I may have overestimated how much time I'd need to edit. Plus, next weeks going to be a little stressful, I don't know if I'll be able to post. Either way I didn't want to go two weeks without posting.

Chapter Nineteen
Mementos

Saturday May 7th

"Whoa!"

"Easy! I can still feel it if you run into a wall! Look over your shoulder when you back up!"

Joker tilted her head back, groaning all the while. Predictably, her first time driving was going about as smoothly as one could expect from someone who never drove before. When she tried to back up, she ended up ramming Mona's backside into the wall. Going forward, Joker had a difficult time keeping Mona straight at first, and she ended up overcorrecting with each turn and clipping the turns.

There was an atmosphere that was a little difficult to place a name to. It was somehow colder than the subway station normally was. But at the same time, Joker could still buy that they were in the other world where Kamoshida's Palace manifested. "This place… really does feel like a Palace…" Skull said under his breath.

"Yeah…" agreed Panther. "I guess it'd be strange driving on the tracks like this in the real world…"

Joker drummed her fingers against the steering wheel. "We don't have to worry about coming head to head with a train, right?" she inquired.

"Not in the slightest," Mona said confidently. "We just gotta look out for Shadows and Nakanohara."

"How're we going to find him down here anyway?" inquired Panther.

"He's most likely in a segment of his own creation," explained Mona. "Don't worry, it won't be the size of a Palace. Our next step is to find an entrance to that segment."

"And what's this entrance gonna look like?" questioned Skull.

"I have no idea, but strong distortions should be a pretty obvious visual clue."

The area, Qimranut, according to the Meta-Nav, was nothing like what Joker imagined the subway tracks to be in reality. It bore a closer resemblance to a dungeon corridor than a proper subway track. A black substance littered the walls in a way that made Joker think of fungus. But it also pulsed every few seconds, revealing a red, veiny glow with each pulse.

Shadows, not unlike the guards in Kamoshida's Palace, wandered the corridors. Large and black but distorted pale faces littered across their person. When they came across their first Shadow Skull and Panther encouraged Joker to run it over despite Mona's protest.

No one could tell how long they were driving for until they came across a set of twisting tracks that spiraled into a black and red vortex of sorts. It moved as though it were sucking in whatever it could reach. However, Joker was able to park the Morganamobile with little trouble. "Dude, the hell is this?" Skull asked, leaning forward, his hands pressed against the dashboard. "It's all wavy and shit."

"This is the place," declared Mona. "I sense the target up ahead."

Panther's face paled. "Wait, we're going into that thing?!"

"Do you want to change Nakanohara's heart?"

Skull learned towards Joker, muttering loud enough for her to hear, "You sure 'bout this?"

Joker shrugged. "Mona hasn't lead us astray yet."

"All right!" Mona shouted, his engine revving up as he got himself pumped. "No mourners!"

"No- ACK!"

The van lurched forward, into the vortex. On the other side, they came to a dead-end, the tracks came to a natural end, while a single person stood at the end of the room, surrounded by a smoggy black substance. Parking the Morganamobile, Mona waited until the others were out of the van. "That seems to be Nakanohara's Shadow," Mona stated upon reverting into his bipedal form.

They walked up to Nakanohara, who stood in place, groaning over and over, "She's mine… She's mine… She's mine…"

Nakanohara was a very unremarkable man, a pair of glasses, and black hair done in a bowl cut. The Shadow's sharp, yellow eyes looked up to find the Phantom Thieves approaching him. "Who the hell are you?!" he demanded.

"Aren't you the stalker?!" Panther snapped at him. "Haven't you ever stopped to consider how your ex feels?"

"She's my property! I can do whatever I want with her! It's not like she didn't treat me like some plaything? What's so wrong with me doing the same?!"

"Seriously? You're saying that unironically?" Joker raked a hand through her bangs. "Look, I don't care how shitty a person she is. She's still her own person, not your damn property."

"Honestly," scoffed Skull, "You can't treat someone like shit just 'cause they did it to you! We're gonna change the hearts of bastards like you!"

"There are millions of people far worse than me!" roared Nakanohara, gesturing to himself. "What about Madarame?!"

"Madarame?" Skull threw a questioning glance at Joker, Panther, and Mona. None of them had any inkling about this person in question.

"He stole everything from me!" Nakanohara ranted. "From his pupils. But you're going to let him off the hook?!"

Nakanohara's body began to tremble. He convulsed into a black mass that took on the new shape of an orange-brown horned imp with a similar bowl haircut. "All right," Mona said, lowering himself in a defensive position. "Here he comes!"

