"Dude, the hell is this…? It's all wavy and shit." swored Skull as he glance in disbelief at the swirling vortex in front of them.
"This is the place… I sense the target up ahead." confirmed Mona.
"The target's on the other side of this swirling vortex, huh?" said Ken.
"That's right and now, are you ready, Joker?" said Mona as he nodded at Ken before he glance at Joker.
"Yeah, let's do it and lead us through the vortex, Paladin." said Joker with a smirk on his face to Paladin before Paladin drove Mona and the others straight through the swirling vortex, came out and landed into a large room on the other side and Paladin slammed the brake to bring Mona to a stop before he turned off the engine and he, Joker and the others quickly got out of Mona before he transform back into his regular cat form.
"Hey, something's there!" said Skull to the others as he raised and pointed his hand at the figure of a businessman standing with his back to them a few feet in front of them and with black mists swirling around him.
"That seems to be Nakanohara's Shadow." said Mona.
"Lemme see. Some front desk guy at City Hall became a stalker, right?" asked Skull.
"Yeah, that's what was written and sent to the website by the woman who wrote it." said Seraph.
"I don't know how much evil he's done, but we've to do something if he's bothering other people." said Panther as she glared at Shadow Nakanohara.
"All right, let's go talk to him." said Joker to them before they pull out their weapons and firearms, approach and stopped in front of Shadow Nakanohara (who turned to glared darkly at them when he noticed them coming).
"Who are you all!?" growled Shadow Nakanohara.
"Are you that stalker!? Haven't you ever stopped to consider how your ex feels!?" snapped Panther as she stomped her boots a little.
"She's my property! I can do whatever I want with her! It's not like she didn't treat me like a plaything! What's wrong with me doing the same to her!?" Shadow Nakanohara snapped back at Panther.
"You can't treat someone like shit just 'cause they did it to you!" said Skull as he glared at Shadow Nakanohara. "What a load of crap… We're gonna change the hearts of all the bastards like you!"
"There are millions of people far worse than me!" retorted Shadow Nakanohara.
"Even if that's true, that's still no excuse for what you did!" snapped Seraph.
"What about Madarame…? He stole everything from me, but you all are letting him off the hook!?" yell Shadow Nakanohara indignantly to them.
"Madarame…? The hell's this guy goin' on about?" said Skull in confusion to the others.
"Hold on, Madarame? Isn't that the surname of the man who took in and take care of mine and Minako's younger brother and also Naoto's cousin, Yusuke and Aunt Shiori before she died? Looks like Minako and I'll check it out and inform Naoto about it after we get out of this place just to be sure and I wonder how is Yusuke now." thought Seraph to himself and also briefly exchange glances with Minako after Shadow Nakanohara yell out the name and about how his and Minako and Naoto's younger brother and cousin is.
"Oh shoot, that's right. I forgot that you and Minako have a younger brother named Yusuke and who's also cousin to Naoto. And I agreed that you should inform Naoto about him and check out and on how he is now." said Pharos.
"That name sound familiar for some reason…" thought Joker to himself with a frown look on her face while Shadow Nakanohara transform into a small, orange-skinned, dark purple-haired, no eye troll (named Obariyon) that danced around in front of them.
"Get ready! Here he comes!" warned Mona.
"Now that I have what's rightfully mine… I'm not going to let you all take it away… Look, this is a winner-takes-all-world. Come fight me and I'll show you what I mean!" said Shadow Nakanohara smugly to them before he jumped onto Joker and uses Cleave skill on him, causing 3 slash wounds on his right shoulder which make him grunted out in pain before he summoned forth Arsene, uses Eiga skill on him to get him away.
Panther then summoned forth Carmen to use Dia on Joker's shoulder to healed it while Seraph, Paladin, Skull, Mona, Minako, Ken and Koromaru summoned forth Orpheus, Roland, Captain Kidd, Zorro, Eurydice, Kala-Nemi and Cerberus uses Bash, Gry, Zio, Garu, Agilao, Kouha and Eiha skills on Shadow Nakanohara and managed to easily knock him down before they then uses All-Out Attack on Shadow Nakanohara to attack, injured and finish him off. Shadow Nakanohara yell out in pain from their attacks before he fell to his knees on the ground and change back to his human form (while Joker and his teammates level up and obtain 7200 yen from him).
