Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

4/9/2016 - Afternoon

Ren Amamiya awoke in a subway car, looking around. The train car was mostly filled by people in suits and formal attire. Suddenly he hears a feminine voice over the train’s intercom.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today. We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly. This is the last stop for this ride. Please transfer here for all subway lines.”

Ren sighs, lost in thought, 4 words replaying in his head over and over for the past few weeks.

“Damn, Brat. I’ll Sue!” He clenched his fists at the memory.

“What? Are you for real? A mental shutdown?” Another voice said, suddenly snapping Ren back to reality. 

He turns his head to see two girls around his age talking about something.

“It’s the truth!” One of the girls says, while the other just rolled her eyes. 

“To a person though? That’s gotta be a joke. You really love all that occult stuff, don’t you?”

Ren sighs again and thinks to himself. ‘A mental shutdown? What does that mean?’ 

Before he could think about it further, the train arrives at his station, Yongen-Jaya.

Ren gets off the train and pulls out his GPS app on his phone, following it to where he needs to be. He ends up in the middle of a very crowded street. Some of the people start bumping into Ren without a care in the world, nearly making him drop his phone. He looks down at the screen, and suddenly sees a strange red eye icon taking up most of the screen. 

“What the heck…?” He taps on it multiple times, but nothing happens.

“I get the feeling that’s what’s going on…” Ren turns his head to see a man walking behind him suddenly slowing down then completely freezing in place. 

Ren’s eyes widen, as he looks around and sees that everyone in the street had frozen in place. He looks around in a panic, his thoughts reflecting his panic. ‘Hey… What’s going on!?’

He stops turning and notices a massive blue flame at the other end of the street. Ren was already freaked out by the flames being there, but then he noticed that it was slowly taking a… human shape? And then it had… wings? He blinked, and suddenly everyone in the street was moving again. 

Ren was completely confused, his heart still racing. “What the hell just happened?”

He looked down at his phone, and the red eye icon was still there. Ren took a breath, and deleted the app. 

“God, I must have been more tired than I thought…” He resumed walking to his destination.

After about 10 to 20 minutes, Ren finally arrived in the right neighborhood, Yongen-Jaya’s shopping district. It was… quiet. A lot quieter than Ren was used to. It took him a bit to find the address he was given. He finally found it, a lone house off to the side with the name ‘Sojiro Sakura’ engraved on the plate at the front gate. 

Ren was about to open the gate and knock on the door, only to hear a voice. “Looks like no one’s home…” 

Ren turned to see a deliveryman holding a package. “Oh yeah… Sakura-San’s usually at his café around this time. Well, Leblanc’s in the back alley, so I should make my other deliveries first…”

Ren raised his eyebrow. ‘A café? Mom and Dad didn’t mention one when they told me that Sakura-San would be caring for me… Well, guess I better go find it.’

He turned around and went back the way he just came, reading every sign he could see. Eventually, he found it, ‘Leblanc.’

Leblanc was very small from the outside. Ren took a breath and walked through the door, there were only 3 people inside. An elderly couple seated in one of the booths, and a man sitting at the counter with a newspaper, who Ren assumed was the Manager.

Before Ren could approach the man, the TV started loudly playing a news broadcast. “A public transit bus was driven down an opposing lane with its customers still in it! The citizens can’t live in peace if this keeps up.”

“How frightening.” The Elderly man in the booth said. 

“What could be going on? Didn’t something similar happen just the other day?” His wife asked. 

The man at the counter didn’t seem to care what they were talking about, he was doing the crossword in the newspaper. “And down is… the name of a shellfish used in pearl farming…”

“An Oyster.” Ren said without much thought. Causing the man to notice he was there. Ren tensed up as the man’s eyes locked with his.

“…Oh right. They did say that was today.” The man said, putting down the newspaper. 

Before Ren or the Man could say anything else, the elderly couple got up. “We’ll be going now. The payment’s on the table.” 

The Man turned towards them and responded without much care. “Thanks for coming.”

The Elderly man chuckled. “This place is in the back alley, there’s no worries of a car crashing in here.” 

Both Ren and the Man’s eyes widened at that remark. “A what now?” the man asked.

The Elderly man sighed before replying. “There’s been a string of those rampage accidents, you know. I just hope that none happen around here.” 

The owner put on a neutral expression and responded again, “It’s none of my concern.” 

The Elderly Man chuckled. “Haha, we’ll see you next time.”

Once the Elderly couple had left, the Manager let out a groan. “…Four hours for just a single cup of joe.” He then turned his attention towards Ren, who tensed up again. “So, you’re…?”

“Ren Amamiya…” Ren sheepishly said, not wanting to come off as rude. 

The man’s eyes narrowed at the teen before shaking his head, returning his face to a neutral position. “I’m Sojiro Sakura. You’ll be in my custody over the next year.” 

Sojiro slowly looked at Ren from head to toe. “I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up, but you’re the one, huh?”

Ren tensed up again, which Sojiro noticed. “Have you been told? A customer of mine and your parents know each other and… Well, not that it matters… Follow me.” Ren nodded before following Sojiro up the stairs in the back of the café.

When Ren and Sojiro reached the top of the stairs, Ren quickly looked around the ‘room’. It was cluttered. Dust and Boxes everywhere, like a storage room. 

“This is your room. I’ll at least give you sheets for your bed.” Sojiro said, not caring how cold he sounded while turning towards Ren. Ren looked downwards toward the floor.

Sojiro rolled his eyes and put his left hand on the back of his neck. “It’s on you to clean up the rest. I’ll be leaving after I lock up each day. You’ll be alone at night, but don’t do anything stupid. I’ll throw you out if you cause any trouble.” 

Ren’s eyes slightly widened with fear at Sojiro’s threat, which Sojiro noticed.

Sojiro let out a small sigh before continuing. “I got the gist of your situation. You protected some woman from a man forcing himself on her, he got injured, then sued you. Right? And now that you’ve got a criminal record, you were expelled from your high school. The courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved. In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass.” 

Ren looked very upset by Sojiro simply summarizing what had happened as if it was nothing. “I just wanted to help…” Ren said, gritting his teeth. 

Sojiro looked at Ren, a brief look of concern on his face before quickly swapping back to neutral. “I get that, Kid. But that’s what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between two adults. You did injure him, yeah?” 

Ren clenched his fist at the question. “No… He tripped and hurt himself.” 

Sojiro sighed. “Even if that is what happened, it doesn’t matter. What happened, happened. No changing it. Just behave yourself for the year, and if nothing happens, your probation will be lifted.”

Ren didn’t comment on what Sojiro had said. He was lost in thought. ‘A whole year…’ He clenched his fist again. 

Sojiro ignored the obvious anger and kept talking. “Cause any problems, and you’ll be sent straight to juvie. We’ll be going to Shujin tomorrow.” 

Ren looked up from the floor and towards Sojiro. “Shujin?”

His confusion caused Sojiro to facepalm. “Shujin Academy-the school you’ll be attending. You’re actively wearing their uniform.”

Ren’s eyes widened, then he looked down at his outfit, and noticed the school logo. “Oh…” His cheeks lightly pink from embarrassment.

“Way to go, Amamiya… You’ve only known Sakura-san for an hour and you’ve already made a fool out of yourself…” Ren mumbled to himself. 

Sojiro sighed. “We’ll introduce ourselves properly to the staff there. There’s rarely a place that’ll accept someone like you, you know.” 

Sojiro then turns towards a box that’s sat on the floor behind him. “Your ‘luggage’ arrived a little while ago. I brought it up here for you.” 

Sojiro then lightly pats Ren on the shoulder before heading back downstairs.

Ren let out a loud sigh. “So… this is my life now…”

Ren had spent a lot of his time cleaning his ‘room’, which had surprised Sojiro. Sojiro eventually went home, leaving Ren alone with his thoughts.

Ren changed into his pajamas and laid down in his ‘bed’, getting ready to doze off. Before he did, he heard a weird noise from his phone, so he picked it up to check. His eyes widened, the red eye icon was back. 

“What the hell? I thought I deleted it…” He questioned it for a moment, but just decided to delete it again. 

“Whatever… I have enough to worry about…” He closed his eyes, and slowly drifted to sleep.

???

Ren’s head started to hurt, he slowly re-opened his eyes and found himself in what looked like… a Prison Cell!? Ren quickly got up. He was in a small room with a crappy bed, a shiny metallic toilet, and bars locking him in. He placed his hand on his forehead. 

“What the hell…?” As he was trying to assess his situation, he heard what sounded like laughter and turned towards the bars of the cell.

2 Girls in Blue Prison guard uniforms with eyepatches were now standing in front of his cell, giving him smiles as if to mock him. He got up and stumbled towards them, noticing a chain around his foot, linked to a large metal ball. As he reached the bars, the 2 girls moved out of the way. 

Ren looked upwards and saw an elderly man with a long nose staring at him from a desk in the center of the room. The elderly man then let out a light chuckle before reaching out his right hand towards Ren and speaking. 

“Trickster… Welcome to my Velvet Room.” The Man’s deep booming voice and creepy smile sending a chill down Ren’s spine.

“So you’ve come to, Inmate.” the one on Ren’s right said, confusing him even more. ‘Inmate?’

“The ‘You’ in reality is currently fast asleep. You are only experiencing this as a dream, so I would advise that you stop struggling.” the girl on the left said. 

Ren didn’t know what else to do, so he went along with what she said.

“You’re in the presence of our master. Stand up straight!” The girl on the right yelled, causing Ren to tense up before standing up straight like she asked. 

He had no idea what was happening, but he was not gonna piss off the only people who could answer his questions.

“Welcome, I am delighted to make your acquaintance.” The elderly man finally spoke again, his voice echoing throughout the room, causing Ren’s eyes to widen and focus on him. 

“This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a ‘contract’ may enter.”

Ren was suddenly confused. ‘Contract? I didn’t sign any contract…’ 

He looked at the Elderly man again, who was leaning on his left hand while tapping the desk with his right. 

“Who are you?” Ren finally built up the courage to ask.

The man chuckled before answering. “Ah, where are my manners? I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well. I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well.”

“Important Matters? What the hell are you talking about?” Ren asked, but Igor ignored him.

“Still, this is a surprise… The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a ‘prisoner’ of fate. In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you.” Igor said with a sinister chuckle.

Ren flinched at Igor’s remark. “I didn’t ask for this!”

Igor did not seem fazed by Ren’s words at all. “What you asked for is irrelevant. I speak of the end to everything. However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be ‘rehabilitated.’ Rehabilitated towards freedom… That is your only means to avoid ruin… Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?”

Several thoughts were racing through Ren’s mind at Igor’s words. ‘Ruin? What the hell is this guy talking about? This is one really weird dream…’ He put his hand on his head, feeling a slight headache.

‘This is no mere dream.’

Ren’s eyes widened at the sound of another voice talking to him. “Who…?”

“Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation.” Igor said, the 2 girls suddenly stepping in front of the cell and turning around to face Ren. 

“Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left is Justine. They serve as Wardens here.” Caroline and Justine stared Ren in the eyes, almost as if they were studying him. 

“The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators.” Justine said, holding what looked like a clipboard under her right arm. “…That is, if you remain obedient.” 

The longer Ren stared at the twins, the more hostile they felt.

“I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion.” Igor said, causing the twins to turn away from Ren and once again move out of the way so Ren could see him. “Now then, it seems the night is waning… It is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually…”

“Wait… I have one question… What was that voice I heard?” Ren asks, confusing the twins.

“Voice? What voice? We didn’t hear anything.” Caroline said. 

Justine simply put her index finger on her chin before speaking. “It appears the inmate is more tired than we expected if he is hearing things.”

Ren looked at them even more confused. ‘How could they not hear it? It was pretty loud.’

He was about to open his mouth again, only to hear a familiar sound. ‘Don’t speak, just think. They cannot hear me, only you can. Simply look around the room.’ 

Ren took a breath and did as the voice said, looking around the Velvet Room to try and memorize the layout. ‘Who are you?’ Ren thought. 

‘I… don’t know… I awoke here around the same time you did…’ The voice replied.

Ren was a little shocked. ‘Are you a prisoner here too?’ 

The voice did not answer at first. ‘I don’t think so, as those wardens don’t even know I’m talking to you.’ 

Ren rolled his eyes. ‘Fair enough, I guess.’

“You have stayed longer than required, Trickster. I trust you have taken in enough to try and understand this place.” Igor snapped his fingers, and a loud alarm suddenly started blaring. 

“Time’s up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep.” Caroline said as Ren lunged forward to grab the bars. 

‘Just do as they say for now.’ The voice instructed Ren. “Hey, wait! This doesn’t make any sense!” Before Ren could press the voice further, his world went dark.

4/10/2016 - Morning

Ren reopened his eyes and found himself in Leblanc. He slowly got up. Was that real, or just a dream? It certainly felt real.

Ren didn’t linger on it for very long, as he needed to get ready to head to Shujin like Sojiro had mentioned. He put on his uniform from the day before and tried straightening it out to look somewhat presentable despite not being able to wash it since last night.

“Looks like you’re up.” Ren turned to see Sojiro coming up the stairs. He was wearing the same outfit as the day before, but with a white jacket and fedora. 

“Guess I’m not the only one who didn’t feel like washing their clothes.” Ren mumbled to himself, Sojiro barely noticing.

“Well then, let’s go introduce ourselves properly to the staff about your transfer. It’ll take a while to get to Shujin by train. The transfers are a real hassle, too… I’ll drive you there, but just for today. Let’s go.” Sojiro said, sounding a little annoyed. 

He turned back towards the stairs and slightly adjusted the position of his hat. “Sheesh… Men aren’t usually allowed in my passenger seat.”

Ren scoffed and rolled his eyes at that last sentence from Sojiro. ‘Prick…’

Just as Ren started to follow Sojiro down the stairs, he suddenly heard something he didn’t expect. ‘Well… this will certainly be interesting.’

Chapter Text

4/10/2016 - Afternoon

Well… today went just as Ren had expected, aside from the ominous voice now living in his head. Sojiro had brought him to Shujin to get a few more things sorted out before his first day, and the Principal was already giving him a hard time. Ren was warned that if he caused any trouble, he’d be kicked out immediately with nowhere to go. And Sojiro gave a similar warning as they were leaving the school. Now Ren and Sojiro were stuck in traffic.

“Uuugh. Traffic’s not moving at all… You’re taking the train starting tomorrow.” Sojiro complained, causing Ren to roll his eyes.

Sojiro then turned towards Ren and let out a small sigh. “…So how was it? The school, I mean. You think you can manage?”

Ren tensed up at the question. Sure, he’d always had an easier time in school than most other kids in his hometown, but that was before… everything… Ren let out a sigh of his own. “It’ll be tough…”

“You brought it on yourself though.” Sojiro coldly responded, causing Ren’s eyes to narrow. 

‘Thanks, Asshole…’ Ren thought to himself. 

Sojiro didn’t notice Ren’s anger and kept talking. “Still, you were expelled once already. To think you’d re-enroll at a different one. It’s not like anyone will be sympathetic with you.”

Sojiro then took a breath and shook his head. “…If that’s what it was like at school, people might say stuff about me in the future too… What a troublesome kid I’ve taken in…”

Ren grit his teeth at Sojiro’s comment. “If that's what you think, why did you bother taking me in?” 

THAT got a reaction out of Sojiro, whose eyes slightly widened before going back to his usual neutral expression. “I was asked to do it, and I just… happened to agree to it. I’ve already been paid for it too, after all.”

‘Money, of course that was all it took.’ The ominous voice from the ‘Velvet Room’ said. 

Ren closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat while letting out a sigh. He wished things could have been different, but this is his life now.

“…And now back to today’s top stories.” A voice suddenly said on the car’s radio. “A subway train has derailed, severely affecting the timetable across all of-”

Sojiro cut off the radio with a groan. “…Another accident?”

Ren looked at Sojiro with a look of confusion and worry. ‘Another…? Why did he say that like it’s common around here…?’

“So that’s why it’s so crowded. There’s been a lot of those lately.” That last sentence shocked Ren and answered his previous question. 

Sojiro continued talking, not noticing the look on Ren’s face. Or if he did notice, he didn’t care. “In fact, there was a real sad one just last month… It happened before you came here. If I remember right, the girl that passed away was only fifteen. Her parents have gotta be just…”

Ren was horrified, if accidents like these were common, how messed up is this town? He wanted to go back home, but that wasn’t an option. 

‘Breathe, Amamiya. Just breathe.’ The voice said.

“…All traffic around Shibuya Station is being redirected due to the accident, so drivers should expect jam-packed streets.” The radio had snapped Ren out of his thoughts while annoying Sojiro, who let out another groan. “Oh, come on!”

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, with Ren and Sojiro arriving back at Leblanc. Sojiro had given Ren a diary to write down what happens each day while under probation, and then he left after getting a phone call and giving Ren another threat to kick him out if he caused trouble. Ren was already getting tired of hearing it.

Ren had spent some time cleaning up other parts of his ‘Room’ before laying down in bed. He then scrolled through his phone to find which trains he should take to get to Shujin. Ren let out a sigh as something else popped up. “More news about that subway accident… It sounds like a lot of people were hurt. I bet this’ll affect the timetables for tomorrow too…”

Ren’s eyes then widened as he noticed the Red Eye icon was back on his homescreen. 

“What the hell? It keeps showing up… I thought I erased it.” He groaned before deleting it again. “I should probably reboot my phone, just in case…”

He plugged in his phone, then laid down and fell asleep. Hopefully his first day at Shujin isn’t so bad.

4/11/2016 - Morning

Ren let out a sigh. ‘Just HAD to jinx it…’ 

He was standing under an overhang outside the station while it was pouring rain. “This Sucks! I left early today too.” Several students with umbrellas were rushing to get to Shujin so they could be as dry as possible.

‘I don’t see why they’re complaining, it’s just water.’ The voice said, to which Ren couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘Yeah, I guess you’re right.’

Ren turned on his phone to check the forecast, then opened some directions to Shujin, only to find that the Strange app was back. ‘Seriously!? What the hell is this app? Did I accidentally install a virus?’

Before Ren could hit delete again, another Shujin student suddenly walked up next to him, seemingly to get out of the rain. She was wearing a hood and red leggings, no other student that Ren saw pass by had anything similar. She lowered her hood to reveal long blonde hair with pony-tails on both sides. Ren couldn’t help but stare, he’d seen some people with blonde hair before, but usually it was dyed, hers was natural.

The girl looked pretty upset for some reason, she looked around the area for a bit, only to turn towards Ren when she realized he was staring. Ren turned away from her in embarrassment.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ren noticed that the girl gave him a soft smile and chuckled. 

“You’ve got something in your hair.” She said, pointing towards his bangs. 

He rubbed that area and a cherry blossom petal fell into his hand. He turned back towards the girl, who sighed. “I hate the rain… all the blossoms are so pretty right now, and this just makes them go everywhere…”

Before Ren could say anything in response, a car pulled up in front of him and the girl, the window rolled down to reveal a man who appeared to be in his mid-30s. His hairstyle also made him look like he escaped from a circus. “Good Morning. You want me to give you a ride to school? You’re gonna be late.” The man asked the girl.

“Um, sure. Thank you.” The girl politely said, walking towards the car. The man then turned towards Ren. “Do you need a lift too?”

Ren was caught off guard by the sudden question, and the man already made him feel uncomfortable. “Nah, thanks.”

The man in the car suddenly rolled up the windows and started to drive off. And before Ren could question why, he heard what sounded like someone running behind him. 

