Persona 5: Long Live The Rebels

Chapter Fourteen: An Old Friend

After secretly assisting the Thieves in stealing Kamoshida's Treasure, the Rebels laid low and kept an eye on Kamoshida for any changes. So far, nothing had occurred, other than Kamoshida not showing up for the past few days, which seemed to concern the would-be Thieves, but the Rebel Spectre's knew that the Change of Heart worked. All they had to do was wait for any changes.

Meanwhile, after school, Iko was packing up the last of his papers.

"Doesn't seem like Kamoshida has shown up in a while." Jessamine remarked, popping her head out of the bag. "He's no doubt had a change of heart."

"All we can do is wait." Iko shrugged. "Not much we can do until then."

"Still, that Kamoshida was total scum," Jessamine said. "Even with his confession, it'll take some time before the students can heal from his abuses."

"Which is why I've called up an old friend of mine for some arrangements." Iko declared with a smile. "He's well educated when it comes to helping others with mental trauma."

"That's good, Iko." Jessamine declared. "Lord knows these students could use the counseling."

Iko heard the door click, Jessamine ducking inside his bag as the door opened before Ms. Chouno entered the room.

"Oh, Nero-san!" The English teacher said. "You haven't gone home yet!"

"Everything alright, Chouno-san?" Iko asked with a raised brow.

"The principal asked me to get you." Ms. Chouno said. "He wants to speak with you."

Iko sighed, knowing that Kobayakawa wasn't calling him up to congratulate him. After packing the last of his papers, Iko picked up his bag, with Jessamine inside, and made his way to the principal's office. Seeing the disgruntled look on the fat principal's face, Iko could tell that he wasn't too happy, but he didn't care.

He did what was needed.

"Nero-san, would you care to tell me what happened here?!" The fat principal demanded. "Kamoshida-kun hasn't shown up for several days and just now, he's called saying he's putting himself under suspension!"

"I'm not sure why you think I have anything to do with it." Iko shrugged.

"Students claim to have seen you confronting Kamoshida." The principal pointed out. "They said you were threatening him!"

"I was warning him against antagonizing my students." Iko corrected. "Something you seemed more than willing to allow, and for what?"

"Do you not see the repercussions of this?" Kobayakawa questioned. "A scandal like this would be a huge blow to the school's reputation!"

"How can you put the reputation of the school over the lives and well-being of the students here?" Iko demanded, his temper rising. "What kind of principal does that?"

"This school is meant to be a beacon of prosperity!" The fat man snapped. "Reforming delinquents like Sakamoto and Kurusu and famous for an Olympic gold medalist! And you may have ruined it; the school's reputation as well as Kamoshida's!"

At this point, Iko felt his blood boil, enraged at the uncaring sloth of the fat man. How can a principal put the reputation of the school ahead of the wellbeing of students?

Taking in a breath to calm himself, Iko exhaled and gave the principal a glare.

"So if one of the students were to, let's say throw themselves from the roof because of Kamoshida's abuse." He began. "You'd just sweep it under the rug for the sake of 'reputation', right?"

"That's-" Kobayakawa tried to argue, but Iko wasn't finished.

"You say that reputation matters, and yet you allowed Kamoshida to hurt the students instead of punishing him for his actions." Iko said. "For someone that seems to put reputation ahead of students, you really don't seem to care of the school having the reputation of allowing students to commit suicide after suffering from someone like Kamoshida." He then crossed his arms. "Besides, I know I did the right thing; better to risk the reputation of the school than play with the lives of children."

"You know, I could have you fired for this." The fat man snarled.

"That'd be a mistake and you know it." Iko countered. "When people hear how you fired the one who stood up to Kamoshida to protect his students, they'll start to wonder if justice has any meaning to you and how little you can be trusted. Not to mention that it'd be a bigger blow to the school's reputation than Kamoshida's abuse. Just saying."

"Damn bastard's right…" Kobayakawa thought to himself bitterly.

"Look, I'm not asking for much," Iko said. "All that matter to me is the safety of my students. If you guarantee that no threat will befall them in the future, I won't cause any further scandals."

"Fine, I agree to your terms." Kobayakawa reluctantly agreed. "As long as you hold your end or you're out of here."

"Glad you see things my way." Iko smiled coyly as he bowed. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

He then took his leave, allowing the principal to angrily stew.

"You handled that rather well." Jessamine said, poking her head out of the bag.

"Trust me, I was tempted to blow up at him." Iko said. "But I knew I had to keep calm, otherwise he'd just use my outburst as an excuse to fire me."

"Well, good thing you kept your cool then." Jessamine nodded. "Nothing good comes when you get hotheaded."

In agreement, Iko made his way down the hall and stairs before nearing the faculty office, seeing Kawakami step out with what looked like a female student with long, red hair tied in a ponytail with a red ribbon in a bow, red eyes and pink lips.

'She looks like a new student.' Iko thought to himself before approaching. "Everything okay, Kawakami-san?"

"Ah, perfect timing, Nero-san." Kawakami said after facing him. "I'd like you to meet the new transfer student; Kasumi Yoshizawa."

"It's nice to meet you, Sensei." Kasumi said with a smile and polite bow.

"The pleasure is mine, Yoshisawa-san." Iko returned the gesture.

"She will be attending your class starting tomorrow." Kawakami said. "Would you mind showing her your class before you leave?"

"Not a problem." Iko nodded before turning to Kasumi. "Right this way."

Leading the new transfer student, Iko lead her to his classroom and entered.

"This will be where you attend my class." He pointed out. "Do you have any questions?"

