A/N: A collection of one-shots showing the possible scenarios in Persona 5 if the Phantom Thieves operated like their possible counterparts in Yakuza, inspired by seeing them wearing their Yakuza DLC costumes in Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight. Will feature not just Akira, but also all the Phantom Thieves, along with other members of the supporting cast and some pairings.

This might not be updated regularly, for your information, since I am currently focusing on other stories such as Warlords of Remnant and A Legend is Remade. Furthermore, studies will take priority since school's back on. Also, I might be taking a short break from Fanfiction to work on other fics I have in progress on other sites, those being Paradox Forums and Wattpad.

And a slight warning: the characters might become rather OOC, since I'm a little pissed off about the no-kill policy sometimes, especially regarding certain villains.

With that, enjoy.

Dealing with Kamoshida, Part I

Life at Shujin was never easy for the students there, most especially not with the P.E. teacher Kamoshida making things hell for them; his cardinal crimes were deliberately injuring them during volleyball practice with a masked sadistic glee, always acting as if it was due to an accident, and sexually assaulting and abusing the female members of the volleyball team, viewing them as nothing more than outlets for sexual pleasure.

Two students, both labeled as outcasts and treated as such, had taken it upon themselves to expose Kamoshida's wrongdoings for all to see, and to do so, they needed definitive proof; from asking Kamoshida's victims to the newspaper club, all methods within their reach were tried, but they soon come to terms with the harsh reality: the school management was deliberately keeping it all under wraps. And with Shiho - an apparent victim of Kamoshida's abuse - attempting to commit suicide at the school's premises, both could agree that this had gone too far.

To make matters worse, Kamoshida had deliberately spread word of Akira's criminal record, and even spread the word for Akira, Mishima and Ryuji to be expelled from the school, barely weeks into the first semester. With the bad reputation on their backs, it made them all the more harder to dig up dirt on him on the school grounds without arousing suspicion, and now even the newspaper club was trying to wash its hands of the whole affair with the P.E. teacher.

As such, the two of them sat down in frustration at one of the school's hangout spots, replete with a vending machine stocked with drinks and two benches of wood and steel, worn from use yet lacking any visible grime and dust, a testament to the cleanliness imparted by the constant, methodical cleaning performed by the school's janitors.

"Damn it!" Ryuji cursed, slamming his fist on his knee, "Why the hell's the school keeping quiet about it all!? Can't they see that what Kamoshida's doing is just wrong?"

"It seems the higher-ups don't want any rumours or scandals that could blemish the school's reputation," Said Akira, who shared his friend's frustration, "Shujin is a prestigious academy, after all; it wouldn't come as a surprise if that's the case."

"I know that!" Ryuji shouted, "Even so, this is just too much. If no one's going to take care of Kamoshida, then who will!?"

Morgana poked his head out of Akira's bag, saying, "Calm down, you two; if we act rashly, we're only going to do so in Kamoshida's favour, and that's what he wants us to do. Right now, we need to calm down, and think of a solution."

"Morgana's right about this," Said Akira, "But how do we go about this, though? Since we can't stop him by conventional means, our options are very limited."

"That's where the Metaverse comes in," Morgana stated, "Remember the castle we went to, the one that appeared in place of this school?"

"You called that a Palace, yes?" Stated Akira, "Are you saying we'll have to do something there?"

"Precisely. You catch on quick," Morgana said, "And as for what we'll be doing there, it will be stealing his treasure, located in the deepest parts of Kamoshida's Palace."

"The hell? Stealin' a treasure? How the hell's that gonna help us?" Ryuji questioned, "'Sides, I kinda feel like punching the living daylights outta him."

"And as I said, entertaining such thoughts will only be to our detriment!" Morgana emphasised, "What we've got to do is keep rational minds and-"

"Screw being rational! I just want to sock that bastard in the face!" Ryuji hotly interjected.

And very quickly, the conversation descended into a verbal fight between cat and human, and Akira tuned out the argument as he stood up to stretch his legs.