He turned to see a boy with blond hair coming to an abrupt stop, seemingly out of breath. He was wearing a similar uniform as Ren, but with a yellow t-shirt with some sort of logo rather than a white dress shirt. And his hair was obviously dyed instead of being natural like the girl’s. “Dammit… Screw that pervy teacher…”

THAT caught Ren’s attention. “Pervy… Teacher…?” he repeated, unaware that his phone had that weird app still open and listening. 

The blond boy suddenly turned towards Ren, still out of breath. The boy gave Ren a slight glare. “What? You plannin’ on rattin’ me out to Kamoshida?” He asked aggressively.

Ren raised an eyebrow in confusion at the question. “Who’s Kamoshida?” 

Ren’s question seemed to suddenly make the Blond Boy confused. “Huh? In that car just now, it was Kamoshida.” 

The boy scoffed before continuing his rant. “He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is-the king of a castle?”

Ren didn’t know how to respond, as he didn’t even know Kamoshida’s name until just now, let alone that he was apparently a teacher.

The blond suddenly stood up and walked towards Ren. “Man, you’re not much of a talker, huh? Wait, you actually don’t know Kamoshida…? Are you for real? You go to Shujin, right?” He asked with a sigh.

Ren took a minute to register the question. “You mean Shujin Academy? You go there too?” He awkwardly asked.

The blond chuckled at the question. “What? No other high school’s got a uniform like this.” He turned his attention towards Ren’s blazer and noticed a pin with the number 2 on it. “A second-year, huh… We’re the same grade then. Never seen you before though… What class are you in?”

“I… don’t know yet…” Ren said, not really knowing how else to answer. He was given a warning by the principal, and briefly met one of the teachers, but he couldn’t remember whose class they said he was in.

“Yet?” The blond asked, even more confused than before. “Oh, you a transfer student?” Ren nodded when asked. “Then no wonder you don’t know him.” He said with a slight scoff.

Ren was about to ask a few more questions about Kamoshida, only for the blond boy to cut him off. “Oh, crap… How the hell did it get this late?” He looked towards the sky to see how hard it was still raining. “This rain ain’t too bad. We better hurry up, or we’ll be late.”

Ren and the blond started walking, but then after a few steps they both suddenly had a slight headache. ‘I feel light-headed for some reason…’ Ren thought to himself.

‘Something’s not right…’ The voice was back.

“Uuugh, my head hurts… Dammit… I wanna go home…” The blond boy mumbled. 

Ren felt sympathetic, as he also wanted to go home. 

“C’mon, I know a shortcut to school.” The blond started walking again. Ren was about to follow him, but heard a faint voice “Beginning Navigation.” 

Ren looked around for the source of the voice, but started following the blond.

The two boys walked down an alleyway that supposedly led to Shujin. Ren felt something weird after stepping in a puddle, he turned around and noticed everything suddenly had a red and purple tint. ‘Is that… normal?’

“Wha-!?” Ren heard the blond boy yell at something. He walked down the rest of the alley to join him and see what was up. 

When Ren finally caught up and stood next to the blond, he saw something he didn’t expect… a giant castle with a blood red sky. The weird part was that it had a sign that said ‘Shujin Academy.’

The blond turned back towards the alley. “We didn’t… come the wrong way though… I mean, I’m not complaining… but where’d the school go?”

“I don’t know… I was following you…” Ren said, just as confused. 

Ren had only been to the school once the day before, there was no way they could have completely changed its appearance in that short of a time.

The blond let out a groan. “What’s goin’ on here?” He then turned towards Ren. “Whatever… I guess we’ll just have to go and ask.” He started walking towards the gate.

“Uh… Are you sure?” Ren asked, still confused about every strange thing he’s seen in the last 2 days. But the blond just kept walking.

They entered the lobby, and it was… hideous… a bunch of red carpets and curtains everywhere, candles on every single wall and pillar in sight, and a giant chandelier that had a blue shine. Ren also took note of a painting far in the back, but it was so far away he couldn’t tell who it was a painting of.

“What the hell is all this?” The blond asked. “The sign outside said this was the school, but this looks nothing like it.”

Ren and the blond suddenly heard a loud metallic noise approaching them. And they turned to see what looked like a man in… Knight armor? ‘There is no way this is normal.’

“Geez, you freaked me out… Who’re you? You a student?” The blond asked while walking up to the creepy Knight. “Man, your costume’s impressive… is that armor real?” The Knight said nothing.

“C’mon, don’t just stand there. Say somethin’.” The blond said with slight anger. Suddenly, another Knight appeared and marched towards Ren and the blond. “…H-Hey, what’s goin’ on?”

Ren felt a shiver down his spine as the Knights continued to approach him and the blond. Whoever these guys were, they were definitely not students. Suddenly, before he could say anything, he heard the voice again. ‘Run.’

Ren was confused. ‘Huh?’

The voice then spoke again. ‘RUN!’

Ren’s eyes widened at the voice’s sudden aggressiveness. “We need to get out of here!” Ren yelled at the blond, who already had the same idea and followed.

Their exit was blocked by even more Knights appearing. “Ugh, what’s with these guys?” The blond asked, slight fear in his voice. 

They turned around again only to get bashed by the shields of two of the Knights, knocking both of them to the ground. Ren’s vision slowly turning black as his body felt sore.

???

‘W…k…p…’ Ren slowly started opening his eyes at the sound of the voice.

“Huh…?” He looks around, but his vision is still slightly blurry. 

‘WAKE UP!’ He heard the voice shout, startling him into getting up.

Ren rubbed his head, thinking he might have a concussion. He looked around and saw he was in what looked like a dungeon, with barrels in the corner and shackles on the walls. He saw the blond boy shaking the bars and yelling. “Hey, let us outta here! I know there’s someone out there!”

The blond turned his head and saw Ren was awake. “Hey, you’re up! You all right?”

Ren shook his head before looking the blond in the eye. “Yeah… I think so… You?”

The blond let out a sigh. “I’m fine… more or less… Dammit, where are we? Is this some kinda movie set!?”

Ren let out a sigh of his own. “I doubt it-” 

Suddenly, Ren was caught off by a loud scream coming from somewhere else in the area. Both boys ran over to the cell door and grabbed the bars to look outwards. 

“Th-The hell was that just now?” The blond asked. The screaming continued, sending a shiver down both their spines. “Whoa… Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa… You’re shittin’ me, right?”

Ren had no idea how to respond, he was just as terrified as the other boy was. This all seemed like a dream, but it felt very real.

Suddenly, more of those Knights from before had shown up in front of the cell. One of them actually speaking. “Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon. Your Charge is unlawful entry. Thus, you will be sentenced to death.”

“Say what!?” The blond boy yelled as both he and Ren’s eyes widened in fear at the Knight’s threat.

“No one’s allowed to do as they please in my castle.” a familiar voice said, Ren and the blond boy turning towards it. 

“KAMOSHIDA?!” The Blond yelled. 

Ren was even more confused now. Kamoshida, the ‘Pervy Teacher’ from earlier, was standing in front of him and the blond, wearing nothing but a crown, a speedo and some weird cape with hearts all over.

“I thought it was some petty thief. But to think it’d be you, Sakamoto…” Kamoshida shook his head. “Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven’t learned your lesson at all, huh? And you brought a friend this time… You really can’t do anything yourself, can you?”

The blond, Sakamoto, was even more pissed off now than he was before. “This isn’t funny, you asshole!”

Kamoshida grew more irritated. “Is that how you speak to a king? It seems you don’t understand the position you’re in at all. Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime of insulting ME-THE KING.” Kamoshida’s face suddenly changed to a sinister grin. “The punishment for that… is death.”

Kamoshida raised his arm in front of the Knights. “IT’S TIME FOR AN EXECUTION. TAKE HIM OUT!”

Ren and Sakamoto backed up in fear. “S-Stop it!”

The room was suddenly swarming with Kamoshida’s Knights. All staring directly at Sakamoto. “…Goddammit!” Sakamoto mumbled.

“Hragh!” Sakamoto suddenly charged and tackled one of the Knights to the ground before turning towards Ren. “I ain’t down for this shit! C’mon we’re outta here!”

Suddenly, another one of the Knights walked up and bashed Sakamoto in the rib with the hand that was holding its sword. “Nnngh… Owww…” Sakamoto fell to the floor in pain.

“Sakamoto! Are you okay!?” Ren yelled, the Knights blocking his way.

Sakamoto looked up at Ren, blood slowly leaking from his mouth. “Just go! Get outta here! These guys are serious!”

Kamoshida looked at Ren and chuckled. “Oh? Running away, are we? What a heartless friend you are.”

Sakamoto grit his teeth and turned towards Kamoshida again. “He ain’t a friend… he’s got nothin’ to do with this…” He turned back towards Ren. “C’mon! Hurry up and go!”

Ren stood there, frozen. He couldn’t just abandon Sakamoto to die. But this seemed like his only chance to escape…

Kamoshida started laughing. “What’s the matter? Too scared to run away? Pathetic scum like you isn’t worth my time…” He turns his attention back towards the blond. “I’ll focus on this one’s execution.”

2 Knights marched forward and grabbed Sakamoto’s shoulders, forcing him to stand in front of Kamoshida. Kamoshida then proceeded to start beating him with no remorse. Eventually, Sakamoto was knocked to the ground, and Kamoshida chose to spit on him. 

“…Hmph. Where’d your energy from earlier go? A peasant like you isn’t worth beating.” Kamoshida said coldly, his sinister grin returning. “I’ll have you killed right now.”

“STOP IT!” Ren yelled, he couldn’t watch this anymore. Kamoshida and the Knights all turned towards him.

“What? Don’t you dare tell me you don’t know who I am.” Kamoshida walked towards Ren and stared at him, Ren giving him a glare. “That look in your eyes irritates me!” Kamoshida kicked Ren to the ground, making him wince in pain.

“Hold him there… After the peasant, it’s his turn to die.” Kamoshida orders the Knights. 2 of the Knights grab Ren and hold him against the wall while the 3rd Knight marches towards Sakamoto.

Sakamoto looked up at Kamoshida and the Knight, tears in his eyes. “No… No, I don’t wanna die…”

Ren couldn’t move. He wanted to help, but the Knights had him pinned. He was being forced to watch Sakamoto die, and he couldn’t do anything.

What’s the Matter? Are you simply going to watch?

“What…?” A voice was talking to Ren, but it’s not the same one as before. This voice sounded… like his own.

Are you forsaking him to save yourself?

“No… of course I’m not…” Ren said, his voice sounding shaky.

Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then?

“No. It wasn’t.” Ren said, his voice calmer than it was before. He wasn’t scared anymore, he was angry.

Very well… I have heeded your resolve. Vow to me.

Ren’s head started pounding, He let out a loud scream, his head felt like it could explode at any moment.

“Execute him!” Kamoshida pointed a finger at Sakamoto and ordered the Knight to kill him.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Ren yelled, catching Kamoshida off guard. 

“What was that…?” Kamoshida asked, gritting his teeth. The Knight behind him dropped Sakamoto and turned towards Ren. “You desire to be killed that much? Fine!” 

Kamoshida nodded his head, and the Knight to Ren’s left bashed him with his shield, knocking his glasses off and leaving a slight bruise.

Before Ren could react, he was pinned against the wall again by 2 of the Knights using their spears. The 3rd Knight raised his sword and was about to kill him, only for a violent gust of wind to fill the room as Ren reopened his eyes, the Knights holding Ren being pushed backward.

Ren regained his footing, and felt something on his face. He put his hands on his face and felt… a mask? ‘What the? Where did this come from?’

‘Rip it off.’ The voice from the Velvet Room spoke again. 

‘What…?’ Ren was confused at what the voice wanted. 

‘RIP OFF THE MASK!’ The voice practically screamed.

Ren didn’t have time to question it, he and Sakamoto’s lives were at risk. He tightly gripped the mask and pulled it as hard as he could, it felt like it was glued on to his face, but he managed to rip it off with a violent scream. Blood was pouring from his face, but he didn’t care.

He was suddenly engulfed by flames, knocking the Knights even further back. Ren had no idea what this was, but it felt good.

I am thou, thou art I.

Thou who would accept blasphemy for the sake of thine own justice.

Call upon my name, and release thy righteous rage.

Reveal the strength of thy will to seek the truth on thine own.

Though thou be chained down by hell itself.

Ren grinned as the flames around him called forth a figure behind him, the same figure he saw 2 days prior. He finally understands, this is his other self. 

“Come forth… Arsène!”

Chapter Text

???

Ren stood in a circle of flames, a feeling of relief flowing over him now. The figure, Arsène, stood behind him, towering over everyone in the small cell. Ren couldn’t help but grin. Arsène looked like a mix between a Demon and a Fallen Angel wearing a red suit, black dress shirt, and a top hat.

“What the hell is that…?” Sakamoto asked, staring at Arsène in awe while Kamoshida cowered in fear.

Ren turned around towards Arsène, who began to speak to him.

I am the Pillager of Twilight-”Arsène”!

I am the soul of a rebel that resides within you.

I shall consider granting you the power to break out of this crisis… If you desire.

Ren took a deep breath, then looked towards Kamoshida. “Give me your power.” He said to Arsène.

Hmph, very well…

“Who the hell are you!?” Kamoshida yelled, obvious fear in his voice. “Guards!” He commanded the Knights to get back up. 

“Start by killing that one!” He pointed at Ren, his fear replaced with anger.

The Knights fell over and morphed into black puddles with a bit of red lightning sparking off them. Suddenly, in their place were two floating witches with pumpkins for heads carrying lanterns.

“You’ll learn the true strength of my men!” Kamoshida continued to yell.

Ren was unfazed by Kamoshida’s empty threat. Instead, he again turned towards Arsène.

This power of mine is yours. 

Kill them however you want. Run wild to your heart’s content.

‘What does that mean?’ Ren wondered. ‘I feel stronger, faster. But what does Arsène mean to run wild? I barely know what’s going on right now.’

‘Eiha’ The voice from the Velvet Room whispered in Ren’s ear. 

Ren’s eyes narrowed before turning towards the pumpkin things. "Well… The voice hasn’t been wrong so far…"

Ren pointed his finger at one of the floating pumpkins. “Arsène! EIHA!” Arsène proceeded to let out what sounded like a sinister chuckle before slamming its hand on the ground, causing a stream of black and red energy to appear under the pumpkin that Ren pointed to, tearing it apart.

“Woah…” Sakamoto muttered, still in shock over what was happening.

Ren turned towards the remaining pumpkin creature and pointed at it. “EIHA!” Arsène repeated the attack it used on the other one, tearing it apart as well.

When both pumpkins were defeated, Arsène vanished from behind Ren in the same flames that it appeared in, and Ren was once again wearing the mask he tore off.

Sakamoto looked at Ren with a mixed look of confusion, fear, and awe. “What… What was that just now?”

Kamoshida, who Ren had almost forgotten about, marched towards him. “You little…” 

Before Kamoshida could finish his sentence, Sakamoto had gotten up and tackled him to the ground.

“HA! You like that, you son of a bitch!?” Sakamoto yelled at the downed Kamoshida. 

The blond then turned and noticed that one of the pumpkins that Ren killed had dropped some keys, he picked them up and ran out of the cell. “C’mon, hurry!” Ren followed him.

Once the two of them had gotten out of the cell, Sakamoto slammed the cell door shut and locked Kamoshida inside. “Okay, it’s locked!”

“Damn you!” Kamoshida yelled as he got back up on his feet. He ran towards the cell door and grabbed the bars.

Sakamoto ignored him and turned towards Ren. “Hey! What was that just now!? And… your clothes…”

Ren was confused. “My clothes…?” He looked down at himself, and Sakamoto was right. He was now dressed in a black tailcoat that went down to his ankles, a gray vest, black dress pants, black victorian-style boots, and blood red gloves. “Where did this come from…?” Ren mumbled to himself.

Before Ren and Sakamoto could question it further, there was a bright blue flash. And when their vision returned, Ren’s outfit changed back to his school uniform.

“Woah, it went back to normal!?” Sakamoto was even more confused now. 

“You bastards!” Ren and Sakamoto were startled by Kamoshida still struggling with the cell bars. 

“God, this is effin’ nuts.” Sakamoto said, which slightly amused Ren. 

“Effin’? Really?” Ren asked with a chuckle. 

“SHUDDUP!” Sakamoto yelled while turning towards him again. “Anyways, let’s scram! You lead the way!” 

Sakamoto turned around and threw the key into the nearby waterfall, which confused Ren even more about where they were.

Ren and Sakamoto ran through the halls of the weird dungeon, looking for an exit. They saw a bunch of cells, cages, and even a river. They eventually found themselves at a dead end, standing by a raised drawbridge next to an eerie statue of Kamoshida’s head. 

“Dammit…” Sakamoto cursed. “this bridge’s raised up! Ain’t there some way to lower it!?”

“…Hey, you there.” Another voice called out from down the hall, Ren and Sakamoto turned to see where it came from. “Blondie! Frizzy Hair! Look over here!” Ren and Sakamoto walked over to a cell at the end of the hall, and found where the voice came from.

A small bipedal cat was talking to them. It was stuck in the cell, and looking up at them with pleading eyes. Its big head, yellow scarf, and belt looked straight out of an Anime. 

“What the hell, is that a cat? A Monster Cat!?” Sakamoto was yelling in confusion, Ren had to cover his mouth to avoid guards hearing him. 

“Dude, calm the hell down. Do you want us to get caught again?” Ren sarcastically asked, which prompted Ryuji to chill out.

“You’re not soldiers of this castle, right!? Get me out of here!” The cat creature begged. “Look, the key’s right there!” It pointed to a key that was hanging off a hook in a nearby wall.

“We’re trying to get the hell out of here! And why should we let you out? I mean, you obviously look like an enemy too!” Sakamoto told the cat, bringing up some valid points.

“I’m locked up here, so how can I be your enemy!? Help me out!” The cat yelled in a pleading voice. 

“Quiet Down.” Ren said to it.

“I’m begging you, you have to help me! Look, I can get you guys to the exit if you let me out!” The cat continued to plead. 

Ren considered the cat’s offer, but didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, Ren and Sakamoto heard the sounds of guards marching in their direction. 

‘Free the Cat, ask questions later.’ The voice said.

“Fine.” Ren said to the cat, walking over to grab the key and unlock the cell.

Sakamoto was baffled by Ren’s decision. “Dude, you’re just gonna do whatever it says? We don’t even know what it is!”

Ren ignored Sakamoto’s comment and opened the cell door, the cat walking out of the cell and stretching.

“Ahhh… Freedom tastes so great…” The cat said very cheerily before letting out a startled yell, Ren had kneeled down behind the cat and put his hand on his head.

“It’s soft. Feels just like actual cat fur.” Ren said, rubbing the creature’s head.

“Hands off, Pal! Quit touching me or I’ll-” The cat yelled for Ren to let go of it, only to start purring at the touch.

Ryuji just stood there, completely baffled. “Are you… petting the weird cat thing?”

The creature jumped out of Ren’s grasp and yelled at Sakamoto. “Don’t call me a cat! I am Morgana!”

“Shuddup and hurry it up! You wanna be locked up again!?” Sakamoto quickly replied.

“A-All right, sheesh!” The not-a-cat awkwardly replied, not wanting to be put back in the cell. “Follow me, and stay quiet!”

Ren and Sakamoto followed Morgana back down the hall to the raised drawbridge. Morgana had stopped in front of the creepy Kamoshida statue.

“What’re you doin’?” Sakamoto asked the not-cat.

Morgana turned around to face him. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m lowering the bridge.” 

Morgana then turned back around and jumped up, grabbing the statue’s jaw, which lowered as Morgana slowly fell back down to the ground. The drawbridge then started lowering as well.

