A/n: the game will be out in Japan in less than a week! ... And I can't play it :( (I haven't ordered the game, and still no PS4 XD). Actually, I think I'll wait for the western release. Ideally, I don't want to be spoiled too much before I actually play the game, although I don't doubt that accidents may happen and I might end up being spoiled about some things before the right time XD ... or I simply might not resist the temptation and just dive into the spoilers... well, let's see for how long I'll be able to hold my curiosity!
But there are some of the game's details I want to know because I want to incorporate them in my fics.
Edit (2016/10/01): some kind users, Beverly/Amazing009 (on FFN), and MechaJim and Leliel12 (on AO3) provided me the specific details I wanted (basically, how characters address each other, their family relations, and the basics of their issues). Thank you! I've removed the list of the details I had wanted so as not to confuse other people and have them waste their time sending me the details again.
Back to talking about this fic, I edited chapter 1 to correct a few things, like Ryuji not being in the same class as MC. And I mentioned that Makoto also has the special cellphone app. She has it since the day she awakened to the Dark Hour, but she's only noticed it now :P .
Also, it looks like the Palaces might be in different locations specific to their targets. For example, the school has only the Palace for Kamoshida, Madarame's is his place (the art gallery?), Okumura's would be his fast food restaurant, etc. But in this fic's universe, I had considered that all Palaces were in the school (this is what I get for writing stuff before most of the information comes out :P ). So, I had to modify the "mechanics" to this fics' Palaces a bit. For this story, let's pretend that the Phantom Thieves can revisit Palaces, and can take shortcuts to teleport from one Palace to another. In these chapters, they're going to Kamoshida Palace (the school) and taking a shortcut to the OC rich businessman's Palace (the man's mansion).
The Queen's Plan
Written by Aiyumi
Disclaimer: Persona and all related characters are property of Atlus, Inc. Any trademarks that may be referenced in this fan fiction are properties of their respective owners. I am just a fan and do not have any relations to said people/companies.
Chapter 2: Different Faces
When Makoto arrived at school the following morning, she overheard students talking.
"I've heard that the Phantom Thieves might be students from our school. I hope it isn't true!"
Unfortunately, now Makoto was sure that it was true. At least two of the Phantom Thieves were in Syujin High School. Both Skull and Panther recognized her as the Student Council President. She didn't need more proof than that. Now the questions were, who were they? Which year, and which class?
Makoto was passing through the courtyard when she saw a male student chasing a blond girl.
"Heheheh." The boy cornered the girl against a wall. "It's decided. Today is the day you're skipping class and going on a date with me!"
"I-I refuse!" The girl's voice shook in panic.
"Your opinion doesn't matter. Only what I want matters. I'm in a bad mood today, and what's a better way to cool off than going on a date with a cute foreign chick like you?"
Makoto's eyes flared with anger at hearing those words. That guy was forcing someone on a date, and he mentioned skipping class! That was wrong on so many levels. Makoto stepped forward. "Skipping class, you said?"
The male student gulped. "Ah! It's th-the S-Student Council President!"
"I'm also in a bad mood today." Makoto warned. "Leave her alone or else!"
"Aaaaaaah!" The student panicked. He released the girl and ran for dear life.
Makoto approached the girl. "Are you okay?"
"Th-thank you!" The girl bowed to Makoto, then lowered her head and closed her eyes in embarrassment. "Phew, what a relief..."
Makoto was worried. "Does this kind of thing happen often?"
"Uh, m-more or less." The girl seemed a bit lost as to what to say. "Um, I mean, weird guys are always asking me out. I turn most of them down just fine, but sometimes it gets... unpleasant like that."
"If something similar ever happens again, be sure to report it to Student Council, okay?"
"Uh, thanks. I'll try. If I at least identify the guys..."
Makoto nodded. She was about to turn around and leave, but stopped. She recalled having seen that girl around a few times, but didn't remember the girl's name or her class. "Um, I believe I haven't caught your name..."
"Huh?" The girl hesitated a bit. "It's... Ann Takamaki."
"Takamaki..." Makoto muttered. She recalled having checked Ann Takamaki's profile. The girl was actually well-known at school because of her American heritage that made her appearance stand out.
"Um, I'll head to class now. Thanks for the help." Takamaki excused herself.
Later that morning, Makoto was asked to bring a folder to one of the teachers, who happened to be lecturing class 2-D. When she entered the classroom, all students silenced. But when Makoto handed the folder and began talking to the teacher, many students began chattering among themselves. When she finished her business and was about to leave, the classroom was reasonably noisy. Her eyes quickly scanned the students, and she was a bit surprised to see that the girl from earlier, Ann Takamaki, was actually in that class. What a coincidence.
Makoto's gaze briefly stopped on Miura, and she wondered whether she should talk to him about what had happened to her at the Dark Hour last night, since he was the only person she could discuss the Dark Hour with. If only he caught the hint that she wanted to talk to him later... but he didn't so much as acknowledge her glance, and she gave up for the moment.
When lunch break started, Makoto considered looking at the students at the courtyard to see whether any of them had any trait that reminded her of the Phantom Thieves. Even though she didn't know their faces because of their masks, there were other traits she could see just fine.
