CONTENT WARNING: The section beginning with "The familiar train tracks faded, after a time," contains purposeful misgendering, and implications of parental abuse. Please take breaks or skip sections as necessary. Stay safe.


9/1 – Wednesday
After School
Maruki's Office

"Coming out of Summer vacation usually takes some adjusting," Maruki noted. "Don't be too hard on yourself if it takes you a few days to get back into the swing of things."

Ren shrugged. "It just feels like I've been gone for way longer than I have. Like, half a year or something." He leaned back, tracing a line in the ceiling with his eyes. "So much is different in my life now, and this place just stayed the same. Almost feels like I've outgrown it."

Maruki chuckled. "I can understand that. I think most people can. Maybe talk to your friends about that feeling. You might both get something out of it."

"It doesn't seem that important," Ren said. "Not compared to all the other stuff."

"Your needs are always important, Ren." Maruki took a long sip of juice, as if to punctuate his sentence. "And if your friends are anything like you've told me about, I know they'd agree." A shrill chime echoed through the room, dragging Ren's attention back to the man. "Ah, looks like that's all our time for today."

Ren nodded. "Good session?" he asked.

"That's for you to decide," Maruki chuckled. "Was it?"

"I guess so." It wasn't anything revelatory, but it was nice to be able to share his thoughts. "Yeah. Sure, it was."

"Good!" Maruki stood up, stretching with both arms out to either side. "I'll be seeing you next week then, yes?"

"Mhm." Ren mirrored the movement, scooping his bag off the floor and slinging it gently over one shoulder. He turned towards the door.

"Ah, Ren." He stopped, turned to face Maruki, who had a sheepish expression on his face. "Sorry, could...this isn't anything bad, I promise. I'd like to speak with you a moment before you go, actually."

"Sure," he replied. Despite the therapist's assurance, Ren's mind still spun at horrid possibilities. Anything and everything that could have gone wrong.

Maruki sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "Have you seen Kasumi at all today?"

Ren shook his head. "Why, did something happen?"

Another exhalation, this one distinctly frustrated. "Not...exactly." He put his juice box down – that made Ren even more nervous than the vagueness – and took a deep breath. "I suppose the best way to do this is straightforwardly. I don't want to break confidentiality, of course, so I can't tell all the details, but I'll do my best to fill you in. It's sort of...a request, I guess."

"Okay," Ren said, slowly.

"Kasumi isn't in danger, nor is she in crisis. But I am concerned about her. There's only so much I can do myself, considering her parents..." Maruki cut himself off.

Ren blinked. Kasumi's parents? What did he mean by that?

"I don't know that my words have reached her much," Maruki continued. "Not enough to help pull her out of the funk she's in right now. She's under...a lot of stress." He crossed one arm over his chest, stroking his chin with the other. "She's my patient, and I realize it's unprofessional of me to ask this, but I'd appreciate it if you could reach out to her, perhaps." He smiled, a little skewed, a little pained. "She trusts you, Ren. Far more than she trusts me. I don't blame her for that, but it still means you have a far better chance of being able to help her than I do."

"Okay," Ren said. This was...he wasn't sure how to feel about this. Concerned about Kasumi, obviously, and frustrated that the therapist couldn't just spill the beans about whatever was going on with her parents. And, maybe, happy, that she trusted him? It felt good. Nice, to be trusted. "Yeah. If there's something I can do to help, I will. Uh, thank you for telling me."

Maruki seemed to almost deflate, tension giving way to relief. "Thank you Ren. I know it's a difficult request–"

"It's not." He shrugged, and turned towards the door. "I dunno what therapist things are tripping you up here, I guess, but she's my friend. It's not hard to help someone who needs it. Not for me."


9/2 – Thursday
After School
Shujin Academy

"Miss Kawakami?" Ren asked. The classroom was empty, but he still kept his voice low, just in case.

"Amamiya," she replied, not even looking up from the papers she was grading. "What do you need?"

"I don't know if she's in your class at all," Ren began, "but I've been looking for a friend of mine all day, and I haven't seen her around. Do you know if Kasumi Yoshizawa was here today?"

Kawakami raised an eyebrow, finally glancing up to Ren. "You're friends with the freshman gymnastics prodigy? You sure you're not just meddling–"

"She's my friend," he said, more insistent, almost angry.

The homeroom teacher seemed to size him up almost, like she was waiting for the facade to break. Ren wouldn't give her the fucking satisfaction. Finally, she sighed. "Sent home early. Something to do with low blood sugar. She passed out in class." Kawakami leaned her head on one hand. "I'm surprised you didn't hear about it."

"People don't tend to tell me things." He couldn't quite keep the spite out of his voice. Low blood sugar though, that didn't sound like Kasumi at all.

"And yet you seem to arrive at the truth nonetheless." Kawamaki sighed. "Amamiya," she continued, before Ren had a chance to think much on that particular statement, "if you'd indulge me a moment of honesty?"

His hands tightened around the strap of his bag. "No promises."

"Be careful," Morgana warned, a low whisper.

Kawakami seemed to be searching for the right words, for some way of saying what she wanted to say. "Did the Phantom Thieves know, when they changed Toshiyaki's heart? Did they know it was me?"

