Persona 5 Royal-Our Light Chapter 6: The Fireworks Festival, a persona series fanfic

Persona 5 Royal-Our Light

Wednesday, July 13th, 2016

The classroom filled with groans and moans everyone tries to quickly finish. Well almost everyone. Ren stayed calmed as he filled in the blanks.

"Agghh!" Ren heard Ann groan ahead of him. "Poor Lady Ann, if I could I would show that test who's boss." Morgana said which lead to Ren signaling him to shush.

To everyone else, they suffering as much as Ann and not just from the exams but also from the last few days of cramming due to Ms. Kawakami's part. Oddly enough she was way more alert and proactive than she usually was and she made sure to let her students know that. Ren smiled that Sadayo returned to her old, competent and professional self now being free of the Tasakes' tyranny much to everyone's dismay now.

Ren then Ann groan about a grammar question not making sense. Ren thought, "And it's just the first day too."

Saturday, July 16th, 2016

After three days of exams Ren walks out of the classroom until Dr. Maruki stops him for a favor. Suffice to say, this would turn out to be an odd counseling session.

"As I mention before, there's something I like your opinion on." Maruki said. "Financial woes doctor?" Ren joked, having Maruki chuckle as well. "Well there's a subject where I could definitely use some input." Maruki added.

"I had something on my mind and I like your input." Maruki said.

"Okay."

"Oh-this is all purely hypothetical by the way, but imagine there's somebody for whom you have high expectations and they're trying their absolute hardest to meet those expectations. Now this person receives an awful lot of special treatment so that they can perform to the best of their abilities." Maruki said. While he conversate, Ren couldn't help but wonder if Maruki was talking with Kasumi in mind given all the gossip around school about her.

"So, what do you think those people will do if the expectations leveled on this person aren't met?" Maruki asked. "That's...well, I don't want to think about it." Ren said. "I agree, no matter what happens, it won't be a pretty sight." Maruki said.

"As a counselor I always think I have to help this person so that their heart doesn't break, but I'm afraid that's easier said than done. This world can be pretty callous place, no matter how much positivity or dedication a person has." Maruki said.

"No argues here, things don't always go the way we plan, but all that matters is trying right?" Ren said. "Yes, and don't worry I won't stop trying either." Maruki said.

"What I meant was that if we want to truly help people stuck in a predicament like that, we need a fundamental solution." Maruki said.

"Really, like what?" Ren asked.

"Well...nothing really comes to mind. This is just a thought, but what if we got the Phantom Thieves to change our hearts?" Maruki said. "I don't think of you as a person of malice doctor." Ren said.

"I was thinking more of the lines of changing our feelings to help face this unfair reality. It would ultimately be for the positive." Maruki said. "Would that really be a change of heart or just newfound vigor and lady luck?" Ren joked as Maruki laughed.

"You make a good point." Maruki said.

Thieves Den

"Ughhh, exams are finally over." Ann laid her head on the table. "I can get back to actually sleepin' in peace." Ryuji said. "Esshhh you guys sound a lot like my friends." Minato said.

"What about you Ren? How you think you did?" Ann asked. "My pen just seems to move on its own." Ren smirked. "Seriously? You could've told me some of the answers." Ann said. "Or from our study session a few days back." Ryuji added.

"Well at least one of you is taking your studies very seriously." Makoto said. "Enough of exams already, let's talk about something really important. The Phantom Thieves' popularity has really gone up." Ryuji said.

"There's been speculation about who our next target would be. We'll have to choose carefully." Yusuke said. "There's no rush over it. We'll have plenty of time to think it over." Makoto said.

"Hold up, the most important thing now is our celebration party. I hope you guys didn't forget. It's the fireworks festival on the 18th." Ryuji said. "That'll be perfect, we'll get to watch fireworks, wear yukatas and eating quality street food. It's a perfect way to celebrate our victory and our two new members." Ann said.

