7/2 Monday

It did feel a bit odd to have to go back to class the day after taking down an entire yakuza family, she had to admit.

As she began eating her breakfast, Morgana walked over to her.

"So how did you manage to beat Kaneshiro?" Morgana asked. "It looked like we were in a tight spot when he knocked me out."

"It's strange, but… when I thought that he killed Ren, something inside of me snapped." Makoto explained. "And… Johanna ended up evolving into a new form. A Persona called Anat."

"Your Persona actually changed?!" Morgana gasped. "I've never heard of anything like that before."

"Is it bad?" Makoto asked, concerned.

"Well, it did help you out, so I don't think it can be a bad thing." Morgana answered.

"I see… it's just… for a moment there, I was seriously considering killing Kaneshiro. I was so desperate for power… maybe that's what caused Anat to awaken." Makoto theorized. "I suppose that learning about these feelings that I have buried deep inside of me… it's scary, Mona…"

Morgana curled up onto her lap, comforting her. "To be honest, I don't blame you for feeling that way towards Kaneshiro. What mattress was that you showed restraint. I think that makes you stronger than most."

"You really think so?" Makoto asked

"You really are something special." Morgana nodded.

"Thank you, Morgana." Makoto smiled.

She gently pet Morgana as she finished her breakfast and got ready for class.


She had tried to speak with as many students as she could in order to make sure that they weren't still being harassed by Kaneshiro's underlings.

None of them wanted to speak to her, however, as they were likely too afraid of any potential consequences.

She could only hope that one day, the student body would feel comfortable enough to talk to her…

After the school day ended, she was about to head home until she ran into Ann.

"Hey Makoto!" Ann greeted. "Are you free today?"

"Yes, I am. Did you want to talk?" Makoto asked.

Ann nodded. "After everything that's been happening lately, I've had a lot on my mind, and I wanted someone to talk to."

"I'd be happy to help." Makoto smiled.

"Thanks." Ann smiled. "I'll lead the way!"


Ann took the two of them to a small café.

"You know… something seems… different about you, Makoto." Ann asked. "Did something happen while you were fighting Kaneshiro?"

Makoto nodded. "My Persona evolved into a different form."

"For real?!" Ann gasped. "That's amazing, Makoto! You're so strong!"

"I don't think I'm that strong…" Makoto trailed off.

"Don't sell yourself short!" Ann advised. "To be honest… I kinda wish I could be as strong as you are."

"Ann, you're plenty strong already." Makoto told her.

"But I have to become stronger!" Ann argued. "At least… I should have a strong heart!"

"A strong heart?" Makoto asked.

"Yeah!" Ann beamed. "I think… when we embraced how we felt deep down, that was when we were able to summon our Persona!"

"So that's what you mean by having a strong heart." Makoto noted.

Ann nodded. "I… want to be able to find myself. Find out what I really want to do in life. Then, maybe I'll be stronger… in real life and the Metaverse."

"Do you want to continue modeling?" Makoto asked her.

"I do like it, but I don't know if it's something that I want to do for the rest of my life." Ann admitted. "But… that's not the only reason I want to be stronger…"

"Kamoshida." Makoto stated.

"Yeah… I wasn't able to do anything back then. I couldn't save Shiho." Ann sighed. "People already talked a lot about me because of how… different I looked, but when Kamoshida came into the picture, they would call me all sorts of names like 'Prissy Bitch' and 'Kamoshida's girl'. I was tired of all of it… but I was too weak to do anything about it."

"Even we were only able to stop Kamoshida by changing his heart." Makoto pointed out. "You don't need to beat yourself up over it."

"Still, one day I want to feel more confident in myself. To take those types of names in stride." Ann replied.

"Well, I'd be happy to help you out in any way that I can." Makoto smiled.

"Thank you so much!" Ann beamed. "I'm starting to feel a little stronger already!"

She could feel the bond between the two of them growing.

LOVERS CONFIDANT: RANK 2

The two of them talked for a little while longer before Makoto went home for the day.


7/3 Tuesday

The moment that class ended, she saw Ryuji and Ren walking up to her.

"Hey Makoto, what's bonkin'!" Ryuji greeted.

"Ummm…" Ren trailed off.

"Look man, I'm telling you, it's gonna take off someday!" Ryuji claimed.

