*Sigh* What has my life become? I don't even bother to care anymore. What? You have no idea what happened to me? Well it won't matter anyway, so I'll explain it. They called me Naruki, I am a liger, half lion half tiger. Each individual cat is tough on its own, but me? I'm none of those things, despite my size I'm really just one big sack of meat. Sometimes I'd like to think that the liger's weren't supposed to exist. I've seen common house cats get better training than I did back then, but that was because I was beaten to near death because of those humans.
What's so good about humans anyway? All they do is boss other humans around, and tend to their pets. I remember being at an animal reserve in another country when I was a little kitten, some weirdos showed up in a car and then… nothing. I can't think straight about what happened after that, it was too sudden for me to remember at the time, but the next thing I knew, I was being tortured for trying to bite the hand that fed me!
Oh man, you wouldn't want to come near me during this period! I was screaming my head off trying to get out of here, but all of these rich people started making fun of me over and over again as they mindlessly laughed away their anger. They zapped me, they drew on me, they even went as far as to pee on me! One time they partied so hard that I ended up wearing goddamn lipstick for some reason. Everything they did was to take a chip off of my ego, but I held firm that someone would do something about this...
That opportunity never came. I was lost to the world as they kept doing the same shit over and over again to me. I eventually became calm enough to get out of the cage, and even eat a steak or two, but whenever I snapped at someone, it was back into that thing until I learned my place again. Man, life is cruel, especially if you are one of those 'rare animals'.
I sometimes have small nightmares about some sort of banging noise, I had no idea what it meant but it must have been something pretty terrible. Because whenever I wake up from one of those, I snap. And as you probably guessed, the boss doesn't take kindly to snapping. I saw all the things he did to solidify himself as pure garbage, there's no point describing a piece of shit if that shit rules over you and pounds you into mush. All that I can say is that he always wears a tuxedo, and he does the most despicable shit I've ever seen: he has people follow me around like hounds just to make sure I don't do anything stupid, he abuses these so-called people calling them things like "Slaves" and "Swine", and one time I saw him do unspeakable acts that caused several women to get fat and chubby.
I had no idea what else this insane man was planning, but he left me alone as long as I left him alone, except when it's a party. I hate parties, there's always at least one person who wants me to use as a horse for a motherfucking drunk horse ride. Whenever I come across a woman or two that he had in his power, they either watch me like a hawk, toy with me with food, or are just flat out destroyed. The ladies were covered with a strange scent that I didn't think was very pleasant, it's the same scent they sometimes give me during a party.
I personally had no idea what he was doing with women about his age, but frankly I didn't care anymore. If there was really anything I couldn't do about this wealthy man, I guess I'm screwed. I get so bored just being a showoff to a stupid man like him that I sometimes watch TV. Yes, I taught myself to watch TV and it's not that hard. I just press the red button, if a maid doesn't do it, then the jumbo sized TV lights up and it shows me all this junk about 'politics' and stuff.
I want to change the channel, but I'm starting to think that this, alongside some cartoon channel, is all I ever watch. But it's mainly politics as I bore myself to sleep every night, knowing that I'll never have any fun again. Who the fuck is this Shido guy anyway? All he does is blab blab blab on and on about becoming ruler of Japan or something. Now most folks like him see him as a symbol of inspiration and stuff, but you know what I think he is? A rich fucker who likes to play with dumb animals like me. I wouldn't be surprised if the world was going to take turns licking his boots once he's through with it...
The boss is actually a big fan of Shido, and even that is an understatement. I've seen the guy jerk off to a poster of him that points at his horny body. I think this guy's in love with him mostly because he's too attached to him. He would do anything to get that bald headed freak to notice him, and then one day he sent an invitation to that big cheese himself. His son replied to that response to his surprise. This son wanted to visit him because he could potentially influence the market for… ugh… this is exactly why I think humans aren't so fun.
So there I was, sleeping by this man's legs as he sipped his morning brew, wondering if there is anything else I could do besides eat and sleep, turns out there isn't. And then comes this Goro Akechi fella. He looks so smug, so selfishly ordinary, one might even go as far as to call him 'handsome', and underneath all that handsome beauty is the mind of a serial killer. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not judging people based on appearance, but this? This guy looks so ordinarily generic, a nobody to the face of the world, I would be no surprised if he snatched the detective prince's crown and called that blue haired balloon a freak.
Anyways, the boss was excited to no end. He even let him sit in his personal throne of a chair as he angrily berates his people to get him and Akechi something to eat. He also neglects my hunger, which is a regular thing for me, luckily there's always that one maid who cooks steak at night to satisfy my taste. The two men sat down with a distance between them, and then I saw the duality of mankind. One man was calm, composed, and definitely not planning to kill anybody. The other man was sweating his head off, losing his mind over a child, and he looks like someone who might be a serial killer under the right circumstances. I'll let you guess who's who…
"So… you must be one of the richest people in the world: Teruhama Utasha, was it? It's an honor to meet such a wealthy man." said the detective spoke unusually calm, like he knew about this guy long before he got the invite. "Y-Yes. It's an honor to meet you too..." The boss seems calm enough, but if I swear he just keeps his more hyperactive personality under wraps, even Goro here seems a little hesitant to actually buddy up with this swine…
"Are these your servants? They seem very nice, how do you treat them?" "Oh them? They're nothing! Even this useless cat has absolutely nothing to do with us!" Useless? Damn, that jab at my ego was unnecessary, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been jabbed already.
It's been 3 years since I was born, and I've adapted to this sorry excuse of a jungle. I can tell you this now, the boss is never usually this mentally unbalanced to his guests, he's actually kind of a nice guy IF you got to know him. He treats anyone lower than him like filth, including me, but if I'm going to die in this building, I might as well listen up on what they're talking about, despite this conversation being kind of boring…
"Let's talk about your boss, we have one year until the elections and I'm dying to know, how did he become so popular?" "That is none of your concern. But let me hear about you, how did you become one of the most powerful people in the wo-" Uh oh, I recognized that face. Whenever the boss twitches like that, he flips his lid. I see that out of him on a near daily basis, but when he does it to me, it's usually out of rage. But now, he snapped out of pure fanboy hype, if you thought he was crazy before, well…
"I thought you'd never ask! All my life I've been jealous of Shido's success, so I have done everything to get rich and become just like him! I steal from innocents, I started a mafia, I even resorted to crimes I've never wanted to do! In the end, it was all for HIM!! I ended up falling for your dad! His outfit was the cleanest I've seen and his face just stood out from all the rest… For the longest time I tried to fight these urges that were created when I saw him as a powerful man, my parents were also hooked on someone like them so their relationship wasn't very healthy… But I just couldn't help but wonder how far I'll go to become his husband!"
"Yes! Shido is just too damn perfect to leave behind! He is so powerful, one of the strongest men I've seen, and with me by his side, we'll rule Japan together!!" "Shut up!! My dad isn't someone you can just fall in love with!!" What the hell? Akechi suddenly snaps harder than a twig, he looks just as pissed as my boss on a bad day. Well ladies and gentlemen, it looks like the boss has competition here...
"You do realize that he is not interested in selfish, gay, worthless men like you right? He only respects those who are useful, such as a woman's body. Anything else is nothing sort of useless… I only came here to see what this so-called 'biggest fan' has to offer. It would appear that my expectations were correct."
