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Chapter Text

Table of Contents:

Kamoshida Arc: Episodes 1 - 21

Investigation Arc: Episodes 22 - 31

Madarame Arc: Episodes 32 - ??

This will be updated as more chapters are published. Chapters listed may not yet be released.

Content Warnings:

Sexual Content
Sexual Assault
Graphic Violence
Externalized and Internalized Queerphobia
Mara
Incest, Selfcest, and Twincest
Underaged Sexual Relationships
Problematic Age Gaps
Dubious Consent
Suicide Attempts and Suicidal Ideation
And Cartoon Violence

This is a work of fiction. The characters, messages and themes do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the author.

Chapter Text

Episode 1: Black and White, and Wrong and Right, Again

She couldn't believe it when she saw it.

She was standing in the middle of the central crossing of Shibuya, looking at one of those big TV displays. And hearing the voice of the teacher on the stand.

"Do you hear me, Kira! Your days will come to an end! The world may be afraid of you, but I don't fear you anymore!"

"What is he doing!" said one of the many in the crowd bombarding her with screams and shouts.

"Does he want to get himself killed!?" shouted another.

The teacher slammed his hands on the stand. "I'm standing up to you like I should have for my students who have done nothing wrong to deserve this! So come! You don't scare me! You're no myth, and you're no god! You're a monster!"

It was June 12th. June 12th 20XX, at 11:05:05 a.m to be exact. The clock on her phone was ticking. Even with how big or however many clocks there were all around her, this one was the one she focused on.

Seconds passed. 11:05:25, 11:05:35.

11:05:45.

11:05:46.

11:05:47.

11:05:48.

11:05:49.

"So strike me down if you must! But mark my words! One day, justice will see you—!"

11:05:50.

The man clutched at his chest, throwing his head back as he let out the loudest shriek of pain.

To the gasps of those watching, the world seemingly stopped as he slipped towards the ground.

"...Fall."

The microphone he had crashed to the ground with a loud screech.

And then, silence.

In a casino with brilliant lights and the ringing bell of an alarm, a black cloaked individual leaped above its masked patrons with almost superhuman levels of agility and grace. Holding onto a briefcase underneath their arm, they stood up tall and straight. Smiling like a devil on one of the chandeliers.

They dropped down, landing on top of one of the many casino booths. At that point, several spoke to them in hurried voices.

"Good, now get running!" A youthful voice, but not necessarily from an inexperienced individual. With a cat-like cadence.

"This is our only chance!" A young but older-sounding individual. A boy, speaking with such direct confidence it was like he could have been a leader to the team.

"Stay calm, you can get away now!" This time, a girl spoke. Panic slipped through her voice, sparked by her concern.

"We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end." Another voice. A stern, professional girl staying calm under pressure.

Then the last voice spoke. "...Joker, make your move. The others are already getting out." Calm, almost too calm such that it could have been thought of as detached. Robotic. Yet it was anything but.

"There she is! Get her!" shouted one of the security officers, pointing at her from the exit doorway from the upper levels of the casino. They weren't alone at all.

Whether they were alone or backed by a hundred other foes, that was the cue for the thief to start running. Holding that briefcase tight, she sprinted like a shadow, flashing across booth after booth to narrow in on the exit. Reaching the last booth, she leaped high, her black cloak billowing with the wind as she looked down on the officers raising their batons.

Flipping forward, she grinned wildly, ready for war.

"Showtime!" she shouted, pulling out a mighty black gun and firing away.

A bullet ripped through the air, piercing the head of the stunned officer behind the first. Black and red splattered everywhere, hitting everything save for the suit and gloves of the assailant.

And before the officers even had a chance, she dropped down and slickly whirled along the ground. With the agility and fury of a breakdancer, she unloaded a flurry of shots raised at all their heads. Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!

Everyone surrounding the thief fell down near instantly, leaving behind blue masked bodies lying still as corpses. All except for the first one that spotted her, the only one still standing after the assault.

"Y-you! You!" Raising their baton, the masked guard charged at the thief, hellbent on putting her down.

Joker kicked off the ground and leaped over their head, spinning around like an acrobat and raining hellfire in bullet form. Nothing was left of her victim, who was reduced to nothing but smoke.

Tapping the roof of the corridor behind the exit doorway with her boot, Joker let out a smooth laugh to accompany an even smoother landing. She knew the extent of her own talents, and she very much relished them.

…As for the rest of the bodies she left behind, they twitched. They shivered. They writhed all over in revolting, shuddering ways before a loud burst of shadow surrounded them. They sprung back up as if nothing was wrong, and yet their faces and bodies now twisted into something horrifying. Gone were their human-like appearances, replaced by grotesque, monstrous, hulking facsimiles. Amalgamations of shadows, wearing masks in some attempt to don the faces of human souls.

She wasn't going to stop and gawk at them. She merely graced these foul creatures with a wave and a coy grin, and nothing more. She bolted out of there. After all, foes like them would only get in the way of her plan.

"I'm getting a weird reading headed your way! Come on, hurry!" It was the worried girl speaking to her through their communicators again. Something was approaching.

Joker kept sprinting. This being her exit path, she lacked another way of getting out safely. Either she'd confront it head on, or she'd slip right past it and out of sight.

Unfortunately, stumbling right into the gloomy backroom shelter she was aiming for led right into stumbling into an ambush.

"Joker, stop! Get back!" shouted that worried girl through her communicator.

On cue, the thief jumped back, landing with a backflip just in time to avoid the explosion of black and red fog that went off beneath her feet.

"Grrraah…!"

More of those grotesque hulks, spawning into existence before her very eyes. Roaring for battle.

Bam! With a blast and a huge burst of smoke and shadow, several more sprung out of the ground to corner her from the stairs she just raced out of.

Surrounded on all sides, she raised two weapons. A shining, silver dagger. And that powerful black gun.

"Even you can't finish off this many and get away in time, Joker," said the girl on the other end of her communicator.

The thief in the black cloak hardened her pair of eyes. Red ones which hid behind a white mask fit for a masquerade. "Let them come. No, let them swarm."

…It was then that rings of light appeared out of nowhere. Many at once, each centered on the boots of every single hulking shadow in the backroom.

"Mahama!"

A grand cry was heard, like that of a magician casting a spell. At once, a fluttering storm of glowing white sheets blew around them, entrapping each and every member of the horde boxing Joker in.

The glowing sheets slashed through both wind and these monsters, hundreds making their mark. Dust scattered everywhere as the sheets rained down, blowing away her enemies once the blade-like weapons all collapsed together before exploding in a flash of light. Joker shielded her eyes with both arms crossed, forced to brace against the raw power of the attack.

She was left unharmed, but the same was not to be said for her enemies. Still, it didn't kill all of them. Several of them were quick to catch on to what was going on, and jumped out of the way before the sheets swarmed in on them.

Which led to the second phase of the attack. "Now!"

From the ceiling, several blades rained down all at once. Knives. Shurikens. Needles. Shining silver in the dark, they stabbed and punctured the enraged survivors in their arms, legs, even heads. Some managed to guard and brave the attack head on, though a few more started to explode into dust and shadow under the endless hurricane.

All together, the remaining blades were thrown at once, spreading around in every direction to put down those fiends. Deliberately leaving the space around the thief untouched.

Then the assailant came down spinning from the roof, two remaining blades drawn. "Have one more!"

Landing on top of one of the last remaining beasts, the enemy growled in confusion right before the assailant hooked their legs around the monster's neck and sliced right through. Kicking off their dying, fading opponent, they shot right through the air, driving their twin blades into the chest of the next of the fiends still standing. Swiftly putting it down, as well.

One final ghoul rose back up from the ground behind Joker's back, still refusing to go down after all this.

Glancing from behind a white mask of their own, the assailant tossed one of their twin blades. Soaring through the air, it pierced itself right into the heart of the ghoul that now finally let out a dying gasp. Disintegrating into a pile of black ash.

"Can't finish off this many shadows? Oh come on, we all know that's not true." Rising from the ground, the one who attacked those beasts now approached Joker with one hand to their ear. "It would disappoint us all if she couldn't actually do it herself. But someone has to steal this show today."

White hair. And eyes that seemed almost unnatural, otherworldly. The person who approached Joker was clad in the outfit of a thief of another variety. In this case, a shinobi. A ninja.

"Don't give me that look. Now-now, we agreed to this." With a grin that was too amused for its own good, the person in question leaned forward, wagging their finger. "You'll be going ahead, and I'll be kicking back until all the pieces are in play. We can't lose our king piece, now can we?"

Joker wrung her neck left and right, scowling briefly. Then she shut her eyes, and a silent smirk formed on her face.

"Good, I'll see you on the other side, J." Tugging on the scarf around their neck, the fellow thief bent their knees, preparing to high-tail it out of there.

"Remember the plan!" they said. "Once you get out, it'll be—!"

They didn't get to finish their words. A scream from their communicators blasted their ears.

"Aaaaah!" screeched a boy, unusually high-pitched and terrified compared to any of his many other screams.

"Argh!" Joker reeled back, feeling that one. And out of all the things to their companion, they actually lost their balance, half-collapsing on the ground.

"Bomber! Can this wait?" Joker said, speaking into her communicator.

"No! No it can't! It-can't-it-can't-it-can't!" answered the scared boy going by Bomber.

"Dude, you sound like you're gonna effin' shit yerself," said a sassy boy on the other end of the line.

"It's not my faulllt!" Bomber screeched.

"What's wrong?!" Joker demanded to know.

They heard the rattling of chains. Metal scraping along the ground. The whole world seemed to have changed at that moment. An ominous aura bellowed around, draining the world of color and light. Filling the void with black wind in its place, and turning that which still could be seen white.

Making its way down the staircase ahead of the two thieves, a foul being dragged the barrels of two revolvers longer than any other against the steps. A tattered cloak covered its body, holy yet now tainted by blood. With a tall, slender frame far more human than any of the hulking shadows that cornered them earlier, it was still far from anything natural in the world. Its mask, once pure white yet now stained pitched black, revealed no part of what harrowing face could possibly have been hiding behind it. All that was there to see was the bullet hole where its right eye would have been. Yet from within that hole, there was something shining. Eerie, glowing moonlight.

The very embodiment of death itself. A reaper, coming to collect.

"No way, that's the weird reading!?" the worried girl now briefly shrieked herself in the wake of seeing the actual reaper for herself.

"Oh, you picked a bad time to get lost, friend!" shouted the sassy boy from earlier. "Shit-oh shit-oh shit-oh shit! Yeah, you need to get out, right now!"

"You both need to run! There's no fighting that thing, especially not now! Do you hear me? Do not engage!" ordered the boy who spoke earlier with that calm, commanding voice. Even now, he quieted his heart in order to keep himself and everyone alive.

"Why is it here!" Joker asked. "That thing's not supposed to show up unless—!"

Joker pulled her hand down, her eyes widening in the face of death. "Oh no…"

"I don't know how it was summoned or who summoned it, but it must be here because it's after you," said that boy to the thief. "I just need you to run, got it? You're too important for us to give up!"

"Getting out while a reaper is hot on our trail won't be easy." The thief's accomplice glanced at Joker. "All the more reason it's you who needs to make it out. You're our winning piece, got it?"

With that said, the white-haired thief readied their daggers and bent low. "Time for Plan B. Get ready to run. On three, got it?"

Joker nodded, steeling the resolve within her eyes. "One."

"Two," said her accomplice.

"Three!" Both thieves dashed forward, black and white moving as one.

Light shined brighter from within the eyehole of the reaper, and its body thrashed around like a puppet dancing mad before steadying its guns on both thieves with sharp movements. Bang! Bang! The bullets whistled through the air, smoke and wind rushing to fill the vacuum they created.

"Break!" Joker ordered. Both of them split off in diagonal directions, dodging those bullets at the last moment.

They ripped into the walls. Not only did they pierce them, the spinning bullets carried so much force, they bore holes much bigger than the shots themselves. So much destruction from those two bullets. The very structure of the staircase behind them collapsed in on itself.

Slipping past the reaper itself, Joker's eyes met the glowing one of the fiend that attacked them. The world seemed to have slowed down, right as the reaper raised its right pistol at her head.

Joker raised her right hand, a blue flame burning within the palm of her red glove. "Jack! Bufudyne!"

Within the flame, something burned into existence. A single tarot card glowing with power. I - The Magician.

"Heee-ho! O-kay!" Out from the card came into existence a strange and curious fellow, throwing its fists up high like a kid rushing down a water slide.

That was the sign, however, that it came prepared. Its hands were already crackling with the mist of frigid white frost.

"Chill out, partner!" it said, looking at death in the face with a wide ass grin. Watching happily as death switched targets.

The reaper brought its gun higher and fired at the creature's head, right on cue for the ice to rapidly expand into a massive spiked crystal to take the hit. The bullet smashed into the makeshift shield that erupted with the impact, ricocheting into the ceiling for a devastating blow that caused stone to come crashing down.

But the attack was successfully redirected, just as intended by the smiling fiend that went by.

A cold wave of icy wind blew around the whole backroom in the wake of the explosion, blasting over the faces of the three escapees. Jack in particular held onto his funny blue magician's hat, waving at death. "Buh-bye, sir!"

"Thanks!" Joker said, sprinting on ahead.

"Heeee-holy shiiit!" Jack turned around, floating right behind Joker as if tethered to her like a guardian spirit or a kite. "Joker! What did you do to get the Reaper on your case?"

"Survive now. Ask questions later," Joker said, running and running. With the blast of ice, the black aura was pushed away from them, giving the three of them just enough vision to make their way out of the bleak backroom, through the next stairway, and into the next hall.

"I don't want to find out what will happen if that thing shoots you!" said the girl speaking through the communicator.

"Ever since that thing showed up the first time, things have started falling apart. Keep running, you're almost out of there," said the commanding boy.

He was calming, reassuring.

His voice made her almost believe things could go perfect.

Another set of backrooms, that was where they arrived. This time, it was just outside the security room, one watched by an entire team of security members and officers.

"She's not alone! Find them and kill them all!" The man who seemed to be in charge shouted orders into a phone while the rest of the team scrutinized every camera and computer available to them. Upstairs, the footsteps of security officers could be heard charging their way. Human security. And if they weren't, then they were at least much more convincing.

That wasn't going to stop the escaping thieves, who rushed up the next flight of stairs, sprinting ahead right as they passed by the officers who readied their guns. "Hold still or we'll fire!"

"Then fire away, officers!" Joker dared, dropping down and sliding right as the bullets started cracking through the air.

"Whoops!" Jack ducked, dragged down thanks to a timely yank of the arm by Joker. "I'm sitting out for now! Hee-ya!" They disappeared, leaving behind a tarot card that found its way back to its owner.

Joker's fellow thief scoffed, effortlessly ducking under the bullets as they kept on running. "They're no Reaper, for sure."

The trio-turned-duo of thieves reached the end of the hall, with Joker's hands hitting the railing of the balcony as she had to stop. Looking down, color returned to the world as they reached the lobby of the casino, brilliant lights once again flashing from over their heads.

"Something wrong?" said the girl speaking through the communicator. "The exit's right there."

Joker looked ahead. Between the two of them and the exit was a large gap. The exit itself was a giant, stained glass window.

"It's not pretty, but after that commotion, the bottom floor's completely closed off. Can you make it?" asked the girl.

The officers closed in on them, raising their weapons once more. "There's nowhere to run! We're going to—!"

Just then, a torrent of bullets hailed from down the other end of the hall. The officers all screamed in agony, caught in the middle of the attacker's assault.

"Help! Help me!" screamed one just before a dozen bullets ripped holes through their flesh. Their body tossed back and forth, it collapsed.

The twin revolvers hissed with smoke, moonlight glowing from the Reaper's eye once more after it finished its swift execution.

There was nothing between them and its targets now.

The white-haired thief raised one of their daggers, prepared to put their life on the line. "Joker, run! Go on ahead!"

The girl on the line spoke back, "But you could—!"

"Remember the plan!" The thief cut her off. "We don't give up the King. Even if that means taking their place."

They grit their teeth. "I've been ready for this since we started. Now go!"

Joker looked down, giving a single nod to their accomplice.

With that, they made a break for it. Before the Reaper could get close or get her in its sights, Joker raced along the railing, going around the right side of the balcony as they got closer and closer to the window.

"How are you going to get out?" the girl on the line asked the one who stayed behind. "The ground floor is swarming with officers, and the whole plan's in jeopardy!"

The thief's accomplice stepped back. Behind them, a bunch of officers with guns, shields and face masks concealing their identities started to rush in.

"I'll take my chances!" they shouted, throwing one of their last two blades at the Reaper.

The Reaper fired back with a single bullet, intercepting the flying blade and shattering it into pieces with a haunting crack echoing through the wind. It was effortless the way it did so, watching silver shards fly right past it.

Only this time, the bullet kept going. Only for the accomplice to duck, allowing it to strike the chandelier behind them. Causing it to smash into the chandeliers behind it, one after the other crashing loudly as the force of death's bullet kept throwing them into the next. All of them collapsing in front of the officers rushing in.

That was the accomplice's cue to make a break for it now. With one foot on the railing, they kicked off and soared through the air, their scarf fluttering like twin capes before they dropped down into a screaming, scared crowd.

They had to be quick to pull off not one, but multiple miracles. For now, they needed to get out of sight.

"…Do you think they'll both make it?" It was the girl on the communicator. Ginger haired, wearing a large pair of infrared goggles and dressed in a high-tech stealth suit. She watched the casino from far away enough to avoid being spotted..

"We can only hope," said the boy taking charge of the situation while Joker was making her escape. A boy with brown hair. With a fanciful, princely white suit and a red masquerade mask sporting a lengthy, sharp nose.

He looked down at the young girl, giving a soft-looking smile. "I'm sure they have what it takes. If the two of them put their heads together, I'm sure we could take down even the worst criminals of society."

"This is a lot of work just to get one briefcase…" the girl said, frowning as she kept her head low. Causing the boy in turn to frown himself, reaching down to comfort her with a hand on the shoulder.

…Time passed uncomfortably slow. What seemed like it should have been seconds took entire minutes. Far too long for what should have been a race to the finish. Far too uncomfortably long.

Everyone watched with heavy breaths. A girl with pigtails bit down on the gloves of her red latex suit. A boy with a skull for a mask clutched his head, tapping impatiently.

"What's taking so long?!" shouted the boy in the skull mask.

"They must be getting held up," said the boy in the red mask. "I don't expect anyone to escape a confrontation with the Reaper so easily, Skull. Maybe they had to take a detour."

"Then why have they gone silent!" asked Skull, now clenching his fist. "Come on, Joker! You're killing us out here!"

One minute… Two minutes…

Finally, after three whole minutes of waiting, the large stain glass window of the front of the casino broke apart, shattered in its entirety. Right as Joker jumped out, dodging the single bullet that hissed right behind her.

Behind her, standing on the balcony, was death itself staring her down from afar, cheated of that which it was owed.

"Joker!" The girl in the latex suit smiled as she stepped closer to the edge of the building they staked out on top of.

"Joker, hell yeah!" Skull cheered, clenched fists now pumped triumphantly.

"Joker!" The ginger-haired girl brought her hands to her chest and squealed, putting on a great big smile.

Smoothly soaring ahead as glass flew around her, there she was, grinning as if everything was going just as planned. "Kept you waiting, huh?"

A reckless showoff, one might say.

Joker hit the ground, rolling backwards as she broke the fall. Landing crouched with one red glove on the ground, before rising up.

Then a bright white light turned on, focusing on Joker. And not just one. Five. Twenty-five all flashed into existence, dead set on the red-gloved thief.

Skull lifted his head in horror. "No freakin' way."

"What's wrong?!"

"An ambush?!"

"Joker, can you handle this?!"

Joker wasn't going to wait around to find out the whys and hows. She just started running.

"Capture her!" The commander of the officers shouted, throwing his hand to send his troops forth.

With a long, quick stride, Joker raced along the wall of the casino as the lights kept focus on her. Lunging upwards, she hooked onto a nearby escape ladder, swinging back and forth before starting to climb. Smiling at the cops as she began to make a smooth getaway.

…Or so she hoped.

The barrel of a rifle was aimed at her head, halting her in her tracks.

She gasped, watching one of the cops that cornered her raise the back of their gun, smashing it into her head. "Woah!"

She fell hard and fast, hitting the ground with nothing more than a pained grunt.

Right on cue for the police to start swarming in. "Suspect secured!"

They shoved a hand down against her back, trapping her there as the swarm of cops parted away. Allowing the cop leading them to stop in front of her.

"You're under arrest. I didn't expect to find some kid. Then again, I've seen stranger things."

Leering down, the man's eyes were shadowed by the lens of his helmet, though he scratched at the stubble hiding behind his face mask. "You have your friend to thank for this, you know? You were sold out."

The thieves watching looked on in horror.

…Then?

They heard the bang.

Chapter Text

Episode 2: Lock Them Up, Throw Away the Key

…The camera flashed. A picture snapped of the prisoner holding up their I.D number. Another shot was taken from the side. Their face was on display for all to see.

Anyone who had access to their file now knew who they were. A student in Japan with black hair and red eyes.

The name?

Kurusu Akira.

The lights turned off. And sometime later, that prisoner found themself in handcuffs with their arms held behind a chair. More than that, needles were scattered around them, haphazardly so.

"Guess the drug was too strong…" The officer seemingly in charge kicked away one of the needles with his boot. "Wake her up!"

Water doused the face of the prisoner, thrown from a bucket held by one of the other officers in the room. The prisoner shook her head, treated to a cold awakening as their eyes were forced open, staring at whoever it was in charge.

She wasn't even sure if it was the same person that had caught her.

"You still don't get it, do you?" the officer in charge said. "Give it up!" He lunged, sweeping with his boot and slamming into her head. Thrown to the side, the shoddy chair she was sitting on split in two, and she was left on the ground.

The man stomped on her head, grinding his heel into the side of her face. "Come on! Cooperate! Or do you want another shot?"

Still dazed, not quite sure of what was going on, the prisoner looked out of the corner of her eye. And she simply laughed.

The man followed her gaze to the blinking black camera in the corner of the room. "What about it? Are you thinking this can be used as video evidence?"

The prisoner clicked her tongue. No, she doubted that. Still, she said nothing. And that made the man angrier.

"Didn't you hear me? Answer!" He slammed his boot into her gut, tossing her aside with a grunt as she hacked violently. The man walked away, taking the prisoner's folder from one of his fellow officers as he read aloud. "Obstruction of justice. Blackmail. Defamation. Possession of weapons…"

He turned around, raising the folder and looking back. "Murder of an innocent man?" he said. "A death row sentencing? Heh. In this world, you may as well count the seconds you have until you're gone. There's no place in it for scum like you. You should know your place."

He flicked his head, and the officers in the room approached the prisoner. Yanking her arms, they took off the cuffs around her wrists. And the head officer took out a pen from within his suit, handing it as he brought out a clipboard with a paper on it. "Sign here," he said. "It's a confession with your name on it."

…The prisoner said nothing. Choosing to do nothing.

"I could choose to do a lot worse to you right now if I wanted to." The man grabbed her by the head, shoving it down to the paper. That got her to acquiesce. She wrote down the name of the one charged, and that was that.

"Good," he said, taking his pen back. Before leaning in close, a firm and callous glare given to grill the prisoner. "Before you die, the world will know you for the scum you are. One must take full responsibility for their actions."

She wanted to spit in his face. But at this point? She was just tired.

…So, she waited. As the callous officer left the room, she took the few moments of levity to breathe. She could feel the haze around her head. Whatever they drugged her with, it was strong.

She felt disgusted.

Outside the room, a tall woman with long silver hair approached with a black bag. It was filled with photos, evidence. Everything she had that was relevant to the case.

The soldier watching the door stepped in front of her. "Excuse me, but this area is off limits—"

"I'm Nijima, of the Public Prosecutor's Office. Just let me through, it's urgent. There's something I need to confirm with the subject."

There was a back and forth on the other side of the door opposite to Joker, listening in. The guard trying to push back against her before suddenly what seemed like a higher up approached from behind.

"Are you Prosecutor Sae Nijima?" he said. "I just got off the phone with your director. Hurry and get it over with. To be frank, you're being an inconvenience."

Inside the room, Joker grabbed her head. Hearing something about not being allowed an investigation. It was the prosecutor's case. Yadda yadda. Unknown methods. Now Joker had gone from tired to bored as if she'd heard this a thousand times.

Still, she waited impatiently, her body kept hunched and low. Just in time for the prosecutor to enter the room to see her.

"I—" Sae Nijima gasped. "I didn't expect it to be you."

"Surprised?" Joker lifted her head and waggled her hand. "Caught me red-handed."

"I suppose the costume was ironic, then." Sae coughed, remembering the red gloves she wore. How could she forget?

Joker listened patiently as she gave her the rundown. How the prosecutor was unable to do anything to stop these cops from doing whatever they wanted, needles and all. Sure, she sympathized with her over the cruelty of what they did to her, but that didn't change that they were enemies on opposite sides. A prosecutor and a thief were a bad pair.

Despite this, she seemed to hold a hint of sorrow in her voice. Though Joker couldn't tell as to why, exactly. There could have been lots of reasons.

"I need you to answer honestly here," Sae said, getting down to business. "What was your objective? Why did you cause such a major incident? I didn't think it was a prank from the get go, but I couldn't assemble a case for prosecution. It's because I couldn't figure out the method behind it."

Joker smirked, having only one answer to give. "If I told you, would you even believe it?"

"There's no way I could be convinced of such a world, just by reading the reports," Sae said. "And yet…"

Sae huffed. "You already know that the inexplicable happens day by day. Criminals dropping dead by heart attacks? It was a shock to everyone's systems the first time, but now it's been nonstop for years. Sometimes I question if we even need people like me anymore."

She put her hand calmly on the table. "You know what this means, do you? You may have gotten this far even with the light sentencing you had before, but once you're charged for this, you're going to be killed on the spot."

…Then she huffed again in resignation. "No. Knowing the mess you've made, you'll be dead the moment everyone can see your face. The guilty are always punished."

She then looked the prisoner in the eyes. Somehow, despite it all, they still shined.

She was refusing to lie down and accept her death, no matter how quickly it was coming.

"So, I have even less time to speak with you, that's why it's all the more important that you cooperate. Tell me your account of everything," she said. "Start from the very beginning."

Joker grabbed their bruised head and grinned like the devil herself.

"I hate to lose, you know. Still, I don't play games that don't interest me."

4/9, 20XX,

Rain fell down on the head of the one walking alone. Slipping through an old alleyway, passing by whoever. Students. A doctor in a lab coat whom she nearly bumped into. She paid them no attention.

It was months before the events that would lead into the heist that would get her arrested. But even before that, she wasn't exactly in the clear. Before any of that went down, she kept her head low and covered by a gray hood. At least she could avoid trouble that way.

Ding-ding! The bell hanging next to the door where she was supposed to arrive rang for everyone to hear. Café Leblanc was the name of the place.

"Crime has fallen to twenty-five percent of what it was in 2003! All thanks to none other than our grand savior, the mystery man himself, Kira!" The speaker on television pointed at a chart with gothic-like text reading 'Crime Statistics in Japan, 2003 to now.' There was a steep plummet in criminal cases, followed by a line that steadily pushed lower and lower.

"It's a blessing! The streets have never been more safe, Mr. Demegawa! What do you think?" A fellow reporter turned her microphone towards him, waiting for a response.

"What do I think? I think that Sakura T.V has never done better—"

Click.

"Hah…" The man at the counter reading the news shook his head. With just a click of a button on his remote, he changed the channel before grabbing the mug of coffee next to him and taking a sip. "Things haven't been the same since that killer showed up. You'd think by now something would change. But even that detective has probably thrown the towel…"

"And now, let's get to our interview with the new Detective Prince!" From the T.V, they could hear a loud audience cheering for some polite-looking boy sitting calm and composed in a chair.

"...What a coincidence." The man at the counter huffed, mildly amused. "Okay, Detective Prince, what are you selling?"

The interviewer on stage brought both mic and hand out. "As an aspiring detective yourself, does Kira play a hand assisting you in your cases? Is it true that the police are directly aided by everyone's favorite savior?"

"Assisting me? No-no, let's not get ahead of ourselves." The young boy laughed, leaning back before straightening up and clearing his throat. "I know Kira hasn't left the minds of the people since the name was made known. Even now, nobody can say with certainty who he is or what his methods are, and there is debate some on things such as whether Kira isn't actually a man, or if there are in fact more Kiras than one. Some people still insist Kira doesn't exist, but… well, I'm here to say that the Japanese Police Force does not have any affiliation to Kira. But rest assured, I will always do my best to see to it that justice is dealt."

"Do you agree with Kira and his methods, Detective Prince? Some say you may very well rival the Chief of Police when he was your age. They say he had quite the passion for catching criminals, but the people want to know if you'd follow in his footsteps. Or do you mean to denounce the savior like Kira's forgotten rival?" The reporter was so enthusiastic, her great smile seemed like it might explode if he said yes.

The Detective Prince blinked, smiled a little bit more, then spoke. "I am very dedicated to catching criminals. From thugs terrorizing others who go ignored to killers who think they can get away with their villainy. You won't find a safer Japan with me on the scene."

"You couldn't have answered in a more wishy-washy way," said the girl who arrived at the coffee shop, closing the door.

The man at the counter took a deep sip of his coffee, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "Not a fan of everyone's favorite savior, young lady?"

"I get that he's damned one way or another whether he speaks in favor of or against Kira, but that doesn't change how easy it was to see that he was trying to avoid giving a solid answer. He could have refused to comment or say he couldn't speak on the matter. He could even just say that it would get in the way of the investigation. But more than anything, he needs to work on his poker face."

The girl started to walk towards the counter. "As for Kira himself…" She reached up, putting her thumb to her lip. Then she put on a smile. "Heh, if I say anything, I'm damned one way or the other. I guess I'm just like the Prince, aren't I?"

The man at the counter shrugged, sighing. "It's not like Kira's got this place bugged or anything." He put his cup down. "Just keep your voice down if you're going to shoot your shot."

"Let's just say I don't necessarily think Kira is as benevolent as he might seem…" The girl took a seat, keeping her voice low. "But then again, I'm biased in my own way, aren't I?"

The man raised his eyebrows curiously. "How so?" he said, before flicking his eyebrows higher. "...Oh!"

"...Oh." The man's eyebrows fell fast, and stayed creased and harsh. "You're the kid I'm supposed to be dealing with, aren't I?"

The girl huffed in resignation despite holding a smile. "Kurusu Akira, at your service. I'll be in your care."

"When you say at your service, you make it seem as if you're here for my benefit, not the other way around." The man finished his mug, this time hitting it against the table. "The name's Sakura Sojiro, at your service. I'll be your caretaker for the school year."

"Thank you, really…" Akira said, eyes shutting. "Sorry…"

"I should've realized it sooner, but my memory's reserved for women older than you," Sojiro walked over to his hat rack, grabbing his white fedora and holding onto it. "Come on, upstairs with me now."

Akira followed the man upstairs, watching him mumble in the direction of one of the customers.

"Four hours here, and he only bought one tiny cup of coffee. One fucking coffee…" Sojiro said with a fast, hushed breath.

Akira snorted, breaking out into a tiny laugh.

"Hey, don't laugh while you're on thin ice." Sojiro pointed at her. "You've got bigger problems to worry about.

"Sorry," Akira said, staying quiet as she kept on walking.

…Sojiro snorted himself, but hid the fact from the delinquent.

"I can give you sheets, but sort the rest out yourself." Sojiro set out the bed she was going to be sleeping on and set the sheets on top, dusting his hands. "For what it's worth, I heard up on what happened. Assault charges, huh?" There was a hint of laughter slipping through his as he grabbed a green book and dusted it off. "Tch, a fighter then? Guess it goes to show how you should never judge a book by its cover."

"What would you have done?" Akira cut-in with. "Would you have left a woman to get hurt? Anyone?"

Sojiro put the book back down slowly, turning his head to her, and saying nothing.

"Ah—" Having spoken out of turn, Akira stepped back. Reaching for glasses that weren't there, her black eyes left with nothing to hide them.

"I don't want to hear any excuses," Sojiro said. "Do you understand the penalty? You're old enough that if your parole falls through, you'll be charged as a felon. It doesn't matter what the police charged you with at that point, once Kira gets to the name Kurusu Akira, the only punishment is death. You shouldn't have gotten involved."

"...Even if someone was being hurt? Or assaulted? Right before your eyes?"

This person, this criminal, well, she just couldn't hold her tongue. Not right now. Not for this.

"You're headstrong, aren't you? Great, no wonder you're a delinquent." Sojiro sighed, grabbing his neck and rubbing it. "It's not about right or wrong here. If I were around your age, I might've jumped in and done something myself before vanishing before they even saw me. But not now. Not in this era, at least."

The look in Sojiro's eyes was that of… remorse. No… loss? "You just can't afford to get your hands dirty when some guy who thinks himself a god can strike you down for any number of reasons. Don't get me wrong, I understand how low criminals can be. But I've seen plenty of lives be taken over things that didn't warrant it. Some of them, friends I was very familiar with."

He turned his head back to Akira, eyes hardening fast. "If you're sharp, you'll stay quiet, get through the rest of your school year without getting into more trouble. Got it?" he said, his voice stern before shifting down to a low, weathered tone. "Kira doesn't kill juveniles without permanent records. God, I hope he hasn't started at least."

"I take it you're not a fan of everyone's favorite savior, either?" Akira said.

"Don't you throw my words back at me. Ya smug little shit." A huff left Sojiro who smirked almost immediately.

"Sorry, dad," Akira said with a smirk of her own.

"Oh, great, a delinquent and a wisecrack." Sojiro rolled his eyes, wiping his smirk as he grew more serious. "Anyways, I'm not your dad. Just be lucky someone was out here to take you in. Expulsion for a criminal record isn't something most caretakers would put up with. Practically no one in the region was willing to deal with an orphan like you."

He turned to the stairs, putting on his hat. "I'll be out of here as soon as I close up shop. You'll be alone at night, but don't get into any trouble. Tomorrow, we'll go to Shujin Academy and introduce you to your teacher, got it?"

"Understood," Akira said, nodding.

"Good," he said. "Don't be a troublemaker. Take care."

Soon enough, the customers left and the bell rang. At the door, Sojiro fixed up his shirt, turned the front sign from open to closed, and headed out.

"…At least he doesn't seem to be so bad," Akira said. "Looks like he doesn't like Kira either."

How could she like him, anyways? Kira, that is.

She went to her bed and laid on her back, looking up at the dim yellow light of her new, dusky, dusty room.

Her eyes squinted harshly, as memories of the day she got arrested flooded her mind. Walking home from school after having stayed too late at the arcade, she heard the screams of a woman and rushed over.

There she saw him. His bald head, drunken visage and brown goatee burning themselves into her memory so clearly, she may as well have captured the perfect mugshot of him.

A drunken man with rage burning in his brown eyes, forcing himself on a woman panicking in an attempt to defend herself. Her heart was in overdrive the moment she saw the incident going down. So, she sprung into action. Blindsiding him in the hopes of getting him off of her.

"Damn, bitch! I'll sue!" She remembered the man's voice very well, too. How he grabbed his bloodied head, staring him down.

…Yet, why hadn't that guy been the one arrested? Or at least arrested alongside her. He wasn't exactly innocent here. Perhaps it was simply the fact that he got the cops on his side first.

…But the way he spoke to them made that thought seem inaccurate. They didn't even ask for his name, and he didn't give it to them. They even seemed scared just answering his beck and call.

Concealing one's name to the police is one thing if the world was the least bit ordinary, but with Kira watching over all of them? Kira would kill the kind of person that would think they could get away with sexual assault, and he had quite the body trail to prove it. Whoever it was who got her arrested, he likely held enough sway to pull something like that off.

Just another corrupt person in a high place. Sure, that makes sense. If anyone could get away with it, then in Kira's world or no, the rich, famous and powerful would be among them.

…Then again, regarding why she got arrested, she did take a brick and drove it into his head. Then followed up with a high kick the likes she didn't even realize she had in her. But again, only for the sake of defending another.

Regardless of the motive, though, she did not make a good case for herself being innocent. …And she never really argued that, only that when it came down to it, someone had to jump in.

Yet because of all that, death could very well hang over her head. And would come to claim her should she fail to keep in line. It's true that Kira did kill mostly major criminals such as murderers, but every so often he did kill petty thieves, manslaughterers, embezzlers.With the sheer volume of criminals dying, it was hard to even tell what was true or not. Some argued that his methods were starting to get more extreme. A growing number of homeless people started disappearing. A few had started to die to a string of heart attacks this year. Some reporters feared Kira was expanding his judgement, insisting that this was his call for humanity to act faster.

Put simply, Kurusu Akira had no reason to trust that Kira was the savior he and others claimed, and no reason to assume Kira would not come for her inevitably. Kurusu Akira had some fascination with the morbid, with things such as the Kira Case and the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases being regular topics of study to her. As such, that curiosity was part of why she developed a habit of studying up on the methods and motive of the famous killer of killers. But such things like these deaths brought her no joy. Her fascination was at best, academic in nature.

Ultimately, she knew that in her heart, she was a prisoner through and through. Her own sense of justice would not only fail to change that, it doomed her to walk down death row.

So, with the reaper watching over her that night, Kurusu Akira went to sleep…

4/10, 20XX,

"Hey! Stop the train! Stop the train!" A man beat against the door of the subway cart he was stuck in. The train was growing dangerously unsteady, to the point that luggage was dropping and scattering onto the heads of the scared passengers ducking for cover.

"Help! Someone save us!"

"It's Kira! Kira will—!"

The driver was clutching his chest. His eyes were hollow and white, rolling back while drool went down his cheek. He wasn't responding to anyone. It seemed as if his heart had stopped.

"Kira, save us from this!"

Sparks scattered as the train was speeding up, going out of control. Leaning hard to the right as it entered the subway station.

And then—

"While we do not know if there are any deaths yet, a team has been sent to rescue any and all survivors," said a woman on the radio. "Due to the subway accident, there will be numerous disruptions across the rest of Japan's transport grid."

Sojiro sighed, loud and tired. "Not another… It just keeps happening more and more. What, did the driver shoot a guy in the head? Couldn't Kira have picked a better time to off the damn man?" He turned the radio off, focusing on sifting through dense, slow-as-snails traffic as they drove along the city streets to get to school.

"I didn't think there was a person out there who hated Kira as much as I do," Akira said, staring at the car honking ahead of them with a blank expression.

"I'm telling you, it's easy to like the guy when you're not the one reaping what he sows. That's how Kira got so many followers. It's not them who has to deal with all the deaths." Raising his hand, Sojiro waved it at her before bringing it towards the cars ahead. "I don't know if the killer of killers was behind this, but you hear so much about all these strange deaths, you just start to assume it was him. These subway derailings, you know, not everyone comes out unscathed."

Akira nodded silently. Not saying much, but listening to what the man had to say.

When he was done and things got quiet, she calmly asked a question.

"Why did you take me in?"

"Why?"

Sojiro went quiet. Quiet in a different way than stern dismissiveness or weary fatigue. Just… quiet.

"Well, because a friend of mine asked me to," he answered honestly, before quickly amending it. "From the coffee shop, that is. A regular. After I'd taken the money, I wasn't going to back out, so here we are. Is it really that important?"

"...No," Akira said. "Just, thank you. I never really had anything like a dad or something."

"...Yeah, well don't start getting sentimental on me. I'm not your dad," Sojiro said, tugging on his hat. "Let's get you where you need to be. Know your role and turn a blind eye to everything you see. Can't have you getting in more heat, troublemaker."

…And so the two of them kept on driving. The world seemed to spin around and around, pulling away as Joker herself pulled back, lifting her head.

"I remember that subway accident, you know," Sae said, taking out a photo of the incident itself. What was left of the train after the wreckage, that is.

"One of the victims was a parent from your own school, with no criminal record, of course," the prosecutor said. "If Kira really did kill the driver, then he made a lot of innocent people pay the price."

With her attention returning to the interrogation in the present day, Joker leaned back. Her red eyes were much more relaxed, and her thinking coherent. Granted, she still felt like shit and her mouth tasted of blood.

She didn't think much of the accident, but people did die that day.

"Shujin Academy, that's the school you transferred to," Sae said, continuing with the interrogation. "An prep school, just like the many you can find all over Tokyo. As soon as you transferred in, however…"

She pulled out a red card, with text cut out newspaper letters scrambled together to form a messy amalgamation of words. Much like a cryptic ransom card, only it wasn't ransom that they were after.

"These were posted all around the campus," Sae said, now focused on her goals even more than when she entered. "At the time, they were seen as a prank. But this was the first true calling card sent by the Phantom Thieves… wasn't it?"

She looked into Joker's eyes, taking note of how they flickered.

"How should I know if this was the first one?" she answered.

"Don't be coy," Sae said, taking out a picture of who they took down. "Your target was none other than alumnus and ex-Olympic medalist Kamoshida Suguru. Gym teacher and volleyball coach. …What happened then? We all saw what happened, but… Why exactly did you go after him?"

Kamoshida. That name still made the saliva in her throat and the blood in her veins burn, just out of reflex. Joker sighed, grabbing her head again. "You'll understand pretty easily. I'll tell you."

Chapter Text

Episode 3: Moonlit Walk - Part 1

"Cause any trouble, and you'll be expelled on the spot! In my opinion, you're nothing but a liability. Whatever you might've gotten away with in your hometown… those days are over. If you're thrown out from our school, you'll have nowhere to go."

Akira was being grilled for being a criminal. …Again. This time by the principal of the school, Principal Kobayakawa, with his name proudly displayed on his plaque at the front of his desk—

Wait, no, that just read Principal. The student on parole squinted. Why have a name display that just reads Principal? Where was his name? Where was his name?!

"This is the teacher in charge of your class," Principal said.

"Huh? Oh, right." Akira quietly spoke while turning to face the young-looking teacher who turned her head down. Eyes held shut, and politely keeping her hands held together in front of herself.

"My name is Kawakami, your homeroom teacher," she said, reaching into her pocket. "Here, this is your student I.D card—"

While taking out the card, some sort of flier slipped out of her hand before she swiftly picked it back up. Although she grabbed it in a hurry, for a brief moment, Akira managed to get a glance at it.

Some kind of maid cafe advertisement? She only managed to see the maid on the cover, some hearts and some bright text. She'd call it unusual, but she didn't really think of it that way. Only that most people would probably think it was unusual. Where she goes in her spare time wasn't her business to criticize.

"Ah—! Make sure you come to the staff room tomorrow morning, I'll lead you to class." She clasped her hands together and put on a sweet smile. …A little too disarmingly sweet, like the maid on the cover.

"Thank you," Akira said. Regardless of her teacher's reasons, she had no cause to press on the matter. Especially not while in front of her superior. Though, perhaps it was just her teacher's taste in maids that made her nervous. Who knows? It could be a lot of things.

With that, Sojiro walked out of the principal's office, and Akira followed behind.

"Even before Kira was the thing everyone focused on, this is what a criminal record gets you," Sojiro said, "School never changes, huh? Come on, let's go home."

Akira nodded, walking out the entrance with him.

…Kawakami meanwhile sighed. She left the principal's office, exasperated as she made her way out into the outdoor garden area of the school. Even with how cloudy and grim the sky was, the sakura petals still fell and blew around as they did during this time of the year.

"What a troublesome situation," said a man with this coolheaded, almost amused voice despite expressing his sympathies.

"I just can't believe they'd push someone with a record on me," Kawakami said. Akira's new teacher braced her hip, looking down at the ground dejectedly. "I'm hardly the one fit for the job."

"Now why in the world was someone like that admitted to the school in the first place?" the man said.

"It was the principal's decision. I was told it was for the school's reputation," Kawakami answered.

"I would've thought my volleyball team would've contributed more than enough for that, but then again, if anything were to happen, I'd kick a student like that out any day."

"I just keep wishing that he'd just end up not coming to school. Still… that isn't something I should be saying at school." Despite the bluntness of her words, Kawakami still felt as if she was in over her head. Why did it have to be her class? She already had too much pressure to deal with just getting through the day-to-day…

"Heh, having such high expectations placed on you is a problem in itself! We'll have to work hard to make up for the track team, too." With that, the school's gym teacher flashed a winner's smile before leaving, waving kindly at Kawakami.

Though it wasn't as if Kawakami could pay attention to any of that. Her mind just kept running in circles. It was just one mess after the other…

4/11,

Akira stood under the roof of a shopping store near a central crossing. Sojiro told her to take the subway from now on, so that was what she did, now preparing to navigate her way to the Academy. A piece of her hoped she wouldn't get caught in any of the subway accidents, but so far, she was lucky in that regard.

Bored and wishing she had an umbrella or a raincoat, she opened her phone to see the map. Before she got a sudden notification, and an app suddenly opened, forcing itself to the front of her screen.

"...What kind of weird oyster is this?" Akira said aloud, the red and black icon reminding her of vaguely of one with a pearl with a star in the middle.

"Weird Oyster' not found." A voice came from her phone with a weird, robotic tone to it.

"Hey!" Akira tapped her screen, trying to uninstall it quickly to no avail. Did her phone get hacked? She wasn't looking at anything that weird yesterday. Either way, she managed to get rid of it, for now.

Lowering her phone, she failed to notice that the app managed to redownload itself. Not only that, it reactivated, waiting to be used. The reason she failed to notice, however…

Was because she caught a glance at the person hurrying right past her, only to stop just right next to her. Wiping the rain off her jacket, she lifted the hood off her head, shaking off the rain and letting her golden hair sway back and forth.

"Ah!" Akira gasped. "Ah…"

Turquoise eyes that were somber and morose, Akira was quite taken aback. She was, frankly, gorgeous in such a way that it stunned the poor student on parole. Yet the way she looked ahead, seemingly so despondent, told Akira that not only had she not been noticed, but that she was thinking quite hard about something.

Akira didn't want to judge, but she couldn't help but focus on what others were thinking all the time.

The girl looked around the city, seeing the rain that poured down on the other students running on ahead in order to not be late. But her attention was soon caught on the girl slightly taller than her, staring her in the eyes like a deer in the headlights. "Ah?"

"Eek—" Akira shuffled back. "Girl, pretty—"

"Huh?" the blonde girl raised an eyebrow. "Say that again?"

"Flowers pretty," Akira quickly amended. "Uh, the petals today are pretty."

If this girl was going to ask why she was blushing, she was going to have to lie and say she had a mild fever.

The blonde girl didn't quite respond to that, until she made a light laugh, reaching up to touch her head of jet black hair.

"You've got one on you," she said, smiling as she took a pink petal out of it. Keeping it in between her pink nails.

"I don't really like this rain," she said, looking over at the nearby blooming trees. "Storms like this take the petals off these trees so easily. All the little things get blown away."

"...Isn't the rain beautiful itself?" Akira responded. "The world changes when it rains, and you can see everything in the reflections. It's like there's a whole other world out there, a beautiful one."

"But it shouldn't cloud the rest of the world," the girl said, holding onto her petal. "If everyday were mist and fog, we'd never get to see this world clearly for what it is."

This one petal couldn't last forever. Frail as it was, it was only a matter of time before it would wither now that it had been stripped off its tree. She let it go, allowing it to fly off into the wind.

A horn honked, breaking the brief moment of quiet rain and flying petals. "Hey, you'll be late!"

It was a teacher? Akira never met them before, but he wore the school's gym outfit, save for the fact that it was blue. He was looking at the two of them with an honest smile.

"Good morning! Want me to give you a ride to school, Takamaki? You're gonna be late," the teacher asked. "What about you? Need a lift too?"

"Ah, thank you very much!" Ann said with a smile, slipping through the rain to head inside.

"No, I'll be fine," Akira said, lifting her phone again.

"Suit yourself, but you're really wasting a good opportunity," the teacher said. "Right, Ms. Takamaki?"

Takamaki's gaze seemed to change, turning somber like before. Only this time, they were harsh.

"Yes, let's go," she said.

"Alright, here we—Oh?" The teacher briefly paused, lifting his head up.

"Huh?" Akira turned around, looking at the boy he stared at. Some blonde guy with his hands in his pockets, leaning forward while glaring squarely at the teacher in an agitated and unsubtle way.

"Kamoshida…" the boy spat with such vitriol. It was then that the teacher drove away, not even saying a word afterwards.

"Tch, that damn bastard." The boy clenched his teeth, anger rising like heat of his back over seeing the man's face.

"What's wrong with him?" Akira asked. "The teacher driving the girl?"

"That man struts around like he owns the place. He thinks Shujin is his damn castle to fool around in! Ya get me?!" the boy said.

Akira didn't know what to say, so she held silent to think of a response. Before she could give one though, the angry boy hissed and spoke before her. "Hey, you go to Shujin Academy, right? You know the guy, right?"

"I just transferred," Akira answered honestly, tapping on her phone reflexively. "I don't know what the deal is with that guy. It's not my business to assume."

"Well, that doesn't mean he's a good guy, okay!" the boy said. "That guy's dangerous, and he'll stir up trouble with you if you cross him!"

"Kamoshida, Shujin Academy, Castle. Access granted. Activating now."

The world flashed red at the blonde boy spat, "So don't trust the man, not in a car! Not in the gym class or anything! Got it!?"

The rain suddenly got a lot more quiet, yet the skies turned from gray to black.

"What the hell just happened?" the blonde boy said, looking around. "That's weird." But instead of lingering on that, he focused on her and her outfit. "A second year transfer, huh? I don't blame you for not knowing, then. I'm just trying to warn you that you're…"

The blonde boy started to squint, hanging on his own words as if he just put two and two together. "—youuu're, hey! You're the delinquent girl who bricked a guy in the head!"

"Ah—uh—" Akira stuttered. "Guilty. Can you blame me? He was assaulting a woman."

"Hey, if you told me you bricked a man in the head for kicking a dog, I'd buy you a soda. It's kosher enough." The blonde boy leaned back as three quarter notes played in Akira's phone. "Ah, but we're gonna be late if we don't hurry up. Come on, let's walk."

The two of them started to walk ahead now that the rain stopped.

"Oh, cool! Streets are empty!" The blonde boy flashed a grin. "That's rare. Faster for us, though. Keep up!" He secured his bookbag and started hurrying up.

"Yeah, uh…" Akira secured her backpack and started hurrying too. The world seemed a little stranger right now, but it was somewhat convenient that they…

Akira squinted, hearing an odd voice coming through from somewhere. Loud, yet static-like. Like a voice trying to speak through a damaged radio.

"Testing, test… test…" There was the sound of a microphone tapping, and the blast of loud feedback. "If anyone can hear me, I apologize for that."

"Argh!" Akira reeled, head shivering as she reeled from that one. "Who is that?" She looked around, but saw no one. Not wanting to be late, she picked up the pace. That boy was already gone.

"I'm not sure if I'll have any time while this experiment runs, so I'll be brief. Let's get straight to the report," said a precise, methodical voice. "Section 5: Interactions with the Selves Within."

It was like a man was transmitting a broadcast right into her head.

"Case 5.1: The Shinigami Realm is but one of many realms," the unknown voice explained. "It is my belief that Shinigami, while indeed beings that could be recognized as gods of death, somehow exist within the minds of the billions and billions of humans that have lived and died since the dawn of humanity itself. Something unreal, yet evidently very real. Something metaphysical."

He wasn't stopping. What was this, a lecture?

But that word… Shinigami.

How long had it been since she heard that one? Or rather, she's heard that word from time to time, but there were few times where that word held significant meaning.

Gods of Death…

Like reapers.

"Regardless, for whom might be listening, the spectres of death take great hold in the hearts and minds of the masses no matter the region or the era, and no one can truly escape death forever. Still, it is also my belief that the hold the Shinigami have over humanity both empowers them and yet binds them to this world. For the purposes of the argument, I'll have to assert that they exist because death exists, and in turn they exist to continue to fulfill the cycle of death. If one were to eliminate all Shinigami well… I think that would be an unlikely feat, but it would be an interesting scenario.

Well, for all my studying I've done during my extended vacation, I'm not the expert here. My partner calls it the Collective Unconscious but I, hoping in some effort to make it easier and quicker to understand, propose to call it the Metaverse.

Case 5.2: I've deduced that this Metaverse is deeply connected to the Shinigami Realm. Perhaps the Shinigami Realm is the Collective Unconscious's very fear of death given manifest into a plane of existence, or perhaps simply the concept of death itself. A realm that for all we know could be the first one to have ever been forged. With the birth of life in the real world came the world of death in this chain of interconnected realms…

So, to you, who decides to begin this game again, I ask that you keep an eye out. I don't suppose you have a T.V you can get your hands into, but I sense that won't be necessary. I have a feeling if this broadcast reaches you, you will find me yet again one way or another."

Turning her head quickly to the left, she finally found the source of the voice.

She stopped in place, staring up at the world that had now since changed. Its skies turned a dark blue, snuffing out nearly all the light in the world. All except for the white T.V screen on top of the giant skyscraper in front of her.

On it, there was nothing more than a white, static background. And dead center was a single, black, L. Written in an elegant cursive style.

"Goodbye for now," the voice behind the screen said. "Lose or win, this is it."

"Good luck out there."

Except for her eyes which were glowing as red as the sky, every part of Akira was shining black. She was staring now at her reflection. If you could say a person could glow black, then that was what it looked like to her.

The screen turned off. Leaving only the reflection of the red-eyed girl staring back at her.

Chapter Text

Episode 4: Moonlit Walk - Part 2

Akira was dashing like a long-striding ostrich through the alleyway leading to school, meeting up with the blonde boy before slowing down. "…That was the weirdest thing ever," she said, speaking rather quickly once she started. "A man just talked to me through a T.V, gave me his thesis on death gods, said good luck out there, and then just left."

"A thesis?" The blonde boy looked at her strangely. "What, is he like some kind of psycho-analyzer? No wait, a psycho-logist?"

"It's psycho—" Akira squinted and grunted. "That's the right word, but you pronounced it wrong."

She'd seen that L before, hadn't she? Once when she was very young. Then again, she could barely remember much of her time at her first orphanage. The only think she could remember in particular was the time someone came to tell her about monsters. She never saw his face or anything, the crowd was too big and focused on him for her to even get close.

"Well, worry less about some rando's thesis and more about your own grade. We gotta get in—" The blonde boy turned around towards the school.

"...side," he said.

They weren't at the school.

"What the hell gives?" the boy asked.

"Don't ask me, I'm getting the one held up to listen to a disembodied thesis." Akira was still hung up on that, shuddering over how strange it was. But if that was strange, then what they were staring at was stranger—arguably.

Before them was a giant castle with a tower that soared to the sky, a sky which now changed into dark red and purple clouds this time. The castle itself was complete with a moat and bridge, chains and all.

"Seriously, what the hell is this?" the boy stepped into view as he raised both hands. "How did this even get here?"

He looked behind himself and saw the alleyway they went through. "Doesn't look like anything's different over there…"

He looked to his right and saw the sign for the school reading Shujin Academy High School Division. "That isn't any different."

"If your school is this quick at getting ready for events, then I'm impressed. Otherwise? I don't like this," Akira told him.

"Yeah, me neither. I guess we'll have to go in and see what's up," the boy said. The two of them started to walk right through the gate, even as the purple fog behind them rolled in thick.

"What's with all this fancy shit? Who paid for this, Nijima?! She's rich, right? Or is she just smart and poor?" With his hands still in his pocket, the boy looked around at the golden candelabras, the knightly suits of armor, and the priceless-looking chandeliers that shined like jewels,

"The moat was convincing enough," the boy said, clicking his tongue. "Hey! What holiday is this?! What's the occasion!"

Akira stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think we need to yell—"

"This wasn't on the school calendar, you know! I read that shit!" the boy yelled.

"Silence!" shouted an ominous, heavy and metallic voice. "Shout more in the hallway, and we'll dole out punishment by the orders of the king!"

The boy turned his head, staring at the knight with its sword pointed to the ground and shield raised. "Woah, who on the team did they get to fit in that thing? Are there two guys in there like they put two goblins in a trenchcoat? You know, like the meme, anyone know the meme?"

"I said, silence, you whelp!" The knight took a firm step, raising a sword meant for two hands with only one and doing so effortlessly.

"Woah!" the boy shuffled back. "Okay, this doesn't seem like a prank. What's going on?" Eyes darting around, he saw several more knights cornering them. Each sporting weapons and strange, metallic masks.

"Alright, we're making a run for it before things get bad!" the boy turned around. "Come on—!"

From the gate they entered from, a knight barged in and slammed its shield into the boy's jaw.

"Gah!" The boy was thrown backwards, crashing into the ground after being hit with the force of a sledgehammer.

Cornered and unable to escape, Akira watched as the knights collapsed on her and the now unconscious boy. They grabbed her by the head, forcing her to stare into its black, hollow eyes.

"...Hey! Let us out!" Rattling a set of prison bars, the blonde boy was wide awake and pissed. "We haven't done anything wrong!"

Coming too after being knocked out, Akira pushed off the prison bed she found herself laying down on. "What the hell, indeed…"

"I told you, silence!" the knight from earlier said to the boy. "No running in the halls, no shouting in the halls, no shouting in the prisons!"

"Eff off!" the boy spat. "I'll run in the halls if I want, eat shit and die!" He put his hand against his bicep and raised it, essentially flipping the bird.

"Sweet Kira! Boys like you are so annoying!" A boot kicked the prison door, rattling it even louder than the boy's own shaking of it. "You're in my castle now, don't act like you're above the rules!"

"Wait…" The boy stopped, dropping his arms as he saw the golden eyes of the one who cornered them.

"And here I thought it'd be some petty thief," said a man clad in a flashy, glittering red cloak and a golden, shining crown. "But you, Sakamoto…"

"Kamoshida?!" The boy, Sakamoto, twisted his neck. "Cut the bullshit, bastard. Who are these guards, and what's with that gross outfit? Ugh, my eyes are being flashed right now!"

"I happen to enjoy strutting about as I please," said the golden-eyed Kamoshida, bringing one hand out of his cloak and waving it around himself like a champion. "Everyone here loves to see me and my face. And they love the glorious body that brings all the gold and glitter to my kingdom. Built like a true Olympian."

"You look like a damn exhibitionist, man!" Sakamoto smashed his fists against the prison door.

"And you don't know how to give your king some proper respect," Kamoshida said, snapping his fingers. "Guards, rail this man."

The guards put their hands on the prison door's rails, and they ripped the whole door clean off.

"...Oh," Sakamoto said, his eyes going wide.

They railed Sakamoto in the head, causing him to fly back and hit the wall. The blonde boy hacked up blood, collapsing quickly.

"What the—!" Sakamoto pulled himself off the floor, clutching his head while kneeling.

"Hey!" Akira turned as she tried to help the boy up, only to in turn be railed in the back when the knight that attacked Sakamoto now swept at her from the side.

"Ghh… run away," Sakamoto told her. "Leave me here, I'll draw them in! This guy wants me gone, you have nothing to do with him!" He threw his hand at her, trying to get back up. Only for him to groan as his left leg ached.

"Oh-hoh-ho, running away? Now, that would be quite spineless if she did. Sorta like you, Sakamoto." Kamoshida started to walk past his guards and the boy. "And you're only half right. I want you gone, but you're just getting in the way of my real fun."

Looking down, he glared his unholy gold eyes down at Akira, licking his lips. "Mmm, fresh meat. And unlike that damn nerd, you're actually a lot more impressive to look at beyond just a cute face. You have a very nice body right there. Care to take a ride with me?" He put on that same grin he did in the car, only this time it was much more twisted and gleeful.

"Oh fuck no." Akira shivered as she pulled back from him, causing the man to huff, making a pout.

"You wouldn't like the ones that say no," he said, looking with disinterest briefly before his threatening glare revealed his malice. "I own this place. I could put you through punishments that will make you wish you'd say yes. But I love a girl who doesn't realize what she's missing out on. The feisty types are always the kinkiest freaks out there."

"I said fuck no!" Acting out of pure instinct, Akira swept her body around, delivering a high kick from out of nowhere. For the second time, she blindsided another attempted rapist by slamming him in the jaw.

"Gwhuh—!" Kamoshida groaned stiffly, golden eyes nearly bulging out of his head. He launched into the air, thrown back before he crashed his head into his knight's armor. And then he hit the ground on top of that.

"Gahhh!" Kamoshida rolled back and forth, clutching his bruised head in agony as his cloak was pulled behind the rest of his body.

"Dude, what!?" Sakamoto looked down in shock at the man's nearly bare body. "Ugh, now my eyes are actually being flashed right now! The glitter is being wasted on you!" He covered his eyes, trying to ignore the sight.

"Ugh, that was…" Kamoshida rose up from the ground, one arm hanging against his knee. "Well, I'm not going to say you didn't get my blood rushing." Dressed in only a tight speedo, it was very unfortunate for the two students that he wasn't wearing baggy pants or something.

"Eww," Sakamoto said, cringing both visibly and audibly.

"It's that attitude that leaves you bitchless, Ryuji," Kamoshida told him, snapping his fingers as he rose on up. "Guards, pin him."

The guards thrashed Sakamoto against the wall, giving Kamoshida free reigns to make his move.

"Take this!" Kamoshida made a surprisingly high jump, coming down to slam Sakamoto across the face. Laughing maniacally as he did so. "Take this! And this and this!"

"D-d… Damn you!" Sakamoto held strong, one eye holding open even as Kamoshida pummeled him. Even as Kamoshida lifted his foot and smashed it against his chest over and over.

"Heh, you're nothing but a worn out punching bag at this point. Already broken. I need some new peasants so I can show them their place." Kamoshida reached for one of his knights' sword, sliding the scabbard off of it. Putting on a menacing grin as he stared at his own reflection within.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh…" The man hoisted the blade high, holding it at eye level. Brushing the tip of it against the boy's neck.

"What's this? Do you just intend to let this be the end to your story?"

Another voice spoke, though this time it felt like it wasn't coming from the outside world, but within her head. It made the girl listening to it gasp.

The world slowed down ever so slightly, as the voice commanded her to let it be heard. "You've gone through hell for less. Will you sit down and quietly accept your own death? If death is to come for this boy, too, then has everything you fought for, everything you suffered until now become pointless? Were your actions that brought you here today simply a mistake? Were you playing a mere game of chance?"

Memories of her arrest flashed in her head. Sweat dripping down her face, the girl's eyes turned cold. "No. What I did was just. And I wanted to do it."

"Complacency will be your own undoing, like a lamb heading to its own slaughter. …Yet I sense the flames that burn within you. You reject the idea of letting death take you. No, you've chosen to dance with it."

"Very well! Together, we have a contract! You shall forge your own pact!"

A loud burst of force erupted from the girl, causing Kamoshida to stumble back alongside his guards.

The girl howled, agony surging through her mind as something hiding in there tried to force itself out of her. As she reached up, she grabbed hold of something that appeared over her eyes. Yanking at it, she used all her strength to tear it right off, blood flying as her scream reached out of her cell.

"Take her down!" Kamoshida demanded, and two of his guards pinned her to the wall, forcing her to drop what she grabbed.

From her hand dropped a white mask with black around the eyes. A mask fit for a masquerade.

It ignited into blue flames before it touched the ground, exploding everywhere and suffocating the knights with its wrath. Forcing them to kneel before her.

"I am thou and thou art I," she spoke with both the voice of a demon lurking within and the voice she spoke with all her life. "One who will forsake all in order to defy kings, tyrants and gods themselves. One who bears the Seven Sins and heralds the Riders of Death, Famine, War, and Conquest to battle."

"Though chained to hell itself, I am one who carries the strength to purge all falsehoods! To steal truth from even the mightiest of gods, I am the very one who calls upon the name…!"

The girl's arm burned with the same flame as the one that sweltered around her, throwing that hand forward. "Arsène!"

A dark and eerie laugh sprung out of both caller and answerer, as a wicked fiend from hell rose out of the girl's body. A spirit of black and blue flames whose wings flapped greatly, quelling the fires around it to reveal the monstrous grin of a phantom.

Blasting the flames around, a devil in red stood tall while floating in the air behind its caller. With long horns that burned and eyes made of energy that flowed like magma. Its grin was not unlike the girl who brought it forth.

"Woah." Sakamoto stared in awe at the girl absorbed in an excess surge of pure energy and hellfire.

"Prince of Thieves, Nightwalker, Wearer of a Thousand Masks and the Carrier of Sin. These are but some of the names I've been called over my existence," the demon said. "But as I said, you may call me Arsène. The spirit of rebellion that resides in her. And you, the dancer of death who calls me here. Should you desire it, I'll grant you the strength to break through any door. My chains are yours to command."

"Undo this lock," the girl commanded, eyes still burning bright and red.

"Hah-hah!" Arsène's great laugh spread throughout the whole room as he lifted his arm and curled his long, blade-like fingers. "…I know what you mean. Let's go for a moonlit walk."

"Guards! Kill her!" Kamoshida demanded.

As soon as the guards lifted their legs, black flames exploded into existence around them. Choking them out and smothering them in infernal heat.

"Wa-haah!" Kamoshida looked at the two prisoners, before panicking and trying to book it.

"Going somewhere?" the girl prisoner said with a smirk. "Chain him."

Arsène lifted his arm, and one of the silver chains wrapped around him slithered through the air after the so-called king.

"Whah!? No, help me!" Kamoshida found his arm entangled by metal. Reaching for the sword he still had, he switched hands and shook as he tried to raise it unsteadily.

"No, n-no! You won't catch me! I won't let you take my kingdom!" He drove his sword down, breaking the chain in a rough stroke that sent the chain flying back to its owner. Before long, he was out of the prison cell, not even looking back at the two he was so eager to have his way with.

This wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

Chapter Text

Episode 5: Moonlit Walk - Part 3

The flames around Akira faded away, while Arsène continued to flutter right behind her, awaiting her command.

"You're so cool!" Sakamoto got back up on his feet, hopping from one to the other while lifting his fists. "Man, who are you and how do I summon one of you?"

"An apt question!" Arsène raised a lengthy blade-like finger. "We are Persona, the manifestation of the inner self. Concepts that exist in the minds of the masses, molded to serve the wills of their callers. You could think of us as guardian spirits."

"...Wow," Sakamoto said with stars in his eyes, pulling his fists close to his face.

"Why, thank you." Arsène lifted his grand top hat, bending forward like a graceful butler. "For now, I bid you adieu. My master shall call upon me whenever needed. Simply will it by voice or by soul, and I, Arsène Lupin the First, shall reappear." He retreated back into the body of his owner, slipping through like a spirit possessing her. Only it was Akira who was in control.

"Do be aware, I am still here. As the inner self of my master, I am never truly gone." Though Akira had not spoken, Arsène's voice echoed from her body.

"...So cool," Sakamoto said. "Dude, you've got a Stand in you."

"Jealous?" was the first thing that left Akira's lips.

"Hell yeah!" Sakamoto rolled his hand around. "Come on, let's bolt out of here like a track student trying to avoid a teacher breaking his leg!"

"That's… oddly dark," Akira said. "That's awful, really."

"No-no, it's legit, you just don't get it yet!" Sakamoto insisted. "I can say it, because I know why! Let's move!" The two of them hurried out of the prison in the hopes of finding the exit.

"He did what?!" Akira hit the table when she put down her bowl.

"Yeah, he broke my leg!" Sakamoto reiterated. Sitting down at the counter next to her, Sakamoto rolled up the right sleeve of his pants. Hiding under his clothes was a brace going up to his thigh.

"A while back I tried to get at him because of the bullshit he kept spouting. It didn't work, and he chased me like a damn bull." The blonde boy looked down and touched his leg. "Once he tackled me down, he started to bear down on my leg to prove a lesson. He used his boot. Said he needed to make an example outta me. Then it went snap."

The boy's eyebrows creased, lost in the memories of the incident.

"...I'll never forgive him for what he said," the boy said, lifting his head. "Or what he did. The gym teacher that stood up to him got fired, I got suspended, and then the track team was disbanded."

"...So even in this school, it's guys like Kamoshida running the place," Akira said.

"You figure that too, huh?" Sakamoto said. "Yeah, Kamoshida thinks he can basically do anything he wants because he's a big shot Olympic medalist. And us students gotta take the beatings he gives us. Whenever he's angry, he takes it out on one of his students. All part of his training, he says. …Bullshit."

Sakamoto lifted his head. "Man, I've been waiting for my beef bowl for like years now."

"Maybe you shouldn't ask for everything and the kitchen sink in it," Akira said, having already started hers.

"Bring it out, or I'm going to destroy this place like a dragon!" Sakamoto insisted. And then he growled like one, too.

A hot bowl of beef slid in front of him.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Sakamoto scooped up some red ginger and piled it on before stuffing some into his mouth. "Aww, this is the best! You know, after a bad day like this, I really like to chill out with some food. So thanks, buddy!"

Akira gasped lightly. "Buddy?"

"Sure!" Ryuji raised his fist, smiling like a true winner.

Cute boy. Her face was a little pink, but she didn't mind as she bumped fists with the blonde boy giggling.

"Yeah!" Sakamoto said. "Oh, I haven't actually introduced myself. The name's Ryuji, Ryuji Sakamoto. Just call me by my first name."

"Okay." Akira tilted her head. "Sakamoto."

"Oh, a wise girl, huh? Why, I oughta—!" Ryuji started to roll up his sleeves like an old-timey cartoon character. Breaking into laughter, unable to keep up the act for long. "Nah, you're chill!"

Closing her eyes, she smiled cutely. "Thanks, Ryuji."

"So, I told you my deal, but I haven't heard the details of yours." Ryuji ducked his head, speaking quieter than before. "Is it really true you whacked that guy in the head?"

"It's not like I have a reason to lie to you," Akira said. She tried to adjust her glasses, only to remember she stopped wearing those to school recently. Grunting over the fact. Regardless though, she laid everything bare, giving him as much as she could remember.

"...It wasn't so much an attack out of the blue, so much as trying to get him off the girl he was assaulting," she explained. "Not that different from what Kamoshida nearly did to me."

"That bastard!" Ryuji hit the table, before realizing how loud he had gotten. They were in a restaurant, and one that still had people around.

"Oops—" Ryuji hushed his voice, though grunted with anger. "Kamoshida, and now this jackass too? What, does the world have it out for us teens or something?"

"I'm not sure it's for us teens, specifically…" Akira said, tilting her head. "After all, others are being trampled over stuff like this."

"It sure feels like it is!" Ryuji said, still hushed. "...You're probably right, though. After all, that guy was a would-be rapist to some woman. Whoever he was, he could get away with it and clearly nobody was going to stop him if the one they threw in jail was you and not him."

"You're not wrong." Akira lowered her head, looking at her mostly empty bowl. "I do wonder why things are this way sometimes, but I'm not surprised. After all, with power and wealth comes influence."

"Whatcha mean?" Ryuji lifted his head away from his bowl.

"Well—" Akira touched her nose bridge—she really missed glasses apparently—"Crimes have dropped considerably since Kira made his name known to the world, but you'll notice that a lot of the criminals put in jail or dying nowadays are lower and middle-class citizens. Your average teacher, worker and the like. It would make sense that people such as politicians and wealthy individuals aren't dying with the same frequency, since there aren't as many people of those varieties to begin with compared with the rest of the population. But proportionally, the percent of those getting jailed or killed by heart attacks are skewed in favor of those in high stations. And its only gotten more extreme since the early years of the Kira Age."

She lifted her head higher. "Of course, it seems weird, but if you think not about why lower-class citizens are being killed more, but why these people in higher stations are not being killed, you start to understand more. It's not that they aren't committing less crimes, but powerful people have learned to use their resources, wealth to avoid…"

"Getting killed by Kira in the first place," Ryuji nodded along, squinting his eyes. "So just like what's happening with Kamoshida and the school."

"We would have to assume Kobayakawa is deliberately covering up for Kamoshida when he can get away with things like breaking one of his own students' legs. Otherwise, Kamoshida would be arrested by now," Akira went on to say. "No doubt, there are others in the world doing their best to cover both themselves and those who they benefit from keeping around. Especially when the punishment is death. Not only would it be in the school's interest to keep whatever Kamoshida's doing under wraps, imagine what would happen to the reputation they're so worried about if their star teacher was caught, then executed by none other than Kira himself. The school's reputation and perhaps even its funding would plummet."

Akira turned her head to Ryuji. "I'm not bombarding you with too much information, am I?"

"No, yeah, that all makes sense." Ryuji rolled his hand around. "Our bastard principal is letting our bastard teacher do whatever he wants. Go figure. And as for you, you wouldn't have had the power to dodge going to jail, unlike the guy who threw you in there."

"Exactly," Akira said.

"Which is why sometimes you need a tender touch…" said Arsène, his voice echoing through the room without his presence, yet. "That of a thief, of course. Someone not afraid of getting their hands dirty in order to root out the weeds that poison the garden, but with the class and grace to keep the flowers unharmed. You want to free yourself from the chains that bind you, of course, and make sure your justice is served to your enemies."

Arsène started to materialize behind Joker's back, his black mask sporting its infernal grin. "Thus, I suggest you win the hearts of the people while you're at it. For a thief, it's much better to be loved by your allies than to be hated."

"Woah!" Ryuji leaned to the side. "Hi, uh, Mr. Opera Phantom-Man."

"Hello, good day to you sir. What a humorous new alias." Sneaking out of Joker as if he were hiding inside her backpack, Arsène now floated in the air as a translucent, living image. "Don't mind me, by the way. Only those with the eyes can see us. And a thief like me developed a sense for fellow hunters long ago."

"The eyes?" Ryuji furled his eyebrows. "Whatchu talkin' bout Mr. Opera Phantom-Man?"

"The eyes of… hmm, now what would be the appropriate term?" Mr. Opera Phantom-Man said, tapping his blade-like nail against his chin. "The eyes of the Shadow Self, perhaps? The eyes of the Persona User? Oh, it is troublesome when you're the first to define something…."

He curled that nail of his. "Well, in anycase, those who have accepted their inner selves, their Shadow Selves if you will, can see through the veil that divides the real world and the metaphysical realm. To a degree of course, it depends on the state of the veil in-between. When the balance has shifted, the metaphysical realm merges with the physical, and things can get rather tricky then. It would seem my master here had stepped through the boundary without realizing it. Taking you with her."

"So that's why we went into that castle?" Akira asked.

"Indeed," Arsène explained. "To the point, that castle was the manifestation of the wills and desires that drift in and out of the sea of consciousness that are the human minds that spend their days in your school. It's unusual that those desires are so warped to have formed such a twisted place with but one person to rule over all. …But that is what a thief such as I would call a Palace. Its ruler, the Olympian lord himself."

Taking a seat in the chair next to Akira, he draped one leg over the other, grabbed the teapot from over the counter and started pouring. "Yes, may he rule that castle with that shiny turd he calls a crown. And I hope to see a stab to his gonads in a twist of poetic irony," he said as he lifted his steaming cup."I am a gentleman thief, but I am not so gentlemanly when it comes to those with twisted desires. I do so enjoy knocking the wicked off their high horse. Still, it is his desires that dominate all who enter this Shujin Academy, and the Palace we saw was a reflection of that. A dark place controlled by his distortions and his distortions only. That is why I must suggest we break into it, my dear wild card."

"Wild card?" Suddenly Akira squeaked as she leaned back, shivering very suddenly. "Ooh-hooh~" She found herself blushing over… herself?

"For me, it is simply a term of endearment." Arsène took a long sip of his tea, his smile both lax yet sweet. "Though, darling, I've run this show for so long that I've come to recognize souls like you at first glance. Like a moth to a flame, I've been drawn in and have decided to let you mastermind our plans for today. For a certain group of someones, though, you Wild Cards hold great import. Outside of that, your ability to wear many masks will prove quite interesting. …Provided you establish the bonds that will let you make use of them."

The cashier watching the counter took a hard blink at Arsène who was leaning back in his seat, turning his phantom mask to him.

Arsène shrugged casually, sipping his drink.

To the cashier, all he saw was the cup lifting in the air, and suddenly being drained of liquid. And the teapot that had floated to pour down the sweet liquid into the cup in an elegant fashion just moments prior.

"I'm not paying for this," Arsène told the cashier.

"Arsène!" Akira said in a hushed voice.

"I'm a thief! It's the principle!" Arsène rolled the hand with his cup. "Besides, the wages they pay these servants are truly criminal. When I was alive, I would pay my people more than enough to live deliciously!" He raised his other hand's index finger high over head, then brought it down.

"What was I to do with all my accumulated wealth? It's these businessmen who are the true criminals." Arsène scoffed, rolling his eyes behind his infernal, burning mask.

"Hey thieving is a crime, Mr. Arsène," Ryuji pointed out with a finger lifted of his own.

"So are a lot of things, but neither of us have anything to complain about my master ramming a brick into a man's head to defend an innocent woman." Arsène pointed back at him. "And so is wage slavery a crime. I would steal from the vaults and distribute them to everyone in this restaurant if I could benefit their lives, but unfortunately I'd have to aim higher than that for any significant change. Plus, some poor civilian will likely take the fall for my actions, and that's no good. Let's say I've had experiences with Persona wielders in the past, and we've had hiccups then."

"Persona wielders in the past?" Akira said. "Wait, I thought you said that you were mine to command."

"Yes, sweetie." Arsène tented his blade-like fingers. "...I'm sorry, I'm being too cordial."

"A little bit," Akira said, ignoring her red cheeks.

"Yes, master," Arsène said, correcting himself. "Thou art I and I art thou. But I am not you, and you are not I. Rather…"

He stood up, putting the cup down and bowing politely. "You speak with none other than Arsène Lupin, and he is not Akira Kurusu—pardon, Kurusu Akira. He is the first of those who have taken the name. …Well, you speak with what's left of him. A person such as myself lives on in the minds of so many and with such great power over the mind, they persist long after their death. Sometimes even in multitudes such as my fellow Jacks, I love those little fiends."

Arsène shook his head around, sighing fondly. "As the masses create their own little ideas, adding their personal touches to the canons of their stories, so do the individuals change ever so. It can result in Shadows that appear in many places at once, each with their own unique idiosyncrasies. …I prefer real cannons to biblical lore, and enjoy perusing some good apocrypha in my spare time. You will find that there won't be the only wielder of myself out there, and with luck, you shall not be my last."

"Why's that?" Akira pouted, arms folding quick. "What, am I not good enough for you to stay? My heart's being toyed with…"

"Oh, don't tempt me darling. And don't get it twisted, I've enjoyed what I've seen enough to stick with you for the long haul." Arsène adjusted his hat, covering enough of his face such that his grin looked like a much more serious grimace. "We are bound together. This contract was made by the two of us. Sure, I speak independently to you, but it is through your will and desires that gives me voice. I mean to say that should I no longer have any wielder at all…Then my time lingering in the hearts of humanity will have drawn to a close. The curtain will be drawn on me."

"So you can… die?" Ryuji said. "That's… cold."

"In so far as I may reach a cessation of existence. As a comrade whom I once fought with has said to me: I'm already dead," Arsène explained. "...I told him 'hai, omae da, demo watashi wa?' But it turns out the answer was that we both are not real and in fact dead."

"I know you are, but what am I?" Akira said.

"In some ways, are any of us real?" Arsène questioned. "I've been blabbering, forgive me. I just so do enjoy conversation. Well, should the legend of this wild card I see capture the hearts of the masses, I reckon she may become just like me in the end. A thief to the end, persisting so long as the memory of her exists. Ooh, I would love to wonder what skills she'll bring to the heist then."

"Wait-wait-wait, okay so I get all that—" Ryuji said as he jolted his finger upwards to the thief's red hat. "I got a question though."

Ryuji dropped his shoulders. "How come I can see you?"

Ryuji looked over at the cashier and dishwasher staring at the boy pointing and talking to nothing. Before said nothing revealed itself to be lifting the teapot he poured from without paying.

"Ay, this is none of your business. Can't a man talk to the voices coming out of his friend's head in peace?" Ryuji harshly spoke, shooing them away before grunting.

He sat back down, huffing and shutting his eyes. "Sometimes you just gotta weird out the gawkers." Opening one eye, he watched as the two workers clocked out and hurried out of there. "So yeah, what's the deal? I don't got a spirit like yours or any cool flames. Nothin'. Can I get like a pirate with lightning powers?"

"If you're asking for a pirate with lightning powers, you're probably getting a pirate with lightning powers," Arsène answered.

"Bitchin'," Ryuji said. "Oh, also, is it bad that I say that? Because I'm just saying it to be funny, but Kamoshida used it as an insult."

Arsène shrugged. "Master?"

"I say bitchin' on a daily basis," Akira said. "But Kamoshida said it to be well, a bitch."

"It's funny because it's a reversal of its usage as a pejorative to women." Arsène refilled his cup with freshly stolen tea. "A Persona's power set matches the unconscious or deeply-ingrained ideals of the user. One whose loved snow all their life will form ice powers. One who thinks of themselves as burning bright like a flame, in turn, develops flame maneuvers such as Agi, Agidyne, and so on. My master's naturally drawn towards the allure of darkness, giving her an attunement to the accursed and morbid. She calls upon hellfire like Eiha and could sleep in a bed of it if she so pleased. It's pleasant if done properly. Like wrapping oneself in a heated blanket under a full moon."

"Good, because the bed in my room isn't very comfortable," Akira said.

"Oh, I know darling." Arsène fanned his hand, huffing while rolling his neck. "After all, we are linked. I feel as you do."

Finishing his drink, the black-hatted thief cleared his throat. "To sum things up on powers, your ideals become your powers and your talents become your strengths. There are always exceptions, but in my age, most Persona Users I've seen tend to mix-and-match several main categories. If I had to guess my partner's weakness…"

He wrapped his hand around his slender phantom mask. "Should the blessed light that shines down reveal your face, it would spell your undoing. So, my companion, your mask is not only your guise, but also your strength that you should not give up. Keep to the shadows, they are your friend."

"So I shouldn't take off my mask when we fight…" Akira said, following him.

"Especially not in the world where Kira claims himself god, my dear. An early death would be an inconvenience to you and a tragedy to me." Arsène put his hands together and tented his fingers. "Why, if it were in my power, I would have put down the man himself the day he was born had I known the horror he would become. In all my time in the metaphysical realm since he appeared, I'm afraid his true nature remains elusive even to me. I fear what it could mean if he has managed to become a Persona User."

"That… that would be bad, right?" Ryuji said.

"I was a local legend to my people and the world's greatest thief in my era, yet I am but one of many Persona in the sea of souls," Arsène said. "Imagine what the man whom eighty percent of the world now reveres while virtually all of the world now fears. Rippers that stalk the night? Hah! …Kira is far worse than my fellow Jacks. Should he even realize Personas exist, the power he'd control solely by being beloved and feared by the masses would be immense. Because the realm of the Collective Unconscious is founded upon the masses, of course."

With that, Arsène blew a deep, deep breath. "Ohhh… I'm afraid Kira would be a divine nightmare if he had any clue as to who we Persona are. Thankfully, a man like that could never accept his inner self. A benevolent deity who performs as much killing as he does? The only thing he is would be the god of grand hypocrisy. But his power on the other hand, is another story…

"So you think it's not a Persona?" Akira asked.

"It has to be metaphysical, given his methods are supernatural in nature," Arsène explained, "And yet since his rise, I've never seen how he performs the act himself. Mudo, Hama, Samsara, these are all what you might call insta-kill maneuvers in your funny little modern devices, and given time, Akira could learn some for herself to dispose of some tricky opponents. …None of those methods resemble the means by which Kira attacks his targets. Again, I've never seen how he performs. Arsène Lupin I has drifted through the Metaverse throughout the years, but in the last decade or so, never have I caught so much as a glimpse as the man or being who must be behind the killings. My heart bleeds as a thief who tears down the unjust… A false god who has slain more than enough innocents while being allowed to roam free leaves me so very wounded as one who would be amongst his targets in life…"

"But it is not my game, and I am not the one in charge here." Arsène brought his hand to his chest, than reached out to Akira. "It is you, my lady, who will guide me with your hand. A queen of the night you may be, but from today and beyond, you are my chessmaster."

Akira gulped, nodding along quickly as she took Arsène's hand. It was surprisingly soft, despite how sharp they looked.

"I'd never harm my own master willingly, unless it was to prevent them from suffering much greater injuries," Arsène said. "Forced movements to evade deadly attacks can be… tricky."

He clasped his hands again. "Well! It's rather late today!" He got up, taking his cup and smoothly walking away with a skip in his step. "It's not Kira who's on your radar, currently. It's that Kamoshida fellow. And I cannot decide for you what you shall do. But, as the spirit that speaks for Akira's inner self…"

He turned his head back, the flames in his mouth blazing as he spoke, "I would not allow that man to go unchecked."

"Toodles!" Akira's inner self wiggled his fingers like a spider, heading through the glass door before vanishing.

"...Wait, can he actually leave?" Ryuji asked.

"No darling, though my range is wider than you'd expect," Arsène said, suddenly reappearing. Poking his head out of Akira's backpack. "A persona's range is tied to their wielder. The wielder of a thief should desire a range excellent for short or medium range combat, scouting and investigations."

He slipped back into Akira's body, resting within. "A pirate might demand short and long range combat. If it isn't his sword that will get you, its his cannon."

"Eeee!" Ryuji squealed. "...Wait, we never answered why I can see you."

"Oh," Arsène said, heard but not seen. "You spent an extensive period of time in critical distance of another Persona User within the metaphysical plane, having already come to clash against the Shadows that force us to confront ourselves. That is my theory. Should your will prove strong enough and you accept your inner self when the time comes, you too will manifest the power to unleash your rebellion upon the world. I see no reason why not, it's not as if this is power restricted to a select few. Anyone can accept themselves, in theory."

"Alright, goodnight. Soul projection is so exhausting." Arsène went quiet.

"Huh." Ryuji looked at Akira. "Wait, so did you already know this?"

Arsène popped his head out of her bag again. "No, this is the knowledge I've deduced in my lifespan as a Persona. I've been commanded by many wielders, long enough to build up a well of personal research."

He slipped right back down again, speaking from within Akira yet again. "Okay, goodnight for real."

"I see…" Ryuji said, looking down at his beef bowl and phone.

"Oh, shit! I gotta get home! It's like nine!" Ryuji quickly wolfed down the rest of his beef bowl quickly, mouth stuffed up with beef and rice. "Bye, Mr. Arsène! Bye, Akira!"

For a young man with a brace around his leg, that boy could run fast out the door. "Yar-har, fiddle-dee-dee! Being a pirate is alright with me!"

"Do what you want cause a pirate is free, you are a pirate…" Akira sang to herself, looking at where her heart was. "And you are a thief. Give back that teacup."

"Oh, fine." Arsène's arm sprouted out of her book bag to put down the cup on the table. "I'd pay for it, if need be."

Akira got up, whistling You Are A Pirate from the Kids T.V show LazyTown as she left the building.

She was going to be in trouble when she got home, wasn't she?

Chapter Text

Episode 6: Self-Experimentation

"I can't believe what you did, young lady!" Sojiro scolded her.

"I'm sorry, dad!" Akira snapped, raising both hands in front of her. "I was kind of having a busy day!"

"How was your day more important than your first day of school? I was told you skipped the first half, and then you didn't come home until nine! And I'm not your dad!" Sojiro raised the phone. "You know—urgh! I thought you'd do better than this! I thought when we were in the car, maybe you weren't actually such a delinquent after all!"

"I'm telling you, I didn't want this either!" Akira shouted, looking at her chest and speaking to herself. "Arsène, help a girl out?"

"I'll leave this to you. I'm afraid he can't hear me and if I tried to move anything to communicate with him, he might run away screaming," Arsène said from within.

"Can't you do anything?" Akira said from within as well. "You're a ghost!"

"Persona," Arsène corrected.

"Ghost? Persona? Stand? Whatever!" Akira said.

"You are being very inconsiderate right now, and very incorrect," Arsène remarked. "...I could probably make him wet his pants."

"That sounds like it's not going to help."

"Yeah, well I don't see many options that won't add fuel to the fire, now do I?" Arsène pointed out. "For better or worse, the external self will have to take the reins here. Good luck, my darling."

"Grghh…" Akira made something of a whimper. But it was time to pull up her big girl pants.

She had to lie through her teeth.

"A friend I made got jumped, then I got attacked by those thugs trying to step in," she started to say. "My friend wanted to treat me out afterwards, and we were discussing what to do in order to deal with them and that took way too long compared to what either of us were expecting. We didn't ask to pick the fight, but they backed us into a corner. Literally, we were in the corner of some weird dark place within the school when it happened."

Sometimes, Akira was a terrible liar.

"...Okay, so that's not… unexpected." Sojiro huffed loudly, eyes shut. "You know, I told you not to get into fights, but… are you being completely honest?"

"Trust me, I just wanted to get to class." Akira lowered her hands. "The guy who attacked us was a total creep."

"Ugh, I hate creeps." Sojiro rubbed his neck. "Okay, but you gave me a scare. I'm not going to grill you for this, because you already know you're going to be chewed out in the morning at school tomorrow. Get some sleep, and don't stay up too late. You need to be on your best behavior for your safety."

"Got it, sir!" Akira raised her hand, saluting the man.

"Mmhm." Sojiro took his hat, opening the door to Cafè Leblanc before looking back.

"Look, I just don't want you getting into trouble, okay?" he said, his eyes showing that he was sorry.

"I'm sorry, and I know," Akira told him.

"Good kid," Sojiro said. "You're not the only kid with problems out there, remember that. …But it's good that you tried to keep your friend safe."

The door to the café closed.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Arsène said as he phased out of her and into existence. "You need to work on your lying if you are to become a thief, though."

"And who said I wanted to be a thief?" Akira said.

"You did, because I did," Arsène did say. "I art thou and thou art I. I speak to you as your Shadow Self would. I could speak as your shadow self, if you would prefer."

He snapped his fingers. "Presto!"

"Huh?" Akira said. "Woah!" She watched as Arsène transformed quickly through mist and black dust, morphing into a new shape.

"Just like so!" Arsène transformed himself into a golden-eyed version of the black-hairedgirl before herself. Now she wagged her finger around, taunting Akira with a coy look.

"Arsène, don't steal from the wicked! Arsène, don't dream of punching Kira in the face! Arsène, don't leave my computer on, filled with all my weird and sexy porn!" Arsène, a.k.a, Shadow Akira, put her hands on her hips and wiggled her rump back and forth like a dancer.

"Stop that! That's my booty you're plundering!" Akira squeaked, setting down her bookbag.

"I'll plunder your booty, darling!" Shadow Akira spanked her tushie provocatively. "Hee-hee, hee-hee-hee-hee!"

"AAAH!" Panicking, Akira lifted her bookbag, ran up to Shadow Akira and smote the interloper with it.

"Owwie!" Shadow Akira tumbled to the ground while Akira herself appeared to have struck the air to anyone looking into the cafe. "Fuck you!"

"How dare you speak to yourself like that!" Akira snapped.

"I'm you, and you're me, so deal with it!" Shadow Akira argued, lower back arched high as she yelled back at herself.

With loud, one-way shouting that started to go down in Cafè Leblanc, a ginger-haired girl lifted her surprised head away from her computer and headset, staring out the window of the house right behind the restaurant. "What the fuuu…"

This girl snickered in a cheeky, impish manner, adjusting a pair of glasses that shined in the dark with the white reflection of her computer screen. Throwing herself right back to her computer, she started to rapidly click her keyboard in a way that was mostly superfluous but stylish. Then she raised her finger high, prepared to actually activate something.

"I always knew this day would come. No thieves are getting into Sojiro's fridge and getting away with it. Not even the tanuki," she said, grinning behind the ominous glow of her glasses as she pressed enter.

Activating all the hidden cameras in Cafe Leblanc. From the one tucked behind the clock. To the one between the gap between the refrigerator and the wall. Even the one slipped between the gaps of the air conditioner.

"Futaba - 1. Trash doggies - 0," she said, snorting. But blinked behind the glow in the reflection of her glasses.

"Oh, right. Sojiro did mention someone was coming to live there," Futaba said, remembering. "...Why's this weirdo picking a fight with herself? How is she doing that?"

"Don't blame me as if I'm not you!" Shadow Akira was pinned down to the ground.

"I didn't choose to start strutting about, shaking my butt around as if telling the world to come look and touch!" Akira said, one foot pinned to her other's cheek while yanking Shadow Akira's foot up.

"You are me! I act with the desires and will of you! I thought I made this clear!" While trying to push off the ground, Shadow Akira pushed her foot against Akira's mouth until it squished in a puffy, funny-looking way.

"...Now get your hand off my thigh, please," Shadow Akira said. "And if you refuse, then could you go a little lower?"

"Ugh, you're a pervert." Akira let go of her, letting the foot of the golden-eyed version of her drop back down.

"Oh hardy-har-har. That's because you bottle up your sexual desires, forcing me to carry the load." Shadow Akira rose back up with her hips braced and annoyed face. "If you were less restrained, I would not be at wit's end over here, filtering the emotions that stem from the countless lewd thoughts that enter and exit your hormonal mind. Although I suspect you'd find it a living nightmare if you were both in control and had my job to deal with too."

"What are you saying?" Akira asked.

"I'm saying, first, we should head upstairs," Shadow Akira said, waving at the lounge and the doorway. "You wouldn't want people to think you're a weirdo who berates herself in public over her horny thoughts. Kira hasn't declared such a thing to be a sin. …Shit, I hope."

"No-no-no! This is getting good!"

Shadow Akira looked around, settling towards the T.V. "Did you hear that?"

"Eeek!" The mystery girl spying on them shut off all cameras and audio devices downstairs, dashing to her bed.

"Wait. Wait-wait…" Pulling the sheets off her head, her glasses shined with a starry flare at the end. "Time to bring this out!"

The mystery girl pulled a pair of high-tech binoculars from underneath her pillow of all things.

"And!" She pulled out another thing in the form of a small box. "The one-way transceiver."

Thankfully, the other box was already in the girl's room. She always knew that if a thief was going to skulk about in Café Leblanc, then she needed to be watching like an owl in the night. Putting on the binoculars, she poked her head up, trying to keep low as she stared into the back window one building away.

"Stakeout time!" The mystery girl squinted the black shielding lens of her goggles, watching with red night vision at one girl fanning out an old blanket in the middle of the storage room while her twin draped herself over the bed and raised a leg high.

"...Hee-hee-hee—!" The mystery girl gulped, killing her smile. "This is strictly to protect the cafe from the trash doggies."

Shadow Akira now lifted both legs high, rolling her body back in a rather flexible manner. Even with the skirt falling away from her legs and her pink panties beginning to be put on display, she split those legs open with a bored look on her face before grabbing on the wire to close the shutter with just two toes, yanking it down before anyone could get a good look.

"Damn it!" Futaba squeaked. "I mean, damn trash doggies!"

"Hope you like what you saw!" Shadow Akira shouted with a grin. "Those trash doggies are quite pervasive!"

"Eep!" Futaba squeaked louder.

"Eeeek!" Akira squeaked even louder than her spy, grabbing her book bag to prepare for another smiting.

"What's wrong? Even if she saw, she wouldn't be given much to look at," Shadow Akira said. Rolling completely, now she looked up at Akira like what she was doing was no big deal at all. "...And she'd need to have the eyes necessary to see a Shadow Self."

Shadow Akira pointed at herself. To others, they'd see nothing. To Akira, only she would see herself on full display.

"That doesn't mean you can do that! Stop using my body in…!" Cheeks red as fire, Akira held her lips pursed, staring with her head tilted down. "Sexy ways. Very sexy… Wow, I didn't think we could do a split like that."

Her twin made a very amused grunt, breaking her disinterest. Or rather, revealing it was all merely an act as she winked ever so playfully. "Just how sexy am I, my darling? Or rather… are we, dear?" Shadow Akira raised her butt higher, splitting her legs as far as she could and arching low like a cat burglar prepared to take the diamonds she wanted by any means.

The bookbag came down, smacking Shadow Akira flat onto the bed.

"You deserved that one!" Akira said, steam rising out of her ears.

"I deserve nothing!" Shadow Akira insisted, dramatically rolling over and pointing to the ceiling.

Then she put her hand on her tit and squeezed it. "...Except this. Lord and savior Kira, I needed this."

"Stop that!" Akira insisted, throwing her hand. "Also stop pet naming me like you're some old timey thief!"

Shadow Akira a.k.a Arsène looked at her external self.

Just to prove the point, she brought her hand over her face, then swiped upwards. Now she bore the phantom mask of Arsène. Complete with shit-eating, flame-bearing grin.

"I know, I walked into that one…" Akira whimpered to herself.

"Yes you did, sweetie," Shadow Akira said behind her mask. "And I cannot help myself from saying such things, I am endeared to you." She lifted up, walking forward. With a sly and seductive gait, Shadow Akira circled around the confused girl eyeing her up, running her finger along her real self's neck before trailing it up, slowing down when she reached her chin just to scratch it with her nail. Before slipping away.

"Which is a lot more than most would-be Persona wielders can say for themselves." Showing up behind Akira, she grabbed the burning mask and lifted it halfway off her face, looking at her sweetly with a golden smile. "Generally, accepting one's inner self is the quickest way to attain a Persona, but that takes a degree of bravery and acknowledgement of one's own fears, faults and all sorts of insecurities. The journey to development is not complete by then, but it does start there for many. …However, imagine what it must be like for another to accept the rage they have for the murderer who has taken the life of their loved one. Or that the love they share for another may not be so altruistic. …Such things are difficult to entertain, much less accept as true."

She poked right at Akira's heart. "You, though? The only thing you've refused to acknowledge about yourself since the start is how much you get a thrill out of danger, especially when you might be seen or get caught. And even then, you already understood it on some internal level, I'm sure. In other words, you know you're a pervert."

Akira sighed greatly. "So because I'm a pervert, you like me?"

"You would not believe the number of Persona wielders who've faced themselves had some aspect of their Shadow Selves be deeply rooted in their perverse sexual desires. Exhibitionism, domination, and the works. It's not healthy for them to be so restrained." Shadow Akira sighed, pinching Akira's ear delicately and rubbing it in between her fingers. "There's nothing wrong in safely exploring your interests. Society might find you weird, but weird doesn't make you evil. But no, you got it wrong as to why I'm endeared to you. I'm grateful that the only thing you're worried about is actually getting in trouble. For instance…"

Shadow Akira brought her lips to her ear. "I know you take delight in nearly being seen and the danger of being caught."

She swiveled around and grabbed Akira's hips from behind. "You also love to be admired. You're a show off, through and through."

She reached her hand up, pinching her by the ear again. "And you turn weak when someone showers you with love and praise. I could say more, but I think enough's been said."

Shadow Akira made her way back to the bed, yawning before stretching greatly. "It's in my interests to see to it that you take care of yourself. Yes, including sexually," she said, lying down like a lady worth a million dollars who knew exactly who her clients were. "Now, Akira, when was the last time we've touched ourselves?"

"...True, it's been a bit." Akira had been very pent up since her arrest.

"And how many cute boys, girls, and teachers have you gawked at that you're now having ill-intentioned thoughts about?"

"More than two, more than three and at least one," Akira squinted, feeling caught red-handed.

"This is ground control to the major Akira, you should probably fix that soon." Shadow Akira rolled her finger around, giggling at herself. "...Seriously. If you don't, it will reflect in my own performance tomorrow, and we both need our focus."

"You are a far cry from the thief from like five minutes ago," Akira pointed out.

"Masks, dear! I wear masks, and you wear masks. Arsène is but one of them, and without it equipped, what is left of me is your inner self as informed by the master thief. Not the master thief as informed by your inner self," she explained. "Okay, that's it, I'm tired."

"Adieu, my darling!" Shadow Akira wiggled her fingers, before throwing her head into the pillow and snoring loudly. "Zzzz… mimimimi… Zzzz…"

"Can you at least not wiggle my butt in front of me while you're fake sleeping?" Akira said.

"No, this is my ghostly tushy is mine, and I shall shake it in my room as I please." Shadow Akira lifted her head. "I'm your inner self. I've been telling you since the start that you need to take care of your sexual urges. You're minutes from a wet dream if you don't because you can't accept the part of you that wants to desired and teased for your own sinful pleasures."

Akira grunted. It didn't help that Shadow Akira was making it hard on her to stay focused. And if she didn't stop sticking that ass out, Akira was going to smack it.

…Oh, sweet lord and savior Kira, Shadow Akira was right.

"I told you," Shadow Akira said. "This booty is a prized cake to die for. You could at least do yourself a favor and acknowledge it while you go play with yourself." She shook it left, she shook it right. She shook it left-right-left. Lifting it higher and spanking it as if to say 'come at me.'

"F-fine!" Akira stammered. "But… only when you leave! Okay?!"

"Fine by me," said her gold-eyed interloper, yawning. "Either way, I can focus and I can get some sleep." She rolled around on the bed, facing away from herself.

"If you're going to sleep, then I'm sleeping on the other side." She took one of the spare blankets to use as a pillow, lying down opposite of her twin. She laid there, quiet and waiting for time to pass with a stern, unflinching stare.

She felt the shifting of Shadow Akira's weight around. Her other self was aimlessly humming whatever song came into their head, lifting her legs and kicking her feet.

With the back of Akira's head pressed up against her other self, she could feel it. The weight of her thighs on her back. The feeling of her ass rubbing against the back of her head.

"You're taunting me again on purpose, aren't you?" Akira asked.

"Huh? No, I'm thinking about songs about being a pirate," Shadow Akira explained with complete honesty. "Not every inner thought is purposeful."

Akira grunted again, just lying there and waiting. And waiting. Trying to ignore the way her twin shook her hips while humming cutely as if she didn't have a single care in the world.

She was going to ignore it.

She could ignore it.

She wasn't going to let Shadow Akira win.

"...Damn that ass!" Akira finally had enough, lifting her head up and turning to Shadow Akira, slipping underneath her skirt and vigorously gripping a handful of her booty to knead like bread dough.

"Ahh-ah~!" More pleased than anything else, Shadow Akira let out the noisy moan Akira didn't want to let out. "What's this? The wild card has finally decided to take something for herself?" Still taking the time to taunt her, Shadow Akira poked her twin with her heel.

"You've been shaking my ass around like some kind of tease!" Akira took both hands and started playing with her other self while she moaned, sinking into the pillow.

"God, what am I doing?" Akira spat in a whisper. Was she losing her mind? Here she was, staring at a ghostly clone of herself, and she couldn't even resist keeping her hands off her? She felt a lot more thoughts buzzing around her head. None of them good. All of them depraved ones involving what she could do with this tease of a twin.

"Denying your instincts to take what you want because you're trying so hard to keep decorum. But whatever you're doing, don't stop—Ah~! Yes!" Shadow Akira bit her lip, squinting while looking out the corner of her eye with a beaming look on her own face. "More please, please, we haven't had any fun in months. It feels like ages."

"You just got here!" Akira growled, bringing Shadow Akira's ass closer to her. "And don't act like you're not at fault for any of this, you've been trying to get me to fool around this whole time!"

"Don't act like there's someone to blame when we share the same link! This is just a contest between conscience and impulse." Shadow Akira groaned with pleasure, arching her back. "But this half wasn't the one commanding you to grab me. I told you to go play with yourself."

"Yeah—well!" Akira thrusted in a fit of fluster, smacking her hips into her other self. "Why don't you see how I play with myself!"

"Ahn~!" Shadow Akira sucked a deep breath. "We're going to be too loud if you keep doing that! But I say that as if the thought wouldn't just get you dripping wet."

"Shut up!" Akira yelled at her. "You like spanking my ass? So here, have some more damn it!" She raised her hand and roughly smacked down on it, watching it shake and wiggle. Then she did it some more, and a little bit more than that. Giggling devilishly as she finally gave her some payback.

"Are you angry with me, or are you trying to have your way with me?" Shadow Akira knees bent towards each other, the ghostly girl rubbing her thighs while steadily growing dazed. "Either way, it's fair game~eek!"

"Good! I wanna hear you squeal some more!" A new wave of aggression rolled over Akira, one that felt seriously good as she watched Shadow Akira collapse back onto the bed, tired and breathing hard.

"Hah… hah…" Shadow Akira glanced back at her twin and cooed sweetly. "Take care of yourself before you make a mess. I have a feeling you wouldn't want to make your first time a case of masturbation." Tired, especially after the first day of being awakened, she shut her eyes for real.

"Yeah, yeah…" Akira said, pulling herself back. "You're right, I'm getting ahead of myself."

"...But you could also get head from yourself," Shadow Akira quickly pointed out, snorting. "Oh-hoh, I'm teasing."

Chapter Text

Episode 7: Playing His Game

4/12,

It was four in the morning when Akira threw her head out of bed. She hadn't actually gone to take care of herself when Shadow Akira went quiet. Mostly, she was embarrassed and in shock of her own forceful demeanor when it came to handling herself.

Shadow Akira let out a cute whine, seemingly drowsy with her eyes shut.

She looked at her other self, lying down in her bed as if she were sleeping. Could Shadows even sleep? Does the inner self dream differently to the real self?

Either way, trying to sleep off her arousal did nothing for her. Especially not with her other self's relentless teasing. …Which only made her all the more guilty over what she was about to do.

Some unknown minutes later, Akira washed her hands well with soap, slipped into her sleeping pants, and sighed exhaustedly. This was the opposite of heat rising off of her. She felt like her body was consumed in it. Like she would sink deep into an pool of it before fading away.

What kind of freak was she, anyways, getting off to herself while looking at her own reflection in the mirror? And yet it felt really good. Too good, dangerously good. She was left with plenty of thoughts about her other self…

It was the fault of that damned cheeky thief. And her cheeks! Those cheeky cheeks…

"Kh-sk!"

Akira jolted, head darting around, pulling up her pants. "What was that?!" It sounded like the T.V turning on?

"Oh lord Kira, this is the Inaba Foggy Day Murder Cases all over again," Akira said. "You can't push me in, okay! I've got arms in here!" She specifically had the arms of Arsène, but she wasn't going to say that.

"Huh?" Shadow Akira woke up, rubbing her eyes as she floated her way over to her twin. "Sleepy. Get some sleep. You're gonna be tired at school."

"Not now!" Akira pushed Shadow Akira away with a hand.

"Eepy, eepy, you're eepy." A sleepy Shadow Akira was a demanding mistress. She kept poking her in the cheek, her twin nuzzling her own against the nape of Akira's neck.

"Hush!" Akira stepped forward, putting her finger against her other self's lip.

"Mrgh…" Shadow Akira raised her head, slowly blinking her eyes. "You know, it will affect me should you fail to sleep. Come back to bed, darling…"

"Focus for now…" Akira whispered, moving quietly while her shadow hovered behind her. With light and silent steps, she brought herself lower, entering the lounge. Shadow Akira retreated back into her soul, slumbering within.

"...If you can hear this, then I'm glad to say I have finally made proper contact," she heard someone say. "Forgive me, I'm still new to attending this whole matter."

The white of the T.V screen softly illuminated the lounge in just such a way that none of the light escaped through the windows.

Akira was careful, looking to make sure that there wasn't anyone around.

Then she turned her wide, haunted red eyes to Sojiro's T.V.

There it was. That voice and that screen with that one letter.

"I suppose there's no harm in revealing my name to you at this point. After all… it's on the front of this very screen," the voice said, the white background flashing bright briefly for a moment. "L Lawliet. Ryuzaki. Ryuga Hideki. …But please, call me L. Otherwise, I may as well have no name at all."

Akira grunted, stepping back. Make no mistake, that broadcast from before wasn't just a coincidence.

"Feel free to ask any questions by the way. I will answer to my best ability," said the man behind the screen, L, his voice suddenly sounding a lot more clear. "After all, Kurusu Akira, you are exactly the kind of person I've been looking for."

Akira threw her whole body back with a great jump, wicked flames burning around her whole body. "What?!" she screamed loudly in the dark lounge.

When she dropped down onto her feet, she looked at her arms and hands. She was in the black cloak and red gloves she wore after awakening Arsène, reaching up and gripping her newly formed mask. She could feel her slumbering shadow pulsing in her heart, a twitch of the hand away from taking form right here.

"For future reference, I wouldn't rip that mask off once it's on until you've confirmed the area is secure. If I were you, at least. Kira can kill with only a name and a face. You of all people should know this," L said calmly. "Oh, and I suppose my presence here necessitates the weakening of the boundaries of the real world and the metaverse. That must be why your powers can activate in this abode of yours."

"Why are you looking for me?" Akira reached her hand out. Even without Arsène beside her, dark flame now danced within her palm, awaiting to be thrown.

"I suppose I've gotten off on the wrong foot…" There was shuffling behind L's screen for a moment. "I do not come with any ill intent. This isn't Kira coming to kill you or anything. Rather, I have a proposition to make. …A request really. I have very little to give to you as it stands currently. But I sense you and I could come to an agreement here…"

Akira lowered both arm and flame, calming down. "Okay?" She lifted her head. "Then what's your game? You showed up before for a reason, didn't you? What about now…"

"A game, huh? How amusing you'd say that," L said. "But first, let's move upstairs. There'll be less bugs."

