"...so our editor wanted me and Kayo to get some dirt on the guy. A former noble who apparently in league with Shido of all people..." Ohya explained to Panther and Mishima who were listening closely, "Anyway, we got to the bar and he's surrounded by all these girls. Pretty, young things as well, and then we discover it's not the type of bar we thought it was."
"Wait, you're not saying..." Panther began.
"Oh I am..." Ohya muttered, "He'd booked out the whole bar, for himself and his harem, me and Kayo realised to little and too late what was about to happen."
"Oh... Oh no!" Panther said, "Please tell me you didn't take pictures or record any of it!"
"We'd get done for all sorts, sued to high hell and back." Ohya said, "All sorts of laws in place for that, not that I can list of all of them. When we get back to the safe-room I'm sure what's-her-face, erm... Sa..."
"Codenames, remember?" Akira hissed back at them.
"Oh right sorry, Judge then," Ohya stressed, "Can tell you all about them. Of course we had a few photos of him meeting up with these girls and kissing them. But nothing past that, believe me. In fact the whole exprience was hilarious for me and Kayo, once we got over the shock."
"Why?" Panther asked.
"Because he was terrible!" Ohya said, now roaring in laughter. "Call us sleazy all you want, but me and Kayo, let's just say we were stuck where we were and couldn't leave without attracting attention. So we had to sit through the whole thing, trying hard not too laugh."
"Trying not to laugh?" Panther inquired, "I'd be traumatized!"
"and where were you watching this from exactly?" Mishima asked.
"Ah, a great Jounralist never reveals her secrets!" Ohya exclaimed, "Besides you sound jealous Mishima."
"Well I am!" Mishima admitted proudly, "Imagine seeing all those babes..." his eyes went misty at the thought, as Panther scowled at him.
"Ugh... Mishima..." she groaned.
"Sorry but... think about it..." he mused, "All those girls, in one place..."
"Yeah, all those girls, bored as fuck and as stiff as a board," Ohya said, "Anyway, that's the type of guy this noble was. Sleazy and likes younger girls."
"So, you think this noble is one of Shido's confidants?" Panther asked.
"It's possible," Ohya replied, "I heard the guests talking about it in the lobby, but since we were so focused on that Politican Ooe and getting the passes, I didn't think much of it. But now we're here, in these endless bland-as-hell corridors, it's made me think of something other than Ooe, and who else could be assiocated with Shido, and that noble was the first one that sprang to mind."
"Anyone else we should know about?" Panther asked.
"No... not really." Ohya said, "After Kayo dissappeared, those cases went cold. I'm sure I would have found more, me and Kayo..." she sighed there, it was clear she missed her old friend dearly.
"I know this pretty grim, but what do you think happened to her, before you found her?" Mishima asked nervously.
"Nothing fucking good, if this palace is anything to go by," Ohya said, "But I have to hold onto the hope she'll return to normal one day. God, I rememeber how we went out, the night after we caught that noble. We drank so much she had bubbles coming out of her nose!" the journalist exclaimed, laughing at the memory, "Tell you what, when we clear this palace, we can all go for a drink. Ages be damned! Panther and Mishima...and, hey you too Joker!"
"Let's not focus on that until later," Joker replied, his eyes peeled on the corridor in front of him. Everything was silent (besides his companions) in this part of the ship. The lights buzzed duly, the carpets were laid out spotlessly, pots and plants lined the side of these corridors, all trimmed or polished to perfection. It was strange, their should have been an army of workers keeping the ship this clean and organised. Then again, this was a creation of Shido's mind, so anything he called Home, would have to be perfect and up to his impossible standards.
But that didn't stop Joker from moving catiously, with every flight of stairs they ascended at the end of every corridor, he kept his eyes sharp and ears sharper at the sound of anything that wasn't silent. Any shuffling or any footsteps that would indicate approaching shadows. Panther may have been talking merrily at the minute but she was still weak and leaning on Mishima for support.
"Ugh... such a killjoy Joker, honestly." Ohya said, "Also, why are me and Mishima here still getting called by our real names, while you and Panther get code-names?"
"I prefer if you don't use your names, at least wait till we get to the safe-room," Joker responded.
"Yeah, but shouldn't we have code-names as well? For the sercuity reasons that cat mentioned earlier?" Ohya pointed out, "Or can you only get a nickname when you get a persona?"
"Look, can it just wait untill later!" Joker snapped, getting annoyed now, why were the three of them acting so laid back? They were being followed by someone, and the stakes had never been higher!
"Jeez... alright..." Ohya muttered, before she turned to Mishima, "Well I guess that settles it then, throw yourself out of that porthole, I'll activate my persona to save you."
"What? No! You do it!" Mishima shot back, "and I'll activate my persona to save you!"
"Hell no, I want a nickname first!" Ohya said.
"No me!" Mishima replied.
"The way you two are going, I think you'll let the other one drown before you get a persona, or a nickname." Panther mused.
