A/N: Apologies for the long delay. I've recently gotten into 'The Promised Neverland' and it caused my muse for my fanfictions to dwindle a little bit, especially because I've been going back and forth between the manga and the anime. But here I am with the long awaited update for this one. I was generally surprised that this fanfiction was still getting a lot of attention even though I didn't update as quickly as I hoped I would, so thank you to everyone who favourited, followed, reviewed and read it. Your support is greatly appreciated. Depending on how things go, updates might be delayed. I'll have to see how my muse goes. I'll admit, though, I enjoyed writing the beginning part of this chapter, because it got me wondering how Justine and Caroline would cope on human transport. XD As far as I'm aware, I don't think the beings of the Velvet Room are familiar with them, so... yeah.

To PowerRangersOfLight: Admittedly, I've always been fascinated with the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins. Although they're generally viewed as a bad thing by society, we can't avoid the fact that the emotions we feel in connection to them are common and unavoidable. On a minor scale, I'd say sins aren't necessarily bad, but I suppose it depends on the person and how they're influenced by them. Also, since Yaldabaoth technically meddled with the world under the pact made between him and Ren, it got me wondering if his power would somehow influence it unintentionally as a result. Which leads us to this fanfic... XD But thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it. ^^'

Chapter 8: Two Girls and a Sinner

By the time Justine and Caroline had made their run away from the alleyway and returned to the station, they'd managed to catch sight of Verity heading down a set of stairs towards the platform that would return her to Yongen-Yaya. Unbeknownst to them, Verity had hung on from heading straight to the platform after checking the times and noticing she still had a little bit of a wait yet, prompting her to use the opportunity to take a little break before she tried to haul herself home. Essentially the pair of them had gotten lucky, considering they'd never entered or been aware of how train stations in the real world worked aside from what they'd seen in Mementos. But that gave them all the more reason to hurry and catch her.

"There she is! Let's go!" Caroline yelled, prompting her and Justine to continue running forward through the crowds of people who passed them by and continually got in their way.

For all their speed, the twins found themselves having to dart in between gaps left in the swarms of people as they made their way towards the stairs, putting their battle techniques into good use through occasional dodging and ducking when it was necessary. Caroline was the first to free herself of the crowd after darting in between two businessmen walking behind each other, gritting her teeth and running down the stairs seconds before Justine managed to join her from behind after ducking under one woman's arm.

'Come on! We can't lose her now!'

'I welcome you both to try to unlock it if you want. But there's little you can do. In the real world, you're both powerless.'

Caroline shook her head and growled at the Trickster's words from earlier returning to her memory, prompting her to pick up the pace in her running as she and Justine neared the bottom of the stairs.

'We'll show that inmate who's powerless!'

As Justine and Caroline came to a dead stop at the bottom of the stairs, their immediate reaction was to scour the backs of the crowds of people who were standing at the front of the platform, with the pair literally arriving as the train had pulled up and was slowing down to a complete halt. Caroline focused on the left side whilst Justine focused on the right, their lone eyes attempting to locate the blonde hair and green jacket they'd seen Verity initially wearing as quickly as possible.

'Come on! Where is she?! We can't lose her now! Not after coming so far!'

However, it was only when the doors to the train opened and the crowds started pushing forward inside the carriages that Justine found herself gaping, her gaze locking with Verity standing at the back of one of the crowds in front of the closest door to them.

"Caroline! There!"

Caroline followed Justine's gaze and finger when she raised her free hand to point Verity out, sighting her when the crowd were all almost inside of the carriage. Reacting on impulse, Caroline grabbed Justine's wrist and pulled her forward, making a dash for the train and causing Justine to gasp in surprise when she was caught off guard. The pair had been hoping to avoid this, but there was obviously no time for hesitating now. They were getting on the train and following her away from Shibuya.

Just as the last person had entered the carriage and the doors started closing, Caroline and Justine managed to cross the threshold and avoided getting stuck in the doors by mere seconds. The pair stumbled a little due to lack of balance, but regained their footing once the doors had closed completely, leaving them to take a moment to catch their breath through huffs. The pair briefly took note of how cramped the train carriage appeared, due to a quick glance at the hordes of people currently surrounding them and standing quite close together. It made it all the more difficult for them to try to find Verity through the masses, especially because their current stature certainly didn't help when it came to the amount of adults around them…

"That's- That's the fastest I've ever seen you r-run, C-Caroline. I-I could barely keep up."

