The True Duet

by asdf1asdf1

*WARNING* P5R Spoilers With the help of a taunting voice, Kasumi stops her younger sister Sumire from running into traffic, changing the course of their lives. Now both sisters must face their first year of high school together at Shujin academy. Feeling stunted in Kasumi's shadow, Sumire insists on doing this separately. Follow the girls as they change fate once more.

2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:

Hello again,

Thank you for the support. I'm glad so many people enjoyed the first chapter. Likewise, I hope that you'll enjoy this one.

Once again, I have no timeline for chapter three, but do plan on writing it at somepoint.

I have tried my best with the combat so that it's relatable to the game but also doesn't sound too static. I feel like it can definitly be improved but you can decide that for yourself.

Lastly, I don't know why, but this document was filled with small errors and some nonsensical sentences both times I editted it. I hope I found them all but I doubt it.

Enjoy.

---

Chapter 2: The Collapse of Lust

Monday April 18th, 20XX Early Morning

"Hey Ren, do you have a minute?"

"…Of course, Ms. Kawakami." Accepting his teacher's proposal, Ren nodded politely before following her out of the classroom. Looking at the clock as he left, there were only five minutes or so until class began. Running through the possibilities, Ren didn't like the options he came up with. There was no way that Kamoshida had pushed through the expulsion request, Ren should have another two weeks. Two weeks to change Kamoshida's heart and ensure that Ren's life wasn't completely ruined for absolutely no reason besides the guy didn't like him.

"Don't worry," Kawakami soothed him, perhaps noticing the worried lines beginning to etch his face. "I just wanted to ask you a couple questions."

Coming to the guidance office, the pair of them paused as the door opened before them. From within the room filed out four people, three of which Ren knew. The first was Mr. Kamoshida, the teacher smirking as they made eye contact, however the two girls behind him instantly drew Ren's attention instead.

He'd encountered both at different points last week. Although he knew neither of their names, seeing them together Ren was able to put one and one together. The similar height, identical builds, they were sisters most likely, or cousins at the furthest. Ren had initially been put off by the severe difference in hair and eye colour and hadn't been able to put it together at first.

"Oh, Senpai…" the brown-haired one said surprised.

"S-senpai!?" The red-haired one followed up almost inaudibly.

"You know him, Yoshizawa-san?" Kamoshida asked surprised, only hearing the first girl's utterance. "As I believe I mentioned earlier, there are some students you absolutely shouldn't converse with, this one's at the top of the list."

"W-wait, are you…" Cutting the red-haired girl off, the fourth man wearing a suit answered. "Yes, this is the delinquent transfer student. The school thought it would look good if they could rehabilitate him. It's turning out to be more work than expected…"

Rehabilitated.

God how Ren was growing to hate that word.

"We need to use the guidance office if your done…" Ms. Kawakami reminded Kamoshida and the man in the suit.

"Of course," Kamoshida smiled happily, "I'm glad to see you're dealing with the issue already. Good luck! Oh, and Mr. Vice Principal, a word please?"

As the two of them walked away, Ren turned back to the two students that were still staring at him with very different expressions. Just as the red-haired one opened her mouth to say something, the brown-haired one elbowed her in the side. With a small squeak the two girls bowed and departed.

Closing the door roughly behind him, Kawakami sat down angrily, "please tell me you didn't make a pass at both Yoshizawa sisters!?"

"They're cute," Ren replied nonchalantly, an uncharacteristic boldness slipping out of him. It was hard for him to maintain his crafted calm personality after that encounter. The way Kamoshida had slandered him in front of them. While the brown-haired one hadn't been all that surprised, most likely putting together who he was after the conversation last week with Ryuji, the red-haired one had looked crushed. It wasn't the fear that Ren had initially been afraid when he'd met her on the station platform, but it still sucked.

She'd quite obviously looked up to him as someone who helped people. Now, she was seeing what she thought were his true colours. A delinquent with an assault on his record. With Kamoshida here fanning the flames, who knows what else has been spread around the school.

"Well, I can't say you're wrong, and it's not as if they acted like you had abused them… but, hey wait! This isn't what we're supposed to be talking about!"

Raising an eye, Ren conveyed his feelings about the hypocritical statement. Kawakami had started the conversation.

"A little advice," Kawakami added, ignoring her own statement, "stay away from them. If Kamoshida's interested in them, you need to not be."

"Why?" Ren asked dully.

"Are you serious? I don't know what happened between the two of you, but he appears to have it out for you. Your homework has been well done and you seem like a good student…" Kawakami trailed off, sorrow filling her eyes. For the first time, Ren saw more than a tired teacher that barely cared about her duties. There was something in her past that had forced her to become this way. "Look… Never mind about that. Kamoshida hinted that your name may come up in the next faculty meeting for expulsion. Don't do anything that can give him an excuse to do so."

Standing up, Kawakami looked hesitant about returning to class, even though first bell would chime any second.

"I… I want to fight for you… Never mind." Letting out a large sigh, Kawakami exited the room and guided them back to the classroom.

Resting casually in his seat, Ren examined Kawakami with new interest. None of her words had been positive, but Ren accepted that. Even her uncaring aura was many times better than Kamoshida's smug one. The thought of his sly grin as he dragged Ren's reputation through the mud in front of the girls made his blood boil.

I will change his heart.

Reaffirming the decision in his heart, Ren tried to pay attention to the day's lectures as the annoying cat in his desk kept prodding him and asking questions.

---

Tuesday April 19th, 20XX Morning

Sumire fiddled her thumbs as she tried to pay attention to class. That turned out to be increasingly challenging, however, as her conversation with Kasumi two days ago kept echoing over and over, brought on by the meeting yesterday. Each sentence, each small interaction played in excruciating detail as Sumire kept going over the same point repeatedly. That, no matter how she looked it at, it seemed inconceivable that the faculty and parents didn't know about Kamoshida's actions and therefore must support them.

Was the volleyball team really that important?

Sumire just couldn't wrap her head around it. The tale Kasumi told had been just so strange, so horrible. Now, overlaid with the image of that second-year girl, laying on gurney, legs swollen and broken as the EMS tried to save her, Sumire placed another figure. A faceless boy howling in pain as he grasped his broken knee. Standing over them, Sumire saw Kamoshida's face, smirking at them. His expression indicating that it was their fault for not obeying orders.

"Hey? Are you paying attention?"

Pursing her lips, Sumire wondered if there was something she could do. Kasumi had said not to get involved, but she was overprotective…

"Kids today…"

"…!?" Gasping Sumire felt a malevolent will directed towards her. A force that she'd felt briefly once before and wanted nothing to do with ever again. Looking up just in time, the piece of chalk caught Sumire squarely in the center of her forehead. The speed behind it was immense.

"Eep!" Squeaking pathetically, Sumire flushed a bright red as the entire class locked unto her and her repeated failings. Jumping from the impact, Sumire's elbow bumped into her textbook and notes that she'd pulled out to use this class.

"Thump!"

Wincing, Sumire ducked her head as the textbook collided loudly with the floor, loose sheets of paper flying about.

Body shaking, Sumire sat still, head to her chest as she felt Ushimaru's glare rest solely upon her. Only the embarrassment kept her from grasping her forehead and crying in pain.

That chalk hurt!

"This is the second time already I've had to teach you this lesson!" Mr. Ushimaru raged; his voice barely contained. "For an honor's student, you certainly seem to do a lot more daydreaming than studying!"

"S-sorry…" Sumire's quiet voice trickled out of existence well before it reached the teacher. Hearing nothing, he continued his rant.

"Let me guess, you think that you'll always be a gymnast. That you'll coast through life on athletic ability. Well let me give you a rude awakening! Nobody cares about your obscure sport! Even if you were to win at the Olympics in it, no one will remember you outside a select few fanatics. There's no money in the sport, so focus on your education, damn it!

"If you want to see what an athlete should be, look no further than Mr. Kamoshida. He's an upstanding gentleman that not only won glory for our country but is now shaping the minds and bodies of the next generation to ensure they are well prepared to face the world of today!"

"A-as you say, sir…" Mumbling a tiny bit louder, the teacher was able to catch the words this time.

"Good!" Ushimaru continued, too impassioned to return to the lecture. "This is an excellent time to remind you that as individuals going to be entering society as adults in only a few years, you need to learn what you can now so that you can live a respectable life.

"Just look at that transfer student! Late on his first day, already he's zoned out and I had to teach him the chalk lesson! School is your last chance to forge who you are! Who do you want to end up like, Mr. Kamoshida, or the transfer student?"

Finally ending the lecture on… Sumire wasn't quite sure what, Mr. Ushimaru turned back to the blackboard. However, despite the chalk, she found herself more distracted than before. Moving as quietly as she could, Sumire retrieved her textbook and papers.

Only the delinquent transfer helped me…

Returning to her desk, Sumire looked around at her fellow students. While she had gotten a few looks of sympathy, no one had helped her pick up her materials.

It brought Sumire's mind firmly back to the final question that Mr. Ushimaru had posed. Who would she rather resemble? The boy that actually helped people, or Kamoshida who strutted around and wanted people to wait on him?

It's a lot easier to be Kamoshida.

In some ways, Sumire found herself identifying far more with Kamoshida. The things he'd said during that meeting this morning. How he was hoping to be able to 'guide' Sumire and Kasumi during their time at school. Aiding them with the challenges of competing on an international stage as that time drew closer.

It almost made Sumire want to puke as they thought about it. How she and her sister were essentially mini-Kamoshida's. Symbols put on a pedestal by the school in order to make it look good. Nothing more than a fancy figurehead.

A figurehead that needs to get good results.

Feeling sick to her stomach, Sumire clutched her gut with both hands as she bent her head over her desk. There was no chance of her absorbing any of the material now. No doubt that was how that boy saw her now. No different from Kamoshida, lording her honor student status over the rest of the school.

All of her thinking finally led Sumire onto her last subject. The target that she'd avoiding trying to think of until now. That boy, her senpai, the delinquent transfer student. It didn't seem possible. He was so calm, so kind, he looked so composed.

So much more mature than hopeless Sumire.

Once again that thought flitted through her mind like a spring breeze. The image of the boy that she'd begun to forge a relationship with on the day before school was being eroded by the rumours. Sumire wanted to know the truth, but on the other hand… She was scared, so scared to hear what it actually was.

