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Chapter Text

 Dinging, and an automated voice. Almost ringing like a sort of funeral dirge, in this particular instance.

 "Next stop, Yongen-jaya station. Please remember not to..."

 'Yeah, because I want to get off here.' One of the youths riding the subway thought bitterly to themselves, almost in defiance of the sunny tone of the announcer. Knowing this youth's story, though, would definitely shed some light upon the doom & gloom seemingly permeating his very existence.

 As the subway pulled to a stop and they stepped off the train, the youth took out their phone and tapped on their smartphone's map application, in hopes of finding their way. After all, this was their first venture into such an unfamiliar place as Tokyo, especially coming from such a small place as Inaba; not that they'd wanted to in the first place, but fate plays cruel tricks on those who stand to gain the least from it.

 Focusing entirely on the map application, the youth frowned as their eyes began to survey the small but still lively neighbourhood they found themselves in. Drawing in a dejected breath, they sighed a sigh far deeper than their age would allow under normal circumstances.

 "So, I just have to turn left here, then go straight, and..."

 Mumbling to themselves, Akira Kurusu set foot on his way to the place where he would be forced to spend the remainder of his now-wasted youth, far from the home he'd cultivated so meticulously over his years.

---

 "I'm tellin' ya, Rindude, this place is apparently legendary for their coffee! And even the Don said the curry was killer!"

 Rindo couldn't help but roll his eyes at Fret's exaggerated praises. Not that he didn't trust his friend's recommendations, mind; rather, he had a tendency to get a bit... excessive with it. Both in volume and in phrasing. Although, Nagi hadn't exactly denied that he was onto something with this place, so maybe there was something in this Leblanc...

 "Yoooooooohoo! Earth to Rindude!" Fret's cheerful voice pierced through Rindo's conflicting thoughts like a hot knife, as it had so many times before. 'Maybe that was why we work so well together,' Rindo had thought to himself as his vision was slowly being obstructed by a strangle blurry... oh, right. "You alright in there, man? You looked like you were havin' one of those space-out moments of yours again." The cheer had turned into concern, and Rindo couldn't help but frown at that; Fret never got like this unless he'd been really lost in thought. Or if Shoka had asked him to keep an eye on her 'spacy boyfriend', as she loved to call him. 

 "Don't worry, Fret, I'm fine. Just thinking about... well, you, actually. And how you always get like this with stuff you love."

 Fret's face contorted into a confused one, at that, though the corners of his lips did curl ever so slightly upward into a smile. It was true, though; Rindo had seen it all the time. Whether it was regaling him with the latest gossip surrounding Eiji Oji and his newest charge, Eiru, to gushing with Nagi over the latest chapter of Elegant Strategy and their beloved Lord Tomonami (who Rindo still couldn't picture saying anything other than math puns, no thanks to a certain old friend of theirs), and beyond, Fret's energy with these sorts of things was boundless and infectious, in a way. Even Shoka had professed a sort of awe with it, some days, albeit tinged in her usual biting wit.

 "Yeah? Well, if it's like that, then that oughta tell ya how good this place is gonna be, then! C'mon, Rindude, let's go grab a coffee then swing by that beef bowl place back in Shibuya!" Fret exclaimed, grabbing onto Rindo's hand and pulling him along the streets of Yongen-jaya.

 Rindo wasn't about to remind him of the curry; reminding people of things was Fret's job.

 As they dashed - well, Fret dashed, Rindo sort of slid along behind him like a parachute would on a training athlete - Rindo's mind drifted along to the events of a few months ago. To think, if they had made just one more mistake, one more blunder that he would have had to rewind time itself to correct... then everything in this city would be left as nothing but a smouldering heap, by the Executor's decree. Instead, they'd bizarrely now had... well, maybe not a friendly relationship with their would-be destroyer, but something more resembling civility. Not to mention all the other Shinjuku Reapers that now called Shibuya home...

 Idly, he wondered how the conversation must have gone between Shoka & Ayano when they'd decided to let the others in their inner circles know of their relationship. That must have been fun, though he suspected it had at least gone well, given that Susukichi hadn't been dispatched to fold him into a pretzel (which Rindo knew he could do, even here in the RG, even without the boost to his strength that came with being a Reaper. He also began to wonder about the guy that had tried to flirt with Shoka during the Shinjuku group's last "family outing" and whether he could eat normally again), so clearly something had gone right there.

 Maybe Haz had given him another little bit of divine intervention.

 Before he could ponder the idea any further, Rindo instead felt a sort of tug in his mind, and from that tug came a crude image of a coffee cup. Normally, such a thing would shock anyone, but Rindo just smiled as he turned his head towards his now-stationary best friend, pouting at him with arms folded.

 Right, right. Leblanc.

 "Okay, okay Fret. I get it," Rindo chuckled out, raising his hands in mock surrender as he began walking once more, Fret taking the lead again at a thankfully more comfortable pace - and without pulling Rindo along this time. "C'mon, you said it was around... here..."

 Any thoughts Rindo had of continuing were dashed as both he & Fret looked ahead to see a familiar uniform attached to a decidedly unfamiliar face, right in front of the cafe they were about to visit for the first time. Normally, not such a big deal, but it looked like he was carting around... luggage? Huh. Maybe the cafe had an apartment over it that he lived in, as a sort of live-in employee?

 "Awwwwwwwwwwww man!" Fret groaned from beside Rindo, sinking into himself as he often did while upset. It was... kind of cute, in a way, but Rindo would never tell him that, lest he never hear the end of it. "I was hopin' this would be, like, our secret hangout that nobody at Shujin would know! Now this guy's gonna blab about it to everyone. Probably on Twitter, too."

 "I dunno, Fret... he doesn't look like anyone we know from Shujin." Rindo replied, though more in a curious tone than anything. Huh. Maybe he had changed from the Reaper's Game after all...?

 "Huh, yeah. You'd think between Shokie and Rhyme, we'd have at least met about everyone there was at that school." Fret scratched his head in confusion, as if it would bring about an answer. "Think he's a new transfer or somethin'?"

 "Maybe..." Rindo hummed, thinking deeply. He had heard something about a supposedly dangerous transfer student who'd gotten an assault charge and been sent down from the country, but that just sounded ridiculous. After all, what sort of judge would send a kid into the crowded city, rather than away from it? It just seemed counterproductive, not to mention dangerous for both the accused and for innocents, depending on how true the claims even were.

 "Ah, whatever. If he is a new kid in our school, we'll run into him tomorrow when thing start back up again on Monday." Fret said, before clapping his hands together. "Y'know what? Forget the coffee. I'm more in the mood for some 'men anyway. Y'wanna text Shokie and bring her along?" He asked further, his voice taking a more teasing tone as it always did whenever he had to tease Rindo about his girlfriend.

 'Girlfriend... man, it's crazy how my old friend Swallow is my actual girlfriend now.' Rindo mused to himself, before turning back to Fret with a smile. "Nah, I think she's busy with her not-family tonight. Something about a group movie night? I hope they don't have to sit through one of Hishima's picks again." Whatever they had planned for a night in of (hopefully) fun movie-viewing definitely should not involve spider documentaries that were only in English, so they had to watch subtitles. Rindo shuddered at the memory, that was most certainly not made worse by his (and, as it turned out, Ayano's) fear of spiders.

 "Nahhhhhh, they'll be fine. They've gotta have a system in place for that sorta thing by now, right?"

 As the pair of friends went along their way, Rindo couldn't help just one more thought popping into his head:

 'I hope we see that guy again one day. I'd like to know who that is.'

----

 "For the last time, Hishima, we are not watching another movie about spiders!"

 Shoka groaned as she sunk deeper & further into her space on the couch, as Tsugumi rubbed a small circle into her back. Shiba always did this whenever it was the Shincrew's movie night; and usually, he was right to do it - Hishima always had these weird nature documentaries he wanted to show off. Maybe he thought Shiba liked them or something?

 Tonight was different though. Tonight, Shiba was just being an ass.

 "Shiba, c'mon, don't be a poison disk. It ain't even actually about spiders! Y'never even read one'a those American comics before?" And, right on cue, there went Susukichi to play mediator. It was kinda weird to Shoka just how good he was at it, but maybe that's just because he's really big and the older men knew that Big Su could break them over his knee.

 "He's right, you know. Kaichi-" "Susukichi!" "-is clearly familiar with the source material, and can vouch for me that there are no actual spiders in the movie." A brief pause, as he rubbed his chin a bit. 

 Oh, god dammit Hishima.

 "Okay, maybe there's one, for a brief moment. But that's just how the main character-"

 "No spiders, period! Why must you do this every week?!"

 Ayano, meanwhile, sighed from her place on Shoka's other side of what Uncle Kubo had helpfully dubbed the 'Ladies' couch' as she took in the argument. Shoka couldn't help but be worried by that - not Ayano being tired of their fighting; no, that was pretty much a normal Saturday activity at home. No, the weird part was that she didn't say anything otherwise; usually she'd be sniping at one of them - usually Hishima - to knock their shit off before she let Su put in one of his awful action flicks.

 "Ey, boss, I hate to break it to ya, but I'm pretty sure the floor's got ya overruled here. 'Sides, it's a Spider-man movie. He ain't got the eight legs or any'a that stuff." And that was how Shoka knew this whole thing was going sideways - because Kubo, rather than just stirring shit up again, was actually making a good point. Even Shiba seemed stunned, dropping his stupid fancy wine glass to the floor (or it would have hit there if Tsugumi hadn't had Mr. Mew grab it instead. Bless that girl) as his jaw went so far down it was a miracle it hadn't hooked on his butterfly necklace.

 "Even you would betray me in this time of need, Kubo?! You're usually the first to agree with my decisions regarding movie night!" Shiba spoke with all the hurt in his heart, as if he'd been betrayed in a lover's spat all over again and not over a goddamn movie.

 "Settle down, Shiba, it's goddamn Into the Spider-verse, not some kinda crazy philosophical-"

 "There??? Is??? An entire??? Universe of them???"

 Okay, no, screw this. She's gotta do something. Tsugumi nods from beside her, and Shoka makes her move, grabbing the DVD case from out of Shiba's hand and shoving her way towards the player, ignoring Shiba's protests all the while.

 "Seriously, quit trying to kill movie night with your gay panic - or your normal panic - and just watch the damn movie."
 

 Shiba shut up after that, and took his seat - well, not his usual seat. He was apparently still grumpy with Hishima for everyone taking his side, so he switched with Susukichi to sit over with Kaie.

 Kaie, who before now, had been quiet through the entire exchange, only for seven chimes of a smartphone to ring out as the others checked their groupchat. Apparently, he could be silent no more, and deigned to impart his wisdom among the rest.

kaiebaie: :3

 "Shut up, Ono." Shiba grumbled, folding his arms and pouting like a five-year old, which in turn had made Kaie sad and sparked a whole other debate about how Shiba was picking on Kaie again that went another half hour before they finally watched the damn movie.

 (Hours later, nobody dared to bring up that Shiba had cheered loudly when Miles took that leap off the building, or the sheer oppressive aura of never-ending smugness that Shoka swore could be felt in the UG when Hishima saw the look on his ex-ex's face.)

---

 Sojiro Sakura was too old to be a dad.

 At least, that's what he'd been telling himself for the last two hours, as Futaba constantly bombarded his phone with messages asking him for this snack, or that figure, or pictures of cats with sliced cheese on their heads. (Okay, those got a chuckle out of him sometimes, but that's all.) He was definitely too old to be taking in another kid, even if only for a year.

 Although, Mitsuharu had been pretty darn insistent that Sojiro be the one to house his son for the year.

 Admittedly, said kid himself, despite having an honest to god assault charge on his record, wasn't the problem. Especially not when Mitsu had told him in no uncertain terms that the court proceedings were utter bullshit. Which, Sojiro admitted, was entirely true; what the hell kinda hearing didn't even have the accuser or any of his lawyers present?

 Maybe that was why Sojiro agreed to it all, he thought. Because there was a very real chance that the kid didn't do a damn thing but get in the way of the wrong guy. Plus, he figured that it was only for a year, and it would give him an excuse to clean up the attic to repurpose as a little place for Akira to crash.

 An attic he hadn't actually gotten around to cleaning. Shit.

 As the little bell above his door rang, signifying a new entrant into his café, Sojiro suspected that he wouldn't be able to do so - and, lo and behold, in came public enemy number 1 to dash his hopes. Well, maybe he could get the kid to help him out, and use it as a sort of bonding exercise.

 "Uh... is this the Sakura residence? It's a lot more... restaurant-y than I thought it would be," Akira quipped. 'Looks like the shit he's had to go through recently hasn't ruined his sense of humour', Sojiro mused as he put down his cleaning cloth and stepped out from behind the counter.

 "It's where you'll be living this year, kid. Sorry, I, uh. Don't have a spare room in my actual house." A half-truth, honestly; he technically did have the space in his home for the kid, but it was far from clean enough - neither was Leblanc's attic, in all fairness, but honestly? With how much clutter and crap he'd left in that room, the attic was the simplest option. Plus, there was the matter of Futaba...

 No, no, don't put that worry on him now. Just focus on the matter at hand.

 "I heard from your dad about what happened. Sorry about all that. If I'd been able to help out more, I would've." That, at least, was definitely true. Though he didn't know Akira very well personally, he knew that Mitsu had spoken the world of his son; to hear that all of a sudden he was being charged with assault and being shipped off had been the last straw before Sojiro threw his hat into the ring. "Look, I'm gonna put you up in the attic in here. It's not much, sure, but it's all I got. Couldn't just let a Kurusu stay out in the lurch."

 For once, Akira smiled - something he hadn't had much chance to do in a while, Sojiro suspected, by the way his lips were still awfully tight. Maybe all he needed was someone on his side, by his side? "Thank you. Did any of my things get shipped down yet?"

 Sojiro shook his head, and the smile was gone again. "Truck got held up in Nagoya, so your other things won't get here until Monday. Don't worry, I'll deal with 'em while you're at school." At the slight quirking of Akira's head, Sojiro continued, "'Sides, Monday mornings aren't all that busy here. Not a lotta folks coming into work down here."

 Akira could only nod at that, and give a polite nod to the one regular still in the cafe - a younger guy decked out in one of those big fashion brands of Shibuya - crap, what was it again? Monocrow or something - before trudging upstairs with the little luggage he did have with him on the train.

 Akira found himself only mildly surprised that the attic had been a mess, and only marginally moreso when Sojiro had brought up a bunch of cleaning supplies. It seemed he was going to have to get the space ready all on his own.

 "Sorry, it's just been real busy today. Haven't had a chance to get up here to do this myself. I'll be up in a minute, just gotta get this customer to head home first. Alright?" Another nod from Akira, and a sigh from Sojiro. Mitsu had told him this kinda thing happened a lot, especially when things were overwhelming him. It was almost like how Futaba crashed for days on end when she'd used too much energy on something. Kinda like a battery needing to recharge, except Sojiro didn't know how to charge Akira back up. Though he at least owed it to the kid to try.

 "Hey, Akira. You ever tried my curry before?" At the shaking of his head that followed, Sojiro smirked. "Well, you're in for a real treat. But, uh, just know it's about the only house specialty I got."

 Akira couldn't help but crack a little grin at that one, and maybe, just maybe, Sojiro thought things might be okay with the kid after all. "Thank you. I'll come down and eat in a bit, okay, Sakura-san?"

 Sojiro frowned at the formality he was being hit with. Well, maybe formality wasn't the right word, but he'd figured Mitsu would have gotten him to at least call him... "Just Sojiro. You're a Kurusu, after all; your whole family's on first name basis with me."

 "Sojiro, then." Akira tried the name on his tongue, felt it somewhat right. Maybe under the wrong circumstances, of course, but still a sense of right all the same.

 And as the two chatted away over a shared plate of curry, Hazuki Mikagi allowed himself a small smirk over the lip of his coffee mug.

Chapter Text

The first few days of Akira's time in Tokyo were... shockingly more simple than he'd anticipated.

 Sure, a lot of it was spent helping Sojiro around Leblanc, but overall that was a lot better than the constant bombardment of questions he got from everyone during his last few days in Inaba. They'd even gotten a proper bed brought over from Sojiro's house - and a more proper explanation that his previous guest room was basically made a storage room, with Sojiro sheepishly offering to get him a bit more set up in the attic so he wouldn't have to split the bathroom with an old man every morning.

 Akira didn't even think Sojiro was that old, but he knew better than to try and poke holes in things right now. Just finish out the year without rocking the boat, then he can go back home with his folks.

 About the only issue he had was with his school - but really, that had nothing to do with anything he'd done. The faculty made it seem like he was nothing but a damn hassle to have around, especially with all the recent transfers from Kosei they'd gotten. Part of him wondered if it was just because there was too much transfer paperwork, but once his homeroom teacher had mentioned "record" Akira knew better, and the scowl that seemed to be a permanent part of his face these days returned.

 At least his teacher seemed friendly enough - looked pretty young to be a teacher, but his heavyset frame seemed to belie a lot more world experience than Akira would have guessed at first glace, if all the weirdly cryptic advice he tried to give him was any indicator. Well, cryptic advice, and bouncing between different languages so quickly Akira was sure his head was going to spin. 

 Maybe his first day with Anazawa-sensei wouldn't be too bad after all.

---

 Fret decided that his return to school was going to suck the moment he walked in the door.

 For one thing, there was just so much gossip about some dangerous new transfer that apparently attacked a guy, or killed a guy, or dealt drugs, or... whatever. Honestly, it was more than a little hard to keep track, especially when his dad had all but forced him out the door an hour earlier than usual so his 'screwup son' wouldn't get lost or try to ditch.

 Then there was the fact that Lady K wasn't his homeroom teacher, even though she had already said she'd try and get him into her class. No such luck; turns out, she wasn't even teaching this semester, instead being roped into the guidance counselor position. Which, Fret had to admit, was a great fit for her, given all the guidance she'd given him in the Reaper's Game. It made sense, so it was cool; he could handle that.

 But all that paled in comparison to the horror that awaited him when he got to the school store.

 "Noooooooooooooooo!!! They're already all outta melon bread?!" He'd wailed and moaned for a good five minutes before a familiar hand clapped him - gently - on the back, sticking a yakisoba bread in his face. Well, it wasn't melon, but it was a good sentiment.

 "Yeah, that weird painter kid from Motoi's homeroom came and bought them all. Which is kinda weird too, since I'm pretty sure he's broke all the time. Least, that's what Hifumi told me the other day." Shoka had told him, taking a sip of some tea she'd clearly picked up from Somedrinks before she came here. Or that one of the Shincrew had brought, Fret didn't know.

 "Man... At least I'm not in Fuya's homeroom this semester. That guy's classes are weird." It had been at first because Fret had seen him get erased clean out of existence, but as time went on, that went away in favour of finding him weird because of how much he focused on rivers in his lessons. Seriously, at least he coulda picked a lake for once!

 "Mhm. Oh, Rindo texted me earlier, said he'd be running a bit late. Some kinda subway accident delayed his train too long, so Beat had to come and pick him up." Shoka seemed pretty sad about that, and honestly, so was Fret. Rindo was the glue that held their little friend group - the three of them, plus Rhyme, and occasionally Ann & Shiho - together, mostly by common connection. Something about him just drew everyone in, even if he didn't realize it.

 Maybe that's why he got Shoka to like him so much.

 "Oh yeah, you heard all those weird rumours going around about some transfer with a record? I can't even figure out what they're talkin' about with all that stuff sometimes." Fret tried to steer the conversation off of their missing friend, and onto something that maybe Shoka had some more insight on. However, when he looked at Shoka, she seemed... disappointed? Crap, maybe he shouldn't have talked about it-

 "There's no rumour about it, Fret. Kamoshida got that beat-up kid from the volleyball team to leak his record. That poor guy's gonna have a hell of a time on his first day." Shoka sighed into her tea, and the display of honest sadness threw Fret off. He'd never seen her that worried about a stranger before; only when it involved Rindo or the Shincrew. "Well, it's not all bad for the kid. He's got homeroom with a few of us, and Motoi; we'll look after him."

 "A few...? Wait, did you and Rindude actually..."

 "Yep. And Ann, too. Kinda wish you'd gotten in there, but I heard you've got Kawakami as your homeroom teacher... and Shiho's in your class." Shoka's frown had quickly turned into that catlike grin at the mention of Shiho, and Fret sighed to himself. Man, you mix up a girl's locker one time and now Shoka won't ever let him live down the time he'd falsely confessed to a girl.

 "Aw, c'mon Shokie! You know that was meant for- oh no, I'm not fallin' for that one!" Fret jammed his finger practically into the bottom of Shoka's cup of boba, and she simply grinned back in return. But before Fret could fire back again...

 "Fret, you're not trying to confess to Shoka this time, are you?"

 Sigh. Of course that's the exact moment that Rindo and Rhyme got here. Though, he always had to remind himself that Rhyme was the little prankster of the group - and he couldn't exactly fire back on her. Not unless he wanted Beat to body him, or for her to just dox all his socials.

 "No way, Rindude! She's a cat who's got all nine lives meant for only y- Ow! The hell, Shokie?!"

 Shoka just smiled in response, and Rhyme laughed. Rindo just sighed fondly at his rowdy friends, enjoying their last few minutes before the beginning of the day.

---

 "Hola, mi amigos!"

 "Good morning, Anazawa-sensei!"

 Nope, still too weird for him. Rindo sighed quietly as he took a look around the classroom - while he was lucky that he got some friends in his class, he also apparently had to deal with this infamous transfer student that had apparently committed every crime under the sun. Sure, he knew that the rumours were crap - Shoka had told him as such, right before Ann had to stop her from dumping boba on Mishima's bookbag for reasons only she would know - but still.

 He'd kinda hoped for a quiet year this time.

 "Now class, I was going to try and introduce you to a new student, but they seem to be un peu en tard this morning. So, instead, I guess I'll just say welcome back, bambinos!"

 Behind Rindo's seat near the front, he'd heard a few scoffing noises and some conspiratorial whispers.

 "Hah, bet that delinquent cut school. Good riddance."

 "Seriously, what was the principal thinking, letting a guy with a record come here?"

 "I hope they just expel him. I don't want anything to do with him getting on my record."

 Though he could tune them out, with Rindo couldn't ignore was the face that Shoka was making as she heard all that too. He'd been told that they should keep an eye out for the new kid to keep him from feeling too alone - as all of their little group had before at some point or another - but hearing all this about him... it was enough to get him to say something.

 But he didn't get the chance to, before Motoi firmly clapped his hand on his desk to silence the discontented masses.

 "Now, class. I've heard about the new transfer too. But talking about him like this when he isn't even here to defend himself is simply too grausam for such a respectable bunch of students like yourselves, non?"

 Shoka was the only one who made a noise at that, lightly snorting - probably at how quickly Motoi had shut them all up. It was refreshing, really, to see Motoi actually trying to stick up for somebody, especially after all he'd admitted to doing while posting as An0ther years ago. Rindo couldn't help but feel proud of the former Pureheart for that.

 "Now, if you'll quickly turn to page-"

 And then Motoi's attention suddenly snapped away, as did that of Shoka and Rindo, at a sudden tug at their very Souls. But... they shouldn't be able to feel something amiss in the UG anymore, right? Nobody was scheming there now that Kubo was under the Shincrew's watch, and besides, Joshua had told them that the only way they'd feel anything was if it was happening right under their noses.

 So... what was going on in the UG around Shujin?

---

 If Ryuji ever got out of this damn cell, he'd piledrive this new kid.

 Honestly, though, from how the weird talking cat they'd plucked out of the cell in this freaky castle where their school was supposed to be was talking, it was kinda his fault. Talking about Kamoshida and how he thought the place was... well, like his castle n'shit. So maybe he wouldn't hold it against the new kid, except he knew damn well his phone didn't have a freaky app on it that pulled him into another dimension... or something.

 Okay, so he didn't really understand what the hell was goin' on. But he knew something was seriously wrong, with both this whole thing, and with Kamoshida.

 He always knew the bastard was messed up, what with how he'd goaded a kid into taking a swing then breaking his leg and making him public enemies number 1,2 and 3 at Shujin. Not to mention the rift it'd caused between him and his old best friend Ann, who apparently was just fine ditching him to go hang out with those other friends of hers - the "Wicked Twisters", as they'd been called on a few occasions by some gossipy students (and, oddly, by Kawahara-sensei. Huh. Wonder how he'd be on the up-n'up on that kinda thing).

 Honestly, though, he couldn't hate them, for a couple reasons.

 One, they were taking good care of Ann and Shiho when he couldn't anymore.

 And two, that blonde girl they had hanging out with them was pretty cute. Although he'd never tell her that to her face, cuz he heard the last guy that tried got his ass kicked by her older brother - and he bought it, too, since apparently the guy went by Beat nowadays.

 "Man, 'Kira, where're we goin' now? This place must be huge if it's a friggin' castle now!" Ryuji couldn't help but grouse at the object of at least half his current misery - who, even in his grumpiness with, he had to admit looked friggin' cool.

 "We're gonna try and find an exit, although I still say we'd be better off without this blonde ape dragging us down!" Jackass cat-monster-thing. He knew that it had tried to give them its' name, but Ryuji didn't give a shit, considering how much this thing seemingly wanted to ditch him here. But Akira, even in his new clothes - which Ryuji guessed were just a thing he had on now? Even though he was wearing the Shujin uniform earlier? - was the same guy he'd seemed to be before; calm, collected, and completely not in the mood for the shit.

 "For the last time, Morgana-" Right, that was the cat's name, thanks 'Kira - "-we are NOT leaving Ryuji here. Nobody's being left behind, unless you'd rather not come with us because we're slowing you down." Then there was that damn voice of his - before he got that coat and the weird ass demon thing that it apparently came with, it was like someone had sucked the energy clean out of him, and with it, any depth. Now? That voice was deep as the damn sea - which, even Ryuji knew, was real goddamn deep.

 "Ryuji." That damn smooth voice cut through his thoughts like they'd known each other for years. The eff was with that? "If your leg starts bothering you, just let me know, okay? I'll see if Arsene will carry you the rest of the way out if it does." And behind that freaky mask of Akira's, there was a genuine smile, and suddenly Ryuji found it real effin' weird how anyone thought he was some kinda criminal freak. 

 "Y-yeah, thanks, man. 'Preciate it." Ryuji replied as he brushed the back of his neck, also trying to hide the slight reddening of his cheeks. If Akira noticed that, he was nice enough to not point it out, and he knew the damn cat wasn't paying him any mind.

 "Don't worry. Now, let's just find our way out of here." And with that statement from Akira, the ragtag trio was off. After a time, they'd managed to find their way out the dungeons, and back to the main hall, when suddenly...

 "Damned hooligans! Why can't you just die like you're supposed to?!" Of course, that effin' voice had to ring out, as the weirdass, near-naked, self-proclaimed King of the Castle stormed down the stairs, accompanied a pack of guards that was frankly way too big for Akira & the cat to handle.

 "Uh, maybe because we don't wanna get killed by you, Kamoshithead!" Ryuji couldn't help the flaring of his temper at this fake(?) Kamoshida's condescension. Akira placed a comforting hand on his arm to try and calm him down, and amazingly, Ryuji relented, before Akira stood forward.

 "Look, if you just let us leave, we won't bother you in this castle of yours again. All I'm trying to do is-" But before Akira could even finish speaking, he was cut off by the sound of a loud SMACK! and a whirring white blob crashing against the wall behind him, leaving a cracked crater where it had crashed against the hard surface.

 "You will do nothing but die the pathetic death that your kind deserves to! Guards! Make an example of these ruffians! Show the rest of my Kingdom that I will not tolerate dissension!" Kamoshida cried out, as the guards formed into something of a phalanx formation - something Ryuji recognized from that brief time in middle school when he was really into researching Roman shit.

 And just as the phalanx began to approach...

 "CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!"

 They were swiftly cut off by about half of them being utterly crushed by... well, hell, Ryuji didn't know what it was supposed to be, but what he saw was a bunch of trash vaguely in the shape of one of those weird ass sculptures he saw on the street sometimes. Though Akira and the cat were focused on their enemies, Ryuji couldn't help but look back, towards where he swore he heard the voice...

 And stared directly at a man clad in a grey patterned coat with the hood up, and an all-black outfit underneath, with his hat obscuring the eyes of the man that saved them. His left hand was clenched at his side, while his right tugged on the lip of the cap beneath the hood, bringing his face further into obscurity so as to not be recognized.

 "Listen up, attograms. (It's x 2) leave this place before you get factored out of the equation. Your t variable is infinitesimal at best; better solve the problem while you can."

 And Ryuji did what he knew how to best, bum leg or no: he ran. And after a brief moment of consideration, so too did Akira and Morgana, taking off out of the castle's front doors, as Akira pulled out his phone and hit that weird app thing again...

 And dropped them back in front of what Ryuji figured was the real Shuijn Academy with ragged breath and a haunting feeling of dread at what they'd found in that other world.

 While back in that other world, Sho Minamimoto was getting ready to do what he did best:

 Crunch some numbers, and add them to the heap.

Chapter Text

 Shoka was having an awful day at school. Even moreso than usual.

 The main reasoning for this was one Rindo Kanade - the long-suffering object of her affections, and terminal worrywart - which, in turn, made him a terminal case of pain in the ass. At least Motoi had given them the rest of the homeroom period for 'independent study' - also called 'letting 90% of the class go on their phones while he does something entirely unrelated to school' - to give Rindo & Shoka a chance to work through their thoughts on... whatever the hell that tugging feeling was.

 "Rindo. Seriously, it is not someone trying to destroy Shibuya from the UG again, please stop freaking out." She had told him once lunch had rolled around - after two more frankly endless-feeling classes, of course. "You've been poking at that same spot in your bento for like five minutes." At that, at least, Rindo seems to snap out of whatever sort of thoughtful trance he was in, and gently sets down his chopsticks - all while Fret and Rhyme happily chat on the other end of the roof over EleStra or something like that.

 "It's not just that, Swallow." Rindo replied, and Shoka took a much longer second than she should have to recognize that he was still calling her that. She was about to ask why he'd gone back to that, but then he pulled out his phone and showed her... some freaky-ass red eye icon. "After I felt that, I got this app on my phone. I tried to delete it, but it just popped right back up after class."

 Well, that was an understandable level of freaky. And, sure enough, when Shoka checked her own phone after the fact... "Huh. I've got it too." They'd kept their voices down so as to not freak out Fret & Rhyme with it, because knowing Rhyme, she'd probably try and grab all their phones and poke through the code to figure out where the app came from, and somehow end up doxxing half of Nagoya in the process. 

 "Do you... think we should check it out after school? Just the two of us, maybe?" Despite the fact that he was asking her to go on some sort of investigative mission, the dork was still blushing when he'd said that last part. God, Shoka thought, he's lucky he's cute.

 A sentiment which she shared by pinching his still-red cheek.

 "Duh. Of course I'll go with you. We're in this to the end. But... you sure you don't wanna ask Fret?" Shoka couldn't help but wonder how Fret was feeling about the whole thing, especially since she knew he'd have felt the pull too. Looking over at them, Fret & Rhyme's conversation seemed to be a lot more subdued now; maybe she made fun of Lord Tomonami and/or Fret's totally-not a crush on him.

 "I know it's probably crazy, but... I wanna keep this low-profile, just in case someone picks up on what we're doing. Someone we really don't want finding out." Rindo seemed to be shaking a little when he said it, and a small part of Shoka wondered why he even asked her, then. Although, she already knew the answer; she didn't wanna lose him again, and he didn't wanna lose her. They stuck together as often as possible, and that was how they were gonna stay.

 Unless Ayano killed him for some slight against her, but she wouldn't do that to her. Probably.

 "Alright. Also, come on, we should get a head start back to class. Don't wanna piss off Ushimaru on the first day back." Shoka had finally said, standing up and stretching her arms well over her head. Rindo nodded and got up too, which seemed to finally snap Fret out of his conversation.

 "Ooh, are the lovebirds bailing on us, now~?" Fret teased, which got him a smack on the arm from Rhyme for his trouble. "Gah, Rhyme, the hell?!"

 "We're just heading to class, Fret. We've only got a few minutes to get there before Ushimaru freaks out." Rindo replied, calmly diffusing whatever tension may have formed. More between Fret & Rhyme than anything, though. "You have science with Fuya next, so he's at least more understanding of your... ah, punctuality issues." He added as a little tease back to Fret as he linked his fingers with Shoka's own, with a sputtering Fret looking on.

 "Wh- Hey! It was only one time, and that was cuz some guy from the volleyball team was freakin' out on me, and- Rindude!"

 Ignoring his mock-pained cry, Rindo & Shoka went back down the stairs and past the coach's office. They figured they would make good time, but...

 "What's the matter, kids? I thought it was the early bird that got the worms, not the early kitty." Ugh, great. Kamoshida decided that they were gonna be the unfortunate victims of a conversation starter. Shoka tugged her hood up and wanted to keep going forward, but a hand that was definitely not Rindo's grabbed onto her wrist, far more roughly than Shoka would ever be grabbed, and-

 "Hey, I was trying to be nice to you, you little brat." Kamoshida growled out as he yanked Shoka forward, forcing her close too close to his large frame, and laughed as she hastily tried to scramble away but found her efforts fruitless. "Clearly, someone needs to train their cat some manners." Damn, his grip was strong, she needed him to let go let go let go-

 "Coach! You're hurting her." Rindo interjected, a rare tinge of hostility clear in his voice. The coach just scoffed, but relented, letting go of Shoka's wrist and nudging her towards Rindo with his hip - which, of course, he just had to try to bump against her rear.

 It took everything Shoka had to not just bite the fucker, but instead she just pulled her hoodie into herself a little tighter, a little closer for warmth - before the warmth she really felt she needed wrapped a protective arm around her, while glaring daggers at coach Kamoshida.

 "Better keep your kitty on a tighter leash, Kanade. I'm not in the mood to be nice to strays." Kamoshida spat out and turned roughly on his heels away from the pair, as Shoka reached into her hoodie to pull out her phone. Oh, she knew how to deal with this guy - namely, she did nothing, while someone else...

 Well, she didn't know what they were gonna do. But she definitely knew that Big Su would just love to see the school for himself.

---

 "Hishima."

 "Shiba."

 "What on Earth is that in your hands?" Shiba asked, pointing at the offending object cradled in Hishima's arms; a small, fluffy thing, almost hiding from the accusatory finger.

 "Felis catus, Shiba. It's a cat." Hishima adjusted his grip on the small creature, gingerly holding it before Shiba's face like it was the most precious and delicate thing in the world. "It was cold and shivering in a box in an alley. I couldn't just leave him there." A pause, as the cat was quickly turned around. After a moment, "My apologies. I couldn't just leave her there."

 "Then why did you bring it here??"

 Kubo groaned from his spot at the dining table, browsing the web on his laptop - supposedly for some research on animal shelters, but really he was just playing Candy Crush again. He swore to himself that he would definitely pass Tsugumi's level in this game, if nothing else - even if she had a hell of a head start on him. Although, it made it really goddamn hard to do that when these pining pains in the ass fought every five minutes.

 "Look, Boss, if the guy wants a cat in here, I say we let 'im have one. S'not like she wouldn't get cared for here." Seriously, between Shoka and Tsugumi, they had enough bleeding-heart cat lovers here to run a rescue. Not to mention Susukichi would probably wrestle anyone that tried to mess with the furry little critter - oh, speakin' of.

 "Geez, are you disks still fightin' over the movie from the other... day...?" 

 The massive, hulking former Reaper, who struck fear into the hearts of both Players and his fellow Reapers alike by virtue of being really friggin' big and really friggin' strong. A man who'd kept a Game running for over two years for shits and giggles (okay, and his own master plan, but Kubo wasn't keen on reminding anyone of that anytime soon, thank you). A guy who could turn into a giant ass moose-deer-man-hybrid thing at the drop of a hat.

 Was paralyzed into motionlessness by a tiny little orange cat.

 But the strangest part was what happened after he got the ability to move back into his body.

