Chapter 5: The Fool

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Akira•

As he got ready for bed later that night his phone dinged to indicate a text. He pulled it out as he removed his shirt to grab a t-shirt, and saw that Ryuji had messaged him.

Ryuji— Hey I decided 2 go ahead n message u

Ryuji— Can u c this?

He sighed and rolled his eyes when he realized Ryuji was one of those texters, before sending a reply back.

You— Nope.

Ryuji— U SO can!

Ryuji— I'm gonna b counting on u tomorrow ok?

You— Got it.

Ryuji— ur a bro man

You— Damn, I've been bro-zoned.

You— Press F to pay respects.

Ryuji— F!

Ryuji— Anyway c u tomorrow!

Ryuji— Let's save those guys who've been abused! U n me!

Ryuji— Oh btw the thingy on ur phone was some kinda eye right?

Ryuji— The nav app?

You— Yes, a red and black eyeball with a star in the center.

Ryuji— It's weird but I just found it on my phone.

Ryuji— I don't even remember installing it!

You— That's unsettling…

Ryuji— 4real! What is this thing?

Ryuji— Think it's being downloaded on its own somehow?

You— It may be dangerous to use something without knowing what it is, but it's helped us out so far.

Ryuji— Ur right about that.

Ryuji— Anyway I guess we'll be finding evidence of the abuse tomorrow!

Ryuji— I'm counting on u! Don't go ditching school on me!

You— Damn, and I wanted to avoid that test tomorrow.

You— Don't worry, I'll be there. I'll see you at the rally.

Ryuji— C u!

He finished putting on his sleeping clothes and pulled up the app. He could see the search function and his history on it, Kamoshida's palace being the only thing there. After a few moments of thinking, he closed the app and moved on to his next train of thought. He opened his hand and concentrated before red and black flashes of light began bursting from his palm. He jumped in shock, not having expected it to work.

When he'd tried to speak to Arsène in the real world, his Persona could respond, but he couldn't exactly summon him since his mask didn't exist. This energy was crackling at his fingertips… what exactly was it? It couldn't be the same energy that made up Personas, and Morgana didn't seem to know anything about it since he thought the carnage he'd created was because of Arsène.

Arsène, sensing his inner questions and having recovered fully as well, responded. I, unfortunately, have none of the answers thou art looking for. As thy other self, I know all that thou knoweth, but nothing more, and nothing less.

But then how had he known about Rebellion in the first place? Arsène had even told him something about how he had the strength of his mind…

I could sense a well of power within us, aching to be freed, but I know not of what it truly is…

Hm… well, that didn't answer much. He looked down at his hand and frowned. Could he do anything else with it? He knew that shooting it out obliterated all the enemies he'd been facing, but he wasn't sure how. Was it just pure energy that they couldn't contain, and exploded from within? Was it something that exploded on contact and destroyed them? Was it just… something?

He tried summoning more energy to his hands and watched as the veins under his skin became more visible, beginning to glow brighter the more energy he poured into them. Silvers and reds and blacks, and then the air itself began flowing around his arms. His eyes glowed with excitement, and the word repeated in his head once more.

Rebellion.

It was what gave them strength within Kamoshida's Palace, what made it so that he, Ryuji, and Morgana could summon their Personas, what manifested their thief clothing, and it allowed them to finally get an edge on Kamoshida.

"Rebellion," he whispered. The light glowed brighter, but nothing happened. Did he have to do something else? He thought back, and remembered saying something… what was it? It sounded… Greek? Yeah, something like that… So… Gamma? Sigma? Chi? Upsilon? Omega?

That was it! Omega! But it had ripped apart his hands when he'd tried using it, and it had kind of destroyed everything in its path, so maybe he shouldn't try using it inside his new room… maybe there was a weaker version? It could have levels of power. If he remembered correctly, Omega was the last letter of the Greek alphabet, so would Alpha be the weakest version of the attack?

He walked to his window and opened it, aiming up at the sky so he wouldn't destroy anything. "Rebellion α…" the moments he whispered the words with the intent to fire, energy blasted from his palms and shot into the sky. Having not expected it to work, he fell back on his ass and looked up in wonder as the tri-colored Attack flew higher. He winced as it suddenly hit a bird and exploded it, but at least that was better than it falling back to the earth and hurting someone. Would it have fallen? It was pure energy, but he wasn't sure how exactly it worked…

He sat on his bed and pulled out his phone, trying to look up anything that could give him a clue as to what it was. The first thing he searched for was 'magic powers,' but most of the results were just fandom websites for various video games or shows explaining the mechanics behind their magic systems. That wasn't very helpful, so he tried another term, 'soul energy.'

