Chapter 46: Beyond Your Senses
(A)
"Kaneshiro, Madarame, Kamoshida... They truly were an evil stain on society. They hurt and exploited others just to satisfy their desires..." Mona said.
Akira hadn't really responded since she figured he was talking out loud. Plus, she was relaxing as her brother carefully combed her freshly washed curly hair, starting from the bottom and slowly making his way to the top, untangling her nearly ever present knots on the way. But then the non-feline said,
"And yet, there were people around them that would've noticed their terrible deeds, weren't there? I wonder why they turned a blind eye... Why doesn't anyone help?"
And Akira and Ren stilled.
"That's...something that usually depends on the person," her brother said.
"And when it doesn't, it has to do with what they can't do..."
Mona flicked his ears in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You remember how none of Kamoshida's victims spoke up?"
"Or Madarame's?"
The not-cat nodded. "They were scared of the consequences of defying them."
"It's the same thing here. Sometimes people don't care, but for the people who wanna help, sometimes they don't want to deal with that."
Ren gave a hollow laugh. "I mean look what happened to us when we tried to help. Now most people treat us like pariahs once they learn the 'truth'," he said, bitter.
Akira scoffed grumpily. "Yeah."
"I see... So they don't have the courage then..." Mona hummed in thought. "Humans are so weak... Humans..."
Akira glared. "Oy. That includes us y'know," she said, only somewhat offended.
After all, it was Mona, the "not cat" with a pretty big ego.
But when he ignored her to go straight to saying, with an unsure look and even more unsure tone,
"Hey, do you really think I'll be able to become a human?"
Akira's annoyance left her and she smiled in reassurance. "Pfft. Hey, you can turn into a cat-bus. So that means you can turn into a human. There's plenty of cognition for that."
"Really?"
"Uh huh."
She thought that would be the end of it, but Mona turned somber again as he then said,
"Still, when I touched the Treasure... Some memories came back."
"What?"
"For real?! Why didn't ya tell us?"
"... I tried to force myself to forget but... I really may not be human..."
Oh.
Akira was almost tempted to reassure him it wasn't so bad to be a cat since cats were so cool and fluffy...except thinking about it, she would've preferred to be a cat woman so that she could still do what people do and have cat features. So it probably bothered him being stuck as a normal old cat.
She was glad Ren managed to "reassure" him. "Oh? Has the great Mona lost his confidence?"
"What? Of course not! I'm just checking if you can keep up, that's all," Mona said, huffing like his normal self. "Yeah, now that I think about it. I gotta be human! I am the core of the Phantom Thieves after all!"
Akira and her brother laughed.
"Yeah yeah. Sure, if you say so."
"Hey, what's that so supposed to mean?!"
"It means get ready for bed. I'm almost done with Aki's hair."
And so they bantered with each other until it was finally time to turn in, Mona snug in Akira's arms.
[G]
Unbelievable.
Just...
Unbelievable.
But as aggravated as Akechi was at the Phantom Thieves and their absurd audacity, especially since Akira very nearly died during the battle with Kaneshiro, he had gleaned a lot more intelligence than he had planned to gain from the venture, if at all.
One, those strange orbs of light that ever shifted across the spectrum of color he had found in the deepest part of a Palace could be formed into a solid object. He inferred that it was likely due to the calling card, seeing as no other stimuli had ever solidified the floating essence before, which would explain why the Thieves sent the calling cards in the first place.
Two, he confirmed that Niijima-san was not only among Akira's circle, but a member of the Thieves as well. And she was quite a strong member, with her intellect and skills in full display during the fight. ...Though he certainly didn't expect her outfit to be...reminiscent of the Rider series, complete with a Persona that was a motorcycle.
Three, he now knew how the Thieves fought and what they were capable of during battle, or at the very least a glimpse of it.
Hierarchy wise, Amamiya-kun, codenamed Joker, was the leader and tactician who coordinated everyone's efforts. Akira, codenamed Rogue, was his second-in-command. And everyone else followed their orders, with Niijima-san, codenamed Queen, taking over their role as leaders whenever Amamiya-kun or Akira were incapacitated. Otherwise she assisted in Amamiya-kun's role as tactician by providing insight on the opponents like Morgana, codenamed...Mona. He would've thought it idiotic were not for the fact no one would suspect a cat to be a Phantom Thief, but that was digressing.
As for their roles in battle, Morgana primarily acted as the healer. Takamaki-san, codenamed Panter, was a magic based attacker while Sakamoto-san and Kitagawa-san, codenamed Skull and Fox respectively, fought with physical attacks and skills. Niijima-san, unsurprisingly, was mixed, using spells, attacks and support skills all at once. Everyone else also had support skills, but that was more an auxiliary role for them. They all also specialized in an element that, whether on purpose or not, meant they covered a wide range of weaknesses. All of their roles were clearly defined.
All but two.
Akira and Amamiya-kun.
Why?
Because they could use more than one Persona.
How...?!
