Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 5!

Lots of crazy things are going to go down in this chapter, so brace yourselves!

With that, enjoy the story!

"WAHAHA—!"

CRASH!

Yusuke could only stare in exasperation at the joker who had gone crashing to the ground because he couldn't balance the one Yoga pose that they had to do in one of the Church scenes in Persona 5. "Really? You can't even balance such a simple pose?!"

"Cut! Kurusu-san, are you alright?"

Akira brought a thumbs up towards the Director. "I'm fine! Just lost my balance!"

"'Just'?! What kind of bar are you setting up for yourself, Akira Kurusu?!"

"Come on, Yusuke! You're a Dancer! Obviously, you would be able to do better than me!"

"Um, actually, you just need really strong core muscles to do that," Ryuji suddenly quipped up from behind, causing the rest of them to giggle.

Makoto started chuckling even harder. "Pfft! Oh my god, did you just insult him by saying that he's weak?! Do you need some ice for that burn, Akira?!"

Akira could only yell back indignantly with an, "Oi!"

"Now, now! We need to get Fox's scene settled, and then we're done for the day since we've finished most of the Church scenes!" The Director announced. "Let's do this again!"

"Yes, sir…"

As both Yusuke and Akira continued with their wacky scene, Futaba whispered to the rest of the cast, out of earshot from the recording microphone, "H-Hey, maybe it's just me, but I feel that Yusuke-Senpai's really enjoying himself right now."

Ann nodded eagerly. "Right?! I think that maybe after the burden's been lifted from his shoulder, he's been really happy every time we see him!"

"It's nice to see that he's able to freely show his passion now," Haru smiled. "No one should be restrained from doing what they want to do, after all."

"But that incident really made me learn that sometimes, one's internal conflict is not always easily understood by others," Ryuji added. "Sometimes, even knowing the entire story wouldn't help because everyone's opinions are different."

Goro chuckled, "As usual, we have the Words of Wisdom from the Brilliant Ryuji Sakamoto."

"H-Hey! Are you mocking me?!"

"And cut! Good take! Good job for today! After you change out, you all can go home!"

Akira threw his bag into the air and gave a whoop of delight. "Holy crap! We actually finished some of the Palace scenes and even all of the Confidants' church scenes! I'M SO HAPPY!"

"Calm down, you fuckin' oaf," Yusuke snickered as he grabbed his own bag. "Come on, we gotta change out of this damn thing."

Akira sighed as he trudged towards the dressing rooms, "Yes, Boss…"

"… By the way, what am I supposed to do with all of those letters?"

"You keep them and read them in your own leisure time, of course!" Goro yelled back. "Those fans may be crazy, but they still love you!"

Yusuke grimaced and shivered. "Now I know how it feels like to be chased by a god damn mob. That was fucking scary, to be honest…"

"But isn't it nice to know that people actually do appreciate what you do, and the worst situation that could happen ended up not being real?" Ann shrugged with a smile.

Looking back at Ann's ice-blue eyes, Yusuke stared for a moment before he nodded as he smiled back at her. "Huh, I guess you're right. By the way… I remembered that you were speaking with Sakamoto that day about wanting to be taught on how to dance…?"

She nodded back as she grinned sheepishly, pulling her hair back as a habit. "Yeah… Though it was something I said just to get you to confess how much you loved to dance, well… it's actually true."

Ryuji turned to her in shock. "So that entire conversation wasn't a ruse?! And here I thought your disguise was horrible when it came to impromptu acting!"

"HEY!" Ann hissed back as she smacked Ryuji on the head, causing the poor bespectacled boy to pout in pain.

Akira, whose heart was palpitating wildly in anticipation, watched as Yusuke took a deep breath before taking one step closer towards the group. This was it. This was the moment.

"Then… Ann, would you like me to teach you how to dance?"

Everyone stared in surprise, eyes widened. Futaba herself had both of her hands over her mouth as her brownish-violet eyes sparkled.

Ann's expression turned into that of confusion as a light blush dusted her face. "E-Eh?"

"… Oh my god, he said it! Kya…!"

"A-Akechi-kun?!" Haru freaked out upon hearing Goro squeal in joy and clap like a girl who had just bit into the loveliest dessert ever made. "Are you sure you're okay?!"

