Hey guys! Long time no see. Sorry for the long break. I'll explain that later. For now, on with the story!
The restaurant was exquisitely decorated.
Lavish red rugs atop the gleaming brown hardwood floors. Soft ivory couches with red pillows. Darkened and rectangular oak tables adorned with beautifully decorated white plates and other fine china.
Truly, this was a setting for the high class.
But Akira, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana enjoyed it despite the contrast between them and the rest of its patrons.
"This food... so good!" Ryuji said, his mouth full of meat.
"No wonder Lady Ann chose a place like this!"
Ann smiled, scooping another piece of her cake.
"Of course it's good. This is a famous hotel, after all."
Despite the good vibes and delicious food, there were still things to worry about. The police were going to come and question the students at school.
No way the rumors about herself, Ann, and Ryuji wouldn't come up.
The only positive was the popularity of the Phantom Thieves. There wasn't a single day Akira wouldn't hear that name in the halls or in the hushed whispers during class.
"People are really pumped up about us." Ryuji grinned.
Akira paused from eating her fruit tart.
"People are grateful for what we did, but I doubt any of them believe in it." She said.
"But they're still grateful. Hold on a sec! Lemme show you something."
The boy fished into his pocket and pulled out his phone for the girls to see. The two peered closer.
What's this?
"The Phantom Aficionado Website...?" Ann read.
We have our own website?
Ann scrolled and read the many posts on it.
"Well done, Phantom Thieves."
"Now I can keep going too."
"Thank you for giving us hope."
Ryuji handed the phone to Akira, who looked at the remaining posts with Morgana. There weren't many but there were definitely enough that thanked them in some form or way.
"Pretty cool, huh?" He grinned.
"Yeah." Akira nodded.
Ann nodded as well.
"I was just desperate to deal with my own problems, but seeing all this feels...strange."
It was strange, but Akira couldn't help but feel happy for this turn of events. They helped a lot of people and they were thankful.
"Hey... What do we do now?"
Akira shot the blonde boy a confused look.
"We eat?"
Ann and Morgana chuckled as she focused back on her tart.
"Well yeah... but that's not what I meant."
Before either could go more into their conversation, Ann's eyes widen as she jumped out of her seat with a gasp.
"This place has a time limit! I have an hour to try out all the cakes and sweets!" She shrieked.
Ryuji jumped up as well, mumbling about beef.
The two promptly disappeared, leaving Morgana and Akira.
"Are we going to look for food too?" The cat asked.
Akira shook her head.
"We should wait til they come back. Who's going to watch our stuff if we decide to get up?"
Morgana sulked at her words, but he knew she was right. Akira smiled softly and scratched his head.
"Don't worry. I promise we'll get you some fish."
His eyes gleamed.
"Really!?"
"Of course."
Morgana cheered, which made severely people around then turn. Akira felt a sweat coming on as she could hear complaints about a cat being let inside.
"Quiet down!" She whispered.
Eventually, Ryuji and Ann returned with more food. They had even brought back some food for the two.
Akira was happy they had.
Truly, she was.
Until she found it was only beans.
Black beans, Chickpeas, Pinto beans, Fava Beans...
How many beans can one buffet have?
No thanks.
They didn't notice when the two slipped away without touching their bean assortment. Akira and Morgana in her bag wandered the food tables, looking for a nice variety. She spotted a table of fish and went there first.
After all, she had promised Morgana.
"Fish! I prefer raw, but grilled is fine too." He said, slightly peeking out of the bag.
As she placed some on her plate, her ears picked up on a nearby conversation.
"Have you heard my dear? The news about that Kamoshida fellow was absolutely dreadful."
Beaides her, two seemingly wealthy women spoke loudly to each other. As casually as possible, she listened in.
"Ah right. That teacher at Shujin Academy, caught doing such indecent acts. Shameful, really."
The other woman nodded in agreement.
"And they still haven't managed to solve those horrible psychotic breakdown episodes, have they?"
"Honestly, I wish they wouldn't let themselves be distracted by such a tawdry scandal." The other said, shaking her head.
