A/N: I hate starting off with a Message but I just want to preface this story with a few... hmm warnings? More to prepare you, the reader, for what this story is going to be and more about my main change that people will likely have a problem with. So here we go.

First off, I'm not going to be using the name of the protagonist that is used in the anime or the manga. Why? It's because I believe that people gain a certain vision of how they see a character and attach it to that name, so when somebody comes along and characterizes them differently it can be hard to separate it. So the protagonist here is named Ichihara Tadashi. The meaning of his name also fits him a lot better for who he is and the story as a whole.

Second, As with all of my work, the personalities of the characters and Tadashi himself will cause things to change in the story.

I have a lot of reasons for wanting to write this. Though mostly it came due to a friend (Who I met on here consequently) and him urging me to do this. I want to address my inactivity on my other stories too but I'll do that after the chapter. For now, let the tale of my take on Persona 5 begin!


Chapter 1 / An Unwelcome Change

Monday / April 11th, 2016 / Cafe Leblanc: Attic / Early Morning
Ichihara Tadashi

I opened my eyes to the dark ceiling above my new bed. A bed that I had been surprised that I even had, with the changes in my life. Considering how I am typically treated by most people as of late. Honestly, how was I even allowed this comfort? How did Sakura Sojiro put it? Oh right, "It's what you get for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong." Yeah, good to know coming here wasn't really going to change anything. At the very least, I no longer had to see my parents and their hypocritical faces. I was supposed to do a lot with my life, apparently. Mother thought I had some chance to get into a good college and become something big… like a doctor or something. Hell if I know. My Mother didn't care why I had been arrested. None of that even mattered anymore. After all, the assault charges against that man would stick with me for the rest of my life. Even if I never touched him. I don't even have a clue as to who he is or what he looked like. It was too dark to really tell, and things happened so quickly.

Overnight I could no longer go to my High School… and only one school in all of Japan would even take me. Shujin Academy in Tokyo. And my bastard Father just shook his damn head, conveying how disappointed he was. Like I ever fucking sought his stupid ass opinion or approval. My parents never really cared about me. They never really allowed me to have any hobbies that didn't relate to my studies or baseball, if it didn't add anything meaningful to my future then it was abolished. That was how my life had always been. Ichihara Tadashi was going to be something, that was what my parents always bragged about. Maybe a doctor, maybe a star baseball player. I had certainly been well rounded in my education and in participation of sports. And now all of that was gone. Why? Because I decided to stand up to someone who was abusing a woman. I was simply on my way home from a party with the baseball club when I came across that scene.

Tch, I shouldn't think about shit that will piss me off right when I wake up. I sat up and put my legs over the side of the bed and put my feet on the ground. There was still a load of junk up here in the attic of this cafe. Still I suppose it was nice to be alone. Sakura-san had his cafe business downstairs but his actual house was a block or so away. Not too far but still it meant I would be alone at night. There was some supplies for the cafe up here, but a lot of it I could likely get rid of. I had only cleaned up a minor portion of the room last night. That way I could have some semblance of a livable area. I would say this is a step up from my room at my Parent's house. Then again anything was better than staying with those assholes.

I mindlessly reached over and picked up my phone and checked the time. I was more than fine on time. Hmm? It's that creepy red and black eyeball app that keeps showing up on my phone. I just uninstalled it last night. What the hell was this thing? I shook my head and dragged the icon to the trash on my phone's OS and then put my phone down. Last thing I wanted to deal with was some stupid ass virus or adware on my smart phone. Well, whatever. I best get changed and maybe get something to eat before heading to school. I got to my feet and pulled the school uniform off a hangar I had placed on the side of the shelves. Which was placed next to my "bed" if you can call it that. Clearly this new room of mine hadn't been thought all too much about before shoving me up here. But wasn't going to complain considering I had a place to sleep at all to begin with. Either way, I quickly began to change into it.

Yesterday had certainly been… annoying. More useless adults that all wanted nothing to do with me. Obviously I was just a bad kid that had no hope for a future. No one cared to listen to me or even want to know why I was in this situation. Sakura Sojiro, the one who agreed to take me in had more or less been the same way. And it sounded like he hadn't been in a position to really refuse taking me in. Maybe that was why he put me up here in an attic and far away from his home. The Principal seemed to think taking me was a way to boost the reputation of the school. Rehabilitation of a known criminal or something like that. I don't get it. My teacher… Kawakami, I think it was. She looked like she wanted nothing to do with me. But she also looked incredibly tired. It didn't matter though. Everyone has their reasons for what they do. Even if it means not listening to people. I don't really give a shit about what people say about me, because I know what I did and I wasn't wrong. And nothing any of these idiotic people say is going to change that part of my mind.

I sighed as I finished buttoning up my jacket and then slipped on my glasses. This school uniform wasn't all that bad. Normally I wasn't much of a fan when it came to plaid. The red plaid trousers didn't look all that bad, but I enjoyed more the simplicity of the white turtleneck shirt and a black blazer with red buttons. My hair was a bit of a mess as it usually was but I gave up caring about it a while ago. Not like my appearance would matter if everyone found out why I was transferring to this school. Not that I cared if everyone knew though. No amount of knowing could reverse the decision already handed out by the court. And as a matter of public record, anyone would be able to easily find out anyway.

Shaking the pointless thoughts from my head I headed to the stairs down to the cafe. Sojiro-san stood behind the counter and seemed to be finishing some morning preparations for his store to open. With my bag slung over my shoulder I stopped at the counter and looked to him.

He noticed me but didn't look up as he seemed to be prepping some coffee… or something. I wasn't paying that close attention to it.

"Oh, so you actually are going to school?" He looked at me and I just met his eyes with a blank stare. I hardly cared for what he thought about me or my situation. But I am grateful that he took me in. Even if he had his own situation that forced him to do so, I didn't need to start off a year long stay with him with ill will. At the very least I want to have a place I can come back to that is relatively peaceful. So despite his comment making me want to reply sarcastically I just kept my damn mouth shut. "Here, I'll feed you. Just make sure you finish it before the customers start coming in." Sojiro-san then put up a plate on the bar, and a glass of water.

I eyed the plate of food for a moment, "So...curry...?" I couldn't help but be somewhat amused as I sat down into the chair.

"What's that reaction for? Just eat it," Sojiro turned away and went back to doing his morning prep work.

When was the last time I even had anything that wasn't reheated in a microwave or something like that? I picked up the spoon and took a bite. My eyes widened for a moment as I took time to enjoy it. It was really good, maybe some of the best curry I had ever had. The flavor was complex but it was also spicy but not overpowering that you couldn't taste the other flavors. That was often a mistake that a lot of people made. Sometimes they would make curry too spicy that it just masked any other flavor that could be there. But this... this curry made an amazing balance between it… adding just enough spice without losing the overall flavor. This had to be damn near perfection. Before I had realized it I had quickly devoured the curry and rice, not leaving a single thing behind. I downed the water and when I put it down he was coming over to take the plate and everything away.

