[Kamoshida's castle, the main hall.]

"Now, I'm going to fight!"

Shiho, now in her new outfit, tightened her grip on her whipsword and dashed, slashing one of the shadows in half. Taking this as her opportunity, she touched her mask and summoned Le Pucelle. "Kouha!"

The Persona raised her sword, and light suddenly struck another shadow, killing it instantly.

Grunting in rage, the leader used its sword and impaled itself, revealing a Berith. "I'm going to kill you for King Kamoshida's sake!"

"King Kamoshida? Stop making me laugh," The volleyball player said coldly, extending her whipsword. "He's just a loser, and that's it."

"Stop mocking, you brats!" Practically shaking in rage, the shadow threw his spear toward Shiho. Widening his eye slightly, Akira instantly rushed in and knocked the spear aside, pointing his revolver and emptied his clip.

"I wholeheartedly agree with you, Suzui," Smirking, Akira summoned Moriarty and sent a burst of curse energy, hitting it in dead-center. "We're going to take him down together!"

Smiling under her mask, Shiho restored her glare and touched her mask again. "Persona! Cleave!" Summoning her Persona again, the armored woman gripped the sword with both of her hand and slashed, knocking it down.

Rushing forward and pointing it with his revolver, Akira narrowed his eyes at the downed shadow while Shiho pointed her whipsword at it. "We could let you live if you just back away."

"I would never betray King Kamoshida!"

Dropping his gun for a little, Akira shook his head before pointing the revolver back to the shadow. "Suzui, let's finish this." He said, glancing at Shiho.

Shiho, on the other hand, only nodded slightly before lowering her whipsword and did a backflip. Dropping his revolver again, the two jumped into the air at the same time, using the walls and the ledges as support as they kept striking.

Once the attack ended, Shiho landed with a smooth crouch, swinging her whipsword before impaling it to the ground. "Blown Like Feathers and be Forgotten."

Once the shadow was defeated, Shiho tried to took a step forward when she suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Thankfully, Akira was quick enough to catch her, slinging her left arms over his shoulder while holding her wrist to support her.

"You're OK, Suzui?" He asked, concern was written all over his face.

"I'm fine..." She murmured, a faint smile crept to her face. "But... I was finally able to do something to help you..."

"I'm happy for you too," Sighing in relief, Akira straightened himself and proceeded to carry her to the room they're in. "Now, let's get you out of this place-"

"Is this some kind of filming?! Who's in charge here?!"

Widening his eyes at the sudden voice rang through the whole floor, the two glanced at each other for a split second. Even though they didn't want to admit it, but that voice... only belong to a specific someone.

"It's Takamaki/Ann!" They exclaimed to each other in unison, and Shiho's face suddenly turned into a horrified one.

"W-why would she be here?" Clutching her eyes to wipe the horrible thought in her head, Shiho stared at him with a determined look. "We need to know what's happening."

"Me too, but..." Trailing off, Akira's eyes drifted toward her legs. Even though it wasn't obvious, but her legs were shaking, both from exhaustion and fear. "Maybe you should go back to the real world first. I'll look after-"

"No!" Exclaiming and interrupting him, Shiho hardened her stare toward Akira. "It's Ann we're talking about. I can't just walk away!"

"But you're not in the best shape of fighting-"

"I'll try my best to assist you, OK?"

Staring at her eyes, Akira struggled on the decision to let her stay or not. "I..."

However, from the determination in her eyes, Akira could only sigh and nodded. He didn't want to let her stay, but her eyes... There's something in there which somehow... made him couldn't say to her. She's not doing a puppy eye, but he just couldn't say 'no' to her.

"...I'll keep you safe."

With that said, Akira fired his grappling hook and pulled themselves to a nearby ledge, releasing her from his support. "...Let's go."

After a few minutes of walking along the ledges, they finally reached the room and... they weren't expecting this. The room was filled with the cognitive version of the female members of the volleyball team, laying on the floor. They were wearing sports uniforms, but in a very sexualized way.

