Hey guys! I'm glad you all are enjoying the story. Your comments really make my day so it means a lot when you take the time and review. I will address some comments at the end as always. From this point on, things will start picking up speed. On with the story.
What a time to get home...
Akira walked into a customer bad mouthing Leblanc right to Sojiro's face. He looked pretty pissed off.
"Sheesh... what a pain..."
He gave Akira a look.
I should probably say something...
"Um... how's business going?"
"Doesn't concern you. As long as the business doesn't fail, it's fine. I'm not gonna wear a fake smile in my shop."
She gave him a sideways grin.
"But what if it does fail?"
"Who knows? Maybe I'll live on the streets." He said with a shrug.
He sighed and stared up at the ceiling.
"As long as I'm here, the world leaves me be..."
Akira detected a trace of sadness in his voice.
Sojiro must have his own problems as well. But to be fair, who doesn't?
The baggage everyone carries is a mystery to everyone but themselves after all.
Sojiro left after, leaving herself and Morgana as usual. Makes her wonder what Sojiro's home life is.
He probably lives alone.
As she made her way up the stairs, her phone chimed in her pocket. It was a text from Ann.
Ann: So I went to the hospital to see Shiho.
Akira: How's she doing?
Ann: Her condition is stable.
Akira sighed in relief.
Thank god the girl was ok.
Ann: But they don't know when she'll regain consciousness.
Akira: She'll pull through Ann. I know she will.
Ann: You're right. I just need to believe in her.
Ann: She will get better.
There was a pause in her text.
Ann: But I'll never forgive Kamoshida for what he's done. He's going to pay.
Akira: Of course. We'll make sure of it.
From everything's that's happened, she understood Ann's rage. She would make sure Kamoshida paid for what he's done.
Morgana crawled up onto her bed.
"We're almost ready to infiltrate the palace, but we need to assemble some infiltration tools."
She gave him a questioning look.
"Don't worry, I'll explain everything. Just clear off that desk so we can get started."
She glanced at the dusty sheet covering the desk.
Ugh... That's a lot of dust.
Holding her breath, she yanked the sheet off. Dust particles flew into the air around. Despite holding her breath, a sneeze escaped her nose. She snifled a bit as Morgana climbed up onto it.
Soon enough, she was making lockpicks with Morgana's help. Never would she ever expect this would be how she'd spend her nights. According to him, over time her proficiency would increase with practice.
"It's getting late. Time for bed." Morgana said.
Akira nodded and proceeded to head to bed.
TAKE YOUR TIME
Ryuji's morning was going pretty crappy so far.
He woke up late.
He missed breakfast.
He had to run to catch the subway.
Yeah it ticked him off, but he just hit his boiling point.
Can you guess what it was?
Frickin' Kamoshida talking with Akira in front of the school gates. His fists shook as he tried holding in his rage.
Akira looked visibly uncomfortable, and Kamoshida just kept smiling and forcing himself closer and closer to her.
Damn asshole!
He finally let Akira pass, who quickly made her way into Shujin. She hadn't even noticed Ryuji behind her. Once Kamoshida spotted the blonde boy, a sneer formed on his lips.
"Good morning." He said.
Ryuji frowned and kept quiet. If he said anything now, he wouldn't be able to stop and Akira wasn't here to hold him back.
Seems as if the son of the bitch knew.
"That behavior won't help you when you're expelled." He taunted.
That's it!
"Shut up you-!"
"Ryuji!"
Ann came running up to him, dragging him behind her.
"You idiot! Don't start something in front of everyone." She hissed.
He huffed in response but returned to a silent state. Kamoshida grinned a bit. He got the reaction he wanted as well as the attention too.
The students around them buzzed and whispered around them. Ryuji glowered at the students before stomping into the school.
He was so peeved he ended up skipping class again. He'd rather cool off on the roof than deal with some shitty teacher. His feet were up on the table, tilting his chair back and forth. Looking at his phone, he began texting the girls.
Akira and Ann are probably in some boring class.
Ryuji: You all saw Kamoshida at the gate this morning.
Ann: Ugh... that was so annoying.
Akira: He was there when I came in too.
Ryuji: He was standing there, wearing this shit eating grin on his face.
Akira: He was probably mocking you. All of us I guess.
Ryuji decided not to mention him seeing her this morning. She was already getting too much shit from the bastard. No need to load anymore.
Ryuji: But seeing him is making me feel more fired up.
