[Now Playing: Memories of Summer, Persona 5]
Things had finally calmed down more around the Iwatodai dorms. The members of S.E.E.S. were not usually around, which made the place very quiet and calm. Koromaru had at first been saddened by the lack of his friends being around, but his excitement oftentimes was tended to by playing with The Rake. Sayaka would often text Kanji all day, or watch videos on her phone. And Shinjiro was often cooking food, watching Gordon Ramsay, or taking care of the pets… that was, if he wasn't in his room alone.
Today was different, though. Sayaka rushed down the steps. Surprised that Junpei was still at the dorms today, sitting on the couch. He usually was first to leave. She looked over at the pet beds and saw that The Rake was not there currently, so that explained why Junpei was here currently.
"Junpei, where's Shinjiro," Sayaka asked. Junpei looked at her, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Who wants to know," he asked with a smug smirk.
"Ugh, um, me," She answered.
"He took that thing out on a walk, he'll be back," Junpei chugged the last of his milk and slammed the cup on the coffee table, got up, and headed out. It was almost as if in perfect sync, as Shinjiro and The Rake came into the building.
"Shinji, pack your bags," Sayaka said, "we're going on vacation!"
"What…" Shinjiro was not amused. The Rake was more than thrilled, though. He dashed off to his bed and stepped on it in a circular motion, Koromaru doing something similar, almost like a dance.
Shinjiro sighed, "did you already pay? Can't you cancel?"
"We are not canceling! Kanji found an island, he says it's very romantic," Sayaka said. She then crossed her arms, "don't you want to go somewhere romantic? Since neither of us really are romantic.. Um, here."
Shinjiro blushed and shoved his hands into his pockets. The two of them seemed discomforted by the discussion of their… lack of romance in their relationship. It was true that they didn't really do much, but Shinjiro and Sayaka both knew that Junpei would pester them constantly. Mitsuru may consider it a distraction, and who knew what Yukari would think or do. The only ones who really picked up on their relationship were The Rake and Koromaru, since they were always with them.
"Fine," Shinjiro managed to respond, "we'll go. What's the island called?"
"It's called Kamoshida island. But we're going to the airport today to meet Kanji and the others there."
"What time?"
"Eleven AM."
"That's- Sayaka, It's eight in the morning," Shinjiro commented, "that's hardly enough time to get ready."
"Then hurry up," Sayaka yelled. Shinjiro gave her a brooding stare, before he went to his dorm room to get packed, He rushed, but he was ready to go within the hour, and the four hurried to the Airport via train. By now, most people on these trains were used to The Rake, but there were still the occasional children screaming or crying by his appearance. The Rake was becoming more null to the rudeness of others, but sometimes he would still want to lash out and kill someone. Sayaka and Shinjiro made smalltalk about who they thought was going to be at the airport, but came to no similar opinions.
[Now Playing: Sunshine Airport, Mario Kart 8]
The four of them all arrived at the airport at about 10:50. Kanji was waiting for them outside the airport, and flagged them down once he spotted them.
"Hey guys," he said, before looking uncomfortable that they chose to bring the creepypasta with them. The Rake seemed unamused by Kanji's feelings, and just stared at him. Koromaru barked some.
"Follow me," Kanji said as he led the members of S.E.E.S. to a private jet, apparently owned by Okumura Inc. Haru waved at the five, wearing a pink dress, white sweater, and a sunhat.
"You guys made it," she said cheerfully, "my father is letting us use his private jet to go to Kamoshida island!"
The Rake cheered, and ran off into the private jet. Immediately, he was treated with kindness by the flight attendant, Theodore of the Velvet Room. He put a lei on The Rake, as well as providing him a beach shirt and some swim trunks. The Rake was so happy that he could cry, but didn't.
He looked around at the people on board, and saw many people he recognized. Michael DeSanta was there in a hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts, talking with Dr. Squatch, who was wearing the same thing. Then he also saw Makoto Niijima wearing her white blouse and black leggings, and Teddie, who was wearing what Michael and Dr. Squatch were wearing.