“How were we supposed to know to do that!?” Sakamoto yelled, his eyes widened with confusion.

Morgana chuckled at Ryuji’s confusion. “Amateur… Come on, let’s keep going.”

The 3 of them ran across the drawbridge. But right as they did, another guard showed up. “A-Aah! Shit… Shit, it’s them.” Sakamoto tripped and fell backwards at the sight of the guard.

Ren clenched his fists when looking at the guard, then another blue flash happened, and Ren was back in that weird outfit from earlier. ‘Huh… does this happen every time there’s danger…?’

Morgana walked up beside Ren and turned towards Sakamoto. “Hey Blondie, stay still.” He then turned towards Ren. “Hey, you! You can fight, right? Let’s go!”

The not-cat then jumps backward and raised his head. “Come… ZORRO!”

A massive blue light appeared behind Morgana, nearly blinding both Ren and Sakamoto. But when the light disappears, Ren and Sakamoto see a massive figure holding a rapier.

“Y-You got one of those things too!?” Sakamoto yelled, before turning back to see another guard had shown up next to the previous one.

The 2 guards turned into black and red puddles, just like the ones back in the cell. One of them turned into the pumpkin witch, while the other turned into a weird pink devil.

“Come on, Frizzy Hair. Let’s shut these guys up!” Morgana shouts to Ren, who nods.

‘I need to figure out how to call Arsène again… Morgana seemed to do it easily, but how do I do it?’ Ren was stuck in thought, he didn’t expect to need to fight again so soon.

‘The mask’ The voice said, which reminded Ren of what it had said earlier. It told Ren to rip off the Mask, which resulted in Arsène being summoned. Maybe that’s what he has to do every time now? Only one way to be sure.

Ren puts his hand on his mask and pulled it off. “Come, Arsène!” The Mask fizzled away like flames, and Arsène appeared behind him again.

Ren pointed at the Pink Devil. “EIHA!” Arsène used the same attack it did on the previous enemies, but unlike the pumpkins, this enemy survived the attack, though it still seemed to be in pain. Arsène then vanished and Ren’s mask reappeared.

Morgana chuckled. “Not Bad, but if the enemy is still standing, you need to improve.” Morgana then turned his attention towards the floating pumpkin. “Zorro, GARU!” 

Zorro waved its rapier around as if it was painting, and a gust of wind appeared out of nowhere, knocking back the pumpkin and dazing it. Zorro then disappeared as well.

“Strike at an enemy’s weakness to knock them down, then strike again.” Morgana explained.

“Right.” Ren said with a nod before turning his attention back to the enemies.

Ren noticed he was now holding some sort of dagger. ‘Where did this come from?’ He wondered.

He shrugged it off, then ran forward and killed the pumpkin creature with the dagger while Morgana took out the devil creature.

Morgana skipped over to Ren, and Sakamoto followed closely behind. “Not bad. Your Persona’s pretty strong.”

“The heck’s a Persona?” Sakamoto asked, still confused about the whole situation.

Morgana put his paw to his head, cringing at Sakamoto’s question.

“The giant monster things that Morgana and I are able to summon.” Ren said to Sakamoto.

Morgana then chimed in. “To put it simply, everyone wears a mask of sorts within their heart. By removing that…”

Before Morgana could finish his sentence, Ren’s outfit once again disappeared in a flash, putting him back in his school uniform.

“Hm, it looks like you don’t have full control over your power yet…” Morgana mumbled, circling around Ren to examine him. “The transformation shouldn’t normally dissolve like that. After all-”

“Can we talk about this later and just get the eff out of here!?” Sakamoto yelled.

Morgana sighed. “Do you want answers or not, Blondie?”

“Don’t call me Blondie! My name’s Ryuji…” Sakamoto yelled at the not-cat again.

“All right… Ryuji. You’re actually right, there’s not really any time for me to lecture you. So let’s go!” Morgana said before turning and running in the direction of the exit, Ren and Ryuji followed behind.

They ran down through the halls, Morgana seemed to be keeping his word of helping them escape. But Ren turned and noticed Ryuji had stopped following.

“Sakamoto, what the heck are you doing?” Ren asked as he ran over to Ryuji.

He turned to follow Ryuji’s line of sight, and ended up looking into a cell. There was someone on the floor, wearing some sort of red uniform with white accents.

“I feel like I’ve seen what this dude’s wearin’ before…” Ryuji mumbled before groaning a little. “Dammit! Why can’t I remember where I’ve seen it!?”

“Come on, let’s go!” Morgana yelled at Ren and Ryuji, clearly annoyed that they suddenly stopped moving. “Do you guys want to escape or not?”

Ryuji turned towards the not-cat. “Hold on, dammit!”

“What is it? We need to go, fast!” Morgana said to Ryuji, clearly starting to lose his patience.

“But… who are these guys?” Ryuji asked, his voice cracking a little as he turned back to the person in the cell.

“We don’t have time to worry about that right now, another guard could show up at any moment.” Morgana raised his voice a little. “Besides, they’re-”

“THERE!” The 3 of them were startled by the voice of another guard who ran towards them from a nearby drawbridge.

“OH, COME ON!” Morgana yelled in annoyance.

“Well, I guess we’re fighting again.” Ren said, his outfit changing again.

The guard transformed into some sort of fairy creature.

‘Man, these guards take really weird forms.’ Ren thought to himself. 

‘Don’t let your guard down.’ The voice said. It had been so long since it spoke that Ren had almost forgotten about it with everything else going on.

Ren called Arsène and used Eiha again. It was the only attack he knew, so he didn’t know what else to do. The fairy was quickly defeated in a single hit.

“Huh, that was… a little disappointin’.” Ryuji said.

Ren’s outfit once again fizzled out, and Morgana turned to face Ren and Ryuji.

“All right, let’s get away before more show up!” Morgana said to the two of them.

“Hold on, we can’t just leave these guys here!” Ryuji said, motioning to the cell again.

Morgana groaned a little. “Yes, we can. They’re not real.” Morgana’s blunt words caught both Ren and Ryuji off guard.

“What do you mean they’re not real?” Ren asked the not-cat.

Morgana let out a sigh. “There’s no time to explain. We really need to get out of here.” he explained, tapping his foot.

Ryuji reluctantly followed the not-cat, with Ren following behind shortly.

The 3 of them ran up the nearby staircase and found themselves in a hallway near the entrance where Ren and Ryuji first came in.

“Finally, we’re saved!” Ryuji was about to run towards the front door, only for Ren to stop him. “Hey, why’re you stoppin’ me? The exit is right there!”

Ren sighed. “The guards are looking for us, I doubt they’re just gonna let us walk right out the front.”

Morgana nodded at Ren’s words. “He’s right, I have another way out that the guards don’t know about. Over here!” Morgana led them through a door to Ren’s left.

They entered the room and found what looked like a small waiting room.

“Where are we supposed to get out from here!? There aren’t even any windows!” Ryuji said in annoyance at the not-cat.

Ren tapped Ryuji on the shoulder and pointed towards a ventilation shaft above the bookshelf. “I’m guessing he wants us to escape through there.”

Morgana chuckled at Ren’s observational skills. “Wow, you’re a natural at this. That vent leads all the way outside.”

“I see…” Ryuji mumbled. “So we just gotta get that metallic mesh off!”

Ryuji ran towards the bookshelf and carefully climbed it, Ren noticed a slight wince on Ryuji’s face when he steadied his left leg. 

Ryuji made it to the top of the shelf and grabbed the metallic mesh covering the vent. “And a one, and a- Whoa!” Ryuji tripped and fell off the shelf as he pulled the mesh off, landing on his stomach.

“Are you okay?” Ren asked, running over to Ryuji.

“Yeah…” Ryuji said, slightly wincing in pain as Ren helped him back up. “Crap! The guards didn’t hear us, did they?”

Morgana ran over and put his head against the door. “I don’t hear anyone nearby, so we should be good.” Morgana then turned back towards Ren and Ryuji. “Anyways, you two should get out of here. I still have something to do, so this is where we go our separate ways.”

Ren and Ryuji looked at Morgana in a mix of shock and confusion. The not-cat had been pretty helpful, and now they were leaving him behind.

“Thanks for your help, I mean it.” Ren said, petting Morgana on the head.

“HEY! Don’t do that!” Morgana yelled in embarrassment. “Just be careful on your way out…”

Ren and Ryuji then nodded and climbed the bookshelf again to reach the vent. 

The moment they were out, Morgana lowered his head, visible sadness on his face. “Huh… I was starting to like having them around… They seemed useful. Especially the frizzy haired one, if my judgement’s right…”

04/11/2016 - Afternoon

Ren and Ryuji kept running as far as they could from the castle, until they found themselves right outside the station. The 2 of them nearly passed out from exhaustion.

“Did we make it?” Ryuji asked Ren, who was still trying to catch his breath.

“I think so…” He said, looking around to see actual people walking through the street rather than more guards.

Ren then felt his phone vibrate, so he pulled it out of his pocket to check it. “You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.” His phone suddenly said.

“Huh? Returned?” Ryuji asked, sounding just as confused as usual. “Does that mean we got away?”

“Probably.” Ren said, still just as confused as Ryuji as to what they just experienced.

Ryuji rubbed his head, feeling a slight headache. “I don’t know what to think anymore… What was all that anyways? That castle, and Kamoshida, and that weird cat!”

Ren put his hand on Ryuji’s shoulder. “Whatever just happened, I don’t think we should be talking about it in public, or else everyone will just think we’re crazy.” Ren said, half-joking.

Ryuji let out a sigh. “Yeah, you’re probably right…” He looked up at Ren’s face and saw it was still slightly bruised from when one of the guards hit him. “Oh jeez… that looks bad. You might need to go to the nurse when we get to Shujin…”

Ren’s eyes suddenly widened at Ryuji’s comment. “Shujin… Wait, how long were we in there?” He asked without thinking, but Ryuji’s eyes widened as well.

Ryuji pulled out his own phone and looked at the time. “Oh shit, we’re 4 hours late! Dammit, Come on!” Ryuji started running off back in the same direction they just ran from, and Ren followed.

Ren and Ryuji finally arrived at Shujin, the actual Shujin this time. And when they did, they noticed a school counselor standing by the front entrance, and he did not look happy.

“Sakamoto, We received a call from the police that they spotted 2 Shujin students roaming the streets during school hours and running in this direction.” The counselor said, clear annoyance in his voice.

Ren and Ryuji’s eyes slightly widened, they had completely forgotten about the possibility of cops spotting them.

The teacher turned his head towards Ren while still talking to Ryuji. “It’s rare not to see you alone. Where were you roaming around all this time?”

Ryuji was nervous, he didn’t know how to respond, but Ren did before he could.

“I got lost on the way here because I don’t know the area that well, and then some thugs jumped me. Sakamoto-san saved me and we’ve been trying to get here while avoiding them.” Ren said, only half-lying. 

The counselor raised his eyebrow but seemed satisfied with his answer, the bruise on Ren’s face made it more convincing.

“What’s going on out here?” A familiar voice said, Ren and Ryuji turned to see Kamoshida, sporting a normal gym teacher outfit, nothing like the one they’d just seen him in earlier.

“Kamoshida!?” Ryuji nervously yelled.

Kamoshida chuckled. “You seem so carefree, Sakamoto. Quite a difference from when you did morning practice with the track team.” He said, sounding a little amused.

“Shuddup! It’s your fault that-” Ryuji snapped at Kamoshida, but before he could finish his sentence, the counselor interrupted him. “How dare you speak that way to Mr. Kamoshida! There’s not much leeway left for you, you know?”

“Huh!? But he’s the one that provoked me!” Ryuji yelled back, his voice suddenly shaky.

The counselor did not seem to care. “Do you really want to be expelled!?” 

The threat of expulsion caused Ryuji’s eyes to widen in fear. Only for Kamoshida of all people to chime in. “Come now, I should have been more considerate, too. Let’s just say that we were both to blame.”

The counselor then let out a sigh. “Well, if you say so…” He then turned back towards Ryuji. “Still, you’re coming with me. It’s undeniable that you’re extremely late.”

“Fine…” Ryuji mumbled in response.

Kamoshida then turned towards Ren. “By the way, you’re that new transfer, correct? Ren Amamiya?”

“Yes, sir…” Ren mumbled, still nervous and confused around Kamoshida after what he just experienced. ‘What was all that? And why is he suddenly acting… friendly?’ He wondered.

Ryuji followed the counselor inside the school, he briefly stopped to glare at Kamoshida, before continuing. Kamoshida then turned back to Ren.

Kamoshida squinted his eyes. “…Have we met somewhere?”

Ren slightly turned his head away from Kamoshida. “No… I don’t think so…”

“Hm…?” Kamoshida kept looking at Ren for a moment, before his eyes widened. “Oh, I remember now… I saw you at the station.” 

Ren tensed up at Kamoshida’s recollection.

“Well, I’ll overlook this just for today. I’m sure you’ve heard from the principal, but cause any trouble and you’ll be expelled. Understand?” Kamoshida said, a little of disgust being heard in his voice.

“I understand… I’m not looking for trouble…” Ren mumbled.

Kamoshida narrowed his eyes, then noticed the bruise on Ren’s face. “At any rate, go to the nurse’s office and get some ice for that bruise. Then head to the faculty office, Ms. Kawakami’s tired of waiting for you.” He coldly said.

Kamoshida then turned back towards the door, before saying one more thing to Ren. “Good luck trying to enjoy your new school.” He said with a slight chuckle before walking off.

Ren looked towards the ground, then started walking to the nurse’s office. ‘So much for a normal first day of school…’

‘Normal was never really an option.’ The voice said to Ren, but he ignored it and kept walking.

Chapter Text

04/11/2016 - Afternoon

Ren had just left the nurse’s office to get his bruise cleaned and bandaged. Not only had he gotten a massive bruise on his cheek, he lost his glasses in that weird castle. He didn’t need them, they were just supposed to try and make him look more unassuming. Luckily, he brought a few extra pairs just in case, but they were at Leblanc. 

As he walked to the faculty office, he did not enjoy other students staring at him as he walked through the hall. He kept hearing rumors about the ‘Criminal Transfer Student’, he had no idea how so many people had found out already, no one was supposed to know except the teachers.

He eventually made it to the faculty office, where he found Ms. Kawakami at a desk, looking very annoyed.

Kawakami turned and noticed him, letting out a sigh. “Unbelievable… Being over half a day late on your first… day?” She noticed the massive bandage on his face. “What happened to you?”

“I got lost, and some thugs jumped me.” Ren said, repeating what he told the counselor outside.

Kawakami pursed her lips, she seemed to question the validity of his answer, but quickly accepted it. “And you went to the nurse?”

“Mr. Kamoshida suggested I should before I came here.” Ren replied, hating that he had to say the man’s name.

Kawakami sighed again. “All right. Also, I heard you arrived at school with that Sakamoto-kun?”

Ren raised his eyebrow in confusion at her wording. “What do you mean ‘that’ Sakamoto? He helped me.”

Kawakami shook her head at Ren’s question. “Even if he did, don’t get involved with him, okay? He’s nothing but trouble. He wasn’t like that when he was devoting his time to track and field though…” She said, sounding somewhat sad.

Ren was even more confused, he had heard Kamoshida mention Sakamoto was part of the track team, but why did he quit? Or was he kicked out?

“…Anyway. Break’s almost over.” Ren was snapped out of his thoughts by Kawakami speaking again. “Classes will end after fifth period today because of the subway accident. I’ll have you introduce yourself when class resumes. Follow me.” Kawakami got up and walked out of the room, and Ren followed.

They walked to her classroom, but before they went inside, Kawakami turned towards Ren.

“By the way, when you introduce yourself… Be serious about it, even if you’re lying to the class, okay? Don’t say anything unnecessary.” Kawakami asked.

“I don’t plan to…” Ren responded, to which Kawakami nodded.

Kawakami opened the door to the classroom and walked toward her desk, while Ren followed and stood next to her facing the rest of the students in the room.

“All right, everyone. We have a new transfer student, His name is Ren Amamiya.” She raised her hand in Ren’s direction.

“Nice to meet you…” Ren mumbled loud enough for the other students to hear.

“Amamiya-kun wasn’t feeling well earlier, so he decided to show up late.” Kawakami continued, to which Ren lowered his head.

The other students in the room started gossiping.

“He seems normal, but what happened to his face?” One student asked. 

“Could this be the supposed criminal transfer student?” Another student asked, while Ren just gripped the strap of his bag tighter.

“You think he got into a fight on the way here? Maybe he is just as violent as they say.” A student closer to the front said, to which Ren started having a panic attack at all the prejudice already in the room.

‘Ignore them.’ The voice said, seemingly being the only one on Ren’s side, which would sound pretty insane to most people if it had not been for what he experienced earlier.

Kawakami suddenly slammed her fist on her desk. “Quiet Down, everyone.” The room suddenly went silent, and Kawakami turned back to Ren. “…Uhh, so… Your seat will be… You can take that open one over there.”

Kawakami pointed to an empty desk near the back, and Ren was shocked to see who was at the desk in front of it. It was the blonde girl he met at the station, and she looked at him with a mix of concern and annoyance.

‘What are the odds?’ Ren thought to himself before walking over to the desk.

He walked past the girl, and she turned her head away from him. Ren sat at his desk and tried his best to keep his head down.

“Oh, right! The volleyball rally’s in two days…” Kawakami said. “Everyone’s just changed classes, so make sure you use that time to get to know each other.” She wrapped up what she was saying then proceeded to start class.

Class was pretty boring, Ren already knew most of what Kawakami was talking about, so he just looked out the window the entire time. He heard a few people continue to gossip about him, but he chose to ignore them like the voice suggested.

‘How are you?’ The voice asked. 

‘Fine, all things considered…’ Ren replied. 

‘That’s good, I guess.’ The voice said, almost like a mumble.

‘What was all that? A castle? Personas?’ Ren asked the voice. 

‘Don't know, felt familiar though…’ It replied.

‘I can tell, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to figure out how to call Arsène and fight.’ Ren complimented the voice.

‘You would have figured it out regardless.’ It replied, seemingly not caring.

‘All right then…’ Ren awkwardly said.

Ren was eventually snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the bell. His conversation with the voice didn’t seem that long, but class was already over apparently.

Ren walked out of the classroom after everyone else had left, when he entered the hall, his vision distorted, students vanishing in front of him, and a bunch of regal looking furniture, rugs, and candles suddenly appeared. 

Before he could question it, it suddenly went back to normal, leaving Ren with a massive headache, he clutched his head for a moment and took a few breaths.

“Amamiya-kun? Is something wrong?” Ren turned to see Kawakami standing at the classroom door behind him.

“Yeah… I’m fine, I just don’t feel too good all of a sudden…” Ren replied.

Kawakami sighed. “Alright then… Also, I’m sure you noticed all the rumors floating around about you during class. It seems people already know about your record, but I’m not the one who told them.” She said, crossing both her arms.

Ren raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t the teachers supposed to be the only ones who know?”

Kawakami’s eyes then widened at his question. “That’s true… someone in the faculty must have leaked it… but why would they…?”

Kawakami then looked back at Ren, who was listening attentively. “I’ll figure that out later. You should head straight home without stopping by anywhere. Sakura-san sounded pretty angry over the phone, but he calmed down a little when I told him your story.”

Ren sighed, he had honestly expected this to happen. “All right then, I will.”

“Oh, and about Sakamoto-kun. Don’t get involved with-” Kawakami was cut off by the aforementioned blond walking up to them. “Speak of the devil… What do you want, Sakamoto-kun? I heard you got caught cutting classes today.”

Sakamoto let out a slight scoff at her question. “It was nothin’.”

