Catch-22: The Much Ado About Something
By: M14Mouse
Summary: Ryuji is terrified of his Sensei. An angry Sensei…he might could handle but a disappointed Sensei…not so much.
Disclaimer: Don't own them.
"If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment." – Henry David Thoreau.
Ryuji wasn't going to say this out loud or anything.
He didn't want to get any looks from the others but…
Sensei utterly terrified him.
He is like his mom…a teacher…and a counselor rolled into one.
He knew shit was going down just by looking at you.
It scared the hell out of him.
He knew that Sensei was cool. He trained them and stuff. He didn't talk to them like they were stupid. He talked to them like they were equals. It was nice especially since Mona was an ass about everything.
He had a happy moment when Sensei laid that smackdown.
Man, he wished that his phone could have taken a picture.
Still…Sensei scared him like no other adult in his life besides his mom.
For example, the whole thing with the exams….man…
See, they were hanging out with Ren and Boss and well….okay, it was after exams and they couldn't talk about Medjed.
"So, someone informed the school that I have been tutoring you," Sensei said with amusement.
Everyone at the table paused then looked at Makoto. Her face turned bright red. Sensei playing with phone. He didn't even look up at them when he said that.
Shit…he is totally going to lecture them on their grades.
"I needed a plausible excuse to meet with everyone and Sensei did say that we could use him as a resource," Makoto said.
"Oh my god…Sensei knows my grades. I promise to do better in English…History…and Science," Ann said in a panic.
He groaned softly as he hit his head on the table.
Man, he knew that he should have skipped today.
Sensei chuckled as he put away his phone.
"I can imagine that I will see an improvement. Makoto has informed me of your new study schedule," Sensei said.
The groans around the table went up a notch.
Damn it…Boss was even laughing at them.
"But…the school still wants me to speak with you and I will. Everyone will wait outside for a moment except Makoto."
"Do you want me to leave too?" Boss asked behind the counter.
"No…Makoto looks terrified. I am sure that your presence will reassure them that I am not going to eat them." Sensei said cheerfully.
"SENSEI!" Makoto shouted.
He glanced over at Makoto.
Sensei was right. She did look terrified.
"It will only take a few minutes. Sooner that we start, the sooner that we get this done."
Everyone groaned as they got up except Makoto.
They shuffled out of the door.
Once everyone was outside, there was a few minutes of silence.
"I wondered what Sensei is going to talk with us about," Ren said.
"I don't know. I do not attend your school. I can't imagine that he will discuss grades with me," Yusuke said.
"Unlike us, Ren and Makoto aced their exams," Ann said.
"Ugh…grades again," He said.
"Well…Sensei talked to me earlier. He asked me how I was doing. Of course, I was fine," Morgana said.
He rolled his eyes. Mona was on his best behavior since Sensei laid the smackdown.
"Maybe…it is a wellness check! Sometimes, my model agency does it," Ann said.
He sighed.
That was even worse than grades!
He heard the door's bell ring behind him. He turned around to see Makoto stepping out.
"Yusuke, it is your turn," Makoto said as she held the door open for Yusuke.
Yusuke nodded and walked into the café. Makoto let go of the door and turned toward them.
"So…how was it?" Ann asked.
"He asked how I was doing? What are my future plans? When I said law enforcement, he asked me some questions like if I found that I didn't like the profession. He didn't say it directly but I think that he is worried that my work as a thief might disheartened me to the profession. I told him that this has only made me stay my course."
"Wow…."
"It was actually really nice. My sister is focused on me getting into college. She doesn't really focus on what happens once I get there. It was a pleasant conversation. Oh, I got some delicious cookies for doing well on my exam. He said that he wanted to reward me for my good grades," She said as she held a bag of cookies.
"OOoo…can I try one?" He asked.
She held the bag of cookies to her chest.
"No, Sensei made them for me," Makoto said.
"Well…we know Ren will get some cookies unlike someone else I know," Morgana said with that smug look on his face.
"Shut you!" He said angrily.
The door's bell rang again and he turned around and Yusuke stepped out with a cookie in his mouth.