It had to be something similar to Arsène, so it could be some form of soul power. But that search term just got him were a bunch of voodoo, yoga, oddly enough, and fake psychic websites. He sighed and rubbed his head, before an idea struck him. The psychic websites were pretty clearly bullshit, but that didn't mean that his own powers weren't real psychic energy. Plus, Arsène has called it the strength of his mind!

This could lead us to the answers we desire…

Agreeing with Arsène, he began looking up research papers and theories on psychic powers, but he was getting nothing back— until he struck gold.

It was an article written on the theory of there being some kind of latent potential hidden in the mind that could be drawn out or cut off with the right training or science. Apparently, there had been documented cases in the past of people with Psionic potential, or, when shortened, PSI potential. The names of these people were withheld for privacy reasons, but they had a multitude of powers.

Photokinesis, psychokinesis, pyrokinesis, glaciokinesis, electrokinesis, chronokinesis, clairvoyance and precognition, energy-medicine and psychic-surgery, levitation, telepathy, teleportation… the list went on and on, with explanations for the more unclear kinesis', like glaciokinesis being the ability to psychically control ice, or photokinesis being the ability to control light. There was an attached photograph as well, apparently one of the powers in play. It was old, grainy and blurry, making it difficult to make out the person in the picture besides the red and blue shirt, but the rays flowing from their hands were the main focus of the picture— rays extremely similar to his own, colored red, blue, and yellow.

Now, he was intelligent. He knew that the picture could very well have been photoshopped or something similar, but given the fact that the attack looked similar to his own, just swap blue for silver, and it had a high likelihood of being real. He yawned as he read and looked at the time, only to curse when he realized that it was way too late at night. He saved the website to his phone so he could find it easily later, and quickly set an alarm. He didn't want to accidentally be late, after all.

His eyes snapped open, and he groaned when he realized that he was back inside the Velvet Room. He got up and saw Justine and Caroline waiting for him to wake, and once they noticed he was up, they turned towards Igor. He sighed as he dragged the iron ball attached to his foot towards the cell door before he leaned against the bars. "Lolice. Nose."

"Show some more respect, Inmate!" Caroline smacked her baton into his cell door causing him to hiss and shake his hands.

Igor simply chuckled with that shiver-inducing voice of his, staring at him. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. I thought about resuming our previous conversation tonight. That is why I have summoned you. But first… What are your thoughts? Have you become accustomed to this place?"

"The place is still dreary as hell, but I'm not constantly trying to break down this door… so sure. I guess I'm getting more used to it."

Igor nodded, "Glad to hear it. It seems you have nerves of steel. Your rehabilitation determines if Ruin can be stopped. Yet, such a feat cannot be done by you alone." Igor shifted his long, stick-like legs to place one over the other. "But today, you have entered a partnership with someone who awoke to the same power, haven't you?"

"Yeah, Ryuji. I heard something about a Chariot Persona?"

Igor tapped his desk, and Akira finally noticed a new addition on the wood. A card was sitting on it, with an odd black, white, silver, and red design on it. It showed a man with a scepter and broken arm riding in a chariot that had the letters S and M inscribed on it while being drawn by two horses, one black and one white. Le • Chariot was written on the bottom of the card and on top was the roman numeral for seven, a V and two I's, while below the card was a silver nameplate with 'Ryuji Sakamoto' written on it.

"Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You've done well. That said, I am not advising for the formation of superficial relationships."

"What's that mean?"

Igor waved his hand as he explained, causing Ryuji's card to float off the table. "It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength. In other words, they are bonds with those who have been robbed of their place to belong. The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature as well."

"I don't exactly feel good about using people to get stronger."

Justine looked to him, "Personas are the strength of heart. The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your personas will gain. Even if you feel like you are manipulating them, you must join their strength with yours to avoid Ruin."

Caroline spoke up next, tapping her baton against her shoulder. "There are countless people in this city who have talents that a weakling like you doesn't! You better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side. We'll change that into power."

"I like Justine, she's nice enough, but can I trade in my Caroline? I'm not into the tsundere loli archetype."