“And you haven’t dyed your hair back to black either…” Kawakami said, pointing to Sakamoto’s hair.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Sakamoto sarcastically replied, before turning towards Ren. “Meet me on the rooftop later, ‘kay? I wanna talk to you about what happened earlier.”

Ren nodded, and Sakamoto walked away.

Kawakami sighed. “Just don’t let him rub off on you…” She walked away as well.

Ren was about to walk towards the stairs, but spotted Kamoshida and the Principal talking. He ducked around the corner and tried to listen in.

“Why did you allow a student like him to transfer here? He’s already started associating with Sakamoto.” Kamoshida angrily asked the Principal. “A student with a criminal record, and the culprit of an assault case… At this point, it’d be pointless how much I contribute to this school.”

Ren clenched his fist, Kamoshida was talking about him.

‘Bastard.’ The voice said, which Ren couldn’t really disagree with after what happened in the castle.

“Now, don’t be like that…” The Principal replied to Kamoshida. “This school counts on you, Kamoshida-kun. You are our star. Still, a steady build-up is behind such brilliance as well.”

Kamoshida let out a sigh and rubbed his face. “…Your troubles never seem to end, do they, Principal Kobayakawa?” He then looked at the Principal again. “All right, I understand. I’ll continue to do my best to answer your expectations of me.” He said with a smile that seemed to be fake.

Kamoshida and Kobayakawa went their separate ways and Ren wanted to punch something, but he chose to instead just take another breath.

He went up one floor, intending to go meet up with Sakamoto. But he stopped for a moment after overhearing a nearby conversation.

“By the way, thank you for volunteering to take care of the planters.” A teacher was talking to a student in a pink sweater.

“Oh, it’s no trouble. I’m not sure I’m up to the task though…” The student awkwardly replied.

The teacher then put her hand on the student’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’re being a huge help. Oh, and I’ll make sure the roof is unlocked for you… I imagine it’s going to be a lot of work, but I’m sure you can handle it.” She said, reassuring the student.

“All right, I’ll do my best! I’ll go take a look at them later.” The student said, her face quickly changing from a frown to a smile.

Ren was surprised at how quickly her mood changed. But he brushed it off, he still needed to meet up with Sakamoto. ‘Maybe I should consider getting a plant for my room…’ He thought to himself while walking back towards the stairs.

04/11/2016 - After School

Ren arrives at the rooftop and notices Sakamoto leaning back in a chair, so he walks over to him.

Sakamoto notices Ren. “…There you are.” 

Sakamoto adjusts his position before continuing. “Sorry for callin’ you up here like this. I bet Kawakami already told you stuff like 'don’t get involved with him,' Huh?”

“She said you’re trouble.” Ren replied with a chuckle.

Sakamoto also laughed at Ren’s response. “We’re pretty much in the same boat. I heard you got a criminal record, everyone’s talkin’ about it. No wonder you were so gutsy.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed at Sakamoto’s words before taking a deep breath and sitting on a nearby table.

“What was all that anyways? You know, how we almost got killed at a castle… It wasn’t a dream… right? You remember it too, yeah?” Sakamoto asked.

“Kinda hard not to.” Ren says, pointing at the bandage on his face.

Sakamoto winced at his mistake. “Right… sorry man, I forgot.”

“It’s fine.” Ren said in response.

“Well, just ‘cause we both remember it doesn’t mean much though…” Sakamoto said before sitting up. “I mean, even if it wasn’t a dream, you saved me from Kamoshida. So yeah… thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Sakamoto.” Ren replies.

Sakamoto then facepalms when Ren calls him by his last name. “Right, we never properly introduced ourselves.” He stands up and holds out his hand to Ren. “My name’s Ryuji, though you probably heard me yell it at that cat in the castle.”

Ren chuckles at Ryuji’s explanation. “Thanks, but I’ll stick with Sakamoto.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened at Ren’s response. “WHAT!?”

Ren’s lips curve upward, and he bursts out laughing. “Dude, I’m just kidding.” He says while covering his mouth. “Anyways, I’m Ren Amamiya.” He says while holding out his own hand to return Ryuji’s handshake.

Ren and Ryuji sat back down after finishing their proper introductions.

Ryuji looked over at Ren. “Hey, uh, about that Kamoshida we saw there… You prolly don’t know about it, but there are some rumors about him.”

“That asshole with the stupid haircut?” Ren jokingly asks.

Ryuji laughs at Ren’s question. “Yeah, the ripped mophead.”

“What about him?” Ren asks.

Ryuji’s face quickly went from laughter to anger. “That asshole was all full of himself in that castle. No one says anything against him ‘cause he’s some medalist that took the volleyball team to nationals.” He then looked downward toward the floor. “The way Kamoshida was king of that castle felt crazy real ‘cause of that…”

Ryuji slightly turned his head in thought. “…I wonder if we can go back to that castle again…”

Before Ren could respond, Ryuji stood back up. “Sorry to drag you out here like this. That’s all I had to say.” He puts his hands in his pockets.

“You know, we might be pretty similar. I feel like we’re gonna get along just fine as the 'troublemakers' of the school. I’ll come talk if I see you around. Don’t ignore me, all right?” He said with a chuckle and pointing at Ren, to which Ren just smiled and nodded.

“Seeya” Ryuji said before walking away.

As soon as Ryuji left, Ren let out a sigh before walking towards the door.

04/11/2016 - Evening

Ren was riding the train for Yongen-Jaya, a sense of dread washed over him. He still had to deal with Sojiro when he got back to Leblanc, and he was not looking forward to that talk.

‘You’ll be fine.’ The voice said, as if Sojiro’s possible anger wasn’t a big deal.

‘Easy for you to say, you’re not the one at risk of being kicked out.’ Ren thought in response.

‘Whatever.’ The voice replied.

Ren let out a sigh. Before looking out the train window.

‘You said that me summoning Arsène felt familiar… How much do you actually remember about yourself?’ Ren asked the voice.

The voice didn’t answer right away, leaving Ren alone in silence.

‘Not Much…’ It finally said.

‘Is there anything you DO remember?’ Ren asked, the voice said nothing.

‘Not much of a talker, are you?’ Ren joked.

‘No.’ The voice did reply.

Ren let out another sigh. Whoever this voice was, he didn’t really seem to like taking part in conversations.

The train suddenly stopped. “This is… Yongen-Jaya.” The voice on the intercom said as the doors opened. Ren got off the train and started walking to Leblanc.

Ren made it to Leblanc and hesitated to open the door, but reluctantly did. Knowing there was no point prolonging the inevitable.

As Ren walks in, Sojiro turns his head towards him.

“Hey, I got a call from the school. I hear you ditched half a day of school.” Sojiro said, sounding annoyed.

“It wasn’t by choice.” Ren said in response.

Sojiro shook his head. “I know, your teacher told me your story about some thugs jumping you on your way there. I didn’t believe it at first, but judging by your face, it did happen.” He said, pointing to Ren’s wound just like everyone else that day.

“Look, just behave yourself. One wrong step, and your life is over. Even if you didn’t start a fight yourself, everyone would point fingers at you because you’re the one on probation.” Sojiro sternly said.

Ren lowered his head and clenched his fists at Sojiro’s words.

“By the way, where are your glasses?” Sojiro asked while rubbing the back of his neck.

Ren raised his head before answering. “I lost them while running away from the thugs, but I have a few more pairs upstairs.”

“Alright then.” Sojiro said with a slight sigh, before his phone suddenly started ringing. He answered it. “Hey, What’s up?”

“…Yeah, I just closed up shop. I’ll head over in half an hour, as promised.” Sojiro said to whoever it was on the phone, before turning his head towards Ren and motioning for him to go upstairs.

Ren walked towards the steps as Sojiro finished his phone conversation. “…Yup, I’m leaving now.”

When Ren got to his room, he just wrote down what happened that day in the probation journal Sojiro gave him, whether Sojiro reads it or not, he doesn’t really care. He then gets changed and heads to bed.

The Velvet Room

Ren opened his eyes to the familiar jail cell of the Velvet Room, he sat up and saw the familiar faces of Igor and the wardens.

“…About time you’ve come to.” Caroline said before bashing the cell bars with her baton. “On your feet, Inmate!”

“Our master wishes to speak to you. It’s for your own sake that you take his own words to heart.” Justine said as Ren stood up.

‘Oh great… Another pep talk from the creepy old guy.’ Ren thought to himself before turning his head towards Igor.

“First off, let us celebrate our reunion.” Igor said, his deep voice and unsettling smile still making Ren really uncomfortable.

Igor slightly turns his head and narrows his eyes at Ren. “Oh…? You’ve awakened to your powers- and special ones at that.” His grin slightly grew. “Your rehabilitation can finally begin.”

“What the hell was all that? That castle? Personas?” Ren asked Igor the same question he asked the voice earlier.

“There is no need for you to understand it all for the time being.” Igor said while raising his hand at Ren. “But, to put it mildly… Personas are in other words, a 'mask' of sorts. An armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have expectations for you.”

“What do you mean?” Ren asked in response to Igor’s cryptic words.

“There is no need to worry. You will learn when the time comes.” Igor said, crossing his leg and leaning on his left arm. “By the by… have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and palaces.”

“Palaces?” Ren asked, very confused what Igor was talking about.

“I bestowed the Navigator to you as a means to train you as a thief. I hope you take care in using it, though it must be disheartening to make use of it alone.” Igor said, tapping his fingers on his desk. “Should there be others who would prove beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well. This is all for you to grow as an excellent thief…”

“What do you mean thief? I’ve never stolen anything in my life, and now you expect me to just because you say so!?” Ren yelled in confusion, to which Igor just chuckled.

Suddenly, the familiar sound of the Velvet Room’s alarm went off.

“Hmph, it’s time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have…” Caroline said.

“Not again…” Ren said as his vision blacked out.

Chapter Text

04/12/2016 - Morning

Ren walked off his first train before walking to transfer to a different one. He had spent most of the morning fidgeting with his glasses and thinking about what Igor had said to him. About ‘Palaces’ and ‘The Metaverse Navigator.’ None of this made any sense. 

He was also confused why the voice hadn’t spoken to him in the Velvet Room like it did the first time.

‘Didn’t need to.’ The voice said, causing Ren to let out a slight groan of annoyance.

“Look, isn’t that her?” A female voice asked, making Ren look up and abandon his thoughts for the moment.

“You mean that one with the red hair? Uh, I guess so?” a male voice then asked.

Ren looked around and found the source of the voices, two Shujin students who were taking the same train.

“She’s so thin… It’s not fair, I’ve got my hair down as well…” The female student said.

‘The hell does that have to do with being thin?’ Ren thought.

The male student then got confused at the girl’s remark. “Okay, what’s that got to do with being thin?”

Ren let out a chuckle. ‘Well, at least this guy has SOME braincells.’

Ren’s eyes widened, as he heard a light chuckle come from the voice. ‘Not bad.’

Ren let out a small smirk before getting on the train once it arrived. It was pretty cramped, but he ended up standing by the doors and in front of a girl with long scarlet hair and glasses. She was also wearing a Shujin uniform, so that means they were heading to the same place.

‘Is this who those two were talking about?’ Ren wondered as he looked at her for a moment, then looked out the train window.

The train was nearing Ren’s destination, and the girl sat up while facing an elderly woman.

“Please, take my seat. My station’s coming up.” The girl nervously said to the elderly woman while moving out of the way.

“Are you sure? Then…” The elderly woman was about to sit down, but then a man in a suit suddenly sat down in the now vacant seat.

“Oh wow, what speed…” The girl said before quickly raising her voice a little. “I mean- Excuse me, that seat was for this lady…”

The man quickly gave the girl a glance, then proceeded to pretend to fall asleep.

“Oh…” the girl said, sounding defeated.

‘Do something.’ The voice said, to which Ren let out a sigh, knowing exactly what to do.

Ren raised his hand and slapped the back of the man’s head.

“OW! What the hell, Kid!?” The man shouted at Ren.

Ren gave the man a slight glare, which seemed to intimidate him a little. “She wasn’t offering her seat to you, Jackass. So I suggest getting up.”

The man was taken aback by Ren’s bluntness, but did what he asked. “Whatever, my stop is soon anyways…”

The man got up and walked to a different part of the train. Ren turned back to the girl and elderly woman, who were looking at him with a mix of gratitude and confusion.

“Uh… thank you, young man. But was that really necessary?” The elderly woman asked.

Ren shrugged. “It’s better than making you stand for the rest of the ride.” He said in response.

Ren turned towards the red-haired girl, who was suddenly staring at him. “Uh, you okay?”

“Uh, yeah…” the girl said, slightly looking away from Ren and towards the elderly woman. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be any help…”

“It’s alright, dearie. Don’t you worry.” the elderly woman said as the red-haired girl helped her sit down.

The red-haired girl then turned back towards Ren, but before she could say anything, the train had arrived at their station. Ren had gotten off and walked away. 

Ren had started walking through the station while listening to some music on his phone. A habit he’d started developing since he was pretty limited with what he could do before and after school.

Just as Ren was about to leave the station and walk towards Shujin, he took out one of his earbuds and heard some light footsteps running up behind him.

“Pardon me…” Ren heard, as he turned to see that the Red-haired girl from the train had followed him.

“Thank you so much for earlier.” The girl said while bowing, which caught Ren off guard.

“Uh, with what?” Ren awkwardly asked, not sure what else to say.

“For helping when I offered my seat on the train and that man sat down.” She quietly said as she raised herself back up from the bow.

“Oh, that.” Ren said, rubbing the back of his neck with a bit of embarrassment.

“You’re a second-year at Shujin Academy, right? I’m a first year there myself…” She said, “Thanking you almost slipped my mind back on the train, and I didn’t want to be rude to my senpai…”

Ren’s eyes slightly widened. “Senpai…?” He was caught a little off guard by that. He never expected anyone to call him that, even if they were a year below him.

“Do you mind walking to school with me?” The girl nervously asked. “I’m not really comfortable going by myself with so many people around…”

Ren was caught off guard by her request. ‘Does she not know about my record? I figured everyone at school did. Maybe she just hasn’t pieced together that I’m the student from the rumors?’ 

A thousand questions ran through Ren’s head, only for the voice to shut him up. ‘Just say yes.’

Ren took a deep breath before looking at the girl again, who was nervously fidgeting with her hair. “Okay, sure.”

The girl looked at him, surprised that he actually said yes. “Oh… thank you…” She mumbled before smiling and walking beside him.

It was raining like it had been the previous day, but this time Ren remembered to bring an umbrella, and the girl did as well.

“By the way, I didn’t catch your name.” Ren said to the girl, not realizing how close she was walking beside him.

“Oh, um… It’s Sumire… Sumire Yoshizawa…” She mumbled, as if ashamed to say it.

“Nice to meet you, Sumire-san. I’m Ren Amamiya.” He said with a slight smile, to which she smiled back.

Ren and Sumire arrived at Shujin’s front entrance after a couple minutes walking together. There were some eyes on the two of them, but it being so dark and the umbrellas obscuring their faces made it easier to hide who he was from all the onlookers.

Ren and Sumire closed both of their umbrellas, and Sumire turned towards him. “Thank you for walking with me…” She mumbled and bowed again.

“Uh, you realize you don’t need to do that, right?” Ren awkwardly asked.

Sumire stood back up, a slight blush on her face from embarrassment as she turned her head away from him. “Right… sorry…”

Ren chuckled. “Well, I hope we see each other again.” He softly said as the two of them walked to their own classes.

04/12/2016 - After School

The day went by pretty quickly and wasn’t really that eventful. Ren had managed to get through all his classes pretty easily. But when he left the classroom, he saw something he didn’t expect.

Kamoshida was bothering one of the students. The blonde girl that Ren had briefly met at the station the previous day.

“Hey there, Takamaki.” Kamoshida said to the girl, a really creepy smile on his face. “Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents.”

The blonde girl, Takamaki, looked visibly uncomfortable. “Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It’s for the summer issue, so I can’t afford to miss it…”

Kamoshida’s brows lowered. “Hey, now… Being a model’s fine and dandy, but don’t work your pretty little self to the bone.”

Kamoshida’s words made Ren want to vomit, and he noticed that Takamaki looked like she wanted to do the same.

‘What kind of Teacher says shit like that!?’ Ren thought to himself, his face barely hiding his disgust.

“You mentioned you weren’t feeling well, right? Something about appendicitis?” Kamoshida continued.

“Yes, I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I’ve been too busy… Sorry to worry you.” Takamaki said, still looking really uncomfortable.

Kamoshida let out a small sigh. “You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often…” His eyes then narrowed slightly. “Oh, and be careful around the transfer student. He’s got a criminal record, after all. If something were to happen to you…”

“…Thank you. Please excuse me.” Takamaki awkwardly said before walking away from Kamoshida, who let out a barely noticeable groan of irritation before also leaving.

‘Great… even when I’m not involved, assholes decide to drag me through the mud.’ Ren thought to himself.

‘Get used to it.’ The voice said.

Ren went to the library for a bit to pick out some books, and was politely asked to leave because apparently his ‘reputation’ scared a bunch of the students in there. He couldn’t even read in peace.

He walked towards the front gate of the school and found Ryuji just standing there, seemingly waiting for him.

“Yo.” Ryuji said, to which Ren nodded.

“What’s up?” Ren asked, he also noticed some other students staring at the two of them.

Ryuji crossed his arms. “I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday. I can’t act like nothing happened. It’s all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all.” He took a deep breath. “I wanna find out what’s up with that place, no matter what. And y’know, you’re the only person I can rely on for this stuff. So, you in?”

Ren smirked. “Don’t have to ask me twice. I’ve been curious about it since yesterday. And I’d like some payback for my face.”

Ryuji smiled. “Nice! Okay, glad we’re in this together.”

‘Show him the app.’ The voice told Ren, which confused him at first before realizing what it meant.

“I think we should just try and retrace our steps from yesterday.” Ryuji said, sounding more determined than before.

“No need.” Ren said, pulling out his phone.

“Huh? What do you mean?” The blond asked, clearly confused. Ren showed him the red eye icon on his phone.

“Why are you showing me an app?” Ryuji asked, sounding even more confused.

“Metaverse Navigator.” Ren said, trying his best not to sound crazy.

“Uh, what?” Ryuji asked, clearly not understanding what Ren was talking about.

Ren led Ryuji into a nearby alleyway, then tapped the ‘Search History’ button on the app.

Ryuji looked over Ren’s shoulder. “What the heck? Kamoshida, Shujin Academy, Castle? That’s creepy, it’s just sitting in your history like it’s no big deal.”

“I can’t say for sure I know what this app does, and there’s no guarantee we’ll come back. But I’d sure like to know what all that was about.” Ren said, tapping a few buttons on his phone while looking towards the school.

“You coming?” Ren asked Ryuji.

“Ha, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Ryuji responded while putting his hand on Ren’s shoulder.

Ren nodded, then tapped the log in his history, which caused a robotic voice to start talking. “Kamoshida… Shujin Academy… Pervert… Castle… Beginning navigation.”

Ren and Ryuji felt a slight headache like they did before, and they looked towards the school again. And right there in its place was the castle.

“It worked!” Ryuji cheered. “Ha, we’re not crazy.” He then turned towards Ren, who was standing in that outfit he had before. “Oh hey, you got the outfit back.”

Ren looked down at himself and took a moment to inspect his attire. “Not gonna lie, I really like the coat.”

Ryuji shook his head and smiled a little. “Yeah, the coat’s cool. Not sure about the pants though, you look like you got kicked out of a magic act.”

Ren smirked at Ryuji’s comment. “You’re just jealous.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “What? I-I’m not jealous…” He awkwardly said, his voice cracked as he did.

