"So, that was when you prepared the first calling card, correct?" Sae asked.
"Yes, it's an integral part of stealing their treasure." she told her. "We need to make the target aware that we'll capture their treasure."
"You didn't waste any time in changing his heart." Sae recalled. "Were you in some sort of rush?"
"...Kamoshida was onto us." she explained. "And he…"
"What?" Sae asked.
"After school that day, he called me to his office and… locked the door." she confessed.
"What?!" Sae exclaimed, her eyes widening. "M-Makoto, he didn't… God, tell me he didn't do anything to you!"
"...Why do you care?" she muttered.
"W-What are you talking about?!" Sae yelled. "Of course I care. I'm your…"
She trailed off, frowning as she remembered her previous words.
"Isn't your job more important, Niijima-san?" Makoto stressed. "So shouldn't we focus on stealing Kamoshida's heart?"
*SLAM*
"I'm the one who decides that, not you!" Sae snapped.
"... I'm fine." she finally said. "We don't have much time, right? I'll continue from where I left off."
Sae looked like she wanted to argue more, but just let out sigh.
"I suppose you're right…" Sae hesitantly admitted. "Let's continue then."
"Aren't you tired?" Morgana asked. "You should go to bed."
"As soon as I make sure we have enough supplies." Makoto told him. "We need to be prepared for anything."
"The models and medicine are pretty expensive." the not-cat brought up.
"That's why I was thinking of getting a part time job." she told him.
"Hmm… maybe in the future, but right now, we've secured the infiltration route, so we shouldn't need too much." Morgana advised. "We should be fine."
She nodded. "I'll trust your word, then. Tomorrow we'll meet on the roof and discuss the calling card."
She pulled something out of her bag.
"What's that?" Morgana wondered.
"It's my Buchi diary." she answered. "It's been a rather hectic week, so I wanted to write things down."
"Well, alright." Morgana relented. "Just make sure you get some rest. We've got some big days coming up."
She nodded, resting her head on the pillow and closing her eyes.
4/19 Tuesday
Days until Ren and Ryuji's Expulsion: 13
Thankfully, Kamoshida didn't bother her today. In fact, he seemed to be absent today.
...Possibly due to cat scratch related injuries.
Knowing that he wasn't around put her a little at ease, but the upcoming infiltration still weighed on her mind.
So much so, that she didn't even notice when she bumped into another student.
"O-Oh, I'm sorry!" the girl apologized. "I should have been paying more attention."
"No, no… it's my fault." Makoto insisted. "I was the one who bumped into you, err…"
She didn't recognize the student in front of her at all. It wasn't even that she couldn't recall her name, she didn't remember seeing her at all. Which was weird because her bright red hair really stood out!
"I'm afraid I don't recognize you." Makoto confessed. "Are you one of the first years?"
"O-Oh, I'm so sorry! I should have introduced myself!" the girl stammered. "I'm… Kasumi Yoshizawa. I just transferred here."
"Oh, that would explain why I don't recognize you." she replied. "I'm Makoto Niijima, the student council president. If you have any questions, you can ask me, ok?"
"W-Wait, you're the Student Council President?!" Kasumi exclaimed. "The principal told me about you. I-I'm so sorry, I haven't treated you with proper respect, Senpai!"
"It's fine, really." she told her. "There's no way that you could have known. What were you doing anyway?"
"Oh, I was just trying to find my way to the library, Senpai." Kasumi answered.
"Did you need any help getting there?" she asked.
"I'll figure it out." Kasumi told her. "I'm sure you have plenty of council duties. I wouldn't want to take up your time."
Kasumi started to walk away, towards the left.
"It's… the other way." she pointed out.
An embarrassed Kasumi quickly turned around, bowing her head.
"So sorry!" she whined. "I'm still not used to the school's layout."
"She… certainly apologies a lot, doesn't she?" she mused. "I'll have to be gentle with her."
"It's fine, I'll show you the way." she offered.
As Kasumi followed her down to the library, she considered striking a conversation with her.
"So Yoshizawa-san, you transferred here?" Makoto asked.
"Yes. I have a scholarship for my gymnastics." Kasumi answered.
So, she was another honor student.
"That's very impressive, Yoshizawa-san!" she praised.
"Thank you, Senpai." Kasumi said, letting out a small smile. "Mr. Kamoshida was actually speaking about me about my gymnastics the other day.
She couldn't help but let out a frown. "I see…"
"Senpai, is something wrong?"