"I'll have to take a rain check, I got plans with my friends to celebrate the festival." Minato said. "Aww come on dude, we can be cool or...mature if you want." Ryuji said. "I appreciate it but I think it would be weird for someone my age to hang around a bunch of teenagers. Plus I'm still reconnecting with my friends." Minato said.

"You don't sugarcoat things do you." Ryuji said. "It's okay senpai, we'll celebrate with you in spirit." Ren said.

After their usual meeting in the Thieves' Den, Ren invited Minato over to Leblanc for coffee after Sojiro had left home. "Mhhmm, You're getting better that this." Minato tried Ren's newest batch of coffee.

"Thanks, at least someone appreciates my coffee." Ren said. "Don't look at me, I don't think cats can drink coffee." Morgana said.

"So other than the fireworks festival, Ryuji was telling me about a summer festival where they serve kebabs and he wants me and Yusuke to come with him." Ren said. "Sounds like fun." Minato said.

"I'm not too sure about that. So far Ryuji has gonna me involved into some unnecessary drama." Ren said. "I wouldn't say unnecessary, if it weren't for Operation Maidwatch, you wouldn't have save Kawakami from the Tasakes." Morgana said.

"I agree with Morgana. Sometimes we have stomach things make bridges among confidants. Also, Operation Maidwatch?" Minato said. "I'm not talking about that." Ren slumps on his head. Minato laughed thinking about how this Operation Maidwatch involved a woman. It reminded him of Operation Hook-up.

"So how you connecting with your peeps?" Ren asked. "We're doing well, my senpai invited me over lunch tomorrow while you, Yusuke, and Ryuji are eating kebabs. Pretty surprisingly my senpai also has a love of beef." Minato said.

"So he's kinda like Ryuji." Ren said. "Kinda. But then again who doesn't love beef, guy's a real protein junkie." Minato joked. "On a different note, how do you feel about the things we're doing? As Phantom Thieves?" Ren asked. "A necessity really, even if it is just temporarily." Minato said.

"Temporarily you say?" Ren asked. "Yea, you think this is something you can do forever? Make a career out of? The road ends once the Shadow's Nest has been destroyed, They're too dangerous to be kept around. Once that's done, you find a way to move on." Minato said. "Is that what you did?" Ren asked.

"...In a way. My teammates had better luck than I did." Minato said. "But what about now? The requests we do to help people. Are we right to interfere?" Ren asked. "I think right now the world needs a hero. Not the kind that fights in the open wearing capes. No, no, no, for people like us our battles have always been fought in the dark. When shadows try to plague our minds, we force them back into their corner." Minato explains.

"Minato's right, the world needs the Phantom Thieves right now. We discover the secrets of Mementos, save some people in the process and maybe become a household name as well." Morgana said.

"You sound like Ryuji, I'm not in this for the fame." Ren said. "Neither am I." Minato added. "Hmm...your loss." Morgana clicks his tongue and heads upstairs.

"He can be a bit condescending." Ren said. "I imagine so. He would still be even if he was a normal house cat." Minato said.

"So what brought this question along? Girl troubles?" Minato asked. "You read my mind, but kinda." Ren said. "Okay but I expected nothing less from a completely normal person who has no knowledge of the Metaverse. I got lucky because my girlfriend is also one of my teammates." Minato said.

"So you're saying she'll be more understanding if she just knew about the Metaverse?" Ren asked. "Yes, but for the love of god, don't go roping her into this because you don't know how she's gonna react. Not to mention that since she's not a fan of the Phantom Thieves welll...you know?" Minato said.

"So I should keep her out of it." Ren sighed. "You could still make it work. How much anime is out there about a superhero who has a normal life with a normal spouse? You can do it, just don't talk about Phantom Thief stuff." Minato said.

"I see your point."

Sunday, July 17th, 2016

"Come on, this is the place." Akihiko showed a surprised Minato as they stopped in front of Leblanc. "But I was just here." Minato whines in his head. "Curry for lunch?" Minato asked.