This didn't mean that The Rake recognized everyone, as there was a lavender haired woman wearing a deep purple bikini and black pero around her waist. She gave off a very suggestive vibe, but was sitting with a blonde girl in some pink shorts and a black shirt. Beside them were two blonde men wearing beach clothes too. There was also a blonde woman in a white blouse and pink skirt, sitting next to a plumber man that The Rake didn't know.
The final person that he noticed was a long nosed man, wearing a black suit. He seemed suspicious, but he ignored him, for now.
The Rake sat beside Teddie, since he felt that Teddie was the coolest out of all the people on the plane. This caused some discomfort for the boy, but he tried to be polite and ignore him.
Kanji entered the plane with Shinjiro, Sayaka, and Koromaru. Koromaru was given a lei, then ran to the Rake.
Theodore tried to put one on Shinjiro, but he was stopped by Shinjiro's hand, and a cold glare. He felt discomfort by this, and just put the lei on Kanji. Sayaka thanked Theodore for the lei, but then put hers on Kanji too.
"More for me," Kanji said as he approached a chair and plopped down into it. Sayaka sat across from Kanji, but before Shinjiro could sit next to her, Michael called him over to sit with him. This annoyed the young adult, but just compiled to Michael's wishes and sat across from him.
"Aragaki, glad you could make it," Michael said, "I was starting to think Squatch was the only one I'd know, aside from Niijima…"
"Sayaka wanted to go," Shinjiro said, "so I agreed."
"Ah; nothing beats a romantic stroll on the white beaches," Michael said, drifting into memories of when his relationship was… healthier. Shinjiro looked at Dr. Squatch, who was offering him a pair of William Painters sunglasses. Shinjiro took them and thanked Squatch.
There was then a voice over the speakers in the plane.
"Attention Inmates," A rough girl's voice spoke loudly, only to be corrected by a soft girl's voice saying, "passengers, Caroline."
"Anyways, we're about to be taking off soon. So buckle up! Theodore is going to go over the procedures for safety, along with Elizabeth and Margaret."
Theodore then explained what to do in case of an emergency, while Margaret and Elizabeth demonstrated putting oxygen masks on and all that jazz. But who was really paying attention? Chances are, the flight was going to be fine. After that, the Twin Wardens took off.
[Now playing: Life goes On, Persona 5]
The plane was filled with the chatter of discussions between many. Michael and Dr. Squatch talked about their families, The royal siblings talked about their trip to this island, Kanji and Sayaka nearly yelled about school drama, and Koromaru and the Rake had a conversation that only Aigis would've been able to translate, if she were there. Haru looked out the window happily while Makoto was doing some of her over-summer school work, listening to music on her phone.
Koromaru eventually hopped out of his chair and walked over to Shinjiro, which caused Theodore to trip on him and spill the apple juice he was about to offer everyone. The juice spilled all over the royal man's clothes, angering him. Everyone became silent once the man started to shout.
"How dare you spill this strange liquid all over me! Do you know not who I am?!"
Theodore was becoming pale from fear, as the purple haired woman reached over and put a hand on his arm.
"Xander, it was a mistake, I'm sure. Be gentle with the poor boy~," She said. The younger girl yelled, "Yeah, dummy! We can wash the shirt on the island since we're gonna play in the water with Leo and Camilla!"
Xander's brows narrowed as he glared at Theodore, but stayed quiet. Leo continued to read his book in peace. Koromaru tilted his head and watched Theodore get up and get more apple juice, before continuing his trek to Shinjiro and hopping onto his lap to sleep.
"What a cute dog," Dr. Squatch said, reaching over to pet him. Shinjiro watched Squatch reach over, but The Rake also took notice, and began to yell, thinking that his master was in danger. Everyone covered their ears. Shinjiro sighed and yelled to his pet, "SHUT UP, RAKE!"
