Phantom Dragon Rising

by pokemonrox7

Society was broken. And Akira's wings were shredded by the shards. After a single night tore all Akira loved from him, he finds himself in Tokyo, living out an unjust probation. Forging new bonds and entering an alternate dimension to change the hearts of the wicked? Well...he was the ward of the Dragon of Dojima; weirder things have happened.

4. Metaverse 101

Before we commence with the chapter, I just want to let everyone know that there's a cover image for this story now! I hope you think that it looks cool! Anyway, enjoy

---

Swish...

Swish...

Swish...

The serene waves rolling upon the shore of the Okinawan beach had been his alarm clock for several years now. To watch them wash against the borders of their little slice of home always filled him with peace

And yet, all Kiryu Kazuma wished to do now was stay in bed.

The morning sun seeped through the curtains, casting a soft glow into his bedroom. Damn, he should have closed the curtains last night...

The goateed man's eyes slowly opened, and he rubbed the sleep from them, his arm weighted with sleeplessness.

With a groan, he shifted his body upwards. He had always been somewhat of a light sleeper, but lately, his nights had become increasingly haunted by worry and confusion. All for a simple reason.

He glanced at the calendar. 4/11

Three weeks since Akira had disappeared.

Three weeks they had failed to find him.

Three weeks of the void left by his absence growing with each passing day.

Morning Glory, one of the best things that had ever happened to him, had become sombre, quiet. The absence of the orphanage's big brother figure was taking its toll on everyone. One day he was there, and the next, he wasn't.

That night when Akira had failed to come home was the start of everything. Worry spread through the dinner table like a virus, and it wasn't long before everyone realised that something was wrong.

A day of searching the city turned up nothing for all of them. They searched arcades and restaurants, pretty much any common teenage haunts, and came back with nothing. At the end of the day, there was no doubt that Akira had gone missing.

Initially, Kiryu believed that there was no reason for Akira to suddenly drop off the face of Okinawa, with no clues left behind and no leads to follow.

That was until, in a pooling of their findings, Riona had informed him that on the day of his disappearance, she spotted Akira sitting outside Kiryu's room, eavesdropping. But if that was true, the only thing that Akira could've possibly overheard before he disappeared was...

His conversation with Ayako...

The conversation where Ayako mentioned that Akira didn't belong at Morning Glory...

Shit.

Assuming that he ran off halfway through the conversation, he probably had the impression that Ayako hated him, and yet, that was not true. The end of that conversation had the young girl committed to making amends with Akira; to open up to him. A part that Akira didn't stick around for, evidently.

Nobody could be blamed for thinking that Akira had just run away, heartbroken that his place in Morning Glory was far from what he believed. Yet Kiryu didn't entertain that notion for long. Akira was way too mature to do something so childish.

He couldn't say the same for Ayako though. The poor girl had been inconsolable when she found out. She would hardly come out of her room nowadays, and anytime she did, she looked miserable. She had said all of those mean things and now Akira was gone. She believed that it was her fault that everyone's big brother was gone, no matter how much Kiryu told her otherwise.

He couldn't let that lie. He wouldn't let his children agonize over something like that, just like he wouldn't let Akira slip away from a home that he so desperately needed.

His first breakthrough was when he went to Akira's current high school on a hunch and was informed that the teen had been expelled, due to a criminal record and arrested. That had immediately set off alarm bells in his head. Expelled? Criminal record? How!?

Eagerly following the first real lead that he had, Kiryu had dropped by the Okinawa Police Station and immediately questioned the reception, asking for Akira by name. But what he got for his troubles was no less troubling. That being a shake of their heads and some legal jargon that said they couldn't divulge incident details with unaffiliated parties.

Unaffiliated parties? He was Akira's goddamn caretaker! He was the first one that should have been called when Akira had been arrested!

And yet, even though he definitely remembered registering Akira as a resident of Morning Glory, he had been told that the youth he described had been living alone while his parents were abroad. Of course, that was completely untrue, but the fact remained that somehow, in some way, Akira's records had been altered.

Questions upon questions layered themselves in Kiryu's head and he had no solid answers for any of them. He thought about pressuring the police to learn something, but that would just get himself and Morning Glory in...

...in a lot of trouble...

Had Akira somehow changed his own records in an attempt to protect Morning Glory from the consequences of his crime? And if he had, then how serious was the crime?

To be perfectly honest, a lawsuit aimed at Morning Glory would likely be ruinous for them. They weren't exactly far from being in the red, and Kiryu admittedly didn't do too great a job in keeping that a secret.

In recent months, it had gotten so bad that some of the children in Morning Glory were considering finding some form of employment to support the orphanage, instead of attending school and pursuing their passions. If Akira had placed the burdens of that incident on the shoulders of Morning Glory, it would undoubtedly be their downfall, and he would never be able to forgive himself.

So Akira had managed to take those burdens, the lawsuit and the ensuing stigma, and run away with them, keeping them from harming Morning Glory.

Of course that didn't sit right with Kiryu. One of his children had been forced to make a cruel decision to keep his family safe. No one to save him. Fighting a battle with no one to lend their aid.

And that led Kiryu to his current dilemma. If he pressed any official sources to try and track down the teen, then whatever Akira had done would go down the drain, and Morning Glory would come under fire.

He couldn't just let Akira suffer in god knows where, and yet, all any further digging would do was put them in jeopardy. What Akira had done, how he'd done it and where he was now, he had no way of knowing any of that.

Should we even try to dig up the truth when Akira had tried so hard to bury it?

With no viable solutions, Kiryu had endured several restless nights, with no answer having come to him.

Although come to think of it, he did drift off to sleep rather easily last night, but that in turn came with a strange dream.

A vivid memory played in his mind's eye: wandering through an abyss of darkness, following the light of a mesmerizing blue butterfly.

In that ethereal realm, he had caught a glimpse of Akira, his face etched with distress, his body battered and bruised. And he was wearing glasses. Why was he wearing glasses?

They had exchanged words, their conversation a phantom echo in Kiryu's memory, elusive and intangible. It was after making a promise to the teen, to find him no matter what, that Akira faded away. Kiryu had some strange, terrifying and distressing dreams in his life, but that dream had felt eerily real.

It was while he was pondering the nature of that weird dream that there was a knock at his door.

Kiryu's gaze drifted towards the source of the sound, only to be met by the sight of Haruka poking her head through the gap. Her waking him up was nothing new, but for some reason, there was a strange look in her eyes today.

"Uncle Kaz," Haruka called to him softly. "There's someone here to see you. She says she has an appointment?"

Kiryu sighed, pushing himself up from his bed. Now that he thought about it, he did have an appointment scheduled for today. It was a rather important one too, and he'd almost slept through it.

He spared a small, tired smile for Haruka.

"Thank you, Haruka," Kiryu murmured, his voice carrying a hint of tiredness. "I'll be dressed in a minute. Please show her in and prepare some tea."

With a nod, Haruka disappeared from the doorway, leaving Kiryu alone with his thoughts once more. Not for too long though. He didn't want to keep his guest waiting after all.

After getting out of bed, slipping into his usual hawaiian shirt and making himself look somewhat presentable, he headed to the dining room.

Once he arrived, he saw Haruka tending to a mature-looking woman. White coat, short brown hair, black skirt and a serious expression that probably would have had some yakuza crossing the street to avoid her.

Everything about this woman screamed "business," or "don't mess with me," and Kiryu wasn't too sure if he was in any condition to be dealing with someone like her.

As Haruka filled the woman's cup with some simple green tea, the lady's gaze drifted to meet his own.

"Ah, Kazuma Kiryu, I presume?" The woman asked. She quickly procured a business card and placed it on the table. "Mirei Park of Dyna Chair Talent Agency. Why don't you take a seat? We've much to discuss..."

Yeah, Kiryu wasn't looking forward to this meeting at all.

---

The room was silent as a grave.

There were no accurate words to describe how everyone was feeling after watching that display. The stupor in the air was palpable.

And could anyone be blamed for that? They had just watched a young man erupt into blue flames and then singlehandedly defeat dozens of knights in an instant.

And now that man was gripping the wrist of a rapidly paling king.

"Y-You...what the h-hell...?" Kamoshida stuttered. How was this even possible!? This kid had been on death's door not a few minutes ago, and now he pulls the same power as the Sakamoto peasant and took out an entire squad of knights in the literal blink of an eye?

He was expecting a power upgrade; that's what happened with Sakamoto after all, but this...this was almost completely different! It was like comparing the Earth to the moon.

Gone were the wounds he inflicted, and gone was that ravaged uniform. In their place was a black and white domino mask and an outfit that had a similar feel to Sakamoto's.

His outfit consisted of mostly black gentlemen's garb with a high collar and low coattails, split into three, tossed over a grey waistcoat. With black pants and dark, pointy, steel-lined shoes, he could almost be described as a shadow. But the comparison stopped with his gloves.

They were a deep crimson red and didn't appear as sleek as the rest of his attire. They fit him perfectly, but they were just a bit thicker than normal gloves, like motorcycle gloves. Metal inlets lined his knuckles and fingers, likely to give his punches more power.

But the most eye-catching details of his new attire weren't the gloves or the mask.

It was the pure white embroidery that had been sewn into the outfit's back. It covered the entire expanse with a single, intimidating design.

That of a dragon.

A nobori-ryu style dragon to be precise. A divine, serpentine figure soaring skywards to pierce the heavens. A being with inexplicable power...

Now in the hands of the mortal boy who dared wield it.

It was contradictory to have something so bold embroidered onto something that was supposed to be suave. And yet Akira felt so right wearing it.

The sheer power rolling off of the young man would render even the most hardened of people speechless, to say nothing of the two teens, one king and a cat.

With his confidence completely shattered after Akira's display, Kamoshida frantically tried to wrench his arm away from Akira. "L-Let go! Dammit, let go!" He snarled.

He may as well have been ensnared by a statue. Akira's grip didn't budge at all.

The teen said nothing in reply. He didn't have words to give for the scumbag in his grip. Instead, he turned his head to Ann, who was on the floor, staring up at him. She looked confused, stunned even. But there was no mistaking her relief now that she was out of Kamoshida's clutches.

"Takamaki, go back to Morgana and Sakamoto." He ordered. "You don't want to be close by when I turn this bastard inside out..." He told her in a low voice.

Ann found herself doubtless that Akira could do so, and so she managed to scramble to her feet. She then proceeded to back away from the evil king and the masked teen.

"T-Turn me inside out...?!" Kamoshida squeaked. He completely believed that if he didn't get free, the would indeed be facing that.

Desperately, he wound his free arm back and punched Akira in the back of the head.

To his horror, the kid didn't even move.

"You just keep digging yourself deeper and deeper, don't you?" Akira turned back to him, fury in his eyes. "That's fine, I wasn't planning on pulling my punches anyway..."

"Y-You...you can't do this...! I'm the ki-OMMMMPFF!"

