The day finally ended, and I let out a quiet sigh of relief as I stood up.

"Late on your first day? We both know that the explanation Ishikawa-sensei gave was nonsense." It was the girl at the desk next to mine, the one with the beautiful red eyes. She had a disapproving expression on her face, and I flinched back, wincing as my hip hit my chair.

"I-I'm sorry for the disturbance it caused!" I quickly bowed, almost slamming my head into my desk. "I'll do my best to make sure it never happens again, I promise!" Had she really needed to put it like that…? I hadn't thought that Ishikawa-sensei's explanation was that obvious of a cover-up, and even if she could tell it was one… well, he must have had a reason for it, right?

The girl looked taken aback by my reply. "…Why exactly were you late?" The words were cautious, but not accusatory. A bit of hope returned to me — maybe she'd actually give me a chance! She wasn't a teacher, so this wasn't the same as the situation with Ishikawa-sensei earlier — I could tell her part of the truth without it being treated as some kind of excuse. …I hoped.

"I got lost." My shoulders slumped. "I'm… I'm not very good at finding my way around in a place like Tokyo yet, and my GPS directed me to the wrong place for some reason… This is my first time living in a real city, so I didn't know how to find my way back after that." I didn't mention Sakamoto-san — I didn't want to get him in even more trouble than he already was. He had only been trying to help, after all. "I know that sounds stupid, especially with how long it took me to get here, but… I swear I'm telling the truth!" I had been following Sakamoto-san rather than the GPS, but it had agreed with our final destination.

"I see." Her face softened. "I'm Makoto Niijima. You said you're Hikage Harai, right?"

"I am." I gave her a nervous smile. "It's… It's nice to meet you!" I gave another bow.

"It's my pleasure." Niijima-san's eyes, which had been wary at the start of our conversation, were gentle. "…The rumors about you are completely wrong, aren't they? Are you okay?" She tapped the corner of her eye, and I reached up to my own — when had I started crying? I scrubbed my arm against my face.

"Rumors?" I hadn't heard any rumors, but there had been an awful lot of whispering going on… What were people thinking about me? I forced down the instinctive surge of fear — nobody here knew me. It couldn't be as bad as it used to be.

"You hadn't heard?" Niijima-san closed her eyes and sighed. "Then I guess I should fill you in, for your sake."

"Thank you." I tried to smile up at her again, but my lips didn't want to cooperate. I knew all about rumors. What was it going to be this time?

"Don't thank me yet." Niijima-san shook her head. "The rumors say that you're a violent maniac, maybe even a killer. …I'm not sure how it happened, but your probation status got leaked."

"Oh." I shrank in on myself. Just my luck. I'd be perfectly happy if everyone left me alone, but I'd rather it not be because they were afraid of me.

…Did I look like a killer?

…Still, it could be worse. I'd take these rumors over the ones from my last school. I hated that being told I was seen as a killer had caused me to relax, but life was cruel. At least I was less likely to be bullied over it.

Niijima-san groaned. "This really isn't the place for this, and you look like you need to sit down… Come with me."

I followed her out the door and up the stairs to the roof, passing Sakamoto-san on the way. He made to speak to me, but drew back when he realized I was with Niijima-san — we'd get to talk later, right?

"We're not really supposed to be up here," Niijima-san admitted, sitting down on a somewhat rusty chair. "But that means it's a good place for a private talk." She gestured for me to sit across from her, and I did. I kept my gaze fixed on my hands, which were folded in my lap. "To be honest… I knew about your probation, even before the rumors started. I'm the president of the student council, and the principal asked me to keep an eye on you… You know, since we're in the same class and all."

"Okay," I whispered. Of course it would be something like that. Why else would she have shown interest in me? I couldn't blame the principal for it, either — he was kind enough to take me in, despite my record. In his shoes, I'd be wary too.

"From talking to you, I don't think that's necessary. I mean…" Niijima-san let out a sound that was almost like a mixture between a sigh and a laugh. "I don't think a hardened criminal is the type to cry over this."

My head snapped up even as my hand came up to rub away the tears that had started falling again. Niijima-san looked like she was serious. My heart leapt, but immediately sank down again — if she meant it and she really trusted me, that meant she had no reason to speak with me after this.

"I don't know what happened, but you don't seem like the kind of person to commit a violent crime. Whatever you were convicted of… You didn't actually do it, did you?"

I looked away again, trying not to let her see that I just couldn't get tears to stop forming in my eyes.

"I thought so." There was no satisfaction in her voice. "Hey… Please look at me."

I did.

