[Afternoon, Akira's apartment]
After his little trip to Untouchable, Akira went back to his apartment and put the two guns on the table. Pulling out his phone, he took a picture of the sniper rifle and sent it to Shiho.
Akira: So, I get you a sniper rifle, what do you think?
Shiho: I told you I'm fine with anything, right?
Akira: Yeah, you told me this last night.
Shiho: Also, I can't really give you anything with just a picture.
Shiho: And when are we going to that castle?
Akira: Since I got all these things readied... maybe tomorrow?
Shiho: Tomorrow? I hope mom would let me back to school to join you.
Akira: Oh, right. Speaking of school, when are you coming back?
Shiho: Mom got me a break until the 2nd of May.
Akira: OK, that's better.
Shiho: Hey, Akira. Can you promise me something?
Akira: What?
Shiho: Please look after Ann for me.
Akira: 100% got it, don't worry about her.
Akira: I won't let Kamoshida's hand to anyone.
Shiho: Thank you.
With that sent, Akira opened the box and examined the revolver and the rifle, testing the sights and the scope for a while before putting them into a less suspicious-looking bag.
"Well, let's hope no one would be curious about them," Sighing, Akira looked over to the clock in his house. "It's just 5 pm... and I don't have anything to do..."
Shrugging, he took out his laptop and placed it on the kitchen counter. Searching a video about how to cook some Omelet. Even though he mostly ate his meals at Leblanc, he would like to cook himself.
But why?
Asking the same question to himself, Akira was about to continue his cooking when a girl's voice suddenly rang behind him. "Hey, Akira! You lost the bet, so you're cooking!"
Turning around, Akira deadpanned at the source of the voice. It was a young girl in Shujin uniform who was around his age with shoulder-length chocolate-colored hair, and a pair of hazel eyes. "Kimiko, you know I'll just create another mess if I'm cooking again."
"Well, you'll never know if you don't try," Another voice suddenly rang next to him, but it's a boy's voice. "C'mon Akira, don't give up. Take this as advice from the vice president." Glancing to the source next to him, it was a boy in Shujin uniform with crimson hair and dark eyes.
Akira only frowned at the boy next to him in response. "Shut up, Shinji. You're only one point ahead of me in that tycoon game. By the way, what kind of a vice student council president are you?"
"The good kind. Jealous that I'm close with Makoto?"
"Fuck you, man."
"Just accept you're lost, Akira," Kimiko smiled, playfully shaking his shoulder. "It's not Shinji's fault that you lost."
He deadpanned again, "...Fine, I'll try."
"...Right... because of her..." Staring at the empty house behind him, Akira quickly shook his head to snap out of those memories. "However, it's all in the past now..."
"And you'll avenge Kimiko," Suddenly, the voice of Moriarty rang inside of him, and he materialized right in front of him, crossing his arms. "It's no use to be somber about her death, or the memories."
"I know, Moriarty..." Trailing off, Akira turned back to the stove in front of him. "But it's not as easy as it sounds like."
[Evening, the Attic of Leblanc.]
After a whole day of buying and preparing for their infiltration to Kamoshida's palace, Ren finally returned to the cozy atmosphere of Leblanc. However, just as he walked up to the stairs and placed his shoulder bag, his phone suddenly buzzed.
"Hmm?" Raising an eye, he took out his phone and found that it's the group chat.
Ann: Guys, I have something that I wanted to talk about.
Ren: What is it?
Ryuji: Yeah, somethin' about Suzui?
Ann: You're partially right, Ryuji.
Ann: Well, remember when I awakened Carmen?
Ryuji: Of effin' course! How could I forget about it?
Ren: Ryuji, you can just reply with a 'yes'.
Ryuji: Shaddup, Renren.
Ren: I told you to not call me by this name.
Ann: Guys! Just stop with your stupid argument!
Ren: Right.
Ryuji: Urgh... Fine.
Ann: OK, so when that... shadow was about to kill me, Shiho's voice suddenly came from nowhere.
Ann: Did you guys heard her too?
