[21th May, Morning]
"So, that's the reason for the angle ADB is equal to the angle AMB..." Akira yawned tiredly at Ms. Usami's lecture, rubbing his eyes to keep himself awake.
"I need coffee..." He murmured to himself, pinching his nosebridge. "This is torture..."
Fortunately, a quiet buzz from his phone distracted him from the boring lesson, taking it out from his pocket.
Hifumi: Sorry everyone, I'm going to able to participate in today's infiltration.
Hifumi: Mother is having a long interview with Tokyo Journal.
Frowning slightly, Akira swiftly typed his reply.
Akira: It's OK, Hifumi.
Akira: Maybe a day off from any Phantom Thief business is for the best of us.
Shiho: A day off? Really?
Akira: We can't just infiltrate with only the three of us.
Akira: BTW... I really need a day off personally. I got basically no sleep last night.
Keigo: OK then, I want to have a day off as well.
Shiho: Me too, actually.
With that said, Akira put the phone back in his pocket. Finally unable to hold his eyelids any longer, he fell asleep and slept through the whole morning. Somehow went unnoticed by everyone.
[Lunch period, front garden]
Since there's nothing to do for him, Keigo decided to find the only person he knew outside of the phantom thieves. Fortunately, it didn't take him long to find her.
"Hey, Okumura-San." He greeted, crouching next to Haru.
"Kamisaki-Kun! It's been a while." Haru replied, smiling happily at his presence. "I did not expect you to come again."
"I guess so." He shrugged, putting his focus on those plants in front. "So... how's the plants?"
"They are doing great." She said, widening her smile as she took a closer look at them. "So uh... Kamisaki-Kun, why did you come back?"
"Why?" The half-French pondered for a brief moment. "I guess it's because I have a free day... and I kinda want to see you again."
"Want to see me again...?" Haru trailed off, a faint blush started to come upon her cheeks. "... Thank you... Kamisaki-Kun."
"Yeah..." Awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, Keigo struggled to find a new topic to talk about. "Um... Okumura-San, why did you decided to do gardening here? It's not like that it's the best place to grow plants."
"Well... I did not have a place to grow anything back in my home." She explained, furrowing her brow. "Also father always takes me to high-class dinner and dances... I did not have times to grow anything outside school."
"Oh... I can see that." He quietly apologized, giving her a look of sympathy. "I guess it's hard to live as someone born in riches."
"It's fine, I'm used to it." Haru waved with a somber smile, standing up from her crouching position. "Um... The period is ending, I think I should go now."
With that said, she started to walk back inside the campus. Leaving Keigo alone, hesitating for what he's going to do next.
He pondered for a few seconds. Seeing the sight of her starting to fade into the background, he decided to ask her out, interrupting Haru in the middle of the way.
"Hey, Okumura-San!" The half-French shouted, standing up and rushed to her side. "Actually... are you free after school?"
Surprised at his sudden request, Haru froze for a brief moment before answering. "Uh... I think so..." She trailed off, moving her gaze away from Keigo. "But Kamisaki-Kun... aren't you friends with Ichijou-Kun and Suzui-Chan?"
"Yeah." Keigo nodded, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "But why asking me about that?"
"Um... maybe you should be going out with them." She whispered, still unable to look at him for some reason. "I actually don't know many places to go..."
"I can see that." He giggled lightly, putting the bangs on his head aside. "Well, I can introduce you to a few fun places."
"Fun places?" Hesitated for a brief moment, Haru nodded in agreement at the end. "Um... OK, so where are we waiting?"
Looking around for a good place to meet up after school, Keigo pointed at the door toward the courtyard. "Um... how about the courtyard? We can exchange our number if we needed to."
"I think the courtyard is fine." Smiling faintly, she nodded and gave him her number. "So, see you there...?"
"I guess." Giving her a thumb up, the two decided to part away for now.
[On the other hand, 2-D's classroom]
"Hey Akira, wake up!" Smacking his table and waking him up, Ann leaned closer to his half-asleep face with a glare. "Don't tell me that you slept through the whole morning."
"Wha- What?" Akira mumbled, rubbing his eyes in tiredness. "I didn't remember anything after texting in the group chat..."
"Also, Ann." Stretching his arms outward, he gave the model with a questioning look. "Why did you care about that? It's not like that I'm going to sleep through the whole day."
"Duh, I'm one of your oldest friends, the only one aside of Shiho." She deadpanned, leaning back while crossing her arms in disapproval. "So, you've never been this tired before, what happened?"
"What happened?" He paused, hesitant for whether to tell her about what happened yesterday. "Well... I didn't sleep well, kinda self-explanatory."