He didn't, of course he didn't. But regardless, Ren didn't feel he owed her an explanation. "Why does it matter? It's their job to help people, that's what they–"

"It matters because you've got a savior complex the size of the Sapporo Tower." Kawakami smiled, her tone somewhat wry. "It's one thing to put your safety aside for a friend, or a peer. It's another thing entirely to put your safety aside for someone twice your age."

Ren bit back a snarled insult. He couldn't lose his cool, not here. Not in front of her. "I don't buy that. I don't buy that's why you suddenly decide to give a shit." He breathed in through his teeth, and out through his nose. "It'd make a lot more sense if you were trying to weasel your way out of owing a favor to some kid like me. Especially one who might have something over on you."

Kawakami laughed at that. A full body chuckle, her shoulders shaking with mirth. "I'm not scared of you, Ren. Magical powers or not, you're a tired, traumatized teenager who cares so much about others he'd rather burn himself out than let a single person get hurt."

"Uh," Ren blinked.

She chuckled again. "You're not wrong about one thing, though." And Kawakami looked down at the papers on her desk again. "I do owe the Phantom Thieves. So, when it comes time for you to reach out to some accomplices, I hope you'll think of me." A glance back towards him, and a little smile. "All I ask is that I hope you make it something good. Knowing you, you probably will."


9/2 – Thursday
Evening
Yongen-Jaya, Batting Cages

Thunk. Ren swung through, watching the ball sail into the air and then plop down with a thud into the dirt.

"Distracted?" Akechi offered from the next stall over, breaking his stance just a moment to smirk at Ren. "Eye on the ball, Second-Year." The pitch whizzed through the air towards the detective, and he swung with all the precision a trained eye could offer. Crack. The ball hit net nearly a foot under the home run target.

"Sure." Ren tried to focus on the automatic pitcher, but he found his mind wandering again. "Hey, Akechi. So, uh, have you heard anything from Kasumi recently?"

Akechi raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"She got sent home early today," he began, "and her therapist said she's having a rough time, or something. Didn't go into much detail though. Confidentiality." The pitch fired, and Ren swung. The ball clipped the bottom edge of the bat, and slammed into the dirt between his feet. "And she's not responding to my texts."

"Nor mine," the detective mumbled. Ren glanced over to see a hesitant, almost concerned look on his face. "Not for quite a little while. I simply assumed she was busy with practice."

"Me too, I guess." Better that than admit he'd been too busy to even think about reaching out. "Did you hear anything from her last you talked?"

"Only that she was, as per usual, working herself to the bone." The words came out quick and spiteful. Akechi adjusted his grip on his bat.

"Are you angry at her?" Ren asked. "You seem grumpier than usual."

Akechi let out a short, barking laugh. "Not quite. Though I am quite infuriated by her–" He cut himself off, meeting the ball with another swift swing. Crack. This time, just barely too high. "–absolutely abysmal work ethic. She seems to consider it more noble to collapse from exhaustion than to ask for even a slight exemption." He was quiet, a moment. "Not that I'm one to talk, but regardless, I know self-sabotage enough to see evidence of it. And Yoshizawa is very well versed in such patterns."

"Hm." Ren swung, and missed, and swore under his breath. "Are your reasons the same as hers?"

"Not even remotely." Akechi ground one foot into the dirt. "She's too kind. Too willing to martyr herself to prove she's worthy of whatever is being kept from her. Love, or truth, or something else entirely." He sighed, frustrated. "Too willing to burn to keep others warm." Akechi looked towards Ren. "Wonder if that's why she likes you so much?" The ball whizzed past his chest, but the detective didn't so much as flinch.

"Jealous?" Ren offered.

"Hardly," he laughed. "Yoshizawa seems to value my company as much as I value hers. I've known her years longer than you, remember."

"Okay, Detective Prince," Ren fired back. "Then, what do you think is going on with her right now?" He took a quick breath and swung. Crack. The ball smacked the net, inches from the target.

Akechi hummed out a hesitant thought. "This is hardly a mystery of any legal consequence," he began, "but if it was, I suppose my first suspect would be Mister Yoshizawa."

"Her father?" Ren raised an eyebrow. Maruki had mentioned her parents yesterday...

"The man is a fine enough director, he has an eye for details I can't help but admire." Akechi tossed his bat to the side, moving to exit the stall. "But from what I have heard from Yoshizawa, and from my own observations, it seems no small amount of stress in her life comes directly from him."

Ren let the tip of his bat lower into the dirt, wiping off his brow. "I'll remember that," he mumbled.


9/3 – Friday
Morning
Aoyama-Itchome

Ren caught a momentary glimpse of a girl with red hair on the path towards Shujin, and he immediately broke into a jog, slipping past a small throng of students to catch up with her. "Kasumi! Wait a sec."

She hesitated, but didn't quite stop. Still, the lapse in her pace was enough. "Hi Ren," she said. "I really h-h-ave to get to pr–actice, I'm sorry."

"I'll walk with you," Ren insisted. "Look, I just...it's been a little while since we talked last. And I heard you passed out in class yesterday–"

"I'm fine," she said. Short, brief, blunt. Kasumi clutched her bag tight to her chest as she walked – quicker, almost like she was trying to lose him.

