A/n: 2017/05/22. After around a month and a half, my first Persona 5 journey is over. I've just beatten P5 yesterday (now heading into new game plus!). It was great. Even though I had stumbled into major spoilers beforehand, a lot of stuff in the game completely blew me away, especially by the end. Now, on to adapting the post-Kaneshiro events into this "Dark Hour in P5" universe for a possible sequel to "The Queen's Plan..."
The Queen's Plan
Written by Aiyumi
Disclaimer: Persona and all related characters are property of Atlus. Any trademarks that may be referenced in this fan fiction are properties of their respective owners. I am just a fan and do not have any relations to said people/companies.
Chapter 14: Confidence
Kazushi got a phone call just as he finished filling a small bottle with coffee.
"Hello?" He answered the call.
"Hi, Kazushi-kun! Kujikawa here!"
"Oh, Kujikawa-san. It's been a while."
"Yeah. I finally got some free time, and decided to contact both of you! Nothing new about the Dark Hour to report, but you know, the new group of Persona users interests me."
"... The new... group?" That was strange. During his last talk with Kujikawa-san, Kazushi had never mentioned anything about the new Persona users being in a group.
"Yeah, I mean the Phantom Thieves." Kujikawa-san went straight to the point. "Kazushi-kun, I just wanna confirm something." She lowered her voice. "You're the leader of the Phantom Thieves, aren't you?"
"... Huh?" Kazushi definitely didn't see that one coming, and momentarily lost his composure. He nearly dropped the coffee bottle he had just filled.
"Don't worry. I'm on your side. I won't get you in trouble." Kujikawa-san assured him. "The thing is, I had detected that you had multiple Personas, just like the leader of my group. Then, Makoto-chan told me that she had infiltrated the Phantom Thieves and fallen in love with their leader, who happened to have multiple Personas, and it occurred to me that it was probably you."
Kazushi couldn't deny it anymore. "Uh, yeah, you nailed it. You're a better detective than our high school detective here."
The idol giggled. "I told you that I used to do a lot of detective work back in the day! I've been following your group's achievements. They're very interesting! Your group gets a lot of attention, but many people misunderstand it, too. I know how it is, trust me. Dealing with Persona-related incidents is complicated. My group got in trouble with the police and stuff, too. So, don't worry. I'm on your side." She repeated. "It's sad that there are a lot of misinformed people that totally misunderstand what you do, and it's even more sad that this also seemed to include Makoto-chan. I thought it was strange that Makoto-chan was hanging out with you without knowing who you were, but then she showed she didn't seem to like the Phantom Thieves very much, and I figured I shouldn't reveal your identity to her. How didn't she recognize you, though?"
"Our Personas somehow help hide our identities."
"Ah, I see. It didn't feel right to have her misunderstand your group like that, and I decided to send her the link to the website, since she still didn't seem to have seen it. I had been busy, and only got around to sending her the website link a few minutes ago. And she answered me that she liked it and praised your group! I think she gets it now."
So, the website won Niijima-san over? Showing her the website had crossed Kazushi's mind once, but he was sure that she would either refuse to check it, or misunderstand it completely, just like she did with everything they tried to explain to her.
"Uh... thanks for your help." Kazushi didn't know how else to respond.
"You're welcome. And be sure to take good care of her, okay? You two have my support!"
"Huh? What are you talk-" Kazushi couldn't finish his question because Kujikawa-san ended the call.
Either way, Kazushi was still worried about Niijima-san. The way she had broken down earlier still bothered him. Was she okay now? And would it be okay to have her come with them to the Palace at the Dark Hour today? He thought about contacting Niijima-san to check up on her, but how should he go about it? His other identity wasn't supposed to know what had happened at school, and his normal identity couldn't tell her to not go out this Dark Hour if she wasn't feeling well. On further thought, telling her not to come actually wasn't a good idea. Judging from the "uselessness complex" she had exhibited earlier, she might get the wrong idea and think he was ditching her.
Kazushi spent his afternoon making supplies for the exploration. After that, he was exhausted. However, he couldn't hold it in anymore and emailed Niijima-san. He didn't wait for a reply, though.
"Morgana, wake me up in forty minutes," was all he said before collapsing on the mattress.
Makoto had barely managed to get her homework done, and had no disposition for martial training. She was staring blankly at the fridge.
"Makoto, I won't be back home today. Don't wait for me," was what Sae had said.
There were no leftovers in the fridge, which meant that Makoto would need to cook dinner. Today she had no disposition for cooking at all. If Sae were to have dinner at home, Makoto would have cooked for her sake, but this wasn't the case, and she gave up.
Makoto thought how she was a burden to her sister. Since Makoto still didn't have a job, she was only creating more expenses for Sae, who always had to work so hard to support her. And for what? Makoto hadn't accomplished anything in her life. Her grades at school were excellent, but that was it. Makoto was a failure as a Student Council President, as a responsible sister, and as a Phantom Thief. Sae was wasting her hard-earned money on Makoto for nothing. Maybe Makoto shouldn't eat dinner so that she could save Sae's resources up.
An email notification from her cellphone pulled Makoto out of her thoughts. Her heart started pounding once she realized that Joker was contacting her.
"Queen, how are you doing? Today is our last day to find the treasure. If things get rough, we might have to push ourselves more than usual. Be sure to be prepared and rested. We will be waiting in front of the school."
"Joker..." Makoto muttered the Phantom's code name. This message was quite long for his standards, and for the first time, he had asked her how she was doing. His messages were usually short and to the point, without even a greeting. This one was a nice change of pace. Could it mean that he was opening up more?
"Joker, I'm okay." She replied. "Thank you for the advice. Ill see you later."
