Chapter Six
Back to the Castle

Tuesday, April 12th

Chiyo started the morning by shoving an energy bar in her mouth. It was raining again like someone pressed the repeat button and Chiyo got to replay yesterday. If only. All the same, Chiyo was determined to make it to school on time.

She got dressed when she finished her energy bar and styled her hair. She left Leblanc that morning with an umbrella on her person. On the first train, Chiyo overheard various whispers about yesterday's accident. How the conductor was at top speed, how he had a psychotic episode while working. Either way, the speeds he took endangered everyone on his train and outside of it. Chiyo wondered if it was safe for her to be taking the train to school like this before deciding it was too late to second guess herself now.

By mere happenstance than anything else, she ended up following other Shujin Academy students off the train for the lane transfer. "Look, isn't that her?" Chiyo heard a girl in a ponytail whisper to her friend. Both girls wore the Shujin uniform, though she couldn't tell what class they were in. "Isn't she some kind of prodigy or something?"

"You mean that one with the red ribbon? I guess so?"

"She's so thin… It's not fair, I've got my hair in a ponytail too..."

"Okay… and what's that got to do with being thin?"

As the train pulled up, Chiyo could hear more people approaching. She was not able to get a seat, the train was so full. She was pushed around a bit until she ended up coming face-to-face with a girl who managed to snag a seat. Their eyes met and they wore similar confused looks. The girl was wearing a Shujin uniform, with her lapel pin labeling her as a first-year. Her hair was long and dark auburn; a vibrant red ribbon tied it back in a simple ponytail.

This must have been the subject of those two girls gossiping earlier. Why Chiyo couldn't say, but there was something familiar about this girl. Something about her face was familiar, but she wasn't sure if they ever met before.

Abruptly, the girl stood up, smiling at an old woman at Chiyo's side she hadn't noticed. "Please, take my seat," she said, gesturing to the blue cushioned seat in offering. "My stops coming up."

"Are ya sure?" the old woman asked hesitantly in an Okasan accent. The girl nodded her head enthusiastically. "Then..."

The girl stepped aside, however as soon as she was out of the way, a man sat himself down before the old woman even had a chance. Brow furrowed, Chiyo gripped her bag straps. 'Asshole...'

"Oh wow, what speed!" the girl said in mild wonder. She shook her head slightly, causing the curled end of her ponytail to flounce. "I mean – Excuse me, sir, that seat was for this lady..."

The man's head dipped as though he were sleeping. Transparent asshole. Chiyo envisioned herself kneeling down to the man's ear level and shouting into his ear canal. "Want me to 'wake' him?" asked Chiyo.

The girl shook her head. "It's all right. I can understand his position as well."

"Doesn't excuse the fact that he must have heard you offer the seat to someone else." Chiyo dipped down so she was looking right into the man's ear. She opened her mouth and asked, loudly, "Right?!"

The man's body twitched. His shoulder shot up to his ear just as his eyes snapped open. He shot Chiyo a nasty glare. "Little bitch," he muttered.

"Old ass."

The girl in the ribbon chuckled awkwardly before she glanced at the old woman. "I'm sorry I couldn't be any help."

"It's alright dearie," the old woman said reassuringly. "Don't worry."

"Please allow me to carry your luggage at least."

"Thank you!"

The train ride after that was less eventful. Chiyo ended up being amongst one of the first ones off the train. She readjusted her bag, held on to the straps, and made her way off the station. Until she heard someone calling for her.

"Pardon me!" Chiyo turned to find the auburn-haired girl with the red ribbon running up to her. She dipped herself briefly. "Thank you very much for your help earlier."

"Help?" Chiyo asked. All she did was get that ass to stop pretending.

"For what you did on the train – speaking up for that older woman." She paused for a moment to scrutinized Chiyo. "You're a second-year at Shujin Academy, correct? I'm a first-year there myself. Thanking you totally slipped my mind back on the train, and I didn't want to be rude to my senpai." The girl bowed again. "Please, excuse me!"

The girl walked off ahead of Chiyo, digging around her bag for her umbrella. Unknown to Chiyo, the girl pursed her lips in thought, suddenly wondering why that particular senpai looked familiar.

Arriving at school on time today brought upon several whispers amongst Chiyo's peers. Some were apparently betting she wouldn't even bother to show up again. Though she couldn't say if she was surprised, she did wonder what her teachers were thinking.