Akira shuddered, but listened. She didn't like when bugs got inside her home.

"Grab the T.V. Don't worry, it's not supposed to be working anyways while I'm here," L told her.

Raising a perplexed eyebrow, Akira unplugged the T.V regardless. Only it didn't turn off at all, staying lit with the white screen L communicated from. In a way, it wasn't working, just opposite of what she expected.

She put the T.V down on the table she had cleaned up prior. Sitting on her bed and staring in silence.

"First of all," L said to her. "Wild Card, thank you for letting me into your room. ...Now, check the bottom of your bed. I'm pretty sure you'll find something we don't want in the room."

Checking under the bed, Akira found something hiding. An audio transceiver. "A bug?"

"Yes, how pesky they must be when your room is infested with them," L said, as Akira quickly hid it away downstairs. "I'm not sure who put those there, but if they have any connection to Kira, you could be in great danger."

"Kira?" Arsène spoke.

Springing out of Akira's body, the red and black fiend appeared. Her shadow donning her phantom mask, Arsène's eyes narrowed to a point, igniting with flame. "You speak as if you know him…"

"...Know him?" L said.

It took L quite a bit to respond to that.

"I'm sorry. That's a question I cannot answer," L said. "Perhaps I knew him, or at least, I assume as much. But, well, a long time has passed."

Arsène hit the wood on the ground hard enough to nearly crack it.

"All I can say now is that I most likely had confronted him at one point and lost. If I had won, Kira would not be active in the present day, unless a new one has taken his place," L went on to explain. "He's regarded as a terror to the Metaverse, too. My fellow monsters hide in fear of the world's number one dangerous killer, knowing his influence in the real world affects them in more ways than you'd expect."

"I see… " Arsène curled his hand. "The shadow of such a corrupt killer might turn its attention to all sorts of spirits, regardless of how truly wicked they are. I had just discussed how he could prove to be a terrifying Persona User, but simply put, the existence of Kira already proves threatening to both worlds."

"So what do you want from us?" Akira asked. "Why did you pick me?"

"My first attempt at communicating to you was actually a signal broadcasted to anyone who was listening at the time. My S.O.S. You happened to be the first and perhaps only one out there to have ever noticed the presence of L Lawliet within the Metaverse, at least since I started these broadcasts. Taking note of your reaction, I did everything I could to locate your position and the nearest T.V to broadcast from. That took about the remainder of the day and some change, by the way. I was, at one point, the world's first, second and third greatest detective of the modern era."

"So that explains it, you are that old detective…" Akira straightened herself. Her memory was becoming a little more clear. Years ago she was just a little kid, legs crossed and surrounded by the many others in the orphanage. Watching a small T.V just like this one. With that same white screen on display.

"But I assure you, L is real! I do exist! Come on, try to kill me! Come on! What's the matter? Can't you do it?"

Whoever was talking back then was aggressively taunting Kira, beckoning him to strike him down. Only to prove right before their eyes that Kira could not kill everyone. The first ever clue in what would become the Kira Case, leading to the discovery of the next biggest piece of evidence: That Kira was not a god, but very much human. A monster in human form. A fact quashed and denied by all his followers, but it served to bind those who rebelled against him together. It meant that he was not the almighty being that could kill everyone in an instant. No, it meant he could be killed.

"All mortals die…" Akira said.

"And so too must I have died, or so I suspect. As far as it matters, anyways," L said. "It's why I'm speaking to you in such a haphazard way instead of meeting you more properly. I do love a good game, but I also desperately hate to lose. I would refuse to let go of the world's most dangerous game until I caught Kira with my own two hands or perished along the way. And yet, I cannot even battle him on his own turf in this state. So obviously, something must have happened to the so-called World's Greatest Detective."

"You're saying the things that sound like what L would say…" Akira leaned forward. "But how do I know you're the real L? Lots of rumors have gone around. Some people are saying that L has been replaced by a new L long ago."

"I'm afraid when one L dies, another comes to take their place. That much, I can tell you," L said. "Which means there must likely be a living successor out there, or another fit to take the name. Though L would at this point be hardly a fitting name for the successor. After all, why name the World's Greatest Detective after the world's biggest loser? No-no-no, we must start all over again. It's only fair, you must agree."

"Well then, L, what is it you propose to us?" Arsène said. "State your case."

"While Kira is a personal enemy of mine, in reality, I've manipulated unreality temporarily in order to come to bring you a message," L said.

…From behind L's screen, a string of piano notes started to play. Ominous, foreboding, and yet… hopeful. Akira wasn't sure if he was actually playing them, but he seemed not to speak about it as he instead focused on the message itself.

"The match has been won years ago, and yet the game still refuses to end. To change its outcome for the sake of humanity, a new king of shadow must lead their followers into the realm beyond to take down the false king of light. Only bonds forged by iron and flame will hold strong enough to chain down the one who seeks control above all else."

"...These words have been stuck in my head since as long as I can remember my existence in the Metaverse," L explained afterwards. "There is more for me to relay to you. Should you agree to these conditions, then I am to serve as your contact. To oversee your path to freedom as both collaborator and agent. Though my powers are but a portion of what they must be for the task, I am told they may prove enough to allow you the fighting chance to lift the veil of distortion plaguing this world. …How interesting, in all honesty. I've never done any of this sort until now."

"What kind of powers do you have?" Akira folded her arms, only to hear rapid, sudden whispering behind the screen.

"Yes, perhaps there's things we must both strive towards in both worlds…" L briefly spoke as if discussing something with another person besides someone else Akira. "Oh? Sorry, another one of my partners, your would-be collaborators, briefly spoke up. Ahem, for starters…"

"Welcome to the Velvet Room…" he said. "Is something I very much wish I could say."

"The Velvet Room?" Arsène tugged his black hat over his eyes. "Don't tell me you're an attendant to that place…"

"I'm afraid I lack the power to do little more than bridge the gap between the two realms, and speaking to you as I do now took quite a bit of effort on my end," L said. "You'd be making a deal that would vastly favor only one party if you accept this mission as it stands. My deepest condolences. But… perhaps I can grant this knstrad."

"Woah!" From Akira's heart sparked a flare of blue light. From it sprung a single, ethereal playing card. Spinning around until it showed her the silhouette of a trickster with a phantom mask, that trickster looking startlingly similar to a shadow version of herself. 0 - The Fool.

"A bond is being forged at this very moment. I merely pulled it out of the soul it resides in. Kurusu Akira, it would seem this represents you and your journey. One whose path will be ever changing," L told her. "Hold on to that. I have a feeling that it will prove useful."

Akira took the Fool card and lifted it up. "Ever changing, huh?" she said. "Okay, I'll bite."

"Do you mean to say you shall agree to this contract, master?" Arsène asked. "Missions from the Velvet Room can lead to great and dire journeys most aren't prepared for. After all, even I've drifted in and out of it when called upon by different masters."

"I think I'm starting to get the idea of what this journey's about." Since it came out of her heart, Akira brought the card right back to it, and it slipped right inside her soul just as Arsène would. "Okay, I'll play this game."

"Thank you for agreeing to the contract," L said, as the world started to grow darker and foggier. "You do seem like you carry your own strong sense of personal justice. I do wonder where it takes you. For now though…"

"Wake up."

"Wake up."

"WAKE UP!"

"Gyahh!" Akira threw herself out of bed, blasted by her phone's alarm.

"WAKE UP-WAKE UP-WAKE UP-WAKE UP-WAKE UP!" it went off. "You wanted to! Wake up-wake up-wake up-wake-up! You wanted to!"

"Argh, damn it!" That's what she deserved for thinking a humorous remix of a metal song would serve as an effective alarm clock to get her stubborn butt out of bed. And it was, perhaps too effective. Present Akira said Future Akira was going to deal with it, and now she's Future Akira, dealing with it.

"Good morning. I took the liberty of replacing the T.V before Sojiro questioned how it got up here." Draping himself on the ground on top a blanket weaved with the spectral hellfire of Eiha, Arsène whimsically sipped a drink of coffee he acquired downstairs, one leg arched high and the other straight. "You have business called hauling your rump over to school before you risk another expulsion."

He brought the coffee out. "Additionally, this coffee?" He rolled his hand around to present the mug to her. "To die for, my darling. You simply must try it. It should keep you awake since you were so insistent on staying up."

"How long was I out?" Akira said.

"Short enough that your performance in school will suffer if you are not careful." Arsène flapped his wings and rose onto his feet. "Now come, let's go."

Akira quickly dressed herself, grabbed her bookbag, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and hurried down the stairs.

"Bye Mr. Sojiro!" Akira said, hurrying out the door while the man was cleaning a cup.

"How many times do I gotta say I'm not your—!" Sojiro turned his head before opening his eyes wider. "Wait, she said my name."

Before he noticed, Arsène took the time to replace the clean coffee cup in Sojiro's hands with the one in his hands to be cleaned.

"What the—?!" Sojiro looked down at the sink, seeing a new cup that practically spawned out of nowhere. Not realizing the switcheroo.

Cackling maniacally as he phased through the walls of the building, Arsène was tenting his hands together like an evil villain. Following after Akira.

"Sexual assault, physical assault…" Sae put her hand on her head. "That would line up with the crimes you picked your targets over at that time. Your impulsive recklessness meant you started by committing heat of the moment retaliations, spurred on by the need to defend others."

"No wonder you went after Kamoshida, you got a good heart." Sae lifted up her head, leaning in. "But a good heart isn't going to get you out of prison. You know that?"

"I know the risk of what I'm doing," Joker said. "I'm already this deep in, prosecutor."

"The big mystery in my head is all this extra stuff…" Sae said. "Spirits, a Metaverse, the sudden appearances of fallen detective L. And this castle with Kamoshida as its ruler? These explanations are too elaborate to be just a ruse. And if you're really trying to deceive me, I'd have to ask why you've decided on such an impossible explanation."

"You asked for the truth, Lady Sae. I'm simply giving you the truth." The black-haired thief brought her hands out, smirking as if content that the tides were turning. Even as beaten as she was.

"I'm going to have you continue the story," Sae said. "We know that sometime later, Kamoshida's scandals would be proven. The abuse, the… violations."

"The sexual assault," Joker spat with venom.

Sae narrowed her eyebrows, scrutinizing the prisoner.

"What? That's what it was." Joker grinned, but it wasn't out of joy or anything of the sort. She was holding back a deep, fiery anger, blood boiling.

"You say that as if you have no sense of respect or decorum for the matter," Sae said.

"Decorum? No, I don't care about that," Joker admitted. "But I don't want to sweep what he did under the rug. It's sweeping it under the rug that allowed him to get as far as he did in the first place. If decorum played a part in why nobody said anything, then decorum should be discarded."

Joker huffed deeply. It was one of those things where she just couldn't stop opening her mouth or acting out for. If she did nothing, that could lead to someone else getting hurt all over again.

…Now after having spoken so sharply, Joker sank her head. "Perhaps I'm angry simply for being used to silence and soft words. I don't mean disrespect. But if we're holding back here, we're going to be dancing around the subject later."

"...Yes, the sexual abuse," Sae said, folding her arms while staring at her. "If I were in court, I wouldn't be speaking softly on the matter either. But sometimes it's important to know when to speak soft and when not to. There are others to consider, like the wellbeing of other victims. …But you're right about one thing, at least. If Shujin Academy didn't hold silent on this, maybe we could have helped people far quicker."

"Now, tell me the specifics," Sae asked. "How exactly did things go down in the moments before you targeted him?"

With that, Joker closed her eyes, and the world flashed white.

Chapter Text

Episode 8: Dead Man's Volley - Part 1

4/12,

While the first day of school for her was a mess, the second day wasn't much better.

"After being as late as you were yesterday, you're on thin ice, Sakamoto!" Kamoshida snapped at Ryuji, watching him pass by without any sort of acknowledgement to the man who lorded over the castle.

"You've had a hard fall from greatness after you quit the track team! Nothing but a troublemaker nowadays!" Kamoshida spat.

Ryuji looked back at the bastard, but still said nothing as he walked away.

"And you!" Kamoshida snapped, staring down at Akira now.

While sneering in anger at the girl, he suddenly started to crack a grin of all things. "Oh, I know your face!"

Akira grunted. She wished she had a weapon or anything of the sort to defend herself with, staring at the man who tried to force himself on her. He could very well try it again.

"Just say the world and I will act on your command, my master," Arsène said to her and her alone. "Any number of accidents, non-lethal of course, could be done to serve to humiliate and distract him while you escape."

"Just hold on for now," Akira said. Knowing he would take his anger out on others, she didn't like the sound of poking the bull without preparation.

"Ahhh, you're that girl who was chatting up Ms. Takamaki!" Kamoshida put on that overzealous grin of his, puffing his chest with pride. "Hey, I can overlook that tardy of yours if you hear my proposition. Join the volleyball team! The two of us can get to know each other and clear up any bad air. Huh? Know what I'm saying?"

For a brief moment, the world flashed dark. And Akira was staring at the crowned ruler of the castle and his mostly bare self. Eww. Ryuji was right, that glitter was wasted on him.

"Sorry, I don't really do clubs. Goodbye," Akira said, hurriedly turning away from him and walking fast. The world turned back to normal, with Kamoshida now dressed as himself.

"Hey! Why not—!" Kamoshida stepped forward, trying to reach and grab her.

"Arsène, if there's a paint bucket nearby, throw it all on him," Akira told her spirit. "Now."

"As you command!" Arsène was already on the rooftop with a bucket full of gray paint clasped in his lengthy hands.

"GYAH—!" Kamoshida was splashed from head to toe in paint, swinging his fist. "You damned delinquent—!"

When Kamoshida flicked the paint away his eyes, he saw the delinquent holding the door to the entrance open before slipping right in. She didn't even so much as look at him.

"Huh?" Kamoshida looked up, watching the paint bucket drop from the roof only to roll over to his feet. "...Damn birds."

"Damned devils, more like it." Arsène cackled to himself as he phased downwards through the rooftop, finding his way back to his master.

"Ah, what wonderful a feeling it is to tarnish the visage of a king so mighty!" Arsène twirled over the floor of the hallway, blue flames overtaking him before the devil transformed back into the form of Akira's shadowy twin. The trickster's twin hurried back over to follow behind the real Akira, wrapping her arms around her neck.

"You're very cuddly, you know that?" Akira said.

"The same is to be said for you," Shadow Akira told her with a sweet hum. "You know the saying about us Shadow selves, darling. Now, wasn't that fun?"

Akira smiled at her other self. "Perhaps it was. I just hope we can do something about him if he gets even angrier. But I couldn't stand the way he was trying to get his way with me."

"And in case you didn't see her yesterday, this is our new transfer student, Kurusu Akira. She was late yesterday due to having a mild fever." Kawakami brought her hand out to the student in front of the classroom. She spoke with the least enthused voice, dropping back into her seat with a deep sigh as she crossed her legs.

"I'm sorry." Akira bowed her head politely, greeted them all, then moved to take her seat.

"So that's the thug people were talking about…" a student whispered.

"She looks sweet, but she's probably pure bad news," another said.

"Why do you think Kira hasn't gotten to her yet?"

"Do you think he will?"

"I think Kira hasn't been doing enough if people like her are still around…"

She listened in on just about everything they were saying. It was more or less what she expected. Behind Akira false smile, what was left were the eyes of someone who rejected it all. Distrusting it all.

They had already judged who she was before even meeting her. Any criminal out there was inherently wicked in their eyes, regardless of the crime.

"Liar," the girl she met yesterday said.

That got Akira to gasp, pulling her out of her own mind.

The transfer student had taken the seat behind the blonde girl she met yesterday, as it seemed like the best option out of all of the open seats.

Naturally, that led to that girl, Takamaki, glancing back at her and speaking both firmly enough to get her point across yet quietly enough to not raise suspicion. "You were at the station yesterday. You were standing with me under the rain."

"...Sorry," Akira said, eyes softening up considerably as she took her seat. "I didn't choose to be held up."

"By who?" Takamaki said, her eyes growing alert as her eyebrows creased further.

"By Kamoshida," Akira said. "I had a bad incident with him."

"Wait, but you didn't…" Takamaki's eyes went very wide at that. She grabbed her shoulder, turning her head away. After that, she didn't say anything. Leaving Akira to keep her head low.

That was the only voice in the room that actually did hurt to hear. So swift and sharp, it wasn't until it was over that Akira felt as if she let her down without realizing it. Perhaps in some way, she did deserve it for getting caught.

A whistle blew loudly. "Get ready!" Kamoshida said, raising his volleyball as he stood center on his side of the gym's arena. With a thundering smack, he spiked it down at the opposing team with one person in his sights.

"Hey—!" Cut off midway, a boy with short and spiky blur hair was slammed square in the face. He was already covered in pretty bad bruises, with bandages over whole parts of his face.

"Come on, keep up!" Kamoshida already prepared another volleyball, serving it before the boy could even recover.

"If you don't, you'll never be good for anything, Mr. Yuuki!" Kamoshida launched a third volleyball. The poor boy was practically getting struck down by a vice-ridden god, with the final strike sending him flying to the ground.

"Tch, that's the Kamoshida I really know," Ryuji said. "The one we met in the castle wasn't that far off at all." He was kneeling at the corner with his right knee raised, the majority of his weight on his left leg. In his hands were playing cards, with him activating Pot of Greed to draw two more cards.

They were playing with old Yugioh cards to kill time. No banlist.

"Can he be any more insufferable?" Shadow Akira activated the trap Magic Jammer, negating Ryuji's spell before its effect could properly go off. Being a spirit tethered to a host, she found it amusing that she was playing a game with a show about spirits tethered to hosts.

"He's not even trying to hide what he's doing. He's just bullying that boy," Akira said, paying close attention to the volleyball match being played. Everyone was keeping their eyes on Mishima. Kamoshida was going only after Mishima. And nobody was doing anything about it.

"Frankly, not a single person has the guts to do something about it," someone said. "But it's hard to blame them. If they speak out, they're next."

"Gwah!" Ryuji pulled himself up out of sheer shock, feeling like someone was breathing down his neck. "Who are you and what are you doing?"

…Blinking a pair of unusual golden eyes, the one who seemingly cornered them out of nowhere spoke.

"You and her were being unsubtle about your stakeout." They had white, messy hair that stood out, twirling a strand of it between their fingers. And despite unusual eyes, they held a look of boredom and resentment in equal parts on their face.

"If you think we stand out, you should probably check yourself in the mirror," Shadow Akira said.

They pointed at Akira, making a line between her vision and Kamoshida's head, before bringing their finger to Yuuki. "The more intensely you stare, the more you signal you're on guard. Its important to make sure to keep a natural disposition. And try to avoid directly staring at them for long from a distance like here. You're less likely to draw their attention."

Akira stared at Ryuji, both of them trying to avoid paying focus to the shadow of Akira playing Yugioh with him.

The golden-eyed individual blinked and blinked. Staring in between Akira and Shadow Akira.

…Did, did they know she was there? She could pretend she herself was just playing Yugioh with him, right?

"So…" Akira said.

"Yes?" they said, eyes now turned to Akira herself.

"...You like Yugioh?" Akira squinted, not sure as what to say. Trying to probe whether they could or couldn't see her other self sitting next to her. Thankfully, Shadow Akira already kept her cards near the ground, so it didn't look like anything was magically floating.

"I played it as a kid, yes," they said. "Sorry, I only play the old video games." Tilting their head to the left, they continued to play with their hair, ignoring Shadow Akira.

It was hard to tell their gender at a glance, and Akira didn't want to be rude. They looked and sounded quite feminine, yet they wore the boy's gym uniform. The longest one they could get their hands on despite being one of the shortest people in the room.

"What's your gender, bro?" Ryuji asked, blinking surprised. "Ah—uh, that bro was gender-neutral. Sorry."

"Do I have to answer?" they said, as if they hated the thought of giving an honest response to that.

"So… gender bad?" Ryuji asked, leaning his head.

"Not really?" they said as if unsure of their own response. "I just don't like mine. Yours is fine."

"...Damn, that's rough," Ryuji said, patting his chest. "At least for me, I can't imagine what it's like to not want to be a boy. It must suck."

"I can, and it does suck. Well, not in the way you're thinking of," they said, putting their hand back down. "Now can we skip the question? This is making me crabby."

Somehow, 'boy' felt like it definitely wasn't the answer. Akira couldn't speak on the other options, but it definitely wasn't boy.

Ryuji lifted his head. "...What's ya pronouns—"

Kamoshida shouted towards them, hands raised high, "You there! Get over here, N—!"

"Argh, my alarm!" Ryuji reeled back, lifting his phone as it blared in his ear so suddenly. It was playing a remix of Sea Shanty 2 from Runescape, preventing him from hearing the person's full name.

"I don't know why I leave this on, I don't even go to track anymore…" Ryuji paused the alarm, disabling it and adding a new one to fit his adjusted schedule.

"I hate that name…" The person said with a deep sigh. Truly, that name was dead to the individual.

"Well, it's the only one you got, so I'll call you it whenever I see you! Get up and show me what you can do!" Kamoshida spat at them.

Kamoshida lowered his head. "Damn nerd…" He scoffed, before chuckling while whispering low to himself. "Maybe if they were anything like any of the good female volleyball members, they'd be good for something. A face like that is wasted on the bastard."

The person in question was nimble for their small build, speeding over to Yuuki's team before putting their hands in their pockets. "Whenever you're ready."

The whistle blew. "Mr. Yuuki clear the way! You know what comes next," Kamoshida said, raising his volleyball.

S-S-Ssslam! He spiked it over the net, aiming only and only for the mystery student. The volleyball shot with the speed of a red hot bullet.

"Heh." The mystery student grinned like an imp, easily seeing through Kamoshida's intent.

They simply dodged, arching backwards while making it look effortless.

"One point, Kamoshida!" one of the students announced.

Yuuki lifted his head. "Wait, you shouldn't—"

"You're supposed to take the hit! Or what? Can you not even make an attempt to do your job and try and score a damn point?" Kamoshida shouted. "Are you that lazy? Do I have to bring you in after class to correct this behavior?"

"Sorry, I don't have an interest in playing your game," they said, grinning. "I am still following the rules, aren't I? Although nothing said I had to go after the ball—"

Smack!

The white-haired student slid back hard. They blocked the shot with their arms, preventing Kamoshida from hitting them with his worst.

"...I hear you had a messy accident with paint earlier today. By the way," they said, dusting themselves off. "Sorry to hear. Hope no one saw that poor, poor paint can get hurt." They made sure that Kamoshida could see the grin on their face, relishing in the anger that seethed from the man's own red glare.

"Hey, don't agitate him!" Yuuki said, stepping closer and grabbing their shoulder. "You don't know what he's—!"

"Here comes the serve!" Kamoshida, launching the ball as high into the air before leaping after it.

"Ah!" Yuuki blinked his eyes open, knowing what was to come.

"Have a taste of my victory-winning spike!" Kamoshida came down, slamming the volleyball so hard, it started to smoke.

"Watch out!" Yuuki pushed the student out of the way before they could take it, only for the ball to strike him in their place. Spinning against his stomach so fast he was left with red hot friction burns.

"Gyaaagh!" Yuuki was flung back, hitting the wall behind him. Sinking to the ground.

He deeply groaned, clutching his chest as the mystery student looked back.

"What on earth…?" The mystery student's smirk was wiped away instantly, watching Yuuki who now held onto himself in agony.

"That shot wasn't meant for you, Yuuki! Don't get in the way! And you, I'm not done with you yet—!" Kamoshida raised the next ball while pointing at the mystery student, before spitting their name out with enough corrosive malice that he could have burned right through the net like acid.

"I told you that's not my name." The student turned around, knowing the battle wasn't over. But not without shooting a glance at the students watching. "And is anyone going to go help him?"

A student in the back grabbed her friend, slipping away from the scene before anyone noticed. As for the majority, they were all lined up along the sides of the volleyball arena area. Watching them, but standing still.

"Nothing? Nothing at all, huh?" the mystery student said to the students watching Kamoshida. "...Figures."

Sighing, they got ready. There was no guarantee they could dodge this one.

Kamoshida jumped up, tossing the volleyball. This time, he swung his hand down, only to stop short, grinning as he successfully baited the student into jumping away too early.

Now the student gasped mid-leap, realizing Kamoshida wasn't playing by his own rules either. Kamoshida waited a moment longer to touch the ground, jumping higher than before.

"You should be worried a lot less about Yuuki and more worried about yourself! That's why you'll never win!" Kamoshida drove the volleyball downwards, aiming the spinning ball straight at the student's jaw.

"Ghh—!" The student blocked with their hands, trying to hold back against the burning ball striking against them. Only for the volleyball to break through, driving and skidding against their cheek until a violent crack echoed from the ball rebounding away from the..

The student hacked out spit, flung straight to the ground head first before being tossed around along it. Until they collapsed with their head against the floor, a heavy thud heard by everyone watching.

…And yet, the white-haired student shakily grabbed the ground and pushed back up, one knee raised while they rested their arm against it. Beaten and down, their hair fell over their face while they caught their breath.

They lifted their head, their golden eyes casting an eery, ominous glare. "Got another one in ya?" they said to Kamoshida, a savage grin to accompany their words.

"Ahhh, you know what? Why yes, I do!" Kamoshida braced his hips as his laugh reached throughout the gym. "Let's do a retry, since you're so eager to get served!"

"...Me and my big mouth," the student said. With another sigh, they wiped away that smile and looked down, forcing their body to rise. Brushing against their cheek with a hand. All this was going to prove was the extent to which Kamoshida would go to assault students publically. Though they had doubts this would change much.

"Hey!" Akira shouted.

She brought her hand out, standing right in front of the arena. "Let me have a turn!"

"Hmm?" Kamoshida blinked. "Oh, it's you. Finally decided to change your mind about joining the volleyball team? That's a shame. I'm not sure if it's a good idea anymore… Heh-heh-heh, well, we can still discuss it one-on-one if you're willing."

"Just toss your balls already," Akira said, preparing to bounce his next strike back.

"Hey!" Kamoshida glared at one of the students on his side. "Get over here and do your job! Set up this next one! We're going to see what she can do."

"Yes, Mr. Kamoshida!" A panicked, jittery student hurried up to stand where Kamoshida was at while he moved to the side.

"Show us a good time, Ms. Kurusu!" Kamoshida tossed the ball into the air. The anxious student ran over to the volleyball, sweeping low and bumping it over the net.

"Heh." Akira grinned. What an easy opportunity.

She braced her knees, leaping off the ground and into the air. Bringing her hand high, she smacked the volleyball, returning it to her target.

"What?!" Kamoshida's eyes nearly bulged out. The speeding shot nearly got him in the head, brushing just past his hair. Enough to make his hair sweep back away from his head.

"Wow! What a good look, fit for royalty!" Akira landed gracefully. "To you, a toast, my king!" Pretending to hold a wine glass, at the same time she gestured towards his hair and the way it was now sticking out the wrong way. All the while bowing like a refined butler.

The crowd started to laugh around Kamoshida, before the teacher could properly grasp what was going on.

"What the—! What!" They were mocking him. Him, the prized medalist of Shujin Academy. And they were mocking him?

The student serving as referee blew the whistle, pointing Akira's way. "One point!"

"Next serve!" Kamoshida said, taking the next ball into his hand. "Let's see how you hold up without that beginner's luck of yours!" The ball shot into the air, and he jumped high enough to reach it.

Bam! The volleyball smashed back down, Akira ducking while twisting her body around to watch it hit the ground before rebounding hard against the wall.

"Ah-hah-hah-hah! What? Don't you know how to aim?" Akira pulled herself back up, reaching for her heart while reeling her head back.

"You—!" Kamoshida huffed steam through his nose. "You're supposed to go for the ball! That's whole the point of this game!"

"With the way you play this, you'd think you were a dodgeball teacher!" Akira rolled her head around, swinging forward before leaning with a hand on her knee. "Are you sure you're actually an Olympic medalist, Mr. Kamoshida? Or is your medal just for show?"

Kamoshida's hands shook, the ball within his grip squeezed down tight enough to nearly pop.

"What does she think she's doing?" a student watching said.

"I don't know, but it sure is funny!" Those in the crowd were starting to laugh even more. Although most kept their heads low, a few of those students even started to get up and approach, increasing the attention on the furious, bullish teacher.

The rage within Kamoshida reached its boiling point, the muscular man lifting his boot and crashing it into the ground. "Enough!"

There was a crack that ran through the gym. Right as one formed within the floor, revealed when Kamoshida lifted his boot back up. Light started to seep out of it. A distorted red and purple aurora, not unlike the fog within the castle he lorded over.

"I'm the king here, and I will not stand for this behavior while you stand in my domain!" He exploded with rage. His eyes burned golden, pure anger flaring out of them as the world flashed, darkness taking over them.

His crown sat on his head once more, as did his cloak shine around the rest of his body. Raising not a volleyball but a chalice of victory. "You think you can stop the whole world so we can play your silly game? Fine! We'll play by your rules!" His voice was as distorted as the world around them. It was as if two Kamoshidas were speaking at once.

"Come on, then, you damn delinquent son of a bitch! I should have you expelled given what you've already gotten up to!" The world warped once more, returning back to normal. With Kamoshida's eyes and clothes reverting as well.

Whether he was a king or just a gym teacher, Akira was going all in.

"Come on! Get your asses over here!" He looked at two of his students, snapping his fingers as they rushed over in a heartbeat.

"Hey! Hey, come on!" Ryuji sprung up off the ground, sprinting over to Akira's side. "If you're going to get backup, then I'm jumping in too! She can't fight you three-on-one!"

"Sure, sure! Just tell me something. Which one of you here wants to come in and help the delinquents!" Kamoshida pointed at the two of them opposing him. "But be warned, it might look poorly on you if you go up against your teacher! Even if you have good intentions, think about what the principal will think of three disruptive students stopping all of gym class, wasting everyone's time to harass the school's star just to play a pointless dodgeball match! I'm just being honest here!"

"I…" Yuuki tried to get up and step in, but the pain was too much for him.

"Just wait," the mystery student said, hand brought out before him. "We'll get you to the infirmary soon enough." They weren't in any condition to jump into the match either, but they kept their eyes on Kamoshida and the two rebellious students.

Then their eyes scanned the crowd. Of all the students there, only one stood out to them. One who wasn't either cowering or laughing behind Kamoshida's back. Takamaki.

She was keeping her head low, but the glare she gave Kamoshida held more rage than the eyes of anyone else in the gymnasium. She bit her lip so harshly, they could have bled from doing so, before keeping her eyes on Akira and Ryuji.

Soon after, she sank her head briefly. But pulled it back up and refused to stop watching.

"Three to two, it doesn't matter! Because you're about to get a bad beating right now!" Once again, Ryuji found himself standing up against the real world's Kamoshida. The situation had changed, but the motive was the same. He just didn't like the guy, and hated how he put others down.

"He doesn't realize just opened himself up to a mighty fall," Arsène said, his wings slipping out of Akira's back."In his game, his enemies are not meant to retaliate and can only take his punishments. In this one, however, anything goes provided we still conform to the rules. And if his desire to assert his dominance here is so strong as to crack the barrier between the real and the unreal even a tiny bit, then the powers we can rely on will be that much greater."

"But he's probably angrier than ever," Ryuji said, rolling his arm as he hopped from one leg to the other, getting into position. "We're going up against a red-eyed bull right now."

"Then let's go for a bullseye," Akira told Ryuji. "I'll lead."

One of the students acted as referee, arm raised. "The game will end when one side's members are all tagged out! Getting hit by your clothes or body will tag you out! Catching the ball will allow the catcher's team to serve! If the ball is rebounded by the opponent and hits the server before the ball drops, it is the server who is disqualified! And going out of the arena will disqualify you!"

"We won't change the balls," Kamoshida said, tossing the ball to the referee who scrambled to grab it.

"But, Mister, the volleyballs are too heavy to—!"

"We won't change the balls!" he snapped at the student. "Now toss it into the arena."

To no one's surprise, the student tossed the ball back to Kamoshida, allowing him to serve first.

"Good." Kamoshida's lips twisted into a smile, glaring at Akira.

"Hope you got what you wanted! Now don't go crying!" He swept his boot back along the ground, pitching the ball through the air as hard as he could. Just like a spartan throwing a javelin.

This time, it caught on fire. Whistling through the air, Akira braced herself and took the ball head on. Her hands smoked, burning as the fiery shot spun against them.

"He didn't realize we weren't outnumbered, but that he was outmatched as well! Give it everything you got!" Arsène's wings flapped as blue flames ignited around his master, with the demonic trickster grasping onto Akira's hands. The feet of the demon slid back with Akira's as master and guardian braced against the attack together, forcing it to spin and spin until it lost all its powerful momentum.

Arsène laughed into the wind, hands kept firmly around Akira's and the ball. "So then, darling! What do we do when a high and mighty king strikes at us?"

Akira grinned with a lust for battle as she raised the ball overhead. "We strike back, hard!"

"Good! But we can be a little smarter about that! Let's start by taking down his legs!" Arsène pulled himself behind the body of his master, reeling back her hand while providing support. Helping her angle the shot.

"Now!" both Wielder and Shadow said in sync, the two halves launching the ball at one target.

"Wah!" The first of Kamoshida's students nearly was struck in the arm, throwing themself to the side to avoid the hit. Slipping out of the arena thanks to chickening out.

But then the ball smacked into the wall, bouncing right back into the arena with enough speed to make the second student try and dodge. They just barely avoided a direct hit, but not their clothes.

"Double out!" the referee declared.

"How in the…" Kamoshida clenched his fists. "You good for nothing runts! You don't deserve to be on my team with that kind of cowardice!"

But the crowd cheered in favor of Akira and Ryuji. The tide had turned completely.

"Thanks for helping me avoid hitting them. They don't deserve to be caught up in this," Akira said for only Arsène to hear.

"Of course, my master. After all, deception is a thief's first and greatest tool." Arsène retreated into Akira's body, waiting to act once more.

Kamoshida grabbed the ball, staring Akira down once again. "Nobody defeats the mighty Kamoshida Suguru! I built this school into what it is today with my own two hands! I made this place into a freaking castle!" Reeling back, he shot the ball so hard that once again it ignited with flame… And soared upwards.

"What the hell!" Ryuji stopped, staring up as the ball nearly touched the roof. "He's going for a spike? That's not even legal in dodgeball!"

"Time for you to learn what my Olympics-winning kill shot is like!" The golden eyes of the teacher burned with lust for victory and total domination. He shot up into air, reaching the ball and driving his hand down to smite it.

BO-OO-OOM!

The ball turned into a flaming comet, sailing towards Akira and Akira alone.

"Get out of the way, it's too strong!" Ryuji shouted.

"Ryuji—!"

"I got this!" Ryuji pushed his friend away, staring up at the bright comet heading his way.

"Leg, don't fail me now…" Ryuji put his hands together, ready to intercept.

The comet made its mark as Ryuji caught the hit, causing the ground to shatter from the sheer force of the impact. The world started to distort as more twisted light flowed out of the cracks, bringing them back into Kamoshida's castle. Only this time, they were in some kind of dark and twisted gladiator arena. An arena made for pit fighting, something that would certainly entertain a rotten king.

"Woooh!" Around them were women in scantily-clad outfits and boys with chains around their neck, reflections of how Kamoshida viewed them. A sickening thought, yet even they were cheering for the boy in the heat of the moment, as Ryuji pushed back against the spinning comet. It was a dense and heavy as a cannonball, glowing orange with the flame burning around it.

"Ghh!" Ryuji braced himself. His body was thrown back, but it wouldn't keep him from fighting it. No, even the burning pain wouldn't stop him. Nothing would stop him here. As he tried to push back against the iron comet, the lightning of rebellion briefly took over, sparking all over him.

"Oh-hoh-hoh! Let's swipe this one right from under his nose!" A pair of bony, skeletal arms formed to hover around Ryuji. With black armguards and gold-colored gloves, they provided a surge of both power and electricity to the boy fighting back against the man who abused him for so long.

"I said you're gonna get a bad beating!" His electricity overtook the comet's flames before Ryuji struck back, running forward with all his speed. "Here's some payback!"

Iron and lightning flashed across the arena as thunder crackled in the air, with none other than the king caught in the wake of the attack.

"Wait, wait!" The crowned king reached up, gripping the ball back. But as he did, so too was he electrocuted, muscles left forcibly twitching erratically while he lost the ability to retain his grip on the ball.

It struck true. The lightning pitch sent Kamoshida into the wall with a thundering clap. The man immediately doubled over with such speed, his back cracked as his head was sandwiched in between his thighs. Something that the spectators laughed over, finding humor in the sight.

"He got folded!" someone said.

"Amazing!" the crowd cheered.

"Hah… hah…" Ryuji laughed in exhaustion. "How do you like…"

"Oh fuck," Ryuji said, realizing what he'd done.

…And yet despite that, Kamoshida rose off the ground, stumbling like a drunk while raising his head. "Nice job, Sakamoto. You runt…"

He widened his eyes with the bloodthirstiness of a slasher. "If you knew how to keep that mouth shut, maybe you could've found yourself on my volleyball team! You could've been just like me…"

"Bitch—!" Ryuji grunted, briefly pausing over that one slipping through before dragging his head up. "Why would I want to be like you, ya damn creep?!"

"And that's our cue to run…" Arsène pulled himself out of Akira's soul, speaking to them.

"Yeah, no kidding!" Ryuji turned around and booked it, looking for an exit. Thankfully, the pit arena's gate was left completely open. After all, it replaced the gym's doors.

Chapter Text

Episode 9: Dead Man's Volley - Part 2

"What's going to happen to everyone here?" Akira said, running out of the gym with him.

"Chances are we must have slipped into the Metaverse thanks to the all the distortion leaking through. I suspect only the two of you were actually dragged into it," Arsène said, flapping his wings as he followed her while getting her back.

"Get them!" Shadow Kamoshida shouted, slipping out of the gate to sick his guards at them.

"And Kamoshida," Arsène amended. "Or his shadow, rather. In a situation like this, the Shadow would have most likely taken the position of the wielder. He should still be in the real world, while we deal with his other self."

"How do you know that for sure?" Ryuji said.

"Kamoshida is not a man who would accept who he is on the inside," Arsène explained. "The monster that lives in him dominates his life. He has to go to great lengths to hide it, and his perverse way of thinking has made him truly believe his actions are anything but abnormal. He must tell himself time and time again that this is the way the world works."

"Huh…" Ryuji kept on lunging, looking down before looking back up. "Wait, when you say perverse, does that mean I'm gonna be like him if I have my own weird horny shit in the back of my head?"

"No, but as I told my master, Persona Users could stand to be a little more honest about their tastes. It just saves you the hassle," Arsène explained, groaning loud.

"Okay, good, I already know the stuff I'm into," Ryuji explained.

"Thank you," Arsène said. "You would not believe the things I've seen when a Shadow appears in front of their sexually repressed Persona User." He was rolling the eyes of his flaming phantom mask.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Akira said, as if she did not remember what she was doing to the cheeky little no-good, infuriating little sex tease called Shadow Akira.

"Love you too, darling." Her hovering shadow cackled demonically as they escaped.

"I see them!" One of Kamoshida's knights shouted. Thir armors clanked as they hurried past what were now dark cells in an underground hall. The underbelly of his castle.

"Unfortunately, the true reason Kamoshida is a problem is for being a vile, abusive man," Arsène explained. "His lust is but one extension of his all-consuming desire to break others and indulge in his own hedonism."

"These guys look like they're on high alert, so we'd better focus on getting out of here!" Ryuji said.

"Hey! Hey, hey, over here! Don't leave me!"

Once they reached one of the cells closest to the end of the dark hall they were in, they heard someone shouting. A tiny white hand started to wave through bars that held them captive. They must have been near the jail they were thrown into earlier.

"You don't want to get caught and executed, right?" said the tiny captive. "If you want to know where the exit is, let me free and I'll lead the way!"

"What the…" Ryuji stopped first in front of the cell, hands extended. "A talking cat?"

"I'm not a cat!" said the tiny fiend in front of him, angrily grunting. They had a youthful voice and their small body was frankly somewhere between human and cat. …Or perhaps merely an anthropomorphic, cartoonish cat. With a large head with a black bandana over it that one could almost swear blended into their fur. Large bright blue eyes. Kitty ears, complete with little star-like tufts of fur on their insides. The only thing they wore for clothes besides the mask was their yellow scarf and a black utility belt fit for a hero.

"Hey, who are we talking to—!" Akira gasped.

"Kitty!" she squealed with stars in her eyes. She brought her hands out, and if she could hold onto the kitty-like creature she would.

The cartoon cat-like thief huffed. "I just said, I'm not a—!"

Arsène floated over and reached the group last, watching their backs. "We've gained enough distance for now. Now, who are we rescuing—Ooh! A capable-looking felonious feline caperer. We could use one of those…" As Arsène turned to face the group, he started to rub his razor-like hands together, chuckling like the mischievous devil he was.

"Oh, why do I bother?" Holding onto the bars that held him imprisoned, the kitty-like Shadow lowered his head and pouted. Before gasping, picking his head back up! "Wait, you're Arsène!"

"—Lupin the First," the devil thief amended.

"Arsène Lupin I!" Morgana waved excitedly. "You're a gentleman thief of true legend!"

"At your service!" The devil raised his top hat. "At their service, really. But allow me to help a fellow thief out of a jam."

Arsène snapped his fingers, igniting the lock of the prison with just a snap of his fingers. The hellflames of Eiha melted it effortlessly, and with a firm grip he yanked the door right open.

"And they say thieves have no honor…" Arsène fluttered over to Akira's back while flames escaped his cackling mask. "The best thieves know better. Together, we pull off even the most dangerous of heists."

"I like your way of thinking, Mr. Arsène!" said the kitty, waving thankfully at the trio before jumping up and doing a backflip out of excitement. "The name's Morgana! And I'm something of an expert thief of this realm! A legend in the making!"

"Yeah, so what are you doing here, tiny fiend?" Ryuji asked.

"...I got caught," Morgana said, lowering his head and pouting again. "I stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time and got careless. But that's besides the point! I'm still one of the most skilled thieves of the realm! I bet you don't even know what a Persona is!"

"...Actually, I explained that to them already. Apologies for stealing your show," Arsène explained.

"What?! What about the Shadow Selves!" Morgana questioned.

"They're well-versed," Arsène said flatly.

"Even the sexy stuff?" Morgana asked. "Because it's way too often that a Shadow starts to rebel because someone's just too sexually repressed!"

"Yeah, uh—" Akira lifted her elbow, coughing into her coatsleeve. "Yes, those sexy Shadows are infuriatingly tricky to deal with."

"Ugh, and I've been waiting like a whole day in there preparing my speeches!" Morgana stomped his little cat foot on the ground. "Whatever, let's book it! Because I'm pretty sure the guards here are going to throw the book at us!"

A shield was tossed through the air, smiting none other than Ryuji. "Oww!" He shouted as he was smacked against the escape door, shoving the shield off of himself.

"Don't just stand there! Throw something else at them!" the monstrous knight captain chasing them shouted.

"We left our shields in the barracks, sir!" the knights behind it.

"Fetch me some books, then!" it demanded.

"We still have some books from the supply closet!" a knight said.

A flurry of textbooks started to be thrown their way, smacking Ryuji, Morgana, and Akira in the head.

"Oww! Oww!" Morgana raised his hands to shield himself. "Run, I don't want a concussion or a paper cut!"

"Even if it's a castle, it's still a school in the end, ain't it?" Ryuji got back up and shoved the door open, running up the staircase behind it. The others followed, as did the knights whose armors clanked as they went up the steps.

"They're getting a little too close for comfort over here! They're gaining on us!" Akira said.

Morgana held his arms out like an airplane as he ran, creating a rolling spiral at his feet as he ran fastest of them all. "I know a diversion technique that is sure to work! We just need to reach the right kind of place!"

Thankfully, this castle had just the perfect place for it. They entered a barracks, with several doors on their left and right connecting to other hallways. And one door at the end of a substantially long hallway.

Golden stars glinted in both Morgana's eyes. "My time to shine! Follow my lead."

"There they are!" shouted the knight captain as it reached the top of the staircase, pointing as Morgana led the others into one of the doorways on the right. "Follow, men!"

"Hut-hut-hut-hut!" The guards swarmed after them in a horde, the whole bunch running into the doorway Morgana entered to the storming sound of clanking boots.

"Now over here! You need to keep up for this!" Morgana reentered the hallway from one of the different doors on the right. Ryuji, Akira chased him while Arsène floated over their backs as all four quickly funneled into one of the middle left door.

"Do not let them escape!" The knight in charge kept his sword raised high, the monstrous mob following him out of the right door Morgana escaped from. Right in time to enter the middle left door as Morgana reentered the hallway from the top left door, crossing the middle to enter the top right door.

"Okay, now break!" Morgana said, looking behind him just before he closed the door on the knights who just exited the last door.

"What in Kira's name?!" The knight captain jumped in shock, swinging his sword down before he charged into the top right doorway. He reappeared out of the middle right door, chasing after the speedy cartoon cat rolling his feet like a fast hedgehog to get to the middle left door. All the while, his mob came in from the top right door, just in time to pass by Akira and Ryuji coming out of the top left door. Slipping by the mob before they even knew it.

"They've duped us! After them!" the mob said.

"Aye!" The mob slipped into the door, crossing back out of the bottom left door while Ryuji so happened to come out of the door that put him right in the middle of their path.

"Shit-shit-shit, wrong move!" Ryuji swung the door fully open, sidestepping out of the way like a matador while leaving the knights to funnel inside the door without them even realizing it. Then he skedaddled, hopping up while kicking his feet in the air to the sound of rattling bones, speeding over to the next door.

"Ah-hah!" Out came the knight captain from behind it, swinging his sword down on Ryuji who jumped back and shrieked out of fear for his own life.

"Man, I wish I had a funny catchphrase to say here!" said the blonde boy in the group, arms ahead of himself as he skeddadled back the way he came. Arsène, Akira, and Morgana each came out of their own doors from the left, each one chased by a third of the mob now. Then all four thieves linked up with Ryuji, crossing the middle while being chased by the knight captain and the mob once more.

"We should have one more to go! If they get in front of us, that means it worked!" Morgana said as he kicked his little feet, leading the way into the final door.

Five brief seconds passed after both the thieves and knights rushed into the same door.

The moment the door opened, it was the knights that rushed out first, with Morgana and the others chasing.

"Okay, the plan worked! Break for the exit, peoples!" Morgana made a hard turn towards the escape door, opening it while waving his cat paw for the others to slip in before the enemy took notice. Flashing past the door as a blurry streak, slamming the door shut.

The knight captain opened one of the doors, charging at the exit doorway. "Ah-hah! Do you think I'd fall for such a cartoonish ploy?!"

"Yeaaaaah!" shouted the mob of knights crossing the room while the knight captain was in their stampeding path, flattening him like a pancake.

The knight captain looked up to the rooftop with a glare of disdain for Morgana. "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."

The mob split once again, this time in halves crashing together to form a giant pile of knights bumping their armors and poking their swords into each other.

"Great job, team!" Morgana lead the other three swiftly back into the foyer of the castle. Running over the checkerboard floor, they were almost out of the fire.

"Not so fast, Sakamoto! Kiddo, where do you think you're going? The party's not over!"

Kamoshida put his hand out, stepping down the foyer's staircase that led to the upper levels. "I still gotta pay you back for what you did. Come get your reward…" With a chalice of gold full of wine, he took a large swig of it, licking the outside rim of it after.

"I don't even know how to respond to that, you creep! How did you even get here so fast?" Ryuji swung his hand outwards, the blonde boy being the first to step forward.

"It's easier to catch up to a bunch of filthy rats when you're the one running the show." Kamoshida snapped his fingers, and more guards swarmed in from behind him. Including the knight captain from before, clad in gold armor with a full-face helmet.

"Hello again, you pesky cat!" the knight captain declared.

"Call me cat one more time like that, and I'm gonna claw your eyes out!" Morgana spat as he crossed his arms.

"Why is it that everyone just lets you trample over them? I can't even stare at you without feeling like my blood is boiling!" Ryuji angrily tightened his fist as he swung it down. "If not for you, my leg would've never been broken! I could still be on the track team! We could've even still had a track team!"

"Blaming me again? Ugh, so predictable…" Kamoshida lifted his chalice of victory, twistedly grinning as it gleamed golden. "Don't forget what happened, runt. It didn't start with me throwing the first punch, it started with you doing that! Your rebellious nature got in the way of your own career! If you cared so much about it, then why the hell did you go out of your way to throw it all away!"

"You! Insulted my family!" Ryuji screamed at the man. "Don't even start with my deadbeat of a dad, you do not call my mother any sort of insult! She's worked twice as hard as you! And unlike you, she doesn't have some gold medal to make the people around her bend their backs for her!"

"Tch, tch, tch…" Kamoshida shook his head, flicking his finger back and forth. 'It's not my fault your mom ended up where she is. She just doesn't have the raw, natural talent to make anything for herself. Not everyone is built to be one of the greats. But you, Sakamoto boy, you almost could have been…"

"Yet you keep piping open that mouth of yours like you have any idea of how the world works." Kamoshida started to step on down, raising his hand while swirling his chalice. "You know where your dad probably is? Either stuck in a prison or dead in a morgue. A loudmouth layabout taking everything out on the people around him because he couldn't accept his own faults? Yeah, that guy would've been tossed into jail for assault and then struck down within the week. The world would even thank Kira for getting rid of a problem like him. I sure do."

"That's a lot of words for someone who thinks he's hot shit! What makes you any different?" Ryuji snapped.

"The obvious answer is that he's a loser." Kamoshida lowered his chalice of victory, presenting it. "I, on the other hand, have what it takes to succeed. And I've succeeded all my life as a result. So much so, that I even tried to give your track team a shot because I thought I could forge another winner like a blacksmith forging a silver sword."

"You beat us like you beat Mishima and that kid today!" Ryuji stomped the ground and stepped forward. "Humans aren't swords, ya dingus! Bones don't bend the way hot iron does, they break!"

"I only broke your leg because you pushed too far, Sakamoto. Why don't you get it?" Kamoshida huffed. "Ugh, it's like speaking to an angry dog. How is it that the star athlete of Shujin turned into such gutter trash? Now he's nothing but the Track Traitor, but oh well."

"Hell yeah, this bitch is gonna bitch you out! Because everything you've done has ruined my life and my friends' lives! You didn't have to cut the track team, you chose to make them suffer!" Ryuji shouted.

"Silence!" Kamoshida snapped back. "It was to prove a lesson. You were an example to be made out of, but I would have been happy just with breaking your leg. But then that favorite gym teacher of yours tried to defy the judgement of Lord Kamoshida himself. I'm the true star of this show, and everyone knows it. But he didn't like that very much. Not only did he defy me, but he was actually getting other students and teachers to rebel with him. With an wrought-iron argument to serve as his foundation. So I pulled some strings and made use of a few good, willing benefactors, making sure they remembered who it is who brings the fame, glory and money into this place. Then I made the move to salt the earths to make sure no more weeds like you would sprout."

"This would make a very good confession, wouldn't you think…" Akira said quietly to the others, stepping back and checking the surroundings.

"He's obviously the culprit, but even if we could take video evidence, it likely wouldn't fly in the real world," Morgana said. "It's too bad…"

"Well then, I think I've said everything that needs to be said." Kamoshida snapped his fingers to get the attention of his guards. "Rush him."

The knights collapsed on Ryuji, the first of them slamming their shield. Before he knew it, he was hacking up blood, the shield coming down on his neck.

"Ryuji!" Akira shouted.

"Get that bitch too! Don't leave any of them to run!" Kamoshida demanded.

Two of the knights gripped Akira by the arms, strangling them while putting her into a submission hold. A third one tackled Morgana and did the same.

"Urgh!" Morgana tried to reach into his pocket hopelessly. "I can't grab my weapons!"

"Master! Everyone!" Arsène threw his arm and tried to strike with one of his snaking chains, but it was blocked by the knight captain's shield, sparks igniting as metal clashed. The knight captain thrusted its sword at the devil, forcing him to dodge and back away while other knights gathered behind.

"Look at that, runt. Once again, your little outbursts damned the people you care about." Kamoshida walked over to Ryuji, licking his lips clean of his wine while the knights battered and beat him with their metal fists.

"You say that as if you're not the cause for all of this!" Ryuji's voice was hoarse now that he was being beaten down, but he kept an eye open the entire time he glared at Kamoshida. "You're the one who forces your students to do whatever you tell them! They only follow you because you control them! You make them your slaves!"

"I can make them champions to the gods!" Kamoshida yelled as he stomped on Ryuji's head. "But none of them are good enough! You were never going to be good enough!" He grinded his boot into Ryuji's face, bringing his heel ever so closer to his right eye.

"I'm gonna take someone's eye by the end of the day after all the bullshit you've forced me through! Heh, or maybe even worse!" He struck his boot at Ryuji's head. "You humiliate me! You stand up and refuse to take your beating! Why can't you just lie down and die!"

The boy grunted weakly under all the pain and bruises. Even still, he struggled, trying to fight back despite having no chance to.

"Let's find out what the school thinks of me… after I'm through with you!" Kamoshida said, reaching for the sword of one of his knights again. "I bet they won't do anything once it happens! Just like they always have! They'll even thank me for putting an end to this rebel delinquent!"

He raised the sword as if it were a headsman's axe. "Time for your permanent expulsion from life, Sakamoto! You can be a star in the afterlife, and tell them Lord Kamoshida was the man who got you there!"

"No…" Ryuji said, his head dropping to the ground. He couldn't keep his eye open anymore.

"You called upon my power once before, your indomitable spirit waking these old bones from their slumber… Now I see there is need to act. But the question is, can you do it?"

"What?!" Ryuji's head pulsed, images flashing through his head. His soul started to quiver with an immense power from within. He could not contain his rage.

"Can you do it? Can you raise the black flag of skull and crossbones and fly it as your sign of rebellion? Can you walk the path of a dead man such as me!"

"Hnnngh!" Ryuji clutched his head, eyes going narrow, sclera turning bloodshot. A deep pain welled inside him, dragging him off the ground even as the knights tried to hold him down.

"You can go no lower than the depths you've wandered into! So the world has abandoned you, and what of it! If none will take you in, make a world of your own amidst the sea of chaos! Steal and plunder from the vile and set sights on the mighty! Give your worst enemies no quarter in battle!"

"GYAAAGH!" The harrowing shriek from Ryuji accompanied the blood that slashed through the air, splattering away from his face before he erupted with an almighty blue burst. Roaring like a sea of flames, the monstrous knights that held him down burned to ashes in the wake of the unholy force that came from him.

"Not again!" Kamoshida nearly dropped his chalice, catching it before an iron ball shot through the air and sent the cup flying out of his hands. "How?! This should be impossible!"

Kamoshida raised his hand, hiding his face. The surge of force blew him and his hair back, nearly making him bend the knee.

Ryuji silently got back up, head kept low and his eyes hidden by shadow. "You talk a lot for a punk who's no better than the scum he likes to talk down. No, you're worse."

With a true winner's smile, he hit his hand and fist together, cocking his head and now sporting glowing gold eyes. "Let's steal everything he's got that isn't bolted down, and smash this castle to smithereens!"

"You couldn't have found a more perfect thing to say, mate. I like your spirit, swashbuckler. YAR-HAR-HAR-HAR!" Skeletal jaw rattling as his booming laugh echoed, Ryuji's Shadow appeared for the first time, called upon by his master. His Persona.

An undead being with an eerie flame burning in one eye and an eyepatch covering the other. A tricorne with a skull and scimitars emblazoned on its front sat atop his head.

He surfed atop an ancient ghost ship, sailing the air itself. The whole damn world was his sea. He drew the first scimitar hoisted at his neck, before reaching for the second, combining them together into a bladed anchor. Gripping it by the chain tethered to them in one hand, he swung it back and forth, listening to its bone-chilling rattle.

"Fucking badass…" Ryuji laughed, swinging his hands up and calling out to his giant of a persona. "What do I call you!"

"My enemies may know and fear the name Captain Kidd, Dreadlord!" his shadow self declared. "And as the scourge of kings… He does not take kindly to the ones in need of being sent to the gallows. Isn't that right, Lord Kamoshida?"

That chain anchor of his started to spin around, turning into a whirling blade of death.

Kamoshida's eyes bulged out of his sockets, the man frowning in such deep shock.

"Actually, why wait for the gallows? A guillotine is right here… Let me give you a demonstration!" Captain Kidd whirled his blade around, slicing through the shadows that surrounded Ryuji before rolling the wheeling blade behind himself. As it spun through the room, Captain Kidd yanked on the chain and launched it at the one holding Morgana down. Cleaving right through the knight and splitting it in two.

"Alright!" Morgana sprung into action, flipping backwards. "I call upon my other self! Zorro!"

"Ah-hah-hah, how good it feels to be alive!"

Several wind blades swept across the two knights pinning Akira down, flourishing with the speed and dexterity of a composer conducting with a baton. Leaving his foes slashed into dust and shadow.

"Ah, Captain Kidd! You seem a decent fellow this time! I'd hate to kill you!" Strings of guitar echoed as the green wind blew at the back of the third newcomer. A black-dressed vigilante clad in mask and fedora of mighty build yet lacking nothing in terms of speed. His night cloak fluttered just like a hero's cape.

"I'd very much hate to die!" Captain Kidd said, cranking his skeletal head back at his companion. "Again! Agh-gah-gah-gah!"

"You two know each other?" Morgana asked, lowering the spanish guitar in his kitty paws and putting it away in his utility belt.

"As enemies, once. In an older era, our masters clashed for differing ideals. Knowing it had to be this way, we clashed with each other until the bitter end…" Captain Kidd explained. "And my first mate left the mortal realm before my rival's did."

"But we Personas serve our masters!" Zorro said, flourish his shining blade before thrusting it upwards. "We have no quarrel so long as you two fight as one!"

Arsène looked back at the two of them, clashing his chain against the knight captain's sword. Ensnaring the blade in between the infernal links as they wrapped themselves around.

"Well, now that's a sight for sore eyes…" he said, chuckling behind his phantom mask. "Hello again, my friends."

The devil in red soared into the air, dropping down behind Akira and snapping his fingers. "Eiha!"

A black flame ignited, striking the knight captain in the knees to get him to drop his guard. "Now, Zorro!" Arsène ordered.

"Aye!" Zorro zipped across the foyer, surging through it as one green jetstream that slashed behind the knight captain. Reappearing with his sword drawn high, he taking its arms as black dust splattered from the wounds.

"You think this is enough to stop me?!" the knight captain shouted, now armless.

"Hardly! Captain, your move!" Zorro said.

"Aye-AYE!" Captain Kidd swung his chain anchor back and forth, whirling it around until he shot it straight ahead. Cleaving through the captain's legs.

More dust started to splatter, the knight dropping down to the ground. Now reduced to just a head and torso.

"You will not make me yield!" the Knight Captain declared.

"You're a damn bloody head and shoulders, mate," Captain Kidd said.

"Tis but a scratch, now come at me pansy!" the knight captain wobbled forward, trying to drive its mask's beak into Captain Kidd's knee.

"Yar…" Captain Kidd shook his head. "Sometimes things can never be changed." He wasn't even at the same level of height as the knight captain, still floating on his ghost ship.

"Stop saying yar-har!" Kamoshida snapped at him.

"Every time you tell me that, I'm going to yar-harder! Agh-gah-gah-gah-gah! Oh, I do love me a good gag!" Captain Kidd snorted, wiping a flaming tear off his skull face.

Captain Kidd spoke very coldly all of a sudden. Dropping down from his ghost ship, his guillotine swung back and forth, cleaving deep gashes into the ground. "But when I'm through with you, oh Mighty Lord Farquaad…"

"F… Farquaad?" Kamoshida asked.

"Ya look like how he wants to be…" Captain Kidd said as he curled his fist. "Because he wants to be tall!"

"I, I see," Kamoshida said awkwardly, nervously sweating.

"But when I'm through with you… I'll leave your body in one piece!" He said as he pointed his left glove at Kamoshida.

"R-really?" the man said, panic dripping from his very visage as water dripped down his forehead faster than a shower going down the drain.

"No, no I won't. Agh-gah-gah-gah!" The pirate's hand retreated into his black armguard, before a golden hand cannon replaced it. "...They will never find your body. The hole where your heart will be replaced by a real one the size of my cannonball with static burns at the edges."

Kamoshida immediately booked it, screaming at the top of his lungs. Flailing his arms in a panic.

"I'M TOO IMPORTANT TO DIEEE! GUARDS! GUARD ME!" he sprinted out there, kicking up a dust storm as he rushed upstairs. When the dust cleared, all that was left was his cloak and his speedo. Both drifting down to the ground.

An alarm went off in the castle, and the doorway leading upstairs. Red lights flashing everywhere, Captain Kidd put down his hand cannon.

"I suppose that's that for now…" Captain Kidd sighed, reaching up and stroking his boney jaw. "These Palaces are trouble when the guards are on high alert."

"True enough, and more importantly, we'd best escape from here before things go from bad to worse," Zorro said, looking back at Morgana, Ryuji and Akira helping each other up.

"Yeah, and we just came out of an incident with Kamoshida in the real world…" Ryuji scratched his head. "Man, we're gonna be in so much trouble—"

"Wait!" Akira brought her hand out in front of Ryuji, before pointing at where the doorway they first escaped from.

Shuffling forwardly ever so slightly, it was Yuuki. Battered and beat from Kamoshida's abuse in the real world, he had gathered just enough strength to reach the foyer of the castle. And with him was that student who taunted Kamoshida in roughly the same weathered condition, barely able to help him along with their difference in size.

"My god, what the hell happened to them?" Zorro asked, pulling his arms back.

"Mreow?!" Morgana's tail lifted, spiking in shock.

"Where… are we?" Yuuki asked.

It was the last thing he said before his eyes shut, and he collapsed on the ground with his companion.

"Zorro, with me!" Morgana rushed over to the fallen duo, putting his hands on Yuuki.

"At your service!" Zorro said, putting his gloves on the other student.

"Dia!" they both chanted.

A powerful green wave flowed over both injured students. Though they remained unconscious, a circle formed around them, mending their injuries as their cells rapidly healed.

"...That should keep them alive even with those injuries," Morgana pulled his hands back. "But how did two persona non grata slip into the Metaverse?"

"That's a bit of a rude label, isn't it?" Zorro wondered.

"I mean literally 'unwelcome person!' Most people shouldn't be able to breach the barrier between the Metaverse and the real world, certainly if they aren't a Palace Ruler or Persona User, so what gives?" Morgana looked back at his kitty hands. "Maybe uninvited person might work? But I mean their shadows have neither been accepted, nor do they dominate them like Kamoshida's does."

"Hey, I didn't have a Persona until now," Ryuji said, pointing to Akira. "And neither did she like, the first moment we got in here!"

"Well, yeah, but you got one now," Morgana braced his hips. "...Actually, how did you get into the Metaverse?"

"I uh, think the first time it was…" Akira looked around, reaching for her pocket. She pulled out her phone, and it managed to turn on, showing that strange app from before. Only with a much more complex set of features than before.

"Ohh, the Meta-Nav!" Morgana scurried up to Akira, reaching up. "May I see?"

Akira put the phone into the cat's paws.

"Yep! The genuine article!" Morgana said. "This bad baby will let you go in and out of the Metaverse at will! Bam!" He slapped the phone with his paw, then handed it back.

"Pardon me, sir, but when we entered this time it was not by that device," Arsène pointed out, rolling his finger upwards. "In fact, it was the distortion created by the intense desires of victory and the need to crush the spirits of our human companions here that brought us here. Those desires of the ruler, that is."

"I see…" Morgana tapped his foot and squinted hard in thought.

"I didn't know that could happen," he said in all honesty, touching his mouth.

"You're a Cognitive Being, yes?" Arsène questioned. "A being of the metaverse, unbound to Persona Users yet able to call upon their own Persona?"

"No, I'm a human! An honest to goodness human!" Morgana insisted.

Captain Kidd looked out the corner of his eyehole, opening his jaw. "You know, most humans aren't shaped like pusses-without-boots."

"Well most cats aren't human-shaped, but they exist!" Morgana pointed at the captain. "Sheesh, nobody's ever seen Ose apparently."

"Ah, let my boy have his fun!" Zorro said, swishing his sword around. "If he wants to be as big as me, he'll also have to keep his dreams bigger than anyone else's out there!"

"Yeah!" Morgana huffed, arms crossing. "Wait, that implies I have to dream of being a human to become one! That implies I'm not one already! Are you trying to lie to me, Zorro/"

"Hoh-ho, no-no-no!" Zorro kneeled down, petting Morgana by the head. "But this little one wants to be the hero he looks up to, me! So, from me to me, you must be the ambitious hero you were always meant to be, and keep your heart big and full of passion! Then you will truly have the heart of a great human hero!"

"Mrrrr…" Morgana purred. "Okay, I accept this. But only once!" He said, raising his paw up defiantly.

It would not be only once.

"I imagine you are a new being to this realm. I've never seen your face in all my years…" Arsène said to Morgana.

"Aye," Captain Kidd said. "Yet your slumbering power seems to be strong. And to be master to my rival? Hoh-hoh, I'd like to see what kind of punch you can throw at full power!"

"Let's focus on getting these wayward souls out of here, that's what us heroes do," Zorro said. He reached down, grabbing both unconscious students and effortlessly carrying them out of here.

"It is strange though," the black masked hero said. "Even when breached, the Collective Unconscious does not typically pull in the average mortal. Reality doesn't like to understand that which does not play by its rules. To the eyes of the general populace, if they had seen these folks strike against the palace ruler, their minds would have likely tricked themselves into thinking up a much more believable tal. I suspect all they'd say was that a scuffle of some sort occured, leading to the students here escaping or getting lost."

"So maybe all they'd really have seen was us beating Kamoshida in the game? And then these two leaving for the infirmary…" Akira said. "In anycase, we should probably take them there ourselves. They look like they need their rest."

"Then let's get out of here," Morgana said. "I guess we can't go back the way we came. If we head far away from the palace, the distortion should weaken. A tap on the Meta-Nav will be good enough to get us out."

The group escaped through the front gates of the castle, and soon enough, the world started to blur in waves of red and black. They started to slip away from the Metaverse…

Chapter Text

Episode 10: Fading Sunset - Part 1

"...Alright," With the help of Zorro, Ryuji put Yuuki and the other student in different infirmary stretchers. "That should do it for now. I don't want to stay here while the real Kamoshida's probably on high alert."

"It's a good thing P.E is our last class of the day." Akira huffed, before looking down at the tuxedo cat that jumped onto the bed next to the mystery kid.

"Kitty!" she said again, sweeping him into her arms.

"Mrrrr!" The blue-eyed cat nuzzled up against her chin with a smile before yelling at her. "Hey, stop that! You're tricking me into doing what you want!"

"So wait, you're actually a cat?" Ryuji said, pointing at Morgana. Now in the real world, his body transformed to match a cat with more realistic proportions.

"No I'm not, so stop calling me that!" Morgana put his paws down on Akira's arms.

"Kitty~" Akira sang, rubbing her face against Morgana's head while he purred adorably.

"I said stop that!" Morgana reached up, pulling Akira away from his face while he slipped out of her grasp.

"Aww…" Akira said, disappointed.

Morgana licked his paw, putting it back down. "Just like the other Personas, no one in the real world will be able to hear me unless they're a Persona User too. Their minds will filter it out and interpret it as just me making a bunch of meows. So let's keep an eye out for any unwanted Persona Users."

"Yes, if they could see through the veil with eyes unclouded, it could prove dangerous if they saw this many Persona Users gathered," Zorro said. "Although, they say Persona Users are destinybound to seek each other out."

"Sometimes that means allies, sometimes that means enemies," Captain Kidd explained, the translucent spirit leaning against the wall. "...Usually means trouble."

"We did what we came here to do, so let's hurry out," Arsène said. "We've overstayed our welcome here today."

"Yes, let's…" Akira stopped when she heard the door knock.

"Team? We're outta sight," Zorro said.

The three Personas vanished in an instant, leaving only the two students and the cat.

"Wow, thanks guys for not leaving us hanging," Morgana said.

"Who's meowing in there?!" they heard Takamaki say.

"Mreow!" Morgana yelped, hopping into Akira's arms. "You didn't hear or see me!"

"Okay, seriously who's in this—?" Takamaki slid the door open, catching Ryuji and Akira.

"How did you get a cat in here?" Takamaki asked.

"A stray found its way inside," Akira said.

"Look, isn't he cute?" Akira brought the kitty out only for Morgana to gasp loudly.

"Woaaaah!" There were stars in Morgana's eyes the moment he saw Ann's face. "She's beautiful!"

"Hey, little guy. Give him here." Takamaki took Morgana from Akira and scratched him behind the ear. "Who's a good kitty? Yes, you are!"

"Mreoowww…" For once, Morgana didn't have much of a complaint.

"...Sup," Ryuji said. "Ms. Takamaki."

Takamaki shot Ryuji a glare. "...Hello there, Ryuji."

"Suuuuu-p!" Ryuji said, making a pop with his lips before putting a hand on his hip. "What are you here for?"

There was unspoken enmity between the two students, something Akira quickly picked up on.

"That depends on what your answer is," Takamaki said. "What are you here for?"

"We just got done dropping these guys off cause no one else was gonna do it." Ryuji briefly looked back at the unconscious duo. "Ah, I don't know the other kid's name or gender."

"Near," a quiet girl said.

Stepping into the infirmary, a girl held onto her arm as she approached the beds, keeping her head low. "Sort of pronounced like Nia," she said. "I've seen them around sometimes. I don't really know them well, but I know they talk to virtually no one. …But I do know their name."

"Like Nia, huh…" Ryuji put his hand in his pocket. "Well, that explains why they act like that other name is dead to them."

"Who are you?" Akira asked.

"My name is Suzui Shiho," she said. "Just… don't mind me. It's not impor…"

Suzui sighed deep, gripping her arm more tightly. "Nevermind."

"Not nevermind!" Takamaki said, hand guarding her friend. "We came to check on the people Kamoshida injured."

"Ann, please…" Suzui said softly.

"No!" Takamaki said. "You did nothing wrong by coming here. Not that Ryuji would understand." She tilted her head and glared at him. "Tch, you never did."

"Never did?! As if you didn't see what happened to me when he put me down! Don't act as if you don't know what happened to my leg, dude!" Ryuji clenched his fist tight. "Now you want to show up for other people! What the hell?!"

"Stop!" Takamaki snapped. "God, just shut up! …This isn't why I'm here."

Suzui gripped her arm tighter. She looked just about ready to cry.

"Then what is the reason you're here, Takamaki?" Ryuji said, turning his head and huffing hard enough to nearly spit. "Come to lecture me about why I shouldn't back my friend up when Kamoshida's trying to get to her next?"

"I just came to be here for my friend and look after these two. Both of us did," Takamaki said, looking at Suzui somberly.

Suzui put a hand down on Yuuki, her gaze withdrawn. Only for her to open her eyes wider as she moved his arms and check the rest of his wounds. And found that there weren't any.

"This is perhaps the most rapid case of bruises healing I've ever seen," she said, quickly turning her head back. "Mishima couldn't have been healed this quickly. Who did this?"

"Mreow-eep!" Morgana yelped, holding his mouth shut tight.

"Beats me," Ryuji said, keeping his eyebrows deliberatelt firm. "We dropped them off, left for a bit, and then came back just now."

"Besides, isn't it a good thing that they healed so quickly?" Akira asked.

"Yes, but…" Suzui turned to face both Ryuji and Akira. "Well, there might be some concerns regarding some specific details. But with how heavy Mishima's injuries were, there's no natural way for them to heal this well at this rate." She walked over to the next bed, inspecting the other unconscious student. "Near's injuries are all healed up too. This is highly unusual…"

Takamaki tried to put on a smile. "Well, they're not wrong. It's better that they're all healed up than if they were still dealing with the bruises."

"True…" Suzui said, pulling away. Gripping her arm, she didn't smile at all. She even started to quiver, both in her left arm and right leg in particular. It looked as if she might've been exerting herself too much just to keep herself steady.

Akira blinked, taking notice of something else. There was a dark bruise on her forehead, hidden by her hair.

"You were pretty bold back there, messing with Kamoshida." Takamaki cocked her head. "God… What were you two thinking?"

"He was already bullying these two, and he was going to keep going!" Ryuji said, raising his voice. "What were you going to do? That's right, nothing! Just like—!"

"I wasn't about to make him angrier! That would just make it worse!" Takamaki fired at him.

"Someone needs to put him down!" Ryuji fired back. "Or what? Do you think you can just cozy up to him and make everything go away? Because I've seen how when things go down, you go straight to him and—!"

"Shut up! Ryuji!" Takamaki said. "How you can be so awful—!"

"Stop!" Suzui screamed.

She covered her ears. Then she covered her face. Then she slowly pulled her hands down to her mouth. "None of us came to fight each other. Please stop fighting."

Ryuji glared, only to keep his head low. "We wouldn't need to keep fighting if any of you actually listened—"

"Hey, Ryuji, back off…"

Yuuki pulled himself off the bed, rubbing his arms as he looked up, sounding as broken as he seemed. "You don't know what it's like. Please stop."

"Don't know what it's like? Motherfucker, he broke my leg!" Ryuji shouted.

"I-I-I don't mean any disrespect but—!" Yuuki flailed his hands in a panic, bringing them both up. "You don't know what it's like for them! Please, you don't know what they've been through!"

Ryuji bit his lip, holding his tongue before huffing deeply through his nose. "Yeah? Well you all know what I've been through. And now that I'm out of the picture, the rest of the world is his target. That's just what happens when nobody does anything."

He clicked his tongue, putting his hands in his pockets as he started to walk.

"Kamoshida makes it worse on everyone once he's angry," Yuuki spoke up, gaze kept on the back of the leaving boy's head. "It's not just the boy's volleyball team. It's the girl's too, you really don't…"

"Akira? See you tomorrow. Right now, I want a soda," Ryuji said, looking back at her and waving his hand. Trying to soften his stare, but with how angry he was, he put his hands in his pockets and left.

"If this is how it's gonna be, then I'm going after him. Don't worry, Akira, I'll find you soon enough." Morgana got down onto the floor, walking out the door.

…Holding silent, Takamaki turned around and started to walk away.

"Ann, wait!" Suzui reached out for her friend, but she didn't answer. Without looking back, tears fell down Takamaki's face as she kept moving forward, eyes firm and unflinching. Neither she or Ryuji were going off in the same direction.

"You… you go on ahead," Suzui pulled her hand back, turning to Akira. "They both seem to trust you, so… please, be there for Ann right now?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Akira said. "But, she doesn't seem like she likes me much…"

"I think she was upset because, well…" Suzui shook her head. "I know Ann. She'd want to talk to someone like you. Just be honest with her."

"Well, Morgana—" Akira pulled her head back. "Er, the cat, is going to be with Ryuji. I guess he'll at least help out there."

Suizui nodded, reaching her arm up to her chin and speaking softly. "I'd like that."

Akira noticed just how many braces and bandages Suzui was wearing under her clothes. "Did, does Kamoshida—"

"Please!" Suzui dropped her head low, hiding her face. "...Just go. For me, please? Before they lose what's left of their friendship."

"So they were friends once…" Akira nodded, then put her hand to her chest and gracefully bowed. "You have my honor as a gentlemanly thie—er, um…"

…Suzui snorted. "Delinquent? Yes, I've heard the rumors. You don't seem all that bad." Finally smiling, she tilted her head upwards. "I also heard what you did in gym. You're pretty brave, just like Ryuji."

"Do you like him?" Akira asked. "As a friend, that is."

"My only wish is that I actually could be there for him," Suzui said. "They both act like the other doesn't care about them, but… it's not like that. It shouldn't have to be."

With that, Akira slowly nodded. "Alright. I'm out of here then. I've got your back, Suzui."

Suzui giggled, blinking warm. "Shiho is fine."

"I got your back, Shiho!" Akira gave a thumbs up, before hurrying off after Takamaki.

…Once she was gone, Shiho dropped her again. "Now if only I could be the one to do something useful…"

"Y-you, you okay Suzui?" Mishima said. "I feel like I should be a lot worse than I am right now, but…"

He shook his head around. "Never mind. He didn't hurt you, did he?" Straightening up, he crossed his legs looked at her calmly.

Shiho sat down on the bed, side by side with the boy. "He… we got into a fight," she said quietly. "And he said he was going to have to 'cut a deal' with Ann."

"...Is he putting more pressure on her now?" Mishima asked.

"I wish I could keep her away from him, but…" Shiho shrugged in defeat. "He's fixated on her like some new prize. I don't even know why she's trying to get in closer."

"Obviously it isn't because she likes the guy," Mishima said. "She can't go a day without shooting him a death glare."

"I know… Maybe she's trying to look out for me, but, he's dangerous," Shiho said. "She never should have involved herself. It's too much risk."

"There's always a chance he had something on her. Something to keep her under his thumb like he does with us," Mishima said. "...All I could wish for is the power to shut him up. And keep him from hurting anyone else. But me?"

Mishima lowered his head down in shame. "Look at me. One bad hit and I'm already in the infirmary. And even after I did what he made me do, now all I've got to show for it is having my hands tied and being blackmailed."

"I'm not sure if you can take another beating like that, Mishima," Shiho told him. "He… he broke Ryuji's leg. No offense, but Ryuji's twice as strong and fast as you. You could be seriously injured, or worse."

"No offense taken, he was the star runner. And even now, he seems unstoppable." Mishima lifted his head. "You're our star volleyball player, but even you can't keep up with what he dishes out."

He turned to face Shiho. "Hey, Suzui. Maybe, I can't do much, but… I still got your back, too, okay? Just um, if something happens, you can come to me."

Shiho winced briefly, only to realize nothing bad was happening. Rather, she noticed Mishima reaching for her hand, and she grabbed his hand back.

"At least we're not alone here," she said.

"I think if any of us were alone, we wouldn't be able to make it," Mishima said. "So, I'm thankful I at least have two friends here." He turned his head to the unconscious Near, still having yet to wake up.

"...Aww, talk about team solidarity."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Kamoshida grinned, before sneering with an evil look. "Unfortunately, after what those punks did, I'm going to have to spend some time sharpening up the students in my teams. I need to make sure whatever happened today isn't going to happen again. Ever."

"Waah!" Mishima threw his whole body back. "Please, Kamoshida, just—!"

"That's Mister Kamoshida!" the man lunged at him, fist raised.

Mishima flinched. "I-I was just trying to help someone!"

"I know, you bastard," Kamoshida said. "That's why the first round of volleyball practice goes to you." He scoffed, grinning as he pulled back his arm. "As for you, Shiho. Well, what happens next is in the hands of whatever your friend Takamaki chooses to do. I've been looking for some fresh new meat to join the volleyball team, after all. They need to know how to play well and put on a show."

Shiho gulped, biting her nail while avoiding looking in Kamoshida's eyes directly.

While the medalist turned his attention to the third student in the room. "Oh, and that damn hawk who can't even throw a volleyball is still here," Kamoshida scrunched his nose up. "They're not worth my training. I need somebody worth my time, not the world's biggest smacktalking loser. All they are is a troublemaking little shit with a pretty face."

"All Near did was—" Mishima said.

"Don't talk back to me, Mishima, I could get you expelled from here with just a wave of my hand." Kamoshida pointed his thumb behind himself. "You're coming with me to the gym. And you, Shiho, stay put. I'll get my hands on you later."

Mishima's body shivered before he got up. He looked back at Shiho, and the look in his eyes told her he wished he could do anything to avoid this.

The look in her eyes told him the same thing.

"And if that unconscious little narc over there so much as lifts a finger, I'm putting them through practice too," Kamoshida said, glaring at Mishima walking past him. "I'll put them through double the work for being such a damn problem. Fuck it, I'm pissed." Looking back, he wrung his fist. The sight of that worthless face was an eyesore.

Just like that other troublemaker who pissed him off. Kurusu Akira.

Akira turned on her phone, sending a message.

Akira: "Hey Mr. Sojiro. There's a lot of things that went down at school, and another a friend asked me to look after one of their friends for now. Is it alright that I might be late to get home?"

…Sojiro was typing.

Sojiro: "Come back before the shop closes and you got it. It better be as important as you say it is. Don't make me worry. Too much trouble is going on in just the first week."

Akira: "Got it. Thank you very much."

Akira turned off her phone and put it away, hurrying down the station steps. If she was fast enough, maybe she'd catch a glimpse of her before she left.

Luckily enough, she did. Takamaki was staring at some kind of agent and a model. Did she have a job?

"Well, if your head's not in the game, you should stay home. We won't be needing you today," the agent said.

Ann gasped, before her surprise quickly turned into silent resignation. Evidently, she wasn't in the right place of mind at the moment.

"Okay! Let's start the shooting!" The model in blue lifted her hand, walking away with the agents.

Ann walked off in the other direction in a hurry, with Akira hurrying up after her. Shortly after, she found her once more, head kept low at a table within one of the restaurants within the subway.

"Mind if I join you?" Akira said, bringing her hand out.

"What do you want?" Takamaki said, arms folded in front of her. "After our first meeting, I didn't think you'd be such good friends with Sakamoto. Just goes to show what I know…"

"Ryuji will have to speak for himself, I'm not here because of him." Akira reached up, pointing at her temple. "Really, I was just concerned for you."

"Then did Shiho send you here?" Takamaki said. "Thanks, but I can take care of myself."

"I'd be lying if I said she didn't, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm here because I wanted to see you." Akira lowered her hand. "Truly. You seem torn."

Takamaki turned her head to the side, still sinking into her seat. "It's not like you understand. Nobody could,, even if nobody likes Kamoshida. Not even Ryuji…"

"I think what's happening here is everyone is going through a lot. And not just that, Kamoshida wants us divided," Akira told her.

Takamaki shrugged, pulling her head up. "Explain?"

"He has everyone under his thumb. His volleyball team students are being abused, Ryuji has been cut off from everyone he's known. Look at Shiho and Yuuki, they both look like they're ready to give up on everything," Akira said.

…She sat down opposite of the blonde girl, meeting her eye to eye. "You know, my incident with Kamoshida wasn't exactly pleasant. I wouldn't be able to prove that he did anything at all, but it was enough to tell me something was up. Now that I could see him assaulting his students on top of it, I just couldn't sit down and let him keep doing it. I just have a record of making a mess for myself."

"...So, Ann, if I could call you that, I may not be able to speak as if I know what exactly you're going through, but somehow I doubt you're the person Ryuji thinks you are. Or rather, what he thinks you've become because of whatever you're doing."

"Really?" Ann's blue eyes started to open up. "In what regards? You're not about to insult me with worse, are you?"

"I think…" Akira poked at her nosebridge again, before reaching up and poking at her temple. "You are kinder and sweeter than Ryuji thinks of you right now. I think that you wouldn't have wanted to abandon Ryuji if it was your choice."

"And what makes you say that?" Ann asked. As the two of them sat there, the sun started to fall on them, illuminating the young girl.

"You're standing by Shiho right now, and she's in a position not so different from where Ryuji was, right? Being abused by Kamoshida, kept away from her friends?" Akira pointed out, hidden under the shadows left untouched. "You were concerned for Yuuki and Near, and were right by Shiho as she came to check on them. And… you don't have a problem with me despite my own record. Most importantly, Shiho seems to trust you deeply."

"...You're pretty good at using your words, you know that." Ann reached for and touched her own shoulder, still looking away.

"Sorry, I have a habit of being a chatterbox," Akira said. "Comes with the territory."

"...I like it." Ann started to smile, looking softly at her now.

"Thank you." Akira's own smile was soft. She was just happy to be here.

"...What do you mean by territory?" Ann asked. "What do you do?"

"I'm just a hobbyist researcher. I like to look into old criminal cases from time to time." Akira poked herself at her nose bridge again, with both fingers. It was a bad habit.

Ann snorted. "Stop poking yourself in the face!"

"Ugh, I know." Akira dropped her head, hitting the table with her fist. "It's because I switched to contacts this year…"

"Contacts?" Ann said.

Bringing her head down, she covered her eyes briefly. "Here, let me show you…"

Akira pulled her head back up, putting her contacts away in their container. Then she blinked her eyes open, no longer hiding them.

Wind blew around a stunned Ann Takamaki, making her hair flutter. "Woah."

Akira stared at her with a pair of shining red irises. With how black her hair was, she looked like some kind of demon of the night.

"Can I grab your face?" Ann reached forward, lifting her hands.

"Go ahead," Akira said.

"Oh okay—wow, your cheeks are soft." Ann started to wibble them up and down, before pulling them back and forth and making them flap.

Akira opened her mouth wider, revealing white teeth as the wibbling got louder with Ann's fervorous playing with her face. Then Ann let go of her cheeks, hearing the smack that accompanied the act. "Oww."

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" Ann asked.

"Yes," Akira said, blinking her eyes. Her expression was as neutral as it came, revealing nothing.

Ann swiped her hand as she leaned in closer. "...Okay, so you have a great poker face, I just wanna say? Buuut, I don't know what's on your mind."

"Besides an unyielding rage stemming from Kamoshida's bullshit? Mostly, I'm just concerned for your sake," Akira said. "Also, I happen to be hungry. Excuse me."

A bell rang, and Ann grabbed her tray of food. Akira picked up a handful of snacks, ordered a meal, and paid for it before returning.

"So… are you nearsighted or farsighted?" Ann set aside her food for now, sitting side by side with Akira now.

"Hmm? No, the contacts only for show. I was hoping to blend into the crowd better once I entered school. That failed." Akira opened up a bag of chips, slipping one into her mouth.

"Hey, if it weren't for your record, you'd probably be more popular than you are right now." Ann hit her lightly in the shoulder. "Don't get me wrong, I did get a kick out of watching you and Ryuji kick Kamoshida's butt." She reached for her cup of tea, taking a long sip.

Ding-ding! The door to the restaurant opened.

"Wow! And like, did you hear what happened Makoto?" Flapping her hands like a bird, a blonde girl with long hair looked around the restaurant. Two pigtails were set apart from the rest of her hair, flapping with her jumps like an angel's wings.

"Yes, I'm aware, Amane," her companion said. An exhausted girl in the Shujin Academy uniform with brunette, bob-length hair. Holding onto her purse, she sighed quietly as she walked over to find a seat, her heels clicking.

"Yes, I imagined it gave the students a moment of levity. Watching your tormentor be taken down a peg can be cathartic to many," Akira said. Continuing the conversation, the delinquent started putting one too many sugar cubes into her own tea, sipping it slowly until her cheeks were full.

"They said that Ryuji guy folded him so hard, he made him suck his own dick!" the excited blonde girl said. "Everyone was saying that!"

Akira nearly choked. In the two seconds she was able to hold her breath, she aimed for her tea cup and ducked under the table for cover.

"PFFFFT!" The only one who was blasted by the attack was Akira, hot liquid firing back at herself.

Akira lifted her head back up, soaked down to the neck in tea. "Crisis averted."

Shadow Akira appeared out of thin air, hovering right behind her. "Gyah-hah-hah-hah! Oh, that sucks!" She was pointing at her other self, kicking her boots in the air.

"Hush, you sassy lady," she thought to herself.

"Noooo~!" Rolling her little finger around in a circle, she flicked it against Akira's cheek, licking the tea off of it before tasting her own lips. "Mmm, sweet~" she said, before retreating back into her soul.

Akira went to clean her face, wiping it clean with a napkin as she exited the bathroom after. "There goes my tea…"

Ann passed Akira her own tea, sliding it across the table. "Here," she said. "Just know I can't prevent that from happening again."

"How kind of you. I'll be sure to pay you back with a beverage later," Akira said.

"If that's the rumor spreading about Kamoshida, then he's gonna be piiii-issed." Ann snorted loudly. "Oh, but now I just hope he won't hurt anyone."

"If anything, his target should be me. After all, I was the one who aggravated him," Akira said. "Part of the intent was to draw fire away from others. I think I can outmaneuver him fairly decently. After all, at this point, I've done it three times."

"Is that it? So what do we have here? An agent provocateur?" one of the girls who joined entered.

"I confess to nothing," Akira immediately said, squinting the instant she shot daggers with her eyes at the one who spoke.

Time for one of Akira's favorite ways to get around a conversation. Being obfuscatingly difficult.

It was much more effective than whatever that Detective Prince tried to pull off.

The girl accompanying the blonde girl looked at Akira with a pair of red eyes of her own. Only much darker. "Nijima Makoto," she said, introducing herself. Scanning every part of the girl in front of her. From her outfit, to her hair, to her glowing red eyes.

"Well, I sure hope you're better than what the students have painted you as." She lowered her arm, grabbing one hit. "But it doesn't change the fact that someone alongside Sakamoto Ryuji went ahead and—"

"Oh my Kira, you're the delinquent girl! You're a total hottie!" the blonde girl next to interrupted her to say, gasping quickly. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Err…" Akira's lips creased into an awkward smile. "No."

"That's a shame, because you'd be so cute with one on your arm!" The blonde girl lifted her hand and stretched her five fingers, striking an ominous pose while covering half her face. "The mysterious delinquent, devil and demon of the night! Undertaker of the Gym! Stealer of the hearts of all poor men with her dangerous looks of seduction!"

"Devil and demon are fairly redundant, aren't they?" The assumption that she was only into men was incorrect by a mile, but it was amusing that she thought that. She did know how to give a dangerous look though. …But one of seduction? That was a story.

"Ugh, why can't I be a boy? Then I could be the cute boy on the arm of a hot stud gal! I'd get to kiss a total babe!" The blonde girl started to rub her shoulders, pretending to nuzzle up against a girl by rubbing her cheek against the air.

"Well, that's not very straight at all…" Shadow Akira said within Akira's thoughts.

"Ugh, but being a boy sounds un-fun for me, specifically." She dropped her arms down. "But the girls? That'd be pretty fun still! Think about it, Makoto!"

"I don't think I will," Makoto said.

Akira raised her finger. "Can I ask a certain question?"

"No, you can't," Makoto said, bracing her hip. "I'm the one asking questions here."

"Damn it." Akira squinted. She was going to wonder about this blonde girl's type for days now.

"I'm tempted to reveal myself for the sake of a really funny joke, but I fear I've spent too long today risking the chance to be seen by an unknown Persona User," Shadow Akira said to herself. "But just imagine that the thing I did was hilarious. Peak, pure, gay comedy."

"You're hilarious, darling," Akira thought. "Dear Kira, I'm even sounding like you now."

"Gee, I wonder why?" said herself to herself and only herself.

"Answer me this, why did you antagonize Mr. Kamoshida earlier today at the end of physical education?" Makoto asked.

"Why do you assume I was the one who antagonized Lord Farquaad?" Akira said bluntly. "I don't know, there could have been a lot of people who could have done that. I joined this school two days ago."

"And you have the guts to call him that, yet you want me to assume you weren't at fault?" Makoto hissed under her breath. "Where do I even start with you, Ms. Kurusu Akira?"

"I'm not asking you to assume anything, I'm questioning your assumptions about me." Akira was not going to cough up any significant, and didn't want to. Not if this was going to be a shake down from someone who A: She didn't know. And B: Was not an officer, her teacher, her guardian, or someone she was obligated to give respect to.

"Before we get to any assumptions, you should know that I'm the student council president," Makoto said, bringing her hand out.

"Damn it," Shadow Akira whispered to her other self. "How important was being a student council president in this school? Was it 'managing school events' levels of importance, or was it 'having a direct line to the Chief of Police' levels of importance?"

Akira grunted quietly to herself, keeping her cards hidden.

"Can't you take a step back, Nijima?" Ann said, leaning in her seat. "Akira didn't do anything more than play a match against—"

"Woah, you're the model girl!" Makoto's blonde friend clasped her hands excitedly. "So pretty! You must be real dedicated to keep up a job and go to school!"

"Aww, thank you!" Ann waved and smiled warmly at the blonde girl, before turning back to Makoto. "As I was saying, Kamoshida told her to play against her, and she did! Nothing more. And what about the injuries the students suffered earlier during the class?"

"I'm here for the express purpose of investigating the unruly conduct of the students who interacted with Mr. Kamoshida today," Makoto said. "People have asked me to look into the behavior of the delinquent transfer student especially. So, that is what I'm doing."

Which was her way of saying she didn't have a response to Kamoshida's abuse, wasn't it? And that she was focused on her job of scrutinizing someone who was already a known problem instead of investigating someone who just so happened to be very good at getting people to cover for him.

"Firstly, what makes you even believe I'm this delinquent you're looking for?" Akira questioned.

"You're speaking to the head of the student council. I have my methods," Makoto said, cocking her head sharply.

"Ooh-ooh! I know this! I know this!" The blonde girl bounced on her toes, raising her hand high. "That's because someone leaked your criminal record, Ms. Kurusu! A brick to a man's head? Wow, so dangerous! And sooo cool!"

"Amane!" Makoto snapped at the smiling blonde girl.

"What? I'm just saying if I were walking all alone in the middle of the night, I would want some sexy violent savior to protect me from mean old bad guys!" this girl, Amane, said. Bringing both hands up and shrugging.

"Thank you for thinking I'm attractive," Akira said as she reached up and nearly poked her glassesless eyes. "Oww—"

"Ugh…" Makoto groaned deeply. "That doesn't change the fact you were caught getting into a commotion with Kamoshida. What exactly did you intend to accomplish?"

"I can't tell you I intended to accomplish anything," Akira said, putting her thumb to her lip. "But assuming I did, the most reasonable assumption would be that I wished to see Kamoshida humiliate himself at his own game. A person who would do that would likely take issue with how Kamoshida treats them and/or others, and if they were to witness Kamoshida being excessively violent, they would retaliate as a means of attempting to get him to stop. Perhaps to prevent any further injuries."

"...But that would only work under the assumption I had a reason to pick on Kamoshida. Of course." Akira lifted her chin higher, looking disarmingly disinterested. "I only met him a few days ago. Now why would I want to get involved? And more importantly, why would he want to involve himself with me? You and Amane just spelled it out that I'm a delinquent. Wouldn't he not want someone like that associating with the members of his sports teams. Just like all the other students and faculty dealing with a criminal. Imagine how unsafe his students would feel…"

"...So you did do it for all those reasons?" Makoto asked.

"This isn't a court, Lady Nijima. I'm not under oath to speak the truth." Akira folded her arms. "All I'm saying is that would be a plausible motive, but I don't know the man. Everything I'm saying could just be made up, playing into what you already think of ne."

Makoto stared hard into Akira's eyes. Red clashing with red.

"Then why?" Makoto asked. "Is it to sabotage the student clubs?"

"Why?" Akira looked at her in complete confusion. "Now why in Kira's name would I want to do that?"

"Why? I don't know, I'm asking you," Makoto said. Now she was starting to sound impatient.

"Well maybe you should ask better questions," Akira whispered in an intentionally too loud and obvious way to ignore.

"Oof! Ooh-hooh!" Amane whistled. "Oh, I felt that burn."

"Amane!" Makoto clicked her tongue, chiding the girl yet once again.

"I'll tell you why it isn't that, though. I don't like school clubs, period." Akira grabbed her hip. "Try to imagine any time you've seen me in a school club. That's right, you can't."

"You just transferred here," Makoto pointed out.

"My point stands!" Akira said, rolling her finger around. "Unless you have a drama club or a literature club, the odds of me going to one are zero!"

"We have both of those," Makoto pointed out.

"The odds of me going to one are next to zero!" Akira insisted. "I enjoy my free time which I use to study my interests at my leisure. And while I prefer to stay away from extracurricular organizations, that does not take away from my academic performance. Not that you would know. …Not that I've ever taken a test in this school, either. But the point still stands in the end, Lady Nijima. Do I need to be held up any further? Do I need to be searched?"

"Do you need to be probed and stripped bare, patted down by the firm, investigative hands of a corrupt officer?" Shadow Akira said in her head.

"Silence, wench!" Akira said back to her. "I'll make you walk the plank for those sailor words of yours!"

"Why are you talking like Captain Kidd?" Shadow Akira asked.

"I don't know, I mentioned drama club and that was it. I was doomed from the start," Akira answered. "Now, silence!"

"You're funny," Shadow Akira said. "I'm funny. I make myself laugh."

"I think we're done here," Makoto said. "Come on, Amane." The student council president started to walk away in a haughty manner, heels clicking as the doors slid open and shut.

"...But I asked you if you could take me on a date to Big Bang Burger," Amane said, hands curled as she held onto a gift card.

The doors slid open yet again. Makoto's heels clicked again as she made her way to the corner of the restaurant, sitting down with crossed arms in disgruntled silence.

"Are we sure this girl is straight?" Akira said.

"Amane? God, I hope not. She's cute," Shadow Akira said, and Akira could just sense the flippant and flamboyant wringing of her hand. Even without seeing her.

"I know! She's so bubbly, and spunky," Akira said. "I'm not saying I would date her but I am saying if we ended up dating I would not be upset."

"No duh, I can read you like a book," Shadow Akira said. "If bisexuality had intensity levels, yours would be set to level 14."

"Is true, I'm pretty gay." That was how Akira chose to respond. "Is the bisexuality scale up to—"

"Yes, it's up to ten, dearie," Shadow Akira answered.

"Good, good…" Akira whispered, squinting like an imp.

"What are you saying good for?" Ann asked.

"Huh? Talking to myself," Akira said. "Sorry.!

"Byeee, Ms. Akira! Hope you get yourself a cute boy to date!" Amane flapped her hand in a very flamboyant and flippant manner. Taking her seat.

"Only by circumstance, not by popular demand!" Akira raised her finger dramatically. "I only date who I want!"

Akira sat back down, quickly turning to Ann. "Anyways. I need to tell you, I like women."

Ann's eyes opened up, light shining in their reflection.

The world briefly went dark around them, zooming in on them and them alone as an eerie piano started to play. Ann's hair changed from its glorious golden to a vibrant pink while Akira's hair and eyes started to glow brighter. Akira kept her feet on her seat and her arms crossed, staring at her companion with the wide and focused eyes that could only come from a wannabe detective.

"...What?" Ann said, blinking as the world reverted to normal.

"I said I like women," Akira repeated, still continuing to stare at her.

"Erwhah?" Ann hopped in her seat. "I mean, sure, but why?"

Akira gestured in very obvious circles at where Amane was standing moments ago. In fact, she took it a step further and drew an outline of Amane with white, segmented lines.

"Haaaai!" Amane waved her hand at the two of them again. "You both look so cute!"

"I think she thinks I'm straight," Akira said, with large, panda-like eyes of distress.

"Doo… Do you like men? Or…" Blushing pink, Ann was unsure what to say.

"Yes! But like—!" Akira lifted her hands and scrambled her fingers around, before throwing those hands forward. "But also—!"

"...I just think girls are neat," she explained, pulling back with a cute, dorky smile. "I got a gay brain."

"...Uh-huh." Ann nodded slowly. "I mean, I know there are people out there who are into the same gender. But I've never actually met a person who…" The blonde girl squinted. "So wait, are you gay or are you bisexual?"

"I just kind of use both depending on the scenario," Akira explained, shrugging. "I know what I'm into, and it's not just women and it's not just men. Who's gonna police me, the cops? They're not welcome at pride!"

"Why would you wanna use both?" Ann said.

"Because I am trying to collect as many labels as I can get. Bisexual-lesbian convict is going to look so good on my dating profile." Akira raised her phone, showing her a picture of herself posing seductively.

"No, I'm just messing with you, I don't like dating apps," Akira said, closing her photo album. "I do it because it's comforting. And they're umbrella terms for a reason!"

"Umbrella terms?" Ann said. "Why are they called that?"

Akira grabbed her by the arms. "I need to tell you about the joy of being very loud about very gay."

Twenty minutes of gushing about how pretty women were later.

"And that is why…!" Akira said dramatically.

"Being queer is just very liberating for me. I feel like I don't have to lie to myself when I see someone attractive," she explained. "I mean, after all. If I see a cute face that I want to kiss, then I know I want to kiss them."

"I'm probably a little gayer than her, but that's circumstantial," Shadow Akira said. It probably had something to do with the fact she kept hitting on herself. Not that Ann could hear.

"Huh…" Ann blinked. "I don't actually know what to think."

"Any questions?" Akira asked.

"...Yes." With open eyes, Ann lifted her head. "Have you ever made out with a woman? Was it hot? Was it sexy? Did it make you want more?"

"Oh, darling, you've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?" Now Akira was the one flamboyantly flipping her hand. "And the answer is no, I never have."

"I—!" Ann stuttered. "No!" She pursed her lips, but the blush on her face betrayed her.

"...Perhaps, once," she admitted. "Like last year. Or summer vacation. Or Christmas when Shiho wore a fuzzy miniskirt."

"Ooh, like one of those really festive red ones?" Akira put her hand under her chin and gave a flirtatious look.

"It wasssss… I kept looking at her legs the whole time…" Ann grabbed her head and sank to the table. "I felt so guilty…"

"Hey, we all have our gay moments. Well, not everyone, but we specifically do." Akira patted her on the back. "But it's important to be respectful. Unlike that damn Kamoshida."

"I KNOW, RIGHT?!" Ann slammed the table and threw her head back up.

"Ah—" Akira pulled her hand back. "I'm, sor—"

"What? No! It's not your fault!" Ann said, head turning away. "...Kamoshida's a creepy bastard."

Akira sighed, slumping her shoulders. "Tell me about it. My first day at school involved getting sexually harassed by the guy."

"HE DID WHAT!" Ann slammed the table with her fist again louder. Only to draw the attention of everyone around her, lowering her head.

"Sorry, sorry—" Ann shook her head. "Wait, why am I sorry? He was being a creep to you!"

…Akira lifted her head, staring at Makoto and Amane once more.

"You're being noisy, but you're being cute!" Amane wiggled back and forth delightedly while waving yet again. She didn't seem to hear what prompted Ann to shout.

"If you keep calling me cute, I'll be tempted to do something about that!" Akira shouted back, flashing a shark's grin.

"Ooh, scary and sexy! I really like this delinquent girl!" Amane kicked her feet high one after the other, flapping her hands in large, wide strokes.

"I don't think I was being all that scary…" Akira pouted, eyebrows furrowed as she turned around and looked to Ann. "Is my face scary?"

"I mean, if I woke up in the middle of the night and saw those eyes glowing at me, I'd scream as if the reaper himself showed up to kill me. But you're not that scary," Ann said.

"Yeah, exactly!" Akira agreed. "...Wait, hey!" The delinquent put her hand on her knee, growling at Ann.

"Oh, now that's as scary as an adorable puppy!" Ann snorted, rubbing Akira's jet black head of hair.

"Don't call me a puppy. I'm definitely a tiger. Or a lion or something…" Akira said between grit teeth.

"A kitty maybe!" Ann grabbed Akira, keeping her in a hug despite the grouchy delinquent's protests.

"Still… If I knew that was happening to you, then I would wish I could've done something about it," Ann said, holding Akira close yet still. "Kamoshida's been creeping on me too. And not just me, I'm hardly the first girl he's tried something with. He doesn't really do anything to the boys like that. Or at least I hope so, god. But… I mean, you've seen what they've done."

"Yeah…" Akira leaned forward and looked down at the table. "I guess we're all victims in one way or another. Whether you think of yourself as one or not."

She wondered how Morgana was doing.

Chapter Text

Episode 11: Fading Sunset - Part 2

"...And if you think they're not suffering, think again!" Morgana lifted his paw up towards Ryuji. "You're all in this together. Like that one movie about singing in high school!"

"Damn it, Morgana! Don't teach me a lesson and then undercut it with a joke!" Ryuji said.

"I'm being serious!" the cat said. "Think about it, do any of those kids seem like bad people?"

"No, but that doesn't mean they won't…" Ryuji shook his head. "That doesn't mean they won't just leave me to dry! You don't know what it's like to have that happen to you, man!"

"But I know that one group of humans can't speak for all of them, just like one group of Shadows aren't the same as the next," Morgana said. "You'll have to trust in someone Ryuji, otherwise you'll always be fighting alone. I don't think you really think that Lady Takamaki wanted to abandon you."

"Then why…?" Ryuji dropped both hands. "Why did she disappear out of my life like that?" He let his head fall, dropping down until he sat on the ground, one knee raised.

"I can't speak for her, but I know one thing. Kamoshida lies at the heart of this whole thing, and his desires pervert this school." The blue eyed cat walked up to Ryuji, staring him in the eyes. "My suggestion? You apologize to Lady Takamaki. And ask if she feels your pain. Chances are, Kamoshida's been trying to get under her skin too."

"I… I guess you're right," Ryuji admitted. "When you put it like that, it all makes sense. Then I'm an idiot trying to fight my friends while we're all being put down by the same shitty adult."

"At least you've got the right spirit!" Morgana perked up, holding his head high. "Hmm, too bad you're not a true master thief like me. If you were, you'd have been able to piece this out in no time."

"Hey!" Ryuji sprung up off the ground, quick as a blur as he looked down at Morgana and shook his fist. "This stuff ain't easy! Don't put another person down just for not getting it!"

"Sorry! Better be quick on the draw!" Morgana insisted.

"Wow, thanks bro!" Ryuji said angrily.

"Why are you arguing with a cat, Sakamoto?"

"Mreow?" Morgana jumped back, landing on the table behind him. Ryuji and Morgana were sitting at one of the stone benches of the outdoor courtyard, when approaching from the grass were three students. Each sporting the jumpsuits from the track team.

"Bad news?" Morgana asked.

"Certainly no good news, my rival's little master." Captain Kidd appeared behind Ryuji, prepared to support him even if only as an invisible force. "Let's play dead for now…"

"What do you want?" Ryuji said. "I already said, I ain't coming back."

"It's not about whether you come back or not. It's about what you did in gym class earlier," One of the boys said, the red sun cast over his head. "Take a damn hint man, we're trying to fly under his radar as it is."

"...Sorry." Ryuji straightened himself, cold and calm.

"Everyone's been practicing behind his back so that hopefully someday the team can bounce back. But the way you're going about this is going to get all of us crushed again," another of the boys said.

The first boy spoke again, "It was a damn tragedy what happened to your leg, but…"

Ryuji grunted and tightened his fist, looking down at his injured leg.

"Just back off from Kamoshida," the third in the group said, a boy with tan skin and blue hair standing in front of Ryuji and bringing his arm out defensively. "There's not a single reason in the world for you to provoke the guy. We all just need to ride this out and graduate."

Ryuji's eyes turned harsh, and he spoke with restrained fury. "If you all can't see why I'm fighting, then I don't even know why we were once friends."

"Friends look out for each other," the third boy said, lowering his hand. "That's why I'm asking you now to stop. Keep him off your back and that will be enough for the rest of us."

"This is a fight worth fighting. Even if no one has my back, I'll always stand against bastards like him!" Ryuji said, keeping his fists held tight.

"...Then we've said our peace," the third student said. "Let's get out of here."

Ryuji didn't even lift his head. His breathing hitched as he kept staring at his damaged leg.

"...You yearn to live with freedom from these burdens above all else. To run free under the blue sea that is our sky." Captain Kidd showed himself right by Ryuji's side, the giant soul of the Dreadlord folding his arms and watching the trio of Ryuji's old mates abandon him. "You trust few for there are many who have declared you their enemy. To be loved by that few who trust you is what you seek most, and to protect them is your greatest desire. That is where your heart lies, truly. You would go to the depths of hell to risk it all for your crew. Ah-hah… what a reckless way to live."

He reached his hand out, slowly clawing his golden gauntlet. "But is there really any other way to live? Is it really living if you spent every day in regret over never having gone down to drag your crew back with your own two legs? To leave them behind because you could never truly stand at their backs?"

Lightning sparked within Captain Kidd's hand, and he raised it as it zapped back and forth, blue and bright. "You are just like the legendary rogues of the old seas… Your will surges in you like an undying blue spark."

He retreated back into Ryuji's soul, his voice echoing through the empty courtyard. "So it must be that you walk the path of a lonely dead man… But so, too, shall you always have my ship to command. You are a good soul, Ryuji…"

Ryuji tightened his fist, lightning zapping across it. "Let's take down Kamoshida."

Ann leaned forward. "And so, ever since Shiho got on the volleyball team and Ryuji got on the track team, I've always tried to support them." She sniffled. "Then Kamoshida broke Ryuji's leg and disbanded the track team. And things started going from bad to worse."

Ann wiped the tears off her face with her sleeve. "It was after he was done with Ryuji that he turned almost all of his attention to Shiho. Trading the star track runner for the star volleyball player. I can't remember when I figured out something was wrong, but I did. That was when I decided I'd get in close, to try to get answers."

"You were doing that all by yourself?" Akira said, shifting closer to her friend.