"Well then Panther, if we could throw you out of the porthole..."
"Wait, no! No, no, no, no! We are NOT doing that...!"
Joker felt a small smile worm itself onto his face at their antics, but he had to wonder how they could stay so postive, after someone in their group had died...
Oh right, they didn't know.
Joker had told them, that he thought someone had died, but they weren't going to believe him until they saw it themselves. Ohya still believed her friend was alive, so why should they expect the worse? If Joker was left in the dark, he would have tried to keep postive as well, dwelling on what could have possibly happened with Ooe was daunting enough. Surely Ryuji, Morgana and the others had managed to finish him off, Joker had to have hope, if only one of them had died, then it seemed likely the others had either escaped or subdued the snake.
But what if Igor really was toying with him? What if no-one had died at all? But then, what if more people had died since then?
Joker felt sick thinking about it, for the briefest of seconds, he swore he saw his own shadow looking right back at him.
"Only you can save them..."
He shook that image from his mind, he had to think clearly and...
Footsteps.
"SHADOWS!" He bellowed instantly, he felt the air around him sizzle with energy, the names of his collected persona's at the tip of his tongue. Ohya leapt back as if she'd been electrocuted, Mishima yelped in surprise and ducked the ground, dropping Panther as he did so.
"Sorry..." he whispered to her.
"No, it's okay..." she replied, getting to her feet, and hobbling to Joker's side, "Joker, where...?"
"I can hear them coming... stay out of this Panther," Joker said.
"But..."
"You're too weak... I can handle it..."
"Guys!" Mishima exclaimed, as the pair of them turned away from each other, and back towards the corridor ahead, to see a butler stumbling towards them...
A grunting butler, covered in blood.
"Hang on, that doesn't look like a shadow..." Ohya muttered, squinting her eyes.
Joker peered closer, Panther realised who it was, a second before Joker did.
"RYUJI!" she bellowed, ignoring the pain searing through her body, she stumbled right up to bruised and battered, blonde boy. She crashed into him, yet he didn't return the hug at all. He looked blankly at the ground, not seeming to realise Panther was right in front of him.
"Ryuji, are you okay?" Joker asked, approaching his old friend.
"Codenames people, honestly..." Ohya said (a statement which went ignored).
"A-A-ann?" Ryuji finally mumbled, his dark eyes focusing on her form.
"Ryuji," she replied with a smile, "What's wrong? You're hurt aren't you!? Ryuji what...?"
Ryuji seemed to go slack, he fell back into the wall and slumped to the ground. Ann held onto him and began to apply her healing (despite the fact she was already exhausted). Ryuji's eyes found Joker's, then Mishima's and Ohya's. It seemed to occur to him that he was surrounded by his friends again, he breathed a sigh of relief. After tearing through that many shadows... he needed some form of comfort.
"Ryuji's what's wrong?" Joker asked, "What happened up there? What happened to Ooe and the others...?"
"She's dead"
Joker blinked.
"Who?"
Ryuji blinked and felt the tears fall from his eyes once again, unable to hold them back as that memory consumed him.
"Mum, she's dead" he wept in a small voice, that was so unlike his own.
There was a ringing silence from the four of them, now they had confirmation that someone in their group had died. Joker felt his gut turn to ice and his breathing grow shallower, the world seemed to spin in his vision. His shadow reared it's ugly head again and whispered softly into his ear...
"If only you were there..."
"Nagisa... no...!" Panther whimpered, tears falling from her eyes, "This... this can't be real..."
"I knew it, I knew someone had died, DAMN IT!" Joker shouted, slamming his fist against the wall in anger.
"You failed..." his shadow taunted.
"But what happened up there, did you take care of Ooe?" Ohya asked, (her face a shade paler), "Look kid, I know it's rough but..."
"I don't know what happened," Ryuji muttered in misery, "Mona got taken out, Sojiro got hurt really bad protecting Oracle, then it just me and my mum and she... she saved me, but then the snake... it got her, then it got me.. I fell... I woke up... and had to fight shadows..."
"Ryuji..." Ann muttered.
"I'm gonna kill him!" he blurted out, the tears falling harder now, "I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD ANN! I'M... I'M GONNA AVENGE MY MUM... I...!" His voice went hoarse there, and he wept into Panther's chest, as she held onto the grieving boy tighter. Her own tears hitting the top of his spiked hairs.
"I'm so, so sorry..." she wept, "If we were there..."
"Listen, I hate to do this..." Mishima began, "But shouldn't we like... move or something? Don't you agree Joker, if we stay in the same place for too long..."
Joker was about to agree, before Ryuji seemed to growl and shot up from his sitting position.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO DOING!" He spat hatefully at Mishima and Ohya, "IF YOU HADN'T BEEN STUPID AND GOT IN THAT THINGS WAY, WE MIGHT HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO BEAT IT! YOU'RE BOTH FUCKING USELESS!"
