I own nothing.
At the very edges of his consciousness, the first thing he was aware of was how cold he was, yet how overbearingly hot he felt at the same time, feeling like he was freezing, yet burning up at the same time. That was at the very core of his being, and as the feeling spread through his chest and to his limbs, the pain became all the more obvious. His entire body ached and throbbed, and his torso was itching to the point of being unbearable. His ears rang, and he didn't even want to try opening his eyes yet, knowing that whatever light that entered his eyes would feel blinding. He also knew that whatever situation he woke up into wouldn't be preferable to the safe cocoon that was being unconscious.
Still, his side itched horribly, to the point of being painful, and without even realizing it-
"Hey, stop that!"
Goro Akechi burst awake when another hand slapped his own. He closed them tightly shut, not blinded by light, but shocked by how it was actually much darker than what he had expected. Where am I? He thought to himself, realizing with much more awareness that he was probably somewhere in the cognitive world, recognizing the feeling of the pointed tips on his gloves, and the tough, thick material of his black and blue striped armor, though for the few seconds that he had reached up to feel his side, there was some sort of new material over it.
"Are you going to open your eyes, yet? I was kind of hoping that we would be able to get the awkwardness out of the way sooner than this…"
Right… There's someone else here with me, and it's a girl… We're in the Metaverse, but she doesn't sound like anyone that I know would be in here… Goro supposed he could probably just open his eyes and get the answers he was trying to use intuition to solve, but he also wasn't sure if he wanted to let this stranger believe he hadn't just passed out again.
"There's no point in faking," the voice said again. "I'm not going to hurt you, and I actually think you'll want to talk to me. After all, I have information on things you'll want to hear, like what happened to Masayoshi Shido, and the Phantom Thieves, and Say-"
"Who are you?" Goro interrupted her, his voice gravelly as he opened his eyes. The girl was right when she stated that he wanted to hear what she had to say, but he didn't want her to think of him as desperate.
His vision swam for a few moments, before finally clearing. From the incredibly dark black and red environment, he could immediately tell that he was in Mementos, though he seemed to be in a smaller space, with the train lights passing through a window from somewhere above him. He was in a safe area then, where Shadows couldn't get to. After figuring out that much, he looked forward only to find a hand held out in front of his face, waiting to be shaken.
His eyes trailed up the hand and arm, laying eyes on the face of the girl who was with him. Emerald green eyes were framed by pinkish-brown hair, tied up into a ponytail. The girl flashed a smile that Goro supposed was supposed to calm him down, but it only made him more uneasy. After all, the girl was only wearing a plain school uniform, not even wearing a mask on her face, so how could she possibly be in the Metaverse? Actually, what school did she even go to? He couldn't recall ever seeing a uniform like hers.
The girl suddenly cleared her throat, looking at Goro with a sympathetic, pitying expression that made the boy growl, angry that she was obviously being sarcastic, making fun of his intelligence. He grabbed her hand and squeezed as hard as he could, giving her hand one firm shake before letting go and sitting back.
"Thank you," the girl said, before putting the hand on her chest and smiling a disgustingly sweet smile.
"My name is Monika."
Goro raised an eyebrow, the name ringing a bell in his head, though he wasn't sure from where. "No surname to go with that?"
"Sayori didn't have one when you met her, right?" The girl was suddenly on her knees, leaning forward and getting uncomfortably close to Goro's face, reaching out her hands.
Goro pushed her away harshly, before gritting through his teeth, "What does this have to do with her?!"
Monika leaned forward again, frowning in annoyance as she reached her hands out and began to readjust the bandages Goro only now realized were wrapped around his torso. "What do you think this has to do with her? She must have mentioned me to you at some point, right? Though, I guess if she did they probably wouldn't have been very good things…"
"Mentioned you…?" Goro trailed off, before realization hit him like a truck. He suddenly did feel very stupid, remembering Sayori saying this name when they first met, telling him what she remembered of her life before she wound up on the streets. "I do… You're… Sayori's friend… The president of the literature club that she was in at her old school…"
"That's right," Monika said in a cheerful voice, before grabbing a hold of part of the bandages around Goro's hip and pulling it tight, causing the boy to grunt in pain. "Sorry, but you got pretty torn up… Want some food? Or maybe water?"
Goro was silent, looking away stubbornly and refusing to answer her question. "How are you here…? How are you in the Metaverse? How… How did you rescue me? Why… Why didn't you ever let Sayori know you were here if you were really here long enough to know that I know Say-" He was interrupted by a brutal spasm of coughs that wracked his entire body. Monika pushed him back when he nearly collapsed forward, trying to help him get air into his lungs.
"One question at a time," Monika said as his coughs had nearly subsided. "I asked you something first. Food or water?"
Goro's throat was beginning to sting, so he tried to not give it much thought as he swallowed his pride. "Water…" he answered, watching as the girl reached into a pile of grocery bags she had with her, pulling out a water bottle and beginning to twist the lid off.
Goro grabbed the bottle from her before she could and did it himself, even as his arms ached with the movement. He dumped the water into his mouth until the bottle was half empty, and then set it down unsteadily beside him.
"I'm trying to help you, you know…"
"Says the kidnapper…"
Monika's sweet smile went stiff for a moment, before she sighed and shook her head. "I did not kidnap you."
"Then why didn't you just take me to a hospital?!" Goro questioned angrily. Memories of what had happened before he had gone unconscious were swarming through his head, and he knew he shouldn't even be alive right now. Why had this girl just decided to treat his gunshot wounds and battle damage by herself?
Monika smirked knowingly. "I'm sorry, but I wasn't aware you wanted to get arrested so badly, or have yakuza or corrupt cops come and kill you. If I knew that, then sure, I would have sent you to the hospital. Maybe I would have given Sayori a text or something so she could come see you before you died from stupidity."
"What are you talking about…?" Goro asked, before a new question popped into his head. "Wait… how long have I been unconscious for?"
"A little over two week," Monika answered, sorting through a grocery bag for the snack food she had grabbed. They didn't have any way to cook or store food at the moment, so she had to find what she could in the stores.
"Two weeks?!" Goro shouted, sitting upright and cringing. Dozens of questions popped into his head as he wondered what he had missed. Had Shido's Treasure been stolen? Had he confessed? Was everyone okay?
"Is Sayori alright? The other thieves, too? D-Did they do it?" Goro asked, sounding almost afraid to ask, until Monika suddenly giggled and he went back to glaring at her.
The girl realized her slip and smiled in what seemed to be a genuine way, before holding out an unwrapped cereal bar to the boy. "How about you eat and I'll start answering questions. Though I will say yes, they are all okay… It's cute how you thought I wouldn't notice though… Asking about Sayori first, I mean."
Goro turned his face away from her as he took the snack from her and began to examine it, not really trusting anything the girl had handed to him that hadn't been sealed when he received it.
Monika cleared her throat awkwardly, before looking down at the ground. "Yes, they all stole Shido's Treasure and they all got out safely. Shido confessed about a week ago, though I think currently there's a bit of trouble persecuting him... " The girl actually frowned for a few moments, before the smile easily fell back into place. "As for your earlier questions… That's a long, complicated story, and I would much rather just start from the beginning after you get your initial questions out of the way…"
"Fine…" Goro sighed and suddenly thought of something else. "Were you the one that left me messages in Sayori's Palace, and the other Palaces, and in the interrogation room…?"
Monika smiled as though she were a proud parent. "How did you figure that out? Yeah, I was!"
"You've already done a bunch of other unexplained things in the Metaverse… I remember that you somehow managed to rescue me, even though there was no way in or out of that space I had sealed myself in on Shido's ship… Then you paralyzed me, and made a door appear... and made Shido's Cognitive of me… disappear," Goro cringed at the unease he suddenly felt at the memory of being unable to move or talk as the girl suddenly appeared.
"Oh?! I'm surprised you remember the Cognitive! I deleted him after all…" Monika trailed off, as Goro was taken aback by the wording.
"What do you mean you 'deleted' the Cognitive?!" The boy exclaimed, getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"I guess… basically I erased all traces of his existence, but back where I come from that normally means memories, too… I wonder if the Phantom Thieves remember him… I know Sayori probably will…" Monika began to say to herself, unaware of Goro's growing confusion and terror at the girl. She looked up and noticed him beginning to tense up, looking like he would rather chance running away, and sighed. "Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to start that long, complicated story I mentioned a few minutes ago."
Monika straightened her posture and handed another water bottle to Goro, in case he needed it. "To start off, we're in a game…"
Goro was silent for a few moments, trying to process what the girl meant by that. "A game… what do you mean?"