Ann: I am too. I'm worried about Shiho still but I'll make sure to concentrate on the operation.
Akira: It's fine Ann.
Ann: I'll make sure not to get exhausted either.
Akira: The board meeting is on May 2nd so we have some time before.
Ryuji: Let's do this then.
Ann: Tell us when you wanna head into the palace Akira.
Akira: Ok.
Ryuji put his phone down and stared up at the sky.
Can't wait to kick his ass.
Akira sighed in relief once class ended. Like usual, it was pretty boring minus the texting.
Morgana had told her the planning was up to her and it would be her call whether they go in or not.
They had all the necessary equipment so she sent the signal and ordered everyone to meet her on the roof.
"Heading into the palace?" Morgana asked from her bag.
"Yep. Let's go meet the others."
They had 14 days until the deadline so they went straight into mission mode. Akira pulled out her phone and in they went. The world around them shifted and once again they were standing before Kamoshida's palace clad in costume.
Once there, Akira stared at Ann's attire along with Morgana and Ryuji.
"What?" She asked.
"Nothing. Just thinking about a codename for you." Akira said.
"Codenames?"
After explaining the reason for such, the group began listing potential names.
Ann quickly rejected all of them.
"Well, what name do you want then?" Ryuji asked.
"Something better than some little kitty... How about Panther?"
From that day forth, Ann's codename was Panther.
TAKE YOUR TIME
"All out attack!"
The four charged at once, effectively ending the fight. Akira grabbed the items dropped.
Oh! More medicine! Good stuff.
Their adventure in the palace was going well. They hadn't run into anything too bad and they were getting some nice drops.
Akira had even discovered that she could create new Personas with fusion. With the help of Caroline and Justine of course.
Although it initially shocked her to see her old Personas, rest in peace Pixie and Jack, get executed.
She'd have to get used to that.
Honestly, she was going to have to get used to a lot of this stuff.
"Good work guys." Akira said, turning to face them.
"This is a piece of cake." Ryuji bragged.
Morgana shook his head.
"Don't get overconfident."
Before the two could start arguing, Ann stepped in.
"Come on you two. Stop messing around." She said.
Morgana quickly stopped as expected. Akira wasn't paying attention to their quarrel very much. She was too busy inspecting the map they just acquired.
No treasure to be seen yet, but if they kept moving maybe they'd find another piece.
On the other hand, she didn't want to force all this in one day.
If someone got hurt from exhaustion, that'd be really bad.
"Hey come on. There's a safe room nearby." She called.
The rest of them followed her to the room. When they entered, the room shifted from the castle's distortion to its classroom appearance then back to the castle.
It was fascinating to watch.
A well deserved break was welcomed by everyone. Akira stood by herself, thinking. She debated the pros and cons of staying and leaving the palace now.
After a good five minutes, she held a meeting.
"It's time we leave the palace. We did good work today so let's not push it."
No one had an objection to her plan so they proceeded out and went their separate ways. Morgana and herself were feeling quite exhausted.
The Metaverse really takes a toll on the body...
The two barely said good night to each other before collasping into bed. Waking up the next day was torture.
She was even asleep during Mr. Hiruta's class.
"Well Miss Kurusu, what do you think the answer is?"
She blinked and all eyes were suddenly on her.
What were we talking about?
She glanced at the diagram on the board and blanked.
"Um... C?"
"That's correct!"
Oh the luck is real!
Once again, everyone was shocked she got it right. She really needed to start studying. She didn't want exams to creep up on her.
She'd rather not fail.
Class went on normally and then the bell finally rang.
"Come on Morgana. Back in the bag."
The cat scowled then crawled in.
"This is humilating but I guess it can't be helped."
She gave him a sympathetic smile and collected her books.
"Are we heading into the palace today?" Morgana asked.
Good question.
She paused then shook her head.
"No. I think having a rest day in between infiltrations is a good idea."
"Fair idea. Then where are we going today?"
Before she could respond, her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Ryuji: Hey. Where are you right now?
Akira: Still in my classroom. Why?
There was a pause between his texts.
Ryuji: Just askin'. I'm by the stairs by your class. We heading to the palace today?
Akira: No, not today.
Ryuji: Oh ok. Hey um... I thought of something while we were running around the palace.
Ryuji looked down at his phone, tapping his foot impatiently. If they weren't heading to the palace this was his chance to spend time with her.
Akira: Oh really?
Ryuji: Yeah. I think my body's pretty weak since I haven't moved so much since being on the track team.