Thirsty for a drink, Akira walked to the vending machine and looked at the selection it offered. Oolong tea, green tea, root beer and coca cola, to name a few of the selectable options available for purchase were offered by the machine, in exchange for the right amount of change fed into its ravenous coin slot. Yet as Akira looked into his wallet, he realised that he only had enough for lunch, with no change to spare for a simple drink.

Granted, he could always drink water, but like many teenagers, he craved a flavoured drink, be it sweet or fizzy. Even chocolate milk would be a preferable option.

Turning around to sit back down on the bench, his eyes caught two small glass bottles laying on the floor, placed upright and in a corner that while obstructed view of these bottles from other angles, allowed Akira to see them in plain sight. Picking them up, Akira found them no smaller than his hand, and each was secured with a metallic cap. The labels, however, were what caught his eye.

The label featured the words 'Staminan X' in bold yellow kanji, and a special emphasis was placed on the 'X', with a large red one in the centre of the label.

Now that's strange, Thought Akira, This doesn't look like any sort of drink you can just buy at a grocery store or department store, so what's it doing here? More importantly, who bought this and left it here?

Akira was tempted to simply leave the bottles of Staminan there, but then again, there was the issue of his cravings for a flavoured drink, and that of his limited allowance. Moreover, whoever bought the drink and left it might have already forgotten it by now, and if some random passerby were to take it, he would probably never see it again.

You know what? Forget it; I might as well share a bottle of this with Ryuji while I'm at it, Thought Akira, Might as well not let it go to waste.

"Ryuji, feeling thirsty?" Akira asked, "Found something for us to drink."

Raising eyebrows at the proffered bottle, Ryuji remarked, "The hell's this? Some sort o' supplement or somethin'? I thought you'd be givin' me some coke or tea or something."

"Unfortunately, I don't have enough spare change to buy a drink, much less two," Akira stated, "And besides, since I found them and they're not expired or anything, they're pretty much safe to drink, right?"

"Uh huh," Ryuji mouthed, unsure of the drink offered to him, "'Staminan X'. Any idea what it is, then? Sure as hell hoping it's not some sorta disgusting health drink made of blended veggies or something."

"Ryuji, for one thing, I checked the ingredient list," Said Akira flatly, "No veggies, no fruits, no nothing that makes it a suspicious concoction."

"So what, you're saying we should just drink this stuff since you happened to find it lying around?" Ryuji said, "Not to sound pessimistic, but I'm not sure it's even a regular drink you'd just buy from any random store on the street."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing," Said Morgana.

"So was I," Akira admitted, "But come on, you wouldn't be such a jerk just to toss it away or anything, are you? Especially when it's your good friend offering it to you?"

Ryuji groaned slightly; being the cheeky bastard he was at times, Akira was also quite the smooth talker, easily able to sway most people with that honeyed tongue of his. And he was damned good at swaying him to try the proffered drink that he just so happened to find lying around somewhere, for no apparent reason other than that he somehow found it lying around.

With a sigh and a smile, Ryuji took the bottle, saying, "Thanks, then, I guess."

After all, who was he to doubt Akira, his good friend? He certainly had no ill intention behind his offering of the drink, and he most definitely had no reason to try and feed him something that was expired or which had confirmed strange effects on his body. If there were any such effects, it'd simply be because Akira had no idea about said side effects. That, and like Akira, he was thirsty for a drink.

Opening his bottle, he clinked it with Akira's, saying, "Bottoms up."

"Bottoms up," Replied Akira.

"Wait, hold it! Don't go drinking suspicious-looking-"

Sadly for Morgana, before he could finish his warning, Akira and Ryuji had already finished their drinks, the empty bottles promptly thrown away into the nearby rubbish bin.

"...Drinks," He muttered, cursing the ill-timing of his words.

For a few moments, nothing happened to the two, as if the drinks had no effect on their physical state of health.

"Huh. Seems nothing's happening," Said Ryuji, "Though that Staminan did taste kinda strange, like some sorta blandish-tasting soup?"

