Persona 5: Daywatch

by Ganheim

Akira is banished to Tokyo by his own father. What begins as a near-suicidal quest for vengeance becomes a desperate attempt to turn the pieces of his life into an honest whole. Aided by clever strategists and opposed by supernatural puppeteers, one lost boy's quest for something greater clashes those who would think themselves gods over men, and demons within. AU elements.

113. August 25th, Scanning Mementos

Persona 5: Daywatch

Thursday, 25 August 2016
Morning
Mementos Lobby

Makoto trotted down the steps into what should be the bustling Shibuya Underground. Blood-red emergency lights cast an unnerving pall over the space just a little bit off of ordinary. She heard the other members of the Phantom Thieves already ahead of her, assembling their weapons. Coming into the room she dubbed the Lobby, Makoto glanced over the dyed blond helping Hifumi assemble her rifle, a level of discomfort remaining despite wielding it twice in her mother's Palace. Ann gave a few experimental swings to get used to the balance of the sword form of her whip-sword, Yusuke discussing stance next to her. Futaba skipped a separate melee weapon, choosing to use the staff weapon she took out of her pyramid. Something about the lighting here made the black roots of her hair look even more stark, the rest of her dyed-orange hair even more ethereal.

Finished with set-up, Hifumi nodded to the class president. "Makoto-san."

"Code names," Morgana interjected.

The shogi maestra slung her rifle. "I thought that was only necessary in Palaces. Why not use our regular names?"

Ann flashed a wide smile. "That wouldn't be cool!"

Morgana sighed and paced closer. "Consider it an extension of the will of rebellion. Notice how you're not wearing your regular clothing. It's like armor, the reaction of your will of rebellion against the dominating will of the Palace Ruler. Or the distortions of the Metaverse, in the case of where we are now. I call it Mementos."

Makoto finished assembling her shotgun and stood. "I'm ready. What are we waiting for?"

Futaba pointed her closed staff weapon at the corner. "For Joker to finish zonking out on his feet."

Morgana rolled his eyes. "He's meditating."

Ryuji pulled back something on the light machine gun dangling on a strap, then let it go with a click. Boys and their toys. "He's snoozin' while the rest of us are rarin' to go."

Akira straightened, then turned around from staring into the corner. "I guess you don't want one of these, then," he displayed three cylindrical crystals in his now red-gloved palm. "What a pity." He turned to Futaba. "I think you said your Persona didn't like wind?"

The small girl scratched the back of her head with her staff weapon. "Right, it plays havoc with the targeting sensors and maneuvering thrusters."

Akira reached into a pocket on his longcoat, then another, then one inside before a smirk. He drew the kind of bracelet that kids attach trinkets to and pressed it into a metal socket with a soft groan of metal bending to accept the crystal's shape, then handed the bracelet over. "Then you may enjoy some resistance."

Makoto remembered many times the Phantom Thieves had been hit by something that didn't just hurt but could knock them down or ruin concentration, like ice did to her despite Johanna's armor. "Wait, you can do that?"

"I don't understand the process, but it's what I did for the fortifying gem I gave Yusuke."

Ryuji blurted, "You gave a dude jewelry?"

Yusuke fished a fine pendant chain from the neck of his garb, revealing a similar crystal almost two centimeters long and covered with hard, angular facets. "Did all of you forget? This is one of the reasons I have been able to withstand the might of so many Shadows."

Makoto cleared her throat before Futaba could get any wrong ideas. "It's not without limitation, he had almost as many bruises after the battle against Togo-san's Shadow as I did. But any advantage helps."

Akira nodded, then threw a crystal to the team leader. "I figured if they work on our guns, a gem with lightning should work on your crossbow."

Ryuji's jaw flapped open and closed, and he glared. "Dude, why didn'cha hand me one? Lightnin's badass!"

The team leader unfolded his weapon and held the crystal against it, then braced the crossbow to his shoulder. "I'll have to do it manually today, but I think I can modify this to accept one of those shards of power in the future. What's the last one, Joker?"

