> Hexan, the Phantom Thief
>  by Hexan Tronic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 - Arrival.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

04/09 Sat

I awoke on a train, after a dreamless nap. Looking around, I see the train car I’m in hasn’t lost many, if any, passengers during this trip, so I guess most will get off at my stop. After checking that my belongings weren’t touched in my sleep, I look out of the window to see the city of Tokyo, where I will be spending about a year, which leads me to sigh, as I hear some conversation out some sort of shutdowns. Seeing nothing of interest right now, I lay back and wait for the train to arrive.

When the train arrived, I lined up near the door and got off like everyone else. Looking around, I decided to leave the station, and head towards where I’m supposed to be staying. As I walked, I felt my phone vibrate, so I pulled it out to check it. By the looks of things, a weird app has downloaded itself. I don’t know what it is so I delete it and head to Yongen-Jaya.

When I follow the directions, I arrive at what appear to be backstreets. Heading down the lane, I notice a cafe to my right but keep walking, as well as a used item store on my left. Since it’s not clear where to go, I decide to talk to the officer nearby.

“Um, excuse me sir, do you know where a mister…” I look down at the letter. “Spicy Roast lives?” I ask, as the officer appears annoyed but thinks about it anyway.

“It should be a bit further down, turn right past the apartment with a staircase.” I nod and head off down passed the apartment. I take a look around, noticing that this area seems a bit more, I guess closed off. Like there isn’t much space between buildings, enough for a group of people to move between with ease, but not any vehicles.

I turn the corner and head down the street, finding the front yard of a home, that has the name of my guardian on the mailbox. There appears to be a mailman nearby. I shrug as I walk over and ring the doorbell. After waiting for two or three minutes, I decide to ask the mailman if he may know where my guardian is.

“Well, if the time on my watch is right, he should still be at his cafe, ‘Dark and Spicy’. It’s back the way you came, near the train station.” I nod and head back the way I came, looking for the entrance to this cafe. After finding the cafe I noticed before, I see that the name is on the awning, ‘Dark and Spicy’. I walk up to the door, and after a moment of thought, I walk in.

When I walk in, I notice an old couple most likely, in a booth together, and another adult who is wearing an apron, over his plain, dark pink button-up shirt, along with his beige pants. He appears to be working on a puzzle in the paper. I end up hearing what sounds like the end of a new story from the nearby TV.

“Recently, a public transit bus was driven down the opposing lane, while it was still carrying customers. The general public is starting to become concerned because of all the accidents, or near accidents, happening recently, and a sizeable group of people are most likely feeling unsafe walking the streets.” I look over at the TV, curious about these incidents, but stay quiet and decide to think about it later.

“These are definitely frightening times we live in” The older man in the booth states, while looking over at the older woman.

“I do wonder why all these incidents keep happening, didn’t something similar happen just the other day?” The woman questions.

“Hmm….vertical is...the name of the Egyptian god of the dead…” The man with the apron mutters to himself. He looks up after a moment and seems to notice me. “Oh right, the did mention that it was today.” He says while placing the paper on the counter. The old couple gets up.

“Well, we better be going. The payments on the table.” The older man says.

“Thanks for visiting” The owner, or manager I guess, says to the couple.

“Well, this place is in the back alley, so there is little chance a car or bus will come through the window.” The older man states.

“A what coming though the window?” The manger questions.

“The seems to have been a string of rampage accidents you know, I hope none happen around here.” The older man replies.

“It’s not any of my concern.” The manger states.

“Well, see you next time.” And with that, the couple walk out. When they are gone, the manager sighs.

“Four hours for a single cup of joe.” He says, sounding a little tired. After a second, he looks up. “So, I guess your Hexan?” He asks, while I adjust my grip on my bag.

“You wouldn’t happen to be Roast-san, would you?” I ask, to make sure I know who I’m talking to.

“I’m Spicy Roast, so that would be me. You’ll be in my custody for around a year. So your the trouble maker, are you? You look just like some ordinary kid, nothing like I thought a kid with a record would be like.” He says, probably trying to decide his opinion on me. “Have you been told, a customer of mine knows you parents… but I guess that doesn’t matter, follow me.”  After that, he heads up the stairs in the back, as I follow behind.

When we get upstairs, I notice the place must have been a storage room. A pile of junk against one wall, while a work desk is covered in books and junk. There appears to be a sofa up here and a shelf overflowing with books. Roast-San has stopped in front of a large box.

“Well, this’ll be your room for the next year. I’ll at least give you sheets for your bed.” He says, focusing on me. “Hmm? You look like you have something on your mind.” He states.

“It’s bigger than I was expecting, and will probably have more space when I get this place cleaned up.” I say, placing all my focus on him for now.

“Well, yeah, probably. Now, so you know, I close up for the night, so you’ll be alone, so try not to do anything stupid. Cause any trouble and your out on the curb.” He harshly explains. To that I just nod. 

“Good. Now, I got the jist of your situation. You tried to stop a man from forcing himself on some woman, and he got injured during the process and sued you. Right?” He explains. “That what you get when you try to step into a matter between two adults. You did injure him, yeah?” And he continues on.

“And now that you have a criminal record, you got expelled from your previous high school. And on top of that, the courts ordered you to be transferred and moved out here. Which your parents also approved. In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass.” He says the last line with a slight smirk, adjusting his glasses.

“Now, it’s best if you don’t talk about anything that could upset a customer or be deemed unnecessary. I am in the restaurant business after all.” He states, pulling a cloth out of his apron to clean his glasses. “If you can behave yourself for a year, your probation will likely be lifted, and you can return home.”

“I’ll try the best I can, I get the idea of what I need to do.” I say, placing my bag on the table by the stairs.

“If I got my dates right, you should be here until the coming spring, so you’ll be here for a large portion of the school year, so behave yourself there.” He says. “Cause any problems, and you’ll likely be hauled off to juvie.”

“We’ll be going to Shujin tomorrow. It’s the school you’ll be attending.” He explains as I nod. “You know, there’s rarely a place that’ll accept someone with a record, so count yourself lucky.” He sighs. “What a waste of my Sunday…” He looks back at the box.

“Your ‘luggage’ arrived earlier, so put it away, and keep yourself occupied for the afternoon.” He says, before heading back to the actual cafe.

I look around the room for a moment. ‘I guess I’ll be living here, starting today.’ I go into the large box and change out of the uniform I was given, sliding a plain purple shirt on, while stepping into a pair of dull orange pants. Once changed, I decide to start some cleaning.

I begin with the floors, mopping the floor to clear it of dust. After that I do the windows, and move my box into a shelf near the stairs. After that, I clear off the table near the sofa, and look around. Only to notice it is now night. That’s when Roast-san comes back up to check on me.

“What the heck. I heard a bunch of noise up here, but I didn’t expect that it was you cleaning.” He says, a little surprised. He looks around, nodding in approval as he strokes his goatee. “Hmm, actually, you did a good job so far. Though I guess you’d want to keep your room tidy.”

“Why don’t you head to bed for tonight, not much else you could be doing, right?” He suggests. “I’m about to close up shop, and head out. And just a word of warning, I won’t be the one looking after you if you stay up late and end up sick.” He say, heading out soon after.

Once he is gone, I change into my pajama shirt and pants, and lays under the blanket, on the bed by the window, thinking about my day, and after a bit, I end up thinking about the reason I’m even here, and the day it happened.
> Chapter 2 - Flashback and Meeting the Teacher.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

??/?? ???

I remember walking home after a night on the town, and hearing some arguing between what sounds like a man and a woman. So I head over to see what’s happening.

Once I follow the road and get closer, I can see a man in a suit, trying to force a woman into his car. I can hear them arguing a bit more clearly now.

“You think your worth all this trouble? Your nothing compared to me!” The man says, his focus on the woman, while sounding drunk.

“Stop it! Leave me alone!” She yelled, trying to get away, but he doesn’t let her go.

“Like hell I’ll stop, there’s no reason to, even if you call the cops. They're a bunch of idiots who do as I say anyway!” He exclaims, still trying to force her into the car. By this point I’m right nearby, but my focus is leaving me because of a dull pain in the back of my head.

“Get away from me!” The woman exclaims, trying to push him away, as she notices me, he turns to see what her attention is on.

“See, this is because of how slow you are, now get in the car! And you kid, get lost, this doesn’t concern you.” He says, looking a bit intimidating, but the pain is getting worse, so it has a weaker effect, but the pain causes me to hold my head.

“Didn’t you hear me you brat, get lost!” He yelled before he goes to punch me in his drunken stupor. That’s all I remember, before my memories continue, with him on the ground with a broken nose and glasses, as well as some bruises on the sides of his face.

“Bloody brat, I’ll sue!” He exclaims, at which point the police arrive, and end up taking me away.

04/09 Sat

I’m looking up in my bed after remember the events that led here, when I suddenly hear a notification from my phone and pull it out. To my astonishment, the weird app is back. ‘Odd. I’m sure I deleted it.’ I think, before deleting it again, and putting my phone down. ‘Guess tomorrow will be another day.’ I think, before going to sleep.

??/?? ???

When I next awaken, I feel a weight on my wrists, and sit up, noticing metal cuffs and chains on my arms, and I can feel another on my foot. I also noticed that I’m in a black and white jumpsuit, like a prisoner. That’s when I hear someone laughing softly, someone that sounds like a young girl.

That’s when I notice the barred door, which two young girls, dressed in what look like warden outfits, that are the same colour as the walls around me.Both of them have an eyepatch, which has a stylized golden ‘V’ on it, but they are on the opposite eyes of each other. They appear to have light blonde hair, in two seperate styles. On their hats, are golden letters that appear to mean nothing until you combine them, which makes the word ‘Oxymoron’. I also notice one is holding a metal baton, while the other holds a clipboard. Looking at them, I get the feeling they are older than they look. That’s when the one on the right starts speaking.

“Stand up straight inmate, your in the presence of our master!” She says, sounding forceful. They then turn simultaneously towards the center of the room beyond the door, where an ornate desk sits. There is a man behind the desk. He appears to only have hair on the sides and back of his head, not his top. He is in what is likely a tailored suit. And the things that stand out the most is his long nose, and creepy grin. Once he has deduced that I have finished my observation, he begins to speak in a voice that makes me uncomfortable.

“Trickster, welcome to my Velvet Room.” He says, gesturing to the room around him. Looking around, I notice that the desk sits on a circular carpet with the same symbol that is on the girls eye patches.

“You are likely wondering where you are. Well worry not, the you in reality is fast asleep, and you are experiencing this as a dream.” The girl on the left states, sounds all business, with little emotion.

“Welcome, I am pleased to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those bound by a ‘contract’ may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well.” The man states, looking at me with his bloodshot eyes.

“I have summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well.” He says, and I notice a chance to speak.

“What do you mean by, important matters?” I ask, holding onto the barred door. He appears to dodge my question and continue talking.

“Still, this is a surprise. The state of this room, reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison, would appear as such. You truly are, a ‘prisoner’ of fate. In the future, there is no mistake that ‘ruin’ awaits you.” He says.

“Are you kidding me here?” I ask, beginning to wonder if this is some elaborate joke my mind is playing on me, as I pull on the bars. When I’m done, he chuckles.

“Worry not. There is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be ‘rehabilitated’. Rehabilitated towards freedom. That, is your only means to avoid ruin…” He states.

“...Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?” He suddenly asks.

“To be honest, I’d rather avoid ruin.” I say, hoping it’s enough of an answer.

“So you didn’t decline. Very well, that’s enough. Allow me to observe the, path, of your rehabilitation.” When he finishes speaking, the twin wardens turn towards me, again, completely mirroring the others movements.

“Ah, pardon me for forgetting to mention the others. To your right, is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here, as you have likely guessed.” He says, as I look to the twins.

“Hmpf, struggles as much as you like inmate. You won’t get out of here that easily.” Caroline says, looking to be taking this seriously.

“The duty of wardens is the protection of inmates. We will also be your collaborators.” Justine states. “...That is, if you continue to follow orders.” She continues.

“I shall explain the role these two have, at another time. For now, the night is waning...It is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand my room here. We will definitely meet again…eventually.” Igor says, as he continues to tap his fingers on the desk. Once he finishes speaking, he looks up as an alarm goes off.

“Looks like your time is up. Hurry up and get back to sleep, inmate.” Caroline orders, so I lay back down and fall asleep.

04/10 Sun

When I wake up, I sit up and think on the odd dream I had. ‘Ruin...Rehabilitation...Wardens...Fate…’ Once I’m done thinking to myself, I get up and changed. Once I’m in the uniform for my new school, Roast-san comes upstairs, and I notice that he is wearing a white jacket, and a matching fedora.

“Oh good, your up. Well come on, we have to go to introduce you to the staff of your new school.” He says, as he turns to head back downstairs, mumbling to himself as he goes. “Men aren’t usually allowed in my passenger seat…”

After that, I head downstairs and follow him, to his car. After a bit of a long drive, we get out and walk the last bit of distance to the school.

“Alright kid. Do me a favor and behave yourself, alright? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really care what happens to you. I just don’t want you causing me any trouble.” He says, before we walk into the school, and up to the principal's office.

Looking into the room, there appear to be two people. One is a, well, large, bald, man, who is wearing a dark green suit. The other is a woman, who is wearing a light red, striped shirt, and has dark brown hair. I turn my attention to the principal, the man, as he begins to speak.

“So, you must be, Hexan, correct? And this is your guardian, Spicy Roast.” I nod to his question. Before he begins speaking about my situation here, and having Roast-san sign some forms, some of which I also need to sign. After a bit, we reach what I believe to be the end of our appointment.

“So, just to reiterate. You will be immediately expelled should any trouble be caused by you.” The principal says, with a stern look on his face.

“To be honest, I hesitated on taking someone like you, but there happened to be circumstances that favored us doing so.” He states.

“You might have done a variety of things in hiding in your hometown, but you will be on your best behaviour while attending this school. Keep in mind, that if your get thrown out of here, there is no place left for you to go.” He says, keeping his stern look on.

“This, is the teacher in charge of your class.” He says, while gesturing to the woman.

“I’m Yakudatsu Kenkyū.” She says, sounding tired. “Here is your student ID.” She explains, before giving it to me.

“Be sure to study up on the school rules. Any violations will send you to the guidance office. And if, by chance you cause any problems, I’ll be unable to protect you at all. That is the situation, right Principal Don'yoku?” She says, looking at the principal.

“He is responsible for all his actions.” The principal replies.

“But really though, why me?...There should have been much better candidates.” Kenkyū-sensei says, sounding a bit more tired. The principal replies while sighing.

“It was a sudden transfer, and your class had the only opening.” He explains.

“If we’re done here, do you mind if we get going?” Roast-san asks.

“Roast-san, please keep an eye on him. Don’t let him cause any trouble outside...” The principal says.

“I’ll be having a serious talk with him when we get home.” Roast-san says 

“Make sure to come to the faculty office when you arrive at school tomorrow. I’ll then take you to your class and introduce you.” Kenkyū-sensei explains. Then we walked out, having finished our talk with the staff.

“They’re treating you like some kind of nuisance...” Roast-san says, after a sigh in one of the schools hallways on our way out.

“I guess that’s what it means to have a criminal record. Turns out your past follows you where ever you go.” He says, turning to face me.

“By the way, if you get expelled, I won’t hesitate to kick you to the curb. Got it?” He asks.

“I think I should be able to handle it.” I say. ‘This shouldn’t be too bad.’ I think to myself.

“See to it that you do. I don’t want any reports of you slacking off.” He says, before sighing and looking around. “School never changes, huh?” He asks to no-one in particular. “Come on, we’re heading home.” He says, before we head out and back to his car.

-------------------------------

Yakudatsu Kenkyū’s POV

I sigh as I walk along one of the paths between buildings, before I run into the coach of the school football team. He looks like he is going to speak to me.

“What a troublesome situation.” He says, likely referring to Hexan-kun.

“I can’t believe they really pushed someone with a record onto me. One of the male teachers would have been better suited this…” I say, feeling tired.

“Why in the world would the principal agree to admit someone like that here?” He asks, rhetorically. I shrug before replying anyway.

“I have no idea what he’s thinking, but it probably has to do with the schools reputation.” I say, hoping to finish this talk to I can get off work and go home.

“And here I thought that my football team would have completed covered the schools reputation already.” He smugly remarks.

“That is definitely true.” I say, giving him a bit of credit.

“Be careful, okay?” He says, stretching a little. “Then again, if anything were to happen, I’d kick out a student like that right away.” He finishes.

“To be honest, I keep wishing he’d end up just not coming to school. But that isn’t really something a teacher should be saying, is it?” I say.

“Well, I should be returning to practice.” He says, looking ready to head off.

“Oh right, the tournament is coming up, isn’t it?” I say, remembering that detail. He chuckles at that

“Having such high expectations placed on you by others is quite a problem in itself.” He says. “We’ll have to work hard to make up for the baseball team too.” He says.

“Yeah...that is true.” I say, feeling bad that all the kids from the team are unable to do the sport they want. I sigh as I watch the coach walks away. “Why’d it have to be my class?...” I ask myself, before walking off to finish my work for today.

--------------------

Hexan Tronic’s POV:

I watch as Roast-san groans in annoyance.

“Traffic’s not moving at all…” He says, clearly annoyed. “Your taking the train, starting tomorrow.” He says, in a way that means it isn’t up for debate. He then sighs and relaxes a little.

“...So, how was it, the school I mean. Think you’ll be able to manage?” He asks, turning his attention to me.

“I think I should be fine.” I say, keeping my answers brief.

“Yeah well, even if it is too much, you brought it upon yourself.” He says. “Still, you were expelled from one school already. To think you’d enroll at a different one.” He continues.

“I mean, it’s not like anyone with be sympathetic with you.” He explains, before he sighs. “...If that’s what it was like at your school, people might start saying stuff about me in the future…” He says, sounding a bit tired. “What a troublesome kid I’ve taken in…” He finishes.

“You know, I’ve been wondering, why did you take me in?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“Someone asked me to do it, and I just...happened to agree to it.” He says, before continuing with, “I’ve already been paid for it, of course.” At that point, a newscaster on the radio talks about an accident in the subway.

“Another accident?...” Roast-san asks in disbelief. “I guess that’s why it’s so crowded. There’ve been a lot of those lately.” He says, referring to the accidents.

------------------------

After a while, we make it back to the cafe, and I see a recording of the accident on the tv.

“Geese, what a waste of a Sunday, I couldn’t even open the store...” Roast-san exclaims.

“...Oh whatever.” He says, before turning his focus to me. “Head upstairs, I have something to give to you.” He says, before I head upstairs.

Once up there, I hear him talking behind me, and I turn around once upstairs and see him on his phone. “Talk about a gruesome accident...around eighty people were involved.” He says, looking as surprised as I feel at the number, before he puts his phone in his pocket, and pulls out a black book.

“It’s a diary. Make sure to write in it, as it will help me with the report I have to make at the end of each month.” He says, placing it on the table by the stairs, where my bag sits.

“To be honest, while you are on probation, you don’t have any real limits on what your spending your time on. Except for following the law, that is.” He explains. When he is done, he gets a call, and starts walking away, talking on his phone. I look around my room, before changing into my pajama shirt and pants.

I look over and see the diary by my bag. ‘Guess I better write about today and yesterday's events.’ I think, before doing so. Once I’m done, I head a phone ringing downstairs, so I head downstairs to check. It appears to be coming from the yellow phone on the counter, so I pick it up and hold it to my ear.

“Yo, it’s me.” The caller says.

“Who is this?” I ask.

“Sheash, did you forget my voice already kid?” He asks, which confirms it as Roast-san. “Anyway, while I did close up shop, I forgot to flip the sign to close, and it’s too much of a hassle to go back myself. Mind doing that for me?” He asks.

“Um sure, but mind telling my why you called the public phone?” I ask.

“Sorry, but I make it a habit to avoid putting a guys number in my cell. Anyway, your now incharge of the door sign.” He says, before hanging up. After the call, I head outside and flip the sign to closed, before walking in and locking the door.

After that, I look around the shop, noticing all the different coffee beans behind the counter. Then I turn on the TV, which is just showing news about the accident. Once that’s over I head upstairs. Once I’m back in my new room, I hop into bed.

Once in bed, I start thinking to myself. ‘I’ll need to take the train to school tomorrow, better memorise the stations I need to take.’ I think before opening the internet on my phone and looking over the ones I need. That’s when I notice the strange app is back again. After deleting it once again, I put my phone down. That’s when a wave of exhaustion hits me, causing me to fall asleep.
> Chapter 3 - First day of school?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

04/11 Mon

Upon awakening, I sat up, and quickly changed into my uniform. Afterwards, I grabbed my bag, after placing the diary inside, and head downstairs. When I got down there, I saw Roast-san behind the counter, and a plate of what looked like curry on the counter.

“Huh, so you're actually going are you? If you are, then eat.” He says, gesturing to the curry, so I sit down and start eating. I can taste plenty of complex flavours, accompanying the bold spiciness of the curry. I am soon finished, and sliding my bag on.

“Thanks for the delicious breakfast, Roast-san.” I say, getting my shoes on.

“Think nothing of it, but you better hurry. Or you could get lost or be late.” He says, which lets me know I should head out. Once I get outside, I notice that the sign hasn’t been flipped yet, and flip it to open. After that, I backtrack to the station, before hopping on.

After some time on the packed train, I get off at Shibuya, and head up to the main area. Looking around, I notice a conversation nearby, before heading through the terminal. Looking at the signs, I start following them to the Ginza line, until I find the path blocked due to cleaning. Then I remember the alternate path I saw on the map my phone has and follow it up to station square. Once there, I see the area I need to go and head over there, then up the stairs to the Ginza line, where I then hop on the train.

While riding the train, I look at the forecast, and notice that it has begun to rain, and that I don’t have an umbrella. Once I get off, I head out of the station, and stand under some cover. After some time, someone else joins me under the cover, soon lowering the hood she is wearing, revealing vibrant red and orange hair, in twintails.

Once I can stop looking at her, I feel my phone vibrate and pull it out, and the app is back again, and seems to open by itself. Before I can investigate it, a car rolls up, and the window goes down.

“Hey, do you want a lift, you could be late otherwise.” The adult in the car says.

“Yeah, alright.” The girl beside me says, before getting in, and the adult notices me.

“What about you, do you need a lift?” He asks me, to which I shake my head.

“No thank you, I’ll make my own way.” I say, to which the window rolls up, but not before I see a sad expression on the girls face, then the car drives off. Before it gets too far, I hear a shout, and running. After a moment or two, a guy around my age, runs up.

“Damn it, screw that pervy coach.” He say, which confuses me a little.

“Pervy coach?” I ask, which gets him to turn around, although I’m distracted, and don’t notice my phone vibrate.

Looking the guy over, he is wearing the same uniform as me. He has blonde hair, with white streaks.

“...What do you want?” He asks me in a somewhat angry tone. “You planing to rat me out to Kikku?” He asks, looking a bit threatening, probably not noticing my confusion.

“Whose Kikku?” I ask, tilting my head slightly, still not noticing my phone.

“What do you mean? In that car just now, was Kikku.” He explains, looking to be calming down.

“He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is--king of a castle? Don’t you agree?” The boy says.

“King of a castle?” I ask, wondering what he is talking about.

“Uh, is just a saying…” He says, before continuing. “...Wait. You don’t know Kikku? Are you being serious?” He asks. “You are from Shujin, right?”

“I think I do…” I say, hoping I remember the name of the school right.

“Are you messing with me? Your wearing their uniform.” He explains, looking me over. “A second year huh, same as me…”

“I’ve never seen you before though… Oh, are you a transfer student?” He finally asks.

“Kinda, I guess?” I reply, having forgotten my phone is in my hand.

“Then no wonder you don’t know him...” He says, before looking around. “Hmm, the rain ain’t too bad. We better hurry if we don’t want to be late.” He says, before turning to walk off. At that moment, I feel a bad headache, the only lasts a moment. I also hear him groan. “Damn, my head hurts...I just wanna go home…”He says, before walking off, me right behind him.

We end up walking into a thin alleyway, as I put my phone away. Then once we reach the end off the alley, I hear the other guy yell in shock. “What?!” When I turn to look at what he saw, I see a large castle. The guy turns and looks around. “I’m sure we went the right way…”

“Yeah, this should be Shujin… the hells going on here?” He asks, before walking up to the castle entrance, me right behind.

Once inside, we look around what appears to be a grand entrance hall. “That’s weird...Where’s the school?” He says, looking around.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” I ask, hoping we aren’t trespassing.

“Definitely, at least I’m pretty sure this is the right place…” He says, as he pulls out his phone, likely to check the map. “No service? Where the hell are we?” He asks.

“That was the sign for the school out front, right?” He asks me.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it said Shujin.” I say. That’s when we hear someone in a suit of armour walk up. I’m not sure what metal it is, but it’s a darkish orange colour. He stops in front of us.

“Geeze, you freaked me out. Who’re you? You a student?” The boy asks it. “Man, that costume is impressive, is that real metal?” He continues. “Come on, don’t just stand there, say something.”

That’s when another suit of armour walks up. “H..Hey, what’s going on?” He asks, but gets no answer.

“What is this?...”  I ask more to myself than anything.

“I don’t know dude.” The guy says, before the first one walks up to him. “...This shits real.” I’ve come to the same conclusion, as the second suit gets closer. “H..Hey, just calm down…” He says, looking a bit frightened.

“We gotta run.” He says, looking to me.

“Got it” But before we can get anywhere, we are surrounded.

“What’s with them?” He asks before he is bashed in the back by the shield on the of the suits are carrying, knocking him to the ground.

“F...Fuck, your gonna break my back, damn it!” He says, from his position on the ground. At that point, the suits crowd around us, then everything goes black.

----------------------

I am laying on my back, as I hear a voice calling me.

“...Hey, get up man.” A voice that sounds familiar says, before I’m shaken a little, and open my eyes, seeing the guy I was with, and what appears to be a dungeon cell.

“Hey, you alright?” He asks, with what sounds like genuine concern.

“Yeah, I’m feeling okay, how about you?” I ask in return, getting a look around, and seeing our bags by the door.

“I’m more or less okay.” He says, as I get up. “It looks like this isn’t a dream…” He finishes.

“Ugh, what the fuck is going on?!” He exclaims, before running to the door and banging on it. “Hey, I know someone is there! Let us the fuck out of here!” He yells out into the halls.

“Damn it, the hell are we? Some kinda TV set?...” He asks, but I doubt it. That’s when we hear a scream and both run to the door.

“The hell was that man…” He says, as we try to see where it’s coming from.

“Sounds like a tortured scream.” I say, stepping away from the door.

“Whoa...whoa, whoa, whoa.” He says, in disbelief. “Your shitting me, right?” He asks, as I shake my head.

“This is bad. Quick, lets try and find a way out.” He says, as he starts searching. After a bit, we discover there is no way out. Then we hear the suits of armour again.

“Shit, do you hear that?” He asks, stepping back over to the beds. Then we see the suits again, but I’m unsure if they are the same ones. Then they speak.

“Your punishment has been decided upon, lucky you.” It says, and a male voice. “The charge, is ‘unlawful entry’.” It continues.

“Thus, you have been sentenced to death.” It finishes.

“Say what?!” My companion yells in shock. That’s when we hear a familiar voice.

“No pieces of trash are allowed to do as they please, in my castle.” That’s when what looks like Kikku walks up to the barred door.

“Huh, wait… Is that you Kikku?” The boy asks.

“I’d thought it would have been some petty thief, but to think it’d be you, Tama” The man says. Looking at him, he is dressed in a dark red robe, as well as navy blue dress shirt and pants.

“You appear to be disobeying me again. Looks like I need to teach you another lesson.” Kikku says. “And look, you even brought a little friend with you, because you can do anything for yourself.” He mocks.

“This ain’t funny, you asshole.” Tama says.

“Is that how your supposed to speak to a king?! It seems you don’t understand your position at all.” Kikku says. “Not only did you sneak into my castle. You commited the crime of insulting the king!” He says. “And the punishment for both, is death.”

“It’s time for an execution! Take him out!” Kikku exclaims.

“S..Stop it…” Tama says, backing away more. I watch, as the suits of armour come into the room, and corner Tama.

That’s when Tama shoulder barges one of the suits. “I’m not going down like this, come on!” He says, looking at me, before one of the other suits walks up and slams the hilt of it’s sword into Tama’s gut, causing him to collapse.

“J..Just get out of here, these guys are serious…” Tama says to me, as I try to pull a spear from a suit.

“Oho, your going to run away? What a heartless friend you are!” Kikku remarks.

“He ain’t a friend...” Tama says. “Come on, hurry up and go!”

“What’s the matter, are you too much of a wimp to run away?” Kikku mocks. “Pathetic scum like you isn’t worth my time. I’ll focus on this ones execution.” Kikku says, before having the suits hold Tama up, as he starts beating him. Throwing insults at him as he does. The entire time one of the suits holds a sword to my neck.

After a bit, Kikku knocks Tama to the ground. “ A peasant like you isn’t worth beating. I’ll have you killed, right now.” He says.

“Have you lost your mind, you lunatic!” I yell out, glaring at Kikku. He turns and walks towards me.

“What? You can’t tell me you don’t know who I am.” He says, before noticing my glare. “That look on your face irritates me” He says, before kicking my gut. “Hold him there, after the peasant, it’s his turn.” Then a pair of suits grab me by my shoulders and hold me against the wall.

I watch as Tama says that he doesn’t want to die, while Kikku just laughs. That’s when I hear someone speak to me, in what sounds like a feminine voice.

“This is truly an unjust game… Your chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you…” She says, before going quiet. That’s when I hear him.

“What are you doing, are you simply content to watch?” He asks. “Are you giving his life to save your own? He will not leave this place with his life should you hesitate. Were your previous actions, a mistake?” He continues, as I get a glimpse of me punching the man that was assaulting the woman, the reason I'm here now, even if I don’t remember it.

“Of course it wasn’t.” I say, just quiet enough that Kikku can’t hear me. I can see a suit picking up Tama, ready to stab him. I start struggling against the suits holding me.

“Very well then...I have tested your resolve, and you have passed.” He says, before I feel pain in my head. I start lightly screaming in pain, as He continues talking.

“Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I… Thou who art willing to perform all manner of heinous acts, in the name of helping others! Call my name, and release thy rage!” He says, His voice sounding clearer, and the pain getting worse.

“Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thy own, and helping all on your path, though thou be chained, to Hell itself!” He says, and I somehow know what I need to do.

“Execute him!” Kikku says, pointing at Tama.

“That’s as far as you’ll go!” I says, glaring hatefully at Kikku.

“What was that?...” Kikku asks, turning to me, as the suit drops Tama. 

“I’ll stop you, even if I must do it on my own!” I say, still with some pain in my head.

“You desire to be killed first? Fine then..” Kikku says. Before nodding to one of the suits, who smack me in the head with it’s shield. Distracting me long enough for two suits to pin me to the wall with their spears.

Once I come to, a suit has it’s sword raise, but that’s when a burst of wind radiates out from me, stunning the suits and Kikku.

When the wind dies down, I feel something on my face. It feels like a domino mask, I try to pull it off, but it feels like pulling on my skill, but I’m compelled to keep pulling, until I rip it off, and when I do, I feel the blood running down around the entire upper half of my face, before I feel a rush of strength, and start grinning like a mad man.

That’s when the flames begin. Blue flames start to burn all over me, but not hurting me, and pretty soon I’m completely covered, before the flames start moving back off me, forming a separate entity. I take a glance behind me to look at the being.

I see a tall pale man, with a purple top hat, with an orange ribbon around it. The rim of the hat has short saw blades.The hat sits on his short, blonde hair, which has purple streaks running through it. He has a mask over his eyes, which is purple with orange around the eyes. He is wearing a purple jacket over an orange t-shirt, while he is also wearing black trousers. He holds a cane with a silver handle in one hand, and a multi hued, purple shotgun in the other. He has a calm, but slightly unhinged smirk on his face, with glowing purple eyes. His hat has a symbol on it, which appears to be the roman numeral for 1.

After looking at him, I turned my attention back to the stunned occupants of the room, and I notice that I’m holding chains, which I throw away. After which the being behind me unleashes a wave of wind which blows the suits away.

Kikku tries to crawl away, while Tama looks up at me stunned.

I watch the being behind me pose, before he begins to speak in the same voice that was talking through my pain.

“I am the assistant to all, Tasukete!” He says, looking down at me. I notice Tama looking at Tasukete.

“What the…” Tama says before going quiet.

“I am the rebels soul that resides within you. Should you wish it, I may consider granting you the power to survive this crisis.” Tasukete says.

“Grant me your power.” I say, with no hesitation.

“Hmpf, very well...” He says, before I notice that Kikku has stood up.

“Who the hell are you…?!” Kikku asks. “Guards!” At that point the suits, or I guess guards, get up from their crumpled position on the floor. “Start by killing that one!” He says, pointing to me.





The guards shake, before dissolving into streams of red and black energy, their forms being replaced with two floating jack o’ lanterns, that poses a small cloak, witches hat and a lantern.

“You must detest the enemies before you. Change that animosity into power...and unleash it!” Tasukete says, as I glare at the enemies.

After he finishes speaking, two words form in my mind. Both feel powerful, so I speak them out loud.

“Persona!” After I said that, I see Tasukete manifest behind me, before I use the second word. “Zio!” I yell, pointing the the left Jack O’ Lantern. At that point, Tasukete fires his shotgun, which shoots a bolt of lightning at the poor pumpkin, hurting it, but not defeating it.

Due to my amazement at my attack, I take a hit from both enemies, before I ready myself again.

“Swing your blade!” He says, as I take notice of the cane in my right hand. I pull on the handle, which pulls out a thin sword, which I use to slash the enemy I attacked before, which kills it, making it vanish into black smoke. After the attack, I instinctively return the sword to the cane.

“This power of mine, is yours! Kill them however you want, run wild to your heart's content!” I take one more hit while listening to Tasukete, before I attack again, casting Zio at the enemy, killing it like the last one.

Once the adrenalin died down, I finally notice that my clothes have changed. Gone is my Shujin uniform, and in its place is a purple suit, with purple pants. Both have orange highlights around the waist and pockets. I also have purple gloves with an orange ‘H’ on both. And finally, I notice a purple tophat on my head.

“What...What was that just now?” Tama asks, bringing my attention back to him.

“You little…!” Kikku comes up in my face, looking angry. That’s when Tama tackled him to the ground.

“Hah, you like that, you bastard!” He says.

“Grab the keys, lets go.” I say, walking out of the cell after grabbing my bag. After Tama locks the cell, he turns to me.

“What was all that just now? And your clothes…” He asks, before my clothes change back to my uniform and a flash of the blue fire. “Whoa, it went back to normal…?!” 

At this point, Kikku pull on the bars, startling us both.

“You utter bastards!!” He says.

“God, this is fucking nuts.” Tama says. “Anyway, let's get out of here. You lead the way.” He says, while throwing the keys away and we walk off.

“Goddamn thieves..!! After them! Don’t let the run free!” Kikku says just before we are out of hearing range.

“Come on, let’s get moving.” Tama says, letting me go ahead. Our path is shortly blocked by a locked door.

“Damn it, what now?” He asks, before I decide to jump over the nearby rapids, which have cages to stand on sticking out of them.

“This way.” I say. Once we are both over, we continue on our way. After crossing over another section of the rapids, we reach another locked door, but I notice an open cell and walk in.

“Think we can fit in that hole?” Tama asks, pointing to it, so I crawl in, moving quickly. Once out, we left the cell we emerged in, and crossed a drawbridge. Once we reach a stack of boxes and barrels, we hide behind them, as more guards are patrolling on the other side of the rapids.

“Shit, how many of them are there?” Tama asks, as we head through the nearby doorway and up the spiral stairway beyond it.. “I hope we are getting closer to the exit…” He says, as we exit the stairway.

“It doesn’t look like this is the exit, let's keep moving.” I say, walking along the only available path. Along the path, we see cages above the rapids, with a person in some of them.

“I guess we weren’t the only ones captured...Think they made those screams from before?” Tama asks as I just keep walking. Just past them is a raised drawbridge, with a statue nearby. “Damn it, we don’t have time for games, we need to get out of here!” He yells.

“Hey, over here!” Something calls for us. Walking a bit further down, I notice a creature in the cell. It looks like a mix of a fox, and a puppy. It was standing on two legs, it had the ears and tail of a fox, while a more puppy like face, as well as clawed hands. It appeared to be wearing a cloth over most of its face as a mask, and had a little outfit that was a similar colour, which was dark grey, while it’s fur was a light brown. It looked at us with it’s bright blue eyes.

“Come on, let me out of here!” It said, sounding female.

“Why would we do that, you look just as weird as the guards.” Tama said, which was a valid point.

“But it is in a cage.” I say, looking for the key.

“At least one of you can think clearly, also the key is over there.” She said, pointing to the wall further down. Once I have the key, I let her out and she stretches.

“Ah, free at last!” She says.

“Okay, we freed the weird monster dog, now what?” Tama asks.

“I’m not a dog! I am Abigale!” She said, as I look back the way we came.

“Nice to meet you. Know a way out?” I say, hoping to hurry along so we aren’t caught.

“Sure, this way!” She says, before heading over to the statue of Kikku.

----------------------------

Yakudatsu Kenkyū’s POV

I’m sitting at my desk in the staff room.

“...It’s already fourth period.” I say, after looking at the time.

“Roast-san said that Tronic-kun left the house this morning. Should I call the police?” I ask myself, a little worried about him.

“No, that’ll just be a hassle.” I let out a sigh, before continuing. “What have I done to deserve this…?” I ask myself.

----------------------------

Hexan Tronic’s POV

“Pull it’s jaw down.” Abigale explains.

“Huh? What does that have to do with anything?” Tama asks.

“Just do it one of you, I’m not big enough…” She says. I decide to walk over and do as she said, which causes the eyes of the statue to glow, and lower the bridge.

Once we cross the bridge, we come face to face with another guard, and my clothes change back to the suit. I see Abigale jump on Tama, while calling him an amature while he is on the ground.

“Hey, you can fight, right?” Abigale asks me, to which I nod. Then she seems to prepare herself before yelling out. “Come Gādian!” She yells out, before a burst of blue flames appear behind her.

When the flames die down, I can see a being. It appears to be female, and she has short, light brown hair. She has pale skin, while she is wearing a knee length dress, which is dark grey and navy blue coloured. She has two oddly shaped semi circles attached to her arms, one is blue that I feel is familiar, while the other is black, with a golden trim.

“You have one of those things too?!” Tama asks in surprise.

“We will quickly beat them down!” Abigale says, as I came up beside her.





At that point, the guard changes into the red and black energy as before before forming two beings. One is the Jack O’ Lantern from before. The other is what appears to be a pinkish demon, with a spike coming from between its legs.

“It looks like they are seriously trying to kill us. Fight with everything you have, I’ll back you up.” Abigale states.

To begin with, I pull out my cane and slash at the demon. After which, Abigale chuckles.

“You call that, an attack? This is an attack. Gādian, Garu!” She yells, as a burst of greenish wind hits the Jack O’ Lantern, knocking it to the floor. “Strike at an enemies weakness to knock them down. And use that opening to strike again!” She explains, before slashing the pumpkin creature with her dagger, killing it.

At that point, Abigale takes a hit from the demon, which I then attack myself, casting Zio on it, which kills it. Once the battle is over, I feel a sudden weight in my pocket, specifically in my wallet. Ignoring it for now, I feel Tasukete gain a new skill, which seems to be called ‘Snap’.

“Not bad, your persona is pretty good.” Abigale says, while Tama comes over.

“Persona? Is that what those things are?” He asks. “Those things seem to come out all dramatic-like…” He says.

“Yeah, you saw how this guy ripped his mask off when he summoned it, right?” She asks. “Well, everybody wears a mask deep within their heart, and by removing that…” She begins to explain, but my clothes change back to normal again.

“Huh?...He turned back to normal again.” Tama says.

“I guess you don’t have full control yet. We better get moving if we want out of here.” She says, before heading out.

She leads us to a set of stairs, which we walk up. In the cell we are about to walk past, a guy is collapsed in there. He is wearing some form of uniform, I think.

“Hey, hold on a sec, I think I recognise this outfit, but I can’t remember where from all the excitement.” Tama says

“Come on, we have to hurry!” Abigale says, sounding hurried.

“We can’t just leave him here.” Tama says.

“We don’t have time to worry about others right now. Now lets go before…” She couldn’t finish, because the bridge in front of us lowered, and a guard crossed it.





Before we could do anything, it quickly changes forms at our end of the bridge, and reveals a pair creatures that looks like a fairy, with a blue leotard, and red/brown hair.

“Let’s fight.” I say, my clothes changing again.

“Glad to see your not easily shaken.” Abigale says, taking up a battle position beside me.

I have the first move, and decide to try out my new one. 

“Tasukete, Snap!” I say, pointing at the left fairy. On my command, Tasukete appears, runs up and shoots his shotgun in the fairy’s face, knocking her down. After this I take my second turn, and have Tasukete fire on the second fairy, giving me a third opening which I use to slash the left fairy with my cane, finishing her off.

“Nice moves!” Abigale compliments, before slashing the other fairy, killing her and ending our encounter. Again, my wallet feels a little heavier.

Yet again, my transformation reverts me back to my school uniform. “Alright, lets get moving before more show up.” Abigale says.

“We can’t just leave them here.” Tama says.

“Ugh, I don’t have time to explain why they don’t matter right now, let’s move!” She says, heading over the bridge.

“Damn it, fine I’m coming.” He says, before following her, as I do as well.

We reach a door, and go through it, which leaves us at the bottom of some stairs.

“The entrance hall should be just up these stairs, we are almost home free.” She says. Following her up, we go to the hallway opposite the side of the room we entered, which has two doors.

“Alright, we’re here.” Abigale says, resting by a door.

“Finally, we’re save…” Tama says, as he opens the door next to the one Abigale is on, and walks in. Once we are all inside, I see it is some sort of reading room.

“How are we going to get out from here?” Tama asks.

“Through that vent.” She says, pointing to the vent cover above a bookshelf.

“Alright, leave this to me.” Tama says, before he climbs up and pulls the cover off. “Alright, let’s get out of here.”

“Well, this is where we go our separate ways. I still have stuff I need to do around here.” Abigale explains.

