Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 5!

Hello guys, I'm back! I'm so sorry for not updating often - I've been really busy with schoolwork and art commissions recently! Unfortunately, this is going to continue, and I'm not going to be updating very often for quite a while because my end of year exams are also coming up. It's going to be difficult to juggle everything at once, so I'm going to cut down on the time I spend writing this fan fiction and drawing, and I will be focusing more on my studies. That doesn't mean that I won't be updating, though. It's just that I won't be updating it often. I hope you guys can understand!

With that aside, please enjoy the story!


Ann stood at the rooftop, staring off in the distance as she gathered her thoughts. Eyes still red and poufy from crying, she could feel a burning hot feeling on her face that made her want to break down crying again.

The bullying didn't use to be so bad, so why? Did the incident back in class cause more people who didn't like her in the first place to surface out? Ann could never understand bullying - that was just trying to act more superior than others, no?

Maybe she wasn't even really welcomed into this place...

"Ann! Oi, Ann!"

Ann snapped out of her thoughts before coming to a realisation that it had been happening to her a lot of times. Just how many things does she have in mind...? Absentmindedly, she turned towards the source of the call and came to face a girl with a black ponytail and the blond-haired boy.

"... Oh, Ryuji, Suzui-san, what are you two doing here?"

Her male friend rubbed the back of his head, yet still maintained that smart posture of his. "We're here to see how you're holding up. Futaba-san told me that you were here, and you appeared distraught. I happened to meet Suzui-san on my way here."

"I... I see," Ann muttered softly before she looked up and forced a smile. "It's okay, though. Thanks for caring about me and my well-being, but I'm fine."

However, Shiho stepped forward with a concerned frown on her face. "Ann, I'm really worried about you. Your eyes are all red. Have you been crying?"

"I-I'm fine now, Suzui-san. It's okay."

"That doesn't look okay to me, y'know. Come on, Ann! We're all here for you! Just tell us if you have anything weighing your heart down!"

At that moment, Ann paused before standing straight up and looking right at the two of them. "I am okay. I just need some peace and quiet, okay?"

"But Ann-"

"Just leave me alone!"

Immediately regretting her outburst, Ann gasped in horror when she saw the hurtful look on Shiho's face. Smiling bitterly, the girl with the ponytail replied, "W-Well... if you want to have some time to catch your breath and resolve your feelings, it's okay. I... I won't bother you for now. Later, Ann..."

As Shiho turned, Ryuji looked back at Ann and added, "Take some time to recollect your thoughts, but do remember that we're always available to lend a listening ear, alright?"

As the two of them turned to leave, Ann spun around and growled in frustration. She had messed up again, didn't she?

Ann took a deep breath to calm herself down. Why can't she just tell them how she truly felt?


"She won't listen at all… Neither Suzui-san nor I could make her open up…"

Now sitting around at the cafeteria after the rest of them had finished shooting, the group stared down in silence. Yuki and Chihaya had left due to having to finish their project works, while Makoto, Yusuke, Haru, Futaba and Goro decided to join in.

Shiho sighed. "I'm actually really worried about her. I mean, I don't actually know her that well, but I want to help her!"

Makoto agreed with a nod. "I'm pretty sure everyone wants to help her, but the problem is, she wouldn't even speak to us. We don't even know what the heck is wrong!"

A crack of knuckles was heard as Yusuke growled angrily, "If only we could simply solve this shit by punching each of those assholes' faces… Oh wait, assholes don't even have faces to look at."

Futaba swerved towards Yusuke in shock as she muttered, "Oh, wow. Yusuke-Senpai, you're really furious. Are you okay?"

He shook his head. "No. I can't stand people getting bullied just for these types of douchebaggery, you know?"

Goro tutted at him, which just resulted in the usual glare from him. "Language, Yusuke-chan!"

"Actually," Haru began with a sinister smile growing on her face, "I managed to get the help of someone from Ann's modelling class to help Aiko Nakamura learn her lesson… Do you guys know Mika from class 3-C?"

Everyone else stared at her in horror, while Akira and Futaba just looked on in puzzlement. Akira cleared his throat and asked, "Who's that? Is she some sorta legend?"

Makoto began sniggering at the remark. "You aren't too wrong about that, Akira."

"She's Ann's senior. Apparently, she's known as a… well… a horrible person to people whom she doesn't like…" Ryuji explained as his voice faltered off from his strange phrasing before he quickly added, "Oh! But she stands up for the people whom she cares for, though! And that includes Ann! I think…"

Yusuke suddenly broke down into maniacal laughter. "Come on, Sakamoto! Admit it, you wanted to say that she was a 'Mega Bitch', didn't you?"

"Come on, Yusuke! Mika isn't that mean, either, okay? It's just that I was wondering how to really describe her in a way that suits her the best!"

