I just want to give a warning before you continue that this chapter is a bit darker than the previous ones, so if you can't stomach it, I will not blame you for choosing to turn back. Just wanted to give a warning.

So this chapter was originally split from the last chapter because it was too long, but it turned out to be longer then I anticipated. But, I wanted to get everything that happened in the castle done in this chapter so I hope you guys done mind it being so long.

Only one shoutout for today. this one goes to AristoMercu for their fic, The World Is Ours. Like mine, it features an OC protagonist that acts alongside Ren/Akira so go check it out if you're interested.

I'm glad that people are following and favoriting the fic, it makes me want to keep writing more. Remember that reviews and criticism are always welcome.

Without further ado, here's the 7th chapter.


Three climbed through the ventilation shaft and found themselves in the room they used to escape from last time. Once they each made it into the room, they found Morgana checking the corridor for any enemy sightings. Once he was done, he walked back over to the three to begin their mission.

"Man, this place is as creepy as always," Ryuji stated as he looked around.

"Now, make sure you guys do exactly as I say, all right? I'd rather not get thrown into a dungeon again." Morgana said as he left the room, gesturing the others to follow. "Follow me."

"We're right behind you, Morgana," Ren assured as the three followed after the cat.

He led the three into the central hall, where Kazuma had awakened to his power. Immediately, the three started to get the chills, each being reminded of what had transpired here. Before it was the place where Kazuma had received his power, it's also where they first came in when they came upon this castle for the first time. Encountering those knight cosplaying monsters, being thrown into a dungeon, and then coming across King Kamoshida trying to use Kazuma as leverage, a lot happened in this very room.

"Hey... We went by here when we came in the front, didn't we?" Ryuji pointed out. "And it's where you went to town on those floating pumpkins, dude." He said to his classmate.

"Hmph." He huffed, not really wanting to remember that day.

Just then, before they could do anything else. the scenery became distorted, and in a split second, the central hall changed into that of the school.

"Woah!" Ryuji said in shock. "I was seein' double or something just now! Was that Shujin?"

"I've told you before. This place is your school." Morgana reminded the blonde.

"It looked as if we were in the first-floor hallway," Ren stated as the change of scenery did not go unnoticed by him.

"Regardless, we don't have the time to stand around. Who knows when a shadow might show up." The cat warned.

"What are we waiting for then," Kazuma added, wanting to move on.

"Come on, this way!" He beckoned the others to follow him. Not wanting to stick around for guards to show up, they did as instructed and followed after the cat, leaving the central hall behind.

They found themselves back in the underground prison. As they went down the stairs, they found a guard on patrol near a closed drawbridge that they needed to cross to continue their mission. They hid behind the cell door that would lead them to the guard as thought out their strategy.

"Darn, I had a feeling there would be guards here." Morgana groaned at the situation.

"Pink Undies must've stationed more guards here after our escape. We'll probably face more opposition from now on." Ren deduced.

"F-For real?" Ryuji stuttered, not liking the idea of having to fight those things, especially since he can't fight.

"So what? It's just one guard, let's kill it and be on our way." Kazuma said impatiently. "Look, it doesn't even know we're here. Let's ambush it."

"I like the way you think, Brown Hair." Morgana complimented. "If you want to break the control the palace ruler has over them, you'll need to rip off their masks. It'll weaken them in the process."

"Alright. Let's go with Kazuma's plan and use this element of surprise to our advantage." Ren said.

"Sounds good to me." The cat said before turning to Ryuji. "You may want to stay back, after all, you don't have a Persona."

"R-Right." He rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit down at his inability to help.

"You take point, Frizzy Hair," Morgana commanded.

"Got it." Ren nodded as he left his hiding spot and moved closer to the guard.

The shadow still had it's back turned to the group, giving Amamiya the opportunity to get in close and take it by surprise. He hopped onto the guard, grabbing at its mask.

"What the...!" The guard exclaimed.

"Your mine!" The probationer mocked. "Now, show me your true form!"

With that, he used all of his strength to rip off the mask before backing away to gain some distance. The guard shook uncontrollably from his mask being ripped off and transfigured into a familiar floating pumpkin. A Jack O' Lantern to be exact.

"Ah, this should be a cakewalk." Ren believed, looking over to Kazuma. "You ready?"

"Hmph. Just say when." He glared at the pumpkin, ready to end its life.

"Here I go." Amamiya started as he brought his left-hand closer to his mask. "Persona!" He touched his mask as it broke away and summoned forth his Persona, Arsene. From the look of him, he was just as excited to get the party started.

"Come." Now, it was Kazuma's turn. "Persona!" Using his right hand, he ripped off his mask, summoning forth his own Persona, Ulysses, who flew in the air in his arms-crossed posture, ready to unleash hell on his master's enemies.

"Go Arsene! Ravage him!" Ren commanded. Arsene flew forward, charging at the shadow, ready to cleave it with his claws. Unfortunately, this Jack O' Lantern wasn't like the rest. It managed to dodge his attack before ramming it's lantern into the Persona, causing it some damage.

"Rip it apart, Ulysses." Kazuma thrust his hand forward, causing his Person to unsheathe its blades and charge over to the pumpkin, slicing and slashing at it, to no avail. "It's fast."

"Looks like they've upgraded since our last visit." Ren believed. "Then we'll just have to step up our game. Morgana, if you would do the honors?"

"Hmph. I'll show you amateurs how it's done." The cat said before clenching its fists. "Zorro! Show your might!" He summoned forth his Persona, using its blade to entrap the pumpkin in wind magic. Luckily, it's speed couldn't save it as the power of Garu easily surrounded it, causing it numerous damage to the point it could barely move. "Now, go you two!"

"Arsene!" Ren commanded.

"Ulysses!" Kazuma did the same.

At their commands, the Personas charged in opposite directions, cutting through the shadow and destroying it completely. As it fell to the ground, dissolving into nothing, it left behind something in the remains.

"Looks like you've both mastered your Personas rather easily. Nice work you two." The cat complimented.

"That's the power of teamwork, for you," Amamiya claimed before turning to his partner. "Good job, Kazuma."

"Yeah, whatever." He looked away, crossing his arms. "You did alright, I guess."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He chuckled before walking over to where the shadow had died and picked up what remained. "Hey guys, this guy had ¥149 on him."

"So these things crap out money?" Ryuji questioned. "Man, this shit doesn't make sense."

"No use thinking about it. Let's move on." Kazuma said, not wanting to continue this pointless banter any longer.

"This way, guys!" Morgana commanded and the three followed after him.

The three crossed the drawbridge and found themselves near the prison cells. The only problem is, when Ren and Ryuji passed through here the last time, they were sure they had prisoners in these cells. Now, they were empty, as if they were never there.

"Why ain't anyone here?" Ryuji rushed over to see if he wasn't hallucinating or if the prisoners weren't just hiding. They weren't, the cells were dead empty. He then angrily turned to the cat demanding answers. "Dammit, they were here before! Where'd they go!?"

"Quiet down!" The cat shushed him. "Are you trying to get us all caught?!"

"Oh yeah, there were more of 'em further in too...!" He realized before rushing ahead to find the lost prisoners.

"Don't go on without us, you idiot," Kazuma warned before going after him.

"They might have been transferred already." The cat informed Ren.

"Transferred?" He questioned. "Where exactly?"

Before he could answer that, he noticed Kazuma and Ryuji sprinting over in their direction.

"They're coming this way, lots of 'em"!" The blonde warned them.

"Thanks to you, moron." His classmate insulted.

This could be a problem. It appears the two didn't have the slightest clue of how many were on their way and if they were having trouble taking down one enemy like the Jack O' Lantern earlier, than dealing with a whole group could be problematic.

"It would be a problem if they discovered us now," Morgana said before noticing something about the room nearby. He walked closer to it and gestured the others to follow him. "Let's head into this room. We should be able to hide in there until they leave."

That was all they needed to hear and they rushed through the door, slamming it shut once they were inside with Kazuma and Ryuji pressing their weight against it in the attempt that they were found out.

"Don't worry, the shadows probably won't come in here." The cat informed them. Deciding to trust it, the two released themselves from the door.

"How can you tell?" Ryuji asked, still catching his breath.

"There's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak." The cat explained.

Before Ryuji could complain, the scenery around them started to change, the distortions of the room becoming apparent to the group. Sakamoto's eyes widened as the distortions of the room gave off its real-world appearance.

"Is this a classroom!?" The spiky blonde questioned

"Now do you understand?" Morgana asked. "This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."

"This is Kamoshida's reality?" Sakamoto as he had a hard time grasping the reality of the situation. "Shit makes no sense at all!"

"One could say it's a world in which one's distorted desires have materialized." The cat continued to explain. "I call such a place a "Palace."

Palace. Ren recognized that term, the same one Igor told him about.

"This is happening because he thinks the school is his own castle," Morgana stated.

"So, it became like this 'cause he just thought of it like that?!" Ryuji exclaimed, chuckling a bit at how ridiculous everything was before realizing this was real. He stomped on the ground, growling in utter rage. "That son of a bitch!"

The three looked on as he once again expressed his hatred and utter disgust for Suguru Kamoshida. This had nothing to do with the rumors, this was personal hatred.

"You must really hate this Kamoshida guy." The cat pointed out.

"Hate doesn't even cover how I feel about that piece of shit." The venomous frown that contorted Sakamoto's features was something that did not go unnoticed by his two companions. This wasn't hatred, it was something far worse. "Everything is that asshole's fault!"

"Everything?" Kazuma questioned what he meant by that.

"N-Nothing." The spiky blonde looked away. "J-Just forget it. It's nothing."

"Well, I don't know what happened between two, but don't let your emotions get the better of you," Morgana warned him, a little put off himself about Ryuji's attitude towards Kamoshida.

"We'll be careful," Ren interjected. "Before we go on, I have to ask. Do you know anything about these outfits, Morgana?"

