?” Nanako whispered. 

“I call it a Palace,” Morgana said. “It’s the inner world of a person, a manifestation of how they see the world. The king here…what did you say his name was?” 

“Kamoshida,” Nanako said.

“Yeah, Kamoshida is the palace’s ruler. He sees himself as king of this castle, so the Palace changes to reflect that,” Morgana said. 

“But this isn’t a castle. It’s our school,” Ryuji said.

“He sees himself as king of the school,” Ren said.

“Hey, you catch on pretty quick,” Morgana said with a grin. He pushed open a door, peered into the hallway, then motioned them forward. The door across from them was unlocked, and Ren slid it open while Morgana shut the last door behind them. 

“Okay, so all of this represents how Kamoshida feels…why is it here?” Nanako asked.

“You’re in the Metaverse. It’s a world where people’s inner thoughts come to life.” 

Nanako felt a pulse in her head and she suddenly felt dizzy. She reached out for the wall to catch herself, but she was too far away.

She started to fall.

“I saved her! Just like I saved all of you!” 

“Put her down, Namatame!” 

“Let go of Nana-chan!” 

“Big bro, help!” 

A pair of strong arms caught her back. Her vision started to clear and she blinked several times, trying to focus on the face peering down at her.

…It was Ryuji.

“You okay?” he said, looking worried. 

“Yeah, sorry, just…got a little light headed,” she said. She picked herself up. “Thanks.” 

“Uh, yeah, no problem…” Ryuji mumbled. He looked as awkward as Nanako felt. Ren glanced at her, his gaze intense through the slots of his mask. He said nothing to her, instead turning to face Morgana. 

“Does everyone have a palace?” 

“No. Just people with really intense distorted desires.” 

“Ha, I knew it! I knew Kamoshida was a creep!” Ryuji yelled. 

“Shh, keep it down you idiot!” Morgana scolded. 

There was a thunk from the other side of the room. The door was opening.

“Hide!” Morgana hissed. 

The room they had entered was a small sitting room. It had a rough hewn wooden table in the center with four chairs surrounding it. There were also a couple of large shelves along the wall filled with what looked to be maps and model figures. This must be a war room of some kind, Nanako realized. She quickly pivoted behind one of the shelves, trying to push herself as small as possible. Morgana leapt up to the top of the shelf she was hiding behind and pressing himself as low as possible. 

Where was Ren? 

Nanako didn’t dare look around the corner. The heavy thunking footsteps of a guard filled the room.

Thunk, thunk, thunk. 

Pause. 

Thunk.

He was turning, Nanako thought.

Thunk, thunk.

He turned the other way? She needed to know. She risked peeking one eye around the corner. 

A dark shape fell from the ceiling and cloaked the knight’s shoulders. Ren was balancing himself on the top of the guard! He reached down and grabbed the chin of the knight’s mask.

“Show me your true form!” 

Chapter Text

The mask peeled back and the red-black ink of the shadow swirled around it. Ren jumped off the shoulders before they melted away, landing in a three-point stance on the table. 

A pixie replaced the knight. She looked furious, her body glowing with its own power.

“What are you gnats doing in King Kamoshida’s palace? You really think you can overpower the mighty king?” 

“Arsene!” 

The blue flames wrapped around Ren as his mask evaporated into ash. The moment Arsene took his full form, he opened his mouth in a wicked laugh. A stream of red energy slashed out from his mouth and slashed across the pixie’s torso. The pixie screeched and fell to the ground, somehow disoriented by the attack. 

“Nice work! Let’s get it!” Morgana yelled. 

Nanako stepped around the corner and summoned up her card, but something else was already happening.

The pixie picked itself up from the floor and had managed to get a little bit of height, just enough for Morgana to slide beneath her and slash his sword at her underside. She yelled out in pain, but not before Ren came leaping across, slicing a dagger blade across her throat. Morgana had already gotten to his feet and jumped up to give a spinning slash at the pixie. Ren caught himself on the opposite wall and used it to pounce at the pixie again, this time slashing his dagger down across her back.

That was the last blow it needed. It melted around him, turning back into inky sludge that melted into the floor.

“Nice all-out attack,” Morgana said, tossing his cutlass in the air, where it seemed to vanish. “You’re a natural, frizzy hair.” 

“Where did that dagger come from?” Nanako asked. Ren looked at the weapon in his hand and shrugged.

“I don’t know. It was just there when I needed it.” 

He let it go, and like Morgana’s cutlass, it vanished. 

“This is a cognitive world. What you think and believe matter a lot in here. If you need a weapon, one will show up,” Morgana said. 

Nanako tried to imagine a weapon. First she thought about her big bro’s sword. Then her dad’s gun.

Nothing. Maybe she didn’t “need” it, so it wasn’t appearing. 

“Huh, does that mean this might work?” Ryuji asked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. 

“What the heck, Ryuji, where did you get that!” Nanako said. 

“H-hey, relax! It’s not real! It’s just a model!” 

Nanako paused and looked a little closer. Now that she thought about it, it wasn’t exactly the right size, and a few minor details were off. 

“Oh. Sorry.” 

“Huh, maybe the blonde one isn’t that dumb after all. That will actually work. If the Shadows believe the gun is real, then it will work as a real gun in here. Give it to that guy.” 

“What? Why? It’s my gun,” Ryuji said.

“Because you don’t have a Persona! If you attract attention and the shadows come after you, you can’t defend yourself. Idiot.” 

“He’s right, it’s probably safer,” Ren said. “I’ll give it back.” 

“Eh, sure, fine,” Ryuji said. He tossed it into the air and Ren snatched it. He looked down the barrel, then spun it stylishly and slipped it into his coat.

“Seriously, why are you so good at this?” Ryuji asked. 

Ren shrugged, smiled, and winked. Nanako felt her heart speed up a little.

Now isn’t the time for that Nanako, focus! 

“Can you take us back towards the lower dungeon?” Ren asked.

“Sure. Follow me.” 

Morgana led the way through the castle. They were as quiet as they could be, managing to avoid the few guards they spotted. Eventually they found a narrow door that led back to the spiral stairs that went down. They leaned against the wall and took it a step at a time until they got back to one of the dark, narrow hallways. The smell of water, iron, and moss was thick in the air again. 

Nanako heard a cry of pain. She took a few running steps forward, wanting to see what was at the end of the hall.

A knight turned the corner, his massive body blocking the whole of the corridor. Nanako skid to a stop and held out her hand.

“Persona!” 

Izanagi appeared above the knight just as it was morphing into a pair of strange little pixie people with flower heads. 

Mandrakes. They were called mandrakes. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but it filled her head as clear as day the moment she stared at them, much like the way she knew what Izanagi was capable of doing. 

Izanagi swooped down and crashed his blade into the shoulder of the first mandrake. The second mandrake came charging forward, aiming his head straight at Nanako. 

A weapon. She needed a weapon. 

Sword. Club. Spear. Gun. Cartoon mallet. Anything! Anything at all! 

It was getting closer.

Nanako grit her teeth and swung her bag. The heavy Compendium inside the bag made a satisfying thwack that sent the mandrake stumbling into the side of the wall. 

Blam blam blam!

The second mandrake, still stunned from her book-thwack, shook three times as Ren fired his fake gun. Both mandrakes melted, and Izanagi faded. 

“Hey, nice moves,” Morgana said. “Looks like I’ve found two impressive proteges…though I’m not sure swinging a book around is really a good look for a thief.” 

“Well I tried thinking of a weapon, but nothing showed up,” Nanako grumbled. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you everything I know. You two are really showing a lot of promise.” 

“How do you know all of this, anyway? Are you a…shadow? A creature from this world?” 

“I am not a shadow! I’m a human! I just…something happened to me.” 

“What happened?” Nanako asked. 

“I…don’t know. I can’t remember. Whatever happened to me, my memories were taken from me too. I know how to do things…I just don’t remember why I know them, or where I learned them. That’s part of why I’m here. I think if I keep using these skills and stealing Treasure, my memories will return to me,” Morgana said. 

“I’m sorry,” Nanako siad. Morgana’s facial features were hard to read, but Nanako felt like he looked a little bit embarrassed.

“It’s fine.” 

“Maybe we can help you, too,” Nanako suggested. “I mean, we need help getting through this place and figuring out why we’re in it. We can make it an even trade.” 

Morgana narrowed his eyes and thought about it.

“Okay. We can work with that for now. Come on.” 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP 

Tower: Morgana

Level 1

Chapter Text

Nanako ran across the bridge above the water flowing through the dungeon. When she got to the center, she dropped to her knees and clutched her hair. 

“No! No no! I’m so scared! Where am I? Can’t someone help me!?” 

Three guards turned their heads - two were on the opposite end of the bridge, while one was behind her, Nanako having ran past him before he saw her. 

“Check it out,” one guard said. “I’ll watch this end.” 

One guard stood at either end of the bridge while the third marched across towards Nanako, sword drawn. 

“Hey, you’re one of the new concubines,” the guard said. “What are you doing here?” 

“Concubine?” Nanako said, snapping her head up to look at the guard, her terror act falling away. “What do you mean by that?!” 

“You need to get back to your quarters before King Kamoshida realizes you’re out and about,” the guard said. 

Nanako caught a flicker of motion out of the corner of her eye. 

“Arsene!” Ren dropped from the ceiling above the guard on the other end of the bridge.  

“Zorro!” Morgana jumped out from behind a box. 

Arsene’s hand drove through the back of the guard, puncturing through both ends of the armor. Zorro’s sword made a precision strike at the back of the other guard’s neck in the gap between the armor plates. 

“What the-” the last guard looked back and forth, watching his comrades melt. 

“Izanagi!”

 Izanagi rushed from beneath the bridge, driving his sword up through the bottom of the shadow’s jaw. Nanako watched as the mask came dislodged, his body trying to transform into his true form. But the damage was too great, and it melted away before the transformation could complete. 

The Personas faded. Nanako picked herself back up. 

“Nice plan,” Morgana said to Ren as they, and Ryuji, crossed the bridge. 

“Thanks. Come on,” Ren said, before dashing down the next corridor, coat flagging behind him. 

Nanako adjusted her broken bag. Why didn’t she transform into a cool thief with magic weapons that appeared and disappeared? Carrying this bag around was going to be a major drag. 

“Here it is!” Ryuji said. The team turned down a hallway to a prison cell, the same one they had briefly stopped at on their way out. “We gotta help him.” 

“Wait, what? You guys came back here to save this guy?” Morgana said, exasperated. Nanako was a little confused too. Ryuji frowned.

“Well yeah we did! Me and Ren talked it over and we agreed we couldn’t leave anyone behind in this world!” Ryuji said. 

“You idiot,” Morgana snapped. “I already told you, they’re cognitions!” 

“I don’t care, they don’t deserve to be in here!” 

A thought clicked into place in Nanako’s brain. 

“Ryuji…do you know what cognition means?” 

“Yeah, it means someone who has been sent to prison!” 

“No…that’s convict. Cognition is like a thought. These people aren’t real, just like the shadows aren’t real. They’re versions of people in Kamoshida’s mind. Right?” Nanako said, looking to Morgana for confirmation. The cat crossed his arms and nodded.

“At least one of you gets it.” 

“Oh…I see. So he thinks of the volleyball team members as being imprisoned by him,” Ryuji said. 

“Exactly,” Nanako said. Ryuji spun around and glared at Ren.

“Why didn’t you tell me this!” 

“I tried to,” Ren said. He sounded a little exasperated but he was smiling. 

Huh. He was smiling. Nanako had to admit that Ryuji had a pretty fun energy about him. She even found it a little amusing. Sure, he’d made a mistake but it was a good-hearted mistake. He wanted to help those who couldn’t help themselves. 

So maybe his vocabulary needed some work. Big deal. He had a hero’s heart, Nanako realized.

“Maybe this isn’t all for nothing,” Nanako said. “If the cognitions are accurate, then these should be real people, right?” 

Ryuji turned to look at the student. He crouched down to get a better look. 

“Yeah, actually, I know this guy. He’s on the volleyball team, for sure.” 

“Then we can find them in the real world and convince them to testify,” Nanako said. “Conversely, if Kamoshida isn’t abusing them, then they won’t have anything to say. Lack of evidence is evidence, after all.” 

“You still think Kamoshida might be innocent?” Ryuji said. He looked disgusted. 

“Evidence is everything,” Nanako said. “If you want Kamoshida to be punished under the law, you need to be able to prove it.” 

“It’s a good idea,” Ren said. “Let’s find as many students as we can, memorize their faces, and then investigate again in the real world.” 

“Yeah, all right,” Ryuji said. 

Nanako was horrified by the rest of the dungeon. The screaming they heard yesterday was coming from the cognitive students, but it sounded so very real. It didn’t help when they saw what was happening to them: being tied upside down and shot with a volleyball cannon, being forced to run on treadmills with spikes and fire chasing behind them. There was even a room where a student was chained to the center of the floor while a guard beat him with a stick. Nanako couldn’t think of any possible training benefit for that. 

It was pure cruelty. And it made Nanako sick to her stomach.

“Do you need a break?” Ren asked. She jumped, startled. He could move so quietly. 

“No, I’m fine,” Nanako insisted, straightening the broken bag on her shoulders and finding newfound determination. “There are people in the real world going through these abuses. I can handle looking at a cognitive version of them.” 

“Do you have enough faces already?” Morgana asked. “I’m sensing a lot of shadow movement…something is happening. Maybe they’ve noticed all the guards we took out so far. We should get going.” 

“I think we’ve found enough,” Ren said. “Let’s go.” 

Chapter Text

“We’ll cut through the front entrance and use the main doors to- aack!” 

Morgana was cut off by the sudden slash of a sword. The cat thief’s reflexes were fast enough that he sprung into the air and did a backflip over Ren’s head, to land behind him. Ren, his reflexes also cat-like, snapped out his dagger and cut several times into the guard’s chest, shoving him backwards.

“This isn’t good…” Nanako said. 

The main hallway was filled with shadows. One by one they transformed into their true shapes. 

“Arsene! Ravage them!” 

Arsene appeared and rushed through, cutting a path through a cluster of jack o’ lanterns. 

“Persona! My other self!” Morgana cried, bringing Zorro to the forefront. His blade made several sweeping motions, tunneling green wind at a flock of pixies overhead. 

“Stay behind me!” Nanako called to Ryuji. He looked pissed off and scared at the same time, and for a moment it looked like he was going to rush past Nanako and fight off the shadows with his fists. 

“Fine,” he said, bitterly. 

Nanako turned to the battle. There was no way they could win the fight outright. Her mind was already exhausted from using Izanagi, and her legs were getting tired too. Ahead, Ren and Arsene fought like demons, the two of them cutting at shadow after shadow. It was beautiful and scary all at once, especially since they seemed to have the same maniacal grins. 

But Ren was only human. He could’t keep up that pace forever. 

Morgana dodged beneath another attack and then lined up Zorro carefully. His wind burst struck the center of a knight shadow and threw it through the air to impact another one. 

Morgana was being way more strategic. He was conserving his energy, fighting smarter rather than harder. Nanako realized that Morgana was trying to create an opening to the door, not defeat every shadow in the room. That was the smart move. 

But Izanagi’s lightning couldn’t help with that. Sure, she could attack an enemy, maybe a few at a time, but until they were destroyed they’d still be standing in the way. What she really needed was wind, like Morgana. In the strange portion of her mind that seemed to know things about her persona, she knew flatly that Izanagi couldn’t control wind. 

But something else could. 

Trance-like, Nanako set down her bag.

“Hey, Nanako! Nanako! You all right?!” Ryuji yelled. “You’re not fainting again, are you?” 

Nanako took out the Compendium and turned the pages. 

Hierophant.

One page of the Hierophant was glowing now. She read the name written at the top.

“Anzu,” she whispered.

The page flashed, and a new card appeared. Nanako reached out and touched her hand to it. Izanagi’s card appeared for a moment, then vanished, replaced by this new card. 

Yes. She understood now. She could call Izanagi again if she needed to by finding him in the book. 

“Persona!” she yelled, squeezing the card. 

A new beast appeared above her - a purple monster with the body of an eagle but the head of a lion. It opened its frightening mouth and let out a roar. 

“W-what the hell is that?!” Ryuji yelled. 

“Garu!” Nanako called. Anzu reacted by diving towards the nearest bicorn and releasing a green blast of wind. The bicorn was picked up from the ground and sent hurtling across the room, crashing into three knights. 

“Come on!” Nanako called back. She started running and Morgana took a position next to her.

“You used another persona!? You have some hidden power!” Morgana said. “No time to figure that out now, help me push a path open!” 

Anzu and Zorro sent blasts of wind one after the other, shoving the shadows out of the way utnil there was a clear path to the door. 

“Ren!” Nanako yelled. “Let’s go!”

She turned to watch. Ren was on the top of a knight’s shoulders, pulling off its mask and driving his dagger into its face. Behind him, Arsene released streaks of red energy that caused the shadows to shrivel and die. 

“Hold the door,” Nanako said to Morgana. Before he could argue, Nanako was charging forward again, Anzu flying just above her head. She sent more wind through the crowd of shadows, knocking them to either side of her. Ren landed on the ground, his chest heaving with breath, his face glistening with sweat. Arsene dissolved behind him, turning back into his mask. 

“Let’s go!” Nanako called. Ren nodded, then suddenly dove forward into Nanako. The impact sent Nanako falling to the ground, her concentration faltering, and Anzu vanishing above her. Ren was getting back to his feet when there was thundering of hooves. 

“No!” 

A knight in full armor charged through the battlefield and caught Ren’s torso on the end of his lance. Ren was picked up off his feet, carried through the air, then bashed onto the floor. His body flopped from the impact, and then didn’t move.

“Perso-!” Nanako was cut off before she grasped the card. A knight struck her in the back with a heavy gauntlet, pushing her face-down on the floor. A heavy foot pressed onto her back, and she felt the gentle pressure of a sword on the back of her neck. 

“No no no!” Morgana yelled. Nanako watched as Morgana flew through the air and landed on the ground in front of her, a third knight pinning him. 

“Well, well, it seems the intruders have come back for more,” called out a smooth but distorted voice. Nanako watched as King Kamoshida, clad in crown, cape, and pink briefs strode confidently into the room. 

“Sir, what do you want to do with the concubine?” asked the knight standing above Nanako. 

“Her? Psh. Despite my best efforts, she has chosen the life of a peasant. I think leaving her to suffer in that life will make her more amenable to my offer in the future,” said King Kamoshida.

“What are you talking about!? Concubine!? You mean you’re trying to get at Nanako!” Ryuji yelled from the door. 

“Oh, look, it’s that vulgar little track brat,” said Kamoshida. “I didn’t even notice you were in here. How’s your leg?” 

“Shut the hell up and let them go, you piece of shit!” Ryuji roared. “I knew it all along, and this palace proves it! You abuse the volleyball team, physically! Just like you did with the track team! And then you try to use the girls as your playthings!” 

“Try?” Kamoshida laughed. “I don’t try anything. I do. I am the king of the school. Sure, the principal may be the one in charge, but I’m the one with the real influence. Without me and my team, the school is nothing. That’s why your track team should have been more grateful for my presence. You could have excelled under my guidance. Instead, the star thought he knew better.” 

“You always hated the track team,” Ryuji said.

“I didn’t hate it. Hating it would mean that I cared enough to think about it. It was just noise in the background. But when the star tried to lay his hands on me, I broke his leg. Then I broke his team by getting his coach fired. I broke your whole world open, didn’t I, Sakamoto?” 

“Ryuji…” Nanako called out. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. That’s horrible. You’re horrible!” 

“Quiet down, peasant. I don’t want to kill you. You have use to me still,” Kamoshida said. “But only if you keep your mouth shut.” 

“You can’t talk to her like that!” Ryuji yelled.

“I can do whatever I want. I can break your other leg if I feel like it, and the school will call it self defense again. And I can kill these intruders. But don’t worry Sakamoto, if you can’t handle the guilt of being the cause of their deaths, then you can choose to go with them. The swords are very sharp.” 

“Don’t let him win.” 

Nanako looked over at Ren. He bleeding, his face bruised, but he was alive! 

“What?” Ryuji said.

