We're nearing the end of this Arc hope you look forward for it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this.
Person 5 Royal Fanmake Gaston Arc Chapter 28
Gaston's Confession
The next day Aqua was on her way to school, despite it being Golden Week, Citadel Academy requested all students come in on Monday for a school assembly. Aqua sees two guys in front of her talking.
A Sleepy-Looking Guy yawns and said "Mondays are such a drag…Why couldn't they give us today off, too? We have the rest of the week off starting tomorrow…"
"Yeah, it's ridiculous." A Serious-Looking Guy said nodding then said "Speaking of, what's up with that calling card? The one sent to Gaston. Didn't it say something about 'stealing his distorted desires' or something weird like that?"
"Yeah, something like that…" The Sleepy-Looking Guy said "I'm sure it's just a prank. No one's taking it seriously."
Aqua smiles and keeps going to the school.
We come to the assembly where allow the students were gathered and were murmuring to themselves unsure what's happening.
"What's with the sudden morning assembly?" A Brown-Haired female student asked.
"I bet it's about that girl that jumped the other day." A Flashy female student said sighing.
"They don't have to tell us not to commit suicide." The Brown-Haired girl said.
"There was that weird calling card too, so I guess the teachers are freaking out?" The Flashy girl points out
Alexis sighs looking down as she listens to all students murmur to themselves.
"Let's begin this school-wide morning assembly." Principal Leo Lionheart said on the stage into a mic. "As you know, a tragic event took place a few weeks ago. Thankfully, we have been informed that she has pulled through, but it will take time until she recovers."
"Everyone here has a bright future ahead." Leo continued "I implore that you rethink the importance of life and…"
Suddenly the sound of a door opening cuts him off and Alexis gasped turning when she and the others in the assembly look to see who it was. It was none other then Gaston who held his head down.
Leo in surprise said "Mr. LeGume, what's the…"
"I…. have been reborn." Gaston said softly "That is why I will confess everything to you all…" He then walks up onto the stage.
"…Huh?" Alexis said confused. She wasn't the only one as several students were wondering what this was about and if the Volleyball team did something.
"I have repeatedly done things that were…. unbecoming of a teacher." Gaston began to say "Verbally abusing students…. physically abusing my team, and…. sexually harassing female students who I liked. I am the reason why Aoi Asahina tried to kill herself."
Gaston fell to his knees upset with the guilt that no doubt Asmodeus was hiding for him in his heart as the students hearing this were shocked and beginning to turn on him.
Gaston continued as he said "I thought of this school as my own castle…There were even students that I sentenced to expulsion, simply because I didn't like them…I will, of course, rescind those…I am truly sorry for putting innocent youths through such horrible acts…I am an arrogant, shallow…and shameful person. No, I'm wortse than that…" He then bows his head till hit was on the floor and said "I will take responsibility and kill myself for it!"
The students were shocked and wondering if he heard that, other teachers in the hall tried to reassure the students that Gaston wasn't well.
Leo in a panic, worried how this will look for the school and no doubt on him hurries over to Gaston and said "Mr. LeGume! Please get off the stage for now!"
"Everyone, return to your classes!" One of the teachers called out
"I…" Gaston said through his tears.
"Don't run, you jerk!" Alexis called out to Gaston glaring; Gaston looked up as all eyes were on Alexis she continued "Hina's still alive even after all the things that made her want to die! You have no right to run from this!"
"You're right… You're absolutely right…" Gaston said nodding rising to his knees "I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes…I did horrible things to Alexis as well. In return for giving Aoi a position on the team… I… I tried to force her into having relations."
The students hearing this all began to be disgusted and disillusioned by Gaston's actions as it became obvious to rumors about him were true.
"As of today, I will resign from my position as an instructor and turn myself in." Gaston said and then told them "Someone, please call the police troopers!" This of course surprised the students.
"Wow…" Uzi said in disbelief.
"I guess this confirmed it worked…" Aqua said nodding.
