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.
Thank you to Guest for your review.
I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy.
Chapter 25: - Fall of the King of Lust
It was the night before the board meeting and I had just finished up a routine with my naginata to try and calm the ever present nerves that were rattling my body. A chirp came from my phone so I quickly exited the bathroom, having cleaned myself, and opened it up; I already knew what this would be about, there was nothing else that could be discussed through the chat, in fact nothing else had been discussed. We might have avoided talking about it in public, but the nerves were clearly still hounding us in private where we could mention it safely.
Ann: Tomorrow's the board meeting, right?
Natsumi: Yes, and still no news about Kamoshida's condition
Ryūji: We're gonna get expelled if Kamoshida doesn't have a Change of Heart by then.
Ren: We did all we could.
Natsumi: Amamiya-san is right. We did everything in our power to change things.
Natsumi: The rest, as much as I hate typing this, is up to fate.
Ann: Either way, I'm not going to lose hope.
Ryūji: You guys are right.
Ryūji: It's too early to be giving up now.
Ryūji: Guess we're gonna find out one way or the other tomorrow.
Ryūji: We just gotta brace ourselves for all the possibilities.
"I'm not really the kind of person who does this but… Philemon, if you can hear me, I really hope you can ensure the Change of Heart. Amamiya-san and Sakamoto-san don't deserve to be expelled for doing the right thing, Takamaki-san doesn't deserve to keep living in fear of being hounded by a demented beast, Mishima-san and the other volleyball team members don't to keep suffering violence for another man's self-gratification… and Suzui-san doesn't deserve to have her tormentor get away with the heinous crime he committed," I spoke into the night.
For just a moment, I could have sworn that my butterfly hairclip buzzed with a warmth that soothed my mind as I took it off and closed my eyes to sleep.
*Persona 5 Royal*
The day of judgment had come and I was walking towards school with Amamiya, I'd been too nervous to read or even talk like we normally did and from the way Amamiya had been fidgeting constantly he must have felt the same. Morgana couldn't help with alleviating our issues either since only Kamoshida's Change of Heart could do that for us, we needed that beast to show up and do something about this situation already.
"Mondays are such a drag," A student complained. It was someone in front of us, so I focused on this likely pointless conversation just to pull my head out of the stormy thoughts that kept brewing in my head. "Why couldn't they give us today off, too? We have the rest of the week off starting tomorrow," The same student pointed out. I felt like rolling my eyes at such pointless complaining, there were far more serious incidents – the mental/psychotic breakdowns were still happening at random intervals – going on than getting a day off or not.
"Yeah, it's ridiculous. Speaking of, what's up with that calling card? The one sent to Kamoshida-sensei. Didn't it say something about stealing his distorted desires or something weird like that?" The student beside him commented. Huh, perhaps this conversation wouldn't be so pointless after all since it had turned to focusing on Kamoshida.
"Yeah, something like that…," The sleepy student responded. He also tried to stifle a yawn but failed. "I'm sure it's just a prank. No one's taking it seriously," The student added on. Whether or not others took it seriously, me and the rest of the Persona wielders most certainly were, I glanced at Amamiya to see that he had gone a little tense, but other than that nothing had become obvious about how he was feeling regarding all this.
However, when we got into class no one could even sit down, as the moment bags were set by chairs, Kawakami-sensei had us rushed out to the gymnasium due to some morning assembly that had been suddenly announced. I furrowed my eyebrows at this but went down with the rest of the class and when we all gathered, I stood next to Takamaki who seemed slightly nervous. I couldn't spot Amamiya, but he had probably gone to find Sakamoto… I wonder how Morgana was taking suddenly being ditched by this whole turn of events.
"What's with the sudden morning assembly?" A female voice wondered. Another female student believed it was about Suzui – calling her 'that girl that jumped' – but the scoff she emitted before speaking and the tone she used show some pretty heavy derision. "They don't have to tell us not to commit suicide," The student commented. Pathetic, these people didn't understand the whole situation and I bet they were the ones filming that whole scenario on that day.