 "D'AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW LOOKAT THE LIL FLUFFY GUY WHO'S A FLUFFY LIL GUY-" A pause, while Shiba looked about ready to die again. Kubo was too, honestly, after whatever the everloving fuck that was. Seriously, how the hell'd Susukichi get his voice to go that high? "WHO'S A FLUFFY LIL GIRL OH MY GOD LOOKIT HER LIL WHISKERS I'M GONNA FLIP MY OWN DISK-"

 "Susukichi, please calm down. You're getting a little too heated. A lot too heated, actually.

 "But Boooooooooooooooss!" The behemoth of the Shinjuku Reapers whined. "Look. At. Her. That's a prime disk right there! Tell 'im, Vecchi!" He cried out, having somehow gotten the cat between his meaty paws and holding her in front of Shiba, as the cat tilted her head and got ready to impart the wisdom of the animal kingdom directly upon the former Conductor.

 "Meow?"

 "Ugh. Fine, Susukichi, we will keep the cat." A whooping cheer followed from the massive Reaper, before Shiba stuck his hand up in an effort to silence him - and Hishima, before he started to gloat again. "But we are not just naming it after one of your Reversi concepts. We'll pick the name together as soon as Shoka returns from school-"

 A heavy ringtone pierces through Shiba's order, as Susukichi fumbles through his jean pockets to grab it with his immense mitts. He hands off the cat to Hishima to do so, and Shiba crosses his arms, apparently now entirely cross with Susukichi.

 "Oh, speakin' of Shoka, that's her textin' me. Lemme let... her..." The normally boisterous Reaper falls silent as he reads the text, and Kubo admits, maybe he's a lil' bit interested now. He slides out of his chair as Hishima leans in towards Susukichi's phone to see, and his eyes blow up so wide, Kubo finds it a damn miracle that he hasn't busted 'em clean through his glasses.

 "Yo, Hishima."

 "Yes?"

 "You still got gas in your car?"

 "Enough for this."

 "Cool. Grab Ayano. We're about to go flip a poison disk."

 Shiba, now apparently having decided to pay attention for once, snapped to attention. "Excuse me?! Why the hell are you three just leaving to go cause trouble?! We're supposed to be keeping-"

 "That coach at Shujin got physical with Shoka."

 "..."

 "And apparently touched her in an inappropriate manner."

 Shiba pondered this new information with a strange look in his eyes - Kubo figured he was pissed. Honestly, so was he, and if he wasn't on a glorified house arrest, he'd be jumpin' at the bit to go with them. Instead, Shiba wordlessly takes the cat out of Hishima's arms, and nods his head once, before dropping his voice to a commanding octave Kubo hadn't heard out of him in a long time.

 "Burn him to a crisp."

---

 For a mere volleyball coach at a high school, Suguru Kamoshida found himself to be a very lucky man.

 After all, he was like a goddamn king here. No, a god. No, the God, with a capital G! Eh, maybe not, maybe he'd just stick with king. King Kamoshida had a way better ring to it anyways.

 Plus, working at a high school definitely had its' perks, in his eyes - namely, all the young girls he could scout out for his team. There were definitely some lookers at Shujin this year, he figured; between Takamaki, her buddy Suzui, the little Bito, and even that weird cat-girl Sakurane, he had plenty of options, and that was just in one group of friends!

 Although, he could do to branch away from second-year kids and focus more on the departing class. Maybe that one little fluffy headed girl that was in with Bito... Okumura, was it? Money and looks, how could he pass that up?

 As he stepped out of his office to ponder all the pros (tons) and cons (none) of that particular arrangement, he got slugged in the face so hard he felt a tooth come flying out.

 "Gah! Th'fuck-?!" Kamoshida gritted out, a hand flying to his face to check his nose - not broken, but definitely bleeding. Oh, whoever had the balls to do that would pay for fucking with the king of Shujin Academy-

 "Dear, please don't be quite so rough with him." A sultry voice cut through, as Kamoshida squinted at one very attractive young lady flanked by what Kamoshida assumed to be some nerdy-looking dork and... was that even a man? That other guy with the deer shirt looked like a giant slab of meat like outta Rocky or some shit, but with arms glued on! The hell did these guys want?

 "Aw, c'mon, Ay. Why can't I just break 'im right now?" The meat-slab asked, with a voice that had a tone which Kamoshida figured definitely should not be coming out of that body. To her credit, the lady didn't chastise him, but instead kept her eyes firmly fixated on Kamoshida - like she was undressing him with them, almost. Oh, he'd enjoy that.

 "Because..." She'd began, as she calmly strutted towards him, undoubtedly to help him up to have a proper duel with the meat man...

 And then proceeded to stomp a mudhole clear into - and through, if she could have - his groin.

 "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Kamoshida roared out, as the lady - no, not a lady, some kinda monster in lady's clothes - leaned in closely and sneered.

 "Because I'm going to take my own time in breaking him for what he did to our darling Shoka."

 The glasses man groaned lightly from his spot, and the meat-man laughed - again, way higher than what should have been possible from someone of his build. "Damn, alright Ay! Just make sure there's plenty o' disk for me to flip afterwards!"

 "Need I remind you two to not make too much noise, lest we... damn."

 As if on cue, the doors to the neighbouring classes opened, and students came pouring out into the hall in droves, while two teachers - Hama and Shiozaki, Kamoshida remembered - tried in vein to corral the snot-nosed first-years back into their classrooms. The lady was distracted enough for Kamoshida to crawl away, and back towards his office. If he could just get to the phone- fuck.

 "Nuh uh, poison disk. You ain't goin' anywhere."

 The massive man grabbed Kamoshida - damn near in one hand, at that! - and slammed him against the wall, and Kamoshida swore he heard something in his back start to crack. Or maybe it was a rib, he couldn't tell anymore. "You got some fuckin' nerve, tryin' ta break the diagonal on our little sis like that." He growled out, and for a moment, Kamoshida felt the fear of God course through his veins. Which, of course, didn't last, because he was the king here, and the king always got his way.

 "Heh... you dumbshits... I'll have all Shoka's... little friends expelled, and you all... arrested." Kamoshida ground out, definitely trying not to let the blood from his nose get into his mouth and interfere with his little edict. "And then... oh, and then I'm gonna housetrain that little kitty of yours into being a good little pet for the fuckin' king- Gah!"

 "Enough, Su. We have to go; I think one of the teachers is calling the police on us." 

 Grunting, the massive man - Su, he guessed now - gave the erstwhile coach one final punch to the gut, then dropped him on his ass, and the trio took off down the hall. And, despite all the pain searing through his body like he was a grilled steak, Kamoshida couldn't help but laugh despite himself.

 After all, he may have lost the battle, but the king always won the fuckin' war.

---

 Sho Minamimoto was feeling like utter shit.

 So much so, he didn't even mind that he was crashing in the back room of Curry Don while his estranged father was looking over his wounds. Clearly, something about the frequency of that castle threw his calculations off, and the e variable grew at too exponential of a rate to recalibrate on the fly. At least he did enough number-crunching to be able to escape, but he'd taken a few too many hits to fix up on his own.

 He could have just gone back to WildKat, but... no. That was a variable he'd long factored out of his equations. Especially with the fairy yoctogram deciding she had to hang around there 24/7 now like some freeloader (never mind that he was also one of those at the moment, but he wasn't always. It was just that his m factor had gone down a little too drastically after one too many unsolved equations involving Joshua) that never had to show their work a day in their life.

 "Honestly, Sho... When are you going to stop picking fights you can't win?" Ken Doi - the aforementioned estranged father - muttered to himself as he finished wrapping the bandages around Sho's ribs with a grunt. Sho couldn't help but grunt too, but that was more because the tightness of the bandages clashed with his current h variable.

 Or, in short, it hurt like hell, even with first aid.

 "SOH-CAH-TOA, pops. I gotta keep increasing my numbers, or I'll get crunched out there." Sho replied, as if it made perfect sense and explained everything. In a way, his father did at least have the sense to keep up with him, at least at a femtogram level. After all, the love of math had to come from some prior product, and what better way than to carry the remainder from father to son?

 "Just promise me you won't go back out there until this heals up. I'll call Dr. Takemi over in Yongen in the morning, she'll be able to get a better look at your injuries." His father had said, before brusquely leaving to tend to his customers - he still had a business to run, after all, even with his grown son laying battered on a couch in the back room.

 As the door to the room closed shut, Sho allowed himself a rare moment of internal recalibration. Hypotheses swam through his head at both the source of the castle and the odd-looking Noise he'd encountered there - or, perhaps, the variable that they weren't Noise at all, but something on an entirely different vibe. It would definitely explain why they were able to hurt him so much, given his power level difference between them.

 Maybe it had something to do with that unknown variable that the kid in the coat had summoned forth by ripping off his mask. Oh, they liked to think they were sneaky, but Sho's vision was unparalleled thanks to his Reaper powers heightening his senses. He saw the way that thing had emerged from the other young boy like a sort of demon - a summoning equation, perhaps? Or something else entirely?

 Feverishly, Sho scanned the room before finding his notebook - the place where he kept all his calculations, hypotheses, and general findings. A sort of bastion for the mad mathematician to hold everything together, even as his body fell apart. For it was not the flesh that was his great weapon, but his brain; however, Sho was no fool and knew he had to get stronger, and fast.

 Perhaps this... what had he heard that boy call it, again? Persona?

 Perhaps the power of Persona would finally give Sho the solution he sought to the equation he'd spent countless hours calcuating, applying, and recalculating. Or perhaps, like the Taboo Noise factor he'd introduced three years ago thanks to the former owner of WildKat, it would simply crash and burn in his face and force him back into his calculations. But that thought process could solve itself later.

 For now, Sho Minamimoto had his next objective: get himself a Persona.

Chapter Text

 Futaba had to admit: playing an MMO was much simpler when it wasn't just her playing.

 Not that she ever really had issues, difficulty-wise, of course. Even if the game was coded to be unfair, that usually just took a few minutes of poking her nose into the source and fixing a few crossed wires - or lines of code, as it were. Such was the case tonight, where her entire raid group - all pubs, yawn - had nearly wiped in a single hit despite their gear quality being the best it could be - and optimized rather meticulously by Futaba beforehand, no less. Clearly, there was something about how this boss was coded that made things much trickier than they had any right to be at their level, and lo and behold, someone had messed up punching values into where they needed to be.

 A rookie mistake, naturally; one she would be happy to correct. Although that didn't fix the issue with the pubs, who even after the fix found themselves having a hard time - except, oddly, one going by a... 'LadyTomonami'? Huh, must be an EleStra junkie taking refuge while waiting for the next chapter or event (Futaba had heard there was some big name Shibuya celebrity that was joining the game as himself, but that sounded stupid. What kind of role-playing game would just add celebrities for the clout of it?) to release.

 It was surprising that LT had done so well against such a blatantly hard boss fight. Marginally more so when they'd actually messaged Futaba afterwards, praising her for her guidance and expertise. It was oddly comforting, in a way, to be praised for something like this, even if it was something that most people probably wouldn't give a damn about normally. Maybe the rush of positive thoughts coursing through her brain would help keep away all the damn noise that flooded her ears around this time...

 Of course not. Almost like clockwork, the static-like buzzing began and the muffled voice of her dearly departed mother, Wakaba, screeched through like a banshee at maximum volume. Curling further into herself, Futaba sighed heavily, and resolved tomorrow to quit this MMO. Clearly, it was bad for her, since it didn't do anything to cure what ailed her.

 Maybe LT could help, if she could just work up the courage to ask if she could vent to them. But for now, it was simply time to groan and bear it.

---

 Come morning, Akira was greeted by a few unusual things in fairly quick succession. 

 First, and probably the most difficult to explain to Sojiro, was that Morgana had somehow followed him home from Kamoshida's Palace - albeit a few days later, and getting lost in Ikebukuro along the way. Sojiro was incredibly confused as to why a cat had snuck in the door, or why it practically climbed Akira, but then he'd reminded Sojiro of his first day of school, and it all clicked.

 "Huh. Must be one heck of a smart cat, to remember your scent like that." Sojiro had replied, scratching his chin in contemplation. Clearly he was weighing the prospects of... something; whatever it was, Akira cared little to find out. Although he would anyways, not a moment later, when Sojiro stepped out from behind the counter. "Well, if he's here now, you're gonna need pet food. Go get yourself to school, and I'll worry about the cat's things."

 Second was that, apparently, Sojiro was quite the cat lover.

 The third was that Sojiro had been far from the only person interested in his new cat - apparently, half the school was, as well. Though, Akira suspected it was just to gather more rumour mill material, or something to rat him out to the principal to to get him expelled and shipped off to juvie like they probably wished he had been all this time. 

 The thought of that happening, and letting those people win, distracted Akira so much that he'd failed to pay any attention to Morgana as he'd been damn near catnapped at lunch.

 "Joker! Help! I'm being Mona-napped! Mrowwwwwwwwr!" Morgana had yowled out, as he was flailing about in the perhaps too-forceful embrace of... actually, he had no idea who this was, except that she was wearing a cat hoodie and was... probably from his class? He honestly couldn't remember anymore, given that he had little interest in paying any mind to anyone but the teachers at this school.

 "Geez, this kitty doesn't like me. Rindo, help, my heart is just broken from the betrayal." Kitty Girl had replied, turning to her friend - Rindo, Akira had guessed - who simply sighed. Maybe this was just a thing that happened with them?

 "Shoka, come on. Maybe he smells your guys' new cat on you, especially since you keep wearing the same hoodie to school every day." Rindo had quipped, earning a pout from Kitty Girl - no, Shoka - that seemed both very unfitting and very cute on her. Huh.

 "Yeah! Besides, you did kinda just sneak up and grab him with no warning whatsoever." The other blonde in the group had chimed in (what was it with him & blondes? That's the third one he's seen at this school already) as she twirled her hair expectantly. Though her words were directed to Shoka, her gaze seemed almost entirely fixed on Akira and Morgana, almost as if judging him for the sin of bringing a cat to school.

 "I dunno, Ann. Maybe they should fight for the cat. Or become, Shujin's first-ever Cat Club." The brunette beside the blonde girl had chimed in, earning a chuckle from Shoka and a shocked gasp from Ann. Honestly, this was way too many people crowding around him, especially with the reputation he had, this was too much-

 "Shiho! You can't just try and set Shoka up to fight someone she's only just met!"

 "Why not? I can totally take him."

 "Shoka, you're supposed to be laying low and not getting into trouble with the faculty, especially after the other day."

 Oh, Akira could actually feel the mood - and temperature - of his surroundings drop at that one. Shoka just sighed and set Morgana down on the ground - where he immediately scurried back to Akira's side, the loyal little guy - and took a seat next to Rindo on the stone bench nearby. Ann & Shiho had seemed apprehensive too, after that, and Rindo looked... sad, almost? But also very upset in other ways - a look Akira knew very well.

 "Hold on, is this about what happened to Coach Kamoshida the other day? Where he allegedly got attacked by a huge guy in a deer shirt?" Akira couldn't help himself from poking his nose into the matter, if only because it just seemed like the right thing to do. Maybe if he'd quelled that urge he wouldn't have ended up here to begin with, not even considering that he wouldn't have Arsene chittering in the back of his mind like a festering growth, just itching to bust out of his brain and wreak havoc-

 "No 'allegedly' about it." Shoka had sighed out, as Rindo laced his fingers between hers. Shiho made a face almost like she wanted to coo at the apparent lovers, but a pointed look from Ann had shut that line of thinking down. That, in turn, caused Akira to make a face - or, rather, to cock an eyebrow, before that same pointed look was turned upon him. "Big Su came and kicked Kamoshida's ass, and got him sent to the hospital. Only reason he, Ayano & Hishima didn't get arrested was because nobody here but us knows who they are."

 "Why did they come and attack him anyways? Did he do something to you?" Akira asked, though immediately regretted it when Ann glared at him so harshly that he swore she was actually trying to kill him with a look. And Shiho's gaze wasn't much better, though Rindo thankfully seemed more accepting of the question. Though it was more in the sense that his anger wasn't directed to Akira, but...

 "Kamoshida tried to grope her. And she's not the first person he's done it to, either." Rindo answered, seemingly for the rest of the group. Ann's gaze burned bright with fury, and Shiho's held... something of a faraway pain, masked by her own steely confidence. That told Akira more than he had intended to learn, but perhaps more importantly...

 It gave him some perspective, and some resolve in equal measure.

 "Well, why don't you just tell the principal about it? Or have you already done that, and gotten threatened because of some 'baseless accusation' or something?" Akira asked, and at the way four heads turned towards him, he continued on, "Because Ryuji got that same response when he tried to just jump straight to the principal."

 "Ugh. Well, he does know firsthand how bad Kamoshida can be, but..." Shiho trailed off, as Ann's fiery gaze almost seemed... melancholy? So did Rindo's, for that matter; only Shoka remained the same as she was before Akira's erstwhile buddy had been brought up, though given that she was already crestfallen, that seemed like a poor bar to clear.

 "Yeah, nobody believes him when he says Kamoshida's a piece of shit. I mean, we believe him, but he doesn't exactly like talking to me anymore." Ann sighed and leaned into her friend, and Rindo shifted a bit at his spot to give Ann a bit more comfort. Clearly, there was more to the story that Akira wasn't privy to, but before he could delve into that...

 "Yo, 'Kira! Been lookin' for ya all over, man!" Speak of the bleached devil, and he shall appear, it seemed. As Ryuji bounded over as well as he could on his bum leg, the grin he'd apparently saved for greeting Akira turned to a grimace as he looked at what Akira could only assume were his old friends all gathered around his newest one. "Lemme guess. You guys're tryin' to tell him how bad of a friend I was to ya, huh?"

 "What? No! Ryuji, you were never a bad friend to us! We just... didn't know how to help you after what he did to you." Ann started shouting, but ended up curling back in on herself like a wounded animal. Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck, equal parts embarrassed and tired; like this was an argument they'd had several times, each one ending the same way.

 "Besides, maybe it's for the best that you kept your distance from us. Apparently, we're all on Kamoshida's shitlist now for just being friends with Shoka and her family." Rindo, too, seemed to be tired, but not with Ryuji. Akira couldn't help but feel like Rindo was a lot like him, in the limited interaction he'd had with the blonde boy - quick to focus his emotions where he needed them to be, but slow to act upon them. 

 "For real? So, all that shit I heard about you guys gettin' expelled..."

 "Yeah. And if he sees us talking to you two, he might go for you next. Not to mention he's probably gonna get my whole family arrested if he figures out who they are." There was also something else behind Shoka's words, but Akira wasn't a fool (despite what that feminine voice in the deepest corner of his mind told him sometimes) and pieced it together quickly.

 And, again, found even more resolve.

 "What if... we found a way to change his mind?"

 Six pairs of eyes - Morgana's included - turned towards him with varying degrees of interest.

 "Or... we change his heart."

 Morgana whooped in approval, though to everyone but Ryuji, it sounded like a particularly loud meow. Ryuji himself seemed to be quietly stunned by the decision, but the other four...

 "Okay, but like. How would we do that? I'm pretty sure that we can't just march up to his office with a peace offering." Shoka inquired, as Rindo gripped her hand just a little bit more firmly. Clearly he was trying to ground her, in his own way.

 "Depends. Have you all checked your phones lately?"

 At the admittedly confusing question from Akira, the quartet pulled out their phones. He didn't expect anything to come of this line of thinking, and assumed it would just be him & Ryuji with the red eye app-

 "Huh."

 "Huh?"

 "That's a weird looking app I've got on my phone now."

 As Rindo turned his phone to show the others what he was talking about, Akira let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Rindo had the Metaverse Nav app on his phone too. And, after a brief moment of questioning, so too did the others - Shoka, Ann & Shiho all confirmed it was the same deal.

 "Well, I guess there's no turning back now, then. Here's what I'm thinking..."

 As the break ended, the six youths resolved to stand together, even with the weirdness that was sure to follow.

 Maybe Akira should have warned them about Personas, or the weird math guy. But there'd be time for that when they got into the Metaverse.

---

 "Yo, Phones. Pass me that soda, would ya?"

 Neku snorted as he slid the offending can towards his roommate and best friend. "There ya go. Although I dunno why you couldn't just reach over and grab it yourself."

 "Cuz I'm jus' aboutta beat this boss, yo! I've been at this fight for days, and it's hella hard!" Beat's usual enthusiasm had seemed a little bit curbed, Neku had noticed; maybe this was why? A mundane and frankly kinda silly reason, to be sure, but still... it was nice, really, that all they'd fought for led to this peaceful sort of afternoon, just chilling on the couch and playing some video games. Although, Neku wasn't doing much playing today; he was content to just watch, given that he'd never gotten this far in the game before.

 "Just don't die to that big spinning attack, this time. Gotta jump when he does that."

 "Aw, shuddup, yo! Like you could do any better!"

 Before their banter could devolve into a full-blown mock argument, the lock on the apartment door clicked open and the door swung to reveal the third member of their erstwhile trio, and probably the most famed of them: Gatto Nero's founder herself, Shiki Misaki.

 God, she was cute as a button, Neku thought to himself as she slipped off her work shoes and shuffled into their apartment. Well, his and Beat's apartment, he supposed; Shiki hadn't moved in yet, but with the enthusiasm for the idea that the trio shared, it was inevitable. Not to mention Shiki slept over at their place 90% of the time anyways, albeit on a futon rather than an actual bed (they were working on it, but finding a bed for a good price that wasn't covered in weird stains was hard at this time of year).

 "You two aren't fighting over who gets to play that game next, right? Because I'm pretty sure we've been over this one already."

 "Naw, Neku's jus' bein' mean to me, s'all. I'm doin' great, yo!"

 And then Beat died. In the game, of course, to the same spinning attack that Neku had tried to warn him about earlier.

 "Pfft. Told ya to jump."

 Then Neku died. Well, not really, but he definitely would feel that smack over the head with the PS4 controller for a while.

 "Th' hell, Phones?! What, just cuz your girlfriend's here, now you gotta pick on me, yo?!"

 Shiki sputtered from the kitchen while Neku let out a very nervous chuckle. Oh, right, they were gonna have this talk again. Well, he might as well prepare himself for the physical agony to come when Beat got his hands on him after this one... okay, there, he's good now.

 "Beat, we're not an official couple yet. We're still... thinking."

 A moment of silence. Then, Beat opened his mouth, ready to give the most eloquent retort to that statement as he possibly could.

 "Phones. What the fuck."

 Neku snorted, despite himself, then got tackled to the ground by Beat, as Shiki giggled and shuffled herself over to take Beat's spot, as she always did when this happened. Though, this time, her cheeks were tinted red, and her eyes held a sort of sadness to them... maybe Neku said the wrong thing? Or the right thing, the wrong way? He didn't really know.

 What he did know was that, when the dust had settled and the trio was watching wrestling together - okay, Beat was watching wrestling, while Neku & Shiki cuddled on the other end of the couch while only barely following along with the latest antics of the Bullet Club - they'd settled into a comfortable sort of feeling that Neku wouldn't give up for anything.

 After all, this was what he'd fought for for years. He could afford to be selfish with this peace a little bit.

---

 While the people of Shibuya went about their business in the RG, in the UG, a girl awoke for the first time in what felt like forever.

 She took a moment to adjust her eyes to this unfamiliar landscape, or perhaps to the notion of actually seeing anything for the first time in years. Whether it had been or not, she didn't yet know. The next step was dusting herself off and standing up, only to find her legs wobbly and uneven - even the mere act of being on her feet was too much, evidently, as she tumbled to the ground before even taking a proper step.

 But she wouldn't give up. No, that much she knew she couldn't do - had never done in her life.

 Taking a deep breath, she lifted herself to her feet once more, and found a bit more purchase on the slick asphalt she found herself standing on. So far, so good, she thought to herself, as she took one uneasy step after another; soon, the steps would get easier and easier, and then there was nothing unnatural about it at all.

 Now, if only she could figure out where she was.

 Taking out her phone from her pocket, she tried to turn it on, only to discover it had died. No big deal, just have to find a charger for a flip phone - must be an easy thing to do from here, right? Although, maybe just asking someone would be easier...

 "Excuse me..." Was all she could manage before her throat began to burn, likely from lack of use. A short coughing fit later, she tried to ask the same thing again, but with much the same result. Perhaps words would take some getting used to.

 "Are you lost?" A voice dripping with both smugness and concern rang out from behind the girl, as she turned around to see a young man in a crisp white shirt and a baggy black jacket waving his hand lightly as he took a couple steps closer to her. "Hmm... interesting. You don't feel like you're supposed to be here, but... maybe this is exactly where you should be." And he extended his hand out to the girl, which she hesitated to take. Though, a part of her mind told her to trust in him, so... she did take his hand, drawing a smile from the young man.

 "My name is Hazuki Mikagi, but you... you can call me Haz. And you are...?"

 The girl takes a deep breath. This, at least, is something she knows for sure.

 "Minako Arisato."

 Haz smiles, and Minako can't help but smile back. Maybe this was a good thing, meeting this man.

 "Well, Minako. Let's see if we can't find you a way out of the UG and back to where you truly belong."

Chapter Text

 Fret knew he was missing something the moment he exited Shujin.

 Of course, it took him a minute to figure out what that something was. Wallet was there, bag was there, Rindude was - oh fuck he'd lost his Rindude. And searching for him wasn't very fruitful, either; most he'd gotten was from Motoi, and even then all that Motoi could tell him was that he'd seen Rindo and Shoka in class at the end of the day. So, wherever Rindo had gone, it didn't take him long to get there. So... where...?

 Well, whenever Fret needed guidance, there was only one person he knew he could count on - and, now, so could the rest of Shujin.

 "Fret, honey, if this is just a personal visit to say 'hi', I'm not gonna be very happy with you."

 Kanon Tachibana, the former Queen Variabeauty herself, now Shujin's youngest guidance counselor - and most well-liked, probably. After all, she knew how to relate to people, and guide them through their darkest times - Fret knew that firsthand, after all.

 "Nah, don't worry, Lady Kanon, this is actually for, like. The actual thing you do here at school."

 Kanon slowly took off her Totally Official teaching glasses - she didn't actually need them, they just made her look more professional - and leaned in just that little bit closer to Fret. Normally, such a thing might have gotten Fret nervous, but something about Kanon doing it put him more at ease. Maybe it was just how well he knew her, and the other way around? Eh, who knew anymore.

 "Is this about Rindy? Because Motoi told me you'd gone asking about him, and honestly.. I don't really have much to tell you-"

 "I can't help it, Lady Kanon! He's my best buddy... my Rindude! And it's like he just disappeared without a trace! And apparently nobody's seen Shokie, or Ann, or Shiho... oh god, what if Kamoshida did something to 'em?!"

 That, at least, got Kanon to rescind her original leaning.

 "Kamoshida? Oh, right, that stuff about Shoka. I heard he still isn't back yet after the beating Susukichi put on him. Not that he doesn't deserve it, of course."

 "Yeah, but what if he's just, like, hidin' out around the school like a creeper, just waitin' to grab girls like he's some kinda stalker?!"

 Kanon sighed. Oh, if only she had the Remind psych and not FRet, because he'd started off on a tangent. Admittedly, most days she'd be more amused than anything by his ramblings, but given the recent tension around the school that centered around the Twisters and their friends...

 "Fret, think. If Rindo was here one moment, and gone the next... where do you think he might have gone in the meantime?"

 A pause. Then, Fret came to an immediate realization.

 "Dude! He's totally in the UG!" Another pause, as Fret looked like he'd realized something important about that fact. "Wait, but, like. How did he get to the UG without that Player Pin that Kubo gave us? I know he doesn't really carry his around..."

 "Hmm, yeah, that would be the way to go. Maybe... maybe that transfer student has some way into the UG?"

 And then Fret remembered yet another thing from that day.

 "Oh yeah! I'd heard Shokie mention that the transfer has a cat, and she wanted to go pet and cuddle and probably not steal the cat from him. Maybe they found out some stuff about him...?"

 The gears were turning in Fret's head, and Kanon could only watch as he kept spinning around in circles. All the while, she did worry for Rindo and the others, too, considering that if they'd gone back to the UG...

 Well, hopefully the Noise weren't too dangerous around here.

---

 "Hishima, for the last time, Crocs are not real shoes."

 "You're just annoyed that you didn't get a pair when Kaie got them for me."

 "That is not what I meant at all!"

 Ugh. These flippin' disks were driving him crazy. And not even in the kinda way that Susukichi would simply use as a reason to go train by punching whatever kooky Noise that Kubo could cook up for him to spar with. No, these guys were just bein' huge pains in the ass. 

 Wasn't quite breaking the diagonal, but it was close.

 "Can you two be nice to each other for a change? It's bad enough that our dear Shoka hasn't called since school ended, but now I have to hear you lovebirds squabbling?"

 Susukichi couldn't help but laugh at that one. Yeah, right! These two, gettin' all lovey-dovey with the kissy faces and shit? After the nasty breakup they had before the Second Long Game? He figured it was more likely that he was still smelling smoke from all the old pics that Shiba burnt of him n' Hishima afterwards while Kaie held up an old-ass boombox playing a really slowed down version of a Wham song.

 Wait, no, he was actually smelling something burning, what-

 "Fuck! My aburaage!" Kubo swore as he ran to the kitchen with all the grace and swiftness of a drunken gazelle with mismatched socks. "You assholes made me lose track of it, and now the coating's burnt to shit!" He cried out, storming out of the kitchen wearing... well, it was probably the dumbest ass apron Susukichi had ever seen, and Kubo loved collecting ugly ass aprons. Mostly cuz he knew it'd flip Shiba clean off the board every time.

 "Why are you making aburaage at 5 o'clock, anyways?!"

 "Because I'm hungry, you dumb thotty fuck!"

 Ayano practically choked on air, and Susukichi fell clean off the couch.

 "Wh- Thotty???"

 "Who the hell taught 'im that move?!"

 "Meow?"

 Oh, look, there was the cat, apparently no longer content to stay curled up in a ball on top of Shoka's clothes (not that she minded - she loved the lil' girl, as Su did, but was a little more... cuddle-sized). She'd come trotting over and settled next to Shiba's legs, purring as she rubbed up against him as he sighed and rubbed his fingers against his temples.

 "Look, you three. I understand that you may be feeling a bit restless from being cooped up in here all the time, like a crazy person."

 "Bitch???"

 "But," Shiba continued, as if he hadn't just offended a now very pissed-off Kubo's entire continued existence. "You should know exactly why you're all cooped up in here."

 "In our defense, Shiba, you encouraged us to do it."

 "Which is why I'm also remaining here with you all. It's our collective way of repenting for the grave sin we've committed - at least, in society's eyes." A pause, as he considered his next words carefully. "In all seriousness, I just don't want the police deciding that they want to come raid us. I don't trust them much, if at all, of late."

 "Glad to see Shiba has decided to join us in the teachings of ACAB."

 "Hishima, I don't know what that means."

 Ayano was, again, the one to break up whatever potential argument might have been about to unfurl - even if there probably wasn't any reason for Shiba & Hishima to fight again beyond their sexual tension. "By the way, have we finally agreed on a name for our new cat? And no, Kubo, we are not naming him Hairy Jenkins." Kubo flipped her off. Ayano didn't care.

 "No, we're still waiting on Tsugumi to suggest a name. Though, perhaps we could ask her now, if she hadn't left to go visit Atarashi." Ayano groaned at the mere mention of the dolled-up Reaper, and Susukichi couldn't really blame her. Something about her really broke his proverbial diagonal, and nobody in the Shincrew - except for maybe Shoka - had an idea why Tsugumi liked her so much.

 At least she was probably having way more fun than they were.

 "Shiba. Do you want a pair of Crocs to match mine? Kaie can still get you a pair, the store isn't closed-"

 "Absolutely not!"

---

 "Oh em gee, Tsu! This coffee is... is... it's just so..."

 "Let me guess. Splendiferous?"

 "Yes! Oh, you understand me so well ♡"

 Tsugumi couldn't help but give Coco a smile back at her infectious enthusiasm. They'd met up in Yongen for a cup of coffee from an old friend of Hanekoma's, and to simply catch up on recent happenings. Thankfully, not much was going on with them personally, but moreso with the others around them.

 "So, is it true that Big Su really went and kicked the crap out of that pervy coach?" Coco inquired after a time, tilting her head to the side as Sojiro not-as-discreetly-as-he-thought listened in. Tsugumi couldn't help but wonder why the barista would be interested in the happenings of a school, but she brushed that off as needless paranoia. It was likely he'd had a kid and was hoping the coach wasn't at their school, was all.

 "And Ayano, too. Hishima drove them, I think, but he didn't do anything." Not that he would have had to, given Ayano's pure rage and Susukichi's... well, being Susukichi. But it was still worth noting. "They're on effective house arrest for now, since if we didn't do that, they might end up under actual arrest."

 "Geez, that's dumb. They're dumb. And that coach is hella dumb for thinking he could piss off your guys' family and get away with it!" Coco shouted as she gesticulated wildly with her coffee cup still in hand. Sojiro broke off from his listening and came over with a cloth in case Coco left any big spills from that, but Tsugumi suspected he just wanted a closer spot to eavesdrop.

 Not that she particularly minded, though.

 "Mhm. Apparently that coach also leaked the records of a new transfer, too, just because people were talking about them more than him."

 "Yeah, I heard about that from Neku, cuz Rhyme told him. Poor kid, getting made a pariah because of some bogus assault charge-"

 "Wait, the coach at Shujin did what?!"

 Well, that confirmed that Sojiro had some investment into this after all. But considering that he hadn't piped up until they'd mentioned the transfer student...

 "Is... are you the man the transfer is staying with?"

 The barista nodded, and sighed as he set his cleaning cloth down on the bar. "Yeah, he's staying with me for the year. Pretty much everyone who knows more than the fact that he has a charge on his record thinks it's a load of crap, myself included." And then he dropped his voice lower, almost conspiratorially. "I think all he did was piss off someone important who tried to make things hell for him. Petty bastard."

 "Gosh, you just swore in front of customers! Now how're we going to call this the best family-friendly cafe in all of Tokyo~? ♡"

 Tsugumi simply rolled her eyes at Coco's silly remark, though it seemed to fluster the barista enough to get him sputtering. Maybe it was just to diffuse the mood, keep him from getting too down? "Well, if I were able to help more, I would. Is he at least adjusting to life in Tokyo and getting comfortable?"

 Sojiro merely shook his head. "Nah, and I don't think he wants to, either. He loves Inaba, and the town loves him back. Or did, at least. I dunno how they feel about a kid with a record now; probably think he's just some punkass that was hiding his real nature from them."

 "Well, I think those people are ridonkulous for believing such bull in the first place!"

 Hm. That was a surprising response from Coco, who merely took a small sip of her coffee before continuing on. "I mean, if nobody actually knows anything about what happened except for the kid and the guy he apparently beat up, then who's really got the story? Probably not the other guy, I can tell ya that much ♡"

 Sojiro looked damn near flabbergasted at that response, especially coming from the bubbly not-fairy girl. Tsugumi felt a swell of pride from that, too; clearly, Coco was being much more considerate of others now, and it made Tsugumi happy. Although, a part of her suspected that may have been in part because her 'bestest girl' was there, and god only knew what that meant for Coco's rare moment of altruism.

 "Huh. Maybe I should get ya to meet the kid, show him that not everyone in Tokyo thinks he's just some delinquent. Although... hm. He should've been back by now..."

 Come to think of it, Tsugumi hadn't heard from Shoka in a while either. Normally, at this time of the day, she gets plenty of chat messages from the young ex-Reaper, but today she was oddly silent. After a quick check-in, she found that none of the others had heard from her yet, either.

 What could possibly be going on with the false delinquent and the ex-Reaper...?

---

 "What the hell am I looking at here?"

 Shoka, of course, was the first to break the Twisters' collective silence at the goddamn fucking castle they'd ended up at, which, according to the freaky app, was supposedly Shujin itself. Although, given it mentioned something about distortion, she could at least try and put two & two together. Although there was something else that bothered her - namely, the humming sensation that coursed through her.

 Almost like she was back in the UG. But... Akira - no, wait, shit, he was Joker in here - said this place was called the Metaverse, right? So why did it feel like the UG in here? And, more importantly...

