Hello everyone, I wanted to say that this is the point where the changes are going to be significant. A lot more work than just doing simple corrections, but I cannot get tired of this. Too bad I couldn't have an available computer to work at the moment. Hope you enjoyed the rewrite, don't forget to leave your thoughts so far.
Disclaimer: Persona 5 Characters except Fujin Katsuo belongs to Atlus, this fanfic has no commercial purpose.
It's been a day since we got Kaneshiro's Treasure, and his Palace collapsed.
I woke up at 7:30 in the morning; my delivery job shift started at 10:30. The first thing I did was turn the TV on, I only used one channel, and it was the local news. I never changed the channel unless it was Sunday for Neo Featherman's new episode or movies. I stood up, went to the bathroom, and washed my face. I looked me in the mirror before shaving. I never had too much facial hair, but just the habit.
After that, I looked inside my fridge to get some breakfast. That thing didn't have much except leftovers from the food I got from dinner, two gallons of milk, and convenience store sushi. I threw that sushi away to the trash because I forgot that I had it two weeks ago.
I drank the milk and toasted some bread. Not a complete meal, but that was all I got for the moment. After eating, I changed my clothes and took my backpack before leaving my apartment and locking it. I lived on the second floor from a very cheap complex. The landlady was just an older woman who thought I was her grandson. Of course, I always had to clarify to her every morning before heading out.
My home was near Kichijoji, so I took the bicycle to head towards the nearest station. I took the line to Shibuya, where the delivery store was. I always made sure to take trains earlier since there were very few people since I never liked crowds.
Once I got to the store, my supervisor greeted me and gave me the list of people to deliver for the day. Always down to business, not that I didn't mind since I preferred not to engage conversation with him. There were times when the index had seven to ten people. The distances were infernal, but that was the job.
My shift ended at 3:30 p.m. That was the time I had to eat and go shopping.
Once done, I went directly to Shinjuku to work at 6:30 p.m. to Crossroads Bar. Lala-chan greeted me every time I enter the place. Ohya-san was already on her second glass when I arrived. I wore my apron and began washing the dishes. The place was mostly empty until the regulars showed up after their jobs. Washing dishes and taking empty glasses away while Lala-chan served and sang during hours. All that until 11 o'clock, I'd take the last train of the day to go straight home and hit the bed.
That was the same routine I went through ever since I lived alone back in March. But not anymore.
My routine began to seem nothing but dull. I never noticed it until I started seeing my surroundings.
"Glad to have you back, dear Katsuo," Lala-chan said to me as soon as I set foot inside the bar's floor.
"Hey, Lala-chan, sorry for my week's absence," I repeatedly bowed, apologizing with shame on myself. "I know that it isn't healthy for me to skip work without explanations."
"Don't worry, my dear, I began to think that you never asked for the free nights ever since you began working here."
"What? Huh, I guess worked too much without realizing it." I rubbed my neck, confused that I never asked before such requests. "Well, not that it matters, I'm back for the same work."
I walked behind the counter while leaving my backpack in the backroom, where the staff put their personal belongings. I put my apron, but it felt loose for some reason. What was the meaning of that? Did I lose weight while fighting in the Palace? Unlikely.
After getting myself ready for the shift, the place was silent, too silent, aside from the music that Lala-chan had playing in the corner. Something was missing, and of course, quietness meant peace.
"Where's Ohya-san?" I asked since that silence was unsettling.
"Ichiko-chan is working today," Lala-chan nonchalantly said while accommodating the bottles. That caught me off guard.
"Ohya-san, working?"
"Yes."
"But, I mean, working outside of the bar?"
"Why you sound so surprised?" Lala-chan couldn't stop looking me with estranged eyes.
"What I'm trying to say is that it is weird to not seeing her here. Even when she got wasted by drinking too much, she returned the following night like nothing or a minor hangover."
"You are just exaggerating!" Lala-chan chuckled. "But seriously, she is working after hearing of what happened at Shibuya yesterday."
"Oh, right," After hearing that, I wasn't surprised by it. You could say anything about Ohya-san, but she was a passionate woman when potential scoops were at her reach.
