Ren Amamiya learned soon enough that gossip was a way of life at Shujin Academy. His fellow classmates made the housewives in his hometown of Inaba seem like spies in comparison. It was a good thing that most of the rumors were just that: rumors. And the information that was true had already been thrown in his face countless times. Yes, he had been arrested. No, he did not attack that man. Yes, his life was probably ruined. No, it was not his fault.
"Hey!" a voice from his school bag jolted him out of his thoughts. "Can we go already? It's too hot in here! I'm covered in fur, you know."
Ren nudged the bag with his foot. "In a minute, Morgana. Break's almost over." There was a rustle of fur against fabric, a displeased grumbling sound, then stillness. Ren turned back to his homework, intent on memorizing the foundations of government for Mr. Ushimaru's class, but quickly lost himself in rumination once again.
This time, his mind returned to the scene of the crime.
A man and a woman locked in a passionless embrace. He held her firmly by the collar of her dress. Ren saw the panic in her eyes as she struggled to free herself from the man's grasp. He was bald and well-dressed, the moonlight glinting off an expensive timepiece on his left wrist.
Ren dropped his satchel and sprinted towards the pair. He grabbed the man by the lapels of his suit. The man cursed and swung around, nearly landing a blow. There was fighting, flailing. Ren felt nothing but adrenaline and vulnerable flesh. Sweat and blood splattered his face.
The last thing he saw as the police led him away was the man covering his bleeding face, one eye staring at him with hatred.
Ren clenched his jaw as the memory shifted to the police station. The officers used nefarious tactics to get him to confess to his alleged crimes. He denied every single one of their accusations, suffering the consequences each time with the fortitude of someone who had done the right thing and wasn't sorry for it, not even when the woman at the scene - the one he had been trying to rescue! - testified that Ren had attacked the man in the suit unprovoked.
He couldn't believe it. His split-second decision to enter the fray helped her escape the worst fate that could befall a woman. Why, then, was he being punished?
The court sentenced him to a year's probation, and to spare him the humiliation of going back to school with that hanging over his head, his parents thought it best if he lived with a family friend in Tokyo for a year. When the train released him into the chaos of Station Square, he stood for a moment amid the swirling crowds and breathed a sigh of relief. No one knew who he was here, and no one cared. He could blend in seamlessly anywhere in the city. It was a superpower he wished he could have in school.
"Is that him? The transfer student? He looks so normal. I bet he's terrifying when he loses it, though. I heard-"
Ren sighed to himself. I heard I heard I heard. All around him, he heard snippets of conversations about his alleged misdeeds, about how he didn't belong at a place like Shujin, that he wasn't deserving of his seat there. It was all so ridiculous. He was no honor student, but his grades had never been terrible. Of all the crap that circulated online, why couldn't his transcripts from Inaba be among them?
That was what really bothered him: not the rumors so much as everyone believing what they heard and repeating it ad nauseum.
With minutes to spare before the start of afternoon classes, Ren looked around the library for some distraction from the whispers. There was a girl sitting alone at one of the group study tables, poring over books and papers that seemed impossibly complex. He had seen her there every day since the school year started, and something about her intense focus appealed to him. She seemed like the type of person who got to the bottom of things, someone he could've used on his side during the trial.
Ren considered introducing himself, but no one in the library seemed eager to talk. Even the student librarian kept their interactions to a minimum. There was a good chance the girl at the study table would do the same.
He felt a claw reach out and catch the hem of his pants.
"All right, Morgana!"
Time to go. He made a mental note to ask Ryuji about the girl later.
He wished he could say his arrest and subsequent move to Tokyo were the most remarkable things that happened to him this year. In fact, there would be more surprises in store for him, events that made him question the boundary between dreams and reality.
On his first day at Shujin Academy, he met Ryuji Sakamoto, the former star of the track team now branded a troublemaker for raising his hand against a teacher. He approached Ren with an offer of friendship, which Ren readily accepted — it made sense, given their shared delinquent status. It was the only thing to go right so far this year. Between his criminal record getting leaked and his own problems with Suguru Kamoshida, he couldn't say it was off to a promising start.
Sakamoto was running late like him, and together they walked to the school gates where the strangest thing happened. One moment they stood on the quiet sidewalk lined with boutiques and cafes catering to the student crowd. The next, they found themselves surrounded by knights in the entrance hall of a medieval castle — and presiding over the knights was none other than Mr. Kamoshida, who wasted no time tossing them into the dungeons.
Ren put up a valiant fight until he succumbed to a blow that knocked him unconscious. He woke up with a throbbing headache and heard pained cries to his left. Forcing his head to turn, he saw the pervert teacher standing over Ryuji's prone form and felt a shot of anger. What gave him the right to terrorize students like this?