"It definitely wasn't sweet, or tasty for that matter," Said Akira, "I'd say this Staminan's more sold for it's possible effects on the body than anything, I'd say."

Morgana could only shake his head at the two; since when did they only worry about the taste of a suspicious-looking drink? If he were either of them, he'd worry more about the side effects and leave it be instead, rather than just chug it down without a care in the world.

"Oh well, we can talk about Kamoshida later," Ryuji said as he got up, "Come on, Akira, shall we-"

All of a sudden, however, Ryuji clutched his stomach as a strangled scream struggled to free itself from his mouth. The pain was like hot irons driven into his stomach, churning and crushing his insides like they were mush, and it was not a pleasant feeling. A great heat permeated his stomach as well, and soon it spread throughout his body as well, and it felt as if he were being baked in a hellishly hot oven, his skin terribly warm to the touch.

"H...H..."

And like Ryuji, Akira fell to the floor, clutching his stomach as well. Rivers of sweat cascaded down his skin like miniature waterfalls, and he was soon subject to the same kind of excruciating pain Ryuji was currently enduring.

"O-Oi! Hang in there, you two!" Morgana shouted, "Doctor! Doctor! Is there a doctor around here!?"

"Ah!"

The gasp of a girl could be heard, and the source of it was Ann herself, the part-time model who was nearly subject to Kamoshida's ill-treatment. Having seen the state her two fellow Phantom Thieves were in, she quickly dropped her bag and knelt down to inspect them.

"Oh my god! What happened to them!?" Exclaimed Ann, "Morgana, do you have any idea!?"

The volume of her words was bound to draw in more than a few eavesdroppers, but at that point, she cared little about that, and more about the state of her fellow schoolmates.

"They chose to drink something that Akira just happened to find lying around somewhere," Morgana said, more exasperated than worried, "Apparently it was something called 'Staminan X', don't really know how it works."

"Staminan?" Ann wondered, "Never heard of that kind of drink before. Even so, we'd better get them to the nurse's office; this isn't any place for them to rest."

"You mean you've gotta get them to the nurse's office," Said Morgana, "I'm in cat form right now, remember?"

"Oh, right. You can't carry either of them, and you can't risk getting caught on school ground right now," Ann said, "Guess I'll just have to find someone who can help."

And laying eyes upon a certain brown-haired Student Council President, Ann called out to her, saying, "Excuse me! Mind helping me carry these two to the nurse's office?"

IIOII

It was a herculean effort for the two women carrying the two students now unconscious, but at last they made it to the nurse's office, where they unceremoniously tossed them onto the vacant beds lined with white linen, and the two women then plopped onto nearby chairs once their task was done, both panting heavily from their recent heavy exertion.

"Man, they're heavy as hell, and we're just not cut out for such work," Ann lamented, rubbing her sore shoulders, "Just how the hell did a simple drink of Staminan make them like this, again?"

"I can't say for sure," Said Makoto, barely able to lift her arms, "I don't know just what effects Staminan has on the Human body, but from what little information I gleamed about it, it doesn't give people seizures or make them lose consciousness."

"Seriously!?" Ann complained, "And just how did they manage to find two bottles of that stuff, anyway?"

"Maybe someone snuck it into the campus and forgot to take it with them? That should be the most logical explanation, given how easily Akira found it," Makoto said, "By the way, you seem rather familiar..."

"Oh, really?"

"I think I've seen your face being featured on the front page of a fashion magazine, once," Said Makoto, "I don't really read such things, though."

"That's because I'm a part-time model," Explained Ann, "Name's Ann, Takamaki Ann."

"Niijima Makoto," Said the Student Council President, "Sorry, but I have to go. I've got work to do."

"Oh, I see. See you then, wouldn't want to keep you for long," Said Ann.

Though the words sounded nice and kind, Ann harboured a mistrust of Makoto, due primarily to the rumours spread by Shujin students who harboured a long-standing mistrust of her; the principal's lap dog, a robot of a student, and more names were what they called her, since she did nothing but follow Principal Kobayakawa's orders without question, and as an honour student, she placed all her focus on studying with no time for play and relaxation, almost like a robot.