The next thing he knew, Kamoshida felt a crushing pain in his gut, and black blood flew from his mouth. Black blood was a detail that Akira would initially question but right now he was too pissed off to wonder how that was possible. He just reasoned that black blood was fitting for a person with a black heart.

The strike winded the king beyond description, folding into a 90 degree angle. The pain had him grasping his gut as if he'd just been stabbed. And yet, without pause, Akira lifted his leg high into the air and brought it down hard on the king's head, slamming him down on the floor.

The piddly little crown atop the scumbag's head went flying across the room, clanking as it bounced away.

"Essence of Continuous Slams..."

Kamoshida didn't even have the chance to reach for it before his unkempt hair was grabbed. His head was lifted up and then harshly brought down again, shattering the floor tiles.

The king gasped in pain, and yet he couldn't even collect himself before his head was slammed again.

And again...

And again...

And again...

Even when there were audible cracks and the man's pathetic flailing started to dwindle, Akira didn't stop. Even when a thin puddle of black appeared under the king's head, Akira didn't stop. And only when the man started to whimper in agony did Akira's slamming cease...

Only to be replaced by a harsh, kick to his face, with his steel-toed shoes. The impact caused Kamoshida to spin in place on the floor while also knocking out a few of his teeth.

Overwhelmed with pain and fear at this point, Kamoshida could barely move. This kid had gone from being a stain on the floor to a force of nature. If only he could enter his Asmodeus form...!

Delusions of doing so left him as Akira mounted the broken king and painfully dug his knees into his back. And then he grabbed his right arm.

"You know, you took away Sakamoto's ability to run for shits and giggles, right?" Akira asked as he pulled the king's arm up behind his back before he started bending it the wrong way.

"...To be honest, I can't think of a greater irony than having the same kind of thing happen to you!"

"Ah! Wauuit! Waauuuiii-!"

SNAP

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!"

Akira's silent yet brutal strength had no difficulties in snapping Kamoshida's arm in two. Not even a small break. As sickening as it was, Akira pulled and pulled until it was bent all the way down to the elbow, in a state that looked like a mistreated action figure.

The man's face was now covered in a mix of black blood, tears and snot. The face of a coward that, until now, had gone unopposed, finally finding out that he wasn't as big a fish as he thought.

He was beaten. There was no point in sticking around anymore. Honestly, Akira was half tempted to just run his fist through the king's prick face and hoped he vanished like those knights did, but something told him going that far would be different to the knights. So he refrained.

"You'd better pray that we don't ever meet again. Unless you want me to make what I did today look like a playground scuffle." Akira hissed. He wasn't sure if the man actually heard him but he got his point across either way.

He got up from the king, letting the man snivel and whimper, cradling his broken arm. He then jumped over the balcony, forgoing the stairs in exchange for a landing that was seeping with power.

He raised his head and glanced at his allies, who admittedly looked a little uncomfortable. He didn't blame them. He hadn't exactly been subtle. Or merciful.

Yet the awed looks did make him feel pretty good about himself. He let out a sigh.

Everyone was safe.

"Sorry you had to see that," Akira told the trio.

"Uh...it's...alright, dude?" The skull-masked blonde replied.

Akira nodded and ran his hand through his frizzy hair. Today had been a long day, and it was only going to get longer. They were incredibly, incredibly late for school, and they wouldn't have any time to process any of this. But that was a matter that could be dealt with later. Right now, it was time to finally leave this godforsaken castle.

As he walked towards the front door, he gestured for the others to follow, which they did with various expressions of relief. They had been backed into a corner, wounded, and outnumbered, but today, they walked away victors.

"S-So...argh..." Ryuji grunted as he was pulled along by Ann. "You got a Persona thingy too, huh?" He asked.

"Seems like it," Akira answered. "Hurt like hell though."

"Dude, I know! Felt like my brain was being boiled!" Ryuji replied.

Morgana looked up at the group. He couldn't believe that he'd found not one, but two Persona users, in the same day no less!

He could work with this...

"S-So um..." Ann spoke up. "Who'd you roll?" She asked.

"Pardon?" Akira replied.

"You know... Morgana's got Zorro. And Ryuji's got the Captain guy. So, what about you?" She pressed.

"Dude, this ain't some kind of gacha game..." Ryuji commented with a shake of his head.

Akira took a moment to close his eyes, and for an instant, something rose up within him, as if from the depths of his soul. A chortle of malefic laughter. It brought a small smile to his face, despite its sinister nature. He felt comforted by the presence.

"So, who is it?" Ann asked once more.

Akira was silent for a second, and he looked up at the front door. He took a small breath, reared his foot back and rammed it into them.

With a deafening crash, the previously locked doors were flung open. They both probably weighed a ton, and yet Akira's strike busted it open as if it were a regular door. Morgana, Ryuji and Ann were completely stunned at the display. Morgana himself believed that they would have needed to double back and try another exit, but Akira evidently wanted out of here now.

As the massive doors slammed open and revealed the outside world, Akira turned to look at the group before him with a satisfied smile.

"Arsène Lupin, the Pillager of Twilight."

---

The alleyway was a welcome sight, and once the group of teens scrambled through it, their ears were blessed with the sounds of traffic, people chatting and whatever the electronic advertisements were peddling.

As they sprung out into the long-since dried street, it became quickly apparent that some things had changed.

For one, Akira and Ryuji's clothes had changed back to their normal school uniforms. Additionally, the damage that had been done to both their clothes and their bodies had been undone, as if it had never happened. And yet, both of them felt completely exhausted.

The sky had returned to a normal blue, and people were wandering about without a care in the world, completely oblivious to the unbelievable events that had happened to the youths.

"We're..back...?" Ryuji whispered. He staggered on his feet and leaned himself up against a wall.

"Oh thank God!" Ann gasped, immediately falling to her knees. They had been through so much in the past couple of hours, so once they were safe, all that tension was released in one go.

Akira then felt a small buzz in his pocket and dug inside to pull out his phone. Curiously, the screen was once again taken up by that red and black eyeball.

"You have returned to the real world. Welcome back."

The real world? The hell did that mean?

"This is...the real world...?" A familiar, high-pitched voice spoke from behind them.

That was... Morgana's voice, wasn't it? But in the populated streets, something like a bipedal feline that looked like it was ripped from an anime would doubtlessly draw heads.

In a fluster, the trio turned to hide the presumed monster cat...

Only to find an ordinary black and white cat staring out from the alleyway with curious, bright blue eyes. They were confused.

"Eh...? For a second there, I could've sworn I heard Mangora..." Ryuji muttered.

The cat's back suddenly arched and its expression turned angry. "My name is MORGANA! Get it right, you moron!" The cat cried.

Cried...

With a voice that was no less human than their own.

For a few seconds, the teens stared at the cat hard enough to make his fur bristle. "Wh-What...?" He asked defensively.

"I...don't know if it's 'cuz I'm tired as shit, or something...but is anyone else...?" Ryuji looked to the other two.

"Yep," Akira answered.

"Th-The cat's talking..." Ann whispered, eyes wide in disbelief. It was a look shared by the guys too.

Because holy fuck, a cat was talking to them! They thought the weird stuff would stop as soon as they left the castle!

"I'm not a cat!" Morgana insisted. "I didn't have time to explain this before, but I somehow lost my original form. I may be in the body of a cat, but I'm not one!" Morgana explained.

"W-Well, whatever it is, it's creepy, not to mention not normal for a cat to speak. Don't go talkin' willy-nilly when there are other people around!" Ryuji frantically pointed to the exit of the alleyway where people were walking past.

A man and woman took that moment to walk past the alleyway.

"Is that a cat I hear...?" The woman asked.

"Urgh, the amount of stray cats nowadays. Can't walk past any alleyway without hearing their stupid meowing."

The statement, mean-spirited as it was, brought with it a certain important detail. They heard meowing? But Morgana was speaking like a person.

Unless...

"Meowing? Wait, does that mean that we can understand you, but others can't?" Ryuji asked. Akira and Ann had reached a similar conclusion

"Seems so." Akira chimed in. "We're some kind of cat-whispering super trio now." He sighed and rested his head against the wall. "Anyway, Morgana?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sure that you probably have better things to do than tell us exactly what we just experienced, but I feel like we need some answers. Like, now."

"Yeah!" Ryuji piped up. "Like what the hell was going on with that castle, and Kamoshida, and us!? Our Personas? Gah, I have so many questions!" He groaned.

"Well..."

"And could it be the short version, please? We have to get to school soon." Akira interrupted.

"Shit, man...school? Ah, I'm so tired. I just wanna go home and crash. It'll be miserable!" Ryuji moaned at the reminder

"If there's a Poppo on the way, we can grab a Staminan X or something," Akira suggested.

"Huh? Those energy drinks? They're so expensive!" Ryuji objected.

"They work, though. You buy it, and we can split it between us." Akira replied.

"Eh, why do I gotta buy it?" The blond asked with an offended look on his face.

"Because I'm broke, because I saved your asses in that castle, and because I won't stop calling you 'Princess Ryuji' if you don't," Akira answered in a deadpan voice.

"Wh-Huh...!? You...! Argh, fine! But you better pay me back!" Ryuji spluttered before he bitterly pulled his wallet out of his pocket and began to gauge his allowance.

"Do you guys want an explanation or not!?" Morgana shouted. They had the gall to request an explanation and then not listen to him?

"Ah, sorry!" Akira yelped. It was a weird sight to see a cat visibly angry as if it had a human face.

The trio leaned forward and listened as the cat began to speak.

---

Even though they had asked for the short version, Morgana's explanation had taken over five minutes. It was sort of a mishmash of terminologies, but Akira could somewhat process it.

As he understood, he, Ryuji and Ann somehow ended up in a place called the Metaverse, an alternate reality running parallel to their own. It was a world based on cognition. When somebody in the real world developed "distorted desires," there was a chance that they could develop a 'Palace', a stronghold of their subconscious will and things that they'd rather keep secret.

The Palace would usually superimpose itself over a location the individual believed they had authority over, and would be moulded by how that individual saw that location.

Beings known as Shadows were drawn to these Palaces, and took the form of what was most appropriate for that Palace, such as the knights in the castle. But they could also enter a stronger, more versatile form. These Shadows were dominated and controlled by the main Shadow, a reflection of how the individual saw themselves. Kamoshida was a teacher in the real world, but his reputation and freedom to do what he wished in reality caused him to manifest his own Shadow in the form of a king.

The worlds were separate, but they were still connected. Something happening in the real world could affect a related thing in the Metaverse if the individual was made aware of the change. The world was again, based off of cognition.

And if someone just so happen to slip into a Palace, a Persona was how they would defend themselves. They were a reflection of the person's inner rebel. A variable that the Palace Ruler was unable to control. Normally, a Persona was the only way that one was able to fight Shadows, and the clothes that they wore were like suits of armour to defend against the Palace's dangers.

That was about as far as Morgana got before Ryuji gave a wail and cradled his head.

"Aaaargh! There's no way this is the short version! Everything you just told us is too frickin' confusing! I'm not gonna be able to remember all of this!" He cried.

