Chapter 4
The Metaverse
Monday, June 20th, 2016
"Ken, get up!" Shinjiro-san's sharp voice unwillingly dragged Ken out of the sweet oblivion that was sleep. "It's nearly 7:30!"
Ken just groaned, burying his face into his pillow. Every muscle in his body ached. He had completely forgotten just how tiring it was to fight in a Shadow nest.
"Ken? Are you feeling okay?" Shinjiro-san's voice became concerned.
He heard the door open and then Shinjiro-san's footsteps. He then felt Shinjiro-san's hand press against his cheek.
"No fever at least…" Shinjiro-san muttered.
"Just tired," Ken mumbled, before rolling over onto his back to sit up. He rubbed his eyes before stifling a yawn.
Shinjiro-san's mouth formed a thin line, before pulling back his hand.
"Maybe you should stay home today," he suggested. "You look like shit."
"Thanks, Shinjiro-san," he muttered, as he threw back the covers before sitting up. "I'll just have to push through it. Mitsuru-san never let us skip school when we weren't feeling well due to the Tartarus explorations."
And he'd know. Because Junpei-san tried pulling that card. Many times. They all failed, of course.
"Mitsuru isn't here now," he deadpanned, before gesturing to Ken's hands. "And besides that, your injuries haven't completely healed."
Ken defended, "It's mostly just my hands. Besides that, the Phantom Thieves are probably going to go back to the Metaverse today… It seemed like it was urgent for them to handle this as soon as possible."
Shinjiro-san sighed deeply, pressing a hand to his temple. He obviously did not approve.
"Fine," he finally relented while lowering his hand.
Then Shinjiro-san narrowed his eyes, pointing at Ken.
"But you better call me if you feel nauseous or close to passing out. If the school has to call me 'cause you fainted, I'm hauling your ass back here and you ain't taking another step outta here until you're back to one hundred percent."
"Okay…" Ken grumbled out.
Shinjiro-san studied him closely one last time, before he sighed, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, "So stubborn…"
He then left and shut the door behind him.
Ken just sighed again, before dragging himself out of bed. Maybe if he was lucky, the Phantom Thieves would be just gathering some information today. But… Something told him that he wouldn't be lucky.
Ken rolled over and let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed his neck. His body was still a bit sore and he had a small headache, but a few painkillers should help with that. He narrowed his eyes however as he got up, the image of that dark clad Persona-user weighed on his mind.
"But why give my name to a corpse?"
The hairs on the back of his neck were starting to stand up again, thinking about his assailant. Ken couldn't help but shiver. He obviously wasn't affiliated with the Phantom Thieves, judging from his obvious disdain of them.
Ken couldn't help but think back to Strega and sighed to himself.
"Hopefully there isn't more than one of him… dealing with one dangerous Persona-user is more than enough of a handful," he mumbled to himself.
And that was assuming that he wouldn't have to deal the Phantom Thieves…
The day just dragged on and on. Ken found it difficult to focus. Thank goodness none of the teachers called on him to answer a question today. But now that it was after school, it was time to follow the Phantom Thieves to their 'hideout'. Honestly, he just couldn't get over how they thought meeting up in public was a good idea.
Ken leaned against the pillar, straining his ears to listen in on their conversation.
"We need to find Kaneshiro," Amamiya-san was saying. "I think that's why the Palace is out of reach."
Ken sucked in a breath at the younger boy's statement. That would really not be a good idea. They handled things rather recklessly…
"And how do you propose we do that?" Kitagawa-san sighed. "You had the most luck with finding his men… and that wasn't even enough. They fled before you could properly ask them anything."
"For real…" Sakamoto-san muttered, before stuffing his hands into his pockets. "But we've gotta do it. Or else Miss Prez is gonna leak our info to the police. And then we'd be royally screwed."
"Seriously… she seriously expects us to take Kaneshiro down in like—a week?! She's insane!" Takamaki-san huffed out a sigh, sounding rather irritated. Then her voice grew quieter, more… subdued. "Are we out of luck? Were we in over our heads?"
Sakamoto-san said adamantly, "No way! There's gotta be a way! We can't give up!"
"Perhaps Morgana could launch us into the air with his wind spells?" Kitagawa-san offered.
Who was Morgana?
The cat then began to meow. The Phantom Thieves looked to it, as if… they actually understood it. Did they…? Or maybe they just had a dictionary.
"Maybe Aigis-san went behind our backs and published one," Ken thought sardonically to himself.
"We would be splats on the ground. It's just… too high. We would need a helicopter, like Ryuji said. But that's… impossible," Takamaki-san said as she shook her head.
That was when Niijima-san approached them and as usual, tense words were exchanged. Though he had to wonder why exactly they were so hostile with Niijima-san. Though the entire school seemed to resent her for some reason… but the Phantom Thieves had a particular grudge against her.
Though he supposed with them being personal victims of Kamoshida, they'd resent her a bit. Not to mention the blackmail… come to think of it, he felt kind of silly for wondering why they would resent her. He quietly sighed to himself. She seemed nice enough to him but… that would be understandable reasons to not like someone. A shame they all got off on the wrong foot.
"All you do is eavesdrop on us," Sakamoto-san accused. "What's the matter—think we're gonna chicken out?"
Ken winced. If only they knew that they were being eavesdropped on right now.
"We're not cowards like you. We will fulfill your demand. We won't back out," Kitagawa-san said cooly.
"I'm not…" Niijima-san tensed up, placing a hand on her chest. "That's not why I—"
"Then what is it?" Amamiya-san said, his every word dripping with sarcasm. "Are you here to congratulate us on our work so far?"
This was… painful to watch. It was getting more intense and awkward by the second.
"You're here to just check up on us, aren't you?" Takamaki-san demanded, before flicking one of her pigtails behind her shoulder.
She glared at Niijima-san venomously.
"You may be the student council president and a top student… but when it comes down to what we do, you're just useless."
The word useless seemed to be a trigger. Niijima-san's eyes went as wide as saucers and she seemed to tremble faintly. Ken winced for more than one reason.
He couldn't claim to know the situation regarding Takamaki-san but… Niijima-san always seemed to be stressing herself out over the situation with the victims. And he personally hated feeling like a burden. It often weighed on his mind during the days of SEES.
"U-Useless?" she repeated softly, taking a step backwards.
"I would have to agree with Anne," Kitagawa-san said flatly. "What do you know of our work?"
Then Niijima-san's expression seemed to steel. "You want to get into contact with Kaneshiro, don't you? You were discussing that just now…"
Oh boy… he recognized that look. He had seen that look on Akihiko-san many, many times. Usually when Shinjiro-san challenged him on something and then they ended up doing yet another stupid competition.
