Miss Violet: Hello students. The last chapter was quite a doozy. This chapter will be dealing with the aftermath. Please enjoy! Class is now in session!

Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Fifty-Five

[Opening Scene: Shibuya - TMS Arena (Evening)
Theme of Defeat/Loss: Aoba Park from Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP)]

Makoto and Shiho waited outside of the portal, the duo looking weary and exhausted from the chaos they had escaped from.

However, that had been fifteen minutes ago and since then, no one else had come out after that. Yūki had opted to go back inside, but a call from his parents had forced him to speak to them while they waited.

"I'm going back in there," Shiho announced as she stood off the bench.

"Shiho," Makoto whispered, clearly shaken by all that she had experienced within the palace. "I don't think that's a good idea. We barely got out of there…."

"I know, Makoto-san, but the others still haven't come out and it's been a while," Shiho sighed.

"But what if…." Makoto paused. "What if my Shadow is still there? You were barely able to fend her off before. I don't think you could survive another encounter…."

Shiho faltered and then bowed her head. "You're right," Shiho admitted. "Fighting against her was like fighting against a wild force of nature. I barely withstood her wrath."

Shiho rubbed her left arm and noticed how bruised it was. "Even now, my arm feels numb…." Shiho continued. "But I have to. The others could be in danger, and could need my help."

Shiho turned around and looked at the portal, but Makoto grabbed her hand. "Shiho-san, please…." Makoto pleaded. "I already feel horrible that you had to fight her and got hurt. I couldn't bare if she hurt you, or anyone else. Please…."

Shiho glanced at Makoto's hand and then at her face and saw her genuinely afraid the student council president looked.

Something about this made Shiho upset. She was used to seeing Makoto calm and in control at all times. Seeing her sincerely afraid was startling to her. "Makoto-san…." Shiho whispered. "Okay….I'll sta—"

The portal flared and Ryuji and Ann came into view, with Ann helping Ryuji.

"Ann-chan! Ryuji-nii!" Shiho exclaimed, but then she caught the distressed expressions on both of their faces.

Something was wrong.

"W-What's wrong?" Shiho asked. "What happened?"

Yūki, who finally hung up his phone, looked around and asked, "W-Where are Hifumi-san, Yusuke-san, and Ren-kun?"

Ann and Ryuji looked at the ground.

Shiho felt dread forming deep in the pit of her stomach.

"They were captured," Ann whispered, her voice choked up with sorrow. "They're trapped in there."

Shiho felt the air leave her lungs as Yūki gasped.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shiho saw Makoto wrap her arms around herself and began to breathe hard.

"Y-Yūki," Ryuji whispered. "Call Haru and tell her to have Botan pick us up and take her back to her place."

"R-Right," Yūki whispered as he pulled out his phone and start to dial Haru's number.

Ryuji gently pried himself away from Ann and limped to the bench Makoto sat on and sat down. Seeing the utter devastation on Ann's tear-steaked face, Shiho rushed to her and embraced her as Ann began to sob.

[Scene Change: Shibuya - Hasegawa Temporary Residence (Evening)
Theme of Defeat/Loss: Aoba Park from Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP)]

Morgana had been through a few tough situations but sitting in a room with Akane and Zenkichi was one of the saddest things he had ever experienced.

It was obvious to Morgana that things were awkward when they first talked around him, but it quickly turned out that things had completely deteriorated between them, to the point that Akane would verbally eviscerate him anytime he spoke to her.

Morgana had hoped that the two having dinner would be more pleasant. But as he sat there, watching as Zenkichi tried to drum up a conversation, only for his daughter to rebuff everything he said with barely contained fury, Morgana realized it was a false hope.

"W-Well," Zenkichi weakly said. "Um, h-how was your day, sweet pea?"

Morgana felt an overwhelming amount of rage flowing from Akane's body. There was so much fury, that her face turned deep red and her eyes glowed with malevolence.

And to add to the terror, Morgana could hear the faint dark whisperings of something coming from her.

"I don't understand how much clearer I can be, Zenkichi," Akane spat. "The only reason I'm still here is because Mom wouldn't want me to abandon someone as worthless as you."

"Akane," Zenkichi weakly spoke.

"But I am not your daughter or your "sweet pea" anymore. You lost that right when you failed to catch her killer," Akane angrily continued as if he had never spoken. "The way I see it, you're not my father. You are just the coward wearing his face."

Morgana didn't know if words could kill, but it felt like Akane was trying to kill her father with how much venom was in her words.

What had Zenkichi done to make his daughter hate him so much?