"Sakamoto! You're making a scene!" Ann hissed from her spot on the ground. People were going to peer into the alleyway and see the display. It would be mortifying! Sure, this was complicated, and she might need a second listen to comprehend everything, but Ryuji was overreacting.

"I'm trying to make this as brief and as simple as possible! It's not my fault that your monkey brain can't wrap your head around it!" Morgana huffed.

"What did you say, you little-?"

"Sakamoto, stop it. We didn't leave that castle so we could throw hands at each other. You need to calm down." Akira stepped in, placing a hand on Ryuji's shoulder. He then looked at Morgana with a displeased expression.

"And you, Morgana, not everyone catches up the same way. This is all pretty bizarre, but you don't have to be mean when people don't get it right away." He told the cat.

"Well, you get it, don't you, Frizzy Hair?" Morgana asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Sorta?" Akira replied. "It's a little bit loaded, but I think I got the gist of it. Basically, Kamoshida's Shadow, the castle and everything is a sadistic power fantasy of the real Kamoshida, come to life in another dimension, right?"

"Uh, pretty much," Morgana replied.

"That makes a little more sense, I guess..." Ryuji admitted. "If anyone is deluded enough to see the school like that, it'd be effin' Kamoshida."

"Good, now you get it! I mean, there are a lot of details being left out, but that's the general basics of what you just experienced." Morgana said.

"So, all those knights I beat up, they should have been stronger?" Akira asked.

Morgana muttered something under his breath before he nodded. "They should have been able to use the full scope of their abilities. They would have appeared as different creatures with different abilities and resistances. Chances are that if they transformed, you could have come across one that could totally negate your physical strikes. As knights though, they weren't strong or weak against anything. By the time that you were truly recognised as a threat, it was too late for them to transform." Morgana explained.

"I see," Akira replied. "And when I beat Shadow Kamoshida black and blue, that didn't have any effect on the real Kamoshida? The real him wouldn't have any memory of what happened in the palace?" He asked.

"Maybe he got a muscle spasm or something, but nothing serious. And no, people aren't privy to what happens in the Metaverse, even if they have a Palace." Morgana answered.

Akira honestly didn't know if he was relieved or upset at that info.

"But what I wanna know is-"

"U-Um...guys? Fourth period's almost over. If we hang around any longer, we'll miss lunch." Ann interrupted the cat. She held up her phone and showed a reminder in her Calender app that said "Lunch" followed by several food and heart emojis.

"You have a reminder for lunch?" Ryuji asked.

"I...used to eat my food in between classes, and would have nothing left for lunch, so I started leaving myself a reminder so I didn't eat everything I had," Ann admitted.

Hm, so Ann had an appetite, huh? Akira didn't expect that from her. She seemed to put in a lot of effort in maintaining herself.

"Well then, we need to get moving." Akira reasoned. Being this late on his first day, he'd make a terrible first impression...

Actually, Shadow Kamoshida mentioned something to the effect of spreading his criminal record around, didn't he?

Shit.

"Oh right...uh, you gonna be okay, dude?" Ryuji asked. It was clear that he'd come to the same conclusion. "I don't know if you heard after you got-"

"Yeah, I heard..." Akira sighed. He really couldn't catch a break. "How's...the rumour mill at Shujin?"

Ryuji lowered his head and ruffled his fingers through his bleached hair. "Brutal." He answered. "Rumours spread like wildfire there. When I came back after Kamoshida broke my leg, everyone was sayin' that I was some kind of punk. And Takamaki... Right now, everyone thinks that she's hooking up with Kamoshida."

"Hey! Don't say that out loud!" Ann hissed. She recoiled from those words like they physically burned her.

"What? We know the truth, don't we? It was pretty clear in Kamoshida's Palace thingy." He told her.

"Still..." Ann muttered before she buried her head into her knees.

Akira cursed under his breath. It seemed that Kamoshida had turned all three of their school lives into an ordeal in one way or another, be it spreading rumours or the like. How had he been allowed to go this far? They were students for goodness sake!

"Same goes for you too, man. Even if people say that you got a criminal record, we know that you're actually pretty nice." Ryuji told Akira, patting him on the shoulder.

"I guess...thanks, Sakamoto." Akira sighed. There was some small solace in that fact, he supposed. Still, the fact that the entirety of the student body would know of his unjust record would weigh heavily on him.

"Hey, no problem. And you know what? Call me Ryuji. We've fought together in that Palace thing, so I think we're past using those formalities. I'll call you Akira, yeah?" The blond chattered enthusiastically.

That declaration took Akira by surprise. Ryuji's definition of fighting together aside, nobody had ever had the chance to be close enough to Akira to use his first name, minus Morning Glory, of course.

So...they were friends now? Huh? Well, Akira couldn't deny a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest when Ryuji so proudly said that. He thought that it maybe happened a little fast, but near-death experiences did have a way of bringing people closer.

"You...You can call me Ann as well!" Ann suddenly spoke. "I-I hope we can get along, Akira!" She made an attempt at a smile.

Ann too? That... he didn't expect that either, but...it was nice. Quite nice. "I-I got it. Ryuji and Ann it is." Akira said with a nod.

"Well with that outta the way, let's get going then!" Ryuji proclaimed as he stumbled towards the exit. "I really hope that this Staminan stuff works as well as you're making it out to be, because dammit, I can barely move..." He sighed. He then looked to Ann, still sat on the ground. "Hey, Ann-"

And that was when they realised that Ann was shaking. Her arms gripped her legs tightly, and she was pressed against the alley wall like she was trying to burrow into it.

It was immediately obvious that something was wrong, and Akira was pretty sure he knew what it was. After the experience that Ann had inside the Palace, he'd be surprised if she came out the other side without some form of trauma.

"Hey, Ryuji? Why don't you find a Poppo and wait for us there? We'll catch up in a bit." Akira asked the blond.

For his moments of obliviousness, Ryuji definitely knew that something was going on. Something that he sure as hell wouldn't be able to assist with. He'd make himself more useful by doing what Akira asked of him.

But still...

"You sure, dude?" He asked. And Akira nodded back.

After a moment of contemplation, Ryuji silently agreed. "Okay. I'll wait on you guys then..." He replied, shuffling his way out of the alleyway.

"And watch out for truancy officers!" Akira called out to Ryuji. This day sucked enough without the law getting on their asses.

Ryuji gave him a thumbs-up before finally disappearing around the corner. As his footsteps slowly blended into the traffic, Akira turned his attention towards Ann, concern etched on his face.

He walked up to the girl and started to sit down next to her. "Okay, Ann. Do you want to-"

Before he could sit down though, he noticed Ann flinch. For a moment, he was confused until he remembered what Ann was likely going through.

She probably didn't want to be within reaching distance of any male.

"Sorry!" He apologized, relocating himself so he was a little ways down the alley. "I'll keep my distance..." He assured the twintailed girl.

"Don't be," Ann assured Akira, her voice trembling slightly. "It's not your fault."

"Lady Ann..." Morgana whispered.

For about a minute, the guy, the girl and the cat sat there in silence. It was obvious what they should talk about. But Ann... It was better if she made the first move.

"When...when we were in that castle," she started to say, "we all saw what Kamoshida saw me as...we all heard what he wanted...t-to do to me..."

The horrific, mortifying fake of hers clinging clumsily onto Kamoshida. The way that they made out with her just inches away, helpless to do anything...those petrifying memories repeated over and over in her mind.

"I...I don't want to go there. I don't want to go to a place where that bastard has all the power in the world. He comes onto me all the time whenever he sees me in the hall." She put on a fake, deep voice. "Do you need a ride home, Takamaki-san?", "Do you want to eat lunch together, Takamaki-san?" And now, knowing exactly how he sees me; what he wants with me..."

The weight of Ann's unspoken words hung heavy in the air.

Silently, Akira listened, his eyes filled with empathy, as Ann described her situation in full. The persistent advances, the suggestive comments, the unwelcome invitations—it was a constant barrage that filled her with anxiety and fear. Now, with Kamoshida's true intentions out in the open, those emotions were multiplied tenfold. Ann was trapped and she was desperate.

"You're scared," Akira stated softly. "With every reason to be."

Tears welled up in Ann's eyes as she nodded. "I-I could just go home, right? Call in sick?" She asked with a quiet voice. "I feel like I'm going to throw up anyway…"

Akira sighed, his gaze unwavering. "I wish that could fix your problem. But Kamoshida won't go away just because you take a day or two off school."

The tremor in Ann's voice reflected her uncertainty. "Yeah, I know. But I... I don't know what to do," she confessed, her voice tinged with helplessness. "All I want is for him to leave me alone. I want him to forget about me... but…"

"He won't," Akira interrupted, his voice firm yet sympathetic. Dammit, if he wasn't on probation, he'd march right up to the bastard and wring his neck with his own volleyball net.

But all it would take would be one report, and he'd be fully screwed. But barring that, he had to do something. Ann needed guidance and safety.

"Ann, here's what I want you to do. As soon as the final bell rings, go to Class 2-D. That's my assigned classroom. We'll get Ryuji in on this too. As long as you hang with us, we'll make sure that Kamoshida can never get near you." He told her.

Morgana, who had been wordlessly observing the conversation, couldn't contain his fury any longer. He leapt up, his voice laced with anger. "That's right! If that king bastard even tries to get close to you, Lady Ann, I'll scratch his eyes out!"

Akira was taken aback by Morgana's sudden outburst. He turned to the cat, raising an eyebrow in intrigue. "What? You want to tag along, Morgana?"

"You bet I do! The security level in the Palace is probably too high for me to return. So I may as well hang around in this world and protect Lady Ann!" The cat declared. "There's also the matter that-"

"Thanks Morgana... I'll be counting on you." Ann looked up to the feline and gave him a gentle pet. Even though being around males was currently making her uncomfortable, Morgana seemed to be an exception.

To no one's surprise, the cat immediately started to purr and mew under Ann's pets. It brought a small smile to the girl's face.

People always did feel better in the presence of something furry and cute, after all.

Ann glanced up, looking somewhat relieved. "You said Class 2-D, right?" She asked. "That's actually my class as well." She revealed.

"Oh, really? That makes this simple then." Akira replied. "I mean...simpler. You'd still be hanging out with a known "criminal." He commented.

"If it means that you'll keep Kamoshida away, I can take a few more rumours," Ann said. Her expression suddenly turned forlorn once again. "I'm sorry, by the way. You fought so hard for us in that Palace, and now, I'm just asking more from you..."

Akira smirked and shook his head. "Do you hear me saying no?" He asked. "It's my choice to help you out, Ann. No one should ever be in a situation like you are. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I could have helped, but didn't." He told her.

He received a small giggle in response. "You...really are a nice person. All you've done ever since I met you is help me out. I promise that I'll find some way to pay you back for this. Do...you like crepes?" She asked.

"Crepes? I don't think I've ever had one of those before." Akira admitted.

