Persona 5: The Phantom Files

by sithlorde1988

Will cover the events of Persona 5 Royal, with the sequel set to cover Strikers. What happens when in addition to Ren being sentenced to go live in the care of Sojiro Sakura for a year after being sued for assault, his younger brother is also ordered to go and oversee him? How will this extra character change things? Read to find out! More info in chapter 1! Read and review! Enjoy!

60. World Renewed! Trapped Heiress part 10

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 5- The Phantom Files! Welp, here we are at chapter 60 already, which is pretty crazy IMO. And given we're only still in arc 5 of the story, albeit the likely as not tail end of arc 5, I think it's a safe bet that we'll either come close to hitting, or actually hit and surpass, chapter 100 in the Royal half of the story. Not to mention we'll probably break the one million word mark too.

For reference, as of the day I type this start-of-chapter A/N (which for anyone curious it's presently 10:04AM on February 20th as I type this A/N), this story sits at 939,839 words in length with 46 chapters posted, potentially soon to be 47. So in actuality, given that I have 14 chapters (including this chapter I'm typing now) worth of a backlog, this story's already eclipsed the 1,000,000 word mark, which is pretty nuts for one of my stories.

And we're far from finished with this story. I think at the pace I type, it's not an un-realistic stretch to assume this story could break 1.5 million or even 2 million words (though the latter target assumes I either have an absurdly high chapter count or have a lot of huge chapters done) as well, given I still have the entire of the Strikers/Scramble half of the story to cover, along with the rest of the Royal half. So yeah, make of that what you will.

Also, since I forgot to do so before, I did have a guest reviewer leave a review on chapter 42 confirming that Okinawa is a place in Japan (after I had that listed as where Ren and Kusa moved to Yongen from during chapter 42), so thanks to that guest reviewer for confirming my thought there. That said, they also pointed out you go there in Strikers/Scramble, which I'd forgotten about at the time I typed chapter 42. But in my defense, I've only fully played through Strikers/Scramble like once, so I'm bound to forget a detail or two here and there when referencing that game. That said, time for the disclaimer!

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does NOT own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form, (barring the OC Kusa/Draconis and the recurring OCs Slim, Mimille, Lumine, Kyori and Akira, all of whom he made and thus does own, though in Akira's case he's also slightly an OC based off of one of Joker's potential default names, but the OC Akira was made and thus owned by sithlorde1988, along with any other OCs that appear, unless otherwise noted) and the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Atlus, Sega, and to a point Koei Tecmo, so all credit to them!

With that out of the way, on with chapter 60!

Chapter 60: More of the Waiting Game! Confidant Building and other shenaniganry! Trapped Heiress part 10

(At Leblanc in the evening, with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

Ren saw Morgana frowning and walked over to him before speaking up.

"Something bothering you, Morgana?" Ren asked Morgana as the not-cat turned to face him while speaking up.

"I'm just mentally exhausted after what we went through today. After all, with Yoshizawa's thing and everything else that happened today, I'm beat, so I think we should just skip out on a night-time activity and hit the sack early tonight. That said, if Yoshizawa's able to use a Persona, which she is given we saw her awaken to one, she must've had a lot on her mind to be able to awaken when she did." Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"True. Kasumi did seem rather bothered, and somehow I think it pertains to what that scumbag of a vice-principal said about her. At least to Doc's credit, he stood up for her to those asshats, so he gets respect from me for that much. But in all seriousness, if she has a Persona, I think it's not a matter of IF, but of WHEN, she joins us. She might've turned us down now, but for the most part I've yet to meet a Persona user who hasn't inevitably joined our group. As such, I say it's only a matter of time." Ren said as Kusa chose that moment to walk upstairs, blinking as he heard Ren imply that Kasumi had a Persona, making him frown as he spoke up.

"Wait, hold up. Did you just say that your crush awakened to a Persona, Ren? When did that happen?" Kusa asked in surprise, making Ren turn to face him before speaking up.

"Oh, hey there Kusa. Sorry, didn't realize you were back. And yes, she has a Persona. It was a rather recent development, though. However, at this time, she has elected not to join us, citing that she has her own path to follow, but promising to keep our secret." Ren said before his eyes went wide in realization and he groaned, making Kusa and Morgana both frown at him as the former spoke up.

"Why the groan, Ren? And also, interesting." Kusa said as Ren spoke up.

"I just remembered something Morgana said when we first infiltrated Kaneshiro's Palace. Remember when he and Ann revealed their Showtime, and you made that comment about it being only those with strong chemistry that can use them? Remember what he said after that?" Ren asked Kusa, who frowned at first before his eyes also went wide and he spoke up.

"Oh crap, he said it'd be our luck that both of our crushes would join the group, and we'd potentially have Showtimes with them, didn't he!? And he already called Taba joining and having a Showtime with me, so now that Kasumi's got a Persona, she'll probably join up eventually. And as you've yet to get either of your Showtimes, that makes it better than fair odds you could in fact have a Showtime with her. Was Morgana actually right when he said that!? Holy crap." Kusa said as Morgana smirked and spoke up.

"Mwehehe! I was kidding when I said it, but I could see myself being right on that, with the way your luck is, you two. Well, she said she was okay when Ren asked her about it before, so I think we can accept that as a good sign for now. In the meantime, we've just got to keep moving forward on our own path." Morgana said as Ren and Kusa nodded before the former ended up laying down with Morgana for the evening as the latter decided to go study on his own downstairs for a bit, eventually coming back up to get comfy on the sofa for the night, smiling at the sight of Morgana cuddled up to Ren as the two dozed, Kusa eventually joining them in dozing off for the night.

After a bit, Ren's phone went off, making him frown as he sat up to answer it, being careful not to wake Morgana as he did so. When he found his phone, he was surprised to see a private chat from Kasumi, which he opened up to read.

"Ren-senpai! I'm sorry for messaging you so late! My phone's battery finally recharged, so I wanted to thank you while I could." Kasumi sent as Ren sent a response.

"You're welcome, Sumi. I was happy to help. That said, you don't always have to be so polite, you know. You can just be casual in your messages if you want." Ren sent as Kasumi sent a response.

"You might be right, but I was raised to believe that being polite is just the decent thing to do! I just wanted to thank you for today. I'm sorry that thanks are all I can offer right now. I'll definitely make it up to you eventually, though." Kasumi sent as Ren smirked and sent a response.

"If you insist, Sumi. I'll be waiting. Also, I look forward to being able to enjoy having you by my side at that school dance. That said, thanks again for agreeing to go with me, Sumi." Ren sent as Kasumi smiled and sent her own response.

"You're welcome, Ren-senpai. I'm glad you're looking forward to the dance. I promise it'll be worth the wait once I make it up to you! Also, I'll have my phone fixed as soon as possible. Please let Morgana-senpai know as well." Kasumi sent as Ren sent a response.

"Will do. He's asleep right now, as is Kusa, but I'll pass it along if I remember in the morning. But yeah, nice to hear from you like this, Sumi." Ren sent as Kasumi sent a response.

"Hee hee, I had a feeling you'd say that, Ren-senpai! Anyways, I hope you have a good night." Kasumi sent as Ren grinned, unable to resist sending one more response.

"Can do. I'll just have to make it a point not to dream about you TOO much if I can help it, even if more often than not said dreams are usually sweet ones." Ren sent teasingly as he put his phone away, unaware that Morgana had woke up while he was messaging Kasumi. Morgana then spoke up with a yawn, keeping his voice down so as not to wake Kusa.

"Who'd be messaging you at this time of night, Ren?" Morgana asked Ren, who spoke up.

"Oh, that was Kasumi. Apparently her battery finally recharged, so she wanted to thank me while she could. She also sent her apologies and regrets that she had to turn us down. But she said to let you know she plans to get her phone fixed ASAP, so yeah, there's that message passed along." Ren said as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"Mm-hm. If only Yoshizawa would join the Phantom Thieves and be done with it. But she made her choice, and we'll just have to respect it. Still, what a shame." Morgana said as Ren spoke up.

"True. But as you just said, it's her decision in the end, and we have to accept it, no matter if we both agree that she should've joined the group. There's nothing we can do about it for now." Ren said sagely. Morgana nodded his agreement as he spoke up.

"Mm, good point. Yeah, we shouldn't press the matter. Sooo, Kusa aside since he walked in on us talking about it, how're we gonna break it to the others?" Morgana asked Ren, who shrugged as his and Kusa's phones both went off to signify a group chat from Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru and Futaba, with Ann sending the first response.

"Everyone's comments used to be so encouraging, but now they're actually kinda frightening, to be honest." Ann sent as Futaba sent a response.

"This is utter chaos." Futaba sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"The public dislike of Okumura has grown exponentially as well. How are you holding up, Haru?" Yusuke sent as Haru sent a response.

"We've been receiving anonymous threats almost every day now, and to be honest it bothers me a bit." Haru sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"That's scary, Haru. Sorry to hear that's happening to you." Ryuji sent as Haru sent a response.

"But our security is tight, so it's been OK so far." Haru sent as Makoto sent a response at that point.

"Be that as it may, I believe things will calm down once we finish this, Haru." Makoto sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"And what about us? Are we gonna get all popular and shit again?" Ryuji sent as Kusa sent a response at that point, having been woken up by his phone going off.

"Sorry, didn't realize we were having a group chat until now. And honestly? I doubt it, Ryuji. It's possible, sure, but I feel like with the comments we've had recently, I think we're more likely to get less popular, rather than more, and to be honest, I'm not surprised. I've always maintained both the stance and the opinion that fame is a very fickle thing. Also, I feel like we should be prepared, just in case things don't go as planned.

After all, I'm sure you all recall what I mentioned before about Black Mask showing up after we fought Okumura's Shadow and shooting him through the chest three times to destroy Okumura's Shadow. As such, I feel as if that could possibly cause problems when it comes time for the change of heart. I just hope I'm being overly paranoid, but my gut tells me to prepare for the worst." Kusa sent bluntly, but notably trying to be more polite to Ryuji. Yusuke then sent a response.

"Kusa has a point there, Ryuji. Let us not concern ourselves with that for now. I only pray that things calm down and that the change of heart goes off without a hitch." Yusuke sent as Ren put away his phone, not wanting to see the lengthy debate that might ensue between the others, at which point Morgana sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, guess we still have some problems to hash out, eh Ren? We could do more harm than help if we brought it up at this point, so maybe we'll just stay quiet about Yoshizawa for now." Morgana said as Ren nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"True, I think for the time being we can keep that to ourselves. But we will probably have to fill the others in eventually." Ren said to Morgana, who nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough. But let's get back to bed now, yeah?" Morgana said as Ren nodded, before he laid down, Morgana curling up in a ball at his feet and also laying down while Kusa laid back down, the three going to sleep for the night...

(The next morning, between trains to school, with Ren, Morgana, and Kusa)

"Hm? Say Ren, isn't that Haru walking this way?" Kusa asked Ren, who turned towards where Kusa was pointing, and sure enough, Haru walked over and spoke up.

"Oh, Ren-kun and Kusa-kun. Ah, good morning. Regarding my father's situation, there isn't anything different about him yet." Haru said as Kusa spoke up.

"Perhaps you're right, but keep in mind that it's only been a day, Haru. Usually, it takes several days for a change of heart to fully take, and we usually know it when it does take, as more often than not, the target usually makes it known in dramatic fashion when it does, with Futaba being a notable exception in that she merely woke up at the last moment, took out the target we were after, slept a bit more, and then joined us after an eventful beach trip. So we won't know for a bit if your father's change of heart will take, Haru." Kusa said so only Ren and Haru could hear, the latter nodding as she spoke up.

"Fair point. Even so, I can't help but think about a lot of things when I'm just waiting. Things like, did it go well, or will it take? And what if what you said about that guy showing up causes complications for the change of heart?" Haru said as Ren spoke up.

"Relax, Haru. For now, we know your dad is okay and well, if his usual self still. So I consider that a good thing. We just have to wait and see what happens for now." Ren said as Kusa spoke up.

"Ren's right. Also, I should probably mention this, since I forgot about it before, but when your father's Shadow was destroyed, it wasn't instantaneous. He had enough time to get one last request out, which was to ask me to look after you should anything happen to him. I assured him I would watch over you like the older sister I never had, since to be honest? I believe, and I think Ren agrees with me on this, you're as good as the older sister the two of us never had, Haru. So don't doubt that we, along with the others, have your back every step of the way." Kusa said honestly as Haru smiled and spoke up.

"Thanks, you two. I know that it's no use being anxious. And thank you for telling me that, Kusa. I think that's a good sign in and of itself that his last request was a selfless one, rather than a selfish one." Haru said before giggling as she spoke up.

"Hee hee, I think I'll relax and look after the flowerbed. I haven't been able to do that for a while." Haru said as Ren nodded his understanding, both Ren and Haru ignoring Kusa mouthing 'flowerbed?' under his breath as the three continued the walk to school...

(On the walk to school, with Morgana, Ren and Kusa)

"The Phantom Thieves rule! That said, do you think the Phantom Thieves will do the same thing to that CEO as they did to our principal?" Ren and Kusa heard a guy walking in front of them ask his friend, who shook his head and spoke up.

"C'mon, they aren't gonna murder him. Besides, I'm pretty sure the principal killed himself." The first guy's friend said in a slightly-appalled tone as the Phantom Thieves fanboy spoke up.

"No way, that was the Phantom Thieves sending a message! 'Wake up, people. It's time to atone!' Or something like that. I'd kill for that kind of power, you know." The Phantom Thieves fanboy said as Kusa huffed and spoke up after the two had walked out of earshot.

"Is that fool serious? 'I'd kill for that kind of power,' he said. What a moronic thing to say. Besides, you and I know full well that the Phantom Thieves aren't about that." Kusa said huffily as he crossed his arms in annoyance while Ren and Morgana nodded, finishing the walk to school in silence...

(After school, with Ren and Morgana)

After thinking it over, Ren made a detour to the Velvet Room, where Caroline and Justine informed him that due to his having exceeded 50% completion of the Persona Compendium, or the registry of Personas, he had earned an increased discount on summoning back Personas. The two encouraged him to work hard on his fusing, as Ren nodded, quickly summoning back a Priestess persona and fusing a Chariot, as he'd seen that Ryuji and Makoto both were able to be hung out with.

After leaving the Velvet Room, Ren decided to hang out with Makoto, as he'd not hung out with her since before the end of Futaba's Palace, so he felt she was overdue for a rank-up. Ren then noticed he had 2 new chats, and looked at them to see that Ann and Makoto had both sent private chats. Disregarding Ann's, as he had seen she wasn't ready for a rank-up yet, he opened up Makoto's private chat to view it.

"What are you doing today, Ren-kun? I just finished up some student council work. I've had a lot on my mind and can't really concentrate, to be honest. Let me know if anything comes up. I'll be at school for a little while longer." Makoto sent as Morgana spoke up.

"Hm, seems like Makoto hasn't gone home yet. You wanna go see her for a bit, since you just said she's probably overdue for a rank up?" Morgana asked Ren, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, I think I will. If you want to go find Kusa and hang with him, you can, but I'm going to go head her direction right now." Ren said to Morgana, who spoke up.

"Nah, I think I'll stick with you, if you don't mind. Kusa said something before about wanting to have some time to himself for the moment, so I may as well stick close to you in the meantime." Morgana said as Ren nodded and sent a response to Makoto.

"Fair enough, Makoto. Nothing's come up per se, but I do notice we've not hung out in a bit, so I figure this is as good a time as any to rectify that. As such, I'm heading your way." Ren sent as Makoto sent a response fairly quickly.

"All right. I'll be in front of the student council room." Makoto sent as Ren put his phone away and headed Makoto's way...