"This morning's assembly is over!" A teacher told the students "Return to your classes immediately!"
"Isn't this just like what that calling card said?" A Concerned Male Student asked
A Casually Dressed Student asked, "Does this mean the Phantom Thieves thing was for real?!"
"Was something done to Gaston?!" The Concerned Student asked worried.
"Come on, there's no way you steal someone's heart!" The Casually Dressed Student said.
"But why else would he start saying things like he'll kill himself or turn himself in." The Brown-Haired female student points out.
"Maybe because it almost got leaked?" The Flashy female student said thinking "Don't they go easier on you if you turn yourself in?"
"I wonder what happened…" The Concerned student said thinking.
"Who knows?" The Casually Dressed student said shrugging "But man, Gaston turned out to be one sick jerk."
All the students were talking to each other on this revalation and wondering what's going to happen now, to the Volleyball team and everything. Then the same teacher called out "Return to your classrooms at once!"
Soon the hall was cleared out the only ones in it were Aqua, Alexis and Uzi who look at the empty gym hall.
"His heart really did change…" Alexis said looking down.
"Seems like it." Uzi said with a nod but asked "But, was this really for the best?"
"I think so." Aqua said thinking.
"Asmodeus upheld his promise in the end we can take solace in that" Arsene said.
"Yeah…It's got to be." Uzi said nodding. "But things are happening way too fast…" Soon Penny and two other female students approach the three "Huh…? What the…?" the Drone girl said confused.
"Alexis…. I'm sorry!" Penny said to Alexis bowing.
"Huh…?" Alexis said turning to looking at them, a bit confused.
"We all knew… but we pretended we didn't." Penny explained looking down.
One of the two other girls a Tall Student said "Alexis, I had you all wrong…I'm sorry that I spread rumors about you!"
The other girl a Black-Haired Stident said "I didn't know at all…Gaston was forcefully pushing himself on you…It must've been so hard for you!"
"I'm sure there's a ton of people who want to apologize to you." The Tall Student said. "We're so sorry!"
Alexis shakes her head and said "No, it's okay. The same goes for me too…Besides, that's all in the past now."
Soon that Teacher from before comes over to the six students and said "Hey, you there! Return to class at once!"
"W-Well, see you later then…" The Tall Student said and she along with the Black-Haired student and Teacher leave.
Penny looks at Aqua and said "I can't apologize enough for what I did to you…. I swear I'll make it up to you someday." She then leaves.
"Looks like Gaston ain't the only one that had a change of heart." Uzi said surprised. She then looks at Alexis. "Wow, I'm glad for you. Looks like those weird rumors are going to go away."
"My thing doesn't really matter." Alexis said smiling shaking her head. "We made Gaston apologise about Hina…That's more than enough of me."
"You should hurry and tell her about it then." Uzi said giving a thumbs up.
"I second that" Aqua said nodding.
Alexis smiles nodding "…Yeah.
We come to round to the end of School time, Aqua, Uzi and Gatomon were on the roof hideout, the medal lay on the table there.
"I completely freaked out…He really did have a change of heart…" Uzi said to them both smiling happily. "And we were lucky his mind didn't get messed up either! This was an A+ job!"
"Indeed, you and your comrades did the job well!" Berith said to Aqua
"Does this mean that they won't have a mental shutdown even if their Palace disappears?" Gatomon said thinking. "I see…So we need t persuade the Shadow without killing it, and then send it back to its real self."
"After all they are Persona's that become corrupted into thinking they are the person" Arsene added and Aqua nods.
"Our targets won't undergo a cognitive collapse if we do that." Gatomon added.
"So, we can get them to confess with no bad stuff?" Uzi asked smiling "Hey! That works for me!"
Soon Alexis arrives looking annoyed and she asked Uzi "Do you have to be so loud?"
"Eh, don't worry about it." Uzi said shrugging. She then asked concerned "So…how'd it go? With Hina, I mean…"
"She's regained consciousness!" Alexis said happily
Aqua and Uzi were surprised and the drone girl asked "For real?!"
