//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - First Class and New Partner. // Story: Hexan, the Phantom Thief // by Hexan Tronic //------------------------------// ??/?? ??? When I awaken next, I am back in the blue prison cell that Igor calls the ‘Velvet Room’. So I sit up.  “...About time that you’ve come to.” I hear Caroline say. “On your feet, Inmate!” She orders, then I walked to the door, where I can see the twins on either side of the door, and Igor at his desk.  “Our master wishes to speak with you. It’s for your own sake that you take his words to heart.” Justine explains. “First off, let us celebrate our reunion.” Igor says, drawing my attention. “Oh... ? You’ve awakened to your powers. And special ones at that. Your rehabilitation can finally begin.” “My rehabilitation?” I ask, hoping for more details. “There is no real need for you to understand it all right now, I will explain it to you at a later date.” Igor says, dodging my question. “You will be training the power of Persona, which you have recently awakened to.” “Personas are, in other words, as ‘mask’--an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters.” He explains. “I have high expectations for you.” “Why do you have such high expectations for me?” I finally decide on asking. “There is no need to worry, you will learn it when it is time.” He answers. “By the by… have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator?” He asks me. “Using it allows you to both come and go from reality, and Palaces.” He explains. “... The Metaverse Navigator?” I ask, kind of confused. “...I bestowed it to you as a means to train you as a thief.” “The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better take care in using it, Inmate!” Caroline orders. “I hope you devote yourself to your training, so that you can become a fine thief.” Justine says. “It would likely be disheartening to use the Metaverse Navigator alone. Should you come across others who would be beneficial to you, I will grant them use of it, as well.” Igor explains. ‘So I guess that means Tama might have it now.’ “This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief.” Igor finishes. “Hmph, it’s time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have this night…” Caroline orders. I decided to follow her ‘advice’ and go to sleep on the bed in my cell. 04/12 Tuesday I awoke to the sound of rain, and get dressed. While resting on my bed before heading to school, I decided to think on the strange dream I had. ‘What could they be talking about. Fate… and awakening…? More importantly, I better hurry off to school.’ I head off when I’m done thinking. When I get outside, I remember to flip the sign to open. Pulling out my umbrella, I head to the station and get on the train, listening to the conversation on the train, mostly focused on the accidents and news. Once I get off the train to school, I head out and walk into the main school building, when I fold my umbrella. For my first class of the day, I have a somewhat strict looking teacher who is wearing glasses, pants with suspenders, and a white shirt and with a blue tie. “I’m the social studies teacher, Mr. Ushimaru. I’ll be teaching you the rules of society this year.” Mr Ushimaru explains. “Hmph… You all look like you’ve been spoiled growing up.” “Maybe before we learn society’s rules, perhaps I should start with the rules of being a decent human being.” He says, before looking at me. Hey, new kid, answer me this.” “The Greek philosopher Plato divided the human soul into three parts. A soul is composed of appetite, spirit and what else?” He asks. “I believe the third thing is Logic.” I answer, hoping I remembered correctly. “Haha. Correct.” He congratulates. “So, you knew that, huh?” “Plato’s teacher, Socrates, said that evil is born from ignorance.” He explains. “People who’ve been babied, taught that evil is due to individuality, can only become society’s scum.” Once he finishes speaking, I overhear some of the students express surprise that I am taking my studies seriously. ‘To be honest, this class isn’t too bad. I think I actually learned something.’  “Bizarre incidents have been occurring frequently. Those are but the actions of such scum.” My Ushimaru explains. “We don’t need crude people like that in this school. Understand?” After some time, school is over for the day, and I head out of the class, where I hear Kikku’s voice. “Hey there, Bēru.” He says, walking up to the girl who sits in front of me. “You looking for a ride home? Things have been getting pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents happening, you know.” “Sorry, but I have a photoshoot today. It’s for the special summer issue, so I can’t afford to miss it…” Bēru explains, looking uncomfortable. “Hey, now… Being a model’s fine and dandy, but don’t work your pretty little self to the bone.”  Kikku says. “You mentioned you weren’t feeling well, right? Something about appendicitis?” “Yes. I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I’ve been too busy… Sorry to worry you.” She says, but I get the distinct feeling that she is lying to him. “You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often.” Kikku says, sounding unapologetic. “That’s why I asked you out in the first place. Oh, and… be careful around that transfer student. He’s got a criminal record, you know. If something were to happen to you… ” He says, which just pisses me off, but I stay quiet. “...Thank you for your concern.” She says. “Please excuse me.” Then she walks away. “Tch… ” Kikku says, before walking upstairs. Then I walks downstairs and outside, where I run into Hayai again. “Yo.” He greets. “Hey man, what’s up?” I reply, moving out of the way of the gate. “I wanna talk to you about the castle from yesterday.” He explains. “I honestly tried tellin’ myself that is was all just a dream… but I just couldn’t do it.” “I can't act like nothing happened. It’s all connected to that asshole Kikku, after all.” He says. “I’m gonna find out what’s up with that place, no matter what.” “And y’know, you’re the only person I can rely on for this stuff. So, are you in?” He asks. “Eh, sure. I guess it couldn’t hurt to investigate.” I agree. “Great! Well, lets see if we can find our way back there.” He says, before walking to the station. Once we are there, we continue talking. “If a huge castle like that actually exists, I’m positive we’ll find it in no time.” He says. “...When’d something like that get built though?” “We walked that way from here, right?” He asks. “Maybe? I wasn’t really paying attention.” I admit. “Well either way, it’s worth a shot.” He says, before walking back through the alleyway. “Lemme know if you notice something.” After a little bit, we arrive back at the school gate. “Huh…?” He questions in disbelief. “We’re back at school… There wasn’t anything out of place along the way, right? I didn’t see no castle either…” He says. “...We must’ve made a wrong turn somewhere.” He says, walking back the way we came. After walking back to the station, then back the way we came, again, we have returned to the gate of the school. “For real…?” He says, looking dejected. We decide to rest by the gate. “Could it be smaller than we think?” He asks. “What do you think?” “Why not check on your phone, a castle would likely show up on it, right?” I ask back. “I’ve already checked, there’s nothing on the map on my phone that looks like a castle.” He explains, before looking like an idea has hit him. “Huh? Phone…” “Hey, that reminds me-didn’t you have a navigation app thingy on, back then?” He asks. “Navigation app? What do you mean?” I ask back. “I dunno if it really was or not, but I heard stuff that kinda sounded like one comin’ from your phone.” He says, and I pull out my phone to investigate. “Y’know, didn’t it say stuff like “returned to the real world” or something like that?” He asks. “Lemme see your phone for a bit.” He says, before taking it from my hands and looking through it. “What’s this eyeball-lookin’ thing?” He asks me.   “I don’t know, I just appeared one day. Cute logo though, huh?” I ask. “That’s not really how I’d describe it…” He says, before opening it. “What a weird app…” “...Oh wait, this is it!” He says, turning the phone to me. “I knew it-it IS a navigation app! There’s even your search history!” “Oh man, I’m such a genius!” He says, sounding proud of himself. “Let's try it out!” He says. “Are you sure we should?” I ask, a bit worried about ending up somewhere new again. “Ah, don’t worry, we won’t change a thing.” He says, selecting something on the app. Then we hear the app speak again. “Kikku...Shujin Academy...Castle…” It lists. “Beginning navigation.” “There we go!” Hayai exclaims. “...Then, we went in a certain direction, and-” He continues, before being cut off by the same feeling from yesterday, causing me to look around. “Hey, what are you… Huh? What the hell?” He questions, looking at the phone, which has a full screen image of the app icon on it, and the image is glitching out. That’s when we look up and notice the school slowly change into the castle. “Look! It’s the castle from yesterday!” He exclaimed in surprise, before running up to the main entrance. “We made it back… That means what happened yesterday was for real too…” He says, before looking surprised. “...Yeargh! Those clothes…!” He says, before I look over myself and see the outfit from before on me, and I’m holding the cane, which a swing around, before holding it like I’m going to use it to walk. “I’m pretty sure that happened last time too, right!?” He asks loudly. “What’s with that outfit!?” “What, are you jealous your don’t have your own?” I ask in jest. “N-no, of course not.” He weakly denies. “The hells goin’ on here!? This place makes no effin’ sense at all…” That’s when a familiar voice speaks up. “Hey!” Abigale explains, as she walks out from around the corner, surprising us both. “Stop making a ruckus!” She orders. “Ah… You!?” Hayai asks in disbelief. “The Shadows started acting up, so I came here, wondering what could be stirring them up…” She explains. “...To think you guys would come back to the entrance when you just barely managed to escape last time.” “What is this place? ...Is it the school?” Hayai asks. “That’s right.” She replies. “But it’s a castle!” He exclaims, while I sit there, watching. “This castle IS the school” She says. “...But only to this castle’s ruler.” “The castle’s ruler…? Do you mean Kikku?” He asks. “Yeah, it’s how his distorted heart views the school.” She explains. “...Kikku...Distorted…” Hayai says, sounding confused. “Could you explain it in a more simple way?” He asks. “I guess I shouldn’t have expected it to be easy to understand.” She says. Then we hear yelling from inside the castle. “What was that!?” He asks. “It is most likely the slames captive here.” She explains. “For real!?” He says, then we hear it again. “Oh shit… It’s for real!” “Didn’t we see other guys held captive here yesterday… I’m pretty sure they’re from our school.” He says, looking to me. “It’s most likely on Kikku’s orders. It’s nothing out of the ordinary; it’s like that every day here.” Abigale explains. “What’s more, you two managed to escape yesterday, which must have really made him lose his temper.” “That son of a bitch…!” Hayai yells. “Hayai…?” She questions, sounding concerned. “...This is bullshit!” He exclaims, then shoulder barges the door. “You hear me, Kikku!?” “Doing that won’t open it, you know…” She says. “Still, it seems you have your reasons to hate him.” “Hey, Abigale!” He says, coming back over. “Yeah?” She asks. “Do you know where those screams are comin’ from…?” He asks back. “You want me to take you to them?” She asks, confused. “...Well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if your friend here comes with us.” “Sure, I have no reason to say no.” I say. “It’s settled then.” She says. “For real…!?” He asks in excitement, then sounding more subdued. “...Thanks, man.” “Alright, let’s get on with this. Follow me!” She says, heading back the way she came. We follow her around the corner, back to the vent we used to escape the first time. “This seems like a good spot to pick as our infiltration point.” Abigale states, to which I nod. “Ain’t this where we escaped from last time...?” Hayai asks. “Of course, not barging in through the entrance is one of the very basics of phantom thievery.” She says. “And just how were we supposed to know about that stuff?” He asks our new companion. She jumps up into the vent using some nearby barrels before answering. “I’ll try to teach you as we go along. Come on, let’s go!” She says, before heading inside. “So, uh… I’m sorry for draggin’ you into all this man...” He says, looking apologetic, before changing back to determined. “But I just can’t forgive that asshole Kikku doin’ whatever the hell he wants!” “Really though, thanks for comin’ along. I owe you, big time!” He finishes, before we head inside. Once inside the side room we escaped from before, we stop to discuss what we are doing. “Man, this place is as creepy as always…” Hayai says. Mm-hm. Now, make sure you try to follow my instructions, all right?” Abigale asks, before heading out into the hall. “ ...Follow me!” We follow Abigale into the entrance hall. “Hey… We went by here when we came in the front…” Hayai states. That’s when the room seems to blur and I can kind of see the school entrance overlapping with the castle entrance. “What the..!?” “I was seein’ double or something just now…!? Was that Shujun!?” He asks. “I thought I told you before. This place is you school.” Abigale states. “Regardless, we don’t really have the time to be standing around, who know s when a Shadow might show up. Come on, this way!” She says, leading us back to the dungeons. We walk down the spiral stairs, which leads us back to the cells, and the river. Just after we get down, we see a Shadow a bit further along, but it doesn’t notice us, yet. “Darn… I had a feeling that there might have been guards down here…” Abigale says, sounding a bit concerned. “It looks like we won’t be able to avoid conflict from now on.” “F-for real…?” Hayai asks. “Oh well. I guess there is no better time to teach you the basics of battle. You both better remember this.” She says. “For starters, try to ambush as many enemies as you can. This is done easily by sneaking up behind them, but a skilled thief can do it from the front.” She explains. “You’ll have to rip their masks off, which will momentarily break the control that a Palace ruler has over them.” She continues. “Should you succeed, then the enemy will be caught off