It irked him to no end. He had thought he was special. That strange voice had told him so, that day that felt so long ago now. How did not one, but two others have not only a similar power as his...but, if that fight was any indication, with Personas that he had seen both in Palaces and not.
In other words, their power was more than his own.
But you knew you weren't that special, remember? Why else would nobody care until you pretended to be? Of course both Akira and her brother would be more special than you.
Akira-chan sure is amazing... She wielded it so well, easily changing her role to whatever was needed.
Akechi scoffed and shook his head. There was no use dwelling on that. He barely knew why his own Persona power was the way it was, no records in the research his superiors had access to even hinting it, while looking into any other research would be too much of a hassle to attempt. That was especially the case with the research done by the Kirijo Group, as his superiors had taken great pains to make sure its CEO wouldn't interfere with her company and her "Shadow Operatives", something that was a mere rumor among the police force, but Akechi knew was reality, as using the group's scant known details, among other things, was how he kept the Kirijo Group in check. Looking into them again might give the Kirijo Group the opening they needed to interfere with the organization's affairs. So, with very little facts available to him, he couldn't deduce on the reasons for the difference in his and the Amamiyas' Persona powers.
Besides, he knew he could still easily defeat all of the Thieves should he face them, even all at once. If they had trouble with Kaneshiro, then they were still nowhere near his power, even with two Persona users who could wield more than one Persona.
After all, Akira would have nearly died if he hadn't interfered, if not by the poor excuse for a mecha Piggytron, than most definitely by the asthma attack she had been experiencing.
That aggravated him more than anything.
That girl truly had a bad habit of getting herself in danger.
Like you're any better.
Well, at least we met her thanks to that.
Akechi sighed. He really needed his rest, but he still had many more interviews to go through, all of them courtesy of the Phantom Thieves that he was "chasing".
He equally wanted to smack Akira on the head for what happened and ask her for some snacks or coffee to relax.
(A)
... Heed his words!
You've defeated the repulsive fiend of gluttony this time...
Well done. I am glad to see...your rehabilitation.
You are not worthy... Inmates. I suggest you treasure them.
Do you recall the whispers about that strange man?
(Of course I do! No thanks to you)
... Don't sound so cocky about it!
(Cocky?!)
{What about the other Persona user?}
...This is about the cases of those people who shut down, isn't it?
Indeed... I speak of another with powers similar to yours.
{You mean...a wild card?}
(Shit)
Perhaps...
But if you are to complete your rehabilitation, you may encounter him eventually...
(Great. We got an evil wild card...)
Yet another thing for me to look forward to...
(Of course)
It would be greatly troubling if you were...to strengthen your abilities.
I shall grant you an ability... Consider it a gift.
It's time, Inmates.
{R}
"Hello? It's me, Makoto... Were you sleeping?"
"No, I'm still sleeping. But thank you for clarifying you are indeed Makoto."
Makoto chuckled. "I assume it's okay if you're making such jokes."
Ren did the same. "So? What did you want to say?"
"Kaneshiro contacted me."
Ren frowned and straightened. "Did he now?"
"Did who what now?" Aki said, coming near with Mona.
Oh right. Since it was about their target...
"Excuse me, I'm going to put you on speaker so Aki and Mona can hear," he said.
"Very well."
He pressed the button and held his phone between the three of them. "Okay, keep going."
"Kaneshiro said he's calling off our debt. It seems he's disposed of all the photographs as well."
"For real?!"
"Yes. However..."
"What? Somethin' wrong?" Aki said, worried.
Ren shared it. He wondered what could have possibly happened.
But then Makoto said, "He hasn't turned himself in or confessed to all his crimes, unlike Kamoshida and Madarame did... Does this really mean his heart changed?"
Oh.
"It should be fine for now."
But Mona said, "We can't be that sure of it yet."
"But all the other changes of heart for Palace rulers took about a week."
"Yeah, so we'll only start worryin' if he's takin' longer than that."
Mona grumbled and looked ready to retort, but then Makoto said,
"What about those psychotic breakdowns Kaneshiro mentioned? Do you want to look into it?"
"Well, we could, but..."
"We don't got any clues and we don't have any idea how to even start lookin' for 'em."
"I see..."
"You can look into it if you want to," Ren said. "You are our best investigator after all."
He smirked at Aki's scoff and amused look, no doubt thinking about Akechi.
"No, I agree with you. It would be a waste of our resources, energy and time to go on what is essentially a wild goose chase for now without a plan. Our best bet for now is getting information from Palace rulers since you've gotten hints to this 'Black Mask' from them."
"Then we'll just be on stand by for a week."
"Understood."
Ren thought that was the end of the conversation, but then the brunett said,
"Thank you."
"Huh? What you thankin' us for?" Aki said.
"For...well, for everything. For going through Kaneshiro's Palace, for helping me open my eyes... and for being my friends."
Ren smiled and Aki grinned.
"Heh heh. No problem!"
"That's what friends are for after all."
Ren could feel her smile. "I'll see you then. Good-bye."