Makoto couldn't help but giggle at their antics. "Hello, you two. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good." Ryuji grinned. "I just asked Renren over here to go fishin' with me. You wanna come too?"

"Sure, I'd love to." Makoto smiled. "Let's go."


Ryuji brought the two of them down to Ichigaya for some fishing.

"Is this like a celebration now that we beat Kaneshiro?" Ren asked

"Actually, it's my birthday, so I wanted to spend it with you two." Ryuji shrugged.

"It's your birthday?!" Makoto gasped. "I'm sorry… if I had known, I would have gotten you a present."

"Yeah, same here." Ren nodded.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Ryuji replied. "Just hangin' out with you two is enough."

"Aww, Ryuji…" Makoto smiled.

"Oh, actually, there's somethin' I wanted to talk to you two about!" Ryuji realized. "I heard that they're reinstatin' the track team."

"Really! That's great!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Were you planning on rejoining the track team?" Ren asked.

"Dunno…" Ryuji muttered. "The thing is, they did hire a new coach called Yamauchi… he could teach us sometimes when Kamoshida couldn't. He's no Kamoshida, but he's still an asshole."

"The school really needs to vet its hires better." she sighed.

"Tell me about it!" Ryuji grumbled. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if that Maruki guy's manipulatin' us too!"

"Oh come now, Dr. Maruki would never have any ulterior motives." Makoto defended.

"So how is this Yamauchi guy like Kamoshida?" Ren asked.

"He was always yelling at us back during practice, but he'd act like a total kissass whenever our parents were around." Ryuji grumbled.

Makoto sighed. "It's as if the school's learned nothing."

"What are you three doing here?"

The three of them turned to the side, seeing a familiar face.

"Ms. Kawakami?! Ryuji yelled.

Kawakami let out a sigh. "Geez… the three of you going fishing on a Sunday like some old men, huh? Why don't you do something a little more exciting?"

"Wha- look who's talkin'!" Ryuji countered.

"Adults need time to themselves to unwind and collect their thoughts." Kawakami stated. "You'll understand when you start working in the real world."

"We just wanted to unwind too." Ren replied.

"Now you're sounding like an old man, Kawakami." Ryuji grumbled.

"That's Ms. Kawakami to you." Kawakami scolded. "You two are such troublesome kids…"

"...Yeah, whatever." Ryuji mumbled.

Ren sighed, while Makoto narrowed her eyes.

"...Did Kaneshiro tell you that they're 'troublesome'?" Makoto muttered.

Kawakami's eyes widened a bit. "N-Niijima-san?"

She didn't reply.

"I didn't… that's not…" Kawakami trailed off.

"H-Hey, come on, we're all here to fish, right?" Ren asked. "So come on, let's just enjoy ourselves in peace!"

Thankfully, that seemed to bring down the tension a bit.

"Woah!" Ryuji shouted.

Ryuji pointed over to the large number of fish that was beside Kawakami.

"Woah, she's amazin'." Ryuji gasped. "She can nag us and fish at the same time!"

"Guess we should start calling her 'master'." Ren smirked.

Kawakami's body stiffened, nearly dropping her fishing pole.

Kawakami said nothing, but she glanced over towards Ren, giving him an annoyed look as Ren gave a big bright smile.

Ryuji started snickering to himself, making Makoto think that she must have missed a joke…

"...Ms. Kawakami." Kawakami mumbled.

Eventually, they managed to get a few fish, and called it a day.

"Thanks for hanging out with me today, you guys." Ryuji grinned.

"Oh course." Makoto smiled. "Thank you for inviting us."

"If you hear anything about this Yamauchi guy, let us know." Ren added.

"I will! Thanks!" Ryuji nodded.

She could tell that their bond was growing a little bit stronger.

CHARIOT CONFIDANT: RANK 5

As Ryuji left to go home, she got up to do the same, only for Ren to stop her.

"Alright, what's up?" Ren asked.

"What do you mean?" Makoto wondered.

"Something's bothering you." Ren pointed out. "Want to talk about it?"

"...I suppose I'm just frustrated." Makoto sighed. "It feels like most of the staff hasn't been doing anything to help the students throughout the entire year."

"Yeah… they only really hired Maruki to save face." Ren sighed.