"What was that, Inmate?!"

He shook his head, "whatever, you still haven't told me exactly what this ruin is, but if that's what I need to do… I'll try and find my own way of getting Confidants without manipulating them."

Igor laughed, folding his hands below his chin. "You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition. However, if you believe you can bond with the people around you in such a way, I would be delighted to see it…"

"You can count on me, then."

"Hmhmhm… we have a deal, then." As Igor's grin seemed to widen, he sighed. He could feel Igor's high expectations, and even if he didn't fully trust the odd man, he would attempt to live up to them. If only to stop whatever this Ruin was.

We may not know of his motivations completely, but he has not betrayed us so far. He silently agreed with Arsène's hum within his head.

A bond of trust was formed between the two of them, based on a vow to stop Ruin.

I am Thou. Thou art I.
Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the Wings of Rebellion
that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Fool Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…

Fool Arcana, Prison Master: Rank One

Akira's heart was filled with the sound of chains shattering, and he felt more power welling up inside of him. He frowned, trying to make sense of the words that were spoken into his mind. The voice was female and sounded different from Arsène's, yet she spoke about how the birth of a new Persona led to her obtaining the winds of blessing that lead to freedom and power…

Who was the owner of that voice? He could swear that it sounded familiar and that he'd heard it before, but he couldn't think of where… I know not either, Arsène spoke, but we may yet find answers should we search.

Suddenly, next to Ryuji's card, another appeared. This had the same color scheme, with a man holding a hitchhiker's bag over his shoulder and wearing what looked to be a jester's outfit, while a dog was jumping behind him. On the bottom of the card were words that read 'Le • Mat', and underneath the card itself was another silver nameplate that had Igor written upon it.

"In any case," Igor spoke once more, "you will understand it all in due time. Continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation."

Caroline smirked, "Now, this conversation's over! Get lost, Inmate!" He sighed and walked back to his cot, laying down as his consciousness drifted away, letting him exit the Velvet Room and drift into a peaceful sleep for the rest of the night.

Ω • Ω • Ω

4/13, Wednesday

Akira's day started alright. He had some curry for breakfast, which he still thought was weird but at least it tasted delicious, heard some guys and girls gushing about getting to see Kamoshida play during the rally, and slept through his classes as he'd stayed up too late studying his powers.

The volleyball rally itself led to a downward spiral in terms of his mood. The student teams were getting crushed, and Kamoshida was visibly drinking in the praise, especially whenever any of the girls cheered for him. He turned to Ryuji and stuck a finger down his throat, pretending to throw up, causing the faux-blond to snicker.

At one point, some boy with dark blue hair, who Akira recognized as the one from his class, was spiked directly in the face. After he crumpled to the ground, Akira quickly jabbed Ryuji in the side. "This might be our chance to leave quietly," he whispered.

"Right, right!" They quickly got up and grabbed the boy from the ground.

"We'll take him to the nurse's office, don't worry. Hey, you alright?" He knelt and draped the boy's arm over his shoulder, while Ryuji helped him up.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…"

"We should still take you to the nurse, that might very well start bruising."

"Uh, yeah, what he said…" he rolled his eyes at Ryuji, before helping the boy out of the gymnasium and to the nurse. He ignored all of the students that had begun to whisper when he offered to help, even if he bristled slightly when several thought that he and Ryuji would mug the kid after they were out of sight. It was only a short trip, and once they were done they made their way back to the courtyard to talk about their plan.

He grabbed a soda from one of the vending machines as Ryuji scowled to himself, leaning against a table. "Damnit, that asshole's acting like a King over here too. Get to know each other better my ass, it's just a one-man show for him to stroke his ego!"

He snorted as he tossed a second soda over to the blond. "And did you see that little act he put on with the blue-haired kid? Most everyone was watching the kid, so they didn't see that sneer he had on before he started acting concerned." He shook his head and took a drink, "he'll get what's coming to him."

"Hell yeah he will! Anyway, now let's put our plan into action! Let's find those guys who were getting abused and make them spill their beans!"

"Right. Do you remember what they looked like? I don't know anybody here, so it was harder for me to memorize their faces."

"Don't worry, I got 'em all in my head! Let's see… actually, I think one of them is in your class! Let's start there!"