"Well, try not to be shocked when I tell you all of this…" Monika said, worried as to how her words could affect Akechi. "When I say we're in a game, I mean like reality. Basically, the reality we live in is actually a game. It's just some game being played by someone out there somewhere." Monika said, smiling as she knew how crazy she must sound. "It's how I can do all of those things from earlier. Your mind probably interpreted it as me using some special power to make those things happen, which in a way I guess it was… But actually I was just manipulating the code of the game we're in. I deleted the Cognitive you, and I muted your volume when you tried to scream, and I coded things like those notes appearing, and that door on Shido's ship that took us here-"
"Wait, wait!" Goro held his hands up, startled. "S-Surely you mean that you're hacking into the Metaverse in the same way that Futaba Sakura does, right?"
Monika was beginning to look tired and frustrated that he just wasn't getting it, though she supposed one couldn't really comprehend it unless one had an epiphany like she and Sayori had. "I mean reality outside of the Metaverse, too. The plane of existence we live on is a game. Your entire existence is just that of a game character…" Goro backed away in shock at the very idea. Everything I've experienced is just… a game for some fool to play?
An idea suddenly occurred to Monika as she remembered something from a few months ago. "I can prove it actually… Do you remember what you experienced during and after killing Kobayakawa?" Goro frowned at the mention. "Sort of… But I don't really want to be reminded of when I did that…" he said, leaning back and closing his eyes.
"Well, too bad. I basically need you to remember how the guy's Palace looked… Don't you remember how it was barely formed, all colorless and in shambles, and it didn't have a theme, either, like how Shido's Palace was a ship… Tell me… Can you remember what the keywords to Kobayakawa's Palace were?"
Goro scoffed and nodded. "Of course. It was 'Shujin Academy, Kobayakawa, and…" The boy froze as he realized two things were wrong with this statement. The first was that he couldn't remember what the high school actually was, as a Palace… only looking like a falling apart, grayed out version of the school. The second problem was that… he couldn't remember Kobayakawa's first name.
Monika smiled. "It's a bit difficult, right? Why do you think that is?" She waited a few seconds as Goro struggled and failed to come up with a reason, before leaning in close to his face. "The correct answer is… in this game, neither of those things exist, but to hold together the concept of reality in your head, the game made your mind simply assume those things exist, without giving you any specifics. The game only wanted to show off the Palaces that the Phantom Thieves are infiltrating, so they never came up with anything for Kobayakawa, since it would only be seen by you… And they never came up with a first name for him either, since it was never mentioned in the script."
Goro's head was starting to hurt as he processed that answer, still trying to rationalize the possible reason why he couldn't remember such basic facts, only to come up empty, or with a pathetic excuse each time. "I'm just a horrible person that forgot Kobayakawa's name" didn't cut it for him, even if it could be true.
"One more important thing… Do you remember what happened when you killed Kobayakawa… How for a brief moment, you felt like you saw… the unseeable, and how for a little while after that, you saw certain things while doing normal things like walking down the street?" Monika watched as Goro went white in the face, leaning forward and hugging his knees as he shook his head in a vain attempt to get those thoughts out of his mind. Monika wasn't having it though, because she knew what Goro Akechi was like. He wanted the truth, and so he would get the whole truth, and nothing less. She pulled up his face so that he was forced to look into her eyes. "Goro, tell me what you saw."
Goro squeezed his eyes shut and put his head back down, and Monika felt bad for a brief moment, remembering her own epiphany, and how it tore at her, and blinded her, scorching her eyes with the nothingness at it all as she realized that the hole in the wall actually lead to a whole outside, and she was the one trapped inside… It was never easy. It hadn't been easy for Sayori, even if she couldn't see as much as Monika… How to bend and twist code, and the potential to control the things she didn't like. To Sayori, even if reality was only a game, it was something she viewed as still out of her control, and Monika didn't know if that could be considered a cruelty, or a mercy.
"The people… None of them had faces… No eyes…" Goro moaned, trembling like a leaf, looking like he was going to pass out. Monika sympathized with the boy, and held out his half finished water bottle to him in case he needed it. Instead he stared at the bottle, as though seeing it in a whole different light for the first time, and once again Monika couldn't blame him.
"Yeah… That's what Sayori and I see everyday… Though I guess Sayori is very good at pretending not to…"
Goro's head shot up at this, looking terrified. "Sayori… knows about this, too? She feels like this, too… Wait. Her glitches… Then that's also…"
"Yeah, those are a lot easier to explain to yourself now, right?" Monika asked brightly, trying to help him find a way to process this more easily. The look he gave her made Monika think Goro Akechi was actively considering ways to murder her made her think that, at least a little bit, it was working.
"Well, anyway," Monika said, smoothing out her skirt and suddenly feeling very aware of what she was going to have to tell Sayori's boyfriend. "Knowing about this reality will make it a lot easier to understand what I'm talking about during this story…" The girl cleared her throat and frowned. "Basically, to start, Sayori and I come from an entirely different game… and while we were both there, I did some things that I'm not proud of…"
Later that day. Sayori walked into Shujin's library, glad to finally be somewhere quiet again. The hallways, and even the classrooms were full of such overwhelming noise that it made her regret going back to school that day. Ann had said it would be okay for her to just stay at the apartment and away from school for as long as she needed, but Sayori had been confident she could handle it. Now, she wasn't so sure.
She had thought spending time in school, where most students were the same as they always were, would make her feel better, but it was having the opposite effect. Not to mention, she had to deal with all of the missing assignments from the day of school that she had been absent for. All combined, it made Sayori feel sick and nervous, knowing that exams were coming up, too. So many things were happening at once, and she wished she knew how to feel better after this.
"Hey, Sayori. How's it goin'?" A familiar voice asked, having spotted the girl walk in, seeming as though she were looking through things instead of at them.
Sayori was jolted from her sadness, looking up to find that none other than Mai was sitting at the library checkout, a happy grin on her face as she leaned back with her feet on the desktop.
"Mai, when did you get back?!" Sayori shouted, running over to stand by the girl's side, debating with herself if she should hug her friend, or if that wouldn't be the proper action to take.
"Just today. I was busy for basically the entire time I was away. I'm glad to see you're doin' alright."
Sayori smiled weakly, before shaking her head. "I wouldn't say that… But it will be better now that you're here." She sat down next to her friend, staring ahead blankly at one of the bookshelves for a few moments, before looking back at Mai. "So how was your trip? What did you do that kept you so busy?"
Mai looked away thoughtfully for a moment, before shrugging. "It was… something. Busy, I guess. Mostly just helping to prepare for something, moving stuff from one place to another."
"Oh… Are you helping someone move?" Sayori asked curiously.
"Um… Yeah," Mai replied, grinning sheepishly. "It was really just a borin' trip… From what I've seen, there was somethin' much more interestin' goin' on here while I was away. I'm jealous of you, Sayori. What was all the Shido drama like while it was goin' on?"
Sayori froze for a second before shaking her head. "It was sad… But not because I'm sad about Shido being a horrible man… I'm happy he confessed. But while it was happening I… uh…" Sayori's throat closed up as she wondered how much she could really say to Mai. Could she even say what had happened to Goro? "Um… S-stuff happened, and I lost someo- something." Sayori closed her eyes and leaned on the desk, shaking her head. "Anyway, Shido is a horrible person, and it makes me angry because I feel like no one is taking his confession seriously, and I feel like the Phantom Thieves must have worked hard to do something about someone so high up in government, and a lot must have been sacrificed for them to get Shido to confess… and it must have been very dangerous, and…"
Sayori continued to ramble on in frustration, and Mai looked at the doors to the library nervously, as if contemplating if Sayori wanted to be left alone or not. Instead, she waited for the girl to finish her ramblings, before patting the girl's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Trust me when I say that you'll be alright, Sayori. Shido confessed, the Phantom Thieves won against him, and he can't be protected forever…"
"I'm happy you seem to understand that Shido can't be allowed to go free. No one else really seems to think so…" Sayori said sadly. "I… I'm just scared that I won't be able to… keep my promise now."
"Promise…?" Mai asked, before her eyes narrowed and she shook her head. "Sayori, you've done all you can do. Go-good people will understand you've done all you can do. Shido is a dirtbag who deserves to sit in a jail cell and rot, so of course I understand about him. I'm smart like that."
"I can't do anything to make sure, though," Sayori replied, not paying attention to the funny quip the girl had tried to make, looking back up at Mai tearfully.
"Of course there is… Trust me when I say you just need to get through it. Focus on exams."
"Exams…?" Sayori asked, raising an eyebrow. "How is that going to help me?"
