Chapter 10: A Step Forward

March 4

Before long, February ended and March began. I spent a lot of time with Akira, who took me to all sorts of places we hadn't been to before, like the seaside park, Dome Town and the planetarium in Ikebukuro. Tokyo was so big that you could probably spend a lifetime in there and not see everything, which almost made me wonder why I'd wasted so much time in my room. Now that Akira would be leaving in a little over two weeks, I felt as though I didn't have time to waste, so I made the most of every day Akira would still be here.

It wasn't all fun and games, though, and one thing I forgot to mention was going back to high school. The entrance exams were a piece of cake, so the only steps left were to get a uniform and get officially registered. Once my going to Shujin was a done deal, Sojiro got my sizes, then called and ordered a girls' uniform for me.

The uniform wasn't in my top picks for clothes to wear, but once I put it on, I felt like a student again. Even though I knew about everything that came at school- bullying, isolating those who are "different," apathetic or mean teachers, and so on and so forth- for a moment, I felt like I'd taken another step toward taking my life back, the reason why I made the latest promise list in the first place.

The morning I got my uniform and tried it on, I took a selfie while wearing it, and sent it to Kana-chan.

Hey, Kana-chan, I got my uniform today. Here's a picture.

Before long, Kana-chan sent me a response. On Saturdays, she only had work in the afternoon, so she had time to message me today.

Wow, looking good, Futaba-chan! I'll send you one of me.

Kana-chan sent me a picture of herself that she'd taken with her phone. Her hair was the same raven black that I remembered, but she'd grown it out since I'd last since I'd seen her. Unlike me, she now wore contacts to correct her brown eyes' vision, rather than the glasses I remembered. Her uniform was a charcoal gray blazer-style uniform with the school crest on the lapel, worn with a white dress shirt and a red and blue diagonally striped necktie that apparently had the school colors.

That's a nice-looking uniform, Kana-chan.

Kana-chan replied fairly quickly.

Thanks. You can hardly tell that it's second-hand.

It was a bit of a depressing reminder that Kana-chan's family's financial situation was even worse than mine. Sojiro might often say no to some of my more extravagant requests, but even if he was often strapped for cash, at least he wasn't in debt, like the Magarios were. Kouta and Asami might deserve the consequences of living beyond their means, but Kana-chan sure as hell didn't.

Yeah, it's gotta be a pain that they make you pay for uniforms.

Kana-chan paused a little while. I wondered if I hit a sore spot, but she was pretty forthcoming about how her family was in debt once she started talking again, so she didn't mind.

I suppose, but it's actually nice that I won't be judged for not being able to afford stylish clothes. Besides, I actually kind of like my uniform- it's conservative, professional, and says "Look, I'm a high school student." That last part's more important to me than you think, considering how hard I worked to get here.

Kana-chan had a good point. This past year, while her parents had been treating her worse than ever, she'd wanted to go back to school, even though she'd had just as rough a time there as I did. Like me, she'd taken her life back, and was now proud to call herself a high school student- maybe I should, too.

You're right, and so did I. These next three years are gonna be tough, but let's work hard together.

I wrote down this promise for future reference. There would be many difficult times ahead, and I hoped that it, like my promise notes, would motivate me to continue to try hard, even when it was difficult to do so.

In the evening, I started up a IM conversation with the group, and told them about how things were going on the "going back to school" fronnt.

Makoto: I'm pleased to hear that you're going back to school.

Makoto: Shujin's reputation has been tarnished because of recent events, but other schools have similar problems.

Ann: I agree.

Ann: Ryuji, Shiho, Akira and I might have been unlucky to run afoul of Kamoshida, but there are people like him elsewhere who didn't get caught.

Now that I thought about it, Kamoshida was the one who got us all started as Phantom Thieves, when Akira and Ryuji stumbled into his Palace and met Mona in the dungeon. He did some awful things and deserved to go to prison, but maybe, Akira meeting him was a good thing for all of us.

Futaba: I've got a question.

Futaba: Am I gonna have to call you guys "senpai" now that I'm going to your school?

Ryuji: Nope.

Ann: Makoto and Haru are fine with just being called by name, so the same goes with Ryuji and I.

Haru: Ann-chan is right.

Haru: Besides, Mako-chan and I are graduating this year, so "senpai" only matters for students who are in the school at the same time.