In the end, Makoto decided to eat at least a few slices of bread. She wouldn't want to collapse in the middle of the mission and cause even more problems to the Phantom Thieves.
At the Dark Hour, Makoto met up with the Phantom Thieves in front of the school Palace like she had agreed. Joker threw her a critical look but said nothing and guided everyone into the Palace.
"Um, everyone, I have something important to say." Makoto spoke up once they had teleported to the last safe room they had visited in Kaneshiro's Palace.
Everyone looked at her. Joker's penetrating gaze made her feel self-conscious, and she recoiled.
"Joker... s-sorry. I know we should be hurrying and-"
"Just say it." Joker cut her off.
"Um... right." Makoto fidgeted. She lowered her head shyly. "Everyone, I... I need to apologize. Today I saw the website, and finally realized how wrong I was about what you do. Before, I had thought you were doing bad things and giving a lot of purposefully complicated and far-fetched excuses to camouflage your actions. However, I realized that the truth is completely different. Your actions have good results. You can really reach into your targets' subconscious and remove corruption from their hearts, and they truly repent of their sins. I talked to Mr. Kamoshida in prison, and could attest to this. Others with similar powers could very well abuse them and mess people's minds indiscriminately. But you don't. From the website, I could gather that you have rigorous criteria to determine who really should be targeted. You all are amazing. I've snapped at you and said a lot of bad things to you several times in the past. I'm sorry."
"Whoa. It looks like someone suddenly had a big change of heart," Mona said. "Could it be because our awesome leader 'took her heart?'"
"I didn't do anything," Joker said.
"Joker. Mona is right. You're awesome." Makoto stared at him admiringly. "And yes, you took my heart."
"Awww..." Panther made a cute face at them, and reminded Makoto that she had spoken her statement aloud in front of everyone.
Makoto tried to shake the embarrassment off. "... A-anyway! I had previously said that I wouldn't contribute to what you all are doing. Forget what I had said. Now I see that you're fighting for the same justice that I believe in. So, I... I wouldn't mind... no, I would like to become a permanent member."
"You don't even need to ask." Joker agreed without a second thought, much to Makoto's surprise.
Skull chuckled. "Honestly, I've been taking for granted that you're a member all this time."
"Yeah." Panther agreed. "Aside from the fact that you were misunderstanding us, I had even forgotten that you were supposed to be a temporary member."
Their kind reception warmed Makoto's heart. "Wow, really? Thank you." However, that feeling didn't last long, and her doubts resurfaced. "That being said, though, I have no idea what I can do to help you. So far, all I've been doing is hinder the group. Someone always needs to stay behind with me instead of fighting because my Persona didn't awaken yet. It's taking too long. This isn't normal, is it? I wonder if I really have a Persona to begin with..."
"You're conscious during the Dark Hour. Of course you have one!" Mona tried to assure her. "You've defeated Shadows using toy guns and such, too. I doubt they'd have been so effective if you didn't have the potential to awaken a Persona. It will awaken when the time comes."
"As for what you can do for now." Joker looked at Makoto. "I'm pretty sure you've been doing this already. But for now, just observe our battles and familiarize with the different strategies. This will give you a head-start once your Persona awakens."
Panther smiled assuringly. "You're getting quite good at stealth, too. Once you get your Persona, I'm sure you'll get up to speed in no time!"
Makoto still wasn't convinced, but stopped arguing for now. She had wasted their time enough already.
"That being said, let's begin the exploration." Joker commanded, and the group set off.
The Phantom Thieves hurried through the bank Palace and tried to avoid as many battles as they could. For the ones they couldn't, Joker threw balls of something that exploded into smoke to distract the enemies, and this gave an opening for the Phantom Thieves to run away.
Makoto was curious. "Where does Joker get these items?"
"He makes them." Panther answered.
"Makes them?" Come to think of it, he had said he also made ammunition for their toy guns. "How does he do that?"
"He uses the stuff we get from Shadows. Making those items takes a lot of time, though. He said that he'd have to spend the whole afternoon preparing our supplies."
"Wow..." Makoto uttered in admiration. "He's quite dedicated to the group's cause, to choose to spend his free time with these things. I just hope he isn't neglecting his studies by doing this."
"Of course he's dedicated to the cause. He takes it very seriously. Don't worry. He takes studies seriously, too."
Makoto was glad to hear that. "But does he always make those items all by himself? Don't you guys help him?"
"Mona is the one teaching him. We tried to help make the items, but none of us have the knack for that. I couldn't get those items right no matter how much I tried. Skull doesn't have the patience for handcrafting. Fox only kept marveling at the weird visuals of the different ingredient combinations and didn't get any work done. In the end, all we did was waste materials and Joker's time."
There was no easy way to split the workload, then. Poor Joker... Makoto would gladly have helped him make the items if she had known how.
The Phantom Thieves ran out of smoke balls, and couldn't escape from battles as easily anymore. They found themselves caught in many fights, and their SP drained quickly. They began resorting to using physical attacks and HP-restoring drinks to perform physical attacks and conserve SP, but many enemies were strong against melee attacks or gunshots, and the Phantom Thieves were forced to use SP. It got to the point that they had to have a soft drink after nearly every fight, and it still wasn't enough.
They were only twenty minutes into the Dark Hour, and so much had happened in such a short time. Their stock of soft drinks was already gone. Joker gave them small bottles of coffee, and they managed to recover their SP a little, though it clearly wouldn't last long.
"Hey, Mona! No signs of the treasure room yet?" Skull asked impatiently.
"No, I've got nothing."
"Grrr!" Skull gritted his teeth. "We aren't gonna make it!"