“Huh!? You two again?” Ren and Ryuji were startled by a familiar sounding voice, and turned to see Morgana running towards them.

“Morgana?” Ren asked, which noticeably caused the not-cat’s ears to twitch, as if he was happy to be remembered.

“You guys barely managed to escape yesterday, and you decided to come back!?” Morgana yelled, pretty confused.

“We wanted to know more about this… place.” Ren said, sounding a bit more serious than he did before.

Ryuji nodded at Ren’s statement and turned back towards Morgana. “What is this place anyways? …Is it the school?”

Morgana let out a sigh. “That’s right. This castle is the school, but only to this castle’s ruler.”

“Ruler?” Ryuji asked, both he and Ren looking confused.

“What did you call him? Kamoshida? This is how his distorted heart views the school.” Morgana clarified.

Ren and Ryuji both stared at the not-cat, even more confused.

“Can you explain that in a way that makes sense?” Ryuji asked.

Morgana put his paw to his face and sighed, but before he could continue, the three of them heard a loud scream coming from inside the castle.

“What was that!?” Ryuji yelled, clearly scared.

“It must be the slaves captive here…” Morgana said, more angry than scared.

“For real!?” Ryuji said, his eyes widening as another scream was heard. “Oh, shit… It is for real…”

“It’s like that every day here. Kamoshida seems to have lost his temper after I helped you two escape yesterday.” Morgana explained.

“That son of a bitch!” Ryuji yelled, gritting his teeth. “Do you know where those voices are comin’ from?”

Morgana looked at Ryuji in confusion. “You want me to take you to them?”

“Yes, it’s important.” Ren said to Morgana, his tone of voice was different than usual.

Morgana looked at Ren, then sighed. “Alright… Follow me.” He said before turning and leading them in through the same place they escaped the previous day.

The trio spent about an hour navigating the halls of the castle to make it back to the dungeons where they were previously kept, only to find them completely empty. They kept looking around, even running into a few enemies, which Ren and Morgana quickly took care of. Morgana brought them to what he called a ‘safe room’.

“Don’t worry, the shadows won’t come in here.” Morgana said as he climbed onto a table in the center of the room.

Ryuji was gasping and panting after running through the halls for the past hour. “How can you tell?”

“There’s a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler’s control over this area is pretty weak.” Morgana explained.

Suddenly, the room briefly morphed into a classroom. Confusing Ryuji even more.

“What the!?” Ryuji yelled.

“That’s what I mean by Kamoshida’s control being weak here. This is another reality that the ruler’s heart projects. These random shifts only happen if the ruler doesn’t go into their real life counterparts that much, if at all.” The not-cat had started rambling a bit, as if he’d been waiting to explain this to someone.

“This is Kamoshida’s reality? Shit makes no sense at all!” Ryuji said, scratching his head.

“One could say it’s a world in which one’s distorted desires have materialized. I call such a place a ‘Palace.’”

Ren’s eyes widened at Morgana’s choice of words. “A… Palace?” Igor’s words echoed in his head. 

‘By the by… have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and palaces.’

‘Looks like he was right.’ The voice said.

“This is happening because Kamoshida thinks the school is his own castle.” Morgana continued his rambling, seemingly not noticing the confusion on Ren’s face.

“So… it became like this ‘cause he just thought of it like that!?” Ryuji asked, his voice sounding angrier with every word he said, before starting to laugh a little. “That son of a bitch…”

Ren and Morgana turned towards Ryuji, who was now facing the wall.

“You must really hate this Kamoshida guy…” Morgana awkwardly said, not wanting to make Ryuji angrier.

“Hate doesn’t even cover how I feel. EVERYTHING is that asshole’s fault!” Ryuji replied, a little venom being heard in his voice.

Morgana just stared at Ryuji, a little fear visible on his face. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but don’t let your emotions get the better of you…” He sheepishly said.

Ryuji let out a sigh, then looked at Ren before turning towards Morgana again. “Oh yeah, can you explain this guy’s outfit?”

Morgana raised his head at the question. “Uh… That’s also because of this world… Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within his Palace, like a school turning into a castle. In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion.”

“Huh?” Ryuji asked, once again confused.

“His appearance is a manifestation of that. It’s the image of rebellion he holds within himself.” Morgana elaborated.

Ren let out a chuckle. “Huh, never expected my ‘Image of rebellion’ to involve a Black coat, grey vest, black dress pants, red gloves, and Victorian style shoes.”

Ryuji rolled his eyes at Ren’s attempt at humor. “Anyways, what exactly are you?” He asked Morgana.

“I… don’t know… For a while, I thought I was a human, but now I’m not sure. All I can remember is my own name.” The not-cat said.

‘Am I just a magnet for amnesiacs now?’ Ren joked in his head.

‘Shut up.’ The voice said, clearly not amused.

Ren turned towards Morgana. “So, why exactly are you here?”

“I snuck in here to try and find answers… I know I’m connected to places like this, but I don’t know how. I was caught by some of the guards and locked in that cell until you two found me…” Morgana explained, sounding very vulnerable.

“Damn… I’m sorry for how I yelled at you, we didn’t know…” Ryuji said.

“It’s fine, you couldn’t have known. Besides, look at me, your reaction was pretty reasonable.” Morgana said with a slight chuckle. “Anyways, if we’re gonna keep going, we should hurry along.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I brought this just in case!” He pulls what looked like a gun out of his pocket. “It’s a model gun though, so it only makes sounds…”

“That’s a toy!” Morgana said, sounding annoyed while also holding back a laugh.

“But it looks totally real, so it’ll at least fake ‘em out.” Ryuji said as Ren took the model gun from his hand.

Ren stared at the model for a moment, examining it. Suddenly his vision blurred and he briefly saw a completely different looking gun in his hand before flashing back to reality.

“What the hell…?” Ren said, putting a hand on his own head.

“Woah… You okay, man?” Ryuji asked, a look of concern on his face.

Ren turned towards the blond. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just a weird headache all of a sudden…” He said, putting the gun away in his coat pocket.

“You sure? I brought some medicine too.” Ryuji said, putting his hand on Ren’s shoulder.

“I’m fine, really.” Ren replied.

Morgana hopped off the table and moved towards the door. “Let me know when you two are ready to resume our infiltration.”

The trio continued wandering through the halls, running into a few more shadows, but they were easy to deal with. Ren and Morgana also learned that the toy gun Ryuji brought actually works in the castle because it looked close enough to a real one that shadows can’t tell the difference, which was gonna be very useful.

After a few more close calls, they ended up in front of a weird door with pink lights and a banner above it.

“All right, this is it!” Morgana exclaimed.

“Kamoshida’s… Training Hall… of Love? What kinda bullshit is this!?” Ryuji yelled.

“Only one way to find out.” Ren said, walking up to the door and opening it.

They went down a few more flights of stairs, and found what looked like students from Shujin getting beaten by Kamoshida’s guards. Ren and Ryuji just stood in disbelief.

“Dammit! This is bullshit!” Ryuji yelled, gripping the bars in front of him as he watched everything.

“HEY! Keep your voice down, they could hear us!” Morgana whispered to Ryuji.

“But this is beyond messed up! How do I open this!?” Ryuji angrily said while trying to mess with the door in front of them.

“There’s no point.” Ren coldly said, catching Ryuji off guard.

“What…?” Ryuji asked.

Ren walked forward and looked down at the students being beaten. “Remember what Morgana said yesterday? They aren’t real. And if what he’s told us about this place is true, then there’s no point trying to save them.” Ren tugged on one of his gloves. “If a school can be turned into a castle because Kamoshida sees it as one, maybe all those guys down there are just how he sees some of the students.”

Morgana and Ryuji stared at him with wide eyes.

“Wow, you picked up on that a lot quicker than I expected…” Morgana said, he then turned towards Ryuji. “He’s right. Those are cognitive beings, they’re part of this world, basically just extremely similar-looking dolls. You two are the only actual humans here.”

Ryuji scratched his head. “The hell…? Why’s it gotta be so complicated!?” He turned his head towards the ‘cognitive beings’ and grit his teeth. “So the school’s a castle, and the students are slaves… It’s so on point that it makes me laugh… This really is the inside of that asshole’s head…”

Morgana looked down towards the cognitive being. “Still, this is horrible… It must mean he treats them as slaves in the real world too…”

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “In the real world… too?” He looked down at the cognitive beings again. “Holy shit, I know these guys… They’re members of the volleyball team- the one Kamoshida coaches for!”

“They must be physically abused every day… There’s no way they’d be so beat up normally…” Morgana said, sadness being heard in his voice.

“Fuck…” Ryuji said. “I heard Kamoshida’s usin’ physical punishment. They’re just rumors, but… If they’re true, wouldn’t this be somethin’ to report to the police?”

Ren clenched his fist at the mention of the police. “They’d be no help at all.” he coldly said.

Ryuji and Morgana turned towards Ren. “Hey… are you okay?” Morgana asked, while Ryuji turned back towards the students and tried using his phone to take a picture.

“I’m fine…” Ren said.

“…Huh? It’s not workin’!?” Ryuji yelled, which caused Ren and Morgana to look at him. “We can use the navigation app, but the camera’s a no go!?”

Morgana looked at Ryuji in confusion. “A navigation app?”

“That’s what we used to come here.” Ryuji replied, then turned to Ren. “What about yours?”

Ren pulled out his own phone and tried tapping the camera app. “It won’t open.”

Morgana looks around for a bit. “Whatever you two do is fine, but we’re gonna get caught if we stand around like this. We need to head back!”

Ryuji narrowed his eyes. “Gimme a sec, I’m gonna try and memorize their faces before goin’ home!”

He started sprinting from cell to cell, looking at the faces of each cognitive being while trying not to focus on the torture they were going through.

“Whatever Kamoshida did to him must have been pretty horrible…” Morgana said to Ren.

“Probably, but at least he won’t get away with it.” Ren said while walking towards the exit.

Ryuji ran towards the two of them. “Okay, I got all of ‘em memorized. Let’s go!”

The trio ran back the way they came, avoiding any remaining shadows and making it to the castle lobby, only to come face to face with Kamoshida and 3 of his guards.

Kamoshida scoffed. “…You knaves again? To think you’d make the same mistake again. You’re hopeless!”

“The school ain’t your castle!” Ryuji yelled at the wannabe king. “I’ve memorized their faces real good. You’re goin’ down!”

Kamoshida laughed at Ryuji’s remark. “It seems it’s true when they say ‘barking dogs seldom bite.’ How far the star runner of the track team has fallen.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened, and his body started trembling.

Ren turned towards the blond. “Ryuji? What’s he talking about?”

Kamoshida’s face contorted into a wicked grin. “I speak of the ‘Track Traitor’ who acted in violence, ending his teammates’ dreams. Oh, I can imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under your… selfish act.”

“Track Traitor?” Ren asked Ryuji, who was too ashamed to even turn towards him.

Kamoshida’s grin widened a bit. “What a surprise. So you’re accompanying him without knowing anything at all? He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever.”

“That’s not true!” Ryuji yelled.

“What a tragedy… You blindly trusted this fool, and he’s led you right to your death.” Kamoshida let out another laugh before turning to his guards. “Hurry up and dispose of them. I can’t stand their stench.”

As Kamoshida walked off, the guards marched towards the trio and transformed into weird black horses with green ram horns.

“Goddammit…” Ryuji said, walking back behind Ren and Morgana.

Ren turned towards Ryuji. “Stay back, we got this.”

“But we’re surrounded, we should just run.” Morgana said in protest.

“Not an option.” Ren coldly replied before turning back towards the 3 guard shadows.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you ‘cause King Kamoshida told us! I’ll kill ‘cause that’s what he wants!” One of the guards yelled, which annoyed Ren a bit.

‘Keep your guard up’ The voice said, to which Ren rolled his eyes.

‘No shit, Sherlock.’ He replied while looking around.

Ren fired all of his ammo into one of the guards, then Morgana followed up by having Zorro use Garu.

“There’s more of them? This is bad…” Morgana said, sounding genuinely scared.

Ren and Morgana were then rammed from behind by the guards they turned away from, knocking them to the ground.

“Dammit…” Ren mumbled, feeling very sore.

Kamoshida then walked back over to them and stepped on Morgana, to which the not-cat grunted in pain.

“Rgh… You piece of-” Morgana mumbled, while Ren struggled to get back up, only for another guard to pin him to the ground.

Kamoshida then turned towards Ryuji. “I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn’t that right?”

Ryuji collapsed to his knees. “No… I…”

Kamoshida smirked again. “What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly… How dare you raise your hand at me. Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?”

“Wasn’t no practice-it was physical abuse! You just didn’t like our team!” Ryuji yelled in response.

Kamoshida scoffed. “It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! That coach who got fired was hopeless too… Had she not opposed me with a sound argument, I would’ve settled it with only breaking her star’s leg.”

“…What?” Ryuji asked, genuinely at a loss for words.

Kamoshida put his right hand to his chin. “What was her name again? Pogo? Yuna?”

“Yuko…” Ryuji muttered.

Kamoshida laughed. “Ah, that’s right. Yuko Nishiwaki. She was a decent coach, I’ll give her that. But when she decided to defend that pathetic excuse of a track team, I knew she needed to go.”

“YOU BASTARD!” Ryuji yelled at Kamoshida, tears streaming down his face.

“Uh oh. Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!” Kamoshida laughed.

Ryuji looked at the floor, broken. “Dammit… Am I gonna lose again? Not only can I not run anymore… the track team is gone too ‘cause of this asshole…”

Morgana’s eyes were opened wide with sympathy. “So that’s why…”

“Once these two are dealt with, you’re next. Hahahaha…” Kamoshida said, joy being heard in his voice as he continued to mock Ryuji.

“Are you okay with this…? Can you forgive him for what he’s done?” Ren asked Ryuji, struggling to breath as the Guard kept him pinned.

Ryuji’s eyes widened at Ren’s question. “Huh?”

“If you want what you had… You must take it back.” Ren said, his words causing Ryuji to stop crying.

Ryuji clenched both his fists. “…You’re right. Everything that was important to me was taken by him…” Ryuji said to Ren before raising his head at Kamoshida. “Yeah, I guess I don’t matter… my reputation’s already been ruined… but you shouldn’t have punished them for what I did, they deserved better than that…”

Kamoshida continued laughing. “Stay there and watch. Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you.”

“No… That’s what YOU are…” Ryuji said as he stood up and looked directly into the wannabe king’s eyes. “All you think about is using people… You’re the real scumbag, Kamoshida!”

Ryuji walked towards Kamoshida and pointed his finger at him. “Stop lookin’ down on me with that stupid smile on your face!” He shouted.

Ren smiled at Ryuji’s words, then noticed his eyes turn yellow.

“A-Aaagh!” Ryuji grabbed his head with both his hands and collapsed back down to the ground before screaming.

Kamoshida backed up in confusion. “Huh, guess you were just all talk.”

Ren smirked and turned his head towards Kamoshida. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, asshole.”

A violent gust of wind flooded the room, exactly like when Ren first summoned Arsène, and Ryuji looked up at Kamoshida, who trembled in fear. Ryuji was now wearing a silver skull mask.

Unlike Kamoshida, the guards weren’t afraid. “Hmph. What can you do? Cower in fear and watch!”

Just as the head guard was about to execute Ren, Ryuji ripped off his mask like he saw Ren do, and sent an even more powerful gust of wind through the room, knocking all the guards back. Ren and Morgana turned towards Ryuji, and heard a voice coming from his direction.

I am thou, thou art I…

There is no turning back…

The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!

Ryuji was panting, out of breath from what had just happened. But then a smirk quickly appeared on his face.

“Ugh… This one as well!?” Kamoshida yelled, his voice a mix of confusion and fear.

“Right on… Wassup, Persona… This effin’ rocks!” Ryuji said, cracking his knuckles. “Now that I got this power, it’s time for payback…”

Ren and Morgana finally stood up and walked up beside Ryuji.

“Bring it!” Ryuji yelled at the guards in front of him while Ren and Morgana assumed fighting stances.

“Ngh… Don’t mock me, you brat!” The head guard yelled back before transforming into an even bigger knight on top of a horse.

Ryuji grinned and swung his arm out, ready to fight.

“Blast him away… Captain Kidd!”

Chapter Text

04/12/2016 - Kamoshida’s Palace

Ren, Ryuji, and Morgana were standing face to face with a giant red Knight sitting atop a massive horse. Ryuji had just awakened to his own Persona, Captain Kidd. Why Ryuji’s Persona was named after a Scottish Privateer, Ren had no idea, but it looked pretty cool.

“What Troublemakers that bother King Kamoshida with trifle matters!” The Knight yelled, grabbing Ren’s attention as Ryuji just rolled his eyes.

The blond turned towards Morgana. “Kamoshida’s cognition ain’t changin’, right? Then I’ll act like the troublemaker I am! Let’s do this, Captain Kidd!”

The floating pirate behind Ryuji nodded and aimed its arm cannon at the enemy in front of them. “ZIO!”

The pirate Persona shot out a bolt of lightning from the cannon on its arm, stunning one of the shadows in front of them, and then turning to repeat the move and stun another. Kidd then vanished and Ryuji’s silver skull mask was back on his face.

“Woah, you knew the attack name right away?” Ren asked Ryuji.

“Huh? When Captain Kidd showed up, I just knew the attack name sort of on instinct. Was it not the same for you?” Ryuji asked with a puzzled expression.

Ren didn’t really know how to explain the voice in his head without sounding crazy, so he just brushed it off with a sigh. “It was sort of the same, but it took me a bit to actually figure it out.”

Ren then put his hand on his mask, causing it to fade away in flames and form Arsène behind him. “CLEAVE!”

Arsène quickly flew forward and slashed the two stunned shadows to pieces with its wings, then faded away as Ren’s mask reappeared.

“Huh, not bad you two. You seem to be naturals at this.” Morgana praised the two of them as he kept firing at the large knight with his slingshot.

“Hell yeah!” Ryuji exclaimed, then noticed a metal pipe in his hand. “What the!? Where did this come from?”

“Just roll with it.” Ren remarked with a smirk while dodging the knight’s attacks.

Ryuji gripped the metal pipe tighter and turned towards the shadow. “All right then.” He rushed forward, dodged a strike meant for him, and slammed the pipe against one of the horse’s legs, causing it to fall over. “Hey, cat. Finish it off.”

“I’m not a… You know what, forget it!” Morgana said slightly annoyed before rushing in with his scimitar and stabbing the knight.

“AGH!” The knight winced in pain as its horse started to vanish. “I am… a loyal subject… of the glorious King Kamoshida… So why… have I lost?”

Ryuji rolled his eyes at the question. “It just proves that Kamoshida ain’t anything special. Now how about you shut your goddamn mouth so I don’t have to hear you praise the bastard?” Ryuji aggressively told the shadow as it faded away. 

He then looked up to see Kamoshida glaring at them, and put on a grin. “…How ‘bout that!?”

‘Impressive…’ The voice said to Ren.

‘Where the hell have you been? Your commentary would’ve been much more appreciated during the fight.’ Ren asked, clearly annoyed.

The voice said nothing, which just continued to annoy Ren, who turned back towards Kamoshida.

“Even if you apologize now, I ain’t forgivin’ you.” Ryuji said, gritting his teeth.

Kamoshida chuckled at Ryuji’s words. “I told you that this is my castle. It seems you still don’t understand…”

Kamoshida then turned his head. Ren and Ryuji followed his line of sight, and their eyes widened. Takamaki, the blonde girl from school, was walking over to Kamoshida in a bikini with a cat ear tiara.