"Ah, I knew this was coming." The cat shot up.

"Yeah, I'm curious as hell about it too." Sakamoto interrupted. "Like, why does he have a trench coat but Kazuma has something totally different."

"That's also because of this world." Morgana continued which made Ryuji groan in annoyance.

"More stuff that makes no sense." He said but the cat chose to ignore him.

"Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within his Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all. In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion." The cat explained thoroughly.

"So, these clothes are a representation of my will?" Ren questioned.

"Exactly." He nodded. "It's the image of the rebellion that you hold within."

"Wish mine had sleeves," Kazuma grumbled. He didn't mind sleeveless clothing but that was better suited for exercise. The hood was a nice touch though.

"Ugh! I'm so fed up with all this!" Ryuji exclaimed, turning his attention toward the cat. "I'm more curious about you than their clothes! What the hell are you anyway?!"

"I'm a human. An honest-to-god human!" He argued although that was met with skepticism.

"No, you're obviously more like a cat!" The blonde fired back.

"This is well... It's because I lost my true form." He said but he didn't appear to be sure. "I think."

"You think?" Kazuma questioned. "Meaning, you don't remember who you were or something?"

"Y-Yeah, something like that," he stated before regaining his confidence. "But, I do know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means." He stated before looking away. "Well, I ended up getting caught though. But that's beside the point, I've been tortured by Kamoshida too! I'm gonna make him pay for sure!"

He seemed sure and while he was happy that he was on their side, Ryuji still couldn't believe that this cat-like whatever it was was actually once a living breathing human being.

"What is this, a comic book? This is seriously crazy." He commented before turning to the others. "What do you guys think? Should we trust him?"

"Without a doubt," Ren answered instantly which made the cat perk up at his trust. "He saved our lives, Ryuji. We'd be dead without him."

"So far it delivers. Though, if it tries anything I'll kill it." Kazuma threatened.

"T-That's good. Glad to see we're on the same page." Morgana stuttered a little, somewhat affected by his former cellmate's death threat, wondering if he was serious. "If we're gonna keep going, we should hurry along." He changed the subject before looking at his fellow Persona-Users. "I'll be counting on you, you rookies better not hold back."

"We'll do our best." Ren nodded, determined to see this through.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna force it all on you guys. I thought it might help so..." Ryuji pulled out his bag, showing that he brought firearms with him. Three pistols and a shotgun. "I brought these just in case! They're only model guns though so it only makes sounds!"

"That's a toy!" Morgana called him out.

"But it looks totally real, so it'll at least fake 'em out." He explained. "I brought some medicine too. You know what they say: Providin' is pre... something."

"Good job, Ryuji. You really came prepared." Ren gave a thumbs up at his companion's preparation.

"So you were planning this from the start?" Kazuma muttered, giving his classmate a nasty glare.

"Well, fine. If you're ready to go, we'll resume our infiltration." The cat rolled his eyes at the blonde for bringing toy guns.

"Here." Ryuji gave Ren his gun and medicine. He then handed one to Morgana.

"I don't need that worthless thing. I've got my own." He then pulled out what appeared to be a slingshot.

"What's that gonna do?" Sakamoto questioned but ignored it. If the cat was sure, the cat was sure. "Eh, whatever. Here dude. You have two weapons, might as well have two guns." He gave the extra gun to his classmate.

"Whatever." Kazuma took the two pistols from Ryuji and placed them in the empty holsters that he had with Amamiya placing his pistol in his coat pocket. "Let's get on with it. I'm tired of all this pointless chit-chat."

"Couldn't agree more, Brown hair," Morgana said as he moved towards the door. "There are probably still soldiers making their rounds outside. Let's take it slow."

"Right." Ren nodded as he opened the door slightly. As he peeked out the door, it appeared that most of the soldiers that came had gone, with only three still remaining and talking amongst themselves.

"I thought I just heard something move over there. Guess it was my imagination."

"And what of the slaves?"

"They're all in the training all. I'd assume they're screaming in pain by now."

"Very well. By the way, I heard we may have intruders around. Stay on your guard."

And with that finished, they dispersed. Once they were gone, the group stepped out of the safe room to contemplate what they had learned from the guards.

"Did you hear that?" Morgana asked.

"I'm starting to wish I didn't." Ren said. Hearing those guards talking about slaves and screaming in pain was a little off-putting.

"They said trainin' hall, right?" Ryuji questioned.

"I think that's just a little further ahead. Let's go!" The cat finished as he took the lead and charged ahead. The group followed after Morgana down the stairs only to see him stop at the sight of a guard on duty. " Shoot. There's a guard on duty here. The way to the training hall should be through those bars."

"So, what're we gonna do? Do we gotta fight it?" Ryuji asked.

"Seems like it," Ren stated, turning to his fellow transfer student with a smirk. "I'll let you take this one."

"Hmph." Kazuma nodded as he waited for an opening. He then rushed forward, jumping onto the knight grabbing at its mask. "This is where you'll die!" He ripped off the mask, stepping back as it shook violently, transfiguring into not one but two flower type creatures, otherwise known as Mandrakes.

"Arsene!" Touching his mask, he summoned for his Persona who used Eiha on the mandrake to the right, hurting it but not killing it. It's partner decided to use the advantage to attack Ren. Using his dagger, he was able to block it just in time.

"Amamiya!" Kazuma rushed to his aid but the other Mandrake Ren had attacked earlier lunged forward and attacked him. He immediately pulled out his blades to deflect the blow but the force of the attack sent him flying into the nearby wall. "Ulysses, kill it!" He summoned his Persona, standing tall in front of his master to defend him. He pulled down his sunglasses and showed off his glowing eyes, casting Kouha and killing the damaged mandrake once and for all.

Ren was able to push off the Mandrake attacking him using all of his strength, freeing himself.

"Zorro!" Morgana rushed in, summoning his Persona and rushing to Ren's aid. The Persona's blade formed into a spring which then took the form of a large boxing glove, performing a Lucky Punch onto the shadow, knocking it backward.

"Now for the finale!" Amamiya thrust his hand forward, commanding Arsene to attack. The Gentleman Persona rushed forward, using its claws to cleave through the shadow, ending its life. Once they were clear, Ren collected the cash from its remains and rushed over to help Kazuma. "You alright?"

"I'll live." He grabbed Ren's hand and got up.

"I have to say, you're pretty tough, Kazuma." He complimented. "That was quite a nasty hit you took, but you still managed to keep fighting."

"You're not half bad either." He did his best to compliment him, although he looked away, not wanting to meet eye contact when he did.

"Actually, you both have some learning to do," Morgana interjected. "Though, for a couple of amateurs, you're not bad."

"Heh, thanks, Morgana." Ren thanked. "Alright gang, let's continue on."

He walked over to the cell doors that led to the training hall and pulled down the lever to gain entry. The door opened and the group continued on forward.

The way lead to some sort of underground passage, the atmosphere itself felt rather sinister. Who knows what went on down here. If it was anything like the dungeon, it can only get worse. As they went down the hall, they tried to take the nearby door only to find it locked, their only way would have to be the staircase that led downward. As they went down the stairs, they stopped and crouched down behind the barrels as they heard voices up ahead. Ren looked around the corner to see two more shadows conversing with one another. He leaned in closer to hear what they were saying.

"Hey, have you see anyone who looks like an intruder?"

"No, nobody yet."

"More enemies up ahead." Morgana noticed. "It'd be impossible to dodge all of them."

"Then, what do we do? Should we try and take 'em down like before?" Ryuji suggested.

"It's not that simple. We still have a long way to go, so we should be conserving energy." The cat explained.

"We have been using our Personas way too much. If we keep using them in every fight, we'll be too tired to even escape." Ren stated.

"I-I see. Sorry." Sakamoto apologized before cursing his apparent uselessness. "Dammit, I wish I could fight. I'd at least be able to help out a bit. But all I got is this toy from earlier. I'm such a loser." He thought, holding his model shotgun and thinking himself stupid for thinking toys could help in these situations.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short. We wouldn't have got this far without your help." Ren comforted.

"Yeah, but..." Still, he felt down. His two companions had special powers that could be used to fight against these monsters and he couldn't do anything. He was such an idiot for thinking that simple model guns could have any effect on the shadows.

Or at least, that's what he believed.

When they brought up the model guns, Kazuma had an idea that maybe they weren't as useless as his classmate believes them to be. Normal rules don't apply in this world, after all, it was born from Kamoshida's beliefs that he is the ruler of Shujin Academy. What if he and his guards didn't believe this simple model gun to be a toy? What if they thought it was real?

"Hey, Cat," Kazuma called out.

"It's Morgana, Brown Hair." The cat fired back angrily.

"Whatever. You said this world came to be because of Kamoshida's belief that he rules Shujin Academy, making his counterpart here the King of the castle, right?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah." He replied, confused as to where he was going with this.

"Then what would happen if the Kamoshida here or his guards believed this toy gun to be real? Would it work like a real gun?" He brought up.

"Well, it's... possible." Morgana stuttered over his words as he himself didn't even know.

"What are you saying, dude?" Ryuji interjected. Even Ren himself was curious as to what his fellow transfer student was thinking of. If he had a plan to conserve energy, he was eager to hear it.

"Let's see if this works." He said, standing up from his hiding spot. He then walked over to the hallway, exposing himself to the guards. "Hey, asshats!" He exclaimed loudly, getting the guards attention. "You want an intruder? I'm right here!"

"Dude, what the hell are you doing?!" Sakamoto blurted out at his classmate for giving away their location.

"Intruder! Stop!" The two guards turned into Jack O' Lanterns and charged at him. He did as they ordered, he didn't move a muscle.

He didn't need to after all.

He pulled out his pistols, aimed it at the guards, and hoped his theory was correct.