"You haven't!?" Ann gasped, becoming significantly more animated. "Well, now I definitely gotta treat you to one! I know this great place in Shibuya Central Street! It's got all kinds of crepes! There's one filled with cream cheese and, served with raspberry sauce and an awesome whipped cream! Oh! There's also a chocolate one filled with marshmallow fluff, topped with whipped cream, sliced bananas and chocolate syrup~"

As Ann's eyes sparkled and a line of drool began to run from her lips, Akira reasoned that the crepe offer was more for Ann than himself.

Well, however it was interpreted, at least Ann was looking a lot more cheerful now.

---

It was about five minutes later that the trio left the alleyway. Morgana, true to his word had decided to tag along. Not subtly and deft, like a cat would normally be able to, no. He decided to hitch a ride, nestled in Akira's bag.

It wasn't the preferable option, but they couldn't exactly walk down the street, nor show up at school with a cat on hand. Plus, it wasn't like Akira was using his bag space for much else. As long as Morgana behaved himself and didn't make a peep, things should be alright.

It only took a few minutes of walking down the street before they spotted Ryuji standing outside a Poppo, which was good news. The bad news was that he was currently engaged with two people that Akira had explicitly warned him about.

A pair of truancy officers.

Dammit Ryuji, you had one job!

They hadn't come up with an alibi yet! Not for school, and not for officers. They had to fix that, fast!

Think! What would be a believable excuse for their extreme lateness to school?

"We were trapped in a castle ruled by our sadistic gym teacher."

Yeah, no.

"We got lost."

With two veteran Shujin students? Unlikely.

"A black cat crossed our path so we had to go the long way."

Who did he think he was? Kakashi Hatake?

"Stomach ache."

...

"Ann, I know this is going to be a little difficult for you, but please give me your shoulder."

"H-Huh? Why?"

"We're gonna play the stomach ache card. That's our alibi."

"Stomach ache? O-Oh...yeah, okay! That works." Ann seemed to agree. She allowed Akira to put his arm over her shoulders, with Akira making a conscious effort to not make any motions to unsettle her.

They then approached the panicked-looking Ryuji and the stern-faced officers, at which point, Akira put on his best impression of a dying man.

"O-Oooh...ngh...I don't think I'm gonna... gonna make it. Urp!" He moaned out loud. It caused the officers and Ryuji to look at them.

"Dude!" Ryuji exclaimed in relief, though he was visibly confused as to why Akira was moaning like a zombie.

"You...you two are from Shujin too, aren't you? You affiliated with this kid?" One of the officers gestured to Ryuji. The other one didn't even wait for an answer before he took out a notepad and began to write in it. "That's three of you cutting classes then."

He paused his writing once he took a look at Akira. "You...alright, son?"

"I-I...urk!" Akira covered his mouth with his free hand, as if he was going to barf.

"He...has a stomach ache, yeah!" Ann quickly spoke. "Ry-Ryuji and I have been trying to help him since this morning. He can barely move, y'know?" Ann explained. She was a little jittery, but the lie came out sounding somewhat believable.

Ryuji was puzzled for a second, but he put the pieces together quick enough. "Y-Yeah, and I just came here to get some medicine for 'im. As I said, I was trying to help a friend out." He said, holding up a plastic bag with something in it.

"I see..." The older-looking officer muttered. "Well, I appreciate that you wanted to help out a classmate, but if he couldn't attend, then you should have just taken him home and called the school." He told them.

"My fault... Thought it would pass. But, I n-need medicine now..." Akira told them while breathing heavily.

"Mm." The cop took a moment to think. Well, I suppose that if you're that determined to go. Just have your medicine and try to take it easy..." One of them eventually told the teens.

The other looked at the group seriously. "Still, it doesn't change the fact that, for all good intentions, you kids are extremely late. Go straight to school from here, okay?" He told them. "We'll let them know that you're coming. Try to ensure that this doesn't happen again."

With three silent nods, the officers retreated. Once they were gone, the trio gave a collective sigh of relief.

"Man, good thing that you showed up when you did. Those guys were relentless." Ryuji sighed.

"At least they let us off easy. We have Mister Drama Queen to thank for that." Ann looked at Akira with a teasing tone in her voice. It was good to hear.

"Hey, I may not actually have a stomach ache, but I'm still exhausted. Don't kick a man while he's down." Akira grunted. "Speaking of which..." He looked at the bag in Ryuji's hands.

"Yeah, I got it," Ryuji assured as he reached into the bag and took out a bottle of Staminan. "I'll tell ya, this stuff does have some serious kick. I think I might actually survive school for today, now." He said. "I've already drunk my half, so the rest is yours."

"Thanks," Akira replied gratefully. He took the bottle and opened it before tipping back and gulping down the second half of the beverage. Once it was empty, Akira felt some energy return to him. Yeah, that definitely felt better.

A furry head poked out from Akira's bag, and after taking a quick look around, glanced at the three.

"Well, with that sorted, we should get to school. Waiting around isn't going to do us any favours." Morgana told them.

"Huh!? The cat's coming?" Ryuji asked, shocked at the feline's presence.

"I'm not a cat!"

Akira shook his head wryly. "Morgana's right. Let's move."

---

A few minutes later, the group were standing out the front of Shujin Academy, now looking more like the place Akira had been yesterday and less like the castle that they had been half-expecting.

Ann and Ryuji had worked together to "drag" Akira to the academy. He put on as convincing a show as he was able.

Once they arrived at the front steps, they were met by a man in a brown suit, who looked cross with them. "There you are." He scowled at the trio. "The police called and told us that three students were on our way here. Do any of you have an inkling as to how late you are?"

Ryuji tried to speak up. "Our friend here got a stomach ache on the way. He wasn't in any condition to-"

"Yes, yes, we were informed of that. Altruistic as it is, if you insist on tending to a student in the street long enough to skip most of the school day, then your judgement should seriously be called into question." The man interrupted.

From there, it was basically just more of the same stuff that the officer told them. Dull as hell, and far from the most pressing thing on their minds right now.

"What's going on here?"

Until, of course, he showed up.

Ryuji's eyes narrowed and teeth gnashed, while Ann trembled and slightly cowed into the boy she was supporting.

Out of all people to greet them at the front gate...

Kamoshida.

No crown, robe or yellow eyes. Just an ordinary, yet extremely rotten man. With only a shirt, pants and a stopwatch around his neck, he looked pretty unassuming. But the moment that he saw the group, Akira could feel his distasteful gaze wash over them.

"Calm. Both of you." Akira hissed under his breath. Nothing good would come of either of them freaking out.

"Ah, Mr. Kamoshida! I was just addressing these tardy students. As I understand, one of them fell ill, while the other two tended to him." The man told the teacher.

"Is that so...?" Kamoshida glanced over the youths. He immediately recognised all three of them. He stared at Ryuji like a turd on his shoe. He had ruined the boy's social life and athletic career and somehow thought that he still had the right to hate the blonde.

Then there was the transfer student with the record. He had seen him earlier this morning in well health. But that had clearly changed. Well, whatever. With his record leaked, a stomach ache would be the least of his problems. He glanced past the boy, without even attempting to look concerned.

Obviously, his attention rested on Ann.

"You know, Takamaki, you shouldn't let your kindness get in the way of your studies. Exams are always so far away, until they aren't, after all." He told her with a disarming grin. "Maybe after school today, you and I could have a private tutoring session?"

...

Less than half a minute. It took less than half a goddamn minute for the creep to try and put the moves on Ann. And what was the fellow staff member whose job it was to nurture and support students doing?

Running through the pastures and catching butterflies, of course! He was outright pretending that he couldn't identify the innuendo in Kamoshida's offer!

God, this school was going to be a shithole.

"Th-Thanks for the offer, Kamoshida-sensei, but...I'll pass. I have...you know, a shoot that I need to get to." Ann replied. She was clearly super uncomfortable, but she managed to keep her head on and weave a lie.

"Aw, come on now, you're getting so many shifts lately. You gotta take a break every now and then."

Study or take a break, which was it you pervert?!

"Hey, if she says she ain't available, then she ain't available!" Ryuji spoke up. His voice was filled with barely suppressed venom.

"Ah, Sakamoto. I don't think it's any of your business to dictate Takamaki's schedule." Kamoshida scoffed back.

"And it's yours!?" Ryuji shouted back.

"Hey! You watch your tone when speaking to Mr Kamoshida!" The other man grunted, coming out of La-La Land specifically to scold the blond.

Ah, so, a minor being sexually accosted by someone way older than her was okay, but defending a minor from being sexually accosted by someone way older than her warranted a scolding?

What kind of unholy, ass-backwards, horseshit, two-sandwiches-short-of-a-picnic logic was this school running on!?

God, Akira needed to get everyone out of this situation before he flew into Beast style and fed Kamoshida his own scalp.

"C-Can we go in n-now, please? I...nnngh...w-wanna be close to a b-bathroom..." Akira grumbled, his violent thoughts hiding beneath a sickly and fragile demeanour.

"Hm...oh, yes. Of course, sorry to keep you. But remember what I told you all." The suited man told them. "Once the lunch period is over, go straight to your homerooms. As for you," the man looked at Akira. "You need to see Miss Kawakami in the faculty room before lunch ends. And if you get any worse, come by the nurse's office." He told them, before turning heel and leaving.

The man was probably less interested in Akira's well-being than he was in not getting puke in the halls.

The trio started to shuffle up the stairs, with Kamoshida looking at them, emotionless.

"By the way," he spoke, staring straight at Akira, "you're the transfer student, right?"

"Mmn." Akira nodded his head in feigned disinterest when he was in fact paying attention to anything that Kamoshida did. If he even breathed wrong...

To their relief, he just stood there and let them pass, though that didn't mean he was quiet.

"Be sure to keep your nose clean. One wrong step and you're expelled, got it?"

The clear threat that the man issued, not to mention the fact that he was pretending to not be familiar with Akira's situation, had the hackles of both Ann and Ryuji raised. If one listened closely, they could also hear the hissing of an irritated feline coming from Akira's bag.

Akira forced himself to be calm. Forced himself to stay stone-faced. Forced his nerves down. Forced himself to think about anything other than the fact that he was about to walk into a place where everyone believed that he was a criminal...

"Good luck trying to enjoy your new school life."

Akira's brow twitched.

His head turned, and his eyes stared into Kamoshida's.

"You too, Kamoshida-sensei."

"Hm?"

That phrase. It was the mother of all awkward partings. And yet, Akira said it with such ferocity. Certainty. And if one were to read between the lines, they'd quickly understand why.

Akira was starting a new school life, that was true. But in that fact, so too would Kamoshida.

Winds that had blown north for so long were about to blow south.

Because Shujin had just taken in the young man who would lead the charge in bringing the man's unopposed empire crashing down...

---

As expected, his first day at Shujin was awful. The moment that he entered, all he got were terse looks. From students, from teachers, even the janitor gave him a wide berth.

