Ren: Hello All! Ren here and I am back with the official first chapter to Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate. I'm so glad you all enjoyed it. I hope you guys enjoy this one as well. So sit back, relax and enjoy!
Ryuji: Showtime Persona!
Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter One
[Opening Scene – Café LeBlanc (Nighttime)
Theme of BitternessConfession, Secret (Piano Ver.) From Persona 5]
'How annoying,' Ren bitterly thought as he swept up the floor of his new room. His meeting with Sakura Sojiro went less than stellar.
This man was his guardian for an entire year, and he started it all by pissing the guy off.
'Though that doesn't seem so hard to do in retrospect,' Ren thought wryly. He should have just kept his mouth shut instead of instantly hiding in his smartass mask and angering the guy.
Then again, if he had kept his mouth shut in the first place, he wouldn't have been in this situation.
"Please! Someone help me!"
"Damn brat, I'll sue!"
Ren shut his right eye and held the left side of his head as that voice pounded against his skull. God, what did he do to deserve this fate? She was in danger, he helped her, and as thanks, he was framed.
'I guess the old saying is true. No good deed goes unpunished,' Ren thought with a bitter scowl.
Thanks to this incident, his parents, friends, and girlfriend outright abandoned him when they found out about the incident, and now he was stuck in this vast, uncaring city, going to a new school.
That meant joining the same clubs he was well known in back at his school and catching up on anything he missed during his time out of school. 'Then again, maybe I should just keep my head down and stay unnoticed for the year," Ren thought to himself. 'I don't need anyone to know who I am. That will only cause trouble in the long run.'
Ren then paused his sweeping and said out loud, "Or maybe I should stop overthinking things and just go with the flow. It's a new place, and no one here knows what I did, student-wise as least. I shouldn't have to stop enjoying my hobbies because of it."
"Hey, kid," a voice said from behind him.
Ren turned around to see his new caretaker standing in the doorway of the attic with a begrudging look on his face. "Hey, I just came up here to see how you're doing," Sojiro said, giving the room a brief look around.
"I'm doing ok Sakura-san," Ren said.
"Sojiro is fine," Sojiro replied. "Look, I came up here to apologize. I shouldn't have snapped the way I did. I know this is tough on you. Coming to a new city, building a new life with this hanging over your head."
"No, I'm sorry, Sojiro-san," Ren said. "I shouldn't have been such a smartass to you down there. I'll try to stay on your good side."
Sojiro nodded and said, "Very good. Ah, I see you've straightened this place up. It looks better."
"Thanks," Ren said with a polite smile.
"I came up here to tell you that I'll be taking you to school tomorrow morning at nine to meet with the principal and your teacher, so make sure you get some rest," Sojiro said.
Ren nodded.
"I'm closing up shop downstairs. You can do whatever you like. But if anything comes missing, I won't hesitate to contact the police myself," Sojiro warned. Just then, Sojiro's phone began to ring, and he quickly excused himself, leaving Ren alone.
"Goodnight to you too…" Ren sighed out before he continued to clean. After another hour of cleaning, Ren decided to call it a night and went to sleep.
[Scene Change – Interrogation Room (Nighttime)
Theme of Tension: Interrogation Room from Persona 5]
"A high school student…The leader of the Phantom thieves. I almost feel insulted!"
Ren doubled over in pain as a fist collided with his stomach, but his head was pulled up by his hair and spat in the face of the well-dressed agent.
The man snarled and repeatedly punched Ren in the face, each punch causing Ren's vision to darken.
"You!"
Punch.
"Should!"
Punch.
"Just!"
Punch.
"Learn!"
Punch.
"Your!"
Punch.
"Place!"
Ren fell to the ground as blood fell from his lip and forehead. He then felt a foot stomp on his head. "Now talk! Where are your teammates?"
"Fuck off," Ren hissed out defiantly.
The man looked to his fellow agents and said, "Lift him."
The man removed his foot, and two agents lifted Ren by his arms and held him as the bald man removed his jacket and tossed it to the side.
"Since it seems you refuse to answer, I'll just have to beat one out of you," The man said.
"Such a big man. Beating a teenager half your size," Ren growled out. "Your mother must be so proud of you abusing the justice system like this."