As he pulled the trigger of one of his pistols, it let out a loud bang. It was a model gun and like Ryuji said, it made some noise. When the others looked toward the shadows, they noticed one of them had a hole in it's head, a bullet had managed to pierce through it.

"Holy shit!" Sakamoto said in awe.

"Ah, I see what you did there Brown Hair." Morgana complimented.

When Ren noticed that one of Kazuma's guns, supposedly a model gun, shot a real bullet through one of the guards, he understood Kazuma's theory.

The guards believe it's real. So that makes these toy guns... He smirked a little, fully understanding why these toys were working like real firearms. Good job, Kazuma.

He got up from the hiding spot and walked over to Kazuma, pulling out his own gun.

"I got the left." Ren told him.

"I'll finish off the right." Kazuma replied.

They both nodded and got to work. They both pointed their firearms at their respective targets and unleashed hell. Once they were finally dead, they both let down their weapons.

"When did you figure it out?" Ren asked curiously.

"It was a guess, really." Kazuma said. "I figured since we weren't in the real world..."

"That normal rules wouldn't apply here." He finished his sentence. "Nice work."

"Whoa!" Ryuji exclaimed as he and Morgana stepped out. "Did that toy gun just shoot real freakin' bullets?!"

"Well, this is a cognitive world. As long as your opponent sees it as real, it becomes such. It's a good thing it's realistic-looking." The cat pointed out.

"Wait for it." Kazuma believed.

"I don't get it." The spiky blonde said.

"Knew it." He sighed annoyingly.

"I wasn't expecting someone with your brains to understand." The cat playfully mocked before turning to Kazuma. "Good on you for figuring it out, Brown Hair."

"Whatever." He brushed off his compliment.

"Basically, they believe the gun is real so it becomes real," Ren stated in more simple terms to Ryuji. "See, not such loser anymore, are you?"

"Well, I guess." He said, glad that Ren was helping him out and making him feel better for bringing the guns, everything about this was starting to hurt his brain. "Wait, if it's better havin' something realistic, why do you have that slingshot?!"

W-Well, um." Morgana couldn't think of an explanation or a witty retort as to why he chose to use a slingshot in battle. "Fine, you can choose to understand it however you want."

"My guess is, it'll work in the same way as our guns, right Morgana?" Ren chose to lift up the cat's spirits now, seeing that he was a little down for having his weapon called out like that.

"Exactly. See, you get it." The cat perked up. He had to admit, he was beginning to like Frizzy Hair. He was smart, kind, and knew how to show respect. "Oh, by the way, we should decide how divvy up our roles in battle from here on out. As you can see, there are quite a lot of enemies. It'll be important to coordinate our moves as well. I can keep providing intel for us but you should be the one giving out orders, Frizzy Hair."

"I think I can handle that," Ren said taking on the responsibility but he wasn't finished. "Then, I ask that Kazuma act as my partner and support."

"What?" He replied, a little caught off guard by Amamiya's offer.

"Sounds good to me. You two do work well together, after all." The cat nodded, agreeing with the arrangement.

"Is it alright with you?" Ren asked

"I don't care." He simply shrugged.

"Then, it's settled." He took that as a yes. "Let's move on."

The group continued on through the underground passage. Ryuji took it upon himself to keep an eye out for any more enemies, wanting to make himself useful to the group. Thankfully, it appeared to be smooth sailing from here on out as they ventured forth through the underground passage with ease.

Unfortunately, as they rounded the corner, they found another guard was blocking their path.

"I'm pretty sure that's where we need to go." Morgana stated, "This might be a good time."

"For what?" Kazuma questioned, wondering what the cat was planning.

"Ok, I've decided. I'm going to teach you two a special way to fight enemies!" The cat said.

"Sounds good. Let's get started!" Ren exclaimed as he rushed over to the guard, slashing at it with his dagger.

It fell backward from the attack, shaking violently before transfiguring into what appeared to be a tiny fairy, almost like a Pixie. As harmless as it's appearance, they knew better.

"Listen, there's a distinct flow to battles. Let me show you. After all, seeing is... something?" Morgana did his best to explain. "First, knock down all enemies! Everything starts at that crucial step!"

"I'll leave it to you, Amamiya," Kazuma stated,

"No problem. Persona!" He summoned forth his Persona, who then proceeded to cat Eiha onto the lone Pixie, greatly injuring it as it fell to the ground, unable to offer a counterattack.

"All right! Now rush on in for an All-out Attack!" The cat commanded.

"All right!" Ren flapped his coat excitedly, performing a backflip for dramatic effect and to gain some distance. "Kazuma, let's do it!"

"Right!" He did the same.

Once they had their distance, They leaped into the air and rushed forward, attacking the Pixie from every direction. Their bodies felt as if they were on fire, never in their lives did they feel this fast, it was almost as if their bodies were moving on its own. It felt.

It was so exhilarating!

When they were done, Ren took the moment to adjust his gloves, smirking in victory as the Pixie dissolved away.

"The Show's Over!" He taunted at the dying shadow.

Once it was over, they took a moment to catch their breath as both Ren and Kazuma tried their best to comprehend the act in which they performed. Ren was in the heat of the moment so after calming down, he couldn't believe he was capable of such speed and finesse.

"That went really well!" Morgana complimented. "You're both definitely fit for this."

"What the hell was that?!" Ryuji questioned. "It all happened so fast!"

"I told you, it's called an All-out Attack." The cat said. "If you manage to knock all the enemies down, you might be able to use it to beat them all at once."

"Yeah, that was over quick." The blonde added.

"It's a concentrated attack on defenseless enemies, after all." Morgana continued.

"It's definitely something we should take advantage of in future battles," Ren stated.

"We've wasted enough time, let's get going," Kazuma interjected, wanting to move on.

Now that everyone knew they were in the clear, they approached the door slowly. Ren gripped the door handle with one hand while keeping his pistol ready with the other. Kazuma had his pistols ready as well, with the number of enemies they've had to face, they were not about to take any chances. The two looked at one another to confirm they were ready.


Once the door was open, they rushed in, firearms armed and ready.

"We're clear," Kazuma stated as he placed his pistols back into the holsters.

With no enemies in the room, they relaxed a bit. As he looked around, the group found themselves in some sort of barracks, likely a place where the guards would come to unwind and relax.

"All right, this is it!" Morgana announced.

They were definitely near the training hall but the banner hanging above the door in front of them said something else.

"Kamoshida's... Training Hall of... Love?" Ryuji read it out. "What kinda bullshit is this?!"

"I don't like this," Ren said, the banner was very strange and the insinuations it gave off made him very uncomfortable. "Let's keep going."

They moved but through the door, thankfully no enemies. They continued on as they hear more screams of agony in the distance. Something was definitely happening in this "Training Hall".

As they crossed the drawbridge, the screaming became more clear.

"Oh! Is it coming from over there?!" Ryuji rushed over to the wooden gate where he heard screaming. As he looked down, he couldn't believe his eyes. "Guys."

The others joined him soon after and when they looked down, they were abhorred by what they saw.

The prisoners from earlier were dressed in athletic uniforms and were being held against a volleyball net as more of those shadow creatures repeatedly began hitting them in the back. They screamed in pain, begging for mercy but wouldn't let up.

"My god." It took every strong bone in Ren's body to keep his disgust in check. The sight was repulsive and horrifying as he watched the guards continuously beat the prisoners.

"Jesus Christ." Kazuma cringed at the sight. They were treating the prisoners like they weren't even human. Their begging and pleading fell on deaf ears, no mercy was shown.

"Dammit! This is bullshit!" Ryuji cursed out loud, the sight making him so angry he couldn't stop shaking.

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down?!" The cat warned.

"But this is beyond messed up!" The blonde argued before grabbing onto the gate. "How do I open this?"

"Stop it!"

They were interrupted by one of the prisoners approaching the gate who looked to be in severe pain.

"Leave us alone. It's useless."

"Huh?!" Ryuji said in shock.

"If we stay obedient, we won't be executed like you guys." Another one approached them, informing them why they can't do anything about their situation.

"You're tellin' me you wanna stay in a place like this?!" He continued to argue but they just ignored him and walked away.

"Wait a minute." The cat stopped for a moment. "Were you planning on taking these guys out of here?"

"We can't just leave 'em here!" The blonde argued.

"How stupid can you be?" The cat taunted once more, mentally face-palming at the blonde's stupidity.

"What?!" He fired back angrily, getting sick and tired of this cat insulting him.

"These are only humans in Kamoshida's cognition. They aren't real humans that have entered from reality. They're different from you three." Morgana explained.

"Cognition?" Ryuji rose an eyebrow at the word. The cat has said it several times before, but still had no clue as to what it meant.

"It means there's no point in saving them! They're different from the real ones in the real world." The cat continued to press his point.

"In other words, they aren't real." Kazuma brought up.

"Exactly." Morgana nodded.

"The hell?! Why's it gotta be so complicated?!" Sakamoto complained before looking back toward the tortured prisoners. As he looked at them, in severe pain, he clenched his fist, anger rising. He was starting to piece it all together. "So the school's a castle, the students are slaves, and he's the King? It's so on point that it makes me laugh. This really is the inside of that asshole's head!"

As Kazuma watched his classmate get angry about this, he decided enough was enough. If he was going to continue, it was time for Ryuji to be honest.

"I think it's about time you start telling us the truth." He stated, talking to Ryuji.

"What?" He replied, confused by his confrontation.

"Kazuma, now's not..."

"Shut up, Amamiya. He owes us." He warned before facing the blonde. "I've had to listen to you whine and complain about Kamoshida from the moment we came back here and you haven't been honest with us. What is your problem with him?"

"That..." He looked away, clenching his fist. His classmate brought up memories that he didn't wish to relive at the moment. "That's none of your business, dude."

