Literally: to set out to the sun with a hoe
Meaning: to overestimate one's capabilities
Rough English equivalent: to bite off more than one can chew
Saturday, January 14th, Midnight
Yes, I know "Midnight" wasn't used as a timestamp in canon.
These headers seemed like a better idea when I started writing this story.
"Yes, I'll keep you informed. Sorry for waking you up. Nightie night." Akira put down his phone. "That's Haru checked out. Only Sumire's missing."
Him, Goro and Morgana (in cat form) were sitting on Futaba's bed in her room, while the occupant was sitting by her desk, typing something with borderline inhuman speed.
"Shouldn't you use a mouse at some point?" Morgana asked.
"Keyboard shortcuts are quicker." Futaba slammed the Return key and moved out of the way to show the group a map of Tokyo with a few multicolored dots in various spots. "I've got my cellphone trackers up and running. It picked up everyone but Sumire – she's out of range or turned her phone off."
"Do you think it's Maruki's doing?" Morgana asked. "Like, he abducted her to get us to stand down?"
"I doubt it," Goro replied. "If he resorted to that, he would've admitted to it immediately."
"And if he wanted to hinder us, he wouldn't have gone for the most disposable Thief," Futaba pointed out.
Akira gave her a disapproving look. "Please tell me you don't say things like that to her face."
"Of course no-"
"She's in Mementos."
After a beat to process it, the other three turned towards Goro. "And how do you know that?" Akira asked.
"Verifying that hypothesis will be quicker than explaining it." He pulled out his phone. "I'll be back in a second."
He faded out of existence. A few seconds later, he returned, worried. "There's no Velvet Room door."
"Wait, you can see it now?" Akira asked.
"You thought she'd be there?" Morgana asked.
"Yes to both questions." After a beat, he added. "I mean, I think she's in Mementos, not in the Velvet Room. I wanted to ask Lavenza, but she's not there anymore."
"I can try and detect her if you want me to," Morgana offered.
"Good. The three of us, me, you and Akira, will go and fetch her. Futaba, stay here and keep monitoring. If Sojiro and Wakaba ask about anything, tell them we're dealing with a PT emergency and will be back shortly."
"So you're still the leader?" she asked.
Before Goro could blurt something out in response, Akira said "Yeah, he is. He's more up to date with stuff than I am and I'm not gonna wrestle the reins from him so close to the finish line."
"O-okay then," he proclaimed, not expecting that answer. "So… Phantom Thieves, moving out."
The three of them materialized by the entrance to Mementos. "The cables are new," Akira remarked.
Morgana theatrically sniffed the air. "She's here, a few levels down. I think we should take the car."
"Joker, you're driving," Goro ordered.
They promptly took off into the tunnels, Morgana communicating with the blinkers which way Akira should turn. "Alright," he said, "I think this is the part of the episode where the detective explains how he deduced everything."
"'Deduced' is a strong word," Goro begun. "Between celebrity work and assassination work, I had little time for schoolwork. And I wasn't getting a free pass just because of my other obligations, nooooo… I stopped counting how many times my handler dressed me down for 'unsatisfactory' grades."
Akira raised an eyebrow. "Your handler?"
"That's how we've been calling Shido to avoid using the F-word," Morgana explained. "Did you get anything out of this mess benefit-wise?" he asked Goro. "Like, did he pay you or something, or did you have to pretend you drank his Kool-Aid?"
"Oh, I was paid a lot, 130 thousand yen a month," he replied, completely sincere. "He also covered the rent for a small flat in Kawagoe, Saitama."
Akira thought it was a ridiculously cheap rate for his services, but decided to not point that out. "We're getting sidetracked. Your main point was, you were a triple-shifter."
"Yes," Goro nodded. "And many times, I found myself scrambling to finish my homework or memorize things for a test in a bathroom stall during the break, five minutes before I had to turn it in or take it."
"It happened to me once or twice, but I just played video games too much." Akira commented. "I think I get your point: Sumire's trying to get some last-minute combat practice. She's been insecure about her combat skills and the Palace deadline moving up without warning made her feel even worse about that."
"Correct," Goro said. "She doesn't want to turn in an empty worksheet, so to speak."
"Nice deduction," Morgana complimented him.
"Eh, it wasn't really a deduction," he replied. "More of an educated guess that turned out to be correct."
"It was good enough to put us on the right track," Akira countered. "With that outta the way, do you have any theories about us not being able to access the Velvet Room anymore?"
