Persona 5: Crusade – Chapter 1: The Fool

Disclaimer: This is a non-profit, fan-made story. Persona 5 belongs to Atlus, SEGA, Cloverworks, Madman Entertainment, Aniplex USA, Katsura Hashino, and Hisato Murasaki. Support the official release by buying the game, buying the manga adaptation, or watching the anime on Crunchyroll.

A/N: For anyone confused by the pairing I put in, given the character limit in the description, there is some love triangle (think a recycling symbol) between my OC, Shiho, and Ann(e).

This story is a work of fiction.

Similarities between characters or events to persons living or dead in your world are purely coincidental.

Only those who have agreed to the above have the privilege of partaking in this altered story.

Do you accept?

I accept.

The contract has been sealed.

The world is not as it should be. It's filled with distortion, and "ruin" can no longer be avoided.

Those who oppose fate and desire change… From time to time, they were referred to as 'Tricksters'.

You are the Trickster.

Now is the time to rise against the abyss of distortion.

Saturday, April 9th, 2016

Afternoon

At Shibuya Station in Tokyo, Japan, a young second-year high school student had just stepped off of the train. He was of average height, with frizzy black hair, large round glasses, and smoky grey eyes. He wore a black blazer, a white shirt, jeans, and brown sneakers. The boy's name was Akira Kurusu.

Akira broke from the crowd, looking for his transfer station. From Shibuya, he was to take a train on the Den-Entoshi line, which would take him to the home of Sojiro Sakura, his caretaker while he attended school.

While he was crossing the plaza to get to the next station, Akira heard his smartphone chime. He pulled it out and saw that some strange app had shown up on the screen. It had the icon of a demonic eye, and it flashed red.

"Huh? Where'd this app come from? What is it?" Akira scrutinized the screen while the crowds went along their merry ways. "Did I butt-dial-download something weird? I thought I set it so that it'd need my password." He hesitantly tapped the app's icon.

Almost immediately, the world around him froze. Everyone in the plaza stopped moving. Even a falling water bottle froze in midair. In addition, there was this strange red tinge to everything. Akira looked around, confused, until he caught sight of a strange blue flame.

It didn't seem like it was hurting anyone, or spreading to the nearby trees, so he was almost certain that it wasn't real. As he watched, however, it expanded. From the massive pillar of fire, a winged figure emerged. A demonic face, consisting of orange flames that were probably meant to evoke eyes and a grinning mouth, appeared.

Just then, the world returned to normal, the fiery figure was gone, and people were moving.

"…Strange." Akira muttered to himself, then deleted the app.

After taking the next train, Akira arrived in Yongen-Jaya, where Sojiro lived. It looked like a lively neighborhood, though not as crowded as Shibuya. There were some really nice-looking amenities, such as a grocery store, a movie theater, a batting cage, a tobacco stand, a bathhouse, and a laundromat.

Akira checked his phone often, being unfamiliar with the neighborhood, as he searched the backstreets of the residential area. He found the man's house, a rather large one, which had the name "Sakura" next to an intercom. A delivery man was there, probably dropping off a package. Akira pressed the doorbell, then waited to see if the homeowner would respond. A minute later, he rang the doorbell again,
wondering if Sakura wasn't home.

"Sakura-san's usually at his café around this time." The delivery man said, approaching thehouse with a package in hand. "If you're looking for him, Leblanc's in the alley near the tobacco stand."

"Thank you, sir." Akira said, backtracking to the tobacco stand he'd passed on his search.

Akira found the café in question, 'Café Leblanc', almost immediately. When he entered, he saw a man behind the counter, trying to solve a crossword puzzle in the newspaper. The man had slicked-back black hair, which was receding somewhat, grey eyes behind half-oval shaped glasses, and a chinstrip that connected to his sideburns. The man was too engrossed in the crossword puzzle to immediately notice Akira.

The transfer student also noticed an elderly couple at a nearby booth, watching the news on a TV in the corner of the room while drinking coffee.

"While the passengers were still inside," Akira heard a tabloid show host say, "the public transit bus drove on the wrong side of the road. The citizens can't live in peace if this keeps up."

"How frightening," the elderly man said.

"Didn't something like this happen just the other day?" his wife asked.

"What's the world coming to these days?" he asked, sighing.

