A/n: just a few weeks in, and I already lost the battle against Persona 5 spoilers. I got curious and clicked on a thread talking about the traitor, and... betrayed myself :P .
Not only that, but I also came across a very very important endgame plot twist... in a fanfic! (it said it'd contain spoilers, but the game was barely out for a week and I wasn't expecting endgame spoilers. I was too naive...) The fanfic is really really great, though! It's "The Unholy Trinity," by RobotWarsDiego (s/12159533). It's a P3/P4/P5 crossover time travel fic. The writing is really high-quality and the story has lots of humorous scenes. I recommend it if you don't care about Persona 5 major spoilers (or P3 and P4 major spoilers for that matter, because the story has major spoilers for all these games). If you're trying to avoid spoilers, though, stay away until you have learned the details for yourself.
I'm almost giving up on trying to avoid spoilers by now. As long as I keep reading Persona stuff, avoiding P5 spoilers seems nearly impossible, and my wait might be longer than five months (no idea when I'll get the console, let alone the game...). well, but life goes on.
Once again, a big thank you to Beverly/Amazing009 (on FFN), and MechaJim and Leliel12 (on AO3) for providing the specific details I wanted. Now I'm more sure about what to do with the characters.
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 3: Visual Memory
"Time to wake up!" A high-pitched voice shattered the peaceful silence in the room in the attic of Cafe Leblanc. "Waaaaake uuuuup!"
"Aaaaaaah!" Kazushi Miura sprang to a sitting position on the mattress, with his heart thumping hard and fast in his chest. "Argh... Morgana! Why do you have to do this every single morning?! You don't need to shout. I'm not a heavy sleeper."
The black feline stared smugly at the group's leader. "No time for laziness! A Phantom Thief must be ready to spring into action in the blink of an eye! Like that song says, wake up, get up, get out there!"
"Whatever..." Kazushi rolled his eyes. Morgana was developing weird mannerisms from watching TV.
Kazushi stood up and left his room. After doing his morning routine and putting his glasses on, he returned with breakfast for both Morgana and himself. Sojiro-san would prepare their breakfast if he were present, but when he was absent, their breakfast was usually hit and miss, because it consisted of leftover food from the shop, or food that didn't come out quite right.
Morgana grimaced. "These dumplings are burned!" He looked at the contents leaking out of one of the dumplings. "And only cheese? Come on..."
It was Kazushi's turn to direct a smug look at Morgana. "Quit complaining. We Phantom Thieves must make do with the resources we have."
"You should go and steal something with meat in it."
Kazushi looked at Morgana sternly. "No, we aren't in the Palace. No stealing. And we shouldn't waste free food." He picked one of the dumplings with less burns and placed it in front of Morgana. "Here. This one doesn't look that bad."
"Ah well." Morgana gave in. "At least it isn't canned cat food..."
They began eating their dumplings.
"So, yesterday you were having quite the talk with Queen." Kazushi looked at Morgana with suspicion. "What were you talking so eagerly about, may I ask?"
"Oh, yeah. We were talking about you. About how cool and smart and amazing you are."
"Hrm." Kazushi merely grunted in annoyance, not flattered at all.
"She agrees, which is already an important step!"
"An important step...? For what?" He didn't understand what Morgana was getting at.
"I'll get straight to the point." Morgana grinned. "You're interested in her, aren't you?"
"What?" Kazushi deadpanned. "Where did that even come from?"
"From the way you treat her! The way you talk to her when you meet her on the street or when she comes to the cafe. The way you worry about her and are so protective of her in the Palace..."
"That doesn't mean anything." He shrugged it off. "I think you're watching too much TV."
"It's your fault! You leave me here locked up in your room, and the only thing I have to pass the time is watch TV!"
"Ah, it's my fault now?" Kazushi rolled his eyes. "No, Morgana. You're imagining things. I don't have any romantic feelings towards her."
"Are you sure? The way you treat her is quite different from the way you treat other girls, like Lady Ann, or Futaba, or that shogi player."
"They aren't being forced to endure the Dark Hour in the Palace every day without a Persona." Kazushi argued. "Of course I worry about Niijima-san. You remember how we ran into her in the Palace. She was well aware that she couldn't use a Persona yet, and still she came intent on checking out the Palace alone. Who knows what might have happened if we hadn't spotted her. There was no way that I'd just ignore her and leave her wandering around unattended!"
"She asked for your contact information." Morgana reminded him. "Will you give it to her?"
It was annoying how Morgana was always spying on him. This was one of the reasons why Kazushi didn't want to take Morgana with him to school. He needed some privacy.
"Her point is valid. If something comes up and she can't come to the Palace, she needs a way to let us know. But I don't want to give her my cellphone number or my email address... oh, this is it. Maybe I'll create a new email address just for that."
"This is your chance! Give her your contact info, get closer to her and make her fall for you. It'll be an advantage for us!"
"Advantage? What are you getting at?" Kazushi narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Morgana.
Morgana grinned mischievously. "I just so happen to have the perfect plan. You told us to be wary of her because she doesn't like what we do and might be planning to betray us. But if you 'take her heart,' which shouldn't be too hard, I'm sure she'll forgive us and join our cause for good!"