"In short, you're just trying to say that Mika stands up for her friends, am I right?" Goro sighed. "Come on, Ryu-chan! I know you excel in Sciences and all, but do you really fail that badly at Language?"

"H-Hey! I scored an A in Language, okay?!"

"Doesn't seem like it, if you ask me…"

"Okay, okay! Back to the topic," Haru interrupted, catching back the attention of everyone else. "Mika has already told me that she would help ensure that Aiko learns her lesson, but we also need to ensure that Ann doesn't get harassed again, okay? That one crowd which went after her was already bad enough to make her cry, and I don't want her to freak out like that all over again, okay?"

Yusuke grinned, "Rest assured. I'll make sure no one touches her, or else…"

"Someone's enthusiastic, I see."

"He isn't the only one who's enthusiastic, you know?" Shiho giggled at Futaba before she opened her eyes and grinned. "I really can't wait to see that girl finally realise her mistakes and apologise to Ann."

"But then…" Ryuji suddenly began to frown. "I don't think we should do those types of things to Aiko either. Doing such things… Isn't it like standing at the same calibre as her? Doesn't that mean we're literally just like her? I honestly don't think Ann would appreciate us doing something like this."

Haru sighed. "Well… But for Nakamura to learn that what she's doing is wrong, we can't really do anything else, can we? All we can do is to make her realise the gravity of the situation that she had placed Ann in. We can't even talk to the teachers about this - we don't have any evidence, and she's a transfer student. Even you had said so yourself back when we were at the office."

"That's true, but… it just doesn't seem right."

However, Makoto suddenly quipped in enthusiastically. "Well, if no one's gonna help her, we are the only ones left to deal with it, right?! Come on, guys! Don't tell me you guys have forgotten about who we're acting as back in the Persona 5 game! We are acting as a group of vigilantes!"

"Plus," Akira suddenly looked up upon realisation. "This isn't just about avenging Ann or anything like that anymore. It's about showing her that she does have people by her side supporting her! The reason why she wouldn't open up to us is because she doesn't know if she could trust us with everything about her. So once she realises that we have always been by her side…"

Futaba's eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. "She would finally get to share her burden with us!"

Goro started chuckling. "Took long enough for you all to realise that. Still, it's not bad that you all finally figured it out."

"Now that I think about it…" Shiho mused. "I'm pretty sure there are people who want to help stand up for her too, but do not know how and are just too scared to do so."

"And that's why we gotta do it!" Yusuke grinned back. However, everything was interrupted when his handphone rang. "Sorry, gimme a sec… Hello? …What?! Right now?! Yo, hold the damn phone! Are you fucking with me right now?! Argh! …Fine. I'll come over."

Locking his phone once more, Yusuke gave a huff of irritation before picking up his bag and telling them, "Sorry guys, my instructor just called. I gotta go now. See ya."

As he started walking away, Haru looked at her phone. "Oh, it's actually getting pretty late. Should we all head back home now?"


Another new, horrible day in school. Ann stared at her vandalised desk, which was filled with insults and taunts scribbled all over it. She sighed as she took out a wet wipe and began scrubbing it, praying that at least some of the marks would go away.

Nothing happened. After all, the vandalism was done with permanent ink.

"Ann, do you need me to get a new desk for you?" Shiho had asked worriedly, but Ann shook her head in response.

"It's fine. I don't want to trouble you. I'm pretty sure the teachers don't even care about these types of things anymore."

She scrubbed so hard, she nearly thought that the entire surface of the table was going to fall onto the ground. But nothing happened.

It was just like back in middle school. Ann had tried getting help from others to help stop the bullying. But nothing happened. She had given up a long time ago. She was too used to it - so used to it that it actually hurt to think about it.

Both Akira and Goro were missing from their seats. They were probably trying to hide from the Mob. No one else was around to talk to her. Even Haru, who sometimes came over to talk to Ann, wasn't here because she was recently loaded with project works from her course. But she was okay with that - she needed some peace and quiet.

"Oi, Ann."

Bored, she turned towards whoever called out to her only to widen her eyes in surprise. "Oh, Yusuke? What are you doing here? Class is about to start."

"Just here to see how're ya doin'," he replied as he grabbed Akira's chair, swivelled it around and plonked himself on it. "Plus, my class is just next door, y'know. Is everything okay with you? I heard about what happened."

"You heard about it, huh… Hey, are you seriously eating right now?"

He bit into another marshmallow. "Why not? … Anyways, I'm just here to tell you to ignore whatever they say or do. Sooner or later, they'll probably give up, or you'll just have a stronger will."

She looked at him before she started giggling. "Whoa, since when did the delinquent of the school become so wise?"

"Shut up! It's just… every single one of us is really damn worried about you, you know? Come on, Ann. Just know that we are all always by your side, m'kay? Right, I guess I gotta go. Shibata is probably gonna bitch about me again if I end up late for homeroom, and I don't wanna use that stupid excuse again to get myself into detention."

