I do not own Persona
It is owned by Atlus
I just own my OC's
Enjoy!
Persona 5: A Wolf's Strength Pt.2
[Persona 5 OST: Hymn of the Soul]
"What the...!?" Ren wondered as he grasped the bars of the cell he was in. He didn't understand what was even going on. Why was he in a jail cell? Who were these two young twin's dressed as wardens? And who was that bizarre-looking man? Several questions just like that ran through Ren's mind.
"So you've come to, inmate," said the twin on the right with unimpressed tone of voice.
"The you, in reality, is currently fast asleep," the left twin spoke in a more polite way than her other half. "You are only experiencing this as a dream."
"You're in the presence of our master," the angry twin on the right stated. "Stand up straight!"
"Master...?" Ren wondered what she meant and finally turned his gaze on the bizarre-looking man.
"Welcome," the man greeted in deep, chilling yet calm voice. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance. The place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter."
'Contract?' Ren thought as he still kept a hold on the cell's bars.
"I am Igor, the master of this place," Igor introduced while gently tapping his fingers on his desk. "Remember it well. I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well."
"I don't care what you have to say!" Ren yelled as he tried his hardest to pull the bars but wasn't able to. "Let me out of here now!"
"Know your place, Inmate!" the more angered twin ordered as she struck the cage bars with her stun baton. Her baton gave off an electric shock as it impacted with the bars which startled Ren causing him to back away. "Who do you think you're talking to!?"
"Still this is a surprise..." Igor vocalized his amusement. "The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a 'prisoner' of fate. In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you."
"Are you kidding me?" Ren asked glaring. He still had no idea why he was even in this place. He just wanted out of this cell. He continued struggling to pull the bars in order to get free.
"Haha, worry not," Igor amusingly laughed at Ren's response. "There is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be 'rehabilitated.' Rehabilitated toward freedom. That is our only means to avoid ruin... Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"
"Well... when you put it that way, I'd rather avoid ruin," Ren said.
"Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation," Igor noted. The twin's turned to face Ren. "Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here."
"Hmph, try and struggle as hard as you like," Caroline threatened.
"The duty of warden's is to protect inmates," Justine added. "We are also your collaborators. That is, if you remain obedient." Justine doing her best to sound serious similar to her twin.
"I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion," Igor said. "Now then, it seems the night is waning... It is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually..."
From inside Ren's cell, a loud bell started to ring. Ren let go of the bars and looked to where the noise was coming from.
"Time's up," Caroline stated. "Now, hurry up and go back to sleep."
-O-
Date: 4/10/20XX - Day: Sunday - Time of day: Early Morning - Weather: Cloudy - Location: Leblanc Attic
Ren awoke as his eyes snapped open. He was still thinking of that weird dream. When he was in that 'Velvet Room'? He remembered that's what Igor called the place. As much as he tried to forget about it, he just couldn't and was still trying to wrap his head around it. He put on his Shujin Academy uniform and sat on the bed but his thoughts kept bringing him back to thinking about the Velvet Room.
'What did he mean by ruin and rehabilitation?" Ren thought as he kept trying to make sense of it all. He felt like his brain was going to explode if he thought about it anymore.
"Looks like you're up," Sojiro's voice broke him from his thoughts. What Ren found a little amusing was the fact that Sojiro was wearing a white fedora. He had to admit, the older man fit it well so he didn't want to offend if he commented that if that hat was his 'picking up woman hat'. "Well then, let's go introduce ourselves properly to the staff about your transfer. The school you're transferring to is in the Aoyama district. It cost a bit to ride the train there, and the route transfers are a pain. I'll drive you there, but just for today. Let's go."
Sojiro turned and walked away. "Sheesh..." he sighed. "Men aren't usually allowed in my passenger seat."
'Yeah,' thought Ren. 'Something tell's me Sakura-san is quite the player.'
-O-
Sojiro drove Ren to Shujin Academy in his yellow Volkswagen. They parked next to a sidewalk and made their up to the school's gate. The school was a large grey building, a clock on the right side of the building, and a plaque next to the gate that read: Shujin Academy. Sojiro and Ren stopped next to the gate.
"Do me a favor and behave yourself all right?" Sojiro pleaded. "Don't get me wrong, I don't care what happens to you. Just don't cause me any trouble."
"Yeah, okay," Ren nodded in understanding. Though, he couldn't help feel little bad for placing some weight on the older man's shoulders even though he's being mean about it. "I promise I won't cause any trouble."
"Hmph," Sojiro huffed and then walked away as Ren followed him inside the school.
-O-
Hiro and Hamuko were walking through the halls of Shujin. Even though it was a Sunday, Hiro was wearing his school uniform and Hamuko was in her casual clothes(Her outfit from chapter 1). They walked up the stairs started on their way toward the Student Council room
"Pretty cool to visit a high school, huh, kiddo?" Hiro asked. "Even though it's a Sunday."
"Yeah," Hamuko nodded to her big brother. "Is it really okay for me to be here?"
"Yeah, it should be fine," Hiro said. "It's Sunday. Plus, Makoto said she'll be here today, she messaged me this morning. She said she wanted to see you. Don't you want to see her?"