"Hang on. Just a bit more." The leader encouraged the group.
"How many times are you gonna repeat that?!" Skull snapped. "If not even Mona can tell, how'd you know!?"
"We walked a lot during all our expeditions here. It can't be too far." Joker reasoned.
Skull sighed. "How can you be so optimistic?!"
"I'm with the leader." Fox spoke up.
"Yeah!" Mona agreed.
"Sorry Skull, but you're the only pessimist here." Panther smirked at Skull.
"We must do everything we can." Joker addressed the group. "Don't forget why we had to shorten the deadline in the first place."
"Huh? You had to shorten the deadline?" This was the first Makoto had heard of that.
Mona was the one who answered. "Uh, well, initially the deadline had been until the middle of next week, but we heard of... some stuff. Basically, if we don't stop Kaneshiro before a certain date, some major bad thing may happen. This is why we're in a hurry."
"Oh..." Makoto chose not to comment, but she was feeling bad. If only Joker hadn't taken that blow for her, he wouldn't have become incapacitated for one day. They would have had one extra day to explore, and this wouldn't be happening. Why didn't it occur to her to buy anything to help them restore SP, either? She was such a burden to them...
Joker's gaze shot towards Makoto, then his eyes flared with determination. "Let's continue on. We still have more than half of the Dark Hour left. I have a coffee bottle for each member."
"Will that be enough?" Skull voiced his doubt.
Everyone ignored Skull's pessimism and pressed on.
"Ah! What is this?!" Skull gasped when they reached a spacious room. There stood more ATM people, and holograms of exaggerated huge coins came down from above like rain. "How obsessed with money can this guy get!?"
"How could I have guessed that this man was from the mafia...!" It was one of those ATM people.
"Wait one more month, please!" An ATM with a girl's voice pleaded.
The disembodied voice from the other day spoke again. "If you have no money to pay the debt, then you'll have to work for it. Using... your body. Get her!"
Then, half a dozen men in black appeared and dragged the ATM girl by force. The girl screamed and struggled to break free, without success.
"Bastard!" Skull shouted.
"Ah!" Panther closed her eyes and covered her mouth in horror. "No, no, no, I don't want to know the rest..."
"Young girls are so useful," The disembodied voice said. "They're easy to manipulate, and we can never have more than enough of them, as the demand for them is very high."
Anger sparked inside Makoto at the implications of the inappropriate kind of "work" Kaneshiro was likely subjecting those girls to. That was so despicable!
Suddenly, the ATMs disappeared from the scene, a door burst open, and a bulky humanoid Shadow came out from it. "Hmm. I had thought it was quite noisy around here lately. So, this is what we have here. A band of pesky thieves!"
That voice... it was the same as the disembodied voice from earlier.
"There's no mistaking it! It's the Shadow from the Palace's owner's corrupt heart!" Mona informed everyone.
That was Kaneshiro's Shadow! "... Kaneshiro...!" Makoto gritted her teeth.
Kaneshiro's Shadow spoke. "I won't let you steal my fortune! No, better yet. Since you came all the way here, I'll make you part of my money-generating machine. I see that you have two young pretty girls back there..."
Makoto gasped. That Shadow could only be referring to Panther and herself! "No! We would never...!"
The job market can be harsh for women. You should be grateful that I'm giving you this opportunity to make easy money."
That statement hit close to home. Makoto recalled how Sae always complained that the job market was harsh to women.
"Hmm..." The Shadow sized the two girls up. "That talented young prosecutor is the one who interests me the most, but I guess the two of you will do for now."
Makoto had a bad feeling about those words. "Prosecutor...?"
"Ah, yes. Niijima. Sae Niijima, yes, that's her name."
Makoto's eyes widened in shock, and she couldn't keep from exclaiming. "Sis...!?"
"What?!" Panther was also shocked.
Makoto couldn't believe that. Did Kaneshiro know that Sae was planning to come to the nightclub, too? "How do you know about her?!"
"Don't underestimate me. I have connections. With some guys from the police, to be more exact. I've bribed them and done them a few favors so that they won't bother me. This includes getting rid of people that are in their way."
"So, this is the real reason the police refuses to go after him..." Fox concluded. "Corruption in the police, out of all places...!"
"This is worse than I had thought..." Joker muttered.
The other Phantom Thieves gritted their teeth.
Kaneshiro's Shadow was still talking. "I've heard that the young prosecutor is getting quite nosy lately... I was only waiting for them to cue me to go after her, but now that her cute little sister came waltzing into my place, I just had a better idea. Kidnapping her sister to attract her here, then demanding huge sums of money that she obviously won't have, which will leave her with only one option..." The Shadow laughed deviously at his schemes.
"No...!" Makoto was horrified, and her stomach lurched at the implications.
"We won't allow this!" Joker was furious. "You won't be laying your filthy hands on her nor her sister!"
Joker was defending her! As much as Makoto usually insisted she didn't need protection, hearing Joker defend her made her heart skip a beat.
"That's what we'll see. Get the girls!" Kaneshiro's Shadow commanded, and security guards appeared from all directions. "I have some more income to count. Be sure to capture them and report back to me before I finish. I need the short-haired one. You may do what you will with the other one. And get rid of the other thieves." The Shadow said to the guards and excused himself.
The security guards exploded into multiple Shadows each and began surrounding everyone. Panther was occupied with her own share of problems and couldn't protect Makoto. Approaching the enemies to use melee attacks was too risky. Makoto had no more of those elemental spell gems, either. With no other choice, she took her toy revolver and shot a few bullets at the incoming enemies, but her shots merely bounced off of them. Her only means of defense didn't work.