"Curse magic," he said. "I sacrificed Osiris yesterday to make this. I was hoping for something that would protect against curse energy so what happened to… well, me couldn't happen to any of you, but the twins said this crystal can only emit energy, not block it from coming in."

The rest of the thieves glanced about. Makoto suspected everyone knew the expansion of tactical options would help, but laughing as darkness roared from beneath was so much Akira's idiom it didn't feel right to use that power herself. Even if it wouldn't lead to her laughing maniacally.

Yusuke stepped forward. "I will use it. Rider-san has informed me that her wind crystal tires her, so I shall use this one sparingly, but it should reduce the burden on yourself."

Morgana nodded and hopped onto the artist's shoulder. "That's all the preparations. Keep your eyes up, everyone. Mementos may not have an alarm level quite like a Palace, but we still don't want to underestimate the amalgamated Shadows. Especially since we definitely shook society's cognition enough to unlock at least one gate." He turned to their newest member. "Hawk, your Persona has already shown talents in scanning. Can it determine how much further Mementos goes now that we've toppled another two Palaces?"

Hifumi held her hand to her face under the voluminous hood, and those three red lights winked out, then her red-garbed Persona holding a tower shield in each hand manifested above her. Its sedate floating mask stared into the stairs downwards, white light pulsing behind it. "No—"

Ryuji kicked at the tile floor. "So much for Miss Radar."

"Because it's expanding."

Ryuji balked. "Think it's 'cause of your ma? Or was the splash from Medjed just that big?"

"While there are possible durations of after-effects, like soil following boulders breaking free in a landslide, those tend to lose momentum after a time," Hifumi said, her tone cool and her concentration still focused through her Persona. "The rate of change is not slowing down. On the contrary, it is accelerating. It radiates out into Tokyo like the illumination from a lighthouse, imperfect rays stretching further in some degrees than others, but it is definitely growing downwards as we speak."

Morgana drummed his fingers along his crossbow. "Hm. We already knew that Mementos had to be bigger than just the area we could reach when we searched for Kuraya Eisuke and my nose told me he was lower than the walls would let us travel."

Futaba leaned against the artist. "What if Mementos isn't about Treasures? What if it gets bigger from something else, like searches and trending words making Apple Pen Guy a big celebrity when his joke video went viral? Even the access counter on Mishima's website might impact how big it grows."

Makoto tightened her shotgun strap. "So Mementos might be granting us further passage as we become more prevalent in public cognition. Like favored reputation allowing further access, in the same way I got to see more of Tokyo's police headquarters when Big Sis became a chief prosecutor at SIU."

"Oh!" Ryuji chirped. "Like famous peeps gettin' free admission to parks an shi…stuff," he corrected, his eyes flicking to the hacker, "Just for bein' famous."

Morgana's ears curled against his large boy-form skull. "That's… a very concise and apt description, Skull. I'd never even considered such a possibility."

Yusuke raised a hand just enough to get Hifumi's attention. "We had been speculating that each treasure stolen from a Palace caused shocks like an earthquake, and created new segments of Mementos."

Dihya dissipated and those red lights under Hifumi's hood glowed again as she took her hand away. "I wouldn't be so hard on yourself. Any analysis is going to consist of qualitative as well as quantitative observations until experience allows the observer to craft proper measuring tools."

Morgana hopped down and paced to the utility door. "Well, this way is a shortcut to the lowest rest stop we've discovered so far. Be careful, the Shadows tend to be pushovers at the surface, but there will be more powerful ones as we descend. Hawk? We'll want to flex your Persona's scanning capabilities, so just tell me when you want me to stop to take a scan." He jumped to the ladder and slid down. Ryuji, Akira and Ann joined, though Yusuke showed a little more sense and clambered down.

