Persona 5: A Hero's Tale

by Wizbenorno

(Outdated) The Phantom Thieves are mysterious to the naked eye, but there are some mysteries even they overlook. It's up to one team to solve the mystery of the sudden changes of mentality. Well, they might not be the best ones out there, but will they be enough to save the world from the targets that the thieves have missed?

2. Chapter 1 (Jin'ichi): The Beast Within!

"Hey son, when are you going to be interested in crafting mighty machines like these?" "Look, I'll probably start as soon as I can spark enough inspiration. For now Kaito, you're on your own."

"But son, don't you have anything better to do than nothing?" "Actually, yes. I made a friend just the other day, but don't worry, nobody thought I've gone soft. I'm gonna start hanging with him tomorrow, if that's okay with you."

"Well, if it makes you happy, I'll support it, but we must never let anyone find out you've gone soft! If they find your weak spot, they might expel you for no reason!"

"Don't worry about it pops, I'll be fine. Besides, if he doesn't know the lingo, he'll end up just like me." "Okay… see you later Jin'ichi."

You see that bald headed, short sized construction worker who's always concerned about little old me? That's my dad, Kaito. He's pretty much a single man now that his wife disappeared for some reason. Even though my choices aren't exactly the best for my family, he just goes with what I've got because he knows I have the skills to survive in this dog-eat-dog world. We live in a junkyard near the Shibuya supermarket filled with everything one could need. It's got hammocks, BBQ grills, and whatever else people drop off. It's not the shabbiest place we've got, but I've grown to love the smell of junk and rust

As for me? I'm pretty much the roughest, toughest, strongest classmate in the country: Jin'ichi Sumula. People call me the beast and for a good reason too; They tormented an ordinary lion cub, and what did they find? That cub has claws as fierce as the king of beasts itself. I wasn't always this rough y'know, in fact, the only reason I became this aggressive was because the world wanted me to be tough.

No seriously, the world expected me to be a aggressive, easy to snap, woman rape assaulter. I'm all those things, except the rapist part, and I don't feel any bad either. Now you may wonder why I'm not kicked out of school yet, or you just want my secret to eternal life. Here's my suggestion: If your life takes a nosedive, turn around so that you land on your feet. In other words, if something goes wrong, and you have no idea how to fix it, I'd just go along with whatever rambunctious thing they said. That doesn't mean any of you people at home can do what I do, I had serious training to overcome this massive hurdle.

Y'know what? If I explained it like I am now, you'd just get stumped, so let's go back to the beginning of my life and see if we can guess where it went downhill. My childhood life was very ordinary, to say the least. I had friends who admired my skills as a beatbox pro, they were even ready to start a band with me.

There was Garu, the big one, Jamasu, the protective one, Jeri, the smart one, and Camo, the lazy one. I won't bother telling you what they look like, just picture them any way you want. I don't care, in fact, why bother telling you about people who don't even care about me anymore? But until then, that's all I had for companions. When one person shoved us, we'd shoved back, whenever trouble was afoot we weren't afraid to show its smug face to the door.

They practically helped me build my trading card collection, we shared some good times, and they always help each other in need. So basically, everything was going perfectly well for me, until my first days in Shujin Academy…

Don't get me wrong, I loved this place, and I used to like Kamoshida as our gym coach too, I know better now. Anyways, I was all set and ready to join the volleyball team, mostly due to me really wanting to stay active at the time, but of course something went wrong. I showed off in front of the guy with one hell of a smirk I pulled off, hoping I would get his attention. I did, but not in the way I'd expect it.

"No can do Sumula, the way you looked at me like some sort of goddamn moron, you're too annoying to play with the big leagues kid." the guy basically told me with anger in his voice that I was overshadowing the man that I wanted to impress. I'll tell you this, there was absolutely nothing inspiring about the tone of his voice, I was the center of attention for a brief moment because of a couple of trick shots, and then he just up and told me I can't play on the team.

That was the first sign that told me that Kamoshida wasn't who I thought he was. I was too much of an annoyance to join…? That sentence literally made me cringe at the thought of Kamoshida not letting me join just because of something so minor. I tried to get him on my good side by trying to impress him by doing stretches and running laps, but in the end, I guess I really was annoying him. But that's not even the worst part, oh no, whatever that Akira guy or even Ryuji suffered through was nothing compared to my situation…

It started as a simple detention, my first one of the school year, for absolutely no reason. I was only trying to get him to recognize me, but instead, he only thought of me as a pest. When I got out to ask my friends if they would walk home with me, y'know for comfort after that horrible treatment, they used this opportunity to make fun of my attitude and gang up on me! What the hell!?

They battered me up so hard, I was bruised all over, I had no idea why these guys turned on me like that, I was scared and confused as I shivered with both physical and emotional pain. I just didn't understand, they were perfectly fine with whatever ridiculous plan I had before, but why do they suddenly hate me!? That's when I heard one of them talk about me doing 'things' with women. What kind of bullshit was that!?

And to make matters worse, on the day after my first detention, everyone else was in on it! Most of the students picked on me from almost every opportunity, the teachers refused to acknowledge my highest scores, and I was accused several times that led me into the principal's office several times. They kept doing that to me every damn day, even going as far as to make up absurd reasons to punch me in the gut, it was madness I tell you!!!

My mother disappeared when she found out about the rumors. My dad said she's in a better place, but I don't think that's possible considering the condition I'm in. When summer vacation was fast approaching, I didn't study for anything, I didn't write down anything, I didn't even bother to say good morning like I usually do. When I got to school that day, people would say I've lost my mind, even though that's exactly what happened, I personally thought that I was asking for it. I just kept screaming like a maniac due to this sudden development regular people called paranoia…

"Hey!!! Aren't you going to give me a wedgie! You want a piece of me!? I'm all over the damn place!! You there, I know you're thinking about it, just punch me in the damn face already!!!" I screamed as loudly as I could, stomping all over the place shoving myself into other people, I even showed up late so there would be more people to beat me up! They wanted a pesky bug, I'll show them pesky! I can't even sleep at night anymore because of the abuse, so I blindly let loose everything I had inside and even threatened to rape someone if they didn't kill me.

I was so desperate and broken on my last day, I just wanted someone, anyone to abuse me to death that day. I had nothing better to live for, and even with my dad tending to my wounds, it didn't make any difference for my mental health. Thankfully, people finally decided to not hit me for no reason today, mostly because they either have better things to do, or they were tired of picking on me. Even the toughest guys weren't willing to abuse me for some reason, have I really devolved from a perfectly normal guy into some pathetic piece of scum!?

At this rate my life would never get back on track, not after giving in to all of this pressure. Luckily I've passed other tests before this, so that means the exams don't matter if I win or lose. That means, no matter what I do to soften the blow, I get to do another year of this bullcrap! If the students were aggressive before, imagine their reaction if they ever saw me again…

"Hey! Don't come near us, you piece of scum!" "Eww, that man is totally disgusting…" "You made a big mistake showing your face here again you whore!"

I screamed at the top of my lungs again when I got home, realizing all the torture I'll get when I return to school. As far as I could tell, my life was over, I could never go back to the way I was before because of those sick rumors! If I have to go through one more year of this motherfucking nonsense, I'll die! What did I even do to deserve this!? Nothing. That's what happened. Someone or something ruined my life, and now I'm desperate for payback. They must be laughing their ass off right now, but if I at least try to threaten them, they'll make me suffer more! What the hell is wrong with this school, what the fuck is wrong with this world!?

Being the worried father he is, Kaito came to comfort me in that little orange house we built in the junkyard. It's got two homemade beds, one's big the other's small, a neat little wooden table with a full kitchen, and there's an outhouse and a laundry machine outside. I was destroyed by my days at school, I cried my heart out trying to get my dad to get me out of this nightmare. But that's when he made that lecture, if it weren't for that, I wouldn't be here today…

"Son. There's no need to be afraid of school. I am well aware of the bullying and trash talking you've been getting. And yet, I believe you can overcome this if you try hard enough. When I was your age, kids used to hit me like a punching bag, so you know what I did? I hit them right back, maybe a little too hard for the teachers to handle, that's how I got my first detention. Did your first detention start with a punch?"

"No… Mr. Kamoshida put me in detention for absolutely no reason." I said with nothing to show off but my wounds. "And after that, your life went to hell?" What was your first clue dad? I slammed my fist into the table and shouted as the pain started to come back!

"Yes!!! I had no idea what caused everyone to turn on me all of a sudden, but they did and I hated every goddamn second of that!! I don't want to go to school if people just keep picking on me for absolutely no shitty reason!"

"Shh… calm down, we wouldn't want to wake the neighbors… You know, it sounds to me that Kamoshida was responsible for your troubles. Nobody started to hate you until after your detention, was there anything you noticed before life went the wrong way?" I thought for a second, and damn did the details land on there like flies on sandpaper...

"Huh…? Well, he was talking to a couple of students in the hallway during one of my classes. I just thought he was talking about special events, but now that I think about it... oh no... That man isn't just a celebrity, he's a fucking menace!?"

I slammed my head into the table hard, and I gave a muffled scream, not of fear, but out of pure, unfiltered, built-up, rage. That celebrity ruined my life, no, he wasn't worthy of such a title. He caused so much suffering because he spread one tiny lie around about me harassing women! What the fuck is wrong with that man!? I would love it if I were to slam his face to the ground, but I can't because that'll give people an even bigger reason to abuse me! There's absolutely nothing I can do to stop me from being picked on, I'd rather slap Kamoshida in the face rather than let myself get abused like this!

But then, it hit me, I just realized that if Kamoshida hated me for being better than him, what if I… yes, that's a wonderful idea! I confirmed this with Kaito as my head slowly raised from the ground.

"Hey dad? You say you worked as a repairman for the school right?" "Only the best in town, they aren't my only usual customer though."

"And you said you really could use the money to buy us a new home right?" "Um… r-right!"

"And I've been downgraded to a worthless slob who loves to lick a lady's pussy right!?"

"U...um... Rig-" "Well then, this worthless slob has a very stupid idea! And if it doesn't work, I'll happily settle with being homeschooled!! This idea will be absolute genius, with a guy like Kamoshida around, there's no way I can't lose!"

My dad was shaking in his boots as he was getting more and more uncomfortable in the room because of me, and trust me, I wanted him to feel uncomfortable. Now that I know that Kamoshida was responsible for my suffering, I couldn't help but pull off a wicked grin for the craziest idea ever...

I told my dad the ingenious plan, and you know how he responded? You see whenever my dad hears of a big money grabbing deal, he instantly turns his frown into a cheeky little poker face. He developed this during his years of gambling before his wife disappeared, and it still shows up today. He pulled that little money-making smirk he was known for, and he shook my hand as not just an act of vengeance, but rather a way to take advantage of Kamoshida himself. Kaito talked to the Principal and Kamoshida the next day, and he told me the conversation went like this…

"I heard from my son that there are some people who will do anything to get them off their backs. Have you noticed that he's coming back to school in a few months? You saw what happened back there didn't you Principal? He was abused in nearly every way possible just because he likes women, am I right?"

"W-well, not exactly…" "Please Mr. Principal, let me handle this… Your son has done all sorts of horrid things ever since he came to that school. Shoplifting, destruction of property, even to go as far as rape, that's why we went a little rough on him."

"Oh really? And if I'm not mistaken, you're all going to go 'a little rough' with him when he gets back, so let me strike you a deal." "H-Hang on, aren't you supposed to be the repairman that comes in every weekend and inspects the electrical devices? Why are you striking a deal with us now?"

"Just hear me out Sir Kobayakawa. What if instead of paying me every week, I'll do all the work you want on the systems for free?" "Huh!? You want to do your job for free!? But why?"

"Relax Sir, I've got plenty of other clients to work with, I'll be fine." "Hold on a minute, there must be some sort of catch to this… Nothing in life is free Mr Sumula, I should know. What exactly makes you think you can slip by without any additional conditions?"

"The Olympic star is right, I do have one, very small exchange for my service… You'll have to give me 1,000 Yen for each day my son doesn't get expelled, when he gets expelled." "What!?"

"That's right principal, you can either keep him locked up or spill the beans and lose your dinner. Also, no calling the police or else I'll stop working with you entirely."

"That's absurd! No deal!" "Oh? I thought Jin'ichi was a criminal in your eyes, wasn't that what you said Kamoshida? Bear in mind that I'll be constantly ready to repair whatever the school needs fixing for free. And isn't the great Kamoshida good at teaching bad kids a lesson? If you refuse my deal, then if my son goes down, I'll go down with him. I'll move away from here, and you'll lose the best mechanic the school has ever seen. And it'll also look bad on your account Kamoshida, letting a kid get bullied like that because he was better than you, that's bad enough to get you banned from the Olympics altogether! Accepting my deal is the only way you can properly get personal with that 'criminal' of yours. He's still interested in the volleyball team if you want to best his trick shots…"

"Now look here, with all due respect, there's no way this deal benefits ei-" "It's a deal!"

"What…? Mr Kamoshida, are you seriously going along with this man's sick idea?" "Shut up! Jin'ichi thinks he's so smart, doesn't he? When he goes back to school, I'll show him who's the real star of the Olympics! I swear, he won't even last the day with me…"

"I appreciate that my negotiation was a success. Just how long do you plan on keeping the beast locked up though? We'll find out soon enough!"

He told me the principal was shocked to see his own employee get away with an absurd money losing deal, but he is a bit relieved that he's actually getting someone to work for free. Kamoshida on the other hand was furious to see that I was still better than him, and he accepted the deal out of pride, what a stinker. My dad didn't budge the entire time he was making such a deal, he just smirked the whole way through and played Kamoshida for a fool. I'm glad my dad's a gambler, he picked up quite a few techniques to persuade people.

And with a single handshake, my fate has been changed. As soon as I got the memo, I worked at the gym non-stop all summer to get myself in top shape to get even with all of these jerks. I bought myself a leather coat, the middle of my spiked hair was dyed red, and of course, where would the tough guy be without shades? Now that I was walking the walk, I've gotta talk the talk, but how…? Just then, in the alleyway of Shibuya, I saw one of my 'former' friends...

"Hey Jin'ichi! Still pretending to be something you aren't? You really are a piece of trash, I can't wait to beat the ever loving shit out of you when you arrive at school in a few weeks!"

That's Jeri, he's usually the smart one, but even he had that foul look on his face. Every person who ever bullied me gave that look, and the more I thought about it, the more I hated it. A smirk, an insultable pair of eyes, and his left eyebrow is raised. I couldn't stand that face anymore, it was driving me up the wall! Everyday I had to look at that deranged face and everyone who had such a variation.

Jeri was even smart enough to know that he would never make that face, he just does it now just to make me think I'm helpless! It made me so furious that I was starting to growl like a savage dog, I found myself twitching and trying to hold back my fist. "Jeri was my friend, he doesn't deserve this!" I thought, but it was far too late for that. A real friend doesn't listen to people who have single-handedly ruined your life, a real friend wouldn't try to hurt you because you're messed up, a real friend wouldn't make that little, bitching, atrocious, cock-sucking, motherfucking, FACE!!!

I slowly inched my way towards him, all signs of any rational thought that I once had in my head was thrown out the window. I didn't care if he's my friend anymore, he knows that I have been suffering for so long, and here he is, mocking me without a worry in the world. It was like he wanted me to die, well too bad, I couldn't stand his face, I think he needs to know when to quit.