Makoto's feeling of helplessness intensified by the second. All Persona users were busy handling the numerous Shadows, while she didn't even have a Persona to defend herself. The enemies were closing in on her. "Joker! Help me!"
However, Joker was frantically dodging left and right as he was forced to fight three Shadows at once, and had no way to come to Makoto's aid.
In fact, neither had the other Phantom Thieves. Everyone had their hands full and was having a hard time to even protect themselves.
This meant that Makoto was on her own. Her biggest fears came to the surface again. The fear of failing others. The fear of not being good enough. And Makoto realized that this was what was happening right now. The Phantom Thieves had accepted her as a permanent member. However, the truth was that she wasn't good enough to be in the group. Not only that, but she had also disrupted their mission by getting Joker knocked out for one day. What a failure she was...
The Shadows were ready to charge at her, and Makoto could do nothing. Her academics and her status as Student Council President meant absolutely nothing in the current situation. The only thing that mattered was having a Persona, which she didn't. She was such a burden to everyone. She only generated more expenses to her sister, scolded and nagged the Syujin students, and was of no help to the Phantom Thieves at all. Maybe it would indeed be better for her to end here, so that everyone got rid of the burden that she was...
Resigned, Makoto closed her eyes and awaited her fate. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.
Everyone, I'm sorry. She apologized as a thought. I tried, but I'm really not good enough. Sis, goodbye. Sorry for not having grown into the sister you wanted. I did what I could, but I can't become like you. I can't do anything for you, but I believe the Phantom Thieves will save you. Makoto felt like crying, even though it wouldn't help her in any way. Joker, I love you so much. I wished I'd be the one to make you happy, but I don't deserve you. Miura. I had told you so many times that I'd help fix your reputation, but it looks like I can't keep my word. Yes, I knew it. I'm not qualified to help others as I can't even solve my own problems. Sorry to have given you false hopes. I can't help you with your music performance, either. It's the end of the line for me. I only wish you knew that you were loved... I wish you knew how much I like you... but I guess it doesn't matter now...
Makoto lost her senses, and her consciousness faded away.
X:X:X:X:X
"Don't tell me you're giving up." Came the familiar voice. "This is so unlike you!"
"But I can't do anything. In the end, I'm not good enough..." Makoto lamented weakly, with her eyes closed.
"What happened to your self-confidence?!" Johanna snapped. "Are you going to have Miura's protection during that first Dark Hour be in vain? Are you going to make Joker's pain for having taken a dangerous blow for you be in vain?!"
"...!" Makoto gaped, stunned, only able to listen as Johanna scolded her.
"Have you forgotten all your plans? What about getting a job to relieve your sister of her burden?"
"..."
"What about those three days that you agreed to wait? What about helping fix Miura's reputation at school? Or starting a relationship with Joker and supporting him in his life? Have you forgotten all of that!"
Makoto lowered her head. "I'm not good enough for either of them..."
"What are you talking about? Even though you didn't show any special ability, Joker still said that he likes you, that he likes to be with you. Didn't he?"
"..." Makoto said nothing.
"You should follow Miura's example. He's gone to hell and back all by himself, with no support and no recognition from anyone. He truly knows what it means to not be good enough. Yet, he still has his head in the right place and remains standing strong. On the other hand, look at you. Cowering and giving in at the first adversity that appears..."
Makoto recalled Miura's words. "It'll be fine. It might seem easy to say, but for one, you aren't extremely unlucky with nearly everything going wrong like me. This is one big advantage you have right there."
Miura's image flashed in Makoto's mind, with his usual neutral expression. If Makoto hadn't gotten to know him better, she would have never found out that behind that neutral mask was someone with a strong will, hardened by injustice and lack of support.
"Miura..." Makoto chuckled bitterly. "I keep trying to help him, but in the end, he's always the one who helps me, always the one who cheers me up and makes me feel better..."
"If you give up here and don't come back, I'm sure Miura will be sad." Johanna argued. "Is this what you want?"
"... No."
"Not only him. If anything bad were to happen to you, the Phantom Thieves would also be sad."
"The Phantom Thieves..." Makoto recalled Joker saying that they considered her as one of them.
"You need to pull yourself together and do something!"
"But what can I do to get out of this situation? I don't even have a Persona..."
Johanna scoffed. "What are you talking about? Your Persona is right here. Open your eyes, Makoto."
Makoto did as suggested. To her surprise, this time her eyes actually obeyed her command and opened. She gasped, face to face with a girl identical to herself, except for the yellow eyes. "Johanna... are you really... my Shadow?"
"Yes. You are chained by the values you've learned from the time you were a child. You were instructed to be on your best behavior, and obey those rules no matter what. However, not all those rules sit right with you, and sometimes you want to disagree and go against them, but you don't. You are afraid of losing your way, of defying those bothersome values and being regarded as a bad girl, instead of the exemplar girl the adults tried to make you into. I am that part of you that refuses to accept certain rules and wants to rebel."
Makoto could only stare at her Shadow with eyes wide and mouth agape.
Johanna hadn't finished yet. "Now you realize that the Phantom Thieves' actions aren't what you had imagined. They actually fight for the same justice that you believe in. And they accepted you as a permanent member of their group. Now, it's time to fight alongside them. Come on. Set me free, and I will become your strength."
"Set you... free...?"
Before Makoto had time to get an answer from Johanna, she woke up.
X:X:X:X:X
Makoto snapped out of her dream, and found herself back in the middle of the action.
One of the Shadows, which was one of those talking monsters, laughed at her mockingly. "Girls. So fragile, but so useful. As playthings, that is."