"What?!" Kazushi glared. "Morgana, don't be ridiculous! It's true that we need to convince her to join us permanently, but I wouldn't fake a love interest in her to pull her into our cause! That's downright dishonest!"
Morgana still didn't give up. "Oh, but you don't need to 'fake' anything. You already like her, Leader. Admit it!"
Kazushi was tired of that argument. "Would you shut up and finish your breakfast? It'll taste even worse if it cools off."
They finished their burned dumplings in an awkward silence. When Kazushi was on his way back from taking the dishes to the kitchen, an unexpected voice greeted him.
"Uh... good morning, Miura." It was Niijima-san.
Kazushi froze in his tracks. "... N-Niijima-san? Wh-what are you doing here this early?"
"I'm just a customer coming to the cafe in the morning before school. You have a problem with that?!"
"Huh..." The problem was that he had been talking about her until a few moments ago. The problem was that he felt uncomfortable recalling Morgana's ridiculous suggestion. The problem was that he hadn't expected to run into Niijima-san right now. He hadn't even had time to put on his school uniform yet, and she caught him still in his pajamas. And she looked angry, too. Well, she looked angry most of the time, but what was her reason for snapping at him right now? He couldn't tell if she was there just to buy something, or - as his paranoia made him suspect - if she came because she had actually figured out his identity. The problem was that he didn't know what to expect, and couldn't respond accordingly.
To his relief, Niijima-san shook her head. "Err, sorry. But you asked as though I weren't allowed to come to Leblanc in the morning! I woke up early, it was a nice morning, and I figured I may as well drop by here and buy today's lunch. That's all."
"I didn't mean it like that," Kazushi said defensively. "I just wasn't expecting your visit, and you caught me of guard."
Niijima-san let out a sheepish laugh. "Sorry. I overreacted, uh, like always..." She shrugged and smiled rather cheerfully. "But I'm in a great mood today, and don't want to let this kind of slip-ups ruin it!"
It was the first time Kazushi saw her so cheerful, but he felt he shouldn't pry into it.
"It looks like the day hasn't started that well for you, though." Niijima-san looked at him with a bit of worry. "It's the first time that I've seen you lose your composure like that. Did something happen?"
"Uh, well, a lot happened already." He tried to justify himself. "Morgana's been especially annoying this morning. And today's breakfast was burned dumplings. And... you caught me still in my pajamas..."
She laughed at his misfortune. "Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you. Oh, wait, you said your breakfast was burned dumplings?"
Kazushi nodded. "When Sojiro-san... the shop owner isn't here, my breakfast's usually the leftovers or the... slight failures. It doesn't feel right to throw the food away if it's at least edible."
"But you have so many nice options here in the shop!"
"Sometimes when I want something better, I either pay for it or do some extra work. Otherwise, I don't take any of the products unless they outright give it to me. Maybe they'd give me something if I asked them, but I know that the shop isn't doing as well as we'd have liked, and it doesn't feel right to abuse their generosity." Kazushi shook his head. "Anyway, I'm going to get ready for school now. Excuse me."
He quickly made his way back to his room.
"Speak of the devil," Kazushi said to Morgana once he had closed the door behind him. "She's here."
"Whoa. This doesn't mean that she suspects you, does it?"
"From the way she's acting, I don't think so."
"What are you gonna do?"
"Nothing." He went to get his uniform. "There's nothing to be done."
Kazushi put his Syujin uniform on and took his bag. When he was about to open the door and leave, Morgana jumped on top of his bag.
"Uh-uh. You're not coming." Kazushi looked at Morgana sternly.
"Kazushi! I still haven't seen what the school looks like during the day! And I need to track your progress as you learn new things and become an even smarter Phantom Thief!"
"You don't need to track anything." Kazushi pried Morgana away from the bag and shoved him away into a corner.
Of course, his struggle with Morgana was far from over. Kazushi barely took two steps and Morgana was already darting after him. Kazushi lured Morgana to the wall farthest from the door, grabbed him and threw him to the ground, then threw a heavy folded blanket on top of him. While Morgana struggled to break free from the blanket, Kazushi ran. But Morgana recovered quicker than expected and haphazardly tossed the blanket aside. Kazushi bolted to the door, but just as he got to open it, Morgana somehow managed to knock a chair despite his small size, and in a blink he was clinging onto Kazushi's bag again. Kazushi took a few steps inside the room and away from the door, ready to throw Morgana to the room's depths again, but right at that moment, the unexpected variable of that morning manifested itself.
"Miura! Is everything okay?!"
"Ah! Niijima-san...!" Kazushi panicked. The door was open. Niijima-san must have heard the racket from outside and was running towards his room.
Kazushi shoved Morgana off again and sent the not-cat rolling on the ground. Kazushi tried to run for the door, but Morgana jumped over a pile of cardboard boxes, knocked down the boxes and spilled a lot of books that were inside. In a blink of an eye, Morgana had latched onto Kazushi's bag once more.
"Miura! What hap- aaaaaaaah!" Niijima-san shouted in surprise as she got inside the room just in time to see Morgana knocking the boxes and scattering a lot of books on the ground. "What is this?!" Niijima-san stared in shock at the fallen blanket, the knocked chair and the scattered books. "It looks as though a tornado had swept the place!"