“Don’t let him win. He’s taken everything from you. Are you just going to stand there and let it happen again?” Ren said. 

“Hell no I’m not!” 

Ryuji’s eyes turned yellow. 

Chapter Text

The guard got off of Nanako’s back and rushed to stand in front of King Kamoshida in a defensive position. Nanako picked herself off the ground and turned to look at Ryuji. 

He was screaming. A metal skull was covering the top half of his face, and he was struggling to get it off.

“Ryuji!” She yelled, reaching out towards him. 

“No, don’t!” Ren said. “He’s fine.” 

With a yell, Ryuji ripped the metal skull from his face, his skin pouring blood from the area around his eyes. Then he was swallowed up in blue flame, just like the fire that consumed Ren when he summoned Arsene. The flame was wrapped in lightning bolts, and there was a huge thunder crack that reverberated through the castle. 

“Hell yeah!” Ryuji called, stepping out of the fire and lightning. He was covered in metal armor and black leather and had a dashing red scarf around his neck. 

A ghost pirate stood upon a ship behind him. The pirate’s right arm was a cannon that was brimming with more electricity. 

“You’re screwed now, asshole! Captain Kidd! Zio!” 

The pirate swung his arm cannon around and aimed it at the shadow pinning Morgana. Lightning forked from the end of the weapon and sent the shadow flying off of Morgana. The shadow bounced off a wall and collapsed, a smoking hole in the center of its chest. It melted. 

“Ren!” Nanako cried, running towards him. Morgana zipped ahead of her, sliding to rest beside him.

“He’ll be fine. Get ready for a fight!” Morgana said as Zorro appeared to his side. The persona knelt beside Ren and touched him gently on the shoulder. 

“Dia,” Morgana said. Green light sparkled around Ren. The visible cuts on his body sealed back up, the bruises no longer swelled. Ren leapt back to his feet, hand on his mask. 

“Thanks, Morgana. Persona!” 

Arsene appeared behind him. Nanako let out a breath of relief and stood up. She opened the Compendium and flipped to the front of the book.

“Izanagi, I need you!” 

The four of them stood in a half circle, their Personas blazing bright. There were two shadows left, the one that had pinned Nanako and the much stronger one that had attacked Ren.

“You brats! You aren’t worthy to set foot inside my palace! Execute them!” Kamoshida yelled. 

The weaker shadow charged at Ryuji. Captain Kidd leaned back in a pose of maniacal laughter and red energy radiated from him and onto Ryuji’s body. Ryuji dashed forward, suddenly much faster and stronger. He dodged under the sword strike from the shadow and ran to to the shadow’s right side. 

He raised his hands above his head. Blue flamed swirled, and a metal pipe materialized into his grip. 

He swung it hard into the shadow’s knee, which forced it onto the ground. He swung it upward into the shadow’s face, and then back down across the back of its neck. 

It melted.

“Look familiar, Kamoshida?” Ryuji asked, patting the pipe in his hand. “It should. This is the pipe you used to break my leg. Now I’m gonna use it to break your god-damn face!” 

“Guards!” Kamoshida yelped. He ran up the central stairs of the palace, leaving the mounted knight behind. 

“Berith,” Nanako whispered, knowing its name. 

Berith lashed out, cleaving its huge sword at Ryuji.  Zorro rushed forward, his own blade raised to block the attack. Arsene appeared behind Berith and unleashed another blast of cursed energy into its back. 

“Nanako!” Ryuji called. “Help me out! Let’s shock this shadow into submission!” 

Ryuji was grinning from ear to ear, almost maniacal. Like the way Ren was grinning earlier. 

“I’m right behind you!” Nanako said. 

“Captain Kidd!”

“Izanagi! 

“ZIO!”

Izanagi rushed forward, his blade swarming with lightning while Captain Kidd leveled its cannon. Zorro and Arsene vanished, Morgana and Ren dodged to the side. Captain Kidd’s lightning blast streaked into Izanagi’s sword just as he was bringing it down into Berith’s chest. 

There was a blinding flash of light and a boom of thunder. Before Nanako’s eyes could adjust, she knew that the shadow was gone. 

Izanagi faded, as did Captain Kidd, which resulted in Ryuji’s skull mask appearing on his face again. 

“All right! Let’s go finish off that bastard, Kamoshida!” 

He ran forward two strides, then fell to his knees. 

“Ryuji, take it easy,” Ren commanded, rushing to his side. “The first transformation takes a lot out of you.”

“Well, well. Looks like you’re not going to be as useless as I thought, Morgana said smugly, his tiny arms crossed. 

“Are you okay?” Nanako asked. 

“Yeah,” he said, grinning up at her to try and reassure her, though he still looked utterly exhausted. 

“We should get out of here. More shadows are on their way,” Morgana said. Ren bent down and helped Ryuji to his feet, bearing his weight on his shoulders. Nanako opened the front door and held it open for the others. They ran out to the edge of the palace, where the world started once again to bend. 

Chapter Text

Once again, Nanako felt more exhausted than ever. Once they were sure that Ryuji could make it home on his own, they said their goodbyes, and Nanako tumbled herself into one of the female-only train cars and dozed on her way home. 

She got up to the apartment, but Yu wasn’t home yet. She wanted to fall into bed again and fall asleep, but she didn’t want to play absolute havoc with her sleep schedule. So instead she found some coffee in the cupboard and brewed it using the electric kettle and a French press. 

She sipped it. 

Kinda acidy. She went to the fridge, found some cream, and measured a spoonful in. 

Mm…now it was too milky. 

She tipped out a little bit of the coffee and added just a bit more coffee from the French press. 

Sip.

Eh, it was okay. Nanako was pretty picky with her coffee ever since mom had brought with her a passion for creating her own coffee blends. Dad went from drinking whatever sludge they had at the station to bringing a full thermos from home every day. Her parents were fond of her drinking much coffee, but when she was able to sneak some in, it was a delectable balance that mom had carefully crafted over years of experimentation and use of single source beans. 

Yu had a bag from Crawbucks. 

Well, she would have to tell him to buy better coffee in the future. For now, she took the mug back to her desk in her room. She drank, listened to music, and zipped through her studying. The coffee took the edge off of her exhaustion and she managed to finish her studies. 

“I’m home,” Yu called out. It was 8:30. “Sorry I’m late. I won’t make a habit of it. Did you eat?” 

“I’m not very hungry,” Nanako said. 

“Huh, well what am I going to do with these extra croquettes?” 

“…Maybe I’ll have a little bit.” 

Nanako hadn’t felt hungry, but her body disagreed. She ate ravenously. The exertion from going to the palace was catching up with her. If she was going to keep this up, she was going to have to make sure she ate properly and regularly. 

“We really need to start buying some ingredients and eating properly. I don’t mind cooking,” Nanako said. 

“You’re right,” Yu said with a smile. “We’ll make a list for this weekend and go shopping.” 

“And you need some proper coffee.” 

“You drink coffee?” 

“Sometimes. But what you have isn’t coffee. It’s corporate swill.” 

Yu laughed. “I didn’t know you had such strong coffee opinions.” 

“Well, mom really likes the locally sourced stuff. I mean…Crawbucks, really?” 

“It was convenient,” Yu said with a shrug. “I don’t drink a lot of coffee.” 

“Yeah, well, Crawbucks is a subsidiary of Okumura Foods, which owns things like Big Bang Burger and GoNuts Donuts. Their food sourcing is questionable and their employee practices are borderline inhumane. I’m surprised the Diet hasn’t decided to take more extreme action against them,” Nanako said. 

“Still the little avatar of justice…” Yu said, chewing. Nanako looked up. 

“Why would you say Justice?” 

“Huh? Well that’s what you’re talking about, isn’t it? Justice for the planet, justice for the workers.” 

“Yeah, I guess…” Nanako said. There was no doubt about it, he used the word for a reason - Margaret had called her the same thing. But she was too tired to figure out how to corner him in the phrasing. Maybe if she had more guts.

They finished dinner and sat down to watch a little TV. Then Nanako went to take a bath, and fall into bed.

Pi pi pi.

She picked up the phone and looked at it while she lay in bed.

RYUJI: Hey, Nanako! Ren gave me your contact info. I just wanted to say thanks for having my back today. 

NANAKO: You’re welcome. 

RYUJI: These powers are something else, huh? I wonder if we can really stop Kamoshida. 

NANAKO: I’m worried. I don’t want to kill him. 

RYUJI: Yeah, I guess I don’t either. I hate that bastard, but I don’t want to go to jail over him. 

NANAKO: Is what he said in that palace true? About what he did?

RYUJI: Sorta. It’s a long story. 

NANAKO: I’d like to hear it someday, when you’re ready.

RYUJI: Yeah. Okay. Maybe. 

RYUJI: Hey, let’s meet on the roof tomorrow, okay? We have a lot to talk about.

NANAKO: See you there. 

On impulse, Nanako texted Ren. 

NANAKO: You okay? You were pretty hurt.

REN: I’m fine. Morgana’s spell healed it all up. Not a mark out of place.

NANAKO: That’s convenient. He’s quite skilled in that world. I wonder where he goes. 

REN: I’m sure we’ll see him again. 

Nanako thought over her next text carefully. 

NANAKO: If you’re not busy, do you want to check out Shibuya on Saturday? After school? I haven’t had much time to look around yet. 

There was a pause. A very, very, long pause. 

REN: Sure. 

NANAKO: Okay. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. 

REN: Good night. 

She shut off her phone and snuggled into her pillow.

She wondered how long it would take for her to stop blushing. 

Chapter Text

“You found the Compendium.” 

Nanako sat straight up. She was back in the strange prison, still in her pajamas. The Compendium Personae sat in her lap. 

“I did…and I think I figured out how to use it. I was able to use another Persona. The Hierophant?” Nanako asked. 

“Anzu, of the Hierophant Arcana. As I told you, the bonds that you make are the source of your power. When you forge new relationships, the different Arcana become open to you. The stronger those relationships get, the more powerful Persona you will be able to summon from the Compendium,” Margaret said. Her yellow eyes seemed to glow from the shadows of her cell. 

“The hierophant…is that Yu?” Nanako asked. 

“Yes.” 

“So then I should be able to summon very powerful persona within the Hierophant arcana, right? Our relationship is strong,” Nanako said.

“Is it?”

The question stabbed into Nanako deeper and more painful than any weapon could. The truth was, she wasn’t sure anymore. Sure, they loved each other, and Yu would do anything to keep her safe. Including keeping the truth of her past from her. That hurt a lot more than she expected. And it had put a strange distance between them. 

“Don’t worry. Bonds can be reforged and made even stronger than before. The Compendium will grow stronger with you. Study it, absorb its knowledge, and you might even be as strong as me,” Margaret said. 

“Wait…you can use this?” 

“I can. As an attendant, it is my duty to study and fuse the personas. Once a Compendium is complete, I have access to its full power,” Margaret said. 

“Well, maybe you should use it-” Nanako said, holding the Compendium out towards her.

“No!” 

Margaret threw herself to the back of the cell. Nanako recoiled, hugging the Compendium to her chest.

“No. No, you musn’t. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you…but you musn’t offer that to me. And you must not let it come within my reach,” Margaret said. Her voice, usually so cool and even, was desperate and frightened. 

“Why?” 

“If you offered it to me, I would take it. I would use the full power of the Compendium to break myself out of here and try to beat the game myself. But it wouldn’t work. I know, deep down, that I don’t have the strength to defeat the cause of all this. That wouldn’t stop me from trying,” Maragaret said. 

“Okay. I think I understand,” Nanako said, sliding the Compendium behind her back. “Can you tell me more about what’s going on? What is this game that’s being played?” 

“We have to be careful. The two of us meeting at all is a great risk, and we can’t draw too much attention to ourselves. The more that I tell you, the more that this place will start to notice, and then I won’t be able to contact you any more. Let’s just say that you’re a secret player in this game and by borrowing Yu’s Compendium, you’re going to tip the balance in the favor of humanity.” 

“Like…the entire human race? That seems…daunting.” 

“And difficult to believe, I know,” Margaret said. “It will make more sense in time. Trust the journey…and for now, you should go. Be well, Fool of Justice.” 

Nanako woke up. 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP 
The Fool: Margaret 
Level 2

Chapter Text

Nanako had two cups of bad coffee at home, and still she felt like she needed one on her way from school. She allowed herself a small one, since she was worried the tidal wave of caffeine was going to hit all at once and make her jittery. She waited for it to cool as she rode the train. 

Was it always going to feel so exhausting to use her Persona?

She wondered how Yu managed to do it. Maybe that was why he always ate strange leftovers from the refrigerator way back when. 

She got off the station and saw a familiar figure slumped on a bench, dozing. Nanako walked up to him and nudged his leg with her foot.

“Hey, Ryuji.” 

He sat up, startled. “Ah, what the crap!? Oh, Nanako. Shoot, did I fall asleep? Am I late?” 

“You’re fine,” Nankao said with a smile. “Walk with me and you’ll be on time…and here, you need this more than I do.” 

Nanako handed him the coffee. He took a sip, then his face contorted into strange shapes.

“Blech, what did you put in this!?” 

“Nothing, I drink it black.” 

“You’re stronger than I am,” he said. He handed her the coffee back. She wiped the opening, thought about whether she wanted to drink it still, and decided to throw it out. They walked towards school. 

“It’s exhausting, isn’t it?” she said. 

“Yeah, way more than I thought…you and Ren must be something else.” 

“I’m exhausted too,” she said. “We’ll get used to it though, you know? It’s mostly a mental strain. The more you practice, the better you get. Like studying.” 

“Ha, I’m shit at studying, so it better not be like that,” Ryuji said with a grin. “But…yeah, I think I know what you mean. It’s like when I first started running and I could barely make it around the first lap. Then after a while I did the first lap without thinking about it.” 

Their footsteps fill the air. Nanako moves a little bit closer to Ryuji as other Shujin students start to appear - not close enough to imply anything, but just to get a little bit more privacy. 

“Hey…is it true what you said in there? About the pipe? Did he really…?” 

“Yeah. Last year the school fixing some plumbing out by the field. That’s where I took my swing at Kamoshida. He ducked under it, grabbed the pipe, and…well…”

He gestures at one leg. 

“There’s a nasty scar there. Probably be there the rest of my life.” 

“And they still called it self-defense? No offense, but he’s much bigger than you, he didn’t need a pipe.” 

“Yeah. I was even smaller last year, believe it or not. But, Kamoshida is too important to the school. And I’m nothing.” 

“You’re not nothing,” Nanako insisted. “And…I’m sorry that happened to you. It’s not right.” 

Ryuji looked at her for a long moment.

“I think you’re the first person who has ever said that to me, other than my mom.” 

“She sounds like a very wise woman,” Nanako said. 

“Yeah, she’s all right…hey, you said that we would get used to our Personas…does that mean you’re going to go back?”

“Of course. I don’t know how, but there has to be a way to use it to stop Kamoshida. We can find a way, if we try hard enough.”

“Well, looks like you were born under a lucky star. Because I know exactly how to use it.” 

Nanako and Ryuji stopped dead in their tracks. They were standing next to a small area with a vending machine, a bench, and a garbage can. Out from behind the garbage can strode a black cat.

“Morgana?” Nanako called out. The cat bowed its head.

“Nice to see you again, Nanako.” 

“Holy crap, the cat talked!” Ryuji said. 

“I’m not a cat!” 

“You look like a cat,” Ryuji said, gesturing with both arms. 

“Yeah, well, that’s just because that’s how I look in the real world, okay? Once I’m transformed back to a human, it’ll all be normal. For now, I’m stuck like this. Look, that’s not important. I know how to use the palace to change this Kamoshida guy.” 

“For real? Then tell us.” 

“Later,” Nanako said. “We’re going to be late. Morgana, can you meet us on the roof after school?” 

“Aha, a secret rendezvous. I’ll be there.” 

Morgana leapt back behind the garbage can. Nanako turned and started walking at a quick pace. 

“Let’s go, Ryuji!” Nanako called back. 

Ryuji grinned and jogged to catch up. 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP
The Emperor: Ryuji
Level 1

Chapter Text

“Dojima! There you are!” 

Nanako stopped and spun around. 

“Satoichi Sano, Class 2-A,” Nanako recited, crossing her arms. He had a big broad smile. 

“How’s it going, Dojima-san?” 

“Not bad, Sano-kun. You?” 

“Ah, just excited to see if I got it right. You still have that big old book?” Sano asked. Nanako nodded, the Compendium was still in her school bag, taking up way too much room. She hadn’t managed to fix the strap either, so she had to buy a new one this aftenroon. 

“Yes, why?” 

“Get it out,” he said. 

It was the lunch break, and Sano had caught her in the middle of the courtyard on the way to the vending machines. Nanako walked over to an empty table and set her bag on it, pulling the Compendium out, though she kept her hands over the title. 

“Here it is! Lay it down over here.” 

Sano set down leather straps on the top of the table. Nanako frowned, but did as she was told, setting the Compendium down exactly where he told her to put it. He then pulled the straps around and clasped the buckles. 

“Ha, perfect! Here, now you just put this one over your shoulder.” 

Nanako took the strap and did as she was told.

Then she stood up. 

The Compendium hung at her hip like a messenger bag, the leather straps holding it in place perfectly, like some sort of fantasy wizard’s magical tome. It was surprisingly comfortable, considering the weight of the Compendium. 

“You just pull that snap there if you want to open the book while you’re carrying it,” Sano said. Nanako did so - it fell open perfectly in her hand. When she let the Compendium go it fell to her side and closed by itself - all she had to do was push the snap back into place. 

“This is amazing!…what is it?” 

“It’s a book strap. Kind of a peculiar old thing that most people don’t use anymore. I’ve wanted to make one forever, but never had an excuse to do it. But when I saw your interesting old book yesterday, I knew that I had finally found the perfect recipient for a book strap.” 

“You made this?” 

“Yeah. My family has a leatherwork shop, and someday I’m going to take it over and be the greatest leatherworker in the world,” Sano said, setting his hands on his hips in pride. 

Nanako took a closer look at the leather straps. It was beautiful leather, with fine details in the stitching, and the buckles and snaps meticulously placed. There was a little symbol on the brass snap, the mark of Sano’s family business.It smelled like new leather too, which she loved because it reminded her of her dad. 

“It’s beautiful. How much do I owe you?” 

“Oh, no charge. It’s not like you asked for it or anything,” Sano said.

“What? No way. I insist, you can’t just make a beautiful thing like this and give it away to someone you hardly know. You won’t stay in business very long if that’s how you run things,” Nanako said. Sano laughed. 

“Ah, I guess you’re right. Still, I wanted to make it. It matches your book. Let’s just call it welcome to Shujin. You’re a transfer student, right? That will work.” 

Nanako sighed, but it was an amazing strap. This was going to make heading into the palace that much easier. 

“Okay, I will accept this under one condition. At some point, you will need my help with something, and you will allow me to repay that favor.” 

He shrugged. “Okay, that’s fine. I could always use more friends.” 

“Is that what we are?” 

“Why not?” 

“You don’t know me that well,” Nanako said. He shrugged again. 

“I just kinda do things, Dojima-san. I don’t think too hard, that’s how I get myself into trouble.” 

Nanako laughed. 

“Okay, Sano-kun. I guess we’re friends then. I gotta get my lunch now.” 

“Have a good one!” 

Nanako sighed and looked at the Compendium. She felt totally badass with this thing on. 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP 
Strength: Sano 
Level 1

Chapter Text

“Hey,” Nanako whispered. Ren leaned back. 

“What?” 

“Roof. After school. Morgana wants to talk to us.” 

“Morgana?” 

“Amamiya! Dojima! Quiet down!” The teacher coiled up his arm, readying to throw his chalk. 

“Apologies, sensei!” Nanako said. “Won’t happen again.” 

This was enough to calm the teacher down, who went on with his lecture. 

Class ended. Ren and Nanako walked into the hall together where they spotted Ryuji waiting by the stairs. He gave them a nod, then headed up the stairs before the two of them. Soon, they were on the roof. 

“What’s this about Morgana?” Ren asked. 

“Yeah, he’s coming here now. Nanako and I saw him on the way to school. Oh, and he looks like a cat.” 