guard, allowing us to get an attack in before they realise what’s going on.” She finishes. “So we wanna ambush ‘em and go for the first strike… All right, I got it!” Hayai says. “That’s good. Even though you don’t have a Persona, you at least know what’s going on.” She says, sounding pleased, while I nod to show that I understand as well. “Anyway, let’s go!” When we have finished our chat, I wait for the Shadow to follow its patrol, before it turns around to continue. That’s when I sneak up behind it, jump on its back, then rip it’s mask off, forcing it into it’s true form. It’s another of the pumpkin creatures, which looks startled, which give me the moment I need. I run up and slash it with my cane sword, before stepping back in case it tries to counter. But before it can even get it’s bearings, Abigale casts Garu on it, which it’s it with the magical wind, and kills it. Now that we aren’t so rushed and panicked, I notice that my wallet feels a bit heavier, and I pull it out, to see that I have a bit of yen in there, when I came to town with less than 100. “Hey Abigale, why is there money in my wallet that wasn’t there before?” I ask, a bit confused. “Oh, that’s because most Shadows are carrying money. I’m not really sure why they are, but when we kill them, it appears that a portion of the yen they have on them gets given to you.” She says, sounding curious. “Anyway, let’s continue.” She says, leading us over the bridge that the Shadow was patrolling near. “Hey, why ain’t anyone here…?” Hayai asks, having notice that the cells are empty. “Damnit, they were here before! Where’d they go!?” He asks, sounding a bit annoyed. “Quiet down, will you!” Abigale says, but Hayai doesn’t seem to notice. “Oh, that’s right. There were more of ‘em further in too…!” He says, before running ahead. Abigale just turns to me. “They could have already been transferred…” She says, thinking out loud. After a moment, we hear Hayai running, back. “Crap, I can hear footsteps comin’! Lots of ‘em!” He says, running back over. “I would definitely be bad if they discovered us now...” She says, before heading over to a door that looks a bit odd in this place. “Hey, let’s hide in this room. We should be able to stay hidden until they leave.” She explains, before we follow her in. Inside the room is a wooden table, with some short old style wooden benches. Above the table is a metal disc with an odd coloured flame, chained to the ceiling, that is lighting the room. There are also some boxes sitting around, but not much else. Abigale gets up on the table, while Hayai leans on a stack of boxes. I choose to just stand. “The Shadows probably won’t come in here.” Abigale says. After he catches his breath from running, Hayai replies. “How can you tell?” He asks. “There is a distinct lack of distortion here, which means the ruler’s control over this place is fairly weak.” She explains. That’s when the room blurs, and like with the entrance hall, the room seems to be overlapped, but this time by one of Shujin’s classrooms. “Is this a classroom…!?” He asks, sounding a bit shocked. “Do you think you can understand now?” She asks. “This place is another reality, that the ruler’s heart projects.” She explains. “So this is Kikku’s reality…? This shit doesn’t really make much sense.” He says. “In other words, it’s a world in which one’s distorted desires have materialized.” She tries to explain again. “I call such a place a “Palace”.” “A Palace…?” “This is happening because Kikku thinks of the school as his own castle.” She continues. “So, it became like this ‘cause he just thought of it like that!?” He asks, letting out a weak laugh, before sounding pissed. “That son of a bitch!” “You really seem to hate this Kikku guy.” Abigale guesses. “Hate doesn’t even cover how I feel about that asshole.” He says. “Everything that has gone wrong for me has been that asshole’s fault!” He exclaims. “To be honest, I don’t really know what happened between you two, but try not to let your emotions get the better of you.” She says, sounding a bit sad for him. “His lackeys are everywhere around here. Anyway, you're curious about your outfit, aren’t you?” She asks me. “Yeah, I’m fairly curious about it too.” He says, looking over my outfit again. “That’s also a result of this world.” She tries to explain. “Yet again, more stuff that flies over my head…” Hayai says. “Anything in the Palace distorts according to how the ruler pleases. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all.” She explains. “In order to prevent such distortions, one must possess a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It’s the image of rebellion that you hold within.” “Uuugh, I’m so fed up with all this!” He yells. “I’m more curious about you than his clothes! What the hell are you anyways!?” He asks. “I’m.... not really sure…” She says, sounding a bit sad about that. “Well, you look kinda like a puppy.” Hayai admits. “I think she looks a bit like a fox, actually.” I say. “Maybe I’m a bit of both?” She says, sounding a bit confused too. “Either way, I’m not really sure. For all we know, I could be a human, but I got distorted and lot my memories. Either way, it doesn’t matter right now.” “I know that you both might be curious about why I was in that cell… Well, it’s because I was captured, like you were. But the reason I am here is because I could feel something, pulling me towards this place. But before I could find out what, I was captured…” She says, sounding disappointed in herself. “Either way, I’ve been tortured by Kikku too, so I’m gonna make him pay for sure!” She says, sounding motivated. “Well alright then, guess we have a common enemy.” Hayai says. “If we’re gonna keep going, we should probably hurry along.” She says, looking at the door. “And I’ll be counting on your skills this time too, rookie. Got it?” She says, looking to me. Before I can reply, Hayai speaks up. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna force it all on you. I thought it might help, so…” He begins, before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out what looks like a simple pistol, which surprises me. “I brought this just in case! It’s a model gun thought, so it only make sounds!” He says, sounding excited. “I’m pretty sure that’s basically a toy!” Abigale says. “But it looks pretty realistic, so it might fake ‘em out at least.” He says, sounding a bit less confidant. “Oh, I brought some medicine too. YOu know, just in case.” He continues. “I guess you were planning to do this from the start…” She says. “Well, fine. If you’re ready to go, we’ll resume our infiltration.” I decide to take the gun and medicine, putting the gun in one of the side pockets of my pants, and the medicine, I give to Abigale, who puts it, somewhere… “Hm, there are likely some soldiers still making their rounds outside.” She says. “Let’s use this time to sort through our situation.” After a little bit of rest, which I spend writing in the diary that Roast-San gave me. After I’m finished, I head to the door, which gets Abigale’s attention. “There should still be soldiers outside. Let’s take note of the situation and get out there.” She says. I put my ear to the door, I listen for the soldiers. “I’m sure I just heard something over here… Guess it was my imagination…” One says. “And what of the slaves?” Another asks. “They’re all in the training hall. I’d assume they’re screaming in pain by now.” A third says. “Very well. By the way, I heard we may have intruders around. Stay on your guard.” A fourth says. Peeking out of the door slightly, I can see there are only four. ‘I can’t really tell how I could differentiate their voices, since they sound the same. Maybe it’s because they are different Shadow’s inside?’ I think to myself, before they split up in different directions. “Did you hear that?” Abigale asks. “They said trainin’ hall, right?” Hayai asks. “I think that’s a bit further ahead. Let’s go!” She says, getting behind me, Hayai following her lead. I head down the stairs, which lead further into the dungeon. I can see another Shadow down at the base of these stairs, patrolling. “Damn it, there’s a guard on duty here…” She whispers. “I’m pretty sure the way to the training hall is just past those bars…” She says, pointing to the barred door on the left. “So… what’re we gonna do? Do we gotta fight it?” He asks. “I guess so. Just don’t let it notice us… If it does, it will alert the other Shadows, raising the security level of the entire Palace.” She explains. “A-And what do we do if that happens? Run away?” He asks. “Well, I think that the security level will go back down if we can avoid being noticed by Shadows, most likely it will help if we take some out without being spotted.” She says, thinking out loud. “Th-That sounds a little complicated.” He says. "Fine… I’ll put together some info about the security level. I’ll give it to you when I’m finished.” She says. “Understanding stuff like this is crucial to making sure we get through this, so make sure you understand it all as best you can, alright?” She says. Once we’re done talking, I sneak down and ambush the guard, making it take it’s true form. It takes the form of, what appear to be flowers, but they only have four large roots, two acting like legs, and two like arms. Above those is the base of the flower, which has a face, and on top of it’s head are large, red petals. There are also what appear to be leaves around its neck. Because I managed to startle it, I run in before they can realise what I’m doing and call out Tasukete, and cast Zio on the left one, shocking it with a bolt of lightning. Once I’m clear, Abigale calls out Gādian and uses Garu on the left one, slashing it with the strong wind, and killing it. Once it sees it’s companion get killed, the other flower gets its bearings and tries to attack me, but I dodged out of the way, before I go in and slash it with my sword, but it manages to hit me before I can escape. Then Abigale goes in with her dagger and slash the poor flower, which finishes it off. Once we finished that encounter, we head over to the barred door that leads to our destination. Once we head inside, we see we’re in a tunnel. “The trainin’ hall’s up ahead, right?” Hayai asks. “Yeah, it should just be a little further along. Make sure that you keep an eye out for any guards that might be in our way.” Abigale says. With that, we walk down the stairs, and continue down the only path available to us. We come to a corner, but have to stop, as there are two guards talking to each other, so we hide behind the corner. “Hey, have you seen anyone who looks like an intruder?” One asks. “Not yet, no.” The second replies. “Shoot… I had a feeling that there would be a lot of guards. It’d be impossible to dodge all of them…” Abigale whispers. “Then, what should we do? Should we try and take ‘em down like before?” Hayai asks. It’s not that simple. We still have a long way to go, so we should be trying to conserve energy.” She explains. “I-I see… Sorry…” He says, sounding disheartened. “Dammit, I wish I could help fight… I’d at least be a bit useful…” “But all I got is this toy from earlier… I’m such a loser.” He continues. “Huh? Do you mean that gun?” She asks. “Yeah… It looks real n’ all, but it doesn’t shoot anything…” He says, which causes Abigale to look happy. “I see… Well, there is a way that could be useful…” She says. “Ok, we’ll use that to take down the enemies!” She says happily. “What!? Were you listenin’ to me? It don’t even shoot pellets…” He says. That’s when the guards start coming this way. “Don’t worry, I’m sure this’ll work. Attack away, Top Hat!” She says. “Alright, I’ll give it a shot.” I say. “Wait, dude! I keep sayin’, it’s not gonna fire anything!” He continues protesting. Then I run around the corner and attack the guard, causing it to revert to it’s Shadow form. One of the winged girls, and one of the flowers. “You have the gun with you, right?” Abigale asks, as we keep an eye on the enemies, so we can keep them back. “Point it at a Shadow, and fire!” She orders. So I pull out the pistol, and aim it at the flower and pull the trigger, and to my and Hayai’s amazement, it fires. It doesn’t do too much damage to the flower, but it did hurt it. Before they can recover, I shoot the winged girl, which hits her wing and knocks her out of the air. I put the gun back in my pocket for now. “How about that!? Surprised?” She asks me. “Try to be mindful of how much ammo you have left!” She advises. Once she finishes talking, I use the opening I got by knocking the girl out of the air, and use Zio on the flower. “Alright, I’ll show you my weapon too!” Abigale says, pulling out a large, red slingshot. She fires at both the flower and the girl, killing both of them, since I had weakened them so much. After the battle, I feel a little stronger. Not by much, but it’s a start. ‘Guess I can get stronger by fighting here, too.’ I think to myself, as Hayai comes over. “Whoa! Did that toy gun just shoot real bullets!?” He asks, still looking shocked. “Well, this is a cognitive world. If something looks real, and the opponent doesn’t know it’s fake, then to them, it’s a real gun, and fires. It’s a good thing that you brought a realistic one” Abigale explains. “...I don’t really get it.” He says finally. “Well, it is a little bit complicated. Sorry it’s not easier to explain.” She says. “Uh, but if it’s better to have something realistic, why do you have a slingshot?” He asks, looking confused. “It even seemed at powerful as a gun too…” “I’m not really sure. It was just one of the things I woke up with.” She explains. “Anyway, why don’t we decide on how we should fight our enemies from now on.” She says, looking to me. “As you have probably noticed, there are a fair few different enemies in this place. It would probably be smart to coordinate our attacks.” She explains. “I can keep track of the weaknesses of our enemies, but I would like you to decide on how we fight.” She says, poking my leg. “Me? Why me?” I ask. “I don’t know. You just have that kinda leader aura around you, or something. I feel like it’s a good idea to trust your judgment.” She says. “Well, alright I guess. Let’s go.” I say, before leading the way further in. Further down the path, we reach another river, this time with a fence separating the stone path, from the water. There is another guard patrolling the small bridge we need to cross. I manage to sneak up and rip it’s mask off, reverting it to its original form, two of the pumpkins. I decided to test my gun out on them, and fire on them both, knocking the two pumpkins out