"You got cookies too!"
"Of course. It is your turn, Ryuji," Yusuke said as he ate another one from his bag. He did notice that it was smaller.
He groaned.
Maybe, he should run away. He was pretty sure that he could out run everyone but Sensei would probably end up catchin him.
Crap.
He walked in the café to see Sensei drink coffee in one of the booths. Boss looked so amused.
"You are totally scarring these kids," Boss said.
Sensei chuckled.
"Sit down, Ryuji. I promise this will be quick and mostly painless," Sensei said.
He slipped into the seat across from Sensei.
"How are you?" Sensei asked.
"I…I am fine, Sensei." Ryuji said.
"Even with everything going on at your school…?"
"It is a little stressful and stuff…,"
He shifted in his seat.
"…But…becoming friends with everyone and takin up running again has helped."
"Briefly, Ren told me about it. How has it been for you?"
"It has been different, you know. Before…I runnin with a team…a purpose. I mean…I still kind of run on purpose but you know…it is for me now."
"It sounds nice."
"It does."
"I also heard that you are quite the trainer."
He felt his face turn red and he started scratching the back of head.
"Well…uhh…"
"Have you thought about becoming one after your school years?"
He blinked.
"Ya know…I haven't thought about it."
"Perhaps, you should give it some thought. You have a talent for it. Have any thoughts about your future?"
"Not really…I'm just tryin getting through school, Sensei."
"Understandable."
His eyes darted from Sensei to the table. Slowly, he saw a carefully wrapped bag of cookies come into his view. It was smaller than Makoto and Yusuke's bags. He blinked and looked up at Sensei.
Sensei smiled softly.
"I expect your grades to improve. Can you send in Ann next?" Sensei said.
He nodded as he took the bag. He stood up to get out of the booth.
"Oh, Ryuji?"
He stopped dead in his tracks.
"You are passionate and driven. You are stronger and better than you know. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. If you ever doubt that, look to your friends."
He thought that Sensei was joking but he looked into his eyes.
He felt his throat tightened up.
Sensei truly believes that…
Damn…
-P4P5P4-
"Do you know why Sensei wanted to meet with us here?" Makoto asked as they stood in front of the school.
"I don't know. He just texted that a driver would be picking us up," Ann said as she looked at her phone.
"Man…it must be nice to have that kind of money," He said.
"He is the president of a well-established company now. I can imagine that it is more of a company vehicle than his own."
"I just wished that he would show up already," Mona said.
Speak of the devil…
He watched as a black car pulled to the curb. One of the doors opened to reveal a tall guy with silver hair in a blue suit stepping out.
"Theo!" Ann said.
"Theo?" Ren asked.
"Uh huh…it is Sensei's personal assistant."
"Hello, Lady Ann. I am asked by my Master to take you to meet him," Theo said with a bow then he moved to open the door.
"Master?" Makoto asked.
"Theo…is kind of different." Ann said with a shrug. She stepped into the black car.
"Man…you can't leave it like that," He said as he followed her inside.
Damn…this looked nice!
He looked around in awe. Man, he could steal these seats. So nice. Dude, it even has a dvd player and tv in the back!
"So, this is how the rich live," Morgana said as he jumped out of Ren's bag. Once everyone got into the car, they started moving.
"Of course…my…Oh, look…free nuts," Yusuke said as he grabbed nuts from the tray and tossed them into his mouth.
He shook his head.
"I am curious about the whole Master thing…." Ren asked.
"According to Sensei, Theo served an elderly guy since he was little. The guy got sick. Since the guy was an old family friend, he asked if Sensei could look after him while he was in the hospital. Sensei agreed," Ann said.
"And calling Sensei Master? It seems old fashioned for Sensei," Makoto said.
"According to Sensei, he has been trying to get Theo not to call him that. He thinks that it is because he has been calling the old guy Master for so long that the title moved to him. So, he kind of gave up."
"That would make sense."
"Now, what should we watch?" He said as he found the remote.
"Oooo…my favorite soap opera…I have it recorded but…" Ann said.
"I would prefer the nature channel," Yusuke said.
