Summary: Tsuna loathes the man and wants him dealt with, his sins exposed and his twisted desires stolen. He asks for help, but gets sucked into something he could not have imagined. He rolls with it.
Spoilers: KHR, Persona 5
Tags: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon Divergence, Video Game Mechanics, Out of Character, Time Skips, Non-Canon Guardians, Families of Choice, Sawada Iemitsu Bashing, Sawada Iemitsu's A+ Parenting
Notes:
0. Originally posted at AO3, 2023-10-02 - 2023-10-28
1. Title comes from lyrics to Hoshi To Bokura To, from Persona 5.
2. Certain events are either gone, shifted on the timeline (such as P5 happening five years early, and my own calendar where Tsuna is born in 2000, rather than the fan timeline at the wiki), or otherwise mangled.
3. Obviously, this is similar to but not the same as the system in Persona 5. I made changes for Tsuna's situation. There are no Confidants the way there are in P5. Some stuff is simply level gated, or event gated. Not all mechanics are the same. Vague elements of P4 thrown in there on at least one occasion. Unused content utilized.
4. As usual, stuff that never made it into my haphazard outline of (non-)drunken ramblings ended up shoehorning themselves in, just because they could? Some things happen a little too easily or are "phoned in" (due to a complete lack of inspiration for certain parts).
5. No explicit scenes.
6. Even I'm not stupid enough to claim I'm any good at dungeon design. YMMV. Buyer beware. Or, you know, combat in general? Yeah, I suck at that. Borrowed gimmick ideas from Reddit, or links via Reddit, or just plain Google-Fu.
7. Yeah, I went there, and yeah, I avoided as much of it as I could, because the Future Arc is like episodes 136-282 and most of it is boring as fuck. So I skipped a ton of stuff and just wrangled in the odd canon plot point. Gawd, I hate the FA so much that I just phoned it in. Okay? I phoned it in. I needed to get past it. Several spots are phoned in toward the end. (Don't say I didn't warn you.)
8. Out of Character for at least two people, as a strict comparison to canon. There's causality involved (because, yes, I do try to make shit plausible most of the time if I'm being even vaguely serious), so it shouldn't be too jarring…? And even if it is, I kinda don't care enough to do more than have the warning.
9. Shoutout to Shadowblayze for putting up with my sometimes vague, sounding-board emails.
Change Log
1.0 (2023 10 02): Initial assembly.
Why the school had chosen to take their class on a field trip to Tokyo he did not know. It was just more of an opportunity for something awful to happen to him. Things were bad enough at home, with him being like a beacon for every bully in the city, but in a massive city like Tokyo?
Tsuna carefully eyed his classmates, their sensei, and the surrounding peoples as he eyed the entrance to the Meiji Jingu. Hopefully he would have enough time to do what he was planning. He was only ten, but plenty of kids rode trains on their own in Tokyo, and the faculty had not opted to pay the entrance fees to visit the gardens (¥500) or the museum (¥1,000), so he did not need to be there to get tickets for either to show he could enter either.
He hung back as the others moved, and leaned on that nebulous sense that had always been a part of him, pushing hard to figure out where he needed to go. He was aided by the map he held in his hands. Once he finally got an answer he slipped off back to the station, bumping into a number of people along the way (he had been clumsy for seemingly forever) and got on a train to Shibuya, then headed to the Ginza Line Gate.
Tsuna found who he was looking for at the Yon-Germain Bakery. The boy, older than him, had wavy black hair and pale skin. His collar marked him as a second year student in high school. He screwed up his courage and approached. The boy noticed him sidling up beside him and gave him a quick look, then returned to examining what was for sale, eventually purchasing some melon pan.
"Ah, excuse me," he said after the boy had moved away and taken a seat on a nearby bench, presumably to eat.
The boy looked up at him and Tsuna found himself fascinated with the velvety-seeming texture of the boy's grey eyes, even behind those glasses he wore. "Yes?"
"This is going to sound … crazy. But… I'd like your help."
The boy's eyes narrowed slightly, but he nodded, as if to say, "Go on."
"I just have this … feeling, a gut feeling, that you're the one to ask. There's… There's someone who needs a … a change of heart."
The boy's eyes narrowed even further.
"I know it sounds crazy, but… The way he treats me and my mother…" His heart was pounding like mad and his skin felt clammy. It did sound mental, but he was not unaware of the news from Tokyo. Everyone knew about the Phantom Thieves.
The boy looked contemplative for some long moments. "Hypothetically speaking," he said, "where does this person reside?"
He blinked, not having taken that into consideration. "Oh, uh, Italy, I think. Is that—that's not good?"
"…From what the reports say? No, it's not. I don't think that would be possible. Whoever you're talking about is too far away for … that group … to be able to do anything."
He could feel his expression change to match the disappointment in his heart as he wrung his hands anxiously. "Oh."
"I'm sorry."
"N-No, it's all right. I…" What was he going to do? He had been banking on this.
"Please excuse me," the boy said.
He watched as the boy got up and strode away and, after a moment, followed him for lack of anything better to do, and because he felt like it would be a good idea. They ended up back in the rail station, where the boy met up with others around his age. He ducked behind a column so he could be closer and hopefully overhear what they were saying, but then—
The very world around him warped, causing him to think he was somehow going crazy, like he had finally lost it. It was as if someone had dumped water colour paint over his vision as it spread and warped and shifted and oh, his stomach did not like this! When it stopped he was standing in a dim version of the station, with an escalator off to the left.
The group was standing not far away, not having noticed him that he could tell. They were … checking their weapons? And they looked very different. The boy was now dressed in an elaborate costume (they all were), with masks helping to disguise their faces. The cat that had been sitting with them was now anthropomorphic and could talk? Like a human?
The boy himself had a wicked dagger, which he checked over for damage. He also had a gun, which startled Tsuna. He was further startled when the boy in a skull mask said, "I still think it's cool that these are just toy models, but they work like they're real in here."
