Persona 5. I swear, this game is the game that doesn't want to die in the public consciousness. Before someone gets bent out of shape, no, I don't hate Persona 5 or the expansion Royal. There just comes a point where everyone just has to let the game rest on its laurels and move on to the next game. What do I mean by this? Well, every Gatcha game has to have a crossover with P5, every games journo won't shut up about how "What Persona 6 can learn from Persona 5," and finally all of the spin-off games. Again, don't get me wrong, I like the spin-offs and I'm looking forward to Phantom X later this year as it's going to be following a separate team on its own journey in the same timeframe as P5 (I'm also suddenly reminded that I still haven't finished Strikers yet). My point being is that P5 originally came out 8 years ago, in 2015. Feel old yet? Anyway, about 150 words of segue aside, you can tell that I have a P5 story today.
So, going through my ideas, mind you the non-lewd ones, I wrote down an interesting idea a few months back regarding a kind of "onlooker" fic. Specifically, one that follows someone close to Ren/Akira, as in familial, who Shido doesn't know about who keeps an eye on Ren to make sure he stays out of trouble. This individual is contacted by their aunt and uncle to watch over their cousin during his year in Tokyo and eventually discovers his secret in being a Phantom Thief as well as the Metaverse as a whole. Then, I started writing down some more details until I came up with a fleshed-out pilot idea and here's the additional details:
Ren's cousin, an older hafu US citizen, is contacted by his aunt and uncle who explain Ren's situation to him and why they can't be in contact with him and ask that he watch over Ren in their place for the following school year in Tokyo. He requests a reassignment from his employer, a private security contractor to which he works as IT Security to various US military bases, and gets the reassignment to Japan in general. In doing so, he starts to watch over his cousin as he starts a journey he can only watch from afar until he's dragged into it himself.
Sounds like an interesting idea, doesn't it? Obviously, I have enough for a pilot, but additional details and potential plots contemplated to see if this can become something more than just a pilot. One additional thing to note is that since this follows an OC it will be written in the first-person perspective. But with that being said, let's get this going, shall we?
Title: [undecided]
Rating: M for themes to be safe as Persona 5 does hint at some pretty dark ends for your main party and confidants should you fail at the various bosses or not bother going through their social links (like Makoto being sold off into human trafficking as a drug-addled sex slave, Ann being abused by Kamoshida in a "bad touch" way, Futaba's self-deletion over the guilt of her mother's death, Haru's forced marriage and inevitable partner abuse towards her, and Kawakami's inevitable entry into prostitution to name a few). Also, potential scenes between the OC and one of the older, female Confidants (undecided).
Pairing(s): Ren/[undecided] (though I am on record stating that Makoto, Futaba, and Kasumi are personal favorites with Ann as a runner-up to those three), mOC/[either Kawakami or Sae], any others are undecided until the primary two are set.
Summary: Takashi Gonzales is called by his aunt and uncle regarding his younger cousin who has found himself in a bit of trouble. Due to a court order, the couple is unable to communicate with their son nor keep him out of trouble. Seeing as this is setting his cousin up for failure, they ask Takashi to keep an eye on his cousin and keep him out of trouble. Takashi finds out really quickly how much of a Herculean task that is going to be. It also doesn't help that everyone seems to be out to get Ren as well.
Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my copy of MS Word and my desktop. Persona 5: Royal belongs to Atlus. I only own original characters and original plotlines that play in their sandbox. See the forward for the full disclaimer.
XxXxXxX
The train car clacked against the rails as it went along its merry way. I watched outside of the window to see the countryside turn into suburbs before they too turned into a cityscape. If someone told me that I was going to be riding deep into the Japanese countryside to visit my aunt and uncle who had found themselves in some financial and legal troubles, I wouldn't believe them. As the train got closer to the end of the line and me closer to my destination, I couldn't help but remember that conversation.
XxXxXxX
Inaba is what many would consider to be a 'backwater' city. It was large in terms of the city limits and even had a few high-rise apartments that capped out a no more than seven stories tall, but it was the community surrounding it that made many think of it as a backwater or a Podunk town. The city was known for three things: farming, the Amagi Inn, and a series of murders attributed to a police detective fresh from the academy assigned to the town who wanted more… excitement in his career. To say this caused a national stir would be an understatement. It even made international news due to the scandal behind it. Despite this happening over a decade ago, it still haunts the small, sleepy town. There were even some very… out of season and disrespectful tours that took place by out-of-towners doing 'ghost tours' in a sick attempt to make money off of it. Not that the town saw any of it. The only reason I knew of it was that my mother was talking with my aunt about it over the phone during the time it all happened.
But that was in the past. And this was the present.
