"Akira" Normal Speech

'Akechi' People's thoughts

"Persona" Other being's speech

'Velvet' Other being's thoughts

Disclaimer: You know the drill; Persona and the SMT franchise belong to our lord Atlus.

Star I

Queen of Games

"I challenge you to a duel, Phony Princess!" The words were declared with might and in a voice so loud that she was sure everyone inside the church had heard it even though they were outside by the entrance, but even as she heard the declaration as clearly as she could the words itself still took some time to be actually understood by her brain, the proof of that being the more than a little bewildered expression that she was sure she had on her face.

An expression that she was also more than sure that it was being mirrored by her friend to her side, and just as her own green eyes kept focusing on the one responsible of saying such a thing she just had to wonder: How had her morning ended up like this?

It should have been a simply regular one, or at least that what it looked like when she had begun her way towards the church in Kanda in which she normally played.

There was only one real difference from the other times in which she had made the walk, and that was the fact that she actually wasn't making it alone. Instead she was being accompanied by someone she knew very well.

He also just so happened to be her favorite partner when it came to the game she loved, but by now that was just an extremely good added bonus.

The small talk she had done with him throughout their walk was a most pleasurable one and once again she felt glad that the raven-haired young man hadn't abandoned her once she had told him the truth.

And although she knew that the two of them meeting before reaching the church wasn't something that happened often it was still something that she wouldn't mind getting used to.

All and all her day had started quite good and considering that she would be spending most of the afternoon in the company of her friend and confidant she just knew that it would only get better from here on out. The only thing even stopping her from humming in content was that she knew he would catch on that quite fast.

And to be honest she believed that she had embarrassed herself in front of him far too many times already.

But of course things just had to go on a completely different curve for her today, didn't they?

A bad feeling on her gut had formed itself the moment the church itself had made itself obvious on their views. Normally such a place would calm her, but something told her that walking towards it would spell more trouble than it was worth it.

Not that it had stopped her of course, and now she quite regretted not just turning around and walking away with her fellow student in toe.

The first sign that something was different was the car that was parked in front of the church. She wasn't an expert or anything of cars of course, but with all the time she had spend here by now she had the confidence that she could recognize most of the ones that belonged to the regulars here.

And this one was completely different from any other she had seen here before, especially with how expensive looking the vehicle seemed to be.

And then once they had walked closer, more than ready to simply walk inside the church, one of the doors of the vehicle had been opened almost in a hurry just for someone to quickly get out of said car.

And as soon as Hifumi's eyes had landed on said person only one question had made itself present in her mind.

How could someone even get a hair like that?! She would like to consider her own raven hair fairly normal, just like the one of the young man to her side, so seeing something so…extravagant in front of her had her eyes opened in shock.

How did someone get so much red, golden and dark blue on their head, let alone get it so be so spiky?!

It had taken her a few seconds to realize that it was a girl that looked a bit younger than her, probably two years younger to be exact, but before she had even gotten the time to say something it had been that statement the one that had left the girl with the wild hair's lips.

"I challenge you to a duel, Phony Princess!"

And all of that brought her to her current situation, with both her and Akira looking at the younger girl as if she had grown a second head, and this time it had nothing to do with her appearance.

Although the pose she was doing, which one hand on her hips while she pointed at Hifumi with her other hand did little to lessen their shock.

"You know her…?" The only thing that took her out of her shock was the voice of the silver-eyed young man to her side, who had whispered his question to her while his eyes refused to move from the still posing girl.

She could only shake her head in response as her own green eyes also refused to move even an inch while her lips opened and closed for a few seconds, her mind trying to find the right words to use right now.

She decided to ignore the nickname the younger girl had used too, just for the sake of her mind.

"Excuse me…" She started slowly while a light frown made itself present on her face "Do I know you…?"

"Heh" Hifumi had feared that her question would be found rude by the other girl, but that thought was swept under the rug once the red and gold-haired girl simply smirked in response while crossing her arms over her chest "I guess I shouldn't be surprised for someone like you to not know who I am"

Now if there was a thing Hifumi would say it was that it wasn't easy to get her upset. Even when her mother had been as overbearing as one could get she had still handled it with a stride.

But even so something about the way the girl had referred to her simply ticked her off, and considering that she had used that nickname that she had gotten after the whole fiasco the green-eyed schoolgirl knew just what the girl was referring to.

A hand on her shoulder however, was enough to get the Kosei student to recover. She gave a thankful smile to the young man to her side, which he was quick to return alongside a node right before addressing the other girl.