As I slowly approached him, Jeri tried to act cool with his smug face, but he was slowly losing it as his stupid face started to melt. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!? You can't do this, I am smarter than you, you should understand how it feels to be tormented! Uh… y-you bitch, g-go back to the trash where you belong! Um… easy now Jin'ichi, it's your old friend Jeri! You couldn't possibly hurt me right? You would never hit a guy with glasses right!?" I would if they wouldn't shut up about my pain, he's just trying to stop me so that he could tell on me and ruin my life even more...

I then charged headfirst into Jeri, and then slammed his face into the nearest wall as his once psychotic face turned into one who was shivering in fear and chewing on his lip. He attempted to look at me, but when he saw nothing but a monster in my eyes, he closed his eyes and he desperately wanted to scream.

I gave him something of my own to remember, I pulled the EXACT same face he pulled on me, only when I do it, I don't screw around. I'm pretty sure I could hear my eyebrow twitch harder as my grip on Jeri's shirt got tighter and tighter, and my voice began to change from the friendly helpless voice I was once known for into something that was exactly like he said: "Something that I'm not"…

"A piece of trash you say? Are you referring to me like I'm some bubble gum wrapper you threw out because there was nowhere else to put your rubber? Or maybe I'm like a toy train, yeah that's it. You all played with me as friends ever since we first met. I had the finest wheels to push me forward, a whistle to boot, and a cute little engine that runs smoothly. When you guys started tearing me apart, I was not just a piece of trash for you to dispose of. I was… broken. You all broke me and forced me to become something I'm not."

"Doesn't that sound kinda hypocritical if you put it that way? You say it's my fault that I'm becoming something I'm not, but what about you? You were so much smarter than what you are now. I know that you knew better, you can recite the alphabet backwards, you always scored higher than I ever could, and yet here you are, picking on a helpless little piece of trash who would bang your sister ten times before she cries. You know what else is a piece of trash. Everything. We're all trash in our own ways, I'm trash because I'm nothing but a womanizer to you, Kamoshida is trash for being a goddamn show-off, and even you Jeri."

"You, and all of your friends are trash. You are happy going along with whatever someone tells you, and yet, you never spent an ordinary weekend without studying physics and some geometry bullshit? You have to be the dumbest man I've ever seen in my life. It was you who caused me to become like this, and yet here you are, wanting to punch numbers into a calculator… will those be the odds of the day I'll die? You really hate me that much, to go that far into studying the way I suffer? You disgusting little child. If I ever see that face on your smartass body ever again, I'll show you what trash really looks like."

"Not that it matters, you've been living amongst trash since the day Kamoshida told you about myself. It's all Kamoshida's fault, can't you see that? It was him who told me about you, do you understand? If you can't, then you really are the dumbest man in the world. You think you're so smart? Just wait until your life gets ruined someday. Tell me, does that little calculator of yours tell you how the fuck can your life go wrong? Do the damn math, and be careful who you trust…"

And just like that, I knew what I had to do to get the message burned in people's skulls. If I can't have my life, everyone who makes that sick expression goes to hell. I think I might've overdid it on Jeri, because a couple of days before school, I came to his big apartment and knocked on the door. His father was a millionaire y'know, a genius scientist who worked with Mrs. Wakaba. He's always busy when I drop by, but his wife was always expecting company.

Despite her son telling her otherwise, she thinks I'm a nice guy, even before Kamoshida happened. "Whoa, I never expected you to show up looking so manly…" she said feeling like I've changed for the better, but in reality, I've changed for the worst. "Is Jeri home?" I asked, her face looks very distracted by my looks, but at the same time, she feels a little stressed as she tries to contain it with a smile. "He hasn't left the house in days, I'd bet it's because he finally forgot to catch up on his homework."

"Really now? Can I see him?" "Sure, but I don't think he'll like it. He's been saying all of these mean things about you that are the exact opposite of what I've seen from you before he started. Just recently, he was muttering to himself that you were a monster. Why would he say stuff like that, did something happen between you two?" I stay cool in front of a lady, as in one that doesn't give me the look of a madwoman.

Besides, if I told her the truth, she would surely kick me out, so I told her: "Nah, just a little fuss, nothing too big." "Alright, you know where his room is right?" "Just at the end of the hall, got it." I entered the place and it looks as swell as ever. Everything smells fresh and clean, they recently moved around some clean furniture, and everything seems to be tidy. I walked over to Jeri's room and saw a 'Do not disturb' sign on his door. That's weird, the only times he ever uses it is when he's dealing with withdrawal from a lady, or when he feels like he wants to be alone…

I opened the door and expected nothing less than a neatly made bed, unopened action figures on the dresser and a desk with a neat looking headlamp shining down on him. But immediately, I saw something was wrong; I saw that Jeri's room was all messed up, completely contradictory to his usual tidy self. We've got writing on the walls, messed-up bed sheets, paper is everywhere, the figures were tipped over, and there he was, on his previously cleaned desk struggling with his school.

Looking at his papers, the answers aren't straight on the lines like he usually does, he looks like he's looking at several books at once, and he looked bruised and tired even though the wounds weren't that powerful, let alone it all happened a few days ago. Seeing him struggle for the first time really meant that I screwed him up, can you blame me? He started this mess and now he's paying the price, but still I felt like this kid needs to stand up straight. Even after he kept making that face, I still felt like the guy could use a hand or two.

So I approached Jeri and placed my hand on his shoulders, this made him jump back a bit out of his rolling chair and do a small and quick scream. He backed up towards his bed and he was shivering while trying to act like he's tough, but I can clearly see the bags under his eyes and the tears emerging from them. "S-Stay back! D-don't come any closer! You, you're more than trash, you're an abomination against society! What the hell is wrong with you!? First you rape someone, then you shoplift for no reason, and now you're trying to kill me!? I don't understand!"

He closed his eyes waiting for the impact, but y'know, the kid's been through enough harm. If I don't get him back in shape, he's going to flunk it for the first time. So I told him, with my newfound carefulness: "I won't hurt you anymore dude. Heh, I never wanted to hurt you. You're smart in your own way, you certainly know how to make things more interesting. But the only reason I did try and hurt you was because you hurt me, in more ways than one. Have you ever once felt that something was off, that someone or something has been feeding you lies? You're the smartest kid I know, and yet you believe something that's not true, what happened to you pal?"

That's when he realized it. He caused this pain to me, because he thought he was punishing the outcast of society, but in reality, he was hurting his own best friend in the world. His tears went from drips to pours in a manner of seconds as the smartest kid in the world felt like a fool. "I-I'm so sorry! I was just doing what everyone else was doing! I d-didn't know you were hurt by all of that! You d-did nothing wrong, right?" "That's right. This whole time, I was perfectly fine with all of you, in fact, I never had a reason to hurt any of you until you hurt my feelings, my body, and my mind…"

I spoke from the heart, I haven't tried that since I was begging for the pain to stop. This caused Jeri to hug me as an apology, but after all of that, I don't think he deserves forgiveness. He wants to go back, but why hang out with trash like me? He deserves someone much better, much better than me anyway. After all he and his friends did to me, I wasn't ready to go back, not like this. I pushed him away, with regret and a bit of coldness in my tone: "Sorry, it's too late. If you stayed with me any longer, you would just believe something even stupider, and I still hate the way your face looked when you were picking on me."

"Y-you don't forgive me…?" He said about to cry again, but I smiled while I straightened his glasses as I helped him up from the floor. "Hey, don't cry. Your knowledge is more valuable to you than some unworthy scumbag. And besides, won't people judge you for hanging with me, the worst man in the world? I'd suggest you keep getting those perfect scores for me, just because I won't hang with you anyone doesn't mean you won't have my support. Tell you what, you get that big fat A on your math test and I'll be proud of you. Just never hurt anyone, or make that face, again, you're a good boy, too innocent to be picking on scum like me."

Jeri smiled a bit while wiping away his tears, he was usually the most emotional of the bunch who always cries during romance and horror movies. As for me, well I've pretty much accepted that I'm a little piece of dead horse shit, but what happens when you beat on a dead horse? It gets tired of being dead and bucks those losers into the air. I might as well warn Jeri ahead of time, because with circumstances like this, there's no turning back.

"Just one thing though, the second school comes in, I'll bash everyone who ever made fun of me right upside the head. I want you to warn my old crew about me, tell them that I won't harm them anymore as long as they don't hurt me. Understand?" Jeri nods at my seriousness as I prepared for the big day. I never thought I'd have to do something this violent to people, and if it weren't for Jeri's last minute insult, I would've definitely not been ready for something like this. But alas, the tables have turned, and an old veteran is coming back stronger than ever...

On the first day of a new school year, several of the students, aside from Jeri and his friends and several others not worth mentioning yet, were parked in front of the school waiting for me to show up to abuse me. Look at them all, they all carry those same, wicked, evil, stupid, ass-licking, motherfucking, bullshit, faces!!!

This pissed me off more than ever, it was me against nearly an entire school, and you know what? I was going to enjoy seeing those faces turn into the same face I always made against them. They think they can poke a bear huh? Well I've got news for you, you mess with the bull, you get all the shit it had to endure for the other half of a school year!

I grabbed the wooden chair I got from home, and then, with a moment of hesitation, I charged right at the crowd. At first, they thought it was some dumb attempt to cover up my weakness so they laughed a bit, but then they heard me scream at the top of my lungs. It sounded like a genocidal killer, filled with nothing but rage at the ones that have shamed him. Everyone stopped laughing, and when their stupid faces wouldn't leave their body, I gave them a good reason to stop!

I thrashed every damn jerk who ever made fun of me, it was a sight to behold. I didn't have the guts to kill them, that is, at least not yet, but still it felt so good to finally become rough and tough like they said. When I was through with them, no evidence but the blood remained, not even one tiny picture or video. I almost hit another one, but this one had that same expression of the feeling I had. The broken mind, the crying, the people somehow cheering for me to hit him was kinda freaky. I decided to stop there and not lay a finger on him.

That kid was just like me, had I hit him back then, he would've turned to the dark side like I did. I decided to give a nickname to those kinds of people, the ones where rumors get the best of their lives, either that or are just flat out ruined in general. I called them 'poor boys', in other words, they're people like me who have no place in life, but unlike me, they still have a chance to turn things around. After a couple more paybacks, that damn Kamoshida came out, trying to completely ignore what I just did, and spoke with that fucking smile on his face….

"Hey Jin'ichi. You still want to join the volleyball team? I would be happy to let you join if you would stop hitting people with chairs…"

And how did I respond? I flipped the old bird at him which hurt his pride and caused the second of my many detentions. I had no intention to join the volleyball team now that I'm 'too annoying', I flipped that bird without a care in the world. I also made a side bet with him, another offer he couldn't refuse.

I said to him after he wrote down a detention slip: "Let's make ourselves a deal shall we? You keep me in the game, and I won't harm your precious volleyball team. I don't care what you do unless it hurts me in some way, but if you do as much as make me get abused again or even expelled too soon, I'll fucking kill you. All of that pride you once had will be gone, people will slowly forget about you, and soon you will never be the star you once were at the Olympics. Keep me alive, and I won't interfere with you any longer. So which will it be? Me, or your pride?"

He took the latter, he was extremely angry with me now that I've got him under my foot along with Kaito's deal. If I don't harm him, he won't harm me, it's almost too perfect. From now on, my days at school went like this: Every time I arrived at school, I looked for anyone willing to pick on me, the maniacal screams I did made it harder for anyone to pick on me. I never stopped breaking the dress code, I always ate by myself, and all of my seriousness has tamed these mindless psychos of their pleasure.

A few months back, they would force me to eat a bug. Now? I pretty much eat a bug if there's nothing good going at the cafeteria. I also occasionally buy food from the supermarkets with the money I get from my share of the family job. And after the day was through, even if I wasn't in trouble, I already was trouble. I always go to the detention room and it gives me the opportunity to nap.

Now normally a day like this will expel you all the more quickly, but not me. I used Kamoshida's cockiness to his advantage, and since he was the one who agreed to the deal, he's supposed to take care of this. Too bad he has problems of his own to worry about, problems that I spy on under the bleachers or behind a door.

I figured out from my time spying on the guy that he is an abusive, megalomaniac, pervert who pushes the students to their limits. I'd think that Kamoshida unintentionally helped me dodge a bullet, but that still doesn't help the fact that I had to suffer because of this asshole. About 30 days into this deal and the price the school had to pay was starting to go off the charts. Things were looking pretty upbeat for me, as no one has exposed me yet. But one day, I found a guy who has the look of someone with potential.

That kid was Hakaru Yumasu. The teacher introduced him to the class as a confident kid who just moved from the old farm-life. His eyes were green, his brown hair was that familiar messed up bed hair, and he wore the appropriate uniform like everyone else. He looks average, but I'm not so sure he understands what the fuck is going on.

This guy has no idea what kind of hell he's stepping into. He scored a seat next to me, which 'was a good seat' said nobody ever. But he didn't mind, he actually started to like me when he first set his eyes on me. He stared at me, not like a creep, but in such a way that he looks like a fan. Has he heard of my actions? Nope, he's only a new kid after all, he doesn't know the messes I get into, I might as well give him what he wants.

I went down a path that led to the lunch room that has a bunch of bad people. Hakaru saw as I knocked down guy after guy and even pulled a girl's hair. Why would I do that? She was about to post a hate comment on a social network channel, she had nothing to do with Kamoshida, but I did it because she pretty much knew she had it coming. At the lunch room, I sat down at my table for one, eating my t-bone steak without a care in the world, as I watched Hakaru make a choice whether to trust me or not.

He doesn't seem like the guy who would look for trouble, as a matter of fact he seems pretty darn scared of me. I'm not taking it personally, that's common amongst the cowards who tried to get into me. "Jin'ichi!" yelled a familiar voice, I looked over and saw that, unfortunately, today was a pretty bad day for Hakaru to show up, because this was also the day my friend Garu, the big one, wanted revenge for what I've done to the school. He was about to approach me before Jeri tried to stop him in his tracks by grabbing his arm, he sure knew what was going on, he might be one of the lucky few who do know what's happening…

"No! Please Garu, you can't do this! Jin'ichi is insane, you can't beat him!" Jeri said in a panic, but Garu wasn't having it so he stared at him hard enough to make him let go. What came next was very out of character for Garu, of all people: "Stand aside Jeri, this man has tormented this school long enough. I am tired of seeing you guys suffer because of him, I'll personally make sure he gets what he really is!"

Oh dang, looks like he didn't take my new style very well. He's walking towards me with no urge to make my life hell, but to make sure I don't cause anymore hell. Maybe I should've done something about him sooner, but that smell, he actually remembered to take a shower? Bravo dude, you may be pissed but I couldn't be happier to know that you took great care of yourself. I looked at the enraged boy with a carefree smile, like I've done this so many times it's kinda amusing to me now.

"Hey Garu, long time no see. You're looking as strong as ever, you even managed to properly wash your clothes today, I'm impressed." And then the guy just grabs me, invading my personal space and interrupting me while I was eating my lunch. What's his problem? He used to be so calm about my sarcastic attitude, but now he's pretty damn pissed. I can see the flame in his eyes, he's not just wanting revenge, he's wanting blood to fly!

"You... you have ruined this school! It used to be fun for us all, but then you had to assault a lady didn't you!? And it only got worse from there, no matter what we did to you, you just got back up! When you showed up at school after summer, you almost destroyed nearly everyone in this school! Why are you doing this, answer me!!" Oh great, he thinks what everybody else thinks. I have to think fast or else this guy is going to give me a bad day!

