Persona 5: Daywatch

Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Afternoon
Shibuya, Untouchable

Ryuji babbled with excitement, the rare opportunity to be in the zone taking over common sense. He went on about sighting and recoil compensation for automatic weapons, since he and the transfer student would be using the same general category for the rest of the Palace.

Akira nodded and tapped something into his phone. "I dunno what all the fuss is about a window unit, if the place isn't insulated, it's not going to do much good."

From within the transfer student's satchel, the team leader reproached, "Take what you can get, Joker. I had no idea heat could be responsible for your bad sleep. This could be a big help for your health in and out of the Metaverse."

Ryuji scrolled up on his phone, then spotted what he was looking for and opened the first image with the correct name. "Oh! Oh! Here it is, I just couldn't remember what the Brits called it! A SUSAT's what'cha want. Or maybe ACOG if you wanna American-style, but that might be more range than ya need."

Big Man strode from the back with a white paper box in his hands with the transfer student's order. The gruff dude made out of awesome sat down on that squeaky little stool. "Kids seem way more into their hobbies these days. Didn't I just see you at the arcade playin' Gun About?"

Ryuji kept browsing gun modifications. "'Cause it's effin' awesome!" His eyes popped wide for a moment. "So if we're all gearin' up, I still gotta pick the next upgrade for my RPK-74."

Big Man chuckled. "Leave it to you to go for the paratrooper style. You know what direction you want to take it?"

Ryuji gave a wide grin as his heart thrummed at his life's gun passion. "Oh, yeah. Eventually I wanna make it a night assault variant like Sergeant Lukasenko's." He flexed his left hand, remembering how hard it was to control it yesterday, especially when he needed to sweep across a group of closely-packed Shadows. "But for right now, I think it needs a hip brace an' dot projector." He glanced at the transfer student, remembering how he stiffened any time he spotted the cops. "Oh! An' I'm gonna need it to be disassemble-able …so I can bring it 'round to fan clubs an' competitions."

Big Man chuffed. "Right. Clubs." He set the black gym bag behind the counter. "It's a lot easier just to bolt the damn thing on, Little Man. You sure you wanna be able to break it down? That's gonna take all day to finish."

Ryuji waved at him. "All good, Big Man. Ain't gonna need it 'til tomorrow."

Iwai nodded and took the up-front portion of the payment. That done, he slid the white paper box up to the window and looked Akira in the eye. "Like I said, this is the only FN P90 I got an' only 'cause of an order cancellation. This baby ain't exactly top with collectors 'cause it's a pretty common modern gun, still in production, and it's got no big marks in history like his World War Two or Cold War models."

Akira gave a nod and pulled out his wallet. "I understand, Iwai-san. This is exactly the gun I'm looking for." He set down a bunch of cash, making Ryuji wonder if he really needed help buying an AC unit, then took the box containing his new gun.

"Pleasure doin' business," Iwai said before picking up Ryuji's gym bag hiding his disassembled RPK, and heading to the back with it.

They stepped outside, but before the transfer student in long-sleeved summer wear could depart, Ryuji turned his best grin on him. "So, dude. 'Koto said you were hittin' lightweight in there. I know there was all that exhaustion shit blowin' up my phone last night."

"And this morning," Akira said, remembering the messages picking up after he left the clinic.

Morgana popped out of the transfer student's travel satchel. "And don't let Nightrider catch you calling her 'Koto', she'll probably throw you."

The runner waved off the concern. "You know what I mean." He patted the hip pouch he had clipped on. "I got myself a change, an' Protein Lovers' is right 'cross the way. Wanna work that flab? Can't hurt to getcher'self ready for the Palace."

Akira turned his phone over in his left hand, his steel-grey eyes making those small twitching movements like he remembered Captain Ikeda doing when planning out some future practice out from under the jealous eyes of Kamoshida. He shook his head. "I didn't bring any spare boxer-briefs." He glanced down at the team leader. "Why don't you go with him? Maybe you can spot 'im."

Ryuji knew the sound of 'I got something else to do', so he didn't push it. "I gotcha, dude."

To his surprise, Morgana hopped out and sat down next to the runner. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Akira held up his hand, touching his thumb to each finger. "Oh no, look, I'm doing something you wouldn't do."

Morgana's ears pressed flat against the back of his head and his tail started to twitch.

The transfer student turned for the train station and headed off.

Ryuji shrugged down at the team leader, smothering a chuckle. Sure, it was funny, but it wasn't the team leader's fault he didn't have opposable thumbs in the real world. "Hey, 'e's just messin' with ya."

Morgana's eyes narrowed through the crowd. "No, Ryuji. He's making excuses and trying to push us away. He's planning something – I knew it since he came back to the loft to grab a change for the bath house." He looked up. "How's your stealth?"

Ryuji blinked, clueless as to what the damn cat was insinuating.

Morgana sighed. "I mean let's follow him to see what he's up to."

Epiphany dawned over Ryuji's face. "Oooh! You're 'fraid he's doin' the hanky-panky with Ann on the D-L." They definitely had sparks and sidelong glances, but lately he'd started to wonder. He'd spotted Ann looking sidelong at Mishima, before. Did Akira finally make a move? If they'd just rent a room at a love motel and get to it, they'd save everyone a ton of time and deal with all that stress they were wrapping themselves up in.