"Kasumi, please don't blow me off." He felt a knot in his throat start to choke his words, but he powered through it. "We're friends, right? Just talk to me, please."

She stopped. Halted with such suddenness that Ren nearly bowled her over. "I'm sorry," she whispered, shuddering. "I don't mean to be a bad friend, I'm s-orry. I'm just so stressed out, and I didn't want to upset or hurt you, or make you stressed too."

"It worries me more to be left out, I think." He smiled, tried to force some levity into the situation. "You're not a bad friend. You were worried about me, and that's really kind of you. But I'd rather be a little stressed to help you out of a big stress."

"You can't help," Kasumi said. "I don't...think you can. It's not something simple."

Ren scooted out of the way of the throng he'd passed before, waiting for them to be farther away before replying. "Try me? I'm pretty good at helping. And I know a lot of people who are good at helping too. Maybe I can't fix it, and I promise I won't try if you ask me not to, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to be done. Doesn't mean you have to deal with this alone."

Kasumi let out a long, shaky breath. "Okay," she said, in a voice so much smaller than the joy he'd seen on her so often. "My gymnastics results are slipping, a lot. I keep making really b-asic mistakes, and messing up stuff I've practiced a lot. I can't sleep, and I've been getting bad grades, and it just feels like ever-ything is falling apart." The girl stifled what must have been a sob. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing's wrong with you," Ren insisted. "Maybe you're burnt out, or pushing yourself too hard. You said you were working your butt off over Summer vacation. You probably just need a break."

"I can't," she muttered.

Akechi's somber voice in the back of his mind. "Is it...your parents?" Ren asked. His chest tightened at the thought.

Kasumi flinched, then immediately shook her head. "It's not! It's...I just..." She inhaled, then let out a torrent of words in a single breath. "Gymnastics is the only thing that keeps me busy enough to stop thinking of Sumire!"

Silence. Ren didn't know what to say, how to respond to that.

"I asked them about her," she said, quietly. "Right before Summer started. I remembered more of what h-happened, and I asked them why they never talk about her, why there's no pict-ures of her anywhere. And my dad just...yelled at me. Said I shouldn't talk about her, that I shouldn't think about her. That I was...better off, without my s-ister." Kasumi closed her eyes tight, rocking back and forth just a little, on the balls of her feet. "I can't think about that, about her, without wanting to scream. I want to know what happened to Sumire so, so badly, but I feel like if I do I'll just fall apart. All I can do is keep...running away."

"Kasumi," he said quietly. "This is something important to you. She's someone important to you. Sooner or later...you're going to find out what happened. You can't run from it forever."

"I know," she said. "But if I keep on runn-ing, maybe I'll be good enough once that memory catches up to me. I'm not strong, right now. I can't face her. I can't face them."

"Her parents sound awful," Morgana mumbled. "She shouldn't be so scared of the people who are taking care of her. And why are they keeping her sister a secret?"

Ren agreed, of course he did. "Kasumi," he said, quietly. "Do you think..." How the fuck was he supposed to ask this? "If your parents took some pressure off you, and could open up to you about your sister, do you think that'd be better? That you wouldn't have to keep running?"

She opened her eyes, stared at him. A long silence filled the distance between them. "Maybe," she said. "Maybe, but I can't ask them to do that. They wouldn't listen to me."

His throat felt dry, and he swallowed, hard. "I could make a request," he said, finally. "I could ask the Phantom Thieves to change their heart."

Kasumi's eyes widened. She took an unsteady breath, and her gaze shot towards the ground. "They're not bad people," she whispered. "They're not, they're not. They care a lot about me. They paid for my school, and my meds, and introduced me to Mister Maruki, and they let me tra-nsition, and–" She cut herself off, shuddering. "They're not bad."

Her mentioning transition was definitely new, but Ren didn't have much thought to dwell on it. "The Phantoms don't just change bad hearts, remember?" He had to be strong, had to stay steady. Voice even, calmer than he wanted to be. "The way you've described them sounds like they're in their own heads, thinking something's best for you when it isn't. Even good people can get stuck like that." He thought of Futaba, of Mishima. Good people, trapped in distortion. Kasumi's parents didn't sound anything like either of them, but she sort of did.

Kasumi just nodded. Hesitant. "If my parents ever find out," she mumbled, "they'd be r-eally mad."

"I won't make any request without your consent," Ren assured. "But I know the, uh, the girl in charge of the Phan-Site. I could ask her to make a private request, one that won't show up on the forum page. Only the Thieves, me, and her would ever see it."

"I'm..." Kasumi bit her lip. Shuddered. Glanced towards the school, then towards Ren. "I have to go. I don't wanna be late." A single step, and she stopped again. "I don't want to be trouble for you, or the Thieves. I don't want to be..." One last, long breath. "But I want them to listen. I want my parents to be good again, like they u-used to be. If their hearts changed...that would be good, I think."

"Okay." Ren couldn't stop from smiling, just a little, though his tension probably leaked into the expression. "Thank you, Kasumi. Uh, good luck at practice?"

"Thank you," she echoed. Empty and plain. Afraid, maybe. And then she hurried towards Shujin.