"It's time for you to go," Sojiro said as I made note of the time on the clock on the wall.

"Guess so. Thanks for the meal, it was delicious," I spoke simply. Though those words hardly portrayed how much I had actually enjoyed the meal. "Better than any curry I've ever had."

"Thanks," Sojiro said only pausing for a moment before taking the dishes to the sink. "Hurry over to school. You'll end up late if you get lost on your way."

"I think I have a general idea of how to get there, but if I get lost I'll just ask an officer," I say.

"Right, have a good day," he said and so without another word I moved to leave the cafe. "Oh, flip the sign outside to OPEN for me."

"Okay, got it," I opened the front door and left the cafe. Closing it behind me I flipped the sign to OPEN and stepped out into Yongen-Jaya's backstreets. I sighed as I looked up into the sky. Cloudy day huh? Feels like I hadn't seen the sun in the sky for a long time. Maybe I was just paranoid. I shook my head and started walking down the alleyway towards the train station. I was surprised I had managed to find this place when I first got into town. I lived out in the middle of nowhere for most of my life. I guess my trips into the city for those baseball matches had made it a lot less overwhelming then it might have been otherwise.

"Another one's happened. Just yesterday, there was that train accident. This could mess up the schedule again. If you're going out today, try to leave earlier than usual," I heard the voice from a radio. I stopped to notice an old man listening to an old boom box radio from a bench.

The old man shook his head, "Accident... That would never have happened if they weren't slacking off."

I kept moving towards Yongen-Jaya station. I did catch on the news that there was an incident in the subway. I didn't think it would still be affecting the schedule but I guess I should have thought about it a bit more. I made my way to the station and down into the subway. There were a lot of people here. I knew it would be crowded I just didn't realize how crowded it would be. I really did underestimate Tokyo and what I had heard.

Before long I was crammed into the subway train to the point that I was pressed up against the door and had no leeway in which to move. How can you even fit this many people into such a tiny car? Tokyo subway trips really are no joke. Well at least they have the news showing up on the LCD screens around the subway car. They are just covering the accident from yesterday though and how its still affecting everything. Maybe I should have left earlier...I really might be late at this point. Then we were at Shibuya station. Thankfully this was my stop and I was glad to be able to get out. Now from here I have to transfer to the Ginza line to go the rest of the way to school.

What a mad house this place is. Then again the town I was from was incredibly smaller than this. And I had only been to Tokyo a few times. Now I had to fucking live here... great.

Getting off the train was one thing but before long I'm going up stairs and trying to follow the signs to the Ginza line. What a pain in the ass. Fortunately the signs are somewhat easy enough to follow. That is until I realize the path they led me to is completely blocked off. Hold on... don't tell me that is where the accident happened? Well there has to be another way around.

Nothing can ever be simple, can it? I feel like the whole damn world won't be satisfied until it takes a giant shit on me. I mean what else in my life can go wrong? I end up having to go up another set of stairs. Fuck the escalators, that just takes longer with people in the damn way. Then I ended up going up and around again through the station square before I finally find a roundabout way to the Ginza line in the Teikyu Building. Fuck.

Thankfully it wasn't too long. I think. Who knows how much more I'll be delayed. Last thing I need is to be late on my first day of class. Getting lost is one thing… and I thought I had enough time in case I did but if the train schedules were delayed then that gave me less time to figure out where I was. I eventually got onto another train, although this one seemed more crowded then the last. And too late to get a seat... great! I just enjoy being pressed up against the goddamn door. I don't know how but I managed to deal with it until we arrived at Aoyama-itchome. The doors opened and I stumbled out and feeling free again. Please just let me get to school without further incident for just this one fucking morning. I could see a collection of girls with Shujin uniforms standing nearby so I had to be on the right track. I left the subway station and found myself looking at rain pouring down.

I quickly rushed under one of the nearby store covers, "Fuck me, rain… really?" I swore as I watched it coming down. I barely noticed that someone had moved next to me. I glanced over and noticed her wavy blonde hair that was split into pigtails. She also had on the Shujin Academy blazer, but she had on a hoodie underneath it. She also had vibrant red tights on her legs. She looked… in a word, beautiful. She noticed me and looked over and gave a small polite smile. Her eyes were blue. If I had to take a guess she seemed to be half Japanese. Probably too much postulating on my part though. Also what business was it of mine anyway? Want to get slapped in a hurry? Ask a Japanese girl if she is actually Japanese.

I looked away and pulled up my phone. I didn't need to bother some girl that I just ran into. No point in trying to make friends, especially when they find out about me they likely want nothing to do with me. Just like my supposed 'friends' at my previous school. As I did so the sound of a car stopping pulled my attention.

"Hey, do you need a ride?" a man from the car called out. I glanced from him to the girl, knowing he wasn't talking to me.

"Sure," the girl said after a pause. She looked at me for a moment and then made her way to the car and into the passenger seat. Not really sure what I should have made from that glance though. Did she not actually want to go with him?

The man looked at me, "How about you?"

I shook my head, "No, I can manage."

The man nodded and started rolling up the window. I paused for a moment as I watched the girl before I lost sight of her completely. She didn't look like someone that appreciated getting a ride...

"Get back here you damn pervy teacher," another individual came running up and stopping next to me, looking at the car that was now out of sight. "Tch."

"Pervy teacher?" I said still holding my phone in my hand but looking at the new guy in front of me. He had short somewhat spiky bleached hair.

He turned to me, "...What do you want? You plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?"

"Kamoshida? Should I know that name or something?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Huh? In that car just now. It was Kamoshida," the guy said as if I should know this fact. "He does whatever he hell he wants. Who does he think he is-the king of a castle? Don't you agree?"

"The King of a Castle, huh? I don't know who he is, but he sounds like an ass," I say wondering if this guy was going to get the hint that I was new to the area.

"No, I mean..." he stopped and finally looked at me. "Wait. You don't know Kamoshida? Are you for real? You're from Shujin, right?"

"Starting today, yeah. I take it you go to Shujin too," I was stating the obvious at this point considering his pants were the same as mine. Although this guy had on a bright yellow shirt with some sort of black and red star on it. And the bleached hair certainly gave a certain tone to him.

"What...? No other high school's got a uniform like this," he noted my uniform for a moment. "A second-year, huh... We're the same grade then. Never seen you before though."

"Did you miss the part where I said this is my first day?" I ask somewhat dryly.

"Oh, you a transfer student?" he shifted on his feet for a moment. "Then no wonder you don't know him. This rain ain't too bad. We better hurry up, or we'll be late."

At the very least I can follow him to school. As soon as he turned something happened and a pain shot through my head. "Ugh...God Dammit!" I swore again. Why did I feel lightheaded all of a sudden?

