By the time I updated this chapter, minutes later I watched the new Smash Ultimate update and Joker's gameplay. I have to say that I'm so excited to play as him. Mementos, soundtrack and spirits, this pack had all.
Disclaimer: Persona 5 Characters except Ryuunosuke Katsuo belongs to Atlus, this fanfic has no commercial purpose.
August 2nd, another ordinary day. It's been two days since we were done with Futaba's Palace. The previous day happened absolutely nothing except it was rainy, my body was still recovering, and no delivery jobs available. Today was the same, no new deliveries either which I found odd.
I couldn't understand why, I tried to ask some of my employers, but no one was able to answer me anything but mumbling excuses. I tried to contact some of my fellow couriers, but apparently, most of them quitted the company. It was the same thing, no one could answer me why. So far from what I'm concerned, it was a catastrophe. I could do something else, but that would bring me to one thing I didn't want to happen.
Makoto: Where can I wait for you? I'm ready to start practicing today.
That, teaching her how to ride a bike.
Katsuo: You can wait for me outside of the train station at Kanda.
Makoto: Understood, see you there.
And the nightmare began, where not only I have to use all my mind and body to gather patience from teaching her. No, I was almost forgetting that we must go to the Geminis Orphanage to practice, which means also becoming tutors for the kids. I promised Arisato-san to do that as a way to allow us to use her property in the meantime.
I was hoping to lose my sanity at the end of that summer.
It was early morning, probably not that early as it was around 10:30 or so when I was riding my bike to that area. The day was bright. Actually, it was way too bright as if the sunlight was burning my skin. It was a heatwave, exactly what you get after a rainy day. Not the best day to practice, but I complained enough at this point. There was no turning back.
"Hey, kept you waiting?" I asked Makoto as soon as I arrived at Kanda.
"No, it is fine. Shall we go?"
"Sure, I see you brought a helmet." I said while looking at the object she had at hand.
"It is from sis', but I don't think she will notice its absence."
"I'm sure she won't, hopefully." I said with concernment. If something bad happens to Makoto while I teach her, I will need to flee the country. "Alright, hop in." I said to her while making space so she could get on my bike.
"W-What? Are you serious?" She said in disbelief.
"Well, what did you expect? Unless you want to walk, which let me tell you, it is pretty far from here."
"Walking doesn't sound so bad actually…"
"Just get in already! We don't have all day." Makoto hopped on my bike's backseat while grabbing my shoulders. She looked unusually nervous about this. "Hold them tight, unless you want to fall off." I said while starting to accelerate.
We started to travel around the area. I went lower than usual since the speed limit was pretty small in Kanda. Not much traffic, just very few cars around while looking for the right direction.
"So, where exactly are we going?" She asked me while I was focusing on the road.
"To a terrain close to an orphanage."
"Uh?" Makoto looked confused. Understandably as I never told her about the place beforehand. "Why exactly that place instead of a parking lot?"
"I don't know… Probably I wanted to be away from the lousy city for a while teaching you." I replied without expressing much enthusiasm. Maybe my answer felt shallow or just couldn't get something useful on my mind. Providing a clearer response was difficult.
Traveling around the neighborhood, we were getting close to the appointed place. Even if I couldn't see Makoto's face, somehow, I could feel her reaction of seeing the orphanage for the first time.
Not so different since the last time I came here. The paint on the house was decaying, the front yard had not many flowers or very little grass around, and the playground had some rust on it, s pretty sad scenery.
"There we are, not too scared?"
"Not really, but it's weird that your idea of practicing in this place. Is this alright to be here?" Makoto asked. She looked confused about and somewhat worried that we might bother people around.
"It is fine. Although I should tell you right from the get-go because I forgot to mention it."
"Which is?"
"I promised the people in charge of the orphanage to tutor their kids if we wanted to practice here. And you are going to help me with them." After done explaining, Makoto became silent for a brief moment while thinking. It wasn't one of my finest moments.
