Captain Blues: Ahoy-hoy! Another day, another chapter. Let's get down to the Knitty-gritty!

Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Thirty – Three

[Opening Scene: Shibuya - Hotel (Evening)
Theme of Hotel: Kichijoji 199X from Persona 5 Royal]

"So this Nakanohara Natsuhiko spoke to the Phantom Thieves?" Sae asked as she sat across from Zenkichi with a large smirk on her face.

Zenkichi nodded. "Yes, unfortunately, they were masked up, but I managed to overhear enough information that they are looking into the potential abuse of this Kitagawa Yusuke," Zenkichi explained as he leaned back in his hotel bed a thoughtful expression on his face.

"We still believe that this Amamiya Ren and the Kamoshida busters could be the Thieves, yes?" Zenkichi asked her.

"He must be," Sae responded, her tone so sure that it almost gave him pause. The Phantom Thieves first appeared during Kamoshida's reign of horror on the students, aka when Amamiya Ren first joined the school.

The coincidence was too good to be accurate, but it seemed murky with this new potential target and victim. "But this Kitagawa Yusuke has nothing to do with Kamoshida," Zenkichi told her as he shut his eyes. "There isn't a file on him at all in Shujin's student history. Why would they stick their neck out for someone they don't know?"

"It could be due to a child being in danger?" Sae suggested.

Zenkichi's eyes widened in surprise.

That would be the common link between what happened at Shujin versus this potential case with this Kitagawa Yusuke. "Potentially….But we have to remember that this is Ichiryusai Madarame that they are accusing. A very prestigious artist and one with damn good lawyers," Zenkichi said.

Sae scowled. "We need to stop them before they can strike," Sae said with agitation before she said, "Continue to shadow Amamiya and anyone that associates with him. I'll look into this Ichiryusai Madarame and his supposed connection with Kitagawa Yusuke."

Zenkichi nodded.

[Scene Change: Shibuya - Yoshizawa Residence (Evening)
Theme of the Troubled: Seven Sisters High School B from Persona 2: Innocent Sin]

"Honey, I'm worried about Kasumi."

Yoshizawa Shinichi looked up from his newspaper at his beautiful wife and frowned in concern. "Is it another episode?" Shinichi asked.

His wife nodded, and Shinichi let out a low sigh.

He had prayed that moving to Shibuya and the regular doctor visits from him would cure his daughter of these depression episodes, but they seemed to worsen.

Shinichi could feel the frustration bubbling up in his veins, but it was born out of worry for his daughter.

"I'll go check on her," Shinichi told his worrying wife, and with a deep, heaving sigh, he stood up and made his way up the stairs.

(If you only knew
I'm hanging by a thread
The web I spin for you)

Kasumi laid in her bed, her body trembling as she held her phone in her hands, her eyes blurry from the tears that she was shedding.

She wished that she could contact him again.

He would make it all better. He would make this pain go away.

(If you only knew
I'd sacrifice my beating
Heart before I lose you.)

But Ren…He hated her now.

(It's 4:03, and I can't sleep
Without you next to me I
Toss and turn like the sea.)

He couldn't even see her without running as fast as he could. And she deserved it. She had run out on him when he needed her most. She had abandoned him. Ren wouldn't come to save her after all that she did.

(If I drown tonight, bring me
Back to life
Breathe your breath in me.)

But that wouldn't make the hurt go away. All Kasumi could do now is stare at their old messages, using his past words of encouragement to help her get through the agony that raged in her heart.

She just wished that she had him there with her.

(The only thing that I still believe
In is you,
if you only knew.)

"Ren…" She whimpered out as she curled up further into a little ball.

If Ren only knew how much she needed him now.

Shinichi silently closed his Sumire's door and sighed.

It seemed that's all he could do since that day.

Just sigh.

His daughter had lost a lot in a very short timeframe before they moved here.

From her sister and then the boy she had dated since she showed up at the school. He knew that the latter was more his fault due to both Shido's request and the amount of stress she was already under due to Kasumi's death would have some issues.

But he was not aware of how much this Amamiya Ren was ingrained in her life. It was unfortunate that the good doctor's abilities could not erase him from her mind.

Shinichi then frowned.

He wished he could do something to help his daughter.