"Yes," Hamuko nodded with a smile. "Yes, I really do."
"Well, okay then," Hiro smiled back at his kid sister. "Well, here it is." Hiro gestured to the Student Council room door. He rapped on the door a few times. After waiting for a little bit, Makoto answered the door seeing Hiro and Hamuko.
"Hello, it's us," Hiro waved with a smile.
"Glad you can make it," Makoto said. Makoto was soon met with Hamuko quickly running up and wrapping her arms around Makoto's waist in a hug.
"Mako-san!" Hamuko said happily. "I haven't seen you in forever."
"Three years can really feel like forever," Makoto giggled as she hugged the young girl back. "It's very nice to see you again, Hamuko-chan."
Hiro kept silent watching the scene unfold. The day Hamuko was born, Makoto immediately loved her. She probably saw Hamuko like a little sister since it was only her and Sae when they were growing up and not having a younger sibling of her own.
"Here, let's talk inside," Makoto proposed. "It'd be better since the teachers are also here right now."
"Sure," Hiro said as everyone went inside the Student Council room. "So, it really is just you in here today, huh?"
"Yes," Makoto nodded. "I thought I'd try to last get some work done today on Sunday." Makoto bent down to Hamuko's level, placing her hands on her knees. "Hamuko, how old are you now? Are you nine now?"
"I sure am," Hamuko grinned. "I'm a big girl."
"I'm sure you are," Makoto smiled back at her. "How's school? Do you like it?"
"Yep," Hamuko said. "It's easy."
"You say that now but wait until you get into middle school and high school," Makoto said.
"Actually, Hamuko is very smart," Hiro smirked. "She's one of the brightest in her class."
"Oh, really?" Makoto said and smiled back down at Hamuko. "Then I guess I don't need to worry at all, huh?"
"Nope," Hamuko shook her head. "I still don't like doing homework though."
"It's very important that you do it," Makoto said. "Especially once you reach middle school. You shouldn't worry too much since you'll have your big brother here to help you. Right, Hiro?" Makoto gave Hiro a knowing smirk.
"Uh yeah, of course..." Hiro stammered with a look of surprise as he nervously clutched his scarf.
"Well, then..." Makoto said. "I need to finish up my work right now..."
"Right," Hiro nodded his head. "Then we should get going. Time to go, Hamuko."
"Okay," Hamuko nodded. "Bye, Makoto," Makoto responded by rubbing Hamuko on her head with a smile. "You should come to visit our house. Can you?"
"Well, I've been a bit busy but maybe if I get the time to do so," Makoto smiled. "That okay?"
"Hmhm," Hamuko hummed happily as she and Hiro walked outside the student council room. and stared up at her brother. "Hey big brother, can I go get a drink?"
"All right," Hiro said. "There should a vending machine down the stairs that way."
"Okay," Hamuko said and then quickly ran off toward the stairs.
"Hey, wait, hold on kiddo!" Hiro shouted after her. Hiro stared at Makoto and gave her a shrug. Makoto smiled amusingly while shaking her head. "Though, like most kids, she can be a little impatient. But she's a good kid and she's even responsible. That's why Dad let her have her own cell phone."
"That's surprising," Makoto said and then coughed into her hand. "Shouldn't you go after her?" she recommended slowly.
"Oh crap, yeah," Hiro said. "Gotta go, Mako. I'll see you at school."
"You haven't called me that name in a while," Makoto said as Hiro stopped to turn back to her.
"Well, then I guess start calling you that again if that's okay," Hiro said. "By the way, we should spend time together. Maybe we can get lunch?"
"I'd like that," Makoto smiled. Hiro smiled back and then ran off to go catch up with his sister.
-O-
Ren and Sojiro were in the Principal's office and properly introduced themselves. Principal Kobayakawa was an obese man, his own neck fat easily fell over his own collar. Ren fought the urge to laugh at the man since he kinda resembled 'Humpty-dumpty'. Inside the office as well as a woman that was a woman in her late 20's. She had dark brown hair, she wore a long-sleeved yellow top and a blue denim skirt. Ren acknowledged that the woman was quite attractive though she looked a little tired, probably due to stress.
"To reiterate, just so we're clear, you will be expelled immediately if you cause any problems," Kobayakawa spoke sternly.
'Geez, I already knew that,' Ren mentally said in irritation.
"Yessir," Ren nodded in understanding.
"Honestly, I hesitated on accepting someone like you, but there were some circumstances on our side..." Kobayakawa informed. "You might've done a variety of things in hiding in your hometown, but you will behave yourself here. If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind."
Ren nodded his head. 'Seriously? I should just start counting down how many times someone reminds me to not screw up.'
"This is the teacher in charge of your class," Kobayakawa gestured to the woman next to him.
"I'm Sadayo Kawakami," the woman introduced herself. "Here's your student ID." she placed it on the principal's desk for Ren to take it from there. "Be sure to read the school rules. Any violations will send you straight to the guidance office. And, if by chance you cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all."
'Strike one!' Ren thought sarcastically. 'Off to a great start.'
"That IS your promise, yes, Principal Kobayakawa?" Kawakami asked.
"He is responsible for all his actions," Kobayakawa said.
"But really though, why me...?" protested Kawakami. "There should've been better candidates."
