Author's Note

Bōsōzoku – A Japanese youth subculture that revolves mainly around customised motorcycles and speed thrills. This cultural movement is traced to post-WW2 when former kamikaze pilots found the daily mundanity of civilian life to be a jarring adjustment from their former militaristic conditionings and martyr expectations against the American Spitfires. Rather than die to boredom, these youths started a nocturnal tire-screeching scene, involving reckless riding and chases from the police.

While not as prominent in the 1980s where membership peaked at 42,510 (known), the bōsōzoku scene today includes both males and females and it's standard procedure to ride around with melee weapons, for the want of deviancy and as a deterrent/counter to violence from rival biker gangs.

Hangure – A term coined by the journalist Mizoguchi Atsushi in 2011. Han means "half", while gure refers to both "grey zone" and the verb gureru, "to go bad or delinquent."

This is a type of Japanese criminal group that does not fit the description of a yakuza clan. While they may break the law as a criminal organisation, they do not conform to the traditional codes of yakuza. A slice of the reported vices which hangure groups dabble in are: violence & murder, drugs, extortion, blackmail, shark loaning and scams. They also do some 'legit' stuff like having enterprises in I.T (during the I.T boom of the 2000s in Japan, these guys moved to invest their people in it), nightclubs, shipping, pornography production and other fields. Real world examples of hangure are 'Dragon', 'Kantō Rengō', 'Abyss', etcetera.

From a worldbuilding POV, I'm somewhat relieved to have learned of such entities being a real thing in Japan. Back when I first played Persona 5, it seemed a little strange to me that the localisation kept calling Kaneshiro's lot 'mafia', 'mafia', 'mafia' raa raa, rather than yakuza. Even stranger was how nothing in Kaneshiro's outfit seemed to indicate yakuza traditions. At first, I thought this was overcompensation by the localisation team. Or that Atlus was being MonkaS about some yakuza showing up to their studio, making a point about what they thought of a yakuza leader being portrayed as a gluttonous fly and getting clowned on by a bunch of high school kids. Which made the devs avoid labelling Kaneshiro as a yakuza outright so that those nerds wouldn't get a wedgie or something.

Now that I've thrown myself into CVVerse worldbuilding and research, I'm considering otherwise (at least for my AU). In recent times, these hangure gangs have been filling in the power vacuum left by the yakuza, especially after a civil war with the largest clan; the Yamaguchi-gumi, which reached a critical point in 2015 (one year before the game was out). In this story, Kaneshiro's mafia is a hangure and not a yakuza clan.

This gives me a different sense of feeling for how I might initiate Makoto Niijima in her catalyst arc. To write about someone who likes that yakuza movie and have her go against Kaneshiro's hangure, gives me an opening for a little bit of thematic conflict spice. Criminals of old ways and new.

Dual-anima – A newly introduced mechanic for metaverse lore and is (I guess) exclusive to the CVVerse. The basic idea is exploring the superimposition of a Persona user being conscious in both the metaverse and the material world, at the same time. That little cosmic machine in my brain that churns out chunks of this story, informs me that Persona users like Goro Akechi have an evolution which is not 1:1 to someone nannied by the Velvet Room twins (who certainly had their own agendas in the game) and the Meta-Nav app. Especially if we're dealing with a Wild Card-tier user that's far more experienced than where Ren is right now. Or someone like Takuto.

Whether or not the Phantom Thieves are indefinitely locked out of the dual-anima awareness, will remain to be seen as the story progresses.

Rifting – Hifumi and Goro's couple-speak for entering the metaverse without the need of a Meta-Nav app. Given that there's no handmaiden gameplay mechanic/plot exposition of a talking cat to tell them what X or Y is.

Jinbōchō.

4:11 PM

Tendrils of steam swooned the scent of cinnamon off her cup of coffee. Hifumi briefly watched the tiny tornadoes swirl into nothingness. Her eyes reverted, scanning the newspaper article about Kosei and her schoolmate.

Something banged loudly in the distance. The coffee's surface quivered.

