"Alright, context ti- Wait, why did everybody move?"

In the time it had taken for Futaba to set up Makoto's clip, Haru had insisted that Makoto take her place on the sofa, and Ann had done the same for Yusuke.

When he turned the offer down, Ann had insisted, "Look at those legs, you'll collapse if you're not careful. Sit and eat snacks. I command you." Of course, Yusuke was never one to turn down an offer (or command) of food, and was thus swayed.

"Not everyone has a comfy bed to sit on," Ryuji commented from said bed, Ren having taken his old seat.

"Oh, you're gonna make me seem like the bad guy, huh? Then I guess we should switch to Ryuji instead of-"

"Makoto?" The room fell silent as everyone turned again to face the stairs, where Sae Niijima stood.

"S-Sis!?" Makoto's eyes darted to her sister, then back the the monitor, which was displaying a paused frame of the group inside Kaneshiro's bank, then back to her sister. "W-What are you doing here?"

"Hm? Futaba-chan texted me earlier and asked me to come over. I assumed you were aware I'd be coming."

"No... I wasn't." Makoto glared at Futaba, who was trying to look casual as she failed to pull off her whistling shtick.

"I... see... Sakura-san said whatever you wanted me to see would be shocking." Sae's gaze wandered the dusty attic. "You've lived up here since April?" she coughed a little as she addressed Ren. "How have you managed to stay so healthy?"

"Uh... a well-balanced diet?"

"Don't you eat curry every day?"

"Ha! She's got ya there, dude!"

"Woah, leave it to the public prosecutor to poke holes in his false testimony!" Futaba said in awe.

"Yes, well... I don't mean to sound rude, but I do have a lot of work to get back to, so..."

"Oh, right! Yeah, what we have to show you is super important!"

"Um... Futaba," Ann spoke up. "Shouldn't you have, like... asked Makoto's permission first?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Because, even among siblings, you have the right to privacy, y'know?"

"Wait... Did I do a bad thing?" Futaba suddenly sounded like she was about to cry.

Makoto sighed. "No, Futaba, it's not bad, it's... I just would have liked at least a heads-up first."

"I'm sorry... I just felt so much better after I was able to share my awakening with Sojiro and he was so proud of me and I wanted you to have the same kind of thing with Sae-san and..."

Ren was about to get up to comfort the younger girl, but Makoto spoke up. "Ryuji? Can you please put an arm around Futaba for me?"

"Huh? Uh, sure?" Ryuji did as he was asked in Makoto's stead.

"It's very thoughtful, Futaba. I appreciate it, really. I just wish you'd said something about it first. I'm not mad. Okay?"

"Okay..."

"I don't really understand what's happening," Sae interjected awkwardly, "but it sounds like this is something private, so-"

"No, Sis. Please... stay." Makoto shuffled over on the sofa to offer her sister a place to sit and patted her own former spot.

Sae took a single step forward, looked down at her foot and stopped. "Actually, should I take my shoes off when I'm up here?"

"Uh, we never do," Ann said after a moment of contemplation.

"No wonder this place is so dirty. I can put you in touch with a housekeeping service, if you'd like."

Ren chuckled privately as the image of a certain moonlight maid entered his mind. "No, no, that's okay. I've got it covered."

"Hm. If you say so..." With that cleared up, Sae took her seat beside her sister.

"You've been curious about how the Metaverse works and about our abilities, right?"

"Well, yes."

"Long story short, Futaba has access to video files that show our moments of 'awakening' and we've been watching them today."

"'Awakening'?"

"To our power. The power of Persona. Mine is next, as perfectly timed by Futaba. Boss happened to come up here during hers, so..."

"She invited me over and intentionally arranged everything so yours would come up right around the time I'd arrive. I'd say I'm impressed if I didn't already know how thorough a planner Futaba-chan can be." Futaba looked up to catch Sae's rarely-seen smile, which instantly brightened her mood and caused her to blush at the praise.

"That's about the long and short of it, yes. This took place inside Junya Kaneshiro's Palace."

"Kaneshiro? Then, you've been a Phantom Thief since around July?"

"June, but yes."

"June, yeah, Kaneshiro," Ren contributed. Most of his friends groaned at the pun, but Haru giggled and Sae laughed out loud before she could stop herself. This surprised everyone else.

"Wow, Makoto's sis has a weird sense of humour, huh?" Ryuji whispered.

"Her smile is beautiful," Ann said in awe. "I'm kinda jealous..."