of the sky. After unloading the clip into the two, I take advantage of them being stunned, and slash them with my cane. After that, Abigale runs over and slashes the other with her dagger. After the battle, I lead the group over the bridge, where there is a left turn, that leads to another guard, this one just standing there, facing away from the door. “Another guard… I’m guessing that’s where we need to go too…” Abigale says. “So, are we taking this one down too?” I ask her. “I guess, since that’s really our only choice… But, hmm that could work…” She says, thinking to herself. “Okay, I have a plan. Let’s go!” She says, running in and slashing the guard, releasing it from Kikku’s control for a moment, and turning into one of the winged girls. I quickly run over to back Abigale up. “Alright, here’s the plan. First, knock her out of the sky!” She says, to which I nod, pull out my gun and fire, knocking her down. “Now quick! Surround her!” She says, running up and aiming her slingshot at the girl, while I do the same with my gun. The girl looks surprised. “Now quick, attack her as much as you can!” She says, grabbing dagger with her other paw. I pull the sword out of my cane, and rush in with Abigale, slashing the girl as fast as I can, making sure to time it so I don’t hit my companion. After a couple seconds, our enemy fades away, so I slide my cane away, leaning on it with a smirk. “That was amazing! Much better than I though it would go.” Abigale says, sounding happy. “Wh-What was that attack you two just did, is it like, a super-move?” Hayai asks, coming over from his cover. “I think I’ll call it, an All-out Attack.” She says, sounding pleased. “It should be useful if we can manage to knock all our enemies down, and will let us beat them quickly.” “Your right… That was over pretty fast.” He says. “Well, it is a concentrated attack on confused and defenseless enemies, after all.” She explains. “Also, since you’re deciding how we fight, I want you to decide when we use it, okay?” She asks, looking to me. “Sure, even if I feel a little bad for doing that.” I say, feeling a little bad for the Shadow. After our talk, we head through the door that the Shadow was guarding. Inside is a table with benches, and another door, with a banner over it, reading. ‘Kikku’s Training Dungeon of Pain.' “Seriously, how much of an asshole is he!?” Hayai asks in amazement. WIth nothing else to say, we head through the door. Once inside, we can hear groans of pain. Heading down more stairs, and another bridge over running water, we come to a large, metal fence. On the other side, are what appear to be boys, around our age. They are held to the ground by large, metal shoes, and are repeatedly tackled by Shadows, one after another. “Dammit! This is bullshit!” Hayai says, starting to get angry. “Can you please try to keep your voice down, we don’t want the Shadows to find us.” Abigale says. “But this is beyond fucked up!” He says back. He turns to the fence. “How do I get this open…?” Then one of the boys walks over. He is covered in injuries, like all the rest. “Leave us alone… It’s useless…” The, I guess Slave, said. “What!?” Hayai asks in shock. And then another one comes over. “If we listen to what he says, we won’t be executed like you guys!” Slave 2 says. “Are you telling me that your okay with being in a place like this?” Hayai asks, getting close to the fence. “Wait… were you planning to take these guys out of here?” Abigale asks. “Well, we can’t just leave ‘em here!” Hayai says, as the slaves walk away. “Well, that’s not really possible, I think.” She says. “And why not?” He asks. “Because unlike you, or me, these guys are just… well, I guess the best way to say it is they are extremely life like dolls.” She explains. “These guys aren’t really the same as the ones in the real world.” “Why is this world so complicated!?” He asks, looking very confused, before taking a moment to think. “So, the school’s a castle, and the students are slaves… It’s so on point that it makes me laugh.” He says, letting out a small chuckle. “This really must be the inside of that assholes head…!” Then, Abigale hops down from the crate she was sitting on, walking over to have a look at the slaves. “Still though, this is horrible. It must mean that he treats them kinda the same way in the real world too.” She says, sounding troubled. “In the real world too…?” He questions, seeming to come to a realization. “Wait, I know these guys! They’re members of the football team-the one Kikku coaches for!” He exclaims. “They have got to be physically abused every day… There’s no way they’d be so beat up normally.” She says, sounding saddened. “Don’t tell me.... They’re going through similar shit in reality too!?” He yells out. “I guess so. I mean, this proves that Kikku thinks of them as slaves.” She says. “So it might be for real…” He says, thinking to himself. “I heard that Kikku’s usin’ physical punishment. They’re just rumors, but…” “If they’re true, wouldn’t this be somethin’ to report to the police…?” He asks. “I’ll use these guys as evidence.” He says, pulling out his phone to take a picture. “If it all goes well, we can take down that asshole Kikku…!” He says, sounding excited. “...Huh? It’s not workin’!?” He says, looking at his phone. “So we can use the navigation app, but the camera’s a no go!?” He asks in outrage. “A navigation app?” Abigale asks in confusion. “That’s what we used to come here.” He explains. “What about yours?” I take out my phone and turn it on. Most of the apps are greyed out, except the Metaverse Navigator, and another app that I haven’t seen before. I touch it to open it. When the app has started, it appears to be a radio app. I turn up the volume a little, and then music starts playing. “Huh? You got your music app to work?” Hayai asks, confused. “No, it’s another app that I haven’t seen before. I think it might be a kind of radio app.” I explain, and look at the station. “It says the music is coming from, ‘Metaverse Radio’. Huh, the keeps getting weirder.” I turn down the music, and turn my attention back to Hayai. “And no, no other apps work.” “Well, whatever you do is fine, but if we stay here much longer, we’re gonna get caught! We should head back…” Abigale says, sounding worried. “Just… Hang on a sec. There’s no other way… I’ll just memorize their faces before goin’ home!” He says, taking a good look at the slaves. After a moment, he seems to have it. “Alright, let's check the other cells around here.” He says, as I lead the way. In the next ‘training room’ over, we find a couple slaves, running on a treadmill, with a football dangling from a rope at one end, and a crushing machine at the other. And they are just running. “Dammit! I hope we can deal with this quick.” Hayai says, getting a good look at the slaves, before we move on. In the next cell, is a machine that’s kicking footballs, one after another, into the face of a slave dangling from a rope by their ankles. “What the hell…? This isn’t any kind of training, it’s just plane violence!” He says, taking in the slaves face. “Alright, I think that’s the last one. Lets go.” He finishes, as we get up and leave the training hall. Once we get out and back near the safe room, we head the voice of a guard. “Chance of intruder activity are extremely