 "Hey, Rindo. You have some pins on you, right?" Shoka had whispered to her boyfriend, who was only just beginning to snap out of whatever trance he'd gotten himself worked into. As he shook himself out if it, he nodded and began rummaging through his bag.

 "I didn't bring most of the strong ones, but I have an Azamaru and a Joli becot pin, just in case." Rindo replied, and Shoka winced. Sure, those would help, but if that's the best he had...

 Well, not that she had much better. All her Gatto Nero pins were stuck at home, so the best she had was a Cold Cony x Cony pin she kept forgetting to take out of her bag. They were seriously outgunned if they had to face anything massive like... well, like Shiba or the Pulvis again. Not to mention that Ann & Shiho didn't even have the ability to use Pins, not that she was aware of...

 "Well, I, uh. I guess we should get going inside?"

 "Okay, but how? It's not like we can just go in through the front door."

 "Actually..." Morga- Mona - begins, trailing off as all six people around him focus their attentions onto him. "If Kamoshida's cognition is that one of you is particularly valuable, we could-"

 The now-bipedal cat was cut off by a thunderous CRASH sound, and the sound of wood splintering... along with some weird howling? As the sextet went to go investigate, they were met with...

 "Ohhhhhhh shit! 'Kira, that wasn't here before!" Ryuji cried out, as the group came face to face with a massive two-legged deer-like creature that Shoka and Rindo couldn't help but wince as they saw. As it turned with its' stubby legs and swung its' meaty hands out, Shoka could only think of one thing.

 Cervus Cantus looked way cooler than this ugly ass fake.

 Her next thought, as Rindo yelled her name out, was to run run run like a bat clean out of hell, away from Totally Not Susukichi as the group sped around to the side of the building. Thankfully, the fake Cervus didn't bother trying to pursue, instead choosing to continue trying to smash up the front entrance.

 "Wh-what the hell was that?! Some kind of freak in a costume?!" Ann cried out in disbelief, while Shiho clutched onto her friend for dear life. "Mona, you might wanna explain!"

 "I-I don't know! It wasn't here the last time we came! Maybe something changed Kamoshida's cognition to have that creature here?"

 "Or someone." Rindo finally managed to catch his breath enough to respond, having ended up winding himself during their escape. "My guess is that, if what Mona's saying is true, it's a cognitive version of Susukichi that Kamoshida made up to make himself seem like the victim... or something." A pause. "I'm not really sure why he'd have that sort of feeling to be honest. Maybe he's just scared of him?"

 "Good. Big Su would fuckin' kill him if he touched me again." Shoka spat out, though nobody bothered to tell her otherwise.

 "Well, either way, front door's out. We're going to have to sneak in like real Phantom Thieves." Joker had finally said with a smirk. Shoka honestly didn't get the appeal of climbing in a window, but he'd apparently impressed the others well enough to get them on board.

 Plus, it did beat trying to have to fight a fake Big Su.

 So, in the window they went, skulking along the halls as they did so. With so many people here, it had been hard trying to sneak, though, and eventually...

 "Halt! Intruders!"

 Fuck. One of the guards had spotted them, which turned one into five as his apparent platoon had joined in.

 "We must stop any and all interlopers, by order of the King! Charge, men!" And the quintet of guards charged, their armour slowly melting into forms unfamiliar to Shoka, but Joker didn't look fazed. Must have been things that he recognized, then.

 Then he called out a goddamn demon by tearing his mask off his face, and all hell broke loose.

 Ryuji corralled Ann & Shiho into a hiding spot near one wall, while Rindo and Shoka huddled up against another. All they could really do against those monsters was hide against the wall, while Joker and Mona (who also had some weird monster thing pop up behind him? Although it looked more like just a really tall, buff Mona) dealt with the monsters.

 Or try to, anyways.

 Sure, they seemed plenty capable of dealing with a couple of these things, but there were at least a dozen monsters here, and they looked winded already, and...

 And then Shoka got an idea.

 "Rindo! Let's try using our Pins. Maybe they'll work in here!"

 "Right! Hold tight, Joker - we're coming to help!"

 Hopefully.

 As Shoka gripped onto Cold Cony x Cony tightly, she let the energy of the psych pulse through her, concentrating all her efforts on a single point beneath one of the monsters' feet-

 And then a jagged pillar of pure ice exploded out from the ground, and both Rindo and Shoka breathed a huge sigh of relief.

 "Yes! Our Pins do work here! We can fight these things too!"

 So two became four, and things got much easier to deal with after that. Rindo stuck to using the Azamaru pin, and Shoka her Cold Cony, and they noticed that just like the Noise in their own UG, these monsters seemed to react to different elements pretty harshly - although some of them seemed to resist the elements of their Pins, which made things a bit trickier for the Twisters.

 Not to mention they also had three people that still couldn't fight.

 They still tried their best to protect Ryuji, Ann & Shiho, and eventually made their way to a large set of velvet-covered doors topped by a garish sign denoting this as - ugh - the 'Hall of Babe' or something. Seriously, if this was what Kamoshida thought Shujin was like for him, they really needed a goddamn reno there.

 Especially when the group entered the hall and found it absolutely covered in pictures of girls from Shujin.

 At first, it was just creepy, given there seemed to be a lot of girls that none of them had ever met. Though, as they went deeper and deeper in, they'd started recognizing more and more of them - a few classmates, some of Shiho's volleyball teammates, and at least one girl who worked at Shoka's favourite store - and it got a bit more towards the disturbing side.

 Then they found the fucking shrines to themselves, and it all just went screaming into full-blown horror flick shit.

 "Ew. This guy seriously needs to get a grip. 'Shujin's Holy Quintet'? I mean, what the fuck?!" Shoka couldn't help it; this was beyond messed up and straight into fucked up territory. Especially since her statue was front and center, emblazoned with probably the nastiest thing she could have possibly expected to see:

 'The Royal Pet'.

 "Well, well, well! Look what the cat dragged in, haha." Seven heads whipped back as Kamoshida himself - albeit dressed in a fancy cape and an ugly ass speedo - strolled into the hall, flanked by a damn army of guards. Most of the group simply stood, ready to either defend themselves or take off in a dash to find a good hiding spot.

 All of them, that was, save Ryuji, who decided to make the brilliant move of charging Kamoshida, and was met with a beating. It was honestly painful to watch, and Shiho's pained cries to attempt in vain to sway Kamoshida to stop attacking Ryuji made it all the harder to swallow.

 Until a pair of blue flames appeared in unison, and Ann & Ryuji came bursting out of the ashes with all new threads - and, apparently, their own freaky demon-things. Which made their fighting a lot easier, because four became six, and Shiho had gotten pretty good at cheering the group on rather than flat out hiding away, which Shoka had figured out was giving them more power - literally.

 Pretty soon, it was just Kamoshida who remained.

 "Grrr... you little shits! Why can't you just fall in line like the rest of this goddamn school?!" Kamoshida roared out, stomping his foot on the ground. To the others, it wasn't much, but Shoka & Rindo could sense that Noise were starting to converge on their location. A lot of them, by the sounds of it.

 And then Kamoshida turned his glare to Shiho, and it morphed into a sneer.

 "How pathetic... you can't even defend yourself, and you think you belong on my volleyball team? Hah!" Kamoshida barked, as a handful of wolf Noise burst through the castle window and encircled Shiho. They had six people who could fight, sure, but the wolves would be faster, and Shiho...

 "I'm not interested in entertaining cheerleaders anymore. It's time for you to go down the food chain."

 And the wolves charged. Shiho put her hands up to defend herself, and Rindo desperately tossed her the Joli becot pin, like that would help Shiho not get eaten-

 And Shiho's entire being pulsed with power the moment she clutched the pin.

 And then she kicked the first charging wolf square in the face, turning it into nothing but visible static as it faded away.

 "Wh-what? Did I just..."

 "Huh. Didn't know she could use Psychs too."

 Wait, that wasn't Rindo, and the others didn't even know what Psychs were. So then who the hell...

 Oh, shit.

 "Gotta admit, you attograms certainly know how to introduce some exciting new variables into my equations."

 As if things weren't bad enough, now goddamn Sho Minamimoto himself was standing before the group?! Great, Shoka thought to herself as he casually sauntered up to the group, breezing right past Rindo and herself like they weren't even there.

 "Mr. Minamimoto? Wh-what're you doing here?" Rindo barely sputtered out, face more shocked than angry with the ex-Twister

 Apparently, ignoring them all in favour of stopping in front of Shiho, one hand in his coat pocket and the other slowly reaching out-

 And washing Shiho in a cool aura. Wait, had he seriously healed Shiho with a Tigre Punks pin? Where did he even get one of those, anyways?

 "(No x 2) overthink your calculations, attogram. Simplify your work, and get ready to crunch some numbers."

 With that, Sho turned around, and Shiho braced herself.

 Apparently now... six became seven, and then eight? All this adding was starting to make Shoka's head spin. Which was definitely about to spiral into a full-blown migraine when she saw Sho pull out a goddamn megaphone with Reaper wings and hold it up to his face.

 "Listen up, you negative integer!" He shouted into the device, his other hand pointing a finger at the cape-clad clod now fuming that his backup plan had gone up in smoke because of a mad math man. As Kamoshida fumed, the finger slowly turned into a fist, as Sho's eyes glinted with something wild - something that usually meant very bad things for the person on the other end of his gaze.

 "(It's x 2) add you to the heap!" 

Chapter Text

It had been some time since an equation had to be solved quite like this for Sho Minamimoto.

Granted, part of that was due to the absolutely absurd order of operations he'd received from the Composer as a condition of his latest revival. Too many factors ruined his work, and he'd had to start over from scratch while still adhering to the rules set in stone for him. And as if that wasn't enough, now he'd been corralled into babysitting kids, again, and some of them for the second time.

These Wicked Twister zeptograms were going to be the death of him.

"Okay, so why the hell are you here? And how can we fight with our psychs in the Metaverse?"

Especially if they kept asking such rudimentary questions. Seriously, it was like they were asking him what 2 + 2 was. "One side of the equation equals the other, zeptogram. The UG and the Metaverse are two halves of the same whole." At the very least, he knew that Rindo & Shoka would understand, but the other four were clearly confused - must be new variables, then. "It works in our favour, since being able to solve for x using both Personas and Psychs makes our numbers that much greater."

Shoka did have to concede that point, so she decided to switch topics. Hopefully to something that Sho wouldn't find so menial. "You didn't answer my first question. Why are you here helping us again? Did you miss being a Twister that badly?"

He did have to admit, having greater numbers on his side did make things easier. But Sho was never much for playing nice with others, and his reason was much simpler to explain.

"Simple. The Composer assigned me to investigate a particularly nasty unsolved formula, and to play nice if any of his favourites got involved. Which means you Twisters, in case you hadn't done your calculations."

Shoka hummed thoughtfully, as if contemplating if Sho's math was pure bullshit or utter genius (it was definitely the latter, he figured, but wasn't up to saying. He'd learned at least a little tact since his first go as a Reaper). Rindo, meanwhile, seemed to just be glad to have someone else on his side - someone who knew what the heck they were doing. Sho wasn't too happy about that - at the very least, he'd hoped Rindo would have learned a few formulae over his time in the Game, but instead...

"We're happy to have you, Minamimoto. But," Oh, maybe he had picked up some new tricks after all. "On one condition. From now on, you have to work with us, and not just show up whenever you want and leave again." Ah, he was still hung up on that old equation. Admittedly, given that his variables got thrown off by Rindo and his team so badly last time, it wasn't advantageous for him to get on their bad side, so...

"Deal. You surprise me, zeptogram - maybe you're earning an upgrade." And Sho had to admit, he was at least a little proud he'd imparted some sort of lesson to the Twisters. Like they'd recgonized his genius where others had failed to over his many years of life, death, and whatever lay in between.

"Hold on. You said something about an... 'unsolved formula', or something, right?" The brunette with the Joli pin - he hadn't learned the attogram's name, it wasn't important at the time - had piped up, and his ears perked in response. "Is that about those mental shutdowns that started popping up a few months ago?"

"Correct. You're pretty sharp, femtogram." Sho had to admit, he hadn't expected any of the newbies to connect the dots so quickly; hence, the quick mental adjustment of where she stood. "The Composer thinks that someone's using the UG to execute the mental shutdowns, and now I've been roped into his calculations."

"But why can't this Composer just deal with it himself? It sounds like he's pretty powerful to be able to boss you around - uh, no offense," Shiho had began, backtracking as she heard the very unlikely growl from Sho at that line. "But it doesn't make any sense why he couldn't just shut down the one behind the mental shutdowns."

"The Composer can't solve anything on the planes - not directly. It's why I'm solving this equation in his stead."

"Yo, I got a question." The blonde boy - not Rindo, he knew that much, but their names were somewhat similar - piped up. "Can we, like, get the eff outta here? I'm spent after that." A noise of assent from the blonde girl, and then the strange cat creature - clearly not Mr. Mew, but perhaps similar in function - piped up.

"Ryuji makes a good point. Awakening to your Persona is taxing on the body; you need to rest up afterwards, or you risk shutting down entirely." Morgana admits, as Ryuji feels a swell of pride that the cat isn't being an asshole to him. Interesting. Ryuji seems very similar to Fret in a lot of ways - though he doubts that any link between the two girls and Nagi exists.

(Silently, he's grateful for that; he was really concerned over her calling him 'Lord Tomonami' all the time. Wasn't healthy.)

"Fine. Let's save this assignment for another day."

And with that, the group made their way back to what they'd called a Safe Room - Sho had to file that one away for later, in case he needed a quick getaway - and departed through the Metaverse app on their smartphones.

Overall, quite the progress on his work, given he'd bolstered his numbers exponentially. Though the real solution of how to awaken his own Persona still eluded him.

Contrary to what many people may believe, Shiki Misaki hated working retail.

Thing was, one of the employees she'd been counting on to run the store whenever she needed to design new clothes had called in sick, so she'd ended up roped into the soul-crushing world of cashier-ing again. Admittedly, the odd day of this didn't hurt too much, but it was still taxing on both the body and mind.

Or, it would be, if today hadn't been oddly quiet.

Aside from a few stragglers from one of the local high schools - Shujin, she thinks, but isn't quite sure of - and one particularly persistent 20-something with a thick country accent, the store is largely barren. So, Shiki decides to knock out two birds with one stone, and pulls out her sketchpad to finalize a design for a sweater meant for young men, especially redheads to bring out the pop in their hair colour.

Okay, mostly she just wanted Neku to wear more of the clothes she designed. But could you blame her for having that sort of fantasy when she could very easily make it into reality? For god's sake, he'd worn her brand in Shinjuku for years while it was Inverted and was none the wiser! It was those sorts of things that made her heart melt all over again, completely ignoring the hustle and bustle of the 104 Building as the shuffling sound of footsteps interrupted whatever daydream Shiki was going to have about her definitely-not-but-soon-will-be-boyfriend.

"Um, excuse me? But could you help me find something?"

Shiki's head leaned up, and oh gods, this girl looked so soft - definitely not like her usual clientele. Her hair alone could probably house a small animal comfortably for months on end! "Of course! Sorry, I was working on some designs for the fall line." Shiki also knew to rebound quickly from her flights of fancy, and to her credit, the girl in front of her simply laughed it off.

"It's alright! It's nice to see the owner of a company taking the time to get their hands dirty." The fluffy girl had replied, with what Shiki assumed to be her usual cheer - but, she could also see a hint of sadness buried deep within. Ah, maybe she could help this girl out a lot more than she'd first realized.

"Well, yeah, especially when one of my cashiers calls in sick." Shiki admits with a sheepish smile, and receives a soft one in return. No sadness there; maybe she'd been imagining things before? "What kind of clothes are you looking for? Something sporty? Ooh, or maybe something frilly - I think you'd look great in our new line of sundresses!"

"Oh, no, it's nothing for me. Although, the sporty thing sounds like it might be worth looking at." The girl replied, humming in thought. "The girl in my class I wanted to thank for her help with my homework looks like she'd prefer sporty clothes to girly ones anyway."

"Aw, I'm sure she'll be happy with whatever you pick out! For people kind enough to help with homework like that, no questions asked, the thought matters more than the gift itself."

"Oh, I'm sure that's true. But I really would love to get Rhyme something she can enjoy wearing all year-" Wait, pause. Did Shiki hear that right...?

"Hang on. Rhyme? As in, Rhyme Bito?"

"Oh, yes! Sorry, do you know her?" The fluffy girl asked, tilting her head quizzically. Shiki wasn't quite sure how to respond over than in the affirmative; the actual specifics of how they were friends were not something easily explained to... well, anyone really.

"Yeah! She's like a sister to me, especially since my boyfriend lives with her older brother." Boyfriend... the mere usage of the word in regards to Neku sent a happy little tingle up her spine, but it faded just as quickly when she realized that maybe it wasn't quite the right word for Neku. Yet.

"Oh! That's wonderful! So, you can definitely give me a helping hand in my gift hunting!" The fluffy girl cried out in excitement, before letting out a shocked gasp. "Oh! I'm sorry, where are my manners? I haven't properly introduced myself yet. My name is Haru Okumura. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Misaki!"

Okumura... like the food place? The ones that ran Big Bang Burger, and nearly ran Justice out of the crossing? Shiki couldn't help but wonder if this was some ploy for her to scout and buy out the brand she'd worked so hard to make - but, no, she couldn't just write off poor Haru like that. Everyone deserved a chance at least once, right?

Besides, maybe the sins of the father were far away from the child in this case.

"Alright, Haru, let's get looking for some clothes for Rhyme! So, first we'll need to look at the new summer selection of workout wear..."

"So... I've ended up in Shibuya?"

Haz nodded as he sized up the girl in front of him. Hard to believe that this waifish person could reach powers akin to the Angels themselves, and succeed where they had failed in battling Nyx & Erebus all those years ago. But perhaps Minako's strength was more internal; he'd seen at least one person who looked like a lamb that turned into a lion.

And maybe that was what drew him to help her, when his time in Shibuya should have long since ended after the Second Long Game.

"Correct. Although, I have to admit, it's surprising that you were spat out here and not... Tatsumi Port Island, was it?" She hesitantly nodded in assent to that. Haz had noticed that something seemed amiss with Minako's memories - he knew there would be quite the gap in time between her sealing Nyx & Erebus, and awakening here, but perhaps something else had gone awry...? Hm.

"Right. I remember... hearing a bunch of voices crying out in joy, like they'd found hope for the first time. And then there was a sort of crack, and... well, here I am." Minako rubbed the back of her neck, and Haz focused entirely on connecting the dots that may have linked her story with a cause for her return.

And then it hit him. The Twisters.

When they'd beaten the Soul Pulvis & Phoenix Cantus, the way they'd done it... they had to essentially awaken the collective consciousness of Shibuya and remind them of the joy in life. And when they did that, and with such a massive influx of those wishing to live, not simply exist or worse...

"You must have come back then." Oops, Haz hadn't meant to say that part out loud. Minako simply tilted her head slightly, then righted herself, turning her attention to the 104 Building. Unsurprising, given they'd ended up in the Scramble Crossing, but it was still something that didn't hold much appeal to Haz in this city.

Then again, nothing really did. It simply wasn't in his nature to marvel at what humans had made of the RG.

"It was like... Shibuya set me free. At least, I think that's what happened. Weakened Erebus enough to let me come back." Minako felt the ghost of a smile wisp across her features, but just as quickly as it came, it vanished. "Although, you said it's been years since I've been alive... I guess whatever life I'd looked forward to coming back to is long gone now."

For just the slightest moment, Haz pitied the poor girl. But that pity gave way to concern at something else - a tug, in the direction of the subway station. Never a good sign, that; he'd been down there and seen what had become of that space in the UG - something that stymied even Joshua, and this was his city.

"I hate to cut your introspection short, but could we perhaps go to the subway station? Something there... is..."

Ah, she felt it too, and left on her way towards the destination Haz sought on his own. Interesting feeling, being left behind like that, but Haz simply laughed it off and floated his way alongside Minako.

The Angel & the Messiah, seeking out answers side by side.

Rhyme hated the Tokyo subway system.

Unfortunately for her, it became far more of a neccesary evil to brave its' convoluted ways every day, now that she was a third year in Shujin. She had no issue with the school itself, especially given the familiar faces there; she just wished she could Soundsurf like Beat could. Or something similar, anyways; maybe her Psych could be like Shoka's Telewarp, but through computers instead?

"Yoohoo! Earth to Rhyme Time! We gettin' off at the Crossing station, or nah?"

Ah, right. Fret tagged along, apparently too anxious to be alone right now with Rindo & Shoka having disappeared after school. Ostensibly, Rhyme assumed they were just trying to get some alone time away from their teasing friends, but Fret wasn't so sure - and, she had to admit, when he'd mentioned the possibility that Rindo had gone to the UG somehow, the idea held merit.

Mostly because she felt that tugging too, that day.

Rhyme also figured that this weird app that had showed up on her phone - and, after some lunchtime discussion, Fret's phone too - had something to do with it. After all, an app with a freaky red eye as the logo couldn't be anything good; especially not when it was just there on their phones without any sort of warning or apparent use.

She'd fiddled with it during her study period earlier; apparently, it was a sort of Navigator for some place called the Metaverse - maybe it was just as simple as a wacky new ARG? Fret didn't think otherwise, but he did note that one entry had already been filled in on the app:

Mementos, at the Shibuya Subway Station.

So, they'd grabbed some pins and headed out to see what the fuss was - Fret grabbed a Chain is Gonna Come pin, while Rhyme had Star Quarterback. It was one of Beat's pins, technically, but he didn't mind her taking it out with her sometimes. Not like it was going to mean anything, but still. Never hurt to play it safe where their lives were potentially concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry Fret. I was just thinking about some stuff, was all."

"Oh, so that's why I was smellin' wood burning in here."

Rhyme stuck her tongue out at Fret, who just laughed it off as the tandem stepped out onto the subway platform. Almost immediately, Fret pulled out his phone, mysterious app already opened; Rhyme almost yelled at him to close it and wait until the crowd had dissipated, but something in the back of her mind said that it wouldn't matter either way.

When Fret hit the button in the app that apparently navigated them towards whatever Mementos was, Rhyme immediately understood where the sentiment came from.

All at once, the world around them changed - where once there was a perfectly normal subway platform, bustling with people, there was now a dilapidated entryway covered in red vines. She didn't want to think about how they looked eerily like veins, or to look over at Fret's horrified face as he processed the same information that she was - perhaps slower, but still.

"Uh, Rhyme? Pretty sure this is the UG."

"What? C'mon, Fret, don't be ridiculous." Rhyme tried to refute his claims, though her voice was much smaller than she would have wanted - she felt the pulsing of the Psych from her pin course through her, and she knew Fret would have felt it too. But this... definitely didn't look like any part of Shibuya's UG that she knew of.

"I'm afraid he's right, you know."

Fret & Rhyme both snapped their heads towards the sound of the voice, and the pair that came out from the shadows. One of them certainly felt familiar - almost like Josh, maybe, but not quite there - but the other...

"Woaaaaaaaaaaah, I didn't know you were hiding such a cutie down here in the UG!" Rhyme almost felt her legs give out in sheer absurdity, as Fret bounded over to the young girl with the young man - seemingly ignoring the other entirely. "Hey, if you're here, that means you can use Psychs, right? Aw man, Rhyme, we should totally bring her into the Twisters!"

"Ah, so I was right when I sensed it. You are Rindo's friends that he'd gone back to save."

Rhyme's eyes narrowed while Fret's grew wide, and the girl Fret was definitely not drooling over simply looked around and ignored the conversation. Which made sense, of course; after all, she probably didn't know a thing about this place whatsoever, or what they'd gone through to save Shibuya-

"This place... feels familiar. A lot like Tartarus." The girl had said suddenly, and all three of the others present directed their gaze towards her. "I think... I think this place is gonna be important in figuring out whatever happened to me. Why I came back to begin with, and what I'm back for."

"Back? So, like... you were dead, right?"

"Hmm... not exactly. Somewhere in between, but definitely not like the... sorry, what did you call it again, Haz?"

"The UG, Minako. Although some might call it the Metaverse, they're functionally the same thing." Haz, who Rhyme was now definitely convinced was a Reaper at bare minimum, replied, and Minako nodded . Fret just looked between the two, then back to Rhyme, then pulled out his phone.

"So, like, this app can take us to the UG and back without needing a Player Pin?" Fret had asked Haz, showing him the app. Haz squinted his eyes as he leaned in to look at Fret's phone, then frowned as if he had just gotten the news that his dog had died - which, to be fair, might have been true once, but Rhyme didn't know.

"Hmm. This might be a problem." Haz rubbed his chin in thought, then turned to Minako. "Do you want to bring these two with us? I know they're capable of battling, I've seen them do it with my own eyes."

"Of course! I'd be happy to have some new friends."

And with that, Minako extended her hand and smiled so brightly, Rhyme could swear that it lit up the whole subway.

"My name is Minako Arisato. It's nice to meet you two!"

Fret took her hand, perhaps too forcefully, and shook it with a vigor he hadn't held in him since he first met Lady Kanon.

"I'm Tosai Furesawa! But you can call me Fret!" After his introduction he turned back to Rhyme and whispered in her ear as if it were the most important secret in the world. "Duuuuuuuuuuuude, Mina's totally cute! You think if I ask her out, she'll say yes?"

Rhyme groaned louder than she ever had before. She should've just stayed the hell at home.

Chapter Text

Kariya had to admit, he loved days like this.

Sure, the reason behind his & Uzuki's sudden extended time off was concerning, but he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Uzuki... was, though, and she was practically up the walls in boredom by the second week. And they'd suspended the Game for six whole months and counting now, given that someone was messing around with things in the UG again.

Although, Kariya wondered if they were really out to screw with their city again, or if it just ended up something of a means to an end.

But that wasn't important to him right now. Right now, he had something else majorly important to accomplish - getting his girlfriend to stop going crazy, before she snapped and killed him for realsies. Thankfully, Kariya had just the idea for that - one that never failed to get Uzuki on board.

"Ramen date?"

And that was how they ended up in Dogenzaka, getting the most secretive of Curry Don's secret menu - something that had nothing to do with curry at all. Just a good ol' fashioned bowl of ramen, for two of his best and longest customers. He'd grab some curry ramen on the way out, but for now, it was the simpler things that he was after for his girl.

"Oh my god, Kariya, I forgot how frickin' good the ramen here was!"

"Yeah, no kiddin'. Feels like we haven't been around here in ages."

Wistfully, Uzuki spun her chopsticks around in her bowl. That wasn't a good sign; usually meant she was thinking about work a little too much.

"Hey, Koki." Another bad sign; she almost never used his first name unless he was in some serious shit. Was she gonna lay into him about those Plague Noise again? "When those Noise got you, did you... like, forget anything about me? Or us, I guess?"

Huh. That's an interesting thought. Kariya hadn't really thought about it before, but now that he had the idea in his head, it wouldn't leave. Great, now she's got him thinking too hard about stuff when all he wanted to do was treat his girlfriend to some good ramen.

"Dunno. But I haven't forgotten what a great boss you made - and still make." He replied, smoothly enough to almost avoid having a noodle flung at his face. Though, judging by the fact that Uzuki's face was as red as his hair now, he got the sense that she wasn't really mad at him. 

"God, Koki, I'm tryin' to think about stuff seriously for a second!" Uzuki grumbled, but continued on as if he hadn't tried to throw her off deliberately. "Actually, it got me thinking: what if the Plague Noise are behind these mental shutdowns that got the Game suspended?"

"Hm, maybe. But I know for a fact that the Shinjuku crew is behavin' in the UG - although I hear the big guy jumped the Shujin volleyball coach and nearly got arrested for it." 

"That coach is a creep anyway." Uzuki spat out, in disgust. "He's been around there for years; I think he perved on me when I went there years ago."

"Huh, and they haven't done anything about him yet? That's a whole lotta messed up."

"Well, when you're some bigshot ex-Olympian, apparently the school's willing to put up with a lot more shit from you."

Kariya hummed at that, and suddenly found himself a lot less cross with the fact that the Shinjuku crew was stirring up trouble in the RG. Maybe it's trouble that should've been stirred up a while ago, especially if Uzuki's talking about it even now.

"Want me to go give him a piece of my mind for ya? Or're you good?"

"Nah, it's fine. Thanks though, Koki." And there it was: the genuine smile that Kariya loved to see on Uzuki's face so much, and the whole reason they'd swung by here today. "You already paid? Or are you just throwing it on a tab?"

"I paid up front. Don knows I'd have been good for it anyway, but I got some extra cash, so I figured I'd just play it straight. Gonna grab some curry ramen for later, though; ya want some too?"

Another smile, this time a little crooked - but Kariya loved that one, too, because he knew it meant Uzuki was enjoying milking him for something. "Would you? I'd hate to waste a chance to have you doing something on your own accord for once."

"Hey!"

"Is everyone here and accounted for?"

"No, you thot, that's why you called this damn meeting to begin with!"

Tsugumi couldn't help but loose a rare sigh at her friends' antics. And she had thought Coco was tiring enough, given she'd put way too much sugar in her coffee to have it constitute being... well, coffee still. But in truth, she'd partly taken Coco on the coffee trip because it meant getting out of the house while everyone was cooped up in there for one reason or another, and everyone - except Kaie, of course - was on edge.

"First order of business: who taught Kubo that word?"

And of course, Shiba's usual nonsense was not helping Tsugumi's gradually waning tolerance for the others at the moment.

"Shiba, that's ridiculous. Just move on to something actually important, we all know what you really wanted to discuss." Ayano, surprisingly given the situation, was the one who tried to right the ship. Then again, Tsugumi assumed that the situation at hand was exactly why Ayano was so insistent on moving to matters of import, given they concerned the missing member of their little family.

"Very well," Shiba acquiesed, much to the muted shock of the spectacled Reaper sitting next to him. "Has anyone heard from Shoka lately? It's been a full day, and we're all very worried about her. I know that some of you are very heated about her safety, and I don't blame you-"

"Shiba, let us organize a search party. If we take one part of the city apiece, then we can-"

"Oh yeah? And how're youse gonna pull that off while on house arrest?" Kubo snarked, earning a near death glare from Ayano. "In case youse forgot, half of us are stuck in here indefinitely so we don't make trouble."

"Hate to admit it, but the disk has a point," Susukichi chimed in, taking up almost the entirety of the left wall's couch with his massive frame. Though the intimidating presence he cut was undermined a bit by the tiny ball of fluff peeking out from his hands, resting her chin on his meaty hand. "If we're all off the board, the only ones who can make a move are Kaie & Tsu. And the math doesn't really work out to that bein' a smart play."

"True, unless we keep to the UG. I'm sure one of us can seek Shoka out from there, but even then-"

The door to the common room creaked open, and the room went deathly silent as a second stray cat snuck in.

"Uh, guys, why are you all crowding around like you're having a big meeting? Oh, crap, did I miss something-"

"Shoka! Oh darling, please don't scare us like that again," Ayano practically flew out of her chair and clung to the younger Reaper as though she'd just saved her life. Which, Tsugumi supposed, was fair enough, given that Ayano was probably pretty close to killing someone - probably Hishima or Kubo, at the rate they were going. "Why hadn't you messaged one of us earlier? Where even were you?"

"Uh, long story. UG's got some stuff going on in it again, apparently it's Kamoshida's fault, and my phone died so I crashed at Rindo's for the night." Shoka essentially summed up her lengthy tale in a sentence or two, but at the way Ayano tensed up at the last part, added, "Oh, but he slept on a futon. Honestly, we were both kinda wiped from spending as much time as we did in the UG without jumping back."

"Is this related to those mental shutdowns, or is this something else?" Hishima inquired, and Ayano tensed up again. Tsugumi groaned internally; once again, Hishima was decidedly not helping matters at all. She questioned every day what their esteemed leader saw in the gloved man that made him love him (oh, he tried to hide it, but Shiba was never known for being subtle about anything, ever), but that wasn't relevant right now.

"Something different, far as we know. Unless Math Man's hiding shit from us."

"Math Man... hold up, you mean you disks ran into Minamimoto down there?" Susukichi asked, apparently remembering his concern for Shoka trumped whatever he was doing manhandling that little cat of theirs (basically Su & Shoka's, but they liked to think everyone else helped more than they did). "The hell's he doin' back on the board?"

"Apparently, Josh has him looking into the mental shutdowns. Ran into us by chance and gave us a hand."

"And he didn't try and pick a fight? What a heated twist you've found there."

"That was a stretch at best, Shiba. You're out of practice."

"And I'm also out of patience for your nonsense-"

Tsugumi sighed as she patted the empty space on the couch, motioning for Shoka to join her - an offer she gladly took, hugging Tsugumi as she did. It was nice to have the family back together again, whole as they were.

"Welcome home, little stray."

"Thanks, big sis."

And Ayano choked on nothing at the quiet exchange. Shoka never called her big sis anymore.

Beat sucked at this game, he was willing to admit it.

But what he couldn't deal with was the fact of what game it was: a friggin' skating game. He could outskate anyone in Tokyo, dammit! Why was he having so much of an issue with this game in particular?

"Maybe it's because you're so used to skating normally, doing tricks with a button or two on a controller feels weird to you."

Neku might've had a point, but Beat wasn't really paying him any mind; he was still kinda mad at him about the other day. Not only for messin' up his boss fight - which he beat on the very next try, but that wasn't the point - but for still bein' the densest dude in all of Shibuya - nah, in all of Tokyo itself. How could he not realize that he n' Shiki were practically perfect for each other?

Or maybe he did, and he was just tryin' to keep things slow so they could savour it? He was stuck in Shinjuku for three years thanks to that freaky fairy girl and Priss-kid, after all, and Beat knew that messed Phones up pretty bad, if the occasional sleepless nights were any indicator. Neku was probably just glad to have his life back, and was takin' everything slow to enjoy it all while he could.

Kinda like what Mr. H told 'im, all those years ago.

"Yo, Phones, I gotta ask ya somethin'."

"Well, Beat, I figured you'd ask sooner or later. You see, when a man and a woman-"

"Aw, screw you, man! 'Sides, you can't talk, cuz you won't get together with your girl officially or whatever." Screw it, now Beat was just gonna pout until Neku shut up. Instead, he laughed at the poor blonde, and Beat was about this close to sockin' him one-

"I'm kidding, Beat. What's on your mind?"

"Well, I was jus' wonderin'. What happens when you n' Shiki do get together for real, yo? Am I gettin' kicked out?" Beat rubbed the back of his neck, setting down the PS4 controller. "Cuz, uh, me n' my folks aren't exactly on the best of terms right now, and..."

"Buddy, don't worry. You'll always be my partner, just like Shiki. Well, maybe not just like her, but... you know what I mean." Neku took Beat's hand off his neck and rubbed a small spot into it himself, knowing how therapeutic it was for the blonde boy. "We're always gonna be bros, even if me & Shiki end up living on our own some day. You're not getting kicked out anytime soon."

"Thanks, Phones. F'real, man. S'nice to have a brotha like you around."

A pause.

"Yo, does that make you Rhyme's big bro too?"

"Maybe. Does that mean we gotta fight for sole custody or something?"

"Pff. I'd whoop your ass if we did hafta fight over Rhyme, yo." Beat replied with a smirk, picking up the controller - only to find Neku reaching for the second player spot.

"Wanna go a few rounds in KOF before the new announcement comes out tonight?"

"Hell yeah, brotha! Let's do it!"

Brother. Yeah, Beat liked the sound of that for Neku. It just felt right. 

Goro Akechi hated working, period.

His detective days were grating enough; all the media shining their spotlights and crooked smiles onto him made him sick enough. But his 'other' job was even worse, given his employer was the very man who drove him to madness.

Among... other unsavoury things.

But, it was giving him a purpose, so Akechi went to work anyways. Perhaps the worst part of this job - which was saying a lot - was the subway commute. He hated subways, too; they were much too crowded and hot and just crawling with awful people with loose tongues who he so desperately wished he could simply 'do his job' towards - but, alas, he had a fairly strict list to follow today, so extra trips would cause too much of a stir.

Besides, those blasted Noise he kept running into were a problem.