Mementos, Path of Chemdah

Futaba followed the shogi maestra and the veteran thieves down the escalator. The crystal-vein things creeping from the vents above was odd enough, but the sickly yellow lights here made the hacker think of exotic diseases. Even the concrete walls seemed to sag just a bit, and the wood ties under the rail lines seemed warped. Barred windows separated what appeared to be one subway tunnel line from another, and huge chains glistening with dark red stretched high across the subway tunnels. "If this is what Tokyo's subways look like, I take back thinking I missed out on the outdoors. At least the Tok'ra tunnels had cool hexagonal patterns all over."

Bastet – er, Morgana walked out all the way to the edge of the derelict subway platform's edge.

Ann kept shifting her weight from foot to foot in excitement even though it looked like the team leader was about to throw himself on the tracks. "Ooh, just wait."

The hacker was about to say something when he did jump down, but instead of the light pad of feet, with a pop he transformed into a ghastly French van. The back of her mind remembered seeing the van before, but she'd been distracted by a zillion-story-tall tower collapsing at the time. She jumped what must have been half a meter in the air with an 'eep', and felt a warm yet validating feeling when her hands clutched Hifumi's. "Bastet just turned into a van!"

Makoto wore more than a bit of a smug smirk. "It's actually a Citroen minibus."

Futaba took tentative steps to the edge of the station platform, hands on her goggles as she would on her glasses when scrutinizing something in the real world. "Did you gain this power by stealing Togo's Treasure? Show us your other forms!" She clapped. "Oh! Can you turn into a helicopter and fly like Marcus?"

A terse beat passed before Morgana gave a flat, "No."

Makoto stopped next to the shogi master. "He's only ever been able to turn into the van."

Futaba scoffed. "Motorcycles are cooler."

"Don't underestimate four wheel drive!" he threw back, though the cringe he would have held in his cat or cartoony mascot boy forms carried through the tone.

Futaba pointed her staff weapon at the tracks. "We're in a subway. Why would anybody want to be down on the tracks where trains are zipping around?"

Ryuji scratched his head with his club. "We only had to dodge trains a couple times. Besides, he's a car, they're pretty tough."

"Yeah, they have DR one-hundred slash… another car," she said with a gesture at the tracks.

Ann placed a hand on her hip. Ecchi artists would've had a field day. "He can ram the creepy Shadow… clump thingies we'll be running into. That's how we kick off surprise attacks down here, they don't have the convenient masks the palace-ruler-wrapped Shadows have."

"Nope!" Futaba tapped her summon and transport rings manifested around her, teleporting her into her safe, evade-ground-threats Persona. "Can fly, will avoid being mashed by big trains made of tons of steel."

Makoto sighed. "I'll stay close to her, I can traverse the tunnels on Johanna as well."

Hifumi paused at the Morgana-bus' side door. "Is all of Mementos this… unsettling?"

"It's the palace of the collective unconscious," Morgana's voice floated out of the van. Bus. Whatever. "So there will always be a sense that we're intruding, or watched. Fortunately, we also don't have to worry about a Palace security level. It would take an action against all of humanity to get the collective unconscious to change it."

Ryuji, from his seat in the front, whined, "Can we just get goin'? Maybe we can reach that museum curator guy now."

"Curator guy?" Hifumi said, a faint shift of her hood with a small tilt of her head.

Ann's hand clapped against her feline mask. "Oh, right. We taught them all about the Metaverse because we were already in the palaces, but we forgot to explain voting."

Makoto nodded. "Right. The Shadows we target in Mementos might be a far smaller force than Palace Rulers, but changing a heart is no small matter. To prevent any abuse of the power to change hearts, we have to put any requested name to the all the Phantom Thieves, and agree unanimously before we change somebody's heart."

Futaba's heart clenched in her chest. She threatened them into it, but they still brought it to a vote and found a way to empathize with her plight when they didn't even know her. "If you guys can help someone like me, then I'll back you up with anybody you've decided needs a heart change."