Hifumi looked up, her attention snatched by the disturbance of rowdy voices, unseen from her alleyway café retreat. From behind the serving bar, the part-time barista sighed. The first time Hifumi ordered here, he introduced himself as 'Taka' - chatting her up, a few odd attempts in trying to ask her out but Hifumi had not minded terribly since he stayed respectful and (better yet) gave no outward indication that he recognised the Female Shogi League's champion. Taka was an average looking guy, not handsome, not unattractive. He wore the staff uniform shirt slightly unbuttoned, betraying a V-hint of the ahegao T-shirt worn underneath. Hifumi guessed him to be in university, still spotty from puberty.

"Rowdy hoodlums. They've been disturbing the tranquil atmosphere of this boulevard for about a week now. I was hoping they'd go away after some days at least, but they're still stirring around the place," explained Taka.

Hifumi reconsidered the backdrop of the Ancient Sip Continental, trying to imagine caricatures of hoodlums showing up. The café would typically come off as a cosy place to folks unless (perhaps) one was a Korean or Chinese national. Amber lighting, paper lanterns hung at the ceiling borders, neat tables and chairs. At the far end was a pale brick wall with the décor of a geisha serving cha. Behind her was the rising sun emblem, the red rays spreading out of the geisha's crown.

It was just the two of them in the Ancient Sip. For now.

"What's got you engrossed in that newspaper?" asked Taka.

Hifumi looked back at the newsprint in front of her. A droplet of sadness rippled despondency in her.

"It's about this missing student, Airi. I kind of knew her since she attended my school. She's been missing for more than a week now and her family are getting distraught by the circus show the online forums are making out of this, throwing around graphical rumours – like she's been kidnapped and mutilated."

Taka gave a low whistle, his mouth quirking into a grimace.

"Gawrsh, that's awful. What do you think happened?" asked Taka.

Hifumi fiddled at the ear of her two-tone neko tights. She thought about Airi's usual entourage, those party girls; Kofuki and co. They all insisted that nothing unusual was noticed with Airi's behaviour and that they were clueless as to what might have happened to their friend. Hifumi was hesitant to take their word for it.

"I don't know. She always seemed like a nice person. Perhaps easily impressionable, easily influenced by company. I can't imagine someone like her having an enemy," said Hifumi.

Not for the first time, Hifumi considered asking Goro about this. She had never indulged her boyfriend's detective services for her personal whims before. But this mystery was orbiting Hifumi's mind often enough that she knew she was bothered by Airi's disappearance. As most people were at Kosei.

"I bet it must have something to do with Tokyo's 'mafia'," said Taka.

"Mafia-" Hifumi pronounced the English word, "-Why not just say the yakuza?"

"Nah – 'mafia'. That's really what people are calling this hangure. This mafia lot, they've managed to establish a power base here in Tokyo, in the past four years, building a deep network. Which you can imagine has pissed off many yakuza families. Rumour has it, they've got some major cash-flow going on, which has made them too strong to stamp out. There are also talks of them being responsible for the rise in cocaine traffic over at Shinjuku and even Shibuya where you hear all sorts of nasty stories. The yakuza may be criminals too but at least they kept things 'professional' with the common citizen. Subtle."

"Who's their leader? The mafia, I mean," said Hifumi.

Taka shrugged, polishing the countertop absentmindedly.

"Beats me. I'm just a business school student who's got his ears in with the Ethereum vendor down the dormitory. Whoever it is though has got to be a nasty piece of work, if they can hold their own against the local yakuza clans, defying their codes and boundaries. It's kinda strange too. Like seeing a natural balance disturbed. It's one thing to be a common street thug that sometimes bullies the homeless. Or a bōsōzoku smashing cars and getting into a street fight. But actual, organised crime? That's a huge leap. A country like Japan doesn't usually let rogues operate in the underworld without submitting to a yakuza clan.

I remember back when the Hong Kong triads tried to start shop in Shinjuku years ago, both the government law enforcement and the yakuza came down on those guys hard. Never had a chance. Yet somehow, this mafia lot made an uprising – ah!" Taka exclaimed, looking out the door nervously.