A stunned silence from the pair of them.
"Ryuji..." Joker muttered.
"AND WHAT SORT OF TACTIC DID YOU HAVE JOKER!" He spat, "THAT TACTIC GOT MY MUM KILLED! YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS, WHY... WHY...!?" he pettered off there, unable to scream anymore.
"That's not fair, what we did was stupid, but it didn't get your mum killed." Ohya said harshly.
"YOU...!" Ann began to scream on Ryuji's behalf.
"He's grieving and not thinking straight, I've seen it before, a thousand times," Ohya muttered calmly, "Joker, we have to get Panther and Skull here, back to the safe room, Mishima's right, we can't stay here."
Joker sighed.
"Okay, but let's just give them a minute." he muttered.
"But..."
"A minute," Joker stressed.
Now it was Ohya's turn to sigh.
"Fine," she said.
"Thanks Joker, I liked Nagisa as well... I can't believe this..." Panther wept.
"Panther, you're exhausted, can you save your healing for later and..." he barely finished his sentence, as Panther had already collapsed onto Skull, running out of energy, a few seconds later, he went to mutter something that sounded like, "So tired... Ann I..." before his eyes rolled to back of his head and he allowed himself to rest.
"Now what?" Ohya said looking down at them, "That wasn't even a minute, and now they're both out cold."
"Grab Ann, I'll grab Ryu..."
"Codenames Joker?" Ohya inquired.
Joker scowled at her, but her smirk kept him in place.
"Fine." he muttered back, "I'll grab Skull, you can grab Panther, you can handle the weight can't you?"
"Easy," she replied, as she grabbed Panther and placed the sleeping Shujin student on her back, while Joker did the same with Skull.
"Alright, Mishima keep an eye behind us, make sure we're not snuck up on"
They began to move.
"Hey kid!" Ohya shouted.
Joker turned to see that Mishima hadn't moved, he was staring at the ground, not acknowledging Ohya at all.
"HEY!" She shouted louder.
This got his attention as he looked up.
"You heard Joker didn't you? Keep an eye on the rear, so no one sneaks up on us," she said, "You okay with that?"
"Yeah, yeah... fine," Mishima muttered, his face paler than usual and his voice quieter as he tailed the pair of them back towards the safe room.
But from what Skull had just told them, Joker felt a lump of dread in his thoart, if things really were as bad as he said.
Then he was dreading the return to his own group.
"You're going to have to step up..."
"We shouldn't go too far," Fox said, watching Noir descend the stairs.
"I'd listen to him Noir," Mona added, "I couldn't find my way out of those corridors earlier, it's like they go on forever."
"We won't go too far, if that's the case," Noir muttered, "But still, we need to find them soon. I think Iwai was serious earlier."
"Yeah, it's looking bleak," Mona muttered, "But didn't you say we shouldn't keep relying on Joker. Now we're desperate to find him?"
"I don't want to keep relying on him, but the group needs him," Noir said.
"and you don't?" Fox inquired.
"I want to show him, that I can do things on my own," Noir said, "I've only ever shared this with Joker, but... I want to open my own coffee shop one day. He helped me to move on from my former fiance, and helped me realise my dream, and the Phantom Thieves have always been there for me."
"What are you getting at here, Noir?" Fox asked.
"I feel like, I really haven't done anything on my own!" she stressed.
"Isn't now the wrong time, to be trying to go alone?" Fox asked, "We should be sticking together,"
"I know that, but... I want to show everyone that I can do something...!"
"Noir..."
"Don't you feel guilty Fox?" she asked, "If we were there, against that Snake, we could have saved Ryu... Skull's mum! You said it yourself didn't you Mona, it was weak to Pyschic and Ice attacks!"
"Yeah, it was," Mona muttered, "Maybe that Iwai really does have a good plan, if you two would have been there, it would have made things a lot easier."
"I see, so it was our fault then," Fox mumbled.
"I didn't say that...!" Mona began.
"No, but it's true," Fox muttered, before he faced Noir, "I do feel guilty for what happened, and we could have stopped it. I know how it feels to want to prove yourself in this group. I wanted that more than ever, when I first joined. It felt so... welcoming to be in a group that finally accepted my eccentricities."
He sighed there.
"But we shouldn't try anything flashy now, if we follow Joker..."
"If Judge hadn't activated her Persona, Queen would be dead!" Noir said, "If we disobeyed Joker and went with him, then it's more than likely no one would have died. Akechi didn't turn up at the safe-room" she explained, "Joker can't save us all Fox, and sometimes if we go against him, it could be the right thing to do."
"But..."
"He didn't tell us about the others, untill he was forced!" Noir continued to say, "I explained to you earlier Fox, this is serious, I've been thinking about what would happen if we failed and, our country will fall. Millions will suffer, I know it and Joker knows it, imagine what that sort of pressure is doing to him."