She was new here, and likely unaware of everything that had happened. She might just end up confused if she tried to tell her about him.
"I was just thinking about his athletes…" she told Kasumi. "About how, last Friday…"
Kasumi's eyes widened. "I-I heard people talk about how she was a member of the volleyball club!"
She nodded. "She was. Yoshizawa-san, since you're new, I wanted to let you know that I'm always here in case you need anything."
Kasumi smiled. "Thank you, Senpai. But I'm fine for now."
"Well, let me know if anything changes, ok?" she said as they reached their destination.
"I will!" she happily chirped. "Thank you for your help, Senpai!"
She waved goodbye as Kasumi entered the library, and headed up towards the roof, Ren and Ryuji already waiting for her.
"Sorry I'm late. I was helping a student." she excused.
"Another one of Kamoshida's athletes?" Ryuji asked.
"No, it was another transfer student." she told them. "She was a red haired first year. She said her name was Kasumi Yoshizawa."
"Oh, I've talked to her a few times." Ren smiled. "She's really nice."
"Focus, people!" Morgana scolded. "We have a calling card to send!"
"Why couldn't we have just sent one at the beginnin' of this?" Ryuji asked.
"The effect won't last for long!" Morgana explained. "If we wait too long after we send it, Kamoshida will probably just think it's a prank or something, and the treasure won't be materialized anymore!"
"How much time do you think we have?" Ren asked.
"Probably a day, at most." Morgana answered.
"What the hell?!" Ryuji exclaimed. "That's not much time at all!"
"Then we'll have to be quick." Makoto said. "We'll send the calling card tomorrow morning, and carry out the plan later that day."
"Sounds good." Morgana mentioned. "But just to confirm one more time… you all are aware of the risks, correct?"
"I'm worried that he might suffer a mental shutdown, but if we do nothing, more people who are actually innocent will suffer because of him. Knowing this, I can't stand by and do nothing." she said with conviction. "But if the rest of you want to back out now, I wouldn't blame you."
"No effin' way!" Ryuji yelled. "There's no way I'm backin' out now!"
"I told you, we're friends." Ren reminded her. "So I'll support you all the way!"
"T-Thank you both." she whispered, a big smile on her face."
"Looks like it's unanimous." the not-cat noted. "Then let's make that calling card!"
"Let's use the student council room." Makoto recommended. "I can lock the door so that we don't get interrupted."
The three of them went to the student council room, and set to work at making a design for the calling. After a bit of work, they settled on a design. The card was red and black, and had a bellowing black scarf in the middle, glowing red eyes peeking out from a gap in the scarf.
She wasn't sure if the logo was really necessary, but it did look nice.
After finishing the calling cards, she headed home, glancing at some texts on the group chat.
Ryuji: Aw man, this is going to be awesome!
Ryuji: I can't wait to see the look on that bastard's face!
Ren: Makoto, are you going to be putting up the calling card?
She quickly typed a response.
Makoto: Yes, I will. It won't look suspicious if I come in a little early.
Ryuji: Make sure you put them somewhere that asshole can see it!
Makoto: I'll hang it on a bulletin board in the hall. That'll draw attention.
Makoto: Make sure you both get plenty of rest. We have a big day tomorrow.
Ren: You got it, Queen.
Ryuji: Oh man, I can't wait!
She set her phone down, heading to bed.
Even though she had advised the others to rest, she found herself struggling to fall asleep herself.
She had already been plenty stressed before this whole mess had begun. But now she was involved with Morgana and Igor...
She glanced at Morgana, resting at her bedside, and wondered what his plans for her were…
She had no idea what the future held. She just had to keep going forward.
"Watch over me, father…" she mused as she drifted to sleep.
4/20 - Wednesday
Days until Ren and Ryuji's Expulsion: 12
"What? A calling card?"
"Did Mr. Kamoshida do something wrong…?"
"Then are those rumors true?!"
"Did he do something to Suzui-san?"
Ren looked over their handiwork, pleased with the results.
All the students had been immediately drawn to their eye-catching calling card and logo.
He took a moment to read over the calling card itself.
Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the despotic criminal of lust. Because of your past achievements and fame, you see yourself as the untouchable king of Shujin, free to push your rage-fueled beatings and twisted, sexual desires onto innocent students. That is why today, to free those enslaved by your sadistic commands, we shall steal your distorted desires and bring you to justice. From, the Phantom Thieves of Heart.
He walked away from the crowd, finding Ryuji nearby.
