Disclaimer: I don't own Persona or MHA

Chapter 7

-UA / Some time before the USJ trip-

Akira looked at the single distinctive decoration inside his new room. He'd been looking at it a lot recently, although he couldn't fathom the reason why. Well, he could. He knew the feeling that roused up inside his chest every time he looked at the decoration, but he couldn't quite put it into words.

The picture of the Phantom Thieves stared back at him almost mockingly. The background of the photo, his room inside LeBlanc cafe- the first one- made him want to do... something. Akira flexed his fingers, making sure to put an almost stupid amount of energy into doing it. What was he supposed to do? He wanted, needed to do something to get the feeling off of his chest and discard it, hopefully forever. But how am I supposed to do something when I don't even know what I'm supposed to do?

The grin on Ryuji's face was starting to look more and more like a smirk. Akira resisted the sudden urge to punch the picture. To destroy it and burn it and make sure he never saw the damned thing again in his life. But he couldn't do that. He could never do that.

He wasn't sure why. On one hand, he wanted to believe it was love for his old friends. And some part of him did believe that. But the much more cynical side of his mind told him that there was really nothing concrete that stopped him from destroying the picture. There was only what he wanted to do. And that didn't need a reason. It just was.

So many questions. So many questions he needed to answer, both about himself and the world around him. And the latter was fine. It was something completely reasonable. He had only been here properly for a year after all. No one would know everything and anything to know about a whole new world in such a short period of time. The former however, that was frustrating. That part he could be sure of.

He had always considered himself as having a strong sense of identity. Before Tokyo, he had made sure to separate himself from the crowd, not caring much for friendships other than some superficial relationships that were quite honestly bound to break down easily. Independence. Intelligence. Awareness. Contentness. He had known his goals, his traits, his needs and strengths and weaknesses.

Then Tokyo had come along and completely destroyed his priorities. Broken through the illusion that he himself had worked so hard to set up. He was the Joker, the leader of the Phantom Thieves that went past legal boundaries to take down the people that were immune to the law. Being a Phantom Thief and being with the Phantom Thieves had been exhilarating. Refreshing. He had felt like he was finally himself.

Now, he wasn't so sure of anything. He was Akira. He was Joker. He was sure of those two identities. But what was Akira? What was Joker? What did those two things mean inside this strange new world? Akira picked up a notebook and opened it, clicking his pen and drawing a small diagram.

Makoto had always said that writing would help. Maybe he would finally try it out.

By the end of thirty minutes, he had written down numerous things he liked, disliked, all in the left column of Akira. He grinned. Somehow, even though his pillar of solidity was gone, knowing for sure that he was fond of curry was somehow oddly reassuring.

Joker on the other hand was harder. Hard enough that the column was completely blank.

Akira frowned. Why do you want to be a hero?

The question echoed endlessly in his brain. His brain didn't answer back. Maybe it didn't want to, maybe it couldn't. Akira wasn't sure which was worse. What does the Joker mean? I know better than to think that the Phantom Thieves could exist again here, but I still have a journey ahead of me. So what is Joker here? What am I here?

What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker? What is the Joker?

He snapped the notebook shut, inhaling deeply and wiping his thoughts. There would be time to think of that and ponder on it later on. For now, he had bigger priorities. Like the USJ trip coming up soon that frankly did excite him, although he would never hope to even come close to the hype someone like Midoriya.

Akira grinned in amusement, immediately grinning afterwards for a completely different reason.

Well, at least I still have my humor. Life would be awfully dry if I become the next Kobayakawa.

Immediately, he shuddered and slapped himself. That's a thought I never wanna have again.

-Present Time-

Akira slowly tapped the window of the bus as he gazed outwards, looking at the landscape outside. It looked nice. Pretty. Vibrant and colorful, with lots of bright greens and blues and pinks. A hill passed by, and then a lake. A mountain, a tree, a flower field.