9/4 – Saturday
After School
Sojiro's House

"You're sure you want to handle this with just us three?" Futaba asked. It would be a little too suspicious to slip into Mementos from the attic, so the siblings and their feline friend had made arrangements for their departure in the entrance of Sojiro's house. "We could wait till the other Thieves are available." Yusuke had a mandatory exhibition to attend, Ann was helping Shiho, Ryuji was stuck at work and Makoto was up to her ears in paperwork from the strike.

"I don't want Kasumi pushing herself any further," Ren said. "Besides, we've got a gentleman thief, an experienced Persona-user, and the best navigator to ever set foot in the Metaverse. We'll be fine."

"Right!" Morgana chimed in. "And then we've also got you two!"

Futaba burst out laughing. "Nice try, kitty. You might be a gentleman and an adept, but I've still got you beat on the navigator front." She flipped out her phone and started typing rapidly. "I'll let Sojiro know we're heading to Akihabara. Cell reception gets wonky there sometimes, so he should understand if I don't answer."

Ren nodded. "Okay. Ready to go then?"

A nod from his sister, and a second from the not-a-cat perched on his shoulder. Ren glanced down at his cell, at that red and black eye pulsing softly beneath the twin names of Kasumi's parents, and he tapped the button.

"Beginning navigation."

And the doorbell chimed out a resonant note. All three Thieves flinched in unison. Ren scrambled to cancel the Meta-Nav, nearly dropping his phone in the process. He was less than two feet away from the door, much too close–

Reality pitched to the left. The yawning distortion opened up like an enormous mouth, and bit down around them. Ren felt the familiar sensation of every hair on his body standing up at once, and the edges of his vision twisting into brilliant fractals, first blue, then yellow, then finally the red that bled into his gaze as he was thrust into Mementos' entrance. Five months of Thievery, and he never quite got used to that.

An unexpected, yet horridly familiar voice rang out. "What...?"

And Ren whirled towards the voice, past Oracle and Mona, who were also staring with what must have been shocked expressions at the red-headed girl in her Shujin uniform, staring back at them. "Kasumi!?"

Kasumi Yoshizawa opened her mouth like she wanted to say something further, then shut it again. She looked at the Thieves, and around at the crimson and pitch subway entrance around her, and made a sound somewhere between a whine and a gasp.

"Wha–" Oracle spluttered. "What the hell!? How'd she follow us here!?"

"She must have been at the door when we entered Mementos," Mona said, tone strained with anxiety. "Joker, what do we do?"

"Joker," Kasumi echoed. She took a nervous step back, hands raised, posture tense, like she was an instant away from running towards the escalator. Towards the Shadow-infested Mementos proper. "Who-who are..."

Ren's hand immediately went to his mask, and he lifted it up onto his forehead. "Kasumi. It's me, it's okay."

The girl started, as if out of a haze. "Ren? Is that you? You're...we-aring a costume?"

"Yeah, it's..." He shook his head. "Sorry, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to ap-ologize for yesterday," Kasumi replied, "cause I was really cold I think, and you were just trying to help, and Ak-echi said you lived in a cafe called Leblanc so I went there, and um, Mister Boss said you were at his house, and he told me to...to..." Kasumi shook her head. "What's going on!?" Her voice cracked.

Ren took a deep breath. "Okay. Uh, it's kind of...a lot. You should probably sit down."


"You're Phantom Thieves, and this is the place where people's hearts are," Kasumi summed up, staring at Ren. The four of them were now sitting in an oblong circle on the floor of Mementos' entrance, with Oracle and Mona a little closer to Ren, and Kasumi at the far end. "Is that...you said you did parkour."

"Sorry for lying," Ren said, smiling to cover up the guilt. "We try to be really careful about who we tell this stuff to."

"Despite the fact that your doctor and homeroom teacher know you're a Thief," Mona grumbled.

"He did say 'try'," Oracle offered.

Kasumi nodded. "I understand, I think. I mean, I don't still, but...I understand why you lied. Not mad about that." She shifted in place. "You said you were going to ask the Phantom Thieves to change my parents' hearts. You...you're going to change their hearts yourself, aren't you?"

Both Oracle and Mona looked to Ren. "Yeah," he said. "That was the plan. That's why we're here today, actually."

"I see." Kasumi swallowed, fiddling at nothing, fingers idling wriggling against each other. "I don't know if this is...if this is bad to ask, but, do you think I c-ould come with you? It feels wrong to just leave this to you. And I..." She took a careful breath. "I want to face them too. I want to face my parents."

Ren didn't know what to say. Yes, of course he wanted to bring her with them. He trusted Kasumi, and she deserved to be a part of this. But at the same time...

"The Shadows won't ignore you just because you're not a Thief," Mona replied, arms crossed. "Mementos is dangerous, and without a Persona to protect yourself, you could get seriously hurt."

Kasumi seemed to wilt. "Ah."

"Oh!" Oracle started, hands flapping. "Wait, maybe, she could come hang out with me in Necronomicon!"

Ren blinked. "That could work." Then, to Kasumi, "Oracle's able to ride around inside her Persona, and she gives us support from a safe distance."

"So, I'd be safe from the Shadow things?" Kasumi asked. "Would that be okay, uh, Mona?"

Mona grumbled something under his breath. "Yeah, I guess so. As long as I don't have to babysit you, then fine."