However, something strange happened. When she tried to picture the Phantom Thieves' images, her mind fogged over. Strangely, the only details she remembered clearly were what mattered the least, which were their masks. Every other detail besides the masks was nothing more than a foggy silhouette.
Why? Makoto thought in puzzlement. I can't remember what they look like! ... Well, today I'll have to meet up with them again. I'll try to pay more attention to their appearances...
Change of plans. Makoto gave up on trying to remember the thieves' appearances for the moment. She would have to look for hints about them in some other way.
Makoto wolfed down a bread and hurried to the faculty office, determined to find something out about the Phantom Thieves through the student profile papers. Since the school was full of problem students which most likely didn't perform well academically, she figured she would try to look for the exception rather than the norm. Joker was very intelligent, and she guessed he must be an exemplar student. Judging from his movements during battle, he must be quite the athlete, too. He was also a responsible leader, if his attitude towards the safety of his group members were anything to go by. Makoto asked for the student profile papers and looked for traits like exceptionally high grades, great performance in sports, participation and leadership in clubs and other activities that might reveal good leadership qualities, but her research led her to nothing relevant.
"Oh, Niijima-san." a female teacher, Ms. Kawakami, entered the faculty office. "Working hard as always, I see."
"Ah, yes." Makoto lifted her head from the papers to regard the teacher. "Just checking some students' records."
The teacher smiled. "You're really committed to putting our students on the right track and making our school a better place... but I noticed that you're always either here or in the Student Council room. You should take it easy once in a while and spend your lunch break with friends from time to time."
"Friends..." Makoto echoed in a whisper as she realized one thing. She didn't have many friends. She always prioritized studies and her duties in Student Council over everything else, and didn't spend much time hanging out with anyone. At school, the people she interacted with the most were the teachers and other Student Council members. Even among her classmates, she only interacted with the ones that did group assignments with her, and that was about it.
"What I wanted to say is... that it's fun to be around friends!" Panther's words resurfaced in Makoto's mind, and Makoto wondered whether the Phantom Thieves were actually friends in school. Not that suspecting every group of friends on lunch break could be of any help, but it might be a clue nonetheless.
Makoto concluded that checking student records wasn't leading her anywhere, and decided to end her research in the faculty office for the moment. She put the papers away in their appropriate places, thanked Ms. Kawakami for the advice and left.
Makoto headed to the rooftop. Since it was usually quiet up there, it was the ideal place for her to breathe some fresh air and sort through her thoughts. When she arrived there, though, she could see that she wasn't alone. Ryuji Sakamoto was seated on a bench, and looked distracted.
"Sakamoto...?"
"Ah!" His head shot up, and he looked like a deer caught up in headlights. "Y-you...! I... I didn't do anything, alright?!"
Makoto narrowed her eyes in suspicion. To her, it only sounded like he was confessing having caused trouble. Was he on the rooftop to hide from someone? "What are you talking about?"
"I don't know! But if you're talking to me, it can only be 'cause you're accusing me of something!"
"Oh..." Makoto thought his statement strangely made sense. "I can see why you'd think that. It can't be helped, with your reputation... but no, I wasn't even looking for you. I only came up here because I wanted to breathe some fresh air."
"Ah..." Sakamoto's expression relaxed.
"But since I ran into you, I'd like you to clarify something. About yesterday."
"Y-y-yesterday...?" He was on the defensive again.
"During lunch break. That commotion involving you and the students from 2-C." Makoto clarified.
"Ah, that." He relaxed. "What about it?"
Suspicious. It sounded like he was hiding something, and that he had been involved in more trouble yesterday aside from the incident during lunch break.
"I want to hear your side of the story."
"Alright." Sakamoto took a deep breath. "They were bullying a guy from first year. They threatened to hurt him and were forcing him to use his own money to buy lunch for them. I couldn't stand seeing that and butted in. Then I fought them, and the first year guy ran off."
Sakamoto's confession was surprisingly straightforward. He admitted to have taken part in a fight as though he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. No regrets, no anything.
"Who is the first year student?" Makoto asked.
"He's a short, brunette guy. I don't know his name. Never talked to him."
Makoto found Sakamoto's actions reckless and absurd. "You went out of your way and got yourself in trouble for someone you don't even know?"
"He's always hanging around the courtyard. Those 2-C guys are always after him, and were already getting on my nerves."
Makoto narrowed her eyes at Sakamoto. "Next time, you should report to me instead of causing more trouble."
"And let those guys have their way while I'm off to get you?" He shook his head. "By the time you arrive, all the crap'll have already happened and they'll have run away."
Sadly, that was true...
Sakamoto added, "Then, when I see the first year guy again, I'll tell him to go talk to you, and you can hear his side of the story. Is that alright?"
Makoto nodded. "This is acceptable. Thank you for your cooperation, Sakamoto." She continued after a pause. "One more thing. You seemed to be uneasy when I mentioned 'yesterday.' Were you perhaps involved in something else yesterday?"
Sakamoto looked away. "And I thought you had said you weren't here to accuse me..."
The fact that he was avoiding the question made it even more suspicious.