He stopped, his finger frozen in midair. Slowly, he curled it back into the grip of his hand, fiddling with something that didn't exist.

A snap of the fingers.

I'm bored, he finally concluded, quickly followed by a why am I bored? Fiddling with his fingers more, he gazed intently towards the horizon as if it would hold all of the answers to his questions. I was excited for this trip. I was looking forward to it. So why do I feel so indifferent?

Another snap. This time louder.

Akira grimaced. His thoughts were headed towards a direction he wasn't fond of at all. Everything tossed aside, the last thing he wanted to ever be was some dull, stuck up posh boy who took the fun out of everything and anything. Although I do suppose that me thinking this is indication enough that I'm not going there.

This time a poke to his arm. Akira jolted from his thoughts and looked to the side. Jiro stared back at him looking unimpressed. "Do you sleep with your eyes open or are you just hazy?" she asked. Akira's mouth slowly shaped to an "O" as he realized what the snaps had been.

"Sorry," he apologized sincerely. "Just hazy. I'm not exactly the brightest of the bunch."

Another oddity, he told himself. I never thought I was the type to get lost in thought like this. Jeez, what in the world is happening to me? It's like all of a sudden I've been switched out with a coke addict version of myself.

"Anyway," Jiro continued, "Ashido wanted to-"

"Oi Kurusu!" the pink haired girl interrupted. "Who do you think would make the best hero out of all of us here?"

A part of him wanted to blurt out "Why me, of course," but he decided against it. With his old friends they would know that he wasn't being serious. With 1-A though, they didn't know him as well as the Phantom Thieves and frankly he didn't want to leave the impression that he was a self centered asshole.

Instead, he thought of the next automatic response, and simply said, "Easily Mineta." thanking the lords on the way that at least he could still find things funny. Still, he did glance towards the boy after he blurted out that particular comment, and sighed slightly in relief as the grapefruit-haired(?) hero in training simply seemed to laugh it off along with the rest of the class, save for Todoroki who remained as stoic as ever.

This is nice, he immediately thought. It was really only a start, but he enjoyed being together with 1-A. Maybe that was the start towards his recovery, or whatever bullshit Igor had mentioned.

"Oi," a voice called out. Akira turned towards Jiro once more, who looked at him much more seriously. "You ok? You look like you're trying to imitate Todoroki."

He snorted.

"I'm fine, just a little few hiccups with a weird circumstance. Nothing anyone should worry about, really." he said. Actually now that I think about it, the less I think about this the better off my mood tends to be. Maybe I should really just forget about this and see how things turn out by the end of this gig.

He mentally patted himself on the back for that particular revelation before wiping his thoughts. Right. No more thinking. Except for in classes. I will not think about anything other than Science and Math. Although actually...

A sudden idea crossed his mind.

So far, he had always felt a strange feeling lying inside his gut. Ever since Yalbaboath had been defeated. A lack of confidence maybe, or a sense of detachment. If Igor told me to recover, and if my inner bullshit is weird and foggy, I should probably start taking the initiative.

Suddenly he felt a surge of confidence. Right. I feel confident when I have ideas and goals to achieve. I should probably note that down later.

Anyways, maybe it was time he started to solidify his bonds in this world. Not quite considering how much of a fool he would make of himself, he turned to Jiro to his left and Kiminari behind him with an earnest smile.

"Could I be friends with you two?" he asked with complete sincerity. Kiminari's reaction was fairly instantaneous, the boy raising an eyebrow in confusion but giving a lopsided smile.

"That's a helluva weird question," he said. "but why not? You seem pretty cool Kurusu, you'll be fine."

Jiro looked at him strangely, her face contorted between confusion and laughter. "You're fucking with us right now, right?" she asked, before snickering and laying back in her seat. "You're really weird sometimes, you know that?"

"Nope," Akira replied, popping the 'p' and grinning like a fool for reasons he couldn't quite fathom. "Completely dead serious here. No kidding around from me ma'am."