“Alright, take care.” I say, before heading through the vent, Tama right behind me.

Once we are out, we follow the way we came, and ended up right back where we met.

“So…” Tama takes some breaths. “...Did we make it?” He asks, just as I feel a vibration and pull out my phone.

“You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.” My phone says, before the app closes.

“Huh, returned?” He asks, as confused as I am. “...Does that me we got away?” He continues.

“Most likely.” I says, putting my phone away.

“To be honest, I don’t really know what to make of all that…” He says, sounding exhausted.

“What was all that stuff anyway…? That castle, and Kikku and the monster dog!” He says.

“Don’t insult her.” I say.

“What’s with all the yelling?” A pair of police officers come over. “Are you students of Shujin?” He asks.

“I bet your cutting classes.” He states.

“Huh? No! We were trying to get to school when…” Tama starts to say, before I interrupt him.

“...When we ended up getting lost. During that time we got hungry. After eating, we finally found some familiar sights and were on our way, before you both stopped us.” I quickly say, coming up with it as I went.

“Well if that’s the case, get a move on, your both extremely late.” The main talking officer said, before letting us go, me pulling Tama’s arm slightly to keep him moving.

“Why did you stop me from telling them about the castle?!” He asks me once we are far enough away.

“Because you already admitted that it sounds ridiculous, imagine what they would think if you told them.” I explain. He sighs as we come up on the school, it looking the same as I saw on Sunday.

“Huh, that’s weird. I’m sure we came the same way though…” Tama says, after we exit the alleyway.

“Where have you been?” A man, who I’m guessing is a member of the school staff, asks us.

“It’s likely the officers already told you our story, does it bear repeating?” I ask.

“Hmm, no I guess not, but you’ll still need to come with me Hayai-san.” The man says, as Tama groans. “Though, it is rare not to see you alone.” 

“We just happened to bump into each other and recognised the matching uniforms.” I explain.

“Well, alright then. Come along Hayai-san.” The man says, walking inside, as Tama follows him. After which I walk into the school, then remember what Kenkyū-san said, and begin my search for the faculty office. After a quick look around the ground floor, I head up to the second one, and find the faculty office nearby.

I walk up to the door and knock, waiting for confirmation that I can enter.

“Come in.” A woman's voice says. As I walked in, I discover it was Kenkyū-san’s voice. “Your truly unbelievable, you know that?” She says, looking tired. “You do know your about half a day late, and this is only your first day.” She explains.

“Sorry about that. I just got really lost, being new in town and all.” I explain, and hope she buys it.

“Do you think you can pull yourself together. You were given plenty of warning yesterday.” She says. “And more importantly, I heard that you arrived with that Tama-kun.” She says, in a tone that states annoyance.

“We just happened to arrive at the same time. I don’t even know who he is.” I explain.

“Well, either way. Try not to get involved with him, he is nothing but trouble.” She says, but I have my doubts, having spent time with him.

“Though, he wasn’t like that while he had the baseball team to keep his attention.” She explains.

“...Anyway, breaks almost over. Classes will end after fifth period today, due to the subway accident.” She explains. “‘I’ll have you introduce yourself when class resumes. Follow me.” She says, as she gets up and leave the room, me close behind.

I follow her through the halls, and a bit before we reach the classroom, she stops me to talk.

“By the way, when you introduce yourself… Be serious about it, even if your lying to the class, okay? Try not to say anything unnecessary.” She says. Once she is finished, we head into class.

-----------------------------

Standing in front of the class, a fair amount of whispering is going around. I can catch bits and pieces, like stuff about me being late, and me having a temper. But I just stay calm.

“Alright, settle down.” Kenkyū says to the class.

“...Well, I’d like to introduce a transfer student: Hexan Tronic.” She introduces for me. “Today we… had him attend from the afternoon onwards, since he wasn’t feeling well.” Not the worst of excuses.

“Alright, please say something to the class.” She asks.

“I’m Hexan Tronic. Pleased to meet you all, and I hope I can assist any of you in any way I can.” I state, finishing with a bow. Looking up, I see some of the class is a bit caught off guard at my politeness. ‘I guess there was a leak.’

“Now, your seat will be… Hmm... “ Kenkyū-san takes a moment to think. “Over there, the one that’s open.” She says, pointing to the open seat next to the window. “Sorry, but can the people near him share your textbooks with him for today?” I walk over to my seat, and notice it’s behind the girl I saw in the rain earlier. As I walk past, she mumbles something to herself.

“...Lies.” She happened to look at me as she said it.

“Hmm? Is something wrong?” I ask quietly. She just ignores me, so I go past and sit down. Now I can hear whispers about how we might know each other.

“Oh, that’s right. The football match is in two days… Everyone’s just changed classes, so make sure you use that time to get to know each other. Without further adieu, let’s get class started. Who's on duty today?” Kenkyū-san informs and asks. When she is finished, a boy, who looks to be a bit beat up, rises.

“Everyone, please rise…” He says in a subdued voice.

--------------------------

After class, I walk out into the hallway, and see it temporarily shift into the halls of the castle. Which cause me to shake my head to rid myself of the vision.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Kenkyū-san asks, having seen my look a bit dazed.

“N..Nothing’s wrong. Just a bit lightheaded.” I explain.

“If you say so… Also, it seems like people are already talking about you. But you can trust that I haven’t told them.” She says. “I can’t even catch a break… Why do I have to deal with all this?” She asks.

“I’m sorry to be such a burden to you, Kenkyū-san.” I apologise.

“N..No, it’s okay.” She says, looking a little unsure.

“Anyway, you should head straight home, Roast-san sounded pretty angry.” She forewarns.

“Oh and about Tama-kun. Don’t get involved…” She starts to say, before being interrupted, as the man himself walks over. “Speak of the devil.” She mumbles to herself.

“What do you want? I heard you were cutting classes today.” She accuses, to which he groans.

“I wasn’t doing nothing…” He says.

“And you still haven’t dyed your hair back to black yet, either...” She points out.

“Sorry bout that.” He says. He then moves over and whispers in my ear. “Meet you on the rooftop.” Before he walks off.

“See, that’s why I don’t want you involved with him, understand?” She asks.

“Yeah, I get it.” I say, nodding an affirmation. Once she is done, she walks off to finish her work. That’s when the principal and who I believe is Kikku, come up the stairs, so I stand with my back to them, by the doorway to my classroom.

Listening to their conversation, I gathered that Kikku is entirely against me being here, even more so because I know Tama. He also thinks I’ll bring the schools rep down. 'What a load of bull.’ I think, as they walk off. 

Once I’m sure they're gone, I head upstairs, until I find the door to the rooftop, which has an off-limits sign. But the door is unlocked, so I head outside.

Once outside, I see Tama leaning on a chair.

“...There you are.” He says, looking up at me. “Sorry for calling you up here like this.”

“I bet Kenkyū has already told you not to get involved with me.” He assumes.

“Yeah, but why should I stay away, because of your past?” I ask.

“Yeah well, when it comes to rocky pasts, we’re in the same boat I hear.” He says, likely referring to the rumours.

“I heard you have a criminal record, and everyone’s been talking about it.” He says. “No wonder you were so gutsy.”

“...So, what do you think all that was? How we almost got killed at a castle…? I mean, it wasn’t a dream… right? You remember it too, yeah?” He asks.

“Yeah, but hard to forget all that.” I reply.

“Well, just because we can both remember it doesn’t mean much...” He says.

“I mean, even if it was a dream, you saved me from Kikku.” He says, sounding glad. “So yeah, thanks Hexan.”

“Your welcome.” I reply simply.

“But man, that Kikku we saw there… You probably don’t know about it, but there are rumours surrounding him.” Tama explains.

“The coach guy with an ego problem?” I ask, to which he nods.

“Yeah, and the same asshole who was full of himself at the castle. No one says anything against him ‘cause he’s some medalist who took the football team to nationals.” He explains.

“The way Kikku was king of that castle was crazy real ‘cause of that…” He says. “... I wonder if we could go back to that castle again…” He says, thinking to himself before shaking his head. “Ugh, forget it. Must’ve all been a dream. It has to be!” He says.

“Sorry for dragging you out here like this, that’s all I had to say.” He says. “You know, we might be pretty similar. I feel like we are gonna get along just fine as ‘troublemakers’.” He says.

“I’m Hayai Tama. I’ll come talk if I see ya ‘round. Don’t go ignoring me, alright?” He says. I nod, to show I heard him. “Alright then. Seeya.” He says, before heading off.

-------------------------

Once Hayai-san left, I head back inside, then I head to the station and made my way straight home. Once there, I walk in, and see Roast-san.

“Hey, I got an interesting call from your school today.” He explains. “It’s only the first day and you already showed up hours later?” He questioned.

“I lost my way, and the rain didn’t help either.” I explain. He then sighs.

“Look, just behave yourself. And pack an umbrella into that bag of yours.” He says. “Just to remind you, your life’s forfeit if anything happens. You understand the meaning of probation, right?” He says.

“Of course I do.” I confirm.

He suddenly gets a call on his phone. After talking for a minute or two, he hangs up.

“Hey, what are you standing around for, hurry up to bed.” He says, before I head up to my room.

Once I'm back in my room, I change into my pajamas, and hear the door downstairs close, signaling that Roast-san has left. So I head down to flip the sign, as well as lock the door and turn the lights off. Once all that is done, I head back upstairs and lay in bed, and go to sleep.
> Chapter 4 - First Class and New Partner.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

??/?? ???

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.

<Hey, I decided to go ahead and message you.> It’s Hayai, guess he wants to test if he got the right Chat ID.

<Can you see this?> He asks. Guess it’s only polite to answer.

<Of course, did you think I trolled you or something?> I ask back.

<Nah, your not the type. I just wanted to have a small chat before heading to bed.> He explains. <I’m gonna be counting on you tomorrow, OK?>

<I’m counting on you too, don’t forget that.> I say, since this is both of our problems.

<You’re a real bro, man...?> He thanks. <Welp, seeya tomorrow!>

<Let’s save those guys who’ve been getting abused. You and me.> 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.
> Chapter 5 - Attempts at Interrogation.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

??/?? ???

I once again awaken in the blue prison cell, and for some reason, my phone is still on metaverse radio, but the others seem to ignore it.





“Welcome back to the Velvet room.” Igor says, greeting me with his somewhat creepy smile. “I have decided to resume our previous conversation tonight. That is why you have been summoned here again.”

“So, what do you think, are you becoming comfortable here?” He asks, keeping his gaze on me.

“I guess, I haven’t really been here enough yet to decide.” I reply, keeping an eye on the twins.

“Hmm, that will likely be rectified in the near future, but it seems you aren’t really bothered by this place either.” He continues. “Your rehabilitation will determine if ruin can be stopped. Yet, it is highly unlikely that you can accomplish this feat alone. But today, you entered a partnership with someone who awoke to the same power, haven’t you?”

“You’re talking about Hayai, right?” I ask.

“Involving yourself with others is a crucial part of your recovery. You’ve done well.” He says. “That being the case, I’m not suggesting that you form superficial relationships.”

“It cannot be a frivolity, but a ring of those who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength when you need it most.” He continues. “In other words, they are bonds with those like you, people who have had their place to belong taken from them. The formation and growth of said ring, will, in return, assist your with maturing as well.”

“Persona’s are the strength of heart.” Justine states calmly. “The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your Personas will gain.”

“There are many people in the city who possess talents that a weakling like you doesn’t.” Caroline snarks. “You better get thinking about how you’re going to get them onto your side. We’ll convert the bonds between you into power.”

“Indeed. You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition.” Igor states, then chuckles. “We have a deal then.” He finishes. ‘Huh, I can feel a similar feeling to before with Hayai. Is this the bond Igor spoke of?’ I think to myself, deciding to make a note of this on my phone.

“Well, you will come to understand is all, in your own time… Continue to devote yourself to your rehabilitation.” He says.

“Now, this conversation’s over! Get lost, Inmate!” Caroline orders. Since it seems I’m done here for now, I decide to go back to sleep.

04/13 Wed

I’m walking to school, and happen to hear a conversation going on ahead of me.

“How irritating--we’ve barely started high school, and already they’re making us play at a football rally?” A dissatisfied student who appears younger than me, questions. “And why are they pitting us against the teacher team? Kikku’s gonna crush us.”

“We get to see his technique live and in person, though. We should totally get tackled!” The other student, who sounds on the Kikku Bandwagon, says excitedly.

“Yeah, OK. You’re gonna get destroyed though.” The first student says. “Just look at how banged up the football team is. What the hell goes on during their practices?”

--------------------------------------

Ms. Kenkyū is addressing the class.

“OK, listen up everyone.” She starts. “As you are all aware, today is the football rally.”

“All of you, head to the gymnasium once you’ve changed. Got it?” She orders, then the class heads out to change into our gym clothes, which the school provides.

--------------------------------------

We’re watching a match between the teachers, and a team of students, one of which I recognise from my class, before he gets knocked over and the ball stolen. I don’t know much about football, or rugby, whichever they want to call it. While watching, I notice Bēru-san sitting nearby, not looking very interested at all.

“She still sticks out like a sore thumb, huh… Hasn’t changed a bit.” Hayai says, noticing her as well from his spot beside me. “Well, this is pretty boring, right?” He asks, to which I smirk at his jab at Kikku’s suggested event. ‘Seems like they know, or knew, each other…’ I think to myself, before both mine, and Hayai’s attention is drawn back to the match.

There have been a few more goals and touchdowns since we stopped watching, but now a strange turn of events is occurring resulting in Kikku rolling in mid air, then tackling that same student from before, stunning the student. As Kikku gets off him, he begins checking on the student.

“Sorry.” Kikku says, not at all sounding genuine, as he helps him sit up a bit. “Hey, are you alright kid?” Once it looks like he isn’t too good, he calls out.

“Someone, take him to the nurses office.” He says, still managing to sound like he doesn’t care at all. He passes him off to another student.

“He’ll pay, soon enough.” Hayai says, throwing the ball back over, as it had landing by where we were sitting.

“Alright, let’s resume the match!” Kikku says, sounding as enthusiastic as ever. Bēru looks a little troubled.

--------------------------------------

After the match, me and Hayai are taking a short break in the courtyard, which has benches, a table, and some vending machines.

“That asshole’s actin’ like a king over here too, now that I know what to look for…” Hayai says, looking concerned. “Get to know each other better, my ass. It’s just a one-man show for him to stoke his ego and show off.”

“And how he acted like he was worried about Puroguramu? What an abusive d-bag…!” He continues.

“You’re right, I noticed that myself. And I never would have if I hadn’t seen that other side.” I say, agreeing with him.

“...Well, anyways. Now’s our chance to go look for the guys we saw were slaves yesterday.” He says, sounding confident. “Let’s look for the faces we saw at the castle. All of the members of the team should be here today because of the rally.”

“I’ll be sure to find someone who will spill about Kikku’s physical abuse. Just you wait, asshole.” He finishes, getting determined.

“So, where are we searching first?” I ask, since I didn’t look at the slaves that much yesterday.

“Thanks for helping me out with this.” He says, sounding grateful. “...The first one that popped out was a  guy from Class D, so let’s start from there.” He explains. “That’s your class, isn’t it?” He asks, to which I nod.

“Hopefully you can get him to talk without any issues. People have been avoidin’ me lately, so…” He says, looking down. “Oh, but you’re kinda in the same boat, huh.” After that, we head inside, and walk up to my classroom. Once inside, I can see a student in the schools football uniform, with some bandages around his head. We walk up to him, and I decide to start the conversation.

“Hey, do you have a minute?” I ask, hoping that by being polite, he will talk. He turns around to look at me, with his one uncovered eye.

“What…?” He asks. “Are you skipping out on the football rally? I guess that’s expected from you, transfer.” He says, making me a little annoyed.

“Not really, just not interested.” I state, before Hayai whispers in my ear.

“Hey, that’s one of the guys who was in that castle.” Hayai then backs away, to let me talk.

“You too, Tama!?” The scared looking player asks, sounding a bit shocked.

“Ignore him, focus on me, please.” I say, hoping if he focuses on me, he will be more receptive.

“What do you guys want…?” He asks.

“I know this might be coming out of nowhere, but how did you get your injury?” I ask.

“Huh? Why are you asking something so stupid. I got in a fight outside of school, alright?” He says, not convincing me at all.

“You sure it’s not Kikku’s doing?” Hayai asks. “Look, I ain’t gonna tell anyone you squealed. Just tell us about how Kamoshida’s abusin’ you.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” He says, sounding worried.

“There’s no need to be afraid of either of us. I have no intention of harming you.” I say.

“I-I’m not afraid, since there’s nothing to fear speaking about. You guys are talking complete nonsense!” He exclaims.

“Don’t try n’ hide it! We already know!” Hayai says.

“You… You know? You have proof?” He asks. Before Hayai says something to mess it up, I speak up.

“We might not have proof, but we have seen it happen. We want to get the side from you and other players before we speak up.” I say, hoping I sound convincing.

“While you may be telling the truth, without proof, there isn’t anything you can do. Just leave me alone.” He says, sounding defeated.

“...All right, that’s enough. C’mon, let’s go.” Hayai says, walking away as I follow him. We ended up stopping outside the classroom to talk.

“That injury ain’t normal! And he still refuses to talk…” Hayai states. “Crap. If we keep goin’ at this pace, the game’s gonna end…”

“How about we split up? But I’d need you to send me info on the guys.” I suggest.

“That’s sure to be faster, alright then.” He agrees. “I’ll check the Practice Building for people before clubs start. You handle the Classroom building.”

“There’s a third-year on the football team that I remember. I think he’s in… 3-C?” He says. “He might be around his classroom. The third-year classrooms are on the first floor.” 

“He was gettin’ beat pretty badly at the castle. He might have some injuries here too…” He says, sounding concerned. “Anyways, I’ll hit you up if I find anything. Seeya!” He finishes, heading off to his area.

Once Hayai is out of sight, I head downstairs to search. When I reach the ground floor, I notice Bēru-san talking with someone, and decide to listen in from a distance.

“Everyone’s been saying a lot of bad stuff about that new transfer student in your class, Rirī...” Her friend says, making me give a small smile, because at least one person is sounding concerned about me.

“I know. I hate rumors already, but they’re only getting more and more complex as time goes on.” Bēru-san says, sounding a bit angry. ‘Perhaps she has had rumors about her too?’ I think to myself, staying focused on listening.

“I wonder if he’s alright… I hope he’s not letting it get to him too much.” Her friend says.

“That’s just like you, Hikui. Always worrying about other people before yourself.” Bēru-san says, giving me one part of her friends name. “Kinda like when you were there for me…” ‘This seems like a good time to leave, I still have people to find.’ I think to myself, before heading off in search of some of the football players.

Nearby, I noticed a pair of students talking, one of which is wearing a football uniform, which also lets me see some injuries. I walk over to talk.

“Man, cleaning up after the football rally is gonna be such a goddamn pain…” The football player says, sounding irritated, before noticing me. “Eh? Whaddya want?”

“Well? Do you have something to say?” He asks.

“Well, I was just wondering how you hurt yourself.” I explain.

“I not really any of your business.” He states.

“Hey, I know who this guy is. He’s that transfer student who’s been hanging out with Tama…” The other guy states.

“Oh, I get it. You’re trying to snoop on Mr. Kikku, right?” The player asks. “Look, our football team performs at a national level. Of course our practices are gonna be tough.”

“Mr. Kikku’s just dedicated to training us. Don’t believe everything Tama says.” He finishes.

“Uh, you didn’t even let me get a word in. This had nothing to do with Mr. Kikku. I was just curious…” I explain, hoping my bluff works.

“Uh… Well either way, that just how it is.” He replies, seeming to accept my answer.

“Hey, we should stop talking to him. What if he loses it and starts attacking us?” The other guy says, to which I give him a deadpan stare.

“If you seriously believed that, you would have taken off already, don’t just use a stupid rumour as an excuse to leave.” I say, sounding annoyed.

“W-Well, I heard you come to school armed, so no-one knows what you’re capable of.” He finishes.

“Well, I’m glad to say that you’re an idiot. What kind of fool would bring a weapon to school? Especially one on probation.” I point out, breaking down each and every argument. That’s when my phone goes off. “Well, looks like I have somewhere to be, so I can’t stick around to destroy more rumors about me. See ya.” I say, before walking off.

Once I’m out of sight, I pull out my phone and see a message from Hayai.

<How’s it going?> He asks.

<He didn’t give any useful info, and the guy he was near tried to get away by using the rumors about me. I quickly shut him down.> I reply.

<Damn, sorry you had to go through that, man. But he stayed quiet too? Everyone must be too scared of Kikku…> He says, sounding annoyed. <But I still got a lead. A first-year, new member.>

<He just joined up, so he might not be all wrapped up in Kikku’s web of bullshit just yet.> He answers. <If I recall, he is in class 1-B.>

<Try the first-year classrooms. They’re up on the third floor!> He finishes, before going offline. I put my phone away, before beginning to make my way upstairs.

Once I’m on the third floor, I make my way to the kids classroom. I see him almost right away, and he seems both injured, and a little frightened. I make my way over and get his attention.

“Hey, you’re on the football team, right?” I ask, hoping I can keep him calm.

“Huh? Y-Yeah… I’m on the football team.” He replies, his voice sounding shaky. “Waddya want?”

“I was just wondering where a first year would get injuries like those.” I say, beginning to get really concerned that all these students are being injured like this.

“O-Oh, these…?” He asks. “I-It, uh… It happened during practice. I mean, everyone on the team’s got injuries like this.” He explains.

“That’s what’s worrying me, kid.” I say.

“Though, I have noticed that Puroguramu-senpai has it especially bad though… He gets to deal with Mr. Kikku’s special coaching…” He says, leaking a lead. “O-Oh, uh… Never mind! Forget I said anything!”

“What do you mean by ‘special coaching’?” I ask.

“C-Can you please just leave me alone…” He says, already sounding defeated. “If you wanna know anything more, just ask someone else…” I decided to give him a break, and take my leave, that’s when the PA system goes off.

“Attention, attention.” The speaker says. “All matches have concluded. Please get ready to go home for today…” Then the announcement ending tune plays.

“Hey kid, take my advice, and go visit a doctor or something. I’d recommend something like the clinic in Yongen-Jaya.” I say, before heading off, because I felt my phone go off again.

<Dammit, we’re outta time. How’d it go?> Hayai asks.

<I didn’t get much, but I did get a name. I’ll tell you when we meet up.> I reply.

<Well, at least that’s something. Let’s meet up at the courtyard.> He finishes, going offline. I decide to head right on down.

--------------------------------------

When I got to the courtyard, I notice that Hayai wasn’t there. So, I decided to look in one of the vending machines for something to buy with the money I got in the metaverse. As I was looking, I remember the metaverse radio app, and decide to turn it back on.





While listening I heard someone walk up behind me and turn around, expecting it to be Hayai, but then I see Bēru-san.

“Can I talk to you for a sec…?” She asks me.

“Uh, sure, but don’t take too long, I’m meeting someone.” I explain.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be quick.” She says. “Anyway, what’s with you? Like, how you were late the other day was a lie and all.” ‘Huh, seems she caught that, smart girl.’ I think to myself.

“And then there’s that weird rumor about you too.” She continues.

“Whaddya want with him?” Hayai asks, walking over, and seeming to surprise her.

“Right back at you. You’re not even in our class.” She says, sounding aggressive.

“...W-We just happened to get to know each other.” He says, not sounding very convincing.

“We ran into each other at the school store when I went to buy something to eat. We chatted and ended up becoming kinda friends.” I say, trying to make it less suspicious.

“What’re you guys planning on doing to Mr. Kikku?” She asks.

“Huh!?” He says, looking shocked.

“What are you on about. We have no want to have anything to do with him.” I say, hoping to derail her questioning. I also give Hayai a look to not spoil it, since her back is to me.

“Really? Then why did I notice you talking to some of the football team earlier?” She asks me.

“Well, I’m new here, and was concerned that so many students looked injured, so I decided to find out why.” I explain.

“And I was helping him out, since I’ve been here longer.” Hayai says.

“If you wanted to know that, why not ask someone in our class? It would have been easier.” She points out.

“With all the rumors going around about me, how many students in the school would give me the time of day, let alone tell me something I want to know.” I fire back, to which she looks concerned.

“Are the rumors bothering you that much?” She asks.

“Not personally, but it is making it hard to talk to other students, since half of them expect me to attack them if they say something wrong.” I say, causing her to look sympathetic.

“I feel sorry for you, I’m kinda in the same boat myself, rumor wise.” She says, seeming to have forgotten our previous topic.

“You have my apologies, I’m sorry a girl as nice as you has to deal with that.” I complement.

“Thanks. It certainly helps to have a friend. And it looks like you have one.” She says, sounding a bit more relaxed. “Anyway, I better be going, I have an appointment to keep. Bye guys.” She says, then walks off.

“She was a bit aggressive at the start there, but you did a good job of calming her down. And quick thinking, for getting her off our trail.” Hayai says, once she is out of earshot.

“I guess you two have history?” I ask.

“We went to the same middle school.” He says. “Anyways, that’s not what we’re here to talk about.”

“I had no luck on my end. What about you?” He asks. “Oh, that’s right, you got a name, right?” He continues.

“Yeah, I think it was Puroguramu.” I answer.

“Huh…?” Is his reply.

“The kid I was talking to mentioned something about him getting ‘special coaching’.” I finish.

“...Special 'coaching,’ huh? Sounds like an excuse to beat him.” He says. “It seems likely too. I always see the guy covered in bruises.”

“Let’s see if we can catch him before he leaves.” He decides. Then we head off in search of Puroguramu-san.

--------------------------------------

We catch him about to leave, by the main entrance. We quickly catch up to him.

“Hey, got a second?” Hayai asks, getting him to stop.

“Tama…?” Puroguramu-san says, looking shocked. “And you, too…!?”

“It’s fine, we just wanna chat.” Hayai says. “Word around the school is that Kikku’s been ‘coaching’ you, huh?”

“You sure it’s not just physical abuse?” He asks.

“Certainly not!” Puroguramu-san says, not looking very convincing.

“What’re you talkin’ all polite for? Anyways…” Hayai goes to continue. “We saw him spike you today. Right in the face.”

“That was just because I’m not good at the sport…” Puroguramu-san says, looking dejected.

“Then why are you on the team?” I ask.

“Because what else would I be doing if I wasn’t part of the team? I’d be nothing.” He says.

“...Either way, that doesn’t explain all the other bruises you’ve got.” Hayai says.

“They’re from practice…!” Puroguramu-san says, defensively.

“Is he forcin’ you to keep quiet?” Hayai asks.

“That’s…” Puroguramu-san goes to talk, before he is interrupted by Kikku.

“What’s going on here?” Kikku asks, then looks like he wants to say something else, before I interrupt him.

“Nothing sir, I was just asking Puroguramu if he has any suggestions about different clubs I could join, since we are in the same class and all.” I say, using my skill at speed talking to keep him from talking.

“Then what’s Tama doing with you?” He asks.

“I don’t know my way around yet, and he offered to lead me around.” I reply.

“Fine then. Carry on.” Kikku says, walking off.

“Even if he didn’t say much he’s an asshole. Good cover, Hexan.” Hayai says.

“Why’d you cover for me?” Puroguramu-san asks.

“Because I’m not about to let you get pulled into more practice today, and I could tell he was going to suggest it.” I say.

“Either way, there’s no point.” He says.

“Huh!?” Hayai asks.

“Proving that he’s physically abusing us… is meaningless.” Puroguramu-san says, sounding defeated. “Everybody knows… The principal, our parents… They all know, and they all keep quiet about it.”

“And how do you know this? Did Kikku tell you? Other players?” I ask.

“Both, and I believe it, since none of the players parents have commented about our injuries…” He replies.

“This has gotta be a joke…” Hayai says, looking shocked.

“...Don’t be a pain. You don’t understand what we’re going through.” Puroguramu-san says. “Shouldn’t you of all people know that nothing’s going to help…!?” He says, looking at Hayai, who is silent at that remark. After that, Puroguramu-san runs off home, since I managed to get him out of practice.

“Dammit…” Hayai says.

“So, what should we do now?” I ask.

“...I’ll try one more time to persuade the other guys. That’s… all I can do.” He says, sounding down. After that, we split up and I head home.

--------------------------------------

After taking a quick stop in Shibuya, I end up back at the cafe, around evening, and walk inside. That’s when the MR changes again.





Once up in my room, I put my bag down, and begin to relax. ‘I’m feeling pretty tired from all that happened today… I think I should get some sleep soon.’ I think to myself, before getting changed, laying in bed, but before I can go to sleep, my phone goes off.

<Hey, this don’t make any damn sense.> Hayai says. <The principal and even the parents know about the abuse.>

<Why ain’t anybody speaking up!?> He asks.

<I can think of a couple reasons: They’re afraid of Kikku, they don’t care that it’s happening, and because football.> I reply.

<This is all so fucked up.> Hey says. <All this, because Kikku made the football team famous, yeah?>

<Even so, that don’t give him any right to do whatever he wants!> He continues. <He’s beating up kids, and all they’re allowed to do is endure.>

<And that follower of his doesn’t seem to give any fucks about it either...> He says, giving me pause.

<You’re talking about Bēru-san, right?> I ask.

<Yeah, I mean, she came to confront you about it, right? And we only got away because of your quick thinking.> He replies. <You’ll likely get to know her better since she is in your class, dude.>

<This is all a load of bull!> He says. <I can’t let it end like this!>

<I’m gonna try and find someone who knows about what;s going on with Kikku during break tomorrow.> He says. <Just you watch man, I ain’t giving up!> He finishes, before going offline.

I put my phone down, and look up and the ceiling. ‘I’m beat from running around all day… I’m going to sleep.’ I think to myself, before letting sleep take me.
> Chapter 6 - Surprise Visit.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

04/14 Thur

I don’t waste much time this morning, and rush to school. While on the way to school, I overheard two girls talking.

“Did you see Mr. Kikku play yesterday? He was so awesome!” One of the two says, sounding excited. “I think I might ask for his autograph after school.”

“I dunno if that’s such a good idea… I hear that you shouldn’t go near the PE faculty office.” The other girl says, sounding nervous. “People have been saying that you can hear weird sounds, like screaming, even though no one’s there…”

“What? That’s probably just a rumor spread by fans to scare the competition.” The excited girl says. That seems to end their conversation, and I head off to class.

-----------------------

While in a class with Mr. Ushimaru, I feel my phone go off, and pull it out.

<So about witnesses…> Hayai starts. <I was wondering if we could get something out of Bēru.>

<Why’s that? Is it because she is said to be with Kikku?> I ask, not liking this idea.

<No, that ain’t why.> He begins to explain. <Just hear me out.>

<You know how we didn’t get a thing outta the football team?> He says, making some sense. <I figured it’d be a good idea to talk to someone who knows them.>

<Bēru’s BFFs with a defender. A girl named Pitchi.> He explains. <I tried to talk some info out of that girl during break, but I didn’t get anywhere.>

<And that’s why I think we should have Bēru talk to her.> He finishes explaining. <Then again, I guess it’ll be hard getting her to help us…>

<Sorry. Lemme see what else I can come up with.> He finishes, going offline. Once that’s over with, I put my phone away and focus on class.

-----------------------

“Shouldn’t you be heading to football practice?” I ask Hikui, while we are resting in the courtyard.

“Uh-huh…” She says, looking worse than yesterday. ‘Dammit Rirī, call her out on it!’ I think to myself, gathering resolve.

“That bruise above your eye… Is that from your practice, too?” I finally ask her.

“Y-Yeah…” She says. She hasn’t said much all day.

“Are you positive you’re not pushing yourself too hard Hikui?” I ask, beginning to get more worried about her.

“I’m OK… Really… Football’s the only thing I can do right…” She says, with little drive in her voice. Then I hear my phone go off. “Shouldn’t you take that?”

“It’s probably just my part-time job… I think.” I say, not really caring who it is.

“I… should get going.” She says.

“Hikui…” I begin to say, my phone still going off. “ ...Are you sure you’re OK?”

“Uh-huh…” She says. ‘C’mon! That’s not an answer Hikui!’ I think to myself.  Then she walks off. Without anything else to distract myself with, I pull out my phone and answer.

“...Yes?” I ask. “Today won’t work… I’m… I’m not feeling so good…” I reply. “Sorry… Bye.” Once I hang up, I begin to walk away, but as I do I notice to students walk passed me. I decide to wait nearby and see what they have to say.

“Hey, wasn’t that Bēru?” One of them says, sounding bored. ‘He didn’t use an honorific. We don’t know each other.’ I think to myself, more focused on their talk.

“Rumor has it she’s dating Kikku.” The other guy says, and he looked disheveled.

“Seriously?” The bored one asks.

“I heard people saw them in his car together.” The disheveled one says. ‘It’s not like I wanted to! I just didn’t want to be late!’ I think, turning back to the conversation.

“You know… she seems pretty easy, huh? You think I’d have a chance, too?” The bored one ask. ‘Easy! Well… I guess that’s how it’d look from an outside perspective, but still…!’

“C’mon dude, you can’t go after Kikku’s bitch!” The disheveled one points out. ‘His bitch!! Oh if I didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping, I’d go out and hit them both about now…’After that, I take off, hoping I wasn’t noticed.

-----------------------

I’m walking to the courtyard hallway, and I notice a girl standing in front of the doors outside. She’s looking on her phone. I remember Bēru-san talking to her yesterday, but she looks worse today. ‘I think her name was… Hikui?’ I think to myself, then get her attention so I can go outside.

“...What?” She says, looking to me and putting her phone away. “Oh… I’m in the way, aren’t I? Sorry…” She says, looking defeated. ‘I can’t let her think ill of herself.’

“Don’t worry about it, I’m in no rush. On the other hand, you look really hurt.” I say, hoping she goes along.

“Huh…?” She asks, looking confused. “Um, well…”

“Hm, you don’t look familiar.” She points out, dodging the question. ‘Dammit it, no answers again.’ I think, getting a little annoyed. “Could you be that transfer student from Class D?” She asks. I just nod.

“Um, this might not be any of my business, but don’t let the rumors get to you, OK…?” She asks. ‘Such a sweet girl, why would anyone want to hurt her?’ I ask myself.

“They don’t really bother me. But I thank you for your concern.” I reply.

“I’m glad to hear that you’re OK here.” She says, sounding relieved. “...My best friend is often misunderstood too, all because of her looks…”

“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to drag on like that.” She says, sounding tired. “Anyway, I have to go to practice… I’ll see you around.” She finishes.

“Hey, you aren’t looking to good. Are you sure practice is a good idea?” I ask

“What do you mean? What else could I do?” She asks.

“Why not get a doctors certificate. That should clear you of any obligations, right?” I counter ask.

“Maybe. But then I wouldn’t get any practice in, and I won’t improve.” She explains.

“Ugh… Fine, but please. Be careful. I can’t stand to see a girl a nice as you this hurt…” I finish, walking outside.

-----------------------

I meet Hayai in the courtyard.

“Dammit. What the hell…” He says, sounding frustrated.

“I’m going to guess you had no luck either?” I ask.

“Is that what it looks like?” He asks, sounding tired, before hitting the vending machine beside him. “All of ‘em kept sayin’ the same shit Puroguramu was talkin’ about…!”

“Kikku had to have told ‘em something!” He continues. “At this rate… it looks like we’ll have to go to him directly…”

“There isn’t really a point. He doesn’t like us, and confronting him would make it worse.” I point out.

“I know…” He says. “But seriously, isn’t there something we can do?” He asks.

“There’s now way I’m gonna give in like this!” He finishes. “Can you think of anything?”

“Well, we could call the cops?” I suggest.

“So you wanna tell ‘em about the castle? They’d never believe us… You said it yourself on our first day there, remember?” He points out. ‘Right, I did say that…’ “Anything else?

“How about some form of sneak attack?” I suggest.

“Well, that’d be fine if we could do it without gettin’ caught, but… if we did, we’d be seriously done for…” He explains. “Got any more bright ideas? What do we do…?”

“How about we go back and punish the king?” I suggest.

“The king…? You mean that other world’s Kikku?” He asks, sounding a bit surprised. “I didn’t think of that, but… Would there be any meaning to-” He begins, getting cut off.

“There you guys are!” I hear a familiar voice, causing me and Hayai to look around, confused, not noticing a puppy walk over.

“... You say something?” Hayai asks me, causing me to shake my head.

“Hey, did you guys forget about me already?” The voice asks again, as the puppy jumps up on the table, surprising the both of us. “I mean honestly, I help you out then you go and forget me?”

“That voice… Is that you, Abigale?” Hayai asks.

“Yes it’s me. What have you guys been doing that you have left me all alone in that place?” She asks.

“The pups talkin’!?” He asks.

“I am NOT a pup! This is just what happened when I came to this world!” She explains. “It was a fair bit of trouble finding you two in this big city!”

“Wait… You came to our world!?” Hayai asks, walking closer to her. “Does that mean you’ve got a phone!?”

“I… guess I don’t need one, for some reason, I left as easily as you guys, but I didn’t exit anywhere near you guys.” She says.

“That aside, why can you talk!? You’re a pup!” Hayai points out.

“How would I know? First time in your world, you know?” She asks back.

“You hearin’ this too…?” He asks me, causing me to chuckle inwardly.

“Arf?” I ask, trying to sound like a confused pup.

“This is no time to be jokin’ around!” He says, sounding stressed.

“You guys appear to be having a tough time here though. I think I heard you mention something about witnesses?” She asks.

“Do you have anything to contribute?” He asks.

“Well, I could probably think of something to do about Kikku.” She points out. “You were pretty close a moment ago.”

“Well, I guess she does sound about the same, guess this is Abigale…” Hayai says.

“You still had doubts!?” She asks.

“Ack…! Quiet down!” He says, sounding panicked. That’s when we hear a teacher nearby.

“We really have to be looking for a puppy in a busy time like this…?” He asks.

“I just heard a quiet bark somewhere near here. Didn’t you hear it?” What sounds like a student asks.

“Make sure you check every nook and cranny around.” The teacher says.

“Bark…?” Hayai asks. “Does that mean only us two can understand what you’re sayin’?”

“It certainly seems that way.” She replies.

“What the hell’s goin’ on…?” He asks. “Anyways, what were you talkin’ about earlier… Is it for real?”

“You know, you’re being quiet the skeptic, for someone who doesn’t seem that knowledgeable…” She says, but he takes it in stride.

“Hey, tell us more. Then again, this probably ain’t the best place…” He says, beginning to think. Then he grabs her. “Here, stick her in your bag for now! She should be just small enough to fit!”

“Hey! Don’t treat me like some-” She begins to say, before I follow through. Once she is in my bag, I follow Hayai up to the school roof.

-----------------------

Once up on the roof, I place my bag down to let Abigale out.

“Don’t be so rough with me!” She says.

“Enough of that, we have more important things to discuss.” Hayai says. “You said you know how we can do something about Kikku, right?”

“It has to do with what our friend here was talking about earlier. You’ll need to attack his castle.” She explains.

“What do you mean…?” He asks.

“That castle is probably how Kikku views this school.” She says. “He probably doesn’t realize what happens in there, but it’s likely deeply connected to the depths of his heart.”

“Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kikku.” She finishes.

“What’d happen?” He asks.

“A Palace is a manifestation of a person’s distorted desires. So, if that castle were no more…” She begins.

“Then his distorted desires would disappear as well, leaving an honest man, with a ton of guilt.” I finish.

“Exactly, at least, that is probably how it works.” She says, smiling.

“Probably? Don’t you know already?” He asks.

“I barely know much more than you guys. This’ll be a learning experience for the both of us.” She says. “Either way, we should probably be careful. We need desires to live, to make us want to eat, or sleep. If they disappeared, it’d be like we weren’t there at all. They could even die without proper care.”

“They might die…!?” Hayai ask, shocked.

“Hey, I just said might, and I could even be wrong about that…” She says, going defensive.

“I mean, I hate the asshole, but I don’t want him to die…” He continues.

“Could we have some time to think Abigale?” I ask.

“Of course, but could I stay with you? I don’t think it’s safe for me to roam the streets.” She asks.

“Sure, but try to keep it down, alright?” I ask back.

“Alright, I’ll keep it down.” She says, getting back in my bag.

“I’ll try to find another option, I don’t really want to consider an option that could kill him...” Hayai says, heading off. I pick up my bag, and head off as well.

-----------------------

Once I get outside the school, I take a moment to think. ‘There isn’t really anything else for me to do today, I should just head home.’ I’m about to head back to the station, before my phone goes off.

<Hey, I just heard something that got my attention.> Hayai says. <About that Pitchi girl… Looks like rumors are going around about her and Kikku.>

<If they’re true, it’s no wonder I couldn’t get her to talk.> He continues. <Still, something doesn’t seem right about that…>

<Yeah, I gotta agree, she just doesn’t seem like the type to like him. Bēru-san either.> I point out.

<Yeah, I mean I’ve known them since middle school.> He explains.  <And there is just no way Kikku’s their type.>

<So… I gotta wonder where those rumors came from.> He continues. <Well, whatever. I’ll try asking around some more.> He finishes, before going offline, and I put my phone away, then head to the station, and ride to Shibuya.

-----------------------

On my way out of the station, I noticed Bēru-san standing nearby, one the phone and decide to listen in.

“Will you please give up for today!? I told you, I’m not feeling up for it...” SHe says, sounding fairly annoyed. “Wait, what…!? That’s not what you promised! And you call yourself a teacher!?” Seems the other person didn’t take it well.

“This has nothing to do with Hikui!” She says, sounding pissed. Then I hear the tone that signifies a hang up. “Ah…” Then she crouches into a ball.

“Hikui’s… defensive position…” She says to herself. That is when I decide I need to talk to her. So I walk over, and hopes she notices me. Thankfully, she does, but she does step back in surprise.

“Wait… Were you listening?” She asked, looking concerned.

“Not at all. I just saw a girl from my class, curled up in a ball in the middle of Shibuya.” I explain.

“Ah… You’re right. Sorry for accusing you…” She says, wiping some tears from her eyes. “So, you really didn’t hear anything...?” She asks.

“From what little I heard coming out of the station, you were arguing about a friend.” I explain.

“Hikui…” She mumbles. “It’s nothing, really.”