"Answer my question, Sakamoto." Makoto demanded.
After a few seconds of stubborn silence, Sakamoto looked at her and sighed. "Uh, just messed with a classmate a bit. Nothing that big. You know, tried to hide his eraser, stuff like that."
"Can't you see that you're bothering people?!" Makoto glared at Sakamoto with disapproval. "You must stop."
Sakamoto looked away, clearly unwilling to comply.
"Sakamoto..."
He looked at her again, but changed the subject completely. "Hey, I know it's none of my business, but where do you usually spend lunch break?"
Makoto didn't like the way Sakamoto tried to evade the subject. His question could only mean that he was fed up with her scolding him and was sending her away to wherever she usually stayed.
"I don't see you around unless you're lecturing someone." He added.
Makoto sighed and decided to answer. "I'm usually in Student Council or the faculty office."
"Why? Don't they let you have lunch break or something?" To Makoto's surprise, Sakamoto didn't send her away. He actually sounded genuinely curious.
"No. It was my choice."
"So, today you finally got bored and decided to come here?"
"I came here because I have a lot to think about!" Makoto was losing her temper. She was at the roof to relax, but her talk with Sakamoto only got her more irritated.
"Oh... I'm in your way, aren't I? Okay, I'll shut up."
Makoto sat down on the bench, and made sure to put a considerable distance between her and Sakamoto. She sighed and closed her eyes. But rather than thinking about the issues in her mind, she decided to try to not think about anything and just relax.
When Makoto opened her eyes a few minutes later, she found Sakamoto staring intently at her face. "W-what are you looking at?!"
"Uh, oh, nothing." He quickly broke his stare. "I was just wondering... how every person has a lot of different faces. Uh, I mean, like... the image of you angry and shouting at everyone's too strong in my head, ya know? But now you looked so... calm, peaceful... and it was, uh, kinda... different. Not in a bad way, though... yeah." Sakamoto nodded to himself.
Makoto froze for a moment, taken aback by Sakamoto's rambling. It was deep and sort of made sense to her, and she was surprised to hear such a thing coming from that troublemaker's mouth.
Sakamoto laughed sheepishly. "What am I saying? Not even I quite understand it!"
"Uh, well, lunch break is almost over. We should return to class." Makoto regained her composure and stood up. "Make sure to reflect on your behavior, Sakamoto."
"You too. You should cool down a bit. You're more cute when you aren't angry."
"W-what are you saying!" Makoto's face flushed, both in anger and embarrassment.
"I'm saying that I think you should show up at the courtyard once in a while, lecture less and talk normally more. Everyone only knows you as the nagging Student Council President, and that's a shame." Sakamoto stood up. "Well, see ya." He waved her goodbye and left.
For a while, Makoto only stood there and stared into space. "Every person has a lot of different faces, huh?" She repeated Sakamoto's words. Yes, they definitely made sense, and could even be applied to Sakamoto himself. Before their interaction, Makoto had only seen him picking fights and causing trouble. Seeing him sitting calmly on a bench at the school's rooftop had been quite surprising to her. To tell the truth, Makoto had never stopped to imagine Sakamoto engaging in civil conversation, and definitely didn't expect him to be capable of dropping profound statements.
Ryuji Sakamoto let out a relieved sigh upon leaving the school's rooftop. He remembered what Kazushi Miura, code name Joker, had told them while they were whispering among themselves in the Palace.
"Our Personas give power to our disguises to hide our identities. Still, we should be wary of her. She'll be coming with us for now, but don't reveal our identities to her just yet."
Then, once they had left the Palace and parted ways with Queen, Joker gave them another warning. "She doesn't seem to have recognized any of us so far. This is good. But we shouldn't let our guard down. We must be careful when talking to her. Our Personas can only do so much. It'll be no use if we end up letting personal information slip. Even more so during the day."
Yes, they would eventually run into her at school during the day. Ryuji hadn't thought about that. Since he tended to run his mouth when talking to others, the chances of him slipping his tongue were big if he were to interact with her. The safest course of action would be to avoid her like the plague. Thankfully, he didn't run into her during the day that often...
... Or so he had thought. Lunch break started. He was still a bit tired from having used up all his SP last night. He was bored, and not in the mood to listen to all the students' noise at the courtyard. So, he headed to the rooftop. Not many people went there. But then, the Student Council President just had to show up at the rooftop too! Ryuji panicked. A lot of thoughts ran through his mind. Suspicions that she might have figured out his identity, or that she was suspecting him and came looking for him.
"... but no, I wasn't even looking for you." It was a relief to hear that statement. However, she just had to go and add, "But since I ran into you, I'd like you to clarify something. About yesterday."
That put Ryuji on edge again. The first thing that came to his mind was their adventure in the Palace yesterday. It thankfully proved to be just another misunderstanding, and she was only referring to the issue about the guy bullied by the 2-C students during lunch break. But then, she had to bring up "yesterday" again. She asked if he had been involved in anything else. He racked his brain for something he had done, and only came up with the small pranks he had played on one of his classmates during class. Makoto scolded him, but it was still better than having her figure his identity out.