"I…" Goro became visibly unnerved. "I think that can be blamed on Maruki." Something clicked in his brain. "Igor said he's prepared for a takeover, but… but Maruki doesn't need the Velvet Room for his plans. He could just try… blockading it, somehow, if he thinks that'd impede us…"
"You're on edge," Akira pointed out.
"A-am I?" A pause. "I guess I am… I think."
"I know that feeling," Akira sighed. "You're dead sure you've processed something from the past, that you've handled it, that you've got this under control, and then it gets thrown back in your face and you… lose your shit. In one form or another."
"And you're scared now?" Morgana asked.
"We both remember what happened the last time someone fucked with the Velvet Room," Goro replied. "And I don't want to downplay your own traumas, Mona, but… what do you think is worse: being slowly erased from existence alongside your friends, or being the only one of your circle that doesn't suffer this fate and watching everyone you care about perish?"
The car shuddered, shaking the passengers a tiny bit. "I don't know and I hope I'll never know," he replied.
"Amen to that," Goro and Akira went in unison.
Morganacar rolled through a few more floors in silence, before Goro asked "Reportedly, Igor offered you services with managing your Wild Card powers. Will not having access to that impede you?"
"Not really," he replied. "I thought Shido would be the last opponent to face and pimped out my Personas beforehand. Most of them don't even have an elemental weakness now," he grinned.
"We're getting close. She's on the same floor as we are right now." Morgana announced.
"Can I suggest something?" Akira asked.
"Sure," Goro replied. "If she had ventured alone into Mementos, she's likely not thinking straight. I need someone with soft skills to stop things from spiraling out of control."
"I think we should approach her on foot," he said, braking gently. "Mona's engine purr might end up startling her."
"I can switch to cat form so she can pet me and relax!" Morgana offered.
"Both are great ideas," Goro nodded in agreement.
The two got off and Morgana shifted to his human form. He trotted through the corridors, followed by Goro and Akira, and after they turned a few corners, they saw the back of Sumire's coat. She was in the middle of fighting a generic Shadow, and didn't notice them approaching.
After a long day, Goro didn't have the patience to let her finish the fight. Unprompted, he pulled out the Nagant and shot the Shadow. From Sumire's point of view, it appeared to explode into nothingness for no reason, and she let out a startled "Eiyaa!"
"Don't pa-"
Sumire did an instant 180 degree turn, with her tuck out at throat level. Since they weren't restrained by tentacles at the time, Goro and Akira managed to dodge out of the way. There was a moment of silence, before Goro finished his sentence: "-nic, it's us." He glanced at Akira. "You do the talking."
He smiled – a well-practiced, harmless smile. "Good evening, Sumire. What are you doing here?"
"Fighting," she said. "To get stronger because," she shot Goro a glance, "despite repeated reassurances, we are running out of time."
"I have talked to the others," Akira reassured her. "It's a bit of a pickle, but we can still wrap this up." He pointed at his chest with his thumb. "And hey, I'm here. Trust me."
Sumire didn't respond to it at first. She seemed worn out and tired, but not wounded. "I… I think I'm gonna stay here and practice some more."
"Go home," Goro proclaimed. "That's an order."
"Well, maybe your orders are dumb?" she retorted, coming up to him. "Maybe they're the reason why we have two days to stop Maruki-san from taking over the world and painting smiles on our brains?"
"Come on, guys," Akira got between them. "We're all tired and emotional, let's not pour fuel on the fire."
"You're right, senpai," she shot him a glare, "let's wait until the very last moment to get off the fence. That won't backfire."
Goro opened his mouth to speak in Akira's defense, but he gestured at him to step down. "I get it," he said. "It's a scary situation, and you're nervous. I've been there. You've seen it for yourself that I've been there. But I promise you, everything is under control, and we're going to fix things." A pause, to let the words settle in. "You're not alone. We'll get through this together." He glanced at Goro. "Let's take her home, okay?"
"Yes," Goro nodded. "Mona, car form. You two, get in."
Sumire watched all three of them trying, with various success, to appear reassuring and understanding. Then, something clicked in her head. "I've got an idea," she proclaimed. Then, she yanked a glove off of her left hand and tossed it at Goro's feet. There was an uncomfortable sense of deja vu to all of it.
"What's the meaning of this?" he asked.
"It's a challenge," Sumire explained. "If I need to catch up with you all, I need to fight someone stronger, more experienced. Like you."
Goro couldn't understand why, but he found himself bothered by the idea of fighting her. "Challenge denied," he replied. "I d-don't want to hurt you."