The Rake did not obey at first, as he approached the three men, staring into Dr. Squatches eyes, telling him to leave the plane.
Squatch looked at The Rake, and said, "no, I won't leave the plane."
Everyone was in shock that Dr. Squatch would not listen to the Rake's demands. Kanji and Sayaka looked over to see what the Rake would do next. Koromaru tilted his head in confusion. Even Shinjiro was wondering what was about to happen, since no one has ever dared decline the Rake of his request.
Water flowed out of the Rake's eye-sockets, as no one ever declined his words. Normally, The Rake would kill on the spot, but Dr. Squatch smelled a lot like Shinjiro, since they both used the same soap, and not what their mama gave them, unlike Michael, it seemed. The Rake returned to his seat, wanting to be alone.
Theodore finally returned with some scotch and wine, giving the drinks to all of the people on the plane, not caring or knowing if they were even of age. Kanji's eyes popped out of his head as he was handed a glass of scotch. He drank the entire drink in one go, before cheering like a bro. Sayaka sniffed the drink that she was given, but frowned. It smelled bad to her. Michael and Squatch clinked their glasses together and drank together, while Shinjiro looked at Theodore and said, "I don't drink alcohol."
"I'm sorry, but we haven't any more apple juice," Theodore said nervously.
"Oh, look, Theodore's being so stupid again," Elizabeth laughed, "always kind of useless!" Margaret simply chuckled, until the black suited man spoke up.
"Elizabeth, Margaret. Do not speak of your brother in such a way. I don't see you two doing anything useful on the plane, at least he cares about the well being of our passengers."
Elizabeth and Margaret stayed quiet because of Igor, and let Theo do what he was doing in peace.
[Now playing: Fire Emblem Theme - Summer vers, Fire Emblem Awakening]
The plane landed at an airport-like area at Kamoshida Island. There were several people gathered around as the welcoming committee. Ten animal villagers, two human villagers, and two staff members, both animals. One of the staff was a yellow dog while the other was a brown raccoon.
When the vacationers all got off of the plane, Theodore wished them a nice vacation, and that he would see them all when they were ready to head home. Once everyone was off the plane, Caroline and Justine took off, leaving everyone on Kamoshida island.
"Welcome," the male human said to them, "My name is Satoshi, and this is my island, Kamoshida Island."
The villagers behind Satoshi all waved their hands. Their leader turned to the side to allow them to introduce themselves; saying his final words for now, "We are all very happy to have you here, and now my fellow villagers will introduce themselves."
"Yo yo yo, I'm Renee! My skills are making puns, and my life goal is to become a marathon runner," a bright pink Rhino said.
"Sup, the name's Antonio; I excel in playing horseshoes, and I wanna be a baseball player in the near future, honk," A grey anteater said.
"Bonjour, everyone! My name is Chevre. If you ever need help on calculating tips, let me know. I want to become a teacher someday soon, la baa," a white goat in a red coat said.
"It'sa me! Name's Alfonso, and I'm pretty good at fishing. I wanna be a cartoonist, so come by and check out my art skills if you want," A brown alligator said.
"Like, hiya guys, My name is Dotty, and omigosh, so nice to meet you guys! If you're like, ever in need of house repairs then I'm your gal! Oh, but I doubt that you'll need me to help with that. Anyways, I'm gonna become a tennis player, if not a Diva~! So if any of you active people wanna take a shot against me, please don't hesitate to drop by," a black and white dutch rabbit said. Makoto and Haru's attention perked at her competitiveness, and were rather interested in facing her at tennis, when the opportunity would strike.
"Greetings. My name is Olaf, it is a pleasure to meet you. My ambition is to become a dancer, and I must say, I am quite good at it. For any of the ladies looking for a good dance, I would be happy to oblige," a brown anteater with black hair said, winking at all the females. Any of the men who were dozing off from the exchanges in words were now alert, as this guy seemed quite suave.
"*yawn* hey, name's T-bone. I'm really good at pretending to sleep, but don't tell anyone- I wanna be a police officer, so that might hurt my rep," a steel blue bull said.