Did that mean their other weapons were just toys, too? One of the girls had a whip, but the other was using hand weapons, like armored gloves. He thought those sounded more sensible, but then, he had no idea what they were about to go up against.
A moment later they all took off, down the escalator. He followed a few moments later.
The cat had morphed into a … truck? Van? It had cat ears and a tail, so he assumed it was the cat.
The group piled in and drove away, leaving Tsuna to flounder in confusion. He had no idea where he really was or how to get out. With them gone he cautiously moved forward. Everything was so weird! It looked like subway tunnels? But the floor was uneven, going up and down, the tracks splitting off onto offshoots, crossing each other. The walls were grey with red, venous growths that made his stomach turn, and the lighting itself was red.
Up ahead in the distance he could see a set of doors, large, wide, and chained. He had no idea what that meant. And then something dark moved into his field of vision to startle him anew. Tsuna froze in place, then shrieked when the dark shadow transformed into a pumpkin-headed witch of sorts (complete with pointy hat) holding a lantern.
He wasn't quite sure what was happening, only that he was in danger of dying. The creature gestured and a small gout of flame hit him, burning the skin on his arm when he couldn't quite dodge. He tried to flee, wanting nothing more than to get away, but the creature gave him no quarter, shooting another gout of flame at him. Then—
A blue butterfly wavered onto the scene, fluttering around and leaving in its wake a trail of sparkling light.
—he realized he had a mask on his face, like those of the group. There was a voice in his head, admonishing him, taunting him with his helplessness, almost gloating that he was about to die because he didn't have the will and resolve to fight and live. It seemed to come from the mask itself. Tsuna reached up with both hands, managing to avoid the next attack—probably that nebulous sense of his—and ripped the mask off his face. Blood went everywhere.
When he recovered he realized he was still wearing a mask, but the creature was looking at him warily. Tsuna also realized what else had changed. He did a slow blink on seeing what looked like an interface of one of those games he liked to play, with options laid out for him to choose from.
The creature bobbed in the air lazily, making no moves to attack again. The lantern it held had a flame inside—the source of its fire?
Tsuna had… What was a Persona? His … Persona … one Fūma Kotarō, had various abilities he could use to defend himself with. It seemed to have a signature colour of orange, if the way the interface changed meant anything. Tsuna himself had gained a set of orange, metal-backed gloves on his hands.
He saw no way to run. Something was keeping him there; he literally could not make his legs obey his desire to flee to the escalator. With no other choice he checked his options, then chose and darted forward to try to punch the pumpkin. He whiffed. The fiery pumpkin avoided him easily, which made him feel a sense of despair.
It let off another gout of flame, landing a blow which pushed him back a few inches as he scrambled to avoid being hit, and singed his shirt.
He checked his options again. If a physical attack wouldn't work, he would have to try something else, so he chose to attack with [Garu]. That the creature did not dodge. It let out a shriek of pain and dropped to the ground, splayed over one of the track rails, and slowly vanished, leaving behind an item.
As Tsuna panted in reaction he got a notification that he gained 4 XP and ¥149, which made no sense whatsoever. He shook himself and picked up the item, which a closer look at informed him was Silk Yarn, for whatever reason that would be.
'Right, I need to get out of here,' he thought, and backed away from where the creature had … died. Unfortunately, another shadow had lurched up behind him somehow, so he was forced into another fight, this time against a small winged being that looked at him menacingly.
'Okay, I can't hesitate,' he told himself. 'I'm already singed and blistered.' He tried [Garu] again, though it was not quite as effective. It did make the creature droop as if it was on its last legs (not that it touched the floor, as it, too, floated).
Tsuna looked closer and saw that it looked like a miniature woman, some kind of creature out of myth. He readied himself to attack again, then unleashed another [Garu]. It dropped and vanished the same way the fiery pumpkin had, and while it also gave him 4 XP, it left ¥184 and some Plant Balm, whatever that was.
He booked it for the escalator and went up, then spent the next few minutes poking through the interface, trying to see if there was a way out. He was in Mementos, apparently, which meant he would need to hit a library to see if he could find out what that even meant. And there was an exit option! "Yes!" he hissed, then chose it.
Finding himself back in the normal world was a shock, but a welcome one. Tsuna immediately booked it for the line that would take him back to Meiji Jingu, not caring for a second that he probably looked rather worse for wear.
Ω
He realized, upon arrival back in Namimori, that he had not tripped once since exiting Mementos. For the first time in as long as he could remember he could walk or jog or run without making a fool of himself, tripping over non-existent things, or losing his balance for no reason.
'I have no idea what happened, but maybe gaining that … Persona?' he wondered.
Sensei had taken one look at him when he had resurfaced with the rest of his class and shaken her head with a sigh. She had kept a much closer eye on him, though, making sure he was always present, and had boarded the train with everyone else when it was time to go.
'I wonder… Is there a way into Mementos here?'
The next morning, Sunday, he leaned on that nebulous sense and found it to be much stronger, much more responsive. It led him to the shrine. The walk up was almost effortless in comparison to the past. That long series of steps up the hill had once seemed daunting, but now? It was as simple as walking on a flat surface, with no danger of making a misstep and tumbling downward.
'Huh. Whatever was messing with my balance seems to have fixed itself,' he thought as he followed that sense. 'I can only pray I keep it. And my head seems clearer.'
He was led first to the ema display, then to the entrance to the haiden itself. The offertory looked the same as always (not that he spent much time at the shrine), but behind it, at the doors, there was a suggestion of otherworldliness. But then that sense led him away again, to one of the tōrō to either side. As he stared at it, the interface made itself known, and made him realize that this was the entrance to the local version of Mementos.
'That answers that question,' he thought. 'But do I dare to go in? I did well enough against those two enemies in Tokyo, so…? I guess I can give it a try and flee at the first sign I'm in over my head?'
That decided, he used the interface to activate the tōrō and found himself inside Mementos, Namimori's version of it. It did not look at all the same, but rather, resembled the inside of the haiden. There was a staircase ahead of him, leading downward.