Had she been deluding herself the whole time? Was his kindness simply because he was thinking about Sumire as a potential target? Was that calm aura simply a result of the time he'd spent behind bars?

Knowing she was getting nowhere as the never-ending questions continued to flow, Sumire rubbed her eyes and looked back up towards the blackboards. Throwing herself into the lecture, Sumire hoped it would distract her.

---

Tuesday April 19th, 20XX Evening

Kasumi stretched once as she looked at the clock. It was ticking closer and closer to her self-imposed bedtime. It was the exact same as Sumire's, 11 pm on the nose. Looking around the room, Kasumi wasn't sure what to do to distract herself. She'd been running into this problem more and more as the final fifteen minutes of the day ticked away. There was precious little to occupy her time when she was finished training and homework. Before, when Kasumi returned home, she'd eat supper and then go to bed. Any extra time was spent talking with Sumire.

Now, Kasumi had spent that extra bit studying. Tonight, however, looking at her bag made her want to barf. She'd memorized literally everything the teachers had talked about. Kasumi had naturally been on top academically and now that she'd gotten past not tutoring Sumire, Kasumi felt that same ease return. All the bonus studying felt unnecessary and tedious.

"I need to find a hobby or something…"

Shaking her head, Kasumi collapsed on the bed and tried to think of one. The only other thing she'd really done in her life was play some baseball. Shopping with Sumire didn't count as a hobby. Neither of which could be done for an hour before bed.

"Knock, knock. May I come in?"

"Sumire?" Bolting upright at the sound of her sister's voice, Kasumi ran to the door. Flinging it open, there was her sister, standing hesitantly on the other side. "Of course! You're always welcome. It's a little late for homework help though."

"T-that's not it!" Sumire denied, whipping her head back and forth. Kasumi had to take a step back to avoid the long hair whipping towards her. "I… I want to talk."

"Yes…" Unsure of what to say, Kasumi moved out of the way, returning to her bed so that Sumire could sit at the desk.

Watching her sister, cautiously, Kasumi waited for her to begin to talk. However, as thirty seconds and then a minute went by, Sumire merely kept alternating between examining the room, nearly identical to hers, and looking at her hands. Trying to not get impatient, Kasumi looked at her clock that had just ticked over to 11 pm.

"Look, Sumi…"

"Did you know…"

Talking over each other, Kasumi cut off her words as her sister randomly exploded, standing up from the chair at the same time.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Sumire pled, "please finish."

"No, you," Kasumi insisted with a light laugh. "I was just trying to get you to talk."

"Oh… I guess you need to go to sleep, huh?"

"Are you no longer sleeping on time?" Kasumi frowned, picking up on the new information. "You should know how important a rigorous sleep schedule with adequate time is in maintaining your health…"

"Haha…" Sumire laughed awkwardly, breaking eye contact.

Frowning at her, Kasumi waited patiently for her explanation.

"I guess I realized… There's no point trying to enforce a bedtime if I can't fall asleep anyway, you know? So, I just sleep when I'm tired…"

"That's bad logic," Kasumi argued back, "the whole point of maintaining a time is to teach your body to be tired at that specific time. If there's a time you need to get up, like us, then it is essential that you get a full eight hours as it's the optimal…"

"I get it!" Sumire retorted, breaking Kasumi's lesson on sleep. "I grew up learning the same things as you!"

"…Sorry," Kasumi apologized after a moment's pause. "I just want what's best for you."

"…Thank you," Sumire replied weakly. "I'm trying to figure out what that is as well…"

"…So," Kasumi said a moment later with forced cheerfulness. "What did you want to talk about?"

"R-right," Sumire squeaked. "Y-yesterday morning… Umm, uh, well, I noticed that uh… You…"

Blinking, Kasumi looked on humorously as her sister mumbled in obvious discomfort. Swaying to side-to-side, Kasumi thought her sister looked like a child that was attempting to tell their parents about an accident. "Take a breath," Kasumi recommended.

Doing so, Sumire took a moment to steady herself. Opening her eyes a couple seconds later, Sumire uttered the words in a lightning blur. "Didyouknowthatboyfromyesterday?"

"…What?"

"Umm… After our meeting with Kamoshida… the boy… did you know him?"

"Oh," Kasumi muttered, confused by the question. "Well yes, he was the one that was with Sakamoto-senpai. The one whose story I told you."

"Oh… Umm… W-what… do you think about him?"

Tilting her head in confusion, Kasumi considered the question. "I guess… I feel sorry for him?"

"Huh?"

"Well, all those rumours about him that are circulating through the school, they just seem so fake. Even the original ones about an assault on his case, that's probably true, but I don't think he's a bad person."

"…"

"Why are you asking though?"

Saying nothing again, a tinge of colour touched Sumire's cheeks.

"Oh…" Kasumi emphasized, a knowing smile touching her lips. "I see how it is. Did you give up on the boy you saw on that Sunday?"

"…They'rethesame."

"What was that?"

"T-they are the same person…"

Cackling to herself, Kasumi feel over onto the bed grasping her stomach. No wonder Sumire had come in here, she was looking for information.

"Why are you laughing at me!?"

Her sister's pathetic whine merely sent Kasumi into further hysterics. Hitting the bed with one hand, she could feel the tears coming on. Her sister's calm senpai is a renowned delinquent feared the school over.

"Stop it!" Running over, Sumire began to weakly punch Kasumi's back in hopes of breaking her from her laughter. Unfortunately, the attempts only further incensed her.

"…I'm sorry!" Pleading weakly with her sister, Kasumi tried to get her laughter under control as Sumire looked on, her entire face glowing red from embarrassment.

"Grr…" Growling weakly, Sumire gave up on hitting Kasumi and instead began sulking as Kasumi pulled herself back into a sitting position.

"Is that all?"

"Well… You have to promise no more laughing fits."

"I should be good now," Kasumi assured her, wiping her eyes one final time. "Why don't you sit on the bed and we can keep talking?"

"S-sure." Hesitantly taking the offer, Sumire positioned herself awkwardly on the edge, almost as far away from Kasumi as she could place herself.

"I also wanted to talk to you about Mr. Kamoshida some more…"

Narrowing her eyes, Kasumi felt the conversation taking a dangerous turn.

"He seems to hate the transfer student."

"…Was there a question there?"

"Well… Isn't it strange?" Sumire spat out, turning to look at Kasumi.

Locking eyes with her sister, Kasumi was able to see the confusion swirling about. Also, a strange determination. A dangerous determination.

Pondering her question, Kasumi played with the blanket beside her. It was a soft red colour, almost the exact same shade as Sumire's hair. The fabric was also identical to the bed in Sumire's room, only the colour was different.

"Actually… If I think about it, it doesn't seem strange at all."

"Huh?"

Sighing, Kasumi shook her head at her sister's cluelessness. "What's the most important thing to Kamoshida?"

"Umm… Looking good ? Or I mean, being important?"

Nodding along with her words Kasumi felt like she really shouldn't say anything more. But Sumire was smart, she'd come to the same conclusion. "I actually looked up how the track team was at Shujin academy before it got shut down. It was good. At least equal to their volleyball team. So, Kamoshida got it shut down. Something he doesn't have to compete with."

"Where are you going?" Sumire asked suspiciously.

Smiling softly at her sister that had unconsciously allowed herself to get comfortable, Kasumi continued. "Well, Kamoshida wants to be the 'king', right? So, anyone that takes attention away from him needs to be dealt with. The transfer student is an easy one. No doubt, the plan was to hide his record form the school, and then reveal it later, maybe near the end of the year, that he had a record, and the school was able to shelter him and guide him back toward the right path or some other nonsense."

"…"

Lapsing into silence, Kasumi watched Sumire as she mumbled to herself, turning the words over in her mind. Although she knew it was impolite, Kasumi pulled her cell phone from her pajama pocket. She couldn't help but wince at the time. It was already a quarter past.

"So…" Sumire started speaking slowly, "you think Kamoshida spread the rumours about the transfer in order to discredit him… then… the transfer student drops out?"

Tilting her head at that, Kasumi realized she hadn't considered it either. Kamoshida eventually needed a more permanent solution. The rumours would die in a couple months. Nothing kept people's attention for very long. Especially if the transfer student didn't do anything, people would get bored of him like a bear in a zoo that sleeps the whole day away.

"But… what about us?"

With Sumire already moving on, Kasumi tried to catch up to where her sister's thoughts had gone. "What about us?"

"Aren't we a threat to Kamoshida as well?"

"W-well…" Stuttering, Kasumi realized she didn't have a good answer for her sister as she thought it over. It was unlikely Kamoshida would tolerate students at his school that were as famous as he is. Except… "The meeting…"

Snapping her fingers, all of the vague promises they mentioned came into clarity for Kasumi. How Kamoshida was planning on dealing with them.

"That's what he meant? Isn't it?" Sumire asked dully. "Why he wants to 'guide' us. So that we look like nothing more than his pupils. Then…"

"When we do well, he looks good," Kasumi finished with a wince.

A long silence lapsed between the girls as they dreaded the circumstances that had thrust upon them. Kasumi didn't know what to say at this point. Kamoshida was an unexpected problem. And, for almost the first time, one she didn't know how to deal with.

"…I don't understand."

"Huh?" Glancing over at her sister, Kasumi was shocked to see small tears dropping from her face at timed intervals. The water leaving shiny streaks upon her cheeks.

"How did this happen? Teachers… They-they're supposed to help their students. To teach them. Shouldn't the adults be able to fix this? To notice the pain that he is causing and remove him?"

"…" The words, 'I don't know', almost escaped Kasumi's lips. Instead, she scooted closer to Sumire, wrapping an arm around her waist, drawing her close.

Sighing at the contact, Sumire snuggled into it, placing her head on Kasumi's shoulder.

Taking a moment to rub her sister's back, Kasumi thought over the words she needed to say. "Look, Kamoshida, no, Mr. Kamoshida, is simply something we need to put up with. As long as we don't give him any reason to single us out anymore, we can get through school and focus on gymnastics. Then, someday, we'll be free from here, sitting with Olympic medals around our necks eating ice cream.

Snorting through her tears, Sumire's face broke into a smile at Kasumi's antics. "That ice cream is important to you, isn't it?"