"W-Well-" Caroline was briefly interrupted by a cough. "-I didn't have much of a choice…! If we let her slip through our fingers now, humanity will never be saved!"

Justine briefly raised her head to scour the people currently standing in front of them, her brow furrowing in thought.

"We have her cornered on this train. All that's left is for us to find her in the carriage before-"

Justine was cut off by the slow movement of the train starting to go forward, causing them to stumble around again as it began to pick up speed. Caroline's initial instinct was to reach out and grab the back of Justine's shirt to steady herself, with the latter instead opting to spread her legs apart and place her free hand to the closest wall of the train for balance, her other arm keeping her clipboard secured under her arm. Their reactions were only natural, since they had never actually been on a moving train. At most, they'd only ever seen them in Mementos.

"Why does everything have to get harder when we start making progress?!" Caroline yelled in anger, still holding onto the back of Justine's clothes even though the two had succeeded in regaining balance.

She knew she was fine to do so. These humans couldn't hear or see them. And even if they could, there was too much noise coming from the moving carriage and the chatter amongst small groups for her voice to be overheard.

"This isn't the time to vent your frustrations, Caroline," Justine responded calmly, briefly glancing back at the malicious girl before returning her gaze ahead. "We're just going to have to make do for now. The human needs to be found before she gets off the train. And we don't know how long that is."

Caroline huffed and allowed her shoulders to slump.

"Fine. You lead the way then, Justine."

Giving a brief nod towards Caroline, Justine eventually started her slow walk through the carriage and crowds of people, taking it one step at a time and keeping her hand flat against the wall as she did so. Caroline followed behind her, still gripping tightly onto her clothes as the pair moved their gazes around the crowded carriage.

In their brief moment of silence, Justine found her thoughts once again flitting back to her earlier conversation in front of the door to the Velvet Room, recalling Caroline's comments on Verity's possession of the key and the fact her Persona was named after a sin. It made Justine wonder…

'How did she know the name's translation was connected to a sin?'

From the moment the pair had encountered Verity for the first time, Justine had struck her as rather peculiar. The personality she awoke with her Persona completely contrasted the one she had originally displayed upon first meeting them; as was expected with every Persona user. But the way she'd spoken and stood up to those shadows, along with the anger and determination lighting her eyes…

'She was just like the Inmate when he stood against us on the day we nearly executed him. She shares his courage and determination.'

Justine's brow furrowed as she finally brought herself to a stop somewhere in the middle of the carriage, her gaze wandering towards a crowd of people situated close to one of the doors to their left.

'I wonder… Is that why our master chose her? Or is there another force at work?'

Multiple tugs on the back of her shirt brought Justine out of her train of thought, prompting her to glance back at Caroline as she pointed a finger towards the crowd in front of the doors.

"Justine! I see her!"

Justine blinked in surprise and followed where the girl was pointing, finding her gaze immediately locking with the familiar back of a dark green jacket and head of blonde hair. It was Verity, and she was stood close to where the crowd were gathered and looking down at her phone in her one hand. The other was holding onto a nearby pole used to support one of the sets of seats close by.

"Come on!"

Caroline spoke and moved before Justine had a chance to process what was going on, leaving her widening her eye and speaking up just as Caroline let her go and started heading in Verity's direction.

"Wait, Caroline-"

Justine was interrupted by the train carriage rocking a little just as Caroline had found a gap to slip through between two young girls close to where Verity was standing. The sudden movement took Caroline by surprise, and before she and Justine knew it the warden was crying out and stumbling forward at losing her balance. Justine was left cringing as she watched Caroline end up falling into Verity's back just as she put her phone in her pocket, causing the latter to stiffen in shock and glance behind her with a confused blink and quiet gasp.

Out of instinct, Caroline found herself wrapping her arms around the biologically older girl's waist for support before she fell to the floor, her lone eye closing tight as Verity's gaze locked with her small stature and forced her mouth closed to cut off her startled reaction.

"I think my life just flashed before my eyes…!"