"Do you know anything about it?" My boss asked.
"Me? Nah, not following any of that if I'm honest."
"Well, you should. I think they started to steal mine as well!" Lala-chan laughed loudly enough that I couldn't hear the music. I, on the other hand, decided to focus on my job.
Shinjuku, lousy as ever, got more agitated ever since we posted the calling card. I heard people on the streets talking—some with shock and surprise. People were cheering on the Phantom Thieves and asking about who the next target would be. The costumers that came to Crossroads wouldn't stop talking either. I got messages from the group, but I only checked them sparsely. I replied to them during my break.
Ann: Kaneshiro got rid of those photos, right?
Makoto: That's what he said.
Ryuji: You think we can trust him?
Katsuo: I don't believe a word of what that asshole says.
Makoto: I doubt he'd lie if he really had a change of heart.
Ryuji: Looks like we're all clear then.
Yusuke: We can't be sure of that just yet.
Ann: You mean he might not have had a change of heart?
Yusuke: No, I'm relatively certain he did. That is not the issue.
Yusuke: Despite Kaneshiro's change, his organization remains intact.
Yusuke: I can only hope they don't abscond with the photographs.
Ryuji: Y'mean like, run off with it? I guess that is possible…
Yusuke: After all, loss of the leader does not necessarily spell out the demise of the group.
Yusuke: That is merely common knowledge.
Katsuo: I doubt his organization will maintain order without him after his change of heart.
Katsuo: From what I found while researching them, those guys are a small group that accomplished so little while having external help.
Katsuo: Long-story-short, they will fall like a pile of dominos.
Makoto: How can you be so sure of that?
Katsuo: Call it a hunch.
Makoto: Well… I guess the opposite sometimes holds true as well.
Makoto: Some groups that lack strong guiding hand will simple crumple.
Ann: So this all depends on which way it goes…
Akira: We'll be fine.
Makoto: All we can do now is pray the pieces fall in our favor.
Yusuke: Hopefully Kaneshiro's confession motivates the police to crack down on the Yakuza…
Yusuke: I would love nothing more than to see them defeated once and for all.
Ryuji: That part'll be up to Makoto's sis.
Katsuo: Yep, I won't feel bad for them, though.
Makoto: That aside, we've done everything we can for the time being.
Makoto: All that remains now is to wait until the result becomes clear.
Waiting, huh?
That should be easy, but they explained to me on one of the notes that the change of heart could take days, even weeks to manifest it. I never felt so anxious about something as such. But how exactly would we know if that occurred? I didn't want to see his face again. I could do nothing but overthinking.
For all that I could care, continuing my job was all I wanted at the moment.
I washed the dishes and cleaned the place, but the customers were so few that night that I found myself bored from work for the first time. Weird, never felt like that whenever I worked at Crossroads.
"Katsuo, dear," Lala-chan called me, out of the blue. "How about you leave early tonight?"
"What? But I still have a few hours left on my shift," I was confused from hearing that. "Also, shouldn't I work to compensate for the lost time?"
"Don't be ridiculous. I know what I'm saying." Lala-chan said, with serious eyes. "I've been considering hiring someone else for different nights, so you don't work all the time."
"What?" I replied with absolute shock. "I don't know if that's a good idea since I don't mind working the whole week as always. Especially since I need the hours to pay for my apartment and other services."
"I know, we will figure that out, but the last thing I want know is that you are overworking, and don't want to make you suffer like that."
"It's not suffering; I don't mind it, honestly."
"Why spend too much time working? You could just go out and have fun out there like people of your age!" Lala-chan enthusiastically said.
"I'm not a teenager anymore," I couldn't share the same sentiment.
"One isn't too old to live more!" No matter what I said, arguing with Lala-chan wouldn't get me far. "So, go on, see friends, go crazy!"
"You are one in a million, Lala-chan," I sighed, "see you Monday, then."
I put the apron away, took my backpack, and left the bar as my boss waved at me with a smile. That was a weird thing to expect from her. Leaving work earlier than usual felt strange, probably more now that I had too much free time before returning home. I couldn't know what to do next.
The best option I had would be walking and see-sithing Kichijoji since it was on my way to my apartment anyway.