"Your smile is no less entrancing," Yusuke assured her. "It was one of the first things that compelled me to reach out to you back then."

"Aww, you're sweet, Yusuke."

"As are the sweets you brought."

Sae laughed even harder.

Once she'd caught her breath, Sae asked, "So, this Palace thing... It's the world inside his heart, yes?"

"That's right."

"It takes the form of what he sees a certain place as," Ryuji explained in his usual eager manner.

"In this case," Ann continued, "it was 'All of Shibuya' as a big flying bank."

"A flying bank?"

"These things can get pretty weird," Ren added. "Kamoshida's was Shujin as a castle-"

"He was 'King of the Castle' at Shujin," Sae deduced.

"Correct. Madarame's shack was a museum," Yusuke explained.

"A place to display his stolen art."

"Mine was a pyramid."

"A scorching tomb isolated in the de... Wait, you had one?"

"Long story, but I'm one of the good ones."

"I... see..."

"My father's painted Okumura Foods' headquarters as a space station," Haru said neutrally, the former sorrow with which she spoke of her father's corruption now gone.

"A representation of his ambition to 'ascend' into the political world. I think I'm starting to see the pattern here. Then, Kaneshiro saw all of Shibuya as a source of income, where people would lose their money to him... I would expect such a person's Palace to take the shape of a rigged casino then."

"Oh, yikes," Futaba mumbled.

"Hm? Was there a casino Palace?"

At the team's awkward silence, the answer was clear to her.

"I see. Mine then. My desperation to 'win' manifested as a crooked den of extortion..."

"O-One that we didn't have to steal the treasure from!" Makoto was quick to insist. "Whatever form that Palace took, you changed through your own will, Sis."

"I don't think that's the case," Sae sighed. "More likely, it was you eight opening your hearts to me, using me as a pawn against Akechi, and allowing me to help afterward that changed my view of justice to undistort my heart."

"Either way," Ren interjected, "we didn't have to force the change like with Kamoshida, Madarame, Okumura, Shido, or Kaneshiro, as you're about to see."

"Yeah, you're more like me," Futaba said with a puffed out chest and a cocky smile. "We got help, sure, but it was our own inner strength that allowed us to escape that distortion and change for the better."

Ren grinned at Futaba's words, recognising them as the very same ones he himself had used mere days before to cheer Futaba up during a moment of self-doubt. And like Futaba then, Sae's lips curved into a grateful smile.

"Yes. Thank you, everyone. You're all such fine young men and women that show us adults that we still have a lot of maturing to do."

"You say that like you're Boss' age," Ryuji chimed in. "Ain't no shame in havin' room ta grow just cuz you're a little late."

Haru gasped.

Ann facepalmed, "Oh, my god..."

"Idiot," Morgana chided.

"What? Ain't she, like, twenty-five or somethin'?"

"How utterly tactless," Yusuke scowled.

"My, what a charming young man," Sae smiled, sounding as sincere as they had ever heard from her. "I can see why Makoto-"

"Sis!"

"Oh, sorry," Sae laughed, seemingly too taken in by Ryuji's unwitting compliment to feel too bad. She cleared her throat and returned to her usual professional demeanour. "Anyway, shall we move on to the video? As long as that's okay with you, Makoto."

Makoto nodded. "It is. I want you to see this. This is my resolve."

"Then, please, Futaba-chan."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Futaba cried out with a salute, just as she had with Makoto. It was clear to the others that Makoto had inherited her commanding presence from her sister.

The video began with the group on the run from Kaneshiro's guards.

"Those are some strange getups. Those must be your Phantom Thief costumes. And that small cat creature must be Morgana."

"Very perceptive," Morgana enthused.

"That's his real form right now," Ann explained.

"...I won't bother asking why. But I will ask, why isn't Makoto wearing a costume?"

"I wasn't actually a member yet."

"Then why-"

"I kind of... forced my way onto the team. With blackmail."

"Blackmail!?"

"I learned who the Phantom Thieves were during my investigation for Principal Kobayakawa, and I threatened to expose them if they didn't prove their justice to me..."

"Makoto..."

"I know. It was despicable. I'm awful to criticising their justice while displaying none myself."

Unsure of what to say to comfort Makoto without possibly saying something out-of-turn, Sae turned to her sister's friends for help.

"That may have been true at the time," Yusuke conceded, "but we are about to re-experience your bold moment of reform. Rather than dwelling upon actions born from distorted desires, you should take pride in the fact that you were able to change yourself in that moment, and have not gone back to that dark place even once since."