Morgana stood, his tail vibrating with tension. "No way! Now get your mind out of the gutter and help tail him. No getting spotted!"

Before the runner could argue, he dashed into the crowd after Akira. Despite the half-minute lead, it wasn't hard to follow the amateur crowd-runner. Instead of heading to the Yongan-Jaya line, Ryuji spotted their quarry taking a line to the east. With no bag to hide Morgana in, he hoped nobody would raise a fuss and sprinted into the next train car after the transfer student.

He almost missed Akira getting off and had to hold the doors open for the little mongrel to get off with him, but the next station was empty enough to spot the transfer student taking the stairs up.

Faint resemblance tickled the back of Ryuji's mind as he trailed the focused transfer student to a secluded alley. When the runner turned the corner, there was no sign of the transfer student. Which should have been impossible, he heard those footsteps stop. He paced into the dingy alley, baffled. "The eff he go?"

Morgana shook his head, horror in his voice. "No, he wouldn't be trying to go for it alone."

"Go for what alone? I thought we were only on Sakura's dungeon, an' this ain't the place to get to Mementos."

Morgana shot him a narrow look of disappointment. "Mementos is the collective's Palace, you can reach it from almost everywhere. But didn't you recognize the buildings at all?" When the runner didn't respond, the team leader shouted, "It's the KFTV complex! Togo's Palace!" Morgana hopped off, and dashed towards the spot where Akira probably vanished from. "Come on!"

Ryuji pulled up the Nav. He didn't remember the target's name, but to his relief the Nav history still had Togo Mitsuyo. "Uh… location. The, uh… KFTV place?"

"Condition has not been met."

Morgana's tail was twitching, but he came to a stop next to the runner. "Use your head! KFTV Studio! And temple!"

"Beginning navigation."

The street lurched underneath him and the buildings twisted as if writhing in agony. Churning maroon clouds blotted out the sky and the surroundings snapped back, though they seemed smaller and… wilted, somehow. Both halves of an empty white paper box lay discarded on the street nearby.

A thump sounded, followed by Akira shouting, "This is bullshit! You weren't here before!"

Morgana drew his folded-rod crossbow and looked up at the plate-jacketed Thief. "Well, this was easy." He dashed out and the runner followed to an enormous, pearlescent gate with a strange hybrid of a Japanese castle, a Shinto temple, and a couple of those stacked Chinese temple-tower things for added confusion. Behind the gate's wide bars rolled thick fog. Lightning flicked between the churning maroon clouds above, though no thunder sounded.

"Yo, Joker!" Ryuji shouted as he strode up the street from the alley. "The eff you doin' here? I thought we were gonna take down Sakura's dungeon."

"It's a Palace," Akira snapped, crouching down to squint at something etched into what he thought was a name-plate on the gate. "And I promised to start changing Futaba's Palace with you guys. We started. I also promised Hifumi I'd change Togo's Palace."

Morgana patted his packed crossbow in his free hand. "Why would you try something insane like trying to steal her mother's heart alone?"

Ryuji slapped his forehead – or would have if his glove didn't plunk against his heavy skull mask. "Togo Hifumi? Dude, I totally get it! She makes a fucking hot shrine maiden." When Akira glared and Morgana stared, he explained, "What? You think I can't google some chick's name when you an' Fox went on an' on 'bout her in chat?"

"No," Morgana snapped. "We are not getting side-tracked. Akira, you've made impulsive decisions before, but you tried to ditch me. You were planning on coming here. Did you learn nothing from anything I've taught you all?"

Akira turned, his P90 in his right, and slipped that over-sized 'survival knife' from a coat pocket. "I learned to come prepared." The corner of his lip twitched, but he must have picked up on the mood because his smirk flattened. "Do you guys believe in God? Or fate?"

Ryuji snorted. "No."

Morgana's tail drifted in a slow swish back and forth behind him.

Akira put away the blade. "My old bastard taught me how to hurt back, and Mother taught me how to fend for myself. But I didn't know who I was or what I could be… until I came here to Tokyo."

"You wanted to be a doctor," Morgana proffered.

"Everyone wants to be a doctor." Akira sighed. He leaned against the gate. "I wanted to be someone. But it's not like I had a lot of examples. Mother partied all the time. The old bastard hurt people for a living. If he wanted to do it, my best guess is to be the opposite." He switched his P90 to his other hand. "Thing is, people ask questions. Assign essays, and make me do it again when I clown it up. Especially on career day. Nobody'd believe the son of a doctor who's the son of a doctor not going into medicine. Father Motoori was the first person in my life who didn't give a song and dance about what career I wanted, he demanded that I be someone… Didn't let me give some canned answer about what my future was gonna be 'cause…" His eyes flicked to his gloves for some reason. "Well, the point is he wouldn't let me go without knowing I had a real thing to go for." He rubbed his arm. "Shiho was the first girl I told who acted like it wasn't some stupid dream." He blushed under his mask. "And Hifumi… I haven't even told her, but she thinks I can be someone legit. I want to be who she thinks I am. If a good person like her can't do it, there's no hope for me. Maybe not for any of us. I have to do this for both of us. So, please… don't tell me to just walk away."

Ryuji had no idea what to say to all that, so he looked to the team leader.