That morning she had her first social studies class with Ushimaru-sensei. Chiyo tried to pay attention to Ushimaru's lecture, but when he went on about the rules of society, Chiyo brought her right hand under her chin and started to lean against her arm. Without realizing what she was doing, her eyes went to the window, watching the city life below as the rain continued to fall.

"Kusakabe!" barked Ushimaru.

She jumped, the side of her hand hit against the edge of her desk as she brought her arm down. "Y-Yes?" she asked bringing back the library girl.

"The Greek philosopher Plato divided the human soul into three parts. A person's soul is composed of appetite, spirit, and what else?"

Appetite, spirit… Appetite had to relate to desires, wants, and needs. Spirit… may be related to feelings? If that were true then the last part had to tie into a person's ability to think and learn. "Reason?" Chiyo answered tentatively.

Ushimaru's brow rose and grunted, somewhat impressed. "That is correct. Plato's teacher, Socrates, said that evil is born from ignorance. People who've been babied, taught that evil is due to individuality, can only become society's scum."

"Wow, she actually got it right? We're sure she's a delinquent?"

"I dunno. She does look and act like the type who's serious about studying… But..."

Biting back a prideful smile, Chiyo looked down at her hands. She crossed her ankles and tucked her feet under her chair. "Alright, settle down," Ushimaru called. "Bizarre incidents are occurring frequently these days. Those are but actions of such aforementioned scum. We don't need crude people like that in this school. Understand?"

Ushimaru glanced at Chiyo as he spoke, causing her to look down at her hands again.

Chiyo tried to keep her head low and her eyes forward throughout the rest of the day. She sat by herself during lunch munching on a couple of energy bars. She wished she had something to read at least. Until it occurred to Chiyo that she wasn't much of a reader before. Or, at least, she was not the kind of person who read for the pleasure of it. Without gymnastics, Chiyo was left with quite a bit of time on her hands. Should she give pleasure reading a try?

When class finally let out for the day Chiyo left her classroom rotating her shoulder. Her left shoulder popped, and not in a pleasant way. She tried to soothe the area by rubbing the discomfort away as Takamaki brisked past her. "Hey there, Takamaki," Chiyo heard. Kamoshida appeared at the head of the stairway crossing paths with Takamaki. A little too conveniently in Chiyo's opinion. "You looking for a ride home? Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents."

"Sorry," Takamaki said innocently. "I have a photoshoot today. It's for the special summer issue, so I can't afford to miss it..."

"Hey, now..." exhaled Kamoshida. "Being a model's fine and dandy, but don't work your pretty little self to the bone. You mentioned you weren't feeling well, right? Something about appendicitis?"

"Yeah..." Takamaki turned her gaze to the left. "I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I've been too busy… Sorry to worry you."

"You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often. That's why I asked you out in the first place." Kamoshida glanced up, spotting Chiyo. "And I suggest you be careful around that transfer student. She's got a criminal record and a… well, let's call it a history. We wouldn't want her to rub off on you, or have her turn violent…"

Takamaki's brow twitched, matching her painfully fake smile. "Thank you for your concern, but I'll be fine. Please, excuse me."

She headed downstairs before Kamoshida could say anything else. Chiyo suddenly recalled a few whispers she heard yesterday about Takamaki and Kamoshida. Having seen what she just witnessed there appeared to be some truth to it. But then, why did Takamaki look like she was trying to avoid him?

Chiyo ducked two fingers under her glasses to rub her eye. She could practically hear Sojiro telling her to stay out of it, to mind her own business. But that didn't stop something from nagging at the back of Chiyo's head. Takamaki's miserable expression the day before, her need to get away today…

She started playing a mental game of ping-pong. Either she butt in, ask Takamaki if she's doing okay, and potentially cause trouble. Or she could just forget what she saw and leave Takamaki in potential trouble. Chiyo was still mulling over this as she walked up to the school gate. It had stopped raining, but the grey clouds left her feeling a bit wary.

"Heeey, Yoyo!"

A flush formed on her face as she whirled around to find Ryuji approaching her. Did he just call her 'Yoyo?' Was that a nickname? Did she have a nickname now? What does one do with a nickname? "H-Hey," Chiyo said with a lazy wave of her hand, "what's up?"

"I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday," Ryuji said plainly.