"Uuugh, my head hurts..." the guy next to me groans. Wait, him too? "Dammit... I wanna go home..."

Then he started moving. I had better keep up with him at the very least he knew where he was going. I sighed and put my phone back in my pocket as we took some back alleys which I assume was a shortcut to the school.

"What?" the guy stopped. I followed him and we were... in front of a castle? "What is going on? We didn't go the wrong way. The school should be right here."

Except there was no school... it was definitely a castle. The odd thing was it didn't look out of place. It was as if it belonged here. Wait... how is this even possible? "Don't tell me we got lost," I muttered under my breath hoping I was somehow hallucinating.

"Only real thing to do is ask what's up. Come on, let's head inside," the guy motioned for me to follow. I had no real reason to do so, but something about this felt off. I had better stay with him for now. My body felt alert, like something nearby was dangerous... I needed to be alarmed. A randomly appearing castle would definitely be cause for alarm.

Of course, something weird or stupid had to happen. Why couldn't anything just go as it is fucking supposed to go? No, just when you think you got it all figured out is when everything goes to shit. The inside of this place didn't offer any immediate answers either. A grand staircase and a surrounding made of stone, just like you would expect of a castle. and there looked to be a massive painting at the top of the stairs. The subject looked vaguely familiar...

My bleached hair companion looked more and more freaked out by our surroundings than I did though. "Th-That's weird... Where's the school...?"

"Okay so if this isn't the school... where does that leave us?" I ask as I stopped and looked around. Black and white tile floor, red carpet leading to a grand staircase and even a fancy chandelier over us. And the place wasn't lit with electricity but instead hundreds of candles. The design was European in nature. I didn't know much about castle interior design, but this place was definitely out of place.

"This SHOULD be the school... I think..." he pulled out his phone but he frowned. "Out of service? Where'd we end up...? The sign out there was for the school, right?"

He's right, the sign at the entrance had absolutely said Shujin Academy. That was why all of this was confusing. I had just been to this school yesterday to meet that tub of lard principal and I'm not nearly delusional enough to not notice if the school had been a fucking castle or not. That just left the stupidly obvious question, "What's going on here?"

"I-I dunno! I wanna know!" he said somewhat defensively.

"Take it easy, I was being rhetorical. But you've been going to school at Shujin since your first year, right? I doubt you would make a mistake or get lost trying to come to school. Unless you are trying to pull a prank on the new kid," I gave a slight shrug.

"Why would I do that? I didn't even know you were a new kid until just a few moments ago," he was being defensive again.

"I know that, I was being sarcastic. Anyway, let's just try to figure things out for now," I tried to diffuse the situation as it wouldn't help to be agitated with each other. Though I had no idea what this guys name was. But one thing at a time. As we spoke I noticed something moving from the doorway to the left of the staircase. It was... a knight? A knight in full armor? What the fuck? He even had a goddamn sword.

The bleached haired guy jumped back a bit but then it seemed his mind made a conclusion that there was a reason for all of this and calmed himself, "Geez, you freaked me out... Who're you? You a student?" He took a closer look, "Man, your costume's impressive... Is that armor real?" The knight stood there... there was no way to know where it was looking, it had some sort of mask on. "C'mon don't just stand there. Say somethin'."

Then another knight, identical to the first stepped out towards us. Just what in the goddamned hell was going on here? This was not normal, no matter how you looked at it. No matter what kind of drugs you were on you wouldn't consider this to be normal.

"...H-Hey, what's goin' on?" the guy nervously took a step back towards me.

"I don't think this is fake," I said as I glanced towards the door we had entered at. Could we make it if we ran? The knights had to be weighed down... so we should be able to beat them... right? "Shit."

The knight stepped closer, sword looking ready to strike.

"...This shit's real," the guy said after a moment. The two knights stepped closer again. "C-Calm down! Time out, man!" He glanced to me, "We gotta run!"

"Thanks for the idea, anything else?" I say only sparing a glare towards him.

"Fuck, man. C'mon let's run!" he made a dash towards the front door but the moment we both were moving, two more knights stood ready in front of the entrance. "Ugh, what's with these guys!?" Then a knight came behind him and knocked the bleached haired guy to the ground with his shield before either of us could react. "Oww... Y-You're gonna break my bones, dammit! Who the hell do you think you..."

Before he could do anything the knights closed in on us. And hit me from behind. I only had one thought before I blacked out. "Fuck."


Monday / April 11th, 2016 / Location Unknown / Time Unknown
Ichihara Tadashi

"...Hey. Hey! Wake up!" A voice was right next to my ears.

I groan as I sit up and grab my aching head, "Please don't yell. I don't think my head can take it right now."

He nodded as I looked up. Wait...now we're in some sort of prison cell? This place really was a castle after all. Even comes with a dungeon for prisoners. How lovely.

"You all right?" he asks after a moment.

"Mostly. How about you?" I asked looking up at him.

He moves his arm a bit, "Yeah, more or less." He turns around and looks at our surroundings before shaking his head. "Looks like this ain't no dream... Ugh, what's goin' on!?" He then rushes over to the bars on a prison cell and starts banging on them. "Hey, let us outta here! I know there's someone out there!"

Understandable reaction but pointless. Still... what the fuck was going on? Castle's don't just suddenly replace a school overnight. Irritated by the noise of my companion I yelled at him.

"Cut it out. You're wasting your time," I call over to him which thankfully makes him stop. He turns and comes back towards me. Normal people aren't calm in a situation like this. So why the fuck wasn't I freaking out right now? No, screw that. This was precisely the time I needed to think, not panic. For the sake of the situation there was no point in discrediting what was happening. So lets look at the facts. The school was replaced by a castle... one with actual knights in full armor and swords. As far as we had experienced there was no reason not to believe they were the real deal. They had incapacitated us and thrown us in a dungeon cell. The question is how did we get to a castle? It was from when we left the side of the road and cut through the back alleys to get to the school... so something crazy happened in transit right? And if there were no other people from school here... that had to mean only we had arrived at this place. Something seriously fucked up was responsible for this.

"Dammit, where are we!? Is this some kinda TV set...?" the guy suggested.

I shook my head, "It's far too elaborate and this material is too real. Even the smell is musty and damp like a dungeon would be." Let's just leave out the slight remnants of likely urine that was also involved in that smell. Fuck this place.

"The what the shit is..." he started but then we hear a loud and long scream. The two of us quickly moved to the end of the cage and looked around to find its source. But after a moment it stopped. "The hell was that just now?"

Wait, is that running water? This place... it was far too real. What the fuck? Then there was another scream... and maybe the sound of... Jesus, was someone actually being tortured down here!?

"Whoa... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... You're shittin' me, right?" he was shaking his head. "This is real bad... Isn't there some way outta here!? C'mon, we gotta do something!"