Kazushi was frozen at the unexpected intervention, but Morgana was not. The little not-cat had climbed onto Kazushi's bag and grabbed the zipper in his mouth, and was trying to open the bag, presumably to hide inside it.
Kazushi finally recovered. "It's this little tornado right here, named Morgana. It's like this every morning." Kazushi forcefully pried the black feline away from his bag, and desperately looked at the mess around him. "Uh, Niijima-san..."
Only then Niijima-san seemed to realize where she was, and gaped. "Uh, this is... your room...! Ah! Miura, I'm s-sorry!" The Student Council President turned away and scrambled out of the room with an embarrassed expression on her face.
"Wow, she even entered your room already. Nice going, huh?" Morgana whispered mockingly to Kazushi, still riding on the bag. "Too bad it's nothing but presentable right now, heheheh..."
"It's your fault!" Kazushi glared at Morgana, and spoke in an angry but hushed tone.
"No, it's your fault. Because you keep making things more difficult and don't take me with you to school!"
"..." Kazushi gritted his teeth. He had enough of that. He suddenly grabbed Morgana, jumped and threw the not-cat over the desk. Kazushi left through the open door as quickly as he could, closed it, and locked it. As soon as he removed the key from the lock, he heard a bang and saw the door handle turning. If the door hadn't been locked, Morgana would have managed to open it for sure.
He reunited with Niijima-san near a table in the shop. She still looked embarrassed and had her head low.
"Miura, I'm sorry." She lifted her head and looked at him. "I didn't mean to barge into your room like that. I wasn't thinking properly... I heard loud crashing noises coming from inside and thought that maybe you needed help... it was stupid, I know... I'm so sorry!"
Kazushi was thankful that no objects related to his phantom thievery had been in plain sight in his room. "It's okay. But now you believe me, don't you? I mean about my struggles with Morgana. Now you saw what he's capable of."
"Y-yes, I believe you now. It looked like the Phantom Thieves had come and made a mess in the room!" Niijima-san had no idea how right she was. "I had never imagined that he could get like that. He looks so cute and adorable..."
"Yeah, he even captivated Sojiro-san. When Morgana followed me and snuck into here, I thought Sojiro-san wouldn't let him stay. But Sojiro-san agreed, as long as I take care of Morgana and don't let him cause trouble to the shop. So, as long as he only causes trouble inside my room, it's fine, I guess..." Kazushi said sarcastically.
"You seem annoyed at Morgana, but you care about him a lot, don't you?"
A look of determination appeared behind Kazushi's glasses. "Of course."
Before he had awakened to his Persona, on the worst moment of his life when he almost lost his sanity, the Velvet Room had showed him glimpses of the many possibilities for his future. It involved forming the Phantom Thieves and doing all sorts of wrong things, not necessarily using a Persona. And in a few of those scenarios, he even manipulated and betrayed his group, only to have them take revenge and sell him out to the police, or try to kill him themselves. Once he realized that those warnings were real, Kazushi decided that he wouldn't ever let those scenarios come true. He swore to himself that he would treasure all of his group members and would protect them with his life. That included everyone in the group, even Niijima-san, and Morgana as well.
Kazushi saw that Niijima-san didn't seem to have gotten her order yet. "Still waiting for your order?"
"Ah, yes. They're still preparing the meat for the sandwich."
"I'll go on ahead, if you don't mind."
"Okay."
Kazushi left the cafe in a brisk pace. Honestly, he didn't want to be near Niijima-san right now.
Kazushi remembered the day he met Niijima-san in the Palace. He had stopped by the Velvet Room to manage his Personas, and Igor suddenly pointed out that the Persona users' disguises - the clothes and the masks provided by their Personas - had a power that made it harder for other people to recognize them, but that Kazushi and his group needed to be careful nevertheless. Upon leaving the Velvet Room, he saw Niijima-san near his group members, and Igor's out of the blue warning clicked. Thankfully, Niijima-san didn't recognize any of them. Kazushi pulled her into the group because Persona users must stick together to be able to deal with the Dark Hour easier. But he noticed that she was against their actions, and unless they convinced her to fully support their cause, they shouldn't reveal their identities to her.
Niijima-san didn't seem to have recognized any of them so far, but she was smart and might figure them out if they weren't careful. Once they managed to convince her that they were fighting for a good cause, they would reveal their identities to her. But for now, they couldn't fully trust her. As much as Kazushi enjoyed her company, it would be best if he avoided her. The more he spent time with her, the more he ran the risk of making important information slip, and giving his or the other Phantom Thieves' identities away.
It was taking a while for Makoto's order to get ready, but she didn't care. She was still on time, and in a good mood. She had had a peaceful night of sleep.
"May you have sweet dreams." Joker's good night wish replayed in her mind for the umpteenth time. Makoto feared him. He was dangerous. He was armed, and so violent while fighting monsters. Yet, when he wished her good night, he had sounded so gentle...
"Joker gets kinda different when he talks to you, too." Mona's words flashed in Makoto's mind. "He likes you. I'm telling you!"
Did the way he wished her good night mean anything? Was he really interested in her? If so, maybe she could use that to her advantage, get closer to him, and squeeze personal information out of him to reveal his identity... argh! That stupid plan again. Stupid, crazy, dangerous plan... Makoto furiously blinked those thoughts away and tried to distract herself by observing the scenery around her in the cafe.