Hifumi followed Taka's gaze and saw three ruffians leering through the glass-door. They had to be the perpetrators of the disturbance from earlier, Hifumi assumed. Muddy stubble, all dressed in varying shades of grey tracksuits and Adidas. The stoutest of them, flashed his nicotine yellowed teeth at Hifumi, lapping his tongue with a connotation of something obscene. Repulsed, Hifumi turned away – stony face.

This earned the ruffians' jeers and intensified interest in Hifumi. The stout one reached for the door handle. Taka made a squawky noise, like a turkey sensing the nigh of Thanksgiving.

"Shi-shit. They've never entered this alleyway before. I'll be back, going to call the police," Taka said quickly then bolted – almost running – to the back-shop room of the café, shutting the door behind him.

What the hell? thought Hifumi, looking in-between to where Taka disappeared and the ruffians.

The ruffians entered the café, turning their snouts up like stray dogs trying to pick up territory scent. More impressionably, Hifumi felt a humid wave of odour wash from these three. The smell made her think of that mustiness from people who spent too much time in underground pachinko joints. They formed a crude semi-circle towards the corner table Hifumi was sitting at.

"Eyy pretty-girl, where'd your boyfriend run off too? Took off like there was a tail between his leg. Ey Natto?"

The stout one answered as 'Natto'.

"Too right. Didn't even stick around for introductions. We gotta show her how real men walk da' swagger."

Natto spun the chair opposite Hifumi and sat on it, grinning. In closer view, Hifumi could see his eyes were black pinpoints surrounded by a subway map of blood vessels. Hifumi entered his energetic leer and insomnia oculi into her mental psychoanalytical calculus and the equation churned out = Drug junkie.

"What's that you drinking, missy? Can I have some? I got this mighty thirst to quench since the moment I laid eyes on you. Ya' know what I mean?" said Natto.

Without waiting, Natto reached across and took her coffee. He took a swig, grimaced then spat the contents to the side.

"Fuck! What is that shit?!" spat Natto.

Natto turned the cup upside down, spilling liquid Rorschach on the table. At exterior Hifumi did not flinch, staring at them all coolly. Interior; her stomach spasmed in nervous convulsions. She did not like the pathways on this game board.

One escape route was somehow dashing past these three bums, assuming none of them managed to grab her by the hair or fabric. The other was the 'unthinkable' option of rifting into the metaverse, possibly dragging everyone in the room with her.

It took Goro three weeks to teach Hifumi how to rift until she could consistently desire where she wanted her anima present - in either frequencies of reality. Despite her monumental graduation, Hifumi found out she was only scratching the surface compared to what Goro could do himself.

x

"You mean if you wanted, you don't physically need to leave the real world to enter the metaverse?" asked Hifumi.

Goro rested his foot on a headstone. They rifted into the metaverse from Kanda's church. If the church's graveyard felt sombre in the real world, its mood was deep black into gothic in the metaverse. The large deciduous tree in the centre reached for the red sky with its leafless branches, like a skeletal hand emerging from the hell. Sitting on a branch like a child on a playground swing, was one of Goro's Personae – Titania. The fairy queen watched them from above, her devil-blue eyes wicked.

"It's good to have both options. One for escaping, the other for multi-tasking. If an ordinary person can live their day-to-day life while their Shadow is also active in the metaverse, why would the higher evolved Persona-user be deprived of that privilege? The difference here is where your Fortean-supercharged cognition is applying its awareness. That's how 'dual-anima' rifting is done. To be present in both the real world and the metaverse," said Goro.

"Do you do it all the time?"

"No. I like to keep it at one tab when I need to focus, say with an exam. Or fighting a Shadow here. Or-" Titania's tree bloomed a miraculous shade of violet petals, trailing down curlicue creeper vines. The spread of flowers stopped at Hifumi's feet, twisting up to her in an arabesque flourish of a faux-bouquet, "-when I'm with you," said Goro.