"Didn't you end up writing it off as just a dream?"

'That we both somehow perfectly shared," she added silently.

"I know, I know!" Ryuji's hands started waving hands as he spoke. "And I tried tellin' myself it was just a dream but… I couldn't do it."

He heaved a sigh, slowly running a hand through his hair. "I can't act like nothing happened. It's all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all. I wanna find out what's up with that place, no matter what. And y'know, you're the only person I can rely on for this stuff. So, you in?"

Chiyo said nothing but instead shuffled her feet uselessly. There was a part of her that wanted to dissuade Ryuji from this as politely as possible. They barely made it out with their lives last time. But, despite all logic and reason telling her it was a terrible idea, Chiyo was curious about it all herself. What happened to her, what that castle really was, and how it could even be in the same location as Shujin Academy. It was crazy, but damn if it didn't sound more appealing than just heading back to her lonely attic.

"Do you even know how we get there?" Chiyo asked at length.

"Uh..." His shoulder sagged in defeat. "Not-Not exactly..."

Pushing her bangs out of her eyes, Chiyo's free hand cupped the opposite elbow, her standard thinking pose. They were missing must have missed yesterday when they ended up at that castle. "You said you took that same route a lot and nothing happened. So what was different?"

She watched Ryuji's gaze travel skyward, a hand was cupped around his neck. "Didn't you have your phone out for a bit?" he asked finally. "You had a navigation app thingy on. I heard stuff that sounded like one comin' from your phone."

Chiyo's mouth fell open slightly just as a chill ran down her spine. What was it Igor said last night? Something about a 'Metaverse Nav?' Her hand trembled inside her pocket and didn't stop as she fished it out. The red and black app was still right there on the screen. "Mind if I see?" Ryuji offered his hand out. She passed the device to him; Ryuji studied it only for a moment before he spoke up, "What's this eyeball-lookin' thing?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. It just appeared the other day and I can't delete it..."

"For real? What's with this app…?" The two were silent for a moment as Ryuji prodded at the screen. His eyes lit up after a moment. "Dude, it's a navigation app! There's even a search history!"

"What?"

As proof of his claims, Ryuji turned the phone screen towards Chiyo. Despite the red and black color, the app really did resemble the GPS app she used the other day to find Leblanc for the first time. "It's all right there," Ryuji said getting excited. "Let's try usin' it."

He poked at the screen even further. Instantaneously, a mechanical, vaguely feminine voice spoke, "Kamoshida… Shujin Academy… Pervert… Castle… Beginning navigation."

A slight bout of dizziness hit Chiyo as though she stood up too fast. She brought a hand to her temple, her eyes blinking several times in rapid succession in a futile attempt to ward off the sensation. "Whoa, dude..." Ryuji uttered. His hand clapped on Chiyo's shoulder, his other hand pointed straight ahead.

She looked up to find the sky a rosy shade of magenta, and the very same European-style castle in the place where Shujin Academy should have been. "Whoa...it really worked?" Chiyo asked, more to herself.

The teens briefly exchanged a look of awe, before they tore across the drawbridge, into the castle courtyard. They found the window they had escaped from yesterday, or at least, they hoped it was the window from yesterday. When they got out neither of them prioritized committing the area outside to memory.

They came to a stop under a torchlight outside, Ryuji slightly hunched over trying to catch his breath. "Yeah… Guess that means what happened yesterday was for real too," he said. His shoulder rotated forward before he stood up straight. "Whoa! Your clothes!"

Startled, Chiyo looked down at herself to find that her uniform was replaced with the same black coat from yesterday. Her gloved hand reached up to touched the bridge of her nose and was met with the same hard material of a mask. "That happened last time too!" exclaimed Ryuji. "What's with that outfit?"

"I kind of like it," murmured Chiyo. She looked down at herself, at the leotard, the skirt, the leggings, the leg warmers. Chiyo had never worn a skirt like this in her gymnastic leotards, this one was too long. It looked more like a skirt that belonged on a figure skater's leotard or another form of dancers. And Chiyo was positive she still had her undergarments on in this leotard. That was… a sensation. The leggings and leg warmers, those she was used to, but the leggings didn't feel like they had any stretch to them. Like the seams would split if she even tried to lift a leg above her waist. And then there were the shoes. They had a few inches of heel on them, those worried her. She was going to end up twisting an ankle in these.