On the wall next to the staircase was a bulletin board, but the writing was jumbled and made no sense. Tsuna looked back behind him and saw several screens, with chutes below them. Investigation proved that they were each the same, so he focused on the left-most one. There was no keyboard, so he touched the screen, causing it to wake up.
'Rather like a smartphone,' he thought.
On the screen was a listing of services, shops, so he touched the one that said weapons. The display for that was tabbed, and all but one were blank. He shook his head in confusion and stuck to the initial tab, which had two sections, fist weapons and guns.
'The one guy said they were using toy guns that became real inside. I guess I could go buy one in a shop outside, but there's some listed right here, and they take regular money.'
Another look at the interface showed that he could see all the money available to him, not just the ¥333 he had won by defeating those two creatures. What he had saved from the money his mother gave him as an allowance was also shown. Even with that, he did not have enough for anything but the most basic of guns. He bought one anyway, then examined it.
He wasn't sure what he was looking for. Guns were rare in Japan. The Momokyokai might have some, but he had never noticed if they did. The police had them, but again, he rarely ever saw anything but tonfa or other (presumably) non-lethal crowd control weapons. The military, of course, but it wasn't as if there was a base nearby.
Tsuna shrugged, then read through the information on the weapon that the interface provided. It had a rating of 10 ATK, 95 ACC, and would hit six times.
"Right," he muttered. "I will have to get used to shooting?"
A look at himself in the oddly shiny wall of the Mementos version of the haiden revealed he was dressed not terribly unlike the boy he had tracked down had been inside the Mementos of Tokyo. His mask was orange, though, like his gloves, and appeared to be fashioned from flames, which was very unlike the boy's.
"Okay," he said, trying to psyche himself up. "Let's do this. And pray I don't end up dead. If I'm in here, maybe, just maybe, I can figure out how to handle my old man on my own, should he ever show his face here again."
He took and let out a few deep breaths, then trotted down the stairs, having secured the gun in a holster that just seemed to be on the right thigh of his … trousers. The first shadow-thing he ran into transformed into another pumpkin thing, a Pyro Jack according to the interface, which made him relax slightly. He knew he could defeat those, easily.
But… Tsuna noticed that there was a display at the upper left of his field of vision. It took moving his eyes only to see it properly, rather than his head, but it showed that the Pyro Jack was weak to Wind? But also, weak to Gun? And Ice? Under the Fire symbol it said "Drain", which sorta made sense. The thing attacked with [Agi].
Every other type of attack just had a - under it, so he made the assumption that the creature was neutral to those attacks, not weak, not resistant, nor able to drain them. There might be other reactions, but he had to work with what little he had.
He pulled his gun, aimed, and fired. The Pyro Jack shrieked and dropped, then slowly vanished like the other one had. He earned another 4 XP and ¥149. Tsuna let out a slow breath and nodded. "I can do this."
Ω
Some time later he received a notice he had reached level two, which made him blink. "But… A lot of the games I play have something like that. Okay, okay. Keep going. See where this goes, see how this works."
The next creature he faced was a Pixie, and he unthinkingly used [Garu] on her. She drooped, but rather than attack she said, "Wait!"
"Uh…" he said inanely.
"We can come to an agreement, right?" the thing pleaded. "I could help you!"
"…How so?" he asked cautiously, ready to use his gun (it was weak to Gun, Ice, and Curse) if it tried to attack him.
"I'll join you!" it said.
The next second the thing had vanished and he had a card in his hand, the front face of which showed an image of the creature. He laughed nervously, shoved it in his pocket, and kept roaming, always staying reasonably close to the stairs leading back to safety.
Another shadow lurched up, but that one (according to the interface) was a Mandrake. Not having encountered one before, the upper left display had no data. Which, annoying. An attack with [Garu] showed it was neutral.
Alarmingly, the thing hit him with something that made everything go wonky. Up was left, right was forward, and he found himself attacking nothing at all. It thankfully wore off and he was able to use his gun to shoot it, but it was neutral to that as well. It took a bit more effort to kill the thing, and he ended up using his fists, but at least none of its further attacks managed to do anything to him.
That gave him 5 XP, ¥81, and more Silk Yarn.
"Well, if nothing else, if I live through all this, it's one way to earn money I wouldn't otherwise get." He sighed and roamed around again near the stairs, waiting for more shadows to lurch in. It took another few Pixies and Pyro Jacks for him to stop and poke through the interface again. Aside from being able to see how much experience he needed to get to the next level, he was able to look at his Persona—or rather, his Personas. Pixie was there in the list, and she had a skill, called [Dia], which provided a small amount of healing for a cost of 3 Spirit Points, and [Zio], an electric attack, for 4 SP.
That made him poke around in the page for himself, which listed his health and spirit points, level, and so forth. He looked almost imposing in the backdrop, which was oddly hilarious. He was low on SP, though, which was a worry. He had no way to restore the loss.
Tsuna shook his head and headed for the stairs. Two of the three creatures he had encountered could easily dodge his physical attacks, so he needed to retreat for the time being. Back at the wall displays he checked the offerings again. There were items that would restore either health or spirit, but he did not have much money.
"Better I just go home and eat," he said. "Hopefully that will work. Or maybe sleep. And maybe I can bring supplies with me next time. Onigiri, maybe? Or… That boy, he purchased melon pan. Maybe it's any food? Or maybe just for health. Still, hopefully something will become available, and hopefully leveling up with give me more to start with."
Ω
The next time he went in it was after school. He was able to successfully dodge the bullies and make it to the shrine. He had prepared by bringing along snacks he had asked his mother to make, so he had onigiri in his pocket.
Did he?
He checked the pockets of his costume trousers in alarm, and heaved a sigh of relief when he found them.
A check of the interface showed he was at full health and spirit, so he headed down the stairs. He leveled up again, which shortly thereafter resulted in acquiring a Pyro Jack for his collection. That had the skill [Agi]. No shock there.