Justine remained still and silent meanwhile, watching as Verity's eyes widened in alarm and she looked away to glance around the cramped carriage. Thankfully, it appeared that everyone else was too occupied to have noticed Verity's predicament. So, by the time Verity locked eyes with Justine on the other side of the carriage, she was quick to turn her head away and face forward again, leaving Caroline be and acting like nothing had happened.

Justine raised a brow out of surprise, noting how calm Verity had remained and how quickly she'd managed to collect herself despite the shock she must have had at seeing them.

'Intriguing. She has paid close attention to our advice and warnings, after all.'

It wasn't long before Justine took notice of Verity slowly raising her left hand close to her jacket pocket and moving her index finger back and forth, as if in a beckoning motion. It was obvious to Justine that Verity was trying to communicate with her in a discreet manner to avoid unwanted and unnecessary attention, prompting her to slowly move her hand away from the wall and make her way towards her down the same path Caroline had taken earlier.

With Caroline still gripping at her waist for dear life, Verity took her phone out of her pocket again and started to unlock it by the time Justine came to her side, leaving the latter to watch as she began to type something as fast as she could with her thumb. At first, Justine was left tilting her head in confusion at her actions, but that was quickly dispelled when Verity finished typing and moved her phone close to her so she could see the screen.

Justine ended up seeing the following message Verity had typed up in the notes section of the phone:

'Hold on to my jacket until the train stops. When I get off at the next stop, we'll talk then.'

Justine turned her gaze away to stare at Verity, giving her a nod of understanding which allowed the blonde to lock her phone and return it to her pocket. As the quiet warden followed the instructions given and gripped at the side of Verity's jacket with her lone hand, she continued to stare at her even after she'd turned away to look elsewhere. She was surprised to find Verity was being so co-operative in this situation and choosing to hear them out. It caused her brow to furrow in thought.

'This human… She has a kind heart.' Justine paused to close her eye. 'Perhaps she is more like the inmate than I originally thought.'

16th April 20XX [Afternoon]

Caroline's and Justine's unexpected appearances on my train back to Yongen-Yaya had certainly startled, shocked, and confused me all in one go. But I remembered them warning me of the fact I was the only one who could see them, forcing me to react quickly to avoid any unnecessary trouble. After all, to quote Caroline, the last thing I wanted to do was make myself look like a 'crazy person'. So, I allowed Justine and Caroline to hold on to me during the rest of the train ride, refusing to make eye contact with them or speak out loud. But when the train finally pulled into Yongen-Yaya's station, I acted as normally as I could.

I walked out of the train and onto the platform the moment the doors opened, keeping my hands in the pockets of my jacket and pretending there currently weren't two little girls in uniforms walking with me. Caroline, during this time, had released her tight hold around my waist, but had decided to instead walk on my right side with a hand gripping at my sleeve. Justine had copied her, but was walking on my left side and holding onto my left sleeve as we moved through the crowds of people to get out of the station. Neither of the two had spoken since they'd joined me on the train, probably choosing to keep quiet to allow me to focus on acting normal without distractions.

I wasn't exactly sure why the twins were doing this now that we were off the train; however, I suspected it had something to do with their child-like statures and behaviour. They spoke like they were older and wiser than they looked, and yet displayed mannerisms that matched their appearances.

I dared to quickly glance between the twins as we continued our walk away from the crowds, recalling our last few conversations when encountering one another in that 'Velvet Room', as they'd called it.

'The pair of them looked and sounded quite knowledgeable on those two other places we were in. But it looks like a different story for them and my world… Maybe they're like me in that they come from this 'Metaverse' place, but can cross over to here just as I can cross over to that world. They're probably strangers to the workings of Tokyo as much as I am to somewhere like the 'Depths of Mementos' or the 'Velvet Room'.'

It did explain why the two of them were clinging to me like a pair of lost children. They probably had no idea where they were, and thought to seek me out because I was a familiar face and knew my way around a little better than they did. But that sudden thought had me frowning.

'But wait… Didn't they say they were going to go back to that strange door because I'd unlocked it for them?'

My internal question had me glancing around as we finally started to walk into Yongen-Yaya. There didn't appear to be a lot of people around now, making me wonder if I could briefly stop somewhere around here without heading straight home.