Though a part of her wanted to believe otherwise, Ann knew better to play it safe for now; if she ever caught wind about their double identity as Phantom Thieves, there's no telling whether she would use that information to blackmail them or even arrange for their expulsion.

Though right now, I have to worry more about these two idiots; just how long are they gonna lie down unconscious like that? There's only about two more weeks before the expulsion date! Ann thought angrily, then sighed, Oh well, I'll just have to hope they wake up soon enough; can't afford to miss out too much on class. Hopefully Morgana didn't get caught either.

And so Ann promptly left the two idiotic Phantom Thieves in the nurse's office and quickly dashed back to her classroom, hoping that she was not too late in attending the next lesson.

IIOII

Akira felt no small amount of pain in his head as he struggled to awaken, the effects of the Staminan X yet to wear off. His gut was on fire, and his head feeling like it was reduced to mush after a thorough pummeling. It took great effort to tough it out, and it was no easy feat. Yet endure it he did, and he found himself awakening in the nurse's office, his friend Ryuji laying comatose in a bed alongside him, bone-white sheets warming their backs on the beds they lay on.

Rubbing his head in a futile effort to assuage some of the pain, he soon found Morgana poking his head out of his schoolbag, the cat directing a stern and displeased look at him as he did.

"And mind telling me what just possessed you to try that Staminan X?" Morgana said, exceptionally upset, "You were thrashing about like you were suffering constipation, for goodness' sake! If it were any worse, forget conducting our exploits in the Metaverse, we wouldn't even be able to attend school! Are you two idiots or what!?"

"You sound a lot more upset than usual," Akira obviously stated, slightly sheepish.

"Of course I'm upset!" Morgana exclaimed, "At least Lady Ann was nearby to call for help and haul your asses here! Who knows what would've happened if she wasn't!"

"Urgh..."

Ryuji, having managed to regain consciousness, sat up wearily on the bed, his half-lidded eyes barely open from the grogginess that beset them, his brown eyes barely focused on his surroundings.

Blinking several times, he found himself muttering, "Staminan X... more like Grogginess X."

"Uh huh, and you're realising that now?" Morgana pointedly said, his eyes narrowed, "Mr. 2.6 g.p.a.?"

"Shut up, Mona... I already have this damn migraine to deal with, I don't need your yappin' in my ear as well," Ryuji complained, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Well, now that you've all woken up, I say we lay out some ground rules, and I expect you both to follow them," Morgana said sternly, "First off, no drinking any Staminan X."

"That's a given," Akira said, nodding.

"Secondly, no picking up any random unidentified drinks that just so happen to be lying in a little corner within our eyesight," Said the Cat, "You don't pick them up, you don't see them, you don't even do so much as blink at them, understand?"

"We got it," Ryuji muttered, only to receive a slight scratch on his cheek from Morgana's claws.

"You're obviously not listening to me, Stuji," Said Morgana, eliciting an irritated expression from the blonde-haired student.

"The hell did you just call me!?" Shouted Ryuji.

Akira rubbed his forehead in exasperation, knowing that the argument between them would last for minutes more and would severely delay their re-entry into class. Harrumphing loudly to gain their attention, he said, "As much as the two of you would like to argue, might I remind you that we need to report back to class? School's still on, you know."

Looking at the time displayed on a clock hung on the wall, Ryuji exclaimed with panic, "Oh shit! Kawakami-sensei's class's already started! And we're five minutes late!"

And with the speed of a motorcycle, the two students hastily got up from their beds and rushed back towards their respective classrooms, their feet causing dust clouds to form upon their exit, leaving a stunned and half-exasperated Morgana to stare dumbly at the door from whence they left. Sighing heavily, the cat turned to leave via an open window, lest a student or a teacher catch him lurking and expel him promptly from the school, perhaps even hand him over to one of those animal care centres.