I had gotten off the only train line going to Inaba and hailed a taxi, it had been, after all, one of the few things that had changed about the city. It got a little bit bigger, enough to justify a small taxi service. I was dropped off at my relative's house and rang the doorbell.
"Yes?" the squawk-box transmitted.
"Auntie Aoi," I reply in English.
"Takashi!" the female voice lets out joyfully in recognition of the only person in our family who wasn't a Japanese national. "One second, I'll let you in!" The door to the house whipped open and the gate flew aside as she hugged me almost like a castaway clinging to a raft.
"I didn't expect such a welcome," I admit, swapping to Japanese. It was fluent, but some words were accented.
She sniffled, "Please, come inside. I just made tea."
I left my luggage in the entryway with my shoes. After all, I didn't know if this was going to be a short or overnight visit with my relatives. I sat at the coffee table in their living room on the tatami mat flooring. She came over with a steaming hot mug of buckwheat tea and set one in front of herself and one in front of me. I didn't let it show on my face, but this wasn't my favorite kind of tea, but I accepted it regardless as it was her hospitality.
"How was your flight?" she asked as I took a sip.
"Long," I reply. "Sort of jetlagged from the last minuteness of the flight."
"I see," she says as she sips her own tea. "My, how you've grown!" she remarks.
"Yeah, that tends to happen when we haven't seen each other since Ren was born." It was true, the last time I had been on Japanese soil had to have been around sixteen years ago when I was around five years old. It had been a whole family travel thing for Mom to see her sister and greet the newest family member of ours. "How are abuela and abuelo? I mean, jiji and bachan?" After all, I hadn't seen those grandparents in a very, very long time. Granted, they weren't too keen about who their daughter – my mother – married and moved away with out of the country rather than their hand-picked husband candidate and barely traveled out of the country. If you exclude Hawaii, that is.
"They are doing well… all things considered. They are old after all."
"Yeah, they are. Upper 70's this year, yes?" I ask.
"81 and 80 respectively."
"That's right."
"You should… see them before you leave. I'm sure your mother would like you to reconnect with them before they pass."
"They aren't sick or anything, are they?" While abuela and mom talked, she didn't say anything to me about any medical issues.
"No!" she let out quickly to relieve any worry that may have come up. "They're just getting up there in age and you don't know the next time you'll see them."
'Before the funeral,' I added mentally. Mom would want to be there for the funeral when they pass. "Are they still in town?"
"They moved to one of the retirement communities near the Amagi Inn. The hot springs are good for their joints, after all."
'Probably costs a pretty penny too,' I add. "I'll see if I can." I take another drink, almost halfway gone now. "Not that I don't like talking to you, auntie, but why did you call me here? It sounded urgent and you needed help."
She paused as she searched for the words she was looking for. "You remember your younger cousin, Ren, yes?"
"Hard to forget, he barfed on me," I chuckle at the memory where I held him for the first time. I noticed that while she smiled, she wasn't laughing.
"He's found himself in a spot of trouble."
"Spot?" It was then I looked around and saw that the home which I remembered being furnished lavishly and comfortably was a shadow of its former self. The only things in the room were a coffee table and a loveseat for two. The kitchen was no better as the hand-carved kitchen table and chairs had been replaced with a card table and two metal folding chairs. The curio cabinet that had held many treasures from their travels, including some really rare pieces from the war that were handed down through abuelo to her was no longer there. The only things that were on the walls were some family photos but the bookshelves, minus a few law books on Japanese law, were all gone including their shelves. "Auntie, what happened?" There was only one reason you'd get rid of almost everything.
"We got sued, we had to sell everything off. Even had to take out a second and third mortgage on the house to make payments," she started as she started to cry.
"Auntie, slow down and take deep breaths. Tell me what happened."
It was Ren's fault.
Well, not really his 'fault,' but it was because of him and his actions that his parents were in dire straits. There was an unofficial story and an official one. She started with the official one as that was the one that was on court records.
A month and a half ago, so just after Valentine's Day, there had been a heat wave that basically started an early spring that week, and he was on his way back to his school-appointed housing as he had gotten a scholarship last year for his test scores over in Inaba City just about an hour's drive from here and about two hours by train (due to the age of the line). On his way, he saw a woman and a man and punched out the man causing him to sustain injuries. Ren was arrested and charged with felony assault.
"But you don't believe that?" I ask.
"No," she steadfastly replies.
She then told me the side of Ren's story that never made it on the official records. Everything up until the confrontation was truthful, it was how he came in contact with them, why he stepped in, and how the man got injured changed.