Ren: Yeah, but I just left it as Suzui's cognitive form encouraging you or something along those lines.
Ryuji: I heard that too, that's really weird... you know.
Ann: I called Shiho after that, she told me that she went home right after school...
Ren: I sensed a 'but' here.
Ann: But her tone was so weird, it sounded like she has something to hide.
Ryuji: Huh? You mean Suzui was in the palace?!
Ann: It's just speculation, but we're going to the palace tomorrow, right?
Ren: Of course. And we're going to find out who's that voice belongs to.
Nodding, Ren put his phone to sleep mode and put it on the table nearby. "Ren, what's on your mind?" Morgana asked, curling up beside his shoulder bag.
"I don't know... but I don't think we're alone in the palace."
[?, the Velvet Room]
waking up by the singing, Akira blinked a few times before sighing. He's back in the Velvet Room, which he started to familiarize with. Akira stood up from the chair he was sitting, smiling at the sight of Elizabeth.
"Excellent job on saving Miss Suzui, Akira," The woman in blue smiled, taking a sip of her cup of lemon drink. "It seems like you started to discover what you can do."
"Yeah, and now I'm going to take Kamoshida out of Shujin," Akira nodded, leaning on the bar table. "But Elizabeth, why did you call me here?"
"It's because I want to give you this," Elizabeth said, taking out a key from nowhere and gave it to him. "This is the key to the Velvet Room, and you visit this place on your own will."
Raising an eye in curiosity, Akira took the key from her and examined it. If not for the mask-like shape engraved onto the top part, it didn't have any difference to a normal key. "Thank you," He nodded again, pocketing the key.
"You don't need to thank me, it's my responsibility," She giggled, placing the compendium on the table. "Also, it's more a personal request."
"It's been... a while since the last time I come into your world," Elizabeth said. "If you're willing to, I would like to explore the world. I want to see what has changed over the years."
"You've... been to the real world?"
"Yes," She nodded. "However, I was accompanied by my former guest... I think you can accompany me and teach me what had changed."
Akira pondered fora second, and he nodded with a faint smile. "I guess there's no harm to accompany you."
"Thank you," With that said, the sound of an alarm clock suddenly filled the whole club, signaling the arrival of another day. "Well, I guess our little meeting is coming to an end."
Before Akira could say another word, the whole club was filled with white light again. And the sound of the song he set as alarm filled his ear.
[18th April, Morning]
After his breakfast on Leblanc, Akira went on his daily routine of going to the school while listening to music. After texting with Shiho to remind her of the infiltration, he stopped at mid-track at the sight of Kamoshida.
"What the hell is he doing here..." Akira murmured, putting down his headphone to his neck.
Nodding, the two decided to continue their walk as usual. Unfortunately, it seems like Kamoshida's wasn't going to let them go away this easily. "Good morning," He said monotonically, resting his arms on his hips. "Ichijo."
Clutching his hand into a fist, Akira didn't say anything in response. 'It's not worth it to snap at him right here, he's taunting you.' He repeated in his mind. Even though after all this time and event, he still looked at him as if he's invincible.
However, remembering that he's going to make this trash of a human being suffer from what he had done, and Shiho's still safe and sound. Akira couldn't help but smirk faintly, just visible enough for him to notice.
"What are you smirking for?" Kamoshida asked irritatedly, furrowing his brow. "This time, Kirijo ain't going to keep you safe."
"It's nothing," Akira shook his head, his smirk widened. "I just thought of something funny."
Before the PE teacher could say a word, Akira continued his walk to the school. Just a bit longer, then he could make Kamoshida pay for what he had done.
Once he was in the classroom, Kawakami suddenly asked Ren to have a talk. Yes, he was curious about why he was called, but it didn't matter right now.
Even though got singled out by teacher would be a horrifying thing, but for some reason... Ren couldn't feel any horror or anything from Kawakami. Why was it though? Maybe it's because he felt sorry for her, for being a hassle for her.
Stopping right next to the guidance office, Kawakami turned around with a serious expression. "There's something I'd like to ask you. It won't take long."