"There was that weird calling card too, so I guess the teachers are freaking out," The same student to had insulted Suzui claimed. The principal probably was, especially what with Kamoshida suddenly suspending himself and not making sense; I could feel Takamaki's tension from where I stood beside her, I knocked the back of my hand against her own which she returned, I spotted Amamiya and Sakamoto stood together and both of them look concerned even as Amamiya gave me a consoling smile and reassuring nod. We had to believe it worked.
"Let's begin this school wide morning assembly," Kobayakawa commented. I lifted my head to look at the man who was guilty by association of the crimes Kamoshida committed. "As you all know, a tragic event took place the other day. 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. I implore that you re-think the importance of life and-," Kobayakawa patronised. He didn't give a damn about Suzui and I was disgusted listening to him; thankfully the opening of a door shut him up. "Kamoshida-san, what's the-!" Kobayakawa exclaimed. At his words, I turned to face the door and saw the man standing there, head down and shoulders bowed.
"I… have been reborn," Kamoshida claimed. A hand tightly gripped my jacket at those words and I reached my right hand over to clasp over Takamaki's hand. "That is why, I will confess everything to you all," Kamoshida added on. Silence hung over the students as the depraved man walked towards the stage and up the steps before facing us all as the students started to quietly chatter many confused questions. "I have repeatedly done thing that were… unbecoming of a teacher. Verbally abusing students… physically abusing my team and… sexually harassing female students. I am the reason why Suzui Shiho-san tried to kill herself!" Kamoshida confessed.
He hadn't needed the microphone; the gymnasium had been quiet enough for his words to reach everyone. The man dropped to his knees as he finished his words and the chattering immediately began again, this time of shocked disbelief at the confession that was being made by the man so many had applauded, they were horrified and reviled by the depths of his sins. I glanced at Takamaki and saw her desperately fighting back a smile even as her eyes gleamed with joy. A quick look over showed that Amamiya was having to physically restrain Sakamoto from showing his happiness.
"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 worse than that. I will take responsibility and kill myself for it!" Kamoshida confessed. My eyes flew wide at his words, I hadn't expected the change of heart to give him such suicidal thoughts… but did we have the right to stop this? The students started to get agitated as teachers and the principal tried to calm down the situation; at that moment the grip on my jacket vanished.
"Don't run, you bastard!" Takamaki yelled. Her voice silenced everyone, teacher and student alike, as they all focused their gaze on the girl who Kamoshida had hounded more than any other. "Shiho's still alive, even after all the things that made her want to die! You have no right to run from this!" Takamaki lectured. Kamoshida had dropped into a dogeza with his head pressed hard into the wood but at Takamaki's words, he lifted his head.
"You're right… you're absolutely right… I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes. I did horrible things to Takamaki-san as well. In return for giving Suzui-san a position on the team… I… I tried to force her into having relations," Kamoshida confessed. By this point, all were disgusted by the actions that Kamoshida had taken and I even heard a few express sympathy for Suzui and Takamaki. "As of today, I will resign from my position as an instructor and turn myself in. someone, please call the police!" Kamoshida added on. I fought down the smirk that threatened to rise to my lips as the teachers wove through the students and told them to return to us classes. The conversation turned into talk about the calling card as everyone was ushered out, leaving only me and my comrades behind.
"His heart really did change," Takamaki commented. Her body seemed lighter now, as if the unbearable weight of Suzui's condition and near fate had been lifted from her shoulders even only marginally; she was staring at the stage where it had all happened whilst the rest of us were gathered behind her as if watching over the girl in this silent moment.
"Seems like it," Sakamoto commented. Kamoshida had certainly changed, to have confessed all of his sins and pulled back the expulsion; his arrogant and snobbish attitude replaced by horror and regret… it had been quite satisfying to see our hard work pay off. "But was this really for the best?" Sakamoto asked. I glanced over at the blonde who had a complicated look upon his face, it was a surprise to hear him questioning our actions when he'd been one of the keenest to see the goal fulfilled.