Ren was on his way home from school to his appointed dorm/housing when he heard a woman's scream, one of them asking for help from literally anyone. He had gone to investigate if for no other reason but to tell the police the appearance and build of whoever was attacking this woman and be a good citizen. This was his fatal flaw that night. He had approached the couple. The man had been pulling at the woman into his car while being very apparently drunk and was calling her all sorts of pejoratives such as 'slut' and 'whore' and that 'she wanted this and would pay her.' The woman looked like she was in distress and looked to Ren for help. He did approach and the man noticed telling him to buzz off but Ren didn't. When the man tried to intimidate Ren, he didn't notice a rain puddle and slipped and fell hitting the rear bumper of his car causing a small headwound that bled more than the injury actually was. The police were doing their jobs, just really slowly, noticing the scene and when the man told them something, they immediately took Ren into custody and arrested him for felony assault.
What made everything worse was Ren was appointed a State public defender despite his mother being a still practicing lawyer who practiced both defense and prosecution for both individual and class action suites. The trial had happened within two days of the arrest, The public defender dropped the ball royally and didn't even bother defending Ren as he was supposed to as his job, and the judge didn't even listen to anyone but the prosecution even when Ren did take the stand where the judge held him in contempt. Ren was kept in a juvenile detention facility on the other side of the country where it was made very difficult for his parents to visit by both distance and the facility staff not cooperating despite on paper him having visitation rights.
The next month and a half were spent by his parents working on a deal with the other party and they only agreed to the most brutal of family punishments. A settlement that required them to basically sell everything of value and have borderline nothing. Their paychecks were garnished for the next ten years. And a no-contact order until Ren's probation was concluded one year from last week. Any slip-up and he'd go right to jail. Don't collect $200.
"I was able to get some cash from father and get it sent to Ren for food and housing expenses at his new place in Tokyo," my aunt concluded. She at this point had long since finished her mug. "But we may as well be penniless. We're only making enough to make ends meet with the new mortgage payments and cup ramen for food. Your uncle has taken up extra shifts as well."
"What is it you want me to do?" I ask seriously. If she wanted me to kill a man, I would. They were blood and on my dad's side, it was instilled that you're loyal to family as they're the one thing you can count on in this world. Whether adopted, actually blood, or brother/sisters in arms.
"I want you to go to Tokyo. Keep Ren out of trouble. The way that man made these concessions so harshly on top of making it look like a 'mercy' or him taking pity on us makes me believe he's set Ren up for failure. He chose the school he'd go to for the next year on top of everything else I told you." I looked at my own almost empty tea as I contemplated my options. I'd either need to ask for reassignment or a sabbatical for almost a year. While my bosses liked me and knew how good of a job I did, they wouldn't let the last one fly for a long time. "I know it's a lot to ask of you, but-."
I cut her off, "I'll do it."
"You will?" she asked with hope, wanting me to confirm what I just said. "But what about your job?" she suddenly realized that she had asked me to play shadow chaperone without asking how it'd affect me. I let it slide as she was clearly thinking of things out of order but not intentionally.
"I have some pull; I can make arrangements but I'll need to make some calls. Can I stay for the night?"
XxXxXxX
The train started to slow down as it pulled into the central train station where I could disembark and board the appropriate trains from there. I plotted my course via G*ogle maps and started walking to the first subway transfer with my luggage in tow. As I did, I remembered the last bits of the last twelve hours.
I had stayed overnight with my relatives and visited with them. I had reached out to work to transfer me to the base in Tokyo due to a family emergency. Luckily, they didn't ask any questions. Lastly, I visited my grandparents from my mother's side. My grandma was happy to see me, but grandpa? Well, he very much had his opinions about my father and apparently pushed that on me through a passive-aggressive tone of voice and just body language in general despite his wife elbowing him. That... uncomfortable meeting aside it was nice to see my grandmother again.
After that, the company called me and gave me the new address that I'd be staying at during my indefinite family 'emergency.' It was a high-rise complex that had other members of our company living there while they weren't on assignment at various bases or other places. The rest of my essentials were to be delivered by the end of the day tomorrow. Mainly extra clothing and the like. Three connections later, I was in the spartan apartment. The only things that were there were a bed and basic appliances (stove, fridge, washer and dryer).
The next day flew by as I exchanged my money for Yen and purchased essentials that wouldn't be provided in the delivery. That being chargers and a TV. I didn't have any chargers compatible with the sockets here and I needed a TV if for no other reason than the news and weather. I even picked up a cheap coffee maker and one of those hand-cranked coffee grinders. The other things I purchased were a corkboard, push pins, and a lot of string. The reason? Well, I was going to go full Pepe Silva. If auntie Aoi was convinced there was some kind of connection, well, I'd indulge her. I started the audio recording app on my phone and set it down to start recording my thoughts.