And that's when his mood went from bad to worse. The first person they questioned started smoothly. His skill in lying plus Ryuji's brash attitude hit the boy from two directions like the classic good and bad cop shit you would see on television and disoriented him long enough to admit that there was some form of abuse, but when the boy asked if they had any proof, Ryuji winced back and began stuttering which the boy took as a clear sign that they had nothing, and before he could remedy the situation to get the boy back on track, the kid steeled himself and stopped talking.

After that, they quickly split up to cover more ground. But even with his skill with wordplay, nobody was speaking up. Their terror of Kamoshida was stronger than his silver tongue. A first, but not surprising. If this had been going on for a while, then somebody had to have tried something already to get the truth out there but were taken down by Kamoshida, setting an example for everyone else.

He crushed his soda can, before tossing it towards the courtyard's trash can. When he missed he let out a groan and stalked forward to pick it up and dunk it in.

Bzzt bzzt. He took out his phone and saw a new message from Ryuji.

Ryuji— Damn this effin sucks!

Ryuji— Nobodys speaking up!

He rolled his eyes at Ryuji's texting style, before leaning against the vending machine and sending a quick text back.

You— You're right, it's certainly frustrating.

You— I'm in the courtyard if you want to meet up and discuss what to do next. I think I've got at least a small lead. Someone mentioned a 'Mishima.' We could try getting him to talk.

Ryuji— Alright im omw.

He closed the messaging app and opened the Metaverse Navigator, looking at the Castle. So far, nothing they did was working. If this Mishima guy turned out to be a dead-end, then there was nothing they could do. So, what if they tried something new? If Kamoshida's castle was formed from his desires, could they somehow affect Kamoshida in the real world by doing stuff in the palace?

"Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" He looked up from his phone and blinked when he saw Takamaki-san standing in front of him. He felt another blush creep up his neck, before furiously stamping it down. He'd embarrassed himself once in front of her, he wasn't going to go two-for-two! And besides that, she looked serious about something.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I'm not doing anything. What's up?" He pushed his phone into his pocket and began drumming his fingers along his leg.

She looked to be in thought for a moment, playing with one of her pigtails absentmindedly, before her eyes met his again. "So, what was that all about? On your first day here, I mean."

"Ah," he winced, thinking back to that. She probably was pretty curious, with everything considered.

"I saw you just a few minute's walk from school, but you don't show up until the day is almost over."

"Yeah…" shit, he didn't have anything planned! He hadn't expected her to come looking for answers like this! "Well…" something natural, what could he say? He was a new transfer from a different country in a strange city that was way bigger than his hometown and was caught with a student who was thought of as a troublemaker and delinquent… "on my way to the school, I met up with Ryuji. Or, I guess you call him Sakamoto-san. We talked for a little while, and when I told him that I was new to Tokyo, he decided to take me on a tour around Shibuya, to see the arcade, and stuff like that, help me get to know the city. When we were caught we just decided to head back and finish the rest of the school day."

There. Not perfect, there were a few inconsistencies here and there. Why not go after school, instead of ditching? He was clearly smart, so why would he even say okay to ditching school in the first place? Hopefully, that wasn't noticeable yet, since even when he answered a question in class correctly, most people still didn't think much of it, but still. Then there was the fact that he had told her Shibuya Crossing by itself had almost given him a panic attack, so why would he say okay to more exploration?

From the look on the girl's face, she'd noticed at least one of those inconsistencies, and he hid a wince. If she asked him to explain any further he might just end up digging his own grave. "Right, well… What do you think of Shujin so far?"

"Big," he immediately answered. "My old school was smaller, and definitely not as fancy. You could use some more clubs though, the only thing I've heard of so far is the professional hot potato club."

Takamaki-san blinked. "The what?"

"Isn't volleyball just professional hot potato?"

"I…" she looked at nothing, and a smile pulled at her lips. "I guess so. Did you have any clubs you were a part of back home?"

"A few. I tried out for all of them until I found something I liked, sports teams too. I was pretty good at baseball, basketball too. Self-defense clubs were what I was best at. Anyways, aside from the fact that volleyball is the only thing I hear about at this school, I guess it's not so bad. Already made friends with Ryuji."

"That's good… I'm sure you know the rumors are already spreading about you, so at least you know someone."