They stopped talking, and Makoto became lost in thought. Ryuji considered leaving, but that might look even more suspicious. So, he stayed where he was. Soon, he found himself staring at her. She looked so calm, so different from the way she usually acted. For the first time, it occurred to Ryuji that she might have a softer side, and he wondered what kind of person Makoto Niijima really was.
"Never thought I'd ever see Ms. Almighty President so scared. It's priceless!" What was he thinking when he intimidated her like that in the Palace yesterday? He felt bad for her now. He shouldn't have done that. It was uncalled for. He should apologize. He opened his mouth to call Makoto to Earth and apologize to her, but he remembered just in time that he would be giving his Phantom Thief identity away if he did that. A knot formed in his stomach. Queen was right there to his side, and he couldn't apologize to her. The more the seconds ticked by, the more horrible Ryuji felt.
In the end, Ryuji ended up advising her to show up at the courtyard more often. When he realized what he had suggested, it was already too late. He wanted to facepalm. What had he just done? If Makoto indeed started following his advice, she would likely run into the other gang members more often, and the chances of her figuring them out would increase a lot! ... But the idea of her locked up in the Student Council room every day sounded so lonesome and boring...
Ryuji felt even worse now. If Makoto started coming to the courtyard frequently, hopefully the others wouldn't find out that it was his fault...
Once classes were over, Makoto went to the Student Council room. The first year student was there waiting for her, which meant that Sakamoto had indeed done his part. She asked the student about yesterday's bullying incident, then requested the bullies' presences. She was able to catch the bullies before they left school, and issued the proper warnings. Both the first year student and the bullies were very uncomfortable in Makoto's presence.
Makoto left school, but didn't go straight home. She had other personal issues she wasn't in the mood to think about, and being at home only made her think about them. She decided to take a walk and try to relax. She entered a park and was walking distractedly, and would have collided with a tree if someone hadn't called her to attention.
"Watch out!"
"Ah!" Makoto froze in her tracks. She took a proper look around, and the situation finally sank in. "Uh, thank you for the heads-up," she said to the only other person in sight. A tall teenager boy seated on a bench with a sketchbook in hand. Makoto didn't know why, but he seemed familiar for some reason. When she addressed him, though, he was already back to drawing on his sketchbook. "Kosei High School...?" Makoto noticed his uniform. "Ah, I remember now!" She took a few steps in his direction. "You're that student that was on the news a few weeks ago, aren't you? That issue involving painter Madarame-san."
"Hm? Yes." He finally lifted his head from the sketchbook and looked at her properly. Right away, she could tell that something was very wrong. He looked depressed, with pain reflecting in his eyes.
Makoto wanted to say something to comfort him. She desperately tried to remember the student's name from the news, but she drew a blank. "Um, what was your name, again?"
"Yusuke Kitagawa."
"I'm Makoto Niijima, a third year student, and the Student Council President of Syujin High School." She recalled what she saw about Kitagawa-san on the news. "I'm sorry to hear what happened. It must have been tough."
Makoto tried to give him a comforting smile. "At least Madarame-san confessed his crime. It's rare for someone to spontaneously confess having done something so serious. This goes to show that we must not lose faith in people."
"'Spontaneously?'" Kitagawa-san spoke the word in a sarcastic tone. "Making him become willing to confess was anything but easy. I confronted him, and he nearly killed me!" Kitagawa-san's eyes flared in anger. He clearly didn't get over the incident yet.
Makoto gasped at the unexpected reaction and took a step back.
Kitagawa-san seemed to notice he was losing his grip, though, and tried to regain his composure. "It's a good thing that he repented, but..."
"You still didn't forgive him..." Makoto muttered her conclusion.
Kitagawa-san seemed conflicted. "I know I should. But it's hard. He took advantage of the respect I had for him. He betrayed my trust and ruined my pride. I know that he's really regretted what he did... but I don't know if I'm ready to forgive him just yet. Maybe one day..."
Kitagawa-san had a sullen expression on his face, and seemed sadder than he had been when that conversation started. He sighed and closed his sketchbook, seemingly not in the mood to draw anymore.
Makoto felt horrible. She only wanted to comfort him, but ended up making him feel even worse! "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked these things."
Kitagawa-san didn't respond. Not even a fake answer just to be polite and to make Makoto feel better. Not that a fake answer would please her, but it was Makoto's cue that she had hit someone's nerve again.
"Uh, excuse me. I'll be going now. Sorry to have bothered you." Makoto uttered awkwardly, turned away and left in a brisk pace without looking back.
While Makoto walked, she couldn't stop thinking about her interactions with people that day. Only now she realized how uncomfortable nearly everyone got while talking to her. That guy who tried to force Takamaki on a date panicked and ran away in fear just by seeing Makoto. Takamaki seemed very insecure when talking to her. Anything Makoto said to Sakamoto seemed to put him on edge. The first year student, and also the bullies from 2-C seemed uncomfortable near her.
"Everyone only knows you as the nagging Student Council President, and that's a shame." She recalled Sakamoto's observation from earlier.