"April 13th, 2018," I started as I wandered the small room, setting up the things I purchased. "I landed in Tokyo 48 hours ago. Visited tiá Aoi and found out why she was so insistent on my help. Turns out the Amamiya side of our family is in some deep legal shit. Ren pissed off someone powerful and said the powerful person is fucking with them. She's convinced it's a whole big conspiracy with whoever fucked them over. I had a chance to request the court records impersonating a law student at Tokyo U. I think she's on to something, I'm just not sure what at this point. The court docs, arrest record, and following lawsuit contain no names of the plaintiff and of the criminal complainant. Like, on the police report, there is literally no name for this mysterious guy. I mean, if he did have a lot of power, he'd be able to do that. Then on the court records and lawsuit, only a law firm is mentioned as acting on behalf of their client. Shocker, unnamed."
I walked around and sat on a stool near my phone. "I can narrow it down to being one of three types of people. First is someone akin to a business magnate. Has enough money to throw around to keep people quiet and wallets fat. Second is mafioso which considering this part of the world would either be Triad or Yakuza, but considering Ren didn't specify anything race-based, my bet is on Yakuza. Third is someone in government who has connections. Has enough pull to force the police to look the other way. Intimidate witnesses into providing false testimony. Probably invoking bribes as well. The woman's name on the docket is a common streetwalker stage name, probably won't find her unless I get an explicit description from Ren. Wouldn't shock me if she ended up somewhere six feet under to tie up loose ends if this guy wanted to make sure she didn't turn out of having a conscience or something.
"Next is the thing tiá stated, and that this guy made a heavy suggestion at what school Ren could be enrolled at. From what she told me, it's this place called Shujin Academy. Some kind of rich kid prep school. Well, the rich might be giving them too much credit. It is of high prestige through the current day. From what G*ogling I did this place was in the metaphorical dump five years ago. The principal couldn't keep anyone beyond the first year, but suddenly this guy named Kamoshida – some kind of Olympic medalist from like fifteen years ago – was hired on, and suddenly attendance spiked and retention was kept. This Kamoshida guy looks like someone to do some more digging on. I can't see why he'd accept a position as a PE teacher at a borderline failing prep school. The guy could be at any university in the country coaching volleyball but he chose this high school; I don't get it. I'll have to do more digging but maybe this was his alma mater? In my mind, that's the only reason someone would take a gig like that for what I assume is a major pay cut.
"I heard some rumors about some strange shit going on and I'll probably have to lurk in various message boards and the like. People have been on edge a lot, almost like they expect something to go bad any day. I'll be looking around to see what Ren's been up to, the place that his mom set him up at via a family friend, and as much about the school as I can. I'll continue to make these audio log journals of my findings."
I stopped the recording and told the app to make an immediate backup to my M*ga account once the recordings ended. I had a feeling, and I didn't know why, that I needed to keep backups of my notes.
XxXxXxX
From what I learned from my colleagues at work, the art of Graymanning is to not stand out. The point is to conduct whatever activities you're setting out to accomplish without drawing attention to yourself. That… was going to be a bit difficult for me. Being of half Latin and half Japanese descent I had darker skin and curlier hair. Though considering the recent pictures I had seen of my cousin, he had the same hair, so maybe it was something on our mother's side. Granted, my tio on dad's side also had extremely curly, borderline untamable hair. So, I needed something to work with. The skin? I'm from the islands if anyone asked. I knew enough about Okinawa from various historical documentaries on top of one of the bases I'd need to service being there. Accent? Exchange student at a young age and never lost the accent I picked up. My fake backstory wasn't entirely foolproof, but it didn't need to be for the average person. Add a hoodie or ball cap and a pair of sunglasses for good measure and boom, instant incognito for most onlookers.
The morning after with my morning coffee I started to browse various sites like 4*han and 2*han for various rumors in Japan for mysterious shit. The /x/ board came in handy as well did 2's paranormal board. There was a phenomenon that seemed centered in Tokyo of what some dubbed to be 'Mental Shutdowns' – though they sounded more like psychotic breaks – where people started acting out of character and even committed crimes. One example is a taxi that ran up the curb and killed a girl who was walking down the street with her sister. Another was just a few days ago when a subway operator ran the cars too fast and it derailed causing at least a hundred casualties with no official death toll listed though it was assumed at least twenty from the people inside the cars themselves.
There were talks about some other oddities, like the killings that happened in Inaba over a decade ago at this point and the weird shit that went on involving the Kirijo Group out of Iwatodai and neighboring Tatsumi Port City. I bookmarked that for later as that could be relevant. Though, I remember the Inaba killings. Officially, there were only three deaths but there were eight kidnappings, all of which had been found by the local police and they had all been assumed to be potential victims with nothing really in common. Even all these years later, no one has definitively figured out what caused the attempted serial killer to choose them in particular.