And in his powerless cat form, in a world where the rules of the Metaverse do not apply, he would be hard-pressed to escape an animal care centre were he to ever be caught.

Let's just hope nothing strange happens afterwards; I hate to think of the possibility of any side-effects, even if they don't seem to show right now, Were the cat's thoughts.

Little did he know, however, that this strange phenomenon would not simply stop there.

IIOII

Barely seven minutes into Kawakami's class, and already yet another case of fainting on the school premises was reported, and this time the victim was Takamaki Ann.

It had started just a minute after Akira and Ryuji had made it back to class to receive a slight berating from Kawakami to not be late for class and to not faint on school premises again, and just a minute after classes resumed after the brief interruption, when news came of Ann's fainting from a panicked student who barged into class, forgoing all formalities and consideration as he quickly told of the reason behind Ann's absence from Akira's classroom.

Initial panic ensued in the class, the students fervently whispering to one another as they engaged second-guessing of the possible causes behind Ann's losing consciousness. Some put forth utterly nonsensical theories, and most made wild guesses without carefully thinking through the logic behind them. Though Kawakami did not hold much clout as a teacher, she at least managed to marshall enough authority and ordered the students to quieten down.

As for the poor messenger, he made sure to return to class after receiving confirmation from his friend that Ann was resting at the nurse's office, though much to Akira's and Morgana's utter shock and the others' confusion, he reported seeing an empty glass bottle in Ann's hand when he and his friend found her unconscious in the school courtyard. Worse still, that same bottle bore the 'Staminan X' label, and the transfer student and cat knew that Ann would not be conscious for a while yet.

"You've got to be kidding me," Morgana lamented within the confines of Akira's schoolbag, "First you two drink it, then Lady Ann? Just what's going to happen next, the whole school drinking it?"

"You sound awfully upset about it," Akira whispered, eyes darting around the classroom to ensure no one overheard him.

"Of course I'm upset!" Morgana whispered back, albeit harshly, "I mean, it's Lady Ann we're talking about, and I can't stop thinking what kind of pain she's experiencing as a result of her drinking that stuff!"

Of course Morgana would worry greatly about Ann; she is the cat's love interest, after all.

Akira felt his phone vibrate, and stealthily looking at the screen from under his desk, he saw a number of messages from Ryuji, and he could already guess the topic he wanted to discuss.

[R]: Yo, dude! Y'hear 'bout Ann drinkin' that stuff!?

[R]: And that the same shit's happenin' with her as it did with us?

[R]: Hope she's okay right now, though I gotta wonder who left that Staminan shit lying 'round in the first place.

Akira rolled his eyes, thinking, Of course we heard about it all, dumbass; my whole class was just thinking about the same thing.

And wasting no time, Akira quickly typed his response back to Ryuji.

[A]: We already heard about what happened to Ann.

[A]: Whole class's whispering wildly about it and thinking all sorts of theories about how Ann got that Staminan and other stuff.

[R]: Dude, really?

[R]: Guess I shouldn't underestimate how fast rumours fly.

[R]: By the way, think we should discuss how t'deal with Kamoshida later? Maybe meet somewhere no one can see or hear us?

Akira nodded at the thoughtfulness Ryuji displayed in that message; there was a need to employ secrecy when Kamoshida was involved, especially with their currently precarious situation.

At least he has that much sense, being the absolutely clueless musclebrain he is, Thought Akira wryly, a smirk crossing his lips.

[A]: We'd better do so at my place; no one will eavesdrop on us there.

[R]: Great! Will see y'there after school!

And with that, Akira quickly placed his phone back into his pocket, eagerly awaiting for classes to end as he anticipated the discussion he would soon have with Ryuji at Leblanc's attic. And with Ann too, if possible, should she awaken from her slight coma soon enough.

A/N: It's shorter than I would have liked, as I wanted to write more before posting this chapter, but I'm under some tight schedule constraints, and other things need my attention. Regardless, here it is.

And have a pleasant spring, for those living in temperate climate countries.