"The news!" Morgana added.
"Yes, it would be wise to check the news," Makoto said.
"Agreed. Morgana and I usually at night but…" Ren said with a wave.
"That is no fun."
Makoto gave him a look. He sighed as he gave her the remote.
He turned to look out the window when he heard the click of the remote.
He heard the news babbling in the background as he watched the building and people pass them by.
They hit a bit of traffic here and there but they were actually making pretty good time to…whatever they were going.
Finally, the car slowly pulled up to one of those fancy office buildings. All glass and metal…Once, the car stopped, Theo was almost there instantly to open the door for them.
Everyone shuffled out of the car.
"Come…follow me," Theo said as he walked toward the building.
Everyone kind of looked at each other for a moment then started to follow Theo. Theo led them through a pair of automatic doors into a giant waiting area. There was a lady at the front desk.
"Mr. Kobayashi, here are the guest badges that you wanted," the lady said as she handed Theo some badges.
"Thank you, Ms. Ito. Here are your passes. Don't lose them, please. Once you are done putting them on, please, make your way to the elevator," Theo said as he passed the badges out to them.
He clipped the badge to his shirt then started to follow the others to the elevator. Once everyone was on, Theo hit the 5th floor button. It took only a few minutes to get to the 5th floor.
It was kind of weird that no one was talking…not even Morgana.
Maybe, it was because of this Theo dude.
Once the doors open, Theo led them down a hallway to a pair of wooden double doors. Theo opened the door for them.
"Have a seat," Theo said as they passed by him into the room.
It looked like one of those conference rooms that you see in the movies. Huge ass windows with a long wooden table with those seats. Ooo…is that one of those new hologram projections?!
Sensei was staring out one of those windows with his back turned away from them.
Everyone took a seat at the table. He took a seat next to Ren. He heard the door click behind them and he watched as Theo walked down to where Sensei was at the end of the table.
"Is the room secure, Theo?" Sensei asked.
"Yes, Master." Theo said as he stopped and bowed.
Sensei nodded as Theo turned away from Sensei and faced them.
"So, I found out some interesting information that has come to light. Perhaps, you can clarify why I wasn't informed," Sensei said as he looked out the window.
"What is it, Sensei?" Makoto said.
What in the hell is Sensei going on about? They told him everything. He looked at the others in confusion.
"Why wasn't I informed that Akechi was the man in the black mask?" Sensei said.
Oh, shit…
He felt himself sink into his seat. Hell, Cap'tin was even quiet. Yusuke looked paler than normal. Ann looked like that she was about to cry. Makoto looked down at the table like it held all of the answers. Hell, even Ren looked shaken.
Morgana jumped out of Ren's bag.
"How did you find out?" Morgana said.
Damn it, cat. Shut up…
"I went down to visit my friends. He was down there as well."
"Well…why didn't you stop him?! You know what he has been doing?!"
"Shut up, cat! You are making it worse!" He shouted as he stood up from the chair.
"Oh, shut up, Ryuji. You just want to stay in his good graces like a damn…" Morgana said.
"Ryuji, please, seat down. Morgana….it has become clear to me that you haven't learned your lesson about deflecting the truth," Sensei said as he turned around in the chair.
He glanced over at Sensei as he took a seat back down. The look that Sensei gave Morgana…damn….
It made Morgana look like he had been dropped into a bucket of water.
"There are three reasons why I didn't confront Akechi at that moment. One, I was placed in an unknown situation and no idea what I was up against. In theory, I could have taken him on but…at what cost? Which brings me to reason two…my friends were with me. Could you see Lilim…or Black Frost fighting Akechi? Because they would since I would be fighting him. The cost is too high for me to pay."
"They are just shadows…I mean."
"How can you say such a thing…Harti heals your wounds when you are tired…." Yusuke said in horror.
"SHUT UP, MORGANA! How could I say that about them?! About Lilim?! Or Black Frost! You know them! Didn't you and Incubus have a conversation about sushi for crying out loud!" Ann said as she slammed her hands on the table.