high! All personnel, increase security measures!” It says. Then, we can see guards taking up posts at the nearby bridge. “Oh no, we’ve stayed here too long! Let's get out of here!” Abigale says, as I take the lead. After a bit of running, we make it out of the dungeon, and to the stairs leading to the entrance hall. “The exit’s this way! Let’s hurry!” Abigale says, running ahead, as we follow. But once we get halfway across, our path is blocked by Shadow Kikku, as well as some of the normal guards, and a golden one that looks stronger. When we stop, I hear the music coming from ‘Metaverse Radio’ change. “...You knaves again?” Shadow Kikku asks. “To think you’d make the same mistake again. You’re hopeless!” “The school ain’t your castle!” Hayai says, sounding confident. “I’ve memorized their faces real good. You’re goin’ down!” “It seems it’s true when they say ‘barking dogs seldom bite’.” Shadow Kikku says, sounding cocky, and I can only just hear Abigale growl. “How far the star player of the baseball team has fallen.” ‘The hell are you gettin’ at!?” Hayai asks, sounding pissed. “I speak of the ‘Baseball Betrayer’ who acted in violence, ending his teammates dreams.” S Kikku remarks. “Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with you… selfish act.” Hayai looks troubled by these remarks. “Ngh…” Hayai says, unable to really say much else. “Baseball Betrayer? What kind of name is that?” I ask. “Oh? What a surprise. So you’re accompanying him without knowing anything at all?” S Kikku ask sarcastically. “He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever.” “That’s not true!” Hayai says, looking troubled. “You’ve come along with this fool, and are now going to end up dead. ...How unlucky of you.” S Kikku says. “Go. Kill them all. Don’t sully my castle with garbage.” He orders, then walks away. The golden guard, raises his sword, which has the normal guards walk over and transform into eight of the demons. Hayai backs away as me and Abigale are surrounded. All eight attack with simple slash attacks. I decide to pull out my gun and fire at one, knocking it down, but then I pull the trigger again, and I hear a click, signaling that I’m out of ammo, so I take my attack and slash one of the others. Then Abigale pulls out her slingshot and fires twice, before she is out of ammo too. “Oh no!” She says, before curling in on herself to guard as the waves of demons slash at us with their claws, knocking us to the floor, too weak to stand. After a moment, Shadow Kikku and the golden guard walks over, and the guard steps on my back, while Shadow Kikku steps on Abigale’s. “Rgh… You piece of-” Abigale starts to say, before being cut off as Shadow Kikku presses down harder. “I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn’t that right?” S Kikku asks Hayai, who has fallen to his knees. “No…” He says, sounding defeated. “What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly…” S Kikku say. “How dare you raise your hand at me.” “Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising baseball practice?” S Kikku asks, to which Hayai falls forward and hits his fist on the floor. “That wasn’t no practice-it was just physical abuse! You just hated our team!” Hayai says, hitting the floor again. “It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me!” S Kikku growls out. “That coach who got fired was hopeless too…” “Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would’ve settled it with only breaking his star’s leg. But no, he kept opposing me, so I broke an arm too.” He remarks. “...What?” Hayai asks in shock. “Would you like me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!” S Kikku taunts. “Dammit… Am I really gonna lose again…?” Hayai asks himself. “Not only can’t I run anymore… the baseball team is gone too ‘cause of the asshole…!” “So that’s why…” Abigale starts, before Shadow Kikku applies more pressure to her back. “Once these two are dealt with, you’re next.” S Kikku says, laughing at Hayai’s misfortune. “Hayai!!” Abigale calls out. “Are you just going to sit there and take his shit!?” I yelled out at him. “...You’re right.” Hayai says. “Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I’ll never get ‘em back…!” “Stay there and watch.” S Kikku says. “Look on as these hopeless scum dies for nothing, because they sided with trash like you.” He remarks. Then Hayai starts getting up. “No… You’re the true scum here, Kikku!” Hayai says, glaring at him. “All you think about is using people… You’re a true asshole, that can’t be forgiven!” Then he starts walking towards Kikku, a limp in his step. “What are you doing? Silence him!” S Kikku orders. “Stop lookin’ down on me, with that stupid smirk on your face!” Hayai yelled, pointing at Shadow Kikku’s stupid face. --------------------------- Hayai Tama’s POV I can just hear the music coming from Hexan’s phone change, before I feel pain in my head, and hear a voice speaking to me, almost drowning out the music. “You made me wait quite a while.” The pain is slowly getting worse, like my head is on fire. I reach up and try to soften the pain, but it doesn’t help. “I believe you seek power, yes? Then let us cut a deal.” The voice says, as I fall to the floor. “Since everyone already sees you as an irredeemable troublemaker, why not truly become one and show them how wrong they were...?” It asks. “The ‘other you’ who lives within desires to do so…” It continues, the pain still growing, as I roll on the ground in pain. “I am thou, thou art I…” I can feel the pain dulling a little. “There is no turning back… The mask of chaos is your calling henceforth!” It finishes, as something appears on my face, in a burst of blue flames, the pain almost disappearing. “Hmph, what can you do?” The golden guard asks. “Cower in fear and watch!” It says, raising its sword. I get up, remembering what happened to Hexan before, I reach up to the mask on my face, and rip it off, and I can feel skin ripping off my face as I do, which causes me to be covered in a pillar of the blue flames while I yell out in pain. I’m exhausted, but still standing. I can feel something behind me. I don’t look back at my Persona, as I’m sure that’s what it is. I just look up at Kikku and smirk, since now I can fight here. “Ugh… This one as well?” S Kikku ask, dumbfounded. “Right on.. Wassup, Persona…” I says, looking at my hands, which now have yellow gloves, with lightning on them, as well as a long, dark grey coat.  “This effin’ rocks!” I say, feeling the power of my Persona. “Now that I got this power, it’s time for payback…” I says, Abigale and Hexan coming over to me. “Guys, I’m ready… Bring it!” At this point, I hear the music from Hexan’s phone change again. “Ngh… Don’t mock me, you brat!” The golden guard says, slamming his sword on the ground, and transforming into a knight in a red suit of armour, on the back of a war horse. “Let’s knock ‘em dead… Suu~ifutosutoraiku!” I say, getting ready for battle. “What troublemakers that bother King Kikku with trifle matters!” The knight says. “Kikku’s cognition ain’t changin’, right? Then I’ll act like the troublemaker I am!” I say in defiance. “Let’s do this, Suu~ifutosutoraiku!” At that moment, the knight calls out two odd horses with two curves green horns on their heads that curve back. I look down at my hand, and see a spiked, metal baseball bat. Then I feel some words come to me, both of which I’ve heard before. “Persona! Zio!” I yell, pointing at one of the horses, as I run to the second. When the bolt hits, it knocks it down, and I use the opening to bash the other horse with my bat. “Nice moves Hayai!” Abigale says, as Hexan runs in and slashes the Knight with his cane. Then Abigale runs over and does the same, using her dagger. The horse I hit lunges for me and headbutts me, knocking me back to the others. Once I get up again, I see Abigale get attacked the same way I was, and is pushes back a little, then the knight slashes Hexan with his spear. I see and opening, and I use Zio again, but this time on the horse I hit, then again, on the other giving me an opening, which I use to unload the second weapon I bought from the airsoft shop into the knight, a shotgun, which knocks him and his war horse down. Remembering what happened down in the dungeon, I take the lead, surrounding them while pointing my gun at the horses, Hexan and Abigale doing the same. “What do you say, shall we take ‘em out?” I ask Hexan, since he is the leader, to which he nods, and we all jump in and start bashing and slashing with our melee weapons. After our onslaught, all three drop dead, and I swing my bat, I like just got a home run, a cocky smirk on my face. ‘Oh yeah, this power fucking rocks!’ I think to myself, before feeling a wave of exhaustion. ----------------------- Hexan Tronic’s POV After the battle, Hayai looks a bit worn out, he is gasping and panting. “H-How was that?” Hayai says. “Even if you apologize now… I ain’t forgivin’ you…!” “I told you that his is my castle. It seems you still don’t understand…” S Kikku says, still sounding confidant. That’s when, what appears to be an almost nude Bēru-san walks over to his side. All she has on is what appears to be a light red, leopard print bikini, and cat ears. Which shocks me, Hayai and Abigale. “Wh- Bēru!?” He asks in shock. “What the, whose this girl?” Abigale asks. Then Bēru-san starts leaning on Shadow Kikku. “What’s going on…!?” Hayai asks. “I’m not quite sure. I feel kinda jealous, yet something feels off about this.” I say. ‘I don’t get the same feeling looking at her as I did in reality.’ I think to myself. “Yeah, now that you say it out loud...” Hayai says. “But, why is she even here!?” He asks. Then Shadow Kikku cups her chin. “Hey! Let go of her, you perv!” He says. “How many times must I tell you until you understand?” S Kikku asks. “This place is MY castle-a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone here wishes to be loved by me.” He explains. “...That is, everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you.” Hayai seems like he wants to get what I believe is Kikku’s cognition of Bēru-san away from him, so I speak up. “She isn’t the real one Hayai, calm down.” I say. “Are you jealous, since I have girls on my arms, and problematic punks like you won’t ever have any?” S Kikku ask. “Dammit…!” Hayai curses. “Clean them up this instant!” S Kikku orders, and more Shadows appear. “We’re outnumbered… Let’s get out of her before we’re surrounded again!” Abigale says. “We aren’t going to try anything and just run?” Hayai asks. “We’re all getting exhausted man, let’s run for now, so we can come back at full strength.” I say, grabbing his arm as we rush to our exit. As we rush away, we can hear Shadow Kikku taunting us, but I ignored his words. We managed to get away, which resulted in us taking a break to catch our breath outside the castle. After getting his breath back Hayai is the first to speak. “Anyways!” He begins. “I don’t remember changing into this.” I finally get a chance to look him over. He is wearing a dark grey coak, with slightly lighter pants, which have light yellow knee pads on them. There also appear to be elbow pads on his jacket too. He has yellow gloves with white lightning markings on them. He has a belt on, which seems to be decorative. He apparently has a holster for his bat, on his back. And finally, his mask appears to be entirely black, with stitches like on a baseball, that change both colour and position every few seconds. “You look pretty good. Not as good as me, but not bad either.” I say, once I’m done looking. “Thanks man, though your outfit is a bit too flashy, in my opinion.” He retorts. We can hear a guard, searching for us inside. “Did you find them!?” It asks out, none of them coming outside. “Try to keep it down.” Abigale suggests. “No. Search that way!” Another says. “So, what’s goin’ on? I’m completely list here.” Hayai states. “I’m pretty sure that I have mentioned this before. When a Persona-user opposes a Palace’s ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens.” She explains. “It’s to prevent you from being affected by distortions, I think.” “What is my mask, it kinda feels like a baseball, but it keeps shifting.” He says, feeling over his mask. “I guess that your appearance reflects your inner self. It could be called, the rebel that slumbers within?” She suggests. “That’s cool, I guess.” He says, before looking shocked. “Oh wait… we’re in deep shit! We might’ve gotten away here, but we’re still screwed with Kikku at the real school…” He says, making a good point. “You know, that’s a pretty smart observation Hayai.” She says, before explaining. “Well, you can relax. The Kikku in reality can’t possibly know about what happens here.” “A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed-a side of one’s personality they don’t want to see.” She continues. “...So we’re okay then?” He asks. “Did the Kikku in reality remember about the execution?” She counter asks, to which Hayai realises he didn’t. “There you have it.” “All right! Now that we know that, all we gotta do is-” He starts to say. “Wait. Since I helped you guys out, would you mind helping me out in the future?” Abigale asks. “Uh, what do you need help with?” I ask, not immediately shooting her down. “I need help taking something from deep in Kikku’s Palace.” She explains. “I think it’s effectively the core of the Palace, and without it, the Palace should be destroyed.” “Hmm. Can we have a little time to think it over. This is kinda dangerous you know.” I explain. “Uh, sure. If you really think that you need to.” She says. “Oh before you guys go, I want a look at Hayai’s Persona.” “True, I didn’t get a good look at it myself while we were battling.” He says, grabbing his mask. “Persona!” Once he rips it off, Suu~ifutosutoraiku appears in front of him. He appears to be a living bolt of lightning, given a humanoid form. He is wearing a set of grey and yellow baseball clothes, the shirt and pants. On the shirt, on the left side of his chest, is the image of a black baseball, but the image appears to be glitching, kind of like Hayai’s mask. He holds a large, metal baseball bat in his right hand, which appears to have electricity running along it. It has short, spiky blond hair, with a black baseball cap on. It also appears to have a confident smirk, as well as glowing green eyes. “Woah, he does look pretty cool.” Hayai says, looking him over. “I agree. He does look good, and feels powerful.” Abigale says. “He suits you.” I say. “Alright, I think we better get going. See you later, alright Abigale?” “Aright! See you!” She