The Shadows lurking in Mementos were one thing, but the Noise were another. His Persona worked well enough against them, but they tended to appear in much greater numbers than Shadows ever did, and often forced him into retreat - and, failing that, him burning through far too many healing spells from Robin Hood to keep him upright enough to finish the job he'd been given that day.

However, today he had no particular fear of running into the Noise. No, today held its' own fair share of challenges.

Namely, the simple fact that he wasn't alone down here.

It made no sense to him; why would someone else be in the Metaverse in general, let alone Mementos? Unlike a Palace, Mementos held no one Shadow, and was far too great for a single person to tackle alone - a group, maybe, but even then the hallways were large enough to give a group pause without some other means of transportation to navigate the veritable labyrinth of subway tunnels.

And the worst part was, they were on the same floor as him already, which meant he either had to deal with them already, or else sneak past them entirely.

He planned on the latter option, but as he got closer to sneak up on the group, he saw a face he recognized very well, as one who he'd known for many years growing up. One who he'd come to consider a friend, before he suddenly disappeared and left Akechi with a gaping emptiness only matched by the gaping maw of rage he held towards his bastard father. Before he left him behind, broken into pieces once again, just as his mother did.

How dare he show his face here now, well after Akechi needed him most.

Evidently, his rage was a bit too palpable, as the target of his anger seemed to notice something off, and got his three colleagues - he dared not call them friends - sent the trio away and moved towards him. The tunnel was wide, but grossly lacking in cover; Akechi knew full well that he had no escape plan. This was something he'd have to deal with head on, even with the tempest of emotions clouding his heart.

Shit.

"Hello, Goro. I have to say, it's a surprise seeing you here-"

And Akechi punched Haz square in the jaw. And screamed so loudly after the fact that the other three with Haz came racing over to check what was going on.

So much for getting any work done today.

Chapter Text

Fret was having a very not good day.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. School was okay, at least, and meeting Minako was definitely a highlight. But watching Haz get punched in the face by a dude in a black mask - who Haz, weirdly enough, seemed to know by name - in the middle of a creepy, vein-coated Shibuya subway? Yeah, that was the part that was a little too freaky for him, even with all the wild shit he saw in the Game.

Well, it still might not have been so bad if Haz actually reacted to being slugged full-force square in the face. Seriously, he was acting like he hadn't been hit at all, and that was creepier than any of the weird pulsing veins on the wall that kinda sounded like a heartbeat if he thought about it too long.

"Well, I see your temper is still as short as ever, Goro." Haz responded nonchalantly, as even behind that mask of his, the man he called Goro fumed. Even Fret could tell that much, even without seeing his face.

"Don't you give me that shit! Don't act like you still know me, or care about me! Why, it's almost like you never cared at all, with how easily you slid out and back into my life, ruining everything, again!"

Oh, he was pissed. Like, royally. It was like barfing on Nagi's limited-edition Tomonami poster signed by his voice actor, then wiping it up with Shoka's Mr. Mew hoodie, and deleting all of Rindo's FanGO progress afterwards just for shits and giggles. Then multiplied by, like, at least a thousand times.

"I... suppose I can understand why you would feel that way, Goro." Haz continued, a rare tinge of regret leaking into his voice. "I had so much more I needed to do for my work, and so much more I'd wanted to do as your friend." The regret almost seemed to be swallowed up by something Fret knew too well: the voice of a liar. The way he hitched his words in the exact spots he needed to to assure someone of things being okay, even when they were threatening to choke the air clean out of his lungs.

Maybe they could have used Boss here after all. She would've been way better at talking down this Goro dude.

"Enough of the fake sentiments. It doesn't matter now, considering you even being here has ruined everything I've worked for since you left." Goro spat out angrily, a hand hovering near his waist - holy shit, was that a gun on his side?! How'd Fret not notice that one before?

"What do you mean, everything you've- ah, I get it. It's been you making a mess down here lately."

"What do you mean, down here?? You act like this is your territory, your domain, your home, down here in the Metaverse-"

"UG." Haz cut off Goro with just two simple letters, and Fret, as he is often want to do, began to worry about just what the heck this dude was saying. Was it really worth it to just casually reveal the existence of the UG to this guy? Even if he was technically already down here, he thought the place was something different, but now...

"Call it whatever you like. I'm through here for the time being anyway." Goro began to spin on his heel and walk off, but his advance was halted by someone grabbing his wrist - someone decidedly not Haz.

And Fret's breath caught in his throat as Minako stared down the masked visage of a very pissed off Goro, despite everything in both her mind and his screaming that it was a very bad idea.

"Goro... can I call you that?" Minako shakily began, as if her words were evading her in every breath. As Goro slowly nodded, almost in shock more than anything, Minako continued, gently loosing her grip on Goro's wrist - firm, still, but not painful. "I don't know how I know this, but you're hurting. And not just from whatever relationship you & Haz used to have. And... you don't have to keep doing whatever this is to yourself."

Goro tried to scoff and cut Minako off, but she powered through - almost as if this was something she just did naturally, rather than just on a whim. "Revenge isn't going to solve anything. Trust me, I used to have a friend who thought the exact same way as you." She said wistfully, past regrets she'd thought long forgotten seeming to creep into her voice. "But he left that behind to find happiness in spite of his grief. You can do the same thing, if you want." 

And just as quickly as her tears seemed to wet her voice, her smile brightened it up once more as she extended her free hand towards Goro.

"We can help you, if you'll let us."

Fret found himself in absolute awe hearing her speak so confidently and smoothly - almost like an angel in his mind. Looking to his side, he noticed Rhyme seeming much the same - maybe not to the extent he was, but still clearly impressed by Minako's words.

Unfortunately...

"The only way you can help me is by killing the man who's dragged me into this to begin with." Goro was unmoved by her plea, and wrenched his arm free of Minako's grip, meeting no resistance as he did so. "I've come too far over these few months to stop now, and I will have his head. He will answer for everything he's done to me, and he will answer to me, and me alone."

As Goro opened his mouth to continue - possibly to berate Minako - the sound of rattling, screeching chains echoed through their surroundings.

And Fret looked to Haz, and he blanched. And so did Goro, for that matter... and even Minako looked like death itself was coming for them.

Oh holy fuck.

"Everyone. We need to leave, now."

Before they could even move, though, the five people found their visions were filled by the abhorrent sight of a hulking creature floating towards them, its' head clad in a bloody sack and dragging two long revolvers in its' ghastly, chained hands.

But what Fret noticed most of all was that everything else upon its' body was coated in Noise graffiti - all black and silver, to be exact.

"The Reaper..." Minako softly breathed out, face still wrenched in fear.

"Not exactly. That is a monstrous noise formed of many Taboo sigils refined into one. That... is the Mortem Cantus."

And Haz closed his eyes, as the Mortem Cantus let out an unearthly shriek and lunged at the quintet.

Shiho had plenty of time to think on the subway train home.

Of course, all the thoughts swimming in her head made it difficulty to really focus on any one thing. Not to mention all the salarymen talking on their phones filled her head with so much noise it was hard to keep her head out of the clouds to simply drown it out entirely - something that Sho had told her was dangerous to do in areas with a particularly strong UG.

Idly, she wondered if her home was in one of those areas, but by then the train had reached her stop, and Shiho had to race off the train before it sped off with her still inside. 

Sighing loudly as she reached her family home - a small, old place that didn't really fit the three people that had called it home on the regular - she noticed the beat-up old car that her mom had bought to get her and her husband to work was missing. Might have been for the best, though, considering Shiho really didn't want to explain why she felt the way that she did right now. Not that they would have believed her.

If anything, they probably would have told her to stop spending so much time with those 'weird friends' of hers and focus more on the volleyball team she was so proud to be a part of.

Was being the key word there, of course, now that she knew just what kind of rotten, twisted man her coach was. Maybe that was the first place her thoughts could go; the starting point to build off of just how she'd gotten here. How could Kamoshida do these sorts of things, and not feel awful for it? Was he truly such a despicable monster that he didn't care about the consequences, or was someone just covering up for him? Both seemed like a fair assessment, given how obsessed with image that Principal Kobayakawa was; having their star coach be proven to be a lustful monster would probably ruin his academic career, much less anything Kamoshida would ever try again. 

Speaking of trying again...

Shiho wondered whether or not she was truly capable of going back into the Metaverse, and fighting alongside her friends. It almost seemed unfair, given that Ryuji & Ann had both put themselves on the line for her and awakened to these new powers of Persona. Not to mention that Rindo & Shoka had much the same sort of powers as she apparently now possessed - what did Sho call them again? Psychs, or something like that?

It was strange, thinking about having superpowers like she was some girl out of those shonen manga Ryuji liked.

On top of all that, there was the continued mystery of the other new friend she'd made today - the mysterious delinquent transfer student.

On the one hand, Shiho could tell he had a knack for getting into trouble that seemed almost infectious. Somewhat of a given, with how they ended up in that castle to begin with largely because of him and his choices, but it was still something to note. In addition, the Shadows seemed almost obsessed with chasing him down, like he was drawing them in - not intentionally, of course (she hoped), but still... it was a frightening thought.

She should simply just ignore his very existence after today. But.

The more Shiho thought about it - all the rumours, and the fights he'd unintentionally led them into - she found she couldn't hate Akira Kurusu for any of it. In fact, the more she thought about Akira - the care he'd shown to Morgana and Ryuji, the worry he'd held towards people who, before today, were complete strangers to him, the very fact that he'd risked his life to help them out of their mess by going into this freaky other world? Seeming so much not like someone who could just assault someone in broad daylight and wreak havoc on their school?

The more she started to like having met Akira.

Sighing, Shiho simply headed up to her room. Maybe she could get some studying done instead of overthinking everything.

Keiko Sakamoto-Yasukawa was not a happy mother.

Not with her own son, of course; after talking to him, she was more elated than anything to find he'd made plenty of friends, both old and new. She always liked Ann and Rindo, and she was ecstatic to find that Shiho had still kept up her friendship with that duo for the last few years. And she remembered, of course, how Ryuji had dyed his hair for Ann, and roped Rindo into it too - the memory of having them both laughing it up as she fixed the patchy dye-job they'd done on their own was one of the best she'd ever held in her mind and heart all these years.

No, she was mad because of the person who'd dared to try and fuck with her baby boy by leaving a note attached to a rock thrown through their apartment window. A note expressly addressed to Ryuji, saying he'd be first up - whatever the hell that meant.

At first, she wondered if maybe it was one of those ex-track team punks from Shujin who blamed Ryuji for what happened to it. Which, she supposed, would be fair, given that only three people in the world knew what really happened that day. But both the wording and quality of the writing was too rushed, too frantic. It couldn't have been one of them unless they'd just happened to find the size of rock they needed to smash through Ryuji's bedroom window, and have the arm strength to pull it off.

An adult, then. Maybe Ryuji's estranged drunk of a deadbeat she dared not call his father, because she refused to allow his name to tarnish her son.

No, wait, that wasn't likely; Keiko knew he lived nowhere near Tokyo anymore, and had no means to get down here. Apparently - according to one of her old high school lady friends - he'd pissed off to Sumaru with whatever money he hadn't gambled away in a drunken haze and vowed to never set foot in Tokyo again, mostly so she wouldn't badger him to pay child support.

Fine by her, she supposed. The money would have been nice, but she knew how to get her hands dirty. She worked construction, got paid pretty well for a single mom, and provided for her boy. That was fine by her, she didn't need her asshole ex Taka fucking everything up for her son by showing up unannounced.

That left her suspect list painfully thin.

There was always the possibility that Ryuji had gotten himself mixed up with someone he shouldn't have, but her boy was smart in ways even he didn't truly get. Sure, his grades weren't great, much as she knew he tried, but he was smart when it came to people, and knew damn well who to trust or not. And, perhaps more importantly, he knew when to pick his battles more often than not, track incident aside. So the odds of him pissing off the wrong person were slim, although not entirely impossible.

Which led her back to Kamoshida.

Word on the street was that he'd been jumped by the older brother of someone at Shujin because he tried to touch some kid - who Ryuji had later mentioned was Rindo's girlfriend. Which, of course, gave plenty of incentive for that asshole coach to go after Ryuji again. Past history and a present connection to the latest thorn in the ass of Shujin's biggest asshole made for one hell of a problematic combination for her son, but it wasn't exactly his fault.

There were just too many shitty things that Kamoshida was willing to do. But she hadn't quite expected this to be on that evidently growing list.

Nor did she expect Ryuji to convince her to hold off on calling the cops over it. Admittedly, she knew Ryuji wasn't a fan of police - not since she'd found out that one of their local beat boys was a drinking buddy of Taka's who always got him blasted enough to come home and try and beat their little boy every other night. But this wasn't something she had the time to fix herself - and if the wrong cop found out she'd tried, then she'd be the one who fucked it all up for Ryuji by getting caught and charged.

So, Keiko supposed that Ryuji would figure out a way to get through it. Maybe his friends'd help him get his mind off of this Kamoshida shit. Idly, she wondered if she should try calling Lala again, but she hadn't heard from her in months - not since Shinjuku apparently went up in smoke - or so the story went. Keiko wasn't really sure if that was what went down, but she knew something was up there.

Not that it concerned her anymore. She was just an ordinary mom now, and not one of the baddest Harriers that Shinjuku had ever seen.

Elsewhere, out in the sleepy countryside, a young man searched and searched still.

It had been a few months since he set out on his journey, deciding to seek out his old friend - no, friend wasn't quite the right word to describe her, but what that word was, he couldn't say. He'd gotten a tip from an old colleague that the person he was after had been spotted in the country, going by some Western name that he hadn't cared much to remember.

He'd know her when he saw her, after all. Or maybe someone else would know her, perhaps.

Regardless, he'd intended Inaba to be a brief stopover on his journey - such a sleepy little town surely wouldn't fit what he was looking for. A quick pop into the local convenience store, and an even quicker trip to Junes to get some food he hadn't been able to find there that he was sorely craving.

"Yo! Welcome to Junes! Sorry, normally our mascot would greet ya, but he's a bit busy right now." The young man standing at the door to Junes said, grumpily looking over at the supposed mascot currently being attacked relentlessly by a veritable small army of children trying to jump on his head, as he tried and failed to roll onto his side to try and get up.

It was comical, honestly, how the bear resembled a turtle when he was like that.

"So, you lookin' for anything in particular? We've got a special on steak skewers right now - Inaba's local specialty! Twice the meat, none of the heat." The young man - Hanamura, judging by the nametag - quipped, bringing a smile to the other youth's face.

Instead, the other youth turned to Hanamura, the ghost of a chesire grin plastered upon his features. "I'm actually looking for someone, not something, if you must know. And I was hoping maybe you'd help me find them." His smug voice began, bringing a slight scowl to Hanamura's own features. "Tell me, Hanamura..."

Joshua Kiryu smiled an almost predatory smile. "Do you know a lady named Mariko Kusumi?" he asked. And Yosuke Hanamura paled at the mere mention of that name. Oh, he knew her, alright - and that was almost music to Joshua's ears.

"How... do you know her?"

"Aha. I've found her." Ignoring the question, Joshua turned around and smiled to himself.

He'd finally found the Lost Angel.

Chapter Text

This was really not a good day.

Rhyme swore that things couldn't have gone any worse for them down there - not only had Goro not sworn off the whole 'mental shutdown' thing, but they'd been attacked by a massive Taboo Noise that even Haz was hesitant to stand and fight. And now they'd all been more or less ejected from Mementos by some blinding light - maybe something Haz did; none of them knew, nor were they too keen on asking.

Well, Goro might have, but he was still busy seething at the blonde man for his past transgressions, evidently. And that opened up a whole bunch of questions in of itself - for instance, how did Haz and Goro know each other? And why the heck did it leave Goro so angry to see him again when they'd supposedly been thick as thieves?

Too much of a headache for one day.

"Well, that coulda gone worse." Fret, always the joker. But Rhyme knew the way his voice was lilted in just the right way to seem unperturbed - she knew that whole chain of events shook Fret to his very core. And something told her that it wasn't just the Mortem Cantus, or the Reaper, or whatever that was. "At least we all got outta there, right?"

A quick head count said yes, but one of the quintet had their eyes locked straight onto the belly of the beast - and, to Rhyme's shock, it wasn't Goro. Rather, it was Minako, her gaze filled with a steely determination that seemed horribly unfitting for her face. "There's something more down there. I can feel it. I... I need to go back in there."

"Go back?! Are you kidding, Minamiss?!" Fret cried out, apparently also having been shaken out of his underlying stupor enough to give her a nickname. It needed work, though. "We almost got erased down there, and you wanna go back down towards that freaky black-n-white Noise?" Minako's gaze faltered, and Rhyme knew she didn't have much of an answer.

"It won't necessarily still be down there when we go back." Minako replied, though she knew it was a likely stretch. "We can handle whatever's down there if we avoid it, so..."

"No, Minako." Haz suddenly cut in, his gaze firm in its own way. "As we are right now, running down there while the Mortem Cantus lurks the depths is a poor idea. We'll need to regroup."

"Good idea, Hazzy! Let's head back to the RG, grab some grub, and figure out a plan from there!" And just like that, Fret's jovial mask slipped back on. Rhyme couldn't help but sigh quietly, knowing that Fret would feel more at ease if he didn't hide his own fears; especially now, when they definitely had something to fear.

"The RG? Is that... the real world?" Minako piped up, as Haz let out the slightest groan Rhyme had ever heard. Must've missed that part of the explanation.

"Yes, but..." Haz trailed off, and Rhyme felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Were they stuck in the UG because of that Noise?

"Hold up, are we stuck here because of that freaky Noise?!" Fret, evidently, held the same train of thought as Rhyme did. Only he was a bit more vocal about it. Haz, however, shook his head, not even bothering to look at Fret - instead, he kept his eyes squarely on Minako.

"No, most of us are free to go back. But Minako..." Haz trailed off again, face twisted in consideration. Clearly, he was playing this all by ear, and searching for the right way to explain whatever issue they had with Minako going back to the RG with them. "Her existence in this world is still a fragile thing, and frankly, it's a miracle she's even here with us now. For the time being, she can't go back - not unless we want to risk her erasure, or the second advent of Nyx herself."

"Nyx? Like... the Greek Nyx?" Goro finally spoke, curiosity overriding his rage for the moment. "Why would Minako going back to the RG bring back a mythical goddess?"

"Because Minako was the one who sealed her away, and prevented the Fall."

"What's the Fall? Is it like... like the Inversion?" Fret chimed in, raising his hand as he did. Minako and Rhyme both had to stifle giggles at that, finding it endearing that he was acting like this was just class and not a serious matter of life and death that they'd just escaped from - or so they figured.

"Somewhat. The point is, it would be catastrophic if we allowed the Seal to break by bringing Minako back to the RG."

"But wait, if Minako is supposed to exist as this Seal..." Rhyme hummed in thought, as Haz turned his attention to her. "Then how come she's in the UG now, and not on whatever plane she was on before?"

"Because of Fret."

Fret squawked so loudly at the unexpected response, Rhyme swore she could hear a few Easterravens crow out in response. Not that she could blame him; she was just as floored at that - and how casually Haz had said it - as he was. And Minako looked just as shocked, while Goro... well, he just seemed lost; which made sense, given his unfamiliarity with the Reaper's Game and all that it entailed.

"Kweh?! Whaddya mean, I brought Mina back?"

"When you defeated the Soul Pulvis." Haz began, and Fret's shock began to fade - though maybe it was more that he was trying to bury it back under his mask. "Your mass reminding the city to think positive thoughts to combat the Soul Pulvis' negative energy had the side effect of weakening Nyx, giving Minako a chance to manifest physically again. After all, a city full of positive people with a zest for life..."

"Would definitely be against Death." Minako finished, as she turned to Fret and clasped his hands in hers. And Fret, naturally, played it super cool - oh, wait, no, it was just a delayed reaction, he was turning so red that Rhyme swore steam was about to come out of his ears. Wow, he fell head over heels for Minako, didn't he?

Or maybe that's just how he was with people he really liked like that.

"Thank you, Fret... for saving my life. I didn't even know it was possible to do that stuff, but you..." Minako smiled at him, so brightly that she swore Fret was getting sunburnt. "You gave me another chance to live."

Fret, to his credit, didn't make a fool of himself by saying something stupid.

No, he just passed out with a big dopey grin on his face.

"Oh. Well." Even Haz was surprised by that one. Rhyme was too, considering she knew him better than anyone else here. "I, uh. I suppose we'll have to get him out of the UG now, lest the Noise get attracted to him."

"You." Goro pointed the clawed finger of his costume directly at Haz, and Haz simply gave him an impassive look. "You have a lot of explaining to do later."

"I fully intend to." Haz replied simply, before turning back to Minako. "Will you be alright here by yourself until we return?" Minako nodded, and Haz did so in return before turning back towards Goro & Rhyme. "Alright. We should be able to use the Metaverse app to return from here, though... actually..."

Uh oh. What was it now?

"You, uh. May want to get out of the middle of the crossing before you do. Wouldn't want to get run over, now."

Makoto Niijima was so very tired.

Between her duties as Shujin's student council president, the constant pressure from her older sister Sae to excel at all aspects of life, and whatever had the principal so riled up, things piled up very quickly for Makoto. Not to mention her two personal projects that she'd undertaken recently. One, of course, was looking into the attack on Coach Kamoshida herself, and the other...

Well, the other was probably nothing, but something was bothering her about the fact that two students had simply gone missing for a number of days. And that it coincided with the sudden radio silence of a certain Detective Prince, and a well-known model for Il Cavallo del Re. An odd combination, to be sure, but Makoto was convinced that it was all connected.

She knew she had to get in contact with one of them, but how could she reach either of the missing students when nobody had heard from them in days? Especially considering not even their families had heard from them in that time, and were now apparently tearing up Shibuya trying to find the pair, if the rumour mill was any indicator. Though, after all the rumours about a second-year sleeping with Kamoshida earlier in the year, and whatever nonsense they'd made up about the transfer student...

Well. Makoto didn't have time for petty gossip anyways.

What she also didn't have time for was Ann Takamaki bursting into the student council office with fire in her eyes and an apparent appetite for destruction.

"Hey, so, why the hell hasn't the student council done anything about those rumours about Akira and Shiho?!" Ah, right, Akira, that was the name of the infamous transfer student. She remembered the Suzui rumours too, even if they were far-fetched at best - though, perhaps Makoto would have to revisit them in light of the attack on the coach.

"Because the student council doesn't deal in rumours, Takamaki." Makoto replied in her best prim and proper voice, hands folded in front of her on the desk. "We have more important matters to address than gossip, and honestly..." She sighed in a brief moment of repose before continuing, "I highly doubt that we'd be able to quiet the students as it is. You of all people should know how the rumour mill works here."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I mean, those rumours about you and Coach Kamoshida. I can only assume that they're false, but from how nobody would stop speaking of it..." Makoto didn't even bother finishing, knowing how she may have stepped too far into poking at Takamaki. Especially because Ann also knew it, and slammed her hands on the table.

"Who the hell do you think you are- I had nothing to do with that pervy freak of a coach, no matter what he likes to try telling people!" Ann's voice seemed to echo off the walls of the otherwise empty student council office, and Makoto couldn't help but wince despite herself. "And frankly, you're part of the reason why he's gotten so bad as to try something on Shoka."

"Wait, what happened with Sakurane? I'm afraid I haven't heard anything that links her into all this."

Ann took a deep breath, and sighed. "First, I want this to be confidential. Nothing I tell you leaves this room." Makoto's eyebrow shot up at that, but Ann hastily adds, "I don't know if the principal has anything to do with this. With how much Kamoshida's apparently been getting away with..."

"Alright. I'll hold off on taking this to the staff for now."

"Well... you can tell a couple people." Ann continued, and Makoto's other eyebrow shot up this time. "Our guidance counselor, for one, and Anazawa-sensei too. Oh, and Kawahara-sensei, too, I always forget that Shoka and the others know him personally too."

"Alright, then. If it comes down to it, I'll let them know. So, what happened?"

"He tried to grope her, that's what!" Ann yelled out, and again Makoto had to wince at her sheer volume. "Right in front of her actual boyfriend, too. Even grabbed her wrist so hard it bruised, from what Rindo told me." Rindo... right, that was the other blonde she'd seen with Sakurane a lot. "Then she told her family about what happened, and... well..."

"Then the big guy came and put Kamoshida in the hospital." Makoto sighed; well, that sorted that matter out. Though it sounded like there was definitely just cause, if a teacher was groping his students... "Okay. I'll look into it, but I need to ask you something in return." Makoto said hesitantly, before turning the file folders in front of her towards Ann before she had time to protest.

Ann's eyes widened, as she picked up one of the folders, and Makoto knew she had made the right call in asking for her help.

"You know these two, right? I need your help finding them. Help me find Tosai Furesawa & Raimu Bito, and then I'll be able to devote everything to helping you gather all the proper information you need to deal with Kamoshida."

"Fret."

"Hm?"

"Tosai... he goes by Fret instead. Everyone calls him that, even the teachers. Well, except Ushimaru." Ann explained, and Makoto nodded. That helped out a bit. "And Rhyme, too... well, I know someone we can call to help, at least."

"Oh? Who might that be?"

"Beat, of course. Her older brother can definitely find her."

"This is such a stupid idea."

"Aw, shut up, ya petty disk! It's totally gonna work!"

Ayano groaned to herself as Susukichi adjusted the rake on the floor of Kaie's room, questioning all of her life choices. How the larger man had managed to get so many rakes on such short notice was unclear - though she suspected Kubo was involved, given his shiftiness - and the little detail that his recent browsing history included a lot of Amazon searching for gardening tools. What was only slightly less clear was the reasoning behind this little prank, especially towards probably the nicest member of their little Shinjuku family unit. 

"Remind me again why we're doing this?"

"Simple! We're gonna get Kaie to say fuck." Shoka had piped up, evidently finished adjusting the furniture just so, so that Kaie would be more likely to stub his toe. Again, odd, but Ayano supposed it made more sense than the rakes. And was much more cost effective.

"That's ridiculous." She still deigned to say, because frankly, it was ridiculous. Were they all truly so bored recently that they had to resort to this sort of antic to get some entertainment around here? Well...

Actually, yes; there was only so much that could be derived from Shiba continuing to deny that he wasn't still madly in love with the intense tire fire known as Hishima Sakazuki.

And Ayano's threshold for that had long been passed, especially when it was almost clockwork how every time Hishima did something ridiculous, Shiba came banging on her door with a pack of Kirin Lager and tears welling up in his eyes. Honestly, it was a bit much to hear his drunken ramblings all the time.

"Look, we've been locked in this little section of the board for the last week or so, n' I'm losin' it here." Susukichi stated matter of factly, still looking silly with the cat resting on his head. Shoka snapped a picture of it anyways on her phone, though. "We've gotta do somethin' to get some excitement back into this house! I think Hishima's runnin' outta moves to get the boss pissed at him before he has to resort to the big guns."

"Oh god, if I come back from school and see him doing a strip-tease in the living room, I'm gonna throw up directly into his shoes."

"I'd throw him out the window before he did, darling." Ayano had to admit, at least, that Hishima's sillier antics were more preferable to their out and out flirting; that was painful enough the first time, given Hishima's awkwardness in the matter. And the fact that Shiba was aggressively obtuse when it came to anything about Hishima, but that was neither here nor there.

"Plus, it's gonna be funny when Shiba gets his credit card bill, cuz Kubo made him foot the bill for all these rakes."

"Heh. He might even get a little... heated." Shoka quipped, drawing a guffaw from Susukichi and a slight smile from Ayano.

"Hah! He's gonna get so steamin' mad, the disk'll flip!"

"He might even get a little hot under the collar." Ayano giggled out, and Shoka and Susukichi both burst into laughter.

"Oh, do go on. You're getting much better at burning me with my own fire puns, truly." Shiba cut in, and Susukichi fell over and took a rake to the rear for his troubles. "Honestly, this is barely an ember of creativity coming from you three. Especially you, Ayano."

"Hmph. I'm just here to make sure my darling Shoka doesn't hurt herself."

"Hey! What about me?"

"You're already hurting yourself, Susukichi dear." Ayano sniffed, as Susukichi tried to get up and immediately sent one of the rakes flying with his meaty hand slamming on the lip. "And the rest of us, too, if you aren't careful."

"Is the boredom truly burning so hot with you three that you had to resort to a prank to get some entertainment here?" Shiba inquired, as he gingerly stepped around the rakes to help gather Susukichi to his feet. "Because I can't even begin to imagine how you would have managed this otherwise."

"Well, yeah! The game's hit a stalemate! We're outta moves! And we ain't even gotten to flip any Noise to blow off some steam in ages!" Susukichi groaned, even as the cat meowed atop his head. Another likely snapshot for Shoka's phone, Ayano supposed.

"Hm. Well, I suppose we could always slip into the UG from here and turn up the heat with nobody none the wiser..." Shiba began, but trailed off, as if remembering something. "Ah, right. It may not be the best idea, though, given the Composer seems to be missing from Shibuya. Our own Composer is filling in in the meantime, though, so..."

"I hadn't known Hazuki was lurking about here. Is there a reason why?"

"Something about doing a favour for his friend, and that he'd found something interesting in the UG here in Shibuya." Shiba mused, putting a hand to his chin - unlike him, Ayano noticed. He always went heart first before anything else. "I guess we could always try and fan our flames a bit, see if we can't see what's been burning up our dear Composer so."

"Dear? Shiba, he's the reason Kubo trashed Shinjuku to begin with. I don't really wanna deal with him." Shoka gritted out, and Ayano could hardly blame her. Shoka had taken to Shibuya like a fish to water, especially with her relationship with that Kanade boy that she still didn't see the appeal in. Ayano, meanwhile, couldn't wait to leave, though she preferred to do so with the company of her family at her side. And if something was distracting Hazuki so badly that it prevented him from fixing Shinjuku as he'd promised them before...

"Well, I wouldn't mind seeing what all the fuss is about there."

"Alright then, my Reapers. Temper yourselves, and burn brightly! Our goal is to investigate the Shibuya Underground, and determine what exactly has our Composer so fixated on it!"

"Wait!" Susukichi piped up. Three heads turned to him in unison.

"We gotta set up a recorder! They way, we can figure out if Kaie ends up sayin' fuck or not!"

"Great thinking, Big Su! Hey Shiba, can we borrow your tape recorder?"

"Absolutely not!"

---

There was tension in the air in Shibuya's Big Bang Burger.

Granted, about 90% of that tension came from Fuya, as he tittered his fingers together while Motoi and Kanon stared each other down from opposite ends of the table they'd gathered at. The trio had taken to gathering every so often for their own little Shujin staff meetings, which they found was much easier to manage when food was involved. Usually, Motoi footed the bill for their dinners, which made sense since he had more food than the other two put together. And more often than not, they simply ended up devolving into a discussion about this, that, or the other thing, with nary a care in the world.

Today, though, they were here with real business to discuss.

"I know you both felt that a few days ago." Kanon began, as Motoi took what many would consider an obnoxiously loud slurp of his fountain drink. "That weird pull in the UG... from what Fret told me, the new transfer student in your class might have something to do with it." She continued, pointing lazily at Motoi as he set his drink down on the table. It was too close to Fuya's own for his comfort, but that wasn't something he was keen on bringing up right now.

"Mais oui, I felt the tugging too. But you're certain that the new transfer is involved?" Motoi replied, picking up a fry as he did. "It seems a bit farfetched, but I suppose it could happen." Munching on a few more fries, he pressed on. "That doesn't explain why Fret & Rhyme have just up and verschwunden on us!" On seeing the look that hit Kanon's face as he mentioned her favourite of the Twisters - much as she denied it - Motoi sighed and apologized quietly.

"If that's true, then this transfer could be behind a great number of problems. Like the deluge of mental shutdowns, for one." Fuya added, rare in the confidence that had carried his voice. For a moment, both Motoi and Kanon looked proud of him, and how far he'd seemed to have come since the Second Long Game ended for him far more prematurely than theirs had.

"But didn't the mental shutdowns start a few months ago?" Kanon replied inquisitively, fingers twirling a fry of her own in her hand. "Akira hadn't transferred in until a couple weeks ago, so it seems unlikely that he'd be involved in that business. Especially since he would have had to have come from all the way in Inaba to do anything here."

"Right, that seems like too much effort for a so-called delinquent to put out to cause such a problema in our UG." Motoi added, and for a moment, Fuya sank in his seat. "But you might be right about it being connected, though. Maybe this is just a small bit of a big exemplo!" He'd added, waving his burger around in his hand animatedly.

"Hm. Maybe we should get Sumio to poke into it a bit more? Or can he still not get back into the UG?"

"Non. He's not even returning my messages." Motoi sighed, and placed his burger back down on the table. It was never a good sign when Motoi got quiet like this. "Apparently, he'd been hit with a mental shutdown himself."

Kanon froze, and Fuya squeaked out a very masculine noise.

"You're certain?"

"Mhm. One of my other former lieutenants told me himself." Motoi continued, face etched with a grim solemnity. "Honestly, when they'd first told me, I found it tres ridicule to think that my second-in-command would go down so easily." He sighed, took a small bite of his burger, and continued shortly after. "But then I saw the news, and that subway accident..."

"Oh god. That was him driving the subway that day?" Kanon could scarcely believe it, and neither could Fuya. He could tell that the dam of Motoi's grief was near overflowing, but he knew very little about cheering people up, so he couldn't bring himself to help. "Poor guy... Maito was devastated when he heard Sumio got caught up in a big accident, but to think that was him..."

"Right. So we're going to figure this out. It's my little way of getting some rächen for him. Are you two in?"

"Of course. You can count the rest of my Variabeauties in too." Kanon replied instantly, hands folded together in front of her. "We may not be able to pop into the UG, but we can still keep an eye out for things up here, and try and limit the damage that the mental shutdowns cause up here."

"Wonderful! And, uh, Fuya?" Motoi cotninued, startling Fuya out of the haze that focusing on his fish sandwich had left him in. "Are your Deep Rivers up to helping too?"

"I-I don't... have much contact... with any of th-them." Fuya stammered out, apparently still a bit too startled to speak properly. "B-but I can certainly try and help any way I can."

"Great! Then it's settled!" Motoi exclaimed, as he hovered his hand in the middle of the table. After a brief moment of confusion, both Kanon and Fuya got what he was going for, and placed their hands atop his.

"To the new alliance of the Purehearts, Variabeauties, and Deep Rivers Society!" The trio had exclaimed, throwing their hands up into the air in unison before returning to their dinners, and the muted conversation that followed.

This was certainly a 'staff meeting' worth holding after all, Fuya thought to himself as he broke bread with his new allies - no, he figured they were more, now. 

Friends, probably.

Chapter Text

Beat looked about ready to live up to his name.

Namely, the fact that after hearing from Rindo that Rhyme had vanished for a few days and nobody had heard from either her or Fret had Beat fuming. Was he mad at Fret for disappearing alongside his sister? Normally, he might be, except he knew that Rhyme wasn't exactly his type, and so he didn't have to worry about them runnin' off to keep Beat from throttling the poor guy. Besides, he liked Fret; they were good buddies, and he knew he'd be able to trust him with Rhyme.

Still didn't change the fact that they were both missing, but at least Beat figured that Rhyme was in good company.

"Yo, you seen this girl?!" He shouted out at a group of passers-by, waving a photo of Rhyme in front of him like a talisman warding off ghosts. Which, evidently, seemed to be what his actions were doing - rather than getting information, all he was doing was scaring everyone off. This was really not working for him. 

"Having trouble finding someone, Bito?" A smooth, deep voice inquired, undercutting any potential thoughts of misery Beat may have had. Whipping around to the source of the voice - and the usage of his real name that always got him pissed off - Beat found himself looking at the face of someone he hadn't expected to see out & about.

"Bwah?! Hishie? The hell you doin' out n' bout, yo? Thought you was layin low after the smackdown you-"

 "All I did was drive the damn car." Hishima groaned, cutting Beat off before he could end up implicated in something he honestly had very little part in. "It was the other two that did most of the work. And that's not the point here, Bito."

"S'Beat, yo. Ain't nobody call me Bito anymore n'not get yelled at for it."