"Of course!" Kasumi replied indignantly, "we forged our promise over the ice cream!"

"Hehe," Sumire giggled, the tears finally ending for good. "Sometimes I think you like ice cream more than me."

"I've been found out!" Kasumi teased back.

"Hmm, I see," Sumire answered, struggling to find an appropriate reply. Instead, her whole demeanour changed as she realized something. "Hey, do you know the transfer student's name?"

"Oh…" Strangely, Kasumi felt a desire to lie to her sister. To say she didn't. Yet, as she looked into her earnest red eyes, Kasumi relented with a sigh. The single word that Sakamoto had let slip. "I believe it's Ren."

"Ren…" Sumire murmured.

Looking at her sister, Kasumi couldn't help but wince. Is that what she looked like when she'd tested it out?

"I want to ask him about the truth…"

"Alright, little love bird," Kasumi teased again with a shake of her head. "It's time for bed. You can stay here if you want."

"I… I can stay!?"

"Was that hard to understand?" Kasumi asked with a shake of her head. Unwrapping herself from Sumire, Kasumi checked the time again and tsked as the clock read over half past 11. This conversation took a strangely long amount of time. Turning it off, Kasumi found the charger so that it would be full battery for tomorrow.

"You got a new phone for your birthday, right?" Sumire asked suddenly from the bed.

"Yes," Kasumi answered, shooting her a puzzled look. "You were out of it that day, but still paying attention I thought."

"R-right…" Sumire muttered. "Maybe that's what I should have asked for…"

"Yours is bad?" Kasumi questions interestedly as she turns back to the bed. "It's only what? One year, two? That's why you got those cooking books and other things instead, yes?"

"Almost two," Sumire sighed. "But, umm… you remember the day… In the rain…"

Blinking in confusion, it clicked for Kasumi a couple minutes later. The car had soaked Sumire. Her phone was probably in the jacket pocket and had gotten drenched as well.

"A-anyway, I guess I'll head back…"

"If you're sure…" Kasumi answered weakly. Unable to resist any longer, she pulled Sumire into a tight hug. "No matter what, I'll always be your friend, okay?"

"U-umm…. Okay?"

Holding on for a few seconds longer, Kasumi released her sister and watched sadly as Sumire retreated back to her own bed. Sighing, Kasumi remembered fondly the days when they'd just moved from bunk beds to separate rooms. Every night they'd flip a coin to decide which bed they slept in. Those years, long past now, felt almost magical to Kasumi now. A closeness to her sister that she wasn't sure she'd ever get back again.

---

Wednesday April 20th, 20XX After school

Joker watched on in terror as the twins, Caroline and Justine, began their work. With brutal precision, they took his personas tied them up and stuck them into a guillotine. Swallowing expectantly, Joker couldn't rip his gaze away as the steel blades, tipped with glowing cyan energy were released from their holders. Propelled by gravity, they slammed viciously into the bound forms of the personas. Rather than blood though, they dissolved into strands of energy, energy that subsequently flew together, fusing, and forming a new shape.

"Me Agathion. Me new mask."

Blinking at the strange creature in a jar, Joker nodded in acceptance as the persona became energy once more and fused with him. Searching deep inside, Joker could no longer feel Arsene, the persona he'd first awoken to. Nor pixie, the girlish persona he'd recruited later. Instead, only a single solid presence lurked inside him.

Even without summoning it, or seeing it fight, Joker could tell that this jar was stronger than any of his previous personas. However, the loss of versatility meant that it wasn't necessarily an upgrade.

"Don't be alarmed," Igor chuckled, "this is a necessary process so that you can continue to strengthen your personas. That is why it is critical you bring as many to your side as possible."

Frowning, Joker felt like he understood. He'd been here enough at this point that the bizarre second world was something he was beginning to take seriously. It was a real and tangible place, filled with people, well, beings more accurately.

"Also, you may withdraw any previously registered persona by utilizing the compendium that Justine is keeping for you."

"Huh?" That bit going over his head, Joker turned his gaze towards where Justine stood, a large book perched under her left arm. Was that the compendium?

"Would you like to engage my services, inmate?"

"Y-yes?"

Flipping open, the book, Joker felt his vision replaced with many lines of orderly text. As he imagined it moving, the lines scrolled before his eyes, almost every single one empty. As he looked, he found three entries: Arsene, Pixie, and Agathion. The last had a mask symbol hovering over its name. The other two, instead had a price listed.

"Are you making my pay to restore their power?" Joker asked disbelievingly.

"Of course," Justine answered coldly, frowning disapprovingly. "Power does not come for free. It takes a sacrifice to restore a persona that has been lost to the sea of souls. The stronger the persona, the larger the sacrifice."

"You should feel grateful inmate!" Caroline broke in. "Our services will allow you to unleash your full potential!"

"Umm, thanks?"

"That's right, cry tears of joy, inmate!"

"…" Unsure how to reply, Joker looked back to Igor and away from the wardens that he'd managed to upset once again.

Chuckling lowly, Igor spoke a final time. "Congratulations on beginning to form relationships with the ones around you. Now, use this new power wisely in order to investigate the metaverse."

Suddenly, Joker felt like he understood the man sitting in front of him more. In doing so, Joker grasped access to power that had been beyond him mere seconds before. An otherworldly power granted by a being he could only begin to guess at.

Nodding his head in thanks, Joker left the prison and returned to the castle from which he had been summoned.

"What you spacing out over here for?" Skull asked, returning from where the three of them had been heading towards the ventilation shaft to begin investigation.

For a brief second, Joker considered telling them. Mentioning the velvet room that allowed him to fully bring out the power of the wild card that he'd been granted. However, thinking about the hassle that would be, Joker merely shook his head in reply. "It was nothing, let's get going. Oh, and thanks for joining us Panther."

Sending her a sly wink, Joker waved his hand and beckoned them further into the palace. This would be hard, but with four of them, they'd manage.

*One Hour Later*

"I'm not going to make to make it." Skull moaned as they relaxed in a safe room. "This is exhausting. There are so many of them!"

"Oh, quit your whining skull!" Mona shot right back, but the words didn't have the usual bite to them. It sounded, that like Skull, he was feeling the exhaustion of the numerous fights.

"I… Have to agree…" Panther moaned, sprawled across the table. "This sucks."

Looking over them, Joker felt some sympathy for them, yet didn't feel the same ache that they were complaining about. Having picked up a couple of personas, Joker had received far fewer attacks that struck his weakness. The others had to deal with having one persona and one static weakness. By changing his, Joker had been able to generally avoid attacks to his based on his growing knowledge of the personas.

"Let's check out the next area," Joker suggested. "I have some medicine we can use to restore our bodies for now. After we see what's in that big room on the map, we will retreat for the day."

All three of them nodded graciously. They didn't even pretend that they wanted to keep going. "Let's get this over with then," Skull whined again, picking himself back up.

"Remember," Joker intercepted them before they could leave. "We are doing this not only for us, but Shiho, and everyone else that Kamoshida has, and is going to abuse."

The speech wasn't much but it did light a fire in their eyes. Panther in particular looked charged up to keep going, the mention of her best friend's attempted suicide did that.

Leading them out, Joker crossed the next room quickly. It was similar to the one they'd found the second half of the map in. However, this one had only the inner pillars and no metal grates, or anything of note. Dismissing it, Joker led them further.

"A church?" Murmuring the words to himself, Joker walked slowly between the pews. All of them pointing towards… a statue of Kamoshida. It seemed that here he wasn't just a king, but a god as well.

"How despicable," Panther spat, glaring at the grotesque masonry.

"This is… the gym?" Skull asked as the cognition distorted before him.

"This is a place of strong distortion," Mona warned, "we should be careful and not…"

"WHO DARES DISTURB THE ALTAR OF THE MOST HIGH KING KAMOSHIDA?"

The voices sounded out, accompanied by the ringing of trumpets as a guard captain materialized before them. Its golden armour sparkled brightly. From it, Joker sensed a powerful aura. This enemy was beyond any they had faced so far.

"YOU INTRUDERS SHALL PAY WITH YOUR LIVES!"

Armour breaking apart, the shadow materialized, many bands of power rising and forming into a cohesive shape. Hovering a few feet off the ground, the man-shaped shadow was dressed in full armour, with a longsword in its right hand. Flying with feathered red wings, the being represented a weird take on a Judaeo-Christian angel, the armour adding a strange touch. This was clearly no peaceful entity, but a being designed to exact the wrath of god.

"First a demon, and now an angel, let's go," trying to make light of the powerful foe in front of them, Joker led them into battle against the shadow.

"HIYAH!"

Crying out, the heavenly punisher surrounded itself with an aura of energy. There was no other way to describe it, Joker felt as though it had charged up, giving its next physical attack great strength.

Waffling with indecision, Joker held off on attacking, instead choosing to guard himself. In doing so, he hoped the others would follow his lead. Indeed, one after another, both Skull and Panther guarded, waiting to see what kind of devastating power this shadow would unleash upon them.

"Heh, witness my resolve! Zorro!" Smirking at them, Mona called forth his persona and used the wind attack upon the waiting angel. It struck, dealing decent damage, but like Joker predicted, even a full round of attacks would not be enough to bring this thing down.

Turning towards his sole attacker, and the lone person unguarded, the shadow drew back his sword and struck, the cleave attack identical to the one that Arsene was able to use. However, the damage was in an entirely different world, as the attack, propelled forward by the might of its charge skill struck Mona and the aura of his persona which guarded him.

"Hrngg!" Crying out Mona fell to the ground, his stamina fully depleted by the blow. "Sorry, guys, I'm going to back out of this one…" Retreating out of the battle line-up, Mona hid behind the back altar, only available now to provide guidance.

"Let's go, Agathion, Eiga!" Utilizing its inheritance from Arsene, Joker called forth lines of dark power to strike at the Heavenly Punisher that had done away with Mona in one hit. Landing a solid blow, its health decreased again, but still stayed well above the halfway point.

"Guess, I'm next, Zio!"

"Follow up Carmen!"

One after another the lightning and fire consumed the heavenly punisher, their combined damage hitting for less than Joker's one attack.

"Neither of those attacks are effective!" Mona called out from the back. "Try something else!"