"Didn't sleep well?" Smirking slightly, Ann leaned close to him again. "Is it about a certain someone?"
"wha- How did you know?!" Taken back by her word, Akira instantly jumped from his seat, leaning toward the back.
"Wait, I guessed it right?" She sweatdropped again, but quickly changed her tone to a curious one. "Tell me, who were you think about?"
"You know who that person is." He said, furrowing his brow. "There's only one person who would cause me to be like this..."
Ann unironically was deep in thought for a moment, before finally realizing who that 'person' really was. "Oh, Shiho! How could I forget that crush you had on her..."
"Is it necessary to be this loud about my personal love life? Even though I never had one to begin with..." Akira frowned, eyes darting around to see if Shiho was in the line of sight of him. "Thank god that she's not here right now."
"Well, it's because you're so easy to tease." She answered with a panther-like smirk. "I had never thought that the way to tease is to say the S word~"
"What had I got myself into..." Seeing that he had no chance of winning in this conversation, he quickly sighed to himself. "Just... don't tell her about my crush... or just anything close to it." he whispered, a small but somber thought suddenly came up in his mind.
"H-Huh?" Noticing the sudden change in his tone, Ann realized that she may have gone a bit too far with her teasing and quickly apologized. "Sorry about that, I maybe have gone too far..."
"No, it's alright." He paused, trying to give a reassuring smile to her, but ended up as a somber and sad smile. "It's just that... some thought comes up in my mind and... I want to have a moment to be alone."
"I am not blaming anything or mad at you, Ann..." He paused again, looking down in silence for another moment. "Just... nothing." With that said, he quickly walked past Ann and exited the classroom.
Turning her eyes at the empty door, Ann whispered to herself, sighing.
"Akira... don't you see that she's seeing you as someone more than just a friend?"
[Restroom.]
After leaving the classroom swiftly, Akira rushed into the restroom immediately, splashing water on his face to keep himself calm. He looked into the reflection of himself in the mirror, he looked like he's about to burst into tears, and the splash of water didn't do much for him.
He wanted to say to himself that 'It's all just a stupid crush', but nothing came, he still couldn't mutter those words out. Unknown to him, his Persona materialized behind him, unseen by anyone who didn't have one themselves.
"Are you fine?" Moriarty asked, concern for his mood as he could feel those emotions too. "You looked like shit."
"Moriarty..." Akira murmured, a faint smile appeared on his somewhat soaked face. "Never thought that I would hear you again."
"I just think that I should not interfere with your life outside of the Metaverse." Moriarty said. "Ann said something and cause you to think about those times, right?"
"Of course." He nodded. "You are me after all."
"I know what are you feeling." It said, floating closer to its owner. "It's about Shiho... and you're somber about it." It stat as a matter of fact.
"Yeah..." He trailed off, looking down at his shoes. "Moriarty, do you know what's the most painful thing about having a crush on someone?"
"Of course..." The Persona paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "It's the fact that you'll stay up all night for a small thing she did to you, but you never know what she meant for everything she does. It's boiled down to a guessing game, where you have too many choices."
"A guessing game..." Akira repeated quietly, still looking at his shoes. "Moriarty... Do you think she also has a crush on me?"
"I'm just as clueless as you." It giggled, covering its mouth with its hand. "But I would advise you to take that risk."
"Take that risk..." He repeated again, looking up from his shoes and took a tissue to wipe his face. "A day off from Metaverse business and now I'm like this... fantastic."
"If taking a day off causes you to feel like this, maybe you can head to that Palace to slay some shadow for distraction." Moriarty suggested.
"A distraction..." Akira trailed off for a moment before nodding. "Maybe."
[Afterschool, Madarame's palace.]
Slashing the last shadow in the whole floor clean in half with his scythe, Jester sighed in slight exhaustion and content.
"I told you that it's a great distraction from anything, right?" Moriarty said, playfully spinning his revolver in his hand.
"Yeah, it feels great." He took a deep breath before putting his scythe on his back, walking down the now empty hallway with his hands in his pockets. "But I think we might be a bit too overboard here..."
"Kind of." It shrugged, floating behind the black thief. "But now that it's safe around here... What did you plan to about her?"
"Her?" Furrowing his brow for a moment before realizing what his Persona means, Jester's chin instantly painted with dark red. "Uh... Now that I've calmed down a little... maybe I'll ask her out for a date, or some sort of those things..."
"Guessed it." Moriarty chuckled. "Just don't screw that up, Jester."
"Of course I won't." Giggling, He turned around and gave it a small smile. "So, since you're the other me... That means you also have something for Jeanne?"