"Hey everyone, I'm Goose; I'm great at waking up early, and I'm gonna become a great soccer player," a chicken dressed for island living said.
"Nice, nice, anyways, My name's Tasha. I'm very good at getting the good side of people in photography. And, I plan to become a very good hair stylist," a black and blue squirrel said.
There was a silence for a while, as the final villager believed to be blending into the surroundings. He was a brown and green frog, but his MVP shirt made him stick out like a sore thumb. When he realized all eyes were on him, he grumbled and introduced himself.
"I'm Camofrog. I'm skilled at playing jacks, and I want to become a pilot."
[Now playing: 2PM, Animal Crossing New Horizons]
The raccoon finally took over and said, "yes, yes, thank you all for the introductions to our lovely guests, hm? Now, It is time for me to show them to their hotel, yes?" He quickly shooed everyone away, including the Island ruler, the other human, and the dog. He tsked as they all finally wandered off to do their own thing, then looked at everyone with a smug expression.
"Ah, yes, I forgot to introduce myself, hm? I am Tom Nook," The rest of his words were a blur to everyone involved. He was quite boring to listen to, and no one cared about what he was saying. Once he started walking, the others followed. He eventually approached a gaudy looking building that was quite flashy and bright. The sign said "TANOOKI LOVE HOTEL" in bright pink letters, with hearts forming around the top of the letters in an arcing shape. Everyone grew wide eyed at the sight, except for Camilla.
"What the fuck, a LOVE HOTEL," Michael shouted, looking at Nook.
"Ah, Yes, yes. A good choice, hm? I knew you would all like it," Nook said, as he paced left and right in front of the vacationers, "I looked into all of your backgrounds, and tailored the rooms to suit your needs. That being said, You all are sharing rooms with your loved ones."
"No," Shinjiro said, "Koromaru and The Rake don't have loved ones." Tom Nook looked past the crowd and saw the Rake eating a Scorpion violently, while Koromaru barked at him as encouragement.
Tom said, "I never considered him being here. Very well though, I will allow for your pets to reside with you and your girlfriend." Nook winked at Shinjiro.
"Hey, Tom Nook," Camilla spoke up, "there better not be anything nasty in there. Most of the people on this trip are under the age of 18."
Nook blushed in embarrassment, "Hm?! Oh, Yes yes, one moment!" Nook hurried inside, and only returned when everything that may have been bad for children eyes was burned. He apologized, "I am greatly sorry, hm? I will make sure the TV channels are changed tonight." He then scurried off, leaving behind only a note that said who was in what room.
The vacationers looked at the note, then entered the love hotel, and went to the rooms that their names were next to. Down the halls were pictures of hot people such as the Aegis sisters, The Hoshidan Princesses and Princes, The Belmonts, as well as some older women of Tokyo, such as Tae Takemi and the maid known as Becky. The hallway was dimly lit, too, so it was hard to recognize these people in the light.
Shinjiro eventually found the room that he, Sayaka, The Rake, and Koromaru would be staying in, and the moment he opened the door, The room was decked out like a newly wed honeymoon. It took the couple aback at first, but Koromaru immediately ran for the bed, and Rake hurried to the tub, splashing in it and eating the rose petals that floated on the water. Sayaka was beyond embarrassed at Tom Nook's antics, and overheard others speaking.
"I'm so glad we get to share a room, Mako-chan," Haru said from a distance.
"I know," Makoto responded, "It's so convenient for us."
Sayaka put her bags down in the hotel room, then said, "you get that side," she pointed to the left, "I get this side," she pointed to the right, "don't go near my side, okay?"
Shinjiro blinked, then shrugged.
"I mean, this is no different than when you fall asleep on the couch while we watch Hell's Kitchen-"
"That is totally different! At least that doesn't..."
" it's not really different," he said, "So you don't have to freak out about it."
