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Those exciting days of Spring(VII)
Ren Stats
Level 7 || HP:363/375 || SP:203/212
Knowledge—Genius 89/250—Rank 5
Guts—Gallant 24/250—Rank 5
Proficiency—Expert 70/250—Rank 5
Kindness—Clement 73/250—Rank 5
Charm—Allure 83/250—Rank 5
19,890 ¥
Wednesday—04/13—14:43 PM
Aoyama District || Shujin Academy
Now. What will you do, Ren?
Ren glared in the mirror. Ren was a victim of sexual harassment by a woman a few days back. Kira Azami, he could never forget that. To think that a teacher of the school was doing the same to his students. A teacher was harassing the female volleyball team. That made Kamoshida Suguru completely unforgivable. Ren has been in this position so often and so many times been burned by it. Remembering the incident last year made him almost flinch back from this case. But now he had power. Ren could make things right. To make Kamoshida Suguru, the vile pervert in charge of the volleyball team, pay. To make Isobe Kenjiro, the administrator of Todai who abused his secretaries and had secret dealings with the mafia, pay. To make Horie Rei, who controlled Nagano and the vomit-inducing prostitution of minors, pay. To make Fujii Ikki, the Minister of Transport who, by his negligence and hubris, was the cause of the derailment accident, pay.
For some reason, Ren saw a shade of blond and clear aquamarine eyes when he got out of the boy's restroom.
With glossy hair and beautiful eyes, only one name could be associated with such a beauty in the school. It was the resident beauty of his class, Takamaki Ann. He was a bit acquainted with her ever since he met her on the first day. She was a worrywart and quite stubborn and intrusive as a person. Often budging into other people's business. She was quite often mature and knew how to read a person. That's the impression she'd given him. Since his genius mind was already deducing stuff about the whole incident with Kamoshida. Ren could surmise why she came here to ambush him right as he walked out of the restroom.
She's probably somewhat involved in all of this. She knows how creepy and persistent Kamoshida is and knows how he wields his power and makes his voice known. She's worried about me, no doubt. I've been sniffing around Kamoshida and hearing all sorts of rumors. I'm bound to get attention.
+1 Knowledge || Genius 90/250—Rank 5
"Can I talk with you for a second, Amamiya-kun?"
"Do you need something, Takamaki-san?"
"What happened that day, when you were late and all? I know you were at that station, and you kinda saved me from having to ride Kamoshida's car to school. Listen, I know you've been sniffing around him recently. I'm telling you, it's not worth it. He's…"
Someone else arrived to interrupt them—a boorish student who pushed his weight around. Ren disclosed a silent sigh at the development.
"What is happening here Takamaki, you look pretty chummy with the transfer student."
"What do you want, Shibata-san?"
Ann was also unhappy at the new arrival. She was almost there. She knew that Amamiya was going against Kamoshida in some manner or the other, and she wanted, wanted to know what was happening. Nevertheless, they just had to be interrupted.
"We're just telling you that Kamoshida-sensei won't be happy with you casually talking with the transfer student, don't you know the rumors? I hear he's got heroin shots in his bag."
"Kamoshida-sensei can mind his own business. And I don't believe the rumors anyway. They are just stupid."
Ren eyed the new arrival, a boy a few centimeters shorter than him, with a stocky build. He was being accompanied by a friend of his, and both had mocking smiles. Ren was warned of this guy by Ann earlier in the day, and he was also the punk staring at him in the volleyball rally. Ann did not look too happy to be ambushed by them like this outside the boy's bathroom. It seems they couldn't bully Ann into submission and now were instead focusing on him.
"I saw the shit you pulled in the rally, transfer student. What, you think you're hot shit, thinking you can play better than us in the volleyball team. Newsflash kid, we went to nationals last year and won, al due to Kamoshida's guidance."
Shibata got uncomfortably close to Ren's face, pushing Ann out of the way despite her complaints, and facing Ren.
"I hear ya been harassing our team members. I came here to tell you to stop that stupid shit. They're already stressed enough as it is."
"Oh? Then perhaps Kamoshida can stop stressing them out, with all the good training he gives them. Players need to have a day off without being hit by his fist, huh?"
Ren whispered quietly. How to tell off a bully without too many consequences? Unfortunately, Ren could not fight back because he was already and hot water because of his criminal history. Words alone could not back him off. Threats to his person were not ideal. He would just hit him back. Ren was really backed into a corner in this situation. However… Ren was not a reasonably stable person as he would like to believe or portray.
"I hear your mother might like some shots. You say I have some heroin in my backpack."
Shibata paled immediately at Ren's whispers that weren't heard by anyone else.
How to stop a worshipper from being a shield? Threaten the family, and he would immediately back off. Ann was at the back, placating Shibata's other friend so she couldn't see or hear Ren playing the villain. That was ideal. Teenagers were full of bravado and hot air until things affected their family personally. Ren knew that and took full advantage of it. Ren had just threatened to make Shibata's mother a junkie. Shibata almost flinched at the thought, and one millisecond before he got angry, Ren made his next move.
Ren pressed a metallic blade at Shibata's stomach. Shibata looked down and paled, and he wanted to scream. However, Ren's presence washed over him. It made him incredibly quiet. While Ann was shouting at his friend in the back, they were in the dead-end of the corridor, nobody could see the knife pressed at him.
"What's wrong? I thought you liked playing with fire? Didn't the rumors tell you that I carry a knife around? Want more?"
Ren pressed a gun against Shibata's stomach. And then, the unexpected happened, Ren used all his charm to whisper quietly into Shibata's ear.
"Let us cut a deal. You'll stay out of my way, and I won't target your family. Her name is Satsuko, huh? She lives in the Aoyama district 4th block?" Ren had to pickpocket the man's wallet and was reading his ID. There was the parent's name and where Shibata lived. Shibata was so incredibly pale, and yet he could not open his mouth. It was like there was an invisible hand pressed against his lips as he delivered Shibata's ID back to him.
+10 Knowledge || Genius 100/250—Rank 5
+30 Proficiency || Expert 100/250—Rank 5
+10 Charm || Allure 93/250—Rank 5
"It's simple, Shibata, you'll forget this ever happened and stay out of my hair, and I won't do anything. Tell anyone about this, and I will hunt your family down before I'm arrested."
It was a risky gamble. If Shibata were to tell this, Ren would face many consequences even if they would never find the knife or gun. Perhaps he would be immediately expelled. However, Ren was not playing around. He was irritated enough by the events of yesterday and the events of today. He was absolutely furious and not looking to make bridges with stupid people. However, he was confident in his charisma enough to brainwash people if he wanted to. And it was working. Shibata was not shivering anymore, he was looking with blank eyes, and there was a bit of drool coming out of his mouth. He was so scared for his mother's life he unconsciously nodded. Ren smiled, and the weapons in his hand vanished. His palms were utterly empty. As expected, Persona powers in real life were not to be underestimated, able to summon weapons whenever he wanted, that ability was broken beyond measure. Ren could commit the perfect crime.
The promise was that he would hurt Shibata's mother was fake. It was all a gamble. Even if he were expelled tomorrow, Ren would not hunt the mother down if Shibata spoke out. It was just an unpleasant lie that Ren had told. Nothing was worse than having your family threatened. That would stop the guy from worshipping the ground Kamoshida walked on.