Hifumi accepted his bouquet, smelling something between the lily of the valley's floral sweetness and rosemary's woodsy aroma. You had to love how the metaverse bent the physical world's rules.

This was one of Hifumi's favourite things about discovering Persona the first time around. They were not just these anthropomorphic weapons that were simplistically capable of only killing or attacking something. Their powers could be expressed in other ways too, relevant to their legend or prototype. It would have been weird if their powers were limited otherwise since Hifumi was fairly certain that her inner-manifestation was at the very least, capable of being more than just a 'Press X to hit something' bot. Why box a Persona into ironically being one-dimension?

At that point, Hifumi was about to ask the follow-up question, 'How do I achieve dual-anima?' when they both heard the sounds of chains grating. A terrifying presence filled the metaverse-shaded church graveyard, rippling waves of crimson. A tall Shadow entered the gates of the graveyard, spinning revolvers.

At the precipice of confrontation, Goro had deliberated killing the entity himself but then decided against it, in case Hifumi (still largely inexperienced then in applying herself and her Persona through combat motions) was caught in the cross-fire against the powerful Shadow. They backed out of the metaverse. When she asked him what that thing was, Goro called it, "The Reaper."

x

"Why you wearing a skirt so short, missy?"

Her current predicament fished her out of that memory. The café, the ruffians, their stench, the coffee spill on the white cloth – back into focus. On the table, Hifumi saw the definition of an angel descending over a dark tower in the Cinnamon Roast Rorschach.

"Ah – you see, the designer used your dick for inspiration," she replied.

A wink of glinting metal blurred between Hifumi and Natto. She felt the cold press of Natto's butterfly knife against her neck. Natto drew closer to her, his voice low with anger:

"What a sassy tongue you got there. Is it just as good as sucking cock as it is with giving an attitude?"

A swish breezed at their ankles. The weather forecast said it was going to be windy today in Jinbōchō which meant there were breezy drafts outside the café. Someone had just entered at the front door. The three ruffians turned around to see-

"You're late," Hifumi said crossly.

A young man stepped into the café. Normally he would be wearing the beige school uniform of Taikō Polytechnic but today was supposed to be a special date with Hifumi. So instead, he opted for a smart-casual asymmetrical jacket with dark jeans.

Goro Akechi barely broke his stoicism as he took in the scene before him. The predatory body language around Hifumi. Spilt coffee. Absent staff. The switchblade hovering at his girlfriend's neck.

One ruffian hawked and spat in Goro's direction.

"Hair salon's the other way, sōshoku!" snarled one ruffian.

"Hang on, ain't he that detective from the TV?" replied the other.

Natto looked in-between the shared look Hifumi and Goro were giving each other. That rarely used lightbulb in the hoodlum's mind switched on.

"Thisguy is your boyfriend?" asked Natto, incredulous.

Natto levelled up at Goro, now casually twirling the knife at the celebrity detective's direction. The other two troublemakers aped Natto's example, trying to size up this new guy. If three stray dogs never chanced upon a wolf in history then today might as well be an allegorical first, Hifumi supposed.

"You don't need to kill him," said Hifumi.

"Oh, I won't. But I don't like the way he's looking at me – his senpai. So we're gonna teach him a lesson or two in manners!" said Natto.

"I wasn't talking to you," said Hifumi.

These three had no idea how fucked they were.

"Eh?"

"Why haven't you rifted?" Goro asked her.

"And take these three with me? You don't see anything wrong with dumping three random people on the other side?" said Hifumi.

"If ants were to hitchhike onto my shoe before I got onto a train, it would be strange to be perturbed about it. They're just ants," Goro pointed out in mild regard.

Hifumi winced.

"We need to work on your sociopath-stereotype lines," said Hifumi.

Goro's mock-hurt was almost convincing as genuine.

"Is it that bad?"

"THE ONLY THING THAT'S GONNA BE BAD AROUND HERE IN A MINUTE, IS YOUR FACE!" shouted Natto.