She noticed a girl directing a curious stare at her. The girl had orange hair, wore big glasses and a headset, was seated at a table and was using a laptop. When the girl noticed Makoto was staring back at her, though, she quickly retrieved a paper menu from the table and covered her face.
A man wearing an apron walked over to Makoto. He glanced at the girl covering her face with the menu, and sighed in exasperation. "Don't mind her behavior. She always does that."
"Oh, it's fine." Makoto answered.
"I'm Sojiro Sakura, the owner of this shop. And that's Futaba Sakura, my daughter."
"It's a pleasure to meet both of you." Makoto bowed slightly. "My name is Makoto Niijima. I'm the Student Council President of Syujin High School."
"The same school as Kazushi..." Sakura-san observed. "Kazushi Miura. Do you know him?"
"Oh, yes." Makoto nodded. "I had been talking to him until a few minutes ago."
Sakura-san seemed a bit surprised. "I'm an acquaintance of his parents', and am looking after him while he's here in Tokyo. You said you're the Student Council President... do you and Kazushi get along?"
"Hmm..." Makoto was about to say that she didn't know because she and Miura had barely met, but she had concluded just recently that Miura was easier to interact with than most others. "I-I think so. I hadn't talked much to him at school at first, but he helped me with something the other day, and we've been talking more since then."
"Good." Sakura-san nodded approvingly. "His parents told me that he didn't have many friends. Glad to know that he's in good company. Syujin's full of troublesome kids, and it makes me worry. But knowing that the Student Council President gets along with him puts me more at ease. You should be a good influence on him. If it's not much to ask, could you keep an eye on him at school for me?"
"Leave it to me." Makoto agreed. Miura seemed dedicated and responsible, and Makoto wanted to make sure he was on the right track.
"Thanks," Sakura-san said in relief. "Ah, looks like he's already left."
"Yes, he left a while ago." Makoto informed.
"I arrived too late and couldn't make his breakfast again. I taught him to prepare coffee and curry rice, but..."
"He told me he had burned dumplings for breakfast," Makoto said. "He said he doesn't want to take anything from the shop because it isn't doing too well."
"Hmm..." Sakura-san furrowed his brows in concern. "That's thoughtful of him, but he didn't need to go that far. I'll tell the staff to let him have something nice from the shop for breakfast. I don't want his parents blaming me for having their son eat burned food."
Sakura-san left. Makoto saw the girl, Futaba, staring curiously at her again. Makoto took a few steps towards the girl's table, and Futaba inched her head forward.
"Um, do you need something?" Makoto asked.
"... I... I felt it. You're... different too..." Futaba uttered in a quiet voice.
"Huh?" Makoto didn't understand. "Different? What do you mean?"
"Different. Like him..."
That still made no sense to Makoto. "Sorry, I still don't get it."
But Futaba didn't respond. Instead, she seemed to get embarrassed and covered her face with the menu paper again.
Makoto was considering what to say next, but a worker came bringing her order and interrupted her thoughts. "Your order is ready."
"Ah, thank you." She turned to the girl. "Futaba, right? I have to go now. See you again."
Makoto took what she had ordered and went to the counter to pay for it. She had ordered two sandwiches, one more reason for her order to have taken so long to get ready. One of the sandwiches was for Miura. She couldn't help but buy him one after hearing that he had burned dumplings for breakfast, and that he didn't have any food from the shop unless someone gave him some.
Also, she had greatly embarrassed him. First she had caught him while he was still in his pajamas. Then, she barged into his bedroom. A bedroom was a private space. It could be said to be the most intimate place of a person's home, and as such, only people very close to the room's occupant should be allowed to enter it. When Makoto heard crashing noises from the back of the store, she didn't think twice and headed there to see if Miura needed anything. It was obvious that the way would lead to his room, but Makoto hadn't been thinking. She unceremoniously barged in there and violated Miura's privacy. She needed to do something to make it up to him...
Classes went by, and lunch break came. Makoto went walking around the courtyard in search of Miura. She found him alone seated on a bench in an isolated area.
"Miura." She approached him. "What are you doing here all by yourself?"
"Just not in the mood to listen to the absurd rumors about me that are going around."
Makoto had known that Miura's reputation wasn't good, and had heard many rumors about him personally. At first, she had labeled him as a delinquent, and some of those rumors only served to make her more wary of him. After Makoto's interactions with him, she began to not believe most of those rumors.
Makoto went to the point she intended to address. "Uh, Miura. I embarrassed you so much at the cafe earlier. I'm sorry.
"You already apologized."
"Yes, but I don't think it was enough. I want to make it up to you." Makoto retrieved the paper bag with the meat sandwich from Cafe Leblanc. "Miura, I bought this for you."
"...!" Miura's eyes widened behind his glasses. "... You didn't need to do that. You told me you'd been saving up money and..."
Yes, she had told him that. "Oh, you remember."
"Of course I remember. You just told me yesterday..." He pointed it out as though it were obvious.
Makoto laughed in embarrassment. "Still, buying one sandwich or two once in a while won't make that much difference. I'll get a part-time job soon and make up for lunch expenses in no time. Plus, since I bought one extra sandwich, the cafe earned a little bit more, too! ... Miura, I'm more worried about you. You told me that your meals consist of leftover failed food."