Then Ann wrenched Shibata off, and he walked away, with a dazed look, his friend following him after being sidelined by Ann for so long. It was safe to say that Ren would never even see his face again. In Shujin Academy, he probably scared the boy enough so that he wouldn't tell off. It was not his style to be this threatening, but Ren had enough of people's stubbornness. He was not afraid of losing his future anymore. Ren had the power of Persona. In a world of ordinary humans, he was so far above everyone else that it wasn't even funny anymore. Even if Ren were to be expelled, even if Ren were to go to Juvie again, it wouldn't bother him. He had other means of securing his future than going to University or getting a stable job.
In any case, Ann was actually covering for Ren, which was surprising for him. He just met her a few days ago, and she was already a mother hen trying to protect him. It was pretty endearing. Thankfully, she did not see the weapons before they disappeared, neither she heard Ren's threat. Ren really acted just like the rumors portrayed he was. He would say it was a moment of weakness, but that would be telling a lie. Ren actually wanted to take the risky gamble, wished to see Shibata's horrified face, and wanted to feel the adrenaline of gambling his life away. That would give a reason to just straight up kill Kamoshida and Horie Rei. That's how fed up he was with them. But Ren needed to calm down—he was getting too heated. He needed to be calm and expose them in a better way than just using a Persona as a phantom killer. He actually wanted them to face justice.
+50 Guts || Gallant 74/250—Rank 5
Honestly, there is something wrong with me. I just threatened a senpai's mom just because I wanted to see his pale face. No matter how bad my life is, I shouldn't be pointing guns at high-schoolers. Right?
"Are you alright, Amamiya-kun? Thank goodness Shibata stopped. I told you before how he and his group of bullies go on prancing about school."
"Thanks for the help Takamaki-san, the way you stood up to them was admirable. If you weren't here, I'm afraid I would be punched. Here, I'll buy you some drinks if you want?"
"Yo—You think so, well I didn't stand up for you because I wanted a reward, it's just that I hate bullies and I hate rumors, I couldn't stand back and watch those people corner you when no one's looking."
Ann was a special woman. It was rare that someone stuck out for somebody else. In this situation, the usual routine would be to stand back and watch, think how terrible the problem is, and do nothing in the end. Those who could stop stewing in their thoughts and actions were much more precious. As she talked with him, Ren noticed her playing with her hair and an ever-increasing embarrassment in her words as a result. Ren noticed it was because of his damn charm stat. It was embarrassingly high, and he was creeped out by some women and men looking at him everywhere he went.
The uncomfortable question arose.
Did Takamaki Ann help me because I was good to look at, or would she help anyone in need?
That question was up in the air because of his own unreasonable charisma that had been imposed upon him. It made him at least suspect people's intentions at first. However, Ren had an inkling. She was a person who would help anyone in trouble if the problem were right in her face. Frankly, the last exchange with the bully wasn't his best moment. It was just… a release of frustrations piling up inside of him. He really needed to calm down, else he wouldn't be worthy of this cute girl's help.
"Let me treat you to that drink."
"Ye—Yeah, thanks, Amamiya-kun."
"As I said before, I'm the one who should be thanking you."
They went to get that drink. Downstairs, in the courtyard, there was a place where people could gather. It was full of vending machines. There were at least seven, five machines lined up on one side, two on the other. And across from them were benches and a table, where one could find leisure. Right now, it was empty, the sky cloudy. Ren calmed himself and bought her a drink.
"Amamiya-kun, you don't like sweet drinks?"
"Black coffee for me, it makes me aware of how bitter life is."
"Hahaha, what's that? Hahaha."
Ren chucked a bit with her. It seems self-deprecating jokes worked.
She was drinking some intense strawberry flavor. Stuff like that only made Ren have headaches later. He was so pathetic to hate sweet stuff only because it was so sweet like he thought he was an adult by chugging down bitter coffee without appreciating its flavor. Ann was still somewhat distant, not wanting to be seen with him. Perhaps it was because of that, from a third party's perspective, it looked like she was berating him from a distance. He understood it. A boy and a girl spending time removed might make things awkward with rumors and such. Ren wasn't about to be confused with being her boyfriend. It was a situation he did not want. Nonetheless, the distance made him feel a bit cold towards the case when it wasn't needed. Takamaki Ann had her fair share of rumors. The worst ones included how she was a slut for Kamoshida-sensei or that she had innumerable boyfriends and was loose. Petty words were only made to defame someone else. Ren always felt disgusted that other people instead do that in their free time.
Ren chastised himself.
However, a needless intervention woke him up from stewing in his thoughts.
It was Ryuji, he and Ann started arguing almost immediately, and Ren's blond friend did not even see the strawberry beverage on Ann's hand.
"Whaddya want with him?"
"I should be asking you this, Sakamoto—you aren't even in our class, and you are already with Amamiya-kun? What's up with that?"
"We just happened to get to know each other before…"
"…Before?"
"Tch, none of your business Takamaki."
"I see, none of my business, huh? Anyways, what are you planning to do to Kamoshida-sensei?"
"Huh, Kamoshida, huh? I see… I see. I getcha, so that's the situation. You're so close to Kamoshida, after all. You wouldn't believe the things he does behind your back."
"Behind my back…?"
"Oh, you know, just—"
"Ryuji, that's enough."
Ren intervened—it was getting too personal for him not to intervene. Ryuji was utterly out of line here.
"No, you don't understand, Ren. This girl has always been like this."
"I've been what?!"
Ann was losing her patience. Ren wanted to smooth things over, but it seemed impossible. Ryuji was heading towards a path that would 'shame a man' as it were. In any case, the following words that Ryuji wanted to say were too harsh for someone who did not deserve it. If smoothing things did not work, then he should remove Ryuji from the situation. From Ryuji's perspective, Ann was someone dating Kamoshida, a teacher who was way older than her, and Ryuji and Ann had some history.
Perhaps they were acquaintances from their younger days, maybe childhood friends gone wrong?
In any case, it wasn't difficult to see why Ryuji was mad at Ann. However, Ren had to put himself in Ann's shoes as well. This was unreasonable from Ryuji.
No matter what feelings you might have had in the past. You shouldn't be harassing someone who doesn't deserve it in the least, Ryuji.
"You always—"
"That's enough. I'm sorry, Ann, I'm taking this idiot with me."
Ren strongarmed Ryuji and left the premises.
Despite removing himself, he still gave Ann a reassuring smile, with all the charm and kindness he could muster.
+3 Kindness || Clement 76/250—Rank 5
Ann looked down after both of them left. Her questions went unanswered, despite that she avoided the cruel words Sakamoto was about to speak to her, so that was a plus. Amamiya-kun was strangely considerate for a boy of 17, still somewhat immature and a bit embarrassing, but she was grateful for that.
"What a weird guy…Sometimes he's too considerate, sometimes he's too cold. He left his coffee too."
Ann saw a half-full can of coffee, and her own drink was already empty. She sighed and picked up both cans. Ann threw hers in the trash and was about to do the same to the other. But then she had a strange and embarrassing idea. Ann secretly sipped out of his drink. And then made a face like she sucked a lemon. Ann was embarrassed that to be this weak to sip his drinks to have an indirect kiss. What was she, seven? No matter how pretty he looked, he was just an acquaintance at best. She just met this guy this week, for god's sake. No matter what, she wouldn't fangirl over him just because he was just a bit hot. There's also the fact he had something unpleasant about him. Perhaps it was his eyes? He felt overly critical of himself at times.