In the months Hifumi has known Goro, she's found that her boyfriend has two smiles. One for the cameras, presenting an eccedentesiast that hid his twists, his nightmares' shrieks and melancholy. The obscenely unabashed P.R deception that would make publicist agents' weep tears of joy. Then there was the other one which Goro thought he could keep to himself until he met Hifumi. That cruel curvilinear that reminded her of a tanto's blade.

During intimate moments, Hifumi liked to force that tanto out with her attitude. She had little patience for Goro's superficial side because it made her think of the fake idolatry Mitsuyo Togo forced her into committing. When Goro dropped the façade, when Hifumi saw who he truly was, it was something of deep comfort to herself after the long days of telling lie after lie, after lie. To know that our imperfections, however twisted they made us out to be, could still be real, could still be recognised by another who cared. Because that's what she did for him. What they did for each other.

These ruffians had earned Goro's tanto smile. Lucky them – it was a rare privilege, Hifumi thought sardonic.

"Let's have at it, shall we? I have a date with my impatient lady in waiting," said Goro.

All three ruffians lunged at Goro. The air shimmered.

#

Passersby in Ancient Sip's alley slowed in their steps, catching drift of warbled shouting and curious squelching slaps of something wet. A short boy who was shopping with his mother stopped in his tracks, staring agape at the tinted window of the café. His Shujin first-year uniform broke school protocol, with the red wristband worn spelling out: GET SMOKED.

A girl emerged from the café hurriedly, pinching at her nose. A young man followed after, closing the door behind him with the sense of an undertaker's finality closing a coffin. He made eye-contact with the boy and winked conspiratorially.

"That was so eww!" said the girl.

"You did ask me not to kill them," replied her companion.

"After what just happened, I wish you had done that instead," she said, gagging.

"I suppose this means chocolate ice cream is off the menu, today?"

"Not funny, Goro!"

The boy's mother called:

"Shinya. Don't dawdle like a child. You're in high school now, no longer a boy."

Shinya Oda startled.

"Coming mum."

Eight minutes later, the police showed up – summoned by the barista's phoning in of trouble at Ancient Sip Continental. What they instead found were three future patients for a mental ward, who were collapsed on the floor, drooling out of their wits and having lost all conscientious control of their bowel movement.

The date detoured to Aizen Park which was close by. Also nearby was Senshu University which meant there were a lot of its students about, enjoying the last hour of the sun. Hifumi found Aizen a step below Inokashira Park but she was at least glad to be out of that stinky café. At least there were butterflies here; white ones which turned lavender as twilight approached.

Goro asked her if she was up for hotdogs from the nearby stand. Hifumi nodded, specifying no mustard. She settled down by the water fountain which had a lion spouting a waterfall from its mouth.

Hifumi observed the ripple of awareness which followed Goro. Pigeons gave him a wider berth than they did to the other park patrons (Were animals sensitive to Personae? Hifumi wondered. She never did like Loki). Among couples, men reached for their girlfriend's hand, thumb nudging at her chin – 'Look at me, babe'. It was more interesting observing the women's expressions when Goro blipped into their radar. The way their faces changed reminded Hifumi of a camera shutter opening – the lens exposing something in their eyes.

For a taboo moment, Hifumi entertained the thought-query if Goro would ever cheat on her. She knew he was immensely popular at his school and among his fans. Even in this park, Hifumi could see how he affected the opposite sex despite scarcely paying them attention. Then again, there are those into that sort of thing. Too shy to make advances, yet more than happy to watch their crushes from afar, weaving and spinning headcanons for what the attractive man would be like in some dreamy bokeh cinema of a romantic relationship.

Hifumi shook her head. Stray thoughts were never a good thing in shogi or real life, she told herself. Hifumi convinced herself that it was wholly her fault for going down this line of thought and not because of a certain individual she met at a museum. . .

Goro returned with the hotdogs. Hifumi dug into hers with relish to Goro's amusement.

"You're that hungry?" he prompted.

"I haven't eaten since the morning because I'm avoiding returning home for as long as I can."

"What does Mitsuyo think you're doing right now?"