"Joker's always coped with it," Mona interjected, "I mean, we got out of the situation with Akechi!"
"Queen and Oracle were the masterminds behind that," Noir reminded him, "I think we all have our roles in the group, but... if we really want to help Joker. We can't just blindly follow all of his orders, espeically if we don't agree with them."
Fox was silent now, deep in thought.
"Noir, I don't like this. Joker isn't perfect, I know but..."
"You came to me, when you felt mistreated by the Phantom Thieves, do you remember that Mona?"
"Yes, but... we solved that," Mona said, "Fox, what do you think about all of this?"
"I... don't know, but it's troubling," he muttered. However, inside the Kosei-High student began to really assess his role in the group. He had been an outsider his entire life, and fitting in or being popular had never concerned him beforehand. Even with the Phantom Thieves, he still chose to pursue his love of art above all else. He had hit a roadblock in his work since Madarame had been revealed as a fraud. Thanks to Joker's help he had managed to regain his passion and love of art once again, but at times he still struggled.
Was a small part of him being held back by conformity? Was his art suffering because he never truly disagreed or argued with Joker or the others? He was fine with being the strange one in the group, and following them on their inflitrations through palaces. But had he grown stagnant and too comfortable in this new life? With the stakes raised so high now, every little move he made had a massive effect.
He couldn't be held in his creative box anymore, maybe Noir was right.
Maybe it was time to start thinking outside of that box once again.
As he thought about that, Mona suddenly shireked, jumping onto Fox's lanky shoulders.
"Someone's coming!" he hissed.
Noir and Fox readied their persona's, but a second later, their worries were quenched, when Joker himself appeared, carrying Skull on his back, followed by Ohya with Panther and with Mishima trailing behind.
"J-joker!" Noir muttered. Despite what they had all just said about doubting his lead, they were all (undoubtley) happy to see him and the others alive.
"Noir, Fox!" Joker exclaimed back to them, "Thank God!"
"Hey, what about me!" Mona stressed.
"and you," Joker mused, "But... what are you doing here?"
"We were sent to find you!" Mona exclaimed, "You need to get back to the safe-room Joker, Iwai's planning something crazy!"
"What!?" Joker exclaimed, "What about the snake, Mona, what is going on!?"
"You'll find out soon Joker, but you have to get back to the safe room, we'll explain it all there..."
"No"
Joker's reply was final.
"You barely even listened to me!" Iwai thundered, "We can make this work, we can't afford a repeat of what just happened with Ooe!"
Joker agreed with that point, but he simply couldn't risk anymore lives being lost due to seperation. As much as he wanted to ignore the shadow lurking on his shoulder. The leader of the Phantom Thieves found it's influence too strong, he knew more people would die if they chose to go back.
The situation was already bad enough here, everyone was gathered. But Sojiro, Ryuji and Ann were still resting and recovering. Their supplies of food and medicine were running out faster than they anticipated. Ooe was tied up and not going anywhere, but once Ryuji woke up it would take the whole group to hold him back from getting his vengeance. On top of that, it would only take one visit from Akechi to see Ooe as their prisoner, and then he could run off and tell Shido.
"Well we have to do something!" Tae stressed, "Little Miss Paparazzi over there thinks this noble could be next."
"It's Ohya and thank you for asking, Plague," Ohya bit back with, causing Tae to scowl, never-the-less Ohya ignored the irritated doctor and continued to speak.
"So rather than splitting up, we carry on as we did before, and find this noble," the Jounralist concluded.
"More of us could die!" Tae stressed.
"Yes, could die" Ohya said, "We all knew this wasn't going to be a walk in the park, and we all agreed to it. We can't all get cold feet now, because one person died."
"It's true, that we knew there would be risks," Sae interjected, "But we have to minimalise causalties, and if we carry on the way we're going. I don't think we'll make it."
"What makes you think that?" Hifumi inquired, "If we're all together..."
"Do you rememeber what happened last time we were all together and Akechi found us!?" Sae muttered harshly, "He pinned all of you down, and he would have killed Makoto if he hadn't forgotten about me. One error on his part, one he won't repeat, and if I didn't active my persona..."
She shuddered there, not needing to finish her sentence. Makoto patted her sister's shoulder for comfort.
"That's why we stick together regardless!" Joker exclaimed, "More of us have Persona powers this time, we'll be stronger and we won't be caught off guard! We won't repeat our error either!"
"But Joker, we did attack Akechi and he still overpowered us!" Noir exclaimed, speaking up.
"She's right, and we're bound to suffer more injuries, we won't all be at peak strength at every moment," Queen added.
"Then what do you suggest we do!?" Chihaya shouted, "I can't predict what's going to happen now, but... surely we need to avoid spiltting up, I'm with Joker on this one. We stand a better chance against Akechi if we stay together."
"I don't think so," Iwai muttered, "It's like the Judge just said, we all got overpowered by that freak, if we were spilt up. He'd probably still kill us, but not all of us."