"Heh, we did a pretty good job." Ryuji grinned. "I can't wait for Kamoshida to see."
"Looks like we won't have to wait long." Ren mentioned.
"Who's responsible for this?!" A loud voice boomed.
They turned to see Kamoshida angrily shouting accusations at people in the crowd.
The students quickly dispersed, an enraged Kamoshida marching towards them, sporting several small bandages on his face.
"...It was you two, wasn't it?!" Kamoshida spat.
"What are you talkin' about?" Ryuji grumbled. "We don't know anything about this."
"Tch… it doesn't matter." Kamoshida scoffed. "The two of you are going to be expelled soon anyway."
"Nice bandages." Ren quipped. "You get those during 'practice'?"
Kamoshida glared, taking a threatening step towards Ren.
"Is there something wrong, Mr. Kamoshida?"
Makoto walked up to them, pretending she didn't know what was going on.
"I heard a commotion. Is everything ok?" Makoto asked.
"Niijima…" Kamoshida muttered. "Nothing. Just dealing with some punks."
As Kamoshida walked off, the four Persona users swore they saw his shadow appearing before them, daring them to steal his treasure if they could.
"Judging from his reaction, that definitely had an effect on his palace!" Morgana exclaimed.
"So, the treasure will appear now?" Ren asked.
"It has to be. But we only have a day to do this now." Morgana reminded them.
"Then there's no time to waste." Makoto said. "Let's do this."
They returned to the palace after school, making their way through their infiltration route and back to the treasury, encountering surprisingly little resistance on the way.
"A giant crown." Joker muttered. "I should have known."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Morgana cheered "The treasure has appeared!"
"Geez… it's huge." Ryuji gasped.
"T-Treasureeeeee…!" Mona said, as if he was in a trance.
"Mona, are you ok?" Queen asked, concerned.
"Meeeeeooooow!" Morgana purred, leaping onto the crown.
"You'd think he just found a lifetime supply of catnip with how he's acting." Ren chuckled.
Morgana ignored Ren's joke, completely engrossed in the treasure.
"What a huge mass of human desires!" Morgana grinned. "Imagine the impact this will have!"
"All right, all right, that's enough, cat!" Skull yelled.
Finally, Morgana seemed to come to his senses, dropping back down to the ground.
"I, uh… I'm sorry about that. I didn't think that human desires would have such control over me." Mona excused. "Oh! But doesn't that prove I'm human?!"
"Well, we'll find out soon enough, right?" Queen asked, helping the others carry the crown.
"Nyahaha… I guess you're right!" Mona grinned. "I'm still amazed that I managed to come across three persona users! Teaming up with you was definitely the right choice!"
As Morgana expressed his strengthened faith in her, she felt their bond strengthening as well.
MAGICIAN CONFIDANT: RANK 2
They carefully moved the crown out of the treasury and into the throne room.
"Let's go, let's go! Ka-mo-shi-da!"
A volleyball slammed into the crown, knocking it to the ground.
"W-What the-" Skull gasped.
Kamoshida jumped over them and shrunk the crown down to normal size before picking it up, Ann and Shiho at his sides.
"Hand over the treasure!" Mona demanded.
"I'm not letting anyone take this from me!" Kamoshida scowled. "This is proof that I'm king of this castle!"
"You bastard…" Ryuji muttered. "You were just waitin' to ambush us, weren't you?"
"I knew you brats would be here." Kamoshida glowered. "That's why I figured that now would be a great opportunity to get rid of you."
"What a coincidence… we were thinking the same thing." Ren said, narrowing his eyes.
"Tch… why are you blaming me for this?!" Kamoshida scoffed. "People around me kept this secret for years. The school and my sponsors, wanting to share in my fame, students who were driven… all of them profit from it. Don't you understand! This is what's best for everyone!"
"And what about Shiho?!" she argued. "What about the track team?! What about the students you're trying to expel?!"
"How naïve." Kamoshida chuckled. "I haven't done anything wrong, and if you don't understand that… THEN I'LL BEAT IT INTO YOUR THICK SKULLS!"
Red, demonic energy burst forth from Kamoshida as he grew taller and taller, taking a monstrous shape.
"W-What the hell?!" Ryuji yelled.
Before them was no longer a man, but an enormous multiple limped red demon. He held a riding crop, a knife, and a trophy filled with female students, including Ann and Shiho, which he eagerly licked up with his long, veiny tongue. Atop his head are large ram horns and the crown.
Finally, he rode atop a giant, black and red dragon.