Those words reminded Makoto of Kaneshiro's disgusting methods, and her anger flared up. When she realized it, she was snapping at the Shadow. "Repeat that if you dare, you worthless piece of crap!"
"How insolent! Everyone, get her!" The Shadow cried, and many of the other enemies turned their focus to Makoto.
"Queen!" Panther found an opening and began moving to go protect Makoto, but then...
That's it. Release the anger and nonconformism that you have been bottling up for all these years!" It was Johanna's voice, but this time, Makoto was sure that she was wide awake.
Before Makoto even had time to think, her anger exploded as blue flames that engulfed her whole body.
Everything trembled. A few Shadows froze in their tracks, and allowed the Phantom Thieves to finish them off.
"Oh! This is...!" Fox risked a glance in Makoto's direction.
"At last." Joker smirked. "At last, it's coming... it's coming!" Joker laughed like a maniacal villain, as though he were the one awakening to a Persona.
Makoto glared menacingly at the enemies. Even though she couldn't see her own state, her eyes turned yellow, much like Johanna's. Makoto felt an intense pain through her whole body. The flames that engulfed her were solidifying into a resilient material and forming clothes over her school uniform. A red liquid not unlike blood began leaking from her face. Makoto was getting scared at the unusual, gruesome experience. However, there was something inside her that was stronger than that fear. She felt a strong surge of power building up inside her.
"I can feel it..." Makoto muttered. "This is... me..."
"I am thou, and thou art I." Johanna's voice boomed inside Makoto's head. "Fight for the justice thou believeth in! No matter how perilous is the road to thy desired justice, I will get thou through it!"
The red liquid had solidified into an iron mask on Makoto's face, and the blue flames had formed biker style clothes over her Syujin uniform. The pain in her face was so strong that Makoto had the urge to rip the mask off. And this was what she did, with an agonizing scream.
"Aaaaaaaaaah! Personaaaaaaa!" The word automatically shot out of her mouth, and the mask came off.
Blue flames came out of her mask and took the shape of a peculiar Persona.
"W-wow..." Skull was the only one able to utter anything at the surprising sight. All the other Phantom Thieves were speechless.
So far, everyone else's Personas had humanoid appearances. Well, there was Skull's Persona who rode a ship, but still, Makoto's was different. Her Persona was a bike, out of all things, and with a woman's face on the front.
"Girls are playthings, you say?" Makoto glared disdainfully at the talking Shadow. "Sorry to inform you, but you chose the wrong kind of beings to play with."
The Shadows either took a step back or cowered in fear.
"One more thing." Makoto continued, in an imposing tone that rivaled Joker's. "It's very dangerous to be standing in the way of a motorcycle. Things like this can happen."
In a flash, Makoto jumped on her bike Persona and charged at the enemies. Her bike shot forward at a high speed, and only stopped after it had run over and exploded four Shadows.
All other Shadows were frozen in fear.
"Didn't you hear what I said?" Makoto mocked them. "Then, the roar of the motors will be the last thing you'll ever hear!"
She didn't give the Shadows time to react. She circled the environment and mercilessly ran over all Shadows she came across. Even the Phantom Thieves had to stand back to avoid being in her way.
"Let's also do our part. We don't want to let Queen steal all the action, do we?" Joker had a satisfied smirk on his face as he took his knife and engaged the nearest Shadow in battle.
The others wordlessly nodded and followed suit.
Soon, they had gotten rid of all Shadows in the room.
Makoto was feeling great like she hadn't felt in a long time. She hadn't imagined that letting loose could make her feel so good. It was as though her worries and fears had been kicked out of her system along with her anger.
She got off Johanna's bike form and glanced around at the stunned Phantom Thieves. Her eyes met Joker's, and they silently began a staring context. A few seconds passed, and neither of them gave in. It was a huge victory to Makoto. For the first time, she was able to confidently stand her ground under Joker's gaze without threatening to flinch. Makoto didn't fear him anymore. She felt that she would finally be able to impose herself in his presence.
But then, she felt drained. Johanna's bike form dissolved into light and returned inside her. The biker clothes and mask disappeared, and left Makoto back in her school uniform. Her legs gave way, and she lost her balance.
"Queen!" Panther and Skull, who had been closest to her, called out in unison and scrambled to catch her before she had time to fall.
Makoto tried to break free from them and steady herself on her own, but fatigue caught up to her, and she blacked out.
X:X:X:X:X
"Not bad, right?" It was Johanna's voice.
"Uh, yes. Not bad at all." Makoto admitted. "It was scary, but the result was better than I had expected, to be honest."
"Good." Johanna chuckled. "Now that you accepted me as part of yourself, we'll become one, and I'll be part of your thoughts. But this means that we won't be able to talk like this anymore. So, here's a last bit of advice for you. It's about Joker and Miura."
"Huh? Joker and Miura?"
"Yes. Until now, I kept pointing out how both of them are opposites, but I figured out something interesting. They aren't just opposites. They act as though they complement each other. Joker only talks about the Dark Hour, but discloses nothing about his normal life. Miura told you a lot about his normal life, but rarely talks about the Dark Hour. Even when he's talking about Personas, he keeps bringing up his normal life, and avoids discussing what he does during the Dark Hour. Curious, isn't it?"
"Yes, now that you mention it..." Makoto chuckled with amusement. It was curious indeed.
However, Johanna wasn't done yet. "And despite being so different, they have a few things in common, too. For example, your scolding doesn't work on either of them. Both of them rarely lose their composure, and rarely let their emotions show. And both of them are Persona users, which shouldn't be normal to begin with. In other words, maybe you won't need to choose, after all."
"Huh, what?" But before Makoto had time to process all those points, she heard the Phantom Thieves calling out to her, and woke up.