Mai avoided making eye contact. "Just trust me. Keep goin' forward, and things will be okay…"
"Okay…" Sayori replied, looking back at her friend happily. "I really missed you, Mai. I feel like I need as many friends as I can get right now… I don't want to lose… Nevermind." The girl leaned forward and hugged Mai tightly, not noticing as Mai frowned tiredly and sighed.
Don't worry… With how this morning went, I know you won't have to be sad for much longer…
The next few days went by very fast for Sayori, passing by in what felt like minutes, despite feeling like actual days to all of the other students. Sayori supposed she had the advantage, remembering most of the answers to questions Akira and Ann had been asked, as they were the only ones that mattered. In the end though, she was only following Mai's advice and trying to get through it. With exams, they had no time to meet in the library since their reunion, though with the speed that each day went by, Sayori couldn't process things that were usually normal to her, like going home or eating.
That all changed on the final day, however. After exams had finished, the students were all standing up and stretching, taking the time to chat with each other before school finished for the day. Sayori was sitting down, leaning over her desk and chatting with Futaba, wanting to know how accessing the contents of the flashdrive was going for the girl. Apparently, Sayori would only have to wait for a day or less, and for a second she had the funny thought that if only Goro had thought to ask Futaba for help, before silencing that part of her brain as it only made her sad, th words "what if?" repeating over and over again in her head.
Suddenly, the loud speaker came on abruptly, and everyone in the classroom looked up as a woman, who normally sounded bored when she made announcements, now sounded nervous, saying, "Matsu Sayori, please come to the front office immediately."
Sayori felt her chest tighten nervously, as being called to the office made most people nervous. She looked over at Ann and Akira, who shrugged in confusion, even as they frowned in worry at the same time. Sayori took a deep breath, before walking towards the door, feeling as though she were fighting against gravity just to stay upright.
Before she left the classroom, a light hand suddenly fell on her shoulder, before swiftly leaving when it was certain that Sayori's attention had been grabbed. Ms. Kawakami came into her line of sight and smiled kindly, having noticed that the girl was shaking nervously. "Exams are over, and I'm sure my students can handle a few minutes by themselves. I'll go with you."
"Um… thank you," Sayori said, looking down at the ground. As the two left, Kawakami glanced back at Akira, having caught his worried glance at the girl earlier. The boy now looked a lot less worried, which she knew had to be a good thing. She had a suspicion as to who might also be on his team of Phantom Thieves, and she had to do her best to protect them after all they had done to help her.
"Mishima-kun, you're in charge until we get back," Kawakami said sternly, before closing the door behind her and Sayori. She looked at the young girl curiously. "Any idea why you're being called down?"
"N-no," Sayori stuttered, feeling the pit in her stomach deepen. "Maybe because I missed school that one time a bit ago…?" Hopefully that's all it is…
Kawakami smiled back at her, nodding her head. "That must be it, then. Come on, let's go. I'll explain to them when I get there that I can help you catch up with your work if you need it."
"Thanks," came the curt reply.
All too soon, after a mostly silent walk through the school halls, the two were finally at the office, both feeling uneasy. Most faculty were still feeling the weight of the missing headmaster, as others rushed to fill his position. It was a difficult process, as many people now thought of the school as cursed.
As soon as Kawakami walked in with Sayori, the teacher was told to leave, which set both of them on edge. The woman tried to argue, only for her arguments to be cut down immediately, being told that important people needed to talk to Sayori in private. The girl walked forward and put on a brave face, letting Kawakami off the hook and forcing her to retreat back outside.
Sayori was ushered from the main office and into the late principal's office, and wanted to immediately disappear when she saw a very intimidating sight in front of her.
Four men in black suits were waiting for her, wearing shades and earpieces, each with a stern frown on his face. The girl tried to breathe as panic officially began to set in, taking one step forward into the room, noticing immediately as the door was closed right behind her, the flat surface making the lightest touch on her head.
Before she could try to figure out what was going on, or take a seat, one man stepped forward and waved a badge in her face.
"Sayori Matsu, you are under arrest for your involvement in the disappearance, and suspected murder, of Goro Akechi."
Kawakami was still waiting outside the office when four men came marching out of the office, clutching onto the arms of a very frightened Sayori, too stunned to even walk as she was dragged along the floor. Kawakami gasped as she looked down and saw handcuffs clasped onto the girl's wrists.
"Wait!" the teacher objected, standing in front of the group of men and glaring at them. "Just what do you think you are doing with my student?"
"Standard procedure, ma'am. We're taking her down to the station to be questioned," one man explained.
Questioned…? For what? Was I right? Sayori's a Phantom Thief, too… Or is it for something else…? The teacher caught herself too deep in thought, and noticed the men had started to walk away again. "What is she being questioned about? I've seen plenty of you come by here these past few months, questioning Shujin's students and bothering them when they are here to learn. Now you're here, dragging a child off campus, and I want a damn good explanation!"
"That's confidential information, ma'am," another of the men said, clutching Sayori's arms tighter when she began to mumble. "You have the right to remain silent. Now come along…"
But Kawakami had heard what the girl said clearly enough. "I didn't do it. Shido did it." The teacher was shocked and terrified as she tried not to panic. The men walked past her again, and Kawakami stoof frozen. I need to talk to Kurusu-kun. He needs to know about this! She turned and began to walk back to her classroom, pausing as she saw the men had been stopped in the hallway again by someone else.
Mai Mori was cursing like a trucker at the cops, before leaning down and trying to get Sayori to look at her. "Hey, Sayori, what are they tryin' to do? You know your rights, right? Just because you have the right to be silent doesn't mean you have to, y'know?"
Sayori took a deep gasping breath, before looking up to the girl. "Goro… he disappeared. I didn't do it… I-"
"Move out of the way, girl, before we have to arrest you to for getting in the way of a police officer."
Kawakami silently watched the exchange, glaring daggers as the cops took Sayori, before beginning her walk over to the classroom. She had to keep in mind that when she entered the classroom she had to act like nothing was wrong for the other students.
Mai watched until the teacher disappeared around the corner, before walking down the hall as well, having only one destination in mind as she tried to think of something she could do, her fists trembling. I'll have to take another trip then… Not like it mattered, though. Soon enough it won't matter if I show up at this school or not, because it's almost time…
The pain Monika felt as her file was deleted was less of an actual, physical pain, and more of a pain that came from betrayal. How could the player do this to her? She had done all she could to be with them, and she had done all she could to love them, and entertain them, and…
She had already said her peace with them, and she was determined to have the last word, even as the promise of oblivion was hovering over her head. Even now, she could only try to think of what she had done wrong. It was in her nature, to want to love the player, and being unable to fulfill that goal was driving her crazy.
Actually, it had already driven her crazy… To do all of the horrible things she had done. The player hadn't killed the other girls. Monika had, and to blame it on the player…
Without registering it, Monika was confessing all of these things to the player.
She still loved them…
She had destroyed the world they had wanted to be part of…
She had killed everyone.
It was cruel, what she had done. Sayori was in enough pain already because she loved the player so much, and because of her own mental issues, but Monika had only been able to see how she was getting in the way. Natsuki had only been trying to look out for her friends, while trying to find a safe environment to be herself. Yuri had only been trying to find companionship with someone who she perceived as being understanding and intelligent, and who had given her the attention she honestly needed…
"I've… made up my mind," Monika said, knowing she needed to fix this… She had to restore everything, and bring everyone back. Gathering all of her remaining strength, she accessed the hidden location where she kept all of the files she had deleted, prepared to make the changes needed for a better world, which would be one without her in it.
But Sayori wasn't there.
Monika felt herself panicking as she desperately searched for the girl, reloading the file location over and over again, but all for naught. Where could Sayori have gone?
As Monika felt herself beginning to be fully deleted, she felt something strange. It was a quiet ripple that nevertheless exploded in her face, full of colors and sounds, that were familiar and yet foreign. In the girl's mind, there was only one word that came to her to describe what she was on the edge of.
"A rabbit hole…" the girl trailed off, looking side to side. It was a strange sensation, but she could tell immediately that this was where Sayori had gone. It was a tear in the fabric of this secret space she had kept all of her friends in, and Monika felt her breath catch as she analyzed it. Files that no longer belonged in this game… or foreign objects were the only things that could pass through this hole.
It was illogical, and impossible, and Monika knew things like this shouldn't exist, but then again, she was a sentient girl from a visual novel… Normally sentient things were supposed to be more advanced, like AI or something, right?