Alexis tears up crouching down and said "It was only for a little bit, but I got to talk to her! I was able to tell her that Gaston admitted to what he did!"
Aqua and Uzi remained quiet to let Alexis get through her tears of joy.
She then gets up and wipes her tears and said "Hina, she…she told me she was sorry…Looks like she found out that was semi-flirting with Gaston for her sake…And here I was, wanting to apologize to her."
"Gaston's at fault for all this." Gatomon told her.
"I know..," Alexis said nodding. She looks down "Hina's mom is thinking of transferring her to another school after she recovers. The whole sexual harassment and attempted suicide…people will label her after that. Sounded like Hina and her little brother had the same idea too."
"Sounds like it's going to get lonely…" Uzi said.
"But I think it's for the best…I'm sure it'll be hard if she stays here." Alexis said with a nod.
"She's alive. You can see her anytime." Uzi points out.
"Yeah, even when she moves you both can arrange meet ups." Aqua added nodding.
Alexis looks at them and admits "…I need to change too."
"That aside, I was surprised you could hold yourself back against Gaston's Shadow Asmodeus." Uzi told her.
"It wasn't like that…Asmodeus didn't have Gaston's face at that time, but I just wanted Gaston to apologize himself." Alexis explained.
"You're so kind, Lady Alexis." Gatomon said smiling.
"No matter how much of a scrapbag he was, finishing him off would have left a bad aftertaste, right?" Uzi asked.
"Huh? That's not it." Alexis said smiling to the others confusion "I think revenge is better servered if I make him repent. Realizing what he's done, he'll grovel for forgiveness the rest of his like, you know?" She was looking serious "I just believe there are fates worse than death."
"Oh my…" Uzi said surprised wide eye as she and Aqua look at each other both making a mental note to never get on Alexis' bad side. "A-Anyways, that's all settled…" Uzi said wanting to change subjects "But you know, there was one more thing I was wondering about that castle. Why was Gaston the only one who had that Metaverse thing?"
"It isn't necessary limited to him." Gatomon explained "It something anyone could have if their heart becomes warped from their desires."
"Anyone…" Alexis said
"Yeah…didn't Asmodeus tell our Persona's that there was something bigger?" Aqua asked
"Me and the others are just as confused on Asmodeus' words, so we can't answer that." Arsene said. "Through Zorro is remaining oddly quiet more so then normal, he might know something."
"Want to check it out?" Gatomon asked the group.
"N-Not right now." Uzi said "We better lay low for a while. People are still going to be talking about Gaston. Then again it's totally impossible for someone to find out what we did at his Palace."
"Yeah, about that… Weird rumours about you guys are already going around." Alexis told them. "Stuff like, you got together and threatened Gaston with something close to physical violence…"
"The hell?!" Uzi said in shock.
"Great like I needed more reasons for students to be wary of me with all the other false rumours." Aqua said sighing.
"People aren't going to easily believe that phantom thieves really exist." Alexis explained. "The calling card's being treated like it was a prank by someone who knew what Gaston was doing."
"Make sense…" Uzi said sighing. "We're the ones who did it, and I still don't completely believe it myself."
"Let's wait for things to settle down for the time being." Alexis suggests.
Uzi nods and gets her phone out "Anywaus, let's check how much this medal can be sold for." She said grinning "It'd be better if we pawned it off ASAP." She searches the internet "Ooh, got a hit!" Her LED eyes go wide "…Wait thirty thousand credits?! That's all a gold medal's worth?!"
Alexis smirks and said "Remember that time in middle school? I lent you some money."
"There's no way I borrowed thirty thousand credits from you!" Uzi told her annoyed as she puts her phone away.
"Wouldn't it be around that much with compounded interest?" Alexis asked grinning.
"Interest, Bite me!" Uzi told her.
"I'm not saying that I'm taking all of it." Alexis said shaking her head. "I mean, it's your fault for not paying me back all these years! It's just common sense!"