"Perhaps it's a sign of how peaceful this country is. I honestly pity these poor Shujin student though."
Akira shook her head.
"Sounds like the Kamoshida incident is the talk of the town."
Akira was about to nod, but froze when she made eye contact with one of the woman.
Every inch of her body, as well as Morgana, was telling her to act natural. But all she could do was awkwardly wave then grab more food.
She could hear the women bristle.
"Tsk! How did a child end up in here?"
"I certainly hope she didn't bring friends. I prefer my meals to be hooligan-free, thank you very much."
The two walked off, but not without giving Akira a look of scorn.
"What's so bad about kids enjoying a buffet?" Morgana asked.
She didn't answer, but she could imagine what her own mother would say in this situation.
"Children like you need to learn respect. You can't just galavant wherever you want. Show you have some decency, people are watching!"
She sighed.
Now was not the time to be remembering her mother's words.
She just wanted food, but at every station she went to there was another wealth group of people talking about the news and Kamoshida. Some even mentioned the Phantom Thieves.
But of course, almost all of them had some snide comment about her.
Some people are just rude...
By the time the two returned to the table, she dug in. She just wanted to eat.
It was great. It melted in her mouth and assaulted her taste buds in such a way that words can't even explain how good it was.
She was in heaven.
"I'm so happy..." She sighed.
Ryuji chuckled.
It was nice seeing Akira's eyes light up. She was really enjoying herself.
"It's cute hearing you say that. Just don't get too excited, alright?"
Morgana scowled.
"You're the last person I want giving advice about that..."
Morgana was also stuffing his face with the various fish they had grabbed.
"Don't you think you're eatin' too much Mona?" He asked.
The cat chuckled.
"There's no knowing when we'll get to come here again."
With that, the group stuffed their faces and ate til they couldn't eat anymore. No matter how much they ate, the food on the table didn't seem to be lessening.
But they couldn't give up.
They'd never get another chance to eat like this again.
_
My belt feels too many sizes too small...
Her stomach ached.
She held herself up at the bathroom sink.
In truth, she had felt much worse earlier.
She, Ryuji, and Morgana had scarfed down every last dish on their table. It was so good, but too much.
The group had dispersed to relieve themselves.
Ann had stayed at the table, Ryuji and Morgana went to the men's room, and she went to the ladies room.
The guys had gone to the bathroom on the lower floor, but the female's bathroom there was closed so she had to go up on a higher floor.
It kinda sucked making her way up here alone, but the trip was worth it.
She felt much better.
"Alright, time to head back down."
She washed and dried her hands once more, before heading out.
There was barely anyone in the fancy halls. Her shoes made a small click sound as she walked across the clean and shiny floor. She pressed the down elevator button and waited, swaying from side to side.
It was lonely traveling without Morgana.
DING!
The elevator sound pulled her out of her thoughts. The light about the third elevator gleamed. The door opened and she moved closer.
Suddenly, something hard smacked into her, sending her stumbling back and landing on her butt.
"Ow! What the-!"
Dammit... I didn't even see him.
The responsible party, was a man in a business suit. He was followed by more suited men, who seemed to be circling around someone. He looked at her briefly.
"You should be more careful where you stand." He said gruffly.
Be more careful? You walked into me!
She was about to say something back, but her words died in her throat.
"Why are there so many children here?"
That voice...
Static filled her mind.
Her vision was blurring.
She held her aching forehead, trying to refocus her thoughts.
She could hear footsteps moving and stopping in front of her.
"Don't bother with her."
The footsteps then faded away, leaving Akira to regain her footing and sight minutes later.
She alone again.
Once up, she dusted her clothes off and pressed the elevator button again, now wishing she had brought Morgana or someone with her.
Ann and Ryuji looked pretty pissed when she returned to their table. Within moments of sitting, she was told how some woman bumped into Ann then blamed her when she dropped her plate. The workers themselves even looked at Ann with disapproval, despite doing nothing. Ryuji and Morgana then retold how they were shoved aside by some random guy at the elevator, and how no one spoke up against them. Akira herself then shared her encounter from earlier, earning angry comments from both of her friends.
