Persona X TWEWY X Kingdom Hearts
Summary: Trapped in an unfair game? Fighting against society? Changing the hearts of evil adults? Save the world? Discovering oneself? Nothing out of the ordinary for these teenagers.
Chapter Twenty-Seven.
The Artist and Counsellor.
*Early Morning: Sunday. 15/5*
Stirring her milkshake in silence with the most dreamy smile on her face, posture completely relaxed and at ease while letting her ears be blessed by the soft tunes of the hip-hop music over her head, Kairi dreamily sighs. High on happiness and absolutely smitten from last night's events, the sensation of warmth spreading from her heart and all over her body whilst her mind replays that moment over and over again like a record.
Nothing could help her express how happy she is, nor even compare to the sensation of electricity that ran through her when she felt his lips against hers. The warm feeling she gets whenever he hugged her now and how they were so comfortable with touching to the point neither she or he felt any awkward or uncomfortable sensation between them. And to top it all, the fact she could call him her boyfriend and he would reciprocate it with either a smile, happy laugh or best of all, kiss her, she was sure her heart would burst from her chest and tap dance with joy.
So joyous and blissfully happy, Kairi hadn't even noticed her friends, who arrived merely five minutes ago, staring at her waiting for her high to come to an end.
"…so…I'm guessing it well?" Rhyme asked, finally voicing their arrival.
Kairi blinked and shook her head, blushing and sitting up right when she sees her friends sitting in her booth. "O-Oh! Hey girls! When…did you get here?" she asked, sheepishly smiling. "As of now, six minutes ago…" Rhyme answers, but her smile shows no annoyance or irritation.
"Somebody was SOOOO lovey-dovey about her relationship update she didn't even notice us or our drinks!" Eri teases, elbowing her, "Guess that date went BETTER than you thought, huh?".
"Did he sweep you off your feet? Serenade you with a song or something even more romantic?" Ann asked with a grin, "Come on, don't leave out the details!".
Her blush darkening as her friends press her for answers, and with shyness at its highest, Kairi recounts her date. The more she spoke about it, the wider and warmer her smile got, before long she was resting her head on her hand, recounting everything with near perfect detail. Then when she got to the bridge, she squealed and told them of the kiss, prompting the others to either squeal, hug/congratulate her and even coo at Sora's bravery to kiss her.
"Ha ha! A kiss on the first date! Ballsy of you two!" Eri cheered, ignoring Shiki's lecture about her language, "Ryuji owes me five hundred yen for that!".
"You made a bet on whether or not they kiss?" Ann asked, surprised.
"Humph! I knew he'd be unable to resist her, thanks to our stylish sense of fashion!" brags the designer.
"I feel like Kairi could have worn a burlap sake and he'd still be smitten by her…" Naminé says with an eyeroll. Eri pouts at the blonde who shrugged in response while Shiki and Ann pester Kairi for more details about the date, Xion slurping her smoothie quietly, yet eyes trained on Kairi. She explained that after the kiss, after squealing again, she and he went back to the Café, and in the morning he gave her a "see you later" kiss and she unashamedly confessed she hugged herself for ten minutes before coming here.
"You're so lucky, but you do know you're gonna have a lot of enemies in school now that he's off the market," Ann teased, reminding them of the new fanbase Sora and the other boys had unknowingly created. Kairi scoffed and rebukes that she's not afraid of Sora's fanbase, boasting that she knew him longer and was going to make every girl know who's dating him. Xion then teases that they'll be super jealous that his rear now belongs to Kairi, and Kairi, in response, firmly agreed.
"Now we just need to get Neku to grow a pair and ask you out!" Eri says with a grin directed at the scarlet cheeked Shiki, "Maybe we could encourage Ryuji-
"NOPE! NU UH! NOT GONNA HAPPEN!" Ann says firmly, "I don't care what superpowers that magic fruit has, no way in hell am I gonna date Ryuji!".
"…work in progress," Eri responds.