"It isn't that bad, actually. Well, most of the time..."
"Miura. Accept it, please." Makoto shoved the sandwich in his direction. "You're going to ruin my mood if you don't!"
"Alright." Miura finally took the sandwich. "Thanks."
Miura unwrapped the sandwich which was split in half, and slowly began eating the first half of it.
Makoto remained standing there, unsure about what to do. She recalled the advice from Ms. Kawakami about spending lunch break with friends. Miura and she may not even be considered to be friends yet, but she had nowhere better to go...
"Um, do you mind if I stay here?"
Miura had his mouth full. Instead of answering with words, he merely beckoned Makoto to sit at his side on the bench.
Makoto gladly sat down and began eating her own sandwich. Minutes passed in silence as both of them had their lunches. Miura finished the first half of his sandwich and wrapped the other half to save it for later and put it in his bag. Then, he just stayed there doing nothing.
As Makoto continued munching on her sandwich, she tried to think about the Phantom Thieves again. However, to her frustration, she still couldn't remember what they looked like. How could that be? She had looked at them so much yesterday, and paid so much attention to their physical appearances. She had pictured them in her mind clearly several times while she tried to memorize their appearances, but those images simply failed to form in her mind right now. She could only see their masks and indistinct shadows.
Makoto gave up. She opened her eyes and glanced at Miura, and he was still in the same position. He sat there, quiet and impassive. If only he would spark conversation... Makoto kept throwing him glances and hoping he would catch the hint that she wanted him to start conversation, but he didn't. It was almost like he was ignoring her, and it bothered Makoto. They got along fairly well, didn't they? He had admitted he had enjoyed talking to her yesterday. What reason might he have for ignoring her? Come to think of it, he had hurried to leave the cafe even though it was still early. Was he still bothered that she had embarrassed him by barging into his room?
"Miura...?" Makoto called his last name, afraid that he might decide to pretend he didn't hear her.
"Hm?" Miura turned his head in Makoto's direction, much to her relief.
It was so simple. She only called him to attention, and he responded just fine. Makoto felt stupid. She was probably reading into it too much. Makoto decided to start conversation as normal, and asked the most urgent thing that was in her mind. "Um, have you ever tried really hard to remember something, only for your mind to blank out?"
That question was strange, and Kazushi felt he should exercise caution. "Huh? You mean like something on a test?"
"No. I mean like when I meet someone, and for some reason I feel that I've already seen the person somewhere before, but no matter how hard I think, I can't remember where I might have seen the person before. Did that ever happen to you?"
"Yeah, a lot." The Velvet Room had showed him all those visions of his group members where he manipulated them and they betrayed him, and when Kazushi arrived in Tokyo, he always had that sensation of familiarity whenever he met someone that would eventually join his group.
"Oh." Niijima-san seemed hopeful. "What did you do about it?"
I asked a few of them if they remembered having seen me before, but it was no use."
And if Niijima-san were talking about the Phantom Thieves like Kazushi suspected, then asking any of them would be no use, either. They were hiding their identities from her, after all.
She seemingly had the same conclusion. "Ah, I see... yes, it'll probably be no use asking them..."
Needless to say, Niijima-san was also one of the people in his visions, even though it was only after he helped her with her first Dark Hour experience that he realized the group member from his visions was her. In fact, it had been on the night he pulled her into the group, when she joined them in that All-Out Attack.
X:X:X:X:X
"Aaaaaaaaah!" Queen shouted in utter rage and mercilessly pummeled the monster in front of her.
Joker froze as a vague memory of a female group member from his nightmarish visions resurfaced. The figure was hazy, but the voice was clear. They were confronting some major enemy. She was enraged, and used very vulgar language with a lot of curse words like what someone from a biker gang would use, but that no one would imagine coming from the polite Student Council President's mouth. However, there was no mistaking it. It was her. It was Queen. It was Makoto Niijima, and that truth was pretty shocking.
When Joker came back to his senses in the Palace, the other group members were complimenting Queen's performance in the All-Out Attack. First Skull, then Panther, Then Mona...
"That was impressive." Then Joker found himself also complimenting her performance, still in his stupefied state and totally uncomposed.
X:X:X:X:X
After that revelation, Kazushi was sure of it. Niijima-san was one of his group members from his nightmarish premonitions. She had actually betrayed him in one of those scenarios, but the circumstances had been very different from what was happening in the present. It had been because he had been ruthless and manipulated her for his gains, and that was something he wasn't going to repeat. This was one of the reasons that he disapproved of Morgana's suggestion to manipulate Niijima-san, even though the manipulation from his nightmares hadn't been in a romantic way. Kazushi despised the mere idea of manipulating any of his group members. He would never hurt them or betray their trust like in those nightmarish visions.
No matter how many treasures he stole from the Palaces, his group members were his most precious treasures. They were practically the only friends he managed to make in his whole life. They had suffered big injustice like him, and were forced to deal with the Dark Hour's dangers like him. For some reason that he also didn't know, he had a special power and could use multiple Personas. But Kazushi knew that with great power came great responsibilities, and felt that it was his duty as leader to keep his members safe and guide them towards a happy ending, and hopefully the end of the Dark Hour.