Nanako wandered over to the garden beds. It looked like someone had done a little work on them since yesterday. Everything seemed nice and healthy. 

Nanako patted a plant on the head. “Good carrot. Keep growing.” 

“Ah, there you all are.” 

The black cat shape of Morgana sprung from the sky and landed on a discarded table. 

“Huh. He really is in cat form,” Ren said. 

“Hey, how come you don’t yell at him for calling you a cat?” Ryuji asked. 

“Because he said I was in cat form. I swear, do we really need this guy?” Morgana asked, nudging his adorable furry face towards Ryuji. 

“Yeah, we do,” Ren said. Nanako could see just the smallest of looks shared between the guys, but it was heartwarming. A sort of invisible bro bond was just formed there. 

“If you insist,” Morgana sighed. “Let me explain.” 

Morgana explained the details he alluded to earlier in the day. The “other world” was called the Metaverse, and the palace was created when someone had strong distorted desires that influenced their reality. Kamoshida saw himself as king of the school, thus a castle. Each palace had a shadow version of the palace creator who ruled over it, and while it represented all the hidden subconscious thoughts and desires of the ruler, it wasn’t the ruler themself: that’s why Kamoshida had no memory of them being inside the palace. 

But the palace also held the Treasure, the desires of the person. If they removed those desires, or steal the Treasure, then the desires would fade away as well. This would result in the person confessing their own crimes. Morgana said there was some danger to it, that if they weren’t careful that the desire to do even the basic things: eat, breathe, etc., could be taken away, and the person could die. 

Nanako followed it all pretty well. Ryuji and Ren peppered Morgana with questions, but Nanako’s mind was working on a different problem.

Why was she different? 

The boys summoned their Personas through their masks, but Nanako used cards, like her big bro had. She could also use several Personas, while the boys could only use one. Lastly, and perhaps the most important question, was the Meta Nav. Both Ren and Ryuji had it on their phones, but when Nanako checked hers, she didn’t have it. 

Was it a boy/girl thing? 

Or did this have to do with Margaret, specifically? She had said she hadn’t meant to be here, and that she was “cheating.” Did that mean the rules didn’t apply to Nanako? 

No, they did. But they seemed to apply to her slightly differently. 

“What do you think, Nanako?” Ren asked. 

“Hm? Oh, sorry, I was thinking about something else.” 

He smiled slyly. “I see, were we boring you?” 

“No, not at all! Hey, stop teasing me,” she grumbled.

“We were asking if you wanted in,” Ryuji said. “If there’s a way to change Kamoshida and make him confess his crimes, I want to do it. He’s hurt a lot of people.” 

“You want revenge?” Nanako asked. Ryuji winced.

“I mean, it’s a little bit about revenge, but to be honest, I don’t really care about that. I just want people to stop getting hurt.” 

“And you, Morgana?” 

“We have an arrangement. I help you guys out, you help me with something I’m working on in the Metaverse,” Morgana said. 

Nanako looked at Ren. 

“I already know your answer,” Nanako said. 

“Yeah. And I already know yours,” he said. 

They both smiled.

“Okay. I’m in. But there’s a condition,” Nanako said. “What we saw in there isn’t really evidence. It’s how he thinks, right? So we need to make sure those people are actually getting abused before we go in and start messing with his mind.” 

“If the cognitions are that strong there’s almost no way that it isn’t happening,” Morgana said. “Having an idle fantasy about doing something isn’t enough to create a palace.” 

“It’s still my condition,” Nanako said. “We should be sure. We’re taking justice into our own hands.” 

“She’s right,” Ren said. 

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Ryuji grumbled. “I guess I remember the faces of the people we saw in there. We could go around and ask them, do some digging, ya know?” 

“Okay. We might be able to find more clues in the palace as well. Should we go in and look around?” Nanako asked. 

“I thought you wanted to be sure,” Ren said. 

“I do, but doesn’t mean we can’t poke around in there. Nothing really happens unless we grab the Treasure, right?” 

Ren narrowed his eyes, examining her.

“Why do you want to go in so badly?” 

Nanako felt herself blushing.

“I-I got this cool thing to hold my book and I wanna try it out, okay?!” 

Ren laughed. 

Ryuji pulled out his phone.

Beginning navigation. 

Chapter Text

“Oh hey, what’d you end up getting me?” Ryuji asked Ren. 

“Oh, right, here you go.” 

He handed Ryuji a shotgun. 

“What the heck?” Nanako asked. 

“What? The last fake gun I got worked well cause of the cognition, right? So why not bring more?” Ryuji asked. 

“I got a couple extra, if you want one,” Ren said. He reached into the bag and set out a couple of other handguns. Nanako walked over and examined them. 

“Pfft, come on dude, just give her whatever’s the easiest, she’s a girl, what does she know about guns?” 

Nanako picked up the semi-automatic and went through the process of checking it with practiced ease and precision. She then held it up in a proper firing stance and looked down the sights. Satisfied, she replaced it on the ground and did the same thing with the other gun - revolver. 

“Hm, this is like the New Nambu M60, the standard police sidearm. But I always preferred the SFP 9-M that the Self Defense Force uses. Heftier gun and bigger kickback, but the accuracy is more reliable if you can handle it,” Nanako said with a sweet smile. “You have holsters?” 

“No, sorry,” Ren said.

“It’s okay, I have a guy,” Nanako said. “Better skip the gun for today, though. Keep it for me?” 

“Sure.” 

Ryuji moved closer to Ren.

“She’s scary, dude…” 

“Told you, her dad’s a cop.” 

“By the way, there’s something else I’ve been thinking about,” Morgana said. “We need code names.” 

“Haha, yes, badass!” Ryuji said. 

“Why?” Nanako asked. 

“Well…it’s true that the Kamoshida in the real world doesn’t know what happens in the palace, but it’s still part of his subconscious. If we keep yelling your real names out there, it might make him suspicious. I’m not sure, but I think it’s better to be cautious.” 

“Makes sense,” Nanako said. “I’m in agreement.” 

“Okay, okay, I’ll be…Breaker!” Ryuji said. 

“No,” Nanako said. 

“Lame,” Morgana said. 

“Ghost Master?” 

“Are you a villain from Neo Featherman?” Ren asked. Nanako laughed. 

“Fine, fine, gotta keep it simple, like….Skull,” he said.

“That’ll work,” Ren said.

“Yeah, I like it,” Nanako said. “What about you, Monamona?” 

“Mona?” Morgana said, confused. Nanako clasped her hand over her mouth. 

“Oh no! Sorry! I…I just thought earlier when you were in your cat form how cute you were, and if you were a real cat, I’d probably name you Mona. I’m sorry!” 

“I kinda like it,” Ren said. “It’ll catch the enemy off guard, thinking you’re cute and harmless, when in reality you’re cunning and dangerous.” 

Nanako wasn’t sure if Ren believed that or not, but it seemed to do the trick for Morgana. He stood up a little taller.

“Okay, Mona it is. And you, you’ll be Joker.” 

“Joker? Isn’t that sort of goofy?” Ryuji, or rather Skull, asked. 

“Not at all. The Joker is the wild card in a game. It’s the card that represents the trickster. And someone like our leader here is definitely going to be like that.” 

Nanako thought about what Morgana, or rather Mona, was saying. That was a pretty good description of Ren - someone you underestimated, but could surprise you and fill any role at any time. 

“It fits,” Nanako said. “What about me?” 

“Angel,” Joker said.

“Yeah, definitely,” Skull added.

“No doubt,” said Mona.

“Wait, what? Angel? Why?” 

The three boys looked at each other, confused. 

“I mean…the wings, right? It’s pretty obvious.” Skull said. 

“What wings?” 

“When you summon your Persona,” Mona said. “Have you not noticed?” 

Nanako frowned, then held out her hand. “Izanagi.” 

Instead of looking up at her Persona, she look at herself. Like the others, there was a glow of blue fire around, but there was also something glowing out of her back - the blue outline of a wings. They weren’t exactly angelic in the way she had seen them drawn, with feathers, but it had more of a dragon quality to it. Still, she did get a sense of heaven when she looked upon them.

The Persona faded as Nanako was hit with a wave of dizziness.

“Persona change - Sraosha!” Yu cried. A being with the same wings appeared above him, while the red demon and the white T-shirt held her tightly.

“Nanako?” Joker asked. 

“I’m fine,” she said. The memory faded, as it did before. Why she had the wings of Sraosha behind her, she didn’t know, but it seemed like it would be important. Something she would have to ask Margaret. 

“Angel is fine,” Nanako said. 

“Great. And we’re all disguised so….well…” Skull motioned at Nanako. “You’re not.” 

“Yeah, I wonder why,” Nanako asked. Mona shook his head.

“I haven’t been able to figure it out either. But at the very least, you should wear something other than your school uniform next time.” 

“Right, that’s fine. I’ll be prepared.” 

Joker strode to their infiltration point.

“It’s showtime!” 

***

They pushed into the palace a bit deeper this time.

They were cornered in a banquet hall, with a half dozen shadows covering the exits. There was no other choice than to fight their way through.

“Captain Kidd!” Skull yelled. The Pirate Persona appeared and crashed its hull into the neck of a knight, pressing it hard against the stone wall. With its prey pinned, Captain Kidd pointed his arm cannon and released a long jolt of lightning. 

“Behind you!” Nanako cried out. She jumped onto the long banquet table and charged down the length of it. A little tree sprite was prancing its way towards Skull, magic gathering around its body. Nanako managed to get within striking range.

She grabbed the book strap. 

It was long enough so that she could spin herself, gather up a lot of speed and power, and then swing the Compendium into a Shadow. The first time she had done it, she had worried about damaging the book. But the Compendium was obviously not a normal book, and no matter how many times she beat a Shadow with it, it was unaffected.

A strange weapon, but it would do. 

The sprite stumbled back. While it was disoriented, Skull spun around, leveled his shotgun, and fired. The shadow melted. 

“Thanks, Angel.” 

“You got it, Skull.” 

The code names were still taking some getting used to. Especially Nanako’s. Every time one of the boys said it, it sounded like a pet name. Especially when Ren called it out.

“Angel, Skull, to your side!” Joker yelled. They both turned to look and saw a Pixie hurtling straight at them. Nanako unsnapped the Compendium and flipped the pages with one hand. 

“Anzur, come forth!” 

Izanagi’s card went into the Compendium and Anzur’s came back. She squeezed it immediately, summoning the flying beast. 

“Garu!”

Anzur released the wind, but not at Pixie. Instead, she had targeted it just below herself and Skull. The green energy swirled upward in a spiral, carrying them up to the ceiling. There was a chandelier up there made of iron bars and candles, and more than sturdy enough to carry their weight. Both she and Skull grabbed it and watched as Pixie missed her attack. 

“Nice move,” Skull said. “But a little warning might be nice next time!” 

“You gotta keep up, Skull,” she said with a wink. 

Pixie’s attention was drawn up, watching Nanako and Skull at the ceiling, which was a mistake. Joker slipped beneath her and performed a backflip kick, connecting into the base of her chin. Nanako didn’t even know Joker could do a backflip kick, but there it was. Pixie lost her control and crashed to the table. 

Joker drew his gun and stood over her. Nanako and Skull summoned their Personas and used them to lower themselves to the ground. 

“Yes, this is what I was talking about,” Mona said. “The shadows themselves have their own mind. Now we can press her for money, useful items, or information.” 

“Please, don’t kill me!” Pixie said, kneeling on the ground, her face in her hands. 

“Be careful with what you say. If you get her riled up, she’ll go in for a last ditch attack,” Mona explained. 

“We need what you know about the palace,” Joker commanded.

“Like I would tell you that,” Pixie said, spitefully. “I don’t like being told what to do.” 

“Neither do I,” Joker remarked. 

“Really? Huh,” Pixie said. “Wait a second…I remember now…I’m not a shadow…”

“Wait, what?!” Mona said. 

“I am thou. Thou art I,” Pixie said. 

And then the impossible happen.

She transformed into a glowing version of Joker’s mask, and then merged with the mask on his face. 

“No way…did that Shadow just become your Persona?” Skull asked. 

“No. Added to,” Nanako said. “Right?” 

Joker shut his eyes, as if concentrating.

“Yeah…I can feel it…a different power. But I still feel Arsene, too.” 

“No way. This is amazing. I found three strong Persona users, and two of them can wield multiple Personas! I really am incredible,” Mona said, proud of himself. 

“All right! Now Kamoshida really has no chance! Come on let’s go kick some more…oof…” 

Skull leaned against the table. 

“We shouldn’t push it,” Nanako said. “We’ve gotten further this time than before, but Skull isn’t used to his power yet.” 

“I agree. We should head out,” Joker said. 

Chapter Text

The most nerve-wracking part of the evening was arriving home.

Yu had gotten home before her, the first time since she’d moved in. He was pleasant and smiling and curious about how things were going at school, and immediately gave her the money to buy a new school bag when he realized that the strap on hers was broken. 

He’d stood there, fiddling with the straps, wondering if he could fix it, all the while the Compendium and a gun were inside it. 

Well, not a real gun, of course, but it looked surprisingly real and it wouldn’t be a great start to that conversation.

But he didn’t open the bag, and she had managed to skim by. They ate, they watched a little TV, and now Nanako was finishing her studying for the day. 

Pi pi pi. 

RYUJI: Man I’m so beat. I don’t think I’ve been this tired in forever. 

NANAKO: We will need to pace ourselves in the future. We have time to work on Kamoshida, so let’s use the palace to train. 

REN: Morgana says he has a different idea for that. 

NANAKO: He’s with you?

REN: He’s decided to stay with me for now. 

Nanako found herself a little disappointed in that. It made sense that Morgana would need to stay close to the team if they were going to keep working together, but she kinda hoped that he’d want to live with her. She liked cats…

RYUJI: That’s convenient, can we go tomorrow? 

REN: I’ve been thinking about our need for evidence, though. Tomorrow’s the volleyball tournament, a good chance to ask around, right? 

RYUJI: Oh, right. Forgot about that. Yeah, you and I will ask around. 

NANAKO: I can help too.

REN: No. You have an “in” don’t you? You tried out for the team. Tomorrow would be a good chance to talk to some of the people you know.

Nanako thought about that. She didn’t really “know” anyone, and other than Kamoshida himself, nobody had encouraged her to join the team. But, playing volleyball would be pretty motivating and inspiring to some people, so it wouldn’t be out of place for her to do that. 

She wondered if this was still Ren secretly trying to protect her by keeping them dissociated. It was hard to know. Using her already established relationship to the team made sense and was a good move, but it also conveniently meant that she wouldn’t be seen with him at school. 

It was probably both. An elegant solution that got everything he wanted all at once and didn’t give Nanako a lot of room to argue.

Or maybe he wasn’t thinking about her at all. 

NANAKO: Okay. I don’t really know anybody that well, but I’ll give it my best shot. 

RYUJI: All right! Getting closer and closer! Let’s meet up after school on the roof. 

NANAKO: See you then.

REN: Good night.

Nanako set her phone down. Just then, there was a small tap on her door. 

“You got a minute?” Yu called through the door. Nanako looked around to make sure the gun and Compendium were safely put away, then answered that he could come in. 

“Hey. I uh…I should’ve asked this before, but I didn’t want to pry. How did things go with your friend?” 

“Oh. Um.” Nanako suddenly felt embarrassed. 

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Just wanted to make sure you knew you could, if you wanted.” 

“Thanks, big bro. It’s going…surprisingly well? It’s hard to explain. It wasn’t what I imagined, but it’s been…interesting.” 

Yu smiled. “That’s good. I’m glad for you.” 

“Yeah.” 

He stood there. She sat there.

“Was there something else?” Nanako asked. It seemed like Yu had something specific he wanted to talk about. Was it about the other day?

“No. No, no, that’s it. Good night.” 

“Night,” she said to him. 

Chapter Text

Nanako became aware of the prison cell and sat up. 

“Oh good, I had questions!” she said. The Compendium and its strap had materialized with her in this strange world, settled perfectly on her shoulders. Margaret looked amused.

“Well, our connection goes both ways. It doesn’t surprise me you willed yourself here.” 

“The Compendium seems unusually sturdy,” she said. Nanako knelt a good distance away from Margaret and her cell, but slipped the strap around so it would settle on her lap. 

“Yes, it has special properties. It’s not supposed to leave the Velvet Room. It behaves differently both in the real world and the world between dreams and reality.” 

“So I can’t break it?” 

“It’s very unlikely…why do you ask?” 

Nanako wondered if she should tell Margaret she was using her gift as a blunt battering instrument. She decided against it. 

“Just wanted to make sure. The other thing strange about it is that…people don’t seem to notice it.” 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“Well, the person that made this strap, for example. He saw the Compendium, held it, measured it. He even matched some of the decorative aspects of it to match the Compendium’s cover. But he never asked about what it was. Ryuji and Morgana have noticed me using the Compendium and summoning Personas out of it, and they’ve commented that my power is different, but they never ask more than that.” 

“Again, special properties. Though many can wield the power of the Persona, only a rare few have the trait of being a Wild Card, a person who can wield multiple personas. The Compendium is a tool meant to aid the Wild Card, and as such, it makes itself unimportant in the eyes of others. As you say, they acknowledge it, but it just seems to slip their mind.”

“What about my bro?” 

“He’s a Wild Card, so he’ll see it. I take it you didn’t ask his permission to borrow it?” 

“It’s…complicated,” Nanako said. Margaret nodded. “Will Ren see it?” 

“If he is a Wild Card, then yes. Don’t tell me if he is or not. The less I know, the better.” 

“I understand,” Nanako said. “I don’t suppose you could explain why my power is different? Or what it is I’m meant to do?” 

“The Journey of the Fool is a journey. I can guide you, but I cannot instruct you.”

“Can not, or will not?” Nanako asked. Margaret smiled. 

“Both. But don’t worry, I am on your side. We need to win.” 

Nanako stood, her questions answered. She was about to reach up towards the ceiling and head back to reality, when one more idea struck her.

“Margaret…why did my big bro have the Compendium if it’s not supposed to leave the Velvet Room?” 

Margaret’s smile changed from cunning to nostalgic, maybe even a bit embarrassed. 

“A selfish desire to be remembered,” she said. “But that’s a story for another time. Good luck, Nanako.” 

Nanako woke up. 

Chapter Text

Nanako did okay at the volleyball tournament. Okay enough that her excuse of being “interested in volleyball” wouldn’t be that far-fetched. 

Still, she was nervous.

She supposed she could talk to anyone on the volleyball team, but there was really only one effective, logical choice. If anyone knew anything about Kamoshida and abuse, it would be Shiho Suzui, the star player. The one that hated her. 

And…perhaps the one that would defend Kamoshida at all costs. 

But Nanako could feel it in her gut. This was the right move, even though it was the one move she didn’t want to make. She wasn’t sure why she was so intimidated by her - it’s not like Suzui went out of her way to find Nanako and bully her. She had just terrorized her once on a volleyball court, and that was it. 

Since then, Nanako had fallen into another dimension, awakened a Persona, and literally battled for her life.

So why did this stress her out? 

It was an interesting question, and she felt like if she could find the answer, she might learn something about herself. But now wasn’t the time. She had to face this challenge head on. For Ren’s sake. No, for the sake of the whole team. 

“Hi, Suzui-san,” Nanako said. Nanako had managed to catch her at the vending machine courtyard just as she was entering it, hoping that it would be a good place to have a private conversation. Maybe if there wasn’t anyone around to watch she wouldn’t feel bully her.

Except, Nanako had calculated wrong. There was someone already sitting on the bench - Takamaki. She looked up form her phone, a little surprised. She said nothing, just watched. 

“What do you want?” Suzui asked. 

“Ah, I just wanted to know your thoughts on the volleyball team,” Nanako said. “I had a lot of fun today at the tournament, and I know that I’m not very good, but I’d still like to be part of it. Even if I don’t get to play in any games, I still need a club for my applications, you know? Do you think the team would-” 

“No,” she said shortly. “Goodbye.” 

Suzui sat down next to Takamaki and made a deliberate effort to turn away from Nanako and only face her. Nanako frowned.

“You didn’t hear my question,” Nanako pointed out.