(A short time later, in front of the Student Council Room)

After Ren got back to school and reached the Student Council Room entrance, he found Makoto standing outside, and walked up to her, making her speak up.

"Well, all we can do now is wait, Ren-kun. Oh, um, if you're available, I'd like to talk to you about Eiko." Makoto said as Morgana spoke up.

"So, what's it gonna be, Ren? Do you want to hang out with Makoto?" Morgana asked Ren, who nodded as he spoke up, looking at Makoto as he spoke.

"I've got some time right now, so why not? Let's hang out, and I'll hear you out." Ren said. Makoto smiled slightly as she spoke up.

"Thank goodness. I have a small favor to ask you, actually. Let's get a drink before we talk. Shall we go?" Makoto said to Ren, who nodded. After a bit, the two gathered in the courtyard, at which point Makoto spoke up again.

"Actually, the truth is, apparently Eiko has started dating a host from a club near her work. I guess he, um, approached her and hit on her one day after her shift, and that was that. Since then, he's the only thing she'll talk about. She even sent me a picture of their date at Destinyland." Makoto said as Ren spoke up with a frown.

"Oh yeah? Considering the timing of it, and how she won't talk of anything else, this guy does strike me as sounding a bit suspicious." Ren said. Makoto nodded and spoke up.

"Oh? You think so as well, Ren-kun? Well, for now, it seems he hasn't forced her to spend any money at his club, but I'm still a bit nervous about him. Beyond that, he calls her his 'princess' and constantly tells her how special she is. It makes me sick to my stomach, to be honest. But Eiko refuses to listen to me. She said the idea that all hosts are bad people is outdated and archaic.

She even said she was shocked to be getting advice from someone that would, to quote what she said, 'totally flunk a test about love'. Ugh, tests about love aren't a thing, though. We both know this. And even if they were a thing, I must certainly wouldn't flunk them!" Makoto said in annoyance as she winced and kept speaking after seeing the stunned look on Ren's face while she spoke.

"Oh, um, s-sorry about that. I'm probably just biased towards him. I mean, I don't have any concrete proof that he's untrustworthy as of yet. But that's why I want to meet him and find out for myself what kind of person he really is. And, umm, if it's not too much to ask, I'd like you to accompany me on this excursion as well." Makoto said as Ren blinked and spoke up.

"I can do that, but why do I have a feeling there's a 'but' coming that you've not said yet?" Ren said uneasily as Makoto winced and spoke up.

"Because you're right. But this time, um, how do I put this delicately? In order to get dirt on Eiko's boyfriend, my best best is to do so in a double date setting. As such, to pull it off, you'll have to play the role of my boyfriend." Makoto said to Ren, who spoke up in shock.

"Excuse you!? You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend? You do realize I'm already serious about Kasumi, right Makoto? And what if she happens to be there when we do this and gets the wrong idea about us? Ugh, but I guess as long as you can accept that it'll likely be a one-time thing, and that's if I go along with it, then I suppose I got this. But YOU get to explain this to Kasumi if she sees us together." Ren said. Makoto blinked at Ren in surprise.

"Oh, u-um right, I forgot you and Yoshizawa-san were starting to get serious about each other. That said, you're honestly okay with it? You're so reliable, Ren-kun. And agreed, I'll explain it to Yoshizawa-san if she sees us together. Don't worry, I have no intention of costing you your shot with her." Makoto said honestly. She then spoke up.

"I know I could've probably asked Kusa, Ryuji or even Yusuke to do it, but Kusa's been kind of distant since we finished our most recent Palace, Yusuke's not a Shujin student so that would require a very convincing cover story to pull off, and I don't think Ryuji would pass muster as a boyfriend if I were to bring him along, not to mention he'd probably ruin the whole thing by trying to fight Eiko's boyfriend or yell at him.

No, you're probably the best choice I have as fake boyfriends go, Ren-kun. That said, I think if I have a boyfriend, Eiko might be more inclined to listen to me. Actually, to tell you the truth? I'm kinda relieved you decided to go along with this, Ren-kun. I actually already made plans with her and her boyfriend for a double date. S-Sorry. But it's just going to be at a diner. Nothing particularly fancy, I promise." Makoto said as Ren spoke up.

"Well, I mean, I did agree to go along with it. Ugh, I guess I don't have a choice. Very well, I'll help you. But I get to blame you if Kasumi sees us and gets upset." Ren said as Makoto nodded before bowing as she spoke up.

"Fair enough. Thank you, Ren-kun! You're a tremendous help. I'm so glad you agreed to this. I don't know who else I'd have asked if you said no, honestly." Makoto said as Ren spoke up.

"I think Ryuji might have agreed to help you if you'd asked him, Makoto. Between us, he has quite a crush on you, even if he won't probably admit to it. But I respect why you didn't ask him." Ren said before smiling as he was able to sense Makoto's trust in him. At that point, the 'Priestess' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'IV' becoming a 'V' to signify that his Priestess Confidant link with Makoto had reached Rank 5, though no new abilities were gained from the rank-up. Afterwards, Makoto spoke up.

"Eiko, why are you so stubborn? Ugh, I hope she's not getting herself wrapped up in anything dangerous. But just in case, I'll try looking for some info on that host." Makoto said as Ren nodded and made to leave, at which point Makoto spoke up once more.

"All right then, glad we had this talk, Ren-kun. Well, see you later." Makoto said as Ren headed back to Leblanc, at which point his phone rang as he got to the door, and he answered it.

"Hello?" Ren said as he heard Makoto's voice on the other end.

"Hey, it's Makoto. Sorry I had to ask something so unreasonable of you, Ren-kun. I appreciate you going along with it, though. Do you think Eiko's really okay? I hope I'm just being paranoid about her boyfriend, and that he's not a scumbag. But if it turns out he really is toying with Eiko, well, what should we do about it?" Makoto asked as Ren spoke up after a bit.

"For starters, we'll deal with the guy if he ends up being a problem. In the meantime, try to reach out to her again. Maybe if you just are honest with her, she'll at least hear you out. After all, that's really all you can do with her is have her back." Ren said sagely. Makoto nodded and spoke up.

"You know? You're right. We're friends now, so I'm sure she'll understand if I just have an honest talk with her! Phew, that's a relief. I keep thinking in circles here. I need to stop dwelling on the negative. Let's see who this host is behind his smile. For Eiko's sake. Okay, I'll call you again later." Makoto said as Ren nodded and hung up the phone before heading back into Leblanc.

Once there, Ren pondered his options before deciding to go see about summoning a Hierophant Persona so he could rank up Sojiro. Once he got to the Velvet Room, he was disappointed to find out he wasn't able to afford the fee to summon back any of his Hierophant Personas. Ren then left the Velvet Room, only to blink as he saw Justine and Caroline both waiting for him outside. He walked over to Justine and spoke up.

"Is it time for the next outing then?" Ren asked Justine, who nodded as Caroline spoke up.

"All right, time to name the next location, Inmate. Justine, you do the honors." Caroline said as Justine nodded and spoke up.

"Very well. Listen closely, Inmate. The place we wish to examine for your rehabilitation this time is a present-day Tower of Babel." Justine said as Caroline spoke up.

"It looms high in the heavens, so high that the humans down below on Earth are no longer even visible to the naked eye." Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Such a grand structure would be too dangerous for humans. As such, we find that we have a duty to investigate. Does this location sound at all familiar to you?" Justine said as Caroline spoke up.

"Well? If it's familiar to you, then tell us what it is and escort us there immediately!" Caroline said as Ren blinked, feeling as if the twins were referring to the Skytree in Asakusa. He then spoke up with a nod.

"By chance, are you two referring to the 'Skytree' in Asakusa?" Ren asked the twins as Caroline chuckled and spoke up.

"So it's named the Skytree, huh? That's pretty impressive-sounding! It's no Tower of Babel, but still, quite fine!" Caroline said as Justine nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, the boldness of the moniker is quite promising. Onward, Inmate! Take us there at once." Justine said as Ren nodded and escorted the twins to the Skytree...

(At the Skytree, with Caroline, Justine, and Ren)

"Whoa, it's crazy out there! So, this is the present-day Tower of Babel, huh? Incredible!" Caroline said as Justine spoke up, looking at Ren as she spoke. Unbeknowst to the three, they weren't alone there, as a certain ponytail-wearing teammate of Ren's was also there doing some thinking of his own, a little ways away from the trio.

"It appears we've underestimated the current extent of human technology, Caroline. And the metal box that took us here was rather noisy. My ears were so tortured by its sounds, I thought I would faint, to be honest. But as a trial for reaching this place, it was mere child's play." Justine said as Caroline chuckled and spoke up.

"Oh my, what could that tiny thing in the sky be? Hm? An airplane? They truly do appear to be quite cramped inside!" Caroline said as Ren spoke up.

"It looks cramped, sure, but I can say from experience that planes are more spacious on the inside than you'd think." Ren said as Caroline nodded while Justine spoke up.

"In any case, this is quite the view we have up here. It almost appears as if we could crush the people below like insects." Justine said as Caroline blinked at something in the distance before she spoke up in surprise.

"Oh! Justine! Look at that!" Caroline said as Justine winced and spoke up.

"Loud as ever, aren't you Caroline? What is it?" Justine said as Caroline spoke up.

"There's a hole in the floor! Is it some kind of trap!?" Caroline asked as Ren smirked and spoke up.

"It's safe. I believe that's where the elevator comes in for those who don't want to take the stairs down." Ren said. Caroline frowned as she spoke up.

"What was that!? Safe, how!? There is a HOLE in the FLOOR!" Caroline said in annoyance as Justine spoke up.

"Does this trap lure overly confident passersby into falling to their doom? We cannot discount the possibility. By the way, Inmate, I've heard this Tower of Babel has a place that leads even higher than where we are now, all the way to the heavens above." Justine said as Caroline's eyes went wide and she spoke up.

"WHAT!? Is that true!? Take us there immediately!" Caroline said as Ren escorted the twins up to the higher level, none of them noticing the ponytailed male leaning on a real nearby with a contemplative look on his face as they went up to the higher level. Once there, Caroline spoke up.

"Well, it doesn't reach all the way up to the heavens, but the view is still rather impressive." Caroline said as Justine nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, we can see well past the city from here, almost to the ends of the earth. However, I notice one of us isn't enjoying herself. Caroline, are you attempting to back out of this?" Justine asked Caroline, who gasped as she spoke up.

"Wh-What do you mean by that!? Why would I suddenly get scared after already coming so close!?" Caroline said as Justine smirked and spoke up.

"Ah, I see. In that case, then why not go even closer and enjoy the view?" Justine said to Caroline, who frowned as she spoke up in surprise.

"Wha-!? Are you joking!? Cut it out! If you wanna look so badly, then go DO IT!" Caroline said as Ren smirked and spoke up.

"Quit bickering, you two. You're gonna get people staring at us. As it is, they're probably already staring, since it probably looks like I'm escorting a couple of grade-schoolers around Japan at night." Ren said. At that moment, a man and woman nearby turned to the sound of Caroline and Justine arguing and the woman spoke up.

"Hey, are those kids okay? Where are their parents?" The woman asked as the man spoke up cheerfully.

"Aw, they're just playing around. See? That guy's chaperoning 'em." The cheerful guy said as the two went back to their view, at which point Caroline rounded on Ren and spoke up in frustration.

"Hey! Great, now we're part of some humiliating misunderstanding. I hope you're happy, since this is all because YOU were making such a scene, Inmate!" Caroline said as Ren spoke up.

"I just told you two to get along. How is that causing a scene?" Ren said in confusion as Justine spoke up in agreement.

"What a burden it is to work with you sometimes, Caroline. You are the one who should feel humiliated." Justine said to Caroline as Ren sweatdropped. After a bit, Caroline spoke up in a calmer tone.

"What a great view, though. I see how looking down from here could make a person feel like a god. Hmph. Human desire really knows no bounds, does it?" Caroline asked as Justine chuckled and nodded before she spoke up.

"Yes. It's no wonder their hearts grow twisted when they're living in a city frothing with so much desire." Justine said as Caroline spoke up.

"Well, we've learned the secret of the Tower of Babel, so we'll consider this assignment complete." Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Here is your reward." Justine said as she handed Ren the 'Tarukaja', 'Rakukaja', and 'Sukukaja' skill cards. Afterwards, Caroline spoke up.

"Hmph! You'd better keep up this progress, Inmate!" Caroline said as Justine spoke up.

"Agreed. Now, you will accompany us for our return. Let us return." Justine said as Ren nodded and escorted the twins back to the Velvet Room, after which he headed back to Leblanc and went upstairs to get comfortable for the night, only to hear his name called out, prompting Ren to turn and see Kusa looking at him with a look of confusion on his face before he spoke up.

"Just getting back from the Skytree, are you? And yes, I know that's where you were. You probably didn't see me because you were busy playing escort, but I was there too. Granted, I was there to do some thinking, but I saw those two blonde midget girls with you. What's the deal there? I thought you were serious about Kasumi?" Kusa asked Ren, who spoke up.

"Oh, them? It's just another Confidant link I have to deal with. Believe it or not, those two are one of my Confidant links. And occasionally, I have to take them to various places so they can see them. But it's not a thankless job, since I usually get Skill Cards out of it. So it's worth it for that alone. But enough about me, what has you so bothered that you're doing all this solo thinking?" Ren asked Kusa, who frowned as he spoke up.

"I suppose I should tell you that. The truth is, I've been unnerved since that run-in with Black Mask. He managed to outplay me so easily, like I was nothing. And then the way he taunted me afterwards that he was letting me live, as if he could've easily disposed of me if he'd wanted to, had me further worried. If he's really that tough, that means we need to seriously beef up our training before we run into him again. I get the impression he's not one to take lightly." Kusa said, before sighing as he kept speaking.

But more importantly, if I couldn't protect someone I'd just helped to defeat, what's to say I couldn't fail the same way again later, when it's one of us on the line, like you, or even worse, Taba? I'm not sure I could handle it if something happened to any of us because I couldn't protect you. So I've been having to figure out if I need to get stronger. And to be honest, I think we could all stand to get stronger. As it is, we kinda barely ecked out the win against Okumura's Shadow.

And I'm sure the Palaces will only get tougher from here, so we should re-double our training efforts from here on, so we can be appropriately prepared." Kusa said honestly as Ren spoke up, initially hesitating before deciding that with the fact that both his Kindness and Guts were at max, he could get away with what he said next while he spoke.

"I see. Kusa, I know you won't want to hear this, but it's true. You can't save everyone! And all you can do is your best! As you might realize by now, you're just as fallible as the rest of us, reputation on the martial-arts circuit notwithstanding! So you need to quit thinking you have to shoulder this on your own! I know we've been at odds recently, but dammit, I'm still your brother! I'm sorry about that misunderstanding that happened before, but you need to realize I've got your back, Kusa! And as far as Futaba goes? She and I see each other as brother and sister, if anything.

What Morgana heard before was Futaba asking me to be her 'key item', which according to her means having her back when she needs it. I think the reason Morgana misunderstood what she meant was because she then said, and I quote, 'Kusa's not my key item, Ren! You are!', which he could've taken to mean I'm more special to her than you, which before you react is not the case.

I think she truly does love you, but is almost afraid to admit it for who knows why. So don't think I'm trying to take her from you, because I'm not. I would never hurt you like that, Kusa. I hope you can believe me when I say that." Ren said as Kusa sighed, looking away briefly before looking at Ren and nodding as he spoke up.

"Yeah, you're right. And to be truthful with you, I think I was more shocked than anything when Morgana said that, since it kind of gave me some bad flashbacks to when we had to move the first time, since I'll be honest, I felt back then like my life had been uprooted, which it pretty much was. But more recently, I know this time isn't your fault.