Okay, why am I overanalyzing him so much?
Don't tell me I actually have a crush on him.
The aftertaste of the black coffee hit her, and she coughed more because of the strong taste.
"So bitter. Like life for him, huh?"
Wednesday—04/13—14:57 PM
Aoyama District || Shujin Academy
Why did I ever make a gamble like that?
Did I actually enjoy the thought of possibly being caught?
Or did I just enjoy the idea of pointing a hidden gun at someone like in those films?
Ren was still contemplating at that moment. He had pointed a gun at someone. A firearm that could blast open wounds on those strong shadows. It made them bleed and die back in the Metaverse. Just a bullet from that thing would do horrible things to a human. Ren could not help but blame the stress he's been in since the beginning of this year. And he let all that venting onto threatening a senpai's family from the school. It almost felt like Ren was the bad guy at that moment. Ren hoped to never do that sort of stuff ever again that looked cool on movies but was incredibly threatening and vile in real life. At least he hoped he would. Ren would ruin Kamoshida and Horie Rei's lives, but they were deserving of it, and Ren wouldn't go as far as to execute them, right?
So why did he point a gun at someone in real life just because he could?
Ren was less understanding of himself as time went on.
Because of this Wild Card business, it's not only transforming my looks to be more attractive, it's also influencing my mind and personality. I look in the mirror, and I don't even see myself anymore.
There was a disconcerting dichotomy brewing in his mind, and it wasn't healthy.
And so he and Ryuji went away from the scene, away from Ann before Ryuji would say something stupid to people who didn't deserve it.
"Hey, Ren, you do know that Ann is hooking up with Kamoshida, despite what the asshole does to the Volleyball team. Why are you defending her all of a sudden? She's all aggressive all the time, always rude, and she's sucking up to Kamoshida."
"That's just the Ann in the castle. That's how that King sees her. She is not like that in real life. Ryuji, you know that. I saw Kamoshida-sensei creeping up on her two days ago. She's definitely a victim if she has to endure flirting from that creep."
"Seriously? I mean—"
"You wouldn't want a hairy weirdo trying to act husky on your ear, even though he's ten years older, right?"
"…Right, just thinking about that gives me the creeps."
Ryuji looked back, perhaps regretting a bit of what he said, but then he calmed down and changed the subject. Ren saw that Ann and Ryuji had a very touching past together. And he did not want to open that can of worms anytime soon. Ryuji would just have to apologize on his own terms. As charitable as Ren was, he wasn't about to baby a guy his age in how to apologize. Even if Ryuji was his little chariot, that was a lesson he needed to learn for himself.
Lessons learned, huh?
I feel like I learned all the wrong lessons from that incident in my hometown.
"I still can get them to confess to the abuses, the Volleyball team members, I mean. You couldn't get them to fess up either, right?"
"Not directly. Nonetheless, I drew up a name that might help us, though I'm not sure."
"'Nonetheless?', you use some big words for a violent convicted criminal, huh?" Ryuji laughed a bit at that. Ren made a silent chuckle too. "Anyway, who's the person?"
"Mishima, the guy from my class, average height, has some bruises on his face."
"Blue hair, forgettable appearance, gets bullied easily, that Mishima?"
"Yeah, heard he was a member of the team, a back-up member. The thing is, those kinds of people are the most abused. So he's probably taking the brunt of the abuse, that kind of person is not going to confess easily either."
"True enough, but we don't wanna let this chance go. We need to get something, even if we gotta force it out of the dude. We need to get some info on these special coaching sessions Kamoshida does. He's probably still here, though the students are already leaving. Let's go talk with him before he leaves. If… No, nothing."
Not going to force him out to talk?
It seems Ryuji has some empathy for the guy. Just talk, huh?
I don't know if that will lead to anything significant, but we could at least try. If it fails, I'm going with my astroturfing plan tonight.
Take your Time
"Mishima-san?"
"He—Hey, Amamiya-san, Why are you here?"
"Hey, got a sec?"
"Sakamoto? What do you guys want with me?"
Sakamoto Ryuji came with Ren to talk. They were at the entrance. Mishima was really not relaxed with Ryuji here as well.
"Don't worry, Mishima-san, we just came here to speak with you."
"Like Ren said, we're just here to chat a bit."
"We saw that thing that happened in the court. That wasn't your fault. Kamoshida-sensei was just looking for another target, right?"
Ren whispered, which raised the tension in Ryuji and Mishima's faces, almost as though he was speaking to their traumas themselves. And from there.
"Wh—What do you mean?"
"Getting hit on the face hurts, right? Kamoshida-sensei probably enjoys seeing you flail about, wondering what part of you should he hurt next. He thinks that the volleyball team is his to do whatever he wants. And then, when things don't go by his rules, he punishes you. The rules he makes are not rules to be followed, they are intentionally hard rules set so people can fail, and he can use that as an excuse to punish you, right? What will it be next time? Does he like the face?"
"St—Stop it."
"Does he like the legs?"
Ryuji and Mishima paled and looked down.
"Or perhaps the stomach is his most preferred place?"
As if Ren had an X-ray vision, he was looking directly at Mishima's stomach, Mishima was putting an arm and holding it. But Ren could explicitly state that there were bruises there from the manner in which he walked.
"If you don't speak, those marks will become permanent, you'll crawl through this hell, thinking you deserved it. Thinking you're all alone and never really looking for a hand."
"Wh—What do you know? Our parents are all in this. The teachers are too, even the principal tolerates it. My mom and dad say to grit my teeth that I will be rewarded in the future for these injuries. That being a national champion might mean something."
"…Even the parents and teachers…?"
Ryuji was a bit distant, and he whispered this to Ren, almost as if he was disbelieving of the things Mishima was talking about. Indeed, Ren's words were harsh, but they were using certain provocative words to get a reaction out of Mishima. All the other times, every single strategy had failed to bear fruit. While being confrontational was a lousy way to go about it, in the case of abused victims. Ren had no time at all to build a relationship of trust with the victims of this case. Nevertheless, Ren still had to press on and get the answers. If he had to stomp on the victims' feelings in order to get to Kamoshida, who was the villain, then he had to. He did the same thing to Yua yesterday, opening up the scars, pouring salt, and trying to peer inside the wound, that was not a prideful way of going about it, and it tormented the victims even more. But still, Ren had to press on to defeat the baddies in the end.
Ren was cornering Mishima, even though he was stubborn and wanted to keep the secret to himself. There was a glint in his eyes that he was accepting Ren's words, just one more push, and he would be able to know precisely what the scumbag Kamoshida was doing. Ryuji was with him, his intimidating presence did more harm than good, but Ren offset that by offering some kind words. With Mishima's testimony, the whole thing would go much smoother with Ren's plan in conjunction. Even if Mishima just got a hint of courage to fight back after this, then it would be good.
However, things like this rarely turn out the way he wanted.
"What's going on here? Mishima, isn't it time for practice?"
Ren knew there was a possibility in Kamoshida interrupting them, and that's precisely what happened. Kamoshida had arrived.