"I thought if I did, I could protect both Shiho and Ryuji," Ann explained. "Kamoshida said he was concerned by Shiho's performance on the team and he's been considering dropping her from the team. And that he wanted to see a friend of hers who knew her well to get a closer look. I thought this was my in. I knew what he was doing and thought he was full of it from the start, but if I could get the truth from him and keep Shiho from getting hurt, then…"

Shaking her head hard, Ann dropped her head down, the sun's sunset rays now cast behind her. "I thought I was getting closer to figuring something out, but then Kamoshida kept adding conditions to our meetings in order for him to agree to keep Shiho around. He wanted to keep seeing me more, beyond what we initially agreed to. To drive me out to school in the morning, just like you saw. To cut Ryuji out of my life, saying he couldn't trust the advice of someone who's friends with the troublemaker who got his own team shut down. Again, I didn't trust him, but I-I, I didn't want Shiho to lose her chance at her dream too."

She grabbed her face, hiding her eyes behind her hands. "God, I'm such an idiot. What was I thinking? That I could snatch a confession right out of his mouth like I'm some kind of ruthless seductress? All I did was waste my time and get myself in more trouble." She pulled her hands down, revealing how lost she looked. "I can't even get any proof of what he's doing, and it's not like the school cares. Now there's rumors that Kamoshida and I are dating, and everyone thinks it's true."

"If they think that, and they're using that as something to look down on you for, then they're wrong," Akira said. "I'd argue they're just telling themselves what they want to believe to have a target they're fine with bullying. Someone they can pick on because they can't lash back at Kamoshida himself. And that makes them foolish."

Akira put her hand down on the table. "It's one thing that they're all suffering under what Kamoshida is putting them through, but I can't agree with them. You've done only what you thought would help you try to protect your friends. There's nothing wrong in doing that."

"You might be onto something, you know." With tears in her eyes, Ann blinked, giving her a sweet, shut-eyed smile. "Other than Shiho, I don't really have friends anymore. Who would think that the next one was this delinquent girl with a big heart?"

"Uh, yeah. I try…" Akira started to blush, holding her head low now. Grabbing her collar, she felt embarrassed.

"Daww, you're feeling all fuzzy now…" Shadow Akira teased. "Don't mind me at all."

"You're right though," Ann said. "I get a lot comments from other students. They often say I'm pretty to my face, but then they call me things like bitch and slut behind my back. Just the other day, I walked by a student and overheard him saying I was 'easy', thinking I was sleeping with Kamoshida and that I should sleep with him instead."

"Permission to brick him in the head?" Akira asked, tapping her temple.

"Let's not get you thrown into prison. You're too cute for that." Ann squinted and poked Akira at both ends of her nose bridge with her fingers.

"That's not very straight of you," Akira told her.

"It wasn't, was it?" Ann took a sip of water from her bottle, setting it down and smiling.

"...Kamoshida's tried to get me alone into his apartment too, you know," she admitted, gripping her shoulders. "It was on the ride just after we first met that he said it to me. He's saying that if I don't accept his deal, he won't just make sure Shiho is dropped from this year's starting lineup, he'll make sure she never plays on another sports team again. He said I had only a week to consider."

Akira gasped. "He didn't make you—"

"I refused, which pissed him off so much," Ann said, shaking her head firmly in regret and denial. "When I saw him trying to get to you, I thought he was already making moves of his own to make good on his threats, looking for a new target to put on his team. …It looks like he hasn't acted just yet."

Ann's phone rang. One look at it turned Ann's blood cold.

She picked up the phone, bringing it to her ear. "H… H-hello?"

"Ohhh hello, Ann! How have you been doing today?"

Staring outside his own office within the school, he watched as the sun descended.

Kamoshida started to chuckle under his breath, the world around him turning dark. "I just got back from a little bit of extra training with that Yuuki fellow. You remember my offer, right? Well, what do you think about it?"

"You said the deadline wasn't until the end of the week!" Ann said, lifting out of her seat.

Her pupils shrunk, and she was stricken with fear. Holding her phone as motionless as a marble statue.

"Hah-hah, yeah well… change of plans." Kamoshida looked back at a scared Mishima holding onto his eye. With a furious gaze, he pointed his finger at the door, then rolled it around in a wide circle before pointing towards Shiho, who had been moved to the gym waiting.

"So what's it gonna be, Ann?" Kamoshida said, going right back to that confident, sickeningly sweet smile of his. "You care about Shiho winning big at the tournaments and getting the opportunity to cozy up to some big shot names in the field, right? How far are you willing to go to see her succeed?"

He watched as Mishima left the room, approaching Shiho while keeping his whole arm over his face the entire time.

"You should know this," Kamoshida told her. "All of what's about to come could be avoided if you say yes. Otherwise…"

A dark, malicious cackle was heard, coming from the king of the castle. "So what's it going to be? Which is worth more to you? Your faith in your friend, or your own unearned pride?"

Ann's voice started to crack. She parted pink, quivering lips, tears streaming down her agony-ridden face.

"I… I can't," she said, and only those two words.

"...I see," Kamoshida said, his smile dying then and there. "Then let me just say this, you chose very poorly. Looks like we don't just have one loser here but two. Neither of the girls before me have the strength to do what it takes to succeed, and it looks like I've wasted my time trying to mould them into stars just like me."

"Y—" Ann stammered. "You can't mean—"

"Let's just say that if, and only if, she puts on a good show in this next training session, I might let her stay on her talents alone. After all, she might be able to prove me wrong. Unlike you who's letting me down, you down, and everyone around you down." Kamoshida tilted his head, speaking into the phone with a hateful tone to match his glare. "Just remember whose fault this is if she fucks this one. I could replace her in an instant and it will be… All. Yur. Fault."

"Wait—!" Ann screamed.

"But who am I going to get to replace the star volleyball player if she fails?" Kamoshida casually turned his head, tapping his foot while looking up. "That punk whatever-their-name? Ah, but they're too much trouble for what they're worth. Can't even put them on the team with the chicks. You'd try to make them a cheerleader and they'd be a total buzzkill."

"...But Kurusu Akira, now?" he said, baring his teeth that shined so ghastly white as he reached up and grabbed his crown. "Yeah-hah-hah, hooh boy~"

The man rolled his head back, whistling loud as he threw his head forward with such enthusiasm. "She might be a troublemaker and a total pain in the ass, but have you seen that face? Look at how she's built! Get her to kick a soccer ball, that leg will go all the way up and the ball will fly to the goal like a comet! Yeah, she came here at just the right time. Things are gonna get fun around here."

"Come at me, joker!" Akira put her hand on the phone, shouting into the speaker.

"What the—!" Kamoshida threw himself back. "Kurusu?! Why are you on Takamaki's phone!"

Kurusu Akira pushed the button to record the phone call before anything else.

"If you think you can make threats to me or my friends and get away with it, think again!" Akira shouted at him. "I beat you once at your own game, and I'll beat you one more time! Never in my life will I work with you! You got that, Kamoshida Suguru?!"

Makoto squinted, hiding her face behind her newspaper while peeking from above. "So it does seem like there's more to this story…"

"Looks like shit's getting real," Amane said, slipping a black nail in between her lips. "Do you think she's in trouble, or do you think that Kamoshida guy is the one causing the problem?"

"It can't be Kamoshida, can it?" Makoto bit her thumb, tilting her shocked head. "No, he's never had a single case or complaint filed against him. The principal and all the teachers hold him in high regard… It would be impossible, it wouldn't make sense."

"I don't know, it sounds like Kamoshida's messing with her," Amane pointed out, before lifting her head and clapping her hands. "Oh, do you think he's secretly a criminal? Maybe he'll just up and get a heart attack while nobody's looking!"

"Somehow, I doubt he'll ever even be put in that position. There's just no logical throughline…" Makoto said, shaking her head around. "If he did, the school would have gotten him already. They have to!"

"Threaten us again, and you'll be the king of a fallen kingdom! I'll crash your castle, damn it!" Akira shouted so loudly with one foot slamming on the table. The delinquent shouted so close into the speaker, she nearly ate the phone and her fist.

"...Ms, Kurusu, hello there," Kamoshida said, now much calmer in his fury. "Good to know where you stand. Unfortunately, you don't have a say in what's about to come next. But I can say you should watch how you open your mouth in front of those you owe respect to."

"I don't owe you damn anything!" Akira shouted. "If you even try to touch me, I'll take a page from Hank Hill, and I hope you know what that means!" She hit her elbow on the table and dropped low, her eyes burning red.

That was her way of saying she was going to kick his ass while shouting in public.

"Oh, I can get you to do what I want. Trust me…" Kamoshida glanced out the corner of his eye to see Shiho heading his way, and Mishima heading over to the bleachers to cower behind them. Licking his wounds, no doubt.

"Let's just say I warned you, you dumb bitch. You're going to do what I want whether you like it or not." He scowled, before licking his lips and smiling. "I'm going to have a nice long talk with Shiho before her final training session begins. I'll let you girls know every detail about what happens after."

"Eat my fucking ass!" Akira shouted.

"Oh, you wish I would, bitch," Kamoshida said. "You'd love it."

"Eww! Fuck off, creep!" With that, Akira hung up, putting the phone back in Ann's hands.

Then she sank to the table and crossed her arms over her head.

"Kira, damn it…" Akira sighed deeply, sinking deeper than before. "And I promised Sojiro I wouldn't get into more trouble."

"I-I—" Ann stuttered again. "I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what? Ugh, it's Kamoshida doing this to us!" Akira started to claw at the air. "I just want to… grahh! I can't even say what I want to do!"

"Eek!" Ann got out of her seat, hand touching her lip. "Where are you going!?"

"I need to go home, otherwise I'll be late. And you don't want to start breaking rules when you're already on a tight leash," Akira said. She put her hands in her pocket, swinging her book bag and slinging it over shoulder before she started to walk.

Looking back at Ann, there were tears in her sorrow-filled red eyes. Before she wiped her arm over them, flicking the tears away as she smiled. "I'll be fine, okay? The three of us are gonna make it now that we're friends. All of us!"

"I… yeah, but…" Looking down, she watched as Akira left the building before she could say anything.

Arms still in her pockets and her head still kept low, Akira was crying two streams of tears down her face. Cursing herself for her anger. Caught between that unyielding anger whilst being broken with sorrow.

"Poor cutie…" Amane said, frowning.

"If she's in trouble, then it must be because she's only answering for what she's done," Makoto said. "We shouldn't feel sympathy for someone making their own messes, and yet…"

"I really don't think it sounds like that," Amane turned to catch Makoto biting down on her nail harder. "If she was really the one causing the fight, wouldn't she be acting like some big bad thug, trying to pressure Kamoshida into giving up what she wants him to give up?"

"She was doing that," Makoto pointed out.

"No she wasn't," Amane said. "She said that Kamoshida guy was threatening her and her friends. That sounds like she might be getting blackmailed."

"Blackmailed with what?" Makoto got up and started to leave, holding her bag tight. "Her record's already been leaked. What could even do to her?"

"Then it might be, like, extortion! Or solicitation, or whatever!" Amane raised a finger and walked out with her. "Don't you know? You don't need to be guilty to have a reason to be silenced. That's basic criminal case stuff."

"I just… can't believe Kamoshida could do such a thing or the school could allow such a thing," Makoto told her. "If it were true, then what are any of us doing? Protecting students?"

"I don't know…" Amane tilted her head and leaned forward, putting her hands behind her back. "Maybe it's not the students they're trying to protect."

"Then who?" Makoto asked. "This is too much right now. Let's go home…" She shook her head in distress as she left the building. The blonde girl following behind.

Ann held her pounding chest. Finally, after staying there for far too long, she got up after Akira.

Chapter Text

Episode 12: Eye of the Storm

Ding-ding!

"Where were you?!" Sojiro said. "I was just about to close up, and I've been walking around the sidewalk to—!"

Sojiro turned his head, staring at the delinquent keeping her head down just as he said, keeping the door open.

"What the hell happened?" Sojiro said, rising up from the table he sat at. "You said you were hanging out with a friend. So what… went wrong…"

The glow in Akira's eyes was fainter than usual, and all was left was the look of despair. "I don't want to talk about it."

…Sojiro paused momentarily, staring at that lost-looking girl in front of him. Before quickly lifting his head. "Hey, uh…"

"I want to go to bed," Akira said, quickly slipping right by him.

"Uh…" Sojiro looked around for something to make an excuse out of.

"Uh, before you go to bed, you're gonna sweep up your room, kay?" he said, reaching for his broom. "Before that, I'm gonna teach you how to make some of my coffee."

"Why?" Akira said, lifting her forlorn eyes as a broom was put in her hands.

"Well, in case I'm not around and you got to do stuff for yourself. Who knows if I've got a business trip, and suddenly you got a week alone. Then you'll have to do your own groceries and look after yourself… I'm just saying," Sojiro said, pulling on his apron. "You wouldn't want to uh, spend all that time without a good coffee to keep you awake when you need it, either? I drink my blends all the time, within reason."

Akira looked up, lowering the broom. "...Do you have tea?"

"And hot chocolate blends," Sojiro said. "Comes with the territory. But you won't get most of those types until it's winter. It's a seasonal thing, and all that."

"I'll take the tea, please," Akira said.

Following Sojiro's instructions to the letter, all that was left was waiting for the tea to be ready. "Almost…"

Soon enough, a mug was set out for her, and she slowly filled it up to the brim. Then she poured into a second mug, filling it up for Sojiro.

"Hmm… let me rate this." Sojiro grabbed his mug, blew on it before taking a long, slow sip. Smacking his lips.

"Mmm, I'm a coffee addict at heart," he said, swirling the tea. "...But it's good. I wouldn't want to serve a customer this, but you did a good job.

Akira knitted her brows, looking up harshly. "Hey…"

"Because I only serve my best," he said, one arm folded across his chest and the other elbow resting against it. "As a coffee-maker, it's only after training that we're able to put out our best into what we make. Just like in any craft, skill and heart combine to make a priceless experience." He brought his mug out, speaking with the certainty and professionalism of an old-fashioned critic.

"...But you did good," he said, grinning at her. "Don't take my seriousness for blended drinks as if you made a personal mistake. You're just going to have to accept I'm a hardass on this one."

"You say that with such bravado…" Akira said, scowling at him.

"Yeah? Well, let me offer you a suggestion," Sojiro said, putting his mug down to tap his temple. "Try it yourself, and see how much you'll like it."

Grunting, Akira grabbed her mug and brought it to her lips. Annoyedly taking one sip and—

And then her eyes brightened up, wide open and clear, proceeding to make a large swig of her drink.

"Heh, it's good right?" Sojiro said.

"This is the best tea I've had! And I already spat the tea I had today!" Akira said, her smile rekindling once more as she pulled down her mug. "I'm going to get mouth burns if I'm not careful!"

"Just be careful, drinks as good as these will make every sip of another kind taste like ash in your mouth. That's why I became a coffee shop owner." Sojiro spoke with such confidence as he flourished his mug, swinging it out before him. And it was already empty before Akira caught a glance at him sipping the rest.

Ding! A cooking timer went off. "Ah, perfect timing," Sojiro said. Stirring a cooking pot, he pulled something out of his pocket, hiding it as he sprinkled it in. Giving it a few more moments as he lowered the heat and grabbed his plates. "You know, I was waiting for you ever since I got a call from a student. They didn't say much, but they did ask about you. I was getting worried you got into more trouble."

He set two plates of curry out, sliding one along the counter for Akira.

"Right, so this is what you sell here!" Akira said. "This whole time, I've just been trying to stay in my room when I'm around. I've never actually seen it myself."

"Catch me at the right time, and you'll probably get my best batch of curry." Sojiro leaned in, grabbing a spoon. "All that walking around and looking for you made me hungry. Let's dig in."

She didn't even grab her meal like she was supposed to at Big Bang Burger, so she was really hungry. So she digged in heartily, and fast. It was so rich and delicious. "I've never even tasted curry this good!" She felt warm. The times she had this kind of stuff in the orphanage was to die for.

Ding-ding! The doorbell rang once more.

"Hmm?" Sojiro leaned back. "You're the one who called me, right?"

"No, but I was the one who asked that girl to call you," Ann said. "May I come in?"

"It's pretty late. Are you sure you'll be fine getting back home?" Sojiro asked, pushing his glasses and adjusting them.

"I'll be fine," Ann said, tucking her head. "I just… wanted to check on Akira."

"Well, come on in. Take a seat, we're having dinner." Sojiro rolled his hand, inviting her in.

"I already ate," Ann said. "If you have anything to drink, I'll take it though."

With a mug of tea poured for her, Ann watched as Sojiro lifted up his mug, turning away.

"Hah…" Sojiro smiled, looking out the window.

"What's up?" Akira said. She was already through more than half her curry, and wishing she had more.

"No-no, it's just…" Sojiro sighed. "It's a little silly."

"If it's on your mind, you should say it," the girl said. "It can't be that silly."

"Oh, alright, but don't get upset if you get second-hand embarrassment." Sojiro looked back at Akira. "I used to have an old friend and her daughter stop by my house pretty much all the time. Even before I was running the place, she was all like 'Sojiro, you should sell this stuff! You'd make a killing!"

"Uh-huh?" Akira nodded along, stuffing a spoonful of rice and curry into her mouth.

"I told her 'now who would go to a shop that only sells coffee and curry?!' But she always laughed and said she wasn't having that," Sojiro said. "Then she said if no one else would go, then she'd go and spend all her money on it just to keep the place afloat all so that she could keep eating like this everyday. And her kid was just the sweetest little goblin on the planet."

"Oh?" Ann perked up. "Sounds sweet, really. That's hardly embarrassing."

She leaned to the side, sticking her tongue out. "Sooo… were you two dating? Did a kind man have a thing for a cute single mom in his area?"

"Ah-hah! No, I could never!" Sojiro wiped his glasses with a cloth. "Ms. Wakaba, well I don't know who she was with since she never spoke about it, but a gruff old man like me could never. Besides, her daughter needed someone better than some punk. When I met her, Fu—, er, her daughter was already this tiny little hamster hiding behind her legs."

"Aww… Please, you don't seem like a bad guy. Especially not if you're talking like that," Ann said, "You went out of your way to take care of Akira here, right? Aren't you her temporary guardian?"

"Mmhm!" Akira eagerly finished off the last of her curry. "Is there more?"

"About three more servings, 'cause I'm still starving." Sojiro gave another serving to himself and Akira, sitting back down. "Anyways, she was great, but it wasn't ever going to work out. But yeah, this was something the three of us used to do all the time. So, cooking for someone just to try to cheer them up, well…"

Sojiro reached for the back of his head. "Look at me, getting all sentimental. Still, it's nice to do this again," he said. "So, what's the bad news? You looked a little frightened back there."

"Ugh, how do I even begin?" Akira grabbed the back of her head now. "Well, I'm just going to go straight for it. Alright, Ann?"

"It can't be any worse than saying nothing at this point," Ann said. "Just, um, don't think bad of us, Mister…"

"Sakura. Sakura Sojiro," he said. "...Just call me Mr. Sojiro. She does it too."

"Alright, Mr. Sojiro," Ann said. "Okay Akira, say it."

Akira pushed away her plate, breathing out. "So our gym teacher is physically assaulting his students."

"Mmhm," Sojiro said, staying calm while he let her finish.

"And he's sexually assaulting his female students."

"Mmhm," Sojiro nodded along.

"And he's tried to coerce Ann into performing sexual favors, and he's seems to be threatening me with the same kind of coercion," Akira finished.

"Mmhm." Sojiro closed his eyes, pausing for a few brief moments.

Sojiro opened his eyes and spoke, "Do you need me to procure you a brick? I can get a whole bag if you need one."

"We—!" Akira pulled her hands back. "Won't be needing that. Although, a part of me wishes I could leave him a bloodied up mess."

"There's a bag of them in my attic, actually," Sojiro inched his finger twice over in the direction of his house. "Just say the word. …But you're right that solving this like that will be bad. If you get caught, it's straight to jail for you. And we don't want that."

Sojiro looked down, grabbing his chin.

"Could I get away with it?" he asked. "Ah, but I've got obligations. We don't need to endanger the livelihoods of more kids."

"W-we're not going to commit any violence on him!" Akira stated.

Falser lies have never been spoken.

"We'd get in trouble if we did, just like you said," Ann said, sighing. "This whole thing has been a mess…"

"Welp," Sojiro took out a marker, uncapped it, and walked over to the door. Opening it, he grabbed the closing sign and adjusted it such that it read 'Closed until 4/14.'

"We're closed for tomorrow," he said, coming back in and slipping the marker back into his pocket. "I'll drive the two of you to school and then make my case when the time is right. It's the least I could do as a guardian after hearing that. You got any evidence?"

"Unfortunately, no," Ann said. "He's pretty tight-lipped when it comes to anything he does behind the scenes. He called me today, but I never even gave him my personal phone number. I don't know how he got my contact."

"Wait, the phone call! Remember?" Akira uncrossed her arms, shaking Ann's shoulder. "I recorded it!"

"Oh, right!" Ann reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. Playing the recording.

"If you think you can make threats to me or my friends and get away with it, think again! I beat you once at your own game, and I'll beat you one more time! Never in my life will I work with you! You got that, Suguru Kamoshida?!"

That was the recording of Akira's voice. They listened to the rest of the call, which included a lot of swears from Akira at her angriest.

"...Somehow, I feel like the odds might be stacked against us if we try to use this conversation as proof," Sojiro said.

"Oh come on! He was making threats there, too!" Akira argued.

"I'll take a page from Hank Hill, and I hope you know what that means!" Sojiro said. "Kid, you threatened to kick his ass. I've seen the English release."

"Of course you've seen the English release," Akira said while folding her arms and pouting. Mostly because she was upset by the phone call idea blowing up in her face. "Are you sure we can't use this?"

"I mean, maybe," Sojiro said, looking at the phone. "Some of those parts do paint him in a bad light. It might be enough to sway some minds. But considering that it's you he's speaking to, the school might not look favorably at you here. They might even look away if he's a big shot or something, or incriminate you."

"Ugh, and Ryuji already gave me the rundown of how big he is," Akira said, glancing up as Sojiro took another swig of tea. "Kamoshida Suguru is huge. He's an olympic medalist."

"PBB—" Sojiro stopped himself, looked at the blend in his cup, then swallowed.

"Crisis averted," he said. "But that right there is bad news. If you're telling me this isn't the first time he's done this, then obviously the school has been looking the other way. Or even sweeping it under the rug."

"Yeah, that's what we've been saying!" Akira said.

"I've dealt with those kinds of people in my old job, but unfortunately I can't build a case like I used to," Sojiro went over to his hat rack, taking his white fedora. "Still, you've got me in your corner."

He went over to the door again. "Alright, take care for the night," he said, opening the door and looking back. "And Lady Ann, feel free to stay for the night. …You probably should. That's why I'm fetching some fresher blankets and a pillow, but heada up, I don't got a second bed here. So… that's less than ideal."

"I can sleep on one of these couches tonight," Ann said, sharing a look with Akira. "Are you okay with that?"

"Well, if you're sleeping on the couch, then I'll stay with you too. I wouldn't want you to have to stay downstairs alone," Akira said. "Besides, the bed was killing my back." She reached back, rubbing it and feeling how rough it felt. She was sleeping on a flat mattress set on top of milk crates.

"...Oh, shoot! I didn't clean my room!" Akira said, bringing her hands to her head.

"Eh, don't worry about it, kiddo. It wasn't that important." Sojiro waved his hand casually. "Try to get some shut-eye. Don't stay up too late."

Leaving for a moment, he came back with a blanket and pillow for Ann, setting them down for her. Then he closed the door again, whistling before he disappeared out of sight.

…Akira heard scratching upstairs at the window. Like a pet trying to get inside.

"What the…?" Akira headed upstairs, coming in just in time to see Morgana picking the lock to her window before slipping right in.

"Morgana? How did you even get here!" Akira said right.

"A thief knows his way around town," Morgana said, "Mreow! Now… I'm tired. I would like to take a nap before the big day."

"Big day?" Akira said.

"I've got big plans to take down Kamoshida! You won't need the school for this one either!" he said.

"Ah! Ahah!" Akira leaned back. "No kidding?" Laughing further, she reached her arms out when Morgana jumped up to be held. Heading back downstairs. "Hey, Ann! Guess who's gonna help us—"

"Mreow!" Morgana stuck his tail up. "She can't understand me! She's just going to think you're messing with her."

"Oh… uh, right…" Akira frowned.

"What's up?" Ann said, getting up from the couch with her blanket half over her. "Someone's here?"

"Meow!" Morgana opened his mouth, giving his cutest smile.

"Ooh, the kitty!" Ann leaned in, raising her hands. "Can I hold him, pleeeease?"

"I wanna hold the kitty!" Akira protested.

"I'm not a—!" Morgana interjected.

"Pleeeaaaase?" Ann clapped her hands together, squealing higher pitched. "Pleeaaaaase!"

"Oh, fine!" Morgana rolled his eyes before jumping at her. "But not because I want to—hey!"

"Soo, cute!" Ann rubbed her face against the annoyed cat who quickly melted into the hug, rubbing his face back.

"Agh, you two will weaken a thief's senses!" Morgana pulled his head back, but did not insist on escaping.

"Really, we're going to need those skills when we go back to school tomorrow," Morgana said, pointing at Akira. "So rest well."

"I promise to sleep through the entire night!" Akira said, saluting him affirmatively.

Come 4:43 a.m, Akira was snoring loud enough to wake up a panther. And yet Ann was still asleep.

The clock on the T.V left on changed from 4:43 to 4:44 a.m. And suddenly the static on screen cleared away to reveal a white background and a single black letter.

"Hello again," L said.

"GYAH!" Akira threw her head up in fright.

"Woah, Akira!" Now Ann woke up, frightened to. "Why is the T.V on?"

She turned her head to Akira. "...Wait, did you tell the cat you were going to sleep the entire night?"

"Ugh, I told you to be discreet!" Morgana stretched his paws, shaking himself awake.

"Did the cat just talk?" Ann said. "What time is it? Am I still dreaming? Ugh, no if I were still dreaming, Shiho would still be in my bed naked. No thanks to you, Akira. This is your fault."

"Ugh, don't blame me for that…" A drowsy Akira stated, rubbing her eyes awake. "What hour is this?"

"The time is precisely death three times over. Four forty-four in Yongen-Jaya, Tokyo, Japan. And as of right now, it's been forty-four seconds. Forty-five. Forty-six."

"Stop that!" Ann said. "And great, so the reaper won the lottery tonight." Rubbing her eyes, she huffed, upset.

"If the Reaper has won the lottery, then I'm afraid we're in a very dark timeline," L surmised. "But then again, metaphorically speaking, the Reaper might have won the lottery."

"Uh, what do you mean?" Ann turned her head, staring at the white screen.

"Well, there always is Kira looming over the heads of humans…" L said through the screen.

"...Akira, why does your T.V and your cat talk to you?" Ann asked, raising her hands in forfeit. "I'm glad I don't drink. I'm sorry, I could never."

"I don't either," Akira said, still rubbing her eyes. "We're teenagers."

"Yeah? Well, I've been offered," Ann said dejectedly.

"That's sad…" Akira said. "You made me sad now."

"It's okay, buddy," Ann said, touching the shoulder of the girl sleeping across from her.

"New Persona User, who dis?" Morgana grunted, rolling onto his side lazily before slipping out of bed and jumping on the table. Rubbing his head.

"Oh, just a lost and forgotten soul," L said. "I've noticed a surge in power lately, and just came to leave a message."

"Wait, the power?" Ann got up, flicking the lights on and off. They didn't on that.

"Not that power. And sorry in advance, my presence currently seems to cause interference with electrical devices," L said. "...Which means there was no need to carry this T.V upstairs the last time."

"Ugh, that was a waste of time, then!" Akira said.

"I'm sorry, I'm new to this experience of, well… whatever this is. Just as you are," L said. "But on the topic of hours, perhaps we should call this time the Death Hour?"

There was a brief moment of silence, with each of the ones besides L looking at each other.

"No, you're right. It's too gaudy," L said. "In any case, this seems to merely be the time when my powers are strong enough to reach you. It's also a time that most humans are liable to be sleeping, and many humans have some type of electronic screen in their room. It's easy to catch a person when their body demands the eight hours. I don't need those hours. …Thank goodness."

"So what do you want now, L?" Akira asked.

"L?" Morgana lifted his head. "Who's he?"

"That old detective guy?" Ann said. "Akira, when you said you studied criminal cases, I didn't think you'd be a successor to the World's Greatest Detective."

"I'm not!" Akira pointed at the screen. "He just showed up like two days ago and told me to work with him!"

"...So you are a successor to the World's Greatest Detective," Ann said.

"It isn't like that!" Akira denied. "Besides, they wouldn't even pick me." And now, Akira was looking very sad.

"Aww…" Ann sat beside Akira, grabbing her cheek. "Don't say that. You're smart enough that I'd bet they'd be dying to pick you."

"Yeah, I doubt that," Akira said, and grunted very louder.

"I'd apologize, but if I had or have any successors, I would have to state that I would not have picked them," L said. "I simply have no idea what the behind the scenes would have been like for such a scenario."

Akira lowered her head, eyebrows creasing. While she folded her arms and gripped her elbows.

"But I can say I thank you for cooperating with me, regardless," L said. "To the others here, I'm to serve as an aid to Ms. Akira here. Allow me to proceed with performing my duty."

Out from Akira's out sprang out a glowing blue tarot card. Not just one, but several now.

A shining thread of light beamed over towards Morgana, connecting to his collar. At the end, blue sparks flickered to life as a tarot card of his own formed out thin air, hovering before him.

A second thread beamed over from Akira to Ann, creating another card for her.

"So that's what's happened this time…" L said. "They say bonds are a human's power, and here it's manifesting in metaphysical form. Will you please show me the front of your cards?"

"Here," Morgana said, raising his card. There was a black silhouette of Zorro, his Persona. I - The Magician.

Ann lifted hers. VI - The Lovers.

But there was no silhouette on it yet, with Ann checking the front again. "Mine's blank."

"Why do I have so many blank ones?" Akira turned around a fan spread of cards herself. The Fool Arcana showed a silhouette of Arsène's infernal mask, with herself holding onto it with a trickster's smile of her own. The others were, in order: I - The Magician. V - The Hierophant. VI - The Lovers. VII - The Chariot.

For Akira, each of them were blank.

"...I have a theory," L said. "These cards will remain blank for those who have yet to fully unlock their power, and filled in once power awakens in their heart. I sense power has awakened within Akira and in you, Morgana. While you, Ann, have power slumbering within you yet still."

"I have power within me? What?" Ann said. "I'm not sure I understand."

"I'm sorry, my time connected to this world doesn't appear as if it will last long, so I want to deliver the most necessary details," L said. "Akira, you're what the one who asked me to fulfill this role has called a Wild Card, as mentioned last time. Having done some investigation, Wild Cards are known to hold many Personas. …I suspect each of those cards can be filled in through some means. Perhaps you should experiment."

"I see! It's a Wild Card's Arcana Wheel!" Morgana stood up on his feet, pointing ahead. "There should be twenty-two in a standard deck, from Fool to World! Akira starts with the Fool card, and we all get one of our own as proof of our bonds of power!"

"Thank you for the description," L said. "Yes, it would seem to be the case. So now Akira has made deep vows with five individuals so far. Herself…"

"Me, I guess?" Ann said, lifting her card.

"And me!" Morgana said, raising his card overhead.

"Then the others must be Ryuji and… Sojiro?" Akira said. "Wait—"

Akira's thumb slipped, leading to her gasping as she realized there was yet another card already obtained: XI - Strength.

"Who does this card belong to then?" Akira asked.

"Hmm?" L said, before focusing on it from behind the screen. "Strength, strength…"

"Well, someone with the Strength Arcana would have had to have been someone with incredible conviction when push came to shove. Perhaps knowing when to use it and when to hold back. And perhaps most likely, they would have held incredible power of their own," L said. "...Do you know anyone who would fit that criteria?"

"I can't think of anyone that would've been like that." Akira said with a grunt. "Don't tell me this is Kamoshida's card…"

"If he is the Palace Ruler you are hunting down currently, then I can safely assume he is not," L said. "If he was, then an antagonistic bond has been formed. And that… well, truly I don't know if that's a possible means of gaining the power of the Arcana."

"Eww!" Akira said, tossing the Strength card away. "I don't want Kamoshida's card!"

"I'm afraid it's attached to your soul, Lady Akira," L said. "You're going to keep it."

"F-ffine, but I won't use it." Akira shuddered at the thought of being connected to Kamoshida in any way.

"Power is power, Akira, you should not neglect it. And this is your power. It's what you do with it that matters, not where it comes from," L said to her.

"Yeah? Well, I don't want to rely on the power of a creep. That's just what he wants out of me," Akira stated.

"I suppose I won't be able to change your mind tonight, my time appears to be waning quickly today," L stated. "I'll leave you to your rest…"

"And remember, it is important to not take your masks off during battle."

"What?!" Akira opened her eyes, gasping as if her heart had stopped.

She lifted her head away from the pillow. "When did I fall asleep?"

"Ugh, that was weird…" Ann groaned as she grabbed her head. "A cat and a man in a T.V talked to me, and I got this weird card."

"That wasn't a dream, Lady Ann…" Morgana fwumped his chin against the table, looking tired still.

…Sojiro set out four whole plates of breakfast, one of which was fresh cut tuna. "Eat up, we're gonna be busy today."

"Ooh, tuna!" Morgana sprung up onto the counter, happily eating.

"Seriously, why can he talk—" Ann said.

"Shh, shh!" Akira pressed her finger to her own lips. "I'll explain it later."

Chapter Text

Episode 13: Maelstrom - Part 1

4/13,

"How did you even get the cat?" Sojiro asked as they drove to school.

"It's a long story, and he doesn't have a home," Akira said, in the back of the car watching Ann stroke Morgana's head.

"Look, if he'll keep you out of trouble, I'll allow it. But you're taking care of him yourself." Sojiro kept his eyes on the road, but pointed his index finger at Akira swiftly.

This man had no idea he was about to become one of those dads with cats they never asked for yet loved wholeheartedly. It would only take weeks. Days, even. Minutes, potentially.

"We're almost at school. Brace yourself for whatever's coming," Sojiro said.

Sojiro parked the car in the visitor lot for Shujin Academy, exiting the door as he tugged his hat. "Come on. I'm going to Akira's homeroom teacher. If I go to the principal first, he might cover for the bastard. Her teacher seemed like she'd be honest."

"Smart move," Akira said, getting out with Ann and Morgana in tow.

"You gotta have power in the first place in order to cover someone. That means he's not the first to trust." Sojiro started walking ahead.

"Hey! Hide me in the bookbag! They won't see me in here!" Morgana climbed onto Akira's bookbag, pulling it open.

"Hey, come on!" Akira said.

"Well, you brought me here, so how are you going to keep me around without trouble?" Morgana said as he slipped inside.

"You're a thief cat, you already figured out how to get into my house! You'll figure out," Akira said.

"Yes, but this is convenient!"

Morgana's tuxedo tail flapped left, then right, then left, his butt sticking up from the bag.

"It's roomy," he said, stretching inside before curling up. "Why don't you have more books?"

"Well, this may as well happen…" Akira followed Sojiro into the school.

"I just hope Shiho and Mishima didn't go through anything worse yesterday…" Ann said. "Oh god, I feel bad about the dream I had about her now."

As they entered the hallways inside the school, they found the doors leading into the outdoor courtyard packed with students.

"Kira, it's so noisy! Why is everyone out here?" Akira said, holding her ears.

"Class is only ten minutes from starting," Ann said. "Most people shouldn't be hanging around here right now, though. What gives?"

"Guys!" Ryuji said to the girls. "What the hell's happening?! And who's the cool-looking old guy?"

"I'm thirty-five," Sojiro said. "Ancient, I know."

"You're thirty-five?!" everyone in Akira's friend group said.

"No, I'm in my forties, but the wrinkles make me look older," Sojiro said.

"Could've fooled me!" Ryuji said.

"Yeah, I'll remember that, punk," Sojiro told him.

"Hey—that was a compliment!" Ryuji said.

"I didn't say that as a threat, I was saying I'll remember that, punk," Sojiro said, laughing to himself.

"Well, good! I am a punk!" said the boy with dyed blonde hair, curling his fist. "...Seriously, what the eff's happening? This side of the hall's swarming with people!"

"I don't know! Who's out there?" Ann asked, lowering her bag.

"Hey, why is she up there?" Amane said, she was standing in the crowd next to the open doors leading into the courtyard.

"She shouldn't be up there!" Makoto said. "Somebody, get the teachers! Get the principal or, or something!"

"Up there?" Ann said, trying to approach them. "Who's up where!"

"Huh?" Amane turned around, spotting Ann. "Oh, hey Ann! Do you know what's going on?"

"You tell us!" Ann said.

"It's—woah!" Amane was pushed by the crowd, shoved forward into the crowd. "It's a little crowded, and nois—eek!"

"Hey, stop pushing!" Makoto tried to hold firm, but the crowd shoved the two of them deeper into the courtyard as it grew noisier and more fevered.

"I'm sorry!" Amane shouted, calling out to them.

"Let's go around," Sojiro said. "Kids are still coming into school, so the opposite entrance to the courtyard should be less packed."

"Right." Akira nodded as their group started to walk the long way around.

"Do you think she'll do it?" a student asked.

"No way!" said another. "I doubt it! This is just for attention!"

"Just for attention? What is going on—" Akira stopped herself as Sojiro pushed open the back door to the courtyard.

"What the hell…" Akira's eyes flicked upwards, locked on the girl on top of the roof.

"Dudes, red flag!" Ryuji yanked back, grimacing wide. "The flag is crimson!"

"What is that girl doing! She's going to jump!" Sojiro quickly looked around. "Who is, no, how did she get there! Where are the teachers?!"

Ann touched her own lips, staring in terror. "No… Shiho, no…"

Atop the rooftop was none other than Shiho. She was standing past the metal fence meant to guard people from falling, having somehow slipped through.

"She would have had to climbed over it, this couldn't have been a spur of the moment thing!" Sojiro said. "Someone, help her!"

Ann collapsed to her knees, covering her mouth with both hands.

Ryuji quickly pulled his body back, lifting his finger. "Time to act, team! Akira, get Kawakami! Ann, get to Shiho! And you, mister, get any other teacher you can get your hands on!"

"What are you going to do?" Sojiro said.

"I'm going after Shiho with Ann!" Ryuji picked up Ann off the ground, running at full sprinting speed.

"Come on, come on!" Ryuji grit his teeth, blasting through the hallway before climbing up the steps. He didn't care if he bumped into anyone now, all he focused on was keeping on moving Ann while she was stunned like this.

He scaled up the flight of steps, reaching the second staircase before suddenly he tripped. "Damn it, my leg!"

Ann gasped. "Ryuji!"

"Don't worry about me, run! Run! It's do or die here!" Ryuji pushed her forwards, forcing her along.

"Thank you!" Ann said. Finally coming back to her senses, Ann picked up where Ryuji left off.

"And all you had to do was your job—!" Someone spoke with Shiho's voice. "Then this wouldn't have happened to you, or Mishima! Or Ann! Or Ryuji! Or even that Akira girl! All your friends would be safe, and you wouldn't have failed! Loser!"

Shiho gripped her own head, squeezing it tightly. "No, that's not true!"

Her eyes started to glow. And that someone else was someone few could see. A girl wearing her face, surrounded by a dark blue flame.

"Now look at you. What are you going to do? Who will you take this out on?! Who deserves your revenge?!" Despite the twisted grin on her face, that copy of herself sported eyes of golden rage, swinging her hands out like a dark empress.

…But suddenly Shiho went calm. "I know who."

…And that other Shiho's eyes opened up with wrathful terror in them. "No."

"Yes!" Shiho screamed as she threw down her clutched head. "Don't you see, I can't do this!"

"You can!" Shadow Shiho snapped at her. "There's only one person that needs to go down! It's Kamo—!"

"If it wasn't for me, then…!" Shiho said.

Very little of it was coherent. Rather, it was a cacophony of emotions that clashed with each other. It was hard to tell who was trying to convince the other to do what they wanted. …And what each one truly wanted.

Then Shiho spoke calmly, tears dripping down the side of her face. "If it wasn't for me being here in the first place, nobody would have tried to protect me. If I wasn't here, everyone's lives would be better."

Ann reached the doors leading to the rooftop, turning the handle. Something was blocking her. She focused all her strength on shoving the door with her elbow.

"Shiho, stop this and let me through!" she shouted, her voice muffled.

Shiho didn't look back.

"Shiho! Let me—!" Ann banged once more, but was unable to break through.

"I'm here!" Ryuji shouted, sprinting yet again at full speed up the steps. "Hyaaaaagh!" He readied his shoulder for the strongest bash he had. "It's all or nothing!"

Ryuji smashed through the door, knocking down the sports equipment barricading the other side. With the help of the sudden appearance of Captain Kidd helping him make the push, he was able to manage that much.

"Ann! Get to—ghh!" Ryuji smashed into the ground, thwacking it multiple times as he rolled.

"Get to her, now!" he screamed, holding onto his injured leg.

Ann hurried over to the metal rails, grabbing them so fast, they clanged loudly. "Shiho, listen to me! Don't do it! Don't—!"

Shiho turned around to look at Ann.

She looked moments away from finally breaking.

She fell forward, looking only at what laid ahead.

"SHIHO, NO!" Ryuji screamed from the ground, unable to get back up.

Akira slammed her fist against the glass window, Kawakami staring from right behind her. "Shiho!"

Ann screamed her name the loudest, a second too late from even holding onto her.

…Ann pulled her head back, holding onto the stretcher Shiho was on. "Kamoshida did this to you, didn't he? Didn't he?!"

…It was pointless. Shiho wasn't even answering. She couldn't.

"Get away from her, any second wasted could get her killed!" The paramedics moved fast, hurrying an unconscious Shiho at death's door into the ambulance.

By some miracle, she survived. Yet for that same reason, she was neither going to wake nor die. She would be stuck in that state with no telling as to when it would end.

"Hah… hah…!" Kawakami was barely managing to keep it together, holding on to her heart. "Oh god! Oh god, no-no-no-no-no!"

"Calm down!" Principal Kobayakawa waved both hands, following behind Sojiro pushing through the crowd in the front of the school while looking like he was barely keeping it together.

"Keep calm?! A student might die, Kobayakawa!" Kawakami reached for her head. "What will we tell her parents!? Why did this happen! She may never—!"

"Principal Kobayakawa!" The large man thrusted his finger at the teacher sternly. "I am your principal, do not forget!"

"A student nearly committed suicide, and your only damn thought is being addressed by your title? What kind of principal are you!?" Sojiro shouted.

"I have a very important school to run with many students to overlook!" Kobayakawa said. "Let me do my job!"

"What the hell happened here?" Kamoshida walked in, stretching his arms while yawning as if nothing happened. "Ah, I slept like a baby."

Sojiro shot a death glare at the man wearing the gym coach's tracksuit. "What did you do to her? Why did she jump off the building? She nearly committed suicide!"

"Why do you assume I had anything to do with it? I stayed here all night, grading papers and doing very important business." Kamoshida folded his arms. "Who the hell are you to blame me when you don't even know who I am?"

"Kamoshida Suguru?" Sojiro said.

"Yeah?" Kamoshida said.

"If it weren't for the laws of this land, I would take a page from Hank Hill," Sojiro said.

"That's a funny phrase," Kamoshida said, breaking out into a minor chuckle. "Did you get that from your daughter?"

"My daughter's been suffering because she's had to deal with you! Everyone she knows has some horror story to tell about you, Kamoshida Suguru, who—!"

"A-bi-bi-bi-bi-bi! Noooope! I will not hear it!" Kobayakawa swung his hands over his head again, crossing them before swinging them out. "I will not have the school's beloved star athlete and gym coach be slandered by baseless accusations!"

"Baseless?!" Sojiro tightened his fist and looked at the principal. "Listen here, one is an incident, two is coincidence, and three is a trend. Explain five. Explain six!"

"Six what?!" Kawakami said, gasping loud while covering her mouth. "Six students?! What happened, are more students at risk?"

"No!" Kobayakawa pointed at Kawakami. "No, no, no, no, and no! This is an isolated incident! We don't even know if she jumped down intentionally!"

"That rooftop is blocked off by a rail!" Sojiro said. "And here I am telling you that one of your teachers has been abusing his students, and what are you doing? Nothing?! The girl that I take care of and her friend were threatened by that man sexually!"

"Oh yeah? And what's their names?" Kamoshida grinned, bracing his hip. "Go ahead. Spill it."

"I'm not giving the man that made a girl jump the names of two other girls!" Sojiro said.

"Why would Kamoshida make the girl jump?! Why would he do any of that, he's never had a record of this before?!" Kawakami said, her voice breaking with the shriek of terror that slipped through.

"ENOUGH!" Kobayakawa declared.

"Get this man off the premises, first! Then I want everyone to go back to their class! They need to get back to studying, now!" Kobayakawa pointed his finger angrily at Sojiro's face. "I want no more false accusations from this, this, agent provocateur!"

"What! Don't you throw the kids back into class! That's awful!" Kawakami dropped her hands. "How is anyone supposed to work when a student tried to kill herself?"

"We don't know if she jumped intentionally!" Kobayakawa deflected, throwing his hands around once more.

"This angry parent's right, the rail is supposed to keep students out! Keep people out! How on earth could this be an accident?" Kawakami said. She was managing to keep her head on despite her immense panic over the situation.

"And I said I want him out!" Kobayakawa said. "I want not a single parent, news reporter, or anyone that isn't student or faculty on these premises! This is Shujin's problem and Shujin will deal with it! We're on full lockdown today!"

"Good, good! …Get him out of here, I'm tired of looking at his dumbass hat." Kamoshida sucked in a breath while still grinning. "You look like you have a legendary reputation for misogyny."

"Bold words for an attempted rapist!" Sojiro snapped back at him.

Kawakami gasped deeply. "What?" she shrieked out.

"Attempted?" Kamoshida chuckled, bringing only one hand out while keeping the other folded. "Look buddy, the women I see agree to seeing me beforehand. And what I do is none of your business."

Two guards put their hands on Sojiro's arms to pull him back.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" Sojiro shoved his arms away, freeing himself. "I'm leaving on my own. I said what I needed to say, and seems that the people in charge don't give a damn!" He walked away, still keeping his deadly glare upon Kamoshida.

"I don't give a damn about what you think, you bastard!" Kamoshida shouted at him.

"Shut the fuck up!" Sojiro snapped at him. "Be thankful you even have your job!"

"You are disorderly, sir!" Kobayakawa shouted.

"And you're the bootlicking stool of a sexual assaulting gym teacher! That man's a creep who beats his own students and violates his female ones!" Sojiro snapped back at him.

"Wait, what do you mean?!" Kawakami asked. "Seriously?!"

"I didn't do shit," Kamoshida spat, raising his fist at Sojiro. "The girl jumped on her own! I could have said—!"

"Mr. Kamoshida!" Kobayakawa said.

Kamoshida stopped.

"In my office," Kobayakawa told him. "Two hours from now. I have work to do to clean up this mess."

The school alarm rung, signalling the start of class.

"Everyone, back inside! Move it, move it, move it!" Kobayakawa said. "Nobody else is entering the building! I want security on lockdown!"

Akira tapped the table rapidly, looking out the window with eyes that refused to turn away.

She remembered the burning flame of that girl next to Shiho. No, of Shadow Shiho, what did she want? Was she convincing her?

It seemed as much. But at the last second, no…

Shadow Shiho tried to grab her. Then screamed as loudly as Ann did. A wrathful aura of flame burned at that point. She was glowing like a wraith.

Akira was tapping her foot quicker than a rabbit could. Her heartbeat matching the rhythm.

"Oh dear god. Oh dear god. Oh dear god…" Shadow Akira surfaced out of Akira, hitting the table and breathing in heavy, panicked breaths. Only Akira herself was calm. Calm enough.

Ryuji was staring at the chalkboard in front of himself. Holding still in complete silence.

That didn't change the fury held within his eyes. Nor the way that lightning crackled in his fist beneath the table.

…Captain Kidd surfaced out of him, walking around his own desk before turning around. Facing himself, an immense blue flame burned around the skull pirate, before Shadow Ryuji faced his other half.

Shadow Ryuji hit the table, leaning forward with golden eyes. "Mate, I want to kill Kamoshida. We need to kill Kamoshida."

"We can't," Ryuji said through strained teeth grit hard enough to nearly split or shatter.

"We can and we should," his inner self said.

"We can't," Ryuji said, louder and more pissed off.

"He deserves it for what he did! He'll get others killed if we don't, we have to act!" Shadow Ryuji said to himself, beating the table again. "We're going to lose Ann! We'll lose Akira, and who knows who else!"

"I know we have to act," Ryuji said. "We'll do something about it, but I'm not getting us jailed and killed ourselves."

"We'll figure it out when class is over."

"No way…" Morgana poked his head out of the bag, keeping it hidden by the cover. "I knew something was wrong. I just didn't realize it was this bad…"

"I can't believe Shiho would—" Ann broke into sobs, covering one of her eyes and trying to avoid crying.

"...Why?" Ann said.

Kawakami looked defeated, bringing herself over to her. "Ann, if you need it, I can look the other way to anything you do during class today. Shiho meant a lot to you, so you should be able to at least sit down and try to…"

Kawakami sighed as defeated as she sounded. "I wish I knew what to do. I'm sorry," Kawakami said. "Even if I knew how to help, they won't even let me stop class for you all. It's just one huge mess, and I feel bad that she got hurt. But now Akira's guardian showed up and was saying all this stuff about Kamoshida and—"

"What?"

Kawakami flinched, her eyes opening up.

"Which one of you said that?" she asked.

Ann looked her in the eye, rising up out of her own seat.

Akira rose up right after her, standing with a hand on Ann's shoulder.

And Ryuji was standing at the doorway. Looking at Kawakami while getting caught trying to approach the girls.

"I'm pretty sure it was all of us, Ms. Kawakami," Morgana said.

"Was that a cat meowing?" Kawakami said, "Wait, no one answered—"

"Kawakami? Did Akira's guardian say anything about a student being threatened by Kamoshida?" Ryuji asked. "Because whatever you say will be very important in deciding what I'm about to do."

Kawakami pulled back, pushing her hand behind her ear. "Ryuji…"

"I am being, completely, absolutely, entirely honest when I say this," Ryuji said, bringing out his hand. "I know you know I hate Kamoshida, but this goes beyond that."

Kawakami stopped. Looking with fear and uncertainty at what was to come, she reached up and covered her mouth.

She knew what was coming. "Please, don't go—"

Ryuji booked it.

"Ryuji, don't go out there!" she screamed.

"I can't agree to that one, Teach! I'm sorry!" Ryuji was lunging fast enough to rival his first sprint of the day.

"You'll get yourself expelled!" she shouted at him. "Someone please, stop him…!"

"We're going too! Sorry, Ms. Kawakami!" Akira raced off after Ryuji.

"We can't sit still! Not after what he did to Shiho!" Ann insisted.

"No…" Kawakami started to cry. "Oh no-no-no… God, I didn't want something like this to happen again!"

Three hurried pairs of steps rushed to the Kamoshida's office.

Ryuji kicked the door hard enough to nearly bust it down.

"Kaaamo-SHIIIIDAAAAA! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!" Blue flames and lightning swelled around Ryuji as he stomped his foot into the ground. Causing it to crack, distortion seeping through.

The flames bellowed and the lightning charged around the boy with his hands in his pockets. Captain Kidd was a spirit surrounding him, a scimitar drawn in each hand to scrape the floor. The boy's visage was shadowed by the aura burning around him, but there was nothing but murder in his eyes.

"What the hell did you do to Shiho? That was my friend!" He tried to speak coldly, but the anger was surging out of him was too strong to hold back.

Kamoshida put down his pen, crossing out Shiho's name on the volleyball team's starting lineup.

"You tell me, Ryuji," he said, flashing a sleazy grin with gold eyes of his own. "What do you got to say to me that I haven't heard already?"

"Shiho fell because you did something," said the boy who summoned the raging vortex of fire-and-lightning sparks. His black coat started to flap behind him, just like the one belonging to his silent Persona. "Cough it up, or I'm gonna make you talk!"

He lifted his boot, smashing into the chair and shattering it with a single kick.

"Do you know what lightning does to a human skull?" Ryuji asked, raising an electrified claw. "I sure don't, let's find out."

Kamoshida pursed his lips, looking at the shattered chair next to him.

Still, he decided to play it cool, chuckling as he put one leg up and rested his knee. "Like I said, I'm not giving you any answers without any proof—"

CR-ACK!

…Ryuji lifted his metal gauntlet off the broken table he struck, a golden claw just like his Persona's own. The electricity around it ignited a small pyre of papers, sitting atop the metal table now folded in on itself.

"Talk," Ryuji told him. "Or I'm going to get to you before Kira gets to me."

"You don't have anywhere to run, Kamoshida!" Ann said as she stepped inside behind Ryuji. "Wait, woah…"

The sight of him surging with power born of pure rage was unusual to her, but it didn't change the fact that her sights were set on the man who assaulted her friend.

"We know it was you, Kamoshida!" Akira said, running in behind her. "You were the last one with Shiho and you said you were going to do something! Tell us exactly what you did!"

"All I did was bring her here for a little one-on-one! Right here, in my office!" Kamoshida threw his cackling head back, stopping his laughter short as he looked at Ryuji. "When did you get the lightning claw—?"

"Ask any wrong questions and you'll find out what I'm gonna do to you with it!" Ryuji snapped. "She was with you. You hurt her. Now she might die from her injuries. You deserve worse than whatever I can do to you, because Shiho may never come back!"

"And like I said to those two, it's her own damn fault," Kamoshida said. "When I was done with her, she was nothing but an aching, quivering mess. She didn't even try to put on a good show. I've seen better volleyball players her age put on better performances."

"Wait, you—?!" Akira recoiled in disgust and horror.

"Sexually assaulted her, from the proud look on his face," Near said, showing up behind those three. "Mishima told me what happened. I was unconscious the entire evening, unfortunately, so I couldn't do anything. Specifically, he got her to come to this office after coercing a Mishima injured just before he made him call in Shiho. Then he forced himself on her, physically assaulting her before sexually assaulting her. Even Mishima tried stopping him. …That backfired viciously."

Akira nearly retched. The sensation of foul black tar seeped down her throat.

She tried to keep the sensation back, looking back at Near. "Mishima? What do you mean backfired?"

"Oh, Mishima!" Kamoshida quickly sprung up and wagged his finger. "Yeah, you'd better go check on him! He had a pretty bad accident with one of the poles yesterday! It looked pretty bad! You don't want another case on your hands, do you?"

"You're not safe from this, Kamoshida…" Ann said as she walked away in a hurry.

"Mishima!" Akira said, running over to the infirmary.

Ryuji held a silent, burning gaze. "I'll be back for you."

He was off.

"Wait, don't! He's playing with you—!"

"Ah-hah-hah, it's so easy to play with them when they're so angry, right?" Kamoshida threw his head up, then snapped his eyes towards Near. "But you would know that well, bitch."

"I can't in good conscience let you get away from here," Near said, standing in between him and the door. "The moment you leave, Kobayakawa will—"

WHAM!

…Near clutched their chest, stumbling back as Kamoshida pulled his fist back.

"I don't like you," Kamoshida said. "For the weakest runt in school, you've got eyes that are always watching me. I've had more close calls with you than I've had with that dumb bimbo, Ann. If you didn't already pick up on the fact that Kobayakawa ain't your friend, I would have had to worry about the biggest fucking narc on my hands."

Kamoshida slammed Near once in the jaw with each fist, then drove his boot into their face. Dropping them swiftly to the ground.

"If not for all the heat I'm getting right now, you'd be just like Shiho. If you're going to kill yourself, don't leave a bloody mess for somebody else to clean up," Kamoshida said, stomping on Near's back. "There's nothing I hate more than bratty little shits who think they can take me down. You don't even have the bite, the talent, or even the sexiness of that delinquent Akira, but at least you'd make a good substitute. A ragdoll. A useless meat puppet. All you'd need to do is to be quiet."

"And you think you can get away with any of it?" Near held their eyes open despite their beating, glaring up at the cackling Kamoshida.

"I'm the king of the world, bitch!" he said, stomping on them once more while lifting his arms in an over the top fashion. "Now excuse me while I get my chancellor…"

Kamoshida walked over Near to get to the hallway, pressing down against their jaw just to see them suffer. With a final, winning laugh and a flip of his shining cape, he was gone.

Chapter Text

Episode 14: Maelstrom - Part 2

Ryuji swung the door to the infirmary open. "Mishima, what's wrong?!"

…Half-awake and laying on his side while curled up, Mishima pulled himself up from the bed, still holding onto his eye. The bruises they could see were worse than before he was forced to bring in Shiho.

"Why isn't she answering?" Sojiro said, walking over from the back of the school, having done a loop around the block instead of actually leaving. "I'd wish she didn't have to stay. If I can get her or her teacher, maybe I can figure out a way to…"

He walked over to the back exit connected to the gym hallway, putting his hand on the handle and twisting upwards. "They never fixed this door, did they? With this principal at the helm? Figures."

He opened it as if he had a right to be there, but his mind was battling his heart. "Wait, what am I doing? I could get caught and in trouble for this! Agh, but I'm so worried… And, someone needs to convince a teacher to give a damn!" He reaffirmed himself, staring with certainty as he stepped right in.

Unfortunately, as he stepped in, the world around him distorted violently. Briefly dragging him into the other world.

Sojiro stared as if his life flash before his very eyes. "What the hell?"

He looked around, seeing the schools hallways transform into that of a castle, complete with burning torches and sconces.

"I never thought this would actually happen to me, and I really wish I still had my gun," he said, realising he was already instinctively doing the motions to load the bullet and cock the hammer.

"Damn shame, to be honest. Hang on, maybe I can find mine somewhere around here."

Sojiro's eyes went wide. "Dear god, the voice is real. And here I thought Wakaba was being metaphorical."

"MISHIMA!" Ann screamed in terror.

"Dude, what the hell happened to you! Your eye!" Ryuji screamed.

Now Akira retched.

Sojiro hurried over to where the screaming was coming from, springing into action. "Why did I even stop being an officer?!"

He entered the room. "What's going on here? Who needs hel—!"

Sojiro gasped, lowering his hands when he saw what happened to Mishima's eye. "We, we need to get you to the hospital, now!"

"No! Don't!" Mishima pulled back. "You don't know—!"

"How long has that eye been like that?! You could lose it!" he shouted, throwing his hand out. "Come on!"

"Y-you don't know what he'll do to me!" Mishima flinched, raising both hands to cower behind them. Everyone couldn't help but stare, even as such an awful, brutal sight was before them.

"Kid, come with me, and we'll figure something out," Sojiro said. "We can't let you lose that eye! It might already be too late, but damn it, I won't take that chance!"

"And just what is this trespasser still doing in Lord Kamoshida's kingdom?" Kobayakawa said.

Staring down from up above, the large man had turned into a giant, casting judgement on each of them.

"Kobayakawa?!" Mishima said with a shriek.

"Chancellor Kobayaka," the giant man insisted. He was dressed in black, fanciful robes that almost seemed to be holy in a way. His sclera were pitch black and his irises were crimson red. He held up a golden rod that was some kind of cross between a staff and an arrow.

He pointed that arrow staff down at them, stomping against the ground. "I have had enough of these intrusions! This kingdom shall know only prosperity under the rule of Kamoshida!" His black boot shattered the checkered tiles of the castle floor with a single stomp.

"Ah-hah-hah-hah! Sucks to be you!" Kamoshida said from atop the shoulder of the giant Kobayakawa. "All I needed to do was to distract you for a millisecond, long enough for me to get my strongest guard. And isn't it just great that all I had to do was make you turn your attention to the boy who let this all happen?"

"No! I swear, I didn't!" Mishima screamed. "He keeps pressuring me, and—!"

"You were the one who leaked the convict's records, Mishima! Pure trash like you is only useful to rat out the rest of the trash in the school…" Kamoshida declared. "You know, that's also grounds for expulsion! I thought I could attempt to keep you around as a pawn, but even the only thing you're good for isn't enough to keep you around."

"Y-you made me do it!" Mishima hid his head, pleading to the others. "Please, I didn't want to do any of this!"

"You practically took out his eye!" Ryuji shouted, swinging his arms outwards as blue lightning exploded around him. "Captain Kidd!"

The spirit of Captain Kidd surged out from within Ryuji, the Dreadlord charging first with his sabers. "We are done with words, lad! Only bloodshed will bring peace here!"

Morgana poked his big blue eyes out of Akira's backpack. "Alright, it's Metaverse time. No point in hiding now." He sprung up, his head comically larger than the bookbag he leaped out of as he reached into his tiny belt pocket and pulled out a giant saber.

"I will not have a single one of you rats leave here! Not a single crime can be allowed to tarnish this kingdom's legacy!" The giant chancellor pointed his staff down at Captain Kidd, driving it into the earth as the skeletal lord leaped high.

"Oh, but our crimes pale in comparison to what you have done, Chancellor! Ever played Dead Man's Volley? I'm a killer at that one!" Soaring in the air, Captain Kidd put both swords in one hand before bringing out his golden gauntlet. Letting it retract into his armguard, before his hand cannon reappeared.

Lightning shredded the air as he blasted a thunderous, cannonball-sized sphere right at the dark-eyed giant. Chancellor Kobayakawa widened his eyes, taken off guard in that moment.

KRA-SHH!

Chancellor Kobayakawa fell backwards with a pained, booming howl, Lord Kamoshida getting thrown off of him as the giant crashed into the pit fighting arena, shattering the wall.

"How dare you damage my lord's castle!" Kobayakawa pushed against the ground, slowly rising out of the mess of dust and rubble he was knocked into.

Slamming the ground, the chancellor screamed a metallic, unearthly wail, creating shockwaves with just his voice. "I will leave no traces!"

…In the real world, Kobayakawa was pacing back and forth. Deep in angry thought while his arms were behind his back. "This is bad. This is bad, this is bad!"

"Ah-hah-hah…" Kamoshida grabbed his grinning, lifted his head. "I knew I could come to you, boss—"

"Shut up!" the real Kobayakawa said. "Shut up, and let me handle this! Do you realize what you've done!"

Kamoshida looked at him for a moment, then rolled his head forward and smirked. "Pssht, they have no proof. And now, I've got cause to expel five troublesome students all in one fell swoop. Threatened by three, nearly assaulted by one of those three, and the last two? One of them is too much of a coward to speak up. Even that last bitch, as much as they watch me like a hawk, had a nice long nap while I had the greatest day of my—"

"I don't want to hear your excuses, your justifications, or whatever sick thoughts you had in mind!" Kobayakawa shouted at him, He pointed squarely at the surprised man's face, shaking his head in pure disgust.

"Do you realize what's going to happen if one student under your coaching is hospitalized for a suicide attempt? And then five others„ each connected to that student, are all expelled all at once? The cameras will be on Shujin Academy the whole year! You'll have created a potentially incriminating link between yourself and the incident!"

For what seemed like the first time, the real Kamoshida finally looked unnerved. "So you're not gonna help me out here?"

"I've got no choice but to help you!" Kobayakawa said, holding onto his bald head. "I've been looking the other way because of all the credit you bring to the school, but now you've gone this?! The star instructor, ousted for sexually violating a young woman on our volleyball team and nearly gouging out the eye of a male volleyball team member? One night passes, and you do this to me, Kamoshida! After everything I've ever done for you?"

Kamoshida lifted his head. "Look, boss, I'm sorry for troubling you but…"

"Do not forget who holds the leash here!" Kobayakawa snapped, reaching up his fist. "I knew what you did when I hired you during your little olympian stunt! At any point you prove more of a burden than an asset, I will let you go!"

"...That's what I'd like to say if I didn't know what lies at stake is more than just your livelihood," Kobayakawa said, relaxing his hand on the metaphorical leash. "You would die on stage in what would be a public execution from Kira himself. Think of what would happen to school if you did! We could be blacklisted by the United Future Party! We absolutely cannot allow that!"

Kamoshida raised one eyebrow. "...So, I'm off the hook for this. Otherwise, you and the school are going down with me." Cracking a smirk, he got right up in Kobayakawa's face. "Am I reading in between your words right, boss?"

"I have to do this. I have no other choice! This whole mess is your fault, and I'm the one who has to clean it!" Kobayakawa pointed firmly into the air, prepared to drop his hand back down.

"...Heh, good." Kamoshida started to chuckle, getting up and laughing louder. "So you're saying even this isn't enough to put me down! You know, I guess I have dirt on you too now!"

His chuckle grew into a haunting, full blown cackle. Like that of a reaper.

"Ah-hah-hah-hah!" Kamoshida clutched his chest with one hand, pointing right back at Kobayakawa. "I go down, and this whole kingdom crashes with me! I guess I really am invincible!"

Kobayakawa's whole face went red, the man snapping at his underling. "What are you saying, I'm in control here! And you will listen! To! Your—!"

"It's just too funny! Boss, you didn't have to cut me this big a break!" the cackling Kamoshida said, tears of ecstatic delight falling away from the man getting louder. Breaking into a state of pure, power-driven mania.

Meanwhile, Ryuji rushed through the pit arena, lifting his boot and battering it into Shadow Kamoshida's chest. "You damn bastard, I'll fucking end you!"

The whole world sparked blue with the impact, with Ryuji watching the lord of the castle fly. Shadow Kamoshida tumbled into the ash and rubble piles, smacking into it over and over.

Shadow Kamoshida picked himself back up, rolling his eyes back with a great, feverish grunt. "Ohhh, yeah! Gyahahaha!"

His lust for power was seeping through his victorious grin, slovenly drooling down the side of his face.

The clothes attached to his body flashed like gold. Schwing!

"Ugh, get that thing out of my face!" Ryuji covered his eyes with one stretched hand and pulled his head away, blinded by something disgusting.

"No, I don't think I will!" Kamoshida grunted again, wringing his arm around before getting into his stance.

From within his personal viewing booth of the pit fighting arena, a suit of armor and a sword started to clatter and rattle violently. Shooting away from the stand they rested at, they soared through the air, clamping down on his arms, his legs, and his chest as the armor forced Lord Kamoshida to put itself on.

"You don't realize it yet, Ryuji, but this is about to get so much better for me!" Watching the armor donning itself around him with awe at how it glittered and sparked with the strength of the stars itself. His sword, blue as the rarest of diamonds, was brandished by the king at an angle.

"Nothing can touch me now," he said as the glowing helmet snapped into place around his head. Covering his face and locking tight.

He threw his hands out while covered completely from head to toe, shaking vigorous thirst for battle. "You hear that, Ryuji?! I'M FUCKING INVINCIBLE!"

"You're gonna fucking die today!" Ryuji said as he smashed his electric fist into the man's armored stomach.

Clank.

…Ryuji pulled down his gauntlet, holding onto

his bruised knuckles. "Damn, not even the lightning did anything?"

"Didn't you say something about learning what happens when a human head comes in contact with lightning?" Kamoshida said, laughing at him. "What if I grab your hand and show give you a demonstration?"

"I'll still bash your head in!" Ryuji braced himself and stood there, pummeling Kamoshida's helmet with lightning.

"Heh-heh-heh…" Kamoshida's eyes shined behind his open mask. "Go ahead. Make my day funny."

Ryuji struck, and struck. Pummeling Kamoshida's armor with a metal gauntlet barrage. A dozen, no, a hundred hits cracked out with lightning charged around then, shockwaves breaking away with each impact as Shadow Kamoshida stood tall and firm, arms held at rest. The only thing it did was that it managed to make the sneering man slide back.

"Get lost!" Ryuji shouted, striking with a double punch. Kamoshida was shoved back further, only to laugh maniacally even further.

"You can't do anything to me!" Kamoshida lifted his hand, chopping Ryuji in the neck.

"Gah—!" Ryuji collapsed down, hacking up blood when the metal gauntlet struck.

"Anything!" Kamoshida struck him in the stomach with his armored knee and knocked him backwards. Swinging his fist upwards into Ryuji's jaw, then jumping with a somersault in order to deliver a heavy rolling kick that slammed Ryuji into the ground.

Ryuji now found himself stuck under the man's armored boot while Kamoshida grinded its sharp heel against his back, withstanding the pain while grunting with frenzy. "Why won't you die!"

"The principal won't let me, son!" Kamoshida said, stomping down on him repeatedly in a violent, sadistic fit. "I'm his star! And anything I do, he'll let me get away with it! He says I'm a dog on a leash, but he's the guardian at my beck and call! What a more fitting way to control a giant?"

There wasn't a more fitting time for Chancellor Kobayakawa to sweep his arm through the hallway outside, crashing it into the pit arena.

"Jump!" Akira said with Ann and Sojiro behind her. Leaping and rolling out of the way before the arm swept over them. Barely avoiding it as the earth beneath them rumbled under the giant's pressure.

"All intruders must be eliminated! All evidence must be erased!" screamed the gigantic chancellor thrusting his golden arrow upwards, driving it down like a spear to crash upon them.

Zorro appeared out a ricocheting jetstream of green wind, his arrival accompanied by the tip of his rapier holding back the golden arrow.

"Tch-tch! Not today, dark interloper!" The black-masked thief pushed back the giant's weapon with just his razor-thin point, forcing Chancellor Kobayakawa to put both hands on the arrow. Making him struggle if he wanted to make his move.

"Little hero! Get to those two injured folks and heal them so we may escape!" Zorro said, looking down at the cartoon cat rushing along.

"On it!" Morgana leaped, landing on Sojiro's head.

"Wait, the cat?" Sojiro said, ducking his head when Morgana bounced right off him.

"Save it for later!" Morgana reached down, putting his paw near the side of Mishima's face, close enough to his eye. "Dia!"

A green pulse of energy swelled before entering Mishima's body, easing the weak boy's wounds.

Morgana leaped off of the running Sojiro, landing on the collapsed Near. "Get up! Dia!"

Once again, the white-haired student was healed as well, this time grunting as they pushed off the ground. "What on earth is this place? No investigation could have ever told me about this…"

They reached for their bruised head, eyes glowing gold as they always seemed to.

"No time to answer," Morgana said, turning to Akira. "Get to Ryuji and run!"

"We're on it!" Akira said, surging forward. "Arsène!" From her soul, out came the infernal masked devil flapping his black wings.

"Eiha!" Arsène called out, snapping his fingers.

The inside of Kamoshida's mask sparked with hellfire, the explosion slipping through the faceguard. It was enough to throw his head back. "What?!"

Arsène flapped and spun into the air, throwing his wings forward. "Dream Needle!" A storm of shining, razor-like feathers shot in Kamoshida's direction, bombarding him long enough to force him to raise his guard.

"You think this will put a dent in my armor? Hah, these needles are tiny like Mishima's dick!" Kamoshida said, cackling to himself.

"Stop! It!" Arsène spat vehemently. "That's it, I'm stopping you myself!" He swooped down, grabbing Kamoshida from behind and flapping into the air.

"Hey! What are you—?!" Kamoshida turned his head, struggling to break free.

"If there's even a gap in your armor, that's enough for me to keep you silent even if it'll do no harm! Have a nice nap!" Arsène took out one of the feathers from his wings, using it like a stiletto to slip through the shining plates of his opponent to puncture his skin.

"No! No…!" Kamoshida said.

Arsène dropped him immediately, leaving him to crash down in the arena with a loud clang.

"No! I can't… fall down here…!" Swerving and stumbling around like a drunk, Kamoshida ran over to one of the entryways of the arena.

Before he could pass out, he reached up and smacked the wall, revealing a secret panel and a button.

"Help me," he said. "Stop them!"

He smashed the button before he could pass out. And a red alarm went off all around the castle.

"This place is going to be under maximum lockdown now!" Riding his ghost ship, Captain Kidd rained electric hell against the giant trying to swat him and Zorro away.

"Ah, that's never a good time!" Zorro stated. "We must hurry to safety!"

The backdoor that Sojiro entered from shut closed, an iron grate dropping down in front of it. And then an iron shield slammed shut, locking it down tighter.

"We'll have to try and bust our way out through the front entrance!" Captain Kidd floated down to his master, snatching Ryuji by the hand before swinging him onto his ship. Surfing right past the giant Chancellor Kobayakawa.

"I will eliminate all disorderly folks!" Kobayakawa shouted, shattering the ground with a stomp that barely missed Captain Kidd slipping on by, holding onto his hat.

"Hey you greedy, disgusting bastard! Come get some!" Looking behind himself with his hand cannon raised, he fired an electric cannonball at Kobayakawa's head. Stunning him with blindsiding light and a paralyzing shock.

"Can you run, now?" Sojiro asked Mishima.

Mishima got onto his feet, nodding quick. Blinking one eye while the damaged one was kept shut.

"I can run too, but I've got questions about this place for you all!" Near said.

"Save it for when we're all out of here!" Sojiro said, rushing everyone along while their enemies were downed.

Kobayakawa rubbed his eyes hard, his vision finally returning.

He screeched like a demon from hell, chasing after them.

"Hah-hah, I have not revelled in this much chaos in centuries!" Captain Kidd spun his guillotine anchor in wild swings before tossing it at the giant stomping after him, Chancellor Kobayakawa's arrowhead staff clashed with it, bouncing it away.

"It's a lot easier to escape when this chancellor's attention is on the skull guy ahead and not on the rest of us!" Sojiro held onto his jacket and hat. "I swear, I haven't seen this much action since I left my government official job!"

"Mr. Sakura? What do you mean by action?" Mishima asked, still holding one eye shut while running with him.

"Let's just say my old job involved me owning a license," Sojiro told him. "Too bad I don't have it now. I could really use a gun."

"Let me see if I have one in here!" Morgana reached into his belt pocket as he ran with them.

He pulled out his Spanish guitar. "Nope!"

He pulled out a bottle of Shadow Cat-friendly medicinal milk. "Nope!"

He pulled out an anvil. "That's useful, but not a gun!"

"Oh, you are a cartoon! Through and through!" Sojiro grit his teeth, stifling his laughter under pressure. "And I've seen your face before! You're the cat I said I didn't want!"

"A cartoon thief!" Morgana said. "...And yes, I am and you're lying to yourself. But I am not a cat, I insist!"

He pulled out a slingshot. "Ooh, I can use this!"

He loaded it up with an iron shot, angling it towards the giant running through the castle hall.

The iron ball beaned Kobayakawa in the head, bouncing right off. Complete with sound effects popping out in blocky text. "Boink!"

"Aww…" Morgana lowered his slingshot. "Welp, I did use it."

"Maybe you should consider a stronger firearm," Sojiro said.

"That's not my style!" Morgana insisted. "Thief heroes don't use guns!"

"Then what about, I don't know?" Sojiro huffed. "Cherry bombs? Incendiary bullets? Or smoke bombs! If you're gonna use a ranged weapon, at least make sure your shot counts!"

"Well, if you have a better idea right now, feel free to step in!" Morgana said.

"I wish I could!" Sojiro told him. "I just don't have my gun anymore!"

"Still lookin' for it, by the way," said the voice that sounded like his but deeper.

"I don't like this world," Sojiro said. "I swear, I can hardly separate the real from the unreal anymore. Is this still the school?"

"It is, but the distortion around the school's Metaverse is overwhelming the real world! It's easy to slip right into it by accident, and a lot harder to get out on purpose!" Morgana explained.

"And this whole scheme between the principal and the gym teacher is the talk of the town behind closed doors, huh? Leading to that beefy, half-naked man being the ruler this palace?" Sojiro surmised.

"What a coincidence that you got it in one shot!" Morgana said.

"Well, I am a bit of a crackshot," Sojiro said, tugging on his hat with pride. "...Which is why I need my gun."

"Just to be clear, whatever you do to Kobayakawa or any of the others here besides Kamoshida won't hurt the real version ones. Only the Kamoshida here is truly connected to his real version. And be careful, that means if you kill him here, you kill him out there," Morgana said.

"You don't say…" Sojiro said, grimacing. "Well, that'd be trouble. We'd be suspects even if they've got no proof for anything. Let me tell ya, the Japanese Police Force? It's bad news, don't trust it. The government reeks of corruption."

"You don't have to tell me once, sir, I'm a thief of the people first and foremost!" Morgana saluted the ex-official as everyone kept running.

"It looks like things are about to get red hot! Save the talking for later!" Ann told them while pointing ahead. "We've reached the front entrance!"

They reached the front entrance of the castle, with Captain Kidd swerving to avoid ramming into it. "Yar, damn it! The damn gate is locked tighter than my old damn treasure chest!"

"It's the damndest damn thing I've seen in my damned life!" Sojiro and Mishima said, looking at each other. "Oh, you've seen Lupin III Part 2's dub?"

"Sir, when would a man like you watch that show?" Mishima asked.

"I know a girl," Sojiro said. "And no, you can't date her."

"That wasn't my point…" Mishima held onto his mended but wounded eye, stopping behind Kobayakawa. "Ugh, what do we do now?"

"Most of us can't fight back here!" Ann said.

"Then the ones who can fight are gonna put him down!" Morgana said. "Zorro, show your might!"

Zorro leaped out from Morgana's soul, flourishing his blade and conjuring up a green wind storm. The storm blew around in a ring around Kobayakawa's feet, razor sharp.

"Here's the plan!" the thief cat told them. "Ryuji, fire shots at the head with Captain Kidd! Zorro and I will keep him occupied at the feet! And Akira and Arsène, batter him from afar with Eiha and Dream Needles, and be ready to save any of us who can't fight!"

Morgana pointed at Sojiro and Ann. "That leaves you two. Keep Mishima and Near safe while we put down this Cognition! If anyone's injured, call me over and I'll heal them!" The cat thief leaped into battle. "Okay, break!"

Zorro followed at his back, sweeping low like an eagle and going for Chancellor Kobayakawa's left foot.

The black-eyed fiend raised that foot, prepared to smash it down.

"Have a taste of true justice!" Zorro spun his sword around in front of him before thrusting it upwards to meet him.

"Gyaah!" Chancellor Kobayakawa pulled his foot back, holding onto it. "No LEGOs in the halls!"

"And another!" Morgana came down swinging, striking the black-robed giant's other foot with his large saber. It was too thick and well guarded by his boots to cut deep, but that didn't mean he didn't get a decent slash in.

"Waaah!" Kobayakawa fell back with a hard crash. The green wind that Morgana conjured battered the giant's body, slicing at his sides until it dissipated.

"Captain Kidd! Fire in the hole!" Riding atop the Dreadlord's ghost ship, Ryuji pointed at the giant's torso.

"Here's a real cannonball for ya!" Captain Kidd said. Focusing his hand cannon, he fired a thunder-charged iron shot through the air, slamming the downed Kobayakawa in the gut.

"Grrr… enough!" The dark-eyed Kobayakawa growled. "Order! ORDER!" He swung his body around and got on his knees with surprising speed. Slamming his fists into the ground over and over, he created a torrential rush of earthen waves rolling away from him.

"Run!" Sojiro said, grabbing Mishima and dragging him along faster than the boy could himself. He jumped away in time to escape the rolling waves, holding the boy tight while ducking and rolling along the ground.

The man put Mishima behind the wall, hiding in the hallway they came from. Ann and Near managed to run away from the attack as well.

Akira bent her knees, with the legs of Arsene bending with them at the same time, superpositioned over her. In a single bound, they leaped so high, they cleared over the rushing rampage from Chancellor Kobayakawa in an attempt to destroy them all.

"Now, Arsène!" Akira threw her hand out, raising the Card of the Fool. A surge of blue flames formed around her as the demon answered her call, awakening to unleash his full wrath.

Arsène stretched his ghastly arms, extending his blade-like hands. Each talon was alight with the hellfires of Eiha.

Ten comets soared through the air, striking Kobayakawa in the eyes and his neck. He tried to block with his arm, but managed to only shield himself from less than half of them as the rest rained down on him, keeping him from continuing the assault.

"This is going to take forever at this rate, and the alarm's been going off the whole time! Guards are definitely coming this way!" Sojiro looked down, reaching into his pocket to try and grab his gun out of reflex.

"There we go. That's where that thing was hiding!"

Sojiro gasped, feeling as if he didn't just touch something, but that he also felt a hand dropping something in his pocket.

He pulled out not just a gun, but the spectral hand of the spirit holding it.

"Yeesh!" Sojiro pulled his head back, letting go and grabbing his own shirt.

"Hey, that's a perfectly normal, well-taken-care-of ghost hand!" That Shadow's hand pointing at him. "It's not my fault this is all the power I can manage. Your power's hidden away deep in there, so you better get off your ass and figure out how to rip it out! If you don't face yourself and your own baggage, you'll die a disgrace of a man in all the ways you can think of! And this is all you're getting out of me right now, since I'm feeling so damn generous. So pick it up, punk!"

The spectral hand tossed the gun into the air, letting it fly right into Sojiro's scared two hands.

"How did you…" Sojiro blinked. It was his old gun. The one he turned in along with his badge.

"Let's call this one the Invoker," said the spirit who he could only see the hand of. "Don't confuse it for any other magical guns out there. Otherwise, I'm gonna point this one at you."

Mishima looked at him with an open mouth, blinking his good eye. "Mr. Sakura, how did you…"

"Don't ask me questions about this world, kid, I can't answer them!" Sojiro twirled his gun and readied it, his back now pressed against the wall.

"I don't care if I can't use one of those Personas or whatever people call them. I'm going in," he said.

Morgana dashed across the ground, cutting at the giant chancellor's feet. "Keep him distracted, Zorro!"

"I understand! But he's certainly tough, don't you think?" his shadow self asked. "We need to find an opening to end it before more trouble shows themselves!"

"Then this calls for an All-Out Attack!" Morgana said, "Ryuji, Akira! Collapse on him once we get an opening—!"

CRACK!

…The shot that fired came straight out of the gun of the man standing from far away.

"Gwh…gwugh?" Chancellor Kobayakawa grunted. Stunned, dazed, and knocked off balance yet again.

The deadeye was none other than Sojiro, eyes completely firm and stretch hands held completely steady.

"Now, do it!" the man in the white suit called out.

"On it!" Morgana, Akira and Ryuji said at once.

Morgana sprung into the air, with Ryuji diving down from his ship and Akira rushing over to join them. Three thieves of the dark rushed wildly at him, blasting from one side of the arena to the next as they beat down the giant guardian of Lord Kamoshida.

Bang! Bang-bang-bang-bang! The deadeye in white unloaded the rest of his bullets with dexterity the likes none had seen from a gunslinger before. Each of the first four bore holes into the chest of the giant, tossing his body backwards while setting up a perfect shot for the fifth one to penetrate right through the skull of the cognitive giant.

"The king must not… must not…" said a stunned Kobayakawa, bleeding black as the world turned red around him.

He glanced down at the gunman who delivered his own judgement on him.

"This castle is… doomed," the fiend said.

Sojiro flipped his gun around, holding it outwards at an angle aimed towards him while the gunman held over one eye. Glaring with the other. "I've got nothing to say to you."

Black blood sprayed out of the bullet hole in Kobayakawa's head. The giant started to fade away as every part of his body disintegrated into foul, dark dust.

Sojiro rose up with a sigh, spinning his gun once more before holding it at rest. "That's that." He bent down on his knees, rubbing his shoulders. "My body's aching today. This is the most amount of sprinting I've done all week."

With the alarm blaring, more of the castle's knights started to swarm in. Finally collapsing on the escaping students and the adult.

"Remember, that wasn't the real Kobayakawa. We only defeated what Kamoshida thinks Kobayakawa is." Morgana turned to glare at the approaching army of knights. "And we need to run."

Sojiro got back up and turned to face the knights. "I'm to assume whatever these things are, they aren't real either?" He reached into his pocket and took out a handful of bullets, loading them all in.

"You're right about that," Morgana said.

"Then it's fair game," Sojiro said. He fanned the hammer of his gun, blasting into the crowd of the swarming knights. And for each bullet he fired, he scored a killing shot, the knights immediately collapsing into dust before they even reached them.

"Come up with a plan! I can't kill them all fast enough!" Sojiro pulled out more bullets practically out from thin air and kept up the pressure, the goateed man gritting his teeth while his eyes were shadowed behind his hat.

"The door's probably locked because in the real world, Kobayakawa has the place on lockdown!" Morgana said. "Nobody's supposed to get in, but he doesn't want anyone getting out early. He's so focused on his reputation, he may as well be a Palace Ruler of his own."

"Then what? We're gonna have to stay here until school's over?" Ryuji asked. "We're stuck in the Metaverse?"

"We might be," Morgana explained. "Unless somehow you can punch a hole through an iron gate this thick."

BAM!

"Damn it!" Ryuji curled his fists tightly, swinging them down.

"Ahh… somehow I knew the cannonball wouldn't work," Captain Kidd put his smoking hand cannon down, looking back at the foyer. "So now what? Where do we go from here?"

"Hmm…" Akira pulled her hand to her chin, looking back.

At the midsection of the staircase was a large portrait of Kamoshida in his crown and cloak. Clad in golden armor and brandishing his blade.

"Gross," Akira said. "Ryuji, try shooting that painting."

"Really? A painting? I mean, I hate the guy's face, so okay. But do you really think a painting's going to have a secret passage or something?" Ryuji said.

"How many times can you think of a character jumping through a painting that leads somewhere?" Akira asked him.

BAM! A cannonball ripped through the air, tearing a hole into the portrait and causing it to flip rapidly around. Revealing a secret corridor.

"Okay, you made a fair point," Ryuji said. "Everyone, move!"

"Good! I don't know where I've been keeping all these bullets!" Sojiro reloaded, firing more shots at the knight horde as he was the last person to follow the group. Ryuji raced over to the painting, and with the help of his Persona, he managed to half frame halfway, allowing everyone to rush into the secret hallway for safety.

Chapter Text

Episode 15: The Lust - Part 1

The group slowed down as they hurried through the dark hidden corridor behind the painting. With the knights swarming in the foyer, it would be dangerous to rest here.

"We need to find some kind of safe room," Morgana said. "A place we can go to hide away in. At least while things are red hot." The cat blinked his eyes, looking around. There were two old elevator platforms with levers, pulled by chains. One went down. One went up.

"It might be harder to get spotted if we go down deeper first. We're less likely to run into any open areas," Sojiro said.

"Here, I'll try this chain lever," Ryuji said, going up to some strange goat head with glowing red eyes. From its nose hung the chain to pull down.

"Eww," Ryuji said, yanking it. Only for it to start up the elevator before the gears quickly grinded to a halt. "Welp, this one's not working."

"Maybe we can get it to work later," Morgana said. "For now, that means we go upstairs. Come on everyone."

As old as the elevators were, the one going upstairs was still fully functional, holding steady as all of them got on. With a pull of the chain lever, the gears turned, bringing them upwards to wherever it went.

They reached a small room just big enough to fit them and the elevator. Morgana poked his head out of the wooden door, the wide-eyed kitty's ears twitching as he focused on the area around him. Eavesdropping.

"Come on, let's hurry downstairs. More intruders got inside…"

"Agh, I hate this job." Two knights were talking as they passed by Morgana who slipped right back behind the door. Reopening it slightly ajar as he watched them pass on. Paying the crew no heed.

"The coast is clear!" Morgana waved his paw, leading the gang out of the room and into the next, conveniently picking a lock to go through. They were in what appeared to be the central hallway of some form of tower, with its round edges and staircases leading down and up.

"Hmm… It's somewhere, I can sense it…" Morgana held his tongue as he scanned the central hallway for a strange aura.

"Ah-hah!" Morgana gave an open smile, pointing at a door that seemed to shift in waves just like a mirage. "In there, everyone! Just our luck!" He dashed like a blur over to the door, hooking the handle and pushing it open while motioning everyone to come.

Morgana closed it when the last one entered, locking it shut. "Bingo! One safe room, spotted!" He crossed his arms. "Not a room with a safe, though. That'd be neat."

Sojiro opened his eyes, squinting. "What's happening here?" The room kept shifting from one form to another. For the most part, it was a storage shed hiding many casks and barrels of wine. But every so often, it flickered, turning into an old, dusty-looking classroom.

"This is what we in the business call a Safe Room," Morgana said. "Need a place to stake out while the guards are all over the place? Bam, find a Safe Room! It should be good to keep us hidden until school is over. The distortion must be faint here, probably because this classroom doesn't see enough use. That means most minor cognitive beings can't enter or even detect us."

"So we're going to be stuck here for hours…" Sojiro lifted his watch. "Great."

"Not unless we find a way to break out and reach outside of the main gates," Morgana said. "If we go there, we can get into the Metaverse's version of the streets of Tokyo. Then we can escape with the Metanav. Well, we can escape at the entrance, but we might be safer if we run further away."

"I can't believe this world exists…" Mishima said, holding his wounded eye.

"I can't believe this world exists and that I knew nothing about it," Near said under their breath.

"Oh right! Yo, what's your pronouns?" Ryuji asked Near.

"Must I?" Near said.

"I don't think those are your pronouns," Ryuji said jokingly. "Just my guess."

"Hardy-har-har. Why must you hurt me in this way," the small white-haired student said in a dramatically deadpan way, grabbing a hair curl and twirling it back and forth. "Regardless, this is a strange world where the power within the heart, soul and mind seems to act as both sword and shield. I'm to assume you three of Akira, Ryuji and Morgana, carry quite a lot of power of your own."

"Oh, yeah, uh… You got that right." Ryuji nervously laughed. "Ah-hah, what do we do about being caught with powers in the Metaverse?"

"Lie through our teeth?" Akira said, shrugging in confusion.

"It'd be a risk to lie to the innocent here, since they already know who we are." Morgana hit one hand against one palm. "The three of us have been getting in and out of this world. Mostly on accident for these two, but also because the twisted desires of Kamoshida are too powerful, creating this place. You've already seen how strong his influence is. After all, this place is what we call a Palace, and he's its Palace Ruler."

"A Palace, hmm? And Ruler, too." Near cautiously twirled their hair even more. "Interesting. Yes, I'm aware of how threatening Kamoshida is. He's already assaulted Shiho and Mishima in the real world. It would appear that these… Shadows, was it? Regardless, this Lord Kamoshida attacked me when you went to look over Mishima. I'd say he baited you all in, but Mishima was in need of critical medical care, and was trying to refuse it."

"Why would you try to refuse getting your eye healed?" Sojiro said in disbelief. "We'll be lucky if you can even keep it after this."

"I know!" Mishima said, "I know…"

Mishima brought his head lower, looking utterly broken. "The real Kamoshida beat me up before sending me to go get Shiho. I… I let her know, and I didn't do enough to stop her or Kamoshida. And then, and then…"

"Is it too much to say?" Sojiro grabbed his head. "I can understand if—"

"No!" Mishima shut his eyes tight. "Shiho's my friend! She's one of the only people in my life that makes me feel like I'm not worth giving up on! …She was. I knew, and I couldn't do a damn thing."

Ann's eyes opened up, sharp as daggers. "You knew Shiho might've done this? And you didn't say anything?"

"D-don't hurt me, please!" Mishima said, raising his hands out. "...Please."

"We won't hurt you, Mishima," Akira said. "The only one to blame here is Kamoshida. Not Shiho. Not Ann. Not you. No one."

"You… you promise?" Mishima asked, teary eyed. "I, I leaked your record, you know. The school hates you because of me!"

"Knowing Kamoshida forced you to leak my record? That's the same thing as him leaking the record himself," Akira pointed out. "...It's alright."

She got up, and sat on the desk next to Mishima. "Just talk. We're friends, okay?" She put a hand on his shoulder. Really, she couldn't be any more angry at Kamoshida than she already was, but she felt no need to redirect that anger at anyone who didn't deserve it. At the very least, no one here deserved it.

"Oh… okay," Mishima said, finally pulling down his arms. "She and I both talked about… you know, how we've both wanted to die. …For a while now. The pressure. The torture. Everyone looking at us like worthless trash. It's too much. And neither our parents nor our teachers could do anything about it. All while I got beat, and Shiho? Now, now she might die because of the guilt of what Kamoshida did to her! Kamoshida, he, he—!"

Mishima gulped. "He raped her," he said, wiping his sore red eye. "I felt something was incredibly wrong, more than usual after he beat me up. It felt like he was trying to hit me until something broke. Eventually, he started focusing on beating my eye and, that… that was all before he made me go get her."

Mishima closed himself off to the world, trying not to even listen to his own voice. He wanted to be as distant as possible, in order to bury the pain that came with telling the truth.

"After he left, I hid there behind the bleachers for sometime. Thinking I was wrong, or wishing at least. I was lifting my head up every so often, but it was too dark and I was so scared of Kamoshida, I kept pulling my head away and trying to hide. But then the screams got worse, and they sounded too, too, too…"

Mishima was breathing in and out in a panic, his heart rate spiking, yet he did not stop. Only pausing to swallow the lump in his throat. "They told me something was wrong. Nobody makes those sounds like that out of the blue, so I ran over to his office in the gym and tried to punch him in his stupid face get him away from her. That's when he went for my eye."

"I was slammed into the ground, and Kamoshida kept beating down on me until I couldn't fight back. Then he nearly jammed my eye out. After that, he yanked Shiho over and he beat her up almost as badly as me, before going ahead with exactly what I said he did."

"I blacked out somewhere in the middle of that. That's all I can say about when it happened…" Mishima said. "I never asked for this. I didn't want Shiho to get hurt, I didn't even want to be on this stupid volleyball team—!"

Akira grabbed his shoulder softly, and then reached for his hand.

"It's okay, Mishima," she said. "You've said all you needed. You can stop if you'd like."

Mishima lifted up his head, wiping his eyes again. Tears were streaming down his face, a different color leaking from each eye.

"Let me try and take care of that," Morgana said, reaching up and using Dia to turn the blood red stream back into a clear one.

"Will… will I keep the eye?" Mishima asked.

"No telling yet, sorry." Morgana kept focus on mending his wounds. "You'll want to patch that up with some bandages, stat. Dia can heal wounds rapidly, but if an injury in the real world roots itself in the psyche, the damage can be permanent. Unable to be fixed in this world."

"...Damn, and here I was thinking it could heal my leg," Ryuji said.

"It's a realm of cognition," Morgana said. "You'd have to defy reality to be able to permanently fix your leg through the Metaverse. And substitute your own."

"Can't I?" Ryuji said. "Like, damn! I wish I could use it like that! Here I am, already feeling stronger than I've ever been, only to hear that my career ending injury is something I can't fix with this world's magic."

"Yoh-hoh… It's alright lad." Captain Kidd resurfaced from within his soul to pat him on the shoulder.

He looked down at him with his one blue eye. "That which we lose are only pieces of ourselves. No doubt, it causes you great pain. There is no joy in losing an eye or having a leg that may never heal."

He raised his leg, showing the brace he wore on the outside of his clothes instead of the inside. There for everyone to see instead of kept hidden away.

"Yet it does not take away from the man you are. You will never lose yourself so long as the fire inside you still burns. It's just the same for me," Captain Kidd said. "You are human as I once was. To take pride in who you are now, to feel fear in what you may lose, to know remorse over what you have lost, and to find joy in what you will gain after… These are all true things that make you human."

"Damn, Captain…" Ryuji sniffled, smiling.

He reached down, pointing a finger of his golden claw at Ryuji's chest. "Now you, Ryuji Sakamoto, if there is a way to bring your leg to full strength again, then I will stand by you for as long as that journey takes."

He pointed his other claw back to where his heart once was, a blue flame illuminating within. "For me, this eye and this leg have etched themselves deeply into my psyche. For so long as Captain Kidd exists, he shall forever be with these wounds. …But I am still me. Somedays, I am strong. Somedays, I am weak. But I am always me. You will always be Ryuji Sakamoto."

The pirate lord hugged Ryuji, holding his head with surprising tenderness and care from. Despite no flesh to speak of beyond bone and metal, he was warm to the touch.

"That's great," Mishima said, smiling. "...But, I deserve what I got for failing Shiho."

"Never," Captain Kidd said.

"What?" Mishima said, blinking his good eye.

"Never." Captain Kidd walked over to Mishima, kneeling down before him. "A kid abused by the ones he is forced to place his trust in shall never deserve what you've been dealt. You are but a human, and an innocent human at that. All good humans deserve goodness in kind."

He raised his claw, looking at it and watching how his burning eye shined in its reflection. "For me, it is the villainous who I bring my dark justice upon." He clenched his claw, then opened it back up softly. "I… knew at one point, I was not wise. I lost compassion for innocent foes and former allies. Allow me to defend the goodness of the world while I yet live again."

Now he clenched it with courageous fury, raising it into the air. "This is my crew, so I will protect them to the end. So they will me to act? Then so I shall move!"

Mishima sniffled. "Damn, Captain…"

"I know, right?" Ryuji sniffled too. "Fuck man, I'm gonna cry." He started wiping his teary eyes, lifting his head courageously too.

"We shall make Kamoshida fall!" The Dreadnought declared. "And give a hardy laugh once it is over! We will laugh, cry, rage, and cower, but we shall topple over a king in the end!"

"I never thought I'd be hearing a rallying speech from a ghost pirate who rides a flying ship." Sojiro scoffed. He smiled. "But… sure."

"It was impressive, let's not undersell it…" Near said, putting their thumb to their lip.

"Together, we thieves are strong!" Morgana said. "That's why…"

"It's good and all that you all are getting through it together," Ann said. "But what about Shiho? Shiho's not here. Shiho may never even get the chance to get anything like this."

Everyone went quiet then, with each looking at Ann.

"I…" Ann said. "I'm scared. Scared she'll be dead. Shouldn't we all be scared?"

She turned her head to one person. "Mishima."

"I'm," he said. "Sorry—"

"I don't blame you," Ann said. "...I can't. I only blame myself. I didn't even know Shiho's been thinking about this for so long. Was it really this way for, for… so long?"

Mishima nodded. "Since the physical abuse started. Neither of us thought it would nosedive so quickly. I mean, sorry—"

"No, don't stop. It all spiraled so quickly, didn't it?" Ann said. "It doesn't even feel real right now. I… I still want to see her. I want to believe she'll be okay."

"...But I just don't know," Ann said. "God, I just don't know."

She covered her eyes with her hand.

She could still see her. Falling.

Right before her eyes.

"...We all want to fight for her if we can," Ryuji said.

"I know," Ann said in a dark world of her own.

"And we want to see her safe if we can," Mishima said.

"I know…" Ann said.

"And we know this isn't the fault of either of you," Akira said. "It's Kamoshida."

"I know. I know. I know."

Ann said nothing.

"...Yet when two girls stood at the precipice of death, one girl remained."

"Huh?!" Ann lifted her head. "Who was that?"

"Persona wielders seem destined to meet other wielders… Prove your worth, and I will grant you the honor of knowing my name."

Ann covered her ear, looking around and scanning the safe room.

"You must be hearing your own Shadow talking," Morgana said. "Heed its call. They might seem antagonistic, but it's your inner self clawing its way through every secret and falsehood you tell yourself. It wants to be heard."

Ann blinked, before deciding to keep her eyes closed. And thinking solely about the dark void within her own mind.

"The little one is right," her Shadow said from within. "And it would seem it wasn't two girls who stood there, but three. Do not let grief cloud the truth that you saw. Search not the feelings which cloud your judgement, but the memories which reveal the truth."

Ann pulled herself right back to just a few hours ago. Just as Shiho turned to face her. That look on that face. That tormented, sweet, horrified yet horrifying face. She adored Shiho so much. That just made staring at her hurt.

"I do not ask you to deny your own pain. I'm demanding you look beyond."

Ann opened her eyes wider, once again reaching out to try and grab Shiho.

She wasn't the only one who did. Another girl, cloaked in the dark aura of a wraith, swept her sharp hand at the girl who looked just like her. Shiho's doppleganger.

Shiho's Shadow.

Once Shiho fell, the wraith had begun to burn with intense malice. Her hair started to rise like a flame. Her hollow eyes glowed with vengeance. She refused to die.

"Shiho's still out there," Ann said, eyes still shut. "Somewhere in this world. I don't know how. But she's not dead yet, and I'm going to find her."

"She must be here in this world," Shadow Ann said. "Find the girl. Find your answers."

"How am I supposed to find her?" Ann asked herself, eyes shut tighter. "How… how do you know she'll make it out alive?"

"I do not," Shadow Ann said, surfacing partially out of her. In her pink nails was a black masquerade mask of a different kind to Akira's. Her eyes were glowing, something Ann saw when she opened her eyes and turned.

She spoke calmly. Yet each word that flowed out of her sent shockwaves through the room. So composed, yet so forceful. "But I will gamble everything away to make you move. If there is yet but a fraction of a chance to save her, I will burn the world to make that reality. If I may only give her peace after death, I will make you do it. For you and I are the same. I am thou, thou art I."

With that, Shadow Ann disappeared, slipping on her mask at the last moment. "Remember, she is not dead yet. Time to ante up, my villainess. I await for you to meet me when the time comes."

She went quiet.

"I know," Ann said, now getting up. "I'm going to bring Kamoshida down. And if there's even a chance of seeing her, I will take it."

"Sounds good," Morgana said. "Now, let's wait things out until it's safe."

Three hours passed between then and now. With the group waiting and biding their time, Sojiro checking the clock. "Let's give it a little more time."

"So!" Ryuji dug in heartily to a plate of hot curry. "I didn't think we'd have reheated curry while waiting here, but shit, this stuff's the best!"

"Thank my best friend for the recipe," Sojiro said. "I wouldn't have a heart without her."

"Thanks, Mr. Sojiro's best friend!" Ryuji said.

"Yeah, it's really good…" Mishima said quietly in between spoonfuls. "What do you think, Near?"

Near said nothing, but ate from their plate with greedy enthusiasm, trying to minimize their presence.

"Yeah, they love this stuff!" Mishima scratched his head. "And now that I got my eye taken care of, it's… less bad than I was expecting. It's… not going to be easy regardless."

He frowned, but then he lifted his head bravely. "But Mishima's gonna make it! Eye or no eye—woah!"

He nearly let the plate tumble, managing to snatch it again. But dropped half his food and his spoon, unable to see it coming.

"...Damn it," Mishima said.

"It's a good thing I pack comically large spoons in here!" Morgana pulled out an incredibly large spoon out of his tiny belt pocket to prove the point.

He twisted the back end, uncapping it like a bottle as he flipped it around, taking out an appropriately sized spoon from within. "This is my spoon container."

"A mini burner. Spices. Your weapons. What don't you have in there, boy?" Sojiro asked.

"A gun, apparently," Morgana said.

"Damn," Sojiro said.

"So! Once we get out of here, what are we gonna do?" Ryuji said, putting down the plate. "If security's going quiet, should we investigate the place? Or should we go home and prepare to take down Kamoshida in the real world?"

"Actually!" Morgana said.

Morgana got on the main table, bringing his hand into the air. "This is the perfect opportunity to enact my great plan! Operation: Steal His Heart!"

"...Eww," Ann said.

"Yeah, bad name," Akira said.

"No-no, literally steal his heart!" Morgana said waving his hands.

"Ye-he-hes!" Ryuji hit his fists together, sucking his breath. "Robbing him of his circulatory organs…"

"Not like that either!" Morgana insisted.

"Would it be better to rob his heart while it's fresh, or wait to dissect it from him when he's a corpse?" Near said.

"I said not like that either!" Morgana waved his hand once more.

"I'm aware," Near said, sticking their tongue out cheekily.

"Listen!" Morgana got up, pulling out a whiteboard out of his pocket and spinning it around before stopping it in front of the team. Then taking out a marker, tapping it like a teacher's cane.

"We are the thieves who will steal his heart!" Morgana scribbled cartoonish faces of everyone onto the board. "Not everyone can fight, but we've got enough players to make this work!"

He scribbled a picture of the castle they were in. "Somewhere in this palace must be Kamoshida's heart, or rather, his treasure." Morgana scribbled a picture of a treasure chest with lots of gold coins at the top of the castle.

He drew an arrow next to that treasure chest, connecting it to an evil-looking heart with a scary face. Then erased the face, making it scarier by drawing the smile of Arsène's infernal mask. "His treasure is that which he desires to keep most. The source of all his distortions. When the time comes, it will manifest as some form of item with which he has deep attachments to." He tapped twice at the scary heart. "We'll steal it then!"

He drew a picture of a cat, himself running away with the treasure in its tiny paws.

"That's when the takedown phase happens!" Morgana said, erasing the evil heart and replacing it with a sad heart crying while reaching out like a broken ex trying to hold the leaving lover that was his treasure.

"His heart will be stripped of its wicked desires, and his conscience won't be able to handle the guilt!" He drew a picture of a brain vibrating erratically back and forth, before drawing an arrow, a 'Pop!' sound effect, and then putting a sad face on the brain.

"Why am I the representation of his vice?" Arsène asked, arms crossed, legs crossed while kicking one leg up.

"Because you're a gentleman thief of many vices!" Morgana said, pointing the marker at him.

"Fair enough," Arsène said. Briefly smothered in blue flame, Arsène returned to being Shadow Akira, putting herself in Akira's lap. "Hmph."

"I-I didn't agree to this!" Akira blushed, leaning back as Shadow Akira got in close. "Come on, me!"

"Nooo! I want to enjoy myself, after all I'm being called out for things I clearly am!" Shadow Akira put on a kitten-like grin as she wrapped her arms around her other self's neck.

Akira pointed at the others snappily. "Don't take this the wrong way!"

"Or do! Who knows what she'll do to me?" Shadow Akira said, winking with a look of charm on her face.

Akira herself started to pout. "No fair. You all have Personas that aren't hitting on you…"

"True!" Ryuji said with a grin.

"Mrgh…!" Akira raised a finger, then arched it. Then she frowned, grabbing Shadow Akira's waist as she allowed this to happen.

"I'm not enjoying this," the delinquent said.

"So you say to me everyday~" her twin sighed out affectionately.

"We just met!" Akira protested.

"Hey, hands off her," Sojiro said. "That's the kid I'm taking care of. …Wait, you're the kid I'm taking care of too, so—"

Sojiro lifted his head. Suddenly realizing something.

He raised his hands dramatically, clawing and shaking them like an old man. "I took in two troublemakers! My life is overrrr!"

"Oh, so you're a drama queen too. Just like her," Akira said pointing at Shadow Akira.

"I minored in performing arts," Sojiro said, pushing his hat upwards.

"Just like me?!" Shadow Akira said to her other half, getting up from Akira's thighs. "Pot to Kettle, she says you stole all the cooking equipment!"

"I've done no stealing at all! It's all you!" Akira bickered with herself.

"I know thou art, but what art I~?" Shadow Akira sang out like a petulant child.

"Oh, hush! Quit it with your bickering before I spank you or something!" Akira threw her fists down, steam puffs huffing around her.

Sojiro's eyes widened as much as they reasonably could, the man sucking his lips.

"N-not like that!" Akira turned to him, waving her red glove a bunch.

"Now listen young lady, I got some ground rules!" Sojiro said, arm folded. "I know they say to go fuck yourself when they're pissed with you, but this is ridiculous! You're taking that as a challenge!"

"Huh-hweh-heh-gah-hah!" Mishima laughed, wiping his good eye.

"Not! Like! That!" Akira shook her glove and grit her teeth. "Can we go back to the explanation?"

"Right! Right-right-right…" Morgana turned around while muttering. "So, we locate the Treasure, and the first phase is done! The second phase will commence shortly after, we'll need to go back to the real world after, so let's be thorough today!"

"What should the two of us do?" Near said. "As Mishima and I do not have any sort of powers, we can't exactly defend ourselves."

"Stick close to us and hang back during the battles," Morgana said. "If something goes awry, you need to be with us so you can know when to escape. You should be safe enough."

Morgana poked his head out of the safe room, looking left and right. "Should be safe now, let's go back to the elevators!"

The squad dashed as a unit, slipping back over to the elevator lift. One yank of the lever, and it was going down.

"Now, if I were the lever to an elevator that would lead to a room with treasure, where would I be?" Morgana put on a smug grin, chuckling ambitiously.

When the elevator was about to stop, Morgana leaped off, arms spread like an airplane as he spun with wheeling clouds for feet.

"Nyeh-heh-heh!" he laughed, the thief's eyes lit up. "I think I got it!"

He slipped through the hole in the Kamoshida painting.

"Yahoo!" Akira said as she triple flipped out of the painting.

"Suck it, Kamoshithead!" Ryuji said as he shredded a hole through the painting.

"Seriously, Kamoshithead? Ah-hah!" Ann snorted as she slipped through the hole.

Bang-Bang!

Sojiro double-tapped, firing two holes into the portrait of Kamoshida's head.

"Here it is! Already found it!" Morgana waved them along as he found a goat head lever that looked similar in a nearby locked room not far. Having unlocked it with his thief abilities. He jumped up, dragging the chain down as gears started to turn quickly.

"Back we go!" Morgana said, lifting a leg before speeding like a black blur back to the elevator room. He waited on the elevator for everyone to gather, swinging his hands back and forth while they did.

"Get ready! There could be anything down there, so play it safe and position well!" he said, starting the elevator as it descended down and down with loud cranking.