And then Akechi stared creepily at the boss like it was nothing. The bodyguards should've reacted to this, but I think they knew he had it coming, so they stayed out of it. The boss was shivering and shaking, scared out of his mind, seeing the son of his 'husband' violently snap at him and the fact that he learns that Shido actually doesn't love him. That stare just gave me the creeps, if it was exaggerated a little more though, then it would look extra frightening…
"You are nothing but a piece of filth. Stealing from others, assaulting women, and ruining innocent people's lives… and for what? The affection of someone who is clearly just as capable as you? Perhaps even more so than you? Do you love him enough to die for him? Then allow me to grant that honor. Now… here's how it's going to play out…"
"I'm going to walk out of this mansion unharmed, and nobody will attack me as I plan to enter your subconscious and kill you from the inside. Then I'll report all of your slaves to the police, and bring the liger back to where it belongs, and then I'll see to it myself that your profits go somewhere more suitable. You said you would do anything to support him, so let me donate all of your profits to your 'husband'."
"It'll be your departing gift of love, although he'll obviously refuse it because I'll make sure it has your confession of love on it. And then, everything you ever owned, whether or not it was yours to begin with or not, will disappear without a trace. And the best part? Nobody will ever hear the name Teruhama Utasha ever again…"
"You ungrateful child…! What are you trying to accomplish by destroying everything I've worked for!?" The boss shouts trying to intimidate the psycho, it doesn't work, this only spooked him more…
"Nothing much. I'm just getting rid of the trash of society, you know, to make sure that Masayoshi Shido goes unopposed. Inviting me over just to talk about how much you 'love' him is clearly an opposition in my book. The only way to keep this world safe is if my father alone becomes the ruler of all of Japan. Letting someone else rule beside him will just have him backstab you without warning."
"As for me, I don't think 'no' will be the correct answer as long as I have this power. I am his perfect weapon, ever since I learned how to control the human mind, he has been slowly learning to love me as his son. You on the other hand will never be loved, not even by those you claim to be worthless… one more thing before I kill you…"
He walks up to the boss and whispers in his ear: "I'll let Shido know someone is waiting for him in hell…". I have no idea what that meant, but it almost feels like this rotten teen detective wants to backstab his own boss, er, dad! And if I go back to the reserve, I won't be able to be strong enough to fight back, especially since I've somehow grown used to the alcohol smell. Then the boss signals me to attack the kid, but why should I do that? He said it himself, I was worthless, and he couldn't be any more right…
"He's getting away you dumb cat! Why aren't you attacking!!" Oh, I don't know… the last couple times I attacked someone, you shocked the hell out of me. Also, if I were to attack him, he would either shoot me, which gives me fewer years to be a pain in the ass, or I would kill him, but end up taking the fall, leaving you with nothing to stop you from getting your sick hands on Shido. Sorry pal, you've brought this on yourself…
Akechi disappears as the boss gets mad, and I mean angrier than I've ever seen him before. He pulls out a gun, then points it at me, and then he blames me for letting 'his love' slip away. Do your worst, I've lived long enough by doing nothing, and I've got a say, this life while it lasted sucked. But at least I was well-fed, that's for certain. Just then, he started to get this massive headache that even I never knew about. He screamed as he dropped his gun on the floor as his eyes just went blank and some stuff was coming out of his mouth.
After that, he stood still as if he turned to stone. He wasn't doing anything but standing there subconsciously unable to move anything. The servants panicked as they wondered what to do if the police got involved, here's an idea, bury the boss, and continue that shooting scene he almost did to me. They noticed I was too delicate to be sent back to the wild, and one of them speculated that I might never survive in the wild after refusing to fight their own boss, which they got spot on.
That's when they decided to sell me off again, and let themselves take the fall, so that's what they did. Akechi was visiting from Tokyo, and we were somewhere on a private island far from it, so it was almost easy enough to take me to the black market somewhere else. I saw this guy take me off the internet, and dang did he look like a short construction worker. I swear if I take one more plane, I'm going to puke. Oh well, I'd bet wherever I'm going, it's going to be the same thing all over again…
I was shoved into a box, was there anything I wasn't shoved into, and then a few weeks later I was shipped to some junkyard. It was absolutely filthy, it had all kinds of trash I didn't know was there. I heard some guy that sounded like a punk give the delivery man money. I'd bet he's the kind of guy who shoves people's heads into toilets. This is just great, I'm stuck with another immature asshole and my living condition is even worse than before. I wish that gun was still pointed at me, because I don't want to live in trash that's right next to trash.
I didn't even get out of the box and I still felt like these guys were messing with me. All damn day long the box goes up and down, up and down, I think I'm going to be sick. I know these men are toying with me, but I didn't even step out of the box yet and I feel like I'm about to be assaulted from every goddamn angle. I've pretty much got myself used to it at this point, I'm sure whatever happens next is going to be ten times worse with these men picking on me…
My next clue that my new life will suck, I heard two voices, one sounded very rebellious, happy-go-lucky, and rude and the other sounded actually ordinary and cowardly? Ever get the feeling that I have been placed in the wrong hands? "Okay, we're here!" the punk voice said. "Damn it Jin'ichi… what kind of cat is in this thing!?" said the ordinary voice. Oh, quit pretending I'm special, I'm just a hybrid between cat and cat, nothing important.
"Oh don't worry your pretty little heads, he's well-trained." Well-trained he says. Don't make me laugh. He knows what kind of mess he's dragging me into. Well, whatever hell comes next for me, I'll just be laying here, so I don't get slugged.
Finally, I got put down and the box opened… Here comes trouble. I see four of them, four means death, is this the day I die? One looks like a punk with a turned around baseball cap, one looks like a complete coward with a regular-ass t-shirt, one looks shady as fuck, and then there's this calm lady in blue who loves the ocean as far as I can tell… these guys aren't rich, they're complete morons!
"W-W-What the!?" The lady said surprised, oh it's one of those kinds of people. They are actually surprised despite me being pathetic. Okay, you got me, the charade has been fun but I'm right here ready to be taken advantage of, so will you guys start fucking me already? Let's get this over with already so I can die. "Say hello to our newest member: Liger!" Oh great, first it was Naruki and now it's just Liger? You guys have serious naming issues...
"Liger!?" The coward and the lady shouted together, they're both actually surprised about me? What are they stupid? I'm seriously not one to be surprised about, why even bother bringing me here? Then the shady guy talks and damn he sounds like he's seen better days…
"Only Jin'ichi would bring something completely unexpected to the table." Oh sure, I'm unexpected now, but the next you know, they throw darts at a picture of you. "I-I didn't even know what was in there until now!" Okay seriously coward, quit pretending I'm not recognized.
"W-Where on Earth did you get a liger!?" A box, are you blind woman? Or if you want to dig deeper I came from a bastard's mansion or some animal reserve.
"A few weeks before I met Hakaru, I managed to save up enough to buy a real wild cat. I was originally planning on bringing it to school with me but the delivery people kinda sucked, so it took awhile. HEX said we needed a weird ass looking cat, and what better option is there than a liger?"
Weird ass looking? The insults are flying in already… it's only a matter of time before they try to fuck me in the ass and shove me into a kennel. But they just keep talking about some strange group known as the Phantom Thieves. They claim they're good at stealing hearts, can they steal mine though? That would be ready appreciated and it ends my boring days all the more quicker.
"W-Well one thing's for certain, we can't just bring a liger to a spoiled brat's house, it's stuff like this that manages to be mistaken for other things… For example, if you bring a sword to school, then the world thinks you're crazy. Bringing a liger in front of a house in public will be an extremely dangerous thing that can't be done without turning a few heads!" The coward says, and they're making me public now? I can see it now: 'Step right up and win a chance to piss in the liger's mouth!' I've been watching the boss too much, I can tell.