"Oh great, you're back to normal again. Don't be sincere like that, it's scary." Jiro jabbed. Akira smiled as he laid back on his seat, his mood significantly better compared to before. See? I do feel better when I start doing things.

His mood skyrocketed even more when he heard a familiar crashing noise echo throughout his ears, a noise that he hadn't expected he would hear ever again. After so much time, it almost felt like an old friend returning back to him, similar to the tarot card, or rather the tarot cards that appeared in his mind.

Kiminari being a magician definitely makes sense, he immediately thought, Jiro being a tower though? That one I definitely didn't see coming.

He made a mental note to look up tarot meanings later before quickly wiping the thoughts from his mind. I have time to mull over that later. For now, I have other things to do, he thought, looking out the window once more. In the landscapes, a new, foreign structure appeared. The silhouette of USJ could be seen in the background, and the bus was driving right towards it.

Akira strolled into the USJ stadium feeling rather confident. His costume draped comfortably around his shoulders and his mask lay on his face, its weight an old friend from times past. His dagger- no, his dagger-sword thing, blunted of course, hung at his belt and a handgun lay comfortably on the opposite end. The final piece of equipment gave him a sense of comfort more than anything else.

Even if he probably wasn't going to use it.

The hero standing in front of him was yet another demonstration of just how odd this world was. The Space Hero Thirteen was seemingly a sentient spacesuit, one that was aptly suited for rescue missions. Smart, he thought. She would go well with kids. Do kids like astronauts here actually?

He made a note to google that later.

"Remember," Thirteen said, "your quirks, just like all quirks, are dangerous. They can be used for horrible, destructive things. That's why you're here now. To control your powers, and to make sure to use them to help people instead of endangering them. Saving people's lives are the biggest part of being a hero, even more than fighting villains."

Akira found himself nodding along with the rest of the class, although he didn't quite think it was a noteworthy or new piece of advice. Although I certainly can't disagree with it. Still, is that something that people really need to be told? he asked himself, before he automatically glanced at Bakugo and everything came flying back at him with a rather painful mental slap.

Right, he thought. It was still slightly surreal to connect the moniker of 'Hero' from his world back to this one. A Hero being a profession certainly did shake things up quite a bit, though there were still definitely people who would have been considered heroes in either world. All Might came to mind most obviously.

Were the Phantom Thieves heroes as well? the question flew to his mind almost automatically. Yes, he immediately thought. Though it felt weird to attach that particular title to people he was so familiar with, by most technical terms Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru, Morgana and Futaba were heroes for sure.

Although in this world they would have most likely been classified as Vigilantes.

"Alright, any questions?" Thirteen asked, with many hands immediately going up on the air.

Something flickered in front of them. Something purple. Akira activated his third eye immediately almost out of instinct. It's red now. But why would the color change like that? It's just a spark of... something. It couldn't be anything hostile, right? Although considering what I've experienced so far, I've probably just jinxed myself.

The spark grew into a vortex. Akira pursed his lips, gazing intently at whatever the thing was as his classmates started to catch onto the oddity as well.

Yep, definitely jinxed myself.

"Stay back," Aizawa immediately said, dashing to the front with a sense of nimble grace Akira had never seen before out of the teacher. Thirteen turned towards the scene as well, and although she was nothing but a spacesuit, Akira could almost intrinsically sense the practiced confidence that the pro-hero had while facing possible danger. So that's what separates Pro Heroes from students, huh?

Suddenly, from the swirling purple vortex, people started to emerge. Lots and lots of people that definitely fit the category of a bad guy, at least in Akira's standards. Creepy costumes? Angry faces? Edgy color schemes? Yup, these people definitely aren't friendly.

Aizawa and Thirteen both tensed, but neither of them made a single movement. Akira frowned. These people are really villains, aren't they? This isn't some sort of drill, these people are really out to harm a bunch of students. Unless we're not the ones they're after?