X:X:X:X:X
"Queen, come on." It was Panther.
"... Huh?" Makoto's eyes shot open, and she completely lost her train of thought.
"Are you okay? Can you stand?" Panther reached a hand out to her, which Makoto accepted.
Makoto shakily stood up with Panther's help. She saw that they were in the same room as before, although it was devoid of Shadows. She was in her Syujin uniform, and for a moment, she thought that all that Persona summoning craziness had been just a dream.
"I feel tired..." Her voice came out weakly.
"Don't worry. It's normal!" Mona tried to put her at ease. "Summoning a Persona for the first time is always shocking and taxing. It was the same with everyone else here!"
"Including you?" Makoto asked.
"Huh?" Mona blinked. "I, err, I don't remember how I awakened to my Persona..." He shook the awkwardness off. "Anyway, the next time you summon your Persona, it'll be much easier!"
"Are you alright?" Joker approached her.
"Yes." Makoto nodded, glad that he asked.
"We need to find the treasure as fast as possible so that we can go home and you can rest." Then, Joker addressed the other members. "This battle made us waste a lot of SP. We'll have to use the last bottles." He handed the bottles to all group members except Makoto.
"By the way, your bike Persona is awesome!" Mona said to Makoto.
"Yeah, It was amazing!" Panther smiled with admiration as she drank from her coffee bottle. "I hadn't expected it'd be a bike, though."
Mona spoke again. "Since your Persona is your other self, it means that there's a part of you that wants to transform into a vehicle, which I think is something really cool! Now you can understand the appeal of my vehicle transformation, too, can't you?"
"Um, well..."
Skull didn't let Makoto formulate a response. "The bike's really awesome! But..."
Makoto's attention turned to Skull. "But what?"
Skull shuffled. "Ah... um, uh, no offense, but you were quite scary back there... And I thought you were already scary enough when scolding people at school."
"Really?" Fox didn't agree. "That performance was quite inspiring, if you ask me. That confidence! That expressiveness! Those movements...!"
"Done. He's lost in his little world again..." Skull grumbled in annoyance.
"We should get moving. Let's go." Joker turned away and began walking.
Makoto glared at Joker. How come the person she most wanted to hear an opinion from simply walked away without saying anything!?
With some of her SP restored, Panther used a healing spell on Makoto. "Here. Now you should be feeling a bit better."
"Oh, thank you." Makoto smiled gratefully at the pleasant surprise.
The Phantom Thieves went on their way. Even though Makoto was doing a bit better after the healing spell, she still felt drained, and didn't think she could summon her Persona again. Her legs still threatened to fail, and she opted to hold onto Panther for support just in case.
The group at the front defeated a few more Shadows and entered another corridor.
Mona was ecstatic. "Yeah! The treasure is just a few corridors away! Let's do it!"
With newfound hope, the group determinedly trekked through the halls, although forced to waste some more SP thanks to a few packs of Shadows in the way.
"Finally! The treasure!" Mona's eyes glinted at the sight of a... non-distinct shape floating in the air.
"That thing is... the treasure...?" It didn't look like anything valuable. Definitely not what would come to Makoto's mind at the mention of the word, "treasure." "What is that, exactly?"
"We have no idea." Joker answered. "And since it has no distinct shape at the moment, we can't even get it right now."
"Huh? Then how do we get it?"
"We send the calling card!" Mona answered. "Since the Palace results from our targets' distorted views, we must influence his views of the treasure. By announcing that we'll come to steal his treasure, we provoke our target and he'll cause the treasure to take shape!"
"Hmm. So, this is the reason for the calling cards..." The explanation for the Phantom Thieves' methods was as hard to grasp as ever, but Makoto decided she would just roll with it.
"That's right." Joker confirmed. "Actually, the contents of the treasure don't matter much. They're usually replicas of some item that led the targets to take the path of corruption. What matters is that when we take the treasure, we take the targets' distorted desires away, and it's what causes the targets to change their hearts. We did all we could do today, though, which was secure the route to the treasure. Tomorrow we'll send the calling card. We'll come straight here the day after, confront Kaneshiro's Shadow and take the treasure."
"Oh... I see." At least one thing made sense to Makoto now. "Today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. This is why you said the mission should end in three days..."
"Exactly."
"We did everything we came to do here!" Mona said. "Let's head to the nearest safe room and call it a night."
They ran into one more pack of Shadows on the way, but thankfully, their seemingly endless journey was finally over. Only after they had reached the safe room with the teleporter, the Phantom Thieves allowed themselves to celebrate and relax.
"Yeeeaaaaah! We did it!" Skull jumped and did a victory pose.
"Phew. Good job, everyone." Joker heaved a sigh of relief, then turned to Makoto. "Don't worry. We'll change Kaneshiro's heart, and won't let anything bad happen to your sister."
"Gotta be very considerate towards Queen's sister." Mona smirked.
"After all, if things work out between you and Queen, her sister may become your sister-in-law, right?" Panther teased him.
"... That's not it!" Joker shot back defensively.
"I know. Just kidding!" Panther giggled at the result of her teasing. "Joker's right, Queen. We'll do everything we can to protect her."
"Thank you." Makoto smiled. She was getting more and more confident that everything would be fine. At least, Kaneshiro didn't seem to know that Sae intended to come to investigate the nightclub. Either way, they would change Kaneshiro's heart in two days, and he wouldn't go after Sae anymore. The info they learned about the corruption in the police was still worrying, and Makoto wondered whether Sae had any suspicions about it. But there was no way for Makoto to approach Sae about the subject without raising suspicion herself. For now, all she could do was help the Phantom Thieves change Kaneshiro's heart.