"Yeah, Ryuji and you." He shrugged. "Besides, I'm trying not to let the rumors bother me. It's almost funny. Apparently, I'm a drug-dealing murderer who carries a knife and gun around with him at all times." He neglected to mention the fact that after leaving the Metaverse the very first time, his dagger had come with him, and he had to quickly hide it out of sight, plus his model gun that Ryuji had bought, but that wasn't important. "Hey, I might be the most dangerous man in all of Tokyo right now. Might think about starting up a Yakuza, or mafia, or whatever the hell."

"Wouldn't that just make the rumors true?" She asked with a wry smile.

"Hey, every rumor has a spot of truth to it," he winked. "You just have to find out what that truth is."

"Trying to be mysterious?"

"Isn't that what the ladies like?" Oh god, kill him. Kill him now. That had been the first response that came to mind and it was way too fucking cheesy. His dad would be slapping him on the back with a prideful grin for such a horrible line.

Luckily, Takamaki-san simply laughed. "I don't know, you don't seem that mysterious to me."

"Trust me, I'm plenty mysterious." Well, if she found it funny, then roll with it!

"I'm sure you are." She hesitated now, and he tilted his head in confusion. "Were you… planning on joining the volleyball team?"

"Nope. No offense to you if you like it, but it's never been that interesting to me. Plus, there's Kamoshida…" he muttered the last part to himself, glaring at nothing. She seemed to hear him though, mouthing his words in confusion.

"Anyway…" she took a deep breath. "You've been walking around and talking with the volleyball team, right?"

Stay wary, Arsène quickly spoke.

He straightened up, raising an eyebrow. Alright, what was this about then? "Yeah, I noticed that they looked pretty bruised. I wanted to ask them about it." Better not mention Ryuji and throw him under the bus, unless he was already mentioned.

"I don't know why you are, people get injured like that in sports and training all the time."

He couldn't help the scoff that left his lips and watched as the girl narrowed her pretty eyes. "To that extent? I don't think so. Something is obviously wrong here, and I'm going to find out what."

"They have tournaments coming up, so I'm sure it's just that they're training hard. And why are you even bothering? None of it concerns you."

"Because I'm not the kind of person who just stands idly by and lets evil acts take place simply because I'm scared of retaliation." He spoke calmly yet firmly. "Do you even know anything that's going on in those practices?" He should probably stop before he revealed something that he shouldn't logically know, but he kept going, his voice slowly rising in volume. "Some of those kids are in casts for sprained limbs, and some of them have broken limbs! It's practically torture! Is that not a reason to investigate? Or are you one of those cowards that thinks that averting their eyes will make the world a better place!?"

Shit, maybe he'd gone too far… he might've let his frustration at not finding anything so far faint his words, and taken it out on the girl. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Look—"

"What's going on in those practices then?" Shit, he had spilled too much. "You say these things like you know, so tell me, what exactly is happening?" Her voice was cold, and her eyes narrowed.

"I don't know, I was just thinking out loud."

"Bullshit. Don't try and tell me you don't know. My— a friend is on that team, and if something is happening—"

Damn, and now he got her worried for her friend. "Look, as I said, I was just thinking out loud using the facts that I know. They look way too injured but, hell, I could be wrong, all right? How would I even know? I just want to see what I can do to help them if anything is even wrong. And it might not be!"

"Look, you're just making things harder for the volleyball team and myself with your little detective act, especially if Kamoshida finds out. He'll be pissed."

"Let him be pissed then," he shot back. "At least I won't hide away from potential consequences when people need help." What was with this girl? He could feel his anger rising the more she talked back, riling up his slow temper and testing his font of patience. But this girl just somehow got it rising almost as fast as Shadow Kamoshida had.

"Fuck you asshole, you don't know what I'm going through to help my friend!" She cut herself off and growled, crossing her arms. "Listen, just quit trying to help, you're only making it worse."

"Uh, how about no? You can go if you'd like, but I am not a coward. And you're talking about us snooping around? What do you think you're doing right now, interrogating me?" he scoffed. And the conversation had started so well. Sarcasm and dry wit that had made each of them laugh at the beginning was now pushing off each other, escalating as each of them spoke.

"Why the hell would I leave now when you just said you wouldn't stop?! I don't want to deal with Kamoshida's bullshit if you keep harassing everyone! You two pretending to be investigators is helping no one, for your information!"

"You know what? I'm done here. If you're going to try and protect Kamoshida after all the shit he's done—"

"He's done?"

He growled, cutting himself off. "Fucking forget it. I'm out." He stalked forward and moved past her, while she glared at him.