'Mom and Yuuma will be there. They could overhear me at any time. It's too risky. So before we go any further with this, I need Justine and Caroline to at least give me a brief explanation on the situation somewhere quiet. I mean, there has to be a reason why they came back to look for me, right? Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered.'

I came to a stop beside the alleyway where the public bath and laundromat were located, my head turning towards the latter when I couldn't hear any washing machines that were turned on. It didn't sound like anyone was in there, which was perfect for my situation. I could see Justine and Caroline staring up at me from the corners of my eyes for a moment, which continued even when I started walking again into the alleyway.

'The laundromat is secluded. And because there's only one way to get to it, it'll make watching out for people approaching easier. Whether it be from the street or the bathhouse.'

Getting closer to the laundromat confirmed there was no one standing or sitting around inside, prompting me to finally speak up in what had felt like hours to finally address the twins once we'd stepped across the threshold.

"… You know you both didn't have to hold on to me the whole way here, right?"

"I beg to differ!" I glanced towards Caroline as she and Justine finally let me go and moved to stand in front of me, scowling and placing her hands to her hips. "Do you know how hard it was for us to find you?!"

I smiled in amusement. "No. But based on how you were hugging me for dear life earlier, I can probably imagine it…~"

I watched Caroline's eye briefly widen, only for her to turn her head away from me when her cheeks flushed a bright red out of embarrassment with a low growl.

"Don't mock me, intruder!"

'Still refusing to call me by my name, huh?'

My smile dropped as I chose to ignore the remark, raising a brow in confusion as I focused my gaze on Justine. She was the more rational and calm of the two, so I figured I probably had more of a chance getting information out of her than her 'twin'.

"But why were you looking for me? You two said you were going to return to that door and that you didn't need my help anymore."

Justine's eye drooped at my response, her gaze locking with the floor as she raised a hand to pull the front of her cap over her face.

"We were gravely mistaken," she said in a quiet voice, her tone and actions betraying the shame it sounded like she was probably feeling right now. "It would seem we need further assistance and aid from you, as shameful as it is to say it."

I blinked in surprise at this.

"You need my help? Why?"

"Because the door to the Velvet Room apparently has seven locks…" Caroline grumbled, folding her arms and turning her gaze to me with a scowl, prompting my eyes to widen for a moment.

"Seven locks? Are you talking about those other six indents on the door that we couldn't see?"

"Indeed she is," Justine responded, with Caroline growling in annoyance before continuing.

"The inmate got there before we did and activated the remaining six so we couldn't get back in. We came looking for you to get the six keys to unlock it, but we ended up chasing you instead!"

My reaction was delayed by a few seconds, but when Caroline's words finally processed I ended up leaning back a bit out of confusion.

"… Wait, what?"

Caroline's scowl deepened. "What part of that didn't you understand?!"

I blinked in confusion and placed a hand to the back of my neck.

"Ah… Most of it. But specifically, the 'inmate' part-"

"Forget about the inmate!" I flinched and briefly closed an eye when Caroline raised her voice at me, my gaze briefly following her finger when she pointed it towards my bracelet on my visible hand. "You have the key to the first lock! That means you must have the rest!"

"…"

I stared at Justine and Caroline in silence, my lack of a response prompting Justine and Caroline to look at one another with a blink before Caroline spoke again, clearly impatient.

"Well? You have the rest, don't you?"

I could understand why Caroline and Justine had come to such a conclusion based on everything that had happened so far. But eventually I dashed their hopes and lifted the wrist with the bracelet on it for them to see clearly.

"… I don't." Watching Justine's and Caroline's eyes widen in shock at this, I continued for their sake. "I only own this one. And it was given to me as a gift. Even though I use the term 'gift' very loosely… It was just a coincidence that this charm also happened to double as a 'key' to your door."

It was Justine's and Caroline's turn to fall silent as they both stared at me in disbelief, unable to say anything at first. But eventually Caroline took the initiative to speak again, her tone betraying her disbelief.

"So… you don't have the other six keys?"

All I could do was hold my arms out and shrug, shaking my head to further prove my point.

"Um… Sorry?"

