This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental.

A Devil's Deal Made Me The Star

Consider This, And Who You Are

6/8 Saturday

Afternoon

They didn't compare notes right away. The Tosashimizu general hospital was still too somber a place for that, and Mr. Kurusu had been right- they had been creating a scene.

Leaving the building, the trio quickly found they weren't the only ones. Seeing a cat and and bird madly fighting each other in a side alley was something Aiko had long ago reserved to the realm of cartoons.

Doubly so when she recognized this bird's particularly bright white feather pattern.

"Pela-tori, stop!"

"Morgana, stop!"

Mr. Kurusu and Aiko stopped as well, briefly glancing over at each other as they realized they had both shouted nearly identical commands at the same time. Even more surreal- the two animals both obeyed the commands at once, the two pulling apart and managing to look resentful towards each other despite neither being human.

Then the black-furred cat opened its mouth and spoke, a young bratty voice echoing through the alley that was apparently nothing more than random meows to any passerby.

"It's not my fault, Akira! This bird-brain started it! He said that I looked suspicious!"

Satisfied that the two of them were done fighting and neither had really been hurt, Mr. Kurusu cracked a knowing smile. "Did he? He's got good eyes, then."

"Hmph!", Pelagio quickly took up a perch on a lamppost, refusing to look back at the cat unless necessary. "Forgive me for finding a talking cat girl visiting a crime scene suspicious."

"Urgh! Shut up! I'm not a girl, you feathered moron!"

"No more suspicious than a talking bird visiting a crime scene", Mr. Kurusu pointed out more calmly. "And yes, I can hear you too."

"He's a friend of Nijima-san", Aiko explained. "A Phantom Thief."

"Shh. Not so loud", Mr. Kurusu warned her with a hint of jest, placing a finger against his lips. "It's been six years, and I still get a bit antsy whenever someone pulls a Ryuji and blabs without thinking like that."

"Skull", the cat lamented as if that single diminutive word was all that needed to be said about that subject. "Man. I just hope he knows to watch his mouth at the Olympics."

None of them dared say much else related to their mutual secrets until they were able to find a nice crowded outdoor restaurant in the city where the noise from the packed court tables would drown out whatever they shared. Aiko didn't feel particularly hungry, but Mira went ahead and ordered enough for three people.

"What happened to Nijima-san is numbing you right now", she told her friend. "But just because you're not feeling hungry doesn't mean you don't need to eat." Facing Mr. Kurusu respectfully, she nodded. "I'll-I'll order for you too, if you want."

"Order sushi!", Morgana's high voice commanded her from beneath the table. "Now! I can smell it from here! It's driving me crazy! Man, why doesn't Tokyo have more outdoor seafood restaurants like this place does?!"

"Hmph! Gluttonous feline.", Pelagio remarked from somewhere overhead.

"Bird-brain!"

Once everyone was satisfied, Mr. Kurusu focused on Aiko. "Sorry about all that. Like you said, I wasn't always Akira Kurusu. Six years ago, I was Joker, the leader of the Phantom Thieves."

"And now a salaryman?", she noted, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

Looking down at his plain black business clothes, he chuckled. "Heheh. No, try teacher. Or at least that's the plan. I'm not quite done teacher's college yet."

Wide-eyed, she stared at him. "A teacher? But you're so young!"

"Actually, he's not really that much younger than Takao-sensei", Mira pointed out. "And teacher's college takes a long time to complete."

Mr. Kurusu nodded back, knowing that all too well from his own experiences. "If I'd been a genius like Nijima-san, then maybe I could've skipped a year. But she always had the better grades. Not sure how she does it sometimes." Gulping down some fresh noodles, he leaned back into the chair.

"Well! That's my show and tell. And as you can see, I also have a cat. Who talks. A lot. And yes, he is in fact a guy, not a girl. His name is Morgana. What about you?"

When he put it that way, she couldn't help but feel outgunned, and was grateful to have Mira beside her for this. "Um, well... Most of the time, I'm Aiko Tsuruga. But sometimes, I'm Saber, the captain of the Dream Voyager."

Sensing his silent amusement, Mira waved it away. "It's a work in progress. Don't knock it."

"Wasn't planning to. We definitely had our fair share of melodramatics as well."

"Mira-chan is a member of our crew", she continued. "In the other world, she's Dancer. Pelagio is Guardian, and we have one other, Rosea-kun, who couldn't be here today."

The rest progressed naturally from there, with only the occasional snarky interjection from Morgana or Mirambela until they arrived at the subject of the Karma club.

"You're absolutely sure about that?", Mr. Kurusu confirmed, adjusting his glasses to focus. "You actually saw a Shadow emerge into the real world? And then they used Personas here?"

"Yes", she said in absolute confidence. There had been no mistaking Dantalian, or Cleopatra's terrifying power. Or Julian's Shadow, for that matter. "I'm also almost positive that I know how it is they're doing that now."

Mira hadn't heard this yet either, and pressed in closer to listen.

"It's the water", Aiko opened her palms as if revealing a great treasure. "Every time the gate at Yume bay opens up, some of the water from Faraway Lands leaks in through it. It's been happening for a good long while now. Long enough to cause some problems with the local sea flowers here, but not enough for many humans to notice it. Even if they did, they wouldn't know what was causing it."

"It's just like the Metaverse advent!", Morgana suggested over his beloved sushi rolls as his 'owner' mulled it over. "Only in super slow motion, so nobody sees it until it's too late. That's no good!"