"You want me to keep helping you, you better give me a reason to trust you." Kazuma glared, warning him he won't take that as an answer. "This is beyond just mere dislike. You hate him, you hate his guts, and no one holds that kind of animosity for someone unless they really hurt you in some way. So what did he do to you?"

"Stop it. I don't want to talk about." He continued to deflect it.

"Is it because of your leg?" He brought up which seemed to have triggered some kind of reaction from Ryuji as he looked at his classmate with the angriest expression Ren had ever seen. "Is that why? Did he..."

He couldn't finish his sentence as Ryuji grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him up against the wall rather roughly. He kept calm, but the blonde was clenching his teeth in pure rage from being called out like this and bringing up memories he never wanted to remember again.

"I'm warning you, dude! Back off!" He screamed in his face, demanding that he step off.

"You're such a coward." Kazuma insulted.

"I don't wanna hear that shit from you! You didn't even want to come back here so shut up!" He fired back.

"Stop it! Now!" Ren got in between the two and pushed them apart. Once the two were apart, he prepared to scold them. "Kazuma, you need to leave Ryuji alone. Whatever his personal issue is with Kamoshida, it's no one's business but his own." He then turned to the spiky blonde. "And you need to keep your cool, I'd rather not attract every guard in the castle to our location. Take a minute to chill out, both of you."

"Tch." Ryuji clicked his tongue, still keeping his glare on Kazuma. "You're a real asshole, you know that?"

"Whatever." Kazuma shrugged his insult off as nothing.

As he waited for them to calm down, Ren turned to Morgana who wanted to stay out of this heated discussion.

"They gonna be alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, just give them a minute," Ren said. Morgana opted for a change of subject in order to put this tension behind them as he approached the wooden gate to look at the tortured prisoners.

"This is horrible." The cat winced a little. Even they weren't real people, this was inhuman. "It must mean he treats them as slaves in the real world too."

"In the real world too?" Ryuji repeated that last part as he decided to put his little scuffle with his classmate behind and looked back at the prisoners. As he got a better look at them, he realized just who they were. "Wait, I know these guys. They're members of the volleyball team. The one Kamoshida coaches for!"

"Really?" Ren commented as he looked upon the tortured prisoners.

"They must be physically abused every day. There's no way they'd be so beaten up normally." Morgana added.

"Don't tell me..." Ryuji's eyes widened as he came to a realization. If these fake versions of them were being tortured, then the ones in the real world are...

"This must mean Kamoshida is abusing them in the real world too. Probably passing it off as 'training', I bet." Kazuma believed.

"Yeah! Yeah, that's gotta be it!" Ryuji agreed with his classmate, having completely forgotten about their earlier scuffle. "Like, just yesterday, I saw Suzui-san with this leg brace that she supposedly got from practice! God dammit, why didn't I effin' see it!"

"Suzui-san?" Kazuma questioned.

"She's in our class, dude. She doesn't wear the blazer, black hair in a ponytail?" Sakamoto brought up.

That girl? So, Suzui's her name? Kazuma recognized the description. That girl in his class, the same girl from the train station. She's on the volleyball team?

"I heard Kamoshida's usin' physical punishment. They're just rumors, but... If they're true, wouldn't this be somethin' to report to the police?" The spiky blonde questioned.

"Maybe they're too afraid to speak up." Ren thought.

"Then I'll use these guys as evidence. If it all goes well, we can take down that asshole Kamoshida." Ryuji believed but he saw that his phone's camera application wouldn't respond to his touch. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" Ren questioned.

"It's not workin'?!" He complained as he kept trying to unlock the camera to no avail. "We can use the navigation app, but the camera's a no go?!"

"Navigation app?" Morgana questioned, wondering what he was referring too.

"That's what we used to come here," Ryuji explained. "What about you guys?"

Ren and Kazuma checked their phones and checked to see if they could use their cameras.

"Nope," Amamiya stated.

"None here." Kazuma did the same.

"Whatever you do is fine, but we're gonna get caught if we stand around like this," Morgana warned, reminding them that they've been here for too long. There's no telling when more guards would show up, or if the ones currently torturing those prisoners would stop and take notice. "We need to head back!"

"Hang on a sec." Ryuji stopped before taking a good look at the prisoners. "There's no other way. I'll just memorize their faces before goin' home!"

"Hurry it up!" The cat rushed,

"Alright got it," Sakamoto said. One they opened the exit, they found more prison cells likely holding more prisoners. Ryuji wasn't going to leave one prisoner unchecked. "Let's check the cells 'round there."

As they continued on, they came across more prisoners being tortured, only the method was different. As they came upon more prisoners, they found three of them running on a treadmill-looking device, chasing after what appeared to be a jug of water hanging a few feet away from them. They chased after it as best they could, slipping and falling being certain death as they would be crush by the spikes behind them, threatening to take their lives.

"Not givin' athletes water even for tough trainin' is a common thing in the real world too." Ryuji pointed out, disgusted by the sight.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Ren stated, the sight was horrible.

"Then don't look," Kazuma told him. "Let's keep going."

They kept walking until they came across another prisoner, huddled up in the corner of his cell. When he looked over to the group, he appeared even more frightened, not by them, but by what would happen if he conversed with them.

"I don't know why you guys are here... but just leave us alone." He begged.

"What're you talking about!? You're seriously OK with this?!" Sakamoto argued.

"There's no point in talking to them." Kazuma brought up, wanting to get a move on. "They're not real, so don't waste your time."

Ryuji silently agreed and moved along. The next sight was even worse than the previous ones. They watched as a prisoner was hanging upside down from a rope tied around his legs as a cannon shot out volleyballs, hitting him in the face several times.

"Agh! Gah!" The prisoner gasped as he was pummeled by volleyballs over and over. "It hurts! It hurts!

"The hell? This ain't trainin' at all. It's just violence!" He stated, not sure if he could take more of this.

"Wait, I know that guy." Ren pointed out, that blue-tinted hair was easily recognizable. "He's in my class!"

"Huh?" Ryuji questioned before getting a good look at him. "Wait, That's Mishima!"

"Mishima?" Kazuma questioned.

"He's 2-D's representative who's on the volleyball team. I swore I saw him the other day with bruises all over his face." The spiky blonde realized. "This means he's doin' something similar in reality too, right? Damn that bastard!"

"Will you hurry it up." The cat rushed him once more, not wanting to stick around here any longer.

"I know, I know, just give me a sec!" He replied. He then stepped away from the gate. "Alright, I got all of 'em."

"Then let's stop wasting time! We need to scram!" Morgana exclaimed.

"Then let's go," Ren ordered as the group followed after him.

They backtracked their way back to where the safe room was. Thankfully, since there were no guards so there was no need to fight. Once they finally made back to where the safe room was, they took a short breather.

"All right, we're back," Sakamoto said. "We gotta get outta here, quick!"

"The watch post near the training hall has ceased reporting!"

They heard the voice of a guard nearby, likely reinforcements.

"Chances of intruder activity are extremely high! All personnel, increase security measures!"

"Get down! Get down!" Ren commanded as the group hid behind the nearby crates. As he looked over he saw a guard quickly making his rounds over by the drawbridge. Since they were well hidden, the guard left, believing there were no intruders.

"Tch, we've stayed here too long," Morgana complained as they left their hiding spots. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

Once they were in the clear, they left the area and made their way back to the entrance hall. There were no enemies ahead, they were in the clear. The exit was so close.

But as they made their way to the middle of the entrance hall, guards came out of nowhere, approaching the group. One of them stood out from the others, a guard whose army was plated in gold, likely the captain in charge. And at the head...

"You knaves again?" King Kamoshida, once again donning his bathrobe, gazed at the intruders with a sneer at the sight of them. "To think you'd make the same mistake again. You're hopeless!"

"Mr. Pink Undies, what a pleasant surprise." Ren mocked, the nickname causing his eye to twitch.

"You!" Kazuma growled at the sight of him, immediately placing his hands on his pistols.

"The school ain't your castle!" Ryuji exclaimed angrily. "I've memorized their faces real good. You're goin' down!"

"It seems it's true when they say 'barking dogs seldom bite'." He mocked at his efforts. "How far the star runner of the track team has fallen."

"The hell are you gettin' at?!" Sakamoto angrily asked.

"I speak of the 'Track Traitor' who acted in violence, ending his teammates' dreams." The King continued. "Oh, I can imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your... selfish act."

"Ngh." He really must've hit a nerve as Ryuji couldn't think of any kind of retort.

"Track Traitor?" Ren questioned, wondering what he meant.

"What a surprise? It's the problem transfer students." Kamoshida recognized the two from the other day. "So you two are accompanying him without knowing anything at all?"

"Speak, jackass. What are you talking about?" Kazuma demanded.

"He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever." He shook his head in disappointment.

"That's not true!" Ryuji winced at his words, each one attacking him at his core.

"You've come along with this fool and are now going to end up dead. How unlucky of you." He turned away from them. "Go. Kill them all. Don't sully my castle with garbage."

The guard captain raised his blade, ordering his subordinates to do as their King instructed. They shook violently, transfiguring into their real forms. Turning into dirty two-horned beast, three Bicorns readied themselves to face their King's enemies.

"Goddammit." Ryuji cursed as these shadows were unlike the previous ones they've fought. One of them charged toward the blonde, attempting to kill him.

"Look out!" Kazuma rushed forward, tackling Ryuji away from the Bicorn that lunged at him. Once he was safe, it was time to fight. "Persona!"

Summoning Ulysses, the Persona managed to kick the Bicorn away from the blonde, securing Ryuji's safety. However, it recovered in mere seconds and quickly surrounded the Persona-Users.

"We're surrounded," Morgana noted.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you 'cause King Kamoshida told us! I'll kill 'cause that's what he wants!"