Chiyo brought her left leg up into a standing split, her back curved and her hands gently grasped her ankle. She didn't hear the thread snapping, nor feel any tension in the seams. They moved as easily as the slacks she used to train in. And the coat's slits were so high she didn't have to worry about movement restriction, and the skirt was loose enough that it easily adjusted without getting in the way. So, it was just the shoes Chiyo had to worry about.

When she brought her leg down, she realized Ryuji was watching. His brows were arched and his lips were pulled tight together. His expression twisted uncomfortably like he physically felt pain in his own hip just by watching Chiyo. "You jelly?"

She saw the flinch in Ryuji's shoulder; he looked away, cheeks turning pink. "The-The-The outfit?! I ain't jealous!" He started to rake his hands through his hair. "Seriously though, what's goin' on here? This makes no fuckin' sense at all..."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Chiyo said, reaching up for the mask again. A sudden chill ran down her spine when it finally hit her.

She couldn't feel her glasses under it.

Chiyo took the mask in both hands, took it off, and stared at the castle wall. She could see the patterns the bricks made, she could see the knicks in the wall. The torches around them, round platters with purple fires burning inside. She could make out the wear and tear of the barrels stored around them. But she didn't have her glasses on. She didn't even have her contacts on.

"Holy shit, I can see!"

"Will you keep your voices down?!" a new, but still somewhat familiar, voice snapped.

Morgan poked his head out from behind one of the parapets that blocked in the windows. Ryuji let out a surprised yelp and nearly fell over as Morgana ran up to them. What was curious was how the ground seemed to ripple with each step he took. There was even a purple-pink… something that sloshed up with each step. The effect was like he was walking through a shallow puddle.

"The Shadows started acting up," Morgana explained as though they should inherently know what that meant, "so I came here wondering what it could be..." He glanced up at the two, from Chiyo to Ryuji, and let out a heavy, exaggerated sigh. "To think you idiots would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape."

"Well, needless to say, we had a few questions that wouldn't leave us." Chiyo crossed her arms over her chest. "Like, what is this place? It's still the school, yes?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"But it's a castle!" Ryuji exclaimed, throwing his arms to the side gesturing to the structure.

The cat-creature pointed a paw at Chiyo. "It's like she said, this castle is the school. But only to this castle's ruler."

Chiyo gripped her chin between her thumb and forefinger. "You mean Kamoshida?"

"Exactly. It's how his distorted heart views the school."

Eyes cast downward, Chiyo stared at the floor for a moment, contemplating what Morgana just said. When she glanced back up at Ryuji she could see that the monster-cat had lost him. Chiyo thought she had the basic idea, Morgana's explanation left her with more questions than answers. "Explain it in a way that makes sense!" barked Ryuji.

"I shouldn't have expected a moron to get it," sighed Morgana.

"What'd you say?!"

A cry from the inside of the castle caused the three of them to jump back. Chiyo instinctively held one hand at the ready, though she wasn't sure what she was going to do with it if something came out at them. She needed to reach inside her coat for her ribbon. "What was that?!" Ryuji asked, his voice quavering.

"It must be the slaves held captive here," Morgana said casually.

"For real?!"

"You mean like that guy we saw yesterday?" asked Chiyo.

The monster-cat nodded. "Just like him. It's likely how Kamoshida views his students. What's more, you two escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit."

"That son of a bitch," Ryuji hissed under his breath. His shoulders started shaking again, this time he wasn't even bothering to hide it.

"Ryuji..."

"This is bullshit!"

Without warning, Ryuji ran up to the door and started ramming his shoulder into it in an attempt to open it. Each time Ryuji hit the door Chiyo flinched, the sound rather uncomfortable. By the time he hit it the third time, it became painfully obvious that it was not going to budge for anyone or anything. "That's not going to work, you know," Morgana said flatly. One the next ram, Ryuji sunk down, gripping his shoulder and muttering a string of curses under his breath. "Still, it seems you have your reasons."

Ryuji was still braced against the door as he stood back up. After the pain subsided, he whipped around as though nothing happened. "Hey, Monamona!"

"It's Morgana!"

"Whatever. Do you know where those voices are comin' from?"

"You want me to take you to them?!" Morgana's voice cracked in disbelief. He brought a paw to his chin in thought. "Well… I guess I could guide you there. But only if she comes with us." He pointed his paw at Chiyo.