"ANYWAYS, let's go outside okay? We came here for the r-romantic experience of the i-island, so- let's go," she walked out of the hotel room and headed straight for the front door. Shinjiro put his stuff down and sighed.
He looked at the Rake and gave a stern stare, "do not do SHIT in this room. Stay in the tub, do not get out. If you harm a single person, you get the dog house." This scared the Rake, so he had all intentions of obeying his master. Shinjiro looked at Koromaru, who was trotting towards the tub to be with the Rake, then left the room. Shinjiro had to catch up with Sayaka, but was delayed in the elevator. Beside him was Olaf, who he wasn't expecting to see.
"Don't you live on this island? What are you doing here," Shinjiro asked.
Olaf looked up at Shinji with a cocked eyebrow.
"You look like a man of culture. Meet me at the front entrance at midnight. I have something I want to show you."
The elevator then opened, and Shinjiro left the anteater. He went outside, and saw Nook giving Sayaka a lot of bells. It seemed that others like Kanji, Teddie, and Michael also had received their bells.
"Yes, yes, here are these bells," Nook said, "a gift from our island leader to you, a nice gift indeed, hm?" He then handed Shinjiro some bells, adding up to roughly one million bells. Shinjiro looked at Sayaka, who was looking at the Statue of Liberty on the little island. He walked up to her then stood beside her, looking at the statue as well. It seemed that this was nostalgic for her, so he stayed quiet.
Then the Dutch hare approached them.
"Isn't that, like, the coolest statue ever," she asked. Sayaka looked at Dotty and nodded.
"Yeah, Satoshi like, got it from someone, and then had to, like, mold the earth around it to change into a little island," she explained.
"Anyways, I was going to like, go to the beach and collect shells," she then looked surprised, with an exclamation mark appearing above her head because AC logic, "omigosh, you two should like, collect shells with me! Some of the other vacationers are going to as well!"
"Oh, um, okay," Sayaka agreed. Dotty cheered, then looked at Shinjiro.
"You will come to, yeah?"
"Sure," Shinjiro said flatly.
"Okay but first you guys must wear beach clothes. No one wants to see a man get a stroke because he's wearing all black and red on a perfectly warm island," Dotty said.
The two returned to the hotel to change clothes upon the request of Dotty, and then returned to her. There was no exchange in words or anything, and The Rake and Koromaru didn't require any sort of attention when they returned, so it was easy to just go, change, leave.
Dotty was pleased to see the couple return, and that Shinjiro was no longer wearing a winter coat and dark clothes underneath. Though she wasn't pleased with his white hoodie, at least he had the smarts to wear bermuda shorts and sandals to the beach. She was pleased with Sayaka's light green dress and sandals, as they were totally cute.
"Okay let's go- but um, Shinjiro, take the beanie off," Dotty said as the three began to walk to the beach.
"No," Shinjiro responded. Dotty's eyes became red from shock.
"But you might suffocate from the heat," Dotty explained, "and if someone dies on Kamoshida island, we may have bad rep. Like, one time, Guru was murdered by bees, but we managed to save her life because Satoshi was there and brought her to the town square!" This tale surprised Sayaka and Shinjiro; they wondered just how safe this island was...
"I'll be fine," he finally responded. Dotty rolled her eyes and shrugged it off. If he died, maybe Satoshi could save his life too.
[Now playing: 3PM, Animal Crossing New Horizons]
They finally made it to the beach, where many of the vacationers were playing. Camilla and Elise were playing in the pool, while Xander was examining shells. Dr. Squatch was handing out sunglasses to everyone, even the island's villagers who were there, like T-Bone and Camofrog. Michael was sitting on a floaty in water with a nice tropical drink in his hand.
"Omigosh! Yay! Doesn't this look so fun," Dotty cheered, before scurrying over to the ocean to play with Elise. Sayaka went to look at shells, but before Shinjiro could follow her, he saw the three detectives, Naoto, Akechi, and Professor Layton, all walking side by side on the beach.