"We had two choices Sakamoto-san: sit back and do nothing or take a chance and try to make things better. I'd much rather take action over allowing a crime to go unpunished," Amamiya admitted. His past, the thing he had done to earn his criminal record, he had only done the right thing and been punished for it but now that was not the case. "We did the right thing," Amamiya reaffirmed. His voice unwavering in its' conviction.
"Yeah… it's gotta be. But thing're happenin' way too fast," Sakamoto commented. I couldn't understand what he meant by that as we had to suffer through nearly two weeks of anxiety over whether or not Kamoshida would change his tune; footsteps sounded behind us and I turned around. "Huh? What the?" Sakamoto wondered. Behind us were Mishima and two girls from my class.
"Takamaki-san… I'm sorry," Mishima apologised. He also proceeded to bow to the girl who hadn't turned around until that moment, confusion present upon her face. "We all knew… but we pretended we didn't," Mishima confessed. With what Kamoshida did to him and the rest of the volleyball team, I found that I couldn't bring myself to be even slightly annoyed at Mishima for what he had done; to have faced such unbearable threats and punishment, he didn't deserve it.
"Takamaki-san, I had you all wrong… I'm sorry that I spread rumours about you!" The taller of the female students apologised. These people on the other hand, they absolutely needed to apologise, for they had made Takamaki's situation worse in my mind and only continued to add more suffering to her already deep pain.
"I didn't know at all," The black haired student admitted. Of course they hadn't known, yet they thought they had the right to spread such baseless rumours. "Kamoshida was forcefully pushing himself on you… it must've been so hard for you!" The student added on. The taller one claimed 'a ton' of people probably wanted to apologise to her, before adding on another apology; surprisingly Takamaki softly shook her head.
"No, it's okay. The same goes for me too… besides, that's all in the past now," Takamaki affirmed. A teacher marched over and ordered us to return to our class at once, frowning slightly at his rude tone I watched as the two girls proceeded to walk away from us; Mishima stood up and turned to face Amamiya with his gaze still focused on the ground.
"I can't apologise enough for what I did to you. I swear I'll make it up to you someday," Mishima insisted. He didn't wait for Amamiya to give a response and instead turned around to walk away from him; hopefully now Mishima and the rest of the volleyball team would be able to move forward from their horrific suffering.
"Looks like Kamoshida isn't the only one who had a Change of Heart," Sakamoto acknowledged. He then turned his gaze to Takamaki who was looking down at the ground. "Man, I'm glad for you. Looks like those weird rumours are gonna go away," Sakamoto acknowledged. Takamaki shrugged her shoulders as her head lifted up from its' tilted down position.
"My thing doesn't really matter. We made Kamoshida apologise about Shiho… that's more than enough for me," Takamaki admitted. She was really admirable, to take no self-gratification in seeing her own troubles overturned and be more concerned with how the pains her dearest friend endured were now no more was quite something.
"In which case, perhaps you should tell her about this when you next visit," I suggested. Takamaki agreed to my words, a soft smile coming onto her lips at the thought of relaying such good news to Suzui.
*Persona 5 Royal*
"I totally freaked out… he really did have a Change of Heart," Sakamoto commented. It was after school and we were now on the roof of the school having decided to meet up, the Olympic medal sat beside Sakamoto on a table while the rest of us were situated on chairs except for Morgana who stood on a table; Takamaki wasn't present, but she had been delayed slightly. "And we were lucky his mind didn't get messed up either! This was an A-plus job!" Sakamoto celebrated.
"Does this mean that they won't have a mental shutdown even if their Palace disappears?" Morgana wondered. More of that wondrously accurate yet strangely holey knowledge of our cat-shaped thief. "It must be like you said Natsumi, damaging the Shadow triggers a mental shutdown, so we need to persuade it to go back to its' real self. Our targets won't undergo a cognitive collapse if we do that," Morgana theorised.