"It was a sudden transfer, and your class was the only one that had an opening," Kobayakawa explained.
"If you're done explaining things, mind if we get going?" Sojiro interjected. "I got a store to get back to."
"Sakura-san, please keep a close eye on him," Kobayakawa reminded Sojiro. "Don't let him cause any trouble..."
'Strike two!' Ren remarked in thought.
"Well, I'll be sure to have a serious talk about the situation he's in," Sojiro answered.
Kawakami let out a short sigh. "Come to the faculty when you arrive at school tomorrow. I'll show you to your classroom."
"Yes, ma'am," Ren said giving a nod.
-O-
Date: 4/10/20XX - Day: Sunday - Time of day: Daytime - Weather: Cloudy - Location: Shujin, Main Hall
As Ren and Sojiro walked out they were on their way to the entrance of the school. Sojiro sighed irritably while rubbing the back of his head.
"They're treating you like some kind of nuisance..." Sojiro said. "I guess that's what it means to have a criminal record. Turn's out your past follows you wherever you go. By the way... if you get expelled now, I won't hesitate to kick you out. Got it?"
'Strike three! You're out!' Ren remarked in thought once more.
"I understand," Ren said as he twirled one of his dark bangs. "I'll be careful."
"Hmph," Sojiro huffed softly and then looked around the main hall of Shujin. "School never changes, huh...?" he sighed. "Come on, we're going home."
"Okay," Ren said he looked down the hall and noticed a vending machine. "Um, can you wait a moment, I'd like to go get a drink if that's alright."
"Well... I guess that's fine," Sojiro said. "Just hurry it up. I'd like to get back to my store before it gets dark."
"I'll be quick," Ren nodded and started walking down to the vending machine. As he was on his way down there, he spotted another young man dressed in a school uniform like himself and he was talking to a young girl that looked too young to be a student.
He noticed the young man in the uniform had silvery-white hair. He wondered if he had dyed it like that or if he was born that way and also wore a bandana around his neck. Ren got close to the young man and girl that was with him.
"Don't run off like that again, all right," said the bandana-wearing student. "I don't want Dad getting mad at me for losing you."
"I know bro, I'm sorry," the girl said. The student smiled and patted her on the head.
"I know," the bandana-wearing student stated with a smile. "Be a bit more mindful." He finally noticed Ren staring at them.
"Oh, sorry," Ren said. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
"No, it's fine," said the bandana-wearing boy. "Don't worry about it. Are you a student?"
"Yeah," Ren answered. "But I actually start tomorrow."
"Transfer student then," the bandana-wearing boy nodded. "Welcome to Shujin. I'm Yasuhiro Nakamura. A Third-year student. Call me Hiro if you want, I don't mind."
"Amamiya," Ren introduced. "Ren Amamiya. Second-year. Nice to meet you, Senpai."
"Likewise," Hiro nodded as he shook Ren's hand.
"I didn't know they allowed kids here?" Ren wondered as he looked at Hamuko.
"She isn't a student here," Hiro said. "This is my little sister. Say hi, Hamuko."
"Hi," Hamuko gave a small wave.
"Hello," Ren said giving a small smile.
"We were here visiting a friend real quick," Hiro said. "Sorry, were you going to use the vending machine? If it's okay, let me buy your drink for you. Is TaP alright?"
"I could do that," Ren offered. "You don't need to go through the trouble."
"Please, allow me," Hiro said. "We were gonna get some drinks anyway." Hiro inserted his Yen into the machine and gathered the three drinks in his hands. "Here you go." He handed one to Ren, one to Hamuko, and kept the last one for himself.
"Thank you, Senpai," Ren said.
"No problem," Hiro said. "Think of it as another way of saying 'welcome to our school'."
"Okay," Ren said. "I have to go. My guardian is waiting. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Sure thing," Hiro smiled as Ren nodded and walked away.
'Well, I guess Shujin won't be that bad if the people are nice like that," Ren thought with a smile as he walked outside the entrance with Sojiro waiting for him.
"What took so long?" Sojiro asked him irritably. "Never mind that. Let's go."
"Right behind you," Ren said as he followed behind Sakura.
-O-
In the courtyard of Shujin Academy, Ms. Kawakami was meeting with one of her co-workers. He was very tall, he wore a tight-fitting white t-shirt that showed off his muscular form, black track pants with white stripes on either side and white shoes. His hair was black and was in a curly style. Everyone at Shujin Academy knew this man as Suguru Kamoshida, the coach of the Volleyball team for the school.
"What a troublesome situation," Kamoshida said.
I can't believe they pushed someone with a record on me," Kawakami moped. "A male teacher would be better suited for this..."
"Why in the world was someone like that admitted here?" Kamoshida wondered as he placed his hands on his hips.
"Who knows?" Kawakami wondered herself. "It was the principal's decision. I was told that it was for the school's reputation."
"I would've thought that my volleyball team has contributed more than enough to cover that," Kamoshida commented.
"That's certainly true," Kawakami agreed.
"Be careful, OK?" Kamoshida warned while stretching his arm. "Then again, if anything were to happen, I'd kick out a student like that right away."