With that, Ren and Akira started their routine. In the middle of having breakfast though, he got a message from Ryuji, asking if they could relax together, suggesting the fishing pond in Ichigaya since he wanted to try it out now that he had someone who could come along. Since it was a chance to spend time with the faux-blond without his muscles dying on him, Ren agreed and he told Aki about his plans.
"Hey! Why don't you invite Yusuke too? Have an all guys hang out?" she had said, then she had another epiphany. "Oh! I'm gonna ask Ann and Makoto if they wanna have an all girls hang out too!"
And so that was how Aki ended up spending the day with the two other Phantom Thief girls while he spent it with the boys, Yusuke enthusiastic of the prospect for possible inspiration for his art and Ren bringing along Mona since he didn't want to leave him out. Though he had to remind the "not-cat" that they couldn't take the fish home to eat...or rather Ren didn't want to.
After they paid the fees, and Ren made sure Yusuke wouldn't somehow end up entangled in his rod's line, the three of them sat together in a row, Mona in his bag as per usual.
"The fish move about in one direction and then suddenly change their course," Yusuke said after a while. "What is the impetus that drove the decision? Was it the presence of its brethren nearby and it chose not to associate with them?"
Ren chuckled. "Maybe it's because that spot in the pond is too hot for it?" he said, thinking of Aki and her dislike of high temperatures. "Or maybe too bright?"
"Oh yes, you have a point. That could be the case as well..."
"Dude, they're just fish. I don't think they too much 'bout that kinda stuff."
"Not unlike you, Ryuji," said the obvious instigator.
"Hey!"
He sighed. "Stop it you two, or I'm going to kick you out myself instead of waiting for the staff to do it."
The faux-blond and not-cat grumbled, but complied nonetheless.
Despite that little hiccup, for the most part it was rather peaceful, with Yusuke's commentary providing nice background when Ren wasn't paying attention and the two most brash members only occassionally sniping at each other. It was almost like reading a good book, his mind wandering and feeling as if he was in his own world.
Though he would admit he wished he caught fish more often. He had so far only caught one.
"Hey, this got me thinkin'," Ryuji said while Yusuke still rambled his musings in the background.
"About what?"
"The future, with you as the leader and me as your right-hand man..."
"I thought Akira was Ren's second-in-command," Yusuke said, his sudden intrusion startling them.
"Hey! Don't go jumpin' in on talks like that! And that don't mean I still can't be Ren's right-hand man."
"Hmm. True. There is no rule against having two or more assistants."
"I said right-hand man!"
"But doesn't 'right-hand man' and 'assistant' hold the same meaning?"
Ren chuckled but what Ryuji said made him ponder.
He hadn't exactly thought of how long they would keep up their vigilante acts as the Phantom Thieves. As much as he was fulfiled with helping people this way, he...didn't know if it was something he would still be doing in the coming years, when he would be going to college and hopefully picking courses that would be for a job he wished to pursue.
Not that he had much hope in getting into a college now thanks to...the Incident.
Perhaps he would continue being a Phantom Thief if that was the case. The best he could hope for were menial jobs, the ones no one really wanted to do but someone had to, so being a Phantom Thief meant he could still help people. Preferably it would be a job with a flexible schedule as "cover" for any money he made during a heist.
"But you know that's not the life you dream of, milord."
Ren sighed.
No, it isn't.
Not that he had any specific dream beyond having a job he enjoyed where he could help others and have a family of his own.
In theory, he would be fine if that "job" was being a Phantom Thief, but the fact it wasn't much of a choice didn't sit well with him...
He was glad he could think on it later as Ryuji, after actually managing to settle his "dispute" with Yusuke without shouting, said,
"Hey, doesn't meeting in a place like this look like we're talkin' some shady business? I like it."
And Ren decided to humor him.
He pushed up his glasses and did his best evil smirk. "Indeed it is," he said in an equally menacing voice.
"Yeah! Like that! That's what I mean! Like 'we're regular high school studenrs durin' the day, but at night'... You know what I mean?! Man, this is getting me pumped up!" the blonde said, grinning.
Unfortunately, that enthusiasm was quickly drained from Ryuji as the minutes ticked by and the only one of them to have caught even one fish was himself, and that only added to a grand total of two catches.
"...Man, the fish ain't bitin'. The float's not movin' at all."
"Of course. You're not as good as Ren after all."
"Mona. Stop it. Or I'll button mash you."
"Urk!"
"Perhaps it's something about our presence specifically that is driving them away...?"
Ryuji sighed. "If only there was a master fisher around. Then we could steal their ideas..."
"That's plagiarism."
"You know what I mean!"
"You have to admit it does sound like it."
"Not you too!"
Ryuji grumbled while Ren and Yusuke chuckled. But whatever annoyance the faux-blond had evaporated as he jolted and said,
"Woah, that's Kawakami, isn't it?! What's she doin' here?!"
Ren was startled.
Kawakami?
"Oh crap! She's comin' this way!"