Of course, Ann and Ryuji were given some strange looks too, carrying in a supposed criminal on their shoulders, but they took those stares like champs. Then again, they were likely used to them.

He had met Kawakami as soon as he was able, and while he got chewed out once again, at least the woman went easier on him than the others did.

With an agreement to meet on the rooftop this afternoon to talk more about what went down, the group finally parted, Ryuji leaving for his class while Akira and Ann made for theirs.

Not long after, he was introduced to his class, and that went just as well as the halls did.

"He's so late! On his first day too..."

"Didn't you hear? He was dragged to school by Takamaki and Sakamoto. They say he had a stomach ache, but..."

"No way, are you saying he got into a fight before he arrived? What a loony!"

"Don't talk so loud! If he hears you, he might stab you!"

Akira fought the urge to roll his eyes and placed the disappointment in his fellow classmates into a dark corner of his mind, alongside the hurt borne from the fact that his school life had been tarnished before it had even begun. The rumour mill was indeed brutal.

He didn't know how, but he was going to make Kamoshida pay...

At least Ann was there, quietly trying to send support his way with concerned glances. That made him feel a little better.

Other than that, it was general school stuff. Writing notes, asking questions, and looking out the window like he was an anime protagonist. Behind Ann and against a window. There were certainly less comforting seats.

Once things started to calm down, he could almost pretend that everything was normal. That they didn't get trapped in a castle. That nobody here knew his name...

...That there wasn't a cat crammed into the space beneath his desk. Morgana was a stealthy little thing. Even Akira had missed his transference, and he had been holding his bag most of the time!

Other than that, there wasn't really anything that piqued his interest. Well, Kawakami was visibly exhausted, and the kid who was on duty looked beat up, but that was it.

None of his business though, he already had enough on his plate...

---

"Alright. So, now that we're all here, what do we talk about?" Ryuji asked, slumping his body over a cheap metal chair.

"Well, isn't it obvious? Morgana explained lots to us before, but I still feel like we've barely scratched the surface." Ann muttered, sitting on her own chair.

After the final bell rang, the three teens and cat met on the rooftop of the school. Their dialogue would allow them to sort through everything that they hadn't already gone over, as well as give Kamoshida the slip so he didn't offer Ann a ride home too.

"W-Well, we don't gotta jump into that right away. Like, Akira! You're holding up okay, right? We heard some of the shit that everyone was sayin' about you..." Ryuji looked to Akira, who was leaning against some kind of unit. A/C or power, he didn't know. Or care.

"I'm fine, Ryuji. But let's not pretend that Kamoshida messing up my school life is a higher priority than this Metaverse stuff," Akira replied.

Ryuji nodded in understanding. "Well, if you ever wanna talk about it..."

Akira offered a small appreciative smile in response. "Thanks."

Akira turned his attention to Morgana who was perched on a discarded table. "Now, Morgana, you've told us a bit about the Metaverse already, but we have a few more questions about it. Can you please field them?" He requested.

Morgana frowned a little. "Well, not that I'm unwilling, but are you sure? We did only escape by the skin of our teeth, after all. I'd think that you'd normally want to distance yourself from that," He replied.

"Trust me, we'd be more than happy to never go to a place like that again. But if it does happen again, I'd appreciate being more prepared, and right now, you're the only one who can help us with that, Morgana." Akira lowered his head in a slight bow.

Morgana let out a sigh before a smile appeared on his furry face. "Well, when you put it like that, I suppose I could spare a few nuggets of wisdom."

"Aw, don't go acting all smug. You'd still be locked up if it weren't for us, you know." Ryuji couldn't help but interject.

Akira gave Ryuji a small flick on the ear, causing the boy to yelp. "Hey, Ryuji. No picking on Morgana." He scolded.

Akira then shifted the focus back to their main concern, asking the question that had been lingering in all of their minds. "Now, my first question is: how did we even end up in that other world to begin with? We went through the alleyway and ended up at the castle, but the long way and the alleyway led to the same place."

"And I take that alleyway to school every day! Nothin' weird happened until today." Ryuji added.

Morgana closed his eyes for a moment before opening them in uncertainty. "Well... Without being there at that moment, I can't really say. For me, slipping in and out of Palaces feels natural. I just got to think, and I'm there. For as long as I can remember, I've been jumping between

Palaces. Today was actually the first time that I've seen the real world."

Akira's brows furrowed. The first time he'd seen the real world. And...he was consistently jumping into these dangerous Palaces. Hell, plural? As in there were enough that the cat could almost bounce between them?

"And, how long have you been jumping between Palaces?" He asked.

Morgana's voice wavered slightly. "Um...Be-Beyond a few weeks ago? I...I don't actually remember. You see, embarrassing as it is to say this...I've actually lost my memory..."

Ann's eyes widened in surprise, her hand instinctively reaching up to her mouth. "Wait, you've got amnesia? But then...how do you even know Metaverse stuff to begin with?"

Morgana's uncertainty was evident as he struggled to find an explanation. "I don't know. I just...know."

Ryuji shook his head "Suuuuuuper helpful." He muttered with his voice full of sarcasm.

Ann shot Ryuji a reproachful look. "Ryuji!" She grunted.

Morgana's grumbled a little, but forced himself back on track. "Look, don't worry about me right now. We got to figure out how you guys fell into the Metaverse. Since you had no knowledge of it, you obviously couldn't have slipped in like I can. Can any of you remember anything strange or weird that happened before you went into the alleyway?"

"Besides Kamoshida offering me a ride? Not really." Ann answered.

"I didn't notice anything either, but I did get there late..." Ryuji added.

They then looked to Akira, who had a serious look on his face. "What about you dude? You look like you've got an idea." Ryuji said.

Akira closed his eyes as he wound his memory back to that moment, filtering out anything that was irrelevant or seemed normal.

It didn't take him too long before he eventually arrived at a single conclusion:

That red and black application that he had been looking at while he waited with Ann.

He wasn't too sure if he was overanalysing what could have been a completely normal function, but he had to check. Slowly, he dug into his pocket and withdrew his smartphone, then he located the app.

"Does this icon look familiar to either of you?" Akira asked. "I got this phone only a little while ago and this has been on it ever since. Is it a default app or something?"

Ann and Ryuji crowded around Akira to look, but it was easy to see that neither of them recognised it.

"Creepy looking eye," Ryuji commented bluntly.

"The... 'MetaNav'?" Ann hummed at the app's name. "It's definitely not a default app, I can tell you that much. But what does it have to do with anything?" She asked.

"The thing is, before any of that weird stuff happened, it activated on its own," Akira mentioned as he tapped on the app, causing a simple interface to open.

It looked similar to the map application, but with one key difference. There was a tab that was labelled 'Keywords' and in another tab, there was an option for 'Navigation History'

Following the trail of breadcrumbs, Akira tapped on the history section, and his eyes immediately widened as soon as he saw what was on there.

"What!? What is it?!" Ryuji asked with unrestrained interest. Akira looked for a few moments more before he flipped his phone over to show what was there.

An entry with three words on it.

Kamoshida.

Shujin.

Castle.

They seemed like keywords. And the thing about them was that Akira definitely remembered that each of them were uttered at least once before they entered into the Metaverse.

These words contained significance that couldn't be ignored. A castle superimposed onto Shujin by Kamoshida. Any doubts that this app has something to do with this were fading fast.

Was his phone, or more specifically, that app, the reason that they were dragged into that world?

Come to think of it, his phone had said something along the lines of "returning to the real world..."

"I'm not too familiar with smartphones, but I'm guessing that they don't normally act as keys for doorways to alternate dimensions using words relating to them?" Akira asked.

Both Ann and Ryuji shook their heads, still staring at the screen in shock.

"So, what does this mean? This app thingy took us to that world...? What kind of supernatural sci-fi shit is this...?" Ryuji moaned. "And more importantly, how did something like that end up on your phone?"

"Beats me. It came like that." Akira muttered.

"So, you're saying that your phone was the reason that you entered the Metaverse?" Morgana asked. "That not only did it allow you to just walk in, but also pulled in others as well?"

"It sounds crazy, I know. But ever since we stepped into that world, nothing has been normal." Akira sighed.

"G-Guys..."

Everybody looked to Ann, who suddenly seemed quite disturbed.

"Lady Ann?" Morgana prodded.

"I was just about to go into the app store to see if I could find the MetaNav app, and..."

The blonde turned her phone around to show everyone the glaring black and red icon on her screen nestled among her other apps.

"It was already there...?" Akira whispered in alarm.

"I-I know that I didn't download it, it looks shady as hell!" Ann exclaimed.

"Ryuji!" Akira barked. "Quick, check your phone!"

Ryuji was already digging into his pocket, and he frantically unlocked it. It took only a few seconds for a shocked expression to cross his face.

"It's on mine too!" He announced, showing the group. Everyone here had the app!

"Oh, this is creepy! Is this some kind of virus or something?" Ann groaned.

With tentative fingers, Ann and Ryuji tapped their respective apps, which opened into an identical display to Akira's, all the way down to the Navigation History. The same three words stared back at them.

"So...anyone who goes to the Metaverse, they get this app?" Ryuji asked. It sounded plausible, but Akira shook his head.

"I don't think so. I got this phone a couple of days ago and the app was already on it. Today was the first day that I went into the Metaverse with it.

"So then...how did it end up on our phones?" Ann asked.

"I don't know." Akira shook his head. "What I do know is that we shouldn't mess with it. If it can pull us into the Metaverse at any given moment, then it's dangerous. Maybe we should delete it..."

"No, wait!" Morgana suddenly cried out. Everyone looked at the cat with curious expressions.

"Th-The app should only work if you enter the keywords in. It looks like you need a person's name, a location, and what that person believes that location to be, probably in that order too. It...wouldn't be that dangerous unless you were specifically looking for someone." The cat explained.

"Morgana, you can't expect us to trust this thing. It practically activated on its own. If it wasn't for our Personas, or me, we would have died in there!" Akira insisted.

"But..." The cat looked to the ground forlornly and muttered something that sounded like "my plan..."

"Uh... I just tried to delete it...and it's not going away." Ryuji spoke up.

"What?" Ann and Akira gasped.

"I just tried to delete it, but it reappeared, like I didn't even touch it..." Ryuji replied with a shaky voice.

Both Akira and Ann navigated to the app and attempted to delete theirs, but, just like Ryuji said, it wasn't going away. This thing was getting more and more freaky...

Once they had confirmed what Ryuji said, the other two pocketed their phones once again.

"So, we can't actually get rid of the app then. Shit." Akira cursed. This weird app was inexplicable, it was stubborn, and with how spontaneously that it showed up on their phones, it was possible that it would simply show up on any replacement phones that they tried to use as well.

"Alright then, new plan." Akira sighed. "Nobody touch the app until we figure out more about it." He sighed before glancing at Morgana. "And you're sure that it won't activate unintentionally, like before?"

"I'm pretty sure. You needed specific keywords to even get into the palace, and there may be other factors too, like proximity, or even time of day. It should be fine to leave it alone...I think." Morgana answered.