"Yeah but what in the hell are we supposed to do?" I turned and looked at our prison cell. "That's brick and even if we could break through it, it just leads into another cell. And those chains on the wall aren't exactly there for relaxing measures. And that cell door looks to be made of cast iron and unless you got something like a flamethrower we aren't getting out without a key. Well maybe if we had something that could pick a lock or the hinges were stupidly placed on the inside but they aren't. We need to have some good solid tools to pick a lock on a cast iron cage like this."

"Well we have to be able to do something!" He wasn't really helping the situation. Then again I was out of ideas.

"I'm open to suggestions. Feel free to chime in with something useful instead of fucking panicking," I said a little bit irritated.

"Wha-wait! You hear that?" he suddenly says before I realized that two guards approached our cell. they were knights... but because of their outfit it was hard to tell if they were the same ones that had captured us before. I doubt that mattered though.

"Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon," the guard spoke... and his voice had an odd echo to it. Strange. "Your charge is unlawful entry. Thus, you will be sentenced to death."

"Say what!?" my bleached haired companion's eyes widened.

I felt myself let out a sigh, "Yeah, sure. Why the fuck not?!"

"No one's allowed to do as they please in my castle," a new voice entered. They also seemed to have an echo like quality to their voice but it had an air of authority to it. They approached the cell and I didn't know what to think. They had a golden crown on their head and had some sort of cloak? It had hearts all around it and looked much more elegant than it probably had any right to be. It currently covered his body, and his hair... I remember it from somewhere.

"Huh? Wait..." the guy next to me seemed alarmed and obviously recognized the new individual. "Is that you, Kamoshida?"

"Hold on, you know this guy?" I ask him.

"Heh. I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it'd be you, Sakamoto," the golden crowned asshole spoke. "Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven't learned your lesson at all, huh? And you brought a friend this time... because you can't do anything for yourself."

"This ain't funny, you asshole," Sakamoto said. Funny I thought the same thing about this guy with the crown. Well... Kamoshida was supposed to be a teacher at Shujin, right? I don't think that really helps me figure out anything more about this situation though. I mean, we're inside a fucking castle and as far as I know we hadn't left Tokyo. And with how authentic the armor of the knights were this would be way too much for some elaborate prank. Don't tell me that shit called the Velvet Room was actually real too? That bullshit dream hadn't been just me going fucking crazy because of my new life here? Just what kind of bullshit had I gotten myself into this time?

"Is that how you speak to a king? It seems you don't understand the position you're in at all. Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime of insulting me-the king," the one known as Kamoshida grinned. "The punishment for that is death."

"Wasn't his punishment already death?" I say dryly and somewhat pissed off.

"Shut it, commoner. It's time for an execution! Take him out!" Kamoshida ordered his knights.

"S-Stop it...!" Sakamoto backed up from the bars and so did I. They opened the door and we retreated to the far back of the cell. "...Goddammit...!"

Was this real? Were these knights really going to kill Sakamoto and I? All I wanted to do was to live out a fucking year in peace and put that garbage with that stupid ass man behind me. I can't change the past, especially when no one will listen to you. But was life really going to end here in some dungeon cell… in a place that shouldn't even fucking exist? I should be in school being bored out of my fucking mind with some piss poor teacher that treats me like garbage. Although I guess you could say the directness of this was an odd change of pace... but not a welcome one.

Sakamoto then charged one of the knights and surprisingly sent him flying onto his ass. I realized that these knights weren't using swords but spears. Not exactly smart choices for a confined space, "I ain't down for this shit! C'mon, we're outta here!" I'm surprised he looked to me. Even with all of this he was actually concerned for someone other than himself. That makes him a hell of a lot better than any of my would be 'friends' before I had come here. But before we could do anything another knight stepped up and hit Sakamoto hard in his gut with the hilt of his weapon. I couldn't do anything. I was in a bad position. "Nnngh... Owww..."

I grabbed one of the knights from behind as they try to surround Sakamoto. This was such bullshit. And you think I'm just gonna sit by?

"Just go! Get outta here...! These guys are serious!" Sakamoto was yelling at me to run off.

"Fuck you! I'm not the kind of person that leaves someone behind to save their own skin," I called out somewhat angry.

"Forget me! We don't even know each other! C'mon! Hurry up and go!" He desperately called out for me to give up on him. Leave him to die? Save myself? Give me a break. I had the choice to do the same back then too. Ignore the couple fighting, just pass by and head home like a good boy. Let a women suffer because it isn't my goddamn business. Let something happen even though you know its wrong because it isn't your place... you don't have a personal stake in it. Fuck that fucking shit. My morals aren't that goddamn cheap and you can kiss my ass if you have a fucking problem with it.

"What's the matter? Too scared to run away?" the crown wearing Kamoshida taunted me. "Hmph, pathetic scum isn't worth my time... I'll focus on this one's execution..."

The knights picked him up as the one known as Kamoshida punched Sakamoto across his face. And then punched him a few more times, "Lowly scum! Useless pest!" His fist hammered down and caused Sakamoto to fall to the ground. I couldn't move as one of the knights now had a sword drawn on me.

I felt my hand curling into a fist. Was I really supposed to just stand here and watch this? Was there really absolutely nothing I could do?

"Hmph, where'd your energy from earlier go? A peasant like you isn't worth beating. I'll have you killed right now," Kamoshida tossed Sakamoto away from him.

"Stop it! You asshole."

"Hm? What?" Kamoshida turns to me and moves close to me. "Don't you dare tell me you don't know who I am. That look in your eyes irritates me!" He slams me back against the wall. "Hold him there..." Two knights quickly put their arms on me and constrict me to the wall. "After the peasant, it's his turn to die." Kamoshida laughs as he turns his attention to Sakamoto.

I blink and something happens...a voice enters my head. A voice of a young woman, "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..."

"What's the matter...? Are you simply going to watch? Are you forsaking him to save yourself?" Another voice...this one more mysterious than the last, provoked me. While I struggled to push myself away from the knights to help Sakamoto. "Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then?"

"Fuck that! I never made a mistake. I would make the same decision every fucking time!" I cried out.

"Very well... I have heeded your resolve," the voice said.

Something happened. I felt something in my head. It was like a pain but it wanted out.

"Vow to me!" The voice cried out. "I am thou, thou art I... Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage!" I felt it...it was painful..and all I could do is scream out as I tried to make sense of what this voice was telling me. "Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!"

It stopped and I finally understood.

"Execute him!" Kamoshida cried out pointing at Sakamoto.

"That's enough!" I called out. And a wave of power seemed to roll off of me. I don't know what was going on, but it was my turn. And I had fucking had it.

"What was that?" Kamoshida and one of the other guard turned to me, surprise apparent on Kamoshida's eyes. The guard let go of Sakamoto and they turned to me. "You desire to be killed that much...? Fine!"