Ren turned just as his teacher neared them.
"Two boys at the fishing pond on a Sunday, huh..." she said. "Why are you sitting around like old men? Why don't you go out and do something exciting?"
"Wha—look who's talkin'!"
"Ryuji."
"You know I'm right!"
"She's just worried for us. Not a lot of teens would want to try fishing." Ren turned to look right at Ryuji. "In fact, I was a bit surprised you of all people suggested we go."
"Sakamoto-kun suggested you to come here?" Kawakami said with disbelief.
"Hey, I thought it'd be a cool way to relax. Kinda like those martial art masters when they meditate, y'know?"
Kawakami sighed. "I should've known. Unlike you, adults need time to themselves to unwind and clear their thoughts. You'll understand soon enough, when you start working in the real world."
"Wow... Soundin' real old there, Kawakami."
"That's Ms. Kawakami to you!" she said, glowering the faux-blond's way for a moment.
"And don't call her old, Ryuji."
"But she sounded like it!"
"I think the more accurate descriptor would be wise," Yusuke said.
Ryuji sighed. Meanwhile, Kawakami was startled at the blue haired boy commenting, finally noticing his presence.
"Who are you?"
"He's our friend. We invited him with us," Ren said.
Yusuke bowed his head slightly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Ms. Kawakami. I am Yusuke Kitagawa, a second-year from Kosei High."
"Kosei High? That prestigious art school? You made a friend from another school?"
"He spotted Ann and wanted her to model for a painting for him," Ren explained. "We've helped him with it and other things and we've been friends since."
"And as I've reminded them time and again, I am forever grateful for that."
"Hey. No problem, dude. We've got your back," Ryuji said, grinning at him.
Ren smiled. And for a bit, Kawakami was just in disbelief before she shared his expression.
"Well, I'm glad you're all good friends then," she said.
He was glad as well.
He also noted, to his relief, as Kawakami sat down opposite them, she looked healthier than before. Though she still had bags under her eyes, it was definitely less than before.
With her back against them and their conversation done, Ren followed her lead, focusing on his reel once again.
Well, for a while anyway.
"Holy crap... Kawakami could be our master fisher, Ren. She's hookin' fish like crazy!"
He had thought Ryuji was exaggerating, but he wasn't. Ren stared as not one minute in, Kawakami caught five fish, all of pretty good sizes for their kind.
"Magnificent! Such mastery! I can only imagine how much time it took to hone your craft."
"Hmm? It's easy. Just clear your mind and free yourself from negative thoughts."
Yusuke gasped. "Truly?"
"So the trick is to not think!"
Ryuji paused.
Yusuke went right back to his fishing position, with an intense glare that reminded Ren of the times he summoned Goemon in rage.
"...How am I supposed to do that?"
"Let go of all worldly desires?" Ren said, unsure.
He only knew calming techniques. He didn't know if that counted.
"I see. So I think to myself that I don't want fish..."
Of course Ryuji took it seriously.
"Nope. Not gonna work. I'm askin' for tips because I wanna catch fish."
Or not.
Kawakami gave a long suffering sigh. "It's a nice sunny, Sunday." One fish caught. "I didn't think I'd be stuck fishing with you two and your friend on my day off..." Another fish. "Two troublemakers and their teacher..." Yet another. "Well, at least I can make sure you don't do anything troublesome." One more. "But still..." And another.
Ren couldn't help but gape.
"She keeps gettin' fish as she nags... I'm impressed!
"She's the true fishing master," he said.
Ren tensed when his teacher sent a glare his way. But as she said nothing immediately, he relaxed just before she spoke.
"... Once again, it's Ms. Kawakami," she said.
Ren had to look away to hide his smirk.
Deny as she might, Ren could feel Kawakami's embarrassed joy at being called a "fishing master" through their link.
"Yes! I caught one!" Yusuke said as he held up his quarry.
"For real?!"
"It worked?!" Mona said.
Ren laughed. He'd let the not-cat's outburst slip this time as Yusuke then went on to ramble about the way the light shone off the scales of his fish and both Kawakami and Ryuji were trying to get him to shut up before he scared off the other fish.
(A)
Both Ann and Makoto readily agreed to the girls hang out and met up by Buchiko. Since the last time they hung out like this Ann picked crepes, and Akira sorta got to pick at the same time with the trip to Untouchables, they had Makoto pick. However...
"I'm...not sure where should we go."
"Eh? Our great strategist doesn't have a plan for hanging out?" Akira said.
"Well, I'm...not that familiar with what most girls do to hang out. I've only ever gone to karaoke with my...other friends."
Akira mocked gasped. "You have other friends besides us?!"
"Hey! Ryuji said that to you and you got mad! You can't say that!" Ann said.
She laughed. "I know, I know. Just couldn't help it," she said. "I don't mind doin' karaoke if that's all you can think of. Just a warnin' though. I'll probably pick the more 'nerdy' songs."
"What 'nerdy' songs?" Makoto said, curious.
"You know, anime songs and stuff like that."