"Thieves like you don't know the meaning of justice!" before his fist slammed into Ren's face.
Ren spat blood out to the floor and smirked despite himself, and asked, "Please, sir, may I have some more?"
"And you continue to talk. Don't you understand, kid? You're in our hands, and no one is going to save you," The man said cockily. "Why don't you tell us what we want to know, and we'll stop the beating."
Instead of answering, Ren laughed in the man's face.
The man smirked at this and replied, "Go ahead and laugh, kid. Sooner or later, that defiance in your eyes is going to fade away while my fists remain as hard as ever. So let's see how long you last!" before he began to wail on Ren's defenseless form again.
[Scene Change – Café LeBlanc (Mid-Morning)
Theme of Awakening: Sunset Bridge from Persona 5]
With a gasp, Ren woke up in a cold sweat.
That dream felt far too real. Ren could feel the pain from each of those blows on his body and he felt exhausted.
But why did he dream that?
"In the light men crossing over lone shadows
Wearing veiled slight hopes for intimacy
Want to be close
To be close…"
Ren reached over to his phone, switched his alarm off, and saw that the time was "8:30 A.M" on his screen.
But curiously, there was that strange app again. Ren frowned and deleted the app before he stood up to get ready.
Thankfully, Shujin Academy sent their uniform by mail before moving up here, so he had access to wear it.
After taking a bath down the street, Ren slipped on his uniform just as Sojiro walked into the room and said, "Good, you're already ready to go. Come on."
[Scene Change – Shujin Academy (Daytime)
Theme of Shujin Academy: Want to be Close from Persona 3]
"Wow, this place is huge," Ren stated once he and Sojiro stepped out of the car and glanced at the school. Back home, his school was so much smaller.
This one was as big as a castle.
Ren suddenly saw the image of a castle superimposed over the school and the faint but familiar laughter echoing within his mind.
"Heed…my…c-call…" The voice said within his head.
Ren shook his head with a wince.
"You ok, kid?" Sojiro asked.
"I just got a dreadful headache for some reason," Ren said. "But I'll be fine."
"Good. Now let's not waste anymore of my Sunday and get inside," Sojiro replied.
The two walked into the school, and Ren began to look around. He didn't know why but this place felt familiar to him.
While there was uneasiness within him, this place made him feel nostalgic as well.
"What's with that wistful smile on your face?" Sojiro asked him, snapping him out of this feeling.
"I-uh...I just missed school, is all," Ren said honestly.
Back at home, Gojin Academy was Ren's life. From being the Volleyball and Track team leader, to head of the student council, Ren was the model student before that night happened.
"Ah, so you were a bookworm then?" Sojiro asked.
"Top of my class," Ren added.
"Ah, impressive," Sojiro said, his voice giving away his surprise. "If you bring that dedication to this school, you should have no probl-watch out!"
Ren turned his head only to collide with a person, which sent him down to the ground.
"Ow," the person in front of him said.
Ren looked up to see a girl with brown eyes and dark black hair in a ponytail tied with a pink hairband. She was wearing Shujin's uniform without the black jacket: a beige sweater rolled up to her elbows and the standard uniform skirt.
He also noted the black leg-brace on her right leg and black bandages around her elbows and under her skirt, and white running shoes.
Ren stared at the girl, and for a split second, an image of this girl was lying on the ground with blood pooling around her with himself, a blond boy and blonde girl staring in horror in the crowd before his mind flashed back to seeing her rubbing her forehead.
"Nice going, kid," Sojiro said as Ren quickly rose to his feet and held out his hand to her.
"Are you alright?" Ren asked kindly.
"I-I'm fine…" the girl said as she took his hand, albeit hesitantly.
"I'm sorry for bumping into you," Ren said apologetically. "I should have watched where I was going."
"N-No, It's my fault," she insisted. "I was in a rush to get h-home from V-V-Volleyball practice."
"Let's just say we're both at fault," Ren said with a grin.
The girl's face seemed to flush before she said, "I've n-never seen you here before. Are you new?"
"Yes, I'm Amamiya Ren. I'll be starting…" Ren drifted off, not sure when he would start.
"Tomorrow," Sojiro said.
"Tomorrow," Ren said as well.