"…"

Silence fell in between us once more as Caroline and I continued to stare at one another, with me waiting to see if she was going to ask anything else or claim I was trying to trick her. However, she ended up being the one who broke eye contact first with the lowering of her head. I couldn't see her eye past her hat, but I could bet it showed her annoyance at the situation. Justine watched Caroline with a furrowed brow, clearly worried about what was probably going on in her head right now.

"A dead end, huh?" Caroline let out a bitter chuckle, slowly shaking her head in dismay as she grabbed the front of her cap with a hand and did what Justine had done earlier, pulling it down to hide her face. "Ha. Maybe the inmate was right. Maybe we really are powerless…"

I frowned in confusion at the statement, but Justine distracted me when she focused her gaze back in my direction.

"I have to disagree with you, Caroline."

Caroline raised her head and turned to Justine with a surprised blink.

"Huh?"

But Justine didn't respond to Caroline after that. Instead she took a few steps towards me, adjusting her clipboard slightly so that it was secured under her arm as she stopped in front of me.

"You said you 'only own this one', correct?" I nodded to confirm she was right. "So, you're implying that there are other charms like yours, and you're aware of them?"

"Yeah." I turned my gaze away to my bracelet as Justine frowned in thought. "They come from a jewellery set that follows the theme of the 'Seven Deadly Sins', from what I was able to find out on the internet. They're named after their Latin translations and are really expensive to get. They're only available in my native country, though. You can't get them anywhere else."

I watched Justine's eye widen in realisation when I turned my gaze back to her, prompting me to frown in confusion even when she spoke.

"Ira… That's why you knew the translation."

"Excuse me?"

Justine didn't answer me. Instead she chose to turn to Caroline stood behind her, walking over towards her.

"Caroline, a word?"

Caroline frowned for a moment, but once Justine had moved past her towards the other end of the laundromat she was quick to follow her without question. I stayed silent and placed my hands to my hips as I watched the pair of them talk to each other in whispers, unable to hear them from where I was stood. I didn't want to eavesdrop on them (as curious as I was about the whole thing), and instead chose to stick to my thoughts and go over what they'd already told me.

'So, if I've got their story straight from what they've told me… this 'inmate' has apparently locked them out of the Velvet Room, and they came looking for me because they thought I had the remaining keys needed to open it…' I turned my gaze down to my bracelet, my brow furrowing in thought. 'Hm… I was wondering why those other indents were hidden. That 'inmate' must have activated them as a security measure of some sort. He obviously doesn't want these two getting back in there…'

I paused to focus my gaze on Justine and Caroline, who were still whispering away to each other and with their backs to me. I couldn't see how they were reacting outwardly, but Caroline's occasional arm waving clued me in on the idea that she wasn't very happy with what was being discussed…

'I can understand why they came to me. But what do they expect me to do? There's clearly more to this than what they're telling me. And then there's this 'inmate' they keep talking about, and who seems to be the one messing with them. It's hard to believe going through that door would have dragged me into such a mess…'

'Oh? How can you be so sure of that?'

My eyes widened when I heard the familiar voice of my Persona speak inside my head, my hand reaching for my forehead out of instinct.

'… Ira? You can talk to me even like this?'

'Of course. I am part of 'you', remember? I go wherever you go, even outside of the Metaverse.'

There was a brief pause before she continued, since I didn't feel the need to respond. I kinda got the gist at this point.

'Didn't they tell you at the station that you weren't the first Persona user they've had to deal with? That sounds like your experiences today are more common than you might think.'

'Wait… Are you trying to say that me awakening to a 'Persona' had something to do with this?'

'Not just that. Try thinking back over the things you've seen and the things they've told you in your previous conversations. You might gleam some information that will put you on the right path to understanding everything.'

I lowered my hand to my chin upon deciding to heed Ira's words, thinking back to earlier today when I'd entered the Velvet Room and first encountered them.

'There was that clipboard I found that belonged to Justine. It had something called a 'Persona Compendium' on it, and a list of ten names I wasn't sure of.'

I recalled the moment when Caroline and Justine had first spoken to me, the pair of them trying to interrogate me on my appearance into the room in the first place.

'Hey! We're the ones who should be asking the questions here!'

'I agree. This place exists for the purpose of our master. You're not supposed to be here.'

And that led me to remember the moment Caroline started panicking when I refused to tell them about the lock mechanism on the door in Shibuya…

'Look. We don't have time for this! We need to know how to get out of here before he comes back!'