Shuddering at the moaning and the giggles from them, Akira glanced at Shiho who stay behind. "Suzui..."

Shiho didn't answer him, just stared at the cognitive members with a rage-filled gaze. "So this is how Kamoshida views us..." She murmured, clutching her hand into a tight fist.

Deciding to ignore the cognition around him, Akira continued his walk until they reached where Ann was held in. "There's she- Wait!" Noticing the three individuals in front of them, he hastily grabbed Shiho's wrist and grappled themselves to the ledges above.

Ann was tied into an X-shaped cross with her arms and legs cuffed with metal, a few guards standing beside her with their sword drawn. On the other side, Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana were blocked by the more guard's sword, unable to do anything.

However, the thing that caught his attention was that he and Ryuji were wearing their 'uniform'. Ren was wearing a black ankle-length tailcoat over his waistcoat, black pants, brown-black winkle pickers and a pair of red gloves, and a black and white, birdlike domino mask over his face.

Ryuji, on the other hand, was wearing a black jacket and pants with knee pads with a red ascot, combat boots, and a pair of yellow gloves over his hands. Judging from the black skull mask over his face, he had also awakened his Persona as well.

Then, there's... 'the mascot-like being' next to them.

"Let me go!" Ann yelled, struggling with the restraint over her arms and legs. "Kamoshida, you fucker!"

"We need to help her right now!" Shiho whispered in urgency, gripping her whipsword and readied to jump down at any moment.

However, Akira stopped her with her hands, narrowing his eyes at the three Persona users below. "No, wait," He said, pointing at the guards surrounding her. "We can't just hop in and save Ann, look at the guards."

Knowing that she couldn't do anything, Shiho could only bite her lips and held herself back. "Darn it..."

It's the worst option, but the only one in this situation.

However, Kamoshida's shadow suddenly walked into the room and grinned wickedly toward Ann. "You've got to be kidding me..." Shiho murmured, widening her eyes at him.

And to make the matter worse, a perfect copy of Ann appeared and clung to Kamoshida. Instead of a Shujin outfit, her doppelganger was wearing a purple bikini, which left very little to the imagination.

"It wasn't Takamaki's 'shadow'..." Akira murmured to himself, staring at the doppelganger with confusion. "What the hell is that...?"

"It's no use to resist, Takamaki," The king smirked, nodding to the guards next to him. "As your punishment, let's pay your intrusion with your life."

"NO!" Widening her eyes in horror, Ann struggled to break free from the cuffs, but it was useless. "Don't!"

Ryuji, on the other hand, gritted his teeth and turned to Ren. "Joker, can't we do anything to help her?"

"I... I don't know..." Ren muttered, tightening his fists.

"We can't just stay here and watch her..." Trailing off, Ryuji slowly, but unwillingly realized the dire situation they're in. "God fucking dammit!"

"I can't just let her die like this!" Gritting her teeth in anger, Shiho stared at Akira for a way. "Ichijo! Are we just gonna stay here and watch!"

"I'm thinking of a way now!" Clutching his eyes, Akira pulled out his grappling hook and aimed. "Please don't miss..."

He was aiming for the sword of the guard.

"Is this...my punishment?" Ann murmured as she closed her eyes, tears slowly leaked from her eyes. "I'm sorry, Shiho..."

The armored soldier stopped right in front of her, raising his sword and readied to strike. However, it didn't come.

Before it could do anything, Akira fired his grappling hook and attached the blade. Pulling with all his strength, Akira gritted his teeth and planted his foot to the wall nearby. Widening her eyes in surprise, Shiho instantly grabbed his hands and pulled as well.

Thankfully, the wire was too thin for Ann and the others to spot, and they only saw the guard's hand shivering for some reason. "Guard, just execute her," Kamoshida asked, growing impatient as time passed. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's goin' on?" Ryuji questioned.