"I suppose… that I was just thinking about what Kaneshiro and Kobayakawa said to us in the Metaverse after we beat them." Makoto whispered.

"You mean… how there's no place in society for people who don't fit in… and that people ignore those who are suffering?" Ren asked.

Makoto nodded. "Sometimes… things feel hopeless. We took people like Kaneshiro, but if what he said about society is right, then it's only a matter of time before there's another Kaneshiro, and people still won't care about what happens to the victims."

"Yeah… I understand what you mean." Ren nodded.

"I wonder if my father ever had to deal with something like this." Makoto said. "Arresting so many criminals, and then realizing that another one will take their place."

"Maybe he hoped that one day things would change for the better." Ren suggested. "That one day people would start paying more attention to victims and outcasts in society."

"Hopefully…" Makoto whispered.

"Was there something else?" Ren asked.

"I'm worried about him..." Makoto frowned.

"Ryuji?" Ren asked.

"Yeah." Makoto confirmed. "Because of his leg, he wasn't able to dodge Kaneshiro's attack. I… don't want to push anyone as hard as I did in Kaneshiro's Palace. I don't want to come that close to losing someone again either…"

"I'm sure that you'll become an even better ruler from here on." Ren encouraged.

"Thank you." Makoto smiled.

The top of them left the fishing hole, and she began to think of other strategies she could use to keep the others safe.

Maybe… she could try to give Ryuji less action...


7/4 Wednesday

As she exited the school for the day, she was surprised to see some sort of commotion happening at the front of the school.

Getting closer, she saw a man a few years older than her forcibly grabbing Haru's arm.

"Come on, just let me show you a fun time." The man grinned.

"I-I'm sorry, but I'm very busy." Haru stammered, clearly wanting nothing to do with the man.

The man wouldn't listen, however, and continued to try and drag Haru towards his car.

She quickly moved to intervene.

"Hey Okumura-san, are you ready to go?" Makoto asked.

"Huh? Who are you?" the man asked

"I'm Okumura-san's friend." Makoto answered. "The two of us were going to go study because our exams were coming up. Right, Okumura-san?"

"Um… Oh! Yes!" Haru exclaimed, catching on. "I'm sorry, Sugimura-san, but I have already made plans with Niijima-san."

"Hrmp… why are you spending time with some nobody instead of me?" Sujimura scoffed. "And studying? Really? You should do something more productive, like going to the gym. You could stand to lose some weight."

Now this guy was really pissing her off!

Makoto "Alright, listen y-"

"I-I'm really sorry, Sugimura-san, but I'll have to spend time with you another time!" Haru apologized.

Makoto wasted no time bringing Haru far away from Sugimura.

"Who was that?" Makoto asked.

"He's… my fiancé." Haru answered.

"What?!" Makoto gasped. "You're engaged to him?!"

Haru had already told her that she was engaged, but she had no idea it was to a man like that...

"It was an arranged marriage that our parents set up." Haru explained. "His father is a very well-known politician, so my father wanted to use this as an opportunity to get into politics."

"So he's using you." Makoto bluntly stated.

Haru winced. "He is my father…"

"That shouldn't give him the right to treat you like some kind of bargaining chip." Makoto countered.

"I just… don't want to disobey him." Haru frowned.

"Okumura-san…" Makoto trailed off.

"Truth be told, I've already been in a relationship with him for a while now." Haru admitted, before letting out a tiny gasp. "O-Oh, but just to be clear, we haven't really done any 'relationship things' yet."

"You seem pretty relieved by that." Makoto picked up on.

Haru nodded. "I am, although… he has been trying to pressure me into a… early honeymoon."

"What a creep." Makoto scowled. "Isn't there anything you can do?!"

"My father just told me to do whatever I have to to make him happy." Haru sighed.

"There has to be something that you can do, right?" Makoto asked. "Maybe there's someone you can talk to, or maybe I could-"

"Thank you, Niijima-san, but I wouldn't want you to get involved." Haru insisted. "My fiancé is from a very powerful family, so I wouldn't want you to be in danger."

"Still… you don't have to go through with this if you don't want to, Okumura-san." Makoto insisted. "It's your life. And parents and guardians… don't always have your best interests in mind."

"...I suppose not." Haru whispered.