“It’s just a no, dear. Whatever it is you think you can get out of this team, out of me, out of this school, it’s no. You can’t cut it, so give up.” Suzui’s words spat out like hot acid and were quickly melting away the guards around Nanako’s heart. She tried to focus on the task at hand, on Kamoshida.

“Shiho…?” Takamki said, looking a little confused.

“Sorry Ann, one second.” Suzui turned back to Nanako. “Look. This team is amazing. It goes places, and it’s my ticket into a good university. Having someone like you on it is going to drag us down. I told you all of this before. Now give it up.” 

“Kamoshida-sensei said he would give me personal training in order to catch up. Surely if he’s offering that then I must not be that hopeless, right?” 

That was the right move. Nanako watched as Suzui’s face contorted into a stricken panic. It took her a moment to shape her face back into a placid stare. 

“He said that to you?” 

“Yes. Twice, actually. I was thinking of taking him up on it.” 

“Well, don’t. He’s just being nice.” 

“You can’t really stop me though, can you?” 

“Can’t I?” Suzui stood up abruptly and got right in Nanako’s face. “Cause you won’t be able to play volleyball with a broken hand.” 

“Shiho!” Takamaki called out. 

“You’re nothing special, Dojima.” 

Nanako wanted to stand there and take it - to be cool and arrogant and unphased by the threat. But she couldn’t. Whatever nerve she had summoned up was gone now. Nanako instead looked at the ground, focusing on holding back tears.

“R-right. You’re right. I’m sorry. I won’t bother you again.” 

She turned and ran. 

Chapter Text

“Wow, I didn’t know Suzui had that in her,” Ryuji said.

School was over and the team was gathered on the roof. After the boys told her about their adventures, Nanako told them about her conversation with Suzui. 

“What do you mean?” Nanako asked. 

“Well, it’s not like I know Suzui that well or anything, but we did go to middle school together. She always seemed really nice and pleasant. Guess Kamoshida’s ways have started to taint her,” Ryuji said. 

“Are you sure about that?” Ren asked. 

“What do you mean? It makes sense, she’s his number one star, of course she’s going to protect him. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if she did some of the abusing herself,” Ryuji said.

“You just said she was a nice girl,” Morgana pointed out.

“Yeah, was. Maybe Kamoshida really messed her up, you know?” 

“I don’t think so,” Nanako said. “I think…maybe she’s trying to protect me.” 

“Eh? How’s that work?” Ryuji said.

“If there is abuse going on, the best way to protect me from it is to stay off the team, right? Maybe she’s trying to scare me away. It would explain the look she gave me when I said that Kamoshida had invited me for personal trainig,” I said. 

“I think you’re onto something,” Ren said. “Do you feel like there’s enough evidence now?” 

Nanako thought about this. Ren was pointing out, in an oblique way, that it was she who was demanding the evidence and holding up their operation on Kamoshida. Nanako wouldn’t move forward without probable cause. Then again, she didn’t have the Meta-Nav, which meant that they didn’t need her to agree. If they went in without her, she couldn’t stop them. And who would she tell? The police? What would she tell them, that Ren and Ryuji had an app that let them go into Kamoshida’s mind? And that a talking cat helped them? 

He was asking because he wanted her to go with them. And he didn’t want her to be uncomfortable about the choice. The thought made her feel a little warm inside. 

“We have some physical evidence of the abuse, and some really odd behavior from the club members. We have Kamoshida actively trying to recruit me, even though I’m a below average volleyball player. And we have what we’ve seen in the Metaverse. It’s not like that’s admissible in court, but technically what we want to do is outside of the law anyway. I feel like if we don’t do something…something bad could happen. Really bad. So I’m in.” 

“All right! Tomorrow, then?” Ryuji asked.

“Yeah. Tomorrow. I need to get home. The place I’m staying is keeping a tight watch on me,” Ren said. 

“Right, see ya then.” 

Morgana leapt into Ren’s bag and he strode off of the rooftop with Ryuji not far behind.

Nanako stayed on the roof. 

Where was Ren staying, anyway? He had said with a friend of his family, but what was his living situation like? Were they treating him well, or like some sort of convict because of his criminal record? 

What did he really think of her? That’s what it all came to, didn’t it?

Nanako didn’t want to go home yet. There were too many feelings and thoughts swirling around inside of her. None of them had a good shape or form or purpose to them, and if she went home with her mind and heart this muddled, she’d just numb it. She’d eat. Watch TV. Talk to Yu. Study. Sleep. And then it’d all be swallowed up, bottled away somewhere inside of her. 

And then it would come back and try to crack through at the worst time, like when she was talking to Suzui. 

She walked around the rooftop a bit, hoping that movement would make her feel better. She saw the planters, and noticed that a little watering needed to be done, and some dead leaves cleaned off of the tomato vines. She looked around for some gloves, then started to work. 

She wasn’t sure how long she was gardening before she heard the doors open.

“Oh! So you’re the one who’s been working on the garden!” 

Nanako hopped to her feet with a yelp, spinning around. Standing at the door was a girl in a Shujin PE uniform. She had fun, floofy hair and a kind voice, and had a “3” on her uniform, indicating that she was a third year. 

“A-ah, yes! I’m sorry senpai, I didn’t know this was yours. I promise, I won’t touch it again.” 

“No, no, that’s not it at all! I’m actually glad. I’ve been very busy lately, and I haven’t had as much time to care for the garden. I actually was worried that the seedlings I brought up were going to die, but then I came up and saw they were already planted. Did you do that, too?” 

“Yes,” Nanako said. 

“You did a great job. I really appreciate it, you saved them.”

“Oh. Well, you’re welcome, senpai. My name is Dojima. Dojima Nanako.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Nanako-chan. I’m…” the girl paused. “Haru.” 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Haru-senpai. Just um…Haru? No family name?”

“I’d rather you just call me Haru,” she said with a bright smile. “If you’re not busy, would you like to help out a little more?” 

“Yes, I’d like that a lot,” Nanako said. 

The two worked diligently. One of the planters had completely died out and needed to be restarted. They dug the soil out and placed it in buckets and put new soil in. Then they aerated it.

“I haven’t picked out what to plant here yet, so that’s enough for today. Do you have any favorites, Nanako-chan?” 

“Oh. Um. Not really. I’m not much of a gardener.” 

“That’s not true at all, you’re quite good. You’ve never gardened before?” 

“Just a little one back home,” Nanako said. “We used to grow some food on a patch of land next to my house.” 

“Oh, so you must be a transfer student, I wondered why I didn’t recognize you. Where are you from originally, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“Inaba,” Nanako said. Haru smiled.

“I’ve been there! I stayed at this place called the Amagi Inn, do you know it?” 

“Yes, I know the manager, actually. She’s a good family friend.” 

“Wow, what a small world,” Haru said.

“It’s more that Inaba is a pretty small town. I think I know almost everyone there,” Nanako said. Haru sighed dreamily.

“That sounds sort of nice, actually…” 

She stared at her garden, thinking. Nanako realized then that she felt a lot better about before. Not that she had really had any answers, but somehow working on the garden had given her some structure and order to her heart. 

“Haru-senpai…do you think I could help out again sometime?” 

“Really? That would be great! I would heartily welcome a new member to the Gardening Club.” 

“Oh, it’s a whole club?” 

“Well, technically yes. But I’m the only member,” Haru said with a laugh. “I guess that makes you vice-president, Nana-chan.” 

Nanako jolted at the sound of the word. Haru looked concerned.

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you not like that nickname?” 

“No, no, it’s fine. I have a friend who calls me that, but I haven’t seen him in a while. But it’s a nice name, if you really want to call me that.” 

“Okay, then Nana-chan it is. I hope that we’ll be good friends too,” Haru said. 

“I could use a friend,” Nanako admitted, surprised at her honesty. 

They exchanged contact information, and Nanako left Haru to clean up. 

====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP 
Hermit: Haru
Level 1

Chapter Text

That evening, Nanako and Yu made a list for shopping for Sunday, then ate dinner. After, Yu went into his home office to do some work, leaving Nanako to herself. Tired of studying, she decided to watch a little TV. There were two shows she was interested in. The first was “Young Life”, a fashion show that talked about the latest fashion trends and how to get attention. Nanako felt like she could learn to be a bit more charming if she watched it. The other was the new episode of Phoenix Ranger Featherman, which she felt would inspire her guts. 

She selected her choice with the remote. 

“No matter what you say to us, the fire in our souls can’t be extinguished!” 

“If you put it out with despair, we’ll rise up from the ashes!” 

“Blazing a path in the sky to inspire the youth of tomorrow - that is our way!” 

“Ultimate Combination Form: Rainbow Phoenix Crusader!” 

Nanako went to bed feeling a little gutsier than before. 

Chapter Text

“I’ll save her…just like the rest!” 

“Let her go!” Yu yelled. 

“I’m a hero…I’m a night in shining armor!” 

Shadow energy rushed in around her. 

“Big bro…I can’t breathe…!” 

“Nanako! I won’t this guy hurt you, I promise!” 

Nanako felt herself rise into the air, now firmly in the grasp of the red demon. His hand was made of shadows, and she felt the same ichor-like sensation from its “skin” that she did when she struck the shadows in Kamoshida’s palace. 

Kamoshida? Who was…? 

No. This wasn’t Kamoshida. This was Namatame. 

Where…? 

Nanako tried to focus. This felt important, and she needed to watch it carefully. 

“Don’t rush in!” Naoto called. Nanako looked down, watching as Yu charged ahead, sword in hand. Namatame raised his other hand and blasts of flame tornado towards Yu. The blasts impact the ground, and the world is filled with heat and smoke. 

“Bro!” Yosuke yelled. 

But Nanako wasn’t afraid. She could see the eyes glowing through the smoke - a Persona of a man whose limbs and head ended in flames. 

Saturnus. She didn’t know how, but Nanako knew the name. 

Namatame extended his power again, and a strange circle appeared above Yu’s head - a circle similar to the one floating behind Namatame’s shadow form. Yu suddenly stopped his charge and turned around. 

“Bro, what’s going on!?” Yosuke called out, charging to keep up with him. 

“No…Yosuke…guys, run!” 

Saturnus erupted a massive blast of fire. Yukiko yelled, rushing forward with fan in hand. She skid right in front of Yosuke and made a slicing motion with the fan. 

“Konohana Sakuya!” 

The beautiful phoenix woman appeared, spreading its wings. It flourished the wings, gathering up the fire aimed at Yosuke and drawing it into its chest, absorbing it. 

“Thanks,” Yosuke called over. 

“Senpai, what the hell are you doing!?” Kanji yelled. The massive form of Take-Mikazuchi charged with powerful, lumbering steps, its lightning bolt weapon brandished above his head. 

Yu released Saturnus and immediately snapped another card that appeared from nowhere: Arahabaki. The pot-like Persona simply stood and summoned a protective barrier. Take-Mikazuchi slammed its lightning bolt against it, blow after blow, but couldn’t break through. Kanji winced and retreated. 

“He’s controlling senpai somehow!” Rise called out. 

Nanako shut her eyes. 

Then she opened them. 

The battlefield was gone. Big bro, his friends, Namtame, they were all gone. When Nanako stood up, she was tall again - no longer the little girl. 

Someone stood in front of her.

It was her as a child. She was turned away from Nanako at first, but she slowly turned around. 

The child Nanako had yellow eyes.

“Remember…” she said. “You must remember….” 

Nanako woke up. 

Chapter Text

Nanako forced herself to choke down not one, but two mugs of Crawbucks sludge. She needed the caffeine, badly. Going back to sleep was difficult after she had the nightmare. She dozed fitfully, always worried that if she slept too deeply that it would come back. 

What did it mean? 

Remember what? 

She knew that the dream wasn’t just a dream. It was a memory, too. 

Nanako yawned. 

“But how much of it is a dream, and how much of it is memory…?” she said to herself. 

“That’s an intriguing sentiment,” a deep voice said. Nanako turned around. It was the blue-haired boy from her first day of school. He wore a white uniform from a school called Kosei Academy. 

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” Nanako said. 

“Pardon my intrusion,” he said politely. “But thank you for saying it. I shall ponder on it all day. Excuse me.” 

The boy bowed his head slightly and then vanished into the commuters. Nanako trudged her way to the train platform and waited for the next train into school. 

“Hey.” 

Nanako felt her heart rush a little. She sniffed audibly. 

“You smell like coffee,” she said to Ren. 

“Do I? Probably. It’s barely been a week and I already can’t smell it anymore,” he said with a small smile. Nanako sniffed again.

“It smells like really good coffee.” 

“I’ll bring you some next time.” 

“Would you? Thank goodness. If I have to drink another cup of my big bro’s Crawbuck’s sludge…” 

Ren laughed. Nanako smiled and looked directly at him for the first time since he appeared on the platform. 

“You’re not wearing your glasses,” Nanako pointed out. Ren touched his face, realizing his mistake, and then reached for his pocket.

“No, don’t,” Nanako said. “Just…at least until we get to school.” 

“Why?” 

“I don’t know,” she said, honestly. Ren lowered his hand. 

The train came to a stop and they got on together. Miraculously, there were two seats, and they took them. They listened to the train run along the tracks while the TV spouted off some more news about the most recent subway crash. 

“You look tired,” Ren said. 

“I didn’t sleep well.” 

“Me neither.” 

They were silent some more. But Nanako wasn’t worried about the silence, for some reason. It wasn’t awkward. It was comfortable. At least, from her perspective it was. She stole a glance at Ren without his glasses - at his gorgeous eyes beneath the pillow of curly hair, at his fine features. It was a shame he hid behind the mask of his glasses. 

“Are you weirded out by me?” Nanako asked directly. It seemed to catch Ren off-guard.” 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“Do you think I’m…I don’t know, a stalker?” 

“Ah. I was very surprised to see you here. And it is odd that you would intentionally follow me,” he said.

“Geez, you have to be so honest about it…” 

“You brought it up,” he pointed out. 

“It wasn’t just for you, though. I felt like I needed a change. Life in Inaba was…” 

“Quiet? Boring?” 

“Yes.” 

“Is that so bad?” Ren asked. “To be branded what I’ve been branded…it’s not going to go away easily. You know how it works around here. Follow the rules. Blend in. Do what society wants you to do. A quiet life in Inaba, bored because nothing bad happens…that’s something lots of people would long for.” 

They sat a few moments more.

“That’s not what you long for, though,” Nanako said. 

“It should be. It should be what you long for, after everything you’ve been through,” he said.

“Huh?” Nanako said, surprised. “What do you mean?” 

The train came to a stop and announced the arrival. Faster than her eyes could track, Ren reached into his jacket pocket and slipped on his glasses.

“Come on. We’ll be late.” 

Chapter Text

Nanako left class to use the restroom. The coffee had done that to her, she supposed. That, and the iced coffee she bought at lunch. Now even that caffeine was running out and she was feeling fatigued again. 

She wasn’t usually one to wander around during class, but she was afraid if she didn’t do something she was going to drift off right at her desk. Then again, maybe she should just sleep. If they were going to go into Kamoshida’s palace today, would being hopped up on caffeine be enough? 

Well, she was already at the vending machine. Might as well buy it, and she could drink it later if she wanted. She scanned the rows for an energy drink - something called Ultimate Amazake. She put in her yen, listened to it drop, and then picked up the can. 

She left the little enclave next to the vending machines.

And looked up. 

Why did she look up? She didn’t know. She would never know. Maybe she was thinking about the flowers on the roof. Maybe she had seen something out of her peripheral vision. Maybe fate told her to do it. Whatever the reason, she looked up.

Standing on the edge of the roof was Suzui Shiho. 

Nanako dropped the drink. 

Suzui looked surprisingly calm. A placid mask of acceptance was pressed against her visage. Her knees started to bed.

Nanako ran. 

Her leg muscles, conditioned to jump for the powerful spikes that made her the volleyball team’s ace, sprung her into the air above the courtyard. In that moment, the peace of her face shattered and contorted into fear. Suzui’s left arm sprung backward, reaching for the fence. 

She was too far.

Nanako ran.

“Suzui!” 

She could break the fall. Yes, it was going to hurt, a lot. Maybe even permanently. But Nanako had to do it. She had to try. She ran as fast as her legs could take her. If she could just get underneath her.

She couldn’t.