"Maybe." It shrugged. "I don't really know either."
"Could have guessed that..." Jester's word was interrupted as the voice of somebody else suddenly rang from around the corner. "Crap. Moriarty, return!"
The dark blue Persona disappeared in blue light and returned as his mask, and he hastily fired his grappling hook and hid in the darkness.
"Joker, do you think it's a bit too quiet here?" It was the voice of Yusuke. "There' no guards here for some odd reason..."
"Maybe it's Jester's doin'." Skull shrugged. "After all, it's been a while since we saw him."
"Excuse me," Yusuke said, putting his hand up in question. "who is that 'Jester' person?"
"Oh yeah, you didn't know who he is." Looking back toward their new member, Joker explained. "He is another Persona user, outside of us."
"He helped me back when I was awaking Carmen." Panther added, smiling faintly at those memories. "I was about to be killed by a guard when he held that blade back, buying me time."
"Oh~ I'm moved, Panther."
"Thanks-" She stopped mid-sentence, turning back with her teammates toward the voice. It was Jester himself, standing in the middle of the hallway.
"What's with those faces?" He commented, giggling in amusement. "By the way, it seems that you've gained a new member."
"Name's Fox." Yusuke, now Fox introduced politely, much as their surprise. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Jester."
"'Jester' is OK for me." Jester shrugged, taking a few steps toward them.
"Dude!" Skull suddenly exclaimed, grabbing his shoulder. "Where have you been!"
"Huh?" Surprised by his sudden action, the black thief took a brief moment before regained his composure. "Well, I'm glad that you guys miss me... But actually we were focused on another palace."
"Another palace?" Mona asked, raising an eyebrow behind his mask. "What do you mean?"
"We were requested by someone to change her mother's heart." He explained. "We thought this would only be a normal Memento request... But unfortunately, she has a palace of herself."
"So you and Swan infiltrate that palace on your own?!" Skull shouted, widening his eyes in disbelief. "C'mon, why you guys didn't ask us for help!"
"You guys weren't the only one gaining new members." Jester deadpanned, crossing his arms. "Actually, Le Fool is now a four-member team. We have enough manpower to handle this."
"Wait, now a four-member team?!" Panther yelped in surprise, also widening her eyes under the mask. "When did you..."
"It doesn't matter, at least for now." Sighing and pinching his nosebridge in increasing exhaustion, the black thief pointed at the direction behind him. "Anyway, I think the treasure is close, like just over there and a few more rooms... And I really need a good sleep..."
Before anyone can say anything to him, he fired his grappling hook and pulled himself into the shadow, leaving the five members of The Phantom alone, confused.
"Well... that's unusual of him." Joker commented, shrugging.
Panther nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's unusual of him..." She trailed off, pondering as she somehow felt something familiar in him. "But somehow I think I know him... weird-"
She interrupted herself as the memories of her awakening surfaced in her mind.
"Ann, take it!"
"Wait..." The red thief trailed off, gaining the attention of her teammates. "Don't tell me that Jester is..."
"Akira?"
[Earlier, Courtyard.]
Sitting on the bench of the courtyard and browsing his phone, Keigo quietly waited for Haru's arrival. Even though he didn't seems to be like it, but he is nervous and uncertain of going out with her.
"Keigo... you know it's no more turning back, right?" He murmured to himself. "Asking a girl out after meeting her for once before... that's so stupid of you."
"Sometimes, it's great for being a stupid man." Out of nowhere, Napoleon's voice suddenly echoed in his head, catching him by surprise.
"Wha- Napoleon?!" Keigo internally exclaimed in surprise, trying his best to pretend that nothing happened on the outside. "You can speak?!"
"Of course I can." The Persona jokingly said, still appeared as a voice in his head. "I just never found a good reason to intervene in your personal life."
"Because I basically have no life before now?"
"No. It's about Okumura." It appeared in front of him, crossing his arms. "This is the second time you two talk and you already ask her out..."
"Maybe it's too fast..." He agreed, nodding. "But what done is done... I can't just back out."
"I know, you have feelings on her, right?"
"Feelings for her?" Keigo asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe. I don't really know either..."
"I can understand that." Napoleon nodded. "Well, good luck on your date, she's here."
"Hmm?" Turning around, he saw Haru approaching, waving at him with a smile.
"Hi, Kamisaki-Kun." She politely said. "I thought I was early, but you are earlier than I expected."
"Habit." Keigo giggled, standing up from his seat. "Anyway, let's go, shall we."
Haru nodded and the two exited at the school, taking the subway to Shibuya.
Even though it's rush hours, they were lucky enough to find a seat on the train. Keigo let Haru sat in that seat while he stood in the hallway, being squashed in the crowd.