"Hold on, what about Naminé? Don't you have a thing for Riku?" Rhyme asked. Naminé's eyes widened, and her cheeks are practically on fire at the question, making her stammer and stutter a response that ultimately turned into incoherent noises that not even the most insane could understand. Kairi coos at her "sister" for having a thing for her brother figure while Xion confesses that she is also a fond respecter of the posterior that is Riku's, making Naminé squeak a cry from her throat and shrink in her seat.
"So many pairings…so little time…" Eri says dreamily, already imaging the plans to get people together while her friends banter and tease.
"T-T-T-THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!" Naminé near shrieked, then composes herself. She turned to Kairi and explained this morning's events with Yusuke and this potential new target, along with her own meetings with the teen and potentially collaboration. Kairi folds her arms on the table as she listens in, humming and thinking the same thing her sister was thinking. "You think that Nakanohara was talking about this Madarame," she says.
"I mean how often do you hear that name?" Shiki asked, "But from what Naminé says the old man sounds like he genuinely cares for both art and Yusuke's success".
"Pfft yeah, but remember how Kamo-dickhead acted around everyone else? Maybe that old geezer is no different behind closed doors," Eri argued.
Naminé agreed both sides had the merits and even with her brief encounter with the man, she really had no grounds to suspect Madarame was indeed the bad guy in this situation. Kamoshida refused to take any responsibility when confronted in the Metaverse, blaming everyone and anything to scape goat the guilt, and if Nakanohara was in the similar veins as him, then he could have blamed everything that went wrong on the old man. But then again Morgana's words carried enough to make her doubt Nakanohara's blaming being entirely spiteful.
"But what about Yusuke? Maybe he is being abused by Madarame like all of the volleyball team behind the scenes?" Kairi offers, reminding everyone about Mishima and other students.
"Yeah but they had proof of being abused by Kamoshida remember?" Rhyme says, "I feel if Yusuke is being mistreated, there may be another means of such".
"I'm starting to think Naminé's right…maybe he is a bad guy…" Shiki confessed, "But we don't have any proof or even a lead".
Naminé agreed to that, but the shows everyone the tickets they received from the artist. "I think if we do attend this after school tomorrow, we may be able to get an idea on their relationship and even find some proof of Madarame being an abusive teacher". The downside is to this is that the tickets only add up to five, and with Ann and Naminé going, only three more could tag along. "So who else is gonna go? I mean not to sound like a judgey bitch, but he didn't exactly like Ren or Ryuji," Eri says, remembering the look the boy gave the two.
"Well…what if Riku went along? He has that look to him you know? Like…a super model whose secretly a tragic artist!" Shiki says with a laugh. Naminé hummed and admitted Riku certainly did have that air around him and surmised that maybe Ventus could pass off as someone with a love for the fine arts. "And if Rhyme tagged along, maybe we won't look so out of place there," she explained, "Plus you've studied some bit of art history haven't you?".
"Just enough to understand who to write kanji with paint…eligible is another story however…" Rhyme remarked.
"Then its settled, you girls go to the show and see what you can get from the two, while we," Kairi says while holding up her phone, "See what else we can find on the Phan-site". They all nodded and decide to enjoy their day out together.
*Afterschool: Monday. 16/5*
*Department Store*
"So crowded…" Ventus groans the moment the five stepped toward to the entrance of the exhibit.
The floor was crowed with dozens of people, and with such narrow and small spaces it certainly looked jam packed. Naminé folds her arms with a small sigh, agreeing that this was going to be more uncomfortable than she, or they, would like. "Just texted Ren and the others, "Riku says, stuffing his phone into his pocket, "They're already looking up more about this guy and I think he's asked Mishima to try and reach out to Nakanohara too".
"You guys sure it's a good idea to try and get him to meet Ren?" Ann asked, "I mean what if he figures out who he is?".
"Doubtful, he only had a few seconds before Riku flat out wiped the floor with him," Naminé reminds, "Plus if he's like Kamoshida, he won't have any recollection".