"Fuuka said this place has the best curry in town. Plus Mitsuru makes me cut extreme portions of beef out of my palette since we got married. Says I should eat different things." Akihiko said. "I can see her saying that." Minato smiled.

The two walked into the café. "Ahh you're back." Sojiro said upon seeing Minato. "Hey Boss, just here for lunch." Minato said. "Two orders of curry, and two normal coffees." Akihiko ordered. "Coming right up."

Aside from them, there's was only one other customer, a woman with silver long hair wearing a black business suit drinking an iced coffee.

"Here you go boys." Sojiro served them their meals as they took a bite. "Mhmm, Fuuka wasn't kidding." Akihiko said. "I take she's well connected to the food scene here." Minato asked. "Oh yea, she's never stop that passion of cooking for her." Akihiko said.

"She's improved right?" Minato asked upon memories of tasting Fuuka's horrid cooking. "She has actually, she really took more of an interest aside from her computers. She even had me and Ken taste her dishes...and once ask me if this is how Shinji would prepare it." Akihiko said.

"I'm sure she wasn't trying to be insensitive." Minato said. "I know, she apologize right away. She really took Shinji's lessons to heart." Akihiko said as both men took an awkward moment.

"Plus being here helps us keep track of old assets." Akihiko said. "Old assets?" Minato asked. "Yea on Mitsuru's request. You see the owner over there had ties to the cognitive scientist under the Kirijo Group's employment." Akihiko whisper.

"You mean the one who jumped in front of a car two years ago?" Minato asked. "Yea and keep your voice low, the owner previously worked as communications liaison between Isshiki, the scientist, and the Kirijo Group." Akihiko said. "I recall when she was murdered the research she was working on disappeared. You suspected the owner?" Minato asked.

"We had Kurosawa get a statement under the guise of a police investigation at the time but not even he knows where the research went so we ruled him out, but we continue to keep tabs in case someone else comes asking questions about the research." Akihiko said.

"You think whoever behind this might come to him in case he has more to offer regarding the research." Minato asked. "That, or they'll make an attempt to silence him. They're already killed the researcher, who knows who else they'll target." Akihiko said.

"All this sounds very...shady, even more than the things we used to do. Now we're in the business of spying on people?" Minato said. "We're a shadow group man, trying to fight another. This isn't the same world as it was when you left." Akihiko said as Minato could only plunder into deep thought. His friends were walking on a tight rope over lions and they have to tread carefully.

"I'm was wondering when you were gonna ask." The two heard Boss talking to the lady. "Just tell me what happen. What do you know?" The lady said.

"I keep telling you, I know nothing!" Sojiro said. "I've connected the dots about this case. This theory of cognition is key and you were part of the team that handle information regarding the research and research team." The lady said. The words cognition and research caught the duos' attention.

"As I've said, it's a good idea to keep tabs." Akihiko said as he stood up.

"And I keep telling you that there's that I have to offer." Sojiro said. "Hmm, we'll see about that soon enough." The lady said.

"Is there problem here?" Akihiko asked. "It's none of your concern." The lady said. "On the contrary Ma'am as an officer of the law, I'm happy to settle any disputes." Akihiko smile as he flashed his badge."

"You didn't tell me your friend was a cop." Sojiro told Minato who merely shrugged his shoulders. "So care to try again?" Akihiko asked.

The lady just sighed. It seems she wasn't gonna get her answers today without attracting attention. "No, I was just leaving. Thanks for the coffee." The lady said as she paid for her coffee.

"Might I ask Ma'am, why the shakedown?" Akihiko asked. "It's none of your business officer." The lady said then left outside. The three men were left to their own devices.

"Umm how often does she do this sir?" Minato asked. "It's nothing that I can't handle." Sojiro said. "What was she asking for? Money, information?" Akihiko pressed. "What is this? An interrogation?! I don't know nothing and I got nothing to offer to that woman." Sojiro said. "Just one last question, who was the lady." Akihiko asked.