"Better than what happened with us", Mr. Kurusu grunted. Of all the terrifying times he'd experienced with the Phantom Thieves, that was the event that stuck with him the most. So much that he'd devoted his life to fighting its root causes. "It sounds like the Karma club is taking full advantage of that phenomenon."

"Yes. They are", Aiko nodded grimly. "They've been paying all of the fishermen around here to deliver their local hauls to them. They don't really care how many fish they get, because what they really want is the Faraway Lands water. They must have some way of distilling it from normal sea water."

"Which would allow them to create their own temporary pocket Metaverses", Mr. Kurusu said, his glasses flashing in comprehension as he palmed a tiny patch of stubble on his chin. "That has to be how they got Nijima-san."

That made sense, she knew. Makoto was a cop, after all. It would have taken something much more dangerous than some random thug for hire to throw her off a balcony like that. It couldn't have been Lady Scorpio- even she couldn't be in two places at once, and she never went outside, never left the club. Had it been Prince Taurus?

Was she going to have to tell Kotone that her dear brother was now an attempted murderer?

"I was on my way here even before that happened", Mr. Kurusu explained. "She told me that she'd discovered a new incarnation of the Metaverse here, and a new team of Persona-users who were dealing with it."

"That's us", Ai chimed in before the nonexistent visions of their friend's fate came flooding back. "I'm so sorry, Kurusu. We should've stopped them."

But the frizzy-haired young man was no more accepting of her self-pity than Mira had been. He placed a nimble hand against her hair, staring into her eyes with an expression of subdued pain.

"Tsuruga. You have no idea how many crimes I wish the Phantom Thieves had been able to stop before they happened. But that's not on you. It's on the person who attacked her. No one else."

Mira made a gesture as if to say 'see?' before taking over talking to Mr. Kurusu. "So what are you going to do now?"

The former Phantom Thief looked like the question had caught him by surprise, leaning into his chair and searching the skyline for some sign of the nightclub currently under discussion.

"Well, my first instinct is to go find this 'Prince Taurus' guy you told me about, and rip his head off... But I'm thinking maybe that wouldn't be such a great idea."

"Good", Morgana gave a strong approval. "We can't let our emotions decide our plans, no matter how angry we are at what happened to Nijima-san. Also, we still don't know if your Personas will work or not."

Mira frowned at that. "Huh? Why not? It worked fine for Ai-chan."

"Her Persona was born in Faraway Lands", Pelagio cut in to Morgana's silent disapproval. "If Kurusu's Persona came from this 'Metaverse' that you describe, then it's possible that it may not function the same way here. Or at all. We cannot assume."

"Also", the former Phantom Thief added, "it's been six years since we erased the freaking Metaverse. Even if it still works for me at all, I'm going to be rusty as hell."

Sensing her disquiet at that news, Mira gave her sideways glance. "Ai-chan? Are you okay now?"

"She's fine, Sorano. She's just disappointed", Mr. Kurusu noted, his casual tone unable to hide the deep, soulful understanding behind his specs. "She thought that being the leader of the Phantom Thieves, I could could magically snap my fingers and fix everything." Making a half-jesting face, he sighed. "Sorry. If I could do one thing, then I'd get Nijima-san fixed up. The docs say she's going to live, but... still. She's in for a rough ride, and they won't let us stay at her side for very long."

"I know", Ai nodded. "But even if you can't do that, I... I'd like it if you could become the new leader of the Dream Voyagers."

Silence reigned supreme. A diverse mix of expressions and gazes met her eyes, none of them decipherable until she was able to explain better.

"I... I made a huge mistake, okay? I know that it didn't have anything to do with what happened to Nijima, but... that doesn't change the fact that they were waiting for us. For me. It was an ambush. I... Someone who screwed up that badly... I shouldn't be the leader."

Brushing his frizzy hair back, Akira rose out of his chair, considering for a moment before gesturing over to Pelagio, as if giving him permission to speak first.

Pelagio's voice was, as ever, carefully regimented, the very soul of noble courtesy, a classical masculine knight. Yet, she had listened to him enough to hear the sadness behind it.

"...You are my la- ...No. You are our captain. Making one mistake doesn't mean that you are no longer suited to be the captain. As your sworn protector, I still consider you to be the best possible leader of this pack of rogues."

Mr. Kurusu smiled back at the bird's forwardness, earning a scowl from Morgana. "Hey, I like this guy already. I bet he doesn't constantly bug you to go to sleep early either."

Aiko waved it away. "Don't go by Pela-tori. I like him too, but he's so loyal that he'd probably fly into a jet turbine if I asked him to. No offense."

"Then go by me", Mira said, firmly gripping her arm on the table. "In case you haven't noticed yet, Rosea-kun and I don't get along so well sometimes. He's egotistical, he's reckless, and he has no idea of the kind of dangers out there. But you get along with him. And I get along with you. You're the glue, Ai-chan. Without you, we'd just argue all day and accomplish nothing."

Morgana made a retching coughing sound which she didn't know a cat could make, and Mr. Kurusu stretched out before he began staring into her again. "So you got ambushed. Big freakin' whoop. We fell into some crazy traps too. And yeah, it made me feel horrible inside... and then I got over it. Had to."

"'Had to'", she repeated in half-jest. "Because if you stopped... what?"

A flash of frank embarrassment crossed his clean features, but the man's words were cold and precise. "Because. If the Phantom Thieves gave up as soon as things got tough for us? Then Masayoshi Shido would rule over this country. Maybe the world. And that's the best scenario."