Just as she finished, she spots Yusuke approaching them, dressed in a gray blazer striped with white vertical lines over a long white sleeve shirt with red and pink detail, black pants and black ankle boots. With a pleasant smile he greeted his fellow artist and potential model with warm and gratitude, but his warmth evaporated when he greet the two boys. Riku's own eyes turn darker and concern, and he stepped beside Naminé and introduced himself and Ventus.
"A pleasure," greets Yusuke but composed and fair more stiff.
"Same to you," Riku replied.
Rhyme and Ventus share a glance on confusion, wondering where this sudden tension came from before Ann interjected their stand-off. "So um…I know Madarame is showing his pieces but are there any of yours?".
"Oh, of course," he replied with a nod, "If you wish, may I show you?". The girls nodded and followed him with Riku following closely behind them, leaving Rhyme and Ventus behind. Ventus throws his hands behind his head asked the shorter blonde what they should do while, evidently, those three go investigate. "Well, I suppose we could try and appreciate fine art ourselves?" she offers, "At least until their done with Yusuke and Madarame". Then she walks in with Ventus following suit, and by chance as they bypass a few paintings she sees Madarame himself in front of the three reporters.
As subtle as they could, using the painting near the old man as an excuse to get close, they listened in to the chat between the mentor of Yusuke and the reporters. The reporter complimented on his imagination and seemingly endless source of creations that stem from his expansive styles, and when she said, "that it's hard to believe to all stems from one person", Rhyme frowned with suspicion. Ventus leaned in close to her and asked: "What's wrong?".
"Nothing yet but…something about what she's asked is linked to Madarame…", she replied while crossing her arms. Listening into the conversation Rhyme hears how Madarame explains where his imagination stems from but all it was to her was fanciful words that in all honestly sounded more pretentious. He says it comes naturally to anyone once you distance yourself from "worldly desires" like money and fame. Even his atelier, a private workshop, is a humble shack that apparently allows him to create true beauty.
"A what?" Ventus asked, the word going over his head.
"An atelier is a private workshop that's used for art, even architecture," Rhyme explains, "Which would make sense considering one would need a lot of space for their projects and usually its run by the master of the place who supervises the students".
"So because he works in a crappy shack, that helps him understand beauty?" Ventus chirped.
"Seems like it to the reporter…" Rhyme notes, gesturing the way she teased how Madarame of all people said the word "shack". Even then he was humble and joked if she saw it she'd understand where he was coming from. Then as his voice carried over, more people took notice that he was here and then suddenly the two Phantom Thieves were swept up in a rushing river of people, almost pushing the girl onto the ground.
"H-Hey! Ouch!" she says after a very eager fan nearly tackled her like a football player. "Ven, retreat to the exit before we're stomped to death!".
Meanwhile on the other side of the exhibit, the other members were guided by Yusuke. Riku has been silent throughout the tour, minus a few hums and compliments here and there just to show some interest, he let Naminé, and Ann carry the conversations between them and Yusuke without any real input from him. The older teenager knew Yusuke was wary of him and evidently didn't like the fact Naminé brought other teens who have little love for art and given how on guard the blue haired teen was only solidified Riku's concerns for this collab.
In front of a wall decorated with beautiful pieces of art, Ann compliments and reveals her ignorance of Japanese art. Yusuke explains softly that his sensei created his own style of art, as opposed to someone just concentrating on the usual styles that populated the art world. "There's quite a few pieces of art here of varying styles…kinda impressive really," Riku commented, "Most artists have a style of their own, but your master has so many variations its actually hard to believe this is all his".
"…it… may seem so to those outside the life of an artist, but sensei is special," Yusuke said, but the master sensed his tone had shifted into a very defensive one. Just as he said this, Madarame showed himself to the others with a greeting smile. His eyes brightened when he spotted Naminé again and like before spoke to her with honorifics.
"Are you enjoying yourselves here?" he asked, curious.
While Ann certainly complimented and again expressed her awe of the variety of art on display here, Naminé pleasantly described the amount of emotion she received from just looking at the pieces here. The old man was satisfied with this, and then turns to Riku. "What about you, young man?" he asked.