"And what can we do for you exactly?" He asked in a neutral tone alongside a raised eyebrow, not liking how the girl had addressed Hifumi but also knowing that the shogi player herself would prefer to simply not make a scene.

"Huh? Didn't you hear me or something?" And now said girl was looking at him with no small amount of annoyance on her purple eyes as she looked between the two second year highschoolers "I said I wanted a duel with the Princess here"

"Duel…?" Hifumi wasn't able to stop herself from voicing her doubt, although if she really had to guess then there was only one thing that the girl could be referring to.

"Yes, a duel of shogi of course. You against me, one match" And now the confident smirk was back at the girl's lips "How does that sound? You think you're up to the challenge?"

Hifumi narrowed her eyes at those words for they certainly hit her competitive streak. She moved her head to look around, realizing that they had become the center of attention of everyone walking into the church.

Her gaze then landed on the silver ones of her friend who simply shrugged at her silent question, pretty much telling her that it was up to her to which she just nodded in response. She didn't really have any reasons to deny a challenge from anyone still being willing to play with her, even if the girl's attitude let a lot to be desire right now.

"Very well" Hifumi said firmly and with a nod "Let's go inside then, although I must ask you to be silent so that we don't upset anyone" She wouldn't forgive herself if this little predicament unsettled anyone on the church after all.

However at hearing those words the smirk on the girl's face was replaced by another look of annoyance, almost as if she was wondering how they could say something so dumb.

"Where the hell is the fun in that?" She complained with her hands back at her hips "No no, we must decided everything first if we want this to be fun!"

"And what do you mean by that exactly?" Akira was the once to voice out her own doubts, and simply judging by his voice she wasn't the only one confused.

It didn't help that another bad feeling suddenly made itself present for her.

"A bet of course!" The spiky girl said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "What's the point of a game if nothing is on stake?"

"I refuse then" And just as quickly came Hifumi's response, which was followed by a shake of her head. She had never, ever used her passion for gambling and right now she didn't feel like starting. She knew just how problematic things could get after all.

"Oh please, I will even make it sweet for you!" The younger girl continued while another smirk slowly appeared on her face "If you somehow manage to win I'll do my best to clean your crumbled reputation as the Phony Princess. I have quite the contacts you see, so I can certainly do such a thing if I want to…"

And even if the offer sounded too good to be truth Hifumi was still more than ready to still refuse the offer, after all she still didn't know what she would have to bet nor she believed she had anything worth such a thing in the first place.

But another squeeze on her shoulder stopped her on her tracks, and instead of her voice it was Akira the one that spoke out first.

"And if you win?" The leader of the Phantom Thieves asked swiftly with a strange glint on his eyes that Hifumi wasn't so used to seeing.

The only other time she could remember was when she had talked to him about her mother.

His own question had the purple-eyed girl looking deep in thought for a second right before her eyes landed on Akira's hand, which still just so happened to be resting on Hifumi's shoulders, the sight itself making the girl smile in a way that most definitely made Hifumi uncomfortable.

But even so nothing would have prepared her for the next thing she heard.

"You two seem quite close to one another, and …" The girl said airily while her smirk came to full force "And you aren't bad looking at all" Those words were directed towards Akira "Heh, I think I got it. After I win you will have to surrender your boyfriend to myself, Princess. Fair enough, don't you think?"

There were so many things wrong with what the girl had just said that Hifumi didn't even know where to start.

Not only was betting something like that utterly ridiculous in her opinion, they were betting a person for God's sake, but Akira wasn't even her boyfriend in the first place!

Although at the back of her mind she had to wonder if they really looked like a couple if the girl made that conclusion just by looking at them. That was probably the only thing the girl had said today that didn't get on her nerves.

And she at least had to agree that Akira was not bad looking at all. In fact if you asked her he was pretty handso-

She suddenly shook her head in a vain attempt to get rid of those thoughts. Now was not the time for that!

But if she felt reluctance to accept before then she wouldn't even think of it after hearing that, and she was more than ready to voice it out, and she would have if Akira hadn't stopped her once again.

"Give us a second" The young man said swiftly before turning around while motioning to Hifumi to follow his lead, which she was quick to do with a frown of confusion of her own.

"I know you weren't going to accept…" He whispered low enough so that only she could hear him, and once she did she simply nodded in response. Of course she wouldn't, who honestly would?

"But are you sure about that?" He continued with his talk, hoping that the shogi player would understand from where he was coming from. As someone that he considered close to him hearing others talk about her in the wrong way for what her mother had done was not something he enjoyed at all.