I got off the subway and entered the neighborhood of Yongen, where my cousin was supposed to be staying. It was currently 9-o-clock so he should have been long-since at school. I look at the address that I had been given and look up to see a coffee shop. Surely Aoi hadn't gotten the address wrong, did she?
I walked inside the coffee shop to the ring of a small bell above the door.
"Welcome to Leblanc, sit anywhere you like," came the relatively exhausted voice of the barista. He was older, probably in his mid-forties if I were to make a guess. He may have black hair, but I could see the streaks of gray running through both his slicked-back hair as well as his goatee. He wore what many would consider business-casual with slacks and most notedly a pink button-up shirt, but also donned an apron. My eyes wandered slightly to see down the hall was a bathroom and what appeared to be a staircase. Judging the size of the building from the outside, there was a loft above us. I nodded and sat down at the bar. "What will you have?"
"I'm feeling a light roast. Not entirely sure what you all have, so your recommendation."
He 'hmphed,' and pulled out a small scoop of beans, ground them with a crank grinder, and started to brew. "You're not from around here, are you?" he asks without looking up.
"What gave it away? The tan?"
"That, and your accent. You're fluent, I'll give you that. But some of your words are inflected like those of someone trained in languages not associated with any one region."
He'd be right. I was trained in languages by mom but she didn't really teach me any regional dialects, just what I needed to know to communicate freely with jiji and baachan without swapping to English on the few calls I had growing up. "You've got a good ear."
"In a former life, I was paid good money to be good with my ears." He set a mug of coffee in front of me. It smelled delightful. "What brings you into town?"
"Family business. Trying to keep a younger cousin out of trouble." He gave me a look.
"You came out all this way to keep a cousin out of trouble?"
"That's what family does for one another," I shrug, "at least that's what my pa taught me."
"He sounds like a good man."
"Yeah," I trail as I take a sip. "He was."
"Sorry, how long?" he looked apologetic.
"In a few months, ten years. I'm twenty-eight, in case you're wondering." I took another sip. "Radiation poisoning is a bitch. Orphan source on a Navy carrier. Fuckup of the highest degree."
"That's…"
"Rough? Yeah." I had no idea why I was telling this complete stranger some deep family history.
The man decided to change the subject. "But it is nice that you're looking out for family. In fact, I'm looking after a hellion of my own. A friend asked that I take them in during this school year."
"What are the statistical chances that my cousin and the kid you're looking after are the same person?" I ask in jest.
"Probably really low," the barista laughed.
I kept it really hidden, but the coincidences were there. How many other people were taking in kids temporarily for a limited time at this specific location? Ren had to be staying here. That, or extremely close nearby and all the mail was sent here.
"How much I owe you?" I ask.
"250."
I pull out a thousand Yen bill and leave it on the counter. "Mind if I start a tab?"
He looks at the note for a moment. "You're paying in advance?"
"Gotta incentivize myself to keep coming back and try new beans."
"And if you don't come back?"
"Then you're a thousand Yen richer than you were yesterday," I shrug.
"Sure," he says as he opens the cash drawer to put it inside. Though I could have sworn I heard him mutter, "if you want to waste your money that way."
I finish the mug and push it forward towards him indicating I'm done before standing up and leaving. I open the door, the little bell jingling once more. I pause, "Does the owner of Leblanc have a name?"
"Sojiro Sakura. But the regulars call me Boss."
"Well, then, Sakura-san, I hope to frequent your shop again soon," I say as I close the door behind me.
XxXxXxX
"April 18th, 2018," I start as I start to put the first entries of my board up.
"I believe I'm on to something, I'm just not sure exactly what. Yesterday I set up a stakeout location on the roof of a building neighboring the school. It gives a good vantage point of a majority of the building with a camping chair, umbrella, a cooler – like the ones you'd have at a cookout – filled with stuff, a laser microphone, and decent-grade binoculars. Nothing like the ones I've used for spotting on range day or hunting, but they'll suffice. Got them from this little airsoft shop I tailed Ren going to in a Shibuya back alley. Guy was a grumpy motherfucker. Had a tattoo on his neck, looks gangster in origin. I may be able to use this as leverage if needed. Though, what I'd need that for, I do not know. Guy claimed his shop wasn't for 'amateurs,' well I guess being American as fuck paid off. Explaining the differences and advantages/disadvantages of direct impingement, short-stroke piston, and long-stroke piston as well as how the drop safety on a modern striker action pistol works (like those made by G*ock) and that's all I needed as an 'in' with this guy. Honestly has me questioning whether or not he is some Yakuza or something or just a gun nut.
"But on another note, he at least had decent glass which I was not expecting. Like proper optics. Like, he runs an airsoft shop and has proper EOT*ch and A*mpoint optics. Granted, they are at an extreme markup due to import fees and the like, but he has them. Where was I? Oh, yes, the school.