Shuddering at the prospect, she drew back. "I guess that's the problem. We don't have nearly as noble a cause. We were only exploring Faraway Lands to try to help some of my friends."

But to her surprise, Akira laughed at her deprecation.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what we were doing too. That's the best reason to do something, I've found. We targeted Madarame to help Yusuke. We targeted Kaneshiro for Nijima-san, and Okumura..." His face fell, remembering the fallout from that particular mission.

"For Haru", Morgana finished for him, sounding thoughtful. "Akira, what I think she's saying is that they didn't have any kind of special cause that brought them together to start with. We had that. We wanted to bring justice, and punish evil adults for their crimes."

Far from being cheered by the reminder, Akira looked indifferent at that suggestion. "Justice? Was it ever really that simple? I honestly can't remember."

"Makoto wanted us to bring justice", Morgana reminded him sternly. "To steal the hearts of the corrupt, and to reform society. Everything else was just us trying to avoid getting arrested, really."

"You never had the option of backing down", Mira said softly, as if a light had been switched on within her. "No choice."

"No choice", Akira agreed, eyes narrowing. "It all started when I couldn't sit back and watch someone else getting hurt. It feels like I haven't stopped since then. Sometimes, I wish I could just learn to let it go."

"No you don't", she replied confidently.

Pausing, he nodded slowly. "No, I don't."

Feeling the worried silence at the table, he regained his mischievous smile. "Whoa, sorry. Didn't meant to bring the mood down. The point I'm trying to get at is that you girls have a noble cause already. Saving people's souls. Stopping these Karma people who are trying to use the other world's power for their own gain."

"And learning where I came from, if we are able", Pelagio chipped in innocently.

"You too?", Morgana's earlier antagonism towards him was suddenly replaced by empathy. "Wait, maybe it's the same thing? Maybe my master created you for some other purpose?"

"Your master?", Pelagio asked skeptically, winged folded tight. "Who would that be, brat, some sort of vile demon lord? I would think your master should be the one who kindly brought you here and looks after you."

"Easy now", Akira cautioned Morgana sensing his earlier aggression returning and his claws flashing. "Long story, but basically Morgana was created from human hopes and desires by this long-nosed guy named Igor."

Aiko's head shot up at the mention of that name. "Mr. Igor? You know him?"

Akira scratched his hair slowly. "Uh. Sort of. Most of the time, he was being impersonated by someone else, but his assistant caught me up on the gist of it after we freed the real deal."

"You know Bartholomew as well?"

He smirked. "Hey, what is this, a quiz show? No, his assistant back then was a girl named Lavenza. Sounds like he's working with someone different now."

Which brought Aiko back to their other point of commonality that she needed to talk about. "One more thing. Lady Scorpio wants to kill Mr. Igor."

At last, she'd managed to surprise him. Morgana too, if the tension in his normally energetic voice was a sign.

"What? They want to kill my master?!"

"I'm tempted to say good freaking luck with that", Akira mused reservedly, palming his chin stubble in thought. "But then again, we don't really know the full limits of their power yet. Or much about Igor's nature, really. Who knows? They're Persona-users like us, and we know they're determined to get their way. They just might be able to pull it off."

"Never", Morgana vowed furiously, crawling closer to Aiko's seat just so she could see the will shining in those marble blue cat eyes. "Never! My master was assigned to shepherd the human psyche away from destruction. Without him..."

"Bad things happen. I get it", Aiko waved her hands defensively. "He only shows up in my dreams anyway. They can't reach him there, and he has Bart-kun there to protect him."

"All the same", Morgana insisted, "we can't relax. Not until all the leaders of this Masked Circle are taken down for good! I..."

Naturally, Akira was able to interpret the way his voice trailed off. "Think about it, Morgana. You'd be on your own. I'm pretty sure they don't let animals into the school dorms. If you got caught, no one would be here to save you."

"Excuse me?", Mira asked.

"He wants to stick around here after I'm gone", Akira explained in apology. "I only have one week's vacation here before I have to head back to Tokyo. Sure, if it's life and death I can stay longer, make up some excuse... but I don't think that's really enough time to do what needs to be done. That's the other reason that I couldn't take over as leader."

"I can find food for myself!", Morgana claimed impishly. "And I won't be alone. These girls... they aren't as skilled at this as you are, but they have some real potential in them. I can see it."

Looking down at him, Akira frowned. "So what this sounds like is you're planning to take over this team. Captain Morgana?"

"If it means we stop Karma faster, then I have to!", his companion protested. "I can't let them threaten my master! No way!"

His impressed snort drew their eyes back up to him. "Okay. Wow. I don't think I've ever seen you fired up like this before, Morgana. You're really okay with scrounging through restaurant dumpsters for food? Sleeping outside during the rainy season?"

Morgana said nothing to that. His claws ground into the slick wet pave stones until Aiko stood up over him, her eyes taking in both of their 'guests'.

"...It's okay. Kurusu-sensei, Morgana can go back with you when you leave."

"But-"

"Kurusu-sensei?", Akira remarked, cutting Morgana off. "Hah. I'm way too young to be called 'sensei', and I'm not even done teacher's college yet. That aside, it sounds like you think you can handle it now."

Casting a brief glance at Mira to make sure it was alright, she nodded with a warrior's solemnity normally seen on Pelagio, carefully kneeling down to gently grab Morgana, and lift him up to her eye level.

"Mona-chan. I promise you that we will stop the Masked Circle. They won't ever get the chance to hurt your master."