The cat started to meow. Maybe Ken was imagining it, but it almost sounded concerned.
Niijima-san said tonelessly, "Very well. I'll get you into contact with Kaneshiro."
What. Just… what. Just what was she planning?! She wasn't seriously going to purposefully seek out the mafia, was she?! She wouldn't—not after all of the rumors about the mafia.
Right…?
Ken sighed quietly to himself, pressing a hand to his temple. Niijima-san seemed like a sensible person. Even though she seemed set on helping the Phantom Thieves, she wouldn't do anything reckless.
He was just being paranoid. He couldn't focus on worrying about her. He had other things to concern himself with right now.
Why did Niijima-san haveto make him eat his words? Ken didn't hear all of what she had done (since he didn't want to be obvious about trailing the Phantom Thieves) but… he got the gist of what Niijima-san was trying to do. Though the Phantom Thieves weren't much better.
Sakamoto-san had nearly given him a heart attack, with how he had just leaped in front of the taxi…
That honestly had surprised him, since like the other Phantom Thieves, Sakamoto-san had shown a great dislike for Niijima-san. Maybe he was just a kind person, despite his apparent rough edges. He couldn't help but think about how Kanji-san had selflessly thrown himself in danger's way in order to protect Ken, who had been just a stranger to him.
But with them going after Niijima-san, Ken knew that this would most likely get them into contact with Kaneshiro… This meant that they would gain access to the Palace, which meant that he needed to be ready to follow after them. He didn't like the idea of just leaving them to it but… what could he do? And given the rumors he's heard, Kaneshiro would be blackmailing them instead of…
Ken pushed the thought out of his mind before he could think on it more. He hurried back to the penthouse, before retrieving his spear from his room. He checked his supplies one last time, before pulling out his phone. The palace was All of Shibuya, since it should work from here, right? He pulled up the app on his phone. There was a search function now… And there was an image of the Palace. It was labelled… the Bank of Gluttony. That was… strange, to say the least.
He pressed the image and moments later, he found himself standing in the green tinged version of Shibuya.
He felt flames sweep over his clothes, a mask forming to cover his face. Ken blinked, trying to regain his bearings.
Wait… just what was he wearing?
He was too busy focusing on that black mask individual attacking him to really notice his clothes. Did… his clothes change too when he fought that mysterious attacker? He knew he felt different when he reawakened without the need of his Evoker, but he was too caught up in the fight to realize just how different he changed.
This… was just bizarre.
Okay, so it wasn't that strange. He was wearing a tuxedo or a suit—he really didn't know the difference, if he was being honest—so he had on a black blazer, a white dress shirt and orange vest underneath, topped off with an orange bowtie. He was wearing black slacks. It wasn't all that different to what he wore for the Gekkoukan uniform in the winter. Though the black cape draped over his shoulders was definitely… new.
He was really glad that Junpei-san wasn't here to see this. Junpei-san would probably laugh so hard that he fell onto the floor.
Ken then reached up to carefully remove his mask. It was a domino mask, but unlike most he had seen, it wasn't just one color. The left side was white, with black outlining the eyehole. Black markings dotted it as well. Silver ran from the top, curving diagonally down. The right side had reverse colors: mainly black with white outlining the eyehole and white markings.
Ken shook his head, before slipping it back onto his face. He needed to find a hiding place, before the Phantom Thieves arrived. He decided to hide out in one of the alleys this time. It was the alley that led to the airsoft shop, actually. He just… hoped that vicious Persona user wouldn't show up again. His fight with that guy was a close one. If more of his attacks had landed, Ken would've been dead meat.
"W-Where are we?" The sudden voice yanked Ken out of his musings.
Wait a minute. Was that Niijima-san? They brought her here?!
Ken decided to risk it and peered out. And sure enough, she was with the Phantom Thieves. She stuck out like a sore thumb in her school uniform, while the Phantom Thieves were all wearing costumes. They were… colorful to say the least. Though at least they seemed more durable than the costumes that the twins insisted the team wear from time to time.
Takamaki-san's outfit was still... a lot to take in. But then again, it didn't expose much more than some of Yukari-san's outfits she had to wear during shootings. And Sakamoto-san rather looked like a thug in his.
"Pot meet kettle, Ken," he whispered to himself with a laugh.
He shouldn't really be one to talk now that he has a strange outfit too.
But seriously… what were they thinking? Ken grumbled to himself as he withdrew back to his hiding place. He was fairly sure that Niijima-san did not have a Persona. He hadn't seen them in action, but being in a Shadow nest was dangerous, if you didn't have the potential or a Persona.
"Oh, um…" Takamaki-san began, "just think of it as the world inside Kaneshiro's heart."
The world inside one's heart, huh? That really sounded like the TV world. He was finally getting a better image of what was going on with this Shadow nest. But they got through here through an app instead of a TV. He could almost hear Junpei-san joke now that it should be called the Phone world or App world instead of Metaverse, to keep with some theme. Yukari-san would then probably retort that Tartarus doesn't exactly fit that theme either.
Ken was distracted from his musings when he heard Niijima-san let out a loud gasp.
"T-Takamaki-san?! Wait… what are you wearing?"
Takamaki-san then let out an awkward laugh. "T-This old thing…? Um..."
"I think she looks fine," Amamiya-san interjected; Ken could hear the smirk in his voice. "More than fine, actually."
Takamaki-san let out a squeak in response, only for Sakamoto-san to groan.
"Ugh, can you two not flirt in front of all of us? You guys always do this!" he complained.
"W-We're not flirting!" she sputtered out. "Joker's just messing around! And what's this always?!"
Ken gave a small huff upon hearing that. So… they were like that, were they? It kinda reminded him of Minato-san and Yukari-san before they had started dating…
Niijima-san asked, "So, the rumors are true? You two are together?"
"We can always discuss Joker and Panther's relationship later," Kitagawa-san stated after a sigh. "We should focus on the matter at hand."
"Hey Fox! There isn't any relationship! Don't go making confusing vague statements!" Takamaki-san began to protest.
"Hm?" Kitagawa-san tilted his head slightly at her, appearing confused. "Vague? Did I say something wrong?"
"Will you all be quiet?!" snapped a surprisingly high-pitched voice. "You'll attract the Shadows."
Ken peered out again. It was the cat. The cat was… talking. Why was it talking? How was that even possible? Was this a delayed symptom from hitting his head yesterday? Or was he hallucinating?
Okay, Teddie-san usually walked around as a plush bear, but he had a human form. Somewhat. He was pretty sure that a human would not be popping out of the cat.
"A monster cat?!" Niijima-san gasped out, her eyes wide as saucers.
"I am noooot!" the cat-thing whined, his ears flattening against his head.