"She's a public prosecutor for the Public Prosecutor's office. That's all I can say." Sojiro said as Akihiko could only think about connecting the dots. Starting with why would a Public Prosecutor be sweating out a small cafe owner over Isshiki's research? It doesn't add up.

Walking out of Leblanc, The two wondered about their next move. "Now what?" Minato asked.

"We got a lead and more importantly a suspect. Now we let Mitsuru know." Akihiko said. From afar, Sae watched the two men leave. Normally she would dismiss this as just nonsense but her gut was telling her there's more to those men than meets the eye.

Elsewhere unknown to everyone someone else was listening inside the café. Inside a cluttered room filled with novelty drinks, bowls of instant ramen, newspapers laid on the floor. Peaking into her monitors, Futaba listened into the conversation.

Futaba was on the edge of her seat. They were talking about her mom.

Everything seem to come back to her mom's research. The same research she obese over even over her own daughter.

Did she hear that right? These men believe that her mother was murdered? When everyone else said her mother's death was just an accident and no one paid any attention to the word of a thirteen year old girl. Futaba had always known that mother's death was unnatural but no one believe her, not even her own extended family.

Lastly was the Kirijo Group, Futaba knew the least that her mother was employed by them which was why she'd tried to hack into their severs a few times but with no success. Their firewalls were even harder to penetrant than that of world governments and military organizations. But still this was a lead for her, these men apparently work for CEO Mitsuru Kirijo and that means she can extort one of them. If not them then the occupant that Sojiro is letting to crash under Leblanc.

With a plan now, Futaba got to work.

Meanwhile in a cafe in Shibuya, Ren and Kasumi were taking over a coffee break. Well just coffee for him while Kasumi order four meals over coffee. "I swear this girl has a higher metabolism than me." Ren thought.

"Had enough?" He asked. "Oh yes, I'm always like this after a meet. Honestly I would keep going but anymore would probably harm my performance." Kasumi said.

"So I take it the meet went well?" Ren asked. "Simply put, it was a disaster but I do feel that I'm getting back into the natural flow of things, thanks to you senpai." Kasumi said. "You don't give yourself enough credit." Ren smiled as Kasumi blushed.

"But when the moment arrived, my body didn't move like how I wanted." Kasumi said. "Sounds rough." Ren said.

"I agree, something similar happened to me in middle school-but back then, I had someone by my side that kept me going. said Kasumi. "Really? Who?" Ren asked. Kasumi could only feel pain upon the memories that were coming forth.

"...I have a younger sister or I could say, had a younger sister. We promised each other that we'd win international gymnastics competitions together, but in early spring...she died in an accident." Kasumi said.

"Kas...I'm sorry." Ren said.

"I promised her we'd take the gold for our routines across the world, but I can't stop worrying about my lack of improvement." Kasumi said. "Don't get bent out shape. It's not over yet." Ren said.

"Senpai... You're right, I'm just getting started. No more brooding. There are still more meets this year. I'm going to start from scratch and train as hard as I can." Kasumi said.

"That's the spirit." Ren smiled.

"I feel recharge now, mind, body, spirit." Kasumi said. "Well one of those things true." Ren joked looking at the stack of plates. "Well...at least my mind and spirit are recharged." Kasumi said.

"Hey umm...we should do this more often." Ren said. "More lunch dates? I totally agree." Kasumi said which Ren assume she was still thinking with her stomach. "Not just lunch, I...really enjoy spending time with you." Ren said as Kasumi blush and tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I agree as well." Kasumi smiled.

Monday, July 18th, 2016

"So it's a lead." Mitsuru asked. Most of the Shadow Operatives met in their basement headquarters under the Kirijo Group building. "It was quite lucky really." Akihiko said.