And Akira... the smile on his face felt like the first truly genuine one since he had arrived. "I believe you. Glad to see that you've got your head back in the game, Tsuruga."

"Nijima-san said we should forget about it", she explained sadly. "But I know now, that's not an option. I can't just look the other way on this. Even if it's dangerous. And I know it will be."

"Nijima-san", Akira said, inevitably thinking back to his dear friend, "is strong, and smart, and is right almost all of the time. But not this time. Is that a contract, then?"

Copying his best smile, she nodded deeply. "Heh. I guess it is. You have my... No. You have Saber's oath that we will neutralize the Masked Circle. No matter what it takes."

"You have Dancer's oath too", Mira chimed in.

"And Guardian's", Pelagio followed up. "And if the loudmouthed boy were here, I'm certain he would add his to this vow."

Letting Morgana be dropped gently onto his lap, he reached out a firm hand to shake Aiko's smaller one. "Then the Phantom Thieves accept your offer. With gratitude."

6/8 Saturday

Evening

Mirambela wished she could have ended their time together with Akira on that hopeful note, but she knew now that was at least one thing she had in common with Aiko. She couldn't just let things slide.

She caught up to him heading into a flat stone building she took to be an emergency rental residence with some other, more colloquial name that eluded her for the moment. With his original planned place of rest a crime scene under dedicated investigation, he likely had little else in the way of options, but he seemed to be able to pay the up-front fee easily enough.

"There's no place that takes pets now", he remarked wistfully without needing to turn and look at her. "Darn. Sojiro spoiled us. Looks like Morgana will have to sleep outside for now."

"I'm sorry", she said out of reflex, still not completely sure how the ex-Phantom Thief was about people drawing too close to him. While his easygoing expression conveyed an affability she didn't see in very many adults, his eyes also bore signs of a great deal of trauma in his past. Which was as expected of the Phantom Thieves' leader. "Where is he now?"

"He's scouting out the club", Akira shrugged helplessly. "He wants us to get started on our investigation first thing tomorrow."

"He really wants to stop them", Mira acknowledged gently, leaning against a scuffed white wall near the entrance. "So do I. But I warned Ai-chan about jumping into this, and your cat is wazi- I mean... he's not thinking with his head right now."

"It sounds like you've found your role then", he acknowledged smoothly. "The voice of reason, for when you think your friends are getting too reckless. Nijima-san was like that for us too. Good thing, since we had some real hotheads on our team."

"Mirambela Sorano", she formally bowed to him, remembering now that they had yet to be properly introduced to each other. "And I owe that much to Ai-chan, and much, much more."

"Well that does sound kinda familiar", he raised an eyebrow. "So that's why you're here, then?"

"Yes", she whispered nervously. Incredibly, it felt easier to talk about this with a near complete stranger than Aiko. She'd only been waiting for a stranger who knew the truth of Faraway Lands. "You saw us together in the hospital. You saw what she was like."

Akira slowly blinked, nodded. "Yeah. She looked about the way I felt inside when I heard what happened."

"Part of the reason why she felt so guilty about it", Mira explained, "is that the day before, she and the others went ahead and investigated the Karma club. Nijima-san asked them not to. I asked them not to... and they did it anyway, without telling Nijima-san. Or rather, she did it. Rosea-kun and Pelagio were at much less risk from the sound of it."

Flashing back once again, Akira momentarily remembered the assorted noises of a impossibly massive casino palace, felt the riotous flashing of the lights and the rapid movement of hundreds of cognitions along the gaudy floor. Heard Futaba scolding him through an earpiece for being a reckless showoff with tinkling shattered glass of every color as the backdrop, rainbows falling all around him.

It had felt like absolutely nothing could go wrong for him on that fateful November night. Nothing had, but there had been no real guarantee. He knew better. A million things could have happened to make their entire plan useless and guarantee his death in exactly the fashion their enemies had desired for him.

Sometimes, he woke up in bed thinking he was still in that interrogation room.

"Nijima-san told me about it. Your friend's got the wild card. And it sounds like she's the most capable one on your team regardless. Just like I was, back then."

"She definitely is", Mira agreed easily, forcing a smile of appreciation. "Pelagio's armor is thicker, and I'm faster and have better healing skills, but... I've seen her fight Shadows. It's like watching some kind of professional ballet... and believe me, I've already tried to teach her normal dancing. It's not that. It's something... else."

"So, what's your problem then?", Akira murmured, though his tone suggested he already had an idea of why she'd come to him.

"The problem", she explained, "is that this isn't the first time that she's charged into a fight alone to protect us. When we fought Rosea-kun's Shadow, she volunteered to be the diversion, taunting him away from us, making him so angry that he focused entirely on her. When they fought against my Shadow, she did the same thing, taking the lightning attacks. Giving Pelagio the safer task and putting herself at risk."

Akira frowned. "You're worried that she doesn't know how to delegate responsibility?"

"I'm worried that she doesn't care about the risks she takes", Mira corrected anxiously. "Do you know what it was that she said to me when I questioned her about the risks in that mission to the Karma club?"

Akira considered carefully. "Something trite and cliched about the captain going down with the ship?"

"No." Mira's face became stiff as the concrete. "She said 'not like we're risking that much if I go in alone'."

"Ahhh." Now he understood. Nodded. "Yeah. I've seen that before too."

"Rosea-kun and I both have families", Mira continued, facing him resolutely. "Families that love us very much, even if it took a trip to another world to help us remember that. But Ai-chan? She has no father, no siblings, and a mother that she fled from to come to Tosashimizu. When we first met, she told me that her goal was to turn Koashimizu academy into her home... because she'd never had a home before."