"HAHAHAH!" Kamoshida crackled. "What's a castle without a dragon?!"
"AN EFFIN' DRAGON?!" Skull shouted. "What other shit is this asshole gonna pull?!"
"Look out!" she cried, seeing the dragon rearing back its head.
They all dived behind some nearby pillars, narrowly evading the dragon's fire.
"It'll be hard to get to him with him riding that overgrown lizard." Joker muttered.
"I suppose it makes sense. Dragons were frequently guarding treasure in mythology…" she rambled.
"Did those myths happen to say anything about beating a dragon?" Joker asked.
"Well-"
"Hail King Kamoshida! Hail King Kamoshida!"
They looked above, seeing an entire crowd, including the Shujin staff, chanting from the second floor.
"Ah, my adoring fans!" Kamoshida grinned. "It's good to be popular! It means there will always be people willing to defend and justify anything you do!"
"Defend this, douchebag!" Ryuji shouted, firing his shotgun.
The bullet hit Kamoshida's chest, but did minimal damage.
"How dare you!" Kamoshida roared, slamming his riding crop. "Get them!"
Members of the volleyball team gathered around Kamoshida, firing volleyballs at Skull and Mona, who quickly took cover behind the pillar.
"You can't hide from me!" Kamoshida cried, slamming his knife against the pillar, and causing it to collapse.
Skull and Mona ran for cover, the dragon's flames pushing them back.
"Damn it." Ren cursed. "We'll run out of cover at this rate."
She tried to think of a strategy, but found it hard to concentrate with all the chanting in the background. She looked upwards at the chanters, her eyes widening when she spied a large chandelier.
"There!" she pointed. "Joker, shoot that! I'll cover you."
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me!" she told him.
Ren nodded, sneaking off to get a good shot.
"Cait Sith! Sukukaja!" she called, feeling a boost to her agility.
She ran in front of the dragon, firing her gun at it.
The dragon shot multiple fireballs at her, which she did her best to avoid. Despite her heightened agility, however, a few stray embers managed to burn her.
"What are you waiting for!" Kamoshida snapped. "Burn her to ash!"
The dragon reared its head back to breathe more fire…
"Dream Needle!"
Kamoshida turned to see Joker, but it was too late. Joker unloaded his gun into the chandelier chain, shattering it and causing it to fall… right on top of the dragon's head.
"Let's go, Skull!" Makoto commanded.
Skull and her boosted each other with Tarukaja, preparing to continue their assault on the dragon.
"How dare you damage my castle!" Kamoshida exclaimed.
Kamoshida leered at her before trying to smack her with his tongue, only for Mona to fire his slingshot at it.
"GAHHHH!" Kamoshida wailed.
"What's wrong, asshole?" Ren taunted. "Cat got your tongue?!"
Mona and Joker fired bullets and Eiha spells at Kamoshida, distracting him as Skull and her used their strongest physical attacks against the dragon, bringing it down for good.
"You shitty little brats!" Kamoshida cried out in rage. "You'll pay for that!"
Kamoshida stuck a fork into his trophy, pulling out Ann and Shiho before putting them in his mouth.
"AHAHAHA!" the demon laughed. "Now that hits the spot!"
"What the hell?!" Skull exclaimed. "He's eating them!"
"And it looks like it's healing him too!" Mona pointed out.
Sure enough, any wounds he had suffered slowly disappeared, allowing him to face them at full strength.
"Aim for the trophy then!" she commanded. "This battle will go on forever if we don't!"
"Got it!" Joker nodded, sending another Dream Needle at the trophy.
"I WON'T LET YOU!" Kamoshida yelled.
Seeing the volleyball team preparing another barrage of volleyballs, she quickly switched her Persona to Incubus.
"Tarunda!" she shouted, lowering the power of their opponents, allowing Skull to charge through.
"RAAAAGH!"
Skull let out a battle cry before slamming his weapon into the trophy as hard as he could, shattering it to pieces.
"Noooooo!" Kamoshida despaired. "That trophy was worth more than all of your pathetic lives!"
"The only pathetic one here is you!" Skull snapped. "Let's get him!"
"Berith!" Makoto called. "Cleave!"
She struck a powerful blow against Kamoshida, the others barraging him with spells and gunshots.
"That's it!" Kamoshida angrily said. "It's time I went all out! Time for the killshot!"
Kamoshida slammed his riding crop on the ground.
"Hey! Where the hell is my ball?!" the demon called out.
A student rushed into the throne room, carrying a volleyball.
