It had been a few days since Shinjiro last saw Owen the Toad and his gang of thugs. The members of S.E.E.S. called him up to let him know they were all going to Europe and to take good care of the dog, since they didn't bother to invite Shinjiro to Europe (how rude).

Not like Shinji wanted to go, though, since he had been shot in the leg and refused to go to the hospital. Instead, Dr. Mario had to come by the dorms to do his stuff, and told Shinjiro not to walk too much. Alas, Shinjiro didn't listen, and walked all over the dorms for his daily life.

[Now playing: Iwatodai Dorms, Persona 3]

Koromaru was currently sitting next to Shinjiro on the couch, the two of them watching Hell's Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay. Sayaka was watching Gordon Ramsay's new TikTok on her phone beside the dog. Suddenly, the program on the TV was forced to change to the news due to urgency.

"Damnit," Shinjiro cussed, worrying poor Koromaru. The news was reporting a bank robbery, but since there was nothing better to watch on TV, Shinji watched it, but he wasn't happy about it.

On the TV, it showed a sexy woman who was thicc and had a mask similar to that fat fucker Jack. Then, there was in fact… the fat Shy Guy himself; Jack. Shinjiro's attention was caught as he saw the other members of Owen's measly gang, then saw them kill police officers as they got into their van and drove off. A maniacal semi-bald man in deadbeat clothes was driving the car and laughing insanely. Shinjiro recognized that man as one of his collegues's friends- er, acquaintances... Trevor Phillips.

"What a crackhead," Shinjiro grumbled to himself.

"Don't say things like that," Sayaka spoke up, "Koromaru doesn't like it."

Koromaru whimpered sadly to convey this feeling as well. Shinjiro sighed and looked at the dog.

"Sorry, Koromaru," Shinjiro said to him. The dog was then happy as ever, and ran off to the kitchen for more food.

"You know, they still have my wallet," Sayaka said after a bit of silence. Shinjiro looked at her, then away. The whole reason they went back to that place was to get the wallet, and they couldn't even successfully do that.

"Sorry, I got shot."

"It's fine, I wasn't blaming you."

Shinjiro started to get up from the couch, but groaned in pain due to the injury.

"Hey, sit back down- You know what the doctor said!"

"I don't give two shits about what the doc said." Shinjiro then opened up an orange prescription container that Mario gave him and popped one of the pills into his mouth. Sayaka just watched. It was unsettling at how natural that seemed to be for the man.

From there, the day panned out as any other day had- Shinjiro got up, left the dorms for hours, and then returned at night when Sayaka and Koromaru were asleep on the couch in the recreation room. He looked at the pair, before heading to his room and probably going to sleep.

[Now playing: Desire, Persona 5]

It was a few hours later, maybe around 3 AM, that the sound of the doors busting open down stairs and the yelling of three people alerted Shinjiro. Koromaru started barking madly, There were then gunshot sounds, and Shinjiro hurried out of his room and down the steps. When he got there, there was a white lump on the floor in a growing puddle of blood, and across from it, was the same green toad from the days prior.

"Koromaru," Shinjiro yelled as he rushed to the dog's side.

Koromaru whimpered, using all of his energy to look at the usually brooding man. It was weird to see Shinjiro in distress, even if he was mostly keeping himself composed. Koromaru was smarter than that.

Owen started to run out of the building, but Shinjiro broke out into full sprint to go after him. Maybe if Owen hadn't shot Shinjiro a few days ago, he would've caught him. But no, the pain was still too great, even with painkillers. He collapsed at the doorway, watching Owen escape in a black van; like the ones you see kidnappers use. Shinjiro stared at its initial location for a while, after realizing that Sayaka was no longer in the dorms.

"Those fuckers-" Shinjiro cussed through his teeth. He had regained the strength to get up, then called up his good ol' pal…

"Hello," a groggy middle aged man's voice answered on the other end of the phone.

"Michael, it's Shinjiro."

"Ah, Shinjiro Aragaki," Michael's voice was much more awake upon knowing who it was, "why the fuck you callin' at like, 3 AM? Can't me and my family have some peace? After all, we had to relocate from Los Santos to this piss shit island."

"My dog is dead, some hot chick that lives in my dorms was kidnapped, can't a man ask for some help?"

"Alright, alright, I'll help you out. Gimme like, thirty minutes-"

"You got ten," Shinjiro said. He wasn't in the mood to play around.

"Sheesh," Michael said, clearing his throat some, "I'll be there in ten."