“Nothing…” She says, more tears in her eyes, before she takes off. ‘She’s unstable right now, it isn’t safe for her to be alone around here.’ I think to myself, before taking off after her. I follow her down into the underground station.

When I get down there, I just manage to see her run to the right at the bottom of the escalator. I quickly head down after her. Looking around, I just see a part of her hair from behind a pillar. So I walk over, hoping I don’t startle her into running again.

“Could you stop following me… Just leave me alone!” She exclaims.

“I couldn’t do that, even if I wanted to. Are you OK?” I ask.

“Why…? Why do you keep worrying about me?” She asks, then starts sobbing.

“C’mon, let’s go somewhere a bit safer to talk.” I say, before leading her back up to central street.

“What the heck…? I really don’t get you…” She says as I lead her.

-----------------------

We end up at a diner. Once we sit down, I order some drinks, and we begin to talk while we wait.

“I don’t have anything to talk about with you right now.” She says, looking defiant. “It was just an argument…”

“Do you normally have arguments with a teacher, or is this a special case?” I ask. ‘She seems really stressed out…’ Once our waters get here, we start talking, or rather, she talks, and I listen.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors, by now…” She begins. “...About Mr. Kikku…”

“...Everyone says we’re ‘getting it on’.” She continues. “But… That’s so not true.”

“That was him on the other line.” She reveals. “I managed to avoid giving him my number, for as long as I could.”

“He told me to go to his place after this.” She says. “You can probably guess what that means.” ‘I bet I know exactly what he wants.’

“If I turn him down he said he’d take my friend off as a regular on the team.” She explains. “I’ve been telling myself this is all for Hikui’s sake… I can’t take it anymore.” ‘I want to comfort her, but I can’t find the words…’

“I’ve had enough of this. I hate him.” She continues. “But still, Hikui’s my best friend. She’s all I have left in that sorry excuse for a school.”

“Tell me, what should I do?” She asks me. And I don’t have an answer, all I can do is grip my legs in frustration at him ruining another student’s life.

“Sorry…” She says, wiping away tears. “I shouldn't have asked. It’s not your problem.” ‘Seems like she’s finished with the deep stuff. Now, I hope I can help her.’

“What… am I saying... ? I’ve barely even talked to you before…” She starts saying. 

“Well, maybe that’s why? We don’t know much about each other, so we have no misgivings, or hatred. No reason to speak of this again.” I suggest.

“Maybe you’re right… Either way, I’m sorry for dropping that all on you…” She says. “...You’re so weird. Usually everyone just ignores me.”

“I guess you really aren’t as bad as the rumors say. I have a feeling they were false or exaggerated.” She admits.

“They’re just rumors. They bother me about as much as the wind in the middle of the city bothers hair.” I say.

“To be honest… You seemed lonely-almost like you didn’t belong anywhere…” She says, making sense to me. “We’re similar in that regard. Perhaps that’s why it was so easy for me to talk to you.”

“Is there really no way for me to help Hikui…?” She asks no-one. “I wish he’d just change his mind…”

“Like, forget about me, and everything…” She continues. “As if something like that could ever happen…” She finishes.

“It might be a bit convenient, but I think it could happen.” I say, speaking my mind. She gets a short chuckle out of it.

“I wasn’t asking for a serious response.” She explains, smiling softly. “But I am feeling better now.”

“.. I’m gonna head home.” She finishes. Then she finishes her water and grabs her bag. “Please don’t tell anyone what I told you, alright?”

“I’ll try and think of a way to persuade Kikku.” She says. “Well… Thanks.” She says, heading off. Once I finish my water, I too head home.

-----------------------

I’m about to head home, when Puroguramu calls for me.

“Pitchi…” He says, walking over. “Are you leaving…?” ‘What could he want from me…?’

“What is it…?” I ask him. He has a sad look on his face.

“Mr. Kikku’s asking for you…” He says, shocking me. “He’s in the PE faculty office.”

“What did he say?” I ask, hoping it won’t be too bad today.

“... I don’t know.” He replies. “Well… I have to go.” He finishes, before jogging away and leaving me to my fate. Then I hear my phone go off.

“Rirī…” I say to myself, before I put the phone away and head to the office.

-----------------------

When I get back, Roast-san is doing another crossword.

“...You’re late. Where have you been?” He asks, looking stern.

“I was helping one of my classmates, they looked like they were having a rough time, so I lent them an ear.” I explain.

“You really should be keeping out of other business. But if it was in the middle of the city, at least you got them to relax enough to go home, right?” He asks, to which I nod. “...By the way, you haven’t been hanging around any bad influences, have you?” He asks.

“Not at all. I did make a friend though.” I say.

“Huh, must be a troubled kid like you if he wants to hang around you.” He says, with a subtle dis. “Just be careful who your friends are, if you don’t want them ruining your life.” Then he yawns.

“Look at the time…”  He continues. “Seriously, think about how I feel having to stay up here waiting for you.” Once it looks like he is done talking, I go to head up to my room.

“Hey, I’m leaving.” He says. “In the future, try not to come back so damn late. Understood?” I nod and head up to my room.

Up in my room, I get a ping from my phone and pull it out.

<So, whaddya think about what Abigale told us?> He begins. <I dunno if I get all that stuff about stealing desires…>


<And Kikku’s gonna turn like, brain dead if we mess up, right?> He asks. <I mean, sure I’m pissed at him. But I dunno if I really wanna kill the guy…>

<I don’t think I’d really wanna kill him either. He’d have to do something really bad for that.> I reply.

<I agree.> He says. <I mean, maybe I’m just freaking out, but I don’t wanna end up a murderer cause of this shit.>

<Oh well…> He says. <I’ll try and see if I can come up with some other way tonight.> He finishes, before going offline. With nothing else to do, I decide to go to bed. So I get changed and lay down. ‘Stealing Kikku’s distorted desires… Can we really do it?’ I ask myself, before falling asleep.
> Chapter 7 - Tragedy Strikes.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

04/15 Fri

While walking to school, I overheard a conversation between two girls, who I suspect are on the football team.

“I can’t believe Pitchi-senpai missed such an important meeting. I wonder what happened.” The first one asked, I think she is a first-year.

“I heard that Mr. Kikku asked to see her…” The other girl says, sounding worried.

“You know, I’ve been hearing rumors about how Mr. Kikku and Pitchi-senpai stay late…” The first-year points out. “She always shows up to meetings though. It’s weird she wasn’t at the one yesterday...” They finished their conversation, then I head inside to class.

------------------------

I’m in one of Mr. Ushimaru’s classes, and he is talking about the separation of powers in the government.

“When it comes to the separation of powers in our government, they are split into three groups.” He begins. “The National Diet is legislative, the Cabinet is executive, and the Supreme Court is judiciary.”

“This division of power provides checks and balances, which ensures no one brance becomes unstoppable.” He explains. That’s when I feel a shuffling at my legs.

“Have you made your mind up yet?” Abigale whispers, poking her head out of my bag. ‘Damn it, I forgot about her again.’ I think to myself, looking at her without drawing attention to myself. “No matter how much you guys may hope, I don’t really think there are any other options.” She whispers, sounding sympathetic.

“Why tell me this now?” I whisper to her. Then I notice Mr. Ushimaru looking around.

“Hm? Did I just hear a pup just now?” He asks no-one, but the class looks around anyway.

“Y-Yip!” Abigale says, almost giving herself away. I hope the guy behind me doesn’t notice, I tell on me.

“Hmm… Could that rumored dog be somewhere nearby…?” He asks himself. “Settle down! We’re in the middle of an important lecture!” ‘He’s yelling at a pup…’ Then I feel my phone go off. I discreetly pull it out. Before continuing, I quickly write a note, and add some of the ¥en to it, then pass it to the guy behind me, buying his silence. I get a nod from him, then look at my phone.

<It’s no use… I can’t think of any other way…> Hayai’s first message says. <Hey, what’s taking so long?>

<Sorry, was bribing the silence of the guy behind me. And shouldn’t you be concentrating on class?> I ask.

<I guess that makes sense. Smart idea. But I can’t deal with that shit right now. I mean, what’re we gonna do about Kikku?> He asks me. <Do we just gotta go along with what that pup says?>

<Urgh, I really don’t want to…> he finishes, before going offline.

“Sounds like he isn’t a fan of me yet, or my plan…” Abigale whispers, having read our conversation. I noticed a student near the front of the class stand up. Wasn’t he looking at the window all lesson?

“Hey… What’s that…!?” He asks, standing up.

“Enough! This is a classroom!” Mr. Ushimaru says.

“Wait… She’s going to jump…!” The girl behind the standing guy exclaims.

“Pitchi…?” Puroguramu asks, standing up while looking out the window. ‘No, it can’t be her!’

“Hikui…?” Rirī-san asks, getting up to. ‘Shit’ I think to myself, getting up, grabbing my bag to keep Abigale near. The class is getting riled up.

“Hey! Stay in your seats! Do not step foot outside this room!” Mr. Ushimaru orders. ‘Like hell we will!’ I think, ready to bolt out there. That’s when Rirī-san runs out, I quickly follow her out of the room, to one of the windows in the hall, while the class start gossiping.

Outside the window, on the edge of the roof, is Pitchi. I can see her as I stand behind Rirī-san, both of us shocked. Then she falls forward, off the edge of the roof, and out of vision of the window.

“......!” Rirī-san is shocked silent, hands to her mouth. I can hear Mr. Ushimaru trying to order us back to our seats behind us, but I ignore him. “No… Why…?”

“Hikui…!” Rirī-san barely gasps out, pushing me out of the way as she runs down to the courtyard. Before I can follow, I see Hayai running over.

“H-Hey! What’s goin’ on!? We should head to the courtyard too!” He says, before we start down the stairs. Unfortunately, the doorway to the courtyard from this side is blocked by a mob of students, chatting away.

“Th-the hell is this!?” Hayai asks. “There’s no way we’re gonna get past all these goddamn people…”

“C’mon, let’s try goin’ out through the practice buildin’ exit!” He says, leading the way around, past the school entrance, to the passageway to the practice building. And we begin our way through the sea of students.

“Hey, lemme through!” I hear Hayai say over the mob of people.

“What the hell!?” I hear a male student nearby say as I push my way through.

“Outta the way, man! Please!” Hayai asks. We eventually make our way to the practice building. We begin running to the entrance to the courtyard on this side, where there is a thinner crowd of students

I see a circular area of students, around some paramedics, with Pitchi-san on a stretcher.

“Class is still in session!” A random teacher says, I don’t recognise the voice so I don’t care. I see Rirī-san at the edge of the student circle, and lead the way near her.

“Hikui…!” Rirī-san says, sounding very upset.

“What the hell’s wrong with these people…!?” Hayai asks, looking at all the students around us, who are taking pictures on their phones.‘I agree, mate.’

“We need someone to go with her… Are there any teachers around?” One of the paramedics ask.

“I-I’m not in charge of her class though…” One teacher says, sounding like he is panicking.

“We should leave this to Principal Don'yoku…” A hesitant teacher says.

“I’ll go!” Rirī-san says, sounding determined.

“Please hurry!” The paramedic says.

------------------------

Rirī Bēru’s POV:

“Hikui… Why…?” I ask, kneeling beside the stretcher.

“Rirī…?” Hikui says, regaining a bit of consciousness. “I’m sorry. I… I can’t take this… anymore…” 

“Hikui…?” I ask, leaning down to listen to her weakening voice.

“He...He did things… terrible things to me… I just can’t handle this anymore, Rirī…” She says, sounding very weak.

“...Huh?” I ask, wondering who she meant, before coming to the only conclusion. “...Kikku!?” I ask in shock.

“Ngh…” She lets out, before losing consciousness again.

“No… Hikui!?” I say. ‘No, I can’t lose her!’ That’s when she is loaded in the van. Before we take off, I swear that I could hear someone say something. ‘...And we won’t, but you need to wake up first…’

------------------------

Hexan Tronic’s POV:

After watching them get into the ambulance, I turn to Hayai, while I can hear the students gossiping. I also notice Puroguramu-san, nearby.

“The football team…” Hayai says, having heard it mentioned a couple of times in the gossiping mess.

“Return to your classrooms at once!” The panicked teacher orders, but most ignore him.

“Ah… Ah…” Puroguramu gasps out, sounding short of breath, before he takes off.

“That guy…” Hayai starts to say. “Hey, wasn’t Puroguramu acting weird?”

“He probably knows something, I noticed him behaving odd to.” I say, getting ready to run again.

“...We’re gonna make him talk this time.” Hayai says, sounding determined, and angry. Then, we give chase. Behind us, I can hear the principal.

“Teachers, return to your classrooms for the time being! Please, do not let any students go home yet!” He orders, as we get inside.

------------------------

We manage to catch him, the corner him at some lockers.

“Ugh… That hurts!” Puroguramu-san says.

“Why’d you run like that? Huh!?” Hayai asks, letting some anger out on Puroguramu-san.

“I didn’t run…” Puroguramu-san says, sound like even he isn’t convinced. Then Hayai hits one of the lockers.

“She jumped and tried to kill herself!” Hayai yells.

“...L-Leave me alone…” Puroguramu-san whimpers out.

“If you know something, just tell us mate. We won’t let anyone know you talked either.” I say.

“He’s right.” Hayai agrees.

“Pitchi…” Puroguramu-san says, sounding regretful. “She was called out by Mr. Kikku!”

“Wait, what!?” Hayai asked, both of us shocked.

“I was called by him a number of times too… to the teacher’s room.” Puroguramu-san continues. “It wasn’t just more or Pitchi either. He’d nominate someone when he was in a bad mood… and hit them.”

“So the physical punishment thing was for real…” Hayai states.

“But yesterday, he called Pitchi up out of the blue. She didn’t make any mistakes or anything…” Puroguramu-san says, sounding puzzled. “Mr. Kikku seemed really irritated that day, so it must’ve been… worse than usual…” ‘He didn’t…’ I think to myself.

“He didn’t…!” Hayai says, mirroring my thoughts, before turning around. “That son of a bitch…!” That’s when he takes off.

“Ah…” Puroguramu-san says, surprised. I take off after him.

“Come on, Puroguramu-san!” I say, running after Hayai. After a moment, I hear Puroguramu-san behind me.

“I bet… Tama’s going to find Mr. Kikku…” Puroguramu-san begins, as we follow him. “Mr. Kikku’s probably in the PE faculty office on the second floor.” We follow Hayai up to the second floor, just in time to see him enter a room.

“He went into the PE faculty office! Let’s hurry, we have to go after him.” He continues. I nod and we head inside. I can hear a faint voice inside my head before we go in.‘We should destroy that bastard!’

Inside, we see Hayai, standing in the center of the room, while Kikku is sitting down, looking at us.

“...Huh?” Kikku asks, giving us his full attention.

“You bastard! The hell did you do to that girl!?” Hayai asks.

“What are you talking about?” Kikku asks.

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Hayai yells, kicking a metal chair over.

“That is enough!” Kikku says.

“What you did… wasn’t coaching…!” Puroguramu-san says.

“What did you say?” Kikku asks, turning the chair around.

“You… You ordered me to call Pitchi here…” Puroguramu-san says. “I can only imagine what you did to her…!” He says, looking distressed.

“You’re going on and on about things you have no proof of…” Kikku says, standing up. “Basically, you’re simply making these claims because you can’t be a regular on the team, right?”

“That’s not what this is about…!” Puroguramu-san says, gaining some fire in his eyes.

“Even if it is exactly as you imagine it to be, hypothetically speaking… what can you do?” Kikku asks. “We just received a call from the hospital.” ‘Oh no…’ ‘Kill him!’ The voice is a bit louder now.

“Pitchi’s in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim… How would someone like that, make a statement?” Kikku asks, while shocking us. “There’s no chance of her getting better, I hear… The poor girl.”

“No… That can’t be…” Puroguramu-san says, looking defeated again.

“You goddamn…!” Hayai begins, shaking in anger.

“This, again…?” Kikku asks, stepping up to Hayai. “Does this mean we need to have yet another case of ‘self-defense’?”

“You shut your mouth, you son of a bitch!” Hayai yells. He rears his fist back to hit him, but I grab his arm before he can, while pushing past all my anger, and the slowly growing voice goes quiet.

“Why’re you stoppin’ me…!?” He asks me.

“Because I’m not letting you make the same mistake twice. Calm down.” I say, keeping my voice level.

“But still!” He says, still sounding pissed off.

“Oh? You’re stopping him? What a surprise.” Kikku says, looking a little shocked. “There’s no need to hold back. Why not attack me?”

“...Ohhh. you can’t. Hahaha, but of course you can’t!” He continues, before heading back to his chair. “Everyone present right now… will be expelled. I’m reporting all of you at the next board meeting.”

“Wha-” Hayai begins.

“You can’t make a decision like that…!” Puroguramu-san says.

“Who would seriously consider what scum like you say?” Kikku asks. “You threatened me to, Puroguramu, so you’re just as responsible.”

“Huh…?” Puroguramu-san asks, confused.

“To think you didn’t know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team.” Kikku says. “You act like you’re a victim, but you leaked his criminal records, didn’t you?” Kikku states.

“It’s all over the internet, correct? How terrible.” Kikku finishes.

“Puroguramu…?” Hayai asks.

“He told me to do it. I had no choice…” Puroguramu-san says.

“So what? I don’t care if everyone already knows that. That’s just one less thing I have to worry about.” I say, patting him on the back, as Kikku turns back to his work.

“Now, are we finished here? You’re all expelled!” Kikku says, kicking us out. “You’re done for; your futures are mine to take. Now get out of my sight!”

“I can’t believe this asshole’s gettin’ away with this…!” Hayai says. 

“Come on, we have stuff to do.” I say, grabbing Puroguramu’s arm and leading him out of the room. I lead him to the school entrance, but tell Hayai first. “Meet me at the courtyard.” When we get to the entrance, I let go of Puroguramu-san.

“Why aren’t you angry at me?” He asks.

“What would be the point? What’s done is done, and you never wanted to do it in the first place. Why should I be angry at you or some dumb rumors?” I fire back.

“Good point… What now?” He asks, wondering what to do.

“You just go home. I’ve got a plan in mind for something, but keep quiet alright? I might be able to cancel our expulsions.” I explain quickly. “Now get going and get some rest.” I say, as I walk him to the door, before turning around and heading to the courtyard.

Once there, I notice Hayai hit one of the vending machines. I let Abigale out of my bag, before I begin to talk.

“We can’t waste any time.” Hayai says. “We gotta hurry up and go to that world and beat the shit outta that asshole!”

“We won’t be beating him up! Just stealing his distorted desires!” Abigale points out. “Though I wouldn’t mind beating him up a bit myself. Can I assume you want to go through with it?”

“...I have.” Hayai says. “Someone almost died because of him! I don’t give a flying fuck about what happens to him anymore!”

“What about you?” She asks me.

“I’m all for doing this. He deserves everything he gets.” I say, a bit of malice in my voice.

“...Then it’s settled.” She says.

“By the way, do you think gettin’ rid of a Palace would be hard…?” He asks her. “You’ve tried it before, right?”

“I’m pretty sure I mentioned that I haven’t tried before.” She says.

“Oh right, my bad.” He says. That’s when we hear a familiar voice.

“Is it true that you’re getting expelled?” Bēru-san asks, walking over. “Everyone’s talking about it…”

“That asshole’s at it again…!” Hayai growls out. “So you came all this way, to tell us that?”

“Of course not. If you’re going to deal with Kikku… I want in on it too.” She says, shocking all three of us. “I can’t just sit back and do nothing after what happened to Hikui!”

“This doesn’t concern you… Please don’t butt your head into this…” Hayai says.

“But it does! Hikui’s my-” She begins to say.

“I said don’t get in our way!” He yells, causing her to go silent, before running away.

“That was kinda harsh, Hayai…” Abigale says.

“We can’t take her somewhere like that…” Hayai says.

“ I hope she doesn’t torment herself over this.” She begins. “From judging myself, when it comes down to it, women don’t hesitate.”

“We just gotta hurry up and deal with Kikku.” He says. “Let’s go already!” After he finishes, we head out to the alleyway, just past the school gate.

“Alright, the moment we cross over, we’ll treat each other like phantom thieves, so I hope you’re ready.” Abigale says.

“Huh? Phantom thieves?” Hayai asks, confused.

“Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure-that is what we become!” She says, sounding excited.

“Not a bad plan. Makes sense, if you think about it.” I say, pulling out my phone and turning the MV Radio back on.





“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask, why do you keep that on?” Hayai asks.

“Well, now that I’ve experienced having music play for different events around me, I just feel off if I don’t.” I explain.

“Well, alright then.” He replies. “So, we just gotta say the school, Kikku’s name, and… castle? Then we end up in bizarro world.”

“...How the hell’s all this work? Someone make it?” He asks.

“I don’t really know, but probably best to think about it later.” I reply. ‘Can’t talk about Igor yet, he might think I’ve got a screw loose.’

“True. There’s no point in thinkin’ about it now.” He agrees. “We’ll show that effin’ Kikku!” Once he’s done, I open the app.

“Let’s go!” Abigale says.

------------------------

Rirī Bēru’s POV:

“They really are going to do something…” I say to myself, eavesdropping on Tama and the new kid. “They’re doing something on their phone? A name… School…?”

“Huh…!?” I feel a wave of lightheadedness suddenly, and when I look around, I see that the school looks really different. I also hear, music?





“Alright! Time to bust on through!” I hear Tama’s voice nearby, and look where I heard it to see three beings, one in an odd suit, what looks like someone in a modified baseball outfit, and an odd dog/wolf/thing.

“What is this!?” I call out, walking over. They look shocked.

“B-Bēru!?” The one the the baseball outfit, who I guess is Tama, asks.

“That voice… Tama!? And… are you Tronic-kun!?” I ask, taking a guess that the suited guy is Tronic-kun.

“Wh-Wh-Why are you here!?” Tama asks.

“How should I know!?” I fire back. “What’s going on? Hey, where are we…!? Isn’t this the school!?”

“I see. It could be that she was dragged in because of that app you guys have…” The weird creature says. “If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, it stands to reason it’ll pull anyone nearby.”

“For real…?” Tama asks.

“Wait, so THIS is related to Kikku!?” I ask, after some thought.

“Anyways, you gotta leave!” Tama says. ‘Like hell I do!’

“No!” I say.

“The Shadows are going to find us if you make a scene.” The creature says.

“No way! It talked!? Oh my god, it’s a monster wolf…!” I say, finally realising what’s talking.

“Monster…?” It, or she asks. ‘Maybe I offended her…’

“You guys better explain what’s going on! I won’t leave until you do!” I say, keeping up my defiance.

“Looks like we gotta force her.” Tama says. ‘Force me!?’ “But… how’re we supposed to do that?”

“Why not just take her back to where we came in? That’s how it worked last time, right?” The creature asks.

“O-Oh yeah.” Tama replies. “Can you lend me a hand?”

“I’ll feel bad about doing this, but she can’t stay here.” Tronic-kun says.

“Well we can’t deal with Kikku if we don’t!” Tama fires back.

“What’re you-” I go to ask, before they start getting closer.

“We’ll explain after everything’s over!” Tama quickly says. Then both him and Tronic-kun grab my arms and pull me back the way I came. Then I feel a touch somewhere I shouldn’t.

“Hey! And just where are you touching!?” I accuse.

“Whoa, sorry, I didn’t mean-” Tama goes to say. “...That’s not important!”

“You guys seriously-” I begin to say, before we reach where we came from and I’m shoved from behind. “Ah!?” and I feel that lightheaded feeling again.

When the feeling stops, I look around, and see the school looks normal, with students walking around and everything. “Ugh, this sucks…” Then I hear a ping from my phone and pull it out, to see a new app has downloaded itself. “Huh… I do recall that creature mentioned an app. Guess I’ll come back in then boys. Now if I could only figure out how…”

------------------------

Hexan Tronic’s POV:

Once we let her out, we walked back to the entrance bridge.

“We better be careful from now on when we use that app…” Hayai says.

“Yeah, otherwise we could pull in some random person who wouldn’t listen at all.” Abigale points out.

“Geez, Bēru found out right when we were startin’ off… We gotta deal with this fast!” He says.

“That girl’s name is Rirī Bēru, right?” She asks. “She seems like a somewhat strong girl, mentally I mean.”

“Anyway, the Shadows have noticed us. You better brace yourselves, got it?” She says. “We’re counting on you, Joker!”

“Joker? That a nickname?” Hayai asks.

“Don’t refer to it in such a lame way. It’s a code name.” She states firmly. “What kind of lame phantom thief would use their real name!? It’s just not practical!”

“There’s also no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace…” She points out. “Think of it as a precaution.”

“So, why’s he Joker?” He asks.

“Because he’s our trump card when it comes to fighting strength.” She explains.

“Not a bad name, but am I really that good?” I ask.

“I’ve evaluated you myself, so I think so. It’s settled then!” She finishes. “Next up is you Hayai. You’ll be… Let’s see…” She begins to think.

“Slugger.” She suggests. Hayai takes a moment to think it over.

“Not bad, I like it. Thanks Gale.” He says.

“Gale?” I ask.

“You know, since she needs a codename too, so hers can be Gale.” He explains.

“Thanks for the suggestion, Slugger. Alright, from now on we're Joker, Slugger and Gale!” Gale says. “We need to be as thorough in using these codenames as possible.”

“All right! Let’s go nab this Treasure thing!” Slugger says. That is the point where we cross the bridge, and enter the courtyard in front of the castle.

“Same way in as last time?” I ask, to which Gale nods. Then we head back to the vent.

“Looks like they don’t know ‘bout this way in yet.” Slugger points out.

“Joker, Slugger… Are you ready? Let’s go!” Gale says, then we head inside.

Once inside, we head out into the hall. Once there, we can see into the entrance hall, which if filled with normal and golden guards, who are all looking at the stairs.

“Hey, look! Ain’t that…” Slugger goes to say, then we hear Shadow Kikku.

“Those intruders the other day were quite entertaining.” He says. “However, I can’t allow that trash to ransack my castle!”

“Strengthen the security! Kill them on sight! I’ll reward whoever brings me their heads.” He continues.

“Praise be to King Kikku!” One of the guards say.

“Death to the intruders!” Another says.

“Hey, Gale. Can’t we just beat the crap outta him and call it a day?” Slugger asks.

“Look at all those soldiers, it’d be suicide. And I’m sure you don’t want a repeat of last time.” Gale points out.

“Besides, don’t you want him to confess his sins?” She asks. “There’s no point in beating him up. We need to steal his materialized desire… The Treasure.”

“Fiiiine. So, where is it?” Slugger asks.

“It has to be somewhere deep in this castle, and by that I mean far inside, not downwards, though it could be.” She replies. “Let’s infiltrate further in while he’s out here!” So, we leave our cover, and head to the other door in the hall.

When I opened it, I’m startled to see a guard behind it, their back to us. I quickly hide behind the wall, avoiding their gaze.

“Dammit, there’s a guard over here too…” Slugger says. “Whaddya wanna do? Should we kick it’s ass?”

“Hold on…” Gale says. “Hmm… This might be a good opportunity to try something I’ve been thinking about.”

“All right, Joker! Are you ready to take it down?” She asks, to which I nod, then run in and slash it with my hidden sword. It bursts into it’s true form, that of the fairy girl.









“Remember how I taught you Hold Ups and All-out Attacks? I’ll teach you another use I’ve thought of.” Gale says. “Shadows are beings born from people’s hearts, so naturally, they can talk too.” While Gale is speaking, the girl is glaring at us, but isn’t making a move yet.

“In other words, you should be able to communicate with them. Get it?” She asks. “If you talk to them when they’re cornered, they might offer money or items since they won’t want to die.”

“In fact, I bet talking has a better chance of scoring something great, as opposed to just offing them.” She finishes. “Well then, let’s do the first step: Knock all the enemies down, and do a Hold Up!”

Since the girl is just sitting sit, perhaps frightened of us? I pull out my gun, and fire, knocking her down. We quickly surround her, pointing out guns at her.





“Seriously!? You guys are the intruders that King Kikku was talking about…? What rotten luck…” She says, sounding annoyed. “It can’t get much worse than this… What’re you planning to do to me!?”

“Well, I’d like an item if you have one.” I say, trying to be nicer, since I’m negotiating. She looks to become nervous at my request.

“A-An item? Well… normally I’d be able to give you something… but I just don’t have anything on me. Could you let me go? I promise I’ll have something next time!” She says, sounding desperate.

“W-Wait, what? Oh… This isn't how I was planning this to go.” Gale says, sounding flustered at her plan going wrong. “Uh… Anyway, it can’t be helped if that’s the case. Time for you to go to hell!”

“W-Wait!” The girl yells out, sounding more desperate.

“Sorry, but we’re in a bit of a hurry.” Slugger says.

“No, wait up, please!” The girl begs. “Can’t we work something out? Don’t kill me, please! Won’t you please let me go? I could be useful to you in other ways!”

“Hmm…” I say, beginning to think. ‘What could we even have her do? I mean, it’s not like she can ignore Kikku’s influence for long, so she can’t be an ally, so what else is there?... I got nothing. Guess we have to kill her.’

“I’m sorry about this, but there isn’t really anything you can do to help us at this point. I’ll make sure it’s quick and painless.” I say, trying to be merciful. She sighs.

“I guess this is it then, I mean, at least you’re not going to make me suffer. I can relate to that kind of feeling. I’d probably do the same in your position, given the chance.” She says. The her colours brighten a little. “Whoa, I feel something happening, like something breaking!”

“What the…!? What’s going on!?” Gale asks, shocked and confused. Then the girl gets up, hovering in the air while looking at me.

“I remember now! I’m don’t belong to only King Kikku, I’m suppose to be and existence that drifts in the sea of humanity’s souls!” She says, sounding excited. “My true name… is ‘Pixie’! It’ll be a pleasure working with you, master, for from now on, I’ll live in your heart!” Then she turns into a ball of energy, that flies into my mask.

“What was that just now…? What happened…!?” Gale asks, looking very confused.




 
‘Huh… Near where I feel Tasukete, I can feel something else. I think that’s Pixie. I wonder…’ I think to myself, before paying attention to my surroundings.





“Wh-What the hell was that about? The enemy go sucked into Joker’s mask!” Slugger says.

“I-I have no idea! I wasn’t expecting that either…” Gale says. That’s when another guard comes from the way we came.

“Intruders!? Halt!” It says, running over.

“Crap, they noticed us!” Slugger says. Then the guard bursts into it’s true form, a pair of the odd, two horned unicorns.









‘I think I should test it now.’ I think to myself, reaching for Pixie instead of Tasukete. Then I felt something change inside, very slight, but I felt it.

“Pixie!” I say, taking my mask off, which summons Pixie beside me. I give her I high five, before pointing at the left unicorn. “Zio!” I say, as she casts the lightning spell on the enemy, while I feel a different word come to mind, one that feels calming.

“I-Is that the Shadow from earlier!?” Gale asks. “Don’t tell me… Did you take the Shadow’s appearance and powers as a Persona!?” ‘Something like that? I feel a bit more playful while she is “equipped”, so maybe she’s right, but wrong.’ I chuckle.

“How about another round of Zio, Pixie!” I say, summoning her again, after which she shocks the other horse down, so I run over. “Hold Up!” The group forms up to intimidate the enemy. Looking between them, I decided to talk to the one on my left.





“Hey you, mind if we have a chat?” I ask, a soft smirk on my face.

“...C’mon, you don’t have to kill me, do you kid?” The horse asks.

“Well of course I do, unless you help me out!” I explain.

“Well, in that case, what’ll it be, sonny?” He asks.

“Well, why don’t you join my crew, like your friend here?” I say, summoning Pixie, who waves happily.

“I dunno about that kid, I don’t know anything about you yet.” He says, taking a moment to think.

“So, since you never know when someone could be watching, and a bad rep will spread like wildfire. If I were you, I’d quit before you get too deep. What’s the point in you doing this?” He asks.

“Because if I don’t do this, nothing will ever get better. So I do what I can.” I say, toning down the playfulness.

“We, you’re sounding mighty responsible there kid, but this Q and A isn’t over yet.” He says.

“Ugh… I’m not feeling too well after that beating I took. Mind lending me some medicine? I Hear you might have some that can work miracles, right…?” He asks.

“Sure, I’ll help anyone who needs it, so, what kind do you need?” I ask back, to which he nods.

“No need to give me anything, that was just a test, and you passed kid. Guess we’re more alike than I thought.” I watch as he goes though a similar change to Pixie, guess I succeeded?

“Since I can feel the sea of humanities souls again, I guess that means I’m free from Kikku. I’ll be joining you as a mask, if that’s fine with you. Feel free to call me ‘Bicorn’.” He says, turning into the energy orb and entering my mask.

“Holy… Does that mean you can wield multiple Personas?” Gale asks.





“H-Hey, Gale! What was that about!? What did Joker do?” Slugger asks, as I search my Persona ‘Stock’ and can feel Bicorn there now, so I decide to run with him for a bit, but now I feel more reserved.

“He sealed the enemy’s appearance and powers into his mask, and made it his new Persona…” Gale explains.  “I’ve never seen anyone do that before… didn’t even know it was possible!”

“It seems like a good thing for now, but I think we should get a move on.” I say.

“Yeah, we should move on. This ability will be a great help in battle though!” She says. “Let’s try and do it whenever the opportunity arises, try to help out too, Slugger!”

“Hell yeah! We’ll hold every last one of ‘em up!” He says.

“Hehe, I like you even more now! We really have something special on our hands.” Gale says. Now that we are done talking, I decide to lead us through the only other door in the room.

Through the door is another hallway, the left path leads to a dead end, while the right leads to two doorways, one bared off, the other just a door. I ignore the bars and head to the door, where I can hear marching. Past the new door is what appears to be a room full of weapons. There are weapon racks with swords and other things on them, and some tables too. There appear to be three guards, and a chest.

I head straight, and around the corner of a pillar, which allows me to ambush a guard, so I jump on and rip it’s mask off, which reveals more of the flower beings from before.









I take the first move, using a new skill.

“Bicorn! Lunge!” I yell out, as I watch Bicorn charge one of the flowers, ramming it with his horns. Then it’s Gale’s turn.

“Gādian! Garu!” She yells, as Gādian casts the light wind spell on the damaged flower, killing it, leaving it to Sluggers turn, who runs up and swung his bat twice, before retreating.

Before I can get a shot it, it gets a lucky hit on Gale, before I take another turn, having Bicorn use Lunge again, killing the second and last flower.





Once we are done, Gale uses Dia on herself, healing the damage she took, before We go after the next enemy. I make my way around the back of an enemy to our right, so I can ambush it, and succeed in doing so, revealing it's true form of the pumpkin guy.









I just end up shooting it with my gun and knocking it down for a hold up.

“C-C’mon guys, I won’t rat you guys out, ho! Just let me-he live, please, ho!” He says.

“Alright, let’s talk. I’d like you to join up with us.” I offer.

“Thanks for the offer, but we-he need to learn about each other first, ho.” He says.

“...Hee-hom are you here to interrogate me?” He asks. “Have you made an appointment, ho?”

“We don’t have time for this, just tell us what you know.” I say.

“I actually just learned about it on the internet, ho… You better talk to the person in charge.” He says, sounding glad.

“Assuming--but let’s be honest, I’m a hee-hundred percent sure--you came all the way here to see me…” He begins. “How did you find out about me, ho?”

“I found a special site which give the locations of targets, and their activities.” I reply.

“You seem a little obsessed with my hee-ho activities, ho!” He looks happy. “It seems that great minds think alike, ho… you know, I think I remembered something.” He says, going through the change.

“I’m no Shadow of this place, ho! I live in the sea of the hee-human heart!” He says. “I’m Jack-o’-Lantern, ho! I’m you, and you’re me!” When he’s finished, he enters my mask as the ball of light.





Since there is only one guard left standing, I sneak around behind it, and get another ambush off. When it’s true form is shown, it’s another Bicorn. This time, I decided to swap to Pixie.

“Come on out, Pixie! We have a friend who could use a charge, Zio!” I say, as Pixie shocks the Bicorn, knocking him down, and we perform the hold up.

“Let’s not be hasty now sonny, we can talk this out now.” He says, sounding nervous.

“Alright, think you could slide us some ¥en?” I ask.

“Hmm, I sense a fellow Bicorn within you. I guess I could give you a bit of a bonus.” He says, giving us 560 ¥en, before he walks away.

Once we’re in the clear, I hop straight to the chest, and pop it open. Inside is a new cane, this one has a sharper blade, and has a silver tiger head on the handle. I store my previous cane away in favor of this one.

Next, we head to the next new door, past which is another hallway, but this one is ‘L’ shaped. Once through the door, we run into another safe room.

“Oooh, it’s another hazy-lookin’ door! This is that think! Uhhh, what was it called…?” Slugger asks.

“A safe room.” Gale replies. “Let’s head inside so we can discuss strategy.”

------------------------

Rirī Bēru’s POV:

“Ugh… I finally figured it out. This is that place form earlier…!” I say to myself, then pull out my phone to look at it. “...What’s up with this app?”

“I just said the words Tama said, and I ended up-” I begin to say, before being interrupted.

“Princess!?” The voice asks. ‘Princess?’

“Huh?” Looking up, I see three suits of armor running to me, swords and shields held by each arm.

“Princess!” The same voice said again, coming from one of the guards. They then pick me up and take me inside.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!” I say, as I’m taken somewhere.

------------------------

Hexan Tronic’s POV:

“Hey, aren’t there even more Shadows here than before?” Slugger asks, while we relax in the Safe Room. “Just gettin’ this far’s been a real pain in my ass!”

“It’s likely because you guys provoked Kikku.” Gale suggests. “Still… he seems to be awfully on guard…”

“Anyways, how’re we supposed to steal that Treasure thing?” He asks.

“We can’t be so hasty. First, we should secure an infiltration route.” She explains.

“You mean a path to our target?” He asks.

“You got it.” She says, smiling. “But to be honest, I think we might want a bit more manpower to go much further.”

“At the very least, I think one more person would be great…” She finishes.

“Hey, how do you know all this stuff? Don’t you have very little memories?” Slugger asks.

“Most of it I got from some books in the school library, before I met up with you two.” She says.

“Either way, I believe in you Gale.” I say, smiling.

“Still, why was the princess in such an odd place…?” A Shadow outside the room asks.

“Princess…?” Slugger asks.

“I could have sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…” Another guard says, as Gale goes up to the door to listen better.

“It doesn’t matter now. We must take her back to King Kikku!” The other voice says.

“Who’s this princess they’re talkin’ about…?” Slugger asks. ‘Perhaps Bēru-san?’ I think to myself.

“I’ll look into this, since I’m small and less noticeable.” Gale says, heading out.

“And this might take a bit…” He says. “Stuff like this castle and that navigation app are pretty mysterious… but Abigale’s up there as well.”

“She’s Gale, remember?” I ask.

“Crap, sorry! Slipped my mind for a moment.” He says, looking apologetic. Then Gale walks back in, looking worried.

“This is bad!” She says. 

“That was fast!” He says.

“Your friend… Miss Bēru!” She confirms. “She’s been taken by Shadows…!”

“Wait, what? We sent her home earlier.” Slugger points out.

“Maybe she got the app the same way you did?” I suggest.

“Oh no… Don’t tell me she just walked right back in after we left her…!?” He says.

“It most likely took her a bit, but either way, she’s here now, and needs our help!” I say.

“Well, let’s go then! We don’t have time to stand around!” Slugger says, as we head back out into the hall, then back to the armoury we crossed through. When we get to the doorway, we hear her voice.

“Is this some kind of filming or something!? Who’s in charge around here!?” Bēru-san asks.

“Dammit! There are more guards back where we already cleared! So, should we fight Joker?” Slugger asks.

“Yeah. The more we fight, the better we get. This shouldn’t take long.” I say, before ambushing the guard just ahead of us. Inside was a pair of Jack-o’-Lanterns. I quickly just knock them down with my gun, and have us All-Out attack them, killing them quick. I feel a bit stronger after that encounter.

Quickly ambushing the next enemy reveals a pair of the pink demons from before.









I waste no time and just shoot them down, and going into a Hold-Up.

“Wait! Stop! I could help, just don’t kill me!” The Shadow I focus on says.

“Sure, let’s have a chat. Mind hooking up with us?” I ask.

"N-Not at all, but we need to understand each other a bit better before that can happen.” He says. 

“You know, you can’t just waltz around here like that. Aren’t you violatin’ the weapons code or whatever, man?” He asks.

“Well, what the law doesn’t know won’t hurt it.” I reply, smirking.

“Well how ‘bout I tell someone and see what happens then? Hahaha!” He says, smiling. “...So, today’s my b-day and one of my friends went n’ reserved a table at a fancy joint for me.”

“It’d prolly be a big downer if the birthday boy didn’t show to his party, sooo…” He says.

“Well in that case, Happy Birthday, man.” I say, smiling.

“Hearin’ that really lifts my spirits, no matter who says it!” He says, a large grin on his face.  “Man you really remind me of myself kid, and you passed my test. I remember a fair bit now.”

“I don’t belong around here, I’m supposed to stalk the sea of humanities souls. From now on, Incubus is here to stay, for I am you!” He says, before turning into the light ball, and flying into my mask. I notice that after the battle, Slugger looks like he is a bit more confidant.

With only one last opponent in the room I quickly run to ambush them, revealing two more of the flowers. This time, I swap to Jack-o’-Lantern.

“So, you guys are flowers? Well, why don’t you try this. Jack-o’-Lantern! Light ‘em up with Agi!” I say, as the pumpkin ghost appears, and burns one the of the flowers, knocking it down. “ Again!” Then he appears again, lighting the other one ablaze, knocking the second one down, leading to a Hold-Up again.

“...W-Wait! I don’t want to die yet!” She says.

“Well why don’t you try joining my side instead?” I ask.

“You want me to join you? How do I know you’re not lame or weak? I need to figure that out first!” She says. “Why in the world do you carry something like that with you, anyway?”

“Do you carry a gun because you think it’ll make you more popular with the girls?” She asks. 

“I carry it for self improvement.” I reply.

“Hmm… If you say so.” She says. “...Ugh, if this were a movie, right about now, some dashing prince would come save me.”

“Well, I’m still here. ...That guy is really keeping me waiting.” She says.