"So every level I gain, I can gain another Persona?" he muttered. "Or is there a cap? There's probably a cap. At least, in how many I can have on hand while I fight. But having more than one means I should be able to switch between them. I really need to pay more attention to what the interface is telling me. Every level does seem to grant me more base health and spirit, so… And strength, endurance, and the other ones."
He rolled his eyes at himself and found another shadow to fight. That time he did pay attention, and saw an option to switch between his available Personas. Pixie had a green background for some reason, with a yellow stripe. Pyro Jack's was yellow, without a stripe. It didn't make a lick of sense to him.
He punched the Mandrake into nothingness, collected his loot, and checked the interface again. Apparently, he was on level one of the Hokori no Michi, or Path of Pride. Tsuna side-eyed the nearest wall and shrugged. Whatever, right?
"So, don't be too proud of my success here or I'll suffer something awful?" he wondered out loud. "Being overconfident is bad, right." He nodded to himself and resolved to stick close to the stairs as much as possible, that way he could quickly leave once he ran out of SP, since he had no way to restore it yet aside from sleeping at night.
"I wonder, though, since I seem to be … normal … again? How will that change things outside of Mementos?"
That line of thought was broken when a Mandrake menaced him, so he took care of it as quickly as he could. Another shadow spotted him and shuffled over, which turned out to be another Pyro Jack. That one he took care of with [Garu], just to simplify things, but the next Pixie he used his fists. Even if he did whiff on occasion, it was a better use of his resources.
Onigiri did indeed bring his health back up, but too much food and he would feel overstuffed, and unable to properly enjoy dinner. Maybe some kind of medicine would show up on the screens back at the entrance, once he had gained enough levels? He knew from the video games he played that many things were gated by either location, level, or events.
Pixie leveled up, which he hadn't even realized was a thing, but having used her on and off for healing, it at least let him know they they were not static creatures. She gained [Patra], for 4 SP, which would cure an ally of certain status effects.
He quit for the day once he had reached level five, and headed back home. His mother had dinner going, so he slipped past the kitchen and got cleaned up, then back down the stairs so he could eat. Gyūdon was always nice to have.
Tsuna sighed on his way back upstairs afterward, not looking forward to doing his homework. It had to be done, though, and maybe now that he was no longer such a disaster and his mind was more clear, it would start to make sense?
Ω
The next two weeks were spent on school, then Mementos, then homework after dinner. He was doing better with his work. Things were starting to make sense, and he could have cried with gratefulness because he was only in elementary school, so none of it was technically all that difficult. Except English. That was very confusing, but he would keep plugging away at it.
He was also continuing to dodge the bullies better, his odd sense (what the interface called [Intuition]) giving him warnings and … suggestions … as to which routes to take, or actions. In one memorable encounter, where he had not been able to duck out, he had stood up to the kid, who wasn't much bigger than he was.
Or stronger, as it turned out.
The kid got in one punch, and Tsuna laid him flat a second later when he retaliated for the first time in his life. Then he spotted Hibari and fled for his life. Everyone was wary of Hibari, because that boy, who was older than him (and therefore in the year above him), was known for "biting to death" anyone who annoyed him.
That? That included anyone in a crowd, anyone causing trouble, being violent (which was just a bit hypocritical), or some other, more nebulous reason which gave Hibari an excuse.
The last thing Tsuna wanted to do was get bitten to death. Tsuna would be a sixth year next, and Hibari would move up to the first year of middle school, which was both good and bad. Good because he was scary, but bad because Hibari had helped him out before when a group had come after him on school grounds.
He didn't appreciate being called a "small animal" or "herbivore" one bit, but he was not about to object to the older boy coming to his rescue. Hopefully, now, he might not need that help.
Homework was easier than before, and the concepts their sensei were trying to pound into their heads was making more sense to him. It was slow going, but he was having to learn everything from the start, just to make sure he had everything down. So his grades were slowly rising, not as fast as he would like, but they were improving.
Tsuna made it level ten when something changed with the interface, and the digital shops. First, he had gained the ability to do Fusion. Which, weird, but it meant he could select two Personas of his and fuse them together, to create a new one. The new one would also inherit abilities from the two chosen, which was handy.
The interface let him see what the results would be before he committed to the fusion, so he could back out and try something different. He also noticed that he could back out and select the same two, only for there to be differences in the stats of the result. It only took time, but time itself was suspended in Mementos. He always, always ended up exiting to find it was shortly before dinner.
In theory he could spend what felt like a day inside and still emerge in time for dinner.
In addition to that, the ones he gained from combat (and his starting Persona) were registered, so he could call them back. And, with new ones gained through Fusion (though he had to register those manually if he already had one registered), he could make even more new ones.
It always failed if the resulting fusion was more than five levels above his own, though. Or rather, refused to let him try in the first place.
Any Persona he had in his arsenal showed their reactions to the various attack types, which in turn updated the display in the upper left of his vision.
Fusing a Mandrake and a Pyro Jack gave him a Bicorn. Fusing the Bicorn with a Pixie gave him Slime, and so forth. It widened his pool of attacks and made him more versatile. They each had a background which seemed to have something to do with their base abilities, but why those colours went with those abilities he had yet to figure out.
Except yellow. That had something to do with healing, he thought. Maybe.
Fused Personas had their base colour plus corner stripes depending on what had gone into the fusion, so it was all colour coded for his convenience, if only he could work out the meaning.
The shops had updated to offer more items. One was an accessory, a choker, that would give him ten more SP at base, so long as he wore it. That cost ¥5,000, which felt a bit expensive for such a small gain. There was also something called a Regen Patch 1 that would restore 2% max health every battle turn for ¥30,000, and an SP Adhesive 1 for ¥40,000 that would do the same for spirit, except for 3%. There was also a food item, Beni-Azuma, which would restore ten SP per use, for ¥800.