"I-I was wrong… Please forgive me…" said Shadow Nakanohara weakly and pleadingly to them. "That evil teacher used me, then threw me out on the street. That's what caused my fixation on her…"
"Evil teacher?" asked Joker as he furrowed his brows.
"Great, another bad teacher who like to hurt students like Kamoshida." thought Paladin as he shake his head a little.
"Are you talking about this "Madarame" man you told us earlier? And what do you mean by him as an evil teacher who threw you out on the street?" asked Seraph.
"Yeah, I did… I just didn't want anyone to throw me out again and since you're curious about what I mean, why don't you see and find out for yourself later on?" replied Shadow Nakanohara sadly to them.
"So some selfish bastard was making you suffer too…" said Panther sympathetically to Shadow Nakanohara as she crossed her arms. "Still, you shouldn't have dragged an unrelated woman into your mess."
"Yes, I know that now. I'll put an end to my love for her…" said Shadow Nakanohara as he nodded sullenly to them before he glance up at Joker. "Hey, you can change people's hearts, right? In that case… Won't you change Madarame's heart!? Before more people fall victim to him…" Shadow Nakanohara pleaded to Joker before his body started glowing and disappearing into dozens of bluish-white lights and leave behind a glowing white orb that floats in thin air.
"What the… he disappeared and leave a glowing white orb behind?" said Ken with a confused look on his face.
"Yeah, because he realised the error of his ways and that's why his heart has change and he return to his true self in the real world, Ken." explained Seraph calmly to Ken.
"Is that so and how do you know about it?" asked Minako curiously to Seraph.
"I'll tell you later, sis." replied Seraph.
"Alright then." said Minako as she nodded at Seraph.
"Change… Madarame's heart?" said Panther as she glance in confusion at Joker, Seraph, Paladin, Skull and Mona.
"Seems so since Nakanohara's shadow pleaded us to do it before he vanished, Panther." said Paladin.
"Hm? What's that shinin' ball thing?" asked Skull.
"It's the bud of a Treasure." Mona answer and explain to Skull. "Had we left it be, it very well may have blossomed into a Palace. Joker, this will make a perfect reward!" added Mona happily to Joker (who nodded as he approach and take the Treasure and saw that he obtain an Attachment Pearl charm).
"So Nakanohara had a change of heart, right?" asked Skull as he glance at Mona.
"Most likely." replied Mona.
"But how are we supposed to know if we succeeded in changing his heart?" said Panther.
"The lady posted the dude's name online. If he really does change, she'll prolly comment again." said Skull as he crossed his arms.
"Hm, you do have a point." said Mona.
"Either way, trainin' against Shadows down here's the best! It's great prep for our next target!" said Skull with a wide grin on his face.
"It's also nice to be able to give courage to the people who post their problems online." said Panther, smiling as well.
"It does sound and feel nice and maybe it might get them to post more serious problems on the website." said Seraph.
"On top of that, we can sell whatever treasure we get for some cold, hard cash!" added Mona as he grinned widely at them.
"Sounds like things are goin' pretty great for us!" exclaimed Skull as he rolled his shoulders a little.
"Yeah, it does but try not to go overboard with what we're doing, alright?" said Paladin warningly to them.
"We know, Paladin. Well then, ready to leave, everyone?" said Joker to his teammates but before they could leave, Mona stepped in front of them to stop them from leaving the place.
"Hold on, there's somewhere I want to show you all before we leave." said Mona quickly to them.
"What, there's more?" said Skull in a slight exasperated tone of voice to Mona.
"What kind of place that you want to show us?" asked Ken curiously to Mona.
"Don't worry, it won't take long." said Mona as he jumped a little before he turned and walked away from them, jumped and transform into the bus before Joker, his teammates, Minako, Ken and Koromaru quickly got in while Paladin went into the driver's seat and turned on Mona's engine, drove out of the room, drove down the tunnels to another platform and got out of Mona and they were surprise to see a black train with bright and sinister-looking red light shining from within the train out through the windows came driving into the station on the other side of a wall with bars on them before it came to a stop.