“Well, at this rate you’ll never meet him. Life isn’t a fairytale, after all.” I say.

“Huh, I guess you’re right. Well no point in me waiting around.” She says. “I’ll join up with you instead. You know, I’m from that sea of souls too. I’m Mandrake, and I’m you from now on!” She says, going into my mask.





One the room is empty, we head into the hall leading to it. Once we reach the previously blocked off hallway, we hear a faint gasp.

“This way!” Gale says, as we head into the hall of armors. As we pass a knocked over one, we hear Bēru-san again.

“Look, I’ll apologize for touching the armor without permission!” She says. 

“She totally doesn’t get what’s goin’ on, does she!?” Slugger comments.

“Let’s hurry! We need to save her!” Gale says. When she goes quiet, we head through the door at the end of the hall.

------------------------

Rirī Bēru’s POV:

I’m still struggling while cuffed to this large, metal X. 

“What’s all this about!? Seriously, I’m gonna call the cops!” I yell out, hoping to frighten them.

“So, this is the intruder.” A familiar voice says, when what appears to be Kikku walks over, dressed in only a dark red robe, as well as navy blue dress shirt and pants.

“Kikku!?” I ask, shocked, but even more so when what appears to be ME walks up beside him, in only a small, two piece bikini, and cat ears. “Who in the world is that…?”

“More importantly, what is this place!? Why’s the school turned into something like this!?” I ask loudly.

“I can’t believe you mistook my Rirī for someone like her.” Kikku(?) says, then he chuckles. “Are you afraid?”

“What is that outfit…? Have you lost your mind?” I ask, incredibly confused.

“I do as I please here. After all, this is my castle.. The world of my desires.” He says.

“What the-!? Wait… Is this some red-light district!?” I ask, concerned. ‘Wait, how would I have even gotten there…’

“What a lively slave.” He says.

“This isn't funny! Enough of the bullshit, Kikku!” I yell out, getting pissed off.

“The girl’s decided to tell me off. What do you think of that?” He asks, turning the the weird girl beside him.

“Talking back is, like… totally unforgivable…” She says in a mock of my voice!

“In that case… she should be executed.” He says. ‘Executed!?!?’ Then a golden guard walks up, sword drawn. “Now then, how should I play with you? Shall I tear you into little pieces?”

“Are you kidding me…?” I ask, then I notice some newcomers at the back of the room, but those creepy girls. ‘It’s Tama and Tronic-kun, and the weird creature!’

“This is effed up…”I only just hear Tama say. “Is that what he thinks of the girls on the football team…!?” ‘Now that he mentions it, I thought I recognised those uniforms…’

“Hey, that’s…!” The creature says, looking over and seeing me. They quickly run over.

“Bēru!” Tama calls.

“Just when I was about to start enjoying myself…” Kikku(?) says.

“What’s the deal with this guy…!?” I ask the boys.

“You little…!” Tama begins to say.

“...How many times are you gonna come back?” Kikku(?) asks. “I bet you’re just like those thieves. You came because you’re pissed at me, huh?”

“But, ah… I forget that chick’s name, but it’s your fault she jumped, you know.” Kikku(?) continues. ‘What…?’

“Huh…?” I ask.

“You were so reluctant to throw yourself onto me, that I had her take your place.” Kikku(?) says, grinning.

“You bastard!” I yell out. ‘We need to get free!’ I hear a soft voice say. That’s when the gold guard walks closer. “......!”

“No!” Tama yells out, looking ready to run over to me, before the two guards beside me put their swords to my throat.

“Take one more step and I’ll kill her on the spot.” Kikku(?) threatens.

“Dammit…!” Tama curses.

“Why don’t you just sit back, and enjoy the dismantlement show.” Kikku(?) says, a sick grin on his face.

“No! Don’t!” I plead. ‘We’re so close!’

“Maybe I’ll start with her clothes…” He says, looking like a pedophile. Then the fake me giggles.

“You’re suuuch a perv!” She says in my voice, pissing me off.

“H-Hey, what’re we gonna do!?” Tama asks Tronic-kun. The executioner gets closer. “Bēru!”

 “Is this… my punishment for what happened to Hikui…?” I ask out loud, feeling defeated. ‘No! Don’t give up!’ The voice sound so faint, I can barely hear it.

“That’s more like it. You should’ve looked like this from the start.” Kikku(?) taunts.

“Hikui… I’m so sorry…” I say, before I hear someone speak up.

“Are you seriously just going to give in? What happened to the girl I talked to at the dinner!?” Tronic-kun yells at me, making me remember that evening. ‘Yes!’ The voice is a bit louder.

“Huh…?” I ask, trying to figure out what he means, before I get it. “...You’re right.”

“Letting this piece of shit toy with me…” I begin to say, giving of a weak, joyless laugh. “What was I thinking…!?”

“It’s like I always say. Slaves should just behave and-” Kikku(?) begins to say, being cut off by me. ‘Make him pay!’

“...Shut your mouth!” I order. “I’ve had enough of this…”

“You’ve truly pissed me off, you son of a bitch!” I yell, before the voice I was hearing becomes clear, and the music I could hear since Tronic-kun walked in changes. ‘My… It’s taken far too long.’ The voice says, as I feel a pain, like roaring flames, in my mind.





‘Why don’t you tell me… Who is going to avenge Hikui if you refuse to?’ She asks. ‘Forgiveness was never an option to begin with!’

‘This is the scream of the other you that you harbour in your heart.’ She continues, the pain getting worse, as the guys just watch. ‘I am thou, thou art I…’

‘We’re finally able to forge our contract…’ The voice says, almost all the pain going away.

“I hear you… Yūwaku suru on'na” I say, her name appearing in my mind. “You’re absolutely right. No more holding myself back…!” I declare, something forming on my face, and I get the feeling I should take it off, but my hands are tied.

‘There you go! Nothing can ever be solved be hiding or restraining yourself.’ She agrees. As I feel the shackles holding me burn away, allowing me to pull myself free. ‘Understand? Then I’ll let you freely use my strength!’

It’s at this point, I grab my mask, and rip it off. Feeling a split second of pain, like my face being ripped off, before I’m consumed by blue flame.





When the flames die down, I’m standing in front of Yūwaku suru on'na, though I haven’t looked at her yet, I’m too focused on intimidating Kikku and his little fake. While glaring the duo down, I notice one of the knights nearby, just standing there. So I run up and kick the arm holding his sword, flinging it upward, where I then proceed to jump up and spin, kicking the sword right into the fake me, turning her to ash instantly.

After seeing his little doll disappear, Kikku backs away, behind one of those golden knights, looking concerned and fearful. 

“I’m just going to say this one, I’m not some cheap toy you can play with how you like, you asshole.” I say, grabbing the sword that killed the fake.

“Worthless bitch…!” He says, still hiding behind his knight.

“You’ve stolen everything from Hikui… You destroyed my friend…. Now it’s your turn to face the music!” I order, stabbing the sword into the floor upright, giving the creature something to stand on as the boys come up either side of me. “I’ll steal everything from you…!”

“How dare you! Enough of your threats!” The golden knight says, before he and two other knights dissolve into a puddle of red and black, before a being rises up, appearing to be a demon, sitting on a toilet.





“No, I’ve had enough of your idiocy. No one’s going to stop me now!” I declare, getting into a dancer's stance. “Let’s go, Yūwaku suru on'na!”

“How dare you deny King Kikku’s love, you selfish lass!? Pay for this insolence with your life!” The demon orders, glaring down at us from his floating toilet, while the boys and creature line up beside me.

“That dirtbag just sees women as sexual outlets! Don’t make me laugh with that ‘love’ bullshit!” I yell back, getting ready to fight. “C’mon Yūwaku suru on'na! Let’s give ‘em hell!”

I immediately feel some words enter my mind. After a moment, I decide what to do, pointing at the demon I yell out, while grabbing my mask with the other hand, “Agi!” After which, a fireball flies into his chest, knocking him to the floor. After a moment, I follow the group's lead and surround the beast, pointing the gun that I could feel attached to a belt, at him.

That’s when we begin to attack him relentlessly, Hexan with his cane, Hayai with his bat, and the creature with her dagger. I myself pound into him with kicks, as I can feel metal boots on, and decide that I should put them to use, before we end up backing away, as the demon is getting up.

I take a moment to rest, as I watch Hexan go up next, and calls his own demon out with a call of “Persona!” Before using the same spell as me, knocking the beast down again, where we again attack it relentlessly.

Next up is Hayai, who orders his demon to Lunge in and slam into the beast, which doesn’t seem to do much. After, the creature calls her demon out and summons a small gale of wind around the demon, hurting it, but not much. That’s when the beast has had enough and calls his own gale of wind, but around the whole group, which knocks down Hayai and Hexan, while barely hurting the creature. Then it uses another move, to heal itself with the other word that appeared in my mind, Dia.

Once I’ve rested enough, I once again call out Yūwaku suru on'na, and have her use Agi again, knocking him down. I notice that we don’t surround it again, ‘Maybe their leader is down?’, I think, before deciding to use Agi again, which kills the beast.

“To think… there would be a woman… who could stand up to King Kikku…” The beast says.

“Pff, outside of our school, he’s nothing but a loser with some skills in sports!” I taunt, as the beast disappears. ‘Now I might be able to avenger Hikui…’ I think to myself,  before a moment, I feel a wave of exhaustion.

------------------------

Hexan Tronic’s POV:

Once I see the shadow dissipate, and Bēru-san hunch over in exhaustion, I glare at Kikku.

“Oh shit…!” S Kikku says, looking fearful, before he books it. I would chase him, but our main goal is the safety of Bēru-san.

“Wait…!” Bēru-san yells out, sounding out of breath.

“Why’d you come back here, even after we let you out in the first place! And how’d you even return anyway?!” Slugger asks, looking shocked and a little angry.

“Hey! Give her some time to rest, she’s probably exhausted from her awakening!” Gale says, looking cross. “How are you feeling, Miss Rirī?”

“Miss Rirī…?” Bēru-san asks, looking confused, maybe because of the honorific? “Wait, what is this thing? Is she alive…? How can she talk?” She quickly rapid fires some questions. “And… where in the world are we…!?”

“J-Just try to calm down. Everything should be alright for now. Don’t worry.” Gale assures, before Bēru-san uses Gale as an object to brace herself as she gets her footing.

“How am I supposed to calm down!?” Bēru-san asks, sounding pissed, before she takes a good look at herself. “H-Huh…?” 

I myself finally take a moment to look over her attire. For starters, she has a latex crop top, with a heart shape on top of her bust, while the lower half is designed with the bottom half of a heart, with the tip pointing at her navel. At the back of the top, she has two bat or devil wings, the structure matching the latex, while the rest is a light magenta. She is wearing a dark magenta skirt, with a second uniquely shaped skirt made of latex on top, which has a devil tail, with a heart at the end, coming from the back.She has thigh high stocks, coloured in diagonal stripes of light and dark magenta, while also having hollow hearts of latex at the top. She is wearing black and magenta dancing shoes, which I think are made of metal. She has a pair of what I’ll call arm leggings, with the same pattern as her socks, on her arms. And finally, a pair of smallish dark magenta devil horns.





“Why am I dressed like this!? When did I--” Bēru-san asks, sounding distressed, while also trying to cover herself. “Ugh, what’s with this!?”

“You should calm down, you don’t look too bad. Actually it’s a pretty good look.” I say, hoping a complement would help.

“How in the hell can you expect any of this to help me calm down!?” Bēru-san replies, making me shake my head while she is crouched down to hide herself.

“Well, I’m out of ideas…” Gale admits. “But a search party is liking on their way to us now. There’s no time for us to explain anything.”

“We don’t have a choice. Let’s retreat for now!” Gale orders, even though I’m the leader.

“And we were just gettin’ fired up too. But I guess it can’t really be helped now…” Hayai groans. “Here… gimme your arm.” He says, reaching down to help her. “You take the other side, boss.” I follow his lead, and reach down, and we both help her up, and we carry her out of the castle.

------------------------





Once we get out, we head to the station by the school, and Hayai heads off to get some drinks. After a bit, he comes back, a drink in each hand.

“Which one do you want?” Hayai asks her.

“Whichever’s not carbonated.” Bēru-san replies.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure they both are, actually.” Hayai points out.

“Then I’ll just take his one…” She says, grabbing the bottle out of his right hand, while he holds the other out to me.

“Here ya go.” He says, as I grab it.

“What about me?” Abigale asks, poking her head out of my bag.

“Huh? But you’re a puppy, or a fox.” Hayai points out,causing Bēru-san to giggle a bit.

“...Have you managed to calm down, Miss Rirī?” Abigale asks.

“Um… Abigale, right?” Bēru-san asks. “I really am talking to a puppy… This feels so strange… Oh, sorry! You’re not a puppy, right?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure myself.” Abigale says. “To be honest, I’d find it more odd if you weren’t confused, after everything you went though.”

“Honestly, I still can’t really believe that all happened…” Bēru-san agrees. “And that power… my Persona…”

“It’s the will of your rebellion, Miss Rirī. With it, you’ll be able to fight in that other world.” Abigale explains.

“So if what you told me is true, we can make Kikku have a change of heart, right?” Bēru-san asks. “Is it really possible though…? Can we actually force him to confess his crimes?”

“The whole volleyball team’s keepin’ quiet about this, while teachers and parents turn a blind eye.” Hayai explains. “And if guys like me or Hexan try to complain, they’re just gonna shoot us down.”

“So we’re goin’ all in on this plan, it’s the only option we got.” Hayai finishes.

“Then you should let me help too. I want payback for what he did to Hikui.” Bēru-san says, looking determined. “He’s just going on like nothing happened, even after what he did to her… I’ll never forgive him.”

“Wait, did you just say, ‘let me help’?” Hayai asks, looking shocked. “You mean you wanna tag along with us?”

“Don’t act like I’m a dead weight. Weren’t you watching, I can fight too!” Bēru-san fires back.

“Hey, is this the best idea right now?” Hayai asks, turning to me for guidance.

“Well, if she doesn’t join up with us, she’ll likely go in by herself, and she might not come back.” I point out.

“We are a bit lacking in manpower, so she would be useful.” Abigale agrees.

“Damn, that’s right. She can go by herself… I guess it’d be more dangerous turnin’ her down…” Hayai admits. “Rgh, fine…”

“Then it’s decided. Well, I hope we get along!” Bēru-san says, smiling. “We’re going to make Kikku atone for what he has done.”

“Not just for Hikui’s sake… but for everything he’s done.” She continues. “I won’t let any more people suffer because of that asshole.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes!” Bēru-san finishes. ‘I sense a strong fighting spirit from Rirī…I better make a note of this on my phone...’ “Just make sure to let me know when you’re heading back in… Oh wait! We haven't shared chat IDs yet.” Rirī remembers. “Hey, give me your number and chat ID. And, um…” After a moment all three of us pull out our phones and share IDs. “I guess I’ll be counting on you, then.”

“Same goes for you guys too, Hayai, Abigale.” She says, smiling happily, before she heads off, probably to go home.

“Such a kind woman… Such consideration for others too…” Abigale says. “She’ll likely be a good addition to our team.”

“You know, it’d be better if this group could get together quick from now one…” Hayai points out.

“True. Our best option would likely be to make somewhere our secret hideout, as a place to meet up and discuss these kind of things.” Abigale agrees.

“A hideout, huh…? I like the sound of that.” Hayai says, smiling. “How about the school rooftop? That’s a pretty secluded spot.”

“That could work, I mean, I doesn’t seem like many people go up there. Likely even less chance after that girl jumped. For the time being, that would be a great hideout.” Abigale decides. “I wouldn’t be able to contact your from inside a Palace, so I’ll continue to stay with Hexan.”

“It’s probably for the best that you stay with Hex, there’s no way I could keep you at my place…” Hayai admits. ‘Hopefully I won’t forget about her again…’. That’s when we hear an announcement about a train about to arrive.

“Well, we now have our hideout, so let’s meet there tomorrow!” Hayai says, heading off to catch his train, while I’m left with an unopened bottle of soda.

“Alright, let’s head home Hexan.” Abigale says, so I head off to find a train to Shubuya, then home.

------------------------





When I walk into the coffee shop, it’s still open, and a customer is sitting at a booth.

“The store’s still open, head upstairs kid,” Roast-san says, when I walk in. As I walk past, I notice she is wearing a dark, almost black, blue leather jacket, with a cross necklace. Under the jacket is a dark purple low cut top with a spider web design on it, while she is wearing pants with plenty of holes up each leg. She also has a studded choker on. The whole outfit seems to complement her short, pink hair.

“...Yes?” The punk-rock looking woman asks, mistaking my gaze for trying to start a conversation.

“Hey, lay off the customers, will ya?” Roast-san says. “Sorry if he was rude, Doctor.” ‘Doctor? Maybe I should check her place out later…’.

“...I don’t mind. He hasn’t offended me. It’s nice to know I’m worth being looked at, even if it is by a younger man.” She admits.

“Either way, your getting in the way, why don’t you head upstairs?” Roast-san suggests.I begin to walk past her, heading up to my room. Before I get too far, I hear her get up.

“...Thanks for the coffee. I’ll see you later.” She say.

“Come back again.” Roast-san replies, then she heads out. “Phew… That’s it for today.” He must have noticed my gaze. “Oh, that customer just now? She’s the head doctor over at that clinic down the street.” ‘That’s right, I recall one on my map…’.

“Rumor has it she gives pretty crappy examinations, and also sells some weird homemade medicines on top of that.” He explains. “At least, that’s what I’ve heard. I haven’t been there myself.”

“They should really just leave her alone. It’s not like she’s getting in the way of their lives…” He finishes, then we hear a growling sound from my bag. “What was that?”

“Uh… Can I show you upstairs, in case a customer comes in late?” I suggest, to which he nods and we head upstairs. Once I’m by my bed, I set my bag down and Abigale climbs out.

“So that’s what it was, a hungry pup, or is it a fox?” He asks, confused.

“I think she’s a bit of both, not sure what breeds though…” I reply.

“Well, why’d you bring her here for?” He asks.

“Because I’m not just going to leave her on the street. I’m pretty sure I saw an abused cat on the way home earlier this week.” I reply, making something up.

“Well… You did the right thing. And I guess having a pet to look after would keep you on good behaviour…” Roast-san mutters. “Look, this place is a restaurant. Animals are a no-go…”

“I’m aware, that’s why I had us move up here. I won’t let her wonder downstairs.” I say.

“Fine…” He says, heading downstairs for a moment.

“Was that the ruler of this place?” Abigale asks, likely having been asleep while we were here last night. I just nod. “He seemed pretty understanding for someone who keeps you cramped up in this dump.”

“Then again, I suppose to normal people I just sound like a yipping puppy or fox…” Abigale says. That’s the point that Roast-san returns with a plate, with a good meal of meat, I think beef from the smell, which he sits in front of her.

“Seriously, how hungry is this little girl, it’ll be your job to keep her fed from now on.” He says. “Make sure to wash that dish when she’s finished.”

“By the way… have you decided on a name?” He asks. I shake my head, and he takes a moment to look her over. “What about, Abigale?” He suggests, to my shock. “What? She just looks like an Abigale. It’s a fine name.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll go with that.” I agree.

“It looks like the chief approves of me.” Abigale says. “And to be honest, this place is heaven compared to Kikku’s cells.”

“...Remember how you guys asked me about what I am, and I shrugged it off? Well, it’s not that I don’t want to know. But just that I’m not too focused on it.” Abigale explains. “I don’t remember anything about my birth…”

“It could be Metaverse distortions that made me lose my true form and memories, or it could not. But it’s the only lead I have.” She says. “I mean, if I was originally just some animal, I wouldn’t be able to talk.”

“It’s possible that purging the distortions of the Metaverse my have some effect on me. And I have a pretty good idea on where to start. That’s why I was in Kikku’s castle to begin with.” She explains. “You know, I never got hungry over there…” She says, before beginning to eat from the plate. She soon cleans it off.

“Let me make myself clear: Your taking care of me won’t be for nothing. It’ll be give and take. I have a fair amount of knowledge on infiltration tools.” She explains.

“Sounds useful.” I admit.

“Well, if you want to know more about them, we need to settle on a deal.” She points out. “In exchange for you keeping me here, I’ll teach you about these tools.”

“Sounds like a fair deal, so sure.” I agree.

“I like your answer. Hehehe… Then it’s a deal.” Abigale says, smiling. ‘Abigale seems rather happy about this. I can feel another link. I should deal with this before bed…’ I think to myself.

“I’ll explain the details about them over time.” She finishes that particular conversation.

“By the way, the power you’ve used in the Palace was seriously amazing!” She exclaims. “The stronger that power gets, the more reliable it’ll be as a trump card.”

“Alright, I’m gonna stick with your wherever you go from today on.” She declares. “Personas are the strength born of one’s heart.”

 “Depending on who you meet and interact with in life, I bet you’ll affect your power too!” She says, excitedly. “We might even be able to learn new skills, if we find the right people...”

“This will all be covered under our deal.” She finishes. “I expect great things from you. Don’t let me down, OK?”

“I guess I’ll continue being carried around in your bag, so I can give advice if you need it.” She says, sitting by said bag. That’s when my phone goes off.

<Thanks for everything you did today.> Rirī says, sending me a message through IMs. <You guys saved me, and I didn’t even thank you properly…>

<It’s fine, but you should probably thank Hayai too.> I reply.

<I already have, but thanks anyway. I just wanted to let you know, at least.> Rirī says. <I’ll see you tomorrow.> She finishes, signing off.

“So you guys send messages to each other through your phones too? I want you to send stuff for me if I need you too, alright?” Abigale asks, to which I nod. Once I see we are done talking, I grab the plate, since she is finished with it, and take it downstairs to wash it.

While washing the plate, and whatever dishes were left from today, I hear my phone go off, so I quickly finish. When I check my phone, I new app has one again installed itself. When I open it, it appears to be called the ‘Confidant’s List’. A pretty simple name. When I open it, it has a list of a fair few people, each with their name, and what I believe are arcana for tarot cards. Hayai Tama - Chariot(1) , Rirī Bēru - Lovers(1), Abigale - Magician(1), Prison Master Igor - Fool(1),... ‘Huh, these apps from Igor a pretty convenient. I’ll make sure to thank him when I’m next in the Velvet Room.’ I think, before writing down two reminders. 1# Thank Igor. 2# Visit Punk Doctor.

When I’m finished downstairs, I make sure the door is locked, turn off the electronics that need turning off, as well as the lights. Then I head up and go to sleep.
> Chapter 8 - Visiting the Doctor and Gunsmith.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

04/16 Sat

When I awoke the next day, I didn’t spend too much time waiting around and made my way to school. One the trip to school, I actually managed to grab a seat on the train, where Abigale commented that it would be a good time to read a book if I had one. Nothing else happened before I got to school other than a passing conversation about clinics, reminding me of the doctor from the day before.. One of the classes for the day was with Mr Ushimaru, when my phone vibrates in my pocket.

<Hey, we’re meeting up at the hideout after school, right?> Hayai begins in a group conversation.

<Don’t text now. We’re in class.> Rirī texts back.

<Whoa! You mean you’re actually able to focus on classes today?> He asks, appearing to be shocked.

<Kinda, but nothing is really sticking with me today…> Is her short reply. 

<I know, right?> He continues. <Anyways, hideout after school?>

<Where exactly is this “hideout”?> She asks, making me realise that she left before we discussed it.

<The school roof.> Hayai replies like it’s normal.

<You can still go up there?> Rirī asks, probably wondering why the school hasn’t got someone up there just in case.

<Yeah, I’ll let you in.> He continues. <Welp, I’ll be waiting. Just come on up once school’s over.>

<Alright, will do.> I say, speaking up for the first time in the convo.

<Hey, we’ll be counting on you, leader.> Hayai says, before I’m interrupted by Mr. Ushimaru when he suddenly calls one me.

“Hey, Tronic!” Mr Ushimaru calls out. “You! Pay attention! Is that how you listen when someone’s talking to you!?” ‘For some reason, I feel murderous intent…!’ I think to myself, recognising the feeling from the Shadows.

The next moment, he throws a piece of chalk right at my forehead, with fairly decent power behind the throw.

“Ooh… That looked like it hurt.” I overhear a student whisper.

“He hit him right in the forehead…” Another points out. I notice Rirī’s look of concern, before she turns back around.

“That’s what you get for daydreaming!” Mr Ushimaru explains. “Kids these days have no respect for their elders.

“Good lord… Looks like you aren’t proficient enough to dodge that…” Abigale mutters. After that mess, I make sure to keep focus till the end of class.

------------------

After school we all meet up at the ‘hideout’.

“Looks like we’re all here.” Hayai starts us off.

“Well there are only four of us, two of which stay together.” I point out. He just nods and continues.

“Mkay, let’s get goin’!” He says, looking determined.

“Hold on, I think it’s still a bit too early for us to head in.” Abigale states.

“But why? Don’t we just gotta steal that Treasure thing?” Hayai asks.

“We can’t underestimated the dangers of that castle. We should take some time and prepare.” She continues.

“But aren’t our Personas enough to deal with all that?” Hayai asks, probably wanting to deal with Kikku as quick as possible.

“That’s exactly what I meant when I said don’t underestimate it. You could die if you mess up in there. Then I couldn’t live with myself.” Abigale says, looking a bit down, well, as much as she can while looking like a puppy.

“Alright. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to prepare before we go in and trash the place.” Hayai says, trying not to look at the sad puppy.

“But now that you mention it, how can we prepare?” Rirī asks.

“For starters, we should probably look into better equipment for us. Both guns and melee.” Abigale states.

“I’ve got a good place in mind. Should have everything we’ll need.” Hayai says, looking confidant.

“Alright, you can handle that part, but let us know if you want our help.” I say, nodding.

“The other thing we’ll need is medicine. Fatigue is unavoidable in a Palace, because of the energy you’ll use by summoning your Personas.” Abigale continues.

“Any idea where we can get any good medicine?” Rirī asks.

“Don’t worry, me and Hexan know just the place.” Abigale states, before turning to me. “Alright, if we’re done here, Hexan and I have to business in Yongen, so we’ll be heading off.”

“We’re going to visit the one customer from last night?” I guess, to which she nods, and we all head out to do our own thing for the day.

------------------

“Alright, if I recall your guardians words right, the doctor we met last night gives sketchy examinations. If she is the kind of person to get such sketchy rumours, she might be willing to help us out.” Abigale states, looking around from my shoulder. “She’s supposed to have a clinic nearby right? Shall we go find it?” She asks, before ducking into my bag.

Heading away from the station, I walk past the second hand shop, and take a left, as I recall a clinic being this way. A bit further along, and I notice a hold in the wall, leading to a door.

“So this is her clinic? Let’s hope she will help out.” Abigale says, before I step inside. Inside, I hear some music that sounds calming.





Inside is what appears to be a regular clinic waiting room. Looking around I see posters, a door to a mixed toilet, and a reception window, with the doctor from last night working behind it. Deciding not to waste time, I walk up to the desk, as she looks up, probably having heard me walk in.

“This should be your first visit, yes? I don’t think I’d forget someone like you easily.” She states, likely talking about my hair. “Though I do think I’ve seen you before…”

“We met briefly at ‘Dark and Spicy’.” I point out, hoping to not waste too much of either of our time.

“That’s right. Thanks for the reminder. Anyway, what are you here for today?” She asks, looking a bit bored.

“Well, I’ve been feeling sluggish and lethargic for a couple days. I was hoping you could help?” I ask, hoping she buys it.

“......” Her silence makes me a bit concerned, but I keep that feeling inside. “...Fine.”

“Head into the exam room to your right. I’ll check you over.” She says, heading through the door in the back of her reception area, while I head into the exam room, where I just take a seat on a stool. After a moment, she takes a seat at her desk and turns to face me, legs crossed while she pulls out a clipboard.

She asks a couple questions, which I answer in a way that would point to exhaustion.

“...From what I can tell, this could be coming from stress.” She says, when she finishes questioning. “I’m going to prescribe you some pain relievers, OK?” I nod in answer, before she gets a look like she had forgotten something. “Actually, I still need to refill my stock of those…”

“So, let’s go with sleeping pills instead. Sleep is the best medicine anyway.” She continues. “Which type of pill do you want, a sweet-tasting one or a bitter one?”

“I’m… not too fond of sleeping pills. They have done more harm than good in my past experiences.” I reply, remembering a period where I ended up feeling almost no emotions because of such pills.

“Oh…? And what makes you think these pills will have the same effect? Besides, aren’t you my patient right now? Don’t you trust me? Wait no, of course you don’t, no one does.” She says, going into a short rant, before calming down. “Anyway, you’re not sick at all, are you? I’m not as dumb as I look, you know.” She says, giving me a glare. ‘Why would she think I think she’s dumb? She can’t be dumb if she’s a doctor.’ I think to myself.

“... I’m guessing you’re here because you heard the rumors about me, huh?” She continues.

“I haven’t heard much of anything, I’ve only been here a week. And anyway, I just came here to see if you could help.” I shoot back.

“Riight. The first part was true, but the second wasn’t the whole truth.” She says, watching me closely. “I guess high school kids have it tough nowadays too, huh?”

“Well, fine. I’ll prescribe you some medication.” She finally relents. “But only medication that will help you recover your health.”

“That’s all I was here for.” I state, deciding to be a bit more honest.

“Guess you trust me a bit after all. You seem pretty earnest too, and don’t seem like you’ll cause me any trouble.” She states. ‘Far from it, I’d rather help fix than cause problems.’ I think as she continues. “This is my private practice. All the medicine I dispense is original.”

“I have a license to make my own formulas. You’ve likely seen them sold at various hospitals.” She continues. “It’s your responsibility to take care of yourself. So if that’s OK with you, stop by anytime.” She finishes, a very small smile on her face.

“Will do doc, thanks for the help.” I reply.

“Great. It’s nice to find a young man that’s so quick to understand… Saves me the hassle.” She says. Then she uncrosses her legs, and looks me over for a moment. “You’re a pretty weird kid, you know? I wonder what you’re going to use my medicine for…” She ponders out loud, before adopting her previous posture. 

“Well, as long as you don’t cause me any trouble, it’s not my problem…” She says, as I feel we are about done talking. After a moment she passes me a list. “This is all I’ve got for you right now…” 

I take a moment to look over her stock. There is some alright things, but nothing great. I end up only buying one Revivadrin and that’s it. “...Take care now.” She says, as I head out.

When I get out, I noticed a man in a suit, who looks serious. I step out of the way as he just walks on in. Before I can get too far, I hear the start of their conversation.

“...What’s the reason for your visit?” The doctor asks, in the same tone Roast-san uses with customers he isn’t fond of. “Do you have a cold? Stomachache? Athlete’s foot? Whatever it is, you’ll need a number…”

“...Enough of this!” The man says, raising his voice, and shocking me. “You’re the only one who could have developed that type of medicine.” This conversation makes me curious and concerned so I get closer to hear better.

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about…” She says, avoiding the question.

“Don’t play dumb with me.” He states. “Rumor has it, it’s a drug so potent that it can give a person unlimited power.” He says, making me scoff in my mind.

“Really? That’s news to me.” She states, sounding calm.

“Developing experimental drugs, medicine, and herbal remedies violates all health regulations.” He continues accusing. “Are you attempting to create a super-stimulant? A drug like that will only become a social issue.”

“You’re really persistent, you know that? I’m just a quack…”She says.

“The police may not be taking action, but I imagine the media will soon pick up on it.” He states. “You intent to ruin my reputation again, huh? You’re a disgrace to the medical community.” ‘This guy is really pissing me off. Maybe I should interrupt…’ I think to myself before knocking and walking in.

“You know, from what I’ve been hearing, it sounds less like she is creating some super drug, and more like your high off your ass on some experimental shit you cooked up. And in your haze, you’ve come down here to abuse someone who isn’t even doing anything to threaten you. Perhaps you should head home and get your head on straight, since it obviously doesn’t sound like it is right now.” I say, not giving him a moment to speak, before pushing him out the door. After he gets over his shock, I hear him walk out, after which I sigh, before noticing the doctor looking at me a bit shocked. “Sorry about that. But I can’t stand listening to baseless slander. I’ll see you later, Doc.” I say, about to walk out.

“Igaku.” She states, before I can walk out.

“Hmm?” I ask, turning around.

“Igaku Ishi. That’s my name. I figure you may as well learn it if your going to come see me a lot.” She says, as I notice her work clothes are just a lab coat over a dark grey blue skirt, which doesn’t even reach halfway down her thighs. Over that is a studded red belt as well as the choker she had on last night.

“Nice to know. Hexan Tronic. See you around Ishi-chan.” I say, walking out onto the street, where I received a slap to the back of the head from Abigale.

“That was really reckless, you know.” She states, having climbed up to my shoulder. “Then again, if those accusations weren’t baseless, having helped her, she might be more trusting of you…” 

“Also, try to tone down the flirting. I heard what you called her.” She says, giving a small glare, before my phone goes off.

<You know there’s a shop in Shibuya that sells model guns.> Hayai starts. <I’d be glad to take you there if you want.>

<Oh right, you just transferred here, huh?> He continues. <Let’s go together, dude. I’ll show you around.>

<You at least know how to get to Shibuya Station, yeah?> He asks.

<Hey, I can’t make it. Can I trust you guys to check the place out for me?> Rirī asks.

<You can’t come?> Hayai asks, probably concerned.

<Not tomorrow.> She states. <I made plans to go see Hikui in the hospital.> She explains.

<Ah, gotcha. Don’t worry, we got this.> Hayai states with confidence. <Well, seeya in Shibuya Hexan! I’ll be in front of the station!> He finishes as they sign off.

“From the sounds of it, this place could be a good place to frequent, if the gear is good.” Abigale states. “Well, we can leave that for tomorrow. Let’s go home!”

------------------

When we got home, we rested for a bit, before Abigale starts talking.

“It’s going smoothly so far.” She states. “Once we’re prepared, let’s take on the Palace. That’s where the real fun starts, got it?”

I nod, before looking outside, and seeing the sky darken, leading to me looking over at Abigale.

“Let’s get an early night in.” I say, getting changed and into bed, while Abigale hops up and curls up beside me.

“Night Hexan.” She says, before we fall asleep.

------------------

4/17 Sun

Waking up the next day, nothing important happened, so I had something to eat and head out to meet Hayai. When I get up the stairs to Station Square, I see him waiting for me. He is wearing something other than his school uniform. A dark orange hoodie, with the hood down and a light yellow stripe running from his shoulder to his wrists, while the hoodie is unzipped, showing a black t-shirt with a circular yellow face, that has the eyes looking to the side, like it’s bored. His is also wearing simple black pants.

“Looks like you made it.” He says as I walk up to him. “Mkay, let’s get goin’. The shop’s over this way!” He says, turning around, showing the jacket has ‘777’ on the back.

He begins to lead me through station square, passed the green train by the main stairwell, where a politician is giving a speech.

“Everyone, wake up! This country is twisted!” The politician says, his voice carrying all around the area in front of him.

“It sounds like this man is saying some decent things, but not many people are stopping to listen…” Abigale says, watching from my bag.

“Eh, people give speeches all the time. Plus, politics are pretty boring anyway.” Hayai says. “We’re almost there. Just don’t get lost in the crowd.” He says, before heading off to Central Street.

“Follow me.” He says, leading me through the somewhat busy area. “This place can be pretty confusin’ to fine sometimes.”

I follow him into an alleyway a bit passed a diner, where we find an Airsoft shop, called ‘Last Man Standing’. 

“This is it. Pretty legit, huh?” Hayai says, sounding pleased with himself. “Oh yeah, now that we’re here… you know anything about military stuff?”

“I guess worst comes to worst we can just ask the shopkeep what they recommend. C’mon, let’s go.” He says, before we head inside.

The shop is full of military gear, as well as model guns. There is a pretty good song coming from the speakers somewhere in the room. 





Since Hayai is just standing around, I decided to take the lead and head up to the counter. Behind the counter is likely the Manager of the store. He is wearing a dark grey, hooded trench coat, under which is a black shirt. He is wearing a dark green cadet cap with dark grey sound canceling earmuffs wrapped around it. He also appears to be wearing some blue jeans and green camo combat boots.

When I get to the counter, he looks up from his magazine for a moment.

“You know what you’re looking for yet?” He asks, sounding disinterested.

“...You lookin’ for recommendations?” He asks, giving us some attention. I nod in reply. “... I dunno, just buy whatever looks interestin’ to you.”

“This’ll be a bit more difficult than I thought.” Hayai mutters.

“What are you looking for? And automatic? A revolver?” The manager asks. After a moment I think to myself, 'Perhaps he'd recognise some previous work?', and pull out the Tkachev Hayai gave me, holding the barrel.

“I’m looking for something similar to this.” I explain. He looks over the model weapon for a moment.

“I recognize this. I sold this not long ago.” He states.

“Yeah. I was the one who bought it. Me and my friend are enthusiasts, and after having a look at this one, we came for more.” Hayai says, going along with my plan.

“Alright then. Now I have an idea of what you’re looking for, any specifications?” The manager asks.

“I’m looking for something realistic.” I state.

“Oh ho, you guys plannin’ to rob a bank or somethin’?” He asks, in what I think is a joking tone, before he gets serious. “Alright, since you guys are enthusiasts, I’m going to tell you the precautions before I can see you anything.”

“First off, don’t go ‘round pointing ‘em at other people. Keep ‘em in a bag or somethin’ if you’re outside.” He states. “Second, don’t let the fuzz catch wind of your having ‘em. I don’t need them comin’ around here.”

“We’ll be cautious, we won’t do anything to risk you or your shop.” I say.

“Good. You sound reliable.” He says, before pulling out another gun, similar to my own. “Now, if you look close, you’ll be able to tell these’re models. Real guns feel… different.”

“Maybe someday I’ll show you the real good stuff though… if you got the guts for it, of course.” He says, basically saying I don’t look like I can handle it yet. “... But for now, you get the beginner selection. Just sit tight, I’ll bring a list out.” He explains, before heading into the back for the list.

“...We did it, dude.” Hayai says, smiling. “We totally gotta go for some fancy shit, right? I want ‘em to shine!”

“Oh, and here’s the cash for mine. Pick me out something good!” He finishes, passing me some yen, leaving me with a bit over ¥9,000. When I’m finished shopping, I have ¥816 left.  I decide to head on out, Hayai following me.

“Alright, from now on, I’ll let you do the choosin’ for any gear from this place. Get me the strongest one you can.” He says, as we walk out and I head home.

------------------

When I walked in, I notice one of the regulars is still enjoying their coffee.

“Boss, did you hear?” The haughty sounding regular asked. “Apparently that subway driver from the accident was acting really odd during his testimony hearing.”

“You talking about that psychotic whatever thing people are going on about?” Roast-san asks.

“Yeah, I heard it completely alters your personality.” The haughty man states. “The news is even saying the driver couldn’t even speak when they tried asking him questions.”

“There’s no way a preposterous story like that could be true.” Roast-san says. “Oh, and sorry, but we’re closing soon.”

“Hmph, how rude. This must be why you don’t get many customers.” The man states. “Your coffee’s actually not half bad. The beans must be lamenting the sorry state of this store…”

“Thanks for stopping in. Please come again.” Roast-san says.

“Hmph. I only say this out of politeness, but… Thanks for the coffee.” The man says, before leaving.

“Sheesh, what a pain…” Roast-san says, sounding tired. “Oh… What do you want? If you’re bored, go wash some dishes or something.”

“So you treat everyone like that, or just certain people?” I ask, curiously.

“I’m not going to wear a fake smile just to keep people happy. If people want good coffee or curry, they’ll come. If not, they won’t. It’s all good as long as the shop doesn’t fail.” He states.

“So that’s how you run things. Good to know.” I reply.

“As long as I’m here, the world leaves me be.” He says. “No annoyances or troublesome people to deal with. It’s like my own personal hideaway.”

“I’d be kinda screwed if I lost it, but I guess you would be too.” He continues. “So you better at least try to be useful around here.”

“Anyway, I’m leaving now. Don’t cause any trouble.” He finishes, before I head upstairs.

When I get up there, my phone goes off.

<I went to see Hikui at the hospital…> Rirī texts me, in a private message.

<How was she doing?> I ask, hoping for good news.

<Her condition is stable.> She says. <They don’t know when she’ll regain consciousness though.>

<I’m sure she’ll come though in the end.> I reply.

<Yeah. She’ll get better, I know it.> She texts back. <I just need to believe in her.>

<But… I’ll never forgive Kikku. He’s going to pay for what he did, no matter what.> She finishes, going offline.

“We’re just about ready to go to the Palace.” Abigale says. “We just need to assemble sine infiltration tools.”

“How about you clean off that desk back there so we can use it.” She suggests, pointing to a desk with a clear tarp over it. After a couple minutes, I’ve cleaned off the work desk, leaving a desk lamp and tool box with tools. I then sit down to get to work.

“I’ll provide the materials this time. Try making a lockpick.” Abigale suggests. I grab out the materials.

“Everyone starts off a little clumsy. Don’t be sad if it doesn’t go too well at first, OK?” She says, before instructing me on how to make the lockpick. After some time, I finish making the lockpick successfully.

“That looks great, we should be able to use this in the Palace.” Abigale states. “We should be about ready now.”

“We could probably head into the Palace tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.” She says, before I prepare, and go to bed.
> Chapter 9 - First of many Trials and Twins ask questions.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

04/18 Mon

Nothing major happened on the way or at school today, so after school, I took a moment to decide how I want to go about things. So, I decided to take a moment, and discuss my options with Abigale, while still sitting at my desk.

“Alright, I think there are only really two options for today. Go into the Palace, or check in with that doctor.” I explain readily.

“Hmm… To be honest, while I would say go into the Palace to work on it as fast as we can, I think we need to take our time, prepare a bit more.” Abigale suggests, resulting in me nodding.

“My thoughts exactly, so doctor?” I ask.

“Doctor.” She replies with a nod.

As I get up to leave, a thought crosses my mind.

“Should I check out the library first? Just in case.” I ask, heading to the staircase.

“Probably, couldn’t hurt.” She agrees.

So, I head on up. When I walk inside, the girl behind the Librarian’s desk calls me over.

“This is your first time here, right? I tend to recognize all the regulars.” She says, looking me over.