"Possibly illegitimate too", Akira remembered from Makoto's report. Earlier encounters had prompted him to do some thorough examinations of Japan's foster care system, and a lot of what he'd found was disturbing on so many levels. Just like... him.

Thankfully, Aiko Tsuruga hadn't turned out to be like Goro Akechi in other ways as well.

"It... wasn't quite the same way for me", he conceded, Mira's incessant worrying having gotten into his voice at last. He pushed that dourness back with the intensity of the anger he still felt sometimes about the topic, that same anger infusing his words.

"I had a mom and a dad... I grew up just fine, until one night. Suddenly, my whole life was completely gone, and all because I'd chosen to stand up for someone else. The two people that I thought would always stand by me no matter what could do nothing but cry and ask God what I'd done- what they'd done- to deserve it."

"I'm so sorry, Kurusu-kun", Mira repeated softly. "It must have been very difficult for you to endure. Worse than anything I've been though."

"Everyone's got their own private horror stories", he relented, trying not to sound too bitter- this girl deserved no part of his wrath. "Or most people anyways. Lucky for me, I found something else that helped to take the pain away. Something that let me strike back at people like the guy who destroyed my old life."

"The Phantom Thieves", she guessed. "You see, that's why I'm worried about her. I think part of why she wanted so badly to hit the Karma club is because... Because I think she actually enjoys using her Personas to fight Shadows."

He offered up a low laugh. "Hey, guilty as charged. I'm not exactly a combat junkie, but come on. You can't deny there's a certain rush to it that you can't get anywhere in this world. If it wasn't so dangerous like you say, I'd have done it a lot more just for fun, and that's on top of all the good it did for people who needed our help."

"Such a-", halting, she reconsidered her words. "Maybe it's because you're originally from here. In my home country, the threat of death is often close. Far closer than we would like."

"Not the threat of death, Sorano", Akira corrected her firmly. "I'm not some kind of adrenaline junkie. No. For me, it was the chance for me to take out my frustrations on some real assholes who had it coming. Although, I'm sure that would've gotten boring fast if it was easy. It never was."

"And?", she asked hopefully. "What did your fellow Thieves do when you behaved that way in front of them?"

Knowing the truth before speaking it, his face fell. "...Nothing, really. I was the leader of the team. Should they get on my case just because it looked like I was enjoying myself a bit too much during a heist? A happy Thief is a productive Thief."

"So they did nothing, and said nothing", Mira said, the realization tightening the breath in her throat. "And yet, you're still alive."

Holding out both hands from his shirt sleeves as if evidence of his own survival, he smirked. "We had a lot of close calls, that's for sure. But I see what you're getting at, Sorano. You think that Tsuruga cares more about your lives than she does hers. And maybe you're right. This last operation hit her hard, I can tell."

Glad to finally be heard and understood, she breathed a sigh of relief. "I know that she does. Why else would she have gone after me the way she did? Why go after Rosea-kun, and now Furusato-san?"

Distraught by her confidence in her claim, Akira regarded her cautiously.

"Yeah... that sounds kind of familiar, actually. When I saw them, the people who would eventually join me as the first Phantom Thieves, I mean... I saw the problems they were having at Shujin academy, and the chance I had to use the Metaverse to save them. So what if I had to risk my life for it? My life was pretty much over then anyway. I was doomed, and they weren't. Not yet. And I could change that. I could change the fates that rotten adults had already written for them, and all I had to do was go fight some monsters."

The chill running through Mira's tall frame was also familiar. It was how she'd felt when she'd first realized her suspicion of that bleak emptiness in Aiko Tsuruga's soul that she hid so well most of the time. Seeing it again in this seemingly carefree man heightened her fears of it.

What was it really like, to feel that emptiness inside? Her breakdown before entering Faraway Lands for the first time came to mind, but that had been more rage and despair driving her on.

"Please. Kurusu-kun, please. I can't stand it", she implored him. "Before she came along, I was lost. Every day at school was torture for me, and the way I was thinking only made it worse. Without her... I won't make it."

The ex-Phantom Thief only looked worried for a moment, sliding his features back into an analytical but still caring gaze. "I doubt that's true, at least not anymore. If it was, then I'd suggest you try to fix it. Tsuruga can't be your rock forever. And it's unfair for you to expect her to be."

Mira grimaced lightly. At what point did this turn from concern about Aiko to concern about me?

Still, his words had the ring of painful truth about them. "You're saying if I show that I'm ready to be okay without her around, then she won't try so hard? Stop putting herself in harm's way?"

"You said it, not me", Akira pointed out flippantly. "But I think you're close."

Of course. Like all the solutions to life's problems, the answer seemed simple to reach, but a trial to act on. Resolving herself to facing it wouldn't be nearly as difficult as leaving her Land behind had been, but it felt that way because it was less obviously urgent.

But it is urgent, she knew. It's urgent that she understand that she doesn't have to kill herself trying to protect Julian, Pelagio and me. And Nijima. She needs to figure out that we're not her responsibility, that she doesn't need to be a pillar for us all the time.

It's urgent that she realizes that she has limits on what she can do for us.

Processing all this in silence, she stared back into Akira's glasses, bright with reflected lights of the motel, and nodded. "I think that you're going to be a very good teacher, Mr. Kurusu."

Akira answer with his trademark mischievous smile. Joker's smile. "Darn, there goes my life's ambition of being a crappy teacher. But thanks. Y'know, it might seem obvious, but it was actually a teacher from Shujin who inspired me to try this. I owe her a lot."