"Mishima?!" Ryuji gasped.
"It's just another cognition!" Mona reminded him.
"He's preparing for a big attack! Brace yourselves!" she warned.
They all put their guard up as Mishima passed the ball to Kamoshida, who spiked the ball right into them.
Despite them guarding, the force of blow was strong enough to knock her off of her feet, her injuries from before catching up with her.
"Queen!" Joker cried out in worry.
"I-I'm ok." she insisted. "I can still fight."
As Mona rushed to heal her, Joker and Skull tried to fend off Kamoshida, but she could tell that they were beginning to tire.
Joker narrowly dodged Kamoshida's knife, only for him to smack Joker with the flat of it, causing him to crash into another pillar.
"Joker!" she screamed.
As soon as Mona finished healing her, she rushed towards Kamoshida, firing a Frei spell at him.
"GRRAGH! I can't go all out when Mishima's serving!"
"I-I'm sorry King Kamoshida!" Mishima stammered, running away as fast as he could.
"Where's my next slave?! Get over here and serve me my ball!"
Another cognition, this one a girl, ran up to Kamoshida with a ball in her hand.
"I have it right here, King Kamoshida!" the girl happily chirped.
"Gooood." Kamoshida creepily grinned. "If only all girls were as obedient as you are."
"That girl… no way!" Mona gasped.
She heard Ryuji curse under his breath, and saw Ren clenching his fists in anger.
But she was sure that none of them were as anger as her, as the girl in front of them, from her short brown hair to her bright red eyes, was undoubtably a cognitive version of herself.
"This is how you think of me?!" she exclaimed, glaring at the shadow in front of her.
Her cognitive self wore nothing but a brown fur bikini, fake dog ears, nose, and tail, and a spiked leash around her neck.
"Get it? It's cause you're my BITCH!" Kamoshida grinned, yanking the leash.
"Oooooh, King Kamoshida." the cognitive Makoto cooed. "I'll do anything you ask to get into your good graces, and I mean anything."
"Hahahahaha!" Kamoshida laughed. "That's right! You're nothing but my lapdog, you teacher's pet!"
"Not anymore!" she declared. "The old me is dead, Makoto the sycophant is gone!"
She rushed as fast as she could, punching her cognitive self in the face before it could pass the ball to Kamoshida. Her cognitive double tried to fend her off as she continued her assault, but unlike her, it was very weak, not even attempting aikido to defend herself.
She considered that this was likely because Kamoshida thought that all students were powerless against him, which only served to make her angrier.
Said anger and disgust fueled her blows as she punched her cognition over and over again until it was nothing more than a stain on the floor after dissolving.
"So… Makoto was useless as well…" Kamoshida muttered. "Fine! Then I'll take you all on myself."
Kamoshida slashed and stabbed at them with his knife and fork, giving them little room to rest.
"When it comes to endurance, he'll outlast us." Morgana grimaced. "We need a plan, Queen!"
She glanced around, trying to think of something, before her eyes landed on Kamoshida's crown.
"Mona, think you could sneak up there and nap the crown?" she whispered. "We'll distract him."
"Heh, you got it!" Mona grinned, scurrying away.
"Looks like he's out of reinforcements!" she called to the others. "Now let's strike!"
She quickly joined the fray, unloading the rest of her ammo before letting loose another Frei spell.
Kamoshida tried to counter, slashing with his knife. They couldn't let up their assault however, or he would suspect something.
"Keep attacking!" she ordered.
With a mighty roar, Kamoshida slammed the flat of his blade against Joker once again, who was too tired to dodge.
"Looks like you die first!" Kamoshida shouted, preparing to stab his knife into Ren.
"NO!" she cried, running as fast as she could to protect him.
Just before he stabbed down, however, Mona crashed into the crown, knocking it to the ground and out of Kamoshida's reach.
"My crown! My precious crown!" Kamoshida despaired.
The four thieves got into position, ready to finish Kamoshida off with an all-out attack.
"Y-You can't do this t-to me…" Kamoshida feebly whimpered. "W-Without that crown, I can't be king…"
"Well I'm still the Queen." Makoto declared. "Now bow."
All four thieves struck him over and over, coming from various angles, culminating in her leaping into the air.
"FIST OF JUSTICE!" she cried, slamming her fist into Kamoshida's face.
Kamoshida fell onto his back groaning in pain, his strength depleted.
His demonic form faded, returning both him and the crown to normal.
Before they could grab the crown, however, Kamoshida scooped it up and ran from them.