"I'm not feeling well today s—so…"
"What? Maybe you're better off quitting then. You'll never improve yourself if you don't come to practice, you know? I'm saying this as your coach and teacher. You have to show up every day."
Ryuji butted in, this time, he was angry, and he got up to Kamoshida's face.
"Is your ear that bad? Mishima said he ain't feeling well!"
Kamoshida ignored Ryuji entirely and focused on Mishima, despite Ryuji having enough strength on his fist to bend a metal pipe. But to Kamoshida, he was just an angry small dog barking.
"Well, Mishima, you need to train a bit more, or else your parents will be disappointed in you. You'll show up to practice, right? We need to train your receive. It's still a bit bad but a few more weeks of work, and you'll get as tough as the starting line-up. Who knows, maybe you'll get good enough to even sub for them in a competitive game. Wouldn't your parents be overjoyed?"
He was saying this in a teacherly manner. However, there were implied tones that really ground Ren's and Ryuji's ears. There was nothing wrong with his speech, at least on the surface level, but deep underneath lied a sea of threats and bad intentions all around. If any other teacher was speaking his words, they would sound convincing and encouraging, and yet they were told by the mouth of an abuser. Ren finally understood this is how abusers survive in the adult world, veiled threats underneath kindness. Never really showing who you are in the face of other people. Always blaming the victim and playing on their insecurities. It made Ren feel sick to the stomach that such a person existed. And it was not just Kamoshida. How many times has Ren passed by someone like him on the streets without even realizing it?
How many "Kamoshidas" lived in the world?
When compared, Ren could be called an abuser as well. However, he only abused the strong. Kamoshida always picked on the defenseless, while others in his circle absconded his vileness under excuses of his achievements.
"Are you coming or not, Mishima?"
"I'm coming."
"And you two, you guys should behave yourselves better. All these unsettling rumors are making the staff nervous. There might be a… disciplinary action that your mother won't like, Sakamoto. And you, Amakiya… No, Amamiya, was it? I hear your family is well off. With so many accomplished businessmen and businesswomen, it would be a shame if their son could not even get a high school degree with the trouble he's causing. I hope these rumors are not real, and I have been calming the students ever since, but if you two continue acting out like that, it won't be easy to quell these nasty rumors."
Ryuji muttered within his own breath.
"Asshole, that was your own fault. You're the one who started the damn rumor in the first place. And besides…"
Ren agreed with Ryuji in his mind. Kamoshida had obviously started this rumor way before he arrived on the first day. A week before he came to Shibuya, rumors were floating about the transfer student enrolling here. The only one who could have leaked about his police record was a staff member. And the one most likely to do it was Kamoshida because the man reveled in watching that sort of drama. It was frustrating coming here and see that everyone already made an opinion about you. It was harsh breaking those sorts of things whenever he talked with a random student. Ren was a dangerous element in their mind, and that was proven correct by him when he pointed a gun at a student. A weapon that could have blasted a person, as well as a wall behind that person.
At that moment, Ren felt great in knowing he was eating the strong. Kamoshida liked eating the weak, so the main difference was only this point.
"…Why the hell do you get to bring my mom into it again?"
Ryuji was still whispering, so Kamoshida hadn't heard. He kept taunting Ryuji with meaningless words.
At this point, Ren saw a dark aura coalescing around Ryuji, an atmosphere that nobody could really see. Ryuji was so angry that his mother had been brought up in the conversation that Captain Kidd was leaking out.
Ryuji was extremely angry at Kamoshida. And Ren knew he had the power to kill Kamoshida now. Ryuji was not the same Ryuji from two days ago. No, yesterday, he awoke to the power of Persona. And with Ren's ability, Ryuji could manifest those powers in real life. Therefore Captain Kidd existed in the real world as a Persona that could shoot electricity like nothing. And a Persona user, in this case, had two other significant advantages. Their Persona was their body. Therefore the user's body was as powerful as the Persona. If the Persona could lift a boulder and break concrete walls, then that is what the user itself was capable of.
Moreover, the Persona user could summon his weapons with a blue flame nobody could see. This was all linked to Ren's ability 'A World of Power.' To Ren, it felt highly unfair to have these powers against normal humans. It was almost cheating in a way.
Therefore, no matter what. Ryuji could not expose those powers unless he was willing to throw his life away. And Ren knew that Ryuji still had his mom to live for. Ren could throw his own life away in an instant, that possibility for Ren existed, and he wasn't afraid. However, Ren knew that Ryuji would regret it.
Captain Kidd pointed his hand cannon at Kamoshida's face.
As the vile man kept taunting Ryuji, his own death approached, and the teacher had no way of knowing. Personas are invisible to ordinary people and selectively intangible. Their powers couldn't be felt until they wanted it to affect the real world. This was the severe disadvantage humans had when compared to Persona Users. This was the unbearable truth. That hand canon would blast that teacher's face. And blow this entrance hall like a grenade could. Kidd's hook was also about to hook Kamoshida's chest and impale him like a cow at a butcher's shop.
And at that instant, Arsene pushed that hand away. Grabbed Kidd's neck and dragged Kidd outside into the sky. Passing walls like a phantom.
Regardless of Ryuji's rageful feelings at that moment, Ren wanted to protect Ryuji's life still. And thus, Ren acted by holding back Ryuji with a gentle hold on his shoulder.
And yet, while that moment did not make anyone in their presence realize what was happening, it was just a friend gently grabbing another friend's shoulder. There was a battle happing, where their eyes couldn't see. Because both Arsene and Captain Kidd fought a battle only visible to both Ryuji and Ren's eyes. Ryuji looked into Ren's eyes, still fraught with anger that he could not just shut up the piece of crap in front of them. It would only take just a slight push from Kidd's hook arm. It would skewer a human entirely and lift them up in the air and would only take a few moments to do it.
Just like that, a human would be… killed.
Ryuji's face looked at Ren in apparent shock. Ryuji was so angry that only now he saw what the results of his actions could have been.
Kamoshida would be dead. Many would have celebrated that outcome in secret.
However, Ryuji and Ren would have been blamed, even if no weapon or killing method was produced and examined. That's how the judicial system in this country worked. Evidence was not necessary for convictions. Anyone saying the contrary was a goddamn fool. Anyone saying the law benefitted the average man was a goddamn fool because the everyday man didn't write those laws, of course. And if an average man was elected as a representative—he would have arrived at that place by being bought by the ones who made the rules.
That's a truth that Ren found the hard way. A kid like him, prosecuted for assault by a man who abused a woman. Without any help in Ren's corner, the public lawyer was a shitstain as well. Not even caring who he was defending, only droning about things without any passion at all. If Ren let things go the way they did, he would not be here today. He would be in Juvie for the next two to three years. Perhaps an even worse fate might have awaited him.
Therefore Ren knew that Ryuji did not want to throw his life like that. If Kamoshida ended up dead in front of them, that was game over for Ryuji's relatively everyday life with his mom. The intelligent way was having airtight alibis when committing murder since they would be the first suspects after all. Constructing that alibi might not even save them from the justice system's machine, a closed room murder was also out. It would invite too much trouble if the crime was too perfect. Therefore, if Ryuji really wanted to go with murder, they needed to obfuscate the death even further. Put it in a more significant veil of mystery just so the judicial system wouldn't look at two high school boys as the main suspects.
Go smart about it, or not go at all.