Makoto stared at Yusuke, mouth agape. After a brief moment, her mouth closed and her lips curved into a delicate smile. "You're right. I'm sorry, I was-"

"We all have our doubts from time to time, Mako-chan," Haru said with a warm smile. "We've all been there, we don't hold it against you. What matters most is that you remember how strong you've become, and that we're all here for you when you feel like that strength isn't enough."

"Even though it usually is, Ms. Fist of Justice."

"R-Ryuji, please!"

"'Fist of Justice'? Is that like those tokusatsu shows you-"

"SIS!"

"O-Oh, I'm sorry. I assumed your friends knew."

"N-No. It's... too embarrassing..."

"Buchi-kun," Ann said sternly.

"W-What?"

"You like Buchimaru-kun, right? We've never judged you for that, have we?"

"Exactly," Haru added. "And I see nothing wrong with enjoying and rooting for superheroes."

"Knowing that does make you a little less of an enigma though," Ren said with a grin.

"But that just means we know you better now," Morgana concluded.

"You guys..."

The moment was interrupted as the familiar wet splashing sound of a Shadow emerging from the sea of souls signalled the arrival of the guards that cut off the group's escape.

"You seem in quite a pickle," said the smarmy, slimy voice of Kaneshiro's Shadow as he entered the scene.

Sae had seen the real Kaneshiro herself, so she was able to mentally compare him to his purple-skinned, moustachioed Shadow self. "Wh-What is...?"

"That's his Shadow," Futaba explained. "They don't always look this inhuman, but they sometimes do."

"And this is the one in charge of this Palace?"

"Yep-yep. He's the big boss that needs to be taken down to steal his Treasure and change the real person's heart."

After Morgana accused the Shadow of sneaking around, the Shadow turned those words back on him and thanked the team for providing him with 'such wonderful goods'.

Before Sae could even ask what those words meant, Makoto confessed, "I stupidly got myself targeted for extortion by Kaneshiro."

"Wh-What!?"

"She felt like she was useless to everyone," Ann explained, feeling not only bad for being part of the reason Makoto had felt that way, but also for indirectly accusing Sae of also being responsible.

"Useless..."

"She was under great pressure from the late principal, from what I recall," Yusuke explained. "To uncover the Phantom Thieves' identities and to also put a stop to the group victimising Shujin students in Shibuya, which turned out to be Kaneshiro and his cohorts. That amount of pressure laid on all at once... I don't mean to speak out of turn, but I'm sure you can understand the dark place such a thing can drive one to, Sae-san, just as well as myself and Makoto do."

"Of course, we didn't know any of that at the time," Ann continued. "And I said some pretty cruel things to her-"

"Not as cruel as my words," Sae admitted. "I said something family should never say, and made Makoto feel so bad-"

"I-It's not your fault, Sis! It's mine for being so weak-"

"No, even the strongest person would crumble-"

"You two are so alike," Ren interjected, coolly and casually. "You've been pretty much on the same page since Sae-san's change of heart. It's nice. And it wouldn't have been possible if Makoto was never a Phantom Thief; which wouldn't have happened if she'd never forced her way into our group; which wouldn't have happened if she'd never felt so isolated and backed into a corner because of, among other things, Sae-san's words. In a way, whatever Sae-san said is what ultimately led to both of you becoming as close and as strong as you are now. It's funny how that works, huh?"

Both sisters sat in silent confusion for a moment, staring at Ren, then each other. Then they smiled, and laughed.

"What an absurd way of looking at things!"

"But that's very him. The lengths he goes to rationalise bad things as ultimately leading to good..."

"I mean, can you blame me? I wouldn't even be here with you guys if bad things never happened to me."

"And then none of us would have risen above our own circumstances," Yusuke nodded. "It is certainly a worldview to be admired."

"Totally, dude. It's what makes 'im such a cool leader."

"Hey, this shouldn't be about me here. This is about Makoto and Sae-san helping to make each other stronger, even when they don't realise they are."

Again, Ren's words caused the sisters to exchange a look and a smile.

"I can't disagree," Makoto grinned.

"Same," Sae added.

By the time the group's attention returned to the video, the team were surrounded on all sides by Kaneshiro's security forces. Makoto begged the Ruler to stop as he threatened to have the team killed.