"Dammit…" Uzi said sighing.
"I agree on laying low and keeping an eye on this situation." Gatomon speaks up. "However, you dragged me into this. It would be nonsense not to celebrate a successful mission."
"I guess we could blow this dirty money on something fun." Uzi said smiling.
"Discussions among phantom thieves are to take place over luxiourus food. How about it?" Gatomon suggested.
"Hey, wait…" Alexis began to object but shakes her head smiling "…Nah, I guess it's fin. There's somewhere I want to go then. Don't worry Uzi it is robot friendly with all the food being able to be consumed by organics and robots."
"Oh, where's that?" Uzi asked.
"It's a place Hina and I have been wanting to go for a while." Alexis explained.
"I owe money, so I can't complain…" Uzi said shaking her head and looks to Aqua "You good with that?!"
"Sure, I am fine with it" Aqua said nodding smiling, she sure Vito would allow it as an reward for being on her best behaviour.
"I'll leave it to your discretion as well, Lady Alexis." Gatomon said smiling.
"I'll call and check the prices later then." Alexis said nodding.
"When should we go?" Uzi asked smiling "Want to do it soon, like tomorrow?"
"Why don't we go on the last day on the holidays?" Alexis suggested "It'll help energise us when school life starts up again the day after."
"Then…the fifth, on Children's Day." Uzi said with a smile and Aqua nods in agreement.
Alexis at the medal and asked "So, who's going to sell this?"
"Leave that to us." Gatomon said smiling looking at Aqua "We know a store that'll buy anything. Don't we, Aqua?"
"Yeah, I think I know which store you mean." Aqua said smiling.
"Okay, I'll leave that to you guys." Alexis said smiling. Aqua sweatdrops a bit.
Soon the group leave the school to head home.
After Aqua makes it home to LeBlanc and then there was a message notification in the group chat.
"Is that gold medal real? When did it get inside his Palace…?" Alexis asked. Aqua was curious too.
"No, that one is a fake." Gatomon explained "It's just a by-product of his cognition. The real medal should still be in his possession"
Aqua nods and messages "Gaston has the real one, the one we have is an exact duplicate."
"What…? You're telling me Gaston's still got the medal?" Uzi messages
"Who cares? What matters is that we changed his heart." Alexis said. "And anyway, if we had taken the real thing, that'd be stealing! I don't think he'll be proud of that medal anymore regardless."
"You let go of stuff pretty easy, huh? Want to forget about my debt?" Uzi asked.
"That's different." Alexis messages "Five hundred credits is a lot of money for a middle schooler, you know. Do you even still have that Horsea anyway?"
"Horsea?" Aqua messages, she was curious about this debt since the rooftop.
"Stop digging that up!" Uzi messages.
"Back in middle school, we went on a field trip to the aquarium." Alexis explained "But Uzi had to spend all her money on a souvenir, so I lent her some for the train fare."
"I said I was sorry…That plushie was to take to my mom when me and my dad went to see her." Uzi admits.
"Well, I guess I can call it even after all we've been through." Alexis said.
"…Thank you." Uzi messages "Anyways, we don't got to worry about selling that medal off if it's a fake! End of story!"
Aqua nods and puts the phone away. Gatomon then explained "Gaston will never be proud of that once-in-a-lifetime gold medal ever again. Depending on how you look at it, that punishment might be even worse that death for him."
"Agreed" Aqua said.
Vito comes out of the kitchen and said to Aqua "Starting tomorrow, you'll have a lot fo time off, huh? Must be nice…For me, it just means more customers and even more work. Oh, and another box came for you."
Aqua nods and claims her Muscle relaxation set she ordered. She then changes into her normal clothes to be comfortable and need the crossword and some studying to improve knowledge from Oblivious to Learned. She then went to bed aiming to sell the medal off tomorrow if she can.
Gaston has exposed his crimes and will be punished for it. Now to sell the medal
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