Miss Violet: Hello students. A new chapter is upon us and I don't want to take up any more time so let's start the lesson!

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

[Opening Scene: Shibuya – Niijima Residence (Night)
Theme of Tenderness: Brand New days -The Beginning- from Persona 3 FES]

Despite being tired, Makoto found herself staring at the ceiling at three in the morning.

All of the events that happened today kept playing in her mind. How Shadow Hifumi kidnapped her, how Shadow Makoto taunted her and belittled her. How hard Shiho fought for her, even if it was a losing battle.

But there were two major things on her mind.

The first was Shadow Makoto's conversation with Shiho's persona. There was so much information in their conversation that Makoto couldn't make sense of.

The second was Ren, Kitagawa-san, and Hifumi. Thanks to her being unable to defend or free herself, they had been captured. How long could they stay in the palace before things got worse? What was Shadow Mitsuyo doing to them now? Would they even be able to save them?

There were so many questions that kept Makoto up that she didn't have an answer to, and it made her sick.

As Makoto lay there on the floor, she heard Shiho's breathing pick up. "P-Please….No…Kamoshida…s-stop," Shiho's voice whispered.

Makoto heard tossing and turning on her mattress along with Shiho's broken pleas. Shujin's student council president lifted the top of her body off her makeshift mattress and got on her knees to look at Shiho.

"N-No more," Shiho begged as she swiftly turned her back away from Makoto and curled into a tiny ball. Makoto frowned at the sight. Whenever she spoke to Shiho, she always seemed so in control of things, despite what she had gone through.

But it made sense.

Despite Kamoshida being locked away, Makoto knew that what Shiho and even Ryuji, Takamaki, Mishima, Haru, and Ren went through would always haunt them.

But still, knowing that and seeing someone as kind as Shiho suffer wasn't easy to watch. But what could Makoto do? She could barely keep her head afloat over the sea of her deepest fears.

How could she even begin to help Shiho through this night terror?

"Useless…." Makoto heard her Shadow taunt within her mind.

Makoto could feel her will crumbling at the word.

Would it forever haunt her?

"S-Stop," Shiho breathed. "N-No more…."

Makoto looked away, unable to bear hearing the pleading and fearful tone in Shiho's voice until she remembered something.

[Scene Change: Flashback – Niijima Residence (Night)
Theme of Tenderness: Brand New days -The Beginning- from Persona 3 FES]

"Koto-chan, wake up!"

A six-year-old Makoto opened her eyes to see her older sister above her. "S-Sae-nee?" Makoto whimpered as tears filled her eyes.

"It's okay, Koto-chan," Sae whispered. "You were having a nightmare. Are you okay?"

Makoto shook her head and sniffled.

That nightmare always played in her mind. Her father being pushed off the curb by a chubby brown-haired man, the truck hitting him, and his blood splattering against her face. It's all she could dream about.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sae gently prodded but Makoto shook her head, a watery frown on her face.

A sad smile formed on her sister's face. "It's okay to talk to me about your nightmares, you know?" Sae offered. "You went through something bad…. But I won't push you to do it. Just know that your big sister will always be here to cheer you up, okay?"

Sae offered a big smile, which made the tearful child smile.

"Um, S-Sae-nee? C-Can you sleep with me tonight?" Makoto whispered as she bowed her head. "I-I'm scared to be by myself…."

Sae smiled and nodded.

"Of course, I can," Sae whispered. "I'll sleep with you until those nightmares go away. I'll even cuddle with you."

"B-But you hate cuddling," Makoto whispered with awe.

"I do," Sae confirmed. "But for you, I'll do it every night if it makes you feel better."

Makoto smiled at her big sister and launched herself at her side and hugged her tight. She felt Sae's warm arms enfold her tightly as she whispered, "No matter what happens Koto-chan, I'll always be here for you…."

Sae kept her word and while it took a little over a year, the nightmares stopped.

[Scene Change: Present Time – Niijima Residence (Night)
Theme of Tenderness: Brand New days -The Beginning- from Persona 3 FES]

'Sae slept with me until the nightmares of Dad's death stopped…. Maybe that can help her,' Makoto thought as she stared at the whimpering girl on her bed.

"How precious," her Shadow whispered. "You think a 3 o'clock morning cuddle will help her? Stopping Kamoshida would have helped her, but you were too useless to do that."