"Joker, it's our opportunity!" Morgana suggested, gripping his Bandit sword. "They're distracted!"

"Yeah," Pulling out his pistol, Ren was about to fire when the voice of Shiho suddenly rang through the whole room, startling everyone.

"ANN! DON'T GIVE UP!"

Even though he's surprised, but Ren didn't overthink about the sudden appearances of her voice. Instead, he took a step forward and shouted. "Takamaki! Are you just going to give in?!"

"Huh?" lifting her head, Ann looked at them in surprise. And she saw two silhouettes on the ledges above, and a tiny hook attached to the sword. "...Shiho?"

"Takamaki! He's the one who tries to ruin Suzui and your life!" Skull added, clenching his hand to a fist, "Are you goin' to let this motherfucker get away with it!"

Biting her lips, Ann closed her eyes for a second before staring at Kamoshida's shadow with a determined and rage-filled gaze. "You're right. Letting this piece of shit toy with me..."

"What was I thinking...?!"

Kaomshida just gritted his teeth in response. "It's like I always say. Slaves should just behave and-"

"Shut up!" Ann interrupted, the cuffs around her started to crack as she regained her strength, physically and mentally. "I've had enough of this... You pissed me off, you son of a bitch!"

"My...it's taken far too long."

Before she could realize, a voice similar to her suddenly rang inside her head, accompanied by immense pain. She felt like her head was going to explode, but the voice only continued as she struggled.

"Tell me... who is going to avenge them if you don't?"

"Forgiving him was never the option... Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within..."

Ann clenched her eyes, letting out little gasps of pain as the voice continues to speak. She tensed and thrust her body in the air before slumping down.

"I am thou, thou art I... We can finally forge a contract..."

Head down and exhausted, she whispered. "I hear you... Carmen."

She lifted her head back up, and a crimson feline mask appeared on her face, covering the entire upper half of her head, "You're right. No more holding back!"

Kasmoshida gasped at the sight of the mask, taking a step behind with the cognitive Ann, both terrified. "You too?!"

Meanwhile, Shiho and Akira only stared at sight with the biggest smile ever. "She's awakening..." Akira murmured.

"Just like me..." Shiho trailed off, touching the edge of her mask.

"There you go... Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself."

With the new sense of power filling her, Ann broke through her bind. Taking her right hand, she clenched her mask.

"Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength."

With a scream, she ripped off her mask with a splatter of blood on her face, a wave of harsh wind whipped outward. And Ann was covered in blue flame.

With the flame depleted, Ann now wore a tight red leather catsuit with zippers all around. It left open a large window on her cleavage, showing her skin and the top of her breasts. A panther-like tail was attached to her back. A pair of pink leather gloves now covered her hands, and another pair of darker red boots encircled her upper thighs.

Noting the sword in front of her, Ann dashed forward and kicked the sword into the air. Jumping up and grabbed it by the handle, she swung down at her copy, with a loud cry.

The copy screamed as Ann slashed her right in the middle, dissipating into nothing.

Kamoshida stared at the now transformed Ann with fear and frantically took a few steps back. Taking this as their opportunity, the trio quickly rushed to her side as she stared back at Kamoshdia.

"You know what?" Ann narrowed her eyes at him, the sword in her hand morphed into a crimson leather whip. "I'm not some cheap girl you can toy with, you scumbag!"

"You shattered everyone's future, especially Shiho!" She yelled. "I'll rob you of everything!"

"How dare you!" A lieutenant shouted and absorbed other soldiers, convulsed into black goo, revealing a horrid looking demon with large horns and a beard, sitting on a toilet.

"No! I've had enough of you!" She retorted, clenching the handle of the whip, "NO one's gonna stop me now!"

"Let's go, Carmen!"

The battle between the demon between the four Persona-users was quick, and the tide was clearly favoring their side. Knowing that Ann's going to be OK, Akira turned to Shiho with a soft smile.

"I think she's going to be fine," He said. "I think we should leave by now."