Even so, hearing Morgana say what he did about you getting to her first kinda struck a nerve for me, since I took it as him implying you'd basically tossed Kasumi by the wayside and decided to stake claim on Futaba. I know now you wouldn't do that, but you can see why in the moment I'd be both devastated and angry to hear that. For what it's worth though, I do feel bad for lashing out at both you and Ryuji that day, since that was entirely uncalled for on my part.

It also made me realize that I've been kind of a total douche to Ryuji for most of the time that I've known him, between constantly criticizing and nagging him over what he does, and then seeming to always take Morgana's side, I can see him being angry at me." Kusa said as Ren spoke up.

"At least you own it, Kusa. That's the first step to bettering yourself, you know. I know now isn't probably the time, with everything going on, but I think at some point down the line, we should start hanging out again, just the two of us. Because, to be honest? I get the sense that you've got stuff bothering you that you won't share with the others, and I want to be able to help at least make things easier for you, Kusa." Ren said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. Once things settle down a bit more, we should start hanging out again." Kusa said agreeably before smiling and speaking up once more.

'And Ren? Thank you. I'm glad you had the guts to call me on my shit here. I feel like that took a lot for you to do that, but I'm pleased you cared enough to do it. So, thanks." Kusa said, some sparkling blue notes going up over his head as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"No problem, bro. Well, I suppose it is late, so we should get to bed since we have school tomorrow." Ren said as Kusa nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"True. Welp, goodnight, Ren." Kusa said as he and Ren laid down for the night, the latter frowning as he heard a voice speak up in his head.

"I am thou, thou art I...My vow stands renewed in pursuit of the truth. In breaking free of tension and strife, the chains that bind thee, is thy strength made manifest. With the rebirth of the World Persona, thou has obtained the winds of blessing leading to the furthest depths of the World's mysteries." Ren heard as at that point, the 'World' card appeared in his mind's eyes, the card going from the dark-grey, almost black, framing and lettering it'd had before to a more solid white, the 'MAX' disappearing from the 'V' under the word 'World', as five more greyed-out stars appeared next to the five lit-up stars, signifying that the full World Confidant link had been unlocked.

Ren smiled to himself as he realized that he could now rank up Kusa's link again at later points. He then laid down, dozing off for the night at that point...

(The next day, on the walk to school with Ann, Morgana, Kusa, and Ren)

As Ren and Kusa got off the first train to school and made to get on the second, Kusa blinked and spoke up.

"Oh look, Ann's heading this way." Kusa said off-handedly as Ann walked over and spoke up with a closed-eye smile.

"Oh, good morning you two. Kusa, you seem a bit less distant today." Ann said as Kusa spoke up.

"Yeah, been doing a lot of thinking recently. Suffice it to say, Ren here basically made me realize I've been being foolish, and that I need to not let what Black Mask did affect me as much as I have. But never mind that. What brings you our way this morning, Ann?" Kusa said. Ann spoke up at that point.

"I just wanted to see how you two were doing. And Kusa, you know you can confide in me about stuff if you need to, right? We do see each other as siblings, after all, and siblings can trust each other about stuff." Ann said as Kusa nodded before Ann kept speaking.

"As long as you realize that. In any case, the day Haru's going to get sent off is almost here, isn't it? We took the Treasure, so all we have to do is wait. Still, I wish we could do something in the meantime. Why don't we go to Mementos today?" Ann suggested as Ren spoke up.

"We could do that, but not only do I not want to commit to anything just yet until I make sure I don't have anything going on after school, I also don't think we have enough requests to justify a Mementos trip. At last count, we've got 3 requests lined up, but I like to wait for at least five to make the trip worthwhile." Ren said as Ann blinked and spoke up, a disappointed look on her face.

"Hm? You have other things to consider, you say? Well, I won't force you. That said, if the president has a change of heart, maybe our reputation will go up and we'll get more requests." Ann said as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"I agree that changing the hearts of big targets could be good for getting more requests, but I'm not sure that we should be worried about getting popular necessarily. Besides, I get the feeling that we'll get the requests over time anyways." Kusa said sagely as Ann kept speaking.

"Fair enough. Still, we might hit a point where we get them flooding in faster than we can keep up with, so I'd prefer we get the requests we currently have out of the way sooner, rather than later, so at least that way we don't end up overwhelmed if we get a bunch at once." Ann said as Kusa spoke up.

"That's a fair point, Ann. At the same time, if we get too overwhelmed, it might inhibit our ability to perform optimally, and in turn hurt us in the long run." Kusa said as Ann nodded and the three continued the walk to school in silence...

(That morning, in class with Ren, Ann, and Morgana)

"All right, everyone! Quiet down! I'm changing my lesson for today. Instead of a regular class, we'll be reviewing last week's materials. I suggest you listen carefully. But don't think you can slack off, okay? I absolutely won't allow it. No slacking off!" Kawakami said as Morgana spoke up in surprise.

"Oh, hey! I think that's the signal! I think that means we have a day to slack off! Kawakami's been kind enough to give us this free time, so we'd better put it to good use. So what do you wanna do? What's the plan?" Morgana said to Ren, who spoke up so only Morgana could hear.

"I think I'm gonna use this time to do some reading since I have some books I need to read, like the 'Flowerpedia' for example." Ren said as he discreetly pulled out the book in question to read it, reading it to himself.

"Hm. This says 'The unknown language of flowers.' So it's a book on how to understand flowers?" Ren said to Morgana, who nodded and spoke up.

"Nice! If you learn more about flowers, it'll be useful for when you work at that florist job." Morgana said as Ren nodded, continuing to read through until he finished 'Flowerpedia', at which point Morgana blinked and spoke up.

"Oh, so you've finished reading 'Flowerpedia', eh? That book covered all types of flowers and what they mean to people. Now, won't that be handy at the florist job?" Morgana said as Ren felt himself gain a newfound knowledge on the language of flowers, making him able to see great detail in the flower explanations while working as a florist. Morgana smirked and spoke up.

"Hm. Ahhh, that was great. We should thank Kawakami for this later." Morgana said as Ren nodded while the rest of class went uneventfully...

(After school, with Ren and Morgana)

Ren took a look at the map on his phone while considering what to do with his afternoon, and was sorely tempted to hang out with Kasumi since he saw she was available to hang out with, but refrained since he didn't think there was a reason to hang with her at that point.

After looking things over, and seeing that outside of Kasumi, the only ones available to rank up were Futaba, Ryuji, Maruki, and both Ann and Takemi, the former of whom wasn't ready for a rank-up, and the latter of whom was greyed out to signal she was gated off for the moment.

Eventually, Ren decided to go put in a shift at Rafflesia, so he could try out what he'd read about. Once there, he changed into his uniform and started his shift. After a while, Hanasaki turned to him and spoke up.

"Ren-kun, we have an order for a bouquet. Please handle it. The customer would like a bouquet to tell someone they love them. Can you pick out fitting flowers?" Hanasaki asked Ren, who bowed as he got to work, at which point Morgana spoke up.

"Not gonna lie, I think we both thought that customer might be Kusa at first, but it wasn't. That said, this request is for an 'expression of love'. It should be pretty easy if you know what each flower means. So, which flower will you pick first?" Morgana asked Ren, who eventually picked out the 'Care-Nation', 'Enamored Orchid', and 'Gecko Orchid', after which Morgana spoke up.

"Just to remind you, the order was so the customer could 'tell someone they love them'. Is this okay?" Morgana asked Ren, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, this should be good, I think." Ren said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. Well, fingers crossed that this goes well." Morgana said to Ren as he nodded and brought out the bouquet to the customer, who bought it without complaints as Hanasaki spoke up.

"They bought it without any complaints. What a relief. Although, I guess that's a pretty standard reaction to have, isn't it?" Hanasaki asked Ren, who nodded as Hanasaki kept speaking.

"Well, in any case, here's your pay for today!" Hanasaki said as she handed Ren 6,200 yen, which he pocketed. Hanasaki then spoke up.

"Gook work today, Amamiya-kun! You did great today! See you next time!" Hanasaki said as Ren changed out of his uniform and made to leave, at which point Morgana spoke up.

"How're you feeling, Ren? I think that work with the flowers helped your Kindness, not that you need it." Morgana said as Ren's Kindness got a needless boost. Morgana then spoke up.

"All right, we should head home since it's getting late." Morgana said as Ren nodded and headed back to Leblanc, not seeing Kusa as he walked past him. Kusa, for his part, looked over towards where Ren had walked away from, before a thought occurred to him.

'Hm, so that's where he works, is it? I'll make a note of that for future reference. After all, I might end up needing to avail myself of that shop's wares sooner than later, especially if the student council finishes approving the rest of the details for the coming dance.' Kusa thought to himself as he kept walking...

(Later that evening, at Leblanc, with Ren and Morgana)

As Ren and Morgana walked into Leblanc, their phones went off to signify a group chat with Ryuji, Ann, Kusa, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru, and Futaba, with Makoto sending the first response.

"Any changes, Haru?" Makoto sent as Haru sent a response.

"Nothing, unfortunately. Father is still indisposed." Haru sent as Ann sent a response.

"How are things with you, Haru? Has anything happened with the media?" Ann sent as Futaba sent a response.

"I hope they haven't been horrible to you." Futaba sent as Haru sent a response.

"Thank you both. They will surely say a great deal about my father, but I am determined to push through it." Haru sent as Yusuke sent a response.

"Society doesn't care what may be going on, as long as it is enough to kill their perpetual boredom. They don't even consider how their words may hurt others." Yusuke sent as Ryuji sent a response.

"They think caring about people is someone else's job. It makes me wanna puke." Ryuji sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Agreed. This just proves my point about society being made up of a bunch of fickle sheeple who will change opinions on a dime in order to seem like they're in on what's hip and happening. I'd be genuinely shocked if they thought for themselves even once." Kusa sent as Haru sent a response.

"That's true, Kusa-kun. However, there's nothing we can do about that, though. And, no matter how I don't like to say this, everything they say about Father is true." Haru sent as Makoto sent a response.

"But it's important to remember there was someone else in the shadows behind the breakdowns." Makoto sent as Kusa sent a response.

"You're referring to Black Mask, aren't you Makoto? I agree that he's definitely becoming a problem to us, but considering how easily he brushed me off when I tried to stop him before, I think we might have a ways to go before we're truly ready to stand up to him." Kusa sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Good point, Kusa-kun. More importantly though, until we can bring their crimes to light, this won't end." Makoto sent as Futaba sent a response.

"We'll find the true culprit for sure!" Futaba sent as Kusa sent a response.

"I like your enthusiasm, Taba. But I feel like we should keep our expectations low for the time being, just in case the worst happens. And I think Ren will agree with me here when I say that we need to not take Black Mask lightly. If he had wanted to, he could have killed me when he destroyed Okumura's Shadow before, so we're talking about someone cold-blooded enough to commit murder, which makes him both deadly and VERY dangerous. I would hate to see any of us suffer for it if we don't take him seriously, myself included. Am I right, Ren?" Kusa sent as Ren sent a response.

"Naturally. And you also need to realize you don't have to feel as if you have to protect everyone, Kusa. That's what the rest of us are here for, to help shoulder that where we can. I know you might not always get along with some of us, but we are still your teammates after all." Ren sent. Ryuji sent a response.

"Is that why you're always so hard on me most of the time, Kusa!? I didn't realize you were doing it because you cared. That said, yeah, Ren's right! It's gonna be a hella good victory when we expose that criminal for who he really is." Ryuji sent as Makoto sent a response.

"Be that as it may Ryuji, either way, we'll need to wait for Haru's father to recover. We'll have plenty of time to ask him about it then." Makoto sent as Kusa sent a response.

"True, but that's IF he recovers. We should all be prepared for the off chance that he doesn't recover, since we have to remember that Black Mask did gun down his Shadow in cold blood. So we have no way of knowing what, if any, effect that will have on him. So I think we should all be prepared for the worst-case scenario. And Ren, I know that you guys are here for me if I need you.

I just also know you all have other things you're dealing with too, to some extent. And also, sometimes there're times when one just wants to do some quiet self-reflection on their own. But I will lean on you guys if I feel I need it, have no fear of that." Kusa sent as Ren put his phone away and Morgana spoke up.

"Hm, the one behind the mental shutdowns, you say? That's a good question, but whoever they are? It has to be someone dangerous, especially if they were prepared to commit full-on murder. And Kusa is correct. Now that we're getting closer to the truth, we need to be ready for absolutely anything." Morgana said as Ren nodded. After sizing up his options, he decided to go to the church in Kanda to rank up Hifumi, since he'd not ranked her up in a bit.

Once at the church, Ren went up and spoke to the priest on a whim, being surprised to find out that the church had a service that allowed him to reflect upon himself and recall things, which apparently also allowed his teammates to re-learn previously forgotten moves. After filing it away for later use, Ren walked over to where Hifumi was speaking to a woman in a blue dress with dark-colored hair, at which point Morgana spoke up.

"Hifumi's talking to a woman. She seems troubled again. So, what're you gonna do? Are you gonna talk to Hifumi?" Morgana asked Ren, who nodded and spoke up so only Morgana could hear.

"That is I came here for, isn't it?" Ren said as he walked over towards Hifumi to catch her attention, stopping short as he heard the woman speaking to Hifumi.

"Yes, Hifumi, that's right. Your next opponent will finally be a professional. My client's a big shot in the Pro Shogi Players' Association, so I worked really hard to set it up." The woman said to Hifumi, who blinked and spoke up.

"That's nice and all, but I dunno." Hifumi said as the woman turned and saw Ren before she spoke up.

"Hm? Is this young man a fan of yours, Hifumi?" The woman asked Hifumi, who shook her head as she spoke up.

"Oh, him? No, Mother. He's my shogi friend. After all, I told you about him, remember?" Hifumi said to the woman, now revealed to be her mother. Hifumi's mother spoke up.

"Your shogi friend, hm?" Hifumi's mother said before turning to Ren and speaking up.

"Let me just say this. I hope you're not harboring any weird feelings for Hifumi, young man." Hifumi's mother said as Hifumi's cheeks went pink in embarrassment.

"Mother!" Hifumi said in mortification as her mother kept speaking as if Hifumi hadn't spoken up, turniing her gaze back onto Hifumi while she spoke.

"As I'm sure you're already aware, you are not allowed to date, young lady. You've started to attract a number of new male fans with all of your photo spreads. As it is, I'm still in disbelief that you managed to catch the eye of that former pupil of Madarame's. What was his name again, Yusei or something like that?" Hifumi's mother said as Hifumi spoke up in annoyance and embarrassment. *1*

"His name is Yusuke, Mother. And we caught each other's eye, really. He's a very sweet guy, who has his quirks, but at the same time is truly caring and kind to those he calls friends. But that said, yes, Mother. I know." Hifumi said, surprising Ren with what she said about Yusuke as her mother spoke up again.

"Eh, whatever. You can easily get fifty guys like Yusuke, or even this young man here, once you're famous. I need you to accomplish the things I was never able to." Hifumi's mother said in a very pompous and smug tone before she spoke up once more, ignoring the confused look on Ren's face as she spoke.

"Now, I'm going to work, Hifumi. Don't wait up for me." Hifumi's mother said as Hifumi nodded and spoke up.

"Yes, Mother. I understand." Hifumi said as her mother left without a word, leaving Hifumi alone with Ren, and once the two had sat down, Hifumi spoke up.

"Oh, um, Amamiya-kun? I apologize. That must have been quite a shock." Hifumi said as Ren spoke up.

"No worries, Togo-san. I have to say though, she's definitely a scary one. But did she seriously get Yusuke's name wrong?" Ren said. Hifumi giggled at Ren's comment as she spoke up.