The knight next to me slammed his shield across my head, causing my glasses to fall to the ground away from me. The guards pressed me against the wall again as the other knight grew closer, sword ready to strike. He brought his sword into the air but then I looked up and a rush of power came from me pushing the guards back so slightly. Then I realized something was different. I... could see? My glasses were on the ground but I had clear vision? I was near sighted so this was... weird. I put my hand up to my eyes and... huh? What was it on my face? A mask? Then I understood. I had to take the mask off.

"I have never ran away my whole life. I don't give a shit who or what you are!" I firmly gripped the side of this mask and started to pull. Then it started to give. God it hurt... it hurt like a goddamn bitch! But it had to go... because this was who I am. I ripped it off and screamed as it came free and then looked up at Kamoshida... blood running down my face. But then something started surrounding my body and I felt it coursing, releasing from my body.

"Hahahaha!" the voice returned as this strange blue like flame covered my whole body and then it changed my outfit. The guards were flung away from me...and the one called Kamoshida cowered and then immediately made his escape from the prison cell. Standing behind me was a being cloaked in crimson. "I am the pillager of twilight-'Arsene'!"

"What the...?" Sakamoto eyes were wide. Couldn't blame him. It was hard for me to believe and I was the one it was happening to... and yet this felt right... it felt like... me.

"I am the rebel's soul that resides within you. If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis," Arsene glanced to me.

"Then grant me your power, because there is no way I'm going to let this shit continue," I said meeting his gaze.

"Hmph, very well..." Arsene seemed amused.

"Who the hell are you!?" Kamoshida called out from the entrance of our cell. "Guards!" The Guards I had knocked to the ground got to their feet in response. "Start by killing that one!" He pointed at me. Wait hold on... was he really only wearing a pair of pink underwear? What the actual fuck? How did I not notice this before? No way in hell I'm dying because of someone dressed like that! The Guards then seemed to explode and turn into ...two jack o'lanterns? Each with a wizard looking hat and carrying a lantern. What in the fucking hell? Whatever, bring it the fuck on.

"Detest the enemies before you! Change that animosity into power... and unleash it!" Arsene spoke.

"Trust me, I got animosity to spare!" I growled. I spoke the name that came to me. "Persona!" Arsene then appeared before me to launch an attack that nearly devastated him immediately. I then realized... that up my sleeve... was a knife. Ohh... now this was good. It slipped out from my sleeve and into my hand as I spun its handle around my fingertips.

"Swing your blade!" Arsene spoke once more. I did so without hesitation, attacking the same creature again and this time utterly destroying it, as it disappeared into a black mist. "This power of mine is yours! Kill them however you want. Run wild to your heart's content!"

"Now you're speaking my language! Persona!" I hit the remaining creature with the ability from before, but this time it completely devastated it and it disappeared into the black mist and then there was nothing left behind.

"What..." Sakamoto was looking at me, completely baffled as to what to say.

Can't say I could blame him. still I mindlessly spun the knife in my hand. Wait... red gloves? Just what in the fuck was I wearing anyway? And I had the mask on again... I guess it was on when I wasn't using my Persona. Whatever the fuck a Persona is. Whatever, it's power is something we need at the moment.

"What was that just now...?" Sakamoto still looking at me. I put the knife back up the sleeve it had come from and I glared over at the one known as Kamoshida.

"You little...!" he came towards me but Sakamoto shook his stupor and got up and slammed his shoulder into Kamoshida causing him to fall to the ground.

"You like that, you son of a bitch?" Sakamoto gloated.

Wait he dropped something, "Quick grab those keys! Let's grab out stuff and go."

"Got it!" Sakamoto said as I snatched up our bags that were near the entrance and we got out. We pulled the gate to the cell closed and after a couple keys Sakamoto managed to find the right key and locked the gate. "OK, it's locked."

"Damn you!" Kamoshida yelled as he finally was able to recover and get to his feet.

"Hey...! What was that just now!? And... your clothes...!" Sakamoto said but just as he said that my strange new outfit disappeared and I reverted to my school outfit. "Whoa, it went back to normal."

"Dude, I don't fucking know," I shook my head.

"You bastards!" Kamoshida yelled from inside his cage.

"God, this's effin' nuts!" Sakamoto looked to me. "Anyways, let's scram! You lead the way!"

I had to agree with him. Whatever power I had was likely the only way we'd get out of here at this point. Though I'm not sure exactly what it was, it was better than where we had been a few moments ago. Sakamoto threw the keys away and we ran off.

"Goddamn thieves...! After them! Don't let them escape!" Kamoshida was calling out as loud as he could to any guards that might be in the area. "Y-You bastards!"

"Let's get the hell out of here," Sakamoto said and I was more than ready to comply. We both made our way away from the cell. "Any idea where to go."

"Not really but I can take a guess. Come on we'll have to hop across that broken bridge," I said pointing up ahead of us.

"Just keep moving, I'll stick close behind. We don't know how long until more of those guards show up," Sakamoto cautioned. Yeah he was right. No time to stop and figure any of this shit out. Just needed to keep moving.

We moved relatively quickly but at the same time we did our best to keep the noise down. It was a bit of a pain when we had to jump across the water on some steel cages. Especially since it was easy to lose your footing on something like that, especially since it was slick from water. We managed to make it to the other side though with no real injuries to speak of. Still it was hard to tell if we were making progress on getting out or we were going deeper in. At the very least that Kamoshida was no longer aware of where we were. We hid behind some boxes further along avoiding being seen by guards going by.

"Christ, you think they are looking for us?" Sakamoto whispered.

"Or looking to see where their precious King has gone. I think we are okay for the moment. Although this whole situation is a load of shit," I said as I let out a long sigh.

"Yeah, none of this makes any goddamn sense," Sakamoto nodded. "Still any idea what happened to you back there?"

"Something called a Persona. I don't really know. Either way it saved our ass so I'm not about to complain about it," I said and took another deep breath. I pushed my glasses up... now that I think about it... did I put my glasses back on... or had they simply appeared there when that outfit was gone? This shit is real confusing. I swear that knight back there had knocked my glasses off my face.

We finally made our way to a staircase and managed to go up. Though it was disappointing when we went out the door at the top. It looked no different than the place we had come from. Just how massive was this place? But as we moved forward...we heard more cries like we had heard before.

"We really did hear people screamin'... So we ain't the only ones who got captured!" We saw a couple people over the top of running water... but that water wave moving with a powerful force. There was no way to get across safely... and those cages the people were in were hanging over top of it.

"I hate to say it but we can't do anything for them. We'll have to keep going for now. There might be some sort of mechanism up ahead," I say as I move past them. They were crying for help. God dammit... how am I supposed to just ignore this shit? There has to be someway to get them. There was a bridge ahead... but it was up and unusable. Fuck my life. I stopped in front of it and looked around. Just what the hell were we supposed to do? And we were at a goddamn dead end.