"I finally have something that's rightfully mine!" Nakanohara shouted, his voice sounded odd against this particular Shadow. "I'm not going to let you take it away!"

He drew his oversized fist back, then threw a punch at Skull. Taken aback, he lost his footing and fell to his knees. "Skull!" gasped Panther. Glaring back at Nakanohara, Panther removed her mask, allowing Carmen to appear close behind her. "Go!"

With her skirt in her hand, Carmen flicked her skirts. Nakanohara suddenly swayed, his hands held his head. "What the…?" He swooned to the left, landing on the floor. His chest rising and falling with a slight snore.

Eyes wide, Panther robotically placed her mask back on. "What just happened?"

Mona started bouncing in place, his grin wide enough to split his face in two. "Looks like Carmen learned a new skill! You're amazing, Panther!"

"New skill…?"

"Hey, it's givin' us an edge, so I ain't complainin'!" Skull removed his mask. "Captain Kidd!"

A Zio volt struck the sleeping Nakanohara. Miraculously, he didn't stir. Joker removed her mask, summoning Arsène. She extended her wings, causing the dark circle to form around Nakanohara, cursing him with Eiha. This attack was enough to startle Nakanohara awake. He drew his fist back and proceeded to sock Joker in the side, she stumbled back, holding the area.

"Garu!" Mona shouted, summoning Zoro.

Flicking his wrist in the familiar 'Z' shape, gust to wind blew into Nakanohara. The Shadow threw a punch at Mona, sending the bipedal cat flying back, screaming. Joker gasped her friend's name before she turned a glare. Removing her mask, she called forth Incubus. The red demon extended his arms and wings. Nakanohara let out an agonized cry as a sickly glow surrounded Incubus. When the glow died, Nakanohara shook his head, suddenly sluggish.

Another Zio from Skull and Captain Kidd rendered Nakanohara onto his knees. A black haze began to flicker around Nakanohara, like fire dancing around his person. When the haze died down, the Shadow's more human-like appearance took its place. He held a hand to his chest, his eyes locked on the floor intently. Slowly, he looked up at the four, his eyes softer than they were previously. "I-I was wrong…" he said, lacking the anger he once carried. "Please forgive me…"

"It's not us you should be apologizing to," Joker said plainly.

"You're right…" He looked down again. "My former sensei… that miserable man… used me… then threw me out on the streets… I suppose it was a desperate need for validation that caused my fixation on her… A pitiful response from a pitiful man…"

"Sounds like your relationship with her was destined to be toxic," Panther said sympathetically. "If your ex is as you say, it's probably better for you to let her go."

Nakanohara let out a mirthless chuckle. "Hindsight is twenty-twenty, I guess."

"What about this former sensei of yours?" asked Joker. "Madarame, was it?" Odd, now that Joker said the name allowed, it sounded familiar, though she couldn't place where she heard it.

"Yeah… I had skills to fall back on, but he still left me without any yen to make it on my own. I just didn't want anyone to throw me away again…."

Panther hugged herself. "So some selfish bastard was making you suffer too… Still, it's not fair to drag someone else into your mess."

"Yes, I know that now," Nakanohara said in earnest. "I'll put an end to it and move on…"

He looked down for a moment, his lips pursing together in thought before he looked back up at the Phantom Thieves. "You… You can change people's hearts, right?" Nakanohara asked tentatively. "In that case… Won't you change Madarame's heart?! Before more people fall victim to him…"

A blue-white glow surrounded Nakanohara's person. When the glow died, a round, shimmering mass hovered where he previously stood. "What's that shinin' thing?" asked Skull.

"It's the bud of a Treasure," explained Mona. "Had we left it be, it very well may have blossomed into a Palace. Taking it will have a similar effect as taking a Palace's Treasure."

Joker approached the bud and took it into her hand. As the glow died, it felt like a baseball in her palm. Panther and Skull peered over her shoulder as Joker turned her palm skyward and uncurled her fingers. A glass paperweight rested in her hand, the size of a baseball, the inside rippling like ocean waters, colored blue-green. "Must have been a gift from his ex," murmured Panther.

"So, this means Nakanohara had a change of heart, then?" asked Skull.

Mona bobbed his head. "Most likely."

"But, this isn't like Kamoshida's case," Panther pointed out. "How are we supposed to know if we succeeded?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Skull leaned on his right leg. "The lady posted the dude's name online," he pointed out. "If he really does change, she'll prolly comment again."

"Hm, you do have a point," said Mona.