"Take credit senpai. It was your idea to keep tabs." Minato said. "So someone from the Public Prosecutor Office was asking about Isshiki's research. Why?" Mitsuru asked. "We don't know, the lady wouldn't say much since we interfered so we at least know she's trying to be subtle." Minato said.

"I've hacked in the Public Prosecutor's database. Just so you know, what I just did was illegal." Fuuka said. "You're a treasure to all of us Fuuka." Yukari said.

"Pull up the employee roister and isolate anyone who fits this description. Mid-height, light skin, long silver hair, red eyes." Akihiko said as Fuuka worked her magic.

"Got it. This's her?" Fuuka pulls up Sae Nijima's profile. "Yep clear as day." Akihiko said.

"Sae Nijima, Public Prosecutor for Tokyo's Special Investigation Department. Currently reporting to...the Special Investigation Unit under Tobei Mitsuya." Fuuka said. "That is not good." Aigis spoke plainly.

"What am I missing here?" Minato asked. "The SIU handles government scandals and other major cases...plus it's corrupt." Labrys said. "Tobei Mitsuya is among those inside Shido's inner circle." said Mitsuru

"Plus they'll be the guys that'll hunt us if we ever get caught." Yukari said.

"It doesn't add up. Why send a Public Prosecutor to dig up info on research that we assume they already have?" Akihiko asked. "Makes you question what else they're after." Minato said.

"Hmm...check to see what cases Nijima is assigned to." Mitsuru said. "A handful of small ones. How does she even have time for each one is beyond me...Oh she's assigned to the Phantom Thieves case." Fuuka said.

There Minato had just realized. "Wait, shit!" He said. "What is it?" Mitsuru asked. "I just remembered Nijima's name, her younger sister Makoto is part of the Phantom Thieves." Minato sighed.

"I'm guessing she has no knowledge of her sister's involvement." Yukari said. "It seems that way." Minato said. "Right now, the SIU are working on building a case against the Phantom Thieves." Fuuka said. "There seems to be more than meets the eye, but we need to find out more." Mitsuru said.

Meanwhile while everyone thought about this Minato's phone beeped and saw it was text message from an unknown number.

"Hello, nice to meet you."

"What can you tell me about Wakaba Isshiki?!"

"Uhh guys, I think I've been hacked." Minato said as Fuuka took his phone and placed it on an analyzer pad on the desk. "I'm trying to trace the line now." Fuuka said while displaying the messages on screen.

"Good luck with that."

"Are they hearing us somehow?" Labrys asked. "They're tapped into the phone's microphone and audio."

"Is it true about what you and your friend said? You believe Wakaba Isshiki was murdered?"

"They listened in from yesterday?!" Akihiko said. "Yamagishi." "I'm working on it!" Fuuka exclaims.

"I want answers!"

"It seems personal to them. What does Isshiki mean to you?" Minato asked.

"That's none of your concern!"

"Ha, I got them spiked. They won't be able to hang up. Now I just need to triangulate to a certain location."

"B-but that's impossible!"

"Personal worm invention of mine. Just give up." Fuuka said as then suddenly the screen went blank and the trace was loss.

"What just happen?" Mitsuru asked. "Somehow they disrupted our trace. We loss them." Fuuka said then slump back in the chair. "I almost had them too." She grunted.

'It's okay Fuuka. You did your best." Minato said. "Anyone had any idea who that was?" Yukari asked. "I was able to a peak into their signature code. All hackers usually have a gimmick or a signature they leave behind. I have a hunch who it was." said Fuuka.

Elsewhere

Some of her monitors sparked as Futaba panted out of breath with several wires in hand. This never happened to her before, nor has she encountered a worm program that sophisticated. The program snared her phone line that she couldn't escape remotely so her only option was that she yank the cords from her monitors to disrupt the modem and cut the trace. Never in her life was she that scared of being found.

Lucia was clever, so clever that Alibaba would consider her a rival. Lucia won this round and she had no idea that the two men were close to her.