"If we're positioning well, then I'll cover the back with my gun," Sojiro said. "Ryuji and Morgana will take the front. Akira will take the middle. We'll cover each other best this way."

"Good plan!" Morgana said. "Also, make sure not to be too reckless about using Persona Skills and the like! We don't have infinite spirit energy, you know? It's like magic points n a video game!"

"So SP, then?" Mishima asked.

"You got it!" Morgana said. "You know, they say there are candies and sweets that keep your spirit up! I never had any of them, but the Jacks say they love them!"

Unfortunately, none of them could actually check how much SP they could have potentially had. Or how much their attacks used. This wasn't a video game.

Video game or not, they were heading down to whatever laid below.

Chapter Text

Episode 16: The Lust - Part 2

The elevator finally stopped, allowing the group to see what lay beyond.

"Woaaah!" Morgana's eyes twinkled as he flapped his hands. There was an aquifer with incredible waterfalls flowing down all sides of it. And in the center of the secret chamber was a reservoir that all that water went down into, draining deeper below. And built on top of it was a lone small building. No bigger than a closet.

It looked incredibly ancient. "What do you think is in it?" Morgana asked.

"Loot? I hope it's loot, we're in a freakin' castle!" Ryuji pumped his fists.

"Hahah, yeah—!" Morgana's ears twitched abruptly.

"...Wait," he said, stretching his hands in front of his team before slowly pedaling back.

"Uguh… Uuh-hooh, huuh…"

Slipping out of the water was a slime-like creature with a pinched head, climbing along the side. "I… I cannot keep this hidden… I shouldn't! But I can't refuse…!" It shook its head back and forth. It had no eyes, but yes, it did have a head.

"...Looks kind of nubby," Ann commented. "Have any of you ever seen something like that?"

Akira hacked repeatedly, patting her chest with her fist. "No," she lied. Not in person, at least.

"Nope," Sojiro immediately answered.

"Nope," Ryuji agreed.

"I wish I could say no," Near said dryly

"Oh wait, I know tha…!" Mishima smiled.

Mishima kept his mouth open, holding that smile forcibly. "Aaah, no, I don't."

"...I see," Ann said.

"I don't get it," Morgana said. "Somehow, I'd imagine he'd be spikier."

"Ah-hah-hah!" Inside Akira's head, she was the only one who heard Shadow Akira loud snorting.

"Mrgh…" Ryuji hit his fist and hand together. "This would be a good time to have a bat or something."

"So like, do we beat it until it goes away? Or…" Ann questioned.

"Yeah!" Mishima his hands out. "But this fight looks like it's going to be… challenging!" he said with a smile, his eye twitching. "Yeah, challenging!"

"Okay!" Morgana said. "Us rogues versus the Torn King of Desire! Begin!"

"Uwah?" The strange slime's head rose, bending left and right confused. "Who's here?"

"Your villainous days as one of Kamoshida's members is over, fiend! Arouse yourself to battle!" Morgana leaped forth, swinging down his saber.

"Oww!" The slime vibrated intensely, shaking back and forth when the saber thwacked him. "That hurt, you know!"

"Shoot at full force, Captain Kidd!" Ryuji said. From his spirit, a cannonball fired at high speeds, only to bounce and ricochet straight into the water. Dealing minimal damage.

"Why are you attacking me?" the slime said. "Can't you see I'm sad?"

"Sadness doesn't change the fact that you're the enemy, eat lead!" Sojiro craned his neck while loading six bullets, firing them with crackshot accuracy at the tip of his head.

Pew! Pew! None of the bullets made an impact, they just flung off the vibrating slime beast.

"...Damn, this thing's harder than a brick," Sojiro said as he lowered his gun.

"If bullets aren't going to work, then here's my fists!" Ryuji jumped with a great leap over the reservoir, fists charged with lightning as he climbed up the lone building.

"Take this!" Swinging himself up the ledge and onto the roof, Ryuji pummeled his fists into its slimy green skin.

"Oww, don't taze me, I'm sensitive!" The slime squished itself downwards, causing its slime to spread and spray outwards.

"I think beating its meat is getting me somewhere—hey!" Ryuji's hand got caught, forcing him to try to pull away from the monster green slimy threads. "What the—! It's sticky!"

"Ugh, it sprayed me!" Ann covered her face, caught in the splash zone.

"I know I'm a quick shot, but how many times do I need to unload to get this thing to go down?!" Sojiro kept blasting with his pistol. Bam! Pow! Ahn~!

"Uh, guys?" Mishima said. "I think… beating it isn't gonna solve this one."

"Why not!" Ryuji brushed the slimy stuff off his body, freeing himself before jumping back.

"I'm just saying," Mishima raised both hands. "The problem… might because it's a stiff one."

"I'm half-stiff, ahem," the slime said with a nasally, annoyed voice. "My body is slime with a half-solid, half-liquid-like consistency. I'm a Slime Mara. Keeper of the Third Will Seed of Lust. …Not that I want to be the keeper."

"Wait, you don't want to?" Akira bent her knees and squatted, poking her cheek with her thumb while holding her chin and pouting inquisitively.

"Maybe we don't have to kill this guy, team," Akira said.

"Damn," Sojiro, Ryuji and Ann said with collective, resounding disappointment.

"I don't want to be the Keeper of Lust! I have ambitions and dreams to aspire too!" Slime Mara answered, hopping on top of the roof of the chamber. "Like standing tall above my station. Or learning what the taste of soul candy is like. Or getting my hands on a copy of Jack Bros."

Akira gasped, putting on a smile. "Jack Bros, you say?"

"The remake and everything! In full color, with new maps and Jacks!" Slime Mara jumped up and up, then went limp. "The bright red color of the original hurts my eyes…"

"I feel ya, buddy." Akira nodded, nodded. "So, is Slime Mara your name?"

"No… I don't have a name," the Slime Mara admitted, sniffing nasally. "Us grunt Shadows aren't important enough to have names."

"Can I call you…" Akira gave it three seconds of thought. "Ah, Willy!"

"I like that," Willy said, lifting his head up.

"Noo!" the crowd collectively went.

"Okay, then how about Wilson?" Akira said. "Can I call you Wilson?"

"I like that, too," Wilson said with a nod.

"Yaaay!" the crowd cheered in frustration. "Much… better?"

"Wilson, do we have to fight?" Akira asked.

And now Akira was negotiating with the Slime Mara.

"I wish we didn't!" Wilson shook his head. "Ugh, I've been trapped here since the Palace was created. Guarding this place with my existence. But nobody ever comes here. Nobody ever brings me any treats. Nobody even says hi to me on Kiramas. They forgot my birthday, too."

"Kiramas?" Akira said.

"That's not a real thing!" Ryuji shouted.

"Sometimes we Shadows turn Christmas into Kiramas. You know, what with all the god jokes about him. I hope it irritates him," Wilson explained, sniffing as if he had a runny nose despite his lack of one. "Ugh, I hate Kira. He's just as bad in the Shadow Realm as he is in the real realm. None of us know who he really is, though. That's a well kept secret."

"The Shadow Realm?"

"It's what we Shadows call what you humans call the Metaverse sometimes," Wilson explained. "We don't really have a name for it. It's just where we live. We have places like Tartarus or the Foggy Channels, or whatever this palace is called…"

Wilson lifted his head, arching it high while speaking with the large, gaping mouth on the front of its face. "Anyways, I, the Torn King of Desire, am supposed to guard the final Will Seed of Lust. But it's pretty much useless, because it needs all three Will Seeds in the palace to combine into a Crystal of Lust. It'll give you a powerful skill to rely on then, and if you take it to a master blacksmith with a giant hammer, they'll turn it into something even better. Like some kind of old treasure from the Palace Ruler, I think."

"Gee, thanks Wilson, for the information." Akira blinked with an innocent look. "So helpful."

"I try my best… I wanted to be a coach," Wilson said. "But that ship has sailed."

"Yar-har?" Captain Kidd stopped sailing his boat in the reservoir water, looking at Wilson with a blue flare in his eye.

"Not that kind of ship…" the sad Slime Mara said.

"Yar-har…" Captain Kidd kept sailing his boat in sadness, waiting for negotiations to end.

"A Will Seed, huh? With power to obtain, you say?" Akira smiled like a cat. "Wilson, can I take the Will Seed from you?"

"Go ahead, I was debating making the trip to Meme-'N'-Toes and getting away from here anyways," Wilson said in his grouchy, nasally voice. "This place doesn't like me, and I don't like it because of that. And I'm tired of being the guardian of Kamoshida's darkest thoughts."

"What's a Meme-'N'—" Akira flinched back. "His darkest thoughts?"

"Each Will Seed carries a portion of power stemming from a Palace Ruler's deepest core memories. Sometimes that comes with a dark memory flooding the mind of the one who holds it when the Will Seed is plucked. I'm not sure if you're prepared for whatever in that man's mind," Wilson said. "He's awful."

"Mrgh…" Akira tapped her foot, thinking on that one.

"Akira, don't do it," Shadow Akira said, stepping out and wrapping Akira in her arms protectively.

"But it's power! Power that can keep us safe!" Akira argued. "...And it could give us some insight into how to take down Kamoshida."

"But I don't want you to have to see his darkest thoughts!" Shadow Akira said, clutching her tighter. "...You might see something you might regret."

"...But we have to take him down," Akira said. "You know what he's done at this point. He needs to go down."

"Then look at me?" Shadow Akira said softly. "Please?"

Akira turned her head, and her twin gently cupped her cheeks.

"As your other half, I love you," Shadow Akira said, trying not to get teary-eyed. "Your pain is my pain. We're bound as one."

"Ah… then…" Akira reached for Shadow Akira's waist, pulling her in. "Just…"

"Promise me you'll stay safe?" Shadow Akira whispered. "If it gets too much, back away."

Her twin looked at her more protectively than anyone had ever looked at her. Having a twin was something Akira never had until now, much less one that was her other half. And yet…

"I have you at my back to pull me out if I can't do it," Akira said. "...But okay, I promise."

"Aww… what a happy little pair," Ann said. "Be brave, Akira. Don't hurt yourself."

Shadow Akira grabbed the mask of Arsène, looking at its smile. It never seemed to waver, even when she was its wearer.

She slipped it onto her face, and blue flames wrapped around her before she transformed into the Nightwalker. "Okay, I'm right behind you," Arsène said.

"Good luck with it. Even I can barely stomach standing near that thing," Wilson said. "It scares me."

Akira jumped over to the small, ancient chamber, Arsène flapping behind her. With her hands, she tore away at the vines that had overgrown themselves around the decrepit wooden door. Arsène slashed the rest apart, putting his hand on the door alongside Akira.

Both halves sharing a nod, they pushed the door open with a loud, shaky creak.

Inside, the voice of Kamoshida wailed with something completely indecipherable. Multiple voices bombarded her at once. There was no logic to them. It was just an endless, horrid cacophony of sound.

…Still, in this dark chamber, Akira could hear the emotions tied to its deepest roots. Fear. Anger. Hatred.

Guilt.

So much guilt that it reflected in the chamber itself. Broken and coming apart at the seams. The place was going to collapse on itself. It was a surprise it hadn't already done so after so long.

Somehow… it reminded Akira of a prison cell. The way so little light flooded into the place, it made it seem like nothing in her was ever meant to be seen. Or let out.

"A prison of his own making, perhaps…?" Arsène suggested.

"What, does he want to get caught?" Akira said.

"No, I doubt it," Arsène said. "...But perhaps at one point, he did."

"Either way, let's root out this Will Seed for ourselves," Akira said, walking towards the glowing plant-like thing with a brown shell, connected to many vines of a withered yet beating blood red plant.

"Here it goes," Akira said, reaching down to put her hand on the shell.

Arsène's hand wrapped itself around Akira's, leading her to gasp, looking flustered at her partner.

"I'll be at your back, always," Arsène said, holding her back gently. "Let's brave this together, darling."

"Y-you're so flowery!" Akira ribbed Arsène in the stomach, but gently so. Such as not to hurt the flirt. "Flatterer…"

Still, she grabbed Arsène's hand, keeping it on top of hers. "Make good on your promise, okay? I need you here, too!"

She took a deep breath, reaching down for the accursed seed before her. "Let's go."

She grabbed the Will Seed, placing her hand on it while Arsène's hand kept her steady.

For a few moments, things were absolutely, perfectly silent.

Then the world around her was stripped of color. Completely void of anything but the gray.

"HYAAAAAGH!" Her screaming head was thrown upwards, with white light flooding out of her eyes until the whole chamber was lit up.

"Akira!" Ann screamed, reaching out.

"Woah!" Ryuji shouted. The blonde boy tried to jump to reach her, but the light was too strong for him to make a move.

Akira screamed at the top of her lungs. The world around her shook as a thousand memories flooded her mind like pictures and videos rapidly playing all in a random, chaotic order. But they were all loud. The voices were numerous, fighting to be heard over the the girl and her scream of agony.

Then the world flashed completely white.

…Now Akira was standing in the middle of a studio. The world was still gray. A flashback of some kind? It had to be one of the dozens of memories that scrambled through her head.

"Where are…?" Akira looked around. A studio T.V show special? And she was standing in middle the audience.

"It must be an important time in Kamoshida's life, I presume," her twin said, sitting down next to her.

Shadow Akira grabbed her hand, pulling her down into her own seat as the two girls watched. Just two ordinary twins amidst ab ordinary audience.

"Since the Volleyball World Championships will be held for the first time in four years, today we're having a special interview with Japan's number one volleyball team's star player, Kamoshida Suguru!" A female host excitedly squealed, bringing the microphone out to him.

Akira looked up at the sign advertising the program. "I've seen this T.V station before. That Detective Prince was on it. This is Sakura TV!"

Her twin had plenty to say about the way Akira's eyes brightened up, and yet had no idea if this was the right time. So, she stroked Akira's hand in silence.

"I'm taking a mental note of this place before this is over, maybe we can get a lead on Kamoshida in the real world, just in case!" Akira said. "Sakura TV, Sakura TV, Sakura TV…"

"Be serious, darling!" Shadow Akira covered her mouth and giggled. "Or else, I won't be able to help myself around a girl like you…"

"Right!" Akira pumped her fists, hardening her eyes. "Let's see you come crashing down, Kamoshida!"

The man had his arms folded tight, before stiffly raising one hand. "Um, hello everyone. I'm Suguru Kamoshida—er, no, I'm Kamoshida Suguru. Sorry!"

"...Was this guy a total dork in the past? He looks so young." Akira lowered an eyebrow in confusion. "You wouldn't have guessed that with how awful he is nowadays, he was tripping on his own two feet in the past. It beats whatever he's doing now."

"I just wanted to say that, um, t-thank you for being here!" the young Kamoshida said. "And, a-and thank you for letting me be here! Wow, um, this is really great!"

"You're a remarkable player, and your popularity has been skyrocketing since your opening debut!" the host said. "How did you become such a star?"

"I-I'm no star! Please, I'm just an ordinary guy who loves to do his best!" Kamoshida was waving his hands rather frantically, trying to avoid the eyes of others.

"So humble!" the host leaned forward. "He's also donated quite a lot of money to his hometown school, Shujin Academy, which itself is quite famous. And he's been all over TV screens, sponsoring the latest and greatest of sports beverages and equipment! You really are a big shot, Mr. Kamoshida!"

She rolled her hand through her hair, pushing it behind her ear and blinking. Looking at him in a way so sweet it could break the guard of even the sternest swordfighter. "So… Mr. Kamoshida? Are you liking the attention you're getting?"

"Yes!" Kamoshida straightened up, his face turning quite red before he bowed very stiffly.

"And with your latest victory, how would you say you felt? Were you under pressure? Did you feel at the top of the world?" the lady host asked.

Kamoshida pulled himself back, and his eyes brightened up as he spoke.

"Oh, to have gone out there and won like that? It was an incredible feeling! Like… Woooh! I finally got here!" He brought his hands out, making an explosion sound as he swung them overhead.

"Ah-hah, wow, that's actually pretyy funny!" Akira pointed and laughed, grabbing her twin's shoulder and nudging her to watch. And yet, she wasn't upset, or even mocking him for the way he was acting. She was enjoying herself, blinking her gray eyes as they sparked full of life.

It was bittersweet, for Shadow Akira. To watch such a scene so… innocent, knowing what was to come. It was all so unnerving.

Like watching the countdown of a bomb set to detonate years in advance.

"Of course, the pressure really is there!" Kamoshida said, reaching for the back of his head. "Oh, and the other players, new ones and veterans, you gotta look after them! A bad apple spoils the bunch and all that! So as a leader, it's exhausting, but there's nothing that brings me more joy than knowing I've gone out there and gave the match my full attention, leaving the crowd and my team smiling just because I'm here for them. But uh…"

The young Kamoshida leaned into the mic, whispering softly, "I'm actually quite nervous in front of crowds. Like this one, I hope I'm not causing undue trouble." He darted his eyes left and right, breaking into nervous laughter.

Akira snorted. "Eh-hee!"

"...Well, you certainly look much better than you're implying," the host said.

"Ah-hah, so I looked relaxed?" Kamoshida scratched his head.

"But I do get the feeling of feeling nervous," the host said. "If you would prefer, we can go backstage after and have a different interview. I'm sure you'll feel a lot better after. When the cameras are on us, we might feel the need to put on an act. It would be nice if we could speak our… honest intentions."

"Hwuh?" Kamoshida looked at her with a confused, goofy face. Before he felt her leaning in closer, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What?" he asked, cheeks turning redder.

"I also must say that you looked very handsome when you won your gold medal last week!" the host said, pulling away before getting too close. "I must admit, I'm a huge fan! I'd personally like to see how you put on a show, if you catch my drift!"

"Well then? What do you say?"

"Wait, n-no! That'd be favoritism, and my fans, well, they'd like an honest guy. And I'd like to um, umm…"

The lady laughed, pulling her head back and the microphone. "It would seem the ace leader is a rather shy man. Well, the offer still stands. Just meet me in the back and continue business there."

"Um, okay…" Kamoshida said meekly, sinking into his chair.

"...Well, that took a weird spin." Akira blew her hair out of her face, slumped in her chair now and rolling her eyes. "So the lady was a fan of his and wanted to see him do his volleyball stuff? Why is that supposed to be a dark memory…"

The world flashed around her, snapping Akira and her twin out of the studio and into a new place void of color as well.

"Oh," Akira said, still folded backwards without a chair to sit in anymore.

Akira collapsed to the ground with a thud. Grunting as she pulled her head back up, rubbing it.

"Where the hell is this?" the delinquent said. "A bedroom? There's two beds… a hotel room?"

"I think I know why it's a dark memory, sis," Shadow Akira picked her off the ground, looking ahead.

"I can't! I can't! I can't—! I can't do this!" Kamoshida was lifting his shirt up to his teeth, biting down on it and breathing too fast and hard for his own good.

"Y-you didn't know what to do! You only drank a cup because everyone was doing it!" Kamoshida said, pacing back and forth in his room. "Now she's injured and things went wildly out of hand! You knew better than to follow her! God, I didn't even mean for her to get bumped like that! Oh god! Oh god-oh-god-oh-god!"

"The lady from the show got hurt?" Akira said.

Kamoshida slowed his breaths, wiping his tears briefly with his messy, gnawed t-shirt. "Kamoshida, you're a bad man… You were too scared to even call the cops, you need to do it!"

"I-I was drunk, you can't blame me, right!?" he said, panicking while grabbing his quivering head. "I tried to pull her back before anything happened, but, but, it was too late!"

"...No! No excuses, Kamoshida Suguru!" The young man swung his fists down and stopped. Arguing with himself in a battle between fear and integrity. In that moment, he found his resolve.

"I need to apologize to that woman now! It's what she deserves! And—!" Kamoshida swung one fist as he would after every victory, gulping. "And the fans don't deserve a dishonest man! Star or no star, if I can't stick to my own code, then—! Then! I'll quit the team!"

Kamoshida sniffled, wiping his own tears. "Yeah! That's right! I'll call the cops, too!" he said, determined to make good on his promises.

"...But I'm going to break the hearts of so many fans." At that point, he sat down on his bed, sinking his head into his hands. He was sobbing behind them, clearly torn even while fueled by adrenaline.

"That's why you're not going to break their hearts, Mr. Kamoshida."

"Huh?!" The scared, guilt-ridden Kamoshida jolted up, looking at his door opening. "Where are you listening?! Then, then you should know why I'm doing this! I did a bad thing! Get the police on the line!"

"No, Kamoshida, remember what you said about your fans," said the agent walking in with a group of men in business suits behind him. "You're a man at the top of your game with the World Championship in sight. We can't afford to crush the dreams of every single person out there that looks at you as a beacon of strength."

"What? No! What good is a beacon of strength if it's founded upon a mountain of lies!?" Kamoshida started to tear up again, getting on his knees as he grabbed his agent by the arms. "Please, we can't do this to them! You have to reconsider—!"

"Stop groveling and pick your pants back up!" His agent threw him off of him, turning his back. "Don't do anything reckless. We'll look into this and investigate. Just shut up and keep your head down like you're supposed to."

"No… No!" Kamoshida reached out once again, but the door was already closed on him.

His head sank once more.

The world flashed white again. And then Kamoshida picked his head back up. He was sitting down at a restaurant with another contact from his organization. One with more power than his agent.

"We can't have you quit the team right before the championship, you're headed to the Olympics! Let's make sure we provide some incentive…" The contact pushed a piece of paper towards Kamoshida. It was a check, with a hefty amount of money to go to Kamoshida's name.

"Do… Do you think I can be bought?" Kamoshida gripped the check, crushing it in his fist. "I hurt someone; an interviewer, host and fan! I can't keep going while living this lie!"

"No you didn't. Everything that happened was because she wanted it to happen. She just had a little unfortunate accident…" The man offering what was essentially hush money spoke with this sleazy, self-important undertone to his voice. Akira could hear it. "Sakura TV has been running our ads with you as their face, and they're going to keep running until the year's end when you finally get that gold medal like a true olympian. Understand?"

"You're all not even letting me speak with that host!" Kamoshia hit the table with his elbows. "How do you even expect me to win this tournament when this guilt is killing me from the inside out!"

The man in the suit flicked his eyebrow. "Then perhaps we can clear your doubts. Bring her in."

He looked back, gesturing with his hand to the entrance. A scared woman entered. The host of the TV show from before. Taking a seat, her eyes were utterly empty. Although, they also looked like she had just got done crying.

"Mr. Kamoshida, I know you're worried for me, but… you've done nothing wrong," she said, her hands brought to her chest. "Do not worry about such things as guilt.The only thing worth mattering about is victory."

Kamoshida saw her face, and that was all it took to make his heart break. "No… I'm sorry, okay?"

"There's nothing to be sorry for," she said, swallowing before nodding her head. "Everything that happened that day that led to my own accident… I did that. I bumped into you out of my own recklessness. I did it all because I wanted to see my biggest idol up close for myself."

"What did you do to her!" Kamoshida smashed his fists against the table, causing the plates to clank before he angrily pointed at the man from his agency. "You're silencing her, aren't you! You all are! How much money did you have to bribe her with! What dirt did you have to bring up!"

"I chose to do this of my own volition…" The host started to cry again, speaking as calmly and as controlled as she could.

"No…" Kamoshida's eyes narrowed with pain again. "I didn't want this for you! I didn't want—!"

"Because of my recklessness, I have decided to leave Sakura TV indefinitely. Both Sakura TV and your agency respect my decision and happily wish me farewell."

The former host got up, walking away from Kamoshida without looking back. "Goodbye, Mr. Kamoshida. I'll be watching you from afar while you make our country proud."

"You see that?" The man in the suit flicked his hand, raising a cigar. "Nobody's hurt. Nobody wants to get hurt. So let's not cause trouble for you, the woman, or our business agreements. You know, that interview of yours was a hit with the fans, but terrible for the company. They don't want some dorky goofball fumbling over his own two feet, they want to see an untouchable hero who the whole world knows can't be stopped. A king for all to follow the example of."

He pushed the check in front of Kamoshida. Clearly, he wasn't going to let him refuse, even as Kamoshida tried to push it away silently.

"You're a tough one to break, aren't you? Figures, figures… Fine, I'll let you off the team, but only with two conditions. You'll keep playing until the Olympics are over. If it's women you want, beer, or any sort of vice, we'll cover it, no questions asked. Just make sure you keep your mouth shut. And the other, well…"

"Good evening to you…" Principal Kobayakawa said. "Mr. Kamoshida. I have a proposition to make for you."

He not quite as old and not quite as large. The bald man was dressed in a darker suit than the tan one he usually wore. "I heard you've been making quite a mess of your team. Shujin Academy didn't teach you to be such a sore loser."

"Shujin?" Kamoshida got out of his seat, shocked by hearing the name alone.

"As the newly established principal, I have big plans. One to make Shujin not just simply renowned, but the most important school in all of Japan." Kobayaka sat right down across from him. "To do that, I'd like to propose a deal. When the Olympics are done, we'll have our hands a man at the top of the world with nowhere else to go. Instead of going nowhere and fading like a dying star, why not come and teach the beloved students of your old home school? We could use your guidance. We need someone to temper those souls while their malleable and influential. We need to have big names coming out of Shujin Academy, stars of their own! …So we need a king amongst the stars to guide them. Bend them, and see to it they become sharp and strong like the finest of swords."

The large man gave a clever, sneaky grin. "And you can have a quiet life in luxury and indulgence once you're on board. Take the gold for yourself, and together we'll both make more of it and spread it around. That's how we get both good business and influence."

"But, but… but still!" Kamoshida tried to argue. "I can't! Not when I'm still guilty of—!"

"Mr. Kamoshida, I understand you have doubts about yourself and your actions…" Kobayakawa sighed as if he had heard it all before, eyes shut. "...But please, there is no harm here. The woman who went to you did so because she was infatuated with her own idol. An accident happened, and that's all that took place. Nobody saw what happened except you two, and neither of you have reason to contradict that, right? So just stop caring about the matter."

"Stop caring?!" Kamoshida argued, sittingg back down.

"...Or you're going to find yourself in a lot more trouble than you're looking for." Kobayakawa opened his eyes back up. "I have contacts in the United Future Party, and they would like to have a powerful and beloved face on their side should it prove useful one day. …They would not like the man lying to himself seeking self-flaggelation for these petty incidents."

"Self-flaggelation?" Kamoshida questioned, only this time that he spoke, he lost the anger in his voice. The fear was still there, and the guilt was being shoved deeper and deeper into the bleeding well that was his heart. But that determined refusal to allow something like this to keep going… it stopped.

"No good comes from atoning for a crime you can't even convince others you committed!" Kobayakawa huffed and fanned his hands. "Come on, you don't expect anyone to believe you now, do you? A culprit confessing to an invisible crime while the victim denies it? The only one out there who would accept such a thing is Kira! And none of us here needs the killer of killers to strike you down, think of the nightmare that would unfold! The people would lose heart! The station and your agency both would crash! Even Shujin would take quite the hit because you're a part of our alumni! So please, stop sweating the details. The only thing that matters for you is victory!"

"...Victory, huh?"

"By any means necessary," Kobayakawa said. "I don't care if it takes an arm or a leg. In fact, all the better. It would only prove how far Shujin will go to reach the stars! Just like the star that you are."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his business card. "Give me a call when your mind is made up. You know where to find me." He got back up and started to walk away.

"You should think wisely about your next moves," Kamoshida's contact said. "Though it'd be better if you didn't think at all." He left the check on the table and started to walk away.

Now left with a check and a business card in hand, Kamoshida looked torn as he flipped his eyes between them. What decision should he have made? Should he take one or the other or…

It didn't matter. They both led down the same road.

Kamoshida sighed in complete defeat. "Nothing I say matters…"

…Akira curled her fist as tight as she could. The only one left watching him was herself.

The world flashed white again, and Akira returned to the cell chamber that brought her into those memories. Will Seed in hand.

She left the dark chamber, and it crumbled into stone and dust as soon as she stepped out. Draining downwards into the swirling reservoir it had been sitting on top of for so long.

"Akira?" Ann asked, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"I saw…" Akira turned around. "Everything about how we got here."

"With Shiho, yo?" Ryuji asked.

"No, long before that," Akira said. "Kamoshida wasn't even a teacher yet."

Her eyes were shadowed by her hair as she gave just enough details to give them the gist. "...So, after that, they all swept it under the rug. Eventually, things would've gotten to the point of being as bad as it is right now."

Akira started to walk away with her head hung low. Defeated just like the man she saw.

"...You don't forgive him, do you?" Ann said.

"Come again?" Akira said, lifting her head slightly upwards.

"You think one bad incident he was sorrow for is going to undo all the stuff he's done today?!" Ryuji said. "I hope you're not about to make an excuses for—"

"Are you kidding me?!"

Akira turned around on a dime, snapping at them with her glowing red eyes and her hand swung out.

"This is a man who drove a girl to commit suicide, who raped my friend and we don't know how many other girls or women have been assaulted him! Who tried to gouge my friend's eye! Who broke my other friend's leg, and does everything in his power to make the students he controls fear him and attack each other! He does not deserve any of our forgiveness! And I certainly haven't said any bullshit about makin' excuses!" Akira shoutrd to everyone in the abandoned reservoir room.

She clenched her fists tight, turning away from all of them. "It makes me want to pound his face into the dust even harder," she said, hiding the tears from them. "And none of it brings me joy. All it told me was that there will always be rich people making other people their pawns. Some of those pawns turn into lords themselves, and they continue to chain others down."

Shaking her head, her tears flung away from her as she turned around. Those tears sparkled, falling down into the waters below.

"I don't forgive him," Akira said through anger and a hoarse throat. "In fact, he disgusts me even more. How can he know he was so, so wrong about everything, only to turn into the man he is today?! It doesn't make sense! Who would let themselves do that!"

She dropped her head low again, putting her fists into her pockets, turning and walking away. "...All I learned was that he betrayed everyone by betraying himself. I don't even know why I hate that so much." The girl with red eyes sniffled. "But I will never, ever become the kind of person Kamoshida Suguru is. A traitor of his own convictions who hurt the people he once cared for by complacency. The thought of ever being him sickens me."

But what is there to say about how easily the people in charge were both able to somehow silence one victim and chain a man down when he tried to turn himself in? If not for that, the maybe the man they put down never would have become the monster they all dealt with today. That would be better for Shiho, who wouldn't have to suffer this pain. That would be better for all of them.

"I don't forgive him," she said. "I can't forgive him. I'm gonna knock him into the ground when I see him."

She just wished no one had to ever deal with this. An impossible wish.

"Do you feel as if you're betraying your comrades, darling?" Shadow Akira spoke tenderly to her and only her.

"Yeah. I don't blame them if it sounds like I'm making excuses for the man. Even saying that he was a different person may as well be that. And somewhere along the line, he had to have changed by himself. No matter who was pressuring him, he chose to do what he did. And I'll make sure he goes punished," Akira answered back.

"I'm with you all the way," her twin answered. "Let's put down a tyrant together."

"Excuse me, Lady Akira," Near brought their hand out. "I'd like to test a theory right now."

"A theory?" Akira raised her hands. "What kind of—hey!"

She looked at her hands. The Will Seed was gone.

"Wait," her bright eyes widened. "When did you… No!"

The golden-eyed student held the Will Seed in much the same way that Akira did when she lifted it up.

"...Nothing," Near said. "The memories must transfer only once on contact when removed from the bloody vines that served as its pedestal."

"Don't do that again! That's dangerous!" Akira snatched the Will Seed from them. "Next time you might, I don't know, watch a cat get run over by a car! You don't know what these things will make you see!"

"The truth is a hard burden to bear, Lady Akira," Near said. "I'd hate for you to have to carry it alone."

"Yeah, well I grabbed the first one, so I'm grabbing the other two!" Akira grunted out. "I'm getting that power up!" She lifted her arms and started walking away further, before suddenly a red glow started to burn within her heart.

From it, sparks bursted to life. And suddenly a new Arcana appeared before her eyes.

"Woah… again? That mystery guy isn't even here…" Akira said. "It's a red one…"

She took it into her hand, bringing the glowing red card to her eyes.

xi - Lust.

Akira cringed so hard, her face looked shriveled. "Eww, don't tell me this one is really Kamoshida's card. I'm gonna throw up again if I have to take it."

Akira tossed the Lust Arcana through the air like a knife into the reservoir, watching it sink into the abyss where the guilt Kamoshida left behind had also drained down into. …But the Arcana rose back up from the water, pulling itself back to an angry, disgusted girl.

"Mrgh…" Akira lifted two fingers and took the red Arcana in between them. "Fine, but don't expect me to get any use out of you! Worthless creep card!"

"Excuse me? Is your name Lady Akira?" the Slime Mara grabbed her attention.

"What do I do now? If I try to leave, will you fight me?" He started to shift and slide along the ground, following Akira's path.

"Eek—!" Ann contorted herself to get out of the way. "Not touching that!"

"Sorry, I know my form can be distasteful… I didn't choose it though," Wilson said apologetically.

"Why would I want to fight you? You're not Kamoshida, or even half as violent as the rest of his gooners," Akira said.

"Yeah, I know…" Wilson tilted his head. "I guess I'll try to make the trek to Meme-`N`-Toes. It'd be nice to have a friend or two, like how your Shadow has you. Traveling the Shadow Realm can be dangerous."

"...What if you could come along?" Akira said.

"What?!" Ryuji said. "I'm sorry, but dude! Ain't he a bit of a dick?"

"He's not a dick, he's just a Slime Mara. His name is Wilson," Akira said. "Isn't that right, Wilson?"

"It was you all who attacked me, not the other way around," the sad slime said. "And the real dick is Mara, Throbbing King of Desire, not me! He always tries to pick on me and gets people into dick measuring contests with him."

"That does sound like a total dick," Mishima said.

"He is!" Wilson hopped. "I just want to see the world for once."

Akira looked at her Arcana cards. With most of them being empty and the Fool already carrying her Shadow Self's will, maybe she could make use of them.

"Maybe…" Akira raised the Chariot card. "Maybe this one will work on you!"

The blue card started to shine before Wilson.

…But nothing happened.

"Oh, come on. I swear, if none of these work, I'm gonna be disappointed." Akira flipped and flipped and flipped through her cards, bringing each one to Wilson's head. "Empress? Nope. Hierophant? Nope. Strength? Oh come on, I thought that would've been a good one too…"

"What's she doing?" Sojiro asked.

"Trying to match her Arcana to my own," Wilson said. "If we get a match, they say an unbound Shadow can be tethered to a Wild Card's Arcana. Like a spirit to substitute for the original. Or like something you bookmark and quickly flip back too"

"This is my last unused one, please let it not be the Lust Arcana!" Akira said.

She blinked. "It's gonna be the Lust card, isn't it."

The red light shone over Wilson, lighting up the body of the Slime Mara who smiled like a puppy.

"Yay!" Wilson said, bouncing around before transforming into a sphere of light that shot right into the red tarot card. Now the silhouette of the Torn King of Desire found a place right within the Lust Arcana.

"I wanna be a bookworm and read all her books!" Wilson said, talking and standing up tall from within the red card. "Where do you go to work out, they'll say, and I'll say 'at the library!"

"What a polite young man," Akira said. "Er, monster."

"I think you all should be softer on Wilson," said Near. "After all, it would be rude to be firm on the matter of distrusting him for his appearance. Now come on, stiffen up, we need to shoot out of here."

"Oh, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Ann said, cocking her head.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that." Near stuck their tongue out.

"Wait, Ann I thought you said you didn't get it?" Ryuji said.

"No, I was messing with you. Ryuji, I've seen your bat before." Ann stuck her own tongue out. "I'm a liar."

"Yeah, I keep it in my room next to my balls and my basketball hoop," Ryuji said. "...Okay, enough dicking around."

The group collectively groaned their way out of there.

Chapter Text

Episode 17: The Widow - Part 2

The group zipped around the castle, making quick work of exploration. Security had gone down considerably after all that time spent hiding in secret. They even managed to ambush and take down small groups of unsuspecting knights. It was considerably easier when they were isolated.

"Heh-hee… Hee-hee-hee!" Clambering on a table, Morgana brought his kitty paw over the head of a bust of Lord Kamoshida.

"Morgana!" Ryuji snapped his head back. "Stop that!"

Crack! The cartoon kitty knocked down the bust, causing it to crash and scatter into multiple pieces. And leaving behind plenty of valuable metal coins tucked away. They looked ancient.

"Fill your pockets, team! We can sell this and fetch a pretty penny for our thieving endeavors!" Morgana opened his bottomless pocket, stuffing as much loot as he possibly could into it.

"Oh, you're just a little criminal, aren't you son?" Sojiro opened up one of his pockets, filling it up with the most valuable-looking coins. "How are we supposed to use these coins anyways in the real world? Sell them to a smelter?"

"We'll figure something out!" Morgana exclaimed.

Akira wiggled her fingers, standing in the chamber of another Will Seed. "Okay… here goes."

"Brace for it…" Shadow Akira said, holding onto her hand.

With hesitation in her eyes, Akira still plucked it from the pedestal. Ripping the bandage off.

"...Oh, okay," Akira said, looking at the green Will Seed in her hand. "Nothing bad happened this time. Will Seed #2, obtained. Er… Will Seed #1? We got the final one first."

"One more and we get a power up!" Ryuji said, jumping and clicking his boots together. "Freakin' sweet!"

Sojiro fired the last bullet in his revolver into the head of a knight who started to run away from him. Watching it disintegrate.

"All enemies eliminated here," he said, a hand over one ear. "Other than more Cognitions being tortured by Lord Kamoshida, there's nothing down in the prisons. Figures."

He looked out the corner of his eye into the iron bar window on his left. There were more pit arenas, or torture chambers more like it. Students running away from death traps while conveyor belts dragged them towards them. Students tied up to poles and smacked endlessly with volleyballs being shot out of cannons. If this were the real world, Kamoshida would be one of those types who'd be paraded around before being publicly executed. No doubt by the killer of killers.

"I'm returning to the group," Sojiro said, talking into an earpiece Morgana gave him. "Let's look over what we've done. Don't let this world trick you. What's happening here reflects what's happening out there, but it's all still illusions through and through."

"O-kay!" As the group regathered, Morgana hopped onto another nearby table. "We cleared out most of the first floor and the basement by now! We even found a map on the way here! All that's left down here is this library, and it looks like there's just one room connecting to it! There's gotta be something there." Morgana rolled out the map, tapping on a small box-shaped room on the edge of the library.

"Uh… we got a small problem," Ryuji said, stumbling back as he looked at the large rows of bookshelves surrounding them. Not a single corner of the place was left without a bookshelf stuffed to the brim. And the books were surprisingly well organized. Each in alphabetical order, separated by content type.

"Ugh, is this one of those cases where there's like a secret door behind the bookshelves?" Ann said, "Do we have to like, find the right book and put it into the right place?"

"I don't know," Near said as they started to walk through the library. "Probably."

Akira went up to one of the shelves, taking a book randomly. "Looks like these books are about the students in the academy. Interesting…"

Akira looked at the shelf above. There was a single orange book out of place with only one word on the cover.

"Queen?" she said, taking that one.

"Well, if he's a teacher, then it makes sense he's got records of us. …And since he's a creep, it makes sense he'd want to know all our details." Ann clicked her tongue scoldingly. "But then, what are we supposed to be looking for in here—"

"Done," Near said.

"What!" Ann said. "Oh come on, I was still trying to figure it out!"

"...What, like it's hard?" Near tilted their head and their lazy-looking eyes. "There's just one problem."

"What is it?" Ryuji said.

"...I cannot deny it. I am short." Near handed Sojiro, the tallest of the group, a single orange book. "This is the King book. Please put it up there in the gap on the third section. I cannot reach it alone."

"You know, I remember when I used to do this sort of thing…" Sojiro lifted the book and put it on the shelf, shoving it in. "There we go."

"Now take your orange book and put it into the gap within your bookshelf, Akira," Near said. "For some reason, only these three books are orange." Near walked over to the table Morgana was standing on, picking up the third book called Slave.

"Why do you think they're all orange?" Mishima asked.

"My current theory is that he likes orange. Enough to use it to mark things of importance," Near said, kneeling down while slotting the third book into the last bookshelf.

The bookshelves started to rumble, the two ones in front of the group pulling away from each other while Near started to twirl a hair curl around and around, fixated upon it. "Obviously, these books represent how Kamoshida views those within the school. The Slaves are the ones he thinks should fall in line, who take the brunt of his public physical punishments. Most of these are boys. The Queens are the ones he finds both seductive enough to lust after and manipulate. None of these are boys. The King is, of course, himself. Only Kamoshida is in this category, meaning he is a man."

Near stuck out their tongue and smiled. "...Who views himself without equal, that is." The student giggled. "I started by searching for my own name. Only to find it wedged in between the first two bookshelves, and from that made the deductions fairly easily given what we know of him. Considering he hates my guts yet has clearly made threats of both varieties to me… It's no surprise that my book was deliberately isolated from the others." The book in question was far dustier and messier than the others, not even meant to be given a thought about.

"Gross," Ann said.

"But potentially usable to my advantage," Near went on to say. "Though that would require I play to his interests in some sort of pseudo-sting operation. Evidently, his disdain for those who are rebellious against him does not detract from him lusting over them. …He must think my face is just appealing enough, but nothing else." Near spoke with such odd detachment, one had to wonder just how much of this actually affected them. Though their resentment for Kamoshida was clear.

"What about this Beefcake book?" Mishima looked at the book that was left at the bottom of the stack of books where the King book was. Of the same style as the other three books, but colored red.

"That might just be a red herring," Near said. "Take it anyways. It could be useful."

"Looks like it's some kind of handbook for muscle building from like a decade ago. Most of it is in Kamoshida's handwriting. It's actually has a lot of sources cited," Mishima said. "It also says to make sure you eat your protein." He closed the book, lifting it overhead.

"Go ahead and commit larceny so we can put it in the back of our minds in order to focus on committing more larceny," Near said as the bookshelves finally parted away in full. "The secret room is open."

"I could've done that puzzle…" Akira said with a pout.

"Well you didn't and I did, so there," Near said flippantly.

The group entered the secret room revealed to them. "I don't like this…" Sojiro said, hands in his pockets. "With the kind of stuff this creep gets up to, you'd think it's a personal sex dungeon."

"Sojiro!" Ann said.

"I'm serious!" Sojiro said, scoping out the room. "This is the kind of stuff hidden well enough where people get up to no good. Shady backroom deals, that sort of thing. Lord Kamoshida's been keeping this well hidden, yet easily accessible to him. This is just his brand of stuff he's been trying to hide."

He shivered all over, tugging his hat down as he took a glance at the candles lined up on the ground and burning. "Unless these candles are magical, someone else must have been here recently…" They surrounded some kind of cross-like stand. Not a religious cross or anything, so he didn't immediately recognize its purpose.

"Wait… these are all photos of…!" Ann hurried over to the wall opposite of the entrance, scrambling over to grab and take down several of the photographs. Each one of Shiho. She gathered up as many as she could, doing so with such frantic movement that one of them slipped away and burned itself on contact with the flame of one of the candles.

"This bastard…" Ann said, keeping all the photos in a stack while holding her eyes shut. "He not only did what he did to my best friend, but he took pictures! He's fucking proud of himself!"

"All the more reason why we should kill the man!" Ryuji shouted. "I'll kill him myself! I'll beat him to death with a hammer!"

"I…" Sojiro stepped back in horror. "I'm not even sure if this could serve as evidence of his crimes. If it could, then perhaps we could actually arrest him and…"

"One way or another, he needs to go down!" Akira said. "Everything I see from him just infuriates me more and more!"

"That's why we still need to take his heart from him and steal his desires away!" Morgana said. "All of this hunting is to locate and secure Kamoshida's treasure. We'll force a confession out of him and end what he's been doing! He won't want to do anything else but turn himself in!"

"I don't see a reason why not to keep going through with the plan right now," Sojiro said, adjusting his hat lower. "I can't trust the cognitive realm to provide us with hard evidence because of the way it works. But a confession from him while he turns himself in could provide us with the tightest case possible…"

"Now, what's this? This is a bit of an unwelcome surprise… You're getting in the way of my fun!"

BAM! Sojiro shot Kamoshida in the head, but his hard-as-diamond armor deflected it.

"Ah-hah-hah-hah!" Kamoshida stared at them, lifting the grill of his full plate helmet to reveal his grotesque, shit-eating grin. "Remember when I said I'm fucking invincible? I meant it."

"Hey! Be careful, Sojiro!" Morgana brought his hand out. "If you fatally wound him, and the real one will die too! Then we can't get that confession out of him at all!"

"I knew as much since he had his little power trip earlier!" Sojiro said, gun steady. "...A part of me was just tempted."

"You got a killer shot right there, pops, but mine's better," Kamoshida said. "Isn't that right, girlies?"

"Mmm, yes Lord Kamoshida. Or should I say my lord?"

BAM! A cannonball shot through the air, bouncing off Kamoshida's invincible armor before flying off like a shot put. Crashing into the bookshelves of the library.

"I had to try again for myself, damn it!" Ryuji said, speaking as one with the wrathful Dreadlord behind him.

"None of your little peashooters are going to get the job done, you dumb fucks," Kamoshida said.

"You all should run along now if you know what's good for you. It's time for us to play~" The one who spoke was none other than… Ann?

"Me? Ugh!" Ann grit her teeth, then blinked and stared wide when she saw just what that version of Ann was wearing.

"Aren't I beautiful?" What appeared to be Ann herself was dressed in pink leopard print underwear and nothing else. A skimpy bra and scanty panties with black ribbons to tie them. And on her head was a cat-eared headband with a queen's crown. "Look at these assets. So large and perfect for grabbing, too. Just like these pigtails of mine…"

Ann tried to hold her peace as she looked on in sheer disgust.

"Your underwear is tacky," she snapped.

"Yo! Get the fuck out, it's our turn to have some turn!" A clone of Akira with wild hair and a bodysuit consisting of a black leotard with her shoulders completely bare and hot pink tights. On her back were the wings of a devil bat, ones that even flapped excitedly. Ones that matched a second pair of devil bat wings on her head which served as her crown.

"Woo-hooh! Let's get slutty over here, I'm so horny right now! Who wants to let this bitch take a ride!" This version of Akira had a whole bottle of sparkling wine in her hand, smiling with her eyes shut.

"I don't even drink!" Akira said, her face extremely red, and her face extremely angry.

"You should!" Cognitive Akira argued, leaning in and whispering so close to the lips of her true self, Akira could smell the alcohol on her breath. "You look like the kind of freak who knows how to have fun…"

"...Sorry, you illusory copy, but there is not a more worse experience for a thief than to have one's lips forcibly loosened." Arsène surfaced behind Akira. "Put your lips on her, and not even your existence as a Cognitive Being will save you from my wrath."

"Boooring! Boo!" Cognitive Akira reached back and tugged at her suit. "I really want to take this off right now."

"Wait till we're alone, my devil~" Kamoshida said, leaning down and stroking her shoulder.

"Dream Needle!" Arsène raised one wrist, and suddenly a feather hidden in his sleeve shot at Kamoshida's head.

"Hragh!" Kamoshida deflected the attack with the wrist of his invincible armor, a mere moment before it slipped into the gaps of his helmet's grill. "Nice try."

He clapped his hands. "Come, slave, fetch me my toys."

"Here you go, Mr. Kamoshida!"

An injured but running Cognitive Mishima started to approach. Even though most of the Cognitive versions of them were pretty close to the originals in appearance, this one took the cake.

The only difference? This Mishima still had two perfectly normal eyes. "You needed this, right?" He brought both red wax candles and a leather whip, his voice and hands both shaking with fear.

"What the…" Mishima's heart sank, before his anger boiled up.

"So, I'm just a slave!?" He finally snapped, clenching his fist and stomping towards Kamoshida. "That's what you think of me?!"

"You and the entire school, Mishima," Kamoshida said. "What, do you think you're special? Not by much. Honestly, I forgot you even took an injury to the eye! Man, that pole accident must've been nasty. Heh-heh…"

His eerie eyes turned harsh behind his helmet. "The fact is, you're just replaceable. One of the many dumbasses too gullible and too afraid of their own shadow that it's just so easy to have my way with them! Seriously, they fall in line without question!"

"Why do you think I'm like this?!" Mishima was so angry his voice cracked. "You nearly gouged my eye out, but you can remember everything except that?! If I had the power of the others here, I'd, I—!"

"What? You'd kill me, Mishima?" Kamoshida leered. "You don't have the balls, fuckface."

"I sure wish I could!" Mishima said, fists raised before he swung one. "You and that damn armor of yours! There's no point in fighting until we break it off of you, but watch what I'll do then!"

"You'll do nothing," Kamoshida said, lowering his vindictive head. "You're just a useless bitch."

Mishima seethed with anger, but calmed down. In the brief moment after, he quickly scanned the room.

"There's something here!" he said, rushing over to grab something on the table set against the side of the wall. It was a medal. A first place medal for Shujin's volleyball team.

"Get your hands off that!" Kamoshida reached out and tried to grab his arm.

"No, I don't think I will! Maybe I can't fight, and that's okay! Maybe I'm a useless bitch in your eyes, but I can be more than that to others!" Mishima now raised the medal behind himself, smirking like a devil in his own right. "I've dreamt of death for so long, tortured day in, day out. Now I realize I have a shot at being someone who can help take you down. Remember what a useless bitch I was when your whole life comes crashing down!"

"GIVE IT UUUUP!" Kamoshida threw his armored fist at Mishima. "A loser like you doesn't deserve that gold! You'll never amount to anything, slave!"

"That's what you think! But so long as you're still putting down me, Shiho, and everyone… I won't give up! I won't die before you go down!" Mishima said. "That's my resolve!"

He tossed the medal behind himself, making it hit the wall.

"Don't you harm that thing! You filthy mutt, I should've gotten you killed when I took your—!" Lord Kamoshida slipped through all of them, ignoring his enemies just to focus on and reach for the medal.

"Not so fast!" Already picking up the medal the wind raced behind him, Zorro appeared, grasping golden medallion. "Not faster than me! Hah-hah!"

"Noooooo!" Kamoshida screamed, exploding into rage so violent, flames erupted around him. Turning an ominous violet.

He leaned forward and put on his savage grin, his eyes glowing. He brandished his blue blade, holding it past his head like an icicle to thrust down with. "That's it. I'm gonna kill you all now. Then me and the girls can get right back to the f…"

"Su…"

"Fun…" Kamoshida said.

He stopped smiling.

"Suguru."

He heard who was calling him, his eyes widening in terror.

She was coming for him.

"Kamoshida Suguru."

…Floating into the library from beneath the floor itself, there was the dark wraith that had been calling him. Surging with power to rival the king, she levitated over the heads of all who turned their attention to her.

Her golden eyes centered on the king alone. The black flames around her smothered the light, her hair lifting upwards as if it were apart of that hellfire.

"KAMOSHIDA SUGURU!" she screamed, speaking with the distorted, ghastly voice of Shiho. Both hair and flame surged with greater strength, subjugating the king's lustful aura with an aura of her own malice.

"You… Y-you!"

Kamoshida dropped down, his invincible armor clanking as his back was pressed to the wall. "No! Don't hurt me, you can't hurt me, I'm—!"

"Invincible?" Shadow Shiho said. "True, no one out there could pierce your armor."

Strands of her hair thrusted forward, each a tendril slithering through the air. She quickly snatched the sword Kamoshida dropped and raised it over his head.

"Break."

She slashed right down, cleaving through Lord Kamoshida's invincible armor.

It started to split in two, falling apart in opposite directions.

The broken pieces clanged against the ground. Leaving behind the scared, near naked tyrant.

With the tendrils of her hair, she reached for Kamoshida's neck, strangling it. And with each of his arms and legs, she yanked them as far as they could go and then some, hoping to hear something snap. He was being bound and chained by the same person he nearly killed, forced to go through a hellish torture of his own.

"I'm tempted to do much worse. It's not beneath me, now that my other half's sorrow has been silenced. …It would be far kinder than all you have done, Kamoshida Suguru."

Kamoshida Suguru couldn't respond, struggling to breathe as his face started to turn blue. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets for good.

But then the wraith dragged him over to get a look at her face. "Remember this look well, Kamoshida."

Though her eyes were hidden behind a black bandana, with the glow of pure power emanating from them, Kamoshida Suguru could see exactly who they belonged to. Exactly the way they bore into his soul.

"...Let's play a game. It's your turn to be punished here," Shadow Shiho told him.

"Run. Run until you can no longer run."

The poltergeist threw him across the library, making him hit one of the bookshelves as several books tumbled down on him. Floating through the air, Shadow Shiho followed after him without raising an arm or a leg.

"Aaaah!" The cognitions of Ann, Akira and Mishima all screamed, running away out of sight while abandoning their lord.

"No! This can't be happening, no!" Lord Kamoshida started to pick himself up, dropping books from the shelf he pushed against onto his own head before he sprinted right out of there.

"Wait, Shiho!" Ann tried to run after her, bringing up her hand.

Yet again, she could not even grasp this version of Shiho. What was left of her wrathful, torn soul had just drifted off ahead. Phasing through the walls in chase of the man who had put her real self through hell.

"...No," Ann said, dropping to the ground.

Morgana rushed up to her side. "It's okay, Ann. You can—"

"…I let her slip away," Ann said, tears falling down her face. "I let her slip away, again! Damn it!"

She hit the ground hard enough to cause it to crack. Hitting it again, again, and again.

"Then find her again," her Shadow said. "Find her again, and again, and again. Do not stop until you finally get to her. You claim to wish to protect her, yes? Then you know what must be done!"

"Agh!" Ann held onto the sides of her head, gripping onto a mask that started to form around her eyes.

"You have seen the man who stole your everything right before your eyes. And you have a chance to bring him down. Do not wallow in defeat when you can seize the opportunity to take your life back. Steal it. Steal it right out of his filthy hands."

"Say my name," she said.

Ann ripped the red mask off, blood dripping down her face before it hit the ground.

"Carmen," Ann said, blue flames burning around her. "We're going to find her."

"About time, sweetheart." said the lady in a red dress that spread outward like a rose, twirling a cigar in hand. Her mask was that of a black cat, perfect for a cat burglar. "Now, take your weapon."

Ryuji stared in awe, watching his friend strut right by him without so much at glancing his way. "Badass… Real women don't look at fires."

"Amazing…" Mishima said.

Ann took the red whip that Cognitive Mishima dropped, cracking it in the air. It gave a violent echo. "You know, they say a whip can be dangerous in the hands of someone who doesn't know what she's doing. I want to see what I can do with it when I find Kamoshida myself."

She walked ahead, prepared to put an end to this no matter what.

Chapter Text

Episode 18: The Widow - Part 2

"And if we take this medal and put it here, then…" Morgana wrapped it around the neck of a giant bust of Kamoshida, then pulled it down like a lever. The mechanism was such that the thread put enough weight on the neck to activate a button, the medal was kept in a hand with its own button. Both buttons would be pressed continuously from now.

That lowered a drawbridge at the highest floor that they could reach. Anything higher was blocked off. Lots of rubble came crashing down at some point compared to when they attained the Will Seed in the reservoir and camped out in the Safe Room. It completely halted them from going up normally.

"Kamoshida probably doesn't want us going up any further, or Shadow Shiho," Morgana said. "And if Shadow Shiho gets to him, you can bet for certain she'll kill him."

"I didn't realize how strong she could be… Or how vengeful…" Ann said.

"Even best friends hide their darkest thoughts, Ann," Morgana said. "Especially with how dark hers were."

"I just hope we can save her," Ann said, before her eyes turned resolute. "I'm going to save her."

With the drawbridge lowered, all that was left was a large, double doorgate. Pushed open by Ann and Ryuji.

"Oh, I wish we could keep that for ourselves…" Arsène said, looking at the shining medal hanging off the bust. "We could make some nice pocket change for a delicious lunch."

"You can have it, but only if you snag it after the job's done!" Akira said sternly, rolling her hand as she hurried across the bridge.

"Yes, my commanding mistress~" the shadowy fiend grabbed the mask she hid behind, starting to giggle.

With the gates open, all that was left was a bridge of the castle wall ahead of them. And a tower. A very giant tower, serving as a beacon under the dark, glowing red clouds that circled over it within the sky above.

"How are we all going to head up that?" Sojiro said. "It doesn't look like we can go in from the inside. What with the rubble."

"Then we go outside! And we keep going up until we reach the top!" Morgana sprung up onto a ledge, springing from ledge to ledge as he showed them a path they could take. There were blocks jutting out just so, giving them enough space to keep climbing like the black blur going ahead of them.

"But not all of us can pull off those tricks!" Mishima said.

"Sure you can, it's all in the mind!" Morgana said. "You don't need Personas to manipulate the mind!"

"Kid's right, you know," Sojiro said, patting Mishima on the back. "Hmm… I'll go first and prove the point."

He had to put a lot of faith in his old friend's knowledge to get this far. He'd already been doing that the whole time, even with his disbelief in this sort of world.

Sojiro gave it a running start, grabbing the first ledge before angling towards the second ledge. He dashed upwards as a white blur, not unlike the black blur that was Morgana.

"That's the fastest I've ever moved before, but no time to think about that! Let's go!" the gunman said. He reached back down, waiting to take Mishima's hand. "I got your back, son!"

"A-are, are you sure?" Mishima said. "Even you got one of those Shadows, or at least you have that spirit gun!"

"Kid, I've never been more unsure of myself in my life," Sojiro said. "...But I have faith in the people around me. That's how I know you can have faith in yourself. If a grouchy mess like me can do it, a kid with his whole life ahead of him can do it too!"

"Okay… Okay…" Mishima took a deep breath.

"Hyaaah!" Mishima ran at top speed, jumping onto the ledge before shooting up. He shot up almost as fast as Sojiro, reaching for his hand and taking it as he nearly made it.

"Here we go!" Sojiro swung the boy onto the upper ledge, patting him on the back. "See? Wasn't that bad."

"Hah-hah, that was incredible!" Mishima looked at his hands. "It's like being a super hero! Look out, world, the blue bomber's going up!"

And like that, he bent low before leaping again. Surging up and up, he kept scaling the tower. Making it look so easy now that his fears were dashed.

"Hah… Sometimes a kid just needs others picking him up when he's down." Sojiro smiled, chuckling. "Don't get too cocky now."

"I promise!" Mishima said, following after Morgana. Each of his jumps were surprisingly accurate, he even made some trickier leaps that Morgana didn't even take.

"Let's go, everyone," Near said. "I sense we'll run into trouble somewhere down the road… One of the Shadows has to be up ahead."

"How do you know?" Sojiro asked.

"Call it a hunch," said the golden-eyed student, grabbing their chin. Either way, they scaled the outer edge of the wall, with Sojiro being the last one following in order to catch anyone who might fall.

It was a race to the top. Everyone was going as fast as they could, each one a speedy blur flashing up the wall. The tower would be insurmountable in the real world, but in the Metaverse, the impossible was very much possible.

"I sense something approaching, too!" Morgana said, hanging along the edge of a window. Before looking at what was tucked away inside.

"Myaaaaa!" Morgana's eyes twinkled with golden stars, looking at the ancient doorway he stumbled upon. "Team? This must be the last Will Seed door! Fall in!"

"Woo-hoo!" Ryuji leaped through the window, rolling on the ground as slipped into the room before the ancient chamber. "Pow-er up!"

Morgana rolled after him, scratching his claws at the door. "Mreowww! Lemme in-lemme in! Treasure, treasure, treasure time!"

"Ah-hah-hah!" Zorro rose from behind Morgana. "You two are a lively bunch of friendly rivals!"

"Rivals?" Morgana and Ryuji said.

"...Eh." Ryuji shrugged. "I mean, I don't really got a complaint about—"

"Hee-hee, but Ryuji could never be better than me!" Morgana winked, pointing at himself.

"Oh, hah-hah! Wow, thanks for being my friend, Morgana!" Ryuji said. "Alright, rivals it is!"

"Yoh-hoh. Like Personas, like Masters…" Captain Kidd said, resurfacing behind Ryuji. "Yours has quite the bite to him, Zorro."

"Yes, but he has a great heart to more than keep him on track!" Zorro said, putting on a half-smile. Before that smile grew bigger, although he kept his eyes calm. "I believe that truly, he will know how to be the right sort of hero in the end."

"Ya-hoo!" Akira did several spins as she went through the window. "I've been feeling the urge to say that ever since I went through the painting. But it's time to finally see what these Will Seeds are capable of! I don't want to go empty-handed after forcing myself to see Kamoshida's memories!" She hit her fists together, pushing the final door open.

The entire group entered as a unit, spreading out inside the dark chamber. It was the largest of the three, and completely circular and flat. It seemed like there was no roof to speak of. That's simply how far up the chamber went. One could have a nasty fall if someone fell from above.

"I don't like this…" Ann said. "What could be the reason that this room is like this? What made it?"

"There, in the middle!" Ryuji pointed ahead. Dead in the center was the Will Seed. Its roots had taken deep hold within the chamber. Bleeding blue veins spread throughout the floor, glowing with a terrible power that seeped down below.

"That ain't a coconut, is it?" he said, referring to the Will Seed. "I just gotta ask. Otherwise I'm gonna think about it forever."

"The first Will Seed was formed from his guilt. I can only assume the other Will Seeds are similar, and the same for their chambers. If only we could use these to break him instead of needing the treasure," Akira said as she reached out, ready to grab it. "And no, it's not a coconut."

"You see, my guess was a kiwi," Ann stated.

Arsène appeared behind Akira, reaching out for the Will Seed with her. "Whenever you're ready, my master."

Akira put her hand on the Will Seed, the veins flowing underneath it glowing bright.

She howled as loud as she did the first time. Her eyes and the world went white as the memories held within flooded her head faster than she could process.

Akira huffed as she recoiled back, kneeling on the ground. She was breathing heavy, having received the memories yet losing her grip on the seed. Even Arsène was struggling to keep it together after that one.

"I know which memories this Will Seed was about," Akira told the others. A red glow started to burn from within her heart. Before she knew it, another Arcana emerged, floating for her to take.

"Which ones?" Ann said.

"You can take a guess…" Akira said, her breath shaky while her body rattled. "But I know what I need to do, and now we can take Kamoshida's Will Seed for our own!"

She got back up, both her and Arsène coming together to take the Will Seed from the pedestal.

A thousand black needles sprung from the ground, spiking through the bloody veins, the Will Seed, and nearly eviscerating Akira's hand.

"Woah!" Akira threw her hand back just in time. "This thing's rigged?"

She gulped, shaking her head. Still having yet to fully regain her composure, but understanding what happened. "Oh… so the power those two felt was…"

…Rising up from the ground was a girl with black hair draped over her face, raising the pale arms of a corpse seemingly strung up in the air. Behind that hair, a pair of ghostly eyes were glowing for all to see.

The door behind them slammed shut, leaving everyone trapped.

"Oh no…" Ann said, realizing who exactly they were dealing with.

Dressed in white robes that were tattered and torn, barely held together to cover what they needed to. She truly looked more like a wraith than a human. Or even a Shadow.

Shiho craned her neck up, the bones within her snapping several times as she bore her eyes upon Akira. Cracking her neck to the right, seeing Ryuji, Sojiro, and Mishima. Cracking her neck to the left, seeing Ann, Morgana and Near.

"You've come here to take Kamoshida's power, yes?" Shiho said, eyes glowing behind the black bandana tied over them.

She couldn't see their faces. Not as they were trapped in the dark void that was this chamber. Not even when their faces were clear as day, illuminated by her spectral light.

"That…" Ann said, "And also, we've come to find you." Holding her arm, she walked towards the ghastly girl in the center of the room who stopping them from taking the Will Seed.

"Find me? After my true self has been rejected from this world and the real one? Forced to a life so cruel that she sought out an eternal end to her punishment."

"...Yes," Ann said, stepping closer yet stil. "In the end, I don't know if you're going to live. I don't even know if you're alive or dead right now. …But I'm not going to leave you here, alone. It's me, Ann. I'm here for you, Shiho. Just you."

To Ann, Shiho looked beautiful even now. Perhaps she was a wraith. Perhaps she was all that was left of her. Ann didn't care, it changed nothing about her feelings.

"...You must be a very poor liar, Ann." Shiho cranked her neck towards her, casting the light of her sorrowful gaze. "No… You must be here to take this power back to him."

Ann stepped back. "What? No! This is the truth! It's me, the real me!"

"I've seen the Kamoshida of this world more times than I can count. I know he plays with those who steal the faces of my friends to wear them as masks. Dressed in their skin as they indulge themselves in his games." The wraith of Shiho raised her pale hand, floating in the air.

"You're welcome to play my game."

A single, ghostly, comet-like bullet hovered in the air behind her back. A roaring white burst of energy, suspended there by the ivory wraith.

"You'll play the same game as your master: Run."

Ann gasped, sidestepping just fast enough to evade the bullet that ripped through the air.

"Shiho?" she said, staring at the one that would have ripped out her heart.

"Woah, what's happening?!" Ryuji felt the twisted tendrils beneath him starting to move. "Nobody said we'd be dealing with this!"

The veins within the ground started to turn, each one winding around like the hands of a clock. Until those twisted blue tendrils started to spiral around, forming a whirlpool. Leavung the ground unsteady.

There was only one enemy in the room. One that nobody wanted to fight.

v - The Widow.

"She's too angry to even believe us! She must think we're all cognitions, too!" Morgana said. "We have to think of a way of putting her down, but be careful! If that's Shadow Shiho and we kill her, the real one will die for good!"

A spectral bullet beamed down, nearly catching Morgana by the head had he not ducked. "Mreow! Keep an eye on her attacks and dodge as needed! Don't waste all your energy!"

Black rings of flame appeared beneath the feet of Mishima, Sojiro, and Near.

"Seems like a good time to dodge here!" Mishima jumped back, nearly getting his boots burned when the cursed inferno reached up to strike him. Near tumbled and rolled as they landed, while Sojiro kept his hand on his hat, gun raised as he kept moving.

"We're not your enemy! We only want to take down Kamoshida!" Mishima shouted.

"How can I trust these voices? There were none who could save me, none who would take down the man who cursed me! So I'll drag him to hell myself!" Shiho raised one hand with grace and wrath combined, and a trio of accursed flame pillars rose to try and take Akira, Ryuji and Morgana. A lift of her second hand, and the wraith conjured even more, spinning them around the room to scorch the earth and burn away all her foes.

"To the center!" Akira said, rolling out of the way as the rest of her allies swarmed towards Shiho in order to evade the flames. Not that it was much safer. The thieves bended and moved at the whims of the wraith unable to see behind her rage. Their sorrowful conductor.

The dark embers crackled, roaring and rumbling as they chased the edges of the chamber before dissipating. Shiho was far from done with her assault, however.

The wraith in white created a white sphere with a black aura surrounding it, tossing it high into the air. "Megido!"

A beam shot down from the sphere, creating another larger sphere that shot another beam higher, forming yet another sphere. This continued rapidly, chains of light and darkness forming and linking together. One by one, they formed stars in the darkness, forging a constellation.

"That's not just pretty! It's deadly!" Morgana said.

"Near, dodge left!" Mishima called out.

Near didn't see the beam in time, but trusted in Mishima's judgement. Throwing their whole body to the left, they rolled just in time to prevent a hit from a deadly beam that would've stricken them in the neck.

"What kind of element is that!" Near asked, getting back up and leaping back while dodging the next rail of light.

"Almighty!" Morgana told them. "Perhaps the strongest of all elements out there! Nothing resists it, and few can channel it!"

"Sounds like a very technical element to work with. Interesting!" Near dashed forward like a ninja, slipping underneath another almighty beam.

They couldn't help but smirk. They were actually enjoying this. "I'd like that power for myself!"

Jumping up from the ground, Near pushed against the wall before kicking right off it in time to avoid both the wave of dark flames rolling along the wall and yet another beam aimed at them. "If she won't see reason, fighting her to weaken her conviction may be all that we have! Akira, neutralize her!"

"I'm only doing this because we have to stop you! You'll kill us all if you don't!" Akira swung her hand out, surrounded by blue flame. "Arsène!"

"Dream Needle!" The devil in red soared into the void above, firing down a storm of slumbering feathers at the wraith.

"Arrrgh!" Shiho's eyes glowed. She swung her clawed hands up, creating a vortex of hellfire around her. "Eigaon!"

They burned away the flock of blade feathers before they could even reach her, forming a shield of flames.

"How about this? Captain Kidd!" Ryuji leaped high, landing on the ghost ship that surfed beneath him and picked him up, carrying him into the air.

"We're not your enemies, but if you're gonna fight us, then come at us!" the boy in the black jacket pointed his finger at her. "Let's scrap until you get it all out! Captain Kidd, Dead Man's Volley!"

"Right away, mate!" Captain Kidd kept his hand cannon steady, aimed at the torso of the wraith. "Apologies, young lady!"

The lighting cannonball shot out of the chamber, with Shiho in its sights.

"You're determined for a bunch of pale imitations!" Shiho said. "But I will be the one to put an end to Kamoshida! YOU'RE IN MY WAY!"

She put her hands together and took it head on, arms braced as the lightning ball sparked against her skin.

She bounced it straight upwards. Soaring into the air after the sphere, she spun around like a dancer both mesmerizing and vicious. Meeting the lightning as it continued to fly, the dancer from purgatory lifted a hand to strike.

She spiked the Dead Man's Volley right back down, aimed straight for Ryuji and his ship.

"Brace yourself! The ship's going down!" Captain Kidd told Ryuji.

"Woah!" Ryuji jumped, breaking away from Captain Kidd as the cannonball crashed down, rending the ship in two.

"Help!" Ryuji started to fall, unprepared for a hard crash.

"I got you, rival of my little master!"

Zorro flashed around the arena, bouncing from one corner to the next before lunging straight for Ryuji. Shooting diagonally through the air, he exited the green jetstream with Ryuji caught between his arms.

"See? Zorro will never let down his people!" he said, letting Ryuji back down. "Pun not intended."

"Thanks for that!" Ryuji stepped forward, gauntlet held up as it sparked blue with power. "Say, what's the name of my electric ability?"

"Zio, my friend!" Zorro said.

"Alright!" Ryuji raised his fist overhead, striking down at the ground. "Zio! Come on, thunder! Rain down!"

CRASH!

Lightning zapped from the top of the void down onto Shiho. The ivory wraith raised her arm, teeth clenched with rage as her arm took on the singular, thunderous zap.

"Mediarahan!" She called out, swinging down her raging hands. White light burned within her palms, before she called down from aboce, a wave of light that rolled along the chamber's black walls.

A massive wave of power flowed into her and only her. All that just to heal a single wound.

"Shiho!" Ann cried out.

"How dare you call me that as if you know me!" the wraith spat at her. "Before my time is over, I will drag you six feet under!"

She created in her hands a large meteor of spiralling white and black energy, spiking it down at Ann.

Carmen brought herself to the surface, twirling around before raising a black and red fan. "Agi!"

Several comets of flame appeared behind her fan, sailed upwards after firing off in rapid succession. Whistling like fireworks as they met the spiralling meteor.

The meteor took all of them head on, pushed back inch by inch with each hit. But it wasn't enough to stop it from crashing.

But it was enough to buy time for Carmen to grab Ann's arm, swinging her out of the way. "Go on then, sweetheart! Seize your chance to get what you want!" She turned into a blue beam, following after the master she was tethered to.

"I want Shiho back!" Ann said, arm stretched in front of her as she sailed through the air to reach higher into the void above. When she hit her hand and foot against the wall, Carmen was already with her.

Together as one, spirit and caller pushed away from the wall and into the air higher, chasing after the wraith above even with the danger of what laid below.

"I'm going with her!" Akira bent her knees, Arsène standing with her as both pushed off the ground. That's when Arsène grabbed her by the shoulders, using his wings to lift her higher in the air.

"Kamoshida must pay! Kamoshida is the one who must suffer! If he doesn't… then I… I may never…!" Shiho screamed through her tears, conjuring not one but eight almighty flames. They weren't as big as the meteor before, but they were fast. Their attention split on both Akira and Ann.

Six bullets moved through the air, passing right by both Persona wielders. They intercepted the comets when a series of bangs went off in rapid succession, detonating them before they could even come close to making their mark.

"Anyone told you that you shoot just like me?" Shadow Sojiro could be heard saying. "Look alive, crackshot, the last two are coming your way!"

"On it!" Sojiro loaded two more bullets, lifted his revolver, pulled the hammer and fired twice. He barely escaped being hit by the last comets' explosions, shielding his eyes and ducking low beneath the black-and-white flare.

"Ann! When you get close enough, jump to me! We'll launch you straight to her!" Akira said, soaring higher thanks to Arsène.

"On it!" Ann said, continuing to leap from wall to wall like the panther her mask was modeled after. Carmen was not the fastest Persona, but with her powers alone, Ann didn't miss a beat as she kept up the speedy climb.

"Why do you insist on chasing me? Why must you all wear the skin of my loved ones?" Shadow Shiho asked.

"It's because we're your real friends! Just like the real you is in the hospital trying to stay alive!" Ann said. "You're because you want revenge, right? You want to live, right!"

"Do not make negotiations with a Shadow, interloper! My wrath and sorrow cannot be pacified! I will not let it!" Shiho's black hair, her white cloak, both fluttered in the air as she conjured up more white bullets. "One-Shot Kill! Three-Shot Kill! Twelve! Shot! Kill!"

"Dodge!" Carmen commanded.

"On it!" Ann kicked the wall, shooting horizontally instead of continuing to chase the wraith directly. Dodging faster than she would have otherwise. It was enough to barely scrape by as the bullets rained hell on her, barely missing her by the tail of her red jumpsuit.

She kept turning directions and jumping as soon as she hit the wall, going faster and faster. Eventually, she moved fast enough, a star had formed within the circular arena, born from the trails of fire that followed Ann and Carmen's flames.

"Oh-hoh-hoh! Yes, make me dance, sweetheart! Make me dance as if I loved you!" Carmen spun gracefully, stopping and raising her fan while several fire comets formed around her wrist.

"I can make you dance for me too, you know." Carmen spread open her fan. "Agi!"

And the comets sailed to meet her friend-turned-foe.

"Agh!" Struck in the eye, Shiho quickly covered it as it started to burn. "Mediarahan!"

Another huge wave was called down to heal her. She blinked her eye open, with it being no worse for wear since it was in this world that it was healed. It was this world's Shiho that was healed. But only physically. Her exhaustion and what damage she already suffered through was still present.

"Must you be so inefficient, sweetheart?" Carmen asked. "Such a skill is better used amongst friends than when all alone. Unless you mean to say you still cling to your friends even now? You desire more than simple revenge, don't you! You wish for your call to be answered now more than ever!" Even with her feelings towards her, she would not rest. She would not falter. She would not hold back from speaking her harsh truths.

"I said shut up!" Shiho lifted her hands, firing down four wailing bullets down at once.

Snap!

"Eiha!" Arsène called out, targeting the first one coming in from the left. That one blast of hellfire was enough to redirect the shot into the wall. And with another snap, the second one coming from the left was deflected away from Ann.

Ann reached out her hand, raising it towards the wraith. It ignited. "Agi!" she cried, and two flame bullets rose to strike against those of her friend.

The One-Shot Kill bullets overpowered the flames of Agi, though not without missing their mark. Instead, they fell through the void. Spears of vengeance sinking quickly to the ground.

"GAAAAH!" Ryuji was struck in the chest, eyes turning a ghastly white as blood splattered down towards the ground.

"Ryuji! Dia—AAAA!" Morgana was struck in the back before he could even make a move.

Both collapsed immediately.

"Masters!" Zorro and Captain Kidd said at once. Their masters having taken such lethal blows, their bodies started to flicker away.

"No! Damn it all, no!" Sojiro said. "Come on, can anyone save them!?"

"I'm afraid if I could reach them in time, I could! But they're too far away!" Carmen said, looking down. "Someone else must help them!"

"I don't have anything I can do either—!" Akira said, before cutting short.

Her eyes widened. "The Will Seed! It's unguarded! Shiho must have abandoned it!"

"How is that going to help us!" Mishima asked, shouting from below.

"I'm saying that it's better than nothing! We need to gamble it all on this!" Akira reached into her pocket, tossing the Will Seeds down at her friends.

"Go for broke, Mishima! It's all or nothing!"

Mishima reached up, catching the red and green Will Seeds. Rushing over to the pedestal, the barrier that formed around it made out of threads of Shiho's hair had since retreated, allowing him to rip the last one off the pedestal without hesitation.

One, two, and now three Will Seeds were all finally assembled together. Whirling around rapidly until they formed an eerie crystal brimming with power.

Mishima put his hands on the crystal, hearing the voice of a sorrowful Kamoshida. Not the one in the real world. Not the one in this world. But one that existed long before them, that no longer existed now. "I have to do something, I have to fix this…"

"...I know what to do!" Mishima's hands were glowing with a powerful green aura. The same kind Morgana used when he healed him. Holding the crystal just like a strange ball, he dragged Ryuji next to Morgana, bringing his hand over both of them.

The power of this crystal was made known inside his head. As well as that power's name.

"Champion's Victory!" he cried.

An incredible surge of healing light flowed from Mishima's hand, washing over both the Ryuji and Morgana before their souls left them.

"...HAAAA—!" Ryuji wheezed, life flooding back into him as his eyes regained their color.

"GYAH!" Morgana threw his head up, blinking his blue eyes. "Did I just die?!"

"Sure feels like it!" Ryuji said as he pushed off the ground and helped Morgana up.

"Oh, it is a good day to be not dead!" Captain Kidd said, stretching his arms as the resurfaced out of Ryuji.

"We're going to be dead again if we don't stop these next ones, look!" Zorro pointed his rapier into the void above. Six more One-Shot Kill bullets came crashing down to strike them all.

"Showtime then, my friend?" Captain Kidd said, readying his cannon.

"That's what I want to hear! Feel the raging vortex!" Zorro rolled his rapier around, generating a powerful green vortex to shield them from the bullets, all while slowing them down.

"Steady now… steady!" Captain Kidd's hand cannon charged with as much lightning as he could gather.

"Lightning Vortex!" they cried out.

The cannon fired spreading chains of lightning into the vortex, rising upwards right as the bullets entered within range. The vortex exploded into a huge blast of lightning and wind, smothering the One-Shot Kill bullets before they could crash down.

"This is it!" Akira said, Arsène flying into the perfect position. "Ann, now! It's time to reach her!"

Ann kicked off the wall, soaring higher to reach Akira who in turn reached down to take her by the hand.

"Here we go!" Akira swung her over her own head. The thief in red spun fast in somersaults as she went high. Not high enough to reach Shiho, but enough to get into position right above Akira.

"Now, do it!" Akira flipped upside down, using her own boots as a platform for Ann to kick off of. Empowered with the spirits of both Carmen and Arsène, Akira blasted to the ground while Ann carved a path through the void. Getting close enough to Shiho to nearly grab her.

"It's all or nothing," Ann said, holding her whip ready.

"How dare he bring you into this accursed world?" Shiho said. "I will tear this sanctuary of indulgence he has built, and bury all mockeries of these wounded souls!" Her hair started to snake towards, shooting downward to try and bind Ann. Those dark, whip-like tendrils of hers wrapped and tied down one of Ann's arms, one of her legs, before the third lunged for and took her by the neck.

Shiho started to wrap her hair tighter around Ann. Trying to stealing her breath along with her life.

"It's… it's me! I'm real, Shiho! Look at me!" Ann managed to get her words out, swinging her whip backwards before launching it at Shiho. She wrapped it around Shiho's waist, the last thing needed for her to pull herself in. Bringing them face to face.

"What are you—!?" Shiho blinked her shining eyes. Lifting the black wraps away from them, she saw the blonde girl doing everything in her power, even risking her life, just for a chance to see those eyes of hers again. Now, they both did.

"Shiho, we're here too!" Mishima called out from below. "It's me, Mishima! Your buddy! Look!"

The blue-haired boy undid the patch around his eye, revealing the wounded, shut eye to her. Despite everything, despite how bad his injuries were, it was still glowing. Far stronger than anyone could have given him credit for.

"It is you!" Shiho said. "You all must truly be…"

"We're doing this because we love you!" Ann shouted, still bringing herself closer even now. "I love you! I was so focused on trying to take Kamoshida down myself, I forgot to see how you were hurting!"

…Shiho stopped racing towards the void, slowing down. The two started to descend back to the earth, moving lightly in slow circles like dancers in the dark.

"It doesn't feel real, you know?" Ann said, ready to tear up. "Even now, I keep wishing that if I went home, I could call you and you'd be right over! I… I want things to be like how they were…"

Shiho held silent for a moment. Shiho held onto Ann the whole time they drifted back towards the ground, her black tendrils slithering away from her to leave Shiho to touch her with just her hands.

"We cannot go back to the way things were… But I dream of just the same," Shiho told her.

They moved slowly back and forth, with Shiho putting Ann's head on her shoulder. Ann was hurting too, they both were.

"I thought if I did this, I'd bring you back! This whole time, I couldn't stop thinking of it!

…But I know I'm just telling myself that." Ann sobbed. She was breaking down, unable to hold back any of her tears in front of her. Shiho responded by stroking her gently on the shoulder.

"I… sought an escape from Kamoshida's torment," Shiho explained. "He's been torturing myself in the real world for so long, she forced herself to do what she did. Even now, I cannot tell what will happen to her. I cannot tell what I truly wished for her then. Now I'm left to suffer and watch as he truly has his way with those forced to be under him."

It was her desperation and sorrow that led her to fall. But it was her burning anger that kept her going. Her undying will. It bounded her to this palace, anchoring her to it by her own desires. A desire for vengeance against the wicked man, but a desire for all of this come to an end. For everyone's sake.

"He blackmailed me, you know, before it all happened," Shiho said, holding Ann. "He threatened me by saying that if I didn't do what he wanted, he… he was going to get to you instead of me."

"What?!"

…Ann snickered, lifting her head before breaking out into laughter.

"What's wrong?" Shiho blinked her glowing eyes, looking on with confusion.

"I think we're both a pair of lil dum-dums!" Ann said, giving a big laugh followed by a bigger sigh.

"Hey!" Shiho pulled her hands down to her hips in a sassy manner. "I have good grades, thank you very much!"

"I mean that he threatened me with the same thing! He's had us all played since the start." She smiled with tears, reaching up and grabbing Shiho's cheek. "I should have told you. We should have told each other. Then we wouldn't have been alone…"

First there was confusion in Shiho's eyes, then anger to replace that confusion. Then sorrow, before returning to anger again. Before finally Shiho snorted, breaking out into laughter hersself. "Ugh, of course he would do that! He's a creep!"

"You said it!" Ann said, snickerinf with her once more.

Shiho held onto Ann's cheeks, looking into her bright blue eyes. "I love you," she said with shining eyes of her own. "Okay, I can entrust this to you now."

Shiho started to float into the air, white light shining around her body, forming a hallowed ring behind her.

"Wait, where are you going?" Ann reached up. "Shiho, wait!"

"I'm going back to where I belong," Shiho said. "There's someone who needs a piece of her to return."

"Shiho!" Ann cried, trying to grab her. "I'm not ready to see you go!"

With a smile of victory of her own, Shadow Shiho leaned down and waved at her, putting her hands behind her back and turning around.

"What happens to him will be in your hands. Your heart will lead the way. …I don't think Shiho desired an end to her life, but a means to end her pain."

She looked back at Ann one last time, holding that smile. "Please be there for her. For she and I are the same."

She vanished in a wave of light, going upwards. Nobody could tell where exactly she went, not even Ann who stayed there standing, just a hand away from grasping her.

"...Okay," Ann said. With a sigh, she smiled.

"And when this all finally comes to an end… wait for me." Even without her presence, Ann could hear her voice.

"...You got it, Shiho," Ann said. "See you someday soon."

"Wooh, we did it team!" Morgana sprung up, bringing his hands out. "We survived!"

"Pretty sure I died over there, but you know, I'm healed, it's cool!" Ryuji said, lifting his hands. "Cool-cool-cool."

"Surviving that was intense…" Near said. "And probably the most fun I had all day."

Akira pulled herself out of the crater she made after she dropped down. "Yeah, hah-hah!" She cheered, covered in black dust and roots while she swung her fist up high. "Victory for us!"

The red Arcana floated down in front of her, revealing itself clearly. v - The Widow.

"This must be Shiho's power," Akira said, taking it while looking up. "Alright, we'll take him down together."

"And we even got the power up we were supposed to get! See?" Mishima raised the strange crystal skull that glowed with healing power. "I feel stronger just by holding it…"

"Remember to take it to a strange blacksmith in Meme-'N'-Toes!" Wilson said, speaking as the silhouette within Akira's Lust Arcana.

"Thank you Wilson," Akira said.

The door to the chamber opened, allowing them to escape the dark room. Allowing light to finally flood inside.

"I have a feeling we've gotta be getting closer to the treasure!" Morgana tapped the map. "All that's left is the top of the tower, so let's climb it!"

After a fast and hurried trek up the rising tower, the group of thieves all rushed into the highest window of the castle. Each of them rolling along the ground before getting up and seeing what laid ahead.

"Mreeoow!" Morgana's eyes glittered like stars. He looked around. Gold coins were everywhere, as well as trophies, medallions, and other valuable treasures.

"Hmm, I can sense most of this isn't real gold." Morgana pouted. "But look!"

A sphere of distortion hovered in the center of the treasure vault. It shifted around and pulsed like a mirage, and there was a dense core of light humming with power.

"How are we going to take that thing?" Ryuji said.

"I've been keeping this detail under wraps until we got this far. I thought it'd be easier to explain now." Morgana turned around, standing on the trophy beneath the sphere. "We secured our infiltration route and located the treasure. Now all we need to do is enact phase two. We're gonna do as gentleman thieves do, and send him a calling card to let him know we're coming."

"Wouldn't it be more advantageous to not do that?" Near said. "Unless you mean to say that we can't take the treasure without doing so first."

"Bingo!" Morgana said. "The treasure is the manifestation of the desires he wants to protect most! Ergo, once he feels threatened and like he needs to hide them, the desires will crystalize to form his true treasure. We'll swipe it while the iron's hot. And Kamoshida as we know him will be no more; he'll be buried under the weight of his own sins and confess!"

"But I must warn you beforehand…" Morgana lowered his hands down. "While this is supposed to be our safest way of taking him down, it could go all wrong if done improperly. Traversing the Metaverse has made me aware of strange cases of people suddenly dying. Sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. I heard it's being called a mental shutdown. But more importantly, it sounds like something's stripping all the desires of these unfortunate souls."

"The mental shutdown cases? Those have been all over the news…" Sojiro walked up to Morgana. "That Detective Prince has been talking about them. There might be the second most dangerous criminal out there after Kira. The methods are similar, but the mechanisms and the deaths are completely different. Kira uses heart attacks, while this is like… Losing the will to live. Their bodies slowly losing function until they're either forced to be hooked on life support or let go."

"You're pretty sharp, mister!" Morgana braced his hips. "You might know as much as me or the legends before me!"

"Oh, please…" Sojiro scoffed, smirking while he lowered his hat's brim over his eyes.

"And that Kira's a real problem! Really, I hope for the sake of the earth that Killer Killer goes down! Kira makes me sick!" Morgana said, spitting at the ground. "But back to the point at hand. This method should swipe only the wicked desires distorting this world. Without it, the palace will collapse in on itself, so be warned! We'll make a speedy getaway, and phase three will commence: the waiting game. The change of heart will take place, and we'll be waiting for when the bomb that is Kamoshida's own confession drops!"

He swiped his kitty paw in front of him. "Like I said, this should be both legit and safe. But that doesn't mean there won't be risk. We could end up fighting and killing Shadow Kamoshida! He might transform in the middle of battle to protect himself, but if he returns back to his human form, then shooting him will be lethal and we won't get that confession!"

"We'd be in a lot more trouble if he just up and died…" Sojiro said. "As pissed as I get just from seeing his face, for everyone's sake, this sounds much better."

"I wanna see the look on his face when he's weeping and crying in front of everyone!" Akira hit her hand and fist together. "...And everyone deserves it. More than just us, there are probably tons of students and more who've been abused by him! I want them all to know they weren't in the wrong…"

After all, she knew well what it was like for nobody to trust her, pinning all the blame on her. She lashed out, yes, but she only acted to protect someone. Is that really worth the treatment she's been through? The hell she's gone through?

"Hmm…" Ann walked forward and smiled. "I want to put him down. And I'm still debating how far to go one way or another. But the thought of getting to show Shiho the look on his face when he tears himself down sounds priceless to me."

"As much as I'd like to kill him now, I don't to go to jail." Ryuji brought his hands up. "I've got people from my mom to my friends to protect. I did a stupid thing that got in the way of that earlier, and it could've gone way worse. …Still, sending him to jail could be the next best thing."

"I just want this to be over with," Mishima said, stepping up with them. "Let's put him down. Akira's right that it will be better for more than just us if we get him to confess."

"I want to see what happens when a change of heart goes down," Near said, joining them. "...Of course, I'd just as much like to see him fall. The worst outcome is we do nothing, and he's allowed to run free."

"Then let's make it a plan, team," Morgana raised his hand. "We'll go back to Cafè Leblanc and discuss our strategy tonight! Then tomorrow, it's calling card time!"

The team cheered, escaping the tower as they made their way out of the Palace. Prepared for tomorrow.

Unbeknownst to them, a single soul perched up on top of the roof hung one leg off the ledge. Like a mockingbird eavesdropping on little ants.

"Ooh, how interesting! This world has some new players. They don't very much like Kira at all, either… Just like World's Greatest Detective Whats-His-Name? L…"

A death god's laugh echoed, and the being sitting above looked like a ghastly, corpse-like monster. But far more human like than the knights they fought.

He chomped down on the core of a finished apple, smacking his wide blue lips fixed in place to form a smile. "I've had to go all around the place in search of some fun, finally, it seems like fun is heading its way instead!"

Stretching his long, thin legs with clothes that looked stiched into his very skin, he bent his knees and did lengthy squats. "Uhn… Grah!" He cracked his back, and it sounded like a thousand bones snapped all at once, before he cracked his neck with an inhuman twist of his head.

"Should I tell the Kira guy about the show about to start?" the god of death snorted, not blinking yellow eyes with hollow, crimson irises. "Eh, I never did it before, I'm not gonna start now! Besides, the show is about to start!"

He stretched his back, sprouting black feathery wings as he took off into the dark red sky. "Gahahahah… I gotta get more snacks!"

Chapter Text

Episode 19: Preparations - Part 1

4/13,

Akira read the email she received on her phone. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, school will be closed tomorrow," she said. "Doesn't say why, but you can guess the reason. I guess that means we can't deliver the calling card yet."

"That'll give me a chance to go to the station and see if I can take anything we got from the other world to build a case against the man," Sojiro said. "I'll go to the police after I clean up here. I'll let you know what's up tomorrow morning."

The whole group had gathered within Cafè Leblanc, each sitting around except for Sojiro who was taking stock of his inventory. "We should use this time to think of anything we might need once we go back. It could get deadly again."

"What the—!" Ann brought out her phone. "Hey, I got a weird app on my phone? And… wait, money!?"

She showed the group the red and black app, the Metanav. A sizable transfer of money was sent to her bank account. From an unknown source, too.

"Hey, my money's gone up too!" Akira said, phone raised. "I barely even had any money in my bank account until now!"

"Mine too! Yeehaw!" Ryuji raised his phone, bouncing on his feet.

"I don't use my phone for any of my bank statements." Sojiro went over to check the cash register. "I'll check tomorrow and see what—"

Click.

A scattered rain of coins sprayed out of the cash register, blasting a Sojiro shielding his eyes. "Oww. Ow. Ow."

He ducked his head, the coins falling around him "Agh, now I gotta clean this too! Couldn't that darn thing send it to my bank?"

"Moneeeey!" Morgana sprung over to Sojiro, creating a nest from the coins that dropped. He built up quite the nest, too, standing on top of it while pressing down as if the kitty were a baker making biscuits.

"Why did Sojiro make the most money?" Ryuji asked. "You look loaded over there."

"I did take out a lot of Shadows on my own." Sojiro lifted his hand as if to ready his gun. "It's called the Invoker, because it's the thing that'll invoke your death."

"Damn, gramps!" Ryuji said.

"I'm not that old," Sojiro said.

"Let's use what we've got to stock up on gear and supplies tomorrow!" Morgana said, curled up on top of the cash pile. "In the Metaverse, we can take weapons like bats, whips, and guns to battle. They don't even need to be real. Just the fact that our enemies think they're real is enough for the Metaverse to distort, changing our weapons to be as dangerous as they believe."

"That's a pretty funny thing to think about," Near said. "One could theoretically take down their opponent in the metaverse with a toy dagger. How humorous."

"In the Metaverse, the mind is stronger than reality! So get creative!" Morgana said.

"Well, help me sweep this up first." Sojiro grabbed the broom, pushing the coins towards Morgana's pile. "I can pay to keep Cafè Leblanc running just fine. Take the money to get yourselves some gear. But if you have to keep it around in the real world, make sure it's something you can get away with holding on to."

"Oh, I know a place!" Ryuji said, hitting the table. "Team? We go tomorrow!"

4/14,

"Alright, everyone's here!" Ryuji said. He raised his fist, standing just outside the shop with its neon green sign displayed above the roof. Untouchable.

"I can't believe I'm stepping into a place like this… How did my life get here?" Ann shook her head, walking inside with a tense expression.

"Ooh!" Mishima said. "I never actually had the money to get something here. Come on, let's check it out!"

"Here we go…" Akira said, holding her bookbag tight as Morgana peeked his head out.

"Remember!" Morgana said in her ear. "It's gotta look real, powerful, and preferably real and powerful! It also helps if it's well-built! So focus on those stats."

"Got it," Akira said, "Let's go right in!"

"Oh my, I never thought this would be my first date, my darling." Shadow Akira briefly appeared as a ghost behind Akira.

"You—! You just like riling me up, don't you!" Akira said, snapped her head at her twin.

"How can you tell?" Shadow Akira giggled while covering her lips, retreating back into her soul. "Oh, you… Have fun, I'll wait while keeping an eye out for danger."

"Friggin' goblin," Akira said, tilting her eyes up. Swinging the door open as the others followed in.

"Aw, look at that one!" Mishima tugged on Ryuji's shoulder. "That shotgun up there!"

Ryuji turned to look up, seeing the gun on display on the rack close to the roof. "Oh-hoh, that one speaks to me!" With fire decals and everything, it sure looked fearsome, even if they didn't make the weapon more dangerous.

"There's so many to pick from! It's hard to know which one to settle on…" Mishima started to tap at his chin. "Ah, but if we're supposed to be getting creative, then what if I had like a buster cannon? Or a laser rifle?" If weapons were candy, then Mishima was a kid in a candy store about to drain his wallet.

"What's with all this weird ration stuff?" Ann said. She paid the price to use the vending machine, grabbing the one that was fruit flavored and put it in her mouth.

"Gwuh—!" Ann grunted, collapsing with her cheek on the ground and her butt held high. Instant knockdown.

Akira squinted, whispering at the downed girl. "Do you always stick your booty out when you get knocked down?"

"I feel like I ate the worst vitamin ever…" Ann said, a smoke puff in the shape of a skull escaping out of her lips.

Near walked up to the glass display case, looking at a set of silver throwing stars. They looked pretty real, and sharp.

"I thought this place was supposed to sell model guns?" Near asked the guy at the counter reading a newspaper.

"We got a lot of things here at Untouchable, don't question the stock," said the clerk and owner of the place. A man who could've been in his thirties or forties, looking unenthused over the students coming in.

"What about handguns," Near said.

"Gottem," the owner said.

"Sniper rifles," Near said.

"Bolt action and semi-auto," the owner said.

"Rocket launchers," Near said.

"With gas grenades too," the owner said.

"Axes," Near said.

"Multi-purpose or specifically for combat?" the owner asked.

"Greataxes," Near said.

"Greatswords, spears and heavy-draw bows, too," the owner said.

"Knives specially designed for combat dogs," Near said.

"We get them specially ordered," the owner said, lifting his head away from his newspaper to tap against the poster behind him with a cartoon cat saying: "Need an incredibly specific weapon in a short amount of time? Why wait! Buy now!"

"Do you actually want anything?" the owner asked, rolling his neck.

"I'll take some knives designed for humans, thank you," Near said.

"...Do you have directed-energy pistols?" Near asked.

"Ask me around October 29th," the owner said.

"Dang it," Near said, taking the knives.

"You're not a cop, are you?" the owner asked.

"I don't even have a license, sir," Near said.

"Good," the owner said, finger lifting. "I hate cops on principle."

"Oh, we hate cops too," Akira said.

"Good," the owner reiterated. "Now here's my next question. What are a bunch of kids I've never met before doing, going around and buying a bunch of melee and ranged weapons at one? You tryna' rob a bank?"

The team all went silent.

"Uh…" Ryuji lifted his hand. "You know, it's just for an occasion."

"We are equal parts medieval LARPers and airsoft sports enthusiasts," Near said, putting their hand firmly on the table.

Near, at points, was as terrible a liar as Akira.

"...You look like if I handed you a model sniper, you'd fall over with it," the owner said.

"That's why I would like to purchase the twin knives, thank you," Near said quietly with a nod. "And the shurikens in the corner."

The owner paused, taking a solid good look at the white-haired student with a firm, blank stare. And their Shujin Academy outfit.

"Whatever, you're all paying customers. …Just don't make it a habit of getting on my bad side. And I don't want you bringing in any cops here. These are all model guns and weapons, nothing more." The man grabbed his shoulder, lifting up his newspaper.

"Thank you," Near said. "Apologies for the troublemaking."

The door to the store opened, and Sojiro entered with a grim look on his face.

"They can't do anything with it?" Ann said.

Sojiro shook his head. "I'll inform you of the details later."

"Damn it!" Ryuji said. "Okay, plan A then!"

"I may as well get something here to make do with. Probably a sidearm, then," Sojiro said.

"A sidearm?" The owner leaned forward in his chair, lowering his newspaper. "So what? You a regular gunman?"

"In the past, yeah. Apparently I haven't lost my aim with a pistol," Sojiro said.

"Well, I'll be…" The owner shrugged, keeping his dark eyes on Sojiro while rubbing his hands. "Full auto? Hobbyist or professional?"

"Revolver. They'll never go out of style," Sojiro said. "Heh, and let's say I used to be a professional. Thankfully, I never needed to use it, though I always practiced until I left my job. Never know when there's someone in need of rescuing. As it would turn out, my aim hasn't slipped at all."

"Yeah, yeah…" The owner pulled himself closer. "Name's Iwai. Say, if you're as good with your aim as you claim, why not try out a model sniper? I can hook you up with a bolt action so you can cover the range your revolver won't."

"What are we looking at here?" Sojiro said, fixing his glasses.

The man in the white hat now stood in front of a brand new sniper rifle, holding it in his hands.

"Oh, precision weapons, how I've longed to lay my hands on your cold metal," Sojiro said. "I had to deal with an hour of penis jokes yesterday, so I'm not going to make any about having a long barrel or anything."

"Heh, hey, it might take a bit for you to get warmed up with it, but you can't beat the power that comes from a rod like that," Iwai joked.

"You think you're funny, don't you?" Sojiro chuckled. "Use these responsibly, everyone."

The group left, taking all the weapons they needed.

Iwai now looked at the strangest large payment he ever had. More than a dozen weapons all paid for in cash. In the form of hundreds of coins. He couldn't even fit it all into his register, he had to get cases to stash them.

"What the hell, man?" Iwai said.

"So, the bad news?" Ann asked Sojiro. The two of them were standing in the middle of Shibuya's Station Square while the others were gathering their things.

"The problem is, the photos can't be proven to have been taken by Kamoshida," Sojiro said, speaking low while watching the crowd that had gathered around a man standing on a box.

"What about if he confesses, then could they be used? Or maybe there are photos on his phone or computer! We could establish a link then!" Ann said hastily.

"I couldn't convince the police to order a search or anything." Sojiro grit his teeth. "Heh, they even said if it's that much of a problem, Kira will handle it. Can you believe it?"

"Seems like the police are useless if they're going to let that guy do everything…" Ann lowered her head dejectedly. Only to lift it as she heard someone talking.

"Now, I know we live in a post-Kira world, but that is no reason to abandon the values of unity and trust within our communities! While we are in strenuous times, we must band together!" A politician announced. A large man with white gloves, a black suit, and a green sash around his shoulder.

"Day by day, we lose people right before our eyes! Heart attack deaths have been at an all time high since the Kira Killings first started! We question the justice system, which fails to deliver solace and peace of mind to the common citizen. But it's no wonder the majority of Japan favors Kira over the justice system! It's no wonder, because every young person feels as if the justice system has been built to serve the corrupt, not those desperately in need!"

"...But I say, we must do better!" the man raised his hand high. "We must not let Kira be the end all, be all to all our struggles!"

Ann straightened herself up. "What's he talking about?"

"Finally, someone with some sense…" Sojiro said.

"I'm not sure, but let's hear it!" Akira said, standing beside them. Stepping forward, her eyes brightened up, and she grinned like an excited shark.

"When it comes to the new generation, they are left with nothing and no means to get ahead! And this is not a failing on them! How can we say we look towards the future when we do not leave anything behind for those who will live in it? We look at our low crime rates and say that our country is thriving, yet our young people lack jobs, finances, security! Even those with jobs are suffering under harsh business practices! We are already in the midst of losing precious ecosystems! We must make sure that we work to reform our system, and this is one thing that Kira cannot do! Even if we are to believe in his powers, he does not control every part of our daily lives! Nor does he speak for the government at large!"

"...This guy's good," Akira said.

"You're saying that because he's telling you what you want to hear," Sojiro said, smirking as he tilted his head. "Fair, fair."

"Maybe!" Akira crossed her arms. "Or maybe, I just think we're better off without the killer of killers!"

"You stink, Tora!" a member of the audience shouted at him, followed by feverish boos in the crowd.

"...Guess you and I are the only ones who agree," Akira said.

"That's kind of how it goes," Sojiro said. "You'll meet a handful of people behind closed doors speaking out against him. In public, though? Not a chance, not directly at least. You know, Kira used to kill more than just criminals, too. Lots of police and reporter deaths happened for speaking out against him."

"You don't say…" Akira put her hand on her hip. "Sounds exactly like him."

"We must acknowledge that society does not start and end with who lives and who dies!" The politician declared, swinging his fist as he looked from one side of the crowd to the other. "I know the majority of this country's people believes in Kira, but as a man who has lived to see the rise of a man who holds more power than the legal system, I speak from experience and from the heart when I say death is not the solution to all our problems! We must advance, and we must do it by building in the now what the future needs—!"

"Kira should kill you for saying that, No-Good Tora!" someone in the audience spat.

The politician winced, blinking harsh in surprise. "Wha—!"

"We don't need someone like you anymore!"

"Why aren't you dead for your embezzlements, huh?!"

"My words hold weight, regardless!" Tora raised his finger halfway in the face of the shouting crowd. "It does not change that our young people will… will!"

Suddenly Tora's hand slipped as he grew weak. He stumbled off the podium suddenly, hitting the parked bus behind him.

"Hey—!" Akira broke into a run. "Something's happening to him!"

Slipping through the gaps of the crowd, Akira made a move to pull the man up.

"Serves him right!" the heckler that first spoke said, throwing his hand at the politician. "No-Good Tora is just one of the rest of the problems in society! Looks like Kira's come to deal with him so he can finally shut up and—!"

"Shut up!" Akira snapped. "Not everyone who's having a heart attack is guilty! And to hell with killing them, motherfucker!"

She stared the heckler down, watching him cower backwards.

"It doesn't take the world's greatest detective to know that…" Akira said, red eyes shinier than usual thanks to the tears that started form.

She turned her head to Tora. "We should call an ambulance! Maybe we can—!"

Tora grabbed onto her shoulder with his glove.

Breathing deep, he clutched his own chest, then slowly relaxed his arm back down.

"...I'm fine." Tora got back up, sighing as he relaxed his face and opened his eyes. "It was merely a scare. I think it was my heartburn acting up." He turned to the girl that tried to help him, putting on a polite yet warm smile.

Akira let out a huff of relief, smiling bright. "It's good to see you're okay then. For the most part."

"I've had a history of stress-related incidents. Sometimes, the thought of Kira doling out punishment can really get to a person," Tora said to her. "Thankfully, my condition has improved considerably. I thought I'd try out public speaking again. Only this time, well… hearing that I should be one of Kira's victims for my past got to me."

"You're really sticking your neck out, huh?" Sojiro said, walking up to the man. "I can't even remember the last time I've seen someone giving a whole public speech about everything he's doing wrong."

"It takes a certain way with words," Tora said. "I'm fully convinced our problems in society come from a lack of real, significant change for the disenfranchised. But people haven't stopped thinking about Kira since before those big old screens in Shibuya crossing plastered that L all over the place. December 5, 2003. I'll never forget the day the World's Greatest Detective challenged the killer. Ah, but look at me. Even I can't keep from rambling about him."

He reaffirmed his stare, stepping up on his stand and raising his finger once more. "All I'm saying is… Give our youth the chance they deserve. All humans die, and we don't know where they will go. Let's not vote for those who will build a nation for themselves and only themselves. Let's not vote on those who will only make the world harder and more frightening for future generations in a world where Kira hangs over our heads. Vote for those who will protect the now and future through coming together."

With that, he left the stand and turned around the corner of the bus. Even with the crowd jeering him, he held a stoic expression that was certain in himself and his ability to reach out to others.

"Are you okay, Mr. Tora?" Ann said. "If something like that happened to me, I would've stopped immediately. You seem like you know what you're doing."

"Actually, the name is Yoshida Toranosuke," the politician said, chuckling softly. "Heh, I've yet to hear anyone call me Tora in a positive light until today. It's not a bad feeling, though. By all means, I encourage you."

"Okay, Tora." Akira folded her arms. "You've got some serious guts, though."

"I can say the same for you," Tora said. "Though your language was rather crass, you stood up for me almost immediately simply out of your own virtuous nature." He hardened his eyes, raising his finger as if giving another speech. "Threatening someone to be attacked by Kira for criticizing him is unconscionable behavior. It's truly no good, Tora says! It is the same as wishing them death in this world. Kira is not a man who holds sway in matters where the money in our country goes to, and he is not the legal system. Unfortunately, that aggressive mentality has become more and more popular."

"Tell me about it!" Akira said, bringing her hand up and down. "Just this week I watched Sakura TV, and you know what I saw? The interviewer asking that Detective Prince if he supported Kira! The guy couldn't answer the question with a straight face, but the lady doing the interview was squealing like she was wishing for him to be Kira's biggest fan."

"Oh, Sakura TV? They're always hosting Pro-Kira segments." Tora turned his head back, staring south towards the direction of Shinjuku Crossing. "It's impossible to say that they have any direct ties to Kira since the first incident, although trust me, they'd want you to believe it."

"First incident?" Akira shut her eyes and thought. "I guess I'm forgetting this one." She was still so young at the time, she could not recollect this particular incident out of the many.

"The case where Sakura TV had been sent tapes from Kira himself to broadcast," Tora said. "Would you believe it? News reporters speaking out against the man died on live TV during the broadcast, and Kira demanded the names of the individuals in the police force associated with L. Members of the police force were killed mid broadcast in an attempt to stop the broadcast. The name of one of them in particular wasn't released to the public at all at the time, as we would later learn he was part of the Kira Task Force. Truly bizarre…"

"Kira killing without a name?" Akira held her chin. "That would line up perfectly with some of the rumors in a lot of Kira fansites…" Her access to info regarding Kira was limited to public documents and records, so she had to get creative when it came to info gathering. But the rumor of Kira killing targets without themselves having their names released was consistent amongst a startlingly high number of individuals. But this is the first time she had spoken to a person who said he'd seen it for themself…

"If what you're saying is true, then it means there's a chance that Kira can skip needing a name to kill, somehow. Either that, or he can find a way to get access to names people shouldn't know about. After all, we know for a fact he definitely needs a face," she went on to say, and Tora nodded.

"Just as L the great detective proved in his challenge to Kira, a face and name is all he needs," Tora said. "Oh, but do you remember the way he trapped Kira into revealing he was in Kanto? The gumption! The chutzpah! Few out there could match the cut of his jib!" The man's eyes lit up as he rolled his hands, bracing his hips in pride for the man.

"And his moxie!" Akira said, remembering much more clearly the way that L's voice echoed through her orphanage when he challenged Kira.

"Indeed," Tora said. "The broadcast was cut short, and the next day it was in the news that another police officer had rammed a hospital truck of all things into the building to keep Kira from broadcasting his message. All identities of the squad escorting him out were hidden with face masks to prevent Kira from striking them down. Then a new broadcast took place from another Kira, who labeled the original broadcaster as an imposter. But that doesn't explain how the imposter killed those officers…"

"If there's two Kiras, then maybe the rules for killing are different for each of them," Akira suspected. "Or at least, if there were two. We don't know if that's still true today…"

"Yes, and very little word has been heard of the great L since." Tora sighed, losing heart. "For those few like me that refuse to shed compassion and a belief in true righteousness, he was a beacon of hope for us all. I fear he has been killed."