"I keep wishing that he'd just end up not coming to school though," Kawakami stated while rubbing the back of her head. "Still, that isn't something I should be saying as a teacher..."
"Well, I should be returning to practice," Kamoshida announced.
"Oh right, the tournament's coming up, isn't it?" Kawakami realized.
"Hehe, having such high expectations placed upon you by others is quite a problem itself," Kamoshida grinned proudly. "It'll be tough since one of my players decided to drop the team. We'll have to work hard to make up for the track team too."
"Yes... that's true," Kawakami sighed. With that, Kamoshida walked away back toward the gym. "Why did it have to be my class...?" Kawakami asked herself once again.
-O-
Ren was sitting in the passenger of Sojiro's car. The older man was irritated as he was dealing with the sudden traffic on their way back to his shop.
"Traffic's not moving at all..." He grunted irritably. "You're taking the train starting tomorrow."
"Okay," Ren said.
"So how was it?" Sojiro asked. "The school, I mean. Think you can manage?"
"Yeah, it seems fun," Ren said trying his best to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
Sojiro only gave Ren a sigh. "Do you even understand you're situation...? Still, you were expelled once already. To think you'd re-enroll at a different one. It's not like anyone will be sympathetic with you. If that's what it was like at school, people might say stuff about me in the future too. What a troublesome kid I've taken in..."
"Uh, if you don't mind me asking...?" Ren wanted to know. "Why did you take me in? You could've said no if you wanted to, but you didn't. Why?"
"I was asked to do it, and I just... happened to agree to it," Sojiro answered him. "I've already been paid for it too, after all."
'So he did it only for the money...?' Ren thought. 'Guess I can't blame the guy. I mean, heck, the guy placed me in his own shop.'
"Again, a subway has derailed at Shibuya Station, greatly affecting the timetable all across the-" Sojiro cut the radio off and sighed.
"Another accident?" Sojiro said. "So that's why it's so crowded. There's been a lot of those lately."
-O-
Date: 4/10/20XX - Day: Sunday - Time of day: Evening - Weather Cloudy - Location: SIU Office
Sae Niijima and the SIU director were watching the news report in the director's office. It was about the recent subway accident that caused several people to lose their lives.
"It's less of an operating accident and more than of crime of a company and a government," the director noted. "Sight inspectors apparently sighted this six months ago. The deterioration of the tracks and the ATC. Seems a railway company and the Ministry of Transport both turned a blind eye to the truth. There's no way they can hide. This will go all the way to the top." Sae never said a word, she kept her focus on the television screen. "Everything's linked? That's what you're thinking, correct?" The director smirked. "Ah well. Are you free? You and I haven't gone for a drink in a while?"
"Thank you, sir, but I have another meeting to attend," Sae declined politely as he gave a bow and took her leave from his office.
-O-
Akitoshi Nakamura walked into the SIU building, he had a hand in his pocket as he adjusted his tie. He checked his smartphone for the time. His cell phone's background was a picture of Hiro and Hamuko. She was sitting on Hiro's shoulders as he was holding her by her thighs, both of them smiling happily. The picture brought a smile to Akitoshi's face. He was so preoccupied in looking at it, he didn't notice someone creeping up behind him.
"Are those your children, Nakamura-san?" asked a polite voice.
"What the-!?" Akitoshi quickly became startled as he turned around quickly and was met with the face of a young man. He had long brown hair that came to shoulders, a grey suit jacket which was apart of his school uniform, he even wore black gloves on his hands. Akitoshi relaxed realizing who it was. It was Goro Akechi, Tokyo's own 'Detective Prince'. At least that's what they call him on TV. "For crying out loud, Akechi-kun. Don't do that ever again."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Akechi's face seemed to fall, feeling bad for startling the older man. "I didn't mean to startle you, sir."
"Eh, don't worry about it," Akitoshi waved it off. "Yeah, those are my children. They're the reason why I joined the police force and a detective. They're all I have left of my late wife. My oldest son is about your age, a Third-year student, too." Akitoshi smirked with a fold of his arms. "Hey, you're not half bad at sneaking up on people, if you decided to become a thief, you'd be pretty good at it."
Akechi gave a small chuckle. "With all due respect, Nakamura-san, I'll stick to being a detective but thank's for the compliment."
"That we can agree on," Akitoshi said as he walked with Akechi moving alongside him. "I'm not surprised Sae called you as well."
"Sae-san asked for me, I don't know if it's about a case or not," Akechi stated. "By the way, have you known her long?"
"Heh," Akitoshi smiled. "I've known her since she was a baby. Her father was a good friend. My best friend." Akitoshi became solemn in his expression.
"Oh, I see," Akechi said sounding sorry for the older detective. Akitoshi and Akechi both waited in silence for Sae to arrive. Akechi was staring at his phone while Akitoshi had his arms folded. Sae was finally arriving down the stairs. Both detectives saw her ascending down the steps.
"Ah, look who it is," Akitoshi said. "Sae-chan." He gave her a nod.
"Aki-san," Sae greeted.
"Did you asked for us?" Akechi asked. "Is it a case?"
"Not quite," Sae answered walking past the both of them. "I want both of your opinions on something."
"About those Psychotic Shutdown's?" Akitoshi brought up. "Victim's suddenly shutting down, Having no memory of what happened or what they did. Just like that conductor of that train incident."
