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

To Sodomi, thanks for your review, I haven't actually decided yet whether or not the attendants will be going into Mementos yet, but they probably will not enjoy the experience, yes Natsumi does know about the TV World because her and Rise swapped Awakening stories but that was all they exchanged though I didn't actually show that to avoid repeating information, though yes Natsumi has made the connection that Margaret and Rise are linked.

I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy

Chapter 52: - Chariot, Faith, Hierophant

Ryūji was at a secluded area of the school, it was a better place to meet since his special training spot had been taken over and Ryūji wanted to avoid angering Nakaoka and the other track team members. He was currently using some abandoned planks of wood as a step up to help with testing his legs. Natsumi was sat to the side, a stopwatch in hand, timing how long he could keep up the exercise at different intensities while tapping her pencil away on the papers she brought.

"You'll want to increase the amount of meat, eggs, diary products or other foods that can help build muscles. They'll obviously build up the muscle but can also help with the bone repair. Also, leafy greens, fish whose bones you can eat, anything with fortified flour can help with bone repair too," Natsumi suggested. Ryūji felt his legs start to ache and since that was the cut-off point, he clapped his hands as he stepped down so that Natsumi could properly record the time; Ryūji was pretty impressed that she could write with her left hand.

"Good idea, good eats and I get my strength back," Ryūji agreed. Some of the foods that had been listed were things he'd already aware could help but his head was spinning around wondering about how to put some of those into meals. A small hum came from Natsumi and the blonde punk turned to look at his friend who had a curious gleam within her eyes.

"You were pretty handy in the kitchen the other day when we fed Yusuke, so I think you must do cooking a bit," Natsumi acknowledged. Ryūji shyly rubbed the back of his head at her words, it wasn't something he brought up a lot but when they needed to make enough food for five of them, Ryūji couldn't resists getting involved with Natsumi and Ren, just to try and help out a little bit outside of punching Shadows in the face.

"A lot actually, my mum's always working hard, so I make most of our meals with whatever we can scrimp together," Ryūji revealed. A look appeared on Natsumi's face, it was one that Ryūji was slightly familiar with and its' appearance made him stand a little bit taller, it was the same impressed look she had given him during their first training session when he'd charged at her while her back was turned.

Once a few more minutes had passed and his breath was back under control, Ryūji stretched his legs slightly before starting to step up and down on the planks. He'd already done the slow routine and Ryūji had just completed the middle level exercise, which meant now it was time for the high intensity one. The blonde punk could not deny how nervous he was, since this one would likely wreck his legs if he went too far or too hard.

But that was why Natsumi was here, she had free reign to do what was necessary to stop him if Ryūji went too far. Ren had been given the same pass and he'd actually had to use it on a few occasions, which showed Ren's strength in the Metaverse wasn't merely for show. Right now, Ryūji just focused on moving as fast as he could manage without harm himself, eventually he completed the exercise as best he could and started to get his breathing under control once more.

"Ryūji, you can completely get mad at me if you want, but I've just been wondering… you curse a lot, but you never let one particular word slip, why is that?" Natsumi asked. Easy to tell what word she meant, Ryūji slumped down even going as far as to lower his knees so that he was in a crouched position with and irritated expression on his face. It wasn't Natsumi's fault, just that the memories her words had stirred up always managed to sour his mood no matter what.

"How much do you know about my family situation?" Ryūji asked. He was honestly curious, Natsumi had never said or implied the extent of her understanding about what his life might be like away from school; it was probable everyone knew that he was the son of a bastard of a man and only raised by his mum.

"Nothing actually. I never really paid attention to rumours," Natsumi admitted. That caused Ryūji's head to snap up in surprise with slightly widened eyes as he focused upon Natsumi, her expression was completely open and free, showing that she wasn't lying or having a joke at his expense… not that Natsumi ever really struck him as the kind of person to mock someone so cruelly; she was rather blunt with her accusations or comments.

"My dad was a deadbeat, always seemed to be drunk off his ass and throwin' fists. Hurt me and my mum more times than I could count," Ryūji revealed. He tightened his hands into fists as a grimace made its' way across his lips, he really hated that man. "He also liked to curse… a lot. But he always used that word more than any of the others. So, I don't use it because I don't want to sound like him… bad enough I seem to have his violent temper," Ryūji muttered. The dark memories of how his mum had been hurt because of that man swam through his mind.