"It's fine, Ms. Kawakami," Ren shook his with a smile in response, trying to brighten up her mood.
However, just as Kawakami was about to continue on, the door opened and revealed Kamoshida and the crimson-haired girl. 'It was her...' Widening his eyes at the sight of her with Kamoshida, Ren quickly recomposed himself.
"I see you're already getting on top of the problem I'd mentioned this morning, Ms. Kawakami!" Kamoshida said, a fake-as-fuck grin basically stapled on his face. "I appreciate the support."
The crimson-haired girl nodded with a much sincerer smile. "Thank you again."
Turning his focus from Ren to her, Kamoshida changed his expression to something else, but still fake-as-fuck. "Oh, you know this guy, Yoshizawa?"
Yoshizawa nodded again. "Yes, he lent me a helping hand earlier."
The PE teacher's face quickly turned into a frown. "I recommend you steer clear of the likes of him if you have any consideration for your future." He said. "Remember the discussion we just had? There are a number of students in this school you shouldn't get involved with..."
Ren only gritted his teeth silently, putting on his best poker face as possible. 'Well, she should steer away from YOU.' He thought.
"This one is on the top of the list."
Widening her eyes in surprise, Yoshizawa's eyes darted between Kamoshida and Ren for a second. "Oh, the delinquent transfer student...?"
Sighing in annoyance, Kawakami decided to interrupt them. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to use the guidance office."
Kamoshida smiled again, "We should be going by now- don't want to get in the way of guiding this delinquent and all."
With that said, he walked away with a shit-eating smirk on his face. "Please, excuse us," Yoshizawa bowed lightly, following Kamoshida's lead.
However, just as she was about to take a step, Ren suddenly warned her, startling her and Kawakami. "Consider this as a bit of warning... Be careful around Kamoshida."
Raising an eye in confusion, Yoshizawa nodded before walking away. Kawakami, on the other hand, wasn't impressed with his sudden action. "After you." She sighed.
Entering the guidance office, Ren sat down on one end while Kawakami sat on the other one. Taking another long and heavy sigh, Kawakami crossed her arms, "I'm going to get straight to the point: did something happen between you and Mr. Kamoshida?"
"Considering what you just said to Yoshizawa..."
Twisting a few strands of his hair, Ren sighed in response. "It's nothing..."
"Nothing serious..." The homeroom teacher narrowed her eyes in suspicion, leaning back into her seat. "Well, he just gave me a brief lecture this morning, and your name came up."
"Huh, how shocking," Ren muttered sarcastically, pushing his glasses.
"He said something about the danger of a lack of supervision..." She sighed again, shaking her head. "I don't mean to pry, but... just make sure you don't go causing trouble, okay?"
"I'm not going to cause anything, Ms. Kawakami," The delinquent nodded, a hint of a smile crept to her face. "I know I've been a hassle since I got into this school, with my record got leaked and such..."
Kawakami nodded. "Oh, and one more thing. That girl outside the office- you didn't make a pass at her, did you?"
"Well..." He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "She's kinda cute, but that's pretty much it."
"Uh-Huh," The classroom teacher deadpanned, but she quickly changed into her usual tired and unimpressed look. "Mr. Kamoshida has a real close eye on you... Apparently, you've been getting into involved with Sakamoto-Kun."
"You seem acquainted with Yoshizawa-San as well." She continued. "...Maybe you're just naturally drawn to athletes?"
"...Somewhat, maybe it's just fate guiding me to a path of sport," Ren shrugged with a faint smirk, earning a small giggle from Kawakami.
"Sorry, bad joke."
"It's fine, Ms. Kawakami," He smiled. "Everyone needs some laugh these days."
"Well, you're much different than I thought when we first met," Kawakami returned with a much fainter smile. "That's all I wanted to discuss. You're free to go."
[During class]
The class was still as boring as ever, and Akira just decided to keep staring at the window outside. Interestingly, the cherry blossom was very beautiful, and he almost forgot about it. Well... living in a life like this, it's really hard to have some quiet time like this.