Akira had heard of the mysterious mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns that had been popping up all over Japan for the last two years. People would mysteriously shut down, or randomly go crazy and attack other people. For the most part, it's been limited to Tokyo, which resulted in a lot of transit accidents in recent months.

The man behind the counter, whom Akira suspected to be Sojiro Sakura, scrutinized his newspaper. "Hmm. Vertical… the name of a shellfish used for farming pearls?"

"Oyster." Akira said.

The man wrote down the answer, saw that it fit, then analyzed the boy who'd just walked in; he briefly looked at the newspaper to check the date before putting it down and standing up. "Oh, right. They said you'd be here today."

"We'll be going now." The elderly man said as he and his wife stood to leave. "The payment is on the table."

"Thank you for coming by." The man behind the counter said, smiling for customer service.

"This café's in a back alley, so a car's not likely to crash into us."

"Crash?"

"There's been a string of horrific accidents, you know. I just hope that none will happen here."

"It's none of my concern."

"Well, see you next time." The elderly man said as he and his wife walked towards the exit, passing by Akira.

"Have a nice day." She said.

Once the elderly couple was gone, the man behind the counter dropped his smile and walked over to the booth to collect the payment. "Four hours for a cup of coffee. Ugh,"

Akira deduced that he didn't get much business.

"So," the man said, turning to Akira, "you're the kid?"

"Yeah," Akira said. "Are you Sakura-san?"

"Yes. You'll be in my custody for the next year." The man, Sakura, said. "I was wondering what kind of unruly would show up, but it's you, huh?"

"Uh, how–"

"You don't know? A customer of mine knows your parents and—" Sakura stopped, realizing how irrelevant that conversation would be. "Well, that doesn't matter. Follow me."

Sakura led Akira upstairs to a rather dusty and cluttered attic. It had cardboard boxes, a dusty sofa, various household items, garbage bags (which were being used for something other than trash), and a small bed in the far corner. A box containing Akira's belongings and spare clothes stood in the center.

"This is your room." Sakura said to his ward. "I'll give you some bedsheets, at least. Though, it's on you to clean up everything else."

"Thank you," Akira said, starting to see the open space he'd have after cleaning up a bit.

"Anyway, just so you know, I'll be leaving after I lock up each day. You'll be alone at night, so do me a favor and don't do anything stupid." Sakura warned Akira. "If you cause any trouble or damage anything in my shop, I'll throw you out."

"I understand, sir."

"Good," Sakura said. "Now then, I got the gist of your situation. Let me see if I've got it right. You went to protect a woman from being assaulted by her partner, he got injured, and then he sued you. That right?"

Akira nodded, not wanting to hear about this anymore. Though, he thought, it was probably unavoidable. At least, Sakura-san understood what really happened.

"Once you had a criminal record," Sakura continued, fishing out a pack of cigarettes from his pockets, "you were expelled, and the courts ordered you to transfer to another school, which your parents approved of. I guess that's what happens when you try to play hero." He paused, not wanting to lecture the boy too long, and fished out a cigarette. "As long as you keep your head down, you'll get off probation; if you cause any problems, you'll be sent straight to juvie. We'll go by Shujin tomorrow, introduce you properly to the staff."

"That's the school I'm attending, right?" Akira asked.

"Yeah," Sakura said. "There's rarely a place that'll accept someone like you, you know. Ugh, what a waste of my Sunday."

Akira was a little miffed, but he understood where the café owner was coming from: Sakura was now saddled with taking care of him on top of running Leblanc.

"Your luggage arrived earlier." Sakura said, then walked over to the stairs. "I've gotta get back to work."

Once the café owner was gone, Akira set out to clean the room. He knew he couldn't get everything done today, but he could at least make the room less cluttered. By evening, he'd finished dusting and his luggage was stowed neatly by the stairs.

"What the heck?" Sakura walked in, just as Akira stood in the center of the room to admire his work. "I heard you making noise up here, but I didn't think you were cleaning." He looked around, impressed. "Actually, the place doesn't look too bad."

"Thank you, Sakura-san." Akira said.

"Though, it's only natural you'd want to keep your room clean." Sakura continued. "Why don't you go to bed for tonight? You don't have anything better to do, right?"

"No,"

"I'm going to close up shop and go home. I won't be the one looking after you if you get sick from staying up too late, got it?"

"Yes," Akira said. "Good night, Sakura-san."

"Good night, kid." Sakura said, then left.