Morgana tapped his crossbow against his hand a couple times as he sized up the boy in a red-light-district magician getup. "That's the first time I've heard you say 'please'." Long, silent moments ticked as he scanned the longcoated boy almost vibrating with tension. The leader deployed his crossbow. "Today's supposed to be a rest day so we can hit Sakura's Palace full strength. This will be a brief scouting venture only."

Akira fist-pumped. "Yes! I will never ask you for anything again!"

Ryuji doubted that, but mister red-light-magician looked like he was vibrating with excitement for pulling a fast one on the team leader. The runner grinned. "So, what's the hold up?"

Akira stood back from what at first appeared to be a name plate fixed into the gate, and read the text on it. "She is born with me, and I can make the strongest man fall. Though she may not see me, I am treasured by all."

Morgana said, "Beauty."

The instant he said the word, metal clinked and the gate sank flush into the ground.

Ryuji clapped. "Nice, Leader. But… uh… I can kick some serious ass with Captain Kidd, but relyin' on him is gonna wear me out. You guys got your weapons. I was expectin' to hit the gym."

Akira started searching through his longcoat pockets. "Oh, right. I'm so used to carrying that other gun around, I've still got it." He handed the FN-P90 to the runner and pulled the parts out, then assembled his PP-91 KEDR.

Feeling like a proper soldier with a gun in his hands, Ryuji followed the catboy team leader into the misty temple-castle grounds. He'd have sworn eyes peered at them from deeper inside the complex, but they vanished whenever he looked straight at them. The thieves advanced to the covered porch.

Morgana pressed against the wall for a moment, his face scrunched up before he let out a sneeze. "I don't like Palaces with fog. Their layout isn't as stable as other Palaces. I can't smell a thing, and it's almost impossible to be sure where the true location of the Treasure is."

Akira's KEDR laser dot projector cut a menacing red beam through the fog. "You said it was pretty close to that veneration… room we ended up in. If Togo's got any vanity at all, she'll want to connect it so almost anywhere leads back there."

Ryuji nodded. "An' if the fog can roll in, there's gotta be some way to make it roll out."

Morgana puffed out his chest. "Sounds like you two have been taking my lessons to heart." He came to a stop next to a sliding wood door. Another carved wood placard like on the front gate was set in the center of the door. "I am light as a feather, but no man can hold me."

Ryuji grinned at the opportunity to look smart. "Any runner knows that. Breath."

The wood door slid away with a sound of finality.

Akira shot him a smirk. "That was gonna be my second guess."

Instead of fog, an audience hall with the same layout as a big-wig corporate lobby stretched out before them, but with old, stained-wood furniture. A huge standing screen divided the middle of the room, like he'd expect from an ancient castle, but on it was a photo-realistic depiction of that angry woman in Mementos who turned into a sexy demon. He spotted a merchandise cart with shirts and coats to one side, all bearing the same pretty woman's smiling face. Sitting behind the receptionist's desk was something in the shape of a woman with huge tits, and a red business dress to show them off. Her skin was black as the night sky. Instead of a face, she bore a Noh-style mask with a thin, flat mouth and deep circles etched under her eyes. Other Shadows of either similar creepy girls or emaciated guys, all wearing masks with tears under the eyes, bustled about the rest of the area in the same way he would expect from a modern TV studio.

Akira, having jumped to the side for cover, whispered across the doorway, "Army of Shadows, or are those cognitions?"

"They appear to fit into the general thematic setting of the Palace," Morgana said before walking in, keeping his crossbow at the ready, followed by the other two.

The runner would've sworn the receptionist's mask winked, now showing them a wide smile, though with a tear painted under one eye. She said, "Welcome to Togo the Great's Temple. How can I help you?"

Akira shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "We're here to get to the… um… what do you call that place where Togo-san was on a stage, surrounded by people worshiping her?"

"The Hall of Adoration," the receptionist said. "Her broadcasts used to go all over the world until her career at NHK was cut short. Now only the vetted may have the privilege of personally basking in the beatific glory of Togo Mitsuyo."

"I'm almost afraid to know what she thinks of Hifumi," Akira grumbled.

The receptionist tapped away at her computer. "The Idol Who Brings Glory is currently undergoing training to bring her around to right thinking until she concedes the bikini modeling. She will be in the Hall of Correction when not out on tours to bring glory to Togo the Great."

Ryuji smiled. "Hot girl in swimsuits? How can that go wrong?"

Akira's gloves groaned and his face twisted in anger. "Training to right thinking?"

"Correct," the receptionist said, her hands tapping away at the clunker keyboard for a moment. "She has been isolated from subversive influences and punished for attempts at socialization with inferiors. Any contamination of her could reflect badly on Togo the Great."

Ryuji caught the longcoated boy's wrist before he could raise his KEDR at the receptionist. "Keep it cool, dude. Every Palace is gonna be twisted. Like those sexy chick statue things at Kamoshida's castle."

Morgana coughed to get the wannabe-red-light-magician's attention. "Reaper is right. Keep your eyes on the Palace Ruler and don't get distracted by every distortion along the way." He glanced left and right. "Stay here, I'm going to scope out the exits."

Akira's jaw clenched for a long moment before he forced out a breath and made himself nod. Standing steadier, he asked the receptionist, "So how do we get to Togo?"