Makoto faltered, only to shake her head. 'You're right. I didn't stop him. I couldn't stop him from hurting her, Ren, or anyone else. But maybe I can help her….' Makoto thought. 'I have to try at least….'

Despite the hushed taunts of her Shadow, Makoto climbed into her bed, and lightly wrapped her arms against Shiho's body.

She felt Shiho startle at her touch and immediately whispered, "It's me. You were having a nightmare..."

"I-I'm sorry..." Shiho weakly apologized.

"Don't be," Makoto whispered. "But you don't have to worry about them…." Makoto pulled her close and whispered into her ear, "Because I'm here now, and I'll drive those nightmares away."

"Makoto…." Shiho breathed. "Are you—"

"I'm sure. You've done nothing but help me the past few days, despite not deserving it," Makoto continued, unable to keep the sadness from creeping into her voice. "Let me help you. Even if it's just this one time…."

Hesitantly, Makoto felt Shiho's fingers intertwine with hers as the girl whispered, "Thank you for doing this, Makoto…."

Makoto looked down at the top of Shiho's head and held her tight, her heart hammering in her chest.

The same way it did when she was around Ren.

"Glad I can help…." Makoto softly replied. "Now rest, I'll be here when you wake up…."

It didn't take long for either of them to fall asleep after that.

[Scene Change: Brothel of Fraud - Basement of Shōgi no Kinboshi
Theme of Trapped: Just Like This from Persona 3]

"Right this way, Madam Mitsuyo," Twilight Prostitute stated as she led Madam Mitsuyo into the basement of the club.

Shadow Mitsuyo loved coming down here. This place was where they held all the prisoners that refused to participate in her fun. But as her darling subordinate led her to her destination, she paused when she noticed a certain cell.

She investigated it and saw the lifeless eyes of her former prized captive and laughed. If only he had been accommodating of what she needed, he would have never been put into this situation….

The Madam smiled and strolled after her subordinate until she reached a prison cell. Strung up on the walls were her three newest captives, all unconscious.

Shadow Mitsuyo laughed and strolled up to the two boys that hung from the left and back wall and said, "I have no use for these two. I want them chained to the stage. Plenty of my customers will pay a handsome boon to be able to kill them."

Twilight Prostitute nodded.

Shadow Mitsuyo then turned to the girl that looked exactly like her daughter. "As for this one. My supposed killer…. I want her chained on the stage as well. Judging from her fire, it will take those men time to break her in and make her as obedient as my little girl."

"Understood, Madam Mitsuyo. I shall have all three of them ready for tonight," Twilight Prostitute stated with a bow.

Madam Mitsuyo nodded with a wicked smile.

She was going to make a fortune from this event.

[Scene Change: Shibuya – Niijima Residence (Morning)
Theme of Warming Emotions: Tender Feelings from Persona 3 Portable]

It was many things that woke Shiho up from her slumber. It was the birds chirping outside of the window, her phone vibrating in her pocket, and the fact that she felt something rising and falling beneath her.

Shiho opened her bleary eyes and immediately leaned up when she realized the thing that was rising and falling was Makoto's chest.

She had been sleeping on Makoto!

When did Makoto even get on the bed?!

Shiho then remembered. She had a nightmare and Makoto had climbed on the bed to console her. Shiho remembered waking up briefly at Makoto's touch but swiftly fell asleep after that.

But even that was surprising.

Shiho didn't let any old person cuddle her. Ann was one of them since that was her best friend in the entire world and if Ren wanted to cuddle, she would let him, but never in her wildest dreams would she allow anyone else to have that liberty.

But somehow, Makoto had and Shiho hadn't pushed her away.

Instead, she took her hand and felt comfortable with her to the point of going back to sleep.

Shiho took a sharp breath.

She felt comfortable with Makoto.

Shadow Makoto was right about one thing. She had hated Makoto during the whole incident with Kamoshida. But Shiho realized that hating Makoto for not helping during Kamoshida's reign of terror was unfair, considering the situation they were all put in.

But slowly and surely, Shiho's feelings of anger toward Makoto had faded and it left her wanting to be friends.

But this, this didn't feel like the platonic cuddling she and Ann often did. This felt more…. intimate somehow.

Just as intimate as her kiss with Ren at LeBlanc's.

What did this mean?

Shiho felt her phone vibrate again, and this time, she dug her phone out of her pocket and answered it. "Hello?" Shiho inquired.

