Good Day Readers! Obviously, I do not own anything connected to the Persona series in general or Persona 5 specifically, I DO own Chiba Natsumi and Anais Ouvrard, along with Natsumi's immediate family members and the original Personas that will be showing up on occasion.

First and foremost, regarding Yusuke's scene in this, I have NEVER attended a tea ceremony so I used some videos in order to base it on and around, I apologise for any mistakes but there REALLY weren't many that had actual detail in them.

To Sodomi, Thank you for your review and it's okay if you don't review every chapter because while I adore your reviews I know not every chapter will spark that desire to say something. I am so happy that you find my ideas creative and I'll be honest that while I knew right from the start I wanted to have Natsumi have her own Confidants I did just start with the same ones Ren had, but I realised that some of those were impossible to form based on Natsumi's growing personality.

I also knew she couldn't be in every scene with Ren, it just wasn't possible for that to happen, it essentially made her a female version of Ren and I wanted to avoid that. The 3rd Person perspective from other characters was suggested by needmorecaffeine and I'm glad to hear it is such a success, I'm glad to know you're enjoying my story and I do intend to finish this story, one thing I would hate to do is leave a story unresolved and I'm so glad that my character is fitting in so well.

I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy

Chapter 53: - Temperance, Emperor, Magician

Kawakami was busy wiping down the blackboard which had an image of the phantom thieves' logo drawn on it, she didn't know who was responsible for always putting it on the surface, but it was really starting to annoy her. Seriously, the exhausted teacher didn't want to deal with any more unnecessary stress when she felt like collapsing on the nearest table and just going to sleep despite it having only just reached the afternoon.

"Sensei," Chiba's voice called from behind the woman. Kawakami stopped wiping and proceeded to turn around in order to look at the dark haired girl and she immediately darted her eyes down to the package that was being held by the young girl, it was a rather large bentō box and Kawakami already had an idea about what the girl intended to do with such an object in her grasp.

"More food?" Kawakami asked. It was still a little strange in Kawakami's opinion for the girl to have suddenly started worrying about her enough for Chiba to start making her food, Chiba proceeded to nod her head to confirm the fact that there was more food for Kawakami; the teacher reached up to scratch the side of her head at the fact that Chiba was seriously worrying – in Kawakami's opinion – too much about her.

"You still look tired, I'm still worried about you," Chiba admitted. Kawakami allowed a small sigh to escape from her lips, in truth Kawakami had actually felt more energetic after consuming the meal that Chiba had managed to prepare last time, it had really helped her get through the day and even her second job; but that effect had worn off by this point and Kawakami was back to her typically exhausted state of being… she really wished there was some way to get rid of this pressure, but this was her burden to bear.

"Alright," Kawakami relented. Kawakami walked over to the desk and proceeded to take a seat at it, Chiba set it on the table and proceeded to unlatch the different components from the main base. "It's probably not a good thing that a student is this worked up over their teacher," Kawakami acknowledged. This causes Chiba to pause in her movements after setting down a container and lifting her gaze to focus upon Kawakami's face.

"Perhaps, but at least someone is actually worrying about you. I haven't seen anyone else worrying," Chiba stated. That was quite true, but Kawakami needed to keep it that way as after all if anyone actually found out… NOPE! Kawakami had to deeply restrain herself from violently shaking her head at that trail of thoughts, Kawakami couldn't bear actually having that happen to her after all her hard work in trying to keep her teaching job and other job utterly separate.

"Well… thank you for caring so much Chiba-san," Kawakami admitted. Chiba proceeded to set a couples of thermoses onto the desk alongside the other boxes for Kawakami to enjoy, that seemed to be the last of it much to the teacher's relief. "I just hope all of this food preparation isn't going to be impacting your grades," Kawakami stated. She would not be able to forgive herself if she ruined another child's future due to her own actions.

Interestingly enough, Chiba allowed a smile to come onto her lips that was more than a little mysterious in its' nature, Kawakami couldn't tell what it was supposed to mean but it almost seemed like Chiba was hiding some kind of secret. A secret that seemed to make it seem like she was finding some kind of amusement within the words that Kawakami had just spoken causing the brunette woman to purse her lips in confusion at the action.