By the time Michael arrived, there were medics at the scene. An angelic woman with a big staff was trying to revive the dead dog on the ground. Michael took a puff of his cigar and muttered, "holy shit."

[Now playing: Tension, Persona 5]

Two detectives stood by Shinjiro, pestering him with questions about the incident. One was a young man in his late teens in a grey coat and black dress pants, with long brown hair. The other was a woman, but she looked more like a man, dressed in a blue coat and blue and green plaid pants, with a blue hat on top of her blue hair.

"Sir, it is really important that you tell us everything you saw," the male detective spoke.

"I told you, it was all pretty hazy," Shinjiro spoke to them.

"Try to recollect anything. It could seriously help us in finding the criminals who killed your dog and stole your girlfriend," the woman detective spoke. Shinjiro wasn't given the chance to correct her for falsely calling Sayaka his girlfriend, since they were just two people who shared one thing in common: a hate for Owen.

After a few more minutes of Shinjiro stalling, in hopes that the detectives would piss off, they finally left.

[Now Playing: Iwatodai Dorm, Persona 3]

"Detective Naoto and Akechi are such hardasses," Michael spoke up, handing Shinjiro a cigar from an expensive looking box. Shinjiro looked at the cigar blankly, then at Michael.

"You know I don't smoke."

Michael grumpily took the cigar back, but really was thankful to keep another, since these were expensive.

"So, you called. What do you need?"

"We need to find Owen and his gang," Shinjiro looked over at Koromaru, who was finally starting to wake up after being resurrected from the dead. The angelic doctor then approached Shinjiro and Michael.

"Koromaru is going to have to come to the hospital so I can monitor is no guarantee he will still be able to live, so I want to make sure that he's alright before letting him stay here."

"Thanks Dr. Ziegler," Shinjiro waved her off as she took Koromaru to her paramedics truck.

"Anyways," Shinjiro returned to speaking with Michael, "You're the master of heists. I'm sure with your help, we can find a team of people who can take down Owen with me, yeah?"

"Well… I may know a few people," DeSanta said uneasy, "but they're not exactly the most stable."

"Who are they?"

"They call themselves the Phantom Thieves," Michael showed Shinjiro a photo of their logo.

"Their leader is a criminal, he almost killed a man."

"You retard," Shinjiro scoffed, "that was fake news. Ren Amamiya isn't insane, and neither are his friends."

"Oh… well, anyways, I have connections with two of them," Michael pointed at two females; one with orange poofy hair, and the other with short brown hair.

"Niijima and Okumura."

Shinjiro tilted his head and crossed his arms as he looked at the photos of Haru and Makoto. He looked unimpressed by Michael's decision, but said, "well, alright. Let's get in touch with them."

Michael nodded and said, "I'll make the call."

[Now Playing: Paulownia Mall -In the Labyrinth-, Persona Q]

The next morning, around 11 AM, The two men went to a cafe called Cafe LeBlanc. This was where they would meet the girls that Michael chose. They stepped in, and saw a middle aged man working the coffee bar. He grunted as he saw them.

"Need anything," he asked the two.

"We're just waiting for some people," Shinjiro spoke up.

"Well, I'll get you two some coffee for the wait."

The man then went and poured them two cups of coffee as they sat at the counter. Shinjiro looked at the man's name tag: Sojiro Sakura.

"Thanks, sir," Michael said, as he took a swig of his hot coffee, yelling, "FUCK," when he burned his mouth on it. Shinjiro couldn't help but chuckle at Michael's stupidity.
Michael glared at Shinjiro, then took note of his winter clothes when it was the dead of summer.

"How can you even wear that shit in the middle of summer? It's hot and humid out all the time."

Shinjiro looked down at his clothes, then shrugged.

"I'm not dyin'."

Then, the door opened and the creak alerted the two. Two girls entered, one wearing a white dress blouse and leggings, while the other was wearing a black red and white plaid skirt, and purple sleeveless turtleneck. They fit the physical appearance of the girls Michael showed him. Shinjiro raised a brow and spoke up.

"Are you two Haru Okumura and Makoto Niijima?"

"Yes, we are," Makoto responded, placing her hand on her hip, "You must be Shinjiro Aragaki. We heard about your quarrel with Owen. I have the dissatisfaction of encountering him and his friends as well."

"Yes, it's horrible. My father says never to go near them," Haru added.

"So… will you two help me get back what's mine," Shinjiro asked.

Will Haru and Makoto team up with Michael and Shinjiro? Find out in the third installment of Shinjiro vs Owen.