Tsking angrily, Joker could only watch as the Heavenly Punisher moved again. Waiting for another attack, or for it to charge up again, the window of time for its move came and went as it floated there listlessly.

"That attack must take a lot out of it!" Mona advised.

"Agreed!" Joker called out, smiling wildly at his foe. "Fill it with holes!" Pulling out his gun, Joker unloaded the entire clip into his floating foe, the entire round doing more damage than his last attack had.

Following him up, First skull, and than Panther with her spray and pray machine gun took off a large percentage of their foe's remaining stamina.

"FOR KING KAMOSHIDA!" Calling out again, the shadow refused to die, and once again surrounded itself with that powerful energy.

Gritting his teeth, Joker tried to analyze how much damage the beast could sustain. It would be close, but… "Get it!" Calling out his strategy, Joker couldn't let the shadow get off another round of attacks. It needed to die now. Internally switching personas, Joker called forth a recent acquisition. "Cait Sith!"

The bipedal purple cat wearing boots formed above Joker and struck out at the punisher with a mighty cleave attack, replicating the one that had been used against them.

"Go, Captain Kidd!" Skull called forth his persona soon after, using a lunge attack, it struck the Heavenly Punisher, bringing it to the last remnants of its health.

"Here I go!"

Sharing a worried glance with Skull, Joker's heart was in his throat as excitement and tension pulsed through him. Skull and he had used their own stamina in order to let their persona's directly attack. Carmen didn't have access to such an ability. Therefore, Panther attempted to use her whip to finish the fight.

"Go Panther!" Joker and Skull found themselves crying out in twin support as she brought the whip back to strike.

"Hiyah!" Unrelentingly, Panther tore into the Heavenly Punisher, each strike getting faster and faster as the shadow crippled before her. Finishing it off with one last horizontal strike, Panther bent over panting from the exertion of the amazing attack.

"You're so gorgeous Panther…" Mona added unnecessarily at the end.

"GAH!" Falling to the ground, the Heavenly Punisher didn't have the chance to be held up as the attack stole the rest of its stamina. Beginning to dissolve, the Punisher took one last chance to glare at the ones that had brought it down. "You'll… never win…"

"Yes… We will!" Panther shot back at the end. The words fell on deaf ears as the shadow of the guard captain dissolved into the ground, returning to the sea of souls.

"Shadows!" Mona called returning to the group proper.

Tsking, Joker took a quick look around. No less than four different sets of guards surrounded them. Backing up into a tight circle, this was a fight they couldn't win. Mona was practically gone still and the rest of them were exhausted.

"A grappling point… Hang on everyone!" Barely giving them a second to reply, Joker scooped up Mona as the other two clung to him. Aiming the grappling hook at a guardrail above, Joker let the hook fly, wrapping it around the exact place he'd aimed at. Holding down the retraction button, the four of them took off in one clumsy mess, escaping the four guards that hung out angrily below. Their limited field of view preventing them from locating the fled thieves.

"That was close!" Panther panted, collapsing to the relatively safe ground.

"Too close," Joker agreed. "I get the feeling though that we won't see that shadow again. Let's get out of here for today and return tomorrow."

Despite the exhaustion in their faces, a thin undercurrent of exhilaration was captured in their tight smiles. They hadn't secured a treasure route, but Joker could feel it. They'd gotten a lot closer in their first day of effort.

---

Saturday April 23rd, 20XX After school

Standing surreptitiously beside the school gate, Sumire attempted to hide her probing eyes behind a book. For some reason, this struck her as an excellent way of hiding. Staring unseeingly at the pages assigned to read for English class, Sumire waited for the person she wanted to see leave the school. For the past week she had figured out his general life: classroom, habits, when he leaves.

Unfortunately, Sumire hadn't progressed very far in nailing down a schedule. Every day seemed to be different. Once he'd hung out with a blond kid, then on Wednesday he'd completely disappeared. Other days it seemed likely that he went straight to his neighbourhood and once he lost Sumire in Shibuya.

Biting her lip, Sumire could only stand around anxiously and wait. Hoping against everything that this was a return home type of day. If he didn't show up…

Growing increasingly nervous, Sumire felt like she could see the judging glare of every student that saw her as they felt. Like they knew about her bad plan and were condemning her. Hands growing sweaty as she restlessly held her book, Sumire found herself swaying side-to-side, obviously not reading.

"Come on Senpai… I need to know…"

As the crowds around the gates thinned out, Sumire couldn't handle it anymore. Essentially everyone who was leaving school had left. Unsure of what her story would be if she encountered him, Sumire re-entered the school. For some reason, she kept the book up obscuring her face. Logically, she knew it didn't help, but it made her feel better and look more inconspicuous. Hopefully.

Tiptoeing through the mostly empty corridors, Sumire glimpsed some students still hanging about, people making weekend plans, or going to do some training, or heading off to a sports activity. Whatever it was they were up to, Sumire continued to slink along, holding out hope that she'd accidently bump into Senpai somewhere around here.

Slowly taking the stairs to the second floor, Sumire stopped suddenly as she recognized a familiar voice. "Kasumi?"

Peering her head around the corner, Sumire stared up the second half of the flight and beyond to where she could just make out the side portrait of her sister's upper body. The angle cutting off everything below her chest. She was talking to…

"S-senpai?" Voice strangling her, Sumire watched in horror as the two of them chatted. Only her sister's higher pitched voice carried far enough for Sumire to make out the words.

"R-really? Well that's a huge relief Senpai! I don't know how to thank you!"

"I… I didn't think…" Continuing to murmur, Sumire didn't know what to do. She couldn't approach the two of them. Standing awfully close together in a corridor with just the two of them.

"Umm, w-well, I'll see you later then!"

She didn't!

Mind going blank, Sumire caught a glimpse of the outline of two interlocked hands just entering her field of view before leaving again.

Stumbling backwards, Sumire fled down the stairs and out of the school, book forgotten behind her. In no time, Sumire reached the train platform, catching up to student's that had departed minutes earlier.

"It can't be…"

Trying to deny it to herself, Sumire couldn't work up the confidence to lie. What was the point?

Kasumi Yoshizawa always won.

Kasumi Yoshizawa got everything she wanted.

Now, she was dating the senpai that Sumire had looked up to. The kind boy that had helped her twice. It was unfair, yet that was the way of Sumire's world. No matter how much she'd thought had changed, this inevitable fact stayed constant.

Sumire was the second best of the Yoshizawa sisters and always would be.

---

Sunday April 24th, 20XX Morning

Kasumi panted as she approached the end of her routine. The new forms were some of the most challenging that she'd ever attempted to execute in a routine before. But now that Kasumi was entering high school, she needed to up her difficulty so that she could stay on top. The meets coming up were important in determining how Kasumi would fair against girls that were also shooting for the top.

Reaching the final pose, Kasumi held her arms up gracefully as she balanced upon one foot. Muscles strained to keep her in place, extreme flexibility and power were required to hold it. After the designated period of time, Kasumi allowed her body to relax, the routine finished.

Approaching coach Hiraguchi, Kasumi waited respectfully to get her thoughts on the routine that Kasumi had performed. Nerves and excitement battled within her. She'd thought the routine went well, but Hiraguchi often managed to find flaws that Kasumi had overlooked.

"That was… interesting."

"Interesting?" Kasumi asked in confusion. She had no idea what that meant.

"Yes. Through your performance, I felt a couple of emotions: confusion, excitement. It definitely showed much potential."

"T-thank you," Kasumi frowned back, focusing on the compliment.

"Do we need to talk about this?" Hiraguchi asked.

"Maybe…" Kasumi admitted. "I'm worried about Sumire."

"Has something happened?" Hiraguchi asked, a worried crease appearing in her face. "I thought you said she was getting better, gaining confidence."

"She was," Kasumi agreed. "We talked a couple times now, each time she's seemed to be if not happier, than more determined. However… Yesterday, I found one of her textbooks on the floor as I was leaving school. I returned it to her bag when I got home, but ever since then, she's looked listless. Lost…"

Hiraguchi scratched her head, clearly unsure about the direction this was going and whether she could help. Glancing at her, Kasumi remembered that she was their gymnastics coach, not a therapist or councillor.

"Anyway, that's about it. I saw her last night as we were heading to bed and smiled at her. I tried to say something, but she glared and shut the door…"

"I understand the confusion now, but what about the excitement?"

Kasumi blushed upon hearing the question, yesterday's conversation flowing through her head.

"Oh, a boy is it?"

"N-no, not like that!" Kasumi protested. "I was just… it's sort of a long story."

"Really?" Hiraguchi queried, "or are you simply embarrassed?"

"Only because you put it that way!' Kasumi whined back. "It really is a long story. The school I started attending this spring received a transfer student. There are horrible rumours circulating the school about him… I know that Sumire really looked up to him, and she hurt not knowing what was true, so I asked him about it. He says that while he has an assault he was falsely accused."

"See?" Hiraguchi smirks, "that wasn't that long. Do you believe him?"

"I do," Kasumi confirmed with a nod. "I just wish Sumire would talk to me so that I could tell her…"

"Well," coach sighed, "the day of practice is done. Your development is coming along well. As for Sumire… She's a complicated one. Just be ready to say your piece when she comes around."

"Thank you, coach!"

Feeling better about the day, Kasumi headed home to get ready for the next week of school that was coming up. It was sure to be an interesting one.

Sunday April 24th, 20XX Afternoon

Joker looked on from behind cover as he examined the mess before him. Already, the morning had ticked away, hours spent navigating the Palace silently. Each fight taking more and more stamina away from then. According to the map, there was quite a bit left as well. Unfortunate considering the situation facing them.

Nothing so far compared to the terror of seeing these three shadows patrolling the castle rooftop. The red aura surrounding them spoke of the danger they presented. Joker remembered with a shudder the last time they had to fight one of these. The overwhelming power and defense made the fight a struggle. The main issue being that they were unable to find the things weakness. If only there was a way to bring them down, Joker knew that they would be able to crush the strong shadows easily and reap the abundant rewards that the powerful shadows carried.

"What's the call?" Mona asked cautiously, looking around the corner underneath Joker.

"Not sure yet," Joker was forced to answer. "It's hard to say without a good way of fighting them."