"Mum thinks I'm practising shogi with a friend. Technically, we were supposed to play a game at Ancient Sip. They keep board games there but now. . .I'm gonna need a new café now after what happened," said Hifumi, pouting.

"There was this one in Yongen-Jaya that I visited some weeks back. You'll find coffee and curry on the menu. Not many people seem to know about it so it's discreet too," said Goro.

"Text me the address then. I'll check it out after Thursday's shogi meet."

"Are you still playing at the church in Kanda?"

"Sometimes. Lately though, people have been spreading anecdotes about where the 'shogi princess' plays. Even kids from other schools know about it! How weird is that? I'm not even at idol status yet and I'm already something of an urban myth for circles in my generation," said Hifumi.

"Urban myths are useful from a P.R perspective. Kansai's Himeji Castle gets a lot of visitor attraction because of its ghost stories. In truth, the hauntings are weak ripples from the metaverse which sometimes plays tricks on people's psyches there."

Goro leaned back on the stone bench, letting his shampoo-advert worthy hair fall back against the gentle breeze. The setting sun carved a glowing contour on his jawline, defining an otherworldly filter upon the young man. Hifumi's cheeks warmed a little at the devastatingly attractive effect here. Goro did have many of his moments like these that reminded her of why she was dating him.

"I see. When you say it like that, it makes me a little paranoid that mum might be the one planting that information around."

Goro laughed.

"That's a little far-fetched, even for Mitsuyo," he said.

Maybe, thought Hifumi.

"How are things at Kosei?" Goro asked.

It was a routine question often when they caught up. Hifumi had been anticipating it because she wanted to broach the topic of Airi when the conditions of the game board conversation were right.

"Not good, if I'm being honest."

"Why is that?"

"It's not me but. . ." Hifumi hesitated.

Goro watched her expectant.

Just out with it! she thought.

Words came out fast and tumbling:

"I know you've got this high-profile murder case in your full hands but I have a favour to ask you. I need your detective specialty."

"Oh?"

"There's this girl from my school who went missing about a week ago-" Hifumi showed him a news article about Airi from her phone, "-and I'm worried about her."

Goro considered the Kosei schoolgirl in the picture. She was a long-haired brunette wearing a butterfly clip, smiling at the camera weakly.

"Is this a friend of yours?" asked Goro.

"In a way, yeah. We weren't buddy-buddy but Airi was always the kindest among the popular kids at my school – which is a big deal since that clique has awful stories about them."

"Awful?"

"Hooliganism, killing a cat, skipping school, cyberbullying – that sort of thing."

Goro took another minute to look at Airi's picture and read the missing person article.

"Are you sure she didn't run off on her own? Or joined one of those 'suicide parties' that they like to do in Ikebukuro. Unsettling stuff, when the coroners arrive at a penthouse with fifteen corpses, all neatly lined up in a row with a noose each," said Goro.

"Lighten up the pessimism, Goro. Please. Airi definitely didn't do either of those things. She doted on her brothers and even if I were to suppose she wanted to commit suicide, it doesn't make sense why she wouldn't stop gushing about the Los Angeles school field trip, just before she went missing."

"I just don't want you to get your hopes up on this. A hundred thousand people disappear in Japan every year – it's pretty much a shadow economy now with companies which specialise in giving people new identities, backgrounds or faking suicides. You know what the media calls these missing? Johatsu. 'The evaporated population'," said Goro.

"You're telling me to give up on her, then? You won't do this?" said Hifumi.

"I'm not a hero, Hifumi. You know what I am."

"If you're not a hero, then what was that back at the café earlier?"

Goro sat back, folding his arms. He refused to meet her eyes.

"That's different. You were in trouble," said Goro.

"So is Airi."

". . ."

"Well?"

"Has the family hired a detective?"

"No. I don't think they can afford that ¥1,500,000 monthly fee you've told me about. Airi was on a scholarship, like many students at Kosei. Right now, it's just the police searching. Is it that difficult to find a missing person?" asked Hifumi.

Goro braced against his fist, his eyebrows furrowing.