"I-I'm with Hakaru on this one Jin'ichi, bringing a cat this big somewhere with us will definitely start a riot. Who knows what'll happen if we were caught dead with a creature of this magnitude!" Scratch that, they're all going to kill me. I should've seen that coming.
"Damn. You two have a point, doing this will risk you both becoming 'poor boys', and since everyone knows that I'm already trash, I'll be dead."
Are you kidding me? You guys are worried you'll get in trouble for stuff like me? Well that didn't stop the boss from sending a bunch of rich men and wealthy women at me. If anything they didn't seem to mind me around once they tamed me. You're worried that a bunch of people will judge you for taking me for walkies? These guys aren't just morons, they're absolutely pathetic, I should've stayed at the mansion…
"Heh. Looks like it's time for my first gift to you…" Lemme guess wasted person, is it a dildo? I'm a hundred percent certain it's a dildo…
"Huh? What do you mean, first gift?" It's a dildo you coward, stop guessing.
"You seem to be in a jam, now that you have a wild animal by your side, there appears to be no way to get to your destination properly." Night club, I'm calling it right now. You don't scare me homeless-person.
"Yeah, are you suggesting you have a way to let us into the kid's palace without getting in front of the real thing?" Kid's palace? The punk has absolutely no clue how cute I'm not. I almost ate a child at their birthday once.
"Of course… heheheh. Press the navigate button without typing in anything, I'll give you instructions from there…" This guy just keeps getting sketchier, stop building up the drama already and let me have it!
"Um… but what if this thing needs directions?" Is the coward talking about the phone or me? "Don't worry about it… go right ahead…" says the weirdo, that's funny, nothing has happened to me for this entire conversation, I'm sure they're still building up to something…
I watched as one of those guys punched some shit into their stupid ass phones, maybe they're calling some stupid men to come and bite my tail off, but then I saw the whole place swirl and bend as the world turned from a simple alleyway into something way bigger than what I thought it was… I thought it was some sort of sex room, but low and behold, this place looks too good to be a regular old room...
The sky was in some sort of shade of red, filled with its strange black clouds that were blacker than any rain I've ever seen. It looks like we're near a regular common highway, but it was also a dark shade of red and blue for some reason. Hundreds of cars flew by as we looked at where we are now: it was a gas station, also crimson to no one's surprise. There's a big sign that says "gas" and everything one would expect at one, including an interior.
I then looked at the three humans, or my new bosses, and I saw them dressed up in silly costumes! The coward looked like a superhero, the punk looked like a goblin or something, and the girl looked like a mermaid. It's official, I'm at a masquerade and people are about to throw some punch at me…
"Whoa… what is this place?" A masquerade, I just said that coward! "I'm trying to figure out how this is symbolic, but I can't seem to draw any clues so far. If the mansion was made from Monigami's imagination, then this must be what every human thinks of the world…" So woman, does everyone think of you as children on Halloween? Give me the candy already.
"This is what the general public thinks about? I was hoping it would be something more related to politics and stuff." Ugh the punk is talking about the most boring subject in the world, I'd rather get fucked right now than to listen to pointless ranting.
"Hey guys, I think we're supposed to go inside…" The coward points to the gas station, what about it? Are there people inside there ready to knock me senseless?
"Yeah, come on boy…" I'm not bugging, this is just some excuse to get me somewhere where you'll throw me in a cage. But the punk manages to grab me anyway, if I bite him now he'll still throw me in jail, so what the hell. We enter and it looks to be a regular gas station, a little small but it works. The walls were, of course, red and black. Posters of some dreams people have been posted everywhere, especially near the bathrooms. It has the food on shelves, cold drinks in the refrigerators, and it even has a smoothie machine like the one I find at parties.
The music was blaring full volume of a catchy song I can't get out of my head as the punk snaps his fingers to it: "Oh snap, this song jams!" "It's one of my sister's favorite songs, why is it here?" Good question coward, maybe your sister likes dramatic pauses and ooey gooey love stuff. "The music that plays is based on what the public likes!" That sounded like a completely different woman, I guess she wants to fuck me too...
We looked at the cash register and saw this lovely gas station attendant, said everyone but me. She has a red uniform and cap, she even looks realistic, that's good, but she doesn't exactly act like a regular human being. You'll see why in a second or two…
"Welcome to Mementos Lane, where all your dreams can come true!" She just kept smiling this whole time, it was creeping me out a bit. Stranger danger people, stranger danger.
"Um… hello. My name is Hero, and this is Gremlin, Siren and…uh… Liger?" Oh great, they changed their names after they dressed up in this stupid cosplay.
"Excuse my pal Harry here, he often gets shy around women like you." Really? No one's ever been shy around women around me before. If anything, I'd bet the coward wants to fuck her in bed, but he doesn't seem that horny...
"You four come from the other side right? I'm only here because I'm a representation of what people think a gas station owner has. I'm smart, cute, and I have a loveable personality, that's what the world thinks of people like me." This lady has no life.
"Wow. No wonder I couldn't sense any purity or corruption from you." What the hell is this girl talking about? What the hell is pure and corrupt!?
"We're just looking for a way to Monigami Peroski's Palace." The coward asked the gas station attendant. "You mean the 'Mansion of Gluttony'? Well that's a coincidence, the bus for that destination should be arriving any moment now." How specific can this place get?
"A bus?" Yes, a bus full of drunk baseball players, you know what I mean you punk! "Yes. Here in Mementos Lane, every Shadow you see here can visit a Palace, unless they are bound to that said Palace. Although, just between you and me, Shadows with or without a Palace aren't supposed to interact with ones with a Palace, it changes how they think." All I hear is nonsense about Palaces, they're selling me to the Russian people, aren't they?
"Huh? They can't?" The sea lady was a bit worried about something, I couldn't care enough to figure out what that thing was. "There's our bus!" Shouted the coward, did you have to do it so close to this young cat's head?
They basically dragged me onto this crimson double-decker bus after taking a few brochures. Inside there are what they call 'Shadows', but they look human. We managed to squeeze in a seat somewhere in the front. We took a sniff or two and it smells just like an old sandwich, yuck. Even the driver of this bus looks like he doesn't want to be here, I can relate…
"*Sigh* All aboard. Next stop, Museum of Vanity and then the Mansion of Gluttony." Mansion huh? Well fuck. Oh look, the coward is worried again; "W-Wait, are we seriously going to take the highway? I don't think it's legal for a bus to take the highway…" "Relax sport, this bus can handle the speed, I expect you guys to buckle up…" That's overconfidence, you dirty driving sack of potatoes!
They buckled up anyway as the bus took off at incredible speeds. We were on the highway as the hundreds of cars flew past us and billboards of some powerful people. On the bus, the coward looks at the brochure of the highway itself. I can't read, and I don't care about trying, but they can. It saves me the trouble and it let's me sleep for a bit… but I could still hear them in my sleep…
"Okay, maybe this can give us some insight on this Mementos Lane thing we dragged ourselves into… 'Welcome to Mementos Lane, the place between the minds of humans and reality! Come see our wildest attractions from all kinds of sources! Spend some time at the Museum of Vanity, where fine arts are plagiarized for your entertainment! Go to the Bank of Gluttony if you want to deposit all of your hard worked money! Starting in December, go on the ride of a lifetime on our stellar pleasure cruise hosted by none other than the world's greatest, Masayoshi Shido! Coming soon: Lose yourself to the gambling in the Casino of Envy, currently under construction!'..."