Nanako would never forget the sickening thud and crunch of Suzui’s body hitting the ground. 

~~~~~

Nanako didn’t stop running. She got to Suzui’s side and rolled her onto her back. She put her ear to her chest.

She was still breathing! 

“Suzui! Suzui, can you hear me? Don’t move, okay? I-I gotta call for an ambulance…” 

Nanako reached for her phone, her hands trembling. Before she could get to it, Suzui’s hand closed around hers. 

“Dojima…” she whispered. 

“You’re conscious! That’s good. Stay with me Suzui, okay? Don’t let yourself fall asleep, you gotta stay awake. Focus on how much you hate me, and how bad I am at volleyball. Tell me everything I do wrong.” 

“I don’t…hate you…” Suzui said. Her eyes were glistening and a little glazed over. “I…wanted to…”

“Protect me, right?” Nanako said, holding her hand tighter. “You were protecting me from Kamoshida.” 

“Yes…sorry…you’re not…a bitch…” 

“It’s okay. I understand, I really do. Thank you for caring about me, even though you didn’t know me…you’re a good person, Suzui. You need to stay alive, okay? Whatever happened to make you do this, it can be fixed. You need to fight now.” 

“Shiho!” 

Takamaki pushed through the crowd. Nanako hadn’t even realized there was a crowd, she’d been so focused on helping Suzui. 

“Ann…” 

“Shiho…why…” 

Takamaki leaned forward and listened to Suzui whisper. Nanako couldn’t hear what was being said, but the expressions on Takamaki’s face said a lot.

“He…he did that…” Takamaki stammered. Nanako held Suzui’s hand even tighter.

“He will face justice, Suzui. I swear it,” Nanako said. Takamaki looked at Nanako, confused. The crowd burst apart as an ambulance backed into the courtyard. Nanako hadn’t even realized there was an ambulance. 

“We need someone to ride with her,” the paramedic said. 

“I’ll go,” Takamaki said.

“Me too,” Nanako said. She looked and locked eyes with Takamaki. “If…if that’s okay…”

Takamaki only nodded. They helped the paramedics set Suzui into the back of the ambulance. Nanako and Takamaki piled into the back seats and waited for the ambulance to drive.

Takamaki held Suzui’s hand. Suzui was unconscious now, but breathing steadily with the help of an oxygen mask. 

“Shiho…” 

Pi pi pi .

REN: Are you okay? 

NANAKO: Yes. I’m riding with Suzui. Something happened with Kamoshida, I think. 

RYUJI: We’re gonna find out.

She didn’t know why, but Nanako felt a lot of rage in Ryuji’s text.

NANAKO: Don’t do anything stupid. 

Neither boy answered. It worried Nanako. Maybe she shouldn’t have come on the ambulance. The boys might need a cooler head to prevail. 

But it was too late now. All she could do was help take Suzui to the hospital, and see this through to the end. 

Chapter Text

Hospitals. 

Nanako had been in too many hospitals. She’d gone to a hospital the night her mom died. She only remembered flashes of that. She remembered dad crying. She remembered the smell, more than anything; the smell of a common hospital disinfectant. It was strange, because every once in a while she would catch a whiff of that same disinfectant and suddenly miss her mother. 

Dad had been in the hospital too, the year big bro came to live with them. He’d been driving too fast, trying to stop a bad guy. 

She’d been in the hospital, though she didn’t remember that very well. She didn’t remember why she was there, other than that someone had tried to kidnap her. 

Nanako shut her eyes and took a deep breath. The dizziness of memory threatened to overtake her again, and now wasn’t the time for her to lose her focus. The dizziness passed and Nanako went back to working the vending machine. She picked up the two drinks from the dispenser. 

“Hey. Which one do you want?” Nanako asked. Sitting on the edge of the waiting room chair was Takamaki, leaning her elbows on her knees, her head pointed at the floor. She looked up.

“Whichever one’s not carbonated,” she said. Nanako nodded and handed her the lemon tea, keeping the cola for herself. Nanako sat next to her, and they both drank. 

“Thanks,” Takamaki said. “Shiho’s parents are on the way so…you don’t need to stay anymore.” 

“What about your parents?” 

“They’re overseas.” 

Nanako nodded and took another sip. “I’ll stay with you until they get here, then. Hospitals are hard to be in alone.” 

They sat.

“Why are you being so nice?” Takamaki asked. 

“Hm? I mean, I know we’re not friends, but…”

“I mean, to Shiho. I saw how she treated you yesterday. That was…shocking.” 

“I noticed,” Nanako said. “You looked surprised that she said something like that.” 

“I was surprised,” she said. “Very surprised.” 

“Thank you for that. It helped me figure out Suzui’s true feelings,” Nanako said. “She wanted to protect me from…him.” 

Takamaki nodded slowly. 

“That sounds like Shiho.” 

They sat. 

“This is my fault, you know. I was leading him on, and yesterday he called me and…well I turned him down. And Shiho was acting so strange today and…damnit, I just knew that something had happened…I shouldn’t have…” 

“Stop,” Nanako said. “Nothing is your fault. Nothing is Suzui’s fault, either. It’s his fault. He’s the one that did this. To you. To her. To all of us. He’s the one that should feel bad.” 

“But he won’t,” Takamaki said. “I know him well enough…he won’t. And nothing will happen to him.” 

Nanako examined the drink in her hand, turning it slowly and watching the light shine off of the  surface. 

“Sometimes justice finds a way,” Nanako said. 

Takamaki looked up, then stood. 

“Those are Shiho’s parents…” 

“Go to them,” Nanako said. Takamaki nodded and got up, rushing over towards a very worried looking couple. Nanako focused on drinking her drink, trying not to watch them. It seemed intrusive for her to watch what was going to be a very difficult moment.

“Excuse me, miss?” A nurse said to Nanako. “You came with the patient from Shujin Academy, right?” 

“Yes,” Nanako said. 

“The police would like to talk to you. Please follow me.” 

Nanako was worried for a split second, which was strange. Police never worried her. Maybe it was just the stress of the day getting to her. She knew her rights, though, and she knew all the standard police questioning techniques. If the police were aggressive or unhelpful, she’d shut them down right away. 

The nurse led her around a corner, where Nanako saw two figures waiting.

“Naoto!?” Nanako cried. “Chie!?” 

“Nanako-chan?” Chie said, looking just as shocked. “What are you doing here?” 

“I came with Suzui in the ambulance,” Nanako explained. Naoto looked at her cooly from underneath her cap, a small smile on her lips. 

“Well, this is convenient. Come on, let’s find a place to talk. Are you hungry?” 

“Not especially,” Nanako said. 

“Well, unfortunately Chie can’t operate without a meal every two hours so…”

“Hey!” Chie grumbled. Naoto smirked. Nanako giggled. She suddenly felt a lot better, and weights she didn’t know she was carrying lifted off of her shoulders. 

They went down to the hospital cafeteria, where Chie did indeed get a medicore looking beef and rice bowl. Naoto had nothing, and Nanako kept working on her drink. They found a table in the corner. Chie ate with one hand and impressively wrote things in her police notebook with the other. 

“Start at the beginning, if you don’t mind,” Naoto said. “Just tell us what you remember. Don’t leave out anything.” 

Nanako did: about her somewhat antagonistic relationship with Suzui, about going out to the vending machine, then the jump. Naoto and Chie were silent through the story, save for the scratching of Chie’s pen, and the chewing she was doing. 

“I’m going to ask you a somewhat difficult question, Nanako. Take all the time you need to think about and answer it, but I do need you to ansswer it,” Naoto said. “When Suzui-san stepped off the roof, what was her demeanor?” 

Nanako didn’t need to consider the answer, she knew. But she pretended she did so she could have a moment to think. 

Something was going on. Chie showing up to be the police officer to question her could have been a coincidence…but what was Naoto doing here? Technically, she didn’t work for the police, or any government agency directly. There’s no way she would have been sent here to discuss a suicide attempt. She was here because she wanted to be, which meant that she was looking for something. This question was part of that thing she was looking for.

 But what was she looking for? 

“At first, calm. Peaceful. But the moment she jumped, that all changed. She became panicked, then reached back for the fence, trying to stop herself.” 

Naoto glanced at Chie. Chie finished the last bites of her bowl and nodded. She made a few final marks in her notebook, then stood up. 

“I’m gonna go call it in,” Chie said. “Be right back!” 

She left, leaving Nanako and Naoto alone. 

“That was a good observtion, Nanako-chan,” Naoto said. “Very astute.” 

“Oh? I just happened to be looking up.” 

“Never underestimate luck when you’re doing investigative work,” Naoto said. “Or did your investigation days end when you hung up your Loveline cape?” 

Nanako almost cringed at the memory. As a child, she had thought that Yu was being very suspicious, and ended up dressing up as her favorite anime detective: Loveline, Magical Detective. She ran all around Inaba in that get-up, and Naoto had helped her along the way. 

“If you’re asking if I’m going to be a police officer, I don’t know. Dad has mixed feelings about it. He says he doesn’t want me to, but I think there’s part of him that kinda does,” Nanako said. Naoto folded her hands on the top of the table. 

“When I was young, my grandfather trained me in the ways of the Shirogane Detection Style. He said that there were three important things every good detective needed: a keen intellect, a willingness to follow your gut, and a caring heart.” 

“Caring heart?” Nanako said, surprised. 

“Yes. You see, a person with a keen intellect can make all the deductions, put the clues together and follow the logic…but they’ll never understand why. The heart is necessary in order for empathy, and empathy can be a key tool in following an investigation to its end. That was the lesson I learned that strange summer. I had my intellect, and I was pretty good about following my gut…but my heart needed to be softened, just a little.” 

“Why are you telling me all of this?” Nanako asked. 

“Because you ask questions like that,” Naoto said. “I only worked with your father the one time, but I was very impressed by his skills. He had those three qualities, and even though he only had half of the picture of our case, he was still right behind me. He would’ve figured the whole thing on his own, I think.” 

“He is pretty great,” Nanako said, feeling a swelling pride for her father. 

“I think you may have inherited those skills from him.” 

“Oh. I mean, I noticed Suzui when she was stepping off the building, but that hardly-” 

“What am I doing here, Nanako-chan?” 

The question was abrupt and caught Nanako off-guard. Had she really been that transparent in her long pause? Or was Naoto testing her? Nanako thought about playing dumb, but somehow she felt Naoto would see right through that. Nanako opened her mouth to speak, but Naoto raised her finger.

“Think it all the way through. Don’t spill your conjecture to me, I might use it lead your thoughts astray.” 

Nanako concentrated. Why would Naoto want to know what Suzui’s demeanor was like? As far as Nanako knew, it was pretty standard. Many who survive suicide talk about how they regret it the moment they begin, and they reach out for things or try to save themselves. Part of the survival instinct kicks in, she supposed. 

But when Nanako told that to Naoto and Chie, they stopped questioning her. They had gotten the answer they were looking for, and it was a dead-end. So what could Naoto be investigating? 

“You’re investigating the strange string of mental shutdowns going on in the city,” Nanako stated. “And you thought maybe Suzui had experienced one. But when I told you how she behaved, you realized that wasn’t the case.” 

“Very impressive. I knew you had the skills of an investigator inside you,” Naoto said with a big, prideful smile. 

“How’s it going?” Nanako asked. Naoto shrugged. 

“It is a very strange case. The journey may be long, but we’ll get there in the end…say, Nanako, did you hurt yourself?” 

Naoto pointed at Nanako’s shoulder. Nanako looked. Her uniform blouse had shifted slightly, revealing part of her bare shoulder and her bra strap. Beneath the bra strap was a red mark from the Compendium’s strap. 

Shoot! She didn’t get that badly hurt their last time in the palace, so they didn’t use any heal spells. What a stupid mistake. 

“My bag broke the other day,” she said. “It’s probably from that.” ‘

“Mm,” Naoto said with a nod. 

“Say, Naoto…” Nanako said, trying to find the courage to ask her question. “You believe in the law. But…what happens when those who enforce the law turn a blind eye? How is justice supposed to prevail then?” 

“A difficult question. It’s part of why I never work directly for any government agency. There are too many rules, too much on the line, too much corruption. As an independent detective, I can focus purely on finding the truth. That’s how I correct justice, I reveal the truth to everyone. What happens afterwards is sometimes, perhaps most times, out of my control. But at least I have revealed it.” 

“So sometimes you have to do what you must, regardless of the law?” Nanako asked. 

“The law only works if the people enforcing it are just. I don’t condone vigilanteism but…there are many shades of gray along the way.” 

“Thanks, Naoto. Hey, you should come by for dinner soon.” 

“With Yu there?” 

“Of course!” 

Naoto hesitated. “I’m still not sure that’s a good idea just yet.” 

“Why not? Everything at Christmas was great! And I mean…it’s been years now, so…” 

“Thank you for the invitation. I will…think it over.” 

“Okay.” 

Chie returned and promised that she’d come by the house to visit her and Yu soon. The two women got up. Nanako followed them towards the door.

“Oh, Naoto, one last question, about…” 

Nanako stopped. Naoto had turned and given her a look. A very meaningful look.

Another test? 

She would only give that look if Naoto had figured out what it was Nanako wanted to ask. Nanako was going to ask about Teddie…but that meant Naoto knew she was going to ask about Teddie. And this look was meant to stop her from asking because…

Because she was close.

And she didn’t want anyone to casually talk about it, for some reason. 

Nanako just nodded. 

“You should head home soon, Nanako-chan,” Chie said. “It’s getting late. The girl…well, she’s in a coma right now. I don’t think she’ll be awake for a while, though she’s stable. She’ll live.” 

“That’s a relief.” 

“Bye, Nanako!” Chie said. 

“See you around, detective,” Naoto said.

They left. 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP
Justice: Naoto Shirogane
Level 1

Chapter Text

“Expelled!?” Nanako hissed on the phone. “You dummies! I told you not to do anything stupid!” 

“Yeah, well…he pissed me off,” Ryuji grumbled. He sounded a mixture of embarrassed and defensive. 

“He’s pissing me off too, but that doesn’t mean you can let your temper get out of control,” Nanako said. “What are you going to do?” 

“There’s still 14 days,” Ren said, his voice calm and collected as always. “If we can change his heart before the school board meeting, then we’ll be safe.” 

Nanako was in her room, pacing around the room. She sat down on her bed and held her pillow in her lap. 

“Is that enough time? I feel like that castle is huge, and we’ve hardly gotten anywhere…”

“Morgana says it’ll be fine. He also wants us to start training tomorrow, he says he has a place to go,” Ren said. 

“No,” Nanako said. “I want to go to the palace after school. I don’t want to wait a moment longer. He needs to be stopped.” 

“Yeah, we should go straight in. We’ll be fine,” Ryuji said. 

“Let’s talk about it after school,” Ren said. “We only have half a day tomorrow.” 

“Right. Hey, Nanako, how was Suzui and Takamaki?” Ryuji asked. 

“Not great. Suzui’s in a coma. Takamaki seemed okay. Shocked, mostly,” Nanako said. 

There was a long moment of silence on the phone.

“Right. See you tomorrow,” Ren said.

They all hung up. 

Chapter Text

“Sano-san!” 

“Eh? Oh, hey Dojima,” Sano said, stopping his walk into Shujin. Nanako rushed up to catch up to him.

“Hey, do you think you could make something else for me? It’s uh…kind of a strange request. I’ll pay you this time, of course,” Nanako said. 

“Sure. Can you drop by the shop after school?” 

“Ah, sorry, I have plans…tomorrow?” 

“Sure. Let’s exchange contact info.” 

They got out their phones and entered the information into them. While Nanako was finishing the final touches on her entry, Sano looked at her back. 

“Uh, do you need me to make something that’s going to carry all that…?” he asked. Nanako looked at herself - along with her usual school bag, she had a large duffle bag on her back. 

“Oh, no, that stuff’s just for…club activities. What you’re making is a little more…specialized. I’d rather not talk about it in public,” Nanako said. Then she regretted her word choice - why did she say it like that!? That made it sound sketchy! 

“Okay…well, see you later,” Sano said, slipping his phone away and heading into school. Nanako adjusted the duffle bag on her back. 

She could be so awkward sometimes…

Chapter Text

Saturdays were half days, so school let out around lunchtime. She had remembered that eating in the Metaverse was important, so Nanako bought some of the ultra-popular yakisoba bread from the school store. She brought enough for the boys too, and they sat by the vending machines, fueling up. 

It was weird to be back at the spot where just yesterday she’d seen Suzui jump. The area where she landed was covered and blocked off. Rumors said that it was covered in her blood still, though in reality it was probably just covered to keep people from gathering around it. 

The rumors around Suzui’s jump were nasty - and conveniently, none of them had to do with Kamoshida. The school could be so shockingly cruel. There was no foundation to any of the rumors, and yet they were told boldly. And the other students just listened and accepted them as truth. No one ever questioned anything.

Nanako hated it. She wanted the truth to come out so badly. But if she started talking, it would just be more rumors to add to the pile…worse, it would attract Kamoshida’s attention. 

No. Making him confess with his own mouth would be much better. 

“I still think we should do a little training. If we push too far into the palace when you’re not ready, you could get seriously hurt,” Morgana pointed out. 

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to get through the whole palace in one day,” Nanako said. “We have 14 days. Let’s pace ourselves. You said yourself we need to secure an infiltration route, right? The more times we use the route, the more secure it will be.” 

“That’s true…I still worry about the control over your Personas. Especially Ryuji,” Morgana said.

“Hey, why especially me!?” 

“What do you think?” Nanako asked Ren. He’d been quiet through the meal and discussions so far. 

“Someone’s coming,” he said. 

They all turned and looked. Takamaki was striding over to them. 

“I want in,” she said. 

“In what?” Ryuji replied casually. 

“You’re planning on going after Kamoshida, right? Whatever you’re doing, I want in.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ryuji said, a surprising amount anger in his voice. “Stay out of our way, got it?” 

“But I have to do something,” Takamaki insisted.

“No, you don’t. This is dangerous. You shouldn’t get mixed up with guys like us. Didn’t you hear, we’re getting expelled.” 

“What about you?” Takamaki said, looking straight at Nanako. “You said yesterday…you told Shiho that he would face justice. Are you really not going to let me help? She’s my only…” 

“I…” Nanako stammered. 

“Forget it, Takamaki. Go home,” Ryuji snapped. 

Takamaki glared at him, her eyes glistening with rage-filled tears. After a moment, she huffed, and walked away. 

“That was a bit harsh,” Morgana said. 

“She can’t come with us, can she?” Ryuji pointed out. “She could die in there, couldn’t she?” 

“Yeah…” Morgana admitted. 

“I hope she’s not too hard on herself…” Nanako said. 

“The only thing that matters right now is taking care of Kamoshida,” Ren cut in. “Let’s go.” 

The team nodded, grabbed their belongings, and headed out of the school. They left through the front gates and gathered by the alleyway, as they had before.

“Once we’re on the other side, we have to act as phantom thieves,” Morgana said.

“Phantom thieves?” Ryuji asked.

“Those who break into fortresses and stylishly steal treasure. That’s what a phantom thief is.” 

“Ha, that sounds pretty cool,” Ryuji said. 

“What do you think?” Nanako asked Ren. He didn’t say anything, but adjusted his glasses. Nanako sighed.

“Just be honest, you love the idea…” 

“All right, Kamoshida, school, and then the keyword, castle, right? Hey, how does this thing even work?” Ryuji asked, holding his Meta Nav up. 

“I don’t know,” Morgana said. “Sorry, I’ve been thinking about it.” 

“Ah well, who cares, as long as it works,” Ryuji said. “Here we go.” 

“Beginning navigation.”

Chapter Text

When reality stopped bending, Nanako dropped her duffle bag on the ground. 

“Okay, time to set up,” she said. 

“Eh? What do you mean?” Skull asked.

“Well, I don’t get all the cool costumes and stuff, so I have to make do, remember? Just need to-” 

“W-what is this place!? Where’s the school!?” 

“Takamaki?” Skull said. 

The phantom thieves turned. Takamaki stood there, staring up in amazement at Kamoshida’s twisted palace. 

“That voice…Sakamato? And…Dojima’s here too…what is going on? What is this place?” 

“Try and stay calm,” Morgana said. 

“Ack! A monster cat!” 

“M-monster…” Morgana said sadly. 

“Takamaki,” Joker called out. “Calm down.” 

“You’re Amamiya…what is this? Does this have to do with Kamoshida? What are you going to do to him?” 

Skull sighed. “No way around it. We’re gonna have to drag her out.” 

“How’d she even get in here?” Nanako asked.

“Probably the same way you do. She must have been standing close enough to get affected by the Meta Nav,” Morgana said. 

Skull and Joker had to grab Takamaki and take her to the edge of the palace’s border, promising her that they’d explain everything later. Nanako wondered if Takamaki would believe them, or if she’d just try to forget the whole thing as a weird dream. 

“I kinda feel bad…” Joker said. 

“What’s with everyone? Dangerous shadows, remember?” Skull said. 

“Okay, turn around,” Nanako said.

“Huh? Wait, what, why?” Skull asked.

“I have to change. Turn around.” 

“O-oh! Right.” 

Nanako summoned up all the ice her voice could muster.

“If any of you moves their head even a millimeter, Izanagi will remove your eyes.” 

“Y-yes, Nanako-san!” Skull said. Then he leaned over to Joker. “Man, she’s so scary…” 

Nanako changed swiftly, using the clothes in her duffle bag, then spent a few moments fussing with the final touches. 

“Okay, you can look now…ta da!” 

They looked. 