Yusuke: I must admit that getting that degree of respect from youwould be a pleasing prospect.

Yusuke: However, since we are going to different schools, I am not your senpai, and as such, am in no position to demand that you call me that.

Akira: Me neither.

Futaba: Thanks, guys.

Futaba: It's already awkward enough calling the people I used to go with "senpai," so I'm glad I don't have to treat you guys any differently.

Makoto: Personally, as a Phantom Thief, my status as student council president, an honor student and a third-year ceased to matter.

Makoto: Since we became friends through that, we shouldn't feel as though we should concern ourselves with things like that.

I thought back to when we'd decided to steal Mementos' treasure to prevent Shido's allies from using it. At the time, I'd been scared that we'd drift apart without our common allegiance to hold us together, but so far, that hadn't proved true. We didn't know what the future would bring when we went our separate ways, but our bonds were deeper than the mission we shared, and I hoped they'd keep us together for many years to come.

March 5

Sojiro scheduled a visit to the high school for today. Even though I wasn't a student yet and school wasn't in session today, he made me wear the uniform, since he said they wanted to take a picture of me.

"This brings back memories," Sojiro said. "It's been almost a year since I drove Akira here for the same reason."

"Yeah," I said. "Akira told me that men aren't usually allowed in your passenger seat."

"That's because he's probably one of the few men who got close to me," Sojiro said. "Other than you, Akira and Wakaba, I don't think anyone has sat down there."

I giggled. Sojiro was hardly a social butterfly, and his gruff and blunt personality didn't do any favors- he was even fairly brutally honest about the fact that he was brutally honest.

"Of course, in all seriousness, I'm gonna ask you to take the subway once you start going to school, just like Akira did," Sojiro said. "You'll have a student pass, of course, so you won't have to pay when going between Yongen-jaya and Aoyama-Ichtome, so the commute to school's free. Just make sure you're on time on your first day, though, unlike Akira."

"Yeah, about that..." I said. "You do know that he got dragged into the Palace back then?"

"I do now," Sojiro said, "but it was so hard to believe back then. Besides, with him being treated like a criminal, the last thing he needed was to start off on the wrong foot. It was my job to keep him out of trouble, and that's what I tried to do, even if I didn't go about it the best way."

It was obvious that now that I was going to school, Sojiro saw it as a second chance of sorts, to do a better job with me than he thought he had with Akira, and connect with me in a way he hadn't while I was still a shut-in who was grieving and blaming herself for her mother's death. Both of Akira and I were really lucky to have someone like him looking after us, though, so he didn't have to worry about that too much.

Once at the school, Sojiro and I headed to the principal's office, although it'd be more accurate to say that the inhabitant was the interim principal. After Principal Kobayakawa suffered a mental shutdown and got hit by a truck, the former vice-principal filled the role while the school looked for a replacement. Since he'd probably been one of those who turned a blind eye to Kamoshida's actions, I got a bad feeling about him the moment I saw him.

The guy gave a standard orientation for new students, talking about the first-rate education this place offered. Enough time had passed since the Kamoshida incident that the school could start trying to treat it as a thing of the past. Sweeping it under the rug stopped being an option once Kamoshida confessed in front of the entire school, but they could minimize how much people talked about it.

Sojiro and I filled out some paperwork together, and I took a quick look at the school rules. With all the things that weren't allowed here- although "stealing hearts" wasn't officially one of them- it was amazing that Akira had managed to stay out of trouble as long as he had, save for the time Kamoshida tried to get him expelled on trumped-up charges.

A school photographer took my photo for the student directory and my student ID, and issued me the latter. Once he did, I noticed that it looked like my middle school ID, which I'd discarded over a year ago. At this point, everything seemed familiar, and I wondered if high school was just middle school with tougher classes and the impending choice between higher education and the workforce. For some, those choices were easy, while others couldn't see any good options.

I had to admit I was luckier than many of my peers, who, as incoming second-years, would have to seriously think about these sorts of things. I could see why people might be jealous of me, but many of them were popular and good at sports, unlike me. We all had to struggle with various things, so it didn't make sense to begrudge others for what they could do well.

On the way out, we ran into one of Akira's teachers, Sadayo Kawakami, a brunette with short ruffled hair whose outfit, a yellow top and denim skirt, was a bit more casual than most of the other teachers' clothing.