Oh great, just hearing Shido's name in that context makes me want to puke. I really should've stayed at the mansion, because now I want to cover my ears! "Shido, he's that corrupt politician, he has a Palace?" the lady clearly didn't read that right, it's a ship not a Palace. Then the bus driver speaks again: "That's right, Shido is currently starting to rise in popularity these days. Everybody needs a pleasure cruise once a while, even I want his autograph signed on this bus." Is everyone on this bus fucking nuts? Why hasn't anyone noticed me yet!? The coward keeps reading the dang thing as I bore myself to sleep again.
" 'For those of you who have come from the other side, congratulations, you have the power to visit Palaces freely if you pay a certain fee. When traveling to another location, the real-world people will think that nothing is wrong with transporting from one place to another. When you leave Mementos Lane, in a different position than when you entered it, you'll appear to the world as if you had walked over there yourselves. In short, nobody would even know you were somewhere else. You can also enter them manually by entering the codewords needed for unlimited free access to the Palace, assuming you can approach the location in the real world.' "
None of that made any sense at all, but the masked trio seemed to understand what all that nonsense was about, so I'll just assume that they're saying this stuff to throw me off. What a bunch of killjoys, I was almost asleep until the coward brought up the brochure about some museum or some shit like that…
"Wow. I never guessed that Madarame had a palace." Said the coward to the punk. "Weren't there some rumors about him stealing other people's work?" Oh boy, stealing other people's work. The punk brings that up and the old wounds just keep opening up. Then I heard a child with his father that was talking in this overcrowded bus.
"Yeah! Isn't he amazing? I hear that he has a new exhibit in the 'pupil' department!" "Now remember son, these paintings appear every time he gets a new pupil. The latest one might stick around a long time until he gets a new one…" Oh boy, this Madarame guy sounds superb, how can't I be sarcastic about that? The blue lady talks like she's a bit mad at him. "These people treat their public enemies as friends? Why is that?"
"I dunno, as far as I'm concerned these people have no idea what's going on. We must be the only sane people on this bus. Excuse me sir, but we just want to know, why are they so interested in guys like Madarame and Shido?" The punk asks the driver, he's got nothing better to do than stare into the distance anyway.
"Well, that's simple. If a person likes somebody, their Shadow is all the more welcome to visit a Palace. But the rules say, the ruler of a Palace can't interact with them mostly due to what happens to a Shadow who influenced other Shadows. We basically had to establish that law because one Shadow named Kamoshida had a girlfriend, and once he got all twisted, she unintentionally gained a Palace all her own." Who the fuck is Kamoshida? Well, whoever he is, it's got the coward all fired up.
"That damn Kamoshida… where's the justice…" The punk comforts the coward by placing his hand upon his shoulder, is anyone even noticing the elephant in the room? "Don't worry about it Hero, as long as we're around, nobody's getting that cocky…" The lady also comforts him. "Ah indeed. Hero, we'll do everything in our power to change Monigami's heart." Monigami? Change of heart? I'm still not buying this crap! But the coward is rebuilding confidence, do these guys know something I don't…?
"...yeah. Yeah! We've got this!" The coward high-fived the punk as I just sat there with nobody looking at me. It's been an hour or two already and nobody is hurting me, this is just weird.
I personally didn't care what they were talking about, but so far I've received zero insults or spitballs. It's only fair if I paid some attention to them. We took a right turn exit, and the museum was somehow right in the middle of the night. It looked pretty showy, like those private museums the boss used to take me to. The only difference was those museums had all kinds of kinky shit I'd rather not talk about. The line was pretty endless, but dang whatever's in there must be very crazy... We arrived at that museum and everyone got off but us. Nobody else was there for him to pick up, so he drove back to the highway as I took another nap.
"None of these damn people are interested in people like Monigami anymore, why are you the only ones who care?" Said the bus driver to the crew who moved up a couple seats. "Because we need to teach him a lesson that's why." The punk replied without question. The driver seems a bit surprised judging from the tone of his voice.
"Whoa! The only people I know who do that kind of stunt are from the other side!" "I-I don't quite understand what's going on yet, can you explain?" The coward sounds a bit worried, and dumb. "Oh alright. Don't tell your mamma, or she'll kick your butt." said the driver as the coward covered his butt. "My butt is fine, thank you!" And then I get more nonsense I try not to understand, how amusing…
"Every so often, there come these look alike people that dress all fancy and shit like that. They pretty much run a service unlike anything we've ever seen. It can go two different ways. Sometimes they storm into people's Palaces to steal their treasure, just so they can destroy their Palace. Other times they come in and kill them for the heck of it." "B-But why don't Shadows visit certain other Shadows?" Asked the lady very cautiously, I'd bet this is like that romance manga the boss reads where nobody is allowed on other people's lawns or something. I couldn't be any more wrong…
"That basically depends on their mentality. If they want people to visit, they'll just go right in as long as the Palace Shadow doesn't interfere with their visit, or the other way around. That's what those guards are for you know. If it's a castle, the only Shadows that can interact with the Palace ruler are those that are in the ruler's own image, like a knight or a maiden. Shadows of a close friend or lover can also enter, but that just increases the risk of corruption."
"If they don't want anyone to visit, the gate is usually sealed up tight except for those rare instances of visitors approaching. It's not like it even matters if they visit or not, their Palace will stay as long as the ruler thinks that way. Although, nowadays this business has been running a bit slow ever since the introduction of that subway. Whoever ends up down there will have a better chance of getting a Palace up here, which, in turn, provides more publicity depending on their mentality."
"But that still doesn't mean most folks don't come back up after going down. It's almost like the people are more interested in what's down there than what's up here. Whatever is down there must be one hell of a hodgepodge to attract such a big audience. While this place repre- oh, here comes a spiral, hang on."
A red blinking light hung from the ceiling says "Hold on tight!" as the coward grips his seat in fear and the woman grabs me. It felt kinda smooth actually, she wasn't even angry at all when she grabbed me, it actually felt very pleasant. I purred a bit before we went into a 5 looped spiral, I felt like I was going to hurl. Nobody did hurl except for the coward who had a preinstalled barf bag somewhere in his seat. I'm glad I'm not him…
"Yuck!" "Sorry Siren…" Yeah, you'd better be sorry coward, I almost died. Wait… take me back, I don't want to be with these idiots! It's no use, the driver just keeps moving his mouth.
"Okay. So, while this place represents what will the people have left, down there actually represents how the world tries to imagine what would be best for them. It's pretty damn boring down there, so I wouldn't recommend going there unless you want your free will to die or something." "Oh my… these people would rather spend their days either blinded by the truth, or just going along with whatever?" Said the coward who was worried as the punk made a remark...
"You know what I think that subway needs? A reality check. A good tune up like that will do the trick." "I've never thought of mankind so deeply before… I just wanted to see them smile, not see them suffer by losing the will to live!" The lady wants smiles? This feels completely different from what I thought of her before, damn. The punk, still as careless as ever, comforted her.
"Relax! As soon as we change Monigami's heart, we'll be going after more hot shots and eventually, everyone will be fine." "I wouldn't miss it for the world pal." "If this is what it takes to expose the light in his heart, I'll do whatever I must." The coward, the woman and the punk all put their hand in the middle and raise them up high, just like a professional soccer team. The boss used to like soccer before he started to orgasm in front of a political poster. Why in the world do I keep reminding myself about that guy, let it, and me, die already!