"I sure as hell don't want to do that again." Futaba said as she collapse on her bed. Guess she'll move onto Plan B and that is going after Sojiro's charity project he's letting stay in Leblanc's attic.

AN: If anyone here watched the movie Goldeneye then you have good taste. Anyway, if you're wondering where Fuuka's worm program came from well it came from that. As Boris puts it "I AM INVINCIBLE!"

Later that evening, everyone figured to give today's shenanigans a rest and to prepared for the fireworks festival. For Mitsuru along with Kukino's assistance planned the perfect outing, renting a small outdoor balcony in Shibuya away from the general public. Everyone especially planned to wear yukatas for the evening. Minato felt a draft in his or maybe it was just the hot summer air.

He wore a similar one he had worn seven years ago comprised of a dark blue with a white slash. Aigis's was a cyan base color with purple belt, and over her yukata was a red yukata jacket. Fuuka's was in her classic cyan yukata with purple flowers imprinted with a real pink rose in her wavy hair. Mitsuru's was a medium red with with pink cherry blossoms and flowers imprinted along with a purple flower in her hair tied in wavy bun. Akihiko was half black/half grey type situation, but it suited his masculine and matured nature. Labrys wore a white yukata with red flowers and a yellow yukata jacket to match Aigis's. Lastly was Yukari who went with her traditional pink with a lighter shade of pink accents and flowers along with a gamboge yellow sash around her waist.

Kikuno served the gang a sushi spread and had an awning spread over them.

"Is the awning necessary?" Minato asked her. "Yes, weather reports that today will rain later tonight." Kikuno said. "I'll take your word for it." Minato said until Yukari bumped into him.

"Oh, hey." Minato perked up. "I got you a present. I meant to give it to you sooner but I took the extra time to get it prep." Yukari handed him a gift box and cross her arms behind her back. Minato opened the box and awe at the most meaningful gift.

Inside was his old Mp3 player and headphones.

"I was wondering what ever happened to this old thing." Minato smiled. "After you passed, Mitsuru put your things into storage, expect this. I've kept it so I will always remember you. At night, I listen to the songs you have downloaded into it and just think back...god I sound like widow." Yukari said. "Plus I also added some of my favorite songs on it as well. I hope you didn't mind." She added.

"Yukari...I don't have the words to tell you how meaningful this is. But maybe this will." Minato pulls Yukari in and kiss her fully just as the fireworks start. "Wow...what timing." Yukari smiles as the happy couple leans foreheads on each other's.

"I'll say!" Akihiko purposely ruins the moment. "Leave them alone Akihiko." Mitsuru pats his head while holding baby Hayami. "You look breath-taking dear." Akihiko told his wife. "You're not too bad yourself." Mitsuru said. "Although not as pretty as this little lady." Akihiko said as tickle attack Hayami who giggled in her mother's arms.

"This is just like back home." Fuuka said. "I can concur as well." Aigis said. "Aww come on sis! This is way better than back home." Labrys adds. Right then lightning flash in the sky and rain began to pour on down. "Except for that." Labrys calls it.

"We knew this was gonna happen." Yukari said as everyone hung under the awning. "It's really pouring out here." Fuuka said. "I hope the kids are okay. Matter of fact." Minato pulls out his phone and dials Ren.

"Hello."

"Ren? Geez what is that noise?"

"Oh hey senpai. Hope you enjoyed the festival because they cancelled the rest of it." said Ren.

"Ouch, guess our night's over too, but that doesn't explain where you are." said Minato

"We're inside an overcrowded store to get out of the rain and on top of that, this is what I'm dealing with." Ren said. "Ryuji stop looking and go get me a towel!" Minato heard Ann's voice over the phone. "They don't have towels here! You just gotta deal with it!" said Ryuji said.

"Sooo...that's what I'm dealing with." Ren said.

"Ahh memories." Minato sighed happily.

"Funny haha."

"You should try to hide your sarcasm more. It works better that way." Minato said.