Tsuna thought about it for some time before he decided he was better off saving the money he earned to afford something that would restore his SP automatically. ¥40,000 was a ways off, but if he was careful and never took on more fights once he was low… And he could only wear one accessory, which, lame.
Hopefully once he gained more levels there would be better versions available (and hopefully more money to be gained to afford things). A new fist weapon for him was available, with 122 ATK, 96 ACC, at a cost of ¥12,600.
Having more with him made him feel a little more confident (plus his progress in both academics and evading or standing up to bullies), so he ventured a little farther away from the stairs. He had yet to go near one of those chained doors. Every time he entered Mementos and went downstairs, the layout changed. And none of it was available on the map unless he had walked it, so he could only tell due to what the area looked like once he headed down.
He could see those doors at times, but didn't have the first clue how to open one beyond the idea of trying to smash open the lock with his fists, which seemed rather silly to him. Was he supposed to learn how to pick locks? If they were number combinations, would there be a clue somewhere on the level?
Ω
It took a month for him to hit level twenty, and by then he was getting bored and wanting to venture downward. He was still cautious, though. He had run into a Slime, like the Persona he had fused, near the stairs down to the next level of the Path, which meant there could be worse down there. Or perhaps not.
It gave three to five times the experience the other creatures did, though, and he did have a Pyro Jack to kill them with, along with the wind attack of his original Persona of Fūma Kotarō.
He could only pray it would be all right. Some of the doors, unchained ones, led to more wide corridors, and some led to rooms, some of which had chests in them. He was baffled the first time he opened one and found what looked like grimy armor inside. The sword he found he just tucked away in inventory. He had found Life Stones (restores 30% HP to one ally), a dagger (also placed in inventory), and two things, Grooved Silver (which looked like a jagged-edged copper coin) and Thin Gold (a thin gold coin), which sold at the shop for ¥700 and ¥2,000 respectively.
Why "Grooved Silver" was made out of copper was completely beyond him.
However, sales of such odd items did add up. The downside was once he opened any chests he could each day, that was it. He had to exit Mementos entirely and go back in for the layout to change and new chests to appear.
Tsuna was able to purchase himself an SP Adhesive 1, which he promptly equipped. He also learned fairly quickly that if he was low on SP, he could just keep blocking during battle with a Pixie and regenerate himself back to full, and only then take the creature out.
Tsuna had no idea what he was going to do with the weapons, since he seemed incapable of using them, but maybe that would become clear in time, just like those blank tabs in the weapons shop.
The soiled armor made sense once he sneakily did some laundry while his mother was out. Those things were armor, certainly, things he could wear to improve his stats, to make him more durable, and increase his evasion beyond what his passive battle intuition prompted.
He finally ventured down those stairs to level two. Surprisingly (or not) the creatures he encountered were more of the same, which made him feel less anxious. That meant more experience and loot (most of which he sold, because he didn't have a clue what to do with Silk Yarn, Plant Balm, or Tin Clasps), and more chests to open for coins to sell.
There was another staircase leading down on level two. He wondered just how deep things went.
When he hit level twenty-five something new happened. He gained a new ability, called [Sky Flames]. It was not just a single attack, it was varied. When he first tried it out it was just a mist or cloud of orange flame, rather like [Agi], but really not. It did not burn the creature. No, it caused the Pixie he used it on to immediately become docile and lament that he already had a Pixie in his arsenal. She left him a Life Stone and flitted off.
Tsuna was deeply confused by it. But, potentially more loot to sell, so good?
As he continued to use it, things changed. First, he noticed that he now had Flame Points, or FP. Every time he used that attack, the points went down. How he was supposed to restore them? Aside from sleep, that was. Over time he realized they regenerated on their own, so there was that.
Opting to use [Sky Flames] on a regular basis opened up a second use of it, [Sky Punch], and revealed the name of the first, [Harmonization].
"Huh…" Did that mean what he thought it did?
The next creature he encountered, a Mandrake, got to be his test subject. He opted for [Sky Punch] and blinked in surprise as his fists lit up with orange fire as he moved to punch the thing. That resulted in a shriek of pain, not an offer to join him or a gift.
What else might come of these Sky Flames?
Ω
His birthday came and went; he had turned eleven.
Level three of the Hikori no Michi was pretty much the same, except at the end of that one was a room that looked similar to the entrance to Mementos. There were no shopping screens, but it was a safe zone and clearly meant to lead deeper. The staircase down was blocked off.
He could not go down, and he was scared to. He was just one boy, and who knew what was down there? Better experience and loot presumably, but again, he was just one boy.
That evening he had dinner, got his homework done, and pondered the situation.
The bullies who liked to go after him were mostly leaving him alone. That he could and would fight back, that he could put them on their asses, caused them to begin to avoid him. But he had been ambushed by a group. Tsuna did his damnedest to defeat them with just his fists (and wishing he had his Mementos weapon available), but—
Hibari had stalked in looking highly irritated. He had done nothing but watch for a few minutes, and finally waded in, tonfa in hand, to bite to death the bullies Tsuna had not yet managed to down.
"So," Hibari had said to him as the bullies twitched and groaned in pain. "It seems you might be an omnivore. Keep it up." He then stalked away, his jacket flapping off his shoulders.
Tsuna had booked it at that point, not wanting to be found by a staff member while standing over that bunch, and found the nearest restroom so he could try to clean up his hands before heading to class, all while trying to conceal from others just how bruised up he was. There was no hiding the split lip, though.
Looking back on that encounter made him feel a sense of hope. Hibari had been … impressed? He hoped. Maybe, just maybe, he could talk Hibari into joining him in Mementos?
'Kami-sama, I might have to actually fight him to manage that,' he realized. On that thought he unthinkingly opened his inventory, which made him blink in confusion. That was a thing? In the real world? He pulled his Heavy Grips out and damn near cheered. With these, in the real world, he might actually stand a chance of getting Hibari to help him.
Some day, at some point, his useless father would return, and Tsuna dearly hoped he would be able to figure out how to do to him what the Phantom Thieves had done to other bad people.