The receptionist pointed at a door on the right. "The Hall of Offering is the first step. Anyone may worship Togo the Great, but only those who are properly vetted have permission to ever come close to her again."

Akira's head tilted. "Again?"

Morgana zipped back to cover in front of the receptionist's antique desk. "Other door says 'Hall of Interns'. And there's another riddle on it."

Ryuji gave a nod of thanks to the maybe-Shadow-maybe-mind-person. They headed to the door on the right, labeled 'Hall of Offering' at the top, and slid it open. A covered walkway stretched on to a new building, fog rolling to both sides but only thin wisps intruding on the raised path itself.

They got a couple paces before the laser projected by Akira's KEDR shot to the left into the fog and he dropped into a firing stance, his breath dropping into a clipped but steady rhythm. The runner would've thought nothing of it, but the team leader also has his crossbow pointed into the murk.

Ryuji glanced into the mist swirling into more of the temple-castle complex. "What?"

"Did you not see those eyes?" Morgana snapped. "That guard dog must've been the size of a barn!"

The runner frowned at them. "Shouldn't we 'a seen somethin' that big our first time in?"

"We were on the roof more than half the time!" The leader snapped back.

Akira kept his KEDR up and pointed into the fog but paced down the walkway to the next door, where a large slotted box jutted out of the wall. The sign above the door said 'Hall of Offering', but the box said – "One million yen?" Akira kicked the collection box.

Two Shadows of the same white-and-red garb and Noh masks burst into being next to the door, then swelled and burst into a pair of stacked women in almost-shrugged-off court robes, twin fox tails jutting out from behind them.

Ryuji shot a quick burst into one, the NATO rifle rounds of his borrowed P90 driving the sexy Shadow woman back just one step.

"Zorro!" The team leader followed up without hesitation, his brawny Persona zipping in to stab his rapier into the Shadow foxy-woman he just shot. "No lightning!"

Akira frowned. "I remember. Raksha!"

One of those red-clad figures he recognized from the bank coalesced and slashed both her long, forward-curving swords into the same foxy-woman they already struck, driving her to her knees.

The other foxy-woman danced, making a twirl and step forward, shooting a lightning bolt at Akira's swordswoman Persona. He growled, stumbling a pace back.

Zorro's eyes glowed with foxfire, the same aura flickering over the fox-women before smashing them both into the wall.

The battered one dissipated, but the remaining one snarled and leaped at Akira's Persona, claws extending out of her fingernails as the Shadow swiped at the swordswoman.

Akira stumbled, but his Persona kept her feet and slashed back.

With their guns little use against these Shadows, Ryuji called, "Let 'em have it, Captain!"

Kidd coalesced and pointed his arm-cannon, shooting a concussive pulse of solid wind at the Shadow, knocking the almost-naked woman into the wall again. She dissolved before hitting the floor.

The Shadows down, the Thieves dismissed their Personas and Morgana examined the door, then building in detail. "That could all have been avoided." He led the Thieves to one of the outer pillars supporting the roof and climbed up, following the rafter to a vent. "Good thing most people only know about standard screws."

He fiddled with the panel and a few moments later, four screws tumbled to the ground, then followed by a painted screen which looked very close to the same as the top of the wall it was set in. The other Thieves followed him in, and they came to a vent looking down into what could have passed as a museum hall with old wood flooring and furniture, except for tall flat-screens next to glassed-in displays. Morgana passed the vent and Akira smashed through it, letting them all drop down.

As the Thieves stepped in to examine the room, audio played from the screens to detail the woman's stellar rise through NHK, making repeated reference to her beauty, on-screen charm, and fame she was owed.

Noticing a momentary flicker, Akira came to a stop in front of one large-screen display next to a mannequin of Togo Mitsuyo in a pencil skirt and high heels.

Ryuji paid more attention to the mannequin than the screen playing praise next to it. The first button came lower than most business suits, more bringing the eye to the ample bust than hiding it. "Hey, ain't this a lot like that Shadow receptionist? 'cept a little more like what a real chick would wear?"

Akira crossed his arms and tapped a knuckle against his lips. "Byakko, you getting a sense like the memory we saw from Futaba? Like there's something… cut off about this?"

The team leader stopped next to the longcoated boy and watched. It wasn't until the video looped he realized something was off. "Hey, you're right! There's somebody in a white suit, but it cuts back to the start before his face comes into the frame." He tapped his folded crossbow in hand. "The only question is, does this represent a repressed memory, or a piece of an unrealized idea?"

Akira glanced at Ryuji, then elbowed him. "Could you control your gaze for just a few seconds?"

"Just 'preciatin'."

Akira rolled his eyes and proceeded to the next door deeper into the temple-castle complex. The door slid open without resistance, though fog rolled over the covered walkway to the next area.

All three Thieves tensed when they spotted movement. A tall girl with long, straight hair and royal kimono paced along the walkway wrapping around the next building, straight into the churning mist.

The red line cast by the KEDR's dot projector wobbled through the fog as Akira dashed after her and out onto an uncovered walkway branching off to the left. "Hifumi!"

Morgana took in a sharp breath and burst into a run after. "Careful, Joker! It's a cognition, heading to a different section of the temple!"

Akira slowed at the warning, but kept going. "Hifumi! Is this the way to Mitsuyo's Treasure?"