"Hey, we aren't done here!"

"Really? I've heard that when someone walks away that means the conversations over! Or am I mistaken, your highness? Have the rules of the civilized world changed that much over the past few days while I hunkered in isolation?" He didn't give her a chance to respond, continuing to walk.

"Goddammit, you asshole, get back here!"

"For what? You to keep yelling at me? Oh, I'm sorry your highness, let me get down on my knees and beg your forgiveness for ignoring you!" He was about to continue, but a shock of blond hair that didn't belong to a girl drew his gaze. "Oh thank fucking Christ… Ryuji! Over here!"

"Yo!" As Ryuji limped over, his grin melted into a confused frown. "Uh, Takamaki-san?"

"Listen she's been on my ass for a while now, help me deal with this."

"Uh, right." The blond stepped forward and raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you want with Akira?"

"Uh, why do you care? I can talk with whoever I want without your permission, what do you want with him? You've only known him for maybe a couple days!"

"We're friends," Ryuji spoke without hesitation, smirking. It drew a smile to his own face to hear him say it so quickly. "I've got his back, he's got mine. We're each other's right-hand man. So, what do you want with him?"

Takamaki-san just huffed with irritation, glaring at the both of them. He may have been like a pool of sarcastic water, ebbing and flowing through a conversation, but Ryuji was more like a brick wall, or maybe a bulldozer. He could either plow straight through a conversation with zero tact or stay on the defensive and not give anything up. When he had proper preparation of course. Together, it would be hard for her to get anything she wanted out of them. "What exactly are you planning on doing to Kamoshida? You're making trouble for everyone, and it'll be even worse for both of you."

He'd heard this already, so he assumed she was trying to get an answer from Ryuji now. He could see the wheels turning in the boy's brain, trying to find an answer to help them, and just before he stepped in, Ryuji seemingly found his answer. "Ohhhh… I see, I getcha. You're all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida, after all. I saw you get into his car Monday. Y'know, It's real easy to see what kinda person you are."

Oof. Not that tactful, but that wasn't Ryuji's area of expertise. Even though his frustration with the girl, he felt a bit bad for her, since he'd already heard all the rumors about her and didn't believe them, but yet another person perpetuating them, and to her face, couldn't feel that good.

"This has nothing to do with you, Sakamoto!" Her voice slightly cracked, her cheeks were bright red, and there was clear hurt and pain in her eyes. Yeah, his buddy may have gone a bit far with that one…

"I mean, if you knew what he was doing behind your back, you'd dump him right away." She looked confused at that, and glanced between him and Ryuji, trying to piece together what he'd told her earlier, and what Ryuji had let slip then.

"What… what do you mean?" Ryuji made to answer, before glancing at him for permission. He shook his head. As good as it might feel to tell her, there was still no solid proof.

Instead, he answered by scuffing his shoes in the ground and looking away. "You wouldn't get it…"

"Just explain it!"

"I ain't got the time! Can't you get out of our faces? Don't you gotta go meet up with your favorite teacher somewhere and have some fun behind closed doors?"

"I already get enough shit from all the guys in this school who think with their dicks instead of their brains, so how about you go fuck off!"

"Well—!"

"Both of you, shut it!" He glared at the both of them, each of them wearing an angry blush, and glaring at each other. "Ryuji, you need to calm down. You already know that some rumors aren't true, so just take a step back."

"I— right, yeah. Sorry, bro…" Ryuji took a deep breath and turned away, crossing his arms, and he turned to Takamaki-san, who was now glaring at him.

"And you, you don't know the full story, and this whole shitfest has put us all in a bad mood. We can talk some other time, and I'll explain some of it, but right now, I'm done. We're doing this to help the volleyball team, and we don't care about the consequences to us because we're helping people. Thanks for trying to warn us away from it, but we aren't stopping. Come on, Ryu." He walked away, fast at first, before slowing down for Ryuji's sake.

Takamaki-san didn't try to follow them, and when he looked back, she was looking down in frustration.

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Ryuji•

4/14, Thursday

"God, this is bullshit!"

"So I'm assuming that means you didn't find anything." He just sighed and nodded at Akira's words, running his hand through his hair. He'd tried talking to some more volleyball players after speaking with Mishima the previous day, but they'd all said the same thing the blue-haired boy had, everyone knew about the abuse already, even their parents, but they tolerated it for even the chance to get a scholarship or something stupid like that for a good college or some shit.