Afterwards, Akira was laying in his bed, thinking over the events which led to him transferring schools and moving to Tokyo. "A criminal record, huh? Even so, I couldn't just… walk away."

He'd been on his way home from studying when he overheard a woman crying out for help. When he followed the sound to its source, he saw a bald man struggling to restrain a woman. Akira got close enough to identify that the man was intoxicated, and he decided to intervene. There was a faint sound of sirens moving towards them, and the woman caught sight of Akira. The man attacked Akira, who dodged out of the way, and ended up injuring himself out of drunkenness.

Akira was shaken from reminiscing when his phone vibrated. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.

It was the weird app again.

Akira deleted the app again, hoping that it wouldn't pop up later.

His eyelids began getting heavy, and, before he knew it, sleep overcame him.

After a few hours of sleep, Akira opened his eyes, realized that something was amiss, and bolted upright.

Instead of the attic at Leblanc, he was in a prison cell. He was wearing a striped prisoner's outfit, he had iron manacles on his wrists, and a ball and chain were attached to his ankle. As he looked around, taking in the bare cot and aluminum toilet, he realized that he wasn't alone. He got up, walked over to the cell door, and looked past the bars.

A mysterious man was sitting at a wooden desk. He was balding, with a curtain of white hair, a maniacal look in his eyes, and an abnormally long nose. Flanking the table were a pair of identical girls. The diminutive girls were dressed in blue military uniforms, with black trousers and blue shako caps. They both had white hair and glowing yellow eyes. One of them wore an eyepatch on her left eye and braided her hair, while the other had an eyepatch on her right eye and buns on either side of her head.

"Good. You're awake." The strange man said, in a gravelly voice. "Welcome to my Velvet Room, Inmate."

Akira was nervous, as well as curious. "Velvet room? Inmate? What's going on?"

The girl with buns pulled out a police baton and whacked the bars. "Silence, inmate! Show some respect before our master!"

The strange man continued. "It's a pleasure to meet you. This place exists in a realm between dreams and reality, mind and matter. Only those who have, in some way or another, signed the contract may visit this room."

"A… a 'contract'?"

The man didn't answer Akira's question. "I am Igor, the master of this place. I have called you here to speak of important matters, all of which concern your life."

"My life…?" Akira was readying himself to demand answers from Igor if none were provided.

"Still… I find it surprising that this room took the form of a prison. The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart." Igor ignored the question again. "It appears that you are a 'prisoner' of fate. There is no mistake: ruin awaits you in the near future."

"Are you kidding me, dude?!" Akira didn't mean to shout, but he was beginning to panic. "What ruin?"

"I speak of the end to everything. There is a way to avoid such a fate, however. You must be 'rehabilitated' toward freedom. That is your only means to avoid ruin. Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of your world?"

Akira thought of a suitable reply, but he came up short. "…Wait, what 'distortion?'"

"You didn't decline, though. That is enough." Igor said, more to himself than to the boy. "Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation." He gestured to the girls. "Pardon me for late introductions. To your right is Caroline, and to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here."

"Hmph," the girl with a patch over her right eye, Caroline, said. "Try and struggle as hard as you like, inmate."

"The duty of wardens is to protect inmates." The girl with a patch over her left eye, Justine, explained. "We are also your collaborators. That is, if you remain obedient."

"I Shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion." Igor said, causing the twins to turn away from Akira and towards the desk. "Now then, it seems the night is waning. It is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually…"

Once he finished, an alarm started ringing.

"Time's up." Caroline said, turning sharply to face Akira. "Now hurry up and go back to sleep."

Before Akira could say a word in protest, repeat the questions that had been ignored, darkness consumed his vision.

Sunday, April 10th, 2016

Morning

The sudden ringing and vibration of his cell phone woke Akira up. He sat up, found that he'd returned to Leblanc's attic, and checked the time on his phone. His mind was still on the prison, the 'Velvet Room'.

"What a strange dream," Akira thought, puzzled by Igor's words. "…Ruin? Rehabilitation? What does it all mean?"

Akira decided to set that aside for the moment. He was going by Shujin with Sakura-san today, so he got up and put on the uniform that he'd received. It was a black blazer with the school's crest, a beige sweater, and plaid trousers.

"Looks like you're up." Sakura walked in just as Akira finished dressing. He wore a white blazer, a salmon collared shirt, khaki trousers, and a white trilby.

"Good morning, Sakura-san." Akira said.