Fox heaved a sigh. "Tonight we can finally relax and have a good night of sleep."
"That is, if we can even sleep. After all this coffee we had..." Skull remarked.
"It was just two small bottles of coffee for each person. Come on!" Panther remarked.
"Ah, you're right..." Skull waved it off. "Maybe it's 'cause the stuff had no sugar. It was hard to drink, and I had the impression that I had more than I did. Joker, couldn't you have gotten sugary coffee?"
"No. Considering the results from the last time we tested, the addition of sugar seems to reduce SP recovery by half."
Skull made a face.
"You can't even drink coffee without sugar?!" Mona mocked Skull. "What a shame! Overcoming the coffee's bitterness is a sign of manliness! A true man should be able to have sugarless coffee no problem!"
"Says the one who always complains and asks for sugar in his coffee." Joker quipped.
"Gah! Don't spill my secrets, Leader!" Mona shuffled. "Uh... b-but I opt to have sugar in my coffee because it's the way I like it best, not because I can't have coffee without sugar! In my case, it's just a matter of preference!"
That was quite the strange conversation, but Makoto caught herself chuckling at the group members' banter. And she got curious. "Huh? Mona, you drink coffee?"
"Of course! It's an important beverage for a man's day... well, I actually wanted to have alcohol, but Joker won't let me..." And this got Makoto horrified.
"No, no way!" Joker was firm.
"Oh, come on, Joker! I know you're underage and can't have alcohol, but this shouldn't be the case for me. I'm sure I'm a grown up man!"
"I can't be so sure." Joker shot back. "You certainly don't act like one."
Mona made a hurt face. "Now you offended me, Leader!"
But Joker wouldn't apologize. "Either way, I don't want to get in trouble trying to obtain alcoholic beverages for you. If anyone were to see me carrying alcoholic beverages, it wouldn't be good."
Mona's expression turned mischievous. "Hey, I just thought of something! We're in a nightclub, aren't we? They have a lot of alcohol here. After we take the treasure, we could also go and nab a bottle of something on the way out..."
Joker shook his head decisively. "No. I disapprove."
"Joker, you're no fun..."
"You accepted me as the leader. Now, deal with it."
"I also disapprove of the idea of you having alcohol, Mona," Panther said. "It's not healthy. We need you in top condition to assist us!"
"Ah! Panther..." Mona's demeanor changed completely. "I... I guess I can abstain from it... for you..."
Joker sighed in exasperation and turned to the rest of the group. "Let's get out of here."
They teleported to the school Palace and left from there.
"Um, Mona, could you come over here? I want to ask you something," Makoto said.
"Hm? Sure." Mona traded glances with Joker, and bounded over to the girls. "What is it?"
"This talk we just had made me curious. When is it that Joker gives you coffee? Before entering the Palace?"
"Oh, it's during the day!"
"During the day?" Makoto was surprised. "I thought you could only appear during the Dark Hour."
"It was like that in the beginning, while I had been wandering aimlessly in the Palace. But after I met these guys, I got interested in the outside world, and came out."
Makoto was incredulous. "Came out? But how can you live outside? You're such an unusual creature. People would freak out if you were to show up on the streets!"
Mona laughed cockily. "I'm a Phantom Thief. I'm more discreet than that! I have my ways."
Makoto wasn't fully convinced. "Is that so? I hope you haven't been causing trouble to anyone."
"I haven't! I'm behaving! I didn't hurt anyone or steal anything. Well, actually I've been in hiding most of the time."
"And you ask Joker to get you food and such?"
"He doesn't always give me what I ask, like in that talk earlier, but yeah."
Suddenly, Makoto's leg failed, and she tripped.
"Queen, are you okay?" Panther held her. "Are you sure you can go home by yourself?"
"I-I'm fine. It's not far from here."
"Even so, I'll give you a ride!" Mona said decisively and left no room for argument.
Mona transformed into his vehicle form and everyone got aboard.
Everyone was clearly tired, but Makoto noticed that Joker seemed the most tired of them all. She sat directly to his right and kept staring at him.
The others disembarked near the place they usually parted ways, and Makoto found herself alone with Joker... well, and Mona. She told Mona her address, and they continued on their ride.
Makoto finally spoke up. "Joker, sorry that I couldn't help. Even though I have a Persona now, I couldn't do much to help you. This is so frustrating!"
"Don't worry about it. This was only your first time summoning a Persona. You did well." And Joker just had to ruin the mood. "Though I don't take back what I said. You are quite reckless."
"Ugh, err, yes, maybe I went a bit overboard." Makoto felt a bit embarrassed. "I got lost in the moment and got carried away... I promise I'll be more careful next time."
Joker nodded, satisfied with her answer. "Aside from that, your Persona is pretty cool."
Just when Makoto had thought Joker wouldn't give his opinion about her Persona anymore, he did it and took her by surprise. "Thank you..." She didn't know whether to feel proud or embarrassed. She was glad that her Persona had impressed him, at least.
He sighed. "Anyway, I apologize for not having been able to help you when you asked for it." Joker's sudden apology took Makoto of guard once again.
Makoto recalled the moment she called for his help when the Shadows were closing on her. "It's okay. You had your own problems to deal with. Just hearing that you wanted to help me back there makes me happy, though."
"My intention was one thing. However, intention alone isn't enough. I'm the one who pulled you into the group. Your safety is my responsibility. If anything bad were to happen to you, it'd be my fault."
"Joker..." More proof that he cared deeply about her. Makoto was touched. "I'll do my best to make it up to you. Now that I can use a Persona, I'll prove that I can be useful. Count on me, okay?"