"We're here, The Mansion of Gluttony." Hold on, I understood the mansion part, but with that gluttony part added in, it just makes my instincts get worse...
We got dropped off at this big stinking mansion and, wait… oh no, I see where this is going… I'm going to suffer in this mansion, just as I did back then, their smiles were just here to make me feel safe about this whole thing. Well it didn't work, because now I don't want anything involved with these jerks! Somebody please end my life already so that I won't have to sit through a repeat of my past! No one was even going to try it, so now I just lay down and maybe the owner of this fine establishment will treat me like a rug.
Just then I saw some weird looking human-sized doll thing looking like the coward as he wiggles his arms trying to get our attention. They're just trying to calm me down about this whole thing. Good news, it worked, bad news, I refused to do anything with these nonsensical, pathetic, little, teens. I had to think something negative, y'know, so I'll be ready for what horrors await me inside
But first, I listened to the doll and the trio talk about something wrong, not the best way to start my new-ish life.
"Hey look, it's Doll-Harry!" Who the fuck is 'Doll-Harry'? Is that some sort of toyline mascot? Just like that worldwide soccer tournament I had to watch. "Doll-Hakaru? What's wrong?" Now it's 'Doll-Hakaru'!? Make up your mind you coward!
"It's Monigami! The cognition of his Palace completely changed!" "What are you talking about?" Asks the lady. "A Cognition is based on what the ruler thinks of someone. In my case he thought I was this nice guy doll just ready to be broken! When you guys made me invincible, it changed his perspective of me completely! He now thinks I'm a doll that's too tough to be broken manually! Because of this charm, he is planning to come to your house sooner than you thought!" The doll says panicking, I don't see the problem. Is this a play or was I dragged into some fever dream?
"W-What!?" The coward sounded surprised. "I see now… like it or not, this doll is still part of Monigami's brain. By giving something that's based on the thought of a second chance, we unintentionally modified the way he thought of the real Hakaru." Says the lady speculating what the fuck is going on.
"Damn. How much time do we have?" "I'm afraid you asked Jin'ichi, from what I heard we have only a week to prepare!" the doll says panicking some more, all the while the coward soaks in that despair. "B-But, I have exams next week!" The punk then speaks while grinding his teeth, damn he looks mad: "Grrr… I can't just let Harry go down like this. We have to make sure that treasure is stolen on Sunday, when we're all free…!"
"That's right, and we brought help in the form of this giant feral cat." Whoa lady, the insults aren't exactly as strong as they were before. "Um… he looks rather lazy…" Lazy? That's not even close to true you doll, I'm just keeping my fur on thank you.
"Oh don't worry Doll-Harry, he may look lazy at first, but he just hasn't become his fresh wild self in a long time. He's just a bit too pampered that's all. I swear I'll help this cat become something more than just a lazy bum, even if it means I'll have to give him a reason to fight." Uh oh, now the punk is fired up. The coward seems a bit startled, somebody calm the punk down! "I'm starting to think you're more dangerous than the liger…" "It'll be fine Harry, this guy right here is ready to pounce!"
They say I'll be fine, but in actuality, they're selling me off as some house pet. Everything up until now was just to soften me up, and trust me when I say, I am going to suffer any moment now… welp, I guess I'll just make the most of it as the rodeo clowns and I enter the mansion.
The place is pretty damn big, even bigger than the last mansion. It's decked out with a staircase in my front, a huge swimming pool to my left, and a table with all kinds of food to the right. Too bad I can't eat any of it without permission or else they'll clobber me. Why do I even bother bringing it up…? We all went up the stairs and looked around for something to unlock the door in the middle, aren't you guys locksmiths or just people who have no idea what they're dragging me into?
On the right is nothing but a wall with that rich guy's son's shoes. A child would be nice to have, if anyone would let me get close to one without scaring the pants off them. So we took the left path and it led into a very dark room. It had a TV, even bigger than the one the boss had, a recliner, and thousands of snack options that smelled like junk food. Oh man, I think we just stepped into one hell of a man cave, and I want no part of it. The dudes seem hyped about this, why are they surprised? People like them look like they've been here a hundred times.
"That is one huge ass TV…" "And those snacks! Gremlin, they look fresh from a movie theater!" "Harry, I believe it's time we take another load off, be more like our cat for a while." "Yeah!" Now the dudes are starting to slack off? My favorite sport, I loved it when I wasn't being tortured or pushed around. As a matter of fact, nothing bad has happened to me at all so far, except for the spiral road thing.
Now before the dudes could dive into the snacks, the doll stops them: "Hold on you two, the last time you ate that food we had to bail you out!" Suddenly realizing his mistake, the coward puts the popcorn and sugar snacks down as he realized something weird was being smelled. "O-Oh damn it! You guys are right! Jin'ichi, don't eat the theater food!"
"Relax already, I brought our own! Popcorn and soda, on the house!" "Really!? Thanks a lot!!" Wow, the punk comes with free food. Dibs on the popcorn. "I'd be more concerned about finding the last key, and what if more guards show up?" Asked the girl. "Don't worry about it, we'll find the key later, but for now it's time to relax." the punk says as he signals the coward to follow him.
The two dudes squeezed into the red recliner as I sat next to the two. Heh, finally someone who understands how I feel about all this. It's either nothing or nothing with me around, I either do absolutely nothing, or die trying. Those were the rules they assigned me with. The two dudes munched and watched football while the lady and the doll looked around for some sort of key. I just hope they never find it, I'm just using my free will to lay down comfortably, I don't want anyone to interrupt it.
"Huh? This seat feels a little bumpy. Whoa! Wait a minute, is this the key?" Oh no, don't you fucking say that you coward, I was just about to get comfortable! "Hold on, just let me find a light switch…" Lady! Please don't do this to me, you are dragging me away from my destiny… I swear if they find whatever this key is...
The bad news, it was the yellow key that was stuck in the cushions, goddamn it, you coward. But the good news is I'll know where to go whenever I'm not suffering. Before we could leave though, we found a wall that was too disturbing to the naked eye. It had the heads of several animals, including but not limited to: frogs, bats, skunks, bass, and bears. I personally didn't care about what was hung, just as long as they saved the meat for me, I shrugged at it as I wanted to get out of the room before the others.
At least they provided me more entertainment besides staring at a wall all day... Huh? Hey, what's that? It looks very cat-like… I processed the newly found information the best I could, but when I did, I just wish I died like right here. I'm not even joking this time...
On the wall, right above the jumbo sized TV, were the heads of a lion and a tiger. Now this wasn't just any normal lion and tiger, it felt too nostalgic when I looked at them. Once I started looking at them, I couldn't stop myself from keeping my eyes on them. The more I stared at them, the more I figured out that these two wild cats couldn't have been paired together like this unless these two cats were my own parents…!
I'm trying to recall what happened on the day they took me in, but it's no use. My head won't allow it, I can't seem to stick the puzzle pieces right, my memory is too fogged up from my training, if you would call it that! I wanted to look away, and I really did try not to care, but it felt too real to be untrue! The others only noticed my behavior when I started to growl at myself. At this point, I began to notice their faces were just as horrified and worrisome as mine was. This couldn't have been for nothing, even if they were lying to me it just doesn't sit right with me! These guys weren't trying to get me to obey, they were trying to show me the truth!