"How about we just avoid deaths in general?" Joker said.
"Or, we get the communication we need!" Iwai stressed, "So if one group gets attacked, they can call the others for help."
Joker shook his head.
"It would be great if we had communication, but we don't!" he emphaised to the gun-shop owner, "and I'm not risking anymore lives on some suicide mission! Do you know what will happen if you go back? They'll be guards stationed outside of the diet building, they'll arrest you, and have you killed instantly! You're walking into a trap!"
"It's a risk we have too take!" Iwai bellowed back, "Besides, when we came in here, we were all for spiltting up and covering more ground! Why have we all suddenly got to stay together!? Is it because one of us died? Is that it!?"
"I knew the risks..." Joker began.
"But you didn't actually think one of us would die?" Tae inquired, "Surely, you must have known something would happen, Shido isn't just going to let us take his heart, y'know."
"I know..."
"We've haven't lost anyone since we started the Phantom Thieves!" Mona said, joining the discussion, "Maybe we got too confident Joker, maybe we thought we could survive the impossible, just like we did at the casino."
"Oracle and Queen were behind that," Joker said, flashing a smile in their direction, "With them on board, we can find another solution to all this."
"Didn't you say you could hack into any communication devices we get from Shido?" Kaoru asked of Oracle.
"It's possible, but I really wouldn't recommend it," Oracle replied, "Besides, I... don't want to risk it..." she said this, as she looked down at Sojiro once again.
"You've risked it once Oracle, you can do it again," Joker said, "That way we can stay in this palace and get the communication we need! Everyone's happy then, that could work for everyone."
"and if it doesn't?" Tae asked.
"It will," Joker said, "I have faith in Oracle."
However Futaba herself looked unsure, the skinny girl gulped loudly and felt the weight of group's gazes, crushing her resolve and confidence.
"Well I... Joker I really don't know if I can..." she stuttered, her face going as red as her hair.
"Of course you can! You hacked into Medjed!" Kaoru exclaimed, "Isn't that right, Joker?"
"Yeah, she can do it!" Joker said, "Can't you Oracle?"
Futaba felt her heart-rate quicken, she felt sick, her skin was almost glowing white, the entire safe room seemed to spin in her vision.
"Oracle, you have to do this!" Joker stressed, "If you don't, people will die...!"
Now Futaba began to hyperventilate.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Fox suddenly bellowed, before anyone could even register that Kosei-High student had shouted, he felt himself storm up to Joker, his face inches from his leaders.
"Joker, that's not fair," he said, "You're putting Oracle under too much pressure, if she can't do it. She can't be forced too."
"But she can!" Joker hissed, "I know she can! I..."
"You've lost your nerve, just as Oracle has," Fox muttered calmly, "Don't expect us to do something that you wouldn't."
"I..." Joker began.
"Joker," Queen muttered, cutting through him, as all eyes turned in her direction.
"Maybe we're really over our heads this time," she muttered sadly, "I think... I think we need to trust the others on this one."
"BUT, THEY'LL DIE!" Joker roared, now losing his cool, as his shadow grew larger and more malicious, "THEY CAN'T DO IT! NOT LIKE HOW WE DID IT! THEY CAN'T...!"
"You won because you took a risk," Iwai reminded him, "Let us do the same."
"But you'll die! I'm trying to keep everyone safe!" Joker said.
"and we apperciate it, but we can't play it safe if we're going to win," Iwai said.
"I won't allow this," Joker said, "I can't..."
"Then we'll have settle this through a vote," Yoshida muttered, "You're not like Shido are you Joker?"
"No"
"Then you'll understand that as a group, we have to decide on this together," Yoshida muttered, "It appears the vote comes down to two opitions, either we carry on as we are, or we follow Iwai's plan to find supplies from the outside."
"Hang on, what about using Oracle...!" Joker began.
"You don't want to do it, do you Oracle?" Yoshida asked, as she shook her head and, (unable to look Joker in the eye) simply muttered, "I'm sorry, I can't Joker."
"We can't force her do that," Yoshida said, "That's final."
"Oh... but... now... now you're all going to hate me!" Oracle yelled, tears starting to fall from her eyes, unable to look at anyone. However a second later, she felt a comforting arm around her shoulders, and braved a look up to see that it was (once again) Yoshida who was comforting her.
"No one is going to hate you," he said gently, "You've said it yourself, if you can't trust the devices on this ship. Then we shouldn't either".
Futaba smiled, and wiped her eyes, guilt still tore her up from the inside, but she felt slightly better.
"Now, we'll vote, those who opt to stay together and carry on, raise your hands and give your reasons."
Hands were raised.
"We stick together and keep safe!" Joker said.
"Joker's gotta point, let's just play it smart people," Ohya muttered.
"I'm with Joker," Mishima (who had been silent up to this point) muttered half-heartedly.
"Me too!" Kawakami added.