"Ah…" Akira gasped.

…She'd only ever seen L in the Metaverse. During the visits he's made to Cafe Leblanc, he always mentioned needing to pierce the barrier between this world and that one. Her Persona and her friend's Personas were all figures of legends and myth, yet those like Arsene had indeed lived. At one point.

"I don't want to believe it, but think about the facts," Tora said. "A man hot on the trail of the world's deadliest killer. An entire year's worth of leads, reassuring the public and defying the odds. Then all of a sudden he goes silent. The case goes cold in the eyes of the public, and the killings keep on happening."

"Mmhm…" Sojiro nodded somberly.

"...Yes, it would be a great loss," Akira said, knowing the truth. "Of course, L would most likely have a successor in his place."

"It's true. We do still hear of L's actions in the present, though they're greatly diminished compared to 2003. I'm afraid this L, if he is truly a different person entirely, simply does not ignite the hearts of the people anymore," Tora said. "...But we can't let the loss of a great man crush our spirit. We must move forward and navigate this world in the Kira Age. Together."

While he smiled once more, soon his stomach started to rumble. "Oh, my!" he said with embarrassment. "Well, I think that's my body saying I need to move out of here!" Grabbing the back of his head, he started to rub it as he laughed lightly.

"Er…" Tora said. "This seems like a strange question, but would you perhaps like to accompany me to lunch? As someone who wishes to campaign in the interest of the youth, I'd like to hear more from their voices. Especially with someone who speaks her mind so freely. And if discussing this Kira fellow is of any interest to you, by all means speak."

He brought his hand out to Ann and Sojiro. "You both are welcome to join. If you have any friends, feel free to invite them over."

"Lunch, huh?" Akira blinked her eyes in surprise. "Sure."

"Ah-hah-hah! Wow, I thought I'd never hear such bluntness about the man!" Yoshida rolled his head back with laughter, putting down his water cup.

"Argh, let me tell you!" Akira pulled her bottle of soda away from her mouth. "I'd catch him myself if I could! The damn killer thinks he's solving everyone's problems, but that's just a load of bullcrap!"

"Hah, wow!" Yoshida banged the table, wiping his eyes. "Such bold confidence is refreshing, really!"

"I think Akira's been drinking one too many sodas," Ann said. "This is the longest I've seen her rant about politics."

"Yeah," Sojiro told her. "Don't drink so much, young lady."

"Hey, this is my first one!" Akira raised her soda bottle, cheeks red with a grumble in her voice. "It's not like if I drink another, then I'm gonna start shouting in the streets with a megaphone."

Two minutes later.

"Kira is blind to the concerns of the working class! We act as if he is our savior, yet people are still struggling under the weight of our economic oppressors!" Akira was shouting on the stand Tora was at not long ago. Megaphone in one hand, a headband that read 'unity' on her head, and second bottle of soda in hand.

"Kira is unfair! His true identity is out there! Standing with eyes downcast! Plotting his murder forecast!" Shadow Akira was right beside her, waving a picket sign in the air.

"How can a hypocritical killer ever understand the people's struggle!" Akira shouted. "It's not just the criminals who are struck down, but those who resist as well! Those who have not earned the death penalty!"

The door to the beef bowl shop reopened, with Akira coming back in to put her megaphone on the table. "So yeah, I'm not that political." She rubbed the bump on her head, having gotten hit with an empty can.

"You okay?" Sojiro asked, handing her some water.

"I regret nothing," the delinquent said, sitting back down with her arms crossed. Taking the glass.

Soon enough, the rest of the group gathered to join them. "Yooo, beef bowls!" Ryuji said.

"Nice!" Mishima said.

After sharing a meal with the whole group, Yoshida laughed once more. "Well, that was a delightful lunch! Akira, you've got such amazing spirit!"

"I speak the truth!" Akira said. "It's not my fault that the masses are in love with Kira."

"Yes, but if I could give you some advice. I may not be an elected official anymore, but I do know a thing or two about speaking to the maases, and what I think you need to do is ensure your audience that you can connect with them and answer their needs. Think about what they're suffering from, and why Kira is their answer. And in turn, how can you provide them an answer that leads them away Kira." Yoshida lifted his finger again, thrusting it high. "That being said, never compromise your core values. Make your voice heard! With true conviction, your voice will become a new beacon of hope for those who seek it!"

He reached for his wallet, paying for the bill in full. "Thank you for our time here. It's been very pleasant."

"Are you sure about that?" Sojiro said. "This is a lot of people to pay for at once."

"Please, I invited the young lady, and in turn, she opened my eyes by helping me see the new generation and hearing their troubles firsthand. Not just with Kira, either! Thanks to her, I'll be committed to tackling these issues going forward as part of my campaign!" Tora brought his hand out. "Lady Akira, I hope we can meet again."

Akira took his hand. "Oh!"

The handshake he gave her surprised her in an impressive manner. Strong, firm yet gentle.

"And always remember, a handshake and a look in the eyes will be one of your best ways to open a discussion. Gentle enough to invite them in. Firm enough to show that you have the drive to do what you need to do for them. And above all else, it's conviction! Remember that when you see me next time!" Once again, he was pointing his finger to the sky.

"Wow, man," Ryuji leaned forward. "Have you ever won Mr. Tora?"

"Once, yes, but only once. After that, I've lost seven consecutive times. But even still, if my actions can become beneficial to even one person, I will not give up." Even having said that, Tora adjusted his bowtie, then walked off.

"Seven times? Damn…" Ryuji frowned. "I think I'd give up at that point."

"You'd think that with his own advice, he'd be a more successful candidate. But as he won once, evidently he was at some point," Near said, bottle of soda in hand.

Ann squinted, looking closely at their soda. "Say, you're not going to go on a drunken political rant just like Akira, are you?"

"That's ridiculous," Near said, huffing while rolling their eyes. "I just started this bottle. I might have a sugar addiction, but it's nothing I can't handle." The sassy white-haired student put the bottle to their lips.

Thirty seconds later.

"Gender is a myth invented by Kira Yoshikage to sell more women's nail polish!" Near was shouted out on the public stand while wearing a headband that had the colors of cotton candy.

"What are they on about? Hey Near, wrong Kira!" Ryuji said from the crowd, looking at the flag Near carried and waved overhead. "And why is that flag colored like Wario? Is there a flag for Wario?"

"I'm not sure…" Said a tall, blue-haired boy in a student's outfit with rather slender features next to him. "But! I do appreciate their je nais se quoi."

"Genny says what?" Ryuji looked at the boy walking away with a pleased face. "Wait, what?"

"Yes, indeed, why must we perform gender in such a rigid way? It is a myth, born of the constructs of society! Why should I not express myself with my very fingers!" And like the boy hurried his way into a shop, shining so bright there were practically sparkles around him.

"What?!" Ryuji shouted at him, getting no answer.

Chapter Text

Episode 20: Preparations - Part 2

"And we've never heard from the fake Kira ever since, apparently," Akira said to Sojiro. Now that the sun was falling, the group returned to Café Leblanc.

"Mmhm. But it does raise suspicion as to whether the Kira we're dealing with right is alone, or if there's actually more than one active. And if this Kira can bypass the name rule. In any case, be careful," Sojiro said. "You don't know what you're dealing out there."

"Either way, we can reserve the Kira talk for later!" Morgana said. "Right now, we need to formulate our plan of attack and equip ourselves!"

"But we already got a bunch of weapons for ourselves," Ryuji said, raising up a new bat.

"I'm talking supplies!" Morgana said, bringing out one hand. "We need healing items! Medicine! And food for the long haul!"

"I mean, I bought some of those weird rations. Nobody likes them though, but they could be useful." Akira raised a dozen packets of the stuff. They were super cheap.

"We need better! What if we run out of energy and need to recuperate?" Morgana said. "If all our healers go down, that's it for us, too!"

With that being said, Morgana sighed. "That's it, I knew it would come to this."

Morgana started walking in circles, humming a crescending jingle that might be heard accompanying the opening of a chest.

"Da-da-da-daaa!" Morgana reached into Mishima's duffel bag, lifting up an item. "A thermos!"

"A thermos?" Ann squinted, hand falling on the tabletop.

"I bought like, twelve of them," Morgana said. "This will be more than enough and then some for each of us thieves! I just gotta slip them into my hammerspace pocket!"

"And what are we going to fill them with?" Near said. "Should it not be something with tangible impact in the Metaverse?"

"I thought long and hard, and the best answer I could come up with is something delicious, easy to enjoy, and great at reenergizing your weary spirit. Therefore, the answer is one thing and one thing only: Coffee," Morgana said.

Sojiro pulled down his coffee cup. "You're going to use my stock, aren't you?"

"There is no better alternative here than coffee, so yes please!" Morgana nodded, the cat putting his paws together. "Actually, your tea should be just as useful."

"Fine, but next time this'll be paid out of the group funds, I still have a business to run," Sojiro said, huffing. "What am I saying? There shouldn't be a next time…"

He set a canister down for each of the members on the team, ready to be filled when the time came.

"Good, good… caffeine will keep us going." Morgana rubbed his paws together. "Mwah-hah-hah-hah! Delicious, nourishing Leblanc Coffee! All for me!"

Morgana put his paws down. "And the team, of course," he went on to say. "They say drinks taste powerful in the Metaverse. I'm not sure if power makes it taste better."

"If I get to keep having these coffees and teas, I'm going to develop a caffeine addiction on top of a sugar addiction." Akira took a gulp of the tea right in front of her.

"Oh, you have one too?" Near said, referring to their own sugar addiction.

"That still doesn't cover our medicine options!" Morgana raised a paw. "I say, we elect someone to go out and see a doctor!"

Morgana walked up to Akira, tapping against her foot. And again. And again and again and again.

"You only count as one vote," Akira said.

"Akira," Ann said.

"Akira," Ryuji said.

"Akira," Mishima said.

"Oh, come on!" Akira grunted. "What, are you all too tired?"

"We've been moving for two days back to back!" Ryuji laid his back down on one of the couches, tossing a sack up and down. "...Yeah, we're pretty tired."

"My back aches, Akira." Ann slumped forward, before cooing as she grabbed Akira's arm. "Come on~! Do it and I'll give you something sweet!"

"Do you think you can seduce me to get what you want?!" Akira rose up from her seat with Ann still holding her arm and purring. "I have an iron will of resilience, lady!"

"I wasn't thinking of seduction. I was thinking about chocolate," Ann explained.

She thought for a bit, looking down at herself. Then grabbed her zipper with a sly grin, pulling it away.

"Hey! Don't do that in my dad's cafe!" Akira blushed, covering her hand over her eyes.

"What?" Ann pulled the zipper away all the way down. "I've got a shirt under here. It's called wearing a jacket, you cute dummy."

Lifting her head, Ann snickered, pawing at her shirt. "Okay, a little part of me is tempted just see if it's that easy to get a rise out of you."

"It isn't!" Akira said.

Shadow Akira pulled herself out of Akira's soul, back to back with her while she gave Ann a sly grin. "Oh, it is."

"Good to know," Ann said, grinning.

She gripped her shirt, tugging it forward at the hem. "Hey, Akira! Go get us medicine and I'll show you my tummy!"

Rapid footsteps raced through the rain.

Ding-ding! The door to the clinic opened.

"How did I even get here!" Akira looked around the blue-walled clinic, putting her hands in her pockets as she pouted to herself. "Crummy temptresses…"

Akira pushed the buzzer in front of the clinic lobby window.

The window slid open, pushed by the hand of a young-looking physician with dark blue hair, red eyes and a spiked choker. "Hello, what is it you need—?"

"Oh, holy shit—!" Akira wheezed as she took a great step away from a very beautiful woman.

The physician blinked, staring blankly at her with cold eyes. "I get that one a lot."

"Sorry—!" Akira lifted both hands. "You're just… very gorgeous."

"Ahhh, you didn't just say that one, did you?!" Shadow Akira surfaced behind Akira just to scream externally. "Aaaaaah!"

"I get that one a lot," she repeated. "I also don't date patients. Or would-be patients. Your name?"

"Akira Kurusu!" both Akiras said. "I mean—Shadow Akira! I mean Shakira—damn it!"

"Shall I put you down as Kurusu Akira?" the doctor asked.

"Thank you very much!" the Akiras said, clapping four hands and bowing apologetically. Shadow Akira retreated back into her other half's soul.

The doctor took out a patient's info sheet and wrote Akira's name on it. "Can you tell me what you're here for?"

Akira slowly lifted her head up. "...Look, do you have anything that could make a person feel better?"

"...That depends." The doctor blinked as she leaned forward, arms resting on the table. "Can you tell me what you're here for?"

"I, uh… Well, I don't have a fever or a cold, so um…" Suddenly, Akira realized getting medicine for the express purpose to recover wounds in another world was probably going to be harder than it seemed.

"Uhh… Just, something you can put in your mouth," Akira said.

"...Okay?" the doctor said, raising her clipboard. "How about we start with an exam? Come to the next room with me."

Akira followed the lady into the room. She really couldn't get over how gorgeous she was. Was she really that weak when it came to women? It was hard to stare and focus, and she didn't want to be rude or cause her any trouble. She must've worked hard to become a doctor, just like anyone else. But wow, Akira was awestruck, inflicted with the status effect of Big Gay. It stopped her from acting for one turn.

"Hmm…" The doctor walked back and forth, inspecting the results of the exam she just took while Akira was having her little fit of gay panic. "You're probably just dealing with higher than average stress, with poor sleep quality as a result. Might be taking a little too much sugar, but that data reading could be just because of a drink you had earlier. It's not affecting you abnormally, either way. Heart rate's elevated from what it should be at rest but—" The doctor rolled her head back. "Heh-heh, I can't fathom why."

"I'm sorry…" Akira admitted.

"Hey, you're cuter about it than most people trying to pick me up," the doctor joked. "Just remember, I don't date patients. You're also a student." Flipping her paper, she kept her eyes focused on the one underneath. "Given your poor sleep quality, I'll recommend you some sleeping pills to take. What kind do you want? The sweet-tasting one, or the bitter one?"

"I, er, the sweet one," Akira said.

"Your funeral," the doctor said, snorting. "I mean to say that I find it tastes worse than the bitter one. But if you really want it, I'll give it to you."

"...But, I really need to get a pill that can keep me feeling better," Akira said, speaking louder. "It's really important."

The doctor took a slow sigh. "Okay, let's stop beating around the bush right now…"

"Huh?" Akira lifted her head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that other than your stress and sleep issues, you're not sick at all." The doctor brought her clipboard out. "You can see for yourself, you're an averagely healthy person. I'm not some kind of dumb brainless beauty you can trick, if that's what you're thinking."

"Dumb?" Akira said in confusion.

The doctor put her fist to her cheek. "You're here because of the rumors about me, right? Because I can hook you up with some strong stuff?"

Akira tilted her head far. "...Huuuh?"

The doctor's amused smile broke. And it stayed that way for a solid minute.

"Wow," she said. "You're so honest, I think you almost dealt psychic damage to me. I sure hope I'm not weak to that." The doctor put down her clipboard, stretching her back.

"If she thinks she is, she probably is. Heads up!" Wilson said within her head.

"Not now, Wilson!" Akira chided the Slime Mara like gently scolding a puppy.

Finishing her stretch, the doctor sighed. "You can call me Takemi Tae, by the way. You might see my medicines in the local hospitals; I'm a private physician with a license to synthesize my own drugs. I have some minor acclaim for health medicine specialized for use with dogs, cats and humans simultaneously, but that's just as an aside."

"How convenient," Akira said. "I have a cat that would like that, Ms. Takemi."

"You don't say…" Takemi shrugged. "But most of the patients coming to me have some kind of ulterior motive. Who knows what they're getting into, although seen plenty of strange requests and stranger excuses. But no, my medicine is… just medicine. It won't give you superpowers, and medicines aren't something you just take lightly."

"I see…" Akira said, nodding along. "Well, I guess I don't have an ulterior motive then."

"Nope, you were straightlaced from the start," Takemi said. "For that, I can get you some medicine that might be up your alley, but only stuff that promotes rest and recovery, got it?"

"Ah, that's perfect!" Akira's eyes sparkled. "I'll definitely take it! Thank you, Ms. Takemi!"

"Well, aren't you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?" Takemi folded her arms. "Unfortunately, I've got one very important condition. Well, a few rather, but they're all focused on the same point. I'm going to have to ask you to help me run a clinical test."

"A clinical test?"

"An honest sort of person would definitely help make this easier. And you look like you've got plenty of stamina, and you're of normal health…" Takemi put her thumb to her chin. "You help me with the test. I'll help you whenever you need more recovery medicine. Sounds like a good deal, yes?"

Akira gave it a moment of thought, then nodded. "Alright, let's go for it!"

Akira had in her hand a blood red drink. It was only because of the coloring of the medicine's, but she couldn't help but stare at it. Dust from the powder now rose into the air after she stirred it.

"Are you sure I'm going to be okay?" Akira asked.

"Nope." Takemi fanned her hand outwards. "That's why I need you to test it for any imperfections. I'll notify your parents of your cause of death."

"I don't have parents," Akira explained, not skipping a beat. "I lived in an orphanage in the countryside."

"...No wonder you're such an honest problem child," Takemi said. "What was the town like?"

"Everyone was really into a department store for some reason," Akira explained. "It was pretty slow, except for the few times something big put it on the radar. I lived in that orphanage most my life, but it was the second orphanage I was raised in."

Akira pulled her head back down. "I liked the beach, I guess."

"When you live in the countryside, you gotta make do with what you have. Or get really into video games," Takemi said. "Welp, enough talk. Testing time."

"Right, it might suck, but I'm just gonna down it in one gulp!" Akira said.

Takemi blinked wide. "Wait, you shouldn't—!"

Akira threw her head back, speedily swinging the glass up and chugging it down. Glug! Glug! Glug!

"...You shouldn't have drunk all that at once," Takemi said. "That was three doses, meant to be taken periodically."

Akira let out a deep gasp, swinging her glass down. "Hey, I feel fine—!"

Akira found her face planted into the infirmary bed's pillow, woozily groaning while her rear was arched high. "Ughhhh…"

"That's an iron will right there, truly resilient," Takemi said, marking a checkbox on her paper. "The last guy who took the drink got knocked out for 4 hours. You, meanwhile, were only dazed for fifteen minutes."

"What the heck did I drink?" Akira asked, trying not to lose her lunch. She rose back up, hacking, before taking a glass of water from Takemi to clear her mouth of that sickeningly sweet taste.

"I can say that the flavoring was the problem. It produced a foul smell when it mixed with your gastric juices. When I say you've got an iron will, I meant it. You're a gutsy kid. It's like you're on another level."

Akira heard a triple set of notes play from her phone, making her grab it. Ann was messaging her out of concern.

Akira: I'm okay. Took a weird medicine, but it's fine.

Ann: WHAT?

Akira turned off her phone before she read the message. "By the way, while I was dazed, did I say anything funny? I hear that happens a lot to people."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah," Takemi said. "You also mentioned a startling amount of juicy details about your sister. You've got loose lips when you're not sound of mind. Would I hate to see you drunk, or relish it?" Having said that, now the doctor was smiling with a quiet, taunting look.

"My sister?" Akira grabbed her head. "Oh, sweet Kira. Give me the gist, what kind of stuff did I say?"

"Hmm…" the doctor put a fist to her cheek, rolling the finger of her other hand fast. "Ever seen Oshi No Ko?"

"No," Akira said.

"Yosuga No Sora?" she asked.

"No," Akira said.

"Ever played Fire Emblem?" she asked.

"Yes," Akira said.

"Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War?"

"Yes but why—" Akira gasped quietly. "Oh, I get it."

"I was gonna ask if you know the story of Oedipus, but it doesn't actually fit the scenario." Chuckling, Takemi walked into a supply closet, grabbing a small bag. "Well, who you're into isn't any of my business unless it's strictly related to me, and you know my answer there. And I can't trust a pair of loosened lips to speak the truth."

Turning around, she handed Akira a prescription bag. "A full supply of medicine that will keep you healing quick. And if you keep being my guinea pig, I'll be able to equip you with even better stuff. It's a win-win situation, don't you think?"

"Honestly? As rough as my gut feels… I kind of want more," Akira said.

"Now that's just the masochism speaking," Takemi said. "But hey, if it gets me a valuable test subject, I'll take it. It's hard to get a teenager patient for a clinical trial, so I appreciate your assistance more than you know. …Just don't go spilling any of this to strangers, got it? Not even your friends. If you need more, you get it straight from me."

"Why is that?" Akira said. "I'm just curious."

"Really, it's just a hassle…" the doctor said, looking down at the ground briefly, before picking her head up and crossing one arm over the other. "You already know people want to get their hands on what I've got. If I wanted the attention, I'd be working in a hospital right now. Not some, slightly shady suburb in Tokyo." Takemi opened the shades of the clinic's window. Very little natural light got into the room.

"Right, make sense…" Akira nodded along. "I promise not to cause any trouble for you."

"Alright then," Takemi said, smiling. "Move along, guinea pig. You're a long way from the countryside."

"Right!" Akira saluted her, taking the pack of medicine and heading out of the clinic room. Shivering all over, hiding her pink cheeks as she left.

"That girl is a flaming rainbow." Takemi giggled, bracing her hip as she watched her leave. "Adorable."

"One pack of healing supplies, ready for use!" Akira beamed as she brought out the medicine pack. There were about forty uses of Recov-R and fifteen uses of Relax Gels.

"Great!" Ann clapped her hands. "And guess what?"

She got up, dressed in sleepwear consisting of cute strawberry-themed pants and a black shirt that was cut just before her midriff, revealing all of it to Ann.

"Do you like?" Ann raised one elbow and posed like a pinup girl, trailing her index finger down from her chest to her slender stomach.

Akira's eyes turned wide, the girl visibly shaking as she stared at her friend's tummy.

"May I touch it?" she asked.

"You may touch it." Ann raised a finger. "Once."

Akira spread out the five fingers of her hand, bringing her hand down and patting Ann's tummy once before lifting it back up, hearing Ann giggle. Then she brought it back down, patting it twice before lifting it back up again.

"I said once!" Ann said with a coy smile.

"But it's so perfect!" Akira said with a whimper.

"You are very into women," Ann said.

"I know!" Akira whined. "The doctor I went to was so cute, I just kept tripping over my own two feet!"

"That girl is a flaming rainbow. Ugh, imagine if I were that loud," Near said, sipping a single sip of a cup of sweet tea.

"...Sweet Kira. Mishima, women are great." Near slumped their head on the table and smacked it with their fist repeatedly. "Miiishiiima."

"Bruh, we been knew this," said the boy sitting opposite to them.

"I liiike women," a drunk-like Near said, suddenly sounding very sad.

"I'm aware," Mishima said.

"Why can't I be a lesbian, damn it?!" shouted the white-haired student in a surprisingly bratty voice.

"I mean, have you tried?" Mishima asked.

"I wish!" Near whined, taking their cup in both hands and fake crying loudly. But the distress was genuine.

"We got two flaming rainbows over here," Ryuji said. "Right Ann?"

"Hmm?" Ann blinked innocently, her attention lost after she had decided to lift her shirt higher, letting Akira run her palm circles around her stomach.

"So smooth…" Akira said, leaning in closely. "So sexy."

"Thank you!" Ann blushed, content to let this happen.

"Three flaming rainbows," Ryuji said. "Is there anyone here that likes men?"

"Me, or at least the part of me that's not the world's most anal coffee lover." Shadow Sojiro said, his voice echoing from within his real self.

"How are you my Shadow?" Sojiro asked.

"Good question, I'll answer that when you finally give a damn. Then I'll decide if you're worth my damn time," his sassy other half said.

"I like men!" Akira chimed in with.

"So do I," Ann said.

"I don't really," Near shrugged.

"Oh, okay that all makes sense," Ryuji said, tapping the table while whistling.

"So like, are any of us going to go home?" he asked.

"What? No," Sojiro said. "It's like, ten thirty. Call your parents, you're staying in Akira's room."

"My parents are overseas," Ann said. "They're pretty big fashion designers."

"I already let my mom know I'd be busy," Ryuji said.

"My parents are… yeah, they're not worried," Mishima said half-heartedly.

"Parents? I come from an orphanage," Near said.

"What, so we got two orphans on our hands?" Sojiro said.

"You'd be surprised by how many you can find," Near said.

"Alright, well… I'm going to go stop for two small buckets of ice cream and then go check in on my house. Locking the door, call me if you need me." Sojiro put his hat on and left out the door, the bell ringing.

"Woooh, sleepover!" Ryuji hit the table and then pounded his chest. "We're about to do the raunchiest things! Like going to sleep, eating breakfast in the morning, and—!"

Ryuji was out cold ten minutes later.

Chapter Text

Episode 21: Lord of the Castle

4/15,

The school was buzzing with students in the hallways, with everyone gathered next to the nearest message boards they could find.

"What's going to happen? Is he going to die?" Those were but some of the questions thrown out by the students. But all questions were centered around one man, and all voices were whispering his name.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way! Let me see what's happening here!" Kamoshida was pushing his way through the crowd, taking one of the bright red cards to read.

His heart nearly stopped when he read it:

Kamoshida Suguru, Lord of the Domain of Lust. You cannot hide your heinous crimes forced upon the students of Shujin Academy any longer, enabled by none other than those who hold your leash and clean up after your own messes. Your days as ruler of your palace are numbered. Those depraved desires you desperately seek to keep locked away will be stolen in an instant, and all truths will be revealed by an unsuspecting traitor.

- The Phantom Thieves of Hearts

P.S, you suck. You fucknugget.

His heart quivered. It ached. It pounded. It quaked.

"Who the hell wrote this BULLSHIT!" Kamoshida screamed. "And the ending? Oh-hoh, real classy!" The man's face was fully red while he shot glares at everyone. The students started to back away from him. Compared to the incident with the volleyballs in the gym, more people started to laugh and taunt Kamoshida over this one. He was losing his cool. And his grip on the school.

"Do you think this prank is for real?"

"Nothing's gonna happen, but it sure is funny!"

"Enough!" Kamoshida stomped the ground, scaring the other students into silence. Then his attention fell upon Akira, Ryuji, Ann and Mishima.

"Not so invincible now huh, Kamoshida?' Ryuji lifted his fist and clenched it with a smile of victory.

"I'm going to give each of you hell for this…" Kamoshida spat with caustic bile, stepping firmly over to them.

"You don't have any proof," Akira said. "Even if you were to accuse us of somehow being responsible for this, how would you even prove it?"

"Yeah!" Ann said. "The four of us were hanging out together yesterday. School was canceled all day, and classes haven't started yet! So how would any of us be able to post these notes?"

"I can make one of you talk," Kamoshida said, his malicious voice only going lower. He turned his head towards the boy in the back. "You, Mishima. You know the punishment for defying me. I'll drag you straight to gym for a private lesson!" Kamoshida threw his head towards Mishima, getting right up in his face.

"You've got nothing on us," Mishima said. "Scare me if you want, I don't have anything! I won't give you anything!" His body may have been shaking all over, but with the bravery of a lion, he stayed there with the unflinching resolve to stand at his friend's back.

"Go ahead, do your worst," he said. "but I won't say a god, damn, thing."

Kamoshida sneered, glaring down at the boy. "When did you get the balls?"

"Since I realized I can't go lower than taking the hit to my eye," Mishima said, glaring back at the much taller man who could pound him in an instant. "I can't go lower than you blackmailing me, forcing me to do… everything! Everything for you! You made me your slave! …But you're going to be a king without a palace to speak of."

"I wanted so badly to die myself to escape what you do to me," Mishima said to Kamoshida. "...But I'm going to enjoy everything about seeing you fall! And see it through to the end and after! I won't let you control me anymore!"

"Hmph… getting too big for your britches." Kamoshida turned his head to Ryuji, then Ann, and then Akira. "You couldn't have come up with that, Ryuji, you barely have the brain capacity to form a cohesive sentence. Ann? Hah, I'd more expect an idiot like you to fail your English class! But you, Kurusu Akira…"

"You're right!" Ryuji grinned. "I didn't. I'm smart enough to not fall into that kind of trap."

"I've got a B+ in English, and it's only lower because I had to skip classes because of you, Kamoshida," Ann cocked her head. "If you ever think I'm just some airhead because I'm bubbly and like pink then congrats, you've made a grave mistake. Misogynistic pig."

"What do you actually know about me beyond thinking I'm a delinquent, you bastard?" Akira touched two fingers to her temple, before firing them at him. "Let me guess, you assume I drink and come onto just any old geezer like I'm some sexed-up party girl. As if I'd ever want to touch you, eww."

"Geezer?" Kamoshida scoffed. "Please, I'm young enough to live a long and fulfilling life after I'm done dealing with you four."

"You're old enough to be a far cry from the man you were before you became such a traitorous coward, ace athlete Kamoshida," Akira huffed, and suddenly her eyes went very cold.

"What do you know about my career?" Kamoshida asked, scrutinizing her with his eyes.

"Enough that you betrayed yourself down the road when gold and all sorts of cushy and lavish shit was thrown on top of you." Akira straightened herself. "I know who you were. You don't know who I am. You gave up being the star athlete long ago. Betraying yourself, your fans, and the students who have no choice but to trust in you. Now you're just some ravenous, kingly loser. And regardless of who wrote that? I'd love to see you taken down. But it won't be me who spills out all your crimes."

"None of you answered my question," Kamoshida said with hate in his voice, starting to turn around. "When I find who wrote this, I'm going to show them personally why they do not mess with the king."

"Oh, what's wrong? Looking for someone?"

Kamoshida's eyes snapped around to his target, angry as a bull. Near was crouched on the ground, looking up with wide golden eyes and a cheeky smile to go with it.

"Kamoshida Suguru, it doesn't take a genius to know what you're doing." The student got up, pointing squarely at the much taller man. "Nobody here will fess up on who was the one who wrote that card. …But if you're looking for someone to target, I can play the part."

Leaning their head forward, they stuck their tongue out at the man in a deceptively playful manner. "What's wrong? Cracking down because you know it's all true? Looking at someone to snap at? Try it, you'll get nowhere!"

"You damned brat…" Kamoshida said, holding his fist with rage. "Why can't you ever just keep your mouth shut? Always getting in my way!"

"I have a name. It's Near," the student said, eyes flashing in a hauntingly wide manner befitting a banshee. "Mark my words, your days as a king will come to an end. Not a single person will mourn the man you've become. You're a pitiable excuse for a challenge, you know? But a challenge all the same, one worth taking down!"

"You're the damn brat who wrote this, weren't you! Weren't you!" Kamoshida stomped towards them, clenching the calling card.

"I don't have to say yes, and what good is self-incrimination?" Near lifted their hands and fanned them outwards. "Though I suppose nothing I say would change your mind. In a pinch, I could write something like that and I admit I'm petty enough to have finished it off in such a childish way. I know my own profile."

"But all that means is I could have done it. What proof do you have that any of us did it!" Near raised something in their hand, a thin red card. "Here, I'll give you this calling card if you really want it! Guess where I found it!"

They tossed it with two fingers, sending it flying Kamoshida's way until it curved to the right, stabbing into a message board filled with a dozen more like it.

"...What? You think you're so smart? You think you're some kind of Detective Prince!? You're hardly even a threat!" Kamoshida stomped his boot again, this time causing the ground to crack as distortion seeped into the world again.

The world turned dark. Kamoshida transformed into his Shadow self in that moment. Clad in both crown and cloak and nothing else. While Near remained themself, their hair glowing white while their eyes shined brighter.

"Don't get it twisted, I'm nothing like that boy. I just can't stand self-righteous overlords like you." Even with the barrier between realms breaking down, Near was not going to back away.

"...Rraaagh!" Kamoshida ran at Near, fist raised.

"Kamoshida! To the principal, now!"

Kobayakawa was standing at the door to his office. The real Kobayakawa.

Kamoshida stopped just before he struck Near in the face. The distortion around them ebbed. All eyes were squarely on him. From those of the students to those of the teachers.

"What? You'll hit me? You can't do it while your leash is being pulled on." Near sidestepped away from the fist, not even humoring the man by staying put.

Near walked over to the others, tilting their head back. "You've been let loose for a while now, long enough to think you can do everything you want. But the king must listen to his chancellor. And there are a few things a king should fear. Assassination by the enemy is one. Poison from the ally is another. Rebellion by the masses is the third. I'll wait to see which one happens to you with a fresh bag of popcorn in my hands."

"Mr. Kamoshida! Get over here to your principal, now!" Principal Kobayakawa pointed his finger sternly at the ground before his feet.

"You have the devil's luck, Near. I'll deal with you last…" Kamoshida said, walking away while staring murderously at them.

"Hello Pot, my name is Kettle. It seems your luck has flipped," Near said with a quiet giggle. Grimacing as they watched Kamoshida close the door.

"I thought I was going to be punched through the wall," Near explained.

"Did you really have to provoke him that much?" Ann said.

"It was either me doing that to him, or waiting for one of you to start snapping his neck," Near said, glancing their eyes at the other four.

Ann put her hand to her chest and defended himself. "I would not—"

"I would," Ryuji admitted.

Ann blinked, looking at Ryuji.

"What? They're not wrong." Ryuji brought his hands out questioningly. "Wouldn't you?"

"...Yeah, okay, I might," Ann admitted.

"Exactly," Near said. "Leave it to me to draw the fire while the rest of you keep your head in the game."

"Spoken like a true detective," Akira said.

"I wish," said the sassy student. "I'm a wannabe Scooby Gang member at best. Like one of the guest stars in the movies, because I can't be Velma or Daphne."

"Am I Daphne?" Ann said, pointing her thumb towards herself.

"I'm Shaggy, right?" Mishima said. "Or is Akira Shaggy and I'm Scooby?"

"I'm Scooby!" Morgana said as he lifted his head. "Animal, hello?!"

"Then am I Velma? But I'm not a girl," Mishima said.

"You just said I was Shaggy," Akira said, eyes turned his way.

"I like how this leaves Fred for me and none of us are contesting that," Ryuji said with a smirk.

"Okay, you're definitely Shaggy," Akira said as she pointed to him.

"Quiet gang! It's time to move on to our next plan of attack!" Morgana pulled his head up out of Akira's bag. "Regardless of how risky it was, provoking him will only crystalize his desire to protect everything he's hiding faster. But I wouldn't rely on it either next time. You were playing with fire especially, Near."

"I suppose I knew the risk," said the student, reaching up and stimming by rolling their hair curl. "We should be getting a message from Sojiro soon enough, yes?"

Akira's phone beeped with its distinct triple note ringtone. "He's ready."

"Now that we've got the reaction we wanted out of Kamoshida, let's sneak away," Morgana said. "Time to enter the palace." The place was busy enough that nobody was going to notice five students out of several dozens slipping away. Or so they thought.

"Hey, where are those Scooby Gang members going off to?" Amane said, pointing at them as if there was an arrow blinking over their heads saying OBVIOUS CULPRITS. Complete with loud buzzer.

"I don't know, but they just keep getting more and more suspicious," Makoto said, hurrying with quick steps. "Let's follow them."

"Sure, it'll be fun!" Amane skipped, following right behind her companion.

Near looked back, catching a glimpse of Makoto trying to hide behind the corner. "We're spotted, speed this up!"

"Good thing we already knew this could happen!" Akira turned on the Meta-Nav, putting in the three keywords needed to access the palace. Kamoshida, Shujin Academy, Castle.

She opened the door to find Sojiro ready. "Small change of plans, we're going in!"

"Already?" Sojiro lifted his head in surprise, but nodded. "Okay!"

Akira pushed the button, darkening the world around them. A wave of red and black distortion expanded outwards, rippling where they stood.

Makoto was breathing hard mid sprint, hastily turning the corner to catch up with them. "Ah!"

They were gone. And the only proof they were there was the backdoor closing. And the last ripple that was left in their wake.

"Aww, did they go off to some sort of reaper realm?" Amane puffed her cheek while bracing her hips. "Hmph, hmph, hmph! Boooring!"

"Enough, Amane," Makoto said, putting her hand on the shoulder of the bubbly girl. "But I don't know what happened…"

In Mementos, the group dropped down in the prisons of the castle. The same cell that Akira and Ryuji were imprisoned in before.

"Alright, let's hurry, team! We need to get to the safe room before anything else!" Morgana was off to the races, kicking up dust as he brandished his saber.

"We were supposed to discuss what happened back there before we got in here! Guess we better go with the flow!" Sojiro took out the bag with all their weapons, each student picking their specific ones up.

"Alright!" Ryuji said, lifting both bat and shotgun.

"We're coming for you, Kamoshida!" Ann said, cracking her whip and readying her submachine gun.

Akira readied both handgun and knife. "It's time to steal his heart! Everyone move!"

The thieves broke out of the prison, blazing a trail of metal and gunfire.

The door to the barracks was kicked down by Ryuji's boot.

"What the—!" shouted the Knight Captain, still just a torso and head eating his lunch.

Akira slipped right behind him before he knew it, leaping into the air before flipping and wrapping herself around the shadow's neck.

"I'll unmask you!" She gripped his mask and ripped it off, jumping off as it exploded into a burst of shadowy mist.

Unlike the others who faded to dust, this one split into several shadows at once. An impetuous pixie hovering in the air with its wings. A groaning slime with eyes, unlike Akira's own companion. And a purple cat in human boots and a cavalier's cap, sword drawn.

"Don't hesitate to fight, Shadows can't permanently die from your attacks!" Wilson spoke through the Lust Arcana that appeared rigbt next to her, exiting her soul to both advise her and encourage her.

"Thanks for the reminder!" Akira readied her gun. "Everyone, strike hard!"

"Your lord picked the wrong thieves to try and stamp down! Now taste the Hell Slugger, it's coming at ya fast!" Leaping through the air, Ryuji came crashing down with an earth shattering blow, knocking the Pixie into the air.

Ann unloaded bullets on the enemy group, spraying and praying with her hot pink gun.

"Gah, we can't hold up against an ambush like this!" the Pixie said.

"Well, we're going to have to!" The cavalier cat swung his blade around, trying to cast a spell. "Dia—!"

"Not so fast!" Morgana clashed blades with the rival cat, cutting it off from healing its allies. "Sojiro, go for the kill!"

Crack! A single shot. A single kill.

The enemy cat collapsed with a grunting meow, fading away into dust.

"Cait Sith, no!" the Pixie cried out, trying to reach for the cat only for the suppressing fire to force her to pull awat.

Akira rushed up to the Pixie. Sweeping her blade down before jumping up with a rising slash, the thief in the black cloak then drove the knife back down before preparing the final strike to finishing the flier off. Flipping backwards and getting ready, she got on her knees, firing a single shot that disintegrated the fairy girl.

"I got this one! Steer clear!" Mishima pulled the pin on a grenade, tossing it from behind the group.

"Fire in the hole!" he shouted, pitching it fast. Landing it perfectly in front of the slime.

Ka-boom! It went off, blasting everything around it and sending the slime flying backwards.

Near flashed across the barracks, leaping up to the roof as one white blur. "Let's get rid of them so we can keep moving!" Spinning out of the dash, they dropped down and drove twin knives into the slime monster, putting it out of its misery before it even knew what happened.

"Even without a Persona, a Shadow doesn't seem so tough," Near said, rising back up while twisting their neck angle, glaring down at the dust left behind.

"Hah-hah, yeah!" Mishima ran over to the student, wrapping an arm around a surprised Near. "We did it! We can take down Kamoshida!"

Near gasped, before smiling at him. "We need to put him down before we can rest. Don't get your hopes too high."

"So keep moving, team!" Morgana said, leading the charge while everyone sprinted into the foyer. The alarm was blaring and the front gates were locked now that things were at max security level. And now a whole slew of knights started to charge at them from the upper levels.

"I'm going to knock them all down in one blow!" Ryuji raised his fist as blue flames burned. "Captain Kidd! Dead Man's Volley!"

"Yoh-hoh!" Called into battle, the skeletal dreadlord rose into the air on his ghost ship, readying his cannon. A lightning cannonball shot through the air, smashing into the crowd that came for them.

"And why stop there? Mazio!" Captain Kidd threw down his hand, calling forth a storm of lightning that bombarded the knights. In their metal armor they writhed and shrieked, their bodies convulsing in unnatural ways before they exploded violently into dust.

BAM! Once again, a hole was torn into the freshly repainted portrait of Lord Kamoshida. Thanks to the cannonball that ripped off his face. And it did so in front of the knight painstakingly repairing the portrait, lowering their paintbrush.

Akira triple flipped through the painting, landing like a gymnast. "Keep it up!"

"Suck it, Kamoshithead!" Ryuji said as he yet again slammed his whole body through the portrait and ripped a hole in it. Ann giggled as she followed through, and all the others raced to the elevator.

"Hah… why do I even bother?" the surviving knight took off their artist hat, armor clanking as they returned to the barracks.

"...They're coming for him."

Surfacing from beneath the ground, a single girl with golden eyes watched as the elevator activated, going upwards.

"I trust in you…" Shiho said, whispering her words.

"We made it to the Safe Room!" Morgana lifted up the map, tapping at the room they were in not too far from the elevator. Within the central tower.

"Let's review what we know," he said. "There's a high chance Kamoshida will be personally guarding his treasure. He may even swipe it right as we get in there. Let's not pretend to be surprised if he does."

"I vote that we keep Near and Mishima from getting into the final battle," Sojiro said, holding onto his glasses.

"What?!" Mishima hit the table in the safe room. "But Mr. Sakura, we can move just like you all! We can fight, and I can heal with Champion's Victory! What if you all get knocked down?"

"It's too dangerous," Sojiro told him, calmly putting his hand down on the table. "Don't get me wrong, you've already impressed me. But going up against the lord of the castle? No way. You don't even have a Persona."

"Well—neither do you!" Mishima argued. "Yours is half awake! That's why you only have the gun!"

"I'm a trained ex-government official," Sojiro argued back. "Even if I haven't seen action in years, it's this stuff that was my line of work. I was already going to ask for you two to hang back before we got thrown in here. Getting here as you have is already good from you both, but leave the rest to those who can fight at their level."

"But…!" Mishima clenched his fist, blinking his one eye.

"That's an excellent point, Mr. Sakura," Near said. "You five should go into battle. Thanks to Morgana's equipment, contacting us to make an escape should be easy. We'll wait in the Safe Room until you've dealt with Kamoshida."

Mishima looked at Near. It was as if his heart was torn. "Near, why? Aren't you going to argue for yourself?"

"I know when I'm at a disadvantage, and right now, we both are," Near pointed out, twirling a strand of hair. "So right now, let's play things smart. I'm sure a pair of someones will get the jump on Kamoshida."

"But…" Mishima lowered his head. "Fine."

"And remember, we only need to defeat him and send him packing," Morgana said, pointing at the others. "Don't kill him if he's in his Shadow form. That will cause a mental shutdown to the real Kamoshida."

"Wait for after he transforms into some kind of horror to shoot him in the head," Sojiro said, loading up his revolver with six shots. "Got it."

"Alright team! Break!" Morgana opened the door, gesturing for all members of the main team to rush out. Closing the Safe Room.

"Hah…" Mishima sighed dejectedly. "Near, why did you have to open your mouth?"

Near stuck their tongue out, grinning mischievously. "Because, my fellow loser, us losers need to keep our friends close and our enemies closer." While leaning back in their seat, they threw themselves forward, reaching into their bookbag.

"Huh?" Mishima pulled his back. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying, I already had a plan in mind accounting for this very scenario." Near put their head into the bag while rifling through it. "You see, Kamoshida will be keeping his attention squarely on our team, but he can't ignore trying to tear you down. And he desperately wants things to go the way he wants with me. In other words, he's got critical blind spots."

"...Wait, you're saying you already planned three steps ahead?" Mishima said.

"Yep," Near said.

"Then why didn't you tell anyone!?" Mishima demanded to know.

"You'll see why," Near said, grabbing what they were looking for. "You don't want to ruin your plans by revealing them early, do you? I, for one, can't help myself from laughing when I know I've got the drop on someone else. It takes quite a lot to keep a poker face up."

"I guess that makes sense but—" Mishima blinked as he saw what they lifted up. "Wait, what is that!? Why do you even have that!"

The thieves arrived in the treasure room, finally reaching their target.

"Ahhh…! The shine brings twinkles to my eyes! Treasure!" Morgana's eyes twinkled with gold coins spinning within them. The cat boy rushed up to the giant crown floating where the sphere of distortion hovered once before.

"Uh, Morgana?" Ryuji looked at him concerned. "You're looking like you might drool over there."

"Mreowwww!" Morgana leaped up, putting his paws on the gilded crown as he licked it and nuzzled it.

"Get the catnip, kitty! Go, go!" Akira fanned her hand, encouraging him in a rather cute way herself.

"Sweet, sweet riches! Sweet, sweet desires! Loot, glorious loooot~!" Morgana broke out into song.

"We're anxious to swipe it~!" Akira sang with him, watching Morgana try to pull such a giant, golden crown out of the air.

"Ah, ah, ah!"

Kamoshida spiked the crown out of Morgana's hands, causing it to fly out of the tower.

"My loot!" Morgana's heart broke, and he shattered into a million pieces. Literally.

"Why am I so surprised by this?" Morgana spoke as a pile of glass shards, swept up by Sojiro into a dustpan.

"Here we go…" Kamoshida reached out with his hand, and the giant crown pulled itself towards him before it could hit the ground.

The world flashed white, and suddenly the crown was baxk in his hands.

"...Oh? Are you mad?" Kamoshida looked back at them with the biggest shit-eating grin he had within him. "It's too bad! Nobody comes here and takes away the thing that makes me king! Not even a damn cat!"

Morgana sprung back into action, fixing himself. "I'm not a cat!" he shouted while pointing his paw. "So, the battle is about to commence! Brace yourselves, team!"

"This is the core of the world! I will not let you take it from me!" Kamoshida tossed his true crown up and down like a ball. "So long as it remains, the party doesn't stop! And I get my fill of gold, drink, and of course, all the lovely ladies who want to throw themselves at me!"

"Lovely ladies throwing themselves at you?!" Ann lifted her hand. "Ugh, I can't believe you deluded yourself this much!"

"Just like the first one ever! Oh, she was a beauty! But her time in the spotlight is over!" Kamoshida exchanged his false crown for his true one. "Now, I get to have so much fun with babes hotter and younger than her. And they all dig it."

"So you've forgotten what the past was really like. Either that, or your desires are so warped, they've truly distorted how you felt about it," Akira said. "Don't worry, I'll be the one to liberate the truth!"

"Enough talk about all these truths and desires, I'm getting bored! I need to have some fun in here, and I'll start with a royal session of pain!" A dark aura swelled around Kamoshida who thrusted his hips, creating a forceful burst that pushed all his opponents out of the tower room and into the next.

The wall cracked with a mighty sound. The five thieves were flung backwards into the throne room.

"Everyone, ready for battle!" Akira landed on her two feet, gun and knife both drawn.

"What's left to say before I finally pound you all into mush?" Kamoshida strutted down the steps, cackling as the power around him grew. "Here I was, so terrified of that girl coming back to get me. But at the end of the day, it was just a scare. And her dogshit loser friends come here to take their place!"

"You should fear Shiho!" Ann shouted. "Whether we win or lose, Shiho will put you down. Mark my words, you will fall no matter what."

"I still gotta give you payback for all the things you did to me, Kamoshithead!" Ryuji said, pointing the Hell Slugger at him. "A broken leg, shooting down my dream, and all the trouble you put me and my mom through! I mean it when I say I'm going to make your world crash down!"

"For all my friends and for everyone you've hurt!" Joker lifted her gun upwards, knife crossed over it.

"No more words need to be said." A single tear fell down from behind her masquerade mask, before she hardened her eyes.

"Good!" Kamoshida said, cackling maniacally as he raised his hands. "Then let's get to the final match!"

A black burst of shadow surrounded him, his body mutating as power overtook him. He sprouted multiple arms that all expanded rapidly to become those of an eight-handed, pink giant. As did his torso grow to the size of a giant. And while his legs had grown, they were far weaker and smaller looking than the rest of his body. Giving the impression that he was too big for himself, left stuck on his ass.

"He's like a big damn baby!" Ryuji said, bringing his hand up to shield his eye.

"More like a manchild!" Ann declared, stepping back and cracking her whip.

"I am the demon who rules this world! A star among stars who will never fade AWAY!" Kamoshida wailed, blinking hauntingly gigantic, bloodshot eyes before casting them down on the thieves. Yanking on the chains of the Shadows attached to the golden sphere that appeared behind him.

"Slaves… train them," he said.

Chained Shadow after Shadow all lined up one by one in front of him, each with a volleyball raised. The monstrous Kamoshida pointed the fork that was his weapon at Ryuji, and all of them at once hurled hefty volleyballs at him.

"Woah!" Ryuji braced himself, but the bombardment was fiercer than it gave the impression of. Battering down on his arms before breaking right through his guard.

"Hah! Go down!" Kamoshida lunged forward, sticking his fork down into the ground and creating a shockwave that knocked Ryuji off his feet.

The shadows all jumped in unison, firing a storm of balls at Ann.

"Not so fast!" Sojiro fired his whole clip into the volleyball storm. "Burn the rest away!"

"Carmen, Agi!" Ann reached up, tearing away her mask as Carmen appeared in a wave of blue flames.

"Let's make them dance! They'll suffer now so none suffer later!" Carmen swept her fan, and a wave of flame crept up from the ground, igniting the rest of shots that the volleyball team threw at them.

"Hnngrh!" Kamoshida struck down with a golden knife multiple times, stabbing his own shadows. "Can't you idiots work better! Get all of them! Fire, fire, and fire away until your damn balls are spent!"

The chained shadows looked nervously at each other, before creating more volleyballs out of thin air. Battering down on all of the thieves haphazardly, intending to suffocate them with the sheer number of strikes.

"You're going to find yourselves firing until you're empty! Everyone, behind me!" Akira said.

"On it!" Ryuji picked himself up, joining the other four in formation behind Akira.

"I call upon the Torn King of Desire, from the Lust Arcana that I reclaim for my own!" Akira tore off her mask. "Wilson, help!"

"Oh, I know how to deal with this! Firm Stance!" Appearing right before Akira's eyes, the soft-spoken slime monster toughened up until his body hard was like metal. Taking hit after hit from the volleyballs, but effortlessly deflecting them away.

"Thank you, Wilson!" Akira said to her wonderful companion.

"Of course! I can keep going for a while!" said the Slime Mara, briefly looking back. "But you guys should have a counterattack ready!"

"Luckily, we do!" Ryuji swung his fists outwards, raising them before he reached up and tore off his mask. "Captain Kidd, guillotine time!"

"Let's see some heads roll!" Captain Kidd sailed over Ryuji's head, rolling his chain blade around until he created a wheel of death. He swept it through the throne room in front of himself, slicing off the heads of the masked slaves of Kamoshida's cognition.

"Gah! Fetch me more slaves!" Kamoshida grunted. The giant pink tyrant slammed his knife against the ground, rolling his head back in anger.

"We're out of slaves, sir!"

Coming into the decadent throne room was none other than Mishima, entering from the treasure room behind Kamoshida.

"Mishima! What the hell are you doing?! You should have gotten here faster!" Flailing his arms around, he leaned back and growled with ire. "You useless bitch… Come over here and set up my shot!"

"S-sir, yes sir!" Mishima was ready with a golden ball instead of a volleyball, rubbing his uninjured eye.

"What? Mishima?!" Ann blinked her own two eyes.

"I thought we told you to stay put!" Sojiro shouted.

Mishima said nothing, at first. Gulping.

"S-S-Sorry!" Mishima said. "I'm Kamoshida's bitch! I-I can't get out of doing this without another beating!"

"That's just a cognition of Mishima built from Kamoshida's perception of him, team!" Morgana said. "Forget about him, he's just in the way!"

"Then I should kill him and get him out of the way!" Ryuji pointed his shotgun at the poor, battered boy. "Sorry, buddy! But you're not my real buddy!"

"W-w-waah!" Cognitive Mishima fell back on his ass. "Please, no! No-no-no! Don't kill me!"

As he dropped, the golden ball meant to be hit by Kamoshida instead smacked into him. Right in his left eye.

"Gyaaagh!" The demon screamed, covering his badly wounded eye. "Mishima, you fuck! I can't see out of it! I can't see!"

"Hmm, what a good battle!" Watching from the sidelines, the Shinigami from earlier dangled his legs over the railing and chomped down on an apple he plucked from his basket.

"You know, we really didn't get this sort of stuff a decade ago. Or maybe I just missed it." Ryuk pulled his finger out of his mouth with a pop sound, chuckling as he enjoyed the show. "This Mishima guy seems kind of pathetic. Or is he just playing the fools for chumps?"

"How dare you attack your master! Kamoshida Asmodeus Suguru should have you slaughtered on the spot!" Without his good eye to see where Cognitive Mishima was, Kamoshida swept his snaking blue tongue along the ground, striking the general vicinity.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Gah—!" Cognitive Mishima was smacked over to the side of the throne room, whacking into a pillar shaped like the body of a girl volleyball student.

"Damn, that must've hurt," Ryuk said. "Yuuki Mishima… No, that's Mishima Yuuki."

Although he hit the pillar, the blue boy pulled himself up, looking panicked as Cognitive Mishima ran away in order to hide. "Waaah, I'm sorry everyone!"

"Looks like he's already getting out of the way!" Morgana said. "Good, let's focus!"

"We'll take down this Kamoshida for good so we can help out all our buddies!" Ryuji shouted, firing his shotgun at Kamoshida's damaged eye.

"Urgh, I hate not being able to see out of it!" Kamoshida raised his hand, covering the eye. "You all should go to hell! Get out of my court, shit for brains Mishima!"

…Mishima smiled, rubbing his cheek. Playing cautious, he decided to sneak past Kamoshida and his own team. After all, he couldn't risk breaking his cover. He wasn't in position yet.

Kamoshida kept blocking the assault of bullets, with Ryuji now being aided by all of his teammates raining hell on him. "Ugh, I need my killshot! And I need healing! Girls, support me!"

"Right here, Lord Kamoshida!"

Coming into the throne room from behind the thieves was a tall, beautiful girl strutting sexily, a golden ball held under her arm.

"Shiho?!" Ann's eyes nearly bugged out of her like a cartoon character. "Who dressed you like—Oh, who am I kidding, this has to be Kamoshida's cognition of her!"

"I'm Lord Kamoshida's #1 fan and prized queen! And I'm going to get all his special attention!" Cognitive Shiho raised one hand high and cheered. Dressed in white, furred lingerie that was as revealing as it could possibly have been. The bunny ears on her head curled, and the tail on her rear twitched much the way a rabbit's would. The tiara on her head was extravagant, seemingly made of the most priceless of jewels and metal.

Ann tried not to heave.

"I will murder the man," she said.

"Aww… But Annie, don't you want to come join us? It'll be fun when the two of us are together…" Cognitive Shiho brought her hands low, pushing up against her chest while sweetly staring at the real version of her best friend. "Won't you play with me?"

"...I am going to murder the man," Ann said, preparing her machine gun. "Shiho, don't ask me to have sex with you and Kamoshida at the same time. If you really want anything to do with me, then god damn it, anything you want has to come from the real you. God, I hope she's okay…"

"There's my princess!" Kamoshida rolled his saliva-drenched tongue out, looking down at the bunny girl Shiho with a lustful grin.

Ann raised her gun at his face and started spraying lead. Trying to force them down his massive throat.

"God, why is he like this?" Ann asked, hand steady as she kept on blasting.

"Somebody fetch me my wine! And my bitches! Bitches, fetch me my wine!" Kamoshida shielded himself from the bullet barrage. "Ghh, now-now-now!"

"Yeaaaah! Come on, ladies! Shiho, get over here, girl!"

Cognitive Akira came in with a giant golden chalice filled to the brim with wine, holding it with two others, so it seemed. Somehow dressed in even more revealing bat lingerie than last time.

"...I'm not into it," Akira said, trying not to stare at her own curves, her hips and especially her stomach.

"Well, you should be!" Cognitive Akira said, rolling her head forward while running her hands down her body seductively. "I've been waiting all night for some fun lke a real bad girl. Stop being a goody-two shoes and just live a little! What's wrong with getting it on with me?"

"I'm going to take Kamoshida down, and then stop thinking about that," Akira said as she steadied her gun on Kamoshida. "You know what? I've even seen sexier alternate versions of me. There, I said it."

"Tha-hats what I'd like to see!" Kamoshida snapped his fingers at the girls, dropping his head while still holding his eye. "Now bring the wine here! Now! Or do you want to see what happens when I get mad!"

"Yes, Lord Kamoshida!" Cognitive Ann said, holding the wine chalice at one corner as Shiho joined them.

"Yes, Lord Kamoshida!" Cognitive Near, of all people said, holding the last corner. They were dressed in a bunny suit as well. A full set consisting of a white skin-tight leotard, arm-length gloves and thigh-length socks, instead of the revealing lingerie that Shiho wore.

The four cognitions put down the wine in front of Kamoshida. "Now, is there anything you want, Master?" Near said, putting their hands behind their back as they twitched both tail and ears. "I realize I've been very rude to you. I'm much better serving you than talking back."

"Oh, I've been waiting to hear you say that one," Kamoshida sucked in a deep breath, leering down at the white-clad bunny while slithering his demonic tongue around."You picked a really good outfit, too, but I think you could've do better if you twisted it around. Show the skin where it isn't right now, and take off what's currently being covered up. Let's see such a rude bitch get freaky, know what I'm saying? Hah-haaaah…!"

"Good to know even this outfit is enough to get your head spinning, but don't let your guard down. Keep your eye on the enemy." Cognitive Near arched their back, staring back at their enemies.

"...I know I shouldn't say it," Ryuji said, trying not to look down.

"Do you really need to say it?" Ann questioned.

"No!" Ryuji said, staring at the way Near's tail twitched.

"...Damn, ya ass tight," Ryuji said, snapping his fingers and firing them while putting on a grin. "What's ya pronouns?"

"Really, Ryuji?!" Ann said.

"Not now!" Cognitive Near responded.

"I'm sorry, I had to say it!" Ryuji huffed, fed up with this messy situation. "Hey, not seems a little upset, doesn't now?" he joked.

"That really does sound like Near, doesn't it?" Ann said.

"Well, I'm about to fix that attitude soon enough! I'll work out all the kinks out of this little bitch! But let's leave just a little bit of that spunk left, because it feels go-hoo-hood to see sluts like them melt," Kamoshida said.

"I just want to say!" Crack! Ryuji fired a blast from his shotgun. "That I may be kind of into, like, the outfits—" Crack! "—but this is also really fucked up! And sexual arousal doesn't negate the serious violations of consent Kamoshida's been doing!"

"Finally, someone said it!" Akira said, firing her pistol rapidly.

"Wait, this is all in the mind, so is it technically a viol—" Ann raised her gun. "Oh, who cares about that! This guy's a creep and he thinks of us all as sex dolls!"

"Not me!" Ryuji shouted. "This guy's only into women! And really pretty, possibly nonbinary people! Or possibly a trans girl in the closet for personal reasons? I don't know, I haven't known them for long! I just think they're neat!"

"I could go for some men, you're just not sexy enough!" Shadow Kamoshida snorted, smack-talking Ryuji.

"Wow, fuck you!" Ryuji shot his shotgun again. "I'm hot, and I know it! Hotter than you, bitch!"

"Enough chattering, start putting him down harder!" Sojiro took out his sniper rifle, steadying it as he set his sights on Kamoshida's wounded eye. "Fire!"

The bullet ripped through the air, wind spinning around it before it plunged itself into Kamoshida. Ripping a gaping hole through that already bleeding, giant eye of his.

"Gahh…! I need wine! I need wine!" Kamoshida reached down, slobbering all over the rim of the golden chalice. That chalice had disembodied, bluish legs of girls writhing in the liquid. A disgusting representation of the girls he had abused before devouring them down his throat.

Kamoshida's eye sockets opened up. "Mmm, sooo good! I feel so alive!"

The wound started to repair itself. From the skin and skull that was torn open when the bullet pierced his body to the delicate blood vessels in his eye, flesh started to mold and rejuvenate as he guzzled down more of his lustful drink insatiably.

"Ah… nothing beats a good meal," Kamoshida pulled the chalice down, burping. "Although it doesn't compare to my invincible armor in terms of absolute defense, it'll do just fine…"

"Shiho, set up my killshot!" He snapped his fingers, ushering her to run.

"Here we go!" Shiho got into position, tilting her head as her ears flicked. "Ann, watch this!"

"I want nothing to do with you!" Ann said. But Shiho already tossed the golden ball into the air, and it expanded to tremendous size.

"Kamoshida's gold winning killshot! Thanks for serving me!" Kamoshida jumped high into the air to meet the golden ball. Before when Kamoshida attacked with this same attack, a small meteor had crashed down. This time…

The giant meteor that fell could have leveled half the school.

"I can try to hold it back, but I'm not gonna be able to forever, Master Akira!" Wilson said. "Firm Stance!"

The only thing between the thieves and complete annihilation was a gelatinous, somewhat flaccid slime monster. Their first and last line of defense.

"Hnngh! Owwie!" Wilson cried out. The flames of the roaring meteor started to burn him in the few moments were he was the only thing keeping it back. But eventually he was beaten by the golden meteor, shattering into several shards of the red Lust tarot card. "I'll be back, master!"

"Run, run!" Akira sprinted away, escaping with the others as far as they could as the world flashed bright, the meteor making impact with the ground.

"…We almost died, didn't we!?" Ann said, barely able to make it out from the almighty eruption.

"I would've died twice this week!" Ryuji said as he sprung back up.

"Me too!" Morgana said.

"Just be glad we didn't!" Sojiro said, rolling his body after having collapsed after making the jump.

"Guys!" Mishima called out, only to sigh in relief when he saw them recovering. With Akira even passing out healing medicines to anyone who may have gotten injured, light flowing around them.

"Oh, thank goodness…" Mishima smiled, before hearing the cackle of an unexpected visitor.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh!...Bunny girls." Chomp-Chomp-Chomp. Ryuk bit into the core of his apple, tearing right through. "Bunny girls? Bat girls? Cat girls? Why do humans have a fascination for sexy animals? Well, you humans are always freaking weirdos."

"What the—?!" Mishima blinked both eyes, pointing at the spiky-haired, devil-like being kicking his feet on the railing.

"...You can see me?" Ryuk said as he turned to Mishima, face frozen as he nearly dropped his apple held in front of his mouth.

"...Well, I'll be," Ryuk said. "So, humans that come into this world can see the Shinigami for themselves. What an incredible discovery. But then again, I can see all of this stuff, so is it any surprise?" He went right back to chomping down on his apple, crunching with amusement.

"Who the hell are you!?" Mishima exclaimed.

"Just a spectator," Ryuk said. "Don't try to fight me. It probably won't go well. Besides, isn't there more pressing matters? For you, at least."

"I—!" Mishima turned to look at the battle, watching Kamoshida look down at the five fighting him. The mysterious, dangerous-looking visitor wasn't wrong.

"Stay out of my way!" Mishima said, taking out a grenade. He started to get into position, preparing to run.

"Have fun," Ryuk said. "I'm just here to watch!" He chomped and chomped on the last few of his apples, laughing like a jester.

"Looks like you all need to respect the power I pack! Otherwise, you're gonna be dead!" Kamoshida leaned forward, playing with his forks before sticking one in the legs of his chalice and snacking down on it.

"Ugh, we're not gonna get past that attack if he throws it at us again! And he keeps on healing!" Akira shouted.

"We need someone to slip right by him and take his crown, that should be enough to depower him!" Morgana said.

"Only problem is if we do that, we'll be down a fighter!" Sojiro said.

"And I doubt he'd take his eyes off either me or Ann." Akira shook his head. "And I don't want to have to striptease this guy just to keep his eyes glued in one place."

"Yeah, me neither," Ann agreed. "What should we do?"

"Lord Kamoshida!" Cognitive Near said, standing right in front of him with their hands on their hips.

"Huh?" Lord Kamoshida looked down, rolling his tongue. "What do you want, you cute bitch? If it's fun you want, you'll have to wait until I kill the rest of these twerps."

"Actually, I was thinking you should let me serve this time," Cognitive Near said. "These losers are so deplorable, the sight of them sickens me." Rolling their hand around in a haughty manner, they swept it at the thieves ahead.

"Alright, sureeee! Glad to see you're on my side! Pass the brat the ball, girls," Lord Kamoshida said. "Try not to fumble it."

"Right here!" Cognitive Shiho said, bringing it over to Cognitive Near.

"...Oh dear, it slipped out of my hand," Near said, letting it crash into the ground, forming a crater. "I have the worst butterfingers, don't I?"

"Ugh, seriously!" Kamoshida raised his knife. "How could you fail such an easy job!" He leaned down, glaring right into the student's eyes.

"Well…" Near said, reaching behind themself.

They tossed a single knife into Kamoshida's right eye, causing black blood to splatter around as Kamoshida howled and cursed them.

"Gaaah! You damned bitch!"

"Let's just say I never had an interest in doing it right!" The bunny-dressed student quickly turned their attention to the other cognitions, second knife drawn as they swept it through the crowd of the three false girls.

"Sorry, but I don't care much for you cognitions! This game is boring!" Near raised their dagger high, cutting down the last of them, Cognitive Akira, and turning her into dust.

"Damn it! DAMN IT!" Kamoshida reeled back, holding onto that wounded eye. "More! More!" He reached for his chalice, trying to drink from it.

"Think again, you overgrown tantrum-maker!" Sojiro pulled the trigger of his sniper rifle, another bullet whistling across the throne room. Shattering the golden chalice and spilling the wine he used to cure his wounds.

"No! No!" the pink demon screamed. "I can't lose that! How will I get back my other eye!"

"That's checkmate!" Mishima launched off the balcony of the throne room at full force, sailing through the air. He looked like he was barely going to make it to Kamoshida's head, bringing his hands out in order to grab and take down his crown.

As he started to fall through the air, he dropped a primed grenade beneath his own feet right before it was going to explode in his hands. The bomber launched forward in the air, bracing against the blast as he smashed against the crown and knocked it off the demon's head.

Mishima dropped with the crown in hand, taking a hard and fast tumble. "Graah, everyone! Do it now!"

"Now team, attack!" Morgana ordered. The five thieves went all-out, striking him from every angle before everyone soared over his head.

"This is over!" Akira declared, spinning her knife around before pulling it back. "I'll reveal your true self to the world!"

She struck down on the demon Kamoshida's head, and the other four thieves did just the same as a massive shockwave expanded across the throne room.

"Nooo!" Lord Kamoshida threw his head back, his entire body cloaked in blue flame as he was purged of his monstrous form. "My crown! My chalice! My… my… my world!"

He tried to claw and grasp at anything he could, swiping down with panicked eyes as his body shrunk and his weapons dematerialized. Leaving him just a half-dressed, pathetic man.

"You've lost, Kamoshida!" Akira raised her gun at him. "Your treasures belong to us!"

She turned her head to Mishima, still clutching himself in pain. But when he rolled back, he pulled out the Crystal of Lust, using it to heal his own body.

"Heh… fooled you, right?" Mishima chuckled, throwing his head back. "Sorry, but we figured someone like me was the best for taking the crown off him. After all, who better than the guy he thinks so little of that he can't even pay a shred of attention to?"

"Wait, so you're the real Mishima?" Ryuji lifted his finger. "Is that the real Near?!"

"Thank you for your previous words," Near said, ducking their head as their rabbit tail twitched once more.

"Okay, how does that outfit do that?!" Ryuji shouted.

"It's a world of cognition, don't ask me that!" Near snapped. "This outfit was a part of a questionable strategy, but it paid out in the end, didn't it?"

"When would you have found the courage to put yourself in such a daring outfit, though?" Ann brought her hand up to her smirking lips. "Wow, Ryuji wasn't kidding. Can you finally tell us your pronouns so I know how to compliment your butt—"

"Don't focus on that!" Near snapped, the playbunny-dressed student ignoring the question while red as a beet.

"If I had known dressing up as a sexed up version of me could've saved us all this trouble, a part of me would've actually considered it," Akira said. "...Wait, what am I saying? The guy's a creep! I wouldn't get sexy here for anything!"

"Aww, but you'd make everyone out there grip their thighs in arousal," Arsène said as he appeared, her inner self smirking behind the mask.

"Stop that! What makes you think I want to turn people on?" Now Akira was blushing, waving her knife at a laughing Arsène who merely floated upwards effortlessly.

"It's a mystery, even to me!" Arsène said.

Kamoshida pushed off the ground, trying to get away now that he was powerless.

"What, you're going to run?" Ann said, pointing her gun at him. "You're a great athlete. I'm sure you can keep the game going for a while."

"I, I—!" He found himself cornered at a dead end, having run right into the outside balcony leading to a hard and fast drop below.

Kamoshida grunted, turning around and facing the thieves. "Gah, what is it with you all! Forcing your way in here and getting everything you want! Just like those goddamn hyenas! Everything I've done has been for them, just like they wanted from me! Isn't it right that I get a reward out of it!"

"The same hyenas who hounded you into silence?" Akira said, standing behind Ann. "Sorry, but no kind of tragic tale is going to take back what you did. You had a choice to become the monster you are now, and you took it."

"It's not a reward when what you're doing is crushing all your students and forcing yourself on girls," Ann spoke, hair blowing as she prepared to do what needed to be done. "Tell me, Kamoshida, who ordered you to do that? I don't think you can answer that."

"Whatever happens, it's in your hands." Morgana said, looking to Ann. "I trust in you."

"Have you ever considered that you allowed yourself to do the heinous things you have? I can't speak anything about you in the past, but I can speak for who you are now." Ann shook her head. "And the man I see is as pathetic on the inside as he is on the outside. Honestly? If it were in my hands alone, I'm pretty sure I'd kill you right now."

"Wha-hah!" Kamoshida pulled his hand back, staring down the barrel. "Please! Anything but death!"

"Your fate has been sealed since the start, Kamoshida. It's just a matter of time for us to see what will happen next," Ann said. "Behind you is the same view that Shiho saw. I'm sure she was scared too, but she saw no other way out except for jumping. So which will you take? Will you jump? Or would you rather die here?"

"N-no! Please wait! I beg you, just forgive meeee!" Kamoshida's voice broke as he brought his hand out, backpedaling to the point where he nearly tripped over the balcony.

Bang!

Ann fired her shot, missing the man's head by just a few inches.

"I can't kill you now. After all, I'm waiting on someone very important to me," Ann said.

Kamoshida's haunted gold eyes widened. "It's… It's her! Isn't it!"

He saw the burst of blue flames that appeared behind Ann.

"Say her name, Kamoshida! Say the name of the girl who tried to kill herself because of what you did!" Ann said. With the voice of another right behind her, speaking the same words as her.

"Say her name!"

"Suzui Shiho!" he said, covering his face and dropping down. "Suzui Shiho, okay! I hurt… I abused… I sexually violated her, I did terrible things—I raped her, I admit it!"

Ann sneered viciously, as Carmen appeared above her. With a scorching red flame in hand, she was ready to smother the life out of the man.

"...Go ahead and finish me off," Kamoshida said, stumbling forward onto his knees, one eye held shut. "You do that… and my real self goes too. You have that right since you won here."

"I'd love nothing more than to take your life!" Ann's Shadow Self threw her fireball into the air, aimed for his head.

It sailed right over it, flying into the dark skies ahead.

"But if I kill you here, then the only satisfaction I get is seeing your life end, and nothing else." Ann turned around, staring at other girl who showed her face. "Isn't that right, Shiho?"

"As much as I want to see you fall… I know there are countless others who you need to answer to." The golden-eyed wraith brought her hand towards him. "You, Kamoshida Suguru, are the only one who can do that."

"So if you have a fraction of sincerity in your heart, you'll go back and pay for your crimes," Ann and Shiho spoke as one. "What happens to you then will only be what you deserve."

Kamoshida pulled his head up. "...Yes, I've let this game go on far too long. I can't even remember what it was like before this palace formed around me. Though this may be the end for Lord Kamoshida… perhaps, perhaps it doesn't have to be for the other."

"Frankly, I don't care what happens to either of you," Ann said, keeping her gun pointed high. "Just go. And clean up your own damn mess."

"There's so much to gain out of ripping the truth right out of your mouth, that will be my vengeance," Shiho said. "Don't disappoint your fans, Mr. Kamoshida."

"Hah-hah… wow, talk about digging up an old memory." Kamoshida started to glow with blue light. "...Alright, my reign comes to a close. I'll make certain that I…"

He started to fade away, disappearing as if he was never there at all.

With that, Shiho turned to Ann. "Thank you," she said with a smile. "I hope to see you again when I wake up someday."

The two girls embraced, with Shiho wrapping her arms around her neck and Ann holding her waist.

"...I'm going now, okay?" Shiho said with tears in her soft, golden eyes.

"I'll miss you too, Shiho. But… come back soon for me, please?" There were tears in Ann's eyes, too, as the girl watched Shiho slipped away from her. Turning into nothing but an array of starry lights around her.

She wiped her tears, smiling yet still.

The castle started to rumble violently. Both from below and above. Rubble started to fall.

Morgana was rubbing his face, scratching his own twitching ears. "Without the Shadow and with the treasure taken, we have to move out! The place is going to unravel itself!" He picked up himself and started sprinting out of there, the others following behind.

"This is going to be hectic!" Ryuji said as he broke out into a sprint.

Entire sections of the castle started to fall. The front gates came apart, leaving behind only a narrow path to escape from as the iron shield that blocked them prior now fell into the moat.

"...Welp! That was fun." Ryuk sprouted his wings, flapping his way out of the collapsing castle. "You kids have fun back there! Don't be strangers, like me!"

"I picked the wrong outfit to escape in!" Near shouted, trying to keep up.

"We're going to die! We're so going to die!" Slipping right past a collapsing pile of rubble, Ann looked back, now left panicking.

"Oww!" she said as something dropped onto her head, then jumped off.

"Mreow!" Morgana jumped from head to head, leaping forward until he was right on top of Akira's head. "Forward, people!"

"You say it like you didn't just make it easier on yourself!" Ryuji said.

"Nyeh-heh!" Morgana held on tight to Akira's head, pointing her the right way for them escape from.

Ryuji grunted, looking down at his injured leg. He felt the strain building up, before taking a hard and sudden tumble.

"Ryuji!" Mishima got down, grabbing the boy.

"Hey, it's just been a while! I tripped, that's all!" Ryuji put on a winning smile, getting up with Mishima's help as together they managed to get away. "Mishima, go right!"

"Right!" With the boy's eye still damaged, he relied on Ryuji to cover his blind spot, and as one they made a break for the front gates. They reached it, the white light of the world outside shining ahead before them.

"Hah… hah…" Ann held onto her knees, back in her regular outfit. "Escaping that place sucked. That whole place sucked!" The group was hiding in an alleyway, just outside the front of the school.

"But hey, we did it!" Mishima said.

"Wooh!" Ryuji brought up his hand, high-fiving the boy he crossed arms with over the other's shoulder.

"I can't believe I had to leave in this outfit…" Near crossed their arms, holding their chest in a vulnerable, bashful manner.

"Aww, you even act like a bunny too! So cute!" Ann said. "You know, I know a couple of people who'd go wild for that."

"Yeah, it's something you could totally see at one of those costume cafès," Akira pointed out.

"Eeh—!?" Near lifted their head, shifting their body defensively. "I didn't wear this because I wanted to!"

"Sure, but imagine the kind of playbunny that acts all aloof until they get all blushy! That's really going to knock some heads, I'm just being honest!" Ann said.

"You just described a tsundere, Ann," Akira pointed out. "Are you implying that Near is a tsundere?"

"I mean, if the bunny ears fit…" Ann said, snickering.

"Yeah, well—!" Near stammered so much, they couldn't even form a cohesive sentence, looking down.

"...I'm not going back to school in this outfit," the bunny in white managed to say. "I'll take my chances."

"More importantly, we got the treasure!" Morgana said. Lunging over to Mishima, the cat pulled out a golden olympic medal, holding its ribbon between his teeth. "Ta-daaah! We could sell it, and it'll fetch us a pretty nice meal!"

"That man must have been so desperate to cling on to the thing that made him a victor…" Ann shook her head. "No wonder, either. So much of this could've only happened because everyone propped him up as one."

"For him, this medal must be worth as much as that crown we saw in the palace," Morgana said in agreement with Ann.

"But this means Kamoshida's heart changed for good, right?" Ryuji asked.

"I-I'm not sure," Morgana said. "However, there's no doubt that this will affect Kamoshida's personality quite a bit! Enough for him to crack!"

"You're not sure?" Ryuji stepped forward. "Come on, man! We nearly died twice to get that freaking medal and do all this nonsense!"

"H-hey! This is the very first Change of Heart I've ever seen too, you know!" Morgana tucked his head down defensively.

"Cool it, Ryuji, you're giving the kid less credit than he deserves." Sojiro pointed at the blonde boy. "Remember that when he disappeared, Shadow Kamoshida himself already showed signs of change. Now come on, let's get out of here and pretend like nothing happened."

Meanwhile, back in the school itself…

"...Are you even listening, Mr. Kamoshida! You haven't been saying a word for the last twenty minutes!" Kobayakawa put his hands on Kamoshida's shoulders. "You will listen to your principal's orders! Now, right now!"

Kamoshida looked down at his hands, seeing just how much they shook. "I… I need to go."

"What?!" Kobayakawa shook him. "You can't go! You need to stay and help me clean up this mess! At this rate, I'll have to cancel classes just to cover this up!"

"I'm sorry!" Kamoshida pulled himself out of his seat. "...I need to think for myself."

He walked out of the office, closing it without another world.

"Mr. Kamoshida! Mr. Kamoshida, get back here!" Kobayakawa brought his hand to his mouth, starting to bite down on his nails. "Oh, what am I going to do! What's going to happen to the beautiful reign of this school?"

Chapter Text

Episode 22: New Game, New Challengers

5/2,

The silence after they took down Kamoshida's Palace and stole his treasure was suffocating. Over half a month had passed, and there was nothing of importance compared to all the trouble and work the thieves went through in the first week.

Sojiro sent a message to everyone in the group chat they formed to keep in contact.

Sojiro: How's everyone holding up? Nothing too drastic? I haven't heard a word about expulsion or anything.

Ryuji: Ms. Kawakami told us nothing's gone through yet, and everything seems to be in the clear. …She isn't sure, though, as the Principal has been keeping quiet. Still, she gave me a lecture of a lifetime, telling me not to do anything reckless like that ever again.

Ann: Things are good for us, right now. Although Shiho's still unconscious in the hospital. They say she's stabilized, but they don't know if or when she'll wake up. I'm worried…

Mishima: I'm just glad she even has the chance. By the way, I've been going for routine check-ups on my eye. I'll have to cover it for longer, but it might heal one day too, if I'm careful.

Akira: That's good to hear. I hope we don't have to wait much longer for the Change of Heart to work.

Sojiro: I won't be able to see it for myself. Someone record it for me.

Akira: Got it.

She put away her phone, tapping her pen on the table while the clock ticked, and ticked, and ticked.

"Haaah!" Taking a brave step, a girl student in gym class jumped into the air, striking a volleyball down into the opponent's side of the court!

"Um!" Another girl's boot squeaked as she moved into position, stopping firmly with her arms put together. Only her glasses slipped off her face with how swiftly she moved, dropping to the ground. "Wait—!"

She was smacked in the face, falling back.

"Are you okay?!" The one who hit her reached out her hand with concern.

"Ugh… I'm okay." The girl who got hit rubbed her face, red bangs drooping down as she scrambled for her glasses. "I can't believe I dropped that, though…"

"Hey, it's alright. We don't have to win every time." A man reached down and picked up her classes, hand held open. "Here, take it."

"Thank you, teacher!" The girl hurriedly took her glasses from him, putting it on and blinking her red eyes. "Maybe I should consider some contacts."

"Yeah, it sucks when those things fly off and you take a hit like that. I switched to contacts a while ago because of it." The black haired man lifted his head. "But what's more important than winning the game is making sure you come out alright. Just remember not to be too hard on yourself."

"Of course," she said, fixing her glasses. "My name's Sumire."

"Well, Sumire, I hope to see you shine one day!" The man laughed, bracing his hips. "And remember, when the crowds are out there cheering you on, be sure to give them the winner's smile they want to see. But don't force it, it's only going to work if it's genuine!"

…Sumire nodded softly. "Thank you again, sir."

"Round two, Sumire! Ready?" the girl on the other side called out to her.

"Ah—! Yes!" Sumire grabbed the volleyball, getting back into the game.

"Heh-hah, of course…" The teacher waved his hand, and then he turned his head away in shame.

Something was very off. Far more than it should have ever been.

Kamoshida showed his face from time to time in the days leading up to that day, but rarely spoke much to anyone. Now he was just looking at his hands, tormented by every single detail becoming clear to him.

"...I can't go on like this," he said to himself, closing his hands.

There was an announcement from the speaker soon after. "Attention, students! This is your principal with an important announcement. A student and faculty meeting will be held to discuss events that happened last month!"

"Guess we gotta see what's up…" Ryuji said, getting out of his seat just like all the other students.

He could barely take any more of this tension. Neither could the rest of the thieves, every one of them except for Sojiro gathering in the middle of the large, noisy, spread out crowd within the auditorium. With Akira getting her phone out, prepared to record.

"I'd bet it's about the girl who jumped back there!" a particularly annoyed, callous student said.

"They don't have to tell us not to jump, it's not like we're all clambering to die like a bunch of lemmings," said the girl next to her, huffing. "I guess because of that weird calling card shit, the teacher's are pissing themselves."

"Look, if Kamoshida actually did something, Kira would just kill him, end of story!" a boy next to them said.

"Why hasn't he already died if he's so guilty? You'd think he'd have been caught much earlier, you know? What, can't Kira just snap his fingers and do it?"

"I think we picked the wrong part of the crowd to stand behind…" Near said, squinting.

"Let's begin the school-wide morning assembly," Kobayakawa said, voice echoing from the microphone in front of his table. "As you all know, a terrible incident took place the other day. Thankfully, we have been informed that the student has pulled through! But it will take time before she recovers."

He held the thin section of his microphone, lifting his head as he brought the mic closer. "Everyone here has a bright future ahead. I implore you rethink the importance of life and…"

"It's not your place to force that on someone," Mishima whispered in the middle of the man's speech, hands balled into fists. "You can't just force a person to stop wishing for death lie it's easy. And what happens to them isn't for your sake, or anyone else's but theirs! It's their life that matters, not your school's reputation!"

He was whispering such as to not cause trouble or draw attention to himself, but he was shaking all over with rage.

But a hand from Akira was enough to calm him down. She understood.

"We're here for you, buddy," Ryuji said, putting his hand on his other shoulder. "We know."

"But as the principal in this school, I can not let this grievance go unpunished!" Kobayakawa raised his finger. "I have conducted a long and thorough investigation and have found the true culprits involved in what happened! They're none other than the students whose names I will release right this—!"

"No!" Kamoshida swung the doors to the auditorium wide open.

"...Don't blame anyone but me," the man said. "It was me, and don't you forget it! Kamoshida Suguru!"

The entire crowd of students turned, gasped, and murmured in shock.

…Before Akira grinned. "Showtime." She turned on her camera, recording the event so that it could not be forgotten so easily.

"What are you saying?" The principal looked most shocked of all. "The school's Olympic medalist? This can't be possible, you're the king that holds this place together—"

"That man is dead!" Kamoshida shouted, swinging his head down. "That king is dead."

Before Kobayakawa knew it, Kamoshida was walking over to the stand, climbing up to the steps. "A part of me has died, and another part of me has returned. The part that I betrayed and threw away when everything felt hopeless."

"Mr. Kamoshida, please, leave the stand!" the principal brought his hands out, trying to grab the man's shoulders.

"No! If I don't speak out, every single student I've wrought harm upon will have to deal with my crimes forever looming over them as a punishment they don't deserve! I must speak the truth, no matter who I betray!" Kamoshida struggled against the principal, throwing him off of him while grabbing the mic.

"Attention students! Suguru Kamoshida—er, Kamoshida Suguru is my name, and you all know me well! Plenty of you have justified cause to hate me!" the man said. "My apology will never be enough, and I understand that. That's why I will confess to everything I've done."

"What are you saying?!" Principal Kobayakawa said. "Silence! Silence, now!"

Kamoshida hit his hand against the stand, eyes worried, yet certain of what he was doing.

"I have spent far too many years silent, but no longer!" he said. "The school has had a long history of corruption, years of it covered up by those in power. …And at the heart of it was me. Verbal abuse of my students. Physically assaulting members of the sports teams. Using my power and influence to get rid of another teacher. Forcing the track team to disband! Maiming of my own students, including a fracture of the leg and severe damage to the eye of two poor boys who deserved none of it! To say none of the sexual harassment I've committed on the girls of this school!"

"He doesn't know what he's speaking of, he's not sound of mind!" The principal put his hands together, grinning slyly while rubbing them. "Students, pay him no heed! He's drunk!"

"Drinking on the job may very well be the least of my issues! But no, you'll find there's no alcohol in my lungs!" Kamoshida yelled, hand still on the mic while the principal hopelessly tried to pull him away. "Pursuing my students and coercing them into private meetings with threats of blackmail and rape. …Even going through with it against one unlucky girl. I'm the reason why that girl tried to kill herself! She has done nothing, nothing wrong and there is no excuse for my actions!"

The whole school was in shock as the principal tried to push him using his whole body. "Mr. Kamoshida, stop this! Security, take him!"

"At the very least, years of all this covering up can finally come crashing down!" Kamoshida said as the guards piled down on him like football players, yet he was still standing even now, only left with one knee slightly bent under all the pressure. "I am truly sorry for putting all these youths through this, even trying to expel students and frame them for my own mess! I am an arrogant, shallow, and shameful person! No, worse than that… I don't deserve to live!"

He started to tear up, hitting the stand one more time. "I will take responsibility and kill myself! No one will ever have to deal with the monster that is Kamoshida Suguru again!"

"No you won't!" Ann snapped at him.

"Huh?!" Kamoshida lifted his head, surprised even now.

"Shiho has to live with this, even now! We all have to live with the scars you've given us! Your death will do nothing for anyone! So—!" Ann pointed right at the man. "So long as that's true, you're going to live! You're going to live to pay back for what you did, not die and leave the rest us to pick up the pieces!"

"...Once again, you make a great point, Ms. Takamaki. You see better with your righteous fury than I do with my guilt. Thank you." Swallowing the lump in his throat, Kamoshida wiped his brow.

"And to the Phantom Thieves of Hearts…" he said, still holding firm as the guards tried to pull him back. "Thank you, for stealing my heart."

"Get him out of here!" the principal shouted. "Into my office, now!" He snapped around, sweeping his eyes over all the students. "And this meeting is canceled! Do you hear me?! It is over!"

"No matter what happens, I won't go down without a fight! I'll do everything in my power to keep this from being swept under the rug!" Kamoshida said, leaving with the security dragging him away. "It's the least I could do after having my heart changed! The people deserve to hear the truth!"

For the first time in her life, Ann could say that the smile the man gave her was anything less than repulsive. No, it actually made her smile for some strange reason.

"...Alright," Ann said, a hand brought to her hip. "You're not the only one who will be working to fix this. I've got people to worry about, so get out of here."

She sighed greatly, turning back to her friends. "I can't believe I actually smiled at the damn guy. …But he seems different. This is probably the most exhausting day I've been through yet."

"Let's just try to make it through today," Morgana said, peeking his eyes out of Akira's bag. "But hey, the plan worked like I told you! He's a brand new person now!"

"...No, he seems a lot like the one I saw in his memories." Akira swung her hands over her head. "Maybe that means his old self is resurfacing."

"Man…" Sojiro lowered the phone, pausing the video of the man shouting on stage, confessing his guilt.

"That's not Kamoshida," he stated out loud. "The man I was half ready to beat into the ground was proud of every little thing he did. This guy, now… you wouldn't think he was once such a monster. Although, really, the real Kamoshida was a monster before all this and he managed to fool lots of other people. He got away with so much."

"Are you alright?" Akira said.

Sojiro sighed. "Tired. Tired kiddo, just tired." He wiped his glasses with a cloth. "We spent day after day chasing down a criminal to put him to justice when nobody else could. I don't even know where the legal lines start and end with a Change of Heart. My only worry is that you all will find yourselves in more trouble. The perfect crimes have perfect flaws. But…"

He put his glasses back on with two fingers, putting on a warm smile. "You all did a good thing," he said. "...I'm thinking we should set up something to celebrate. We'll go on the weekend."

"Alright!" Ryuji swung his fist.

"Yeah-hah!" So did Akira jump for joy, grabbing the olympic medal they stole from Kamoshida and looking at it.

"...I don't think I can keep this," Akira said, holding it between her hands. "It… feels heavy."

"Heavy how?" Ann asked, stepping up next to her. "You were the one who saw everything, right? …Does it hurt?"

"I think I'd start asking too many questions about myself if I kept it," Akira said, grabbing it by the lanyard. "So, let's sell it. Someone else can take this, and we can use the money to enjoy ourselves."

"Sure," Sojiro said. "Sell it after class in a few days. See if you can get anything at a pawn shop or something."

"The only problem is we need to know a guy who'd know something about buying and selling pretty much everything…" Akira scratched her chin, mulling it over briefly as the day drew to a close.

5/5,

Iwai huffed, looking up at the squad of students in front of him.

He lowered his newspaper and lifted his head. Tapping the sign behind him. "No payments over 10000 Yen in coins. Too much trouble."

"If several coins won't entice you, then how much…" Akira reached into her pocket, eyes shadowed as she tilted her head forward.

"For this coin, my good sir!" Akira pulled out the giant golden medal, swinging it up as she showed it off.

"...Kid, you're killing me here," Iwai said, staring at the giant coin. "Thirty thousand yen."

"Thirty thousand?" Akira stumbled back. "Whah—that's like three hundred USD!" For the sake of simplicity, the conversion rate was 100 Yen to 1 USD. There was a very strong swing in favor of Japan's currency.

"Don't get us wrong, we'll take the money, but doesn't that seem low for a medal made out of pure gold?" Ryuji asked.

"What the hell are you doing with an Olympic medal?" Iwai pointed out bluntly. "Not to mention the name on it… Kamoshida? As in the disgraced teacher from Shujin?"

"Oh…" Ryuji bit his lip. "Crap."

"Videos are already flying around all over the internet about what he did," Iwai said, leaning forward while rubbing his hands. "If you ask me, that medal's going to spike in value before taking a hard crash. I have to buy and resell it while the iron's hot if I don't want to take a loss. It's gonna take up all my week or something. The question is, do you want to be the one to sell it in my place? Also, an Olympic medal like that is mostly a silver core with gold plating. Unless you somehow struck upon a purely golden Olympic medal, forged in this era. …Then that's a whole other beast to deal with."

Finally, Iwai brought his hand out. "Do you want to deal with people asking questions about what a Shujin student is doing with a criminal teacher's gold medal?"

"Fair point," Akira said. "Thirty thousand yen is good anyways. I was looking for ten thousand."

"Pfft. Learn to haggle kid." Iwai chuckled, looking at the students. "You guys are funny, maybe I'll teach you something next time you show up with something worth my while. I do owe your group some payback."

"Payback?" Mishima said.

Iwai brought a finger out. "First, for spending so much money on this place before I had to make a pretty important deal." He raised another finger from the same hand. "Second, for all these 500 Yen coins. Seriously, how did you get this many? Do you know how annoying it is to have to lug these around?!"

"Why don't you just put them in a bank?" Ryuji asked.

"Smaller paper trail," Iwai explained. "Also, these coins are popular with counterfeiters. I don't need questions being asked about what I'm doing dumping a bunch of coins some teenagers paid to me."

"Oh… good point," Akira said. "I mean, it sounds reasonable."

"Let's just say I know someone who helps me make exchanges like this," Iwai said. "They'll probably take the coins to uh, someone, I guess. A collector, maybe."

The man reached out, pulling out a stack of Yen notes and counted them all up. "Thirty thousand. Go ham with it."

"Woo-hoo!" Ryuji said. "I can't wait to eat good this weekend!" The boy threw his fists back and forth, shadowboxing the air.

Ding-ding-ding! The door to Untouchable opened.

"Oh?" Iwai raised his head, before spotting the duo that entered. "Hmm…"

"Gimme a second," Iwai walked to the back counter, grabbing a brown paper lunch bag. Picking up the unopened box beside it and putting it inside.

"So uh, here. A little treat for being such spendy customers. I'm not gonna be able to finish it, but I like you guys, so…" Holding onto his hat, he put the paper bag in Akira's hands.

"Don't open it until you get home," he said, eyes hidden. "Actually, just bring back the bag when you're back here. I reuse my stuff."

He lifted his head, glaring coldly out the corner of his eye. "You wouldn't want to eat that here, got it? You don't know what I do to punks who disrespect the no food sign."

"Y-yikes!" Ryuji shivered all over. "Yes, Mr. Iwai sir!"

"Yes sir!" Akira said, saluting him.

"Most of the time, I just kick them out," Iwai explained. "Thank you, by the way." He started to clear his throat. "Can I help you, customers?"

"Iwai Munehisa…" said the one who opened the door. "Yes, you may indeed."

A slender young man entered, dressed in an all blue set consisting of a suit, pants, and a detective's hat to match. Their eyes and hair were as blue as their clothes.

"Who wears an all blue suit when they're blue too?" questioned Near.

"This coming from the person who wore an all white bunny outfit?" Ryuji asked.

"No, I wore black-striped thigh-highs," Near corrected. "It's obviously different."

"Wait, do I know them?" Mishima started to squint. Then his eyes widened. "Hey, isn't that—!"

"The Detective Prince himself, of all places." Near said, straightening up. "...Or rather, the Second Detective Prince."

"What a pleasure it is to meet you," said the detective. "Shirogane Naoto, Detective for the Japanese Task Force." He raised his police badge to show that indeed, he had the law at his back.

Iwai reached for his donut, looking dumbfounded as he brought it to his lip.

"What seems the problem, officer?" he asked, before glancing at the second of the officers to come into the store.

Completely unassuming, and yet…

Completely dangerous.

Akira was filled with an immense sense of dread as she stared at the man wearing the black investigator's jacket. He sported gray hair, adjusting a set of thin glasses. He could cut steel with a single glare from his silver eyes.

"We're here to investigate the unauthorized sale of modified model firearms to be used as real weapons," he said, taking out his badge and showing it. "Yu Narukami of the Japanese Task Force."

"Oh god, more cops…" Akira slowly started to walk away, before Yu Narukami sidestepped, blocking her from leaving.

This was bad. This was really bad. Akira tried to stay completely calm, but the aura radiating off the guy dominated the entire store. Overpowering her almost instantly to where she even felt the need to buckle back under the immense pressure.

"Psst!" Morgana poked his head out. "Akira, I don't like that guy!"

"Hmm?" Yu glanced his razor-sharp eyes at Morgana, catching him sneaking his head out.

"Mreow!" Morgana hid in the bag.

"He's got nothing on us, right?!" Akira thought to herself. "Right! Akira, just play it cool, and nothing bad will happen! You're not going to get sent to jail for this—!"

"Why is there a cat in your bag, ma'am?" Yu brought his hand out. "You shouldn't be bringing animals into stores like that, or schools—"

"I-I-I don't like cops!" Akira said, panic squeaking through her voice as she pulled herself away.

Yu Narukami blinked, staring at her calmly.

"You wouldn't be the first," Yu said.

"We're detectives, actually. We generally don't do the public duties of the police, we handle the investigations," Naoto said.

"Speaking of detectives…" Near played with their hair, rolling it around before smirking at the two officers. "I much prefer the World's Greatest Detective."

…Iwai looked at his T.V and turned it on, changing the channel until it showed the newest Detective Prince on screen.

"Akechi Goro?" Naoto asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Truthfully, I'm only the Third Detective Prince," the boy on T.V said with a charming smile to the host. "The second was the famous Naoto who critically assisted in the capture of the killer responsible for the Inaba Foggy Day Murders. The first was actually Light Yagami, who took down the dreaded copycat Kira, Higuchi Kyousuke. The Golden Kira, if you will."

"I said the real World's Greatest Detective," Near said with a blank stare.

"...The new Chief of Police?" Yu asked.

Near now squinted, speaking snappily, "I said the real World's Greatest Detective. Why is this so hard to get right?"

…Akira grabbed a white sheet of paper, taking a pen and writing an elegant L in cursive before raising it.

"Perfection," Near said, shutting their eyes and smiling.

"Well, can you cops stop making my customers feel unsafe? If you're going to investigate my shop, do it now. Just don't trouble them, they haven't done anything," Iwai sighed, arms now folded.

"Yu, keep an eye on the others. I can do a thorough investigation myself." Naoto inspected pretty much every corner of the shop. To their surprise, there weren't any secret vaults or contraband. The only thing of note was the strange case of a large amount of Yen coins in an open suitcase.

"And who paid you in all these coins?" Naoto asked, bringing down. "These coins are known to have quite a lot of counterfeits."

"Just a couple of medieval LARPers and model gun enthusiasts. Yes, they're very passionate," Iwai explained.

Yu cocked his head immediately, staring Iwai down with his steel-cutting gaze.

"...Why do you stare at me as if somehow that's more relevant to you than the coins?" Iwai asked.

"Mr. Iwai, did any strange group happen to come into your shop within the last month? Perhaps the ones who paid you that cash were ones who seemed to have a big ambitious cause to work towards?" Naoto asked. "...And perhaps they were troubled students searching for themselves?"

"May, may—" Akira squeaked, lifting her head. "May I go now?"

"I don't wanna be here," Mishima said.

"Now hang on, this is an investigation of my shop, not my customers," Iwai said. "Don't go snooping around and digging up info on them just for being here. They haven't earned any of this flak. And what? Do you think I have personal relationships with all the kids that come in here? I have a soft heart for runts, but don't take that to mean I'm their therapist."

"Hmm…" Naoto looked back at the group of friends gathered, before looking back at Iwai. "We're done with questions for you, Mr. Iwai. Regarding you, we'll return later."

"Go ahead… I've got nothing to hide," Iwai brought his hands up, but squinted as Naoto's attention shifted.

"You four must have just gotten out of school, yes?" Naoto said, grabbing his hat. "Shujin Academy. I heard troubling news from that place has leaked onto the internet. But nothing officially has been filed yet. Still, that disgraced teacher had much to say, so I don't doubt he'll resurface soon. The students have been posting online that it's as if Mr. Kamoshida has a whole new persona. A shadow of his former self."

"Persona—!" Ryuji winced. "What the effin' hell's a persona? That like a mask or something? I don't know this English jargon!"

"How interesting…" Naoto said, looking at Yu.

Yu squinted, then opened his steel eyes. An invisible pulse rolled over the shop, forceful wind rushing over each of the students.

"A-ah—?" Akira stumbled backwards, eyes opening up.

…A divine blue flame burned around Yu Narukami as the world went dark. The red-eyed thief stood face to face with the steel-cutting samurai, who instinctively brought his hands together like a warrior holding his blade.

Both souls were illuminated in the dark, Akira glowing black and Yu glowing silver beneath the almighty flame that burned. A shadow started to form behind Yu, looking just like him only with gold eyes.

Yu whispered one word beneath his breath, raising a blue Arcana of his very own within his hand. XXI - The World.

"Izanagi," he spoke.

Now the shadow of Yu started to rise. Donning a silver mask as the flames overtook him, he slashed right through them. Cutting them away with the powerful blade in the hands of the Worldmaker.

Akira tilted her eyes up. That single glance was enough for Yu, who called forth Izanagi, to catch her in his trap.

Yu squinted, gripping tighter onto the blade he that would be there had he brought it.

Naoto glanced quickly at the other three students and the cat standing by Akira, each of whom kept their attention on Yu's Persona. And not the detective watching then.

"Yu, we're done here for now," Naoto said, putting his badge away.

And like that, the world returned to normal. Izanagi was consumed by divine flames, retreating back into the soul of the one who called him forth.

"Thank you for your time," Yu said politely, turning around as if he didn't just catch four people and a cat red-handed. He left through the door with Naoto, the door ringing.

Akira started to shriek, voice crescending. "...aaaa-AAAAAH—"

"Akira, calm down! We didn't do anything, they don't know anything!" Ryuji put his hands on her.

"I-I-I-I don't liiike cops!" Akira started to heave. "All I did was try to help someone, and, then they all went and—!"

"It's okay!" Ryuji said, looking at Iwai. "We're gonna take her home now, okay?"

"Get her the help she needs, please," Iwai said, hiding his hat behind his eyes. "Sorry for the mess."

Akira was still squeaking dryly as she left the shop, needing to be pushed out by Ryuji and the others. It distracted them enough to miss the fact that they were still being watched by the two investigators.

"Come on," Naoto said. "The others are probably waiting for us."

"Right," Yu said.

The two of them walked their way away from the store, heading into the parking garage they left their squad car in. As they entered the dark garage, they opened the doors of their squad car rocking back and forth, with Yu sitting in the driver's seat while Naoto took his seat in the passenger's seat.

"So those four students and the cat were Persona Users," Yu said, hands grabbing the wheel.

"I've never seen a more suspicious gang of teenagers in my life," Naoto said. "Besides us back then."

"Eek—!" Rolling her head up was the brunette in the back of the squad car, dressed in a long green jacket. "You guys, you were supposed to call us! We were—ah, Yukiko!" She winced while blushing. "We thought this would take like an hour or something!"

"What the—!" Naoto leaned his body back, lifting their head when they saw what was happening. "Seriously, you're doing that now?! Chie, Yukiko!" Naoto was watching one of his asshole friends running her tongue deep into his other asshole friend, being very loud and unabashed abou tit while the brunette was whimpering and throwing her head back with an indecent groan.

"Well, we aren't any more," The girl in a red sweater pulled her black hair out of her face, getting her head away from the brunette gripping her hair. "Damn it, Naoto, couldn't you be slower at doing your job?"

"Yeah, Detective Prince! Be slower next time!" The brunette, Chie, said, pulling up her pants now that she and Yukiko were interrupted.

"Yeah, Naoto! Be slower!" the voice of a third girl said.

Sitting curled up in the trunk of the large car, a brunette with pink sunglasses on her head had her back pressed to the car's backseats and her feet kicked up against the door while she tapped the buttons of her switch. "It's already super rocky in here, and now I'm dealing with all this noisy shouting while I'm trying to play Fire Emblem Three Houses! Hello? Come on!"

The year was 20XX.

"Rise!" Naoto snapped.

"I'm just being honest!" Rise said. "Like oh Kira, come on boy, please! Like we haven't walked in on you in the squad car?"

"Th-hat's irrelevant!" Naoto said, cheeks now red.

"I think it's relevant and I think I get to call you a hypocrite!" Rise said with the snorting laugh of a gremlin. "Kee-hee-hee-hee!"

"Shut up, you imbeciles!" Naoto snapped at all of them. "Listen, and pull up your pants higher!"

Chie grumbled as she listened to him. "Okay, you friggin' clamjammer…" She pulled her pants up further, closing the buttons.

"There's a strong possibility we just stumbled into five whole Persona Users," Naoto said.

"One of them's a cat," Yu stated.

"And you know that could spell trouble. Deep trouble," Naoto said. "They're from Shujin Academy, and it's incredibly likely that we're going to hear of an investigation soon, considering one of their teachers is now on everyone's radar for a repeated string of assaults, sexual assaults, and provoking a student into attempting suicide."

"And drinking on the job," Yu pointed out.

"That too," Naoto said.

"Wow, that sure sounds scary for the students." Rise pulled herself up, arms resting against the top of the backseat. "Is it even within your… What's the word?"

"Jurisdiction?" Yu said.

"Field of expertise?" Naoto asked.

"Both?" Rise questioned. "What I mean is, how do you know if you'll be sent there? Is it even something they'll let you take?"

"Well, we are meant to take on regular cases while we're outposted in Tokyo," Naoto said. "That being said, if anything supernatural has occured, no doubt they'll want someone who captured the Inaba Foggy Day Murderer. …And really, the team that did. Who else to investigate a potential Persona-based crime than a Persona-based investigation team?"

"Part of me wishes I tried to become a detective instead of a cop. At least maybe I would've had more cases before my career got struck down for blowing the whistle on a dirty drug deal." Chie leaned back in the car, stretching her legs and sighed. "Busted my own superior, got fired right after. I can't possibly tell you the reason. The police? Letting go of someone who outed their own corruption? I never would've guessed."

She lifted her head. "In case you didn't get it, yes I am being sarcastic."

"It's not your fault for trying to do something about the corruption running deep." Yukiko put her hand on Chie. "Still, I won't abandon you anytime soon. After all, you could always live with me." She smiled at her. Sweet and warm enough to melt ice.

"Oh, you…!" Chie grabbed Yukiko's face, kissing her passionately on the cheek.

"Mwah!" The brunette pulled back while blushing pink. "I never thought I'd end up with Yukiko as my sugar mommy." She darted her eyes away and put on a frown. "If only because being a cop blew up on my face. Buuut that's my fault…"

She slumped right back down into her seat. "Ugh, I hate being unemployed… When am I ever going to get hired again? Why did I open my big mouth?" she asked. "I say that, but I know I could never have piped down about something so awful…"

"Careful, Chie, burnout will kill you before you know it," Rise said, tilting her head and humming. "You know I've stopped idoling. That last concert this week was the last I'll ever do. …I'm happy I got to send my last thank you to my special fans, but…"

Rise sighed. "My therapist told me that if I keep going, my health is going to keep nosediving. And I was already starting to get sidelined for newer talents. Better to end on a good note than a sour one."

"I know, I know. Our jobs sucked," Chie said. "I'm here for Yu, Naoto, and the rest of us who aren't the detectives here. But you won't see me clambering back for my old job. They won't even take me."

Chie squinted, throwing her head forward. "...But shit, imagine if Adachi's life was like this."

"Yes, but unlike you, he chose to handle his mid-cop crisis in the most destructive manner," Naoto said. "...Which is why it's a surprise to me that he's bouncing back."

"Dojima is really sticking his neck out for Adachi." Yu rubbed his own neck, twisting it while giving a grunt. "Everyone's quote-unquote 'favorite police dick' is under high surveillance, but he's been pretty useful."

"Dojima's become very important over the years, right?" Yukiko asked. "As the new head of the task force?"

"Yeah…" Yu nodded. "And with all the increased work he's been doing, he's asked us to step in for him from time to time. We can't leave Nanako all alone, you know."

"Oh, right…" Rise frowned, only to then smile. "Hey! Does she still sing the Junes theme?"

"Naoto, call me," Yu said, raising his phone.

Naoto opened his personal phone, dialing Yu's number by memory.

From Yu's phone played a recording of a young teenage girl singing jingle song of a department store. "Every day's great at your Junes! Da, da-da, da daa da-da! Dun, dun-da da duun dun-da~!"

Rise shook her head back and forth, humming along with Nanako. "I love that cinnamon bun."

Yu hung up. Then another call came, with the screen in the car turning on.

"Howdy doo, Scooby Gang! What a bea-u-ti-ful day! How are some of my favorite boys and girls doing?" greeted a blonde white boy with shiny blue eyes, a white shirt and a pink apron tied around it. That apron having a stitched picture of a blue bear in a clown suit. He pulled his face closer to the camera while turning his head, moving the screen back and forth as if trying to create some kind of illusion.

"Tee-hee!" The boy pulled himself back. "We're making chocolate cake at the hotel! Now when are you getting back? Because it's gonna get cold if you take too long."

"And you'd better get over here before Teddie eats it all!" angrily shouted a boy with a black apron, pink mittens and blonde slicked back hair.

"Yeah, dudes! You know Teddie's going to devour it if you don't! And then Kanji will be upset." Washing the dishes, a boy with brown hair, stylish goggles with orange lens, and a red-and-black striped shirt squinted with scrutiny at the laughing blonde and blue-eyed boy.

"If he eats it, it's up to the shoulder with him!" Kanji grabbed his bicep, raising his arm before thrusting it forward as deep as he could go. "To the shoulder this time, Teddie!"

"Boys, boys, don't threaten me with a good time!" Teddie started to snicker loudly. "Oh, I slay myself."

"We'll make it to the hotel soon, Teddie, though we may have a new mission on our radar," Yu said.

"I'm thinking if we get in contact with the Chief of Police, we can take on this next potential case directly," Naoto said. "It might prove valuable given what we might be dealing with…"

Teddie asked, his eyes lighting up with bright white stars. "And will we get to join in? I haven't had a good mystery in forever!"

"You just helped us shut down an illegal gambling ring two weeks ago," Naoto told him.

"And that's two weeks, too many!" Teddie said. "Come on! I want to do battle with our Personas again! You can only have so many sparring matches with Kanji and Yosuke before you need some new people to throw yourself over and over at! Until you're hot and sweaty, you know?"