"Well, that was quite honest of you. Not altogether inaccurate, though. The truth is, my father is ill and unable to work, so my mother supports us financially. She used to be a local TV announcer, but she had to quit to take care of my father when he got ill. My father was a pro shogi player. He's usually calm, but when he played, you could really feel his spirit. He never hesitated when making a move, just like a king. I really admired him, so I started playing shogi too. As it happens, things didn't stay that way.

But, after pouring everything he had into shogi, he suddenly collapsed one day. In my mother's eyes, shogi stole both her dream and her husband from her. And yet, she wants me to keep playing shogi. She wants me to achieve her dreams. I should be working to help support us. I want to become a professional so that I can make enough money to ease my parents' burden. Umm, truthfully? I do photoshoots and interviews, hoping they'll add some money to our household income, but even then, it's honestly quite difficult for me." Hifumi said as Ren spoke up.

"If it's something you find difficult Togo-san, you should think about stopping then." Ren said honestly, making Hifumi smile as she spoke up.

"Thanks. I'm happy you're so concerned about me, Amamiya-kun. But when I think about my mother, I can't bring myself to stop. Ugh, no one sees me as a shogi player anymore. They no longer recognize my skills. I'm not playing shogi in the hopes of becoming an idol, after all. I simply love my family, and I want to support them through our troubles as best I can.

Oh, but look at me now. Tsk, this isn't good. I shouldn't be focusing on such negative topics before a match, now should I? Well then, let's play. Today, I'm going to be throwing a lot of offensive moves at you. This will teach you how to escape from disadvantageous situations." Hifumi said to Ren, who nodded as he felt Hifumi's trust in him growing. At that point, the 'Star' card appeared in his miind's eye, the 'IV' becoming a 'V' to signify that his Star Confidant link with Hifumi had reached rank 5.

As a result of the rank up, Hifumi had bestowed unto Ren the ability of 'Kakoi Kuzushi', which enables Ren to attempt an escape, even when surrounded by the enemy. Afterwards, Hifumi kept speaking.

"Are you ready? That aura, can you see it? My right eye is twitching. Now! It's time to unleash my hidden evil eye! Now, onward! To a fair match! I'll start." Hifumi said as Ren played a game of shogi with Hifumi, the lessons he learned from it leaving him feeling as if his Knowledge was sharpened, netting him a modest boost to his Knowledge, which he didn't need since all of his stats were maxed out. After the match, Hifumi bowed as she spoke up.

"Good game. Phew, you made me work for it that time. That wasn't so bad, though. Let's continue our lessons next time, yeah? Until then." Hifumi said as Ren headed back to Leblanc, at which point his phone rang once he got to the door, prompting him to answer it.

"Hello?" Ren said as he heard Hifumi's voice on the other end while she spoke up.

"Oh, hello, Amamiya-kun. Do you have a moment? So, I wanted to apologize on my mother's behalf for her rude behavior earlier. She's been on edge lately. I think it's because of all the fans I have. My male fans are beginning to concern her, if I had to guess. Granted, she doesn't seem as bothered by Kitagawa-kun, but that's more because he used to be one of Madarame's pupils. But back on topic, she didn't mean to offend you at all. I hope you'll accept my apology in her place." Hifumi said as Ren spoke up.

"Don't worry about it. Sure, she came off as a bit elitist, snobby and arrogant, but I'm sure she has her reasons. And besides, I'd rather not make you worry if I can avoid it, since I feel as if you've got a lot to deal with as it is." Ren said understandingly. Hifumi blinked as she spoke up.

"Ah, you could tell? Once again, my apologies. I didn't mean to cause you any unnecessary worry. I'll be sure to talk to her about you. No doubt my lack of skill is what caused my mother to be so hypersensitive tonight. I intend to improve my skills, so I can become an established player and put my mother at ease. So, then, that said, let us both work hard for our goals. Goodbye for now." Hifumi said as Ren hung his phone up and went inside to get laid down for the night...

(The next morning, on the train to school with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

"Hey, we were all able to grab seats this time! Why don't you read something until we get there, Ren? I'm sure Kusa can keep himself busy if needed." Morgana said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Quite so. I can be sending private chats and stuff if needed." Kusa said as Morgana nodded and Ren looked through his books before pulling out a book called 'The ABCs of Crafting', and read it.

"Hm, this says 'The secret to craftsmanship, surprising as it might be, is all about mindset.' Okay?" Ren said in confusion as Morgana also winced and spoke up.

"Mm, what a vague answer, don't you think? Maybe it's trying to say that it's important to stay motivated." Morgana said to Ren, who nodded as he kept reading. Eventually he finished the book as Morgana spoke up once more.

"Oh! So, you've finished reading 'ABCs of Crafting'. To be honest, I had my doubts about this book, but the latter half of it was a worthwhile read!" Morgana said as Ren nodded, finding that reading 'ABCs of Crafting' made it so that the number of times he can make infiltration tools has gone up. Morgana then spoke up.

"Oh, we're almost at the station. I'd say that was an efficient use of your time, Ren." Morgana said as Ren nodded and he and Kusa got ready to get off the train and the rest of the trip to school proceeded uneventfully...

(Later that morning, in class with Ren and Morgana)

"Textbooks open to page-! Picking up from last time, we were talking about the French Revolution. Having executed the royalty, the revolutionaries proceeded to take the courts under their control, doing so swiftly. All who opposed the revolution were executed. However, the revolutionaries, too, were then reviled as despots and executed by the public. Many people were executed during the French Revolution. The fact that this many executions were possible was actually due to one specific invention. Amamiya-kun. Take a look at this." Inui said as Ren gave Inui his full attention while Inui showed Ren a picture of a guillotine and spoke up.

"What is the answer? This is a guillotine, or more simply put, a tool which allowed for mass executions. Now, do you know who invented this instrument?" Inui asked Ren, who frowned at the question at first, before he recalled one of the twins mentioning it while he watched them do executions in the Velvet Room with a guillotine, allowing him to speak up confidently to give the answer.

"This is it! The answer is Joseph-Ignace Guillotin." Ren said confidently. Inui smiled approvingly before clapping his hands and speaking up.

"Correct! That's right. This tool is named after him. By the way, Charles-Henri Sanson, the famous executioner, is said to have killed 2800 people with the advent of the guillotine. It make look cruel, but it delivered a swift, painless execution regardless of one's social status. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it embodied the French spirit of equality." Inui said as the usual murmurs about how smart Ren was ensued, complete with Morgana praising Ren for getting the question right. At that point, Ren's Knowledge got a needless boost. At that point, Inui kept speaking.

"Revolution is sometimes a bloody thing to behold. The revolutionaries that rose up for freedom became despots themselves in the end. It's a common tale." Inui said as Morgana blinked at what Inui said and spoke up.

"Hm? But that means! Our social reform doesn't hurt anybody in the real world, though. It's a bloodless revolution!" Morgana said as Ren shook his head and spoke up.

"That's a lie, Morgana. Or do I need to remind you that most of us bled when we awakened to our Personas?" Ren pointed out so only Morgana could hear, making the not-cad nod as the rest of class went uneventfully...

(After school, with Ren and Morgana)

"Why is there not much happening now, Morgana? Oh well, guess I'll go put in a shift at the Triple Seven again." Ren said as he headed into the Triple Seven and got ready for his shift. After an uneventful shift, Ren made a quick boost to his Charm that he didn't need, along with 3,500 yen. He then changed and headed back to Leblanc...

(In the evening at Leblanc, with Ren and Morgana)

After he walked into Leblanc, Ren saw a crossword on the table and did it real quick, despite having max Knowledge. After that, he looked at his options and saw that Sojiro was available to rank up, so he decided to hang out with him and help him out. Sojiro looked up and smiled at Ren as he spoke up.

"Ah, hello there, Ren. I was about to get ready to close. I still have to finish preparing for tomorrow. You wanna help out?" Sojiro asked Ren, who nodded, ignoring Morgana who asked the same thing as he spoke up.

"Sounds like a plan to me. I figure Kusa should be home soon enough, so maybe he'll get in on this too, but depends on if he's done reflecting on himself, or whatever he's been doing the past few days." Ren said as the door to Leblanc opened up and as if summoned by Ren mentioning him, Kusa walked in and spoke up.

"Oh, you're helping Boss out then, Ren? Cool. Lemme go set my stuff down and if Boss needs the extra hands, I'll help out too." Kusa said as he headed upstairs, at which point Sojiro blinked in surprise and spoke up.

"Whoa. Way to time that, Ren. But anyways, I'll make a snack for you, and I guess for Kusa as well since he's apparently also helping? Also, Futaba said she's coming too." Sojiro said as Kusa came walking downstairs at that point.

"Oh, Taba's coming too? Cool. Make it a whole group effort." Kusa said cheerfully as he came down to join Ren at the counter, after which Sojiro served the two of them, plus Futaba who'd chosen that moment to walk in, some curry and coffee. After everyone had eaten, Sojiro looked at Futaba and spoke up.

"Hey, Futaba, can I ask you something? If I was gonna add something to the menu, what would you want it to be?" Sojiro asked Futaba, making Kusa grin, also curious to hear the answer to this question. Futaba quickly spoke up with a smile.

"Hmmmmmm, good question. Ooh, maybe curry spaghetti! And curry udon! Oh, and curry croquettes, and curry pizza!" Futaba said as Kusa frowned and spoke up.

"Gee Taba, you think you like curry a bit there? Also, does curry even go well with pizza? I'll admit it sounds interesting in theory, but I'm not sure how it is in execution. Also, curry spaghetti sounds unique, but possibly interesting. And the rest I'm not sure on." Kusa said as Sojiro winced and spoke up.

"I agree with Kusa. You really like curry that much, huh Futaba? Well, I guess it'd be pretty easy, given the current menu. I'll give it some thought." Sojiro said before turning to Ren as he spoke up.

"And how about you? Anything you'd wanna add to the menu?" Sojiro asked Ren, who blinked in surprise as he spoke up.

"Who, me? You want my suggestion?" Ren asked Sojiro as Kusa laughed and spoke up.

"No, he was totally talking about Morgana. Yes, he wants your suggestion Ren. And I don't think he was asking for mine, but since I'm thinking of it, maybe something like curry pancakes, just to keep building on Taba's idea that curry is so versatile as a base for meals." Kusa said with a shrug. Sojiro nodded as he spoke up.

"Fair, but just be sure it's something you two can make, okay? You're gonna have to prep the food too, you know." Sojiro said as Kusa spoke up.

"That's fair, Boss. I wasn't expecting you to do all the work, after all. And I wouldn't want to set a bad example for Taba, since we all know how impressionable and innocent she still is in some ways." Kusa said teasingly, smirking at how Futaba stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

"Shut up, Kusa. You have no room to talk about impressionable, given how easily I turned your head that day at the beach, not even talking about how Ryuji reacted. Also, yeah! Go Ren, go! And Kusa too!" Futaba said. At that point, the door opened and in walked Futaba's uncle, Kusa's eyes narrowing as he saw Futaba's uncle walk in, moving to position himself so he was between Futaba and her uncle in case he tried anything. Futaba's uncle looked at Sojiro and spoke up.

"Why haven't you answered my calls?" Futaba's uncle asked Sojiro, who sighed.

"I don't have to answer you. That said, leave now, or else I'll be forced to contact the police. I'm not giving you a penny." Sojiro said to Futaba's uncle, who frowned and spoke up.

"What was that, Sojiro? Quit fucking with me!" Futaba's uncle said as Kusa's jaw dropped at Futaba's uncle dropping an F-bomb. But to his surprise, Futaba slipped under Kusa and stood up to glare at her uncle while she spoke up.

"Stop it! Sojiro didn't do anything wrong!" Futaba said as her uncle spoke up angrily.

"Shut your mouth, brat! It's your fault I'm in this mess!" Futaba's uncle yelled at Futaba, who backed up fearfully as Kusa gently pushed her behind him towards the approaching Sojiro as he spoke up, glaring at Futaba's uncle while he spoke.

"With all due respect sir, and I use that term loosely, you only have yourself to blame for not treating Futaba right. Also, how is it her fault you're a scumbag? I'll thank you not to blame your failures on Futaba." Kusa said, crossing his arms imposingly as Sojiro spoke up from next to Futaba.

"Look, Futaba's my daughter. You may be her uncle, but you have no connection to her anymore. We can take it to court if you really want. Don't underestimate how hard I'm willing to fight." Sojiro said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"He's right. All of us in this room are agreed that you have no rights whatsoever to Futaba anymore. After all, you made her life hell while she lived with you! You didn't feed her, wouldn't let her bathe, and wouldn't even let her use a blanket when she slept, ON THE FLOOR I MIGHT ADD! You're lucky I'm trying to set an example for Futaba, because I'm so tempted to just knock you out and be done with it, but I'm not trying to show Futaba that violence is the go-to for her problems. So count yourself lucky." Kusa said. Futaba's uncle glared at Sojiro and spoke up.

"What did you say, Sojiro!? And you in the ponytail, I don't have to listen to the words of a bastard who has no shot at winning my niece's heart, so shut up." Futaba's uncle said as Kusa frowned at this and spoke up.

"What did you just call me!?" Kusa said, making to walk towards Futaba's uncle, but found himself held back by Sojiro and Ren, both of whom shook their heads as if to say, 'It's not worth it! Don't fight him around Futaba!', at which point Kusa huffed and backed down as Sojiro spoke up.

"You're the one who needs to shut up! And as far as I'm concerned, Kusa's more than good enough for Futaba if she decides she wants to be with him. Back on topic, not only do you have massive debt, but I heard you failed in your most recent business venture. How do you think the court would respond if they knew how wasteful you were with your money, hm?" Sojiro said to Futaba's uncle, who growled as he spoke up.

"Goddamnit, how dare you threaten me, Sojiro!" Futaba's uncle said before turning his gaze onto Futaba's uncle and speaking up.

"This is all your fault, you bitch! You cursed little waste of space!" Futaba's uncle said as he marched on Futaba, only for Kusa to gently push Futaba towards Sojiro and Ren, the latter of which gently pulled her behind him as Kusa gently shoved Futaba's uncle back towards the door and spoke up.

"Hey now! I don't care what you say about me, but NO ONE tries to come at Taba like that, you dick! Now get the hell out of here before we have to throw freaking hands!" Kusa said as Futaba's uncle tried to shove Kusa aside to get at Futaba, only for Kusa to swiftly grab Futaba's uncle's wrist and push him back towards the door, making the uncle overcorrect as he tried to get free, before he fell facedown to the floor, at which point Sojiro looked at Futaba and spoke up.

"Futaba! Are you okay?" Sojiro asked Futaba as Kusa glared at the downed form of Futaba's uncle, who groaned as he struggled to get to his feet.

"Hrgh, that hurt. Urgh, wait until I get up." Futaba's uncle said as Kusa glared at him and spoke up.

"And then what? Are you gonna keep trying to threaten us? Because I have no problems with bodily removing you from the premises if you keep acting like this around Taba." Kusa said dryly to Futaba's uncle, who then got to his feet and glared at Kusa as he spoke up.

"Shut up, you damn bastard! This is assault, you know! I'll sue!" Futaba's uncle said as Ren winced at how similar this scene was to the night he got arrested, but said nothing as Sojiro grunted and spoke up.

"What are you talking about? You clearly fell down on your own after Kusa tried to separate you from Futaba before you did something that would've landed you in a mountain of trouble." Sojiro said as Futaba's uncle huffed and spoke up.

"Bullshit! This delinquent bastard attacked me! He's dangerous! Him and his brother both! I saw his brother look like he wanted to hit me! This cafe's finished, you hear me!? I won't let you get away with this!" Futaba's uncle threatened as Kusa glared and spoke up.