The girl shrouded by the swirling mist stopped and turned back to them. Ryuji's hair stood on end, though he couldn't see a reason why. Dull, dark eyes looked back up at them, the dark pattern of waves on her kimono making the red knot in her hair seem even brighter. She opened her mouth and a melodious voice floated out, "What drives man to seek blessing within his house, while danger drives him without?"

The runner was so baffled he couldn't even put together a proper word. Something about the twisting fog made Ryuji's hair stand on end.

Akira only looked at the mind-girl. "Obligation."

The pretty mind-girl gave a cliché shy smile and hid her lower face behind a sleeve decorated with crashing waves. She turned around and seemed to glide down the wooden walkway into the fog, taking a turn to another building which seemed more a fortification than temple. Stone walls rose up, slits dotting the sides with Nobunaga-style arquebus barrels poking out. Mind-Hifumi walked through a square opening low in the wall to what appeared to be another museum-hall place with glass cases and big flat-screens.

"Hifumi, we need to get to the palace Treasure." Akira reached out to try to grab her. The instant his hand closed on her shoulder, the fog churned. A deep huff passed and the fog almost three meters up swirled. Then a pair of golden eyes glowed and Ryuji understood why his hair was standing on end.

A dog the size of a barn stepped forward, fog clinging to its grey-and-white fur.

Morgana chose that moment to panic and more blurred than sprinted for the open doorway the mind-girl stepped through.

Heavy wood doors banded with black metal slammed shut in the panicked team leader's face.

Ryuji lifted the P90 and took aim at the enormous beast's eyes, then pulled the trigger. A satisfying but manageable kick pushed back against his shoulder as NATO rifle rounds roared out of the personal defense weapon.

The giant dog-wolf-monster squinted and flinched back, but at the end of the burst showed no sign of injury.

Akira glanced from the panicking catboy to the giant wolf. "Byakko! It's got to have a lock or riddle or something! Pull yourself together!" He ripped his mask off and that dancing snowman popped out between he and the giant wolf. It hurled two sword-sized icicles at the dog, leaving frost smudging the points of impact.

The wolf braced, its muzzle wrinkled and gleaming teeth bared, then it roared with such force it knocked both boys back.

With the pint-sized leader still clawing at the door in a wild panic, Ryuji called up his own assault. "Captain Kidd!" The skeletal pirate on a swift but tattered boat coalesced as it rocketed at the giant wolf. The cutlass swung up, knocking the toothy maw aside, then back down and knocked the monster stumbling back.

"Byakko!" Akira abandoned the fight to go smack the team leader out of his panic, then sent Jack Frost at the giant wolf.

Morgana shook his head, but the presence of mister red-light-district-magician settled him enough to look up at the door. "I am the answer of every question. When you think you've got it, you have it not."

"Knowledge!" Akira shouted as his Persona pummeled the beast. The doors rotated open.

The building-sized wolf snapped its huge maw on Jack Frost, then shook back and forth with such ferocity the monster's whole body trembled. Plumes of snow crumbled off from each thrash as the fangs sank all the way through the icy Persona.

Akira growled in pain and tumbled to his knees.

Dismissing his Persona, Ryuji grabbed the wannabe-magician's coat and hauled with all his might to get them inside. Blood dripped from underneath Akira's sleeve and glove.

The giant wolf snapped and jammed its snout after them, but to Ryuji's relief, it couldn't force its muzzle past the threshold. The snout retreated and for a moment, the runner thought it left.

Then the barking resumed and a paw tipped in vicious claws reached in, scratching about with blind abandon.

Ryuji grabbed the longcoated boy and hauled him off to one side as fast as he could while the clawed dog paw bigger than either boy tapped and scratched.

Far enough in to be safe, Morgana summoned Zorro and motes of silvery light danced over the longcoated boy.

Akira gasped, but after a moment flexed his arm. "Ow. Forget Jack Frost, I think the next Persona I summon is gonna be feeling that bite. I think I know who to leave with the twins next time I visit." He accepted the runner's hand to help him to his feet.

As the paw scratched blindly around the door, the thieves looked around. Much the same neat organization of glass-encased awards, girl-mannequins in cute dresses, and tall screens occupied this museum-like hall. But where the exhibits in the last hall talked over each other to try to push Mitsuyo's beauty and hard work, these sat silent.

Ryuji stepped in front of a glass-encased wall poster declaring first prize for a calligraphy competition in fifth grade. A grade-school award ceremony played on the screen. Somehow, the runner could feel the brimming pride of Mitsuyo as they called out "Togo" even before she started clapping.

The center of the museum-hall was dominated by a raised floor. While he didn't know much about shogi, he recognized the giant pieces encased in glass on it, interspersed with mannequins of some middle-aged guy in a sweater-vest. Akira stepped past them to a girl mannequin in a gold-trimmed white sailor-style uniform, one arm wrapped around its torso and face cast down and away in shame.

The screen lit up once the longcoated boy got close enough, playing a drive through the streets of Tokyo. A handful of students in that same school's style walked down the sidewalk in the late afternoon, though two in particular ducked into the little cover a concrete utility pole could provide from the street. The pair didn't seem to notice the quiet car pulling closer and coming to a stop, though after it passed the pole, the runner realized why.

Hifumi leaned in, her lips locked with some boy in the male version of the same school's uniform.