Joker, Skull, Panther, Seraph, Paladin and Mona then decided to ignored the black train that drove into the station for the moment (while Minako, Ken and Koromaru continue to watch the black train before it drove away from the station then they look away), make their way down to the next level and found themselves standing on a platform with trains driving fast and nonstop down the tracks on both sides of them and with an ominous-looking wall that had glowing red "symbols and patterns of a curved diamond and an upside-down triangle on it a few feet in front of them.
"All right, there it is! What I want to check out is just past that wall!" said Mona in a cheering tone of voice to them.
"This is what he wanted to check out? Reminds me of the many obstacles that blocked the staircases and prevented us from climbing Tartarus." thought Ken as he glance at the door.
Joker and his teammates nodded to Mona before they approach and stopped in front of the wall and they look and inspected it.
"…What is this place? It looks kinda creepy." asked Panther hesitantly to Mona.
"And a dead end at that. Why's it even exist?" asked Skull as he scratch the left side of his head.
"Now hold on, you two… Just watch. This is most likely not an ordinary wall. If my hunch is correct…" explained Mona to both Skull and Panther before he raised and pressed his paw on the wall, causing the wall and the platform that Joker and his teammates were standing on to start shaking (which alarmed them) before the wall opened up to reveal 2 escalators heading down to the next level.
"It opened…!" exclaimed Panther with a surprise look on her face.
"Obviously since the cat opened it by pressing his paw on the wall." scoffed Pharos.
"Yeah, Pharos." said Seraph.
"A new area has been confirmed in the depths. Updating guidance information." said the robotic female voice from Joker's phone.
"See!? It's just as I thought!" said Mona as he briefly jumped in joy.
"What do you mean?" asked Panther in confusion to Mona.
"That wall wouldn't budge when I came here by myself before. But it'd be weird for the deepest part of Mementos to be some normal place like this, wouldn't it?" Mona answer and explain more to them.
"So you were thinkin' there's gotta be more down there?" asked Skull as he crossed his arms.
"Yeah! Now that Kamoshida's Palace is gone and people are actually starting to talk about us… I knew something had to have changed down here!" replied Mona cheerfully to Skull.
"So the reason why this door is unlock and open now is because of the disappearance of Kamoshida's palace and of people starting to know and talk about us, huh?" thought Paladin as he glance at the opened door.
"How deep is it? Should we try go further down?" suggested Panther.
"I don't think we should, Panther." said Joker as he shake his head at Panther.
"Joker's right, Panther. That's not why we're here today, remember?" said Mona as he also shake his head at Panther. "We've already accomplished our goal. We should head back and I'll explain more once we're home." added Mona to them before they turned around and began walking away from the opened wall and as they arrived at the entrance, they stopped when they see a pale-skinned, short light grey-haired (that's shaped like a half-broken egg shell), yellow-eyed tiny boy wearing a long sleeve light grey hoodie jacket with dozens of moon and star images on it, black gloves on his hands, long black pants and light grey boots on his feet with a light blue toy car vehicle that had dozens of boxes and yellow balloons tied to it behind the boy as the boy stand in front of a huge yellow and white flowers floating inside a bubble.
"Hey, look, you guys, there's a boy here!" said Panther with a surprised look on her face while raising and pointing her finger at the boy.
"Huh? How and why is a boy like him doing here?" said Paladin with a confused look on his face at the boy.
"Oh my goodness! He's such a cute-looking little boy!" thought Minako with a look of pure joy and delight on her face once she see the boy.
"Calm down and rein in that happy side of yours, dear sister." whisper Seraph teasingly to Minako once he noticed the look on her face (which succeeded in erasing the look on her face and make her childishly poke her tongue out at him).
"Huh, Jose? What is he doing here?" thought Joker in confusion in his mind at the boy named Jose.
"A person!? In Mementos!?" said Mona, surprised as well.
"Hmmm… Maybe it's this one…" said Jose as he hold out his hand toward the flowers, turned it into a glass of flower juice in his hand before he drink it. "Ooh! Tasty!" said Jose with a happy look on his face while Joker and his teammates approach Jose.
"Hello there, Jose." greeted Joker politely to Jose.
"Oh, hello, Mister." greeted Jose politely back to Joker.
"You know this boy, Joker?" asked Panther as she glance at Joker (who nodded to her).