And then their conversation when we encountered the lock mechanism for a second time…

'… How peculiar. I don't ever recall our master using something like this.'

'It has to be the work of that false god, right?'

'It has to be. From the beginning of his rehabilitation, the inmate was provided his abilities through him. I do not doubt he has granted him further power to aid in his endeavours…'

From there, I found myself recalling a lot of the things they'd mentioned to me, such as the 'Depths of Mementos', the 'Metaverse Navigator', the 'Shadows', and so on. And even though I wasn't sure on what any of it meant, I knew they were all connected. And that was more than enough for my mouth to drop open when I came to a sudden realisation.

'The inmate they're speaking of… Could he be a 'Persona user' as well?'

I heard Ira chuckle in amusement.

'You've finally caught on, have you? From what they've said, it sounds like he can travel between the Metaverse and this world, doesn't it? Just like you with that Metaverse Navigator.' My eyes turned to my jacket pockets as she went on. 'There's also the fact that the two of you appear to possess the same key… Don't you think that's a little suspicious, hm?'

I placed a hand to my chest.

'I think I see where you're going with this. You're suggesting that they've come to me because I appear to be on par with this other Persona user, aren't you?'

'Indeed. You should probably take this opportunity to get answers out of them.'

'I agree. I was hoping after parting ways at the station that this would be the end of it. But if they've come after me now, then that must mean this won't be the last time I get involved in their mess. I need to know what I'm getting myself into.'

'I'll leave the rest to you, in that case. You sound like you know what you're doing now~.'

"Hey!"

I flinched and turned towards Caroline and Justine when I heard the former yell in my direction, being pulled from my thoughts just in time to see the pair of them standing before me.

"We want to make another deal with you, intruder," Caroline said with a grumble, clearly not sounding happy at whatever was about to come next.

I folded my arms across my front and decided not to say anything, prompting Justine to take over from Caroline as she raised her clipboard a little.

"As we currently are, we cannot return to the Metaverse without access to the door of the Velvet Room. And since you appear to hold knowledge and abilities that are on par with the inmate-"

"You're requesting my aid in unlocking the door again, right?" I interrupted Justine before she had a chance to finish her sentence, causing her to blink in surprise and Caroline to scowl.

"Pha. Someone's gained a sudden surge of confidence, haven't they?" I scowled at Caroline's words. "But yes. You're correct."

"And what do I get in return for helping you?"

Justine and Caroline both blinked at my response, exchanging glances out of confusion.

"Um..." Caroline said out of hesitation, her brow furrowing. "What would she get in return?"

Justine shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not sure." She paused to turn her gaze to me. "Perhaps we should ask her, as presumptuous as it is."

"Fine," Caroline agreed, frowning at me in disapproval. "Intruder, what would you like in return for unlocking the door?"

I blinked in surprise at the fact they'd chosen to ask me the question anyway, but I immediately knew what to say as a response.

"… Answers."

Justine and Caroline both blinked in confusion, prompting me to place my hands to my hips and bend forward slightly to get closer to their level.

"I'm not a horrible person by nature. Despite how bizarre and confusing this whole mess is, it would be cruel of me to turn a blind eye when you clearly have no one else to turn to for help. So, I'll agree to help you find the missing keys and unlock the door under one condition…"

When Justine and Caroline frowned out of caution at my words, I responded with a frown of my own to prove I was being serious.

"Tell me everything you know about the situation I'm getting myself into."

Justine's and Caroline's eyes briefly widened, but Caroline was the quicker of the pair to regain their composure and narrow her eye my way.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," was my response, prompting me to pause so I could straighten my posture. "I know you haven't been telling me everything, and I can guess that's because you didn't think you were going to need my help after you escaped those cells, right?"

Caroline said nothing, choosing to stay quiet and continue to stare at me with her narrowed eye alongside Justine, who eventually copied her twin's expression. Taking that as my cue to elaborate a little further, I moved my hands to the pockets of my jacket and smiled in amusement. I wasn't usually like this, but I suspected awakening to my Persona may have caused a newfound sense of confidence I didn't realise I had.