Chiyo's shoulders shot up when Morgana pointed at her. Out of reflex, she wanted to ask why she had to come with them. But she bit It back, if only because that was more or less Ryuji's plan anyway, to figure out what this was. "All right, let's go," she said.

"Guess that settles that," said Morgana.

Grinning, Ryuji clapped Chiyo on the shoulder. "Thanks, man."

An awkward smile played upon Chiyo's lips, a blush formed upon her cheeks, partially hidden by her mask. Could she really not take simple gratitude without getting flustered? A part of Chiyo wondered if it was the result of the arrest or if she was just given that little opportunity to do something nice for others. When she thought about it, she was mostly training and studying and there was only one person she could really call her friend.

Ryuji shrugged off his bag and reached inside. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna force all this on you. I thought it might help, so..."

He pulled out a black handgun, a sight that made Chiyo's heart leap into her throat. Even Morgan was taken aback by the sight of this pistol, judging by the fur standing up on end on his tail. "Holy shit!" Chiyo hissed. "Please don't tell me that's real!"

"Don't worry, it ain't. It's a model gun, but I brought it just in case. It looks real enough, so it should at least fake 'em out." He gave his school bag a shake, there was a crinkling sound amongst the shuffling. "I brought snacks too. You know what they say: 'Providin' is pre… something.'"

"And suddenly I want to know what you would have done if I said no to coming back," Chiyo muttered, blinking rapidly as she spoke.

"He likely would've come on his own and died," replied a thoroughly unimpressed Morgana. He shook his head a couple of times. "All right, let's do this! Follow me!"

Morgana lead the two back to the vent they escaped out of yesterday, which he called their 'infiltration point.' As they climbed back in, Chiyo felt the climb to get out was easier than it was to climb in. She decided it was because of the shelf inside that provided convenient hand and footholds.

After they crawled in through the vent, Morgana lead them back to the foyer, Chiyo followed close behind with Ryuji taking up the rear. In the foyer was a grand staircase that split at the mid-way point to two separate wings. On the wall at the mid-way point was a large portrait of Kamoshida in golden armor. The portrait made Chiyo think of a parody of a cover of a trashy romance novel.

Without warning, Chiyo felt woozy as the foyer's image flickered; becoming a hybrid of the room with the staircase and portrait, and Shujin's entrance hall "Whoa..." Chiyo barely noticed Ryuji rubbing his eyes. "I'm seein' double or something… Was that Shujin?"

"I already told you," Morgan said with waning patients. "This place is your school, it's just how Kamoshida sees it. Regardless, we don't have the time to stand around like this. Who knows when a Shadow might show up. This way, follow me!"

Just like that, Morgana took off again, leading them across the foyer, down a spiraling staircase that lead them down to the dungeon. The roar of the river reached Chiyo's ears before too long. The dungeon was the same as it had been yesterday, a torch-lit corridor with cells on either side of the river. The bridge was several meters down the path, however, one of the black-armored guards was pacing down the path of the mouth of the bridge.

Immediately, Chiyo and Ryuji crouched at the door, peeking out the side of the door "Drat," Morgana muttered under his breath. "I had a feeling there would be guards here… Doesn't look like we'll be able to avoid conflict."

Ryuji paled. "F-For real…?"

"Oh well. They haven't spotted us, so we have the advantage." He turned his attention to Chiyo. "Hey, Four Eyes-"

"It's Chiyo."

"A good rule of thumb is to ambush as many enemies as you can. Attacking them from behind gives us the advantage. But you'll need to rip off their masks to momentarily break the control the Palace ruler has over them."

"That's all we gotta do?" questioned Ryuji.

Chiyo glanced back at the guard, chewing her lower lip as it about-faced and marched back in their direction. At her side, Morgana gave Ryuji a look of contempt. "Uh, you know you're just going to be watching, right? You can't use a Persona."

Ryuji looked like he wanted to argue against that, maybe remind Morgana that he brought a handgun to help out. But Morgana cut him off. "Alright, Four Eyes-"

"Chiyo."

"I'm gonna teach you a special way to fight enemies."

"More special than beating them with a ribbon?"

"Something like that. First, you got to remove that guard's mask."