"Funny", she smiled back. "I think she would probably say the same thing about you. Goodnight."

Akira made sure to continue his smile until he was sure the girl was gone, opening the door to his temporary residence, taking in the tiny shower and tinier kitchen before popping a window open and flopping down on the bed.

"...I failed her", he informed the blank white ceiling.

Morgana's stern voice came through the rear window to answer him. "And you call me irrational. You didn't fail Nijima, Akira."

"Funny. Because I'm pretty sure if she was conscious, she might disagree."

Morgana made a distinctly feline noise of disgust. "You're just as bad as that Tsuruga girl, always taking the blame for everything bad that happens."

"I should have been there with her."

This suggestion took his old friend longer to process, but his annoyed tone remained. "So now we're back to this again, huh? Beating yourself up over not proposing to her earlier?"

"I wanted to", he muttered, removing his glasses in a jolt of self-loathing. "I just... I never found the right time. How the hell do you say that to someone?"

"Other people manage to say it all the time. Ryuji managed to say it. You had six years, give or take. Are you stupider than Ryuji, Akira? What stopped you?"

Eyes snapped shut against a sudden pain in his head, he rolled into the pillow. "Morgana, please. This isn't the time."

"...You're right. It's not the time. Not right now. Because she's still unconscious in an emergency room right now. But when she wakes up, if you don't tell her how you really feel already, then I swear I'm going to shred all your college notes. I'll do it. Just you watch me."

Sleep wasn't easy, but he got there eventually.

6/9 Sunday

Afternoon

Coming back to the Tenjincho mall for their meeting made Aiko realize for the first time that she would probably have a superstition about meeting anyone in the lower portion of the building's food court for the rest of her life.

It was down there that everything had begun to go wrong.

Now it was time to make things go right again. She was pleased to see both Julian and Mira respond to the morning's text message in good time, joining her at the upper portion of the mall before being led to one of the back outdoor areas where several large dumpsters stood arranged. The alley felt a bit cramped with them, but also private.

"Thank you for coming", she started, feeling rather than seeing Pelagio flutter down onto a perch where he could not only hear her, but watch for unwanted guests. "I know the last few days have been... tough. For all of us."

Julian, naturally, tried to downplay his own stress, arms folded behind his head as he leaned back against the wall. "Tsuruga-chan, you've had it rougher than both of us put together. If you're still up for this, how can I say no?"

"We made some mistakes", Mira confessed, her hands folded nervously behind her back. "All of us. I said some things earlier that maybe I shouldn't have. And I think you know already what mistakes you made, so I don't need to bring that up again, do I?"

"I appreciate that, Mira-chan", she smiled weakly. Akira's words to her yesterday had certainly helped, but they couldn't change what had happened. How she felt. "How about you, Pelagio?"

Her feathered friend's fierce eyes peered down at her in an approximation of polite surprise. "You are my captain, and I am your sworn protector. Though I have failed in that duty as of late, I will still continue to carry it out to the best of my abilities."

"Good." Trying to relax on an empty milk crate and not quite getting there, she took several seconds to settle. "Listen. I know that was a disaster. But it doesn't mean we came away completely empty-handed. I learned some important things about the Masked Circle that I want to share with you all now."

None of them looked surprised by her declaration. Jiachi even looked eager to find out what she had learned, though the quiet reservation on Mira's face brought back memories of their last talk in the dorms.

"Once I'm done, you can all decide whether or not you want to keep helping me. I won't force anyone, and any questions you have, please ask. Hiding things from one of my friends is what caused the problems."

Mira looked like she wanted to argue that point as she had before, but let it drop.

With a deep breath, she forced herself to face them eye to eye. "First off, they knew we were coming. More specifically, they knew that I was coming. Lady Scorpio, who I'm pretty sure is their leader, has the power of her Persona, Cleopatra, to peer into Faraway Lands. She saw us fight Rosea-kun's Shadow. She wanted me to replace Queen Aquarius, who as we thought, has left them."

Julian's snicker echoed through the alley. "Idiots. They really think you'd do that?"

"They... she almost convinced me to", Aiko shocked them all with her confession. "Scorpio's Persona can also twist people's minds, and expose their hidden weaknesses."

Mira's eyes narrowed in ire, no doubt just as familiar with that type of power as any of them. "Jamani. I hate that stuff. Every time I use Marin Karin, I feel dirty."

Aiko nodded in sympathy. "This is just a warning. If we ever run into her again, we need to stay focused. Don't listen to Scorpio when she speaks. Don't let her get into your head. I did, and she almost got me."

"So that's how she recruits people who call that phone line?", Jiachi asked. "Brainwashing?"

"Sort of", she shrugged. "I don't have all the details for that yet because we haven't seen exactly how they do it. But I can piece some things together from what I saw. She was talking about helping me find my 'inner will of destruction'. She said if I hadn't gotten my Persona already, then that would have let me Awaken."

"Then we make sure no one else at our school dials that number", Mira demanded. "Spread a rumor around about it being a scam. That'll stop it."

"That's a good idea", she nodded back. None of them liked the idea of another classmate being pulled into this conflict on the opposite side of it. "That brings me to the next problem- they didn't target Nijima-san because she knew us. They did it because she was leading police raids into the club, trying to find evidence of their plans."

"See?", Mira gazed into her triumphantly. "It wasn't your fault after all. It just feels that way because you didn't share any of this with Nijima-san earlier."