"Hey, what's he drinkin'?" asked Skull in confusion to them about the drink in Jose's hand.
"He's drinking flowers, obviously." Said Paladin as he shake his head at Skull.
"Uh huh. Makes us wonder why he'd drink flowers." thought Ken.
"Oh? Hmm, I thought I felt something strange for a second… So, who are you all…" asked Jose as he glance at Mona, Paladin, Panther, Skull, Minako, Ken, Koromaru and trailed off into silence when his eyes landed on Seraph. "Whoa, no way, it can't be, is it really you?" gasped Jose in disbelief, shock then awed at Seraph.
"Can't be what and why are you looking at him like that, little Jose?" asked Minako curiously to Jose about his words and reaction to her brother.
"Yeah, what are you saying and looking at me like that, little one?" asked Seraph in confusion to Jose.
"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that someone who help you on your journey and who freed you from your duty talk a lot about you and what you did with your sibling and friends to save the world from an ancient Dark goddess to me that I can't help in wanting to meet and talk to you and now that opportunity is here at last, mister." replied Jose apologetically then happily to Seraph.
"He must be talking about Elizabeth since she's the only one that fit the someone he's talking about and looks like you gained yourself a devoted fan for life because of what you did, Seraph." said Pharos teasingly to Seraph about Jose being his devoted fan for life.
"Be quiet, will you, Pharos?" groaned Seraph mentally back to Pharos (which make him chuckled at Seraph).
"WE should be asking YOU that! Also how do you know Joker and why do you want to meet and talk to Seraph so much?" asked Mona in more disbelief and shock at Jose.
"Good points, sorry about that. I already met Joker at the den a few nights ago and as for why I want to meet and talk to Seraph so much is because he's a true hero in my eyes and opinion. Also, it's customary for a human to introduce itself before asking another human for its name. Thanks for reminding me, Misterrr… um, Tanuki? No, um… Hmmmm… Cat?" said Jose.
"Pfft. Poor Mona being call a tanuki and cat by him and it's a sin to be this cute and innocent, little Jose." thought Minako with an amused smirk on her face.
"What took you so long to come up with "Cat"!? And I'm not either of those!" snapped Mona sternly at Jose.
"Yeah, uh, gettin' confused about that seems pretty normal to me." said Skull.
"My name is Jose. I'm looking for flowers. I'm pretty surprised to see some normal humans having the same powers like Joker. I didn't know other people like them could just come here." said Jose.
"Well, we are pretty special-W-Wait, that's not important! Who YOU are is what matters right now!" said Mona.
When you said you were looking for flowers, did you mean that floating thing?" asked Panther.
"That's right, pretty lady. Those seem to be the ones I've been looking for. I'm collecting as many of 'em as I can 'cause I'm studying humans." replied Jose as he nodded at Panther.
"Studying humans? That's why you turned a flower into a drink?" said Skull.
"Sounds strange but then again, we've already seen and experience stranger things." thought Paladin in his mind.
"Yup." said Jose as he nodded at Skull now.
"Drinkin' flower juice counts as studying?" said Skull, more confused now.
"Maybe it counts to him." said Ken as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Hey, could you all help me with my research?" asked Jose.
"How?" said Panther.
"By collecting flowers for me. I wouldn't ask you to do it for free, though. I find all kinds of stuff you can use while you're exploring. I'll trade you some of that stuff for more flowers." said Jose.
"Is that so? Sounds fair enough." said Paladin with a small nod of his head.
"Whaddya think, Joker? Should we try an' get him some flowers?" asked Skull as he glance at Joker.
"Sure. I don't see why not." said Joker as he nodded at Skull.
"Seems like it could do us some good, but we don't know this kid… We gotta be careful." said Mona concernly to them about Jose.
"Oh, I'm sure he's fine. Let's give him a hand. He seems like he could use it for Joker to trust him just fine. And he seems like he could use it, and shouldn't be too hard to pick flowers while we're exploring, right?" said Panther.
"Okay, any OTHER reasons?" asked Skull.
"Heheh, he called me "pretty lady"." replied Panther with a smile on her face.
"Nooo! Lady Ann…" said Mona with a sad look on his face.
"Eh, it's prolly fine. I mean, he said he'd give us useful stuff an' all. Whaddya say?" said Skull.