Chiyo looked back at the guard as it about-faced and marched back. She broke forward. She was used to being light on her feet but wearing proper shoes while treading lightly was a new, kind of uncomfortable experience. She was used to performing in her toeshoes, socks, or barefoot. But as her body acted out of instinct into a couple of cartwheels, Chiyo found that the dance shoes bend to her needs, and miraculously enough, the heels weren't a hindrance.

After two cartwheels, Chiyo's body rearranged itself so she was performing several consecutive handsprings. Within arm's length of the guard, Chiyo tightened her knees up to her chest and used her core to give herself enough momentum. She perched herself atop the guard's shoulders.

In its confusion, Chiyo's hand slapped over the guard's face and she dug her fingers under the blue mask. She pulled it off it with an audible pop. Throwing the mask to the side, Chiyo pushed off the guard's shoulders and backflipped safely away as the guard body began to twitch.

The black-armored being was soon replaced with one of the fairy's that she and Morgana had fought the previous day. "Nice work!" Morgana said, suddenly at Chiyo's side with his curved sword slung over his shoulder. "Now's our chance to strike! Alright, first, we knock down all the enemies. That's a crucial step in this attack!"

Obediently, Chiyo removed her ribbon from her coat, stunned that it had yet to tangle despite being shoved into a pocket. She repeated yesterday's actions, tossing the ribbon into the air and moving towards the Shadow in tight turns. When she caught the ribbon she snaked the ribbon, the energy generated by it, struck the fairy three times. The wings drooped, the fairy slowly sunk to the floor. "All right!" Morgana shouted through a grin wide enough to split his face. "Now rush on in for an All-out Attack!"

Chiyo pushed herself forward, her ribbon perfectly circling around her arm as she and Morgana beat into the Shadow. The Shadow steadily dissipated; when Chiyo and Morgana broke apart, Chiyo landed gracefully on her feet. She swept her left leg far behind her right leg until the shin and instep of her foot were flat on the floor and her right leg slightly bent to accommodate. Her left arm was held up, slightly curved above her head, while the other arm was held at her side. The tails of her coat had belled out around her.

As Chiyo rose to her feet, Morgan walked up to her, humming happily. "That went really well. You're definitely fit for this. That bow at the end was just the right touch."

"Wait, was that super-move thing you just did?!" Ryuji asked, using his hands to make wild gestures to speak with him.

"I told you, it's called an All-out Attack. If you manage to knock all the enemies down, you might be able to use it to beat them all at once.

"Yeah…" Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck. "That was over real quick…"

"It's a concentrated attack on defenseless enemies, after all."

Ryuji knelt down at the pile of money and turned one of the notes over in his hand. "Dude is this stuff for real?" he asked, passing the note to Chiyo.

"Is it?" She held it up to the light.

"Oh, it is," Morgana said, uncurling his arms. "If it's treated as real money in this world, then it's as good as the stuff produced in the real world.

"Dude, we gotta pocket this stuff!" Ryuji started stuffing his pockets with coins.

"Wait, won't this break the economy? Maybe we should wait until we finish with this place before splitting it."

"Uh… yeah, I'm down with that."

"Alright, it's… probably not the best idea to stay in one place for too long," Chiyo said, listing her head towards the bridge.

In silent agreement, they raced across the bridge before anything else could happen. Abruptly, Ryuji slid to a stop. He looked from left to right, into the cells, in rapid session. "Where'd he go? That guy from yesterday?" Raking a hand through the back of his head, Ryuji's brow rose instantly. "Oh, yeah, there were more of 'em further in! Didn't you hear them, Chiyo?"

"They might have been transferred already," said Morgana.

"Transferred?" echoed Chiyo.

The group was instantly silenced by a sudden metallic sound. Metallic and even rhythmic, evidence that there was more than one guard. And they were headed straight for them. "That… That doesn't sound good," Ryuji warbled.

"And I get the feeling we'd be pushing our luck if we try to take them on," said Chiyo.

In the corner of her eye, she could see Morgana survey the area. He sprinted across the hall, only stopping in front of a wooden double door. "In here!" Morgana called. "We should be able to hide in here."

Ryuji opened the door, allowing Chiyo and Morgana inside before he followed suit. The room looked like a sort of break room with a squat wooden table in the center. Morgana climbed onto the table; he stretched his stubby arms. "The Shadow's probably won't come in here."

"What makes you so sure?" asked Chiyo.

"There's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak."