Hifumi's fingers ran along the edges of her cloak as she thought. She turned to the rider in black leather. "An understandable measure, but I believe I would like to know who today's requests are and why they are targeted before I feel like I am prepared to give my concurrence."

Yusuke placed his hand on the pommel of his katana. "As thoughtful as I would expect from a master strategist. We may take them in any order depending on how we come across them, but the first on the list was Deputy Curator of the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art, Kuraya Eisuke. He is a wealthy, corrupt figure with extensive sway in the Japanese art world, and the one most directly responsible for blacklisting a fellow Madarame pupil. Despite Madarame's confession, many of his students remain barred from the art world due to the remains of Sensei's network. I am sure we can free them to pursue their heart's desire if we change Curator Kuraya."

The shogi maestra nodded. "Mother was progressively moving me from shogi to modeling. To bar somebody from what they have been raised in, one of the things they most love, is one of the cruelest fates a person can suffer. I vote to change his heart."

Makoto nodded, a pleased grin forming under her heavy plate-iron mask. "Maybe we'll even be able to question him about the 'black mask' Kaneshiro and Madarame spoke of. There was no sign of such an interloper in Togo's Palace."

Futaba brought Marcus down to the level of the station platform. "Black Mask?"

Ryuji's eyes widened under his skull mask. "Ooh, right! We didn't tell them 'bout that! He's a nasty dude, maybe even whole buncha guys, who're sneakin' into peeps hearts. 'Shiro thought we were tryin' to get rich like Black Mask, so he might be some asshole stealin' peeps' money as well as killin' em in the Metaverse."

Futaba ringed back down to the station platform, her jaw clenching. "Wait. You guys have leads on the monster who murdered Mom?"

Akira scratched his scalp. "Very little beyond 'someone in the Metaverse'. We think it's just one person because the few mentions have never indicated more than one at once. Though when I asked Yuuki to look up mental shutdowns and berserk episodes, he said if there's not more than one, he or she works a lot faster than us. Someone who can come into the Metaverse and interact directly with palace rulers, if Madarame's Shadow was right."

Hifumi gave the hacker a moment to process that before clearing her throat. "The power to enter a person's soul is one that could easily make a less ethically grounded person drunk on that power. We can ask the next Shadows, but we need to come to consensus and find them first."

"Right!" Makoto injected herself back in the conversation to steer it. "Yuuki also coaxed the name of a burglary ring leader, Makigami Kazuya, from his younger brother. His brother said he's abusing him, as well."

The shogi maestra's mouth twisted into a bitter grimace before she regained her composition. "People treat burglaries like a petty crime because they usually don't involve person-on-person crimes, but it only takes one innocent couple walking in on the wrong minute to become a murder and tear a family apart. Let us deliver swift retribution to this thoughtless parasite on the honest struggle of others!"

Futaba took a beat to wonder what stoked her passion before remembering an expose detailing a burglary gone wrong where her aunt and uncle were murdered, her cousin injured and comatose for several days. The outside world was scary enough, the hacker didn't have to wonder why her cousin's unnamed fiancee hid and called the police afterward.

Makoto tapped her chin. "There's also the abusive girl you were telling me about."

Hifumi's red optics twinkled in a way that reminded the hacker of blinking. "Oh, Shimizu Hikari? I do hope we can change her heart, she was still at it when the trimester ended and her boyfriend is in my class. He looked worse each passing day."

She looked to Futaba, who shrugged. "Hey, I already said I'm up for it if you guys already voted on it. You wouldn't agree on someone who didn't really need it."

"Oh!" Akira stepped closer, arm resting on his P90 dangling from a strap across his shoulder. "I posted it to the Phansite while I was working at Crossroads, but we didn't bring it up at a staff meeting. There's this abusive boss stealing his workers' credit and treating them like shit. This guy who told Lala-san about it looked like he only came in to drink it away rather than jumping in front of a car because he was too tired from overwork. And if the boss is as incompetent as that type tends to be, his architectural designs might be flawed too."