"Dammit! How the hell're we supposed to get outta here!?" Sakamoto kicked the wall. I don't blame him in the least. I was losing my cool too.

"...Hey, you there," Someone called out to us. "Blondie! Frizzy Hair! Look over here!" I looked to the source in the last prison cell and saw... a cat?

Wait what? That wasn't right... it was standing on its hind legs and its eyes were comically big. And he had a yellow scarf around his neck. Just what in the hell? I've seen enough weird shit today. I'm totally close to being completely checked out.

"What is that thing!?" Sakamoto came from next to me.

"You're not soldiers of this castle, right!? Get me out of here!" he... it is a he right? Anyway, it was definitely talking to us... and a pretty straight forward request. "Look, the key's right there!" He pointed to the wall.

"We're trying to get the hell out of here...! I mean, you obviously look like an enemy too!" Sakamoto was skeptical. I mean... we had seen a lot up to this point and who knows what to believe now.

"I'm locked up here, so how can I be your enemy!? Help me out!" he looked up at me.

"Quiet down, getting louder isn't going to fucking help any of us," I said with a sigh.

"I'm begging you; you have to help me!" he spoke but we also could hear the sound of armor moving in the distance.

"They're catchin' up already...!" Sakamoto was alarmed but we were already at a dead end so we didn't have anywhere to go but backwards and this had been the only real path we had seen up to this point. Sakamoto pulled out his phone, "Shit, there's still no service. Ain't there any way to contact someone outside? How the hell do we get out...!?"

"Hey, you two! You want to know where the exit is? Let me out and I'll take you there. You don't want to get caught and executed, right?" the cat like creature did seem to know something. Still it was better to be cautious.

"I don't think we have much of a choice, but you better not be lying," I said eying him.

"I'm not lying! It's the truth!" he pleaded.

"This thing sounds like it's all talk..." Sakamoto sounded skeptical too. That's good. Still we were already cornered.

"If you guys think you can get out on your own, then be my guest!" he said after a moment.

"Whadda we do...?" Sakamoto looked to me. The sound of armor was getting louder. "Are you seriously not messin' with us!?"

"If you don't hurry, they'll catch you," the cat creature... thing, said.

Sakamoto looked to me. I shrugged, "We don't exactly have many options. And trusting him might give us a better chance than trying ourselves."

"Yeah, you're right," Sakamoto said as he went over to the keys on the wall and then unlocked the cage for the strange creature.

"Ahhhh... Freedom tastes so great..." the strange creature grinned.

"Now, where's the exit, you monster cat?" Sakamoto asked.

"Don't call me a cat! I am Morgana!" he said defensively.

"Shuddup and hurry it up! You wanna be locked up again!?" Sakamoto was hardly in a mood to get into particulars and I agreed with him.

"A-All right, sheesh!" Morgana then took a few steps. "Follow me, and stay quiet." We followed him back to the bridge and he indicated to the strange statue of Kamoshida. "Hey Frizzy Hair, you got to have it figured out right? Check his jaw."

Well Morgana wasn't exactly tall so I understood why he asked for help. I moved up to the statue...and sure enough the Jaw of the status seemed off...so I gave it a pull and...the bridge moved down. "Son of a bitch. I should really take a closer look at this stuff."

"Let's get moving," Morgana said as he moved across the bridge and to a door.

We moved through and right in front of us were guards.

"A-Aah! Shit... Shit, it's them!" Sakamoto stumbled back.

"Tch... You amateur! Stay still!" Morgana jumped in front and I felt my clothes change again to that outfit I had on before. Morgana looked back at me and seemed impressed. "You can fight, right? Let's go! Come...! Zorro!" Then like the power I had shown Morgana had shown a power of his own. But his was mostly in monochrome and held a rapier in his hand.

"You got one of those things too!?" Sakamoto seemed like he couldn't get a break. Me either.

One thing at a time.

"We will promptly shut them up," Morgana said as he held a sword over his shoulder...wait...where did he get the sword from? Ah screw it...just focus on taking them out. "Damn Shadows... they've taken up intercept positions! It means they're holding nothing back and are serious to kill us! I'll back you up, so fight like your life depends on it! Let's go!"

"As if my life hadn't depended on it from the start! Arsene!" I said and blasted the jack o'lantern that had appeared.

"Hmph, I knew you were an amateur," Morgana seemed a bit smug. "This is how you fight!" He then used his Persona Zorro to smash wind against the same enemy, but this time he caused it to fall to the ground.

"I don't have time for a lecture," I said as Morgana launched another attack and obliterated the jack o'lantern enemy. I instead pulled out the knife from my sleeve and attacked the last enemy. Morgana followed me up and we quickly destroyed the enemy... which I tried not to think about its appearance... it had been some sort of red demon... thing. Not important.

"Not bad. Your Persona's pretty powerful," Morgana said as I put my knife back up the sleeve.

"Persona...?" Sakamoto repeated "Y'mean that thing that comes outta you guys all dramatic-like?"

"Yeah... it certainly is dramatic," I scratched my head.

"Yes. You saw how Frizzy Hair here ripped off his mask when he summoned it, right? Well, everybody wears a mask deep within their heart. By removing that..." Morgana was explaining but as he did my outfit reverted once more to my school uniform.

"Huh...? He turned back to normal..." Sakamoto noted.

"Hm, it looks like you don't have full control over your power yet. The transformation shouldn't normally dissolve like that. After all-" Morgana was obviously knowledgeable.

"Rrgh, that's enough! This crap doesn't make any sense!" Sakamoto shook his head.

"Morgana, you may know what you are talking about. But for the sake of our sanity can we keep moving please?" I pleaded.

"Good idea. Come on, let's head this way," Morgana said as we headed onward...and hopefully closer to the exit. We ran past a bunch of doors by Morgana kept moving. So far he had seemed trustworthy. No reason to fight alongside us if he was just leading us to a trap. Still the sooner we got out of here the better.

"Hold on a sec," Sakamoto came to a stop. There was another cell...but there was someone inside. Whoever it was, they were wearing a jersey of some kind. "I feel like I've seen what this dude's wearin' before... Dammit! I'm too flustered! I can't remember a damn thing!"

"Come on, let's go," Morgana urged.

"Hold on, dammit!" Sakamoto said.

"We don't have time for this Blondie," Morgana pressed again.

"I have a name dammit, it's Ryuji!" he snapped back.

"What is it? We need to go, fast!" Morgana was probably right. Staying out here for too long would only get us caught.

"But... who are these guys?" Ryuji indicated the guy in the cell.

"Do you really think you have time to worry about other people right now!?" Morgana was growing impatient.

From a logical stand point he was certainly right. The smartest thing to do was to ensure our own safety.

"Besides they're..." Morgana started but was interrupted by the sounds of guards behind us.

"There!" A guard shouted.