Kitagawa-san appeared to not be paying attention. "Panther, what did I say wrong? You never answered. What was I doing? You give the impression I was trying to insinuate something but…. I cannot fathom what that would be."
"Drop it Fox, why are you bringing that up again?!" Takamaki-san's cheeks were as red as her mask.
Kitagawa-san tilted his head at her in confusion again.
If it weren't for the shock of the talking… cat-thing… over there, then Ken might have started to laugh at their antics.
"Okay, okay, enough," Amamiya-san laughed. "Come on, let's try out your theory, Mona."
"Hmph!" The creature called Mona stomped off into the direction of the bank, which only caused Amamiya-san to shake his head.
"This is really too strange…" Niijima-san mumbled as she trailed after the Phantom Thieves. "I just can't get my head wrapped around this…"
She wasn't the only one.
"Duuuude… what even happened here? It looks like someone wrecked this entire alley…" he heard Sakamoto-san say.
That's right. It didn't look like the Palace changed from day-to-day basis, like Tartarus had. He didn't even consider that.
"You don't think…" Kitagawa-san said slowly. "That the black masked figure that Sen—I mean, Madarame, spoke of… was here?"
That perked Ken's ears up. So they were aware of him too?
"But why the hell would he wreck an alley?" Sakamoto-san demanded. "That makes no sense, dude!"
"If he even was here, or even real. It could have been a Shadow for all we know," Kitagawa-san said.
Sakamoto-san crossed his arms. "Maybe that black mask dude got tangled with some Shadows."
"D-Do you think that he watched us yesterday?" Takamaki-san asked anxiously. "Then maybe… Madarame's Shadow was telling the truth after all?"
Ken didn't even consider that. Why was that Persona user there?
"What black mask?" Niijima-san asked.
"That's not important. And let's not worry about what Madarame's Shadow had said," Amamiya-san said, for some reason looking towards Kitagawa-san as he motioned them to move along. "Come on, Niijima-senpai."
He couldn't quite get a good look at their faces. But he remembered hearing that Kitagawa-san was Madarame's pupil… but Amamiya-san seemed concerned when Madarame was brought up. Perhaps the relationship was far more than art teacher and art student.
Ken frowned, watching them approach the bank. While their backs were turned, Ken darted into another alley, closer to the bank. A flight of stairs materialized as Niijima-san came closer.
The weird creature Amamiya-san called Mona started bouncing up and down.
"I was right! Since she's a special customer, Kaneshiro will allow her access!" he cheered.
Special customer? To Kaneshiro? What did Niijima-san even do? He really hoped that she wasn't actually hurt because of this. She seemed fine but Ken couldn't help but worry. He really didn't like the sound of all this.
Ken waited for them to finish ascending the stairs, before making a mad sprint for the stairs. The stairs were starting to dematerialize, so Ken had to jump and pull himself up. Once he got to his feet, it was just a matter of outracing the stairs disappearing. It was a good thing that the Phantom Thieves had gone inside already.
Though they had just… walked right through the front door. That wasn't very… sneaky. Maybe they thought they could do it since they had Niijima-san with them?
Well… maybe he should follow suit. He walked through the door, only to stop in his tracks.
Ken couldn't stop himself from gawking. Tartarus was more of a seemingly endless maze, with hundreds of floors. But this… was so ornate. Though this was supposed to be a bank. Were other areas of the Metaverse like this? He'd have to ask Yu-san more about the TV world since there was similarities. His moments dealing with it were far briefer in comparison.
Ken shook his head to shake off his thoughts. He had to focus. Especially since Shadows would be lurking about.
"Hey, who's there?!"
"Crap…" Ken thought to himself.
Something that resembled a security guard was rushing at him. Ken beat him to the punch, stabbing him in the shoulder with his spear. The security guard seemed to explode, three piles of black goo landing on the floor. The black goo reformed into… Personas?
They… had to be. Two of them resembled the angel Personas Minato-san and Minako-san used from time to time. One of them looked like an oni, his skin bright red.
Why did they look like Personas? Just as he questioned this, memories of Metis's words entered his head.
"Personas and Shadows are the same thing. That's why you are able to fight them in the first place."
Yes of course. He isn't sure why they are taking different shapes of the Shadows he's used to. Taking the shape they would when they became Personas, but they are the same thing, as Metis once said. He can't let every new surprise take him off guard. They may look like Personas he's used to, but in the end, both are Shadows. One just tamed; the other is not.
Besides all that, if they are Shadows, then he can deal with this like he always has. If the angels had a similar affinity to the ones the Minato-san and Minako-san had used, he probably should avoid light spells. And that left one thing.
Ken ripped off his mask. "Kala-Nemi!"
A bullet tore through the air, sending the angel tumbling to the ground. Wait… she was weak to gun attacks of his Persona, then. He wasn't expecting to find a weakness so quickly, but he's not going to question the good fortune.
Ken didn't hesitate on attacking the other angel, who joined her ally on the ground. He summoned Kala-Nemi again, firing a flare of bright light that struck all of the Shadows.
The attack killed both of the angels, leaving just the oni standing. The oni let out a growl, before lunging forward. He only managed to clip Ken in the shoulder, due to an ill-timed dodge, but it didn't hurt that much.
Well… he wasn't going to complain.
It took another light spell to kill the oni, leaving him alone in the room.
"DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"
That brought Ken back to reality. How long was he dealing with those unusual Shadows? He thought he wasn't fighting them for long, but it sounded like the Phantom Thieves were on the run from some Shadows.
Ken quickly ran for the bench area, ducking down to hide underneath. Not the… best hiding spot, but he didn't really have a choice.
The doors slammed open and he could hear footsteps pounding against the floor.
"Come on, the exit's this way!" Mona shouted.
What trouble did they find themselves into?
He heard the Phantom Thieves suddenly skid to a stop.
"There's just no end to them…" Takamaki-san groaned.
Them…?
Ken carefully peeked up. A couple of Shadows were blocking the Phantom Thieves' means of escape.
"I told you there's no way to escape. Not when I have my eye on you."
Kaneshiro?! He was here? Wait, that wasn't right… Takamaki-san had described the Palace as the world inside Kaneshiro's heart… so that was the Shadow self?
Ken then finally caught glimpse of Kaneshiro.
"Wait… that's Kaneshiro?" Ken couldn't help but think in disbelief.
He just looked… bizarre. He was purple, of all things. But… he had the same golden eyes as the Shadow selves he had seen in Inaba.
He let out a dark chuckle. "Though I suppose I should thank you… for bring me such marvelous goods."
Goods… that's what he viewed people as?
"But… it's time you disappear." He clapped twice, summoning a couple more Shadows. The now four Shadows formed a loose circle, surrounding the Phantom Thieves. He lazily waved his hand, his voice flippant as he spoke. "Kill them. I have no use for them."