"Either way, trainin' against Shadows down here's the best! It's great prep for our next target!"

"It's also nice to be able to give courage to the people who post their problems online," added Panther.

"On top of that," said Mona. "We can sell whatever treasure we get for some cold, hard cash!"

"What do we want to do with the money though?" Joker asked, studying the paperweight again. "Split it like the Palace money, or put it aside for medicine and weapons?"

"I like that idea. Using the money from Mementos for our work as Phantom Thieves. It'll be like our own personal war chest."

"That, and it might prevent us from arguing over who gets how much," Panther added under her breath with an aside glance. Clearing her throat she looked up at Joker. "You don't mind holding on to that sort of money, then, right?"

"Wait, what?" asked Joker. "Why me?"

"You've been the reliable one since day one," Skull pointed out. "So why not?"

The reliable one? Joker could feel her face flush at the compliment. Damn, how was she supposed to say no to that? "I-If you're sure," murmured Joker.

"Now, before we leave," said Mona, "there's something I want to show you guys. It shouldn't take long."

Back in the Morganamobile, Joker grasped the steering wheel as Mona purred around them. Before they left Nakanohara's chamber Mona switched back to his bus form, and once again, Joker ended up being the one to drive. Somehow, she got the feeling she would be the one driving whenever they journey down into Mementos. "So?" Skull asked, breaking the silence while he sat at Joker's side. "What else do you wanna do?"

"There's something I'd like to check in the area further down," explained Mona. "There's a platform I spotted. Mind heading there, Joker?"

"Sure," replied Joker.

Skull held up his hands before Joker could clutch the gas. "Hold up, hold up, hold up. Mona's said he's been here before, right? Don't he got somethin' like a map?"

"That wouldn't do much for us in a place like this," explained Mona. "The layout changes every time you enter."

Panther leaned forward, her arms draped on the seat in front of her. "So it's a Mystery Dungeon?" she asked.

It took a few minutes of searching before they found the platform. Surprisingly, it remained unchanged compared to the rest of the subway track. The trio slid out of the Morganamobile. Joker rotated her ankle when she heard Skull make a sharp intake of breath. "Hold a sec," he held one hand up as though signaling for Joker and Panther to stop. "You guys hearin' something?"

Joker's brow furrowed behind her mask. She could hear the rumbling sound of something breaking through the wind. On the other side of the platform, visible but still shielded from onlookers, a train eased to a stop on the platform across. "The trains still run here?" inquired Joker.

"Well yeah," Mona said, still as a bus. "We're in the subway, you know."

"I thought this was some Palace," said Panther.

"Then maybe this is how the public views this place? I don't know…"

Panther's face twisted into a sad grimace. "People go through this darkness… every day…?"

"Forget that!" said Skull, his eyes wide behind his mask. "You sure we cool runnin' all over the tracks like we were?"

"It should be fine as long as we're not on the same ones… I think…" said Mona. "I'm no train expert."

"I mean, we didn't know about the train earlier," Joker pointed out. "I think we should be okay…"

No sooner had she said that the image of the lot of them driving into the path of an oncoming train graced her thoughts. "You gotta be kiddin' me…" Skull muttered, kicking at the floor.

"Anyway," Mona said, transforming back to his bipedal form in a puff. "Let's head to the lower area. It should be right after we go down that escalator."

Following Mona's instructions, they headed down the escalator. About halfway down the Meta-Nav on Joker's phone went off, announcing that they had discovered a new path, calling it 'Path of Aiyatsbus.' Two paths… Just how many were there down here?

Coming to even ground, trains on either side of the platform whizzed by, their windows giving off a hellish orange-yellow glow. Mona took off a little ways ahead of the group, gesturing to the wall opposite the escalators. "There it is!" he shouted over the trains. "What I wanted to check out is just past there!"

Joker lead the way down the path, towards the opposite wall. A triangular insignia glowed red against the wall. Four circles with an intricate pattern took up the corners, creating a near-diamond shape in the center. "What his this place?" Panther asked, hugging herself as she stared up at the wall. "It's kinda creepy."

"And a dead end," Skull added dryly. "This really what you wanted to show us?"

Mona glanced over his shoulder. "Hold your horses. This is most likely not an ordinary wall. If my hunch is correct…"

Approaching the wall, Mona placed his paws flat on the surface. A moment passed before the wall started to shake. The diamond shape slid up like any garage door while the remaining circles folded in on themselves. Behind the wall, a new platform escalator was revealed, 'Path of Aiyatsbus' written above the escalators. "Ta-da!" Mona sang, extending his arms in a pose.

