Here We Go Again Rewritten - SpyPigeon (2024)

Chapter 1: Cover

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Prologue

Chapter Text

It was finally over.

As Ren left the juvenile detention center and walked out into the sunlight, putting a hand over his face as his eyes adjusted to the bright daylight, he felt as though everything was finally finished. He’d go to Leblanc, celebrate his release with the thieves and his girlfriend, and finally feel satisfaction in the end of Shido’s conspiracy. They got the ending they all fought so hard for.

Yet as much as Ren tried to convince himself that this was how things should be, something felt just a slight bit off. Not off in the way that mementos returned again or anything, Satanael would have no problem detecting if it came back, but he still felt strange. Like something just wasn’t quite right.

“You gonna stand there daydreaming all day or are you gonna hop in?” a familiar teasing yet affectionate voice called out.

Ren smirked as he turned his head to see a familiar small yellow car. Sojiro was wearing his signature white fedora and jacket, giving the teen a smirk right back as he peered out the car window.

As Ren approached, Sojiro continued speaking.

“You know, I didn’t want to come, but Futaba just wouldn’t stop nagging.”

Ren chuckled as he got in the car. He was used to this kind of banter from Sojiro by now.

“You know you love me.” Ren fired back.

Sojiro rolled his eyes as he started the car. “Don’t test your luck, kid.”

The words were harsh, but the tone was not. Ren simply laughed in response and stared out the window as the car began moving.

He had to admit, he was getting a little excited. Although he was only technically in detention for ten days, he dearly missed his teammates, and even more so, his girlfriend.

Sumire was strong, Ren knew as much, but he still felt bad for how worried he must be making her right now…

As he was thinking that, the car came to a sudden stop. Ren looked through the front windshield and saw that they were caught in the middle of everybody’s favorite hour of the day:

Rush hour. (Yayyyy…)

After a few minutes, Sojiro spoke up.

“...It’s not moving at all.” he said before chuckling. “Kind of reminds me of when you first came here. It’s hard to believe it’s nearly been a whole year since then.”

Ren smiled to himself as he reminisced. “Yeah…”

From being convicted of assault, to moving to Tokyo, to meeting all of his friends, to falling in love with Sumire, Ren had quite a lot of memories this year. Some good, some bad, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t have regrets.

Although he knew everyone would tell him he shouldn’t, he couldn’t help but feel responsible for what happened to Shiho, Kunikazu, and Akechi. If only he’d caught on faster to all of their situations, maybe he could have done something.

…But he can’t. So it’s best to just move on.

“You’ve made a lot of great friends since then.” Sojiro continued before smirking. “And I’m sure my coffee lessons helped you get your girl.”

Ren laughed. “She loved every cup.”

Sojiro gave Ren a fond smirk before returning his attention to the road as the traffic finally got going again. Though as they began moving again, something caught Ren’s attention in the mirror.

A black car with two men in suits was following them. He recognized them, they were the faces of two of the dirty cops that…

Ren quickly took some deep breaths to calm himself down. He never wanted to go through anything like that again…

Ren looked back out of the car at the men. Now he knew what felt so off. The fall of Shido’s conspiracy was now set entirely in Sae’s hands. Though he trusted her to carry it out, he didn’t much like the idea of leaving his fate in someone else’s hands.

Not after everything he’d been through.

“Hm? Something wrong?”

Ren shook his head. “It’s nothing.” he lied. No reason to get Sojiro concerned now.

Sojiro gave a grunt in response. He clearly didn’t believe Ren, but wasn’t going to press him either. Ren tried his best not to be too concerned about it either. What were those men going to do anyway, kidnap him in broad daylight? They were probably just on orders to keep watch on Ren for now.

Not that it made Ren feel any better, but he could worry about it later.

The two soon arrive in Yongen-Jaya, Ren feeling more comfortable as the buildings he spent most of the past year around came into view. Sojiro pulled into a parking garage and the two exited the car before heading towards Leblanc.

As they approached the cozy café, Ren couldn’t help but stop to reminisce about his journey once more. Though he may not be entirely happy about everything turned out, there wasn’t much he could do about it now.

Ren reached out to open the door, mentally preparing himself to see his friends again. He had to admit, he was rather excited, especially to see one in particular. With a deep breath, Ren opened the door.

Almost immediately, he found himself surrounded by his friends.

“We did it!” Ryuji excitedly exclaimed as he ran up to Ren and patted him on the shoulder.

“Woohoo!” Futaba cheered, skipping up to him with equal levels of excitement to Ryuji. “Welcome back!”

Ann approached next, pulling him into a tight hug. “You had us so worried!”

After Ann released him, Haru immediately pulled him into another hug. “Thank goodness!”

Makoto, being the more reasonable member of the team, called everyone off. “Give him some space, guys!” The others took a couple of steps back from him before she continued. “It’s great to see you again, Ren.”

Ren smiled before seeing a familiar feline walking up to the group as well.

“And the best for last: Me!” Morgana called out. “It’s great to see you again, Ren!”

Seeing all of his friends welcome him back so affectionately filled Ren with a deep sense of warmth. Though, he had yet to see the person he wanted to see most.

“Where’s Sumire?” Ren had to ask.

“She said she had practice.” Ann explained. “But she should be here soon!”

“I think you all should take a seat and catch up in the meantime.” Sojiro spoke up. “I’ll prepare some coffee and curry. My treat.”

“Thanks, Boss!” Everyone gratefully replied.