"Well, I'm with Joker and I don't want you to go Dad," Kaoru said.
"Yes, let's make our moves wisely." Hifumi said.
"We just have to keep going," Chihaya mumbled.
"And I too, think we should stick together," Yoshida concluded, "But I want to give everyone a fair chance to have their voices heard, so counting those in favor of Joker's plan, we have..." he did a quick headcount "8 of us."
"That means the rest of us vote for my plan," Iwai said, "and that makes 8 of us as well."
Joker looked around, Iwai, Tae, Noir, Fox, Judge, Queen, Oracle, Mona had voted against him. With the expectation of Tae, Iwai and Judge, all of the people who'd voted against him we're his fellow Phantom Thieves. He felt a bubble of anger start to swell in his stomach, how could they all be so dense!
"You know the stakes, why are you voting for this!?" he inquired harshly.
"Because it's what we believe will work," Fox answered simply, "We know it's a risk, but we need communication Joker."
"You too Mona?" Joker asked of the cat.
"Look, I could go with them!" Mona said, "I've been thinking Joker, they might get recognized, but I won't! If they can't get back, I can!"
"Maybe we can just send you Mona, and if Iwai and Tae stay here and give you the directions..." Judge began.
"I don't know the city that well!" Mona exclaimed, "I'd need a guide and people to carry things..."
"Why are you discussing this, it isn't going to happen, the vote is a draw!" Chihaya said, "That means, we go by the leader's word, right?"
"That's not how it works, we go with the majority," Yoshida confirmed.
"But, we have no majority and we've all voted!" Kawakami said.
"Not everyone," Yoshida said.
"Yes, but Panther, Skull and Sojiro are out cold," Joker said, "and..."
"Well, not me."
All eyes turned to where an exhausted looking Panter rose up on the bed she was planted on.
"I..."
"I heard everything, I was just pretending to sleep," Panther said, "and I'm going with the others here Joker, I vote we get some communication."
"But Panther..." Joker began.
"Nagisa died!" Panther exclaimed, "and Ryuji..." she looked down at him there, her pale blue eyes lined with sadness for him, "...He lost his mother. I can't let that happen to someone else."
"But my dad could die!" Kaoru shouted, "Did you think about that!?"
"Err..." Panther stuttered, her eyes now wide at being confronted by the younger teen.
"It's my choice Kaoru," Iwai growled.
"and it was Nagisa's choice as well!" Kaoru replied, "and look where it got her! I don't want that happening to you!"
"It won't..."
"But..."
"The vote still isn't over, Sojiro and Skull are still out of it," Joker began "and they could vote for me, giving me the majority"
"Oh, I don't think so."
A pained grunt, everyone now turned to where Sojiro of all people was grimacing in pain and trying to lift himself up on the bed, he'd been resting on before.
"When did you get up!?" Tae inquired, before rushing over to him, "Never mind, just keep down and don't stress yourself..."
However Sojiro had other plans, he raised his hand and pointed an accusing finger at Joker.
"If I ever hear you speak to Futaba like that again, I'll make you wish that you hadn't!" he snapped, a dangerous growl in his voice.
"Sojiro..." Joker muttered.
"NO!" He boomed, startling everyone, "DON'T YOU EVER MAKE HER FEEL GUILTY! I'M WARNING YOU AKIRA!"
A stunned silence filled the small safe-room at this point, Kaoru quietly muttered under his breath "...and I thought my dad was scary when he got mad..."
"If you felt that way, why didn't you speak up earlier?" Yoshida asked.
"I would have done, but I can barely keep myself awake..." Sojiro muttered, "I..." his eyes went cloudy at that point, as Futaba leaned down to him.
"Sojiro!" she yelled desperatley, "DAD!"
At this call, Sojiro seemed to regain some of his composure, he flashed a toothy smile at his adopted daughter.
"Ha... Futaba..." he muttered, "Don't... feel guilty..."
"Hey come on, don't push yourself, you need rest!" Tae said strictly.
"Alright doc... just let me vote!" Sojiro snapped, "and I vote for your plan, go and do what you gotta do, we don't want another casualty here. That's my vote..."
With this he dipped his head back onto the pillow.
"Alright, now get some rest," Tae muttered softly too him, before she stood and faced Joker, "Well then that settles it for good Joker. Even if Skull wakes up now and votes for you. Our plan still has the majority, we're going."
Joker was stunned, he'd been voted against, and now the group was splitting up, and was certainly about to march to their avoidable deaths.
He looked over at Makoto who offered him a look of sympthany, but he couldn't maintain her gaze, as he faced the ground in defeat.
"What did I do wrong?" he thought helplessly, to himself.
Blood.
Her own sister lying there in that crimson splatter amongst the pavement, it was the only thing she was able to see when she woke up hours later. Her parents were making a fuss over her, saying things she couldn't hear. Doctors seemed like flies half a world away, buzzing around her like annoying parasites. She heard something about "shock" but nothing else. She'd escaped any physical harm, but mentally her mind was reeling at how suddenly everything had happened.