"What the…?" Panther said slowly.

'A new area has been confirmed in the depths,' three mechanical voices said in unison. 'Updating guidance information.'

"Haha!" Mona leaped into the air once in his own victory. "It's just as I thought!"

"You're going to need to use more words than that," said Joker. "What just happened?"

"That wall wouldn't budge for me when I came down here by myself. But it'd be weird for the deepest part of Mementos to be some normal place like this, wouldn't it?"

"So you were thinkin' there's gotta be more?" Skull surmised.

"Yeah! Now that Kamoshida's Palace is gone and people are actually starting to talk about us… I knew something had to have changed down here!"

Pursing her lips, Panther stared into the dark depths of the entrance. Crossing her arms over her chest, she list her head to the left. "How deep is it, though? Should we try going down further?"

"The goal is to see what's at the depth of Mementos," Mona said, pacing back and forth in front of them with his arms behind his back. "Doing that in one go is dangerous on so many levels. We could run out of supplies, we could fall under fatigue when we still have a ways to go to get out, the enemies could be too strong for us right now. We should take it area by area. For now, we've accomplished our goal. So let's head back and I'll explain a bit more once we're home."

The drive back to the entrance was uneventful. However, as they got there, the four of them were surprised to find a little boy there. He was dressed in an oversized raincoat with grey stars and moons printed on it and a pair of goggles hanging around his neck. He barely stood taller than Morgana, his light grey hair was cut like a broken eggshell and his eyes were a striking yellow.

Yellow like Henry's… and was the boy's hair supposed to be grey or platinum blond?

Behind him was a little blue buggy with boxes and other items precariously strapped to the back. The boy was inspecting something that looked like it had flowers inside. In a flash the flowers disappeared, transforming into a glass of juice with a flower umbrella decorating it. He took a drink of the juice then looked quite happy with the taste.

"Hey, what's he drinkin'?" Skull asked as the group approached the boy.

The boy placed his glass down as he spotted the group. "I thought I felt something strange for a second," he said, more to himself than to the others. "So, who're you guys?"

"We should be the ones asking you that!" exclaimed Mona.

"Oh, good point." The boy brought a hand to his chin in thought. "Sorry about that. It's customary for a human to introduce itself before asking another human their name. Thanks for reminding me Mister… um…" Staring at Mona the boy tilted his head to the side. "Tanuki? No, em… Perhaps a… cat?"

"What?! Took so long to come up with 'cat?!' And I'm neither of those!"

"You do transform, though," Joker pointed out.

"Yeah, gettin' confused for a tanuki seems pretty normal to me," agreed Skull.

"My name is Jose. I'm looking for flowers." The boy took a moment to scrutinize the group once more. "I'm pretty surprised to see some normal humans running around. I didn't know people could just come here."

Boastfully, Mona crossed his stubby arms over his chest. "Well, we are pretty special - W-Wait, that's not important!" Unfurling his arms he pointed at Jose. "Who you are is what matters right now!"

"When you said you were looking for flowers, did you mean that floating thing you were looking at before?" asked Panther.

"That's right, pretty lady," said Jose. "Those seem to be the ones I've been looking for. I'm collecting as many of 'em as I can 'cause I'm studying humans."

"That's why you turned a flower into a drink?" asked Skull. Jose nodded in response. "Drinkin' flower juice counts as studying?!"

"I'm half-expecting those flowers to be related to human nature or desires," Joker explained. "So, drinking flower juice could be like consuming human nature."

"When you put it like that, it sounds a little like cannibalism…"

"How?!"

"Say, could you guys help me with my research?" Jose spoke up.

"How so?" asked Panther.

"By collecting flowers for me. I wouldn't ask you to do it for free, though. I find all kinds of stuff you can use while you're exploring. I'll trade you some of that stuff for the flowers you find."

Almost immediately, Skull turned slightly and asked the other three in a low voice, "Whaddya think? Should we try an' get him some of those flowers?"

"Seems like it could do us some good," Mona said thoughtfully. "But we don't know this kid… We gotta be careful."

"Oh, I'm sure he's fine," Panther said with a wave of the hand. "Let's give him a hand. He seems like he could use it, and it shouldn't be too hard to pick flowers while we're exploring, right?"

Both Mona and Skull exchanged doubtful looks. "Okay," Skull said dubiously. "Any other reasons?"

Giggling, Panther shifted her weight onto one side and started to play with one of her pigtails. "He called me 'pretty lady.'"

"I think we'll be okay," Joker said at length.