She didn't like that answer. "Oh, so now you're concerned about hurting people?"
"Oh boy," Morgana mewled.
"Don't go there," Akira ordered.
"But he doesn't mind, senpai," Sumire tried to push Goro with her free hand, but he didn't budge. "He's done worse things already, that's just one more notch on his belt, isn't it?"
Akira noticed Goro turning paler by the second, and his breaths turning sharper and shallower. "Sumire, stop this instant!" he raised his voice.
Sumire was past listening to orders from anyone at this point. "Come on, Crow!" she proclaimed. "Strike me down!"
To Goro, the clock stopped with a screech, then spun back at breakneck speeds.
It was sometime in the previous year, a few months before the Thieves started spreading their influence. He hadn't figured out yet that he could've used real-world items to heal in the Metaverse, and he had run out of the ones he had scavenged from these weird treasure chests. The rank-and-file monsters have gotten one too many good hits on him and he needed to lean against the wall to stay upright.
As he marched towards what he thought was the stairs up, he pondered what had gotten into him to approach his bastard father in the first place. This realm could've gotten him enough pocket change for a set of fake papers to get out of this fucking country. But it was too late for this; even if he wanted to quit, he couldn't. That piece of shit would just deny everything, and who'd believe the word of an unwanted son of a whore?
He tripped on the uneven ground and fell down, the helmet doing nothing to cushion the blow to the head. He remained motionless for a while, face down. Maybe he should've just waited for another mook to spawn and end the farce that was his life? Apologize to his mom in person, reassure her that she had done all she could to-
"You're here again."
He flipped on his back and stared towards the source of the voice. It was that Shadow, again. The hair on her head was blood red and ruffled. The glasses on her nose, slightly crooked.
"Strike me down," she demanded.
She was scary. Not because she could hurt him, but because she wanted to die. They weren't supposed to. That wasn't normal. He wasn't normal. She had a life, it was worth something, it had to be. She was young, she had some promise to her, someone would pick her up and tell her she's not an irredeemable monster.
"Strike. Me. Down!" she repeated, drawing a long, narrow blade. She didn't have it before. The basest survival instincts in his head kicked in, and he sprung back up to his feet, holding his bat in his off-hand.
"Back off!" he barked.
She charged forward and tried to slash him with her tuck. It was a clumsy attack, clumsier than he had anticipated. He blocked it without issue and responded with a quick punch to the head. She stumbled backwards, leaving him with an opening to reach into his inner pocket, pull out his revolver, and shove its barrel underneath her chin. "I told you to back the fuck off!" he snarled, pushing her against the wall.
"Goro!"
He turned his head and saw Akira in his Shujin uniform. Beaten, bruised, his hands raised in surrender. A fresh gunshot wound dripped blood down his face. "Calm down," he said. "She's not a threat."
"You don't have to do this," the cat creature at his feet added.
The cat. He shouldn't be there. This wasn't real, this was all in his head. He closed his eyes and took a slow, deep breath.
When he had opened them, he was back in the present, holding the Nagant under Sumire's chin, as she stared at him with a mix of fear and defiance. Akira and Morgana were standing at a distance, trying to deescalate the situation.
"It's okay," Akira reassured him. "You haven't done anything you might regret yet. We are all tired and stressed. Put the gun down and let's all go home."
"At least we've established how a real fight would go," Morgana remarked.
Sumire grabbed the revolver in Goro's hands and attempted to yank it away.
The hammer struck the chamber. There was no bang, just a barely audible click, and then Sumire's body went limp, and slid a bit downwards, leaving a thin red trace on the wall.
"No…" The Nagant fell out of Goro's trembling hands, as he backed away. "No, no, no… I didn't mean to… I didn't want to…"
A Persona of your choice manifested above Akira. "Samarecarm," he proclaimed.
Butterfly particles appeared around Sumire's corpse, and she gasped, as if trying to make up for the breaths she had skipped. She picked herself up from the floor and touched the still-fresh blood on the back of her head. "Huh," she muttered, processing what just happened.
"Mona, car form," Akira ordered, carefully picking up the discarded revolver. "Goro, shotgun seat. Sumire, second row, no talking."
"But-"
"No. Talking." Akira snarled. "We are going to have a long conversation about what happened here tomorrow morning, but for now, get in the car."
Sumire tried to say something, but his stare pierced whatever shreds of defiance she had remaining. She put her tuck away and marched towards the car, dreading the following morning.