However, with the sudden buzzing from his phone, his silent observation on the cherry blossom was cut short. Pulling out his phone, he found that it was Shiho.
Shiho: Hey, Akira.
Akira: Yeah?
Shiho: Ain't it weird for me to come to school just to meet up with you?
Akira widened his eyes at the message. Shiho was right, why didn't he think about this? Shiho should be on a week break from school right now, if she just came to school and met up with him... He wouldn't dare to imagine the rumors tomorrow.
However, he couldn't think of a better way to meet up. Sighing, he typed his reply.
Akira: You're right, but I don't think there's any other way right now.
Shiho: It's OK, I'm just worried if the rumor would be worse for you...
Akira: Well, at least I still have you. :)
Shiho: You're the only one left for me too.
Shiho: I mean other than Ann.
With that said, Akira put his phone back into his pocket and returned his stare to the cherry blossoms.
[Afterschool, front gate.]
Once the bell rang, signaling the end of school, Akira wasted no time and rushed out of the classroom. However, he was stopped when Kamoshida suddenly showed up, holding a disgusting smirk on his face.
"Where are you going, Ichijo?" He said. "Taking the time to find a new school?"
"I have no time for this, OK?" Akira muttered, glaring at the teacher with hatred. "Get out of my way."
Turning his smirk into a fake smile, Kamoshida took a step aside for him. Without another word, Akira continued his dash toward the front gate.
Thankfully, it didn't take Akira a second to find where Shiho was. She was leaning at a wall opposite to the front gate, wearing her Shujin uniform. Slapping his face to clear all the down look, he quickly walked up to her with a smile.
"Am I late?"
Shifting her glance from her phone to him, Shiho shook her head and returned the smile. "No, I just arrived a few minutes ago."
"Well, let's not waste any more time," Seeing a nod from her, Akira took out his phone and opened the Metanav. "Let's do this."
"Kamoshida... Shujin Academy... Castle..."
"Beginning navigation."
[Kamoshida's palace, entrance]
After the weird feeling of nausea and dizziness, the pair found themselves standing in front of the castle. Noting that they're wearing the outfit again, Akira took out the sniper rifle he bought and gave it to Shiho.
"Here, your rifle."
Taking the rifle from his hand, Shiho changed into a shooting posture and tested out the scope for a second. "Thank you, Akira," She said, and the model gun disappeared as she holstered it on her back.
"Oh, by the way," Akira suddenly said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I don't think calling each other 'Akira' and 'Shiho' would be suitable here."
"So...?" Shiho asked, raising en eye in confusion.
"I think we should have codename in this place," He suggested, "After all, we're basically a Phantom Thief... or something along those lines."
"A codename... Huh?" The volleyball player pondered for a moment, before nodding in agreement. "Well, any idea for your codename? I can help you with that."
Akira pondered for a moment, blinking as the memories of something suddenly surfaced in his mind. Before he could realize, he was in his apartment, and Kimiko was sitting next to him.
"Hey Akira, do you know what's the name of an entertainer during the medieval and Renaissance?" Kimiko asked with a wide grin, holding up her history textbook.
"Hmm?" Poking his head up from the notes, Akira raised an eye at her. "That's court Jester, right?"
"Th~~at's correct!" She declared cheerfully, clapping as a huge smile crept to her face. "10 points for Akira-Chan!"
"Huh?" Akira sweatdropped, taking a sip of his red tea. "What's that for?"
"I'm just bored with all these studying..." Kimiko pouted, pinching his cheeks with both hands. "And you're fun to play with~"
"C-c'mon, I'm not some toy," Akira resisted, but ultimately failed and he just let her continue. "But the exam is next week, we have to prepare for-"
"Akira?" Suddenly, Shiho patted his head with a concerned face. "You're OK? You zoned out for a bit."
Blinking in slight confusion, it took him a second to realize that he drowned himself into the memories again. "O-oh, It's just... memories." Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, Akira shifted his top hat. "I think I'll be called 'Jester'."
"'Jester'... That sounds great," Shiho shrugged with a hint of a smile. "As for mine... any idea?"