The car's horn blared and both students leaped into the air. Mitsuyo screeched from the driver's seat, "Is this what you've been doing all those nights you're late coming home from Ogawa?"

The boy took off at a speed which would have qualified him for the track team at Shujin.

A red-faced, young Hifumi clutched a leather book bag close. "Mother! What are you even doing here so early for? I thought you were still at KFTV!"

"Get in," Mitsuyo snapped. Before the girl even finished buckling in, she accelerated back into traffic. "Do you think I have been working myself to the bone so you can go throwing yourself at every despicable man who comes by?"

Hifumi blushed deeper and held her school book case against her chest, as if that would allow her to hide behind it. "Kazuma-san isn't some bad person – he asked me to be his girlfriend!"

Mitsuyo ground her teeth and flipped the turn signal to take the road into Chiyoda-ku. "Did you not feel him fondling you over your skirt? Or were you too distracted playing tonsil-hockey?"

Covering her face, the blush spread. "We weren't— He likes me!"

Mitsuyo kept her eyes on the road through sheer force of will. "That's what all men say when they want in your panties. I'll bet he promised to take you places and get you flowers and jewelry for doing the tango with him."

Hifumi spluttered.

Mitsuyo's teeth ground and she turned into the parking garage. "That is it, young lady! I am calling his mother, and I am calling the school, and you are forbidden from dating until you graduate high school! Your father hasn't been in condition to enforce discipline lately, but I did not raise some floozy!"

Tears spilled down young Hifumi's face before the screen went dark. Ryuji gawked. "Dude, I heard about mama bears, but that was a maulin'!"

Akira's jaw hung open.

Morgana cleared his throat. "It doesn't feel like there's a safe room in this part of the Palace. The Ruler must feel she has complete control over this area." When Akira didn't respond, he tugged at a coattail. "Come on, Joker. Let's get out of here."

Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Evening
Kanda Catholic Church

Akira paused at the front doors and swallowed. He wasn't sure if the sense of imbalance was due to the lack of Morgana after he told the well-meaning team leader he needed time alone, or if it was still from seeing the girl of a lifetime making out with someone else. He should have known – he even suspected she already had a boyfriend when first meeting her. Who wouldn't want somebody gentle, smart, and a knockout like her?

It didn't confirm she was too good for someone like him.

Akira hauled open the door before his nerves could do any more damage. He navigated to the staff offices and stopped to take in a few deep breaths before knocking on Father Sugiyama's office.

"I'm expecting an appointment from a parishioner, Kanno-san," the priest called.

Akira swallowed, then opened the door. "F-Father?"

"Oh," the priest smiled from a desk cluttered with calendars, bibles, and a notepad cluttered with illegible scratchings. "The man of the hour. Come in. Please excuse the mess, Ouzawa-san is out sick so I've been falling a little behind in community outreach and the sermon for this Sunday."

It felt like his brain spun in his skull. He set down in a chair to counter the dizziness. He couldn't deny a little envy at the middle schooler making out with one of the prettiest girls in Tokyo, but the pit in his stomach came from the voice which said that was right and his affections were not.

"I hope the summer isn't making you ill, my son. Togo-chan said she was praying for you when we shared a practice game on Monday."

His steel gaze snapped up to the priest. "She… she did?"

Father Sugiyama took down his bifocals. "That poor girl's family has been through so much these past few years. Her father's ailing health, mother working herself to exhaustion every day, losing her aunt and uncle, and the horrendous fight which happened instead of the marriage everyone was expecting. And yet her worries are always for other people. When two nights passed without word from you, she was concerned you'd succumbed to the heat wave." His eyes drifted to the transfer student's wrists. "I hope it is the heat and not…"

"No!" Akira wiped his slick hands on his pants, just the reference to his scars spiking his nervousness. "No. Father Motoori explained what suicide meant, and the gifts it was throwing away. I just…" He clasped his hands to resist the urge to fidget, but the words spilled out, "Hifumi's worried about me? She doesn't have anybody else?"

Father Sugiyama sighed. "I'm sure her mother means well, but she's been growing stricter as time goes on. And her best friend Yuna being picked up by the police during the Shibuya Sweep hasn't helped." He forced a smile. "Your presence has been support she's sorely lacking."

Akira sat back against the stuffed chair. "She deserves better than me."

"Never underestimate the transformative power of the Spirit to make us what we need to be when God calls us," Father Sugiyama said. "The human heart may be a fragile thing, but if God can make the entire universe, He can pick up the pieces of our hearts even we can't see. And He can bring the most unexpected of people together for good." He straightened a tome on his desk. "You look like you have something still troubling you, my son. Motoori told me about your past. Unlike your Earthly father, I follow the calling of the Father above. No matter what it is, I am here to help you."

Akira wiped his palms on his trousers. "I found out from her mother that Hifumi kissed… was in a relationship with another guy in middle school. Maybe… an intimate one."

Sugiyama's practiced smile turned into a frown. "That's dirty, even by her standards." He coughed into the back of his hand, then steadied. "I know Togo-san can be intimidating, and seem authoritative, but I would take what she tells you with… a grain of salt."

"I wish it was that simple." Taking a steadying breath, Akira looked the priest in the eye. "Morgana thought it was that somebody else had her first kiss, but… seeing her… I mean hearing about her being happy with someone else…" He swallowed. "I want her to be happy. And safe. And I don't know if I can give her either of those."