"O-Oh my…" "This is fucked up…" "W-What happened to those poor innocent animals!?" The coward was obviously creeped out, the punk was a bit shaken, and the woman felt sorry for them. The doll answered the lady with regret: "They were hunted. Monigami was only a baby when it happened, but even now he treats humans like jackasses, the animals like prey, and his babysitters like dolls…"
Now the punk is angry again: "First jackasses, then dolls, now helpless prey!? What kind of child would…!?" "Oh no, it's Monigami!" the doll panicked as somebody was making their grand entrance!
A fat child shows up dressing like a goddamn rich man. Those childish shoes didn't indicate that there was a child involved in this rich guy's affairs, it actually meant that this damn kid was the one who was absolutely fucking rich! But I had no time to worry about that, I have to figure out what's going on here!!
"Huh!? Not you mother fuckers again! And that damn doll too!? What the fuck are you pieces of shit doing in my man cave!" Isn't he a little young to be this spoiled? The punk gets bored seeing as if he heard this all before…
"Stop throwing a goddamn temper tantrum already. We already know you're angry at us for trespassing or some shit like that. Yes we did trash your place before, yes I'm still fucking mad at you, and yes you're still awfully sick of that doll of yours slipping through your chubby little fingers, can't we just beat the shit out of you now and get it over with?" The kid got annoyed quickly by the sound of the punk, but then…
"Why you… huh? Is that…? Seize the cat!"
Uh oh, he seems to notice me growling at myself. A big honking butler comes in and grabs me, I'm normally used to this happening but now for some reason I'm squirming like a bug! He takes me to that chubby kid and points a pocket knife at me. I knew I was going to die by someone's hand, but I'd never thought I'd die to an immature brat like him…
"Liger!" The coward shouts, I still request you guys call me Naruki! "Everyone, stand back or the cat gets it!" the kid shouts violently, and the winner for the most menacing voice goes to, this guy.
"W-What do you want with him!?" The lady shouts worried. "Oh nothing. If this is what a lion and a tiger makes after sex, then this'll be an excellent addition to the family!" If you're putting my head up there you brat, I'll bite you whenever you walk here! "What the hell are you talking about?" The punk had to ask.
"Oh it's quite simple, it all started when I was born! Remember that wrong crowd my dad and I were in? They've been hunting animals of all sorts!" "Y-You mean, they were poachers!?" The lady was shocked by this cruel reveal, but he just kept going, with that same twisted smug as the boss!
"That's right you sick whore! They would sell the babies to the highest bid, and they collected the heads of nearly every animal out there! The rarer ones were given to them through manipulation and drug placement, and I watched as all those poor animals fell dead! A liger would make an excellent part of the collection because very few animals like him exist! Do you 4 have a fucking problem with that!?"
"Please forgive them master Monigami, I can assure you that they are only trying to help you." "You call swimming in my pool, running my dinner, and destroying my property helping!? They are dangerous criminals, they deserve to rot in jail for the rest of their lives! And you! You have the nerve to call me 'master' even before I played with you!? Every single one of you deserves a swift death!"
"Oh no…" "It's either you fuck-toy, or this freak-show! Who's it going to be!?" "Liger no!" "I can't lose you now! I've only known you for like two hours!" "Please don't hurt him! He's too innocent!" The three worry their butts off as I still tried squirming my way out of this twisted child's grasp.
I wasn't even paying any attention to any of them anymore. I was still growling at him as my instincts began to kick in, instincts that I was holding back for too long… and now, they're about to be unleashed! Now I remember everything! There was this lady who was promised to watch over me, she got addicted to these strange things that smelled funny at the time. After about a few weeks, she did an unsettling smile as I wondered what was going on. That's when things went to shit for me…
On the day I was taken away, these stupid jerks came into the reserve I was in, the guard just let me out and I watched my own parents get shot to death! I tried to get the lady watching over me to help, but all she did to help was wave goodbye while saying:
"So looong. *Hic* You'll be in a new home in no time. *Hic*"
I thought at the time she was planning this all along, which is why I didn't trust people as much, but now I see it was all his dumb family's fault!! This brat became like this because of his damn father, and now he wants to kill me!? I can't accept this! No way am I gonna just sit here and do absolutely fucking nothing anymore!! I wiggle out of the butler's grasp as a slash knocked him down! I then roared with all my might, shocking everyone who watched me scream! For the first time ever, I felt like rampaging through this damn mansion until I clobbered this child who watched my parents die!!!
"Ready to rumble amigo? I'd bet he is!"
Just then, I got this splitting headache! It somehow felt ten times worse than any torture session I've ever been through! I kept roaring and screaming as my feral instincts called to me!
"This little squirt just watched your own dear parents get shot! And you want to do nothing about it? Unacceptable! What you need to do is to rebel against this sick bastard! Take out all of that repressed anger on him, doesn't that sound like the right thing to do?"
Aw, hell yeah! Let me at 'em!
"Oh boy! Your eyes have the burning fury you kept away for so long! Let's show him what we're made of together! I am thou, thou art I, the anger you hold flows through your blood as it erupts like an active volcano! You are lion and tiger, you should be able to hear yourself roar! It's time for humans to see that you are not pathetic! You are a wild animal, and you will always be one!"
I roared even louder with all my might as some strange red stuff was flowing through my veins! And before I knew it, my appearance started to completely change! I could stand on two feet now, a belt and brown underpants were formed near my legs, I became more muscular and human as my eyes went from small to fiercely big! And right behind me was a two headed chimera that just came out. One neck is a lion, the other is a tiger, the fur of the creature seemed to be both of them at once! I gazed at my enemy as my once savage roar started transitioning into a voice of my own! A voice that sprung to life as I heard myself talk for the first time!
"You wanted a beast to catch? Well I've got your beast right here sucker!" "O-Oh my god! A talking liger!?" Don't be so impressed you coward, the punk is more battle ready than you are right now! "This'll be fun…"
"I'll just be over here!" The doll retreats behind the recliner as the spoiled brat got really ticked all of a sudden. "Oh fuck no! Not again! I will not tolerate any more of those stupid 'Personas'! Kill them already before I snap your damn neck off!"
The butler then proceeds to turn into something that represents the stuff he hunted. I don't know what to call it, but it gives me good practice before I have to beat the shit out of that psycho toddler! I nod to my new comrades as they were prepared to fight too!
"Heh. Is that the best you got? Hiding behind your damn minions so that you could escape my fury?" "And I thought I was the coward! Alright guys, you know the drill!" "Indeed we do Hero! Beat 'em up…" "Add support…" "And clobber the living daylights out of him! Let's rock, Striped-Nemean!"
We all scattered as the butlers kept turning into ancient hunters and stuff like that, but we knew we were ready for this. The other three tore off their masks as they shouted "Persona!" at the top of their lungs, that must've hurt. The coward wasn't one for now, as he released an ancient warrior of his own he calls Hercules, the punk goes insane and brings out a small gremlin he calls Gizmo, the woman, with a smile on her face, brings out her mermaid friend Ariel! Together, we punched, slashed, bubbled and bit our way through these monsters!
Just then, all three of them glowed with power as their own Personas started to change: Hercules traded his armor for a much-needed muscular boost, engulfing his body in green flames, Gizmo turned more aggressive and green as well, and Ariel's hair and eyes glowed blue as the tail got more purple scales and the strange rocks the lady welds started to glow…
"Super Power!"
"Ahahahaha! Super Assemble!"
"Super Charm!"
Just then the superhero punched away the hunters with all his might, using the snack table, the punk made a giant cream pie to launch at one of the foes to distract it, and the woman blasted a beam that instantly restored the hero's stamina so that he can punch again!