Syujin students tended to dislike interacting with her because she was too nagging, like Sakamoto pointed out. And then there was Yusuke Kitagawa. Since he wasn't a Syujin student, he shouldn't have preconceptions about her, and Makoto hoped she would be able to hold a casual conversation with him. But she just had to choose the wrong subject to talk about... was she really that unsociable? Yes, deep down, Makoto had known that she was. She had never been good with getting along with people, though she didn't want to admit that it bothered her. But she was reaching her limit, and today she was feeling lonely and miserable. If only she had someone to talk to right now...
... Maybe, she had. From the looks of it, Miura seemed to be the only person around her age that didn't get on edge around her. He didn't show any reaction, even when she entered lecturing mode unintentionally.
"Did you come here to lecture me?" He had said on the day she had gone to Cafe Leblanc late at night. His facial expression and the tone of his voice didn't change from the usual, and it was hard to imagine what was going through his head. But those words...
... Okay, maybe he also got annoyed even though his face didn't show it. But still, Miura was different. He listened to whatever she had to say, even if she ended up sounding nagging sometimes. At least Makoto was able to engage in normal conversation with him. And that's what she decided to do. She would go talk to him. It didn't need to be about the Dark Hour. She just wanted to engage in casual conversation and pass the time.
Makoto went to Cafe Leblanc. She found Miura reading something while seated at a table.
"Good afternoon, Miura."
"Hello, Niijima-san." Miura put down the papers he had been reading. "How may I help you?" He spoke in the businesslike way he would speak to a customer.
"Um, I was just wondering if we could talk for a bit."
"Huh?" Miura hesitated for a moment, but answered, "Yeah, I have time right now." He gestured to the chair across from him.
Makoto sat down, and her gaze fell on the papers he had been reading, which now Makoto could see were part-time job advertisement flyers. "You were looking into part-time jobs?" To which he nodded. "But don't you work here already? Do you really need another part-time job?"
"I actually don't work here that much. Just when they need an extra hand. I don't earn any money, though. Helping the other workers out only secures my stay here."
"Oh." Makoto found it quite admirable. "It sounds tough. You're really dedicated... I've been considering taking a part-time job myself. I need to save up to buy a bike."
"A bike?"
"Uh, actually, I mean a motorcycle. I've always wanted one. I have a lot of magazines about motorcycles. I love those designs!" Before she knew it, she was rambling about her passion for motorcycles. "If I were to be an object, I'd be a motorcycle!"
"Whoa." Miura stared at her, with a rare hint of surprise showing on his face. "So, the Student Council President has a fascination with motorcycles?"
"You got a problem with that?!" Makoto disliked when people questioned her hobbies. This was why she usually didn't tell anyone about her fascination with motorcycles, but this time, it slipped.
"Uh, no. It was just unexpected. But it's cool."
Makoto relaxed. "... You think so?"
Miura nodded. "I've never thought about what I'd be if I were an object, though. It's the first time I hear someone say something like this." And somehow he seemed to have liked the silliest part of Makoto's rambling, which was one of the parts she didn't want others to hear.
"... A-and this is the first time I've ever said this to anyone..." Makoto laughed awkwardly. "Normally I wouldn't have said it, but the subject of motorcycles came up... and I got carried away." She tried to justify herself, but Miura didn't react. He didn't seem to care about her silly attempt at justifying her silly ramblings, as though they didn't need justification at all. "Uh, what about you, Miura? Do you have anything you're fascinated with? Anything you like to do?"
"Hmm. Honestly, I don't know yet. I didn't have the chance to do much back where I lived. You know, restrictive parents. They said I should focus only on studies, and didn't even let me take part in school clubs or anything. It's only now that I have the chance to try different things."
Makoto nodded in understanding. "I get what you mean. It's quite restrictive at home, too. At least I have some degree of freedom as long as my grades are at the top marks." She didn't want to think what may happen if her performance dropped, though. So, she decided to change the subject. "Miura, what do you think of life in Tokyo so far?"
"Well." He seemed to hesitate for a bit. "Honestly, it's... nothing like what I could've ever expected, what with the Dark Hour and all the crazy stuff."
And they actually got to the topic of the Dark Hour. Makoto was curious, and also a bit worried. "What have you been doing during the Dark Hour?" Before she had realized it, she was scolding him again. "That other time you appeared with a bandage on your arm. I hope you haven't been getting hurt!"
"... I've been doing fine," was Miura's vague response, which showed that he wasn't willing to elaborate on what he had been doing. But then he added, "I'm more worried about you, to be honest. You still haven't awakened fully to your potential, have you?"
"I-I still haven't." Makoto gulped. She had been getting into dangerous things herself, and concluded it wasn't a good idea to talk about those to anyone, including Miura. "... But I've been doing fine too." And she found herself using the same vague response he had given her.
"Hm." It was hard to tell what Miura had made out of her answer.
They remained silent for a minute or so, lost in their own thoughts. That dark atmosphere between them was awkward, and Makoto concluded it would be best to change the subject.
"Um, Miura, do you think I'm too nagging?"
"... Huh?" Miura snapped to attention at her out of the blue question.
"Please, be honest with me." Makoto decided to provide some context. "Today when I talked to Sakamoto, he said that everyone only knows me as the nagging Student Council President."
