A/N: For the record, the other pairings that this fic will be going with on the side are Kanji/Naoto from Persona 4, and Ryuji/Makoto and Yusuke/Futaba from Persona 5. I don't imagine that I'll focus too much on the romance aspect of the pairings for this story, but I might be wrong. Either way, you can ignore the P5 pairings if you don't like them, but the people from P4 will already be in established relationships by the start of the story.

Thanks for all your support, and enjoy!


20XY/07/22 (Sat)

"Sorry about that," Ann said off-handedly, as the rest of the former Phantom Thieves took up places around Akira's room. "We just saw you walking down the road and couldn't resist. Did we surprise you?"

"I'll say we were surprised!" said Morgana, jumping up onto the bed and running a paw over his head to smooth out the fur. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," Ryuji said, grinning. "But did you see my driving? Pretty awesome, huh? Makoto's been teaching me."

"Um…" Akira began, looking around his room at them.

"Your driving really has gotten a lot better, Ryuji," Makoto said, taking a seat on the other side of a low table and tucking her legs under herself.

"Yeah!" Futaba chimed in. "Inari only got sick once this time!"

Yusuke scowled in irritation, glaring at her. "That was you who was sick, you demon woman," he said.

"Not possible," said Futaba. "I have a stomach of steel!"

"So this is your room, Akira-kun?" Haru asked, looking around with her hands clasped neatly behind herself. "I have to say, it's not quite what I expected."

"I see you've hung Desire and Hope on your wall," said Yusuke, nodding in approval. "It truly is a great work of art."

"This is the real work of art," said Futaba, crouching down in front of Akira's computer and running her hands lovingly over the case. She ignored the affronted look Yusuke shot her, humming to herself. "A Futaba Sakura original. Bet it still runs like a dream, doesn't it, Akira?"

"Uh…" said Akira.

"Dude, no way!" said Ryuji, stifling a laugh. Somehow, the blond had made his way over to Akira's closet. He was holding a hanger with Akira's winter uniform draped over it. "Your school uniform is a gakuran? I bet this doesn't suit you at all."

"I think he'd look great in it!" said Ann with a frown, hands resting on her waist. "Be nice, Ryuji."

"I'm just saying," said Ryuji. "Hey, when are we gonna go running?"

"Snacks!" Futaba said, straightening up. "I demand snacks! Do you have anything organic?"

"I have so missed your coffee," Yusuke said. "If I'm not being too much of a bother."

"I'd like some coffee too," said Makoto, smiling. "If that's alright."

"Oh, me too!" said Ann.

"I'd like some coffee as well," said Haru. "I've even brought some beans. Oh—but…this was supposed to be for you and your family. Oh well…I hope you don't mind."

"That's great," Akira said. "But…"

"No coffee for me, thanks," said Ryuji. "You got any soda?"

"Could someone please just tell us what you're all doing here?!" Morgana asked from the bed, speaking loudly enough to cut through the clamor. The six excited Phantom Thieves fell silent, all of them turning to look at him.

"Oh, that's right!" Ann said, slapping her palm to her forehead. "Ugh, we completely forgot! Sorry, Akira. I guess we all just…uh, got too excited to see you again."

A blush spread over her face at the words, and somehow—even after getting dragged forcibly into a van and after all of the chaos and loudness and confusion—it was only then that their presence in his room really sank in. They were all here, watching him, looking equal parts excited and sheepish. All of his friends.

Had he really fought a god with these people only seven months ago?

The silence dragged on long enough to be awkward, all of them watching him to see what he would do. Akira cleared his throat.

"So…five coffees, one soda, fruit and—," He chanced a glance in Ann's direction. "—sweets? That's a lot of stuff. Can I get a hand?"

The mood in the room relaxed, and Akira swore he heard a few people let out sighs of relief.

"I'll help," Ann said, brightly, a smile on her face as she walked over to the door. Akira held it open for her. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Yusuke start to turn, his mouth opening as if he was about to offer assistance. Akira dipped his head to hide his smirk as Ryuji elbowed him in the side, dragging him away from the door.


Akira worked on the coffee while Ann got the rest of the food together. Ann made a delighted sound when she opened a cupboard to find it full of all of their favorite snacks—or at least whatever brands Akira could find out in the country.