"I-Is this really it?" Sakamoto-san muttered.
Ken pursed his lips together, fingering the edge of his mask. Should he… do something? He couldn't just let Kaneshiro kill them. But the question was what? He wasn't that strong…
Niijima-san stepped forward.
"P-Please stop! Leave them alone," she blurted out.
Ughhh… Niijima-san, why? At least the Phantom Thieves had their Personas. She was defenseless.
"Oh, don't worry," Kaneshiro chuckled. "You're one of my goods… I can't afford to let you become damaged."
Seriously, what did Kaneshiro do to her? Niijima-san didn't seem hurt, but he knew that outward appearances weren't everything.
"Hmm?" Kaneshiro's Shadow tapped his foot and rubbed his chin. "Very well, men… spare the blonde chick too I suppose, I guess some use can be made for her with our customers. But the other punks are dead weight."
Ken felt his blood start to boil.
"Like hell!" Takamaki-san glared daggers at him, her grip on her whip tightening.
Niijima-san stood in front of her. "No! Leave her alone, leave them all alone! I'm the one responsible, they are only here to help me, but they don't need to be dragged down because of my mistakes. Let them go!"
Kaneshiro clicked his tongue in disapproval. "So naïve, you all are my property now. If you want your little friends to live then you all better start working to make me money. Or just go roll over and die. There is no scenario where they escape. If your next line is 'take me instead', then shove it up your ass. That's not how it goes down. You don't get to make demands."
Niijima-san's voice shook as she breathed out, "This is… all my fault. I'm so sorry everyone."
"Niijima-senpai…" Takamaki-san said with surprise but sadness in her eyes.
"But Niijima…" Kaneshiro said thoughtfully, "sounds awfully familiar."
His face broke out in a wide, smarmy grin.
"Oh, I know. It was that dumbass cop who wouldn't stop poking his nose in other people's business. Detective Hideki Niijima, was it? Yeah, that's hilarious. I remember finding it kind of funny hearing he had a prosecutor daughter trying to sniff around and catch us. Stupid woman, just like her father, she'll never stop us. And I guess it runs in the family, stupid little sister too. It's a family of idiots who keep getting caught in my net."
"Dad…?" Niijima-san said faintly. "Wait, how did you—"
She cut herself off, shaking her head.
"How do you know my father?!" she demanded.
"I was just protecting my business, and he was in the way. Simple as that. You win some, you ice some out." He spoke so flippantly that Ken could hear the shrug in his voice.
Ken felt his stomach churn. How could he be so… dismissive about killing someone?
"How could you?!" she demanded.
"'How could you'?" he mocked. "God, you're so stupid. Hopefully whatever woman your dumbass dad shacked up with had more braincells than the rest of you Niijimas."
He then sighed, shaking his head.
"Your sister probably could have made something of herself… if you weren't so dumb."
Kaneshiro then began to taunt her, calling her useless, a burden to her older sister. And then… something about working until she died…? And implied he was going to do the same to her older sister too. Did Kaneshiro manage to get some leverage to blackmail her somehow?
"Endure it…" Niijima-san repeated faintly. "Do as I'm told…"
Even though she spoke softly… Ken noticed that Niijima-san had stiffened, her hands clenching into fists. But Kaneshiro didn't notice—he just continued to gloat.
"Shut up," Niijima-san said softly, but steel underlining her voice.
"What?" He narrowed his eyes.
"I've been listening to you go on and on…" she hissed out, her hands forming tight fists.
She then glared at Kaneshiro fiercely, a fire lighting up in her eyes.
"Shut your damn mouth, you money-grubbing asshole!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Ken couldn't help but gape, hearing her swear. It took him several moments to realize that Niijima-san was talking again.
She suddenly clenched her fist before rasping out, "Yes, come to me."
Who… was she talking to?
Niijima-san suddenly let out a pained gasp, her eyes flashing a brilliant shade of gold. She hunched over, clutching her head.
What was going on?!
She suddenly jerked upward, a metal mask forming on her face. She gripped at it with both hands, before finally ripping it off with a cry. A blue blast of power surrounded her. Before the light died down, Ken could hear the revving of a motorcycle.
The light faded away, revealing that Niijima-san was sitting on a motorcycle that glowed a translucent blue. Wait… was that her Persona?!
Mitsuru-san would be jealous.
"A Persona…?" Kitagawa-san breathed.
"No dude," Sakamoto-san said in a isn't-it-obvious voice, "it's a bike!"
"I can feel it… myself… me…" Niijima-san's voice was filled with wonder.
Then she looked up, her gaze honing right onto the Shadows.
"Gun it!" she shouted, before charging forward and slamming her Persona into two of the Shadows. They were sent flying past Kaneshiro, smacking hard into the wall before dying.
W-What happened to her…? This was the same person, right? Or maybe she was just burying this underneath her prim exterior.
Either way, it was somewhat intimidating. She held herself proudly now, a fire burning in her eyes. Ken couldn't help but stare in awe. It was like she had been completely reborn.
Wait… what was she wearing? It was very… figure hugging. Niijima-san was more toned than her school uniform implied…
Wait, what was he thinking? Why was he looking at her like that? Ken shook his head, but that didn't stop the heat from rising in his cheeks. He wasn't Junpei-san… he did not have his head in the gutter.
"W-What was that?!" Mona sputtered out. "I've never seen anything like this…"
"Who cares?!" Takamaki-san demanded. "It's so cool!"
Amamiya-san smirked, folding his arms over his chest. "Who knew that she had it in her."
But they were soon interrupted. After a threat from Kaneshiro, the Shadows lunged forward to attack.
"Panther and Skull, you're with me!" Amamiya-san barked. "Let's do this!"
"Right!" they exclaimed in unison, before leaping into action.
Two of the Shadows were the same as the oni Ken had fought previously, and the third was a similar demon—but this one was purple.
Ken watched Kaneshiro flee, further inside the Palace. Huh… so he was just using his lackeys as a meat shield. No shock there…
Unsurprisingly, Niijima-san made the first move. Her motorcycle-Persona roared to life, slamming into the purple oni. She then blasted a bright blue energy that exploded. It struck all three of the enemies, but only caused the purple oni to stagger back.
Ken frowned. Just what was that? It resembled almighty magic, but… almighty magic was powerful, but the drawback was that it couldn't target a weakness.
Amamiya-san was next to move, summoning a red plumed bird. It blasted the same spell Niijima-san's Persona Johanna had used, though it only targeted one of the enemies.
Takamaki-san and Sakamoto-san then attacked, Takamaki-san's Persona producing powerful flames and Sakamoto-san's Persona knocking the Shadows aside like they were nothing more than bowling pins.