"Get back here!" Ryuji yelled.
They managed to corner him, watching as he looked up to the people cheering for him.
"Wouldn't want to run out on your fans, would you?" Joker mocked.
"It… it's all their fault!" Kamoshida yelled. "They're a bunch of damn hyenas! Putting more pressure on me! More and more and more and more!"
"Your just makin' excuses." Ryuji muttered.
"Just because you felt pressured doesn't mean you get to take it out on innocent people." Ren pointed out.
"And I'm sure that Suzui-san felt pressured as well." she glared. "After what you've done, don't expect any sympathy from us!"
"...So, what will you do?" Mona asked. "If you take the treasure and leave, you'll change his heart… but you could finish off his shadow right now and kill him in the real world. Your call."
"N-No, please. S-Stop!" Kamoshida pleaded.
"How many times have your victims said the same thing to you?!" Ryuji shouted.
"P-Please forgive me…" Kamoshida begged, his body shaking.
"Never…"
Ryuji walked towards Kamoshida.
"Skull… don't." she whispered.
"If you kill me, you'll kill my real self as well." the shadow muttered. "P-Please…"
An enraged Ryuji raised his club…
"Ryuji, don't!" Ren shouted, too shocked to use codenames.
...Ryuji slammed the club into the wall next to Kamoshida.
"The crown. NOW!" he shouted.
Kamoshida quickly handed him the crown.
"...This ain't just about me." Skull mentioned. "Ann, Shiho, and everyone else… you're going to admit what you did to them!"
"Skull…" Mona trailed off.
"But… what do I do after?" Kamoshida asked.
"Atone for your sins." she answered. "For the sake of everyone you've harmed, submit yourself to justice."
"All right…" Kamoshida responded. "I'll be certain to…"
With those final words, a white light covered his body, and he vanished.
Without its master, the castle began to shake.
"What's happening?!" she said frantically.
"With the treasure stolen, the palace is collapsing!" Mona explained. "We need to run!"
They wasted no time running out of the throne room, watching as the palace fell around them.
"Faster, you two!" Mona yelled.
"I'm running as fast as I can!" Ryuji yelled swiftly.
Ryuji picked up the pace, but Ren began to fall behind.
As the ceiling began to cave in, a piece of debris fell on Ren's head, knocking him to the ground.
"Joker, you ok?!" Ryuji cried.
"Keep going!" he yelled. "I'll catch up."
There was no way she was leaving him behind. She ran towards him, helped him up, and summoned Johanna.
"Everyone get on!"
She drove as fast as she could, dodging the fallen debris.
"Nyaaaaaahhh! We're all gonna die!" Mona screamed.
"Stop diggin' your claws into my back!" Ryuji yelled.
"Quit screaming in my ears!" she shouted back at them.
Running on pure adrenaline, she drove as fast as she could, determined to get the others to safety.
They found themselves back in the real world, in an alley near Shujin.
"...Is… everyone… ok?" she asked, short of breath.
"I'm fine, but what about the treasure?!" Morgana panicked.
"I got it right… wait, what the hell?" Ryuji questioned, pulling out a gold medal.
"A medal? What happened to the crown?" she wondered.
"That medal is the true source of Kamoshida's desires." Morgana told them. "He simply saw it as a crown."
"Guess none of this would've happened if he didn't win that, huh?" Ryuji mentioned.
"Well... guess it was his crowning achievement." Ren joked.
She couldn't help but let out a giggle.
"Looks like we can't go back there." Ryuji said, glancing at the Metaverse app. "So, is his heart really gonna change?"
"His shadow certainly sounded regretful at least." Morgana said. "It might take a bit, but his heart will definitely change. I'm sure of it."
Ryuji sighed. "I don't like just sittin' around and waiting, but I guess that's all we can do."
"Let's keep each other posted if we learn anything." Ren suggested.
The others nodded.
"Will you two make it home ok?" she asked. "I'm really exhausted myself."
"Yeah, I'm good." Ryuji nodded. "What about you, Renren? You took a couple nasty blows."
"I'm fine. Sorry to hold you guys back." Ren frowned. "Because of me, we almost didn't make it out of there."
Makoto shook her head. "Don't apologize. We're a team, so we help each other."
Ren nodded, but for some reason, he didn't seem that convinced. Maybe she would talk to him later.
"You were great, team!" Morgana cheered, happy for the mission's success.
They exchanged goodbyes before heading home, their job finished.
Makoto Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 1
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 2
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 1
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 2
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 1