Akira: I see. We need to get stronger because we're going to face stronger shadows sooner or later.
Ok! Time to go in for it!
Ryuji: It's really nice and sunny out today. You wanna train with me?
He held his breath as she typed. The repeating dots made him sweat.
Akira: Sure. Let's meet up.
Ryuji could've and would've jumped for joy right there, but he could see her already leaving her class. She was speaking Mishima. He wasn't sure what they were talking about, but Akira but her hand on his shoulder.
Prolly comforting him or something.
Once he walked off, Akira smiled at the blonde as she approached him.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"You ready for some training?"
She nodded.
"Alright! Go get changed and meet me behind the gym."
The two then separated to get ready.
TAKE YOUR TIME
Akira emerged from the gym doors, clad in the school's ugly gym clothes. She really did hate how baggy is was on her.
As she had changed earlier, her cat companion had gone off to take a walk on his owe.
I hope he doesn't get in trouble...
She saw Ryuji a short distance away, tapping his foot like he always did.
How does he make it look so good?
Compared to her, Ryuji looked amazing in it.
It suited him for some reason.
He looked up when he noticed her presence.
"Ready to get your blood pumping? Let's start off with some streches."
The two do lunges, squats, and various other forms of streching.
It was then Akira realized how out of shape she was.
As she struggled, Ryuji spoke.
"You know, this brings back memories. This used to be my secret trainin' spot." He grinned.
"Secret...training... spot?" She panted.
His grin dropped suddenly.
"Er... was my trainin' spot."
This must have been where he used to work out for track.
It didn't shock her that she was correct. It did surprise her that Ryuji wanted to start running again.
Especially after what had happened in the past.
But his reasoning made sense.
He didn't want to be a burden when they had to run and sprint through the palace.
"It just felt lame to be struggling to keep up."
She gave him a sympathetic smile.
"I get it Ryuji. It's pretty cool that you wanna get stronger. I believe in you."
"Not just me. You too."
She blinked at him.
Excuse me?
She must've had a strange look on her face because a smirk grew on Ryuji's lips.
"You didn't think I'd leave you out of the fun, right? Why'd you think I told you to change?"
Damn it...
It was too late to run away now.
In the end, the two of them ran laps around the school.
Long story short, they both were exhausted.
Akira had struggled to keep up the entire time, and now she was struggling to get air back in her lungs. Her cheeks had reddened and it was visibly clear she was way out of shape.
"Damn... My legs are all tight..."
Looks like we're equally out of shape.
He was kneeling, trying to regain his breath.
As tired as he was, he loved this. He loved feeling the wind through his hair and the sweat dripping down his back.
It brought back a lot of memories.
"Before Kamoshida showed up, the track team was biggest thing the school had goin' for it."
Her eyes widened at his words.
The volleyball team was ruling the school now so it was surprising to hear the track team was once on top.
Ryuji told her how the track team fell from grace. Their coach got fired and Kamoshida filled in as a sub. She could figure out what happened next.
Like Ryuji said, it was like he was out to get them from the very beginning.
He made their lives hell, especially Ryuji. He was aware he'd fight back and he did everything in his power to make him feel like shit.
"He even brought up my parents." He frowned.
"What about them?"
She mentally slapped herself. That was a completely private thing that she shouldn't have even asked. His silence only proved that.
"Y-You don't-"
"Truth is... my mom's all I got."
Ryuji...
She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He knew he didn't have to tell her.
But he wanted too.
He wanted to trust someone other than himself.
He wanted to open his heart to her.
"All my dad did when he was around was drink. Sometimes he'd eve beat me or my mom."
He closed his eyes, recalling those painful memories.
Unconsciously, his hand reaches for hers. Their fingers hooked together and she didn't pull away.
"He told the whole goddamn team..."
His grip tightened around her hand.
"That's when you hit him."
The blonde nodded wordlessly.
"They called it an act of violence and the track team got shut down. Now all the guys see me as some kind of traitor."
Akira frowned.
"Don't say that Ryuji. It was Kamoshida's fault."
He shook his head.
"They lost the championship 'cause I fought back. They ain't wrong."
There was a look of anguish etched on his face. She couldn't stand to see him so upset.
Once again Kamoshids had reduced her friend to thinking badly of himself.
"Do you regret doing it? Would you go back and changed what you did if you could?"
He looked away and didn't respond.
"Ryuji..."
"Aw c'mon! Don't ask me serious questions like that. You know I'm not smart." He joked.