She felt like she was on autopilot, unable to process anything. She spoke to the police, but the questions were brief. They just wanted to know about the poor boy Shinya and what he'd told her before he'd passed. She didn't tell them about the Phantom Thieves connection, but she certainly mentioned the armed robbery, an officer later confirmed that when they searched his address, they had found his mother dead in there.
"So it was true, it was an armed robbery..." she thought duly to herself.
Armed robbers had killed his mother and chased him through the streets like he'd said, planting the perfect assissnation attempt on the road.
The case was complicated further when they found the driver. He'd crashed into a lampost, but according to the reports he'd died of a mental shutdown, rather than the impact itself. In a similar way to the cases assiocated with the Phantom Thieves.
Kasumi kept too herself, but felt a tiny, growing panic, flare in her stomach.
Was it possible Shinya was right? That it really had something to do with the Phantom Thieves?
Kasumi pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, there would undoubtedly be a media storm over this story. With so many eyewitnesses present and because of the cause of death of the driver. But she didn't want to be exposed to that, all she wanted was too sleep and forget everything.
She wanted to forget Sumire.
Before long, she was back home, lying in her bed. But the tears wouldn't stop falling, not just for Sumire, but for Shinya as well. That poor boy didn't deserve his fate at all... why was the world so cruel... and why couldn't she do more to stop it! It was her fault... all her fault...
"Kasumi"
She heard her name, her mother had poked her head inside of daughter's room.
"M-mum?" she muttered in confusion, blinking and rubbing her eyes she could see it was still dark.
"Kasumi dear, there's someone who wants to see you." she muttered gently.
"It's still nighttime," she replied, "and I need to be ready for school tommorow."
"School!?" her mother shireked, "Kasumi, me and your father have discussed this with your homeroom teacher, and they're letting you have some time off!"
"But what about my training..."
"Your coach will understand," her mother continued, "Kasumi, you need time off, you've suffered a terrible shock."
"But..."
"Kasumi, is she in here?" came a new voice, one Kasumi wasn't expecting.
"Maruki, you don't have to come in, we can bring her downstairs."
"Maruki!" Kasumi said, realizing now who'd come to see her, she shot up in her bed, with a renewed interest, "It's okay mum, let him in."
"But Kasumi..."
"I don't mind, come on in Maruki," she muttered, as the counsellor made his entrance. Ever since he'd left Shujin nearly a month ago, she'd missed him dearly. He was the one who understood her the best, he was the one who'd helped her after Sumire's "accident", and whenever she felt down, his office was always open. The more Kasumi spoke to him, the more she opened up, about her guilt at the accident and how inferior she always felt to her sister.
In turn, she learned more about him. They told each other things they hadn't told anyone else.
"I came as soon as I heard!" Maruki exclaimed, and that seemed to be as true a statment as any. His hair was even more unkempt than usual, their were heavy bags under his eyes and he appeared to be wearing striped nightwear, with a coat hastily slapped on over it.
"Did you come over here in that!?" Kasumi's mother asked, taking a good look at him, "Maruki, you've already done enough, we didn't expect you too..."
"No, I had to come," Maruki muttered, "Now, if you'd like to speak Kasumi I'm here, but I'll understand if you don't want too..."
"No, I need to talk," Kasumi muttered.
Her mother smiled.
"Well I don't know how you do it Maruki," she mused, "But you know how to get her talking, even when we can't. If you want me to leave you two alone..."
"It would be best, just for a little while," Maruki said, as she smiled and closed the door behind them. Leaving the pair of them facing each other.
Kasumi had no idea how he did it, but she found herself blurting out her fears to him as they sat there at the edge of her bed.
"...I know it sounds crazy, but that's what Shinya told me!" she informed him, "That it had something to do with the Phantom Thieves. He said that Akria guy, in the year above me. He knew them or something..."
"and you haven't told the police about this?" Maruki asked.
Kasumi shook her head.
"Well then, that's good," he said gently, "If what you say is true, then you could have put yourself on their hitlist."
"What, so you think it's all true!" she exclaimed, "That... that there really some sort of conspiracy surrounding Shido?"
Maruki looked lost in thought for a few moments, before he took a cautious glance around Kasumi's room, he gestured at her to move closer, in which she did, as he lowered his voice.
"Kasumi, listen to me. What I'm about to tell you is confidental," he muttered. "But I had many sessions with Akira Kursu, and I fully believe he didn't just know the Phantom Thieves, but he was their leader".
Kasumi gasped.
"But..."
"He helped me a lot in futhering my own research," Maruki muttered, "But the more I thought about it, the more it all made sense. The Phantom Thieves must use some sort of Congnitive Psience to change the hearts of their targets. and Akira seemed knowledgeable in that field, more so than your average student."
