Chapter 13: How Far Are You Willing To Go? (Part One)

Akira idles her time away in her room, copying notes from her English textbook. She hopes Ann is feeling better, although even a shopping trip to Untouchable hadn't seemed to pull her out of her dour mood.

The owner, Iwai, was surprised to see Akira back so soon, and even more surprised by the friend she'd brought along. He was willing to take their money, though, when Akira found a model that suited Ann's style. A semi-automatic. 'Spray and pray', Akira had said, remembering Ann's Persona lighting the entire castle entrance aflame.

Akira's phone buzzes on the desk, texts from Ann coming in.

Ann: i just can't believe this…
Ann: if everyone knows what kamoshida is going
Ann: then why hasn't anyone said something!?

Akira: you mean everyone like, the parents and the school?

Ann: yeah seriously!

Akira: its because everyone thinks if they just suck it up, itll all work out

Ann: just suck it up!?

Akira: the parents want their kids to succeed
Akira: if that means a few too many bruises, it's fine if itll get them a scholarship to a good university
Akira: and the principal?
Akira: that fat sack of shit doesnt care about anything but shujins reputation
Akira: hed bury the scandal so deep youd need an archeologist to dig it up

Ann: that didn't stop sakamoto…

Akira: stop him from what?

Ann: he was kicked off the track team for getting in a fight with kamoshida
Ann: the school said kamoshida fought back in self-defense

Akira: so the school passed all the blame onto a student
Akira: yeah that tracks
Akira: bet they praised kamoshida for his restraint and deft handling of a difficult situation

Ann: how did you know?

Akira: lucky guess

The next morning, Akira wakes up to a loud thump downstairs.

Sojiro calls up to her, "Kid, you got a package from your school."

Ten minutes later, Akira looks herself over in the bathroom mirror. She ties her hair up in the usual small bun, thick oily strands of black lying loose outside of it. She lifts her chin up to admire the collar of the Shujin undershirt flush against her neck. The black blazer suits her, she decides, the chest snug against her sports bra, but not constricting. She admires the curve of her legs, accentuated by the trousers she's fit tightly into. Already, she feels more comfortable without all the open air skirts allow.

Perhaps she won't stand out less, but she'll be much more comfortable no matter how many eyes are watching her.

"Wait, who's that?"

"That's the transfer student, isn't she?"

"Why's she wearing the guy's uniform?"

"She looks good, though…"

The school day passes quickly, and while some of the remarks about her are less-than-appropriate, they all focus more on the outfit than on who's wearing it.

She stops on her way to the courtyard after school by a girl standing in front of the doors. A black high ponytail dangling down to her neck as she stares down at her phone, an empty look in her eyes.

She looks up when Akira gets close. "What?" A bruise, purple and ugly, sits above her left eye. "Oh… I'm in the way, aren't I? Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it." Athletic build, leg brace, battered and bruised. Definitely a volleyball player. "You okay?"

"Huh…?" She stares at her, shuffling in place and grabbing one arm and then the other. "I… don't recognize you." She blinks up at Akira, as if seeing her for the first time. "You're the transfer student from Class D, aren't you?"

When Akira shrugs, the girl shrinks away. "You probably don't need to hear it from me… but don't let the rumors get to you, okay?" She squeezes her eyes tight. "Ann's already going through so much, just because of her looks…"

The lightbulb goes off in Akira's head. "You must be Suzui-kun." She blinks as Shiho straightens. "Sorry, too informal? Suzui-san?"

"Y-Yeah, that's me!" She says with some cheer. "Anyway, I have to go to practice. I'll see you around."

"See ya." Akira watches her trudge away, before Shiho stops, and turns her head back.

"Um… take care of Ann for me, okay?" Her voice is soft, uncertain.

Akira nods. "Of course. Are… you sure you're okay?"

Shiho smiles. "Thank you." She walks away, without giving an answer.

Ann is waiting for Akira in the courtyard, kicking her legs underneath the bench she's perched on with tense frustration.

"Ugh, this sucks!" She cried, stomping on the tile floor.

"No luck, I'm guessing."

Ann shakes her head, before smacking it against the side of the vending machine next to her with a groan. "None of the girls would say anything, and all the guys were just saying the same thing as Mishima! 'It's hopeless, there's no point,' it's like they're reading from the most depressing script in the world." She drops her head back into her hands, chin jutting out. "The only way to stop Kamoshida like this would be directly…"

"With no evidence and no witness testimonies, the pigs in suits won't do shit even if they wanted to open an investigation. Which, newsflash, they don't," Akira helpfully points out.

"There has to be something we can do, though!"

Akira shrugs, before saying, "While the king rules his castle, why not steal his throne?"

Ann blinks up at her, raising her head. "You mean, in the other world? What would that even do? How do we even—"

"There you are!"

The girls look around, searching for the familiar, boyish voice. Ann's twintails swish back and forth as she looks around. "Wasn't that…?"

A black cat jumps up onto the table in between them. "It took me longer than expected, but I finally caught up with you."

Akira gasps, "Kitty!"

"Mona!?"

Morgana's fur bristles as he lifts himself up on all four white-furred feet. "I understand wanting to get out of that awful Palace, but you didn't have to leave me behind!"