"I might be a little cramped," Oracle admitted. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, if we have to like..." She pushed her fingers together, her cheeks dusted a shy red. "Uh, yeah."

Kasumi seemed to consider that. Then she looked at Ren. "You trust her." It was almost a question, like she was asking for confirmation.

"Futaba's my sister," Ren assured, "and I trust her completely."

Kasumi nodded, once, firm. "Okay." She stood up, brushing herself off, and walked up in front of Oracle, who stumbled to her feet in a clumsy instant. "I'm Kasumi Yoshizawa," she said, clear and polite. A moment's hesitation, and she extended a shaky hand. "Please take care of me, Miss Futaba – um, I mean, Oracle."

"Oh," Oracle said, glancing towards Ren, and then back to Kasumi, "we don't have to shake hands, if you don't want to? And I'll do my best to give you as much space as I can, I promise!" She gave a skewed smile, reaching up to fiddle shyly with her mask.

Kasumi blinked, and lowered her hand. "You don't...mind, do you? I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

Oracle scoffed, for what was probably dramatic effect, waving a hand. "Nah, it's okay. I mean, spending some time with a cute girl in an enclosed space sounds, uh...good." She giggled, and her nervousness was clear in it. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable either, though."

"Well," Kasumi said, slowly, "I think I agree. Spending some time with a cute girl in an ecl-osed space does sound good." She smiled, shy and honest. "So, no complaints here?"

"Uh," Oracle said, before the implication of Kasumi's words set in, and a wide blush peeked out from beneath her mask. "What–that–that's illegal! Oh gosh. Golly. Fuck."

Kasumi burst out laughing, doubled over, giggling her heart out, and the sound echoed across the walls of Mementos. It almost sounded like a song.


Ren put a hand on the door to the next level of Mementos, as if that would change anything. "Fuck," he muttered. They'd already fought far deeper than he'd gone with the Thieves before, all the way down through five paths, only to find themselves with no way into the sixth. No way to reach the heart they needed to change.

"Kasumi's parents are right below us," Oracle mumbled, fiddling with her goggles, flicking her fingers across some display only she could see. "If we can just get past this door, we can get to them."

"That's a big if," Mona said. "The doors don't open arbitrarily. They've only done so after we've caused a Palace to collapse, after more people become aware of the Phantom Thieves." He sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't think there's any way for us to change their hearts right now."

"Oh," Kasumi said. "It's, um, it's okay! I'll be okay. I can...wait." She couldn't hide her disappointment, her pain.

Ren grit his teeth. "Memento Mori," he invoked. The door did not move. "Absolute power, uh, fucking, whatever, just–" He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a frustrated breath. "Please!" The desperate sound echoed back across the tunnel, blending with the sound of the far-off subway shepherding Shadows into the depths. "Oxymoron, if you can hear me, please open the door. I know you said they're not always meant to be opened, that's fine, I won't go farther than that. Just let me change these two fucking hearts. Please."

Silence. The stone before him did not budge. The Witch did not reply.

Ren glanced back over his shoulder to see the mixed worry, concern and confusion on his friends' faces. "Sorry," he said. "I just...it's awful to see a friend hurting and not be able to help them." He forced a smile that probably looked more pained than he wanted it too. "I'm sorry, Kasumi."

She just nodded. "It's okay," she said, quietly.

The door opened.

Ren whirled back around, snatching his knife from its sheath. Staring into the dark beyond the door, into those two glowing yellow eyes he hadn't seen in months.

"You've done well for yourself, Trickster," Oxymoron said, her voice smooth, almost lyrical. "I was expecting you to stray further from your path after our little encounter in June, but it seems you've taken my words to heart."

"It's you," Mona said, his voice breathy, somewhere between amazed and horrified. "You're the one who sent the parcels."

Those yellow eyes turned towards the feline. "Indeed I am." And then she bowed, that dark ragged cloak swept out to either side. "I am the Witch who rules over time. You may refer to me as Oxymoron. It's a pleasure to make your triplicate acquaintances."

"Is she..." Kasumi mumbled, and Ren dared a glance to see the girl almost hiding behind Oracle, his sister putting her body firmly between the freshman and the Witch. "Is she a fr-iend, or–"

"Neither friend nor foe," Oxymoron replied, before anyone else could respond. "I am simply a provider of strength, and an obstacle to be overcome."

"You threatened my brother," Oracle said, her voice wavering, but holding firm. Ren felt a surge of pride for her, standing up to Oxymoron of all people, for his sake.

"I did." The Witch sounded...ashamed? Or perhaps just woeful, as if it were some tragic thing she wished to avoid. "I would apologize, but that might be somewhat disingenuous. Should the need arise, I would gladly do so again."

"Are you going to let us through, or not?" Ren snapped. "Did you just open the door to gloat, or prove a point, or something?"

Oxymoron stared his way. Almost empty, tired. Like she was looking through him. "The interference I have invoked so far has been to keep you on track. I have no expectation of your gratitude on this, but understand I do what I do for the sake of things far grander than you." Those yellow eyes closed. "I need not make an exception to allow this. You're ahead of your own pace, tripping on your feet, but this is a push farther towards the destiny I have set for you. I have no reason to stop you here. And very many reasons to allow your progress continue."