"…Shujin Academy is a place where those with aspiration come to learn. Unworthy students like yourselves need to focus hard and not cause trouble. Get with the program, now Mishima—"
Kamoshida's monologue was interrupted.
A big explosion rang outside. The two Personas had been fighting in the air on the road where the students walked. And then the struggle became so hard that it affected the real world. More specifically, Ren and Ryuji's personas had clashed, and Captain Kidd's hand had been thrown back towards the window of a building. That window shattered utterly. And then the pieces fell down below on the road where students were walking home.
Ryuji and Ren rushed outside, saw the glasses falling, hitting a car below, and almost hit a schoolgirl who was going home. She and her friends looked shocked at the near injury, possibly death.
"Calm down, Ryuji."
"Ye—Yeah, sorry, Ren."
"Don't worry, it was just luck they didn't get injured, but calm down, don't use your powers in the real world. 'This glass breaking was just an accident, there was just too much pressure, and it just broke with the changes of the weather.' They are going to blame the owner of that building for poor maintenance. This is the 'truth' and the only 'truth' that happened here. Nothing more."
+3 Knowledge || Genius 103/250—Rank 5
Ren whispered that to Ryuji's ears, and only those ears.
"Ye—Yeah, it was just an accident. Wo—Wow, the owner of this building must have let the structure really get bad, huh?"
Ryuji finally calmed down and called back Kidd. Ren had called Arsene back too.
The crowd was watching with bated eyes at the glass sards on the road. And then looking up. Where they could see some astonished office workers. Even Kamoshida was stunned and didn't know what to do.
Soon enough, that falsehood that Ren spouted was being spread around in the crowd. Not because of some mind control or any other skill, but because that was the most plausible dumb theory that Ren could think of. He just reached that truth all by himself a lot earlier than the others did.
—This was just an accident.
—Oh, my glass table in my house broke like this.
—There were a lot of glass jars in my house that cracked and exploded like this too.
Those sorts of empiric experiences and words and sentences made the rounds in that crowd.
And from there, Ren and Ryuji slipped out and went for the station. The culprits had successfully escaped. None would be the wiser. After all, ghosts fighting in the air above a road was just fantasy.
However, one woman was passing by that looked at the sky with a telling smile.
Purple hair and eyes and a bit of a bored expression made up her being.
"Another great show from you, child of man."
That bored being walked away.
Ren felt a chill and looked at her back. She looked at him with a pleased smile, and then he felt trapped by something.
And then, she murmured with her lips. Ren read her lips to see what she was talking about.
'A small light stirred the long dream. The lost bird doesn't even know how to fly to the witch.'
"Ren…RenRen, let's go."
Purple mists clouded his mind. As he was dragged away by Ryuji and his vision grew somewhat muddled.
That was only a temporary feeling. Almost as if Ren had ingested psychedelics of some kind. Things just got blurry for a second. Ren remembered taking the train to Shibuya.
—He wanted to first see the new hideout for him, the abandoned warehouse. That was his objective for today. There was a blur, but he had to focus.
Ren was fine. He at least hoped that to be true.
However, he felt it, an inexplicable connection. That woman was one of them, was one of his confidants. That was the chain he felt.
Ren never felt so creeped out in his life, not even in the presence of Kira Azami or Horie Rei or his own mom.
That woman was one of his potential confidants?
Such a strong chain.
He felt it even now.
Ren held out the hope he would never see that woman again.
Then why did he see an illusion?
Because on that train, he was sitting on one side. He could see the woman on the other between the people, looking at him with a smile. On her shoulders and lap were three cats: two black ones and a bright tawny one.
Please, please go away. Please. Please.
And then, as if his wishes were answered. He could not see her anymore.
After calming down and relaxing, he exited the platform.
Never knowing that those eyes still followed his back.
Of course, she would not obey his wishes.
The lady and her three cats disappeared in the wind as the Japanese workers poured through the platform of Odaiba.
Wednesday—04/13—15:24
Odaiba District || Abandoned Warehouse
He arrived at the abandoned warehouse and right as he suspected. There was no one here and no one here to spy on him. This area was truly desolated. It felt strange to know there was a place where he could work without being disturbed by no one. He had used some of his proficiency to steal some equipment from a nearby construction site. All the tools he got were mechanic. He didn't know if it was possible to have electricity running here. The probability was near zero. But understandably enough, electricity wasn't the main factor that he wanted from this place. This was where he was going to build some DIY tools and furniture. It was what he did in the past to ease some of his stress. Being lost in a project was something he cherished. To leave all the worries he had about himself behind and engross himself in something else.
He brought some tools here, and the first thing he was going to build was going to be a table for his projects. There was an old decrepit table here to use already, so hoe only needed to make a few renovations. He got down to work, recording himself on the phone while he did that. Recording himself to then send it to social media was the plan. He was getting a decent following and wanted to have more of them. Perhaps that fame could be used to have more money or recognition. Ren wasn't sure yet, but social media was fun.
+5 Proficiency || Expert 105/250—Rank 5
Speaking of social media, he would use the school forums to make an astroturfing campaign against Kamoshida. Astroturfing essentially means creating an artificial grassroots campaign. It was usually done by bots and wasn't at all praiseworthy. However, Ren would use that to corner Kamoshida. If used for good, then even if it's a vile method, it could achieve superb results for the greater good.
Ren believed that the endings justified the means if the standards didn't go too far. Astroturfing didn't seem too bad for now. It was better than letting an abuser go free.
Ren already was an avid coder since young. His father put him in many courses, though Ren didn't know why from the start. His father said it would train his logical thinking since young. Those were his father's words when Ren was enrolled in these baby courses. The result is that Ren knew a fair bit about many computer languages and only needed to understand how to apply that knowledge. If using his genius knowledge, along with his natural talent, could he build a bot that took some firms a few months to make?
The answer was obvious. Of course, Ren could. He couldn't doubt himself now.
The Metaverse was still an unknown factor. And the police were worse than useless.
If using the police didn't work, he'd turn the tables on them using the most fickle thing in the world—public opinion.
If another avenue was unlocked going forward, then this also wouldn't be a waste of time. If the public was against Kamoshida, it would make life a lot easier for Ren. Of curse, it wasn't just Kamoshida. There was also the administrator of Todai, the Minister of Transport, and Madam Rei. Of course, the public was already against the Minister of Transport, so Ren didn't even need to do anything there. Rei and Kenjiro were unknowns to the larger public as of yet. Ren needed to burst out some controversy online to bring them to the forefront. With a bit of skill and luck, Ren could make this happen. Make them fall without too much trouble, he hoped.
Wednesday—04/13—16:17
Bunkyō || Todai University
Messaging App
Ryuji.
This still doesn't make any sense
I mean, how can they keep protecting such a creep?
The damn parents and principal know about it, and still…
Ren
It doesn't matter what we think Ryuji,
No matter what, they will keep protecting him
It's frustrating, but he brings results.
Ryuji.
Goddamit, can't we do nothing but argh. This makes me mad
I understand, because of volleyball, the school and the kids get their fame.
Some of 'em are heading towards Uni, and they need the recognition
But it's incredibly frustrating to just watch it happen.
Ren.
Maybe there is something we can do
I'm working on it, but I won't promise any results
Ryuji.
Yeah, I'm sorry for today, man.