"Kamisaki-Kun..." She said, giving him a worried face. "Are you sure that you're OK with this? You are being squeezed in the crowd..."
"It's OK." He answered with a reassuring smile. "It's like this during the rush hours, I'm used to it."
"But... This is not good for anyone." The wealthy girl argued weakly. "Being squeezed in the crowd..."
"It's usual." Keigo sighed. "I guess you had never take a subway, right?"
"Yes... I had a personal driver from my father." She nodded. "Actually, this is the first time I went to Shibuya on my own..."
"That's..." He trailed off, looking down at his shoes. "Your father control all aspect of your life, right?"
"Hmm?" Perking up at her, Haru hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes..."
Couldn't find any new topic to talk about, the two entered an awkward silence for a while, before the train announced that they have arrived at Shibuya.
[Arcade Center, Shibuya]
"This is the place you want to bring me?" Haru asked, intrigued for the different games around. "Wow..."
"Yes." Keigo walked in front of her, spreading his arms out enthusiastically as if he was a host of a late-night show. "Welcome to the Arcade!"
She laughed lightly at his introduction, smiling brightly. "Kamisaki-Kun, do I get to choose what I'd play?"
"I'll cover the cost for you." He nodded, pointing at the machines behind him. "So what do you want to play first?"
Widening her smile, the wealthy girl walked toward the raygun machine. "This seems fun." She said.
"Oh, a raygun machine." The half-French said in mock surprise, following her and step on the 2-p position next to her. "It's been a long while since I've ever played one."
Inserting a 100 yen coin in the machine, it changed from the idle screen to the first stage. "Don't hold me back." He jokingly said, gripping his raygun one-handedly.
"I am new to this." Haru pouted cutely, also holding her raygun with both of her hands. "Let's see... a grande launcher might suit me." She mumbled, turning her attention back to the game itself.
"Pistol for me." He smiled.
With that said, the game started. They entered a warzone with bullets flying everywhere, they played as two soldiers and rushed to a pile of debris as cover. The two peeked from their cover and saw an army of robots. And both Keigo and Haru fired their weapon to those robots.
Keigo quickly fired a few bullets at one robot with pin-point accuracy, switching target swiftly thanks to his experiences in the Metaverse. Meanwhile, Haru is aiming at the large group of robots and spammed her grande launcher toward them, raising her raygun exaggeratedly every time she fired as if there's a huge amount of recoil.
"You did great, for someone new to this game." He smiled, still focusing on the game itself.
"I know-" Her response was interrupted as one robot suddenly appeared in front of her screen, causing her to yelp in surprise and ducked down. "AHH!"
Seeing the robot close to her, Keigo quickly moved his crosshair toward that robot and destroyed it. "I'll protect you, just aim for the large crowd!"
"OK!" Haru nodded, quickly shifting her focus back on the game itself.
Adopting the new strategy, the two Shujin student passes through the stages with ease. And with that, more and more people started to gather around them and watched them play, but both Keigo and Haru were unaware of those crowd.
After a few more stages and close calls, they reached the final boss fight - a giant robot tank with a huge cannon in addition to a few smaller cannon. Seeing the huge tank and swarm of smaller robot, Keigo put his other hand on his gun, gripping it with both of his hands.
"I guess playtime is over." He said, turning toward Haru. "Ready?"
Taking a deep breath, Haru nodded firmly. "Yes, we can do this."
"I know." Smiling faintly, he readied his gun. "Let's do this."
With that said, the tank and the swarm of robots started to attack them. Agreeing without any word in between, they covered each other and beat the final boss after a long battle.
Before the two have any time to take a relieved breath after the battle was finished, the crowd cheered for the two and caused them to jump in unison.
"Oh my god!" Keigo exclaimed in surprise, taking a moment before registered the situation they were in. "uh... I didn't expect to make a scene like this."
"Me too." Haru nodded in agreement, taking his hand and dragged him to somewhere else. "Let's play something else."
Before the half-French can say anything, he was dragged to a claw machine with Teddie doll inside. "Kamisaki-Kun... uh... I want that doll." She said with a faint blush, avoid his gaze while pointing at the Teddie doll.
"Hmm?" Tilting his head, he noticed what she's pointing and smiled. "Oh, you want that one." He said, inserting another 100 yen into the machine.
"Y-Yes..." She shuttered, nodding. "But maybe I should get this on my own..."
"Nah, I'll do it for you." Keigo casually declined, holding the joystick and smirked. "Trust me, I'll get that Teddir doll for you in one go."