"Fighting that mutated form doesn't seem to do any lasting damage, so we can hurt them then but in its' normal form… I'd suggest avoiding it at all costs," I admitted. Sakamoto claimed we could get them to confess with 'no bad stuff' which I took to mean the mental shutdown that Morgana had been concerned about, and then claimed it worked for him. Sadly, Sakamoto was being rather vocal about this discussion which we should be keeping quiet.
"Do you have to be so loud?" Takamaki asked. The girl walked over with an annoyed look upon her face, Sakamoto brushed her concerns away and proceeded to ask the more important question, how Suzui was doing. "She's regained consciousness!" Takamaki exclaimed. A big smile stretching across her face which made her already obviously pretty looks even more brilliant.
"For real!/Seriously!/That's great!/Wonderful!" Sakamoto, Amamiya, Morgana, and my own words overlapping with each other. If possible, Takamaki's smile seemed to get even wider but then a small hiccup escaped from her and she then crumpled down into a ball; instantly all of us were on our knees surrounding the blonde as Morgana wriggled his way forward to gently press his paws against the blonde who looked ready to cry.
"It was only for a little bit, but I got to talk to her! I was able to tell her that Kamoshida admitted to what he did!" Takamaki exclaimed. She pulled her head up and Morgana rubbed his head against her hands, causing a small, choked sob-laugh to escaped Takamaki as she stroked him briefly before lifting the cat into her arms and standing up; we all pulled back to give the girl space as she set Morgana on the table but continued to stroke him. "Shiho, she… she told me she was sorry… looks like she found out that I was flirting with Kamoshida for her sake… and here I was, wanting to apologise to her," Takamaki admitted.
"Kamoshida's at fault for all this," Morgana reminded. Takamaki agreed with a simple 'I know' as she dried her watering eyes and lifted up her head, a sad expression coming to rest upon her face as Takamaki revealed Suzui's mum was considering a transfer after she recovered and Suzui agreed with the decision to avoid the rumours and labels that would come if she returned to this school.
"I can't fault either of them. The physical trauma will be easy to overcome with good and consistent physiotherapy… but the mental and emotional trauma. Suzui-san may never recover, but I'm sure distance would help her more than coming back to this place where memories would assault her constantly," I stated. Takamaki nodded her head, her lips pressed into a thin line as her eyes stared ahead into nothingness.
"She's alive. You can see her anytime," Sakamoto pointed out. Takamaki nodded her head in agreement to this as well and went on to claim that she needed to change as well. "That aside, I was surprised you could hold yourself back against Kamoshida's Shadow," Sakamoto complimented. It was likely that the boy was thinking that he wouldn't have been able to hold himself back from doing such a thing.
"Yeah… having seen it now, I realise I really wanted him to just apologise for what he did. But at the time, I don't know… I don't think I could have held myself back… especially after seeing what he really thought of Shiho," Takamaki admitted. She then turned to face me and took a hold of both my hands within hers. "I'm glad you were there Natsumi, if you hadn't told me of what would happen to the Shadow, I don't know what I would have done without you talking me down first. And you were right, I don't want Kamoshida's blood on my hands. This revenge, tearing him down from his pedestal and having him grovel for the rest of his life… it's much better than a simple death," Takamaki admitted. A soft smile coming onto her face.
"Speaking of that incident," Amamiya spoke up. We turned to look at the boy and I saw him levelling a pretty heavy gaze at me which seemed to be made worse by the way he had crossed his legs and was supporting his chin with one hand… there was something strangely intimidating about that posture. "Chiba-san, don't ever do something like that again. I swear a few years got shaved off my life when I saw you charge in front of Carmen's fireballs!" Amamiya lambasted. Sakamoto, Morgana and Takamaki added on their own agreements, looking wilted and drawn as they must have been recalling how they felt when I darted forward.