"Oh, Sakura-san," Kawakami said. "What brings you here?"

"She does," Soiro said, gesturing toward me. "This is Futaba Sakura, my daughter, and I came here to officially get her enrolled here."

"I see," Kawakami said. "I'm Sadayo Kawakami, Kurusu-kun's homeroom teacher. It's nice to meet you, Sakura-san."

I looked blankly, a bit confused at Kawakami addressing me the same way she addressed Sojiro.

"Sorry, she changed her last name some time ago," Sojiro said. "That's all I feel comfortable saying without her permission."

Kawakami nodded. It was natural for teachers to be privy to some aspects of their students' private lives while only realizing they were the tip of the iceberg. I was personally keeping my knowledge of that Takase guy's tragic story a secret, as well as the knowledge of how Kawakami was a maid.

"Whether Isshiki or Sakura, it's been a long time since anyone's called me by my last name," I said. "When they say 'Sakura-san,' I usually assume they mean Sojiro here."

"Ah," Kawakami said. "You'll probably get used to hearing your last name with an honorific fairly quickly, since they're trying to be polite. It's best if you reciprocate the courtesy, at least until you get close enough to get on more familiar terms."

I nodded, but pondered what Kawakami had said. Akira and Kawakami trusted each other, but Kawakami kept a certain distance from him, simply because they were student and teacher.

"Speaking of which, Ms. Kawakami," Sojiro said, "I wanted to thank you for getting some of the Shujin faculty to speak out in support of freeing Akira. It's nice to see teachers stand up for their students, especially when that student is a guy I know."

"I appreciate your kind words, sir," Kawakami said, "but I didn't help that much. Not many of the teachers joined me, and the ones who did seemed to join because it'd look bad if they didn't."

From what Akira told me, his teachers went with the flow, admiring our various targets until they fell from grace, and joining the public as they clamored for the Phantom Thieves' heads to roll. As such, it was pretty obvious that hardly any of them could be counted on to support their students out of any sort of principle, with perhaps one exception.

"That's not really surprising," Sojiro said. "But what about you?"

"I personally owed it to Kurusu-kun to help him in some way," Kawakami said. "When he first got here, I bought into everyone labeling him as a delinquent, repeating the same mistake I'd made with a student who... passed away some time ago. Kurusu-kun never seemed to give up on me, though, even after our rough start and hearing about my past mistakes, so I believed he didn't deserve to be treated like that."

I remembered a few details about Kawakami's old student. Apparently, the guy had been exploited by his guardians, and was forced to work for them to pay off their debts, until he died in a car accident. The guy sounded like he was really hard working, so I didn't get how a guy like him could be labeled unfavorably, but I was probably missing some information there.

"I'll see you at school, Sakura-san," Kawakami said, "and I hope I'll have you in my homeroom when you get to your second year."

"Me too, Ms. Kawakami," I said.

I'd never really liked teachers, seeing them as more authority figures than people who wanted to help me. Ms. Kawakami was different, though, since she seemed to do her job for the students, rather than just for a living. Kawakami was honest with me, had done her best to help Akira, Takase, and her other students, and even if she made mistakes, she did what she could to move on and do the right thing, rather than get bogged down in guilt. I couldn't tell how my first and last years of high school would go, but I'd at least have a teacher I could count on in the year in between those.

On the way back, Sojiro got stuck in traffic for the third time in a year- and this time, I was in the car with him. As Sojiro stopped behind the last car, he cursed under his breath as it slowly dawned on him that he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon, and neither would the cars that were pulling up behind him..

"Not again..." Sojiro said.

"Well, at least you're in good company," I said, looking around and seeing all the other cars that were backed up. "It wouldn't be a traffic jam if everyone else weren't trying to use this road."

Sojiro chuckled.

"True," Sojiro said. "It sometimes makes me wonder why I bother with owning a car."

The traffic wasn't showing any signs of moving, and I could faintly hear on the radio that we were stuck in another jam- too late for it to do us any good.

"So, what do you think?" Sojiro said.

"I'm not really enthusiastic," I said. "If a teacher like Kamoshida can get away with what he did for so long, then it doesn't seem like a good sign for how much the students or faculty care about doing the right thing."