"Violent temper… I can hardly call protecting others violence, you might have a short fuse and can come off as aggressive sometimes, but I think the last word I'd ever use to describe you Ryūji is violent," Natsumi stated. Those words pierced through the dark memories and caused Ryūji to stare at the girl with wide eyes, hardly believing the words that she had so easily admitted; in complete opposition to everyone else.

"Heh… thanks Natsumi," Ryūji commented. The girl probably couldn't know how much those words meant to him, the way she so easily dismissed him having a violent temper despite how true it was and that she saw something different in him to others; his mum had always been the only person to say such things to him. "But you're wrong," Ryūji stated. Natsumi casually raised an eyebrow at his words while a grim smirk appeared on Ryūji's lips as he recalled the past. "The whole track team got disbanded 'cause I took a swing at Kamoshida," Ryūji reminded.

"Yes, but why did you take that swing?" Natsumi wondered. Nobody outside the track team really knew why Ryūji had taken that swing at Kamoshida, but everyone had believed the whole it was self defence accusation that Kamoshida spread; well, almost everyone probably believed it, Natsumi likely smelled the lie the instant it started being spread about. Ryūji finally slumped onto the ground and leaned back slightly to stare up at the sky.

"Well, we all put up with the insane workouts he was layin' down. But then he talked smack about my mum's situation, my worthless old man and then… I lashed out," Ryūji explained. Even now, Ryūji didn't know how Kamoshida knew his family situation, though there was every chance that if Kobayakawa really was Kamoshida's ass licker as much as they thought he was, the fat man probably let it slip just to give Kamoshida want he wanted.

"Still sounds like you were protecting something," Natsumi commented. Ryūji turned his head to look at the girl who had a smile on her face as she spun the pen dexterously between her fingers. "It sounds like you were defending your mum's honour. A very kind and loyal thing to do," Natsumi insisted. The toll of the bell rang out, alerting the two that they needed to get back to class. "Those, by the way, are the first words I use to think of you," Natsumi added on. Before Ryūji could react beyond a fierce blush, the girl darted out of their little area.

*Persona 5 Royal*

I had arranged for Yoshizawa to come by my house so that she could have a peaceful place to practice with me, I wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do but it was far better than not learning how to utilise such incredible dexterity and agility. Hopefully, I'd be able to aid Yoshizawa in whatever might be troubling her enough to affect her physical performance, if it was a physical problem then it needed medical treatment… but a mental or emotional problem would be much more difficult.

A knock resounded on the door, so I moved over and opened it up to reveal the cheerful expression on my underclassman's face. We exchanged a greeting and Yoshizawa slipped inside the building, I guided Yoshizawa to the dojo and let the both of us inside. Yoshizawa's lower jaw unhinged and she gazed around at the weapons hanging from the walls, I moved further in and stopped at the centre of the room.

"Shall we get started with the training Yoshizawa-san," I suggested. It would be interesting to see what she ended up thinking of for the exercises Yoshizawa had agreed for us to go through, although at the moment the red haired girl was busy staring at the weapons that decorated the room's walls. With a small sigh, I proceeded to walk over to Yoshizawa and gently shook her shoulder in order to bring her back to reality.

"Of course, let's get started with some poses," Yoshizawa insisted. We head back to the centre and the red haired girl bounced slightly in place, she seemed quite excited about doing this training. "Just follow my lead," Yoshizawa encouraged. I nodded my head and the girl immediately started to guide me through the poses that she wanted me to copy.

Honestly, the movements required of those poses were rather difficult to obtain and I certainly couldn't hold them for as long as Yoshizawa. Add on the fact that I'm certain I was grimacing while holding those poses compared to the almost leisurely smile that was on Yoshizawa's face and the way I stumbled back to a normal position compared to the graceful and fluid movements that Yoshizawa used, it really showcased the experience that she had getting into and out of those poses. Once we were done, we moved over to the side and I propped myself up against the wall.

"I can't get enough of the harmony between the internal and external oblique muscles," Yoshizawa commented. She was bouncing again, filled with a happy energy although I was a bit more concerned with gently massaging my leg muscles in order to try and relieve them of any lingering pain after the exercise which had been more intense than I initially expected it to be.