"What do you teach, exactly?" Kasumi asked.

"I teach psychology and the aspects of the mind." Iko declared. "I hope it doesn't sound too boring for you."

"Oh, not at all!" Kasumi denied. "In fact, I'm looking forward to it!"

"I'm glad to hear that." Iko smiled. "Usually, students end up falling asleep in my class and it annoys me."

"Well, I'll do my best to pay attention." Kasumi assured with a smile.

"I'd appreciate that." Iko said, before frowning. "But there's something else I'd like to discuss."

At first, Iko didn't want to say anything in regards to Akira and his record. He didn't want anyone to give him a hard time, but he could tell that this new transfer student, Kasumi, doesn't seem like the typical folk that seems to just believe everything they hear.

With Kasumi's full attention, Iko began, "I'm not certain if you already know, since people tend to talk a lot, but there's a transfer student who happens to have criminal record. Despite that, he's an honest-to-God young man trying to live well. So, I ask that you treat him as a human and be his friend. Don't treat him like the other students are."

Thinking for a moment, she looked at her new teacher, "I understand, Sensei. I will do my best to treat him fairly."

"I'm glad to hear that." Iko smiled. "Now why don't you head home? Things are gonna be quite busy."

After Kasumi took her leave, Iko exited the school, meeting Donnel, Mishima, and John at the gate.

"Took yer sweet time, Boss." Donnel pointed out.

"I got called up by the principal." Iko explained. "He seemed upset with how I stood up to Kamoshida."

"Typical fat bastard." Mishima growled. "He never seems to care about the students suffering."

"Speaking of, I've kept tabs on Kamoshida." John spoke up. "He's still hold up in his house. Nothing new, really."

"So things are calm for now?" Mishima asked. "He'll have a Change of Heart though?"

"For now, let's keep our heads down and wait." Iko said. "No need to rush into things."

In agreement for now, the group went their separate ways for the day.

Over the next few days, things were fine until Kamoshida showed up during a school assembly, and he seemed like a completely different person; rather than acting high and mighty, he seemed distraught and broken, and he confessed the horrible things he did, much to the shock and confusion of the students and teachers, even going so far as to say he would kill himself in order to repent. However, Ann pointed out that, despite the horrible things Kamoshida did, Shiho was still alive and well, and that he doesn't get to take the coward's way out. Agreeing, Kamoshida resigned as a teacher and turned himself in to the police.

After the day of Kamoshida's arrest, the Rebel Spectre's gathered after school in Iko's classroom.

"Oh hell yeah!" Donnel whooped. "Another one bites the dust!"

"At least the students will be able to recover." John said. "But given how severe it was, it's gonna take time."

"That's why I contacted a friend of mine to come and offer some counseling to the students." Iko declared. "He and I worked together in the past and his counseling help me through a difficult time. I hope he does the same for you all."

"I haven't been affected by the sleazy bastard, but I'll give it a go." Donnel shrugged.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to speak with him." Shiho said.

"I could use some counseling myself." Mishima admitted.

"As long as it helps the students, that's really all that matters to me." Iko declared. "That includes all of you in our group."

Business concluded for now, the Rebels parted ways for the day for home.

The next day came and went by like usual; Iko taught the class on several things, while chastising Ryuji, as well as Donnel, for falling asleep in class, and so on. Once school ended, and most of the students have gone home, or went to their own hangout spots, Iko stepped out of the classroom with bag in hand and was about to head home, but once he approached the exit doors, he turned to see someone coming his way; the person in question was tall and bespectacled with brown, short unkempt hair and a small stubble underneath his chin. He was wearing a blue dress shirt tucked into his upturned khaki slacks with a checkered dark blue tie, along with a white lab coat over the top and a pair of open-toed sandals.

Smiling, Iko turned to face the man as he approached.

"Takuto Maruki." He said with a nod.

"Iko Abraxas." Maruki returned the gesture. "Or should I say 'Isaac Nero'?"

"In private; Iko." Iko nodded. "But in the open, especially at school, refer to me by my teacher name."

"As you wish, 'Isaac'." Maruki said before smiling and extending a hand. "At any rate, it's good to see you again."

"You as well." Iko nodded, shaking his friend's hand. "Thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to be here."

"Oh it's no trouble at all, my friend." Maruki assured. "I can only imagine the pain these students went through. It's only natural that you'd call for a professional."

"And I'm glad I called you." Iko said. "You've helped me plenty in the past."

"Ah, all I did was listen and give you the best I could give." Maruki chuckled. "If anything, you were the one that decided to help yourself out of your depression."

"And I wouldn't have gotten better without your help." Iko retorted. "Still, you have a point; if I hadn't taken your advice, I probably would've gotten out of my funk."

"And I'm glad you have." Maruki nodded. "You seem to be doing well!"

"Yup, being a teacher and finding someone new can help too." Iko smiled.

"Someone new, eh?" Maruki repeated. "Well, I'm sure Wakaba would be happy to know that you're doing better now. She'd no doubt want you to be happy."

"Yeah, she would." Iko nodded. "So, wanna grab something to eat? It's been a while since we last hung out."

"Oh, certainly." Maruki nodded. "I've certainly worked up an appetite!"

With business concluded, the two left the school.

And so, Takuto Maruki and Kasumi Yoshizawa make their first appearances! Sorry for the late upload, you know how it is; works been keeping me busy, my little sister is off to college, and now I'm made responsible for cleaning up the house! Still, I'm so proud of my little sister.

Anyways, not much to say here. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter and more! Be sure to review!