"I have one," Shiho said, smiling under her mask. "And judging from your face, we're thinking of the same thing, right?"
Barely able to keep his smirk down, Akira nodded. "Let's say our idea at the same time, shall we?"
"We're not naming an island with a bunch of animals, Akira," The volleyball player deadpanned, but the smile quickly crept onto her face. "But let's try it."
"One, two, three..."
"'Swan'!" The duo said in unison, and they just widened their smile.
"Well, that's settled," Akira shrugged, his expression quickly turned into a serious one. "Let's go."
"Yeah."
[West Building, 1F]
Slipping through the hole on the wall, the duo quickly found that there's no a single guard in the hallway. Feeling that it's probably because Kamoshida's putting them somewhere else, they walked through the hallway and entered a room with three guards patrolling.
Quickly dashed to a stone pillar as cover, Jester smirked before glancing at Swan. "I guess we have to fight our way out of here." He said.
The thief in white nodded, summoning her whip-sword, and tightened her grip. Waiting for the right moment to strike, Akira took a deep breath before leaping onto it's back, gripping the edge of its mask. "Let's see who you really are!"
Ripping off the mask, Jester swiftly jumped off from its back with a backflip, his scythe gripped tightly in his hand. The shadow twitched uncontrollably before dissolving into a pile of black goo, revealing three pixies.
With Swan rushing to his side for aid, Jester smirked before pulling out his revolver. "They're weak to guns, let's safe some strength for later enemies." Nodding, Swan took out her sniper rifle and quickly fired three shots to the shadow, killing them instantly.
Once the battle ended, the duo quickly hid at the corner of another pillar, killing remaining shadow with ease. "Phew, that's was really easy..." Swan commented, holstering her sniper rifle.
"Yeah," Jester nodded, pointing at the door in front of them. "But let's keep going, this place is much larger than it seems."
jumping up to the ledges nearby, the duo avoided a few more patrolling shadows as they arrived at the staircase. "Well, since I have a grappling gun here, why wouldn't I use it?" Shrugging, Jester pulled out his grappling hook and fired, attaching to the ledges to 2/F.
"Hey, Jester," Swan deadpanned, crossing her arms. "Is it really bad to just run up the stairs?"
"Uh... I just wanted to use my grappling hook for something..." The Victorian-looking thief muttered, avoiding her unimpressed glance. "And it's boring to just run up..."
"You serious?" She pressed on, changing her gaze into a freezing one. "We're not coming to play, it's a serious matter in our hand."
"I... I know," He sighed, pointing at the wire above him. "But I've already fired it... no harm on following through?"
Giving out an annoyed sigh, Swan nodded. "...Fine," She reluctantly agreed, before she realized something. "Wait, since I don't have a grappling hook myself... does that mean I have to hold you?"
"U-Uh... yeah." Jester shuttered, internally thankful that the mask is hiding his blushes.
"So this is your true motive..." The thief in white said again, this time she was using a downright horrifying tone. "You're such a perv."
"W-what?! NO! It's just a coincidence!"
Narrowing her eyes and stared at Jester with a suspicion-filled glance, the duo stayed silent for a second before Swan sighed again. "Fine, I'll hold you." With that said, Swan instantly put her hands around his wrist. "Just go, it's embarrassing."
Hesitantly nodded, Jester clicked the trigger of the grappling gun again, pulling them to the next floor in a matter of seconds. Once they've landed on the new floor, the duo noticed a lone guard in front of them and instantly hid behind a nearby sofa.
"We should avoid it..." He suggested, peeking through the corner and waited for the perfect moment to dash past it.
However, glancing at Swan behind him, it seems that she had a different plan on her own. "...Jester, we just need to rip off the mask to gain an advantage, right?" She asked, which he answered with a nod.
Nodding to herself, Swan took out her whip-sword and waited for it to turn around. "OK, let me do it."