"Mom always told me that Japanese school was different from American school. I've seen anime so I got a taste of it, but boy was she right. It is a completely different beast altogether. These schoolkids are brutal. I have no idea if it comes from them being in this 'high class' school or some other thing. Rumors were dropped about Ren's criminal record. Things like him raping a classmate at his previous school or beating up teachers. Even killing one of his classmates who looked at him the wrong way. Morons didn't realize that if he had been convicted of murder he'd be in some cell for upwards of a decade if not life. But anyway, to make matters worse, shit really hit the fan. A girl tried to commit suicide today. Third story (roof), just stepped off. No hesitation. What the fuck could cause someone to just do that?
"I'm… no stranger to such thoughts. Been in some dark places at times. Girl must have been in a position so bad that attempting to off herself, at school no less, was the best way out of it. Yes, I did witness it from afar, even saw the aftermath. Kids crowded around and murmured the entire time. The microphone I had didn't get anything concrete. I caught that the girl's name was Shiho and the name Kamoshida by bouncing the laser off of the nearby ambulance window but it took a while scrubbing through the file to actually get that. Getting the name of the teacher from a single quiet voice in between sirens and much louder student muttering took longer.
"I'm not entirely sure what to take from this. I certainly do not like the implications. She was either being bullied harshly or was assaulted. But then why choose the school roof? I'm no psychologist, but it implies that the malefactor is present at the school and she wanted them to see what they did to her. Christ, this is fucking dark."
I sat down in the recliner that I had purchased the other day. It was a cheap, second-hand chair. And then continued, "I observed Ren nearby this blonde, dyed hair kid, and the dyed hair kid got visually upset and stomped out of the yard to places unknown to which Ren followed close behind. About fifteen minutes later Ren, the blonde kid, and some other teen who looked way too roughed up for his own good all angrily marched out of the school's main entrance. I didn't follow them; I'd lose them in any crowds and continued to observe. The main focus of my attention was Kamoshida. He wasn't in the yard so I didn't see how he reacted to the whole ordeal.
"He didn't react at all. In fact, I could see him muttering about how 'this mess will need to be cleaned up' as he walked out of the building, not around anyone that could hear."
I shook my head as I cleared it for another topic I wanted to put on record. "On another note. I observed Ren return to the school shortly after he left. He went in between the alleyway next to the building I'm lurking on top of and he just… and I'm not entirely sure how to say this… disappeared. As in vanished. Pulled a Houdini. I'm pretty sure I'll think of other soliloquies or whatever later. And I searched. There was no way out of that alley that I couldn't see. About four hours later, about sundown, he reappeared in the same alleyway absolutely exhausted looking. I'll need to continue monitoring this strange development."
XxXxXxX
Saturday. June 18, 2018. Morning.
Ren sat in the Leblanc coffee shop getting ready to take on the day. His crew had hit a dead end in regards to the mystery yakuza or mobster that ran Shibuya and was extorting numerous Shujin students into drug trafficking, sex work, or both. He looked through his phone and navigated to Y*utube to check on his favorite channel, after all, it was his elder cousin's and his content was always entertaining. But looking at it, there hadn't been any new updates on it in the past three months. The only thing that was on the channel was a community post that stated he was taking a break to deal with some family issues that came up.
Of course, Ren just couldn't dial up his aunt in the States, and that was beside the time difference as she'd be sleeping right now. But because of his court order of no secret communications between family which literally everyone thought was bullshit. He did manage to lurk on to Fa*ebook and saw that there weren't any posts from his aunt about anything medical that happened to her. In fact, the last thing she posted was that Takashi had gotten a new job posting in the same company he was in overseas, but it wasn't stated in the post where. And also, that her peaches were coming in lovely in the small orchard she had.
"Whatcha looking at? Anything interesting?" Sojiro asked pulling Ren out of his thoughts.
"My cousin's Y*utube channel," Ren replied.
"You have a cousin?"
"Yeah, on my mom's side. He lives in the US mainland with my aunt."
"Really, now?" he asks not really giving any flags of him caring or not caring. "What kind of stuff does he do?"
"Firearms reviews," Ren replied simply as he took a sip of the coffee that Sojiro had given to him.
"W-what?" Sojiro asks pausing mid-task. He could have sworn he heard that wrong.
"He also does variety content surrounding functionality, history, and just strange viewer requests like how powerful a .50BMG round is against armor plating and just body armor in general with a ballistic dummy." He looked up at Sojiro who looked interested but also had that look of 'I don't want to get involved.' "Wanna see one of them?"
"I guess."