"You like anime songs?"
"Course I do. Songs from video games too, but those usually aren't on karaoke machines."
"Well, I don't mind going either," Ann said. '"So let's go then?"
And so they all agreed to go to the nearest karaoke. Ann sang first, picking, to her surprise, a song by "bumpy chick", Akira admittedly guessing the blonde was more the type to listen to pop music than a type of rock, even if "bumpy chick" was relatively big. And luckily, Ann wasn't a bad singer. So Akira's ears weren't subjected to scratch noise. Unfortunately, that meant she had nothing to tease over, but she thought that was a fair trade off.
Akira figured Makoto would go next, but when she offered the brunette such, she said,
"I...I'd like to go after you, if you don't mind. I'm...I'm still looking."
She had been curious what made the usually confident student council president so unsure, but she shrugged and gave in. She wanted to sing now that she had the chance. Thankfully the song she wanted, "Brave Light" by "Aisuru", was easy enough to find.
"The song of a broken boy that still dreams despite his state and the world's. Now let it resonate with them!"
And she gave it her all.
After all, she was with good friends. She could get as passionate and loud as she wanted.
When she finished though...
"Are you for real?!"
"Huh?"
"Of course you can sing well...why am I not surprised...?" Ann said.
Akira laughed. "What? You jelly? Come on, you weren't that bad."
"And you sounded like a pro..."
"Oh come on, it can't be that good." She hadn't taken any singing lessons in her life after all.
"Of course you are good. I am thou, thou art I. If I am amazing, then that means so are you."
"Well, it's better than the average from what I can tell," Makoto said. "It would certainly fit you, considering your initial Persona. Perhaps it's yet another one of your powers along with your multiple Personas."
Ann's eyes widened. "No way. Is Akira's Persona helping her sing?!"
Akira shrugged. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing she was capable of. She could already use Third Eye in the real world, so it wasn't an impossibility either.
Ann groaned. "I wish Carmen could help me with the cold then. It would be so nice to just heat myself up whenever I want."
"That would be neat. But I'd rather have something that'd keep me cool. I can't exactly keep stripping once I'm in my underwear."
"Akira!" the two said, shocked.
She bellowed. Then she said before further protests could be made, "So, Makoto. Found your song yet?"
This time, it worked, but Makoto was back to being nervous as she said,
"Yes."
And then they saw what song she was going to input.
"'Dame Dame'? As in from the Like A Dragon movies?"
Makoto flushed. "Y-Yes..." she said.
"You watch the Like A Dragon movies?!" she and Ann said.
"Yes. I know that's weird, but..."
"Weird?! That's awesome! I didn't see all the Like A Dragon movies, but the ones I did are so cool."
"Yeah! They're some of the few yakuza movies I actually like," Ann said.
Makoto stared. And then...
"You've seen them too?!"
Akira laughed. "Hell yeah I did. But like I said, only some of 'em."
"I think that's fine, I only saw some too." Then blonde said to the Like A Dragon fan, "Which one do you like?"
Before Makoto could answer though, the machine reminded them what they had been here for as it played the movie franchise's recurring song, "Dame Dame", and the brunette scrambled to sing it.
As was the running theme, Makoto's singing wasn't terrible either, so Akira couldn't tease her either. Not that she minded...too much.
And so they continued on their singing, with Ann showing she also knew a few anime songs and, unsurprisingly, plenty of English songs. Makoto mainly picked songs that had featured in the Like A Dragon series while Akira continued picking more anime songs, with the occasional non-anime songs being other works by the artists that did them. And through it all, inbetween turns, they would end up discussing Makoto's favorite movie series, the brunett much too excited to lose an opportunity to talk about it.
When their time ended, they were all quite satisfied with it.
"That was fun! We should do this again," Ann said. "Maybe pick something else too."
"I wouldn't mind. I had fun. I...didn't think the experience could be that enjoyable."
Akira frowned as she put her mask back up. "What? You didn't have fun with the your other 'friends'?"
Unfortunately, Makoto said, "No. Thinking back on it, after the first time I tried singing, I picked 'Dame Dame' back then and they said it was weird so they had me try other songs, and I just went along with it..."
"Seesh... When was that exactly?"
"About...two years ago, I think."
Well, that explained why Akira didn't really see anyone hang out with her.
"Really? They did? It's not that weird."
"Ann. Even I know most girls don't watch action movies, let alone yakuza movies. Of course they found it weird." She glanced away. "And most people don't like stuff that's weird to them..."
It annoyed her that her words ended up draining the good mood they built up during their outing, Ann turning concerned and Makoto turning contemplative. So Akira said the first thing that came to mind.
"Sorry 'bout that. But that just makes me real glad I got you guys."
That did as she hoped, making them smile.
"Same."
"I'm grateful too."
Akira grinned behind her mask. "All right. Want some snacks before ya go?" she said, pulling some from her bag.
And with that, they went their seperate ways, Akira glad she didn't end it on a low note.