A slight sense of dizziness hit Chiyo as the room morphed into an empty classroom. "Oh," Chiyo uttered as the room changed back, "it's another classroom. I get it because Kamoshida doesn't teach in here, so to him, he doesn't have the power he usually does."

"Nice observation there," said Morgana. "And I'd say you hit the nail on the head."

Ryuji, while raking his hands through his hair, let out a frustrated yell. "Okay, what the hell are you two talkin' about?! What is this place?"

"Will you keep it down?" Morgana asked bitterly. "This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."

Reading the look of confusion on Ryuji's face Chiyo offered, "You said Kamoshida acts like he was king of the castle. This reality is taking it literally, likely because he's thinking the same thing."

Ryuji's shoulders shook momentarily as he let out a humorless chuckle. "That son of a bitch!"

"You must really hate this Kamoshida guy," noted Morgana.

"Hate doesn't even begin to cover how I feel. Everything is that asshole's fault!"

Chiyo crossed her arms over her chest, recalling how the Kamoshida in this world carefully studied her face. A chill ran down her spine when she remembered how he tore open her blazer. What exactly Kamoshida was planning on doing would ultimately be up to Chiyo's imagination. Was he just trying to check out her chest? Or was he going to take it further?

Chiyo did not want to dwell on the 'what-ifs' too much. She wasn't going to let them control her. But… she couldn't help but recall Takamaki and what Chiyo witnessed between her and Kamoshida.

"I don't know what happened between the two of you," Morgana said, breaking Chiyo from her thoughts, "but don't let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere inside."

"Okay. I have a question." Chiyo gestured to her person. "What's with the costume change?"

"Oh yeah." Ryuji crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm curious as hell about that."

"That's also because of this world," Morgana explained plainly. "Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases with his Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all. To prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebel that you hold within."

Chiyo studied her appearance again. Her image of rebellion was a runway model? Or was it based on what dramas and anime she saw growing up? Specifically, the characters that tended to stick with her. Those characters would wear long coats, and jeez, if those characters didn't look infallible and just cool.

Ryuji's sudden, frustrated yell shook Chiyo out of her thoughts. "I'm so fed up with all this! The bigger mystery is you than her clothes! What the hell are you and how do you know all this?!"

"I'm a human," Morgana asserted, "and honest-to-god human!"

"No, you're obviously more like a cat!"

Morgana's ears plastered against his skull, as he refused to meet Ryuji's gaze. "That's… well…" he said miserably. "It's because I lost my true form."

"You don't sound so sure about that," said Chiyo.

Shaking his head, Morgana's ears picked back up. "Of course I am! I even know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means." His ears plastered back against his skull. "Until I got caught… B-Besides! I've been tortured by Kamoshida too! I'm gonna make him pay for sure!"

Morgana spoke with such conviction, it was rather amusing to hear something like that come from something as cartoonish as Morgana. Chiyo still had a few questions, the first and foremost being how and why all this was even possible. The castle, Chiyo's clothes, those Shadow things, Chiyo and Morgana's Persona things. It all couldn't be happening just because.

When no one interrupted Chiyo's thoughts, she realized how quiet it was. Namely, how quiet it was outside the room. "I don't hear anything," she said. "Think it's safe to leave?"

Morgana's head list to the left, his ears twitched briefly. "I think so. All right, I'll be counting on your skills this time too, rookie. Got it?"

"I guess…"

Authors Note: I imagine the background for Chiyo's All-out Attack finisher would be flowery, not unlike Haru's, while "The Shows Over" is written in a flowy text. Yes, 'Yoyo' is basically this story's version of 'Renren.' What can I say, it was endearing.

The skirt of Chiyo's leotard is more like a figure skaters leotard than a gymnasts. For gymnasts the skirt shouldn't fall beyond the pelvic area. Also tights, tights not the leggings Chiyo wears, are supposed to be flesh-colored.

'Sumi… 'Sumi, 'Sumi, 'Sumi… To sum up my issues with her, she's a waifu first and foremost, a mystery second, a character last. And that's ignoring the bubble she exists in. And as someone who's had their own mental health struggles, in the wake of someone's death at that, yeah, I was unimpressed by how easy the game made it for her.

I won't say I hate her per se. But I will happily, happily take every other available confidant (except Akechi) and romantic option over 'Sumi every time. I have plans for her. I consider this fic a fix-it of sorts for a reason.