"There's Teddie, back at it again with the innuendo." Yosuke grabbed his head, before going over to the juicer and squeezing the lemons.

"Anyways, come quick and stop me from eating the cake! Otherwise, it's gonna be shoulder deep when you get back!" Teddie put his hand to his chest, urging them on.

"So almost as deep as Yukiko's tongue was in Chie five seconds ago?" Yu told him.

"Heyooo!" Teddie snorted, lifting his head. "Hey wait, did that actually happen?"

"Yeah! Except this person interrupted us!" Yukiko frustratedly pointed her thumb at Naoto.

"Yeah, thanks a bunch, Naoto!" Chie stuck her tongue out at Naoto impetuously, smiling.

"Stop. Fucking. In the squad car," Naoto said.

"Come on, Naoto! You can't interrupt them while they're going at it, it's a deep bonding experience!" Teddie argued.

"You fucked in the squad car too, you jackass!" Naoto was very pissed, enough to hit the car's dashboard.

"Don't get mad at me when you were the first to fuck in the Mystery Machine," Teddie argued succintly.

Naoto turned redder. "I did no—!"

"And the first to get caught on top of it!" Teddie added. "Now come, come, come! Or do you want to find out what Kanji means when you come back to the hotel!"

"I hate all of you!" Naoto pointed ahead of himself. "Yu, drive to the hotel so I can properly throttle each and every single of them!"

"Yeah, and I'll be nice and smooth so you can ease into it," Yu said, adjusting his glasses while sporting a solid poker face. "After all, we don't want to get too bumpy, do we? People are gonna say things if we're too obvious. Unless you're the take pride in that sort of thing, of course."

"I—" Naoto stammered, beet red. "Enough with the innuendo!"

"Time to get back into my seat!" Rise scrambled over the top of the backseat, rolling down to where her skirt flapped when she tumbled off center.

"Hey, careful Rise!" Chie's cheek was being pushed back. "You're foot's on me, and I can see your panties!"

"Hey, watch where you're staring!" Rise said that scoldingly, but only posed more provocatively, grinning at the other girls.

"You are a devil disguised as a holy idol," Chie said.

"Oh no, I'm a sinful little idol. What's going to happen with me?" Rise toyed with Chie and Yukiko, giving them a bashful, sweet look while putting her finger to her lips. "I might be on the receiving end of something you might regret~"

"Don't, fuck, in the squad car," Naoto repeated.

"I haven't fucked in the squad car!" Rise said, raising her finger. "Yet."

"Rise!" Naoto shouted.

"What! Everyone else has, and yet I haven't?" Rise said. "It's unfair! When's my turn?"

"Yeah, Naoto, come on!" Chie said.

"Yeah, Naoto," Yu said, lifting his chin calmly. "Come on."

"We will get! To the hotel!" Naoto grunted, moving their hands back and forth in front of their head. "Just, drive! Grahh!" The car started moving, the investigation team rolling out.

"...So whose shoulder is it?" Rise asked. "Is it Kanji's or—ohhh… I know whose shoulder it is." Now she snickered, kicking her feet in her seat. "Move out, Mystery Gang!"

"Hah…! Hah…! Hah…!" Akira slowed down her breathing. "...Finally." She leaned back in her seat at Café Leblanc, groaning loudly. "Those detectives nearly gave me a heart attack…"

"Do you truly hate detectives so?" Near asked. With those curious golden eyes, they approached Akira and stared at her. They put their thumb to their lips, watching with a blank, neutral stare.

They had an inner black ring in between their eyes. Unusual, even for how unusual they already were with the way those eyes shined golden. Like all the Shadows that they kept seeing. Did Near have a Shadow slumbering inside them?

"I hate corrupt cops, and you'll always find corrupt cops wherever you go. The system's never exactly as good as people claim it to be." Akira grabbed her cup of water, sipping it to calm down.

"Interesting. I'd make an argument in favor of detectives, but truly, if the legal system is corrupt, it should be broken down until it can be built anew to benefit the people. Not the people already in power. I won't pretend as if I can't see the issues." Near got onto the seat opposite of Akira, black-and-white striped socks on the cushion as they sat with one knee raised and the other crossed. "Besides, I don't care much for the decorum, so if someone says detectives and cops suck, I would be inclined to agree with them."

"You're a lot chattier than I'd expect out of you, you know?" Akira put her glass down, breathing softer. "You don't look like it, but you also know how to make your words hurt when it comes to dealing with awfuk people. You were poking Kamoshida at every turn back there, up until he had his change of heart."

"Yes, I have a habit of being quite vindictive when it comes to my enemies…" Near lowered their head, playing with their hair. Their lips taut. "I guess I never quite learned to keep my mouth shut when it comes to people I disagree with on a fundamental level. Otherwise? I tend to keep my mouth shut. I don't talk to many people."

Golden eyes sunken, the white-haired student now sighed deeply. "Truthfully, this is the most time I've ever spent in a group with anyone." They lifted their eyes Akira's way. "Other than school projects, but I detest those. Why must you work with people when nobody can coordinate, and neither teacher nor student, wishes to deal with them?"

"You're telling me," Akira said, raising her arms over head. "...But hey, we worked together, didn't we?"

Near blinked, lifting their head. "Yes… I suppose we did, didn't we?" they said, lips parting. "Initially, I merely wanted to escape danger with Mishima, and yet here you all were taking down Kamoshida on your own. Should I have just sat there and done nothing?"

"Yer there you were, coming up with plans behind our back. And doing all sorts of junk with your knives." Akira pointed at them with a smile. "Are you sure you're not some kind of naturally gifted, secret super genius?"

"Gifted… Yes, I was ascribed that once," Near said. "Don't take disobeying everyone's order to stay back the wrong way. I merely recognized the best way to put down Kamoshida was to deliberately play into what he wanted. Realizing that I could use myself as the bait, I took the perfect opportunity to momentarily disable him and set Mishima up to take the treasure off his head."

"That's a pretty smart plan…" Akira smirked. "But did you really have to wear the cute bunny outfit?"

Near pulled their head away, ducking to hide their cheeks. "It was strictly to perform the role. Nobody else should have had to seduce Lord Kamoshida, in fairness, and I realize in saying that, the thought would be rather disgusting. But distracting him was effective in the end."

"Okay, I see…" Akira snorted. "Well, you did look cute in it."

Near turned their head, grabbing their arm. "Don't toy with me."

"I'm just being honest!" Akira giggled, leaning forward. "Look, there's nothing wrong with admitting you looked adorable. Or are you so upset because you actually get shy once people start getting a rise out of you?"

"...Must I answer?" Near said, face more than pink by now.

"Daww, that's adorable!" Ann clapped her hands, now paying attention. "We should get Near a hoodie with bunny ears to commemorate the day they killed it out there!"

Near buried their head lower. "You can wipe it from your memory."

"Nope!" Ryuji said. "You're just going to have to deal with it!"

…Near sighed. "I suppose I will." They pulled their head back up. "But this has nothing to do with what I wished to speak about."

Straightening up, they rubbed their socks together, slipping one foot down to the floor. "So, when it comes to detectives, do you extend that hatred to all detectives? Or is there someone out there you hold an exception for? Perhaps L?"

"Well… he seems like a decent person. Or at least, seemed to be." Akira shook her head. "Not many people could stand up to Kira, you know? I'll be honest, I keep thinking Kira's going to come get me."

"I can tell you also hate Kira. It makes sense, given your background," Near said, drinking their water. "And if you could personally meet him, the real L that is, what would you do?"

"...That depends," Akira said. "If he's corrupt, I'd probably want to steer clear from him. If he's just? Then, I don't know, I'd shake his hand I guess. If he's a good guy, then I'd respect him pretty easily. But I could only hope that he isn't as bad as most cops."

"L was a very solitary individual, I'm sure you can imagine," Near said. "I was told that he, at times, employed a team of his own late in his life. …However, I asked why once, and I merely got the answer that he, liked them."

"Liked them?" Akira said. "So what? You met the guy?"

"...That's a question I'm not able to answer," Near said, hiding their eyes behind their head. "However, if I were to meet the man. …I'd want to know what made him tick. To catch Kira requires equal parts bravery and cunning, and the ability to be ruthless when it calls for it. After all, how do you catch a criminal who takes full advantage of the legal system? He does, after all, kill in a way that mimics our justice system."

"What do you mean?" Akira said, and the world began to fade into the black.

The student glowing white lifted their head, meeting the student glowing dark. Red eyes of a reaper meeting gold ones of a being from another world.

"Kira kills the guilty, or so he says. …But his killings include the falsely accused, and those are charged but their cases dropped before ever going to court. Even the ones who don't get charged can be killed," the gold-eyed student said. "Even those who earn innocent verdicts, they too are killed. It is just like how we treat people as criminals regardless of how innocent they are, as if anyone arrested must always be guilty. No exceptions. They say he's lenient on those who only commit minor crimes such as theft, yet we have cases of Kira killings of those exact people. Of course, we know through recordings and testimony that Kira doesn't just kill the guilty, either, but the rebellious…"

Near took their water glass, moving it forward like a chess player moving their pawn. "You, Akira, grasp all of this so easily, and yet you have no such ties to any sort of organization. …Have you been studying Kira? Do you come from an orphanage, and if so, from where?"

Akira put her hand on the table, pawn moving towards pawn. "It's true, I study Kira enough to want to take him down if I had the power to. I hate everything about a guy who can kill a person just by writing their name. And I do come from an orphanage."

"May I ask where the orphanage was?" Near said.

"...It burned down one day, so it's gone," Akira said. "And why?"

"Burned down…" Near said. "Sorry, my probing isn't intended to rip unpleasant feelings out from you. …But I also deeply desire to know the answer. As an orphan myself, I can't help but feel the need to know. And as someone who deeply hates Kira—"

"I want nothing more than to see the man fall," they both said, Akira knowing exactly how Near was going to finish that statement.

"You wouldn't be the first," Akira said, bringing her hand closer, advancing.

"Ah—" Near pulled back, blinking their otherworldly eyes. "...Yes, I would be but one of many."

"I wouldn't be the first one either, but I'll say this," Akira said. "I wasn't the one they picked."

"...I'm sorry," Near said.

With that, the world returned to normal, and Akira pushed herself away from the table. "Don't take this the wrong way. I just have a lot of sore spots regarding the place I grew up in."

Near looked lost, as if they had just a battle they didn't realize was being played. "...I understand entirely if that is your feelings. Please, take care of you yourself."

"Yeah, I will," Akira said, opening the door to Café Leblanc.

"That's why I'm taking you all with me to go hang out." Akira swung herself around, smiling. "Hope you're ready, because we're going to eat until we're sick!"

"Huhh?" Near blinked open their ethereal eyes, staring stunned at Akira.

Then they lowered their head, smiling while keeping their eyes shut. "...As expected, Kurusu Akira. You truly have the heart of someone who can sway the hearts of the people you surround yourself with." They tried not to reveal the single streak of tears forming on their face, for reasons they didn't even understand.

"I hope to see where you go. And that our paths are the same."

Chapter Text

Episode 23: New Game, New Challengers - Part 2

5/7,

"This is the place?" Near asked, looking around. "It's so… extravagant. It's so noisy. I don't really like crowds…"

"Oh, so you're a fussy little gremlin aren't you?" Ann said, leaning forward in her seat. "One of those types who would probably cling to someone if they got scared?"

"Don't call me a fussy gremlin," Near argued, speaking surprisingly soft for someone who was quick with their sharp remarks.

"Oh, so you're a fussy little tsundere on top of it?" Akira joked, laughing at the student shying further away.

"You're really wearing the school's girl outfit, too? Here of all places?" Ryuji said. "Ditched the pants and put on the skirt?"

"I never thought I could get away with wearing one at school. Not with Kamoshida there, at least," Near said, tugging on the hem of their skirt. "...It's new."

"See? I knew you'd look good in it," Mishima said, "But like, that was an obvious fact after we saw you in the bunnygirl suit."

"Stop bringing it up…" Near started to rub their long socks together, the same striped ones they wore with the suit earlier. "W-well then, shouldn't we start to eat?"

"How good are we on time?" Akira asked, raising her phone to check the time.

"Oh right, we only got an hour to eat!" Ryuji pulled himself out of his own seat. "I gotta get my hands on all the beef dishes!"

Ann got out of her seat. "Ah, I need to eat my way through the entire dessert menu!"

"Watch our stuff for us, team!" Ryuji bolted out of there to make his way to the buffet carts.

"Wait for me!" Ann started racing with him, hands waving in a panic.

When they both returned, it was with whole plates of food that shook and rattled while balanced on their arms.

"With that level of balance, why don't you consider part time jobs here?" Akira said. "Only if the pay is good."

"Are you going to eat all that?" Mishima asked, pointing at Ryuji's many meat meals.

"Of course I'm gonna stuff all this protein into me! Gotta take the opportunity to get big, you know?"" Ryuji put down enough meat dishes that it was as if he picked up the entire cart's menu. Ham steak. Beef stew. Chicken steak. Beef steak. Beef steak shaped like Akechi's face. Even beef steak with the word 'Fsteak' grilled into Akechi's face.

"Where do I even start here?" Ann looked at all the sweet dishes. Pancakes topped with whipped cream and thick helpings of honey and cinnamon. Tiramisu. Tres leches. Chocolate volcano cake. Red velvet cake. Blue velvet cake. Blue velvet pancakes also shaped like Akechi's face.

"Why is this guy plastered on the food here?" Mishima asked. "What, does he have like a special deal with the place?"

"Beats me," Sojiro said, sighing and getting up. "I'll go get my own things. Ann, Ryuji? Eat and watch our things."

"You got it, boss!" Ryuji said, raising his thumb devouring the face of the Fsteak-approved Akechi.

"Wait!" Akira said, taking a photo of the bitten Fsteak Akechi. "I want to remember that this exists." She brought her phone to Ann, taking a picture of Pancake Akechi.

"You at least got something for us, right?" Morgana asked. "You know I can't show my face too much, right?"

"Well…" Ryuji scarfed half the meat boy's head off. "I didn't know what you wanted, so I just got you those soybeans over here." He slid the last of his plates over to Morgana.

"Beans?!" Morgana squeaked.

"There were some pretty bizarre things over there, so we grabbed you what we saw. Fried bananas, preserved eggs, oh, and some beans," Ann said while sliding her last plate to him. A mysterious, strange dish perhaps as foul as the worst curry known to the world.

"More beans?!" Morgana's eyes went white as his mouth dropped in shock. "Agh, this is depressing…"

Ann laughed with her eyes shut. "We put so much that it got all mixed up, but it should probably still taste good!"

"So grotesque!" Morgana grumbled, putting his paws on the table. "Listen up, stragglers! I say we go and fetch ourselves some dishes of our own! We must enjoy the taste of fine dining!"

"It would be very lovely to be able to do that and skip on the bill, but my master would likely not have that…" Arsène whispered from within Akira to the other thieves. "Well, you enjoy yourselves. I don't need to eat necessarily, but I get as much enjoyment as Lady Akira would."

"It's like a meaty explosion in my mouth…" Ryuji said as he wolfed up his beef stew.

"Ugh, I'm ruining my whole diet right now, but I don't care!" Ann scooped the cream off of her Pancake Akechi and stuffed it into her mouth.

"They've lost themselves," Near said, rising up. "They've lost themselves to the indulgent, ever powerful sin of gluttony."

"Welp, time for us to get lost in it too!" Mishima said as he pulled himself out of his seat, scratching around the lower section of his eye wrap.

"What delightfully devilish dishes await," Akira said. The four of them headed over to the food buffet, marveling at the delicious meals for themselves.

"The ingredients and variety are top notch at this place! As expected from a top-class hotel," Morgana said, before peeking his head higher. "Ooh! Aki, get me that fatty tuna, and that Tilefish Poele—whatchamacallit!"

"Spending is… strange to me, especially so lavishly. I barely know where to start and end." Near snatched a chocolate cupcake and a plate of two lobster tails. "I'll take these though, but must we really only have an hour to eat? I dislike being rushed."

"That just means you gotta pace yourself, Near. Less time chitchatting, more time chowing down!" Mishima said. "Ooh, I'll take that! And that and that and this!"

Of those who had gotten their foods, Mishima's looked the most varied. A full-course meal with soup, fanciful breadsticks, a fresh helping of shrimp alfredo pasta and two scoops of ice cream with a melting chocolate cookie stacked on top.

"Heh-heh…" Morgana quietly snuck away a plate of pricey-looking sushi into Joker's bag before anyone could see, before peeking up at Mishima. "Is that all you're getting?"

"Why bloat yourself?" Mishima said. "It's better to snag the good stuff and make it last. I don't even think I'd have space in my stomach after finishing this off."

"What? Come on, it's a buffet!" Morgana argued whilst swiping two plates of octopus sashimi. "You gotta get your bang for your buck! Akira knows it, right Akira?"

Akira was silently rolling a chain of marshmallows through layers and layers of chocolate from the fountain.

"Shh…" Akira lifted her finger. "If I do not get this sugar in me, my intellectual abilities will be rendered null when the time comes."

"Annnd…" Akira took a plate of broccoli, passing it to the smaller student. "Here, Near, to grow up big and strong. Or at least healthy."

"Have you heard, darling?" a woman nearby said.

Akira gasped. "Was that you, err, me?" She was trying to speak to her Shadow.

"You'd know if it were me, sweetie. You'd be shivering all over once my voice reaches your ear." Shadow Akira appeared beside her just to cup her cheek fondly, then disappeared.

Akira lowered her head, unable to keep herself from listening in. Two women were talking to one another. Rich socialites, so it appeared.

"The news about that Kamoshida fellow was absolutely dreadful!"

"That teacher at Shujin Academy? Caught doing such indecent acts! Shameful, really. And they still haven't solved those horrible mental shutdowns, have they?"

"Perhaps it's a sign of how lazy this country is getting! I mean, look around. All these kids, so focused on their games and their silly devices, and yet none of them want to work! It's that mentality that we need to get rid of!" The woman speaking fanned her hand before grabbing her own phone, eyes glued as she skimmed for any news relevant to her. "Ah… I honestly pity those Shujin students, though."

"Why pity them? Everyone in there should have known better than to fall for the schemes of some lowlife creep!" the other woman said. "Well, we can rely on Kira to clean that mess up."

Arsène surfaced out of Akira like a ghost phasing through a wall, reaching for that woman's phone to knock it out of her hands—

"Stop," Akira commanded the thief beholden to her.

"They are trying my patience!" Arsène said, fire breathing out of his mask.

"Hmm?" The woman on the phone turned her head and saw Akira, who was dressed in her Shujin uniform. "...Eww, a freeloader."

"I, will—!" Arsène clenched his hands as more flames hissed out of him like a roaring furnace. But he chose to clutch his head, walking away.

"I can't do this, I can't." Flames burned around Arsène who reverted back to Shadow Akira, phasing back into the body of her master and fading away. "Wake me up when it's over. That being said, I probably won't be able to rest."

"How did a child like this end up here?" the arrogant rich woman said. "I certainly hope she didn't bring friends! I prefer my meals, hooligan, free."

Shadow Akira rose back up as if rising out of a coffin. "Say another word, and I will destroy every buffet cart here. And I will make sure it splatters your everything!"

"Calm down," Akira whispered to herself. "They're not worth it."

"This is why crime is so high in our country! It's filth like this with no manners sneaking into places they don't belong to!" the woman spat at Akira, seeing her presence as an excuse to talk down to someone.

"I paid for my time, thank you," Akira said. She took the last of her sweets and walked away, saying nothing at all while the woman huffed at her.

"Too bad we can't do anything about these people…" Morgana said. "Still, it looks like word is getting around about Kamoshida!"

"Let's see what the other people here are saying," Akira said. "...I just sure hope my other self doesn't do anything reckless."

The other voices she eavesdropped on weren't much better. More rumors about Kamoshida. An IT company executive chasing info just to increase the ratings of his network, who even told a subordinate to accept false reports, even make them up if they had to in order to bring in the attention.

Some officer was speaking to another man about Kamoshida, saying he should've kept his head down low and understood his lot in life as a teacher.

"It's not even an incident we can take seriously! The whole story is pretty ridiculous, but we're forced to look into it anyway. Maybe we can get one of those of the other low-ranking scrubs to do it." The officer started to walk away without paying heed to Akira or Morgana.

"So they don't believe it happened, but they're chasing after it anyways?" Morgana pulled his head out of the bag. "What's the catch?"

"He's going to be showing himself soon. We don't want to keep him waiting, so move," the officer said.

"What is he going to discuss with the higher-ups? Well, I suppose it's more important than lunch," his fellow officer said as both left the restaurant.

"Hmm…" Akira put her thumb to her lip. "So, some big shot with ties to the police is here."

"I wonder who," Morgana said. "But let's not get involved. After all, you don't want trouble with the cops. Let's head back to the others."

"Woah-hoh-hoh! Look at the biggest eater in the room!" Ryuji turned to see all the plates Akira came back with. Whole stacks worth, including stuff Ryuji hadn't even seen before. "What do you think about getting your hands on such ritzy food?"

"None of this will ever beat dad's curry," Akira admitted. "But—!"

She raised her first plate of steak. "I'm eating my money's worth." Grinning like a shark, her red eyes beamed with an ominous flare.

"You're going to keep calling me that, aren't you?" Sojiro sighed, waving his hand around. "Also, it's not my fault if you eat so much that you end up getting sick."

"Heh, it's cute hearing that from someone like you! Just don't get too wild, Aki-Aki," Ryuji said towards Akira, rolling his head back.

"You're the last guy I want to hear that from, Ryuji," Morgana said, eyeing all the plates he cleared entirely on his own.

Ryuji leaned forward. "You got as much as I did, Mona! Is that even going to fit your cat stomach?"

"I'm a human, so I gotta eat a human diet!" Morgana took out the last of the plates he silently pilfered, lapping up his grilled tuna.

"...I might have to clean my bookbag later," Akira said as a reminder to herself. "Food now, scrub later." She kept digging into her meals, fork and knife clacking on the plates.

"Oh, give me that crab meat!" Morgana said, with Akira sliding the plate to the blue-eyed kitty.

"I don't think you two are going to finish all that," Mishima pointed out.

"There's no telling when we'll get to come back here!" Morgana told them, lifting his head up from his plate. "So, you gotta eat big!"

"Yeah, but it'd be a shame if all of this food goes to waste after you got so much," Ann said. "Why don't you all help?"

"They were the ones who got more than their stomachs can handle. They'll be the ones who will pay the price," Sojiro said. "Some lessons can only be learned by being defeated by your own hubris."

"I could still eat." Ryuji stretched his arms, cracking his knuckles. "Give me all the meats!"

"I mean, if they really need me to help out, then I suppose I can…" Mishima pushed up from his seat. "Alright, gimme the good stuff! Gimme the bad stuff, I don't care! I'll eat all of it!"

Near swiped a deliciously rich chocolate cake piece. "This is all I'm taking,"

"Why don't you join in too?" Ryuji asked Ann.

"Me? Oh, I couldn't. I'm absolutely stuffed!" Ann turned away, raising her plate of red velvet cake.

"Uh-huh? Sure, Ann." Ryuji snickered. "Oh well! Let's do this, team—"

Fifteen minutes before the clock ran out, Ryuji, Akira, Mishima and Morgana groaned in defeat. Each one slumped either against the table or their own seat.

"Even with an iron gut… I can't bulldoze through this one," Akira said, squinting. "Not yet. Not yet…"

"All that work and we barely made a dent—" Morgana hacked dryly. "...In the last of the plates."

"Yeah, gonna have to fold—urk!" Ryuji covered his fist over his mouth. "Ugh, scratch that! I need the bathroom!" He got up and scrambled for someplace to hurl.

"Yeah, I'm coming with!" Mishima threw himself away from the table, sprinting after Ryuji.

"Dum-dums…" Near huffed, finishing off the last of their cake. "Why didn't you all fold before you got sick?"

"I thought I could do it. I really thought I could, Near," Akira said, letting out a puff of smoke in the shape of a skull. Her stomach was as large as a balloon, and she did not want to get up.

"That's what you get," Sojiro said, finally putting down his second bowl of soup.

"My, look at that table…" A rich couple passed right by them, with the wife stopping to gawk.

"Come now, pay them no attention!" the man said. "I'm sure they must not normally have the chance to eat such exquisite food."

"I can only imagine what their parents must be like," the wife said, laughing in such a way that it was like her voice was made of money.

There was a hard and sudden slam from the table itself.

"Woah!" Ann pulled herself back.

Near quietly put their plate down, shoving themselves upwards. Garnering the attention of the rich couple who now looked shocked.

"Those are some bold words. I assume you must be parents, as well?" Near asked, head kept low.

"Er—" The husband stumbled, and that was all Near needed to know.

"Tell me, do your own kids love you? Or do they only love you for your money?"

The student lifted their head, casting an inhuman gaze upon the hapless pair of snobs. A shockwave of power pulsed from their eyes, blowing the hair and clothes of the rich couple.

Near smiled ruthlessly. "Or do they only pay lip service in order to cling to what money they'll inherit from you?" The student lifted their finger tauntingly. "I bet you don't even know the first thing about how to properly raise a child. Were you handled by the servants of your own parents who were too busy up their own asses to pass down a smidgen of empathy to you? No wonder you're blackhearts who dress themselves in gold to fill the void. What a petty existence it must be to be both rich and spiteful that you are divorced from both your parents and your children and shall be forever left alone together with the only person whom you can share your hatred with."

"Near, did you come to murder them?" Ann leaned back, shocked. "Wow…"

"...Well." The wife fidgeted with her hair and her clothes. "I'd never. Someone put a muzzle on this one."

"Your outfits are as basic as those of the entire clientele," Near said, snapping their fingers before pointing at the man's expensive suit and the woman's red dress. "You and everyone here looks like you're all vying to be the same persons just like the guys in the office Patrick Bateman works in. Do you spend all day droning on about how intricate your business cards are? When you show them to people, do you imagine you're a samurai swiping your sword because it's the only thrill you can get in your dull, poisonous lives?"

"...Okay, and who do you think you are?" the husband said.

"I don't need to be anyone to know I'm dealing with rich, elitist nobodies. You all are copy and pasted from the same blueprint," Near said, bringing their hand back to them. "Class? Dignity? What great lies you tell yourselves. If there was ever such a thing as noblesse oblige, then you spit in the face of everything it represents. You're just turds with crowns on their heads."

The woman blinked, shaking her head back and forth. "Noblesse… what?"

"That's funny, I thought the rich were supposed to be the educated ones here," Near said, turning around. "Let me know when your children return your calls. I'm out of here."

"I think we should leave as well," the husband said to the wife.

"It's funny, because you came to bring your problems to us uninvited!" Near spat, walking away to find the bathroom.

"...Holy cow," Ann said, watching the rich snobs leave. "Is Near always like that?"

"I can't believe that tiny chihuahua could say such things…" the woman said, actually sounding hurt.

"There there, dear…" The husband looked back, glancing at Near hatefully.

The instant Near's head snapped back, a second shockwave rolled over the man and sent a frightening chill over the man. Causing him to turn away with an audible yelp.

"Fools," Near said, kicking one foot before leaving.

"Now I kind of wish I was the one who did that," Akira said, before her stomach started to quiver. "Ugh, and now I think I have to use the bathroom."

"Guh… blegh!"

"You're doing great, buddy! It's almost over!" Mishima said, hanging outside the stall.

Ryuji opened the door, walking over to the sink and washing his hands. And his mouth. "Gah, too much meat!"

"We told you," Mishima said. "I'm just glad I folded earlier than you. It took me half as long to finish back there compared to you."

Ryuji exited the bathroom with Mishima, right on time for Akira, Morgana and Near to come out of the girl's bathroom. All waiting for the elevator to open.

"I know there's a saying about eating until you puke, but that doesn't mean we should've actually eaten until we did it," Morgana said, dry heaving in disgust over having ate so much.

"Yeah, I should've listened to Sojiro…" Akira agreed. "By the way, Near, do you think you'll get banned from here for that incident?"

"Who knows? Not that I particularly care," Near said. "This place is too glitzy for my liking. I'd actually have preferred someplace more casual. Or rather, with less eyes on us."

"Good point." Akira found her cheeks puffing up from the air leaving her stomach. "Ugh, next time? Let's pick some place nicer."

"How are you supposed to even stand it? What, is there like a rulebook on how to properly be a rich snob?" Mishima shook his head, blinking his eye. "Maybe I can find it and change the rules so people will stop being such jerks."

"Now you're thinking like a proper rogue, Mishima," Morgana said. "Hee-hee. Wha—?!"

Suddenly Morgana was pushed alongside Akira's bag. A whole group of men in suits shoved in between Akira and Ryuji just to cut before them, pushing the button to open the elevator.

"Hey, what's the big idea! There's no need to cut in, there isn't even a line!" Ryuji yelled, stomping his foot and swinging his arm.

"Does it matter? We're in a hurry," said the man leading them. A man with a bald head, a goatee and—

Akira's eyes grew so wide as she let out a silent gasp, staring at the man's brown eyes hidden behind his orange glasses.

"So you can be assholes to people and it's fine so long as you're in a hurry?" Ryuji said, getting in close before being shoved away by one of the man's guards.

"Sir, we don't have time for this," said another one of his men.

"I know," his boss said, turning his head to Ryuji while waiting for the elevator. "I didn't realize the customer base has changed since I last came here. Have they started a daycare?"

"Don't patronize me!" Ryuji snapped at him.

"You're barely worth my time," the man said. "Do you know what I could do to you? All I need is a name and your face is history."

Now Near gasped, squinting their eyes. "...Shido Masayoshi. Member of Japan's Diet. Head of the United Future Party. And Minister of Special Missions."

The student tilted their head, their cautious eyes void of even a shred of kindness.

"You heard about this guy?" Ryuji said to Near.

"How could I not fixate on politics nowadays? It's both depressing and impossible to ignore," Near said.

"You think you can just spout a bunch of titles as if that will be enough to make me cower?" Shido said. "Don't make a mockery of me, kid. I have more than enough people at my back and L on the line. I could make your life a living hell if you so much as—"

"Excuse me, did you just say L?" Near said.

Ding! The elevator opened in front of Shido, who didn't step inside.

"Sir, it's time to move—" his underling said.

Shido stopped the man from speaking, lifting his hand. Watching and waiting for Near's reaction.

"Heh-hah… Eh-hee-hee-hee! Hahahahah!" Near threw their head back and snorted loudly. "Wow!"

Throwing their head back down, the smile on their face wasn't ruthless, but it was far more haunting than any grin Near gave before. "Do you really think you can make me cower by threatening me with a copycat?"

"And who do you think you are?" Shido said. "Or, what? Do you think you can do better?"

"Actually, why yes! Yes, I could!" Near leaned forward. "Tell me, if your L is as good as you're drumming him up to be, why hasn't he caught Kira after a decade? After all, we know there were some great leaps made in the pursuit before the case went cold."

"That's what I want to know. And your name?" Shido twisted his eyebrows, holding his fist tight.

"Watch out, we got someone who thinks he's Kira over here!" Near taunted him right to his face. "Oh no, whatever will he do with my name? Get me killed by a heart attack?"

"Grrh…" Shido lifted his head, but held back.

"Sir, where have you been!"

From the elevator, out came not one, but three individuals. The detective in blue from before and their silver-eyed companion. Alongside a tall, professional, young-looking man with brown hair.

He looked at his own silver watch, then at Shido. "We have a meeting together to discuss the next investigation. It's best that we don't take too long, Minister Shido" the man said politely, ushering Shido to join him.

"Is there an update on the case?" Shido asked.

Naoto gasped before speaking up. "Not yet, but I do have to ask. Why are you so interested in Shujin when it's not something related to your own campaign—"

"I don't care about your opinion, you incompetent buffoons! All I'm saying is to pick up the pace, so do it now!"

"It was already in the plan," the brown-haired man standing in front of Naoto said. "Please, calm down Mr. Shido."

"My patience is being tested here. Too much rotten filth," Shido said, walking into the elevator with his guards.

Yu caught a glimpse of Akira right before the doors closed, something Akira noticed immediately as she caught his scowl.

"So, what the hell happened to that medalist that resulted in him making such an insufferable blunder?" Shido said, impatiently waiting for the elevator to go up. "Argh, and here I was preparing to make whole teams of championship winners flying our colors from that school. I knew I shouldn't have left this to the principal just for him to muck it up."

The brown-haired man in front of Naoto and Yu answered his question, "We can confirm that before the man made a confession, there was a calling card pasted all around the school. It's impossible to say who put them there, but there's also implications that there were students that could have forced a confession out of him somehow. All of this was gathered by the investigation team between the time that Mr. Kamoshida made his confession and now."

"Good, good…" Shido said. "I'll have my team scrub the videos of his confession off the internet. We can't afford to cause any unnecessary stirs."

"But, sir," Naoto spoke up. "He's a criminal for numerous crimes of physical and sexual assault. Shouldn't we focus on dealing with him immediately?"

"Those are crimes that he'll have to answer to Kira for. That's not our problem to worry about right now," Shido told them. "No, what we need is to find out exactly who was responsible for blackmailing Kamoshida into speaking up. I'll have the SIU director notify the principal beforehand. I trust that your investigation team will be able to track the movements of a handful of brats?"

"...Like I said, we've just found cause to advance and take on the Shujin Academy case, with new data that might bring us closer to the suspects even before the investigation started," the young brown-haired man said, reaching up with his black glove. "That being said, some of these investigation team members are nominal volunteers at best. They lack the proper credentials, and would need the proper clearance to perform all the functions needed."

"Then give them clearance to do their job and be done with it," Shido spat. "These are the people who captured the Inaba Foggy Day murderer, yes? Why are you hesitating at this point? Make each of them full fledged members of the Task Force, now!"

"...If you say so, Minister Shido." The brown-haired man nodded. "Yu, Naoto? You have full clearance to deputize your allies onto this new investigation team. I'm sure Mr. Dojima will be pleased to hear that."

"If there is another person out there who can manipulate the Collective Unconscious, I want them removed by any means. Any single unauthorized Persona Wielder could become a threat to this country." Shido folded his arms. "We can't have that."

"Which is why we'll send Persona Wielders to catch Persona Wielders," the brown-haired man said. "You're right that an unauthorized user could become a threat. After all, they could do any number of untold crimes and never get caught. The former terrorist group, Strega. The Inaba murderer. And of course, we still suspect Kira to be a metaphysical assassin of some kind. Thus, my proposal to adapt the old Task Force to be equipped to handle these crimes. Let's use the metaphysical world against them."

Yu narrowed his eyes, keeping his head low but his gaze squarely on Shido.

Shido turned his gaze back. "Yes… And each member of the Inaba Investigation Team is equipped with a Persona of their own?"

"Well—" The young man chuckled, giving a disarming smile as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's embarrassing to say, but I'm the only one who can't use a Persona myself. But, that hasn't stopped us from doing our job. I'm their mission control."

A dark grin showed itself on Shido's face as he turned away, hidden from the others. "Good."

…Yu tightened his grip on his sleeves, arms crossed as he looked on in silence.

"Keep some eyes on those Persona Wielders, we need to study their movements. And if they remain threats, then I want each of them to understand what happens when you cross the Head of the United Future Party," Shido told them.

The door to the elevator opened, Shido leading them to the highest floor. "Now come. We have much more to discuss."

"Right!" the young man said, looking back at his team and nodding. "Let's move."

Chapter Text

Episode 24: New Game, New Challengers - Part 3

"Woah, what happened here?" Akira said.

Ann was wiping chocolate off her jacket. "Some rude rich lady bumped into me, then blamed me for getting in her way. I was standing there and she wasn't watching where she was going! Ugh, now I need to take this to the laundry…" She took it off, rolling it under her arm with a huff of disdain.

"We done here? The food was great, but the snobs here all suck. This is why I never go to these places. Well that and because of the sensory overload of my daug—" Sojiro coughed. "Nevermind."

"I think we're just about done here," Ryuji said. "Come on, let's go hang out at the park or something."

"Yeah… Let's get out of here." Akira kept her head low, following him out of the place.

…Ryuji sat down at the park bench, cracking open a soda. "Ugh, I could use a drink after that. I mean, soda's not good for a runner, but hey, everyone's got their vices." Raising his hand, he put the bottle to his mouth and chugged.

"Who was that guy, though?" Mishima asked, hands in his pockets as he hung under the shade of a nearby tree. "You'd think that a politician like that would at least try to actually care about people. Nothing like Mr. Tora." He took out his phone, brought to his eyes.

"Honestly, I wish I had Tora's conviction. Because then I could've actually said something to that man's face," Akira said. "I froze up back there."

…Staring down at the sidewalk, Akira gripped her water bottle tight. Her memory flashed back to the day she got arrested. Seeing those hate-filled eyes of that bald man.

Now she had a name to attach to that man's face.

"Shido Masayoshi," Akira said.

Mishima's phone started to flicker under the sunset, a voice coming from it. "One Masayoshi Shido found. Insert Keywords."

"Huh?" Akira lifted her head.

"I was just messing around with the Meta-Nav. I didn't think it'd activate from you saying his name, though. See?" Mishima lifted his phone, showing her the Meta-Nav app. Right there, all in English, there was Shido's name. Alongside a map of Japan.

"Wait, do you all realize what this means?" Morgana pulled himself up from the bench he was resting on, hopping over to Mishima's shoulder.

"Well, if it's a hit then it probably means it's…" Ryuji's eyes opened wide. "Oh."

"Ohhh-hoh-hoh-hoh!" He hit his hand and fist together. "He's gotta be just like Kamoshida! Another Palace Ruler, right before our eyes!"

"Shido?" Ann asked, bringing out her hand. "Who's this Shido?"

"The head of the United Future Party," Near explained.

"And the man who threw Akira into jail for forcing—!" Ryuji stopped, looking around before realizing no one was there, but quieting down regardless with a stern finger raised. "Look, he's the guy who set Akira up to get arrested because he was drunk and trying to sexually assault a woman."

"I see," Ann said.

"...Do you need me to get a bag of bricks?" Ann offered. "I know someone who can get me a whole bag of them."

"No need!" Morgana grabbed Mishima's phone and looked at it. "Once we find out the keywords, we can get in there and steal his heart! It must be hard to get passwords out of a high-ranking official, though. None of us are nearly important enough to get an audience with him."

"Unfortunately, I could say I should've been able to get close to him, …but that ship has long since sailed," Near said, letting go of their hair. "I'm in the same pit as Akira here. A not so ordinary orphan at a not so ordinary school."

"Well, if we can't figure it out now, we can always try to brute force it! Once you have the name, you need the location of the palace in the real world and then the idea of what the palace should be!" Morgana tapped the phone, activating it. "Kingdom!"

BZZT! A red X showed up on the Meta-Nav screen.

"Heaven! Space! Mount Fuji!" Morgana said.

The Meta-Nav buzzed several times.

"Mreogh!" Morgana huffed. "I'll be at this all week if I have to!"

"Woah, hang on!" Sojiro clicked his tongue. "What's this talk about going into his Palace? Kamoshida was one thing, but don't tell me you're trying to do it again? You don't even know the guy!"

"But he's a big name! And probably one of the most important figures in the country out there!" Morgana argued.

"I don't care, you'd be waltzing right into a trap," Sojiro said. "As a parent and guardian, how am I supposed to let you all march to your deaths while trying to take down some, some big shot politician like you're a bunch of freedom fighting vigilantes? What am I going to say to the people who take care of you that I let you all die in a world where I can't even recover the bodies from, or got you all shot in the head because you got too close to a dangerous man?"

"But…" Morgana said, trying to argue against Sojiro only for his mouth to close.

"I mean it, kids. That Shido? I may not know the full details, but I know more than enough to know that Shido is a dangerous man." Sojiro pulled his hat over one eye. "I'll say it once now. Don't go after him. You shouldn't even be trying to continue this job. We were cutting it close against Kamoshida as it were."

"What?" Ann threw her hand out. "But Sojiro, look at how we helped people! We caught a dangerous criminal when no one else would or even could!"

"And that's great, I won't deny it. But I mean it when I say Shido's out of your league," Sojiro said. "I helped back there because I have a duty to protect you kids, but that doesn't mean I can encourage you to keep going. Sorry, but if you know what's good for you—No, if you understand that this path will only get you in more and more danger, you'll stop this job immediately."

Sojiro put his hands in his pockets, walking away. "I'm going to wait at the station. I want to hear nothing more of this take-his-heart talk. Just live normal lives for your own sakes."

He left the park, heading towards the subway.

"It looks like Sojiro is leaving the team, guys…" Ryuji frowned as he watched him go, reaching out. "No… Mr. Cool Gunman, don't go."

Akira huffed. "Yeah? Well—!" She lifted her head up. "Then we don't need him."

"Isn't that harsh, Akira? Isn't he basically your dad?" Ann told her.

"If he has any idea of who I am, who we are, then he knows we're not afraid of what's to come," Akira said. "As much as I'd like him to join us, we can do our job regardless. I'm not about to sit down and let someone like Shido put me down anymore."

There was anger burning in her eyes, roaring like a flame. "People like Shido and Kamoshida exist all over the place, and plenty of people need to see them come crashing down." She brought a hand out, swinging it around as she looked at her friends. "Everyone here is either a Persona User or capable of doing something in the Metaverse. Why shouldn't we use this power to turn life around for people!"

"...Heh." Ryuji lifted his head, giving a beaming grin. "All those peeps out there who had no other choice but to put up with Kamoshida are probably thankin' us for what we did! I know I would if I saw the calling card, you know, instead of making it. "

"I… I guess I agree," Ann said, looking away. "I mean, if I ignored people in need of help, I'd just go back to being who I was before we took down Kamoshida." She looked at Akira head-on now. "I'm in. Let's crush some villains and help people at the same time."

"I really have a problem with the holier-than-thou types. It's a bad habit. I just can't help from wanting to see their world collapse." Near lifted their knee where they sat and put their elbow against it, smiling like an imp. "Which is to say that I have no reason not to assist you all. It'll be a pleasure to keep working with you."

"Yeah! And I can help out in plenty of other ways that don't require a Persona! You don't know how many people are out there who need saving!" Mishima hopped forward, lifting his phone again. "Just give me one day, I'll make it all possible before class even starts!"

"Of course, you'll have my tutelage," Morgana said with confidence as he stretched his body, lifting his chin. "There's nothing we can't accomplish as phantom thieves."

"What do you say, Akira? Why on earth should we stop now when there's so much to do! We're gonna catch all the shitty adults, and make a name for ourselves in this world!" Ryuji said. As both he and the others turned to her, waiting to see what she'd say.

Akira lowered her head, thinking of exactly what to say.

"When I said you've got an iron will, I meant it. You're a gutsy kid. It's like you're on another level." She remembered the way Dr. Takemi spoke of her. Her blunt honesty weaved into her care.

"Don't go snooping around and digging up info on people just for being themselves. They haven't earned any of this flak." She heard Iwai say to her, standing up to defend someone he didn't even know, even if it didn't seem like it.

"With true conviction, your voice will become the new beacon of hope for those who seek it!" She recalled Tora declaring to her with the same conviction he saw in her.

"As the spirit that speaks for Akira's inner self, I would not allow a man like that to go unchecked," the memory of Arsène told her, ignited with the same flame of passionate righteousness.

"A new king of shadow must lead their followers into the realm beyond to take down the false king of light," L reminded her.

Akira could think of all the people she's met. Both the ones who changed her life for the better, and the ones whose lives she changed.

"Alright," Akira said. Throwing her head up high, she hit her palm and fist together. "We're not stopping. Whether Sojiro is with us or not, we're thieves to the end!"

"Woo-hoo!" Morgana did a flip out of excitement. "Now all we need is a name!"

"Right!" Ryuji leaned forward. "I went with the Phantom Thieves of Hearts for the first card, but what do you all think we should settle on? Shouldn't it be something really cool?"

"Ooh, it should be both cute and luxurious-sounding!" Ann brought one hand and flicked it. "Ah, what about The Diamonds?"

"What are we, baseball players, Ann?" Ryuji asked, looking at her and sighing.

"Okay, then what about The Pink Diamonds!" Ann suggested.

"Now we sound like we're strippers, Ann," Akira said with a squint, her face shriveling up.

"Oh…" Ann said.

"...Now if you want us to be strippers—!" Akira said, tilting her head the other direction with a pair of wide, inspired eyes.

"Oh my god, no!" Ann snorted. "God, you're a horny dum-dum."

"It's not my fault you came up with the stripper team name!" Akira defended herself with, laughing with her.

"Watch the Pink Diamonds, live at midnight!" Ann said, sweeping her hand around. "Okay, I see your point. Hee-hee!"

"I'm afraid I couldn't come up with a good name," Near said. "I'd probably come up with like the Rogue Investigation Team. And that'd be boring."

"What about Tilefish Poele?" Morgana said. "I ate it earlier. It's commemorative no?"

"Okay, I'm going to vote to veto that one." Near squinted. "Sorry, Morgana, but we are not a fish meal."

"Why not just keep the name?" Akira suggested. "We are the Phantom Thieves who steal the hearts of others. …Doesn't that sound good enough?"

Ryuji lifted his head, swinging it back and shaking it. "Yeah, yeah! You're right, Aki-Aki! Why didn't I tell us to stick with it?"

"Aki-Aki?" Akira giggled, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.

"Yep!" Ryuji snapped his fingers. "I'm all in on the Phantom Thieves! We'll call ourselves that for short."

"You know? It does sound perfect to me!" Ann agreed. "And perfect for our line of work."

"Heck yeah!" Mishima swung his fist. "I never got to say it earlier, but it's so awesome…"

"No complaints here," Near said, playing with their hair.

"Then it's settled! From now on, we're the Phantom Thieves!" Morgana brought his paw out, and the rest of them joined in.

Ryuji looked up to the sky, seeing the sun fall. "Ah, crap we're gonna be late! I wonder if my mom's going to be upset by me having another sleepover."

"Just tell her you're staying over to study for your exams! I mean, you do need to work on your studies, Ryuji. You don't want to miss out on the fun stuff because of poor grades, do you?" Ann said.

"Good point!" Ryuji said. "I know I should study, but aww man, I'm so excited! Come on, let's hit the road! Last one there buys the winner a drink!" He motioned with his hand for them to follow, hastily running to the station.

"Hey, wait up! You're an ex-runner, no fair!" Ann laughed, struggling to keep pace with the boy.

"You just gotta keep up, Aki-Aki!" Ryuji laughed right back, first in the lead as the sun started to fall over their heads.

"...What do you think about them?" Watching from the hotel window, Naoto stared down at the group of kids rushing and chasing after each other playfully. Turning around to the young, silver-haired man with his jacket halfway draped off him. Leaning tired in his seat by the kitchen counter in their hotel.

"Those kids? Or Shido and the police chief?" Yu wrung his wrist, idly twirling a bamboo sword before straightening his back, leaning forward. "I'm going to be honest, even if he's running for Prime Minister, I don't trust Shido as far as I can throw him."

"And you can throw pretty far!" Teddie said, the short blonde boy contently digging into a plate of chocolate cake. "What about the other guy?"

"He's too… safe," Yu said. "Dojima already filled me in. He's an incredibly skilled detective and popular all around. But something about the way he looks at you feels off. It's like he's never seeing you, and only right through you."

"Unlike you, who cuts right through everything with those eyes of yours?" Kanji asked, setting down a pitcher of freshly-squeezed juice.

"I mean it always seems like he's planning something," Yu said, grabbing the glass for himself. "Of course, he's already skilled enough to command this investigation team, but to do that without a Persona of his own? The force must have a lot of confidence in his skills…"

"Should we trust him?" Naoto said. "That Shido fellow seems to put a lot of trust in him. But what if it turns out that we have to start looking into Shido or even put him behind bars? We're being very careful to not set off any alarms as it is."

"Let's start by calling everyone in," Yu said.

The steel-eyed samurai whistled by putting his fingers between his lips, getting the team out of their rooms.

"What's up?" Chie said, tugging on her large green trenchcoat. "Good news or bad news?"

"Yeah, Yu, spill it," Rise said, hands behind her back as she walked in with Yukiko and the others.

"Good news?" Yu took a deep breath. "Well that depends on your perspective of taking on a dangerous job. How does being an official member of the new Task Force sound?"

Chie's eyes lit up instantly. "Aahh—!"

"Working under Deputy Director Dojima and the Chief of Police," Yu clarified, tossing a card over to Chie.

"Eeeeee!" Bouncing on her toes, Chie snatched the card into her hands and brought it to her eyes. "Finally, employment! …What the heck happened to my last name?"

"Do you want to run around with your first and last name on your I.D while there's a killer who takes down anyone who gets in his way?" Naoto pointed out.

"From now on, all of our last names will be stricken from public records while we work as members on the Task Force for Metaphysical Investigations," Yu went on to say. "Anyone who looks for us in any ordinary police records will only find aliases."

"Like Yu Narakuma?" Teddie asked.

"Exactly," Yu said.

"Oh, good point," Chie said. "...So are you implying what I think you're implying?"

"That depends. What do you think I'm implying?" Yu asked.

"You know…" Chie brought her new I.D card out. "Special officers with names struck from the records? I.Ds meant to serve as cover from a supernatural killer? Come on, come on. Say it, Yu. I've been waiting for this one."

The eager, newly-deputized officer got up in Yu's face. "Say it. I'm not gonna leave you be until you say it."

Yu grunted once. "We are members of the Kira Task Force—"

"Woooo-hoooh!" Chie threw her fist overhead. "We're part of the Kira Task Force now!"

She dropped her hands back down. "I mean, the Kira Task Force has basically run up a wall for the last ten years or so, but you know. Cool, it's still cool. I just want to take down that son of a bitch!" She hit her fists together in her excitement.

"Just because it's our job to take down Kira doesn't mean we'll be actively hunting him right this instant," Naoto explained. "We're dealing with a killer who the Chief of Police, thanks to Minister Shido's research, suspects is a metaphysical killer. Just like you-know-who was. He's incredibly dangerous. We need to be careful about how we go about it."

"I know, I know! I'm just so excited! You don't know how hard it was losing my job!" Chie grabbed Yu, hugging him tight while kicking her feet in the air.

"We've been with you the entire time since you were let go," Naoto said. "Also, get your hands off him."

"It's just an expression! And you can't stop me," Chie said insistently. But she did let Yu go.

"Like I was saying, not only will it be difficult to catch a killer this illusive after a decade of failure, but we also have other people to worry about," Naoto said. "Our duties in the Metaphysical Task Force will include the pursuit of dangerous Persona Users and dealing with Shadows that could become a threat. So nothing we haven't already been doing. Just with the law at our back instead of the law being our enemy."

"And we've got a big mission to deal with already. We're cleared to investigate Shujin Academy," Yu told them. "A number of Persona Users might've been involved in the latest takedown of a criminal…"

"Ooh!" Teddie said. "I'll get the mini TVs!" He clapped his hands a bunch, hurrying off to his room.

"So listen up!" Yu said to his team, each one of them already growing excited to get there hands on a brand new case. "From now on, at any point we're out in public, don't reveal your full names! We know Kira can't kill if he doesn't know them. When we say to keep your faces covered, you do it for your own safety. We have strong reason to suspect that the ones responsible for the incident with Kamoshida Suguru are not involved with Kira."

"But they might prove to be threats regardless," Naoto explained. "In anycase, our mission this week will be to confirm the suspects involved and see if we can prove they're Persona Users. We'll be given more details later."

"And we will be the ones to catch Kira, yes?" Yukiko braced her hip. "You can't tell us we're the new Kira Task Force and then tell us to not go after him. That'd just break our hearts."

"Yeah, Yu! Don't play with our hearts, we're delicate creatures! This whole Task Force is!" Teddie said, shouting as he skidded out of the room with two mini TVs under his arms. "Kanji, carry one of these TVs so I don't have to lug them into the squad car on my own!"

"Give it here," Kanji said, taking both with ease. "You need to get ripped, boy."

"No, my delicate body is my appeal!" Teddie said. "I need to make people question if I'm a guy or a girl, and tell them whichever the answer is, you're probably gay!" He put his hand on his chest in prideful defiance.

"Catching Kira would be taking down the world's greatest serial murderer. Spree murderer, more like it," Naoto said. "But the more we investigate, the more we learn about the metaphysical realm. Perhaps we can even crack the case ourselves, finding both the murderer and the greatest murder weapon. But until then, we have a mission to do."

"I'll get ready! I've been waiting to get back into action!" Chie stretched her arms, going into her room to prepare. "Yukiko, get back in here!"

"I miss being working with the team like this. You know, doing more than just hanging around and watching you two do all the work," Yukiko said, walking into her and Chie's room.

"Yeaaah! Let's punch the lights out of some damn god! Come on, Teddie! Open the door for me." Kanji started to walk towards the car with the TVs.

"Right this way, monsieur!" Teddie opened the door, waving flippantly to Yu and Naoto as he took off with Kanji.

"Tch, so it's Kira time, huh?"

Flipping one of his knives, Yusuke caught it effortlessly before slicing the beef he was preparing, the goggles-wearing boy looking back.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear you say that. Heh, let's do it!" The goggles-wearing boy started to whistle, letting the beef simmer as he prepared the rest of his ingredients.

Naoto smiled. "It does feel nice to take on another big case with everyone." Reaching up, the detective fiddling with the back of their head. Suddenly their hair got very long. Or rather, it dropped down, with Naoto undoing the hidden braids before shaking their head back and forth, letting their bangs fall in front of their face too.

"Naoto, uh, by the way." Yu let out a small gasp, leaning forward. "I mean, it's not too painful wearing the new one, right? You know, the…"

"My binder? Yu, I've been wearing it for years now. Though, I'm debating taking it off right now," they said. "You don't have to worry like this is your first time meeting me. …But thanks for the concern." Smiling, Naoto walked over to Yu, sitting right next to him and leaning close.

"You're always like that," they joked, making Yu quietly scoff as he looked down, taking a sip of his drink.

Teddie quickly opened the hotel door. "Hey guys, quick question! Did Naoto ever eat the some of our cake? Because Kanji is going to you know what if he answered no! So tell me they did!"

"I did!" Naoto shouted towards the door. "Thank you."

"Yay, I survive today with my booty intact!" Teddie gave them a thumbs up, leaving Naoto and the others alone for now.

"Don't think you're safe, you only survived the reckoning this time!" Kanji shouted from the past the door.

"Ooh-hoo! Officer, what are you doing? Threatening a poor gay lad? That's an abuse of power!" Teddie clapped the cheeks on his face and gave Kanji a dramatic look.

"...How sexy!" Teddie snickered, walking alongside him.

"Everyone here is horny," Yosuke commented, flipping one of his knives before cutting the potatoes into proper chunks.

"You say that like you aren't?" Naoto snarked.

"True enough," Yosuke said, smirking. "Want anything? How about something to celebrate the new mission?" He looked back and smirked, watching his two friends sitting down as they chatted with him. With everyone waiting for what was to come next.

Chapter Text

Episode 25: It's a Gentle, Mad World - Part 1

"The Phantom Thieves of Hearts…" Sae said, looking at the photo of the group taken just after the takedown of Kamoshida. "Freedom fighters to the masses. Villains to the United Future Party and virtually all parts of the government. It goes to show how differently the people who run society and the people who live in it will look at a group like yours."

"What can we say? We don't choose what society believes in," Joker answered. The convict being interrogated brought both hands out. "If you ask me, the people to blame should be the people in charge. But we both know that you won't accept that."

"Your group disrupted the law and spat on everything society has built," Sae said, shaking her head. "I won't accept Robin Hoods running around deciding for themselves what's right and what's wrong when lives are on the line. …Even if the motives of your first crime were clearly more honorable than it appeared at first glance."

"Since when did a Change of Heart become a crime?" Joker asked, glaring her glowing eyes. "Were the Chief of Police and Minister Shido that quick to bring a rule like that into law?"

"...There is no legal precedent yet," Sae said. "It was supposed to be my job to prosecute Kamoshida, setting the groundwork for what was to come. But you and I both know what happened to him, even if he changed. Changed by you."

The prosecutor took out a new set of photos. The ones on her right were that of Joker's next target. An old man with his hands in his sleeves and a calm, serene smile.

"Tell me, what inspired you to take down this man?" Sae said. "A master of Japanese arts: Ichiryusai Madarame. How did you come to know him? And how did you learn of his crimes when you weren't the victim? And before all that…"

She brought the other photo before Joker. That of the grand announcement made in the middle of Shibuya, displayed on the TV of one of the central towers. Only one word was on that screen.

"How exactly did you become the number one enemy to not only the world's greatest killer, but the new task force created to stop him?" Sae asked. "Tell me everything."

5/8,

It was 4:44 a.m in Café Leblanc.

The white light of the TV screen blasted everyone in the eyes.

"Gah!" Ryuji screamed.

"Agh!" Ann threw herself up from her couch. "Again?"

"Oh, come on!" Akira shouted, grabbing her head. "L, what is it?"

"Apologies, but considering this is the only time I can speak as of right now, I'm afraid I must inconvenience you," L said. "Welcome to the Death Channel."

"The Death Channel? What, is this the new hit sequel to the Midnight Channel? Akira, why is your T.V still on? I thought I turned that off—" Mishima came downstairs, looking at L's letter-logo on the screen.

Mishima opened his mouth. "HOLY SHI—"

"Whaah!" Akira's ginger-haired neighbor from Sojiro's house scrambled out of bed, slipping her pajama pants back on now that they were dangling halfway off her legs in her sleep. "Again?! I can't even eavesdrop on them, they keep shutting off my wiretaps! This is like the third time!"

"L is real? Why is L real?! It's not July 25 2020!" Mishima said. "Oh my god. Oh my god. It's L, here and talking to us!" He was trying hard not to panic out of excitement, and failing.

"I didn't realize I had such enthusiastic fans…" L said. "Good after-midnight, humans."

"Why is he so important?" Ryuji asked.

"He's only the World's Greatest Detective, of course I know hismsgphfl—!" Mishima stammered loudly. Before stopping, bringing his hands out. "Ah-hah, of course I know him, I wish I had his technological and deductive skill!"

"Oh!" Ryuji lifted his head. "Yeah, okay. Thanks for reminding me."

"Be brave, Futaba. We gotta find out what thieves are in there and rummaging around Sojiro's stock like they own the fridge." Akira's neighbor took some deep breaths in, out, and in. Making an exception for today and only today to sneak out of the house, crouching low as she started to walk around the outside edges of Café Leblanc. Shoeless, no less.

The ginger-haired girl peeked through the glass window, staring at the glowing T.V screen as well as the five students and the cat watching it. "Did that Akira girl bring her friends over for a sleepover? Wait, that logo… I know L."

She stayed hidden, eavesdropping on them in person for the very first time. If only because this was a super secret, SSS-difficulty rank mission. What did the World's Greatest Detective want with Sojiro's kid? His coffee? His curry recipe? Well, great detective or no, he could pry it out of Futaba's cold dead hands before she gave it to him!

"Now before we start, allow me to preface this by asking one thing," L said. "...How many of you forgot to keep your masks on at all times during battle?"

"I, uh…" Ann grabbed her chin. "...Did I? I did, right?"

"I, hmm…" Ryuji stopped and thought about that. "Ah! I didn't take it off—no wait, I did it when I awakened my Persona."

"Persona? Those things in mom's research?" Futaba squinted and tucked her head lower. "Interesting…"

"I didn't have a mask, to be fair," Near said. "Though I didn't expect us to be dealing with Kira."

"And I uh." Mishima looked around. "Yeah, no, I didn't think about that. I don't have a mask, either."

L sighed. "...Perhaps I should have reminded Akira more strongly, in order to ingrain it into her head."

"Nameless, bonk this child so that we may ingrain it into her head," L commanded.

Nothing happened. But then the piano emanating from L's TV suddenly stopped.

"...Nameless has informed me that he refuses to," L explained. "Belladonna—"

There were murmurs coming from the opera singer in the background. An opera singer Akira didn't even realize was there, as it just hit her that the entire time that L's TV screen was on, an opera singer and pianist were in the background.

"Belladonna has informed me that she also refuses to bonk you," L explained. "Then I will simply settle for a stern verbal reminder. A-hem."

L cleared his throat, suddenly taking on the voice of a gruff officer-in-chief. "Kurusu Akira, do you expect me to accept that you'll go around without keeping your mask on! This is Kira we're dealing with! That is like asking me to hold you at gunpoint, and trust me, I've been there!"

"Why do you sound like a gruff chief?" Akira asked.

"But Chief! You can't blame the kid, you know they're not prepared to deal with a man as dangerous as that!" L said in the voice of a nervous underling.

"Damn it, Matsuda, you know we can't afford a single risk! Not a single life should be spilt senselessly!" L said in his gruff chief voice, banging the table he was apparently sitting at.

L returned to his normal voice, speaking further, "...I sense as if there is a deep hole in my heart right now, and I cannot tell why. Who is Matsuda?"

"Aww… how could we help?" Ann asked.

"Perhaps you should do something about it by helping me catch Kira," L said.

"Ahhh… We'd be really punching up from our weight class if we do that. You know, world's biggest murderer and all that?" Ryuji tented his fingers together and clicked his tongue. "...Not that we don't hate the guy."

"We do!" Ann chimed with. "He's just, you know, a mass murderer?"

"An omnicidal monster?" Akira said.

"Absolutely, and I would not ask you to confront him while you stand no chance at defeating him. Currently, you are better off running away from him at all costs," L said. "Huh? Excuse me for one second."

It seemed as if L pulled away from the screen, murmuring something with someone else. To the point where he started to chuckle under his breath.

"What do you mean my impressions are endearing? They're not endearing, and neither am I," L said. "Have you seen my eyes? They're as terrifying as a panda. See?"

"Nope!" someone spoke. A woman's voice? There was someone else behind the TV.

"Uhh…" Ryuji lifted his head. "L, sir? Who are you talking to?"

"Sorry, sorry." L seemingly got closer to the screen, getting louder until he bumped the screen itself. "Oh, pardon me. As I might've implied before with Akira, there are a few others checked into this… strange ethereal room. Two of them seem content to sing and play music for all of eternity. The third is the one helping me gather my bearings on this metaphysical stuff. The fourth one is a butler, by the way."

"Metaphysical stuff?" Futaba asked silently to herself. "A researcher?"

"She has quite the knowledge in that brain of hers. I'm afraid I'd be a chicken without a head without her. Or a man whose heart has been stopped by Kira," L said.

Things went quiet then.

"What does it look like on your end?" Ann asked.

"...Blue," he explained. "And I can't help but desire velvet cake as a result."

"Mmm, delicious," Ann said, licking her lips.

"Yes, thank you for having good taste," L said. "And I have now asked an old man to fetch me some. I'd offer you all as well, but I cannot invite you into the room for whatever reason. Yet for some reason, I can drag myself into your room…"

"Well then, L," Near said, stepping up. "For what reason did you come tonight? You mentioned your time was short."

"Yes… Let me get straight to work."

Snap!

A spray of blue starlight burst out from Akira's heart, and with it formed a whole new set of Arcana Cards. Those within the room who hadn't yet received one had a beam linked between them and Akira, creating a copy of one of those cards.

"Oh hey, I get one of these?" Ryuji said, raising his card. "The Chariot! Cool!"

"I got The Moon," Mishima said, bringing it to Ryuji.

"Mine's red like Kamoshida and Shiho's…" Near said, putting theirs away.

"And there's new ones besides all those," Akira said, looking at the remaining ones floating before her. XII - The Hanged Man. XIII - Death. XIX - The Sun.

Akira looked down at the floating cards before her, spinning around her body in two different rings. One blue, one red.

Major Arcana: 10.

Reverse Arcana: 3.

"Remember to keep collecting them, they may prove valuable in the end," L said. "And to make things beneficial for you, I've taken the liberty of awakening the ability within you, Akira, to awaken the power of others through your bonds with them. Earlier, I sensed the collapse of a certain Palace, and in turn, power I didn't even realize I had flowed through me. I suspect the more you interact with the Metaverse, the more my power will grow. And in turn, my capacity to help you will grow."

"Now, any questions?" L said.

"Uhh, yeah," Ryuji asked. "What's our goal here?"

"...Good question," L said. "I have no idea, truly. I'm under the assumption that Akira has a greater cause to fight for, and so do those who stand with her. Though as to what exactly it is, that is unknown even to me. But for some reason, I feel an undying desire to take down Kira. …Please, tell me it's taking down Kira."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Akira said. Not that she didn't also want to drag him straight to hell. But to take down a man with godlike powers? That seemed like an impossible challenge at this point.

"I'm afraid my time is drawing to a close now, then…" L said, and she could hear him yawning behind the screen. "Well then! Sleep peacefully. You humans need a full eight hours of—"

"Gwuh?!" Akira woke up to the loud sound of Ryuji, Ann, Morgana and Mishima snoring. Even Near was snoring, albeit much more quietly.

Akira blinked her eyes, bringing her head up. "We're not late for school are we?"

"Nah, bro, it's a Sunday…" Ryuji said, rolling over while half asleep.

"Okay!" Akira said, lying back down. "Good. Good…"

"Oh, shoot! It's exam week!" she said, pulling her head up and looking towards the calendar. Exams were all week from now until the last day on the 13th.

"Crap! I forgot about that with all the Kamoshida stuff!" Ann pulled her head away from her couch, getting up from her 'I've Fallen (Asleep) and I Can't Get (My Ass) up (Higher)' pose.

Near blinked their eyes open, flat as a board on their couch.

"I feel dead," they said. "Also, I forgot to ask L like a million questions." They pushed up from the couch, staying curled up in their seat with their hands on their knees.

"Well, we only had a little bit of time to watch the Death Channel…" Morgana pointed out.

Sojiro opened the door. "I completely forgot this week was exam week." He raised a stack of plates. "Akira, we have to cook."

"Cook?" Akira said.

"If you want to eat the world's finest curry to go with your coffee, you gotta learn to make it yourself." Sojiro started walking over to the kitchen. "It's also so the recipe's passed on in case I kick the bucket. It's my old friend's tweaked version of the original, this stuff will send you straight to heaven."

Shadow Akira appeared beside her twin. "I guess you're cooking now. Good luck, Akira." She patted her on the shoulder.

"You're lucky you're the ghost, because you don't get to do any of the work," Akira said with a huff.

"Actually, she came at the perfect time," Sojiro said, pointing at Akira's twin. "Ghost or not, you're coming to help. We need extra hands if we're cooking for this many people."

"What?!" Shadow Akira stomped her foot. "But dad!"

"Don't think you can get out of this one too, young missies!" Sojiro pointed at the Akiras twice. "Now come on, I gotta go to the market and restock my home fridge."

"Hee-hee! My sister's gotta do this too~" Akira sang, sticking her tongue out.

"I'll bite that tongue right off you," Shadow Akira said, grabbing her sister's chin. Chomping at the air with playful indignation.

"Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you?" Akira taunted her, tapping her arm. "Now come on, let's make breakfast."

"Damn, Mishima, how do you know all this?" Ryuji leaned next to the blue-haired boy and his well documented set of flash cards and study sheets. He basically had whole lessons recorded in easy to digest files.

"Well, I was trying to get into I.T before Kamoshida forced me onto the volleyball team. You know, tech stuff, that's where my talent lies," Mishima said. "I was kind of hoping Kamoshida would break something and then I could just leave the team. …Which sounds awful in hindsight. But hey, I helped you guys take him down."

"Hey, you were the one who took his crown off! That's gotta count for something, right?" Ryuji said.

"Please, that was barely important," Mishima scoffed, downplaying himself. "...But, thank you."

"I hate studying. I memorize the majority of details in my head so I can get around having to do more work. Also, I have chicken scratch handwriting," Near said. "My letters look awful."

"It took a lot of work to get my cursive letters right. See this J?" Akira lifted up a black flashcard with a white J in the middle that looked good enough to rival L's own.

"...Can I commission you to do that for an N?" Near asked.

"Your letters might be good and all, but can anyone remember this?" Ann squinted at her notebook. "Why are we suddenly learning French? What on earth's a femme fatale?"

"A lethal seductress," Near said.

"Ann," Akira said.

"Yes," Near agreed.

"Huh, I guess I am." Ann put that down in her notes while the rest of them kept studying.

"Buh-buh-buh… Whuh?" Futaba said, lifting her head out of bed to the sound of voices coming from her computer. "How did I get back here?"

The last thing she remembered was sneaking up on that group watching that TV screen with L's logo in it. What the heck is Sojiro's kid doing as the successor to the World's Greatest Detective?

"What, did Wammy's House burn down in a fire?" she asked out loud.

…Futaba hastily went to her computer, headphones on and eavesdropping while she typed faster than anyone in the world could. Years of surfing the dark parts of the internet taught her how, of course. The small, sneaky neighbor grinned with pride in her talents.

"...Oh," Futaba said, losing her smile. "Lightning struck. And then a fire."

Futaba quickly read through the article, hunched up and leaning close to her glowing screen. "Hmm-hmm-hmm, year 2004. Lightning struck the top of the orphanage, damaging the structure of the building and causing a collapse. Exact cause of fire unknown, potentially exacerbated by an arsonist. Orphans were protected by an unknown woman who can no longer be found…"

Futaba pulled her head back and blinked. "So there is one of Wammy's kids in that building."

She quickly did some research. "Futaba, you need to use your secret skills today!"

She found two Wammy's Children in there. And a handful of others, most of them residing in Japan. She scanned her eyes across the screen, reading all the details she could find on the matter. "With the death of Quillsh Wammy, a series of unfortunate events resulted in the orphanage being shut down completely in 2006. Any projects intended to be finished were abandoned, with all children being sent to various foster homes and orphanages. Some even received new names to hide their identities…"

She found a picture of the incident, seemingly taken around the time it took place. There was a girl, or… no, a young woman? A young-looking lady with white hair and gold eyes, holding tightly onto a child. With black hair, and a pair of weak-looking eyes that shined so deeply red, they were like a pair of blood rubies. The child looked injured, and the girl in question was placing her hand over those eyes as if to hide them away permanently.

"But… that kid couldn't have died, right?" Futaba turned to her window, looking at Café Leblanc.

She turned on the video feed of the inside of the café. Focusing right on that black-haired kid with those same red eyes.

"...Holy shit, that has to be a Wammy's Kid," Futaba said.

"Did the TV talk again?" Ryuji asked.

"Eep!" Futaba shut off the audio. "Why is this even two-way! Oh, why are you even asking that, you know it's so you can ask Sojiro to get you some more chips when you're hungry! …Eventually! …You'll get strong enough to do it, someday. It's just like needing to get more XP to defeat a boss."

Futaba got out of her seat, throwing herself back into her bed and looking up. "So the violent savior that Sojiro adopted is part of that orphanage where some of the greatest minds are fostered? Oh, wow… I didn't even realize!"

Futaba pushed her glasses up, light shining in their reflection. "Hee-hee-hee, Futaba is still the smarter one! Any Wammy kid up for a fight? Come on! I'll beat you in any game! Chess, Fire Emblem, Age of Empires 2! Bring it on!"

"...Just as soon as I can bring myself out there again," Futaba admitted, glancing towards the side. "And talk to people… that's the worst kind of challenge out there…"

She pulled herself up from her bed. "Oh man, I sure hope this doesn't get Sojiro into any trouble. Who knows what those geniuses get up to?" The last she heard, there were some very strange incidents involving some of those kids. Hopefully, Kira didn't get to them. And if she had to guess why Kira would even get to them, it was probably to eliminate the competition.

"Akira, what the hell kind of answer was that!" Ryuji said, cross-checking the girl's answers to their study questions.

"I don't know! My brain farted, okay?" Akira said, lifting her hands defensively.

"You can't answer with a moose on a big goose to—!" Ryuji lifted the page. "What question are we even on? What historical figure inspired the term of favoring the magistrate? What the hell, school?! And you too, Akira!"

"I got distracted!" admitted the girl whose brain had left the building.

"Are we sure genius is the right word, Futaba?" Futaba asked, blinking. "That's what the report says, yes Futaba."

5/9,

"Okay, class, it's time for the first of your exams this week." Ms. Kawakami lifted her hand. "Remember that each exam will take a full hour. Nothing more, nothing less."

Akira was mindlessly looking outside with a grin, looking back at Ms. Kawakami. "Hmm? Oh, I guess it's starting…"

Suddenly Akira bent forward, Shadow Akira appearing right in front of her with the exact same look in her eyes. "It's time to cook the curry," both said, looking gravely serious.

5/10,

"Near, keep your eyes open!" shouted a stern, angry history teacher, tapping on the board with chalk.

"I already finished forty minutes ago. What, do you expect me to sift through existential dread with open eyes filled with terror?" Near said, refusing to do that while keeping their grumpy little head lowered.

The teacher glared furiously at the student. "Don't you dare backtalk me, you smart-aleck!" He tossed his chalk through the air like a javelin, committing violence on a student.

"Gah!" The chalk hit Near's head, flinging the student out of the chair.

5/11,

"Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap." Ryuji was sweating as he took his math exam, hands gripping his chair. He whispered to himself, "Psst, Captain. Help me out here Captain!"

"And dishonor the integrity of your career? No, sir!" Captain Kidd appeared beside him just to shake his head left and right, adamantly huffing.

"You're gonna leave me after all I've crunched, Captain? Come on, don't do this to me man!"

"Ryuji, stop talking with yourself!" shouted the english teacher sternfully.

"Yes, Ms. Chouno!" he said.

5/12,

"And what's this one? C right?" Ann said, using her mental link with her Shadow to cover the answers she wasn't sure of.

"No, it's D," Carmen answered, looking over her shoulder while leaning back."Ugh, they put that one there just to trick everyone. It's only slightly worded differently."

5/13,

Mishima filled in the last of his questions, double and triple-checking the rest of them. "Done." He proceeded to waste the next forty-five minutes checking his answers about fifty times.

5/16,

The results for the exams came in. Students were gathering in the middle of the hallway in between classes.

"Hey, I got As and Bs in all my exams!" Ann said, lifting her papers. "Didn't make the board, but that's fine." Looking at who made the Top 50 of the overall highest scorers, though…

4th Place: Kurusu Akira - 96 pts.

"No way!" a student said, leaning closer to the board.

"The delinquent girl?!" another questioned.

"Heh-heh!" With a wicked grin, Akira angled her head down, adjusting the glasses she stopped wearing—"Oww!"

3rd Place: Niijima Makoto - 98 pts.

"As expected," said the student council president, walking away on her own in a detached manner.

2nd Place: Near - 99 pts.

"...I cheated for five answers," Near fully admitted. "I was too sleepy to focus."

"Lucky!" Ryuji said, arms bent. "My Shadow wouldn't even give me a hint! I had to answer those questions all by myself!"

"I don't have a Shadow. In fact, my Shadow's never talked to me this entire time," pointed out the golden-eyed student.

"That's uh… Huh." Ryuji folded his arms. "You know, that's strange. Why are your eyes gold like a Shadow's?"

"You tell me," Near said, smirking. "Maybe this means I am a Shadow who somehow escaped into the real world. And just led myself to think that I'm an ordinary human."

"Mishima doesn't have a Shadow either," Akira said, head turning to him. "Do you?"

"I mean… I can kind of hear a voice back there? It's been poking at me every so often, telling me things," Mishima said as he grabbed the back of his head.

"What does he say?" Akira asked.

"To watch a rerun of Lupin the Third Part 2," Mishima said. "It's great! Or so he insists."

Arsène surfaced behind Akira. "Oh, we should set up a TV in my master's room. I'd love to see what my descendant got up to…"

"Who won first place, though?" Mishima asked, hands in his pockets as he turned to the board.

1st Place: Mishima Yuuki - 100 pts.

"...Oh, apparently I did. Perfect," Mishima said. "When did I do that?"

"Wait, your first name is Yuuki?!" Ryuji shouted. "This whole time, I thought it was Mishima!"

"Your last name is Mishima?!" Akira said. "I've been in the same boat!"

"Your first name isn't Mishima?" Near said with clear surprise.

"What?!" Ann said. "But—but, I thought Shiho called you Yuuki just to be polite!"

"How did we miss this!" Morgana said as he poked his head out of Akira's bag.

"I uh… I'm not sure, actually," Mishima said. "Honestly, at this point, I thought you all were saying it out of respect. You know, like 'hey, it's Mister Mishima!' or something like that. I swear, even my parents call me Mishima. At least you guys did it for a good reason."

"So when are we starting the Lupin the Third watchalong, Mishima?" Ryuji asked.

"I don't know, tomorrow?" Mishima smiled. "Oh, but we gotta put a pin on that for now. I gotta show you my new project—"

Principal Kobayakawa shouted through the intercom. "Attention, students! We'll be having a student and faculty meeting within fifteen minutes! Make your way to the auditorium!"

"Aww, dangit." Mishima's eyes shut halfway, and he put away the phone he was going to show off.

"Welp, you heard him team!" Morgana said. "To the auditorium, we go!"

Chapter Text

Episode 26: It's a Gentle, Mad, Mad World - Part 2

"Ever since that… specific incident, many of you voiced concerns that I could not bear to ignore," the principal said, his voice echoing through the auditorium thanks to his microphone. "We believe the mental health of our students is absolutely vital, so we've acquired the services of a therapist."

"Liar," Mishima spat with hatred in his voice, eyes bearing up at the man on stage. "You're only doing this now because it's in your interests. You'd never do this unless it was"

"The floor is yours, Doctor," the principal said, moving out of the way.

"Thank you, Principal," said the man. Approaching the stage was a tall, young-looking man with dark hair dressed in a researcher's lab coat.

"A-hem!" Pushing up his glasses, they shined under the light before he let them slide into proper position. Giving a warm look behind them and a smile. "It's nice to meet you all! My name is Maruki Takuto."

"Oh no, he's hot," Ann said under her breath. "He sounds hot." Eyes widening furiously, Ann stepped back as if she was getting ready to pounce.

"He's so hot!" one of the students shouted.

"I know, right?" another girl answered him.

"Mmm." Akira put her thumb to her lip. "I don't want to say yes, but…"

The man did a dignified bow forward. "Thank you for welcome me to you—! Yikes!" He thumped his head into the microphone which screeched, causing the student crowd to all laugh.

"Okay, I really don't want to say yes," she said, snickering. Then squinting hard. "He looks like if I were a boy and like ten to fifteen years older."

"You know? I can kind of see it," Ann said, looking at Akira. "You'd be hot as the skinny, twinkish delinquent boy in our school. Why don't you wear your glasses? You have them, but you don't wear them!"

"If I want to blend in at school, I'm sticking to the colored contacts. Otherwise? I'm not bothering," Akira said, blinking her red eyes.

The man fixed his glasses again now that they were falling off his face. "Urk—no need to be formal with me! I'm just here to counsel anyone who's interested."

He lifted his head, taking note of the faces growing nervous in the crowd.

"Ah, you can even call me Doc, if that would make you feel better." He snapped his fingers at the crowd. For the goofy grin on his face, he did deliver the line quite smoothly. The crowd reacted with a mixture of swooning and laughter.

"I don't know what this goober is doing, but it's doing something to my heart," Ann said, swiveling her hips with a grin that was a little too enthusiastic to be innocent.

"What? You got a thing for nerdy doctors and nurses?" Akira said, looking back at Ann.

"I don't know!" Ann said, yet she was rubbing her knees together. "Have you ever seen one of those hot nurses in a TV drama? Or one of those doctors getting all hot and sweaty with their patient? Oh no! Don't be so unprofessional, doctor~!" She swept at the air just like a playful cat.

"I mean, I have a thing for my doctor, but that's completely different," Akira pointed out. "I will have to remember that you have a fetish for doctors."

"Arghhh… I do, don't I?" Ann grumbled with a flustered smile, knocking her knees together. "Okay Ann, calm down. Otherwise, you are going to lose your marbles."

Her shadow self appeared behind her just to smirk. "It's amusing to see how weak the villainess is over seeing a sexy and pathetic man right before her eyes," Carmen said, chuckling low to herself. "Any more of this, and she might turn into a puddle."

"Enough, Carmen! Oh, for Kira's sake, just stop!" Ann said with guilty laughter.

"Jeez, Ann, keep it together! Down girl, down!" Ryuji said, whistling humorously at her.

The group left the auditorium once the meeting was done, heading out into the grass courtyard. School was starting to wrap up, and there was little reason to stay.

"So, you ever expected this place to actually give a shit about our mental health?" Ryuji said, lifting a hand. "And what about Doc Whats-His-Name? Wasn't he just clowning it up on stage?"

"Maruki," Ann clarified, looking back at him. "As for the school, I mean, word about Kamoshida must still be getting around. I bet they think they'll look even worse without doing anything for us."

"We already know they cover things up, so it's no surprise…" Mishima rubbed his uncovered eye, touching the eye wrap after feeling the echoing pain of his injured eye briefly.

"Ah, there you are! What a coincidence that you're all gathered in one place."

Hurrying over to them, Dr. Maruki was running with both hands in his lab coat pockets. Slowing down and straightening up, although still carrying himself in a slightly relaxed manner.

"Mr. Sakamoto, Ms. Takamaki, yes?" He looked to Ryuji, then Ann, then Akira. "And you must be Ms. Kurusu. Good day."

"How do you know our names?" Ryuji said. First surprised, before quickly looking at him in a shifty manner.

"...Ah, and Mr. Yuuki," Maruki said, smiling at the second boy in the group. "I hope you're in better spirits."

"It's Mishima," the blue boy said, blinking his eye. "If we're going by last names, then just like everyone else, my name's Mishima."

"You know? I should have seen that coming," Maruki said, lowering his head while grabbing his chin. "The folder with your name in it had your first name and last name reversed, if you could believe it. I thought Mishima sounded like a last name, but didn't want to assume."

"And you…" he said, glasses turned to the one who held silent the whole time. "I'm aware that you have a preferred name?"

And like that, Near's whole demeanor perked up. "Yep, I'm Near!" They leaned forward with this cheeky grin on their face. "Pleased to meetcha!"

"You know, I can actually pick up on the way you pronounce it. You picked your name well." Maruki said while fiddling with his glasses.

"Thank you," Near said, playing with their hair in response. If Akira had to compare Near's expression to something in that moment, it would be that of a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed rabbit.

"You can probably imagine that I was informed of certain students before beginning my tenure here…" Maruki began to explain, reaching for the back of his head. "Those who had… difficult altercations with Mr. Kamoshida. It must be hard on each of you. And you, Ms. Kurusu, you were only a recent transfer and yet you were unfortunate enough to get wrapped into his business."

"Yeah, I never expected to get stuck in a gilded castle," Akira said.

"Dude!" Ryuji said, hushing her.

"What?" Akira said, bringing her hands out. Who's going to believe that?

"Ah, I did recall the emphasis Kamoshida put on seeing this place as a castle of sorts," Maruki said. "I've seen the videos online, though they're getting taken down as quickly as they're being uploaded…"

Apparently, Maruki would believe that.

"They're being taken down?" Ryuji said. "Who would go so far as to do that? And why?"

"As for who's responsible, I have no idea honestly," Maruki said. "But as to why? I'd have to assume it's because he's in a legal battle against himself, as funny as that may sound. Someone doesn't want proof of what happened getting out, and it isn't the man himself."

"Wait, what?" Ann said. "What do you even mean by that? Who? Who out there would want that?"

"You didn't hear this from me…" Maruki lifted his glasses, and they shined with a deceptively unnerving glare. "But it's in my interests to help those in need by any means necessary, and I mean any means necessary. So I propose a small deal, and none of us need to let the school know."

"Woah, that glare of yours is creepy." Ryuji pulled back. "You're looking like an anime villain right now."

"Am I really so frightening?" Maruki lowered his glasses, blinking with a confused frown. "Then here, how about this?"

Maruki took his hand, pulling his glasses off his face. To Ann's dropping jaw, the man rolled his hand through his wavy dark hair, slicking it all the way back. When he let go of it, his hair puffed slightly, a single strand falling down his face. Completing the transformation from the polite, soft-spoken researcher to the cold and methodical villainous scientist.

"...Hi, Doc," Ann said with an audible, unsubtle gasp. "How uh… how ya doin'?" Now she started to play with her hair, rolling her finger through one of her coiled twintails.

"I don't date patients," the cold scientist said, lifting a finger. "And I am spoken for."

"Damn it," Ann whispered, nails digging into her palm.

"Comrade, we've failed." It was not Carmen but Shadow Ann who appeared, somberly saluting Ann. Before sobbing loudly while see-through flames burned in a ring around her.

"Yeah, Doc, you're gonna have to put the glasses back on and undo the do, okay?" Ryuji told him. "Like, right now."

"Good, because I can not see faces without my glasses on," Maruki said, quickly undoing the transformation. "My fiancé adores the look, though."

"Your fiancé is lucky!" Ann said, clapping her hands in her continued enthusiasm.

"I uh, appreciate the blunt honesty," Maruki said with a smile and a slightly nervous laughter, slipping the glasses right back on. "I am probably the luckier one between the two of us. I don't know what I'd do without her."

He blinked his soft brown eyes several times, grinning goofily. "Okay! My eyesight's readjusted," he said, pulling his head away. "Ahem, let me propose what we could call an info trade. I have a feeling a good number of you probably wouldn't want to open up to a school-mandated therapist, especially one brought upon by such a controversial scenario—and a terrible one truly—being the impetus. But don't worry, this will be nothing questionable. I just hope to establish a rapport with you all. All I ask is that you hear me out, and I'll tell you."

He turned his eyes down, and once again his glasses glared white. "But not here. …Come, step into my office." He gestured for them to follow, rubbing his hands while laughing maliciously.

"Snacks?" Maruki said, setting down a whole plate of cookies and treats in front of the students sitting on the couch in his office.

"You had me at snacks," Akira said, taking five chocolate cookies at once.

Maruki poked his head out of his office, looking both ways through the hall, then looked around his office. Then he put both hands on the door, looking at the students before slamming it shut.

"I'm going to be honest, that Principal Kobayakawa is shady," he said. "I don't trust him as far as I can throw him. And I can't throw very far."

"And what's this info trade of yours?" Mishima asked.

"Well, I might be sticking out my neck here in saying this, but…" Maruki went over to his coffee machine, pouring a hot cup for himself. "I must admit, when I heard about the incident my heart basically leaped out of my chest. I have some small ties to Shujin, so knowing such a tragedy occurred, I felt spurred to act. I was already looking for a more permanent job, and then your principal offers me to the ability lend my services… I thought even if I was too late, I could at least help others sort themselves during such a hard time. But evidently, your principal's interests are not in line with what a school truly needs. It's concerned more about what people will say, and not about what its students need to heal."

Maruki blew on his coffee, taking a slow sip. "Gah!" He gasped refreshingly, pulling the cup away from his glasses now blinded by fog. "To make things short, I disagree with the Principal's decision making here. To hire a therapist solely to avoid the eyes of any investigators being thrown onto him? With ulterior motives in store for the students I'm being asked to study, er, help. …Please don't tell him I said that."

"Study?" Ryuji said. "What, he wants you to record us or something?"

"Actually, well, no, well—" Maruki sighed. "Yes." He reached up and grabbed his head. "Not that I'm on board with it. But I must admit… I'm in a bit of a financial rut. This was the only place that could pay me well enough to support my fiancè and her family. I took the job, thinking I could help navigate you students while keeping you away from being entrapped by your principal. I understand if you find that selfish, and I hope that my honesty here can serve as a testament to my intentions despite the grim circumstance."

"Are you implying that Kobayakawa wants you to get the drop on us about whether we did anything to Kamoshida?" Akira said.

"How very perceptive of you!" Maruki said. "...Also yes." He sighed, wiping his glasses clean before grabbing his coffee again. Resulting in his glasses getting foggy again.

"Oh, why do I even wear glasses?" The therapist huffed to himself, putting down his coffee and wiping once more. "Again, please don't tell him I'm blowing the whistle on his scheme. I don't want to lose this job. But—!" He raised his finger pointedly. "I am going to be crystal clear. Your principal strongly believes you were at fault for the actions of a thoroughly corrupt man, which is absurd to think about. You didn't make his decisions for him, and ultimately he would've had to walk his path of life to get where he is now. No manner of going the wrong way or not having someone to guide you will excuse the crimes you commit in this world. That's a harsh truth."

Now with his coffee cooled, he took a deep sip, gasping and bringing it down. "It would be a betrayal to you kids to allow you to suddenly take the fall for Kamoshida now that he's out of Shujin Academy. And it'd be a breach of therapist-patient confidentiality for me to feed Kobayakawa any info you relay to me during a session. Well, unless you pose a serious risk of harm to yourself or others, then I might be forced to step in. On that note, make sure you know your rights as a patient." He pointed to a nearby paper on his desk.

"Hmm…" Ann braced her hips. "Well, thank you for being honest about all this. But I didn't plan on talking about anything with Kamoshida, anyways."

"That's understandable! You know, you're in the right to not disclose something to me as a patient." Maruki wiggled his eyebrows, pointing. "Eh? See what I did there? See? I'm exercising the right to point out your—"

Maruki cleared his throat, his comment otherwise ignored. "So in summary, only disclose what you feel safe to disclose. If need be, don't disclose anything at all related to the incident during our sessions. We can discuss any number of things unrelated, or you can just sit around and play video games until the event is over. My commitment is to your wellbeing first and foremost. Even if you decline to talk, the principal will have to deal with and accept that."

"Uh-huh?" Ryuji flicked his head up. "Okay, I'll bite. And what do you get out of this trade of yours?"

"What do I get?" Maruki questioned, blinking confused.

"Bribing us with tasty snacks. Blowing the whistle on Kobayakawa's plan. What do you want, Doctor Man?" Ryuji reached for a crunchy, rich chocolate cookie, chomping down intimidatingly.

Maruki lifted his foggy glasses-wearing head. "This might seem embarrassing, but I don't think I had anything to request when I came here to speak with you all. Other than asking you to listen to my offer."

"Alright," Ryuji said.

Ryuji got up, hands in his pockets while kicking a foot. "Welp, bye!"

"Hey, wait! I'm trying really hard here!" Maruki stretched his hand out. "Please, if I don't get any reports, I'll get fired!"

"Ughhh…" Ryuji rolled his eyes around and swung back. "Fine, but I'm playing the video games!"

"Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros Melee, or the Binding of Isaac?" Maruki asked immediately, raising his controller while pointing at the T.V in the room.

"Bitchin'," Ryuji said. "Mario Kart, please."

"So, when you say you don't like what the Principal's doing—" Ryuji chomped on another cookie, watching Luigi drift on-screen before sniping Yoshi with a green shell that rebounded three times. "Are you basically going behind his back?"

"On paper, no," Maruki said. "My job is to be an honest therapist to help with the troubles of students. With reports to the school of anything that might be classified as endangerment. If I can say that by the end of the school year, or rather by the semester really as I promised, that the five students I'm concerned about have seen improvements, and have reported no issues regarding their involvement with Kamoshida, my job will be complete." Grabbing an item box, it rolled until it gave him a golden mushroom for him to start mashing his R button.

"Yes!" Mishima threw his fists, having come in first place. "I've won online tourneys, you know?"

"Impressive! Maybe try to find a local tournament," Maruki said. He came in second place by the end of it. "For the record, today's not a day wh."

"Third place," Near said, lowering the controller. "Next time, I'll be first."

"I appreciate the offer, at least," Mishima said to Maruki. "I know I need therapy after everything Kamoshida did. Just don't expect me to spill the beans on anything I was or was not responsible for."

"Yeah, we already went through enough just to deal with him," Ann said. "If you've seen the videos, then you already know he's a creep."

"I hear he's a changed man, if you could even say that's a possibility. Given his long history of abuse and how recent it's been," Maruki said. "Still… He seems to be consistently genuine about his apology and desire to change. Or so I heard from the principal. He's planning to take his testimony to the news. If the police won't accept him turning himself in, that is."

"Come again?" Akira said.

Maruki put down the controller, pausing the game. "...I'm afraid I heard all this while being dressed down by the man. He was rambling quite a bit about how Kamoshida refused to work with him on anything after his quote-unquote, Change of Heart. It's funny that he was so fixated on the phrase, don't you think?"

Each of the students looked at each other, eyes wide with shock.

"What else did he say?" Ann asked.

"The principal? Mostly, he said that since the so-called change of heart occurred, he became the most determined man he'd ever seen. In his words, the principal never imagined that sad sack from all those years ago would turn out to be such a rebellious figure when push came to shove. And with nothing to lose but his life, this new Kamoshida insisted on doing something to try and make it up to his students. Apparently, it's like he's been completely brainwashed in Kobayakawa's eyes…"

"Ah!" Maruki lifted his head, the shine of his glasses fading to reveal his nervous eyes. "But, isn't it a good thing that he changed for the better? Imagine what we could do to the criminals, no, the world with something like that. If everyone like Kamoshida could turn over a new leaf with a swipe of your hand, no one would have to be hurt anymore because of a bad person's actions."

"Brainwashed?" Akira got up from her seat. "Yeah, I'd say that if I didn't already know the man."

"You, uh, knew him prior? How odd." Maruki blinked. "Ah! For the record, this is not a therapy session, and I'm not required to give any report to Kobayakawa—"

"Save it, I already got that. Pardon my bluntness," Akira waved her hand while shaking her head. "Let's just say for the sake of simplicity that I was once a fan during his career. Before he spit in the face of everyone, and hurt not just me but my friends personally." Blunt honesty was weaved into her words, even as she twisted the truth to make it more believable.

Akira sighed, arms crossed. "The Kamoshida I saw was a nervous wreck who could trip over his own shoes while staring at them. But he was also someone who, at one point, did care for other students and teammates. The Kamoshida I met personally? He was a far cry from that. And I don't care at all about him after what he did. …Still, if you're saying that perverted serial abuser's gone, then there's nothing I can do about that."

"Yes, I suppose in a way, he could be considered gone in that sense…" Maruki blinked, straightening up. "But… no one can experience a complete death of ego, can they?"

He went over to his cabinet of documents, taking a folder and scanning it with his eyes. "Hmm, sorry, one sec…" Having read through it, he then pulled out his phone and read through another set of notes. "Have you ever heard of the Ship of Theseus? It's a thought experiment of sorts. If Theseus had a ship, and he replaced every single part of its original wood and pieces, can you really say it's still the original ship? And if it isn't, then at what point is it no longer the Ship of Theseus?"

"Huh?" Ryuji said, pulling back.

"At what point does it stop?" Ann questioned. "I guess…"

"It's still Theseus's ship, so long as he believes it to be," Near answered, "Maybe I'm just very foolish when it comes to this, but so long as the spirit of Theseus's Ship remains, so will it remain. It's not the parts that matter, but what the ship means to the people that ride it."

"What a delightfully headstrong answer, though others might disagree with that response," Maruki said. "Still, I'm looking to tie this back to Kamoshida. If it is the case that he lost a part of himself and was reborn with a new ego, as he said in his speech, then is he still the same Kamoshida? For the sake of the argument, we'll describe him as pre-change of heart Kamoshida and post-change of heart Kamoshida."

"You keep saying that word, dude," Ryuji said.

"What? Change of Heart? Or Kamoshida?" Maruki lowered his head. "Sorry, but I can't help but fixate on it. What with Kobayakawa having insisted upon it as he grilled me like I'm unjustly being labeled a delinquent before I even met the guy."

"Tell me about it," Akira said, the blunt delinquent rolling her eyes. "But a Kamoshida who exists now who isn't the Kamoshida before…"

"This only holds up under the assumption that Kamoshida did lose a piece of him. I don't even know where to begin with that." The therapist put a pair of pinched fingers to his lips. "But if he did, then it's definitely a good thing that the Kamoshida we're left with is going out of his way to support his own students. …But is it even right to call a human whose gone through a Change of Heart to be the same person? And, either way, is it fair that he serves the punishment for another version of himself?"

"What are you saying?" Ann said. "Don't tell me you actually think Kamoshida shouldn't get arrested." She sharply cocked her head, her expression turning wary and cold in an instant.

"I—" Maruki lowered his head again and fixed his glasses out of habit. "I'm saying it was a good thing that the man was put down. Something must be done when it comes to these criminals, and we cannot allow ourselves to bring harm to others through inaction. Please, do not take this to mean I'm against seeing him put to justice." Maruki reached his hand out. "But what if we take the conversation away from Kamoshida? To say something like…"

"Is it right to throw a killer in jail, if their memories and personality have both been overridden?" he went on to say. "Or should that fact alone be punishment enough? That the killer can no longer live as the person they used to be with their very identity now erased? If you lost everything about what made you who you are, would that not be a loss in its own right? Perhaps as grave as a death?"

"...I don't know," Akira said, slowly narrowing her eyes. "I guess I would hate it if I lost myself. But also, I would never even remember that I lost it. It would be as if the me that existed died…"

"It is a troubling thought, yes?" Maruki said. "The loss of self may be second to the loss of life."

"...But Kamoshida still needed to go down," Ann said. "Someone has to speak up, and if he chooses to speak out, knowing he'll get arrested for the crimes he did? …Well, then he's taken a step in the right direction."

"Of course." Maruki brought his hand. "I'm sorry, as a researcher I have a tendency to prod at the human psyche. I didn't mean to devalue the pain you all feel. But as I feel compelled to ensure none feel pain, that means considering even those who may deserve that pain in the eyes of others. Just like the falsely accused, it would be wrong for me to punish them solely because of the insistence of others. …But I guess I'm doing a bad job here as your mandated, off-schedule therapist."

"I suppose a killer who lost who they were shouldn't exactly be punished for that old person's ," Ann said, head shaking. "But that doesn't mean no punishment should come at all."

"More than likely, they would still be punished in the end," Near said. "The legal system wants the person to pay for their crimes. That doesn't necessarily leave room or care for the ego in question."

"Of course, of course…" Maruki adjusted his glasses. "Well, I've given you every detail I could, so I hope it benefits you in the future. Do take care now, and be on the lookout for your principal. Leave the remotes. Take the chocolate chip cookies."

Akira got up and started to walk away. "Thank you, Mr. Maruki," she said, looking back and opening the door.

She went back inside to take the cookies, leaving with the box.

"So what do you all think of that guy?" Mishima said. "He's kind of awkward, but… he doesn't seem all that bad. Right, Akira?"

"Akira?" Mishima asked.

"What? Maruki?" Finishing off one of her cookies, she darted her crimson eyes up.

"Yeah, what do you think?"

"I'm not even sure what to think about that," Akira said. She looked on ahead with sadness in her eyes. Rather, even though she was staring ahead, she was lost in another world.

"Does the Change of Heart really brainwash someone?" It's not like Maruki was directly questioning her about it. No, he couldn't have, right? And yet…

Akira was left with a heavy set of thoughts stirring within her. She sighed, munching down on another of her cookies.

"What do you have to be sorry for, Aki? Come here." Ann reached for her friend's arm, pulling Akira to her while taking her head and pressing it against her chest. "There, there." She patted her twice on the head. "Will a girl's tummy pick you back up?"

"I don't think any amount of girl tummy is going to cheer me up, Ann," Akira pointed out. "As tempting as it sounds." She reached up, holding onto Ann's head while she kept looking ahead blankly.

"Kamoshida needed to go down, that much is true," Ann said. "It's just a matter of wondering what's to come next. I mean, who's to say what Kamoshida's really thinking? He may not be the same person that creeped on us, but…"

"I didn't want to say anything back in front of Maruki, but if it makes you feel any better, the Change of Heart can't brainwash a person like they're a robot or anything." Morgana poked his head out of Akira's bag. "The empathy is what's left of the person now that their desires have escaped them. They wouldn't change much if they didn't feel the need to."

"Thanks, Morgana," Ann said, rubbing his head softly, before looking back at Akira. "You did a good thing at the end of the day, Akira. We all did. So don't try and take that from us by taking it from yourself."

"Huh?" Akira questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"If you lose faith in yourself, the rest of us will start to lose faith in ourselves. So don't do that." She gave Akira a stern look. "And if you do, then I'm gonna smack your cheeks until I make you smile again."

Ann lifted both hands, lightly smacking them against Akira's cheeks. "Smack, smack. Your cheeks are jiggly," she said, the blonde girl giggling.

"Ah…" The gasp that left Akira was very light, and she lifted her head, her cheeks turning warm.

"You got a gay little blush going on right there," Ann said, coyly tilting her head. "Daww, so adorable."

"No I don't—!" Akira tried to argue.

"Really?" Ann tilted her head low and cocked an eyebrow confidently.

"Really!" Akira yelled, starting to grumble and shake her fist. "This is a totally straight and normal blush, see?!" She pointed at herself and smiled.

Ann threw her head back, snickering loud. "Okay, you couldn't sell me on that even if you tried." She put her hand on Akira's head. "Just remember, you saved people. We all did. There are tons of people out there who need our help, and that doesn't change regardless of what Kamoshida is trying to do. It's good that he's trying to change. …But I'm focused on wanting to help more people. Victims who need us, not their abusers."

"If we didn't help them, where would they be now?" Ryuji said. "They'd probably be stuck under Kamoshida's boot and licking them like us. I mean, we already know the principal's a part of this, and he's already trying to do stuff to mess with us again. But think about it! Think of all the people we helped!"

"Ah, perfect timing, finally!" That's when Mishima reached his pocket, scrambling to take out his phone. "Ta-dah! Check it!"

"What's this?" Akira said, reading the website loaded on the screen in front of her. "The Phantom Aficionado Website…"

The blue boy giggled, pulling himself to the side. "Hee-hee! A perfect Phan-Site for the perfect Phantom Thieves. Read the comments, look at what they're saying here!"

Most of the accounts were anonymous, but there were so many comments already. Only one week in, and the site had the attention of a small town celebrity.

"I spent, like, all of Sunday night working on getting this up and running," he said. "Do you remember all the weird forums and servers people used to host for Kira? Well, this is basically going to be the definitive one for the PTs."

Ann read one of the posts out loud. "Thank you, thieves. Without your help, I would have been forced to let Kamoshida do whatever he wanted to me just to stay in school."

"The Phantoms finally took down the bastard who hurt my sister!" Ryuji said, reading the comment underneath.

Akira kept scrolling through the comments, seeing what everyone was saying about what they did.

"I haven't seen that side of him in a long, long time…" she read. "Thank you, for changing his heart. Only true heroes could be so kind."

"You see that, Akira? The people love what you all did," Mishima said, putting his phone away. "Don't start worrying about what you're going to have to do to the people who put others down. Start thinking about why you gotta help people, and why you've got to keep helping them."

"Everyone's right, Akira," Morgana got up, sitting himself on her head while placing his paws on her, looking down. "I can get the hesitation, but this was the best way to help everyone. You could argue that it's better for the target, even. It sounds like Kamoshida's turning himself in!"

"Cops or no cops, we didn't tell him to go off on his own and do something like this." Ryuji rolled his arm around. "I think changing his heart is just fine by me."

"Yeah, you're all right." Akira blinked, then she grinned, hitting her fists together. "Like hell I'm gonna stop, there's too many damn people to save! And what we're doing is right!"

"Great!" Mishima brought out his hand. "Now, there are some things I've got to look into. Mostly managing the site while it's still growing. If you want the thieves to win the hearts of the people, you got to have a good P.R guy! See ya, we'll check in later!"

"Bye everyone, see you soon!" Ryuji waved at them, leaving right behind Mishima.

"I have to go home too, tonight. There are some things I need to handle before next week," Ann said, touching Akira's shoulder. "Good luck. I don't expect this to be easy, but I can say for sure that I have no regrets about what we did."

"So it goes…" Near said, walking away. But not before looking back, waving at her. "Most people wouldn't give their enemies a second thought, no matter who they are. I think that speaks about your commitment to being someone who wants to protect people more than anything. Take care tonight."

"Thanks, everyone." Akira nodded. She walked out of school on her own, taking the subway train to her home. She opened the door, hearing the bell ring.

"You okay?" Sojiro turned his head. "You're home early, heh. It's sunset." He was washing some cups, heating up a pot on the stove.

"What do you think about what we did back there? You know… with changing Kamoshida's heart," Akira said.

"That was probably the most heroic piece of action I've seen in ages. The kind of stuff most people wish they could do. It was like a modern day Robin Hood story," Sojiro said, taking a swift sip of the coffee he prepared for himself. "Usually, the thieves you see are just all sorts of scum. Thugs preying on the weak or gangsters that don't even attempt to pretend they're trying to protect something. Sure, Kamoshida may not be the same person. Not in my eyes, at least. But…"

Sojiro took another big sip, bringing his cup down. "To the Kamoshida we dealt with? He can bite it for all I care," he said with blunt honesty. "There's nothing wrong with taking down a bad man. Legal issues be damned."

He opened the fridge, taking out the ingredients he needed. "Now, do you want to help with dinner? One serving or two?"

Akira's eyes lit up. "One, no—!"

"Two! Make it two!" Shadow Akira said, springing into existence as both twins lifted their hands.

"Eh, if a Shadow can fight demons in another world, a Shadow can eat curry. Probably. We'll figure it out." Sojiro shrugged, smirking as he started cutting the vegetables with the twins coming over.

Chapter Text

Episode 27: Maid'n'less Behavior

5/17,

"Come on, Aki, you gotta do this with me! Check it out!" Ryuji brought out a poster with a cute maid girl on the cover. "Eh? Ehh?"

"Wait, that's…!" Akira blinked her eyes open.

"Ehhhh?" Ryuji started nudging her shoulder, giving a wink. "Don't tell me a girl like you doesn't have good taste. I found this just sitting there in my mailbox. A maid, Aki, a maid! Who'll do anything for us! …Provided we pay by the hour upfront, but hey! Wouldn't you want a cute and sexy girl being all sweet while doing stuff for ya?"

"You mean, like, to help at Leblanc?" Akira took the poster. This was the same kind of poster as the one Ms. Kawakami dropped. What, did Ryuji and Kawakami share the same taste in women?

Ryuji leaned in, wrapping his shoulder around her. "No way, Mr. Sojiro will probably ask 'Now what the heck are you doing with a hot maid in your room?" he said, doing an impression of the stern coffee-maker. "But a guy just moved out of my apartment complex and left the key behind the mailbox. Let's test it over there tonight!"

"What are you rogues doing, skulking about all suspiciously!" Mishima said.

The blue boy lifted his head, rubbing the area around his bandages before putting his hands firmly against his hips. "Secret dealings behind the backs of your fellow rogues? Ryuji, I'm shocked! Shocked, I say! How come you haven't told me a thing about this, we just left class together man!"

"I didn't think you'd be into this kind of stuff, but hey! You're looking a lot more honest than Aki here!" Ryuji patted Akira's shoulder. "She's already got blood rushing through her!"

"No I don't!" Akira scrambled her hands around defensively. "I'm a pure and innocent young maiden!"

"That's a lie, and you know it!" Ryuji teased.

"I'm not here for your horny antics, I'm here to do investigative research!" Mishima brought his hands out. "What does the poster mean by saying they'll let you do anything? The girls look exceptionally cute, all the more reason why I think this is sketchy! Who knows what they're pulling here!"

Mishima's face was getting red, but he kept his argument on topic. "This could be some illegal call-girl service, or I don't know, some extortion racket! And as the You-Know-Whats, we can't ignore a potential cry for help!"

"Okay, got it. Got it." Ryuji flashed a grin. "You don't have to say it for me to know what's on your mind. Let's just uh, not tell Ann or Near about this."

"Don't tell me what?" Ann said, arms braced as she looked down at Ryuji from the side of the bench in the outdoor courtyard.

"Whah!" Ryuji flinched back. "How did you get there? How much did you hear?"

"Pretty much everything about you goobers trying to call a maid service or whatever." Ann pulled her puzzled head back up and folded her arms. "What? You guys can't leave me hanging here. I'm down for whatever, you know that. Plus, it'll be funny to see you try and fail to flirt with a maid, Ryuji."

"Ouch! That hurt!" Ryuji touched his heart. "...Okay fair, but it's gonna be fun! But I don't think Near would want to come either, so don't—"

"Too late, I already know," Near said, hiding underneath the bench Ryuji and Akira were sitting on.

"How?! Near, why are you there!" Ryuji pulled his head down, staring at the boxed-up student whose eyes were lit up like a ghostly owl.

"I like the shade," Near said, blinking their eyes. "Also, I thought it'd be quiet here. I hate noisy places, I get sensory overload. So don't expect me to go to a concert or anything, by the way."

Near poked their head out from under the bench, their gripping the edge. "If nothing else, I'm coming to watch the chaos unfold. So excluding Akira, that's four of us."

"Just know that I can't do it tomorrow, I have places to be that I can't afford to skip out on," Ann said.

"Then let's go today, team!" Mishima raised his finger. "They could be a bunch of sketchy folks coercing people into running drug packages! I've seen enough detective stories to know where this is going!"

"You just want a cute maid girl to get sexy for you," Ann said bluntly.

"I admit, I have a weakness." Mishima folded immediately. "But seriously though, doesn't this seem a little sketch? Come on, Akira, you agree with me right? Don't you think we need to take down some villains?"