"You've done your homework," Sae noted as she walked stopped walking.
"I wouldn't be a good detective if I didn't," Akitoshi said running his fingers through his dark hair.
"Follow me," she gestured to them. "We'll talk elsewhere."
"Sure," Akechi answered. "Your judgment is quite often correct though. Can we discuss this over sushi, perhaps?" Akechi said eagerly. "You are making a student and a father work late, after all."
"Conveyer belt only," Sae replied as she kept stepping down the rest of the steps.
"Aww," Akechi moaned disappointedly. Akitoshi walked up next to Akechi, patting the young man on the shoulder.
"Don't pout, kid," Akitoshi told him. "Then again, you were coming on a little too strong. Just listen to me and you'll be quite a real charmer when it comes to women. I got a few stories I can tell you that'll knock your socks off. Though, those only are to be told once you're a little older, kid. And I'll have to be drunk."
Akechi gave his senior a look of bewilderment as a light blush dusted his cheeks and tugged on his collar feeling a bit warm.
"I... did not need to hear that," Sae stated as she kept walking.
"Well, time to go," Akitoshi said adjusting his tie. "You wanted sushi, right Akechi-kun? I guess that means dinner is on you, yeah?"
"Yes... I suppose," Akechi said with a short sigh. He followed Akitoshi as he stepped up next to Sae with Akechi following in behind.
"I haven't asked yet," Sae said to Akitoshi. "How are Hiro and Hamuko doing?"
"Been a while since you last spoke to them, huh?" Akitoshi asked. "They're doing fine. Hiro focusing on finishing his Third-year at Shujin and Hamuko is pretty intelligent for her age and doing good in school."
"Hm, good to hear," Sae answered as the three of them left the building.
-O-
Due to all the traffic, Ren and Sojiro didn't get back to Leblanc until it got dark. Sojiro was pretty peeved that he didn't get to open up the shop today. Ren felt a little sorry for him. Sojiro told Ren to head upstairs and told him he had something to give him.
"Talk about a gruesome accident..." Sojiro said looking up the accident on his phone. "Eighty people were involved." Sojiro placed his phone in his pocket and pulled a little black notepad. "It's a diary. Make sure you write in it." He tossed the pad on a table. "You may be under probation, but there's no special limitations on what you do in particular. Besides following the law, that is. However, I'm obligated to report on you, which is why I'm having you record your daily activities." Sojiro's cell phone started to ring.
"Hey, what's up?" he answered. "I'm about to leave right now. Don't worry, I'll be there in no time."
'The way he's talking it sounds like he's got a date lined up,' Ren thought. 'I guess it'd be best to not make a comment about that.'
"Uh-huh. I'll see you soon." Sojiro hung up. "Well, I'm off. I'll lock the place up, so do whatever you want for the rest of the night."
"Alright," Ren nodded.
"Oh, but don't mess up my store," Sojiro sternly reminded. "If something goes missing, I'll hand you right over to the cops. You got school tomorrow, you better head off to bed, all right?" Sojiro then left down the steps leaving Ren on his own. Ren walked up to the table to grab the notebook.
'It's obvious I'm on very thin ice with Sakura-san,' Ren thought. 'I should do as I'm told for now.'
Ren made the decision to head to bed. He heard ringing that wasn't from his cell phone which was obvious. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs. Ren walked down the stairs and sure enough, the yellow telephone inside Leblanc was ringing. Ren wondered who would be calling at this hour? He supposed he may as well answer it and he hoped Sojiro won't be mad if he said he answered the telephone, Ren grabbed it and put it to his ear.
"Um, hello?" Ren spoke.
"Yo, it's me," the voice responded.
"May I ask who's calling?" Ren inquired.
"Sheesh, you forgot my voice already? It's Sakura."
"Oh, sorry about that," Ren apologized. "Honestly, you sound a bit different over the phone."
"Uh... I closed up shop, but I forgot to flip the sign to CLOSED," He explained. "It's too much of a hassle for me to go back, so you flip the sign for me."
"Why did you call the public phone in your own shop?" Ren asked. "You could've just called my phone? I'm sure you were given my number."
"I make it habit not to save guys' phone numbers on my cell phone," Sojiro said. "Anyway, I'm glad you answered the phone over in the shop. OK then, I'm leaving you in charge of the door sign."
Ren walked outside of Leblanc's door and out into the alley. He flipped the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED' and went back inside the cafe to get ready for bed since he was starting his first day of school tomorrow. Ren changed into his sleepwear and laid down on the bed, his hand resting behind his head.
He took out his phone and started looking up the directions he had to take to get to Shujin Academy. He saw that he needed to go out to Shibuya, then transfer there. Scrolling through his phone, he found more news about the recent subway accident. Ren assumed that will probably affect the train times. Ren noticed that the same icon that appeared before on his cell phone came back.
'I don't even know what this app even is!?' Ren thought. 'I deleted it twice in a row. Guess I have to do it again.' Ren dragged the app over to the recycle bin once more. 'I should probably reboot my phone, just in case...' Ren felt his eyelids become heavy as sleep soon took him.