"Have to admit, I wasn't expecting to feel anything, but truth be told, these pieces are pretty impressive," he lied. Madarame chuckled and thanked him, explaining that this was one of the greatest accomplishments any artist could achieve. He turned to Yusuke and prayed his next piece would be worthy of hanging and being displayed for the world to witness before he walks away to chat with other artists. Riku noted the Yusuke was surprisingly unable to face his master, and only when Madarame had his back turned to him, does he so much as raise his face.
The silver haired warrior stuffed his hands into his pocket, pondering. "Every time that old comes near Yusuke, he completely shuts down and puts up a front…why is that?" he thinks, remembering Naminé's story from the last time she saw him.
"He's surprisingly friendly…most artists are usually more closed off or distant," Naminé compliments. Yusuke lowly chuckled and reiterates that his master is a special kind of artist. But their little chat was side-tracked by Ann who, just on her right, spotted a painting she had been wanting to look at. She had it looked up yesterday and wanted to see it in person, which prompts her fellow thieves to look at it with curiosity.
The design was simple but elegant, it appeared to be a sunset behind a few tall trees and leaves, like watching a landscape behind the veil of a forest. The colours used strongly was mostly dark colours that in Naminé's opinion strongly showed frustration and anger, which she voiced alongside Ann and Riku concurring with her assessment. Definitely the most striking piece compared to the other ones, where they were traditional art, this one carried a great deal of negative emotions. Ann commented that it was odd that such a calm and even friendly artist like Madarame could create a piece like this.
Both guardians of light took note of Yusuke's withdrawn look and saw him avert his gaze from the piece as if it offends his very eyes. He cleared his throat and assured them that there were far better pieces to witness and without even waiting for them to respond, he walks off while requesting they follow him. Ann stumbles after him leaving the two behind. Naminé frowned and crossed her arms with a deep hum in her throat.
"This painting…it really bothers Yusuke," she says.
"Yeah, and for someone whose got a lot of respect for his master, he never shows any of that artsy energy to him," Riku added, "You were right when you mentioned how composed and silent he gets when Madarame was around".
"Any student would show a master their adore both respect and admiration but never be afraid to show their own passion…" Naminé says, "But what is it about his master that pushes the artist into his shell?".
Riku looks at her, a silver brow raised with a smirk on his lips. She turns her gaze to him with a blink, and he teases: "So you've an artist's hand and tongue". The girl blushes and clears her throat, suggesting they chase after the two before someone accuses them of loitering.
*Underpass*
"Ouch…I thought that old woman dislodged at rib or two…" Ventus whined as he leaned against the glass wall overlooking the scramble. The rain pelting the panel behind him oddly was soothing and dare he say relaxing while Rhyme sits down near him rubbing her cheek, silently groaning about the lack of manners fans have.
"Least you two made it out alive…" Neku commented, scrolling through his phone while simultaneously chatting with the two. After the two younger members of the ever growing Phantom Thieves escaped from being stampeded to death, Neku had texted them about potential intel on Madarame and asked if he could meet up with them at the underpass. Upon arrival, they agreed to wait for the girls and Riku since they needed to know where this Yusuke stood when it came to his master.
"Thanks for ditching us!".
The three look to see Ann and the other two stomping toward them, grumbling about being left behind. Neku rolls his eyes when Ventus sheepishly scratched his neck and Rhyme explaining that they were nearly one with the floor thanks to Madarame's fans. Riku greets Neku with a wave, and once Ann finished her complaints the orange haired teenager turns to them with his phone in hand and showed them the website.
"Got curious about this guy and thought I'd take another look, guess what I found?" he asked. He lets the others huddle around him while he showed them the post that caught his eyes. He reads: "A master of Japanese arts is plagiarizing his pupil's works. Only his public face is on public TV".
"Plagiarizing!?" Ann says with a jump.