Kazushi was still missing a few pieces of the puzzle that was his group in his nightmares, though. One was a polite girl with a soft voice. The other was an energetic, cocky and mysterious navigator girl. And the other was a boy whose only things Kazushi remembered hearing him say were "We must go," and "What happened?!" Kazushi was determined to take good care of those members as well, whoever they might be.
The sad thing was that none of the Phantom Thieves probably had the slightest idea how much Kazushi cared about them. He had never told anyone about those premonitions, or the feelings that he had towards his group members. He had barely met them. They would consider very weird to hear him say out of the blue that he felt a special connection with them. And the whole situation with the Velvet Room, his special powers, and his premonitions was so outlandish that he didn't even know how to begin narrating it... yes, no one would understand. Words wouldn't get his message across. He should manifest his feelings through his actions and do what he had to do, which was guide and protect his friends. The best thing he could do was to use those feelings as his strength in battle, and give his best for his group.
"Miura?" Niijima-san caught him spacing out.
"Huh?" Kazushi snapped to attention.
"You zoned out for a while there."
"Oh, I was just thinking about the people I have the feeling I had met before. Even though I've barely known them, somehow I feel a strong connection with them. I wanted to tell them this, but as I said before, I asked some of them if they remembered me from somewhere, and they didn't. They clearly don't feel the same way. I don't think they'll understand if I try to tell them. It'd be very weird to have someone you barely know saying something like that out of nowhere, wouldn't it?"
"Hmm. A connection? What do you mean?"
"Uh, like destiny brought us together or something..."
Niijima-san seemed shocked. "You mean like soulmates? And more than one person!"
Kazushi was horrified at the misunderstanding. "No!" He vehemently shook his head. "I don't mean it in a romantic way! I mean more like... a bond. I feel they're special to me for some reason. Ah, I don't know how to explain it! Really, no one would understand..."
"Hmm. It sounds complex. Yes, it's hard to understand." Niijima-san unexpectedly giggled. "But I didn't think you'd be the kind of person to talk about strong bonds and this kind of deep things. Anyway, lunch break is about to end. I'll be going now."
He nodded in acknowledgment. "Thanks for the sandwich."
Niijima-san gave him a slight smile. "You're welcome. See you around."
That afternoon, on her way back home, Makoto was waiting to cross a street when she saw Yusuke Kitagawa on the other side staring awkwardly at her. She remembered that she had ruined his mood the previous day. Maybe she should apologize to him again. When she got to the other side of the street, she greeted him. "Uh, hi, Kitagawa-san..."
"Oh. Hi. Makoto Niijima-san, right?"
"Yes. You remember..." She hadn't expected he would remember her name. "Um, I ruined your mood yesterday. I'm sorry."
"I-it's fine. By the way..." Kitagawa-san fidgeted. He began reaching a hand out to her, but stopped himself. He stared downward awkwardly for a second, then mustered the courage and faced Makoto again. "... May I paint your portrait?"
"Huh?" Makoto blinked at the sudden question. "My portrait? You paint people?"
Kitagawa-san nodded, with an expectant look in his eyes. "I will paint anything that looks inspiring. What I like to paint the most, though, are people."
Makoto was curious to see his paintings. If Madarame-san went as far as to steal them and claim them as his own, they had to be really good.
"How'd that work?"
"I'd need to look at you as I paint." He answered.
"Oh, I... I see..." Even though it made sense, it sounded awkward, and wariness kicked in. Thanks to her difficulty in communicating with people, other students rarely approached her. Most of the rare few that did so were boys, and all they wanted was to ask her out. Makoto was quite bothered by that. Was it the same with Kitagawa-san?! Makoto was ready to snap and decline his request... but she remembered how he had looked sad and how she had ruined his mood even more yesterday. She needed to make it up to him. "It's... uh, it's okay with me," she ended up saying.
"Really? Great." Kitagawa-san seemed glad to hear her answer. "It takes time, though." He warned. "So, please tell me when you're free."
Makoto had time today. If she were going to do it, then better to get it over with as soon as possible. "I'm free today. We can begin right now if you want."
"... Thank you!" Kitagawa-san seemed ecstatic, and Makoto was glad to have made his mood improve, despite the awkwardness of the situation.
They went to the same park where they had met yesterday.
Kitagawa-san took his sketchbook out and looked at Makoto sheepishly. "I must confess something. I have already attempted to draw you once, even though I hadn't gotten your permission yet. I hope you don't mind."
Yes, Makoto minded it. Wariness went up a few levels. If it turned out that he drew anything inappropriate...! Makoto inched closer and looked at the page Kitagawa-san had opened. Thankfully, he hadn't drawn anything inappropriate. It was a rough drawing of her, from her chest up, in the Syujin High School uniform. The traces were simple. The picture still had no color and was just a basic outline, but Kitagawa-san had managed to capture all the important traits that defined Makoto's visual appearance.
Makoto had to admit that she was impressed. "This looks very nice!"
Kitagawa-san didn't seem very proud of his work, though. "But it didn't come out the way I intended it to. I did this drawing from memory, and there's something that isn't quite right. This is why I wanted to paint with you here in person."
