Chapter 2: Old-New Friends

April 12th

"See ya later, Sojiro." Akira said, giving a carefree wave before heading out the door of LeBlanc. He had to hurry, today was his "first" day at Shujin Academy, after all...

"Don't call me by-" The ringing of the door bell signaled that Akira had already left. Sojiro sighs, and get back to washing the dishes. "Kids these days have no respect..."

As Akira was walking to school, he looks up to see dark clouds starting to cover the skies. He chuckles, knowing that this would happen. 'Oh no... I forgot my umbrella... I can't go back for it, or else I'll be late for school...'

This was all planned out beforehand. Originally, Akira was going to remember an umbrella this time so he didn't get rained on, but he needed an excuse to meet Ann and Ryuji. In the end, all he could do was repeat the path he took before.

He went down the same path he took everyday: hopping on the train, getting off near the school, and walking the rest of the way. It began to rain once he'd got off the train, just like he remembered.

The rain got worse, so Akira took cover under a nearby store cover. Once he had taken cover, he waited for a few minutes until the rain cleared up. He waited for someone there.

As he expected, a certain blonde woman came to stand beside him under the cover, her hoodie obscuring the view of her head. A few moments passed before she pulled down her hood, revealing extremely long, golden locks of hair that nearly exploded out from it's hoodie confines.

She had sea-blue eyes that were troubled, yet seemed to only see the truth in things. She stood up normally, and yet it seemed as if she was posing for a photo shoot. She was beautiful, and she knew it.

Akira wanted to act cool. Given the second chance, he wanted to be more casual to who used to be his girlfriend. He was going to act casual, and give a good first impression to her now that the clock had turned back.

But just like before, his breath had been stolen from right under his nose by the soon-to-be Panther of the Phantom Thieves. He stood there dumbly, trying to figure out what to say.

Ann turns to look at him, leaving Akira pressed for something to say, and not just gawk at the young woman. Instead of being put off or offended in any way, she just offers him a small, genuine smile before looking back towards the street.

Silence prevailing, Akira gave up trying to speak up, and instead follows her gaze to the street. They stood their for a minute, listening to the rain fall.

'This isn't so bad.' He thinks, smiling in spite of his embarrassment. 'Being in silence is a bit better when you have good company.'

A car pulled up to them. Akira was loathing this moment.

The driver's side window rolled down to reveal a grown man in his late thirties. He had a mop of curly-black hair, and a jaw line that made him look like the Crimson Chin. He pokes his head out of the window to address Ann, as if he had any right to talk to her.

"Good morning. You want me to give you a ride to school? You're gonna be late." Kamoshida was their first target, and boy did Akira hate his guts. What ticked Akira off the most about him, however, was just how normal he seemed on the outside. Granted, most of their targets were like that, but Kamoshida took it to another level.

Every move he made seemed casual and innocuous, as if everything he did was perfectly fine. He walked as if he thought he was entitled to all he saw. He caused so much pain to the people in the school. To Ann, Ryuji, Mishima...

... Shiho...

Akira strengthened his resolve. 'I'll protect her. No matter what it takes, I'll stop Kamoshida beforehand, there's no way I'll let him-'

"Do you need a lift, too?"

The question knocks him out of his thoughts and back to reality. He had forgotten Kamoshida asked him this. It must have been to draw away suspicion for Ann riding with him. It couldn't have been genuine.

Putting on a false smile, he waves the offer away. "I prefer walking." Was his otherwise weak excuse to get out of the situation. Without a response, Kamoshida rolled up the car door window and drove off.

Not a second later, a familiar blonde-haired delinquent ran by Akira, obviously targeting the gym teacher. He leaned forward, trying to regain his breath. "Dammit! Screw that pervert teacher!"

Akira acted dumb, leaning his head slightly to the side and asked; "Pervert teacher?" He felt his phone vibrate, and looked down. The phone opened up the MetaNav, and the words 'Sexually Perverted Schoolteacher' ran across the screen. His eyes widened as his mind put the dots together.

'So THIS was how we originally entered the Metaverse! We accidentally put in each of the keywords!' Akira realizes, a question he had long wondered having been answered.