Ren tapped the video and it loaded in English. The first thing that appeared was a piece of body armor strapped to a dummy on a stand with duct tape and then an explosion went off in front of it in slow motion. The video's scene changed to a man not facing the camera but wearing what was clearly a lab coat and pit viper sunglasses of all things. He takes them off and takes a step toward the cameraman.
"Why are you here?" he asks. "Are you here for the violence?" he asks with a smirk as he uses one of the temple tips to point at the camera. "If you've come for the violence, you've come to the right place," he points with his other hand. "You see," he starts to walk to the dummy which has a body armor plate on top of it, and stops, turns around, and rests his arm on it as if it were a buddy, "here at Presidential Conclusions we had an idea. The idea was what if we shot one of these ballistic dummy torsos with a fifty-cal? But that wasn't quite enough so we decided: what if we shot them with some commercially and locally made explosive fifty-cal rounds? You know you want to find out. So, stay tuned." The video proceeded to change to a title card claiming it to be a science show and proceeded to display the contents of the video as well as what was presented in the intro. It finished as Ren completed the curry Sojiro placed in front of him.
"Is… this the kind of content you like watching?" Sojiro asks.
Ren shrugged. "Not really. But my cousin is funny at times and it's strangely helped me with my English at times."
"I… see." Sojiro finally let the situation sit in with him and his brain finally caught up with his body and froze as he looked at the person on the screen once more who was in another video preview thumbnail.
"Is there something wrong?" Ren asks.
"No, not at all," Sojiro lies. "You should be getting off to school, right?"
Ren shrugs, collects his bag, walks to the door, and flips the sign on his way out. As he does, Sojiro allows his mind to wander. There was no doubt in his mind. The man that was in this 'Presidential Conclusions' video channel was the same man who had been coming in here three times a week, always after Ren had left for school. So, the question remained: 'What was Ren's cousin doing in Japan?' Sojiro thought to himself as his first customer of the day walked in.
XxXxXxX
Preview.
"Dulce María, Madre de Dios. What the fuck have you gotten yourself into, Ren?!" I chide as we enter the segmented, underground parking garage of my apartment. I had managed to haul all five teens – and a cat – into a company vehicle and escape before bullets could fly. "Why the fuck are you fucking around with the mob!? Aren't you supposed to be staying out of trouble!?" I bark as I take off the plate carrier and throw it into the trunk of the car with the balaclava and hearing protection I had been wearing just seconds before. "Your ass will get thrown in juvie unless you go and enlist or something if this gets out!"
Ren was silent, but I had seen that look before, he was trying to put something together. I just didn't know if it was thinking or piecing together. The one girl, the one with braids opened her mouth to speak, but I immediately shut that down.
"No. Shush. Stay out of family business," I order.
"Family?" the blonde girl still trying to clear the ringing out of her ears.
"Ren?" the other blonde asks.
"He's…," Ren starts, "my cousin."
"Glad to see you remember me. It's been ten years. Hi." I snap my fingers to get him back on track. "Why? Mob? Now."
"He did it because I asked him to," the brunette interrupted. I look at her with a glare that could kill but she only flinched slightly. "Students at our school have been getting blackmailed into extortion schemes. Some girls have even gone missing and were spotted in the Red-Light district taking… clients," she said the last word with extreme discomfort.
I look to Ren, "You're going to tell me everything. Capiche?"
"We're not going to tell you squat!" the blonde-haired boy spat out defiantly. "You killed all those men at the mafia guy's hideout!"
I pull out the suppressed Vector and fire a subsonic burst at him which sounded like puffs of hot air. He fell down instantly. "Oh my God! You shot me!" They all recoiled in horror.
"Oh, stop being a baby," I chide, "You'll live to a ripe old age of whatever-the-fuck," I say as I throw the Vector into a duffle bag after ejecting the mag and clearing the chamber along with my sidearm which actually was loaded with H*rnady FTX +P hollow points. I take the round that was ejected from the chamber clearing and throw it to the braided-haired girl. "Tactical Training Range rounds. Simulates the feeling of getting shot without getting shot."
"That hurts like a bitch!" the boy cried out as the other blonde and the skinny-as-a-twig kid helped him up.
"Kind of the point. Teaches you not to get shot. Basically, hardcore paintball for range day," I say as I zip up the duffle bag and close the hood of my car. "This way," I order. We went up to my apartment and as soon as we got inside the door was locked, I threw the bag onto the couch and walked over to the fridge. I pull out a bottle of imported bourbon from my favorite distillery back home and pour myself two fingers worth and drop one of those refreezable, soapstone ice cubes in. "I'd be a poor host if I didn't offer you something." The blonde boy's eyes gravitated to the bourbon. "I know Japanese drinking laws. No. Water, soda, or coffee." I point to the sofa that had been here before I had moved in and they moved to it after stopping for water at the tap. I sat in the lone recliner and set my drink on the coffee table.