My head wasn't feeling okay. I didn't hurt you with Captain Kidd, yeah?
Ren.
No, don't worry about
Although, I can see a lot of people commenting on the broken window for the following days.
Ryuji.
I know what you wanted to say,
Don't use your Persona powers in the real world. Yeah, I'm sorry…
Even so, I still think he needs to have some sort of comeuppance.
He's beating up kids and letting it happen,
They have to endure so much shit they ain't supposed to.
Takamaki, though, why did you protect her? She's involved, right?
Ren.
Takamaki-san is probably a victim. She's not as involved as you think she is, Ryuji.
Ryuji.
Let's agree to disagree right now. I still believe Takamaki knows something.
Well, tomorrow, we look for ways to destroy that son of a bitch, though.
But, man, this persona Power really makes me hungry.
Mom has been complaining since yesterday. Thanks for the help, man.
Ren.
At this rate, we'll both need some jobs,
I'm eating a family's worth of food every day.
Ryuji.
Working sucks.
But I feel you.
The best place where he could make a program was a University. He did not have a computer ready, and Todai was the best place. With his cousin Mitsuki's invitation, he could enter the premises, but he had to be careful. Therefore he got some new clothes and put his uniform in his bag. Ren entered the room and spent the next hours in front of a computer, with an empty space with only the bright monitor. And he broke his head trying so hard to make the bot program. He already had the forums ready. It needed to start really small and then snowball from there—one to start the rumor and others to corroborate it. By the point next week, the first one to start the story would be forgotten, and then only real people would be discussing it, with a few bots encouraging the behavior.
That was the plan. Of course, it could go wrong. It could just not gain any traction and would be a forgotten story. Ren was also prepared to do what he must if that failed. He already promised himself to get rid of Horie and Kamoshida. If this did not work, there were other angles. And then, if everything else failed, there was the ultimate option of making it an accidental death. It would be simple with the power of Persona. They were phantoms that could not be seen, after all.
The rain started pouring down as the clouds filled the late afternoon sky. There was a bad feeling in Ren's mouth, almost as if there was a purple mist gathering around.
Ren was going to ruin two or more people to save others. This was the first time in his life he was going to commit a serious crime other than robbery. His assault did not matter. Well, he already spent a lot of time on Juvie because of a false crime. He should be allowed to commit a crime to pay it off. However, there was also unrelenting guilt of performing these acts.
Using methods like this weren't really honorable or praiseworthy, but what could a kid of 17 years do?
Ren had to be more realistic about it and enjoy the defeated faces of his enemies later on. He couldn't become an idealistic fool like in some comics or TV shows.
Ren was also hurting from the fact that his father was missing. His father did not love him. He always looked at Ren as another clone that would grow up and replace him in the Amamiya Group. Ren was supposed to be the top owner of the group in the future and give his all to help the Kirijo Group and its rising star, Kirijo Mitsuru. However, that dream of the Amamiya Group was crushed entirely when news of the Kirijo Heiress committing suicide last year. It seems all the Amamiyas were extraordinarily close and loved the Kirijo Heiress and her drive and leadership. Her death broke something invisible in the hearts of the Amamiyas. His Grandfather lost the light of hope, his dad became even more ruthlessly cold, his uncles and aunts all looked the other way, his mom became strange. His older cousins were all saddened.
Suicide there, and also suicide in that smallish town he visited on his trip to Tokyo.
The police record in his own name.
His father's disappearance and probable death.
The train incident in Ikebukuro that killed over 70 people.
The sex ring of minors in Nagano.
Abusive behavior in Aoyama.
The Metaverse and Personas.
Igor and the twins.
All these things were pounding at Ren's head and cornering him into a place where he can't get away from.
Everything was filling him with anxiety and headaches.
It was times like this where Ren wanted to act like a 17-year-old and give up on all these things.
However, his strong sense of justice and responsibility brought him back again, causing even more anxiety.
That was the sort of existence that Amamiya Ren was as he typed away in that dark room, lit up only by the bright monitor.
He finished his 'project' and saved it in the hidden drive he had brought to Tokyo. Now the problem of deployment came up. Ren hoped it would at least cause some waves so that the public starts holding a natural dislike towards Kamoshida. It would be easier to operate in an environment where the douchebag would be cornered by the majority.
Wednesday—04/13—18:11
Bunkyō || Todai University
"Ren, let's go."
Ren's cousin Mitsuki arrived, and he followed her away from the lightless room.
"What were you doing in there?"
"I was learning a bit of coding, haven't really picked up a computer since."
"If anything comes up on that, you can call me. I am quite an expert in some of the languages."
Of course, she was.
Ren's cousin Mitsuki was a woman in the finance department of this school. She was graduating in accounting and also law. She was intimately familiar with the programs and software that ran the financial system and wanted to learn how to make them by scratch, and so she did. So she was also an expert in that sort of stuff and loved to hear about it.
"There's going to be an interesting seminar tonight, and it's open to the public as well. Want to watch it with me? It will be the by the excellent and regarded Professor Ichinose Kuon."
"Ichinose?"
"Yeah, she's been the leading researcher in Artificial Intelligence here in Japan. Most of the advances some of the assistants had in our language were because of her. She has worked in many different organizations so foreign assistants could help understand the Japanese language better."
"Speech recognition expert, huh?"
"Not only that, but she's Japan's foremost computer scientist herself, and she's reportedly working with another business to bring her own electronic assistant into fruition."
"I suspect her previous employers didn't like that very much."
"Yeah, since she's worked in other assistants before, they think she's stealing a few of their patents. However, that' doesn't seem to be the case regarding her new project."
"Well, it might be an interesting watch either way."
"That's the spirit. Not many 17-year-olds get to watch a large panel like this in a University. It might give you more experience once you do enter one in the future."
"Yeah, Todai is much more different than Shujin. This looks like a city inside, instead of a school."
"Right? It's easy to get lost in here sometimes."
"Is everything on the administrative side alright? You said some bad rumors about the guy at the top yesterday."
Mitsuki looked to the side to see if there was nobody there. And then she looked at him thoughtfully, as if there was something incredibly wrong with her.
"There has been some rumors he raped his secretary. She quit her job today, so a lot of people had been creating theories as to why. She was pale all throughout this month, and those in the departments that passed by his room could see how tired she's been getting."
Ren closed his eyes and breathed out. Mitsuki was correct in all accounts, it seems. Kenjiro was the prominent administrator of this school. There were rumors about some sort of corruption happening here, with some financial staff reporting mistakes in the accounting. And some funds being diverted from the budget. Mitsuki also had a theory about that, the man was in contact with some nasty group. The Amamiya group wasn't a slouch when it came to underground connections. They knew their fair share of the Yakuza Groups and some Korean and Chinese Syndicates here in Japan. However, there was no concrete proof that the University's Administrator has been behind this corruption scheme as of yet. No, there was not that there wasn't any proof. It's that any evidence was being systematically removed from the records, leaving him clean.
Therefore, there was nothing that could be done. The staff just had to wait before either the Government or the Banks noticed and were willing enough to care about apprehending him. There was nothing that could have been done. And the secretary had not spoken about any sort of sexual abuse, and it was unlikely she would ever come forth to the police. And historically, the sexual abuse cases in Japan were hard as nails to prove. Even if a woman had semen leaking out of her while in the middle of the court, the Japanese system might let the guy go. That's how bad it was to prove. No, it wasn't to prove anything. Everyone attending the trial would have known she was raped. However, the real problem was to convince the judge to give a fair verdict.