So I threw my bones from the steak at the big guy to distract him, dodged a few punches, gave him the closest trash can I could find at him and then pushed the can knocking both Garu and the can over. Nothing personal dude, just honest emotional output. There's plenty of other people in the room, including Hakaru, I'm surprised he'd last this long watching me. So I yelled as loud as I could as I thrashed against Garu for getting this worked up over a little rumor...

"Why? It's simple, you all blame me for something I didn't do, and the more you did it, the less I enjoyed it. Aren't you supposed to be protecting others!? Are you trying to save them from me!? They don't need your help, especially if you plan on picking up someone while they're eating their lunch!!!" I'll admit I sounded rather fussy about losing my lunch, but I guess it's worth it to give this guy what he deserves. I pinned his arms behind his back with my legs and aimed for the face with my punches. I think I must've hit him 30 times or something before the egg-man principal and his cronies came by and stopped our fun.

I must've given Garu quite the spook, because he certainly doesn't want to be near me after what happened right there. Now normally, I would be the one to blame in this situation, but as part of the deal, I had nearly identical protection that Kamoshida has so that means: "Jin'ichi, is this kid giving you trouble?" asked the principal. That's right folks, just because he's head of the school, doesn't mean he's not easily persuaded. If Kamoshida can be covered up, so can I, that was one of the conditions of the deal.

"Yep. He picked the fight, and he picked poorly. That's thirty detentions so far, I will turn myself in this afternoon as usual, but it looks like I'll have company this time. isn't that right, ex-friend?" Garu looked pretty spooked by my smirk, but it just feels good to actually fight someone who was at least a bit as angry as I was. He shook his head and screamed as he was slowly being taken away to the school hospital: "He's a monster!"

What a success, I do this thing so often it's like a show to me. Try me and lose and I just announce my victory. Some of these students love my violence, but everyone else just can't look away or tell anybody else. Luckily, they stick around long enough for me to dramatically announce my victory over someone tough. As I eat the rest of my steak from the floor, as a little nitpic for the neat-freaks out there, I end my show as I walked towards my table for one!

"Don't worry about me, just continue eating your food and enjoy the rest of the school day. I'll be happy to sign autographs for those of you who actually care about me, then again who would care about me? I'm just nothing but a slug to you all am I right? Can slugs do what you just saw though? Maybe they could if they got people who pick on somebody who doesn't mean anything. Thank you, I'll be here all year!"

*Sigh* It's good to be someone who bends the rules. No progress on Kamoshida again, which is a bummer, but I hear he's attempting to run the track team next. What a dick. Hakaru seems to be enjoying me, because he's probably never seen anybody like me before. I think I'll let him follow me around for a while and then I'll acknowledge his existence the next time I fight.

When I was casually walking toward the detention room, while shoving almost everyone who was in my path, this guy wouldn't let me out of his sight up until he bumped into, goddamn it, Kamoshida. Kamoshida seems to like him, and he likes him back, which is a bad sign. The fool thinks liking the pervert will make him feel more special, yeah, specially ruined that's what it looks like to me! I had to set this kid straight or else he'll make the same mistakes I did…

So I walked up to the guy, but he was too busy daydreaming for a second until my presence got his attention. He was a bit shy and a coward at heart judging from his face, which looked kinda bashful and embarrassed. I shouldn't even be engaging in conversation when I'm this tough, but in the case of a potential 'poor boy' I'm willing to make an exception…

He talked about how he thought Kamoshida was a good guy, but he should know by now that bringing up Kamoshida in that context was going to make me barf. I got the guy a few hints of suspicion, but mostly due to a bad first impression, but hey, if people don't listen to you the first time, knock some sense into them. Besides, they should be more concerned about their own safety than some superstar.

I stormed into the detention room as Hakaru stood there and thought about what I said. I may be long gone, but I'm not entirely a monster, this guy deserves to know about my entire situation. So the next few days were pretty average, nothing too special here yet. But then, the next day after that was where things got interesting...

You see Ryuji Sakamoto was always the favorite of the old track team. I was inspired by his badmouth nature and his cocky attitude. He had tons of shit to put up with at the time, but the one defining thing he did that day was punching Kamoshida in the face!

That felt so satisfying seeing Ryuji attack first without hesitation. I would love to take a swing at Kamoshida too, but I'm just afraid I'll get kicked out before my dad can make enough money. But still, the guy did something so satisfying that I ended up dying a part of my hair yellow in honor of the dude. But alas, no thanks to Kamoshida, Ryuji became a 'poor boy' and now everybody hates him. But still, the way he lashed out at him because he was tired of his nonsense, if it was me in his shoes, I would've done that a long time ago.

And so, I'd bet that 'Harry', my signature nickname for Hakaru, heard about this too. So after my detention, I told him all about myself. And it was only a matter of time before me and him slowly became good friends, although we don't show it at school due to people thinking I'm too tough for friends. We kept our friendship private for a long time, long enough to see some guy named Akira Kurusu move here.

He looked like any other black shirt and plaid pants guy with fuzzy hair and circle glasses. Unfortunately for us, he just broke the world record for the fastest time to become a 'poor boy'! People already started talking about him assaulting a woman somehow and punching a man. Of course Kamoshida was responsible for this, who wouldn't be responsible for rumor spreading?

I don't believe those rumors, so I just assume the opposite. I think the man was assaulting the woman, and Akira punched the man out of bravery, but it looked to the fuzz like Akira was the one picking on the woman. Harry occasionally tries to buddy up with Akira, and man was he persistent on making him feel a little welcome. He also developed a crush on Shiho, she's a nice black ponytailed girl with good intentions, but she's in the volleyball team, the very place with Mr Pervert. Goddamn you Kamoshida, why must you take everything that's great in the world and beat it to death?

After that, things got worse. And I mean a whole lot worse. First off, some kid named Mishima took a volleyball to the head. Not that it matters since he's technically not a 'poor boy' yet, he was actually kinda pathetic, since his life wasn't exactly ruined by rumors yet. Hey, we can't all be positive.

Second off, Harry's crush Shiho was called in by Kamoshida one day, and I just wish that he didn't do that to her out of all the ladies out there. And then the next day, a glove slapped me in the face that told me just how bad Kamoshida really is. Shiho jumped from the school roof and surprised us all. Harry was crying all over the place, he knew her very well, and we were lucky that she survived. Harry couldn't handle the pressure, he wasn't able to think straight after what just happened. I shook him as hard as I could to get his attention and I expressed my thoughts about the suicide, and I knew this was going to hurt the both of us now that I'm all wound up!

"Harry! That was the stupidest thing Kamoshida has ever done! Who in their right mind takes a beautiful lady like her, and then shoves their goddamn cock in her business!? She had absolutely no grudge against him, nobody did! But now she's broken with no other way to get back at him! Why the fuck would he even do this!? All of this was because of fame, WAS MY ETERNAL SUFFERING APART OF THAT FAME YOU SON OF A BITCH!?!?" I'm glad Hakaru couldn't process my rant, I said some pretty stupid shit right there, and it took awhile for Hakaru to recover so I tried hard to avoid getting him even more worried.

I tried to calm down, I really tried, but then I overheard two guys talk about something. Under normal circumstances, I couldn't care less what they're thinking, but now? I just had to listen up and pray that nothing even more terrible happens to this school. And then, while already in my wound up state, I listened to the worst thing I ever heard…

"Did you hear? Some kids named Akira, Mishima and Ryuji are about to be expelled..." "Yeah I know, what a bunch of losers!" Are you serious…? You could've just done Mishima and I would've been alright with it, you could've done Akira only and Harry would hate that, but when you take two boys and mix them with my man Ryuji, THEN we have a serious problem!!

I would've been perfectly fine with anyone but him, I didn't even get a chance to introduce myself yet! But why!? Why the hell would they expell all three of them!? Mishima was the true innocent one, Akira was framed, but Ryuji didn't do jack-shit until Kamoshida screwed with him!! I couldn't take this pressure, so I stormed on over to the two jerks and they never saw me coming...

"Huh!? J-Jin'ichi!? I didn't know you were-" I shut them up for a bit by smashing their heads against the nearest wall, I completely ignored Harry's fragile state as I screamed wildly looking for answers: "What the fucking hell did you say about Ryuji!?" "I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't m-mea-" "Spill it!! What the fuck is going on with Ryuji!?" "W-Well, M-Mr. K-Kamoshida said he'll expel three students in a few weeks." "Y-Yeah, A-Akira, M-Mishima, R-Ryuji..." No… he wouldn't dare… Just when I thought the school was safe for me to play with, it reveals a little motherfucking choke-hazard named Kamoshida!

Up until this very moment, I hated Kamoshida, but I never had a reason to downright kill the bastard! But now Ryuji, the very guy who had the guts to stand up to him, the guy who became a 'poor boy' to help set an example, and now Kamoshida is trying to get rid of him!? What kind of nonsense was that!? He didn't do anything wrong at all! Everything he did against you was actually provoked by you and now you want to expel him for something he never did at all!? I blindly thrashed the two kids in my grasp, I think I almost killed them, but I don't care, I just want my symbol of hope to stay that way!!

I walked back to the shaken Harry, as I told him while completely engulfed in rage: "Harry! Same place as usual! Don't be late!!" At that point I lost my mind, but not before warning Harry about my condition. I was well aware the school knew about Kamoshida and his problems, and yet they covered him up just like when I got covered up too like an old blanket. I'm alright with anything Kamoshida does unless it ruins lives, but this triple threat of a day was way too much for my mind to take in!!

The next day, I had begun to seek my revenge on those who were even thinking that Kamoshida was good! I beat up whoever insulted Ryuji, I threw a goddamn chair at one of my teachers, anything to let people know I meant business. The only people I didn't hurt were the 'poor boys' and let me tell you this, it wasn't easy restraining yourself in front of those who suffered. I swear every time I saw Kamoshida's face from then on, I wanted to kill him so badly. But I didn't, yet…

One day, I somehow got the attention of the school council president Makoto Niijima. She looked at my battered up state strangely calmly, like she was used to it by now. I couldn't resist her stare at me so I tried to mellow down a bit for her. "Hello. I see you have been busy, no person in their right mind would go around letting his rage get out of hand without getting caught." Makoto said without a hint of fear. What does she know?

As I tried to stay calm around this particular lady, I let my revenge get in the way of a chance and asked her: "Do you like Kamoshida?" her answer was plain and straight to the point. "No. As a matter of fact I hate his actions as much as you do. I suppose lashing out on other students and even the teachers is your answer? Tell me Jin'ichi, why is that?" "BECAUSE! Because everyone believes they like him when they shouldn't, they are all suffering because of him, and yet I'm the one who has to set them straight! I'm the one who has to make sure nobody gets hurt! He's been keeping too many secrets, and nobody even knows how they truly feel about him!"

I was breaking down before I knew it, but Makoto kept a straight face: "The people around Kamoshida were the ones keeping his actions secret. Adults who wish to share in on his accomplishments, students who have the drive to become winners, they willingly protect him so that they all may profit from it." I snapped like a twig right there, her straight face was starting to loosen up, but does it even matter right now!? "But why!? He deserves no protection from these people! Everyone has their own lifes to live, and you're telling me that they can't do anything right because Kamoshida is a fucking celebrity!? Are we just going to forget all the pain and suffering he caused upon me and everyone!?"

"No. We won't forget, the near-death experience of a fellow student has been etched into our brains. Just keep in mind of your own actions, if you go as far as to abuse people and force them to believe something even if they already believe it, you'll be no better than Kamoshida." I tried not to listen to that, but she kept a goddamn straight face this whole time, I was about to snap again before I heard Harry call my name: "Jin'ichi, please… don't be like this!"

"I'll leave you two alone, you look like you need his help." Makoto walked away in Harry's direction, which left me a chance to run away from him. I can't let anyone know that me and Harry are friends, or else they'll gang up on poor Harry… He kept trying to reconnect with me, but I ignored him to the point of pretending he doesn't exist. This was to keep him safe from being targeted by the other people at school. I knew how savage they would get if even one little rumor was tossed around, so before my rampage I told him never to associate himself with me until the whole thing blows over. I think I may have upset him a little, but it's not my fault, it's Kamoshida's.

This was also to help give Harry a bigger reason to stand up for himself, without me around to help, it's up to him to decide what the fuck should he do. Unfortunately, Harry couldn't take the pressure either, and he felt like he couldn't do anything to help anyone. Goddamn it, Kamoshida has toyed with us for long enough and now my best bud feels useless, this couldn't be any worse. But just when I thought I'd never recover from my mental state, Hakaru told me to meet up with him at our usual spot one night.

That's when he brought me a calling card from someone only known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. I had no idea who they were, but boy did my face began to light up again after hearing that they'll steal Kamoshida's desires and reveal the truth about his personality. Could this be it? Will Kamoshida finally be kicked out of the school? I know it's too good to be true, but at this point I didn't care who does it!

I burst out laughing when I found out, and man did I feel free! After so long, Kamoshida will finally confess the truth! I couldn't contain myself any longer! Hearing this news made me laugh a bit before going straight home to my relief! When I got home, I even told my dad about this and believe me, he too felt proud of me for sticking to the end. When Kamoshida didn't show up tomorrow, we took that as a sign that things were finally starting to look up!

I celebrated this occasion when Kamoshida spilled his beans with popcorn during his confession and a trip to Big Bang Burger with Harry afterwards. And without Kamoshida to personally attack me, the school will be stuck with me until the day I graduate. Although, because Kamoshida is gone, I'll have to take it easier on the students, now that there's no Kamoshida to ruin their lives. And then on that very same day came all that stuff that Harry did, and boy did I underestimate his potential.

The app he had, the Phantom Thieves becoming real, his transformation into 'Hero', all of this was brought by some guy in an alley. I normally stay away from people like this, but there's just something about this guy who knows exactly what I want. Today was supposed to be the day that I awaken next, but I had little clue as to how to do it. Basically, all I needed was one hell of a grudge, y'know, something bigger than the grudge with Kamoshida, and then I'll rebel and gain a Persona thing like Harry used.

But dang, this whole thing about becoming a real Phantom Thief sounds legit, and what's more, the first target we picked had a big honking mansion for us to explore. It would be a shame if this strange location wasn't exploited for fun, that way, everyone gets happy. Takeyoshi is a kid, he wants to have fun, Harry desperately needs to know how to have fun with whatcha got, and as for me? Once I set foot in that mansion again, I'm going to see just how much of a grudge I can have with a single kid named Monigami...

I was personally looking forward to heading back to Monigami's mansion. It might give me a better chance to be prepared for anything bad now that we know what to do. So, while we waited for Takeyoshi to get himself ready, I finally showed Harry the old junkyard. His reaction was him just being very confused and impressed at the same time as usual. I could tell because he scratched his head while smiling like the friendly dork I knew to love.

"Whoa… I didn't know you and your dad ran an entire junkyard…" I felt accomplished hearing the guy be amazed by all this stuff me and Kaito share. I showed off with a smirk as Harry took a look around the place.

"Yep. It's my home. We're pretty much the best fixer uppers in the city. Our school likes our business enough to keep supporting it. My father is a master at making machines, and can help reverse engineer literally anything." "That's amazing Jin'ichi! With your mechanic skills, we can design some weaponry for our next visit to Shadow Monigami's mansion." Harry sounds like he needed my support. To think that this optimistic guy was a coward was an overstatement. He's actually a pretty encouraging guy once you get to know him.

"Yeah baby, although my dad is out and about doing jobs for people. But he said I can borrow whatever I can in case of an emergency." "Yeah! And Monigami's existence is a major emergency!" "You can say that again!" I recognize that last voice from anywhere, it's the little guy Takeyoshi! The little kid with an eye-patch, he was with us on our last adventure and even though we nearly got killed, this just meant we weren't trying hard enough, that's all.