"I'm not hungry anymore," Akane announced as she got out of her chair and stalked back to her room, leaving Zenkichi alone. Morgana watched with sadness as Zenkichi hid his face in his hands and cried.

Morgana felt hurt at the sight.

"Poor guy," Morgana said, knowing it would only come out as a "meow" to the man. "This is really messed up…."

He just hoped the others were doing okay without him.

[Scene Change: Shibuya – Okumura Residence (Evening)
Theme of Defeat/Loss: Aoba Park from Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP)]

The air in Haru's apartment was filled with sorrow as the group sat in the living room. Everyone, sans Ryuji, looked emotionally destroyed while Ryuji simmered in anger and determination.

"What do we do?" Shiho whispered, her tone lost and afraid. She hadn't felt this defeated since Kamoshida was in her life. "We need to do something."

"What can we do?" Yūki questioned. "Madarame is still running loose, and Ren-kun, Hifumi-san, and Yusuke-san are gone….We c-can't take on Madarame's treasure without them…."

"We won't" Ryuji announced. "We're going to save them. That's the first objective. We have some time before Madarame messes with shit. Let's focus on saving them."

"But who will lead us?" Ann asked. "Morgana is on his mission and R-Ren…." Ann's words lodged in her throat. In the recesses of her mind, she could feel Carmen's sorrow.

The group remained silent.

"I'll do it," Ryuji solemnly announced. "I legit don't want to do it. but someone has to take charge and since the two who normally would are M.I.A, It might as well be the third person with seniority, right?"

"Are you sure?" Ann asked.

"No, but that doesn't matter," Ryuji answered. "I will take the helm of the team."

Ryuji looked at the group and said, "I'm not the leader you guys want, but I will be the leader we need until we get Ren, Hifumi, and Yusuke back. I know shit is bad. This is our first major ass-kicking where we're the ass in the situation."

Ryuji stood on his feet, swallowing the pain he felt in his left knee. "But Ren wouldn't want us to drown in our sorrows. If it was any of us in this situation, he'd start planning immediately, and that's what we need to do," Ryuji continued. "So tonight and tomorrow, we lick our wounds and rest. The day after, we go full force on the palace to find them."

"B-But, what about school?" Haru spoke for the first time tonight, her voice raw and weak. "Not just ours, but theirs as well."

"She's right," Shiho spoke as well. "Principal Kobayakawa will notice that Ren-kun is…." Shiho stopped, unable to even finish the sentence. "And I know that his guardian will too…. And that's not even getting into what Yusuke's and Hifumi's school will do when they notice."

Makoto, who had a haunted expression on her face, whispered, "I know what to do…."

The group turned to her.

Makoto pulled out her phone and said, "Sae-nee…. We need to call her."

"What?" Ann asked. "Why in the hell should we do that? She's investigating all of us, and especially Ren!"

"It's because she's investigating us," Makoto answered. "Three pieces of her puzzle are missing. All we have to do is make a convincing story that they were taken by someone…. This gives them an alibi and us some time to rescue them…."

"I get it," Ryuji said as he looked at Ann. "It'll be just like when you, Ren, and I went to Kamoshida's palace for the first time. We said we got jumped."

Ann frowned and asked, "But what if she doesn't believe us? What then? Niijima?"

Makoto looked at the ground. "I don't know," she admitted. "I don't know…. But that's the only thing I have right now…."

The group grew quiet again.

"Makoto, try to beef up the story more before you make the call," Ryuji wearily ordered. "Ann, Shiho, Yūki, we need to mess ourselves up. We were able to convince the school about our lie by looking messed up, so we need to do that again."

"What about me?" Haru asked.

"You? I don't know," Ryuji said. "Maybe help the others…."

Haru nodded.

Ryuji nodded, sat down, and buried his face in his hands as everyone began to work. He knew that shit was not going to be easy, especially with how many high emotions were running, but he had to keep this group together long enough to save the others.

Because in the back of his mind, he felt a sense of remembrance and fear coming from Captain Kidd.

Miss Violet: I like to think that Ryuji took charge after Ren was arrested at the end of the original P5 and in the bad ending, so I decided Ryuji should take charge here as well. This chapter was a hard one to right, but the next chapter will be even more so, considering the emotional fallout of this loss.

I wonder if people are still interested in this story? Sure, I'm not Blues and I don't intend to be, but I don't want to ruin his story at all, and even though he's approved of the chapters I've released, I'm still unsure...

Maybe I'm worrying for nothing. Until the chapter, however, class is dismissed.