It wasn't about proving. It was about convincing.
And a lot of the judges were also men who did not care for women's troubles in the workplace.
This whole situation once again made Ren ache with anger.
Too many people not getting their just deserts, nobody doing nothing of worth, and oppressors still continuing their work free from any judgment.
Ren was absolutely tired of this whole situation.
Mitsuki noticed her cousin's feelings and gave a sideways hug as they entered the half-full auditorium. They sat right at the front of the panel.
If you were on the podium, they would be right in the presenter's field of view. This was a tactic Mitsuki used to become memorable even in the face of the presenters.
Ren smiled. She really was ruthless sometimes, even in moments like this.
Mitsuki was a person that valued being recognized by her professors, teachers, and others. She wanted to stick into people's minds a lot. It was why she sometimes spoke like a crazy person when things were not severe enough. Professors would look at her and smile because they remembered her, remembered her personality and grades, and she used that to her full advantage to get to the top. It was why she was one of the biggest names in this University as of the past semester. She really tried hard to be recognized by everyone. Ren admired this method of living. It wasn't something Ren would do. In fact, if he had to pick a seat, he would pick on in the further back to go unnoticed and analyzing things from afar. That's who Ren was in terms of a person. He liked to sit back and studying things to the extreme and form his silent conclusions. He always had excellent grades and consistently stuck to the top of the class, but his intentions weren't to be memorable to others.
Though right now, due to his charisma, one could say he was memorable due to his looks to everybody he met. Which wasn't a nice thing for someone like him who liked to go unnoticed and plot from the shadows.
Ren looked at the auditorium. It was now packed full. Many students in the computer science courses were in attendance, but a lot of unrelated people had also arrived. And then, she and other professors arrived in the front.
Ren noticed she was the same woman that exchanged eye contact with him yesterday. She was Ichinose Kuon. Ren guessed there was something deeply wrong with her. There was no other way to say this. But by her eyes, he could tell she was quite the empty person. There was nothing to her but vacant expressions on her face imitating emotions, laughter, and smirks. There was nothing there that could be called a person. Ichinose Kuon was more like a robot herself than a human. It felt humorous to someone like Ren because she was the expert in building AI assistants. It felt strange to know the person behind some of their developments was as cold-hearted as the machines she created. Though laughing at that might be a little insensitive. Ren wasn't wholly a complete person either. The only emotion inside him was rage, after all. There wasn't enough substance to him either. In fact, there might be even less due to the dam Wild Card power he had. he was a zero in the eyes of Igor and the twins. A vessel of potential, as they said.
So Ichinose Kuon was more like Ren than he liked to admit.
"…Without the proper considerations, AI could lead to bias on the basis of race or gender, inequality, human job loss, and, in extreme cases, even physical harm."
Her charm was superficial, yet it attacked people all over the audience with her quippy responses and dry humor about things as she presented. But there was nothing more to that. She was quippy just for the sake of easing people. She wasn't looking for them to laugh. She was almost hoping people would recognize her as a fellow human being that had some sort of semblance of feelings instead of being a doll.
"…An AI system's decisions are only as good as the data it's trained on. Models may be trained on data containing human decisions or data that reflect second-order effects of societal or historical inequities. If left unchecked, AI's imperfections can cause physical harm. Let's look at self-driving cars, an AI application that is beginning to take hold in today's automobile market. If a self-driving car malfunctions and goes off-course, that poses an immediate risk to the passenger, other drivers on the road, and pedestrians."
Mitsuki instantly recognized it. She was an expert at reading people, after all. And she was also one who put on several acts consciously to make herself memorable. So both Ren and Mitsuki found a fellow comrade who was empty inside. How nice for them.
She had a clear voice and was quite the presenter of information. Her slides were beautiful, and other professors were speaking as well. However, there was no doubt the smartest one in this room was Ichinose Kuon. Ren might have had knowledge above everyone else. But Kuon was really far and above everyone here in her respective field. It made Ren respect her more. Once you're as empty inside as they are, it becomes difficult to find motivation for something. Mitsuki found reason within the Amamiya Family. Ren was basically being fueled by his rage, anger, hatred, wrath, and all the sour emotions. So what did fuel Kuon's search for her knowledge in this field?
She was speaking about the dangers of artificial intelligence and how it could integrate into their life.
Ren understood it all. He just made a program that used bots to influence people's opinions in a bit to Astroturf a campaign against Kamoshida and Horie. Indeed, Ren intimately knows the things she was talking about, and he took advantage of those exact things. It felt a bit strange being the culprit in front of the defender of justice.
Ren was still reeling back from all the things happening. However, he did realize something. Just as much as he was staring at the beautiful lady Kuon as she gave her presentation. She was also staring back at him, right into his eyes.
"…When you're working with AI, it's less like working with another human and a lot more like working with some kind of mysterious force of nature. And it's really easy to accidentally give AI the wrong problem to solve, and often we don't realize that until something has actually gone wrong. Sometimes, the things we ask for, they won't understand it."
At first, Ren thought she was being influenced by his charisma into turning into a lustful woman. However, that wasn't the case as Kuon was empty inside.
She was staring at him as if she found a comrade.
Ren smirked a bit at that.
Mitsuki, by his side, realized it a bit later and smirked too.
Fellow robots do recognize each other, after all.
After the panel was over, both cousins went behind the room and had a lengthy discussion with the professor. And Ichinose was quite the conversationalist when speaking about dry topics like her area of expertise. While talking about AI dominating the whole world like the movies sounded fun, the process behind it was as dull as watching paint dry. However, she was deeply interested in that. She made it her life's work, despite being such an empty person. Ren wanted to speak to her more about her motives and whatnot, and then suddenly, the chains of confidants fired again. This woman was one of them. She was a confidant.
"I doubt you're able to continue your project like this when all the big players are forcing you one way or another. What are you actually going to do, Professor Ichinose?"
There were a lot of big players wanting her to be prosecuted for just being too good. That was a big shame. She was being closed in for all sides for daring to make a better product than all of them. It's hard to empathize with many faceless multinationals closing in on a woman who has worked hard for all of them and now wants to make a similar product. Ichinose was also very reclusive, even though she was a good conversationalist. All others thought she was just too emotionless and too dry for them to ever consider spending time with her. Ren thought differently. He wanted to spend more time with such a person. Of all the 'teachers' he ever met, she was the first to actually earn his respect. That was saying something. Ren had a chronic hatred for teachers.
"It isn't straightforward when you're being pressured from all sides, right, Amamiya-san? There is nothing else but to move forward with it. The secret is to be stubborn. Thankfully all the big players that want me to slave away for them are all multinationals that don't have too much pull in Japan, so the courts are protecting me for the time being. However, as you know, it's hard to maintain a clear mind."
"When everything is closing down on you, what do you do, Professor?"