"If you don't want me to really assault you, you'll get out of this building right now, and NOT come back. The only one that's finished here is you! And another thing, you come near Taba like that again, and next time I won't be so gentle with you. Get it? If you think what I did in self-defense was bad, that's nothing! They call me the 'Kung-Fu Dragon' for a reason, you know." Kusa said huffily as Futaba's uncle glared before turning on his heel and storming off, as Kusa huffed and spoke up once more.

"Hmph! Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say!" Kusa said as he walked over to Sojiro and spoke up.

"Sorry about that, Boss. But I wasn't about to sit there and do nothing when he was going to possibly hit Taba. Screw that! If you want to punish me for it, I'll take whatever punishment you deem necessary. However, I will not apologize for doing what I thought was right to protect Futaba." Kusa said as Sojiro sighed and spoke up.

"God damn, you two. What a pain in the ass. Don't you have enough problems already?" Sojiro asked Ren and Kusa, the former of whom spoke up.

"We were just protecting Futaba from that guy. Kusa's right, he was trying to assault Futaba. Not to mention, after what he called both Kusa and Futaba, Kusa was justified in pushing him away. He acted purely in defense of himself and Futaba." Ren said, coming to both his defense as well as Kusa's. Sojiro smiled and spoke up.

"Nobody said either of you did anything wrong. To be honest, it should've been me trying to stop him from attacking Futaba." Sojiro said as Kusa spoke up.

"But you did! You kept Futaba behind you and Ren while I kept that douche back. He's lucky I kept my temper, too. I was seriously close to just punching him, especially after he called Futaba what he did. Which, for the record, was extremely screwed up of him to say since it's all lies." Kusa said as Sojiro nodded and turned to Futaba before speaking.

"True. Are you okay, Futaba?" Sojiro asked Futaba, who nodded as she spoke up, still slightly in shock that her uncle actually acted like he was going to put hands on her.

"Mm-hm, I'm fine. Luckily for us Kusa was here when he was, otherwise, who knows how that could've gone?" Futaba said. Kusa nodded and walked over to Futaba as he spoke up.

"I'm always going to be here for you as best I can, Taba. Never doubt that." Kusa said sincerely to Futaba, who nodded as she shook a bit before speaking up.

"True. But Uncle also said he's gonna sue you guys, didn't he?" Futaba said. Kusa huffed and spoke up.

"Let him. We'll have him counter-sued for child endangerment and abuse faster than his head can spin. He doesn't want to mess with us, trust me on that." Kusa said as Sojiro nodded and spoke up reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Futaba. No matter what ends up happening to me, or to this store, I won't let them lay a finger on any of you three. I might not always act like it, but I am your guardian, after all. I have a duty to protect all of you. So don't either of you go doing anything like that again, hear? I appreciate the spirit you two showed though. Especially you, Kusa. I respect that you kept yourself from attacking him, even though you probably wanted to when he said what he said about you and Futaba. Respect." Sojiro said as Kusa nodded while Ren smiled, feeling as if his bond with Sojiro had grown even deeper than before.

At that point, the 'Hierophant' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'VII' becoming a 'VIII' to signify that his Hierophant Confidant link with Sojiro had reached Rank 8, though no new skills were gotten from the rank up. Afterwards, Sojiro kept speaking up.

"Anyway, I'm done for the day. Take care of closing up for me. Let's go, Futaba. Time to head home." Sojiro said as he walked off, not seeing Futaba linger behind as she spoke up to Ren and Kusa.

"Ren, Kusa, I'll message the two of you later, OK?" Futaba said as Ren and Kusa nodded, the latter hugging Futaba lightly before she went home. After Futaba left, Kusa turned to Ren and spoke up.

"Keep the place unlocked for now, ok? I need to go hit the gym real quick to spar some training dummies and vent this anger. I'll be back in a couple hours, tops." Kusa said before he headed off to the gym, leaving Ren and Morgana to shrug as Ren closed the shop up, though he left it unlocked at Kusa's request. About an hour later, Kusa came in and locked up the shop as he headed upstairs and sat on the sofa, just in time for his and Ren's phones to go off with a chat from Futaba.

"***BIG NEWS*** I looked up my uncle's name in Mementos, and as it turns out, I got a hit! Would you be angry if I asked you two for your help?" Futaba asked as Kusa sent a response.

"Hell no we wouldn't be angry, Taba! We want to help you get that dirty rotten son of a bitch! If you want to change his heart, we're right there with you! Plus, that man has an ass whooping coming for calling you what he called you. Not to mention, I don't appreciate him calling me a bastard repeatedly. Never mind the fact that it's technically correct, he has no business using that kind of language around a young lady like you. He's lucky I respect you and Boss, otherwise I was probably gonna drag him outside and beat the crap out of him for what he said about you." Kusa sent as Ren sent a response.

"I agree with Kusa. Of course we wouldn't mind or be angry if you asked us to help. We'll help you out, Futaba." Ren sent as Futaba sent a response.

"Really!? Thanks a bunch, you two! My uncle's name is Youji Isshiki. Let's go to Mementos and change his heart. But, uh, if it's not too much trouble, I have a favor to ask. I don't really wanna tell everybody about the time I spent living with him if I don't have to. Maybe someday I'll open up, sure, but today's not that day. So I was thinking, if you two are fine with it, can we maybe go, just the three of us? I really need your help here, Ren and Kusa! Pleeeeeeeeeeeease!" Futaba sent as Kusa sent a response.

"Not a problem, Taba. Also, I should probably apologize to you now, since I may have mentioned some of what you went through to the others before we changed your heart, so yeah my bad. But back on topic, don't sweat it! We got you. After all, between the two of us, we have a pretty dang good combo move we can break out on your uncle if he gets too out of control, plus Ren's got a whole bag of tricks he can throw at the son of a bitch." Kusa sent as he and Ren put their phones away before Ren's phone, along with Kusa's, went off to signal the receipt of a request titled 'The Money-grubbing Uncle'. After that, the two got comfortable and went to bed for the night...

(The next day, after school, with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

"So, we're agreed. Since you can't rank Futaba up until we help her, I'll dump Morgana off inside Leblanc so he can keep the sofa warm, and you and I will help Futaba out? Because I think the sooner we deal with that, the better." Kusa said to Ren after meeting up with him at the school gate. Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Agreed. We'll head back that way to meet up with Futaba, and you can leave Morgana in Futaba's room, if she's fine with it, in the interim." Ren said as Morgana pouted and spoke up.

"What? How come I'm being left out?" Morgana asked as Kusa spoke up.

"It's not personal, Morgana. It's just Futaba wants this particular bit to be just her, myself and Ren. Please understand. If you want, I'll treat you to sushi sometime to make it up to you." Kusa said as Morgana smiled and spoke up.

"Mwehehe! You had me at sushi, Kusa." Morgana said happily as the two headed back to Yongen-jaya, Kusa deftly entering through Futaba's window to dump Morgana into Futaba's room before catching up to Ren outside of Leblanc, where Futaba was sitting and waiting for the two of them. Futaba looked up as she saw Ren and Kusa standing there.

"Oh, Ren. And Kusa too. About my uncle, um, to be honest? I wanna head into Mementos right now to take care of him, if you two are free." Futaba said to Ren, who frowned as he realized that this Mementos trip would have to be just himself, Kusa and Futaba. As such, it would be more time-consuming and dangerous than usual, as well as extra difficult. But then he heard Futaba speak up once more.

"So, are you and Kusa free to go today?" Futaba asked as Ren nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, let's do it." Ren said as Kusa spoke up while smiling at Futaba.

"Not to worry, Taba. The three of us will put that son of a bitch in his place, and make him regret ever even messing with you." Kusa said confidently. Futaba smiled as she hugged Kusa and spoke up.

"Thanks. This is a family issue, so I want to do it with just the two of you. Oh, and I sent my uncle an anonymous letter, so the calling card part's taken care of." Futaba said as the three headed into Mementos...

(In Mementos, at the section created by Oracle's uncle, with Joker, Draconis and Oracle)

"Th-There it is. It's my uncle's Shadow. He's saying 'Money, Money, I want money.' He forced Sojiro to pay back his debts. He made me go through horrible things, too. Draconis, Joker, let's make him have a change of heart!" Oracle said as Draconis and Joker nodded resolutely as the trio charged up to the Shadow of Oracle's Uncle, who scoffed and spoke up.

"Hah! What've we here? Looks like some brats in costumes! Money, money, money, so nice. It doesn't matter who gives it to me. Just give me more money, since I need it. Hey, did you bring me money!? Why don't you sell that stupid shop and give me the money? It's consolation money! It's reparations! You have to give me money! You have to give me all your money!" Oracle's uncle's Shadow said as Joker spoke up with a frown.

"None of us are giving you a dime, you greedy scumbag!" Joker said as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, what Joker said, you son of a bitch! And how dare you threaten Leblanc like that, you dick!? You're not getting another dime out of us, and you can keep whining about it all you like. It won't change a thing. The only thing you're getting from us is a change of heart." Draconis said bluntly as Oracle's uncle's Shadow spoke up.

"Who cares!? If I have enough money, I can keep gambling until I hit another jackpot! If you won't give me any money, then I'm gonna destroy you!" Oracle's uncle's Shadow said as it shifted into the form of a Girimehkala. At that point, Oracle spoke up resolutely.

"I'm not getting destroyed by someone like him! Let's go, Draconis and Joker!" Oracle said as the two nodded, while the battle began! At the start of battle, Oracle's uncle's Shadow spoke up.

"Are we goin' or what? Life is one big gamble!" Futaba's uncle said as the battle started. Joker and Draconis ran forward to strike the enemy with their weapons, doing modest damage, before Joker dodged a Rising Slash from the enemy. At that point, Joker got an idea and spoke up while pulling his mask off.

"Let's try this. PERSONA CHANGE! VALKYRIE, SWAP OUT FOR IZANAGI! IZANAGI, MEGIDOLA!" Joker said as he swapped Personas and hit the enemy with an Almighty attack that clocked a good bit of damage. Draconis then followed with an Agion from Smaug which also clocked a good amount of damage. After the Shadow landed a Rising Slash on Joker, Oracle threw down a group defense buff ala Marakukaja, after which Joker hit the enemy with another Megidola, after which Oracle and Draconis looked at each other and nodded.

"I think it's time we put this scumbag in his place, don't you agree, my dear Oracle?" Draconis said as Oracle smiled and nodded.

"Couldn't agree more, Draconis! Let's get him!" Oracle said as Oracle and Draconis spoke up in unison.

"IT'S SHOWTIME!" Draconis said as he hopped on top of Smaug and flew over towards Oracle, at which point he waved her down and spoke up.

"Oracle! Lay it on me!" Draconis said as Oracle nodded and spoke up.

"Okey-dokey, Draconis! Comin' right up!" Oracle said as Necronomicon dropped a bomb into Draconis' arms, after which he dashed towards Smaug's head and spoke up.

"SMAUG! LIGHT ME!" Draconis said as Smaug nodded, lighting the bomb with a weak shot of Megido, after which Draconis raced towards the reeling enemy and spoke up.

"Hey, you lowlife son of a bitch! You know what they say! What goes around comes around! And this is something that's probably been a long time coming for you! Here goes!" Draconis said as he hefted the bomb and tossed it at the enemy while speaking up.

"IT'S! HA-BOOM-KEN!" Draconis said, launching the bomb at the enemy, Hadoken style, before pulling out his bo staff and pulling his arm back before hurling his staff, javelin style, after the bomb, which hit the stunned enemy in the face before Draconis' staff connected with the bomb, tapping it and causing it to detonate in the stunned enemy's face, the explosion launching Draconis' staff back at him as he reached an arm out and expertly caught his staff before twirling it in place and gently slamming it to the ground as he and Oracle spoke up.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE US NOW!?" Oracle and Draconis said, the latter's staff slam timing up perfectly with the enemy slumping over in defeat as he spoke up.

"I lost. I can't believe it, it's all over for me." Oracle's uncle's Shadow said as the fight ended with Oracle smiling as she hugged Draconis gratefully. The ensuing EXP gain brought Joker, Draconis and Oracle all to level 45. Joker then spoke up.

"Yes, good! Power courses through me!" Joker said as his level increased. Furthermore, from the level ups, both Smaug and Nostradamus acquired new skills, the former gaining the heavy-grade Almighty attack Megidola, and the latter gaining the mid-tier healing move Diarama. Draconis grinned and spoke up.

"FINALLY! Smaug's done it! He's unleashed the next level of his Almighty power! Mwehehe! And it's our first heavy damage magic move, too! Nice!" Draconis said while Oracle spoke up.

"Mwehehe! A new move! Not bad, right boys?" Oracle said smugly, grinning as Draconis nodded and spoke up.

"Awesome, Oracle! Another move that Smaug also knows! I love it!" Draconis said with a grin as Smaug replaced Megido with Megidola and Nostradamus acquired Diarama. After the fight, Oracle's uncle's Shadow slumped over as he spoke up dejectedly.

"Wakaba was smart and competent. I'm just a loser. I guess things would always turn out this way." Oracle's uncle's Shadow said as Oracle blinked and spoke up.

"You were thinking about Mom this whole time?" Oracle asked the Shadow of her uncle, who spoke up sheepishly.

"I'm so embarrassed! Even back then, I thought just being normal was okay to get by with. Then, my whole world changed when I won a lot of money through gambling. Everyone who thought I was worthless started being jealous of me. Haha, I was a fool to think it was that easy to change people. Even so, I couldn't forget that feeling I got. It made me feel like I was smart and competent, just like Wakaba!" Oracle's uncle's Shadow said as Joker spoke up.

"That does sound rather stupid. But the fact of the matter is, you're just a gambling addict." Joker said as Draconis spoke up.

"And human trash besides! I don't care what your excuse is, there is NO excuse good enough to justify what you did to your own niece! She would've done anything for you, within reason, if you'd just treated her decently and not tried to make her life hell. She just wanted some of her family to love her, that's all! Instead, all she got was hateful words, constant insults, and inhumane treatment! You aren't fit to look after a pet, never mind a sweet, innocent and pure young lady like her!

Be glad that it's enough that she's not in that environment anymore! If it were up to me, you'd be punished for what you did! But your niece is a surprisingly forgiving and gracious young lady, so be glad she doesn't hold a grudge." Draconis said huffily to Oracle's uncle's Shadow, not seeing the impressed/shocked look on Oracle's face at what Draconis had said about her. Oracle's uncle's Shadow laughed as he spoke up.

"Ha, good one. Haha, I was wrong all along. You know, dragon mask guy? You're absolutely right, about all of it. But maybe I've realized that too late to do anything about it. Futaba, I'm sorry, for everything. Forgive me, Wakaba, if you can." Oracle's uncle's Shadow said as Oracle spoke up.

"Uncle, I forgive you." Oracle said, to Draconis' surprise, as the Shadow of Oracle's uncle faded away, leaving the bud of his Treasure behind, which Joker seized to receive a 'Venture Saber' weapon. Oracle then spoke up at that point.

"So, now he won't sue anyone, right?" Oracle said as Draconis smiled at Oracle before speaking up.

"That's the idea, assuming his change of heart takes, and unlike Okumura's, I have confidence this one will take. So you can relax, Oracle. I think we've saved the day." Draconis said, smiling as he patted Oracle on the shoulder before she spoke up happily.

"So then, that means that Sojiro's safe now!" Oracle said, hugging Draconis for all she was worth, as Joker noted to himself that Youji Isshiki seems to have had a change of heart, and that he should check in on Sojiro the next chance he had. At that point, all three of their phones went off to signify that the request 'The Money-grubbing Uncle' was marked as 'COMPLETE'. After that, the trio headed back to Leblanc...