-O-
Date: 4/11/20XX - Day: Monday - Time of day: Early Morning - Weather: Cloudy - Location: Leblanc
Ren woke up the next morning and put on his uniform. Sojiro gave Ren a plate of curry. To Ren, curry's more a dinner food but he couldn't be picky. The spicy, delicious flavor of the curry just made him pretty much wolf down the food quickly. Ren had quite a weakness for spicy foods. He was tempted to ask for more but he had to head to school now. He complimented Sojiro and thanked him for the meal and headed to Shujin Academy. Ren flipped the store sign to open per Sojiro's request and started on his way.
'Alright, I'm in Yongen-Jaya right now...' Ren went over in thought. 'So, my first stop is in Aoyama-Ichtome and then Shibuya. After that, it's a home stretch to Shujin.
-O-
Hiro was walking down the street. His Shujin satchel bag hanging across his torso against his hip and clutching the strap in his right hand. He had a pair of earbuds in his ears and was currently listening to some music. He let out a yawn into his hand as his phone vibrated in his pocket. He was surprised to see it was a message from Makoto.
[Chat IM]
[Makoto N.]: Good Morning.
[Yasuhiro N.]: Morning. What's up?
[Yasuhiro N.]: I didn't think you'd message this morning, Mako. Something wrong?
[Makoto N.]: I just thought I'd message you good morning.
[Makoto N.]: Nothing's wrong.
[Makoto N.]: I'm at the school right now. I come here early to do some early Student Council work.
[Yasuhiro N.]: How very diligent of you, Miss Prez :P
[Makoto N.]: Oh, come on! Don't tease me...
[Yasuhiro N.]: I know, I know. I'm just kidding around ;)
[Yasuhiro N.]: I'm almost at school. If you have time we could talk more in person there before classes start.
[Makoto N.]: That's fine. I could use a break. I've been at it since early this morning.
[Yasuhiro N.]: Alright. I'll be there soon. See ya.
He put his phone in his pocket and kept walking down the street. He believed he should hurry to school since it started to rain. On his way down, a silver car passed by him. He knew exactly who that car belonged to. Especially when he read the license plate. 'KNGKMSD'. Hiro took his earphone's out his ears and glared. Memories started flooding back to him when Hiro was on the volleyball team. Hiro clenched his bag tightly as he remembered all that he endured over those two years on the team.
'Kamoshida,' Hiro thought angrily. He was clenching his fist so tight that his knuckles were turning white. As he was only standing there, someone ran right past him in a hurry. The person had gold-yellow hair that was in a faux style. Hiro immediately recognized who that was. 'Sakamoto?'
-O-
Ren took shelter from the rain as he stood under a store called "Jeunesse et Beaute". He leaned against it as he saw other Shujin students run past him, trying to get out of the rain. He brought his attention back down to his phone and noticed the strange app he deleted again last night had returned.
'Seriously... again?' thought Ren. Before he had a chance to get rid of it once more someone joined him under the store. He could see that the person was female as Ren observed her outfit. She wore brown boots and red tights, he could see the Shujin Academy girl's skirt, she wore a varsity zip-up hoodie under her own blazer. Her whole uniform was upgraded to her liking. She was flicking the water off her sleeve as Ren watched her. Her hood was over her head as she took hold of it and took it off.
Ren's eyes widened as she was revealed to him. Her hair was an ash-blonde color. She had two bushy pigtails. Ren saw her ocean blue eyes and her skin was a light color. He couldn't help but think this girl was rather beautiful.
'So, there are beauties like this at Shujin too,' Ren thought as he was still staring. It took the girl a few seconds to realize Ren was staring at her. Ren started to wonder if he made a bad move in staring for way too long. But to his surprise, the girl gave him a small smile.
"Good morning," the girl greeted.
"Oh uh, morning," Ren smiled back.
"Are you new to Shujin?" she asked him as she looked at his uniform. "You must be new because I've never seen you before."
"Yes, I am," Ren nodded. "I'm going there starting today. My name's Ren. Ren Amamiya."
"My name's Ann," the girl introduced. "Ann Takamaki. Nice to meet you, Amamiya-kun." she extends her hand for a handshake.
Ren took her hand and shook back. "You too, Takamaki-san."
"Let's do our best, yeah?" Ann said happily.
"Yeah, sure," Ren said keeping his smile. Their exchange ended when a silver car pulled up to the sidewalk with the two noticing it. The car's window opened up to reveal a man with a long chin and big, curly hair. He was wearing a blue tracksuit.
"Good morning, Takamaki," The man addressed Ann. "You want me to give you a ride to school? You're gonna be late."
"Um, sure, thank you," Ann said with her smile as she walked away she gave Ren one last look. "It was nice meeting you."
"You too," Ren replied. The man in the car noticed Ren as Ann got inside the car.
"Do you need a lift too?" The man asked Ren.
"No thank you," Ren said waving off the invitation. The man started closing the car window but before it closed he noticed a look of sadness in Ann's eyes. The sound of footsteps is soon heard when a boy ran past Ren and stared at the car driving off.
"Damn it!" the boy growled angrily. "Screw that pervy teacher!"
"Pervy teacher?" Ren repeated in confusion. He didn't notice his phone recorded his own voice with the weird app that kept appearing.