"If you ever change your mind, I'll always be willing to help you." Makoto offered.

"Thank you, Niijima-san." Haru smiled.

Makoto could feel the two of them growing closer.

EMPRESS CONFIDANT: RANK 3

After speaking with Haru for a little longer, she went home for the day.


7/5 Wednesday

Today was a very normal and uneventful day at school. Even the rumor mill seemed to be slow today. Makoto only hoped that that meant things would finally be calming down at Shujin.

Just as she thought the entire day would be uneventful, however…

Feeling her phone buzz, Makoto opened her phone, gasping at what she saw.

Sae: I found him, Makoto. I found our father's killer.

She immediately put her phone away, rushing home as fast as she could.


It had started out as a normal enough for Sae. The past few weeks had been harder for her than usual, as she had been desperately trying to find some way to take down the yakuza group that had been plaguing the city.

There were, of course, more personal reasons that she was going after them.

She was sure that they had something to do with her father's death. Even though the police insisted that it was an accident, she believed that there was something else going on.

And father had always taught her to trust her intuition.

Which was why she was currently at the police station, trying to talk some sense into the officers.

"Listen, Niijima-san, what happened to your father was unfortunate." Kanetake began. "But it was also a-"

"Forget about my father for a second!" Sae snapped. "Why are you letting the Yakuza run rampant?!"

"We're doing everything we can to track down Kaneshiro." Kanetake stated. "But they're a slippery bunch."

"What progress have you actually made?" Sae asked, narrowing her eyes.

"W-Well, we…"

"If you haven't made any progress, then I would suggest that you let me handle this." Sae glared. "This is my case."

"We don't appreciate you coming to our station and criticizing us and trying to take over!" Kanetake snapped, raising his voice. "Ain't that right, Mitsuhide?"

"Ah… I… well, I mean… I guess having other people help out would be useful." Mitsuhide muttered.

Mitsuhide scowled. "Seriously, Mitsuhide?"

"Well, it looks like your partner doesn't agree with you." Sae pointed out.

"Listen… a woman your age shouldn't be so focused on her career. Stress is the enemy of beauty, and all that." Kanetake argued. "I think you should take a little vacation. Maybe look for a nice man who's willing to put up with that temper of yours."

"Why, because there's not a single good man here?!" Sae snapped, annoyed at his patronizing remarks.

"Now listen here-"

"Hey, what's that commotion outside?" Mitsuhide wondered.

The three of them glanced outside, seeing a large crowd gathered around a single man in the middle.

"It's all my fault! I'm Juuya Kaneshiro! I'm the one who's in charge of the Yakuza! I'm the one who harassed those kids at Shujin! I'm the one who killed their principal! I've been ordering mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns!"

"What?!" Mitsuhide cried. "Did he just say…?"

"Just a crazy person." Kanetake muttered. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?!" Sae exclaimed. "Didn't you hear him?! He said he's Juuya Kaneshiro. The man you're supposedly looking for! Arrest him!"

Kanetake bit his lip as he saw the crowd outside staring at them with expectant looks.

Mitsuhide sighed before getting up out of his seat and taking his handcuffs out.

"Hang on! What are you doing?!" Kanetake shouted.

"We have to do something, don't we?" Mitsuhide frowned. "If this guy really is Kaneshiro…"

Mitsuhide brough Kaneshiro, whose eyes widened upon seeing Sae.

"Y-You…" Kaneshiro muttered.

"Me?" Sae asked.

"I… I'm so sorry!" Kaneshiro cried. "I… ordered a psychotic breakdown on that truck driver… the one who hit your father! His death… it's my fault!"

"Seriously?!" Mitsuhide exclaimed. "So… Masanori really was-"

"H-Hold on, can we really trust what this guy is saying?" Kanetake asked.

"You can't just stand there and do nothing!" Sae snapped. "Didn't you hear him?! He admitted to killing my father! Your fellow officer!"

As they were arguing, the crowd outside began speaking amongst themselves.

"Did you see how he confessed! It must have been the Phantom Thieves!"

"So they were framed? I-I mean, of course! I knew it the entire time."

"Man, what would we do without them?"

"Tell me about it! The police didn't do crap to stop these guys."

Kanetake scowled, cursing under his breath, while Sae narrowed her eyes.