What's the matter? Are you simply going to watch? Death awaits him if you do nothing.
He shut his eyes against the pain. So this was how it would all end. He was going to die in this stupid castle. Not only that, a friend was caught in the vortex of bad luck that had been trailing him all year. For all he knew, Ryuji wouldn't be lying on the ground, bruised and battered, if they hadn't met. If he had stayed in Inaba. If he had minded his own business and ignored the woman in distress.
Was your previous decision a mistake?
The woman was screaming. She needed help. He had done the right thing.
He could say he regretted the arrest, the expulsion, the long hours of isolation in detention, the trouble he brought to his parents and friends, his acceptance of Ryuji's overtures of friendship. But that would be a lie; he knew in his heart that all of those things had been right.
The pain was unbearable, almost blinding. He tasted iron and pressed his hands to his face to stem the bleeding, surprised to feel something solid and white-hot covering his eyes. He pried it off with excruciating force, sending more blood streaming down his face.
I am thou, thou art I…
Blue light enveloped the scene. An apparition calling itself the Pillager of Twilight unleashed a curse that made quick work of Kamoshida and his guards and sent them fleeing, leaving Ren alone with Ryuji in the dank cell.
"W-what was that?" Ryuji rasped when he had recovered enough to sit up. "Why are your clothes different?"
Ren had no idea. He was no longer in his school uniform and instead wore the suit and tie of the gentleman thief. His appearance mirrored the change he felt inside: stronger and more sure of his convictions than ever. More importantly, it let him summon Arsene and wield his dark magic. It was no longer a given that the two of them would die in this castle. Not if he had anything to say about it.
They began their frantic search for an escape, tiptoeing across decaying bridges and peering into the other cells for fellow prisoners. At one point they came across a large chamber where several Shujin volleyball players were being pushed to their limits. Those who collapsed were subjected to humiliating exercises as punishment for their weakness. The scenes of torture triggered Ryuji's memories of his days training under Kamoshida, of the injustice and unnecessary brutality of it, and unleashed his own blue light that saved them from getting skewered at the end of a knight's lance.
I am thou, thou art I…
Ryuji had new clothes, too. His featured pronounced vertebrae and a grotesque mask resembling a pirate's skull. Captain Kidd and Arsene made a formidable team when their activities drew notice.
Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…?
"Now that I got this power, it's time for payback," Ryuji growled, slamming one gloved fist against his open palm.
They resolved to rescue the volleyball players after locating an escape route. Instead, they came across Morgana, a cat-like creature claiming not to be a cat that told them the players were not real students but rather cognitions, a figment of Kamoshida's imagination.
"What do you mean, they're not real?!" There was a note of panicked confusion in Ryuji's voice. Morgana ignored him and turned to Ren.
"Hey, Frizzy Hair. It seems like you pick up on things faster than our Blondie over there."
"Blondie?!" Ryuji looked ready to give Morgana a piece of his mind.
Needless to say, the two did not get off to a great start.
After striking a deal to set Morgana free in exchange for information, the not-cat explained that they were inside a Palace, a manifestation of Kamoshida's distorted desires powered by a Treasure. The knights were Shadows, the dark thoughts of the collective unconscious that took the form of mythological beings. In conquering them, one could wield Persona, a physical manifestation of one's personality after committing to justice.
Ren and Ryuji were Persona users. Morgana was a Persona user as well.
And if his dreams and the glowing icon on his phone were any indication, there would be many, many more like them in his future.
Ren settled into his seat in Classroom 2-D and was surprised when the girl in front of him turned around. It was a rare occasion that anyone at Shujin wanted to talk to him. "Thank you. For yesterday," she said, handing him an envelope. Ren tore it open and pulled out a gift certificate to Rocinante.
"Oh! You didn't have to," he said, unused to the attention of any girl, let alone a model.
"But I wanted to. I was so in my feelings yesterday. I didn't know what to do about Kamoshida. I was ready to call a cab over to his place when you showed up."
"Well, I couldn't just ignore you," Ren said sheepishly, and it was the truth. Just as he couldn't ignore the woman back in Inaba, he couldn't leave Ann Takamaki crying in Shibuya Station in the middle of rush hour. For one thing, she was a pretty girl who whose blue eyes and blonde hair made her easy to pick out from a crowd. The modeling agencies took notice, as did half the men on the street.
And Kamoshida.
Ren thought there must have been something going on between Ann and the volleyball coach when he saw them chatting and driving to school together, Ann occasionally throwing her head back as if the teacher said something hilarious. It wasn't until yesterday, after chasing her down the length of the underground walkway, that he learned the true nature of those flirtations.
Ann explained through tears that her best friend at school was Shiho Suzui, a starter on the school volleyball team. Kamoshida threatened to remove her from the lineup unless Ann had relations with him, the bastard.