"Well, are you all going to help me find the flowers or not?" asked Jose.
"Sure. We'll help you out, Jose." replied Joker as he nodded at Jose.
"Thanks!" said Jose happily to Joker.
"Wait, wait, hang on a second! We still have no idea who this kid is! Don't go thankin' us just yet, bud!" said Mona sternly at Jose.
"Aw, are you tired, kitty? You seem grumpy." said Jose as he glance sadly at Mona.
"I am NOT a cat! And I'm NOT grumpy!" snapped Mona more sternly at Jose.
"But isn't that what you're going through now, Mona?" said Seraph innocently to Mona (who turned to scowled at him).
"O-Oh, okay-then, are you hungry? I learned hunger can make a person turn grumpy. Here, you can have this." said Jose as he take out and hand a plastic packet of biscuit to Mona.
"Thanks, but I'll pass…" said Mona, declining his plastic packet of biscuit.
"Seriously? You're declining little Jose's kind offering of food for you, Mona?" said Minako in stern disapproval at Mona for declining Jose's biscuit offer.
"She's right. You're makin' the kid worry about ya even more. Guess there's no way outta this one." said Skull sternly at Mona (which make him fell to his hands and knees in dismay).
XXXX
A few seconds later…
"Well then, I'll be looking for more flowers around here, so stop and say hi if you all see me again and it's a great honor to meet and talk to you, Seraph. Oh, and I guess just gathering flowers would be kind of boring, huh? Since you humans seem to enjoy playing so much, I'll come up with some fun games for you. Ah, I also remembered something humans like to say to each other - Good job!" said Jose politely to them (and happily to Seraph) before he went into his car, turned on the engine and drive away.
"Who in the hell was that? An odd friend that you met at this den thing, Joker?" asked Skull as he glance at Joker.
"Yep." said Joker as he nodded at Skull.
"If he's studying humans, does that mean he isn't one? I mean, he just seemed like some nice kid." said Panther.
"Not to mention cute too." thought Minako.
"Of course he is, Panther." said Joker.
"Well, he didn't feel like a Shadow… I wouldn't say he's dangerous… at least, for now…" said Mona.
"Anyways, if we see any of those flowers he wants, I guess we can grab 'em for him." said Skull to Joker, Paladin, Mona, Panther, Seraph, Minako, Ken and Koromaru and as they turned and about to leave, they heard Jose driving back to them.
"Wait! I totally forgot!" said Jose as he stopped his car near them and quickly got off.
"Forgot what, Jose?" asked Joker.
"There's something I've been meaning to give to all of you." replied Jose.
"Something for us?" said Paladin.
"Yeah. The thing is…I picked up something strange while I was exploring earlier. Here it is…" said Jose as he take out a glowing myriad-coloured star-shaped gem toward Joker, who took it from him.
"Huh? What the heck is that?" said Skull as he glance in confusion at the glowing star in Joker's hand.
"It's a star. At least, that's what they look like, so that's what I call them." said Jose.
"A star?" said Mona.
"It's quite a pretty-looking star. Don't you all think so?" said Minako as she glance at Seraph, Ken and Koromaru.
"Yeah, it is." said Seraph as he nodded in agreement with Minako.
"Um, so what about it did you want to show us?" asked Panther curiously to Jose about the glowing star.
"Humans make wishes on stars, right? That's so interesting. Stars granting wishes… So this star is going to grant your wishes." replied Jose as he glance at Panther.
"Our wishes!?" gasped Mona with a surprise look on his face.
"Really!?" gasped Ken in surprise as well.
"…Or, it would be nice to think that." said Jose sadly to them.
"I knew it's too good to be true. Too bad for you two." sighed Paladin as he shake his head.
"Nice to think that"…Seriously…" sighed Mona as well.
"Well, it's yours now. It's so sparkly and beautiful, you want it too, don't you? It's a "Sign of our friendship". I know what that is. Off I go now. Good job!" said Jose before he get back inside his car and drive away again.
"Hey, wait!" said Mona.
"Bye, see you, Jose!" said Minako as she wave goodbye to Jose.
"Welp, there he goes again." said Skull before he glance at the star in Joker's hand. "A star, huh? He said it'd grant our wishes or somethin'…"
"I highly doubt something like that would actually happen, even in Mementos… Well, I guess each of you can at least try making a wish." said Mona as he glance at Joker.