"Leave?" Tilting her head in slight confusion, Shiho's eyes darted between him and the fight below. "But they're still fighting..."

"It looks like they don't need any help," Akira shook his head, glancing at her tired feature. "And it seems like your body has already reached its limit."

Even though she tried to argue, but the aching from her legs and arms said otherwise. Almost collapsing, Shiho sighed and nodded. "You're right... Let's go."

With that said, the two decided to leave the palace.

[Shibuya, Big Bang Burger]

Once the two arrived back in the real world, they decided to go to the Big Bang Burger for something to eat first.

"Now I feel a little bit better," Shiho smiled, taking a sip of her soda. "...First thing first, I want to thank you, Ichijo."

"Hmm?" Akira tilted his head in confusion, leaning back to his seat. "For what? I didn't do anything worthy enough for a thank you."

"No, you helped me to find myself finally," She deadpanned, stirring the soda with her straw. "Awakening my Persona... It all felt so surreal."

"It felt the same for me," He admitted, furrowing his brow at the memories of those images. "But... now we both have awakened our Persona. I think I'm not allowed to leave you alone."

"And I'm just going to enter that castle on my own if you refused," Shiho suddenly said with a surprisingly scary voice, making the atmosphere extremely chilling.

"O-OK, I'm not going to leave you alone," Sweatdropping, Akira decided to change the topic to something else, fast. "But I think we can't just go into that castle like this. We need medicine for an emergency, and some upgrade of weapons..."

"Remember that clinic in Jongen-Jaya?" Shiho suggested, wholly changed from back to her usual self. "Maybe we can buy some medicine from Dr. Takemi."

"You're right, it's a possibility," Nodding, Akira remembered something and turned around to glance at the alleyway outside of the glass window. "And I think there's a shop which sells model guns and such."

"Model guns?"

"That whole castle is how Kamoshida sees Shujin, and he never seems to aware of that place," He explained, turning back to face her. "What if that place is related to cognition? If so, maybe when we pull something that made those guards believe it's real, that thing will become real."

"Actually... I don't really understand," Shiho said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. "Cognition isn't my thing..."

"It's fine. I only studied it for a novel I was planned to write before..." Akira trailed off, closing his eyes to hold his emotion from flooding out. "Anyway, I'll handle the equipment, don't worry about it."

Nodding, the volleyball player took out her wallet and pulled out a few thousand yen. "Here, I don't want you to bear the cost on your own."

"It's OK, I still have enough allowance left," He declined with a gentle shake of his head. "Mitsuru gave me about two hundred thousand yens each month, and I never used more than one-fourth of it."

"two hundred thousand?!" Yelping in surprise, Shiho retracted her hands and blinked. "Being the cousin of Kirijo Mitsuru really did have its perk..."

"In some way, yes," Akira shrugged, checking the time with his phone. "I think the rush hour should be over by now. We should go home."

"Right," Nodding, the two stood up from their seat and walked over to the exit.

However, just before they entered the Shibuya station, Shiho stopped in mid-track and faced Akira.

"Hmm?" Tilting his head, Akira readjusted his shoulder bag for the third time. "What's the matter, Suzui?"

"I think we should not just call each other by our surname," She suggested with a shy smile, holding her hands behind. "Y-you agree?"

Surprised, Akira couldn't help himself but blush. "W-well... if you say so."

Widening her smile, Shiho took a few steps forward and held out her hand. "Well then, nice to meet you again, Akira."

"Nice to meet you again, Shi-Shiho." He shuttered, taking her hand into a handshake. However, he almost lost himself to her.

Even though with all those abuse and training, her hand was surprisingly smooth and very warm. For a second, Akira almost hoped that this moment could last forever. But he quickly stopped himself, and this thought banished by the time it surfaced in his mind.

Releasing each other from the handshake, he quickly blinked for a few seconds. 'What the hell are you thinking, Ichijo Akira!' He thought.