"Gee," Mona growled, "thanks. You're so nice."

"I recognize your sarcasm, little sorcerer," Oxymoron said, a smile in her tone, "but I don't intend to be nice. I intend to save the world. Should horridness suit my role more than kindness, then I shall be so very horrid."

"That's awful." Kasumi's voice. Ren glanced to see her still behind Oracle, but staring right at the Witch. A stoicism to her gaze that he hadn't quite seen from the girl before. "You don't just get a free pass for being a bad person bec-ause it gets people to do what you want them to. Even if you have a good reason, that doesn't make it okay. If you care en-ough to know when you're doing something wrong, then why don't you care enough to do better?"

Oxymoron said nothing, for a long time. Those yellow eyes opened once more. "You're a kind young woman, Miss Kasumi Yoshizawa." Kasumi flinched at that, and Ren's grip tightened on his knife. "Always looking for a nobler world that does not exist. If only all of humanity shared your compassion. Perhaps, it never would have gotten this bad." With that, she stepped back, the edges of her cloak flicking into the light, and then the dark swallowed her whole.

Light faded back into view within the entrance to the next path, that odd unnatural shadow peeling away to reveal the escalator down.

"Is everyone alright?" Mona asked, looking between Oracle and Kasumi.

Oracle nodded, but Kasumi didn't, just staring into the tunnel. Tense, but strong, maybe. Braver than she ever should have needed to be. "I'm ready," Kasumi said.

Ren nodded. "Okay." Deep breath in, and out. Steadying himself. "Let's change your parents' hearts."


The sixth path – Adyeshach, by the Meta-Nav's identification – was bathed in crimson light a deeper shade than blood. Even simply driving through it made Ren's skin crawl. But the color didn't last as they neared their target. It seemed to fade, like a colored t-shirt bleached on accident, draining that vibrant color into first an odd pink, and then a simple pale nothing. Pure, sterile white walls, even the veins threaded through them were absent of color here. But Ren could swear he saw something shimmering like gold within those veins.

"This place doesn't feel like Mementos," Mona said, his voice rumbling through the car. "It feels like a Palace. I think...the Yoshizawas might be even closer to that than Mishima was."

Ren forced himself to breathe, steadying his hands on the wheel, keeping the tension from settling like lead in his bones. He wouldn't let the distortion here get to him, nor the anxiety of Oxymoron's recent presence.

"If it's like a Palace," Oracle said from the passenger seat, "then are we going to have to secure an infiltration route first?"

"We sent Director Yoshizawa a calling card already, through the Phan-site," Ren said. "So long as he saw it, the Treasure should be manifested, right?"

"That's right," Mona replied. "And even if her parents' distortion has taken hold, this is still like a sapling Palace. The most formed part will be around them. It shouldn't be hard to get to them, or the Treasure."

Ren glanced over his shoulder at Kasumi, who was staring out the front windshield from one of the seats behind. She forced a smile the moment their eyes met. "I'm okay," she assured. "Um, watch the road?"

"Right," he chuckled.


The familiar train tracks faded, after a time, slowly sinking into the floor until the Monamobile's tires slid across smooth, even ground. Finally, they reached the end. A set of stairs up to some sort of raised area, the warped walls peeling away into a wide, cavernous room. Almost like being inside a giant, hollow egg – if it wasn't for the jagged mess. Light fixtures protruding from the walls, golden wires and television cameras emerging from awful angles. Brick and glass and cement blending together into something far uglier than the sum of their parts. Twisted, distorted. Even for their horridness, the Palaces before had a consistency to them, an expectation of internal logic, albeit a twisted one. But this place was chaos, and it was all the more awful for it.

"Get ready," Oracle said, her voice a little strained, taking gulping breaths between every few words, pausing for a moment on the steps, winded from the climb. "I've got... a reading on...two Shadows...up there. Strong ones. Probably Kasumi's...parents."

Kasumi was breathing fast as well, though Ren guessed it was more due to anxiety than strain. Eyes forward, always forward. "Thank you," she said, somewhat suddenly. "Ren, Futaba, Morgana. Thank you for h-elping me, with this. It means a whole, whole lot."

"Couldn't...say no...to cute lady," Oracle replied, and threw on a skewed smile as she started to climb again.

"We're Phantom Thieves," Mona said, shrugging as he hopped up the steps. "It's our job to help people."

"And you're a friend." Ren smiled at her too, for a moment. "I told you a while ago, remember? You're not alone."

She nodded, and maybe Ren was just seeing things, but she seemed a little less tense now. "Thank you," she said, again.

And they reached the top. And Ren froze in place.

He'd seen the set of Good Morning Japan up close, on that field trip in June. But this? It was like a fever dream of that place. A replica of the set, drained of color. The crew, and hosts, and audience all where they should be, but not who they should be. Not people, or even cognitions of people, but faceless mannequins, wavering unnaturally, with jerks and spasms of movement. Devoid of soul, or self. And behind the couches, in front of that star-shaped door at the apex of this place, sitting on seats like thrones, was a man and a woman. The man, a brunet in a white suit. The woman, a redhead in a white dress. Residing over the mockery of the set as two royals would their court.