"Nice to meet you, Amamiya-san. My name is Suzui S-Shiho," Shiho said. "I must run, but if you like, I-I can show you around."
"That would be nice," Ren said with a smile on his face.
The girl flushed again before she heard footsteps echoing from behind her.
Walking towards the three was a tall male with long black, unkempt hair, thick eyebrows, a broad and square jawline, and a white sports T-shirt and black sports trousers with double white stripes.
"Ah! Suzui-chan!" The man called out as he picked up his pace.
Ren immediately felt himself on edge at the sight of this male, and that only grew when he noticed the panic cross Shiho's face at the sound of his voice.
"Hey kid, we need to get moving. We have people to meet," Sojiro said, but Ren could only look at the barely concealed fear on Shiho's face as the man continued to approach them.
Thinking quickly, Ren said, "Well, Shiho-san, Sorry for keeping you from your doctor's appointment. I will see you tomorrow. "
Shiho looked confused, but she seemed to realize what he was trying to do and said, "Y-Yes. Very nice t-to meet you." Shiho said before she darted off for the exit.
Ren noticed the man slow his pace before he stopped in front of Ren and Sojiro and said, "Darn, I must have just missed her. Hi, I'm Suguru Kamoshida. I'm the head coach of volleyball here at Shujin Academy."
"Ah, Volleyball," Sojiro said. "I'm Sakura Sojiro, and this here is Amamiya Ren. He's a new student starting tomorrow. He was the volleyball captain of his school."
"Were you now?" Kamoshida asked.
'I don't know whether he's trying to sound interested, but to me, he sounds threatening,' Ren thought with an inward sneer. "That is correct. One of the best at my school," Ren replied.
"I can't wait to see you try out then," Kamoshida said. "We have a volleyball meet in a few days from now. You can see how we at Shujin does it, but I'm sure you two have places to be, so I'm off."
Kamoshida turned around and took a left turn down a hallway, but Ren saw this dark expression on his face.
'What is up with the look?' Ren thought.
"He's an Olympic gold medalist in Volleyball Ren. You should learn a lot from him," Sojiro stated, which only made Ren inwardly blanch, but outwardly, he nodded.
"Come on, we wasted enough time," Sojiro said.
Ren nodded, and together, the two walked into the meeting room, and right away, Ren was taken aback by the woman that stood in the room.
She was a youthful-looking woman of medium height and a slender build. She had dark brown unkempt hair and dark brown eyes.
She wore a yellow long-sleeved shirt striped with white and red horizontal lines, a blue denim skirt, and white kitten heel shoes. While Ren thought she was beautiful, she looked exhausted.
Ren wasn't sure why but he remembered her from somewhere but where?
Beside her was a man that made Ren burst out laughing.
The frumpy man beside her was short, overweight, and bald with a head shaped like an egg, and he wore a beige suit, white undershirt, and red bow tie.
"What in the world is so funny, young man?" The short man asked.
"Nothing," Ren said between his laughter. "Just had a thought."
The teacher let out a sad sigh and said, "I take it you're Amamiya Ren?"
"That's me. And might I say, It's good to see you again," Ren said before his eyes widened, as well as hers, but while he was surprised, she was in panic mode.
He didn't mean to say that.
Why did he say that?
Ren had never met Kawakami before a day in his life, but those words just flew out of his mouth.
"Ah, so you know Kawakami-san?" The short man asked.
"I-I've seen her around," Ren said with an embarrassed look.
Sojiro quirked his eyebrow at the teen and then said, "Must have been around town. You did wind up lost looking for my shop."
"Yeah, that must be it," Ren replied.
He noticed that Kawakami's body relaxed at the reveal, which inwardly made Ren glad, but why did she get so nervous?
"Ah, that must be the case. Well, let me formally introduce you to her as well as myself. I am Principal Kobayakawa, and this is your homeroom teacher, Sadayo Kawakami."
"Please to see you again," Kawakami said sarcastically, eyeing him down suspiciously.
"Thanks," Ren said with a grin, but inwardly he sighed.
He should have kept his mouth shut.
Ren: And that is the end of this chapter. The next chapter is going to be where things really pick up. Rain-san also states that he wanted to make this more fleshed out Kamoshida arc so until the next chapter.
Ryuji: Peace out!