"You tend to be too strict. Maybe you could tone it down a bit. Uh, I'm not saying that you shouldn't reprimand people for doing wrong things. It's more like... you seem so used to lecturing people that sometimes you don't realize you're doing it. Or at least, this is the impression I got."
"I see..." Makoto nodded slowly. She had noticed that issue sometimes, but she had never tried to do anything about it. "Yes, I guess you're right. Okay, I'll think about it." Makoto checked the time on her cellphone. "Oh, I have to go now. I still need to do some training." She stood up. "Thank you, Miura. It was nice talking to you."
He also stood up. "I enjoyed this talk too."
"Ah, good." Makoto was relieved. "I was worried that I might be bothering you. This was another reason why I wanted to know if you think I'm too annoying."
Makoto and Miura bid their goodbyes and left to take care of their own things. During their whole conversation, neither of them noticed the black cat's head poking out from under the neighboring table.
Just as agreed, Makoto came to Syujin at midnight, where she reunited with the Phantom Thieves. As soon as Fox caught sight of her, he tensed.
"Huh? Fox, is something wrong?" Panther asked him.
"... No, nothing. For a moment, I had... forgotten that we have a new member."
Everyone looked weirdly at him. No one seemed to buy into his argument, but they left it at that.
While everyone stood relatively close to her, Makoto observed them and tried to memorize their physical traits.
Mona seemed eager. "I'll stay with Queen this time!"
"No, you can't." The leader objected. "We need you to guide us through the Palace and pinpoint enemy weaknesses. You must stay at the front."
"Ah, fine." Mona begrudgingly headed to the front.
"... I'll stay by her." Skull's unexpected statement came, and everyone directed suspicious looks at him.
Makoto was on edge. She prayed that the other group members would object to having Skull stay behind with her. He was the most irresponsible and reckless member of the Phantom Thieves. Makoto didn't trust him. She recalled the moment when he intimidated her the previous day. No one could tell what he might do to her if he stayed alone with her at the rear of the group.
"I mean... I'm still kinda out of it after having drained all my SP yesterday." Skull added before anyone had a chance to argue. "If I stay behind with Queen and the enemies don't get to us, I might not even need to fight. As much as I'd want to join the action, maybe it's best to take it easy this time around."
"Hm. Skull, your argument makes sense." Joker admitted. "You don't look too well, though. Are you sure you want to come?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Skull didn't falter.
"Alright. Then, you may stay behind with her." Joker declared, much to Makoto's dismay.
Fox directed an awkward glance at Makoto, and Skull noticed it.
"Too late, Inari. I'm with her now." Skull stated with a tired but triumphant grin.
"I didn't say anything." Fox countered. "But I don't think having you near her is exactly a good idea. If anything happens, will you really be able to protect her?"
"Even Joker's fine with it. Your loss. Just deal with it. Maybe next time..." Skull mocked.
Oh no. What did I get myself into this time? Makoto thought, afraid of what Skull might do to her.
They entered the palace that the school had turned into. Joker used his cellphone to activate the teleport device, and they continued the exploration from where they had left off.
They passed a spacious corridor, empty save for shards of what looked like broken vases on the ground.
As Makoto followed the group, she felt very uncomfortable with Skull keeping an eye on her. She chose to ignore him, focus on the group ahead, and continue trying to commit details of their visual appearances to memory. Her gaze locked on Joker, and soon she found herself admiring how he moved fluidly and confidently as he guided the group away from enemies and traps.
Makoto caught herself and averted her gaze. She risked a glance at Skull and noticed that something else seemed to be wrong with him besides his tiredness.
"Uh, are you okay?" Makoto awkwardly broke the silence. "If you're feeling that bad, you shouldn't have come. It's dangerous in here, you know!" She scolded him.
"I know, I know..." Skull sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. I'm feeling horrible. Not just because of my SP, though. But I had to come."
"Why?"
For a while, Skull said nothing. When Makoto was about to give up on getting an answer from him, he spoke. "About yesterday."
"Yesterday...?"
"You know. When I said all that stuff and... scared you. I went overboard. I shouldn't have done that. I... I-I'm sorry."
Makoto couldn't believe what was happening. Skull was apologizing to her, and he seemed to mean it. His demeanor was a stark contrast to his behavior from the previous day. Talk about different faces for the same person.
"Wait, you don't mean you came here just because..." Makoto trailed off. Skull didn't seem to be feeling well enough to accompany the group in their exploration. Did he really come to the Palace that night just because he wanted to apologize to her?
"Yeah." Skull nodded. "Today I kept thinking back on it, and leaving it at that didn't feel right. If you're going to stay with us, we have to try to get along."
"It's okay." Makoto responded. "I accept your apology."
"Thanks." Skull was relieved, and already seemed to be feeling a bit better. "I hope we can get along now."
Makoto was satisfied with that development. That was perfect. The more the Phantom Thieves opened up to her, the easier it would be to pry into their personal information and determine their true identities.