"Why don't you show me?" I suggested. Yoshizawa grinned quite brightly and moved over to the centre of the room and struck a pose as if waiting for something to start; I suspect, from what little I know of rhythmic gymnastics, this would likely be the music. Yoshizawa soon started to move with bold and dramatic flourishes from her arms and legs, but my eyes narrowed with each motion that she took the further that Yoshizawa moved through her motions.

Yoshizawa continued to move before eventually coming to a stop for good, I kept myself quiet as I thought over the information that I had learned from the little show my underclassman had put on. Yoshizawa was breathing a little heavily and her arms were trembling along with her legs, likely from the exertion that she had just put her body through. I don't know if she was aware of the kind of strain that she'd forced her body to endure, but I needed to say something.

"I think I might know what the problem is Yoshizawa-san," I admitted. The red haired gymnastic twisted to look at me with a certain eagerness in her eyes. "Just now, when you were moving. It looked like your body was hoping to move in one direction, only to end up suddenly forcing it to go in a completely different motion," I explained. Yoshizawa's eyes widened in surprise at my words, but it had been quite apparent that was the issue, I was actually worried she'd end up hurting herself before the performance was over. "Could something be impacting your thoughts, something you might not even realise you're thinking about," I asked.

"Maybe," Yoshizawa admitted. She was looking down and shifting her weight from side to side as if whatever she was thinking about was deeply uncomfortable for her. "This spring, before I started at Shūjin… I… I lost someone very important to me," Yoshizawa explained. My eyes widened at her words as sniffled began to escape from Yoshizawa. "It was my younger sister… Sumire, she… she got hit… by a vehicle… and I-I c-c-couldn't s-s-save h-her. W-w-we'd… b-be-een ar-arguin-ing a-a-and s-she… s-s-stormed off… r-r-right i-into tr-traffic," Yoshizawa sobbed. Thick, heavy sobs began to escape her throat as tears tumbled down her face with no hesitation.

"I see," I spoke. I moved over to her and wrapped my arm around Yoshizawa's shoulder, pulling her against me so that her forehead pressed to my shoulder. "Is that why you changed your hair colour. Because hers was red?" I asked. Yoshizawa nodded her head which at least confirmed why the picture's colour had been so different. "I take it she was also a gymnast," I added on. Another nod.

After that, I had no more questions instead simply kept holding the younger girl against me so that she could let out the sadness that she must have been feeling at having lost someone so close to her. I knew something of what she must having been keeping bottled up inside of her, though losing a twin was probably different to losing an ordinary sibling. Eventually the sobs managed to subside from Yoshizawa.

"Thank you senpai, I'm sorry I'm being so much trouble," Yoshizawa stated. She pulled back and rubbed at her cheeks in order to dry her tears as much as possible, I handed her a bottle of water so that she could hydrate herself, hopefully she'd feel better after letting out such a cry; I know I certainly had back in April.

"You're no trouble, you've been through something terrible. It's no surprise that you can't move how you want to when you're still grieving your sister," I reassured. Yoshizawa practically devoured the water inside the plastic and at an alarming rate as well. "Don't you think you should try stepping back from gymnastics while you recover," I suggested. Once she was done inhaling the water, Yoshizawa looked at me with a strained expression on her face.

"I can't, my scholarship at school is tied to my gymnastic success, so I need to keep winning," Yoshizawa explains. That caused my lips to press into a tight line, how self-centred could some people be that they demanded a grieving child keep doing something just so she could keep attending the damn school! I understand scholarships were like that, but it just shows how apathetic some people could be towards the suffering of others when they didn't give anyone any leeway.

"That's rotten," I hissed. If Yoshizawa couldn't step back enough to recover from the grief of losing her sister because her school attendance was dependant on it, then there wasn't much that I could do about it to be frank. "Well, I'll keep trying to help you, but you need to take time to grieve otherwise you'll never get passed this block," I insisted. It was clear that the death of the younger Yoshizawa was an albatross around the elder's neck and if she didn't overcome it then she'd never get back to her previous performance capabilities.

"Okay senpai!" Yoshizawa agreed. She seemed a little better now, but the watery edge of her eyes and her dimmed smile were quite apparent still, I allowed a small sigh to escape from me as I tried to think about what to do in order to cheer her up, though her infectiously bubbly energy might even rejuvenate Kawakami-sensei simply by Yoshizawa talking to her. At the thought of my sleepy teacher, I could practically hear the ding of a lightbulb idea going off in my head.