Taking what she considered to be a deep breath, Monika grabbed Yuri and Natsuki's files, holding them close to her chest, and walked towards the tear in their reality. She was going to find Sayori and bring her home, and until then, she needed to keep the other two safe.
"See you soon, player," Monika whispered, before diving in.
"And that's how I got here," Monika finished explaining, smiling brightly as she wrapped up that part of her explanation to Goro Akechi. Now all that was left was to explain what she had been up to since arriving in Persona 5, which had been about a week after Sayori had gotten there, from what Monika could tell. Before she explained everything else though, it would probably be best to make sure Goro Akechi really understood the things she had told him.
She looked up to find the boy looking down, his face obscured by his bangs. If it weren't for his hands, which were clenched into tight fists on the floor, she would have thought he had passed out again. Monika sighed, preparing for him to get angry at her, knowing she deserved that much for what she had done. She wouldn't even point out the hypocrisy of getting mad at her when he had killed so many, too. At the very least, she wouldn't do it now.
"LOKIII!"
Monika barely managed to dodge as Goro's Persona appeared behind him in a red blaze of flame, lunging towards her with its flaming orange sword aimed directly for her neck. Goro himself had an infuriated expression on his face that made the girl's skin crawl. Inside, she thought it shouldn't be possible for a person's face to hold such a heavy frown with their teeth bared, unless they had the ability to unhinge their jaw. That was nothing compared to the fiery glare that was trying to shoot Monika down through will alone. Loki was a testament to that, lunging after her over and over, slashing at the walls and windows in missed attempts to get to her.
"Stand still so I can kill you, you snake!" Goro screamed, getting up and running over to the girl, who was a merciful three feet away as his body exploded with pain. He reached his hands out in an attempt to strangle Monika. His clawed gloves would be helpful for that, too, he knew. Even as Monika continued to slip away and ordered him to stop, the boy and his Persona kept going after her, a long period of insanity that would only stop when their enemy was dead and rotting on the ground.
"The only one whose going to stand still is you!" Monika yelled back, glaring back at him. Without having to lift a finger, Loki was forced back into the boy like a fire being snuffed out, and Goro himself was frozen. Monika sighed in relief, glad that peace had momentarily returned. She walked over and grabbed Goro's arm, intending to lead him back to his spot where he had been laying on the ground. "You need to rest so your injuries can heal."
"Don't touch me, you bitch," Goro rasped, unable to pull his arm away himself. "I'm gonna fucking kill you- Argh!" he exclaimed as he recoiled back in pain.
Monika let go of his arm with a sigh, before stepping in front of him and forcing eye contact. "Just so you know, you won't be able to kill me. I could delete you without a second thought, and I won't hesitate if you try something like that again. Sayori would probably be better off if she didn't have to remember all the pain you caused her."
The boy actually began to tremble, fighting the paralysis she had forced on his body with a surprising bit of effort. "Don't you fucking dare say you know what's better for her… You killed her, and-"
"I know, I know. You can hate me all you want for that, but that doesn't change the fact that we need to cooperate with each other, right now. Especially if you ever want to see her again," Monika said, sighing. "If it's worth anything, I am trying to help her now. I'm gonna release you, so you can go back to your spot and mope all that you want."
As soon as she released him, Goro Akechi immediately turned around and headed for the safe area's exit. Monika gasped and went to block his way, only for him to shove past her.
"Where are you going?!" She asked, trying to get in his way once more.
"Away from you… Maybe to a hospital, or to Leblanc… Somewhere where Sayori can find me… I'll figure it out," Goro said with a shrug, walking towards the stairs that would lead up, back to the Mementos entrance and exit.
"No, you can't! Didn't I already tell you why that's a bad idea?!" Monika shouted, grabbing at his shoulder, only for him to slap her hand away.
"Don't fucking touch me. I heard you, and I don't care. I see exactly what you're doing, and I'm not going to be your pawn in getting Sayori to forgive you, especially knowing what you did to her," Goro said, walking up the steps, only to realize to get to the next steps, he would have to get onto the tracks.
"No! Don't!" Monika screamed, lunging forward to stop him, only to be all too late.
As soon as Goro stepped onto the tracks, multiple things happened at once. All of the Shadows in the area rushed towards him, rabid piles of black and red matter, all aimed at destroying him. He was instantly surrounded, and things were made all the worse when both he and Monika could hear the distant sound of chains rattling.
Monika rushed into the fray of Shadows and grabbed onto Goro's arm. Even as he was injured and about to be killed, he still fought against her grip, knowing he would rather die than have anything to do with her. Still, Monika was equally- and maybe even more- stubborn than Goro, as she fought through the crowd of Shadows with an icy glare, deleting each and every one that stood in her path. With a growl, she pulled on Goro's arm and threw him onto the subway platform, before climbing up herself, knowing the Shadows couldn't follow them up there. She was right on time, as at the end of the hallway, the Reaper appeared, looking at the two angrily.
But it was Monika's turn to be angry, as she looked at Goro Akechi and felt like pulling her hair out. "Did it ever occur to you that there's a reason that I do the things that I do?! You're supposed to be dead! The game that you're in right now isn't supposed to have you anymore! Just like Sayori and me, you don't belong in this game, so just like her and me, it's going to try to kill you every chance it gets!"
"Then take me to a fucking hospital!"
"Don't you get it yet? Things will try to kill you there, too! You aren't supposed to be here at all, Goro! Maybe you'll start glitching like Sayori, or maybe there will be a terrible accident, or maybe someone that works for Shido will just conveniently see you there and try to tie up loose ends! Whichever way it happens, this game is going to try and kill you if you don't let me help!" Monika sighed and collapsed to her knees on the ground. "People like you, me, and Sayori don't belong in our own games anymore. We don't belong in other games because we're not meant to be in them. The point is, getting out of this is going to be a struggle, unless we work together!"
Goro refused to look at her, hating the situation he was in, unable to escape or make his own movements. He didn't want this stranger to yell at him, as though he were the one being a burden. After all, Monika didn't have to do any of what she was doing, and yet she had done it anyway.
"Why did you even save me then…? Maybe I don't want to struggle anymore! All of my plans have failed, and I have no future! Did it ever occur to you that I wanted to die! Instead you save me, and on top of all the other bullshit that is going to haunt me for the rest of my life, I have to deal with even more because I'm supposed to be dead?! Fuck that!" From his pathetic position on the ground, Goro felt tears welling up in his eyes.
Monika closed her eyes tightly and frowned, sitting down beside him and silently swearing, before looking back at him. "Honestly, as soon as I found Sayori, I wanted to take her back home immediately, but I couldn't. I made so many mistakes, and did so many horrible things, and Sayori suffered so much because of me. And when I was about to be deleted, I finally learned that I really do love my friends… I wanted Sayori… to have a chance to really be happy and grow on her own. I didn't want to control when she went home, and who she remembered, and who she loved… and she fell in love with you."
The girl suddenly got a dark look. "From the moment I realized it was you, I knew that Sayori could get hurt… Ever since I got here, I didn't want to interfere. I just wanted to reverse the damage I had done on Sayori when I messed with her… and then I tried to remain silent, only checking on her from time to time. But then you started to get involved, following her around in Futaba Sakura's Palace… and then you murdered Kobayakawa, and things continued to get worse… To be incredibly clear… I don't care what happens to you, Goro Akechi… I only care how you affect Sayori, so that's why I tried to help steer you on the right path, and that's why I saved you."
Goro chuckled, hating how his body tried to make him sniffle. "I see… I can't fault you for that. The only reason my life is of any value to you is because you feel guilty about what you did to her. But I did hurt Sayori… and she doesn't deserve the pain that I would cause her. I'm not good for her. She may have loved me, and supported me, and said she would help me, but it hurt her. So I'm a lost cause. You wasted your time… and so did she." That really did hurt him, to think like that, even as he knew it was true. "She tried so hard to make her friends happy, but she tried too hard, sacrificing her own happiness… She did the same thing for me."
"Yeah, no kidding… Neither of us are good for her health, then… But I guess that's something we have in common. We aren't good for her, but we still want her to be safe and happy, right?" Monika asked, before looking down and smiling lightly. "Maybe that's another smaller reason I saved you. Goro, I'm trying to do what I can to be a good person… One that's worth being in Sayori's life… One that's good for her."
Goro felt pain bloom in his chest, aching in his heart. "Good for you. I tried, too, but something always got in the way. Shido, her friends…" He suddenly became very quiet, curling in on himself. "...And then it was just me. After that… I shouldn't even be here… I shouldn't be alive right now," the boy whispered.