"From memory?" That was amazing. Kitagawa-san had only seen her briefly while they had that talk yesterday, right? By contrast, Makoto was having trouble recalling the appearances of some quite peculiar people she kept looking at intently for minutes on end... "Wow, I envy your memory! I've been having trouble to recall people's traits lately, hahaha."
"I have the habit of paying attention and memorizing as many visual details as possible so that I can improve my paintings. I've been doing it for so long that it became second nature to me."
Makoto nodded in understanding. It was neither an innate skill, or a skill that she could pick up overnight. It required purpose and much dedication.
Kitagawa-san took his sketchbook and flipped to a blank page. "Ah, yes... so, this goes this way... and this here is like this... hmm. Oh, this explains it. Now I see why I got that detail wrong last time..." He kept muttering to himself as he walked around Makoto and drew on his sketchbook.
Minutes passed, and Makoto wondered how the drawing was coming along. In the end, her wait turned out shorter than she had expected. Kitagawa-san finished his drawing and showed it to her. Makoto couldn't tell what he had done differently, but this version was indeed much better than the previous one. It indeed felt more... right.
"That was quick! And it indeed looks much better than the other one!"
This time, Kitagawa-san looked proud. "Thank you. For the compliment, and for taking your time to model for me."
"You're welcome. Are you going to color it?"
"No. This is only a sketch. Just a 'template,' to make sure I won't forget the essential details. The definitive version will be on a canvas."
So, it was just a "reminder," like notes, but in drawing form? Interesting. If only Makoto had Kitagawa-san's drawing talents, she could probably make quick drawings of the Phantom Thieves right there during the Dark Hour before she had time to forget the details.
Makoto found the drawing impressive even though it was just an outline. She was curious to see how it would turn out in color. "Can I see the definitive version once you complete it?"
"Of course."
As Makoto walked back home, she smiled, relieved that her encounter with Kitagawa-san didn't turn into another disaster.
Once Kazushi returned home, he went to his room.
"Ah, Kazushi! Why do you always take so long to come back?!" Morgana spoke once Kazushi had closed the door. "I'm so bored!"
Kazushi took a look around the room. The chair was still fallen over, the blanket was still on the ground, and so were the boxes and his books. Everything was the same way it had been when he left. "You could at least have cleaned some of the mess you made this morning."
Morgana made a face. "That'd have been even more boring!"
Kazushi sighed. "Anyway, I have something for you." He took the half of the sandwich he had saved up. "I got a sandwich today." But he didn't say who had given it to him. "And I saved half of it for you. It has meat in it. Wasn't this what you wanted?"
"Oooooooh, awesome!" Morgana's eyes sparkled. "Kazushi, you're the best!"
"Pfft."
Kazushi left Morgana to eat the sandwich while he cleaned up the mess in the room. He thought about his interactions with Niijima-san, and remembered that she had asked for his contact information during the Dark Hour. The good news was that he had gotten a new, untraceable email address. It came from a place he hadn't been expecting. The same source as the mysterious cellphone app. The Velvet Room. The only problem was that Caroline had him pay a monthly fee for the service...
During the Dark Hour, Makoto met up with the Phantom Thieves again and continued exploring the Palace. Panther stayed near her like on the first day.
Once again, Makoto couldn't tear her gaze off of Joker. A battle began. He seemed even more determined than before. His movements were fluid, he was so agile, so skilled... and the battle was over quickly. Joker opened a box and Mona climbed onto his shoulder to peer at what he had found. That was so cute! ... No, Makoto shouldn't be thinking like that! She shouldn't forget why she was there in the first place. They were outlaws, and she was there to stop them!
Focus, Makoto, focus! She thought to herself. You have to memorize their images! Pay as much attention as possible to the visual details, like Kitagawa-san said...
However, Makoto was unable to focus. Her gaze insisted on ignoring the others and locking on Joker.
Alright, change of plans, she thought. I can only memorize so much at once. Maybe if I focus on memorizing the traits of only one of them at a time instead of looking at everyone at once... my eyes keep following Joker? Then, so be it. Let's start with Joker. He is the group's leader, and the most important member to figure out!
However, her new plan didn't quite work, either. Joker moved fast and didn't give her enough time to pay attention to any of his visual traits... not to mention that Makoto was so awed by his skillfulness that she forgot to pay attention to anything in the first place.
He's so fast, and so strong! She thought, unsure whether to admire or to fear him. Where does this much skill come from!? Even with years of martial training, I don't think I'd become as strong as him! If I end up having to confront him down the line, I'll have absolutely no chance...
"Joker, you seem inspired today." Fox commented when the battle ended.
Skull directed a sideways glance at the leader. "Did something very good happen?"
"Not particularly." Joker answered.
"Heheh." Mona smirked and climbed onto Joker's shoulder to whisper to him. "You had another talk with Queen at the cafe afterward, didn't you? Now you're showing off to impress her, huh?"
"Shhh!" Joker was alarmed at Mona's mention of the cafe, even though the not-cat was whispering and no one should have heard it. "... Mona... shut up." He shoved Mona off of him. "A-and no, it's nothing like that!"
"Hmm, what's up?" Skull noticed the exchange and looked at Joker mischievously.
"Pay attention to where you're going and beware of the traps ahead!" Joker warned the group and ignored Skull's question. "I'm doing my best to keep all of you safe, but I can only do so much. You must do your part as well!"