"Nope… Damnit, at this rate we'll have to go to him directly!"

"Probably should have started with that," his friend sighed.

"Probably… But seriously, isn't there something we can do?"

Akira adjusted his glasses and seemed to be thinking, so he stayed silent and watched. Out of the two of them, the raven-haired boy was definitely the more intelligent of the two. "How about… we punish the king?"

"Punish the king? What—" his eyes widened, "Ooh! Oh shit, I forgot about that!"

"You forgot about a whole other world where you can summon a literal skeleton pirate?"

"Oh shaddup!" He shook his head. "But… would that even do anything? Could we threaten that person in the other world and have it cross over or something?"

Before Akira could answer, another voice interrupted them. "I finally found you."

"Uh, did you hear that? It sounded kinda familiar…"

He noticed a cat wander over and raised an eyebrow. A cat? Did somebody try and sneak their pet into the school? It hopped up onto the table and flicked its tail, looking at them with a weirdly upset expression. Suddenly, against all known laws of logic, or at least the ones Ryuji knew, it spoke. "Don't think you can get away with not paying me back for helping you."

"T-that voice… is that you, Morgana?!"

"How dare you, up and leaving me the other day!" Yep, that condescending attitude? Definitely Morgana. But there was still something odd.

"The cat's talking?!" He was a cat, no longer that odd creature that simply looked like one but wore clothes and walked on two legs. Now he looked like a normal black cat with a white tail and paws, blue eyes, and a yellow collar.

"I am not a cat! This is just what happened when I came to this world! It was a lot of trouble finding you two!"

"W-wait you came to our world?!" He suddenly gasped as a thought came to him. "Does that mean you've got a phone?!" Akira let out a 'snrk' sound, and Morgana simply tilted his head up and pawed at his ear.

"You don't need a phone when you're at my level. I did get pretty lost while making my escape though…"

"That aside, why can you talk?! You're a cat!"

"How should I know?!"

He turned to Akira, who was still staring at Morgana, and who hadn't said anything yet. "You hearing this too?"

He kept staring, before looking him dead in the eyes, and with a fully serious expression, simply said, "Meow."

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO BE JOKING AROUND!"

Akira just smirked at his outburst, while Morgana sighed. "Anyway, I heard that you two are having a bit of a rough time. Something about witnesses?"

While he growled at the condescending attitude, Akira nodded. "Nobody is speaking up. We can't pin Kamoshida for anything without evidence."

"Mwe heh heh! Well, I suppose I could tell you a thing or two about what you could do to Kamoshida in the Metaverse! In fact, you were pretty close just a minute ago, frizzy-hair!"

"I was? So we have to do something to his Shadow self, correct?"

"Yep! You're getting it almost as quickly as I would!"

"Gah, that condescending attitude! You're definitely Morgana!"

"Wha— you were still doubting me?!"

He winced as Morgana shouted, motioning at him. "Gah, hey! Quiet down!" He looked towards the walkway between the classroom and practice building and saw two teachers talking about finding a cat. Clearly, Morgana hadn't been as stealthy as he'd thought he was. However, one of their sentences stuck with him. "'Meow?' Wait, are we the only two who can understand you?"

"Looks like it."

"Ah, What the hell's goin' on?" He scratched his head, trying to wrap his head around everything. "Anyway, what you were talking about, is it for real? We can do something to that other version of him?"

"You're quite the skeptic for being an idiot." He felt his eye twitch and he began tapping his foot angrily at the cat's words.

"Man… Ugh, we should talk more, but this ain't the place for it…" He grabbed Morgana by the collar, causing the cat to yowl and flail around. "Here, stick it in your bag. Should be small enough to fit!"

"I don't want cat hair on my books, though…"

"Hey, I ain't sticking him in my bag."

"Lemme go! How dare you treat me like this?! And I'm not a cat!"

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Morgana•

He shook himself out as he jumped out of Akira's bag, managing to smooth out his frizzy fur. He may not be a cat, but as long as he was stuck in this form, might as well look as good as possible! In any case…

He turned and glared at the blond monkey, stamping a paw on the concrete roof. "Don't be so rough with me!"

"Enough of that!" Ryuji just glared back at him, before standing back and sticking his hands in his pockets. "You said you know how we can do something about Kamoshida, yeah?"