"What's with those looks? You're acting like I'm the bad guy here." I closed my eyes and shrugged my shoulders. "I'm just going off what I've heard you say between me and yourselves. And based on what I've heard, it sounds like this 'inmate' fella is like me. Which is bad… isn't it?"

I opened my eyes when Justine let out a quiet gasp and watched her cover her mouth with a gloved hand, prompting me to tilt my head to the side in confusion.

"I'm not stupid. I've heard bits of your private discussions here and there, one of which occurred right before we left that 'Velvet Room'. Didn't you mention something about the inmate receiving his powers from a 'false god'?"

Caroline pointed an accusing finger my way.

"It's rude to eavesdrop!"

"You two were the ones talking out loud. Don't blame me for this."

Caroline let out a low growl and turned her head away at that, with Justine placing a hand under her chin and giving me a quick glance up and down.

"How perceptive. I don't usually give praise, but your display of observation and common sense despite your lack of understanding and knowledge of the Metaverse is certainly impressive."

"What can I say? This is what happens when you're an outcast to society."

Justine raised a brow at my remark, but chose not to respond. Instead she turned to Caroline as she mumbled something inaudible under her breath. With a sigh and the shake of the head, I eventually chose to speak again when neither of the two girls took the lead themselves.

"Look. I'm not going to beat around the bush. It's obvious that neither me or this 'inmate' are supposed to have these abilities in the first place. And yet somehow they're tying me to this mess you're apparently in." I removed a hand from one of my pockets and placed it to my chest. "I'm all for helping you if you think I can, because I have a gut feeling this problem isn't going to go away on its own... But in return I should at least have an idea of what I'm getting myself into. I do have a life of my own in this world, you know. I need to be mindful of the fact that helping you two isn't going to get me into serious trouble with anybody else."

"…"

Caroline frowned and turned her gaze to Justine beside her when she appeared to be unable to think of a retort, placing a hand to her hip.

"What do you think, Justine?"

Justine remained silent at first, choosing instead to observe me in silence whilst she contemplated the issue. Personally, I didn't think my end of the deal was a bad one. If I was supposed to be going into this, I should be told the backstory behind this whole mess, right?

"… It pains me to say this, but she's right." Caroline's eye widened at Justine's response, with the latter closing hers and lowering her head a little. "We know from experience what it's like to blindly follow orders and not confirm our doubts when we have them."

I saw Caroline's back stiffen at this as Justine raised her head and opened her eye to look my way, holding out her free hand towards me.

"This human has offered her aid to us without knowing the true extent of the situation. If we were to deprive her of the information she needs to know, would that not make us as bad as the false god who did the same?"

Caroline's reaction was delayed, but after a few seconds the girl groaned loudly and closed her eye, balling her hands into fists at her sides.

"I hate when you're right…"

Justine showed no reaction as she returned her hand to her side, instead choosing to watch Caroline as she turned to face me with an annoyed scowl.

"Alright. We'll tell you everything. But when we do, you'd better not stab us in the back. No tricks."

I smiled in triumph, raising a finger of my own to trace a 'x' shape in the middle of my chest.

"I promise."

I briefly turned my gaze away and fell quiet when I heard footsteps approaching the alleyway, prompting me to move to the washing machines lined against the back wall to make it look like I was using the facilities whilst continuing to watch outside. Caroline and Justine stood quietly and watched along with me as an elderly man passed by on his way to the bathhouse, and at a rather slow pace to boot.

'I almost forgot we were technically talking in a public place. Depending on how long their explanation is going to take, talking out here for much longer won't do me any good. Especially since Mom and Yuuma are expecting me to return home any time now…'

Neither of us said a word until I was sure the man had gone inside the building, eventually allowing me to move back to where I had been previously stood.

"… Now's probably not a good time for us to be talking out in the open any more than we already have," I said, getting Justine's and Caroline's attention again. "Therefore, allow me to make another proposal."

The two girls frowned at me, but didn't say anything as I continued.

"You said you couldn't return to the Metaverse whilst that door was locked, didn't you?"

"We did," Justine answered with a nod.

"So… since the two of you don't have anywhere to go in the meantime, I'm more than happy to let you both stick with me. Just until we get a chance to actually sit down and discuss this properly without anybody overhearing. I will warn you, though, that it might not be for a while. Since I have school and other stuff to worry about."