"Dude...that doesn't make me feel much better." Ryuji moaned, running a hand through his blond hair.

"Well, it's the best we can do for now." Akira sighed. He shook his head and tried to refocus. "So, to summarise, this app is what allowed us to enter the Metaverse. It can also jump onto someone else's phone and can't be deleted. Also, the entry method is very specific, and we were just unlucky this time. That sound right?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think that sums it up, but man...what a weird app," Ryuji muttered. Of that, nobody had any objections.

"The app is only as weird as what it let us see. Honestly...to think Kamoshida sees this whole place as a castle." Akira mused.

"That castle is the culmination of Kamoshida's experiences, knowledge and overall authority of the school." Morgana explained. "Everything in that place has an equivalent here, and vice versa. You remember Kamoshida's Spike Attack?" Morgana asked.

"Don't think I'll ever forget..." Akira groaned. Even though there were no wounds remaining, there was still some phantom pain left behind by those meteoric volleyballs.

"Er...sorry," Morgana apologised sheepishly. "A-As I was saying, his skill at volleyball in the real world makes the strength of his spikes devastating in his eyes. They're outright deadly in the Metaverse as a result." He said.

"Well, he is an Olympic athlete. Makes sense he thinks the world of his volleyball skills." Ryuji grumbled.

"Right," Morgana nodded. "But that also works both ways. If, for example, Kamoshida perceived something in this school as something that he doesn't have control over, the cognition weakens and makes that place a safe spot."

"Erm...now you've lost me..." Ryuji informed. He looked to Akira his eyes asking for a translation

"If I'm understanding right, you're saying that there are places in the school where Kamoshida doesn't have control, and that makes it so there are places in the castle he doesn't have control." Akira reviewed.

"Exactly! Think about it, a gym teacher wouldn't have as much power in the ordinary classrooms, making their equivalents in the Palace safe spots. I call them 'Safe Rooms.'" Morgana said.

"Oooooh, I get it now...I think." Ryuji said with a small grin. He then immediately frowned as soon as he said that. "Wait, crap, now I'm starting to sound like Morgana."

"Hmpf! If only, maybe you'd catch up as fast as everyone else..."

"Um...Morgana." Ann's shaky voice suddenly rang out across the rooftop.

"What is it, Lady Ann?"

"If everything in the Palace has an equivalent in the real world..."

She raised her head, showing off a pale face.

"...what does that mean for the members of the volleyball team that we saw in there...?"

As soon as that question left Ann's mouth, Morgana grew noticeably uncomfortable and refused to meet her gaze. The silence in that moment was a more damning answer than anything. And as soon as Ann realised that, horror bled into her face.

"No..." she whispered.

"The members of the volleyball team... they're probably getting treatment not dissimilar to what we saw in the Palace." The cat admitted, to the horror of the teens.

Beatings, insulting, pushing them to and past the point of exhaustion. That was torture, not teaching! Dammit, how many students woke up dreading the day ahead because of Kamoshida?

If possible, Ann's face had turned whiter. Actually, she looked sick.

"Ann...a-are you o-"

"Sorry I-I gotta go!" Ann stood up in a frenzy. The chair she sat on was knocked over with a clunk.

"Ann?" Akira asked. What had gotten into her?

The blonde practically sprinted over to the rooftop entrance. Her phone held in her grip, and she tapped away at the screen in a frenzy. Her expression was the very picture of panic.

"Ann! Hey, we ain't done talking yet!" Ryuji exclaimed, holding his hand out towards the girl. That did make Ann pause for a moment, and she looked back while her hand reached for the doorknob.

"S-Sorry everyone. I...I know that this is important, but I...I need to check out something. Right now." She insisted. She tried to remain calm, but it was clear that the girl was growing more impatient by the second.

What was so important about the volleyball team that it made Ann react like this?

"What about Kamoshida? He might not have left school yet." Akira spoke up with concern in his voice.

That made Ann flinch, but she eventually looked at him with a tight smile. "We've been here for a little while. I think gone home by now." She reasoned.

"I don't wanna chance that." Akira retorted firmly. "If he gets you alone..." Akira didn't need to finish that sentence for it to be any less weighted.

"Then..." Ann bit her lip. "We could...we could exchange numbers. If I see Kamoshida, I'll call you. And you can catch me up on whatever I missed!" She said.

Akira, Ryuji and Morgana didn't like the idea of Ann going off on her own, but the blonde looked very anxious to leave. Forcing her to stay would probably do more harm than good. Establishing contact between them wasn't a perfect solution, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing.

"Fine." Akira sighed. He took out his phone, with Ryuji doing the same, and they all clustered together. After a bit of fidgeting on Akira's part, they all shared their contact information between each other wirelessly.

"Thanks..." Ann sighed. "I promise we can talk more later, but for now I-"

"We got it. Go. Just call us if you run into trouble." Akira told her.

"Yeah. I will." Ann nodded graciously. Honestly though, there had to be a limit to how protective a guy could be...

With no further interruptions, Ann opened the rooftop door and left through it in a hurry. She almost threw herself down the stairs while she scrolled through the contact list in her phone.

She soon found the contact that she wanted, and with an apprehensive tap of the dial button, she put the phone to her ear.

She got down to the last flight of stairs before the ringing ceased and the recipient picked up.

"Ann?"

"Shiho, we need to talk."

---

The two boys watched as Ann ran down the stairs like her pants were on fire. Both of them had confused looks on their faces.

"What happened with her?" Ryuji questioned, and all he got in reply was a shrug from Akira. There was leaving in a hurry, and then there was whatever Ann had going on. Whatever happened must've been beyond urgent to her.

Akira looked at his phone and saw Ann's number in his contacts list and Ryuji's underneath hers. "Well," he sighed as he pocketed the phone, "we've got her number. We can ask her what happened later tonight." He assured the blond.

"This is actually good timing." Morgana suddenly piped up. "I wanted to discuss something important with you two specifically." He told them.

"Us two? Not Ann?" Akira asked. That was strange, he'd thought the cat would be more than willing to divulge anything to her, considering his obvious crush.

The cat shook his head. "Not Lady Ann, no. It'd be too dangerous for her."

"Dangerous?" Ryuji pressed.

For a few moments, Morgana was quiet, and then he stared at the boys with a deep blue gaze. "When things settle down, I'm gonna go back into the Palace. And I want you two to come with me."

"Eeeeh!?" Ryuji squawked. "You want us to go back into the Palace?! We almost died!"

"We just got done talking about the danger of this app, and now you want us to use it intentionally?" Akira added, equally perturbed by Morgana's proposal.

"Wait! Hear me out! Hear me out!" Morgana cried. He couldn't lose them before his plan had even started!

Akira crossed his arms. "That Palace is a cesspool of danger. What reason would we possibly have to go back in?" He asked.

To this, Morgana's eyes narrowed. "Because if we pull off what I'm thinking about, we can stop that bastard Kamoshida from torturing Lady Ann; stop him from doing all of his crooked stuff!"

That certainly piqued the duo's interest.

"We can do that? How!?" Ryuji shouted before being harshly shushed by Akira. They didn't need eavesdroppers.

Morgana smirked. "As we discussed, Kamoshida views the school as a castle, right? He's built up this fantasy world in his head that's made real in the Metaverse. It's connected to the depths of his heart and forged from distorted desires. Therefore if something drastic happened to that castle, it would undoubtedly affect him in the real world. So...if we wanted to stop him from doing scummy stuff, what would we have to do...?"

He looked at the two of them expectantly, hoping they could finish his train of thought.

"...A place made of distorted desires connected to Kamoshida in the real world..." Ryuji muttered. "Urgh, can't you just tell us? This is important!" He grunted.

"Please, Morgana. This isn't time for a pop quiz." Akira insisted. If they could stop Kamoshida's reign by using the Metaverse, it would be huge.

Morgana sighed. So much for that...

"We gotta bring that castle down. If distorted desires are what it's made of, then if it's gone then-

"-the desires would go too!" Akira suddenly realised.

"Do you want me to explain or not?" Morgana muttered. "But yes, doing away with the distorted desires would force Kamoshida to have a change of heart, but just because he'd turn good doesn't mean his crimes would be erased. Being able to finally look at what he's done through honest eyes would crush him with immeasurable guilt, and to make amends, he'd confess everything he did. He'd probably cry a lot too." Morgana explained with a smug look.

"For real!?" Ryuji gasped. His face had taken on an elated expression. Akira was also quite interested. The chance to take down Kamoshida in such a way was bordering on too fantastical to be true, but if that was possible...

"That's why you wanted to speak with just the two of us," Akira stated. "We have Personas now, so we're better equipped to go into the Palace than Ann is." He reasoned.

"Correct. That place is extremely dangerous for people without a Persona. To suggest this to somebody without one would be the height of foolishness. Therefore, it's fortunate that both of you awakened to one." Morgana said.

(Honestly, if Ryuji had been the only one to awaken to a Persona, then Morgana wasn't sure he would have even brought this plan up...)

"What...what about evidence? There's no chance that our involvement would be picked up?" Akira asked.

"That's the beauty of it!" Morgana continued. "There'll be no traces of our involvement at all. There can't be any evidence left in a place that doesn't exist anymore, can there? As long as we keep the Metaverse secret, there'll be no trace of our involvement in bringing Kamoshida down~"

"But that whole thing was...that Palace is huge. How are we even supposed to get rid of it?" Akira asked.

"You could always try punchin' it away," Ryuji suggested jokingly while giving Akira a nudge. It seemed that he was in a good mood after hearing about this stuff.

Akira rolled his eyes. "Be serious, I don't have that kind of strength." He told them, though he couldn't hide a small grin. "Geez, you fight a hundred knights and kick open a multi-ton door and suddenly people think you can crush a castle." He sighed.

"As convenient as that would be..." Morgana chuckled, "what we need to do is steal the-"

At that moment, Morgana stopped talking, and he shook his head.

"Steal the...what? Morgana?" Akira asked.

"There is a catch to all of this that I haven't mentioned yet. It's a pretty big deal, so I want to warn you about it before you agree to this..."

"Warn us about what...?" Ryuji asked, his jovial mood draining away.

"Even though the castle is made up of distorted desires, they're still desires. And desires are what keep us alive. They tell us to eat when we're hungry, to sleep when we're tired. There's a chance that...those desires could go as well." The cat admitted. "And if that happens, Kamoshida would completely shut down. As in full-time care shut down. Death wouldn't be off the table either."

"Wh-What!? He could die!?" Ryuji gasped, his face alight with horror. It was clear that he was starting to have second thoughts.

Akira was silent.

"It's a risk, I'll admit, but just because it might happen doesn't mean it will." Morgana offered.

"C-Come on. I-I mean, Kamoshida's bad, don't get me wrong, but...shit man, I don't want blood on my hands!"

"I just said that it's a possibility, it's not definitive! And even if it did happen, nobody would know." Morgana repeated, looking somewhat irritable at the boy's hesitation.