"Morning," Sakura said. "Well then, let's go introduce ourselves properly to the staff about your transfer. Shujin Academy is in the Aoyama district. It'll cost you a bit to ride the train there, and the route transfers are a pain. I'll drive you there, but just for today. Let's go."

"Okay," Akira said, then went downstairs with his caretaker. "Thank you,"

Sakura muttered to himself. "Sheesh… I don't usually allow guys to sit in the passenger seat."

"This guy," Akira thought, rolling his eyes.

Traffic wasn't the best, even though it was early in the morning. As soon as they arrived, Akira got a look at the school. Shujin Academy was, supposedly, one of the best prep schools in Tokyo. It was also the only school that would accept him, given his criminal record.

Before they entered the school proper, Sakura pulled Akira aside for a brief talk. "Do me a favor and behave yourself, all right? Don't get me wrong – I don't care what happens to you. Just don't cause me any trouble."

"I understand." Akira said.

With that, they entered the school and made their way to the principal's office, where Sakura was given papers to sign by the principal.

The principal, a heavily overweight man named Kobayakawa, sat behind his desk while a teacher stood to his left. She had unkempt brown hair, dark brown eyes, and the general air of someone who was stressed and tired from work. She wore a yellow long-sleeve shirt with red and white stripes, a denim skirt, and white indoor-slippers.

"Just so we're clear, young man," Principal Kobayakawa said, "you will be expelled immediately if you cause any problems. Honestly, I hesitated on accepting someone like you, but there were some circumstances on our side… You may have been a delinquent in your hometown, but you will behave yourself here. If you're thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind."

"Yes, sir," Akira said.

Principal Kobayakawa turned to the teacher next to him. "This is your homeroom teacher."

"I'm Kawakami Sadayo," the teacher introduced herself, then placed an ID card on the desk in front of Akira, "here's your student ID. Be sure to read the school rules. Any violations will send you straight to the guidance office. And, if by chance you cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all. That is your promise, yes, Principal Kobayakawa?"

"Yes," the principal replied, while Akira put the student ID into his wallet. "He is responsible for all his actions."

"But really though," Kawakami crossed her arms, "why me? There should've been better candidates."

"It was a sudden transfer, and your class was the only one that had an opening." Principal Kobayakawa replied.

"Also," Akira thought to himself, "none of the other teachers would've taken me."

"If you're done explaining things, do you mind if we get going?" Sakura asked. "I got a store to get back to."

"Not at all," the principal replied. "Sakura-san, please keep a close eye on him. Don't let him cause any trouble outside of school."

"Well," Sakura said, "I'll be sure to have a serious talk about the situation he's in."

Kawakami sighed. "Anyway, come to the faculty office when you arrive at school tomorrow. I'll show you to your classroom."

"Will do, Kawakami-sensei." Akira said.

With that, Sakura and Akira left the office.

"Already, they're treating you like some kind of nuisance." Sakura sighed. "I guess it can't be helped when you have a criminal record. Your past will follow you wherever you go."

"It can't be helped." Akira said, shrugging his shoulders.

"By the way," Sakura continued, "if you get expelled now, I won't hesitate to kick you out. Got it?"

"I'll do my best, Sakura-san." Akira said as they left the school.

When Sakura and Akira tried to head back to Leblanc, they ended up caught in traffic. "Traffic's not moving at all! Starting tomorrow, you're taking the train."

"Yes, sir," Akira said.

Sakura decided to change the subject, try and keep his mind off of the traffic jam in front of them. "So, how was it? The school, I mean. Think you can manage?"

"It seems like fun." Akira replied, trying to inject levity through 'clever' witticism.

Sakura sighed. "Do you even understand your situation? Still, you were expelled once already. To think you'd re-enroll at a different one. It's not like anyone will be sympathetic with you." Sakura thought to himself for a second. "If that's what it was like at school, people might say stuff about me in the future too. What a troublesome kid I've taken in."

Akira found his curiosity piqued. "Sakura-san, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Why did you take me in?"

"Well," Sakura said, "I was asked to do it, and I just… happened to agree to it. I was paid for it too."

The radio squawked out the news. "Again, a subway has derailed at Shibuya Station, greatly affecting the timetable across the…"

"Another accident?" Sakura said. "So that's why there's so much traffic. There's been a lot of those lately."

It was already evening by the time they made it to Leblanc.