"Come on then, you disgusting beasts! Let's see what you've got! Arsene!" Ren summoned forth his Persona, cleaving at the Bicorn in his way only for it to shrug off the damage and lunge forward, attacking the Persona. As it struggled against the beast, Arsene had trouble trying to gain an advantage before another Bicorn lunged into it, sending it to the ground. "No!" Ren watched as his Persona returned to him as his mask.

He then pulled out his pistol and fired shots at the bicorns. While it caused some amount of damage, he ran out of bullets before he could kill it. The two then lunged forward, using their combined strength to attack Ren, knocking him backward onto the ground.

"Amamiya!" Kazuma rushed over to aid him only to have the two Bicorns charged to him. He pulled out his pistols only to find that he too, had run out of ammo. He then pulled out his blades and blocked their blow, struggling against it. "Monsters! I won't let you..." His sentence was interrupted when the third Bicorn Ulysses had kicked away rammed into him at full speed. "GAH!"

"Frizzy Hair! Brown Hair!" Morgana rushed to their aid. "Zorro!" He summoned his persona, attempting to perform a Lucky Punch, only for them to dodge it and lunge toward the cat, knocking him down, causing Zorro to return to his master.

Ren and Kazuma couldn't do anything as they had been defeated. They watched as King Kamoshida made his presence known once again, stepping onto Morgana as if he was a carpet rug.

"Oof!" He gasped for air. "You piece of..."

"Morgana!" Ren tried to get up, only for the guard captain to hold him down with his foot.

"No...!" Kazuma tried to help his companions but one of the guards pressed it's foot against his back, preventing him from getting up.

"I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn't that right?" He mocked, looking over to where Ryuji was. He fell to his knees as each of the Bicorns returned to their original forms. He felt so helpless. All he had was a shotgun and even with that, he was outnumbered

"No." He replied, wanting to convince himself rather than him.

"What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly. How dare you raise your hand against me." The King pressed his foot even harder into Morgana's back, causing him pain. "Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?"

"Wasn't no practice! It was physical abuse!" Ryuji exclaimed, slamming his fists into the ground. "You just didn't like our team!"

"It was nothing but an eyesore!" He growled, pretty much confirming what The blonde had said. "The only one who needs to achieve results is me! That coach who got fired was hopeless too. Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with only breaking his star's leg."

"What?!" Ren looked up as he heard what Kamoshida had said.

"So, it's true," Kazuma whispered as he heard what the King had said.

"D-Damn it." Ryuji looked down as his secret was revealed. Why he hated Kamoshida so much. Why he wanted to come back here.

"Do you need me to deal with your other leg too?" He threatened. "The school will call it self-defense anyway!"

"Dammit. Am I gonna lose again?" Ryuji never felt so defeated. It was bad enough that he couldn't fight, but now he dragged Ren and Kazuma into this, and because of him, they were as good as dead. "Not only can I not run anymore. The track team is gone too 'cause of this asshole!"

"Ryuji..." Morgana whimpered at what he had learned. To have something important taken away from you, he couldn't help but sympathize. He then felt the King push his foot harder into his back. "AGH!"

"Once these three are dealt with, you're next," Kamoshida stated before breaking into laughter at his uselessness.

"Ryuji!" Ren called out. "Don't let him win! You..."

"Get up, Sakamoto!" Kazuma screamed out. Ryuji looked up as he heard his classmate call him out. "Look at you, whining and crying like a child, feeling sorry for yourself! What is wrong with you?! This man ruined your life! You just going to sit there and let him get away with it?!"

"N-No, but..." Ryuji stuttered as he heard his classmate yell at him with such passion.

"Then prove it. Or you'll just be confirming everything he's saying." He finished, wondering if that knocked some sense into this idiot.

"Y-You." It was almost ironic, to think Kazuma of all people would be pushing him to stand up to these assholes. Just a few minutes ago, he was calling him out for keeping secrets, now he was helping him. Even so, he had a point. If he doesn't do anything, then everything Kamoshida said would be true. "You're right." He stated as he tried to stand up. "Everything that was important to me was taken by him. I'll never get 'em back!"

"Stay there and watch." Kamoshida continued to mock him. "Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you."

"No, that's what you are!" Ryuji fired as he stood tall, no longer afraid. "All you think about is using people! You're the real trash Kamoshida! Now leave my friends alone!"

He approached the King slowly, fearing nothing as his classmate's words pushed him to prove that everything Kamoshida had said about him was wrong. That he was the villain, not him.

"What are you doing? Silence..."

"Shut up!" He screamed, interrupting him before pointing angrily at him. "Stop lookin' down on me with that stupid smile on your face!"

...

...

You made me wait quite a while.

Ryuji's eyes shot open as his iris' turned golden yellow. A wave of indescribable pain coursed through his head, the worst pain imaginable.

"A-Aaagh!" He clutched his head in agony.

You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact.

He fell to his knees as the voice that raged within him did nothing to ease his pain.

Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc? The "other you" who exists within desires it thus.

He clutched the ground as the pain wouldn't stop. No matter how much he tried, he could not stop this agony.

I am thou, thou art I.

There is no turning back.

The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!

At the end of that final declaration, Ryuji raised his head as a mask formed on his face.

"Ryuji," Ren said softly as he realized what his friend had accomplished.

"Hmph. What can you do?" The guard captain mocked as he raised his blade, prepared to end Ren's life. "Cower in fear and watch!"

The spiky blonde got up on his own two feet, the pain finally gone. He gripped the mask with both of his hands.

"Aah." He ripped it off using all of his strength, unleashing his hidden potential. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Soon, his body was engulfed in blue fire which surrounded the entire room. The force of these flames was so strong, it pushed the enemies off of the others, freeing them at last.

When the flames finally cleared, the others looked as Ryuji stood tall with his newly awakened Persona. a pirate, standing tall aboard his flying ship, spotting a hand cannon on its right arm and a wicked glare for his foes.

Ryuji looked up with a smirk of victory as he felt the power in his hands.

"Ugh... This one as well?!" Kamoshida mentioned as now Sakamoto had one of those... things.

"Right on! Wassup, Persona." He clenched his fists, excitement coursing through him. "This effin' rocks!"

The others stood up, now free from the enemies. They walked over, weapons in hand, ready to aid to newly awakened Persona-User.

"Now that I got his power, it's time for payback." He stated, cracking his knuckles, itching for a fight. "Yo, I'm ready." He pulled out what appeared to be a pipe, eager to let loose and drop some heads. "Bring it!"

"Ngh!" The guard captain wasn't going to let this stand. He wouldn't fail his King! "Don't mock me, you brat!" He slammed his sword down, changing into his true form, that of the horseman, Eligor who came charging at him

"Blast him away! Captain Kidd!" Ryuji ordered, pointing at his foe. The pirate Persona pointed his hand cannon and shot out a Zio, greatly injuring him.

"GAH!" Eligor grunted from the damage. "What troublemakers that bother King Kamoshida with trifle matters!"

"Kamoshida's cognition ain't changin', right? Then I'll act like the troublemaker I am!" Sakamoto exclaimed, looking toward his companions.

"You got this Ryuji!" Ren gave him a thumbs up. "End this party with a bang!"

"You have an advantage, the others turned tail and ran." Kazuma pointed out. "So stop wasting time and kill it already."

"Let's see what you can do." The cat gave him the go-ahead.

"Thanks, guys," Ryuji said, turning back to the guard captain, ready to kick some ass. "Let's do this, Captain Kidd!"

As he prepared, Eligor summoned reinforcements to aid him.

"Nice try, dumbass!" The spiky blonde mocked as he commanded Kidd to destroy his reinforcements, killing each Bicorn with a Zio. He then had his Persona refocus on Eligor, shooting Zios to end the shadow. It kept dodging his attacks and Ren believed it wouldn't stay still unless they make him.

"Kazuma!" Ren called out.

"Yeah, I know!" He caught on.

"Persona!" The two summoned forth their Personas to aid their companion. They each came at the shadow in opposite directions, even with their speed, they were having a hard time catching it.

"I got this! Zorro!" Morgana summoned forth his Persona, hurting it was a Garu. Now that it was stunned, Arsene and Ulysses grabbed onto it, allowing the Kidd the final blow.

"Let's go, Captain!" Ryuji ordered one final time, Kidd aimed for the heart and fired! Shooting Zio through its chest, destroying it but not killing it. It reverted back to its original form and it fell down next to King Kamoshida. It took him a moment to catch his breath but once he did, he shot a confident look toward the king. "How 'bout that?!

"So Ryuji had the potential too." Morgana pointed out.

"I knew he had it in him," Ren commented.

"Guess he's not as useless as he thought he was," Kazuma stated.

They all turned their attention back to the King, wondering what the bastard was going to pull next.

"Even if you apologize now, I ain't forgivin' you!" Ryuji proclaimed.

"Hmph." He shrugged off his insult, his face returning to that shit-eating grin he had on a few moments ago. "I told you that this is my castle. It seems you don't understand." He then held out his hand, as he signaled someone to approach him

They watch as a girl in a skimpy bikini walked down the stairs and rushed over to the King's side. Only, the identity of this girl left them all stunned.

"What the...?" Ren recognized as the girl turned out to be his classmate.

"Takamaki?!" Ryuji shared the same stunned look.

"What is she doing here?" Kazuma wondered and why was she wearing such a skimpy outfit.

"Wha.." Morgana was left stunned at the sight, the beauty next to the foul king was utterly gorgeous. "What a meow-velous and beautiful girl!"

She wrapped her arms around the King, cuddling her head against him

"What's going on?!" Sakamoto exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing?! Get away from him!"

"Wait, Ryuji." Ren stopped him for a moment. "That may not be the real one. She's probably like those prisoners, just a fake duplicate."

"How many times must I tell you until you understand?" Kamoshida replied, cupping her face in his hand. "This is MY castle. A place which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me. Ain't that right, babe?" He gave her a firm smack on her rear.

"Oooh, you're so naughty!" She cooed which sickened the others.