Above them, Pelagio cleared his throat. "Hmph. I believe what our captain wished to imply is that you all could potentially be in danger now. They have proven that they are capable of striking at any who dare oppose them, using the power of their Personas. Unless there's some other method I am not familiar with to blast a person straight through a glass door and off a balcony."

"Exactly", she confirmed, already taking note of the looks gathering on her friends faces as they began to realize that they could potentially become the next targets of the Masked Circle, and end up like Makoto or worse. "Lady Scorpio made it clear that she still thinks I'm going to join them, so I don't think they would go after me at least."

"Then why would they go after us?", Julian asked in confusion. "Don't they know that attacking us would just piss you off more?"

"They are wazima, remember", Mira said regretfully. "This Scorpio woman might also believe that taking us away would leave you with no one else to help you."

"Or", Pelagio considered in a tone subdued by a rare show of true fear, "they may also threaten you in order to force our captain into compliance with their wishes."

"Exactly", Ai said. "That's why I want you to watch over both of the school dorms each night, instead of the Yume Bay. If you see someone sneaking in at night, just peck the window until we wake up."

Pelagio balked. "You are certain? That sounds..."

"Thin", Mira finished more firmly. "How can we be sure that will wake us up? Can we really defend ourselves against the same person who hurt Nijima-san?"

Thrown by the accusing look in her friend's eyes, Aiko slowly nodded. "I think that we can. Because I also figured out how they've been able to summon Personas in the real world."

"Yeah", Julian remembered. "You said it was the water, right?"

"The water from Faraway Lands", she confirmed. "The only reason they were able to do that in Nijima-san's home was because they set it up early, before she got back."

"This is true", Pelagio echoed. "One thing that the investigators found very strange was the large amount of moisture in the air of Nijima-san's living room. To them, it is merely normal water."

"They won't get the chance to do that in the dorms", she explained. "The dorm heads have phones to call campus security with if anyone tries to force their way in. Way too risky for someone who, until recently, was trying to stay under the radar."

"Still", Mira cautioned her. "If they can use their Persona's powers here..."

"If they can, then so can we", Aiko assured her more confidently. "That was the 'test' they hit me with. Locking me in a room filled with the fog and a Shadow, so I would either manage to summon my Persona... or die. It took me a lot of effort but as you can see... I'm not dead."

That didn't seem to be much comfort for Mira. Naturally, she would be anxious about the idea of having to wake up in the middle of the night and summon Oya to fight at a moment's notice. "I still don't like it. It's like sleeping with a gun under your pillow."

Ai's features slackened into surrender. "I know. I know it's a bad situation, and I'm sorry about that. I am. I wasn't thinking ahead. Now that they know that we know about them... I just want us to be prepared."

"If they do", Pelagio vowed, "I shall give them no peace. No chance to spread that mist into a dorm."

"Good for you." Turning, she regarded Julian now. "Still, we can't be too careful about this. I didn't forget that Rosea-kun hasn't had a chance to practice with his Persona's powers yet."

If anything, he looked offended by the suggestion. "Hey, I'll be fine. They mess with me, they're gonna regret it."

"Maybe", she admitted politely. "But remember, you might also need to protect other boys in your dorm from them too. I'd still feel better if you had a chance to train up with using Wild Bill in actual combat."

"Can't say no to that", he shrugged. "How, though? We can't enter the Yume Bay now."

"That's the next part of my plan", she acknowledged with a tight smile. "And don't worry. We're not doing anything stupid like attacking the club head on. For now, that's too dangerous. Kurusu-sensei is looking into that for us as well. Meanwhile, I've figured out a less risky way to hurt them."

Looking momentarily relieved, Mira shook her head in regret. "I suppose we have no choice, do we? If we do nothing, they might come after us anyway since we know their secret."

"That's pretty much it", Ai sighed. "They're the ones in the wrong here, not us."

"I never said that!", Mira protested indignantly. "I'm just..."

Both were surprised when Julian pushed away from the brick wall, grabbing their attention with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "Sorano. I get it. You're scared. Really, really scared. And you're trying as hard as you can not to blame Tsuruga for getting us into this shit pile."

"...Yes. Yes I am."

Walking over, Ai's arm anchored itself to the brick wall beside her, letting her lean in. "Hit me."

Mira's jaw dropped at the request. "E-excuse me?!"

Ai shrugged, already bracing herself, her eyes wide. "I deserve it. I get it, Mira-chan. I know. I messed up big-time, and now the Masked Circle will be after us. If you want to hit me, then go right ahead. Slap me in the face. Punch me in the gut. Whatever."

"Ai-chan, please. You're scaring me."

Her friend looked scared too. Or at least, so rigidly controlled that looked that way when she turned to Julian. "Rosea-kun, you can hit me too. I deserve it."

To Mira's intense relief, Jiachi shared in her unease at this request. More in fact, because it hadn't been that long ago that a piece of his own consciousness had hurt her very badly.

And now here she was, asking for more. "Tsuruga. I'm your friend. I'm not hitting you. No freakin' way."

She shrugged as if they'd been discussing the weather, turning back to Mira. "If you want to blame me, that's totally called for. If you don't like me any more, if you want a different roomate-"

"NO!"

The frantic look on the older girl's face said all that she needed. "Please. I don't want to blame you. I don't want to hit you. It's not your fault. Not really. It's just like when you saved me."

"H-huh?"

"When you saved me", Mira repeated softly into the floor. "You made an enemy of Kujou-senpai. She's never going to forgive you for that. Just like the Masked Circle will never stop trying to get us, now that we know some of their secrets."