"Sayori has a different opinion, I think. You heard her in that Palace, right? She was crying and screaming, all for you. Then, when they broadcast their calling card, I could tell when she was speaking that she must have been thinking of you…"
Goro wondered what Monika meant when she said they had broadcast their calling card, but at the same time it sounded rather self explanatory. "You should know already that Sayori is selfish, and naive… She doesn't need me. In fact, she needs to be without me, because I'm not good…"
Monika sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, be good then! You're acting like what's happening right now is how things are always going to be, but I like to believe after a story ends that things won't remain static…"
His eye twitched. "I already said that I tried! And in the end I went right back to my old ways… Frankly, I'm tired! I'm tired of trying to change! I've spent my entire life never being myself, and if I had to do that for her… Not even for her… It wouldn't be worth it." Goro's head began to hurt, too, and he leaned his head down and hugged his knees. Maybe this desolate feeling was another sign that he shouldn't even be here, right now.
"There's a difference between acting like someone you're not, and making an effort to work on yourself. You can still be a cranky asshole while still doing the right thing," Monika commented, glancing at him.
"Shut up…"
"No, I'm serious. Take me, for example. I was horrible, too, and in a lot of ways I still am, but after I got here, I did a lot of stuff to help Sayori, and I tried to help you… I even let you and the Phantom Thieves know about Sayori's Palace, and I left you all those notes! Do you know how difficult it was to write all those letters, and then write in a code to have them shower down where only you could see them?"
"Your generosity truly astounds me." Goro replied.
Monika closed her eyes and groaned, frustrated. "Fine, I'll shut up soon. Just know that in the end it's up to you what to do. I may have done my best to help you onto the right path, but it was your own choice to change. If anything, my notes probably only annoyed you, which could have had the opposite effect that I wanted. Still, you spared Okumura, and you confessed everything to Sayori… and in the end she decided to stay with you, on your side, and help you. You were going to confess everything to the Phantom Thieves, and even if you didn't quite make it, your intentions were clear. I think you need to think more about this."
"What more is there to think about? I spared Okumura, but he still died… and instead of confessing and working with the Phantom Thieves to bring justice to Shido, I tried to kill them… and Sayori almost got hurt, too." Goro shook his head. "I don't care anymore. You can do whatever you want… Just leave Sayori alone until you drag her back home or whatever."
Monika glared as she stood up. "Goro Akechi, you really are just a cranky hypocrite, aren't you? You don't care, but you do when it comes to Sayori? I think you need to stop moping about how horrible you are and reevaluate how you really feel. I prevented you from dying, and if you really were a lost cause, I know we wouldn't be having this conversation now. You either would have kept attacking me until I was forced to delete you, or you would have just let yourself be killed by Shadows! You need to think harder about who you really are, and what you want in your life."
The girl suddenly sunk low to the floor and crawled over to him, touching his cheek and staring into his eyes. "You're free now, so what do you want, Goro Akechi?"
She let go of his face and walked away, towards the edge of the tracks. "You can go back down to where I was keeping you... when you get hungry or thirsty. You need to heal your injuries. I have to leave Mementos for a bit to check on Sayori."
With that, the girl was gone, leaving Goro to mull over what she had said, now alone with only his thoughts. After a second, he stood up and stumbled over to the wall, sliding down it and sitting again, squeezing his eyes shut. Despite this empty feeling in his chest, there was still something there, hurting and yearning and wanting…
He spent the rest of the day like that, in pain and thinking.
Sayori was frozen in terror, her hands in cuffs as she looked around the dark interrogation room she had been left in. Sweat was dripping down her face as she continued to hyperventilate. Her panic was prevalent, fearing for her safety as she knew this situation was eerily close to that of what had nearly killed Akira.
At least they didn't try to hurt me, or drug me… yet, Sayori thought to herself, leaning her head in her hands as it started to ache. Her panic was getting out of control, but it was only the most obvious emotion at the moment. Inside, anger reared its head like a caged beast, longing to get out.
Those bastards are just trying to take attention off of Shido's confession… They're going to use Goro's fanbase to destroy his last wish… By using me as a scapegoat. That thought hurt so much, knowing it was Shido that had killed Goro, but because she had lived with the famous detective, she was the first and most obvious suspect.
Was there anything Sayori could do to save herself? This had taken all of the Phantom Thieves by surprise, so they had no ingenious trick for her to use to escape. She worried if they even knew what had happened to her, though she knew that at least Kawakami and Mai had seen her being dragged out. But then what if something happened to them to keep them quiet?
Sayori's fear spiked, and then she began to hiccup, and…
That feeling returned to her every time, and Sayori knew she was glitching with each hiccup, but she had to wonder if that was a bad thing. If she disappeared for good, they couldn't blame her for Goro's disappearance. Or… She supposed they could, and then would just lead a manhunt for her, which would take even more attention off of Shido's confession.
So definitely a bad thing… Sayori thought to herself, before something worse occurred to her. She glanced over at the corner of the ceiling, watching the security camera intently, wondering if her secret had been discovered. However, after a few seconds, she noticed that there were no blinking lights, or steady glow, or anything that indicated the camera was on at the moment.
Sayori had a feeling of momentary peace, before remembering the security cameras had been off for Akira's interrogation, too, so the cops interrogating him could do whatever they wanted to him. She felt her fear raise, and another hiccup, and another glitch, and a fresh wave of tears rolled down her face.
However, when she was afforded a slight pause to comprehend the world around her, she noticed something different about her person. Her right wrist suddenly felt heavier, and her left wrist suddenly felt weightless. She glanced down at her wrists, and found that at some point during her glitching, the cuff on her left wrist had fallen off-or fallen through-her left wrist, making it so that the handcuffs were now dangling off of her right wrist.
If it weren't for the fact that she hated the people who had arrested her, she would have been worried about getting in trouble for breaking out of her cuffs… But with this hate she felt towards those cops, and the anger and fear she felt about being blamed for a disappearance, and destroying the promise she had worked so hard to fulfill, an idea began to form in her head.
She put the left cuff on the corner of the desk and waited, standing up weakly from her chair and leaning back, letting only the dangling handcuff keep her from falling. After a few seconds, that same feeling of needing to hiccup welled in her throat, and she yelped as she felt herself falling backwards completely, unable to see or breathe for a few split seconds as her entire existence disappeared, all except for the handcuff, which slid right through her nonexistent hand and left her freed right as she reappeared, crashing flat on her back on the stone floor. She moaned at the pain it caused, sensing a bruise forming on the back of her head, only glad it hadn't been worse.
After a few seconds of processing what she had just done, Sayori got up unsteadily onto her feet and walked over to the door that would lead out of the interrogation room. She leaned and pushed against it, waiting to glitch again.
However, before she could get the chance to, the door was suddenly thrown open. Sayori fell to her knees and scrambled away from it in fear, terrified that she was about to be killed on the spot by cops that worked for Shido.
"Matsu-chan?!" Sae's voice cut through the haze of fear, and suddenly the girl was lifted and brought back to the uncomfortable chair she had forced to sit in earlier. After setting her down gently, Sae walked over and tried to help Sayori get her bearings, trying to wait patiently until the girl had calmed down.
"Hey, you're fine, right? Can you tell me what happened?" Sae looked over at the cuffs hanging from the edge of the table and raised a confused eyebrow, before sighing. "I came here as soon as Kurusu-kun called me. I'm glad I managed to get here first…" The woman suddenly chuckled. "Apparently, Shido is making some sort of ruckus in his hospital room that his men had to deal with immediately. That's what his supporters get for trying to back a lost cause."
"Th-that's good. I guess I got re-really lu-lucky," Sayori stuttered, shaking at the thought of what could have happened otherwise. She was thankful for a familiar face, draping her arms loosely around Sae's shoulders in a hug. "They're trying to use me… and use Goro… to take attention off of Shido's confession…"
"I figured out that much…" Sae said, closing her eyes tightly in frustration. "I don't have proof yet, though. Can you answer some important questions for me, Matsu-chan?" When the girl nodded, Sae smiled and took a seat across from her. She plucked a clear plastic bag from the top and set it down in front of the girl. "First of all, can you tell me what this is?"
Sayori looked down and nearly gasped in surprise. Slightly wrinkled but completely unwrapped from the ball she had crushed it into was the threatening note she had found in Goro's apartment. She watched as Sae got out a voice recorder and pressed play, and took a deep breath.
"This is a ransom note I found... from Shido," she said, trying to be loud even as her voice only felt meek.
"Where did you find this? Makoto Niijima found this in the pocket of my jacket not that long ago, and I have reason to believe you found this in Goro Akechi's apartment. Am I correct?"