They crossed a room with a few enemies, and the group at the front carried out the battles, with all of them attacking enemies in range. Mona multitasked frantically using his Persona's wind attacks, as well as shouting enemy weaknesses and compliments to the group members. Panther gracefully danced on the battlefield as she attacked and dodged enemy attacks. Fox looked angry and seemed to be venting his frustrations on the enemies. However, Makoto's gaze kept following the group's leader. She was astounded at the way he moved with confidence and skill. He seemed to be quite experienced in fighting Shadows, or whatever those monsters were called. Actually, he seemed quite experienced in handling that place's dangers in general. Makoto wondered how long he had been dealing with the Dark Hour.
After a battle, Mona approached Makoto. "Queen, I need to have a word with you for a bit."
"Huh? Alright."
Mona beckoned Makoto to talk in a corner. "We found these." He presented a few gems like the one Miura had used against the monsters on the street the other day. "Since you can't use a Persona yet, these will have to do for now."
"Thank you." Makoto accepted the items.
"By the way, our leader is pretty cool, isn't he?" Mona spoke as though he had noticed Makoto had been constantly looking at the leader. "He's smart, elegant, skilled, strong, and can use multiple Personas!" Mona's eyes shone with admiration.
Makoto couldn't help but agree with Mona. On top of all that, he was a good leader. If only he would use his abilities for doing good... Makoto wondered why someone so amazing like him had chosen to become a thief, out of all things. It was a complete waste of talent. If... no, whenever she managed to figure out his true identity, if he were a student like she suspected, Makoto would be sure to confront him at school, where she held authority over him.
"Why was he code-named Joker, though?"
"Because in card games, the joker is also used as the wild card! This goes to show how versatile he is!" Mona explained proudly.
"Ah, makes sense now..."
Mona inched closer to Makoto with a devious smirk. "And I think he's taken an interest in you, too."
"... What?" Makoto's eyes widened.
"He said you aren't getting special treatment, but I don't believe that. Yesterday when we spotted you near the Palace's entrance, we talked among ourselves to decide what to do about you. Joker didn't think twice and was like, 'Let's let her in.' Think about it. Do you really think he'd let you join us so easily for no reason?"
Makoto froze. Yes, infiltrating the group had been too easy. Of course there had to be a catch. It was the leader of a criminal group they were talking about. "But... what could he possibly w-want with me?" Makoto asked shakily. Hopefully, Mona wasn't getting at what Makoto thought he was.
"This isn't any otherworldly thing. How come you don't get it yet?" Mona stared at Makoto incredulously. "Joker likes you."
"This is absurd! You have no idea what you're talking about..."
"Sure I do! I've watched a ton of movies to understand how this sort of stuff works. Joker gets kinda different when he talks to you, too. He likes you. I'm telling you!"
A dangerous Phantom Thief, interested in her? How absurd. There was no way that could be it! Joker behaved differently when he talked to her? What was Mona talking about? It made no sense. Makoto and the Phantom had barely met, and hadn't interacted much. The most words she had traded with him were when she argued with him last night. There was no reason for him to be interested in her! ... But why did he allow her to join the group so easily, then? She didn't even have a Persona yet, and had no use to them. In fact, rather than helping them, she was hindering them since one of the other members had to stay behind to protect her. Then why? Was he really... no! It had to be another reason!
"Mona! What is taking you so long?!" Joker shouted from the front line.
"Just a sec!" Mona turned to Makoto again. "Like I was saying, this sort of stuff happens a lot in movies. And if there's a thing I hate about those movies, it's that people take too long to admit they're interested in one another. I don't want to have to endure this kind of drama in real life too. So, if you conclude that you also like him, then tell him straight away and get it over with! Okay. This was all that I had to say. Back to our normal schedule..."
"Mona!" Joker called out again.
"Coming!" Mona scurried off to the group's location.
They resumed their exploration, and Mona's words kept nagging at Makoto. Another battle began. Makoto's gaze insisted on trying to follow Joker's movements. He moved fast. He executed his attacks with dexterity and precision, like one of those skilled mercenaries from movies. He jumped gracefully out of the way of an enemy's ice pillar. He landed right behind the attacker and stabbed the monster with his knife. The monster dissolved into black ooze, and the battle was over.
The group walked a bit more and avoided some laser traps. At the sight of a pack of monsters, they hid behind a wall. When the monsters passed near their location, Joker leapt out of his hiding spot and thrust his knife at the monster from behind. The hit wasn't enough to destroy the enemy, but the Phantom didn't skip a beat. With style, he summoned one of his Personas and finished the enemy off with a gust of wind.
"You look kinda out of it." Skull commented. "Was it something that Mona said?"
"Uh..." Makoto didn't answer.
But Skull didn't need an answer. "Just ignore him. He's weird."
However, more weird was what happened at the front next. The group entered a battle... against a monster that could talk! They subdued it, and Joker began talking to it. They seemed to have had quite the argument before the monster dissolved into a bright light and turned into a mask, which Joker put on without a second thought, and the mask he had already been wearing absorbed it.
"This is how Joker gets new Personas," Skull said.
"What...?" Makoto was stunned. "How does that work?"