"Hey Yoshizawa, as an athlete, you must know something about nutrition," I asked. Ryūji might also know but I wanted to ensure he'd focus on himself instead of trying to help me; but unlike Ryūji whose ailment was physical, Yoshizawa's had an emotional weight which meant this sort of thing might be useful in allowing her to come out of the darkness that she was being sucked into.

"Not much, Sumire was always a better cook than me. But I can do my best to help," Yoshizawa insisted. I nodded my head and proceeded to guide her to my kitchen so that she would be able to look through what I had available in order to better answer my question since I needed to know whatever information she had available.

"What do you know about food and drinks for fatigue? It's for someone I know," I admitted. A small hum escaped from Yoshizawa as she drifted over to the cupboards and began to look through them.

*Persona 5 Royal*

Sōjirō was every much considering taking up some kind of hobby, not anything dangerous really just something relaxing to help him take the edge off having to deal with Arata coming back. Thankfully since Natsumi put the fear of Bishamonten into him, he hadn't come back but Sōjirō knew he wouldn't stay away forever, in fact the barista expected him to come through the door every time it opened, especially at night.

When the door open, he tensed up and turned around, only to huff in relief when he saw Natsumi step inside, her eyes cutting around before visibly relaxing upon realising that Arata was not present like she had apparently been expecting him to be. Sōjirō hadn't spoken to the girl since her terrifying display and equally unnerving promise the other day, it had allowed the barista to take the time to think and he had made a choice. Sōjirō was at least going to figure out who had taught the girl.

Natsumi proceeded to move towards her usual seat after giving her order, which was just a coffee this time around, as Sōjirō got to work on the coffee, he took notice of the girl and realised she was rubbing intently at her arms and legs. Raising an eyebrow at these actions, Sōjirō finished up the coffee and added in what was needed to make it drinkable for Natsumi, he walked over to the booth and set it on the table.

"Say, Natsumi-chan," Sōjiro called. The dark haired girl proceeded to move her gaze to focus on the man with an open expression of her face. "I was wondering who taught you how to fight like that?" Sōjirō admitted. Natsumi's eyes widened in response, but she didn't seem surprised or even offended which Sōjirō was quite glad for; it would have been too painful if he accidentally pushed the girl away from him with this single question.

"Oh, I suppose you must have been surprised to see me doing that," Natsumi admitted. Surprised was one way of putting it, Sōjirō had lain awake that night replaying those events as he tried to understand what had happened. "My parents taught me the basics, they both believed that you should at least be capable of defending yourself, this city isn't exactly safe after all," Natsumi explained. Well, Sōjirō couldn't argue with that logic, it was pretty dangerous in this world. "But the joint locking was actually taught to me by a friend, she was really good at aikido," Natsumi added on.

"Well, you certainly seem to be putting their lessons to use," Sōjirō admitted. That would explain how she had been able to restrain him, but it still didn't clarify just how much strength she actually managed to possess simply for restraint and not to deal any damage to his skin; Natsumi's voice suddenly let out a hum and this caused the barista to focus on the girl, he immediately noticed the grim expression on her face.

"Did I scare you?" Natsumi asked. Her face showed that she was unsettled by the prospect of having scared Sōjirō, the barista took a deep breath and then allowed it to flow out, he proceeded to slip into the seat across from her and settled his hands onto the desk as he tried to think about the words that he needed to say to Natsumi, in order to wipe that look from her face and reassure her.

"Well… I can't deny it was a little unsettling, after all I never knew you could do something like that," Sōjirō answered. Sōjirō figured it was probably best to be honest about what he had actually been thinking at the time of that incident. "Thought, I think what actually scared me… was the way you suddenly changed," Sōjirō explained. Natsumi's lips twitched ever so slightly but the barista couldn't tell whether it would move into a smile or a frown.

"Ah… I guess that would surprise anyone. I'm the kind of person who gets cold when I'm angry," Natsumi admitted. Thinking back to that moment, Sōjirō barely managed to restrain the shiver that had rocketed up and down his spine at the recollection of how icy Natsumi had become, almost like she was a yuki-onna despite it being summer.