"No I prefer my method thank you."

"Look just try to get home okay. We'll talk over things tomorrow." Minato said then hung up.

"They're okay?" Yukari asked. "Teens being teens, they're good." Minato said.

"Speaking of teens Minato, I should tell you that Ken is arriving on the 20th. From that point on, you'll be responsible for his upbringing on school and the mission." Mitsuru said.

"Funny, I thought he was my handler for this assignment." Minato said. "You'll be watching over each other. Introduce him to the Phantom Thieves." Mitsuru reminded as Minato understood.

"Enough of the mission already, we're here to have a party aren't we and we ain't gonna let a little downpour ruin it." Yukari said. "Ren told me they canceled the rest of the fireworks." Minato said.

"Shoot!" Yukari said.

"We still got all this sushi." Akihiko pointed out. "Fine, it would be a shame to let it go to waste." Mitsuru said as everyone digs in. "But first, how about couple of pictures." Labrys offers as everyone agreed.

Later that night, Mitsuru sat in her private office overlooking dozens of files and profiles of persons of interest. Akihiko once mention how disorganized it was and should use a crime board but dismissed it. While Minato and the Phantom Thieves were dealing with the threats the Shadow's Nest posed, she and the other Shadow Operatives were dealing with another fight on their hands.

"Akihiko was right, maybe I needed the crime board after all." Mitsuru said then wheeled in the board. After a half hour of work, Mitsuru pinned each file that corresponds with each person of interest including their new suspect Sae Nijima. Right at the top was Masayoshi Shido. Mitsuru only stared at the board in deep thought and couldn't put the pieces together.

Why would Shido have an interest in cognitive manipulation? Who's responsible for all these mental shutdowns and psychotic breaks? What purpose would they serve other than senseless chaos? How deep does this cabal of Shido's go? Out of all that, two things were clear to Mitsuru and the first thing was a name.

"The Antisocial Force." No doubt was the name of this cabal. Now the second thing Mitsuru had going was that she needs an expert puzzle solver. Someone who can piece all this together better than anyone she knew. With that, she picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Hello. It's Kirijo, I have a case for you. How much can you find out about a group called the Antisocial Force?"

Done right here guys, What do you think of this fireworks chapter? I think it was a good blend between Ren and Minato's stories. So everyone had a rest but next time they're gonna have to start dealing with Medjed. Anyway, I like to cover a few things in this chapter.

First thing is the Shadow Operatives looking at Sae as a suspect. It's part of story just as it was during the game. Sae is just connecting dots to form a picture, the problem is that she'll have no idea what she's looking at nor does she have any idea how deep this goes. It also doesn't help her case of her trying to further her career by continuous victory while working for a corrupt government agency (even though she doesn't know it). Sae's story still follows close to what happens in the game, just with extra add-ons from the Shadow Operatives.

Second was Futaba's crossing with the Kirijo Group. Of course this was going to be a part of the story with Wakaba being a Kirijo Group asset and Futaba looking everywhere for answers. On my personal accord, I decided to give Futaba a match to Fuuka. This goes well with the narrative between that of pitting the talented (Fuuka) against the prodigy (Futaba). Fuuka's got experience while Futaba's got ingenuity. Personally I think they're evenly match terms of tech and computers but once you bring personas into the mix, Futaba will find herself coming up short and will try to seeking Fuuka out for advice in order to fill the role of Navigator to the best of her ability.

Next is the fireworks festival, Minato had a good night while Ren had his hands full, but it was just the same as it was in the game.

Then there is the name Antisocial Force, the name isn't mine. To those who don't already know, the name is real and is what Shido's group is called during Persona 5. They just weren't given a more proper name until Persona 5 Strikers came out.

Finally is the call Mitsuru made, you can guess who was on the other line for yourselves.

That's all I have for now. Next time the group begins dealing with Medjed. Thanks for reading. This is Paradox signing off. Goodbye.