It was my idea to bring him with us, we may have suffered a bit but the important thing is that we should be more prepared in the future. Takeyoshi looked amazed at how much stuff I got. He giggled a bit as I waved hello to the little guy. At first, Harry didn't want him to come with us, but now he's just as excited as I am. What can I say? He's a sucker for kids like him, but then again, he has a sister, so I shouldn't poke fun at his decision skills until he needs the poke.

"Takeyoshi! Nice to see you again." I said giving him a nice high-five. "This is where you live Jin'ichi? It looks pretty big!" Said Takeyoshi observing the mountains of junk. "Ehh, I try." I shrugged like it was nothing, it wasn't that unimpressive, but the sight still looked very neat to the boys.

"Now hang on Takeyoshi, I saw a hint of jealousy in your tone of voice once you found out that Jin'ichi was next to awaken." Harry's right, I caught a glimpse of envy in the kid's voice when he left for home. He was just jealous that Harry got a Persona and now I might get one today. He looks happy now, but I can't help but pity the kid. Now that I mention it, what is even with these Personas? Are they some sort of wild ghost following you around, and what was with that greenish glow Harry did with Hercules?

Back to reality, Takeyoshi responds to Harry's statement while being pretty happy about his circumstance for some reason. "I'm not complaining, I still wanna kick Monigami's butt! So that's why I brought a sword!" He pulls out his 'sword' from his pocket. It was the most impressive stick out there, it looks like it came from a tree in his garden, and it looks kinda like a sword when flipped around. I clapped a bit knowing the kid's got a good taste, but Harry says: "That's just a stick…" Dude, do you have to point everything out? Save it for the Palace.

"Not just any stick, I've kept this stick in my room since I was young and it never broke! This is my ultimate weapon of choice, I never used it for combat purposes before, but what better time than now?" Whoa, the kid is getting dramatic. He must've got that sort of knack from a movie.

"Yeah, but aren't you a little worried what might happen to you if…" "No Harry, the kid's right. We need to get ourselves armed and ready if we're going back in. My personal bet would be the old crowbar." I grab one from a nearby toolbox, still as rusty as ever. Harry was, of course, impressed by my weapon choice...

"Of course! It's great for opening boxes, let alone opening up bodies, and it helps a lot when it comes to breaking stuff!" Harry smiled yet again as I took a few practice swings for myself. "Hey! My stick can wake up my dad you know!" Takeyoshi does a few practice 'pokes' to sharpen his skills as a thief. I do like the kid, but I wish he picked something like a toy gun.

"Yeah. So Harry, what weapon will you take with you? We got swords, old bombs, you name it." Harry suddenly got prideful and denied any use of weapons on the spot. He pulled off the biggest smirk I've seen from him and he went from worrisome to cowardly overconfident. He must've been ready for this too y'know.

"No need for that kind of stuff! A real hero uses his fists when he fights, which does beg the question, how the heck did I punch so hard in my first battle? I mean, normally when I punch something I end up with a bruised fist rather than an injured rival. But this felt really weird, do Phantom Thieves get this kind of power when they first awaken?" Harry had questions on the brain, everyone does at this point. Just what kind of hot fever dream did we drag ourselves into?

Oh well, he asks, I deliver: "Obviously yes. How else were they supposed to succeed at their heists?" Takeyoshi tapped his foot impatiently as he was more than ready to go: "Come on, Hakaru! I can't wait to see what fun awaits us inside Monigami's mansion! I want to make sure I see every inch of this amazing place!"

"I personally want to see that 'special' collection he was talking about. Let me guess, it is a collection of people who got angry at him?" I took a lucky guess and Harry added on to that: "I don't think it's that simple. If it really was just that, he would've included you two in there ages ago." "Yeah! But instead he imagines us as donkeys!" You said it best Takeyoshi, your childish anger is right on the money. I hate being treated like an ass, and I couldn't help but wonder...

"But what makes that collection so different from the others?" Hakaru then took his own shot at lucky guessing: "If you ask me, I think it has something to so with how some people treat him like a jerk." Little Takeyoshi couldn't help but swing his 'sword' around when he heard that...

"Well I personally don't care how he feels, I just wanna get my hands on him and cut him to pieces!" I place my hand on his shoulder once he stops taking swings. I smiled confidently as I said to him: "You and me both pal. Are you ready to rock 'Hero'?" Harry is Hero in that world, and when he heard me put it that way, he got even more excited: "Hell yeah Jin'ichi! We'll show that Monigami fella whose boss!... or rather his other self. Also, did I cuss? I'm very sorry…" Now he's embarrassed again. That's what I like about you Harry, you're always a momma's boy.

"Heh. Never change a bit Harry. Alright, same place as last time right?" "I'll lead the way!" Takeyoshi points his stick to the sky like the towers of the city, it looks like the kid is starting to develop some brave-hearted skills of his own. Call me impressed, I give the kid a thumbs-up, nothing says I like your style better than a good thumb pointed upward. It's practically the opposite of flipping birds, which makes it more satisfying to perform.

"Okay! But remember we're supposed to be private agents of justice, just like they do. So let's not tell anyone about our plan, okay?" Harry brought this up while trying to be his cautious old self, so we could stay undercover, y'know, without causing trouble.

"You got it." I agreed with Harry... "They won't believe me anyway, let's go! I can't wait to see that big building again!" ...and Takeyoshi agrees with Harry, it's a unanimous decision. With bright smiles on our faces, we did a together fist bump as me and Takeyoshi brought our backpacks out to fill up on food, spare weapons, and even a couple extra things I packed in secret.

So we headed back to Monigami's house in Shibuya, and Harry used his hand-me-down phone to lead the way back to the Metaverse thingy. Reality started to go nuts as we crossed worlds once more. The first time we did this, we were definitely unprepared for what those stinking butlers could do, but now? We've got the stuff, we got a plan, and we've got Hero, what could go wrong?

So we ended up in front of the mansion like last time, that's when I knew that this whole thing wasn't some drunk hallucination. The mansion was as big as his ego, which is very big, I saw a bunch of windows in the front and the door looked very fancy, a bit too fancy for scum like him. That's when I remembered the reason I went into a flying rage when we were cornered. Harry and Takeyoshi were my only two friends as of now, if I ever lost the two of them, I would never forgive myself for letting them get killed. It would also leave an even bigger dent in my reputation, making me completely unable to recover from my hell. I had the power to protect them, Shadow Monigami just threw me off balance, that's all. Now I know better enough to give this kid a spanking.

I looked at Harry, and he changed into the inspiring hero he was known for. He wore a green super suit, donned a very neat cape, and he wore an eye mask to conceal his identity to the world. I think his hair made an S shaped loop like the best superhero. I applaud him for getting his stuff together so quickly, but he on the other hand loved the powers like a mother loves his child. He hugged his body like he was in love with himself. Takeyoshi was just as amazed as I was, and he clapped too. After Hero was done holding himself, he imitated a hero of his own while pretending to be confident in front of me and the kid...

"Oh man, it feels so good to be Hero again… ahem… greetings fair citizens of the world! My name is Hero! I fight for truth, justice, and rebellion against the forces of evil!" he did that dramatic pose where your cap flies in the wind, but as far as I could tell, it wasn't that windy.

"Heh. You never cease to amaze Harry." I gave him the old thumbs up for effort. Takeyoshi was all the more bouncy and hyped with Hero than anything I could do alone. He was the one who came up with the name, it kinda feels like Harry was made to be a Phantom Thief.

"Oh boy! Hero, can I be your sidekick? I wanna wear a mask too!" Takeyoshi asked as Hero continued to make the overly dramatic pose: "I wish you could, but until we solidify what we really are, we must get our act together and take down Monigami!" Harry stayed confident the entire time during that sentence, he's getting better at being someone he's trying to be.

"And to do that, we gonna make like bandits and begin a heist." Takeyoshi then questioned my word choice. Who wouldn't question after Harry became a part of the Phantom Thieves? "But isn't stealing from others wrong?" Kid, stealing what thieves do, time to let loose some of that charm I'm known for.

"Is being picked on by a bully wrong? Turnabout is fair play my dude, I should know, my old friends picked on me all because of some rumors. And they did it while looking like goddamn monsters… I'll never forget those expressions for as long as I live!" Oops. I think I just reminded myself of my horrid origins, I was going to scream but...

"But you showed them! You whooped them in the butt for making silly faces!" Takeyoshi poked fun at this situation like it was a bear. It really wasn't that funny, but that felt too good to not be true. "Heh. I'm just glad you don't understand the weight of the situation." It's times like this that remind you how much helpful the youthful generation is. "Indeed! Now people, bring out your weapons! We have no idea what's in store for us in there!" Hero shouted as we prepared to suit up.

I busted out my crowbar out of my duffle bag, still as reliable as I left it, Harry cracked his knuckles with a smirk, which left him hyped for the adventure, and made me a bit proud of the guy, and Takeyoshi pulls out a real fucking sword from his pocket- wait what!? I thought that was a stick when we entered! Takeyoshi was just as surprised as I was, but he wasn't complaining. Harry dropped the cool guy act for a second just to ask one simple question…

"What the!? Why the hell do you have a real sword!?" Harry shouted as he went from courageous to scared shitless on a dime. The sword looks absolutely normal, like a fresh new blade unsheathed. I gotta say, I've clearly underestimated the way this Palace amazes us.

"Whoa… my stick turned into a real sword…! It's a magic stick!" He completely ignored Harry as he looked at the sword like a handy dandy tool. I talked to Harry on the sidelines about what I think happened…

"Didn't your little friend HEX say that this world is fueled by imagination or something?" "Oh yeah! So whatever he thinks is a sword, actually becomes a sword! That's so brilliant!" Indeed it was Harry. With powers like that, disrespect will be as good as ours.

"Wow… I thought my stick was special, but never magical! Although my mom tells me never to run with swords, she didn't say anything about swinging it at the bad guys!" Your mother should be more specific Takeyoshi, I just can't help smiling at the guy for taking advantage of his newfound sword. "Okay! Now that we're good to go, it's time we teach that naughty kid a lesson!" Hero recovered and did the pose before Takeyoshi and I noticed something... "Wow, Hero! You can fly!" "Huh? I can do what?"

He can fly, the dang dude can fly. He was glowing green and everything as he began to take to the skies. Harry quickly got the hang of it and cheered as he flew all over the place as fast as he could. He zipped here, there, everywhere, this new power made him very joyful, and I'm glad that he's happy. Unfortunately, after a few laps, he stopped flying and it looked like he was out of breath as the green glow disappeared. He landed on the ground headfirst and he was breathing heavily all over the place. I was impressed and all, but still got worried that Harry ran out of juice already...

"Are you okay?" I asked. "Oh my god! I flew so fast that I ran out of power… I can't protect you guys like this, I need more energy!" Harry said, trying to catch a break. "Oh man, if that superpower of yours drains that quickly, I don't think we can defend ourselves from those butlers." I had no idea being a hero comes with an energy wasting technique, but fortunately for us, Takeyoshi came prepared...

"Don't worry Hero, help is on the way to your stomach!" Takeyoshi gets out his teddy bear backpack and pulls out a box full of delicious granola bars. They look like candy bars, only with a whole lotta nuts. Harry grabbed one and ate it as he started to feel his strength coming back to him. I was personally impressed seeing the kid was this much prepared for the heist.

"Hey… I don't feel sluggish anymore! I can fight again! How did you know what to bring?" He says getting back on his feet, back to the way he was before. Takeyoshi felt proud of himself as his smile got as big as ever. "Every great superhero gets tired eventually, so I brought along some of mom's secret stash of energy bars just in case." I saw Hero stand back upright and crack his knuckles again, the illusion of energy left me asking for more...

"Huh. The stuff really does work. But aren't you worried you'll be in trouble?" "Don't worry Jin'ichi, I'll just tell her I've been exercising. She's pretty much worried about all the meats I eat, so she's putting me in a gymnastics class to get better." "Heh. That's clever." I smirked as Hero showed off again.

"Aha! Clever indeed old friend! Now onward, let's save the world from this child's evil plan!" Harry got heroic again, I like his ego, but I still question myself even now: "You think along the way I'll be able to find out what's holding me back?" "I believe in you pal! You can do anything if you put your mind to it!" Takeyoshi gave me a smile, and boy did it feel so good. There's something about kids younger than me that made me smile too, letting a kid accompany us sounds like a great idea, and this was clearly no mistake.

"You see? This is why we have a kid with us Harry, to help us with emotional support, encourage us to do better to make him happy, and to make sure we keep our cursing to a minimum." I told Harry as he smiled at the kid: "Yeah, thanks Takeyoshi." "I'm just happy to be a part of the Phantom Thieves Two!" Takeyoshi said with an uplifting tone.

"I'm sorry, was that 'too' or 'two'...?" Harry wondered for some reason. "Huh?" Takeyoshi questioned. Oh great, you confused the kid, and yourself Harry. I'm telling you now, his charm never gets old. "Well, forget the name! We have more important business to attend to! We have stalled long enough! Let the heist of the extra Phantom Thieves begin!" Hero shouted as he pointed to the mansion and Takeyoshi yelled "Charge!!!"

We smashed through the front door as Hero cleaned the house with his Persona Hercules. I personally still have no idea how he got it still, but he helped knock them out with me and Takeyoshi by his side. The crowbar was effective against some of the creatures, and Takeyoshi knew how to swing a big bad sword. We let no one escape as the main hallway was completely empty in a few minutes, not even Monigami heard the whole thing happen, but we couldn't take a chance that easily.

So we took a look around the place as we noticed the big red staircase in the middle of the room. Being the sleuths we are, we investigated the big brown wooden protected by three different colored locks. One that's red, one that's yellow, and a blue one. I tried prying it open with my handy tool, but the crowbar didn't do shit. We could have Hero use his super strength to punch down the door, but that alone costs energy, and we only have about 7 bars of energy left. It would be better to save them, and Hero's strength, for later in case of an emergency.

Surely the door would open on its own due to Monigami's influence, but he must've hid the keys somewhere else. So we looked around the place for the keys on our own, until...

"Guys! Guys! I found something really super cool!" "Way to go Takeyoshi! Is it one of the keys?" Hero asked. "Even better! They have a swimming pool!" Takeyoshi was certainly jumping all over the place now that he knows there's finally something fun to do! I couldn't agree more with him, but Hero got a bit surprised when he then said: "A what!?"

A swimming pool Harry. The jerk-ass child, who takes pleasure in our suffering, has a goddamn swimming pool. It was on the left on the first floor, the room was empty aside from a couple of naked stone statues of Monigami. The only thing that stood out was the Olympic-sized pool in the middle of it all. The closer we got to it, the bigger it got. We were amazed that the Cognitive World would have something like this in a mansion. We knew it was all a figment of imagination, and that whatever we do here won't entirely affect Monigami's real self. Given the knowledge of our current situation, we wanted to do what any regular man would do when he comes face to face with an opportunity…

"I wanna go swimming!" Shouted the kid, which definitely surprised Harry a little more as he expressed his concern: "What!? But this is private property we're intruding on! Going swimming in someone's pool is extremely offensive to someone's privacy!" Oh you poor dude, don't you remember what he did to you? I think what he needs is to remember that this place can be exploited to our advantage. So, I decided to set Harry straight to make his rebellious spirit a little better at stuff like this.

"Exactly. There's no one else around, and I don't see any security systems anywhere. I don't see why one little dip will hurt anybody." "Yay! We get to go swimming!" This kid is pretty darn ready to go swimming, but Harry still isn't...