Morgana-bus rumbled on the tracks. "Bad enough just to be a jerk of a boss, but to steal from and burn out workers at an architectural company? Building collapses can kill lots of people at once. I say we make him see the light before death tolls on headlines do it." The others echoed assent, and the Phantom Thieves explained another ten names before descending into Mementos to right wrongs crushing real people.

Thursday, 25 August 2016
Late Afternoon
Mementos Lobby

Futaba pulled in and let out deep breaths, her heart still pounding in her chest as she trudged into the lobby after the others. The lighting was better here, but that just made all the cuts and bruises the others sustained easier to see. It set the hacker even more on edge, given how careful Morgana and Makoto were about making sure the party was healed up and ready for questing.

The Phantom Thieves collapsed against the tiled walls and floor, Makoto helping the team leader tend to his wounds as Akira fussed over Hifumi. It would have been adorable if Futaba had the breath to tease him over it.

Ryuji plopped down next to the sexy blonde. "So which was your favorite, the level where all the lights were out or that one where that big Shadow turned into a whole swarm?"

Through her heavy breathing, Futaba managed, "You guys are nuts! Is it like this every time?"

Akira paused, his eyes rolling up. "Mm. Both of those were new."

Makoto packed her aid kit, handing it to Akira as he shifted from Hifumi to Yusuke, and stood from the team leader. "We don't always go so deep, but we had no idea Sugimura Morihiko would be deeper than we can reach."

"This confirms the immense scale of Mementos," Yusuke said before a yelp as Akira worked on his hand.

Futaba nodded. "Yeah, it's huge."

From the opposite side of the lobby, Ryuji blurted at the hacker, "Aw, c'mon! You get to, like, ride in your Persona!"

Makoto piped up, "It is tiring just to manifest your Persona. I felt it when I tried to follow her in Togo's Palace, and I still rode in Byakko a few times. Futaba has been keeping hers out almost the entire time. The rest of us leave them at rest within our selves until we need them for battle."

Ann took another gulp from one of the sport drinks they left in the lobby for recovery. "At least we got that pervert, Motokiyo."

Futaba and Makoto also shivered at the memory of the Shadow of a subway groper who transformed into what the hacker would've sworn was a slimy, stunted cock who kept summoning other slimy blobs.

Morgana stretched his arm and watched the way his medicated bandages tensed. "So, Hawk…"

Hifumi averted her eyes. "I'm sorry. Even after going all the way to the lowest floor open to us, I couldn't detect any trace of Sugimura's Shadow."

"Well, that probably means he split off into his own Palace," Morgana replied. "But that wasn't what I wanted to say. You're our newest member and I wanted to ask how you feel. It can take a while to adapt to one's Persona. We've all been through a trial by fire of sorts, but there's an enormous amount of untapped potential for each of us. Even me. I've been using Zorro for almost two years, but I haven't come close to the limit of his strength and abilities."

Hifumi gave a shy smile that was hard to see under her voluminous hood, then popped open a canned tea the transfer student left for her on the way in. "Dihya's ability to scan is like a whole new sense. I imagine it's like what a deaf person would feel like if she could hear Festive Overture for the first time. I'm still working on narrowing down a Shadow's weakness. It only takes an instant to detect their greatest strength."

Morgana nodded. "That seems the best strategy. Just don't risk yourself too much. Your Persona may have shields, but your bruises are proof enough that doesn't mean immunity."

She nodded, then took another sip of tea.

Morgana paced a bit closer to the shogi maestra. "Your Persona is the only one with significant scanning capabilities. Is there anything else you can tell us about Mementos?"

Hifumi swallowed another gulp of tea. "There's something… labyrinthine about Mementos. As if everything in it swam in a soup of vices, and it's not until we arrived that they crystallized into a fixed maze."

Ann tilted her head a bit. "Even though we keep seeing so many Shadows over and over? I always thought they were organized."