"Natsumi-chan, I wouldn't exactly call that cold, I'd call it frozen," Sōjirō commented. Thankfully, the girl didn't seem to be offended by the words yet her expression didn't change at all which caused a hard lump to fill up Sōjirō's throat as ideas spun around his head. "Still, at least I won't have to worry about you walking around here at night, knowing you can keep yourself safe," Sōjirō added on. That finally removed the dark expression on Natsumi's face as she briefly smiled before it faded away and her expression hardened.

"I'm still worried about you though," Natsumi stated. That caused Sōjirō's expression to become confused as he tried to understand what Natsumi could possibly be concerned about. "He isn't back today, but he might come back at some other point when I'm not here… whoever he is, he's incredibly persistent," Natsumi commented. Her eyes cut about as if looking for something with a harsh intensity.

"You're not going to ask who he is?" Sōjirō wondered. He was a bit perplexed as to why neither of the kids had actually gone and asked the question that he'd been dreading; in fact he almost considering berating himself for even bringing it up in the first place, he should just let sleeping dogs lie, but the words had almost seemed to jump out of his mouth before he even considered what that question could mean for him.

"Not really, if you want to tell me then you'll tell me. All I need to know that he is someone who is hurting you," Natsumi answered. A shrug of her shoulder followed her words, it was quite a shock that she was just casually brushing off the idea of questioning him, but her words caused memories, cold and dark memories darted through his mind.

"It's not exactly me he's hurting," Sōjirō muttered. The words had slipped out of his mouth before he even realised and his eyes widened in shock at having let something so personal escape from him; Natsumi obviously didn't miss it, given the slightly raised eyebrow that she gaze him. "Oh- I… um… well- Natsumi-chan I-," Sōjirō began to scramble. He was desperately trying to recover from this without putting any danger on Futaba.

"But he hurt someone you do care about," Natsumi stated. Those words screeched Sōjirō's rambling to a dead stop as Natsumi calmly looked at him, the barista didn't really know if she expected him to respond to the question, but he knew that it was right to give her an answer; even though it seemed like she might allow him to get away from actually answering the question, but Sōjirō couldn't run from this particular issue.

"Yeah, pretty much," Sōjirō agreed. Arata had harmed Futaba so much before he'd managed to get Futaba to safety and Sōjirō always regretted having not been able to save his daughter in time; he had to do whatever was possible to keep Futaba safe from that man's clutches, it was the only way for him to atone for his failures and cowardice… hopefully Wakaba could forgive him one day.

"Then that's enough for me to know, he's a bad man who keeps intruding in your life," Natsumi stated. A weight seemed to fall off the man's chest at the fact that Natsumi didn't seem even a little bit interested in prodding more at his privacy; truly a miracle that Natsumi was willing to ignore something without Sōjirō even having to ask for her to do so.

"Alright, thanks for not prying Natsumi-chan," Sōjirō spoke. He was grateful that Natsumi was keeping her silence on what must have been many questions plaguing her mind, Sōjirō was desperate to keep Futaba safe from any harm even if what he was doing might not be the best way to go about doing that task; he still needed to do whatever was in his power… no more pain could hurt that innocent girl.

"Of course, Boss. You have been a good friend since I first walked into this place, yet you've also respected my privacy. I don't know who else would do that," Natsumi admitted. Hearing Natsumi call him her friend, sent an unexpected burst of warmth running through him, it caused a gentle smile to pull at the barista's lips as his expression softened a great deal.

"Well, it seemed rather rude to push into a young lady's privacy," Sōjirō explained. Natsumi proceeded to giggle at the words he'd spoken which caused a bigger grin to curl upon his lips. "But if you ever need to feel like talking about something, I am here to listen," Sōjirō insisted. He felt like there might be something burdening Natsumi that she didn't feel comfortable talking about, hopefully this would allow the girl to open up about that.

"Thanks Boss, it's good to hear and I might do so," Natsumi answered. Despite her words, there was a pained expression on her face as if something she was thinking about was causing her pain, which deeply worried Sōjirō. "But you know, you can talk to me as well. Even if it's just telling me if that man shows up again," Natsumi added on. Trust Natsumi to spin it back around on him, but it caused a breathy chuckle to escape from Sōjirō.

"Okay Natsumi-chan, if you insist," Sōjirō agreed.