From the crowd, a single figure emerged, distinguishing himself immediately as the pack leader of the group. Akira narrowed his eyes. Are those... hands? Attached to his limbs and face? It was a strange design, oddly fitting with the colorful, quirky nature of this world, but different as well. Creepy for sure.

The leader suddenly stopped. As if he was in hesitation. Then, the man started to twitch. His fingers, his neck, his arms and legs and body. They all twitched as if they were in severe distress. The sight was oddly disturbing, and evident from the expressions on his classmates, he wasn't the only one who thought so.

"I was told All-Might would be here." said the man as he immediately stopped, now standing almost nonchalantly. "Where's All Might?" he asked, the veil of a threat hidden away inside his voice. Didn't Aizawa mention that All Might had a flu or something?

"You're looking for All Might?!" a voice yelled. Akira instantly recognized the voice as belonging to Bakugo and couldn't help but grin. A complete ass he may be, but it's definitely not so bad when he's directing his insults at villains. "He would crush you fuckers like flies!"

"I see." mumbled out the leader, his voice laced with anger that spoke of bad things to come. "Villains!" yelled the man. "Let's kill some wannabe heroes today, shall we?"

Although it wasn't visible, Akira had the sudden feeling that the man was grinning. It wasn't a good feeling at all. As the massive horde of villains started to mobilize, Aizawa immediately jumped into action, only to be stopped by Midoriya. The pro hero looked at the student with a mixture of confusion and frustration as Midoriya stepped towards him.

"Aizawa-sensei, your quirk isn't suited for fighting large crowds! You'll-"

"Don't worry kid. You don't become a hero if you're a one trick pony." Aizawa interrupted before he promptly leaped into the horde of enemies.

With punches and kicks that subtly reminded Akira of a weird mix between Batman and Spiderman, the pro hero effortlessly took down the goons that had been coming towards them. Midoriya looked towards them with a nervous face, but a fire of confidence in his movements and voice.

"We need to help him!" said the student. Thirteen put a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head.

"Don't worry about Aizawa," said the pro-hero. "He can handle himself. Right now, both our and your first priorities should be keeping yourselves safe from harm."

Fuck that, Akira immediately thought before grimacing. He couldn't argue with Thirteen's logic. Aizawa, as unimpressive the man seemed on first glance, was handling himself admirably among the horde of villains that assaulted him ruthlessly. Although from what he could tell, the villains definitely weren't very skilled ones.

"Alright, now scram!" Thirteen said, this time more forcefully. "Let the pros handle this. You aren't ready for something like this yet!"

I am, Akira grumbled inwardly. I can handle myself against shadows, villains like these shouldn't be a problem. He hesitated briefly. But acting out like this probably won't be my best option right now, and Aizawa looks like he's fine so far... Is this the time for me to rush into something like this head on?

He knew the answer before the thought finished.

Quickly turning, he dashed in the opposite direction, away from the students and Thirteen, fully preparing to jump down and help Aizawa with the villains. I have a bad feeling that this isn't some sort of random attack. UA's security isn't lax, right? Whoever these people are, they want to defeat All Might. A declaration like that is usually backed with some kind of punch.

He activated his third eye. Ah, of course. The giant inky black monstrosity that stood with the leader (and the leader himself) glowed a crimson red, different from the casual yellow of the other villains. That bird thing is the most dangerous opponent. They're saving the best for last. But that would also mean that Aizawa should be in danger soon.

"Hey! Get back here!" yelled Thirteen.

"Sorry!" Akira yelled back as he sprinted onwards. Alright. Just from the looks of it that thing should be borderline immune to physical damage. Same with fire or wind. Dark or thunder, maybe? Although now that I think about it I have no clue how dark affects actual living creatures and not shadows...

Suddenly, the same purple mist from before rose up the stairway, right in front of him. Akira stopped immediately, jumping backwards. A spell immediately came to the forefront of his mind, and he yelled "Garudyne!" as the mist approached, a strong gust of pressurized wind striking it.