"Okay… I wish for all-you-can-eat parfaits! With zero calories!" said Panther.
"An extra large beef bowl! With pork soup on the side!" said Skull.
"Seriously? Parfaits and beef bowl? Are foods the only things in your minds?" said Paladin in disbelief at both Skull and Panther while they waited for something to happen only nothing did.
"… Nothing's happening." said Mona.
"Was Skull's wish too petty?" said Panther.
"You're one to talk!" said Skull.
"Yeah yeah, that's enough from the both of you. And what about you, what's your wish, Seraph?" said Paladin in stern disapproval at both Skull and Panther before he glance and asked Seraph a question.
"Me? Well, I guess I wish that all of you can… nah, it's nothing and I'm sure it won't come true no matter how hard I wish for it." said Seraph before he ceased talking and shake his head.
"Come on. You can't just stop telling us your wish halfway like that. What do you wish for…" groaned Skull at Seraph before he and the others fell silent and glance at something behind Seraph.
"Hm? What is it…" said Seraph as he glance in confusion at them before he felt something or someone tapping on his left shoulder from behind him and he turned his head to look and gasp in disbelief and shock when he see Ryoji Mochizuki (a fair-skinned, short swept back black-haired, pale blue-eyed (with a beauty mark under his left eye) handsome guy wearing a long sleeve white button up shirt with black suspenders on it and with the sleeves roll up a little, a long yellow scarf wrapped around his neck, a watch with crossed black straps on his left wrist, long black pants with a black belt around his waist and black loafers on his feet) standing behind him with a smile on his face. "Huh? R-Ryoji? H-How, what?" stammer Seraph to Ryoji.
"Y-Yeah… How is it possible for you to show yourself right here and now without, you know…" said Minako worriedly to Ryoji.
"How, you 2 ask? Simple, it's because of him mentally making a genuine wish that all of you can see and talk to me, that's why. Thanks for wishing for that, Seraph. Also there's no need for you all to worry about "that" coming back and happening again just because I show up right now." said Ryoji happily to Seraph for his wish then reassuringly to Minako, Ken and Koromaru about what they feared will not happen.
"Thank goodness for that." said Ken with a relief look on his face.
"What!? His wish came true while ours didn't!? Come on, that's so unfair!" complained Skull with a jealous look on his face at Seraph's wish came true.
"Enough, Skull! Instead of complaining about his wish came true, shouldn't we talk about who the guy that suddenly showed up behind Seraph is?" snapped Paladin as he scowled at Skull before he and the others glance suspiciously at Ryoji.
"Yeah. Should I tell them or should you tell them, Seraph?" said Ryoji.
"I'll be the one to tell them, Ryoji." said Seraph before he proceed to tell them about who and what Ryoji is and that he himself is a vessel that contain and prevent him from getting out, reviving Nyx and bringing forth the "Fall" disaster that happened in Tatsumi Port Island years ago (while Minako, Ken and Koromaru stay silent and had sad looks on their faces for Seraph).
"… My god, this Ryoji Mochizuki guy is the Appriser of Death whose role is to revived Nyx and bring forth the "Fall" and you're the only convenient vessel that your friend Aigis choose to contained and prevent him from doing it years ago?" said Paladin in shock and pity at what Seraph gone through years ago.
"Exactly and that's all I'll be telling you all today." said Seraph as he and Ryoji nodded at Paladin before he dropped the subject and give him, Joker, Mona, Panther and Skull warning look.
"… Fine, Seraph." said Joker as he and the others reluctantly nodded at Seraph.
"Hm. I guess things don't just happen that easily for Panther and Skull like Seraph's did. But we can't just throw the thing away… Hold onto it for now, Joker." said Mona.
"Yeah, I know." said Joker as he put the glowing star into his coat pocket before he and his teammates turned and left Mementos.
XXXX
Outside Shibuya station…
"Mementos, huh?… I still don't really get that place. Oh, and what was that wall thing we saw at the end?" asked Ryuji as he glance at Morgana.
"I'm not entirely sure, but it blocked us from going in past a certain depth." replied Morgana somberly to Ryuji. "If Mementos is the public Palace's though… it might be affected by the general public's belief in us."