(Back in the real world, at Leblanc with Ren and Morgana)

"Huh, I thought Futaba and Kusa got out with me?" Ren said to himself as he walked into Leblanc, at the same time that his phone went off with chats from Ohya and Futaba. Blinking, Joker opened his chat with Futaba to see what she wanted, while Kusa walked upstairs, carrying Morgana in his arms, having gone to get him from Futaba's room as Ren read his chat from Futaba.

"Hey, so I bought a dart set online to practice with before Kusa and I go to play our game of darts or whatever we end up doing. But Sojiro got mad at me for throwing them in the house. :c Seems like the whole 'national acclaim' thing has us on edge. So, let's chill a little by some darts, just you, me, Kusa, and if he wants to come, Morgana." Futaba sent as Morgana blinked and spoke up.

"What're you gonna do, Ren? Do you wanna go play darts with Futaba?" Morgana asked Ren, who thought about it and nodded.

"Y'know what? Sure, let's go play darts! Could be fun." Ren said as he sent a response to Futaba.

"Why not? I'm down. Let's go play some darts." Ren sent as Futaba spoke up.

"Cool. I'll see if anyone else wants to party up. You can head over first. I guess you'll see who responded when we get there." Futaba sent, as Ren and Morgana headed to the Penguin sniper to await Futaba. Once there, Morgana spoke up.

"Well done! All right, we're here! Now we just have to wait for Futaba!" Morgana said as Ren nodded. After a bit, Futaba walked up with Kusa, Ryuji and Yusuke in tow. Morgana then spoke up.

"All right! The whole group's finished warming up! As I explained earlier, we're playing '01. We have 5 rounds to bring our score down to 0! And by doing as a pair, the Phantom Thieves' teamwork will strengthen!" Morgana said as Kusa nodded and spoke up.

"Fair enough. Should be interesting to see how I do, given I'm not usually one to play darts." Kusa said as Morgana nodded.

"Indeed. Okay then, let's begin our team game!" Morgana said as Futaba spoke up.

"All right Ren, let's play! Hehehe, and already the gamer in me is raring to go! As for the rules? It's gotta be 301. Three hundred and one!" Futaba said as Ren nodded, teaming up with Futaba, while Morgana wound up paired with Yusuke, leaving Ryuji and Kusa to pair up, which the two did with a shrug.

(Ren and Futaba's game)

Ren stepped up for his throw and hit a single 5, a double 20, and a triple 20, bringing the remaining points to 196. After his round, Futaba spoke up.

"Mwehehe. Heh, I'm gonna nail this, no problem! Leave it to me!" Futaba said as she tagged in to throw. Futaba then hit a triple 11, triple 8, and a triple 9, bringing the remaining score to 112. Futaba then spoke up.

"Hehehe! All warmed up now? You just gotta go fwoosh and then bam! Your turn now!" Futaba said to Ren, who nodded as he tagged out with Futaba. Ren then went up, hitting a pair of single 20s and a single 5, to his embarrassment. Morgana chuckled as he spoke up.

"Ha! So that's where you were aiming!? Good shot." Morgana said as Ren just huffed as Futaba spoke up.

"My last round already? Th-things are getting interesting, as they say in the business! Leave it to me!" Futaba said as she tagged out with Ren. Futaba then spoke up nervously.

"This is my chance to finish it right here. A-Am I actually getting nervous!?" Futaba asked Ren, who spoke up.

"Nah Futaba, this is real. You can do it." Ren said encouragingly. Futaba nodded as she spoke up understandingly.

"This feeling of tension I feel. It's totally real! Yes! I'm gonna clutch it out!" Futaba said before proceeding to hit a bull and then a single 17, to have them finish on exactly 0 points, since the two had 67 points left.

(End of Ren and Futaba's darts game)

After the game, Futaba gasped in shock as she spoke up.

"Ohhh! Woohoo! 0 points! None can best us! We charged through the battlefield together, Ren! I'll toast you with a soda later!" Futaba said as Ren's Baton Pass rank hit rank 3, which was also 'MAX' rank. Futaba smirked as her Baton Pass went straight to 3 as well. At that same time, Morgana and Yusuke hit a 0 as well, while Ryuji and Kusa barely hit a 0 after Kusa's first couple of tries nearly busted them twice. Luckily, his darts just missed disaster spots both times. Ryuji then looked at Ren and spoke up.

"Yo, yo! I wanna go next! Playing with Kusa is fun and all, but with all respect to him, he's not that good at darts. We got lucky I was able to get us to 0, honestly. How someone so good at martial arts has such bad aim with darts is surprising to me." Ryuji said as Kusa shrugged and spoke up.

"Eh, I guess we all have our weak spots, and darts just happens to be mine. Oh well, now I know I need to work at it more, lest I humiliate myself when Taba and I play darts together eventually." Kusa said as Futaba smiled and nodded while moving over next to Kusa and speaking up.

"You won't humiliate yourself, Kusa. I have faith we'll pull through when we play. I trust you." Futaba said with a smile as Kusa smiled back and nodded while Ren spoke up.

"You wanna play with me now, Ryuji? Let's do it." Ren said. Ryuji nodded as he spoke up.

"Nice! As for the rules here, let's go with 501. A little hard, but we want a bit of a challenge, yeah?" Ryuji said to Ren, who nodded as the pairs switched up so Morgana was with Kusa and Futaba was with Yusuke. Ryuji then spoke up from where he was standing with Ren.

(Ren and Ryuji's darts game)

Ryuji grinned at Ren as he spoke up confidently.

"All right, let's do this! We're gonna get 0 points, right on the dot!" Ryuji said as Ren nodded and stepped up to throw. Ren wound up with a double 20 and a pair of single 20s after his throws, bringing the remaining score from 501 down to 421. Ryuji grinned as he spoke up

"Guess I'm up, then. I'm goin' all out! All right, I got this!" Ryuji said as he tagged in to take his turn. Ryuji then hit two bulls and a single 2, knocking the remaining score to 319. Ryuji then turned to Ren and spoke up.

"On to round 3. Hehe, you got this man! All yours!" Ryuji said as he and Ren swapped out and Ren took his turn to throw. He then got a triple 20 and two single 20s, dropping the remaining points down to 219. Ryuji then stepped up and spoke up.

"Whoa, this is my last round. Better not screw this up, huh? All right, I got this!" Ryuji said as he tagged in, throwing a bull, a single 19 and a triple 19 to bring the remaining score down to 93 with one round to throw, as Ryuji spoke up while looking at Ren.

"For better or worse, this is the last round! It's all you! All yours!" Ryuji said as Ren stepped up to try the final round. He went up, and threw a single 20, a bull, and a 5, leaving the two short of the target by 18 points. Ryuji frowned at this and spoke up.

"18 left, huh? Argh, we almost made it to 0..." Ryuji said as Ren winced and apologized. At the same time, Kusa and Morgana smirked as they managed to exactly hit 0 off of a well-aimed bull tossed by Kusa, while Futaba and Yusuke wound up busting after Yusuke's aim made him overshoot the triple 16 he wanted and hit a bull instead, making Futaba wince in embarrassment as Kusa grinned and spoke up after smiling at Morgana.

"Hell yeah! 0 points on the nose! We make a damn good team, Morgana! Mwehehe!" Kusa said triumphantly as he fist-bumped Morgana and Futaba spoke up in annoyance.

"Ugh! A bust!? Dammit Inari, why are you so bad at this?" Futaba said in disappointment as Yusuke winced and spoke up.

"My apologies, Futaba. It would seem I am not as dab of a hand at darts as I thought I was. It would very much seem that Morgana bailed us out on my first game." Yusuke said as Kusa grinned and spoke up.

"So we're going to say Morgana for darts MVP of the night then? I'm down with that! All hail Morgana, lord of the darts!" Kusa said with a smirk as Ryuji grinned and spoke up.

"Kusa, you do realize you're basically saying that you have even worse aim than a talking cat when you say that, right?" Ryuji said teasingly as Kusa blinked at this and then shrugged before he spoke up, surprisingly not reacting at all to Ryuji once again calling Morgana a cat while he spoke.

"I can't be mad at that if it's true, can I?" Kusa said as Morgana frowned and spoke up.

"You can't Kusa, but I sure can! I am NOT a cat, Ryuji!" Morgana huffed as Ryuji grinned and spoke up.

"Chill, Morgana. I was just teasing you a bit, man. I'm sorry." Ryuji said as Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"Very well, forgiven. But man, tired from all that precise throwing, you guys? I can tell you've grown somewhat, though." Morgana said as Ren got a needless boost to his Proficiency. As Yusuke spoke up, everyone present had blue sparkling notes go up over their heads, aside from Ren and Morgana.

"That was time well spent! The sensation of throwing darts. While I'm not the best at darts, I don't dislike the feeling of playing with you all." Yusuke said as Kusa smirked and spoke up.

"Yes, well, you did get pretty lucky on your partner draws both games, in that you got Morgana and Taba. And both are pretty damn epic at darts from what I could see. Makes me kind of excited for when Taba and I get to play darts together. Are you excited too, Taba?" Kusa asked Futaba, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yep, sure am! Mwehehe! We're gonna have loads of fun when it's our turn to play." Futaba said as Kusa nodded, smiling as he walked over and put an arm around Futaba while Morgana spoke up.

"Yes, well, that's enough for tonight. We can train up here, and have fun at the same time. This is a pretty handy place, if I do say so myself." Morgana said as the group split up for the night, Ryuji and Yusuke leaving first.

"Seeya later!" Ryuji said as he left before Yusuke spoke up.

"Until next time! Now then, farewell." Yusuke said as Kusa then spoke up.

"Ren, you and Morgana head on back to Leblanc ahead of us. I'll escort Taba home and meet you there." Kusa said as Ren and Morgana nodded and left. Once it was just Kusa and Futaba, Kusa smiled at Futaba and spoke up.

"Well, since it's just us now, I wanted to ask you something before we headed home. I heard from the student council that it's been approved to not only have the dance as planned, but they also set it up so that any of us who may wish to do so can invite non-Shujin students to go with them as their date. So that brings me to my question. Provided you're comfortable doing so Futaba, would you be willing to be my date to the school dance? I understand if you don't feel ready for it, though. But I figured I'd at least ask to see how you feel about it." Kusa said as Futaba smiled and spoke up.

"Wow, my first time being asked to a school dance. I think I might faint. But for real, I'm nervous at the idea, but I think I can handle it if I'm with you, plus you did just stand up for me to my uncle recently, so I do owe you. Why not? I'd be delighted to be your date, Kusa." Futaba said, making Kusa smile in relief as he spoke up.

"Yeah? That's good to hear. I was honestly a bit worried you'd say no or that you weren't ready yet, to be honest. But I'm pleased you said yes." Kusa said as Futaba smiled and kissed Kusa on the cheek.

"Of course I'm going to say yes to you, you doof! Now let's get home before Sojiro and/or Ren sends a search party!" Futaba joked as Kusa nodded and escorted Futaba home, after which he headed back to Leblanc to get ready for bed, a smug grin on his face as he laid down...

(The next day, after school with Ren and Morgana)

"So what's the plan?" Morgana asked Ren, who spoke up with a nod.

"I think our best move is to either hang out with Ryuji or Maruki, but I have a side trip to make first to check something." Ren said as he went to the Velvet Room. After some shuffling and Persona management, during which he managed to strength his Unicorn Persona and gain it the power of Resist Curse to cover its weakness to Curse, Ren came back out with a Chariot Persona as well. He then headed back to Shujin and walked up to Ryuji, who was leaning by the steps, and spoke up.

"Hey, Ryuji. What's up?" Ren asked Ryuji, who looked at Ren and spoke up.

"Oh, hey Ren. Sup?" Ryuji said before yawning as he kept speaking.

"Sorry, but I'm not really diggin' all this sittin' around crap. So, uh, to be honest? I've been thinkin' about what to do with the track team. But I realized I'm not the kinda guy to come up with epic plans that can save the day. I'm more the muscle that people go to when they need a plan carried out. So, that said, I think I'm gonna do this the one way I know how. Can you come with?" Ryuji asked Ren, who nodded and spoke up.

"Of course, man. You've got my back, like I have yours. Let's do it." Ren said. Ryuji nodded appreciatively and spoke up.

"Heh, thanks man. I've gotta tell Nakaoka and Takeishi what's goin' on with that asshole of a teacher before it's too late. I mean, there's no way the track team's gonna make a comeback without them. So let's go! Come with me to the courtyard, man!" Ryuji said before Ren nodded and the two headed to the courtyard...

(A short time later, in the courtyard with Ren and Ryuji)

"Yeah! So, I called Nakoaka and Takeishi over here. I'm gonna tell 'em what that bastard Yamauchi is up to." Ryuji said as Ren spoke up.

"Makes sense to me, but what if they start fighting?" Ren asked uncertainly. Ryuji chuckled as he spoke up.

"Hehehe, I was hoping you'd ask that. You prolly didn't realize, but I recorded Yamauchi's whole convo back at the monja shop!" Ryuji said as Ren gaped in astonishment at the rare tactical brilliance shown by Ryuji, allowing Ryuji to grin as he kept speaking.

"I'm a genius, I know." Ryuji said as Ren sweatdropped before Ryuji kept speaking.

"Anyways, uh, the thing is, I might need some backup here. Can you stick around?" Ryuji asked Ren, who nodded as Takeishi showed up and spoke up.

"What do you want, Sakamoto?" Takeishi asked Ryuji as Nakoaka showed up and frowned as he spoke up.

"Wait. Sakamoto? Takeishi?" Nakoaka said in shock as Takeishi frowned at Nakoaka and spoke up.

"Nakoaka!? Wh-What the hell!? Are you guys gonna gang up on me!?" Takeishi asked in horror as Ryuji spoke up.

"Dude, chill. I just wanna talk." Ryuji said as both Nakaoka and Takeishi turned to face Ryuji in intrigue as he kept speaking.

"LIsten. This here is what's really goin' on with the track team." Ryuji said as he played the recording of the conversation.

"It'll be the rebirth of a team that found themselves in the depths of despair. The public will love it. And the best part is, not only are Takeishi's parents loaded, but his mother's the president of the PTA. But until then, he can show the others the value of obedience." Yamauchi's voice could be heard saying as Takeishi gasped and spoke up.

"This has to be a joke, right? Yamauchi said he'd make me the captain of the team." Takeishi said in shock as Nakaoka spoke up.

"Is this for real?" Nakaoka asked as Ryuji nodded and spoke up.

"It's Yamauchi's voice, ain't it? And on top of that, shit's gone down just like he said." Ryuji said as Takeishi looked down uncertainly before speaking up.

"Yamauchi's right. I don't have talent, not really. I'm not like you guys. I ran so damn hard, but you two were always so far ahead of me. How's a guy like me supposed to succeed? How am I supposed to be proud of myself!?" Yamauchi asked as Ryuji scoffed and spoke up.

"Proud?" Ryuji asked as Takeishi spoke up with a nod.

"Yes, proud. My dad always talks about how proud he is of his son, the track star. He told everyone I'd get a track scholarship like he did, and that I'd follow in his footsteps as a second-generation Taisei graduate. That's why I listened to Yamauchi. He said if I was the captain, he'd rite me a great letter of recommendation." Takeishi said sheepishly as Ryuji spoke up.

"C'mon, man. So you trusted what he was sayin' about Nakaoka 'cause of stupid crap like that?" Ryuji said as Takeishi frowned and spoke up.

"Sh-Shut up! What does a thug like you know!? You couldn't know how I feel, Sakamoto. Nobody does!" Takeishi said angrily as Ryuji growled and spoke up.

"Like hell I don't know! How long were we runnin' together, huh!? I went through all sorts of shit with you!" Ryuji said emphatically as Takeishi looked at Ryuji in shock.