"B-But, Jin'ichi, we don't even have the proper equipment. And furthermore, I don't think Takeyoshi can swim!" "Which is exactly why I came prepared as well." I say as I went into my duffle bag for something.

I unpacked three different sized pairs of swimming trunks, much to Harry's dismay, and a big rubber duck float for Takeyoshi. Takeyoshi cheered as he quickly took off his clothes and put on his swimming trunks, I pretty much did the same. Harry looked a bit shaken that I brought summer fun times out of nowhere. Takeyoshi inflates the duck float as Harry begun to question my selection of spare clothing.

"W-Where did you get those swimming trunks!?" He asked, and I answered: "I saw the swimming pool while we were escaping the first time, so I got two pairs of trunks from a bargain store along with an old pair I never use anymore and a salvaged inflatable." "Yahoo! Swimming!" Takeyoshi shouted as Harry pressed his fingers together.

"I'm still a bit worried, what happens if they find out we're here?" "Oh they'll find out, but by the time they do, we'll already be fully relaxed and ready to fight again." "B-But Jin'ichi! What about Monigami!? He's not going to like us swimming in his pool!" He's trying to derail the fun so that he can't get caught again, but this is a dog-eat-dog world, nobody isn't having fun on my watch...

"You worry too much Harry, this guy keeps stealing from little Takeyoshi here, and just the other day he almost killed us." "The only way to exact revenge on him for everything he stole is to take everything he loves! Starting with this pool!" Truer words couldn't have been said, Takeyoshi my boy. Harry is still conflicted on his choice, he keeps looking at the fun pool but then looks at the doors and us as well. Hey, it's been a long time since I actually had fun in someone else's pool, so let me explain it to him in a different way...

"B-But…you guys…" "Let me ask you something Harry. Do you want to just do this whole thing straightforward and never have an opportunity like this again? Or would you rather enjoy it while it lasts? If a kid asks you to have fun, you'd better have fun. Otherwise, this will just be nothing but a boring tour through a mansion we don't know everything about. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we may never get again, it's not like you have your own giant swimming pool anyways. Relax Harry, if anything does show up, we'll be out of here faster than you can say 'look out'."

Harry thought long and hard about his choice. And when it came to the conclusion, he was finally ready to do something fun: "Um…well…okay… I guess we can give it a shot. I mean, we're supposed to rebel against him right?" "Now you're getting it!" I clapped for him, we both did. It looks like he's starting to learn how to rebel properly, I'm so proud of him.

"Yeah! I'm not just going to stand here and let him keep this lovely water all to himself! He has made us suffer, so now he'll know what it's like for someone to steal what he loves!" "Yippee! Hakaru wants to go swimming!" Takeyoshi cheered with an innocent smile I wished would never go away.

"As far as I'm concerned, disrespect is the perfect revenge plan. And what better way to do it than to..." "Go swimming!!" I let Takeyoshi finish that one, a child's encouragement always gets the job done. "Okay, okay, I'm going! At least cover your weapons with your clothes, so they don't use them against us." Again, he worries too much. Either way, Harry is right, we can't get too careless, but that doesn't mean we can't chill out.

So that's what we did, although Takeyoshi's clothes weren't enough to cover his sword, so I placed the duffle bag and his backpack on top. A few seconds later, and we all did a cannonball into the pool, and Takeyoshi impressively jumped onto the duck float. We all sighed in relief as we let the water around us surround our bodies. It felt absolutely perfect, which may be a bad thing considering he was the supposed 'perfect child', but in our case? It felt heavenly using someone's imaginary pool against them.

"Oh wow, this is the life…" Harry said, sighing as the water was catching up with him. Takeyoshi splashed and kicked all about as he giggled like a child in the family pool. "Yeah, I could get used to this. What a perfect little pool." I said with a smile on my face. This was our big moment that would change our career for the better; Not only are we disrespecting his rules, but we also had fun while doing it. At that moment, we were not just ordinary thieves, we felt like we had absolute control over someone else's property.

But there's one minor downside to being in a pool, or any kind of water for that matter. The blond hair dye I had going earlier, it started to melt away. My hair returned to the pitch black color I was once known for, and it also ruined my spikes too. I only noticed this shortly after Takeyoshi was finished splashing for a while.

"Oh man… my hair is totally flat now…" I worried as I kept trying to spike it back up, Harry tried to cheer me up with a plain old smile... "I think that actually looks kinda good on you." but in retrospect I probably should've thought about my hair before jumping in, must've forgotten about it while I was trying to convince Harry to swim with us.

"But I don't want it to look good, I want it to look tough! If people don't see me looking all tough, they'll know for sure I've gone soft! And if I've gone soft on them, they'll continue picking on me and exacting their revenge! Maybe even going as far as to kick me out the second I'm exposed!" I'll admit I was a little panicked over something as minor as my hair, I kept trying to spike it up over and over as Takeyoshi was also starting to worry about me. He gave me a sad look on his face, which made him reach for something in our little pile of stuff: "Jin'ichi…"

He grabbed his baseball cap from the clothes pile and then gave it to me. I was confused at first, but then I put two and two together and realized he was actually giving me something. That rarely happens to me, only on my birthday and Christmas is when I get that good stuff. But I've never received a legitimate gift since I became a 'poor boy'. I took it to heart, the kid had good intentions, he meant that gift from what he learned about me and my punky attitude.

"What's this? Your hat?" "I'll tell you what, you can borrow it if you want. I won't mind." "Huh? But kid, you need that hat. Will you be okay without it?" "Sure! If you want to keep it, I can use another one from my closet. I think my hat makes anyone look tough. If you flip it backwards, it turns you into a punk!"

I put the red baseball cap on, and then after I flipped it backwards and looked into the water, they weren't kidding when they said it does kinda make me look like a punk. This kid had a hopeful look in his eyes, quite the opposite to the looks everyone else gave me before I became tough. I actually smiled on that day, nothing psychopathic, but out of honesty and generosity. This was the very first time I smiled truthfully to someone else in a long time, this made me so proud that I placed a finger on Takeyoshi's heart with the best grin I could make.

"Heh. You're a good kid Takeyoshi. I hope that little light inside your heart never burns out." "Yeah. Thanks for helping a friend in need Takeyoshi. Even though that felt minor and easily fixable, you offered to help anyway. That's fantastic Takeyoshi." Harry said while glad that I'm glad, that's nice. "I'm just happy to be with you guys. It's the least I could do for you and Jin'ichi. Race you to the other side!" Oh it's on Takeyoshi, time to let loose the anxious swimmer inside me!

We all swam from one side of the pool to the other, I let Harry win to boost his confidence a bit. I myself may not be that good of a swimmer, but at least I could move. It was memories like this that remind me of the old days, I just don't know why Kamoshida would ruin it all. He knew that I wouldn't get this far in the deal, but I did. But I can't help but thank him for what he did to me. I know it's bad, but still, if it weren't for Kamoshida, I wouldn't even be here right now.

I wouldn't have met Hakaru in time and helped him avoid a terrible fate, I wouldn't have been able to find a new friend worth calling my own, and I wouldn't have met this sweet little kid named Takeyoshi. Kamoshida, I hate you, but I thank you for what you have done to me. Although I must say, I lost my real friends, my reputation, and my mother to find this wonderful feeling in my heart. It's true what they say, an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a nickel.

Anyways, as we were racing back, Takeyoshi got knocked over accidentally and the whole thing turned upside down. We flipped him back up before he could fall out of the float, and we gave him a moment to recover before he told us something crazy about this pool…

"Oh thank goodness! Are you okay Takeyoshi?" "Hakaru! T-There's a key at the bottom of the pool!" "Really!?"

Harry stuck his head underwater and so did I. We both saw a blue key at the bottom of the 5-foot deep pool. At that moment, I knew coming here wasn't a mistake. The only problem was, none of us had the guts to swim that deep underwater. So we went back to the side we came from to see if any of us had any backup plans. Unfortunately, we were spotted by a butler Shadow who sounded very freaked out upon seeing our faces.

"Oh no! Intruders! I must get Master Monigami!" "They found us." I said shaking a fist. "I knew this was a bad idea!" Harry stop worrying yourself, this was an important moment of disrespect and rebellion, there are no bad ideas when you take advantage of places like this.

"There's nothing to worry about Harry! We just gotta get our clothes back on and our weapons ready before they get back!" "I sure don't wanna turn into a donkey! Let's get outta here!" You and me both Takeyoshi, let's roll!

We scrambled to get out of the pool and put our clothes back on before the guards could return, but then, not even one second after we put on our underwear, Harry immediately told us in a panic that he couldn't find his super suit. This sucks because without his bare strength, we couldn't get dressed in time! Guards were rushing towards us at high speeds, and we weren't even ready to fight them! We braced for impact as they aimed their knives at us, but then…

"Leave them alone!!"

It was Harry, looking just as rebellious as he did back then. His Hero costume appeared out of thin air as it shocked me and Takeyoshi yet again. He ripped off his mask yet again, and out came Hercules, the mighty demigod, who knocked back all the guards with some sort of flame breath. Takeyoshi was too amazed to pull up his pants, while I was stuck pulling on my belt. That is, until Hero looked at us and said…

"I'll hold them off! You guys get your stuff together right now!"

And that's what we did. It took no time to get our clothes back together and Hero blew them away by glowing green again and allowing his Persona to be engulfed in that energy as well. The armor that once restricted Hercules came off and revealed sparkly green plasma fists that looked extremely deadly to touch. The cape was engulfed in a green fire, his hair lit up the atmosphere, and Hercules's eyes glowed a bright shade of green. That's a lot of green for a single person. Hero called out his attack this time, and boy did it dish out one hell of a punch!

"Super Power!!!"

He punched away an entire army in one single punch, which gave us time to run away in the opposite direction. Hero snacked on two energy bars, so he could regain his strength when he needed it. We ran away from the Shadows, letting the wind from our momentum dry us off, as we opened that wooden door on the other side of the pool that says "Jail House". We blocked the door with everything we could find around us and knocked out the receptionist, who had a good desk, to block the others out. It wasn't hard given Hero's super strength, but we all stopped to catch our breath as Hero continues to impress us.

"That was awesome! You're my hero!" Takeyoshi said with stars in his eyes as Hero smiled at him again. "Thanks kid. Although this energy increase helped me a lot, I'm still kinda tired!" And just like that Hero was confident in himself again, but we had to keep moving or else we'll get caught again, so...

"No time to stop now, we gotta keep moving or else they'll catch us!" I said with certainty that we'll get out of this jam alive. "A-Are you sure? That hallway looks pretty scary…" "Hah! Don't worry Takeyoshi, I laugh at the face of scary things, ha ha ha!"

After Harry laughed, we heard laughing too, creepy unfamiliar laughing that sounded like a person going completely nuts. That sure spooked us out a bit as we shivered just a bit. The sounds came from the jail cells up ahead. Once we caught our breath, we slowly walked over to the prison cells. It wasn't like any old prison, it had the cold metal bars blocking off some giant sized dolls. There were toys in there, most of them being tools of destruction, like bats or hammers, and a lone doll's bed for the giant patchwork toy we saw in each one.

For some reason Harry was shivering a bit looking around as if he was paranoid due to one of his bad dreams, but Takeyoshi was still smiling at the dolls. Who could blame him? You bring one kid to the scene of a freak-show, and all he sees is big toys for him to play with. I apparently watched as they just stared at us like creeps.

"Um… what exactly is this?" Hero wondered. "It looks like…toys…?" I guessed as Takeyoshi walked over to one of them, still blind by the surrounding horrors: "Oh boy! They look so cute! Hi!"

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii……" The doll actually talked back, but it's voice felt sluggish and dull as well as the tone of someone who had seen better days. "Whoa…they're magic toys…awesome!" It was not awesome Takeyoshi, I'll give you that!

All the prisoners slowly sprang to life in a manner that looked like zombies. Their button-like eyes look busted, some of their mouths can move somehow, and they look just like real humans, except they had all the stuffing knocked out of them, their skin has holes in it, and their clothes and hair are torn all over the places. Harry and I were a bit scared of their unhinged sights, but Takeyoshi thought of this like a trip to an amusement park. This kid was real lucky he doesn't understand the horror behind all of this yet…

Just then, me and Harry found strings attached to their backs. Any old toy lover knows to pull the string to listen to some very interesting dialogue. Surprisingly, the doors were unlocked when we tried opening them. If they could leave at any time, why don't they leave now? We found out our answer by pulling one of their strings and listened to their mouths flab talking about Monigami. The voice that came out sounded very feminine, but it also sounded realistic, slow, and on the verge of dying, just like a broken toy…

"He's the devil...devil…he's the…!" The voice stopped as me and Hero looked at each other a little shivered. Takeyoshi was trying to piece together what she said, but I wouldn't think that's a good idea...

"The devil…? Could she be referring to…?" "Yeah… definitely Monigami. Check them all Harry." I told him as we investigated the cells with the dolls slowly creeping up towards us. But they still couldn't leave the cell, nobody knew what was stopping them, they just stopped right near the door as they felt like they shouldn't step out of line.

We opened each door and pulled the strings of each one, to see what they had to say about Monigami. They kept saying broken lines of dialogue like "I hate that kid!", "Don't destroy your house!", and there's even someone who said "I want to die…". It was at that point that Takeyoshi started to be just as scared as we were. We were all trying to keep our cool in the cold lifeless prison as the dolls moaned, laughed, cried, and screamed at random to no end.

You'd be fine with one doll making random noises, but with this many dolls? You would probably not last an hour with these creeps, and that's exactly why we couldn't handle so many mixed emotions at once. We couldn't tell if they were happy, sad, angry or scared of us, and it confused us to the point where we would stand in a circle and kept our eyes on the dolls.

"Man, they sure do l-like to make j-jokes right…? O-Okay, you can stop now… hello? Why won't they stop!? Make them stop!" Takeyoshi was beginning to lose that optimistic smile as he was starting to get even more scared, and I hate seeing a child scared to death, because that just unnerves me even more…

"How the hell am I supposed to make them stop!? Sew their goddamn mouths together!?" I shouted out of fear. "I think that's where the moaning is coming from…" Good eye Harry, some of the moaning came from the ones who didn't open their mouths, the rest of the cracked up noises came from the ones who had their mouths open.

The three of us were scared out of our minds by now. My teeth have started to chatter in a way that I've never done before. They didn't even have to make those faces, their broken attire was all it took to make me cringe. Takeyoshi was urged to cry his face off, while Harry tried to put up a straight face, but he kept failing. We all felt like we might've taken a wrong turn on creepy-town. But just before we could get over this, we heard Harry's voice. The only problem is, it came from over there and not where Harry was grabbing me...

"Help! Somebody help me!" The voice sounded distressed, just like when Harry found out that this girl named Shio was abused. "Hero, I know you are a coward but this is too much!" "That wasn't me Takeyoshi! It came from over there!!"

We slowly trekked towards the other side of this jail house. It was a dead end, blocked by a brick wall, but the voice came to us on the left. We found another doll, but it had the appearance of Harry twisted into it. It looks like Harry, as a matter of fact it was almost accurate to who he was, but it had two button eyes and an actual functioning mouth. In fact, the dopplgänger was the only one here that didn't look wasted or broke. He was also the only one who could freely talk without making noises or having us pull his string.

"That's…me…?" "Run for your lives! The madman is going to get you! If you don't run, then you'll end up like all of my friends." Doll Harry put his floppy arms on the iron bars, and this kinda made me grind my gears now that I knew what Monigami meant when he said that Harry had 'potential'...