"Yeah," Neku replied, "See when Rhyme and Ventus texted the rest of us about their side of the tour, something about "shack" and his name jogged a memory of mine". He reads out more of the post, detailing that Madarame does nothing to help his students learn about art, rather he merely bosses them around and treats those who live with him poorly, inhumane really. "Treating them like dogs that need discipline…" Riku growls, "Damnit, if this is real…".
"Do you think Yusuke was the one who posted this? I mean he IS his student after all," Ann asks.
"I don't think so, considering Yusuke's mannerisms and speech, this feels like it could be another former student of Madarame," Rhyme argued. Neku agreed with her and adds that whoever posted this post was anonymous and gave little hint to their identity. "But if the Madarame mentioned in Mementos, if it's the same one…".
"That's the issue, we don't know if it is indeed the same person…" Naminé sighed, "And for all we know, Yusuke's Madarame could be entirely innocent".
"…what if we asked him?" Neku offered, looking at the others, "The real Nakanohara within our reality had his heart changed, so approaching him shouldn't be we can't handle".
"Uh…and how are we gonna do that?" Ann asked crossing her arms, "Are we just gonna explain Mementos to him or open up the fact we're the-
She gets an elbow to her sides by Riku, who gave her a stern look and gestured the passing people. The others frowned at the suddenly blushing and sheepishly smiling thief, who rubbed her neck with a awkward giggle escaping her lips. Naminé hummed: "We can't go about this carelessly, if we make a move out in the open there is a chance Madarame will find out".
"Not to mention the guy was probably a target of trolls and haters online too, he's probably used to dealing with shitty accusations without any real evidence…" Neku replied, "In short, we really don't have a leg to just start accusing him of any of this".
"Not unless we have someone who could feed us some info on the guy…" Riku adds, but then he hummed and turned to Naminé and asked: "Hang on, what about that collaboration he was talking to you about?".
Naminé blinked and then gasped, quickly yanking her phone out of her pocket and with grin, revealed before they left the gallery Yusuke had graciously given her his contact details and location. "Riku you genius! With this we can visit him and possibly get answers from him!" she praised, not noticing the sheepish smile on his face nor the glowing puppy eyes. "Plus with Ann and myself, he'll be more then eager to talk, especially if we hint about modelling!".
"Wait what!? When did me modelling become a bargaining chip!?" Ann says indigently.
"Do you have any other ideas that'll get his attention?" Neku asks dryly.
"I-I mean…" Ann stutters but slumped in defeat. But Rhyme suggested Neku go along as well, thinking maybe having an artist of a different style may stir up a conversation between the two. Plus having another artist there may help Yusuke feel more comfortable and perhaps not intimidate him. Neku shrugged and offered to tag long after school tomorrow, which everyone agreed would be the best time.
"Alright, text Sora and the others what the plan is tomorrow, we'll decide who else is going in the morning," Riku says, "I just hope we're wrong about this…".
They all nodded and split up to finish off their day…
* Early Morning: Tuesday. 17/5*
Huffing and grunting with constant debates rattling within his mind, one of the leaders of the Phantom Thieves was awkwardly pacing back and forth while struggling to come to a decision. The raven haired teenager was near the nurses' office in the practice building, constantly closing and opening the distance between himself and the door with sighs and groans as his companions.
Also Morgana.
"Ugh for the love of god will you just GO already?" Morgana whined, "I'm getting nauseous with all the back and forth you're doing!".
Ren stops pacing and runs a hand through his hair with a huff, exclaiming that he is still trying to decide if he should take up on Dr Maruki's offer for therapy or just go back to library and resume studying. Morgana rolls his big blue eyes and sighed that he was severely over thinking this whole ordeal and encouraged Ren at least let Morgana out of the bag so he could go walk around while his care giver was in this mental struggle alone. Ren darkly pondered if cats do indeed land on their four feet if he dropped Morgana out the window of the second floor.