Without me asking and with only a single gesture, Ren started his tale.
This is how I got involved with the Phantom Thieves of Heart.
To be continued…?
XxXxXxX
And with that, this pilot comes to a conclusion. This idea has been one of those "what ifs" sitting in the back of my mind for a while now. I do think that it does have merit as an idea. The way I see this OC is that who is more of a hands-on firearms instructor as opposed to Shinya. I like his story, don't get me wrong, but one of the things that annoyed me the most about the firearms in the game is how inaccurate they could be at times. I'm barely trained (basically self-trained) and I've had better range day scores than many of the PTs with just good posture and grip handling. For example, one range only allows double taps as the fastest rate of fire I was doing drills of "snap-to" aiming and was hitting the target every time. More practiced individuals, such as Garand Thumb are able to rock a full-auto Kriss Vector and every shot hits steel targets. My point is, that Shinya can give style, and the presented OC can provide the fundamentals to actually control recoil and the weapon itself. That's kind of the role I see them fulfilling. Hopefully, this pilot has given you some insight into how I hope to explore this idea. For those of us who have played through P5(R) before, we know how Ren's story goes even if we have him do different things on different days. The focus will be on the OC and his interactions with the rest of the cast and hopefully, it'll complement the story itself as the intent is to not have him take over in any way.
As for notes for the rest of the story itself, the only thing to note is that Presidential Conclusions is a parody of both Garand Thumb and Administrative Results. And so, on to the rest of some questions that may come up for this story.
Will the OC become a Phantom Thief? I have explored this through some brainstorming but nothing else. If he had to have a weapon combo it'd have to be a great sword like a bastard sword or Claymore and an LMG. My personal opinion is that'd look so awesome. Have you chosen between Kawakami and Sae? Not really. Again, I'm a bit of a Kawakami fan when it concerns older characters, same with Sae. But at this time there is no decided potential pairing yet. Yes, the same applies to Ren and the rest of the cast as well: undecided. What is the biggest obstacle for this story? Honestly, it's going to be trying to make it as unique as possible so it doesn't feel like another rehash of another FFN story still being written. Another difficulty that many have you have seen is that I'm not all that great at writing action scenes. Dialog? Decent. Inner monologues? Fantastic. Action? Not so much. Because Persona is half Japanese, turn-based RPG, and half slice-of-life (dating sim?) visual novel, it's something that I'll need to iron out. But with that all being covered, how about real-life stuff?
On to real-life stuff, I've recently come to the conclusion that I want to back up all my old Pokémon from my old GB/GBC/GBA carts and move the save files into backup and then on to a 3ds for actual use and transfer of my old mons to modern hardware via Pokémon Bank. I purchased a Gameboy Operator which should hopefully be shipping out soon and I got a second 3ds to jailbreak/hack so I can do everything I need to in order to transfer all my old pals to the new gens with some classic save file manipulation and system restore points. I can only hope this all goes well. I will still need to play through Platinum to gain access to Pal Park and go to a certain Homebrew shop to obtain Transporter. Once I get all of that, they'll be in the Bank, and then one button press to get to Home. I'll keep you guys updated on this as it proceeds. I may even make a video on it, we'll see. But for right now I've gone back to Alpha Sapphire to complete that game and snag a good team and put it too in Bank when I'm done as I've already put a fair chunk of my Y Mystery Gift mons in Bank with the intent to put all of my teams that I spent a lot of time on in there to transport to Home (like a Ninetails, Goodra, and Delphox from Y amongst others). Now on to other story stuff.
Kind of out of order this time, isn't it? But anyway. So, I have come up with a new idea that involves Peni Parker of Spiderverse, it is more of a parody idea so I have no idea if it'll come to fruition or not. Since the last entry in this repository, I haven't come up with any other ideas but that one. Well… maybe except for one. I'm contemplating writing an adventure based on my Alpha Sapphire playthrough where I have some Pokémon from Y that I transferred over that were low leveled like 2 Eevees, a Piplup, a Gibble, and a Cyndaquil and then others obtained in Wonder Trade. I also got my starter Torchic, a Poochyena that has Ice Fang, and the shiny Beldum that you could only get at release from Steven. I think this could be interesting. As for how to make it interesting as Pokémon is a turn-based game, I'm looking at the story "Borne of Caution" (id: 13390578) for inspiration on how to write the fights at least. I highly recommend checking this story out if you haven't already, it's really, really good. I'm also considering taking some notes from Mr. Chaos on how they write battles as well for their multipart Harry Potter/Pokémon crossover series.
And with that, my updates are concluded. As always, let me know what you think about this in the usual places. See you next time in whatever I decide to put out next.