He grumbled, almost not telling the boys out of pettiness, before sighing. "It has to do with what Akira was talking about earlier. You'll need to attack his castle."

"But he didn't remember anything the previous times we assaulted the castle. What could we do that would change that?"

He flicked his tail at Akira's question, nodding. "That's the correct question. That castle is how Kamoshida views this school. He doesn't realize what happens in there, but it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart. Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida."

"I… don't get it…"

"I believe that I do, but how can we accomplish that? We can't exactly tear down his castle brick by brick, can we? And what would happen?"

"A Palace is a manifestation of a person's distorted desires. So, if that castle were to be no more…"

"His desires would disappear alongside it."

"Correct!"

Ryuji's face lit up, "Whoa, for real?! H-He'll just turn out good, just like that?!"

"Erasing a Palace is like… forcing somebody to have a change of heart. However, even though their desires have disappeared, their crimes remain."

"And so, he'll be crushed under the weight of his sins," Akira smirked, and he noted just how sharp the boy could be sometimes. And how devilish his features could make him look. "He'll confess through his own mouth of his own volition, and rot away in a cell."

"And," he made sure to add, "Since the Palace will no longer exist, he'll forget everything we did there as well."

"Wait, I thought… Kamoshida doesn't remember what happens in there anyway?"

"Correct, Ryuji, he doesn't remember fully. However, as it is still a deep part of his mind, vague feelings and inklings will remain. Not true evidence, but considering Kamoshida, he might use them as a reason to suspect us. With the Palace gone, even his subconscious mind won't recall us. Not only will we be able to take him down… there won't even be a trace of our involvement!"

"Aw man, that's amazing! You're one incredible cat!"

Before he could correct Ryuji on calling him a cat, Akira spoke up. "In any case, we have our weapons, Personas… I'd like to see If I can get us some medicine of some kind so you don't waste too much energy on healing us unless it's dire but other than that we seem to be ready. How do we take down a Palace?"

Morgana smirked, well, he smirked as well as a cat face could let him smirk, before answering. "We steal the Treasure held within."

"Uh, Treasure? Stealing?"

"I'll tell you more once you agree to go through with this… After all, it's my most valuable, secret plan, after all. If you want to help me out, I'll gladly teach you. What's your call?"

"Hey, our luck's running dry everywhere else… This is pretty much the last thing we can do," Ryuji sighed, nudging Akira. Akira, however, looked skeptical of something.

"I want to go back to something… We're stealing his desires, correct? Then what happens if we make a mistake? If we mess up?"

"That is something I was going to discuss with you… As I'm sure you're aware, desires aren't bad things, they can keep us alive. The desire to eat, sleep, fall in love… Desires are things everyone needs."

Ryuji swallowed, and Akira had a face of grim acceptance. "H-Hey, what are you saying…?"

"If all of someone's yearnings were to vanish… they would completely shut down. They could die without proper care…"

"They could die?!"

"Hey, would you let me finish first?! Aren't you determined enough to take him down even with those risks?!"

"No." Akira cut straight through their argument, but on Ryuji's side and not his. "We aren't going to kill Kamoshida."

"I told you, there's only a chance of it happening!"

"That's still a chance." Akira narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I refuse to let Kamoshida get away with what he's done, but we aren't murderers. Listen… I'll think about it, but I make no promises. If there truly is no other way…" He trailed off and shrugged.

He sighed in response to the boy's words and flicked his tail. "Alright. I can't force your mind if that's the case." He turned and began slinking off, pausing to stare back as he flicked his tail. "But I'll be waiting for your answer."

And with that, he left the two boys to ponder their next course of action.

Chapter done. It's the fourteenth, so the next chapter cometh. Man, because of the quarantine all the GameStops are closed so I can't get Royal. Lame. I'll probably look up some playthroughs soon depending on how much longer the quarantine goes on so I can start adding the Royal content to this story, but whatever.

In the next chapter will be a... scene. Yeah. I've M-Rated this story for a reason. Besides P5 already being M-Rated on its own, anyway. It's a scene that wasn't in the story originally, or at least, part of it wasn't, but I really want to get in how shitty Kamoshida is, so I went through with it. It'll probably be apparent what it is when the scene finally shows up. But I definitely felt disgusting writing it, which is probably a good thing considering Kamoshida's shittyness.

In any case, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time.