Even though avoiding the guards was the better plan, but some more fighting with the shadow won't harm them too much. Shrugging, Jester nodded in approval. "Let's wait for it to face away from us-"
However, before he could finish his word, the thief in white stood up from her cover. Using the sofa as a springboard, she jumped into the air toward the guard, detaching the blade to 'whip-mode'. Stepping on its chest, Swan noticed one of the blades sipped under the mask. Smirking, she leaped again from the shadow's chest and swung her whip, the blade followed her momentum and slice the mask off the shadow.
The shadow twitched before dissolving, revealing a lone Mandrake. "Le Pucelle! Kouha!"
The armored Persona materialized behind her and raised her sword, sending a burst of light toward the human-flower hybrid. Finally snapped out from his state of shock, Jester summoned his Persona in addition. "Moriarty! Eiha!"
The light and the curse energy mixed into a ball of light and shadow, hitting the shadow dead-center, killing it. Once the battle was over, Swan holstered her whip-sword and smiled.
"So, how did I do?" She asked, tilting her head.
Jester, on the other hand, only sighed before returning her smile. "Flashy and stylish, just like how a Phantom Thief should be."
Giggling, the two continued their exploration, they first tried a door next to where they're located, but there's it was locked. "I wish we know someone who can break open those doors for us..." Swan muttered.
"Maybe a giant hammer would do the trick... or a chainsaw," Jester shrugged, gesturing to the hallway. "Let's try this way."
The duo dashed along the hallway, avoiding another guard and entered another room. There's not a single guard present here, but steel bars were surrounding a single table, with a few levers with a goat head on the wall.
Swan used her sniper rifle's scope as a telescope. "It looked like a map..." She said.
"OK..." Trailing off, Jester walked up to a random lever and pulled. However, nothing happened. Raising an eye, the two tried a few more levers, but still nothing happened.
"So none of them is the real one..." Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he was about to pull another lever when they heard noises coming from outside. Widening their eyes as they glanced at each other, the duo instantly jumped into a nearby ledge, hiding in the shadow.
The door opened and revealed Ren and his group. "Look!" Ryuji exclaimed, pointing at the map in the middle. "There's something in there!"
The group quickly turned their attention to the map. "But the bars're blockin' our way in..." He grunted.
"If he's protecting it this securely, it has to be important," Morgana commented, glancing at Ren. "That means there should be a way in and out of here. Joker, do you think you can solve the mystery of this room?"
"So they're also using codename..." Jester murmured.
Ren, or Joker, smirked in response. "Of course."
Closing his eyes and activated his third-eye, he quickly walked over to two specific levers and pulled. And the bars quickly lift up in seconds. "How can he figure this out on the first try..." The Victorian-looking thief murmured again, narrowing his eyes at him.
The group walked over to the map, and Jester's suspicion only grew further. "Swan, wait here." He ordered.
"What for?"
"I'm going to have a talk with them..." Trailing off, he jumped off the ledge and emerged from the shadow. "...Well, it's surprising that you're able to lift the bars with the first try, Joker, right?"
The group yelped in surprise and turned to him, widening their eyes. "Another Persona user?!" Morgana yelped in shock, taking a step back.
"Call me 'Jester'," Jester introduced himself with a bow, before jumping into the air with a flip and grabbed the map. "And sorry, we need this map too."
"A map?!" Exclaiming in shock, Skull quickly pulled out his shotgun and pointed at him. "Hey, give it back!" His teammates followed, pulling out their guns as well.
"...I'm sorry, but I told you, we need this map too," Sighing, Jester pulled out his revolver, pointing at the thieves. "But I guess we're gonna fight for it."
"...Besides, I can't really trust you."
Preview:
As the two group fought, the weird sense of familiarity only grew further for Panther.
Their infiltration continued, going through the castle.
However, on the other side, in a different school.
Another person had to face the struggle to connect.
Next Chapter:
"Infiltrating the Castle"
Stay Tuned!
With that, it seems like Jester and the Phantom Thieves are going to have a fight.
And there's a few more bit of flashback between Akira and Kimiko...
What's going to happen next?
In all and all, I hope y'all like the fic so far!
Reviews are welcome!