"If a person went missing in a western country, the police would have access to a well-configured missing persons database, as well as credit card and ATM records. In our country, there is no database. Our laws block the police from analysing any financial records, no matter how severe the disappearance is," said Goro.

Goro looked like he was about to say more but stopped, exhaling. He looked upset about something and Hifumi could tell it might not be about Shido this time. Hifumi reached out to his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"You're still bothered about Serizawa's daughter," said Hifumi.

"I shouldn't be. Ellison has asked me to find the accountant's killer. Not get caught up in my feelings."

"It's only natural that the girl's tragedy reminded you of what happened in your own life. What was her name?" asked Hifumi.

"Hana. After that night of the murder, I made a few calls to find out what happened to her mother. Turns out, she wasn't actually dead but part of the evaporated population. Just up and disappeared from her husband and daughter's lives one day, without warning. The police tracked her car to Aokigahara. Heard of it?"

Hifumi nodded.

"The Suicide Forest."

"Right. They found her Honda there but no body. Investigators suspected the obvious foul play because the dead shouldn't need the material possessions that went missing at Serizawa's home that week. She disappeared two years ago so the trail's too cold to pick-up now."

"Some trails aren't cold yet," she said.

"No. They're not."

"At least think about it, Goro."

Goro sighed.

"It's not like I don't want to help. I'm just not sure if I can succeed in finding Airi. Look at Hana's mother. Look at the thousands of other missing cases. Hundreds of police officials and dozens of investigators have failed their families. For all the talk shows, I am a rookie detective."

North to where they were sitting, a girl sat alone on a small hill strumming a Purple Rain cover on her electric guitar, connected to the portable speak. The setting sun's rays highlighted the steel alloy guitar strings, fractaling into diamonds of light at her bandaged fingers.

"That's a nice song," said Hifumi.

"It is. It's an evanescent sight too."

Now for the final push. He's shown an opening, thought Hifumi.

"On the twilight of the dark knight's soul, he doubts himself before the bramble-thorned quest."

The corner of Goro's mouth lifted.

"This isn't one of your shogi matches, Hifumi."

"But little did the knight know that an ally would join in his step. To be his wit, his stratagem against fiends in the shadows, his ballerina black flame within his void heart," Hifumi declared.

Hifumi squeezed her fist. Was her manoeuvre going to work? She had planned out the moves in advance before Goro arrived at the café.

The electric guitar went quiet.

"You're joking," Goro said finally.

"I'm not. Please allow me to help you with finding my schoolmate. I also want to help you with this murder case Ellison has given you. It doesn't sit right with me that they've set you on a path against someone who is clearly a psychopath. The monsters your father's people have created shouldn't be the company you keep in solitude. At least if I'm there Goro, you won't lose sense of the bigger picture that is your wellbeing," said Hifumi.

"I'd object that it would be unsafe but you'd only spar back with-"

"With my confidence that my man can keep me safe from anything, anyone. Like what happened today. We both understand that you know what you're doing in and out the metaverse," Hifumi confirmed.

The two of us as a detective team, against everyone else. . .thought Goro.

Goro considered her with a new kind of respect. He was a little impressed with Hifumi's maturity to push beyond the glass ceiling of her own woes she had with Mitsuyo Togo and shogi, a telling that Hifumi knew she didn't need to be the girl who was only the sum of all that and nothing more. It was the thinking of a tactical commander. To be dynamic, planning and engaging in different threads, never easy to predict.

Goro leaned forward.

"Do you believe you'll be helpful in detective-work?" he asked.

He was not asking out of condescension. Even an intellect like Goro knew Hifumi was more intelligent than him. Goro knew the answer to his question but he wanted to catalyse an affirmation out of her; giddy himself from the contagious spark in Hifumi's emerald eyes.

"Definitely," said Hifumi.

At present time, Goro has four Personae in the story notes. Titania, Loki, Robin Hood and ? (this one has made an appearance in the SMT series once under an alternative name. My version will have a different appearance and capabilities). Whether more will be added will remain to be seen.