I took the available train back and sat until reaching my destination. Never saw so many people aside from the tired almost-dropping-dead workers, who slept on the seats, after over hours. Surreal, almost scary by the fact that it flew over my head such details for so long.
Did I wake up from the wrong leg? Or just in a fantasy? Everything looked odd through my eyes.
After reaching Kichijoji, I took my belongings and walked around the streets. The area was probably popular with tourists due to the exotic stores, temples, street food, and weird hobbies if I had to say, perhaps a much family-friendly than Shinjuku, and less nerdy than Akihabara. I couldn't know what to do; the night was still young. One thing for sure, I tried to avoid that narrow alley with incense smell.
Right on the shopping street, I saw a place with neon signs: The Sniper Penguin, such a weird name, couldn't help me be curious about what kind of place it was there. I parked my bike somewhere near and headed upstairs. Behind the door, the local was too bright that almost blinded me.
It became clear of what exactly was: Billiards and darts. People seemed to have fun, but never understood the rules of billiards, but got some faint idea with darts.
"Welcome!" The man behind the counter greeted me. "What would you like to play?"
I was undecided about which to play. "What are the prices?" I said, looking at the place.
"800 yen the hour, is it to first time here?"
"Yeah, but not sure what is better."
"I could suggest darts," I heard a voice from behind, approaching the counter. "Hello, Fujin-san."
"Akechi? What a surprise." I said, cracking a smile. "Are you here to play, too?"
"I always come here when I'm done with work earlier."
"Huh, I didn't know that. Maybe I should come here more often after work, too."
"Why you say that?"
"Just saying," I shrugged, "okay, so, you said darts, right?"
"Sure. How many points do you think we can play for this round?" Akechi asked.
"301 points, is two rounds good enough for you?"
"I was about to suggest 501, two rounds should be enough. I'm warning you. My aim is deadly." Akechi smiled, confident of his skills.
"We will see that, Mr. Detective." I was mildly confident in my skills, but 501 points seemed a lot to handle.
We paid 800 yen for the hour each. I picked the red darts while Akechi chose the blue ones. The first turn was mine, holding the dart with my right hand while taking small breaths to be steady with my grip. When I threw my dart first, it landed on 17 closer to the bullseye. My second dart landed on 19 with the triple ring. My last one of my turn landed almost on the bullseye's outer ring, but I just got 5.
"Not bad, it seems that you have a steady hand at least." Akechi complimented me despite not my best effort.
The young detective was holding his darts with his left arm while doing small breaths. His grip was steadier than mine while he closed one eye to aim. On his turn, he landed one bullseye and two outer rings. He did it much better than me.
"Well, look at that, you weren't joking about deadly aim. You practiced more with this than me." I was amazed at how he performed on his turn.
"Not really, I barely got time to play darts lately due to my work." He was modest. Or he was maybe bragging it because that didn't look like someone out of practice.
"I suppose so. There aren't many teenagers working as detectives that could handle it with ease."
"Not at all, have you ever heard of Shirogane Naoto?"
"Yeah, actually, I heard that her family worked as detectives for generations. She worked as one since she was too young. Why that question? Do you know her?"
"Actually no, I never met her in person, but I would like to. She inspired me to work as one since I was a child."
"Who doesn't? He, I mean she, was a force to reckon with." Dammit, sometimes I forgot that Shirogane was pretending to be a man until she was 15.
"It is a weird thing, don't you think? One of the people that I admired the most was a woman. She was full of surprises."
"There is nothing wrong with admiring a woman that is the best on her job." Just look at Makoto's sister, she was the best but also a terrifying prosecutor around Tokyo.
"Mhhh, you are right. Women are full of surprises, after all, when they have one objective on their minds." He was lost in thought a little bit while I took my darts for my turn.
I threw them with better results, but not by much: 2 double, 20, 7 triples. "I guess so; I would never make a woman angry as long I live to tell." Even with more reason after spectating Makoto fighting Shadows, she could be equally terrifying when someone pissed her off. Kaneshiro got the Niijima Treat in the most painful ways possible.