"I'm going to throw up," Ren said. This was definitely not the Ann Takamaki from class.

"Are you jealous?" Kamoshida mocked. "Well, I'm not surprised. Women aren't drawn to problematic punks like you."

"Dammit!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Clean them up this instant!" The King ordered. More guards appeared in front of the group, ready to fight.

"We're outnumbered," Morgana noted. "Let's scram before we get surrounded again!"

"We're not gonna do anything and just run?!" The spiky blonde complained, not wanting it to end here.

"You have a better idea?" Kazuma inquired, knowing he didn't.

"We can't die here, Ryuji. Let's get out and come up with a plan for later." Ren suggested.

"Thank god you guys have level heads." The cat said.

"Ugh, fine," Ryuji said annoyingly before making one final declaration to the King. "We'll expose what you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us!"

"Hahaha! I was beginning to get bored of torturing the ones here!" Kamoshida laughed, not taking his threat seriously. "Come at me whenever you want, if you don't care about your life!"

"Oh don't worry, when we're back, it'll be your last surprise, Pink Undies." Ren taunted before giving a formal bow the everyone in a very taunting matter. "Until then, I bid you adieu, gentlemen."

With that, they turned and ran towards the exit. Once they made it to the room, they quickly went through the ventilation shaft and made it safely back to the entrance.


Once they knew they were safe, they stopped to catch their breath. This wasn't like their first trip at all, they were more concerned with getting out than performing an investigation. They were not prepared for this but that would change. Next time they met with the King, it will be his last surprise.

He'll never see it coming.

"Anyways," Ryuji said after finally catching his breath before bringing up something he just noticed. "I don't remember changin' into this?!"

"Huh?" Ren looked to see that just like him and Kazuma, his appearance had completely changed. It now consisted of a matching black jacket and pants with knee pads, a red ascot, combat boots, a pair of yellow gloves, and a skull mask. "It's like ours."

"Yeah." He looked over. With clothes came his melee weapon, a steel pipe strapped to his belt.

"You look like a thug if anything else," Kazuma stated which Ryuji didn't appreciate.

"What the hell?! Eff you, dude! At least mine has sleeves!" He fired back.

"Is now really the time to be fighting over who's outfit is better?" Ren interjected.

"Did you find them?!"

They heard a voice from within the castle, likely one of the guards still looking for them.

"Quiet!" Morgana demanded.

"No. Search that way!"

Once the voices died down, they were in the clear.

"So, what's goin' on? I'm completely lost, man!" Ryuji asked.

"I told you before." Morgana brought up. "When a Persona-User opposes a Palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It's to prevent you from being affected by distortions."

"Is this... a skull?" The blonde reached up and touched his mask.

"Your appearance reflects your inner self. It's the rebel that slumbers within." The cat explained before giving the blonde a sly look. "Not that you'll get it, right?"

"Nope." Ryuji slumped his head.

"Then stop asking questions and accept what you see for what it is." The cat argued.

"Easy for you to say." He crossed his arms in annoyance.

"In other words, it's a side effect of gaining your Persona," Ren stated in more simple terms. "It wouldn't be right for all of us to have the same outfit. So, this outfit represents what you are deep down."

"Like I said, a thug." Kazuma made one last remark.

"Shaddup!" The blonde fired back. "You think just because you have a hood, that yours is cooler than mine?!"

"I didn't say anything like that, moron." He fired back, glaring at his classmate for his stupid insinuation.

"Up yours!" Ryuji threw out one last insult before realizing something. "Wait, we're in deep shit!"

"I said to be quiet!" Morgana exclaimed again for the loud blonde.

"We might've gotten away here, but we're still screwed with Kamoshida at the real school." He brought up.

"That's quite sharp of you... For being an idiot." The cat teased. "Relax. The Kamoshida in reality can't possibly know about what happens here."

"How so?" Ren asked.

"Because 'King' Kamoshida is the shadow-self of the real one." He explained. "A shadow is the true self that is suppressed, a side of one's personality they don't want to see."

"So Pink Undies is a shadow? Like those guards?" The probationer questioned.

"Exactly, only he's not just any shadow, he's a shadow-self, powerful beings who rule over Palaces." Morgana continued.

"So, we're OK?" Ryuji asked nervously.

"Did the Kamoshida in reality remember your first escape?" The cat brought up and the others look stunned as they remember that the real Kamoshida did nothing of the sort. "There you have it."

"All right!" The blonde exclaimed, getting fired up at the prospect of getting rid of Kamoshida. "Now that we know that, all we gotta do is..."

"Wait." The cat interrupted just when he was in the moment. "I guided you as promised. It's your turn to cooperate with me."

"Say what?" The blonde questioned.

"That's why I was super nice about teaching you idiots everything." The cat crossed his arms.

"Cooperate?" He replied, wondering what he meant.

"Don't you remember? I originally came here for an investigation." Morgana brought up. "I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form! That's why we must delve into Mementos and..."

"Shut up." Kazuma interrupted harshly, stopping the cat from talking. "We don't owe you anything, cat. As I recall, none of us made any promises to help you."

"Huh?" The cat replied, stunned by his former cellmate's cold words and the possibility that none of them were going to help him. "Don't tell me... Are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you?"

"Like I said, I don't owe you anything." Kazuma finished as he walked away.

"Is it because I'm not human? Because I'm like a cat?" He was starting to ask questions. "Is that why you're making a fool of me?!

"We're busy!" Sakamoto told him off, before kneeling down. "Thanks for everything, cat. You've got guts, bein' a cat and all." He then stood back up. "See you around."

Ryuji followed after his classmate, leaving Morgana behind. Ren simply gave a wave as he followed after his companions.

"I bid thee farewell, Sir Morgana!" He said, chuckling as he ran off after the others.

"Hey, what the hell?!" The cat cried out, running after the others. "Ugh, seriously! Why're you wrapping this up like everything's all hunky-dory?! Oh, hell no! Get back here!"


You have returned to the real world. Welcome back

The confirmation from the navigation app was all they needed to know that they had left the castle and have returned to reality. If not that, the nearby students leaving the school were enough proof.

Whatever it was about that place, it really wore the three out. It wasn't like last time, there was more fighting than last time and once again, they were this close to dancing with death. However, Ren wasn't content with leaving this alone. He made a vow to Pink Undies and he will take him down as well as expose the real Kamoshida for his crimes against the school.

"Thank god. We're back." Ryuji said, having finally calmed down. "I dragged you guys around a lot, huh? I'm sorry."

"No apologies necessary. We knew the risks." Ren replied.

"Ugh," He groaned a little, utterly exhausted. "I'm dead tired. How you holdin' up?"

"I'll live." He replied before turning to his partner. "What about you, Kazuma? You okay?"

"Just peachy," Kazuma replied curtly, trying to catch his breath.

"Man, that place wore me out. I'm gonna sleep like a rock when I get home." The spiky blonde stated before changing the subject. "But damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good!"

"Couldn't agree more." The probationer said. "We finally a lead to go on."

"Yep, and I totally remember the faces of the guys Kamoshida was treatin' like slaves." Ryuji brought up. "Once we make 'em fess up to any physical abuse, Kamoshida will be done."

"You're joking right?" Kazuma asked rudely. "You saw how they were in the castle, you really think any of them will actually testify?"

"We won't know unless we try," Ren argued. "One of them has to be sick of how they're being treated. If we can get just one testimony, it'll be one step closer to bringing Pink Undies to justice."

"You're preaching to the choir, Amamiya." His fellow transfer student remained pessimistic.

"Cmon, man. Have some faith, will ya? You're totally killing the vibe." The blonde complained. "So... wanna help me look for those guys or any witnesses?"

"You don't even have to ask. I'm in." Ren gave his loyalty to the cause and to Ryuji.

"What about you, man?" Ryuji asked his classmate. "I could really use your help."

Kazuma sighed, how many times was he going to be goddamn Santa Claus this week?

Then again, it's like Ren said before they went to the castle, there was no way he could continue on with someone like Kamoshida prancing around doing whatever the hell he wants. And after what he saw in the castle there is no way he could let this go.

"Fine." He gave his answer.

"Now that's what I'm takin' about!" The blonde exclaimed happily. "Oh, and I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. You were right, I wasn't being honest and you didn't deserve that."

"It's whatever." He brushed off his apology as he didn't really take offense to his outburst against him.

"But seriously though, you really saved my ass back there. Gave me one hell of a wake-up call." He held out his hand for a handshake. "What do you say, dude? Wanna start over?"

Kazuma looked at his hand and the first instinct was to ignore it, just like he did when they first met. Then again, while he didn't care for his apologies for their earlier spats, he had to admit that he gained some respect for the spiky-haired delinquent. He was loud, annoying, and not very smart. But, he wasn't like everyone else. He didn't care for labels or rumors, he was friendly just like Ren was when they first met. He looked towards the boy in question who was giving him a look that just said go for it.

Make no mistake, they were not his friends, but he had nothing to lose associating with them for the time being. He grabbed his hand and shook it.

Despite their differences, it appears that Ryuji and Kazuma were slowly beginning to understand each other, as classmates and as companions.

...

I am thou, thou art I.

Thou hast established a new bond.

...

From the self-suffused with divine love to the self-capable of demonic cruelty.

A new self has been born.

...

Thou hast given birth to the Arcana of Chariot that shall grant thee new power.

...

There it is again?! Kazuma thought in his head as that same voice rang through his head. It was the same voice that he heard when he gave Amamiya his contact information. What was the meaning behind it?

"About time you guys decided to get along." Ren teased. "I was beginning to think I would have to baby you both forever."

"S-Shaddup, it's not like we were fighting or anything." Ryuji fired back before changing the subject about their reputations. "So listen, guys, If you're thinkin' of layin' low, I don't think that'll help."

"You think so?" Ren asked. It wasn't really his intention to "lay low" as Sakamoto put it, but he wasn't planning to draw too much attention to himself.