"You mean, your usual catchphrase? The 'I'm not late - I'm just really early for tomorrow.'? Pfft!"

"Yeah, exactly that. See ya."

However, they suddenly heard a catcall. Yusuke spun around in irritation to see Yuuki grin at them. "Hey~ I didn't know that the delinquent of Shujin would have the hots for Ann too!"

"We are just friends, god damn it!"

"Oh? It doesn't seem like it, though!" Yuuki began snickering before he rested his head on the table and asked, "By the way, I'm kinda surprised. You're eating so much sweet stuff?"

"…You got a problem with that, Mishima?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm just surprised, because of the stereotype that girls are usually the ones who like sweet stuff. I mean, my girlfriend and sisters all loves desserts, so…"

Shiho, who had been listening to the conversation, sighed as she entered it. "I can't blame you for thinking that way… I love sweet foods too. They're my guilty pleasure. Still, that stereotype isn't always true."

Ann gulped. She hadn't apologised to Shiho let. However, how was she going to do that?

Yusuke sighed before he began walking out of the classroom. "It's not like I really care about those types of things anymore… See you later, Ann."

"Uh, okay…? See you later," she muttered before she looked up at him and smiled back, "And thanks for caring about me."

He stopped for a moment before giving her a smile and turning back towards the door.


Standing outside the classroom, Ryuji asked Yusuke while pushing up his glasses, "So, did you do what you wanted to do?"

He nodded back in response as the two began heading back to their classroom. "Yeah. Hopefully, she feels better."

"Well, I didn't know that you were the type to comfort others. It's really nice to see someone like you do that once in a while."

"What do you mean 'someone like me', Ryuji Sakamoto?!"

"Come on, calm down! It's just that… you really give off an intimidating aura to every single person who doesn't know you because of the way you act. Seriously, try to be more polite and respectful, won't you?"

Yusuke groaned. "I swear, you're really like an old man… Oi, Sakamoto."

The blond-haired boy looked back at his friend. "Hm? What is it, Yusuke?"

He tossed the half-eaten bag of marshmallows to him. "You can have it if you want. I'm not in the mood to finish 'em anymore."

Ryuji quickly caught the bag with his fast reflexes and stared back at the blue-haired man in shock. "You don't want the marshmallows anymore? This isn't like you at all… Did something happen?"

Yusuke huffed in irritation before grumbling, "Nah, it's nothing. Just don't feel like it today."

However, Ryuji could see the troubled look casted over Yusuke's eyes.


Ann was in a complete state of confusion as to what had just happened back in her modelling course. So many weird things have been happening recently, she didn't know if there were actually people out to get Aiko Nakamura.

A couple of hours back, the group of models along with the transfer students from Dentotekina High School were doing some modelling practices with each other, hence they had to go get changed into the clothes and apply make-up. However, it was at that moment when Ann noticed that Aiko was looking very distraught. Curious, she went to take a look, only to hear Aiko mutter,

"I remembered that my nail polish was pink! How the hell did it turn…"

It was only then when Ann noticed the colour of Aiko's nail polish, and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. The beautiful rose pink colour had somehow turned into a nasty puke green which would make anyone grimace at the sight of it.

Aiko groaned in dismay as she stood up and walked towards her bag. "… Ugh, someone must have sabotaged it! Darn it, now I need to go find another colour which suits this kimono…"

Ann suddenly remembered that Aiko came from a traditional school, and started to wonder. Do the models only get to wear kimonos for their photoshoot? She shook her head. Somehow, that kind of sucks… Suddenly, she had a thought a mind.

"Ann, darling. Are you okay?" Her senior, Mika, asked as she sauntered towards her. Ann had heard that Mika was also going to be acting in Persona 5 later on, but as a minor antagonist to her character, Panther.

"Um, I'm fine! I'm just wondering if I should share my nail polish with Aiko since… someone kind of destroyed her own."

"Oh, you don't have to. I'm pretty sure Namakura-san has her own set that she'd prefer to use. Plus, weren't you two enemies, or something like that?"

The blond-haired girl sighed in sadness. "I wish we weren't enemies… I really didn't want such things to happen."

Smiling gently, the brunette gave her a hug. "Don't worry about that, Ann darling. Sometimes, things just won't go the way you like it. That's life. Now, come on. Let's go and put on those jeans, and rock the catwalk!"

"Thanks, Mika," she couldn't help but smile back as Mika spun her around and gave her a gentle push towards the changing room.

Yet she couldn't help but notice the seemingly sinister grin hiding behind Mika's sweet smile, and Ann started to sense a feeling of skepticism crawl up her chest. Ann wasn't stupid enough to not notice that the cast had been meeting up without her, and had also included Shiho into their little group. She knew that they wouldn't just leave her out like that, so there must be something that they are trying to hide from her.

"Just… what the heck are they planning?"