"Villains?" Akira said, gulping. She turned her head down, blood rushing through her as she imagined a lovely pack of maids coming to her attention.

"Yes, yes…!" Akira thrusted her body up from her seat. "We must take them down!"

Sweat may have been dripping off her face, but her poker face was one-in-a-million.

Ann laughed, cocking her head at the girl trying to look as serious as possible. "What won't your little gay heart do, Akira? Someone's gotta look out for you before you end up in a bad romance. Watch, you're going to show up one day with a cop in your arms."

"We'll split the work, Ann darling," Arsène said, appearing next to the blonde girl.

"We're gonna need all hands on deck to keep this girl in check," Ann said. "But seriously, for her sake, I don't want to look away and come back to see her pining for some weird jerk. Don't do it, Akira."

"I would throttle them before I let myself allow it," Arsène said. "Perhaps both of them. Sometimes you just have to shake yourself angrily and tell yourself you're horny, but not horny enough for this."

"Don't say those words, you're willing a dark prophecy into existence," Near said. "Now that you've said it, it's bound to happen. Akira is doomed to fall for—or at least be horny enough to try to get with—some weird jerk."

"Or a cop," Ann said.

"Ugh, or a weird jerk cop," said Near.

"Who could exist out there that could possibly be a match for my master? What a preposterous idea!" Arsène cackled. "My master is the finest woman in all the lands. Who would dare catch her eye—"

"No!" Near cut Arsène off with.

"Don't say it!"

"—By being able to match wits with her, yet still remaining such a pompous pig that it hurts?" Arsène finished with.

"Ah, crap," Near said, as Arsène's lifted into the air, the thief cackling and kicking his feet as blue flames burned around him, leaving behind just Shadow Akira.

"Oh, that's rich," Shadow Akira said, wiping a tear out of her eye. "She could never. I would never. As Akira's inner spirit, the thought of dating a cop is beneath me. After all, I am a thief by trade and creed."

"You don't understand," Near said. "The world will birth a prophecy into existence, just for saying that."

"Even if a prophecy is as pointless and silly as Akira falling in love with a jerk cop?" Ann said.

"Especially if it's as pointlessly silly as that," Near said, squinting very harshly. "You have opened Pandora's Box. And now we will have to deal with it."

"I didn't expect you to be so superstitious," Ann said.

"Neither did I, and then we learned about an alternate realm, a prophecy, and have dealt with serial killer with magical powers who aims to be the god of this world." Near threw both hands. "I'm done with the natural. In fact? The supernatural should be treated as the natural and documented as such."

"Enough opening evil boxes with cops in them!" Mishima pumped his fists in excitement. "A mission like this needs a cool name to go with it! Let's go with Operation: Maidwatch!"

Ann winced at him. "Ehh? That sounds dirty…"

"Maidwatch!" Akira stomped confidently, arms pumped with him. "Maidwatch! Maidwatch!"

"Maidwatch! Maidwatch!" Ryuji and Mishima followed, chanting with Akira as the trio walked out of there.

"Come on, Ann. Let's get wrapped into things we'll regret. But not before laughing at things they'll regret," Near said. They joined in the line, arms raising high and low in a slack manner.

"I hate that you make that sound fun." Ann pouted, droopily lifting her arms as she followed.

Ryuji came down to the front of his apartment complex. "Sup guys, you ready for Operation: Maidwatch?"

"Operation: Maidwatch!" Mishima raised two fingers over one eye and gave a cute smile.

"Maidwatch!" Akira said, doing the exact same thing.

"I'm here, but only because it's going to be funny to watch this backfire," Ann said. But proceeded to do the exact same pose with a blank face.

"And I'm here too," Near said, shrugging in an indifferent manner.

"Well come on! The apartment's upstairs!" Ryuji walked backwards while guiding them up the steps. The moon had risen over their heads, the complex lit up by the evening lights.

They entered a small, one-bedroom apartment without much going on within. There was a window door leading to the balcony that had shudders, but that was it.

"This is going to be great!" Mishima said in his own excitement, holding the phone with Ryuji and Akira. Scrambling the fingers of his other hand around.

"Didn't you say you were only interested in this to catch some bad guys?" Ann told Mishima, unconvinced by his general behavior.

"I-I am!" Mishima said, defending himself.

"Shh-shh!" Ryuji pushed the call button. "It's starting!"

The phone rung. And rung a little more.

"Thanks for calling Victoria's Housekeeping for all your maid needs!" the man on the other line said. "Do you have a request?"

"Gah! What does he mean by request, I don't know what to ask for!" Ryuji looked absolutely clueless on what to do, turning to Mishima and Akira.

"You mean you didn't actually do research?" Mishima said.

"You're the research guy, aren't you? I'm just the ex-track team guy!" Ryuji argued.

"And like that, stage one has failed. And the operation is going up in flaming colors and smoke," Ann said with a smirk.

"Hee-hee!" Near stayed huddled low, staring at the window.

Akira gulped, wiping her brow as she spoke for them, "Um! No! We've got no particular request!"

"Then shall we send the nearest maid to your location? Perhaps she can offer suggestions!" the man on the line said.

"Yes, please and thank you!" Akira bowed stiffly, even though the man couldn't see her.

"Great! Just give us your address and we'll send one of our finest maids right your way!"

Akira told the man the address. Meanwhile, Ryuji and Mishima were whispering over her head.

"Wait, can we even get a maid? Dude, we aren't adults!" Mishima whispered.

"Oh, shit! I didn't even think of that!" Ryuji grabbed his head. "What are we gonna do when she actually shows up?"

Ann started to giggle. "Looks like you'd better cancel, then!"

"Alright!" Akira shouted, lifting her head only to bonk both Ryuji and Mishima's chins. "Ouchie!"

"Thank you, ma'am! Enjoy the service, she'll be right over!" The phone hung up.

"Oh god, what do we do, what do we do!" Mishima looked left and right. "There's too many of us, we're all going to get caught!"

"There, the window! Follow me, Mishiman!" Ryuji shoved the blinds upwards, opening the door and ushering Mishima out of the room.

"Ahh-h!" Mishima grabbed the blinds and pulled them back down, swinging the door shut.

"What?!" Ann brought her hands low. "Don't you both run away, you were the ones who brought us here! Cowards!"

"We'll uh, wait out here and do stakeout!" Ryuji said. "Yeah!" He put his hands on the other side of the window, looking through the gaps in the blinds.

"Cowards!" Ann repeated.

"Cowards," Near added.

"Cowards!" they both said as one.

"Hello! I'll be coming in now!" said the maid at the door.

"Oh, shoot!" Ann said, looking at Near. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, you think I'd do this sort of thing on my own?" Near's answer to her question was to crawl over to the window and stay there, refusing to look at the door.

"What the—Near!" The knocking at the door caused Ann to panic, and so she also began to face the wall. "Shoot, this actually would be pretty bad if she figures out my age, right? Akira, help!"

"Umm—" Akira gulped, standing dead in the center of the room and facing the wall with them. "Sorry, team. I've doomed us."

She lifted her head up, glaring through the window. "Mishima! Ryuji!" she shouted. "…How could you betray me like this?"

"Soorrrry!" they both shouted.

"You're not sorry! Not sorry enough to get back here and sink with the ship, you cowards!" Akira said. "I've got a lesson from Hank Hill I'd like to teach you, it's called kicking your—!"

"Hellooo~!" saNG the maid who opened the door. "Good evening, mast…"

The maid blinked her eyes, surprised by the girl in black with her hands in her jeans and wavy hair tied up into a regal ponytail.

"Mistress?" the maid said. "I've never had a lady client before. Much less a cute one, that's new…"

Ann coughed, trying not to say anything.

"I didn't realize there'd be multiple clients, either. You'll be fine with the increased rate, then?" the maid said.

"Erm, yes—oops!" Akira covered her mouth, nodding without thinking.

"Good! Then let's get to business! My name is Becky from Victoria, and I'll be your maid this evening." The maid smiled as she strolled on in. Akira, on the other hand, gasped with even greater surprise as she could see who it was she was staring at in the reflection of the window.

"You're boned," Shadow Akira said. "We're boned."

"We are so boned!" Shadow Ann said. "And not in the funny way, it's the 'you're in big trouble missy' kind of boned!"

Mishima's eyes widened up. "What the hell? It's—!"

"Ms. Kawakami?!" both boys said.

"It sounds just like her," Near whispered. "We're boned. And you two abandoned us and left us to die."

"I'm here to fill your tired hearts with all the lovely energy I can muster~" The twintailed maid brought her hands down, lifting them up as she formed a large heart before cupping her hands together, sending forth a bright pink heart ring that pulsed through the room. For a brief moment, the apartment shined pink, hearts twinkling and sparkling around them.

"What the hell, is that real?! That beam isn't real, is it?!" Shadow Akira said while the real Akira was not to sweat buckets.

"I don't think so!? Is that a Persona Skill?" Shadow Ann said.

"If it seems like one, then it probably is one! That's all I'm going to say!" Near whispered to the other Shadows. What none of them had yet to acknowledge was that indeed, Shadows could charm enemies using heart shaped beams and the like.

"So tell me, what can I do for you, beautiful?" Becky said.

"Gah—um, nice to meet you!" Akira turned her head away with the sweet smiling maid's sudden appearance at her shoulder. Only to gasp further as Becky tried to get closer.

"I could do the cooking! Laundry! Cleaning!" She said, speaking cutely while tenderly holding her arm. It didn't help that Akira was being affected by this. She was a weak-willed woman.

"Or…" Becky said, dropping the cute tone of her voice and switching for a much more mature and seductive tone.

She brought herself to Akira's ear, making Akira shiver as heat brushed against it. "If my mistresses so wishes, there are some other services. Special ones… That I would be more than happy to provide for you…"

Akira gripped her thigh so fiercely, she stabbed herself with her nails. "Oww—" she whispered.

"Oh my, you have such delicate and smooth skin!" Becky said as she got closer to her face, before pulling back. "...Um, how old are you, exactly?"

"Shit!" Ann whispered out.

"Oh no," Near whispered. "Here it comes."

"Six— sevent—" Akira cleared her throat. "I'm a dad."

"...Is that the excuse you want to go with?" Becky pulled back. "And what about this girl—?"

"She's a mom!" Akira quickly explained. "We're married. And swingers. We like to experiment."

"What!" Ann snapped at Akira, before straightening her back stiffly. "I mean—Yes! We're a very busy, um, lesbian couple! I don't know, we never really put a label on our sexual orientations, but you know how it goes! Umbrella terms are umbrella terms are umbrella terms, hah-hah-ha!"

"...What about the one near the window?" Becky had to ask.

"I'm their child," Near said flatly.

"...Yeah, I don't buy this," Becky said, stepping back. "Okay, how about we hold off on those services? I can still do the other ones for now. I am a professional maid, okay?"

"What?!" Mishima yelled.

"What the hell! She can't leave yet, we already paid for this!" Ryuji shouted from behind the wall.

"Who is that?! That voice…" And like that, Becky sternly walked towards the window.

"Ruh-oh, Mishima, cover's blown!" Ryuji said.

"Zoinks! Let's get out of here, Ryuji!" Mishima and Ryuji jumped off the balcony, abandoning their friends.

"Ryuji, Mishima, you jackasses!" Shadow Akira went to the window, banging it and shouting. "I'll get you for your traitorous, behavior!"

"Sorrryyyy!" they said.

"Maidenless behavior, I tell ya hwhat!" Shadow Akira shouted, slipping into a strong country accent.

"Ryuji? Mishima?! What's going—"

"The jig is up Becky. Sorry you had to get involved," Akira said. "Or, should I say…"

"...Ah?" The woman turned her head back, looking at Akira with a nervous smile. The teacher was caught red-handed in her maid outfit.

"Ms. Kawakami, it really is you!" Akira put her hands on her hips. "And here I was, thinking you were a fan of maid cafes. I didn't think you'd be moonlighting as the maid. What, does the school not pay you well enough?"

"I'm, uh…" Kawakami blinked her brown eyes, cheeks flushed with all sorts of emotions. Mostly embarrassment.

"Yes, it's me. It's your homeroom teacher." Kawakami pulled herself away and hid her face. "I have my own reasons for doing this, okay? Don't judge me!"

"I didn't assume anything wrong. Like I said, I thought you had a thing for maids," Akira said in a rather frank way, her words just slipping right out of her mouth. "But if you've got your own reasons, I can understand. If it's money, I did just get more than I know what to spend on. So—"

"That won't be necessary!" Kawakami said, lifting her head sternly. "Now, what I want to know is what are you doing here with Ann—!" She brought her hand to the blonde girl.

"Hi, Ms. Kawakami…" Ann said, smiling and sighing in embarrassment.

"And Near!" she finished, bringing her hand to the snowy student.

"Why uh… why do you look so beautiful?" Near blurted out. "Erm—"

"Oh no, not one word!" Kawakami lifted her hand, swinging it around. "I'm not going to hear my students talk about how sexy I look in this dress! I will not hear it!"

"...That doesn't mean I'm not curious as to why you're here," said the stern and sassy maid. "Who put you up to this? Don't you have class tomorrow, it's going to be late!"

"Uh, who put us up?" Akira said. "Umm…"

"It was Ms. Chouno, wasn't it!" Kawakami brought herself into Akira's face. "She's always snooping around, trying to find something to use against me!"

"Ms. Chouno? What?" Akira blinked in confusion. "We came here because we—"

"We won't say who it was, but we will say they're cowards and jackasses," Ann said before Akira could finish.

"So Ryuji and Mishima," Kawakami said. "Given that they just ran away."

"We're not involved here!" Mishima shouted from the ground floor.

"Yeah!" Ryuji agreed.

"You liars! You betrayers!" Ann shouted back at them. "Yeah, it was them. Near and I came to watch them mess this up. We didn't think they'd bail and leave us three high and dry."

"Sounds about right," Kawakami said.

The room went silent as three students stared at their homeroom teacher dolled up as a cute maid. There were more people hiding the fact that they were into it than there weren't.

"...Look, I'm not prepared for whatever you might've had planned? I'm just gonna cancel." Kawakami started to walk away, raising one hand. "It would be trouble for all of us if word got out that a teacher was seen with three students while moonlighting in a maid service. Let's all forget this ever happened."

"Oh… okay," said the blushing Akira watching her strut away in a surprisingly assertive manner.

"I'll just treat it like you canceled early, and you won't have to pay a thing," Kawakami said.

"No, keep the change. I have too much money right now," Akira said.

"And where is a girl like you getting the money? With your record? Young lady, please," Kawakami scoffed. "Allow me."

"No, allow me! Er—young ma'am?" Akira said.

"I am older than you! You're the young lady here!" Kawakami said as she left, shutting the door.

"...Well, that backfired," Near said, getting up. "Where's Morgana?"

"Oh, um, with Sojiro," Akira explained. "They went grocery shopping."

Morgana took the bag of flour out of the cart, scanning it. Then he took out the box of chocolates, scanning it.

"Meow!" he said, tucked in the middle of the cart Sojiro was pushing.

"I didn't ask for this kid, but isn't he amazing?" Sojiro said to the clerk watching with stars in her eyes as Morgana did his job.

5/18,

Akira sat behind Ann in class, neither of them saying anything.

Both were staring at Kawakami. Dressed normally in her yellow sweater.

Kawakami was staring dead at them. It was like she was a marksman trained on them, two red dots pointed at their heads.

"...So do you think Ms. Kawakami is hotter in or out of the maid outfit?" Akira whispered to Ann.

"Girl, please!" Ann hit the table, looking back at Akira while shushing her.

"What, I'm being honest!" Akira said.

"I—" Ann sighed. "Ugh, I don't want to think about what it might mean if I let myself say yes to that question."

"You spent the whole time back there thirsting for Maruki and you weren't complaining then," Akira pointed out.

"Yeah but like he's a new guy! You can't blame me for meeting the hot new teacher and being down bad. I know Ms. Kawakami." Ann huffed and pouted.

"Then don't blame me for being hot for another teacher!" Akira whispered back to her.

"I have to leave for one moment," Kawakami said, pushing herself out of her seat.

She walked away from the students, opening her door and heading out into the hall.

"Hmm?" The English teacher, Ms. Chouno, put her coffee cup down as she watched Kawakami stiffly walk away from her classroom.

"Again?" The tall teacher pushed away from her own seat, following her.

"What's the deal with Ms. Chouno and Ms. Kawakami?" Akira said. "Do you think she's causing trouble?"

"Who knows, but Ms. Kawakami mentioned she was always snooping around," Ann said. "Let's go watch and see if we need to step in."

"Agreed." Akira and Ann got out of their seats, sneaking out of class to keep an eye out. Both students hiding behind the corner as they saw Ms. Chouno corner Ms. Kawakami.

"Leaving class again, Ms. Kawakami? You have students to take care of! And you'd best not leave while I'm talking to you like you did last time!" Ms. Chouno firmly reprimanded their homeroom teacher, sternly lifting her head with her hips braced.

"Every teacher here is under severe scrutiny after such an awful scandal with Kamoshida, yet you've barely made the time to go to faculty meetings! How can you be so irresponsible when it's our students who trust in you to help them succeed?"

Ms. Kawakami was clinging onto her books as if she were a student in trouble instead of a teacher. "Please, Ms. Chouno, I was just trying to—"

"You can't keep making excuses for yourself! How many times have you stepped out of class this week, young lady?" Ms. Chouno interrogated her with, sighing. "I'm deeply concerned with what this will mean for your students. They must still be in shock over what happened to—"

"Excuse us! Ms. Kawakami!" Akira said.

Akira stepped up to the two teachers in the hallway, smiling softly. "We'd like some help with this one passage, please."

"It's a pretty tough one," Ann said. "We just can't get the meaning behind it, either. And do you think you can help us after class?"

"Ah?" Kawakami gasped, then smiled nervously. "More lessons?"

"More?" Ms. Chouno turned to look at the teacher. "You mean to say…"

"Yes, more!" Kawakami shut her eyes, lifting her hand and waving it. "Ms. Kurusu is one of the smartest students in the school, as you know by her high exam scores. But she has a hard time dealing with an undeserved reputation. Students keep troubling her for things she's not responsible for, so I've taken to teaching her in between and out of classes! And given Ms. Takamaki's part-time job, she struggles with balancing both her career with her schoolwork. There's more I wish to say, but it's their right to tell only what they wish to tell…!"

"...Really now?" Ms. Chouno said.

And like that, she clasped her hands together, the look in her eyes shining so bright. "And here I am being so hard on you that I hadn't even stopped to think that you might be exhausted from all the extra work you're taking on! Please, let your fellow teacher step in every once in a while!"

"A-hah, I sure wish I could…" Ms. Kawakami cocked her head while trailing off.

"Keep working hard! Forgive me for not putting enough faith in you!" Lifting her head high, Ms. Chouno returned to her class, waving goodbye to Kawakami.

"She's not bad, but I always feel like I'm going to get in trouble around her…" Kawakami sighed, then looked to the two students who came to save the day. "Don't think I owe you two just because of that, though."

"We just thought you could've used a hand," Akira said, nodding.

"Yeah, knowing what you're going through, it's hard not want to help," Ann said with a smile. "We'll go right back to class, okay?" Both waved and started to leave.

"...Well, thanks." Kawakami dashed her eyes to the side, lips pursed tight and her face flushed.

Even still, her lips curled into a smile. "I guess I should be looking after those troublemakers. They're good kids… Even if they are a teenage lesbian dad and mom swinger couple."

Chapter Text

Episode 28: Maid'n'less Behavior - Part 2

"Why… are we doing this!" Ann was doing jumping jacks in the back courtyard. And not just her, but Mishima, Akira, and Near. Each of them standing behind Ryuji leading them.

"We're a team, so we gotta train as a team too, don't you think?" Ryuji looked back, arms moving fast and strong as he grinned. "If you can't keep up here, how are you ever going to keep up out there? Remember what happened back at the castle?" School was over, so Ryuji invited them to join him in his exercise routine. Compared to the ex-athlete with a damaged leg, most of them struggled to keep pace.

"Oh yeah, the… castle collapsed." Mishima put his hands on his knees, breathing deeply as he stopped. "Man, Ryuji, your workout routine is brutal."

"What do you mean? I adjusted it for you couch folk." Ryuji giggled. "Seriously, this was the regimen I used when I just started out in the track team. And I even turned it down a notch."

"Going… to… die…" Near collapsed onto one knee, panting harder than Mishima. "Stamina? Low. Agility? Maybe high. Endurance? Definitely pitiful."

"You gotta toughen your body up, Near!" Morgana pointed his paw high. "Each of you needs to become perfect in all your stats! Guts! Proficiency! Kindness! Charm! Knowledge!"

Morgana took Akira's phone, touching the Meta-Nav app. "Here, see?" the kitty brought the screen up to the eyes of the jumping Akira.

"Why… do I have… a 3 out of 5 in Guts already?" Akira said while sweat dripped down her face.

"You've been min-maxing, Aki!" Morgana pointed out.

"Fair point, I have been backtalking a lot of people lately," Akira panted out.

"Ugh, I'm not used to this much effort in the real world. We've been at this for a while," Ann said.

0He wiped his forehead. He probably could train for another hour before calling it quits.

"You making your own track team here, Sakamoto Ryuji? Is that what's happening?"

The ones who approached were Ryuji's friends from the former track team. No, they were just the former track team at this point.

"At least have the decency to go out and make a proper team. You know it's a waste of time to try to train the girls," said one of the students.

"Firstly, I'm not even trying to compete with the track team," Ryuji told them. 'Secondly? That's sexist. You realize that was fucking sexist, right?"

Ann started to grunt. "Is this what we're dealing with just for trying to train? I already didn't have plans to join in, but I sure don't appreciate how you're talking to Ryuji."

"That's what he gets. He just has to deal with his own consequences," the track student with the headband on said. "So in the end, you're not over the track team? Training behind our backs here with a new team of yours?"

"I just said I'm not planning on rejoining! Beat it!" Ryuji spat. "...The old track team is dead for me, that's that. Takeishi, come on."

"Tch." The headband-wearing boy, Takeishi, flicked his head away sharply. "We wouldn't want you on the new track team, anyways."

"...Ah, so the track team's making a comeback?" Now Ryuji grinned. "So why did you come here then? Surely not to tell my team to get lost so you could get me alone and pick me for the new group, huh?"

"Doubtful," Takeishi said. "You'll get us in trouble and shut us down again."

"You're the transfer delinquent, aren't you?" the blue-haired track student said to Akira. "Why are you hanging out with him of all people? I thought I could trust the guy, but even knowing what we were going up against, he still betrayed us and left us to suffer."

"Don't bother with her, Nanaoka," Takeishi said, stepping in front of the other boy. "She's nothing but trouble herself. I heard she was right next to Ryuji when Kamoshida sucked his own dick."

"Whuh-hut?" Mishima said, breaking his scowl with laughter for a moment and only a moment before hardening his stare. "What do you know about Ryuji! What do you know about Akira?"

"I know enough that if you smack talk Ryuji the wrong way, he'll try to knock you to the ground," Takeishi said. "Like father, like son."

"Why you—!" Ryuji stepped forward, bringing his fist up.

"See?! That right there, just like what he did with Kamoshida!" Takeishi insisted, pointing at Ryuji's face.

Ryuji hissed through his teeth, forcefully and cautiously pulling his arm back.

"We took the beatings. We took the torture exercises, but then you had to go and fuck everything up!" Nanaoka now snapped at Ryuji. "Why do I even bother with you after what you did!"

"…I can't believe we were ever friends. Let's just go." Nanaoka now huffed, turning around and leaving with the rest of his team.

"Stay out of our way, Ryuji," Takeishi said, glaring coldly.

"...Some friends those guys are," Ann said, gritting her teeth.

"I nearly smacked Takeishi up the head when he started bringing up my dad. Gah, he got me there…" Ryuji sighed, reaching for his head and scratching it.

"But you know what? I'm happy I got my new team. You guys keep my head on straight. Thanks, everyone!" He turned around and gave them a bright smile.

"Of course! And screw those shitheads!" Mishima high-fived Ryuji, both pumping their fists.

Ann narrowed her eyes, watching them. "Wait, are they now fighting each other? What gives?"

"You should've thrown a punch, Nanaoka!" one of the track team members said, pushing the blue-haired student.

"What the hell's your problem! You want us to get in trouble again?" Nanaoka snapped back. "Butt out!"

"Yeah, let's just stay out of that one…" Ryuji said, taking a step away. "How about we quit while we're ahead so we don't get caught in the crossfire. Sounds good?"

"Yeah, let's bounce," Akira agreed, waving her hand and walking away. "See ya, team!"

"Good, you're back," Sojiro said as Akira walked into Cafe Leblanc. "I'm getting ready to close early. I got a doctor's appointment to take care of. You take care too."

The bell rang as Sojiro left, leaving Akira alone with Morgana.

"So, anything on your mind?" Morgana asked, hopping out of her bag.

"Well, there is one thing…" Akira looked at the poster of the maid service company Victoria. She had a very special request in mind from a very important someone.

She looked at the yellow old phone on the counter, preparing to make a call.

"Seriously? Did you really need to make me wear the maid outfit?" Kawakami asked, lifting up the hem of her dress while sticking her leg out to showcase her white long thigh-highs. "Ugh, at least no one will recognize me as your teacher. So what do you want?" She kept her arms folded, tapping her finger against her elbow.

"So are you doing the mean maid bit on purpose?" Akira asked, sitting on the ground with her hands on her knees while looking up at her maid-teacher scolding her. Yes, Akira knew she had a weakness for this. She didn't want to speak about it.

"I'm just annoyed that you would call me again after yesterday," Kawakami said. "So, what do you want? And remember, no special services!"

"A-actually, um—!" Akira quickly reached for a bag of laundry. "Could you wash my school clothes? Sojiro just gave me the keys to the cafe, and I want to rent some copies of Lupin the Third to watch with the gang, but I can't do both at the same time. And…"

Akira sighed, calming down. "I'm worried about Ryuji, but I don't know what's going on. Would you happen to know anything about what happened when he got his leg broken?"

"I see…" Kawakami took the clothing bag from her. "Let's set this aside for now. I owe you one anyways for helping me with Ms. Chouno." She took a seat on the couch, keeping her arms folded as Akira joined her.

"Where do I begin? I can't exactly tell you what started the incident…" Her teacher told Akira. Kawakami drank a sip of the tea the young student prepared for her, speaking calmly.

"I know that Ryuji attacked Kamoshida for saying something about his mom. It was payback for something," Akira said. "Would it make sense that Kamoshida provoked Ryuji into attacking him intentionally? Knowing he could take advantage of Ryuji while he was angry."

"Who knows for certain what he was thinking? I didn't like Kamoshida much, but I didn't even realize how bad it got with him. I feel like I failed everyone as a teacher, now that I've had time to process what happened." Kawakami said. "Well… if you're telling me you think Kamoshida intentionally provoked him to do what he did, I'd believe you. Insulting Ryuji's mother, pinning all the blame of who Ryuji is on her as if she was the sole cause of his problems? It's a twisted thing to say to someone, don't you think? Anyone, not just Ryuji, would snap at that. Then add him saying that Ryuji will end up in jail and dead just like his father, and that was the nail in the coffin. I wasn't there during the incident, but I arrived just after Ryuji was being put on a stretcher to go to the hospital. People were repeating what he said then. And after doing some research of my own, I learned that Ryuji's father did die in jail. The circumstances were strange, as he showed no signs of health complications. And while he wasn't a nice man, and he had a history of alcoholism, nothing pointed that he was at risk of suicide or anything. It was a Kira killing, at least it lines up perfectly with one."

Kawakami sighed deeply, frowning with guilt. "I'm scared I can't do enough for Ryuji, or any one of my students who might be in a position like his. It's not easy. I have experience as a teacher, but I'm relatively new to the school. And a young one, relatively speaking. Before Maruki, I was the newest one, so you can imagine I don't have the sway someone might expect me to have. Sure, I might call him a troublemaker, but really the last thing I want to see is him getting into a mess he can't recover from. He's a brighter kid than he seems. Maybe not the best when it comes to studying, but he's a brave and courageous kid who tries to take on the world on his own. He often avoids showing his own pain to people, so it's hard for me to be the one to help him directly."

"Before the incident, Ryuji was dealing with a lot of physical abuse alongside the rest of the track team," Akira said. "Do you think he would have tried to bottle it all up for the sake of his team before he snapped over what Kamoshida said?"

"It makes sense, though I can't prove that myself." Kawakami took another sip from her teacup. "Still, Ryuji is the type of person to put up with a lot for the sake of others, even if that means enduring pain. And he stays firm in the face of that abuse. I didn't even make the connection at all until just now, but Ryuji is like bravery itself. When somebody is hurt, or people are picking on a person who can't defend themself, he's likely to step in for their sake. For better and for worse."

Kawakami took her final sip of tea before setting down the cup. "I realize I have you to thank for that connection. Keep an eye out on him for me, please? Do it for your teacher."

A soft gasp left Akira's lips. "Yeah, you're welcome. I promise."

"Good," Kawakami said, smiling sweetly at her.

"...Not that it makes up for that stunt of yours yesterday! Sheesh, what are you thinking!" Kawakami firmly got up and gave Akira a firm, scolding glare. "What, are you so down and dirty over cutesy maids that you have to get your hands on one? Or should I have just dropped the act and put you in your place from the start?"

"Uh, maybe—?!" Akira kept her head low, trying to not cue her into the fact that she was getting flustered by her teacher doing this to her.

"Ugh, you are a problem child." Kawakami turned her head away, huffing in a haughty manner. "I've got a troublemaking delinquent on my hands with a filthy brain in that head of hers. Just my luck. You'd better not blackmail me!"

"I'd never, Ms. Kawakami!" Akira said, stammering while reaching up for her face instinctively, poking her eyes instead of adjusting glasses that weren't there. "Oww!"

"Wear your glasses if you're going to keep poking yourself like that!" Kawakami said. "Seriously, you're going to hurt yourself. Ans thy are your eyes so bright? It's like they might glow in the dark."

"I honestly have no idea," Akira said, rubbing the corners of her eyes now. She always had these red eyes since as early as she could remember. They didn't seem special though, other than how eerie they were. Now that she was wearing her contacts less often, more people kept bringing it up.

"The track team's being reinstated, by the way. You might already know that," Kawakami told Akira. "But you might also want to know that the one taking Kamoshida's place will be Mr. Yamauchi, one of Kamoshida's closest allies during his tenure. He mentioned they used to frequent a restaurant in Tsukishima. If my memory's right, he'd go on Thursdays every week. Thursday's tomorrow. I imagine you might want to look into it, just don't get yourself into trouble."

Akira nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Kawakami. I'll be careful."

"Please make this the last time you call me, okay? I don't want us getting in trouble, especially since we know each other from school." Kawakami took the bag of clothes, slinging it over her shoulder with surprising ease. "And if you do keep calling me, remember that I'll only do cleaning and assistance. I'm a pretty decent homemaker, you know? I actually am a trained maid. But if you really have a maid fetish, I won't be leaning into it for you. You're a student! Bother someone else about that." She waved her hand and went out the door.

"Understood!" Akira saluted her teacher.

"That's good, my lesbian daddy." Kawakami joked, laughing as she went out the door. The laundry was just outside, after all.

"Now where was that rental shop?" Akira said to herself.

5/19,

"He's here, just like Kawakami said." Akira lowered her head, hidden in an alleyway within Tsukishima. There Mr. Yamauchi was, strolling right into a monjayaki restaurant.

"Yamauchi doesn't know the first thing about track," Ryuji said. "He must have some game to play…"

Akira looked back at Ryuji as the rain fell down in front of them. "Ready for this?"

Ryuji's eyebrows creased tighter. The boy looked away. "Look man, I'm thankful for what you're doing, but why go so far for something like this? Literally, we took the subway to get here."

"You're not like yourself right now," Akira said. "Now here, have a break." She raised a candy bar to give to him.

"Kit-Kat? You did you just make a TV ad reference? Ya fuckin' nerd," Ryuji playfully teased, unwrapping the candy. "Oh boy, matcha!"

He chomped down on the tasty treat, swallowing. "But Mr. Yamauchi knows my face. What if he sees me and realizes you're a plant?"

"I'm not a plant. I'm a human," Akira said, raising a finger. "Charles is a plant. He's my plant."

"Oh, you really are a real wiseguy, aren'tcha? Why I oughta—!" Ryuji pretended to roll up his sleeves, snickering. "Seriously though, what are we gonna do?"

"Well, I have this." Akira said, taking out a checkered, red-and-black fedora with a silver strap around the middle. Then reaching up before sliding it onto Ryuji's head.

Akira grabbed the front, tipping it downward. "Perfect."

"Do I look incognito? Incognition? Imcompadre?" Ryuji said, his eyes and hair hidden by the hat's shadow.

"Like a man who doesn't exist," Akira said. "It was just sitting there in my closet. I think it's Sojiro's."

"…Bitchin'!" the boy said, tugging on his stylish hat.

Akira entered the restaurant with Ryuji tailing behind. "Only the first one was right, by the way."

"Aww, dangit!" Ryuji said. But stopped before he entered, remembering Akira's words from before they left the school.

"I need you at your best right now. We can decide what to do about Mr. Yamauchi once we get some answers. Keep your phone on, but just act like any other patron. Make it look like you're playing a game if you have to."

Ryuji took out his phone, lifting his fedora up slightly as he entered, taking a seat at one of the booths. Positioned right behind Joker who was sitting in the next booth, waiting to step in if need be.

"Ahh, the volleyball team's just a bunch of lost causes, now that the star player's gone! And rhe team's so scarred, we'll probably have to abandon it entirely… That's the only real option with those brats." Mr. Yamauchi was shaking a glass full of liquor. Akira didn't really much care for what it was, but the stench reeked in her nose.

"Which is why you'll… be picking up the track team again, correct?" said a fairly drunk teacher chatting with him. "But man, you've never done track before."

"Pssht, running's piss easy! I'll whip those kids up into shape, no problem!" Yamauchi said, the drunken man taking a sip while pointing at him. "I can already see the headlines. The students who suffered under Kamoshida, now winning under a glorious, caring new advisor: The ultimate comeback from the depths of despair! Everyone will love it! And you know Kobayakawa will be eating out of my hands this time."

"Gloryhounds…" Akira put her thumb to her lips, settling on just listening further for now.

"All that praise will go to me, and I'll be a shoe-in to take up the torch that Kamoshida dropped. Doesn't it make sense? I just gotta sprinkle some truths here and there, show a little kindness to one kid. Push another this way, pull another that way…" Yamauchi coughed into his fist once. "Well, so it goes. I'll probably have to get a coach of my own to do the heavy lifting though."

"What about the coach that Kamoshida used to work with? Is he worth considering?" his companion asked him.

"Nah, that was the same coach Kamoshida got Mr. Principal to fire," Yamauchi said. "Good for nothing narc."

"I knew it…" Ryuji whispered, zooming in on the recording further. God, this was an awfully convenient time to show up.

"But Nakaoka, one of the problems on the team, was pushing real hard to get him back, too," Yamauchi pointed out. "He's real trouble, that one. But the good news is I got a plan…"

"What plan?" his companion said.

The sleazy teacher grinned, swirling the ice in his drink. "This other student, Takeishi, he's pretty much a nobody. Bad in pretty much every category of track and field. But his parents are loaded and his mother's part of the PTA. I cut a deal to make him the team captain if he helps me get rid of Nakaoka. All I needed to get him to agree was to tell a lie that Nakaoka was a mole for Kamoshida the whole time. Their hate for the man was enough for the whole team to start turning on him."

"I see… cold, but effective," his companion answered with a nod.

"I couldn't help but overhear…" Akira walked up to Mr. Yamauchi, keeping her face off camera and her hoodie up. "Why have such an inefficient captain? Won't it hurt your chances at success at future tourneys?"

"Agh, it's cause a deal's a deal." The drunk Yamauchi swiped his hand, then curled his fist under his chin. Too drunk to care for his words or who he spoke them to, it seemed. "Still, it would be a problem to keep him around too. Maybe he might find himself in an accident before the tournaments start. Still, until then he'll teach those students the importance of respecting your superiors."

"And you don't see anything wrong with your heinous actions?" Akira asked.

Now it was time to seal the deal. Between her jacket obscuring her and where she was standing, there was no chance of the camera getting her face.

"What, you got a problem with it? Buzz off, bitch!" the drunk and now angry man shouted. "You don't know the first thing about having what it takes to create winners! The only problem with Kamoshida is that he got caught, not his teaching methods!" He raised his glass, motioning for her to leave him alone.

"I hope you can live with yourself, sir." Akira walked away from the man, leaving the bar without another word.

"Ah, shut up, drama queen!" The man lurched his head, hitting his glass against the table. Then he turned to his friend."Gawkers, am I right?"

This was it. Ryuji had everything he needed. Staying there to not look suspicious after Akira just left, he waited just a bit longer, making it seem like he was an ordinary teen playing video games on his phone.

"Don't you worry, I'll pick up where Kamoshida left off, and the school will thank me! Heh-heh!" Yamauchi said, once again grinning. "With everyone thinking Nakaoka leaked private info to Kamoshida, they'll bulldoze him outta the team. And then everything will proceed as I planned it."

He had seen enough, now that Yamauchi went back to his drinking session. Ryuji got out of his seat and left.

"Let's go," he said, eyes firm. "We got a score to settle."

"Damn it, Nakaoka! How could you do this to us!" Takeishi raised his fist, surrounded by several other track members. All ganging up on the one blue-haired boy in the center.

"I didn't do anything! Yamauchi is playing you all!" Nanaoka started raising his guard, prepared to defend himself.

"Yamauchi knew you'd say something like that, but we all now know who you really were!" Takeishi yelled at him. "You were the one who spilled the beans about everything to Kamoshida, just to get out of the torture he was dishing out—"

"Yo, back off! And shut up!" Ryuji shouted. "Stop ganging up on someone just for keeping their head up!"

Ryuji raised his phone. Surrounded by his new team, he approached his old one.

Takeishi clicked his tongue. "What is it now, Ryuji?"

"Just watch for yourselves," Ryuji told them. "Nanaoka's right, Yamauchi is playing you. Especially you, Takeishi."

"Yeah, play the video Ryuji!" Ann said, fists raised high. "Show them who's boss!"

Ryuji played the video recording, showing them every single thing that came out of the drunken mouth of Yamauchi.

"With everyone thinking Nakaoka leaked private info to Kamoshida, they'll bulldoze him outta the team. And then everything will proceed as I planned it."

That was the recording of Yamauchi, with Takeishi left looking stunned, furious and betrayed.

"I trusted Yamauchi because he said if I put Nakaoka to justice, he'd give me a letter of recommendation," Takeishi turned his head down, now hissing through his teeth. "All I wanted was for my dad and mom to look at me like they were proud! What's a guy as useless as me supposed to do in a position like this?"

"Did you really think betraying your friends and putting this kind of shit on them is really going to fix that?" Ryuji brought his hand out. "Come on man, you should know better than that. Doesn't this make you feel pathetic? If you feel pathetic because of this, then it probably means you're wrong. You're letting yourself be strung along and tricking yourself into thinking you're right."

"You say it like it's easy!" Takeishi started to lash out in anger. "You don't have parents that put all your worth on how you look, how you act and how you win!"

"And how do you think I felt when my dad bailed on my family, was arrested and then cut down!" Ryuji snapped. "Now my mom works overtime and can barely afford a day's rest because of it!"

With Takeishi holding his tongue, Ryuji continued to speak. !I don't like my dad, but I won't act like life's not harder than before he abandoned us in a lot of ways. But never in my life did I think betraying my friends was an out worth taking. You knew better than that too, didn't you?"

"You… you!" Takeishi glared at him. "Damn it, Ryuji! Shut it!" He raised his fist, lunging at the blonde boy.

"If this is what it takes to get your head straight, go ahead! Hit me! I can take it!" Ryuji declared.

"Stop it!"

Mishima grabbed the wrist of Takeishi, stepping in between him and Ryuji. Takeishi's fist stopped short in front of his head.

Ryuji gasped, pulling back. "Woah, bro."

"Like hell I'd let you hurt my friend, even if he's letting you!" Mishima said, eyes angry and resolute. He put his two hands against Takeishi's one, pushing back with an angered shout.

Throwing the hand away, the bandaged boy lifted his head. "Do you think I wanted to leak info for Kamoshida? Hell no! Do you think I wanted Kamoshida to injure my eye? Again, no! Nobody wants this, and nobody wants to see any of their friends suffer! But if you take your problem out on my friend, I will stop it! So back off with this senseless violence!"

Kawakami kept her back to the wall nearby, hanging just out of sight behind some bushes. She would have to step in soon if this devolved, and yet…

"That Ryuji and that Mishima…" She sighed, unable to hold back the smile on her face. "They're like two sides of the same coin, aren't they? Put a friend next to them, and their true selves just start to jump out."

"Sorry, but we're going to have to say no to this," Ann said, stepping in and joining Mishima. "If you still want to stay running on the track team, then you know better than to finish throwing that punch."

"Ryuji might be fine giving you a free hit, but…" Akira turned her body to the side, casting forth an intense red glare as she lifted one foot. "The second time your fist comes into range of any one of my friends, I'll send your chin sky high with one kick. Deal with your anger without beating up someone who doesn't deserve it, and stop taking advantage of people."

"What we're saying is don't go picking on any one of our teammates, even if you think he'd be an easy target because of your past baggage." Near suddenly appeared behind Takeishi, having already grabbed his shoulder to the boy's surprise. "I'll warn you in advance, I don't play clean."

"We don't mean any harm just so long as you don't plan on hurting us. So please, just drop it," Mishima said. "Win or lose, we protect our friends."

He looked back at Ryuji, nodding. "I still haven't thanked you and Akira for standing up for me when Kamoshida was bullying me in class. It meant a lot to me."

"Of course, Mishima," Akira said, smiling back. Before looking back at Takeishi. "Now back off and scram. Don't bring Ryuji into your problems if you're going to keep fighting each other."

"Thanks, guys…" Ryuji said, before looking harshly at Takeishi. "Fighting us isn't going to fix your problem. You may not be able to impress your parents and that might never change, but you're not your parents. And I'm not my dad, either. I made a promise to do better for my friends and for myself, and I intend to keep it."

…Takeishi pulled away, glaring at Nakaoka. "I'm sorry for taking everything out on you. Ryuji's right. We have training to do."

"We still need a team captain, you know. You may not be the best runner, but you still know a lot more about leading than I do." Nakaoka put his hand on Takeishi's shoulder. "No hard feelings when we're all dealing with the same guy. Just don't do it again. Got it? Teams don't break each other down. No more of that."

Nakaoka turned his head to Ryuji, looking like he had something on his mind. "...Hey, maybe you should come with us later."

"Who knows? I sure don't know if that'll ever happen." Ryuji put his hands behind his head and whistled casually, before looking back at his team.

"I said I was over the track team, remember? I got a new team to look after!" Ryuji flashed two fingers and walked away. "Peaa-ace!"

"...Yeah. Yeah that makes sense." Nakaoka huffed, smiling with a look of sadness in his eye.

"But hey!" Ryuji turned back. "...Good luck out there."

Nakaoka lifted his head, the light in his eyes returning by just that much. "Yeah, you too."

With that, Ryuji finally parted ways with the old crew that left him to walk alone. And with that, he rejoined his new crew, running with them from now on.

Chapter Text

Episode 29: Interrogation Classroom - Part 1

5/20,

A giant teddy bear costume kicked its feet back and forth, swaying on the bench he sat on. In the middle of Shujin's back courtyard, there was exactly one giant blue clown bear costume. Not a giant toy or anything, just a large costume with a zipper around its neck. There was no exact rhyme or reason to its existence. And that was deeply concerning considering it was very articulate with its mouth.

"Skibuhdibuhdee-yom-da-da-dop, yom-da-da-dop." So it began to sing, seemingly passing time on the bench while making strange noises with its incredibly articulate costume mouth.

"Psst, Ryuji! What's that bear in the clown suit doing?" Akira said, hiding behind another bench with Ryuji.

"Uh, singing scat music, I think," Ryuji said, lifting his head to peek at it.

"I see you all ask 'bout the meaning of scat, well I'm the professor and all I can tell ya—!" the bear continued even as Ryuji ducked under the bench.

"Singing I'm the Scatman, apparently," Ryuji explained.

"It scares me," Akira said, ducking her head too.

"I'm a Scatbear!" the blue bear suddenly shouted. "BADAPADAPA—!"

"Eek!" Akira shrieked, jumping up and power walking away. "Nope! Not today, Scatbear! I don't trust you!"

"Byeee!" The bear waved at her with his big mitten hand.

"I don't trust youuuu!" Akira shouted as she entered the hallway to get to class.

"Why not?" the blue bear asked. "I haven't done anything! Yet." The blue bear suit started to giggle, whoever was inside eagerly waiting what was to come.

Principal Kobayakawa spoke through the intercom. "Attention? Attention students, a local team of investigators would like to take the time out of your day to request any info on the details surrounding the incident with Kamoshida last month."

"Ah-h-h…?" Akira squeaked in her homeroom seat. "Oh no, does he mean cops?"

"They are definitely not cops!" Kobayakawa said through the speaker.

"Oh, he means cops," Ann said with wide eyes. "Maybe it won't be so bad, though? I mean, it's not like they're going to put two and two together?"

Meanwhile…

"Alright, boys, let's put two-and-two together!" Kanji put his hands together, the stern, strong man in the black leather jacket bringing them to Yu and Naoto. "We know Kamoshida gave a confession he never would have given because he's a motherfucking rapist! We know there are Persona Users. What are the odds that the people who put Kamoshida up to confess are the Persona Users we're on the lookout for?"

"Too low," Yu said.

"I say it's too high and that you're being generous," Naoto said.

"I say we shouldn't be profiling them," Yu said. "Being a Persona User shouldn't be inherently suspicious."

"And yet, here we are. Investigating Persona Users," Naoto said. The duo were sitting down with each other with Naoto leaning his back against Yu's shoulder, both staring up at Kanji.

"You know, how come we never just pass by a Persona User instead of having to deal with some big problem involving them?" Kanji said. "You'd think we could've last time with the katana guy, but nope! Persona Wrestling Match in the TV World! Why can't we just go Persona Bowling or something?"

"Why is it a bad thing if it turns out that a bunch of Persona Users took down a corrupt rapist teacher?" Yosuke asked. He was amongst the four boys in a room sectioned off for the purposes of debriefing. Soon enough, they'd be calling in students to gather data on what happened and any potential suspects.

"There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but we do have to investigate to see if anything illegal had gone down. Or something that was otherwise in a highly questionable gray area," Naoto said.

"...Yeah, but we did that," Yosuke pointed out. "That was like, everything we've been doing when we started out as the Investigation Team. We were evading cops to punish a cop!"

"That doesn't mean we can just encourage their behavior. It's inherently dangerous to act out vigilante justice, especially through the metaphysical realm," Naoto said. "Hopefully, though, all we hear is that they were uninvolved with Kamoshida. I know, I'm being a hypocrite about this. But the Chief of Police and his ally wants us to look into Persona Users who might be threats. With Kira being an all-time threat, we suspect that crimes in the metaphysical realm will bring us a lead into his methods and motives."

"I guess you're not wrong, at least about the part where these Persona Users are probably involved," Yosuke said. "I mean think about it, Personas are basically our means to a justice-driven end. They were our answer to our problem when we were backed into a corner and nobody could help us but ourselves. No adults, not even our friends."

"Being afraid to be yourself on top of all the danger we were dealing with? It was like the world was asking us to snap back for once," Kanji said. "So we all did. If this were just an ordinary case, maybe we'd be missing the mark here by acting on our hunch."

"But we wouldn't be here if it were just a normal case," Yu said. "This cover-up with Kamoshida has been going on for years, and who knows how deep it runs. I say we should look into the faculty while we're at it."

"Hmph, that should be a sinch. I'll have data ready before the day's over." Naoto smirked, eyes turning up to Yu. "Given Minister Shido's hostility, we can expect resistance from him if we're caught looking into the Principal. We'll move in when the perfect opportunity presents itself, but not without compromising our position. Remember, our grand objective is to weed out Kira, figure out how he kills, and then take him down."

"But that would require keeping our position as members of the Metaphysical Task Force to get access to whatever data they've got on him, especially since the rest of us are all fresh recruits," Kanji said. "Did I get that right?"

"Exactly," Naoto said. "We'll take this case as we would any normal one. This will also be good to get some professional experience in interviews and interrogations for you all. We'll work in pairs. Chie and Yukiko are already starting."

"Damn it, team! What do we do?" Akira said. She opened up the bag of yakisoba pan that she bought, eating it with harsh, chomping, anxiety-ridden bites.

"We give them nothing that could tie us to whatever we did in the castle," Ryuji said in a hushed whisper. "Nothin', I tell ya."

"That's right," Morgana said. "Even if they might find motive, they won't find the method. Not out of the blue."

"Shouldn't we try to run away to get out of this?" Akira asked. "What if they're like that investigation team with their own Personas? The samurai guy could see right through me in an instant! With his eyes, team, his eyes!"

"The odds of that are low," Near said. "...Unless they requested to investigate this specific case because there were Persona Users. In which case, the odds could be much higher."

"What should we do? I don't know the legality of stealing a man's heart, but I don't want to deal with a bunch of Persona-wielding investigators," Mishima said. "What if they like, get into a wrestling match with us? We'll lose!"

"Thus I propose we figure out a means of escape," Near said. "As someone who knows how detectives operate, I'll play the decoy. That'll buy us time and give the rest of you an opportunity to figure out a route out of here. Be cautious, however, and don't act recklessly without a plan. Thankfully, so many kids out of class right now, so nobody will question a few more."

"Ms. Takamaki, Mr. Sakamoto, and Near!" Kawakami called them over from the entrance to the cafeteria.

"Ah crap, man! I gotta go in there first! I'm not good at this, I blab under panic!" Ryuji was trying very hard to keep cool, and it wasn't working.

"Wish us luck," Near said, waving their hand and leaving.

"We'll need it," Ann said as she got up. The trio headed out. Prepared or not, it was interrogation time.

"So… Takamaki Ann." Chie leaned forward in her seat, gripping the sides of her chair. She's dealt with some investigations like this on her own before being dropped from the police force. This was not much different from speaking with any other student. "I'm going to ask you questions, and I'd like for you to answer as truthfully as you can to the best of your abilities."

"Fine, but regardless of whatever you're trying to get out of me, you'll get nothing out of me related to why Kamoshida did what he did." Ann held her arms crossed and her lips taut. Clearly, she didn't enjoy being dragged away for this investigation.

"Do you like cops?" Chie started with. "You just seem very tense in our presence."

"Oh, sorry. It's just that whenever we're in the presence of a cop, I get a terrible case of hives. It's allergy season, you see," Ann stared coldly in the face of the officer-turned-detective.

"We?" Yukiko asked, her fellow detective (and lover) standing beside the brunette in the open green long coat sitting down.

"My friends and I," Ann said. "We can't exactly trust them, can we? Why did it take this long for Kamoshida to get weeded out? Why did it take him doing it out of his own guilt instead of the school principal, or the teachers? Someone, anyone, should've been able to do something before things got as far as they did."

"Well, you're not wrong," Chie said. "Kamoshida was a bad man. I'm going to level with you, if it were in my power, I would've loved to have done something about him myself. Unfortunately, I've only just now been reinstated under a new team. A Task Force, if you will. You can call me Chie."

She was hostile, clearly. But being a cop-hater didn't exactly prove that she did anything at all. She was just one of the growing number of people who've lost faith in the police system. Nobody, especially young folks, trusted cops the way they used to, the way she was raised to. Now, most people turn to Kira for an answer to their problems.

It makes sense, even. Chie had been backstabbed by the police herself. Doing the right thing and refusing to bend made her a target to those in the force with ulterior motives. She missed when she looked up to cops as the heroes of justice she idolized, seeking to defend the weak and prove her bravery.

But there was no time to think about that. She had to study who she was dealing with closely. Was this girl, Takamaki Ann, a Persona User? She felt particularly strong. Not necessarily physically strong, but powerful. As someone who could call forth a Persona herself, she noticed that there was always a sort of… hidden power, radiating off of other wielders. Someone who wasn't trying to hide it would stick out if isolated from a crowd. Conversely, someone trying too hard would shut their power away entirely, giving themselves up by being too cleverly hidden. Everyone had power, though. And by comparing what the average person's power felt like, even Chie herself could spot a likely Persona User with enough attention.

And this Takamaki girl had a wellspring of power flowing out of her. She would not be surprised if her Shadow jumped out from her, intending to intimidate her with hauntingly golden eyes.

But this wasn't a job she could answer through brute force. "So, Ms. Takamaki, can you tell me what your association to Kamoshida was? Could have played a role in the events leading up to his own public confession?"

"He threatened to force himself on me, if that's what your asking. Before he went ahead and raped my best friend," Ann said, her hatred of the man seeping through her voice. "Does that make me a victim here? Or a possible suspect? Why should his own confession lead to my interrogation?"

"What we're looking for is a way to build a case against Kamoshida. In fact, the Chief of Police is cooperating with a prosecutor right now to secure a conviction," Chie calmly stated. "We're all lucky he is being cooperative. I understand if this dredges up painful memories, and I must apologize for this. Still, we need to know all the details involved before we can successfully put him behind bars for good. Nobody like Kamoshida would willingly confess to all his crimes after several years of not speaking out. The punishment should be a long life in jail. …But if Kira gets to him first, that life might be cut very quickly. All the more reason we need to be thorough with our investigation."

"Let's not forget about this card," Yukiko said. The officer in red sharply raised the paper in her hand. "The Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Do you know anything about them?"

"I know, it's a silly name for a group of thieves," Ann said. Which was a complete and utter lie, she thought it was perfectly cool and cute. But she had to bring her A-game here.

"Silly name aside—" Yukiko said, squinting after Ann started to squint at her agreeing with her.

"That aside," she continued, "They made a public announcement saying they would steal that which Kamoshida desired most, and that a traitor working against him would reveal all Kamoshida's crimes. But these cards were only ever posted around the school."

"And the traitor was none other than Kamoshida himself," Chie said. "It's quite likely a group of students blackmailed Kamoshida while he was under the threat of theft."

"Both theft and blackmail are serious crimes," Yukiko said. "Now then, I would hope you're not trying to hide something from us."

"Did the so-called Phantom Thieves ever actually steal anything?" Ann questioned. "Can you prove that anyone blackmailed him either?"

"...No, we cannot confirm anything was stolen, per sat," Chie said. "However, we did hear of a suspicious call between yourself, Kamoshida and one Kurusu Akira."

"How did you—?!" Ann's eyes widened, before she harshly grit her teeth. And then, her Shadow Self surfaced.

"Damn it, Niijima! Squealing like a damn canary!" Shouting from the door, Shadow Ann was cursing, swinging her fist in the air.

"Oh my," Yukiko whispered.

"Found the Persona User." Chie leaned close to Yukiko and whispered in her ear.

The angered Shadow Ann slammed her fist against the wall. "You hear that, Makoto?! I hope you can, because if I see your face, I'm throttling you!"

"A-choo!"

Makoto sneezed, blinking open a pair of blue eyes.

Somewhere in some dark basement, a blue-haired boy looked around the labyrinth he appeared to be trapped in. Nobody could get in. Nobody could get out.

"Ugh, what a drag… Wrong number." Although briefly waking from slumber, the boy soon shut his eyes, lowering his head as he returned to a still sleep.

Shadow Ann huffed, fading away before anyone saw her. Or so she hoped, with Ann left none the wiser to the Persona Users in front of her.

"For someone seething with rage, she's doing a pretty good job at not showing it on her face," Yukiko whispered to Chie. "We're lucky, you could say."

"So what did that message tell you?" Ann said. "Did another student tell you about it?"

Chie cleared her throat. "Mostly, the account we were told of a rather colorfully phrased retort against Kamoshida himself, but nothing that could provide solid evidence."

"Still, it would seem that blackmail may have involved," Yukiko said, her own arms folded.

"And you think I could've blackmailed Kamoshida on my own?" Ann said.

"Actually, we have reason to believe the remarks where in response to Kamoshida's own blackmail. Another student suggested as much, and you've now supported that line of thought," Chie said. "In anycase, I do think it would be difficult to prove that you are at any fault off of testimonies alone."

"Good," Ann said. "I hate the guy, but you'll find that I put my hands on none of his things. He even attempted to coerce me to enter his home on my own. I flat out refused, and he took it out against my best friend who's still suffering because of what that man did. He is dead to me."

Yukiko squinted at that. "Yes, it would seem as if his old personality died. This supposed new side of him is as straightlaced and honest as it comes. I imagine it must be difficult to change now."

"The only thing I could say about that is that I wish he never became such an awful person in the first place. Then my friend never would've been hurt the way she was," Ann said. "Now, may I go?"

"Thank you for your time. Forgive us for this harsh investigation." Chie got up, motioning Yukiko to leave with her as Ann left on her own.

"So what do you think?" Chie said. "Suspicious, right?"

"Only in so far as her having a possible motive, revenge," Yukiko said. "But she has no connection or any evidence against her. She hasn't even done anything illegal."

"Yeah, she didn't kill the guy or steal his stuff. We can't even say with confidence she did the blackmailing. Poor gal." Chie lowered her head and sighed. "Honestly, what could we even try her for considering it would've been in the other world? Do you think she could've, I don't know, made him face his own Shadow?"

"Making him face himself is hardly an illegal act," Yukiko pointed out. "But if she did, he wouldn't have accepted it and would have likely died. But clearly he's alive."

"That's what I'm saying!" Chie said. "She didn't do anything like the Inaba Killer. God, that was a nightmare to deal with. Let's check in on the others and give them what we learned." She walked right into the next room they were using as part of the investigation.

"Right, let's—" Yukiko stopped, her eyes widening as she saw Kanji and the student he was interrogating.

"Like fuck, man, he started to insult my mom! And then he fucking broke my damn leg, how am I supposed to forgive him for that!" Ryuji banged the table, the boy sobbing in sadness as wavy rivers of tears streamed down his face. "Oh… oh, it sucks and I hate him!"

"Hey, bro, I'm here for ya!" Kanji brought out his hand, putting it on the table. "Men like that deserve what's coming to them, I'm just glad you aren't taking the fall here. You did great by being the better person."

"I sure wish I could've decked him then and there, but that guy was practically made of metal, I stood no chance!" Ryuji said.

"You and me? We gotta look out for each other, just like how we look out for our friends." Kanji leaned forward, making a fist. "Thunder bros?"

"Thunder bros…" Ryuji lifted his fist, hitting it against Kanji's as lightning sparks surged on contact.

"Alright, you take care now, got it?" Kanji said. "Get yourself something to hug like a real comfy dolphin plush. Everyone loves dolphins. Just remember: Don't be afraid to be your real self, and connect with the people that care about you."

"You got it, Kanji dude." Ryuji got up and wiped his eyes, drinking the cup of water Kanji gave him before sighing with newfound releif. Leaving.

"So the kid's definitely a Persona User," Kanji explained to the two girls that joined him.

"You guys found one too?" Yukiko said. "We just found one ourselves."

"Yeah, but we can't charge him with anything wrong. We told you all, being a Persona User isn't a crime in itself," Kanji said. "He did mention that he got into a few beefs with Kamoshida, but no charges were made then and they were all unrelated."

"And we're not here to arrest him," Yosuke said. "We did get a good picture of Kamoshida's history of assault to both the boys and girls, both physical and sexual. Looks like he's the kind of person who would've made a lot more enemies than we realized initially. No blackmail, though, and nothing of his was stolen." He started to scratch his chin, pulling his goggles down from his head.

"But my gut says the Persona Users here all know each other…" Kanji told them.

"I do think they're involved too, somehow," Yosuke said. "But they would have needed to drag Kamoshida into the Shadow Realm in order to do anything to him. That could've forced him to change, you know? And clearly that didn't happen." Then the boy suddenly snapped his fingers. "Unless any of us heard the opposite. Any news on your end?"

"No. Neither the police force nor the students here implied anything," Chie said. "If Kamoshida's been there, then he's kept his lips shut about it the whole time."

"You'd think he would have, considering the evidence. But nothing like that seems to have happened," Yukiko said. "And I'll be honest, if he was the monster they say he was, then he'd have to be really resilient to claw his way out back out."

Yosuke shook his head. "Suspicious Persona Users or not, their hands are clean. "We'll have to check in on Yu and Naoto for now for a solid lead."

The group entered the last room, and it was there that they saw the two lead detectives in a state of complete focus. They were dealing with someone who almost seemed to match them.

"That's a Persona User?" Chie whispered.

"But… their eyes are like a Shadow's," Yukiko said. "Or… that one woman Yu knows?"

"What? Are they all Shadow and zero human?" Kanji asked. "And don't we know like, two girls and a dude like that kid?"

"I don't know, but I'm sensing red flags," Yosuke whispered. "Quiet now…"

"Ah, the Second Detective Prince. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again?" Near said.

"You're amongst the others who were being targeted by Kamoshida, were you not?" Naoto said. "Near, explain your case."

"Kamoshida was a man who physically and sexually assault his students. He assaulted me and threatened me with both," Near said, bringing one hand out. "Truth be told, I didn't know him for long, but that didn't stop me making an enemy out of him. I have to question your decision to interrogate students for the actions of a teacher. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"I'm well aware of what my goal is. I'm the one asking questions here, not you," Naoto told the student. "Yu, would you like to handle this?"

Yu's eyes flashed open, and an invisible shockwave burst through the room. Blowing over both allies and enemy, with Near holding their arm over their face to shield themselves from the forceful wind. Grunting under the pressure.

"...Heh, I admit, you've got quite some power. But power means nothing right now, and we both know that." Near put their hand down on the table, rising up. "Even if you ruled over power itself, we're not playing on a field where that matters right now."

"You still need to answer our questions," Yu said sharply.

"Very well, ask away," Near said. "What could possibly tie me to being personally involved with forcing Kamoshida to confess?"

"For starters, we reinvestigated the owner of Untouchable, Mr. Iwai. And we found a record of something of interest," Yu said. "A copy of Kamoshida's Olympic medal. Sold sometime between his confession and when we arrived and met you all."

"How fascinating." Near grinned. "But what would anyone be doing with a copy of it? A medal like that would be worth far less if its not the genuine article."

"Ordinarily, you'd be right. If it were a perfect copy, it would drop in price the moment it was made aware that it was nothing but a fake," Yu said, leaning closer and looking into Near's eyes. "However…"

"It wasn't a perfect copy," Naoto said. "What we found was that it was a copy made of pure gold."

Near opened their eyes. "Pure gold?"

"We were allowed to test it before returning it to Mr. Iwai. Because the real one was still in Kamoshida's possession, there was no cause to confiscate it despite its suspicious nature," Naoto said. "Still, pure gold Olympic medals have been discontinued for quite some time. The real one doesn't match the weight, nor the price by far."

"Truly marvelous…" Near started to giggle under their breath. "Well, the one pawning it off must have gotten the short end of the stick. Mr. Iwai must be a lucky man to have stumbled upon a copy worth more than the original."

"Iwai refused to disclose the name of the seller, yet there you were amongst the people in the shop during our initial investigation. It was purchased on that day." Yu thumped his fist against the table. "Talk."

"What were you doing in there? Did you have any involvement in the trade?" Naoto demanded to know.

"I was there for simply because I'm a fan of his weapons. He has a rather extensive inventory, you know." Near raised their finger, wagging it up and down. "More importantly, how do you expect an ordinary student to perfectly recreate Kamoshida's medal, only to forget such a crucial detail like what it would've been made out of while substituting the majority of the material with a much richer, pricier metal? Finally, if I supposedly am involved, why would I sell it for far less than its worth?"

"To get rid of it as soon as possible, of course," Yu said.

"Then I need to ask why would I have made it?" Near countered.

"To scare Kamoshida into confessing of his own accord. The fact of the matter is two medals exist. You wouldn't need to steal the real one if you could trick him into thinking you've stolen it from him," Naoto said, hitting the table now. "You're walking yourself into a corner, Near."

"...You're a few steps short, Detective Prince," Near explained.

Naoto's squinted, their eyes going cold. The world faded to black, the blue detective and the steel samurai caught in a deadlock with the student glowing white.

"...They're not wrong, it would be a very elaborate prank that wouldn't even have paid out. But is it really so unlikely that they're involved? Am I mistaken? No, I'm sure they're on the ropes…" Naoto thought.

"They would've gone through a lot of trouble to make Kamoshida think that fake medal was the real one. Why make it out of gold in the first place…?" Yu thought to himself.

"Maybe they didn't make it. Maybe it simply came out that way from the cognitive world," Naoto thought, scowling further. "But why? And how? Knowing the answer would break a hole right through this Near's guard."

Near tilted their head, quietly laughing more and more while wagging their finger at them. "Go ahead, try to prove that I did something. It would be arrogant to compare myself to the biggest threat you've taken on, Detective Prince, but in this case, it's well warranted. You may have caught the Inaba Foggy Day Murderer, but you won't catch me."

"I'll tell you why it makes no sense," Near said out loud, the world returning back to normal.

Near grabbed a strand of their hair, twirling it and twirling it around. "Why was there no sign of a break-in at Kamoshida's house if I wanted to scare him?"

Yu and Naoto both grunted, with the rest of the Investigation Team looking on with anxious breaths.

Near smirked victoriously. "You obviously would've inspected his house beforehand, or how else would you be able to confirm that the medal wasn't stolen? Ergo, when Kamoshida heard that which he desired to protect the most, he would have gone home and checked to see if his medal was safe. He would've put it somewhere where it wasn't likely to be stolen, too, even guarding it himself if he needed to. So? Whenever that fake would've appeared…"

"It wouldn't have worked to scare him," Yu said. "Not for longer than a day, at least."

"...Who are you?" Naoto said. "You're a perceptive kid. Almost good enough to be a Detective Prince."

"Please, don't compare me to the likes of Yagami or Akechi." Near brushed their own shoulder in response. "I've got ambitions, and more importantly, conviction. You won't find me compromising who I am just to get ahead."

They pushed up out of their seat. "So your theory that I would've pranked Kamoshida with a forged medal crumbled quite easily. You've lost, so may I go now?"

Naoto tightened his fist, nails digging into the skin of his palm.

He thumped the table once, saying absolutely nothing.

"It's not over yet," Yu whispered to himself.

His eyes started to shine again, and the world returned to black. This time, Yu used those all-seeing eyes to peer into Near's soul itself.

There was a soul in there, indeed. A strange one, but one that felt very familiar to Yu. After all, he didn't just know one person that looked and acted like the golden-eyed opponent before him.

He knew three.

A surge of power took shape around Near's soul, flickering like an almighty flame. Just like the other students they were investigating.

This was a person with the power of a Persona User, yet with no clear sign of a Persona themselves. He couldn't even tell if they were human.

Just who, or what, were they?

"Where exactly are you from?" Yu said.

"Even I don't know the answer. My first memory of my existence was in an orphanage," Near told him. "I could be from this country. I could be from halfway across the world for all I know. The only thing you'll find out about me is a dead name and my face. After all, there's no way that knowledge hasn't already been made public." They held that dark grin of theirs, eyes glowing with power in that moment.

The world returned to normal around them, light flooding its way back into the room.

"Now, are we done?" Near asked. "I have places to be."

"...You're free to go," Naoto said.

"Thank you." The student dusted their hands against their skirt, walking out of there.

"Akira and the others will want to know they're onto us. I'd better be quick, the match has only begun." Near hurried away to find their team.

"Shut the door," Naoto said.

Yosuke shut the door closed, making sure no one could overhear them.

Naoto put his elbows on the table, clutching his head and gritting his teeth. "GOD—"

"DAMMIT—"

Chapter Text

Episode 30: Interrogation Classroom - Part 2

"Ugh…" Mishima came into the first floor hallway, holding onto one of the walls. "Guys? I don't like this. I had to deal with the scary detectives, and they made me want to throw up."

"Damn." Ryuji lifted his head. "You should've dealt with the buff guy and the guy with the goggles, they were funny. They made me feel good about dealing with Kamoshida. We're thunder bros now."

"I got the girlfriends." Ann said, fanning her hand in front of her face. "They were kind of mean, but not the fun kind of mean. But not totally mean, either? They were tightasses about their job. And, well, asses were certainly—"

"I'm not prepared for what's coming next…" Akira groaned, grabbing her head. "Should I try to get out of the interrogation? What do you think?"

Near lifted their head to the left. "I say you should do it."

"Whah!" Akira pulled her head back. "When did you get here?"

Near sat boxed up against the wall, right beside Akira's knees.

Near lifted their head. "I say you should do it. The Detective Prince and the Steel Samurai are there. And chances are, they'll call you soon."

They brought their head back down.

"The Steel Samurai? You mean the silver-haired guy with the eyes?" Akira asked.

Near brought their head back up. "Yes."

"How bad do you think it'll be if they call her?" Mishima asked.

"Well, they almost trapped me into revealing our involvement with the fake medal of Kamoshida, and if I weren't careful, I could have made any number of slip-ups that would tie us directly to the sale of it," Near put their nail to their lip and lifted their head. "So, if I had to put a percent on how likely they are to shake something out of you…"

Near dropped their head and looked forward. "One hundred percent."

"A hundred percent?!" Ann exclaimes.

"Yes," Near said. "Why would I be dishonest about my confidence in what they'll do?That would be dishonest. I am one hundred percent confident that if Akira goes in there, they would be able to find a hard link between us and Kamoshida. Perhaps by the time they start questioning the reason for the existence of the medal itself. Akira would have to come up with a very elaborate lie that they could very well see through, or hold silent until the interrogation was over. Either way, it would look very suspicious one way or another. I doubt this is the last time we meet them."

Near lifted their hand. "So what will you do, Akira? Will we stand our ground? Or will we run like cowards to live another day?"

"We should stand our ground!" Ryuji said. "Come on, we can take it! Right, Aki?"

"I say we run like cowards," Near said. "Cowards who know victory lies in feigning defeat."

The bell signaling the end of school rang.

"Kurusu Akira, if you are here, please come to the downstairs office! The investigators would like to speak with you!" the principal said.

"And that is our cue to leave," Near said. "Aki, which is it?"

"I say…!" Akira lifted her fists and put on a brave face.

"We run like hell outta here!" she declared. "Fuck no, I'm not going in there! I have a criminal record!"

"Spoken like a true loser," Near said. "Come on, losers. Let's bail." Near picked themselves up and started bolting out of there.

"Hey, I'm not a loser!" Ryuji said, chasing after them.

"We're all losers today! Only thing left is to cut our losses!" Near said, running as fast as a rabbit now that they were trying to escape the Investigation Team.

Mishima poked his head out from the staircase's wall, looking at the front entrance. "Darn, they've got guards locking this place down!"

"The front courtyard's blocked off too!" Ann said, looking towards the large inner doors. She even caught a glimpse of Makoto, scanning the area for the renegade delinquent.

"Where is she…" Makoto said, squinting to herself.

"What? Are we going to have to smuggle Akira out of here?" Ann said, looking around for an opening. "She's too perceptive, she'll see right through my saucy wiles."

"We need to figure out another way out of here," Ryuji said, holding onto the wall while leaning back. "But who? Kawakami probably can't hide all of us, and she's on the main building's second floor."

"Then let's escape through the practice building! Come on!" Akira rushed back upstairs. Going so fast, Makoto could hear the steps.

"Ah–!" Makoto looked towards the staircase. "Kurusu Akira!"

"I ain't done nothing!" Akira shouted.

"Get back here, Kurusu!" And like that, Makoto started to chase after the group.

"Run, run away!" Ryuji said, he and the others sprinting with her.

Morgana poked his head out of Akira's backpack. "Akira, remember the door trick? Do it with the stairs!"

"I was thinking the same thing!" Akira said, sprinting hard and fast over to the southern set of the second floor's stairs.

Makoto raced up to the second floor of the main building and looked left. "Stop, delinquent!"

"Smell ya later, Makoto!" The thief was kicking up a dust storm as she raced up to the third floor. Makoto turned back, rushing up the staircase she was at only to find Akira rushing past her. Going down the other way.

"How did you get here so fast? And get back here!" Makoto was forced to step aside as Akira slipped right by her.

"I do a lot of running!" Akira insisted. Makoto chased her back to the second floor, tailing her behind as Akira slipped down to the first floor and veered the other way. The thief was as fast as a black blur.

"Hey Makoto! What are you doing here?" Ryuji said as he ran down from the staircase, passing by Akira and trying blocking Makoto. "Wanna go grab lunch or something—"

"It's Niijima, and get out of the way!" the student council president snapped.

Makoto suddenly grabbed Ryuji, lifting the boy up like he was no heavier than a stack of paper.

"What the hell?" Ryuji looked down, carried like a long plank over the head of the student council president.

"You're not the one I'm looking for." She politely put him back down behind her.

"Kurusu Akira, get back here!" she said, sprinting up the steps.

"Never!" Akira said, passing Makoto from behind and going up yet again.

"What the—!" Makoto started to growl, keeping up the chest. "You have to listen to the investigators!"

"I have no reason to trust the cops!" Akira said. "Screw 'em!"

"Damn, I wish she was on the track team a year ago. If I told her the cops were after her then, she'd set a new world record." Ryuji said, standing in place seeing as the two girls were simply too fast to track.

Makoto swept her eyes around third floor hallway, catching sight of Akira going down to the second floor. But as soon as she raced back down to intercept, Akira was moving to the first floor. Then the third floor. Then the first floor again. She was simply too fast, and it didn't help that the thief was being helped by four other students and a cat of all things, dashing all around as distractions to force Makoto to pick the right thief out of the crowd.

Finding herself on the second floor again, Makoto stopped, pulling herself back to the stairs as she got an idea. She kept close to the wall, keeping an eye on the one coming.

"Closer. Closer…!" Makoto opened her red eyes. "Now!"

"What the—!" The runner stopped.

"You're caught red-handed, Kurusu Akira!" Makoto sprung high and did a flip, tapping her elbow with the eyes of a wrestling champion. "Meteor Smash!"

The blue, blazing energy of a nuclear reactor shined around her elbow as she dunked down upon the culprit. Slamming them straight to the ground with a crack.

Makoto caught the delinquent and put them in a submission hold. "Give up! One! Two!"

"Never! This is excessive, you know! You cops are all the same!" They grunted out, struggling hopelessly in resistance.

"It's exactly the amount needed to keep you still! Three! Four! Five!" She kept the culprit pinned to the ground and kept counting, refusing to leave.

"Nine! Ten!" The bell rang, and Makoto lifted them up.

"Wait a second…!" Makoto opened her shocked eyes.

"Hee-hee-hee-hee!" Near dropped their head down while cackling. "You think you actually caught the real Akira? Oh, you're a real joker!"

"Near! What are you doing?" Makoto said, still holding them in a tight grip.

"The better question is what are you not doing on the third floor!" Near told her. "Where do you think she's escaping from?"

"Tch!" Makoto clicked her tongue. "I'll be back!" She bolted upstairs, chasing down the delinquent thief.

Akira poked her head out from the staircase that Near passed through before Makoto spiked them to the ground. "Thanks, Near!"

"Move, move, move! We only have so much time before she catches on!" Ryuji ran with the rest of the gang, creating a dust stampede as they made their final escape.

"Seriously, why is she so strong?" Near questioned.

"Welp—!" Lifting one foot, they took off like a roadrunner after the other thieves.

…Makoto hastily sprinted back down to the second floor, catching Akira hugging the wall. Trying to make here escape.

"Gotcha, Kurusu Akira—!" Makoto lunged forward to tackle Akira, only to find herself smashing her head right into a stone wall, ripping cardboard in two.

"...Who put that here? How?" Makoto squeaked out. She slid down the wall face first, having shattered a cardboard cutout of Akira in half.

"It's a good thing I came prepared! They all fall for the cardboard cutout booby trap!" said Morgana, hanging on top of Akira's head as she rapidly kicked her feet with her arms braced.

"You've been hoodwinked, baby!" Mishima shouted, chasing his friends down to the first floor of the practice room.

Akira finally made her way to the first floor, nearly bumping into Maruki and his box of leftover cookies on the way out.

"Woah-woah!" Maruki stepped back, nearly spilling his box. "Hey kids, what's the hurry?"

"Maruki, they're going to interrogate me for things I may have done!" Akira said, waving her hands frantically.

"I see." Maruki tilted his head down, lens glaring. "Did you do anything wrong?"

"Is it wrong to tell a sexual assaulter to fuck off when he's threatening your friends?" Akira said.

"The language is crude, but not at all." Maruki adjusted his shiny glasses. "Looks like you need to enter… The Office."

"Do you have a plan for me to get out of here?" Akira asked.

"I have a plan," Maruki said.

Maruki brought them into the room and pointed to his open window. "Here is my plan."

"A window?" Akira raised her eyebrow. "Seriously, Maruki?"

"Look, do you want to get out of here or not?" Maruki said. "I'm just a broke-ass—er, a temporarily embarrassed cognitive PSIen—" Maruki started to cough. "Nevermind. I can hear Niijima Makoto screaming for you."

"KURUSU AKIRA! KURUSU AKIRAAA!" Makoto shouted from the third floor, rushing down like the most determined hall monitor in the world. "Aa-choo! I can hear you saying my name!"

"We don't have a choice, Aki-Aki!" Ryuji said in a panic.

"We'll take it!" Akira swung the window open, shoving herself through before rolling on the grass outside.

Makoto drifted across the hall with her boots, leaving behind blue nuclear burns. "There's no running in the halls, and there's no running from the hall monitors! Your time is up, Kurusu Akira! Nothing can save you!"

She looked at the entrance to Maruki's councillor office. "Dr. Maruki! Where did she, no, where did all those delinquents go?"

"Utica," Maruki answered on the spot.

"Uti—!" Makoto squinted in pure confusion.

"They went to Utica," she said.

"Yes!" Maruki grinned. He stepped in front of the window, hiding Ryuji's leg that was stuck trying to slip through.

"Utica, New York?" Makoto said, trying to peek behind him.

"Yes! …Or maybe it was Albany," Maruki said. Without looking confused, he stepped to the right to block her off.

"Come on, come on!" Ryuji struggled to pull his leg through, rolling along the grass and bolting. "Got it!"

"Albany, New York?" Makoto questioned.

"For steamed hams," Maruki said with a cock of his head.

"You mean hamburgers?" Makoto said.

"It's just a regional expression, don't you know?" Maruki responded. "Now if you don't mind, I need to prepare to watch the northern lights."

Makoto tried to enter his room. "I'm pretty sure I just saw Ryuji's boot—"

"I said I need to watch the northern lights! Goodbyeee nowww!" Maruki brought his hands out to keep her from getting in, slamming the door shut.

"Phew!" Maruki wiped his forehead, turning on the channel to watch a rare out-of-season northern light show.

"Fascinating stuff…" Maruki said, his glasses shining like a disco.

The Phantom Thieves were sprinting through the back courtyard. Making a break for the exit.

The blue bear in the clown suit lifted his mitten-like hand, turning on his walkie-talkie. "Wee-woo-wee-woo-wee-woo! Ten-four! We got a runner! Five runners and a cat!"

"What the—!" Naoto looked at the other transceiver. "We've been duped!"

"Duped?!" Chie said.

"Bamboozled!" Yosuke said.

"We've been smeckledorfed!" Yu said.

"Enough with the Spongebob references! Get your asses in gear!" Kanji said, rolling his hand around.

"I don't know what ten-four means, but you guys better come quick! The runner is a black-haired girl with the red eyes of a reaper, and I'm pretty sure she smells like a Persona User!"

"That's our target!" Yu shoved himself out of his chair. "Everyone, to the squad car!" The Investigation Team raced out of there, hustling over to the front entrance to the surprise of the principal.

"What happened?!" Principal Kobayakawa got bumped, his coffee in hand splashing all over the man's body. "Urk—!"

"Sorry!" Yukiko said, bouncing off him as she stumbled through the door.

Kobayakawa grunted deeply, the scalding coffee seeping down his clothes. "Urgh… so long as you catch them—!" He fell to the ground, cupping his groin. "So long as the school's reputation remains intact!"

He was going to stay there for a while, eyes twitching.

"Everyone, get to the subway station!" Akira ordered as the team skedaddled down the station steps.

"Everyone, get in the car!" Yu said, swinging open the driver's seat. "What the—wait!"

"Heeey, cutie!" Rise winked at Yu. "Need a ride? I've been waiting this whole time in here. Do you know what would happen if people recognized a recently-retired idol?" She tugged on her racing cap, raring to go.

"I don't think you should drive while we chase down our targets," Yu said.

"There's no time, Yu! The runners can move anywhere if they get into the subway, in any direction! They'll be the black queens of runners, Yu, the black queens!" Teddie rushed over to them, racing on a pair of blue skates with red wheels.

"We can catch them at Station Square, the trains are delayed right now! Come on, hurry!" Yosuke got into the car, dragging the big bear suit inside. "Teddie, why did you bring this?"

"Because they spent so much time scared of me, they could bearly believe I was the lookout! It paid out, didn't it!" Teddie laughed, pinning Yosuke between himself and Kanji, all smushed up.

Kanji turned his head to Yosuke. "If you were still homophobic and in the closet, you'd say some shit and I'd smack you right now."

"Yeah, I know… But I'm a changed man!" Yosuke insisted. "Team, get in so we can roll out!"

"But I'm the one who needs to drive!" Yu said.

"There's no time, just get in with Naoto already!" Chie pushed both of them into the wingman's seat.

"Woah!" Naoto said.

…Naoto found himself scrunched up within Yu's arms. With Teddie's big suit pushing down on the back of the seat uncomfortably.

"This doesn't imply anything, okay?" Naoto said, gripping onto Yu's arms firmly. "Just drive!"

"Yeah, start going already!" Chie and Yukiko said from the trunk.

"Alright!" Rise put her hands on the steering wheel. "We'll catch those runners, at full throttle!"

Yu opened his eyes. "Wait, no—!"

The engine started.

VR-R-R-ROOOOOM!

"Yeah-hah-hah-ha-ha!" Rise laughed. "You can't outspeed this drag racer!"

"You didn't even enter the drag race! I, Teddie, won that one!" the bear boy insisted.

"Yu, hold me!" Naoto shouted as he gripped both hat and boy furiously, the wind blasting in his face as Rise drifted out of the school entrance for a one way trip straight to Station Square.

"...Hyaaaaaaaaagh!" the Investigation Team screamed.

"Alright, we're in Station Square!" Akira exited the subway with the others behind her. "We can hang low, and regroup when nightfall hits—!"

"What the hell is that?!" Ryuji pointed at the swerving squad car drifting their way. Crashing right into the wall as the glass windows shattered.

"...Never! Again!" Naoto kicked the side door open. Getting out of the car, the weathered detective held onto his hat as he stared down the thieves.

"Don't resist!" he said, pointing his finger at them as if ready to use his gun.

"Yeah!" Yu said, holding onto Naoto from their hips, with one of Naoto's leg lifted over Yu's shoulders while the other was wrapped around him.

"I don't mean to be homophobic, but I just want to say—!" Yosuke said from the destroyed car.

"You're bisexual, dude!" Naoto yelled at him.

"I know! That's why I'm saying it!" Yosuke said. "You need to sort this out!"

"Not now! Shut up, Yosuke!" Naoto snapped.

"You're so tense man, you really don't have to be so frustrated! Come on, it really isn't that much of a problem if you like him!" Yosuke told him.

"I said stop!" Now Naoto was blushing as he turned his glare back at the thieves. "Don't move, because we have questions we're going to get out of—!"

For each of the six thieves, there was a dotted outline where they were supposed to be.

"...Damn it, Yosuke," Naoto said, grunting with teeth grit.

"Where'd they go!?" Kanji shouted, searching around the place. Teeth grit, he snapped his head to the left, catching the Thieves running in the direction of Untouchable.

Rise rolled out of the car, landing on her rear while pointing ahead. "After them, team!"

"I'm getting our answers, one way or another!" Naoto rushed in first, the Investigation Team storming as one after of the Phantom Thieves.

"These guys are fast, man!" Ryuji said.

"And persistent!" Ann turned the corner, lunging behind the blonde boy as both turned the corner to the model weapons and pawn shop. "Do we have an escape?"

"Use the Meta-Nav! We're in the perfect place for it! Just say the Palace's name: Mementos!" Morgana said.

"Here goes nothing!" Akira took out her phone, turning on the Meta-Nav while punching in the letters, pressing the activate button.

The world around them faded, turning grey. A dark ripple pulsed around them, dragging them into the other world just in time for the Investigation Team to catch a glimpse of the portal closing.

"They're gone!" Yu said, boots skidding. "Damn!"

Naoto grunted, looking back. "Everyone, get back to the car! We're diving in!"

"Why? It's totalled!" Chie said.

"No thanks to Rise!" Yosuke said.

"Sorry, guys!" Rise said. "But hey, we got here lightning-fast so you have to thank me and—!"

"Don't mention lightning, my thunder bro betrayed me!" Kanji snapped, wiping his eye of a single manly tear of pain.

"I mean we need to go back and get the TVs out of the car," Naoto said. "Let's hurry before they escape!"

Back at the car, Yosuke and Kanji lifted the mini TVs, turning them on.

"Are we sure these will fit us through?" Yosuke asked.

"Us? Yes. Teddie's suit? No," Kanji turned on one of the TVs. A white and grey ripple of distortion started to flicker on screen. He took the TV, brought it over Rise's head, and slipped it through.

"...Woah, this is a creepy place!" Rise was turning her body all around, trying to get a good look. Her head was inside the TV.

Kanji lifted the TV off the idol's head. "Hey, I was still checking that place out!" Rise complained.

"Unfortunately, Teddie's too wide to fit into this box that sends people to another world," Kanji said. "We're boned."

"It's true! I'm a wide boy!" said the boy in the bear mascot costume. "And I'm not taking it off! This is my full-body outfit, I'm as naked as a newborn without it!"

"Why are you naked down there, again?" Chie said.

"Because if I put on clothes, I wouldn't need to be wearing the suit! This is my school-day best," the bear said, clicking his tongue and wagging his paw.

"I don't want to unnerve you team, but everyone's wondering why a bunch of detectives just crashed a squad car in the middle of Station Square," Yu told the others.

"What the hell happened?" A bystander said.

"Should we get the cops on… more cops?" another said. Pictures were starting to get taken.

"Team? We're not going to get out of this one cleanly!" Kanji stepped back, looking concerned. He shook the mini TV he carried. "Come on, Teddie, get in! I've seen your junk every Saturday and alternating Wednesdays!"

"No! I am a delicate creature," Teddie insisted. "...That's why I prepared a back up."

He unhinged his jaw, two hands pulling out a massive plasma TV. "Here you go! One super deluxe TV, fit for pulling in all your valuables into the other world! It's the Junes of TVs!"

"Friggin—why didn't you tell us you had that!" Kanji stomped his foot, putting the smaller tv back down.

"Because you didn't ask," Teddie said, shutting his mouth as he gave them a smug grin from his costume. "Now come on, let's bring the car in so we can bring it out later and fix it! Up-up!"

Kanji, Yosuke, Chie and Yu grabbed the corners of the TV, with Teddie turning it on. The ripple of distortion glared bright as they raised it over not just themselves, but the totaled squad car.

"Steady, steady!" Teddie set a second TV down, turning it on and positioning it under the corner of the large TV. "Okay! Drop it, team!"

"Y'all are seeing nothing here!" Kanji shouted at the crowd, prepared to drop the TV.

"Did that bear steal three TVs?" a scared bystander asked.

"Nothing, I said nothing!" Kanji snapped.

"Ah—! You're right I didn't see anything!" the bystander put their arm over their eyes, hiding from him.

"You're goddamn right." Kanji let go of the TV alongside the other three, and the TV dropped down fast. Absorbing all of them into its twisted light.

When the corner of the large TV touched the small TV, so too was the much bigger TV sucked right into the distortion realm in a manner that defied all reality. The small TV lifted up into the air as everything disappeared, before dropping to the ground and exploding into a thousand pieces.

All that was left was a very confused crowd with no answer for what they just saw.

Chapter Text

Episode 31: Agent of the Abyss

The plasma TV popped into the other realm, and from it, popped out the Investigation Team. It was like a doll carrying other dolls inside it.

"How do you like my Matryoshka Escape?" Teddie said. "With two TVs, I can put a TV into the TV world!"

The totaled car was thrown out of the plasma TV, crashing onto the street and blaring its horn.

"Dojima's going to kill me…" Yu said, eyes darting sharply. "Rise, you're banned from driving until future notice."

"How long until future notice?" Rise asked.

"Forever," Yu stated. "Now focus, team. This world is probably as dangerous as any other we've been in."

They stood upon the streets of Shibuya if they had long since been abandoned. Derelict high rises, broken down highways and run down paths soaked by neverending yet calm rain. Rain that seemed as if to be perpetually waiting to herald in the hurricane that wasn't there. Not yet, at least.

This place… It was a twisted reflection of Tokyo from the other world. The Metaverse's Tokyo.

Chie looked behind them. "I don't think we're going to be able to get into the subways," she said. The subway entrance was completely shut out, a sign reading: DANGER. KEEP IN.

"What the hell happened here to make this place look like it's one storm away from crashing down?" Kanji said. "Shit's horrifying…"

"This world is shaped by the minds of the masses as well as those of great power. In either case, it means that Tokyo in this world is distorted by their perception. Goes to show how bleak things are in the minds of many." Naoto loaded his gun, cautiously walking ahead.

"I don't think I like this…" Teddie said, eyes turning to the great cloud in the sky. A swirling, spiraling ring of gray lit by the gold of the sun's rays. A funnel cloud that was always moving but could never reach its full power. It could never be the complete storm it was meant to be..

Yosuke slipped on his orange goggles, pointing up ahead. "Danger ahead, look into the sky."

…A strange, slender figure floated in between the high rises above, cloak billowing with every movement it made. An eerie whistle blew from the one hole in its mask as it spun the two guns in its hands. Long-barreled pistols, ones that were long enough for a person to walk with one as their cane.

"The Reaper? Oh no…" Yukiko said.

"Wuh-oh! Not the Reaper, I thought we dealt with him back in Inaba…" Teddie said, shuffling

"You can't stop the Reaper for long. He always comes back like some kind of tormented serial killer." Yusuke narrowed his eyes, sneaking towards the car and grabbing something to take with them.

This grotesque… Shadow, if it could really be called that, was eerie in every regard. From the hood of a hanged man worn around its head, to the bloodied holy robes it wore, to the chains that rattled with every twitch of its long, gangly body. An opponent once encountered by more than one foe group, including the Investigation Team down below. And It quickly proved its ruthless nature in a heartbeat.

"Hee-ho no!" A snowman with a wide, terrified mouth and a blue magician's hat slipped into one of the skyscrapers, trying to avoid the gaze of the god of death in the sky.

The slender reaper snapped its head sharply downwards, chains rattling as moonlight cast down on the fiend like a spotlight. In an instant, it drew its long-barreled guns and fired.

The sound of the blast rumbled through the air from afar. The Investigation Team could even hear the rattling of the Reaper's metal chains.

"Help me!" The snow fiend jumped, barely managing to avoid the bullet nearly shooting him in the stomach. The single bullet left behind a crater where it struck, the ground beneath him crumbling.

"No-no-no, not today!" The fiend scampered away from the crater before he could be dragged in, jumping as the rock beneath him slipped into the hole as the fiend made his escape.

"Poor little Jack…" Rise said, looking pained to see such an otherwise innocent fiend be attacked.

"He's not done yet! Look, he's moving!" Kanji told them.

Lifting both of its guns, the Reaper flew through the air, scanning for any soul wandering astray. Until it found a mass of shadows gathered. Each a hulking, walking pile of black tar-like flesh with several masks crawling along every inch of their bodies, marching along the highways.

The Reaper's arms snaked with wild abandon, flailing around before it steadied its guns on the masses below. Its pistols were like gatling guns, a thousand bullets blasting out of the muzzles that practically caught on fire. Blanketing the highway in hellfire, the bullets shredded through the monsters that screeched in pure agony and horror. Each monster struck had its body start to crack, an eerie glow seeping out from within.

And then, their bodies shattered. Billions of shards like black glass or stardust scattered into the wind. Floating upwards towards the spiraling cloud above.

And then there was nothing. Nothing except the roaming spirit that did the job, moving through the abandoned city in search for more targets.

"...Tch." Yosuke's teeth were clenched in anger. "This is disgusting."

"Come on, let's move. And stay low. We can't afford to get caught off guard," Yu said, leading them forward.

"Damn, I still can't stop thinking about the shit way this world's version of Tokyo turned out," Kanji said, squatting down. "I was expecting, I don't know, something all flashy and exciting. This is just depressing. It's like you can't help but think death's right around the corner."

The team had taken refuge in an abandoned parking lot building out of sight from that fiend in the sky. Sitting around a drum barrel.

"Well, when you think about it, the Reaper is like death itself, right?" Yosuke said. "We've fought it before, and it sure is tough. It seems like it'll kill anything on sight, human or Shadow." He took out a lighter, lighting the barrel filled with whatever they could get their hands. With how many buildings were completely void of life, half-destroyed documents and a canister of fuel wasn't too hard to get their hands on in what should have been a bustling city.

"We've fought the Reaper before, yet something about it seems different compared to before. I can sense it's more dangerous, certainly," Naoto said. "But what else about it changed?"

"Focus on those kids, first," Yu said. "If that thing is here and it can move around so freely, then everyone that comes here is in danger. That doesn't change just because we have a new job to fulfill."

"Yeah, let's go and rescue the enemy so we can get right back to investigating the enemy! It's our job to mess with them, Reaper!" Rise threw her fist and cheered, ever the optimist.

Yu swiftly hushed her, however, gesturing for everyone to stay alert. Standing near the edge of the building, he turned his attention towards the monster roaming the skies once more. It found a new target to execute.

"Help!" A small demon with orange hair and purple hair screamed. Trapped in the middle of the long, winding highway with no escape from the Reaper that had it trapped in his sights.

There were those on the team that flinched away as they heard the crack of the bullet.

Yu watched as yet another Shadow shattered into stardust, blowing away into the ominous sky.

"I don't care who is out there or what they may have done. If someone out there is in danger, I'm going to save them. And it doesn't matter who asks." Yu turned his head back. "It doesn't even matter to me if we're fighting Kira or not. I'll crush them all the same."

"And you're sure it's like this throughout all of the Metaverse's Tokyo?" Akira kept pace with Morgana leading them. Watching him jump from ruined car to ruined car, slipping past turned over buses and knocked down telephone poles. They were hurrying along a highway. One seemed to steadily climb upwards despite any manner of structural support. It was halfway ready to come apart, and yet it didn't seem to want to at all.

"For as long as I can remember," Morgana said, motioning for them to follow him up the path. "Nothing about this place is safe. We're only relying on it for the fact that it was the only way to escape from that Investigation Team."

"This is dreary…" Sliding along Akira was the Mara slime she recruited. "I thought there'd be, oh, I don't know, a huge TV store where you could get your hands on all sorts of games. Or a bookstore. But the whole place looks like it's five minutes away from crumbling."

"It's okay, Wilson. We'll pick up a book for you when things blow over. What do you want to read?" Akira told her creature companion.

"Percy Jackson! I wanna start from the beginning!" cheered her small slimy thing hopping along.

"I still can't believe he's shaped like that…" Ann whispered to Ryuji.

"Oh so you do know what he looks like, now do ya?" Ryuji whispered back, before looking to the sky while raising his voice. "You know, I know we're supposed to avoid drawing attention to ourselves so we can dodge that thing, but what the hell is that scary reaper in the sky?"

"It's named the Reaper, appropriately," Morgana said. "It's always flying up there, but no person or Shadow that's faced it really knows what it is or what it wants. All we know is…"

"Help! Help me-hee-ho!" Rushing down the highway in a hurried sprint, a snowy demon passed right by the group. "I thought this place was going to have a TV department, but it's so dangerous! You, humans and the cartoon catboy! Why is your city so dangerous in the Shadow Realm?"

"A Jack? You've gotta be really tough or lucky to make it this far in Mementos. Also, I'm not a cat! But I will be a man!" Morgana put his hand-like paw on his hip, pointing the other at Jack.

"Wait a minute, aren't you one of those little Jack Frost plushies?" Ann asked.

"Do I look like a stuffed toy?" The snowman shook his head haughtily as his blue magician's hat jingled and he blinked his big, beady black eyes.

"Actually? Kind of," Ryuji commented.

"Of course I should! I'm a collector's item, hello!" Jack Frost pulled out his special edition Jack Bros DX Jack Frost plushie. "129.99$ CAD RSVP! I'm one in a million!"

"Ooh, Jack Bros. Gimme-gimme." Akira reached out and tried to get her mitts on it like the thief she was.

"No way, Jose!" Jack Frost pulled away the plushie of himself. "You can't get a quality Jack like me for free! A Jack like me comes only after paying quite the cost."

"Okay then, so what's the cost?" Akira asked.

Jack Frost immediately dropped to his knees as he clasped his hands together. "Please, please hide me! Get me out of this hellhole called Meme-'N'-Toes! I'll do anything! I'll make your shoes glitter, I'll cool down your living room, I'll even get you a copy of the new Jack Bros Remake!"

"Gimme that last thing, and I get to hold onto the plushie, and you got yourself a deal!" Akira said with a simple grin.

"Hot, diggity Nyarlathotep!" Jack jumped into the air with his fist raised.

"Put me in! Put me in! Put me in! Put me in!" Jack said in a frantic panic, still hovering in midair.

"Ahh!" Akira panicked out of reflex. "Wait, put you in what?"

"You have a card, right? A Magician Card? Put me in one of those now, come on, I can only hold one of my signature still poses for so long!" Jack Frost begged her.

"Huh? Oh, I do have one right here." Akira pulled out the Magician Arcana she obtained from her bond with Morgana, bringing it out as it flickered to life.

"Ya-hee-hoo!" Jack exclaimed as his body turned into stardust, shrinking to the size of a thin white sphere that beamed its way into the card.

"Thank you, kind lady!" Jack was talking from inside the Magician Arcana, now just a simple silhouette of a snowman with a funny hat.

It was only a few moments afterwards that he manifested himself once more. Blue stardust sparking out of the card, Jack reappeared as a see-through ghost floating right by Akira's side. "I'll keep my end of the bargain if you keep me safe! One new copy of the newest Jack Bros to go on your freshly acquired Seven Sea Sailor PC!"

"I can't just ignore a guy in need, can I? Besides, a free copy of the new Jack Bros is a bonus." Akira shrugged while smiling at her team.

"Yipee!" Wilson cheered.

"Keep moving! The Reaper's still out to get anyone he can get his hands on! No Shadow out here is safe!" Jack said, continuing to hover behind Akira. "Here, I'll cover your back."

"Say, do you know what that thing in the sky is doing, Mr. Jack?" Ryuji asked.

"Don't you fear the Reaper? He's only one of the most dangerous Shadows on this side of unreality! Every Shadow that has a thought in their head knows to run away from him, even me! Just speaking about him gives me the hee-bie ho-bies!" Jack started biting his fingers out of fear. "We keep losing Shadows day by day. Just yesterday, I got separated from my Jack Bros, and it's never been the same! Now, how are we going to celebrate He-hal-ho-ween?"

"There are a lot less Shadows roaming around than there should be. Not just the monsters, but the humans too, and that's all due to the Reaper culling them!" Morgana insisted.

"How do you know if Kira isn't the person responsible for this?" Ann asked. "I mean, people have been dying left and right. It's hard to say that isn't true."

"Kira?!" Jack gasped. "No-no-no, nooo! Kira's gotta be worse than the Reaper! If the Reaper can come and slaughter whole trucks of us Shadows in one go, imagine what Kira can do! What if we Shadows can never come back? I don't know, I've always run from these sorts of situations!"

"You'd be right to run. For he is nothing but a pox to humanity itself." Arsène rose out of Akira's body and into the air, dark wings flapping. "Let's keep moving before this Reaper takes notice."

The team kept walking wherever Morgana saw fit to lead them. As they did, Akira turned to her new companion. "Let me ask you something, Jack. Just like in the real world, nobody knows who Kira is, so even if he or his could be found in Mementos, nobody would know?"

"Sounds about right! Sorry, kind lady, but I can't help you with that one. But believe me, it would be a lot more fun without him to worry about!" Jack said.

"Mementos is the Palace of the people of Tokyo and their desires, and you'll find the Shadows of humans adrift here as a result," Morgana explained. "But when so much of the world both worships and fears Kira, they've already given power to the man they don't know the face of. He may have complete anonymity in this world, Akira. We might just have to catch him in the real world before we can take him down here."

"Must be nice to go around killing people completely undetected. For a bastard…" Akira said. "Say, why are we going this way anyways?"

"We've got to find some way to give that Investigation Team the runaround. A little longer, and we should be able to warp back home," Morgana said. "That being said… There's something pulling me in this direction."

They hurried up the highway until they reached an island-like structure hovering in the middle of the city and above the streets soaked in rainwater that rolled towards the drains. The island itself was a round disc platform with several stone rings interconnected to each other. Each ring was lined with some kind of hole at every angle.

And in the middle, there was some kind of latch key of sorts. Heavy-looking and big, it looked like someone had placed it there like a stone sheathed into stone.

"Hey, wait, there's a kid there…" Akira took notice of the little boy sitting with his back against the key. He was wearing a mask on his face, playing with a blue toy car that he was ramming into the star toy he had in his hands. Making car beeps and noises from his mouth.

"Hey! What are you doing here!" Akira called out. "Don't you know it's dangerous?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I do. That's why I got my mask on. Why do you ask?" The little boy briefly took his mask off his eyes and slipped it on his head. It sat there, looking like the silvery, glittery piece of shell of an egg splintered off from silvery-white hair that happened to look like the top half of a cracked eggshell.

Akira rushed right over to the boy's side, getting down on her knees. "If you know it's dangerous, then you also know you should escape. Come on, we'll help get you out of here."

"...But I live here," he pointed out. "Besides, I've got my weapon, see?" With his black glove, he took out a tiny, orange toy hammer, squeaking it on the ground. "And I've got my car, and my star, and my Mar—hmm, well she's not one of my possessions. But what I'm curious about is how did a couple of humans tear a rift between that world and this world?"

"Huh?" Akira lifted up her head, staring at his innocent, gold and glowing eyes. Just like Near's…

"Aren't you a human?" Akira asked.

"Colloquially, yes. Scientifically, no," he said, hopping off the ground. "I'm not sure if anyone's ever asked me that. But my name's Jose, now you answer my question, please!"

"We used our phones, little dude," Ryuji said, walking up with the others.

"What's a phone?" the little boy said, before pausing for a moment his eyes seemed to flash. He stood entirely still, processing something in his own head.

"Ah, that's a phone," he said, the glow of his eyes fading. "I should've known that, of course!" He tapped his head of hair with his knuckles, giggling while kicking a foot.

"Akira's not wrong about saying you should leave though. That Reaper up there looks very dangerous…" Ann said out of concern. "Hey, I've got an idea! If you come with us, we'll take you out and get you one of those meals with a toy at Big Bang Burger! And you can sit on my lap if you want, I'll be like your big sister for a day."

"Is that really the bribe you're going to go with?" Near said in a hushed voice.

"What? Lots of little kids love toys, treats, and big sisterly types. They're strong, protective and confident, and they can be great at making a kid like him feel safe," Ann said.

"Ah, hmm…" Near closed their eyes and thought about it. "I can't exactly deny there's some reason in that argument, but I get the feeling this Jose wouldn't appreciate that."

"That look alike isn't wrong, by the way. How am I supposed to do my research on humans if I'm in the Human World eating human foods and doing human things?" Jose hopped insistently, holding his squeaky toy like a sledgehammer. "Sorry, pretty lady, but offer declined today. Also, I'm fairly sure I'm much older than you biologically."

"Seriously?" Ann squinted, arms folding. "Don't tell me you're one of those kids who are secretly a thousand years old. Nobody ever buys into that, I hope you realize that."

"Please, if I were a thousand years old, I would not be this small!" Jose put his finger to his lip. "No, I'm more like…"

He stood to the left, then stood to the right, sweeping and scanning the eyes of the kids in the crowd.

"You." Jose pointed at Near. "A few years older than my fellow spirit before me. If anyone should be called a baby, it's them."

"Hey!" Near growled at him, hands clenched like claws.

"Oh, so you're like the smaller older brother to someone who is already tiny. Great." Ann huffed. "You still look like a child to me, though."

"So I'm told, but I can assure you I'm at least old enough to be what humans in Japanese High Schools refer to as, your senior. Or, your senpai," Jose plainly stated. "But back to the point, I could be regarded as an anthropologist. My purpose is to use my curiosity to study all things human, and how else can I do that if I'm not collecting more flowers?"

"Flowers?" Ryuji said. "What do you need flowers for? Some kind of fortune reading?"

"More like mind reading. Or rather, dream reading. Behold!" Jose reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of black flowers and a strange juicer that should not have fit into his pocket. Blending it together, the machine swirled with a quick burst of magical energy, before stopping as Jose poured out a glass of strange black, foul, frightening liquid.

He put a silly straw in it, some ice, and added a little star on a stick that was just like a paper umbrella. "Containing the dreams, wishes, and desires of humans adrift in the Sea of Souls, this is the means by which I learn about humans."

"Eugh." Ann shuddered. "Dreams? That looks like the stuff of nightmares, more like it."

"You are correct!" With no hesitation, Jose put the straw to his mouth and started slurping. A noxious puff of smoke in the shape of a skull rose out of the drink that made Jose buzz as if static was running through every fiber of his body. Vibrating audibly.

"Is that just fear itself?" Ryuji said. "Did you blend fear itself into liquid form?"

"And you just drank it like that?" Mishima questioned. "You have to be very brave or very foolish to drink that one."

"Indeed, it is a Fear Drink." Jose took his lips off the straw, smacking his lips. "Oddly rousing, with a hint of existentialist horror, and a fear of a god of death. It proved very valuable in learning what humans fear strongly. I must know the complexities of human emotion by acquiring first-hand data. Here, miss, try it."

"Me? Okay." Akira took the drink from him without a second thought.

"Akira, no—!" Ann warned.

"BZZZZZT—!" Now Akira was the one who had static running through them. Her heart rate started to skyrocket. "Oww."

"Delicious, right? At least that is a positive, but—bzzt—" Another brief static wave interrupted Jose. "But it's not my favorite. I usually keep other drinks around as a palate cleanser. It helps me after drinking one of those. May I offer you a vial to take?" He reached into the seemingly bottomless pocket of his racer's jacket, pulling out two other drinks. One was labeled 'Happy' while the other was labeled 'Weird.'

Akira lifted the Weird Drink, shaking it as the pink, cloudy liquid inside swirled alluringly.

"Nothing good can come out of that drink," Ryuji said. "Don't do it! Don't do it man!"

Akira opened the bottle, taking one sip. "But a whole lot of fun could come out of this Weird Drink," she said, licking her lips as she popped it open, taking a whiff of how… sweet, it was.

"We need to keep Akira's hands off the weird flower drinks," Ryuji said.

"But it's got the power-packed taste of humanity!" Jose hopped on his boots. "I drink those drinks, and I'm perfectly fine."

"Here, she'll take the Happy Drink. I'll drink the Weird Drink so she doesn't," Ann said, snatching the pink vial out of her hands.

"Hey, I wanted that!" Akira looked at the vial she swapped it with. A sweet, sugary scented drink with a thick, creamy texture. It softly glowed like the sun, but looked just like milk mixed with honey.

"It's for your own good," Ann said, before curiously eyeing the pink, mesmerizing drink as a grin came on her face.

"Okay…" Akira put the Happy Drink to her mouth, eyes lighting up. "Ooh, ooh! It tastes just like ice cream and cuddling a big ol' kitty!"

"Oh, I have an idea of what this one tastes like…" Ann pulled the Weird Drink away, wiping the sweet pink liquid off her sweet pink lips.

"Ann? You're scarin' me right now, Ann," Ryuji said.

"Can I get more of this?" Ann said, pointing at it while looking at Jose. "I'll take a baker's dozen. I'll take your entire stock."

"You'll have to wait, ma'am," Jose said. "Feel free to try the other one if you'd like."

"Hmm…" Ann turned to Akira. "Can I borrow yours for a second? Thanks."

Akira handed her the Happy Drink, then Ann looked at her Weird Drink. And a bright idea came to the blonde girl.

She started chugging both drinks at once.

"Ann, no! Bad Ann! Down girl!" Ryuji swiped the drinks away from her. "I'm pocketing these things so you can't keep drinking them!"

"Oh, I'll be down bad when I'm done with those drinks~" Ann said with creamy and pink drool on her lips. Before shaking her head around, slapping her own cheeks. "Okay, Ann, don't get distracted by such wonderful flavors! I gotta be careful with mixing those."