"Okay, I understand it now."
"What? That's it? Are you not going to argue or something?" Her reaction wasn't something that I could expect.
"If I'm perfectly honest, I wasn't sure of why going here at first until you finally explained me. I couldn't be mad since you are trying to help those children's education." I was in shock that she was perfectly fine with the whole thing.
"A-Are you sure about this? There's still some time to back away, you know."
"Since you promised them already, you must take the responsibility of your choice." She said in a rather serious tone. I didn't like where this was going.
"And that's something I regret, but whatever." I sighed while starting to knock the door. We waited for them to open the door. It didn't take too much time until Arisato-san finally received us.
"Kat-kun! Welcome, and I see you brought your friend."
"Hello, I'm Niijima Makoto. Nice to meet you." Makoto acted politely to the cheerful woman.
"Nice to meet you too, Mako-chan. Come on in, I will get the kids to the living room." We entered the house. We took off our shoes and headed to where the living room was. Nothing changed since my last visit except it wasn't such a mess like that time. A table with chairs around, the couch and coffee table on the center. It looked nicely spacious.
Makoto started to notice the naginata hanging on the wall. Her expression said all of why someone would be carrying it on the house.
"Don't overthink about it." I said to her before making questions. "It is fake, though."
"Okay?" She raised an eyebrow. Moments later, Arisato-san came with all the kids following her like some sort of Mama Duck and her ducklings. They looked as energetic as usual, which means a lot more work for us.
"Kids, all of you know about an acquittance of mine, Ruuynosuke Katsuo. He and his friend Niijama Makoto are going to be your tutors during the summer. I hope all of you can get along." The caretaker said with an upbeat tone. "I want to present my children. Here is Maki and Saya, both of them are the oldest. Jun and Nishi, the dynamic duo. Rita, Sochi, Rita, and Kei. And of course, my daughter Yuki." She was present every single one of them to us. "Say hi, kids."
"Hi!" All of them said in unison, that gave me bad vibes for some reason.
"Okay, it is almost time for me to go to work. I hope all of you behave in my absence."
"Yes, Aunty Minako!" They replied cheerfully while Arisato-san kissed everyone's foreheads before leaving. She grabbed her scarf and purse before leaving through the front door. As soon we were left alone with them, I started to scream in my mind since I couldn't know exactly what to do.
"So, which subjects do you need help with?" Makoto spoke first. She looked more composed and calmer in that situation.
"We would like to answer us stuff about mathematics and literature." Maki explained about the specific subjects.
"Okay, let's get started." The kids started to accommodate everything around on both table and couch with their notebooks and books already out. "Katsuo, would you help with literature while I take care of math?"
"Sure, I guess." I replied while heading to the table. I took charge of Nishi, Jun, Saya, and Yuki. Makoto had Maki, Rita, Kei, and Sochi. She got the least problematics of the bunch. We gather all their notes to see what they learned and which parts they couldn't understand.
Well, with all honesty Yuki only needed to start learning how to read. Her book was about The Pink Alligator, a favorite book for children of her age.
"I don't understand this word… ina-inadi-inua…" Yuki asked me while trying to pronounce the word.
"Inaudible, as in difficult to hear." I explained while she started to take notes. Smart girl.
"Can you tell me the answer, Jun? I don't understand this poem." Nishi complained about what he read.
"Can you see it? It says 'Those who dare are the brave, become the crane.' How can't you understand it?" Jun tried to explain, but only made the other boy more confused.
"That doesn't make sense! The crane is what…?" No matter how much the loud boy tried to understand the poem, he was losing his patience.
"Okay let me look at the poem." I said to the kid. I began reading it for a much better point of reference.
Where everyone leaves, you are left above a stone on the lake.
Chained to the past, thus who lived long can fear for an end.
Those who dare are the brave, become the crane.
Creatures worth of experience, lessons learned are the pathway.
Thousands of years of endurance, your wish may come to a future.