"I won't apologise for my actions," I stated. All four of them looked at me as I removed my hands from Takamaki's grip and held them up in the air. "But I only realised then you guys didn't know the depths of danger associated with the death of a person's Shadow. I can promise though, it won't happen again," I responded. All of them seemed to soften as a smile of different varieties spread across their faces.
"Anyway, now that's all settled… there was one more thing I was wonderin' about that castle," Sakamoto spoke up. We focused on the boy as he leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "Why was Kamoshida the only one who had that Metaverse thing?" Sakamoto wondered. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but he seemed to be forgetting my prior experience with Palaces.
"He isn't," I answered. Everyone's heads – except Morgana's – practically snapped over to me so fast they could have given a person whiplash. "Remember, I've already collapsed one Palace, so others have the potential for them. As for Palaces in general, any negative emotion can cause one to manifest but they have to be pretty strong emotions in the first place, something which quite literally warps how that person views the world and those around them. Anyone could have one," I explained. Takamaki repeated the anyone part of my statement.
"Wanna check it out?" Morgana asked. I think that was asking a bit too much, these three were likely going to be suffering a bit of shock like I had been after collapsing the Opera House but perhaps like myself, they would come around to continuing with this; I certainly know I wasn't going to stop, after witnessing Kamoshida's distortion, a distortion that had endangered someone's life, I was all too willing to pursue anyone with such a distortion in their hearts.
"N-Not right now. We better lay low for a while. People are still gonna be talkin' about Kamoshida," Sakamoto protested. He certainly sounded unsure before relaxing slightly back into his chair. "Then again, it's totally impossible for someone to find out what we did at his Palace," Sakamoto claimed. However, a concerned look immediately descended upon her face.
"Yeah, about that… weird rumours about you two guys are already going around. Stuff like, you got together and threatened Kamoshida with something close to physical violence," Takamaki revealed. A groan and a thud came, and I saw Amamiya had his head resting on the table's surface as Sakamoto immediately exclaimed about such rumours already spinning around. "Don't ask me why Natsumi's been ignored," Takamaki added on. I shrugged my shoulders in confusion as well. "People aren't going to easily believe that phantom thieves really exist. The calling card's being treated like it was a prank by someone who knew what Kamoshida was doing," Takamaki clarified. That was no surprise in my opinion.
"Makes sense. We're the ones who did it and I still don't completely believe it myself," Sakamoto agreed. Takamaki insisted that we wait for things to settle down. "Anyways, let's check how much this medal can be sold for. It'd be better if we pawned it off asap. I bet that's what you did with the other Treasure, right Natsumi?" Sakamoto asked. He didn't know, but my muscles tightened in response as my hands curled into fists, my expression no doubt darkening quite considerably.
"I destroyed it actually. I never wanted to see that thing again or allow it to fall into another person's hands," I stated. My words dripping with venom as I glared off to the side, thinking of that recording still caused me to tense up, a warmth pressed against my tightly curled right hand and I looked over to see Amamiya giving me a worried look, he might know of my uncle, but I hadn't told him about Ouvrard… it was still a sensitive subject for me to think about.
"Oh... okay then," Sakamoto commented. I looked at the boy and found he seemed slightly scared as Morgana gazed at me with worry, a hand appeared on the back of my neck and softly stroked across the base and I saw Takamaki giving me a comforting smile. "Ooh, got a hit!" Sakamoto exclaimed. All eyes focused on him as the boy proceeded to gape in surprise. "Wait, thirty thousand yen!? That's all a gold medal's worth!?" Sakamoto exclaimed. It wasn't much, but then again gold medals weren't exactly a rare commodity.
"Remember that time in middle school? I lent you some money," Takamaki casually commented. This led to a brief segue way as the two of them debated the money being lent while me and Amamiya silently watched and I think Amamiya found the whole thing entertaining from the gleam in his eyes; Morgana let out a small laugh as he looked at all of us.