Ann sank into her seat.
"I wonder if we're out of place here..."
"We're not supposed to be, but for some reason it always feels like this." Akira sighed.
They sat in silence for a bit until Ryuji called for Morgana, his voice sounding serious.
"What is it?" The cat asked.
"... Anyone can have a Palace, yeah?"
Morgana nodded.
"Anyone with a strong, distorted desire."
"Same for them havin' a change of heart if their treasure gets stolen?"
Where is he going with this?
Ann seemed to be thinking the same as her, and she asked why Ryuji would be suddenly thinking about this.
It was because he was sick of it.
Sick of the selfish bastards and shitheads that looked down on everyone but themselves. Each of them had run into someone like that in the past and had even encountered one that very day.
He wanted to continue as the Phantom Thieves.
They had the power to change terrible people and help victims who have no other option but to endure.
They couldn't ignore people's pleas for help.
"Shouldn't we be able to help 'em out?" Ryuji pressed.
He was right.
"I want to help people." Akira said with a nod.
Ann agreed as well.
They had this power for a reason. They couldn't abandon those relying on them.
Even if it was a small amount of people.
From that day forth, they were officially...
The Phantom Thieves of Heart.
_
Sae didn't believe her.
The look on her face and the disbelief in her voice made it obvious.
She herself wouldn't believe it if she hadn't lived through it.
"It's all true, but believe what you will..."
"Honestly speaking, that all sounds absurb. It's hard to believe that this is even worth listening to. Yet, it can't be considered nonsense when it aligns with parts of Kamoshida's confession."
Akira nodded.
Sae continued her prodding hern trying to figure out her teammates.
But she was no snitch.
No way she'd turn in her friends.
Over her dead body.
Sae didn't seem fazed by her silence and chose to move on instead.
She pulled out a different photo this time.
It was an elderly man.
White hair, wrinkles, traditional clothing, and looked fairly kind.
"A master of Japanese arts..." Sae began.
Ichiryusai Madarame.
_
Akira was collecting her stuff after class wwhen she noticed Mishima start walking up to her.
She hadn't spoken to him much lately, aside him promising to make it up to her for leaking her criminal record online.
"H-Hey!" He said.
"Hey Mishima. What's up?"
"Have you seen that Phantom Aficionado Website?"
She nodded. It was the website that Ryuji had lately been talking nonstop about.
"I'm the one who started it."
She blinked at him.
"I'm sorry. What?"
He grinned at her.
"I made the Phansite."
Before she could comment again, he was suddenly very close to her face.
Very close.
"... Um. You guys are the Phantom Thieves, right?"
Akira unconsciously began to blush. She wasn't used to people being this deep in her comfort zone.
"Er... Mishima..?"
"Yes?"
"Could... could you give me some space?"
Now it was Mishima's turn to become flustered. He stepped back and promptly apologized. He had no idea he had gotten so close.
"If things really are as I think, I guess I should keep it a secret."
I didn't even answer...
"Kamoshida used me, and I did some horrible things. To you and your friends." He said, looking a bit dejected.
"Mishima..."
"This isn't much of a way for me to apologize for it... But if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know!"
"That's sweet of you Mishima. Thank you."
A light blush dusted his cheeks as he rubbed the back if his head.
"I'm glad to hear that. After all, there's more evil adults out there like Kamoshida... But I'm sure the Phantom Thieves will do something. They can't let this end after just one target."
"Is that why you made the website?" She asked.
He nodded.
"I wanted to make a forum where people could post their problems. After all, there's probably a lot of people who have high hopes for the Phantom Thieves' next move."
He pulled out his phone and showed her his anonymous poll.
"Do you believe in the Phantom Thieves or not?" She read.
Wow. He's really trying to support us the only way he can.
"I'd... I'd really like to help out in the Phantom Thieves' acts of justice! ... Can I, please?"
A part of her wanted to deny him, and not let him get involved.