"That sick bastard, he thinks of us like jackasses, but he thinks of you as a doll!?" "I don't want to be a donkey!!!" Oh dear, now Takeyoshi is shaking even more, and after Hero attempted pulling on the iron bars using his strength, but to no avail...

"Okay guys, it's clear that this one is the only locked cell. And I don't think any of our weapons can crack it..." He said trying to act serious, but I added on that theory: "Just like the damn door on the stairs." Takeyoshi looked somewhat calm at the sight of Doll Harry after our attempt to bust it open failed, but he still wanted to escape...

"How do we get out of here!?" "If you can break through that wall back through there, you should be able to escape! But first… I want you to pull my string. However, when you pull it, you won't like what you will find…" "Do we have to!? I just wanna go home!" Takeyoshi was crying as the creepiness was getting to him. I tried to get Harry to run too but little did I know, he's got an entirely different feeling than before.

"Harry, if these dolls had their minds spoken to us when we pulled their strings, then who knows what kinda dark shit your doppelgänger has! We have to bust out of here before Monigami stops us!" "I'm sorry, but I need to know what's going on here." Harry, what the hell are you thinking with that cowardly brain of yours? I can't let you get overconfident again, that'll put you at too much risk!

"Harry! I know you're trying to act tough and all, but you can't always be the brave man I am! Don't you dare pull his string, it might be a trap!" That's when I saw him look at me, those eyes, that's the expression of a man who just can't take it anymore. I've seen those eyes on me before I became the beast during the summer, and again with Shiho after she was clobbered. I know Harry, he would never look at people like this, something definitely wrong with his voice too…

"You said something was holding you back, maybe this is exactly what you needed. If we pull his string, we'll be able to find out the truth about why these dolls are broken. I'm not going to just run away like a coward this time, I'm going to help you become a better person no matter what!"

"Harry! No, wait!" "I've got a bad feeling about this…" Takeyoshi said with his hands on his head. Harry should've been scared too, but he's practically forcing himself to do what's right. The first time he forced himself to be this confident was during his first Awakening, something I'd thought I'd never see out of him again. He always said I need to become a better person, and now, with a single string pull. I was about to learn the truth about both Hakarus and their reason for their cowardliness.

Harry pulled the string, and out came a message that didn't sound unhinged or broken at all. It sounded more like regret, that was what Harry felt like at that moment. He felt regret for being the coward he was once before, and now he wants to help me become someone better because he thinks that this message will solve my problems. Let me tell you this now, when I heard that message, my problems weren't solved, but the pain got worse…

"Cell 13...don't forget about her…"

"Cell 13? Why there? That's an unlucky number dude, your copy is leading us to our deaths!" I just assumed that as I was just as desperate to leave as Harry once was, but he wasn't screaming or crying anymore. He spoke in a tone that I never heard from him before, his voice wasn't cracking up or panicking anymore, it was as calm as his nerves will allow it: "Jin'ichi, we need to find out more about this place. If this is really what goes on in Monigami's mind, then we have to know the truth…"

"B-But Hakaru, I-I don't like the dark, what if it has monsters in it…?" Takeyoshi was letting his tears fly as I back him up for once. "The kid might be right, this isn't like you at all Harry! Aren't you supposed to be running away from this by now!? We're all creeped out by this mental asylum and you actually want to investigate further!? What the hell is wrong with you!?" And then, something snapped inside Harry. For the first time, he actually raised his voice to the point of him actually surpassing the mental stress I had once. He yelled at me, something I'd never thought I'd see him do in a time like this, and he pointed at the guy who inspired him to be tough…

"Now look here, I'm doing this for you! Why should I run away from your problems, I'm helping you solve them so that you won't be like this! Running away from your fears will get you absolutely nowhere! I'm just so sick and tired of being called a coward, there's no way we're going to leave here without the truth! Besides, you haven't awakened anything yet, maybe this is the only way to do it. I know Monigami is going to take notice of our situation, so that's why we're leaving Takeyoshi to keep an eye out. Jin'ichi, do you want to awaken? Be someone entirely better? Or are you the one who's the coward around here?"

My God, this felt like a very disastrous role-reversal. Now Harry is the one that's angry, and here I am going along with Harry's cowardliness. But still, I never thought he would get this worked up over me. And the way he called me a coward was just a bit heart-shattering to me, I never thought my bro would get this angry at me from running away from the truth. So I responded while I had this frightening feeling in my mouth and this aching pain in my head: "I'm no coward! If it means that much to you then fine! Let's just get in that cell, and if there's any phoney-baloney going on, we're out of here!"

Harry kept that straight face the entire time now that he has seen how Monigami thinks of him, just hearing himself panic like this must've triggered something in him, but why? The dolls were still making those sickening noises as we backtracked from cell 30, where Doll-Harry was, to cell 13. It was completely surrounded by darkness, we must've overlooked it the first time because I couldn't see squat in there.

The gate was knocked over like someone went on a wild frenzy, most of the stuff inside was gone, and it was too dark to see anything without Harry's flashlight. He brought one just in case it was dark inside, and it managed to fit in his pocket quite nicely. I felt kinda bad about leaving Takeyoshi alone when he's already so distressed, but Harry insisted that we would go on without him for a bit. I just wish that nobody would try to ambush us in here, if Monigami is really that manipulative, then I'm not trusting these dolls unless they have a good reason to be trusted.

We looked around for some clue that would somehow awaken me, but there's nothing here but rock, doll fluff, small pieces of wool that felt like a woman's hair, and a small replica of my small house, but it was in pieces. What the hell does this all mean, does whoever lives in here hate me enough to crush my home? I pondered that question to myself for a while, but then I heard some strange noise. It sounded like an ugly feminine combination of coughing, laughing, and some other noises that we don't need to mention. When the darkness cleared up, I saw a sight that was definitely something I couldn't look away from.

It was a doll, but it had that nice purple dress my mom wore the day she vanished, but she didn't just vanish, did she? Her fabric outfit was completely stretched out and filled with holes, the fabric skin looks like it's been soaked in all kinds of liquid, the stuffing was all over the place, her mouth was a opened mouth in the shape of a frown instead of a creepy-ass smile like the rest, both of her button eyes were gone and in its place were two red circles that leaked down her face like blood, her hair was partly gone too, one of the arms and legs were missing, and while most of the other dolls were barefoot, she had one bent sticker like a shoe and that was it.

The string on her back was very long too, I was honestly a little afraid to pull it, but if Harry could help me uncover the truth, then I should be able to help myself get better, just like he said. When I pulled the string, that's when I heard it: my mother's voice, that calm and sweet voice that she was known for and it made me smile just thinking about it. It's been so long since I heard it, it made me feel nostalgic. But… she never sounded this angry, at least not angry enough to make me frown the second I heard her voice like this. The only time I could think of her being this angry was when I chose cookies over homework.

But it turns out, her mind was gone, I couldn't recognize my own mother's sweet swan song anymore. Why was she this mad? How the hell did that bastard Monigami get his hands on her!? Both of those questions weren't answered at the time, but her voice echoed through my brain as she played the longest message out of all of the available dolls…

"My son!!! He keeps hitting on women, he left me here to rot with this evil child, and he never repays anything I do for him!! What kind of mother am I to raise a slob like him!? As far as I'm concerned, he deserves to go to hell!! He's none of my concern anymore!!! I can't stand being alive with HIM!!! I just want him to die!!"

What the hell... I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it, and I especially tried to get that mental image out of my head. But if what she's saying is true, then she really did believe Kamoshida's rumors about me. As a matter of fact, she was driven mad by those rumors and that selfish brat! But my mother was always so nice to people, she would never say those things unless that's how she truly felt…

I had no idea what was happening now. I was shaking and breathing as hard as I could, I did everything in my power to not care about this, but her voice felt too realistic to ignore. Even Hakaru was staring at her like he too was beginning to lose his composure. "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…." The doll kept saying that over and over using my mother's broken voice as a means to speak, that line got more and more distorted the more she said it until I couldn't recognize what she was saying anymore... I managed to tune out those other toys, but her voice felt too powerful to simply avoid caring about.

I couldn't take it, my shades fell off as I fell to the floor too. Hakaru realized this and finally began to panic as he pulled me back up trying to get me to snap out of it, but it was no use. I'm not the tough guy he wanted to be, I'm just another pathetic child who tries to deny the truth…

"Jin'ichi? Jin'ichi! What's going on!? Please, Jin'ichi! You have to get back up!" "My own mother… She hates me? No…she loves me, right…?" "Jin'ichi! Snap out of it! Monigami will be here any moment!" Hakaru tried desperately as all that fear he swallowed starting catching up to him in a pathetic attempt to get me to stop crying, but the sound of my own mother's voice telling me how she felt, mixed in with this creepy ass jail was all too much to control...

"...lies…it's all lies…she would never…is this reality? No, I can't...it's all lies!! I'd rather watch her disappear instead of lying to my damn face!!! Why the hell is this happening to me!?" Hakaru put his arm over my pained body, he knew I was in trouble, and yet he felt helpless when I broke down like this...

"Jin'ichi…please… I'm here for you pal... there's no way I'll end up like her. So… this is the true price to pay to become a 'poor boy'? Kamoshida really was a bastard…" Hakaru... you just had to bring HIM up didn't you?

"I hate him!!! Just when I thought I was safe from that damn pervert he comes back to haunt me!! Why did he have to go and ruin my own damn life because of something I wanted to do!? All I ever wanted was to join the volleyball team, but it leads to this!? This broken sweetheart of a mother!? This can't be it… no, it is damnit... I can't believe what an idiot I am!! Why did I have to go and let Kamoshida control me like I'm some puppet!? I know why… I was because I was too damn good for him. There's no way Kamoshida did this to my mother unless he wanted someone to fuck…! And… it's all my fault for letting him get to me… I'm sorry Hakaru… I'm not that tough guy you really wanted to see… I'm just some goddamn piece of shit who doesn't know his damn place…"

"Jin'ichi… I'm really sorry about your mother… I don't want to lose you either pal, you showed me how brave I really was, I can't just leave you here to rot with this doll..." Hakaru stopped being afraid as he calmly hugged me while I cried and screamed, Takeyoshi heard everything from outside the cell, he felt so sorry for me so he cried a couple of tears, and Doll-Hakaru wanted to cry, but he couldn't because he's just a doll. At that point, I wanted them to stop crying. They're all wasting their efforts on someone who ruined his own damn life. But then, just as I thought the pain couldn't get any worse, we heard footsteps...

"Jin'ichi! Hero! They're coming!" Takeyoshi screamed as he was shoved by a Shadow into the jail cell with us in it. He was soon shivering in the cold hard darkness as Hakaru helped him back up with a confident smile on his face. The two of them walked out of the darkness and faced Monigami without a worry in the world. But I was still in shock from what my mother said, or rather, what she thought. Was all that really how she felt about me…?

There's the brat now, looking like a million dollars, or that one dollar you had that you suddenly got greedy about. He looks a bit angry about the swimming pool incident, because he stomps around more frequently and he sounds just like a spoiled brat, but Hero and Takeyoshi faced him and his minions while I remained utterly useless to the team...

"Hey dumbasses! Why is the pool floor soaking wet? Did you seriously swim in MY pool without my fucking permission!?" "We did it because we don't like you Monigami!" Takeyoshi shouts: "Yeah! What have you done with these people!?" Hakaru demanded…

"Huh? Ohhhh! You mean my fucking toys?" "Yeah, we know they're toys now what are they!?" "It's just as he said Takeyoshi, these must've been his past babysitters, he must've broke them during their visits!" Hakaru pointed out...

"That's right! This is my special collection of toys! Whenever a new toy comes in, and they disobey me, I fuck them up and they take the fall. Like this one, she used to have that annoying sound that went all like 'Hug me baby!'. All I wanted was a jar of cookies, but she claims I should 'eat more healthy', yuck! Can you believe this fucker!? But then, after I fucked her up, she said something completely different!"

The doll was brought before Shadow Monigami by another Shadow. The doll struggles and opens her mouth repeatedly as if it wants to eat Monigami. He pulls the string forcing her to recite the "He's the devil!" dialogue once more. The Shadow throws away her body back into her cell, and then she turns around and moans as she lays down like an obedient dog. THIS is what my mother was reduced to…?

"You bastard! Is that what you did to Jin'ichi's mom!? And why the hell am I in here!?" "Well, I-" "Say that to Jin'ichi's face you coward!" "That's right, you heard the kid! If you really wanted to gloat, do it in front of this broken man here! It's much more satisfying!" "What!? Just who do you…!? Fine! I'll give it to this bitch loud and clear!"

Monigami and his minions pushed me against the wall that the doll of my mother was so close to. She crawled to me and kept shouting "Why!?" faster and faster, louder and louder, it got even more stressful by the minute. Then Shadow Monigami smirks and walks over to me slowly and tauntingly. The more I stared at him, the more rage that built up inside me. He was responsible for driving my mother insane, and combined with that twisted expression just made my eyes twitch. I have no idea what Hakaru and Takeyoshi are doing, but if their plan is to piss me the fuck off, it's working…

"Listen good jackass, I'll only say this once to your stupid cunt face. Your mother was pretty special, she was the nicest girl I've ever met. Perhaps even more beautiful than my own mom. She could've been my perfect babysitter, one that lets me do whatever the fuck I want. I had absolutely nothing against her, but that's when some of my urges peaked out. Urges, that are understandably hard to control, made me want her face of joy to dissolve into a more beautiful expression. So I played with her, oh what fun I had while you were at school, and the way you got in trouble for something you didn't do was just fucking priceless. And boy was she shook up when I got done fucking her. She went from joy, to disgust, to hate and then finally…!"

"She had the perfect expression. Her eyes were twitching all about, teeth were chattering up a storm, she curled into a ball and was unable to understand what was going on before she snapped, and she looked fucking ruined! To my mommy and daddy, it looked like she went crazy with one of those 'mental shutdowns' I've been hearing about. Every other toy I played with was more the same, they all ended up serving time because of me! Don't worry your pretty little head, I won't make you my toy, you are too much of a jackass to do something like this."

"I want something to break, not something that is already broke! Your friend Hakaru is a perfect example of someone I could break! Look at that innocent face, no one would mind if I just toyed with him in a few weeks from now. I can't wait to see Hakaru's pure innocent face become a look of complete and utter defeat!!"

This damn brat laughs as he keeps running his damn mouth. He stepped on my shades forcing them to be broken, just like my mother…! The doll grabbed my right arm and kept asking "Why!?" like a deranged madman, and it's all Monigami's fault! I couldn't stand it anymore! This young child was definitely raised the wrong way, he's just as arrogant and insane as Kamoshida!. No, he's even worse than Kamoshida! At least Kamoshida abused them because of his pride, but this kid just does it for the sake of his 'urges'!?

I'm normally one for age equality, and this is no exception! I wanted to make this brat suffer because of the crimes he got away with!! Now was not the time to worry about my mother, right now, I'm more worried about how soft I was going to go on this bastard!!

I spun Takeyoshi's red cap around on my head so it faced backwards and then I punched Monigami in the face with the arm that was still free! The Shadows didn't take it that kindly and were going to kill me here and there! Hero and Takeyoshi tried fighting them by punching and swinging the sword around, but even they were still having a hard time recovering from the last battle. With both of my friends lives at stake, along with remembering the last time that this happened, it looks like it's up to me! That man-child made a dick move messing with me, all the while doing it with that goddamn, motherfucking expression on his sick retarded bitchy face!!!