Ken lowered himself back down. He was pushing it—he didn't want to be seen by any of the Phantom Thieves. Their attention was focused on other things, but still. And there was still Kitagawa-san and Morgana, who were sitting out the battle. They could easily notice him. Though Morgana seemed to be the mission control for the Phantom Thieves, so he was focused on the battle.
The Shadows all seemed to be more physical based, so they went after Takamaki-san who seemed to be like Mitsuru-san and Yukari-san—having a heavy focus on magic spells.
With them ganging up on her, she was soon knocked unconscious.
"Panther!" Morgana exclaimed.
Amamiya-san's confident expression seemed to waver before he gritted his teeth.
"You son of a bitch!" Sakamoto-san growled.
"Skull, catch!" Amamiya-san exclaimed, throwing a small bottle at him. "Skull, revive Panther! I'll distract the Shadows. Niijima-senpai, follow my lead!"
"Got it!" was their mutual answer.
"Matador!" Amamiya-san shouted. "Swift Strike!"
Ken suddenly found it hard to breathe. Amamiya-san had summoned a different Persona before, which meant…
He was a Wild Card.
It… it made sense. Their Shadow incident had triggered the awakening of Minato-san and Minako-san. The Investigation Team had their own Wild Card in Yu Narukami. With Tokyo apparently being a hotbed of Shadow activity…
But… what did this mean? The Wild Cards he knew were all good, virtuous people. And Amamiya-san was nice enough to him…
And yet, he couldn't let his bias cloud his judgment… Ken sighed to himself. He supposed it was just too early to decide. Though there was the matter of Shido… he had to discover if they even knew of him.
He'd definitely need to report back to Mitsuru-san about this development. This… changed things. He'd need to be extra careful, and see what the others had to say about this discovery.
It took several minutes for the Shadows to finally fall, but there was a collective sigh of relief once they had.
"I never thought they'd go down…" Takamaki-san said shakily.
"Come on, let's get out of here! Kaneshiro's gonna notice quickly his goons aren't reporting in and will definitely send more!" Mona urged. "We have a way to reach this bank finally… so our objective has been reached today."
"But how are we going to get out?" Amamiya-san asked.
"We just make an exit then," Niijima-san said coolly.
Ken blinked and thought, "Wait, what—"
A loud crash cut through his thoughts. Did she just… bust a hole in the wall?
"Daaaaaamn…" Sakamoto-san let out a low whistle. "Who knew that she was a total biker babe?"
"Skull!" Takamaki-san reprimanded.
"Whaaaat?" he protested. "Just look at her! She looked like she'd run you over with that bike of hers if you pissed her off enough…"
He wasn't exactly lying with that.
"You're just unbelievable…" she grumbled.
"That power… that fire exuding from her…" Kitagawa-san sighed deeply. "If only I had my sketchpad…"
"Only you would think of that at a time like this, Fox," Amamiya-san teased. "Though… I suppose it's probably a good thing she was fighting with us."
"Hey, enough chit-chat!" Mona snapped. "Let's get out of here!"
This cat-thing was really bossy, wasn't he?
Then there was a loud thud… strong enough to shake the ground. What was going on?
Ken cautiously peeked up again to see the Phantom Thieves loading onto a small bus. A bus with… cat ears and a cat tail?
Ken just sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead as he watched the bus speed away. A talking cat, Shadow selves, a Wild Card, and apparently the talking cat can turn to a bus. Would Mitsuru-san even believe his story?
Tuesday, June 21st, 2016
Even though Makoto felt exhausted… she also felt like she was rejuvenated. The memory of her summoning Johanna was burned into her mind. It felt like… she had been sleeping this whole time, and Johanna was what pulled her out of her slumber.
And… in a way, she had been. She was just so… passive about everything. She just did what she had been told to do.
But now she knew… she knew that she couldn't live that way anymore. And the first step… was Kaneshiro's downfall. She would make Kaneshiro pay… not just for her father's death, but because of all the suffering he was inflicting on people now.
Makoto entered the classroom. As it was still early, not too many of her classmates were inside yet. But Amada-kun was, sitting at his desk reading something from his notebook.
"Good morning, Amada-kun."
He smiled politely at her when he looked up, but something flickered in his eyes. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Good morning, Niijima-san. You seem to be in a good mood today."
Was she that transparent?
Makoto flushed a bit, before clearing her throat with a smile. "W-Well, the weather is starting to become really nice. It's the first day of summer, isn't it?"
Even as she spoke it, Makoto couldn't help but cringe a little. Couldn't she come up with a more plausible lie? Nothing she could do about it though…
Amada-kun just tilted his head slightly, as he studied her. Makoto couldn't help but fidget a bit under his gaze. There was just… something about his eyes. An intensity to them.
"It is nice," he said finally, before his eyes flickered back to her face. "But Niijima-san, I was wondering…"
"AHA! I knew it! She was after Amada-kun!"
"And it worked? He's seriously asking her out?"
Makoto stifled a squeak and thought, "What? He's gonna what?! We hardly know each other! Besides I'm far too busy for—!"
Amada-kun interjected through her thoughts and all the gossip around them.
"—If I could help out in the student council," he deadpanned, even as his cheeks turned a faint shade of pink.
Well… that was more doable and less embarrassing.
Makoto felt her face warm up as well. She should have known that Amada-kun wouldn't jump to that. She shouldn't have let their peers' comments get to her. They had only met each other like what—two weeks ago? Honestly, they let their imaginations fly around too much.
But still, it was a nice surprise… she really did have too much to take care of. And he seemed like quite put together and organized.
She slowly exhaled before placing all her things down at her desk. She turned to him and flashed him a grateful smile.
"We'd be glad to have you," she said sincerely. "I've heard from the principal that you've been student council since junior high."
"It's not that impressive…" He rubbed the back of his neck, looking rather sheepish.
She raised a brow, a small smile still on her face. Organized and humble? She fought off the urge to let out a sigh of relief. He definitely was appearing more dependable by the second. He also was so polite too. They definitely could use someone like him.
"But I thought you weren't interested in extracurriculars," Makoto said with a frown. "What changed your mind?"
He lowered his hand, resting it on his desk for several moments, before finally speaking again. "My guardian's best friend was calling the other day and he was asking me if I had looked into any clubs. He told me that I shouldn't limit myself to just studying for university. And well… I've had experience with student council and frankly, you need the help."
Makoto nearly winced. A bit blunt, this one. But he wasn't exactly wrong.
Makoto sighed. "Is it that obvious?"
Amada-kun just scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't bother to hide the disdain from his voice.
"I'm pretty sure it wasn't you who put up that notice about information regarding the Phantom Thieves or the mafia."