“Wh– Takamaki!?” Ryuji yelled, sounding very angry and confused.

“Oh… Wha… What a meow-velous and beautiful girl…” Morgana said, to which Ryuji responded by punching the not-cat in the back of the head. “OW! What the heck was that for?”

“First off, that was a terrible pun. Second, that’s my friend! What the hell is going on!?” Ryuji yelled at Morgana while pointing at Takamaki, who was now leaning against Kamoshida.

Ren was really creeped out. “Oh god, I feel like I’m gonna vomit…”

“Why is she even here!?” Ryuji asked Morgana.

Kamoshida then turned towards the girl and gently grabbed her chin, which made Ryuji even more angry. “HEY! Let go of her, you perv!”

Kamoshida groaned. “How many times must I tell you until you understand? This is MY castle- a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me.” He then turned towards the trio before continuing. “…That is, everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you.”

Ryuji wasn’t paying attention to Kamoshida, instead focusing on Takamaki, which Ren took note of. “C’mon… Takamaki! Say somethin’!”

Morgana gently puts his paw on Ryuji’s leg. “Calm down, Ryuji! It seems that girl isn’t the real one. She’s the same as those slaves downstairs, a being made from Kamoshida’s cognition of her.”

“Are you jealous?” Kamoshida asked with a smug look on his face. “Well, I’m not surprised. Women aren’t drawn to problematic punks like you.”

Ryuji grit his teeth. “Dammit…”

“Clean them up this instant!” Kamoshida yelled, and suddenly 3 more shadows were standing in front of the trio.

“We need to run!” Morgana said to Ren and Ryuji.

Ryuji looked at the not-cat in anger. “We’re just gonna run!? We can take these guys.”

“If we keep fighting, more will show up, and we’ll eventually get tired and they’ll kill us. We need to run.” Morgana yelled at Ryuji before running towards their original exit.

Ryuji grit his teeth then turned back towards Kamoshida. “We’ll expose what you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us!”

Kamoshida let out a sinister cackle in response. “I was beginning to get bored of torturing the ones here! Come at me whenever you want, if you don’t care about your life!” He said as he continued to laugh.

“Come on!” Ren yelled at Ryuji, who looked at the cognitive Takamaki one more time before the two of them ran after Morgana.

They make it out to the exit, but are left exhausted. Ryuji looked like he could barely stand. While steadying himself, he finally noticed his attire. “Huh? I don’t remember changin’ into this!”

Morgana was baffled at Ryuji’s comment. “You’re just NOW noticing?”

Ren took a moment to inspect Ryuji’s outfit. It was a thick black jumpsuit with a high popped collar, elbow and knee pads, yellow gloves, a red ascot, combat boots, and what looked like a metallic spine on his back.

“Huh, it actually looks pretty good on you.” Ren remarked.

Ryuji gave Ren another look of confusion. “Uhh… should I be happy about that?” Ryuji then looked back at Ren’s outfit and smirked. “Then again, it ain’t as bad as yours.”

Ren’s eyes widened as if he was just slapped in the face by Ryuji’s comment, but before he could respond, they heard one of the guards nearby. 

“Quiet!” Morgana quickly said.

Ren and Ryuji stopped talking and listened in. “Did you find them?” One guard asked.

“No. Search that way!” Another guard responded, then marched away.

Once the guards were gone, Ryuji turned his attention back towards Morgana. “Okay, so what’s goin’ on? I’m completely lost, man!”

“I told you before, when a Persona-user opposes a Palace’s ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It’s to prevent you from being affected by their distorted wills.” Morgana explained while trying to stay quiet in case any more guards were nearby. “Your appearance reflects your inner self. It’s the rebel that slumbers within…”

“How do you know all this?” Ren asked Morgana, who lowered his head at the question.

“I just… do… I don’t know why, it’s one of the few things I do know about this place.” the not-cat said, sounding very vulnerable.

Ren and Ryuji looked at each other, they both felt sorry for Morgana, but didn’t know what to do to help.

Suddenly, Ryuji’s eyes widened as something popped in his head, and he let out a gasp. “Wait, we’re in deep shit… We might’ve gotten away here, but we’re still screwed with Kamoshida at the real school…”

Morgana quickly raised his head, as if the sadness he showed a moment ago never existed. “That’s pretty sharp of you, but inaccurate. The Kamoshida in reality can’t possibly know what happens here. A shadow is the true self that is suppressed-a side of one’s personality they don’t want to see.”

“So… We’re okay?” Ryuji asked.

Morgana sighed. “Did the Kamoshida in reality remember about the execution?”

Ren and Ryuji looked at each other in confusion, but shook their heads in response.

“There you have it.” Morgana said with a shrug. “Anyways, you two should probably get out of here. Those guards will likely patrol the palace for a while. Go home and get some rest.”

Ren and Ryuji turned their heads back towards Morgana, who was walking towards an alleyway.

“You’re not coming with us?” Ren asked.

Morgana stopped and turned towards him. “I still have some of my own stuff I gotta take care of, and I don’t even know if I can leave. This is basically the only place I know, I’d be entering unknown territory if I followed you.”

Ryuji sighed and walked up towards Morgana before kneeling in front of him. “Thanks for everything, cat. You’ve got guts, bein’ a cat and all!” He said while petting the not-cat, who was both annoyed and also slightly enjoying it.

“STOP!” Morgana whined while waving his paws around.

Ryuji eventually did stop and stood back up. “See ya around!” He said as he and Ren ran back towards the way they left the palace the first time. Ren briefly looked back to see Morgana walking away.

04/12/2016 - Afternoon

Ren and Ryuji were now in an alleyway across from the school. Both of them were out of breath from everything they did in the palace.

“You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.” Ren’s phone said.

“Thank god… I would’ve collapsed if we had to run any farther” Ryuji said. “I dragged you around a lot, huh? Sorry, man…”

“It’s fine…” Ren said, still catching his own breath. “But honestly? I’m exhausted…”

“Same… But damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good! I totally remember the faces of the guys Kamoshida was treatin’ like slaves. Once we make ‘em fess up to any physical abuse, Kamoshida will be done.” Ryuji said, sounding very determined with a mix of excitement. “So… wanna help me look for those guys or any witnesses?”

Ren straightened his jacket before turning towards Ryuji. “Do you really need to ask that?” He said with a confidant smirk. “Of course we’re gonna try and get rid of him.”

Ryuji’s smile got bigger at Ren’s response. “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” He yelled, before quickly turning to see some other passing Shujin students staring at them before walking off.

Ryuji turned back towards Ren. “Hey, So… If you’re thinkin’ of layin’ low ‘cause you got a record, I don’t think that’ll help… Everyone already knows…”

Ren’s eyes narrowed. “How’d that happen, exactly?”

“Kamoshida opened his damn mouth!” Ryuji said while crossing his arms and gritting his teeth.

Ren let out a sigh. “Figures… Only a teacher could have leaked my record, because the teachers were the only ones who were supposed to know…”

Ryuji clenched his fists. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a student or a club; that asshole just wrecks things he doesn’t agree with… Just like he did with me…”

Ren noticed Ryuji’s anger rising, and put his hand on Ryuji’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll bring him down. All we need is someone willing to come forward…”

“Yeah, thanks…” Ryuji said, calming down and giving a soft smile. “I’m countin’ on you, Ren.”

Ren smiled in response, then everything suddenly froze. He looked around to see everyone frozen in place, just like when he saw Arsène in Shibuya on his first day in Tokyo.

Before Ren could do anything else, he heard a faint sound of chains breaking, and the voice of Justine from the Velvet Room whispering in his ear.

I am thou, thou art I…

Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion 

that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Chariot Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power…

‘Chariot Persona?’ Ren wondered. ‘Hey voice, got any idea what this is about?’

‘No. But it feels familiar.’ The voice replied.

‘It’s always cryptic with you…’ Ren thought while rolling his eyes.

“Hey man, you okay?” Ren was snapped out of his thoughts by Ryuji staring at him. Time had apparently resumed, and Ren hadn’t even noticed.

“Yeah, I’m fine… I was just thinking about something…” Ren half-lied.

Before Ryuji could continue talking, Ren suddenly heard a rumbling noise.

Ryuji put a hand on his stomach and lowered his head. “Right, I haven’t eaten anything since lunch.” He looks up at Ren. “It’d be weird splittin’ off now, so why don’t we grab a bite somewhere?”

Ren nodded with a smirk. “Sure, where to?”

“Just follow me, I know a great place.” Ryuji said with a smirk of his own as he started walking off.

Ren and Ryuji were now sitting in a beef bowl shop called “Ore no Beko”, Ryuji was eating whatever was put in front of him, while Ren was eating his food a lot slower.

“So, where exactly are you from?” Ryuji asked Ren while still eating.

Ren put down his bowl to answer. “Uh… I was born on Tatsumi Port Island, but I grew up in Inaba.”

“Tatsumi Port Island? Huh, my old coach is from there, too. Weird coincidence…” Ryuji said, continuing to eat instead of looking at Ren. Once Ryuji finished his bowl, he put it down and glanced towards Ren. “So, your record… is it for real? There are rumors all over the school. Sure, most of them are obviously bullshit. But I just thought I’d ask.”

Ren took a deep breath after processing the question. “Yes, it’s for real. But how I got it is more outlandish than you’d expect.”

“Lay it on me, I doubt anything could surprise me after that castle.” Ryuji said, turning his full attention to Ren, who let out a sigh.

“A couple months ago, I was on my way home from school. I don’t even remember why, but I was out later than I expected. While I was walking, I overheard what sounded like a man and a woman shouting at each other, so I walked over to see what was happening.” Ren steadied himself before continuing. “I found a drunk man trying to force a woman into his car, so I tried to help. But when the man tried to take a swing at me for butting in, he tripped and hurt himself. The cops showed up, and I expected them to arrest him, but the man must have had more influence than I expected, as I was arrested instead, and he forced the woman to say that I had assaulted him.”

“WHAT!? The hell, man! How much shittier can that asshole get!?” Ryuji yelled, loud enough for a couple of the other people in the shop to stare for a moment.

“Calm down.” Ren said with a slight glare.

“Sorry, but just hearin’ your story makes me angry!” Ryuji said, still yelling, but not as loud as before. Ren shook his head with a slight smile.

Ryuji turned his attention to Ren again. “So… you left your hometown, and… you’re living here now?”

Ren let out another sigh. “I didn’t really have that many options. My parents tried everything they could to convince the judge of my innocence, but I was still found ‘guilty.’ So they had to look for somewhere where I could still attend school, since I got expelled from my previous one because of my record…”

“Jesus…” Ryuji mumbled. “And here I thought MY life sucked ‘cause of Kamoshida breakin’ my leg and disbanding the track team… Actually, we might be more alike than I originally thought…”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

Ryuji turned his head back towards Ren, not really knowing how to actually answer that. “Uh, it’s not exactly ‘how,’ but… y’know. I guess it’s how we’re treated like a pain in the ass by the people around us, like we don’t belong…”

Before Ren could respond, Ryuji quickly put on a smile. “Anyways, we should probably head home and get ready for tomorrow. The volleyball rally’s tomorrow, so we have a chance to try finding those guys whose faces we saw in the castle.”

Ryuji then got up to leave, before quickly realizing something. “Oh right, we should probably exchange numbers. It’d be much easier than having to find each other everytime we wanna talk about this.”

“Oh, right.” Ren said as he pulled out his phone and gave Ryuji his number.

“Sweet! See ya tomorrow, man.” Ryuji said as he left, leaving Ren alone with his thoughts.

Well, alone with his thoughts if it wasn’t for the voice that’s been in his head for the last 2 days, who has also been weirdly silent since leaving the palace.

He scratched his head, before grabbing his bag and heading towards the door.

‘Tired?’ The voice asked.

‘Oh look, you’re still here…’ Ren groaned internally.

‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ The voice replied, a mix of apathy and confusion.

‘You’ve just been weirdly quiet since Ryuji and I escaped Kamoshida again.’ Ren said, pulling out his phone and putting in his earbuds.

‘I had nothing to say.’ It responded.

Ren started getting annoyed at how nonchalant the voice was treating the whole thing. ‘Yeah? Well, if you’re gonna take up residence in my head, I’d like to at least-’

Ren tripped as he felt someone bump into him, falling backwards and feeling a little pain in his back from when he was pinned by the shadows earlier. He looked up to see the red-haired girl he met earlier on the train, who was rubbing her head.

“Sumire-san?” Ren asked while standing back up, which caused her to jump at the sound of her name.

“A-Amamiya-Senpai…?” Sumire stuttered, she didn’t expect to run into him either.

“Are you okay?” He held out a hand to help her up, to which she accepted after a moment of hesitation.

“I-I’m fine… I was just lost in thought…” She mumbled. “What are you doing here?”

Ren dusted off his blazer before answering. “I was eating nearby with a friend. You?”

“I… I was walking towards the station, but I got turned around…” She said, her face lightly pink from embarrassment.

Ren chuckled. “Ah, that makes sense. C’mon, I know the way.”

He started walking in the direction of the station, and she followed closely behind.

Chapter Text

The Velvet Room

Ren found himself standing in front of Igor and the twins again. These ‘visits’ were getting really annoying.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” Igor said in a monotone voice, as if he didn’t actually care about the place. “I have summoned you so we can continue our previous conversation. Are you becoming more accustomed to this place?”

“Yes.” Ren said, not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice.

Igor chuckled at the remark. “Ah, Glad to hear it.” He then crosses his leg and leans on one of his hands. “The goal of your rehabilitation is to thwart the fated ruin. However, such a feat cannot be done by you alone. Today, you entered a partnership with someone who awoke to a similar power, did you not?”

“You mean Ryuji?” Ren asked.

Igor nodded. “Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You’ve done well. That said, I am not advising the formation of superficial relationships. It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength. In other words, they are bonds with those who have been robbed of their places to belong, similar to you.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed at Igor’s words.

“The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature as well.” Igor continued, then raised his hand at one of the wardens. “Justine, if you may explain.”

Justine nodded before turning towards Ren. “Personas are the strength of heart… The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more Personas will gain. We call these bonds, ‘Social Links’, but you would probably prefer the term ‘Confidants’.”

“Wait, Personas? Plural?” Ren asked, confused at her words.

“You will learn more in time.” Igor said with a chuckle.

Caroline lightly tapped the bars of Ren’s cell with her baton. “There are countless people in that city who have talents that a weakling like you doesn’t. You better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side. We’ll change that into power.”

“Indeed, You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition.” Igor said with a chuckle. “We have a deal then.”

Ren raised an eyebrow. “A deal? But I didn’t agree to anything.”

Before Ren could ask Igor what he was talking about, he heard the sound of chains breaking, just like he did with Ryuji, and then Justine’s voice.

I am thou, thou art I…

Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion 

that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Fool Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power…

“What the hell?” Ren mumbled to himself.

‘The Fool…’ He heard the voice in his head say, probably feeling another sense of familiarity that he wasn’t gonna tell Ren.

“You will understand it all in due time…” Igor said, snapping Ren out of thought. “Continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation.”

“Now, this conversation’s over! Get lost, Inmate!” Caroline said, to which Ren just rolled his eyes as he turned around and passed out on the ‘bed’ in the cell.

04/13/2016 - Morning

Sumire was waiting for her train at the station, she had a hard time focusing when there were so many people around. She couldn’t get Ren Amamiya out of her head, he’s the supposed ‘Criminal’ transfer student from all the rumors, yet he was… nice to her… Were the rumors false? It was pretty common for schools to have rumors that were exaggerated and not at all true, but supposedly his record was leaked online. What was going on?

“You okay, Sumire-chan?” A voice said, startling Sumire and knocking her out of her thoughts.

She turned to see where the voice came from, then let out a sigh when she realized who it was. A brunette girl with her hair tied in a bun.

“Oh, sorry Oohashi-san… I was lost in thought…” Sumire mumbled.

“It’s fine, but how many times do I gotta tell you? Just call me Maiko.” The brunette responded with a chuckle.

“Right… Sorry, Maiko-san…” Sumire continued to mumble.

Maiko let out a soft sigh. “We’ll work on that… Anyways, what were you thinking about?”

“Yesterday… I met the new transfer student…” Sumire said.

Maiko raised an eyebrow. “The one from the rumors? What’s he like?”

Sumire looked downward. “He was… polite… But the rumors suggested otherwise…”

“What? That he assaulted someone?” Maiko asked. “Probably just punched some jerk that made him mad and ended up in jail for a day. Don’t base your opinion of someone off what you hear about them from someone else.” She said, not really caring for rumors.

“Right…” Sumire quietly responded.

The train finally arrived, then both Sumire and Maiko stepped on.

“By the way… How’s your cousin in Zoshigaya doing?” Maiko asked.

Sumire turned her head towards Maiko in confusion. “Nagisa? I don’t know… I haven’t seen him in a while. His parents are out of the country for work, so he’s probably busy with school and some other things…”

“Oh. Well, maybe you and your parents could invite him over sometime.” Maiko responded.

"If he has time, maybe..." Sumire said.

Maiko sighed then fidgeted with her skirt for a bit, a single question coming to mind. “So… How’s Kasumi…?”

Sumire lowered her head and pursed her lips at the question. “Still in a coma… all because of me…” She replied.

“Hey, your parents have already told you it wasn’t your fault.” Maiko said, putting her hand on Sumire’s shoulder.

“But if I hadn’t run off… she wouldn’t have had to push me out of the way of that truck…” Sumire mumbled, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

“She did that to save you. And even if she’s in a coma, she’s still alive, right? Just have some faith.” Maiko softly replied.

“The doctors say that even if she pulls through… she might never walk again… and it’ll be my fault…” Sumire said, her voice breaking.

Maiko grabbed Sumire’s other shoulder and looked her dead in the eye. “Listen, you are not to blame for this. The person who was driving that truck is. You want to hate someone, hate him. There was nothing you could have done.”

Sumire took a deep breath and rubbed away her tears. “Right… sorry…”

“You don’t have to keep apologizing for everything…” Maiko mumbled. “Anyways, it should be our stop pretty soon, and Coach will want to see us after school…”

They said nothing to each other for the rest of the ride, feeling pretty awkward.

Ren stepped off the train and started walking towards Shujin. Igor’s words still confusing him. He’s supposed to gain power by bonding with people? That’s not gonna be easy considering that he has a record.

Ren is snapped out of his thoughts by a text notification from Ryuji. He leaned against a pillar to read it.

• Ryuji: That thingy on your phone was some red eyeball icon, right?

‘Why is he asking that…?’ Ren wondered.

• Ren: Yeah, why?
• Ryuji: I found it on my phone too…

‘Figures.’ Ren thought.

• Ryuji: I don’t even remember installing it!
• Ren: That’s creepy.
• Ryuji: For real. Where did this thing even come from?

Ren had no idea how to explain Igor and the Velvet Room, so he just chose to lie.

• Ren: No idea.
• Ryuji: It’s dangerous to use something without knowing what it is…
• Ryuji: But with it, we can go to that castle, right?
• Ryuji: Anyways, we’ll figure it out later.
• Ryuji: But first we gotta find evidence for the beatings.
• Ryuji: I’m counting on you, all right? Don’t go ditching school on me.
• Ren: I couldn’t even if I wanted to.

Ren put his phone away as he exited the station. As he neared the entrance to Shujin, he listened in on two students in front of him.

“How annoying-we’ve barely started high school, and already they’re making us play at a volleyball rally?” One of them said, “And why are they pitting us against the teacher team? Kamoshida’s gonna crush us…”

“We get to see his technique live and in person, though. We should totally get spiked on.” The other replied.