But at the same time he was a sweet kid, and she didn't want to just turn him away.
How can anyone resist those puppy eyes?
"It sounds like fun, but... it's up to you."
He chuckles and pumps his fist in excitement.
"I won't let you down! See ya!"
She waves sheepishly as Mishima dashes off happily.
Not even a second later, Ryuji and Ann show up.
"Yeah. We heard all of that."
"I'm sorry... He was just was so excited." Akira groaned.
Ryuji sighed.
"Geez, it was a little awkward tryin' to figure out when to walk over here." He mumbled.
"It's also awkward trying to hold Ryuji back from barging into the classroom..." Ann grumbled.
She shot Ryuji a curious look.
"Why-?"
"Doesn't matter!" He yelled suddenly, vehemently shaking his head.
He definitely didn't try barging in when Mishima looked like he was about to make a move Akira.
Totally not.
In the end, they decided to let Mishima be. The forum could be useful for looking for potential targets. They still had yet to decide on a new target and with exams coming up, it'd be hard to remain focused.
The days moved on pretty uneventfully.
Well, until today.
"I heard Mr. Kamoshida used a vvolleyball team member to spread details of your past record."
Student Council President...
"Don't you hate him? Mr. Kamoshida, I mean?"
Hate doesn't even begin to cover how I feel.
Akira didn't like the way she spoke. She sounded as if she knew what she was talking about. But she didn't know anything.
She wasn't one of the victims.
Ann and Ryuji seemed to be hostile as well.
"What's all this about?" Ryuji spat, "She's an upstanding student."
Makoto shook her head.
"I don't mean to offend. Many students have been shaken up by what happened with Mr. Kamoshida. The rumors about that odd, calling card-like posting aren't going away either."
The group exchanged glances.
"I didn't expect someone like you would care about that tactless stuff, Niijima-senpai." Ann said.
Ryuji looked a little hurt from the tactless comment, but a look from Akira stopped him from complaining aloud.
"Anyways, we done here? We can't leave if you keep talkin' to us." He huffed.
Makoto bristled at his statement.
"At least try to understand my position. Being forced to deal with this horseplay..."
"Horseplay!?" Ann and Akired growled.
"Ah yes, by the way... It's been decided that this place will be closed off due to the incident."
Akira was pissed.
Pissed, no she was seething with anger. She could barely remember what the group had spoken about after the Miss Student Council President because all she could think about was her senpai referring to the Kamoshida incident as 'horseplay'.
Horseplay?!
Someone tried to commit suicide.
Kamoshida raped a girl and attempted to rape herself.
He beat and abused part of the student body.
And she has the same gall to refer to it as horseplay!
That's all she could think about as the group stood in the subway. As leader, she should've been paying attention, but her mind was constantly thinking back to that confrontation.
She was too busy trying to control herself.
Next time though...
She wouldn't get off so easy.
"Type in M-e-m-e-n-t-o-s." Morgana instructed.
What?
"We got a hit!"
Wait what?
The world shifted around them. The swarming subway station became empty.
Maybe this was a hint she needed to pay more attention.
_
Mementos, as Morgana called it, was a strange place.
It was for people who had distorted desires but not so distorted that they have their Palaces. Therefore, it was everyone's Palace, in a sense. Mona had a strange connection with it, but he too was unsure of what.
Also Mona could turn into a car.
Akira was also a terrible driver.
Many things were learned from this sudden trip.
It was an ordeal in itself, but it was to change someone's heart and help them become a better person.
With that done, she spent the rest of her Saturday and Sunday studying, preparing for the upcoming exams.
Monday morning, she waited for her train on the platform.
It surprised her when she spotted Ann, but, for some reason, the bubbly blonde seemed... off.
"Are you ok?" She asked.
"Actually... I've been having this feeling that someone's watching me..."
"What!?"
The dark haired girl quickly whipped her head around, trying to pinpoint anyone staring at them on the platform.
Unfortunately, she didn't see anyone out of the ordinary.
It just was the normal crowd.