"Huh?" the boy turned to Ren. He looked to be Ren's age, his hair was dyed gold yellow and styled in a fauxhawk, he had brown eyes and wore his Shujin uniform styled to his liking. He wore the blazer open, under he wore a yellow t-shirt that had a design with the words that read: 'ZOMG!', the Shujin pants he wore were rolled up showing off his ankles and wore white sneakers. Hiro joined the two boys shortly afterward as the blonde-haired boy stepped up to Ren.
"What do you want?" he vulgarly asked. "You plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?"
"What do you mean?" asked Ren since he didn't know who the vulgar boy was talking about. "Who are you talking about?"
"Huh?" the boy mouthed. "In that car just now it was Kamoshida." the boy scowled. "The guy does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is? The king of a castle? Don't you agree?"
"The king of a castle?" Ren was now even more confused.
"No, I mean..." the boy went to explain some more as Hiro quickly interjected.
"Now you're just confusing the poor guy," Hiro said making himself known to them.
"Huh?" the faux-blonde said as he and Ren both noticed the Third-year student. "Oh, hey, Senpai. Didn't see ya there." Hiro wasn't surprised Sakamoto didn't notice him since he was too pre-occupied in running after Kamoshida to notice him.
"Sakamoto," Hiro greeted with a nod. "Hey, Amamiya. Good to see you again."
"Good to see you too, Senpai," Ren said with a smile, Ren turned to Sakamoto. "I just transferred here as a student at Shujin Academy. The names Ren Amamiya."
"A transfer student, eh?" Sakamoto said. "I'm Ryuji Sakamoto. A Second-year, huh... we're the same grade then. No wonder you didn't know who Kamoshida was. Like I said, guy thinks he's the king of the castle. Do you think so too, Senpai? I mean, you were on his volleyball team, right?"
"Hmm?" Hiro hummed as he crossed his arms. "Yeah, Kamoshida does act like he's the king of Shujin or something along those lines." Hiro shook his head with a sigh. "Anyway, I think we should start heading there now."
"Yeah, I guess," Ryuji shrugged. "This rain ain't too bad. We better hurry up, or we'll be late."
"Agreed," Hiro nodded. "Let's..." they began to walk until they stopped and all felt separate headaches.
"I'm feeling a bit light-headed for some reason..." Ren voiced clutching his head.
"Yeah..." groaned Hiro. "What even was that just now? My heads killing me."
"Same," Ryuji groaned after. "Dammit... I wanna go home..."
The teens began walking down the street and into the alleyway that was a shortcut to Shujin. As the trio made their trek through the alley, Ren turned around to look behind him. He couldn't put his finger on it but something felt off to him.
"Amamiya, you alright?" Hiro asked Ren as Ryuji only kept walking.
"Yeah, it's just..." Ren began to say.
"Wha-!?" said Ryuji from just up ahead.
"Was that Sakamoto-san?" Ren wondered walking up to Hiro.
"Yeah," Hiro nodded. "Let's go." Hiro and Ren found Ryuji just standing completely still. "Hey, Sakamoto, what's the... matter?" Hiro's expression matched Ryuji's. Eyes widened at the view they were looking at.
"What is that?" Ren wondered as he came out of the alley. His expression in shock like the other two. The three were looking at a castle. A large castle that reached way up into a dark, crimson sky. "Um, did we take a wrong turn?"
"We didn't come the wrong way though..." Ryuji said. "Yeah, this should be right. It says Shujin on the gate." Ryuji pointed at the plaque placed on the gate.
"This is bizarre..." Hiro said nervously clutching his scarf. "What's going on?"
"Guess we'll just have to go and ask," Ryuji supposed.
"If you say so...?" Hiro said a bit nervously. He looked at Ren and nodded then followed Ryuji. Ren soon followed suit with them into the castle that could probably be Shujin Academy.
-O-
The inside of the castle turned into the main hall of Shujin Academy until it reverted back to the castle. Ryuji, Hiro, and Ren all observed the inside. The three were rather confused by what was even going on.
"Th-that's weird..." voiced Ryuji. "Where's the school...?"
"I don't know what's happening?" Ren wondered. "But is this our school?"
"I'm not sure...?" Hiro said. "On the gate, it said 'Shujin'. The school looks like nothing like this."
"What's goin' on here?" Ryuji asked no one in particular and pulled out his cell phone. "Out of service? Where'd we end up...? Hey, Senpai? The sign was for the school, right?"
"That's what it said," Hiro nodded as he checked his own phone. No service. Just like what Sakamoto figured out earlier.
"Do you guys even know what the heck is going on?" Ren asked folding his arms while looking around.
"I-I dunno! I wanna know!" Ryuji yelled. Irritation was evident in his voice.
"Relax," Hiro said. "If we look around then we maybe figure if... huh?" Hiro and the other two looked and saw a tall person in dark armor approach them. It carried a sword and a shield, it's helmet had a blue face. It was taller than the trio of teens as it marched up to them.
"Geez, you freaked me out..." Ryuji said to the armored figure. "Who're you? You a student?" Hiro only facepalmed himself hearing Sakamoto ask that question to the stranger in the armor.