As for me, Striped-Nemean and I slashed our way through more of those hunters and I glowed orange as I gained black stripes of my own. My Persona retreated as I started to gain saber tooth fangs, putting them to good use was surely no problem…
I ran on all fours as I jumped up high and chomped down hard on the biggest one in the crowd. This killed it instantly, but there wasn't time to stick around, for the trio and I are tired. I was led out by my scurvy crew as we escaped the mansion and hid behind the bush until the crew established what was going on. The superhero was of course the most excited to see me like this…
"That was amazing! If that isn't a weird ass cat, I don't know what is!" "Should I take that as a compliment?" I shrugged as the punk quickly answered that question: "Yeah you should! You now look extra tough now that you awakened!"
"You truly look worthy of the title of a wild cat." "Aw shucks, thanks lady, and here I was thinking you guys were going to sell me off or some shit like that." "He even knows how to cuss?! It's official, you are the coolest cat I've ever met!" The punk seems impressed at my vocabulary.
"Yeah! It makes me think this was a dream! But… what makes you think we were going to sell you?" Good question coward, I was about to answer before the doll interrupted me. "We have no time for that, you guys better get out of here before Monigami finds out we're gone again!"
"We can't. If we went back the way we came in now, people would notice a liger in front of Monigami's house." Good observation punk, you already pointed that out back when I didn't trust you. "I don't want to take the bus again, it smells!" You can say that again lady. I look at the coward's thing in his hand, it must be important. "Maybe that thing you're holding has a way to go…?"
"What, my phone? That's funny, I don't remember a gas button being here before…" "Huh? Doesn't this look a little suspicious to you? Why would a gas button, at the most dire of situations, be here now?" "Siren, when a button is right in front of you, sometimes you just have to press it. Let 'em rip Hero."
Suddenly a door appeared when the superhero pressed the button. All of us, but the doll for some reason, entered the door and it somehow took us straight back to the gas station. The 3 of them were surprised to be back here, but I wasn't, seeing as though I knew something like this would help us out somehow…
"What the!? We're back at the gas station!" the hero said a bit confused, for once I can relate to that statement. "This is where we came in right?" yep, no doubt about it punk.
"This must represent the human urge to go to a gas station whenever we run out of gas. Seeing as though this button only shows itself whenever we get tired, it must think we ourselves ran out of gas for today." Nice theory woman, why does everyone have to be so cryptic?
"This still doesn't make any sense." "That's what I've been feeling this whole time super-guy. I have no idea who you guys are, I don't know why I'm a muscular bulk, and how the fuck did I learn how to talk!?" Nothing made sense for me when I first came in, and a lot of stuff that made absolutely no sense happened in one day.
"Only one way to find out. Let's ask HEX." "Good plan Gremlin, I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of this world…"
We took the exit out the same way we went in, and their clothes, and my suddenly bulky body, turned back to normal. We were back in the alleyway, where that HEX guy was. He looked like he was expecting us, and they were expecting him.
"Heh. So you've returned? What questions do you guys have this time?" Even when his voice sounded off, I could detect a hint of repetitiveness. "Why is there a gas station here and why did we teleport back there?" I should've known the coward would ask the first question.
"This is the shopping district of Shibuya right? People come here all the time, and they go to gas stations all the time, don't they? Anywhere that people come to 'fuel up' their life is represented by a gas station in Mementos Lane." "And what, might I add, is Mementos Lane?"
"I'm glad you asked Hero, in Mementos Lane, you can visit the Palaces of other people, but I'd recommend you don't go Palace searching on your own though. There are those who target other Palaces on occasion, including the Phantom Thieves themselves. Traveling to other Palaces without my guidance will put you at risk of being found out." "Oh my." said the girl in response. I'd bet you all my steaks for what the coward is about to ask next, so I'll just save him the trouble.
"Yeah, but another question I have… how th-" "What the fuck happened to me!?" HEX put his finger to his mouth and shushed me a bit for some reason. That finger almost made me bite down on it, but I didn't do it for some damn reason! He just smirked a bit like a creep, and then became that emotionless wasted guy again a few seconds later...
"Shh… people can still hear you meow. Animals like you go under a different kind of awakening. Depending on your nature, instead of just a suit, you change into what you feel like you needed at the time. You felt enraged, anger was built up from the many years of inexperience, thus you wanted to become stronger than strong." "Yeah, but that doesn't exactly explain everything that just happened. I still don't know any of you guys!"
"Well, we can help you Liger. Introduce yourself first, so that we can get a clearer picture of you…" "Are you sure you guys want to hear it? It's pretty stupid." Why should I explain it to them, they have no business inspecting origin stories. "Come on, every one of us has stupid things that happen to us." the punk says confidently.
"The best release of your inner sadness is to express it in full detail." The lady says it, and now I can't help but blush a bit. I guess I have to tell them…
"Oh alright, but just remember that you asked for it. I was born into an animal reserve all nice and tight, my mother was a tiger, my father was a lion. As a baby liger named Naruki, I kept seeing these strange men influencing the lady in charge of me. At first, I thought it was going to be fine compared to what might happen then, but then, they barged right in one night, shot my parents, and I was sold to this rich man called Teruhama. That was where I was tortured until the moment I stopped fighting it. You guys managed to bring me back to my senses, and that's a relief, but I'll never forget the smug millionaire's face."
"A millionaire?" The coward here got a bit surprised, "Another victim to the mental shutdowns I think." the lady talked about something I have no clue about, "Yep. Totally called it." and the punk doesn't care. They couldn't handle the truth, I can tell.
"Let me guess, the guy died because he pissed someone off, and you were sold to my dad. What did he do wrong?" "I don't know punk, he had this sick obsession with that political Shido guy and…"
"What!? You mean to say he's… nope! I don't want to hear what else was on that guy's mind!" The coward sounds completely frightened by the situation, I told you that you couldn't handle it...
"A man who loves another man is definitely corrupt!" The woman says sternly, well now that you mention it, he loves a corrupt guy, so I don't see why I can't side with her too.
"Yeah… that guy must've been seriously bugging the gods, so they must've dropped the brick on him." "B-But, that's not how the gods work at all! They have nothing to do with mental shutdowns do they HEX?" "No they don't. I haven't been able to confirm yet with the thieves if they know anything about who's causing the shutdowns, but I'll look into it."
"Thank you, and in the meantime can we please talk about our stories?" the coward asked me if I was done, I guess I am. "Huh? Oh sure, go right ahead, my story gets pretty predictable anyway. I'd bet you guys had it better than me." "Did we really?" asked the punk. "Um… yeah?" I guessed. That's when the coward started getting a little less cowardly, and more down to heart. He looked like he never told an origin story before, and he looks a bit sick in the stomach for trying to get it out of his mouth, but he does it anyway. This'll be good, I'd bet it involves money in some form…
"Let me start, I suppose the two of you also haven't heard my whole story yet. I'm still a little hesitant to tell it, but you have to know what's going on with me, so here goes. It all started when I was younger. I had this best friend of mine, his name was Mao. He was the best friend in the whole world, and I never thought of him as someone who wasn't. But then… he began to suffer. I don't remember exactly what happened during that period, but the entire time, I was too scared to help him..."