Who wrote this stuff? Some edgy-wannabe teenage girl? Even if I didn't like the poem, it felt a little too advanced for boys of their age, although Jun didn't have much of a problem.
"Mhhh…" I was trying to analyze the meaning of it. "Ah, isn't it a reference to the 1,000 origami cranes?"
"It is, but we need to answer the question. Nishi is having problems about what the author's intentions." Jun explained to me. His best friend kept scratching his head out of frustration.
"Okay, I think I got something." I said while taking the poem and pointing with my finger. "As you can see, it follows like a pattern where it explains that people might go through a lot of hardships. You learn from it."
"I see…" Jun reflected about my explanation. "But what about the beginning of being left alone above a stone?"
"I can assume, that you can learn more if you are all by yourself."
"Why would you try to learn without people? That doesn't make sense." Nishi started to complain more about the specific line.
"What makes you say that?" I asked the loud kid.
"I don't want to learn stuff alone. I want to learn more with my friends!" He said in a rather simple manner. I was surprised by myself that I wasn't losing my patience by explaining him. I guess interpretations about the poem isn't the same for different ages.
As Makoto and I were busy tutoring the children, I received a text message from Akira.
Akira: Hey Katsuo, I need you for something important.
Katsuo: Sorry, but I'm busy. I can't go anywhere at the moment.
Akira: It is fine because I would need you to look for a target from Mishima.
Katsuo: Target? Do you mean like one of those in Mementos?
Akira: Yeah, you just need to look for a name since Mishima doesn't have it. Only details about where you could look out first.
Katsuo: Alright, who's this guy?
Akira: So far from what he told me. Some people from a company at Shinjuku which they been treated like slaves for their boss while taking credit for himself.
Katsuo: What an asshole!
Akira: I know, but since we don't know their boss' full name, I would like you to investigate around since your job is in that area.
Katsuo: Alright, it won't be simple as there is a lot of business in that area. I will keep both ears and eyes open just in case.
Akira: Thank you.
"Who was it?" Makoto asked me as I was done with the conversation.
"Just Akira for a favor. Nothing big." I replied.
"Okay." She said while helping the rest of the children with math problems such as fractions and divisions. Simple stuff that I didn't like.
We spent an hour or two helping them with the subjects. It felt a little tight but I at least they didn't cause us trouble. At least not yet. "That's all for today." Makoto said to them with a satisfactory tone. "You can go now."
"Yaaay!" They said with joy while leaving the house in a rush. They thought summer was a sacred time to spent outside instead of hitting the books. How little they knew at that age.
"Well, I guess we should start with the riding lessons as well." I said while standing up and stretching my arms.
"Agreed." She said while accommodating the table, so it is at least clean when Arisato-san doesn't find it messy.
We walked through the front door while seeing how bright the day was. It almost blinded me of how different the illumination was between the house and the outside. I headed to where I parked my bike and getting it ready for her to start.
"Are you ready?" I asked her while she was putting the helmet.
"I am." Makoto replied with confidence.
"Okay, let's start with the simple stuff. Turn the bike on." I said while crossing my arms. She turned the key to start the engine, but nothing happened. "Press the pedal on your right."
"You mean this one?" She did exactly what I said. The bike started to roar like a beast while she held it with both hands on it.
"Alrighty then, that was easy for you. Now, let's see how good you can go forward." I said while smirking. She turned the gas to accelerate, and funny enough. She slowly started to panic since she couldn't go a top speed like her persona. There were various degrees of speed that she thought on one type instead, full-hellish-speed.
"W-What's wrong with this!?" She said nervously while trying to control it since she didn't even go far, only sudden breaks that made her jump.
"Difficult? Are you trying to burn the grass or something?"
"I don't have time for jokes!" She yelled at me while trying to force my bike to advance.
"Okay that's enough, I don't want you to ruin the engine." I walked while stopping her from accelerating. "Tell me, can you see a problem in this?" I asked her with serious eyes. She didn't say a word as trying to get an explanation. At this point, she was just overthinking too much without saying a word. "Oh for love of… You are not keeping a constant speed!"