"Sure, it's the flavors you're invested in," Mishima quipped, huffing with an oddly smug look for such a boy who usually didn't show it.

"Here, let me try," Near said.

"Don't you start drinking it too, man!" Ryuji said.

"Too late, I already have them," Near said, holding onto both before he even noticed. They took a swift sip of both drinks, tilting their chin up afterwards.

"I realize I may have made a mistake," they said, staring with their blank eyes and face.

They proceeded to crouch and curled upturning away from the group. Then they hopped away like a rabbit., before hopping away like a meek rabbit. Staying that way with their legs wrapped between their arms. "You all will forget about this."

"We won't. Don't think you can hide what you're feeling, Near, we can smell fear," Ann said.

"Yeah, and other things," Akira added.

Near grunted, refusing to look at them while they rode out the effects of the Weird Drink. They pulled their uniform over their face just so that nobody could see how hard they were blushing thanks to its… unfiltered and unadulterated properties.

"Team, I think Near has emotions," Ann joked. "Including weird ones, tee-hee. No wonder they fluster so easily."

"No I don't!" Near insisted, burying their head down further.

"Real easy," Ann said, grinning. "Imagine what someone could do to them. One touch of their shoulder and a grab of their chin right now, and I'd bet they'd be putty in your hand—"

"La-la-la-la, I have no such emotions! I do not belong to the human realm!" Near plugged their ears up, trying not to hear it.

"You're a brat, you know that?" Ann teased. "Someone needs to correct your behavior someday."

"Don't call me out, because you'll be wrong anyways!" said the pink-faced thief who scurried away from Ann smiling at them like a cat playing with prey.

"You all are banned from the Weird Drinks now. I don't trust any of you peeps," Ryuji said, taking the pink drink and tucking it into his pocket. "Why would this kid even drink this? Why do you all think it's a good idea to drink a random stranger's drink? My momma told me the only drinks I need to take from strangers are the ones from the local kid at the park. She may be ten, but she makes a damn good lemonade."

"I'm at least older than you, Mister, and it is very important for my human research!" Jose insisted. "I need to experience and observe human emotion directly, which is why I have decided to consume such knowledge directly by drinking their dreams and wishes." He shut his eyes and nodded, and that was that.

"Can I try the Weird Drink?" Mishima asked.

"I'd like a taste too. I'm sure it'd be a fruitful experience," Arséne said.

"No!" Ryuji said, patting his pocket. "No. No to all of you. Horny bastards."

"Now, I'd say I don't mean to pry, but saying that is directly contradictory to my intentions. But regardless, I must ask. Why does that stranger over there look like me?" Jose cranked his arm up to point at Near in the distance. Who was still hunched low, holding their head as their irises swirled like dizzy, darkened spirals.

"You can ride this out, Near. Whatever you drank having aphrodisiac effects means nothing in the face of being an unfeeling, calculating detective—"

"You there!" Jose waved to get their attention. "Why do you look like me, kind person?"

"Huh!?" Near squeaked, getting up. They turned around, hunched low with an awkward, surprisingly defenseless face. "I don't know, why do you look like me? Have you ever considered that?"

The silver-haired boy kicked his feet as he stepped over to Near. Near was short, yes, but with how small Jose was, he still had to look up.

"See?" Jose pointed to his own eye and its glowing, golden power. "I sense power in you, the same kind that I and a kind lady I know also have. Are you some kind of Ruler of Power?"

"Ruler of Power?" Near shook their head. "I've never heard about such a thing in my life."

"Hmm…" Jose touched his lip. "Well, you look like one." He sipped his Fear Drink, a buzz of static running through him as he smacked his lips. "Though, I have to wonder what you could be if you're not that. Ruler of Destruction? No not that. Ruler of Recklessness? That does not sound right either…"

"But hey!" Jose's eyes lit up. "You still have the power to make a kaboom, right?"

"Kaboom? What are you talking about?"

"You know, like… Boom! Kaboom!" Jose hopped, swinging his black gloves in a dramatic fashion over his own head. "And you're supposed to do it while saying something like… Megidolaon!"

Jose pulled his hands back down. "It should be a sinch for you to use that power, right?"

"Megidolaon?" Near grabbed their hip, shaking their head insistently. "I can't even use a Persona, young child."

"I said you're the young child here. You are a baby compared to me." Jose lifted his hand and poked Near on the forehead as they squeaked.

"Hey!" Near covered their forehead in reflex, as Jose folded his arms.

"You're significantly younger than me in terms of human years, in any case. Regardless, you don't need a Persona to learn Megidolaon. Tell me when you learn it someday. We will greet each other with our shared power." Jose gave them a nod.

Lifting his finger though, he poked it near his temple. " If you're not one of them, then why would you possibly look so much like them? But then again, why do I look like strangers I've never met?" Shrugging, he then smiled chipperly. "Oh well! Just one more mystery to keep on the lookout for the answer to! Like why I'm able to sense an incredible aura of desire radiating off of one of you."

"Oh, umm…" Ann giggled with embarrassment, wiping her lips. "I'm still weaning off taking two di—" Ann stopped, thinking about what she was about to say.

"Weaning off taking two drinks at once," Ann clarified, eyes turning to the side. "Yeah, I'm going to need a minute to cool off. Those drinks create vivid thoughts in your head."

"Not that kind of aura, although yes it is strong. I'm talking about an aura of power. Willpower. And it's coming from that boy's pocket." Jose pointed directly at Mishima, poking his pocket..

"Huh? Wait, do you mean…" Mishima reached in and pulled out the Crystal of Lust. "This thing here?"

Jose gasped, silver stars twinkling in golden eyes. "That one! That one right there, give me it! Gimme it please!" He bounced with pure excitement, trying to take the crystal from Mishima.

Mishima gave it to the otherworldly boy, who walked away like a toy soldier, bringing it back to the middle of the platform. "Stand back, because I need complete focus! It's time to make a masterpiece!"

Jose lifted his tiny squeaky hammer.

Then suddenly, it was no longer a tiny hammer at all. It grew to the size of a mighty warhammer fit for the hands of a tiny warrior. With a blue shaft and stars on the front of each side of the head.

"Now, strike with precision!" The little boy said, gripping his hammer overhead as he uttered a command. "Tel!"

Almighty flames of white and black surged around his hammer, and he struck down on the crystal skull with a thundering squeak.

The skull started to crack, glowing bright with power. Jose worked with precision and great force, beating down with the burning hammer to crack away more chunks of the crystal, bringing out its core strike by strike.

"Tera!" Jose's hammer was lifted high, burning with even greater power. Now it clanged like a real weapon, shattering the crystal's shell as it morphed into something nebulous, ethereal, and , morphing the crystal into something nebulous, ethereal, and perfectly ready to be moulded into shape.

"TERA NOVA!"

Jose gave his next strike his all, bending his knees before launching upwards with a great leap. The wind roared as he raised the hammer with just one hand, rolling forward to become a whirling typhoon, crashing the hammer down on the exposed core of the Crystal of Lust.

With the final strike, almighty flames spread across the floating island-like platform. Creating a beacon of light for all to see, before all that power retreated. Leaving behind only what the core was always meant to be.

Jose tapped the new object, a treasure in its own right. A small, golden chalice.

"It's extremely light," Jose said, lifting it to show that it was no bigger than a plastic sippy cup. "I think this was some child's toy. Or maybe a participation trophy from school. Either way…"

Jose lifted his finger. "I call this masterpiece, the Chalice of Victory!" He lifted his chin with pride. "Equip it, blue Mister!"

"The Chalice of Victory, huh? Well, it sounds like something Kamoshida would leave behind. What does it—" Mishima took the cup between his hands, gasping as soon as he did.

"Woaa-AAAAH!" Mishima threw his head back as a rainbow aurora of power surged over his body.an aurora rolling over his body. "Why do I feel so incredible?!"

"It's the power of Auto-Charge!" Jose pointed out. "Not only will your Chalice of Victory grant you incredible power whenever you enter battle, you can rely on Champion's Victory to heal the wounds of others and empower them! Isn't that fun?"

Mishima held onto the golden cup, watching the way that rainbow veil of power flowed around his hands. "Amazing…"

"Is this kid that legendary blacksmith we heard about?" Ryuji said, blinking in awe. "Freakin' sweet…"

"Blacksmiths work with metal. I work with desires, but yes," Jose told him.

"So our little buddy Jose here is both friendly and helpful! How cute!" Ann clasped her hands together. "Oh, I wish I could hug this baby."

"I'm not going to repeat myself ad nauseam about my age, Miss Sexy Cat Lady." Jose sighed in resignation. "I'm not sure why, but people like me seem to live far longer lifespans than you humans, yet it you humans who are amazed by that."

"Miss Sexy Cat Lady?" Ann blinked with surprise, the girl in the panther mask pulling back. "That's… unsettling to hear from you. That part about not being a young child wasn't a joke, was it?"

"I am not what most humans would classify as a young child. I am also not a human," Jose explained, bracing his hip. "Although, I also recognize that I was made to look like and emulate a young human child."

"...So, you are basically a little child," Ann pointed out.

"I was modeled after a young child physically, but I was created with a greater capacity for cognitive understanding that would exceed even most human adults." Jose curled his fist and lifted it, eyes quite confident. Brave even. "I've existed for more than enough time to far exceed my body's physical age, but I see no reason to change it. It's comfy!" That look in his eyes was matched by an easygoing smile, before he kicked his foot and put his arms behind his head.

"...Can, can I lift you? I just want to ask you that." Ann asked, inching her finger. "You're just so tiny and cute and you say a lot of big words, so if I have even one chance to do it I'll take it."

"I see no reason to, but sure!" Jose said.

"Yaaay!" Ann lifted the otherworldly boy in her arms, cheeks turning pink as she hugged him like a teddy bear. "I've always wanted a baby sibling! Argh, he's so cute!"

"H-hey, aren't I cute Lady Ann!?" Morgana squeaked, seemingly betrayed by Ann somehow. With hollow white eyes, he shattered into a million pieces.

"I've noticed some humans hold deep attachment to familial members and the bonds created," Jose said while kicking his white boots. "When they're not misusing their familial status, that is. I've seen that most humans do not choose the families they're born with, and quite a lot of problems stem from that. Distrust and violence are not so uncommon, yet often overlooked."

"Well, don't you worry a thing about that, Jose. I'm as non-threatening as a kitten!" Ann said, patting the boy's head.

"Nope! It's my job to learn everything about humanity, and I mean everything!" Jose insisted. "Now please put me down so I can return to my mission."

"Okay…" Ann pouted, putting him down as requested. "Goodbye, baby egg boy. We'll see you someday soon."

"I'll repeat myself one last time, baby is a misnomer. But I appreciate your kind affection!" Jose reached into his bottomless pocket for something else.

"Here, for you all!" He lifted up a small, star-shaped trinket with five points, a bright gold-surface, and power gently trailing off of it to create the tail of a comet.

"Hold onto it and maybe it will prove useful! They say comets have the ability to grant wishes, so maybe one day, a wish will happen right when you need it."

Akira took it from him and lifted it up. "This is a beautiful charm. Thank you, starry egg baby."

"If it makes you feel more comfortable, I'll call you two… sisters. Bye sisters!" And like that, Jose turned and walked away with stiff yet swinging steps. Until he stopped, picking up the bright blue car and star toys he left on the ground.

"Poof!" Jose tossed both toys, and with a puff of smoke they grew in size just like the hammer, becoming a small drivable car with starry balloons tied to it.

Jose did a front flip, twisting before landing into his seat cleanly. "Beep-beep!" he said as he patted the steering wheel. "Take care, strange friends!"

"Wait, so what's that thing that's been wedged into the floor? It's been there the whole time." Ryuji pointed at the glowing key-like thing one of Jose's wheels was right beside. Still wedged there.

"Oh, that key? Hmm…" Jose stopped and thought a bit, scanning his own mind.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I've tried to pull it out, but I guess I'm someone not meant to interfere with it. I was hoping doing so would bring me a bigger opportunity to understand humans more and make more flower drinks!"

"Think we can unlock it ourselves?" The skull-masked boy reached down, gripping the wedged key by its edge. It looked like he could pull it out with enough strength.

Morgana pulled himself together from the pile of glass he shattered into. "I think I've seen this kind of key before…" The cartoon cat reached his hand out, grabbing hold of it first.

His eyes shined golden when he twisted it. Rings of red formed at every corner of the floating platform, forming a diamond in the middle out of the interconnecting lines.

The Meta-Nav activated, and a voice was heard, "Another path to the New World will now be forged. There are still more bridges to build before the ascension is ready."

And with that, water spouted from all the holes lining the platform. Gushing outwards, flooding the whole platform.

"Uh, team? This place is flooding!" Ryuji said.

"Help me pull, help me pull!" Morgana yanked the key harder, and with Ryuji's help they were able to rip it out, unleashing the full force of the flooding geysers.

There was an unearthly rumble from the ground below, as the water from the fountains started to flood the streets. From the clouds above descended a holy light shining on the heads of the two who unlocked the floodgate. And from the sunken world below, ruined stone rose up to build a new path in the sky within the abandoned city. Allowing them to ascend one level higher.

"Woah…" Morgana said. The water beneath their feet flowed to the now flooded city below. Flooded Mementos.

"...What do you think is up there?" Akira asked, looking at the sky. The clouds above that swirled more fervently while they waited to reach their peak. The hole in the sky where light pierced through, waiting for them.

"I have no idea, but something's calling me to go up there. I can feel it…" Morgana told her.

He turned around, his feet splashing against what remained of the water on the floating platform. "But that's not why we're here, remember? We came to escape that Investigation Team, and we've done it so far. Now we can start heading back and…"

Akira gasped, feeling the pressure of something crawling on her back even though it wasn't there.

She turned around. "Wait, Morgana! Watch out!"

The powerful crack of a bullet echoed, with Akira jumping in the way as she grabbed him. She was lucky enough for the bullet to miss, smashing into the ground. Violently drilling right into it before piercing into the flood below.

Smoke escaped the barrel of the long pistol of the demon from the heavens above. Eerie moonlight cast from the hole in its mask.

"Woah, the Reaper! I'm not prepared to fight that guy today, I gotta go!" Jose honked his horn, his car skidding against the ground before he vroomed right off the platform.

"Beep!" Jose poked a button on his car's control panel, and his car transformed. Morphing from a car with wheels into a boat with jets and a water propeller that burst across the floodwaters before the Reaper could catch him.

"Bye sisters! Bye friends!" Jose waved with a smile at them, pulling his rider goggles down onto his face. "Don't die now! I would be really upset if you did!"

"Ugh… Thanks, Akira." Pulling his face off the ground, Morgana rolled his head around before spotting the demon from the heavens.

An ominous wind blew around the Reaper, blackening the skies above and revealing the full moon hiding behind the holy light. Slithering chains rolled around the body of the holy god of death. Twenty-two flames forged themselves into existence, burning alight from below before going upwards to form a full circle. With dark fog spiraling at the Reaper's back, there was a haunting, metal roar as a sigil born from infernal flames branded the Shadow, appearing before it. A pair of crosses followed by a singular, small i.

xxi - The Abyss.

"I don't know about you all, but I don't want to stick around and find out what that thing's capable of!" Ryuji said. "Move, move!"

The Reaper had Ryuji in its sights, pulling the trigger.

"Yikes!" Had Ryuji not stumbled by sheer chance, his head would have exploded then and there when the explosive bullet raced by. But he managed to pick himself up and keep running, following the others down the ruined highway.

"Everyone, jump in! I've got an escape plan just for something like this!" Morgana jumped ahead of the rest of them, stretching his paws. The cartoon cat's body transformed, growing larger, rectangular. Vehicle-like.

He became a living catmobile, landing on four wheels while opening his back doors. "Get in, now! Let's blaze out of here!"

"I'm not even gonna question it!" Ryuji kicked off the sloped highway and leaped in, throwing himself into his seat while the others found their way inside. With his wheels firmly on the ground, Morgana skidded across the water-soaked stone and rushed along the ruined path. Hastily evading the hellstorm of bullets ripping out of the Reaper's gatling pistols.

"Oww! One got me!" Morgana screeched as a single bullet bounced off his side, now hardened like metal. They were making it out by the skin of their teeth. "This ride's going to get bumpy!"

Morgana jumped over a cracked hole in the highway, soaring past it. The flood waters below him were rushing faster, capable of sweeping away anyone who fell down. But he didn't have to worry about that, easily making it across as he kept on going.

"Damn it, he really thinks he can take us out, does he? We'll see about that!" Akira hung onto the top of the vehicle, looking at the open doors behind her. Trying to get on top.

"Akira, what are you doing!" Ann said, holding one eye shut as fierce gusts of wind blew into the vehicle. They were going at breakneck speeds.

"Getting revenge for what he tried to do to my friend!" Akira swung onto the top of the car, taking out her handgun. Holding one eye shut, she aimed for the chest of the Reaper above.

It was just a monster. She didn't have to worry about the life of a monster.

Bam! The bullet cracked through the air, striking the Reaper and knocking it back. Barely doing any damage to it, but causing it to drop one of its long pistols into the water.

The Reaper wailed an agonizing scream, arms shaking erratically in rage. Before the moonlit demon readied a shot of its own. Akira caught squarely in its vision.

It pulled the trigger, the abyss around it slowing to a stop before the bullet ripped out. Akira dropped her gun in horror, watching the bullet spiraling towards her head.

"Think again!"

A single stroke of a white blade cut in between them just in time.

Yu flashed onto the scene, moving fast as lightning. With his single slash, the steel-eyed samurai split the bullet in two, causing it to veer away in different directions. Both cleaved pieces crashed into the nearest pair of abandoned skyscrapers, creating white hot explosions that sent the buildings crumbling into the flood below.

Yu huffed, looking down at Akira. "Don't think this means we're not still getting to the bottom of what you don't want us to know. You're still under investigation."

"Figures…" Akira said, staring in awe at the man who moved too fast for the naked eye. "Thank you."

Yu offered her his hand, and she took it, pulling herself back up. "Alright, detective boy. How do we get out of this mess?"

"That's for you to find out now, and for us to figure out later." Yu handed her the gun she dropped, then brought his sword back to its sheath.

A white glow burned around his eyes. He gathered an incredible amount of hot lightning that shrieked out of where his sword and sheath connected.

"Heavenly Break!" He drew his sword and slashed in a single stroke, sending forth a crescent lightning blade through the air after the Reaper.

The Reaper ripped off one of the chains around its body, spinning it like a hurricane front of itself as it prepared to take the lightning blade head on. But the blade was fast, and much stronger than it was expecting to deal with, pushing back against the demon's rolling shield.

The clash erupted into a white hot explosion, the force itself knocking the demon out of the sky. And onto the highway where it put its boots down, surprised but hardly worse for wear.

Something raced along right by Morgana, the cat-vehicle having to swerve quickly out of the way to dodge. It was a motorcycle bike, with a rider and gunner rushing to meet the Reaper. "Woah, who were they!"

Loading his gun with a full round of bullets, Naoto spun the barrel. "Keep steady, Yosuke!" One eye shut, the Detective Prince raised his gun at the Reaper's head.

"You got it!" Yosuke kept his eyes focused on his target, expertly weaving in between the rubble as Naoto lined up shot after shot. Striking the head, striking the arms. Knocking the last pistol out of the Reaper's hands. And most importantly, setting him up to be defenseless against the next attack.

"Kanji!" Naoto shouted. "You're up!"

"I'm going all in!" Kanji leaped onto Morgana right as he was about to rush past him. Right in time for Yu to bend down, the blonde fighter leaping off the samurai's back.

"Take-Mikazuchi!" he cried out. A hulking behemoth of a Persona forced its way out from within him, grabbing him mid jump and dunking him downwards, spiking him straight towards his target.

"I don't care if you're some kind of cosmic freak, I'll still beat your ass straight to hell! You owe me for this, Thunder Bro!" Kanji raised a fucking steel chair, swinging it back before crashing down on the Reaper's head. The ground cracked, before it ruptured, collapsing under the force of the attack.

"Chie, follow up!" Kanji jumped away from the collapsing ground. Right on cue for his ally to jump in.

"Hiyaaa!" Chie came in from above, breaking out of a tight front flip with a metal greave raised.

"Galactic Dunk!" she cried out. With the Reaper wide open, she slammed her heel into its hooded head, smiting him down into the flood below.

Chie jumped back over to Yu, bouncing on her toes. "Come on, what's next!"

"Buy me time!" Yu told the others of his team, before looking at Akira. "And you, you need get out of here!"

"But you can't just fight him on your—!" Akira tried to argue.

"Just do what I say! Now's not the time for you to die!" Yu clenched his hand. Both it and his sword were gathering a tremendous amount of white hot energy.

He jumped off the vehicle, joining the rest of his friends in preparation for the Reaper's retaliation. Nothing they could do would put it down for long. That didn't mean they wouldn't try anyways.

"Help me out here?" Teddie said, looking at Yukiko across from him.

"Help is always welcome!" Yukiko said, grinning as fire burned in her hands. Both of them stood at the edges of the crater formed by Kanji and Chie's combined attacks.

"You know it!" Teddie grinned viciously with her, ice forming in his hands.

"Blazing Hell!" Yukiko shouted.

"Diamond Dust!" Teddie cried out.

Fire and ice rained down through the hole, piercing into the flood below. A vortex had ripped open when the Reaper sank down under. The monster tried to claw its way back, struggling against the roaring current to make it to the surface.

The surface started to glow with blazing heat, enough to torch right through the water, sublimating it as the Reaper scorched, thrown back further. Then ice crackled as a great spear pillar formed up above, smashing the Reaper while it was taken off guard. Plunging it down deeper, yet deeper.

The Reaper fought back against the ice spear, hands pushing against it. But it was sinking faster than it could fight against.

"Ice, ice, baby! You're going under pressure!" Teddie said, giggling to himself. Only for the cartoon bear's eyes to flash wide open. "Wait, woah!"

Water exploded into the air, reaching over those on the broken down highway. The ice spear was cut into a thousand pieces, while the fire was subjugated by the twister of water that collapsed around it.

Coming out of the water spiral, the Reaper screeched a demonic, metallic roar so powerful, wind blew as shockwaves ruptured around it. The Investigation Team had to cover their ears, shielding themselves as something vanished out of the Reapers hands. Replaced by the two pistols it had lost earlier. The moonlight that came from the hole in its mask was bright. The beast prepared to fire into the crowd of all its enemies.

Unfortunately for it, the Reaper's light was overshadowed in that moment by the great pillar of light crying out towards the clouds above. Creating by the blade in the hands of Yu, the swordsman holding his sword high.

The Investigation Team all backed off in preparation for what was to come. Every attack they delivered was all in service of this one final shot. The wind, the rain and the light roared around the two enemies facing off. Death was staring Yu in the eyes, and Yu didn't blink.

"I'm going to kill you," the samurai said, summoning Izanagi as he pulled his sword back. Both the human and the god that hid within his soul readied their glowing weapons. Both in perfect sync.

"Heaven's Wrath!" they shouted.

Together, their swords were slammed into the ground, sending forth a mighty crescent slash that ruptured the ground. Reaching the Reaper and the haunting light that hid behind its mask.

The entire world flashed white around them. Nobody could see what happened when they heard the giant explosion.

"What did they do back there?" Ryuji shouted. Holding onto his head, he looked at the destruction going down behind them as Morgana kept driving forward.

"I don't know!" Akira held her hand in front of her eyes, shielding herself from the holy light.

"We're ready to make it out of here, hang on!" Morgana told them. "Activate the Meta-Nav, now! We'll have to trust they can make it out!"

"Meta-Nav activated!" Mishima pressed the button right as they reached the end of the ruined highway, opening a twisted portal that Morgana sped right through.

It slammed shut, leaving behind only the quiet winds and rain that blew around the flooding city.

They were gone.

Chapter Text

Episode 32: The Jester's Check-In Station - Part 1

A rift between that world and this one opened, as Morgana skidded out of the twisted gray-and-black portal from Mementos. Wheels screeching with hot flames behind them, the catmobile tried to swerve into a parked position only to flip and whack the wall of the alley near Untouchable. "Oww!"

His back doors opened, and out tumbled the Phantom Thieves in a dizzy, scattered mess. "Monabus… successfully delivered the cargo." Shapeshifting back into the form of a cat, Morgana was spread like an angel as he slid down the wall he impacted.

"Oww," Ryuji said, looking up at the night sky. "Oh hey, it doesn't look like we're about to be hit by a hurricane anymore. And the ground isn't wet. What a good day to not throw yourself into a life threatening situation."

"Oww…" Ann pulled herself up from the ground. "Yeah, we should've expected to crash into something while escaping that fast."

"We should probably escape before people start asking questions…" Morgana grunted out.

"Agreed," everyone else said.

Once again, they arrived back at Café Leblanc. Mishima and Morgana were carefully disinfecting the injuries their friends took. No magic or anything of the sort. Just proper first aid.

"Yikes!" Akira yelped.

"Now, now, darling. This is important for you. We can't always be lucky enough to rely on healing powers. And even they have their limits." Shadow Akira was holding onto her arm quite patiently like a nurse assisting the kitty doctor.

"Ouch," Ryuji grunted out, only to sigh as he grabbed his head. "I'm glad we're out of that hellhole. But man… what the hell were we dealing with? Those investigators and that Reaper all on the same day? I'm so tired that I'm ready to call it for tonight."

"I'm just glad we're out of there! Seriously!" Mishima raised his eyebrows, still feeling a lingering sense of shock. "But you know what I am happy about?"

He raised his gold cup. "Ta-dah! One Chalice of Victory, rightfully stolen!"

He tapped the side of the tiny trophy, feeling how non-metallic the texture was. "Is this just a plastic sippy cup?"

"It's no solid gold Olympic medal, that's for sure," Near said. "Oh, by the way. We sold a medal to Iwai that we didn't realize was pure gold."

"What?! We could've gotten so much more money!" Akira said. "Oh well, a deal is a deal. If we tried to keep it, it could've been some damning evidence, so it's good that we got rid of it. By the way, I got Kawamommy to get the copies for Lupin III Part 2 I rented so we can watch TV."

"Kawamommy?" Ann squinted at her.

Akira held her lips tight and shut.

"That was an accident. But I said what I said," Akira said.

"She is no coward, certainly." Shadow Akira huffed, looking amused as she played with her own twin's hair.

"Ugh, you horny dork." Ann smirked, touching her shaking head.

"Maybe we should help her get a TV of her own…" Mishima said, turning to the one in the cafe lounge. "This one's pretty small."

The screen of the TV flashed on in immediate response. "I find small TVs to be rather convenient," L chimed in with. "I never did get over the fact that I failed to account for the Mini-TV-in-the-Potato-Chip-Bag trick. I should've been wiser than that."

"Wah!" Mishima pulled himself back. "How do you do that!"

"It was 2003, you can't realistically have expected someone to rely on the Mini-TV-in-the-Potato-Chip-Bag trick," Near remarked. "Do you know how expensive mini TVs were then?"

"Fairly expensive, yes. But that changes nothing," L insisted from behind his screen. "Also, hello again."

"How are you showing up here, L? It's not Death-O'-Clock, yet," Akira pointed out.

"Indeed, the time is not 4:44 a.m in Tokyo currently," L said. "I felt a great power unleashed in Mementos just now, and it was no doubt due to your actions. It provided me with newfound power, enough to make contact at this time like this."

"Lady Akira, I sense you've been acquiring new bonds of your own, as well as new Personas that reside in you. Good work," L went on to say. "Given what happened with the destruction of Kamoshida's Palace and the opening of one of the floodgates of Mementos, I have a feeling my powers will continue to awaken the more you liberate the Metaverse from these twisted Palaces. Breaking the chains formed by these twisted desires also seems to bring clarity to my mind and purpose, as if releasing the seals that have been hiding it away. I bet I have new abilities to support you with. …I'm just not sure what they are."

There was some woman speaking behind L, although she was too quiet to hear exactly what she was saying.

"But how would we get the guillotine out there?" L asked her. "Do we just shove it through the TV? I mean I suppose we could try, but it'd be better to first disassemble and reassemble it like some sort of department store flatpack, although…" L started to mutter to himself, trailing off to the point of being unhearable.

"Excuse me!" he suddenly said, raising his voice. "Would any of you happen to have a large enough TV that we could test to see if we could shove a guillotine through it? Otherwise, I'm going to have to attempt to do it with an electric chair!"

"What the whuh?" Ryuji shook his head quickly. "Why do you have those things in the first place?"

"Don't ask me. These were here when we gained lucidity," L said. "Isn't that accurate, Lady S?"

"S? You mean there's another person sitting back there?" Akira folded her arms.

"And they're named after a letter in the English alphabet? Right, because that's how we name most people," Ryuji said, eyes half lidded.

"She refuses to tell me what the S stands for, but has insisted upon it anyways," L said. "Whenever I ask about it, she says she finds herself giggling like a lovestruck schoolgirl. Somehow, I feel as if I've dealt with a lovestruck schoolgirl before, and yet I have no memories of such a thing."

"Apologies," the woman in the background said, finally speaking loud enough to be heard. "I don't exactly enjoy speaking directly for calls of this manner. They are not my strong suit. Additionally, I do believe that the screen currently reads L, not S."

"They are very different letters as you can clearly tell," L mentioned. "Let's just say she is yet another person with power like mine who's here to assist," L said. "She's been assisting me, certainly. She knows much about the Metaverse that I don't. I've never taken a class or anything on the metaphysical world. Oh, I really should have made use of that time I enrolled in college. Now, is there anything you'd like to say, S?"

"Thank you for being patient with some very… confused, attendants," S said. And then it appeared that she bumped her head into the microphone. "Oww—"

"There is no need to bow when they cannot see us, remember that S. I've done that before," L said. "We'll keep in contact. I'm sure our visits will be more frequent at this rate."

"I have a strong feeling that you're on the right track," S said. "...As for where that track leads, I'm afraid even I'm not sure. But trust in your bonds to guide you. You can do it, Kurusu Akira. All of you."

The TV shut off, leaving the Phantom Thieves alone in the night.

"Mrgh… what are those thieves doing behind Sojiro's back!" Akira's neighbor shouted, creeping up from the front door. "And that S better not stand for Sojiro, okay! Don't take his name! You can't just go into his TV, steal his daughter's friendship, and act like everything's hunky-dory!"

"Seriously, Akira, why does your neighbor peep on us?!" Ryuji threw his hands down, sharply turning to the door.

"Eeek!" Akira's neighbor bolted out of there, going all the way to Sojiro's home.

"You know, I have questions. Questions about them, questions about her, but I don't think I'd get any answers." Ryuji huffed, reaching for his neck. "So instead, I'll just say that we should probably keep doing what we're doing. And by that, I mean we should be looking for more people who need help, and putting down the punks who keep giving them shit."

"Oh, why don't we start searching for people to help on the weekend!" Mishima took out his phone. "I got done compiling all the requests the Phan-Site's been getting! I completely forgot about it with all the business we've been dealing with!"

"Requests?" Akira looked over Mishima's shoulder. "Huh, I didn't think people would go looking for the Phantom Thieves to ask for help."

"There are plenty of kids out there with problems in their lives. Even adults need a helping hand," Mishima said, smiling as he showed her the phone. "Like this one about a woman dealing with her stalker ex. After dealing with Kamoshida, don't you think we should help out people like us?"

"I'm already on board with helping people, now we've got a reason to put our words into action." Ann hit her fists together. "I say we should definitely look into stuff like this. We may not have been a match for that Reaper, but we can probably still take him on."

"And we can still use the Metaverse to do it!" Morgana said. "And while we're out there helping people, we'll be on the look out for our next big target!"

"Yeah!" Ryuji hit his fists together now. "Everyone in the world is going to know the mighty Phantom Thieves by the end of the year!!"

"Though that Investigation Team could prove trouble, even if they did save us in the end…" Near pointed out. "Still, that doesn't mean we should stop helping people. Chances are, it'll be much harder for them to investigate smaller Change of Heart cases."

"Then it's a plan!" Akira said in agreement. Soon enough, the night would grow dark as the hours grew late. And once again, the thieves were using Cafe Leblanc as a place to sleep.

"I'm glad Sojiro has no complaints about us using his cafe like this. We really do stick around here a lot," Ann said, fluffing up her pillow as she laid down on her back.

"But hey, we've studied together, and we've worked better as a team because of it! Imagine if this was like our very own hideout to do our secret team meetings!" Ryuji looked around, taking a sip of water from his bottle before lying down.

"So long as we keep the place clean and we don't slack on our school work, he says it's fine to keep going like this," Akira said, sweeping the place up. "Still, he's bound to ask questions about what we're getting up to eventually, especially considering he knows who we really are. We should find a place to hide out where we can act freely."

"You know, I was going to suggest the school rooftop, but it turns out they locked the entrance after the incident with Kamoshida," Ryuji said.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Ann said. "We never really did get a chance to use that place, did we?"

"Maybe the mall?" Ann asked. "There are plenty of spots where we can talk without worrying about prying eyes."

"It's something to put on our to-do list, team!" Morgana said. "First, we help out those in need, then we find a new base of operations!" And with that, the kitty hopped off the table, walking over to his new cat bed where stretched his paws and pulled the blanket over his head. "Mreow. Good night, team."

"Good night," Mishima yawned, pulling his blanket over his head.

"Yeah, I'm already halfway towards hitting the hay." Ryuji yawned, closing his eyes as he allowed his body to rest, with Ann soon following after. Soon enough, the team was asleep, leaving just Akira to be awake in the dark with her own thoughts.

"I sure hope that Investigation Team is okay…" Akira sighed. Even if they were enemies investigating them, they did save their lives when it came down to it. They did owe them one for saving their lives.

"They were resilient Persona Users, who stepped in to save us all without a care for the risk involved. If anything, that shows their strength. If anyone could make it out of a battle like that, it would be them," Near said, getting up from their lounge seat. Their eyes glowed in the dark, golden like a Shadow's. "And you can bet for certain that if they survived, that they'd be chasing us down in the future. This battle is far from over, but at least we can consider this a temporary truce."

"It would be better for all of us if we had a permanent truce. Why would you worry about some kids stopping a man like Kamoshida when we could all do something about Kira?" Akira said. "But that's just wishful thinking at this point…" She looked up at the ceiling, her own eyes glowing red as a reaper's.

The shadow shook their head plainly, speaking back to the reaper. "If we had strong allies, then together we could take on strong enemies," said Near said to Akira. "Alone, we are but singular souls against the world. Together, I bet we could topple a god. If I understand our true enemy, he is someone who doesn't truly stand with others. He would rather manipulate others for his own gain and toss them away when they are of no more use. This means once he's exhausted all his tools, he will truly be alone. He'll be at his most vulnerable then."

"Then whatever we're doing out there, let's make sure we never do it alone," Akira said. "I want to make sure everyone makes it out of this in one piece. Maybe then, we can one day defeat Kira."

"I can sense that is what you desire the most in this world, Akira," Near said. "...Then you and I are the same."

"In more ways than one, you know," Akira said, pulling the blanket over herself. "Goodnight, Near."

With that, Akira went to sleep. Now Near was alone with nothing but their own thoughts.

…Thoughts that returned to that little boy they met. The one from Mementos, with eyes just like them.

Just who were they? And genuinely, why did Near look so similar to them? Akira ans the others, even Sojiro could hear their own Shadows. But despite their ability to see and interact with the Metaverse and all its facets, there was no Shadow calling out to that student…

Reaching for their Arcana card, Near held it close to their chest and gently. A red Reverse Arcana, like Lust and Widow. It was a sign of a bond formed between the two orphans.

What those cards meant and where they would lead them was something Near was completely clueless about. Like a puzzle without all the pieces needed to make a proper move.

But for now, they had to settle for leaving those questions unresolved. For now.

5/21,

"He won't listen to a thing I say…" Ann lifted her phone while reading the title of the message, clicking her tongue. "Ugh, this one has no name on it."

"Man, did someone actually write someone's full name just to say 'you know what to do?' What, do they think we're just gonna kill strangers like Kira would?" Ryuji showed his phone to Morgana.

"To be fair, we were prepared to risk Kamoshida's life," Near pointed out.

"That's completely different! He was a rapist who assaulted my friends and I'm not apologizing for putting down a d-bag like him!" Ryuji said.

"Good, you shouldn't," Near said, eyes shutting. "Don't apologize when nothing wrong was committed. A life was gambled to defeat a criminal who deserved to be stopped, but this isn't reckless bloodshed."

"Exactly," Ryuji agreed, turning back to Morgana while showing him the death threat message. "But yeah, look at this shit, it's got their private info, address and everything. I think we might need to report this one."

"We're not playing by Kira's rules. An exception has to be made when we're fighting people too threatening to afford to do nothing against, but we do not kill freely like murderers," Morgana said. "Not only is that bad for us in the long run, but it's not good heroism. We're heroes, end of story."

Akira huffed, scrolling to the next message on her phone. "This one's asking about saving a sick dog, but there's no name to look for."

"We'll be going around in circles in Mementos without a name to target," Morgana said. "Ignore the petty ones too. We don't need to bother with things like this one talking about a hacker in a video game. Changes of Hearts are serious things that should be used for serious troubles."

"I don't like that we're basically encouraging people to give out the names of their enemies," Akira said, lowering her phone. "It's not the same as what Kira's doing, but, well…"

"There's the inherent risk in exposing the names of targets online," Near explained. 'Should a data leak occur, those people could be threatened without due consideration by all sorts of hostile folk, including Kira's supporters. Worst case scenario, Kira would be using this info to kill our targets. Internet sources are one of the means by which he gathers intel, according to rumors."

"Exactly," Akira said. "We may not be turning these people in, but it's unnerving to be the ones to have to do something about it when they could die."

"That's why as director of the Phan-Site, all requests are left anonymous and encrypted! I've even set up a script to erase any full names from the public channels." Mishima saluted the others eagerly, hitting his chest. "The Phantom Thieves are here to stop bad guys, not send them off to their deaths!"

"Smart move, Mishima," Akira said. "Alright, looks like I found a big one. There's a woman who's being stalked by her ex named Nakanohara Natsuhiko. He's a teller at city hall."

"A government worker stalking someone? I'd say it's ironic that someone working for the law is doing shady business, but we all know that's not rare," Ryuji said. "Sounds like someone worth taking down, though."

"Then I'll send a calling card right away! A digital message should be good enough, right Morgana?" Mishima asked.

"Anything's good," Morgana agreed. "Sending a letter. Broadcasting on T.V or the radio. So long as the target believes we're coming for them, it should work."

"Great!" Mishima was already getting to work. "And don't worry about all this being traced back to us. I've got some pretty good protective systems in place. A burner account will send out calling cards to the targets, and there's nothing that can prove any of our accounts were involved." With some pride in himself, the grinning Mishima rubbed his nose. "Looks like you guys can make use of a tech dude, huh?"

"Now then, the real problem will be navigating Mementos…" Morgana put his paw to his lips. "With the Reaper roaming around so freely, we have to be extra careful. We can't count on that Investigation Team to get us out of a jam, not unless we want to get interrogated again. They're still our enemies at the end of the day."

Akira checked the time on her phone. It was almost 4:44. Although it wasn't night, Akira felt in her gut that if there was any time that L would show up, it would be now.

"It'd be really convenient if L knew a way we could move around Mementos without attracting the Reaper's attention…" she said.

Sitting in the middle of Shibuya Square's park, she got off her bench and started heading out fast. Heading into the nearest department store.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Morgana hurried up and followed after Akira, with the others chasing behind.

"I want to see if we can come to him instead of waiting for him to come to us!" Akira sprinted over to the back of the store, stopping where there were no signs of staff or prying eyes. She put her hand on one of the TVs, one in particular reporting on the psychotic breakdown and mental shutdown cases.

She started changing the channel, repeatedly hitting the button as TV flicked from one station to the next. News channels. Sports. Cartoons. Static. And then…

It worked. She was able to set the TV to a white screen broadcasting a single, elegant-looking L. The screen was humming with quiet static, waiting for her to act.

Akira put her hand on the glass. "I wonder if I can speak to him through—"

Her hand slipped right through white veil as if she had just dipped her hand into water. To her sudden surprise, she found herself stumbling into the TV. "Woah, this is bad!"

The team caught up with her just in time just to catch her slipping in. "Wait, Akira!" Without a moment of hesitation, Ann reached for and snatched Akira's leg.

"Gotcha!" Ann smiled, only to gasp when she got pulled in. "Woah, wait, woaaah!"

"What the eff? Everyone, help out!" Ryuji grabbed Ann and tried to brace himself and pull back, but the TV was pulling them in with the strength of a vortex.

"Woaaah!" Ryuji's body corkscrewed around, spinning through the rippling screen as if getting flushed.

"Dang it, Ryuji!" Morgana said.

"What? What did I do wrong! Tell meeeeee!" Ryuji called Morgana out with as he got flushed straight through, with the catboy bravely jumping into danger.

"...I don't think I want to go in there. I just saw one of my best friends get hit with a vortex suck and it was not pleasant." Mishima said, staring at the screen that devoured his friends.

"I don't either," Near said. "Now, come on. We need to get sucked so we can unsuck them."

They were going to regret this immediately. That didn't change the fact that they took three steps back, preparing themselves as they ran in, jumping right through.

Akira screamed, flailing her hands as she crashed down through the air.

"Brace yourselves!" Ann shouted, cringing as she clung to Akira's leg.

"I don't like this!" Ryuji held for dear life as the trio were seconds from impact.

"Hmm?" There was a confused man sitting in the office seat in the middle of the oddly-regal prison they were dropping into from a vent from above. Or rather, it should have been a vent. Any ordinary set of thieves would've broken into the prison by getting rid of the vent or busting it open. Not ripping open a portal at the vent's exit. But they weren't ordinary thieves and this was certainly not an ordinary prison locking away an ordinary man.

"I see, so you can indeed enter on your own. As can your friends." The man sipped from his cup of tea, holding it in front of his lips as the trio rammed into the ground with a thunderous shake.

"Oww…" Akira said.

"Yikes…" Ryuji groaned.

"Yeah," Ann said. Akira was limp on her back, Ryuji was bent over, and Ann was in between them with her butt raised high as she somehow always seemed to end up doing.

L reached for the tray of tea he had, pouring three cups out for them and leaving a set of sugar cubes stacked into a pyramid out for them. Crouching and sliding it over. "Here. I'll give you a moment."

"Thank you—" Akira grunted, putting three sugars into her tea and lifting it.

"Ahhh!" Morgana screeched, flailing his tiny paws just like Akira while seconds away from turning into a Mona-pancake. "Garu!"

A green twister whisked him around, launching him back into the air as he pivoted into a triple flip and landed on two feet. "Hah-hah! A feline's too good for such a beginner's trap!"

"Woaah!" Mishima rocketed out of the portal, face smashing right into the wall. "...Oww." The boy slowly fell back, dropping down.

Meanwhile, Near shot like a bullet out of it and hit the wall. "ACK!" They croaked as they bounced off and immediately plummeted while squeaking like a chew toy.

"Huh?" Morgana looked up to see the two remaining thieves falling down. "Wait, curse my mouth—! MEEYEOWCH!"

Near and Mishima collapsed with one atop the other. Mishima groaned loudly, rolling his dizzy head around.

Near looked up at the ceiling, laying stiff and still as a defeated corpse. "Owchie."

"Get off me please," Morgana said. The two rolled away, letting those in the room see a catboy who'd been smashed down to the size and shape of a flat, blinking pancake.

Looking down at them, L scratched the side of his leg with his other foot. "Welcome to the Velvet Room."

Chapter Text

Episode 33: The Jester's Check-In Station - Part 2

"Watari, we have enough tea to serve all of them, yes?" L turned around to the elderly man standing near the far end of the Velvet Room. Not two, but three individuals tended to the room, each taking a different role in the absence of its master.

"Yes, Master L." An aged and wizened butler bowed in a gentlemanly manner. Hair white as snow, and eyes that seemed so calm as they were held near shut. He left somewhere, appearing again with another tray of tea on a silver platter just in case.

"Ugh… why is the door like that?" Akira finally pulled herself off the ground, putting more sugar than she needed into her teacup and taking a drink..

"I was expecting a door or something, but I suppose a vent might as well serve as an unideal solution. I'll be sure to roll out the mat next time." L grabbed his head, sighing in exasperation. "I am terribly sorry for not having the proper foresight to account for this. This isn't my room. I would have a rope prepared in advance."

L was dressed in a vibrant blue jumpsuit-like outfit that looked sleek and easy to move around in. Blue stripes went down the sides of his leggings with a trio of yellow rings along each pants sleeve. The jumpsuit covered even his feet, with him rubbing one against the other as if to stimulate himself.

Lifting off the messenger's cap off his head, he spun it around and around with his index finger. A golden bag wing clip on each side shined under the light of the serene blue room. "I am L, and my colleagues here are Watari and S. I admit, I've been personally eager to meet you, Ms. Akira." His hair was oddly both unkempt yet taken care of; dark and spiky in a way that reminded Akira of subtle waves flowing backwards. The faintest hint of blue illuminated it, most prominently at the tips.

He looked like he was vaguely related to Akira, but that was impossible. Yet he also looked like a dead ringer for Near. Like an older brother separated by time.

As Akira got up, her heart started to shine with radiant energy. A burning light shone from within her soul, and out burst a whole new set of cards.

With blue backs and orderly numbers, she received two new Arcana. Proofs of her bonds. XIV - Temperance. XXI - The World.

With red backs and covers with numbers positioned upside down compared to their blue counterparts, she received another pair of Arcana. Reverse Arcana. 0 - The Jester. i - The Councillor.

Major Arcana: 12

Reverse Arcana: 5

"Oh, I believe this one is for me." L took one of the red cards and swished it back and forth. Holding it with just the tips of his fingers as if trying to make as minimal contact with it. "The Jester. Not the Fool, but its mirrored counterpart…"

L looked down at the red beam of light connecting Akira to him, and the second copy of the Jester Arcana that appeared right before the detective's ever-wide eyes. Blank and in need of filling with power.

"That reminds me," L turned his eyes to the woman sitting behind him. "S, if I've studied from you well enough, the Fool Arcana represents one who embarks on a journey of many paths leading to self-actualization. On the other hand, the Jester by virtue of being its inverse, can be interpreted to mean one who walked down a misguided path where all roads lead only to tragedy."

"You'd be exactly right, L." Closing her laptop, the third attendant in the room by the name of S bowed in a gentle manner. She had white hair unlike L and like the old butler Watari, yet eyes that shone gold like Near and Jose. An odd connection must have linked her to them, but whatever it was, Akira wouldn't be able to make sense of it.

"That haunts me, but is suitably appropriate. After all, I do recall the distinct coldness of death. But not the death itself, a shame," L said. "Here, you go."

L handed Akira back her copy of the Jester Arcana, pocketing his own. "I wonder if I have the power to use one of those Personas for myself. But that is not of great concern currently."

"Yo, Aki, how about next time you go looking for L, you don't randomly throw yourself into TV without a rope?" Ryuji asked, leaning forward in annoyance after getting up. Stopping to look around, however, he stepped back in awe.

"What is this place?" It could've been a prison, it could have been a hideout, it could have been a headquarters. A cold stone floor, and prison cells for every single person dropped inside. But no locks. It had blue in every corner and angle from its rug to its cell walls. Even the curtains, hand picked, were blue.

"Looks something something Shakespeare in here," Ryuji said. "God damn."

"The state of the room supposedly reflects the heart of the one who receives the invitation," L said, looking at Akira specifically. "A prison turned hideout meant to be broken into, it seems, with every tool needed for victory."

"Are the rest of us supposed to be here?" Ann asked.

"Good question," L said.

He shrugged, hands inside his pockets. "I was not given an answer to that myself. I'm not supposed to be the main attendant to the Velvet Room. Nor any of my allies. Not even Nameless and Belladonna." L gestured vaguely somewhere where they could hear a pianist and opera singer duo, before looking back at Watari finished pouring the rest of the tea and S who sat very still in wait.

"So many guests," S said. "I didn't even realize uninvited guests could invite themselves in."

"Indeed, I should've prepared a fine banquet for them," Watari said.

"My two colleagues and I all awoke one day in our cells some time ago as prisoners" L said to the Phantom Thieves. "With our memories damaged as they are, we can provide little actual use to you in that category. Perhaps our memories that stir within us don't even belong to us to begin with. We are still capable of providing help through other methods."

"I'm the one who has been providing L with what he needs to know about the Metaverse," S calmly said. "The three of us together were given roles in your life by the will of another woman."

"Another woman?" Akira said. "What was she like? What did she look like?"

"I'm afraid we have no idea as to who she is or what happened to her," S said. Getting up, the white-haired woman adjusted her glasses, keeping her laptop close to her white coat. "I do remember the voice of that woman pleading for our aid. She had commanded us to search for one whose Will of Rebellion could reshape the world. Evidently, it looks like you could fit that role."

"We are yours to move as you see fit," Watari said earnestly.

"Unfortunately, the three of us can't seem to leave this place in any capacity…" L pointed out, tapping on his lip. "But perhaps that may change should Akira release the gates of Flooded Mementos. After all, it did grant us a portion of our power and presumed memories. restore our powers further."

He looked at Akira. "You came here for a reason, yes? Surely not simply to share tea?"

"I do have a question, actually," Akira said, sipping her tea. "What do you all know about the Reaper? It's actively roaming Mementos, and it's going to be a huge problem. How are we supposed to get around it when it's flying in the sky and shooting anything that comes?"

"The Reaper, hmm?" L turned to his companion. "S, Do you have an answer?"

"The Reaper…" S hummed, opening her laptop. Her eyes started to glow, as words scrolled across them as she proceeded to read up on every bit of info she had on the wicked fiend.

"Ordinarily, the Reaper, or, Karitoru-mono is a dangerous Shadow not bound to any Persona User. However, it has been greatly active since the end of 2003, when the Kira Killings first began. It appears to be taking direct advantage of the fear and chaos Kira has sown to roam freely, being spotted in different parts of the world as well as the Metaverse and unleashing massacres. It has only grown stronger and more deadly over time." She spoke all this without even glancing at her own computer.

"It would seem Kira has created the opportunity for a copycat killer to run rampant in the Metaverse," L said. "The Reaper, do you think he counts as a god of death? Hmm…"

He pulled his hand back and scratched his own head. "Well, back to the matter at hand. The veil between realms can be torn through thanks to not just your Meta-Nav but through a strange connection with TVs. Perhaps it has to do with the strength to which electronic communication has rooted itself in the minds of the masses. The Metaverse is so closely linked to the real world, it is as if it serves as a mirrored reality. So perhaps instead of entering from the surface, you should enter from the underground. A Reaper searching the skies cannot see those lurking beneath the ground."

"Once you're in range of your target in reality, I would recommend slipping into the Metaverse from a safe distance. That should allow you to engage their Shadow directly with minimal risk."

"That should allow you to execute a Change-Of-Heart in a swift manner. From there, you should escape the same way you entered," Watari said.

"Excellent points, you two," L said, waving his hand. "Now go, Phantom Thieves. Our powers are still weak to be of much help, and you have a criminal to change the heart of, yes? Watari, get a rope for these folk."

"Of course, Master L." Watari left the room, then eventually reappeared when he opened the window on the wall opposite the vent from the outside. With a climbing ladder in hand, he hooked it to the roof, allowing it to roll on down.

"I guess we should start getting back. Thank you, everyone." Akira put her cup down. She started to climb up the ladder, heading towards the exit so inconveniently placed.

"You guys sure have a strange prison hideout, but you have some of the finest tea I've ever drank. Oh my god," Ann said as she started to climb.

"What an honor, Lady Ann," Watari said, laughing with amusement and joy.

"Now if there are no more questions, I need to see if we can connect to the internet. This prison is so dreadfully boring, I'm going to need to pick up a hobby…" L opened his own laptop on top of the office desk. "Akira, you should consider manifesting a pool table from within your own heart. I would like to play a match with Watari."

"What?" Akira paused, turning her head back while a hand away from the portal.

"Consider it," L quickly said. "Okay, byeeee!" He opened his large, deadfish eyes as he gave a single large wave of his hand, sipping his tea before poking at his laptop.

Out of the TV tumbled the Phantom Thieves, everyone rolling and scattering along the ground as the screen shut off.

"So that was trippy," Ryuji said, getting up and dusting his clothes off. "But hey, we have our answer!"

Near grunted, pulling their body up. "I realize I completely forgot to ask any and all questions about the World's Greatest Detective himself."

"Why didn't you?" Ryuji asked.

"Parasocial paralysis," Near said. "The same thing that makes a fan freeze up over meeting their idol."

The blonde boy shrugged. "Parasocial paralysis? What kind of Deltarune words are you spitting to cast your spells?"

"They're saying that they were starstruck, Ryuji," Ann said. "I don't think that's a thing that exists in Deltarune."

"Huh, okay." Ryuji slowly nodded along. "...Wait, you like idols Near?"

"I didn't say that. And now I'm leaving," Near said, stomping their feet as they took off in a huff.

"So, the plan's to catch him in the real world and let loose in Mementos." Akira said. "Good, so let's roll out!"

Near stopped, squinting. "...What's a Deltarune?"

"Do you see him?" Ryuji said, speaking to Akira through her phone. Or rather, speaking to Morgana holding onto her phone while hiding in her bag.

"The target's leaving the train right now. We see him," Morgana said, peeking out of Akira's bag while staking out. He had the target's picture and his name on the phone screen. It wasn't too hard to get their hands on it, what with him being a public government worker.

The doors of the train opened. Soon exited a sleep-deprived man in his twenties, walking slouched while gripping his arm. Looking paranoid. "She'd better not be seeing him again…"

"Target confirmed," Akira said. She was leaning against the subway's wall, loitering while hanging by the wall with her hoodie up. Watching the man head up the steps past her.

"Good!" Morgana said. "Everyone, activate your Meta-Navs now!"

"On it!" Ryuji said, pushing the button on his phone screen with his thumb.

"Right on!" Mishima tapped his screen. The others all followed suit, vanishing from their hiding spots while Nakanohara was none the wiser. While no one was wise to their disappearance.

The world around them had changed.

Nakanohara was walking along the same path he was walking just a second ago. But the subway turned dim. Transforming into something derelict and run down with broken screens that sparked and lights that flickered every so often. Water dripped from the roof, seeping into the smallest of cracks in the ground. This was the underground station of the otherworld's Tokyo. The Depths of Mementos.

The walking man's eyes had turned gold like a Shadow's. The look of paranoia in his eyes had only grown more intense. His body twitched as he scratched his arm more irritatedly, eyes sweeping around as if expecting someone to be following him.

Coming down from the stairway ahead of the man was a punk dressed in a black leather biker's jacket, his collar flared and his red scarf clear to see. "Hey you!"

The man flinched, pulling back before sharply squinting. "What the…?"

"You're in the wrong subway, Mr. Nakonahara." Ann approached from behind, cracking her whip.

"And it's a little too late for you to turn back." Akira pushed away from the wall, her glove running along the edge of her knife.

Ryuji gave his bat a heavy spin, swinging it towards the Shadow's head. "Stop right there, criminal scum!"

"Really? That's your line? Really?" Ann said, grabbing her hip.

"You can't stop me from saying it! Now are we ready to throw down or what?" Ryuji hit his bat against the ground, ready for business.

"What do you all want!" Shadow Nakanohara demanded to know. "You're the ones who sent that weird email, aren't you? Aren't you?!"

"And you're the stalker we're looking for," Ann said, attention returning to him. "Haven't you considered how your ex feels? You've scaring her, following her around everywhere like some kind of hawk!"

"What does it matter to you!" the man said. "Besides, it's not like she didn't treat me like a plaything. She tossed me away like I was nothing! After all the time I've tried to keep her safe, this is what I get?"

"You can't treat someone like shit and creep on them because of what they did to you! What a load of bull!" Ryuji smacked his bat against his hand. "We're gonna change the hearts of bastards like you, one way or another!"

"She's even worse than I am! There are millions out there doing worse than me!" Shadow Nakanohara told Ryuji. "What about Madarame? He's a monster, and you're doing nothing while he goes free and I'm being put down! If you're those Phantom Thief weirdos, then you should be going after big targets like him, not me! What kind of stunt are you pulling to get your name out?"

"Madarame?" Akira questioned. "Who the hell is he?"

"That phony plagiarist! The only reason I've been bothering to go this far is to put down a scumbag worse than me! I have to!" Shadow Nakanohara pointed his finger at the Phantom Thieves, hissing as the black flames around him burning fiercely. "And if you're going to stop me, then I'll… I'll!"

"You'll what? You'll take us all on at once? I don't know about you, but I sure don't like your odds." Mishima tossed something up and down as he stepped up beside Ryuji. A grenade. He caught it, ready to pull the pin the moment at the first sign of conflict.

Appearing behind Ann, Near raised a pair of shining daggers. "Unfortunately for you, justice won't shed a tear for the villainous. Even if this Madarame is wrong, that doesn't make you right. But I'll hold my tongue and spare you the insults, there's fighting to be done."

"We'll give you one chance to give up," Akira said. "Stop now, or you'll regret it."

Morgana did a great leap, landing square in the middle of the thieves. "Yeah, or the Phantom Thieves are gonna punish you!" He raised his saber, pointing it in the face of Nakanohara who grew angry. His eyes flared with rage, and a swirling dark aura of power started to swell around him.

"Grr, you're not even listening! No one ever listens to me!" Shadow Nakanohara raged, swinging hands that he clawed like a beast. "Fine then, if you won't listen then I'll pummel and get rid of you! I'll get rid of you all!"

The black flames consumed him, bursting around him as his whole body expanded in a grotesque manner. A writhing, chaotic mass of shadow that sprouted bulging arms and legs, before the appendages thinned out and shrunk down. They started taking on a more defined shape, that of an orange jester-like demon with spirals on its chest, hands, and digits. And a grin wider than any other demon. Obariyon was the name of this demon whose form Shadow Nakanohara took on.

"Guys, before we start this, I just wanna say he's still got the same haircut." Reeling back from the force of the explosive flame, Ryuji couldn't help but point at the bowl cut on the demon's head that perfectly matched that pre-transformation.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up all of you! And get awaay!" Shadow Nakanohara reeled back his hands, manifesting a sledgehammer big enough to crush anyone in one shot from the shadows. He swung on Ryuji.

"Woah, shit!" Ryuji raised his Hell Slugger bat to defend, blocking just in time. The single strike sent him sliding far away, causing him to trip when his shoe snagged against a crack in the broken ground. The skull-masked thief hit the ground and tumbled, dust and dirty water kicking up.

"You fake heroes should spend some time going after real targets! But don't go crying against a real threat!" Shadow Nakanohara snapped his fingers. "Tarukaja!"

A red burst of power swelled over him, rising like heat. Taking his sledgehammer, he started to swing it around and around, becoming a giant metal cyclone.

"Then we'll stop you before you become one!" Mishima pulled the pin on his grenade. "Let's go!"

A burst of power of Mishima's own surged around him, taking on the form of a spiraling vortex that seeped into his soul. Before expanding outwards, growing like a roaring flame. It was the power of the Chalice of Victory granting him temporary power. An incredible amount of it.

He shot the grenade right into the eye of the storm. It bounced right off the head of the laughing orange fiend, cutting his cackle short as he looked up in surprise. Right before the grenade started to hiss and shine, erupting into a mighty, destructive blast.

"Gragh!" Shadow Nakanohara was thrown back, ripped away from his sledgehammer that swung into the wall. A crater formed when the weapon smashed into the wall headfirst. Before the weapon slid down, and the walls themselves started to mend when sinewy black threads started to weave around, closing the hole as more stone appeared to replace what was destroyed.

As for Shadow Nakanohara, he earned a hard crash to the ground, sliding along it himself. Knocked down.

"Now, one more!" Near ran across the ruined subway, kicking off the ground and leaping high. Spinning one of their twin daggers.

"Persona or no, I'll still take you down!" Near slashed through the air, landing behind Shadow Nakanohara. A white streaking slash followed suit, cutting through the opponent after the initial thrust..

"Who's next?" Near asked, jumping out of the way.

Ann sprayed bullets from her SMG, the pink gun rattling in her hands. "Trust me, Nakanohara, you're going to learn why stalking women's a bad idea!"

Bang! Bang! Akira kept her gun hand steady, lining up shots with Shadow Nakanohara's chest. It was just a Shadow, a demon. It was hardly a problem, firing at it. Bang-bang-bang-bang!

"Enough!" Shadow Nakanohara swept off the ground and swung out his hands, blasting away the others nearby with a greater surge of power.

"Gah!" Akira grunted out.

"Hey!" Ann covered her eyes. Both girls losing their focus with their guns as they were now sliding back.

"Sure, it's enough!" Ryuji told him.

Lightning crackled as he raised and clawed his metal gauntlet.

"...But not for us! Let's hear the thunder clap!" He threw his hand down. From above the demon's head, a bolt of lightning crashed as he screamed in agony. Collapsing on his feet before he could do anything further.

Ann brushed her face, lifting her whip up. "Now, let's take this creep down!" She struck at Shadow Nakanohara's head, spinning around and cracking it against his arm before following with a strike to his hip. Running forward to continue the assault, she leaped into the air and pulled out a pair of twin submachine guns. Twirling around while raining down hell.

"Oww! Owww!" Nakanohara covered his face. "Hey, stop that—!"

"And take this!" Morgana leaped into the air while pulling out a comically large bomb, dropping it down in front of the demon.

He and Ann landed, turning around and walking away from the bomb about three seconds before it went off.

"No! Nooo!" Nakanohara screamed as the bomb started to glow white hot, erupting with an almighty burst of black and white flames.

"Hmph." Bracing her hip, Ann confidently strutted away. "Do you think we went overboard?"

"Nah, nah, we'd know if we did," Morgana insisted. He refused to look at the almighty explosion, folding his arms keeping his chin up as he held the most badass pose he could think of. Sniffling as he tried not to cry over an amazing explosion he refused to be witness to.

The aura of darkness surrounding the screaming demon started to be purged away. Even as he clawed at it, trying to get what power he had back. But the wicked flames started to turn blue and ethereal, quelling down until his form was shed. Leaving him to be nothing more than just a scared man, powerless and helpless.

That scared man dropped down on his knees, utter defeat in his eyes. "I… I lost."

"Yeah, well, you weren't exactly in our weight class," Ryuji said, rolling his arm around. "Now listen up, cause we're only going to say this one more time. Stop being a creep."

"I… I'm sorry," Shadow Nakanohara said, his voice sounding apologetic and soft. It was almost uncanny considering his actions just earlier.

He got back up, gripping his head as if he had just been hit with a dose of reality. "Please forgive me, I've just been so… obsessed. I haven't been who I used to be. Not after a person used me and then tossed me away just for a shot at greatness…."

"I can understand the first part…" Near said, spinning their knives before putting them away.

"So whose this Madarame person you got beef with? Is he the one you're talking about?" Ryuji squatted down and met Nakanohara eye to eye. "The Phantom Thieves might have some work for us, if you get what I mean."

"That's only if you promise not to stalk your ex-girlfriend anymore. Got it?" Ann kneeled down beside Ryuji, looking into the eyes of Nakanohara as well. He nodded in agreement, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"I promise. I just kept aching over being used again by someone I trusted," Nakanohara said, nodding. "Madarame's the famous artist whose exhibit is all over the news right now. But it's all a lie, his art, his legacy. All of it.

Nakanohara got up, sighing while dipping his head. "Look, I'll leave her alone. I'm just causing her unnecessary trouble at this point. I've known that for a while already, but I just couldn't get Madarame out of my head. Here I was thinking she'd be his next target, but… No, no it's no excuse for creeping on her and violating her boundaries."

Lifting his head, he started to chuckle anxiously. "Say, you said you were the Phantom Thieves, right? I think getting my ass kicked is enough proof that you guys are the real deal. I think my other self really would love to make a request later. Meet me in the real world later, and we'll sort out the full details."

"I think I have an idea about where this is going…" Akira said. "Alright, Nakanohara. We'll play."

The flames that quietly burned around him started to burn brighter once again, shifting from blue to white as he started to fade away. "Alright, I think I understand. Sorry for troubling you. I'm be going back to my real self now."

He vanished within the flames, and all that was left was a bright core.

"And here before us, we can see the budding Treasure of Nakanohara. Not strong enough to form a palace, but strong enough that it could probably be helpful to us later." Morgana jumped up and pulled out the item hiding in the core. A black rock.

"Hmm… too nebulous to be a proper treasure, either. But it seems malleable." Morgana tucked it into his utility belt pocket. "I'll store it for safekeeping. It looks pretty."

"Alright, now let's get out of here." Akira and the others scattered, each of them activating the Meta-Nav. They escaped the desolate subway station, and the world around them shifted.

The lights were back on. All the broken screens were fixed. The flood water dripping into the ground had dried up. And so many people were moving in and out of the subway again.

They were back in the real world. Soon enough, they regrouped once more, all while acting like nothing was wrong.

Mishima's phone rang, with the boy getting a notification. "Looks like we've got a job!" He lifted it to their eyes. All the request said was to meet for lunch tomorrow and to look for a starry briefcase, signed by N.K. That probably meant he was going to be in the food court. Though, they didn't need anything for identification, they'd already seen his face.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Morgana said.

Nakanohara looked around the food court, standing by the corner with a cup of coffee in hand. Trying to not draw too much attention to himself, but making sure his briefcase and its star logo could clearly be seen. Admittedly, he had no idea how this was supposed to work. Was he doing this right? Were they really going to come? The questions stirred around in his head. Just a minute ago, he was so paranoid over being watched, only for him to now be the one playing lookout.

"How does it feel now that we've taken your heart?" He heard a girl say from directly behind him.

"Wah!" Nakanohara quickly turned around, the man with the bowl cut catching only a glimpse of half of Akira's face. She'd concealed her face with a medical mask while keeping her hood up. Suspicious enough, but not suspicious enough for people to pay too much attention to.

"...I feel relieved, really," he answered. "You startled me, but just knowing someone will hear me out makes me feel like a big weight's been taken off my shoulders."

"Why don't you take a seat? We're all friends here." With a cool and composed look in her red reaper eyes, she guided him over to a lunch table with a disarmingly friendly manner. The others were sitting around, pretending to pay them no mind while talking about whatever went through theirs.

"He seems pretty nice, once you get past the stalker part…" Ann smiled, turning her head to Nakanohara while whispering. "I guess we'll see soon enough if that Change of Heart really sticks."

"I realize I've made some unforgivable mistakes," Nakanohara said, bowing his head profusely while whispering. "Listen, I'm the one who received the calling card about the jealous stalker ex, and I promise you I won't cause any more trouble now that I've been warned. I believe received another message from the administrator of that website, saying I should look for a Shujin student with a blue-eyed cat. Am I speaking to the right person?"

The kitty in question poked his head out of the bag in Akira's lap, opening his white mouth. "Mreow."

"Heh-heh!" Nakanohara laughed softly. "Why, hello to you too, fine gentleman." He pretended to tip an invisible hat on his head to him.

"Mreow!" Morgana said, smiling back at him.

"I don't know if you've already figured this out somehow, but I have someone I'd like to request for you to take down. Someone with a long history of his crimes. And this accusation is no laughing matter." Nakanohara looked around, making sure he wasn't being watched by any prying eyes one more time.

He lifted his hand to the side of his mouth, whispering to Akira. "Can the Phantom Thieves take down Madarame Ichiryusai?"

"Just to be clear, this goes beyond getting back at your ex, right?" Akira calmly said. "The Phantom Thieves would like to know."

"I swear on my life, I will stay as far away from her as I have to," Nakanohara said, putting his hand on his chest. "Please, this is a matter a lot more important than just a stalking case. I used to be one of Madarame's pupils. He gave me a home and shelter at his own residence, and for quite some time I lived, breathed and bled art. …But not for myself. It was all for him and his so-called greatness. I poured everything into my art until it hurt my very bones. And in the end, I was bled drier than an old brush and tossed into the gutter. But that's far from the worst story I have to tell."

"Madarame…" Ann's eyes opened up. "Hey, I saw him on TV not too long ago. He's a famous artist with tons of pupils. They're holding an exhibition for his art pieces tomorrow. I was already thinking about trying to find some space in my schedule to go."

"Would you believe me if I said that Madarame hasn't picked up a brush in over a decade? Not once during the time that I lived with him did he ever lift his dominant hand to draw," Nakanohara said. "You'll find that most of those paintings at his next exhibit aren't his at all. All these different, unique styles of his? All of that work belongs to his pupils. He made us give him the credit in what was basically a scheme to increase his own reputation. When I refused to keep going along with it, well, he made sure I couldn't stay anymore. But an old friend of mine, an older pupil…"

Nakanohara sighed deeply, holding quiet for a few moments. "He… he committed suicide not too long ago."

"...Oh," Ann said, reaching for her head. "Oh dear, oh no…"

"The debts he took on for Madarame, his horrid situation and seeing all his works be taken and smeared by our so-called master, it… it broke him finally. For an artist, for any creator, our art is our passion and livelihood. We all go to great lengths to create, but to know that's what became of my old friend? …That crushed me. I don't want to blame my actions on wallowing in my own despair, but, well, I haven't been sound of mind for quite since he left."

"That's awful," Ann said, and little else. She couldn't manage to say anything more to that.

"I tried to speak out, but my life as a public artist was ruined. I was slandered, silenced by these… thugs, who I didn't even know. I'd never seen them, but they apparently knew Madarame. My paranoia and my resentment started to eat me from the inside out. I'll be honest, I'm not even sure if I'm not being watched right now. I'm worried they'll come again."

Nakanohara then lifted his head, and suddenly his eyes hardened like steel. "But all I ask of you is to please, please change Madarame's heart. Not just me, but to honor my lost friend. And… there's another student still with him who needs a better life. Kitagawa Yusuke."

"Kitagawa Yusuke…" Akira whispered to herself.

"He's just about your age, I'd say," Nakanohara said. "I don't think there's an pupil who took to Madarame more than anyone else. And he's one of the best artists I've seen yet. But the problem is that, because Madarame took him in after his mother died of a sudden illness relapse, it is as if he treats Madarame's life as more important than his. If nothing happens, he'll be the perfect canvas for Madarame to ruin."

…Ryuji hit his fist against the table once, saying nothing.

"I can't allow another suicide to happen, or whatever Madarame has in store. He has his whole life ahead of him, but it'll be waste if he serves Madarame for even another moment longer," Nakanohara said.

The man pushed himself away from the table. "Don't let the old man's gentle and helpless demeanor fool you. It's all an act. When he's backed into a corner, Madarame's more cunning than a snake and as cutthroat as an old warlord."

"...Then it looks like a couple of phantoms have their next big target," Akira said, getting up. "Thanks for the info, Nakanohara."

"Thank you too. I promise to say nothing about your involvement. Not even if those thugs come for me again," Nakanohara said, keeping his head low as he walked away.

The next mission was about to begin.

Chapter Text

Episode 34: The Emperor of Ice - Part 1

5/22,

The heart rate monitor in the room beeped. It beeped again, pulsing steadily. Neither rising nor dropping to dangerous levels. Though, that wasn't necessarily a sign that things were all right and well.

Ann laid her elbows across the side of Shiho's bed, staring longingly at her best friend who would not look back at her.

"We did it, you know. Just like we promised we would," Ann said. "We took down Kamoshida together, remember? You were right there with us."

Shiho couldn't answer even now. Her physical condition improved from when she first was hospitalized. But she still laid there comatose, eyes perpetually shut while she was stuck in this transient state of existence.

"You were really amazing out there," Ann admitted. "Even if you were trying to fight us, I thought I was staring at a beautiful dancing ghost. Terrifying but… mesmerizing. I want to dance with you, some day."

Ann couldn't quite put a label on her feelings for Shiho. So… instead of that.

Ann lifted her finger slowly, poking it against her best friend's cheek. Making her smile one more time, even if it was only because Ann pulled her lips upwards.

She sighed in such a way that showed both pain, and weariness over how long it'd been since the pain had started. The blonde girl lifting her head, she pushed Shiho's hair away from her face. Not for any reason, though. It may as well have been just to touch her once more.

Without her in her life, Ann didn't know what to think or what to do. There was just a hole in her heart that whenever she returned to it, it only seemed to widen and seep deeper like a dark sinkhole. She loved Shiho, strongly so. Much like how she loved Akira and Ryuji, two of her closest friends. Yet with Shiho, those feelings ran… strong.

Before meeting Akira, she never could have considered her feelings to be anything beyond the tightest of friendships. Ironclad sisterhood, and other sorts of descriptions of that variety. But after meeting a girl so defiantly certain of what and who she liked, who was so similar to her in that regard, well…

She knew she loved Shiho, but now she was afraid she didn't know what 'love' meant in this case. She adored her, and would be happy down the road so long as her best friend was able to stand once more on her own and be happy. If Shiho were to find love with anyone else, well, that'd be okay. So long as things didn't change between them, things would be alright, right? They'd stay best friends all their lives, and, and…

Ann didn't even know where she was going with this. All she knew was that Shiho made her feel pure joy. She could even admit her attraction to her. "Thanks for that Akira, you raging lesbian." That thought crossed through her brain and immediately made her burst into snickers. But… she was being genuine. Back then, she could try to deny it. Now, there was a wicked seductress in her head who would look her in the eyes and say they both would immediately know she's lying if she ever tried to pull that lie.

"Yes, you would be the biggest liar on the planet if you insisted such a thing wasn't true," Carmen said from inside her head. "I do love when we're on the same page."

Ann huffed, a guilty smile on her face. She could just kiss Akira for helping her figure that one out. (And Ann was not going to dig deeper into that train of thought right now.)

But… right now? All she longed for was to see Shiho. For her to wake up so she could sweep her into her arms for the biggest hug in the world. She wanted her friend back.

"Are you sure you wanted us to come with you?" Ryuji asked, pushing away from the wall. "I mean, Shiho's my frien—er, well, she was my friend. Maybe we all had a huge crash out, but that didn't mean I stopped caring about you guys."

"I know, Ryuji," Ann said, eyes low. "I think we all know who had the most to gain out of having all of us fight each other instead of working together."

"Have you seen her since before today?" Akira said, sitting in the chair next to Ann. She put away her phone, making it clear Ann had her full attention..

"A few times, I have. But… it's hard to bring myself here," Ann said, turning to her friends. "Thank you for being here. I'd probably be halfway into breaking down into tears if I didn't have you all with me."

The door to the hospital room opened, with Mishima returning with a vase of flowers. "Hey, Shiho, it's your buddy Mishima. Sorry I can't do much for you right now. My eye's been healing little by little. So that's good."

He put the flowers on the windowsill. They were tied together by the red bow ribbon attached to them. "A girl at school wished you well even though she never had the chance to talk to you. She said she admired how strong you looked whenever you were doing your thing in volleyball. She wanted to be strong like you, and wanted to cheer you on."

Pulling away from the flowers, the boy lowered his head. "I wish I could be strong, too." He could feel a phantom pain from the eye under his bandage eyepatch. Even if the bruises were gone, he could feel the visceral punishment, flinching before shaking his head.

He felt Akira putting her hand on him, pulling him away from his mind. "Thanks, Akira."

Opening the fridge in Shiho's patient room, Near slipped something inside when no one was looking. But they couldn't go unnoticed once they started looking around, hand flexing as if trying to reach for a pen.

Staring at the others staring back, Near sighed, averting their eyes while frowning. "I left her something I thought she'd enjoy, okay?"

"Need a pen?" Akira spun one between her fingers before bringing it to the shorter student. "What are you going to write?"

"Just that this is something an old friend would enjoy, and that I hope she really enjoys it, too." Near looked tense, frightful even given the look in their eyes as they spoke. But they didn't refuse to speak, simply continuing.

"I want her to know that I wouldn't want anyone to steal it from her." they admitted. "If that happens, it would mean I would have to save up enough money to make sure I could buy another one for her the day I see her again."

Holding stiff, their face growing heated with each dreadful moment, Near flipped the pen around and brought it back to Akira. "I cannot write as you can."

"What are you talking about? You wrote the card we gave, remember?" Akira said, omitting the fact that it was the calling card they sent before striking Kamoshida that Near wrote. Still, Near's words did make her raise an eyebrow.

"That is not what I meant," Near said stiffly. "...She would probably prefer it to be elegantly written."

That was codeword for 'I have terrible handwriting.' That was what registered in Akira's head, at least.

"Ah, I get it. Give it here." Akira took the pen from Near, getting a note from her backpack as she started writing. "I'll just tweak the words you said, okay?"

"That would be acceptable," Near said, peeking out the corner of their eyes as they paid attention to Akira and every single letter of the note she wrote for them. Nothing seemed wrong with it, written or said.

"And just to make sure people know who this is for…" Akira took the red ribbon bow off the flowers it tied, reaching into the fridge to grab what Near slipped inside. A chocolate bar.

"Fancy chocolate, huh?" Akira smiled at Near, shaking the bar. "Where'd you have to go to get this one?"

"T-there's a candy store in the mall th-th-tha…" Near gulped, trying to breath through their stuttering. "That sells it. If you'd like, I can show you it."

"Sounds like a plan." Akira really did love sweets. She tied the bow around the chocolate bar's wrapper, slipping the note in between. For Shiho, she wrote on the front, then slipped it right back where it belonged.

"I'd think we'd better get going now, everyone," Akira said. "Goodbye, Shiho."

Ann stiffly nodded her head, getting ready to move. "See you someday soon, Shiho. Love you." She wiped a tear from her eye, leaving her best friend alone today.

The group had entered the station, and were now riding their way to Shibuya Square. Everyone was either sitting on the same bench or holding onto the nearby hooks and poles for stability.

Ann sighed to herself, before staring out of the corner of her eyes. Shuffling closer to Ryuji.

"Woah, you're in my personal space. What's up, bud?" Ryuji lifted his arm as she got in close, unsure if he should hold onto her or not considering how intense the look in her eyes was.

"Can you hold my shoulder for a moment?" Ann asked. "Make it look like you're my boyfriend, I wanna see something."

"Oh, sure. Okay?" And like that, Ryuji put his arm around her and leaned back, starting to stretch as he couldn't help but try to sneak a peek at whoever it was that put her on guard. Some kid with a white shirt and a blue, sleek haircut. Pretty enough to give most girls he knew a run for their money.

"That guy, or… girl?" Ryuji whispered.

"Could be neither," Near said. "Could be both. It's not like you know, do you?"

"True, true," Ryuji said.

"Well whatever," Ann said. "They keep checking me out, and I don't like it. It's like they're fixated on me."

"I see." Ryuji looked back to her while pulling her in, helping her out by being a good fake boyfriend. "This good enough for ya?"

"Yeah, thanks," Ann said, still glaring at the person. Yet they seemed completely oblivious to both that and the show of false affection. Instead, they flipped open their notebook and started sketching something anxiously, paying no heed to Ryuji at all.

The doors of the subway train opened, and Ann quickly got up. "Let's move. Fast." She grabbed Ryuji's hand and started heading up the steps immediately.

"Ah—!" The person stalking Ann put away their notebook and stumbled out of the train before slowing down, meeting Ann's pace while keeping their head low put down the notebook, running out of the subway train before slowing down, matching Ann's pace.

"Okay, I'm officially creeped out…" Ann started to rub her shoulders, picking up the pace up the steps leading above ground. It felt like the temperature dropped several degrees.

"Want me to deal with them? I'll scorch their notebook such that they'll lose all they so meticulously detailed in it. It should give us enough time to vanish," Carmine said, before appearing next to Ann with a flame already in her palm.

"Let's just keep walking for now," Ann whispered.

"Hmm, suit yourself my mistress." Carmine swiped her hand through the flame to snuff it out.

Exiting the station, the Phantom Thieves now walked down the sidewalk. Even with the sun out, it felt like they were in the middle of late fall. An icy breeze rushed past her, blasting her face as she shivered and shut an eye.

"Please—" The person started hurrying towards Ann, reaching a hand out to try to grab them.

"Alright, that's enough!" Ryuji stepped in between them and Ann. "Cool it, snowy!"

"That doesn't make any—ah, nevermind." Akira rushed in, putting the stalker in-between Ryuji and herself when she slipped behind them.

"Do you got something to ask?" Ryuji said. "You know, it's really creepy of you to start chasing women in subways. If you got something to say, tell them! And don't go giving them trouble!"

"Keep your hands off my friends, and you won't have to worry about your ability to lift a pen," Akira said. That was code to say that if they were about to creep on Ann, she was prepared to get her knife out.

Ann gasped, unable to keep from smiling. "Thanks, you two." She turned around, confronting this stalker face to face.

"Erm…" They suddenly pulled back with a severe frown on their face. "That was never my intention. I'm deeply sorry about that. I'm often told I'm intense. A girl I know would describe me as rather cold as ice. I suppose you're not wrong to be so wary."

"Uh-huh…" Ann squinted, her eyes sweeping up and down. They were dressed with a white shirt from another school, Kosei High School, complete with the fleur de lis that was its school crest.

She got a good look at their confused, slender face, too.

...God, they were insufferably beautiful. So beautiful, she was disgusted.

"You look nervous," Near said to the student. "Like you're ready to shatter ice with your sphincter."

"I—, I apologize." Anxiously, the student grabbed their collar and fidgeted. They were even avoiding eye contact now. The Phantom Thieves's harsh reaction seemed to have had the effect on him, leading to him to stop and think very carefully about what he should say and whether he should ask it.

"God, you're beautiful, you know that? Ugh." Ann rasped, speaking her mind before rasping again. "You have the prettiest eyes most women would kill for, and the deep, husky tones of a mature butch. And I think I hate all that for some reason. God, I hate you."

"I'm… not sure how to respond to that," the student said, creasing their eyebrows with increasing confusion. "Erm, what is butch?"

"A butch is a term for a masculine lesbian, often used in contrast to femme. To my knowledge, it does not exclusively refer to homosexual or queer women, but is generally done so considering its deep roots in queer communities and circles," Near explained, as if the info was burned into their head.

"Yes…" the student said, slowly nodding. "And to be clear, how are we defining—"

"A lesbian is a woman who identifies with the attraction to other women," Near said. "Though, just as there are those who are neither exclusively homosexual or women, it can, was, and will continue to be an umbrella term for sapphics and those who keep the details of their sexual orientation private. There are those who would disagree, but to that I say—pbbt." Near finished by blowing a raspberry at the wind where the haters might be.

"Wait, doesn't half of that explanation apply to you?" Mishima said. Recalling that time Near whined about wanting to be a lesbian.

"Shhhhh," Near said, raising their finger in front of their lip. In a manner somewhat humorous enough to make Mishima stop and chuckle.

"Interesting…" the student from Kosei said, blue eyes blinking. "I have no idea if any of that is of personal relevance to me. How should it apply?"

"Oh, so now I'm dealing with a pretty stalker who might be a lesbian. Just my day!" Ann threw her hands up, bracing her hips. The harder she stared, the prettier their features were and the more she felt infuriated.

"Hmm…" The student's eyes turned to the side. "I don't think I am, because I am not reasonably sure if I'm a woman, but would you believe me that this is not the first time I've heard someone say that?"

"Well, you do look very pretty and flashy. Your eyelashes are just so pretty, and long, and pretty," Akira said.

"I know, stop saying it!" Ann grumbled loudly. Why was she upset by this?

"Why thank you, I take great care in accentuating my natural beauty!" The student reached up, covering half their face with their hand and lifting their head up.

"Arrrgh—!" Ann grumbled while clutching her pigtails. "Only now do I understand what my coworker was feeling when she said this about me. I put in work to make myself this beautiful, you know?"

"And you are very pretty," Akira happily pointed out. "I have seen your tummy, it is very beautiful."

"Thank you," Ann grumbled again. "I feel like I needed that. I work out now, I didn't do that before. Look at you've changed me, Akira!"

"Which, by the way, now you're even more gorgeous." Akira swiped her hand down and brought it to Ann, squishing it like a marshmallow which caused Ann to laugh.

"Oh my god! Be serious, Akira." Huffing, Ann pulled away the hand of the girl making playful, crabby grunts in objection, pretending to try to grasp her again.

"Snip, snip." Akira pinched the air twice, before pulling back.

"Not now," Ann said.

"You know, in some regards, gender is considered a mere social construct. Something that only holds power so long as we give it. Although it is ingrained in society, discarding it or otherwise transforming it for individual happiness can be a very satisfying experience," Near said. "You don't have to identify with your birth gender simply because it was the card life dealt you. You could even treat gender as you would treat masks to take off and on. Like some theatre kids."

"Oh, ooh, do I get to be a theatre kid even if I don't go to drama club? Because I'm definitely the fruity theatre kid of the group," Akira insisted.

"Excuse me? How come you get to hog that title?" Ann questioned. "Why can't I be the devilish seductress of the movie who convinces the lost hero to turn traitor? I have dark and wicked powers, hello? I can lure people in with my siren voice?"

"I see… so gender is something that only holds meaning if you allow it to." The student started to chuckle, crossing their arms with a dark look in their eyes. "Very well, you've convinced me further, tiny child. If gender is a performance, then I should be the actor at center stage!"

"Ugh, so my pretty stalker's a theater kid, too! I just, I can't—" Ann was huffing and clawing her hands at this point.

Meanwhile, the student brought their hand out. "What do you think of my nails? I decided upon a simple, uniform composition. But I believe the simplicity of the black contrasts the artist's vibrant soul yet reflects the dark, eternal struggle within that is the pursuit of art." The edges of their black nails shined with the sun's rays passing over them. "After listening to a confusing yet rousing speech from a child with the spirit of an angry chihuahua last month, I realized something. Why should women's nail polish be solely reserved for one gender? There is art to be made at my very fingertips!"

"I can't deal with this!" Ann said. "Even their hands are perfect! Gahh!" She grumbled-grumbled, pacing in circles now.

"Huh? Oh…" A single curl of hair stuck up from Near's head like a question mark, with Near plucking it as it rattled while they pursed their lips and looked off to the side. "Yes, I recall having had one too many sodas that day. I think I unwittingly awakened something in someone somewhere."

"Ann, you're really upset by this," Akira said to her grumbling friend. "Are you okay?'

"It's not fair!" Ann clenched her fists, pointing at Yusuke. "You stride into my life, choose to be so pretty, insist on being so artsy! Strutting up to me, just to show me up—"

"Well, actually, that would segway perfectly into my request." The student looked quite bashful and hesitant, trying to make their request in the most non-hostile manner they could manage. "You are perhaps the most mesmerizing woman I've laid eyes on. In fact, I've never seen a woman more radiant and fiery than you."

"You think I'm pretty?" Ann pulled her head back, stopping midway as she held this silly little grin.

"Ooh, coming on thick aren't ya?" Akira reached for her school vest and tugged on her collar.

"I realize I should have taken the direct approach and stated plainly that I wish for you to help with my artistry." The student raised their hands in a captivated fashion. "I sense this… aura, about you. The flames that resonate within your soul are so strong that one glance at you was enough for me to feel them."

"...Really now? Is it that obvious?" Ann cupped her cheek and tried to hide the smug look of pride on her face. Even if it so happened that there was fire crackling and rolling around Ann's soul as they spoke.

"That's all her, by the way. I had nothing to with that flame. Just in case you were curious." Briefly appearing next to Ann, Carmen rested her elbow against Ann's shoulder while looking down at Akira. Touching her chest, she laughed, vanishing in a swirl of flame afterwards.

"If you don't mind me showing you this…" The student lifted their sketchbook and showed a figure frame of a girl sitting on a bench, with Ann as the reference. Though it was as faceless as a mannequin, the movement of the body and the figure were very well drawn.

"Forgive me if candid sketches are too invasive," they said. "I would not want to make you uncomfortable any further."

"No, no! Tell me more." Ann swiped her hand in a cat-like manner. "No wait, don't. I already know I'm the fieriest goddess around."

"What the—!" Ryuji paced in a circle before turning to Ann, sternly pointing at her. "Alright, now I'm being played here, aren't I?"

"At the very least I can say I don't mean to play around," the student said, before clearing their throat. "What I mean to ask is that I would like for you to serve as the model for my next art piece. I've been longing for someone to serve as my muse, a woman of great passion such that it seeps out into the world itself. …Unfortunately, I have a small amount of stage fright and make terrible first impressions."

"Oh, honey, you won't have to worry about that with me. It's not like I'm going to bite you very hard." Ann snickered. "So! My place or yours? My home does have a workspace for this sort of stuff, but I'd imagine it'd be tough to work without all your usual tools."

And like that, Ann's switch was flipped.

"Oh, I like you," Akira said to the student. "I just got one question. What are your pronouns?"

"He/him," the student answered frankly. "...Why is that of importance?"

"Oh, finally someone gives it to us straight!" Ryuji lifted his hands, then looked to Near. "Unlike not over there! Now won't tell us!" He was harking back to the laat time he asked for their pronouns.

"My pronouns are mine! You'll never take them from me without prying them out of my cold dead hands!" Near yapped at Ryuji like a tiny, maltese-chihuahua, much to the boy's laughter.

"For the record, I'm pretty Kira doesn't need your pronouns to get you, my dude," Ryuji said.

"You will still have to take them from my cold dead hands. My cold, cold hands…" Near lifted their hand, lightly patting and slapping Ryuji's face.

"Sheesh, they are cold. Why does your body feel ten degrees colder than it should be?" Ryuji grabbed their wrist with one easy swipe. "Also, your wrist is so tiny and bony."

"Kira? You mean to say you know him?" With a curious look in his eye, the student took a strong step towards a surprised Ryuji. "If you know him, then why haven't you had him arrested yet? Don't tell me we're wasting time!"

"Woah!" Ryuji stepped back, hands up.. "No dude, we don't even know the guy's face."

"O-oh, I see," the boy said, pulling back. "That is a shame. Err… a relief? You wouldn't want to involve yourself with a murderer, surely."

Ann took a moment to pause, thinking about the student's unusually eager behavior when it came to Kira.

"Let's just say we're not his friends," Ann said, trying to be subtle.

"We hate his ass," Akira said.

"So much for subtlety," Ann said.

"Oh, thank goodness. Finally, some normal people," said one weirdo to a squad of weirdos. Regardless, the student gave a big sigh of relief. "Sometimes, I wonder how he managed to gain such a cult following. What beauty is there in a world where all life can be cut down in an instant by a wrathful god? There are days where I've worried about those I know and my grand…"

"You know, I get the feeling that you're talking about cult following like how a movie critic talks about a cult classic, but you're not exactly wrong," Akira pointed out, covering her mouth and leaning towards Ann.

"So we're recruiting him, right?" she asked with a whisper.

"What, why?" Ann asked.

"How many people do we know actually hate Kira?" Akira said.

"About as many people as we bother talking to, so… not much," Ann said. "Relatively speaking."

"And that's exactly why we could use another somewhat dangerous drama queen," Akira told her.

"But he doesn't have powers, isn't that a genuine liability?" Ann said.

"Mishima doesn't have powers and he's keeping up with us," Akira said. "He's got tools and all sorts of things to make up for it. Like Batman, or Robin."

"Hmm… I can't deny that he could be useful," Ann said. "We'll consider it." Pulling away from her friend, Ann spoke to the student. "Alright, you've caught my interest. For now."

"Excellent!" the student said. "This makes me a rather happy lad. I promise to make this a good experience, you'll see. Just one moment…"

"Yusuke!" called out an old man as the student was reaching into his pocket. A black car slowed down as it approached the stoplight beside them.

"Ah—!" The boy turned to the car. "Sensei Madarame."

"Wandering off in a hurry like that, you'd scare me half to death if I wasn't used to it by now! So this is where your passion led you!" The old man laughed lightheartedly, opening the car door for his student. He himself was already sitting in the passenger seat, the old man being chauffeured around.

"Don't go scaring others either, you hear me young boy? It's important to respect the relationship between artist and model," Madarame said.

"Yes, master!" Yusuke said. With the energy of a samurai speaking to his lord, no less.

"Good, good!" The old man turned a pair of eyes that shined bright enough to rival even the youngest, most ambitious artists out there. And his smile was relaxed and disarmingly encouraging. "So, let me guess. Yusuke here offered you a chance at being his latest art piece? He's a talented artist himself, you know? I'd encourage you to take the offer now, or you'll miss the chance to work with the next Ichiryusai himself! Hah-hah!"

"Please, master, there's no need for such praise…" Yusuke lowered his head and bowed, though it was much more hesitant than an ordinary bow.

"Wait, so you're the Madarame?" Ann said to the old man. "The one on TV? I saw you on Good Morning Japan last night!"

"The one and only, heh." Madarame reached for his chin, looking ready to smoke a pipe he didn't have while fondly reminiscing. "If there was another, their name and their art would be known all over the world! I would know, I would've trained them personally! Ah, but so things go…"

"We should be getting to the exhibit now, young lad, so why don't we wrap things up here? You already came to do what you set out to do, yes?" Madarame said to Yusuke.

"Yes, just one moment…" Yusuke reached into his pocket again, this time pulling out a set of tickets. More than enough for all of them. "Here, I'll be helping out at Madarame's latest exhibit on opening day tomorrow. It'll be in the department store just outside the station. Please let me know your full thoughts on being a model for my next art piece if and when you come."

"Oh, you already know my answer!" Ann said. "Bye, Yusuke! See you at the exhibition tomorrow!" She wiggled her fingers while putting on her sweetest smile.

Yusuke nodded contentedly, entering the car before it drove away.

"Hah-hah, bye-bye!" Ann said.

Ann quickly whipped around and started to bite her nail. "Oh my god, I just hit the jackpot!"

"We did?" Akira said.

"Yes, we did!" Ann squealed, unable to contain her emotions any further. "Hello, did you hear that? My beautiful stalker is the guy we're looking to help, and he's the student of the guy we're hunting down?" Ann started to giggle mischevously in between her loud breaths, eagerly biting her nail further.

"Obviously, this means we must double our efforts to get in his graces so we can move in and strike when they least expect it!" Ann proudly put her hand on her chest, pushing it out. "It's a good thing you have a thespian on your side."

"How is that good? I mean we've got like three out of three lesbians here, I think. How is it any different?" Ryuji squinted.

"Not those, a thespian!" Ann huffed. "It means a performer! Didn't you see how good my performance was once I saw Madarame himself? He didn't even realize I already did my research on him!"

"Huh…" Ryuji nodded along. "I didn't notice, but sure. If you say it worked on him, I'm jiat gonna trust your judgement on that one. So, you're thinking you'll dupe the guy before we hit him when it's time?"

"Woah-woah, we still need to do some proper scouting." Akira lifted her hands. "We're certainly not about to take a bat to his head without making an informed decision."

"Do it, Ryuji. Listen to the darkness inside of you." Morgana poked out from Akira's backpack, eyes covered by the top like it was the hood of a dark warlock.

"What the—, Mona?" Ryuji pulled his arm back. "Where is this coming from?"

"Do it," the dark warlock cat said, taking out his paw as his claws jutted out. Shining like silver blades.

"Mona, down boy!" Akira hushed him.

"Do it nowwww!" Morgana jumped out of Akira's backpack, flipping on top of Akira's head.

"Hey, careful! I have a delicate face!" Akira blinked her eyes shut as Morgana retracted his claws.

"Not delicate enough to give him a scary look while you take a bat to his!" Morgana clung to Akira's head while looking down at the struggling girl.

"Madarame or Yusuke?" Akira said while shuffling around.

"Yes!" Morgana insisted. He curled up ontop of Akira, tail flapping. "I am angry and upset right now. You are now my hat rack."

"Is this my life now? To be tormented by a kitty with a human heart?" Akira said. She stopped struggling, sighing while dropping her arms as her cat used her as a nesting place.

"Only because you aren't being tormented by a human with a human heart!" Morgana lifted his head up and huffed, then looked directly at Ann.

"Mona, do you have something to tell Ann?" Akira said.

"Mrrrgh…" Morgana growled, tail flicking like a metronome.

"Monaaa…" Akira's voice rose like a softly scolding pet owner, looking up at the grumpy cat squinting at Ann.

"I will claw that man if you will it," Morgana said to Ann.

"Holy shit, Morgana. Do we need to get you neutered to calm down?" Ryuji said.

"You will not take my nuts from me! Or my noodle!" Morgana lifted his claw, unsheathing it. "Engarde, señor fuckboi—!"

"Little hero…" Zorro said scoldingly.

In a twister of green wind, the invisible vigilante spirit appeared. "Your behavior is not very hero-like. A hero knows better than to fight for a woman without just cause. Especially when she is not interested."

"Mrgh!" Morgana whined, tucking his head down. "I'm being scolded by my own inner spirit?"

"And you'll be scolded a thousand times by yourself, if need be!" Zorro flourished his blade. "It is not wrong to have passion in your heart and a thrill for danger, but do not let your feelings convince you to control the lives of your loved ones. If Lady Ann wished for you to draw your blade, you would have already known. We can trust in our lady's judgement. Isn't that right, Lady Ann?"

"Hmm?" Ann's head cocked like a big, dangerous cat. "Sorry, Mona, I'm a little distracted. I've been thinking about Yusuke and what I need to do to him."

"For him," Mishima corrected her with.

"Yes, for him," Ann said, smiling. "Because we're helping him. Right." She kept on smiling.

"Ah—! But, but—!" Morgana tucked his head and frowned like a sad child. "But what about me? Aren't I a cool enough man to get your attention? I'm certainly better than Yusuke!"

"What? Of course you're cool! Come here, baby, you're just the sweetest, cutest little kitty on the planet!" Ann reached out to try and pet Morgana's head, but he squeaked before she could do so.

"Sweet… cute…kitty?" Morgana's eyes turned a hollow white as his mouth dropped.

"Huh?" Ann blinked her eyes, stepping back as she saw a crack run down Morgana's head. Splitting and growing wider, covering every inch of him.

Morgana shattered into a million pieces, just like his heart did.

"Oww. Oww, oww! Oww! Mona, why!?" Akira was caught under all the Mona glass, getting on her kneed with her backpack lifted up so she'd defensively curl up like a turtle.

Zorro sighed. He took out a dustpan and a broom, sweeping the glass pile up before creating a tornado in his palm. He threw it onto the glass pile, reassembling Morgana piece by piece.

"I've been defeated…" Morgana said.

"No offense, buddy, but I don't think you had a chance, bro," Ryuji said.

"Don't tell me that!" Morgana screeched, before frowning. "Okay, I won't get in the way. I'll just be… Mona. The cartoon cat boy with cartoon powers for silly kids."

"There's nothing wrong with liking cartoons," Near said. "I still fondly remember watching a marathon of Star Warrior John. Also known in the U.S as John: Boomeranging At You!"

"Being a man is not about finding love or making ladies swoon. And being a hero isn't about being a man who does that. Trust me, folks, you'll find yourself in plenty of hot water if you're like Arséne!" Zorro laughed.

"Hey!" Arséne appeared in a wave of dark flames, holding onto his mask that scowled like Melpomene's face of tragedy.

"I suppose your not wrong," Arséne admitted, rolling his dagger-like fingers. "Somewhere out there, some dreadful detective is still chasing me. Yearning for my capture. Never able to fully let go of what she so rightfully once had in her grasp. But I remain elusive as ever, and the darkest depths of my heart are untraversable to even my enemy who knows me so well."

"Who dat?" Ryuji asked.

"Oh, my ex-wife," Arséne clarified. "She's probably dead. Unless she somehow lived to be a century and more. In which case, please give me her number! I'd love to take my sweetheart out again!" The great thief swiped his hands like the extra catty burglar he was.

"Wait, you had a wife?" Akira said.

"A wife?" Arséne started to cackle. "A, singular, wife? Listen, cutie, I am a deep lover of women, a thespian above all else, and if it were appropriate a century ago I would not—legally—have one wife. You are your own self who makes her own romantic choices. Shadow Akira is your mirror twin who acts in both your collective interest. But Arséne is a ladykiller whose tales are long and passionate. Not age appropriate."

"Hmm, a ladykiller with a lady who would wrestle you off a cliff if you break her heart," Carmen said, lifting her fan up and down while rolling her eyes. "Tch, thieves."

Appearing in a streak of lightning, Captain Kidd raised his double sabers. "Yo-hoh! Sherlock is not here, but if she were she'd say something along the lines of…"

He cleared that throat he didn't have anymore, preparing himself.

"Arrrrséne!" Captain Kidd's voice rose several angry octaves. "Get your ass back in these chains, before I make you! I will see you in cuffs, but not before ruin that sphincter you're oh so proud of! It's up to the shoulder with you, Arséne! Shoulder! Deep!"

"Terrifying," Zorro said. "As we've come to expect with her."

"And intentional," Carmen smirked. "As she had made clear when she went to, ahem, capture our poor Arséne."

"We made an agreement that so long as I share with her, she will not put me in chains any further than necessary. And to not do that other thing without prior warning," Arséne said, raising a knife finger. Then cackling like an evil bastard. "Oh, how I miss my mortal enemy."

"You know, I gotta ask. Do you all know each other?" Mishima asked.

"Oh, we spirits have had our little trysts," Carmen flicked her fan and her wrist. "Zorro and Kidd trying to kill each other. Arséne working with Zorro while Kidd tried to kill them. Arséne working with Kidd while Zorro tried to kill them. And me often in the middle, inevitably betraying one, two, or three of them to only to make off with the treasure for myself and milady."

"Arr, and what a show it was! Agh-gah-gah-gah-gah!" Captain Kidd's jaw rattled with joyous laughter.

"You still owe me for the incident at the Kennedy Space Center," Arséne pointed out.

"Ah, but you owe me for that, and for the Battle of Jesucristo in Pope Joan's tomb!" Zorro pointed out.

"That was a good haul day, by the way," Carmen said. "Very valuable loot. You wouldn't believe the ransom the Vatican paid for a holy corpse."

"Jesucristo indeed…" Ann blinked. "And you're all still friends?"

"Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. What can we say? Honestly, part of their heists may as well have be one big spear measuring contest between themselves." Carmen huffed, the wicked seductress casually rolling her hand.

"Arr, but you downplay how often you'd whip out your own blade when the chips were down!" Captain Kidd said.

Zorro clicked his tongue, flourishing his blade. "You deny your weapon its purpose, Dear Carmen."

"Not wrong, I'm a petty little bitch." Carmen smirked ever so slightly. "Although I'm not the pettiest. My lady was second, and fourth is Arséne, however first was Arséne's… rival, as we call her affectionately."

"If my wife sees you, tell her she'll never take me alive. She won't believe you if you said I went out for milk," Arséne told Akira.

"Why?" Akira looked down, then looked up. "Why do you have a rival for your wife?"

"Well, she's dangerous," Arséne shrugged. "I mean she's very dangerous. Ho-hoooh—!" A shiver rolled through the thief's entire body as he tugged on his collar. "Pardon me, I just remembered what my wife is like."

"Like caller, like spirit," Carmen said while curling her nails. "Arséne has a thrill for danger and a love for a woman who could strangle her."

"And kick her ass!" Captain Kidd said.

"And hold her tenderly while she cries," Zorro added. "Sometimes, you meet a woman who is just as crazy as you are to match the kind of freak that lives in your heart. Arséne took one look, and said…" The desperado lifted his hand, sweeping it out in front of himself before he clenched it and squinted.

"YES," said the thief with his big mustache, big yellow eyes and the widest grin as he tilted his head.

"Hey!" Arséne pulled down his hat. "Do not attack me with such things that are true. Now, ta-ta my dears! I'll be residing in the space between reality and unreality that is the collective unconscious." He vanished in a ripple of hellfire that swept upwards like a zipper shutting close.

"We're off to play cards with each other! I will play my lucky pair of twos at some point!" Captain Kidd boasted, zapping out of existence.

"No drinking or gambling, though!" Zorro insisted as he whirled out of existence in a twister of green wind.

"Not that we're opposed, we just have kids to look after," Carmen added, igniting her finger and carving a big burning heart around her. "Enjoy your little heist, dearies!"

The heart burned, taking Carmen with it as all four Personas disappeared.

"Well, it looks like we have business to take care of!" Ann said, pumping her fist excitedly. "We've got hearts to steal, so let's start stealing them, team!"

Chapter Text

Episode 35: The Emperor of Ice - Part 2

5/23,

It was twilight when the gang arrived at the art exhibit. With simple white walls and just the right amount of lighting, the stage was set for everyone's attention to be squarely on the art pieces.

And yet, their attention was equally on the creator of those pieces, with Madarame greeting all the photographers with a smile and a wave of his hand. "Please, enjoy to your heart's content!" he said, flexing the digits of his black left glove. He only wore the one, keeping his pen steady in his right hand as he freely signed signatures for anyone who came to see his work.

"Woah, it's so crowded…" Morgana said, peeking his head up from Akira's bag. "And the art is so… artsy? Not ritzy, not glitzy. …Just artsy."

"Hey!" Ryuji brought his head over to Morgana. "You're going to get us in tons of trouble if they see you meowing like that! Back in the bag, Mona!"

"Mreow!" Morgana ducked his head back into the bag. "This'll be no fun…"

Turning his attention away from his sensei's booth, Yusuke's icy blue eyes lit up as soon as he saw Ann stepping into the exhibit. "Ah, you came!" He hurried over to her without another thought.

"Yusuke—!" Madarame reached out with his left hand, stopping and sighing when he saw Ann. "Ah… Enjoy yourself, my boy."

Yusuke stopped, smiling warmly in Ann's presence. "...You really came."

"What'd you expect when you left us those tickets?" Ryuji asked him.

"Art and fashion go hand-in-hand!" Ann lifted two fingers and brought them over one eye with a smile. "Maybe I'm not the most knowledgeable on the specifics of art, I can't tell you the intricacies about it or anything like that for sure. But I know art that speaks to me when I see it."

"I see! What an interesting perspective. Now, make sure you all don't get in the way of the other visitors. This is a busy venue." While polite enough to the rest of them, it was clear that Ann was the one who captured his interest.

And for Ann, the look on his face thawed as he reached for her hand. "Come, let me show you around! I'd also like to speak of the details for the art piece I have in mind. I'm thinking… fire. Surrounding the dark courtesan holding the dagger of subterfuge after putting down her client. And fur pelts. Yes, fur pelts to establish that you are the true apex predator in the room!"

"Ooh, a courtesan~! How fancy!" Ann graciously accepted his hand in a courtly manner.

"And only the finest of courtesans out there, of course! Everyone should be throwing countless dollars at you, the risks to their wallets and lives be damned!" Yusuke declared.

"I'm gonna catch you all laterrr!" Ann wiggled her fingers, cozying up to Yusuke and walking away.

"She's doing her seductress thing, right?" Mishima asked.

"You know, it's really hard to tell," Ryuji said. "But man, he told us not to disturb people and here he is being louder than me. Ain't that some irony?" Huffing, he flicked his chin.

Near started to squint. "He just called her a courtesan. That's wrong, she isn't being paid for this."

"I sure wish I got paid to be a courtesan," Akira said.

Shadow Akira appeared in a poof of stardust, shaking her head. "Sweetie, you don't know the first thing about how to go about doing such a thing in a safe manner that won't bring bad ilk to you. If you want me to slip paper into your delicates, you should ask me or, I don't know, Ann, or Ryuji, or any one of your friends."

"Hey, I can have dreams of being handed money for good services! And besides, between you and me, you're the one getting a twenty slipped into their delicates!" Akira insisted to herself.

A hellfire wave burned in Shadow Akira's palm. She grabbed the tragic mask of Arséne, putting it on as she gave Akira such a big, fiery frown. "Oh, I'm so offended right now. You insult me by claiming I'd be subject to a position I wouldn't enjoy. Mwahahaha."

Shadow Akira vanished in another puff of stardust. "Whatever you do, just protect yourself darling. Your safety is my safety, and I art thou and thou art I. I'm going back to my card game with Shadow Ryuji."

…Mishima slowly lifted his head. "Wait, a courtesan? Isn't he calling her a very pricey, classy who—"

"What?" Morgana said, the flap of Akira's backpack lifting as his blue eyes stared at Mishima defensively. "What?"

"Nothing!" Mishima yelped, before sighing. "Don't think about it too hard, Mona."

"Hmph, well Lady Ann is a queen above all else and you should still respect that!" Morgana pointed his paw Mishima's way.

"A kind of killer queen, maybe," Akira commented. "She's a killer—"

"Queeeen~" Near immediately followed up with, "Gunpowder, gelatine—"

"Guaranteed to blow his miiind!" Ryuji joined in to sing with.

"Anytiiime~!" the four students sang.

Ryuji looked at the other three. "Oh, so we're that kind of friend group, aren't we?"

"Dramatic little bitches who may or may not be straight and will break into song?" Akira said. "Yes, yes we are."

"It's going to be all the time, isn't it?" Ryuji smirked.

"All the time," Mishima said.

"All the time," Near said. "You've doomed us to this fate, Akira."

"It's safe to say that this one's probably his own work…" Near muttered, inspecting the art piece hanging on the wall titled "Self-Portrait of a Dying Dream."