“Huh…that’s another uniform,” Skull said. “I mean it looks nice, but shouldn’t you have picked something a little more…I dunno.” 

“The point is to make sure his subconscious doesn’t realize Shujin studnets are here, right? If I’m wearing a different school, then even if his subconscious notices, it won’t matter,” Nanako said. “Not bad, right?” 

“Clever solution,” Morgana agreed. Nanako looked over at Ren. It was so hard to read him beneath the mask. Nanako could tell he was a bit emotional, though. Uncomfortable? Nostalgic? Irritated? 

Nanako knew there would be that risk when she put on her Yasogami High uniform, complete with black and yellow. But it couldn’t be helped, it was the only thing she had that made sense. She also wore her big bro’s old glasses, and had the Compendium over her shoulder. She held her gun loosely in her left hand. 

“Let’s go,” Joker ordered. 

It was getting easier and easier to slip into the castle. 

Although the shadows they destroyed regenerated every day, their behaviors were similar when they returned. Their patrol patterns, their quiks, even what shaped they morphed into when the mask was pulled was all the same time after time. This time they were able to make some good headway through the backrooms. From here, there was a hallway to a heavy door, a stairway that went up to the second floor, and one that went back down towards the lower dungeons, where they were originally captured. 

Morgana said that he sensed the treasure in the upper floors, but Joker wanted to check this one door first. 

“Cover me.” 

He swept down the hallway and made it to the door. Skull and Nanako dove to the edges of the hallway, each of them pulling their guns. Nanako’s heart was thundering in her chest.

But she was smiling, too.

She…loved this, didn’t she? 

She had tried to avoid thinking about this fact, but with each entry into the castle, the truth was becoming harder to ignore. When she thought about breaking into the castle, or even breaking into Yasogami High two months ago, she was hit with a thrill. It was an excitement that couldn’t be replicated in anything else she did, and she found herself longing for it in quiet moments. 

It wasn’t because of Ren, she decided, though her feelings for him were definitely getting mixed up in everything else. It wasn’t because she was helping others, either. Yes, fighting for justice was good, and it cleared her conscience and gave her the motivation to keep going, but it wasn’t a thrill. 

The thrill was a thing that existed by itself.

She liked being a phantom thief because it was fun. And she felt a little guilty about that.

But now wasn’t the time to be unpacking that. Right now, she would take the accelerated heartbeat and the adrenaline and use it to keep her senses sharp. 

“Huh…this is…sort of a weird lock…” Joker muttered to himself. Morgana peeked up at his work.

“Yeah, this is a castle. You can’t use modern lockpicking tools on old locks like that, the keys were way bigger.” 

“So there’s a real key to this door?” Joker asked. 

“Yes. The palace works differently from the real world, but it still behaves within its own rules. If this castle has a key that must unlock a door, then that key also exists. One of the guards probably has it,” Morgana explained. 

“How are we gonna figure out which one?” Skull asked over his shoulder. 

“Don’t worry about it. I can spot the difference,” Joker said vaguely. Skull looked at Nanako. Nanako just shrugged. 

“Then let’s move on. If we find the key, we can come back,” Nanako said. 

“Agreed. Let’s go,” Joker ordered.

They slipped down the hall and back to the spiral staircase waiting for them at the end of the hall. But just before they went to climb the stairs, Nanako stopped.

“Hey, what’s this door?” 

They all turned. There was a door, but its shape wasn’t quite as consistent as the others. It was distorted, and in the curves of the distortion, it looked like it was a…classroom door?

“Oh, a weak point in the cognition,” Morgana said. “Let’s use it.” 

He hopped up and pulled the door open and the team slipped through. 

The atmosphere in this room was immediately different. First, all of reality seemed to shift, revealing one of the bland classrooms from Shujin, though Nanako couldn’t make out which one it was, exactly. Then, when reality came shifting back, the whole room was different. 

The castle architecture was definitely a very classical European castle, with thick slabs of stone and wrought iron. There was some ornamentation and finery in the form of the checkered marbled floor and the overuse of red velvet. It was…well, it was a middle aged man’s definition of powerful and sexy, Nanako supposed. 

This room was nothing like it. Instead, the room was made of smooth white marble with gold trim. Everything was exquisitely designed with lots of scroll work and ornamentation - it had a very French feel to Nanako. The floor had beautiful carpet spun of gold and purple, and the room was significantly brighter than other areas of the castle. 

“We can use this as a safe room!” Morgana exclaimed. “Kamoshida doesn’t have strong cognition over other areas of the school, like this classroom, therefore his mental control of the palace is weak in those areas. Shadows won’t come in here, and we can stay and rest as long as we need to.” 

“Convenient,” Joker said. “And a lot less dreary.” 

“We don’t need to rest though, do we?” Skull asked. “We haven’t fought anyone yet, and I’m ready to go!” 

“I’m good too,” Nanako said. “We should head to the second floor.” 

“Good. At least we know where we can go if we need to,” Joker pointed out. 

They opened the door from their safe room and started up the stairway. But they only made it halfway up. 

“Hey! What the hell is all of this!? Is this some kind of messed up red light district!? Let me go! I’ll call the cops!” 

“Takamaki?!” Nanako said, stopping in her tracks.

“Damnit, I thought we got her out of here!” Skull snapped. 

“Let’s go,” Joker ordered. 

Chapter Text

The door that had been locked was now open. 

A shadow was about to push it shut when Joker’s gun appeared in his hand. 

Blam, blam, blam. 

The shots were precise and well-grouped. The shadow slumped back, melting out of his armor. Joker threw himself into a flying kick, striking the thick wood of the door and slamming it hard against its hinges. Skull, Mona, and Nanako were right behind him and spread out into the room.

“What the hell…” Nanako found herself muttering. 

The whole room was filled with women.

No, not women. Girls. Girls in PE uniforms, in volleyball uniforms, in…well, considerably less than that. They lay across the plush pink carpet of the room in wanton, lusty positions, writhing around on the ground in the most seductive poses they could imagine. 

“Is this…what he thinks of the girls on the volleyball team?” Nanako asked herself. 

“Tch, of course it is. That’s why he had no problem raping Suzui,” Skull said. Nanako felt a new anger burn inside of her, and she unsnapped the Compendium. 

“Not so fast,” the voice of Kamoshida’s shadow commanded. He stepped in through another door, flanked by two of his own guards. Nanako looked ahead to see that there was a wooden X staked into the ground and that Takamaki had been fastened to it, her legs and arms stuck in position. 

“Let me go!” Takamaki yelled.

“What’s going on here?” Kamoshida said, looking irritated as he swiveled his gaze from Takamaki to the thieves, back to Takamaki again. One shadow stepped forward.

“Your majesty, we found the princess wandering the front of the castle. We thought we’d escort her back here, but she got really belligerent…and then she started making fun of us and…” 

“You idiots. You really think a stuck up bitch like this is my princess?” 

The shadows looked at each other, confused. Just then, there was the resounding click clack click clack of stiletto heels. 

“Oh my gawd, what’s this?”

“Another Takamaki?” Nanako asked. She glanced at the boys.

They were too busy staring. Damnit. Yes, Takamaki looked good in that strange leopard print bikini that barely covered anything, but this wasn’t the time for that! The second Takamaki didn’t seem to mind being ogled at. Nor did she seem to mind the cat ears and the little collar with the bell around her neck. 

“Hey Princess. The guards just thought this….thing, was you.” 

“Eww, for real? Just look at her. Hiding her hot little bod behind all those layers of clothing. She’s nothing but a child in a woman’s body. You need a more mature lover,” the second Takamaki said. 

“Is that a shadow?” Nanako asked.

“No. It’s a cognition,” Mona said. “It’s what Kamoshida really thinks of Takamaki.” 

“That bastard!” Nanako snarled. Kamoshida snapped his fingers, and the swords of the guards came to bear - with one pointed at Takamaki’s chest. 

“Now now, I’m not sure why you people keep trying to come in here, but we’re very busy. Once I get you expelled, I can turn my attention back to my kingdom, free from usurpers and enemies of the crown,” Kamoshida said. “This is the part of being king that I really hate - keeping the insurrectionists at bay. I wish you’d all just leave me alone so I can enjoy the fruits of my labors…like uh…what was that chick’s name?” 

“You mean me, Master?” 

They all turned. Suzui came strutting out from a side door, clad in a white fur bikini with more cat ears and a long tail. 

“Ah, there she is. You were a delectable little snack. Nothing like the princess here can offer, but you satisfied me for a little while.” 

“You bastard! I’ll never forgive you! Ever!” Takamaki’s voice was filled to the brim with rage. Hot tears of hatred were streaming down her cheeks. 

“Ugh. This one is so noisy. Guards, silence her.” 

The thieves drew their guns all at once. Nanako kept hers trained on Kamoshida’s head, assuming the firing stance that her father had drilled into her. He just shook his head and tsked. 

“If you want me to kill her, fine, go ahead and shoot. Do you think you can kill my guard before his sword pierces her throat? There’s nothing you can do.” 

“You’re right,” Joker called out. Both Skull and Nanako turned, shocked.

“There isn’t anything for us to do. It’s all on you, Takamaki,” Joker said. 

“W-what..?”

“You can’t give in. Remember everything you told me the other day about what Suzui-san meant to you,” Joker said. “Did those words mean anything to you?” 

“Of course they did!” 

“Then fight! If you don’t avenge her, who will?” 

“…You’re right.” 

“I’ve heard enough of this. Go-” 

Kamoshida was cut off by the sound of a terrified whimper. 

“M-my sword!” 

The guard who had held his sword at Tamaki’s throat watched as the tip of his sword glowed a bright orange, then started dripping to the floor. Takamaki’s gaze was fixated on the end of the blade, her eyes yellow.

“Again…” Nanako whispered. 

The guard yelped and dropped his sword, now too hot for him to hold any longer. 

“You’ve pissed me off,” Takamaki said. “And I”m not letting you get away with it for a moment longer.” 

The bindings at her wrist melted away into more globs of glowing orange. She took a step forward, aura one of barely contained rage. Blue flame rushed around her face and a crimson cat mask appeared. 

Takamaki grabbed the mask by the ears and let out a berserker scream. 

Blue flame swirled around her body. A Persona appeared behind her - a woman clad in red with spiraling black hair. The Persona held onto a pair of chains that served as leashes to two lovestruck men. 

Takamaki had transformed as well, now clad in slick red leather that clung to every curve. It was sexy, but also powerful. Nanako was shocked by the effect of it, especially with Takamaki’s bright blonde hair. 

“Stop them!” Kamoshida yelled as he ran behind a powerful gold-clad knight. Nanako pulled the trigger and let off three rounds, but the knight raised his shield to deflect them. 

“Skull! Behind you!” Mona yelled. Skull spun around just in time to see one of the girls laying on the floor leap to her feet and charge straight at him. Shotgun already in hand, he fired it into her belly and melted it back into Shadow. 

“Izanagi!” 

Nanako rushed towards Skull while Izanagi cut open a path with his sword. It gave Skull just enough time to back away and grab his mask.

“Captain Kidd!” 

“Everyone, over here!” Joker ordered. 

Captain Kidd fired off another blast of zio energy through the crowd, exploding through the shadow girls. Realizing they were outmatched, the shadow girls started fleeing for the side doors. Joker and Mona were ahead, rushing to try and reach Takamaki. 

“Oh my god, what sort of ridiculous- aaah!” 

The second Takamaki was incinerated with a flick of her Persona’s wrist.

“I’m not a cheap toy you can play with, Kamoshida. And neither is Shiho!” 

The cognitive Shiho screamed as well, also incinerated. The golden knight pulled off his helmet and morphed into his true form: Belphegor, a demon who battled from atop a literal toilet. His shape was immense and blocked off their access to Kamoshida, who was retreating into the castle. 

“You ungrateful lass! How dare you turn down the love of King Kamoshida, the one who-” 

“Get out of my way!” Takamaki roared. 

“Never! I am the stalwart! I will stand at the vanguard and protect my liege!” 

“Then you can be the one to receive it,” Takamaki said. She focused her gaze intensely at Belphegor and her Persona began to dance behind her, a sultry tango for one. 

“Dance, Carmen! Let him have it! My love, my pain, and all of my sorrow!” 

An incredible blast of fire erupted from Takamaki’s Persona. The heat blast was so intense that Nanako almost lost her focus on Izanagi, who had dropped in front of her to protect her from the blast. Fire splashed over Belphegor, crawled around him and through him, until it crashed into the wall behind him. Banners and carpets all caught ablaze and continued to burn even after Takamaki’s fire attack subsided. 

There was nothing left of Belphegor. 

“N-now…I…”

The Persona vanished and her mask reappeared on her face. 

Joker caught her before she hit the ground. 

“Takamaki, are you all right?” he asked. 

“I feel…”

“It’s okay. The first time takes it out of everyone pretty badly,” Joker said. He adjusted her weight until she was able to stand while leaning on his shoulder.

“Sorry…wait…what am I wearing?” 

“We’ll explain later,” Joker said. “We better head back.” 

“Yeah, I sense a lot of shadows coming this way,” Mona said. 

“I’ll take the lead, Mona you’re with me. Skull, cover Joker from the rear,” Nanako ordered. 

“Right.” 

“On it!” 

They charged back towards the entrance. 

Chapter Text

“I hope you liked the lemon tea,” Nanako said. She held out the vending machine drink towards Takamaki. 

“Yeah, thanks,” she said. She took it, opened the bottle, and drank deeply. For the second time in two days, Nanako sat beside Takamaki. They had retreated to the train station after leaving the palace and were just hanging out on the platform. Takamaki was really out of it, moreso than Ryuji had been. Nanako was actually pretty worried about it, which is probably why Ren sent her to get drinks. 

She passed out the rest, leaving Nanako left with a water bottle and a bottle of milk.

“Oh…sorry, Morgana, I don’t have anything to pour this in,” Nanako said. 

“Ah, you thought of me? Thanks. Ren, put it in your bag, I can have it when we get back to the chief’s place.” 

Ren took the milk and put it in his bag. 

“I can’t believe this is all happening…the talking cat just ordered that guy around…though, you’re not a cat, right?” Takamaki said. 

“It’s all right, Lady Ann. A lot happened to you, it’s too much to ask you to understand it all at once. Take your time with it,” Morgana said. 

“So I have the power of a Persona…awakened by my rebellion. And my anger, I guess. I…didn’t realize how angry I was about everything. To be honest…it was a little scary.” 

“I’ll say. That was a lot of fire,” Ryuji said. Nanako gave him a quick, sharp glare. 

“You have every right to be angry,” Nanako said. “What Kamoshida has done to Suzui, to everyoe, is horrible. We’re angry about it too.” 

“Which is why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Ren added. “There’s no way that the principal and the parents don’t know what’s going on, but they’re ignoring the problem because of the fame he brings the school.” 

“If people like me and Ren complain, they’ll just ignore us. We’re troublemakers, after all.” 

“And the police can’t move without any hard evidence,” Nanako said. “But if we get him to confess his crimes with his own mouth…” 

“Yes,” Takamaki said. “Yes. That’s the only way forward. I want to help.” 

“Of course,” Nanako said. “I mean, she should join us, right?” 

“What? Come on, didn’t you see how dangerous it was in there?” Ryuji complained. 

“She’ll be a good addition,” Ren cut in. “Welcome to the team.” 

“I hope we get along, and I hope you can rely on me,” Takamaki said. 

They spent a few moments exchanging contact information and adding Takamaki to the group chat. While they did that, Morgana spoke. 

“Before we go back into that palace we need to practice your abilities. You were incredibly powerful, Lady Ann, but it’ll be dangerous if you get wiped out every time you use your Persona. There’s a place I want to take you all that will help us in that regard…let’s meet at the hideout on Monday to discuss it.” 

“Hideout?” Takamaki said. 

“It’s the roof of the school,” Nanako said with a laugh. 

“Okay. I’ll be there. For now though…I’m very tired. I’m going to head home.” 

“Where do you live?” Nanako asked.

“In Shibuya.” 

“Oh, me too. I’ll walk with you.” 

They left the boys behind and waited for the next train. 

“Hey, uh, Dojima…can I ask you something?” 

“Sure.” 

“What are you wearing?” 

Nanako looked down at her Yasogami High uniform. In all the panic of escaping the palace, she hadn’t had time to change. She sighed.

“It’s my old uniform…my clothes don’t change in the metaverse, but I don’t want his subconscious to know I’m there, so I wear this uniform to throw him off.” 

“Oh, that makes sense. It’s a cute uniform, very classy.” 

“I think I like the Shujin ones better,” Nanako said. 

“You always go with the suspenders, right? It’s a good look on you,” Takamaki said. 

“Thanks.” 

“Hey, I know a lot of the rumors are just rumors, but are you really dating Amamiya?” 

“W-what!? That’s a rumor?!” Nanako said, her face turning bright red. Takamaki smiled. 

“Well, I think I have my answer.”

“No, we’re not!” Nanako said hurriedly. “But we are from the same hometown.” 

“Oh, that’s interesting that you both transferred to the same school.” 

“Yeah…interesting…” Nanako said, feeling a sudden rush of embarrassment. “I’ll tell you all about it sometime.” 

Chapter Text

“Sorry, I know we were going to go shopping together tomorrow, but I had time and thought I’d save you the trouble,” Yu said. 

“You used the list, right?” 

He grinned and held it up between two fingers. “I did.” 

“Well, we’ll see how you did.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean? You don’t think I can follow a list?” 

“Well yes you can follow a list, but did you pick fresh, high quality ingredients? I mean, you do buy Crawbucks after all…” 

“Hm, when did Nanako-chan become so snobby with food. You’ll be glad to know I bought different coffee.” 

“Well we’ll see about that as well.” 

They both laughed.

Despite being a bit mentally drained from her foray into the palace, she had the energy to do some cooking - just a simple ramen, but it was soothing after all the drama of the day. Big bro actually did a good job of buying groceries. 

“This is seriously delicious. Aunt Kaho must have taught you well.” 

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it.” 

Pi pi pi. 

“Oh, sorry,” Nanako said, moving to shut off her phone.

“Sorry for what?” 

“Having my phone on while eating,” Nanako replied. Yu just laughed.

“It’s fine. Is it a friend? Feel free to answer them.” 

Huh. Well, that was at least one benefit of not being at home with dad. It felt weird, almost wrong, to open the text app while she was still eating, but she went ahead and did it. 

REN: Takamaki, did you get home okay? 

ANN: Yes, thanks for checking! It turns out that Nanako and I live in the same building! 

RYUJI: For real!? 

ANN: Crazy coincidence, right? She’s a few floors below me. 

NANAKO: Also we decided to call each other by our first names, just like the rest of us. 

RYUJI: Hm, true, we do risk our lives side by side. We don’t get much closer than that. 

ANN: I know I sort of forced my way into this mess, but I’m glad you’re here. Please everyone call me by my first name. 

NANAKO: Yay! I’m so glad there’s another girl on the team. The boys are great, but sometimes…

ANN: I totally get what you mean.

Nanako smiled at that, then slurped up some noodles. 

REN: Ann will need a codename.

RYUJI: What, you just switch to using her name that easily? You’re too cool-headed…

ANN: A code name? 

NANAKO: It’s the same reason I wear that old uniform. It’s safer to use a codename rather than our real names, just in case the subconscious picks up on it. 

ANN: Oh. I don’t get it, but okay. I’ll think about it.

RYUJI: How about Sexy Kitty?

ANN: No! 

NANAKO: Come on Ryuji, grow up. 

REN: I think Morgana liked that one. 

REN: Thfnaqwl 

REN: iial lag[lsk 

REN: Sorry, Morgana tried to stop me from sending that last message. 

Nanako laughed. 

NANAKO: Talk to you guys later. 

Then she shut off the ringer and slipped it into her pocket. She kept eating, but noticed that big bro was smiling over at her. 

“What?” she asked. 

“Just glad to see you made some friends. Feel free to invite them over. Just let me know ahead of time, okay?”

“Really? Thanks big bro.” 

“Hey uh, Nanako…”

“Hm?” 

Yu looked off into the distance for a moment, through the beautiful windows of their apartment and onto the Tokyo lights. 

“I’m sorry for yelling at you the other day when you were asking about…you know. When you were a kid.” 

“That’s all right,” Nanako said. 

“No, it isn’t…I do want to protect you, but I don’t know what the right thing is. The whole thing was very scary and…maybe it’s better if you don’t know.” 

“Sometimes I have dreams,” Nanako whispered. Yu dropped his chopsticks. 

“Dreams?” 

“A red man in a white shirt,” Nanako said, choosing her words carefully. “And…you’re there.” 

Yu pressed his eyes with his fingers. Nanako could sense the turmoil he was in about the whole thing. 

“I think it’ll be better if you tell me. But…to be honest, I’m a little tired right now. Maybe we could talk about it soon, though?” 

Big bro took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yes. Soon. I promise.” 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP 
Hierophant: Yu Narukami
Level 2 

Chapter Text

Nanako took a long bath, did a little studying and went to bed, feeling ready to fall into a deep sleep. 

Pi pi pi. 

She groaned, rolled over and grabbed her phone. 

REN: Sorry, I know it’s late. 

Nanako sat bolt upright in her bed.

NANAKO: No problem! I wasn’t even asleep yet. 
NANAKO: What’s up? 

