[Now playing: Iwatodai Dorms, Persona 3]

It had been a couple of days since Shinjiro had been in the dark alleys of Toad Town, and he finally returned to the Iwatodai Dorms, on Port Island. The members of S.E.E.S. hadn't seemed to notice Shinjiro's absence since they merely greeted him. Yukari, Mitsuru, Fuuka, and Aigis were all heading to the Beach, while Junpei, Akihiko, Ken, and Makoto were all heading to the mall to 'pick up the ladies'. This left Shinjiro alone, as per usual, with the dog. He looked down at the panting dog and sighed.

"Have you been fed," he asked, not expecting a real answer as he entered the kitchen to make Koromaru some food. He raided the fridge of all the meat- pork, beef, fish, anything really, and then put it on a cutting board. He went to the drawer to get a knife, which the used to cut the meat into squares, then put into a pan to cook it on the stove.

After about ten minutes of cooking, Shinjiro put the meat on a plate, and placed it in front of Koromaru. He ate the meat savagely, like a wild beast who just got its first meal in a long time. Though, both Shinjiro and Koromaru's attention was averted upon the loud swing of the front door and the loud "UGH, STUPID," that came from the person walking through the door.

The person was a young woman, no younger than sixteen. She wore a pair of black shorts, a black long sleeve shirt that was made out of light fabric, and a red ascot. Her hair was brown with a hue of maroon, similar to Shinjiro's coat, and she had red eyes with a hint of orange. She had a very strong gaze when looking at people, and it allowed her to convey emotion of all sorts. Shinjiro could tell from her eyes alone that she was raging pissed about something.

"Way to make an entrance," Shinjiro said flatly, "are you okay..?"

Koromaru ignored the girl, now that he recognized her as one of the newer members of S.E.E.S., Sayaka. Sayaka looked at Shinjiro, but her mood changed in no way; not even a crush could melt the anger within her right now.

"Am I okay… AM I OKAY," Sayaka practically yelled, "No, I am NOT okay! Some weird mushroom thing was trying to flirt with me! It was so weird!"

The basic description seemed familiar to Shinjiro- he had only seen a couple of mushroom boys, but one of them did not seem as weird as the other.

"Well, what did he want," Shinjiro asked.

"He wanted me to give him this weird thing called "P-candy", when I asked why, he got all anxious and started to cry," Sayaka complained.

"Ew," Shinjiro mumbled.

"Anyways, after he started crying, some big dude with a mask came out of the shadows. I thought I was gonna get murdered by him, so I ran! But I lost my wallet, I think they have it."

Shinjiro immediately headed out the door, passing Sayaka by with no words. He had a hunch about who this person was, and wanted to put the toad back in his place. Though, it seemed he wasn't going to be able to go alone, as Sayaka shouted, "WAIT," and followed after him.

"I wanna come with, I want to see that weird dude get what's comin' for him," Sayaka demanded. Shinjiro was in no position to say no to a rather pretty lady. So he just continued to walk to the station.

"The station is too slow, we gotta go by vehicle," Sayaka said to him as she walked by his side, "and luckily, Mitsuru is letting me borrow her bike."

[Now Playing: Time to Make History, Persona 4 Golden]

Shinjiro watched Sayaka scurry off, returning with Mitsuru's sick motorcycle.

"You can drive," Sayaka offered, to which Shinjiro nodded and got on the bike, Sayaka following suit. Then, the brooding driver zoomed off, with the radio playing Time to Make History from Persona 4 Golden on full blast because that's what was on the radio.

Within due time, Shinjiro and Sayaka arrived at the Electronics Store called Electra-nics. The logo had an image of a frizzy haired hyperactive girl with a grey dress and a large hammer. It seemed very weeby, but now wasn't the time to judge. Shinjiro parked the motorcycle and got off, Sayaka following his every footsteps. They walked away from the store, towards the very alleyway that Shinjiro had been in just two days ago. He didn't bother looking at his surroundings, but Sayaka had been unfamiliar with this part of the shady town.

"Uh, the mushroom dude wasn't over here when he was flirting with me," Sayaka said.

"If it is who I think it is, he'll be here," Shinjiro spoke, "then again, he was a little bitch last time I saw him."

"Damn, a bitch?"

"Yeah. Pussy started to cry when I told him his name was shit."

"That's rough."

Shinjiro looked at the alleyway once they arrived. It was in dark shadow, but unlike the girl beside him, he wasn't intimidated by it.

[Now Playing: Desire, Persona 5]

"Maybe we should… uh, just leave," Sayaka suggested, not wanting to go into the darkness of the alleyway. Shinjiro ignored her, and stepped forward towards the dark. Not wanting to be a little bitch herself, Sayaka followed him.

Eventually, the two came across the green Toad. Shinjiro grabbed him by the back of his vest, and held him by the collar. The toad screamed in fear as he dangled from the firm grip of Shinjiro's hand, sobbing like a baby.

"W-WHO'S THERE *sob* L-L-LET ME GO-"

"Didn't think you'd come back to this part of town, Owen," Shinjiro spoke. Owen's eyes opened as he sniffled, trying to compose himself.

"So, I heard you were simpin' over a hot chick," Shinjiro said to Owen, facing him towards Sayaka.

Sayaka looked angry at Shinjiro's comment, and spoke defensively, "do not call me that, that's rude!"

Ignoring her, Shinjiro asked Owen, "are you a simp, Owen?"

"NO," Owen cried, wiggling around in the air, flailing his arms.

"I beg to differ," Shinjiro threatened, "and I hate simps."

Just then, footsteps could be heard behind Shinji. Sayaka looked behind him, and saw a fat man dressed in a green robe with a weird mask on, as well as an equally as fat Yoshi beside him. Both were wielding baseball bats covered in nails.

"Shinjiro, look out," Sayaka shouted, pointing behind him. Shinjiro looked behind and saw the beings now, and dropped Owen on his bum. The toad cried and scurried to his friends, cowering behind them in fear.

"Didn't take you to be the type of guy to befriend thugs," Shinji commented.

"No one messes with Owen. He told us about you right after your meeting. Scared the shit right out of him," the fat guy spoke, beating the hammer in his hand in a menacing way. The yoshi did the same thing, but was silent.

"So the little bitch cried to mama," Shinji asked, his gaze never being anything less than unimpressed. This angered the yoshi.

"Jack! ATTACK," the dino like creature demanded.

"With pleasure."

Jack swung the bat at Shinjiro, but he easily dodged it by leaning back. He took a step back, and regretted not bringing his trusty double-sided axe that he used during the Dark Hour with him. Had he known that Owen had thugs for friends, he would've certainly brought a weapon. Sadly, he was going to have to improvise.

What no one expected was that Owen pulled out a gun from his vest and shot Shinjiro in the leg- all out of impulse. It was very unexpected, and Shinji yelled in pain, "SHIT," as he was falling to his knee like when his persona had tried to release itself from within him. He was bleeding from his leg, and Owen immediately began to sob again, out of fear.

"Holy shit! You just shot someone who had no means of protecting themselves," Sayaka shouted, "I should call the fucking police!"

Jack and the Yoshi watched as Owen ran off deeper into the alleyway sobbing, and quickly ran after him. Sayaka examined the injury that Shinjiro had received, but he insisted, "I'll be fine. If you run into that toad or his friends again, let me know. I fucking hate Simps."

From that day on, Owen the Toad had made an enemy out of Shinjiro. All because he simped on a girl.

Will Shinjiro ever catch the Toad and find out why he was simping on Sayaka?
Find out in the next installment.