"Oh, I wouldn't damage an asset like you. They're dead men walking, but you'll be just fine. Your sister is quite a beauty though. I'll make sure to make her my personal slave."

A shiver ran up Sae's spine at the threat, even knowing that such a thing could not be carried out post-change. She could only imagine how she would have felt if he'd made such a threat against Makoto - how Makoto had no doubt felt in that moment.

"Once I get bored, I'll just sell her off. Oh, poor Sis... She could've been successful, if only her younger sister wasn't so dumb."

"My sister had nothing to do with this!" Makoto shouted.

"Then you better start taking customers tomorrow." The casual tone with which he made such a demand was chilling to Sae.

"All you gotta do is endure it and do as you're told."

"Endure it... Do as I'm told..." The words clearly impacted Makoto deeply, and with the context of exactly why they did, Sae could only feel guilty, in spite of the words of her sister's friends. To her surprise, Makoto took Sae's hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly. Sae turned her gaze from the monitor to Makoto, who was again smiling, despite the clear discomfort she was feeling from revisiting these events.

"You'll earn three million yen in no time." With those words, Kaneshiro's intentions and the dire circumstances Makoto had been facing at the time came into perfect view. Sae could scarcely believe such a grim fate had loomed over her sister's head for weeks and she had known nothing about it until almost half a year later. She supposed she should be impressed by Makoto's resolve to face this threat herself, but she couldn't help but feel that she might have noticed if she'd actually been around more instead of allowing her desires to become distorted as they had.

As Kaneshiro laughed gleefully at his own vileness, Makoto's resolve began to emerge, shaking her whole body as it all came pouring out. "I've been listening to you go on and on... Shut your damn mouth, you money-grubbing asshole!"

Sae was surprised to find that this was what surprised her the most in this whole revelation: Makoto had quite the mouth on her. Sae couldn't remember that last time she'd heard Makoto swear, either before or since these events. She was even more surprised than Kaneshiro's Shadow was at the sudden defiant interruption.

Makoto replied to an unheard voice, commanding it to come to her. Then, her eyes turned an inhuman amber colour as what appeared to be an intense migraine overtook her - one so intense that she broke the floor tile beneath her small foot, even in those soft school shoes.

"It's okay," Makoto assured Sae, catching her off-guard by reminding her that Makoto did not exist exclusively inside the monitor in front of her. "This is just part of the process of becoming stronger."

As Sae's eyes returned to the screen, Makoto now bore a metal mask that somewhat resembled part of a medieval knight's helm; or that one superhero movie Makoto had dragged Sae and their father to about a decade ago. Although it was too brief for her to be sure, Sae could swear she saw blood smothering Makoto's face as she removed the mask with intense exertion and a heart-shattering scream of agony. Again, Makoto squeezed her hand, as if to remind her sister that this pain was long over and that she'd made it through to the other side.

As the pillar of fiery blue light that emerged from Makoto's form subsided, Sae's sister was reborn as a Phantom Thief, straddling a silver motorcycle with a blue face, now adorned in a skin-tight leather and spandex attire with spiked shoulder pads. Evidently, this was her concept of rebellion. She used this rebellion to run down Kaneshiro's bodyguards and clear a path for her and her new teammates to retreat through what Sae assumed to be the bank's front door.

"I will not lose heart again, ever," Makoto declared. "I'll go full speed, non-stop! Right, Johanna!?"

And with that, the video concluded.

All eyes were now on Makoto and Sae as the younger sister hesitantly asked, "W-What do you think, Sis?"

Despite the whirlwind of emotions she was feeling over what she had just seen and the dozens of questions battling to be asked first, Sae could only smile at her sister and say, "You're so strong, Makoto. I can see it so clearly now. All this time, I thought I needed to protect you, as your sister and guardian... But you're no longer a child. You're a mature, powerful, dependable young woman, and I couldn't be prouder to call you my sister. And I'm sure our father would be just as proud." Sae opened her arms and embraced Makoto as the younger Niijima began to cry against her chest. "Hm. I suppose it's okay for adults to cry too, sometimes," she added as her own eyes became open faucets, recalling her younger self holding Makoto just like this.

And they weren't the only ones crying, as Futaba and Haru recalled being held by their mothers and Ann... well, Ann just got swept up in the moment. Even Ryuji was struggling to hold back his tears. The only two not crying were Ren and Yusuke, the former due to his inhuman ability to maintain his composure and the latter due to inspiration refusing to allow his vision to become obstructed as he soaked in every minute detail of this Sayuri-made-real.