Come on, Nanako, play it cool! She took a deep breath and tried to regain some composure, but it was nearly impossible. Her heart was thundering a million miles a minute, and she was pretty sure her hands were shaking a little. 

This crush was getting way out of control. She needed to chill out! 

REN: We were supposed to hang out today. 
NANAKO: Oh, yeah. Well, Kamoshida is a little more important. 
REN: I don’t think that Ann should go in tomorrow. And Morgana said that the training he wants to take us to is still dangerous. We need a day off.
REN: So we can hang out tomorrow.
REN: If you want. 

Nanako dropped her phone on her bed, grabbed her pillow, and squealed into it. Was this really happening!? Not only had Ren remembered their plans, but he was going out of his way to invite her again!? 

Okay, okay, she needed to reply to this correctly. She needed to be cool. Collected. Just like him.

Oh, who was she kidding, she was who she was.

NANAKO: That sounds great! Do you want to meet in Shibuya in the afternoon? We can check out Central Street. I haven’t really looked around yet. 
REN: Sure. Sounds fun. 
REN: See you then. 

Nanako shut off her phone and fell back into bed, her heart still racing.

It was going to take her forever to fall asleep. 

Chapter Text

Nanako chewed on her toast. 

Pi pi pi.

SANO: Oi, Dojima, you still coming today? 

Oh crap! Nanako had completely forgotten about going over to see Sano. She looked at the time. She was supposed to meet Ren in the afternoon, so she was having a leisurely morning filled with Saturday morning cartoons and okay-ish coffee that big bro had brewed for her. She had been planning on spending the next couple of hours fretting about what to wear on her date.

Wait, was it a date? Or were they just hanging out? Ren didn’t use the word date, but it was kinda a date, right? Or was it like, a date to see if they should go on a date? Like a date date? 

Bah, she had to focus! She did still need to get the holster. 

NANAKO: Yes, if that’s okay. 
SANO: Yup. Here’s the address. 

Nanako looked it up. It wasn’t too far. If she hurried out now, she could probably be there and back in time. She stuffed the rest of her toast in her mouth and struggled it down while she rushed into her room. 

NANAKO: I’ll over there now. 

“Uh, Nanako?” Big bro called from the living room. “You okay?” 

“Yeah! Just forgot I was supposed to meet someone.” 

“Aren’t you meeting someone in the afternoon?” 

“I have a lot of meetings today!” Nanako stumbled out of her room. She had pulled a light white sundress with blue flowers on it, mostly because it was the easiest thing to put on. Her purse hung at table, which she realized now was very stupid because the gun was still inside it. Oh well, Yu at least had enough manners to not look through her stuff. 

She contemplated bringing the Compendium. It wasn’t like she was going to go into the Metaverse today…it would be safer at home. 

“Okay, I’ll be back for dinner, see you later!” Nanako said, rushing out the door.

“Hey, Nanako, don’t forget to-”

The door slammed. 

“-…Call your dad. Oh well, I’m sure she’ll remember.” 

The Sano Family Leatherworks was in a shitamachi section of Ueno. Nanako felt transported back in time the moment she stepped out of the train station and started walking through the cramped and cozy little streets. The storefront was definitely one of those old-fashioned tiny places, but the interior was very well organized. The whole place smelled of leather and had beautiful pieces on display - belts, wallets, purses, backpacks, it was all there. Halfway through the store was the counter, and behind that was the leatherworking station, where the walls were covered with tools. There were a couple of work benches - one was neat and orderly, the other was in the middle of some complicated project. 

Sano greeted her without looking when she entered, the old bell clanging against the door. 

“This is a nice place,” Nanako said. Sano jumped up from his work and spun around.

“Ah, Dojima! Welcome! Sorry, I was in the middle of something,” he said with a huge smile. He was wearing a plain blue denim shirt with a brown apron over it. Tool handles peaked out of the apron’s front pockets. 

“No problem,” she said. “Anyway, I’m not bothering you in the middle of your work am I?” 

“Nah, today’s grandpa’s day to watch the store, but he just tells me to handle everything so he can go across the street to drink tea and play shogi,” Sano said with a grin. He leaned forward conspiratorially. “But don’t tell my dad, okay?” 

“Your secret is safe with me…speaking of secrets, I kinda mentioned before that this request is a little odd. Hopefully you won’t uh…you know…” 

“On my honor as a leatherworker,” Sano said. Nanako shrugged. That was as best as she could do. She needed the holster, and short of stealing one from the Inaba police department, she wasn’t sure how else to get it. 

“Okay well uh…here.” 

Nanako reached into her purse, pulled out the gun, and set it on the counter. Sano jumped back.

“What the-!” 

“Ah! Sorry, it’s not real! It’s just an airsoft gun!” 

“Oh…geez, that looks very real.” 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

“Nah, it’s okay…so you want a holster for this, I take it?” 

“Yeah,” Nanako said, trying to sound casual. She could tell that Sano was weighing whether or not he should pry more.

“Yeah, I mean, I could make one…” he said, picking up the gun. He did the same thing he did with the Compendium - seeming to take some sort of precise measurements with just his hands alone. He reached behind the counter and pulled out a notepad and started writing some things down. “I’ll need to measure you, though. Do you mind?” 

“Oh, uh, no, that’s fine. Do you know how?” 

“Yeah, done it a bunch,” he said. He set down his notepad and then grabbed a tailor’s tape measure. He walked around the counter and asked Nanako to raise her hands to the side. She did so, and she felt him touch her back gently. He then took a measurement around her waist. Then he went in front of her.

“Ah, sorry, I’ll be quick,” he said. Her arms still to the side, he then took a measurement near her bust, just beneath the swell of her breasts. Nanako felt a little warm, especially since Sano’s hands were so strong and warm and he smelled like leather, but he didn’t linger or try cop a feel. He wrote down some more notes, then looked at her for a moment.

“…One last one, if you don’t mind.” 

“Go ahead,” she said. 

He knelt beside her and then slid his hands very gently up her skirt, just a few inches. Nanako felt a sudden burst of nerves, but he stopped at her thigh and gently took a measurement of her leg. When he was done, he wrote that down too, then studied his notes for a long moment.

“Hmm…okay…I think…yes. Do you have a preference of hip, shoulder, or thigh holster?” 

“Um. I mean, it uh…has to work with a school uniform,” Nanako blurted out. Why did she say that!? She was just too flustered from Sano being so close to her. And she hadn’t thought of an excuse ahead of time! Why hadn’t she!? 

“Hey, Dojima,” Sano said, glancing around the store. “Answer me just one thing, will you?” 

He leaned forward over the counter.

“Is this for a cosplay?” he whispered.

“Yes! Exactly!” Nanako blurted, scrambling to take the excuse. “A cosplay!” 

“I knew it!” Sano said with a grin. “I knew you were into cosplay when I saw that huge book. That’s part of it too, right?” 

“Yes, exactly right.” 

“Well, I can definitely do this, and I have an idea in my head already…but uh…it’s gonna be kinda expensive. 30,000 yen, actually.” 

“Whoah,” Nanako said impulsively. “I mean, not that your work isn’t worth that much! It’s really beautiful, and I still feel guilty for not paying for the book strap and-” 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Sano said. “I know it’s a lot. I wouldn’t normally charge this much but uh…well, see, my dad hates cosplay. He thinks its a stupid waste of time and he hates it when anyone ever buys our stuff to use in a cosplay. But I think it’s awesome! And I think it could be a way for the shop to do more business. When I see cosplays with fake leather or plastic straps, it looks so stupid and I always think about how much better it would look if something we made was being used instead! So I totally support you, Dojima, and I think you can help me prove that it will look amazing and be a good source of income.” 

“Oh. Uh, yeah, that’s great, I’ll totally help you out with that,” Nanako said. 

“Yeah, but that’s why I feel bad about charging you so much. I’d do it for free, but, I’m going to have to order some things in secret, and…yeah…” 

“That’s okay. I don’t have the money on me right now, but…” 

“I’ll get started and then you pay when you can. It’ll take me a couple of days at least to get it done. We’ll just keep in touch.” 

“Okay. Deal.” 

They shook on it. Sano took his notepad paper and folded it up, slipping it into his jeans pocket. 

“So do I get to know what the cosplay is or is it a secret?” 

“Uh. A secret for now. But don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know.” 

“Awesome! Can’t wait.” 

“I gotta be going. Thanks again.”

“See ya, Dojima!” 

Nanako walked back towards the station, frowning at herself.

Was she actually going to have to cosplay now!? 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP 
Strength: Satoishi Sano
Level 2

Chapter Text

She wasn’t going to have time to change. Nanako supposed that the white and blue sundress would work…it was pretty cute. She switched to the camera of her phone and used it as a mirror, adjusting her hair. 

Should she ditch the twin tails? 

She’d worn them all the time as a kid. It was her signature look the year that big bro had come to live with her - not that she had been old enough to think of things like a signature look. The year after, Nanako had tried her hair down, hoping to look more grown up as a seven year old. 

It was Rise that had taught her about “signature looks.” After all, Rise herself had twin tails as part of her hairstyle, which had become closely associated with her Risette idol persona. Even when she did other things with her hair, there were usually some parts of it that were tied in twin tail-like fashion. As an eight year old, Nanako had figured that if she was going to emulate anyone, Rise was a good place to start. 

So by nine she had adopted the twin tails permanently. They grew longer, of course, with the hair landing just below her shoulder blades. But now she was questioning whether or not it was the best choice. 

Her hair wasn’t like Rise’s. It wasn’t a gorgeous auburn with just enough volume and wave to it to make it look as if it was always flowing in the wind, or that she had just stepped out of some exotic locale. Her hair wasn’t like Ann’s either - American blonde with a natural body and thickness to it that Nanako would never have. No, Nanako’s hair was…flat. Stringy. 

Girlish? 

She couldn’t change it now, though, the train was coming to a stop at the station. She took a deep breath and stood up straight. She just had to be herself, right? That would be enough. 

Oh who was she kidding, Ren was way cooler than she was, there was no way a plain girl like her had a chance…

She stepped onto the platform. 

Pi pi pi. 

She dug into her purse and grabbed her phone. 

“Hey.” 

“Ack!” Nanako jumped, startled, her phone slipping out of her hand. Before she could even think about reaching for it, a hand snapped out and caught it mid-tumble. 

“Sorry,” Ren said. He handed her the phone. 

“You’re always sneaking around. You’re too graceful for your own good,” Nanako said as she slipped the phone into her purse. 

“I was messaging you to find out where you were and I just saw you there so…here I am,” he said, looking a little sheepish behind his glasses. 

The train departed, leaving the two of them relatively alone on the platform. 

“Are you really going to wear these right now?” Nanako said.

“Huh?” 

“Your glasses. You don’t need them,” Nanako said. Surprising even herself, she reached up and delicately slipped them off of Ren’s face. He was completely motionless as she did this, but his eyes seemed to transform as she pulled the glasses away. 

“I know why you wear them but…do you really need them with me?” 

Nanako tucked them into the front pocket of his shirt. He was wearing a white button down shirt over a black t-shirt, which suited him really well. 

He grinned his Joker grin, full of cunning and slickness. 

“If you insist. Come on, let’s check it out.” 

They walked up side by side into the famous Shibuya Central Crossing. Nanako saw it every day when she went to school, but it had a different effect on the weekend, with a sea of people swirling all around them. They waited for the signal to turn, then rode the wave of the crowd into the shopping area. 

What Nanako was surprised about more than anything was how comfortable she felt. The nerves that had jittered through her all last night and this morning had faded. Yes, she was still excited to be there with him, but…it was nice. Relaxed. She felt like she could act naturally around him as they wandered in and out of stores. 

“There’s so much!” Nanako said enthusiastically. “So many people, so many stores! It’s kinda thrilling in a way.” 

“It’s definitely not Inaba.” 

“It’s not even Okina City,” Nanako said. “It’s on a whole other level of…city-ness.” 

“Do you like the city?” Ren asked. 

“Yeah, I guess I do. I always loved visiting my big bro when I was younger. What about you? Did you come to Tokyo much?” 

“When I was younger, yes. My parents would come in for work a lot, sometimes they would bring me. They stopped when I got to middle school, though. They said I needed the focus and calm of Inaba.” 

“Mmm. It is pretty calm back home…” Nanako said, trailing off. She thought bout a couple of days ago, when Ren and her had rode the train together to school. He had said that he should want a quiet life in Inaba where nothing bad happens to you, and that Nanako should want it too. She still wasn’t sure if talking about home was a good idea or not, so she decided to drop it. 

“Hey, you hungry? I haven’t had lunch yet, and there’s some amazing ramen places here.” 

“Let’s do it.” 

They decided to go for one of the more famous ramen places, so they had to wait a bit for a table. Again, they stood in comfortable silence for a few minutes. 

“You look nice, by the way,” Ren said. Nanako felt her heart jump into overdrive. 

“Thanks. You too.” 

“I would look better in that jacket,” Ren said, smirking, referring to a jacket he had tried on two stores ago. 

“It was hideous,” Nanako said.

“I think it was flattering.” 

“It was puce. It totally washed out your skin. You don’t have the lip color for it, either.” 

“I could wear lipstick,” Ren suggested.

“Now there’s an idea. If you get a matching lipstick shade, I’ll buy you that jacket.” 

“Done,” Ren said, his Joker grin flashing for just a moment. Nanako bumped him with her shoulder. 

“Well, don’t skimp on it, cheap lipstick looks cheap.” 

“I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable in fashion,” Ren said. Nanako shrugged.

“I guess I picked up a few things here and there from my friends,” Nanako said. 

“You mean Risette.” 

Nanako shot a look up at him. “How’d you know?” 

“How’d I know what? That you’re friends with Risette? She’s literally the most famous person from Inaba, how could I not know that? Plus didn’t she date your brother?” 

“Yeah, for a year when they were in high school,” Nanako said. “Huh. I guess I never realized that people would know that about me.” 

“You were pretty famous in middle school,” Ren said.

“Huh? I was?” 

Before she could corner an answer out of him the hostess came to tell them that their table was ready. Smooth as silk, Ren slipped away from Nanako and followed the hostess to their seats. 

They ordered and ate. Nanako was surprised at the ramen - it was filling but also very delicately delicious - not too salty or spicy. It was one of those meals that made her feel nourished and satisfied deep down to her core. 

They paid for their meals and stepped back into the street. 

“So what was that you were saying about me being famous?” Nanako asked. 

“You’re not going to let that go?” 

“You can’t just casually bring that up without explaining it! I mean, I thought I was pretty normal, and-” 

Nanako stopped. Something had caught her eye - a peculiar motion that just didn’t fit with the rest of the bustle of walking down the street. There was a man about ten feet in front of her wearing a short sleeved shirt and who had eyes rapidly shifting from one side to the other, always on the lookout. The man bumped into an elderly lady. He apologized and helped steady her but there was something about his hands that she couldn’t track.

He had just stolen something out of her purse! 

“Hey!” Nanako called out. The man kept walking forward, ignoring her. Nanako glared.

“Hey, I said! You there, stop!” 

The man kept rushing forward, his walk turning into a slow trot. Nanako sneered and started for him.

“Nanako what are you-” 

Ren stepped in front of her at the exact wrong moment. Their feet got tangled and they both started falling towards the ground. In a blur, Ren spun himself in front of Nanako and managed to catch her in a falling dip, much like he did the day they needed to avoid Chie. 

“Let go! He’s getting away!” 

Nanako struggled, but their balance was awkward and it took her a few seconds to get back on her feet. By the time she was upright, the thief was gone.

“No! Augh, Ren, that was-” 

She spun around to scold him, but he was gone too. It took a moment for her eyes lock on him - when they did, she saw that he was tapping the elderly woman on the shoulder.

“Excuse me, but I think you dropped this,” Ren said, handing her a wallet. 

“Oh! Oh my, that would’ve been terrible! Thank you so much, young man! There’s still good in our youth after all,” the woman said. 

“Have a good afternoon,” Ren said with a slight bow. Then he slipped his way through the crowd back to Nanako. The two of them started walking again, back towards the crossing. 

Nanako stared in disbelief.

“How did you do that…?” 

“I counter-pickpocketed him,” he said with a smug smile. “Nabbed it while we were tumbling down. He probably hasn’t realized it yet.” 

Ren kept walking, but Nanako stopped. He stopped a few steps later, turning to face her. 

Nanako held her chin, concentrating on Ren. 

“I can’t figure you out…” she said. “Every time I think I’m getting somewhere, you just become more and more confusing.” 

They stood for a few moments. Ren looked uncomfortable, his body tightening and slumping forward the way he did at school to hide himself. Nanako wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but decided to just wait it out. 

“Nanako,” he finally said. “Do you want to see where I’m staying?” 

Her eyes widened. “Sure.” 

“Okay. Come on.” 

Chapter Text

“A cafe?” Nanako asked.

They took the train to Yogen-Jaya and then walked through the cramped little streets until they stood in front of Leblanc. Nanako leaned forward to read the menu on the window.

“Coffee and curry?” 

“It’s surprisingly good,” Ren said. He pushed open the door and the bell jangled above him. Nanako followed him in. 

Nanako fell in love with Leblanc immediately. It was cozy, with dark wood furniture. The smell of the coffee swirled all around her and made her mouth water. There were several booths and a bar counter. A TV played on one end of the bar where a an older man with a beard was watching it absently.

“Oh, you’re back,” he said without looking. “Well I suppose you can…oh, hello,” he said, realizing Nanako was there.

“This is my friend, Nanako Dojima,” Ren said. “She’s from Inaba.” 

“Oh? Well, that’s a surprise. I wouldn’t think a nice girl like you would hang out with this guy,” he said. He smile warmly. “I’m Sojiro Sakura, but most people around here call me Boss.” 

“It’s great to meet you,” Nanako said with a bow. “Your shop is amazing! I love it. And the coffee…” 

“Would you like a cup?” 

“Yes please,” Nanako said, rushing over to the bar. “Oh! Look at all the varieties of beans you have…can I get a cup of the light roast Guatemalan?” 

Boss chuckled. “Sure, coming right up. It’s nice to have a customer who knows what she wants and can appreciate it.” 

“Ah, I’m not an expert or anything,” Nanako said. “My mom likes to try and blend some coffee at home, for fun.” 

“That’s how I got started too,” Boss said. “Just a little hobby that became…well, something else.” 

Nanako watched as Boss worked the flames, the water, the pour-over filter - they were motions he’d done a thousand times before and would probably do a thousand times after. It was watching the work of a master. By the time the clean white cup was set in front of her, Nanako could hardly wait. She took the first sip. 

“Oh, it’s excellent!” Nanako said. “Thank you so much.” 

“Well, you’re quite welcome.” Boss crossed his arms and looked at Nanako a moment. “So, you’re also from Inaba?” 

“Yes, I grew up there,” Nanako said, still sipping the coffee. 

“And how did you get to know Ren?” 

“Ah, we went to school together, since middle school,” Nanako said. 

“Hm…well, enjoy your coffee.” 

Boss went back to watching the TV and tending to his curry pot. Nanako was curious about this coffee and curry combination, but she was still way too full from the ramen. 

Ren had sat down at a booth and watched the whole exchange. He had put his glasses back on, too. 

“We’re gonna head up for a bit,” Ren said. 

“Sure, sure,” Boss said with a wave. “Just bring the cup down and wash it when she’s done with it.”

“Will do,” Ren said. She motioned for Nanako to follow. She picked up her cup and saucer and walked up the stairs, still sipping.

“Okay, seriously, this coffee is amazing, I’ll never be able to drink bad coffee again,” Nanako said as they marched up. 

Then she forgot all about the coffee.

“This is…well, this is a storage room,” Nanako said. “You live here?” 

“Yeah. It’s not so bad, really. Private, has lots of space. I even got a TV.” 

“Is that a CRT? Can you even call it TV…” 

Ren shrugged. “It’s fine for me.” 

Ren moved a table over towards the couch so Nanako had a place to set her coffee. She sat at the couch while Ren pulled up a chair and sat across from her. 

“Are you sure you’re okay here?” Nanako asked. “I insist, if you need help getting out of here, I’ll find it.” 

“It’s really fine,” Ren said. “It’s a little messy and unconventional, I admit, but I kinda like it.” 

“Okay…” Nanako said, hesitant. “Hey, you’re wearing your glasses again.” 

“Did it ever occur to you I might actually need these?” 

“No. Cause you don’t.” 

Ren shrugged again and pulled them off, setting them on the table. 

“Better?” 

“Much.”

“Why do you hate them so much?” Ren asked. 

“It’s not that I hate them, it’s just…I guess I feel like I want you to be more of yourself. And I think that when you’re not wearing the glasses you’re more of yourself.” 

“You just want to see my eyes,” Ren said. Nanako felt her cheeks turn bright red.

“Er…I mean, you have nice eyes, sure, but-” 

“It was a joke,” Ren said, smirking. Nanako gave him a faux-glare. 