The others all nodded in agreement to Joker's assessment of the situation. No one wanted a rematch. It would simply distract them from their final objective of finding the treasure route. Yet, Joker was hesitant to leave them behind. If the enemies here were already proving to be to too strong, what hope did they have against ones further in?

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course!" Skull responded immediately. "Just tell me who to hit!"

Sharing a companionable smile, Joker gathered them together for a quick strategy meeting. After confirming that everyone knew their role, Joker ambushed the first one that came past. Revealing its true form, Joker immediately sent his Cait Sith persona forward to strike with a cleave attack. The stamina loss not too troubling at the moment. Mona and Ryuji followed up as Joker had planned, their physical attacks further bombarding it with damage. Despite their efforts, the shadow still had well over half its health remaining.

"Now Panther!"

Praying that the strategy would work, Joker watched breathlessly as Panther called forth Carmen to unleash her magic. Not the fire that the cavalry persona had proven strong against, but a different type of magic entirely. Forming a circle of power beneath the shadow, instead of an attack, it released bubbles, filled with some sleep-inducing compound, Joker assumed.

True to his wishes, the shadow kneeled its head, falling into a peaceful sleep despite the battle that raged around it. Tsking at it, Joker felt like he could see stamina and energy return to it as it rested.

Not giving it a chance to recover further, Joker called forth Cait Sith once more and instructed it to strike the sleeping shadow. The unguarded foe took immense damage as the attack tore into it. Crying out, the once powerful shadow fell to its knees.

"You did it!"

"Nice going Joker!"

Accepting the compliments wordlessly, Joker flashed the still defiant shadow a tight smile. "Die." Acting as the final signal, the four of them tore into the shadow, extracting the essence that composed it and draining it of the energy that kept it whole.

"Wow… we actually did it…" Panther murmured, staring at the remains of the strong shadow.

"We did," Joker agreed shortly. "But we aren't done yet. I can feel the power coursing through me after that one."

Leading the group back to cover, Joker waited for the next one and aimed to replicate the strategy. The oblivious shadow walked straight past, totally unconcerned about the absence of its ally and where it used to be. Joker could only chalk this up to the shadows truly being fragments of personas that had been bound into servitude by the palace rulers. While they would hunt for intruders, they did it poorly, having limited senses available to them while in the restricted form that the ruler imagined their servants.

Jumping out of cover, the ambush worked identically to the last, it was only when the fight started that Joker realized his mistake. He hadn't healed his stamina before engaging the next battle. Groaning at his foolish mistake, he didn't dare call forth Cait Sith and inflict more damage upon himself. Instead, charging forward himself, Joker attacked the mounted shadow with his knife; bullets unable to damage it.

"Let's go!" Repeating their attacks, the shadow continued to take damage, so similar to last time. Panther as well, stepped forward, the sleep ability that her persona possesses inflicting the ailment.

Time of reckoning nigh, Joker called forth Cait Sith, pounding the shadow once again with the Cleave ability, intent on knocking it to its knees.

"Gragh!" Yelling in pain, the shadow took the increased damage as it woke up. Unfortunately, its eyes were open and full of bloodlust. Turning them on Joker, the shadow leapt forward, halberd descending to cleave the life from him. Hoping it wouldn't be enough, Joker audibly groaned as he felt the blow drain almost all of his remaining stamina. Hanging on by slivers, Joker fell to one knee panting.

"I got you!" Panicking, Mona instantly utilized Zorro's abilities to restore his health. Feeling a little better, Joker picked himself up, however, the situation was quickly deteriorating as the members began to panic.

"Don't touch him!" Roaring Skull unleashed his lightning skill. As Joker was starting to appreciate, that while his physical attacks were quite strong, Skull's magic didn't pack the same punch as the other two's did.

"Yeah!" Following up on Skull's mistake, Ann used Carmen's fire skill to try and singe the shadow. Seeing it coming, the shadow stepped nimbly out of the way as the blast went wide.

"Calm down!" Joker commanded; regrettably, his words fell on deaf ears as the shadow reared, ready to attack someone else.

"FOR KING KAMOSHIDA!" Turning towards its most resent assailant, the Brutal Cavalryman brought its halberd down on an unsuspecting Ann. The attack did immense damage, sending her down to the floor as she fell over with only a sliver of stamina remaining.

"Panther!" Crying her name, Joker and the others were left stunned as the Cavalryman man wheeled and barreled straight at Mona, their healer. Using the time bought against Panther, the shadow was able to get two attacks off instead of one.

"We need to finish this!" Trying to mobilize them after the disaster that had ensued, Joker rushed it, knife swinging. Taking its stamina even lower, the shadow was almost ready to collapse.

Backing off, Joker watched breathlessly as Mona and Skull followed up, dealing with the threat by utilizing their most damaging moves. Inflicting large damage, the shadow breathed heavily, a stiff breeze away from fading back into the energy that it had come from.

"Finish it Panther!" Ordering her, Joker knew it was a risk. If she missed, the shadow would be free to start finishing them off one by one. Three of them were now only a hit away from death.

"I got this!" Roaring her acceptance, Panther pushed herself forward, whip swinging in hopes of sealing the deal. The injured shadow tried to sidestep, knowing that this attack would finish it off.

Staggering under its injuries, it collapsed as the whip screamed down at its head. Blowing it open, the shadow exploded into smoke as Panther dealt the killing blow.

"You're so gorgeous Panther…" Mona mumbled once again.

Shaking his head at the strange cat, Joker lead the four of them back to the roof entrance. Collapsing in a heap, they shared looks of mutual understanding. They couldn't take the third one in this condition. Hell, they couldn't continue at all unless they healed up.

"Mona, you use Zorro to heal yourself and Skull. I'll deal with Panther and myself." Orders given, Joker ignored the strange looks he received and carried out his part of the deal.

"Why?" Panther asked, as Joker performed the restoration on the two of them. "I could have helped as well."

"I need your mind intact," Joker argued back. "You need to be able to put any shadows to sleep, that way we can still fight or flee as needed."

"So," Skull groaned, stretching from the depleted stamina that he'd used to inflict damage these past two fights. "We going to try and get around this next guy?"

Giving them a daring smile, Joker asked a question. "Want to go for another ride?"

As their faces paled, Joker laughed and led them onwards. Abusing the grappling hook, they were through and moving onwards in no time at all. Stronger in some ways, weaker in others. But no doubt more knowledgeable about the risks and methods available to fight shadows.

---

Sunday April 24th, 20XX Evening

Sumire sat at her desk, struggling to read the weekend's homework as her mind was filled with the exact same thing. "Stupid Kasumi… So smart, so pretty."

Growling to herself, the lines of the page in front of her were nonsense. They didn't matter. Only the lost, confused feeling within her chest. During supper, Sumire had spent the whole time avoiding her sister's gaze. She longed to talk to Kasumi, to ask her why she did it. But she couldn't. Sumire wasn't ready. She couldn't fake the happiness for her yet. She doubted she ever would.

Sulking even further, Sumire tried to release her rage by turning the page. Grabbing the corner and ripping it across a terrible ripping sound was accompanied by a hot burning in her finger. Staring down at it in horror, Sumire watched as a drop of blood welled up and began to run down to her hand.

"Ow, ow, ow." Mumbling from the pain, Sumire clutched her finger in her other hand. The pressure helping to reduce that strange, burning pain that papercuts left behind.

As it finally subsided, Sumire glared at where the torn page of the textbook sat, connected to its original position through only a couple inches of unripped page. "Mr. Ushimaru is going to kill me." Groaning, Sumire ditched her desk for now and collapsed on the bed, finger still gripped tightly in her hand.

"This is all Kasumi's fault…"

Yet as she mumbled the words, Sumire had to accept that they weren't true. It was her fault. If only she wasn't so weak.

"If only I could have talked to him then… Asked about the truth… At least then I wouldn't have lost my…"

Sitting bolt upright, Sumire finally pieced together the irregularity that had plagued her since yesterday. Returning to the desk, Sumire flipped the book over so that she could she the front cover. There was no doubt about it.

"I dropped this…"

Examining it, the clues were all there. The bent corner, the dirt stains covering some of the pages.

"Kasumi…"

The obvious answer came to Sumire quickly. She must have found it when she walked down the stairs to come home. Another favour her sister had done for her.

"Why am I so useless…"

"Knock, knock."

"Huh?" Turning to the sound emanating from her door, Sumire waited hesitantly for the person to identify themselves.

"It's Kasumi… Can I talk to you?"

Bowing her head, Sumire wasn't sure if she was ready for this conversation. To hear why Kasumi had asked out a guy that Sumire was obviously interested in. Kasumi knew that Sumire was too cowardly to make a move.

"Look Sumire, I'm not sure what I did to upset you, but I won't be able to correct it if you don't tell me!"

"…Hell you don't know."

"What was that?" Kasumi's voice rang a little louder through the door. "I didn't catch it. Although, if you're willing to talk to me, I have some good news…"

Sumire narrowed her eyes at the predictable bait. All too often she'd heard her sister say something like that. Usually to get Sumire to open up after a failed meet where Kasumi took home gold and Sumire was left with nothing.

"Fine!" Kasumi eventually sighed with exhaustion. "I'll just tell you the news since you aren't answering me! I actually talked to that exchange student yesterday after school…"

"Shut up!" Sumire shouted, unable to take the taunting voice any longer. Running over to her door, she ripped it open, facing Kasumi's shocked face head on. "I know, alright!? You picked up my book for me! I saw the two of you… So happy together. So… So just leave me alone…"

Murmuring the final word, Sumire couldn't look at Kasumi any longer. Allowing the door to slowly close again once more, Sumire stumbled over to her bed and collapsed upon it. Tears flowing freely now, Sumire cried herself to sleep, unheeding the disbelieving presence outside her door.

---

Tuesday April 26th, 20XX After school

"We really doing this?" Panther asked uncomfortably as they observed the shadow guard. There was no way around it. If they wanted the final Will seed, they would have to defeat it in a fight.

"We've already got the treasure route, right?" Skull spoke cautiously, for once, as he examined the foe. "It looks pretty tough."

"It may be our toughest foe yet," Joker agreed as he looked over his party. Determination burned in his eyes he slowly met each of their gazes. "But, can we even call ourselves phantom thieves if we don't take all the treasure possible? The contents of that room may give us the means through which we can fuel our next adventurers."