"I'll be fine, Kawakami-sensei. It'll take more than this to cause my grades to drop," Chiba reassured. A small hum of something escaped Kawakami's lips as she wasn't anywhere near as confident as Chiba seemed to be about her managing to handle continuing to make food while keeping her grades up and whatever else she might be doing. Of course, before Kawakami could get far in opening her mouth, the dark haired girl was already out the room which caused the teacher to sigh heavily.

"Just when I think I know what's running around in that girl's head, she suddenly surprises me," Kawakami muttered. The teacher proceeded to pull the dishes closer and started to open them up, finding some dishes similar to last time, but at the same time some were slightly different or embellished with some additions. "Wow… she really put some effort into making all of this," Kawakami realised.

It would be rude to refuse the meal after seeing that Chiba had taken the time and energy to not exactly repeat the same meal as before, especially when there was tea to accompany the food alongside water. With a quick thank you escaping her lips, Kawakami set about digging into the food with some enthusiasm.

And it might have been her imagination, but Kawakami could have sworn there was a little spice to the food this time around.

*Persona 5 Royal*

Yusuke was packing up his utensils after a… semi productive day, he was really struggling with his art in the days since battling Madarame's Shadow, he couldn't really think about anything to paint which did put him in quite the pickle. Hopefully he'd be able to find some source of inspiration in whatever outing Natsumi happened to have planned for today, it was something she refused to divulge to him. Yusuke left his school and a short distance away he spotted Natsumi.

"I was thinking that maybe you need to see other things, they might be able to help you refine your swordplay," Natsumi suggested. That was an interesting proposition to make but Yusuke couldn't find any fault in it, there was probably a thought behind the suggestion that Natsumi had made; Yusuke was intrigued to see what suggestion she might have for them.

"What were you thinking of?" Yusuke asked. Yusuke did want to refine his swordplay as much as possible and he'd already watched many different videos of sword arts especially Iaidō since it had become so fascinating to him since watching the first video; but apart from continuing to practice his sword and learn of more sword styles, Yusuke couldn't exactly think of how to use other things to improve his ability.

"Well, there happens to be a tea ceremony going on which we'll be able to visit so I thought that might be a good place to start. Swordplay is old but it's tied up with a lot of older traditions of our culture. And our culture is nothing if not rich in beauty," Natsumi admitted. Yusuke felt an amazed sensation run through him at the prospect of attending such a place, it might just be the thing he needed in order to break him out of the strange malaise that he had found himself in.

"The tea ceremony is certainly an artistic scene, very well this could be worthwhile," Yusuke agreed. Natsumi smiled slightly and pushed off the wall before walking away to the destination of the tea ceremony that Natsumi had learned of; Yusuke wasn't entirely sure how to expect this event to go but Yusuke couldn't deny that he was quite excited to see what he could possibly learn from this ceremony.

As they quickly rushed to the location of the tea ceremony, Natsumi filled Yusuke in on what it was best for him to do after confirming he didn't have much experience with tea ceremonies himself, granted Natsumi had only attended a couple. It was apparently a very basic ceremony, therefore was outside, but with a smaller number of guests due to the host's inexperience with tea ceremonies.

Thankfully, they arrived at the ceremony's location with a few minutes to spare, there were only a few more people there probably bringing the total to about twenty or so, since Yusuke couldn't see all of them. Once the start time was reached, two Geisha stepped into the room and bowed to them, Yusuke was quick to follow Natsumi's acts as he also bowed to them; once that was done the Geisha handed out some cups that had steam rising from them, a quick peak inside showed that it was hot water.

Yusuke took a small sip and found that despite the warmth of the month, it was actually quite pleasant and seemed to ease the nerves that had started up in Yusuke on their rush over, it also allowed the thirst Yusuke had developed to be quenched. Once every guest had finished their drink, they returned the cups to the Geisha, one took the cups and left the waiting room; as for the other, she proceeded to guide us out of the room and into the park where the ceremony was taking place.