"Um... I guess we should exchange our contact information too, in case if I can't go back to school..." Shiho said, pulling out her phone.

"O-oh, right," Hastily nodding, Akira also pulled out his phone, and they exchanged their contact information.

Once the two exchanged their contact, they waved goodbye and went on their way back home. Stepping into the train station, Akira found Ren, Ryuji, and Ann on the side of the platform. Raising an eye in suspicion, he decided to hide away and eavesdropped them.

"...So basically, that castl-'palace' has a treasure in its heart, and if we steal the treasure, Kamoshida will have a change of heart?" Ann asked, crossing her arms as she pondered.

Ren nodded. "Pretty much."

"So that place is called a 'palace'..." Akira murmured to himself, pulling out his phone to take down any important point. "And if we stole the treasure inside, Kamoshda would have a change of heart..."

And then, the thing he expected the least happened. He heard the cat in Ren's school bag talked.

The cat TALKED.

"The corrupted part of his heart will be gone, but the sin he committed will remain," The cat said, and its voice was the same as that 'mascot-looking thingy'. "Since he's not able to bear the weight of those sins, he would admit those sin himself."

"He will admit those sins himself..."

"I guess so..." The blonde girl awkwardly laughed, still confused by the whole deal with 'Metaverse' stuff. "But it's too complicated for me..."

"I was the same as you when Morgana told us about this," Ren shrugged, looking at the passing train. "But you'll get used to it."

By the time he said that, Ryuji ran passed Akira and entered the conversation. "Hey guys, I'm back with some drinks for ya."

Then he shifted his glance to Ann, holding the two drinks in his hands out toward her. "Which one do you want?"

Ann's eyes darted between the two drinks for a few seconds before answering, "Whichever's not carbonated."

"uh... they're both actually."

Sighing, The blonde girl took the one in his left hand, "I'll go with that."

Ryuji nodded and handed the other one to Ren, "Here ya go, Renren."

"I told you, please don't call me that." Ren deadpanned, taking the drink from his hand and took a sip.

"What about me?" The cat, which probably was the 'mascot-looking thingy', which they called 'Morgana' said.

"Huh?" Tilting his head in confusion, Ryuji only gave it a 'are you kidding me' look. "But you're a cat."

If it were a usual case, this would instantly spiral into a spat-match between the two. Thankfully, Ann's giggle saved Ryuji from this fate.

"...have you calmed down, Lady Ann."

Nodding, Ann only looked at the cat with an uncertain glance. "Um... Morgana, right?"

"I really am talking to a cat... This feels so strange..."

Seeing that they're probably just going to have some more talks without any useful information, Akira decided to end his overhearing and went to the train.

The train ride was uneventful, just as he expected. However, with what happened today, Akira could help but look at his hand. For years, he had finally saved someone he cared about. And now, he's going to keep everyone from Kamoshida.

"I'm... No, we're going to save them, that's for sure."

[16th April]

Unfortunately, Shiho didn't come to school today. She texted him that she's going to take a break from school. Even though he expected it, but Akira couldn't help but felt a bit lonely, especially when she was his only friend by this point.

It felt weird to him, when he's been used to being alone after everything happened last year. But he had a mission to do today, to buy some medicine from Dr. Takemi's clinic. If he's memories didn't serve him wrong, it's called 'Butterfly Kiss'.

Writing down the shopping list in his old notebook, Akira almost missed that Ren and Ann were texting in front of him. And Morgana, who now stayed in Ren's drawer, was staring at him.

"He felt weird..." The feline murmured.

[Groupchat]

Ryuji: Hey, we're meetin' up at the hideout after school, right?

Ann: Don't text now. We're in class.

Ryuji: Whoa! You mean you're actually listenin' to all this crap?

Ren: Yep, but I just can't focus on what he is saying...

Ann: Yeah, but nothing of it is really sticking today...

Ryuji: I know, right?

Ryuji: Anyway, hideout after school?

Ann: Where exactly is this 'hideout'?