Hifumi's lips pursed. "There could be a natural self-sorting. Sort of like stirring oil and water, leave them alone for long enough and they'll separate again." She tapped her chin for a beat. "That makes me think of something else. I was focused on either scanning Shadows while they were right in front of us, or looking for change of heart targets. But if Mementos is the palace of everyone, does it have a Treasure like Mother's?"

Morgana's mouth drifted open and his eyes widened. "I… it could. I know there's something in the depths of Mementos that I need to find, but it's so big and has so many smells… Did you detect it?"

The shogi maestra bit her lip. "No, sorry. I've been focusing on learning to lock on to specific Shadows and trying to scan for a Shadow's weakness before any of you get hurt."

Futaba waved her down. "Eh, it's fine. I didn't even know my Persona could heal peeps before Morgana did it right in front of me." She flashed a big grin. "I can't wait until I level up and get a new Persona power, though!"

Akira finished wrapping the artist's hand, then stood. "Okay, anybody else got any other injuries before we leave?"

Morgana paced to the middle of the room. "I'll take care of the last bit. Everybody, gather close. I only have enough energy to summon Zorro once."

Futaba didn't feel any major pain, but everything ached and she still felt a tingle from what she hoped was acid spat on her by Motokiyo. She levered herself up with her staff weapon and joined the others in the middle of the room. The burly black Persona manifested, then cool motes of light washed over the team before dismissing. Futaba took in a deep breath and felt relief at the lack of stabbing pains.

"Nice job, everyone." Ann stretched out one arm, then came to a stop in front of the longcoated boy. "I call first!" She turned around and crossed her arms, hands almost high enough to grasp her own shoulders.

Futaba's cheeks warmed and she was about to shout something about cheating on Hifumi when Akira wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, arcing his back, which bent hers as well. A series of cracks sounded and the hacker feared he'd dump a paralyzed girl down on the floor, but when he straightened and released, Ann pranced off with a contented sigh. Yusuke took position in front of the longcoated boy, and the same procedure repeated with him, then with the girl in black riding leathers.

Baffled by people walking away from what looked and sounded like a painful experience, Futaba stepped forward. "What is this witchcraft?"

He glared. "It's chiropractics."

Makoto turned to them, looking much less tense than the walk up the inactive escalators. "It's part of his study of physical therapy."

Hifumi stepped closer, looking as weighed down by her armored cloak as the hacker thought she'd be if it was hers. "You're studying physical therapy to help the Phantom Thieves? That's very prudent of you."

He blushed under his mask and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not so special. More a fluke of fortune, I started studying to become a chiropractor when I met Father Motoori. He said I should get my certification after high school and open up a clinic somewhere."

A heaviness settled on Futaba as she recalled the circumstances of how he met Father Motoori.

Hifumi beamed, which just intensified his blush. "That's wonderful, Joker! I'll be sure to ask my personal trainer if she can…" Her smile vanished.

Akira took a step closer, one hand raised but didn't quite reach out to take her arm. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing."

He stepped closer, his feet wider. "It doesn't look like nothing."

Futaba would have laughed at Akira complaining at somebody else not talking about personal problems, but she was starting to understand why Mom loved those Korean soap operas. She stood close, listening rapt for whatever was about to come next.

Hifumi's head tilted down, but after a couple beats she let out a breath. "We had to let go of my trainer. And a couple other family employees. I'm not even sure we'll be able to keep Ueda-san or Yamaguchi-san. Mother's letter to Papa was pretty certain several of her victims would sue and the proceedings would be especially hard on the family now that she's turning grey accounts over to the tax bureau and we don't have either her legitimate or illegitimate income."

A pall began to settle over the Phantom thieves that Futaba did not want when they'd just kicked major Shadow ass. She jogged at him with an, "I'm next!" and handed the shogi maestra her staff weapon.