{R}
"Hey, Amamiya-kun?" Kawakami said, catching him right before he entered class.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Do you mind if you call me when the coast is clear? There are some things I need to talk to you about."
Ren was surprised. He had initially expected yet another discussion with his teacher after the Takases released her from their grip, especially considering he had felt her suspicions that was likely over his secret identity, but after not hearing from her for a while, he had thought she had decided not to confirm it for whatever reason. If he was more prudent, he would've left it at that.
Still, he nodded and said, "Okay."
If she ended up wanting to find out the truth, he would confirm it, in a way that he could easily deny, of course. He was still a phantom thief after all. And for all he knew, she could have wanted to talk about something else.
"Okay. I'll see you again then."
And that was that until afternoon came. Just after he had informed Aki about his new plans for the night, Makoto came and wished to speak with him. Though confused, he bid his sister good-bye and followed Makoto to the "snack spot" in the courtyard. Ren worried it was some sort of update on Kaneshiro. But it turned out that she just wanted to expand her horizons; be not so narrow-minded. Because, despite being a model honorary student and student council president, she had been unable to do anything to help her fellow students when it mattered.
"Oh. So...you have a plan I assume?"
"Yes. My first step will be to learn more about other students. But...I struggle with that. There is a disparity between my tastes and that of my peers..."
Ren...didn't say anything, just nodded in acknowledgement. He wanted to tell Makoto she wasn't odd, that there was nothing wrong about who she was, but, well...he knew in the eyes of most people, that wasn't true. And he didn't have the heart to sugarcoat it or be blunt about it. So he just listened as Makoto went on to talk about being resposible as both a student council president and as a phantom thief by learning of the other students, quick to reassure him that she had no plans to do any kind of surveilance.
"What? Like what you did with Aki and I?" he said, flat only because he didn't want to give away his amusement.
As he hoped, Makoto said, "How many times do I have to apologize for that...?"
Now he cracked a smile. "Forever. You're never going to live it down...Ms. 'Upside Down Manga'."
"Anyways! Where do people go usually to have fun?"
Ren chuckled and let it go this time as he listed a few options that he felt were pretty common. Karaoke, movies, diners, the arcade...
Makoto perked up. "The arcade?"
"Haven't been to one?"
"No, I actually haven't."
He guessed as much.
"Then shall we go? I can show you."
"Yes, please. I would have been lost if I went by myself."
He also figured as much.
That was how Ren found himself at the arcade in Central Street, Makoto surprised at the amount of girls in it.
"Plenty of people are surprised how many girls are gamers," Ren said.
"So girls playing video games is actually common?"
"Hmm. I don't know exact numbers, but most likely. Ann plays and Aki does too."
"I see..." she said, scanning the area. "Hey, over there..."
Ren looked to where she pointed it was a cabinet for the shooting game, Gun About.
"You play by aiming the gun at the screen, right? That actually seems somewhat realistic."
Ren snorted in amusement. "Aki would beg to differ...even though she's not that knowledgeable on guns, especially compared to Iwai-san."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Nothing nothing... Just Aki being nitpicky. It's exactly what you think. Want to try?"
"I-If it's okay with you..." Makoto said, seemingly calm...but Ren could tell she was actually excited.
Ren couldn't help but smile at her open mindedness. "All right then..." He pushed up his glasses. "...it's showtime."
As tempted as he was, he didn't actually go all out on Makoto, if only because he was more focusing on telling her what she needed to do when she, well, needed it, like how to reload with the toy gun and what some of the UI meant. Besides, she was loud enough as it was as she...well, screamed quite a bit, to every other gamer's attention. Not that Makoto noticed.
Despite all the screaming, the brunette had fun and formed a few ideas for battle thanks to it. So he had fully expected her to ask for his assistance for the generation of such ideas.
"It would be my pleasure," he said. "Though I would suggest Aki's help. She has a friend from her class and a third-year, so you'll have a bit more diverse pool of info if she helps."
"Oh. She's...friends with a third-year? I thought..." She flinched. "I mean..."
Ren smiled sadly. "I know what you mean." Ren chuckled with pride. "That's why I'm happy she has friends. I like seeing her happy." And he was grateful he had friends too.
For a brief moment, Makoto looked upset over something, but by then she had said,
"I see. I'll keep that in mind."
With that, the feminine voice spoke.
I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall be the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity. With the birth of the Priestess Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.
Then Makoto went on to ask if he could take her to the red-light district in Shinjuku since he had been there. She wanted to confirm firsthand the reports of a Shujin student being spotted there, hoping it wasn't true but worried on the possibility it was.
"All right. I promise to take you there."
Then they went their seperate ways to home.
(A)
Akira stared dubiously.
"You...wanna hang out?"
Ann smiled and nodded.
"Uh huh. If you're not busy, of course."
"And...you want to do what I would think of as fun or relaxing?"
"Yup!"
Akira had been a bit surprised Ann had wanted to spend time together so soon, not that she minded, but she figured Ann would go see Suzui or something after yesterday. But considering that and what she was doing now...