It had no effect.

Akira swore as he switched his persona back to Yoshitsune and leaped back to the students with a single, mighty jump. Immediately afterwards, he tore off his mask, the elemental spells and personas associated with them coming to his head almost instinctually.

He fired off a barrage.

"Garudyne! Ziodyne!"

A gust of wind. A lightning strike. No effect.

"Eigaon! Kougaon! Freidyne! Bufudyne! Agidyne! Psiodyne!"

All of the spells passed through the mist with zero effect. Akira cursed. What the hell? How am I supposed to hit this guy?

"Kurusu, stop!" Thirteen ordered loudly, a degree of frustration laced into her voice. "Your priority shouldn't be trying to combat this man. You need to get out, same with the other students." Akira paused, before grunting. Now that I think about it I'm pretty much going against everything she said earlier about heroism...

He hesitated. But wait- Aizawa's alone down there with that... thing. I don't think he'll be able to handle it alone. He actually needs help! But how in hell am I gonna tell that to Thirteen?

"Thirteen!" Akira yelled. "That black giant creature down there with Aizawa- I don't have a good feeling about it! He needs help!" Please for the love of god believe me.

"Aizawa is a pro hero, Kurusu. While I appreciate your concern, he'll handle himself just-"

The creature moved.

Or rather, the creature moved.

In the blink of an eye, Aizawa's face was grasped in a giant hand that flung it towards the ground, making a small crater in the floor. Akira widened his eyes. Shit! That thing is fast! Aizawa can't go up against a monster like that and win, right? He shook his head. His teacher's combat skills were impressive, but surely they would only go so far against an opponent that could run to you in the blink of an eye.

Fuck it.

Black mist be damned, Akira casted a power charge before dashing towards where the creature was, away from the crowd of students. "Kurusu!" Thirteen cried. "Get back here! Wait! This isn't your place to intervene!" Akira didn't stop and sprinted faster.

Screw all of this! No way I'm about to just watch someone get killed, slight douchebag or not.

"Wait! Midoriya, stop! Don't follow him-"

Akira couldn't help but grin, before grimacing. Trying to help is damn brave of him, but he'll get himself killed against that thing with how badly he breaks his bones every time he uses his power, he thought. Although I suppose that's what people think of me right now. Nobody really knows much about what I can do, don't they?

Was it hypocritical of him to be angry at Thirteen for trying to get him safe when he thought the same of Midoriya? Either way, there's no time to think on that right now. Thirteen may be in the right here by trying to stop me, but every moment lost is a moment Aizawa could be killed.

"Sorry!" Akira yelled before jumping down the stairway. Well at least the mist isn't here now, unless it can multitask and cover me as well as the students?

"Oh?" mocked the mist immediately as it appeared below him. "You think I would let you do that?"

Shit.

Immediately afterwards, Akira dropped into the purple void, and the next thing he knew, he was falling from the sky. Shit, it's a teleportation ability! Where the fuck am I? The center of the USJ is there, so that would mean that I'm above OH FUCK THAT'S A BUILDIN-

With a bang and a tumble, he crashed down into the abandoned building, thanking the lords above that he had borderline physical negation. Shit. How am I supposed to get to Aizawa from here? Quickly, he put on another power charge and jumped to the top of the collapsed apartment complex, scouting the stadium with his third eye.

Shit!

Thirteen was in clearly critical condition, the students were scattered all around USJ, and Aizawa was on the floor unconscious. Although the green light was still undoubtedly there, Akira wasn't sure whether it was going to be there for much longer. What do I do now?

A villain appeared. The man was skinny, almost to the point of being bony, most likely something to do with his quirk. Before the man could do anything, Akira flung a quick bufu at him, freezing him in place for hopefully the remainder of the USJ trip. Wait, there's Ojiro!