"It's just, everyone already knows. They totally got you pegged as a criminal." He explained.

"Trust me, I've heard." The probationer replied, already aware his reputation is in the gutters.

"And you dude," Ryuji turned to his classmate. "No offense, but I think people are scared of you."

"I don't care." He replied. Truth be told, he was fine with people being scared of him, it means they'll leave him alone and he has no wish to interact with any rumormongering idiot.

"I bet Kamoshida had something to do with all this bullshit. I heard he's been telling students to steer clear of the new 'problem transfer students'. Piece of shit." Ryuji cursed.

"It has to be true," Ren added right after, not a single ounce of doubt in his voice. "Only a teacher could've been capable of leaking something like my record that fast and with no repercussions."

"Damn right, it doesn't matter if it's a student, teacher, or a club; that asshole just wrecks things he doesn't agree with. Just like he did with me." He cursed out. "No one'll take anything I say seriously. Still, those rumors about him gettin' physical might be real. And after seein' Kamoshida's distorted-heart thing in person, there's no way I can just sit back!"

"With what we've learned in the castle, there has to be evidence somewhere. We'll find it and we will take him down." He promised.

"Hell yeah!" Ryuji yelled, getting fired up. "I'm countin' on you guys! Don't worry; I'm hyped about this too!"

Ren nodded. Know that Ryuji has his trust and vice versa, he truly believed that they will bring Pink Undies and Kamoshida to justice. He was one step closer to finding the truth about the nasty rumors surrounding that pervert and Ann Takamaki, and he wasn't about to stop now.

...

...


...

...

As he continued to relay the story to Sae, she stopped him for just a second as she wanted to bring up something that concerned her.

"Acting as a Phantom Thief would've been more efficient alone. You could've gone about it that way. However, you did not. There are merits to having associates. That's what you decided." She stated before leaning forward. "Am I wrong?"

"What can I say." He replied sarcastically. "I'm a people person."

...

...


...

...

I am thou, thou art I.

Thou hast acquired a new vow.

...

It shall become the wings of rebellion

that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

...

With the birth of the Chariot Persona,

I have obtained the blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.

...

What was that? Ren heard the mysterious voice of what appeared to be a woman's voice but didn't have much to go on other than that.

"You cool, dude?" Ryuji questioned wondering why he was spacing out.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine." Ren nodded. Whatever that was, there was no point in getting hung over it.

Just then, the three heard what appeared to be someone's stomach rumbling, indicating hunger. They realized it was coming from Ryuji.

"Oh..." He blushed, embarrassed a little. "Right, I haven't eaten anything since lunch."

"Tell the truth, I'm a bit famished as well," Ren stated, feeling a bit hungry himself.

"It'd be weird splittin' off now, so why don't we grab a bite somewhere? That's put that money we earned to use." Ryuji offered.

"Sure, I could eat." He replied before turning to his fellow transfer student. "What do you say Kazuma?"

"Pass. I'm leaving." He stated, walking away from them and heading back inside the school.

"Hey, hold on!" Ryuji called out. "Cmon man, you can't pass up a free meal. We earned it."

"Look, I'm tired and pissed off." He replied irritatingly to his classmate. "You guys can do whatever you want, but I'm going home." And with that, he left them to their devices, heading back inside the school to collect his book and go home.

"I'll text you later, Kazuma," Ren told him, watching his partner and transfer student just give a small wave as he entered the school.

Well, he waved this time. That's something. He thought.

"Dick," Ryuji muttered before turning to Amamiya. "More for us then. Follow me. It's in Shibuya so let's take the train together. I totally gotta hear about your past."

"Well get comfortable, it's a long one." He replied as he and his new friend departed Shujin Academy grounds and headed wherever Sakamoto believed would be good for sating their appetites.


Kazuma went back to his locker on the 2nd-floor building to switch out his school shoes for his original ones. He would've gotten them earlier if his loudmouth classmate hadn't dragged him to the front of the school, hoping to convince him to traverse the mysterious castle again.

Once he reached his locker, he put in the correct combination, opened the locker and switched out his shoes. He was about to close it when he overheard two girls whispering behind him. And he uses the term "whispering" loosely because they weren't exactly being secretive about their gossip.

"Look, it's that transfer student in 2-E."

"I heard he's been hanging out with Sakamoto-kun and that criminal."

"What's he thinking, hanging out with those scumbags. Is he like them too?"

"What's happened to our school?"

It was all too familiar, the rumors, the gossip, and the annoyance that comes with it. He slammed his locker shut, causing the girls behind him to jump a little as he looked over his shoulder, glaring harshly at the two who were talking about it. His stare sent shivers down their spines as a wave of fear began to course through their bodies.

"L-Let's go."

"Y-Yeah."

They left and immediately hurried away from him. He gave a sigh, now finally free of those idiots. It's as Ryuji said, people really were scared of him.

"Excuse me, Kazuma-kun?"

Before he could leave, someone had called out to him. He turned around and was met with green eyes, long black hair along with glasses, much like Amamiya's. She wore the uniform for girls, the school blazer and white turtleneck shirt, the school uniform skirt, and black shoes.

Although Kazuma didn't recognize her, she appeared to know him.

"I'm glad I was able to catch you before you left." She said before giving a polite bow. "My name is Emi Matsumoto, I'm your class representative." She greeted but he didn't say anything. Instead, he chose to greet her with a look of disinterest, wanting to leave as soon as possible. "I sit in front of you, in class?" She continued, a little uncomfortable with the silence.

"Hmph." He huffed, walking past her as he headed for the stairs.

"Hey, hold on a sec!" She rushed after him, getting in the way. "Don't ignore me like that. It's rude."

That's the point. He thought.

"I have nothing to say to you. Get lost." He said moving past her again only for her to hold out her arms, preventing him from leaving.

"I'm sorry?" She replied, a little confused by his attitude. "Did I do something to piss you off?"

"Yeah, you're bothering me. Now leave me alone." He demanded.

"Not the friendly type, huh? I can work with that." She stated, not letting his unfriendly and curt attitude affect her. "I wanted to inform you that Ms. Chouno put you on cleaning duty today."

"What?" Great, more annoyances to deal with. Will he ever catch a break?

"Yep. Maybe this will teach you not to skip class anymore." She said, patting him on the shoulder before leaving. "Everything you need is already in 2-E. See you tomorrow."

If there is a God, he hates my existence. He thought dramatically.

Well, he did promise Tori he wouldn't get into any more trouble so there's no way he could ignore this. He decided to tough it out, and head to 2-E for cleaning duty.

Now I'm starting to wish I had gone with Amamiya and Sakamoto. He thought as he entered his classroom to get started.


"WHAT?!"

"Keep it down, Ryuji." Ren calmly asked, reminding him that they were in a public setting.

Ryuji had led him to Orenobeko, the most popular beef bowl shop in all of Shibuya, probably because it's the only beef bowl shop in Shibuya. But you know what they say, nothing wrong with a free beef bowl, the money they earned in the castle came in handy.

Ren had just finished telling Ryuji about the events that led up to his arrest, the drunk man who sued him, the woman he tried to save, and how his parents reacted.

He was not happy.

"Sorry, just... the eff', man. How much shittier can that asshole get?!" He fired, couldn't believe the crap he just heard.

"I can't even imagine," Ren replied, not really wanting to think about that night anymore.

"So, you left your hometown, and you're livin' here now, huh?" He brought, still stuffing his face with beef.

"That's pretty much the gist of it." The probation said, getting back to his meal.

"We might be more alike than I originally thought." The spiky blonde added.

"I think so too," Ren stated. "Even though Kawakami told me you were bad news, I had a feeling you were a good guy."

"Yeah, just ignore her man. She's annoying but harmless." He smiled, thankful his new friend doesn't believe him to be some mindless delinquent. "You know, you're the first guy that made me think that."

"And you're the first to not believe in the rumors about me. You and me, we're cool." He told him, letting him know he was okay in his book.

"Thanks, man." Ryuji nodded. "I guess it's how we're treated like a pain in the ass by the people around us, like we don't belong."

"Yeah, I feel you." He replied. Ever since his first day of school, the rumors and gossip already informed him that his classmates and fellow students want nothing to do with him. In a way, it was upsetting but he quickly got over it.

"Thing is... I did something stupid at school before, too." He told him before chugging down the last bit of beef he had left, slamming his bowl down to signify that he was finished. "Now, I wanted to ask. Your friend, Kazuma. What's his deal?"

"Him?" Ren raised an eyebrow at the change of subject, especially the subject of his fellow transfer student. "Why do you ask?"

"Don't you think he's a bit weird?" He brought up. "What do you know about him?"

"Not much, really." He began. "I met him two days ago, purely by coincidence. As you know, he's a transfer student like me. He lives close to where I'm staying and he's living with a guardian. I don't know much about his parents but from what I've heard, they're pretty famous."

"Damn. I had no idea." Ryuji replied, a bit stunned at how little he knew about him.

"And as you may have guessed, he's not exactly a people person." Ren brought up his attitude.

"Yeah, no shit." the spiky blonde spat a little. While he had gained a new respect for his classmate, he hasn't forgotten how just how much of a jerk he is. "Guy really pisses me off sometimes."

"He is a bit of a jerk, but he's the honest type. I respect him for that." He stated. While not knowing much about him, he could tell that Kazuma isn't the type of person to tell white lies or treat people with fake kindness or false sympathy. "Even so, he could stand to be a bit nicer."

"Yeah." Ryuji thought for a moment. Even with little knowledge about him, other than his unfriendly attitude, he did agree to help them and has risked his life for them in the castle. "Why do you think he's helping us?"

"Why?" He thought of it for a moment. He had nothing to gain from helping them, even though he's made it clear he doesn't like Kamoshida, why was he helping them? Ren had an idea. "Probably the same reason as me. He saw something unjust and just can't ignore it."