Well, if Ann wanted Akira to have fun, she might as well kill to birds with one stone.
So Akira said the one thing she liked that she knew Ann would have near to zero interest in...and would probably be torture.
"Then can we go to the bookstore? The one in Central Street."
And Ann had the wide-eyed, slightly gaping look of someone who instantly regretted their choice.
But instead of, say, backtracking on her offer, Ann took a deep breath and smiled.
"All right then, let's go!"
Akira would give her credit for that. She had said that under the assumption Ann would change her mind. Akira, admittedly, still thought she would the longer they stayed at the bookstore as Ann, in vain, tried her hardest to look at other kinds of books, instead of the magazine section her eyes kept glancing at. But when it was clear Ann's stubborness wouldn't let her leave, and the joke ran its course for Akira, she went up, leaned on Ann's shoulder and pulled her mask down to show her smirk as she said,
"Sooo...do you give up yet?"
"Huh? What? Give up? What are you talking about?" Ann said, frantic.
Akira smirked wider. "C'mon Ann. I know you're not enjoying it. Why else would I suggest it and leave you by yourself?"
Ann's eyes widened. "Wait, you knew?!"
Akira laughed. "It was kinda obvious. I couldn't help myself."
The blonde grumbled.
She chuckled. But more seriously, she said, "But really, we don't gotta do this. If you're not enjoying it, I'd rather we do something else. Y'know, like yesterday."
Ann turned pensive. "I know, but...after yesterday, I thought I'd try something you liked to do since you keep doing stuff we like." She aimed a flat look at her. "And no, that time you, me and Makoto were in Untouchables doesn't count since we had crêpes afterwards."
Oh.
Akira...wasn't sure how to feel, at first anyway. Once it set in why Ann had wanted to do this, she smiled and laughed. Her friend was understandably confused and annoyed until Akira said,
"Okay then. How about this so we're even. Next time, we do something you really like to do, and then after that, we do something I really like to do."
She didn't...exactly have a plan for her choice at that moment, or rather something in mind that maybe Ann would like too, but she would think of something by then.
Ann smiled. "Sure! I'm fine with that."
"Good." Then Akira was back to smirking. "But for now..."
"Huh? For now what?"
"Since we're here, lemme find ya a book you'd like."
"Huh?! But I thought..."
"Yeah, it was a joke, but that don't mean it has to stay a joke. And hey, you picked a crêpe that I liked. I gotta do the same for you."
"I doubt it..."
Akira pulled up her mask. "Do you really wanna say that?"
To her great satisfaction, she did get a book for Ann. Yes, it was a just the first volume of a romance light novel, but all that mattered that mere hours later, after Akira finished dinner, Ann sent messages to her "complaining" about having already read through the entirety of the book she bought and now needed to read the rest.
{R}
Despite Kawakami not being overworked anymore, Ren couldn't help but prepare her "custom meal" once he called her over, with Aki, of course, pitching in. He had thought that perhaps it was a good thing that he was readying it as, for some reason, his teacher was late and all he could think of was that she was tired.
Thankfully, it wasn't anything of the sort.
"Sorry I'm late. A student asked for advice as I was leaving. That's actually been happening a lot lately. I wonder if they see me in a new light now...?"
Ren sighed in relief.
Aki snickered.
He glowered at her.
"Anyways, that's great! Want us to reheat this?"
"Huh? You... You made this again?" Kawakami said as she sat down before the meal.
"Of course! It's our running gag."
Ren rolled his eyes. "I think you mean tradition, Aki."
"And I thought you of all people would prefer 'running gag'."
Ren repeated his motion and stopped their banter there, saying to Kawakami, "So? Do you want us to reheat it?"
"No. Besides...you didn't have to do this, you know."
He and his sister smiled at her.
"Nah."
"But I wanted to," Ren said. "If you want, just take it as a small reward for another step closer to being your ideal teacher."
Kawakami kept her gaze locked with his for a bit until she sighed. "All right, since you insist. I can't let this go to waste now, can I?"
"Well..."
"Aki..."
"What? I didn't say anything."
Their teacher chuckled for a moment before being serious again. "Still, I have a lot of work to do to make up for all the times I let my students down in the past. But I'm not going to let that stop me."
"Glad to hear it."
"Yeah! You're already makin' good progress and all. I mean, they're askin' advice and stuff and all."
Kawakami smiled. "Apparently, they like that I'm not too serious. I guess my laid-back personality is coming in useful."
"Eh? Laid-back? That's the last thing I'd describe you with," Aki said.
Uh oh.
Kawakami glowered. "Oh? And what would you describe me as, Amamiya-chan?"
"Stubborn. Try hard. Nitpicky. Take your pick."
"You're not much better, Aki."
"Hey! At least I'm not false advertisin'."
"Picky eater."
"Am not."
"What did you just say about 'false advertising'?"
"What about 'misunderstanding'?"
"There isn't anything to misunderstand about you being picky on what you eat."