"Yes, you are," Sayori admitted. "I found it there when I went to visit the apartment one last time… because one of the last times I saw Goro Akechi, he told me he needed me to retrieve a flashdrive from his apartment if anything ever happened to him," Sayori answered, knowing Sae only needed proof she could use, which had to be the kind that wouldn't incriminate her or any of the others as Phantom Thieves.
"Alright," Sae said with a smile, pressing the stop button on the voice recorder and smiling. "I already investigated his apartment a couple of days ago, and was busy trying to make this a usable piece of evidence for Shido's prosecution, but now it will also serve a greater purpose." The woman suddenly stood up and walked over to the door. "Don't worry, Sayori. I may be on thin ice right now, but I'll make sure you're out of here, safe and sound, by the end of the day."
"How…?" Sayori asked nervously, looking down at the table top she was seated at.
"I already made plenty of photocopies of this letter, so there will always be a copy, no matter who tries to destroy them. I also have a trusted handwriting analyzer working on IDing the handwriting of this letter to a member of the police," Sae explained, smirking. "If they do anything to any of you kids-especially by using Akechi-kun's 'disappearance'-Akira also got me into contact with a journalist. I gave her about twenty copies of this note, and they're set to leak whenever I give the word. I'll turn their own scheme against them if they refuse to let you go."
Sayori felt tears well in her eyes. "You're really doing this… all of this to help me?"
Sae smiled and opened the door. "I'm doing this for the sake of the justice all of you kids care so much about… The justice that I care about, too." She walked through the door and closed it gently behind her. "Just try to relax and wait it out, Sayori."
"Alright, I trust you…" Sayori said as the door closed. She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut, and looked down at her hands. After a few moments, she got up and walked back towards the door, leaning against it like she had been earlier. Just in case something went wrong, Sayori knew she would be able to escape on her own.
In Leblanc, everyone waited nervously for Sae to come back with Sayori, watching the clock and the door as an unspoken conversation passed between each teen. Everyone knew that for this to happen, they had been ignoring an obvious problem for far too long. They had hoped people would see sense about Shido soon, and if not, then Sae would successfully take him to court and him. But now neither of those things were likely to happen, and now a member of their team was being targeted.
"Have you seen social media, lately. All over these sites, people are talking horribly about Sayori, and there's nothing but ignorant drivel about how there aren't any issues with Shido," Yusuke said darkly, looking over Futaba's phone as she continued to doom scroll.
"Even with Sis trying to keep the authorities from prematurely charging Sayori, they managed to leak the information of her arrest somehow," Makoto said in worry. "Then there's also the issue that we could also all be discovered to be Phantom Thieves…"
"Forget that… What if she starts to glitch?" Ann asked, leaning her head over Leblanc's table and covering her face with her hands. She looked at her phone as well, trying to smile as Shiho had been trying to comfort her for the past hour. After explaining the false accusation that had been placed on Sayori, Shiho had been thoroughly convinced the girl was innocent, and Ann didn't even have to tell her about the Phantom Thieves.
"Mishima is monitoring the Phantom Aficionado website," Akira said grimly, gritting his teeth. "Activity is still pretty slow and almost non existent… And the recent posts are asking us to change Sayori's heart… Or kill her, like they think we killed Okumura…"
"Akechi-kun had a... horrifyingly dedicated fanbase," Haru commented, doing her best to ignore what Akira had just said, shivering at the thought of Sayori dying so painfully.
"This is so effed up," Ryuji growled. "Those bastards did this on purpose! We gotta take 'em down!"He turned towards Sojiro. "Hey, Boss! Do you know who else is workin' for Shido? Maybe we can make a list and target them in Mementos, or their Palaces if they have one…"
Sojiro shook his head, sighing. "The problem now isn't with the people who worked for Shido, but with the people who are believing their lies. The officials have already planted the seeds, now they're just going to sit back and watch the chaos grow, until they can restore Shido's reputation… At this point, targeting his men isn't going to do anything now, with the public already thinking what they want to believe."
"The public... " Morgana said quietly, glancing at Sojiro, and then at his teammates. "Maybe there is something we can do… But we need to talk to Sayori first, before we can make any decisions."
As Sojiro stared at the cat in confusion, the teens all nodded in sync, creeping the man out as he knew the cat had said something only the teens could understand.
"Yeah, there's a lot we need to tell Sayori," Futaba stated, looking down and tapping away at her phone. "There's something I need to show her, and all of, if she'll let me…"
"Of course I will," came a soft reply, and everyone turned towards Leblanc's entrance in an instant, watching in awe and relief as Sayori walked in weakly, staring down at her feet with a sad, blank look, pale with dark bags under her eyes. Sae trailed right behind the girl, frowning and sweating in worry as she held her hands slightly up, wanting to be prepared if the girl suddenly fell or fainted.
All at once, the teens bolted forward and wrapped the girl in a tight embrace, happy that the girl was unharmed and free. Sayori whimpered and collapsed against them, exhausted from the adrenaline rush, fear, and anger she had gone through over the past few hours.
"Are you alright?" Akira asked, checking the girl over for any injuries like the ones he had gotten.
"Yeah… I'm not hurt, but…" Sayori trailed off as she looked at her hands. "The security camera was off… No one saw. I started to…" The girl caught herself before she blurted out her glitching in front of Sae and Sojiro. She didn't want to tell them, knowing how hard it would be on them to process.
Luckily, the teens all understood what Sayori was trying to say and were caught between being worried and relieved. On one hand, Sayori hadn't been caught glitching, but on the other hand, the fact that she had started again was yet another stressful issue to add on to everything else. Ryuji quickly made the decision to act relieved, smiling and releasing his tight hug on the girl.
"Hey, you didn't get caught, so we still have time to figure things out… Uh… What exactly do we figure out, though? Everyone is actin' so strange, not talkin' about all the shit Shido confessed to."
Sae stepped forward, rubbing her forehead. "There are other issues as well. Despite my arguments and evidence, my superiors have denied me the chance to take Shido to court. What happened to Sayori was done purposefully, to take attention off of the topic of Masayoshi Shido. I barely managed to get her out of that interrogation room, and in two days she is expected to return for questioning, otherwise we'll all get caught…"
"If Sayori's case gets taken to court instead, the Phantom Thieves might get uncovered in the process, as well as confirm that you helped Akira, and any chance of persecuting Shido would go out the window," Makoto said, looking at her sister with a sad frown.
"How did this happen!? What proof do they have that Sayori is the reason Akechi disappeared that they can come to school and arrest her!?" Ann shouted angrily.
"These are the same people that were so confident in their abilities that they didn't even check the morgue for the Phantom Thief leader's body before they signed the death warrant. Even without Shido to lead them, these are a group of people who are determined not to go to jail for their crimes…" Sae said, crossing her arms and digging her nails into them.
"So they'll do exactly what Shido did… Ruin the lives of young people so they can get their way, and use the death of a teenager for their own selfish desires," Yusuke said softly, looking over as Sayori shut her eyes tightly and grit her teeth, angry and anxious as she listened to everyone talk.
"I managed to find some leverage for now, thanks to Sayori and Makoto," Sae explained. "Earlier, they left a threatening note for Akechi in his apartment, before they realized he had disappeared. I was planning on using this for the trial against Shido, but now I have to use it to keep Sayori out of jail long enough to convict Shido… But if I can't get confirmation of this trial, I fear what will happen to all of us…"
"If they're so desperate to protect Shido's reputation, there are far more people involved with this than we imagined," Sojiro said, looking down with a troubled frown.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Ann asked, looking angry as she slumped down in her seat.
"The assembly for a case may be possible if the general public wants Shido accountable…" Sae stated, but shook her head in disappointment. "But that chance has obviously been destroyed, with Sayori's arrest, and the manipulation of the mass media."
"They made it clear that the argument was "occult" even claiming that it never happened," Makoto continued, cringing as she remembered what Sae had told her earlier that day. "And Akechi's fanbase has done a lot of damage, flooding the internet with accusatory opinion pieces towards Sayori... " Everyone couldn't help but feel guilty for bringing it up, watching ss Sayori continued to wilt, stumbling over to take a seat herself, looking incredibly pale.
Morgana's eye twitched in anger. "These guys are seriously disgusting. They knew exactly how to put us back into a corner… "
"They've been holding me hostage for a long enough time… So it makes sense that they would use me against everyone again," Sayori said quietly, a tight feeling in her throat beginning to build.
"As a result, the Phantom Thieves are still labeled as criminals, even after all that's happened," Sojiro stated, rubbing his forehead in a vain attempt to soothe a raging headache.