"Well said!" Mona agreed. "There's no way one shadow can defeat us!"

"Exactly," Joker nodded in solidarity. "Now, let's do this!"

"Hell yeah!" Skull roared, completely different from his past words. "Let's kick shadow ass!"

"Fine," agreed Panther with a role of her eyes. Despite the measured response, Joker could detect the excitement inside that she felt as well. "I just hope it isn't something gross like those floating guys with the massive…"

"Oh, the Incubus?" Ryuji teased. "Why don't you call it forth again Joker?"

Debating taking the high road, Joker decided against it. Here, in the metaverse, he felt free. "I may indeed. It has many useful abilities."

"Like creeping me out!" Panther whined. "I feel assaulted by just its look!"

"Shush!" Mona berated them as they inched their way around the stone circle to the guarded door. "We won't be able to ambush this one."

"That's alright," Joker assured. "This will be easy." Sauntering cockily over to the guard, Joker gestured at it to step aside.

"You will not be claiming King Kamoshida's treasure, thieves!" Abandoning its former appearance of a guard captain, the shadow resolved into…

"Oh no… I can't," Panther complained backing hesitantly away from the throbbing mess.

"Don't you think it looks exactly like how you'd imagine Kamoshida's to be?" Ryuji joked, never one to let such an opportunity pass him by.

"Let's just kill it," Joker told them, staring warily at the misshapen shadow. "Come Obariyon, Sukunda!"

Calling forth the strange little devil man from his stock of personas, Joker smirked at the torn shadow as its movements became rougher. It was now both easier to hit and easier to dodge.

"Let's go Mona!" Teaming up together, Skull and Mona unleashed their personas magical elements into the shadow. Flitting off with little damage, the shadow was barely phased by either attack.

"I'm up next!" Panther called.

"No!" Joker over-rid her. "Lower its damage."

"Fine." Unhappy with the decision, Ann brought forth Carmen to weaken the shadows attacks. Although they hadn't used it often up until now, Joker saw a dozen potential situations in which it may be useful.

"Gragh!" Diving forward at him, Joker easily sidestepped the slow attack, taking time to smirk at the shadow while doing so.

"Looking cool, Joker!"

Accepting the compliment silently, Joker mentally switched personas in half a second and called forth Jack-o-Lantern. Having the weak persona out left Joker feeling vulnerable as his senses dimmed around him. Attack, speed, defense, all falling. However, the persona had a useless ability that he required, "Rakunda!"

Calling the name of the spell, the little lantern bearing persona appeared and hit the shadow with a ball of energy. While it did no damage, it drained its defenses, leaving it far more vulnerable than it had been previously.

"Attack it with your guns!"

Calling out instructions for Skull and Mona, they obliged Joker's request by whipping out the model weapons. Firing off real rounds, first Mona's Slingshot, then Skull's shotgun tore into the shadow for huge damage.

Nodding confidently, Joker was pleased with the way the fight was going. At this rate, the shadow would be defeated with little effort besides the mind that he and Panther had to expend. Already, Joker could feel the substantial amount he'd used on weakening the shadow twice pulling at him, warning him that his resources were drying up.

With a chilling premonition, Joker examined the shadow that was getting beat so heavily. Its gaze, even through the damage rested solely on Panther.

"Me next!"

"No, guard!"

Overriding Panther's decision with a quick sentence, she glared at him, but did as she was ordered to. Preparing herself, Panther was ready, as the shadow threw itself at her. Despite the lowered agility, the shadow was able to find its target colliding solidly with Panther.

"Gah!" Crying out in pain, Panther's stamina fell from max to almost nothing. It would have been a one-shot if not for the guard, even with the attack decrease.

"Mona, heal her on your turn!"

Leaving it there, Joker switched personas back to Obariyon. The thing was good against physical attacks. Something told Joker he may need if the shadow tried to attack him again. Looking for a critical strike, Joker commanded the persona to use Lucky Punch, a technique that had a higher chance of knocking a shadow down.

"Gragh!"

"It worked…" Half surprised by the lucky turn of events; Joker debated his possible actions as they surrounded the downed foe.

While he hated to do it…

"Back out!" Calling off the all-out-attack, Joker instead passed the baton to Mona. "Heal Panther!"

"You got it!" Using the increased power from the baton pass, Mona's heal brought Panther back to essentially full. "Now, it's time to beat this guy down!"

With Panther healed by his bonus action, Mona tore into the shadow with his saber, the downed, sagging form shuddering from the blows.

"Nice one!" Complimenting him, Skull followed up, calling forth his persona to do even more damage against the defenseless creature. Both attacks chunked off huge sections of its remaining stamina. Defenses lowered and knocked down; the shadow was in an extremely vulnerable state.

"Now you're going to get it!" Panther growled, extremely upset as she glared at the phallic shadow.

"No!" Joker cried trying to stop her. "Put it to sleep!"

"Not this time!" Crying out, Panther was tired of playing support while the party dealt the damage around her. "Dance, Carmen!" Summoning her persona, the flame easily struck the downed persona.

Sighing, Joker could have predicted the little damage that was done. It resisted both Skull and Mona's magic. The tried and true physical damage would have been a better option.

Raising itself from its position, it was easy to see that the shadow's gaze was still focused solely upon Panther. "Please dodge it…"

Hoping for the best, Joker's wish wasn't granted. The attack didn't only connect, it struck with a horrifying crit. Panther's limp body was tossed to the ground, unable to move. Forcing himself to look away, Joker crouched defensively as he waited for the shadow's next action with that it had bought for itself.

"No…" Muttering in horror, Joker could only watch as the shadow coated itself in healing energy, restoring some of the damage that had been dealt to it.

"W-what do we do now!?" Mona began to panic, unable to look away from where Panther was still lying on the ground not moving.

"I got her!" Joker assured them. Dashing over to her fallen body, Joker quickly applied one of the medicines that he'd found at Takemi medical clinic. The quick acting substance was damn expensive. Joker had only been able to afford two, but if it worked, then it was worth every yen.

"Gah!" Gasping, Panther's eyes flew open as the medicine took effect, restoring her stamina to a decent level. "T-thank you…"

"Don't mention it," Joker assured her, returning to his original position. Action spent restoring Panther, Joker let the other two act freely, not bothering with instructions for now.

The two melee attacks tore into the shadow, dealing the damage that it had healed on its turn. That wasn't nearly good enough if they wanted to win this fight without taking serious damage.

"Sleep it this time!"

"Y-yes…" Meekly accepting the order, Joker caught an apologetic glance from Panther. "Carmen!"

Calling forth that magical substance of sleep, Joker watched anxiously to see if it would have an effect. Some shadows had proven either too powerful or simply immune to the ability. Luckily, the deflated penis wasn't. The head fell over as comical snores emitted from its comatose body.

"Now, Obariyon!" Summoning the persona, Joker didn't have the SP available to further inflict the debuffs upon I again. It's Attack and agility had returned to normal. On its next turn so would its defense.

With a snap, Obariyon struck the sleeping persona, hitting it for immense damage. Although it didn't fall to the ground, the gun attribute skill had taken a huge chunk of its health away.

Knowing what to do, the other three rushed it, one attack after another falling upon the severely damaged shadow. Coming in third, Panther's whip sealed the final hit. A fitting end Joker considered, seeing how the shadow was clearly related to Kamoshida's warped desires.

"We finally did it!" Skull burst out, stretching his arm. "That was intense, and it didn't even attack me!"

"You should be grateful!" Panther shot back crossing her arms and shivering. "I thought I was a goner there…"

"Don't worry, I'm here for you." Laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder, Joker waited for a second to ensure the truth of it was communicated.

"I-I'm here for you too!" Mona added on a second later. "Just tell me your needs!"

"Dude…"

Ignoring Skull, Panther responded seriously. "I could use another heal if you have the mind!"

"Y-yes Panther…"

Leaving a deflated Mona behind, Joker moved onto the third and final Will seed door. Each one was surrounded by an ominous aura. Which made sense considering the treasure they held within. Walking through the barren room, Joker scooped up the final Blue Will seed.

"What's happening?" Trying to control his panic, Joker looked at Mona in hopes that their resident metaverse 'expert' would know something concerning the phenomenon that was occurring.

Predictably… "I-I don't know what this is!"

Unable to do anything about it, Joker could only watch as the first two Will Seeds flew out of his pockets and began to interact with the third. Backing out of the way, Joker stared in awe, as the three will seeds circled each other in a slowly tightening circle.

As the energy faded, the once three seeds had combined to form a single ornament. "This is an accessory…" Mumbling at it, Joker attempted to figure out what the strange thing would do when carried. "Let's them use a healing skill… Huh." Mumbling it over, Joker turned the new item over in his hands. Quickly coming to a decision, Joker tossed the item to Skull. "Here, use this. Now everyone can heal themselves."

"Y-you got it Boss!"

"Now then," Joker declared with a roll of his neck. "Let's get out of here and get that calling card ready."

---

Wednesday April 27th, 20XX Evening

Kasumi's eyes flashed with rage as she sat in the kitchen. Waiting here, she had stared directly at Sumire as the girl had walked straight past her. The events of Monday night had strongly imprinted themselves in Kasumi's mind. She couldn't believe how thick-headed her sister was being.

I was trying to help her!

Grinding her teeth against each other, Kasumi tapped the tabletop furiously as she stared at her sister's closed door. Her dad, trying to work beside her, gave Kasumi a sad smile. He knew something was wrong but couldn't fix the girls' relationship for them.

"This is enough…"

Declaring that, Kasumi pushed up and out of the chair. Walking quickly to Sumire's bedroom, she gave the door two loud knocks.

"I'm Busy!"

"Like hell you are!" Cursing at her cowardly sister, Kasumi flung the door open and strode in. Indeed, Sumire was not busy, she was sitting slumped over her desk, pushing a pencil back and forth.

"Eep!" Letting out an undignified screech, Sumire tried to jump to her feet. Getting her legs tangled in the chair legs, she crashed to the ground, falling over the chair.

Standing over her, Kasumi pointed her index finger at Sumire. "You are going to listen for once, you got that?"

"Y-yes…" she answered meekly. Suddenly, Sumire's expression shifted, anger replacing the surprise and fear. "Wait, no! Get out of my room!"