Makoto bit her lip. She still couldn't believe the principal had done that…
But… now that the Phantom Thieves had their eyes on Kaneshiro, they would be able to stop him from manipulating their classmates and any other poor soul that Kaneshiro had swindled.
She met Amada-kun's gaze. "Well… I'm sure that the mafia boss will be punished soon enough. He can't run away from the law forever. But is that your only reason you want to help? Because of that flyer?"
His expression was unreadable as he just stared at her for a couple seconds.
Amada-kun just raised an eyebrow. "You've… become awfully optimistic lately, Niijima-san."
She hadn't expected him to say that. Makoto could only shrug at him. She couldn't exactly tell him the truth.
"I just… had a perspective change, that's all." She then flashed him another small smile, "Dodging my question however."
Amada-kun blinked. "I'm sorry, which question again?"
Makoto giggled as she pulled her pencil case out and placed it next to her textbook.
"The flyer? Is that the only reason you're interested? Got any intel?" she teased.
She held back a laugh as she noticed him fidget. She heard from her classmates from all their gossip that boys could be so easy to tease and how funny it was, and she couldn't deny there was some truth to that. However, as she turned to look at him, he wasn't blushing like she expected.
He seemed… anxious. Did she say something wrong?
"No, I'm not… I was just a bit worried you guys could be biting off more than you could chew. Especially after seeing that flyer. You all seemed like you were burning the candles on both ends, then this dropped on your lap too? The principal should be getting the police involved for questioning victims, not students."
That made sense, she supposed. She had a nagging feeling though, but she might be unfair to him. She shouldn't be quick to assume, she already made that same mistake with the Phantom Thieves.
"So what would you do then?" she asked instead. "About the victims that come forward I mean?"
Amada-kun stated with a serious expression, "That they need to tell everything they know to the police and their families. This isn't something the principal should burden students with."
Makoto simply nodded. "We'll talk more after class."
She quickly turned away, doing her best not to smile in a way that would cause people to stare.
She appreciated his concern, he definitely seemed like he was a good guy. But this was something the police can't handle. She knew what she had to do now. And she was going to see it through.
Minako knew that she shouldn't be focusing on this. She couldn't exactly do anything about it. But still. A Wild Card in Tokyo… and they had no idea about the Phantom Thieves' motives.
So, to put it shortly. Minako was worried. Somewhat. Just a smidge.
Oh, who was she kidding? What if she had put Ken in danger, because of her idea?
"Earth to Mina-tan!" Minako flinched as the sound of fingers snapping dragged her out of her thoughts.
"Junpei!"
The familiar sound of Yukari smacking Junpei just made Minako laugh. The former juniors—barring Aigis since she had volunteered to watch the twins—were having lunch together at Fuuka and Shinji's place. And according to Junpei, Chidori was in the 'zone' with one of her paintings and he didn't want to pull her away since she had been struggling with that piece for a while. He promised that he'd bring her for dinner though, so she could see Yukari and the twins too.
"Making up for how you can't smack Junpei in front of Kaito-kun and Miyuki-chan, huh, Yukari-chan?" she teased.
Her best friend considerably flushed, before grumbling out, "He deserved it!"
Today Yukari was wearing an off-shoulder light pink top with a bow tied in the center paired with dark blue capris. Minako was so used to seeing her in the Pink Argus costume that it was kinda funny to see her in a casual outfit.
Fuuka just laughed softly, before resting her hand over Minako's.
"Is there something on your mind, Minako-chan?" she asked quietly.
"It's just…" Minako sighed, before rubbing her forehead. "Ken-kun reported in again last night…"
"Seriously?" Junpei frowned. "What did he find out this time? And how many times has he even called in since he and Shinjiro-san had moved, anyways?"
Minako took in a shaky breath, which only caused her friends to look more concerned. She was supposed to be the cheerful one, after all. "There's another Wild Card. Ken-kun saw the Phantom Thieves fight for the first time."
Yukari stiffened, Junpei's eyes went wide, and all blood drained from Fuuka's face.
"A-Are you serious?" Yukari was the first to speak. "It's been what—the fourth?" She pressed her knuckles to her cheek. "Fifth, if you count Aigis."
Minako just sighed, absentmindedly rubbing her stomach. What kind of world was she bringing her child into? A world where Shido very well might become Prime Minster?
Fuuka frowned. "I suppose it makes sense… Tokyo is having a lot of Shadow activity…"
"That's not entirely true, though," Yukari protested. "The Persona-users from Sumaru and Mikage-cho don't have a Wild Card."
"Their circumstances are different." Minako waved a hand. "But yeah, Fuuka's right. Ever since our incident… every big Shadow incident has involved a Wild Card. Even smaller incidents have had at least one Wild Card present."
Junpei snickered. "I don't know, I just think the Investigation Team are Shadow magnets."
Fuuka giggled weakly. "I think Junpei-kun may have a point."
"For once," Yukari quipped with a light laugh.
Junpei ignored that jab.
"But hey, isn't this a good thing? Every Wild Card user was a leader to the good guys who triumph over stacked odds and all that jazz and save the world. Shouldn't that mean the Phantom Thieves would be our allies then?" Junpei said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Minako had considered that. Statistically, every Wild Card user was someone who used their powers to stop the Shadows and restore balance. She tried to smile at Junpei, but it was obvious it was false. He looked at her confused and concerned. Her expression morphed back into a heavy frown.
"That would make the most sense, but… we don't know the intentions about this group. Having a Persona doesn't make you a good person, just look at Takaya and Jin… as well as that serial killer the Investigation Team had to stop…"
Not to mention Sho Minazuki too…
Her hands were starting to shake. She tried to calm down, she took a deeper breath and licked her dry lips.
"Who is to say it's not the same for Wild Cards? What if… what if there are those who can have access to that power and—I'm just… worried. If the Phantom Thieves are abusing their powers… that would mean a Wild Card has gone rogue. And now two of our friends are on their own…"
And Shinji and Ken were definitely not strong enough to handle a whole team of Persona users. It was worrying. And it had been her idea in the first place.
Junpei hadn't removed his hand from her shoulder. He moved to sit next to her, his eyes filled with sympathy.
Fuuka sucked in a breath. "We may be jumping to conclusions, though… as you said, we don't know the intentions of this group. It would be hasty to start panicking and assume the worst."
Of course, Fuuka would want to look on the bright side too. And she did have a point.
"Maybe…" Minako sighed, her hand stroking her belly still. "I just hate not knowing."
"Well, that's what landed Ken-kun this mission to begin with," Fuuka sighed as well.
"Now that I wish that fan event was sooner than August," Yukari muttered, and sat down next to her other side. "It'd be nice to check up on Ken-kun and Shinjiro-senpai. Maybe meet this Wild Card. What was his name, Minako?"