"We'd know!" Ryuji retorted. "I don't care if it's just a chance. I don't want him to kill him! If we went around doing secret stuff like that; playing with life, then we'd be no better than Kamoshida!" Ryuji turned to Akira with wide eyes. "You think so too, right?" He asked.

If he was expecting an immediate agreement to his question, then he'd be disappointed. There was a quiet conflict on Akira's face.

"D-Dude?" Ryuji asked.

Finally, Akira opened his eyes and looked at Morgana with a steely expression.

"Tell me what to do." He finally answered.

A strong silence quickly engulfed the rooftop, with Akira's declaration leaving no room for misinterpretation.

It took a while before anyone was able to say anything.

"This ain't an effin' joke, Akira!" Ryuji grunted as he got up right in Akira's face. "You heard the cat, he could die!" He told the frizzy-haired teen.

"I know full well." Akira spat solemnly. "But can you think of anything less that could bring down Kamoshida? Your fellow students are suffering because of him. He believes that he can do whatever he wants, and he pretty much can! Nothing less than drastic measures can stop him now. You heard him in the Palace, even the police won't do anything!" He told Ryuji, his voice grave.

Ryuji swallowed. Of course he knew that.

"W-Well, Ann knows some of the volleyball team, right? I was thinking that if we got all of them to testify-"

"Do you honestly believe that'd work, Ryuji?" Akira interrupted the blond. "Anybody who speaks up against him gets snuffed out by his influence. Everyone is too scared to speak up, because what's their word against his? Hell, Ryuji, he broke your leg and turned you into the school punk. Did speaking up fix the problem? Did anyone tell you that Kamoshida was in the wrong?"

Ryuji backed off, now silent.

"No. They didn't." Akira answered for him. "That bastard has every student and teacher in the palm of his hand. He's able to brutalize students with no consequences. He's able to sexually accost Ann with no consequences. He was able to turn me into the fucking school pariah on my first day here."

He stared down Ryuji with sharp, grey eyes.

"Deep down, I'm sure you already know Ryuji that conventional justice doesn't touch people like Kamoshida. The time for anything like that happening passed the moment he was able to get away with crippling you."

Akira realised that he was starting to get worked up, so he tried to calm down a little by taking a deep breath. He walked over to one of the seats and sat down.

"You said that this'd make us no better than Kamoshida, didn't you?" He asked. "But standing back and doing next to nothing isn't much better. If it's as you say and falling to Kamoshida's level means that he can face true justice..."

Akira paused and looked up at the golden rays of afternoon sun shining through the clouds.

"Well...sometimes it takes one demon to knock another out of the sky."

"Akira..." Ryuji whispered.

Akira gave a small grunt. Not a minute after he sat down, he found himself standing back up, his brows furrowed in an intense stare.

"Look, Ryuji...I am not undermining how serious this is. I can't just ask you to go along with this considering it might kill Kamoshida... That's why I'm going to give you some time. To think, I mean." Akira told the blond. "I'm set on this, even if it means that he might suffer a mental shutdown, but just because I'm in on this doesn't mean you have to be," Akira said lowly.

Ryuji was speechless, watching as Akira got to his feet.

"We're both exhausted from the Palace. I think that we should sleep on this, and talk about it later. Sound good?" He asked.

"U-Uh...yeah..." Ryuji slowly nodded his head. "But...dude-"

Akira held up his hand to stop whatever it was that Ryuji was planning on saying.

"Don't worry. If your answer's still no by then, it's fine. I won't force you to change your mind or anything." Akira assured Ryuji. "But every second that Kamoshida "teaches" at this school, things will only get more and more difficult, for Ann, for you, for me, and everyone else."

Akira thought back to that night when everything went wrong. To the night when he lost everything because that bald bastard sat atop his ivory throne somewhere. Nobody should be immune to consequences. Not people like him, or people like Kamoshida. It was utterly despicable.

Akira would be lying if he said that anger towards that kind of arrogant power wasn't a large part of why he was so driven to walk this path.

"Wait, Frizzy Hair!"

Akira looked to Morgana, who looked rather concerned. It was weird to see something like that on a cat's face.

"The Palace might be too difficult with just the two of us. Heck, even with three, it wouldn't be easy!" The cat informed.

Akira groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Yeah, that sounded about right.

"Firstly, it's Akira." He told the cat. If they were to work together, they needed to be on a first-name basis.

"And secondly...if Ryuji decides not to come, then that's that. I'll do my best to pick up the slack, and I'll listen to everything you say." He promised the cat. He tried to come off as respectfully as he could. After all, without Morgana, he was outright blind to the workings of the Metaverse.

The cat gave a small groan and circled a paw on the ground. Why did this have to be so complicated? Why couldn't they both just say yes...?

Well, whatever. He'd take what he could get now, and hopefully, Blondie would come around. "Fine..." The cat sighed with a clear reluctant tone in his voice.

He was met with a firm smile and a nod from the bespectacled boy. "Thanks, Morgana. I'll be counting on you."

For some reason, Akira's declaration of trust made Morgana feel somewhat guilty, and he didn't have to do too much soul-searching to realise why...

"I know that he saved our lives, but we don't have a choice. The only thing we can do is...make sure he doesn't die for nothing."

Shit... He really didn't have a right to complain about Akira's way of doing things when he was planning on leaving him to die in the Palace. At the time, it seemed like the most ideal option, but with everyone out safe, and Akira actively deciding to place his trust in him... It made guilt gnaw at the cat's heart.

It had been Akira who freed him, who had saved their lives; who was now willing to throw himself into the jaws of death alongside Morgana in order to save people in the real world. The least the cat could do was try not to be a jerk about it.

"Now, how about you talk me through this change of heart thing?" Akira suggested. "It sounds like it's going to be difficult."

Morgana slowly nodded. That was indeed the case. Granted, he had never actually done it himself, it was just something that he knew innately, like seeing a mountain in front of you and knowing immediately that it would be a tough climb. Morgana had gotten Akira on board, and that would have to be good enough for him. As for Ryuji, he would have to hope that the teen came around eventually.

As Akira picked up his bag, he paused and looked at Morgana with a questioning look.

"Wait, come to think of it, do you have anywhere to stay?" Akira asked the cat. He received a slight flinch in reply and Morgana awkwardly averted his gaze.

"A-About that..."

Akira sighed.

---

"Umpff! What a day..." Akira flopped onto his bed. The plastic crate supports creaked under his weight and dug into his back, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. This day had been an utter maelstrom of revelation, stress, panic and many other terms that Akira didn't care to think about right now.

After leaving Ryuji to think about his options on the school rooftop, Akira started to make his way home, with Morgana in tow. Unsurprisingly, Morgana didn't exactly have a place to live and was left with few options.

At first, Akira was reluctant to allow the cat to stay at his place, because he was already going to be in enough hot water when he came home, with his extreme lateness to his first day of school. He really didn't want to push his luck by bringing home a stray cat on top of all that.

Morgana did manage to talk him around though, saying that he wouldn't wander and wouldn't even talk until Sojiro left for the night. Akira still had his concerns, but so long as they were careful, having a smart little guy like Morgana hanging around wouldn't be a problem, at least for now. But if Sojiro found him, Akira didn't know this cat, didn't know how he got in, etcetera. Besides, Morgana would probably have to move on at some point anyway.

Of course, they ran into an issue almost immediately, that being that Morgana hadn't eaten in ages. And of course, Akira had all of ¥217 to try and get him something to eat, not counting his bath and laundry allowance, of course. Sojiro wouldn't let him starve, but Akira was nowhere near stupid enough to try and sneak the cat curry. That was just asking for conflict.

Unfortunately, ¥217 didn't take him very far in options. Even the most affordable cans of cat food were about ¥300, and he wasn't sure if Morgana, a supposed human, would want to eat that stuff anyway. In the end, he had to go for a ¥200 onigiri. It wasn't ideal, but it'd have to do.

Akira wasn't happy about having most of his funds siphoned off, but it wasn't very much to begin with. He just needed to hope that he stumbled into a job as soon as possible, because he clearly didn't have enough on his plate already.

But then, Morgana told him something that changed everything...

"You know, when you fight Shadows in the Metaverse, they drop stuff like money or items, and if you manage to knock them down and hold them up, you can get even more money. I'll teach you all about it when we go into the Palace next."

Now, Akira had grown beyond shaking down crooks for cash, but Morgana had made it clear that the Shadows were not people. Being cruel or nice didn't really matter. Taking their money or their items was an act with literally no consequence. Heck, even defeating them outright would yield a small profit as well.

So, not only could he get stronger by constantly fighting these Shadows, he could earn money too?

Money to support himself?

Money to properly fix up his room?

Money to pay that bullshit lawsuit?

Yeah, that sounded way more appealing to Akira than that job at the beef bowl place. It was a simple fact that Akira enjoyed fighting. He enjoyed the adrenaline when a situation called for his strength, and he enjoyed the calm that overcame him when he practised his moves. So learning he could earn money by fighting it out in the Palace was one of the best things he had heard since his incarceration.

Even though he was exhausted and had almost been killed there, the teen wanted nothing more than to jump in and start tearing through the Palace.

The one divot in Akira's dream of financial stability built on the backs of Shadows was that once Kamoshida's heart was stolen, and his Palace was gone, that avenue of earning money would vanish too. But when he had moped about that to Morgana, he had simply winked at him and told Akira to be patient and wait until they took care of Kamoshida. Then he'd show Akira something really cool...

It was vague as hell, but with all the opportunities that Morgana had provided for Akira, he could keep all the secrets he wished.

And stealing hearts, that was another matter altogether. According to the cat, their goal was to make their way towards some treasure hidden in the depths of the Palace, a formless treasure that was the core of their desires. They were to secure a route to the treasure and then anonymously call Kamoshida out in the real world. Let him know that his desires were a tangible thing that could be stolen.

That would, in turn, cause the treasure to materialise as something physical, something that could be removed or destroyed. Without that, the Palace would disappear.

It sounded doable enough on paper, but the absolute gauntlet of things that they'd need to pull off just felt overwhelming. Even out of the Metaverse, Akira still had normal things to worry about, like school, and his curfew.

Speaking of situations at home, word of his faux stomachache reached Sojiro's ears, and though he was disappointed with Akira's tardiness on day one, the fact that he had a reasonable excuse to run with was thankfully enough to mitigate the damage.

"You see? This is what happens when you skip meals for two days, and then suddenly fill up. Haah, I probably should have given you something lighter..."

He had said something to that effect. Akira was just relieved that he didn't get too much of a scolding because he did not need a dressing down right now.

After everything that he went through today, the opportunity to rest was more than appreciated.

"Crap..." he muttered, draping an arm over his eyes. He didn't know if the stress of everything that he'd been through and the mountain of things that he had to think about were going to keep him up, or if the exhaustion of today was going to knock him out.

What on earth had he gotten himself into?

He almost went to sleep right then and there, but the buzzing of his phone drew his attention. He almost ignored it at first, but his newest roommate wasn't intent on letting that happen.