Thankfully, the tailed boy seemed to be handling the situation well, swinging from vintage points and striking villains before they knew what was happening. Akira sighed in relief. Is there anyone here? There's Tokoyami, but he seems to be fine too. So right now my priority should be getting to Aizawa as quickly as possible.

Relying on the phantom thief skills that he had accumulated throughout his journey, Akira jumped from platform to platform in the crumbling building, quickly making his way towards the outer border of the area and back into the main center of the USJ where Aizawa was. The monster there... will my personas be able to cut it for that thing? Akira clenched his fists in worry. That thing was damn fast. I'll need to bring out Yoshitsune or Arsene in physical form to combat him. But even then, can they handle that? Have I ever pushed a persona to that physical limit before?

At the very least, he would be able to pull a quick healing spell to help Aizawa before the man's condition became something irreversible. Akira cringed at the thought. Shit, why did a field trip like this even have to turn into some life and death scenario? These people are clearly coordinated...

He wiped the thoughts from his mind as he soared above the final structure, landing right behind Aizawa. The leader turned around in brief confusion.

Before anyone could make a move, Akira quickly pulled off his mask, yelling "Diarahan!" as a sparkle of green light appeared above Aizawa's head, clearing the man's wounds. Aizawa looked at him in shock and slight worry. "Kid, I don't know what you think you can do but right now you have to run away."

"Sorry sensei." Akira said as the black creature that had targeted Aizawa finally turned around to face him. Akira felt a rush of nostalgic adrenaline as he looked the creature in the eyes. Really feels like Kamoshida again, huh? The face of certain danger, where if I make even a single mistake I'm doomed.

He cracked his neck.

"Bring it on." he said to the creature, although he wasn't sure whether that was meant to show confidence or give him confidence. Either way, it worked, as Akira disappeared and in place, Joker, the leader of the phantom thieves took charge of the situation.

With a natural grin that had been plastered onto his face through the course of several battles (Smile. Smiling shows the enemy that you're the one in control.) Akira fluently dodged the creature's first punch, swinging his blunted sword at the creature's chest.

The sword shattered. Akira grunted before pulling out his other sword. The sharp one.

This time as he swung it, the blade pierced through, leaving a wound that closed up immediately. So not only super batshit strong, but regenerating as well? That's just fucking overkill, although I suppose you would need something like that to make a dent in someone like All Might...

The creature's fist crashed against his face. Akira grimaced in pain as he flew backwards and landed on the concrete floor. Even with Yoshitsune equipped that hurt like shit. That thing really isn't screwing around, huh?

Reapplying his grin, Akira tore off his mask, feeling a rush of power that he hadn't felt since the entrance exam. Using persona abilities was one thing, but summoning one? That was something completely different. It felt euphoric in a way that shooting a spell simply didn't.

The giant figure of Yoshitsune emerged from blue flames behind him, swords in stance. Akira felt an almost manic desire to chortle.

He cracked his fingers, exhaling as he quickly dusted off his clothes.

And then, he pointed towards the bird beaked creature, feeling the tendrils of control and an all to familiar pain rush up his joints and abdomen.

Yoshitsune charged towards the creature.

Notes

I don't like this chapter, I'm gonna be honest. I feel like I'm pacing this too quickly, but I don't want to update this thing ages late again, so here we are. Probably I'll rewrite a few bits of this particular chapter once I have a bit more time.

Anyways, yeah. That's the beginning of the USJ arc. This'll run for a few more chapters and I'll make use of a few more POV characters compared to this chapter with Akira only.

Also a question, what are your favorite persona games? Personally I would have to go with 4, because 1) it was my first game and 2) the dynamic of the investigation team is just something special imo. I love 5, but the thieves just doesn't tickle that same itch that the IT does. Maybe it's the humor. That being said, I haven't played Royal yet so that might be it.

That's it for now, and thanks for reading as usual. Leave a review, provide some constructive criticism.