Holy shit….Ann looked pissed and about to cry at the same time. Ren and Makoto got up to comfort Ann…or hold her back if she decided to go for it.
Morgana is screwed.
"Lady Ann….I am…" Morgana said.
The cat looked horrified. His eyes darted to everyone in the room.
He found no support here.
"Morgana….I think that it is best that you go inside the bag," Ren said softly as he finally got Ann to sit down again.
Morgana's head ducked down. His tail was so low on the ground.
"One moment, if you please," Sensei said as he looked at Ren. Ren nodded.
"My third reason is that I heard Akechi talking to himself before he left. From my impression, they are working together. Although, Akechi doesn't look pleased."
"That is definitely new information. Anything else?" Makoto asked.
Sensei shook his head.
"No…apparently, neither did Akechi," Sensei said as he clicked on a remote. The hologram projection lights up with a man's face.
It looked like the picture was from his record.
"This is the man that Akechi was trying to get information from but Akechi couldn't…So, he…shot him. I tried to save him but I couldn't…I didn't know how and he…" Sensei said.
The look on Sensei's face….it made him feel ashamed.
Grief.
Sensei was grieving for this complete stranger.
Damn it….Akechi.
Sensei didn't need this at all. Your friend doesn't need this at all.
"Officially, his cause of death is a drug overdose but we know better."
"May…I ask a question, Sensei?" Makoto said with hesitation.
"Go on."
"Are you still going to be friends with Akechi?"
"Yes. One, I hope to find out more information about our unknown person and how far it goes. Two, I want to know why. Maybe…even stop him."
"Can you do that, Sensei?" Makoto asked in awe.
"I can. I have done it before," Sensei said with a nod.
He was confused. What in the hell does that mean?
"There is another reason that I brought you here. As you know…I have been recently promoted, there is some confusion among you on the reason why."
Everyone sort of nodded their heads. They talked about it but they really didn't get what it meant.
"When we first met, I told you that my objective was to find out about the metal shutdowns. The reason was that it shared similar symptoms to the Apathy Syndrome."
"I heard about that. It happened at Tatsumi Port Island but they stated that it was a massive gas leak."
Sensei snorted.
"That is far from the truth. I wish that I had time to explain it. It is quite a story. I will give you the files if you want to read about it. On paper, those suffering from the syndrome suffer from incapacitating levels of apathy. When it strikes the inflicted will collapse wherever they are and become unable to move, feed, or care for themselves. In reality, Apathy Syndrome is having one's psyche getting eaten by a shadow."
Ann grasped. Ren's mouth and his mouth dropped. Hell, he could even hear Morgana's grasp from the bag.
"So, shadows aren't new…" Ren asked.
"No…they have been around a long time. By appearance, Kirijo Group has interests in technology, research, land holdings, and social interest projects. The main goal of the group has been to study shadows and work on defeating them for good."
"How did you come to work with them? I am curious." Yusuke said.
"Would you believe in a fight to the death? Oh, that happened twice," Sensei said with a chuckle.
"Master! You jest." Theo said in horror.
"It is the truth and I am still alive. About two months after the tv world, I came home to visit. The tv world became active again and somehow a lot of persona users got stuck in a tournament. That is how I came to meet Mitsuru-san, the president of the Kirijo group and leader of the Shadow Operatives. It is a group of persona users who work with various governments around the world to fight the threat of shadows. After high school, I joined them."
"So…that explains the promotion?" Ann asked.
"Kind of. Our current government has become…unwelcoming to our work. At one time, we faced no roadblocks. Now, every time we turn around, it is this form…and that form. Red tape stopped us at every turn. We talked about someone inside the government stopping us. Mitsuru-san believed that the threat of shadows was too important for this situation to deal with such pettiness. She moved the majority of the company to countries…more welcoming to our fight. She didn't want to leave Japan unprotected. She left me in charge of the offices here and finished my schooling. She was very insistent on that fact," Sensei said in amusement.
"Wait…She said she believed that someone within the government is stopping the Kirijo Group. Wait…does she know about us?"
"Of course. If she believed that your group was causing the shutdowns…we finished the situation quickly. And yes to your other question, we believe the government that once worked with us…is now working against us."