"Hm? Hey, Akira? I think somebody's texting you." Morgana said as he hopped up on the bed.

"I'm aware..." Akira muttered. He didn't reach for the phone.

The phone buzzed again.

"Aren't you gonna see who it is?" The cat asked with a frown.

And again.

"Do I have to?" Akira whined. All he wanted to do was just lie here and process everything that happened today. Or turn his spine into a pretzel by falling asleep in this position.

Morgana didn't reply, but he did give Akira a small frown.

Another buzz.

"Come on, don't look at me like that. I'm tired..." Akira said.

"It could be from Lady Ann! It's ungentlemanly to keep a girl waiting!"

The teen gave a small moan. Well, he supposed that checking in on Ann after her abrupt exit from the roof earlier today wouldn't be a bad thing...

With an exaggerated grunt, he reached for his phone and looked at his notifications. He did indeed have multiple unread messages, not only from Ann, but Ryuji too. He seemed to have been added to a shared message group, formed by Ann. That was a good sign at least. Akira scrolled to the top and began to read.

Ann: Hey guys! I set up this group so we'd be able to text each other. Did you both get this?

Ryuji: 'Sup. I got your message loud and clear.

Ann: Awesome! WBY about you, Akira?

Ann: Akira? Heelloooooo?

Ryuji: Think he's sleeping?

Akira was not going to admit that he had retreated to the internet app to see what 'WBY' stood for before he made to reply.

Akira: I'm here

Ann: Ah! He's awake! Hi Akira!

Akira: Barely... I feel like I'm gonna drop dead any minute if I don't get some sleep. Oh, but hi though.

Ryuji: Dude, I know! I could probably sleep for the rest of the week after today.

Akira took a moment to appreciate the novel concept of texting. Texting his friends... It was pretty cool.

"Remember...don't tell Lady Ann about our plan," Morgana whispered. He got a tired thumbs-up from Akira. Getting her involved without the power to rebel like he, Ryuji and Morgana had was indeed dangerous. Best to leave her out of it.

Akira: And how are you, Ann? You get home okay? No problems?

There was a small silence before Ann responded.

Ann: Yeah, I got home safely.

Akira: That's good. Morgana and I are glad to hear it.

Akira looked to the cat, and they shared a mutual nod.

Ann: Wait? Morgana is with you?

Ryuji: Yeah, the cat had nowhere to live, so Akira had to take him in.

"He doesn't have to put it like that! It makes me sound pathetic Akira! Run damage control!" Morgana cried.

"Keep it down." Akira pressed firmly down on the aggrieved cat's head. "Besides, it's not untrue."

"St-Still..." Morgana whined.

Akira rolled his eyes and texted back.

Akira: Morgana has taught us a lot. Giving him a place to stay is the least I can do.

Ann: Aw, you're sweet, Akira.

Ryuji: Good luck. He's got a mouth on him.

"You've got a mouth on you!" The cat snarled at the text indignantly.

Akira: Morgana says hi Ryuji.

The cat gave a strangely cute pout.

Ann: Anyway. I set this group up so we could, you know, talk about stuff. What did you guys get up to when I left?

To this, Akira had no answer. The whole infiltrating the Palace thing was not something for Ann's ears. He had no idea how she'd react to it, but he guessed that she'd probably be as rejecting of it as Ryuji was. Maybe even more.

He watched the cursor on his screen blink on and off, as his fingers hovered hesitantly over the keypad. He didn't know what he should tell her.

Thankfully, Ryuji came in with the save.

Ryuji: We were talking about ways to take down Kamoshida. Knock that scumbag on his ass and get him to face proper justice.

For a moment, no one responded on either end, until a solitary chat bubble from Ann appeared

Ann: You really think that's possible?

Akira: Yeah! Listen, Akira and I have a plan to take down Kamoshida.

"We do?" Akira asked aloud with clear confusion. Neither of them had agreed on anything, Ryuji to changing his heart, or Akira to gathering witness testimony. What was he on about?

Ryuji: But hey, it's already getting late, and I'm still wiped. We'll tell you at school tomorrow, yeah?

Ann: What!? Come on, you can't say that and then leave me hanging! Akira, spill!

On the spot, and with no idea what to say Akira could only stare at the screen.

Ryuji: Hey, come on, lay off. Dude's probably more tired than I am.

Ann: Aw, you guys suck! (_*)

Akira felt that Ann wasn't actually that angry. You didn't use emoticons if you were in emotional distress.

He would assume.

Ryuji: Anyway, we're going to sleep now. 'Night!

Ann: Goodnight, guys. I'll see you tomorrow.

Akira: Get some rest. We all need it. Morgana says goodnight too.

Akira: How do I cat emoticon?

Ryuji: LOL

Ann: LOL

Akira grunted. He still had a lot to learn about phones it seemed.

In any case, the conversation looked like it was over, so Akira put his phone down, looking forward to finally getting some sleep.

However, a few minutes later, his phone buzzed again. Akira groaned. Now what was it?

Wearily, he pushed himself properly up onto the bed and glanced at the screen once more. This time, it seemed to be a PM. From Ryuji.

Ryuji: Hey, you still up?

Akira: Nope.

Ryuji: You so are! Look, there's just something I wanted to say, before the night's over.

Akira: Can it wait? We're both exhausted, you said it yourself.

Ryuji: I know. I know. It'll be quick, I swear.

Akira: Is this about the "plan" that we had for tomorrow? Because I was just as surprised that we had something as Ann was.

Ryuji: Yeah, it's about that...

Akira: Are you still set on trying to gather testimonies?

Ryuji: Yes, but hear me out! Please. I gotta say this before I go to sleep and then I lose it forever!

Akira grumbled. He didn't want a repeat of this debate when all he wanted to do was conk out. Still, Ryuji seemed so desperate to tell him something. Something Akira could feel was important.

After a minute or so of a dotted box, Ryuji's response came through.

Ryuji: Look, you gave me a lot to think about this afternoon. You brought up a lot of points that I couldn't argue against. With the kinda grip that Kamoshida has on everyone, maybe changing his heart is the only thing we can do.

Akira's eyebrows raised as he read Ryuji's response. Did that mean...?

Ryuji: But still, I want to try bringing together the people who have suffered because of Kamoshida. I still want him to be brought to justice, the right way.

Akira sighed in disappointment. So, ultimately, nothing had changed. He was seconds away from just telling Ryuji to go to sleep...

Ryuji: And, if that fails...

"Hm?" Akira paid a bit more attention to the screen.

Ryuji: "We'll go with your plan. And change his heart.

Akira: A compromise?

Ryuji: Yeah, we try my plan first, and if it doesn't work, then we try yours. That's fair, isn't it?

Ryuji: It's just, I've known you for only a day, man and this might sound weird as hell, but I just have the feeling that you're at your best when you're doing the right thing.

Akira: Dude, come on. Like you said, you've only known me for one day. How could you possibly know that?

Ryuji: I told you this already, didn't I? You're a good person. I ain't taking that back.

Akira didn't know how to feel when he read that, but he couldn't deny a small swell of pride pooling in his chest. To think that Ryuji thought so highly of him.

Ryuji: I mean, you're a little intense, but your heart's clearly in the right place. And I understand. I guess it just sucks that it's such a shitty solution. Trust me, I'd be all for this if there wasn't the possibility that we'd kill someone.

That was something that everyone here could agree on.

Ryuji: It's still kind of shitty even without that looming over our heads. If we go back to that castle, Persona or not, it'll be extremely dangerous.

Akira: Yeah, don't remind me. The Shadows, the scale, and if I ever have to look at Kamoshida in that weird-ass speedo ever again, it'll be too soon.

Akira closed his eyes; kept them closed for a minute while he contemplated what to say next. Then, he opened them again and continued to type.

Akira: Ryuji. This is a chance that I'm willing to take. Best case scenario, Kamoshida confesses to his crimes with no negative repercussions, but if it's the worst case scenario, and Kamoshida suffers a shutdown...

Ryuji: I know. But I've made up my mind. If it comes to changing his heart, then count me in. I owe my life to you like, three or four times over. I won't let you face that path on your own.

Silence ensued on both ends. Akira was at a loss for what to say. To think that someone he'd only met today was not only offering to walk into the jaws of death with him, but to also potentially wander into a realm that there was no way back from.

Akira didn't think much of Ryuji when their paths crossed on this rainy morning, but he could say with certainty that he respected the hell out of him now.

Akira: You're sure?

Ryuji: As long as we try my way first. And we gotta try and make sure that Kamoshida doesn't shut down. Can you promise me that?

Akira didn't hesitate any further and slowly typed back.

Akira: Alright. It's a deal then.

Morgana read Akira's reply, and his face was painted with something akin to distress. "Wait, you're going through with this?! You swore that you were in for changing his heart!" The cat yowled.

"Hey, you don't have to get so upset." Akira attempted to calm the feline. "Changing his heart isn't off the table. But seeing this through means that Ryuji will stand by our side when we do infiltrate the Palace, and there'll be less of a chance of things going wrong." Akira paused. "And on the off chance that this actually works, then we can decide our next move. You had something planned for after the Palace, right?"

"Y-Yeah..." Morgana replied. Still, he didn't seem happy about accepting it. He huffed and trotted over to the side of the bed before he curled up into a furry ball. It seemed that Morgana was officially retiring for the night. The cat had the right idea.

Ryuji: You will? Thanks, man! You won't regret this!

Akira: We'll talk more tomorrow. So, can I go to bed now?

Ryuji: Just one more thing!

Akira was tempted to turn his phone off, but Ryuji added something to make him stop.

Ryuji: You told me earlier that you were gonna become a demon if that's what it took to bring Kamoshida down.

Ryuji: You're not. You're not a demon, Akira. I mean, you do fight like one, but you're not like Kamoshida at all! I don't wanna see you comparing yourself to Kamoshida at all, got it?

Akira smirked and found the opportunity for one final jab.

Akira: As you command, Princess Ryuji

Ryuji: ...You know what, I'm too tired to get angry at that.

Akira: Phooey.

Akira chuckled. He was never letting that die.

Ryuji: But I want you to remember something, dude.

Ryuji: Heroes fight demons too.

Ryuji: I can tell we're gonna get along just fine as troublemakers!

It was a cheesy, unremarkable line on the part of the blond, but it brought a smile to Akira's face. For all his joking and his disagreements, Akira found himself feeling very lucky to have someone with such a good heart as his friend. His first real friend.

Akira set the phone down finally and immediately felt his eyelids grow heavy. His consciousness wavered, and his vision was slowly swallowed in darkness.

What was strange was that, as he was drifting off, he heard a young, female voice. A voice that calmed his heart. An audial equivalent to a gentle hand stroking his hair.

I am thou...

Thou art I...

Thou hast acquired a new vow...

It shall become the wings of rebellion

That breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of The Chariot Persona

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power...

And with naught but a second of waking left, Akira gave one final thought.

"That's rad."