"I normally marathon series while munching on popcorn. There is no need for everything to be so overly complicated. I am not the over-intelligent person everyone expects I am. I relax as everyone else does. I just lucked out and worked in my field for a few years. I was pressured into high positions and, unfortunately, had to learn how things worked. Else I would get fired. I just got good at what I do only due to the pressure, and I am good at deadlines. There's nothing else to it, I'm afraid. Good at deadlines and learning under pressure. That's what my life's been about. Well, this is goodbye. I'll stay in Shibuya for a few months now, as I work to complete my project. Call me if you need anything. It seems our conversations are quite entertaining. I can also give out some CS tutoring if you'd like. Of course, Mitsuki-san can join if she likes."
She was more substantial and more humble than he realized. She was cold-hearted, and her eyes shone no light. Yet there was also an easy smile and a tone of voice that loved to speak. Nine out of ten people would just run the other way because the combination of those characteristics made her quite creepy and intimidating. However, Ren knew weird women. Ichinose Kuon wasn't one of them. She wasn't Kira Azami. She wasn't Horie Rei. She wasn't his own mother. And she wasn't the woman with the three cats.
Ichinose Kuon was one of the tamest insane people he ever met.
I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow,
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity,
With the birth of the Hunger Persona
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power...
[Hunger—rank 1—Ichinose Kuon]
New Skill—The Hunger begets more Hunger.
Ren can learn people's feelings through touch. Along with their regrets, along with their sufferings.
So Ichinose Kuon was his little Hunger?
Mitsuki, who was also speaking with Ichinose Kuon, took the conversation from there.
"I'll be in contact soon. I have a ton of projects I'd like to go over with you. In the meantime, would you like to have some dinner with us? I'm paying."
"Ahaha, while I'd hate to turn down free food, I still have another seminar to attend this night. My schedule is quite harsh this month. So please accept my apologies."
Wednesday—04/13—20:57
Roppongi || Shopping Mall
Mitsuki took him to Roppongi again, this time to an expensive barbecue place.
If there was something that Mitsuki loved to do was spend money on expensive restaurants.
She felt fulfilled doing that.
It wasn't as if she ate a lot. In fact, she ate very little and was as slim as a model. However, she preferred eating out instead of eating at home. She was wealthy, so she spent her days scouring good restaurants to dine in. Having said that, she also didn't spend money on delivery services, opting instead to visit the restaurants themselves. And it seemed she was a famous foodie. This was her favorite hobby to do, give out reviews in restaurants she visited, and of course, take pictures during meals. Ren was a big fan of pictures despite his reclusive and analytical personality. And he liked the validation of social media, as much as that might seem like a weak mindset to some. Ren couldn't have validation given to him after being convicted as a minor, and his new school offered very little of what he had before in terms of groups of friends. Ryuji was his close friend, but they were still in the early stages of that friendship. The only other person he contacted was Ann, but she was an acquaintance at best as of now. At home in the Leblanc cafe, he was disliked extensively by Sojiro, so he was rejected at home and school.
So he sought some solace in online validation for now. And it was working somewhat. Happily, he made a lot of followers in a few days. And the comments made him glad.
So he continued that validation journey and wasn't bothered that Mitsuki loved to take pictures, even unsolicited ones.
The restaurant served a course meal for him and just one plate for her.
The secret of not overeating for her was stealing a few bites of his plate while he ate the rest.
It was okay. While Mitsuki ate very little, Ren was a glutton.
Ren loved to eat foods in tremendous amounts. In fact, he loved to stuff himself even before getting the power of Persona. Now that he got it, Ren ate so much that he was surprised he wasn't morbidly obese. And as always, Mitsuki was also drinking some expensive beer. Now that was something that could fatten her up if she was not careful. But when he said that, all he got was a slap to his thigh and a furious look. Mitsuki was a formidable woman indeed.
"Here, this is money from Grandpa, he said to give it to you, your allowance for this month. It's not much, but well, our family is in disarray right now with your father missing."
She passed a note roll to him. From a glance, he counted 100,000 yen—more than enough for a high-schooler to live in a month. However, he was quite the glutton after turning into a Persona User. This money would soon be burned due to the incredible amount of food he consumed.
+100,000 ¥ || 119,890 ¥
"Thank you, give my thanks to Grandpa too."
Thursday—05/13—3:22
Aoyama || Leblanc
Ren arrived, dead tired.
After he went to dinner with Mitsuki, he delivered her drunken self to her apartment. Ren had touched Mitsuki's shoulders as he carried her, and what he found was a confusing mess. A bundle of things that just made him a bit confused. He felt tired. It was just a muddled feeling.
After delivering her to her apartment, he had to go to a net café without ID verification, wearing different clothes. He bought a new jersey and went to deploy his program. Not only did he have to use virtual machines, but he also had to install so many different things. Public spaces are quite a bit of trouble to set up. Unfortunately, he hoped he could at least have a personal computer to do these things, even if it increased the possibility of getting caught. But it was worth the trouble. The damn program was already deployed in some unnamed cloud with the last of his puny coin wallet spent on it.
It was too much trouble. Now Ren wanted to see if it was worth it.
By the end of two weeks, the plan was to have Kamoshida be cornered by public opinion.
Ren hoped for the best and was prepared for the worst.
In the worst case, he still would have the powers of Persona to prepare an accidental death.
But now, he was too tired for words. It was way past his sleep time. It was almost four in the morning. And he had classes tomorrow…
Purple mists began to fill his vision. He felt as though he wasn't feeling things anymore. And the sceneries passing through his mind felt more like some sort of illusion of memories.
Ren crashed onto his bed. At least he hoped he was in his bed.
And then, he slept. Hoping to see the twins yet again.
Yet, there was nothing of the sort in his dreams. No, Igor and the twins.
Instead, an empty circular room, going up and up. With a metal fence right before him. The room went up and up while the clock spun counter-clockwise. Every time the room went up, it would make this horrible metallic noise, and there was light coming out of the fence every time a new floor was reached.
This was not a room but an elevator.
There was a magic table in front of him. One you often see in magician shows.
And in front of him was a handsome boy with blue hair. Sitting right across from Ren.
The boy's blue eyes met the grey ones, and an empty and sad expression rose.
Ren reached with his fingers to just touch the boy's face for a moment.
However, he couldn't reach the boy.
There was nothing else as the purple mist overtook Ren's consciousness, even from this dream.
Right outside the window of Leblanc's second floor, there were three sets of eyes.
Three cats were watching Ren sleep.
Almost like they could peer into his dreams.
Ren Stats
Level 7 || HP:375/375 || SP:212/212
Knowledge—Genius 103/250—Rank 5
Guts—Gallant 74/250—Rank 5
Proficiency—Expert 105/250—Rank 5
Kindness—Clement 76/250—Rank 5
Charm—Allure 93/250—Rank 5
119,890 ¥
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Author's notes
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This chapter is a little darker, with Ren pointing a gun at a high-school student. Nevertheless, things are getting more complicated with characters from Persona Strikers making an appearance as well. We have Ichinose Kuon, one of the main antagonists of that game is a new confidant. And now have Persona battles in the real world with Arsene and Captain Kidd duking it out. It seems a random passing lady noticed what was happening. Things move slowly, but this is a slow burn. So I will be doing day-by-day until the end of the year. Ren's cousin and the Todai storyline, Lua and Horie Rei, and Kira Azami, these OC characters will be prevalent in this massive spring arc. However, the central conflict with Kamoshida is still at the forefront. Right now, Ren is at a crossroads. This fic is focused on what-if the Phantom Thieves were evil, so I got to make the characters' descent first.
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