"Time to move!" I called out.

"No time, we have to fight!" Morgana said and I couldn't get away. Dammit. My clothes changed again... and we were thrust into battle once more.

What was with this crap? I just wanted to go to school today. Why the fuck can't anything ever go the way it is supposed to? I guess my frustration was good because the power of my Persona completely obliterated one of the guards in an instant. Morgana didn't waste any time following suit and thankfully the threat was over before it had ever really began.

"Alright, let's get away before more show up," Morgana urged us to leave.

"Hold on, we can't just leave these guys here..." Ryuji started.

"He's right, if people are trapped here then..."

"You guys don't get it do you? Look there isn't time to explain. I'm going. If you don't want to follow, be my guest!" Morgana then started taking off.

"Dammit... Fine, I'm coming!" Ryuji took off after Morgana. I hated to admit it but it seemed Morgana knew something... and maybe saving people here was more complicated than we knew. I looked at the guy in the cell before I jogged to catch up to them.

We made our way through a door and to a staircase.

"The entrance hall is right above here! The exit's close... Keep it up!" Morgana led us across the hall to a side room. "We're here!"

"Finally! We're saved...!" Ryuji let out a sigh of relief before rushing to to the door to try an open it. "...It's not openin'! D'you trick us, you jerk!?"

"Don't jump to conclusions. Over here," Morgana opened a different door and led us inside. The room had several book shelves filled with various books. Wait where did we need to go from here?

"Where are we supposed to get out from here? There aren't even any windows," Ryuji was looking around.

"Ugh, amateur.." Morgana shook his head. "This is the most basic of basics."

I looked up to the top of the book shelf. Oh I see what he meant. "A ventilation shaft? Really? Why the fuck would a castle even have one of those?"

"Still you're right. I'm impressed. You seem to be a natural at this," Morgana grinned. I have no idea if I should take that as a compliment and I really don't care at this point.

"As long as it gets us out of here, I don't care what you say," I groan and shake my head.

"Well it does lead all the way outside," Morgana assured me.

"I see..." Ryuji nodded. "Then we just gotta get that metallic mesh off." Ryuji jumped to the top of the book shelf and gave a solid yank on the mesh and sure enough it came off...although Ryuji didn't have the most graceful of landings. "Seriously, we're finally gettin' outta here...!"

"You should wait on celebrating until you actually get out. Now get going," Morgana urged us once more.

"But... what about you?" Ryuji asked.

"There's something that I still have to do," Morgana answered. "We're going our separate ways."

"Well you held up your part of the bargain...so good luck in...whatever you are doing. Just don't get caught again," I said after a moment.

"Heh, you better be careful too. See ya," Morgana said as he watched us quickly move into the vent shaft and hopefully making our way out of this nightmare location. When we crawled out... we were no longer in the castle... as a matter of fact... we were exactly where we had started before.

Before we had even tried to make it to school.

"Did we make it...?" Ryuji asked.

I pulled out my phone to check the time... and I saw that damn app again. Except a female voice suddenly came from my phone. "You have returned to the real world. Welcome back."

"Huh? Returned...?" Ryuji looked just as confused as I was. "Does that mean we got away?"

"Man, I don't fucking know a damn thing. Look at the time... how in the hell am I going to explain this shit?" I shook my head. Sakura-san was going to kick my ass if I didn't at least make an appearance at school today. Shit, just what in the fuck had I stumbled myself into?

"I don't know what to think anymore," Ryuji sighed. "What was all that anyways...? That castle, and Kamoshida, and that weird cat! The hell's goin' on?"

Naturally our confusion and raised voice got the attention of some officers. "What's with the yelling? Are you students of Shujin? Cutting classes, are we?"

Great, that's all I needed to do on my first day of school... miss half the day. And for a reason that no one in their right mind would ever fucking believe. Sure I get arrested and get charged with assault and no one believes me then. Like hell anyone would believe this bullshit happen. Whatever, I'm fucking done.

"Huh? No!" Ryuji said, although I had more or less given up on trying to fight it. "We were tryin' to get to school, and we ended up at this weird castle."

"...What?" The officer glared at Ryuji.

"Don't bother, Sakamoto," I said after a moment.

"Hand over your bag. You better not be doing any drugs," the officer seemed irritated. As if he was the unlucky one having to deal with us.

"Why would you think that!?" Ryuji was understandably annoyed by the accusation.

"Are you his friend?" The other officer asked me.

"Something like that," I said, unsure of what to say. I would say we are more than strangers at this point considering the shit we saw together.

"Then you should go to school. Take him with you," the other officer insisted.

"Like I'm tryin' to say... I don't know what's goin' on either!" Ryuji was still arguing with the other officer.

"We passed Shujin on our way here. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it. If you spout any more nonsense, I'll contact your school. Is that what you want?" the officer was raising the stakes...typical passive aggressive bullshit.

"C'mon, say somethin'!" Ryuji looked to me.

"Just drop it and let's get going, okay?" I said and walked off. There was no point in trying to explain ourselves to people that wouldn't listen to begin with. We would just have to figure out what happened later... on our own. Thankfully Sakamoto relented and followed me off and the cops simply shook their heads and continued on their way. Even after all the bullshit we just went through... I'd have to face whatever crap would happen when getting to school.


Monday / April 11th, 2016 / The Velvet Room / Time Unknown
Ichihara Tadashi

My eyes blink open and I find myself in a familiar place once more. No, I wasn't in the attic of the cafe. Once more I find myself in a jail cell, but this one was notably different than the last. This was a place I had seen before.

"...About time you've come to," a young girl with a stern voice spoke to me and slammed something against the cell. "On your feet, Inmate!"

I can't even fucking sleep like a normal person. Am I just doomed to be tortured for the rest of my goddamn life?

"Our master wishes to speak with you. It's for your own sake that you take his words to heart," A similar yet somewhat emotionless voice spoke next. That's right, these two young girls were Caroline and Justine. Wardens of this place, called the Velvet Room. Though it was a prison, not much of a room.

Despite myself I got up from the prison bed and made my way over to the cell door and rested my hands against it... having to struggle a bit against the chain on my foot. This was a load of crap in my opinion. So this power I awakened to was connected to this place? Why they hell did it have anything to do with me? And I bet they likely knew all about the little adventure I had today with Ryuji and that talking creature named Morgana. I was supposed to just mind my own business and live a normal school life. The more things moved... the less it seemed possible to do that.

"First off, let us celebrate our reunion," The Master of this place, Igor, shuffled his positions and looked at me. His nose...was stupid long. Was that kind of length even possible without drooping down? It was oddly gravity defying in nature. "Oh...? You've awakened to your powers. And special ones at that. Your rehabilitation can finally begin."

"Excuse me? My rehabilitation?" I scoffed. Nothing was wrong with me so what was with this garbage? Another adult that thought he knew my life better than me? Maybe think I am making the wrong decisions? Fuck that.