[Scene Change: Shibuya – Niijima Residence (Evening)
Theme of Niijima Residence: Way of Life ~Deep Inside My Mind Mix~ From Persona P3P]

Now dressed in a simple dark gray shirt and black pants, Makoto sat in her living room in silence as she worked on her homework, periodically checking her watch as she chewed her inner cheek nervously.

Sae had kept try to her word and stayed out during dinner time, and usually, Makoto would feel alone, but tonight, she had invited over someone. Sae would kill her if she knew that she had asked Ren to come over, but she needed to discuss what had occurred at the gym.

She heard her doorbell ring and made her way to the buzzer and asked, "Who is it?"

"Amamiya's Delivery," Came the reply.

Makoto felt her heartbeat quicken as she quickly rang the buzzer to open the door to the building. After a few seconds, there was a knock at the door.

Makoto opened it to see Ren on the other side, a friendly smile on his face with a bag of food in his right hand.

"I wasn't expecting a delivery," Makoto quipped as she moved aside to let Ren enter.

"I figured since it's late, you may not have eaten yet, and I know I didn't, so…Surprise," Ren said as he sat the food on the table, then looked around before he added, "Your place is cozy. I like it."

"Thanks. My sister and I decorated it when we moved in here two years ago," Makoto said with a smile on her face. Makoto was never allowed to have friends over or friends in general due to Sae's constant mantra of "Future first then Friends," so to have Ren here gave her a giddy feeling.

"So what did you get?" Makoto asked as she peeked into the bag.

"Got some curry," Ren said happily. "Some of the best curry in all of Shibuya."

"Curry? It's been years since I've had that," Makoto said with a smile as she opened the bag fully and pulled out the curry and white rice cartons and sat them on the table. After gathering the plates and cups of water (Sae did not allow soda), the two sat at the table, the wonderful scent of curry filling the air.

"This smells divine…." Makoto told him.

"I know. I can never get enough of it," Ren replied as he ate a spoonful. "So, why did you call me down here anyways? Other than to bask in my glory."

Makoto snorted as she took a spoonful of food into her mouth, and for a moment, she was unable to respond due to the savory taste of the curry.

Where did he get this?!

"You okay?" Ren asked with an amused tone as Makoto blinked. "You had the most sincere look of joy on your face at eating that."

Makoto flushed. "You were not kidding. This is the best curry I've ever had," She told him.

Ren smirked.

"But the reason I called you down here, other than to bask in your glory was due to that…thing…." Makoto said.

Ren's amused expression turned serious, and once again, Makoto could feel her heart quicken at the sight of it. "You heard it again?" Ren asked.

Makoto nodded. "Not only did I hear it…" Makoto pulled her shirt to reveal the bite mark on her neck as she suppressed a blush, which caused Ren to look in surprise. "This happened today as well…" Makoto finished.

Ren stood up and moved behind her to observe the bite mark, and feeling the hot breath from him caused her body to heat up but what she didn't expect was for his fingertip to trace the spot, which caused her to stifle the surprised gasp that wanted to escape.

"He has you all twisted up inside…" the dark voice cooed in her mind. "He has you burning up just by a touch of his finger…It's such a sight."

[Theme of Thy True Self: Bomb Shelter from Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP Ver)]

Makoto wanted to deny it, but the shadow was correct. Ren's touch was heating her body with a desire she had not expected.

"She just spoke," Makoto whispered to Ren, who looked up from the bite mark.

"She?" Ren asked as he withdrew his finger.

Makoto nodded.

"What did she say?" Ren questioned, his voice soft as she felt goosebumps begin to form against her skin.

Makoto flushed and said, "Nothing but a taunt."

"Your body is burning. Who knew Ren could ignite this fire within you," the shadow teased darkly. Despite feeling Ren on the right side of her body, she could feel the cold touch of the shadow to her left, caressing her jaw from behind. "It's unfortunate that you will betray him to your master to fulfill your usefulness…."

"How does she taunt you?" Ren asked her.

"The Principal believes you and your friends are the Phantom Thieves," Makoto breathed out softly. "He wants me to investigate…."

"Does he?" Ren asked her calmly, his low voice causing an intense feeling to form in her stomach. She had expected him to get mad, but he was as calm as ever.

"I do not wish to turn you in," Makoto admitted.