"Phantom Thieves…" Sae muttered. "Kaneshiro was my target…!"


Back in the interrogation room, an awkward silence fell over the two sisters.

"I still can't believe that you managed to find and capture Kaneshiro before me." Sae admitted, ending the silence.

"I didn't have much of a choice." Makoto pointed out.

"You could have told me about the blackmail!" Sae shouted. "I could have-"

"Gone to the police so that they could continue to do nothing?" Makoto cut off. "Nobody else was doing anything about Kaneshiro, so I had to step in."

"I should have been the one to handle it, not the Phantom Thieves." Sae argued.

"What, are you upset about losing out on a promotion?" Makoto scoffed.

"And what's wrong with that?" Sae asked.

"What's wrong is that if that's the only thing you care about, then the last thing you should be is a prosecutor!" Makoto exclaimed. "I can't believe… that I wanted to be one too. That I looked up to you…"

"You wanted to be a prosecutor?" Sae asked. "Why?"

"Because that's what you were." she said.

"That's it?" Sae asked. "What about what you wanted to do?"

"I don't know! I didn't have a will of my own!" she yelled. "I'd let other people dictate my life for so long that I didn't have any desires or dreams for myself! It was always 'Do this, Makoto.' or 'Make sure you do that, Makoto!'. It was never 'What do you think, Makoto?' or 'What do you want, Makoto?'!"

"...Still, there must have been something you were interested in?" Sae asked.

"Interested in what?! All I did was study all day!" she snapped. "Because I thought the only path in life involved nothing but studying and getting into a good college. I didn't know that there was anything else to life than that."

"Makoto…" Sae trailed off.

I didn't think there was a place for my voice to be heard. I didn't think… there was a place for me." Makoto admitted. "But recently… I found out about something that I really do want to do."

"Well, regardless of what your dream is, it's unlikely that you'll ever achieve it now." Sae bluntly stated.

"Do you really think that I'm the one responsible for all of these incidents?" Makoto asked. "The Phantom Thieves started back in April, but these incidents go back as far as several years ago."

"You could have acted on your own." Sae pointed out.

"Do you honestly believe that I conspired with the Yakuza to murder my own father?!" Makoto snapped. "Is that really what you think?!"

"That's… I…" Sae trailed off.

"If the only thing you care about is winning and getting a promotion, then this interrogation is pointless." Makoto muttered. "But if you really care about the truth, then consider when, how, and why I would be responsible for all of this death, including father's!"

"...You're saying that there's another person who's the culprit." Sae muttered.

"I am." Makoto nodded. "If you just think about it, it'll make sense."

Sae said nothing, staring into Makoto's eyes.

She stared right back.

"...I suppose I can see where you're coming from." Sae muttered. "What you're saying… does make a certain amount of sense. Even so…"

"You still have doubts?" Makoto asked.

"It's still possible that you were responsible for some of the other incidents that happened." Sae pointed out.

"We were framed for the principal's death." Makoto argued. "Don't you think that it's possible we were framed for other incidents too?"

"Then prove it." Sae told her. "Continue with your story… starting with your next major target."

Sae pulled another picture out of her file, but instead of a person, the picture showed a logo.

"Medjed, the infamous hacking group. Tell me how the Phantom Thieves ended up getting involved with them." Sae ordered.

Makoto nodded, resuming from where she left off, happy that Sae was at least considering the possibility of another culprit.

JUDGEMENT CONFIDANT: RANK 4


Makoto's Confidant Progress:

THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 7

THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 5

THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 5

THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 5

THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 5

THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 4

THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 4

THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 4

THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 4

THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 2

THE STAR - Hifumi Togo: Rank 2

THE DEVIL - Mitsuhide Matsuoka: Rank 2

THE HANGED MAN - Munehisa Iwai: Rank 2

THE EMPEROR - Yusuke Kitagawa: Rank 2

THE EMPRESS - Haru Okumura: Rank 3

THE LOVERS - Ann Takamaki: Rank 2

THE STRENGTH - Caroline and Justine: Rank 3

THE JUSTICE - Goro Akechi: Rank 2

THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 3

THE JUDGEMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 4

THE COUNCILLOR - Takuto Maruki: Rank 4

Are the Phantom Thieves just? Yes 10%