"So, if he was the leader, does that mean, they killed him." Kasumi whispered urgently to him, "He hasn't been to school in a while, could it be..."
"It's certainly possible," Maruki muttered, "Were you close to him Kasumi?"
"No, but he was always nice to me," Kasumi said.
"That's good then, you need to stay out of all this, and focus on your recovery," he said softly.
"But If I can help...!" Kasumi began.
"You can't. I'll look into this, but you need to stay safe and stay happy," the counsellor told her, "Please!" he begged, grabbing her by the shoulders now. "If something has happened to Akira then it's unforgivable, and I have to find out why, but you need to stay away!"
"But I can't!" Kasumi wept, tears falling from her eyes now, "After what happened with her... with Sumire... no!" she suddenly shouted, "Wh-what happened with Kasumi was all my fault! I'm jealous, bitter and hateful...!"
"Sumire...!"
"I should have died, not her... now I'm just taking her name and...!"
"Sumire...!"
"I can't do anything... I don't deserve to be alive...!"
"Kasumi!" Maruki bellowed, his grip on her as tight as ever, and his eyes boring directly into her's.
"Your name is Kasumi, you aren't responsible for Sumire's death," Maruki muttered, "Please, understand this, I-want-to-help-you."
"K-Kasumi?" she muttered.
"Yes," Maruki replied, "Kasumi, none of this is your fault. Now let me take your pain away."
"But..."
"Please, please Kasumi, just forget!" he begged of her, tears starting to swell in his own eyes now. He couldn't lose her, he simply had to save someone. The counsellor had already lost his beloved parents-in law and Rumi, just thinking of her and the pain she had to endure was unbearable for him, no one deserved to go through that.
and Takuto Maruki was going to make sure no one ever did.
His resolve was as unbreakable as ever, Maruki could see the tears starting to dry on Kasumi's cheeks, he felt himself smile and released his hands from her shoulders.
"I'm sorry to have dragged you out here, just to listen to me," she mumbled.
"No, it's my job. I'd do it for anyone Kasumi," Maruki said honestly, "But this isn't your fault, okay?"
She nodded.
"Now, I think you need some sleep," he said, "Time will heal the wounds, but remember I'm only ever a phone-call away if you need me. We can talk about anything you like, I'll even bring some of your favourite sweets."
Kasumi laughed.
"I should really stop eating those, my coach said it's not good for me," she muttered.
"Ah, a few treats never hurt anyone," Maruki said with a smile, "Remember, I'm always avaliable to talk".
Kasumi felt herself smiling now, feeling better as a warm feeling spread from her stomach up to her chest.
"Thank you Maruki. You always know how to make me feel better." she said sincerely.
"Ah..." Maruki said, feeling the same warm feeling spread in his chest, "It's really nothing. It's just my job after all."
Yet as Maruki smiled at being able to once again "help" Kasumi, his thoughts quickly turned to darker topics, if something really had happened to Akira, then he was duty-bound to try and help in anyway he could.
He had to find out what was really going on.
A/N: Okay thanks everyone for being patient and waiting for this chapter, to answer the reviews, AquaDestinysEmbrace, glad to see you here you've been with my fics since the start, so I appericate your continued support! and yeah I'm glad I'm still able to shock you, reminds me of the shocking moments I had in the second chance trilogy and glad to see I haven't lost my touch just yet. Although it feels like it's been a while. Anyway thanks for reviewing and I enjoyed your reactions Ultimate CCC, hope the fic continues to entertain you! and Skellzero, you'll have to wait and see! But from this chapter Akira will have an interesting arc of developing something of a hero-complex as things get worse around him.
Now for this chapter. I wanted to include a scene where Yoshida finally gets his persona nickname, but I couldn't fit it in among the great debate, but it will be featured next chapter. Also missed scenes with Noir and Fox in after the debate, as I wanted to wrap up all the themes in this one chapter alone. But they'll come next chapter, now onto other things this chapter.
Now while Kasumi and Maruki aren't as close to Akira as they were in-game, Maruki (from what you can see this chapter) was still quite close too him. However why he hasn't been targeted is something that will become apparent in the coming chapters, let's just say it might have something to do with the "ability" his using, which I'm looking forward to writing about and will serve as something as a double-edged sword for everyone, but I'll say no more on that.
I got drawn into writing the debate this chapter, I know it doesn't really move the plot forwards much, but I love writing debates, arguments and having characters clash because it makes things interesting for everyone and it stops everyone from being Joker's lapdog and simply following his orders. It shows everyone has their own goals and plans of defeating Shido. They may not all agree but learning to manage a larger group is something Joker will struggle with in the upcoming chapters, but with so many new people added it would be unrealistic to have everyhting go smoothly for Joker. So yep crazy things are coming.
Okay, next chapter we'll get some Akechi, Yoshida's persona codename, and some of the group set off on their risky mission, until next chapter, hope you enjoyed this one!