Begrudgingly and only for some peace of mind, Ren allowed his furball of a partner out and releases him to freely explore at his leisure. He huffed a breath when Morgana was out of his sight and adjusted his bag for the final time before the door to said office opens up. Ren turns around to see the girl with the ribbon exiting the room with the doctor in tow, conversing lively. When her eyes fell onto Ren, instead of shirking away from him like he expected, the warmed up and she greeted him with a smile.
"Oh, are you here to see Maruki too?" she asks.
"Y-Yes, I…was thinking about taking up his offer," replied Ren with a sheepishly smile and awkward scratch to his neck. The girl nodded and assured him there wasn't a single thing to be ashamed off, as she has nothing but wonderful things about him. Even confessed she had been seeing him long before she came to Shujin.
Maruki glanced between the two, commenting lightly he hadn't known they were familiar with each other. "And please don't go overselling me, Yoshizawa-San, I'm nothing special," pleads weakly the doctor.
"Oh wonderful, you have flaws. I feel a lot better after confirming that," chuckles Ren. He got a giggle from the girl and a soft smile from Maruki. Yoshizawa then reveals she had to get going, and after she bid them both a good day, bows, she leaves them. Once she was out of earshot, the two enter the office.
Inside the nurses' office Ren settles into the room that while it was remodified to appear as a therapist's office one could still use the room's original purpose without interruption or potentially causing trouble during the session. He sits in one of the comfortable chairs near Maruki, who already had a plate of snacks and a juice box in front of the student.
"Thanks for coming, I was under the impression you would have some issues coming soon," Maruki comments as he sat down, "Despite nearly winning you over with snacks".
"Considering how well you knew of my situation regarding my transfer and with Kamoshida, I guess it wouldn't have done me any harm to at least see for myself," Ren replied, "Plus Yoshizawa certainly holds you in high regards".
Maruki chuckles good naturedly and embarrassingly confessed she did more than boost his tiny pebble of an ego. Once settled in, the doctor started off simple and easy for Ren's session, asking him the bare bones question about himself. According to Maruki, this was a way to help him familiarize himself with the students and get a better insight into their heads. So in response Ren answers the questions, mostly consisting of his childhood, parents, life before Shujin and a few personal ones such as hobbies and interests in academics.
Maruki admitted he has gained more understanding of the student now after an hour into their session, though he disclosed the school did give him a brief rundown of his situation regarding said transfer. "Figures…so much for privacy…" sighed the raven.
"I'm glad you're taking this well, but its still not fair to you. Things like that should be confined to just the school staff and not be shared by the students…" Maruki apologetically says, but now that they touched upon the subject, he realized something about Ren. His ability to reconcile with his internal world with external one was truly impressive, even adding that many adults are unable to reliably do the same as he did.
"My internal and external world?" Ren asked.
"Well…how do I put it? You know how everyone has an internal reality? Some conception of themselves they're striving for?" Maruki explains.
"Like how someone wants to be a model student, or even finding love? Something like that?" Ren offers.
Maruki nods and with a smile of approval, explaining. The idealized reality versus the actual one where everyone lives in is often so far apart, the gap is usually responsible for a lot of people's pain. He gave examples of such, like how one student could ace their exams where another cannot, or how one person could be the hero they see themselves as while another is not the hero they claim to be or never achieve. "You yourself have been through a lot that many would never come out of as the same person, worse of all they come out of those dark places as something worse," Maruki complimented, "But you are still standing up to it, and confronting the toughest reality. Very admirable to me at least".
"Confronting…the harsh reality…" thinks the raven, looking down at the table. Maruki's words rang a bell within the heart of the thief, recalling how many times the reality he lived in had constantly pushed him down and forced a role upon him he never claimed to be, how in one instant his whole sense of self and reality had changed unfairly. That man who turned his life upside down, Kamoshida enforcing his own beliefs around him and even in this game he was in, where chances of his victory were staggeringly lower than they should be.
"Though then again this must sound weird coming a guy you've just met say…three, four days ago now?" Maruki chuckled.