Goro grabbed her collar, his joyful expression suddenly turned into that of anger. "You don't understand, Haru-chii! Do you know how much I ship those two?!"

"Um… okay?"

Ryuji stared in shock. "Whoa! That was a pick-up line, wasn't it?!"

Makoto nodded, a hand over her mouth. "I'm pretty damn sure it is! Dayum, Yusuke! Didn't know you were that smooth!"

"Hell yeah, you actually said it, dude!" Akira yelled in excitement as he slapped the delinquent on the back, a huge grin spreading across his face. Then he turned back to Ann and waited for her answer, only to start giggling to himself when he realised that the poor girl was absolutely flustered.

"Uh… well…" Ann began stuttering as she nervously tucked her blond hair behind her ear, eyes adverting away from the dancer in front of her. "C-Can I really…?"

Yusuke nodded. "Duh, you just have to ask if you wanted to. But I'm just giving you a proposal at this point."

Goro looked as if he was on the verge of hyperventilation as he fell back from his chair and squealed, "Oh my god, he said proposal—OW!"

Akira immediately freaked out as he dashed towards his friend. "Holy shit, Goro! Are you okay?!"

Slowly, the brown-haired shipper on deck sat back up. "I'm fine, don't mind me!"

"Um…" Ann continued to stutter, clearly taken aback by the situation. Then she smiled and replied with head lowered in embarrassment, "T-To be honest, I'd like to… Yeah! W-Will that really be okay, Yusuke?"

"GYAHAHA!"

Makoto had to slam both of her hands down onto Goro to ensure he didn't fall off his chair again from all of that squealing as she screamed, "Goro, chill! Oh my god!"

Yusuke smiled in approval with a calm look on his face as he replied, "Great. I'll see you tomorrow at Dance Studio 2, then. Come on, Akira. Let's get changed."

Akira noted that it was a nice change of pace for Yusuke to start calling them all by first names. He never noticed it at first, but soon realised that ever since that incident, Yusuke didn't call them by their last names anymore. It was much more casual, and Akira actually liked it since he'd prefer not to be so formal.

"Alright, I'm coming!"

Yet as they ducked behind the partition wall which no one else could see behind, Yusuke's calm demeanour totally vanished as he brought his bag over to his face and started squealing with joy as well.

"AAAAAAHH! Oh my god, she said yes! SHE SAID YES!"

Upon seeing the usually 'manly' delinquent reacting in that way, Akira couldn't help but burst out laughing madly.

"So how is being popular like? Pfft!"

Yusuke turned to glare at her. "Shut up, Makoto! It sucks! I thought my reputation was going to dive down, but then this is even worse than I thought!"

As the group continued to laugh and joke on their way out of the room, suddenly, the door swished opened. "And I was wondering why there was such a commotion in here. You guys are all still here."

Makoto stared at the door in surprise. "Sis?! And Takemi-Sensei!"

Akira glanced in puzzlement. "Hold up! Who's that punk-styled lady?!"

"Tae Takemi, a Year 3 Biology teacher," Yusuke introduced before he huffed, "Most guys would kill for her to become their teacher. I think you can see why. Ryuji's honestly pretty damn lucky to be able to see her during Biology lab courses in school hours."

"Considering how Takemi-Sensei is one of the teachers in charge of the Modelling course too, of course, she's pretty," Ann replied with a giggle.

"B-But what are you doing here...?" Makoto queried in confusion.

Sae laughed lightly at her sister's reaction as she walked towards the Director. "Let's just say... I managed to get a role in the same game as you guys are acting in as well."

Haru stared in surprise. "You're going to be acting in Persona 5 too, Sae-san?"

"Hey, don't forget about your teacher, Okumura-san," Tae pipped in with another chuckle.

"Yeah, both Tae and I are going to be acting in Persona 5. I'm a lawyer, as usual," Sae replied as she was handed the script by the Director. "Tae here is going to be a doctor."

Goro nodded as he absorbed the information in. "Ho, boy! Are they bringing a punk doctor in as one of the available dating routes? Things are sure going to get steamy~"

"Sae here isn't available as a dating route, though," the Director replied back with a laugh, causing Sae to turn to him before rolling her eyes.

"Don't objectify me, Director."

"Alright, calm down, Sae."

Sae shook her head with a smile as she stepped towards her little sister. "Thanks for the script, Director. But since you guys are all here, shall we go home together, Makoto?"