"Fine, Beat. You say you're looking for your sister?" Hishima asked, and Beat nodded as he looked out towards Tipsy Tose Hall. He'd hoped maybe he could catch Rhyme coming back from Udagawa, cuz he knew she loved the parfaits they sold out there, but no such luck. "I can message Kaie, and see if he's heard from her recently."

"For sure, man, that'd be great." Beat said tiredly, slumping down onto one of the public benches. Hishima, in turn, slid down onto the spot beside him without missing a step. "Man, I jus' hope that coach ain't done nothin' to her. I don't wanna see anything happen to my little sis, y'feel?"

"Beat, I've been on house arrest for about a week because I feel you."

"Yeah, guess I'm talkin' to the right kinda guy then." Beat ruffled his own hair, lost in a rare moment of thought. "Whatchu out here for, anyway? Makin' a jailbreak or somethin'?"
"No, this is a work matter." Hishima stated plainly, and Beat leaned in a bit closer, now fully attentive. He may not have been a Reaper for very long those years ago, but he knew enough about how things worked with them and their work. "The Composer of Shibuya's been missing for a while, and Hazuki - our Composer in Shinjuku - stepped in to fill the gap."

"So, wha's the big deal wit that, yo? S'kinda nice, not having Priss-kid around to bug me n' Neku at our place."

"The big deal is that we have no idea why he's decided to play nice with Shibuya all of a sudden. Or why he seems so focused on the UG here." Hishima continued, adjusting his glasses as he leaned into himself slightly. "Shiba wanted us to poke around and find out."

"Huh. Maybe s'got somethin' to do with those mental shutdowns or whatever?" Beat chimed in, much to the surprise of the older Reaper. "I mean, maybe someone's usin' the UG for 'em, and Hazzy wants t'figure out who it is." Not that he could do much, given his status and apparent inability to interfere with the Planes, but surely he had some kind of plan for that, right? It only made sense, even to Beat.

"Hrm... these mental shutdowns of the last few months do seem to make sense as being a phenomenon of the UG. Although I can't fathom how that would work..." Hishima trailed off, again lost in thought, before turning back to Beat. "I have to admit, I'm surprised that you've given me such valuable insight. You might consider becoming a Reaper yourself, with your intuition regarding the UG."

"Nah." Beat said flatly, much to the muted surprise of Hishima. "S'already somethin' I did before, a few years back. I ain't interested in goin' back, specially not when there's only, like, a few people here." He also remembered how bare-bones the Shibuya Reapers were these days, with only Lollipop & Pinky really sitting among the leaders; everyone else they had left were the usual wall type'a guys.

"Hm. Well, the offer still stands. I should go talk to Shiba & Kaie." Hishima replied, standing up and turning on his heel. "I'll message you if I find out anything from Kaie about your sister. Take care, Beat."

And Hishima left, leaving Beat to continue the search for his sister alone. Which was fine by him, really; after all, he didn't wanna hold anyone back or slow 'em down.

As was the norm these days, Akira had shut down as soon as he got home.

Mindlessly sifting through the music on his phone, he allowed himself a rare moment of actually thinking about the things going on in his life, none of which seemed to make any sort of sense. The talking cat he now kept in his room was probably the least nonsensical of the bunch, and that horrified and angered him to no end.

Honestly, fuck whatever power above that thought he was the one who should have to deal with all of this. It just wasn't right, to have him sent away just because he got in the way of some bald fuck assaulting a woman in the middle of the night in his sleepy little country town. It wasn't right that he had to spend an entire year cut off from his family for no other reason than spite from the courts, who seemed offended by his very existence in their courtrooms and sought to ruin him so thoroughly he wouldn't dare to darken their doors again.

And it just wasn't right that on top of all of that, he had to go supernatural dumpster-diving into the heart of his shitbag high school PE coach.

Akira groaned to himself as he shoved his science textbook off to the side. He wasn't even convinced it was a good idea, not to mention that he was acting like a goddamn lonely idiot where it concerned the Palace exploration. Bad enough he had to bring Ryuji and Morgana in there, but he decided to bring several others in alongside him, and now they were all roped into something he didn't even want a part of.

Maybe he should just tell them that they had no need to go into the Palace anymore. Sure, he was probably about to be expelled and sent off to juvie if they didn't change Kamoshida's heart, but part of Akira thought that maybe it was just easier that way. As it was, his future had probably been stolen from him; no university or employer in the country would want someone with an assault charge around. It made him too much of a safety risk, and that just wouldn't do, now would it?

And it wasn't like he could just go back to Inaba and forget it had ever happened. Oh no, he was well aware of how they were likely talking about him out there, like he was some kind of delinquent and that all the old gossipy birds knew all along that he was like this, and oh isn't his father just the worst for letting his son run free like that? It made Akira's blood boil almost as much as that damn Palace did.

Having given up on any pretense of getting his homework done for the night, he scrolled through his old messages, gaze falling upon his old chat with his cousin Yukiko. God, that was another matter that he'd fucked up out there; now there was a pretty good chance that Yukiko's relation to him was making the Amagi Inn suffer some bad business from locals turning them away, because oh she associates with such hooligans, you're better off just staying somewhere else!

Nope. His phone was not making things better. So, Akira did what any sane person in his particular situation would do.

He tossed it clear out the attic window. 

There. No more Metaverse Navigator, no more old memories threatening to choke him out. He could just keep his head down and away from everyone else, so they wouldn't get dragged down from association with him. It was bad enough that Sojiro and the Twisters had to deal with him, but that wouldn't last much longer either - not if he had anything to do with it.

Or, at least, that was the plan. Which got entirely ruined when a soft rapping against his window rang through the attic as Mona wanted in - a familiar rectrangular shape in his mouth. Fuck.

"Joker, let me in! It's rainy out, and your phone's going to get wrecked!"

He wanted so badly to ignore the cat, and just let him grumpliy stalk off somewhere else - maybe to Ann's house, considering he kept calling her Lady Ann like it didn't sound almost as fucking creepy as anything Kamoshida did to the girls of Shujin. Then he could just pretend that none of the last couple weeks had even happened, aside from the likely dreams of people in blue complaining about him ignoring the coming ruin. Things could just go back to normal, or at least as normal as he could possibly have anymore.

But... no. That just wasn't right, was it?

Unlocking the window and letting Mona - and his discarded phone - back in, Akira thought about all the pros of what was going on. This was... this was something only he could do. Well, he and a handful of people that he wanted to bring into his world, but still. And his friends all seemed to care a lot about his well-being, though whether that was because they truly cared or if they just didn't want his blood on their hands wasn't clear yet. 

And his dad always taught him to do the right thing.

"Heh. Good thing I was there to catch your phone for you, eh Joker? You almost lost everything on here!" Mona had said, puffing out his chest like it was the greatest thing in the world that he'd done for his charge. Which, given that Mona apparently had no memories of his past life - as a human, as he'd so protested every time someone called him a cat - made sense to Akira, because it probably was the best thing he'd done that he could remember.

And thus, did Akira give his not-cat a tired smile as he allowed him to drop the phone back into his hands - evidently, safe from water damage. Which was good, he was going to need it to not mess up on him in the coming weeks.

"Yeah... thanks, Mona."

Maybe he'd heed Mona's usual advice and turn in early tonight.

Neku let out another groan as his face hit the table.

This was it. He was done for, finished, kaput.

"Uh... Neku? You, uh. You don't have to finish your grilled alligator, if you really don't want to." Shiki, ever the graceful one of their little tandem, was busy chewing into her dry-aged steak, looking like the epitome of the old feminine ideals even as she went several bites into a meal that Neku probably should have gotten for himself.

They were relatively alone in SBY BBQ, which was nice - meant that more people didn't have to see Neku's suffering to try and finish this absolute behemoth of a meal. He hadn't been here before, since the place hadn't been around when he was here three years ago, and they hadn't had time to scope it out during the game. And part of it was down to his damnable curiosity - he thought maybe it was like an alligator steak, or maybe something like a fish fry.

Not just the chef slamming a whole ass alligator grilled, fried, and probably broiled onto their table with all the force of a mixed martial artist.

"I, uh. I don't think I could ever finish it." He finally admitted as Shiki simply let out a tired giggle and reached over to take a bite of his meal. Though, given the wince she made when putting the alligator meat into her mouth, something told Neku that she wouldn't be making any effort to finish his meal for him either. Maybe they'd just take it home and give it to Beat; seemed like something right up his alley, food-wise.

"Maybe we should just go grab food somewhere else - and quick, before all the other restaurants in Shibuya close for the night." Shiki whispered, threading her fingers through his own as she did, her gentle touch sending a shiver up Neku's spine. "Although, any meal is great when you have the best company in all of Shibuya to share it with."

She must have been practicing her lines while he was stuck in Shinjuku's UG all those years. There was no other reasonable explanation for it. "You're right, Shiki. C'mon, let's ask for a take-home container and get outta here." Neku replied, gently brushing the hair out of Shiki's face, causing her cheeks to light up as red as Eri's hair and hoodie that he still remembered from those years ago when Shiki had been thrust into her body for the Reaper's Game.

Honestly, back then, part of him had to wonder if maybe he'd fallen more for Shiki's looks than anything. It made sense, back then - he was just fifteen, hadn't really known any better, and Eri was easy on the eyes. Of course, that was blown out of the water the second that they'd met back up in the UG, and now Neku couldn't imagine caring this much about anyone else.

It was nice, really, having someone so close to him after so long away.

"Hey, maybe we should go visit the Don, for old times' sake." Shiki's song-like voice sliced through the fog of Neku's thoughts, just as she always had. It was amazing that her voice could still do that to him even after three years, but here they were. "I bet he misses his old best customers. Hey, do you think he'd still serve us his famous ramen if we asked nicely enough?"

"You should try the curry ramen there. It's really good." Neku replied, gently holding Shiki's hand in his own. It made him think about how different their hands felt, especially compared to what some people might expect. It was definitely something he had to get used to when they'd started their 'unofficial' dating a few months back, secret to everyone but Beat (and probably Rhyme, given how much they shared between each other). But now he couldn't imagine anyone else by his side.

"I'll take your word for it, partner~"

And oh, how that made Neku's face turn red, much to Shiki's thinly-veiled delight. It was so refreshing to be the one to make Neku blush and not the other way around, given how effortlessly he did it to her all the time. In response, Neku ruffled Shiki's hair, an act that he knew would always get her turning, no matter how briefly, into a squeaking, blushy mess.

"Hey, I just washed it earlier! I have a board meeting tomorrow, please don't mess up my hair too badly before then."

"Aw, but it looks cuter that way. More natural. I bet the board'll love it."

"Neku!"

It was rare for Sho to allow himself a treat when there was so much to be done.

Nevertheless, he crunched the numbers and determined that this was the best way to solve the equation that had been plaguing him for some time. Namely, how to remove both the h variable from his stomach, and the s one from his mind. After all, all the calculations in the world can easily be thrown off if his numbers are all out of wack, and he couldn't afford to let that sort of amateurish mistake sink him.

And thus, he'd been finding himself drawn to Cutie Pies.

Admittedly, he probably stuck out like a thorn in this establishment, given his usual presentation. But none of that mattered right now; he simply wanted some delectable sweets, and he knew that he could enjoy himself here without any unwanted variables mucking up his equations - at least, so he'd surmised on his arrival there.
Of course, every equation in his vast mind couldn't have prepared him from the added garbage that often did little but infest his calculations.

"Minimoto~! So this is where you've been hiding ☆"

How derivative, having to deal with this pixie pest while he took a rare moment for himself. Especially given that he hadn't asked to be saddled with her for the rest of his undead days. But, as Sho learned fairly quickly, Coco Atarashi was a very, very persistent thorn in his side.

At least she hadn't come by with that girlfriend of hers - one of the Shinjuku Reapers, if his memory served. He wasn't nearly as capable of dealing with multiple added factors in his calculations at the moment, given they were in the RG and he couldn't simply just brush her away by disappearing into the UG - not here, anyway.

"What do you want, pixie? I'm trying to enjoy some 3.14 here."

"Ugh, knock it off with the numbers shit." Ah, right to the point then. Good, he hated dealing with Coco even more when she kept up the cutesy garbage. "Look, I gotta ask you: what the hell are you doing sniffing around Shujin, of all places? If this is your way of brushing off work, I swear I'm gonna-"

"There's a massive distortion over there." Sho cut her off with a simple handwave, putting a scowl on Coco's face but nonetheless cutting off her train of thoughts before it could derail into a tangent against him. And not the good kind, either. "Composer thinks it might be part of the mental shutdown equation. Plus, the Twisters're looking into it too."

"Eh? What's Rindo doing poking around in the UG over there?"

"It's his school, you do the math. Besides, I'd heard some garbage was messing with his l factor."

Coco pouted a bit, trying to wrack her brain for how to parse this information. Then it hit her. "Oh, right! I forgot that some asshole coach had tried to mess with Shoka over there. Heard he's still in the hospital from the beating Susukichi and Ayano both laid on him." That drew a derisive snort from Sho; served the asshole right, for messing with the Reapers - even if he wasn't aware of the UG factor.

"Yeah, well, the zeptograms still need a babysitter. And besides..." Here, Sho's almost cat-like features twisted into something more feral. "I think I might've found the hidden variable to solve my own formulas once and for all."

Coco groaned. "Don't tell me you're still planning on fighting the Composer. I'm getting really tired of having to peel you off the sidewalk and necromance you back, y'know."

"If I'm going to run this city, I have to crunch the Composer. You've already done the math."

"Yeah, but you forget: it's supposed to be both of us running Shibuya, not just you. And besides..." Coco trailed off, only to lean closer to Sho in an almost conspiratorial manner. "I heard that the Composer's been missing from Shibuya for a while." That threw quite the wrench into Sho's calculations if it was true, given that he kind of needed to crunch the Composer himself to seize Shibuya for his own. But maybe it bought him some time to get all his variables in place...

"Plus, you've gotta tell me allllllllllll about your little adventures~ ☆" This time, it was Sho's turn to groan and grumble as Coco slid out the chair opposite him and plopped down into it. "So come on, Minimoto. Tell me all about this distortion in the UG, and what's got Rindo and his buddies so fixated on it."

Fair enough, he supposed. Plus, it would likely get her to leave him be if he just played along, and his pie was getting cold for inattentiveness.

"Well, let's show our work from the beginning..."

Chapter Text

Minako was thinking about a lot of things lately.

Not that she had much ability to do anything else; evidently, being stuck in the UG meant that, much as she could see the world she'd saved thrive, she couldn't enjoy any of it herself. Haz had even warned her as such, before he vanished to deal with some important business in another section of the UG. Minako admired how easily he could flit so well between one thing and the next, like a sort of transient existence.

Kind of like her own time in Tatsumi Port Island, really.

Such was the topic of the latest of Minako's deep dives into her own thoughts and psyche; namely, just who was she after all this time? And for that matter, had she ever truly known who she was, or was she just a blank slate for others to impart what they needed or wanted her to be? It made an almost disturbing amount of sense, the latter; between her Fool arcana, Wild Card nature as a Persona user, and the fact she ended up becoming so good of an impromptu therapist for Iwadotai that one of her former teachers thought she was halfway to a degree for it already.

Might be something to consider for her future whenever she makes it back to the real world, but that seemed so precariously far away now. After all, this was just one part of the world, and Fret didn't exactly have the power to imprint the joys of life onto everyone. Still, she'd resigned herself to a lonelier existence than this before, and it was nice to be able to breathe some real air for once, relatively speaking.

Honestly, it was just nice to feel again.

Minako thought back to the quartet of colourful individuals that she'd encountered already here in Shibuya. Haz, the ephemeral existence that he was, seemed to hold a great deal of respect for her, and was one of the few who seemed to know what she'd done for the world. It was an odd sensation, having someone on the outside looking in be aware of your supernatural exploits from years ago, but a part of Minako swelled up with pride at the fact that someone appreciated what she'd done.

Rhyme, the sensible young woman who'd come in and tried her best to keep everyone on track. Even through an unexpected interruption, which was honestly rather nice; she reminded Minako of a more confident Fuuka, with how she held herself. Idly, Minako wondered how her old Priestess was doing, but shook the thoughts off. No, she couldn't start thinking about the others now; that'd bring her mood down lower than she would ever care for, down here.

Then there was Goro, and Minako truly didn't know what to think of him.

She could tell he was there with the intent to kill Shadows, with little regard for the consequences that may have entailed. From what Haz had told her, it wasn't good, and it was definitely bring him - and Minako, most likely - into conflict with Goro in the future, were he not convinced to stray from whatever path he'd set himself upon. An unlikely prospect, at best, given his demeanour - Haz would only make things worse, and Minako already tried.

Then again, wounded beasts were always much more trouble to deal with than healthy ones.

And that made things much more complicated with Goro - Minako could feel the pain from him such as she could the rage. Though seeming to be spiteful, it was almost as if he'd cultivated his anger in a way that masked his internal despair. It seemed fitting, considering she'd peeked in on him in Mementos and seen that he summoned a Persona of his own using a mask. Not like how she did it, but much less stressful-looking.

No, she could figure out what to do with Goro later.

Then, last but certainly not least... there was Fret, and this was where Minako's mind began to race.

Really, Fret reminded her so much of herself; his jovial outlook on the outside was an effective way to keep people from asking questions about whatever pain he held deep within. Minako had picked up something like that after her parents died, because nobody could pity the happy-go-lucky girl who stood tall and proud even as her world crumbled down with nobody to help pick up the pieces, and that was fine with her. She hated seeing everyone miserable, especially because of her, or for her, so the brave face soon became something of a permanent fixture upon her visage, as a method of running from that potential outcome before it even became an option.

It also got Minako thinking about, really, she wouldn't have these thoughts if it wasn't for him. After all, it was his power that gave the final push to the people of Shibuya to overcome their own apathy towards life, and weakened Erebus enough to let Minako slip through the cracks into a normal life - well, something vaguely resembling it. Moreso than being a door all her life, that much was something she knew for sure. 

Fret gave Minako another chance to live. She'd always be grateful to him for that.

But then she wondered something. Why exactly had Fret practically passed out when she'd said as such to him the last time he & Rhyme were in the UG? Maybe he wasn't very good with gratitude or compliments, and got overwhelmed? Minako frowned at that idea; she'd have to do something to make it up to him, one of these days. Though, something deeper within told her that she knew exactly why he'd reacted that way, but she didn't want to think of it too hard right now.

It almost felt like a betrayal of Shinji's memory, if she did.

So, instead, Minako did what she always did when things got a little too heavy for her mind to handle at the time. Dusting herself off, she took a nice, leisurely stroll through the crowded streets of Shibuya, never once feeling crowded.

After all, it's hard to be crowded around when you're a ghost in an unfamiliar land.

Joshua knew a couple things about Inaba - very little, but enough.

For one, there was almost nothing there to do for entertainment. Sure, there were some little things here and there, but they were mostly little novelty shops that were being slowly lost against the growing tide of the Junes megamart near the outskirts. Which, he'd come to notice, had led to some hostility towards the young man he'd met the other night around town, for the sin of being a store manager there - assistant manager, really, but he'd insisted it was temporary while he finished his online college courses. Joshua didn't believe him.

The second was that the Amagi Inn was the place to stay when visiting Inaba for a long period.

It made sense, after all; it was big, traditionally beautiful, and run by a family of locals for generations. The current proprietor, Yukiko, was said to be striking in more ways than one, with a drive and determination matched only by the amount of gazes that the tourist businessmen had given her every night before dinner - though, strangely, not after.

He was about to learn the third most important thing about Inaba today.

"Thank you for the meal, Miss Amagi." Joshua expressed his gratitude towards the meal, evidently a hospitality more than any sort of tradition. He'd eschewed food from the inn for a few nights, preferring instead to gorge on greasy convenience store food - one of his guilty pleasures over the last year or so of roaming the country in search of Mariko. But tonight brought an end to that, as he'd decided that he may as well sample the cooking of the proprietress at least once.

"Of course, Mister... Kiryu, was it?" Yukiko had replied, inquisitive about his usual name. Maybe they had no Kiryus out here? "To be honest, I'm surprised you didn't go bugging Yosuke for more steak skewers at Junes. Apparently, they've got a new chef that makes fantastic ones."

"Perhaps another night, but I thought that maybe I should actually enjoy a nice homecooked meal for a change. Even if the home is someone else's." Joshua chuckled, fidgeting in his seat. Some part of him felt oddly uncomfortable, so much so he failed to acknowledge that she somehow was on first-name basis with the Junes manager he'd pestered into giving him some information on Mariko's whereabouts.

Well, what little he had to tell. Evidently, her disappearance had made local headlines in Inaba, and nobody knew what to make of it. There was some talk that she'd run off to the city to be with some boy she'd met years ago during an odd series of incidents spanning an entire year, but Joshua shook that off as being just plain ridiculous. She was impulsive, sure, but nowhere near to that extent, as far as Joshua had known her in the past.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your meal." Yukiko's calm voice sliced through his thoughts much as one would a tender cut of meat, as she set his plate down before him. "I made it myself, specially for you, our valued guest enjoying the food here for the first time!"

And Joshua swore he heard a chopstick or two clatter to the floor, and... was that man praying for him? Certainly looked like it, given that he'd even bothered to pull out some prayer beads before doing so, which... huh. Something was definitely odd, but he brushed that aside in favour of listening to his body's desire for hunger, as he picked up his own chopsticks and plucked a bite of... whatever sort of meat this was... and plopped it into his mouth.

Joshua doesn't remember much about his evening after that, expect that he'd seen a bright light and an echoed voice calling out to him to return home. Huh.

He'd have to ask Yukiko about that later.

Akira was goddamn tired, but still full of pride.

It wasn't hard to be at least a little proud of his team, after they'd fought through an entire castle swarming with hostile guards and scaled an entire tower. It was especially trying for the Psych users, who evidently had no experience climbing anything anywhere near as tall, and Shoka groaned about not being to just Telewarp them all up, whatever that meant. Whatever it was, Rindo had comforted her after, and Shoka gave him a peck on the nose, and that sparked some teasing that kicked morale back up right until Minamimoto had thrown a massive rock at an approaching guard they'd attracted with all the boisterous laughter.

Honestly, they weren't very good thieves, but they were good at cleaning up their own messes that'd popped up as a result. Especially after Ann and Ryuji had started getting used to their new Personas, and Shiho to her kicks - although, he really wished she didn't insist on calling every use of her pin a Rider Kick. It wasn't particularly stealthy, and he wasn't sure if she'd be disappointed to find that no, there weren't any cool effects after aside from whatever Shadow or Noise she'd kicked clean through disappearing into static before her eyes.

They were strong, and getting stronger by the day.

It also helped that Rindo and Shoka had brought some better pins - at least, they said they were better, anyways. Minamimoto had affirmed as such when Akira had asked him for a second opinion, so that was a good sign for that at least.

But mostly, the part that made Akira so proud of his new team? The fact that they'd managed to get to the throne room. Although, he did wish that they'd found something a bit more tangible there, and not just some... weird rainbow cloud thing. Almost like a fog, obscuring the real prize behind, and Akira found it weird that such a thing would happen in the Palace. But Morgana assured them this was natural, and that there was one more step to take.

"I'm sorry, you want us to what?"

Sighing, Morgana began again. "You need to send a calling card, to make sure that Kamoshida knows we're taking his heart." Taking? Akira thought they were supposed to be changing his heart, not just... ripping it out of his chest, or something. Maybe the 'taking' bit was just a metaphor for the change, and another bit of leaning into the whole Phantom Thief thing?

Oh, wait, duh, that was why they needed a calling card. Phantom Thieves, or at least the good guy ones, always had those in the stories he'd read as a kid.

"So, if we send him a calling card, then... that cloud thing will solidify into an actual thing we can steal?" Shiho inquired, which was answered not by Morgana, but by a manically grinning Minamimoto. He did that a lot whenever someone from their group - usually Shiho - picked up on something really quickly.

"Right you are, attogram. It's an integral part of our order of operations." And there he went with the math thing again, earning a well-hidden eye roll from Akira - and one not-so-hidden from Shoka. It made things so much harder to parse with him, it was such a pain in the ass. "Plugging in that variable lets us solve the problem once and for all. The only factor we haven't quite solved for yet..."

"... Is how to get the calling card to him without anyone noticing, given that he's still in the hospital." Shoka finished, grumbling under her breath as she did. "Man, Big Su really made this harder for us. Although, he did do it for me, so I guess it's kinda my fault too?"

"I wouldn't say that." Akira chimed in, which the others found surprising - he didn't tend to speak much unless he felt he had to. Something he'd unfortunately started to pick up after the arrest, as it happened. "Without you sending him after Kamoshida, we probably would have had to deal with three times the guards. But because they were too busy dealing with the Cognitive Susukichi..."

"... We didn't have too much to fight in the castle, right?" Ann finished for him, earning a smile and nod from Akira.

"Right as always, Lady Ann!" Morgana chirped, and Akira had resist the eye roll that time; honestly, it was more than a little weird to hear that from a cat, and he made it sound like he was some greasy incel stuck in his basement all day. Not intentionally, of course, but it was still intensely offputting every time - both for him, and for Ryuji, who he knew was fiercely protective of her & Shiho now that they'd started hanging out again. At least something good came of this.

"I just hope we're strong enough to beat whatever might come our way after." Rindo added, drawing the attention of the group to him as he did so. "I get the feeling that Kamoshida won't just let us walk in and take the Treasure so easily. We're... probably gonna have to fight something big in there."

"Right. I don't know if it'll be his Shadow, or some big Noise, but we'd better be prepared for whatever last trick he has up his sleeve." Morgana replied, with a hint of finality that brooked no chance for denial or rebuttal. Naturally, Ryuji chimed in anyways, albeit not to berate the cat - much.

"Aw, c'mon, cat-" 

"Not a cat!" 

"We'll be fine! We got, like, eight of us, and only one of him, and Minamimoto's effin' strong enough for, like, three whole people!" Ryuji exclaimed, clapping a hand on Minamimoto's back as he did, eliciting a growl from the older male. "'Sides, I kinda hope we gotta fight his Shadow after all that. I wanna kick his ass f'real, after all the shit he's pulled on us." He finished, looking between Ann, Shiho, Rindo & Shoka as he did, and suddenly Akira felt like an outsider that didn't belong.

It stung a bit more than he was willing to admit, he wasn't going to lie.

"You're right, Ryuji. I wouldn't mind lighting him on fire once or twice when we get in there."

"Right?! Aw man, I bet he'd scream like a lil' girl when he gets too hot, eh 'Kira?"

Akira couldn't help but laugh at the imagery, quelling whatever bits of concern he may have had over feeling left out. "Just try and keep it above the belt. I really don't wanna accidentally burn off that speedo of his."

"Ugh, gross, I don't wanna think about Kamoshida's d-"

"Sh-shoka!"

"I'm factoring myself out of this whole equation if you don't stop that right now." Minamimoto groaned, and that got the whole group laughing, save for their mad mathematician, who just tugged on his hat and grumbled something under his breath.

"Alright guys, we gotta get working on the calling card. Ryuji, Ann, Shiho? I want you guys to actually make the card." Akira began, his voice shifting into the tone he used as their leader in the Metaverse. Instantly, everyone's gazes were fixed onto him, as three heads nodded in understanding of their directions. "Minamimoto, I want you to deliver the card. Maybe go through the UG to do it, I bet it'd be easy for you."

"Simple enough. I'll get it there so quickly, he'll have (no x 2) see me."

"Right..." Shaking his head, he turned towards Rindo & Shoka. "You guys are on supplies. Together, or apart, I don't really care how you guys go about it. Just let Iwai know that I sent you if you go to Untouchable for our weapons. Maybe see if you can get a better pin for Shiho, too?" A pause, as Akira thought about something. "Wait a second, do the pins do different things based on the person, or the pin?"

"Pin. Don't worry, I know where we can get a good pin for Shiho to pump her up a bit more for the big fight." Rindo replied, and Akira nodded in approval. Good, it seemed like Shiho was really taking to the psych she was using already; the last thing Akira wanted was to mess up their rhythm before a big confrontation.

"So, what're you gonna do? You're the only one who isn't working on prep beforehand." Shoka asked, eyebrow quirked. Akira met her challenging gaze with his own confident one, even through the cosmetic glasses that he wore all the time. Maybe he should see about getting cool contacts instead.

"I have to get my Personas in order, make sure we have plenty of elemental coverage and healing. And see if I can't get Arsene pumped up a bit more." Akira replied, to which Shoka's eyebrow went higher up on her face. Right, right, he hadn't quite elaborated on the Velvet Room with the Twisters yet, which he'd been meaning to do. Maybe later, when things were a bit calmer for them.

"Above all, make sure you get some rest, and plenty of good food. Actually, bring some leftovers with you tomorrow, maybe it'll work to heal us up in the Metaverse." Akira added, as the rest of the team stood up and put their hands together in a circle - with only Akira to add onto it.

"Alright guys, get ready tonight; tomorrow, it's showtime!"

Chapter Text

"I'm not selling you two this shit."

Rindo groaned as Shoka subsequently slammed her hands on the counter, briefly startling the grizzled gun shop owner. "Look here, gramps, we got sent here to grab this stuff, and you won't even give us the time of day?" Iwai scoffed and was about to turn back over to his work, before Shoka was reminded of something. "Y'know, you might lose a real good employee of yours if you don't sell to us. Akira'll get pretty mad if he finds out you stiffed his friends."

Iwai's eyebrow shot up in a flash at the mention of his newest part-timer. "You're fuckin' with me." As he leveled Shoka with a challenging stare, he found her willing to meet him right back - and looking into her eyes, he could tell she wasn't feeding him a line of bullshit. "Huh. Maybe you're not. Why can't he just come grab this stuff himself, though?"

"He's busy with something else today, n'asked if we could grab some things from you for him." Shoka answered pointedly, clearly not in the mood to deal with some nonsense. Iwai studied her a little closer; cat hoodie aside, he was sure he knew this kid from somewhere. Or, at the very least, she seemed really damn familiar... wait.

"Hang on, aren't you one of those-"

"For the last time, Su, we can not get a gun modified to shoot Reversi disks."

"Aw, why not, Tsu? It'd be a great way t'flip some disks!"

Shoka's head whipped towards the door, and Iwai smirked. Huh, he hadn't heard those voices in a while. As the door swung open and a pair of his former favourite customers trudged in, the four gathered at the counter froze. "Huh? What're you two doing here?" Shoka asked first, pointing a pale, slender finger at the tandem - it was almost comical, looking at her pointing at the big meathead that'd come in with Tsugumi - Kaichi, he thinks his name was, he's pretty sure the kid worked for him a while ago.

"That's our line, Shoka! What're you disks doin' here at an airsoft shop?" Oh yeah, it was definitely the same kid he knew back then, Iwai could tell by the voice that had no business coming from that big beefy body. At least he knew the tandem knew his customers who were apparently friends with Akira, so they'd be able to tell if they was legit. And if not, maybe Kaichi'd throw them out for old time's sake, if he even remembered Iwai.

"One of our friends collects airsoft stuff, and he was coming by to pick up a few things, but... something caught him up." Rindo began, and Tsugumi paid close attention to his face - presumably, to pick up on any tells of them bullshitting. "So, he asked us to swing by and grab them in his place. He even gave us the money for it himself, so we wouldn't have to dip into our savings for it." He continued, pulling out a stack of bills and placing them on the counter - at least they were legit, but Iwai still got the feeling he didn't wanna know where they came from.

Tsugumi might've figured that part out, too. But if she did, she wasn't pressing the issue, instead giving a slight nod. "Well, alright, but just be careful. There's a lot of crazy stuff going on in Shibuya lately, and I don't want my family caught up in any of it if they don't have to be." Rindo tensed up, but Iwai wasn't sure if that was from getting caught in something, or simply the family crack - might've been dating Shoka and just not really getting used to being part of her family yet.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine if anything crazy happens to us." Shoka waved off the concerns, but was still clearly grateful that Tsugumi even had them. "Why're you guys out & about, anyways? I thought that Big Su was still on house lockup for a while after his little trip to Shujin earlier this month along with Ay and Hishima."

"We're out workin', actually." Kaichi had started up, and god, Iwai just could not understand how a twenty-something could be that big and have that kinda high-sounding voice, even after all these years of processing. "Boss wanted us to look into Haz some more, see if we could figure out what's got him so interested in this place."

Rindo's ears perked up at that. "Haz is back in town? I thought he was still up in Shinjuku fixing some things up?" He asked, but was answered with only a shake of the head from the burly young man.

"Nah, he's been hangin' out here for a while. Musta found somethin' interesting on this side'a the board, if he's makin' quiet moves like he's been doin' lately."

"Huh. Have you checked the-"

"Rindo, shhhh." Shoka cut off her erstwhile companion, and Iwai's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Something secret going on with them, maybe? Who knew if the big guy had any part of it, too.

"We did, but we didn't find anything there either. At least, not that I know of; maybe Shiba picked up on something when he went down there." Tsugumi interjected, smoothing out the discussion. Might be some sort of family thing, so Iwai decided not to worry about reading too much into it. Besides, if Tsugumi trusted these kids, maybe he could, too - or maybe they'd just get her to buy the shit instead. Didn't matter too much to him anymore, as long as he knew someone trustworthy was getting them - besides, they were just airsofts, not the real deal.

"Look, you guys gonna pay for your stuff, or what?"

"I thought you said you, and I quote, 'weren't selling us this shit'?"

"Keep being a wiseass, and I won't, even if ya got Tsugumi with you." Iwai grumbled, and Shoka wisely decided not to press the snark-off further.

"How do you know Tsugumi & Susukichi, anyways? They old regulars of yours?" Rindo asked, and this, at least, was a question Iwai had no issue answering. Hopefully, anyways.

"Tsugumi was, along with her brother. He always loved airsoft stuff. Dunno what happened to 'im, though - he just stopped showing up one day." Iwai began, and decided not to poke further into the topic based on Tsugumi's sudden stiffening at the mention of her brother. Must've been a sensitive topic for her. "Big Su here's an old part-timer, actually. He helped lug around the heavy shit that I couldn't grab on my own, and ran some errands for me too. Kinda like what Akira does, but with a lot less muscle."

"Bwahaha! That ain't a high bar to clear, bro."

"Still counts. You guys take good care of those, alright? Make sure Akira gets his stuff okay." Iwai said, and pushed the bags containing the purchases Rindo & Shoka had made towards them. They took one bag each, with Rindo making sure he ended up with the heavier of the pair (good, he was at least something of a gentleman with his girl), before exiting the store. Susukichi let out a laugh and followed, but Tsugumi stayed behind. Iwai had a feeling he knew why.

"You think those kids're lookin' into stuff they shouldn't be?"

"No, nothing like that. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be having this conversation, after all." Tsugumi began, leaning in closer, almost conspiratorially. "I know you picked up on what happened a few months back, during the Shibuya Syndrome outbreak."

Iwai scratched the back of his neck as he slowly leaned himself back into his chair. "Well, maybe not all of it, but I got the general idea. Shoulda seen if I had any old pins kicking around." He grumbled, rummaging through the underside of the counter for his old box of mementos from his younger days. 

"Might've been helpful, but I wouldn't worry too much about that. No, I just wanted to tell you... what happened to my brother, it..."

"Had somethin' to do with why I suddenly couldn't go to Shinjuku, or even remembered that it existed for a few years, right?" Iwai finished, bringing a shock to Tsugumi's face that he simply brushed off with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Save it. I dunno all that you guys get up to down there, but I had a feelin' it was related to all that mess."

"I'll have to tell you the story sometime, Mune-san." Tsugumi replied, the old nickname bringing back a slew of memories from the past. Iwai couldn't help but let a small smile flash on his lips before it vanished just as quickly as it had showed up. "Right now, I just need you to help take care of them. If this is about what I think it might be, they're going to need it."

"Gotcha. I'll call up some of my old suppliers, see if they still sell pins. Maybe I'll be able to flip a few to 'em for new Psychs."

"That'd be a big help, thank you."

"Eh, s'no big deal. Been lookin' for an excuse to put the ol' Reaper sticker up again; those Players that used to come by here made me a lotta cash."