“Yeah, okay. You’re gonna get your face smashed in.” the first one responded with a bit of fear in his voice. “Just look at how banged up the volleyball team is. What the hell goes on during their practices?”

Ren let out a sigh. ‘If only they knew…’

‘They will.’ The voice said to Ren.

Ren and Ryuji sat together in the gym, and watched Kamoshida and some of the other teachers play volleyball with some of the students. Kamoshida smacked the ball and knocked down a boy with blackish-blue hair that Ren recognized from his homeroom. 

Ryuji was disgusted by the sounds of the other teachers praising Kamoshida after scoring a point. He then turns his head to see a familiar head of blonde hair. Takamaki was sitting in a chair and playing with her hair, not even paying attention to the game. 

“Still sticks out… Hasn’t changed a bit.” Ryuji mumbled.

“Huh?” Ren asked.

Ryuji sat up and stretched. “Nothin’… This is just pretty boring…”

Ren raised his eyebrow, then saw Takamaki before looking back at Ryuji looking a bit down.

‘Oh… So that’s what's going on.’ Ren thought.

Ren also noticed a familiar head of red hair sitting in a different corner of the gym, and she did not seem to be enjoying the game at all. Ren wanted to go over and talk to her, but didn't want people questioning why the 'delinquent transfer student' was talking to her, so he chose not to.

Both Ren and Ryuji then turned their attention back to the game. Kamoshida had jumped up and smacked the ball so hard that the black-haired boy had gotten smacked in the face and knocked to the ground.

‘Ouch…’ Ren thought with a wince.

Ren turned and saw Kamoshida had a look of disappointment on his face. It was brief, but it was there. 

“Sorry” Kamoshida yelled as he ran over to the boy on the floor. “Hey, are you all right!? Someone! Take him to the nurse’s office!” He then helped lift the boy up, the look of disappointment returning, but everyone was too focused on the boy to notice.

Ryuji let out a light growl before grabbing a nearby volleyball. “He’ll pay soon enough…” He said before throwing the ball.

“All right, let’s resume the match!” Kamoshida said, smiling as if nothing happened.

“Let’s just go ask around.” Ren said to Ryuji as he stood up.

“All right…” Ryuji mumbled as Ren helped him up.

04/13/2016 - Afternoon

Ren and Ryuji spent 20 minutes asking every member of the volleyball team they could find about Kamoshida’s abuse, but they would all deny the accusations, but Ren noticed fear in most of their voices, as if they’re afraid of something.

“Dammit…” Ryuji said. “Those injuries ain’t normal! And they still won’t fess up… Crap. If we keep goin’ at this pace, the ball game’s gonna end…”

“Let’s split up, we can cover more ground separately.” Ren said.

Ryuji nodded. “All right, I’ll check the Practice Building for people before clubs start. You handle the Classroom Building. I’ll hit you up if I find anything. Seeya!” Ryuji then turned away and ran towards the Practice Building.

Ren wandered the halls and asked some people about Kamoshida, but none of them were willing to talk to him because of the rumors. They’d turn him away as soon as they realized who he was. He was about to turn a corner, then heard someone.

“People are saying awful things… about your new classmate…” a feminine voice said.

“Yeah, I know. They’re just stupid rumors, and they keep getting crazier.” another voice said, this one Ren recognized.

Ren peeked around the corner and saw a girl with black hair in a ponytail talking with Takamaki.

“You think it bothers him…? I hope he’ll be okay…” the black haired girl said.

“That’s just like you, Shiho. Always worrying about other people before yourself… Kinda like when you were there for me…” Takamaki said with a slight smile.

Ren turned away and walked towards the stairs, he had heard enough.

‘Why is this Shiho girl worrying about me? She’s never even met me.’ Ren wondered to himself.

‘Basic Human Decency.’ The voice said.

Ren chuckled. ‘Thanks, Smartass.’

Ren heard another text from Ryuji on his phone.

• Ryuji: How’s it going?
• Ren: I got nothing.
• Ryuji: Damn. Everyone’s too freaked out about Kamoshida.
• Ryuji: But I still got a lead. A first-year, new member.
• Ryuji: He just joined, so he might not be all wrapped in Kamoshida’s web of bullshit yet.

Ren chuckled. ‘Well, that’s just an insult to spiders.’

• Ryuji: Go ask around with the first-years! See if you can find him!

Ren let out a sigh then put his phone away.

After a couple minutes, he found the first-year that Ryuji was talking about, but he wasn’t willing to talk either.

“Dammit…” Ren mumbled to himself. “Is there anyone here who isn’t afraid of Kamoshida?”

“What about Kamoshida?” Ren heard a voice behind him, and he turned to see a brunette girl who had her hair tied in a bun.

“Uh, who are you?” Ren asked.

The girl chuckled. “I should be asking you that, seeing as you’re apparently looking into the gym teacher.”

“Ren Amamiya.” He said.

The girl’s eyes widened. “OH! You’re the new transfer all the rumors are about!” She said with a chuckle, causing Ren to get a little annoyed. “Gonna be honest, you look nothing like I imagined. Because of the rumors, I expected someone who looked like a thug.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” Ren remarked with a smirk.

The girl just continued giggling. “Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself.” She put out her hand. “I’m Maiko Oohashi. I heard a bit about you from my friend, Sumire.”

Ren reluctantly shakes her hand. He doesn’t know why, but he feels like he can trust her.

“So…” Maiko continued. “Why is the supposed ‘criminal’ transfer student looking into the gym teacher?”

Ren put his hands in the pockets of his tracksuit. “I noticed the volleyball team all have injuries that aren’t normal for the sport, and I thought it was suspicious. But every time I ask someone about it, they all tell me to go away.”

Maiko let out a small sigh. “Figures. They don’t want to be hunted down for talking to the supposed criminal about their ‘beloved’ coach.”

Ren raises an eyebrow at her choice of words. “I take it you’re not a fan of Kamoshida?”

“To be honest, he creeps me out…” Maiko said. “I’ve seen him around a few times, and he always seems to be staring at some of the female students, especially Takamaki-san. I’ve even heard that sometimes you can hear a scream coming from the PE faculty office…” 

After another sigh, she continued, a little fear in her voice. “Normally, I wouldn’t care about rumors like that… But the entire volleyball team has bizarre injuries that seemingly appear out of nowhere… And I heard Mishima-kun has it especially bad…”

“Mishima?” Ren questioned.

“That guy who got hit in the face during the match earlier. Supposedly, Kamoshida gives him ‘special coaching’ cuz he’s one of the least experienced members of the team…” Maiko replied.

Ren’s eyes narrowed. ‘Special coaching?’

Maiko then looked Ren in the eyes and rested her chin on her own knuckle while narrowing her eyes. “Weird… I’ve only just met you, yet I feel comfortable telling you this for some reason…”

Before Ren could ask what she meant, the school intercom chimed in. “Attention, attention. All matches have concluded. Please get ready to go home for today…”

“Guess that’s my cue to leave.” Maiko said. “It was nice meeting you, Amamiya-kun.”

Ren nodded. “You too, Oohashi-san.”

Maiko turned towards the stairs and left, leaving Ren alone.

Ren once again heard the familiar noise of his phone receiving a text from Ryuji.

• Ryuji: Dammit, we’re outta time. How’d it go?
• Ren: I got something.
• Ryuji: Sweet! Let’s regroup for now. See you in the courtyard?
• Ren: On my way.

Ren put his phone away and walked towards the stairs.

‘That girl…’ The voice said, causing Ren to stop in his tracks.

‘Oohashi-san? What about her?’ Ren asked.

‘It can’t be…’ The voice replied.

‘Can’t be what?’ Ren asked, clearly confused.

The voice said nothing in response.

‘What was that about?’ Ren wondered before turning back towards the stairs.

04/13/2016 - After School

Ren sat by the vending machines in the courtyard waiting for Ryuji to show up.

“Hey… Amamiya, right?” a familiar voice said.

Ren looked up to see Takamaki walking towards him.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” Takamaki asked.

“Okay, what is it?” Ren asked in response, confused as to why she’s suddenly talking to him.

“It’ll be quick.” Takamaki replied, crossing her arms. “Anyway, what’s with you? Like how you were late the other day. There’s that weird rumor about you too.”

Ren was about to respond, only for another voice to cut him off. “Whaddya want with him, Ann?"

Ren and Takamaki both turned to see Ryuji walking up to them.

“Right back at you.” Takamaki remarked. “You’re not even in our class.”

Ryuji awkwardly turned his head. “…We just happened to get to know each other.”

Takamaki’s eyes narrowed. “What are you planning to do to Mr. Kamoshida?”

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “Huh!?” He quickly recovered and narrowed his own eyes. “Oh, I see… You’re supposedly all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida, right?”

Takamaki rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Oh come on, Ryuji. You know damn well that’s not true.” He took a breath before continuing. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but no one’s gonna help you.”

‘I wouldn’t say that…’ Ren thought to himself.

Takamaki lowered her head a little. “I’m warning you, just in case. That’s all…”

Takamaki then walked off. Leaving Ryuji both confused and annoyed.

“Why’s she gotta be so aggressive all the time…?” Ryuji asked himself, forgetting about Ren for a moment.

“I thought you said in Kamoshida’s palace that you were friends.” Ren remarked.

Ryuji sighed. “We were pretty close in middle school, but we kinda drifted apart when we came to Shujin.” He then turned towards Ren. “Anyways, that’s not what we’re here to talk about. You said you had something?”

“A girl told me that Kamoshida supposedly gives ‘special coaching’ to a guy named Mishima.” Ren said, choosing to drop the subject of Takamaki for now.

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “Huh…? Special ‘coaching,’ huh?” He crossed his arms. “Now that I think about it, I always see the guy covered in bruises… Let’s go talk to him before he leaves then.”

Ren and Ryuji made it to the school entrance and noticed Mishima about to leave.

Ryuji quickly ran up next to him. “Hey, Mishima. Got a second?”

Mishima turned towards Ryuji in surprise, then noticed Ren behind him. “Sakamoto? And the new transfer student…!?”

“Calm down, we just wanna chat.” Ryuji told Mishima. “Heard that Kamoshida’s been giving you ‘special coaching,’ You sure it’s not just physical abuse?”

Mishima’s eyes widened in fear, he then backed up from Ryuji. “C-Certainly not!”

Ryuji raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking all polite for? Anyways… We saw him spike you right in the face earlier.”

“That was just… because I’m not good at the sport…” Mishima mumbled.

Ryuji sighed. “Still. That doesn’t explain all the other bruises you’ve got.”

“They’re from practice…!” Mishima snapped defensively.

Ren walked towards Mishima, which caused Mishima to tremble a bit.

“Is he forcing you to keep quiet?” Ren asked calmly.

Mishima lowered his head at the question. “That’s…”

“What’s going on here?” a familiar voice called out, causing both Ryuji and Mishima to tense up.

The three of them turn to see Kamoshida walking towards them. “Mishima, isn’t it time for practice?”

Mishima rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I-I’m not feeling well today…”

Kamoshida scoffed. “What? Maybe you’re better off quitting then.” He said, causing Mishima’s eyes to widen. “You’re never going to improve that crappy form unless you show up to practice. Plus, we have that upcoming match against those chumps from Kokatsu Academy in a few weeks, and it wouldn't exactly look great for anyone if one of the members of our team was terrible at the sport.”

“Didn’t you hear? He ain’t feelin’ well!” Ryuji said to Kamoshida while gritting his teeth.

Kamoshida rolled his eyes and turned his attention back towards Mishima. “Well, Mishima? Are you coming to practice or not?”

Mishima lowered his head in defeat. “I’ll go…” He mumbled.

Kamoshida then turned back towards Ryuji with an irritated look on his face. “As for you, any more trouble and you’ll be gone from this school for sure.”

“Bastard…” Ryuji muttered under his breath while turning away.

“Same goes for you.” Kamoshida said to Ren. “Didn’t the principal tell you to keep in line?”

“I was just leaving.” Ren coldly said in response.

“Hmph. Just don’t get in the way of my practice. All these unsettling rumors are making the students anxious, after all.” Kamoshida remarked with a slight grin.

“That’s your own goddamn fault.” Ryuji said, which Kamoshida ignored.

Kamoshida let out an annoyed sigh. “This won’t get us anywhere.” He said. “Shujin Academy is a place where those with aspirations come to learn. Unworthy students like yourselves don’t have any right to be here. Let’s go, Mishima.” He said in an aggressive tone as he stormed off.

“Yes, sir…” Mishima mumbled.

“That asshole… He’s gonna pay for this!” Ryuji said once Kamoshida was out of earshot.

“There’s no point…” Mishima said, confusing both Ren and Ryuji.

“What do you mean?” Ren asked.

Mishima put a hand on his own shirt and took a breath. “Proving he’s physically abusing us… is meaningless… Everybody knows… The principal, our parents… They all know, and they all keep quiet about it…”

Ryuji’s eyes were widened in horror at Mishima’s confession. “This… This has gotta be a joke…”

“Don’t be a pain…” Mishima softly said. “You don’t understand what I’m going through… Shouldn’t you of all people know that nothing’s going to help!?”

Ryuji stood there frozen. Mishima was right, he just didn’t want to admit it. Before Ryuji could clap back, Mishima ran off towards the gym.

“Dammit…” Ryuji said under his breath.

“What do we do now?” Ren asked.

Ryuji turned towards the raven-haired boy with a look of desperation. “…I’ll try one more time to persuade the other guys… that’s all I can do…”

Ryuji walked off towards the courtyard, while Ren went in the opposite direction to change out of his tracksuit. This was a lot harder than expected.

Chapter Text

04/14/2016 - Afternoon

Ren opened the door to the school rooftop, wanting to avoid as many people as he could while waiting for school to end. Yesterday did not at all go as planned. He then walked over to a nearby fence.

‘Nice view’ The voice said.

‘Not really…’ Ren thought in response. The view was just of some random buildings and the street below. He then opens his phone to see 3 missed messages from Ryuji.

• Ryuji: Hey, this don’t make any damn sense.
• Ryuji: The Principal and even the Parents know about the Abuse.
• Ryuji: Why ain’t anybody speaking up!?

Ren let out a sigh before responding.

• Ren: Maybe they’re afraid of Kamoshida?

Ren noticed Ryuji quickly typing a response.

• Ryuji: That can’t be the only thing keeping both the principal and the parents quiet though…
• Ryuji: It’s basically because Kamoshida made the volleyball team famous, yeah?
• Ryuji: Even so, that don’t give him the right to do whatever he wants!
• Ryuji: He’s beating kids up, and all they’re allowed to do is endure.

‘Dang, he types fast when he’s mad.’ Ren thought.

• Ryuji: I’m gonna try and find someone who knows about what’s going on with Kamoshida during break tomorrow.
• Ryuji: Just you watch. I ain’t giving up!

Ren chuckled at Ryuji’s final message before putting his phone back in his pocket. He was gonna head back downstairs, but stopped when he heard… humming? He turned in the direction of the noise to see a girl with curly light brown hair tending to some plants while wearing her gym uniform.

“Hello?” Ren called out to the girl, who was startled by his presence.

“O-Oh… I didn’t know anyone else was up here…” The girl said.

“I just got up here a few minutes ago.” Ren replied. “Is this your garden?”

The girl turned back towards the plants. “No… One of the teachers just asked me to tend to these…”

“Oh.” Ren awkwardly said. “Do you need some help?”

Ren watched as the girl stared at him with a puzzled expression.

“Huh? Are you sure? I can handle this on my own…” She said, surprised by Ren’s question.

“Yeah, I got nothing better to do, and this would help pass the time.” He answered.

“Oh… Okay.” The girl mumbled as she put on a smile and handed Ren some nearby gardening gloves.

Ren took the gloves and started getting to work. He didn’t know much about gardening, but he’s helped his Mom with her own garden enough times to get an idea of what to do. After a while, the two of them heard the school bell.

“Looks like I gotta go.” Ren said, causing the girl to let out a sigh of either relief or disappointment, Ren couldn’t really tell which it was.

As Ren picked up his bag and walked towards the door, he heard the girl call out. “Wait… Do you mind helping me more when you are able?”

Ren turned towards her. “If I have time, sure.” His response caused the girl to put on a small smile. “I’m Ren, by the way.”

The girl stood up and walked towards him. “I’m Haru.” She checked the time on her phone, her eyes widening when she saw what it was. “I need to go… It was nice meeting you, Ren-kun.” She said with a slight bow before rushing off down the stairs.

Shortly after Haru left, Ren walked down the stairs towards the school courtyard, he had assumed that’s where Ryuji was. Then again, there weren’t many other places he could be.

04/14/2016 - After School

“Sorry, Excuse me…” Ren awkwardly squeezed himself past a bunch of other students who were walking through the halls. Some of them gave him weird looks, which he chose to ignore like the voice had suggested on his first day. He then heard the sound of paper falling to the ground as he bumped into someone.

“Crap, I’m sorry. Let me help…” Ren mumbled as he picked up the scattered papers and handed them back to the person who dropped them, a girl with black hair and a ponytail, the same girl who he saw talking with Takamaki the day before.

“Oh… Uh, thank you… I wasn’t looking where I was going…” The girl mumbled before looking at him. “You don’t look familiar… Are you that transfer student from Class D?” Ren simply nodded.

“Um, this might not be any of my business, but don’t let the rumors get to you, okay?” She said with a look of concern.

Her words puzzled Ren, why did she care that much about the rumors?

“They don’t really bother me, but thanks.” He replied.

The girl’s down expression changed to a slight smile. “I’m glad to hear that. My best friend is often misunderstood too, all because of her looks…”

‘Is she talking about Takamaki-san?’ Ren wondered.

‘Probably.’ The voice said, sounding like it was obvious.

“Ah, sorry…” the girl continued. “I didn’t mean to drag on like that… Anyways, I have to go… I’ll see you around.”

She held the papers closer to her chest and started walking off towards the gym, leaving Ren a bit confused.

‘Seriously, why does she care so much how I feel about the rumors?’ Ren asked himself before shrugging and heading to the courtyard.

“Dammit. What the hell?” Ren heard Ryuji yell to himself.

“I take it your search didn’t pan out?” Ren asked.

“What gave you that idea?” Ryuji sarcastically responded before sighing. “All of ‘em kept saying the same shit Mishima was talkin’ about! At this rate… looks like we’ll have to go to Kamoshida directly…”

“We should’ve started with that.” Ren said while rubbing his eyes.

“I know… But seriously, isn’t there something we can do? No way I’m gonna give in like this!” Ryuji said, sounding desperate.

“I might have a suggestion.” A familiar voice said, startling both Ren and Ryuji. The two of them turned to see a black cat staring at them with big blue eyes.

“What the hell?” Ryuji muttered, completely lost. 

Ren noticed the cat was wearing a yellow collar, and remembered someone else that wore the color yellow around their neck recently. 

“Morgana?” Ren asked, much to Ryuji’s shock and confusion.

“Wait, huh!? The cat from the castle!?” Ryuji yelled, causing Ren to quickly cover his mouth and look around to see if anyone heard him.

“Quiet down, moron.” Ren whispered in Ryuji’s ear.

“I must say, it was a lot of trouble finding you two.” the cat said. “I got pretty lost making my escape.”

“I thought you said you had something to take care of.” Ren said while removing his hand from Ryuji’s mouth, causing the blond to start taking deep breaths.

“Dude, how are you so calm about this!?” Ryuji asked.

Ren turned towards Ryuji while raising an eyebrow. “We ended up in a weird castle where we can summon demons while trying to fight weird knights commanded by the gym teacher, who we’re now trying to prove is abusing his students, but a talking cat is where you get freaked out?” He asked.