"Calm down. I doubt that's it. Maybe I can't shake off the feeling of infiltrating the Palace?"
Akira didn't believe that for a second, but she couldn't spot anyone blatantly staring at her friend.
Maybe it is her imagination?
The two girls chatted about other stuff as they boarded their train.
On the next platform, a young man who was rather thin but tall watched them.
His dark blue hair with parted bangs made him seem mysterious, but Akira was too far to notice him at the time.
He watched their train depart.
"... Two of them?" He wondered, with a soft but deep voice.
He then turned and walked away.
_
Huzzah! I'm alive and back! Hope you enjoyed. For some clarification, yes, I'm not a huge fan of Makoto, but Akira wont dislike Makoto just because I do. She dislikes her because of her attitude and she doesn't know know Makoto yet. Please don't think I'm gonna make this a hate war against Makoto. There's already people who do that. Onto the questions!
Are you going to continue this story? x10
Yes. It will always be yes. Just saying.
Thoughts on female protagonists.
I like em. Can relate to them a bit more since I am a chick, but that doesn't mean I won't relate and enjoy male protagonists. I'd love a Persona game that straight is made with a female protagonist in mind like Maya from previous Persona game. Like its ok if they make one for a remake of a game, but I feel they're more fleshed out when they're intended to be MC from the beginning.
Do you have Joker for Smash?
You bet! I love playing him. I'm just terrible and still learning.
P5S?
High key lost my mind thinking they'd bring P5 to Switch. My heart broke when I found out the truth, but my fault for thinking it was a switch version of P5. P5 Scramble does look interesting though.
Thoughts on Kasumi?
I like her. When they first showed her, I thought it was an older Minako from P3. I love Kasumi design, especially her Phantom Thief one. Not gonna lie, I was high key confused when people told her to put on pants. My first thought was 'She's a dancer so it's a leotard.' Also didn't notice similarities to Joker's costume at first either until I read it somewhere, but if she looks up to Joker why can't her costume be inspired by it? Like I just wish people would chill about that. I feel bad for the artists that work so hard to make it only for people to talk trash on it. Like you can dislike it, just be civil.
Could you explain what you meant by your Palace would be like Futuba's?
Oh boy. That's a whole can of worms. I really don't wanna go super deep but i can bare minimum explain. I grew up with parents who were difficult. So when I got bullied for the first time for looking different (being Black) and having a foreign name (African) they told me to fight back. I didn't want to hurt anyone so I just endured. Eventually they learned I was nice and the bullying stopped. But everytime I moved the same thing happened. I started hating humanity as a whole because I believed we're a selfish and superficial species. It got to a point where I'd say things like Humans are scum or we all deserve to die. I've mellowed out with age, but I still think humans are scum, some more than others. But that's probably because of childhood and othe tramua.
What's the most realistic part of P5?
In my opinion, it's the public's reaction to things. At first, there's skepticism. But after it frequently happens people believe and then people start jumping on the bandwagon. Everytime a villain confessed to their crimes in the game this would happen. It starts as I can't believe someone would do that. Then it becomes they're a total creep. Go die. Etc. And once it goes wrong, they turn on you. Like a switch. It's crazy but it's life.
Now to address my absence.
College, health, and poor taking care of my mental health. College is fun but its hard like heck man. Like yeesh. But I'll take college over high school any day. Health because my mom recently had surgery and can't walk. So she can't work, move, laugh, and etc. It's better now, but it's scary thinking about how much pain she's in and being strong for my younger sister who's never seen my mom look so weak. Mental health relates to home issues. Like I mentioned before, my family's home country has war going on and being the minority in that country, they're being slaughtered. That greatly affected me as I was states away from home wondering when my parents would call and say who's dead now.
But don't fret! Everyone's ok and it's summer vacation!
I don't have a schedule planned but expect a new chapter soon.
P.S. If it's been like 2 weeks since I've updated someone call me out.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
Yo! This happened literally mintues before I started grammar checking and spell checking, but the United Nations might be helping out country!
Hopefully they don't screw up! : )