Tsugumi couldn't help but smile, before stretching a hand out to Iwai, who returned the handshake with gusto. "Glad to do business with you again, Mune-san."

"Just make sure they bring Akira with 'em next time. I gotta grill the kid on what the heck he's doin' poking around in the UG."

"Are you zeptograms done with that card yet?"

Ryuji groaned as he theatrically flopped on his back, evidently sick and tired of the painstaking task of gluing magazine clippings to a small card of paper. Which, if Ann could tell based on the mess around him, was not going particularly smoothly. She shouldn't have been all that surprised, honestly; he was never very good at art, even as a kid. Not that she was much better, but maybe he wasn't the best one to get to do the clippings.

"Here, Ryuji, maybe you should finish up the logo, and I'll get to gluing." Shiho, bless her, decided to save Ryuji from his misery, earning another much happier groan from the male of the blonde pair. "You probably have some cooler ideas for it than I do, anyways. You were pretty good at that stuff as a kid."

"Hey, I still kick ass at that stuff! S'just not as easy for me to actually, like, make things out of 'em, s'all." 

Ann rolled her eyes fondly at Ryuji's admission, which she knew wasn't exactly true; for all of Ryuji's shortcomings, she knew that one of them was not intellect. Sure, he may not have had the best grades, but he was far from an idiot; it was just that his smarts were more useful than anything a textbook would ask of him. Not that she'd tell him to his face, of course; after all, she still had to at least try and rub it in his face that her marks were better than his.

"You got this, Ryuji." She said instead, as Ryuji sat up with renewed vigor and got back to work. Ann had to admit, it was nice to spend time with just the three of them like this again, even after all this time apart because of Kamoshida. But that man had also been the one that brought Ryuji back into their little orbit, and now Ann & Shiho were spending tons of time over at Ryuji's - not that Keiko minded having them over, of course.

On the contrary, in fact. She'd given them plenty of magazines to make their little art project with, and told them all - even Minamimoto, who'd done precisely nothing to help with the calling card whatsoever thus far - that they were all staying for dinner. Apparently, construction was paying a little better these days, what with all the recent renovation projects around Shibuya, so she splurged and bought the stuff to make a little impromptu hot pot to celebrate the return of her second-favourite blonde (after Ryuji, of course) into their little home.

Ann also suspected that Keiko was worried about the fact that Kamoshida might have tried to threaten her son again. But if she was thinking about that, she did a pretty good job of not showing it, so Ann didn't look much more into the idea. Right now, she had a bit of important business to take care of.

"So, do you think this is okay, Minamimoto?" Ann had asked, holding up the card to him - still not entirely decorated, but good enough. The man in question took the card, scanned it quickly, and nodded in what Ann could only assume was approval. Success!

"Not bad, for a couple of attograms. Hurry up and finish your functions, though; I've got my own calculations to carry out, after all."

Right. Minamimoto had the most important task of all - actually getting the card to Kamoshida, so the Treasure would manifest. He'd agreed to at least wait until the morning to run the card over to the hospital, so that they wouldn't have to worry about their window of time running out on them overnight. Though, Ann did have to wonder if it would really last through school, too - just a gamble they had to take, she guessed. 

If nothing else, Rindo had said that Anazawa-sensei might be willing to let them out during the day to deal with it, if they had to. How he'd manage that, Ann had no clue, but she wasn't about to look that gift horse in the mouth. Not when they already had so many other things that could go wrong with the final push tomorrow.

"Oh, ew, this glue is way too sticky. I think it's getting all over my sweater." Shiho grumbled, and Ryuji couldn't help but laugh, which led to Shiho thumping him over the head in mock anger. It was nice, seeing them get along so well again; it had been kinda hard for Ann, seeing her two best friends drift apart so fast that she didn't even have time to notice Ryuji putting distance between him and her, too. It really felt like this was just right - aside from the fact that they were about to go into an otherworldly castle to presumably fight Kamoshida's Shadow.

Hopefully it'd all be fine tomorrow. It had to be.

"I must say, Trickster, you have surprised me with your choice of allies."

Akira had to bite back every muscle in his body just to keep from rolling his eyes at Igor's sentiments about the company he kept. Caroline was in a bad enough mood as it was, considering he hadn't been to the Velvet Room much if at all since their full infiltration of Kamoshida's Palace had began in earnest. Justine was also much more clipped than before in speaking to him, and Akira could tell he was pissing them off - which wasn't ideal, given he kind of needed their power to fight through the Palace and change Kamoshida's heart tomorrow.

"Partnering yourself with former Reapers is most fortuitous, however. You have done well in making such strong allies, character notwithstanding." Akira knew he was referring more to Minamimoto than Shoka with that statement, that much was easy to figure out. Even so, it wasn't exactly Igor's place to comment on that stuff, especially if he wasn't going to do more for Akira than slap him with some powers and send him out on his ass.

"Well, I've gotten pretty good at making friends over the years."

"Take this seriously, Inmate!" Caroline snapped from the left side of his cell door, while Justine flipped through her clipboard as usual from the right hand side. Honestly, it was kind of weird to Akira that they'd be like this with him, although it wasn't like the officers were much better to him when he'd been arrested. Even now, he and a few others suspected they weren't so much of policemen as they were that bald guy's attack dogs masquerading as such.

But that was just getting off track.

"I must say, this is quite the eclectic collection of Personas to take into battle with you. Though, I must ask..." Justine began, flipping through her clipboard to find the page of it that she sought out for this particular line of thinking. Akira could only guess what she was about to ask, not that he hadn't been expecting the question. "Why would you choose to use so many Personas to power up Arsene, instead of using him to reach greater power?"

"Arsene is my Persona. The first, and best. It's that simple." Akira said simply, as both Caroline & Justine turned to him. Igor, too, seemed a touch more interested than before, so Akira continued. "If the Personas that I get in the Palaces are like new parts of me and my personality, Arsene is... well, I guess that makes him the original parts of me. I want to grow, but I also don't want to forget everything I had as part of me before."

"I see... very well." Justine said quietly and dismissively, though as she turned away, Akira could see the corner of her lip tug upwards. "You surprise me, Trickster. I had expected you to abandon your old self and embrace a new you, but you instead bring both your past and future to bear. I look forward to seeing what comes of your power next."

"So don't go slacking off and disappointing us now, Inmate!" Caroline sharply interjected, though there was little real malice behind her words. It just... seemed like that was just how she was, Akira figured, so maybe she really did care about him and his well-being, just as her sister (they were sisters, right?) did, at least on a surface level if nothing else.

"You would do well to keep your own advice close at hand, Trickster." Igor stated, almost as a warning rather than a piece of friendly advice like Akira had expected or hoped for from him. "Do not lose yourself, lest you be swallowed up by the gaping void of this lifeless and barren world."

Akira nodded, before turning back around and going back over to the bench in his cell. With any luck, maybe he'd be able to get back to his peaceful sleep, and everything would be fine for tomorrow- "Hold a moment, Trickster. There is one more matter I must discuss with you." Ah, dammit, what now? "Beware the false messiah, who seeks to guide you along the path to ruin, rather than the path of a successful rehabilitation."

False messiah? What did that mean? Akira dared not ask, nor did he have the chance to do so anyways, before blacking out once more and returning to his slumber from within the confines of the Velvet Room.

The next morning, while many others still slept before their day, Kasumi Yoshizawa woke up early.

It had been another hard night of sleep for her, having once again ended up in the hospital after... some sort of accident, she wasn't quite sure. Things felt hazy in her brain, though she thought it was a gymnastics trick gone wrong, and she'd simply passed out early from the pain. It didn't explain the throbbing headache, but it certainly did help explain why her arm was in a sling. So, it was the explanation that would have to do, until her head cleared up and she could remember more fully.

Instead of simply staying idle, Kasumi slowly brought herself to her feet, legs practically groaning as she stood from being so still overnight. It happened much more frequently, lately, that this would happen - although it wasn't strictly from sleep that her legs occasionally went tingly. It happened a lot around cars, too - unsurprising, given what had happened to Sumire not two months earlier.

No, no, she can't dwell on her sister now. She doesn't want to be moved back to the psych ward again 'just in case', because that just made her feel like a freak. Instead, she would just have to grieve some when she returned home after her eventual discharge later today, barring some freak development with her injured arm that required her to stay longer. 

She took a walk in the halls near her room, sparing only a passing glance at most of the rooms she passed by. The names jumped out to her for only a few seconds, but were simply committed to memory and nothing more - Miyahara, Nomura, Suwama, Iwamoto, Kamoshida... wait, that last one was familiar to Kasumi. Wracking her pained brain for the answer to her latest inquiry, she remembered that Kamoshida was the coach from Shujin's volleyball team.

Almost unbidden, she remembered the first day she'd met him - the way her skin crawled when she felt a gaze creeping up her back, and the way she'd felt before he'd approached her. Not to mention after... even now, she still felt the ghosts of rough, greasy hands sliding up and down her thighs and legs. She still felt a phantom pain on her wrists where she'd been held in place by those very same hands. And the sticky breath brushing up in just the wrong way at her neck... it almost made Kasumi sick right then and there to just think about him.

"Get your values in order, radian, and plot a different location on your x-axis."

A sharp voice sliced through Kasumi's haunted thoughts as she whipped her head into the doorway to Kamoshida's room - the voice wasn't his, but it still stunned her all the same. A tall, slender figure slipped from the doorway and gazed deep into Kasumi's eyes, as if analyzing her very soul. Evidently, he'd found something to stun him from that train of thought, and looked away just as quickly - oh, but she knew those eyes. But it was impossible, he had been gone for years, she'd been at his funeral, for god's sake-

"Wait, I-"

But it was too late. Kasumi watched as Sho Minamimoto slipped into the cover of the early dawn, and left her with more questions, rather than the clarity of mind that she was hoping to gather this morning. She briefly considered calling her father, but that might have just gotten her into more trouble.

Instead, she wondered why her old childhood friend, and original mentor in gymnastics, who she'd known to have died four years ago, would suddenly be here, now, alive.

Chapter Text

The end of the school day couldn't have come fast enough for Akira and his Thieves.

Not the least of which were due to the rumours swirling about that some first-year had been put in the hospital after some car accident related to a mental shutdown, and everyone then made the truly inane conclusion that it was somehow his fault. Even if only tangentially, or indirectly, like he'd put a hit out on the girl he'd never met - a girl named Kasumi? Whatever the case, he had more important things to worry about, as he met up with his team at the alley across from Shujin - all except for one.

"Where's Minamimoto? He did deliver the calling card already, right?" Ann inquired, clearly just as concerned by their missing member as any of the others. Well, almost; Rindo simply kept looking at his phone, and Shoka looked like she was just annoyed at someone - whether it was Rindo or Minamimoto, that was unclear. Akira idly wondered if perhaps they'd had some sort of disagreement with him in the past, that made them more suspicious of him - he never did ask for the details on how they knew Minamimoto before.

Speaking of...

"Sorry for the wait, had some unexpected variables pop up." In came the math man himself, strolling towards the group as though he hadn't been holding them up from what they were even here for to begin with. "Not to worry, I'd already solved the root problem hours ago. The calculations I had to solve before rendezvousing with you attograms were problems all my own."

"Uh... dude, can someone explain through all the math bull?" Ryuji grumbled, and Morgana had to stifle a chuckle at the perceived idiocy. Truthfully, none of them really got the math talk, except for maybe Rindo and Shoka. And Akira suspected that was less due to their studying harder than the rest, and more due to simple experience with Minamimoto and his linguistics - they probably had these exact same issues with him before.

"It means he got the card to Kamoshida, Bonehead."

"The eff?! Bonehead???"

Akira and Rindo both sighed, and looked to each other, unspoken pleas of how to deal with their respective seconds passing between them. "Look, let's not get into it now. Save it for the castle." Akira stated, tone brooking no room for disagreements. Thankfully, Ryuji & Shoka got the hint, and the others were already readying themselves, with their phones out and preparing to infiltrate Kamoshida's castle for the final time - at least, they hoped it was the final time.

"Time for a royal revolution."

As the Thieves & Twisters felt the world shift around them, Akira turned towards the rest of the team. He'd been more or less elected as the leader of their party, by virtue of his Wild Card abilities - even by the Twisters, though Rindo was more or less considered their leader due to his past as the leader of the Twisters before. At least, that was what Shoka had said to him when pressed, anyways; Akira had no way of knowing if she wasn't just messing with him. 

It didn't matter right now, though.

"Alright, everyone." Akira began, and seven heads snapped to attention and faced him directly. Well, here goes nothing. "Our goal is the Treasure laying deep in the throne room of Kamoshida's castle of lust. Odds are, we're not going to be able to grab it without a fight - I hope you're all ready and willing to throw down with his Shadow, and maybe some others too."

Ryuji stepped forward first, with a hand firmly wrapped around his makeshift club. "Oh, you bet your ass I've been lookin' forward to kickin' Kamoshida's ass. I've been wantin' to do this to 'im for years, and it's gonna bring him down once n'for all!" He exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. Ann and Shiho had joined him in his yelling, up until Morgana had to quiet them all down.

"Guy's gonna get what's coming to him, for sure. Especially after he tried to mess with me and my family." Shoka added, a touch of bitterness leaking into her voice. Not that Akira could really blame her, after what Kamoshida had tried to do to her - and, he suspected, he tried on plenty of others. And who knew if he actually succeeded with anyone...?

"Right. Let's bring him down."

"Hmph. This negative integer's hardly worth the calculations." Sho muttered, as he slammed his fist into his hand. "Let's just get this garbage out of our way. Crunch him, and add it to the heap."

Oh yeah, they were definitely motivated now.

When they made it to the safe room just outside the throne room, Akira noticed something that hadn't been there before.

At least, not to his knowledge; maybe he'd missed the life-size, almost featureless doll laying discarded on the floor by the door to the throne room the first time. With all the adrenaline pumping through his veins at the time, it wouldn't have surprised him that something had been missed. But now that he had noticed it, he had to correct himself on one thing - the doll definitely had some discernible features, albeit none that he recognized. A head of vibrant red hair, tied back into a ponytail framing reddish-brown eyes, clad in what Akira could only assume was some kind of leotard... maybe a gymnast of some sort? Though he tried too hard not to memorize the face; if they were in here discarded like some sort of broken toy...

"Geez... this is just a new level of gross, even for him." Ann grumbled under her breath as she came over to look at the doll, the rest of the team following suit. Quietly, Akira could swear he was hearing a growl and thought it might have been an attack dog... but instead, it seemed it was going from Minamimoto? That was definitely odd for him; maybe he'd recognized this person, or mistaken them for someone else?

"Tch. Maybe even being a negative integer is too good for this piece of garbage. An absolute zero... that's what he is." Sho growled out, and the rest of the team couldn't help but notice that this was the first time they'd ever seen Minamimoto so pissed about something. Sure, he was irritable pretty much all the time, but never to the extent that he seemed to be now.

Yeah, there was definitely more to this. But Akira wasn't about to press further.

"Let's just grab the Treasure. The throne room is empty, so maybe..."

"Hold it right there, you thieving little brats." Ah, fuck.

"Way to jinx it, Mona!" Rindo shouted at Mona, who'd been the one that the blame fell on for giving away their location. Akira wasn't too sure about that - he had a feeling that Kamoshida's shadow had already figured out their presence here. Faintly, he heard a loud roar in the distance, not unlike the one from the Cognitive Susukichi they'd ran into once or twice before, but it did little to deter Kamoshida's Shadow from glaring daggers at Akira and his team.

"So, you little shits thought you could just sneak in here and take my crown, huh? The thing that marks me as the goddamn King of this castle?" Kamoshida gritted out, clutching the gaudy headwear under his arm as if his very life depended on it. "It's not enough that you'd try and ruin my good looks and my fun, now you're trying to steal your king's valuable possessions, too? What happened to respecting your elders, huh?"

"This ain't your goddamn castle anymore, asshole!" Ryuji shouted, because of course Ryuji would have a lot to say to the man who'd damn near crippled him. "You think that bein' some kinda Olympic big shot lets you pull all the shit you've been gettin' away with ever since you came to Shujin?!"

"Of course. And that's not just me that thinks that." Kamoshida replied dismissively, almost as if he was telling a student they couldn't go to the bathroom without a hall pass. "Everyone already knows about how I am, and they don't give a damn. As long as I bring glory to this school, nobody cares if I take some... liberties with the perks of the job." He continued, licking his lips lecherously, making Akira's skin crawl at the mere sight.

"That's despicable... you're just a bully and a freak, trying to pick on others that're too weak to fight back against a grown adult. You really think that people will let you keep getting away with this when they find out about all you've done?!" Rindo shouted out, voice already hoarse with anger. Akira could tell he wasn't much of the emotive, yelling at the top of your lungs type.

"Feh. They won't do shit to me, because then they get roped into it. Face it, kid, all you're doing with this is pissing me off enough to make me really wanna get even." Kamoshida spat out, stomping down the carpeted stairs to be on a more even eye level with the Thieves. "Y'know... you've got some pretty little toys along with ya. I might be willing to overlook your little theft crimes if you back off and let me enjoy myself a little, eh Kanade?"

"Ugh, gross. Not even if you were the last guy on Earth." Shoka spat out in disgust, earning a sneer from Kamoshida.

"Not like you have a choice, little kitty cat. Unless you like it a bit rougher, then I'll be glad to toss ya around some." Kamoshida grinned evilly as he strode ever closer to Shoka, who, while still not intimidated by the burly bully, still nonetheless put some more distance between them. "And when I'm done with you, you can watch as I have my way with your little friends over there... Takamaki & Suzui, right? Gotta admit, I've had my eye on you two for a while now."

"Honestly, if you were the last guy on Earth, and I absolutely had to to save the world, I'd just let it burn." Ann gritted out, with Shiho agreeing shortly after. Ryuji's face had a bit of poorly-hidden pride on it, before being snuffed out by his residual anger for the erstwhile coach of Shujin.

"You little fuckers really don't get the fact that you have zero say in the matter, don't ya? Your little boy toys here are gonna get killed, then you're gonna be my little playthings." Kamoshida grunted out, clearly getting more irritated by the Thieves' continued resistance. "Then, when I'm done with ya, you can join that little whore Yoshizawa out there in the junk heap."

And that name, evidently, set off something in Minamimoto, out of all possible people, who made his move. One quick step, then two, then he was slamming a frost-coated fist into Kamoshida's gut. Then another, and another, and several more, all whaling upon the coach's Shadow like he was just a punching bag at the local gym. If it wasn't so deserved, Akira would have almost felt bad for Kamoshida, getting slugged like that, and being flung across the room, slamming into the wall nearby his garish throne.

But no, he definitely deserved everything that was coming to him. And then some.

"Gah!" Kamoshida grunted as he slowly got to his feet. "Grr... Alright, no more mister nice coach. I'll just kill all of you little shits, just as traitors to my kingdom deserve!" And that was when Akira saw it - the Noise graffiti that'd been floating about the palace, all coalescing together around the Shadow of Kamoshida, as his piercing golden gaze seemed to be glowing in the faint candlelight of the throne room. The wind howled around them, almost threatening to blow the group away - Ryuji even had to practically drop to a knee just to keep from being tossed around by the sudden gale.

And when the wind finally settled, Kamoshida's Shadow as they knew it was no more.

In its' place stood a pink, multi-armed, gorilla-esque monstrosity with limbs made of pure Noise. One of the bottom arms clutched a long fork, and the other held a crude, jagged knife, clearly intent on devouring the bodies and hopes of everything in its' wake. The top arms were as though they'd been ripped clean off a gorilla and crudely grafted onto his body. Most jarring were the gigantic Noise wings upon its' back, damaged though they seemed to be, missing large chunks of Noise where there would normally be cartilage on a regular wing - much like a bat's, Akira noted.

As the Twisters & Thieves collected themselves, Luxuria Cantus let out a bellowing, bestial roar.

"Holy shit, dude! That's what Kamoshida's Shadow really looks like?!" Ryuji squawked, momentarily stunned by the sight before him before he ripped off his mask and tossed a bolt of lightning at Kamoshida, courtesy of Captain Kidd's cannon fire. It seemed almost comical, really, having to fight such a massive creature just for some crown, but it seemed as though this was the final line of defense for Kamoshida's Treasure.

"This is an odd function, even by UG standards." Minamimoto grumbled, putting the pin he'd held before back in his pocket and drawing a different pin from his coat - one with a design that vaguely resembled a knight chess piece. As he tapped the pin, a large stream of lightning burst from his hands, firing almost like a beam directly at Kamoshida. It was clearly hurting him, but only insofar as a bit of static would shock a normal person.

"Clearly electric attacks aren't doing too much to him. Try something else, you two!" Akira called out, attention directing over towards the other members of his team. Shoka was feeling through her hoodie for a pin, while Rindo seemed almost paralyzed - fear, maybe? No, Akira deduced as he looked at him - he was looking for an opening. 

"Got it!" Shoka called out, as she flung her hand forward and fired several dart-like objects towards Kamoshida. At first, it didn't seem like they weren't doing much, but after a few hit their mark, the final one exploded on contact, freezing Kamoshida's top-left hand in a solid block of ice. Rindo followed up by charging forward, swinging a blade of energy in his hand and slashing at the frozen arm, causing Kamoshida to roar in pain, but not so much as to slow him down just yet.

And then Ann sent a burst of flame his way from Carmen, and he practically screamed in agony.

"Direct hit! He must be weak to fire!" Mona shouted to the rest of the team, particularly to Ann & Shiho. Clearly, the pair were going to be the big heavy hitters of the group in this bout - fine by them, given how eager they'd been to bring Kamoshida down for messing with their friends, not to mention themselves.

Swiping the hand with the fork in Ann's direction, Shiho shoved Ann out of the way and was scooped between the prongs by Kamoshida, letting out a fearful cry as she was brought closer to the giant ape-man's gaping maw. The sickly breath enveloped Shiho as she continued to cry out for help; a request that Ann was all too happy to oblige, sending another burst of flame into Kamoshida's mouth, causing him to rear his head back and toss Shiho behind him in his pained flailing.

"No!" Ann and Ryuji cried out in unison, shock painting their faces as Kamoshida continued to flail wildly. "Shit, we gotta save 'er, Panther!"

"How?! It's not like we can just slink right past him to grab her and bring her back over!"

"We're Phantom Thieves, Panther! Isn't that kinda what we're supposed to do!" Ryuji and Ann continued to snipe back and forth at each other. Akira winced as a heavy furred hand slammed down in front of the pair, barely out of reach, but startling them out of their argument enough to put some extra distance between themselves and the rampaging brute.

"How much damage have we done to this thing, Mona?"

"Not enough for it to really matter." Morgana replied grimly, causing Akira to grunt, a barely-held curse bitten back beneath his breath. "His defenses are just too tough. Maybe if we knocked the crown off his head, it would let us get some better hits in, but... I don't know if it'll work."

"Not like we have any other alternatives. But who could we send in to... do... that..."

Akira trailed off as he saw Shiho, battered and bruised as she'd been from being flung about, scaling a large tapestry just out of Kamoshida's vision. Her head turned towards him, and their eyes met for a split second before Akira nodded, while Shiho continued her climb.

"Stall him, guys! I've got an idea!" Akira cried out as Shoka sent another barrage of darts at Kamoshida's gut, the explosive impact barely making a dent in the brute's stamina. Various calls of assent rang out as the group continued their onslaught, tossing a nigh-unstoppable barrage of flame, ice & electricity, weaving together with Morgana's gales and Joker's darkness to create a veritable tempest of elemental powers - but still the beast stood.

Until Shiho got high enough to take a leap of faith off the tapestry, hand desperately clutching at her Soul Ablaze pin as she stuck her leg out in a pose Akira really wished that she would stop making.

"Rider Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick!" Shiho shouted out as her leg became enveloped in flame, slamming into the oversized crown atop Kamoshida's head and sending it clattering to the floor. Between the heat of Shiho's psych-empowered feet, and the shock of the crown being knocked off his head, Kamoshida seemed... almost distraught, in a sense? As much as a monster such as himself could, anyways.

"Yes! It worked, Joker! It feels like our attacks will do a lot more damage now!" Morgana exclaimed, as Joker's grimace turned to a predatory grin.

"Show's over, Kamoshida. Everyone, lay into him!"

Before they could launch another attack, though, they were greeted by an unexpected sight: the cognitive volleyball team members, all running out in front of Kamoshida, lining up in an almost-phalanx like formation. As they all came together, they slowly began to convulse, and erupted into Nosie graffiti, eventually becoming full-blown monkey Noise in of themselves.

"Stop them! Stop those damn Thieves!" Kamoshida let out in a roar, his voice heavily distorted but still recognizable. And the monkey-like Noise let out a simian howl, and began charging at the Thieves en masse. Minamimoto fired off another stream of lightning; it hit one Noise, then bounded off its' form to strike another, and another still.

"Leave these garbage integers to me, focus on the big trash heap!" Minamimoto shouted out to the group, who ran past him and began to redouble their efforts at bringing down the behemoth of the castle. Ann and Shiho kept it hot for Kamoshida, alternating between Carmen's flaming bursts and Shiho's red-hot kicks, while Rindo, Shoka, Ryuji & Akira got their hits in where they could manage. Though their resources were becoming fairly limited, Akira felt like they were making some real progress in bringing the big ape down.

Eventually, he was proven right, as following a particularly well-placed kick from Shiho, Kamoshida stumbled and fell flat on his back. This was the best chance they'd gotten all fight...!

"Thieves! Now's our chance! Ravage them!"

And attack they did, throwing everything they had into one final team attack. Ann created a massive ball of flame, and hovered it above Kamoshida, while Shiho leapt up, soaring into the sky almost like an angel...

Before kicking the massive fireball straight into Kamoshida's chest, causing his body to be enveloped entirely in static.

"We... we did it, right?! Oh, please tell me we effin' did it!" Ryuji cried out, and was met with a clap on the shoulder by Minamimoto.

"He's been crunched. Not bad, attograms."

Tired cheers sounded out from the group, as even Akira allowed himself a small smile. But he knew their job wasn't over yet; they still needed to secure the Treasure. As the rest of his group caught their breath, he walked over to where the oversized crown - now possessing a more manageable size for someone to carry - had fallen, and picked it up.

"Damn... damn you... Is it really so wrong... for me to live a little... under all this damn pressure the school puts on me?!" Kamoshida's voice rang out, as the group whipped their heads over to him in shock - though, thankfully, he had gone back to his human self, and not the Noise-Shadow hybrid that he'd been just minutes prior.

"Maybe if you hadn't tried to factor others out of the equation, you might've had a point. But you're nothing but trash."

"Sho's right. No matter why you did it, what you did was despciable. Only thing you can do now is change your ways, and repent for what you've done." Akira stated, as he could feel a faint rumbling in the ground at his feet. Probably nothing - or, worst case, Cognitive Susukichi had busted up another part of the castle.

"You... you're right. I should... confess to everything..." Kamoshida sputtered out, golden eyes now wet with unshed tears. Akira couldn't help but scoff at the miserable display, and evidently he wasn't the only one.

"Nuh uh, you don't get to cry over bein' a piece of shit." Ryuji grunted, hefting Kamoshida to his feet with surprising strength for someone of his size. "You're gonna get your ass on the phone, call the cops, and tell 'em everything you did. Everything. Ya got it?" Kamoshida nodded, and Ryuji tossed him to the ground before turning away from him.

All the while, the rumbling got more prominent, and Morgana suddenly snapped to attention.

"Guys, we have to get out of here! The Palace is about to collapse!"

"The hell?! You could have said something earlier!" Rindo shouted out as the group began to run out of the crumbling throne room.

"Well, I thought we had more time to escape!"

"Just shut up and run, you guys!"

And run they did, all the way out of the castle, until the world shifted around them... and dropped them back in the alleyway across from Shujin.

"Holy shit, that hurt my leg..." Ryuji groaned, rubbing some feeling back into his injured leg. Ann and Shiho took defensive positions to either side of him, trying to keep their friend safe and sound while he nursed his injury. Rindo and Shoka held each other tight, muted congratulations and thank god you're okays left unheared to all but the most attentive of the group around them.

"Well, I think I can safely say that's mission accomplished." Akira joked, hand holding up... what was definitely not a crown now. It looked like a gold medal - Olympic, if he had to guess. Thinking back, it only made sense that this would be what twisted Kamoshida so thoroughly; after all, with the fame this medal brought came the expectations he claimed to be so choked by, and the ego that let him believe he was a king and the students of Shujin were his loyal subjects and playthings to do with as he saw fit.

Speaking of...

"Hey, Mathman, you alright over there? I know you got pretty pissed when he'd mentioned that... ah, crap, what was her name..."

"Yoshizawa." Minamimoto said roughly, and crossed his arms in irritation. Evidently, this was not a conversation he'd wanted to have. "She was an old acquaintence-" He paused, a rare correction forming on his lips. "No, an old friend, from back when I was a gymnast instead of devoting myself to the world of numbers. She was a real shining star, a prime function. But I died before I could see her truly integrate herself. And apparently, she's come to Shujin and ended up getting used by that garbage heap of a coach."

Nobody dared interrupt Minamimoto through his monologue, except for the man in question. "Y'know, I saw her there, at the hospital, while I was solving the calling card equation earlier. Hopefully she doesn't recall a root function like me the wrong way." And he said nothing else, simply walking off and leaving the Thieves & Twisters to bask in their hard-earned victory.

Now they just had to hope the change of heart really worked.

Chapter Text

Rindo's body felt like a goddamn mess.

Admittedly, he knew exactly why that was; fighting a giant Noise like that will do that to someone. Except... it wasn't even entirely a Noise, nor was it entirely a Shadow. It was like some horrid chimera of both, to create some negative energy monstrosity designed solely to kill them. And considering that was birthed from the deepest desires of their goddamn gym coach, it certainly left a lot to be desired, no pun intended. 

At the very least, the change of heart worked; or at least, it seemed to. As far as Rindo could tell, there was nothing that went wrong, unless they weren't supposed to get caught at all. Although, something told him that was highly unlikely, if not impossible outright, so he didn't bother thinking about them being able to dodge fights like that in the future.

Which led him to his next big concern: why exactly was a place like that in the UG?

He didn't know, and there wasn't anyone he knew with enough knowledge of the planes to tell him. Except one, that was, but he didn't want to contact him if he didn't have to.
But... this was a bit of a big deal, so that was how Rindo called up the last person he'd wanted to speak to in regards to a UG problem.

"So, to what do I owe th'pleasure of youse callin' me outta the blue?"

Rindo groaned. God, he forgot how much he hated the sound of Kubo's voice, even before he tried to wipe Shibuya off the map. "Look, you're literally the only person I can come to for the kinda advice I need. Can you-"

"Ohoho, well, I ain't had t' give this talk in a while. Although, fair warnin', kid, next time don't call me up while I'm stuck at home with her folks." Kubo snidely replied from the other end, clearly relishing in the chance to mess with Rindo. Even if the younger of the pair knew that the elder was mostly harmless these days, it still grated on him. "Y'see, when two people love each otha a whole lot-"

"Not that, you old ass." Rindo groaned, as Kubo couldn't help but snicker on the other end. "I need to know why there was a goddamn castle in the UG where my school should have been."

Rindo couldn't see it, but he swore he could feel Kubo freeze up on the other end of the line. "Kid, that ain't normal."

"Yeah, no shit. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

A hum from the other end; that meant Kubo must've been thinking, trying to ponder if he knew anything. "Can't say I got much info for ya, kid. Shoka kinda told us about how there was some UG trouble, but youse went and dropped that bomb on us." A pause, and what sounded like Kubo tapping his fingers on the table. "Mmmmmm... tell ya what. Give us some time to look into it, scope out this little castle o' yers, see what kinda stuff we can come up with."

"Can't. It's gone."

Another freeze. "Th' hell do ya mean, it's just gone? Castles don't just up n'walk away, kid."

"No, not like that." Rindo paused for a moment, as he swapped the grip of his phone and clenched and unclenched his now-free hand. "We fought some... big Noise, except it wasn't all Noise, and grabbed this big crown out of it, and now the castle's disappeared from the UG." Another pause, as though he were debating something important - which he kinda was. Should he tell Kubo about the Metaverse Navigator app? It would be a good source of information if he knew, plus it would keep Rhyme from getting dragged into this - which, in turn, meant that Beat wouldn't have to go all papa bear on them.

Or on their behalf. He deserved a break from all this UG business.

"Y'said it wasn't all Noise, but it was some kinda Noise?" Kubo asked, clearly focusing in on a part that fascinated him and kept Rindo from having to push about the app. That was good, Rindo thought; saved him the trouble of having to ask even more of someone he still didn't fully trust. "Did yer psychs still work on it, too? Guessin' it did, if ya said ya beat it, but..."

"Yeah. Plus, there are these others with this power called Persona, and it's kinda like-"

And Rindo swore he heard something clatter to the floor on the other end of the end, and some kind of hasty scrambling from Kubo. Wait, did he know what Rindo was talking about? "Kid, you gotta be fuckin' with me right now. Yer sayin' there's Shadows in the Shibuya UG?"

"Y-yeah..." Rindo barely stammered out, voice quickly drowned out by Kubo cursing loudly on the other end.

"Ah, Phil, ya big fuckin'... look, kid, I'll tell ya more about this later, but I gotta let the others in the crew know about this." Kubo began, as there was the sound of shuffling on the line again - only this time, it sounded a bit more orderly. "And lemme tell ya, yer bein' a real big help tellin' me this. We've been tryin' ta figure out why Haz is kickin' around Shibuya lately, and I think this might be it."

This time, it was Rindo's turn to freeze up. "Wait, Haz is here?"

"Sure is, kid. Maybe ya wanna go say hi before he bails again. Nyeheh!"

And then Kubo hung up, leaving Rindo with more questions than answers.

Old asshole.

It had been quite some time since Shiba had met anyone like this.

Oh, it had been innocuous enough at first; as Shiba was trawling the subway station, looking for people of import, he'd come across a young student in a Shujin uniform framing the world between his fingers. Odd, but then he'd recalled Shoka telling him about an eccentric young artist who'd transferred in earlier that year from Kosei High - some famous painter's pupil. Already, Shiba was concerned that there was something more to the tale, but he elected not to pay it much mind.

Until today.

In his defense, he hadn't started this fire; no, the artist had found him first, and seemingly recognized him from somewhere - likely a local magazine that had detailed his attempted night club project. That had been a fun time, until his initial falling out with Hishima derailed all their joint plans. After all, one cannot build a cozy campfire with just flames alone; there needed to be a solid base with plenty of kindling, and Hishima was his base.

His designs, Shiba meant, not Hishima himself.

No, Hishima the person was something else to Shiba... the spark that lit his flame, and also one that doused it if he burned too hot, too quickly. It was an odd dichtonomy, that of his partner (lover), but one Shiba grew fond of nonetheless. The spark in Hishima's eyes when something truly caught his eye, and the blaze of passion that followed, before it was replaced once more by that frosty outer shell he always saw fit to bear to the world.

Ah, so that was why he noticed the artist more frequently. He reminded him much of Hishima.

"Forgive me, but... might you be the owner of NewGround in Kabukicho?" The young artist inquired, and Shiba found his suspicions confirmed. So he had read up on him from his night club ventures. "Or, I suppose 'former' owner may be more appropriate... My apologies, I simply loved the aesthetics of the club's exterior." The youth rambled on, passion evident in his tone as he spoke every word of praise.

"Yes, well... I'm afraid that was a place that burnt me out." Shiba sighed, remembering how he'd abandoned the entire project mere days before opening because of his break-up with the designer and intended co-owner. "In more ways than one."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been hard; parting with something you'd worked so hard on, something you'd given so much of your passion to."

Shiba tensed up as he heard him say those words - not for their content, but for the tone behind them. That... was not the voice of someone simply offering up condolences for a loss. No, that was how someone sounded when they well and truly understood the pain you were going through, and wanted to keep you from treading down the same path they had, no matter what the end result may have been. He'd tried to wrack his brain about just who this young man was - perhaps knowing who his art instructor was may help?