Walking along the path that they were being guided down, with the trees forming a kind of tunnel above them to gently block the sun from beating down on them, a kind of serenity started to come upon Yusuke. He observed the natural beauty of the park, how its' trees and flowers gently swayed within the breeze as birds chirped their songs away within the boughs; his stress from not being able to paint seemed to fade away the longer he walked.

Soon enough they came upon a small area that had been sectioned off and was relatively flat, a cloth had been spread across the ground and on top of it was several cushions for the guests. At the back of the 'room' was a young woman in an elaborate kimono with many hair ornaments decorating her brown locks, likely a maiko. The young woman proceeded to bow to the group of them and made a gesture for them to enter; recalling there was to be no speaking, Yusuke only bowed quietly.

One of the aides came over with a bowl of water, allowing each of the guests to wash their hands and month, once that was done Yusuke stepped up to the cloth and removed his shoes as everyone else did then sat upon the cushion, a single flower was present in a small section off area. Meanwhile in the centre, enclosed within another sectioned off area was an iron pot and beside the maiko was the utensils that she was going to be using to make the matcha.

The maiko proceeded to greet each of the guests, her voice was soft and warm, a small discussion was held about the park and the flower between the guest nearest the maiko. Once it was done, the host began to carefully prepare the charcoal for the iron pot, along with burning some incense; this caused the area around them to get warm, but Yusuke noticed how the scent given off by the incense did not interfere with the charcoal and instead gently melded with it.

As the maiko continued with her preparations, heating the water carefully, the aides proceeded to bring out small plates and carefully set one in front of each guest. Upon the plate was a single sweet and once the hosts moved backwards, each guest proceeded to eat the sweet. The moment Yusuke bit into the sweet, he was immediately filled with the idea that this single sweet had been crafted with the idea of capturing the whole of the season of summer within its' confines.

With the sweet eaten, the host proceeded to bring forth each of her utensils and removed a cloth from somewhere beside her. She carefully wiped the small cylinder that was black in colour, before setting it aside; she repeated the cleaning with the teaspoon, bamboo ladle, matcha bowls and matcha whisk. Once the cleaning was done, the maiko carefully dipped the bamboo ladle into the iron pot and placed a single serving of water into each bowl. The host then took the whisk and gently dipped it into the water to give a little stir before placing it back onto the cloth

After a few moments, the host and aides quickly yet calmly emptied the water into a bowl behind the maiko. Once all the matcha bowls were back in front of the host, she carefully cleaned each one with a different cloth. The maiko then took the teaspoon and black cylinder, which Yusuke realised must have held the tea and carefully started to measure out each serving for them. Once more water was carefully and slowly poured into a bowl, but just one of them before the maiko picked up the whisk.

Yusuke framed the scene with his fingers, wanting to capture the delicate movements and graceful flow of the maiko's acts as she prepared the tea, trying to visual how it could work with his sword. Perhaps it was a by-product of Natsumi's instruction, but as the artist faded for the warrior to emerge as Yusuke's eyes focused upon the wrist and elbow movements as he took in the movements of the muscles within the joints.

Once the host finished, she handed the bowl with the design facing towards the first guest. At that moment, the Geisha returned with Hi-gashi sweets and served those to the guests; the maiko continued to prepare the matcha as each guest gently nibbled on the sweet, once Yusuke's own bowl was given and he took a sip, he realise the tea was actually Usu-cha which was a thin type of matcha, it was perfectly complimented by the summer sweet and the Hi-gashi sweets he had eaten previously.

Upon each of them finishing the tea and once each utensil was properly cleaned, the host held out the bamboo ladle to them and they started to look at each of the utensils, Yusuke could see that each of the utensils had been chosen with care, there were marks but these were mere signs of age which proved that each had been carefully cared for over a long time. Yusuke felt an appreciation for the host and aides to trust them with such old yet cherished objects. Once Yusuke had finished his examination and Natsumi had finished hers; they joined then other guests and proceeded to leave the cloth covered area; but before they got too far, all of them turned and bow to host and aides. After bowing, they turned and began to walk away from the tea ceremony.