Akira shared a glance with the strategist before Hifumi gave a subtle tip of her head, then he adjusted the hacker's arms so they were crossed high across her chest like on Ann. He wrapped his arms around her like the bear hugs her more prank-minded schoolmates might have delivered, lifted her up, and arched his back.

About a zillion things happened in her body, besides his touch making her feel like she was on fire on the outside and her bones creaking within. Futaba only made it one pop in before she tensed and kicked with both legs with a shocked cry, breaking out of his grip. She scuttled a few steps away, breathing heavy from that sudden blaze of heat she still felt on her face. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're gonna snap my fragile li'l body in half!"

Makoto swallowed a gulp of sport drink and capped her bottle. "Your body isn't that vulnerable, Oracle-chan. Especially after accepting your inner self, it takes a particularly powerful Shadow to actually break bones. Joker's physical therapy techniques are primarily to help your musculature."

"You just need to relax," Hifumi said. Whether it was noticing the growing hunch in Akira's frame or whether she wanted to go next, she handed both the staff weapon and her rifle to the hacker. "I trust you," she told him before she turned away and crossed her arms.

His breathing started to grow shallower and more rapid as his wide eyes took her in despite that heavy cloak.

Morgana was just close enough for the hacker to hear him mutter, "At this rate, Joker's gonna need a session himself."

"Um!" Futaba started before all eyes fell on her. The sudden attention stole her breath for a moment before Marcus rumbled within her, reminding her that silence brought down empires. She straightened and took both weapons in one hand. "Your cloak has armor sewn in it."

"Oh, good point," Hifumi said before reaching to her shoulders and tugging. Her cloak's clasp came off with a faint snap and she handed it to the hacker, then returned to position in front of Akira. Futaba noted the tall girl's hair in her Phantom Thief form was done up in a wide bun. No wonder that cloak never got caught.

With the attention now on Akira, he swallowed and wrapped his arms around Hifumi with quite a lot more care than the others. The lift, arch, and pop, then straighten and release were the same, and the shogi maestra seemed lighter on her feet. "How's it?"

She twisted right, then left. "Oh, my. That's much better." She turned to him with a small smile on her face. "You're well on your way to being a great doctor, Joker."

His face went red as a tomato and he mumbled.

When the shogi maestra reached for her things, Futaba handed them back along with her staff weapon. "Fine, let's do this again. I promise I won't freak out this time."

She wasn't sure she could keep that promise, but Marcus reminded her nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Futaba felt herself tense when his big arms wrapped around her, but she managed to keep herself from squirming or shrieking as her body creaked and snapped and popped as her feet left the floor. She almost lost her footing when he released and it was only Yusuke's quick reflexes that caught her arm, but she recovered with just a bit of embarrassment.

It took far less energy to come back up. It felt like she'd been freed from one of those spring-suits insane martial artists used to train in anime. Futaba turned left and right at the hip, feeling almost none of the resistance that coiled around her during their last fight. "Wow, that is a big difference!"

Yusuke wore a sedate smile as he turned to the runner. "You see? You should partake as well."

"Nah," Ryuji said, wiping his face with a damp cloth. "If I wanted to get felt up by a guy, I woulda taken up Captain Ikeda when he made a pass at me."

Unable to punch him with the gauntlets on her hands, Makoto slapped him on the shoulder. "Fox was one of the first of us to step up to the plate."

Ryuji flashed a smirk. "Maybe he's batting for both teams?"

This time Ann swatted him.

AN: Futaba, being an internet-connected nerd, is the perfect excuse to sneak in a Humans and Households gag.

Dmitri Shostakovich's Festive Overture was written during his period of denunciation by the soviet communist party for including too many traditional musical elements.

I had this chapter written a few weeks ago, but when you're between jobs and trying to find a new place I didn't even always have internet. Thanks to everyone for your patience, and the next chapters should be coming in more regularly. And speaking of emails, check your account settings - you only get email notifications if you've opted-in, and the setting says it automatically reverts to opt-out regularly.