"It's them." Kasumi's voice was quiet, barely more than a whisper. She stared at the two with the most awful expression on her face. Like fear and pain and worry all bundled into one.

"They're Shadows, don't forget." Mona drew his sword, hackles raised. "It's not actually your parents, just the distorted thoughts that live in their head."

Kasumi nodded, but didn't so much as move otherwise.

Ren took a breath, focusing on the two Rulers of this soon-to-be-Palace. "Oracle, you should hop into Necronomicon for now. Be ready to beam Kasumi up too, if something goes wrong. I'll give you the word."

Oracle nodded. "Okey dokey." A hesitance. "Kasumi, um, you can do it. I know you can." And with that, and a shimmer of emerald light, the girl vanished from view.

"Let's go," Kasumi said. And she started to walk towards the set, Ren and Mona right behind her.

All bustle ceased immediately as the trio stepped near, and every mannequin turned their eyeless sight towards them.

"Mom, Dad," Kasumi raised her voice, like a call, and it echoed in the empty place.

"Kasumi," Director Yoshizawa's voice came stern, and cold, and bleeding with distortion. "You should be practicing, not bothering us. Is your inadequacy really so unimportant to you?"

She winced, but held strong. "Please, just list-en to me! I need to know the truth, I can't stand being treated like a child. I need to know what happened to Sumire!" Kasumi's voice wavered, and she fought down what must have been tears. "I need to know what h-appened to her, please. If you love me, you should tell me."

"Feckless thing," Miss Yoshizawa's Shadow spat. "You failed to be both son and daughter, and now you come crawling to us, asking for the truth? You haven't earned it." She sneered at Kasumi. "That girl was always such a horrid influence on you."

"She's my sister!" Kasumi fired back, "and your daughter! You can't talk about her like–"

"She is gone." The Director's Shadow stood, eyes glowing a furious gold. "Sumire is not a part of your life, nor will she ever be again. That is all you need to know."

Kasumi said nothing, but she didn't back down. She stared at the Shadow of her father, hands balled into fists.

"A failure enough on your own, and you aim to emulate that mistake of a human being," Miss Yoshizawa added, and burst into mocking laughter. "Why in the world would you want to do that, you ridiculous child?" An instant later, the set filled with echoes of that laughter, mannequins shaking and letting out high pitched giggles to match their Ruler's.

"Shut up." Kasumi's quiet, furious voice silenced the room. "You keep telling me I'm a f-f-ailure." She laughed, a short, pained bark. "As if I don't know that better than anyone!"

"Kasumi," Oracle's whisper from the softly crackling coms.

"I know I'm not good en-ough," the girl continued. "I know that, and I know I'll never be good enough. I'll never be the ch-ild you wanted me to be." Her breath shallow, fury and pain boiling together into a roiling tempest than Ren could feel even from a foot away, stronger than a supernova. "If it was just that, I'd a-accept it. But I will never tolerate anyone talking that way about my sister!"

The mannequins shuddered. Not in time with the Shadow's will, but against it. A fearful resistance, puppets tugging at their strings in awful panic.

"Why do you think I try so hard to be good, even when I know it'll never be enough for you?" Kasumi took a step towards her parents' Shadows, and something like a wave of heat rolled off her. "Sum-ire and I had a dream together, we were going to reach int-ernationals, together. We were going to show the world how strong we were. And even if she's gone now, I'm not ever going to give up on that dream!"

There you are, dear adamant maiden.

A voice like the clean warble of a dying star. The sapling Palace seemed to dim, as some otherworldly radiance burst down. A spotlight on Kasumi, brighter than any fire. The girl stiffened, gasping out an exhalation like every molecule of air had been pulled from her lungs.

You have all accepted a life in cinders, digging for glory with ashen hands. Do you think your beloved sister would wish such for you?

"She w-ouldn't," Kasumi choked out, knees shaking, barely upright.

The stroke of midnight approaches, and yet you still watch the window for a carriage. If there is no magic in the world, would you wait forever in the embers?

"That voice," Mona said, "there's no doubt about it."

Where is that tenacity you showed before? You have borne yourself a new fate, a new name of your own design, and yet now you bow to such wicked whims?

"These readings are crazy!" Oracle yelped, halfway between panic and excitement. "I think she's–"

"Please!" Kasumi said, a desperate cry. "Please, help me. I can't face them alone."

A haunting laughter like the chime of a thousand bells.

My dear maiden, who said you were ever alone?

Blue flame burst across the girl's face. Solidifying there, something dark and wondrous.

Accept my contract, the spell cast upon you. I am thou, thou art I. Take up slippers and blade, the mantle of both princess and prince, and we shall dance to the end.

"Yes." Kasumi reached up, and grabbed hold of her mask. A breath, an instant stretched into eternity, and she tore it off.

The shockwave was azure and starshine, like staring into the sun, and Ren threw up an arm to block the light from his eyes. Was it singing? Or was it her voice, that echoed hum? Whoever, whatever, it was beautiful.

The light dropped away, and the final note of that song hung in the air. Ren lowered his arm, stared at the girl standing in front of him.

She was clad in a black coat, with long coattails, ruffled sleeves and red gloves that matched Ren's own. A similar pitch leotard, a plain skirt, black leggings blending into black boots, with a silver rose on her right hip and a rapier hanging from a sheath on her left. And floating in the air by her side, a Persona. A woman with skin like stained glass catching the blue flame around her.