"Huh?! But I... Oh well, I guess," Makoto sighed and shrugged as she stood closer to her sister.

Haru giggled. "You don't sound that willing, Makoto."

"I originally thought that I wanted to talk to you guys, but then I realised I haven't caught up with my sister for quite a while," the red-eyed girl replied back with a grin and grabbed her sister's arm. "Well then, we shall head back home first then! See ya!"

As Makoto and Sae walked out of the room, Haru bit her lip. Akira immediately noticed it and asked the auburn-haired girl, "Haru, are you alright?"

"I don't know... I keep feeling as if Makoto's going to pull off some sort of stunt that we aren't going to like."

Futaba, who was silent the entire time, quickly nodded. "Makoto was acting like what we would deem her normal self, but she looks determined to... do something about a problem."

"I was just hoping I was paranoid, but if Futaba felt it too, then..." Haru shook her head. "I just hope she doesn't do anything rash! Who knows what she's going to do?"

Yusuke folded his arms. "That means we gotta keep out eyes on her for the next few days, don't we? I mean, that's the vibes I'm getting from you."

"The good thing is, at least Sae is around to ensure Makoto doesn't go off-track today," Ryuji replied. "If that's the case, everything should be fine today."

"I hope so..."

"... Geez, Haru, you're always worrying about everything and everyone around you!" Ann giggled. "I mean, this case is indeed worrying, but sometimes, you just need to relax, alright?"

Haru smiled at her friend. "Yeah... I guess I should."

Ryuji then picked up his bag. "Well, I gotta head out now. I'm off to my part-time job. I can't be late!"

As the blond-haired boy quickly sprinted out of the room, everyone continued to chat with each other as they slowly made their way out of the set.

"Do you think Makoto's really going to be doing something really crazy?" Akira asked the group of friends as they sat in the seats of the subway. Surprisingly enough, there were seats for them to rest on at this time of the day when most people would be taking the subway back to their homes after work.

Ann sighed. "To be honest, I don't know. I laughed at Haru for being so worried, but I'm actually more than a little concerned too. Have you not seen how hot-blooded she's been these days? I fear that she may actually be planning something really insane that we don't know about, and if that is true..."

Goro nodded. "I hate to say this, but the consequences will be dire."

The three of them were heading the same direction to get back home, so they were taking the same train back.

"Oh, by the way," Ann turned towards Goro and asked him, "I thought that you usually go home by car. Is your chauffeur not free today?"

"You got a chauffeur?!" Akira screeched in shock, only to quickly cover his mouth when he realised how much attention he was bringing to them.

"Duh, Goro here's pretty damn rich..."

The brown-eyed boy shook his head. "I do have a chauffeur, but it's not because he isn't free. It's more like I wish to expose myself to the normal, daily lives of the usual citizen. I've led a sheltered life for a very long time, and I do want to see more of the outside world."

Akira stared at his friend. "Damn... that sounds deep."

"I must admit, I probably don't know much of the outside world unlike you guys even though I have been in the media industry and the classical drama industry for a long time," he sighed. "All I see are people stabbing each other in the backs just to get the better roles and things like that. Even though I really love to perform on the stage and take the role of an entirely new character, sometimes, I really hate what goes behind the scenes. It's not as pretty as most people would expect..."

"You've had it tough, Goro," Ann sighed, sympathizing with him. "That sounds really bad."

"I mean, when you're in these types of industries, you just got to put on a brave front even though you're about to break down inside," he shrugged with a sad smile. "It can't be helped when your job is to practically put a mask over your face and fake an emotion when necessary. But I still love my job, and I want to revive the stage, just like I have told Akira that day."

The bespectacled boy nodded back, but with a determined smile on his face.

There was silence for a while before suddenly, Akira's phone rang. Curiously, he picked it up.

"Hello?! Akira-san, are you there?! Is anyone else with you?!"

Akira deadpanned, "I wouldn't be here if I didn't answer the phone, Ryuji... But yeah, I'm with Ann and Goro-Goro right now. What is it?"

Goro stared at his friend as if the raven-haired boy had just sprouted another pair of arms.

"Akira! Now's not the time for jokes! I'm being serious here!" Akira heard Ryuji yell back, not amused. "Listen, I'm at Akihabara right now because of my part-time job, and I just saw Makoto walk down an alleyway! I swear, something seems seriously off about her!"