Ω
Tsuna put on his Heavy Grips, screwed up his courage, and marched on up to Hibari, who was eyeing the students as they left the grounds for the day.
Hibari glanced at him briefly, dismissively.
Tsuna scowled and got right in front of him. "I want to spar," he said, knowing full well he looked like a fluffy little small animal with nothing more than milk teeth and barely formed claws.
Hibari turned his attention away from the other students and studied him, glancing down briefly to see that Tsuna was not unarmed. "You want to spar," he repeated, almost disbelievingly.
"Yes." Reasons could wait, because if he made a complete fool of himself, he would simply have to gain more levels (in an excruciatingly slow way) before trying again.
Hibari nodded, but looked back to observe the remaining students as they exited the grounds, then jerked his head to the side and strode off.
Tsuna followed, trying not to panic, then jerked to a stop when Hibari turned to face him.
"All right, small animal. Prepare to be bitten to death," Hibari said, then lunged at him, his tonfa almost magically appearing in his hands.
Tsuna bit back the shriek that threatened to escape and set himself to block, then lashed out at Hibari's wrist in an effort to bruise him badly enough to make him lose full use of that hand. He connected, but Hibari knocked him with the other tonfa a second later. He immediately brought up his left hand to push Hibari's away to the side, then tried for his gut with his right.
This was nothing like fighting shadows!
By the time they were done he was a panting mess on the ground, aching and bruised all to yomi and back, but a glance at Hibari showed the other boy was breathing slightly harder than normal. Tsuna waited until his own breathing was under control to stand up.
"It seems I have a ways to go," he said.
"And it seems you are indeed an omnivore," Hibari replied, an almost curious look in his eyes. "What purpose was behind this? You are doing better against your tormentors."
"Because I want your help for something. I can only go so far on my own. I didn't think you'd do anything but dismiss me out of hand if I didn't prove I wasn't…" He shrugged a little helplessly.
"What something?" Hibari still looked almost curious, so good.
"It's a little hard to explain," he said, nearly cringing at how lame that sounded. "Showing you would be easier."
Hibari must have been in a good mood, as he nodded. "Where, omnivore?"
"The shrine."
Shortly thereafter the two of them were climbing the steps upward and through the torii. Tsuna went over to the left-hand tōrō. "It's here," he said, not expecting Hibari to have a clue what he meant by that.
Hibari stalked over and drifted to a stop right next to him. "This?"
Tsuna prayed he wasn't about to get his shit kicked in a second time as he activated the entrance, then quick-stepped to the side a little once Mementos appeared, eyeing Hibari carefully, who was frowning.
"This is … Mementos," he said quietly. "The entrance, anyway. There are three levels below this, the Hokori no Michi. I fight down there, to get better." He felt a little better, actually, because when inside Mementos, his armor automatically equipped, and his SP Adhesive 1, which meant his stats were better.
"Fight?" Hibari said, coming closer. "Here?"
"Every day. And there's screens on the wall, where I can shop for better weapons, other things, so I last longer. I've made it to level twenty-five, even though I'm not sure what that means in the end, aside from getting stronger, more durable…"
"And this … costume?"
He looked down at himself, momentarily startled. "Yeah, that came about after something really strange happened. But, that was in Tokyo." He settled in to explain why he left the class trip, and what had happened in the station there.
"I got sucked in behind them. I was too close? I don't know. I followed them down the escalator, but they took off. I was going to go back up, see if I could leave, but I was attacked. I thought I was going to die there. I'd always been so clumsy and stupid, right?"
"And then?"
"That's when it happened. I realized I had a mask on my face that wasn't there before. I could hear talking in my head. It wasn't nice. The voice taunted me. It almost sounded like it was coming from the mask, so I ripped it off. Blood went everywhere, but when I came back to myself, I still had one on, this one. I could also fight. I killed that creature, then tried to leave again, but another one was behind me, so I killed that one, too, and finally managed to get back upstairs."
Hibari nodded, seemingly interested. Or just humoring him.
"It was at that point I realized I had something like a … a game interface I could see. I don't know if you play any video games."
Hibari shook his head.
"Right. Well I could see it, and once I started checking it, figuring out how to use it, I saw the way to exit. I returned to my class, then back here. And then I started wondering if there was a Mementos here."
Hibari tapped one of his tonfa against his thigh.
Tsuna couldn't tell if that was his way of thinking, or impatience. "I have this … sense. The interface calls it [Intuition]. I used it to guide me, and I ended up at the shrine. That tōrō ended up being the way in to what I could sense. Once I was close to it the interface gave me the option to enter. I hoped … when I brought you here … that you standing so close would bring you in the way I was."
"That trip was almost two months ago."
"Yes. I don't even know if it's possible to fight here without going through what I did, but we can try. If nothing else, it's a place where we can both get better, without having to hunt down … people on the outside. I can try to explain the interface, but it'd probably make more sense if you could see it for yourself."
Hibari nodded curtly and looked toward the stairs, then stalked off.
Tsuna scrambled to follow, because if things went sideways, he would have to rescue his senpai. And then probably flee the city, because… Ooof, if he had to rescue Hibari? The older boy would never live that down, would he.
Hibari pulled up short on seeing a shadow lurching around, and barely inclined his head toward Tsuna.
"Yeah, that's a shadow. Once engaged they take on a distinct form. You can never really tell what they'll be, but I've only run into a handful of kinds on these three levels."
Hibari nodded again and strode forward confidently, tonfa at the ready.
That lasted for all of five seconds after the shadow resolved to be a Slime. They were level ten, but if Hibari could easily enough win a spar against Tsuna, it should be okay in the end. A mask had formed on Hibari's face, and Tsuna could tell he was hearing things, a voice. He didn't even want to ask what was being said to his senpai; it was just too personal.
He did note, almost clinically, that Hibari seemed as desperate to get that mask off as he had his own. But Hibari? When he … transformed … his new version of the mask was vivid purple flames with threads of indigo running through it.