"Ren Amamiya," Minako repeated the name Mitsuru had given her. "He's a year younger than Ken-kun."
No surprise there… she and Minato had awakened as second-years, and likewise for Yu. She'd laugh at the pattern if it wasn't for her nerves being on pins and needles at the moment.
Junpei let go of her shoulder and leaned back against the sofa, stretching his arms wide. He then let out a yawn. He then flashed Minako another cheerful smile.
"Maaaan, it's weird thinking how Ken's a third year," he said, clearly looking to change the subject. "He's older than us when the shit with Tartarus was going down."
Minako couldn't help but give a small smile.
"He's been a third year for nearly three months, Junpei." Yukari rolled her eyes at him, which only caused him to make a face at her.
"You know what I mean, Yuka-tan!" he grumbled, then added, "But ain't it a bit weird? What made the Phantom Thieves show up after what—nearly two years with the mental shutdowns?"
"You just want the Phantom Thieves to be heroes," Yukari said dryly.
"I mean, they are pretty cool if you think about it, Yuka-tan!" Junpei protested.
"You're such a little kid sometimes, Junpei," Yukari sighed.
"The littlest," Minako added, her grin only widening at the chagrined expression on Junpei's face.
"Fuuka, they're picking on me!" he whined, turning to their friend for comfort.
Fuuka just patted his hand consolingly. "Now, now… You know they're just teasing, Junpei-kun."
"You didn't disagree with them," Junpei said flatly.
"Well…" Fuuka could only offer him a sheepish smile, which only made Yukari and Minako burst into laughter.
"I'm always ganged up on," Junpei sighed, clutching a hand to his chest. "Will the torment ever end?"
"Now you're just being a drama queen," Minako giggled.
Junpei just flashed a grin at her, before winking. "Hey, I learned from the best."
Though she had missed this… She understood that Yukari's job took her everywhere, but she just missed spending time with her friends as a large group. It was just too bad that Yukari couldn't take time off before Shinji and Ken left for Tokyo.
Junpei shook his head. "But anyways! Enough serious talk."
Junpei's eyes flickered to Fuuka, his lips quirking up in a mischievous grin.
"Sooo, Fuuka," he drawled. "Have you told Shinjiro-san about the new occupant in the house?"
"I'm… um…" Fuuka smiled sheepishly. "Not really."
Yukari sighed. "Fuuka… come on, Shinjiro-senpai's going to flip if he comes to visit and there are suddenly puppies in the house."
"I still can't believe Koro-chan had a girlfriend this whole time. Good thing that Ken-kun decided not to take Koro-chan with him, huh?" Minako said.
"Shinji's been busy," Fuuka quickly defended, clutching the hem of her dress. "He's looking for a day job, since he has that bartending job… I don't just want to drop this kind of bomb on him, that's all."
Not to mention that he's probably been fretting over Ken. Shinjiro had a bad tendency to mother hen, but he was the worst with Ken—him being the youngest and all.
"Guessing that he's been trying to get everything settled," Minako said, before sternly frowning at her friend. "But still, you should tell him!"
Then she smiled slyly as a wicked thought came to her mind.
"Or should I just tell him that he can expect a new addition to the household soon enough?"
Fuuka slapped both hands on her cheeks, which were burning bright red.
"Minako-chan!" she squeaked.
"I'll pay you five thousand yen to do that." Junpei's face broke into a wide grin. "And take a picture of Shinjiro-san's face when you do it."
Minako grinned back at him. "Ten thousand and you're on."
"Seriously, guys?" Yukari crossed her arms over her chest, looking rather unimpressed with the two of them.
"Seven thousand," Junpei haggled.
"C-Can you please not?" Fuuka pleaded, her face still red.
"Better get to it, then, Fuuka-chan!" Minako laughed.
Yukari just looked up to the ceiling and groaned.
"Sometimes I really wonder about my choices in friends," she said idly.
"Aw, c'mon, Yukari-chan, you know you love us!"
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016
Ryuji scratched his head and let out a yawn.
There was a pattern to how Ren did things. He never immediately jumped into exploring the Palace, taking his time to get better equipment, medicine, and tools. But when he did, he pushed everyone to their limits to cover as much of the Palace as possible.
Though sometimes he did stop and train with Ryuji during the preparations, today wasn't one of those days. But Ryuji figured that he might as well train at the gym today. The Shadows were getting pretty tough.
But as he walked up to the gym, he could see someone just staring at the gym sign, with his eyebrows knitted together like he wasn't sure if he should be here.
Ryuji stopped right next to him. "Uh, you lost or somethin'?"
Ryuji wasn't the best at sneaking around. Ren was always grabbing his sleeve so he wouldn't jump the gun during Palace runs. But he had apparently snuck up on this guy. He jumped at Ryuji's voice, before straightening up. He was wearing the Shujin uniform, but Ryuji had never seen him once in his life.
"No, it's not that I'm lost…" he said slowly, a weird look in his eyes. "I'm just not sure if I use this gym. The reviews I read were somewhat… mixed."
Ryuji insisted, "No, this place is good. I'll show you the good stuff, yeah?"
"Wait, what—" he began, but Ryuji just grabbed him by the arm and hauled him inside.
"I'm Ryuji, by the way," Ryuji said before releasing him. "I don't think I've seen you 'round school, though."
"Oh, er, that's because I just moved here about two weeks ago…" he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "That, and I'm a third-year."
"Ohh, you're the new transfer. Ken Amada, right?" Ryuji's eyes widened, before looking at him up and down. "My buddy Ren's mentioned you."
Though he had to admit, he was kinda expecting the new transfer to look like a total nerd. One of those bookworm types, sorta like Makoto. And while he did have that preppy, almost goody two shoes look to him, he had a lean, athletic build. Though Ryuji couldn't help but wonder what was up with that rumor of him getting into a street fight.
Okay, so he didn't have to know that Ren mentioned him because he was basically intel. Though there were a few rumors 'bout him anyways… Maybe he'd just brush it off.
"Oh, you're friends with Amamiya-san?" Amada looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "I hope he didn't say anything negative."
"Nah, nothing like that." Ryuji waved his hand, before he shot Amada a look. "And dude, really? Amamiya-san? You do know that Ren's younger than you, right?"
His mouth twisted at that—wait, was he pouting?
"Excuse me for wanting to be polite," he muttered.
"Eh, Ren doesn't really care for formalities. I don't either, just you know. So just Ryuji's fine, a'ight?" Ryuji just waved off.
Though someone being polite to him was… new. His rep at Shujin was enough to scare away most of his classmates and the bleached hair took care of the rest. But the older boy didn't seem bothered, even meeting his gaze.