"Yeah." Skull nodded. "I mean, he said he'd give us useful stuff an' all."

"I guess that means we'll help you however we can, Jose," said Joker.

"Thanks, lady!"

"Wait, wait, hang on a second!" Mona whipped around. "We still have no idea who this kid is! Don't go thankin' us just yet, bud!"

"Aw, are you tired, kitty? You seem grumpy."

"I am not a cat! And I'm not grumpy!"

"Oh, okay - then, are you hungry? I learned hunger can make a person turn grumpy." He reached into the pocket of his raincoat and pulled out a bagged cookie for Mona. "Here, you can have this."

The cat creature's ears plastered against his skull. "Thanks, but I'll pass…"

"You're makin' the kid worry about ya even more," said Skull. "Guess there's no way outta this one."

Instantly, Mona dropped to the floor, Jose still holding out the cookie for him. In the end, Mona took the cookie, oatmeal, and was still begrudgingly munching on it as Jose climbed into his buggy. "I'll be looking for flowers around here," Jose explained, buckling himself in. "So stop by and say hi if you see me." He paused a moment to put his goggles on. "Ah, I also remembered something humans like to say to each other: Good job!"

He revved up his buggy. Maneuvering the vehicle into a U-turn, Jose jumped the buggy over the gates and drove further down into Mementos. Watching him, Skull's shoulder heaved in a sigh. "Who the hell was that?"

"If he's studying humans, does that mean he isn't one?" asked Panther.

"I don't think so," said Joker. He looked so much like Henry, was there some kind of connection between Jose and the Velvet Room?

"He's like some nice little kid, so he can't be that bad if he isn't."

"Well, he didn't feel like a Shadow," Mona said, finishing Jose's cookie. "So I wouldn't say he's dangerous. At least, for now…"

"Anyways," Skull stretched his arms out, "if we see any of those flowers he wants, I guess we can grab 'em for him."

"Whoa!" Joker shouted.

Jose's buggy came barreling up to the gate. It stopped abruptly, almost hurtling head over heels. Fluidly, Jose pushed his goggles down the bridge of his nose, back around his neck, and unbuckled. "I totally forgot!" he said scrambling out of his buggy. He ran out of the gate fishing something out of his pocket. "There's something I wanted to give all of you."

"Something for us?" asked Joker.

"Yeah. I picked up something strange while I was exploring earlier. Here it is."

He held out a crystal, the size of his palm. It was the shape of a star and almost resembled an opal, blue in color, swirling with greens, yellows, and pinks. "What the heck is that?" asked Skull.

"It's a star," Jose said plainly. "At least, that's what it looks like, so that's what I call it."

"A star?" Mona echoed, eyeing the crystal.

"So, what about it did you want to show us?" asked Panther.

"Humans make wishes on stars, right?" reasoned Jose. "That's interesting. Stars granting wishes… So this star is going to grant your wishes."

"Wait, grant our wishes?" repeated Joker.

"Oh, it would be nice to think that. I'll give this to you. It's so sparkly and beautiful, you want it too, don't you? It's a 'sign of our friendship.' I know what that is." He walked up to Joker and gave her the star crystal. "Off I go now. Good job!"

They watched dumbly as Jose climbed back into his buggy and put his goggles back on. He revved the buggy back around, performed another U-turn, and disappeared into the depths of Mementos. "Welp," Skull said through a sigh, "there he goes…" Rubbing the back of his neck he glanced back down at the crystal in Joker's hand. "A star, huh? One that can grant our wishes or somethin'…"

"I highly doubt something like that would actually happen, even in Mementos," said Mona. "But I guess we can at least try making a wish."

Joker held the star up to her eye level. "So, what do we wish for?"

"Oh, oh!" Panther's hand shot into the air as though she were in class. "I wish for all-you-can-eat parfaits! With zero calories!"

"An extra-large beef bowl!" Skull threw in, matching Panther's enthusiasm. "With pork soup on the side!"

"Uh, oh, we're going for food then? Uh, a-a," Joker stuttered. "A geode cake. With marbled buttercream…"

The humans looked down at the star as the minutes ticked by as nothing happened. Not even a twinkle. "Was Skull's wish too petty?" Panther thought aloud.

"You're one to talk Ms. Parfait Buffet!"

"I guess things don't just happen that easily," Mona said with his arms crossed over his chest. "But we can't just throw the thing away… Best hold onto it for now."

"Yeah," Joker agreed, pocketing the star with the Crystal of Lust.