"Huh? What's gotten into him?" Skull asked to no one in particular.
"Who knows..." Fox murmured.
Joker sighed. He was giving his best in the battles for all the members' sakes. But from their reaction at his behavior right now, he had no doubt. No one would understand his actions.
Other battles took place. The more Makoto watched Joker in battle, the more she got convinced of how dangerous he was.
"Good night. May you have sweet dreams." Joker's words replayed in Makoto's head, and she recalled how gentle he had been when he wished her good night, the very opposite of how he was acting right now. Why so huge of a contrast? Had his gentleness been only an act?
The battle ended, and Joker suddenly turned behind to check up on her and Panther. His eyes met Makoto's, and she flinched. She felt as though he was aware that she had been looking intently at him and was angry at her for it. Makoto broke eye contact and lowered her head. Her feelings finally settled, and now she was fearing him.
"Queen, are you okay?" Panther gently placed a hand on Makoto's arm.
"Ah!" Makoto startled at the sudden touch. "Uh, I-I'm alright!" She blinked furiously and tried to recompose herself.
But her attempts failed and she continued spacing out every time she looked at Joker. Minutes passed, and Makoto took a while to realize that the exploration had already ended and they were back near the exit,.
"I'll have a word with her. You may go on ahead." Joker instructed his group members.
"Alright." Panther nodded and followed the others out of the Palace.
"Queen."
"Ah!" Makoto snapped to attention at Joker's sudden call. She realized the others had already exited the Palace and she was alone with Joker. He was staring intently at her. Was he angry? "Uh, y-yes?"
"What is wrong? Did an emergency already come up even before you got a means to contact me?"
He was mocking her. That much was obvious from the tone of his voice and the smug smirk on his face. Makoto flinched. Joker's powerful aura was as intimidating as ever. Makoto should take advantage of the fact that Joker was right in front of her and try to memorize details about him, but his penetrating gaze and presence were so intimidating that it was hard to even look at him squarely. The gentleness he had displayed yesterday was nowhere to be found. Now he seemed to be looking down on her, maybe even ready to do something... inappropriate now that they were alone. Joker was dangerous, was armed, and was cunning, probably manipulative, too, and Makoto nearly forgot the reasons that led her to admire him so much. Yet, that crazy plan about trying to get close to him and figuring out his identity kept nagging at her. The little voice in the back of Makoto's mind insisted that trying to get close to him wasn't a good idea, and that she would be playing with fire if she did so, but for some reason, Makoto was unable to let that crazy plan go.
"What is wrong?" He repeated.
Makoto had no words to respond to him. If it were anyone else, she would have said that she was fine, but this was Joker. He wouldn't buy it, and maybe continue mocking her.
"Never mind." Joker apparently gave up for the moment. Then, he wordlessly extended a piece of paper towards her.
Makoto reluctantly took the paper and looked at it. It only contained an email address. The text was in print, and Makoto was a bit disappointed that she couldn't know what Joker's handwriting was like. But she quickly forgot her disappointment and got ecstatic once the fact that he had given her his contact information sank in. Her heart began beating faster, and a sheepish smile involuntarily formed on her face. "Th-thank you..."
For a few seconds, Joker stared at her as though trying to decipher her sudden facial expression change, but he didn't ask anything. "Let's go." Joker merely turned around and began walking away briskly.
"Ah! Wait for me!" Makoto had to scramble after him.
To Makoto's surprise, Joker actually stopped walking and waited until she caught up to him, and only resumed walking once he was sure she was keeping up with him. That was a gentlemanly thing to do, and got Makoto wondering if he was being polite or if he was just toying with her.
They walked at a slow pace, with Joker to Makoto's left and slightly ahead of her. They met up with the others outside the Palace, and Makoto's moment alone with Joker was over.
The group walked together for a few blocks, then split ways like usual.
"Joker!" Makoto couldn't resist and called out to him. "... Good night..." She said hopefully.
"Good night," was all he said. No wishes for sweet dreams this time, much to Makoto's disappointment.
"S-see you tomorrow." Makoto awkwardly blurted out and tried to hide her disappointment.
Joker made an affirmative sound and left.
Makoto turned around and left as well, fighting off an awkward blush that threatened to take over her face.
A/n: about the item that inspired the part where Morgana shouts to wake Miura up. I have a cute black cat-shaped Japanese alarm clock I got as a gift... in 1995 (more than 20 years ago!), and it's somehow still working. It starts off with a sudden trumpet fanfare, then it says (translated from Japanese) in a high-pitched voice, "Good morning! I'm Norakuro. It's time to wake up!" And it loudly shouts, "Waaaaake uuuuup!" then it starts from the trumpet fanfare again and enters an infinite loop until you turn it off (or the batteries run out :P ). It's nearly impossible to not wake up with that thing shouting in your ear! :D (but we forgive it because it's cute XD ) Since Morgana is also a black cat, I thought it was fitting :P (*cue Morgana shouting, "I'm not a cat!"*). If anyone gets curious to know what the alarm clock is like, search for "norakuro shouting alarm clock" on Youtube.
"Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There" is the opening song for Persona 5 (saying just in case someone hadn't known this yet).
And Makoto is falling hard for Joker :D .