"I refuse," Kasumi replied coldly. The tone of voice was one that she'd never used before. An anger underlying it that she never thought she would ever direct at her precious sister. Unfortunately, Sumire needed to be woken up. "You're being an idiot."

"I'm not the one that swooped in and stole the guy their sister likes!"

"First off," Kasumi said, counting points on her left land, "you've never even had a proper conversation with him. Get over yourself. Second, I am not dating him!"

"Huh?" Felt flabbergasted, Sumire didn't know how to respond.

"I only talked to him to get the truth. He does indeed have a criminal record, however, the rumours have blown everything far out of proportion. It was indeed Kamoshida that did it according to him. I knew you were worried about it."

"O-oh… Umm, I'm sorry," Sumire directed her eyes to the ground, curling into a ball. Despite the good news, she looked as depressed as ever.

Sighing, Kasumi rubbed a tired hand over face. She didn't know what to do with her sister. It seemed like every minor thing that happened ended up being a major deal for her. She simply couldn't cope with anything.

"I'm pretty pathetic, aren't I?"

Kasumi only felt sad as she heard her sister talk that way. However, Kasumi was out of ideas. Every time she tried to help Sumire it seemed to do more bad than good.

"This is the last time…"

"Huh?"

Sumire's mumbled confusion was echoed in Kasumi's own thoughts. She was still working out the details even as she talked.

"I'm not helping you anymore. You want to be your own person, you got it. Homework, relationships, bullies, you can figure it out yourself, you got that?"

"K-Kasumi?"

"That's right! Next time, you'll have to actually talk to them in order to learn something!" Turning on her heel, Kasumi strode back to the doorway, unable to think of anything else to say. Pausing there, one last important thing came to mind. "I'll be waiting for you at the meet. Please don't disappoint me."

Leaving it there, Kasumi closed the door and strode to her own room. Ignoring her dad's concerned gaze, he must have heard every word, Kasumi closed her door behind her. While the lockless rooms could be entered at any time, Kasumi knew her parents wouldn't disturb her.

Collapsing on the sheets, Kasumi let out a massive sigh and rubbed her eyes. Staring at the ceiling, all Kasumi could see were Sumire's hurt and confused eyes. Wondering why her sister would do this to her.

"Why didn't you trust me…" Mumbling the words, that's the question that Kasumi really wanted to know the answer to. That when, during their long years together, did Kasumi ruin their bond to the point that Sumire inherently assumed the worst?

Laying there quietly, Kasumi let the tears fall. Today had hurt. Monday had hurt. Just after everything seemed to be going right. When Sumire had come to this very room and asked about Kamoshida and the transfer student. Had that really been last Tuesday already? When Sumire had admitted to her crush?

Then Sumire had seemed ready. Ready to face the world and the challenges it possessed. Recently, she looked like a shell. Without hope or motivation. The drive from when school was starting vanished like the morning mist.

"Was it all from the transfer student? Ren…?" Breathing his name again, Kasumi was forced to admit, that she did feel a bit better as she thought about him. Was this how it was for Sumire? Did she draw her strength from him?

"You'll need to learn to stand on your own one day…" Even as she spoke the words to herself, Kasumi felt the hypocrisy in them. These last two days her practice had been atrocious. All because Kasumi relied on Sumire to motivate her. With Sumire hating her, Kasumi had struggled to get through the basic training.

"Hmm, maybe he'll be able to help both of us…" Murmuring one last hopeful fantasy, Kasumi's consciousness faded into sleep, hoping the day to come would be better.

---

Saturday April 30th, 20XX Early Morning

Sumire walked into school with her head hung. These past days had been brutal. Sumire got up hating herself and went to bed hating herself. If only she could be like Kasumi, everything would be better. She's the one that people wanted. Eyes focused on the floor Sumire almost missed it. Only the commotion of students and rapid gossip alerted her to the irregular surroundings.

"A calling card!"

"Did you see it?"

"I've never seen Mr. Kamoshida yell that loudly before!"

"It's almost enough to make me believe the rumours…"

Blinking in confusion, Sumire's head slowly rose from the position it had been in all week. The memories that haunted her had drained the energy and point from keeping her head up. This unnatural thrill of energy that ran through the school had restored some; a mild curiosity had been spiked. Hearing the students actively discussing Kamoshida's crimes was strange. Most of the student body revered him.

Winding her way through the mass of bodies that had built up, Sumire eventually wound up in front of the notice board. Standing there, talking in low voices were the Principal and vice principal. Both men looked scared as they talked in low voices. Wondering what had happened, Sumire glanced past them at the board behind. Covering it were identical calling cards.

Glancing around at the distracted students, Sumire darted forward. Ripping one from the board she retreated away from the commotion. With one of the duplicated cards gripped firmly in her right hand, Sumire all but ran to her classroom. Taking her seat, Sumire glanced at the time and saw she still had five minutes.

Taking it out, she encountered a poorly drawn emblem. Sumire thought it was probably supposed to be a hat… with a mask… maybe? Ignoring it, Sumire flipped the card over. The entire thing was filled with print-type characters, their sizes differing. No doubt the original was made from newspaper cut-outs and then pasted together. That was then scanned and printed upon red paper.

Focusing on the content itself, Sumire read slowly, the various sizes presenting a challenge to speed reading. "Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the utter bastard of lust…" Continuing in an unbelieving tone, Sumire could hardly believe the words as they unfolded before her. "…that's why we have decided to steal your heart. Sincerely, the phantom thieves of hearts."

Setting in down, Sumire read through it quickly once more, and then a second time. Taking off her glasses, Sumire rubbed her eyes and then tried again. No matter what she did, it was still there. Someone had stood up. Someone had called him out.

"Take him down… please…"

"What do we have here, miss Yoshizawa."

"Uh oh…" Panicking, Sumire stared up into the angry eyes of her homeroom teacher Mr. Ushimaru. The chalk throwing ninja glared holes through her. Wilting, Sumire could do nothing as Mr. Ushimaru read it.

"Tsk. I hope you don't believe the garbage they wrote. Like I said last week, Mr. Kamoshida is an upstanding teacher. A true role model."

As he walked away, Sumire was glad that he hadn't taken the calling card. Placing it carefully in her bag, Sumire waited anxiously. Not for class to start. But to see the truth. She wanted so badly to believe. That someone, something was out there. A group that could help those in need. Those without power.

"Those like me…" Smiling to herself, Sumire smiled out the window. It was the first time the expression had touched her lips in ages. "Go get him phantom thieves."

---

Saturday April 30th, 20XX After school

Joker stared amazed as Kamoshida's stamina was restored in leaps and bounds. Not only was his shadow far and away the most powerful thing they'd faced so far, it could heal itself infinitely by consuming the woman-esque figures in his cup.

Staring up at the giant four-armed demon, it was hard not to feel discouraged. Bastard though he may be, Kamoshida's demon fought with every shred of power that Kamoshida believed himself to possess in reality.

"Fucker can heal himself? Really!?" Skull complained, glaring at the thing.

"That's it!" Mona shrieked, Skull's words jogging something. "Let's aim for the cup!"

"I like it." Agreeing with Mona's strategy, Joker led the charge against the golden goblet. The intricate details and craftmanship were lost behind its gaudy reflective coating. Just like Kamoshida, the glory had become more important than the work that had led there. "Mokoi!"

A new addition to his repertoire, thanks to the twins and Igor, Joker called forth the stocky, gray persona. Despite its silly appearance, it was the strongest one Joker possessed. Striking the cup, its Skull cracker technique hit for massive damage, taking a tenth of Joker's stamina as pay for the exceptional power.

"N-no! Don't touch the cup again! You hear me!?"

Shaking his head at the foolish Kamoshida, Joker shared a look with the rest of the thieves. If he said not to do it then…

"That only makes us want to do it more!" Pulling out his slingshot, Mona tore into the cup with alacrity.

"No!" Kamoshida cried uselessly again, waving his purple arms back and forth. Not letting Mona get all the credit, Skull and then Panther dashed it, striking at the vulnerable and cracking cup. As the dust settled, the cup didn't break, but dissolved back into the shadow energy from which it had been formed.

Smirking at the devastated Kamoshida, Joker waited for what the fool would try next. Nothing apparently as he slumped over defeated. "That was from when I won the nationals…"

"Well, you give up?" Joker sneered at the slumped over enemy.

"Who do you think you are to do this?" Kamoshida roared back, energy still remaining. "I am Kamoshida! I am the king!"

"So what?" Skull shot back.

"Huh? But I'm the king…"

"You're pathetic," Panther responded with a shake of her head. "Now hand over that crown!"

"No! I'm not finished yet…"

"Then it's time to up our game as well!" Mona declared.

Using that as a timer, Joker led them into the all-out-attack. Even against the massive body of King Kamoshida's shadow, Joker was pleased when it worked out flawlessly. The damage had piled up to ridiculous numbers. As they retreated, a large chunk had been removed from his stamina.

However, the king rose, undaunted by the damage dealt. With a malice glowing in his sickly eyes, Kamoshida glared at them. "Fine. Slaves, bring out the you know what!" Emphasising his words with a crack of his whip, the robot-like things that had been serving him before ran away, their chains broken.

Out came…

"Mishima!?" The three of them declared in surprise. There was no doubt in Joker's mind as he beheld the frightened cognitive being scraping before Kamoshida's will. This was how he treated the boy in the real world, why wouldn't he be here as well?

"Something is going to happen!" Warning everyone, Joker guarded himself form damage. He didn't know what Kamoshida had up his sleeve, but whatever it was, it wouldn't be good for them.

"Get ready for my Killshot! Its from my time back when I was active and kicking it! Killshot… As in I make the kill!"

"…That was obvious." Joker muttered to himself, however, the power he could feel gathering was very real as Mishima set a ball high in the air. With a dexterity unbefitting his massive form, demon Kamoshida leapt high off the ground. With the authority of a king doling out judgement to his unruly subjects, Kamoshida spiked the ball.

Hitting the ground in front of all four of them, Joker gritted his teeth as he felt the shockwave of force roll over him. "Such… power!" Groaning, Joker couldn't believe how much stamina he could feel draining away even as he blocked the attack.

As it finally faded, Joker looked around worriedly, scared about any casualties that had resulted. Thankfully, everyone was still on their feet, however, no one has still over half. Another attack like that would wipe them out.