Ryuji looked back at the transfer student, putting on a tough facade as he approached Akira. "What do you want? You plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?" He asked in a gruff voice, obviously seeing Akira as a threat.

After he had reset time, Akira knew situations like this would happen. That his friends who would have put their lives on the line for him would revert back to the point where they wouldn't know him, and some would even see him as an enemy. He knew this would happen, yet it still hurt to experience it again.

At least for Ryuji, he could stop the confusion more quickly than last time. "Sorry, who's Kamoshida again? I just moved here from the country, so I don't know many people here. We're both going to Shujin, right?" He asks, trying to act confused. 'Hopefully this will clear up any confusion.'

Ryuji's face lights up in realization, any past aggression disappearing. "Ohhhhhhh! You're a transfer student, that explains it. Of course you didn't know who he was. Guy back there was Kamoshida, he's our gym teacher. He's a real bastard! Thinks he's the king of his own castle, or some shit!" Ryuji swears, hatred boiling in his eyes.

Another vibration sounded from the phone, this time sounding out the words; "Kamoshida, castle. Registration complete." Everything was washed in purple for a moment, and a sharp pain struck through Akira's head, one that he had experienced many times before. 'That confirms it. We did enter in all of the data on our way to Shujin. I don't know if this was the exact moment, but either way our entire adventure was sparked from this coincidence. What are the chances?'

"Uuugh, My head hurts... Dammit... I wanna go home..." Ryuji groans, shaking his head. He turns back to Akira, offering a bashful smile.

"Sorry for... ya know. Getting up in your business like that. Name's Ryuji Sakamoto, what's yours?" He asks, trying to be sociable with the person he was previously trying to pick a fight with.

"Akira Kurusu. Nice to meet you." Knowing that he was reliving the moment he had meet his best friend, Akira couldn't help but smile. He knew how it would all turn out, and he was happy to give it another go-around.

Getting an idea, Ryuji snaps his fingers. "Say, the rain's letting up a bit. I know a shortcut to school from here, wanna come?" He offers, pointing his thumb to the backstreet behind him.

Once they go down to the school, their adventure in the Metaverse will begin anew, and he will meet Morgana again. This was the crossroads of fate, one with infinite choices and possibilities, and yet he knew that there was really only one path he would choose.

"Sounds good, lead the way!" Akira says happily, excited for each moment to pass by him again.

Ryuji pops a grin, and a bit of excitement enters his voice. "Cool! When we get their, I'll give ya a tour of the place. I know ALL the sweet hang-out spots around here." He says enthusiastically, excited to show his new friend around.

Internally, Akira chuckles. 'Maybe some other day, man. Today, it's time I renewed my vows, so to speak...'

~-J-~

Author's Notes: Chapter 2 up! Sorry that this one's pretty short, but I plan on making this fic focus each chapter on a specific moment that changes with New Game +. I wont write out entire confidant links, or anything like that, but instead focus on very specific re-imaginings of events that I think would happen if Joker remembered everything that happened after a playthrough. Sometimes chapters will instead be a bunch of little moments put together, since they aren't really long enough to make their own chapters.

At the end of each chapter, I will take the time to respond to each of your comments and reviews. So if you have a question, ask away! I'll be happy to answer.

Ey-Yuki

Good Story Idea! This is a cool idea for a NG. It's like Playing the game but knowing the whole story. Btw, do the harem end. Story:8.5/10

Thank you for the review! I'm sorry to say but Akira won't have a harem ending in this story, but he will have an equally funny one. :)

UknownHero

This is gonna be awesome. There's only one other person that wrote a New Game For P5 before but they never made it past the first chapter so I'm excited for this.
Keep it going, my friend!

You know I will! Part of the reason I began writing this was because no one else I saw wrote a new game + for P5. Thanks for the review!

God Emperor Of GAR-halla

Harem route for Akira. ;)

I'd to see someone actually do that and not have end up the same as in game.

Sorry, but I'm not particularly fond of that route. I'm not really bothered by anyone doing it or recommending it to me, but it's just not my particular cup of tea. But thank you for the comment, anyways!