"I must say, that though your movements pale in comparison to the maiko, you are quite close to being as graceful as her, Natsumi," Yusuke admitted. He was looking at the girl, wondering how the maiden would react to be compared to someone else and deemed inferior; Yusuke did not intend for it to be an insult but… he was well aware of how his manner could sour his words into something that wasn't intend. Thankfully, Natsumi's lips curled into an appreciative smile.

"Thank you, Yusuke, that's very kind. But that is the best way to remind oneself, no matter how good you are, someone's always better," Natsumi stated. Yusuke mentally breathed a sigh of relief that she had taken it in exactly the way he had intended for it to be taken; though her words did call to mind a saying that he had once heard but given his life at the time, he'd never truly believed in it.

"One day the student may surpass the master," Yusuke commented. Madarame always kept taking his artwork and Yusuke had started to doubt the day would ever come that he would be something more than Madarame's pupil but now, so long as he could drag himself out of this odd slump he had, Yusuke actually had a chance to show his vision of beauty to the world. Suddenly a hand clapped onto his shoulder, dragging Yusuke from his thoughts and the boy looked over to see a grinning Natsumi looking at him.

"And is that not the day a real master would eagerly anticipate," Natsumi pointed out. Yusuke felt something flutter through him at those words, he could see – in Natsumi's eyes – the expectations that she held for her students; Yusuke did not know if it was possible for any of them to ever overcome the person who had studied a craft most of her life…

"Indeed," Yusuke agreed. But at the very least, Yusuke vowed to do his best to rise to the expectations and trust he saw shimmering within Natsumi's eyes.

*Persona 5 Royal*

Mona bounced through the opening area of Mementos as he looked around, though no Shadows were present as usual, it never stopped the sensation that Mona felt like his hackles were on the verge of turning himself into a massive ball of fur. The thick oppressive energy that radiated from the very air and ground of Mementos always put Mona on edge, he didn't know why he was so nervous whenever he came down here.

In an effort to distract himself, Mona turned to focus on Amazon slightly twirled her naginata around as her eyes darted into the far corner, she seemed to do that a lot, but Mona wasn't entirely sure how to bring it up to her. Whatever she was looking for must have not been there as a grim expression came to her face as her eyes moved over to the entrance to the rest of the collective unconsciousness.

"Shall we get going," Mona suggested. Amazon nodded her head and so Mona proceeded to transform into his van form, his senses in this form were rather different; his senses of taste and smell were dampened but his eyesight was changed while hearing and touch seemed to be heightened. A small shiver ran across his… wheels? Back? Or maybe his head when Amazon settled her hands on the wheel. Mona really didn't know as it felt like his nerves got a little cross in this form, but it didn't really hamper him that much.

With a quick press of the accelerator, they shot off into the darkness and easily rolled around the expanse of Mementos. Mona's headlight eyes darted about as he searched for any sign of the opponents that they needed to find, Amazon kept a steady hand on the wheel as she listened to his directions whenever he spotted a Shadow in the deep gloom of Mementos before her human eyes could catch them.

The moment that Mona found an enemy, they immediately chased after it until they managed to run it down enough to launch an ambush thanks to Mona tackling it with his might. Once the Shadow was on the ground, Amazon leapt out and tore the mask off, allowing them to see what it looked like. Mona immediately turned back and landed behind the Shadow in order to pin it in place and prevent it from escaping. As soon as they were done getting the information, they defeated the Shadow and moved on.

Eventually, they proceeded to move down to the next level, while they wouldn't be going any further than this as Mona didn't want to risk them heading into danger without the others being present, the first level was pretty much the only one Mona felt secure in them being able to tackle without risking themselves. They settled down and Amazon pulled out her notebook so that they could look at the information that they had gathered.