Father Sugiyama let out a breath and clasped his hands on one of the books open on the desk. "I think Togo-chan has an excellent sense of judgment. If she is going to you with her troubles, that alone should speak volumes about who she trusts."

Akira's phone buzzed in his pocket. He shifted in his seat. "I don't want to argue with you, Father, but I'm not sure if people should trust me with their troubles. I don't even have a handle on my own."

The smile Sugiyama gave felt a bit pitying, but he straightened. "The most virtuous souls are those most aware of the vices they must grapple with. Remember when Elijah beseeched God? He was not in the gale or earthquake or fire, but He came in a whisper. Listen to what your heart tells you, and if you feel your burdens are too heavy, bring them to the foot of the cross in prayer."

A bleep-bleep-bloop phone tone rang from underneath the scattered papers. Akira stood and reached into his pocket for his own phone. "Thank you, Father. Maybe you should get that." He bowed and departed, pausing at the entrance to lean against the side and find out who messaged him.

Queen Togo sat at the top of his texting app. [Good evening, Akira-kun! Is everything okay?]

His heart jumped in his throat. He tried to think of as little of a lie as he could stomach sending to the most honest person he'd ever met. [Had some phone trouble for the past couple days.] The Metaverse Navigator did indirectly dump him in a torture chamber, after all – that was close. He added, [Tomorrow's going to be busy, too.]

A long beat passed before she sent, [Oh. I suppose it's too late to do something tonight?] She sent a frowning face. He started to type an apology, but before he could finish, she sent, [What about that shogi friend of yours?]

It took Akira a few moments to remember their run-in with Makoto in Jinbocho. [Oh, that's right. I promised to introduce you two.] He sent the upper-classman's phone number. [We're using LINE, but I'll tell her to expect a call or text.]

[You make Saint Barnabas proud, Akira-kun. Stay safe, all of you. And I hope you save the heart you're all working on.]

Akira's mouth and stomach both twisted over the sweet girl's concern. When the twisting sensation didn't immediately go away, he realized he needed to burn off tension. He shot out a text to the track star, [Hey, Ryuji. I need to run. There any good bath houses near Inokashira?]

[Dude, I'm on the way now. Come on by and I'll show you where I go before I head home!]

Akira rushed to Leblanc to change into exercise clothes, where Morgana responded to the exercise plans with his intention to lodge with Makoto that night. With a spare set of generic street clothes already hiding his disassembled guns in his travel satchel, he hopped on the train to Inokashira and came out of the station to find Ryuji imaginary sword-fighting with a takoyaki skewer right outside. They exchanged the usual bros' pleasantries before pounding pavement.

Ryuji's strength and stamina as a runner were less affected by Kamoshida's injury than the blow to his morale from losing his team, and he had a hell of a competitive streak. Akira took full advantage of that to push his body to its limits, until the hot wind on his face and breath heaving in his lungs left no room in his head for the image of Hifumi locking lips with someone else.

The track star led them to a spartan bath house with hot showers instead of a tub like the one in Yongen, but it was enough to clean up in. After scrubbing, applying fresh deodorant and changing, Akira paused just past the entrance. Weather report said the heat wave would continue for weeks, so he opened the group chat to ask about the heat when the track star strode out from behind. "Hey, Ryuji. Mind if I crash at your place tonight?"

The runner stopped, then pulled out his phone and tapped out a message. "It's gonna be dinky an' messy. I'd'a given a shout-out for Yusuke back then, but movin' shit just for a spot on the floor for weeks ain't 'xactly my idea o' charity." His phone buzzed. "Ma says she'll throw some more 'yaki in the pot."

Tuesday, 26 July 2016
Late Evening
Setagaya-ku, Sakamoto's Home

While Akira was used to the cultural idea of humility in describing one's home, the track star wasn't kidding when he described his place as small and messy. The whole floor plan wasn't much bigger than Leblanc's loft, and most of that was a den converted into a kitchen. "Nice place. Thank you, Sakamoto-san."

The plump woman keeping her short hair in a ponytail gave a small smile as she set the rice-maker box serving as a table. "It's been too long since my boy's been with good peers."

Akira chuckled. "In that case, you might have to keep waiting. No good in this kid."

Ryuji hooted, "Let's eat!" Then dug in pork-and-mushroom sukiyaki with gusto.

Akira paused to pray for Hifumi's peace of mind before he picked up the mis-matched chopsticks and ate with far more measured pace.

Sakamoto herself watched the difference between the two of them for just a moment before she whacked her son with her chopsticks. "Manners in front of an effin' guest!" She bared teeth in a stiff smile at the transfer student. "My apologies."

Akira swallowed a large, chewed-down shiitake mushroom. "It's good! I can see why he's digging in."

Sakamoto swallowed a bite of the fine noodles soaked in a mushroomy pork broth. "Are you the runner who's gotten my boy excited about going out again?"

Ryuji coughed through a bite of noodles and enoki mushrooms. "Ma!"

She whacked him with her chopsticks again. "Chew, then speak."

Akira chuckled and swallowed a bite of his own noodles. "These are really umami. How'd you get that flavor in them?"

Sakamoto's cheeks took a faint flush. "Oh, nothing special. Just rehydrated the mushrooms in the same water as the noodles."