Ryuji: the school roof.

Ann: Wait, we can still go up there?

Ryuji: Yeah, I'll let you in

Ryuji: Welp, I'll be waitin'. Just come on up once school's over.

Ren: Gotcha.

Ryuji: I'm gonna find you if you're late!

Shaking his head, Ren was about to return to class when Mr. Ushimaru's yelling caught him by surprise. "Amamiya!"

"Hey! Pay attention! Is that how you listen when someone's talking to you!" Mr. Ushimaru continued his wraith to Ren, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Then out of a sudden, the furious teacher suddenly threw his chalk toward Ren, straight in his forehead. Even Akira was surprised and scrambled the shopping list into his drawer, internally hoping that he's not going to be the next target.

"That's what you get for daydreaming!" Mr. Ushimaru shouted in anger, somehow even louder than before, "Kids these days have no respect for their elders."

"good grief... Looks like you need more proficiency to dodge that." Morgana looked up at Ren for a brief moment before shaking his head in disappointment, earning an annoyed look from him.

"yeah... I know."

[Afterschool, Yongen-Jaya]

Once the school was ended, Akira instantly ran straight to the train and went to Jongen-Jaya. after a few more minutes of walking. He arrived at Takemi Medical Clinic. However, Dr. Takemi wasn't at the receptionist table she should be at.

Raising an eye in confusion, he decided to sit down to the chair nearby and waited. Meanwhile, he put on his headphones and played something to kill time.

Thankfully, it only took him a few minutes before the examination room's door opened, revealing Ren.

Now that's something he didn't expect.

Widening his eyes in surprise, Akira put down his headphones and paused the song. "Amamiya? Why would you be here?"

"I'm just going to buy some medicine, for my exam," Ren answered calmly, pushing his glasses. "Anyway, I should get going by now."

With that said, Ren exited the clinic. Sighing, Akira knocked on the door and opened the door. "Um... excuse me, Dr. Takemi?"

"Who is it?" Takemi returned with an annoyance-filled glance, but it quickly softened as she noticed it was Akira. "Oh, it's you. What's the matter this time?"

"I-I'm just wondering if I could buy some medicine," He explained, entering the room. "I'm not talking about those rumors around you, just... I recovered so fast last time I was here... maybe there's some medicine to help me recover my strength?"

"..." Narrowing her eyes, Takemi's eyes scanned his whole body before gesturing him to sit down. "You're surprisingly honest with your intention, that's a plus."

"O...K..."

"Well, I'm not doing a charity, and the ingredients aren't cheap," She said, writing something on her noticeboard. "You get that?"

"Yes, I did."

"Well then..." Trailing off, a faint smirk crept to her face. "After all, two test subjects for my medicine would be beneficial."

"So, you can buy my medicine," Takemi said, putting down her board and pens. "But in exchange, you need to help me to test my medicine, got it?"

"Of course, if those medicines can help millions, I'm all for it."

"Well, it's not technically millions, but many people," Smiling, she held out a hand to him. "Then a deal was made."

Nodding, Akira held her hand, and they shook their hands. "I'm happy to cooperate with you, my little Trial Rabbit."

"Trial Rabbit...?" Awkwardly smiling, Akira couldn't help but shiver. "Can't you have something else like... guinea pig?"

"The guy before you took that name already, so you're just going to cope with it," Takemi shrugged, but her face quickly changed into a serious look. "In all seriousness though, I have someone if you need someone to talk with."

"Huh?"

She took out a name card and gave it to him. "His name is Maruki Takuto, he was... an old friend of mine, and I think he's a counselor."

"OK... Thank you, Dr. Takemi," Surprised at her action of help, Akira took the name card and smiled at her. "Anyway, about my medicine..."

"Oh right," Widening her eyes for a second, Takemi quickly gave him a list of medicines. "Take your time, and ask me if needed."