"I know," Sojiro said. "It doesn't mean they're bad people, though, just as scared and oppressed as you might be."

I had to conclude that all our heroics as Phantom Thieves were only possible because of the powers that had been bestowed upon us, a power we had since lost after our epic battle with Yaldabaoth. Now, we were just like everyone else, struggling to get by while remaining true to ourselves and our ideals.

"I guess," I said ."Still, I suppose I want to do better than just going with the flow ."

Sojiro nodded, as the traffic finally started to move forward a little. He'd realized that his harsh stance with Akira had been a mistake, and that sticking up for others was no. He didn't know what I should do, but he felt compelled to encourage us in his own way, so I was glad that he did.

We got back home, where Akira was waiting. Akira sat in one of the booths, working on a coffee-themed crossword puzzle, while Mona watched him. For once, he was the one with abundant free time, while I was busy with school-related stuff.

"We're back," Sojiro said.

"Welcome back," Akira said to Sojiro before turning to me. "So, Futaba, what do you think?"

"Of the school?" I said. "I'm not exactly enthusiastic so far, and I think you've got some idea why. It doesn't help that everyone I know well, except two or three people, has graduated or transferred out."

"I know," Akira said. "The best part about the school is all the people I met there- Ryuji, Ann, Shiho, Mishima, Makoto, Haru and Ms. Kawakami. Unfortunately, the fact that there were good people there doesn't make it a good school- in fact, most of those people had at least as hard of a time as I did."

"Yeesh, can't you try to put a better spin on it?" Sojiro said. "At this rate, Futaba's gonna have second thoughts."

If Sojiro was hoping Akira would do a better job of selling me on going to school, he'd be disappointed. Akira's time at Shujin Academy had been anything but ordinary, from making an enemy of Kamoshida to faking his own death, so the only way he could wholeheartedly say anything good about it would involve a fair bit of lying. Akira was too cynical and honest to do something like that, though, so he decided to put another spin on it.

"How about this?" Akira said. "Futaba, it may be true that you might not make many- or even any- new friends there, but in life, we often only meet a handful of people who truly matter to us. I might be leaving, but I'll keep in touch, and you still have everyone else, so feel free to rely on your friends when things get tough."

I nodded appreciatively, and Sojiro listened in silent approval.

"One more thing," Akira said. "You might want to try talking to a guy called Kaoru Iwai if you get a chance. He's an incoming first-year like you, and you might end up having some things in common."

I didn't know what this Kaoru guy's story was, so I was tempted to ask Akira, but I thought better of it. My intuition told me that he, like me, had his secrets, and Akira was serious about keeping what Kaoru said between them. The full story would be up to Kaoru to tell when and if he opened up to me, but from what I hard, I was interested in at least talking to him, taking the first step to opening up to new people.

"Gotcha," I said. "I'll keep an eye out for an 'Iwai' in my class roster."

A part of me still didn't want to go to school, although I knew I wasn't alone in thinking that. Some reluctant students were lazy, others had trouble making the grade, still others didn't fit in, and there were myriad other reasons. It was a reasonable guess that among all those students, I'd find one with whom I could connect, just like I had with Kana-chan all those years ago. There were a lot of reasons why I didn't like school, but it was always nice to think of one reason why it might not be so bad, after all.

Author's Notes

Thank you for the reviews.

Shujin Academy is probably the worst school I can think of in Persona 3-5, at least in terms of the school environment. The administration is highly corrupt and a teacher who verbally and sexually abused his students went unpunished for years because he created a climate in which most people felt helpless. Your schoolmates can often be heard spreading malicious rumors in the early game, especially about you and Ann, and they, quite hypocritically, get on Makoto's case for not doing anything about Kamoshida.

In the Persona series, the concept of "senpai" seems to be more relaxed than in some parts of Japanese society, and the only obligation seems to be that the kohai address their senpai as such (although Makoto does lament that she's not able to be a good senpai to you on your Ferris Wheel date), and the Persona 5 third-years don't expect even that.

I decided not to include Futaba's studies for the high school entrance exams, in large part because she's smart enough that those are trivially easy for her, and partly because the game isn't very clear on when those take place, although Kaoru spends much of the game going to cram school to prepare for his.

Next up is White Day. We're almost to the end of the fic.

Days until Akira moves out: 14