"What kind of part-time job are you taking if you're at Akihabara?!"Akira gawked as he quickly switched the speakers' mode so that Goro and Ann could hear the entire conversation.

"I'm making deliveries, Akira-san! But anyways, I need you guys to get down here immediately! Makoto looks like she's going off to murder someone, I'm not kidding!"

"B-But wasn't she with Sae?! What happened?!"

He could hear Ryuji panicking behind the speakers. "I don't know! She's alone by herself, so I'm assuming that somehow, she managed to get her older sister to go home first. But this is really bad news! We need to see what on earth she's trying to do! Please! I don't know if I can handle this on my own!"

The three of them glanced at each other worryingly. Ann quickly snatched up the phone. "We'll be going! Where are you right now?! Have you informed anyone else?!"

"I've informed Sae-san, Haru, and Yusuke about it! They're all coming down right now! I'm just beside the old machine parts stall! Please, hurry!"

Goro's eyebrows creased into a frown as he replied, "We've got you, Ryuji! We'll be heading there at this minute!"

The call was cut off. The three of them nodded at each other, determined to get Makoto out of any trouble if she were to bump into any and prevent her from doing something dumb.

"Akira, Goro, Ann!" Haru quickly called out to them as they raced towards the old machine parts stall. "Did you guys get the call from Ryuji as well?!"

Ann nodded. "He told us that Makoto went down an alleyway! What the hell was she thinking?!"

"She's planning something," Goro replied, "And I don't think I like where this is going."

Akira shrieked as they finally neared towards the destination, where Yusuke and Futaba had also just arrived and Ryuji was waiting, "No one likes where this is going, Goro-Goro!"

"Oh my god, thank goodness you guys are here!" Ryuji breathed out before he quickly dashed down the alley. "Follow me, Makoto went down this way!"

"Shouldn't the police be handling this freaking piece of shit?!" Yusuke yelled down at the Book Genius. "We may end up getting ourselves fucking killed if we're not careful!"

"Don't worry, I got Sae to call the police before you guys arrived! She's coming over as well!" he replied as he stopped in front of a building. "W-Well, we're here. I saw Makoto enter this building..."

"I-I'm not really on board with this, though..." Futaba bit her lip. "I mean, it's like Yusuke said: we may be putting ourselves in danger, even if Makoto-Senpai is in there!"

"Then you girls stay out, we'll take care of it," Goro quickly stepped in, but Haru stopped him.

"It's okay, we'll all have to go in together. It's for Mako-chan's sake, after all."

Akira nodded as he held on the handle of the door and looked back at all of them. "Then we all have to ensure we take care of ourselves, okay? I'm opening the door."

They all nodded. Akira could only do so much as to take a deep breath before he slowly opened the door.

But once they opened the door, the sight in front shocked them tremendously, causing some of them to step back in the horror of what just happened.

"...! MAKOTO!"

There Makoto laid, uniform torn and her body bruised and battered. Akira could have sworn he saw blood splatters on the floor and on her clothes too, but the scene in front of them was already too much to take to look into detail...

The group of gangsters looked up at the intruders and one of them cackled. "Oh, you've brought your friends to 'defeat' us too, girl? Wow, it looks like we are right. You really are a damsel in distress!"

"...! You freaking-Argh!" Makoto groaned in pain as she grabbed her leg and fell back to the ground, causing Haru to quickly run over to attend to her.

"Mako-chan! Are you alright?!"

"Why the hell are you guys here?! This is dangerous!"

"Then what the fuck are you doing here?!" Yusuke screamed back as the Yakuza members immediately charged towards them. Swiftly, he dealt a punch to the lanky man who had decided to go after him.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Akira could only shriek as he quickly smacked down another one of the guys before he turned to Goro and sweat-dropped. "... Are you sure you're alright there, Goro-Goro?"

"Do I look like the type who can fight, you freaking plebeian?!" Goro screamed at Akira as he tried to smack the guy who had ran after him using a clothes pole that was sitting at one end of the room.

"You're calling me a plebeian when even the girls are handling them better than you are?!" the raven-haired boy howled back in exasperation when he saw Ann smacking another man with her bag and Futaba taking advantage of her small stature by secretly bashing them on the back of their heads. "Toughen up, god damn it! This is a serious situation!"