She smiled at him, but was still concerned nonetheless.
"It's all in the past now. I'm only thinkin' about the future now!"
Akira could feel the strength of their bond growing. His hand felt warm in hers, and her hands felt soft in his. Both looked down at their interlocked hands.
Ryuji was the first to pull away.
"S-Sorry... I guess I was too deep in the moment."
He looked away to hide his embarrassment. Had he really just grabbed her hand without realizing?
Goddamn it.
Perhaps if he hadn't looked away, he would've seen the dark blush on her cheeks.
"C-C'mon let's do another lap."
"Another!?"
TAKE YOUR TIME
Her legs ached as she opened the cafe doors.
"Hey are you sure you're alright?" Morgana asked, poking his head out of the bag.
"It's nothing I can't handle."
He shook his head.
"Wanna head up to bed?"
"No not yet. There's something I'd like to do first."
She slid into one of the booths of the cafe and pulled out her school books. She had been meaning to start studying for some time now.
Why? She didn't know.
Perhaps the idea of incoming exams were prompting her to hit the books? Maybe she didn't want people to see her as just some delinquent? Or maybe she really was a good student at heart?
Either way, it was time to get to work.
For the next few hours, she and Morgana studied until she felt she could no longer keep her eyes open. But Sojiro's coffee really helped in that department.
By the time she finished, Sojiro had headed home and night had fallen.
She closed her textbook and gazed out the window.
What a beautiful night...
Back home, the stars would've illuminated the sky.
Only neon lights filled the night sky here.
"Akira, shouldn't you get in bed."
Tearing her eyes from the sky, she quickly began to put her materials away.
"You're right. It's pretty late now."
Two ascended up the stairs and fell asleep.
Well one of them did.
Akira tossed and turned a bit.
Something she had said earlier was bugging her.
"Do you regret doing it? Would you go back and changed what you did if you could?"
She shouldn't have said that.
Especially when she herself was still dealing with facing those question.
Everyday she thought of the actions that led her to becoming a student at Shujin. The actions that led to her expulsion from her original school. The actions that led to both family and friends shun her.
If she had known this would be the consequences would she still have stepped in.
Was it truly worth it?
She scoffed at herself then turned once more.
Of course it was worth it.
Stop doubting yourself Akira.
She snuggled into her sheets and shut her eyes, pushing out any thoughts and stress.
10 More Days Til The Deadline...
Catching a seat on the subway was pretty lucky, so she jumped at the chance. Akira could even read a magazine for once without someone whispering or making snide remarks.
But all good things come to an end eventually.
The ride ended and she had to head to school.
The only good thing was Kamoshida wasn't at the gate today.
The classes droned on like usual. The only interesting part was when he said class dismissed.
That's how Akira ended up wandering Shibuya in the rain. Good thing she brought an umbrella.
She originally came to pick up part time job flyers, bit she couldn't help but be intrigued by the flashing signs and neon lights.
"Oh. This is the alley to the gun shop."
She peered into the alley and was shocked to see Justine floating in midair, kicking her legs back and forth.
Nope. Not dealing with her today.
She walked back the way she came.
"Central Street is very busy."
She peered into a shop window curious.
"It's a popular place. It's got something for everyone."
"Seems like it."
The rain pattered on her umbrella.
She pulled out her phone and began texting the others.
Akira: Let's head into the palace today.
Ryuji: Sweet! Let's go.
Ann: See you at the hideout.
"Come on Mona, let's go." She said.
"Finally. I can't stand this rain."
She laughed a bit and headed for the station.
Sorry for the delay guys. Some things came up but its all good stuff. For example, I picked what college I'm going to and it seems my condition is finally getting better. Thanks for all the get well wishes. I think it's working. Knock on wood.
Now to address some comments.
When I started this, I had no voice actor in mind for Fem!Akira. As time went on, the voice in my head for her voice was a bit deep and had a blues kind of tone to it. The closest voices that matched what I heard in my head was Lauren Landa (female robin in super smash bros wii u/3ds) and Kira Buckland (2B from Nier Automata).
I will always refer to the P5 protagonist as Akira, despite it now being Ren. If Ren had a female name it would probably be Rena.Oh yeah. Harem all the way. Sorta. It's not going to reach the extremes of what the male protagonist does but it'll be there. Ryuji will still be her end choice though. Although Iwai is a close second.
Also thanks for reviewing and being patient. I know it sucks to wait months for updates but life happens.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