Holy shit.
This is making his head hurt.
"It couldn't have come at a worse time. There has been an increased number of reports of shadows. The red has been known to have shadow attacks. Yellow is the shadow sighting. Green is a report of shadow activity but no evidence." Sensei said as he clicked his remote again.
A map of the world came up and the damn thing lightened up like a Christmas tree.
Everyone grasped.
"My word…."
"Shit."
"There are so many…"
"Oh my god…"
"Wow…"
"We have gained some new persona users and new tools in our fight but as you notice…there are more of them, then there are of us. We can't confirm it yet but we may have found our first Palace outside of Japan."
Double shit.
"Not confirmed?" Ren asked.
"Several friends of mine are going to check out. I would also like to go with you on your next Palace. Hopefully, the data that I will able gather will help us figure it out."
Ren looked at everyone.
"I see no problem with it," Ren said.
"Yes, this is important to know," Makoto nodded.
"Agreed," Yusuke said.
"Anything to help, Sensei," Ann said.
"Fine with me," He added.
He heard a fine from Ren's bag.
"Last, my new position has offered you some measure of protection and resources. While I can't protect you if you get arrested, I can protect your families. Your new resources included access to a gym, a small food and monetary staple, and our research on shadows. Theo will also act as your contract if you can't reach me in emergencies."
Wow…he couldn't wait to see the gym.
"Thank you, Sensei," Makoto said.
"A food staple?" Yusuke said in excitement.
"I have seen you eat, Yusuke. The monetary staple is for supplies which will be added to the jar for Ren to spend as he sees fit," Sensei said with a grin.
He laughed.
The room felt a little lighter since they came in. Everyone was chattering happily among themselves.
But….
He did feel bad for Sensei. No one told him that his friend is trying to kill people and stuff. No one said anything about that.
He told Ren that he was working on getting better with himself.
Be a man.
He nodded his head to the Captain.
He stood up from his chair and bowed to Sensei.
"I am very sorry for not telling you about Akechi. That was a crappy thing to do," He said.
He heard chairs move.
"I am very sorry. I am glad that no one was hurt," Ann said.
"I am sorry as well," Yusuke said.
"I am sorry. So, very sorry.," Makoto said.
He heard another sorry from Ren's bag.
"I am sorry. If you are going to blame anyone, blame me. I and Morgana figured it out first. I don't know why I didn't tell you. I thought that you were like all of the adults in our lives. Maybe, I figured that you wouldn't believe us if we told you," Ren said.
"First off…I accept your apology and please, stop bowing."
He stopped and faced Sensei.
"Actually, I thought that might be the case but that doesn't change how I found out. As your Sensei, I am very disappointed in you."
There was that feeling again….the urge to duck under the table and never come up. Judging by their Sensei's face, he wasn't bluffing either.
He was truly disappointed by them.
Shit.
"So, I decided on an activity. I wouldn't say punishment because it isn't one. I will schedule it when everyone is available and after you handle the Medjed, understood?"
"Yes, Sensei," Everyone said.
The disappointed look on Sensei's face turned into one of sadness.
He looked tired.
He is an old captain of the ship.
"One lesson that I can't teach…is that your choices will have a reaction. Right now? You have only seen the good of your choices. It might be today…or tomorrow or next month…you face an outcome that will reflect badly on you and what you do. I just hope that the consequences are minor and the fallout will not be bad. Promise me that you will think things through before you act?"
"We promise," Makoto said.
And he has the scars to prove it.
"We promise," he added.
End of The Much Ado About Something
Next Chapter: The Rank
A/N: Holy crap, this chapter…That is all I really going to say about it. Although, I really enjoy the moments where Yu and his students just bond. It makes my little heart melt. I have a chapter plan to explore Yu's mindset about Akechi and his friendship at this point forward. But coming up next is Ren and Yu's training session and Futaba's palace….and a surprise break in play. WHOA! Anyway, thanks for the wonderful reviews, favorites, follows, etc. Always thankful them.
PS: Yes, I called him Sensei in PQ2.