Julian made a rude noise. "Not exactly the same kinda thing. Pretty sure the SDC ain't gonna send Personas and Shadows to kill us."

"Our enemies accumulate", Pelagio noted in regret from his perch. "Yet, these people have become our enemies solely because we have committed the crime of not turning a blind eye to their sins."

"They're so... hateful", Mira shivered. Crippling fear and the need to support her friend were fighting a war within her, the victor unclear. "Why? Why do they do it? What was done to them to make them think this way?"

Aiko put the other arm to her shoulder, understanding better now. "You're not talking about Karma and Kujou. You're talking about the Legion of Light too, right?"

"Uh-huh", Mira sniffled, eyes nearly shut.

"Heavy stuff", Jiachi noted beside them, dejected for once and his hands drifting down into his pockets. "But, Sorano-san... if you knew that you had the chance to get rid of all those d-bags... if you were the only one who could do it... wouldn't you try?"

Shaking away the sniffles, Mira looked back into Julian's blue eyes, new thoughts at work in her mind.

"...No. Instead, I'd like to make them understand just how many people they're hurting, and all the fear they're causing. Then, they would stop."

But Julian shook his head at that idea. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Sorano-san, but you're wrong about that. They know exactly how many people they're hurting. Legion of Light? More like Legion of Spite. They just don't give a shit. So, why should we give a shit about hurting them back?"

Inwardly impressed by the depth of the anger in his words, Aiko regarded him wryly. "So are you talking about the Legion, the SDC, or Karma?"

"Yes."

She laughed. She needed to, to release some of this tension. "For the record, I'm definitely not planning on going out and making an enemy out of a terrorist group any time soon."

"The solution seems quite simple", Pelagio said to the three of them respectfully. "An enemy remains an enemy until either you or they are destroyed."

Ai shrugged helplessly before Mira. "Pretty much. If I thought it might get them to spare you three, then I might actually consider joining up with them. But we can't trust them. That's the problem."

The problem? Mira had to silently disagree with that. No, the problem is that you don't value yourself at all. You just asked me to punch you. You asked Julian, who can hit way harder than me, to punch you.

Because you think that you deserve to be hit for your mistakes.

And if I can help save you from that problem, then I'll face this peril. I owe you that.

Taking Aiko's offered hand, she stood. "Alright. I don't like it, but here we are. If we have to take them down to be safe, then we can at least try."

"Thank you", her friend breathed. "That's why I wanted to get started on that today. We'll stay in touch with Kurusu-sensei of course... But we can also do our own plan. Anything we do now distracts them from his investigation, makes it less likely that they'll see him coming."

"Sounds good", Julian agreed. "What's the plan then, uh... 'captain'?"

She blinked in annoyance. "Now don't you start."

"Why not?", he gave a lopsided grin. "Aren't you training with that Byzael dude to learn how to run a ship?"

"Captain", Mira emphasized a bit too loudly, trying to bring attention back to business. "What's the plan?"

Giving up all hope of stopping them from using that title, Ai drew back. "Okay. Another thing that I saw at the club. They're using these black boxes to transport Shadows, filling them up with enough of the special water so that they don't just disappear."

"Treating 'em like cargo", Julian growled. "Or servants, if the way Zangiefhonda acted towards my Shadow is any sign."

"Yes. And I saw that not all of them were stored at the club."

Mira frowned. "What? Why? Why not just keep them all safe there?"

"I have a few ideas", Ai noted. "Probably to hide them from the police. The point is, I saw the chart on the wall in the dressing room. There's a few places around here that they're storing something. Something they don't want people to find."

"And if it's a Shadow, then we take it down", Jiachi smirked in comprehension. "Haha. Easy."

"Not easy", she warned him, sticking a finger in his face. "Don't think like that, not even for a moment. The Shadow I faced in the club was pretty strong, and this one might be stronger."

"But how do we find it?", Mira asked. "Sure, you saw the general location on a map of Tosashimizu, but we don't have all day to search."

"Well, we have two things that can help us with that", Ai promised, pointing upward. "One of them is right above me. Pela-tori can fly around faster than us and scan the areas on the map for any sign of a hiding spot."

"It would be my honor, captain", Pelagio called warmly.

"What about the other thing?", Jiachi asked curiously.

She couldn't quite manage to share in his energy. Not yet. The earlier wounds were too fresh. But she could certainly relax enough to set them all at ease as she led them out of the mall's back alley.

"Come with me. I'll introduce you to him."

Persona Profile #5: Lorelei

Arcana: Moon

Strength: Wind

Weakness: Lightning, Bless

Abilities: Zan, Mazan, Makajam, Life Drain, Lullaby, Bufu

Background: A beautiful river maiden who lives at the frozen rock of the same name on the Rhine river in Germany. She lures sailors to their doom with her enchanting song. Made famous in Heine's poem. In ancient times, she was seen as one and the same as a river goddess, but the menacing rock and heavy currents turned her into a witch that drags men below the waters to keep as drowned trophies.

A/N: Yes, even in cameo roles, Makoto is best girl.

Originally, I had intended for her to be the only human character from Persona 5 to actually be in this story, but reconsidered when I realized that without a bit more guidance, my new team might flail around for too long without the confidence and assurance needed to face their current dilemmas. Also, I couldn't pass up the chance to have Morgana and Pelagio butt heads with each other. I still mean to keep Akira as more of a mentor figure than the star of the show, but we'll see what comes.

Happy belated Valentines Day.