says, before heading back to the castle, to look around I guess. “Are we really going to come back?” Hayai asks me. “Not sure yet. I’ll at least come back to see her, since she seems lonely.” I says, as we head back to the exit, and back to the real world. “You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.” The navigator voice says. “You know, I dragged you around a lot, huh? ...Sorry, man.” Hayai says, once he catches his breath. “Ugh, I’m dead tired… How you holdin’ up?” He asks. “I’m exhausted, but it’s a bit early to be heading back yet.” I say. “I agree, while I know I’ll just fall asleep when I get home, it’s too early for that.” He says. “But damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good!” He exclaims quietly. “I totally remember the faces of the guys that Kikku was treatin’ like slaves.” “Once we’re able to make ‘em fess up to any physical abuse, Kikku will be done.” He continues. “So… wanna help me look for those guys or any witnesses?” He asks. “Sure, it beats doing nothing to help out.” I reply. “Now there’s the guy I wanted to see. The confident one on the other side.” He says, sounding happy. “Hey, so… If you’re thinkin’ of layin’ low ‘cause you got a record, I don’t think that’ll help…” He says. “Everyone already knows. They totally got you pegged as a criminal.” “I’m guessing Kikku had something to do with it.” I say, thinking out loud. “Most likely, he has a habit of wreaking things that he doesn’t like.” He explains. “Just like he did with me…!” “I know that no one’ll take anything I say seriously.” He says. “Still, those rumours about him gettin’ physical might be real.” “And after seein’ Kikku’s distorted-heart thing in person, there’s no way I can just sit back!” He firmly states. “Me either, man.” I say, agreeing with him. “I’m countin’ on you! Don’t worry; I’ll pull my weight with this too!” He says, sounding excited. ‘Huh, I can feel a bond of trust between us. I wonder what this is…’ I think, as an odd sensation rushes over me. Then I heard a low growling. “Oh… Right. I haven’t eaten anything since lunch.” He says. “Well, it’d be weird splittin’ off now, so why don’t we grab a bite somewhere?” He asks. “Sure, I’m a bit hungry myself.” I reply, a low growl coming from my own stomach. “Just follow me, I know a good place.” He says, grabbing his bag off the ground. “I mean, I totally gotta hear about your past!” ------------------------------------ “WHAT!?” Hayai says, a shocked look on his face, after I just told him my story. “The hell man! How much more of an asshole can that guy be? I mean, he even threw the first punch!” “Can you keep it down. I’d rather not be judged in this place.” I explain, taking a couple mouthfuls of my beef bowl. “Oh, sorry man…” He says, eating from his bowl. “So… you left your hometown, and… you’re livin’ here now, huh?” “I guess we might be more alike than I originally thought…” He says. “You might be right, mate.” I says, finishing my bowl. “I mean, we’re alike in that we’re treated like a pain in the ass by most of the people around us, it’s like we don’t belong…” He continues. “I did something stupid at school before, too…” He then quickly finishes his bowl. “The place you’re livin’ now is in… Yongen, right?” He asks. “I’m pretty sure it’s rush hour on the subways. I recommend you kill some time before headin’ home.” “Thanks for the advice. I think I’ll have a look around when we’re done here.” I say. “Anyways, I got your back like you got mine from tomorrow on.” He says, sounding excited. “As long as we do something about Kikku, I’m sure we’ll both feel better about bein’ at school.” “Oh right. Tell me your number. Chat ID too.” He says, pulling out his phone. I pull out my phone and give both to him. “Just you wait, Kikku…” “We’re gonna start right away tomorrow. First, let’s hit up those guys that were kept as slaves.” He says. The football rally’s tomorrow, huh? Shit’s recommended by Kikku. Makes me wanna gag.” “But thanks to that, we got no classes in the afternoon, and we can walk around unnoticed.” He explains. “Well, I guess we can work out the rest of the details tomorrow.” ------------------------- Rirī Bēru’s POV “I-I haven’t been able to sleep well recently…” Hikui says, looking exhausted. “Whenever I’ve been able to close me eyes, I just keep thinking about too many things…” “Hikui…” I say, not really knowing how to help my friend. “The Nationals are coming up soon, so I keep thinking…” She begins. “Should someone like me really be the on the defending lineup…?” “Don’t worry about it! Just be confident in yourself!” I say, hoping to cheer her up. “Your skills have been recognized! It’s all because you work harder than anyone else!” “......” She stays quiet after that. “Yeah… Football’s all I have, after all...” “More importantly, was that injury OK? It looked really bad…” I says, looking at her injured leg. “N-No, it’s nothing. It’s normal… Especially since a games coming up…” She says, dodging the question. “......” I don’t really have a response to that. That’s when Kyōshinja comes over. “Sorry to interrupt, Pitchi.” He says, looking bad as normal. “Um… Mr. Kikku told me to get you.” “Huh?” She says, looking confused, and I think a little frightened. “What does he want…?” “He wouldn’t say…” Is his reply. “......” She doesn’t say much more. “Rirī, I…” “......” I take a moment to come up with something to say. “It’ll be fine! I bet it’s a meeting about the defensive lineup or something.” “......” She is still quiet. “...Yeah.” The gets up off the bench we were sitting on. “Well, I better go…” She says. “Yup. Good luck!” I say, hoping my bad feeling is nothing. Then she walks off, Kyōshinja following her away. “Hang in there, Hikui…!” ‘I really hope nothing is wrong....’ I think to myself, before heading home. ------------------------- Hexan Tronic’s POV I walk back into my home, the “Dark and Spicy’ coffee shop, and find Roast-san sitting at the counter, a newspaper in his hands. “...You’re home.” He greets. “I take it you actually went to school today?” “Yeah, it was a bit tough, but I pulled through.” I say, keeping the metaverse to myself. “Alright, I’ll believe it, since I didn’t get any calls today. You’re not causing me trouble right now, so your doing good.” He says, giving me a serious look. “To be honest, I don’t know what you’ve been up to, but trust me when I say, that you’ll be gone if you start causing problems for people.” “In case you’ve forgotten, your life isn’t a free one right now.” He says, and when he finishes speaking, I hear my notification tone go off. That’s when I realised that I had the music app on still, but he hasn’t said anything. I leave it alone and open the app. It’s Hayai, guess he wants to test if he got the right Chat ID. He asks. Guess it’s only polite to answer. I ask back. He explains. I say, since this is both of our problems. He thanks. He finishes, before going offline. “...Sheesh, are you even listening to me?” Roast-san asks. “Just, try to stay away from bad influences, OK?” I nod and go to head up to my room. “Hey, I’m gonna head home for the night.” He explains, getting up. “I’ll lock the store up. Don’t go wandering out.” He orders. Then I head upstairs. Once upstairs, I write down what happened today in the diary. After that, I get changed and go to bed.