"Oh!" He swirled another lump of noodles and the stringy mushrooms. "A poor man's marinade. I do the same thing with tofu."

Sakamoto straightened on her cushion. "Oh, you cook? I didn't think was popular anymore."

Akira snorted. "I'd'a starved years ago if I didn't cook for myself. I only had to move to Tokyo to find good coffee and curry."

Sakamoto's eyebrows rose. "Coffee and curry? What an… odd combination."

"Blech," Ryuji spat. "Stuff is so gross."

Rolling his eyes, Akira ignored the track star's disgust. "It might be anywhere else, but Leblanc's got a fine-tuned harmony." The conversation wove between cooking, athletics, and Ryuji's social life until the sun went down and it was time to hit the futon.

Wednesday, 26 July 2016
Late Evening
Setagaya-ku, Sakamoto Home, Bathroom

Akira rinsed his hands and splashed a little cold water on his neck. The run with Ryuji helped push out the choking, pounding feeling inside, but he couldn't stop thinking about that memory they oversaw in Togo's palace. The breeze from the tiny bathroom window cracked open set the hairs on the back of his damp hand on end and it reminded him of the night he confessed his record to Hifumi. He could almost feel her hand on his. Could almost see those gorgeous green eyes staring into him in the mirror.

"I like you," he'd told her. "More than is appropriate."

"What if I didn't mind?"

Maruki seemed so certain, so blasé when he said as if reporting the weather, "So you're sexually attracted to her. Akira-kun, it would be strange if you never had any of those thoughts about anyone."

Akira stared into the mirror, set up and away against the wall much like the vertical monitor in the weird museum-fort where he spied Hifumi making out with a normal boy. He couldn't stop himself from wondering what her lips would feel like.

"You really gonna bullshit me that you ain't here for the Venus of Shogi?" that stalker said, weeks ago in Rekisen Park. No sooner had the syllables been spoken than his dirty mind stripped the elegant girl and pasted her nude form on that scallop shell.

Shaking his head, Akira splashed himself with some more cold water and dried his hands.

It would be a sin to taint perfection.

"Which one's more your type… Ann or Makoto?" Ryuji asked him at the bath house on the night of their celebration of Kaneshiro's change of heart.

Akira never had the courage to tell the runner that the first thing to pop into mind was the cognitive Ann in a micro-bikini. The flawless skin, voluminous pigtails, and perky breasts shot straight through his self-control and punched his hormonal brain right where he had no defense.

A flicker of the miserable staff trudging through the Smiling Mountain Mental Institution passed through his mind, followed by a night of fighting in the alley behind Inuri High. His knuckles bloodied, the battered and bruised form of Takeshita looked up at him from the pavement with his one good eye. "Kurusu's true nature comes out. Shocker, he's a Kurusu after all."

"What if I didn't mind?"

Akira wavered on his feet for a moment, then turned on the faucet and splashed his face with cold water a few more times before drying his hands and opening the washroom door. He cleared brochures on teeth health off the cushion in front of the TV and sat down to check his email and text. Even knowing she would be better off without him, he couldn't just cut things off without a goodbye. [Checking in, Queen Togo. Everything okay tonight?]

The message sat, dark and unread, and a gloom pressed down on him as if he'd thrown on a weighted jacket. Even his heartbeat felt sharper, painful.

"Now what's a young'n like you got to be so down about?" a familiar woman's voice said from the bedroom halls. Ryuji's mother. He jerked and the plump woman smiled before she walked over to the washroom and pulled open a drawer to ruffle through medicine bottles. "Well? This li'l place is too small for moping. What's on your mind?"

"I, uh…" Akira drew his crossed legs tighter underneath himself. "I usually end my day with some prayers. I'm just… trying to decide what I should pray over." And how to stop thinking of a girl who was not only too good for him, but could be happy without him. Glancing into his reflection in the small, flat-screen TV, he muttered to himself, "Why couldn't she have said no? I'd have known what to do."

"What's that?"

For a beat, he wondered if it would be worth asking about Ryuji's father. "I don't know how I can come from…" Akira's old man left a trail of broken people and shattered dreams everywhere he went. Even Mother never seems to have loved him. Then he shook his head. It wasn't somebody else's mother's responsibility to tell him how to make someone else happy. "Excuse me, Sakamoto-san. I'll get myself to bed."

He paced into the tiny bedroom, struggled to clear enough room with Ryuji near his unfurled Futon for the transfer student to lay down, then lay back.

"What if I didn't mind?"

Lacking a phone charger, Akira set his phone on the tiny flat-screen in the corner next to Ryuji's and lay down, then turned over and breathed out to prepare for a long night.

If he'd stayed facing the phones, he'd have seen a progress bar on both.

AN: There's a lot to be said for communication, or for learning the truth, but sometimes learning fragments of the truth with the context chopped off can lead to mistaken impressions. For the trivia-inclined out there, the word for being conveying a false impression of something without using outright lies – usually fragments of the truth – is paltering.

Thanks for everyone's patience, I didn't have the opportunity to upload the chapter last week due to the convergence of bad health and schedule struggles with job interviews on different sides of town. It would've been better if at least one of them went somewhere, but neither company had the decency to even give me a phone call saying they made a decision on someone else. At least all of you can enjoy this chapter, and regular updates should resume from here on out.