"No idea. Ask him, not me." Skull shrugged. "He explained some of it to us once, but I didn't understand a thing. Maybe you'd understand, since you're way smarter than me. All I know is that now he can summon a Persona that looks like that thing everyone was fighting just now."
That was reckless. It looked as if they had made a pact with that monster, and Joker didn't seem to consider the implications before going through with it! Was it even safe to do that?
Another battle began, and the leader summoned a Persona that looked exactly like the monster from before.
"See?" Skull pointed it out.
Makoto didn't respond. Her eyes were trained on Joker. When he briefly glanced behind, he caught her staring at him, and Makoto flinched. It was as though he had somehow "detected" that she was staring! Flustered, Makoto chose to focus on the scenery around them and try to not look at him anymore.
However, for the rest of the mission, Makoto was unable to concentrate. Mona's words constantly nagged at her, and an even more disturbing idea crossed her mind. If it somehow turned out that Joker was indeed interested in her, Makoto could take advantage of that to get closer to him and uncover his and his group members' identities... Ah! What am I even thinking!? Makoto scolded herself as a thought. No, no, no, I can't do that! Am I out of my mind?! He's a dangerous criminal. What makes me think I'd even be able to get close to him? It's downright stupid!
The group arrived at another room with a teleporter device, and decided to call it a day.
They left the premises of the Palace and, like last time, the Phantom Thieves walked with Makoto for a few blocks. Mona's teasing, as well as that idea about trying to get close to Joker and cause him to spill personal information insisted on surfacing in Makoto's mind. It was crazy, but what if it worked? If only she had a means to contact him during the day...
Makoto watched as each group member headed in a different direction as they split ways.
"Uh... Joker?" Makoto was a bit scared of talking to him, but a nagging feeling in the back of her mind urged her to call out to him before he could disappear completely from her sight.
Makoto thought that he hadn't heard her, or that if he had, he would simply ignore her. However, he stopped walking and turned around to regard her.
Makoto spoke hesitantly. "Um... I have a question. Why did you accept me into your group?"
"Because you're conscious during the Dark Hour." His answer was straight to the point.
"Huh, just that?"
"What else did you expect?" He spoke as though it were obvious and there was no other possible reason.
This confirmed that Joker didn't have any romantic interest in her. Strangely, though, that fact didn't relieve her as much as she expected it would, and the idea of trying to get closer to him kept nagging at her.
"Uh, I d-don't know. I mean... I can't even use a Persona yet..." Makoto tried to not recoil under Joker's stare.
"We need more members to help explore the Palace. From the moment I saw that you were active during the Dark Hour, I concluded that I couldn't simply ignore you, and that I'd rather have you with us."
Good. The situation was in Makoto's favor. It seemed like a good opportunity to ask for Joker's contact information, too.
"Uh, I was wondering about something..." Makoto risked speaking. "all of you can talk to each other during the day, right? I'm in the group, too, so, Uh... would there be a way for me to contact you outside the Dark Hour?"
"I'm sorry, but there isn't. You are a temporary member. Unless you join us permanently, we can't give you access to our personal information."
Or maybe the situation wasn't as favorable as it seemed. From that answer, Makoto realized she had less freedom in the group than she had imagined. They let her stay with them, but were wary of revealing their identities to her. Despite their apparent friendliness towards her, they didn't trust her completely. Getting closer to them would likely be harder than she had thought.
Makoto still refused to give up, though. "Um, but if an emergency happens, what can I do to let you know that I can't meet up with you guys? I need some way of contacting you..." It was a sound excuse. If Joker really cared about his group members, he should consider it. Makoto held her breath and hoped for the best.
"Hm." Joker considered her question for a moment. "Yes, it's a valid concern. I'll think up a solution, and hope to have an answer in a few days."
Makoto almost couldn't believe it. Joker had bought into her excuse. She was a bit disappointed that he wasn't willing to give her his contact information right away, but as long as he gave her a means of reaching him, it was good enough. "O-okay. Thank you."
After a few seconds, Joker wordlessly turned around and began walking away.
"... J-Joker!" Makoto didn't know what got into her, but she found herself stopping him again. "Uh... good night." Makoto felt stupid. Did she really need to stop him just to wish him good night?
She thought he would just ignore her, but he turned around. "Good night. May you have sweet dreams." He answered, then turned again and resumed his walk.
Makoto tried in vain to suppress the silly smile that involuntarily crept into her face. The way that Joker wished her good night was so heartwarming...
Makoto was feeling much better as she resumed her walk towards her home. She still wasn't sure if her crazy plan would succeed or not, but there was at least one thing she was sure about. This night, she would have sweet dreams.
A/n: Miura briefly mentioned that his parents were restrictive. To those curious about his past, please also read my other fic, called "Lupin-kun" (s/12087699). It covers all the injustices he's suffered, from his childhood until the part he arrives in Tokyo and awakens to his Persona.
Makoto doesn't know, but she's already run into everyone in the current group :D (Miura, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, and Morgana in the previous chapter).
During the Japanese Persona 5 live stream event on July 18th, 2016, when the Phantom dropped a message at midnight, he wished us (the audience) good dreams, and I took inspiration from that.
And thus, Makoto begins falling in love for our Phantom Thief.