While we continued with our game, Akechi threw his darts with two bullseyes and 20 triple. I should feel humiliated, but somehow, I got the feeling he was holding back.
"I forgot to ask you this. Did you hear what happened at Shibuya yesterday?" He asked, mentioning about the calling card from Kaneshiro's heist.
Shouldn't be surprised if he came up with a topic at some point. "Yeah, I heard of it. I'm surprised at how they did that without people noticing anything suspicious."
"Did you think they already accomplished it?" Akechi seemed worried.
"What? Oh, do you mean about what those posters said? Who knows? All I can say is those thieves are nothing I've seen before." We were lucky to do that without people suspecting, good thing Makoto was with Sakamoto and me, or we would never be able to accomplish such a risky tactic.
"I wondered… I never asked you this before," Akechi said, "what do you think of the Phantom Thieves?"
"What I think?" I replied. "That's hard to say. I'm not following any of that stuff."
"So, you don't care about the situation?"
"More like, I still don't have a concrete answer, too much stuff in my life to even think of that." I tried to leave my answer vague, but Akechi didn't seem satisfied.
"I see, maybe I should ask you that other time." I hoped not.
We kept playing until the end of the first round.
Akechi won, though.
We started over with the same score. That guy's aim was almost supernatural; his darts landed, close to the center with the occasional bullseye—the excellent, sophisticated form, and left-handed. He knew how to play this gentlemen's game. I did not do well playing this. I guess I should practice it by myself whenever I got the chance.
"By the way, I would like to ask you something?" Akechi said, not departing his eye from the target.
"Go ahead."
"What you think that can cause people to turn evil?"
"That's a weird question. Why asking that?" I rose eyebrows, perplexed by such out of the blue topic.
"I remembered that you said that you saw some of my cases on television."
"I wouldn't say every case, but I can see what you mean." We switched turns to throw darts. "As for what you asked. That's pretty hard since it may have different causes."
"Such as?"
"There's a lot to dig up; Upbrings, loss, trauma, desires, jealousy, or even simply by nature."
"Are you saying that people can be born evil?" Akechi said with surprise.
"I wouldn't exactly say that, but at their core, deep down, are irredeemable regardless of the circumstances."
"Is that what you think, huh? Interesting..." The detective fell silent; his thoughts were trying to process of that possibility. From all I could say, even if people tried to act righteous, a beast was chained somewhere, waiting to be unleashed at their limits.
"You know, we should hang out more often," Akechi said.
"Why, enjoying the philosophical chat?" I replied.
"More like you can make a better impression for myself when being next to you in public," Wow, just when I thought he sounded like he wanted me to be his friend, I was the shmuck to fuel his ego. Any person wouldn't accept that, but who cares? I could live with that.
After playing some time with the darts, Akechi won the game, again. Well, Mr. Detective knew how to make a good company for a nobody like myself. After leaving the place, he gave me a presentation card in case anything happens. We took our separate ways once again after a long day of work and a fun match. It ended better than expected; he didn't get any suspicious towards me at the very at least.
Right when I got home, my phone wouldn't stop buzzing at any moment. I checked and, not much to my surprise, more messages from the group.
Ryuji: Y'know, I've been curious...
Ryuji: What's Kosei like? Is it filled with guys like Yusuke?
Ann: I imagine there are a lot of... "different" people there.
Katsuo: I always wondered how it feels to study in that school. Then again, any school is better than Shujin anyways.
Yusuke: Now that you mention it, I have one very interesting classmate.
Yusuke: She is a female shoji player, and seemingly quite the skilled one at that.
Makoto: Are you talking about Togo Hifumi? I remember hearing she's a student at Kosei.
Makoto: They say she's the most beautiful shogi player around right now.
Katsuo: What an oddly specific description about her.
Ryuji: Dude, that sounds too good to be true! Gimme some more info.
Yusuke: I do not much about her. She is not the kind of person to let others close to her.
Makoto: It sounds like she only focuses on her shogi pursuits. After all, it's said she is a lone genius...
Katsuo: That sounds... Depressing? I guess Kosei has strict standards when it comes to areas of expertise for all students.