The pair blinked in shock simultaneously at my offer, with Caroline being the first to recover and roll her eye at me.

"How generous of you, intruder."

My eyes drooped in dismay at her sarcasm.

"Really? You're still not going to use my name?"

Caroline smirked at me and reached a hand for something attached to the belt of her shorts, standing up a little straighter in a proud manner.

"We don't need to. You're not our 'prisoner', and we're not your 'wardens', but that doesn't mean we're on equal standing!"

I leaned back in surprise when Caroline brought her hand forward and pointed… a shock baton at me?

"This is just a temporary alliance and nothing more! So, get used to it!"

I wanted to question where she'd gotten a shock baton from, but quickly decided it wasn't a good idea. Although, given their supposed roles as 'wardens' as she'd put it (even if I didn't completely understand what she'd meant by that remark to begin with), I concluded it probably had something to do with that…

"Then could you at least call me something else?!"

"I must agree with her, Caroline," Justine finally said, turning to face the other girl with a calm blink. "Given we are no longer in the Velvet Room or the Metaverse, referring to her as 'intruder' sounds demeaning."

Caroline faced Justine with a raised brow.

"We still call the inmate 'inmate' and he's no longer a prisoner! How's this any different?"

Justine frowned in thought and turned to look at me once more, a finger raising to her chin.

"We never initially considered the inmate an 'ally' of ours during his rehabilitation. But this time is different. Although we don't consider her our equal, she isn't our prisoner, like you said. It's only fair we give her a title befitting of her role."

"Or you could just use my actual name…?" I replied, holding out my hands on either side of me in disbelief that this conversation was actually happening. "That's also an option!"

"You mean like something similar to 'Trickster' also being used for the inmate?" My shoulders slumped when Caroline asked the question and completely blanked me from the conversation, leaving me to watch Justine nod.

"Precisely."

Caroline suddenly had a wide grin appear on her face, followed by the clicking of her fingers as if she'd just realised something.

"I've got it!" She turned to face me with her free hand going to her waist. "You'll be the 'Sinner'!"

"…?!"

My mouth dropped open out of surprise for a few seconds, giving Justine time to smile in agreement with Caroline and respond before I could interject.

"Ah. Yes. That's very fitting."

"Wait, what?!" I finally found my words and cried out in objection. "Why 'sinner'?! That sounds even worse than 'intruder'!"

Caroline smirked in triumph and bent forward a little at the waist.

"Well, your Persona is named after a sin, and you have the key of 'wrath' on you!"

"It also loosely ties in with the fact you entered the Velvet Room without our master's permission, which technically counts as sinful behaviour in our eyes," Justine added.

"And didn't you say something about it being 'ironically fitting' for someone like you back in Mementos~?"

I frowned in disapproval at Caroline's remark.

"I was talking about the sin itself, not sins in general!"

I heard a whipping sound as Caroline stood up straight and moved her baton to point at me again, causing me to flinch and her smirk to remain on her face.

"Well, too bad! That's what we're calling you now!" Her smirk widened out of amusement at her next words. "Suck it up, sinner!"

I allowed my shoulders to slump in dismay as I glanced between a smirking Caroline and a smiling Justine, purposely choosing not to argue with them anymore. I knew it was pointless. These two obviously weren't going to change their minds anytime soon.

"… Whatever," I finally said with a huff, shaking my head and returning my hands to my pockets as I faced the entrance to the laundromat. "I don't have time to stand around and argue with you. Let's just get out of here before someone sees me."

I started to walk out into the alleyway once Caroline had returned her baton to her belt and the pair had taken their former positions on my right and left sides. They didn't grip at my sleeves this time, instead choosing to walk close to my sides as we exited the alleyway and headed in the direction of the residential area of Yongen-Yaya. However, compared to earlier, I could tell their demeanours had changed. Justine's stoic expression was there but her stance appeared straighter and prouder. And whereas Caroline had looked wary since leaving the station, she now wore a triumphant smile to replace it.

It was a strange sight to behold, but I couldn't help the brief smile that showed on my face as a result. I suppose part of me was happy to see the two of them in better spirits than before, and yet…

'… 'Sinner', huh?' I let out a quiet sigh as the three of us continued our way, keeping my gaze focused ahead to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. 'That'll take some getting used to…'