He knew personally how it was after all, and even if Hifumi seemed to be mostly fine with her new treatment it was still something that he wished to change no matter what, but sadly he just didn't have an actual way to do it.

At least until one had seemingly dropped into his lap. He didn't know if what the girl was saying was true, and he was more than ready to ask Futaba to dig in some information about her, but if there was a possibility to help Hifumi then he would take it without missing a beat.

"Akira-kun…" The shogi player said warningly with a frown, already getting what he was trying to do and she didn't like it one bit "You can't really expect me to bet you"

"This is your chance" He shot back without missing a beat with nothing but a friendly smile on his face "You also told me how much you wanted to play with others beside me and I think this can be a good start… even if she's rude"

She had to control herself from snorting at that since, in her opinion, that was putting it lightly. She opened her mouth to protest once again, but her words died on her throat once she saw the look on his eyes.

"And I trust you, Hifumi-sensei"

His gaze was filled with nothing but sheer confidence. Pure trust not only in her but in her skills on the game she loved and that she had taught him, and how could he not trust her when he had gone as far as to use the techniques she had taught him with the Phantom Thieves.

He had never told her that, but he didn't want to imagine just how things would have turned out without Hifumi on his side, so putting his faith on her was, in his opinion, the least he could do.

And the raven-haired girl could feel said faith from his gaze alone to the point that she had to take his gaze away from him in fear of him noticing the reddening of her cheeks. How could she say anything when he was looking at her like that? Did he really believe in her that much?

She didn't know how to express how thankful she was if that was truly the case.

"Well?! You done or what?" And for just one second Hifumi had even forgotten about the reason they had been having this conversation in the first place. The two teenagers turned around as soon as they got called by the obviously annoyed younger girl who was even tapping her foot impatiently while a glare rested on her face.

"It is up to you know" However Hifumi heard one last whisper to her side, but when she turned she only saw the smiling form of the young man she had taught about shogi. She lowered her gaze to the ground for a few seconds; multiple thoughts going through her mind almost a mile per second to the point that she was even biting her lower lip.

She just didn't want to use anyone, especially Akira of all people, like a bargaining chip just for her own entertainment, but knowing that he was willing to go as far as to allow it simply because he trusted her was the thing that ended up winning her over.

"Very well…" She said slowly, her black eyes meeting purple "I accept then" If he had so much trust in her then she would simply have to match those expectations and not lose the game.

She was his teacher after all, at least when it came to shogi, and not having confidence in one self was the last thing you could do in front of those you taught.

"Finally!" the spiky-haired girl said out loud "For a moment I thought you would chicken out, Princess, but glad to see you at least have the spirit!" She then raised a finger in front of the duo while her other hand rested on her hips "I'll be kind and give you one week to prepare then, and we will face right here after that!"

With those last words the girl actually moved inside the car, almost as if the whole thing had stopped being interesting to her, however before she closed the door of the vehicle she was quick to give one last glance to the two highschool students.

"You better not bail out on me or I'll be really sure to take your pretty boy away from you" And with that the girl was gone. She simply closed the door and not even a second later the car was driven away from the church, leaving two very perplexed teenagers.

"You know…" It was Akira the one that broke the silence first, his eyes still glued to where the car had been "We never even got her name…"

"What did I just get into…?" The girl whispered as she moved her hand to massage her forehead.

"C'mon, what's the worst that can happen?" The innocent smile that he gave her with those words did little to stop the headache mind you.

"You…can be surprisingly pushy, Akira-kun" She couldn't stop herself from commenting it but her words got nothing but a small chuckle from the Phantom Thief.

"At least we did get something out of this" He followed her words with his own, which got him a confused frown from the girl which he was quick to match with a completely serious one of his own "I am apparently not bad looking"

"I could have told you that myself…" And those words were said by her before she even got time to think about them, because as soon as she did she moved her hand over her mouth, her eyes as wide as they could get just as she saw his serious expression break into another far too innocent smile.

And the groan that she made soon after did little to stop said smile from becoming wider.

P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5P5

I'll admit I took this chapter to simply write something as light-hearted as it could get. I might continue this little side-story if you guys ended up liking it but I will understand if you don't.

With this all the female Confidants now have a chapter each. What comes next is a special one about Lavenza before we finally go back to the present and we'll see from there.

Thank you all for reading this far and sorry for the delay, I just so happen to finally get into Danganronpa last week so go and blame that franchise.

Next Chapter: Velvet.