“Yeah, it’s the first chance I’ve had to stop by.” I explain, rubbing the back of my head.

“You wouldn’t happen to be the transfer, would you? You match the description…” She mutters, while asking the question, to which I just nod. “Well, while I don’t particularly have anything against you being here, some of the other students might. So just be careful, okay?” She says, looking concerned.

“I’ll be alright, thanks for the concern. Do you have any books you recommend?” I ask, hoping she does, so I don’t have to go looking.

“Hmm… Maybe ‘Memoirs of an Assistant’? It’s a book about a man who helps people with the strangest of things, and is fairly engaging. It’s unfortunately a work of fiction, but I still like it.” She suggests, sounding a bit excited.

“Sounds good, mind if I borrow it for a while?” I ask, noticing the book on the desk.

“Sure, just make sure to return it in the condition you took it.” She explains, handing me the book after stamping it. Once I put the book in my bag, I head on out to the station and prepare for the ride home.

---------------------





I managed to get back to Yongen without incident, and make my way to the clinic as planned. Inside I see Ishi-sensei behind the counter, which I guess is usual for her. So I walk on up. ‘I should ask about the “enhancing drug” i heard her talking about the other day…’ When she hears me walk up, she looks up from her paperwork.

“Oh, hello again. I didn’t expect to see you so soon. What are you here for today?” She asks, looking up at me curiously.

“Well, I wanted to ask about whatever that suited guy was talking about. While I did talk him down, I doubt all he said was false.” I explain.

“Hmm, I figured you were going to ask about that at some point. Head into the back.” She says, before I walk into the exam room and take a seat on the stool, while she walks in from behind the curtain to the reception desk, and leans against the door.

“So, you're curious about that ‘slander’ as you called it a couple days ago?” She asks, to which I nod. “Well, while I’m not creating any ‘super-drugs’, some of the stuff I do make has some strong effects.”

“Anyway, I wasn’t getting the results I wanted from them, so I was going to dispose of them. That’s about all there is to it.” She finishes explaining. “So, why do you want to know about such stuff?” She asks while looking at me closely.

“You don’t seem to be very athletic, so it can’t be for that.” She says, having appraised me thoroughly.

“I need the assistance with my exams. I’m getting too fatigued just looking over the books for hours. Even Boss’s coffee doesn’t help.” I say, quickly making it up as I go.

“Hmm… Well, that could work, but it isn’t an ideal solution. Are you sure this is what you want to try?” She asks, looking serious.

“Yes. Although I would like to help you out in some way, if you’re going out of your way to help me.” I say, looking slightly up at her. She seems to take a moment to think about my offer.

“While this medicine is pretty expensive, I could be persuaded to give you a discount, as long as you help me out. Out of curiosity, do you consider yourself someone with a large amount of stamina?” She finally asks.

“Yeah, I’d like to think so.” I replied, deciding if I didn’t, to work on it for Palaces.

“That’s good, because I’ve been looking for a young person about your age to help me out. But even after putting an ad in the paper, I haven’t found one. ...Think you're up for the task?” She asks, looking like she is waiting for an answer.

“Sure, I have no problems helping you out. Just what would I be doing?” I ask, getting a bit curious.

“You’ll be participating in clinical trials for my medicine, as well as helping out around here when I need it. If you can manage that, I’ll happily sell you my medicine.” She finishes explaining, before going off to grab something, coming back a moment later with a glass of red liquid, passing it into my hand.

“I don’t want to ask what this is, do I?” I ask, getting an amused shake from her head. After a moment I down the suspicious substance.

“Huh…?” She asks, looking a bit shocked. “I can’t believe you actually drank that…” She admits. ‘A bitter, yet sour taste, I can’t really describe it… Yet, nothing I can’t handle’ I think to myself.

“Damn… Still doing OK, huh? Not bad, for a high schooler…” She says, before looking worried. That’s when I feel a sharp pain all over, clutching my head as I fall unconscious. The last thing I hear before going out cold is her voice.

“...Welp, guess that’s it then…” She says, before I’m dead to the world.

---------------------

Igaku Ishi’s POV:

For a moment, I’m just sitting here, looking at the possibly idiotic young man that drank an experimental medication without any questions. After that moment, I swiftly move him onto the examination bed for tests to make sure he’ll live, because I don’t want to ruin any more lives than I may have already.

After a couple tests, I discover the cause of his fainting, and document it, before deciding to wait for him to reawaken for a couple more tests, just in case.

After about half an hour, he awakens, although he seems a bit groggy, with glazed over eyes, so I wave my hand by his face to get his attention.

“Hey kid, are you feeling okay?” I ask, a little worried.

“Just a bit light headed, and still tired. Like when I tore that mask off one time…” He mutters that last part, but I ignore it, since it seems unimportant, even though I think I see his bag shift a bit from his statement.

“Can you think clearly?” I ask, hoping he’ll be fine.

“Yeah, but it’s a bit slow right now…” He replies.

“Alright, well, I just want to run a couple tests, then you can rest a bit more before heading home, alright?” I ask, making sure to get his permission first. At his nod, I get to work, beginning by taking his jacket off, giving easier access to his arms, after which I test his blood pressure and take a sample, with his permission of course. 

Both seem normal, so I move on, sliding his purple shirt up and checking his heart, which seems to be beating at a slightly slower than normal rate, which makes sense if he’s tired. After a couple more tests, I help him slide his jacket back on, before having him lay down, as well as giving him some sleeping pills.

“Here, these will help you sleep for a bit.” I say, passing over a glass of water. After he downs the pills, he is out almost instantly. ‘Huh, guess I’ll have to wait until he awakens again to talk about more clinical trials.’ I think to myself, before turning to work on the formula for the next batch.

While I’m working, I hear a rustling behind me, and turn around to see some sort of puppy curled up on the boys chest, watching me. I tilt my head, wondering where it could have came from, before noticing his bag, which is open and tipped over. When I take a look inside, I see, to my surprise, a knife and gun.

“What’s a kid doing, walking around with those?!” I ask myself, taking a closer look, picking up the gun. ‘I’m glad I left the door locked.’ I think to myself looking it over, while realising it’s just a model, letting out a sigh of relief.

“It’s just a model. Maybe he’s interested in these kinds of things. But that doesn’t explain why it’s in his bag and not at home…” I continue talking out loud, a bad habit of mine. After looking it over a bit more, I put it away.

As I sit back at my desk, I notice his puppy looking at me, looking a bit guilty, I think, so I roll my chair over and pet them.

“It’s alright, you didn’t mean to knock them out. Maybe be careful next time, alright?” I suggest, while, I’m guessing it’s a she, is leaning into the petting. After a couple minutes of that, she falls asleep on his chest, and I go to continue my work.

After about half an hour, I hear some light groans behind me, and turn to notice the young man beginning to wake up, so I turn my chair to give him my full attention. As he begins to open his eyes, I gently move his puppy to my lap.

---------------------

Hexan Tronic’s POV:

When I began to awaken, I felt a weight on my chest, which felt alive. As I tried to open my eyes, it was taken off of me. So I opened my eyes up to get a look around, and after a moment recalled that I was in the clinic.

Looking over at where I feel myself being watched from, I see Ishi-sensei sitting in her chair, with Abigale asleep on her lap. ‘I guess she was the weight I felt.’ I think to myself, slowly sitting up.

“How are you feeling?” Ishi-sensei asks, looking at me with a bit of worry.

“I’m a tiny bit light-headed, but otherwise I feel fine.” I calmly explain.

“That’s good. I was a bit worried when you woke up before. You weren’t entirely conscious at that point. You likened the feeling to ‘After I tore off that mask one time’. No idea what that means, but I get the feeling it meant you were completely wiped.” I mentaly facepalm when she says that. ‘God damn my semi-conscious self!!’ I think, before stretching.

“I have no idea what I was talking about. Maybe a dream?” I suggest, sounding casual.

“If you say so. You sounded oddly serious but whatever. Either way, I got enough data for now to continue my work. Also, you are fine physically, but I wanted to wait until you awoke to have a short chat.” She explains while idly petting Abigale.

“Sure, but when did Abigale get out?” I asked, curious.

“Sometime after you fell unconscious the second time, she just went over and curled up on your chest.” She explains.

“Alright then. What did you want to talk about?” I ask.

“First off, do you still want to help out with this? I know you said so before, but I’m just reconfirming.” She explains.

“Of course. You likely have your reasons for working on this. So if helping you will help someone else as well, I have no reason to decline.” I explained readily, causing her to smile.

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to add more medicine to my menu for you next time. Onto other matters, when your pup crawled out of your bag, some interesting items fell out.” She explains sounding curious herself, while making me concerned.

“It wasn’t what I think it was, was it?” I ask, hoping it wasn’t my Palace weapons. She just nods. “Ah… Those are part of a hobby of mine. I like collecting and working on model weapons and guns, and I recently found out about a good shop for it in Shibuya. The weapons were in my bag because the owner wanted proof of my interest.” I explained, hoping it was believable enough.

“That makes some sense. Especially because of the laws about guns here. Ones that look too real could be a problem.” She explains but gets me thinking. ‘Maybe that gun dealer could make some more realistic or custom weapons…’ I think to myself, before nodding.

“Yeah. I’ll be more careful about it from now on. Most people wouldn’t be as understanding as you are Ishi-sensei.” I say, fixing up my bag.

“Aww, what did I do to be downgraded from chan to sensei?” She asks, a slight smirk on her face.

“You did nothing. My puppy on the other hand did not like me “flirting” with you last time.” I explain, rubbing the back of my head.

“Oh? Did she get a bit jealous?” She asks, going along with it.

“Slapped the back of my head and everything right after.” I nodded as I replied.

“Sounds like an overprotective little sister to me.” She explains, carefully moving Abigale from her lap back into my bag.

“Yeah, she might just be like that. Either way, I think I should head off, unless there is anything else?” I ask, thinking it’s about time to head out.

“I’m about done here myself, so you can head out. Have a good evening, my little guinea pig.” She finishes with a smirk, going back to her work. I softly chuckled to myself and grabbed my bag, before heading out into the alleyways of Yongen, where I noticed how dark it was and hurried home, feeling a bit more gutsy.

---------------------

When I walked inside, the first thing I saw was Roast-san behind the counter.

“You better be keeping out of trouble. One mistake and your life’s over” He reminds me once again. After the nice reminder, I head upstairs, where Abigale hops out of my bag, once I place it on the table by the banister.

“You know, you could use this time to clean the rest of your room.” She points out, yawning, likely having just awoken.

“While I could do that, wouldn’t it be better to have a good amount of lockpicks for the Palace?” I ask, looking over at my workbench.

“Good point. It’d be a pain if we found a locked chest or door and had none left. Let’s do it!” She cheers, hopping over to the workbench, when I realise that I can’t make any, because I don’t have the materials. “It’s alright. We can just go back to anything that’s locked.”

“Alright. Cleaning it is then…” I mutter, beginning the dredded job of cleaning my room.

I begin with the shelves beside my bed, which are filled with piles of books.

“Politics, law, and philosophy… These all sound like very difficult books…” Abigale mutters, looking through them with me. “Oh! Maybe you’d be able to read this one!” She exclaims, pawing a magazine, with the title, "Yoncha Wanderer". I just look down at her. ‘I feel insulted. Just a bit…’ I think to myself, storing the “book” in my bag with the one from the school library.

“You know, I wonder why such a thing was mixed in with all these difficult books… Though I suppose it doesn’t matter.” Abigale mutters to herself, before looking at the mess that was beside the shelves. “This is a good opportunity, and we have a fair amount of time till we need to sleep, so why not deal with this too?” She asks, to which I nod.

After a while, of cleaning, we find a potted plant, which is still alive. “Look! That plant is still alive, perhaps we could decorate with it?” She suggests, so I nod and move it beside the shelves, while moving everything else neatly behind the other side of the stairs up here, neatly stacking the books, and neatly storing every other thing that was in the pile of junk.

“This is nice. This room feels much more comfortable and lived in now. And now you can decorate it with whatever you want!” Abigale adds, smiling, before she yawns. “Alright, I think it’s about time for bed. Even with the nap in the clinic, we’re both probably still exhausted from the day.” I nod and quickly get changed, before laying in my bed, pulling the covers up. I feel Abigale curl up beside me as I fall asleep.

---------------------

Caroline’s POV:





While I’m just relaxing, since our Master and the Inmate aren’t here, I decide to go around and look in the other cells, something I haven’t had much chance to do. When I do, I notice something strange. Cells Six to Thirteen are barren, not even a bed or toilet in them, or even the chains of the inmates cell. Cells One to Five mimic the Inmate’s closely, but not exactly. They have chains over them, but the furniture in them are hazy, like they aren’t fully there, but are at the same time. And the final fifteenth cell, which has no number above it, just has a hallway, but we were expressly ordered not to go down there, so I ignored it, and turned to my sister.

“Yes, sister?” She asks, having noticed my gaze.

“I was just wondering, have you ever taken the time to think about the other fourteen cells in here? I mean, we are only meant to have one Inmate, right? So why so many when we are only using one?” I ask her, in one of my rare moments of contemplation.

“I have taken the time to think about it, and I have come to two possible conclusions. The first is that they are just decoration, not meant to actually be used. The other conclusion is that we will be housing more inmates in the future, likely during our main Inmates rehabilitation.” She explains, though I notice her eye twitches a bit on the final word.

“That makes a fair amount of sense, I mean, about five of them look like they already have an inmate, but they aren’t quite stable, the stuff in them looks fuzzy.” I explain, to which she nods.

“I do have a theory, but I would like to keep it to myself until it is either confirmed or denied.” Justine explains calmly.

“Alright. If you think it’s best, I won’t push the issue. But it does involve the Inmate personally, right?” I ask as a guess.

“Correct.” She says, before going silent, probably to think. I decide to do the same, taking a seat against one of the walls to rest and think.
> Chapter 10 - Hanging with my bro and a bit of light reading.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

04/19 Tue

While walking to school this morning, I noticed a pair of students talking by the outdoor vending machines, and decided to listen in.

“I thought I’d get a girlfriend once I was in high school, but I’m not having any luck at all…” A particularly dull student complains. “Is there something wrong with me?”

“Maybe. Maybe you need to do some self improvement.” A much more calm looking student replies. “Try reading some books.”

“Broaden your horizons so you’ll have more things to talk about.” He continues. “You’ll be more desirable if you’re more intelligent. It’ll take hard work, though-won’t happen overnight.”

“Yeah, but books make me sleepy…” The dull student replies. “Guess I can give it a go, though, if it’ll help make me more popular with the ladies!”

“Uh, is the library where you go to borrow books?” He asks, before I lose interest.

“Sounds like reading books is a pretty good thing to do.” Abigale comments from my shoulder.

“Yeah, luckily we have a head start, with the two from yesterday.” I point out, before walking to class.

---------------------

In the class, we have a new teacher, who has short, slick black hair, a confident and calm look on his face, while he is wearing a dark dress shirt, as well as maroon pants.

“Hi there, everyone… I’m Mr. Hiruta, your biology teacher.” He explains. “You must all be shocked by what happened to Pitchi-san. It was a shock to me too…” He mutters, while I can feel a bit of silent anger from Rirī in front of me.

“Although, I can relate to how she felt.” He continues, and I try to ignore my instincts telling me to get away from my teammate. “Her eyes were devoid of life as they looked upon this sad, hopeless world.”

“Well, I suppose everyone views the world differently. Let’s have a test.” He finishes, with a small surprise of a test. “You there! Take a look at this diagram.” He says, looking at me, and making me pay more attention. When I do, I can see a vertical rectangle, with two diagonal lines entering from the bottom of the left side, and one diagonal line entering from the top of the right side, labeled B, C, and A respectively.

“Is the line extending from A connected to B or C? Which is it?” He asks. After a moment of looking it over, I look up and answer.

“I believe it is connecting to C, sir.” He smiles at my answer, giving a small applause as well.

“Correct.” He answers. “It seems your eyes see the truth.” ‘More than you know.’ I think to myself as he explains, showing the same diagram as before, but with the lines going over the rectangle, showing the B isn’t connected to anything, while C and A are connected.

“This is an optical illusion. Some people see it correctly, and some do not.” He begins explaining. “Isn’t it strange that they view the same image differently?”

“Humans don’t see the world as it is. We simply process the visual information with our brain.” He finishes, leading to the class making comments of surprise at me knowing the answer.

“Good job with that question. Seems you know a few things.” Abigale comments, while I myself feel more knowledgeable.

“How you see the world is nothing more than a trick of the mind… It is all mere cognition.” Hiruta-san continues. “There is no proof that the world each of us sees is the same.”

“So, how you see the world depends on your brain’s cognition, huh, interesting…” Abigale comments. “Optical illusions and the Metaverse might be more similar than you’d think.” She finishes, while I continue on with my day.

------------------

After school, I got a message from Hayai.

<Hey, where are you right now?> He asks.

<I’m still in my classroom, why?> I ask back.

<I’m still at school too. I’m by the staircase outside your classroom.> He replies and continues. <Think we should head into the Palace today?>

<I haven’t quite decided yet.> I reply.

<Hey, I thought of somethin’ the other day when we were running around the Palace.> He starts. <Maybe it’s cause I haven’t been moving around as much lately, but I feel like I’m getting weak.>

<We’re prolly gonna run into some pretty tough Shadows sometime. We should try to get stronger too.> He points out. <It’s sunny outside. Perfect for training! So, you wanna get your blood pumpin’?>

“Seems like Hayai has a bit on his mind. But he makes a good point. Training out here will help in there.” Abigale comments. I decided to join him for the afternoon.

<Sure, where should I meet you?> I send as an affirmation.

<Meet me in the courtyard, and make sure to wear your gym clothes.> He sends, before signing off. After making sure I read it right, I head to the gym locker rooms to get changed.

---------------------

When I reach the courtyard, I notice Hayai standing nearby in one of the grassy areas and walk over.

“Man, this place brings back memories…” He says, once I reach him, before he explains. “This was my secret trainin’ spot. Er… was.”

“Back when I was on the baseball team.” He continues. “Actually, I’ve been thinkin’ about tryin’ to try baseball again.” He confesses, stretching his right shoulder.

“Fightin’ in that other world was a total shock. I couldn’t move like I used to. It just felt… lame. That’s about the only way to describe it .” He finishes, before smiling. “So, I started thinkin’, maybe I need to build up my muscles again.”

“Anything’s gotta be better than this flimsy body, right?” He asks, while I can see the somewhat bigger than average muscles on his arms.

“You don’t look that flimsy to me.” I point out.

“True, I might not be, for your standards. But to me, I am. Plus, I want to be able to help out more.” He admits.

“I’ll be counting on you, mate.” I say, a smirk on my face, causing him to chuckle.

“I’m gonna blow your expectations outta the park!” He exclaims excitedly. “Anyway, don’t think it’s gonna be just me doin’ this. You’re getting in on this too.” He points out, causing me a bit of shock.

“Don’t look so surprised man! Why else would I have had you change into that?” He points out, making me realise his point. “It’d be pointless if I was the only one getting faster, right?”

“Alright. For today, I’m gonna do some knee lift sprints, while you're just going to do the normal ones!” He orders. I just nod and join him for a run around the the school for a couple laps.

When we return to the grassy area, we are exhausted.

“Ughhh…” He groans. “Damn, my legs’re all tight…” After a moment to catch his breath, he stands up properly and turns back to me.

“Back before Kikku came along, the baseball team was the biggest thing this school had goin’ for it.” He explains. “But it all changed after he got our coach fired and took over as the sub.”

“That bastard… Right from the very start he was tryin’ to get rid of us.” He growls out. “He’d give us crazy workouts, then when we couldn’t do ‘em, he’d add even more on top of that…”

“Day after day was nothing of that bullshit…” He continues. “And I think he was going after me especially.”

“He probably knew… He knew I was the kinda guy who’d fight back.” He sighs out, a down look on his face, before he gets a bit mad. “If my time dropped even a little, he’d cuss me out. Then on top of that, he brought up my parents…”

“What could he say about your parents to piss you off that much?” I ask, concerned for my friend, the question causing him to take a moment to pause.

“The truth is, my mom’s the only one I got left.” He admits. “All my dad did when he was still around was drink. Sometimes he’d even beatme, or my mom.”

“Then one day my mom found out he was cheating on her and threw him out. We found out the next day he crashed his car and died on impact.” He finishes. “I dunno how that bastard Kikku found out, but he told the whole goddamn team…”

“And as you can probably guess, I lost it and hit him.” He explains. “It was like he wanted me to do it though. He called it an ‘act of violence,’ and shut the team down…”

“Thanks to that, the other guys that were on the team treat me like some kinda traitor…” He finishes. “And they ain’t wrong, either. ‘Cause of me, they all lost their shot at the championship.”

“You likely regret ruining your teams chances, but would you go back?” I ask, a bit curious.

“To the baseball team? Nah…” He confesses, looking down. “How could I after what I did…?”

“Anyways, it doesn't matter now. That’s all in the past!” He exclaims, looking happy again. “The only thing I’m thinkin’ about now is the future! That’s what we’re gonna do-build the future!”

“So, we gotta think positive thoughts, brother!” He exclaims, before going in for a high five, which I return. After which, a similar feeling to when I first bonded with Hayai returns.

“Hey, that reminds me.” Hayai begins, looking thoughtful. “When we were goin’ though the Palace, I was wondering, you know how knocking down a Shadow gives us the chance to do something else?” He asks.

“Yeah, what about it?” I ask, curious about where he is going with this.

“Well, what if, when we knock a Shadow down, we pass the extra turn off to someone else? You know, in case you or I can’t hit another Shadow’s weakness or something.” He explains, causing me to think.

“You know, that sounds like a good idea. Let’s test it out in the Palace soon.” I admit, deciding to talk about it with Abigale later tonight.

“Cool. Well c’mon, that’s enough of a break, let’s get a couple more laps in, and call it a day.” He suggests. “By the way, you’re not too bad at runnin’.”

“Not as good as me though!” He jokes, before taking off for his next lap, which I follow behind. After a few more laps, we’re wiped.

“Holy… crap… My legs’re shakin’... Don’t collapse on your way home, man… Later!” Hayai says, before hobbling home on shaky legs, while I do the same, hoping the ride home is uneventful.

---------------------

When I get back, I notice Roast-san waiting for me.

“Just ‘cause you seem to be takin’ school seriously, don’t mean I’m not keeping’ an eye on you, got it?” He asks rhetorically. “I’ll know what’s what as soon as I see your grades.”

“Wanna prove you’re turnin’ over a new leaf? Make studying a habit as second nature as breathing.” He orders, before leaving me to myself. I end up walking upstairs, Abigale hopping out of my bag.

“You know this place looks pretty desolate. Hey, I have an idea. Bring that chair to the middle of the room.” She orders, and I do as such.

“You can probably reach that beam on the ceiling if you stand on this chair, right?” She asks, to which I nod.

“I should be able to.” I reply, looking up at the beam.

“Alright! Let’s train your body using that ceiling beam!” She exclaims, happily. “I’ll be leaving you in charge, but you’ll need to train your body too.”

“We’re going to whip you into shape, as long as we have the time.” She says, before letting me put the chair away, at the end of my bed. That’s when I recall my conversation with Hayai earlier, and walk over to talk to Abigale, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“What’s up, Hexan?” She asks, looking up at me.

“I wanted to run an idea by you. It’s something Hayai came up with, and I think it’s a good idea, but I want your input.” I explain.

“Alright, run it by me. What’s the idea?” She asks, tilting her head.

“Basically, when someone knocks a Shadow down, the person who did it could give their advantage to someone else, if they themselves don’t have a way to attack weaknesses.” I explain, hoping I explain it right.

“Hmm. It sounds possible. And trading turns like that would also confuse the Shadows a good bit too, making them less on guard, allowing us to do more damage too!” She exclaims, looking excited. “What should we call it? Since I’m on call outs, it might be a good idea to have a name for the trade off.” She explains, giving me a moment to think.

“How about Baton Pass? You know, like in a relay, passing the baton onto someone else.” I suggest, getting a nod from her.

“That sounds perfect. You might want to run it by Miss Rirī when you get the chance. How will we do it?” She asks, looking curious.

While thinking about it, I recall earlier today, when me and Hayai were excited during training and high fived, which gave me an idea.

“How about a high five?” I ask, hoping it’s good enough.

“That sounds good. I’ve seen them around your school a bit, so it should work. I might need some time to get it down though, so I won’t be able to do it right away…” She mumbles.

“That’s alright, we’ll try it when you’re ready.” I say, petting her, getting a smile.

“Thanks. Anway, what’s on the agenda for tonight?” She asks.

“Well, I was thinking about a couple things. I could probably read or study downstairs, if there weren’t any customers.” I suggest, after realising that Roast-san hasn’t given me permission to explore at night yet.

“Let’s see if we can get the place clear then. You need to study more than they need coffee.” She points out, so we head downstairs. When we get downstairs, I notice a pompous man sipping at his coffee, and that’s about it. So I decided to walk up and talk to him, causing him to look up.

“Ah, I apologize if I have overstayed my welcome.” He says.

“No apologies necessary, that’s not why I’m here.” I explain.

“Alright. Well, I finished working a critique for work, so I am partaking in a moment’s rest.” He continues. “The ambience of my favorite cafe at closing time… This perfect silence soothes my very soul.”

“The TV’s on, though.” Roast-san points out.

“Well, I’ll be going home then.” The pompous man says, before packing up and leaving. After looking around for a moment, I noticed some books on the counter.

“This place… It looks perfect for relaxing while reading a good book.” Abigale points out, to which I nod. After a moment, I take a seat, and look though my bag, before pulling out ‘Memoirs of an Assistant’.

“Hmm…? You gonna use the store for somethin’?” Roast-san asks.

“Yeah, I was thinking of doing some reading.” I explain.

“Well… Don’t leave a mess. I’m headin’ home.” He says, before taking off.

I end up spending a few hours reading though the book, and Abigale comments a bit while I do.

“This Tasukete guy sounds pretty interesting. I mean, going out of his way to search a whole city just to find a single book, it’s pretty extreme, but he seems pretty knowledgeable about what he does.” She points out, as I continue reading.

After a few more hours, I end up stopping about halfway though, because of a migraine, catching Abigale’s attention.

“Hm? Oh, I didn’t realize how long you’ve been reading. So, how far did you get?” She asks.

“About halfway, I think.” I reply, holding my forehead.

“Guess you still got a bit to go then. You should finish it later.” She says, to which I nod, and head up to bed.
> Chapter 11 - Back in the Palace.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/20 Wed

On the way to school, I managed to grab a seat.

“Hey, we actually get to sit down today!” Abigale exclaims quietly. “And don’t you have a book you haven’t finished yet?” She reminds me, nudging ‘Memoirs of an Assistant’ into my hand, so I can finish it.

After a couple of minutes reading, I notice Abigale deep in thought, but decide to focus on my book. After a while longer, I manage to reach the end.

“Wow, so you’ve finished reading ‘Memoirs of an Assistant’.” Abigale says, smiling. “Tasukete sounds amazing, going to extraordinary lengths just to help someone, and always knowing how to do it too.”

“I bet reading it helped you learn a thing or too as well.” She points out, and she’s right, I do feel a bit smarter.

“You know, isn’t ‘Tasukete’ the name of your Persona as well?” She asks, to which I nod. “Huh. I wonder if that’s a coincidence or not…” She mumbles, as the train rolls into the station, allowing me to continue on to school.

---------------------

While walking to the school gate, I overheard another conversation.

“Ugh, I spent way too much on new clothes this month. Now I’m broke…” A girl who sounds like she loves fashion, groans in disappointment.

“Guess you’re getting yourself a job. Those job magazines they have at the train station are useful.” A much more mature looking girl mentions, probably trying to help her friend.

“Maybe I’ll swing by the Shibuya underground and pick one up after school.” The fashion girl says. “Then again, work’s for losers. I hope I find something easy.”

After that, I just continue on to class.

---------------------

During class, my phone goes off. ‘This is going to be a thing now, isn’t it?’ I think to myself, pulling my phone out.

<Man, we need some cash.> Hayai starts us off, while I listen to the rain outside.

<Why are you bringing that up now?> Rirī asks.

<Well we can get all sortsa weapons and meds and shit now…> Hayai comments. <But we can’t actually buy any of it without some dough.>

<We’ll just need to earn some cash. As well as hope we’re lucky with Yen drops from Shadows.> I mention.

<Don’t make it sound so easy. I think you get more than us too.> Hayai says, but I ignore it for now.

<Why don’t we get part-time jobs?> Rirī suggests.

<I dunno, I don’t really feel up to it…> Hayai groans in protest. <Oh, shit.> 

<I’m in class!> He continues. ‘Did he only just remember?!’ <Sorry, I gotta leave the chat for now. Seeya!> He finishes, before we all sign off for now.

---------------------

When class finishes, Abigale pokes her head out of my bag.

“We could probably sell the useless loot we finish in the Palace, so we can make some quick scratch for the war funds, but…” She starts. “Like Rirī said--a part-time job might be the better bet.”

“I recall some girls mentioning some job magazines at Shibuya Station, right? Maybe you should take a look at some point.”

“Yeah, perhaps. And we might get some opportunities to learn more skills too.” I point out, before deciding to return my book. While walking though the hallways, I notice Hayai off to the side by one of the staircases, and wave as I go past. There are also a pair of volleyball team members gossiping, and a school newspaper member. I end up deciding to talk to her.

“...Hmm? You know, I don’t know why you’re just casually coming over to me, it’s not like we know each other…” The newspaper girl mutters.

“It’s not too big of a deal, I just know that as a member of the newspaper club, you probably know more about this school than anyone else.” I explain.

“That is true, I guess… You do know that angering Kikku was a bad idea, right?” She asks rhetorically, before going quiet, so I go on my way to the library.

When I get in the library, I notice a diligent-looking student studying at one of the smaller, round tables in the room, before talking to the receptionist student behind the desk.

“What do you need?” She asks, before I pull out ‘Memoirs of an Assistant’.

“I’d like to return this book, Miss.” I explain, place the book on the desk.

“So you're returning ‘Memoirs of an Assistant’? Alright, I’ll mark it as returned.” She says, doing so. “Do you need anything else while you’re here?”

“I’d like to borrow a new book, if that’s okay?” I ask, hoping there are some available.

“Sure thing. Here is the list of books available that you may like.” She explains, sliding the list over. Looking it over, I eventually decide on ‘Struggles of a Pitcher’.

“Ohh, that’s an interesting one. It’s about a baseball player who was struck by lightning while holding a metal bat in a storm. When he awakens from the short coma as the result, he ends up being told by everyone that he will be unlikely to play again, but he ends up proving them all wrong, and manages to win his team the whole season.” She explains, sounding passionate.

“That sounds pretty motivational. I’ll take it.” I say, smiling.

“Of course, just let me stamp it.” She says, doing so before passing it to me, after which it’s in my bag. After saying bye to the receptionist, I decide to head up to the hideout, even though it’s raining pretty hard, and send Abigale to fetch the team.

After a couple minutes, likely because Abigale is trying not to be seen, Hayai and Rirī arrive, and we end up speaking just under the small bit of roof which is over the entrance to the roof, keeping us dry as we talk.

“Alright team, I’m sure you all know, but our deadline is May 2nd.” Abigale explains.

“So we just have to go to the castle and steal the Treasure from Kikku, right?” Rirī asks.

“Um, I’m kinda curious, but what would the Treasure even be? I wanna know before we do anything.” Hayai explains.

“The Treasure is the physical form of the Palace ruler’s distorted desires.” Abigale explains. “In other words, it’s the core of the Palace. Once we steal it, the Palace will crumble… I think…” She mutters uncertainty. “Having said all that, even I don’t know what Kikku’s Treasure is going to be.”

“Do you have any idea where we will find it?” Rirī asks, sounding curious.

“There’ll be no way of knowing until we go in and find out.” Abigale points out. “But if I had to guess, I’d say he has it locked up somewhere in the depths of the Palace.”

“Eh, I think I get it now. So we go in, find our way through until we locate the Treasure?” Hayai confirms.

“Pretty much. We don’t know much, so this is the only way forward.” Abigale agrees. “In any case, our objective is to find the Treasure’s location somewhere in the Palace.”

“Let’s make sure we go about this with time to spare so we can avoid any unforeseen circumstances.” Abigale finishes. “...I’m expecting big things from us, guys.” After that, we take a few minutes to relax, before I lead everyone down to the alleyway, and we go into the Palace.

---------------------

“But daaamn…” Hayai says, looking Rirī over.

“Hm? What’s up?” She asks, looking at him. ‘She probably forgot about her outfit.’ I think to myself, noticing that her mask covers the top half over her face, almost looking like it connects to the small devil horns on her head, while being the same colour as them, dark magenta. The mask has what looks like light magenta eye shadow around the eye holes, which perfectly match Rirī’s eyes. There isn’t much more detail than that though.

“Uh… N-Nothing. I was just thinking we should think up a code name for you too.” Hayai blurts out, but makes a good point.

“A code name?” Rirī asks, sounding curious.

“I’m Slugger, he’s Joker, and that’s Gale.” Hayai explains.

“Judging by your costume…” Abigale mutters, also looking her over, but in a different way to Hayai.

“I mean, she’s got that tail and wings, so…” Hayai mutters. “Whadda you think, Hexan?”

“Dancing Demon?” I suggest, not having thought about it.

“Wait! Is that what you plan to call me here!? I’m so not down with that name!” Rirī exclaims.

“What would you wanna be called, then?” Hayai asks her.

“Um, something better than just a regular demon…” She mutters.

“Maybe… ‘Succubus’?” She finally says, after a bit of thinking. “That sounds like a match, doesn’t it?” She asks.

“I guess it does, but are you cool with being called something like that?” Hayai asks.

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t.” She points out.

“Alright, we have that settled.” Abigale agrees.

“More importantly, Kikku…!” Rirī starts.

“Oh, right. Let’s get going!” Hayai says, and we walk over to the courtyard in front of the castle.

“Alright, let’s start fresh and get goin’!” He says.

“It’s game time from this point forward!” Abigale agrees. “I’ll teach you guys what I know about Palaces as we go.” She finishes, then we go to walk in, before I see a flash of blue light to my right. Looking over there, I notice a tall, blue, transparent, cell door, with Justine beside it.

“My master would like a word with you.” She explains, causing me to nod and follow her in.

---------------------



When I get through, I’m back in the Velvet room’s cell, with the twins and Igor outside. 

“The prisoner, Hexan Tronic, has returned.” Caroline says, in her now usual forceful manner.

“Well done. It seems you remembered my words…” Igor praises. “You truly make it worth rehabilitating you.”

“What does ‘rehabilitation’ mean?” I ask, because of an odd feeling I get each time he says it, and he just chuckles, before speaking again.

“I am not attempting to withhold information from you.” He explains. “The essence of the rehabilitation that you must complete will be explained in due time.”

“Once you encounter friends who share your aesthetics and discover your place in reality…” He begins. “...Only then, will I explain more.”

“Such a day should not be too far off.” He finishes.

“This time, I wish to introduce you to the aid we are providing.” He explains.

“What kind of ‘aid’...” I ask, a bit warily.

“Due to your potential in wielding the power of the wild card, you can handle more than one Persona.” He continues. “That power holds infinite possibilities. We will assist you in nurturing that potential.”

“...To that end, we must execute your Persona.” He finishes, shocking me, as well as I think Tasukete.

“Do not be alarmed. Personas are personalities that exist within you…” He continues with a chuckle. “Thus, you will only be discarding old personalities to have them be reborn as new ones.” He finishes, before Justine holds up her clipboard for me to see, and I can see a list of my Personas on it.

“By discarding your old identity, you give way to a new one. Hence, we call that process ‘execution.’” Igor continues to explain. “Think of it as the fusion of your Personas.”

“Now then, let us try an actual Persona fusion.” He finishes, gesturing to Justine.

“To start, select the first Persona to fuse.” He orders. I select Jack-o’-Lantern by pointing to it’s name on the list.

“Now, before you select the second Persona, allow me to tell you something greatly important.” He says. “Do you remember how I mentioned forming bonds with Confidants?” I nod, showing I do. “Personas are the power of the heart… The stronger these bonds, the stronger your Personas will be.”

“In other words, the effects of your bonds on execution… or fusion, if you will, are quite substantial.” He continues. ‘Wow, does he love to talk.’ I think to myself as he continues. “When you fuse a Persona that shares its aracana with one of your bonds, it will gain great power.”

“This will be a guiding principle for your dorays into fusion… Try not to forget it.” He finishes explaining that part. “Moreover, there is one thing I must warn you about.”

“You will be unable to create a Persona that is stronger than your own heart.” He explains, while I notice a number near the top of Justine’s clipboard flash, which I guess is the numerical number for my heart's strength, being 5. “This is because the resulting Persona would be too powerful for you to handle effectively.”

“Now then, check the fusion results and choose a Persona that suits your stature.” He finishes. After he finishes speaking, I point to Pixie on the list, which makes the clipboard generate a hologram of the result, I guess. It appears to be Incubus. “This is the form you new Persona is expected to take after fusion.

“When fusing a new Persona, you can select skills for it to inherit from the base Personas.” Igor explains. “By making use of this, you will be able to grant Personas skills they normally could not obtain.”

“But of course, there’s no need to think on that now. For the time being, select whichever you want.” He finishes. After looking over my options, I look over at Igor.

“While all of these are interesting options, I can only fuse one Persona with what I have. And to be honest, I’m not really interested in fusion what I have right now. Would it be alright to hold off until I’m stronger?” I suggest, hoping he will agree.

“But of course. It is up to you to decide when and what to fuse. If you think what you have will suffice, then that is fine. I will take the time to explain a few more things, of course, before you go.” Igor explains. “Make time to gather new Personas, and bring them here. Gather a great many, execute them, and continue to give birth to even stronger Personas.”

“Developing your powers as such will play an integral role in the stand against ruin.” He finishes.

“So that your rehabilitation goes well, we have a variety of rituals to choose in regard to executions.” Justine explains, in her usual, emotionless tone.. 

“And depending on the effort you put in, our master might consider further development of new rituals.” Caroline explains in her own, confident voice. “Cry your tears of joy, inmate!”

“Your heart is steadily gaining the strength of rebellion.” Igor explains.  “It seems your rehabilitation is proceeding smoothly-a joyous fact indeed…”

“In anticipation of this, I have a gift prepared for you. I hope that you shall accept it.” He finishes. ‘I guess I’ve deepend my connection to Igor.’ I think to myself. “That is a thief’s skill, allowing one to tap into their sixth sense and see what is hidden in the dark.”

“I believe you can handle it now. May you continue devoting yourself to further rehabilitation.” He finishes.

“...Now then, if you have any requests, we will heed them.” Justine says. After a few moments to think, I decide I’m done and head back to the Palace.

---------------------

When I walk out I head the door close behind me, and notice my team walk over.

“Is something wrong? You were just standing around all of a sudden.” Abigale asks, looking concerned. ‘I guess to them I wasn’t moving…’

"Why’re you spacin’ out like that? ...It’s kinda hard to tell what you’re thinkin’ sometimes.” Hayai points out.

“Either way, we’re counting on you, Joker!” Abigale finishes, before I get ready to tackle the Palace.



Now that I’m ready, I activate my Meta-Radio and climb in though our entrance, the team right behind me. When I get inside, I decide to attempt using the skill that Igor gave me. After focusing for a moment, everything around me dims, while a nearby urn glows a slight golden colour. So I go over and smash it open, and find what appears to be a fruit?

“Huh? What’s that Joker?” Slugger asks, wondering why I did that.

“Some form of fruit, I think. Since it comes from this world, maybe it’ll help us?” I suggest, stashing it in my bag, then heading through the same door as last time. Inside, I don’t see any Shadows, and decide to try the skill again, noticing a glowing vase this time, and smash it, revealing a crushed shield? ‘Huh, guess this is just random junk or items.’ I think to myself, stashing it away in case it’s got value. Once I’ve stashed it away, I lead us to the corridor that lead to the room we rescued Succubus.



After a moment of thought, I decide that we’re done in there, and continue on, hoping to get some training. The Armory has three Shadows in there, and I quickly amush one, revealing a pair of Mandrake. It’s over quick as me, Gale, and Slugger beat one down with melee, and Succubus burns the last with Agi. Slugger points out how easy it was, as I turn and Ambush the second one.

During my attempt, I get noticed, not quite used to this place yet. After a moment of thought, I try running back to the room that had the vase, but I don’t hear anything chasing us. Once I think it’s clear, I turn to apologise to my team.

“Sorry for being sloppy there. I didn’t expect him to turn around.” I admit, rubbing the back of my head.



“It’s alright Joker, we’re all mostly pretty new to this, so it’s alright to mess up every now and then.” Gale says, then once we’re rested, I return to the armory, where a new Shadow has replaced the one we killed, so I decide to deal with it first, being more careful this time. This time it’s a pair of Incubus, which I quickly gun down, leading to us using an AoA on them.



Continuing to be careful, I sneak up and ambush a second Shadow, revealing a pair of Jack-o’-Lanturns. After a moments thought, I slash one, then order Gale to use garu on the both of them, killing them off. Then I sneak around and ambush the last Shadow in the armory, which is another pair of Incubus. I use my pistol to almost kill one of them, then decide to try out the Baton Pass, giving Slugger a high five, after which he uses his shotgun to kill the injured one, but missed the other. Then Gale takes a turn, knocking the last one out of the sky and we surround it. After a moment, I make a decision.

“I’d like some money, thanks.” I say, then it nods.

“Sure thing, you already have one of me in you, so I’ll give you a bonus too.” He says, tossing some money, then taking off. Once that’s done, and I’m sure the room is clear, I head into the next hall, which leads to the safe room, where I notice a Shadow now patrols here. Ambushing it reveals two more of the pumpkin ghosts. After a quick two shots into one of them, I pass the baton to Slugger, and he finishes it with two shots from his gun, killing them both.

Once that’s done, I head into the safe room. Once inside, Succubus notices the rooms odd nature.

“Hey, what’s wrong with this room?” She asks, a bit concerned.

“This is a safe room.” Gale explained simply.

“Yeah, still not getting it.” Succubus says.

“It is a bit confusing.” Slugger admits. “Uhh, basically it’s some kinda spot where Shadows can’t find us.”