"Just tell me one thing, Makoto," Sae requested softly as she gently pushed her sister away to let their matching crimson eyes meet. "Did you kick that money-grubber's ass?"

Makoto was almost as shocked by her sister's language as Sae had been with hers, which Makoto then realised must have been the case, causing her to smile. "We did," she nodded. "We kicked his ass so hard, he never committed another crime again."

"That's my girl," Sae beamed proudly.

"I have some 'catharsis clips' of that if you want," Futaba offered.

"You have- N-No, that's alright, Futaba-chan. I can imagine how it went in my head."

"You can imagine Makoto's aikido skills, sure, but you've never seen a Persona in action."

"Dude, just let it go."

"It's a shame there are no clips from the real world," Ann opined. "I bet Makoto's doubt would've been wiped in a flash if she could actually see when Ryuji got out in front of that cab."

"He what!?" Sae exclaimed aloud. From the look on Ann's face, this seemed oddly calculated.

"When Makoto got taken to Kaneshiro's club, we had a little trouble following after. But Yusuke wrote down the number plate on the spot and Ryuji jumped out in front of a cab to make it stop. We might not have caught up with them if not for those two."

"W-Why are you bringing that up now!?" Makoto demanded, mortified.

"Because it proves that we never held the things you did against you," Ren explained, eliciting an agreeing nod from Ann, who was glad their leader had picked up what she was putting down. "And it's a shame we can't visually share that because Yusuke was really smart and Ryuji was really brave."

"N-Naw," Ryuji mumbled, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

Sae smiled at the revelation. "I really am glad to know that Makoto has such reliable friends. But actually, that does bring up an important question: do you have footage on there of your attempt to steal my treasure?"

The tension that filled the room descended about as suddenly as Sae had arrived earlier.

"Um, yeah," Futaba responded, her prior enthusiasm to show Sae more suddenly sapped from her voice.

"May I see it?"

"Um, Sis, I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"Hm? Why not? You've all been revisiting your own low points and finding fresh vigour, correct?"

"Yeah, but..." Ann replied cautiously, "those were situations that were forced onto us, not ones we..."

"Brought upon yourselves," Sae finished the thought for her.

"No offense."

"None taken. But you do think it would be too demoralising for me to see how low I sank."

"It's not that we think you're too weak or anything, Sae-san" Haru offered. "We just..."

"We don't really have a frame of reference for something like that," Ren explained. "We all came out of our awakenings stronger, but you didn't really experience your Shadow battle."

"You battled my Shadow?"

"Crrrap..."

"But we didn't have to force a change of heart," Makoto insisted. "You changed yourself."

"If I changed myself, then I don't see how that wouldn't be inspiring like with the rest of you." Sae's smirk showed that she knew she had them caught. "And like Kitagawa-kun said earlier, I should take pride in my ability to change for the better, right?"

"You can be really stubborn sometimes..." Makoto grumbled.

Sae smiled. "And you can be really overprotective sometimes. I'll be fine, Makoto. I have you here with me, after all."

"That's cheating," Makoto pouted, sounding more like a child than the others had ever heard from her.

"O-Oh. I'm sorry."

"N-No, I didn't-"

"I think we should do it," said Ren, cutting off the sisters' apology-off. "If Sae-san thinks she's ready for it, and Makoto's here for her, I think she'll be alright. Besides..." he stretched his neck to either side, "I can tell you from personal experience that this lady is just as tough as her sister, if not moreso."

Sae smiled at her one-time interogatee. "If you think I'll be alright, then I have no reason to think otherwise."

Makoto shot Ren a pleading look, but he simply smiled and said, "Have faith in your sister."

After a taking a moment to consider this, she nodded. "Very well. But if things get to be too much, you have to tell us so we can stop the video, okay?"

Sae shook her head with a grin. "And I thought I was the overprotective big sister here."

Makoto's cheeks turned as red as her sister's determined eyes.

I had this one basically finished not long after the previous chapter. But with the idea of giving Sae a chapter, I didn't want to risk repeating the same ideas too much, so I made sure to finish both chapters first to make sure. The Sae chapter will be out in a few days.

I had the not-too-serious idea for Sae to kiss Ryuji on the forehead for risking injury to save Makoto with the taxi stunt. Would be funny, but too much is going on at that point for it to fit.

As always, thanks to Lonely_Support for helping me look over the chapter to fix issues and brainstorm things to add or change to make it better.