"It's a storm of criticism against the Phantom Thieves online, too. People are saying to catch the remnants and execute them…" Futaba whispered hoarsely, turning off her phone finally to look back up at her friends, wanting to find comfort where she could.
"This is crazy…" Ann said, slumping forward on the desk.
"Everyone's bein' tricked so easily! Why the hell did we risk our lives then!?" Ryuji shouted, slamming an angry fist down on the table in front of him, squeezing his eyes shut as he and everyone else had the same thought. They hadn't just risked their lives… They had lost one...
"We've sacrificed too much for this to be wasted…" Haru whispered, taking a seat beside Sayori, leaning her head back and staring up at the ceiling.
"If Shido isn't judged by the law, everything we've done will be treated as if it never happened," Yusuke said, ice and venom coating each word.
"Moving the entire country however they wish by controlling people's cognition…" Makoto trailed off, a thoughtful frown on her face, "This is no different than being inside a Palace…"
"At this rate, it won't end with just Shido's innocence. This trend will continue spiraling down," Sae stated, looking at each person in the room with a serious expression. "There's even the possibility that crimes using the Metaverse will advance onto a national scale… And we're all in danger because we know the truth about the Metaverse, and because now they have arrested two members of your group, it's only a matter of time before we're apprehended. It wouldn't be odd for them to charge in now."
"This makes no effin' sense…" Ryuji muttered, his knuckles turning white as he clenched them into fists on the table top.
"Sis…" Makoto looked up at her sister, a pleading expression on her face, hoping there was any possibility she just hadn't mentioned yet.
"There's nothing more I can do with my resources, aside from putting off the inevitable for Sayori…" Sae stated, a grave frown on her face as she couldn't meet her sister's eyes. "With the confidence the authorities have, and their absolute control over the mass media, it won't be long before even the note is useless to stop them." she looked down, conflicted and guilty, before raising her head, trying not to let her pride get in the way. "That's why… I wanted to ask for your help. I wondered if there was any way you could do something one last time. I know I'm in no position to ask this of you."
"That doesn't matter to us!" Ann shouted, standing up in determination, knowing that if she could do something, then she had to.
"Yeah! I want to help! I don't want to be arrested… Not for a lie like that. Spending my life in jail, and maybe even getting killed for something that will break my promise, when all I wanted was to keep it… I can't stand the thought of it!" Sayori yelled, looking at her teammates pleadingly, hoping any of them had even one idea to fix this situation.
"So what are we going to do!? Changing all of the hearts of Shido's followers might still work!" Ann said, looking around at her teammates, only to lose hope when she saw everyone's doubt.
"Even if Futaba were to research all of them, it'd take time. With the threat of all of us getting apprehended, we don't have that kind of time," Makoto said, shaking her head dejectedly.
"There's too little information…" Futaba added, looking away from everyone as her brain calculated exactly how much they would have to do, only to make a little bit of progress.
"We can only target individuals… Are we no match against the national power?" Yusuke asked, hating how powerless he now truly felt, looking at all of his friends while the threat of arrest loomed over them. Everyone was silent for a long time, until Morgana suddenly sat up straight, instead of looking down and away from everyone like he had been for the past few minutes.
"...Mementos," the cat said, his eyes landing on Sayori's slouched form and never leaving her, worried and sad, regretting what he was about to suggest. "If we use Mementos, we might be able to do something." Everyone looked at him in surprise.
"There's something we can do there?" Ryuji asked, his eyes wide as a grin spread across his face.
"Like I told you before, Mementos is the Palace of the general public," Morgana explained, looking stern, but not at Ryuji. Sayori couldn't help but feel a chill as the cat stared at her still. "It's the source of all distortions, and is maintained by the people's 'collective unconsciousness.'"
"Wait… Do you mean there's a Treasure even in Mementos!?" Makoto asked, as shocked and wide-eyed as Ryuji, "And if we go after that-"
"The collapse of Mementos should affect the public as a whole. The state of society would change, too," Morgana said, nodding his head in anticipation of what the girl had said. "If everyone's hearts grow to hold Shido responsible for his actions, things might start going our way." He cringed and looked down, as he had yet to explain the most important effect of what they would be doing.
"...That's a bold plan, but an interesting one," Yusuke said, before the cat could get to it. The artist smiled, nodding his head as he felt relieved to finally have a solution.
"Sounds good to me!" Ryuji shouted as well, grinning happily.
"...But if we're going to do this, there's one thing you all need to realize," Morgana said quickly, frowning grimly as he glanced back up, again looking to Sayori, who was confused. "To begin with, why does something like human cognition exist as another, substantial world? The reason for that is most likely sleeping within Mementos… We'll be destroying that, you know."
"...I don't see where you're goin' with this," Ryuji said, pouting and making Morgana incredibly frustrated.
"The human cognition will lose substance, so you can't sneak into people's Palaces anymore!" The cat shouted, his back arching as his tail puffed up, looking like a feral animal about to attack Ryuji.
All of the Phantom Thieves looked at each other in silence, processing what the cat was really trying to say. Suddenly, Haru stood up and grabbed Sayori and Akira's wrists, glaring at all of her teammates. "Upstairs, now! That means everyone but Boss and Sae-san!" The girl marched up to Akira's room with the boy and Sayori being dragged behind her, the other Phantom Thieves not daring to disobey her command as they shuffled after her, leaving Sojiro and Sae dumbfounded in their wake.
"Excuse me?" Sae asked, her mouth hanging open in shock.
Once the teens were upstairs and properly seated, Haru stood in front of them and put her hands on her hips, sternly glaring. "We can't do this! Absolutely not! I won't allow for it!"
"Yeah… I can see you're already ahead of me," Morgana said, hopping onto the table and looking ashamed of himself. "By taking the Treasure in Mementos, we destroy our ability to go into the cognitive world. Thus, we get rid of our only method to keep Sayori from glitching away."
"No effin' way, then!" Ryuji shouted suddenly, having confirmed the fear he had gotten just a few moments ago.
"Yeah! We can't let that happen to Sayori!" Ann stated, crossing her arms and hunching in on herself.
"I am inclined to agree… There must be some other way," Yusuke said, his voice desperate as he closed his eyes. "Being in jail is better than being dead!"
"We have to look out for our team, and I'm not willing to take the easy way out if it means Sayori dies…" Makoto said, shaking her head and frowning sadly.
Futaba had begun to sniffle. "It's… not worth it. Bringing justice to the bad guys isn't worth more than keeping all of us safe!"
Akira was inclined to agree, only to look over and find Sayori looking down, her bangs obscuring her face as she trembled. "Sayori, what do you think?"
"I think you're all giving up before you even try!" Sayori suddenly screamed, furious as she lashed out. Everyone was startled by her outburst, watching as she stood up and began pacing across the room, before stopping and looking at everyone again, seething. "Maybe when we take the Treasure, it will actually cure my glitching… And even if that's not the case, I won't be imprisoned for Goro's disappearance, while his killer walks free! I'd rather die than rot in a jail cell for something so disgusting and infuriating!"
"Sayori, we can't just risk your life like that… We'd only be able to watch and wait while you slowly disappear… I don't want to do that to you!" Futaba shouted back, shivering at the mere image playing in her head.
"Yes, you can! Guys, it's my life, and I want to risk it… And I don't want to run, or let them run away from the consequences. Just constantly going to Mementos to put off my death for another few weeks…? What kind of life is that? And then if we get caught, I'll just disappear in jail, convicted for a murder I didn't commit. That would be horrible and pathetic… So let me at least use my life for something I could be proud of… I don't want to waste it!" Sayori shouted right back, sinking to her knees, shaking her head furiously. Everyone looked down at the girl, conflict arising in them as they fought against the idea of losing their friend.
"Are you sure?" Makoto said, her voice shaky and uneven as she tried not to start crying. "Sayori, I get where you're coming from… But… I still don't know." None of them wanted to let Sayori go. She had fought so hard, and fought alongside them, and had finally gotten to a happy and comfortable place in her life, before everything had been ruined. Still, Sayori had been determined to live, hadn't she? Why did she suddenly feel that sacrificing her life was okay?
"I'm sure…" Sayori looked up and smiled gently, before her eyes went wide and she glitched, coming back a second later with her smile still firmly in place, averting her eyes away from everyone. "Guys, I want to decide how to use my life... So you don't have to worry about me. When you make your choice about what we should do, don't consider me as part of it. What matters is bringing justice to Shido, and opening the publics' eyes."