[A few hours later, outside of the Arcade center]
After a few hours of playing games and taking pictures, the two Shujin students walked into the evening street of Shibuya, satisfied with their time there. They took a slow walk toward the station, enjoying the comfortable silence.
"Kamisaki-Kun, thank you." Haru suddenly said softly, smiling while holding the Teddie doll in her arms. "It is the most fun I have ever had in years."
"I know, right?" Keigo smiled. "Also, just call me 'Keigo', 'Kamisaki-Kun' seems too... formal."
considering for a moment, she nodded in the end. "O...OK, Kami- Keigo-Kun." She shuttered, turning her eyes to his. "If I can call you Keigo-Kun, can you also call me 'Haru'?"
"Of course." He bowed politely, mimicking a scene from an old movie about the royal family he watched. "At your service, Haru-Sama."
The wealthy girl laughed softly at his sudden change in attitude. "You're so funny." She said in between laughter.
"Maybe the French side of me is effecting my attitude." He jokingly answered, earning another giggle from her.
Calmed down from her laugh, she blushed slightly and looked away, playing with her auburn hair. "Um... actually, I want to have fun somewhere else with you again." She whispered, barely audible by him. "Maybe some other days..."
Fortunately, her whispered was heard by Keigo. "Of course." He said without hesitation, giving her a pat on her shoulder. "It's my honor to hang out with a beautiful lady like you."
"O-Oh..." Haru shuttered again, blushing harder than before. "That's... fantastic."
With that said, they continued on their way to the station, until a sudden rang from her phone, catching her by surprise.
Answering the call, the wealthy girl furrowed her brow almost instantly. "...Um... father, I was looking for new plants to buy for my room... I didn't find any good one... OK..." After a brief silence that concerned Keigo, Haru suddenly exclaimed in disagreement, widening her eyes. "NO! Why would you call him to take me home?"
The call ended after another brief silence, and her mood was changed to a somber one. "Haru, you OK?" Keigo asked with a concerned look. "What did your father said about... 'him'?"
"Father just called fiance to pick me up..."
"Wait, fiance?"
She nodded. "It's my father's decision. But I have no interest in that man..."
"Oh boy..." Keigo sighed, putting both of his arms on his hips. "So what do we do now?"
"He's waiting at the station." The wealthy girl paused, giving him a worried look. "Kaiko-Kun, I think you should go first... I don't want him to see you with me..."
Pondering for a long moment, the half-French decided to stay with her. "Nah, I'll stay with you, it's a gentlemen's responsibility after all."
"But..." She trailed off as she saw the determined look in his eyes, nodding hesitantly. "Fine... You can stay with me..."
Giving her a reassuring smile, Keigo and Haru walked the rest of the street in silence, this time both can feel a sense of tension in the air. They walked for a few more minutes before arriving at a black luxurious car.
A young man with brown hair presumably in his mid or late-20s was standing beside the car. He was wearing a white business suit with a violet undershirt and black tie. "Oh, you're finally here, Haru-" The man paused mid-sentence as he saw the appearance of Keigo, frowning dangerously. "Who is him."
"He's my friend, we just met during my walk here." Haru explained. "There's nothing between us."
Still didn't buy the explanation from her, the man took a step closer to Keigo and examined him, before giving a fake smile. "I guess that's fine. nice to meet you." He said, holding a hand out.
"Nice... to meet you." The half-French hesitated for a moment, holding his hand out and did a handshake with him. However, he winced at the sheer force he used to grip his hand, but he quickly hid his discomfort.
"Haru, wouldn't you mind to get to the car first?" The man said, causing her to frown before reluctantly entered the car.
Once the two heard the sound of the door closing, the man suddenly pulled him close, staring at him with a warning look. "Stay away from our business." He said with a low tone, raising his fist and ready to hit his head.
Fortunately, Keigo was fast enough to dodge the fist coming in his way, struggled off his hand and took a few steps back in the process. "You try to hit me again, but people are watching." He said.
Knowing that this is a losing battle of him, the man snickered and walked back in the car, leaving Keigo alone in the street watching the car drove away.
"Poor Haru..." Napoleon commented, appearing next to him. "You should send her a text to see is she's safe."
Nodding silently, the half-French took out his phone and sent a text to her.
Keigo: Haru, text me back once you're safe
Keigo: I'm worried about you.
With that, chapter 18 had finished! Thank you for reading!
So it's a 'breathing room' chapter before the big battle with Madarame and Mitsuyo's shadow, and some more process in their love life~
Well, now Ann started to question the identity of their mysterious helper in the Metaverse, maybe the identity reveal is closer than we think.
With all that said, I hope you would enjoy this story so far, reviews are welcome!