“Evading my sincerity are you?” 

“Maybe a little.” 

“I mean it, Ren. I like who you are, the real you. I want you to feel okay being the real you around me,” Nanako said.

“How do you know what the ‘real me’ is?” Ren challenged. Nanako felt a spark of competition and determination light inside her. Was this the “Dojima Talent” that Naoto was trying to draw out of her? Nanako wasn’t sure, but she decided she would just lean into this feeling. 

“I guess I don’t. But I feel like I see glimpses of it here and there. Like when you and I broke into Yasogami High. Or when you counter-pickpocketed that guy. Or…well, any time you’re Joker. You look like you’re free.” 

Ren nodded slowly, taking in Nanako’s words one by one, letting them roll around in his head. Suddenly he got up and walked over to one of the storage shelves and pulled out a cardboard box. He dug around in it for a few moments, then picked up something silver from the inside an returned to the table. 

“You want to know the answer?” 

“To what question?” Nanako asked.

“The one you keep asking. I actually answered it once before but…I didn’t tell you the whole truth. So, ask away. Also, put these on me.” 

Ren set down a pair of handcuffs on the table. Nanako’s eyes widened.

“What…why do you…” 

“It’s nothing weird, I promise. It’ll all make sense, once you ask.” 

Nanako did as instructed, putting the handcuffs around his wrists and folding them shut gently. Once they were secured, Nanako sat back down. Ren pulled his hands from off the table and set them on his lap. 

“How do you know how to do all these tricks?” Nanako asked. 

“My parents taught me,” Ren said. “Look at the wall across from you, the poster in the corner.” 

Nanako saw the poster, but it was pretty small. She got up so she could go read it. 

“The Heavenly Jester, bender of reality,” Nanako read. “Your dad is a magician?” 

“Yes. And my mom is a gymnast, of sorts. They met working in a traveling circus, of all things. They got married young and decided to break off from that circus and do their own acts. Mom is pretty amazing, she can do practically anything with her body that you can think of.” 

“And she taught you those skills too,” Nanako said. “That’s why you’re so quick and strong.” 

He nodded.

“And your dad taught you how to pick pockets and pick lockets and…” 

“They both taught me everything they knew. When I was a kid, I loved it. My life was so magical, no other kid had parents like mine who could make anyone and everyone laugh and cheer. And they loved it too. They would perform in Tokyo sometimes, and I’d get to come along and see all the big city lights.” 

Nanako returned to the table and finished the very last of her coffee. Ren was staring at the table now. 

“It slowed down in middle school. They said I needed to study, find a career that would make me good money and be secure for life. I didn’t want to, though, I wanted to keep working with them and maybe join the act. But they didn’t want any of that. We had always sort of ‘lived’ in Inaba, but when middle school came my mom actually settled down and let my dad do all the touring.” 

“How was that?” Nanako asked.

“It was fine. I got used to it. But I felt…I don’t know. Different. I had all of these skills that nobody else knew or understood, and I think at first people were impressed but then they got a little intimidated. So I had to slow down, not attract so much attention to myself. Not that it mattered, in the end.” 

They sat in silence. There was so much tension in the air, but Nanako didn’t know what to do to break it. She desperately wanted to know more, but this was the most that Ren had ever shared with her before, and she didn’t want to push it. 

“Um…” Nanako said, eloquently. 

“Do you know what my father said when we left the court ruling?” Ren asked. “He said, ‘looks like society is trying to box you in and keep you chained up, son’. I asked him what I should do, what was going to happen to my life. I was scared. And then he told me this: ‘I’ve taught you everything I know. The chains are wrapped around you. So…’” 

Ren set his hands back on the top of the table, handcuffs still hanging from his wrists. He suddenly lifted his wrists up and knocked them against the table.

The handcuffs opened and fell from his wrists.

“Escape.” 

“That’s…horrible,” Nanako said. “That’s horrible. He just…sent you away? He didn’t do anything else to help you?” 

“I think….I think my parents are trying to help me. I just don’t understand how.” 

“I don’t either. If something like that happened to me, my dad would never stop fighting it,” Nanako said. 

“Yeah, he probably wouldn’t. But my parents are different, and I feel like there’s something else going on here I don’t understand. I mean, outside of Personas and the Metaverse.” 

“What do you mean?” Nanako asked.

“Well…there are things that don’t add up. I can see schools not wanting to take me for my criminal record, but how did they get me in to Shujin of all places? I was told that it was because of their need to show their good intentions of reforming someone like me, but I just don’t see it. They had to have pulled some strings to get me in there, I just don’t know what strings they had to pull. And then there’s Sojiro.” 

“What about him?” Nanako asked. “He seems nice.” 

“He is. But I never met him until a week ago. My parents never even mentioned him, and yet they suddenly have a friend willing to put me up? And assume legal guardianship, which puts himself in danger if I commit more crimes. Why would he do that for a kid he didn’t know? I just think…my parents are trying to do something for me. I just wish I knew what it was so I could follow it.” 

“They could just tell you,” Nanako pointed out. 

“Maybe. But they won’t.” Ren paused then laughed. “I guess being enigmatic runs in the family, huh?” 

“A little,” Nanako said. “I’m sorry all this happened to you.” 

He shrugged and folded his handcuffs back up and stuck them in his pocket. While he did that, Nanako checked the time on her phone. It was getting late. 

“This was a lot of fun,” Nanako said. “But I have to go…I hope we’ll do it again some time.” 

Ren nodded. She got up and headed for the stairs while Ren put his chair and table away. 

“Hey, Nanako.” 

She looked up.

“There was another question you asked that I never answered, back at the train. You asked if I thought you were a weird stalker.” 

“I did,” Nanako said, feeling suddenly very anxious about this line of questioning. 

“It was weird, like I said. And I do think you’d be happier going back to Inaba. But…” 

He looked up at met her eyes directly. She did her best to keep her eyes focused on him, hoping that somehow her feelings would come through their gaze. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said. Nanako smiled.

“Me too.” 

“Come on, I’ll walk you to the station.” 

=====

SOCIAL LINK RANK UP 
The Lovers: Ren Amamiya 
Level 2

Chapter Text

“Thanks for dinner,” Yu said that evening. “It was especially good today.” 

“It was no problem at all!” Nanako said, beaming like an idiot. She’d been elated all evening, still filled with the joy and excitement from her date with Ren. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t officially a date, she was going to treat it as one, and that was that! 

“Let me clean up,” Yu said. 

“No no, I got it. Didn’t you say you had some work to do?”

“Ah, yeah, some. You sure?” 

“Yes, it’s fine.” 

“Okay…don’t work too hard. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.” 

Big bro retreated to his office and shut the door to work on whatever next idol article he needed to submit. Nanako cheerily did the dishes, trying to lock every moment of the afternoon into her memory - his eye lashes, the warmth of his hands, the fluidity of his gait, the way he crinkled his nose when he slurped ramen…she wanted all of it to be locked into her heart. 

Geez Nanako, aren’t you getting a little carried away? Are you letting this crush grow into something else? Something…big? 

Even thinking it to herself caused her to blush. 

Her phone rang and she nearly dropped the pan in her hand. She set it down, dried her hands, and swiped the answer icon. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Nanako,” dad said. “It’s…been a while.” 

“Oh, dad! Hi! Oh, shoot, it’s Sunday. I completely forgot to call you and mom, I’m sorry.” 

“Y-yeah…so how’s it going? Good first week of school?” 

“It’s been uh…interesting.” 

“Interesting? Good interesting or bad interesting?” 

Nanako paused. Like her failure this morning with Sano, she hadn’t thought about what to tell her dad about her life. The last week felt like it had taken a month, and there was so much to talk about, so much to process…but she couldn’t tell him any of it. So what could she tell him? The boring parts of school? How she chose not to join the volleyball team because the coach was a rapist? About how she found how he was  a rapist because she was standing in the courtyard when the star player tried to kill herself? 

Even the parts that happened outside of the Metaverse were complicated. 

She would have to think of a good story for her parents before her first visit back to Inaba. But for now, it was best to keep it vague. 

“Good, for the most part,” Nanako said. “Things here are…harder than I thought they would be. But it’s fine! A little adversity is a good thing, you know?” 

“Yes, I suppose it is. How is the volleyball team?” 

“Oh, right, I decided not to do that.” 

“Oh? Why not?” 

“It just wasn’t a good fit. Oh, but I did join another club: the gardening club! I’m even an officer in it.” 

“Oh, well that’s good. You always did like gardening here when you were younger,” dad said. 

“Yeah.” 

There was a long silence. 

“So how about your friend? Everything going okay with that?” 

“Um, yeah. It is.” 

“Good. Well, things are good here. Your mom misses you a lot, so make sure you call her and text her often.” 

“I will. What about you?” 

“You know me, Nanako. I’m fine.” 

A heavy guilt filled Nanako’s heart, one that she hadn’t felt since her first major lie to him two months ago. He missed her too, she knew that. He wasn’t admitting it though, because he was trying to be strong and supportive…and yet the “Dojima Mind” that Naoto had mentioned was working away in the background, trying to piece together the truth of Nanako’s life from her vague answers. And he was probably hurt by that - not just that he couldn’t figure it out, but the simple fact that he had to try to figure it out. They were always so close, and now this secret was a gap between them that Nanako didn’t know how to cross.

But…it was just for a while. Once Kamoshida was brought to justice, then things could go back to normal.

“I love you, dad,” Nanako said. 

“Love you too. Have a good night.” 

He hung up. 

Nanako sighed and finished with the dishes. 

=====
SOCIAL LINK RANK UP
Death: Ryotaro Dojima
Level 1

Chapter Text

-= 11 DAYS UNTIL EXPULSION =-

Nanako got to the station early on Monday. She went to every little news stand she could find in the station and grabbed all the fliers and listings for part-time jobs. She still needed 30,000 yen for Sano, and she couldn’t just ask her dad or big bro for that kind of money without an explanation. But, if she used some savings, maybe she could earn it quickly with the right job. 

Armed with a stack of pamphlets she would look over on the train, she had one last idea while waiting at the platform. 

NANAKO: Hey, I know I’m in Tokyo right now, but is there anything I could help you out with? I need to earn some money. 
KANJI: Hm…maybe. The last video we made together did real well. 
NANAKO: Really!? That’s cool! Put me in more videos! 
KANJI: Haha, no. Not without asking your dad first.
KANJI: Dojima-san scares the shit out of me. 

Nanako laughed loud enough that people on the platform glanced at her. Nanako gave them a little wave and went back to texting .

NANAKO: Okay, well, I’ll super appreciate it if you think of something! If not, that’s okay too.
KANJI: Hey you’re not in trouble or anything are you? If you need cash to bail you out of a jam, I’ll just send it to you. 
NANAKO: No no, nothing like that. Don’t worry.
KANJI: K. 

Nanako put her phone in her bag, then grabbed a pencil and started flipping through the listings. 

Chapter Text

Beginning navigation.

“It’s called Mementos,” Mona said. Nanako was listening from around the corner while she finished changing into her other uniform. It was a real pain that her clothes didn’t magically transform…

“It’s the palace of the public. It doesn’t have a single ruler, or a single purpose, like in Kamoshida’s place. But it extends further and further. It might even be endless.” 

“Dude…” Skull said, gazing around the tunnel in amazement. “It’s super spooky.”

“How did you even find this place?” asked Panther. Ann had decided on her code name during the meet up at the rooftop hideout. Nanako had to admit that she liked it a lot. She sorta wished she’d thought of that one…

“I don’t know,” Mona said. “It’s like I’m compelled to be here, though. I think…something deep down in Mementos has the key to what I am. It’s my memories, and my humanity, all buried down there. The problem is that it’s too huge to go down there alone. I mapped out some of it, but it’s almost pointless to do so. Things move in Mementos as the public perception changes. The tunnels turn into rooms, the rooms vanish and turn into dead ends, things get twisted and you can get lost really easily if you’re not careful. Fortunately, I can sense when we’re getting lower and I can always sense the way out.” 

“And this is going to help us?” Nanako asked.

“There’s Shadows here, too. It’ll be a safer place to practice using your Personas without tipping off Kamoshida.” 

“Sounds like a plan. But we’re going to get tired walking,” Skull pointed out.

“Don’t worry, I have that covered.” 

Mona suddenly leapt into the air and burst into a cloud of smoke. A moment later, a black and white Citroen Type H van came crashing to the ground. It had blue eyes and a tail.

“Whoah!” Nanako said. “You transformed! That’s so cool!” 

“How is that possible?” Panther asked. 

“Cognition. For some reason, the public believes that cats can transform into vehicles.”

“My Neighbor Totoro,” Nanako said. 

“Who?” Mona asked.

“Nevermind,” Nanako said, feeling a little embarrassed. 

“Let’s go,” Joker said. 

“Mona, your interior is very comfortable,” Nanako said. She wasn’t sure why she felt compelled to mention it. Maybe it was just the guilt of being carried around on Mona’s back. Or…in his stomach? Okay, she didn’t really want to think about where she was anymore…

“Comfortable and stylish,” Mona said, proud.

The drone of Mona’s engine was surprisingly comfortable too. It was a giant purr, Nanako realized, and it was kinda making her sleepy. 

She leaned on the window and watched. 

The twisted subway of Mementos was eerie. Sometimes it would look like the station, and Nanako would forget where she was, hypnotized by the passing pillars. Then suddenly the wall would shift and warp, the track would twist, and red would leak out of the black void, as if Mementos itself was reaching out for them.

“Doesn’t the wind sound like voices?” Panther mentioned.

“Aw, why’d you have to go and say that…” Skull groaned.

“You doing okay?” Nanako asked Joker. He was behind the wheel, focused entirely on steering them through the twists and turns. Skull and Panther were in the second row, with Nanako in the front next to Joker. 

“Yeah.”

“Let us know if you need to switch out,” Nanako said. 

“What? I don’t know how to drive,” Panther said. 

“Oh, really? I guess it’s different out in Inaba. I learned to drive in the country roads when I was eleven. My grandfather taught me.” 

“Same with me,” Joker said. 

“Huh, guess country living has advantages after all,” Skull said. 

Nanako went back to leaning against the window. 

“Eep!” 

Nanako slammed herself against the door and pushed it open. With one hand she held onto the door, hanging off the side. With the other, she had her gun drawn.

Blam blam blam!

The shadow, a hulking black figure with dozens of faces emerging from its oozing surface, stumbled backwards into the wall, clutching at the three holes Nanako just put in its chest. 

Joker turned the wheel hard. Mona slid to a stop while Nanako dropped out of the car, her gun still trained at the injured shadow. 

“Shit, Angel, my ears,” Skull complained as he jumped out of the car behind her. “A little warning next time.” 

“It’s not my fault the shadow came leaping out of the…well, shadows.” 

“What do we do now?” Panther asked, holding her whip in both hands, gripping it apprehensively. 

“Finish it off,” Joker said, striding up from behind them. He walked with such easy-going confidence, his coat flagging behind him. Mona was at his side, cutlass resting on his shoulder. “Nice reaction time, Angel.” 

“Thanks…but, Mona, this thing is hideous,” Nanako said. 

“Like I said, the palace of the public. The shadows here won’t have a cognitive shape like in Kamoshida’s palace. Doesn’t make them less dangerous.” 

“Hey, it’s transforming,” Skull pointed out, hefting his pipe into position. 

“Panther, take the lead,” Joker ordered. Panther nodded, stepping forward and watching with morbid curiosity as the shadow melted into the form of a golden pot with a turquoise devil peeking out of it. 

“Agathion,” Nanako said, the name leaping from the Compendium into her mind. She wasn’t sure how she knew that’s how the information was getting to her, but she did. 

“Time to take it down, Carmen! Persona!” 

Nanako watched as Panther struck a pose while pulling off her mask. Carmen materialized behind her, and Nanako was struck with a sudden realization that she didn’t know how she was posing when she was summoning a Persona…she’d have to try that out in a mirror. 

“Agi!” 

Carmen gave a yank on her chain, choking one of the heart-headed slaves. It leaned forward and an intense of river of fire erupted out of its mouth. The fire hit Agathion square in the center and was incinerated immediately. 

“Hey, more behind us!” Skull called out. “Captain Kidd!” 

Nanako spun around and watched more shadows emerge, already transforming: two Jack o’ Lanterns and a Bicorn. 

“Zio!” 

Captain Kidd fired an incredible lance of lightning, a jagged crack of light that split the sky. It struck Bicorn on one of its horns and surged the electricity through its body from head to toe. Before the attack was even finished, Bicorn  was melting. 

“Agi!” 

“No wait, Panther!” Mona called out. It was too late - Panther leaned forward in a three-point pose, Carmen flourished herself in a spin, and a new tornado of fire tumbled towards one of the Jack o’ Lanterns. The Jack laughed and held up its lantern. The lantern’s door opened and the fire absorbed into the flame, seeming to make the Jack even stronger. 

“What the-” Panther said, shocked.

Nanako unsnapped the Compendium. The pages fluttered to the Hermit arcana. 

“Forneus! Bufu!” 

Nanako crushed the card. The flying manta-like creature appeared over her head and swooped forward. A ball of ice gathered at the end of its tail until it was the size of a small boulder. The Persona hurled the ice forward, aimed directly at the lantern. Before the Jack could close it, the ice struck the fire. The lantern shattered, the fire died, and the rest of the Jack melted into shadow. 

“But I don’t…” Panther muttered.

“There’s a lot to learn. Just stay on your toes,” Joker said. “If magic won’t work…” 

Panther nodded. She dashed forward and swung her whip.

The whip slapped harmlessly across the Jack’s face.

“Come on!” Panther yelled, frustration building in her voice. The Jack held up his lantern, fire gathering inside of it.

A pipe crashed down on its head, folding the hat and cracking the pumpkin’s shell. 

“Die!” Skull yelled. 

“I’ll protect you, Lady Ann!” 

Mona’s cutlass sliced into the crack made by Skull’s pipe and severed the shadow clean in half. 

“Nice job everyone,” Mona said, bouncing up and down happily. Skull rested his pipe on his shoulders, a satisfied smirk on his face. 

Mona focused on transforming into a car again, and the boys loaded up. Panther stood there a moment, staring at her whip. 

“Hey,” Nanako said. “I messed up a lot the first time too. This is why we’re here. To practice. Right?” 

Panther made a face that Nanako couldn’t read, especially with the mask. Then she gripped the whip tighter.

“R-right. Let’s go.” 

Chapter Text

YU: I’ll be out late at work tonight, so don’t wait up for me. 
YU: I’ll be eating here too. Finish up the leftovers if you want. 

Nanako had made enough the night before that there was plenty to eat. More than enough for two people, actually. And that gave Nanako an idea. 

NANAKO: Hey, how are you feeling? 
ANN: Exhausted. You? 
NANAKO: Same. But I have leftovers. 
NANAKO: I actually have too many leftovers. You wanna come down and have some? 
ANN: I don’t want to be a bother.
NANAKO: You’d be doing me a favor. I don’t want to throw this food out and I’m here alone.

Nanako worked on reheating the food, waiting for the response. Five minutes went by before she heard the reliable pi pi pi of her phone. 

ANN: Okay. I’ll be down.

Nanako sent Ann the specific room number and finished preparing dinner. 

“Wow, this looks really good,” Ann said. The two of them sat at the table with the dazzling lights of Shibuya streaming in through the windows. The TV was on low. 

“Thanks! I hope you like it.” 

Ann’s eyes widened. “You made this?” 

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I did. It’s nothing special.” 

Ann took the first few bites. 

“Oh wow, this is great!” she said, her face beaming in a genuine smile. “You’re a real master!” 

“Ah, no, I just know a few basics,” Nanako said. She was actually feeling a little embarrassed. 

“Did your mom teach you?” Ann asked. 

“Yes, she did teach me a lot, though I’ve been cooking since I was real young. I don’t know how good it was back then, but my dad never complained about it.” 

“How come she didn’t cook back then?” Ann asked. 

“Oh, right, I should explain. My first mom died when I was really little. It was just me and dad for a long time.” 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry…” 

“It’s okay, you didn’t know. And my dad got remarried a while back. My new mom is amazing, and she was the one who helped me improve my cooking. I enjoy doing it, it’s kinda relaxing.” 

“Not for me, it always stresses me out,” Ann said. 

“You probably just don’t have enough practice. Who does the cooking in your family?” 

“Um. You know I’m not really sure…” 

“Huh?” Nanako said. “What do you mean?” 

“I just…huh…I can’t remember.” Ann looked out at the city. “That’s weird. I really can’t remember the last time we cooked together.” 

“You eat a lot of takeout?” 

“Mm, yeah, pretty much. My parents live overseas.” 

“You live here alone?” 

“Most of the time. They call a lot though, so it’s okay,” Ann said, shooting another big smile Nanako’s way. Ann had a smile that reminded Nanako of Rise - it was dazzling and magnetic and felt like switching on a spotlight.