"Let's see, Pixie links to Panther, Jack-o-Lantern links to you, Mandrake links to Takemi-sensei, Berith links to Boss, and Slime to Skull. We know from the other day that Bicorn, Incubus, Silky, Angel, Archangel, and Kodama I haven't met anyone for, Cait Sith and Agathion we already know, Succubus is Mishima, Kelpie is this trio of siblings I've met, and Obariyon is Joker," Amazon explained. As she spoke, Amazon scribbled in the information in the respective columns that she had drawn up except for the Personas which she had known already or didn't know yet.

"Right, Pixie is Lovers, Jack-o-Lantern and Cait Sith are Magician, Mandrake is death, Berith is Hierophant, Slime and Agathion are Chariot, Bicorn is Hermit, Incubus is Devil, Silky is Priestess, Kodama is Star, and both of the angelic Shadows are Justice, Succubus is Moon, Kelpie is Strength and Obariyon is Fool," Mona commented. Amazon proceeded to set down those words in charcoal before pulling back and looking at him. "What about others?" Mona wondered. It would be best for them to make as many connections as possible before jumping to any conclusions based on only a few examples.

"Looking," Amazon muttered. She flicked through the other pages that she had filled in with the information before letting out a small hum. "High Pixie links to Joker, Jack Frost and Nekomata to you, Eligor… I think that one resonated with Fox, Orobas to Boss, Ame-no-Uzume and Saki-Mitama to Panther, Shiisaa to the siblings, Hua Po and Inugami to Iwai, Mokoi and Matador to Takemi-sensei, Genbu and Koppa Tengu to Kawakami-sensei, Onmoraki to Mishima, and Kushi-Mitama to Doc. Gnome, Pygmalion and Atalanta linked to me," Amazon answered. Interestingly enough, Mona recognised all the Personas name and their corresponding Arcana, despite being sure he hadn't encountered all of them.

"Interesting. All of Joker's are Fool, mine are Magician, Boss' are Hierophant, Panther's are Lovers, Iwai's are Hanged Man, Takemi's are Death, Kawakami's are Temperance, Mishima's are Moon. Skull's are Chariot, your siblings' are Strength, while you are Voyage," Mona commented. It was intriguing that all of the Personas were the same Arcana instead being different, which meant it probably wasn't their backgrounds, plus there was some new information thanks to Amazon's words. "Now we do have a new one as Maruki's is Councillor," Mona added on. Another individual without a Persona yet was close to Joker, along with Amazon and Panther.

"So, the Personas we already wield are resonating with the other Personas that share the same Arcana as them… but what does it mean to have so many non-Persona wielders resonating with Personas?" Amazon asked. A fine question, perhaps it meant that if they awakened a Persona then it would also belong to that same Arcana but for some reason, something about that theory didn't exactly fit well within his mind. Mona didn't understand why he felt so unsettled with that theory… but maybe it had something to do with his missing memories.

"Good question, I think there's a piece to this puzzle that we're missing, I think we need to figure out what the Arcana actually is… there must be something to explain its' name," Mona admitted. He felt much better about that possibility, but the real question was what exactly the Arcana could possibly mean; Amazon proceeded to close the notebook and managed to tuck it away within her skirt, Mona might not have pockets, but his utility belt certainly made up for it.

"Agreed. The Personas we've run into have a connection to the world's folklore and myths. Not just Japan but everywhere, in all the information there might be a clue as to what it means. Arcana sounds similar to arcane which might mean their etymology is connected," Amazon theorised. Mona was curious as to what each of these stories could possibly be, but it didn't seem to all that important for their research given that the connection was Arcana based, otherwise Mona was sure Amazon would have certainly brought it up by this point.

"Well, I think that's enough for today, we'd best get back before it's too late," Mona encouraged. Amazon nodded her head and she proceeded to create a shortcut that would lead them back to the entrance, they darted through it and Mona proceeded to cast his eyes over to the corner that Amazon always seemed to focus on whenever they entered Mementos.

There still wasn't anything but Mona got the strangest sense that there should have been something there. Mona didn't understand why this sensation was tickling across his fur, but Mona proceeded to push it to the side as he bounded towards the exit with Amazon following after him.