Slime was a terrible creature for Hibari, because it was strong against Physical. He had no idea what skills or abilities Hibari's Persona would have, either. Tsuna found out soon enough that his senpai found it deeply frustrating that the Slime practically shrugged off tonfa attacks.
Hibari clearly figured out the interface to a degree, because he tried a different attack, something that Tsuna had never seen before. That went better, though the Slime was clearly not weak to it. Hibari's attack was definitely not [Agi] or [Garu] or [Zio].
Still, he stayed back.
Another shot with that other attack put the Slime down, and Hibari seemed almost startled for a moment. Probably the notification for experience and money. His senpai reached down to pick up the Tin Clasp it left behind and stared at it in a way Tsuna would call quizzical.
"I sell stuff like that," he offered. "Drops, the contents of chests, all the things I have no use for. It lets me buy better gear when it becomes available."
Hibari turned to face him and nodded, then looked down at himself, taking in his … costume, then said, "Purple and indigo?" His gloves were those colours, except the indigo showed in the stitching.
He shrugged. "I found out after I hit level twenty-five I gained an option called [Sky Flames], but as I used it more, it gained another facet. The first option has this strange effect on the creatures, like they want to join up with me, or they leave me offerings before they go. The second one has orange flames, like my mask, surrounding my fists when I punch. I figure yours would be similar, even if not the exact same … options."
"Do these flames work outside?"
Tsuna blinked. "I have no idea. I was very surprised when I realized I could access my inventory outside. I purposefully put on my Heavy Grips before challenging you, just so I'd be stronger."
"Inventory," Hibari murmured, then poked around in the interface again. "When?"
"Oh, ah…" He hoped he was answering the right question. "Every day after school. I stay at home from dinner on, so I can get my homework done. I'm doing better in school, too, since this happened, like my mind works better."
Hibari subjected him to an assessing look. "Behind you."
Tsuna whirled around and smacked the shadow before it could hit him. It was a Mandrake, which was easy enough. They were all more or less easy at that point. It was a moment's work to kill it and collect the drop.
If he thought he could get away with it he would check the interface so he could see if Hibari's stats were available to him, but…
"Let us continue," Hibari said.
'Right.'
With two of them there, more of the shadows resolved into multiple enemies, which was an interesting change. It meant more experience faster, though as he suspected, the experience was split between the two of them. He still found it odd that his original Persona leveled up, but gained no new skills. Maybe very early ones just didn't? If so, did that mean Hibari would gain more, or…?
By the time they reached the last room they were working together smoothly. Something was different, though. The barricade in front of the staircase down was missing.
"Huh. That's…"
"You said three levels," Hibari stated.
"Yeah. This was blocked off before. Maybe you being here, too, is what removed it? I have no idea what's down there, though."
Hibari made a noise that was almost scoffing. "Harder enemies."
"I stuck around the first staircase for a long time, in case I had to flee. Guess we could do the same for this once we go down. Oh, that reminds me. No matter how much time we spend in here, we always leave in time for dinner. It's more an issue of having the health and spirit points to keep going, and flame points. And… Oh, yeah, we should probably backtrack and buy you the accessory I'm using. It helps replenish SP in battle, so you don't run out as fast."
Hibari frowned, but nodded, and turned around.
They fought back up, and Hibari drifted to a stop near one of the chained doors. "And these?"
"I don't know how to open them."
Hibari immediately started attacking the lock holding the chains together, and bashed the thing open. "That's how," he said, then stalked inside.
'Damn it. I should have tried that myself instead of being complacent,' he thought before he headed in as well. There were more shadows inside, but also more chests.
He kicked one open and found another set of grimy armor. "These I take home and wash. Once they're clean you can actually see the stats on them. I've been selling the stuff I don't need, but now that you're here…" When Hibari just nodded, Tsuna stuffed into his inventory rather than carry it.
When they did reach the entrance he went straight to the screens and purchased an SP Adhesive 1 for his senpai, then handed it over. "You can check yourself to see if there's anything you want now. Like a gun. Some enemies are weak to guns, so they're handy. They're just toys on the outside, maybe because they're illegal? I don't know. There's so much I don't know."
Hibari started messing with one of the screens himself. He made a pleased noise and purchased something, then stooped down to acquire his new tonfa. The old ones went into inventory after a moment, then he examined the new set. He next bought a gun and gave that a close look.
How he was going to manage tonfa and a gun…? Tsuna had no idea. He was "lucky" enough to have fist weapons, so he just had to reach down and grab it to use.
"I want to bring in Kusakabe."
Tsuna couldn't for the life of him think who that was. "You trust him."
"Yes."
"Okay. But it'll have to be tomorrow."
"Because when we leave, it will be time for dinner," Hibari said, proving that he had been paying attention. "We will sweep these three levels a few more times," he pronounced, then stalked off toward the stairs down.
Ω
Tsuna heaved a sigh once he was in his room. That had been intense. He had felt both confident and unsettled having Hibari there. He could more than hold his own on those three levels, so that wasn't it. Hibari had treated him with … respect? Maybe that was it. It just felt so strange. Had he actually proven himself? Adequately?
However, now that he was home and alone in his room, he could check the interface again. Sure enough, there was a page for Hibari.
"Huh… His given name is Kyōya," he murmured. Hibari had better stats than he did (not a surprise, as he was both more experienced with fighting and older) and his background was purple striped with indigo. He was level thirty, right on the edge of leveling, so Tsuna had done better than he thought in that spar.
Also, that attack he hadn't recognized was [Frei], under Nuclear.
Tsuna blinked after he backed out and noticed something else. His funds had gone up astronomically. Was that because Hibari had joined him? Hibari was level thirty, so did that mean more things would be available in the shop? He had only gone in to get the accessory, hadn't checked anything else.
He would have to check tomorrow after school. New stuff could either go by his level, or anyone who reached a certain level. At least if it was his own, it would be easier to remember. Or maybe it was based on time?