"Okay," he said after a moment, a slight smile curving at his lips.
Ryuji just grinned at him. "So, what do you wanna do first?"
His eyes then widened. "You don't have to bother—"
"Bother?" Ryuji repeated incredulously. "Dude, training with other people is fun. The more the merrier, yeah?"
He just gave Ryuji a sheepish smile. "I just don't want to impose…"
Ryuji rolled his eyes. "And I'm saying you're not. Sheesh, do I have to repeat myself?"
Then he rolled his eyes, a deadpan expression on his face. "Duly noted, Ryuji-san."
Ryuji made a face. Okay, it was better than being called Sakamoto-san. Being called that just reminded him of his old man.
Training with Amada was fun though. Not that training with Ren wasn't fun, but Amada had a bit of a competitive streak. He pushed Ryuji to work harder. And holy crap, he was fast. At least Ryuji had more stamina than him.
"Were you really not part of any sport team at your old school?" Ryuji asked when they took their break.
He passed Ryuji a can of soda, before opening the lid of his own drink. "I never said that."
"But I've heard…" Ryuji began.
He snorted.
"And do you really think all rumors are true?" He looked straight at Ryuji, raising a brow. "And just so we're clear, I am not dating Mitsuru Kirijo."
"That one was really out there," Ryuji laughed.
He took a swig of his drink. He wiped the droplets on his mouth with his arm.
Amada was a bit uptight, but he seemed alright.
Ryuji then asked. "So then are you just… not interested? About sport teams I mean, not dating that Mitsuru lady."
"I'm… just going to ignore that last comment. But anyways, the principal dropping huge hints that he wanted me to join a sport team killed my motivation," Amada said dryly. "Guessing he wants a reputation boost after Kamoshida's arrest."
Ryuji's face twisted in disgust. That sounded just like him… but then he happened to get a good look on Amada's face, and laughed.
"Not a fan, huh?"
"What, are you?" he responded, before taking a sip of his drink.
"I don't think anyone is," Ryuji said with a snicker, before looking over to him. "Though, what did you even play?"
"Soccer. It was pretty fun… but I just slowly dropped it," Amada answered, and then shrugged. "I prioritized my studies and my duties at student council over soccer."
"You were student council?" Ryuji looked at him up and down. "Yeah, I can see that."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" He quirked an eyebrow at Ryuji.
"Uh, dude, have you looked in the mirror? You totally look like a goody two shoes. A prep. Betcha you wear something dorky like sweater vests in the winter," Ryuji retorted.
"What's wrong with wearing sweater vests?" he grumbled.
Ryuji was so glad he stopped himself from taking another sip in that moment as he started to laugh.
"Nailed it," Ryuji smirked.
Amada opened his mouth to retort, but then his phone pinged. He pulled it out of his pocket with a frown, studying the screen. He then looked back at Ryuji.
"Er… I have to go…" he said slowly. "My guardian… is being very insistent, after an… incident. Anyways I should get going."
"Overprotective much?" Ryuji laughed.
He just closed his eyes, smiling fondly.
"You have no idea." He opened his eyes. "Maybe I'll see you around school? Today was fun. I forgot how fun it was to exercise with a partner."
Ryuji nodded. "Yeah, yeah! I'll see you around, Amada-senpai!"
Unsurprisingly, Shido had ordered Goro to discover the identity of the Persona-user wandering Kaneshiro's Palace. Shido only seemed to regard him as a nuisance as of right now, as he demanded that Goro keep a tab on the Phantom Thieves—viewing them as a growing threat to his plans.
But there was a reason why Shido had forcibly dismantled the Shadow Operatives in Tokyo. He didn't want any other Persona-user messing up his plans.
And unfortunately, the only lead he had was that he seemed to be Goro's age. So Goro was stuck combing through school records to see if he could find a match. He could rule out his high school, at least.
Goro grumbled to himself, as he continued to flick through the files on the computer. Why couldn't it have been any other day but a Sunday? This would have made things so much easier…
Goro's fingers brushed against his mouth as he thought. Perhaps… he should search the Shujin records next. The Phantom Thieves had some connection to that school after all. That boy could be linked to them somehow. A few taps on his keyboard pulled up the files for the Shujin student database.
He combed through so many pages and names for quite a long time, his warm coffee had gotten completely cold next to him.
His breath caught when he finally found the record. That face was definitely a match to the boy he saw.
Ken Amada…
Goro frowned at the picture. As he had transferred quite recently, the picture was of him wearing his old school uniform… the Gekkoukan uniform. Which was… mildly alarming.
Mitsuru Kirijo was an alumni of Gekkoukan High. The valedictorian, in fact, as well as being the president of the student council.
Shido despised her. Shortly after Wakaba Isshiki's death, Mitsuru Kirijo had ordered an investigation. Shido was quick to halt that investigation, and was even swifter to disable the Shadow Operatives.
Goro frowned. But still… according to this, he was literally on the cusp of turning eighteen, his birthday being on the twenty-fourth. And the Shadow Operatives' predecessor, the group SEES, had been founded in 2009. Amada would have been ten or eleven at the time. To have a Persona so young… it was impossible. Maybe he wasn't even connected to the Shadow Operatives. Unless he somehow obtained it later and was approached by the Shadow Operatives. This was all speculation however.
There was the question why Amada was wandering the Metaverse. How had he gained access to it? Was he going to be a threat? More importantly, a threat to Goro's plans?
How irritating. He should have killed that nuisance when he had the chance, then he wouldn't have to be worrying about potential thorns in his side.
Goro scowled to himself. He still couldn't believe that he had let his guard down so much while fighting him. Fighting a Persona-user was very different from fighting a Shadow. Shadows were dangerous, of course, but they acted on pure instinct. And there was Amada's strange resistance to Loki's curse spells, when his element seemed to be bless. If anything, he should have resisted bless magic.
He would have to keep tabs on Amada. And not just because Shido had demanded it…
I apologize for the wait, but my adaption of Makoto's awakening was a bit… tricky for me to figure out how to write. I swear I didn't mean to make it that long.
And while I know it's not canon that Kaneshiro had something to do with Makoto's father's death, but I tweaked it since it made things… more personal for Makoto. I know that Papa Niijima's death is meant to be vaguer but I thought it'd be interesting to connect Kaneshiro with Papa Niijima's death.
And for Ken's thief costume, I think that a gentleman thief outfit suits him. Plus, the bonus of it resembling the Gekkoukan school uniform, which is what Ken fought in before.
As always, I'd love to hear what you guys think!
Edit Notes (4/30/24): Added a bit more to the Kaneshiro confrontation as well as tweaking Makoto's awakening to align better with canon. There were some details added to the SEES scene and the Ken&Makoto scene.