"I believe you."

The words shook me to my core. Niijima-san hadn't even known me for ten minutes. Why was she saying this? What did she want from me?

…Could she really just be this nice? I hoped so, even though my heart told me that was impossible.

"I'm still going to be expected to give reports on your behavior — I can't get around that. But…" Niijima-san hesitated. "That doesn't mean I have to act like some kind of sneak. I… Would you…" She cut herself off and shook her head. "This is going to sound ridiculous… but would you like to be friends?"

My mouth hung open. Friends? Her? Me? Had I heard her right?

She let out a short, pained laugh and rubbed her ear. "I'm sorry, forget about that. What a strange thing for me to ask, especially after telling you about my task… It probably just sounds like an excuse to spy on you more easily, doesn't it?"

"No!" I blurted. "I'd love to be friends! I just… I was surprised. That you'd want to be friends with someone like… me."

Surprised, but thrilled. My heart felt like it was going to burst, and I was barely suppressing a stupid grin. A friend? This was too good to be true, but I wanted to believe her. It was fine even if she was just pretending so that she could do her job — I would be happy as long as she was willing to act the part of a friend.

Niijima-san looked stunned, but a shy smile crawled onto her lips. "Why would that be a surprise? I've only known you for a little while, but you seem very sweet."

I blushed and looked away. That wasn't fair! I finally made a maybe-friend, and she was this cute? "…Thanks," I muttered. "Um…" I met her eyes again. "I'm afraid that I… don't really know what friends do…"

She opened her mouth, but immediately closed it again. Her brow furrowed, and she placed her hand on her chin. "…Neither do I. Maybe study together? Or get crepes?"

"That would be nice!" A genuine smile finally broke over my face. Niijima-san returned it.

"…Can I call you Hikage?"

"O-Of course!"

"Then you'll have to call me Makoto." Her smile made my stomach flutter pleasantly. "Oh! And about before… You said your GPS didn't bring you to the school?"

"That's right." I winced. "I don't know why… I was able to reach the right train platform, but the last stretch went all wrong."

"Hmm." Niijima-sa— No, Makoto bit her lip. "Well… If you promise to be a little early every morning, I can walk you to the school from the station. I've usually got some duties for student council before classes begin. Paperwork, that kind of thing."

"Really?" My voice cracked. Why was she offering so much to me? What did I do to deserve this? She was so nice.

"Really." She nodded.

"Thank you." I tried to rub away my tears with the back of my hand, but they just kept coming. "Thank you so much."

"It's not a big deal." Makoto put her hand on my shoulder and smiled again. "It'll be nice to have some company on the walk. It can be a little lonely that early in the morning."

I smiled back, my tears starting to slow.

Maybe living in Tokyo wouldn't be too bad, after all.

"As much as I'd like to talk some more, I need to get going." Makoto stretched. "I have some work to do for the student council. Do you think you'll be able to find your way to the station to get home? There are a lot of students going that way right now."

"Y-Yes, there are enough of them that I think I'll be fine." I smiled at her.

"Good." She smiled back. "Here, let's trade numbers before we go — message me when you get to the platform tomorrow morning, okay?"

"I will." I clutched my phone, new contact added, to my chest. I couldn't control my smile.

"I'll see you later, then!" Makoto hesitated, then pulled me into a quick hug before leaving through the door.

I smiled at the sky, dazed. Things were moving so quickly… This morning I had almost been executed by the crazy twin of the gym teacher, and this afternoon I had made my first friend!

The rooftop door opened again, and Sakamoto-san poked his head out. "Oh good, you're still here. Mind if I talk to you for a moment, Senpai?"

"Okay." I was only half-listening — there was a cloud above me that reminded me of a dragon.

"I, uh… heard about your record." Sakamoto-san gave me a shaky grin. "Everyone's talkin' about it." He moved closer. "But… to be honest, I don't care that much. You don't seem that bad to me. Saved my life, heh." He leaned on one of the desks scattered around the area. "What the hell happened there? You remember it, right? The castle?"

"And Morgana-san," I agreed. This new cloud actually resembled the catlike creature, if I squinted. And if I tilted my head… now it was a deformed rabbit.

"Yeah, what the hell was that thing…" He shook his head. "Anyway… thanks, Senpai."

"You're welcome." I still didn't really understand how I had saved us, but… if he remembered it too, it had probably happened.

"Oh, right, I never really introduced myself, did I? I'm Ryuji Sakamoto." He stuck out his hand.

"H-Hikage Harai." I shook it.