"Pardon, but... might I ask your name?"

"Ah, of course. I'm sorry, where are my manners?" The young man replied, sweeping into a bow - not unlike one of Shiba's own, he mused dryly. "My name is Yusuke Kitagawa, an aspiring artist under the tutileage of Ichiryusai Madarame."

And thus, all the pieces fit together for Shiba.

Of course he would meet the latest pupil of the man who'd driven him to death all those years ago, back when he was just a young man with the world at his feet and a soul just waiting to be set ablaze by the world of art. Suddenly, Shiba knew full well why Yusuke held a sense of melancholy when talking about Shiba's passion leaving him - clearly, Madarame was already well into drumming out any fire behind his eyes, leaving naught but the flickering embers of his talent being stoked for his own personal gain.

"Madarame, you say? He must be an excellent teacher." Shiba replied, feigning the warmth in his voice when speaking of Madarame. That vexing man who'd set him down his path to begin with... oh, how he would have loved to see him set ablaze for the world to witness.

"He truly is... he's taught me much of what I know, both in art and in life." Yusuke began, but halted suddenly. Almost as if he'd been snuffed out like a lit candle at the end of a long night. "You see... my mother passed away when I was very young. Madarame took me in, and raised me almost as his own son. It... has been difficult, with his rejection of many mortal comforts, but we've nonetheless found comfort in each other and the other apprentices."

Bullshit, Shiba thought. Madarame was a man who thrived upon his vices.

"Ah, so you live with his other pupils?"

"Well, I used to. I'm the only one who's stayed, ever since Nakanohara left the atelier months ago." Yusuke said, and Shiba pondered if he knew anyone by that name when he'd left. No, likely not. "We've had a lot of people leave in the last few years. I had heard it was initially something to do with a pupil's unexpected passing several years prior, but now..."

It was certainly several, if Yusuke was referring to him. He'd only been about Yusuke's age on that fateful night when he chose to steal his own destiny back from Madarame's wicked clutches, Shiba idly remembered. "Well, I do hope you're finding your own way in art as well. Such a passion must be stoked, so that your soul may be set ablaze by the world around you!" He replied theatrically, striking a frankly unneeded pose.

One that, as he turned his head back to Yusuke, he seemed to be attempting to replicate. Huh.

"Of course! In art, one must bear themselves upon the humble canvas, so as to turn it into something truly remarkable for all to witness." Yusuke began, and Shiba could immediately feel that passion burning brightly behind his eyes again. "One day, I hope to reach the entire world with my art, and leave this place better and more beautiful than I leave it behind."

"Quite the fiery goal. I do hope the world is lit up by your passion." Shiba replied, content that, at the very least, Madarame hadn't broken the poor boy yet. "By the by, have you published any pieces of your own lately?"

"No, not as of yet. I've been... having some trouble with inspiration as of late." Yusuke faltered, and Shiba wondered if perhaps these 'inspiration' issues had more to them. "Sensei has been patient, to be sure, but I'm beginning to feel a little lost, like a fisherman on the churning seas."

"Hmm... sounds to me like you simply need a new spark to set your soul ablaze once more." Shiba hummed, and Yusuke simply pondered his words. Shiba pulled a card out of his pocket - it was rare that he got to use these anymore, but he felt as though Yusuke might need it more than anyone. "Here. If you ever need some outside inspiration, give me a call. I'll to my best to add some kindling to that passionate flame of yours."

"Thank you, Mister..." Yusuke squinted at the card. "Miyakaze... Shiba..." He trailed off, looking back up the man - only to find naught but a single butterfly flying off from the spot where Shiba had stood just moments prior.

Yusuke would definitely need to remember someone so ephemeral as him in the future. After all, he had an idea for a new painting already, thanks to him.

"You want to go back into the freaky subway that almost got us killed?"

Fret sighed, almost knowing that this was exactly where he figured the conversation was heading. Sure, it sounded kinda crazy, but he couldn't just leave Minako all alone out there, especially when even she got scared of that huge black & white Noise. Hell, even Haz got freaked out over that thing, and Fret was pretty sure he couldn't get scared over anything! At least, he didn't look like he did, anyway. 

"C'mon, Rhyme Time! I know it's a stupid idea, but we gotta figure something out to help Mina! 'Sides, maybe we only got attacked by that freaky Noise cuz we hung out in there too long." Fret replied, and Rhyme's lips pursed together in thought. Fret knew that much, at least, from all the time that they spent together with the other members of the Twisters. And if Fret knew anything about how Rhyme thought...

"It's still too risky to go too deep, but... maybe we can poke around the top part? See if we can find anything to help Minako that way." Fret had to admit, he hadn't quite expected Rhyme to be super careful with this, but he was willing to take it. Besides, he could tell that Rhyme wanted to help Minako too, especially after hearing about her being stuck in the UG so hard that even Haz couldn't get her out - not that he knew how, exactly, he'd do that, but hey, it was the thought that counted!

"Yeah! Let's go down to Mementos!" Fret sing-songed, and Rhyme groaned as she often did at his antics. But hey, it'd be fine, they'd just poke around the top, and hopefully not run into that crazy Noise, and everything'd be just fine. Probably. And if not, at least he could still hang out with Minako in the UG for real this time, maybe.

Yeah, that was what he was going with.

So, together, the duo set out on their journey to Mementos, hoping to find some answers. Although...

They weren't exactly alone.

Hifumi always did wonder how Fret was friends with an upperclassman. And now she had heard... something about Minako, and Noise, and Mementos? Well, one of those was obviously someone, and Mementos must have been a place... maybe Mementos was just a really loud club of some kind? But then, why would they be going to get information from it...

Oh! Maybe it was a new club, and they were just trying to check the place out for a friend? That certainly made sense to her, if she considered it that way. But it could also be dangerous, especially for a couple of teenagers, doubly so if it was in a particularly dangerous part of the city. And something in Hifumi kept nagging at her to follow them, or she'd regret her indecision for the rest of her days.

And that was how she'd discreetly followed the pair to the Shibuya subway terminal.

Simple enough, she surmised - they likely had to transfer off the subway here to get to another, more lively part of town, much like her mother would frequent before Hifumi's success in shogi. And after, come to think of it - oh, she was losing them in the crowd on the train, she was getting so wrapped up in her thoughts! If she wasn't careful, they'd disappear on her, and then nothing would get resolved for her.

Although, after seeing them disembark from the train, they instead ducked into a corner off to the side and pulled out their phones, which was suspicious. What could they possibly need to do all that for? Maybe this Mementos was a super-secret club, and they needed to be in private to look for directions to get there so that they weren't followed by some stranger? It made sense, but Hifumi wasn't about to give up her quest for the truth now - not when she'd made it this far!

Then again, when the world just shifted on her, and the colours of the world shifting to pulsing, violent reds, Hifumi realized, with a grim bit of irony, that she should have quit while she was behind.

Kasumi always hated these little house calls.

Not for any lack of results, though; no, she just didn't like being cooped up in the hospital bed while Dr. Maruki sat at the other end, sipping on his apple juice without a care in the world. Evidently, she wasn't even the first patient he'd dealt with that afternoon, though she was apparently the last. Kasumi didn't quite know how to feel about that without context.

"Oh, well... about that." Maruki scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, in a way that most people might find endearing. "I'd been asked to come in to speak to that Kamoshida fellow down the hall - apparently, he woke up sobbing uncontrollably about how he was such an awful person and needed to confess what he'd done. It all sounded a little bit hard to believe, haha!" He'd said, before covering his mouth at the little chuckle that slipped out. Probably not the most professional thing he'd ever said, that was sure enough for Kasumi.

"Kamoshida... why do I feel like I know that name..." Kasumi frowned, trying desperately to sort through her jumbled brain to find the answers she sought. Instead, all she ended up finding was a new pain in her skull, and she decided that thinking too hard about it wasn't worth the trouble. Besides, she was with the doctor for a reason, and whoever this Kamoshida was, he wasn't part of it right now, if ever.

"Oh, he's the volleyball coach and gym teacher at Shujin." Maruki explained, and Kasumi's eyes narrowed slightly at that. Why would she forget her school's gym instructor, as an athlete for the school herself? "Apparently, someone attacked him and put him in here for... something he'd allegedly done to one of the students. I'm not really sure of all the details, but..." He paused, watching the growing discomfort on Kasumi's face. "A-anyways, let's talk about you now! How's your arm feeling?"

"Still in a sling." Kasumi grumbled out, wincing as she ever so slightly lifted the offending injury to show off the bandages. Maruki let out an awkward puff of air, which Kasumi took as a sign to continue. "And apparently I'm seeing and hearing things, too. So that's fun."

Maruki frowned this time, as Kasumi withdrew further into herself. "What do you mean by that? Are you seeing Su-"

"No! No. God, Doc, she's not dead." Kasumi spat out in interjection, as Maruki's frown deepened and he scribbled something onto his notepad - probably some kind of condemnation for her objections. "But... I do feel like I might be seeing ghosts. Just not Sumi's, because she's fine."

"Well, then... whose ghost are you seeing?"

Kasumi took a deep breath. "His name was - is - Sho Minamimoto. He... he was my idol when I first got into gymnastics. He used to be the best in our class, and our coach was saying he could even make it to the Olympics. And he was always so kind to me & Sumi, showing us all these cool tricks we could do on the horse, and buying us ice cream and sweets after every meet we had, no matter how bad we did. Actually, especially when we did badly, because he knew we needed the pick-me-up from all the junk we'd eat."

"But then... then he died. I don't even remember how - I think it was an accident at his university, or something, but all I can really say for sure is that he was gone. I even went to his funeral, gave him my goodbyes, helped Sumi give hers because oh god, she was a wreck after... so was I, honestly." Another deep breath, while also trying to fight back the forming tears in her eyes. "But then, just a couple nights ago, I went for a walk to keep my legs from going numb, and I... I saw him. Here. Actually, right by one of the rooms, I don't even remember which one, everything just feels so out of place in my head..."

"Kasumi, stay with me. Do you remember where you are right now?" Ah, one of the doctor's grounding exercises. 

"The hospital at the University of Tokyo."

"Good. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three. How many am I holding up, doc?"

Maruki sighed. "Kasumi, no matter how many times you do that, it's still not appropriate for a session."

Kasumi giggled, and she could feel the scrambling in her head lighten up ever so slightly - enough that she could at least talk without rambling. "Sorry, I just can't help it. You set me up for it every time." He did, that's the worst part. And he seemed to know it, too, which is why he never yelled at her for it, only these gentle chidings that seemed more like things he had to do rather than anything he wanted to.

"Even still..." Maruki flipped over to the next page in his notebook. "Was he the same as you remembered him?"

Kasumi frowned. "That's the worst part. He wasn't." And Maruki's eyebrow quirked upwards with thinly-veiled interest. "Before, he was cheerful, and everything he said made sense, but when I saw him then, he was talking like he'd eaten a math textbook for lunch." Which was especially strange, given that he always said he'd struggled in math, even with his high marks in the subject. Maybe she was remembering that part wrong?

"Hm. Did he look the same, at least?"

Kasumi shook her head. "No, he dressed totally different. Well, mostly; I think the pants were the same kind he always wore. But the coat and hat were definitely not anything I remember him owning." A pause, as if trying to figure out the right words for what else she had to say. "Plus, it almost looked like he had whiskers, or maybe they were just really bad sideburns. Kinda reminded me of a catboy."

"I don't know what that means, Kasumi." Maruki quipped as he continued to scribble down notes on his little pad. Kasumi frowned at him for it, but didn't bother to say much else on the matter.

"I just... I swear it was him, but he looked so different. But I know he's gone, so why... why am I seeing him now, of all times?"

Maruki looked at her with perhaps the most neutral expression he had ever sported on his face. Kasumi couldn't help but worry; if even Doctor Maruki didn't believe her when she told him these things...

"Alright, Kasumi. I understand." He finally said, pulling off his glasses to rub at his nose before putting them back at though nothing happened. Must have been an itch or something. "Perhaps you're having a sort of stress-induced hallucination, brought on by all your concerns and anxiety over your recovery. I would get some rest and relaxation, and keep an eye out - if you see him again, and can't verify that it isn't truly him, then I want you to call me immediately. Okay?" Kasumi nodded, and Maruki smiled once more. "Great! Do you want some cookies? I made them myself, so hopefully they're alright!"

Kasumi let out a breathy chuckle and smiled at her doctor. Yeah, she must have just been seeing things because she's all worked up over the accident. That made sense. "Thanks, Doc. I'll take one."

Of course, she then needed a bucket after, but it was fine - she'd take this sort of feeling over the stress. Something she could actually feel, and understand, and know that it would pass and everything would be alright after. That was what she needed right now more than anything.

Although, she could swear she saw that same grey coat and whisker-like hair poking into the corner of her vision after she'd had a little laugh over the cookie incident. But it was probably nothing - just stress, and maybe a bit of residual effects from that ghastly cookie. Right? Right.

All the while, Kasumi didn't see Sho's grimace at seeing her laid up as she was, and the quiet vow he'd made to correct her vectors when all was said and done with Kamoshida, as he left the hospital behind. 

Chapter Text

Hishima hadn't seen Shiba quite like this in some time.

Oh, the contemplative thing was nothing new; it had become rather frequent of late for the pair to spend their evening on the second floor balcony, gazing at the stars and whispering sweet nothings into one another's ear. But usually, he was much more talkative than he was on this starless night, much more so. Though he never was one to say it aloud, he did worry for his erstwhile partner - lover? Were they there still, or perhaps again? - when his mood grew as sour as it seemed to tonight.

"Shiba, you're ruining the evening with your sour face." That was more the Hishima that Shiba knew; ascetic to a fault, yet caring all the same; like acid with a smooth honey glaze. "You do know that you can use your big boy words to tell me what's wrong, do you not?"

"Hm. Forgive me, Hishima, I simply didn't wish to snuff out the fires of this beautiful night with my personal problems." Shiba replied, words seeming like they'd be filled with venom. Yet, they held none at all, like it had been ripped from his fangs before he'd even began the evening. Definitely not a good sign. "Although, if we don't start to see a star burning brightly on the horizon, I may be inclined to think this evening is tantamount to embers."

"Like an Easy Bake oven, right?"

"Exactly like those." Shiba chuckled in response, though it lacked the usual mirth that his laugh usually held. Hishima's brow furrowed almost in step with Shiba's gaze falling not to the sky above, but the streets below.  Quietly, the bespectacled Reaper hoped that Shiba wasn't planning to take a dive - it would certainly be dramatic enough for him, albeit likely with a couple of twists in midair.

"Well, maybe if that little oven starts to ding, you'll be able to tell me what's going on. Clearly, your heart's not in it tonight."

Shiba sighed, and curled up to Hishima like a cat - Shoka would be proud of the way the blonde sprawled atop him with a fine flourish. The brunette groaned as he nonetheless clasped Shiba's own hand in his, as the pair drank in the brief moment of peaceful silence, broken only when Shiba cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. Forgive me if I'm stuck gazing into the past, rather than the skies."

"Reminiscing? Now that is definitely not like you." Hishima replied, now clearly concerned. Inwardly, he cursed himself for the small display, but Shiba either didn't notice or ignored him, likely out of respect. Really, he knew that he could show care to the man while they were alone, away from the prying eyes of the others in their little family - although many of them would probably claim that 'oh, Mom & Dad are finally back together' or something of the sort.

"Well, normally, it isn't. However, I met a most peculiar flame, that I was drawn to like a moth. Turns out, I was burned in much the same way as he will be soon, and I can't get the past out of my head." Hishima's eyebrow quirked up, as Shiba reached a hand up to cup the brunette's chin in his grasp. "It's like old memories have been seared into the forefront of my brain, never to leave again. It's incredibly vexing, to say the least."

"Mm. Is this someone you met as a former winner of the Game?"

"No, no. Rather, it's someone guided by the same torch that I once was." Shiba replied, and Hishima nodded in response, as if urging the other to continue with no words exchanged. "Tell me, Hishima. Do you know of an artist by the name of Ichiryusai Madarame?"

Hishima nodded again. "I do. I'd actually been hired by him to design the spacing for one of his exhibits - might I add, the man has no sense of interior aesthetics." At that blunt snipe at the man, Shiba couldn't help but laugh - not a joyless one like he'd had before, which was definitely a good sign in Hishima's eyes. "That was some time ago, however... before my passing, at the very least. It was... about a month or so earlier that he'd announced one of his pupils had tragically passed away."

"Ah, yes. Of course he would stoke his own flames with the dying embers of my own."

Hishima took a brief moment to do the mental math, then froze, a rare look of genuine shock and horror etched across his features. "You were...?"

"Yes. And the young man I'd met earlier today may well be heading down much the same path, given his passion for the arts burns even brighter than mine did all those years ago."

"Is there nothing we can do?"

"Not without risking him scorching us with his scorn. Our parting was... shall we say, heated." Shiba made an odd gesture with his hands, as he tended to do when his will to speak ran out - rare, but it occurred enough around Hishima that the latter could tell when he was done. They simply sat in silence, ruminating on Shiba's rare moment of opening up about his past.

"Do you at least know the young man's name?"

"I believe it was a... Yusuke Kitagawa? I can't recall the last name well, but I do remember at the least his name was Yusuke." Shiba nodded, as if reassuring himself of his own correctness. Not that he ever really had to, with Hishima; the other man certainly never held it against him. Even still, it was something that Hishima found that Shiba could never truly shake off, much like his past had evidently proven.

He simply held Shiba close to him in lieu of a response, with a mental note to look further into this Yusuke fellow. Maybe Shoka could give him some insight.

"Duuuuuuuuuuuuuude. This place is gross."

Rhyme groaned at the very insightful observation from her erstwhile partner in Mementos exploration. Idly, they wondered if they should try and get a hold of Goro Akechi to dig a bit deeper into the place, but they shot the idea down just as quickly. As it was, they suspected the detective would hold them in contempt for the events of a few days prior, and was more liable to show up with a gun and shoot the pair of them where they stood.

'Wouldn't be the first time I've died in here,' Rhyme noted to themselves with a frown. No, no, this wasn't the time to be bitter about the past. They'd let go of their grudges and malcontent with how they'd lost their dreams; besides, whatever those dreams may have been, they paled to the scope of their goals now: saving the saviour of the world from an ill-gotten fate of being stuck down here for all eternity.

If Joshua, the actual Composer of Shibuya, had been here, maybe things could have been different.

"It's also our best bet at finding out how to help Minako. And I know that's what you want most out of this, and why you haven't just turned and ran off." Rhyme quipped back, as Fret's face grew about as red as the odd growths upon the walls. Well, probably not the same shade, but they figured it was close enough. "Let's just get going, before we get attacked by that Taboo Noise again."

"By the way, what even is a Taboo Noise?" Fret inquired, and Rhyme stopped in their tracks before they'd really even began to make any. "I know it's a special kind of Noise, but, like. We never had to deal with them during our Game."

"I didn't, either. But Beat & Neku did." Rhyme had replied, trying to sift through their phone to find their file on the Taboo Noise. They had to admit, Beat was a huge help in that regard - well, not quite as much as Neku was, but it was the thought that counted. Ah, there it was. "Taboo Noise are usually created by special sigils, that Reapers have to actively draw out and create. Kind of like a demon summoning circle, if you've ever seen one of those in movies."

"For real? Huh... must take some kinda powerful Reaper to make something wild like that... uh, Reaper. Or, wait, no, what'd Haz call it? Morty... something?"

"Mortem Cantus, Fret." Rhyme corrected, though they felt a strange pit begin to form in their stomach at the thought. Was this Taboo Noise once a Reaper, if it had a Cantus form? Or was it simply just a name they'd given it to indicate being a cut above even the other Taboos? A scary thought, either way. "And it's possible it was something even higher up than a Reaper. Like an Angel."

"Huh. Y'think Kubo might know somethin' about it?"

"I'm not all that keen on asking him. Haz might be a better option. Or Josh, if we can ever find the prissy little..." Rhyme trailed off as they noticed something out of the corner of their eye. It... almost looked like they were being followed by something. Turning around, and wheeling Fret in the same direction, Rhyme narrowed their eyes and felt around in their jacket pocket for their Psych pin - still the same one as they'd brought the first time.

But what the tandem saw wasn't a Noise to erase.

"Wh- Fumi?!" Fret squawked, and Rhyme had to force their jaw shut so it wouldn't drop. Indeed, they'd come face to face with an unlikely sight in this place; that of one Hifumi Togo, the so-called Venus of Shujin. Or was it Venus of Shogi? They honestly couldn't remember which one was her real nickname and which was just the ol' rumour mill running rampant again.

"H-hello. I, uh... I may have taken a wrong turn somewhere."

"Yeah, no shit, ya did!" Fret shouted again, albeit more with concern than any sort of anger for his peer. Nonetheless, she still tensed up at the tone in his voice. "Crap, this isn't good, Rhyme... it's way too dangerous for her down here." He whispered to Rhyme, and they had to agree with him on that. It was bad enough that they were down here alone, but Hifumi didn't have any latent psychic abilities, as far as they were aware. 

"We... might need to get her out of here, and hold off on Mementos for today."

"Mementos?" Hifumi's head tilted quizzically to the side. "What's that?"

"This." Rhyme motioned all around the trio, and Hifumi's confusion seemed to be abated somewhat. Good; at least she understood that. "It's really dangerous down here, so you can't stay."

"Then why are you two staying? Or are you coming back with me?" Hifumi crossed her arms with a pout on her face. Ah, this was going to be a problem.
Especially when Rhyme got a glimpse of a familiar symbol floating towards Hifumi.

"Watch out, Fumi!" Fret shouted, and Hifumi turned just in time to see a Mosh Grizzly rear it's graffiti arm back, ready to slash the poor shogi player to ribbons. Desperately, Hifumi took several steps back, clutching the strap of her bag as she did so. Fret and Rhyme dropped into a fighting stance, but they knew things were bad; they'd never had to defend someone mid-battle before, especially one who was utterly defenseless.

"Wh-what... is that?!"

"It's the Noise. Stand back, and let us deal with-"

Hifumi's idle shifting of her bag strap led to her hand falling upon one of the pins she'd fastened to it, as a decorative item - a pin that shot out a chain of energy towards the towering bear Noise. As soon as the chain found its' mark, it coiled around the grizzly and compressed it tightly, while leaving it entirely unabl to move. All three of the teens present paused as the bear fell to the ground, writhing and struggling against the barbed chain that held it in place.

"Uh, Rhyme?" Fret tentatively began, glancing over to them. "You didn't bring any Trip Wire pins, didja?"

"Nope. You?"

"Uh huh."

Which meant...

"Wait, did that come from me???" Hifumi squeaked out, flailing her arms in the air in a panic. Rhyme glanced over at the bag, and - ah, that was it. She'd somehow got her hands on a ShoGun Void pin, and used it as an aesthetic decoration of her messenger bag. And now it very well saved the trio from potential peril - and likely erasure.

"Waitwaitwait, wait. Rhyme, y'know what this means, right?!" Fret exclaimed, as he fumbled through his pocket to fish out his In the Snipeline pin. "It means Hifumi can fight the Noise with us while she's down here!" A pause. "Hold on. Did she die or something?"

"Did I what???"

"Fret, neither of us are dead." Rhyme groaned, as they tapped on the Star Quarterback pin they held and dashed through their ursine adversary, turning it into little more than static in the wind. Or, well, the nonexistent wind, seeing as how it was eerily wind-free down in Mementos. "And neither is Hifumi. I think it's just a matter of her having some latent talent with Psychs that lets her use them while she's down here in the UG."

"I thought this was Mementos?" Hifumi's head tilted quizzically again. Fret just chuckled.

"Hoo boy, have we got a real story for ya, Fumi..."

Sho hated hospitals. 

Ever since he'd died in one, left all alone in the dark, hospitals held a special place of contempt with the mad mathematician. Sure, he could at least acknowledge their value was non-zero, but his personal equation had no place for them. So, he'd steered clear of them even after his return to life beyond erasure; even in his failed coup attempts, the solution to the formula of his imminent demise was to return instead to WildKat, where the pain-in-the-ass pixie would wake him the next morning with a twinkle in her eye and a spiteful sneer permanently affixed to her face.

Sho never did bother calculating which seemed more at home on her.

But today was a rare occasion, since he currently held a variable that hospitals had never contained before: one of Sho's own treasured prime factors. One with red hair, and the most competitive spirit that he'd ever had the honour of calculating alongside. Or, at least, he hoped that the fire within her hadn't faded out, especially after his first and gravest miscalculation led to, apparently, a great deal of misery for the prime factor in question. 

He had zetta apologies to make, and to one of the very few people he'd actually deign to give them to, no less.

"Excuse me, sir?" A nurse had stopped him in the hall as he slunk towards the hall he'd found himself in the first time he'd seen her in this place. Sho grumbled out curses under his breath; he didn't have the t variable in place to deal with some inane hectopascal trying to crunch him out of the hospital. "You... look like you might be lost. Are you visiting someone in particular this afternoon?" 

Oh. She was a useful hectopascal.

"Normally, I'd just add you to the heap." Sho grumbled, and the nurse recoiled at the harsh tone his words always took. Suddenly, though, he grinned a feral grin, and the nurse idly wondered if maybe he wouldn't go back to the growling thing. "But, I'm not in the mood to waste any more of my t factor in this place than I have to. I have more important calculations to take care of."

"Um... I'm sorry, but what?"

Sho sighed loudly, causing at least one onlooker to turn and glance in his direction. "I'm looking for the room of one Kasumi Yoshizawa." He said, in as plain and neutral of a tone as he could muster, with no small amount of effort. "I heard she'd injured herself, and wanted to check on her. I'm... an old friend of hers." He added, not wanting to divulge his history to such a radian. The nurse simply nodded, dumbstruck at just how odd the fellow in front of her was, before flipping through the clipboard she held in her arm.

"Let's see... ah, here we are. She's just over this way, if you'll follow me."

Sho nodded and said nothing more, instead taking heavy footsteps down the hall where the nurse had led him. Such a simple solution to the problem... were his calculations all jumbled today because his mind was elsewhere? All the more reason to solve this equation, he figured; that way, when it came time for real number-crunching, he would have nothing stopping him from going all out and adding everything in his path to the heap.

First, though...

Slowly opening the door to the room he'd been led to - while the nurse pointedly scurried away - Sho couldn't help but ponder just what sort of response he'd gather from the prime factor. It was likely that she'd be happy to see him, but he would love for x =/= tears in this equation; he was never good with sappy things like that, finding them to be utter garbage.

He hadn't quite accounted for the possibility that she would throw a plastic milk bottle at his head.

"Ow."

Kasumi gasped, and threw herself out of bed, stopping just short of her former mentor and best friend. "You... you're not supposed to be here. Oh, god, Dr. Maruki was right, I really am seeing ghosts-" Then she paused, glancing up at Sho again - and noticing that the milk bottle hadn't gone through him, but some distance away at an angle that could only mean he'd been truly hit by it.

"Recalibrate your vectors, Kassie. Bring them in line with mine."

Confused, but nonetheless convinced by his casual usage of his old nickname for her, Kasumi took a small step forward, before launching into a hug that Sho, rare occasion that it was, reciprocated. Now this was more in line with his original calculations - as were the half-hearted punches she now threw at his arms, tears streaking her eyes. Damn; he'd really hoped he wouldn't have to deal with crying in his calculations. No matter, he'd just wing it for a change.

"We were at your funeral! How are you even here?!" Kasumi shouted, before clasping her mouth with her hands. Sho couldn't help but let out a small chuckle despite himself; really, some things never changed. Especially not with her. "I'm not dead too, right? I feel like if I'd just died all of a sudden, there'd be more crying involved, or angels playing harps, or something."

At the mere mention of the dreaded a factor, Sho scoffed. "Angels are garbage, and I'll add them to the heap." And he slammed his fist into his other hand. "CRUNCH!" Before dropping it back to his side, though his other arm brought Kasumi in for a side-hug - his lanky frame seemed so much taller than hers, even now that she'd come into her own.

"Believe me, if I'd seen you down in the UG, you'd be crunched too, if only because you died young like I did."

Kasumi frowned, and Sho had idly mused that he revealed too much of his personal formulae to her. "So, you did die... but you're here, and solid. So, what gives?"

Sho grinned that same feral grin he held these days - one that Kasumi didn't shy away from, knowing that deep down, this was the same Sho Minamimoto she'd been friends with for years before his untimely passing years ago. "You really wanna solve for x there, Kassie? My calculations aren't something that ordinary integers get themselves involved in."

Kasumi crossed her arms, unimpressed with his attempts at deflection. "If I didn't wanna know, I wouldn't have asked. And can you stop with the math stuff? It super doesn't fit the Sho that I know." She said, flatly and with no room to brook disagreement - so she'd picked up a few of his favoured formulae for dealing with unruly integers after all.

Good. She'd need it, after this.

"Then listen up, prime factor. Lemme tell ya about the sea of numbers that is the 428 Underground, and how one day, it'll all be mine."

Chapter Text

Kasumi had heard a lot of strange things in her life.

A great many of them were silly, for sure, but most of them were intended as such; a jest, and nothing more. But as she listened to more and more of Sho's story, the more she realized that it wasn't a joke to him. Frighteningly, it also made a certain degree of sense, given that he was there; like really there, physically, and she had hugged him, no less. As far as Kasumi remembered of Sho, he never hugged, ever.

Just wait until Sumire heard about that one when Kasumi went to go talk to her later.

Even then, with all of that, she had such a hard time wrapping her head around the tales Sho wove for her - of Noise and Players and Reapers, and the recent wrench of Personas thrown into the mix. She hadn't quite parsed out why he was suddenly spending most of his time speaking in math terms, but that would be something her and Sumi could figure out together. And, just to confirm and to rub it into Dr. Maruki's face, she confirmed that Sho had seen nothing of Sumire down in the... what did he call it again? The Underground?

Kinda sounded like a night club name. And she even said as much to Sho, who simply snorted in response.

"Not an invalid answer for that formula." He answered, grinning that feral grin that seemed permanently etched into his features now. Kasumi almost missed the gentler smiles he used to give them in his past, but it sounded like those would be few and far between, if not gone entirely. "Especially with the n variables floating around all the time like imaginary digits." That much have meant the Noise, Kasumi figured, so she nodded.

Internally, she was getting concerned that she was already figuring out Sho's math speak and translating it.

"Sounds like you've been having a real fun time of it the last few years." Kasumi said finally, though it came off as more dejected than she'd liked. And, unfortunately for her, Sho picked up on that, always cognizant of her feelings more than even she herself was.

"The trash radian is going down." Sho muttered out, almost too quietly for Kasumi to hear through her own swirling thoughts. At the quirking of her eyebrow, Sho continued. "The negative integer of a coach you have at Shujin. I told you about the Palaces, right?" At her nod, he resumed once more. "Well, he's been crunched, and added to the heap. Now his desires'll drive him to guilt, and he's going to get locked up for a long time."

"What does that matter to me? Sure, he's Shujin's coach, but-"

"I know about what happened, Kassie."

Kasumi paused, mind racing almost as fast as Sho's was regularly. "Wh-what do you mean, what happened? I mean, yeah, I hurt my arm in gymnastics practice, but..."
Sho shook his head, though. "I know the variable you're trying to switch into my formulae. It's honestly pretty derivative." He grunted, and Kasumi's breath began to catch. At the very least, if her lungs were to be ripped from her chest, they were already in the best place to do it. "'Sides, it's hardly an equation I'm unfamiliar with. I've dealt with some real zeroes in my life."

Kasumi wanted to speak, to ask how he found out, and if he thought any less of her, when a gentle rap on the door rang through the room. It was odd, that someone would knock - had she been expecting another surprise visitor? That was a no, but she was still caught off guard by the voice nonetheless.

"U-uh... Kassie? Is everything okay in there-"

"Sumi, come in here!" Kasumi called out to the other side of the door. "There's someone you gotta see~" And oh, how Sho's face blanched at that, which drew a real laugh from Kasumi as the door slowly creaked open to reveal a girl almost her spitting image, but with her hair down and glasses perched atop her nose. She looked at Kasumi, then to Sho, almost like she'd seen a ghost - which, honestly, she kinda had. And Sho sported much the same look. 

Clearly, he hadn't been anticipating having to deal with both of the Yoshizawa siblings today.

"You sure you don't wanna go to the Wilton with them, Akira?"

Akira groaned for what seemed like the tenth time that afternoon alone. Yes, it was a big deal that they'd stopped Kamoshida - at least, that was the idea - and now they were celebrating a successful run in the Palace by selling off the gold medal they'd picked up from Kamoshida's twisted heart and enjoying a lavish feast. Only... it wasn't a fully attended party anyway, when Akira had mentioned he had other plans for that night he couldn't reschedule.

Admittedly, he was lying out his ass, but nobody really pushed him on it.

Instead, the rest of the so-called Phantom Twisters - which was mostly just the Twisters with an added Ryuji - went without their so-called leader. And given the ease in which they'd agreed to go ahead as planned, everyone was fine with leaving Akira out in the lurch. It stung a lot more than Akira would care to admit, especially to Morgana, who he just knew would rat him out to the others if he tried to show any real emotion.

Ugh. Now he was getting paranoid over a goddamn cat.

"M'fine, Mona. I'm going for a walk." He said brusquely and suddenly, throwing on his sweater and stepping out into the chilly night air before Mona could voice any sort of protest. Evidently, Akira noted to himself, the weather outside hadn't caught the memo that it was supposed to be the middle of spring, as the biting winds clung to Akira's skin like the sweater that was supposed to keep him safe from them. Just one more thing that didn't go anywhere near according to plan for him, he supposed.

"Penny for your thoughts, young man?"

Akira's first thought was to simply turn and leave the unfamiliar voice in his rearview, but something compelled him to turn around and face the source of the voice. It was from a man who looked in his 30s. He sported long, light brown hair in a thin ponytail with a similarly thin beard adorning his jawline meeting with a more full goatee upon reaching his chin. He was decked head to toe in fancy clothing - definitely from Il Cavallo, if Akira had to guess, except the colours were all off. Did they even make fancy vests and pants in the garish hot pink that was searing his eyes upon this man's wardrobe, over that at ICdR?

"They're worth a hell of a lot more than that, y'know." Akira grumbled, as he turned and began to walk off. However, he was stopped in his tracks not by force, but by the man simply laughing as if he'd been told the best joke ever, and Akira's eyebrow was raised long before he'd fully turned back to the man.

"I suppose that's true. It's been some time since I've been reminded of that, though... you surprised me." The man said, with a low, gravelly voice - one that Akira could swear sounded familiar, but every time he seemed as though he could grasp who this sounded like, it slipped from his grasp. Well, he was sure that it would come to him at some point, or else it wasn't too important to think about right now. "Ah, but where are my manners? I haven't even introduced myself!"

"You... really don't need to. It's not like we're going to meet again after tonight, probably." Akira replied, cutting off the man's flourish before he could sweep into a bow. "I'm just a high schooler, and you... well, you look like you could probably buy my entire life with your pocket change." Strangely, the man didn't seem all that perturbed by the comment, instead bowing to Akira like he hadn't just brushed off the attempt earlier. What an odd guy.

"Nonsense; there's no such thing as one-off meetings in this city." Doubtful, but Akira wasn't about to try and deter him again - because clearly it worked so well the first time. "My name is Koji Yasuda. It's a pleasure to meet you, young..."

"... Akira."

"Young Akira! A strong, fitting name for a young man who I can tell from a glance is simply brimming with potential." Yasuda continued, and Akira rolled his eyes before taking a slight step back - hardly perceptible, but still enough to put a bit of extra distance between him and the odd man. "Hmm. But you definitely seem troubled. Are you out for a walk alone?" Akira hesitantly nodded, and was met with a nod of understanding in return. "You must be clearing your head after a night of studying, perhaps trying to decompress before going back to the grind, as the kids might say."

"Nobody says that anymore." Well, not that Akira knew, anyways.

"Really? Hm, I must be out of touch then. I've been gone on business for a long while, so I clearly need to brush up on the new lingo." Yasuda chuckled, and Akira felt... somewhat less off-put by the man. Only somewhat, though, as he still kept his distance and left himself guarded, evidently beneath the older male's notice. "Really, though, you don't seem like the type to be spending such a nice night alone."