"How could he possibly ask that with a straight face...?" Hiro sighed quietly.
"Maybe he's the school mascot...?" Ren wondered tilting his head.
"Are you serious...?" Hiro could only frown at Ren.
"Man, your costume's impressive..." said Ryuji stepping up to the stranger. "Is that armor real?" Hiro only gave Ren a look.
"You obviously know something is clearly not right here, right?" Hiro asked.
"Yeah," nodded Ren. "I'm starting to see that now."
"C'mon," Ryuji was still trying to have a conversation with the person in armor. "Don't just stand there. Say somethin'." Another armored figure appeared similar to the first. Same black armor, sword, and shield. "H-Hey, what's goin' on?"
"There's no way this is a prank," Ren mentioned. "This is for real."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Hiro agreed.
"You guys really think so...?" Ryuji asked them. "This shit's real." Both the armored strangers closed in on the three teens who now stood more alert. "C-Calm down! Timeout, man!" Ryuji turned to Hiro and Ren. "Senpai! Amamiya! We gotta run!"
"Right!" Ren nodded.
"Stop standin' around and run!" Ryuji told him.
"After you!" Hiro said. The three began rushing to the exit but were soon cornered by more armored guards, they were now surrounded.
"Ugh, what's with these guys!?" Ryuji groaned. One of the armored guards knocked Ryuji in the back with its shield. "Gah!" the faux blonde shouted in pain.
"Sakamoto!" Hiro shouted worriedly. Another bashed Hiro with its own shield. "Agh!" Hiro yelled as he fell to the ground.
"Sakamoto-san! Nakamura-senpai!" Ren shouted with concern.
"Oww... you're gonna break my bones, dammit!" Ryuji yelled. "The hell you think you're-Aagh!"
"Take them away!?" ordered one of the armored men.
The boys were all swarmed and were taken away by the soldiers. Where? They didn't know it yet but it wasn't going to be good for them.
Okay, that's another chapter. I got a little impatient and didn't wait 'till Saturday. But I did mention that I wanted to post on different days since I've already got some chapters ready. Like my other stories, I will be answering reviews.
Reviews...
Clarent excalibur: I guess I can't hide it since it's in the title. Yes, I will confirm Hiro will be the Strength confidant for Ren. As for the twin's, that's a good idea for them to be 'requests' like Elizabeth. But I also have an idea where they were apart of the Fool like how Igor is.
Walter Hitchcock: Thanks. I mean, yeah, I honestly like Akira Kurusu better than Ren Amamiya. Kind of like how I like Yu Narukami better than Souji Seta. But I'm using the DSN/Anime name just to become more familiar with it. It's not a bad name though.
Grimraven.V: I'm still not sure. Anything can happen, though, I might've made my mind on what I have in mind for that. I do have an idea I decided on that I will confirm in a few chapters.
ShadowUzumaki55: I will confirm that Makoto is an option for Hiro. Though, the childhood friend idea kinda just happened in the process of all the planning. People can decide whether it should be made into a romantic relationship between them later on in the story.
Cure Crystal: The love interest changed. But I have decided that whoever(or who you believe) Hiro ends up with, I'm going to do special scenario chapters with Hiro paired with a different girl. Just to show off what it would look like if he were with said girl. Also, expect possible ship teases.
Heisei255: Thank you!
ReallyLazyReader: Honestly, it does feel good to be back on this. Hiro having a full family in the last story is what made him a little unique to the other thieves since some only have one parent or none. Ann is the only one with both parents but they're both not present in the game and for Ren we just have to make our own imagination on his parents.
Hiro's mother will be referenced here and there. She's pretty important to his storyline.
Naruto RWBY: Well, I wasn't going to mention this here but there's a chance that Hiro could be paired with two girls. I mean, look what happened in the game, romancing several girls at once didn't go so well. Though, this is a fanfic so anything could be possible. Here's hoping I can pull it off, assuming it comes to that, heh heh.
GreenD109: Glad you like it, dude. I have mentioned that Hiro will be the Strength Arcana(or Confidant) for Ren.
Guest: Maui doesn't match Hiro. I feel like the Persona and the ultimate form have to match the character and their arcana in some way. I do have the idea of who Hiro's ultimate Persona is. But that won't appear until later down the line.
Before we end off here, so did you watch that Persona 5: The Royal trailer. I think it looks really cool. It's gonna be like Persona 5's Persona 4: Golden. They added new locations(who wants to play Pool?), two new characters(and Confidants), and new scenes. Will we get a bathhouse scene with everyone just like in Persona 3 and 4?
I'm really interested in what Kasumi Yoshizawa going be like as a character. All we know about her is that she's a First-year at Shujin, she's a rhythmic gymnast, she's joins the Phantom Thieves, and she's got a thing for Joker. Can't blame her though, right? It's the glasses, girls dig big glasses. All I can say is, is that she looks interesting and her design is great especially her Metaverse outfit. Would love to know what her codename is though.
It does suck that people who live in the West as I do won't get their hands on it until 2020. Watch them delay it. What are your thoughts on Persona 5: The Royal if you haven't seen the trailer yet?
Enough with my rambling, I'm going to post the next chapter probably in about a day.
I'll see you guys next time!
See you later! XD