Chiyo lifted her arms over her head to help stretch her back out. It was a near literal hop, skip, and a jump back to the real world after that. And to the real world, it was like they ever left it in the first place. The most was a child who spotted Morgana with them. "Mementos, huh?" Ryuji said thoughtfully. "I still don't really get that place… Like that wall thing we saw at the end?"

"I'm not entirely sure either," Morgana said, pausing a moment to groom himself. "But it always blocked me from going in past a certain depth. But, if Mementos is the public's Palace it might be affected by the general public's belief in us."

"Why do you know so much about it?" Ann asked, gripping her chin.

"My memories are a little foggy in that regard… However, I need to know what lies in the depths of Mementos, no matter what."

"No matter what…?"

"Mementos is not just everyone's Palace, it's the source of all Palaces. It used to be that Palaces like Kamoshida's with one ruler simply didn't exist. So, if we can do something about the greatest cause of distortions, I'm certain my appearance will…"

"You wanted someone to save you too, huh?" Ann asked sympathetically.

Instantaneously the fur along Morgana's back stood up on end. "I-I just needed pawns!" he insisted.

"I see," murmured Ryuji. "So that's why you came pokin' your nose around with us."

"There are easier ways to ask for help, y'know," Chiyo said with a huff.

"I'll help you," Ann said, reaching out to scratch Morgana behind the ear. "I hope you can regain what you've lost."

With a stiff back, Morgana looked down at his paws. While there was no way to tell one way or another, Chiyo was certain that he would be blushing something fierce if it weren't for his fur. "I'll… be relying on you guys," he said quietly. Shaking his head, Morgana spoke, changing the subject, "Anyway, we now know that we can perform minor changes of heart in Mementos. If we come across any eye-catching leads, it may be worth dealing with them for a bit of combat practice."

"There weren't exactly any other outstanding ones though," murmured Ann.

Ryuji crossed his arms over his chest and leaned over to the side. "I bet we'll get tons of 'em if we can change someone famous and make the Phantom Thieves well-known. The big fish are our main targets after all."

"First you need to find a way to get through your exams," Morgana pointed out.

The bleach blond's shoulder's slumped. "I gotta study…"

"Need help?" offered Chiyo.

The students chatter quickly dissolved into a discussion about their study habits. Or lack thereof in Ryuji's case. They were completely unaware of the tall figure watching them.

Chiyo sat on her bed, her books littered across the surface and her notebook sat right in front of her as she jotted down any information she might deem useful. An empty cup ramen container and a likewise empty can of cat food sat at the foot of the bed. She grabbed her phone without looking up when it started buzzing.

Ryuji: Man, that Nakanohara guy was a piece of cake!
Ryuji: If we can take down some kinda big target next, we're totally gonna get famous.
Ann: Hey! We're trying to help people, not get famous!
Ryuji: But if people don't know who we are, how're we gonna give them any courage?
Chiyo: I mean you have a point, but…
Chiyo: Shouldn't we worry about our exams first?
Ryuji: C'mon! Why'd you gotta bring that up?!
Chiyo: Cuz it'll make problems for us if we can't even make a passing grade.
Ryuji: But it's Sunday tomorrow. Can't we worry about studying on Monday?
Ann: Bargaining Ryuji?
Ryuji: Like you weren't going to spend your Sunday with Suzui.
Ann: I can still study though!
Chiyo: Just make sure you do SOME studying tomorrow Ryuji.
Chiyo: Best to get a start on it now.
Ryuji: Yeah, yeah…

Sunday May 8th

Chiyo intended to follow her own advice and do some studying that night. Ryuji called her first thing in the morning, asking her if she wanted to do some running with him that afternoon. It felt like Chiyo had just gotten dressed when she got an IM from Mishima.

Mishima: Hey, I saw on the forum! Nice job sticking it to that stalker!

When did she give Mishima her number? Although, given that he was the local tech guy, he could have found her phone number on his own. Chiyo just wasn't sure if she liked that thought or not.

Mishima: My Phantom Aficionado Website came in handy, didn't it?
Chiyo: We may end up using it for other jobs.
Mishima: That shouldn't be a problem, then.
Mishima: Anyway, I'm in Shibuya right now.
Mishima: I'd love it if you could come hear me out about your future actions!
Chiyo: Okay, I'll head over.
Mishima: I'll be waiting at the diner in Shibuya!

"What's that guy up to?" Morgana asked, sitting on Chiyo's lap to better read.

"I think he's just trying to help." Chiyo slid her phone into her pocket. "You coming or not?"

"You're on your own today," Morgana took a moment to stretch. "There's something in Mementos I need to look into."