"Harai-senpai, huh…? Well, you're new, but… keep an eye out for Kamoshida. There are some nasty rumors about that guy, and after this morning…"

"T-There are rumors about me, too." I felt the need to point out. "H-He is a little unnerving, but he did cover for you when we got here, and he overlooked my lateness, too."

"Tch." Sakamoto-san spat on the ground. "Like that meant anything. When nobody's watching to hurt his precious reputation, he's completely different."

"O-Oh." I lowered my head. Sakamoto-san would know better than me, so… I would have to take his word for it. That made my stomach churn — what was going on at this school?

"He gets to do whatever he wants, just 'cause he's an Olympic medalist who managed to take the volleyball team all the way to nationals. It's a lot like how he was the king of that castle…" Sakamoto-san hung his head. "…I wonder if we could go back there…"

"W-Why would you want to?" Just the idea made me shake. "We almost died!"

"…Yeah," he admitted. "Maybe someone really did drug us with something. No way that was real… Well… Sorry for buggin' you. I'll see you around, Senpai."

"Goodbye, Sakamoto-san."

I was once more alone on the roof. This time, I heaved myself out of the seat and followed the flow of students back to the station.

Sakura-san fixed me with a light glare the moment I stepped through the door of Leblanc. "I got an interesting call from your school today. How exactly did you end up being late?"

I wilted. "I'm sorry, Sakura-san…"

"And you left on time, too." He scratched behind his ear and let out a sigh. "…Look, just behave yourself, all right? Don't throw your life away just 'cause you don't want to go to school."

"I won't," I promised. My throat felt tight, and I was fighting back tears.

Sakura-san opened his mouth, but was cut off by his cell phone. He quickly picked it up, attention shifting away from me. "Hey, what's up? …Don't worry, I'm almost done here. I'll be there in half an hour." He covered the phone with his hand and looked at me again. "Go to your room, all right? Study or something. Just make sure you remember to turn the lights off when you go to bed."

I nodded and fled up the stairs.

My eyelids fluttered, the words on the page blurring. I had probably done enough studying for the night.

I stumbled when I stood up, but caught myself on the shelf. The book went back into my bag, and I changed into my nightgown. My cell chimed with a new message just before I returned to my bed, so I made a detour — Sakura-san had my number, but why would he be messaging me? And if it wasn't him, then…

My heart fluttered when I saw Makoto's name attached to the message, and I hurried to open it.

Makoto Niijima

Hikage, I hope this catches you before you go to sleep. I'll need to be at school about an hour before classes begin, so please try to be at the school's station an hour and fifteen minutes early! You should probably bring a book or something to read while you wait for class to start — you're welcome to sit with me in the student council office, but I probably won't be able to talk much.

That made sense. I'd just have to remember to put one of the novels I hadn't started yet in my bag… I should probably do that now. Oh, and I should change my alarm…

Alarm adjusted, I moved over to my box of things and grabbed a book at random from the top of the pile — if it wasn't beneath my clothing, I hadn't finished it yet. The book went into my bag, and I picked my phone up again to send a response.

Hikage Harai

Okay! Thank you for letting me know — I'll be there, I promise!

I hesitated, then continued the message.

Thank you so much for doing this for me! I'm really glad we're friends now. Goodnight!

I hit send and moved to set the phone down — she probably wouldn't respond until the morning, if at all. Contrary to those expectations, though, the phone chimed again just before I released it.

Makoto Niijima

I'm glad we're friends as well. Sleep well, Hikage!

I had no trouble falling asleep, a smile stretched across my face.

Like last night, I found myself waking up in a prison. After my experience at that castle… I didn't think this was just a dream.

"On your feet, Inmate! Our master wishes to speak with you!"

I rose.

"I see that your powers have awoken." Igor-san leered. "And how special they are… At last, your rehabilitation can begin."

"M-My powers, Igor-san? You mean… the 'Persona' that Morgana-san spoke of?"

Igor-san chuckled. "That is correct. I have high expectations for you… but there is no need for you to worry about that just yet. You will learn, in time…" He tilted his head. "By the by… has the Metaverse Navigator proven useful for you? Or perhaps you didn't notice, hm?" His grin deepened. "Using it will allow you to traverse the gap between dream and reality to enter Palaces."

"I-Is that how we ended up in that castle?"

"That is correct." Igor-san nodded. "I granted it to you that you might become a fine thief… but do not worry. Should there be others who join your cause, I will allow them to make use of it as well."

The bell rang again.

"Time's up! Back to sleep, Inmate!"

And once again, my consciousness faded away…