[17th April, Shibuya's main street]

The sun shines bright in the sky, creating a few droplets of sweat as Akira arrived at the store. 'Why would I wear a hoodie here...' He thought as he took a look at the signs.

"Untouchable..." Shrugging, Akira entered the store and noticed two people in the shop. The first one was a middle-aged man with gray hair, faint stubble, sideburns, and earrings, which he assumed was the owner of the store.

However, the second one was a girl a few years older than him. She had neck length black hair, part of it being tied up in a small bun with two chopsticks. Also, a thin white ribbon was visible in her hair, and had cerulean frost eyes lined with eyeliner with a beauty mark at the corner of her eyes.

She was wearing a white shoulder-length-sleeved v-neck jumper with some blue embroidery around the collar, a knee-length skinny blue short with knee-length white stockings accompanied by blue and white boots.

Raising an eye in curiosity, Akira quickly snapped himself out of it and walked over to the counter. "Excuse me, I want to look for something," He asked politely.

"You lookin' for recommendations?" The owner asked, his tone was clearly not friendly at all. "Whaddya want? An automatic? A revolver?"

"Actually, I want a semi-automatic sniper rifle, a SCAR-L with a two-time scope should do the job," Akira answered, rubbing his chin as he thought of anything he remembered. "Also, I want a revolver too, a magnum revolver, to be exact. A .44 Smith and Wesson... maybe?"

Widening his eyes slightly, the owner put down his newspaper and smirked slightly. "Well well well, we got a professor here."

"Luckily, I just restocked last week, so I have the guns you're asking for," He said, taking two boxes of model guns from the storage room behind the counter. "A SCAR-L with adjustable zoom magnification, and a Smith and Wesson .44 revolver."

Smiling brightly, Akira took out his wallet and took out about seven thousand yens. "So uh... how much are they?"

"It'll be 5000 yens," The owner replied, taking out the 'cigarette' in his mouth, which revealed to be a lollipop. "So... how did you know about guns? I'm just curious."

"I researched a lot about guns for a novel I wrote a year ago," Akira explained, holding the two boxes in the plastic bags. "I'm that kind of writer who spent too much time making sure every detail is right, I guess..."

The owner shrugged, but the other girl came back with a... musket?

"How much is it, boss?" She asked, putting the musket on the counter.

"It's 16900 yen," The owner replied, narrowing his eye at the musket.

Akira, on the other hand, raised an eye at the girl's choice of firearm. "A musket, Huh? Are you some kind of collector or something?" He muttered out loud, just enough for the girl to hear him.

However, the girl gave him a death glare in return, "It's none of your business."

Taking the charges from the owner, she gave Akira another heath glare before exiting the shop. "Typical Aobara for ya, kid," The owner said, pulling the newspaper over his lower face.

"Aobara?"

"She's Aobara Aoi, one of my few regular customers." He explained, shrugging. "But other than that, I can't say anything about it."

"OK..." Trailing off, Akira glanced at the door of the shop. "Well... It's not like I'm going to meet her again or anything."

With that said, he exited the store and went back to the main street. However, just as he was about to go back to the train station, he noticed Ren was talking with Ryuji next to the green train nearby.

Why would they be here? They're probably coming to Shibuya for the same reason as him.

But now, with all preparation done, it's time for them to infiltrate Kamoshida's palace.

And he's going down.

Preview:

Preparation done, Akira and Shiho readied to infiltrate Kamoshida's palace.

One by one, memories of the past slowly surfaced again.

But no matter what, they still had to focus on the crisis they needed to deal with.

However, the two groups of Persona Users finally meet.

Next Chapter:

"The Past and The Present"

Stay Tuned!

So, before continuing, I'm happy to announce that this version of Another Thief would have a few extra OCs! And Aoi is only the first one of them!

And thank you, RosyMiranto18, for introducing them to this fic! :D

Now, with all preparation done, time for the infiltration! And there's going to have a few differences between the old version and this version of Another Thief.

In all and all, I hope y'all like the fic so far!

Reviews are welcome!