"Damn, to think there'd be that much traffic." Sakura had spent a whole day without working at Leblanc. "What a waste of time."

"Sorry," Akira said.

"Whatever," Sakura said. "Just head upstairs. There's something I need to give you."

The two walked upstairs, with Sakura reading the news on his phone.

"Talk about a gruesome accident… at least eighty people were injured." Sakura read out news on the subway accident, then pulled out a journal and placed it on the table near the stairs. "Here. It's a diary. Make sure you write in it. You may be under probation, but there's no special limitations on what you do in particular."

"Besides following the law?" Akira asked.

"Exactly," Sakura said. "However, I'm obligated to report on you, which is why I'm having you record your daily activities." Just as Sakura finished, his cell phone rang. He pulled it out and answered it. "Hey, what's up? I'm about to leave right now. Don't worry. I'll be there in no time. Uh-huh. I'll see you soon." He hung up and turned back to his ward. "Well, I'm off. I'll lock the place up, so do whatever you want for the rest of the night. Oh, but don't mess up my store. If something goes missing, I'll hand you right over to the cops."

"Yes, sir." Akira replied.

"You got school tomorrow." Sakura said. "You better head off to bed, all right?"

After Sakura was gone, Akira got dressed for bed then wrote down the past two days' events in his new journal. He was about to go to bed when he heard ringing coming from downstairs.

Akira went to check it out, he saw that the yellow payphone on the counter was ringing. He walked over, curious. Who would be calling Leblanc at this hour? Through the payphone, no less. He gingerly picked up the receiver and held it up to his ear.

"Hello? It's me." Came a voice on the phone.

"Who's this?" Akira replied.

"It's Sakura." The owner of the café had called his shop's payphone. "What, did you forget my voice already?"

"Do you need anything, Sakura-san?"

"Well, I closed up the shop, but I forgot to flip the sign to 'CLOSED'. It's too much of a hassle for me to go back, so you flip the sign for me."

"Okay, got it."

"Well, I'm sure no one's gonna come, even if it says 'OPEN'. Thank goodness, I was able to reach you. Sorry, but I make it a habit not to save guys' numbers on my cell phone. I'm glad you answered the phone. Good night."

Sakura hung up. Akira flipped the door sign, went back upstairs, and went to bed. He went over the station transfers he'd have to make tomorrow. With the accident in Shibuya, the timetables would be severely impacted.

Once again, that weird app showed up.

Akira deleted it again, wondering if he had to get his phone checked out, then went into a dreamless slumber.

Monday, April 11th, 2016

Morning

Akira walked downstairs and saw Sakura standing behind the counter. In front of him was a plate of curry, which gave off a lovely aroma. Akira wondered if the café owner made it for him.

"Good morning, Sakura-san." Akira greeted his guardian. "I'm heading out."

"Oh, so you actually are going to school?" Sakura replied, then looked to the curry. "Here, I made you some breakfast. Just make sure to finish before the customers start coming in."

"Oh, thank you, Sakura-san." Akira sat down at the counter and ate his breakfast. He could taste complex flavors within the bold spiciness.

After Akira finished, Sakura handed him a commuter pass. "Now, hurry on to school. You'll end up late if you get lost on the way." Akira got up and walked towards the front door. "Oh, flip the sign outside to 'OPEN' for me."

"Sure thing,"

While transferring between stations wasn't too bad, Akira ended up caught in an unexpected rainstorm. He stopped under an awning to get out of the rain, while Shujin students walked past him with their umbrellas. Barely a second passed before someone joined him. He was another student, wearing the Shujin uniform, though he was significantly taller and thinner than Akira. He had blonde hair, amber-colored eyes, rectangular-framed glasses, and a black-and-white scarf. He looked at Akira, realized that they were sharing an awning, and awkwardly extended a hand in greeting.

"Hello," he said. "Yamamoto Furitsu."

Akira shook hands with the blonde student. "Kurusu Akira. You go to Shujin?"

Yamamoto nodded. "Are you a new student?"

"Just transferred over."

"Im Ernst? (Really?)"

Akira was about to reply, when his phone chimed. He pulled out his phone. Once again, the weird-looking eye app was on the screen. Before he could delete it again, another Shujin student joined them.

It was a girl, wearing the standard female winter uniform with the addition of a white varsity hoodie and red tights. She threw back the hood, revealing blonde hair tied into twin ponytails, deep blue eyes, and earrings. She turned to Yamamoto.