"You even have the chocolates I like!" Ann said, looking through the packages. "Akira, this is really sweet."

Akira turned his back to her to hide the warmth spreading over his face, working with the coffee beans—some of the last of the stock Sojiro had sent him from LeBlanc. "Yeah, well…" he said. "I thought you would all visit eventually."

"I missed you a lot," Ann said. "I wanted to come sooner, but…"

She trailed off, a touch of regret in her voice. She didn't need to finish. Akira understood. They'd all been busy. And if the conversations in the group chat were anything to go by, Ann and the rest of the former Phantom Thieves were busier than most other students. He and Morgana hadn't completely slacked off either, even if this town wasn't as busy as Tokyo. Still, he'd found himself concentrating on his studies more than usual this year.

Universities in Tokyo were hard to get into, after all.

"I missed you too," he said. "I'm glad you're here."

Ann flashed him a brilliant smile, and that was really all that needed to be said.


His room wasn't big enough for seven people and one cat to lounge around in comfortably, so they ended up bringing the snacks and drinks into the living room. The eight of them settled around the low table with ease, leaning closer in a way that reminded Akira of times spent standing around a table in the safe room, or lounging around at their hideout for no real reason in particular.

They didn't launch straight into business, instead taking the time to catch up and swap stories about their months apart. Apparently, college was treating Haru and Makoto well. Futaba was having some trouble adjusting to school, but Ann and Ryuji were helping whenever they could, and in her own words, she'd spent enough time 'level grinding' over the first few months to be ready for the next term.

They were halfway through their food when the topic of what they were doing here came up for the second time.

"So, yeah," Ryuji said, "You know how Mishima kept the Phan-Site going? Well it's slowed down a lot since all that happened, but we've still been getting requests. And well, we've been doing what we can. Little things, y'know? Can't change anyone's hearts without the Metaverse, but all that time we spent trying to get you out of jail made us realize that there's still stuff we can do."

"Inari and I stopped an online art thief," Futaba said, leaning over the table.

"Plagiarism is an unforgivable crime," said Yusuke, nodding.

"And Mako-chan and I exposed an academic dishonesty scandal," Haru said.

Makoto let out a guilty laugh, stirring her coffee with a spoon. "Sis was so mad," she said. "She knew it was us as soon as the news came out. I was supposed to be lying low."

"Ryuji and I stopped some bullies," Ann added.

"No big deal," said Ryuji, grinning.

"I'm impressed," said Morgana. "It looks like you all remember what it means to be a Phantom Thief."

"I did intend to quit," Yusuke said, smiling. "But, well, it appears that our services are in high demand."

"Indeed," said Makoto. "Which…kind of brings us to the reason we're here today." She looked around the table, and Akira noticed that each of his companions were watching her eagerly. Makoto's eyes landed on each of them in turn before she inclined her head towards Ryuji.

"Ryuji," she said. "You tell him."

"Alright!" said Ryuji, grinning. He turned towards Akira. "Oh, man, you aren't going to believe this. Brace yourself, man. This is big news. You ready? You braced?"

"Fire away," said Akira.

"We found the Metaverse!"

"What?!" Morgana asked. "But—but that's impossible!"

"We thought so too," said Makoto. "And…point of clarification, it isn't actually the Metaverse. It's more of a…a remnant."

"Remnant?" Akira asked.

"You know how when you uninstall a program or delete a file, the data doesn't really go away?" Futaba asked. "Kinda like that."

"The cognitive distortion caused by having Tokyo merge with the depths of Mementos must have been strong enough to create distorted spaces that still persist, even after most of the Metaverse has been erased," said Yusuke. "That's how I understand it, anyway."

"Ex-actly," Futaba said.

"The best part?" asked Ann. "We don't even need the app."

"I don't know if it's because we're Persona-users or whatever," said Ryuji, "But once we found the entrance, it was easy to just slide right in. The other side's…well, it's weird. We don't think it belongs to anyone. It's kind of…free floating. Like Mementos."

"That's incredible," said Morgana. "And once you got to the other side?"

"We were dressed in thief clothes again," said Haru. "I was able to summon Astarte. But it doesn't look like the pockets are very big."

"Pockets?" Akira asked, frowning. "You found more than one?"

"Well," said Ryuji. "That's kinda why we're here, man."