"I couldn't save him after what happened to his parents, he blamed me for everything… and I never saw him again… it was from that day forward that I promised myself that I would stop being the coward I am. I looked everywhere for anything to make me less of a scared little kid. But that opportunity never came… I was still panicking over the tiniest of things, and I did my best to hide it at the new school. But I always fear that the second I show fear to the class, will be the second my life will be ruined. That's why I hate being a coward, if being a coward wasn't enough to save my friend, then I'd rather die than live in a world where people make fun of my fears…"
"Whoa. I never thought experiencing something from the third person would be so awful until now." The punk looked at the guy as he pulled down his baseball cap with a frown. The lady began to cry a bit as she was moved by that story: "Oh you poor thing… your friend will be okay. He'll always be in your heart…" HEX then says something cryptic to the not-so coward, while trying to ignore the rest of us: "Never forget your dearest friends, Hakaru. They are the key to finding what you seek…"
"Huh. So you do have it worse than me… all I got was torture, but you had to watch your own buddy lose himself. That's something I never heard from people like you until now." Yep, just a while ago I always thought of humans as these simple minded-buffoons, but now look at me, I'm starting to feel a little sorry for the guy myself. The others play their parts by bringing him back up…
"Hey. Don't be so negative about it Harry. We've got your backs and you've got ours." "I can see where you have developed your sense of justice. You don't do it because you want to be special, you do it because you want to stop being afraid."
"Let me tell you now Harry, aside from a couple of slip ups, you helped me become someone I've never thought I'd become in a very long time. You helped me become supportive of you. If it weren't for your charm, bravery, and the way you introduced me to the Phantom Thieves, I wouldn't have become someone better than my old-self."
"Yeah… I just wanted you to stop suffering from within. When I saw that look on your face before I pulled Doll-Hakaru's string, I could tell that you were afraid of the truth. I had to do something to get you a better chance to defend yourself. If Monigami had the numbers, me and Takeyoshi on our own couldn't fight him. I had to take a chance and hope that you would feel strong enough to help me in the future."
"Well it worked. I knew you had good in you Harry, I just never knew you were that good until then." "Your intentions are nothing short of pure. There's no need to feel bad about the past."
"Just do what I do. Don't bring up the past, if you don't want it to affect you in the future." I give the best advice, some are not always helpful, but hey, what are you going to do?
"As long as we're around, we'll help you become the brave boy I know you'll be." says the punk as a smile gets put on the dude's face: "Thanks guys."
And then they hugged. Can't say I'm surprised but, yeah that's what they did. Suddenly, Hakaru pulled me into the mix, and they kept on hugging. I have to admit, this was the warmest feeling I felt since the time I was near the fireplace back at Teruhama's mansion. I let myself purr as the warm embrace of this circle began to split, I felt a bit blush after what happened to me, so I decided to get more exposition in me to balance it out. I looked at the punk first so that he could probably tell me how he got so violent.
"So, aren't you two going to tell me about your stories?" "I've thought you never asked bobcat…"
And so they went on and on about what happened to them. Jin'ichi was an ordinary boy before some bitch came along and ruined his life before he screwed with the school with a deal that lets him be as bad as he wants. Akiyo was raped by these men, and she has some ability to sense purity or something. Either way these guys have come a long way, an even longer way than I ever had. And now that I know the truth about myself, I couldn't help but thank them for what they've done to help.
For what felt like the first time in my life, I actually felt proud of humans, they aren't just dumb monkeys who just mock you at every turn, well at least some of them are, but there are some who are much more flexible than I originally thought. Y'know, maybe hanging with these guys won't be such a bomb after all. I mean, as long as they keep me well fed and stuff, I'm all in!
"Whew! I'm here! Sorry I'm late!"
I should've seen that coming... There's a kid with a square eye patch and another baseball cap that looks much more different from the one Jin'ichi has. I can't say that I'm surprised that there's a kid in this band of thieves. I mean, it's good for kids to learn to fight while they're young right? The kid caught his breath, and then he noticed the elephant in the room, or rather, the massive cat.
"Little Takeyoshi! Look who we found, it's a liger. Half lion, half tiger." Jin'ichi introduced me to him as I felt a little shameful, but also a bit satisfied with the way he presented me. It wouldn't hurt if you called me Naruki though... "A real liger? That's impossible! A real liger has stripes and a mane!" the child tries to deny as Akiyo and Hakaru tell him otherwise...
"Oh trust me child. That is a real life liger." "Yeah. We have the box to prove it."
Oh this is just great... The kid is messing with my face. Please stop. And would you look at that, he's laughing while hugging me from nearly every angle. Never in my life have I been hugged by a child. It's experiences like this that make me unable to resist purring.
"Whoa! This liger is freaking awesome! Now we'll show Monigami who's boss!" "Um… yeah, about that…" Hakaru says trying to explain that he's late, Jin'ichi clears it up for the kid in his usual happy-go-lucky demeanor...
"Don't worry about it kid. We took photos of our latest visit, and Harry will supply the context to these pictures while I take our star back to the dump." "Huh? Why me?" "I believe you can speak child am I right? And plus, you have the pictures on your phone, you should be fine while I head back to my stand." Akiyo gladly states as Hakaru felt a little awkward having to explain everything again.
"Oh well, I may have missed out this time, but I promise you guys that I'll be back and better than ever by tomorrow!" The kid seems to not mind missing one adventure, although I can sense his envy in his voice. "Yeah. I hope so. Okay, so here's everything that went down in our adventure, HEX back me up here." "Your stories, your problem." "Oh alright…"
Hakaru and Takeyoshi stayed behind while I got put inside the box again. I appreciate that you guys like me and all, but this better be the last time you put me in the box. When I got out, I was suddenly surrounded by trash and junk from every angle. Nobody could see me no matter what, and there was only one way out, and that was a door-shaped hole in the junk. I looked at Jin'ichi who was carrying a few pieces of junk that goes into a strange house built from scrap metal. That didn't look like the house I was told about.
Just then, Jin'ichi's arms glowed green as he quickly pieced together a wooden table before quickly getting tired. What the!? How did he do that without going into that alternate world!? He's not even Gremlin and yet this is how his free time was spent? I was confused as heck as a steel door sealed the strange looking house.
"What the heck is going on here!?" "It's a surprise. Let's just say it'll come in handy in future get-togethers. Also, please take an easy on the roars, people can hear you." "I knew that, but how did you use your powers without turning into Gremlin?" "I dunno. Must've been the special power I had when I first got Gizmo. I'm sure this'll come in handy. *yawn* It's time for dinner, then I'm getting some shut-eye. You can hang in there for now, but don't cause a ruckus."
"Oh don't worry, I'm great at that. Although now that you mention it, I am a bit hungry myself." "No problem, I'll make sure to save you a steak, that's what we usually eat around here y'know."
And so, I walked into this strange house and found a small table with small rugs surrounding it. There's a place to take off shoes and wipe on the welcome mat, it's even got a working soda machine salvaged from the junk he found, complete with plastic cups. I decided to lay down on a giant pillow I found, it sure beats sleeping in the cage, and then Jin'ichi brought the cooked steak out to me as he promised. The steak itself wasn't too bad, but I think it tasted better raw.
And then, I never made another peep as I drifted fast asleep. I didn't get any more bad dreams that night, and when I did, it didn't bother me as much as before. Now that I know what truly happened that day, plus the respect I've been given lately, I'm proud to say I'm going to like it here. My mother and father are going to be so proud of me once I "steal Monigami's heart" or whatever, but until then, I dream of my future even more satisfied than I ever was before. Sure my new family might be rascals, but at heart, they just want to quit suffering like I do. Most people ask what I intend to do once these guys kick the bucket, or finish saving the world. My response? Wake me up when the sausage pancakes are ready...