"Mishima, you worthless scum! I can't hit properly with you here!"

"That wasn't full power?" Mona moaned in disbelief.

"Next slave!"

Answering Kamoshida's call was a girl Joker knew. It was a girl their entire school knew after the events of two weeks ago. Shiho Suzui. The girl that attempted suicide after suffering form Kamoshida's abuse. The anger washed across them like a palpable wave as they beheld the Suzui in Kamoshida's cognition.

Under different circumstances, Joker would have admitted that she was rocking that bunny outfit. The revealing white outfit suited her perfectly and enhanced her already beautiful features. Now though, Joker found it hard to look at her. It was exactly this perception that Kamoshida held that drove the girl to jump.

"Joker…" Mona warned.

He knew what they should do. Defeat the cognitive Suzui and no more of those ultimate attacks would come. "No. Target Kamoshida."

"That could work as well…"

Looking around the party, Joker confirmed that their wills aligned with his. They would win this fight by dealing with Kamoshida. No matter what tricks he pulled. With death on the line, Joker called forth his persona once more. The skull cracker hit, dealing high damage. One by one, his party followed, each attack dealing more damage and irritating shadow Kamoshida further.

"Your useless as well Suzui! Get out of here!"

Letting out a relieved smile, Joker knew that it wasn't over as this fight entered its final stage. Kamoshida was still in good condition, well above half. They'd have to do a lot more damage in order to win this one. Unless…

"Joker, what should we do?"

"Go for the crown."

"I see!" Mona's eyes lit up with understanding. "Who should go?"

"Skull." Joker decided after a second of deliberation. Panther would never make it, Kamoshida was far too focused on her. Mona was on the wrong side and didn't have a scalable terrace.

"On it!" Accepting the order without a complaint, Skull darted away, hiding behind one of the side pillars.

"We need to do a lot of damage to keep him distracted!" Mona warned,

"I know." However, Joker switched personas yet again, their health was low across the board. "Cait Sith!" Summoning a persona he'd used for extending periods of time, it had acquired a skill that most wouldn't expect it to know. Calling forth a healing aura, it blanketed all three of them, restoring their stamina simultaneously.

"Thank you!" Panther sang back, appreciative of the restoration. "Now I can do this!" Calling forth Carmen once more, the fireball took Kamoshida in the face, dealing damage and obscuring his vision.

"Nice one Panther! Now take this!" Following it up with his wind, Kamoshida looked pissed as he fought back. Stabbing with the fork and slashing with his knife, the blows hurt but were far easier to mange than the killshot.

Letting his party continue to deal the distracting damage, Joker called Cait Sith to heal everyone again. The action drawing a frustrated growl from Kamoshida.

"Stop that! I'm the King!"

"Like hell you are…" Catching Skull's words somehow, Joker noticed him climbing up onto the second level. All without Kamoshida seeing him, brilliant.

Switching tactics, Joker unleashed his own fire into Kamoshida as he continued to struggle to kill them. Joker was glad that their current strategy was only a stall tactic. Each of Kamoshida's two attacks dealt a lot of damage. An unlucky critical could spell instant disaster.

Only one more turn!

Holding out hope for Skull, Joker unleashed another area healing on the panting party. As the barrage stopped, Kamoshida looked over them closely.

"Wait, three? Where'd the fourth one go!?"

"Too slow asshole!" Taunting him, Joker smiled appreciatively at Skull's antics. Finally getting the revenge he deserved, Skull shot out of the planter straight into the crown. With a mighty bang, as his club hit home, the crown flew free of Kamoshida's head.

"No! My crown! It's mine as King!"

"Still not going to surrender?" Joker asked disbelievingly at the crawling shadow.

"No! I'm…"

Not bothering to listen to the rest, Joker led them into another All-out-attack. The difference from when the cup had been destroyed was night and day. Now, Joker felt his knife bite deep and true as he darted around, tearing the king to shreds. His defenses had plummeted with the loss of the crown.

Backing out as exhaustion filled them, Joker was disappointed to see that shadow Kamoshida still clung to life, if barely.

"No! I-I'm king…" Trying to continue fighting, Kamoshida made a couple of lame attacks. The first did maybe half of what it had before, the second missed entirely.

"You're done for." Spitting derisively at the pathetic shadow, Joker led them through the final round of combat. Each skill doing exceedingly large portions of damage, it wasn't long before the shadow began to crumble to pieces.

"Now, let's take…"

"Ha!" Grabbing the crown, Kamoshida, back in his human form, huddled it to his chest as he darted for the window. Running to the sill, he stopped as he observed the height at which he stood. Apparently, the fall would kill a shadow as well.

"Go on," Panther instructed, venom in her voice. "Jump. This is how Shiho felt. Standing here with no options."

"N-no, please!" Kamoshida begged. "Mercy!"

"You didn't show Shiho mercy!" Roaring the words, Panther brought forth Carmen, a giant ball of sizzling fire streaking towards the defenseless shadow.

Pursing his lips in discomfort, Joker could only watch. Thankfully, the ball passed just wide. He didn't want Panther to have to live with murder on her conscious.

"…You're right," Kamoshida murmured suddenly, a different tone in his voice. "This is what you came for, right? Take it." Tossing the crown, Joker caught it easily in one hand.

Taking a moment, Joker stared first at the treasure then back at the shadow. That peaceful smile on his lips… could it be?

"After everything I've done to you, to all three of you… You deserve to kill me."

"Well… Look at that," Panther growled, "you finally said something I agree with!"

Once again fire flew. This time, the person on the receiving end was completely different. Eyes closed, he smiled as he accepted his end. A just end for the sins he'd committed.

"Huh?" Murmuring, he opened his eyes in confusion as the fireball went wide. Turning back to Panther, he looked at her questioningly.

"You need to be alive to confess your crimes. You'll live the rest of life trying to atone for this!"

"…You're so kind lady Ann." Breaking codenames, Joker couldn't find the energy to berate Mona for it. He was right, Panther really did have an inner strength that few saw.

"I see… I shall return to my real self then. Goodbye…" Turning into particles of light, the shadow disintegrated.

As if to ruin the touching moment, the whole castle let out a massive tremor. "It's falling apart now that the ruler is gone, isn't it?" Joker asked with a sigh.

"Yes!" Mona shouted back. "Now run!"

Falling into a line, the four of them took off towards the exit.

---

Monday May 2nd, 20XX Morning

Sumire gasped as the side door burst open. The principal's words were cut off as Mr. Kamoshida entered the gymnasium. Sumire could hear the students around her murmuring. Wondering about a connection between the teacher's strange behaviour and the calling card that was posted on Saturday. Yet, Sumire didn't hear any of the words. Her sole, undivided attention was on the staggering gym teacher.

"I… have been reborn."

His heart… was changed?

But that impossibility was too much for Sumire. No one could simply change a person's personality. That power didn't exist, couldn't exist. Yet, Sumire watched as Kamoshida staggered up the stage and fell upon his knees.

"I… have committed terrible crimes. As a teacher, not only did I abuse students, spread rumours about the transfer student, I…" Cutting off, Kamoshida appeared to be crying, the sobs stopping his words. "I sexually assaulted members of the volleyball team."

"Kamoshida!" The principal cried. "Stop this at once!"

"Everyone, get back to your class!" A teacher tried to break up the assembly.

Sumire however wasn't listening, her feet dragging her closer and closer. Hanging onto Kamoshida's words, Sumire didn't want to miss a single moment.

"I am personally to blame for Shiho Suzui's suicide attempt. Additionally, I threatened Ann Takamaki in an attempt to make her sleep with me… As-as punishment for my c-crimes… I'm going to kill myself."

"How dare you run away!" A woman's voice broke in. "Stay alive and atone for your sins!"

"…You're right," Kamoshida murmured in agreement after a moment. "I… I will spend the rest of my life attempting to make up for this. Someone please! Call the police! Arrest me!"

"Mr. Kamoshida, please!" The principal begged again, "stop this! Student's back to your classes! Now!"

Giving up on calming down the grief-stricken teacher, the principal turned his influence to getting the students to disperse. As the teachers began to make a coordinated effort, lead by the particularly vocal teacher from before, Sumire found herself washed up in the tide of students.

"They did it… It actually happened…" Wearing a giddy smile, Sumire allowed herself to get swept back to her classroom. Someone had freed the school from Kamoshida's reign. "You're free now…" Casting one last glance at the gymnasium, Sumire swore she identified that mop of black hair at the far end, standing patiently, calmly, like the assembly had been perfectly normal. The rumours surrounding him would start to fade now. Sumire wasn't naïve enough to think that it would happen overnight. Nonetheless, without Kamoshida here to fuel them, the students would grow to regard him as no different from them.

Like the demonstration had freed her as well, Sumire confronted the day confident for the first time in over a week. "I'm going to impress you… Hiraguchi… Kasumi." Sending a final promise to her coach and rival, Sumire looked forward to her first practice in a month and a half as May began.

---

Monday May 2nd, 20XX After school

Kasumi looked on silently as Sumire performed her routine. Compared to the last time that she'd watched her perform, the difference was night and day. Now, instead of a grimace of concentration, Sumire's face was spread wide in a beautiful smile. Kasumi could see where the lack of practice had accumulated rust. A jump slightly shorter than it should have been, a step a fraction out of time. The arms slightly too low in that hold.

Despite those, it was everything Kasumi had once been jealous of in her routines. The easy grace coupled with that smile made her transfixing to watch. It wasn't the same confidence that Kasumi used to belay her routines, instead, it was the quiet sincerity of a girl who danced because she loved it. In watching her, it made you love it as well.

"Welcome back… My rival."

Murmuring the words to herself, Kasumi left before she was spotted. After all, today was Sumire's practice time with Hiraguchi. Kasumi would have her own time to hone her talents and surpass Sumire. She didn't need to be there for her anymore.

Walking outside, Kasumi looked up into the dimming blue sky of the mid afternoon. Logically, Kasumi felt she should be sad. Yet, her face broke into a wide smile. Sumire was walking her own path now. She was dealing with her own problems.

"I'm still going to win." Clutching her fist, Kasumi pressed it once quickly to her chest before she took off running. She'd need to train harder than ever to keep up with the new Sumire.