This somehow amused Igor instead, his grin went lopsided as he gazed at me, "There is no need to understand it all for the time being. You will be training the power of Persona, which you have awakened to. Personas are, in other words, a 'mask'-an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations for you."

I've heard that line before. Whatever. Persona was the being Arsene that had gave me power to fight, right? But it was also a part of me? What fucking ever. "How can you have high expectations for me when I don't even really know what you are talking about?" I shook my head.

"There is no need to worry," Igor shifted his posture. Though he did seemed amused at my confusion. "You will learn when the time comes."

So this was on some sort of need to know kind of bullshit? Not that I expected anything less from any adults in my life. Even ones that are seemingly only in my goddamn head.

"By the by... have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator?" Igor asked using a term I had never heard. But my mind immediately jumped to that app that kept fucking installing on my phone out of nowhere. "Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces."

"To what and what? I don't know anything about what you just said," I shook my head. "What is a palace? Or a Metaverse Navigator?"

"It is something I bestowed to you as a means to train you as a thief," Igor said using yet another term that I felt had no place in a conversation with me.

"I am not a goddamn thief," I was starting to feel pissed.

"The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better take care in using it, inmate!" Caroline glared at me.

"I didn't ask for any goddamn gift," I met her glare head on.

"Devote yourself to your training so that you may become a fine thief," Justine added.

"Why do you keep saying that? I'm not a thief," I felt like I wasn't being listened to at all.

"It must be disheartening to make use of the Metaverse Navigator alone. Should there be others who would prove beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well," Igor insisted, ignoring my words completely. However, my frustration only seemed to amuse Igor that much more. "This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief..."

"For the last fucking time! I'm not and won't be a goddamn-"

Then a bell went off somewhere. Caroline spoke next, "Hmpf, it's time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have..."

I felt my surroundings going dark. You know what... fuck the Velvet room. Fuck Caroline and Justine... and especially fuck Igor. I have no reason to ever become a thief. None whatsoever.


A/N:

Hello, guys! And welcome to the premier of Bitter Fool. I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything and that I should really get to finishing Last Symphony (More on that in a bit) but I figure with the release of P3D and P5D as well as Joker's announcement to join Smash as a DLC character that releasing this chapter would be kind of fitting. So here we are. Now a bit of explanation:

Bitter Fool is going to be rated M. The reason for this is mostly because Tadashi is incredibly foul mouthed because of how angry he is at... pretty much everything. I have loved my time with Persona 5, but there was things that stood out to me, and most of this comes from the usual problems I have with these games because the protagonist is a stand in for the player. The silent protagonist has limitations but they did alter a lot of that in Persona 5. And this comes in the form of giving the player a pre-established history from the outset. Well... mostly.

The game starts by setting it up that our protagonist was wrongfully convicted when he did what he felt was right. Protecting someone who needed it. It all feeds in to the games main theme but that's a different topic, the point here is that the hero has been unjustly punished and is now being upheavaled and shipped off to the only school in Japan that will take him. His parents or relative send him out to live with a complete stranger for that time period where he'll serve his parole. However there are also other things that the game doesn't say or establish that also leave some glaring gaps for the protagonist backstory but we can fill these holes just filled on the details the game doesn't tell us.

He's from a smaller town and was walking home from somewhere, likely his school. But it was also later in the evening so its likely that he had stayed for either a school club or hanging out with friends. The later being less likely as during the whole game we have zero contact from anyone from the protagonists hometown. His parents also never communicate with him at any point, even just to check in and see how his parole is doing. And he clearly doesn't have any siblings either. It's an obvious omission that is somewhat understandable with the tradition of Persona protagonist having little real background. The exception to this would be Persona 4, where it firmly establishes not only his parents but an Uncle and cousin within the game. And at times Dojima makes references to the protagonists parents which can indicate that Dojima still contacts them, even if the P4 protag does not. Even Persona 3 firmly gives establishment that his parents are dead and he was a lone survivor. And a seemingly throw away line makes reference that he been shifted around between family and foster homes before coming to town. What do we get in P5? The protag is sentenced and then shipped off to stay with a stranger and very little is said in the regards to his parents or any other relations he might have had in his home town. It kind of irks me that this was how it went. It made me feel like maybe the protag didn't have anyone that cared for him at all. No friends, no family that came to his defense. People around him just accepted that he had assaulted this man and believed it. This is where the whole idea for this fan fic came into view.

Just how accepting would he be after that? Would he really want to continue to help others? What person was he that would continue to do what he believed was right even though everything around him believed he was wrong? Like I said at the top I wanted him to be distinguished and different from other conceptions (plus at the time I started writing this I wasn't even aware he had any official name, manga or otherwise) and so he was Ichihara Tadashi. And he is Bitter as all hell about the world and what exactly is even the point of the effort he puts in to things.

I also have issues with the presentation of other characters in the game, such as how Haru was really underdeveloped and some other things that didn't make sense to me. Like Morgana's whole running off late in the game which made Haru's introduction and somewhat shoehorned method of entering the group. Either way I will cover those in future chapters.

For personal updates for people that follow me... I have been dealing with a lot of things in my life. Work has been crazy as I got a promotion and have been locked down on that. But also I've been dealing with other issues, such as a close friends Mother has been diagnosed with cancer and it was touch and go for a while. There was a month where I felt I was at the hospital every day. So it's really been hard to juggle a lot of that and keep going on writing. Especially since fan fiction is a favorite hobby of mine and I've truly missed it. So what's next?

Last Symphony should be seeing a new chapter in the not too distant future. The release of the Persona 3 and 5 dancing games has definitely got me pushing to finish that since we're in the middle of the Dancing All Night story. Not to mention nearly at the end of the whole Last Symphony storyline! Can't wait to get to end of that.

My Chrono Trigger fic will be getting a new chapter after that. It's one of my favorite games so I do take extra time on it than normal, but still it has been too long without an update than I would like. Especially since the plot for it is starting to pick up.

Beyond that I do have some various other things in the back. I know my Momento Reliquum, the sequel to my Persona 3 Momento Umbrae is still in the background and people have been asking me about it. And believe me I will get to it! I know it's been years now but hey... life never gives me the time I wish I had to focus on my writing. But that story is going to be the cap to my Persona stories and I do mean all of them. So no I haven't forgotten it! But when it will make it's appearance, I don't know right now.

I'm sorry about the disappearance but hope you all understand! Also it is December and if you want a Christmas story fix you can always check out my Last Symphony AU story through my profile page.

As for Bitter Fool, I'm unsure of how often it will be updated. I do have a number of chapters already written for it but they need editing. So it'll be sporadic here.

Let me know what you think! I'm interested to know what you guys think of Tadashi. Also yes I do have set pairings... but I'll leave that a mystery for now. See you all in my next release.