Naoto was wearing a one piece blue swimsuit, carrying a bucket of water and a shovel. Akechi was wearing swim trunks and a blue beach shirt, holding a water gun. Layton was wearing some khaki shorts and a hawaiian shirt, but still dawned his usual hat.
Akechi noticed Shinjiro and said, "Oh, Shinjiro. What a coincidence." Shinjiro was unresponsive, as he did not believe this was a coincidence.
"Now Goro," Layton spoke, "let's leave the man alone on his vacation."
"I agree with Professor Layton, Akechi," Naoto said.
Akechi looked pissed, but grumbled, "fine, walking ahead of his companions as though he were going to have a tantrum he didn't want them to see. Layton only sighed, before looking off at the families and friends playing with each other on the beach.
"We've been here for about a week, it is lovely. I think you will grow accustomed to the island living," Layton said to Shinjiro, before he and Naoto said their goodbyes and headed after Akechi.
Shinjiro finally went to the water and watched as Sayaka and Kanji tried to catch a fish with their bare hands. It was amusing, so he watched them, eventually seeing them catch a humongous fish.
From hours 3 - 7 PM, life was just slow, Everyone relaxed and had a good time on the island with the other villagers. At 7 PM, Dotty said to everyone, "We're about to have our welcoming feast! Let's hurry to the town hall!" Everyone did as Dotty said, and headed to town hall, where picnic tables were set up with fruits of all sorts.
Everyone sat at the tables, as Dotty sat next to Satoshi and said, "Everyone like, was so happy with my services! I hope they all stay forever!" Satoshi nodded to her and took a bite out of an orange.
The Rake and Koromaru finally came to the tables, and sat at the end of one, guarding the villagers from scorpions and tarantulas that may come out. That was a good enough dinner for The Rake, after all. Better for him to eat arachnids than just fruit from the island's trees.
After the island meal, they all stargazed until it was time to go to the hotel. Most of the vacationers went back to their hotel rooms, but ones who Olaf requested to see at late night did not. These people were Shinjiro, Michael, Xander, and the blonde Princess that had been with the plumber that probably everyone's forgotten about by now due to no screen time. They had all been requested to wear some semi-formal attire, and those who had none were provided some.
"Ah, yes, you all made it," Olaf said as he revealed himself from the shadows, "follow me."
The four vacationers followed Olaf to a hidden passage behind a waterfall that had some steps leading downward to a mysterious door. Olaf looked at everyone with a serious expression, before he opened the door.
[Now playing: Casino Delfino, Super Mario Sunshine]
What was beyond the door was not what any of the four had expected, but Michael was quite happy with it.
"A casino! It's been so long since I've gambled, since it's illegal in Japan," he said, walking right in. Luigi was preparing the next round of Black Jack, while Zack from Dead or Alive was making sure the slot machines worked. Layton was there, playing some roulette, but was missing his two detective students. Shinjiro was confused about the casino, while Xander and Peach walked right in to bid their bells.
"Why do you have an underground casino," Shinjiro asked Olaf. Olaf stroked his chin smugly.
"You see, I wanted to bring life to this island late at night. But Satoshi didn't allow a casino because it's illegal. So I made one underground and paid a great deal to those who work here."
"I see…" Shinjiro walked in with Olaf walking beside him and still speaking.
"Casinos bring a rush of excitement to the hearts of those who play. Many lose, few win. But the thrill is what makes people thrive to play, and the jackpot is like the big cherry on top."
"I'm pretty sure people gamble for the money, not the thrill," Shinji said, annoying Olaf.
"You wouldn't know if you've never gambled," He said, departing from Shinjiro. And from 12 AM to 3 AM, everyone in the casino gambled, hollered, and had fun. Though, the whole thing seemed really shady to Shinji. Like, why was Olaf having a hidden casino on Kamoshida island? And why was he trusted by the same anteater to not give away his secret? And that bunny saying she wanted the vacationers to stay here forever- what did she mean by that?
Shinjiro was starting to feel suspicious of the island. But that was for another time.