“Huh… I wouldn’t expect a place like this to exist here.” Succubus admits. “So, what do we do in a ‘safe room’?”

“Take a break, of course. Oh, and we talk about how far we think we are.” Slugger explains.

“Huh… Those sound useful.” She admits. “Guess I’ll rest for a bit too then. Let me know when we’re ready to head back out, Joker.” After that comment, they all take a seat, in their own way, around the table. After a moment of thought, I take a seat too.

“So, do you think the Treasure is close or far off?” Slugger asks.

“Didn’t we just get in here? Based on how the castle looks, we still have a long way to go.” Gale points out.

“I’m still having trouble believing a phone app took us somewhere like this.” Succubus admits.

“Well, not all of us need that app, y’know… Gale can come in on her own.” Slugger points out.

“That is true, though I would prefer to go in with you guys.” Gale says, while sitting on a small stack of books on the table.

“So wait, what’s the deal with those soldier things that are serving Kikku?” Succubus asks. “They transform into weird monsters whenever we fight them…” 

“You’re talking about the Shadows, right?” Gale asks, to confirm.

“What are Shadows…?” Succubus asks.

“Yeah, I’ve been wonderin’ about those guard dudes too. What’s their deal?” Slugger asks.

“I can try to explain it… but it’ll be complicated. Do you want to hear?” Gale asks, leaving the decision to me.

“It’d be good to know. The more we know of our enemy, the better chance we have of winning.” I point out.

“Alright. Deep in the innermost depths of every human’s heart lies their true personality-their Shadow.” Gale starts explaining. “So it’s not that the guards are transforming into those things… Those are their actual forms.”

“The reason they look like god and other mythical beings is because they spawn from the human psyche.” She continues.

“Wh-Whoa…” Succubus mutters. “But wait, what are they doing in Kikku’s castle to begin with?”

“It seems like large distortions like a Palace draws them in.” Gale continues. “Once they’re here, their forms change and they become underlings for the Palace ruler.”

“When you think about it, the Palace ruler is just the Shadow of whoever owns the Palace…” She continues. “Maybe these places have something to do with the worlds in our minds, or the collective unconscious…”

“Oh, alright. That kinda makes sense.” Slugger agrees.

“Either way, we don’t need to think about it too hard. As long as this Palace exists, these Shadows will serve Kikku and attack us.” Gale finishes.

“Got it. Think we’re rested enough everyone?” I ask, getting up, as well as getting agreements from my team.

With that finished, I lead my team through the new door.

“Keep in mind that we haven’t explored past here yet. So try to keep an eye out for anything suspicious as we go.” Gale reminds me, as I notice a Shadow walk out from behind a pillar. After quickly sneaking up and ambushing it, I find a pair of Mandrakes. So my team quickly attacks one with melee, then Succubus burns up the second, killing them both.



When that’s over with, I sneak ahead and find the second Shadow in the room, and ambush it, finding a Bicorn. I decide to just beat it down with melee until it dies, but not after a few missed attacks from my team, as well as Slugger taking a lunge head on.

Now that the room’s clear, I back track a bit, going down the other side of the long table in the room, where, after using Thief Vision, I find two glowing objects, a wooden box, and a barrel. While the box only had another crushed shield, the barrel held a pearl. Looking around the room from on top of the shelves where the barrel was, I notice another set of shelves, with another glowing barrel, so I quickly go over and smash it open, getting a strange looking lanturn.

With the room clear, I head to the next door and head through it, finding a hallway, with sofas, and a Shadow, which turns out to be a single Bicorn, after I ambush it. I end up taking a hit while it’s on its last legs, then pay it back by slashing it with the blade of my cane, after we all have a turn beforehand.

At the back of the hallway, I find a small set of shelves, with a volleyball on it, which glows in my special vision, so I break it open, finding a dull sword, then head through the door to the right of it, finding a somewhat broken staircase going up. Noticing a wooden box, I break it open, finding a third crushed shield.

Heading up the spiral staircase is pretty easy, even though it’s collapsed partway up. The rug certainly helps. At the first doorway, the stairway is too broken to continue up, so going through the doorway is the only path forward, after smashing a barrel of course, getting some silver cutlery.

When we get into the hallway from the stairs, I notice another Shadow, with it’s back to us.

“Damn… There’s one here too…” Slugger says, sounding a bit annoyed. “Oh well… Guess we just gotta ambush it from behind again…”

“Well sure, if you want to do it the normal way. But there’s a more stylish route!” Gale says, getting my attention, without getting the Shadow’s. “You see those sofas on the sides of the hallway? Try hiding behind those so you can get closer to the enemy.”

“Once you’re in range, jump on it and rip it’s mask off!” Gale says, leaving it to me.

“Whoa… That does sound pretty damn cool…” Slugger mutters.

“Hey! This isn’t a movie!” Succubus reminds us.

“Joker, with your skill, you should be able to pull it off. Give it a go!” Gale says, staying back with the others.

When I get behind the sofa, I notice a look a bit darker while doing so, maybe a side effect of the Palace. I also notice a nearby sofa I can reach, so I quickly move over there. From the second one, I can reach the Shadow and jump up, ripping it’s mask off.



This time, it’s a pair of odd little blue gremlins, in jugs with a six pointed star in a circle. After my turn, trying my cane on it, Gale tries garu and knocks them both down, leading to me ordering an AoA, killing them both. With the Shadow dead, I turn around and smash the urn beside the door I passed, getting another dull sword, but the door is blocked, so we move on.



Down the hall, and passed the corner, I find another Shadow, and hind behind another sofa, ambushing it when it gets close. This time it’s another new Shadow, which look like a green skinned woman with long, somewhat messy green hair, which is tied back by cloth. She is wearing a long, red silk dress which covers her feet.

Deciding to try something new, I call out one of my Personas.

“Incubus, Life Drain!” I call out, the demon appearing behind me, draining some of the health from the right shadow, and giving it to me, healing me a bit. Gale then tried garu, but it doesn’t knock them down. On Slugger’s turn, he hits the hurt one with Zio, killing it, then passing the baton to Succubus, who hits the final one with Agi, killing it as well. With the battle over, I move back a little and break a volleyball on another shelf, getting another shield, then move on. Down the hall, I find another ball and smash it open, finding another of the fruits, then go through the door, finding a room with the center caged off.

“Look! There’s something in there.” Slugger points out, and looking in the caged area, I notice a table with paper on it. “But the bars’re blockin’ our way in…”

“If Kikku’s protecting it this securely, it has to be important.” Gale points out. “That means there should be a way in and out of there.”

“Joker, go you think you can solve the mystery of this room?” She asks. “I’m sure you observation skills will help you get through, considering all those brakables you found.”

Taking her advice, I activate my thief vision, then notice that one of the two black, metal ram heads is glowing blue, with footprints on the floor, leading to it, then around the cage. So I walk up and pull the chain leading from its mouth, then head around, finding a second pair of ram heads, with the footprints leading to another glowing head, so I some using my vision, and pull the second chain, opening the center up to us.

“Whoa…” Slugger mutters.

“As expected from you, Joker!” Gale compliments. Then I walk in and look over the papers on the table.

“What the hell? He had it all locked up and shit, but it was just some old map…?” Slugger asks, sounding disappointed.

“You’re not wrong, but you have missed the point. I hope you know how vital a map of this place can be for us.” Gale says, looking it over. After a moment, she points out areas we have been, as well as areas we haven’t. “Having this will give us a better grasp of the topography of the Palace.”

“It’s a true necessity for a phantom thief. This should make securing a route much easier.” Gale explains.

“Wait, does it say where the Treasure is on there?” Succubus asks.

“Oh… Actually, it seems this map is incomplete… There might be another one around somewhere…” Gale mutters, a bit disappointed.

“Mkay, let’s start checkin’ what we can. We’ll prolly find another map along the way somewhere.” Slugger points out. With map in hand, I head on to the other door out of the room, behind which I find a Shadow, but get behind a sofa and ambush it, only finding a Bicorn, so I just slash it down with my team, no one missing a hit, causing it to perish without getting a hit in.

Further down the hall, past the corner, I find another Shadow, which I proceed to amush, finding a pair of incubus. After shooting one till it’s almost dead, I pass the baton to Slugger, who finishes the job with his gun. Near the door that was behind the Shadow, I find a ball with an onyx in it, then head through the door.

Once through the door, the first thing I notice is big chandeliers hanging right in front of a balcony. 

“Whoa… Those are pretty big…” Succubus mutters, and looks over the balcony. “Hey, isn’t this the central hall you mentioned going through before?” I have a look over a nod.

“Yeah, I think it is. Guess we’re on the second floor of it now.” I reply, then look around. I first notice that the normal way around is blocked by bars. Then I notice some shelves we can climb, as well as a glowing vase and urn. The vase had a dull sword while the urn had another fruit.

Once up, we carefully climb around on the structures attached to the ceiling, until we reach some round wallways around the chandelier chains. Jumping over, they seem to be pretty sturdy. The second one had a hidden Shadow, which I attacked quickly, managing an ambush, revealing two more Bicorns. After me and Gale slash one with our weapons, Slugger uses zio on them both, clearing them out.

After the battle, the second walkway only leads to a third, which I jump to, then we finally reach the other side. Walking around the higher area we reached, I noticed an open window and climbed through it.

“Wait… ain’t this the entrance? So it’s connected to here…” Slugger mutters, looking around from the foothold outside the window.

“It looks like you can get down from here too… This would probably make a good infiltration point.” Gale suggests. Taking my time, I climb down, using some wooden structure to reach some stairs. Those stairs lead to a wooden area with barrels and boxes, which lead to the entrance courtyard we always enter from.

Once we’re down, I suggest taking a break, which we all agree on.

With that decided, we take a seat on some of the smaller barrels that sit around the castle’s gate. Everyone is mostly just relaxing, but every so often, I feel my gaze slip over to Justine, by the transparent, blue cell door that leads to the Velvet Room. She appears to be just standing around, looking at her clipboard every so often, but mostly just doing nothing. ‘Perhaps she is just there to let me in…’ I think to myself, keeping an eye on the timer I managed to set on my phone.

After ten minutes, the timer goes off, and I get up and stretch. “Alright team. Let’s get back to work.” I order, and watch the others climb back up the way we came, after which I follow. When we reach the window we left from, I turn and wave to Justine, who just nods, and I walk in too.

Once inside, I lead the team down from the ledge, to the floor, where we can see another set of bars that are blocking us from the central hall.

“I guess he really doesn’t want us down there…” Gale mutters.

“Yeah, but I think we’ll probably make our way there at some point.” I reply, and head through the open door to our right. This room has tables, chairs, as well as a glowing, locked chest. I head over to it and look it over.

“Ooh! A locked chest…” Gale says, sounding excited. “Since we don’t have a key, why don’t we use a lockpick instead?” She suggests. I nod and pull out the tool.

It takes a few minutes, but I managed to crack it open. When I open the chest, Gale is sitting on my shoulder, probably to get a good look in there. All that’s in there is a shiny, golden breastplate, and an onyx. Looking it over, I decide that the breastplate isn’t much good, and put it with the rest of my loot.

Looking at the other side of the room, I notice a distorted door and head right through.

“Another safe room!” Succubus exclaims, before the team checks it out for a moment, before sitting down.

“So, how’s our progress?” I ask, standing beside the table.

“Pretty good, but uh, Slugger… What are you smirking about over there?” Succubus asks.

“Oh, sorry ‘bout that. I was just thinkin’ back to how we crossed over those chandeliers earlier.” Slugger says, smiling. “I mean, don’t all this just make you feel like we’re real thieves?” Succubus just sighs.

“You know we still have a long way to go, right?” She asks.

“She’s got a point. Even looking at this optimistically, there’s still a lot ahead of us.” Gale comments.

“I know, I know… Don’t worry, I’m gonna keep giving’ this shit everything I got!” Slugger exclaims.

“Anything else, Joker? Or are we good to head out, now we’ve marked this room down?” Gale asks, looking at the map, where she has marked each safe room this far.

“Nope, let’s get back to searching.” I order.

“Alright, let’s go!” Slugger says, as we head out.

Once out of the safe room, I noticed a glowing volleyball on a shelf, with my special vision, and breaking that just gave us another of the crushed shields, so we head to the next room.

“If the map’s right, we still get a long way to go…” Slugger comments.

“Hey… Look to the left… There are some Shadows here too.” Gale points out. “Now, we can’t just keep blindly rushing into fights. First, we should ascertain how strong they are.”

“How’re we supposed to do that?” Slugger asks.

“Well, we’ll need to observe the enemy’s actions and get some insight into their skills.” Gale continues. “That should be easy for you, Joker, since you seem to notice things easier than us.” I just nod.



Deciding to use my special vision, I notice that the Shadow on the balcony has a soft, yellow glow around him. Heading down the stairs, I find another Shadow, and checking again, it also has a yellow glow. When I ambush it, it reveals two floating, green horses, with only a pair of front hooves, but no back.

We start off by me having Gale use garu on one, followed close behind by Slugger hitting that same one with zio, killing it, and allowing him to hit the second one with a second bolt of lightning, knocking it down into a hold up.

“Would you mind lending me your power?” I ask, while pointing my gun at it.

“...Then, let’s talk. Once me think me understand you better, then me lent you my power.” He says.

“Me not understand… How did a human outsmart me?” he asks. “Me not understand in what was you superior to me…”

“If I had to guess, I’d say I’m better at small talk.” I reply.

“You saying you very talkative? Me not want to be better than you at that. That all you.” He says. “..Humans not seem satisfied to only capture beasts. Me know you use us for other reasons too. If you capture me, what you going to do to me?”

“Not that I am, but if I had to choose, I think you’d make a nice coat.” I answer.

“Me think that kind of morbid, but also pretty interesting idea.” he replies. “Me remember talking to you before… Hrm! Me remember now…!”

“Me am not a Shadow that belongs here. Me exists in the sea of souls of humans!” He replies. “Me am Kelpie. My power is your power… Use it how you want.” He finishes, before turning into a mask. When the process finishes, I feel a pain in my chest.

“Joker! Are you okay!?” Succubus asks, running over.

“N...Not really…” I answer, clutching my chest.

“Maybe he hit his limit?” Slugger suggests.

“That makes sense. He hasn’t had his powers long, so he probably can’t hold too many right now.” Gale replies after a moment's thought.

“How can I deal with it then?” I ask, the pain growing a bit.

“If I had to guess, release one of your Personas.” Gale replies.

“But what would happen if I did that, wouldn’t they fall back under Kikku’s control?” I ask, a bit worried about releasing them.

“But if you don’t then I don’t think you can continue…” Gale mutters, worried.

“A...Alright. Let’s get back to the safe room first though, alright?” I suggest, and Slugger helps me up, and carries me back to the nearest safe room.

Once in the safe room, I feel inside myself, closing my eyes, and notice that I can feel seven Personas. After thinking for a moment, I grab at the one I recognize as Bicorn and pull it out, and I can feel a mask in my hand. Once I open my eyes, I notice that I’m holding what looks like my mask, but coloured like Bicorn. I place it on the ground, and after the usual blue flames, Bicorn is standing there.

“So, you’re choosing to release me, kid?” He asks. I shake my head.

“I don’t want to, but what choice do I have? If I choose to hold all of you, I’d just tear myself apart.” I reply.

“That’s not necessarily the case.” He replies.

“Huh?” I ask, while the others just watch.

“While that would be the case out there, in here the ruler has no power. If you left my mask here, I would still be yours, but you wouldn’t be holding me. Perhaps, in time, you may even be strong enough for some other way, but for now, this is the best bet.” Bicorn explains.

“So, I have to return to a safe room after capturing a new Persona, so I can offload?” I ask.

“Well you could go about it like that, or you could leave the ones you mightn ot need here, and just continue with a lighter heart.” He explains.

After a moment, I nod, and search myself, pulling out Incubus and Mandrake’s masks, placing them by Bicorn.

“So I just have to remember to come get you all before I leave, right?” I ask, to which they nod, and begin talking amongst each other. I go and sit with the team.

“Well. That's just another odd thing about your power.” Gale comments, to which I nod.

“I wish there was someone who could explain what I can do.” I reply. “So, we heading back out?” I ask, and with a trio of nods, we head on out, back down the stairs.

Heading around the corner, I find a second corner, and around that, I find another Shadow. When I use my vision on this one, it has a red glow, which makes me feel wary, before I ambush it.



When it reveals itself, we find a red horse, with a knight riding it, a golden trident in its hand. With our advantage, I order Gale to shoot it, which doesn’t do much. Next I order Slugger to use zio, doing a bit of damage, while I have Succubus use agi, to little effect. On my turn, I slash it with my cane. After which it confusion from being ambushed wears off, and it cleaves Gale, knocking her right out of the fight, following it up with a slash at me, that I barely survive, while a final attack knocks Succubus out.

On the following turn, Slugger has his Persona lunge at it, doing good damage, while I feel something odd, and tug it, a two word command coming to mind. “Evil Touch!” I order, a faint silhouette that looks like Incubus appearing, and using the skill, making the enemy look fearful. In the back of my mind, I hear something. ‘That was a one time use, I’m outta juice.’ It sounded like Incubus.

Because of it’s fear, our enemy is too scared to do anything, allowing Slugger the chance to get another lunge in. After which I send in Kelpie with a lunge of my own, which appears to hit a weak point, killing it off.

With the battle over, me and Slugger take a moment to heal up Succubus and Gale with some medicine, then I eat some of the fruits we’ve been finding, which takes some of the pain away. When she comes too, Succubus uses a quick dia on her and myself.

“That was a really tough one…” Slugger remarks.

“I guess that’s what red means…” I mutter, recalling the outline it had before I ambushed it.

“Hmm? What was that Joker?” Succubus asks.

“When I focus on the Shadows, I can see a faint, coloured outline, most of the ones we’ve encountered have had a yellow one, but that one was red.” I explain.

“Hmm, perhaps it’s a kind of mental warning. Yellow must be about our strength level while red is much stronger than us.” Gale theorizes.

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll try to have us avoid any more reds, if I can help it.” I say, before leading on.

Down the hall, I break an urn and get another dull sword, then head up the stairs, where a yellow shadow awaits. Ambushing it reveals another of the green skinned women, and a pair of Incubus. I quickly knock the two Incubus down with a pair of gun shots each, before baton passin to Slugger, who finishes them both off with a shot each of his shotgun. After which Gale guards and Slugger hit’s the woman with a Zio, knocking her down into a hold up.

“Let’s chat for a bit, perhaps you’d like to join me.” I say, while holding her at gunpoint.

“If we must, but only if you’re to my liking.” She says. “Hmm… You can’t take a hint, can you? I’ve been sending you serious ‘don’t speak to me’ vibes.”

“But it’s possible that we may never meet again…” I reply.

“To be honest, if you were to stop coming here, that would be preferable to me.” She replies. “You know, I’ve heard that human men have a proclivity to tease the woman that interests them. Is it not possible for this series of events involving you and me to be attributed to that?”

“What are you talking about?” I ask, sounding even to myself like and idiot.

“You’re far too obtuse. But, well, about that…” She replies. “That’s all I have to ask, and to be honest, you remind me of myself, which has helped me remember.”

“I am thou, thou art I. As I originated in the humans’ sea of souls, I think it best I return to a human.” She says. “My true name is Silky. From here on forth… I am yours.” She finishes, becoming my mask.



Searching behind where the Shadow was, I break another ball, getting an onyx. After that, I head down the hall, and turn the next corner, finding a large dining room. Hiding on the dining table, I quickly ambushed the nearest Shadow, which was yellow after I checked, revealing a Pixie, and two of the pot goblins.

Recalling their weakness, I have Gale use garu on one, then have her gun down the Pixie with her slingshot. Afterwards, Gale, Slugger and Succubus guard, and I slash the undamaged Shadow with my cane. After they get a few zios off on me, Slugger and Succubus, Gale uses garu to kill one, and knocks the other into a hold up, where I ask it for power, and after some simple, somewhat childish questions, I get a new mask.

Looking down the other end of the room, I notice another yellow Shadow, which I quickly ambush, revealing four Incubus. Gale quickly knocks them all to the ground, and we do an AoA, almost killing them all, then we just hit them with our weapons. Slugger smashing one with his bat, Succubus jumping up and gracefully kicking one in the head, me slashing with my cane, before the final one uses Life Drain on me, and Gale knocks it back down with her slingshot. I decide to ask for money, and after giving it to me, it takes off.

A nearby volleyball on a shelf hides a dull sword, and I notice Gale looking into a nearby room.

“Joker, a treasure chest! Let’s open it!” She says, and when I open it, I find an odd item. It appears to be a part solid, part gas object. “Oh! I was wondering when we’d find something like this.”

“Like what?” I ask, curious.

“I call these soul items. There are a fair few varieties, from the simple drop, to a full meal. Each one restores a bit of stamina, the bigger it is, the more it restores.” Gale explains.

“So this one’s…. What?” I ask.

“If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a snuff soul. It’s a pretty good one, but not as good as a Soma.” She explains.

“A Soma?” I ask, tilting my head.

“A Soma is the most powerful one of all. No matter how tired or battered you are, it will heal you up as if you’d never been hurt, and make you feel like you just had a long rest.” She explains.

“Wow. I hope we can find one at some point. Sounds useful.” Succubus comments, and we head on our way.

Heading out of the small room and over to the other half of the dining room which is separated by bars, with an open spot at each other, I find a third yellow Shadow, which becomes a pair of Silky after an ambush. After having Gale guard, I have Slugger use zio to knock one down, then he baton passes to Succubus who uses agi to kill the other, letting us hold up the remainder, who I get some extra yen out of.

Down the hall, I find the last Shadow in the dining room, which is another yellow, and when ambushed, revealed to be a pair of Kelpie. After Gale skips her turn by guarding, Slugger uses zio, knocking one down, but he looks fairly tired after doing so. After so when he baton passes to me, I give him the snuff soul, making him look better. After a few turns of guarding against the Kelpie’s garus, as well as them summoning more of themselves, Slugger gets his shot, and uses zio on them all, getting us into a hold up, where we use an AoA to kill them.

Heading into the next room, which appears to be a kitchen of some form, I find a single yellow Shadow, which is just a Pixie and a pair of Agathion. It’s simple enough to knock them all down and get an AoA that finishes them off.

Searching the kitchen like area, I only find a single glowing item, which was a barrel that held an onyx. Heading into the next room we find a yellow Shadow, which becomes a Silky with a pair of Incubus, which Succubus quickly clears through, with an agi on the Silky, and using her tommy gun on the Incubus.

After an AoA, one of them is still standing, but is quickly knocked down again and after a second AoA, is turning to ash as we walk away. After trying to go through the door, and finding it locked, I notice that the storage room we’re in has a bit of a draft, and after climbing up a shelf, I notice a vent, which I crawl into. I exit the vent on top of another shelf, in a room with a chest, and a Shadow.

“Look, a treasure chest! Let’s take whatever’s is in there too!” Gale says, sounding excited.

“But uh, there’s a guard there…” Succubus mutters, after having joined me on the shelf.

“That’s OK. Hey, Joker, do you think we can ambush it from here?” Gale asks. “It should be the same as hiding and jumping toward an enemy. Give it a try.”

Taking Gale’s advice, I jump down and rip the Shadow’s mask off, revealing an Incubus. Deciding to give it a break, I signal to the others to just use melee. After we all have a go, it’s just barely hanging on. What surprises me is that instead of attacking, it seems to surrender.

“Hey… C’mon, what do I have to do for you to let me live?” He asks.

“How about giving me some money, that might help.” I order.

“Alright, sure thing.” He says, tossing a good amount of yen at my feet. “This’ll satisfy you, yeah? Remember me when you use it.” The Incubus finishes, before taking off.

“You know, I didn’t really realise that even Shadows would beg for their lives… That’s fairly surprising.” Succubus comments.

“Shadows have emotions too, you know. Of course they’ll be afraid if you corner them like that.” Gale replies. “It might be worth purposely creating such situations to get them begging for their lives.” Gale finishes, and I open the chest, which just has an anklet in it.

Heading through the only door in the room, I find a short hall. Walking down it, I notice the other side of the locked door from before, and find the mechanizm to unlock it. Then I break one of the urns at the end of the hall, getting a candle stand, with wax dripping off it. All that’s left is a door, which opens up to a spiral staircase upwards. But first, I raid the wooden box on this floor, which had another shield in it.

Heading up the stairs, we find that on the first landing we find, the way upwards is blocked by bars, but we can go out into a hall, which leads directly to a safe room.

“All right! Looks like this place is safe.” Slugger comments, as the team takes a break.

“Alright team, how’s our progress so far?” I ask, standing at my usual place at the table.

“Phew… Well, there are definitely a shit ton of enemies ‘round here…” Slugger comments. “Hey Gale, how far in are we?”

“This still feels like the beginning stages. I don’t sense that the treasure is anywhere near here.” Gale replies, updating our map.

“I guess we still have a long way to go…” Succubus says, sounding a bit tired.

“Alright. Well let’s take a twenty minute break. We can afford that much, after that tough enemy a while back.” I say, taking out my phone and setting the timer, before just relaxing to the regular music that my Metaverse radio plays in safe rooms.

---------------------

Once the timer goes off, I get up and lead the team back out of the Safe Room. Outside the room, we quickly hide behind some sofas, because of a nearby Shadow. After ambushing it, we find another Silky, as well as another of the horse knights. I didn’t take long to use bufu with my own Silky, then guard through to Succubus’s turn, where she used agi on the enemy Silky, killing it, then, rather than going into an AoA, I order us to pull back, and Succubus passes her turn to me with a baton pass, before I slice the enemy down with my cane, finishing the knight off.

Down the hall after that, we go around a corner, to find a T intersection, and I choose to go straight, ignoring the Shadow that was down the right turn. Down this path, we find a room with a bookshelf in it. Before going up to it, I smash an urn, getting a helmet with a hole in it, before looking over the books, with my special vision. One seems to stick out to me. ‘What is this…?’

“Something catching your eye about that book, Joker?” Gale asks.  “Hmm… I guess we should take it with us, if you think it’s important.” So I do just that, noticing it’s called ‘The Slave Book’.

Heading out of the room, we find that a Shadow has appeared along our path, and ambush it, finding a trio of Agathion. It’s a tough battle, largely thanks to an Agathions endurance, but we manage to come out of it with only Gale getting knocked down.

Going back to the T intersection, we turn down the side path, and ambush the Shadow, releasing a pair of Silky, with an Incubus. It’s an easy battle, but I can tell my team’s starting to get tired.

Heading down the only path forward, we go around two more bends, and defeat another Shadow, a pair of Kelpie, and find a door, which leads to another set of halls. Heading straight from the door, we find a barred door, with another of the ram head chain switches.

“Hey, haven’t we seen this before? Don’t we just have to pull the ring?” Slugger asks.

“Wait, there’s a round indentation underneath… It looks like it won’t move unless we fill that.” Gale points out.

“So we need a key… I wonder where it could be.” Succubus comments.

“Let’s go look for it, Joker!” Gale suggests. I nod and step away, then while looking down the hall to our right, I notice another Shadow, which is only a Pixie and a trio of Agathion. It’s a difficult fight, and I think we’re beginning to slow down a bit too.

Down that same hall, passing through a cross section, I notice a vase, which I smash, and reveal another fruit, which Slugger eats. Heading back a few steps, I find and go through a door, to find a room with two tables, some chairs, and a bookshelf. Heading over to the bookshelf, I find another book that catches my attention.

“This one as well, Joker? Okay, let’s take it with us.” Gale says, as I stash it away, the title being, ‘The King Book’. Seeing there is nothing else in the room, we leave it, and head to the cross section that we passed through. This time, we turn left, heading down to find another T intersection, which we also turn left at, seeing as right would take us back to the start. Down the left hall, we find a ball with another onyx, and a door to a room similar to the last, but with a Shadow, some Silky and an Incubus. After the battle, I found a third book.

“What, you curious ‘bout that too?” Slugger asks. I nod and take it, noticing it’s called ‘The Queen Book’. Leaving the room, we return to the cross section, and look down the last hall, which holds a Shadow, a door on the left, and a locked chest down the end. Sneaking down the hall, I ambush the Shadow, finding a pair of Kelpie. The battle is quickly finished by Slugger, ending in an AoA.

After the battle, I walk over to the chest and look it over.

“It seems we can’t open it right now, since we don’t have any lockpicks on us…” Gale says, sounding a bit discouraged.

“It’s alright Gale, I’ll remember it, and come get it before we’re done here.” I promise, before turning and going to the door.

Walking through the door, we find a library, with the walls stacked with books, as well as ladders to reach the higher shelves, and tables and chairs for reading. I hear a cough behind me as we walk in.

“How dusty is this place? It’s like it’s barely used, or something.” Succubus comments.

“A library, huh? This definitely seems suspicious.” Gale comments.

“Whaddya mean?” Slugger asks.

‘Come on, it’s a library in a castle. There has gotta be some kind of secret mechanism in here.” Gale points out. “Let’s look around in here, Joker.”

Looking around the room, I don’t notice much, but when I use my thief's vision, I notice three glowing spots, the closest being to the right from the entrance. I head right over.

“Hm… Wait a second. The books on this shelf seem familiar.” Gale says, looking them over.

“These’re the names of the football team members!” Slugger realises. “Wait, what the hell!? All of the titles are boys from our school!”

“‘Hayai Tama: The Vulgar Ape.’ There’s one here for Slugger.” Gale reads aloud.

“That bastard! Who the hell does he think he is!?” Slugger yells out.

“Wait, didn’t we find a book earlier? What if we use it here?” Succubus suggests. I nod, and pull the three books out. Looking them over, I end up sliding ‘The Slave Book’ onto the shelf. Nothing happens, but I decide to look over the other two spots I noticed. Crossing the room, I find another open section.

“There are all sorts of books here… The titles don’t have any rhyme or reason to them.” Succubus says, looking them over. “Huh? This book… has Hikui’s name in the title…”

“Wait… It’s not just this one! All the books here are about female students!” She exclaims.

“‘Rirī Bēru: The Charming Doll.’ Holy shit…” Slugger mutters.

“What the heck is this…!?” Succubus exclaims. I end up sliding ‘The Queen Book’ onto the shelf, and head to the last open point.

“Let’s see here… ‘The History of Kikku’...” SLugger begins, reading their title. “‘Tracing Kikku’s Steps’... ‘Kikku’s Heroisms’... ‘Kikku’s Law’...?”

“What the hell!? All these goddamn books’re about Kikku!” He yells, as I slide ‘The King Book’ into the open gap. After I do, we hear a rumbling behind us, and turn to see one of the bookshelves slide back, and around a corner, revealing a hidden room.

“Whoa, it opened up!?” Slugger exclaims.

“You got it, Joker! Let’s take a look inside!” Gale says. As I go to do so, the spinning globe in the centre of the library pops open, and an object is glowing inside. “Ohh! I wonder what that is…” She says, hopping up and looking side, before gasping.

“Guys! This is a great find!” She says, holding up a strange crystal that appears to be glowing a soft purple and teal colour.

“What’s that Gale?” I ask curiously.

“It’s a Soma!” She says, hopping in place.

“Wait, you mean one of those things you mentioned before?” Slugger asks, looking it over after grabbing it.

“Yup! This should really help us out!” She exclaims, sounding excited.

“I agree. I have noticed that we appear to be getting sluggish.” I point out.

“Yeah, I have been feeling a bit tired, now that you mention it.” Succubus says.

“Why don’t we use it now? I mean, nows a good a time as any.” Slugger says.

“I agree. The sooner we get through this place, the sooner we take Kikku’s Treasure.” I say, taking the Soma. “So, how do we use it?”

“We stand around you, and you crush it, the energy inside should seek us out and fill us up.” Gale explains, hopping down from the globe and standing beside me.

“Alright then. Here we go.” I say, as Succubus and Slugger stand beside me, and I crush the Soma, watching in fascination as the teal and purple energy flows into our bodies. “Whoa…”

“That felt both weird and good at the same time.” Succubus says while stretching.

“I wonder if Doctor Ishi could recreate one…” I mutter to myself, decide to see if she can, next time I get one. “Alright team, let’s investigate that room.” I order, before leading the way in.



The sight of the room isn’t very pretty. The room is full of barrels, books, stockades, and another of the metal ‘X’s that Succubus was on before her Awakening. Oh, and a large stylised painting of Kikku surrounded by photos of Hikui.

“Ugh… The hell is this room? There’re tons of pictures of Pitchi in here!” Slugger exclaims. “Wait… It’s all pics of her…?” Succubus looks troubled by the room.

“Don’t worry, Succubus. We’ll make him pay for everything he’s done.” I promise.

“Yeah… Definitely.” She agrees. “I feel even more motivated to do this now…”

“I know this’ll feel awful, but we should search this room.” Gale suggests. “There has to be something in here if he was hiding it with such an elaborate trick.”

Looking around once more, I notice a shelf that catches my eye. Heading over, I notice what appears to be an award medal, which I take.

“Is this… a medal?” Succubus asks.

“That size, and that shape… I think that’s the key we need!” Gale remarks. “Remember that round indentation awe saw back near those bars?”

“Wait, under where the medal was, isn’t that a map?” Succubus asks, lifting the papers up.

“Oh…! Yes, and it’s a different map from the one we grabbed earlier! This is lucky… Let’s take it with us!” Gale suggests. “Aha! Our map’s complete now!”

“So is it gonna tell us where the Treasure is?” Slugger asks. After looking it over for a moment, Gale answers.

“Yeah, look. It has to be here...” She says, showing us an odd, upside down ‘U’ shape, with a rectangle coming from the top.

“That’s a weird-shaped building… Could it be a tower or something?” Succubus suggests.

“Considering our current position on the map… I’d say we’re about halfway through now.” Gale points out.

“All right! I guess if we got here on most of our energy, that Soma should carry us to the end.” Slugger suggests, and I nod, leading us out of the horrid room.



Exiting the library, we quickly make our way back to the barred door. Moving to the switch, I insert the medal, which fits perfectly, and the goat head slides down, allowing me to pull the chain, which unlocks the door.

“Sweet! looks like it worked.” Slugger cheers.

“Now we can keep going!” Succubus adds. Heading through the door, we find a staircase downwards, which leads to a Safe Room, an urn, which has some silver cutlery, and the path forward. After a quick stop in the Safe Room, we head out to continue raiding the castle.

The next room isn’t much of interest, but there is an urn with a strange, aqua coloured gem, that Abigale called a Life Stone, which she quickly explained that it heals us a good bit. After finding that useful item, we head into the next room, which appears to be a cathedral?

It’s a very large room, with stained glass windows, pews, large candle stands, as well as hanging flowers.

“Hold on, Joker!” Gale suddenly calls. “This place is huge… yet there are now guards? That seems suspicious to me…”

“But isn’t the Treasure up ahead? We don’t have many other choices but to keep goin’.” Slugger points out.

“I guess that’s true… but we should make sure to be ready before continuing.” Gale continues. “Do you think we should keep going Joker?”

“Yeah, I think we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.” I order, before leading the way. Part way into the room, I notice a large statue of Kikku at the end of the room. That’s when we see something else overwrite the cathedral.

“Wait, was that… the gym…?” Succubus asks.

“I get it… The gym’s some kinda holy place for him. He’s a god there.” Slugger comments.

“I can’t believe he can think like that… especially after what he did to Hikui…” Succubus continues.

“God, that bastard makes me so freakin’ sick! Just you wait, Kikku…!” Slugger declares.  

“I see… so you’re the ones who tampered with the library.” A voice says, from someplace we can’t see. “It seems my time waiting here has paid off…” That’s when one of the golden Guards appears from the ground.



“Just as that ape there said, this place is a holy ground for our great King Kikku.” The guard continues. “It is preposterous for miscreants like yourselves to come waltzing in like this.” It finishes, before revealing it’s true form, that of an armoured knight, with large, red feathered wings coming from it’s back.

“I knew this would happen! Well, we don’t have a choice! Let’s take it down!” Gale orders, as we prepare for battle.

With it’s initiative, the knight seems to prepare itself for something.

“Look out! It’s trying to do something!” Gale points out the obvious. We should make sure it doesn’t hit us unprepared!” With that advice, we all quickly shift to defensive stance. But even that doesn’t save Succubus, who is taken out with a single cleave of the knights sword, and she collapses.

When I get a chance, I switch to Silky, and use Dormina, without success. After Slugger has his Persona lunge the knight, Gale uses a heal to awaken Succubus, who unloads her gun into it.

Realising I’m in for a long fight, I order my team to guard when it charges up, and just use physical skills to whittle it down. Eventually, we manage to defeat it, but not without having to use our one Revivadrin.

“Didn’t realize those things could be that tough…” Slugger says, panting hard from the tough battle.

“Yeah… it looks like he’s making a concerted effort to stop us now.” Gale comments, resting against one of the pews in the room. “Joker, I’ve given assistance every now and then, but there isn’t any more time for lessons.

“I’ll write up a booklet in my spare time, with some useful info. I’ll let you know when it’s done.” She finishes. That’s when more guards appear, luckily they are the normal kind.

“Crap, more of ‘em…” Slugger mutters.

“What should we do? Head back?” Succubus asks, looking tired from the fight.

“No, the Treasure is definitely up ahead, and there has to be a path to it somewhere.” Gale mutters, looking around. “Let’s search around, Joker.” With that over with, I quickly hide on the pews, and make my way to the edge of the room, avoiding the guards. Unfortunately, just as I find a way to a higher floor, I’m noticed, but make it up before they can catch me, and begin searching the upper floor.

Using the outcroppings on the square pillars in here, I make it to another area, where we find a chest, which has a dirty bit of armour in it.

“That looks disgusting. Wait, isn’t there a laundry near the cafe? Maybe it could be of use, once it’s clean…” Gale mutters, looking at it in disgust. After that, I use the pillars, and some scaffolding that’s hanging from the ceiling to cross the room, where I find another chest. This one is guarded, so I sneak up behind it to open it, to find some wood clappers, then quickly return to the pillars to head to the last corner of the room.

Before I hope down, I notice a side path that leads me up near the Kikku statue, to a box, where I find another fruit inside. With nothing else to do, I hop down and go through the doorway. The doorway leads to a new hallway, with only one guard, around a corner. After giving Slugger the fruit, and crushing the life stone for myself, I amush the shadow, revealing a pair of the horsemen.

Since I already know they are weak to ice, I quickly take one out, with two bursts of ice .The others get some good hits in, before I knock the second one down with another burst of Ice, after which I let them mop him up.

After the battle, I check each door down the hall. The first on the left is locked, the second, on the right, has a chest, containing a sash of some kind. And the final room holds a Shadow, which I quickly ambush, which reveals a pair of Silky and an Incubus. After Succubus guns down the Incubus, Slugger uses Zio on the Silky, killing them both, and letting us AoA the Incubus.

Heading down the hall, I find another T intersection, and turn left, which leads to a spiral staircase, going up and down. The downwards spiral leads to a locked chest, while the upwards one leads to a door, which leads to an open rooftop. When look outside we can see the large tower we saw on the map.

“Hey, take a look at that!” Slugger remarks.

“Oh! That seems to match up with the map. There’s no doubt that’s the tower we’re headed for.” Gale confirms.

“So the Treasure’s up there!” Succubus cheers.

“Hell yeah, we did it! So… where’s the entrance?” Slugger asks. “All the way up there…?” That’s when a group of Shadows appear over the area, radiating strength. “Ugh, not again…”

“It’s no surprise that security would be tight around here.” Gale comments. “But as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained! Let’s go, Joker!”

I decide that before we go taking everyone out, we should check what we’re up against. So I ambush the closest one, revealing two Pixie’s, and a pair of the cavalrymen. After I use Bufu to knock the horseback men down, I pass my go to Succubus, who guns down the Pixies. An overall simple battle. I decide to take out two more, then move on.

When I get the chance, I break the one interesting box on the roof, which just has another helmet in it, then, finding that the door is locked, notice another way around, and begin climbing. Climbing up, I found two barrels, one with a candle stand, and another was yet another shield. Jumping along, we end up scaling the sides of the roof, to reach the base of the tower.

Getting inside the tower is simple. There was a large open window, which leads to a small room, containing a vase with another dull sword. The next room is much more interesting. Bits of floor are either lower, or higher than the rest of the room, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting the things on those pieces of floor.

“Wh-what’s going on!?” Succubus asks, surprised.

“The distortion is getting stronger… The Treasure has got to be nearby!” Gale exclaims. Looking around, I quickly break open an urn that was holding yet another sword, and continue down the only available path, down a short hall that has sculptures of what appears to be the torso of women, or young girls, no heads, while the arms appear to be inside the walls. All that’s visible is their chest, and stomach.

“Well, this is disturbing…” Succubus mutters as we walk, then she sees the next room, which has statues, similar to the ones we just saw, except they are wearing the uniform of the football team, as well as being used to hold up pillars. “This just makes me want to steal his Treasure even more.” She declares, then we continue on. I lead the team through a doorway to my right, which leads to an odd room.

“Huh… what’s this…?” She asks.

“Looking at it, I’d have to guess an elevator. Let’s wait until we have a rest before looking into it.” I suggest, turning around. The next room around this circular tower holds a guard, and a locked chest. ‘Guess I’m gonna need a few lockpicks before we take his Treasure…’ I think to myself, before ambushing the guard.



This guard turns into a new type of Shadow. She appears to have webbed wings, the inside being a reddy brown colour, while the limb is a more blue black colour. She is wearing black leggings that reach halfway up her thighs, and a leotard that barely covers her privates, as well as matching gloves, that reach halfway up her upper arms. I honestly get the same feel from her, as I got from Incubus, which makes me concerned.

I decide to feel out their attacks, going with only physical. Then they use a skill which makes Succubus and Slugger act odd. I figured it would be mentioned in Gale’s handbook, so I didn’t ask. When they get the chance, Slugger attacks Succubus, while Succubus attacks me, and I gotta say, her shoes hurt…

I end up finishing both enemies off, which seems to lift the odd effect from my team, who apologise for their momentary actions. Heading into the next room, I ambush the Shadow that was behind the door, which reveals the same Shadow that challenged us in the Cathedral, except this one feels weaker.

On one of his turns, Slugger hits it with a Zio, which knocks it down, and lets us know it’s weakness. Unfortunately, it survives an All-out Attack, but since we can put it asleep with a skill from Succubus, it’s a bit easier than before. By the time that Slugger gets to hit a second Zio, we finish him off quickly.