"We first stumbled onto these…remnants while we were following a lead on the Phan-Site about a group of high school delinquents," said Yusuke. "Since then, well…I don't know how much you've looked at the Phan-Site lately, Akira."

Akira shook his head. He'd checked the Phan-Site pretty frequently after first returning from Tokyo, but it had been all but dead. The few comments that still popped up were directly related to Tokyo and its surrounds, so he really only looked at it now when he was feeling a touch of nostalgia. Still, when Futaba pulled the site up on her phone and showed it to him, he began to wonder if he should have been paying closer attention.

The site was more active than he had seen it in a while, with several links and new requests. Futaba took her phone back, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Apparently," said Makoto, "There's been a sudden rash of people acting…strange."

"Define strange," said Akira.

"You know," said Futaba. "Violent. Different. Like...'psychotic breakdowns'? Ring any bells?"

"I thought you said the pockets weren't connected to anyone!" said Morgana.

"It is a great mystery," said Yusuke. "A fascinating puzzle, befitting the Phantom Thieves."

The Phantom Thieves.

Akira stared down at his hand, thinking about the red glove that had once covered it, the power he had once wielded. He could be Joker again.

Ryuji clapped a hand on his shoulder, drawing him out of his thoughts. Akira jumped, turning his head towards his friend.

"So what we really came here to ask," Ryuji said, "is: What're you doing this summer?"


It was early enough in the evening that the bar was still quiet, with only a few excitable university students and young professionals sitting around the establishment. Yu checked his phone from where he sat at a booth in the corner, idly scrolling through his messages and emails.

"Do you want a drink?" a voice asked.

Yu looked up at the person standing next to him, a young woman with long, dark hair. The professional suit and tie she wore was cut in a more masculine style, but fit her small frame perfectly. Her expression was grim and solemn. The corner of Yu's lip quirked up in a wry smile.

"Sorry," he said. "I'm spoken for."

"What a coincidence," the woman said dryly, taking the seat across from him. "So am I." She raised her hand, motioning for one of the waiters to bring them something to drink. Yu smiled in spite of himself.

"It's good to see you, Naoto," he said.

"It's good to see you too, Yu," Naoto said, giving him a smile. "Or should I say Officer Narukami? It seems as though congratulations are in order."

Yu shook his head, still smiling. "Congratulate me when I make detective," he said.

"Very well," Naoto said. "How is Rise? When I called her, she said she was unhurt, but…" Naoto trailed off, gesturing vaguely.

"She's fine," Yu said. "A little shaken, but not hurt."

"You're staying with her for a little while, I assume?" Naoto asked.

"Keep that out of the papers, though."

Naoto nodded. "Always." She reached into the bag she carried with her, drawing out a file folder. "So, to business. Yoshio Hitani, aged 36. Occupation: building security manager. No priors, and after his arrest, a large collection of Risette memorabilia was found at his residence. All in all, it looks like an open and shut case of fan-stalking." She gave him a searching look, sliding the folder across the table towards him. "All of this is information you could have gotten yourself."

"There's also the other thing Rise mentioned," Yu said.

"Yes," Naoto said, folding her arms. "The other thing."

Their conversation drew to a stop as the waiter arrived, setting drinks down in front of them. The both of them thanked him, and didn't start talking again until he had returned to the other side of the bar. Naoto picked up her glass and frowned, swirling it so that the ice clinked.

"Where would you like to start?" she asked.

Yu shrugged. "It might be nothing," he admitted. "But…"

"But Rise's intuition has saved us before," said Naoto. "And considering the…shall we say, odd occurrences from last year, it's best to err on the side of caution. Is that what you want to say?"

She set her glass down. Yu gave her a knowing smile. "When I called you," he began, "I wasn't expecting you to already be in Tokyo."

"Surprised?" Naoto asked. "Now that my counterpart has disappeared, it appears the Tokyo police have gotten over their reluctance to ask a woman for assistance. Even if I don't 'interview well'."

"You're already working on a case," said Yu.

"Two," said Naoto. "Although I will admit that one is simply to satisfy my own curiosity. Is Rise home right now?"

Yu shook his head. "She's filming for a music video tonight," he said.

"But you have keys to her apartment, I'm assuming?"

Yu nodded.

"I'd like to take a look around," said Naoto. "And then perhaps we can discuss this case."