"Good morning, Shishi. Get over to Haru's place right away, we're meeting for the rescue tonight," Ryuji told her. "And tell Niijima to stay at her place today. Not that we don't want her around, but since we have that case going, I bet her nosy-ass sister will reach out and try to fish for more info, and quite frankly, we may need her to stall for a while."

"Got it, Ryu-nii," Shiho replied.

"Badical. Haru is going to have breakfast delivered so bring your stomach with you. And Haru's maid should be outside with Haru's limo now to get you. See you when you get here," Ryuji added and then hung up.

Shiho smiled, hung her cellphone up, and stared at Makoto. Despite her feelings about Makoto sleeping beside her, Shiho thought it was sweet that she held her throughout the night because of a nightmare.

Shiho climbed out of the bed, wrote a quick note to Makoto on one of the notebooks that sat on her desk, and carefully tore the page out. The note pretty much told her why she was staying behind and what Ryuji would need her to do.

Shiho crept back to the bed and placed the note beside the sleeping girl. Makoto groaned and turned onto her side and continued to sleep. Shiho stared at Makoto for what felt like an eternity, an indecisive expression on her face.

She felt bad about just leaving a note and then leaving, but she didn't have much time. Shiho hoped that Makoto would understand.

"Thank you for this morning and I'm sorry for leaving you alone like this. I'll talk to you when we get back, I promise…" Shiho tenderly whispered. Shiho leaned down and placed a lingering kiss on Makoto's cheek. "Sweet dreams, Makoto-chan…."

With one last smile at Makoto's sleeping form, Shiho then made a hasty retreat out of Makoto's room and out of the apartment.

[Scene Change: Shibuya – Okumura Residence (Morning)
Theme of Meeting (Skull): A Rain Of Light And Shadow from Shin Megami Tensei V)

"Alright, here's the deal," Skull announced as he, Beauty Thief, Panther, Mage, and Lioness sat at the table. "Joker, Champ, and Fox have been thief-napped and we're going in to rescue them."

"Botan should be back shortly with some medication that we can use to recover from any wounds that we could endure," Beauty Thief told the group. "Along with some food and drinks in case we need to take a break in a safe room or two."

"Good call," Skull complimented.

"Was it a good idea to leave President out of this?" Lioness whispered. "She should be here too, considering how guilty she felt about her unwanted role in all of this…."

"I mean, she would have been useless there," Panther remarked.

Lioness frowned. "You don't have to say it like that," she murmured.

Panther gave her a curious expression.

"Look, it's bad enough we have one person with an uncontrollable Shadow coming with us," Skull stated as he glanced at Beauty Thief, who smiled in response. "We can't have two of them. Besides, I meant what I said earlier. If her sister tries to reach out and she doesn't answer, it might fuck us over big time. She had to stay behind."

Lioness frowned but nodded.

"Mage, you've been quiet, something on your mind?" Skull asked.

"I'm just worried about Fox and the others," Mage answered. "He's new to all this Phantom Thief business and on his second mission, he wound up getting captured. Not to mention, we still have Madarame to handle…. I fear this might overwhelm him to a negative degree."

"All the more reason we need to get him out," Panther remarked.

Beauty Thief heard the small chime of her cellphone and glanced at it. "Botan is here and everything has been gathered. She will take us to the TMS Arena. Are we all ready?"

The rest of the group nodded.

"Then let's not waste any more time," Skull announced. "Remember our mission. We're only going in to save Champ, Joker, and Fox. After that, we hightail it out of there. Now, let's crack some skulls."

Miss Violet: And that's the end of this chapter. I figured I'd leave us all with some Shiho/Makoto fluff before all of the action happens.

I'm sure a lot of people are wondering where Haru's mind is right now, considering Hifumi and I left her thoughts out of everything on purpose since the next chapter, we're diving deep into Haru's mind as she explores Mitsuyo's palace to save the girl she cares for. I also want to continue Blues' plan to set Ryuji up as the bonafide second leader of the thieves.

As I mentioned briefly, Blues felt like Ryuji took over as the leader when Ren was imprisoned after saving the world on Christmas Day and during the time when Ren was arrested and interrogated, and after replaying the OG P5, I kind of agree. When Ren and Morgana were gone, Ryuji stepped forward and took charge.

Plus, with Hifumi's palace and Madarame's palace, an idea is brewing.

Also, I want to apologize. I know that the pacing of this story has been pretty slow, especially since I took over and that's my fault. So with this chapter's end, I'm going to try and speed things up for you guys. Until the next class, you're all dismissed.