Looking around the room, we find that this is the last room of this floor, and also contains a Safe Room. So, after unlocking a door to the first of the four rooms, we enter the Safe Room to relax, grabbing some loot from an urn as we go.

After the break, we head back to the elevator to investigate. Back in the room, I lead the team onto the strange elevator and pull the lever, taking us down. It takes a while, but we end up in what appears to be a back room.

“H-Hey, where are we?” Slugger asks, seemingly confused. Looking around from the elevator, I can see some exposed gears that are turning, as well as urns and barrels. Clearing the room, I found a pair of helmets, and another opal. Other than that, we found another elevator that was missing, and what appears to be a painting of Kikku.

“What the heck…? This is disgusting…” Succubus says, sounding repulsed.

“Either way… it’s kind of strange that this would be our dead end.” Gale points out, sounding contemplative. Deciding that she is right, I walk up to the painting, and push on it, which reveals that it is actually a revolving door to the entrance hall.

“Huh? This looks familiar… Wait, isn’t this the entrance hall?! How’d we get here?” Slugger asks. “Wait, look. There aren’t any more soldiers around here, but there were tons before.”

Taking the chance, I quickly go and open the pathways to the second floor that were barred before, after which I head down to explore the ground floor of the room. Looking around, I find two chests hidden behind the stairs, one containing a bead, the other a revival bead. After unlocking the door to our main entrance, we head back up the stairs to look around. The only thing of note is a room with a chain, which after being pulled, starts up similar gears to the ones in the back room.

After heading back into the back area, I lead us down to the second elevator, which has risen, and decide to ride it down. When we reach the bottom, we appear to be in some sewers, or something like that. But the more important thing is the large pit in the middle of the area. There is a wooden platform over the pit, and I think I can see hinges, probably to a trapdoor. Looking around a bit more, I can see a viewing platform, where Kikku’s Shadow is sitting, looking bored. I can also see a cell door, similar to the ones in the dungeons.

What is even more surprising is the occupants of the cell, being a cognitive version of myself and Slugger.

“That bastard, what does he think he’s doing with us in that cell?” Slugger whispers, but still sounds pissed off.

“Judging by the rest of the room, I’d say this is an execution chamber. It’s likely that his cognition of whoever he expels will come here and be executed.” After Gale points that out, I notice a cognition of Puroguramu, cowering behind mine and Sluggers cognitions.

“So, what should we do Joker?” Slugger asks, readying his bat.

“Well there are two choices, we either break up this execution and hope the boys have something that may help, or we leave and hope we don’t need anything only they have.” I explain, before nodding. “I’m gonna go with option one.”

“Alright. We’re with you Joker.” Succubus confirms, readying her whip while Gale lifts up her dagger, as we sneak up and I ambush the golden knight beside Kikku’s Shadow.

“You again!? Here to crash my execution eh? Well, I highly doubt you’ll be able to take out one of my highest level of soldier.” Shadow Kikku says, backing away to the elevator as the Shadow knight finishes forming. And that’s when we all recoiled in disgust.



“No no no no! We are not really fighting that, are we!?!” Succubus asks, sounding like she’d rather be anywhere but here. This Shadow is truly massive, being on a large, golden chariot, with multiple blades snapping up and down at the front. The true monstrosity is the rider, if I could even call it that. It’s main body was a large, green snake-like thing, with veins and arms over it, as well as a mushroom cap head, and a gaping mouth. On the other end, are two large fleshy bulbs, as well as numerous tentacles.

“We don’t have a choice here Succubus, but focus on dodging for now, we’ll get our opening.” I order, doing so.

After dodging for a bit, I noticed that it only performed four skills. One that seemed to make it harder and faster, and maybe stronger after coloured energy surrounds it, one where it tries to hit us with its many tentacles, the hit’s resulting in brainwashing for a bit, a skill that has it shoot us with a strange substance, and Charge, which I recall the archangel in the cathedral using, which concerns me.

After dodging for two minutes, we manage to hide by the elevator, which is too small an area for it, but the elevator is gone.

“Damn it, how are we gonna beat this thing?!” Slugger yells in frustration.

“Well, considering what it’s based off, maybe a Bufu…” I mutter to myself.

“What was that Joker?” Gale asks, looking up at me.

“I’m thinking it might have a weakness to Bufu, but considering it buffs itself whenever it needs to, even that might not do much.” I confess.

“Well whatever you're gonna do, hurry it up, I think it’s gonna do that shooting attack again!” Succubus yells, hiding behind Slugger, who looks annoyed.

“Alright then, Silky! Bufu!” I order, pointing at the Shadow, as a blast of Ice crystals hit it, knocking it down. While it’s down, we quickly surround it, and all out attack, resulting in us chopping some of the tentacle/tails from the back off, and one of its arms. After we finish, we go back to hiding.

“Well, how’s it look. Any closer to being dead?” Slugger asks. It does look a bit slower than before. 

“Alright, we could try that again, but now it knows I’ve got it’s weakness…” I suggest.

“I think we should. Two or three more times and we got it.” Gale says, looking confident.

“That may be, but I won’t have much energy left for the rest of the Palace at that point.” I remind them, summoning Silky anyway.

“Wait, I’ve got an idea. Maybe we could use Bufu on one of our weapons. Maybe they could knock it down?” Gale suggests.

“Not a bad idea. Bufu!” I say, gesturing to Succubus’s boots, making them glow frosty blue, causing her to sigh.

“Alight, guess I’ll go knock it down…” She says, running out and kicking it’s head, knocking it over for another All out attack, and her boots were still glowing.

When it manages to get up, she stomps on it’s back, knocking back into a third All out attack. When it manages to get up once more, it appears to be drooping.

“This is it, let’s finish it off Joker!” Succubus says, sounding glad to have this be over.

“Silky, Bufu!” I order, before we follow the blast in for the final All out attack of the battle, finishing it off the battle that probably took about half an hour. As the unnamed Shadow fades into ash, Succubus turns to look at me.

“If at any point in our adventure I see you summon that, I will step on you like it did it.” Succubus says, glaring at me, fire in her eyes. I just nod, hoping I don’t end up summoning it myself. ‘She terrifies me sometimes…’ I think as we head over to the caged cognitions.

“What do you want, gonna kill us now like you did that think?” Cognitive Me asked.

“Nope. We’re here to free you.” I say, grabbing the nearby key and opening the cell. Mine and Slugger’s cognitions step out of the cell but Puroguramu’s stays curled up.

“If you say so. What’s the catch?” Mine asks, looking cautious.

“Got anything to help us reach the top of the tower?” I ask, thinking of the staircase higher up.

“Well, from what I know from exploring, the way up the tower is blocked by doors, each needs a key. Luckily, I took the master key from King Douchebag before he caught us. I stashed it in one of the kitchens.” My cognition explains. “If that’ll be all, I’m gonna take these two and get out of here while we can.” He finishes, getting Puroguramu’s cognition up, and heading for the elevator, my team following behind so we don’t have to wait.

Once this elevator reached the top of it’s mechanism, we all hopped off, and headed out the hidden doorway to the entrance hall.

“I hope you make it to whatever you're looking for.” My cognition says, before taking off out the front door. Deciding to grab the special key my cognition hid, we quickly stealthed into both kitchen-like areas, and found it hidden in a crate. With the key in hand, we headed back to the secret back room, and back up the elevator to the tower.

Leaving the elevator room, we took the clear route back to the stairs, which we head up, grabbing another shield and a life stone from some urns on our way up.

After unlocking the way with the key we got, we find that the next room is full of the benches with the lower half of the statues from before, but smaller, and appear to follow you, always pointing their behind at you. I find an urn with an opal, and ambush a Shadow.



This is a new Shadow, being an adult man, with a coloured owl head and wings. Playing on a hunch, I order Succubus to use Agi, which knocks it down, and we use an all out attack to kill it.

Sneaking up to a second Shadow, it reveals a pair of Incubus, with another demon looking woman, wearing a somewhat revealing outfit. They don’t last long, with Slugger managing to crit them all to death, while I take the time to get the new Persona, sharing Succubus’s name, I sent Jack-O-Lantern back to the safe room to wait for later.. We also found another lanturn in an urn.

Going up the stairs by that urn, we find a new chest, which has what is labeled as a Relax Gel. There is another with Baptismal Water inside. Using my thief vision, I find that both Shadows nearby are stronger, but I ambush them, deciding the experience is useful. I find a pair of the red horsemen, and a pair of Pixies. We beat them down with physical skills and crits. I use a life stone to heal up myself, while Gale uses Dia on herself and Slugger.

The other Shadow is radiating rage, but I ambush it anyway. This is another of the angels from the cathedral, as well as some Pixies. We kill the Pixies quickly, but the angel gets a strike in, knocking out Slugger, but a revival bead from Gale gets him up to finish it off with Zio, and an All out attack.

Heading up the stairs near where the raging Shadow was patrolling, I find an urn, and another locked door, which opens with the key we got. Raiding a box with a dull sword, we make our way further up. There are two paths, the first one, around the obstacle, is blocked by distortion, so we have to go over a pit, but the pit has swinging blades.

“Whoa, that was close…! Wait… What is this…?” Succubus asks.

“It’s a classic security measure. My tail might be in danger if we try to force our way through…” Gale mutters, looking concerned.

“Oh yeah, same for Succubus’s. So.. what do we do? No way we’re gettin’ through there as is.” Slugger agrees. Near the swinging path, is another statue of Kikku.

“Yo, you think this controls those swinging blades?” Slugger asks, and I try pulling it, but there is no reaction.

“I didn’t think it’d be that easy. We’ll probably need some kind of key for it.” Gale suggests.

“Wouldn’t the Master one we have be enough?” Succubus asks.

“I doubt it. Notice it’s eyes are missing? We’d probably need at least two keys to continue, and they might have to stay. So let’s keep the master key, and find the ones we need. Probably from higher strength Shadows if my guess is right.” Gale explains, and I nod.

“Agreed. Looks like we need to hunt a few more Shadows guys. Shouldn’t be much longer though.” I encourage, before leading the way back down. When we get down, we see that more guards have replaced the previous. I also notice that Tasukete has learned a new skill and decide to test it out.

“Tasukete, Dream Slash!” I order, and he slashes the enemy Shadow, it puts him to sleep, then on Sluggers turn, he crits, killing the enemy. The rest of the room is pretty easy, except for the golden knight of this room.



If I recall right, it was the Shadow we fought after Slugger awakened. And after beating it down, it dropped an eye.

“H-Hey, that Shadow did have something… But why the hell is it an eye?” Slugger asks.

“My guess is that it’s one of the two keys we need. We just need one more, let’s go Joker!” Gale says, and we head back down to the previous floor to look for more.

“Crap… They all look like high-rankin’ soldiers! Are we gonna have to beat all of ‘em!?” Slugger asks, annoyed.

“That could work, but I bet Joker can find the right one.” Gale suggest, looking at me, and I nod, knowing that my thief vision could probably help, and I notice the right one immediately.

“Let’s go.” I say, leading them down and ambushing the right guard. It was the same type of Shadow as the last, and we killed it just as quick, finding the second key eye on the ground afterwards.

“Sweet, we got both of that bastard’s eyes! Let’s go stop those swingin’ things!” Slugger cheers.

“Sure, but before that, let’s rest in the safe room, after we clear the area of course.” I say, having us do just that, the battles not being too difficult. After the quick rest stop, we quickly returned to the scythe hall. Reaching the hall, I proceed to insert the eye keys into the statue and activate the mechanism, causing the scythes to retract, stopping the trap.

“Alright! We can get across now!” Slugger cheers. Heading across the metal platforms, I notice a chest off to the side, which I jump the small gap to reach, finding a Soul Drop, basically a smaller, weaker Snuff Soul, which I use on myself and continue to the other side of the room. There is an enemy, they get some hits in, but they aren't too difficult, just a pair of the owl men.

Afterwards, I loot the chest they were guarding, holding a Revival Bead. There are some breakables around where the Shadow was, holding another helmet, and another fruit. Then, we head up to the next floor.

This room has many busts of Kikku, which have glowing eyes and follow our movements, as I break an urn and a crate, which hold a fruit and onyx. Then, we walk over to where some stairs should appear, but they don’t.

“Huh…?” Slugger mutters, likely as confused about it as I am.

“Hmph, You are gravely mistaken if you think stairs will appear for you whenever you’d like.” I voice says from behind us. Turning around, we find another of the golden Shadows.

“So, this guy is stopping them…” Gale mutters, as we head over to confront the enemy.

“This majestic tower penetrating the sky represents the admirable King Kikku’s most sacred place…” The Shadow says. “It is nowhere for children like yourselves! Prepare for your punishment!”



“What kind of selfish reasoning is that!? The only one who needs to be punished is-” Succubus begins to say, being cut off as it reveals it’s true form. “A-Ahhhh! Not again!” She yells, stepping back from the slimy beast.

“It’s coming!” Gale says, readying her weapon, as me and Slugger do the same.

I start off with Tasukete using Dream Slash, knocking it out cold while Gale then slashes it for good damage. Succubus kicks it away from her, while Slugger manages to miss. I also miss my next chance, which leads to the slimy creature staring at Succubus. Gale and Succubus manage to connect their next melee attacks, while me and Slugger miss. That results in the beast getting an attack off, knocking Succubus out cold.

Gale quickly uses one of our revival beads to get her back up so she can attack again. Slugger buffs my attack for my next Dream Slash, which manages to connect and knock it out, for Gale to get a good bit of damage in. We repeat our loop for a bit more, Gale and Succubus using their weapons, while me and Slugger use our Personas to physically attack it, my attack knocking it out to set up for Gale. After one or two more loops, we manage to kill it, but are fairly exhausted from the encounter, but Tasukete does feel stronger afterwards.

“Okay…. We can keep movin’ now!” Slugger says, after catching his breath.

“I-I’m so done with this place…” Succubus mutters, a bit wobbly from being taken out.

“Hang in there, Succubus. According to the map, we’re almost at the top.” Gale points out, as we head to the stairs. Heading up the stairs, we find the way clear to the next floor, grabbing a Life Stone from an urn on our way.

On this floor, we find a large doorway, which is closed, with more of those statues of a females like on the previous floors, as well as a pathway around with a Shadow and a chest. Ambushing it reveals a Succubus and one of the red horse riding knights. It isn’t too hard, and we get the chest.

Past the chest, we find a vase with one last helmet, and a Safe Room. After resting for a few minutes, we head out. Since the door to the throne room appears to be locked, I look around, and notice that I can climb up the rear end of one of the statues. Doing so allows me to climb up to a passageway to the second floor of the throne room.

“Okay, we’re in!” Slugger whispers excitedly.

“Quiet down!” Gale orders.

“Oh shit, it’s Kikku…!” Slugger mutters.

“And a ton of soldiers too…” Succubus mutters, sounding tired.

“How have you not captured the intruders yet!?” Shadow Kikku asks, sounding pissed off.

“I apologize, my liege!” One of the Shadows says.

“I bet he’d never imagine we’re in the same room as him. Come on, let’s keep moving.” Gale suggests.

Crouching low to the floor, we sneak along this second floor, to the back of the room, trying to ignore the fact that I can see a woman's legs going into the ceiling, and her chest protruding out above his throne, with a chandelier hanging from them. Around the back, we find a vase with a shield, a box with a life stone, and a doorway. Inside the door, we find a room with just an urn, and a door. The urn holds an onyx, and we head to the door.

“This sturdy-lookin’ door’s pretty promisin’. Let’s head inside!” Slugger says, and we open the door to find a room full of gold coins, and trophies.

“Whoa, what is this place?! Holy shit!” He exclaims. “That Treasure thing’s gotta be in here!”

“Hey, what is this? It’s… floating in the air.” Succubus remarks, as we walk over to a floating, glowing ball of mist or energy. Gale hops up on the giant trophy it’s floating over as she begins speaking.

“Hehe… That’s the Treasure. We finally found it!” She exclaims, sounding excited.

“You’re sure this cloudy thing is the Treasure?” I ask.

“Just relax for a second. I was planning on explaining the rest after we got this far.” She explains. “Simply finding the Treasure isn’t enough. We’ll need to give it a physical form before we can take it.”

“Whaddya mean…?” Slugger asks, leaning against the giant trophy.

“As you probably guessed, desires have no physical form by nature.” Gale explains. “Hence, we’ll need to make the real persona aware that their desires are in fact a Treasure.”

“Once they’re conscious that their desires might be stolen, the Treasure will finally show itself.” She finishes.

“How do you think we should do that?” Succubus asks.

“We warn them. Tell them, ‘We’re gonna steal your heart.’” Gale explains.

“So we’re gonna send a calling card!? That’s totally what a phantom thief would do!”  Slugger exclaims excitedly.

“Once we do that, the Treasure should appear for sure!” She finishes.

“Should?” Slugger asks, before shaking his head. “Either way, sounds like it’s worth giving it a shot!”

“Well, our infiltration route is secure.” Gale says. “All that’s left now is to draw up a calling card in reality, then come back and take the Treasure.”

“This is it, huh?” Succubus asks.

“Let’s get this done, and avenge Pitchi.” I say.

“That’s the spirit!” Gale agrees. “Once we send out the calling card, there won’t be any turning back.”

“Just let me know when you’re ready. We’ll head back to the hideout and send out that calling card.” She finishes. “Well, we’ve secured our route… So, what should we do now? Do you wanna head out for today?”

“Sure, I think we’re all exhausted.” I agree.

“Yeah! Let’s get the hell outta here before Kikku finds us!” Slugger agrees. After that, we sneak back to the nearby Safe Room, and use the vent in there to make our way back to the entrance.

“We’ve secured our roubt to the Treasure… Do you want to get out of here?” Gale asks.

“Yep, let’s go.” I agree.

“Mkay, all we gotta do now is steal the Treasure that shows up, yeah? It’s finally time.” Slugger points out.

“But sending out the calling card comes first. When should we do it?” Succubus asks.

“Let’s discuss that later. We all need some rest, and we can discuss it back at the hideout.” Gale suggests, and I nod. “Well done today guys, I know you must be exhausted. I know I am.” Gale finishes as we leave the Metaverse.

---------------------

After leaving the Metaverse, we each head on home, and I decide to relax on the train home, as it’s already around evening.

Upon walking in the cafe, I see Roast-san still working behind the counter.

“I’m pretty exhausted from going to the Metaverse... “ Abigale says, sounding tired. “Let’s hurry and get to bed for some good rest.” As I’m heading upstairs, I get a message on my phone.

<You back home yet? I’m pooped…> Hayai messages. <It hit me like a goddamn ton of bricks right when I sat down…>

<Well, I guess we did walk pretty far in.> Rirī replies. <I’m glad we found that Treasure thing though.>

<So Kikku’ll turn into a good guy if we steal that, huh…> Hayai continues. <Either way, it’s up to you when we send the card, Hexan.>

<Call us over to the hideout when you’re ready.> Rirī agrees.

<Got it. Nice work you guys.> I answer.

<See ya!> Rirī finishes, as we each log off.

“The real challenge is coming up. I hope you’re ready.” Abigale points out, resting on my shoulder from my bag. Before I head up, I decide to check in with Roast-san before heading up.

“I know you’re probably tired, I can see it on your face. But if you’re going to study, you can use the booth. But just remember to clean it up once you're done, okay?” He suggests, getting back to work as I head upstairs to bed.
> Chapter 12 - A day of study and coffee shops.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/21 Thur

Not spending much time getting ready today, except for a good breakfast., I make my way to the subway.

“Ate too much… Please don’t-Please don’t shake me…” Abigale says, sounding unwell.

“You always nail our tests. What’s your study secret?” A shallow sounding college student asks.

“I go to diners, like the one on Central Street.” their peppy friend replies. “Plenty of work space, plus you can order food if you get hungry, which is cool.”

“Diners, huh? Now there’s a thought.” The shallow friend replies.

“Makes sense, having nutrition handy and all. Makes it easier to study.” Abigale agrees. “Okay… No more food talk.” She makes a gagging sound, and I hope she hasn’t made a mess of my bag.

---------------------

While waiting for our train, we ran into Rirī.

“Morning. I still feel a little tired from all that hard work. How about you?” She asks, still sounding tired. “We found the Treasure, so all that’s left is to send the calling card.”

“We have some time until the board meeting though. What do you want to do today?” She asks.

“I wanna take my time with this, I’m still a bit tired from yesterday too.” I point out, stretching.

“I see… We found the Treasure, but I guess we still don’t know what else is there.” She agrees. “We still have time, and I don’t want to make mistakes just because I was being impatient.”

“I’m glad you’re the calm one, Hexan, but let me know if you change your mind.” She finishes. I nod and we get on the train to school.

---------------------

“Sending the calling card will be a make-or-break decision, so really think on it, okay?” Abigale suggests. “I’m sure both Hayai and Rirī are uneasy, too.”

“So make sure you talk to them about it, okay?” She finishes, going back to rest in my bag.

With a destination in mind, I head out into the hallway, where I overheard a pair of football members talking.

“Hey… I hear you guys’re getting expelled?” An arrogant sounding guy says, drawing my attention, as well as Hayai’s, who is nearby. “You two are idiots trying to go against Kikku and shit…”

“I don’t know what you said to him, but the football team is the lifeblood of Shujin.” A cruel sounding guy says. “We’ve come to accept that. Don’t butt into something you have no concept of.” 

“It’s too late now though… Kikku’s pissed, so you’re totally done for.” the arrogant kid says, causing me to chuckle, a bit of Tasukete coming through.

“You say it’s too late for me, yet I’m still here, aren’t I? What makes you so sure he can get rid of me that easily? And that ‘Football is the lifeblood of Shujin’ crap you were spouting is nonsense too. Your team was probably as useful as all the rest before Kikku turned up and pushed the rest aside. Maybe think about your fellow students instead of inflating your coaches already inflated ego.” I say, beginning to walk off. “And another thing, I’d probably put more time into your studies, I’ve heard there is someone looking to take Kikku down. And that they know people in high enough places to do so, so you might not have football to fall back on too much longer.” I finish saying, as I head downstairs, noticing a smirking Hayai as I go.

As I’m walking through the first floor, I overhear another group talking, while Kikku is stalking the halls.

“I hear those second-year guys got an expulsion notice from Kikku. Those idiots!” One says.

“Since that jumper incident, things have been really hectic. The teachers are all uptight too.” Another mentions, which I did notice.

“Still, I’m surprised there’d be students who’d even speak up against Mr. Kikku.” The third says. “Why do you think they behaved like that?” He asks, as I continue walking.

Just as I’m walking calmly to the exit, Kikku stops me.

“You again, Tronic…?” The arrogant idiot questions. “Where’s that garbage friend of yours, huh? Hey, answer me!” I just turn and walk away, knowing he’d get his soon enough.

“Hmph. Dealing with you is a waste of time…” He finishes off. “There’s no point trying to butter me up now. I’m going to get rid of both of you in one fell swoop.” 

“Why in the world would I want to butter up a meat head like yourself? Last I check, I’m not into men, plus, your a teacher. Pretty sure there’s a rule against student-teacher relations…” I say out loud, walking off and not listening to his rant.

Getting outside, I pull out my umbrella and head to the station. With nothing else to do, I got on the train. After a bit, I got off at the Ginza Line Gate, and noticed some of the staff talking, and decided to get some info.

“I’m Shibuya Station’s new hire! I’m ready to begin my training, Chief!” Exclaims what appears to be a rookie here.

“Don’t call me ‘Chief’. Just relax. I know you’re new, but you don’t need to be so formal.” The more experienced man states. “A lot of people are still anxious about the accidents. We need to be at ease to help them feel safe.”

“Of course, Chief! There won’t be any accidents on my watch! Full speed ahead!” The rookie says, and I decide I’ve heard enough and head out.

Leaving the gate, I notice a pair of older woman speaking.

“Man, I’m tired… I’ve been doing a lot of overtime lately… See these dark circles under my eyes?” A middle-aged woman asks her friend.

“Be careful. I hear stress can lead to all sorts of bad things nowadays…” A younger woman warns.

“Yeah, like those train accidents, right…?” Those people collapsed all of a sudden and that was it…” The older woman states.

“Stress isn’t good for wrinkles, either. You need to soothe your heart to smooth your skin.” The younger woman points out, leading to me leaving. Heading to Shibuya, I recall the door I walked through in the Metaverse. ‘Come to think of it…’ I think, leading to me recalling Igor’s words.

‘“Return here whenever you wish. It shall be of your own accord…”’ ‘That’s what he said… But, how do I go back to that room?’ I finish thinking, before heading towards Untouchable to pawn off my loot. On the way, I find a curious looking man, standing at the entrance to the alley.

“Lately, some suspicious guys have been showing up near the airsoft shop at night.” He states when I ask if he’s alright. “They’re sneaking around, making phone calls, but they’re wearing suits. Maybe they’re detectives?”

“I just can’t bring myself to go to that shop as much anymore.” He finishes.

“That’s too bad. It has a lot of good stuff. If you were a loyal customer, a few detectives probably sent on a wild goose chase shouldn’t scare you off.” I point out, before I lose his attention.

“You may be right kid. Were you heading there right now?” He asks. That’s when I noticed the door.

“Yeah, but I have something to do first. Maybe I’ll see you around.” I say, as he nods and heads to the store. Once he is gone, I head to the door.

“Hey, Inmate!” Caroline says, drawing my attention.

“Our master awaits. Please come this way.” Justine says. Once I’m sure they are done, I head though the door, and back into the Velvet room.



“So you’ve come.” Igor states, as I grip the bars. “How does it feel slipping into the unusual from your usual life…?” He asks.

“Our master has arranged an access point to assist you in coming here directly from the real world.” Justine states.

“That door you just went through is it! Be thankful, Inmate!” Caroline exclaims. ‘I could have figured that out myself, you noisy child!’ a voice yells out in my head as well as nearby, causing me and the twins to look around.

“Who said that!? And I’m not a child!” Caroline continues to yell out at nothing, but there is no reply.

“Curious… In any case, this too shall aid in your rehabilitation. Make good use of it.” Igor continues, before I get sent back out. After shaking my head, and deciding to ignore that, I head into Untouchable, glad Abigale was asleep for that.

Inside I notice both the owner, as well as a military buff browsing the store, as well as the man from before in the back. I head to talk to the browsing man first.

“Oh, are you a fan of this store too?” The military buff asks. “This shop’s customized guns are in a league of their own. I get excited just by looking at them.” Then he goes back to browsing. ‘Perhaps I should look into those at some point…’ I think as I turn to the owner.

“...What do you want today, kid?” The manager asks.

“Is there any way I can dump this stuff off for some yen?” I ask, opening the sack I was storing all the trash in.

“Let me have a look before I decide…” He says, looking in the sack. “Some damaged props, as well as strange dinner wear. And gems? A strange assortment you got there kid. But sure, I can either use some of this stuff, or just get rid of it myself. I’ll give you ¥14,400 for the lot.” He says, after he finishes looking it over.

“Seems like a fair deal.” I say, giving him the sack. He empties it into a box behind the counter, then gives the sack back.

“If you have any more stuff like this, just bring it here and I’ll give you a fair price. Anything else?” He asks. As I shake my head no, he nods and I head on out.

With nothing else to do in Shibuya, I head down to the underground stations, and head to Yongen. Walking through the station to my target, I notice an old, homeless man, and decide to see if he’s alright.

“Is something wrong? Though, it’s nice that you’re paying attention to someone like me.” The homeless man says. “You’re young, so let me give you some advice. Make sure you don’t fall over to this side of life.” 

“I don’t mean to scare you, but anyone can end up like this if they’re not being careful.” He finishes. I nod to show I heard him and continued on my way. With nothing to slow me down, I make it quickly to Yongen, and head straight to the clinic.



The clinic seems to be having a slow day, allowing me to go right to Miss Ishi.

“It feels like a day off because I don’t have many patients today…” She says, sounding a bit down. “But it’s raining… so I may get an influx of people with colds.” She finishes.‘Come to think of it, I might collapse again if I take that medicine…’  I think to myself. ‘I feel like I’m not gutsy enough to take that medicine yet… I shouldn’t suggest the clinical trial…’ 

“So, what are you here for today?” She asks. 

“Never mind, I don’t think I have anything to do here today.” I mutter, a bit annoyed at myself.

“Take care. And maybe next time you and I could spend some time on those trials.” She suggests as I head out, and take a moment to think of what to do. With nothing much else to do, I head back to Shibuya, and head to the bookstore for some books, walking out with: Tidying the Heart, Buchiko’s Story, and Playing the Game.

After that was done with, I head to the diner to study.

“Oh, are you going to study in that diner?” Abigale asks. “It might be more empty since it’s raining today…” I nod and head in.

“The rain’s keeping the customers away!” Abigale exclaims quietly once we’ve taken a seat, while she remains in my bag. Then a waitress walks over.

“Welcome, may I take your order?” She asks. Looking at the menu, I make a decision, and look up at her.

“A Hot Coffee please.” I ask.

“I got it. I’ll be right back with your order.” She says, walking off, then coming back with my order as I’m studying.

“Hey… How many cups does that make now?” Abigale askes after a while. “I can’t believe you stayed this long ordering just coffee. You’ve got some guts.” ‘That was some good coffee, but not as good as Roast-sans.’

“It looks like your studying went well, too.” She mentions, looking at my work. “I think the lack of people here made it easier to study too, thanks to the quiet.”

“Well, that should be enough for today. Come on, let’s head home.” She says, as I pack up and head back to the coffee shop I call home.

---------------------

“Hey, you got a minute?” Roast-san asks as I walk in. “Somethin’ I wanna ask you. C’mere, let’s have a chat.” Deciding there is no harm in it, I decided to chat with him.

“Hey, you’re free tonight, aren’t you?” He asks. “Would you care to have a little chat with me? What, can’t handle a bit of small talk?” He asks when I hesitate a bit. ‘This could be a good opportunity to close the divide between us.’

“Sure, let’s talk.” I say, setting Abigale’s bag on a chair.

“Good. There’s a lot of things I wanna ask you.” Roast-san says. “I’ll clean up, so just wait there.”

“Hey, how’s school treating ya?” He asks, when everything is cleaned up. “You’re not causing any trouble, are you?”

“Nope. Nothing that I would class as trouble.” I answer.

“That’s good, I suppose.” He nods. “I’ve gotta report to your probation officer twice a month.” 

“It’s already a pain in the ass as is, so please don’t make me have to write more crap.” He continues. “Got that? This society is kept in check by laws and authority figures.”

“You can go and get yourself killed if you want, but don’t go dragging other people into your mess.” He says seriously. “The last thing we need is more people like you roaming around.” That’s when his phone goes off.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” He asks the person on the other end. “Yeah, I’m heading out now. Sorry about that.”

“...I know. The usual, right?” He says with his smirk. “OK. I’ll see you later.”

“As you can probably see. I’m pretty damn busy both at work, and in my private life.” He says, after hanging up. “If you would be able to help out here and there, it would be a big help…” 

“I’d be glad to help out.” I nod, giving a smile.

“Now we’re talking.” He nods. “Either way, I won’t be asking you to work for free. If you agree to help me, then…” He begins.

“I’ll teach you how to make the perfect cup of coffee. Not a bad trade, eh?” He asks.

“Sounds interesting. I’m in.” I agree.

“Alright. Looks like we’ve made ourselves a deal.” He agrees. ‘I can feel the distance between us closing a bit…’ I feel my phone buzz in my pocket.

“I’ll be counting on your help.” He says. “Alright. I’ll see you later.” He says, and heads out. After I get upstairs, I check my phone, and sure enough, Roast-san has become a ‘Confidant’ as well. With nothing else to do, I go to bed.
> Chapter 13 - Coffee Days.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/22 Fri

Walking to school the next day, I notice some students talking by the outdoors vending machines.

“The school store’s always out of yakisoba pan, no matter what time I go.” Complains a student who clearly loves food. “I haven’t been able to get any, even once.”

“Oh, don’t you know?” His friend asks, sounding more informed than the food lover. “It’s always sold out on Mondays, but there’s usually some left over on Fridays.”

“Are you serious!?” The food lover asks. “I’ll finally be able to get some yakisoba pan today!” He exclaims happily.

“Huh, I guess there’s a lot in this world you can only get during certain times…” Abigale says, popping out of my bag.

“Now I want some, too.” I say, hungry after that guy hyped it up.

“Do you want to try to get some? I’ll come with you.” Abigale says, as I head to class.

--------------------------

After class, I take a moment to decide what to do. As I’m heading out, having decided to study a bit more, I hear a couple students talking.

“It’s rare to see Bēru in class. She usually disappears right away.” An easygoing looking guy says. “But man, she’s really cute… If she were my girlfriend, I’d brag about it all the time.”

“Forget it, dumbass. Besides, dating her would be too much trouble.” A lighthearted guy states. “She kinda of gives off a bad vibe, and all the girls ignore her. And she is Kikku’s girl, remember?” With that conversation losing my interest, I head out to study.


--------------------------

“Back again? It’s much more busy this time.” Abigale notices, as we sit in the diner. When the waitress comes for my order, I grab coffee again.

“You’re drinking coffee again? That can’t be good for you…” Abigale mutters, as I focus on my studying. After a few hours, I finish. “Wow, I still can’t believe you can spend all that time with just coffee. Pretty guts, Hexan.”

“Anyway, we should be done for today. Let’s go home.” She says, as I pack up to leave.

--------------------------

“...So. Gettin’ used to the city?” Roast-san asks as I walk in.

“A bit, but it’s a big place.” I reply.

“...I see.” He says. “ You’re the only one here at night, so I’m not gonna bother setting a curfew or anything like that.”

“So long as you’re taking school seriously, I don’t mind if you stroll the streets at night.” He says. “But only around these parts, got it? You go back on your word, and you’re out the door.” When he is done talking, he goes back to cleaning up. After a moment, I decide to join him, walking up to the counter.

“No work, no food. Ever heard that idiom?” He asks. “If you’re up for it, why don’t you learn how to work here…”

“Sure, I’ll help out.” I agree.

“You really got things figured out. All right, put your stuff down and come back here.” He orders. “It’s about time one of my regulars arrives. She’s a talkative one…”

--------------------------

“Now then, since you’re gonna be working in my store, I’ll need to hammer home the basics…” Roast-san says, once I’m dressed in an apron. “You know what I’m talking about, right?”

“While I want to joke that it’s picking up girls, I know it’s making coffee.” I reply, getting a small smirk.

“It’s good to see that you understand this as well as you do.” He agrees. “This store’s not the busiest around, but I’m real particular about how we make coffee here.”

“And I’ll kick you right out no questions if you serve a bad cup.” He finishes.

“Let me tell you, Spicy definitely does things right with his coffee.” A somewhat gaudy woman says, while eating some curry. “It goes so well with his special curry, I can’t help but order the set meal every time.”

“What can I say, each of my regulars gets an experience personally tailored to them.” Roast-san replies.

“Can you tell me the key to that wonderful flavor, Ro-chan? I’d love to make it at home sometime.” The woman asks sweetly. 

“Sorry, that’s a trade secret. You’re free to try and guess based on the taste though.” He replies.

“Cheapskate. Keeping secrets from me even though you know your food’s already stolen my heart…” The woman mutters.

“How about a nice dessert then? It’s only three hundred yen.” Roast-san offers. After her dessert, the woman pays and heads out.

“When you run a shop, you get to know all sorts of customers. Knowing their personalities is absolutely vital.” He instructs. “That’s what being in food service is all about.” I nod, as someone else comes in.

“Welco-” Roast-san goes to say, before stopping. “You…” He says, sounding both shocked and a bit mad.

“Hello there! It’s been quite a while, Roast-san!” The cheerful man says, though it sounds fake. “I heard you opened up a shop, so here I am! It wouldn’t have hurt to mention it to me though.”

“Huh, you’ve got a real nice location here. Right by the station and everything.” He continues.

“Your order?” Roast-san asks.

“No small talk? That’s cold.” The man continues. “Oh, but this smell… Sure brings back memories! You’re still making that curry, huh?”

“I guess you still haven’t gotten over her yet…” He verbally prods.

“Your order, sir?” Roast-san says, staying cool, and not rising to the bait.

“Haha, so pushy, I just stopped in to say hi today… but I’ll be back again soon! Bye.” The man says, before leaving.

“Ugh… I don’t know where he caught wind of this place.” Roast-san mutters.

“I don’t know who he was, but I got a bad feel from him. Like a walking mud pile.” I suggest, getting a chuckle from him.

“Heh, I guess you have an eye for some things after all.” He says. “Anyway, if you have time for questions, you have time to be learning about bean types.”

“You’re not  gonna be any use to me if you can’t pick up on the ABCs sometime soon.” He continues. “Besides, ladies love a guy who knows his coffee. This isn’t such a bad deal for you.”

“Having the ladies like me wouldn’t be bad at all.” I agree, nodding.

“Heh, if only you were this obedient all the time.” He says, with a chuckle. “Either way, I’m gonna teach you right. That way I’ll be able to sit back and relax while you work. With that done, he passes me what appears to be an above average coffee recipe. ‘Seems kinda complicated, but doable.’ I think to myself. Then the clock goes off.

“...Oh, is it that time already?” He asks himself. “Let’s start closing up. And no slacking off, you got it?” With that, we’re done for today, and I head to be.
> Chapter 14 - Casual Day.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/23 Sat

On the way to school, I overheard a conversation on the train.

“I haven’t done much of anything on my days off.” A lazy woman groans. “It’s such a pain to put on makeup, and I hate shopping, so I usually just end up lazing about the house.”

“Same here. Good thing there’s home shopping.” A woman who sounds enthusiastic about shopping says. “They always have the best stuff on Sundays.”

“Oh, I know exactly what you’re talking about!” The lazy woman exclaims. “They even sell surgical masks for when you’re sick.”

“I’ll have to check it out tomorrow.” The shopper states. “It’s so popular they always sell out if you don’t call the same day.” With that, I focused on the train stops till I got off.

--------------------------

While waiting for the next transfer, I ran into Hayai.

“Whaddup! Phew, made it on time…” He pants out. “We need our strength if we’re gonna take down Kikku, right? Ran late ‘cause I ate three bowls of rice…”

“Anyways, I’m full of energy, I’ll have plenty to spare to run wild in the Palace.” He continues. We finished investigatin’ if, so we should send the calling card today.” 

“We could, but I still need to prepare a few things.” I reply.

“Gotcha… Well, we do have some time before the board meeting.” He says. “Still, our expulsion’s on the line. We can’t procrastinate forever.” With that, we continue on to school.

--------------------------

“Kikku-kun was really in his element at the football rally the other day.” Mr. Inui states. “You kids are lucky to receive direct instruction from a world-famous athlete like him.”

“Sports have been regarded as sacred things that invigorate people since ancient times.” He continues. “So much so that the emperor himself even participated once.”

“Puroguramu-kun. Do you know the name of the Roman emperor who participated in the Olympics?” He asks the poor boy.

“Huh!? Um-Um…” Puroguramu stutters out.

“It’s Nero.” Mr. Inui states. “It’s good to throw yourself into your club activities, but you shouldn’t sacrifice your studies.” He admonishes with a sigh.

Puroguramu is silent at this. “Sorry…” He mutters, sitting down.

“That said, you don’t seem too into sports, Tronic-kun.” Mr. Inui singles me out next. “What event did Emperor Nero add to the Olympics so that he could participate?”

“I believe it was singing.” I reply.

“”Correct.” He agrees. “Hm. It seems you’ve been studying after all.”

“Apparently Nero was tone deaf, but he ended up winning. The emperor held absolute power, after all.” He explains. “Because of these kinds of selfish actions - not to mention a lecherous side - he became known as a despot.” Cue the amazement of the students being surprised I know things.

“That said, recently people have begun reevaluating Nero’s reign.” He continues. “Regardless though, he was lacking in sportsmanship.”

“He should have taken a page out of Kikku-kun’s book! Hahaha!” He finishes, making me glad Rirī can’t summon her Persona here.

“Don’t give us that crap. Kikku’s the real despot.” Abigale comments quietly to me, and the lesson continues.

--------------------------

With little else to do after school, I decide to go study at the diner, enjoying some coffee while there.

“You drink WAY to much coffee, Hexan…” Abigale mutters as I finish up for today and head back to the cafe.

--------------------------

When I get back, Roast-san speaks up.

“While I don’t mind you making use of the coffee maker, I just want you to clean it up when you’re done.” He says, getting back to work. With that said, I decide to explore outside.

‘You know, I thought we were gonna get to explore at night, but we have to stick around here…” Abigale says. “Shoot! I wish we could check out nightlife in Shibuya or something.”

“Shibuya, the city that never sleeps. I wonder what that’s like…” She finishes, as we look around. Heading down the alley, I find who I think is a drunken man.

“Heeey. Gooood evenin’, ev’rybody! Time… for the 10 o’clock newsh.” ‘Yep, he’s drunk.’ I think to myself, as he continues. “Firsh, a series o-of… incidentsh. Guys all o’ a sudden falli’ uncon… unconsch-” Before he barfs on the ground.

“Hey man, you should pull yourself together.” I say, as this is just sad.

“You tellin’ me to prull it t-together? Hahaha, I know…” He says, before going quiet.

“Well, I guess we can’t help them all…” Abigale says, as we leave the man to his ramblings.

On the way back, I check the vending machine outside the laundromat, and buy a few sodas, unfortunately buying it out. Heading to the second hand shop next, I find an old CRT Television.

“...Thank you.” The shop owner says after I purchase the tv. “I didn’t think anyone would buy such an outdated TV…”

“Since you got it off my hands, I’ll throw in a DVD player and tuner for you, OK?” He continues. “...Does Leblanc work as your delivery address?”

“He’s giving us a DVD player and tuner? Maybe this turned out to be quite the bargain.” Abigale says. “I’m excited! I can’t wait for it to be delivered!”

After that, I hear some kids talking nearby and take a listen.

“Japanese class was impossible today… How are we supposed to know how the author feels?” One of the kids says. 

“My parents couldn’t even answer that. Why are they asking us?” The other boy says.

“They said we’d get that weird sickness if we didn’t study, but I’m not scared. We’re not kids.” “The first, rebellious sounding kid states.

“Oh, are you talking about that train accident? The engineer just had a heart attack, right?” The more innocent boy asks, before I decide I’ve heard enough and leave.