However, Joker wasn't paying attention to her anymore. He had leaned into the backrest, and seemed to have dozed off.
A yawn escaped Makoto's mouth, and she decided to give up on talking for now. A quick nap sounded nice even though there probably wasn't much time. Makoto lazily glanced at her cellphone to check how much time she had, and saw that the Dark Hour would end in just ten minutes. An idea struck her. They would be arriving at her home soon, but if she managed to stall until the end of the Dark Hour, the disguises would disappear, and she would find out Joker's identity! Since it was very late at night, Makoto could tell him to stay the night. Sae would be away from home, too. It was perfect!
Makoto wasn't afraid of Joker's imposing presence anymore, and felt confident enough to do something daring. She closed her eyes and leaned into him.
Kazushi had dozed off for probably less than a minute, but when he came to his senses, he found Niijima-san asleep leaning into him and with her arms linked with his.
"Ah!" He nearly panicked. "Niijima-uh... I mean..." It finally dawned on him that it was Dark Hour, and that they were riding Morgana's vehicle form. "What do you think you are doing!?"
Niijima-san only groaned, and made no effort to back away.
"Her Persona's awakening took quite the toll on her," Morgana said. "She did awesome today. She deserves to be spoiled a little, don't you think?"
Kazushi didn't respond, and decided to leave Niijima-san be until they arrived at her home. While he waited, he took his cellphone with his free hand, and was alarmed to see that the Dark Hour would last for only eight more minutes.
"We are here." Mona halted, right in front of Niijima-san's house.
"Hey." Kazushi unlinked his arm from hers and patted her shoulder. She didn't respond. "Wake up." He shook her gently. "This is your stop."
Her eyes only opened halfway. "Just... a bit more..."
"You should sleep in your room."
However, Niijima-san's eyes closed again, and her head slumped forward.
"Hey! You need to get up!" He gave her another shake. She stood up slowly, but didn't move. Kazushi sighed in annoyance and stood up. That was going nowhere. He would have to help Niijima-san out the "bus." He placed a hand on her back as he guided her to the exit, and held her so that she wouldn't fall on her way out.
They were in front of the house, and she at least seemed half-awake.
"This is it." He was about to leave, but...
"Joker..." She murmured.
"Hm?"
"Take me inside?"
"... What? No, go on your own."
"Jo-ker!" She wined and leaned into him sleepily.
"H-hey!" He startled and tried to push her away, but she clung to him like a little child. "Look, just get inside and sleep. I need to go."
"Joker!" Morgana called out. "We only have five minutes! It won't be enough for us to get home!"
"... Stay?" There was a hint of satisfaction in Niijima-san's voice.
That was absurd. "No way. Are you crazy?!"
"Sis isn't home."
"That's not the point!"
"Joker, please..." A hint of a smirk broke through her sleepy mask.
The way she was acting raised a suspicion in Kazushi's head.
"No, don't tell me..." He grumbled. Could all this be just an act!?
Niijima-san seemingly couldn't hold herself. Her smirk broadened and cracked her sleepy mask for good.
That was it. "Admit it. You aren't really that sleepy, and can walk around just fine. You're doing all this on purpose, aren't you?" He accused her.
"H-huh?" She faltered and slackened her grip on him.
"Tsk. I don't have time for this." Kazushi managed to break free and pushed her away. "I'll be going."
"W-wait..."
But he walked away briskly without a second thought.
"We'll have to stop at the station and take a train from there," Were the words Morgana uttered just as Kazushi hopped on board and the engines started.
"The station..." Makoto murmured. She considered heading to the station and catching them there, but she realized she was too tired for that. In the end, she had to accept that her plan had failed. Makoto sighed in resignation and slowly entered her house, then headed to her room. She sat on her futon and went over what had just happened.
"Niijima-uh... I mean... what do you think you are doing!?"
Joker had clearly panicked and blurted out. It was so rare for him to lose his composure like that. He even forgot to use her code name. That should be the way he referred to her normally. It was disappointing to know that he used her last name, though. She had already told him that he could call her by her first name, hadn't she?
They had stayed silent for a bit. Having Joker glued to her was so warm and reassuring, and Makoto dozed off again. However, he effectively shook her awake and forced her to stand up. From there on, it had been all an act from her part. She moved purposefully slowly. This way, she not only faked sleepiness, but also stalled in hope that Joker would still be near when the Dark Hour ended. His touch was so gentle while he helped her out of the vehicle. Once they were outside, she kept trying to get him to spoil her. Makoto wished he would enter the house with her. She would even have handed him her key. Her plan was to continue stalling so that the Dark Hour would end once they were inside, and she would try to have him stay the night. However, Joker refused. Makoto tried to convince him that she was too tired and couldn't get inside on her own, but he wouldn't have any of that. Then, Mona warned him that they were running out of time, much to Makoto's satisfaction. However, something must have gone wrong with her act, and Joker saw through her facade. Makoto faltered, not having expected him to catch on. If she hadn't faltered, her plan may have worked.
Still, Makoto was proud of herself. For a sudden and daring plan she followed through on a whim, she had done surprisingly well. It wasn't the kind of thing she would have done normally. Makoto recalled what Miura had told her about Personas. Thoughts or actions she wouldn't have normally followed through with. Could this have been Johanna's influence?
The Dark Hour ended while Makoto thought back on her act.
"Too bad Joker isn't here..." She muttered to herself. "Though I have to admit, this was... quite fun." Makoto allowed herself a smirk. "Thank you, Johanna."
A/n: as evidenced by Johanna's final words, deep down Makoto has a hunch about Joker's true identity, but the realization hasn't hit just yet...