"All right… just be back before it gets late."

"What are you, my mom?"

"Well, I am the one that feeds you."

She found Mishima at the diner, as he said. He wore a long-sleeved green and white shirt and a pair of grey jeans. Mishima's face lit up momentarily, but it didn't take Chiyo long to see the dreariness in his eyes. They ordered a cup of coffee each; it wasn't until the waitress brought them their drinks did Mishima speak up. "So, things have been going okay?" He paused for a yawn. "You know, with the… special activities?"

Chiyo cocked a brow, her cup nestled in her hands. "You okay?"

A gentle blush formed on Mishima's cheeks. "Uh… Yeah. Sorry about that. I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. I've been staying up managing the Phan-Site all night, every night. I think it's called PR?"

"Mishima-kun!" Chiyo gasped. "Not only do we have exams coming up, but that's also not healthy!"

"But there's no point in taking down bad guys if nobody's gonna know about it. That's why I started a blog for posts from people you guys saved while filtering out the haters. People have been posting about Kamoshida and the stalker's victim had something to say. We need the Phantom Thieves to be seen in the proper light if we want to make the same popular, right?"

Chiyo bit her lower lip, wasn't that what Ryuji was talking about the other day? Mulling over her words, Chiyo brought her cup to her lips and took a swig. "I-I guess you're doing good," she said.

"Really?!" Mishima's eyes lit up. "Just hearing you say that makes my all-nighters worth it!"

"Can we just be sane about this?" Chiyo asked. "Like not go crazy with the all-nighters… 'specially on a school night."

The boy's expression fell, though not out of disappointment. "Yeah, I guess you have a point. I don't want to end up falling asleep on the train and missing my stop. Though…" He tilted his head back in thought. "I really wanna know how you punish people…"

"We're not really-"

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna ask. It wouldn't be any fun if you just up and told me. After all, the Phantom Thieves have a reputation for being secretive!"

Listing her head to the side, Chiyo could feel her glasses slide down the bridge of her nose. For the life of her, she couldn't tell if Mishima was being enthusiastic, or if he was setting up a personal bubble he could live in.

"I…" His hands balled up on his lap. "I wish I could be more like you guys somehow."

Chiyo bit her lower lip, wishing there was something she could say to him. But she didn't really know how much she could say without the input from Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana. Revealing how they did their job and how they became phantom thieves. These weren't things she could just reveal willy-nilly. "But," Mishima went on, taking more of a light-hearted tone, "I'll still be here to draw attention to the stuff you do! You can leave that part to me! I'm gonna use my Phan-Site to promote the Phantom Thieves, and weed out any negative comments."

"Maybe not so much negative comments, but more like people who are just bitching about their petty issues-"

"Yeah, sure. Just leave it to me. Your popularity is gonna be at my mercy… or uh, my fingertips." Chiyo couldn't help but raise a brow at the slip. "It's like I'll be your strategic image management representative, so to speak."

Chuckling, Chiyo rubbed the back of her neck. "You sound hyped."

"I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure that title's more than just for show." He held a hand to his mouth, yawning once again.

"Maybe you should turn in early tonight," Chiyo suggested.

"Yeah…" Another yawn. "Maybe you're right…"

Chiyo met with Ryuji at the school grounds. Stretching out, Chiyo realized how weird it felt to stretch out in shoes. True they weren't her usual stretches, but it still felt weird. Ryuji mentioned wanting to move onto three laps soon. However, after the one lap, Ryuji ended up bent over double. "Dammit!" he groaned. "I wanna move better, but I just can't… I was trainin' for nationals back in the day… but now I totally suck balls…"

"It's likely because you're out of practice," Chiyo offered.

"Maybe…" Ryuji stood up and wiped his brow with the back of his arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Instinctively, Chiyo and Ryuji turned to find a trio of boys, perhaps in the same grade as them if not older, walk-up. They wore the Shujin gym uniform. Chiyo didn't recognize any of them. "Nakaoka…" Ryuji gasped, "Takeishi…"

"Running, huh?" Nakaoka asked. "Thought that was you I saw."

Takeishi crossed his arms over his chest, glaring daggers at Ryuji. "What, you gonna try to come crawling back to the track team?"

Ryuji furrowed his brow, trying to avoid eye contact with them. "No…

"Sure," Nakaoka said snidely. "Speaking of which, this was your secret training spot, wasn't it? Well, it's our spot now. You know, us. The former track team."

"We don't even have a locker room anymore," Takeishi said flippantly, "thanks to someone I know."