“I… I guess you have a point…” Ryuji mumbled in embarrassment.

“Good to know you haven’t changed that much.” Morgana chuckled.

Ryuji looked at the cat in confusion. “It’s only been 2 days.”

The cat stared at him. “Has it? Huh… My bad, It’s really hard to keep track of time in the Metaverse.”

“How’d you even get here? Do you have a phone?” Ryuji asked, which caused Ren to cringe.

“He’s a CAT. How the hell is he supposed to carry a phone, let alone use it?” Ren asked.

Ryuji just stared at Ren in embarrassment, realizing how dumb he sounded by asking the question.

‘Idiot.’ The voice said, to which Ren couldn’t really disagree at the moment.

“I don’t need a phone like you do, I can enter and exit the Metaverse on my own.” Morgana said.

“Which brings me back to my earlier question.” Ren cut in. “Why are you here now when you said before you were hesitant to leave the castle?”

The cat turned his attention solely to Ren. “The security in Kamoshida’s palace has gotten to the point where sneaking around on my own would be suicide, I figured I’d try my luck to find you.”

Ryuji was confused. “Wait, why? We haven’t been there in days. And you said Kamoshida can’t know about it.”

“Even if the real Kamoshida doesn’t know about you entering the palace, he’s still on edge. Why? I don’t know, I figured it had something to do with you guys.” Morgana replied.

“Hey, does anyone else hear a cat? I thought I just heard a meow.” A nearby student said, causing Ren and Ryuji to turn in their direction.

“Oh, I love cats, Where could it have come from?” Another student asked.

“Meow?” Ryuji asked in confusion before turning to Morgana. “Does that mean only us two can understand what you’re sayin’?”

“Looks like it.” Morgana said, scratching his own face with his paw.

“What the hell’s goin’ on…?” Ryuji mumbled while rubbing the back of his head. “Anyways, I think you said you had a suggestion for our problem?” He asked.

“Yes, but seeing as though there are people looking more at the moment, I’d suggest we find somewhere more private.” Morgana replied while stretching.

“Alright…” Ryuji said with a shrug before picking Morgana up by the collar, which startled the cat. “Here, stick it in your bag for now! It should be small enough to fit.”

Ren stared at Ryuji with a look of confusion while Morgana kept flailing around, trying to get free. “Hey! Don’t be so rough with me…”

“Oh, I see… You’re supposedly all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida, right?”

Ann Takamaki walked through the halls of Shujin, she couldn’t get the words from yesterday out of her head.

“Damn you, Ryuji… I thought you were different…” Ann thought to herself. The eyes of other students staring at her in judgement.

She’s never been able to fit in, she’s always been judged just based on her appearance since she was a kid. She sometimes gets called “Foreigner” because of her hair and eye color despite the fact that she was born in Japan.

Sure, she may have some foreign heritage, and has spent a lot of her life abroad, but this was still her home, not just a place she was staying in. But do the people here care? Of course not, it’s more fun to spread rumors than actually bother learning the truth.

There were even rumors that she and Kamoshida were an item, which was FAR from the truth. She wanted nothing to do with the man, but he’s been creeping on her ever since they first met, and she doesn’t know how to get rid of him.

She’d honestly much rather be at home reading a book or on her computer than dealing with this. She’d even settle for her gamecube, as old it was, but she needed to find her friend first.

“Where could Shiho be…?” She mumbled to herself while looking around.

“Excuse me, Takamaki-san?” A voice said from behind her.

Ann turned to see a girl about a year older than her with short brown hair and dark red eyes.

“Oh, Niijima-senpai… Did you need something?” Takamaki asked.

The girl, Niijima, crossed her arms with a sigh. “The principal has asked me to learn as much as I can about the new transfer student. And I figured I’d ask you what you know about him since you’re in his class and sit in front of him.”

Ann stared at Niijima in confusion. “Uh, I don’t really know that much about him. We’ve only really talked twice, and it was mostly me talking to him. He didn’t really say much.”

“I see… Thanks anyways.” Niijima responded before turning to walk away.

“By the way, senpai… Do you know where Shiho is?” Takamaki asked.

Niijima turned to face Takamaki again. “Suzui-san? I think I saw her heading towards the courtyard a few minutes ago. She’s probably still there.”

Ann let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, senpai. See ya around.” She waved goodbye to Niijima, who waved back, before walking towards the courtyard.

On her way towards the door, Ann saw Ryuji and Amamiya walking towards the stairs. And she could be seeing things, but was something poking out of Amamiya’s bag?

She shook her head and opened the door to the courtyard, where she saw Shiho sitting alone on a bench.

“Hey, Shiho. Shouldn’t you be heading to volleyball practice?” Ann asked while sitting down next to her.

Shiho turned her head slightly to see her blonde best friend with a worried look on her face.

“Oh, hey Ann…” Shiho mumbled.

Ann noticed a bruise on Shiho’s face, above her left eye. “That bruise above your eye… Is that from practice?”

“Y-Yeah…” Shiho said, not making eye contact. “It’s nothing serious though…”

Ann pursed her lips at Shiho’s mumbling. “Are you sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard?”

Shiho turned towards Ann, her eyes looking almost lifeless. “I’m okay… Volleyball’s the only thing I can do right…”

“What are you talking about?” Ann asked, to which Shiho didn’t answer.

Before Ann could ask further, her phone started ringing.

“Shouldn’t you take that?” Shiho asked.

Ann chose to ignore it and keep talking while it kept ringing. “It’s probably just my modelling agency. I have a shoot later today.”

“I should probably get going…” Shiho muttered.

Ann raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Huh, why? I only just got here.” She noticed Shiho trembling a bit as she tried to stand up, and put her hand on Shiho’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine… Like you said, I should be heading to practice…” Shiho said.

Shiho stood up and walked off towards the gym.

“Shiho…” Ann called out, to which Shiho ignored her. Ann let out a sigh and answered her phone. “Yes?”

“Takamaki-san? The agency decided to move up the shoot by a few hours, are you still able to do it?” The voice on the phone asked.

Ann let out another sigh, she was not really in the mood today. “Sorry… Today won’t work… I’m not feeling so good… Sorry…”

“Ah, alright then.” The voice on the phone said, sounding a bit disappointed. “We’ll find someone to fill in for you. Goodbye.”

“Bye…” Ann mumbled as the call ended, she then walked off towards her locker to get her bag. ‘Shiho… why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?’

Ren and Ryuji arrived at the roof and let Morgana out of Ren’s bag. The cat then proceeded to stretch.

“It’s a bit cramped in there…” Morgana said.

“You said you know how we can do something about Kamoshida, right?” Ryuji asked while tapping his foot impatiently.

Morgana sat down and looked up at both Ren and Ryuji. “Yes. You’ll need to attack his castle.”

Ren and Ryuji processed the words and then looked at the cat in confusion.

“What do you mean attack the castle?” Ren asked.

Morgana climbed onto a nearby table then looked at them again. “That castle is how Kamoshida views this school. He doesn’t realize what happens in there, but it’s deeply connected to the depths of his twisted heart. Thus, if the castle disappeared, it would naturally affect the real Kamoshida.”

“What’d happen?” Ryuji asked while crossing his arms.

Morgana started scratching himself as he continued. “A palace is a manifestation of a person’s distorted desires. So, if that castle ceased to exist…”

“Kamoshida would be an honest man.” Ren said, finishing Morgana’s sentence.

“Precisely.” The cat said.

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “F-For real!? H-He’s gonna turn good!?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘good’, per say.” Morgana said. “More like… overwhelmed with guilt. Erasing a palace essentially means forcing its owner to have a change of heart. Even if their warped wants were to vanish, the crimes they committed remain. He’d be compelled to confess everything he has done.”

‘I’m sensing a but.’ The voice said to Ren.

“What are the possible drawbacks?” Ren asked, causing Ryuji to get confused, and Morgana to lower his head a bit.

“If we erase a Palace, there is no doubt that the person’s distorted desires will be erased as well… But desires are what humans need in order to survive. The will to sleep, eat, fall in love- those sorts of things…” Morgana muttered.

“What’re you gettin’ at?” Ryuji asked, to which Morgana didn’t answer, simply turning his head away.

Ren was also confused, but it quickly clicked into place. “He’s saying Kamoshida might die if we’re not careful and end up going overboard.”

“WHAT!?” Ryuji yelled, his voice cracking a bit from shock and fear.

“Are you determined enough to face those kinds of risks…?” Morgana asked.

Ren and Ryuji looked at each other, unsure of how to answer. Sure, they hate Kamoshida, but are they willing to risk killing him…?

‘It’s worth the risk.’ The voice said, which sent a shiver down Ren’s spine.

“I don’t want to kill him, but who knows who he might hurt if we don’t try to change his heart…?” Ren hesitantly said.

Morgana shook his head. “You don’t have to give me your answer now. I’ll give you some time to think it through.” He hopped off the table and ran towards the stairs.

“Dammit…” Ryuji muttered under his breath before turning towards Ren again. “I’ll try to see if I can figure out another way… one that won’t end with us possibly killing him…”

Ren nodded in agreement, then picked up his bag. “C’mon, we should probably get out of here before the school closes.”

Ren and Ryuji proceeded to both walk back towards the stairs, Morgana’s words looming in their heads of what could happen if they’re not careful.

Ann walked through the Shibuya underground mall, browsing the different stores since her train wouldn’t show up for at least another few hours. It was boring, but it was better than just standing around doing nothing.

‘What happened to you, Shiho?’ Ann wondered, her friend’s battered face had been burned into her brain for the past few hours.

While she was walking around, she noticed a nearby flower shop, and decided to try browsing some to clear her mind. When she got closer to the shop, she noticed a boy was there. The boy had red hair that went down to his cheeks, and he wore a yellow jacket with a white hoodie underneath. He seemed pretty down.

“Here you go, Kamisiro-kun.” The flower shop’s owner said while handing the boy a bouquet of tulips. “Who might these flowers be for?”

“They’re for my cousin…” The boy mumbled. “She’s been in the hospital for about a month…”

Ann pursed her lips at the boy’s quiet tone of voice. He sounded so out of it.

“Oh… I’m sorry… I hope she gets better soon…” The shop owner replied, suddenly sounding more awkward.

“Me too…” The boy replied. “Thanks.” He gave a slight bow before walking off.

Ann let out a sigh and started walking back towards the train platform, only to hear her phone ringing.

She pulled out her phone, and saw who the number was, and her heart sank at who it was. 

She didn’t want to answer, but she did anyway. “Hello?”

“Takamaki! I’m glad you answered.” Kamoshida’s voice rang out from the other end of the line, sending a shiver down Ann’s spine. “Have I caught you at a bad time?”

“Not really…” Ann mumbled. “What do you want…?”

“Now now, don’t be like that…” Kamoshida said, pretending to sound offended. “I just wanted to ask if you could come over to my place for some… private lessons.”

The obvious implications of his words caused Ann to want to vomit. ‘Damn you…’ She thought to herself.

“Sorry… I’m not feeling so good right now… Maybe another time?” She said, trying to come up with any good excuse to avoid him.

She heard Kamoshida let out a groan. “Really? Because you sound fine to me. I’m not asking for much here.”

Ann grit her teeth in anger at how nonchalant Kamoshida was making the whole thing sound. “Will you please give it a rest!? I told you, I’m not feeling up to it…”

Kamoshida let out another groan. “You really are pushing your luck here, Takamaki. I may just have to change the terms of our arrangement.”

Ann’s eyes widened. “Wait, what? You can’t do that… You call yourself a teacher and then try to pull something like this!?”

“Either you agree to my terms, or I cut Suzui-san. Your choice.” Kamoshida threatened, Ann couldn’t see him, but she just KNEW that he was grinning.

“Please, no… this has nothing to do with her…” Ann replied, quivering in fear, but the call abruptly ended before she could get a response. “Shiho’s… starting position…”

She was still trembling, her best friend was being used as a bargaining chip, and she couldn’t do anything about it. She was on the verge of tears, not knowing what to do. She leaned against a wall as she felt herself about to collapse.

“Dammit…” She mumbled to herself. “What do I do…?”

“Are you okay, Takamaki-san?” A voice asked, startling Ann.

She looked up to see Amamiya staring at her with a look of concern.

“You!?” She half-yelled, causing Amamiya’s eyes to widen in surprise. “Wait… Were you listening…?”

Amamiya took a breath before replying, he did not expect her to raise her voice so suddenly. “Not on purpose. I was passing by and noticed you were yelling at someone on the phone.”

“Haven’t you heard of privacy?” Ann snapped at him, her cheeks red from anger and embarrassment.

Ren looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as if her question was a dumb one.

“We’re in the middle of a crowded train station, with you yelling at someone on the phone pretty loudly, and you expect privacy?” Amamiya replied, causing Ann to feel like she just got slapped in the face by that answer.

“I… I…” She didn’t know what else to say, he was right. She let out a sigh of frustration and slid down the wall she was leaning against. “Someone shoot me…” She mumbled before turning her attention to Amamiya again. “How much did you hear…?”

“It sounded like you were arguing with someone about your friend?” Amamiya answered, which caused Ann to look down in shame. “Do you want to talk somewhere?”

Ann looked up at him in shock. She didn’t know what else to say, this boy who rumors were flying around about, the supposed ‘criminal’, was asking if she wanted to just… talk?

“What the heck…? I really don’t get you…” She mumbled, tears streaming down her face.

Amamiya smirked at her comment. “Well, I can’t exactly leave you crying your eyes out here, who knows what rumors would start if someone saw you.”

Ann couldn’t help but laugh at that. “You’re an asshole… You know that?”

“So I’ve been told.” Amamiya replied with a soft smile.

Ann wiped her own tears as Amamiya helped her up. “Come on… I know a place nearby…”

Amamiya nodded and followed her out of the station.

04/14/2016 - Evening

Ren and Takamaki sat across from each other in Big Bang Burger, a restaurant that Ren had heard of, but never been to due to it not having a building in Inaba. An awkward silence filled the air for a moment.

“I don’t really have anything to talk about…” Takamaki muttered. “It was just an argument…”

“With Kamoshida?” Ren asked, causing Takamaki to clench her fist in anger.

She let out a sigh before laying her head on one of her hands. “You’ve heard the rumors… haven’t you? About Mr. Kamoshida…”

‘Which ones?’ Ren sarcastically asked in his head.

“Everyone says we’re getting in on… but that’s not true at all…” She continued. “And yes… That was him on the other line…”

“How did he get your number?” Ren asked, which caused Takamaki to clench her fist more.

“He knew Shiho and I were friends, and he chose to take advantage of that fact… He said he thought Shiho was ‘too kind and emotional,’ So she probably couldn’t handle being on the volleyball team…”

“How the heck does that work?” Ren asked, which just seemed to frustrate Takamaki.

“I don’t know… But he said he was gonna bench her…” Takamaki replied, then pursed her lips. “But then he turned around and said he’d reconsider if… I did what he said for as long as he wanted… And I couldn’t turn him down…”

Ren’s eyes widened at Takamaki’s confession. ‘What the hell!?’

‘What did you expect?’ The voice asked, which only continued to annoy Ren, but he chose to ignore it for the moment.

“Why didn’t you report him?” Ren asked, Takamaki growing even more frustrated.

“You think anyone would believe me if I tried to? Kamoshida keeps the school’s reputation afloat with the volleyball team, and I’m just some girl that everyone already bad mouths…” She said. “It’d just look like I’m trying to start something… And he would bench Shiho for sure if he found out I tried…” She let out a sigh of defeat, clearly not wanting to say the next part. “He told me to go alone to his apartment later…” 

Ren’s eyes widened in horror at the clear implication of Kamoshida’s intentions towards Takamaki, but he didn't say anything, instead letting her continue.

“If I turn him down, he said he’d take Shiho off as a regular on the team.” Her voice had started breaking, but Ren continued to keep quiet. “I’ve been telling myself this is all for her sake… But I can’t take it anymore… I’ve had enough of this… I hate him…”

Tears were now streaming down Takamaki’s face, with Ren simply watching in concern.

“I just want it to stop… but Shiho’s my best friend, she’s all I have left at that sorry excuse of a school!” Takamaki had completely broken down.

“What about Ryuji?” Ren asked, which caused Takamaki to look up at him in confusion.

“R-Ryuji…? What about him?” She asked, wiping the tears from her face.

“I was under the impression that you two used to be close. What happened?” Ren had no idea about Ryuji and Takamaki’s history aside from what little Ryuji had told him, and he couldn’t help but be curious.

Takamaki let out a sigh and looked down at her lap. “We were friends in middle school, he and Shiho were the only ones willing to talk to me because of how… different… I looked from everyone else… But when we started attending Shujin, we drifted apart.” 

She took a sip of her water to clear her throat, then continued. “Sure, we’d still talk… but we rarely ever did anything together. Then there was everything with Kamoshida… He disbanded the track team, broke Ryuji’s leg in ‘Self Defense’, and then… all this…”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” Ren mumbled, to which Takamaki let out an awkward chuckle.

“It’s fine… You couldn’t have known… I don’t think Ryuji talks much about it either…” She looked at her lap and let out another sigh. “Honestly… I don’t even know why I’m saying all this… I’ve barely even talked to you before now… And all I’ve done is cry…”

“Don’t worry, vent away.” Ren said with a soft smile, trying to calm her nerves, to which Takamaki simply let out another soft chuckle.

“You’re so weird… Usually everyone just ignores me.” She looks up from her lap and makes eye contact with Ren for the first time of the conversation. “Are you… really a bad person? I’ve heard some people talking about you at school, but… I just don’t see it.”

Ren raised an eyebrow at the question. “What have they been saying?”

Takamaki took another sip from her water before answering. “Um… that you assaulted someone… That you almost killed them… I kinda had a feeling they were all just exaggerations. You seemed kinda lonely- almost like you didn’t belong anywhere…” She gave him a small smile. “I guess that's why it's kinda easy to talk to you, we have that in common…”

She let out another sigh as she laid her head on the back of her palm. “Is there no way for me to help Shiho? I wish Kamoshida would just change his mind… Like, forget about me, and everything…” She let out another chuckle at the thought. “As if something like that would ever happen…”

“You never know, it could happen.” Ren said, which confused Takamaki.

She laughed at his words, rubbing off the few remaining tears she had. “I wasn’t asking for a serious response… But I do feel a bit better now. I’m gonna head home.”

Takamaki stood up from her seat and threw her bag over her shoulder before turning back towards Ren, who was still seated.

“Don’t tell anyone what I told you, okay? I’ll try to think of a way to persuade Kamoshida. Anyways… thanks.” She walked off, leaving Ren alone with his thoughts.

‘What do we do? I want to help Takamaki… But I don’t want to risk killing Kamoshida to do it…’

‘Punish the king.’ The voice said.

‘Punish? What do you mean Punish? Yes, he’s a monster, but I don’t want to kill him…’ Ren replied.

‘I didn’t say kill.’ The voice clarified, which only made Ren more annoyed.

‘What even are you? You’re not a persona like Arsène, yet you kinda talk like he did when I first summoned him.” Ren asked.

‘I don’t know.’ The voice answered.

‘How do you not know!?’ Ren angrily asked, to which the voice said nothing. ‘You know what? Forget it…’

He stood up from his seat, grabbed his bag, and walked back towards the station.

Ren’s thoughts drifted back to Kamoshida. The more he learned about him, the more he hated him with every fiber of his being. The man was a scumbag, abusing his students and taking advantage of a girl who just wants to help her friend. Normally, anyone else would jump at the chance to get rid of him, but Ren is no murderer. 

Though… would it really be a bad thing if Kamoshida died…?

‘No, it wouldn’t.’