"But you will…." Her shadow murmured as Makoto felt the shadow's teeth lightly nip at her left earlobe, which caused a deep shudder from Makoto.

This was torture.

"You are the student class president. It makes sense," Ren noted.

"It does," Makoto managed to say. "But he is holding a recommendation over my head to get me to do it."

"What do you think you should do?" Ren asked.

"I'm not going to betray you," Makoto told him.

"But you will, my pet…You know you will…" her shadow told her before the shadow's presence disappeared.

[Theme of Niijima Residence: Way of Life ~Deep Inside My Mind Mix~ From Persona P3P]

"But I don't know what to do…This recommendation is critical to have. I'll think of something without risking you," Makoto told him with determination.

Ren opened his mouth to respond but then grinned. "I believe and trust you," Ren replied. Makoto could hear the sincere tone in his voice, and it felt wonderful to hear.

"Besides, this could work to our advantage," Ren said with a thoughtful tone. "But I will think on that later. I have a hunch on what is happening to you, but I need to look more into it. If my hunch is right, I think I know who can help you."

"Who?" Makoto asked.

Ren shut his eyes and said, "It's a secret," with a smile.

Before Makoto could respond to this, a ringtone went off.

(I tried hard, but where did we go wrong?
I hope we could... but I won't start all over again.)

"That's me," Ren said as he pulled out his phone and glanced at it.

"Phantom Thief stuff?" Makoto asked with a hint of a teasing tone, but she grew concerned when she saw the serious expression on his face. "What is it?" She asked.

She wasn't prepared for him to hand her his phone and when she looked inside, she saw a text that read.

Yoshizawa Sumire: If you can read this…I need you.

[Scene Change: Shibuya - Kosei High School Dorms– Evening]
(Theme of Kosei High School: Kasugayama High School from Persona P2: Innocent Sin(PSP)

Kitagawa Yusuke sat in front of his easel, brush in his right hand and his palette in the left. Yusuke's eyes swept across the image before him before his hand moved to continue his piece.

"Such a magnificent piece…." A familiar voice said with approval from behind him.

[Theme of Thy True Self: Bomb Shelter from Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP Ver)]

Yusuke ignored the voice and continued to paint, but sweat began to fall down his face. "I'm sure Madarame-sensei will get a pretty penny for this…" the voice continued as Yusuke's right hand began to shake.

"What? You aren't talking to me anymore?" The voice asked with a saddened tone, but to Yusuke, he could hear the mocking in it. "Why must you ignore me for speaking the truth?"

"Your lies are not true," Yusuke finally responded, his hand continuing the frantic pace. "Madarame-sensei has been nothing short of a saint to me."

"I'm sure he has," The voice responded dryly, but without warning, Yusuke felt a grip around his right wrist before his arm sharply went right, causing a large black smudge on the painting.

"Whoops…" The shadow said as Yusuke began to panic.

"No, no, no, no…." Yusuke repeated as he looked at the painting.

There was no way to salvage this.

He was on a deadline, and now his work was ruined!

"Why?" Yusuke asked as he slumped over in despair.

"Why are you so afraid? Won't your dear saint Madarame understand that you'll be late with this painting? I mean, maybe he won't give you that allowance this week. Or maybe he'll find another way to punish you. You know how creative he can be…" The shadow said before he let out a raucous laugh.

Yusuke felt tears of frustration fall down his eyes before he looked down at the ruined painting and lifted it off of the easel…

Only to throw it as hard as he could against his wall before he crumpled into a ball and began to weep.

Captain Blues: So this chapter was dominated by Sumire angst and Makoto's thoughts and the next chapter will deal with Sumire along with Yusuke's experience with his shadow.

So to kind of rank what I do with the shadows is this.

Weak Influence: Just little whispers.

Medium Influence: Full out conversations

Strong Influence: physically able to touch and manipulate the real person.

Critical Influence: Actively trying to endanger/kill them.

Makoto and Yusuke are at the third stage while Hifumi is at the second stage and Shiho was at the last stage when she nearly went off the building. I wonder where Mishima's will be…Oops, spoilers hehehehe. The next chapter will continue with Ren and Makoto and we will start digging more into Yusuke and Madarame's palace. Along with a look into Mishima's life…but until then, time to set sail! See you next time!