"I'm new to Tokyo, and I don't exactly have many friends yet." Numerically, that might not have been true, at least from an outside perspective of the last few days. But in truth, Akira wasn't even sure if the Phantom Twisters counted as his friends yet, or if they were just people who knew what the hell he was getting himself into with the Palaces and the Metaverse-slash-UG. "And the ones I do have are busy tonight, and I just kinda... got left out."

"Pity. I'm sure that you'll meet a great many people that will appreciate your gifts, Akira-kun." Akira winced at the honouriffic; in truth, he had never cared for hearing them attached to his own name. Something about it just didn't seem right to his ears, not that he could really tell people that. Only a handful really listened to him about that sort of thing, anyways. "If nothing else, I'll be rooting for you~"

Yasuda rooted through his hot pink suit jacket and fished out a business card, which Akira had seen was for the Hesperides Spa & Wellness Centre. It must have been a recent arrival, since he'd never even heard of it before tonight. "And if you ever need an ear to listen to your concerns, feel free to give me a call. I may be fairly busy, but I'm sure I'll be able to make time for a new friend!" He said, clapping his hands before turning on his heels to walk away. Before he could go very far, though, he turned back to Akira and gave him an odd-looking salute. "Ciao~"

Huh. Akira turned around himself and walked off, still not realizing that the voice that Yasuda spoke in was not dissimilar to one that haunted his dreams already.

Sae had to admit: these nights out were becoming a vital part of retaining her sanity lately.

Work had become nothing short of a nightmarish hassle, and her superiors were constantly hounding her for results she consistently achieved anyways. Most people would be exhausted by the sheer stress of it all, and Sae was no exception. However, it wasn't just work; she also still had to care for her younger sister, independent though she may have been, which brought its' own share of challenges when Sae considered just how far they'd drifted from one another over the years.

It was a breath of fresh air, then, that someone would enter her life that understood the unique challenges of both facets of her life.

Ayano was, simply put, an enigma to Sae, simply appearing out of nowhere one day offering her services as a design consultant. She hadn't thought much of it, but took the offer nonetheless, albeit more to prevent some of her... unsavoury coworkers from trying to take advantage of her. Mostly, anyways; one tried nonetheless and found himself trounced by the designer so thoroughly that Sae heard he'd transferred all the way out to Nagoya. It brought a smile to her lips just thinking about the moment, an amusing little memory.

"I hope you're not laughing at me, darling."

Speaking of Ayano, she'd drawled out to Sae, face etched with concern - damn, she'd gotten too lost in thought. Sae simply waved a hand to brush off the concerns. "I'm fine; I was just thinking about that old coworker of mine. Doi, I think?" Ayano's groan at the name told her she'd remembered correctly, so that was a good sign at least. "And how you'd sent him packing straight to Nagoya."

This time, it was Ayano's turn to chuckle, even as she sipped from her glass of rum & Coke. Sae always found it impressive that she could do that without spilling - heaven only knew that she made a mess every time she tried. "Well, a lady breaking into business like myself needed to learn how to defend myself. Thankfully, I have plenty of good teachers."

"You mean your not-family, right?" Sae inquired, setting her glass to the side of her dinner plate. "I'd been meaning to ask you for some advice about family, chosen or otherwise, for a little while now, if you don't mind."

Ayano's own glass clinked against the table, as she set it down in much the same way that Sae had with her own. "Ask away, darling."

Sae took a pause to compose herself - it always, always caught her off guard when Ayano used that word so casually. "It's my sister... she's a wonderful sibling, don't get me wrong. Stays out of trouble, keeps her grades up, studies hard... but, it's just that..." She sighed, brushing a stray hair from her face. "Well, we've been drifting apart so much over the last few years. I'm just worried that I'm pushing my sister away too hard in trying to provide for her."

"Mm." Ayano hummed, as she tucked her hand beneath her chin in careful thought and consideration. "It sounds to me like you're having trouble reconciling the part of you that wants to take care of your sister, and the part of you that wishes to simply just be a sister." 

"Exactly. I'm just not sure what to do."

Ayano sighed as she reached for her glass once more, gently taking a drink before setting it back down again. "In truth, I've been having the same problem too with my darling Shoka. It seems as though ever since my return from, ah, business travels," Ayano began, stammering as she reached the end, much to Sae's noted surprise. Ayano was always so composed, it was odd to see her falter so obviously - must have been the liquor. "She's spending more and more time away from our family, and instead with her friends."

"You aren't jealous of them, are you? Her friends, I mean."

"Heavens, no." Ayano replied, putting a hand to her chest. "I'm just worried that sooner or later, she'll decide she doesn't need me anymore." It was odd for Sae, seeing Ayano also sound so contemplative - as though her problems were a great weight upon her back. 

"Sounds like it's hard, being a big sister. Honestly, I'm just glad I'm not the only one." Sae chuckled, drawing a light snort from Ayano.

"Truly. It's part of why I look forward to our dinner dates so much; it's nice to spend time with someone of my age that has a clear focus in life." Ayano sighed as she spun her finger in her glass, stirring the ice and liquid remaining within. "It's been stressful at home, lately; my family has always been partial to certain... antics. But as of late, they simply seem too much for me to handle."

"Sounds like you could use a break from them." Sae began, before cutting herself off abruptly. She needed to word this carefully, lest Ayano think the wrong thing. "My apartment is always open; I'm sure that between Makoto and I, we can find a spare futon for you to use if you want a night away from home."

"I may take you up on that some time soon, Sae." Ayano smiled as she reached not for her glass, but for her napkin, dabbing the corner of her mouth with it like a proper lady from the stories she used to read all the time as a kid. "Though I would hate to impose upon you, really."

"It wouldn't be any trouble, Ayano." Sae brushed off the concerns once more with a hand wave and a slight smile, the latter of which was returned. "And you definitely wouldn't be imposing on either myself or Makoto. Honestly, I think she's been lonely a lot lately too; some company at the apartment would do some good." And then Sae winked at Ayano. "Besides, if we're going to stay so close, Makoto's going to need to get used to seeing you, at least for the next little while before she goes off to school after this year."

"Fair enough." Ayano replied, chuckling as she put the napkin in her hand on top of her lap instead. "And I'd definitely love to stay close; you're honestly the first real friend I've made since moving here from Shinjuku."

Sae paused, finding it odd that it sounded almost like static when Ayano said where she was from. Then she glanced into her glass, asked for the waiter to take it from her, and the duo continued their conversation well into the night, even long after they'd left the restaurant and returned to more comfortable quarters.

It's nice, Sae thought. And she couldn't wait until the next time they enjoyed a girl's night out on the town like this again. 

Minako was surprised to find an animal that would pay her any mind here.

Granted, she hadn't been entirely convinced that it wasn't simply Noise, but she gave it the benefit of the doubt. After all, she was beginning to find herself going a bit crazy with the loneliness that her unique state of being granted her. Sure, she could always talk to Fret if she found him in the right spots, and Haz stopped by on occasion to teach her a bit about the UG. But even then...

Well, it was an odd feeling for Minako to have when she'd been so good at surrounding herself with people her whole life.

Idly, she wondered how she managed that in the past, as the snake she'd found slithered up her arm and rested comfortably upon her left shoulder. Mitsuru once made mention of her being charismatic to an almost frightening degree, though Minako balked at that idea. Charisma was such an odd thing to quantify that Minako was almost certain she had none of it. If anything, she was drawn to the uniqueness of SEES' various members and learned from them, and not the other way around as they so often claimed.

"Not that it matters now, since I'm all alone here." Minako muttered, though she quickly amended, "Well, except for you, little snake." And Minako poked the snake upon its' nose, with the snake almost shaking its head in response. Maybe he wasn't much for booping after all, which was almost disappointing for Minako. Though, to be fair, it was company she lacked before this - and besides, she thought the snake draped upon her shoulder made her look tougher.

To what, she had no idea, but it was one of those little things she had to find comfort in these days.

"Huh... y'know, I don't think I've ever seen a snake with colours like yours, lil guy." Minako said idly to the snake as she sat atop the Hachiko statue, watching the world pass her by without a care. It was nice, to still be able to experience the world, albeit without constantly bumping into people - lonely, but still nice to explore all that Tokyo had to offer. Or, well, all that Shibuya had to offer; it seemed as though she was stuck in this particular area, likely as a result of how she was brought back.

"Hmm... I gotta give you a name." Minako pursed her lips as she lost herself in thought, trying to come up with a suitable moniker for her slithery new friend. As if Messiah or Eurydice were responding to her, something in the back of her mind seemed to click, as she gave the snake a pat on the head, the red-and-black scales a striking contrast against her fair skin. "I've got it! I'll call you... Megumi." It rolled off the tongue and seemed natural as could be, so it just made sense to Minako to use such a name

The snake hissed, though it did nothing that suggested it hated the idea, so Minako smiled and nodded. The name would stick, and she gave Megumi another pet as she kicked her legs back and forth from atop Hachiko's head. The snake seemed content to simply settle into its' perch upon her shoulder and watch the people alongside her, soaking in the sounds of the city much the same as Minako was.

And as the world turned and life flowed ever more around her, she failed to look for the telltale Noise markings upon the snake's back, marking it as a creation of a Soul long since lost to Shibuya's Underground. Though this was a Noise much more benign in nature, as she was a saviour; despite all the Noise tended to exist as, this one was content to remain at her side as a guest of her world, rather than trying to usurp it. Though faint, the Noise still had some semblance of Soul, and that faint echo told it that its' time for usurpation had since passed.

The snake coiled up further upon Minako's shoulder, and watched its' beloved Shibuya beat with the new life it had long ago hoped it would someday have.

Chapter Text

If Rindo was being honest, he was worried about Akira.

Really, they all were, especially with how he so readily blew the team off before their big celebration at the Wilton. Maybe it was a tendency to shy away from big crowds that drew him away from the big buffet blowout, as Ryuji had put it? Rindo honestly didn't blame him too much for that, but Akira seemed much more vehement than that in his desire to not be around them - almost like he was trying to push away the idea that this was anything more than a way to get something out of his life and go back to normal.

Again, something Rindo could sympathize with, but not something he could just let Akira let consume him.

After all, if what Kubo had said to him was any indicator, things in the UG were a bit hectic of late. And if Haz, of all people, was here in Shibuya - and willingly, at that -then that meant that they were stumbling into something far bigger than just dealing with a perverted coach. The others seemed to agree, when Rindo had explained as such to them, but Akira seemed unwilling to even hear him out, given that he'd been actively avoiding talking to anyone in the Twisters since they'd conquered the Palace.

Speaking of...

Kubo had said that it wasn't a normal thing to occur in the UG, that Palace of Kamoshida's. Rindo had suspected as much, but to hear confirmation from the ex-Angel was still unnerving to say the least. And that was to say nothing of the weird Shadow-Noise hybrid that met them at the end of it all. Minamimoto hadn't even been able to craft a proper explanation for it when pressed, and that was coming from Minamimoto. As far as Rindo knew, Minamimoto had an answer for everything, even if he wrapped it up in a nigh-indecipherable mathematical package. 

The gears were turning in Rindo's head, but where they led him was nothing particularly good.

Between the stress of worrying about the UG stuff, and worrying about Akira, Rindo really needed to breathe. Which was why he and Shoka took the afternoon off to go crawling the city, searching for a new haunt - and, presumably, a new hideout for the rechristened Phantom Twisters. Because they knew they'd have to keep investigating these Palaces whenever they propped up, whether certain people liked it or not, and if they were the only ones who could?

Well, that meant it fell to them to right the wrongs of their day.

"Rindo, you're making that face again."

"Huh?" Snapped out of his thoughts by Shoka, Rindo frowned as he saw the matching frown upon her face. "Uh... what face?"

"The one you get when you're being a pain in the ass and worrying too much about everything, obviously."

That drew a snort from Rindo, as his frown became a grin to match the one Shoka was beginning to sport upon her features. "Come on, that can't be a face that I make all the time."

"At least once a day, especially lately." Shoka replied, booping Rindo on the nose. His cheeks flushed red at the sudden contact, and Shoka couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "Oh my god, you're such a dork, getting all red at just that." It was a fond bit of teasing, Rindo knew, so he couldn't get mad - instead, he simply returned the favour, booping Shoka on the nose suddenly, causing her cheeks to light up a brilliant crimson.

"Heh. Now who's the dork?"

"Shut up, Rindo." Shoka pouted, but still leaned up against him as they prowled the streets of Shibuya, looking for a destination that not even they knew. Rindo leaned into her in kind, and the two simply enjoyed each others' company as they wandered around their home.

Really, things could be worse, Rindo decided. He could be dealing with all this stress without her.

Sho Minamimoto was in his own little slice of hell.

Really, he hadn't expected the unknown variable of both the Yoshizawa twins converging on the x-axis at once, and he really should have. His calculations were always off with those two, though; something about how they seamlessly strode into peoples' lives and caused untold chaos to their perfectly calculated formulae always tripped up even a great mathematician like him. Still, he wouldn't dwell on it too much; after all, everyone needs to recalibrate at some point. 

No, what made things so much worse with his calculations now was the goddamn harpy in his ear at present.

"I'm a pixie, you ass!" Well, shit, he hadn't meant to call her that aloud. Coco, admittedly, was patient enough to not gripe any further, letting Sho calculate even as she, in her own words, 'was wasting her totez adorbs fit', whatever the hell that factored out to. Maybe if he could get in contact with her perpendicular, he could get some sort of translation... but no. Sho had no desire to integrate with the absolute mess of plotted points that was the Shinjuku group; as it is, he had a hard time integrating Shoka into the mix.

Those zeptograms always caused him untold problems in his calculations. Maybe he'd have to factor them out sooner, rather than later, Composer be damned. And make no mistake, the Composer would certainly be damned one way or another; it was just a matter of how the math worked in his favour. Sho scowled and, realizing that he'd ruined the paper he'd been writing his calculations on, threw it in the trash.

"Not the kinda crunching you were hopin' to do with those numbers, huh?"

"Quiet, you pixie perigon."

Coco smacked him lightly in the back of the head for that one, probably only because he'd at least called her a pixie that time. Sho had no idea why she was so fixated on that angle, anyways, but it wasn't his place to press. After all, she had her numbers, and he had his; their common point of convergence didn't mean they needed to find points of origin. "Still, you kinda messed up, y'know? With those twins, and all... you shoulda just crunched 'em like any ol' Noise."

That drew a low growl from Sho, not unlike that of a lion - or, as Coco called it, his 'kitty purrs'. "The twins're old variables I chose to willingly re-integrate. About the only ones I'd even consider doing so, really." And oh, how he hoped that would be the end of it, so he could focus on his calculations - but, of course, the w variables in his life never gave him the chance to do so.

"What, do you have a crush on one of 'em or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Sho grumbled, and he could feel the sneer Coco had growing on her face like a weed. Damn perigon, always jumping to the most infactorial of conclusions. "They're both high schoolers, first of all; even if I had any sort of interest, the numbers don't line up. And secondly, they're more like..." And for a moment, Sho paused to consider how his variables lined up - and finally came to a conclusion he liked. "Well, like you."

"Rude?"

"Listen, perigon." Sho snapped before Coco could get miserable over being compared to some high-schoolers. "You wormed your way into my life like an unwanted variable, and now I'm stuck with you in all my calculations - best I can do is work around it. Same with them." He said, hopefully with a tone that brooked no further intrusion so he could get back to his-

"So, you think they can be totez adorbs fairy princesses too?" Oh, god dammit. "Huh. Maybe I should bring 'em here, teach 'em about what we do. Hey, maybe they can dual-wield, for, like, four guns! Oh em gee, that'd be four times the bullets-"

"No." Sho growled out through gritted teeth, irritated with Coco in more ways than one. She stopped, a rare moment of consideration for the clear anger in his voice. "We're not integrating them into bringing down the Composer. I'm not putting them in that kind of unneeded trouble." They'd been through enough negative factors because of him, from the sounds of it; he wasn't going to add more unless it became absolutely necessary.

"Well, we need someone to give us some extra muscle, and I don't hear you putting anyone else forward. Maybe that one that thinks you're from some totez dorky phone game?"

Sho took a second to think about who she meant, and sighed. "That zeptogram wouldn't be able to hold a gun properly without twitching and shooting herself straight out of the equation, perigon. Recalculate, and solve for x another way." Besides, he really didn't want to be called Lord Tomonami on the regular again, that was a variable he wanted no part in factoring by any means.

"Ugh. You're totez a pain to work with, y'know?" Coco grumbled, and skipped off, about to exit the room and finally give Sho a moment of reprieve. He was pleased, but only for a fleeting moment, before realizing his cellphone had been pulled off his graph and plotted onto a different plane. Glancing around, he knew he never misplaced the damn thing - unless someone had transformed it clear off the grid.

Fuck. Coco swiped his phone.

"Bee tee dubs, I'm totally gonna call the twins. You totez have their numbers, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight~?"

"Don't you dare! Get back here with that, you perigon, before I crunch you into data!"

Hazuki wondered just what drew everything to Shibuya.

Maybe it was like moths to an open flame, only the flame was the 104 Building towering above all others in the ward. Certainly a possibility, given that he'd seen Reapers from all walks find their way to the rooftop to gaze over the whole city, and even he had indulged in what seemed to be the Reaper rite of passage of spending a night just lazing atop the tower. Really, Haz was almost envious of Shibuya, having such a spot to relax both out in the open and tucked away where none could see them, a true escape from the hustle and bustle. 

Sure, there was no shortage of landmarks in Shinjuku, but the Metropolitan didn't have quite the same view.

Even still, it didn't explain why Shibuya was the site of so many occurrences in the UG. Between the Long Games and now the matter of Mementos - something that even Haz found himself vexed by the creation of - he couldn't help but note that Shibuya held some sort of significance. It was part of what drove him to seek out Rindo Kanade to give him the tour all those months ago, after all. Maybe there was something in the RG that inspired the UG to be such a hotbed of activity, he'd surmised, and wanted to see for himself.

Rindo had mentioned it was more the people that made Shibuya special, though, not the places. And Haz began to wonder if maybe he had a point, given all the strange Souls he saw through the Scramble. Some were stagnant, forever unchanging; Souls that Haz normally wouldn't have spared a passing glance at before. But it was how those Souls still interacted with the world around them, mingling with those who were bursting with so much Imagination it would choke a lesser being, that Haz found fascinating. 

"Nice view, huh?"

Haz almost did a double take at the sound of the voice behind him - a rarity for an Angel such as himself - before righting himself before he accidentally uptuned himself straight out of the UG. It was just Minako, sauntering over to take a seat next to him with what seemed to be... a pet? No, that was a Noise, but he couldn't sense any sort of the usual negativity coming from it. Perhaps one meant to salvage a Soul, then?

Hm. Joshua certainly was interesting, if he himself made this Noise.

"It is somewhat therapeutic, I have to admit." Haz replied, deciding to draw his attention away from the strange serpent and back to Shibuya. The crossing was just as bustling as ever, even with the sun having descended and the moon in full rise. Minako hummed beside him, a tune he didn't recognize, but Haz didn't press on what it might have been. Likely something from her past, if the wistful smile she had upon her face was any indication.

He almost felt bad for the Messiah, seeing her coming to terms with the fact that years of her life had been stolen from her.

"Y'know, I've been wandering the city a lot, and I haven't heard any of the songs I used to love ten years ago since I came here." Ah, well, it looks like they're going to reminisce now. Haz didn't pay much attention to mortal music normally, but he might have to start, now. "It's crazy, how much the world has changed in ten years. The phones are all different, the music is all different... it's kinda overwhelming, to be honest."

"Yes, the way that humans change so rapidly is something even we Angels struggle to grasp at times. Although, I do know some of them are nudging the planes along with their creations, especially in places where the rules are... a bit more lax." At that, Haz wondered, idly, how some of the older Angels who left the planes entirely after their works had achieved the impact they desired were faring now. He hoped they found new purpose, wherever they may have been.

"That's a bit of a scary thought. Just who all are Angels, anymore?"

"Hm. Can't really say. That's something that would likely scare you, depending on the sorts of things you're interested in." Haz replied with a chuckle, and Minako couldn't help but feel like she had one of those cheesy oversized anime sweat drops forming on her brow. "Maybe one day, when you've had a chance to properly live your life, I can introduce you to a few."

"I'd like that." Minako replied, with a smile more genuine in its' warmth, and Haz understood there just what drew people to her as a Messiah. The smile settled into a more practiced one just as quickly, though, as Minako leaned back and kicked her legs idly in the air off the roof. "So, anything particularly interesting tonight? Or are you just people watching?"

"The latter, I'm afraid. With no Games going on, the UG activity seems to be restricted entirely to Mementos, as far as I can tell." It wasn't... entirely accurate, but Minako didn't need to know about the Palaces. Not yet, anyways, and definitely not unless it was of her own volition. "So, I'm just... observing, really. Like what some Angels say a good Composer should restrict themselves to."

"Well, I bet you're getting pretty good at that."

Haz had to stifle a laugh at that. Oh, if she only knew. Or perhaps she did know already, and was simply trying to encourage him nonetheless? Only the Messiah next to him could say for sure, and she seemed content to simply let the statement dnagle in the air with nothing else attached to it - ephemeral, much as she herself was at the moment. What an interesting person-

Wait. These vibes that he could suddenly feel... he's felt them before. In Shinjuku.

"Is that..." Haz focused his senses entirely on the vibes, searching hungrily for their source. If he was right, he may have found his former Producer, the one who tried to talk him out of the Inversion that he'd callously gone ahead with anyways, and the one who'd done their best to keep Kubo in check until the very end of it all three years prior. "Minako, come with me. I might be able to have you meet another Angel after all."

"Um... okay?" She seemed unsure, but trusted Haz anyways as he led her down the backstreets of Shibuya. The vibes felt closer the farther he delved, until he reached a small bar that would normally have simply blended in with the scenery - and, indeed, were he not actively searching for something, Haz may not have noted it himself. But the sign above the door was one he'd seen many times before, and gave it away that he knew he had the right person.

He threw open the door, Minako trailing close behind as he wove his way in, stopping at the bar itself as he saw her.

"Hello, Lala-chan."

Lala Escargot leveled Haz with a look, before thwacking him with her bar cloth. What was it with people from his past hitting him before saying hi?

"You have some nerve, finding me after what you did to the city I helped you maintain for all those years." Lala said, after a long moment of silence. Her attention was briefly diverted to the Messiah behind Haz, but she stood firm nonetheless and crossed her arms in a level fashion. "So, what brings you here?"

"Just dropping in to say hi, and to introduce you to my new friend. You see, we were just talking about Angels, and then I'd sensed your vibes, and-"

"Haz, you're rambling again." Lala cut him off as she told him that, as she'd done many times before. Ah, memories.

"Right, right, sorry." And he turned back to Minako, before flourishing towards Lala, who responded with a simple roll of her eyes before returning to wiping out the empty pint glass in her hands.

"Minako Arisato. Messiah, and she of the Universe. This is Lala Escargot - the former Producer of Shinjuku."

Chapter Text

"Uh, question."

"Yes?"

"What... do you mean by, 'Producer of Shinjuku'? And how is she the former... uh, Producer?" Minako's head tilted quizzically as Lala let out a huff and resumed cleaning her bar. Haz looked over towards the erstwhile bartender, hoping perhaps for some sort of reprieve in his apparent role of explaining everything to Minako, but his silent pleas fell upon deaf ears. 

"Hm... think of it as basically a referee, like in sports. Their goal is to ensure that our Reaper's Games run smoothly, and that both Player and Reaper alike are sticking to the rules." Haz figured that would suffice, and Minako didn't need to know about the secret reports at the moment. Hopefully, she wouldn't need to at all, but that seemed like wishful thinking at best. Lala raised an eyebrow at the abbreviated explanation, but said nothing further.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why she's the former Producer. What, did she break a rule or something?"

"Not... exactly." Haz wished so fervently to simply not have to discuss the matter of how Shinjuku had been simply Erased from the face of existence for several years, and the toll it took upon Reaper and Angel alike. But given the glare he felt boring into his neck from a very annoyed Lala, he knew that wouldn't be an option, lest he feel the wrath of the bar cloth thwacking him in the head again. "Shinjuku became a bit... unstable, I suppose, and for a time, we were forced to abandon the UG over there entirely."

"Mostly because someone decided it needed to be Erased, which was a shitty idea, by the way." A voice that Haz hadn't heard in some time sounded out, slurred though it was by alcohol. He didn't recall her being particularly keen on drinking before her own departure from Shinjuku prior to the Inversion, but evidently things had changed over the past few years.

He had too, to be fair. Although it was clear that wouldn't be enough for this particular tandem.

"Ohya, be nice." Lala reprimanded, although her tone was as flat as it was when she was speaking with Haz. It almost seemed like dealing with everyone around and all the UG-related questioning was an exercise in tedium for her, moreso than even the mundane bar cleaning. Minako, meanwhile, felt as though her head were spinning from all this new information - and she thought all the stuff about Personas and the like would be too much info for these people to take.

"Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnope." Ichiko Ohya barely managed, her speech clearly inhibited by all the alcohol she had been drinking before. Had all those bottles he'd seen scattered about been hers? Haz couldn't even think that was possible, from how he'd known her to be where it concerned alcohol before. "Why th'fuck are ya even talkin' to this guy? 'Specially after what he did t'our hometown." She spat a small gob of spit in Haz's direction, though it would have been too little for him to register even if it had hit him. Lala rolled her eyes and cuffed Ohya with the bar cloth, albeit with a force much lighter - and, evidently, more practiced - than she had with Haz.

Although, Haz was now enduring something far worse than a swipe with a bar cloth: Minako's patented Look Of "You're In Shit Now".

"Haz. What exactly did you do in Shinjuku?"

Haz simply shrugged. "It had to be Erased. So, it was. The higher ups agreed, though not all in unison. Some," He motioned towards Lala and Ohya, "were against the idea pretty vehemently. But the majority won out, so it fell to me and my Executor to carry out the deed." It was here where Haz sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Of course, had I known exactly what kind of Executor I had on my hands, I'd never have posited the question to the higher ups to begin with."

"Tell me about it." Lala scoffed, though Minako found herself unable to tell whether her annoyance was with this mysterious Executor, or with Haz. Likely both, now that she thought of it. "I still don't understand what exactly they saw in Kubo that they made him an Executor, and didn't just relegate him to a Producer."

"Well, Shinjuku already had a Producer, and an excellent one at that." Haz replied, trying his best to make a "Please Don't Be Mad At Me" face that Minako knew all too well from Junpei-

Wait. 

In an instant, Minako clutched her head and crumpled to her knees, and Lala rushed out from behind the bar to assist her. Haz made it to her side first, and Megumi seemed to take up almost a defensive stance to protect Minako from being harmed, in case the tandem of Angels wasn't enough protection on any plane. "Minako! What's wrong? Did something happen?" Haz inquired hurriedly, though still trying his best not to frighten the girl. Judging by the look he was receiving from Ohya, it evidently wasn't working well enough, but at least he was trying.

"I... I need to find out something."

"Find out... what, exactly?"

"What happened to my friends. There's one in particular I just thought of, and for some reason it made my head hurt with all these memories rushing at me at once." Minako slowly stood to her feet, taking the offered assistance of both Haz and Lala where needed. "It's strange... I hadn't thought I'd forgotten anything, but as soon as I thought about him in particular, it was like everything flooded back in at once."

Haz scratched his chin in thought. Lala did much the same.

"That... is peculiar." Haz finally said, after a moment. Turning to Lala, he was met with a look not of scorn, but of sadness; evidently, the question he'd been about to ask had no answer - at least, not from Lala. Damn. Well, nothing for it, he supposed. "We'll have to do some more digging later while we try and find you a way back to the RG."

"Hold on." Ohya piped up, having evidently decided that this conversation was far more interesting than the bottom of the bottle she'd been working on for the last ten or so minutes. "Why do you suddenly care about sending someone back to the RG? Did you hit your head and forget who you were?"

"Not exactly. More like... someone opened my eyes to the possibilities of humans."

Ohya took a moment to consider Haz, then grabbed her bottle and downed the remaining contents of it. "No more for me tonight, Lala. I'm gonna be busy helpin' these two out." Lala simply smiled, and nodded, as Ohya grabbed her bag and walked over to the group. "So, who's this friend you need help finding?"

"Junpei... Junpei Iori."

Ohya squinted. "Like... the pro baseball player?"

"Oh, he went pro? That's amazing!" Minako clapped her hands in joy, before leaning in towards Ohya with a twinkle in her eye. "Do you know where he plays? Is it around here?"

"Well... not usually. But I think his team's playing a game in Tokyo soon."

"Maybe we can find him then! Come on, Haz!" Minako shouted as she grabbed Haz by the arm and bodily dragged him out of the bar, Megumi slithering behind them in tow. Lala spared a final look at the serpentine Noise and let out a small chuckle, before Ohya made her way to the door.

"Ichi... you gonna be alright out there? Especially with all the Noise and Shadow activity lately, I'm hoping you'll be okay."

"Not to worry, Lala!" Ohya puffed her chest out with pride. "After all, I used to be a pretty damn good Reaper back when I worked here, so I think I'll be alright. Just gotta remember the basics."

"Alright, alright. Just don't go messing with people too much - you're not a Harrier anymore, remember?"

"Hey! I'm a professional now, I don't need to bug people as a Reaper." Ohya fired back, before giving a sly smirk to her long-suffering best friend. "That's what the camera's for, after all!"

Akira yawned, for the first time in years.

Really, it was just to be expected, considering it was only recently that his rock-solid sleep schedule had began to be tampered with, and thus his body began to betray him. Thankfully, nobody in the class seemed to mind, beyond a brief glance from Kawahara-sensei, who then returned right back into his lecture on the Nile River, both in terms of its' historical significance and the physical properties of the river itself. How the latter had any bearing on the former was beyond Akira's understanding, but thankfully he didn't need to think too hard about it.

After all, class was almost over, and he could go back to running away from his problems rather than ignoring them entirely.

Oh, Akira would certainly try to deny it, claiming that he was under strict rules and supervision from his guardian, lest he screw up and get him in trouble with his supposed criminal shenanigans. Thing was, most people probably didn't believe him, what with how Sojiro had very loudly and publically stormed in the day after he'd heard about what Kamoshida had been doing to students at the school demanding an explanation. He'd left in an even bigger huff after the principal had mentioned a Futaba, whoever that was - maybe someone Sojiro knew? 

He might have to ask later, if he was so inclined. Unless it would just end up another headache, and another person who'd ditch him for someone less bothersome. Idly, Akira tried in vain to delete the Metaverse app from his phone, knowing full well it wouldn't work; still, it gave him a small sense of satisfaction to watch the creepy red eye app icon blink out of existence, however temporary it may have been. Considering that the app led to both the most interesting thing he'd done in Tokyo, and the most actually (probably) illegal...

Well, one could be forgiven for thinking Akira wanted nothing to do with it.

He almost thought about messaging his dad, but remembered he'd probably be extra busy at work, assuming they even brought him in still. Really, Akira was even more annoyed thinking about all that, considering that his dad had done nothing wrong to anybody as far as Akira knew - except, of course, the apparent cardinal sin of being his father, which, God forbid, meant that he was just as awful as his son if not worse, because what kind of parent would he have had to be for Akira to turn out so poorly?

Not to mention that he had to hear people talking about his mother, bless her, and how just because she was terminally fucking ill, that didn't mean she suddenly wasn't a bad person who deserved everything coming her way for screwing up her son so thoroughly, whether by not being there, or, perhaps even more incredulously in Akira's eyes, by being the real reason why he was such a rotten, miserable waste of space...

Akira hadn't registered the sound of the school bell ringing to send everyone home, the shuffling of chairs and feet, nor the feeling of allegedly worried hands upon his shoulders from his so-called friends who were probably just using him for a cheap fuckin' thrill.

No, as Akira stood up and left the classroom in an angry rush, he simply felt nothing at all.

"Come on, Shiba. Push the button."

Shiba sighed. "Oh, all right. If it will get you to stop being like a hot rash under my collar, so be it." Pressing the blue button on Hishima's phone screen, it transitioned to that of ruins, housing a single crystal adorned in vibrant colors of all sorts. "Hishima, what does this colour of crystal mean? It's not as fiery-looking as the last one, so I assume it's worse."

Hishima grabbed his phone, stared at the screen for a moment, then smacked Shiba in the back of the head. "No, you flaming moron. That means I got an SSR."
"What does that even stand for? I know SR was Super Rare, but what does the extra S mean that makes it more important?"

"The other S stands for Shiba."

"No it doesn't. I'm not an idiot."

Hishima rolled his eyes, and tapped the screen to reveal his supposed prize - a hulking man with fire in his eyes and no shirt. Really, if he was a blonde, Shiba could have suspected they'd put him in the game somehow. "Wow, and you pulled me a Grand character without even thinking about it. You're such a luckshitter."

"Again, I don't know what that means." Shiba huffed out, crossing his arms as Hishima frowned at him. It wasn't the usual Hishima frown, though; no, this one was purposeful, pointed. Almost as if he'd sussed something out that had no business being dredged up to begin with, especially given that the last time he'd done that, they'd gotten drunk and made out while crying on the balcony, much to the chagrin of the neighbours who just wanted some peace and quiet for a change.

"You're still thinking about that Yusuke kid, aren't you?"

Damn. He had been sussing something out. Though, he wasn't quite on the mark yet, but he was getting warmer. "I'll admit, it was a bit of a spark upon my mental flame today." Shiba pulled his legs closer to his chest, letting out a sigh of hot air - bluster gone, all he had left was the approach he'd rarely taken. Being honest and open about his feelings for once. "But no, the real kindling on my mind is Madarame, and how he seemingly hasn't changed at all since my departure from the land of the living."

"Well, initial departure, but yes." Hishima's scowl deepened, as he set his phone down and placed a hand on Shiba's shoulder. "Are you still angry with him for how your life ended? Or is it more fear of how many others were chased into an early grave by him and his greed?"

Shiba shuddered at the mere thought that other promising flames had been snuffed out by Madarame, though he knew full well that such a thing was well within the realm of possibility. "Both, truthfully. I worry that perhaps my decision to set my own soul ablaze in a desperate act of reclamation only caused a wildfire that swallowed up so many others. Perhaps every soul he's brought to heel over the years since my own passing were brought down because of my own foolish flame."

"Well, let's look at it another way." Hishima cut in, making sure his eyes met Shiba's once again. Shiba never could find himself looking away from them, even after everything they'd been through, for good or ill. "At the core, all fires are started the same way. Sure, what happens after tends to vary, but it all starts in the same fashion. I think Madarame was going to end up like this regardless of what you did, and that means you need to not blame yourself for what he's done." He continued on, with one final addition, "Besides, you already have enough blood on your hands without taking what belongs on his."

Shiba snorted, but nonetheless reached out to hug Hishima, a gesture he reciprocated with only a small amount of reluctance. "Thank you, Hishima. Truly, I fear my flame may have been snuffed out a long time ago were it not for you."

"I already knew that. After all, who talked you out of killing yourself on the Twisters during the final day of the Second Long Game?"

"Now, look..."

The tandem were interrupted, perhaps coincidentally, by Shoka re-entering the house after a day at school. "Hey, loving losers." She'd joked to the pair, as she was in the middle of sorting her shoes back onto the rack they'd bought for the house. Shiba thought for a moment, recalling how Shoka had told the household of the exploits of the Wicked Twisters and their new allies, the Phantom Thieves, and of the dangers lurking in the UG of Shibuya. And something about changing hearts? He hadn't quite understood the underlying mechanics of that, but there was an idea simmering in his head.

And let it not be said that Shiba wasn't good at setting his ideas ablaze if it meant getting somewhere.

"Shoka, dear, do you have a moment?" Shiba called to her as she began to go down the hall. She turned back towards him, and at the small nod of acknowledgement she'd received, Shiba made his play - one that he knew may have repercussions for a long time should he be wrong about this.

"I have a small request to make of you... and your friends, the Phantom Thieves."