"Fuck you Monigami!!! I am sick and tired of people looking at me with that goddamn face!!! I just can't stand that expression!! You're a dead man you bitch!!" I yelled violently, and now that my eyes were visible to him, I let myself get as wild as possible, because when people like him give innocent people a hard time, I'll just fuck them up! I was ready to go in for the kill as my motherly doll obediently backed away from Monigami and I let loose a violent scream that was somehow even more violent than before! My voice echoed across the room as I didn't care about the rules anymore, if I held back then everyone would be in danger again! Well guess what? No matter what happened to my mother, this bitch was going to get what he deserves!

Suddenly, I heard a strange voice that sounded a bit like mine, but much more twisted and childish, in a crazy sort of way…

(Hey pal! I was getting tired of waiting!)

All of a sudden, my head feels like it's on fire! Given my mental state right now, I'm starting to hear this voice in my head that won't go away! I scream in excruciating pain as I couldn't help but listen to what the voice has to say...

(How does it feel to be screwed by two different people? Just standing around here menacingly won't fix your problems bud! Sometimes you just gotta go a little wild, unleash the monster inside of you! Do it not because you miss your momma, but because you really wanna smash open some heads!)

"Yeah… yeah!! I'm with you all the way Gizmo!!"

(I am thou, thou art I, the beast we kept locked in our heart shall not be chained down any longer! Let the whole world hear you roar as you stand on top of the corpses of evil!)

A mask appeared on my face that looked green and goblin-like. My hair spiked up forcing Takeyoshi's hat off of my head as I ripped off the mask. All the rage I built up over the years? Unleashed through a primal roar that was even louder than the first day as a new man. I was engulfed in blue flames as the roars scared the heck out of the dolls in the prison, but it wowed Harry, Takeyoshi and Doll Harry, in that order...

"He did it…" "Oh wow! He's mad!" "I never thought he would get one too but, wow!" The three watched as I began to unleash my own rebellious spirit!

I emerged as an even tougher looking version of myself. My tennis-shoes turned into boots with spikes on them, the jeans I wore before became ripped with even more holes than before, the black leather jacket looked even more menacing and dangerous, I wore green gloves with claws on them, and there's earpieces that looked like gremlin ears. I looked at Monigami with a psychopathic state as my Persona comes into view.

He looked small and cute, his fur was brown and fuzzy, and his eyes were buggy and twitchy, all the while he was looking like those gremlins I saw on TV. His teeth were sharp as nails, his personality was fast and energetic as fuck, and he acted a bit wild for a little guy on my shoulder. I think I know what that means. I may be small in comparison to big shots like Kamoshida and this particular Monigami, but deep down inside me, I just want to use this newfound power to thrash out against everyone who sickens me! Takeyoshi grabbed his cap and turned it on his head, while Harry looked at me as if I'm losing my mind. The truth was, I kinda did lose my mind, to say the least...

"U-Um, Jin'ichi…?" Hero said backing up a few steps as I found myself laughing at the predicament I'm in: "Hehehehheh… you think you're so smart looking at me like you don't value human life. I should let you know, I hate being called a jackass. Fortunately for me, I have accumulated enough rage to beat down all of your goddamn minions!!" I stared at Monigami with all of my instincts directed at him, and he looked angry at me for awakening like Harry did!

"Ugh! Not again! Somebody kill him already!" "Y-Yes sir! Come men, let's tame this beast!" As the Shadow called his little shadowy friends, I cracked my knuckles as the other two got ready to rumble!

"I'm gonna get mad too! Behold the might of my sticky sword!" Takeyoshi positioned himself as he gripped the sword with two hands. "Alright! Come at us with everything you've got! We're ready for you now!" Hero stood there readying his fist of fury. "Yeah! Crush them Gizmo!!" I shout as we watch the butlers make their move...

The Shadows became four monsters that look like trolls, but I don't care what they look like or who they were, all that mattered now was the satisfaction of wiping that damn face off of Monigami!! "You despicable grown-ups don't know when to quit! We'll teach you your place whether we like it or not!" one of the trolls said. For some reason, that made me laugh as Hero looked at me with a small hint of concern…

"Our place you say!? Hahaha, you have zero idea how screwed you are!" "Are you sure you're okay Jin'ichi? Did the awakening hurt you, or...?" "I'm perfectly fine Harry! I just need to take my anger out on these stupid looking monsters! Gizmo, what do you say to a relaxing day of bashing Shadows upside the head?" I smirked even brighter than before as Gizmo replied…

(YEAH!!! Let's show them what this beast can really do!!!)

Takeyoshi swung his sword around like a young child playing pirates with his sister, Hero unleashed Hercules, and they worked together to punch and slash the shit out of the Shadows! "Yahoo! We're beating them!" Takeyoshi cheered. "There's still some more to go, you think you can take it Jin'ichi?" "Trick question Harry: OF COURSE I FUCKING CAN!!!" I laughed as I have decided not to hold back anymore, I jumped on top of one of the trolls and I snapped his neck with my bare hands. Gizmo took a bite on the other's leg and it created electricity causing the troll to be paralyzed.

This left an opening for me as I beat the troll senselessly with my crowbar! I enjoyed every sound the crowbar made when it hit the flesh of the Shadow before it disappeared into thin air… you know what? I think being a Phantom Thief is actually pretty fun! It gives me the chance to take my anger out on stuff I couldn't in real life, I can see why Harry wanted to be Hero again so much!

Unfortunately, Monigami escaped and more Shadows just kept coming out of nowhere! Me, Hero, and Takeyoshi were getting overwhelmed, so Hero used whatever powers he had left to blast through everyone with his fists at once while my instincts started to tingle. My right earpiece shook a bit, and it told me to build something. Using the dead end wall made of bricks, and the iron bars from Doll-Harry's cage, I was going to build us a battering ram!

"I can't keep this up any longer!" "You don't expect me to eat and fight at the same time!" Said Hero with his mouthful of energy bar, I whistled for the twosome as Hero swallowed the food he gathered.

"Hey guys, I have an idea! If we can build a battering ram, we can break Doll-Harry and ourselves out of here in one shot!" "Brilliant idea Jin'ichi! This is a two-for-one advantage we have to take!" Hero was finally starting to pick up on the facts he learned about taking advantage of his surroundings, I felt so happy for him I could laugh! "How do we do that? We can't just build everything in two seconds! I don't think even Hero can do that!" "Aw, don't worry little guy, leave everything to me!"

I laughed as my gloves glowed a dark green color. My fingers felt grabby, it felt like I was going to explode if I didn't grab something with these fingers! I grabbed one of the iron bars and, surprisingly, it pulled straight out. I kept grabbing the bars and soon the bricks on the wall with some sort of super speed, it was made apparent that I have gained some sort of builder's instinct! Gremlins are known for taking things apart, but in this case they also have the knowledge to put things together! Pretty soon, I put together a battering ram without any effort! I had no idea where the other stuff on it came from, but who cares when we're about to escape?

"Wow! You actually freed me?" "Doll me!" Hero hugged the doll version of himself as they both expressed cheer for themselves. Takeyoshi was astounded at my tired body as he smiled with glee: "Whoa… how do you do that?" "Who knows? Hey Harry, I'm a little low on juice, care to do the honors?" I pointed to the real Harry as he agreed to my plan with excitement: "I may have very little energy left, but it should be enough to bust us out of here! Hang on tight other-self!" Harry grabbed himself and put him on top of his back as the doll started to be confident in himself.

"Takeyoshi, don't let go!" "I wouldn't think of it 'Gremlin'!" "Gremlin? Why that's a perfect name! Thanks child! Yahoo!!!!" "Uh…yay!" I might've spooked Takeyoshi just a bit because of my sudden smirk, but speaking of spooks, we'd better bust out of this haunted house!

We rushed out of here while the whole thing glowed green as Hero used his Super Power to break the wall and any Shadow that got in our way! The four of us travelled from bush to bush as they tried to find us but to no avail. We made it back to the entrance before Doll-Harry stopped for some reason. Takeyoshi realized this first and didn't know what was he thinking at the time...

"What's wrong Doll-Hakaru? Don't you wanna come back with us?" the kid asked as he tried to keep his friendly smile. "I'm sorry everyone, but I can't go with you to the real world." the doll said with regret in his voice.

"Why not? I mean, besides the fact that you'll look weird in public." "I'm just a figment of Monigami's imagination Hero, a Cognition if you will, and someone's Cognition can't leave the Palace they are bound to. Remember how you said that this is how Monigami sees you Hakaru? If such a law were to be broken, the fabric of reality won't be able to handle this and it'll all collapse."

"Huh?" Takeyoshi said confused, Harry begrudgingly answered for him: "It means that the doll version of myself can't leave because he's just what Monigami thinks of me, someone who's pathetic and unhelpful, not someone brave and heroic..." He looked away from the two of us when he said that, I felt a slight pain in my chest when he got more depressed just by accepting that's how Monigami sees him. That's why he refused to run away, the thought of Harry being this scared made him attempt to make things right.

"But, Doll-Hakaru, are you gonna be okay by yourself?" "Probably not Takeyoshi, you'll probably have to bust me out again when the time comes. But, if I'm being honest right now, I believe in you guys. It's up to you guys to stop Monigami from breaking my other self, and me as well. I know this mansion like the back of my fabric hand, mostly because he drags his toys on the floor. When you come back to this place, don't forget about me, okay?" Doll-Harry smiled as if he had found new friends of his own. Harry put his hand on his shoulder, just like I've been doing to him quite often.

"It's okay other me. We'll never forget about you. I can assure you that we will return tomorrow when the time is right." I decided to let me speak for myself, this might be the first time I compliment a doll, but I've calmed down enough to give him a good one: "Doll-Harry, if that bastard gives you trouble, you'd better stand up for yourself until we come back." "I'll try, thanks Jin'ichi." I fist bumped the doll's paper-thin arm as it wiggled all around and Takeyoshi started crying:

"I'm gonna miss you Doll-Hakaru!" "It's okay Takeyoshi, I'll be fine. Do you want a hug?" "*Sniff* Yes…" "Come here pal."

Takeyoshi hugs the doll as he lets his tears out. Harry shed a few tears, while I smiled at the fact that this is who Harry represents. A calm, cowardly, bundle of joy who knows how to comfort the little guys. Monigami thinks that niceness is disgusting, and he keeps away niceness in a jail, but he completely forgot to make him mean like his other imaginary things. I bet that plays a huge part in having Harry as a friend as a whole. He may be a little regretful and scared at times, but it looks like this might be the only thing here that actually has a heart.

I also felt a little better after I lashed out against those Shadows, so maybe that's why I smiled at that moment. Nah, it's probably how Harry is always so friendly with those he likes. From the moment he stared at me awkwardly, to the times he tried to comfort me when I got out of control, Hakaru Yumasu is just too nice for this world. So after Takeyoshi was done hugging, we said our goodbyes as the guards spotted the doll.

We remained calm the whole time, and ignored the Shadows rushing at full speed towards us as we took the exit. This was a heartfelt moment, I'm not gonna let some tension ruin it. I turned Takeyoshi around as he waved goodbye to that lovable doppelgänger.

"Bye Doll-Hakaru!" "See you soon Doll-Harry." "Goodbye other self!" "Safe travels my friends." As Harry and Takeyoshi let their sorrows show, I just stayed perfectly calm the whole time now that I've seen some sides of Harry I've never seen before: His regret, his determination, and his friendliness. That's who Hakaru Yumasu represents, and not even the mind of a twisted brat can ever change that.

We heard a thump sound as we left the Metaverse. They may have got him, but we'll be back, he made sure he knows it too. We made it back to the real world and me and Harry's clothes turned back to normal. Although, I am without my shades and my spiky hair, but I can manage without them for a bit. When we returned, Harry had an accomplished smile on his face, I pretty much smiled too, but Takeyoshi was still a bit shook from leaving Doll-Harry behind. In response, Harry decided to cheer him up...

"Doll-Hakaru… I miss you already…!" "Don't worry about it Takeyoshi, we'll see him again. On the plus side, Jin'ichi awakened his Persona for the first time, was that awesome or what?" "Um… yeah?" "And did you see the look on Monigami's face? He was quite surprised that we swam in his pool and let Jin'ichi become Gremlin." And just like that, the kid quickly turned his frown upside down and got bouncy again: "Yeah! That was amazing! Did you see the way he got really mad? And his hair spiked up like those super cool comic book heroes! He was so cool, I'm sure Doll Hakaru will be safe once we get him back!" "Wow, that was fast!" Harry says scratching his head while smiling awkwardly.

Y'know, I've been thinking, I haven't exactly thanked them for playing a part in my awakening... "Harry, Takeyoshi, I know that you two directed Monigami at me so that I could awaken my Persona. I gotta say, what you did was very uncalled-for..." "It was Takeyoshi's idea! He figured if he could get you mad, you would snap out of your traumatized state and awaken your Persona!" Harry of course got a little frightened by my serious nature, and Takeyoshi braced himself by crossing his arms for some reason:

"Are you gonna hit me?" I just smiled and replied: "No." "You aren't? But why?" Now I placed my arm on his right shoulder, as an obvious sign that I'm budding up with him. "Kid, if it weren't for that idea, we wouldn't have been able to escape on our own. You took Monigami's pride, and put on someone who desperately needed a slap back to reality. It's been our second day as Phantom Thieves, and you've already helped us even without any special powers. With stakes this big, it takes guts to become a pro like Joker and his team, and you my friend had the guts to hatch a plan to turn me into Gremlin. It doesn't matter what anyone else tells you, you've got the skills of a true Phantom Thief."

Harry happily joined in like the nice guy he is: "Yeah! With proper training, you'll become a very important member of our gang. Me and Jin'ichi will personally help train you to be at your best. We believe in you Takeyoshi, all the way to the very end!" "You guys… That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me!" Uh oh, we made him tear up some more, this time out of joy.

Then Takeyoshi hugs it out with us. These hugs actually remind me of my mother. I've never felt so warm since the last hug I got from her. I savored the moment as I cracked a small tear for her. After we finished hugging Takeyoshi took off his cap and gave it to me with a bright smile on his face and tears running down his eyes: "I think you need this more than I do, I've got about 5 extras in the closet." I picked up the hat, remembering the words he said back at the pool, and then spun it around placing it backwards once more: "I'll always cherish it kid."

I looked around as we walked away from Monigami's plain old house as I looked at Takeyoshi asking him something: "Me and Harry want some bro-time, can you make the trip to HEX alone?" "Sure, take all the time you need, but not too long." Takeyoshi ran ahead of us as Harry almost objected to that before I told him: "Harry, let the kid go on ahead, it's not really far from Central Street, there shouldn't be any kind of trouble." Harry smiled and stopped his right arm from raising using his other arm.

After that, we were just walking on our own two feet. We walked over there as we talked, stopping occasionally so Harry could keep up. Let's just say, there was a lot on my mind that I had to clear up with him.

"Harry. I just wanted to let you know how much it means for sticking by my side. If it weren't for your sudden burst in courage back there, I wouldn't have found out the truth about my mother."

"I couldn't have done it without you bud. You inspired me to become a better person right there. I needed to find out the truth about that jail and why did the dolls look like humans."

"Yep. You know, that conversation at the pool was just so you wouldn't feel ashamed about swimming with me and Takeyoshi."

"I know. You guys just wanted me to have a bit of fun before we knew there was a key at the bottom we couldn't reach."

"Yeah, we might need to do something about that later... hey, Harry, why did you pull the string?" "Huh?"

"Even though I told you to fall back, you decided to pull the string of your double anyway. Normally, you'd be alright with retreating. What pushed you to discover the truth?" "Well…" Harry makes that depressed face again, filled with regret and sorrow from his past. He watched me pour my heart out, now it's time to drink his glass...