Haru then slowly turned towards Ryuji, who had his eyes shadowed. "So... you guys were the one who wrecked my father's stall that day, and now you injured my friend...?"

"R-Ryuji...?"

A dark aura surrounded him as he carefully removed his glasses and placed them into his shirt pocket, glaring straight towards the leader of the gang who was simply just smirking at them.

He asked arrogantly, "What're gonna do, Blondie? Are you gonna smack me down with those wimpy punches? You've gotta be kidding me..."

Yusuke stared before he shook his head. "Oh, no..."

"What is it, Yusuke?" Ann asked worriedly.

"He may not look like it, but he nearly got involved in an assault case," Yusuke replied as he felt sweat running down his forehead. "And that's because someone decided to insult and harass his mom. Ryuji's berserk button triggers every time something happens to his parents, so..."

Akira followed Yusuke's line of sight and gasped when he realised he could barely even recognise the genius boy with that look on his face. He could only gawk on as Ryuji slowly reached for his blazer and threw it aside, eyes still focused on the Yakuza leader.

And that was when he heard those words from the one whom he thought was the most innocent and least violent of the group.

"... You're going to have a very bad time."

BLOOPERS!

Hey guys! As promised from the previous chapter, here are some bloopers (YAY!)! (Be careful, the fourth one may cause some major freakouts because there's a huge dirty joke in that one)

Scene 1: Emperor Confidant Rank 5 (Church)

BLOOPER 1:

Yusuke: Very well. You will have to be my model today.

Akira: (puts hand out of his pockets)

Yusuke: ... Yes, that must be it! That is what I need! Only a subject naked as the day they were born can convey the true anguish of birth-wait, did I say that right?

Akira: (while giggling like a little girl) Technically, yes...

Yusuke: ... I really have no idea how I relate to this character.

BLOOPER 2:

Yusuke: Yes, that must be it! That is what I need! Only a subject naked as the day they were born can convey the true anguish of birth! Now then, (trying to choke down laughter) strip! Take it all-PFFT-off- HAHAHAHAHAHA! I can't take this shit seriously!

(The Director face-palms, while Akira starts laughing along)

BLOOPERS 3 (technically not a blooper):

Yusuke: Let us return home for today. I bid you farewell. (suddenly strikes the crucifixion pose) Farewell.

Akira: (sweat-drops and does the same pose)

Yusuke: Wonderful.

Director: And... Cut! Good take!

Yusuke: (stops posing) Oh my god, this is literally freaking JoJo all over again. Is Fox sure he's okay?!

Goro: (in the background) Fox's personality is beautiful! Don't badmouth someone from another universe!

Akira: (laughing) OH MY GOD! But... hey, technically speaking, isn't Goro calling you beautiful, Yusuke?

Yusuke: HAH?!

Akira: Because I heard that we were given our roles based on parts of our real personalities, so...

Yusuke: I'M NOT LIKE THAT FUCKING FOX-(Connection terminated)

Scene 2: Taking Crow to Confessional

BLOOPER 1:

Goro: ... Huh?! This is a confessional, isn't it? Your sudden summons surprised me, but... Have I done something to offend you?

Akira: Confess about those dreams you have of me every night.

Director: (in the background) Oh my god...

Goro: ... (squints) What?

Akira: (giggling) Confess your true feelings and show your true form!

Goro: (gets what Akira's doing and starts talking in a very feminine voice) Huh? Y-You want me to be honest, Akira-chan? W-Well, to be honest, every time I think about you, I... (he brings a hand to his mouth is a girlish way)

Ryuji: (in the background) Oh crude... MAKOTO! COVER FUTABA'S EARS!

Makoto: (in the background) HARU... OR ANN! COVER RYUJI'S EARS!

Ryuji: (in the background) HUH?! WHY?!

Goro: M-My imagination runs wild, and I.. um... I soon realise that I'm touching myself all over and stroking my-

Akira: (rolls to the floor, laughing his ass off) WAHAHAH! Okay, okay, stop! You win, alright?! I'm DISTURBED! Holy crap!

Yusuke: (in the background) ... What the fuck did I just watch?!

Ann: (in the background) Now I wish I didn't hear that...

Goro: It's now time to pollute the minds of the innocent... (evil grin)

Akira: NO! NOT THE CHILDREN! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!