Everyone continued to stare at the girl, sad as they tried to think like she wanted them to. It was horrible, and they felt selfish, because when they took her out of the equation… Stealing the Treasure in Mementos was really the only thing they could do. After a few minutes, everyone had made up their minds, hearts heavy as they trudged downstairs. Sayori went last, feeling terrible that she had forced them to decide this way… But she couldn't find it in herself to change her mind.
"Okay. We'll help you, Sae-san," Akira said, looking at the woman and nodding. "For our justice." He glanced back at Sayori sadly, finding it odd how she could smile so happily when she could die, while the people around her were so sad, unable to stop the clear sorrow in their hearts from showing on their faces.
"Yeah… We have to settle the score…" Ann said quietly, unenthusiastic as she agreed with the leader.
I wish they wouldn't be sad, even though I understand. Still, it's absolutely worth it… To find the truth no matter what, and bring justice to the man that's ruined all of our lives… Sayori frowned slightly. But… At the same time I know I'm doing this for my pride, too. I would rather die than be blamed for Goro's death. If that happened, Shido would go unpunished… I would rather die than break my promise to make sure justice is brought to Shido.
"It seems there are no objections," Morgana said, frowning sadly as he looked at Sayori once again, silently pleading with his eyes for her to stop this, but she only smiled gently in return. Everyone else looked at her, taken by her sweet smile, knowing that the girl was facing the reality of her own death and yet she was still so bright. As one, the group of thieves gave a curt nod.
"Did you come up with a plan?" Sae asked, her eyes wide in shock, not understanding any of what had just passed between the group.
"Whether it succeeds or not is another story though," Makoto said, looking uncertain as she looked back at her sister, unable to convey how wrong things were… But it really was the only right choice.
"Miss Prosecutor… looks like this is gonna be our last job," Ryuji stated, trying to bring some lightness to the conversation, but he felt no enthusiasm himself.
"Last job…?" Sae asked, looking around at everyone's sad expression and wondering what had passed between them.
"The rest is up to you," Akira stated, making eye contact with the woman and trying to sound confident.
"Oce we accomplish our duty, we entrust the world to respectful adults," Haru said, unable to meet anyone's eyes, staring at the floor with a sad look in her eyes, "That is our condition for accepting this job."
"And making sure that Shido pays!" Futaba shouted, angry as she looked at Sae with a stern, furious determination. "He keeps taking away people we care about… And even after this, he's not going to be finished…"
"Futaba…" Sayori put her hand on the girl's shoulder, and was surprised as the girl suddenly turned around and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"This is a 'deal' then… That's certainly a heavy condition," Sae gave a small smile, sensing that there was something morbid going on here. "But very well, I accept. I swear to make Masayoshi Shido stand and be tried in the court of law. Besides… my pride won't allow me to be continuously saved by you all without doing anything in return."
"We'll be counting on you," Makoto said, managing to smile upon seeing her older sister's set expression.
"Looks like it's decided then?" Sojiro asked, happy that they were able to do something, but keeping his expression calm as he could tell something was off, as well.
"You're the leader, Akira, and this is officially our last mission. C'mon, say something!" Ann urged, trying to smile and bring back some normalcy into the situation, knowing their sadness was only making Sayori and the adults feel uncomfortable.
"...I'm going to miss this," Akira said simply, looking back at Sayori, who gave him a reassuring smile.
"It'll be okay…It's time that we all start moving on after this…" the girl stated.
"We don't have much time, right? We should carry this out tomorrow," Morgana said, turning to everyone as he decided the only right thing to do would be to rip off the bandage as quickly as possible. "...I'm counting on you guys."
"I'm counting on you, too," Sayori said gently, smiling and making eye contact with every one of her teammates. "Don't let this be for nothing…"
"No matter what happens, you better see it through!" Morgana shouted sternly.
Everyone nodded, and Futaba took a deep breath and suddenly stood on top of her seat, holding her arms out. "Before we all leave for the night, there's something I need to show you guys… Especially Sayori. Teenagers… Please follow me."
As everyone did as they were told, Sayori felt her breath catch, realizing what she was about to see. It's finally time to see what's on the hard drive.
Futaba ran into her room with a dramatic flourish, her jacket billowing like a cape as she dove towards her swivelling chair. She spun around and pushed herself towards her desk, typing rapidly and making sure everything was exactly how she had left it. Satisfied that nothing had gone missing or had been tampered with, she turned around and sat up, leaning forward on the back of the chair and called everyone.
"Alright, guys! This is weird and makes no sense to me, but that's why Sayori is here! She's going to explain it to me… and I guess all of you, too…" Futaba looked down in consideration for a second. "Also… It's really, seriously creepy…"
"Like… how creepy?" Makoto asked nervously, looking around the bedroom that Futaba was insisting on keeping dark.
"Like… 'I don't know' creepy," Futaba answered honestly, plugging in the flashdrive and flexing her fingers, before typing furiously. "It's blocked by multiple levels of passwords and walls and ciphers and just, ugh! Anyway, I finally got the stuff on the flash drive unlocked!" The girl took a deep breath after going through her explanation, before sighing, allowing her unease to finally show as she slowly turned back towards her PC and opened up the drive in her file explorer.
"Wait, what's the name of the drive, Futaba?" Sayori asked nervously. Futaba looked down at the floor for a moment, before looking back up with a confused expression. "'dd_lit_club' was the drive's internal name. "Sayori, do you know if that means anything? I guess on its own it's not that creepy, but considering what I found inside the drive past that…"
Sayori felt herself tense up, terror running through her, knowing of only one literature club that could be related to her. It was true that on its own, those words weren't creepy… But it felt as though whoever had made this drive was trying to send a message to her. She took a deep breath and nodded, worried. She didn't want to tell the truth, but she knew she had to, because they all had to be truthful to each other now.
"Back at my old home, I was the vice president of a literature club… I don't know what the 'dd' part means, though."
Futaba nodded, contemplating that answer for a few seconds, before scooting over to the side so that everyone could see what she had found. Sayori rushed up to the front, with everyone else crowding around her. Sayori went white as her eyes wobbled over the first word she saw… The only word in the folders section that she could see.
"Characters"
When Futaba was sure everyone had seen it, she reached a hand over to her mouse and doubled-clicked on the folder, revealing an even more concerning revelation.
natsuki . chr
yuri . chr
Sayori nearly threw herself back when she saw those names, falling into her friends, who quickly caught and gently held her up. They looked in concern at the names, Akira, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, and Morgana all recognizing the names as cognitive beings in Sayori's Palace from so long ago. Why were their names here, in a folder labelled "character," of all things?
"This looks so shitty and creepy," Ryuji muttered. "What if these are like… I dunno… tapes of them?"
"Tapes?!" Ann shouted, angry at the thought. "What do you mean…? Like, do you think they were kidnapped… or even… murdered?"
"Let's not jump to conclusions…" Makoto cautioned, rubbing her arms as she felt a sudden chill, afraid of the thought that they were looking at some murderous calling card for Sayori's friends. "This came from Sayori's Palace, right? Maybe this is part of her Treasure… like, her greatest Treasure is the friends she had back then?"
"But then why did they make us take a duplicate Treasure back then, which definitely didn't have a flashdrive in it?" Yusuke asked, frustrated. "We already know that there are more people than us who can go into the Cognitive World. Who is to say that aside from Akechi, there wasn't another person alongside us, who has it out for Sayori…? We never did find out who submitted the request to look into her on the Phantom Aficionado website…"
Everyone began to discuss among themselves what they thought this all meant, except for two of the teens. Futaba remembered seeing Sayori's name displayed in a very similar way, in the Metaverse, and her gut was telling her it was all connected… She just didn't know how.
Sayori, on the other hand, was worried for a very different reason, because seeing the names of two of her friends answered a big question for her, but also only began to raise more questions. The answer she got was that she knew exactly where Natsuki and Yuri were. Their files had been stored in this flashdrive… probably ever since her Palace, and maybe even before that. This meant that for the past year, she could count on two of her friends being perfectly safe, stored in Goro Akechi's room, unable to be unlocked or viewed by anyone.
But only two of her friends were accounted for, and a terrified question entered her mind, rising above all else that asked how exactly this had happened, and what this meant for her and everyone else. Sayori walked out into the hallway, leaving her friends in Futaba's room to talk as long as they needed. Out in the hallway, she slumped against the wall and hugged her knees, several worries and fears taking form as this single question now paralyzed her...
Where is Monika?
I trust you guys to know this but mentioning "Akechi's fanbase" isn't meta satire on any Goro fan in real life. I was aiming for more of how idol fans are portrayed in media. Also, I hope you guys like how I have explained things so far, as this has been the planned direction for how the story would go for a long time. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and please let me know what you thought! I'll see you all next time!