On that thought he pulled the grimy armor out of his inventory and saw to washing it, so it would be available the next day. Hopefully it was something Hibari or Kusakabe could use. Hopefully his mother wouldn't notice, and wouldn't ask questions.
He still had get himself caught up on his schooling, too.
Ω
The next day he waited by the front gate until Hibari was ready to leave, as he was observing the students leaving, again. Who he presumed was Kusakabe was there, too. How Tsuna could have missed the kid he had no idea, because that hairstyle was … really something. He honestly wondered if Kusakabe had a wire frame in there to hold the shape.
Eventually the students had all dispersed, so Hibari nodded and set off, with Tsuna quick-stepping along to match the stride of older boys. At the tōrō Hibari was the one to open the entrance, and Kusakabe reacted rather calmly, so Hibari must have filled him in on what to expect.
Hibari then purchased an SP Adhesive 1 for the other boy, along with a weapon and gun (Kusakabe apparently used maces), then gave Tsuna an expectant look.
He fished the armor out of his inventory, a Burntech (with 40 DEF, 7 EVA, and +Resist Freeze), and offered it up. "Hopefully we'll find more today."
Hibari examined the thing to see the stats, then wore it. Armor didn't even look like armor once it was cleaned, more like jewelry, the same as the accessories. Tsuna wouldn't doubt Hibari had already gone over his page, and knew Tsuna was wearing the same thing. Then, as expected, Hibari stalked off to the staircase. Once down he nodded at Kusakabe, then waited at Tsuna's side.
Kusakabe looked as cool as a watermelon tasted, and moved forward as soon as the first shadow lurched up. What followed was more of the same. Kusakabe gained a mask, it was ripped off, blood went everywhere, and the new one he gained was a fiery red.
'Huh… None of us are the same. I wonder what that means, if anything. Unless it's to do with the flames ability.'
Kusakabe did just fine against the creature. Better than fine, as it was a Slime, and apparently he could use [Garu] to attack. Hibari seemed just a little put out by that, actually.
"We will stick to Hokori no Michi today," Hibari announced, then headed off.
Shadows were whacked, chained doors busted open, chests investigated and—
Tsuna frowned when one of the chests was golden. And locked. And Hibari's assault on the thing fruitless. "So someone does need to learn how to pick locks," he muttered.
Hibari stepped back and Kusakabe took his place. A piece of metal was slipped out of that outrageous hairstyle, and seconds later the chest was open. Inside was an Army Vest, which was a definite improvement. It had 77 DEF, 6 EVA, and +1 STR.
"You will teach the omnivore how to pick locks," Hibari said.
Kusakabe nodded. "Sunday mornings."
The armor went to Tsuna, as he was the weakest, and his armor went to Kusakabe. He was not about to disagree. They had as much as a year on him in age, and who knows how much in actual experience.
They had just finished up with a shadow when Tsuna saw a notification that Hibari had leveled. Hibari himself seemed almost startled. Then he said, "Omnivore, I have gained flames. It says [Cloud Flames]."
He frowned. "I wonder why the other colour isn't… Maybe you have to level up more first? I also wonder what they do. And if Kusakabe-san will gain his once he levels up."
"We shall see." Hibari strode off again, to hunt down the next shadow or shadows to bite to death.
The next enemy group was subjected to Hibari trying his new option. The result was … weird? The Pixie increased in size rather drastically, which was startling and alarming. That did not stop them from killing the thing, but it did leave all of them puzzled.
The next time Hibari used it, the Pyro Jack became two Pyro Jacks, which was equally puzzling and alarming, though it did mean additional experience. Which, bonus.
Tsuna was exhausted by the time Hibari decided they were done for the day, and he had a new load of laundry to wash. On the bright side, with three of them ripping through shadows, their funds were increasing nicely, and Tsuna had gained another level.
He had dinner, washed the new armor (it was nothing special), and got his homework out of the way. The next day was Friday, so a full school day, then Saturday, so only a half day at school, and that meant he would start learning how to pick locks the day after.
A check of the interface showed that Kusakabe was level twenty-eight, so not that much higher than he was, which made him feel a little better. Kusakabe had better stats, though. Tsuna bit his lip in annoyance, but shrugged it off. Unless he was willing to start up an exercise routine, or could find some interesting item that would permanently increase his stats independent of leveling (or the effect a Persona had on them)…
Also, Kusakabe's given name was Tetsuya.
He realized, as he laid down to sleep, that he still had no idea how the Phantom Thieves managed to get bad people to confess, aside from the reports concerning calling cards. He would have to look those up, to see if any of them had been photographed and shared online.
Ω
The next evening he did some digging with his laptop. The only reason he had one was because he had earned enough from fighting in Mementos to buy it. It had been trouble enough convincing his mother to get him a game console, and he knew she wouldn't be open to the request.
He quietly cheered when he found a website with pictures of all the publicly-placed calling cards to date, three of them, both front and back for each. He saved the images locally, just in case, and so he had something as a template. If he could ever figure this out, and get the chance to deal with his useless father, he was going to need to be able to make one.
It also meant he would need to buy a bunch of magazines he didn't care about, and … come up with a new logo?
Also… He poked around some more and found a website, the Phantom Aficionado Website (or Phan-site), for the Phantom Thieves. Aside from a poll available on the main page, it also accepted submissions for requests. There was a forum where people could add them.
That … made him wonder, again. Maybe that was part of why Mementos existed? There were people who could be made to confess who didn't require a calling card?
On a whim he looked up the name Fūma Kotarō and gawked at what he found. It was a real person, a man who died in the Edo period, killed by the Tokugawa shōgunate. What was even weirder was that Tsuna's name, and that of his father, were both names of shōguns in that clan. He saved a copy of the Tokugawa monshō, just in case, though he rather doubted it would work as a logo.
He would have to think about it all some more. And, well, discuss things with Hibari and Kusakabe. He had no idea if Hibari had even told Kusakabe why Tsuna started all this in the first place.