Once again, they stopped because of Kawakami, as she shook her head in fond exasperation and said,
"You two are ridiculous."
Aki smirked. "It's tradition."
Ren also smirked. "Oh now you say it."
The three of them shared a laugh before they settled into silence. But that only lasted until Kawakami finished her meal.
"So...now this is coming from me as your teacher...but an awful thought occured to me the more I spent time with you, and I can no longer ignore such a grave 'danger'," she said.
And there it was, what he had been waiting for.
Kawakami glared. "You..."
Ren did his best to discretely take a deep breath, just as Aki turned serious and tensed.
"...are waaaay too lax about your diet! You need to be more serious about your nutrition."
They stared.
"Eh?"
"And don't think I noticed all that stuff you stuffed in the other half of the room! It's some sort of collection, right? One you don't want your guardian to see? I ignored it because you were my client, but if you don't store it properly, it's going to get dusty and might trigger your sister's asthma. So you should definitely organize it!"
In their bewildered states, Ren just nodded in acknowledgement while Aki said,
"Uh, yeah, sure. We will."
Kawakami smiled. "That's what I wanted to hear," she said. "There are just some things you have to prioritize over your studies, you know?"
That snapped them out of their dazes as Ren chuckled and Aki huffed.
"That's not something you'd usually hear a teacher say."
"Well, I may have learned that it's okay to be a bit unconventional...if you weren't, you wouldn't be a part of the Phantom Thieves, would you?"
Oh. It seemed he was right after all.
Now he chuckled at himself. He suspected Aki was doing the same for the same reason.
They smirked.
"Whatever are you talking about?" he said.
"I got no clue what you're talkin' about," she said.
His home room teacher laughed. "Of course, of course. There's no way the only two people who knew about my situation with Takase-kun's guardians had anything to do with their miraculous change of heart. It was just a coincidence."
"Yup, totally a coincidence."
"Indubitably."
He was happy Kawakami was playing along.
Ren would admit this was his preferred outcome on her reaction to their identities.
"But seriously, there are a lot of stories of the Phantom Thieves helping people like me," she said, grave. "So don't worry. I have no intention of telling anyone."
Ren smiled. "I know. I trust you."
Kawakami smiled back. "I'm glad you do. You're not just my student. You helped me remember the kind of teacher I wanted to be. The kind of teacher that never abandons her students... So I support you one hundred percent!"
"I'm glad to have it."
And then, to his shock, time froze like so many times before. But unlike so many time before, the feminine voice's words were not the same.
I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast turned a vow into a blood oath, she said. Thy bond shall become the wings of rebellion and break the yoke of thy heart. Thou hast awakened the ultimate secret of Temperance, granting thee infinite power.
And that was followed by a deep yet elegant voice, exuding both power and gentleness in equal measure.
"I am Ardha. Thou hast called upon the might of the entire universe. Should thou need me, I shall heed thy call."
And then time resumed, with Kawakami then saying, deciding to quiz them and Aki complaining about it. Of course his home room teacher insisted, especially with exams coming up, so they did the quiz. By the end of it though, Aki groaned and said,
"Ugh... At least give us some other services... We can study fine by ourselves..."
Kawakami turned contemplative. "Well...I can't come and clean your room almost everyday anymore, but considering your...'part-time job'...if you guys are really tired, I can come over to give a message."
"Message?! You can do messages?!" Aki said.
"I am a licensed message therapist."
"Can you?! Can you?! Can you?! Pleeeeaaaaase...?"
Kawakami laughed. "Well, since you asked so nicely, I will, for both you and your brother. Just promise to clean up and study, okay?"
"Deal!"
With that, and a little more reminders about which topics to study, Kawakami left, and the first thing Aki said was,
"What was with that look?"
"You noticed?"
"Yeah. Now spill."
Ren frowned. "I'm...not exactly sure."
"What you mean?"
"The voice...the one that tells us about Confidants? They said I turned a 'vow' into a 'blood oath' and..." He paused, contemplating on how to articulate himself. "...I think I have a new Temperance Persona I can only fuse now because I unlocked the arcana's 'ultimate secret'."
Aki stared.
"Huh..."
Huh, indeed.
Ren wasn't sure how to take it, thus it was no surprise neither did Aki.
So they agreed to, once again, put a pin on it and, hopefully, get some kind of answer from their wardens when he asked tomorrow.
He wondered why Akira had that concentrated look on her face, the one she made when she was actually making a plan.
He could only hope she wouldn't get in trouble with her idea.
Author's Notes: No, Fantôme isn't helping Akira sing. I just headcanon that she and Ren (and Akechi) all have good singing voices because of Ren's (and Akechi's) voice actor(s). That's also why Ann and Makoto don't sing too badly, as Ann's Japanese voice actress is, well, Nana Mizuki, while Cheremi Leigh, Makoto's English VA, can sing, along with her Japanese VA, Rina Sato.
Also bumpy chick and Aisuru reference BUMP OF CHICKEN and Aimer respectively.