"Joker," Kasumi said, and she glanced towards him. Eyes burning with fury and pain and so much bravery. "I know this isn't your fight, but do you think–"

"I told you," Ren said, finding a smile he didn't know he had, "you're not alone, Kasumi. Not now, not ever." Fingers tightening around the hilt of his knife. "We're here."

"We've got your back!" Mona added.

"Give 'em hell, Kasumi!" Oracle's voice rang out.

Kasumi smiled back. "Thank you." And she turned back towards the two dumbstruck Shadows. "I'm not g-giving up on Sumire." A stutter, but it wasn't quite the same. Rather than push through her vocal resistance, Kasumi paused, and then started the word again. It was subtle, but there was something so tremendous in it. "Even if you won't tell me what h-happened, I'm going to find out the truth. I'm going to find her, and I'll make our dream come true. And you can't stop me!" Kasumi drew her rapier, pointing it towards the stage. "I dare you to try."

"Holy shit," Oracle whispered. "How is she so cool!?"

"You ungrateful little–" The Director's next word was stifled as he exploded into dark, his wife next to him similarly bursting out, mimicries of humanity no longer. In his place, rising into the air, was a tendril-covered monstrosity of black and yellow. "We sacrificed so much for you, and now you turn against us!?"

The audience of mannequins pushed their way out of their chairs, beginning to advance on the Thieves.

"Watch it!" Mona yelped, pulling out his slingshot to down one of the horde.

"Your sister deserved to vanish," Kasumi's mother added. She was something almost insectile, almost mechanical, bright yellow with long red eyes and two bat wings sprouting from her back. "She filled your head with disgusting ideas. Can't you see that we're only doing what's best for you, child?"

"Say my name, Mother." Kasumi said. Her cold voice sent a shudder through Ren's ribcage. "Call me by my f-fucking name."

Miss Yoshizawa's Shadow hesitated. Not a word.

"Alright," Kasumi continued, "then maybe you'll remember this one." She pointed her rapier skyward, and then brought it down. "Cendrillon!"

Radiant blades tore through the mannequins. A thousand cuts for a thousand limbs, and the audience collapsed. Shuddering forms twitching across the ground, and then melting like so much ice lit by a blazing sun.

Ren couldn't find much more than a low, impressed whistle.

"How dare you speak to your mother like that!" Director Yoshizawa tensed, and his tendrils flailed in all directions. A gale shot across the now empty audience, furious wind that screamed its way into a tempest, tearing chairs off the ground and throwing them towards the Thieves.

Instinct knocked Ren's brain back into action, and sent a name into the front of his mind. "Arsene!" The gentleman's blade shredded through both furniture and wind itself, cleaving the vortex into a dissipating breeze.

"You cur!" Miss Yoshizawa's Shadow shrieked. "How dare you interfere with our personal matters!" Her wings spread, and then she shot towards Ren faster than he could possibly react to.

But apparently, not faster than Kasumi could. A flash of silver, and the Shadow screamed in pain, dodging back, dripping black ichor from one yellow arm. Similar pitch coated one side of Kasumi's rapier, and she flicked it off. "And how about you, Father? Are you pl-planning on listening to your daughter for once?"

"I will not bow to some worthless little thing–" he began, before a cognitive pebble shot through one of his tendrils.

"Wrong answer, pal," Mona said, teeth bared.

"I'll find the truth on my own." Kasumi declared. "I don't need...no, I don't want you anywhere near Sumire. I'll find her myself, and I'll bring her back!" She swept her rapier out to one side, light on her feet, other arm up for balance. "Let's dance, Persona!" Her mask burst, and Cendrillon manifested once more, arms spread. The stained-glass woman clapped her hands together, and a shimmering song of light slashed across the twin Shadows.

Kasumi's parents wailed, and first father then mother crumpled.

"They're down!" Oracle shouted. "Go all-out!"

"It's too late," Kasumi said, rushing towards the Shadows with every possible and impossible ounce of grace, "to be sorry!"


Oracle was in the back seat now, with Kasumi. The freshman half-collapsed from the strain of her awakening, eyes closed but not quite asleep, leaning against Ren's sister – who seemed both delighted and terrified by their proximity.

"I remembered," Kasumi said, quietly. "When I heard Cendrillon's v-voice. It came back to me. Not everything, but enough."

Ren kept his eyes on the road, but he nodded, sparing a glance in the rearview at her. "About Sumire?"

She nodded. "Mister Maruki helped me rem-remember, before Summer, that we got in a car accident. I think, a couple years ago. Sumire and I were both in the hospital together. At first, I didn't remember what h-happened next, and I was worried..." Kasumi swallowed. "I thought she might not have come back."

"I'm sorry," Mona said, quietly.

"But she did." Kasumi laughed, quiet and giddy. "She did come back. I remember that now. She came home with me from the hospital. I remember my parents telling me she had to go somewhere, and I watched her get driven away, but that still means..." She reached up and weakly flapped her red-gloved hands. "My sister's alive. Sumire's out there, somewhere, and she's alive."


Big big thanks to Jane for helping brainstorm and beta-read this chapter.