Ann lets out a deep breath. "Okay, I'm not crazy, Morgana is an actual talking cat—"

"I am NOT a cat—!"

"Mona-chan!"

Mona protests as Akira sweeps him up into her arms, nuzzling into him with her cheek. "D-Dame Akira, put me down! I only started to look like this when I came to your world!"

Ann blinks rapidly. "Our world!? How did you get here? Where do you keep your phone?" She gasps dramatically, "Does your fur have pockets?"

"Of course not!" Morgana squirms out of Akira's grip and lands back on the table, licking his paw. "I don't need a phone to do what I do. If you do, it's just as a medium to the abilities you don't know how to access yet at your level."

Akira sighs, "It's not fair that you know all of this stuff about the Metaverse and you're cute as a button, Mona-chan."

Ann stomps her foot. "Can you please get serious?"

"You girls are having a tough time, right? You were talking about fighting that king again, so you don't have a solution here in the real world." Morgana's mouth pulls back in the cat equivalent of a grin. "I can help you figure out what to do about Kamoshida."

"You can!?" Ann presses her palms together. "Please help us, Mona!"

"Nya ha ha!" The cat preens. "Why, I could hardly call myself a gentlethief if I left two fair ladies high and dry—"

"Oh, shit—!" Akira quickly grabs Morgana and muffles him as an authoritative voice comes around the corner.

"We really have to be taking the time to find a cat of all things?" A faculty member asks sternly.

The third year student next to him says, "I just heard a meow around here, sir!"

Akira gingerly places Mona into her bag on top of her notebooks. "Come on, let's get somewhere private."

"So, they only hear Morgana as a meowing cat?"

"Looks like it—"

"Shhh!" Akira muffles him by zipping up her bag. "Quiet now, meow later."

The trio make it to the rooftop before Akira opens her bag again.

Morgana leaps out before yowling, "Don't be so rough with me!"

Akira dips her head. "Sorry, Mona-chan. You were saying about Kamoshida?"

Morgana grins. "Right. About what you said earlier, you have to attack the castle." Akira beams from the vindication. "The castle is how he views the school. He doesn't know what's going on in there, but it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart. If the castle were to disappear, it would naturally affect the real Kamoshida's worldview."

Ann tilts her head against her palm. "So, if we change the castle…"

"A Palace is the manifestation of a person's distorted desires," Mona continues. "To remove the distortion, you have to destroy the Palace. If Kamoshida loses those distorted desires," he trails off.

"He'll have a change of heart?" Akira asks.

"Exactly! You're a natural, Dame Akira!"

Ann's eyes go wide. "He-he'll really change? He'll stop hurting people!?"

"And that's not all," the cat says with a satisfied grin. "Though the warped wants disappear, the crimes committed still remain. No honest person could bear the weight of those crimes; he'll confess them himself!"

"This almost sounds too good to be true," Ann squeals.

"Don't jinx it."

Morgana laughs. "The Palace will be erased, and all of our actions inside with it. Kamoshida will be defeated without any connection to us at all."

"Who cares!?" Ann shouts. "How do we do it? Come oooon, tell us!"

"Simple! We have to steal the Treasure within." Morgana lowers his head in an approximation of a steely glare. "I'll only tell you more if you agree to help me out. I won't be left hanging like last time."

Akira shrugs, turning to Ann. "Seems easy to me. It's not like we have any other options."

Ann nods to her and looks back to Morgana. "We're in."

The cat's whole feline face lights up. "Yes! Thank you, I won't let you down!" Akira coos as he rubs up against their legs for a moment, before stopping. "Oh, but before I forget…

"If we erase a Palace, the distorted desires obviously go with it. But everyone needs desires to live. The will to sleep, eat, fall in love…"

"I don't like where this is going," Akira says softly.

"If every single desire in a person were to vanish, they'd be nothing but an empty husk, completely shut down. Without proper care, they could even die."

"D-die!?" Ann whispers. "We… we'd be killing Kamoshida."

"How far are you willing to go to stop him? Are you ready to take those kinds of risks?"

Ann looks shaken, so Akira squares her shoulders. "I'll do it."

"Akira!?"

Morgana nods his head. "If you're worried, no one would ever find out we were involved."

"That's not the point!" Ann's face drops into her hands. "I want him to stop, but-but I don't want to be a killer!"

"He didn't say we would kill him," Akira clarifies. "Just that there's a chance. If anything, he's lucky he's even getting a shot at staying alive," she shrugs. "People have died for a lot less than what he's getting away with. If it killed him, I could live with that."

"Well I can't!" Ann screams at her.

"I'm afraid it's your only option." Morgana shakes his head. "I'll leave you to think on it. I'll come back later, if you make a decision."

As he darts off across the rooftop, Ann sighs. "I… I don't know if I can do this."

Akira pats her on the shoulder. "It's alright, Ann. You shouldn't have to." She looks out over the skyline. "Sometimes, justice isn't as easy as just doing the right thing. Kamoshida needs to be stopped, but everyone has a line they're not willing to cross. This is yours, and that's okay."

A/N: Sorry for the delay. A lot of life happened, including getting my own apartment! Holy crap!

Next chapter, Akira FINALLY gets that beef bowl I promised her two months ago.

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