"I knew that!" She replied with the same tone.
"Did you? Then why you didn't go farther than this?" I asked her with my patience running low. "This is not rocket science, and you need to start low before gaining speed." I started to grab the gas maneuver with her hand still underneath mine.
"H-Hey!" She said nervously.
"Shush! Just look at how I do it." The bike began accelerating with a more gently since I wasn't forcing it like Miss Perfect next to me. "Can you see it? This is not like Johanna where you can just think how fast you want to go. You need to measure it by yourself."
"I see…"
"Now try it yourself." I said while letting her go. Her speed was pretty slow, but at least didn't make sudden brakes. "See? You don't want to ride like a mad man on the first few seconds before hitting the road."
"This is interesting. I usually make Johanna do all this by her own with me only aiming."
"Well, you are not here to ramp on anything. You are the one in control now." I yawn since I did nothing but look at her trying to do a couple of laps around the house. I checked on her regularly than didn't try to go above the speed limit I dictated her. It still baffled me that driving a bike in the Metaverse and the real world was pretty apparent, just like day and night.
As I was looking at the time, and I knew that was getting a little late since we spent another hour practicing. "That's enough. I think you are already know how it goes."
"I already have a grasp of how it works."
"Good, because this isn't a tricycle." I said while checking the levels of fuel and the tires' conditions. "Also, sorry if I have to drag you into this. Let's look for a different place than this if you don't like it."
"I don't mind it, helping them with their studies was fun."
"Do you really like it? I thought it would be an inconvenience since you are doing something else than practicing this."
"Well, I was shocked that you agreed to be a tutor. Especially after I saw you how you tried to help Ryuji before last month's finals." Makoto chuckled, almost as if tried to mock me.
"Hey! You know that punk can't focus for more than two seconds in that stuff! I needed to be a little stricter in that part." I was done looking at my bike. "In any case, I guess we should go."
"Are you sure to leave them alone?" Makoto said while looking at the children playing outside.
"Kanda is a peaceful neighborhood, and there's nothing to worry since they spent time alone while the adults are working. They mature much faster than other kids." I said while trying to accelerate. That is until I saw Maki and Yuki in front of me. "Do you need something?" I asked them.
"Yes, Yuki-chan wanted to ask if she could try the bike. We saw you practicing." Maki told me while Yuki was behind her. The youngest girl looked nervous to ask herself.
"Sorry, but I can't allow you that." I said in a calming tone.
"Why not?" Yuki asked.
"Because of …umm, well…" I tried to come up with an excuse.
"You need permission to try to ride a bike." Makoto said as a way to get a fast response. That was a lousy excuse in my opinion.
"If I ask mommy, then I can try it?" Yuki said with a lot of enthusiasm. I silently tried to tell Makoto to refuse it or something.
"You know what, probably both of your parents."
"Really? Awww, probably daddy won't allow me then." Yuki said in disappointment.
"There's no harm asking them anyways." Makoto said while looking the little girl at the eyes. Yuki's mood returned with hopeful joy.
"Alright, thank you Mr. Biker and Miss!" The little girl said with a smile while running towards the other kids with Maki following her.
"Oh man, just what I needed." I sighed "Why you have to say that? I don't want to let kids hop on my bike."
"There's nothing wrong as long there's supervision from other adults."
"At least you told her to ask both parents. It at least raises the chances of not allowing her since Yuki's father wouldn't allow it."
"I guess so. Shall we go?"
"Yeah, I have work to do later." I said while we were putting our helmets and headed to the train station.
What a day, I never thought that our first day to practice went better than I could imagine it. Then again, there's no such thing as a bad first day. With Makoto behind me, while riding the bike, it made me think of why I decided to accept all this. Whatever was on my mind felt like a mystery. Well, despite not liking about tutoring children, for some reason felt oddly satisfying.