"But you're not wrong…I mean, it was either confrontation or just lie down and accept this reality for what it is," Ren says, "And you know, it was…pleasant, to get this off my chest too".
Maruki's eyes grew warmer with gratitude and they conversed a little more about Ren's mental state about this school and all the trials he's had to deal with as of now before their session, which ended much longer ago, timed out. The doctor chuckles that they must have been invested in their conversation to let this go on for as long as he did, apologizing for keeping Ren for as long as he did. Shrugging it off, Ren kindly rebuked it was worth the extra few minutes. But before they bid each other a good day, Maruki had a request.
"My duties as school counsellor isn't all I spend my time with. See, I'm actually doing certain research alongside my duties," he starts, "Not quite counselling, its more like a type of psychological treatment".
"How so?" Ren asked.
"Basically its project to learn more about people's, metaphorical, hearts. What they think, how they feel and why," Maruki explains, "If I get far enough with it, I think, no believe, it will be able to help a lot of people!". He awkwardly clears his throat when Ren looks at him oddly, and then quietly asked what exactly Ren has to do with this little research of his counsellor, softly revealing that he was the last person for psychological studies and could name someone who would marginally be a better fit for him.
Xion came to mind. She's an anomaly after all.
"Sorry. I guess my point is, I'd like it if you would help me with that research," Maruki says, "Nothing major or anything requiring a grasp on the psychological aspect but listening to my theories and tell me if they spark anything like ideas, realizations or anything on your end".
"You mean if you said something so bizarrely different to how I perceive things or something on those lines, that my whole world would change or I'd have a different view on something?" Ren asked.
"Yes, something like that," Maruki answers, "Now I understand, based on your circle of friends, you clearly have a tight schedule. But that's perfectly fine, whatever time works for you, I can work around your schedule".
"Why me though? Is it because of my circumstances?" Ren asked.
"Partially yes, but you already know what I think of that. Its also your ties with certain individuals that would benefit my research, as you must admit, you've quite the cast of characters for friends".
"…you have me there," Ren laughed, "Alright, if you really believe this will help others, then I accept your offer…provided there's more snacks".
Maruki laughed and agreed to his "terms", then folds his arms and offers that in exchange for his student's time, he was happy to offer him some tips for mental training. He clarifies that these are usually breathing techniques and meditation methods that can help with studies, retaining information and other useful tricks that would certainly benefit a student. The young boy could already think of the limitless uses for those tricks, and if it means possibly figuring out more of himself, perhaps this deal with Maruki would benefit him as his own bargain with Sojiro.
With a hearty nod and after exchanging contact details, the doctor starts to show him what do to for retaining information.
*Later*
Joker: "Okay, everyone knows the plan right?".
Nightmare: "Myself and the others head to Yusuke's place while you meet up with Nakanohara, right?".
Joker: "Yeah. If Madarame really is as bad as he claims to be, we need more information before we investigate him".
Eri: "Sure it's a good idea for a couple of students to approach the guy? Wouldn't that look super suspicious?".
Joker: "Its just me and Skull, I'm not bring the whole gang".
Tigress: "Maybe bring Xion? Just so he's not intimidated?".
Roxas: "Sure that's a good idea? After what happened with Yusuke I'm scared she might throw him in front of a train…".
Xion: "No I wouldn't! Superheroes don't kill!".
Scarlet: "Just don't hurt him Xion…".
Naminé: "We're boarding the train now; we'll inform everyone else what happened".
Pocketing her phone, Naminé and the other thieves board the train…
A/N:
Another chapter done and with time to spare!
So with the team's suspicions on Madarame at full alert, the next Palace awaits. But along with a new target, comes a new game for them to play…
Questions:
Q1: Thoughts?
Q2: Like how the main leads have changed?
Q3: Maruki having sessions with the others?
Q4: Curious about the TWEWY side stuff?
Q5: Yusuke and Naminé's interactions?
Q6: Which pairing should we work on next?
Also in response to: Sonicblaze
The pairings have already (90% of them anyways) been decided and will not be revealed yet.
As always everyone, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!