Ren couldn't say why he got involved when he heard Ann arguing with someone on the phone. He supposed he felt a strong kinship with her just as he had with Ryuji when they first met. Maybe it was because all three of them were labeled: he was a delinquent, Ryuji a punk, and Ann a slut. The other students shunned them; Kamoshida made it a point to harass them in the hall.
What was the new idiom they learned in Ms. Chouno's class? "Birds of a feather flock together."
Mr. Ushimaru cleared his throat several times in a bid for silence, then began his lecture on the Constitution. Ren tried to stay focused and take the best notes he could. It seemed the rest of the day would pass uneventfully until there was a loud crash and Yuuki Mishima started shouting and pointing out the window.
"Someone's about to jump!" he cried. His desk chair had fallen over.
Ren saw the color drain from Ann's face. Rising to his feet, he could see a girl teetering on the edge of the second-floor balcony. Her balance was precarious, and she swayed back and forth before the laws of physics pulled her down to the pavement below.
"SHIHO!" Ann bolted from her desk. Ren followed her out of the classroom and down the hall, wondering how he was running after the same girl twice in one week. He cursed under his breath when he realized he left Morgana behind and turned back only to find the classroom empty. Hopefully, the cat could take care of itself.
Ann had long disappeared by the time he reached the stairwell, but Ryuji was there waiting for him.
"I've been looking all over for you, dude. What the hell is going on?" he asked, wide-eyed.
"It's Ann's friend."
"What?! Suzui…"
"Yes. And that bastard, Kamoshida." Ren slipped past him and thundered down the stairs, motioning for his friend to follow. He should have done more to help. If only he'd had more time. He didn't think there was anything he could do in the real world, but in the Metaverse…
They made their way to the first floor, where a mass of students had gathered in the courtyard. Ren tried peering over the heads of some first-year students, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ann.
"Who was that? Did you see?" he heard one of them say.
"Shiho Suzui…"
"I wonder what her deal is."
"Well, she's still friends with Ann Takamaki. So I wonder if this has anything to do with Kamoshida and their…
"Private sessions?" For once the phrase was not followed by a chorus of giggles. Ren pushed past them, both reassured and disgusted that the Shujin rumor mill was operating as usual. He didn't have time to moralize right now. His gaze drifted from the courtyard to the PE practice buildings, his next course of action increasingly clear.
Several hours later, Ren, Ann, and Ryuji — or Joker, Panther, and Skull as they called each other in the Metaverse — stood before a grotesque shrine covered in photographs. The room was dark save for the glow cast by torches on either side of the display. Panther set one foot forward, then another, until she was close enough to see the photographs in detail. Her companions watched her closely, worried that her Persona's awakening had taken a heavy toll.
"What do you see?" Skull asked from the shadows.
Panther's breath was ragged. "They're all of Shiho," she murmured. Her knees buckled, and for a moment, she looked like she would crumple to the ground. Skull offered her a hand, but she quickly regained her balance.
"I'm fine!" she said. "I'll be fine." In her skin-tight catsuit and red mask, she looked every bit the femme fetale she was reputed to be in school. Carmen had been a surprise; a fiery accomplice in their latest foray into Kamoshida's palace.
"Tell me… Who is going to avenge her if you don't?"
"Forgiving him was never the option…"
Joker leaned in for a closer look. The photographs on the wall were indeed all of Shiho Suzui. Shiho at volleyball practice, Shiho in class, Shiho conversing with someone outside the frame. Shiho in various states of undress. Shiho looking uncomfortable in a group photo with Kamoshida by her side, his arm draped across her shoulders.
He shuddered. Panther never told him what transpired between her and Shiho as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. It now dawned on him that whatever was said may have been too terrible to repeat.
"We have to steal that treasure," Panther hissed. "We have to change his heart. Make him confess his crimes. Avenge Shiho."
"He's going to pay for what he did," Skull chimed in. He laid a hand on Panther's shoulder, which Panther quickly shrugged off. He then extended an arm, which she leaned against after some hesitation.
"I remember what it was like," he said. "Persona awakening and all that."
"You sure you're okay?" Joker asked her.
"I just…" Panther shifted more of her weight onto Skull's proffered arm. "I just wonder what would have happened if I'd gone ahead with meeting Kamoshida. Would Shiho be okay if I…"
She never got a chance to finish that sentence. Panther trailed off as the three of them heard the sound of wind slicing through air, then the impact of multiple bodies slamming into the corridor wall.
"Guys, we've got shadows incoming!" Mona called. The monster cat had been keeping watch by the door. The Phantom Thieves plundered what they could before making their way deeper into the castle, Kamoshida's consciousness splashing at their heels.