"How're you doing this morning, Fritz?" she asked.

"Eh, not perfect, but I could be worse off, Anne." Yamamoto said. "And that basically sums up our experience at Shujin Academy." (*BEEP*)

The girl, Anne, nodded grimly, then took notice of Akira. "Who's that?"

"Transfer student," he said, then looked to his right. "Bandit, two o' clock."

"Huh?" Akira thought, looking in the direction Yamamoto was. A rather nice car pulled up to them, the passenger side window rolled down to reveal a man in a tracksuit with a squared jaw and a mop of black hair on his head.

"Morning~!" the man said. "Want me to give you a ride to school?"

Anne took up the offer, getting into the passenger's seat. She didn't seem to be doing it because she wanted to.

Yamamoto swore under his breath, then gave the man a polite grin. "No. Thank you, though, Kamoshida-sensei." (*BEEP*)

The man shrugged. "Alright. Just don't blame me if you're late." He then drove off, leaving Akira and his new 'friend' in the dust.

Akira turned to Yamamoto, while the rain trickled to a stop. "Who's 'Fritz'?"

"Me. My mother is from Germany, and she named me Fritz and taught me German. 'Furitsu' is what you get by putting Fritz through katakana. If you find it easier, you may refer to me as Fritz." Fritz Yamamoto replied. "By the way, that teacher's an absolute Arschloch (asshole). You just need to tolerate him until graduation."

"Does it work?" Akira asked.

"Eh," Fritz took out his phone and checked the time. "It's a work in progress."

"Dammit! Screw that pervy teacher!"

The two students' attention was diverted when they were joined by another boy from Shujin. He had spiked blonde hair, an orange t-shirt with "ZOMG!" written on it under his blazer, and the straps of his suspenders weren't on his shoulders.

Akira, having just transferred to Shujin, was confused. "'Pervy teacher'?"

The spiky-haired student suddenly took notice of Akira, becoming defensive. "And what're you lookin' at, huh? Gonna rat me out to Kamoshida or something?!"

"Was that guy in the car Kamoshida?" Akira asked.

"Huh? Yeah, that was the jackass in the car." The vulgar student replied before glaring in the direction that the car drove off. "The skeevy jerk is way too into high school girls. Gives 'em rides in his car, calls 'em in for private 'counselling'. It's like, dude, do you think you're the king of some castle or some-?!" (*BEEP*)

"The kid's a transfer student, Sakamato." Fritz interrupted, walking in the direction of the school with the expectation that Akira and the spiky-haired student, Sakamato, follow him. "Now, let's get a move on! I have a reputation that cannot be upheld if I'm late!"

Akira started walking with him, ignoring the chimes coming from his phone. Sakamato grumbled to himself, but followed them, nonetheless.

Suddenly, the three boys were hit with migraines. As he closed his eyes briefly, Akira saw the world around him distort for a split second. He felt light-headed.

"Ugh, my head hurts" Sakamato said, getting ahead of Fritz in spite of the pain. "Dammit… I wanna go home."

"No way in hell, Sakamato." Fritz said. "You're going to school, and you can see the nurse if it still hurts."

Sakamato grumbled to himself. "Hardass," he turned to Akira. "Come on, I know a shortcut."

Akira followed this vulgar student, with Fritz following behind. "Wait up, you two."

"Wha…?!"

Akira and Fritz picked up the pace and caught up with Sakamato. He stood there, stunned by the sight before them. Akira gasped, and Fritz rubbed his eyes under his glasses to make sure he wasn't just seeing things.

It was a towering castle, with a red-brick wall in front, and a medieval Europe aesthetic. It wouldn't look out of place in Continental Europe, or the West Bank in the 11th and 12th centuries.

In modern-day Tokyo, however…

"Did we make a wrong turn?" Akira asked.

Omake

The three students looked up at the castle, confused as to what it was doing there.

Fritz, however, scrutinized the castle, scoffed, and turned to the delinquent and transfer student next to him. "It's only a model."

Akira shushed him.

A/N: Some of Akira's dialogue will be based off of CohhCarnage's let's play on Youtube, at least until I can get my own PS4 and copy of the game. I will be using 'Akira Kurusu', and you should be glad I'm not using 'Biggus Dickus' (my older sister used Akira Kurusu for P5, and berated me for using Biggus Dickus in P3). The next chapter will be the same timeframe from the point of view of my OC.