Yusuke: However, I have heard she is commonly seen at the church over in Kanda.
Ryuji: For real!? We gotta go!
Ann: You'll probably get struck down by a bolt of lightning if you're going for that ulterior motive.
Katsuo: If that really happens, I should bring my camera.
Ryuji: That ain't it! This is for the Phantom Thieves!
Katsuo: You can't be serious!
Ryuji: I mean, shogi's a kinda battle, right? She gotta know all sorts of insane strategies and stuff!
Ann: Uh...
Yusuke: That is quite the stretch.
Makoto: Churches are supposed to be holy. Don't do this, Ryuji.
Katsuo: You should stop acting so desperate.
Ryuji: Urgh, you guys're gonna pay for this one day!
Ryuji: Akira, you go spy on her for me!
Ryuji: Find out if she's really as cute as they say she is.
Katsuo: Yep, definitely not desperate at all.
Just another pointless talk. Sakamoto couldn't get any more childish after that.
It was early morning Sunday.
I got a last-minute request for my delivery job. I swear, that place couldn't get more disorganized than ever. One of the packages didn't even have a name for the recipient. Wasn't that illegal? How incompetent could they be? At least they bothered to put the address, but not that was anything better, though. People often get mail at their address but from former residents. Common mistakes, but I was only getting paid to bring the packages to their destination. Any complaints, they would call to my supervisor.
Anyhow, I traveled to a high-class apartment complex—a six-story building that could see many landmarks, and the Tokyo Skytower, from a sizable distance. The apartments looked nice, but knowing better was the kind of place where snobbish citizens lived there, looking down on everyone else while enjoying the easy life up there. Not even I, who my dad was the former head of the clan, ever lived away from the ground.
I took the elevator to reach the fifth floor, the mailboxes from the first floor could only retain letters, I had no choice but to deliver it personally—what a way to waste my Sunday. I only hoped not to miss today's episode.
Door 504, that was the recipient's address. I pressed the doorbell as soon as I was in front of it.
"Coming!" I hear a girl's voice from inside. She sounded vaguely familiar. Before I could recall her, she opened the door, slowly showing herself already dressed to go out—a redheaded girl with a ribbon and ponytail. She had an optimistic attitude, and probably the kind of reaction I didn't want to be present. "Fujin-sensei?" She said after seeing me.
Oh shit, I thought, "Hey, Yoshizawa," no matter how much the policy to smile at the client was obligatory, it was impossible for me to smile.
"Fujin-sensei! It is nice to see you!" She jumped in excitement. "I haven't seen you since February!"
I was petrified, paralyzed enough that couldn't give a proper response that could feel the chill down my spine. What could I do? What should I say to her? So far, my only concern was to leave that place immediately.
"Fujin-sensei? Are you alright?"
"Please, stop calling me that." I broke the silence, "Also, I think you are mistaking me with someone else."
"I'm not! I do remember you!"
"D-Do you?" My throat felt dry and began feeling a cold sweat on my neck.
"I could never forget my tutor back in middle school!"
What?
"How have you been? How's college?" Yoshizawa began firing questions that made me feel trapped.
"Excuse me for interrupting, but is your father at home?" I asked, feeling urgent beneath my tone of voice.
"No, he left not too long ago, he got a call from work. Why?"
"N-No reason." I turned around, trying to leave until I looked at my hand, almost forgetting to leave the package. "Shit, I think this is for you." I handed the box to Yoshizawa. She eagerly took it.
"Thank you, my training bandages finally arrived." She smiled, gratefully bowing for whatever she hoped. "Don't you want to come inside? I have a lot to talk about."
"Sorry, but I have work to do," I said, in the most polite way possible.
"Oh, I see," she seemed disappointed, "maybe next time."
"Uh-huh, don't forget to sign this form," I said while she signed the receipt. As she finished signing, I rushed away from her apartment without saying another word. I took the stairways instead of the elevator. I carefully peeked at the corner before reaching the lower floor, as a good measure.
I couldn't believe what I went through. How should I know that Yoshizawa lived there? When did her family move? I was lucky her dad wasn't at home.
What a horrible Sunday.
All that I wished at the moment was never to see her again.