"In other words, we've to be patient for it to open up even more to us…" said Akira.
"Why do you know so much about it, Morgana?" asked Ann.
"My memories are a little foggy in that regard… However, I need to know what lies in the depths of Mementos, no matter what." replied Morgana reluctantly to Ann.
"So you've amnesia, huh? I see." thought Kanakubo-sensei in pity in his mind at Morgana.
"No matter what…?" said Ann as she raised her eyebrow at Morgana.
"Mementos is not just everyone's Palace, it's the source of all Palaces. It used to be that Palaces like Kamoshida's with one ruler simply didn't exist. So if we can do something about the greatest cause of distortions, I'm certain my appearance will…!" said Morgana sadly to himself.
"In other words, you wanted someone to save you too…" said Ann sympathetically to Morgana.
"I-I just needed pawns!" said Morgana as he bristled defensively at Ann.
"Yeah, sure you do, Morgana." said Minato as he shrugged at Morgana (who scowled at Minato).
"Don't worry, we understand, Morgana." said Akira.
"I see… So that's why you came pokin' your nose around with us." said Ryuji as he glance at Morgana.
"…I'll help you. I hope you can regain what you've lost." said Ann determinedly to them.
"I'll… be relying on you all." said Morgana slightly sadly to them.
"We know, Morgana." said Minako reassuringly to Morgana.
"By the way, Morgana… Are you a boy? Or might you be a girl?" asked Ann curiously to Morgana.
"What if he's not both boy and girl? What if he's a bus?" said Akira.
"That is a possibility!" said Ann teasingly to Akira.
"I wish I could deny it, but… I just can't be sure." said Ryuji.
"Seriously, you guys?" sighed Minato (while both Kanakubo-sensei and Ken groaned and shake their heads and Minako smirk and chuckled a little).
"Why not!?… In any case, of course I'm male!" snapped Morgana as he scowled at Ryuji. "I mean, I…" added Morgana under his breath.
"…What is it?" asked Ann curiously to Morgana.
"No, it's nothing! We're done talking about it!" said Morgana as he shake his head a little before he glance at them. "Anyway, we now know that we can perform minor changes of hearts in Mementos. If we come across any eye-catching leads, it may be worth dealing with them for a bit of combat practice."
"There weren't any other outstanding ones though…" said Ann sullenly to Morgana.
"I bet we'll get tons of 'em if we can change someone famous and make the Phantom Thieves well-known. The big fish are our main targets after all." said Ryuji with an excited grin on his face.
"First you need to find a way to get through your exams." said Morgana, reminding them about the exams.
"I gotta study…" groaned Ryuji as he lowered his head in a pitiful manner.
"That's right and I'll watching you all to make sure you all study hard and passed your exams, of course." said Kanakubo-sensei warningly to them.
"We know you will, sensei. I'm sure you'll be fine, Ryuji-kun." said Akira consolingly to Ryuji while unbeknownst to them, a guy is watching all of them talking together from a distance among the crowd, first on Ann then on Minato and Minako.
"I've found her! The next one that I'm going to draw on canvas! She'll be the perfect model for my art!" thought the guy happily in his mind about Ann before a sad look appear on his face when he glance at Minato and Minako. "Those two, their looks reminded me so much of my older siblings, Minato and Minako, who move away and didn't check up on me and I heard that Minato died years ago due to coma while Minako left Tatsumi Port Island after he died. How I missed them both a lot…" added the guy sadly in his mind about Minato and Minako before he turned and walked away, unaware that Minako noticed him out of the corner of her eyes before she lose sight of him in the crowd.
"Hm, isn't that… Maybe it's not him?" thought Minako to herself.
"Minato, I sense that there's someone watching us just now before he left." said Pharos concernly to Minato.
"Someone watching us, huh?" said Minato as he look around for whoever's watching them and couldn't see the person anywhere.
"Hm? What is it, Minato?" asked Akira when he (and also Morgana, Ryuji, Ann, Kanakubo-sensei, Minako, Ken and Koromaru) noticed Minato looking around the place.
"… It's nothing, Akira." replied Minato as he stop looking around before he bade farewell to all of them and they split up and take different train rides home.