"Sakamoto, are you for real?" Takeishi asked as Ryuji spoke up.

"Yeah. Be honest. Who're you liven your life for? Your parents? Teachers? Society? Maybe you should stop tryin' to live for them, and just try livin' for yourself. You think you gotta betray people to be proud?" Ryuji asked Takeishi, who winced and spoke up.

"W-Well, I wasn't sure what else to do. I thought that it was my best chance." Takeishi said. Ryuji huffed and spoke up.

"If that's seriously what you think, you're wrong! Hey, Nakaoka. You knew something was up with Yamauchi too, didn't you? I mean, the bastard's never been interested in track before, has he? But you kept quiet. You knew he was walkin' all over you, and you just let him do it." Ryuji said to Nakaoka, who just nodded.

"I'm not proud of it, but yeah, you're right. I was afraid to do what you did, and stand up for myself. Without Yamauchi, we still wouldn't have a team at all, or a place to belong." Nakaoka said as Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"I see. You missed runnin' that bad? Y'know, to be honest with you both, it ain't so scary not havin' a place you belong. You can kinda be free that way. If anything, I'm more scared of bein' a crappy person. I mean, I used to be like you guys were. Afraid, lyin' to myself, not livin' for myself, all of it. That is, until I met this dude over here." Ryuji said as Ren gave him a 'who, me?' look which Ryuji nodded to as he kept speaking.

"I don't wanna insult you guys or nothin', but I know you're prolly real pissed about all this shit. So, that being said, if you wanna hit me or something, go ahead. I'm ready." Ryuji said as Takeishi spoke up.

"Oh? In that case, maybe I will." Takeishi said as Nakaoka nodded and spoke up.

"Very well, if you insist." Nakaoka said as Takeishi hauled off and socked Ryuji in the face, making him gasp in surprise as he spoke up.

"Eh? Huh!? You're really doin' it!?" Ryuji asked in surprise as he knelt down on the ground while Nakaoka walked forward and spoke up.

"You said it's okay, right?" Nakaoka said as Ryuji's eyes widened and he spoke up.

"W-Wait, hold on!" Ryuji said as Nakaoka and Takeishi took turns swinging at Ryuji, while Ren just watched, ready to step in if it got too out of hand, but figuring this needed to happen for the sake of potential reconciliation. After a while, the two stopped swinging and Ryuji winced while he spoke up.

"Owww, damn that hurts. Did you really hafta keep swinging' so hard?" Ryuji asked as Nakaoka chuckled and spoke up.

"Hahaha, you're right, Sakamoto. I'm actually starting to feel a little better already." Nakaoka said as Takeishi nodded and spoke up.

"Me tool I think I can finally put all of this behind me. Nakaoka, I know it's just words, but I'm sorry." Takeishi said to Nakaoka, who smiled and spoke up.

"I'm sorry too. So Takeishi, you wanna bring back the track team?" Nakaoka asked Takeishi, who nodded and spoke up.

"Hell yeah!" Takeishi said as the two walked off happily, after which Ryuji sighed and looked at Ren before speaking up.

"Ugh, you saw that, right? That was some serious violence!" Ryuji said. Ren nodded and spoke up.

"I did see it. I'm sorry I didn't step in, but I could tell they needed to get that out of their system, and I think in a way, things turned out for the best for those two." Ren said. Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"Naw, man. It didn't turn out for the best for me, that's for sure. I've been takin' good care of this face, and look what ended up happenin' to it." Ryuji said, showing his bruised face off as Ren spoke up.

"Look at it this way, if they heal, they'll make the bruise you had from where Kusa got you with that right hook less noticeable, right?" Ren said as Ryuji smiled a closed-eye grin and nodded.

"Good point. Either way, they're prolly feelin' way better now. I think they're gonna be just fine together. And, Ren? Thanks." Ryuji said to Ren, who blinked.

"What're you thankin' me for, man? All I did was watch, after all." Ren said. Ryuji frowned and spoke up.

"You're tellin' me. You just sat around while I got my ass beat. I'd say that's twice now, but I think we can agree what happened with Kusa doesn't count since he was pissed off and not in his right mind that day, so I can give him a pass for it this one time. But for real though Ren, you were a big help. You were pushin' me to be cool that whole time. It's kinda like I was doin' a sprint or something, and you were runnin' next to me." Ryuji said to Ren, who blinked and spoke up.

"I was just standing here, though. But to be honest? You weren't cool though. I mean, how is letting some guys beat you up cool? No offense." Ren said. Ryuji winced and spoke up.

"Ouch, talk about brutal! Just forget about the beating I took, okay!?" Ryuji said as he and Ren laughed together while Ren felt his bond with Ryuji grow even deeper. At that point, the 'Chariot' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'VII' becoming a 'VIII' to signify that his Chariot Confidant link with Ryuji had reached rank 8.

As a result of the rank-up, Ryuji acquired the ability 'Endure', making it so that he could now potentially withstand a single piece of otherwise fatal damage with 1 HP remaining, much like what both Morgana and Ann had unlocked. Afterwards, Ryuji kept speaking.

"All right then, let's go! Anyways, let's head home. It's getting late, yeah? Also, I think my mouth's bleedin', so we'll hafta eat some other time." Ryuji said to Ren, who nodded and the two headed home, but not before Ryuji spoke up once more.

"Thanks again, Ren! See ya later, man!" Ryuji said as Ren headed back to Leblanc, where his phone rang as he got to the doorstep and he answered it.

"Hello?" Ren said as Ryuji spoke up on the other end.

"Yo Ren, it's me! Thanks for the help today! Gah, dammit. Man, my jaw's still kinda messed up from where Nakoaka punched me. But it's a good kinda pain, you know? Like just after a workout. They're gonna have to handle the rest, but, to be honest? I think they'll make the right call. Seein' them havin' a real heart-to-heart talk like that, they got a good team." Ryuji said as Ren spoke up.

"Agreed. So in that case, does that mean the case is closed?" Ren asked Ryuji who nodded as he spoke up.

"To be honest? I hope so, Ren. Still a long way from how things used to be, but in the end, I did all I could. Man, if those guys are really gonna go for this, I gotta step up my own game. I'm gonna up my pace, so you better be ready for it! 'Kay, later!" Ryuji said as Ren hung up the phone and headed into Leblanc. After considering his options, Ren decided to bite the metaphoric bullet and call Kawakami. Morgana blinked at this in surprise as he spoke up.

"Oh! Are you going to call Kawakami?" Morgana asked Ren, who nodded as he spoke up.

"Yep. Might as well get this over with so I quit getting these passive-aggressive messages from her." Ren said before looking at Morgana.

"As such, you know I need you and Kusa, if he gets back before she gets here, to clear off while she's here, right?" Ren said to Morgana, who nodded his understanding before he spoke up.

"I can go find somewhere to walk around so you have some privacy. As for Kusa, I vaguely recall hearing him plan to hang out with Futaba overnight since this is the only free night of the week he has during the school year." Morgana said as Ren nodded before dialing the service. After a bit, Kawakami answered.

"Hi, Master. This is Beckyyyy! Oh, hold on, it's you. By the way, is your house ever going to get air conditioning? Maid outfits get too hot during summer and really cold in winter. They're so impractical. Oh, well. By the way, you understood what I told you last time, right? And you still want to request me?" Kawakami asked Ren, who nodded as he spoke up.

"Yep. Regardless of whatever else might be the case, you're still my friend, and I like to help my friends out where I can, Miss Kawakami." Ren said as Kawakami sighed and spoke up.

"Ugh, fine, I have no choice. I guess I'll have to talk to you properly about it. Just wait for me there." Kawakami said as Ren nodded and waited for Kawakami to show up. Eventually she showed up and spoke up.

"Jeez! Are you serious? I told you the story about my sick little sister was a lie, Amamiya! You know you're being used for money, and despite that, you still request me?" Kawakami said as Ren spoke up sincerely.

"Miss Kawakami, I request you because I can, and because as your friend, I want to help you out if I can. Besides, correct me if I'm wrong here, but who's the Master here? I believe it's me?" Ren said bluntly. Kawakami blinked as she spoke up.

"Umm, well, I am thankful that you're requesting me, but I dunno about this. Y'know, you really are one strange kid, Amamiya-kun. I'm a mediocre teacher and a mediocre maid, you know. And yet, you listen to everything I have to say without complaint. In a way, you're the complete opposite of me. I don't even properly attend to my students' needs. Hmph." Kawakami said before sitting next to Ren as she kept speaking.

"So, to tell you the truth? The money is actually just an 'apology' of sorts. There was a student named Takase at the school I taught before Shujin. Takase-kun was considered a problem child, since he had the lowest grades and skipped school a lot. So I was put in charge of guiding him as it were, or rather, pushing him to transfer to another school. But when I got to know him, I realized he wasn't a problem child after all. Far from it, in fact.

He was working several part-time jobs just so he could cover his living expenses. His relatives took him in when his parents died, so he had to make money to support himself. He couldn't attend school every day, but he was motivated to study. That's why I decided to tutor him. After I started working with him, his grades started to improve, slowly but surely. But I was told that it was wrong to only help certain students and not others at some point.

Then a strange rumor about him being a juvenile delinquent began to circulate. And on top of that, I got called into the principal's office out of nowhere. He threatened me at that point, saying that I'd be dismissed if i continued to tutor Takase-kun." Kawakami said as Ren gasped at this before frowning as he spoke up.

"How terrible, Miss Kawakami! They threatened to fire you for doing your job as a teacher!? So what if you gave this Takase guy extra help compared to others? Sometimes students require that bit of extra attention and care to bring out their best. Besides, it seems to me like the arrangement made you both better for it. If you ask me, the principal of that school was as bad as, if not worse, than our late Principal Kobayakawa, may he rest in peace." Ren said sagely as Kawakami blinked before nodding as she spoke up.

"Yeah, that's a good point, actually. But then, you could say the same about me. I got scared of the threats, of losing my job, and of having rumors spread about me. So, in a truly cowardly move, I canceled our upcoming tutoring sessions with no explanation, just to save my job. Takase-kun was on his way to one of his part-time jobs when I told him that I was canceling our upcoming tutoring session. Out of all days, it was New Year's Eve, and it had been pouring rain all day that day. And because of when I told him, he ended up in an accident, and died in a car crash." Kawakami said as Ren gave her a horrified look while she kept speaking.

"He sounded so depressed when I told him that I couldn't tutor him anymore, to be honest. But then he said that it was no big deal because he had to work anyway, just so I wouldn't feel bad. If only I had kept my promise to him and not taken the coward's path." Kawakami said as Ren looked at Kawakami as he spoke up.

"Don't beat yourself up, Miss Kawakami. It was no one's fault that happened. It was just one of those really unfortunate accidents that happen every so often. And I'd like to think Takase knew that you didn't want to cancel on him, but you were acting out of fear for your job, and has no ill will towards you from wherever he is now." Ren said. Kawakami sighed and spoke up.

"Perhaps you're right, but Takase-kun was exhausted from the tutoring sessions and working at all his part-time jobs with little sleep in-between. His guardians blamed me for the accident, saying it was all my fault that he was so tired, as if I was the reason he had that accident. They said that they were going to sue me and take the issue to the media and the Board of Education. I wouldn't have been accused of a crime, but if word had gotten out, the school would've been done for. And honestly, I wanted to continue teaching, no matter what. So I ended up paying them the 'apology' money so they wouldn't sue me or anything." Kawakami said as Ren spoke up.

"Guardians, huh? It sounds to me like they were bad guardians, if the first thing they did after Takase passed was turn around and try to blame you for his accident, which was clearly not your fault, and then take to demanding money from you. I think they sound like scumbags." Ren said bluntly. Kawakami spoke up.

"Thanks, but it was my indecisiveness that backed him into a corner, and I blame myself every day. I know paying them isn't going to bring him back, but it's the only way I can atone for my sins. It seems like his guardians are satisfied with our arrangement, so that's the way things have to be. So, you see? Nothing good ever comes from getting involved with me." Kawakami said as Ren shook his head and spoke up.

"Not true. You've already enabled me to get quite a bit of free time in your class that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten. Plus, you've been good about coming when I request you, and you're usually pretty helpful, so I'd say that's something good that came from knowing you." Ren pointed out as Kawakami spoke up.

"That's sweet of you to say, but I have to keep my distance to avoid hurting others, so I don't meddle in my students' lives. I've been coming here because of a random twist of fate, but we should say goodbye as well." Kawakami said as Ren spoke up.

"Perhaps, but way I see it, it's too late for that now. We're already friends, and as a song I once heard said, friends never say goodbye. So you're gonna have to do better than that to get rid of me, Miss Kawakami. And to be frank, you shouldn't have to suffer on your own like this. Besides, we do have a deal in place." Ren said as Kawakami winced and spoke up.

"Amamiya-kun, that's sweet of you to say. Ugh, you're not the type to back down, are you? Haha, I suppose you have a point, though. I guess we're in this together, now that I told you the whole story, right? Hm, yeah. We're definitely in this together. Tell you what Amamiya-kun, I'll see what I can do about the other teachers so you get free periods with them, too. That said, I look forward to continuing our working relationship.

I'm not going to say personal relationship, since I know full well you've only got eyes for Yoshizawa-san, which I hope she realizes that she's lucky to have a friend like you, assuming you two don't end up more than friends." Kawakami said to a pensive Ren, who smiled as he felt like his relationship with Miss Kawakami had deepened somewhat.

At that point, the 'Temperance' card appeared in his mind's eye, the 'IV' becoming a 'V' to signify that his Temperance Confidant link with Miss Kawakami had reached rank 5. As a result of the rank up, Kawakami had bestowed the privilege of 'Free Time' onto Ren, making it so that Ren could periodically gain free time in other teachers' classes with Kawakami's help. Afterwards, Kawakami spoke up once more.

"All righty, time to clean. I'm going to put more energy into it than usual today!" Kawakami said as she started coughing before she spoke up again.

"Oh my, this room is sooo dusty! Even though I wipe this place squeaky clean every visit. How odd. Well, I guess it's all for you, Master. I'll work hard to earn my keep!" Kawakami said as she vigorously proceeded to clean up the room a bit, coughing more as she finished, speaking up afterwards.

"Oh, uh, wooow! If my cough is already this bad, well maybe we'd be better off tearing this place down than trying to clean it?" Kawakami asked as Ren spoke up.

"Not happening, Miss Kawakami. Apart from this being the only place Boss had to put me and Kusa up in when we moved here, it's also become something of a home for me, Kusa and our cat Morgana, who does not like being called a cat. So I can't agree to tearing this place down, both because Boss would probably skin me if I did, and because Kusa and Morgana both would be insanely livid with me if I did." Ren said as Kawakami blinked before speaking up.

"Oh, right. I forgot you share this room with your younger brother, and that you two adopted a cat a while back. Well, the shabbi-I mean, chicness of this room is truly its charm, so let's keep it as is! All right, I have to go." Kawakami said as she spoke up before she turned to leave.

"All right, thank you so much! I'll be eagerly awaiting your next request, Master!" Kawakami said as Ren escorted her to the station, and when he came back upstairs, his phone rang, so he headed downstairs to answer it.

"Hello?" Ren said as he answered his phone, shrugging as he heard Kawakami's voice on the other end.

"Oh, is this Master? Thank you for using our service today! Ugh, that is so soul-draining. I'm just gonna talk normally, and besides, no point making sales calls this late anyways. By the way, I've always wanted to ask, but do you live in that cafe right now? There's always this nice curry smell around the place. Do you get to eat that place's curry every day?" Kawakami said as Ren spoke up.