"I agree on laying low and keeping an eye on the situation. However, you dragged me into this. It would be nonsense not to celebrate a successful mission," Morgana suggested. It did make sense actually, we needed to do something to relax after everything we went through with Kamoshida and the stress of waiting for his Change of Heart. Ouvrard had been personal and less tense, plus the addition of everything Igor telling me had weighed heavily on my mind so I couldn't celebrate, but now…
"We had agreed to do something after all this blew over, why not use the money for that?" I suggested. Sakamoto agreed with my suggestion and even called it 'dirty money' which wasn't an entirely wrong description of what the cash would basically be like. Morgana seemed pleased by this if the grin upon his face was anything to go by.
"Discussions among phantom thieves are to take place over luxurious food. How about it?" Morgana suggested. Takamaki briefly protested before agreeing and even revealed that she actually had a place in mind for us to go, a place that her and Suzui had been wanting to go for a while; Sakamoto claimed his owing money took away his right to complain so turned to the two of us.
"Fine by me. I don't want that money lying around, we'll either get into trouble or I'll end up feeling horrible. Using it on a fantastic meal seems like a good idea," Amamiya agreed. I nodded my head, finding nothing wrong with the whole thing, Morgana agreed to abide by Takamaki's decision, so she agreed to check the prices.
"When should we go? Wanna do it soon, like tomorrow?" Sakamoto suggested. His tone had an infectious note of excitement laced within those words; Takamaki suggested the last day of the holidays to give us some energy for the school life afterwards, which was a fine point since our exams would be coming up as well. "Then… the fifth, on Children's Day," Sakamoto suggested. There were no arguments made.
"So, who's going to sell this?" Takamaki wondered. Morgana nominated Amamiya to do it. "Okay, I'll leave that to you guys," Takamaki agreed. I wonder who could possibly be willing to buy a gold medal – a legitimate one at that – and not ask any questions.
*Persona 5 Royal*
Returning to my house, I felt slightly better than I had for the past few days, which was no doubt down to the fact that I'd finally managed to clear Kamoshida's Palace and stop his cruelty from being inflicted on anyone ever again. I set about preparing my tea when the chirping of my phone distracted me, I picked it up and immediately went to the Chat. I really hope those four continued to stick around after all this.
Ann: Is that gold medal real? When did it get inside his Palace?
Ren: Morgana says it's a fake produced by his cognition.
Ren: Kamoshida still has the real one.
Natsumi: In spite of that, to any ordinary person, it's the real deal.
Ryūji: That's a relief. For a second, I almost panicked.
Ryūji: But how does Kamoshida still have the real one?
Ann: Who cares? What matters is that we changed his heart.
Ann: And anyway, if we had taken the real thing, that'd be stealing.
Natsumi: Besides, with his heart changed, I'm sure that medal will bring nothing but shame to him from now on.
Ryūji: You let go of stuff pretty easy, huh Ann? Wanna forget about my debt?
Ann: That's different. Five hundred yen is a lot of money for a middle schooler, you know.
Ann: Do you even still have that dolphin anyway?
Ren: Dolphin?
Natsumi: What are you two talking about?
Ryūji: Stop digging that up!
Ann: Back in middle school, we went on a field trip to the aquarium.
Ann: But Ryūji had to spend all his money on a souvenir, so I lent him some for the train fare.
Ryūji: I said I was sorry… that was for my mum.
Natsumi: That's actually rather sweet. To the both of you
Ann: Hahaha!
Ann: Well, I guess I can call it even after all we've been through.
Ryūji: Thank you.
Ryūji: Anyway, we don't gotta worry about selling that medal off if it's just a convincing copy.
Ryūji: End of story!
Giggles erupted from me as I set down the phone and returned my attention to the food I was making. This little meal we were planning was probably going to be entertaining at the least.