With nothing else of interest outside for me, I head back in and check the store TV. 

“Time for a special edition of ‘Discovery! Town Detectives!’” The reporter begins. “On these irregularly broadcast specials, we share limited-edition items that are all the rage!”

“Today we’re going to talk about Recovery Oil!” She continues on. “It’s very popular among young women, and it’s on sale now at Body Chop!”

“Oh, I think there’s a Body Chop in the underground mall in Shibuya.” She starts to finish the advertisement. “I’ve always had a weakness for limited-time goods. I’m starting to want some Recovery Oil myself.”

With that done, I head upstairs to my workbench and begin making some lockpicks. I only manage to make two before I run out of time and materials.

“Alright, time for bed!” Abigale says, as I get ready and go to sleep.
> Chapter 15 - Shopping Time.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/24 Sun

“I hear good things about that Sunday TV shopping show. Wanna check it out sometime?” Abigale askes, after I’m dressed, then I get a message.

<Today’s Sunday… Where should we meet to head into the Palace?> Rirī asks over IM.

<The rooftop’ll work.> Hayai states.

<Won’t it be locked though?> Rirī asks.

<Eh, should be fine. It’s always open.> Hayai points out. <And worst comes to worst, we can just go somewhere else.>

<Mm, got it.> Rirī continues. <Anyway, what’s our plan for today?>

<Eh, I’m still thinking about it, and doing preparations.> I reply.

<Let us know when you’ve made up your mind!> Rirī finishes the conversation.

With that over with, I head downstairs to check out the Sunday Shopping show.

“Hi everyone! It’s time to do some shopping!” The Host says. “Here’s what we’ve got for you today!|

“Oh, so this is the shopping channel that everyone’s been talking about.” Abigale remarks. 

“It’s Party in a Can! A four pack of them! Since it’s spring, how about getting these for a picnic?” The Host continues. 

“Oh, they’re perfect for big gatherings!” The Female Host remarks. 

“This is a limited item! Today’s the one and only day it’ll be available!” The Male Host states. “And it can be yours… For the incredibly low price of 1980 yen!”

“We’re offering it for 1980 yen because it’s on sale for today only!” He continues. “Oh, the phones are already ringing off the hook!”

“Once we’re sold out, that’s it! Don’t miss out on this deal!” He finishes.

“A Party in a Can four pack? They’re just 1980 yen. Thinking of buying it?” Abigale asks.

“Let’s go for it.” I say, and call up, placing my order.

“Oh, another buyer’s just called in! Thank you so much!” The Female Host says cheerfully.

“We’ll try to get your order to you as quickly as possible!” The Male Host promises. “Goodbye for now! We’ll see you again next time with another fabulous product!”

“Goodbye for now!” The Female Host says, as the show ends.

“Now all we have to do is wait for it to arrive.” Abigale states, as I turn from the TV, having been curious about the man sipping coffee nearby.

“Ah… So you’re the young man who’s been lodging here now.” The pompous sounding man states. “I often come here to work. I’m a film critic, you know.”

“I turn my thoughts to the films crafted by legends, all the while enjoying a fine cup of coffee…” He continues.

“That’s actually pretty cool.” I state, as it sounds interesting.

“Hahaha. There’s no need for you to feel intimidated. Here, in this cafe, you and I are equals.” He states. “Please, feel free to come and talk whenever you see me here.”

“Your young, so I’m sure it must be incredibly valuable to converse with such a deep thinker.” He finishes. “Well, I’ll be going home then.” He then packs up and leaves.

I turn to see how Roast-san is doing.

“Are you looking after the dog? Don’t look at me for help.” He says, in his usual disinterested way.

Heading out, I check the supermarket, and buy a Spring Fruit Pack. After, I decide to head to the hideout and check on the others in person.

--------------------------

“So, it’s finally time to send the calling card.” Abigale states.

“Why couldn’t we have just sent one at the beginnin’ of all this…?” Hayai asks.

“It’s not that simple.” She continues. “A Treasure won’t stay materialized forever. Once the impression is gone, the Treasure will disappear.” 

“I think it should last around a day, at most.” She explains.

“The hell…? That’s almost not time at all…” Hayai complains. “Anyway, we can send a callin’ card right now, yeah? Let’s do it and steal that bastard’s heart!”

“Keep in mind, the Palace will go away once you take the Treasure. Make sure you’ve done everything you need to.” Abigale warns.

With that, I decide to hold off, for now, and study some more at the diner, with some of their average coffee. But before that, I went to the discount store on Central Street, and bought some Protein, just in case I need it, and overheard a conversation.

“I was only able to get ten phone numbers…” A guy, who sounds like a womanizer, says. “The ladies have their guard up with all that weird stuff going on, but… I haven’t lost my touch.”

“Amazing. You’re at a completely different level…” A guy who appears to be his apprentice says.

“If you want phone numbers, then strengthen your resolve. It’s all over once you give up!” The Womanizer says. With that weird conversation over with, I go have my coffee.

--------------------------

When I return to the cafe in the evening, Roast-san gets my attention.

“Hey, did you buy and old TV?” He asks. “The owner delivered it. Had him put it in your room.”

Afterwards, I go upstairs to make more lockpicks, but remember I’m out of Silk Yarn. So, I head out to the Second Hand shop, and grab some, before getting to work. After making a Lockpick, and a set of elemental items, I finish for the night and head to sleep.
> Chapter 16 - Calling Card and Rumor Mill
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/25 Mon

“Ah, we were able to grab a seat! Why don’t you read something until we get there?” Abigale asks. I decide to read ‘Struggles of a Pitcher’ today.

‘The young man stepped up to the pitching mound, his heart tied in knots as he knows he only has a few more chances before he’s off the team…’

“Suu~ifuto seems like he had his work cut out for him… Hayai might like this book.” Abigale states, having been reading also from my lap.

“Hm? Oh, I didn’t realize how long you’ve been reading. So, how far did you get?” She asks, after a while. I just shake my head. “Seems like you still have some pages left. You should continue some other time.”

“Oh, we’re almost at the station. I’d say that was an efficient use of your time.” She states, and we get off.

--------------------------

“I skipped breakfast, so now I’m hungry…” A girl says outside the school, who is obviously hungry. “Have you ever tried the Nostalgic Steak at the diner in Shibuya?”

“Yeah, it’s good! It kinda makes me think of my childhood.” Her friend states. “I get this warm feeling inside whenever I eat it that reminds me of my mom…”

“Yeah, if comfort had a taste, that’d be it! Just thinking about it is making me hungrier…” The hungry girl continues.

“A comforting flavor, huh…” Abigale mumbles. “Hey, what does the chief’s cuffy taste like?”

“It’s great.” I reply.

“I’m jealous. I can always smell a faint hint of it on you.” She point out. “When I’m human again, I’m going to eat sooo much curry…”

“Then, I’ll decide which is better: the curry, or the Nostalgic Steak!” She declares, as I head to class.

--------------------------

We have Miss Kenkyū this time, and it was going well, until the topic of essays came up.

“I was reading the essays you turned in the other day, and everyone’s writing is so sloppy!” She says. “‘I could care less’ indicates that you still have some cares left to give! It’s ‘I COULDN’T care less’!” She explains, a bit of anger breaking through her usually tired demeanor.

“I’ve seen this a lot these days, where people are using a phrase differently from it’s real meaning.” She begins to lecture. “One word I often hear misused is the Japanese ‘kakushinhan’ used now to mean a crime done in cold blood.”

“Like the word ‘literally’, the real meaning of kakushinhan is pretty much the opposite of how it’s used.” She continues explaining. “Do you know what it is, Tronic-kun?” She then asks, looking at me.

“The true meaning of kakushinhan, huh… This seems tough.” Abigale says. “I think I’ll help you out this time. So, let’s think this through.”

“What’s the common usage of kakushinhan again, regarding an action you take?” She asks.

“Knowing your actions are wrong.” I state quietly.

“Right. When people say something’s a kakushinhan, they usually mean the culprit did it knowing it’s wrong.” She continues. “But the real kakushinhan is the opposite, right? So the opposite means…”

“Conviction that your right?” I say, to Miss Kenkyū.

“That’s right.” She says with a smile. “A kakushinhan is when someone takes an action, believing that it’s right.”

“So if someone ‘raises their hand against another in kakushinhan’. They thought it was right to do so.” She explains, and the class are still a little surprised I have knowledge and thinking skills.

“You're on a roll today!” Abigale exclaimed/whispers.

“Kakushinhan was originally a term that referred to a crime driven by moral or political conviction.” Miss Kenkyū continues. “These days it seems like the wrong usage is becoming more commonly accepted thought.”

“Taking action with a conviction that what you’re doing is right, huh… Think that applies to us too?” Abigale asks, as class continues.

--------------------------

With all the lockpicks I need, I decide that this is the day we’ll send the calling card. But before that, time to eavesdrop! First, the girls gossiping in the corner.

“I hear that Mr. Kikku has been really angry.” An energetic girl says. “It sounds like Tronic-kun and Puroguramu-kun, and that delinquent Tama are all getting expelled.”

“First that suicide attempt, and now expulsion trouble… What the heck’s going on?” Her calmer friend asks.

“Everything’s gone crazy since the transfer student got here. Why’d he go up against Mr. Kikku!?” The energetic girl asks.

“Perhaps because I had good reason?” I ask, drawing their attention to me, with a pair of yelps.

“W-What do you mean?” The girl continues. “Wait, were you eavesdropping?”

“Of course not, I could easily hear you across the room. You weren’t exactly being subtle or quiet.” I explain.

“What do you mean you had a good reason?” The calmer girl asks. “What could be considered good reason to threaten someone like Mr. Kikku?”

“Perhaps because I had just seen a girl I met recently, and who was nice to me, who looked like she had been beaten repeatably, try to kill herself, after being nice to me. And, while I was one of the few close enough, I heard, her only words afterwards, were a warning to her friend to stay away from him?” I shoot back, coming up with some stuff on the fly.

“What? Why hasn’t that been mentioned to the teachers then?” The girl continues. “Why has nothing been looked into?”

“My guess is because your Principal is either protecting him, or because Kikku himself shuts down any rumors quickly, before they spread. And now he’s getting rid of me, and anyone else who was in the room at the time, because we know too much. Anyway, I have better things to do with my time than lecture girls on why their teacher is a bad man.” With that, I walk out of the room, having noticed I was drawing attention.

As I’m walking up to the hideout, I get a message from Rirī in the group chat.

<What was that all about?> She asks.

<Just shutting up some gossipers, as well as spreading distrust of Kikku. With hope, it will spread, and become a wildfire by the time he sees the calling card tomorrow.> I reply.

<Wait, we’re sending it today?> She asks, just as Hayai pops in.

<We’re doing it tomorrow? And also, what’s this about rumors and gossip?> He asks.

<Some girls were talking shit about us and Purogu. I figured, since Kikku seems fine with spreading rumors and stuff about us, I might do some of that myself, before the big day.> I explain. <Now, let’s meet on the roof, we got work to do.>

<Alright, I’ll see you there. So hyped!> Hayai says, signing off.

<I’ll be there too.> Rirī says, signing off too, as I continue my way up.

--------------------------

“All we gotta do now is send that callin’ card… right?” Hayai asks, when we’re all at the rooftop, and I nod. “I’ve been waitin’ to hear you say that!”

“Tomorrow’s finally the day.” Hayais says.

“So, we send the calling card in the morning… and carry out the plan by the end of the day, right?” Rirī asks.

“Correct. The effect isn’t going to last past tomorrow evening.” Abigale confirms. “...Are any of you worried?”

“Not at all. Waited too long for this, in fact.” Rirī states.

“Good.” Abigale nods.

“We’re gonna pull this off, no matter what!” Rirī says seriously.

“So, who’s going to write the card?” Abigale asks.

“You can leave it to me!” Hayai says, sounding confident.

“Why?” Rirī asks him.

“Why..? Why wouldn’t it be me!?” He questions.

“I’m just checking that you aren’t in over your head, this is pretty important.” She explains.

“I think he can do it!” Abigale says encouragingly. 

“I really wanna get him good.” He explains. “Lemme write it… C’mon, please?” He asks, looking at me.

“Alright. I trust you to do us justice, Slugger.” I say with a nod.

“I got this, won’t let you down Joker.” He says, with a smirk.

“Hey, are you sure about this, if they find out our identities, all this work will be wasted.” Rirī points out. 

“I know, I know.” He says.

“Alright, we’re going to finish this, tomorrow.” Abigale says. “None of you better stay up too late, we’re all going to need to be well rested for this.”

With that, we all head home. For the day.

--------------------------

“Well, whether you like it or not, the real battle begins tomorrow. Better be sure your prepared, OK?” Abigale asks me as we walk in the cafe, and my phone goes off.

<Man, there’s so much I wanna write on the calling card. It’s kinda tough figuring out what to say.> Hayai says.

<And you're really sure you can do this?> Rirī asks back.

<Don’t worry, I got this. I even made a logo for us.> He sends back.

<...A logo?> She asks.

<Yup. You’ll see it tomorrow at school.> He answers.

<Well, I hope it’ll be good…> She replies.

<Anyways, you guys should rest up.> He sends. <If we screw up tomorrow, we’re totally done for.>

<Que sera, sera.> Is all I send.

<I’m sure it’ll all go well!> She adds.

<Just remember, we can’t trust any shitty adults.> He continues. <That’s why we gotta do this ourselves.>

<Anyways, let’s pull this off and surprise everyone!> He says, as we sign off.

“Hey… A package came in for you. Can’t imagine what you bought…” Roast-san says when I’m done. ‘Let’s see what it is…’ I think, opening the box, and finding the four Party in a Cans I bought.

“...What did you get?” Abigale asks. “Guess our order arrived.”

With that done, I check the TV.

“Up next is politics.” The Newscaster begins. “Criticism of the curling party has surged, following the resignation of the Minister of Transport.”

“A survey we conducted shows that approval ratings of the cabinet have dropped drastically.” He continues. “People’s overall disapproval is higher than expected, as well as the distrust towards the government.”

“It seems like everyone’s not happy with the government. Being in a position of power must be tough.” Abigale comments, as I check in with Roast-san.

“You seem different… Did you always have that scowl on your face?” He asks me. ‘Must have let some of my anger show, damn it.’ “Nothing goes your way in life. You’ll end up failing if you tense up like that.” With nothing else to do tonight, I make some more elemental bombs and another lockpick. During this time, I seem to have had enough practice that I think I can make more things at once after tonight.

“Welp, let’s go to bed. We got a big day tomorrow.” Abigale says, as we get ready for bed.
> Chapter 17 - Boss Time~
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/26 Tue

Upon getting to the school today, we find a mob of students by the notice boards.

“A calling card…?” A disheveled looking guy asks.

“I heard it was already posted by the time everyone got here this morning.” A more excited sounding guy says.

“Sir Takkuru Kikku, the malicious bastard of lust. We know what you are, and how you are all too willing to force all manner of twisted desires on your students, who have no way to fight back. That’s why we have decided to take all those desires from you, and have you confess all your crimes. This will be done by tomorrow, so get ready for it. From, The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.” Rirī says, reading it aloud. “...Wow.” Then she comes over.

‘Not bad, eh?” Hayai asks. “I looked up a bunch of stuff online for reference. I hope it’s enough.”

“Well, yeah, it should be enough. But it isn’t exactly amazing.” She comments.

“While I like the attempt at a logo, it could be better. Sorry…” Abigale comments as well. Hayai just sighs.

“I see what you're saying, but art isn’t exactly my strong suit, but it can’t be that bad, right?” He asks, looking at me.

“Did Mr. Kikku do something wrong…?” A Shy girl asks from the group.

“Does this mean the rumors are true!?” Another girl asks.

“Wait a sec… Is someone going to take something from Mr. Kikku…?” The guy from earlier asks.

“What’s with this strange logo?” The excited guy from earlier asks. “And who are these Phantom Thieves of Hearts people..?”

“...Well it got everyone excited, so it’s good, right?” Hayai asks. Then Kikku walks up.

“Who’s responsible for this…!?” He calls out angrily.

“Look at that. A very predictable reaction from someone who knows what we mean by distorted desires.” Abigale comments.

“Looks like it’s hittin’ him pretty hard too.” Hayai comments.

“Did you do this!? Or was it you!?” He yells at the mob of students, which makes them scatter, then he notices our group nearby. “...Was it you two!?”

“What, you're talking about that calling card thing? No idea, was there when we got here this morning. Got nothing to do with us.” I reply.

“Playing dumb, are you?” He asks, before scoffing. “It’s not a problem, you’ll be expelled soon enough anyway.” When he finishes speaking, we feel a sensation like going to the Metaverse, and see Kikku replaced with his Shadow.

“Come… Steal it, if you can!” He taunts, before everything returns to normal.

“Judging from Kikku’s response… I’m sure we had an effect on his Palace.” Abigale remarks.

“Does that mean the Treasure’s appeared!?” Rirī questions. “We’ll be able to get it today, right?”

“It’s not just ‘today’. It’s ONLY today.” Abigale confirms. “The impact from the calling card doesn’t last too long. And it can’t be repeated either. So this will be our ONE chance to steal the Treasure.”

“A single day should be MORE than enough for the four of us.” Hayai says. Then we head up to the rooftop, and head into the Palace.

--------------------------

When we get in, I start up Metaverse Radio, a new song coming out.



“Let’s go! Don’t let your guard down. Security should have skyrocketed after the card.” Gale says, as we get ready. ‘Gotta grab those chests first…’ I think.

“We got some loot to grab first. Shouldn’t take long.” I order, and with my team's nods, we head out to gather the loot. We head to the East Building Annex safe room, which is close to two of our minor targets, and head out to the corridor that leads to the library.

We got noticed and chased by a Shadow guard, but escaped without battle.

“Gotta be more stealthy than that…” I mutter as I we head back in, and get attacked by the Shadow, revealing a triad of Agathion. With two Garu’s from Gale, and then a crit, I decide to hustle some money out of it, giving extra because I have an Agathion with me.

I do feel a little stronger after the battle, but focus on getting to the locked chests, with the warm up out of the way. I use a few healing items, and we’re on our way.

After a few more encounters, thanks to more appearing after each set, we reach the chest. The chest was guarded by an Incubus and a pair of Silky. They aren’t any trouble. The chest itself holds 2 items, a Bead, and a Chewing Soul, which Gale says is better than a Snuff Soul. We head back to the Safe Room for a few moments, to rest and regroup, before heading out to the other chest that is nearby, at the bottom of a tower, after a bit of healing, at least.

“Well, if we’re gonna reach this second chest, we’re gonna need to go through that cathedral. Again.” Succubus says, looking at the map. 

“Yeah, but that shouldn’t be TOO hard, since we know the way around now.” I point out.

“Alright, let’s move. No loot left behind!” Gale says, excited.

We manage to get by without any battles on the lower floor, and reach the upper. 

“Damn, we forgot to open this door…” Slugger says, before we take the long way around.

We encounter a Shadow in the hallway and ambush it, showing a trio of Agathion and a Pixie. It doesn’t take long, and we get some money out of the Pixie.

The follow up has a two Silky and an Incubus combo. This, doesn't go as well, but we win.

“Bloody maids…” Succubus mutters after we wake her up, and we head down to the tower, after a bit of healing. 

After a quick detour to open the door we forgot, I find a ball with a dull sword in it, and we take off for the chest. There is a Shadow down here, so we just need to wait for our moment.

We make quick work of the pairs of Agathion and Silky that appear, and open the chest, getting a new dagger for Gale.

“Yay! I’ve been needing a new one” Gale says while hugging the dagger’s handle, the dagger itself looking like something a pirate would use.

Making our way up the tower, we find more of the stronger Shadows on the roof. Realizing we would need to defeat some to get past, we ambush the closest one. A pair of horsemen with tridents, and a pair of Pixie. Gale’s slingshot takes care of the Pixie, knocking them both down. Then Succubus uses Dormina on one of the horsemen, knocking him out. Leaving it for me to use my Silky for Bufu on both, knocking both horsemen down. After we All-Out attack them, one horsemen is standing, but he panics, and offers a deal. So, I collect him, learning they are called Berith.

Unfortunately, this leaves me over-encumbered with Personas, again. So we take our time clearing the roof, before making our way back into the tallest tower. 

Once back in the Central Tower, we bee-line it for the Safe Room, so we can rest, where I decide to leave Pixie in the safe room, with the rest. With that bit of rest, we head out for the remaining chest, which is in the next room over, past a Shadow or two.

The first is one of the owlmen, which Succubus knocks down with a single bullet. Deciding to take a chance, I try to get him on my side.

“Let’s talk then.” It says. “Looking closer, me can see that you are a young human, not been alive many years.”

“Why fight and put yourself in harms way?” It asks.

“I’m doing it to get stronger, as there are enemies both here and in reality I’ll need to face.” I answer, to it’s glee.

“Get stronger? Say no more, I understand you, young man.” It says, nodding. “Although, I am having a hard time accepting that a human is stronger than me.”

“Perhaps you have a power I don’t have…?” It asks.

“I’d say it’s my intelligence, although the money I have been picking up helps.” I admit, and it smiles.

“Yes, humans are a resourceful lot.” It agrees. “Ah, now I can recall!” 

“Me am not a Shadow that belongs here. Me exist in the sea of souls of humans!” It bellows. “Me am Andras. Me power is your power… Use it how you want.” It finishes, before flowing into my mask.

Taking a quick pit stop to leave Silky in the Safe Room, I head back out to go grab the chest. It's a straight shot to the chest, which after opening, has a Balm of Life, and a Pearl.

Heading back to the Safe Room, I use the vent system to head to the Safe Room right outside the throne room, and give Succubus and Gale the Arginades and Water of Rebirths, to restore some of their energy. Then, I look at the collection of Personas that are resting here in the Safe Room.

“We are on our way to take the core of this place, which is likely to cause it to collapse. I recommend you head out of here, and find somewhere safe where I can regroup with you at a later date.” I suggest, looking at them all.

“Where should we go? Do you have somewhere in mind?” Incubus asks.

“Might I suggest the entrance of Mementos?” Gale says, looking at them, and confusing the team.

“That would work. We’ll meet you there at some point boss.” Incubus says, before all my stored Personas vanish in a flash of blue light.

“What is Mementos?” I ask Gale, after a moment.

“I’ll explain it later, let’s just say it’s somewhere else we could go after we’re finished here.” She says, stretching, before heading to the door. “With nothing else to do, are we ready?”

“Of course we’re ready.” I say, before heading out, and down the hall, where we find the Throne Room doors wide open, and the side route we used sealed off.

“Guess there is only one way in.” Slugger says, as we walk in, and see the place is empty, apart from the ‘statues’ and the shape of the roof.

“What the hell’s goin’ on here? The door’s just sittin’ open, and there aren’t any soldiers around…” Slugger mutters.

“This place is probably under manned now that they all got assigned elsewhere.” Gale theorizes. “Either way, we win as long as we can steal the Treasure! Let’s keep going!” She says with excitement in her voice.

With nothing else to do, we head up the stairs behind the throne to the Treasure Room. When we open the door to the vault, we find a large, floating, ornate crown.

“Aww yeah! The Treasure has appeared!” Gale says happily.

“Man, it’s huge!” Slugger says, wide eyed.

“What do you think?!~ It’s just as I said! Now, we can steal it!” Gale says, smiling happily. “Ahh… this shine brings tears to my eyes…”

“...It really pisses me off.” Succubus says after a moment. “Why’s it so pretty? Isn’t this Kikku’s desires?”

“T-Treasure…” Gale slurs out.

“Uh, the puppy’s actin’ awfully excited…” Slugger says, concerned.

“What’s wrong? Is something…?” Succubus begins to say, but is interrupted by Gale jumping onto the crown, where she begins nuzzling it, making happy growl noises.

“You alright Gale? Your way to excited right now…” I mumble, just watching her. Her only response is more happy growl noises.

“Alright, that’s enough you silly puppy.” Slugger says with a chuckle. This wakes her from her state, and she jumps off.

“Oh, um, yeah… Sorry about that guys, I have no idea what came over me.” She says with an embarrassed blush.

“You seemed completely out of it there. Are you sure you're alright Gale?” Succubus asks, concerned.

“I couldn’t stop it either… To think I’d be so drawn to desires like this…” Gale says.

“Anyway, if you're okay, we should get to hauling.” Slugger says.

“Alright. Would you three be able to carry it? I’m a bit small…” Glae says, sheepishly.

“Sure thing, just make sure you keep watch out front.” Slugger orders. “Either way, this was easier than I thought! I thought for sure there would probably be some insane trap or something.”

“So his Palace will disappear when we get this out, right?” Succubus asks. “And Kikku will change too…”

“...That should be the case.” Gale confirms.

“Good. We got our chance then.” Slugger says, stretching before we carry this big thing.

“It’s heavy…!” Succubus says, the least physically fit of the three of us.

“This went better than I thought! Even found three Persona users… “Gale mumbles to herself. “My judgement was correct. Making a deal with you was the right choice, Joker.”

“Nyahaha!” She laughs happily. ‘I feel a bit closer with my puppy pal.’

With that, we head out into the throne room, and we’re halfway out it, before we hear an  eerily familiar voice, cheering.

“Go, go! Let’s go! Ki-kk-u!!” The voice says from the throne room entrance, before a football is kicked into the crown, knocking it far out of our grasp, before Kikku jumps over us, and holds out his hand, the crown shrinking down to be easily held in his hand, while the fake Succubus is hanging off his arm.

“I won’t let anyone take this!” Shadow Kikku says arrogantly. “This proves that I am the king of this castle-it is the core of this world!”

“That rat bastard…” Succubus swears. “That’s how he sees me, isn’t it!?”

“Yo, pervert. Were you waitin’ to ambush us? Since you couldn’t get us any other way?” Slugger taunts.

“This just made it easier to find you.” S. Kikku fires back. “I’ll dispose of you myself. Right here, right now.”

“That’s our line, you sexually-harassin’ D-bag!” Slugger exclaims.

“What a selfish misunderstanding…” S. Kikku says.

“HOW is it a misunderstanding?! You were doing things that you convinced others to keep secret!” Succubus yells.

“It’s not MY fault that others around me decided keeping it secret was the best choice.” He fires back. “Adults who want to share in my accomplishments, students who have the drive to become winners…”

“They willingly protect me, so that we all may profit from it.” S. Kikku finishes.

“Profit!?” Slugger questions loudly.

“There are too many imbeciles who don’t understand that!” S. Kikku yells. “Including nive brats like you and that whore who tried to kill herself!” He says with a sneer on his face.

“While it’s true that she was being an idiot, letting you manipulate her, trying to commit suicide, ignoring my attempts to help her…” Succubus begins saying. “And I’m even more of a dumbass for not trying harder!”

“But no matter what kind of fool someone might be…” She continues. “They don’t need your permission to live the lives you asshole!”

“Drop the attitude, you mediocre peasant! There’s no wrong in using my gifts for my gain!” S. Kikku says arrogantly. “I’m a cut above all other humans!”

“Above?! You mean beneath, you sick, perverted demon! You're obsessed with your monstrous desires!” Succubus exclaims, causing Shadow Kikku to chuckle.



“That’s right, I’m not like you, weaklings.” He says, grabbing the fake Succubus while glowing with dark red energy. “I’m a demon who rules this world!” He says, before beginning to grow and transform. 

“Wh-What the hell…!?” Slugger exclaims, before S. Kikku laughs, madness in his voice.

This new form of his is grotesque, he is now massive, with four arms spreading from his sides, the muscles along his body look unnatural in the way they are. Each arm is holding an item. A wine bottle that has the fake Succubus as a cork, a riding crop, and a golden knife and fork. He is sitting on his ass, and still wearing his cape. Luckily, he doesn’t appear to have anything down below, as his cape is covering nothing now. As for his face, his mouth is now just jagged teeth, with a long, wet tongue hanging out, with mad eyes looking about. HIs hair is messier than normal, with a pair of demonic ram horns sprouting from it. And finally the crown is on his head. He also has a trophy at his feet, with sets of bare legs that looks suspiciously like they belong to members of the female football team.

“I’m allowed to do whatever the hell I want!” S. Kikku exclaims.

“You’re wrong, so let’s finish this!” I challenge and point at him, which sets him off.

“You goddamn, no-good, shitty brats! Haven’t you been taught not to point at people!? Huh!?” He yells.

“Look! The Treasure’s on his head!” Gale exclaims. “We should try to catch him off guard and take it!” 

“Let’s attack him and wait for our chance.” She suggests. “Finally, we can take of Kikku himself. Everybody, let’s do this!”

I start us off with Sukunda, then Ryuji uses Tarukaja on himself. After that, Gale unloads her slingshot on the bastard. Succubus does the same.

On his turn he has his minions at his sides kick footballs at Gale, then Succubus. On my next turn, I use Andras to lower his defense with Rakunda, then Slugger uses Lunge. Gale attacks with her dagger and Succubus unloads another set of bullets into him. Then S. Kikku uses his minions to attack Slugger and Succubus.

Next go around, I use my Succubus with Rebellion on Slugger, who uses Lunge again. Deciding to wait another turn on healing, Gale slashes with her dagger, while Succubus uses an Air Cannon. The next assault hits Gale and Succubus, who gets knocked out.

I use Berith and Cleave on the bastard. Slugger buffs his attack again, and Gale uses a Revivadrin on Succubus, who uses Dia on Gale. S. Kikku attacks with his minions once more, at Gale, before just staring at Succubus.

I use Cleave once more, and Slugger follows with Lunge. Gale uses Dia on Succubus and Succubus uses Dia on Slugger. S. Kikku attack Succubus with his fork, knocking her out, before cutting up one of the legs in his trophy and eating it, appearing to heal afterwards.

“Ngh, that is some good healing.” He says. “Come at me you pieces of shit, I ain’t lettin’ you sleep tonight!”

“He healed himself…? Is it because he at one of the girls inside there?” Gale asks, having noticed what I did. I use the Chewing Soul, knowing I’ll need the energy. Slugger uses Lunge on the trophy, and S. Kikku gets defensive.

“Hey!” He yells. “You don’t know what this is worth, so stop touching it! Don’t do it anymore, got it! I’ve warned you!”

“When someone tells us not to do something, it makes us want to do it even more!” Gale exclaims happily, then uses a Balm of Life on Succubus, who then uses Agi on the Trophy. S. Kikku then swipes us all with his tongue, before he sucks on his bottle of wine, appearing to get stronger after.

I use Sukunda on S. Kikku once more, Slugger uses Lunge on the trophy, and Gale uses Dia on herself. Succubus uses Agi on the trophy, dodges a knife attack, and gets knocked out by more footballs.

I use Rakunda on the trophy, Slugger repeats using Lunge, and Gale revives Succubus with a Revival Bead. Succubus uses a Life Stone on herself. S. Kikku uses the Minion Assault on Slugger, before staring at Succubus.

I use Berith and Rukukaja on Succubus. Slugger uses Lunge again, and Gale uses Dia on Slugger. Succubus uses Dia on Gale, then S. Kikku tries to lick Succubus but misses, then uses an assault on Gale, which hits.

I uses Tasukete and Sukunda on him once more, keeping him slow, while Slugger keeps up his assault on the trophy with Lunge. Gale heals him with Dia once more, while Succubus does the same to me. Then S. Kikku licks at us all, Slugger dodging while the rest of us are hit. Then he hits Succubus with his knife.

I once more use Andras to lower the trophy’s defense and Slugger hits with Lunge. Gale and Succubus use the turn to use Dia on each other. S. Kikku uses his Minion Assault on me, and I dodge, the uses his knife on Gale, stabbing her.

I use Rakukaja on Gale, then Slugger Lunges once more. Gale uses Dia on herself, and Succubus uses it on her too. S. Kikku uses his assault on me, and hits, then stares at Succubus.

I lower his speed once more, and Slugger keeps attacking the cup. Gale and Succubus use the turn to heal me with Dia. Then S.Kikku hits Succubus with a lick.

Me and Slugger assault the cup with Cleave from Berith and Lunge, destroying it.

“No way… This was from when I won the national…” S. Kikku says, looking despondent. 

“All right! No more healing for him!” Gale says, as we hold him up.

“You think that you can get away with doing such a thing? Do you realize who I am!?” He yells. “I am Kikku! Don’t you get it!?”

“So what?” I ask dismissively.

“Huh?” He questions, confused. “Like I keep saying! I am Kikku! I’m the king!”

“You look down on everyone.. But you’re seriously lame right now.” Slugger retorts.

“Silence! I won’t let the likes of you have this!” S. Kikku roars.

“You still have energy to say things like that!?” Gale ask in disbelief. “Then we’re going to up OUR game as well!” She says, before we All-Out attack.

“I’m the king! If I’m not, then who is!?” S. Kikku asks.

“We won’t get anywhere with brute force.” Gale says. “What should we do, Joker?”

“We should go for the crown.” I suggest.

“I see. In that case, let’s begin plan B!” She says, and points at a terrace. “Look over at that!”

“While the others are drawing Kikku’s attention, have someone go there!” She finishes. “Let’s steal the Treasure without him noticing!” Then she heals herself, then S. Kikku hits her and me with his knife.

“Let’s take that crown from him!” Slugger says, and I send him up to do it. “Gotcha. Keep him distracted by attacking him!” He says, heading over, and hiding.

“How dare you keep defying me… Looks like I gotta bring out the big guns!” S. Kikku says, after I hit him with Cleave, and Gale heals me with Dia. “Slaves! Bring over you-know-what!”

And with that order, the minions who were chained up behind him are set loose. “Time for my killshot from when I was active and rockin’ it!” He continues. “Killshot… as in, I’ll make the kill!”

Me, Gale and Succubus guard, and take the shot, then I attack with Cleave.

“I’m the one in charge of this school! Nothing gets by me!” S. Kikku says, while Slugger makes his way up the terrace a bit. After a few more attacks and heals, he goes off again.

“You’re misunderstanding it all! I haven’t secually harassed anyone!” He claims. “They came on to me because they wanted to get on my good side!”

“What a total moron…” Slugger whispers, climbing up more. “But at least it’s lettin’ me get closer to the Treasure.” And we attack more to keep his attention.

“You’re quite tenacious…” S. Kikku says. “Ah, I get it! You want to see my killshot again, don’t you!?” With that, we all guard and survive.

Attacking a bit more gets his attention on us.

“Is there one less of you?” He asks. “I knew it! They’re missing! Where’d they go!?”

“Took you too long to notice, moron!” Slugger says with a smirk, before winding up, and swinging at the crown, knocking it off his fat head.

“Nooo! My… my precious!” S. Kikku crys, flailing his arms in desperation.

“Good, Kikku’s shaken up!” Gale says

“We can do this!” Succubus exclaims, as Slugger lays another Lunge into him, which does major damage this time. When it’s S. Kikku’s turn, he seems dejected, and just attacks once with his knife.

After a few more attacks, Succubus gets the last hit, kicking his groin with her bladed boots, which finishes him off.

With him defeated, his crown rolls to the floor, and shrinks down once again. But before we can grab it, S. Kikku tackles it, and tries to run away, right to a balcony.

“What’s wrong? Not running away?” Succubus taunts. “Why don’t you run?”

“Aren’t you a ‘great athlete’?” She continues.

“It’s always been like this… all those goddamn hyenas forcing their expectations on me…!” S. Kikku tries to deflect. “I’m doing this all for them! What’s wrong about demanding a reward for that!?”

“Now you’re makin’ excuses?” Slugger asks. “We’ll do something about that distorted heart of yours.”

Shadow Kikku just groans.

“Scared?” Succubus asks. “Right now, you’re seeing the same view that Hikui did.”

“I’m sure she was scared too… except she had no choice but to jump…” Succubus continues intimidating him. “What will you do?”

“Will you jump? Or would you rather die here?” She asks, before summoning Yūwaku suru on'na, and having her hold two fireballs.

“Do you want to finish him off? It’s your call.” Gale says, while we stand back.

“No, please wait! I beg you… Just forgive meeee!” S. Kikku says, like a coward.

“Shut up. I bet everyone told you the same. But you… you took everything from them!” She says, throwing a fireball at him, and missing on purpose.

“I accept defeat… You want this? Take it.” He says, cowering in fear, before tossing me his crown. “Go ahead and finish me off…”

“You do that… and my real self will go down too…” He continues. “You have that right, since you’ve won...”

Succubus throws the second fireball, and Slugger yell out “Rirī...!” before we see it scorch the floor beside S. Kikku, and she returns her Persona.

“If his mind shuts down, he can’t admit his crimes.” She finally says.

“Practical thinking, Rirī.” Gale says, while we watch.

“I’ve lost…” S. Kikku says, on his knees. “You’re through when you lose…”

“What am I- What am I supposed to do now…?” He asks us, finally seeming to see reason, in some way.

“Figure out a way to atone for your sins.” I say, after a moment of consideration.

“Alright… I will leave now and return to my real self.” He says, beginning to glow blue, and fade away. “I’ll make certain that I-” He begins to say, being cut off as he disappears. That’s when the Palace starts to rumble.

“Hey, just so you know, we don’t have time to waste!” Gale says, already running for the door. “This place is about to collapse!”

“Run!” Slugger says, as we begin running through halls, rubble falling in front of and behind us, causing us to have to climb over stuff as we run. While we do, Gale, in her real world form, jumps up on Succubus, to Slugger, then my shoulder.

While we run, Slugger trips, saying he is fine and getting back up, as the hallway collapses behind us. We only just manage to make it to the exit in time, and arrive in the alleyway outside the school.

--------------------------

“That sucked…” Rirī says, panting against the wall. Then Hayai pulls out his phone.

“Look at the nav!” He says, sounding shocked. So we pull our phones out too.

“The destination has been deleted.” The nav’s voice says.

“It’s true. We can’t go there anymore.” Rirī says, sounding satisfied.

“What about the Treasure?” Abigale askes, worried. So I pull it out from where I stored it. But it’s now a medal.

“What the…?” Hayai asks, confused.

“...A medal? Wait, where’d that crown go?” Rirī asks.

“What’s goin’ on…?” Hayai asks.

“It means that this medal was the source of Kikku’s desires.” Abigale explains. “To him, this medal is worth as much as that crown we saw in the Palace.”

“Any Olympic medal…” Hayai says, thinking. “So, that perv kept clingin’ to his past glory and couldn’t let it go…”

“But… this means that Kikku’s heart might have changed, right?” Rirī asks for confirmation.

“Most likely.” Abigale says, sounding unsure.

“Our expulsion’s on the line here!” Hayai says.

“This is the first successful example for me too.” Abigale points out. “However, there’s no doubt that this has affected Kikku’s personality quite a lot.

“The entire Palace disappeared, after all.” She continues.

“Ugh, I feel all antsy! Ain’t there a way to check now?” Hayai asks.

“While I’m also worried, we’ll know soon enough.” I say.

“Right.” Rirī says, sounding exhausted.

“Come on, why the gloomy faces? Be happy! We completed this with great success, you know.” Abigale points out, and nuzzles my leg.

“We just don’t know if everything is OK yet.” Hayai says.

“I’m pretty sure it’ll all be fine.” Abigale comforts. “Remember how Kikku’s Shadow said that he’s returning to his self in reality?”

“Takkuru Kikku was a pretty big piece of shit. Still…” She continues. “He did seem to regain his conscience somewhat at the end.”

“I’m sure it worked.” I say, trying to convince my team.

“There are definitely those who have been saved thanks to what we’ve done.” She finishes.

“Yeah…” Rirī sighs out.

“Anyways, I guess we gotta wait.” Hayai finishes. “It all boils down to what’s gonna happen to Kikku… or if we’re gettin’ expelled for real.”

“Let’s be patient and go home.” I suggest.

“Right. C’mon, let’s go home.” Hayai agrees, as we head out for our trains home.

--------------------------

Walking in the cafe, I’m greeted by Roast-san, as my phone goes off.

<Thanks. I finally got to avenge Kikui because of you guys…> Rirī sends. <I’m pretty sure there was no way I’d have been able to do anything on my own.> She admits.

<So seriously, thank you. I owe you so much.> She continues.

<There’s no need to thank me. But, don’t forget to thank Hayai as well.> I suggest.

<Your right, I should probably send him a thank you message as well.> She agrees. <Anyway, that cognitive world was pretty crazy, huh?>

<What a mysterious place. I can’t believe we actually stole someone’s heart…> She admits. <Speaking of mysterious, there’s also the matter of Abigale’s transformation.>

<When we were escaping, didn’t she turn back into a pup even though we were still in the Palace?> She questions.

“Rirī sure is sharp! I’m impressed.” Abigale admits. “Basically, the Treasure changes the shape of things. Once that’s gone, that power no longer works.”

“Though the real reason I changed quickly back then was because of all my practice there.” She finishes. “How’s that? Aren’t I amazing?” She says, a bit smugly.

<She said she’s amazing.> I decide to reply.

<Oh yeah, I forgot that Abigale is reading these messages too.> Rirī sends back. <I think I feel a little better after talking to you. Thanks.>

<We still haven’t seen any results but it feels like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders.> She continues. <I hope you don’t mind me talking too much.>

<Well, see you tomorrow!> She says, before signing off. With that done, I turn to Roast-san.

“You sure look satisfied… Something good happen?” He asks. “Nothing goes your way in life. Let it get to your head, and you’ll get the rug pulled out from under you.”

“Thanks for the advice. And yes, something good may have happened. Need to wait and see.” I say, with a smile.

“Well, if you're too tired to help clean, get to bed. And don’t lie, I can see how tired you are.” He says. With that conversation done, I head to the tv.

“Pawn to 5-6 on the first move was unexpected. This might just lead to a Happy Central Rook.” An interviewer states. “Ah, is there a special reason why it’s called a Happy Central Rook?”

“Well, the first shogi player to use that move was the kind of person who’s always smiling.” Says, who I assume is a Pro Shogi Player. “That’s really where the name comes from. It has nothing to do with the actual strategy itself.”

“So the name doesn’t clue you in on the strategy. It’s really just named after a shogi player…” The interviewer mumbles. I’ve seen enough and head upstairs.

“You must be exhausted after today. Let’s go to bed.” Abigale suggests. I turn to my journal first. “Recording your daily activities, huh… Well, I hope people start thinking better of your soon.” Then I head up to sleep.