"Yep. Me and Kusa both live here with our cat since stuff was going on that made it impossible for Sojiro to let us live in his actual house, that I won't go into out of respect for his privacy. That said, yeah, he gives us curry all the time. Why, you want some?" Ren said. Kawakami blinked before smiling as she spoke up.

"Um, sure? Ooh, then I can serve it to you. Imagine it was cooked by your own maid, with lots of love and care. Ugh, okay, that was a joke but to be honest? God, I could really go for some homemade curry right now." Kawakami said as Ren nodded before blinking as he heard Kawakami coughing on the other end. She then kept speaking.

"Sorry. Can't seem to shake this cough. I've been so busy lately though. But I'll aaalways be ready and waiting for Master to request me! For real though, with that said, I think I'll let you go now. Okay, don't stay up too late. Night." Kawakami said as Ren hung up the phone and went downstairs to let Morgana back in, as the two went upstairs and curled up for the night. After a bit, his phone went off again, making Morgana wince as he spoke up.

"Huh, is that your phone? Who could that be at this hour?" Morgana asked as Ren shrugged and checked his phone, blinking as he saw it was Futaba.

"Are you free tomorrow? 'Why yes, Futaba!' Perfect. You are cordially invited to go look at limited-edition Featherman figures with me and Kusa, and nerd out. Let us ride to Nakano! We shall sally forth into a realm of true figurine geekdom!" Futaba sent as Morgana spoke up.

"Ooh, Futaba's inviting you and Kusa out. So, what'll it be? You gonna go to Nakano?" Morgana asked Ren, who spoke up.

"I'm going to table the message for tonight, and revisit it in the morning once I'm up and can view my options for the day. No sense committing to things ahead of time, after all." Ren said. Morgana nodded and spoke up.

"I see. Putting it off for now, huh? Makes sense you'd want to weigh your options. Don't forget to respond in the morning though." Morgana said as Ren nodded, putting his phone down as he and Morgana went to sleep together...

(The next morning, with Ren and Morgana in the attic of Leblanc)

Ren checked his chats, seeing he had none that were really urgent, so he re-opened his chat from Futaba, blinking as he saw she'd sent another response since he last checked it.

"It is the Dawn of The Final Day. (Tick tock tick tock.) Last chance to come to Nakano with me." Futaba sent as Ren thought about it before deciding to accept her invitation. He then sent a response of his own.

"Sorry, fell asleep after reading your response last night since I was half-asleep when you sent it. That said, of course I'll go hang out with you and Kusa." Ren sent as Futaba sent a response at that point.

"Well said, Ren! Then the three of us are a go for Nakano today. I'll send you directions, so read 'em!" Futaba sent as Morgana spoke up.

"Better take a good look at your map so you don't get lost. Let's get going. We don't want to keep Futaba and Kusa waiting." Morgana said as Ren's map was marked with the location of the 'Nakano Commerce Building District'. Ren then headed to Nakano to meet up with Kusa and Futaba, noting as he did so he'd overlooked an unread chat from Kusa, making him blink as he opened it up.

"If you see this Ren, do us both a favor and accept Taba's invitation. She wants the three of us to go looking at figurines together, and I don't think she'll accept 'no' for an answer. So hopefully you decide to accept her invitation, and if you don't, well at least have the decency to let her know instead of ignoring her message, since she gets kinda sulky when her messages go unanswered, and she's not that easy to get out of it when she ends up in a good sulk.

So please, if only for my peace of mind, accept her invitation. If you see this and you've already accepted her invite, then disregard this message entirely." Kusa sent as Ren chuckled at his brother's message as he arrived at Nakano, where he found Kusa and Futaba waiting, the former of which smiled and spoke up.

"Ah, good. You DID accept her invitation, Ren. Thank you for coming." Kusa said as Futaba giggled and spoke up.

"Hee hee, and the trio's all here! Did you see that limited-edition model on your way over here?" Futaba asked Ren, who nodded as Futaba kept speaking.

"They're so high quality. Way better than cheapos. The subtle facial expressions-even the little wrinkles on the clothes are so well-made. Urg, I want it so bad, it's not funny. But you could get sushi ten times with that kinda money, Ren." Futaba said to Ren, who spoke up.

"Oof, that sounds way too pricey, Futaba. I suppose you could start saving up for it, and I'm sure Kusa would be delighted to give you some one-on-one instruction in how to stretch a budget to help you save up faster." Ren said. Futaba nodded as she spoke up.

"True, I suppose I could ask Kusa to teach me how to save a budget, and I'm sure he'll do it. And I get where you're coming from as well, but speaking as a collector, it's totally worth it. You can really feel the sculptor's soul!" Futaba said as Ren spoke up.

"I'm totally sure Kusa would teach you that. If nothing else, he'd welcome the one-on-one time with you, considering the fact you and he are totally hot for each other." Ren said as Kusa frowned and spoke up, arms crossed.

"Not funny, Ren! And besides, Taba and I both agreed we're going to discuss where we stand at the dance, which she agreed to go to with me. So you can quit busting my balls about that any time." Kusa said flatly as Ren nodded, being distracted as he recognized the guy who'd walked up by Futaba to look at a display. Futaba huffed as she spoke up.

"Fine, if you think it's too pricey Ren, then I guess I'll just have to settle for staring at it. Okay, next up on the to-do list is-Wait a sec! That guy's definitely bad news. I mean, I don't wanna say he's yakuza, but at the same time, I also detect heavy amounts of badass energy coming off of him." Futaba said as Ren turned and blinked as he realized why the guy was so familiar. It was Iwai, from the airsoft shop. Futaba blinked as she spoke up.

"Listen, let's just wait for him to leave. Don't make eye contact, okay?" Futaba said as Kusa spoke up.

"Wait, I think Ren and I have seen that guy before. Yeah, we have. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's the guy who runs and possibly owns Untouchable, over in Shibuya." Kusa said as Ren spoke up, looking at Futaba as he spoke.

"Don't worry so much, Futaba. I know that guy. He's basically my boss that I work part-time for at night on certain nights." Ren said. Iwai blinked as he heard Kusa mention his shop, turning and smirking as he recognized Ren.

"Mm? Well, look who it is. If it isn't my part-timer, and the guy who bought model knives off of me. How's it goin', you guys?" Iwai asked Kusa and Ren, as Futaba moved to stand by Ren with a quiet sort of 'Eep!', making Kusa smirk as he turned to Iwai and spoke up.

"I'm surprised you remembered me, Iwai-san. I didn't think you took the time to remember customers that don't come in much." Kusa said as Ren spoke up.

"You'd be surprised what Iwai here remembers, Kusa." Ren said knowingly. Iwai chuckled as he spoke up.

"Got that right, kid! Yo, didn't think I'd bump into you here." Iwai said as Futaba spoke up, not looking at Iwai as she spoke.

"He's talking to us, Ren! We're dead, aren't we?" Futaba asked as Kusa walked over and spoke up.

"No, Taba. We're not dead. I think he'd have already killed us if he was gonna do that. Besides, if I recall correctly, Iwai-san might look like a scary man, but he's been known to also have a more gentle and kind side that he rarely shows, or so I hear. For all I know, that could be bullshit and he's a total badass who enjoys messing with random strangers by saying hi to them and acting surprised to see them." Kusa said with a smirk, turning to subtly nod at Iwai with a wink, as if saying 'play along!'. Ren, for his part just shook his head as he spoke up.

"Kusa, don't tease Futaba like that! I know you like to tease her from time to time since you have a crush on her, but that's really not how you tease a lady." Ren said as Iwai spoke up.

"Heh, who's the little lady?" Iwai asked Ren, who spoke up.

"Basically, she's as good as my little sister. Probably will be my eventual sister-in-law, if she and my brother ever decide to just act on their feelings for each other instead of both denying what's plain to see." Ren said with an amused smirk. Kusa huffed and spoke up.

"You can shut that instigating mouth of yours, Ren. And you have no room to talk. How many times have you and Yoshizawa kissed, despite claiming that you're just friends?" Kusa pointed out dryly, as Iwai chuckled at Ren's response and spoke up.

"Heh! 'Basically', huh. Sounds complicated. And you, in the ponytail? You've got some gumption on you. I like that." Iwai said as Kusa just nodded in respect and spoke up.

"Thanks. And don't mind Futaba, here. She's just shy around people she doesn't really know well. So try not to take it personally if she acts wary or scared of you at first. She takes time to open up to people. Ask Ren, and he'll tell you that it took him quite awhile to get her to open up to him, and that's with us basically living down the road from her for the past several months, mind you." Kusa said as Iwai nodded and spoke up.

"I see. Still, not like I'm in a place to judge." Iwai said, his arms crossed. Futaba blinked at this, turning to face Ren as she spoke up.

"Hm? Um, Ren? Do you know this guy?" Futaba asked Ren, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yep. As I said before Futaba, Iwai-san here is my boss I work for part-time on an as-needed basis." Ren explained to Futaba. Iwai chuckled at Ren's explanation.

"Hah! What, like for a job or something? I guess you could say that. You don't have to fear me, by the way, little lady. Name's Munehisa Iwai, and I run the airsoft shop Untouchable." Iwai said as Futaba blinked and spoke up.

"Wait, like Untouchable, as in that military store?" Futaba asked in surprise as Iwai nodded.

"Hm? Oh, you know it?" Iwai asked Futaba, who stuttered a bit as she spoke up.

"Y-Yeah, I do. Uh, I mean, yes sir, I'm familiar with your shop." Futaba said shyly, as Kusa smiled and spoke up.

"You don't have to be so shy around him, Taba. Iwai's not a bad guy, at least to those he calls friends, or even just acquaintances." Kusa said as Iwai spoke up.

"Heh, impressive. You know your stuff, don't you kid? And little lady? You can relax, kid. I don't bite." Iwai said as Ren spoke up.

"You here on business, Iwai-san?" Ren asked, figuring it was probably smarter not to pry into Iwai's business too much. Iwai nodded and spoke up.

"You could say that. Oh, me and these guys go way back. They distribute some of my wares here." Iwai said as Futaba walked forward and spoke up, a curious look on her face.

"Wares, you say? Hm, what about that model gun in the second floor display case?" Futaba asked as Iwai blinked and spoke up, impressed at Futaba's eye for detail.

"Oh, huh, that one? Yeah, that's probably one of ours." Iwai said as Futaba nodded and spoke up.

"I see. The level of detailing on that one was crazy. Like, the barrel shape and even the metal texturing was perfect. That kind of authenticity is hard to find." Futaba said, making Iwai chuckle appreciatively, not expecting Futaba to have that sort of attention to detail, much less appreciation of guns. He spoke up, while Ren turned and smirked as he snapped a finger in front of Kusa's face a few times to get his attention back on track, seeing him gaping like a fish at how effortlessly Futaba had opened up to Iwai, much less how much Iwai seemed to enjoy Futaba's curiosity while he spoke.

"Heh, whoa. You know your stuff, little lady. You oughta drop by the shop sometime. I got plenty more models for someone who can appreciate 'em." Iwai said as Futaba looked at Iwai in surprise and spoke up.

"R-Really!?" Futaba asked in surprise as Iwai nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, really. Welp, see ya around." Iwai said, walking off as Futaba giggled and spoke up, looking at Ren as she spoke up.

"He's kinda scary-looking at first glance, but he seems like a nice guy." Futaba said as Ren nodded, before Kusa spoke up.

"I'm sure he's a nice guy, but I think right there he was more impressed by Futaba's appreciation of his model guns. But I dunno if I want Futaba going there on her own or not." Kusa said mulishly as Ren grinned and spoke up.

"Oh, what's this? Could Kusa be jealous of Iwai?" Ren joked as Kusa sputtered and spoke up.

"Wh-what? Me? Jealous!? As if! More like I'm apprehensive of how fast he warmed up to Taba. After all, I know we've both heard the rumors about him, Ren." Kusa said as Ren nodded before Futaba smiled at Kusa and spoke up.

"Aw, come on. No need to be jealous, Kusa. He might have a lot of flashy guns, but he's not as impressive to me as you are." Futaba said reassuringly to Kusa, who nodded and spoke up.

"Yeah, fair point there, Taba. Sorry, just uneasy a bit, and perhaps a bit more protective of you than I should be." Kusa said sheepishly as Futaba giggled and spoke up.

"Silly Kusa, you don't have to be so protective of me. I can handle myself." Futaba said as Kusa nodded and Ren spoke up.

"Regardless, it is getting late, so you and I should probably get back to Leblanc, Kusa." Ren said as Kusa huffed and spoke up.

"I hate when you're right, but you are correct, Ren. Welp, guess I'll see you when I see you, Taba." Kusa said as Futaba nodded and spoke up.

"Yep! Mind you, we can always be in contact through chats." Futaba pointed out as Kusa nodded.

"That's true. Well, later." Kusa said as Ren and Kusa headed back to Leblanc at that point...

(That evening, at Leblanc, with Ren, Kusa and Morgana)

Ren went to check his ticket since it was claimable, frowning as he only won 100 yen off of a 3,000 yen ticket, but he shrugged as he promptly bought another ticket. After that, he headed back to Leblanc and had a seat in a booth seat to plan out his next move...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, another chapter done and dusted! And just like that, we're down to the end of Arc 5! Next chapter SHOULD most likely be the end of Arc 5, which then sets up the start of Arc 6. And Arc 6 is where the story really starts to both get intense and also bring a lot of the good stuff out, including most of the pairings for the story, which I'm sure some of you have been not-so-patiently waiting for! Not much longer now, I'd say. So hang in there! Also, real quick aside, I have a poll up on my profile that you can vote on which will affect how I handle the Strikers half of the story. It will be up until I upload the next chapter, so you have a few days to vote on it! So please vote on it!

But also, thanks to those who either follow this story, have it on their favorite stories list, or have left a review on it, as your input is always much appreciated! And feel free to keep offering feedback, input, and opinions, as they help me get better as a writer, plus I can further fine-tune this story as I get input. So keep reviewing and/or PMing me your feedback! Until next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!

NOTES

*1* - I know, not the most impressive thing to use for a note. But I couldn't resist throwing a Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's reference here, since that series seriously kicks ass! If you've not seen it yet, I think the first season of it is still up on YouTube on the Official Yu-Gi-Oh! channel, unless they pulled those episodes since the last time I looked them up. Either way, very good series!

CONFIDANT RANKS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 60

FOOL (Igor/Prison Master) - Rank 8

MAGICIAN (Morgana/Mona) - Rank 9

PRIESTESS (Makoto/Queen) - Rank 5

EMPEROR (Yusuke/Fox) - Rank 5

HIEROPHANT (Sojiro/Boss/Coffee Daddy) - Rank 8

LOVERS (Ann/Panther) - Rank 9

CHARIOT (Ryuji/Skull) - Rank 8

JUSTICE (Akechi) - Rank 6

HERMIT (Futaba/Oracle) - Rank 3

FORTUNE (Chihaya/Fortune Teller) - Rank 2

STRENGTH (Caroline and Justine/Twin Wardens) - Rank 9

HANGED-MAN (Iwai/Weapons Dealer) - Rank 3

DEATH (Takemi/Back-Alley Doctor) - Rank 7.5

TEMPERANCE (Kawakami/Becky) - Rank 5

DEVIL (Ohya) - Rank 2

STAR (Hifumi) - Rank 5

MOON (Mishima) - Rank 6

SUN (Yoshida/Man Of The People) - Rank 9

JUDGEMENT (Sae/Prosecutor) - Rank 4

FAITH (Kasumi/Sumi/Yoshizawa) - Rank 5 'MAX'

COUNCILLOR (Maruki/Doc) - Rank 7

WORLD (Kusa/Draconis) - Rank 5

YET TO BE UNLOCKED- TOWER, EMPRESS