Chiyo felt her hands ball up so tight she was certain there would be red crescents on her palms. What were they ganging up on Ryuji for? It was ultimately Kamoshida that disbanded the track team. Ryuji was just a scapegoat. "There's plenty of space," Chiyo said forcing her voice to remain even. "You could train with us if you want."

"Hold on…" Nakaoka scrutinized her. "Aren't you that transfer student? You're really gonna spend your time playing around with this loser?"

"Dude, don't piss her off!" a nameless boy said in a hushed tone. "Don't forget she attacked the last guy who rejected her."

"Hey, don't you talk about her like that!" Ryuji snapped. Chiyo instantly started to feel a warmth in her cheeks and tears welling behind her eyes.

"That's probably the attraction," Takeishi offered, eyeing Ryuji. "Wasn't that what happened with Sakamoto? I heard his dad was the same way. Like father like son, right? Scary shit."

"That don't get anything to do with this!" roared Ryuji.

"Ryuji," Chiyo muttered loud enough for him to hear. She could hear him take a calming breath.

"Yeah," Ryuji exhaled. He glanced back at the former track members. "Look, back then, I-"

"I don't need to hear your excuses!" snapped Nakaoka. "Everyone was going through the same bullshit with Kamoshida. The beatings, the impossible exercises, but we put up with all of it for the track team. But no." Nakaoka approached Ryuji, his shoulders stiff and hands balled up at his sides. "You had to go and fuck all of that up! Damn, was I stupid for ever thinking you were my teammate. That's all I have to say to you. I'm outta here."

Nakaoka shot Ryuji one last dirty look before he turned back to his friends. Chiyo could just barely make out Nakaoka mutter something along the line of 'C'mon let's go,' leading the trio off the grounds, back towards the gym.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Ryuji ran a hand through his hair. "Man, I nearly smacked the stupid outta him when he was talkin' about my dad," he uttered. "I haven't changed at all…"

"You were able to stop yourself, though," Chiyo pointed out.

"'Cause I had someone watching my back. So, thanks, man!"

He clapped Chiyo on the back of her shoulder, the force knocking her glasses off place. She pushed the glasses back up the bridge of her nose and flashed Ryuji a tooth-bearing smile. "Let's call it a day," Ryuji said rotating his arm.

"Hey, Nakaoka," Chiyo heard. Following the sound of the voice, she spotted the former track team at the door. "Why didn't you kick his ass?!"

"The hell's your problem?!"

"He probably didn't want to try anything in front of the transfer student and get his ass kicked by a girl."

"Shut up!"

"Jeez," Ryuji sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Are they seriously just arguing with each other?"

"Do they not even realize we're still in earshot?" Chiyo thought aloud.

"I should prolly stay out of it," Ryuji said more to himself than to Chiyo.

Chiyo returned home with a few bottles of peach flavored water, and a couple of sandwiches, one for her, one for Morgana. She did her laundry and took a bath by the time Morgana returned home. And alternated between note-taking and eating while she studied.

The Charity Rank 1
The Moon Rank 2
The Chariot Rank 3

Authors Note: Y'know after buying my second tarot deck (I'm an amateur. I literally started going to a tarot club just before quarantines hit.) it occurred to me that I could have named my chapters after the arcana in the deck. But then it also occurred to me that, if my calculations are correct, even if I used cards from the Visconti-Sforza, I probably would have run out of arcana before the fic came close to finishing.

Thinking about it, if it turns out Jose's creator ends up… I don't want to say 'replacing' but substituting for Igor in future games, it wouldn't surprise me. By the time Strikers came out in Japan Isamu Tanonaka had been dead for ten years. If Atlus hasn't recasted Igor at this point, it looks less and less likely they will. What happened with Yaldabaoth could be a nice excuse to retire the character and not just come up with some off-screen excuse. I'm not saying this as a guarantee, just as an observation. If it does happen, it wouldn't surprise me.

In the meantime, the obvious missed opportunity was not giving Jose a Confidant. The Charity arcana comes the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck, the same deck where the Faith and Hope come from. Upright, the Charity represents, what else, charity and altruistic love. It is the card of giving and mercy, and reaching out with compassion to strangers to form friendships. Reversed it stands for a lack of empathy and compassion, selfishness and prejudice. So it felt like a decent Arcana for Jose.

That being said, I think the Charity would be Chiyo's arcana if she were an OC-insert character instead of my version of a female protagonist.

As mentioned in Chapter 18, I went back to do a little editing. I'm thinking I might do this at the end of each arc. Or at least take a brief break when each arc ends.