"You think so, huh?" Sakamoto questioned. If that was truly the reason, it makes sense. Ryuji hasn't forgotten that first visit to the castle, the one where his classmate stood up to Kamoshida's shadow and told them if they wanted to kill someone, they should kill him. Maybe Ren's got a point. "Anyway, the place you're livin' now is... Yongen, right? It's rush hour on the subways. I suggest you kill time before heading home."

"Sounds good to me," Ren said, thinking it would be a good time to explore Shibuya and get a feel for the place.

"What the hell, man. You barely touched your food." The spiky blonde stated before adding ginger to his bowl

"I can do that myself, thank you very much." The probationer glared.

"Just lemme do it, I gotta thank you for helpin' me." The spiky blonde grinned. "Anyways, I got your back like you got mine from tomorrow on. As long as we do something about Kamoshida, I'm sure we'll both feel better about bein' at school."

"I quite agree." Ren nodded, both determined to bring Kamoshida to justice.

"Oh, yeah!" Ryuji exclaimed, changing the subject. "Tell me your number. Chat ID too."

"Oh, right. We'll need to reach each other." He pulled out his phone to exchange numbers and Chat ID. "I'll give you Kazuma's as well. We'll all open a group chat together for the investigation."

"Think he'll mind?" He asked.

"I'm sure he'll come around." The probation chuckled before giving Ryuji, Kazuma's number and ID.

"Just you wait, Kamoshida." The spiky blonde muttered under his breath, ready to get started. "We're gonna start right away tomorrow. First, let's hit up those guys that were kept as slaves."

"You have a plan?" Ren asked.

"Damn straight. The volleyball rally's tomorrow. Shit's recommended by Kamoshida. Makes me wanna gag." He explained. "But thanks to that, we got no classes in the afternoon, and we can walk around unnoticed."

"Alright, we have our strategy." The probationer stated.

"We'll work out the details tomorrow," Ryuji said before noticing that Ren has barely put a dent in his meal. "C'mon, you gotta eat more. There's tons of ginger here."

"I think I'm good." Ren chuckled, feeling that he's eaten enough. "Oh, I want to get Kazuma something too."

He decided to order a large barbecue bowl for his fellow transfer student, wondering if he's made it home yet. He decided to shoot him a text just in case.


The people here are sick. Who leaves that much gum under a desk. Kazuma cursed the group of students who would dare put gum under the desks of his classroom. Thankfully, not much needed to be done so he was able to complete his cleaning very quickly.

Now that he was finished, he could finally leave this wretched school and head home. He could feel his stomach rumbling, he was hungry, tired, and irritated that he had to do something like cleaning duty on the 2nd day of school.

He collected his back, put away the cleaning materials, and left the 2-E classroom. As he headed down the stairs, someone familiar crossed his path.

He appeared worn out and depressed, not even acknowledging Kazuma's existence as he walked by him. His blue-tinted hair, however, was what made him recognizable.

That's Amamiya's class rep. He noted. He remembered coming across his duplicate in the castle, he was the one hanging from a rope while a cannon shot volleyballs in his face. Judging from the bruises on his face, maybe he's dealing with something similar. Where's he going?

He saw that he was headed towards the courtyard. Why wasn't he heading home?

He didn't know what it was, but something told him that following after him may give him some answers about Kamoshida.

Deciding to go with his gut, he followed the boy in secret.


Shiho and Ann sat on the school bench in the courtyard. With practice finally over, they could finally get a chance to hang out for a little while. While they normally would've gone for crepes, the volleyball player wanted some time to cool down.

Ann noticed something off about her best friend, she seemed down and really tired. Just how rough was practice?

"Shiho? You okay?" She asked with concern.

"Y-Yeah." She replied though it wasn't very convincing. "I-I haven't been sleeping well lately.

"Why not?" Ann wondered.

"W-Well, whenever I close my eyes, I keep thinking about too many things." She explained. It hasn't been a good couple of days for Shiho Suzui. She had way too much on her mind. Volleyball practice was one, Kamoshida has been pushing everyone lately, wanting to prepare for the upcoming tournament. Her leg hasn't fully healed from the injury she received during practice and it was affecting her performance.

But besides volleyball, her mind often wandered to a certain someone. More precisely, the new transfer student in her class.

It's only been his 2nd day and people were already steering clear of him, scared of him for some reason. He seemed to have that frown plastered on his face whenever she looked at him. It was completely different from when she encountered him at the train station and the advice he gave her.

If nothing fun or exciting ever happens, then create it using your own power. She remembered his words. It was when she openly expressed reluctance to anything special happening this year. You can do it, can't you?

I've tried. I've really tried. She thought.

"Shiho..." Ann whispered, upset at the depressed state her best friend was in.

"Nationals are coming up soon, so I keep thinking. Should someone like me really be on the starting lineup." She confessed.

"Hey, don't think like that. Just be confident in yourself!" Ann exclaimed, trying to raise her spirits. "Your skills have been recognized! It's all because you work harder than anyone else!"

While she appreciated Ann's attempts to cheer her up, she still couldn't help but feel down.

"Yeah." She simply agreed, not wanting to worry her friend. "Volleyball's all I have, after all."

"More importantly," Ann said, looking towards her leg brace. "Was that injury okay? It looked really swollen."

"N-No. it's nothing. It's normal, especially since a meet's coming up." Shiho explained.

Ann didn't seem convinced. She knew Kamoshida's practices were tough and harsh, but even if Shiho is on the starting lineup, was it safe for her to play with that injury?

Before she could say anything, a familiar face approached them.

"Sorry to interrupt, Suzui. Takamaki-san." Mishima said. "Um... Mr. Kamoshida told me to get you."

"Huh?" Suddenly, confusion and fear coursed through her body. Mr. Kamoshida was calling for her? Why? "What does he want?"

"He didn't say." He finished, looking away from them.

"Ann, I..." She muttered.

"I-It'll be fine!" Takamaki stated. "I bet it's a meeting about the starting lineup or something."

That didn't exactly calm Shiho's nerves but she decided to see the bright side of things and agree with her.

"Yeah." She gave a small smile which dropped as she stood up from her seat and clenched her fist, trying to hold back her fear. "Well, I better go."

"Yep, good luck!" Ann stood up, saying her goodbyes for now.

With that, Shiho left, heading to Mr. Kamoshida's office. Mishima left soon after, carrying his depressed energy and expression with him.

"Hang in there, Shiho," Takamaki whispered as she watched her friend leave.


Unbeknownst to them, Kazuma was nearby, having followed Mishima to his destination. He wasn't expecting to see that girl again, nor did he expect the blue-tinted haired boy to deliver her a message, from Kamoshida of all people.

What does he want with her? Kazuma wondered. He had this wretched feeling in his gut that whatever he wants with that girl, it couldn't be good. Seeing that Mishima went elsewhere, having finished what he was told to do, he changed his directive and followed after Suzui.

Like he told Amamiya over text, he doesn't trust Kamoshida, not in the slightest. Whatever he needed her for, he had no idea. Whatever it was, he was going to find out.

He followed her to the P.E. faculty office, likely where Kamoshida's office was. It was fairly empty, no one appeared to be around, student or faculty. He hid behind a wall as he watched her go round the corner. Once he knew it was clear, he walked over, peeking around the corner to see her knocking on what appeared to be his office. Soon after she opened the door and entered.

Looking around to make sure that no one knew he was there or that he was hiding, he moved from his hiding spot and approached the volleyball coach's office slowly.

He pressed his ear against the door to hear their conversation. He guessed correctly, as he heard what appeared to be yelling coming from inside the office, he knew something was not right here.

"Mr. Kamoshida, I..."

"I don't want to hear your goddamn excuses!" He heard Kamoshida yell, followed by a clattering noise and a gasp from Suzui. He must've kicked a chair in pure anger. "I gave you a pass yesterday but today was unacceptable! You've been slacking off during practice! Are you trying to jeopardize your teammates!"

"N-No, sir." Kazuma heard Shiho say. It was clear she was afraid, he could feel it in her voice. "It's just, m-my leg hasn't healed yet and if I put more strain on it, then..."

"More goddamn excuses! Suzui-san, I've had it up to here with your selfishness!" He angrily replied.

"Sir, I just..."

She was cut off, whatever apology she could offer, was taken from her as a loud, sickening noise intruded Kazuma's ears.

"GAH!" The sickening sound of a fist colliding with one's face was heard from beyond the door, as well as the thud of a body hitting the floor.

What the hell?! Kazuma placed his hand over his mouth to keep himself from making any noise.

"You listen to me, you little bitch." He heard Kamoshida continue. "Don't you ever speak to me like that again. Your teammates are busting their asses, breaking bones to get to Nationals, while you're here complaining about your leg. Pathetic."

"A-ah." He heard her whimper.

"If I ever hear such shit come out of your mouth again, I'll happily remind you that your position can easily be replaced with another." He finished. "Now get the fuck out of my sight."

While Kazuma wanted answers, this wasn't what he was expecting. This proved that everything they learned in the castle was true. He really was like the King. No, he was worse!

He couldn't even believe his ears, hearing that asshole punch her nearly made him gasp. He couldn't ignore this, not after what he heard.

I have to get out of here. Kazuma thought as he slowly walked away from Kamoshida's office before taking off, running in the direction of the school building. I have to do something!


My heart sunk into my chest when I wrote that last part. I love Shiho very much, that's why she's a more major character in this fic and what Kamoshida's putting her through really breaks my heart.

Also, I'm aware that the prisoner who was hanging from the rope, being pummeled by volleyballs, was not Mishima. I just found it weird that he wasn't among the cognitive duplicates in the castle, so I decided to include him.

So now we have Ren and Kazuma both unlocking the Chariot confidant. I would like to hear in the reviews which one you think has the better "I am thou" confidant speech.

Til next time.