"You want to know something? I hate being the coward I am now. I can't help but shriek upon the sight of a spider, and yet I just wish I wasn't the scared man everyone thinks I am… Every time someone calls me a coward, I want to cry myself to sleep because that's who I am. The only times I do want to help are either when someone I know is in trouble, or when I am reminded of that coward inside me."

"I mainly hate my cowardly side because I was unable to save someone I know back then because of it. But it also had something to do for when I wanted justice for Kamoshida, but it didn't work out until the last second. The reason I wanted to become a Phantom Thief is because I wanted to be a better person, especially not a coward. I wanted to save people who couldn't save themselves, but I ended up turning it into a grudge match. Sometimes I wish I was a superhero like the ones on TV, but that's a pipe-dream. There's no way I could be as brave as they are…"

Oh damn, he hates being easily scared? Well, time to do what he would do in a time like this: "Harry, you think heroes were born perfect? Hell no! They all had to suffer too before getting the hang of their powers. Their home planets were destroyed, their families were killed, sometimes both. Every hero starts off weak and unable to cope with their superpowers. But once they are fully developed, they become the best they can be. It's so satisfying seeing them finally mature after a long time, but the journey is difficult with bumps along the way."

"Take me for instance. I went from ordinary kid, to pathetic trash, to psycho rebel, and now a Phantom Thief in the span of an entire school year. So basically, if you want to become just like your role models, you'd better get ready for a journey too. Because if everyone was perfect, who needs heroes to protect them?"

"Thanks Jin'ichi. I'm just glad I got to share this experience with you." "Me? You were the first one with that app! I think this whole experience was guided by you and your friend. If it weren't for you, we would've never helped Takeyoshi become more rebellious in his own right, and I wouldn't even know what really happened to my mother."

"You sure bring up your mother a lot, do you miss her?" "Yes I do. I never thought the one thing holding me back would be my own dang mother. Thanks again for being brave for once." "My pleasure." There's that charming little smile of his, it never gets old even if it ages. I would say the world needs more Hakarus, but I think that'll just mean they'll all be scared of spiders.

"Hakaru! Jin'ichi! HEX has something to tell us!" "Whoa Takeyoshi! We're there already!?" "I guess our conversation was longer than I thought..." As usual, I shrugged it off as I pat Harry on the back and we entered the bizarre darkness.

We walked into the alleyway, with Takeyoshi thankfully unharmed, and we saw the strange guy who looked wasted. He says he's a private agent for the Phantom Thieves, but with that attire, he looks more like a homeless man who looks sketchy enough to scam us out of our money. But for some reason I trusted him, because if he got a life this bad because of his business, I had to help support him and the Thieves. Anyways he taught us a thing or two about the Cognitive World, and now whenever we finish a mission, we usually report back to him for any details we might've missed.

"So… was I right to predict that Jin'ichi would awaken his Persona?" Said the man with a voice that sounded so bizarre and so unfortunate for his mental state. "Um… yeah. How did you know?" Harry was confused about the accuracy of HEX's prediction, thankfully the stranger had the paper trail to prove his point: "Jun'ichi Sumula was indirectly connected to Monigami, it was only a matter of time before he discovered his potential."

"Hey! I'm connected to Monigami too, how come I don't get any Personas yet?" "Takeyoshi, Monigami might not be the thing holding you back. If you want to awaken, you must overcome what truly holds you back if you want to become stronger."

"Oh…" "But that doesn't mean you don't have something that can help you. Remember the 'sticky sword' you used? Normally, it would be a stick to the people's cognition, but in your case, you made the stick become a sword." "I did…?" Takeyoshi asks. HEX looks a bit weird when he smiles, I get that he's supporting us, but whenever he smiles it just feels wrong...

"A child's imagination is a key essence of the human mind. They are also considerably stronger than hundreds of adult imaginations, in fact, you can directly influence their perspective of you by pretending that something is something else. When you claimed the stick to be a sword, your imagination overrode the cognition of belief that it was a stick." "Um…?" Now Takeyoshi was confused, but Harry figured it out faster than a cheetah:

"That's amazing! It means that whatever Takeyoshi thinks of something, the Cognitive World will change to suit a child's imagination!" "In short, Takeyoshi's mind is so strong it could turn the simplest things he takes with him into something new." I figured that part out so that Takeyoshi could feel even better about himself, it worked.

"So, does that mean… I'm gonna be extra helpful because of my imagination?" "With proper training, yes." HEX smiled again, creepy, but Takeyoshi was jumping up and down either way: "Yippee! I can't wait to go back again!"

"Now wait a second, what did you even do on your second visit?" "That is a good question HEX! So it turns out the main door upstairs is locked, it has 3 locks that we can't crack on our own, but we found a key in the large pool, but we can't seem to reach it!" Good answer Harry, 10 out of 10.

"That is very troublesome indeed. When a key is out of hand, you must find the glove to put it back on." "What…?" "It simply means Hero, that you must find someone capable of swimming under great lengths." I then added to the guy's statement just for good measure...

"Not just anyone, someone who hates Monigami as much as we do, and will be able to keep a secret." "That's right Jin'ichi. The Phantom Thieves started as a group who hated a single individual. If you are all on the same page, then it'll be all the more easy to complete the main objective."

"And that is…?" "Simple Hero. Steal the brat's cognitive desires. Each Palace guards a treasure that they value so dear to their heart. That desire corrupted them into wanting to protect it with their lives. That's where you come in. You must take away their treasures and convince Monigami's Shadow Self to atone for his sins. Killing him wouldn't be an option, after all, you've seen what happens to those on the news haven't you?" Wait, this guy knows about the psychotic breakdowns and the mental shutdowns? Harry immediately grabbed on to that statement and expressed his distress over it.

"S-So, if we kill Monigami's shadow, he might end up just like that train guy?" Somehow Harry triggered Takeyoshi and he bit his fingers as he started shaking with a frightened expression for some reason: "No… not the train, I can't handle the train! Please don't make me go!" The poor dude is scared of trains? Who would've thought? I messed up Takeyoshi's hair as I expressed my concerns and comfort for the little guy: "Hey, no train is gonna get you buddy, we have a job to do, remember?" "He is right about that child, the journey won't be easy though, but with your natural powers, you'll be able to gain the upper hand."

"And what are these powers?" I asked while Harry calmed the kid down with a hug. "I thought you'd never asked. You see, one of the benefits of the Metanav 2.0 App is that any awakenings that take place in it will be extra powerful. As a result, energy from your Persona will leak into your blood enabling special powers that can help you at the cost of energy. They also work in the real world too, but only in short bursts before running out more quickly."

"Huh? Whoa… cool!" Takeyoshi Winslow everybody, the only kid who recovers from emotional pain quicker than any old adult, and amazed by everything but the kitchen sink.

"So… what exactly was my power HEX?" HEX laughed a bit to himself as Harry waited for an answer. That laugh felt kinda off, and that's coming from someone who went laughing mad over those Shadows. "Your power is the most powerful indeed. Not only can you fly and use super strength, but whenever you need an expansion of your powers, you can befriend other Shadows and gain one of their powers." "Yeah, I called it Super Power! It fits with being a hero and it's super powerful!"

"And Jin'ichi, due to your wild nature, you've gained the ability to dismantle anything, and rebuild it however you want." "Heh. Might as well call mine Super Assemble!" I would've called that power ' Super Psychopath' but I'm not that crazy, at least not right now.

"Although don't get too reckless with your powers. Although they can work in favor of you, it also draws strength from your Persona in and out of reality. Relying on it too much will make your Persona too weak to fight. Hakaru's life is in danger right now, and you have only 2 weeks to do your job. I hope you realize what's at stake if you let Monigami into Yumasu's property."

"We do. We'll save the world from the corrupt one brick at a time am I right Harry, Takeyoshi?" "Right!" "You had me at treasure!" We all did a high-five, Takeyoshi offered one to HEX, he refused, and from that point onward our goal was clear: Swipe the booty from Shadow Monigami, and make the kid do the exact thing Kamoshida did, only with ten times more crying. Because, y'know, he's a kid, and kids cry? It's jabs like these that fly by people's heads.

We then split back up as we all went to our homes, I wondered to myself how was his own son going to explain the truth of my mother to Katio. He's already home fixing up dinner, I didn't want to disturb him while making dinner, because it's better if you talk with him at the table. He's in a chatty mood whenever we eat, so I guess I picked a good time to talk. Unfortunately, he noticed me not eating like a hog like I've gotten used to…

"Um… son? What's on your mind?" "Whoa Kaito, I don't think your stomach can handle what's on it." "Son, if you let something get to you, you'll go soft, we can't have that now!" "Okay, but you asked for it… I know what happened to my mother…" I said with little hesitation. Whoa, Kaito coughed up his drink of cola out faster than I thought. After a few coughs he recovered, so it's no big deal.

"H-How did you know!?" "I heard about it from a couple of friends, that Monigami kid that visited us the other day did something to her while I was at school suffering at the hands of Kamoshida…" Katio tried to come up with an excuse, but realizing I wasn't in the mood for any shenanigans, he finally cooled down enough to reveal what went down when the rumors started flying about me...

"... I was hoping it didn't come to this, but I guess the only way you'll be tough again is if I tell you everything that happened that day. It all started when you were about to leave for school, the Peroskis dropped their son off to play with your mother. I had 4 jobs that day, each about something different. I scrambled from place to place working as hard as I could to make a benefit, but deep down inside me, I knew something terrible was about to happen..."

"My gut was right, unfortunately, when I returned home that day, the place was an absolute train wreck! There was junk everywhere on the floor, writing on the walls, and the newspaper got shredded. I had to work my butt off even more to fix the place before you got home, and that's why you saw me tired as hell back then. A few of the words weren't even from the child, they came from your mother! They were definitely not the finest words, telling you them now would just be suicidal."

"I also noticed a letter to your mother from the school, which was sent to her by the time I came home. It was about those claims about rape and shoplifting Kamoshida made up. She definitely went off the deep end there, because one of the first sights I saw when I got home that day was her screaming her head off in the police car. She was treated to a mental hospital for the time being, but she was imprisoned for what she was going to do with the kid. Now you and me both knew that she wasn't feeling well when she woke up that morning, and that the rumors about you got to her, but Monigami Peroski also played his hand, which made things even worse."

"There have been various reports of babysitters going insane from taking care of the child, but he's too young to be punished by the law. And so, that's how your mother ended up disappearing. I saw how you were acting when you got home, I didn't want to make your day worse, so I made up the part about her disappearing so you wouldn't be that worried about her…"

I see, he didn't want to upset me back then, had he explained the whole truth after that rough day, I would've probably gone even more crazy. But deep down inside him, he has the same level of regret for not telling me sooner, I always thought he was just here to mentor me, and this was my final test before I could become a pro like him.

"Kaito, you could've told me that sooner and I would've understood… But, I appreciate that you were worried about me suffering enough. Was she really mad at me when she went insane?"

"No… sure she screamed like a lunatic when I saw her, but she was also crying thinking that she created a monster. I know because I got a good look at the car taking her away…"

"Dang it… and to think, her last words to me were 'I'll always love you'..." "You know what? That's exactly what she said to me too, but not before saying 'I'll be fine'..."

"She wasn't… Kaito, I'm just glad you're all the family I have left… even when I was pushed, shoved and punished for nothing, I'm just glad you understood my pain when nobody else did… what has this world come to? They're only willing to accept the truth if that truth is a big fat lie. And those faces everyone made at me, I understand that they were just them poking fun at me, but if you see it enough times, you can really tell what the fuck is happening inside their twisted heads…"

"They only pick on people weaker than themselves because they've got nothing better to do. When I became 'the beast', nobody ever made that damn face at me again. They were even planning on beating the absolute shit out of me because of some more dirty rumors. And yet, it's because of people like them, that made me realize that I'm stronger than they thought I was, both physically and mentally."

"Yeah… when I was your age, perhaps even younger, I was worried that if I did anything wrong, I would definitely pay the price. Your mother when she was twice your age was pretty much nice and leveled headed, she was just introduced into reality the wrong way, that's all. If you ask me, that deal we made with Kamoshida was indeed a stupid idea, but it's too late to back down now…"

"Yep." "And to think, while everyone else wanted you to suffer for something you didn't do, I knew you were good no matter what they said. You're all I have too you know, besides my job and this yard, I couldn't bear to believe anything Kamoshida says. I've seen him dishonest before and let me tell you, everyone fell for it. That is, everyone except me. My family is more important than someone who won just one medal in some sports competition."

"When I lost your mother and I hugged you when you cried, I never wanted to let go. I helped you become a better man when everyone refused to even call you by your real name. The world turned its back on you, but ever since you were born, I never stopped believing in you no matter what. You had the potential to be someone better, you were just blinded by the desires of a celebrity that made you the man you are today. And it's because of me that you finally had the chance to express yourself in a way that no one could've predicted."

"Hey, whose idea was it to piss Kamoshida enough to let me be someone I wasn't before?" "That would be you my son, I never doubted you! I don't mind a little violence in your school, but please don't go overboard and kill somebody."

"I know, thanks a bunch dad." "Your welcome… and thank you for calling me dad. It's been so long since I heard you call me that. T-This doesn't mean you'll be good again right…?"

"Hell no! I'll still be that thug that 'everyone hates' but now I'll be much more sparing on the 'poor boys'! But the second they bat an evil eye, I'll knock 'em right upside the head!"

"Now that's something the school better watch out for! I'm gonna be rich in no time!" "Yeah, thanks for sticking by my side dad."

"That's what I do best, stick to my job to the very end! And my most important job is, to make sure you have the best school year possible..."

And that's the reason why we hugged that night. Now most adults are corrupt and evil and all, but this is a pure example of niceness. My dad knows I'm all he has left, and he never wants to let me go, but even he knows I'm just that reliable for the job. I even tried searching for him on that app I got from HEX, he doesn't even appear anywhere! That's how much my dad loves me, he's so pure hearted, with the best of intentions, and while he may be a little on the greedy side, he's still the best dad I got.

I just wished there was more people like him so that we wouldn't all have to suffer, but nobody's perfect you know. It's all thanks to Harry that I was able to overcome my fear and bring me back to reality. Now that we know how to get through the Palace like a boss, we're going to start getting serious about this mission to change his heart! Now that both me and Harry have both obtained the facade to overcome fear, and now that Takeyoshi knows of his potential as an imagining machine, it's time to find someone new who hates Monigami enough to join the party.

It was hard to find just one candidate, but today is another day off from school and there're two days away until it starts back up. We'd better get our act together then or else Harry would get in trouble for not studying well. Just then, we found our hot chick over by the beach, it was a long walk on its own, but we found her.

She was some sort of psychic that believes in stuff like purification, karma, and healing of the soul. Her hair was crystal blue, long and wavy like the seas themselves, her appearance looks young as a baby turtle, her beauty felt as graceful as the seagulls flying through the wind. Harry of course was daydreaming of her while Takeyoshi was still glad we didn't take the train, I don't know why, and I just felt like we found our match with a condescending smirk.

Just the other day I heard a rumor that someone peed in the sea, and we think it was Monigami who did it. She seems a bit too peaceful to actually fight alongside us, but who else has a grudge against a child that pretends to be nice? If this goes unchecked, then she might be a 'poor girl'! What? I have the pride to call women something different y'know!

Like I said before, it may be too late for me to stop being rough and tough, but when you've got people to look after because of it, that's when you know that you can rebuild something that was long broken before... friendship.