As Sojiro put away his jacket and hat, put on an apron, and went behind the counter to start preparing the coffee and curry, the rest of the group took seats around the room. As Ren took a seat in one of the booths, he noticed no one was taking the spot next to him, which he was thankful for. They were probably saving it for Sumire whenever she arrived.

Once they were all seated, Ryuji looked at Ren.

“So, how was-”

The bell chimed and Ren quickly looked over to see who had entered, feeling his heart skip a beat as he did.

“Sorry I’m late!” Sumire said, huffing slightly as she presumably sprinted over here as fast as she could. “Is Senpai here yet-”

She then looked over and met eyes with Ren. As they locked eyes, Ren felt the rest of the room fade around him as he could only focus on her. He then stood up from his seat and took a few steps away from it as the two continued staring at each other.

Sumire took a few nervous steps towards him, but kept glancing at everyone else as she did. Ren chuckled a bit, she clearly wanted to do something affectionate and was simply nervous to do so in front of everyone else.

“Go ahead, Sumi.” Ren lovingly assured her.

That was all Sumire needed. She immediately ran up to Ren and wrapped her arms tightly around him, burrowing her face into his neck as she held him close. Ren slowly wrapped his arms around her in response, planting a kiss on the top of her head as the two relaxed in each other's grip.

Sumire’s grip on Ren began loosening, and he assumed that she wanted to let go so they could sit down, so he began unwrapping his arms from around her. She then crashed her lips into his, genuinely startling him, but then he simply returned the kiss.

Sumire was always bolder than he expected her to be, but he wasn’t about to complain.

The two soon separated and stared each other in the eyes. Though no words were shared between the two, they both knew how much the other missed them. They then went to sit down in the booth that Ren had sat in before, Sumire resting her head against Ren’s shoulder as they turned their attention to everyone else.

Ren would have to thank them for their patience later.

“So,” Ren finally said. “What were you saying, Ryuji?”

“Uh-Uh… Right…” Ryuji stuttered before clearing his throat. “So uh, how was the clink?”

***

Ren couldn’t help but smile as he heard about all that his friends had done for him. Sumire seemed less pleased, however.

“I wish I could’ve done more…” Sumire lamented, still leaning against Ren’s shoulder.

Ren gave her a gentle kiss on the head. “You did enough, Sumi. I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“You should be thanking my coach…” Sumire still seemed a bit down.

Ren sighed before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer. “Give yourself more credit, Sumi. You did your best, that’s something to be proud of!”

“I know, Senpai,” Sumire conceded with a sigh. “I just wish I could’ve done something personally.”

Ren gave her another peck on her cheek. “Don’t beat yourself up about it so much. I’m honestly touched that it was so important to you. Thank you, Sumi.”

Sumire looked into his eyes and blushed slightly, then she gave him a gentle smile. “O-Okay… Thanks, Senpai…”

Ren gave her a loving smile, pecking her one last time before turning his attention back to everyone else… Only to see a bunch of smug faces.

“You two are way too sweet together,” Ann spoke up first. “I can see why Sumire was so desperate to get you out of detention.”

Sumire’s blush deepened followed by her burying her face in Ren’s neck. A small blush formed on Ren’s face, but he laughed it off as he slightly tightened his grip on his girlfriend.

***

As the hours passed, Ren’s friends slowly had to leave the café, be it for personal responsibilities or otherwise. Soon, Ren and Sumire were the only ones left in the building, Morgana having gone upstairs while Ren was cleaning up.

As Ren rinsed off the last of the dishes, he turned to Sumire.

“You know, the last trains are coming soon, Sumi.” Ren told her as he dried off his hands. “Don’t you need to get home soon?”

“I know,” Sumire assured him, standing up from her seat. “Uhm…” she began to blush slightly. “If it isn’t any trouble, do you think I could stay here tonight?”

Ren’s eyes widened as he suddenly stiffened. Did she just ask what he thought she asked? Did he mishear her? Surely she hadn’t just asked-

“Uhm… Senpai?” Sumire nervously spoke up, snapping Ren out of his thoughts. “Is-Is that not okay?”

“S-Sorry, I think I might have misheard you?” Ren stuttered, scratching the back of his neck.

“Oh!” Sumire seemed to understand. “I was wondering if I could s-stay over tonight… If that’s okay, of course!”

So he hadn’t misheard her…

“I mean…” Ren scratched the back of his neck again. “I wouldn’t mind? Are your parents okay with it?”

He really was not sure at all how to respond to that. He wasn’t really against the idea, however.

Sumire nodded her head. “I asked them this morning since Niijima-san told us you’d be getting released today.” She then blushed a bit. “They weren’t sure at first, but I was able to convince them.”

Ren twirled a strand of hair between his fingers, a nervous habit he’d had for a long while. “If you’re sure… I think it would be nice to spend the night with you.” It was his turn to blush.

Sumire beamed in response to this while Ren was still trying to get over the idea of her staying the night. Bolder than he expected once again.

“Well, uhhh, you brought everything you need, right?” Ren asked, to which Sumire nodded. “Good, uhm, should we figure out sleeping arrangements then?”

“O-Okay!” Sumire replied, seeming nervous once again.

If Ren had to guess, he’d say she didn’t expect to get this far. Though he was still impressed by just how bold his girlfriend could be.

Ren gave her a smile, walking around the counter and over to her, then offering his hand to her. She gracefully took it and the two went upstairs together. Once there, Ren noticed that Morgana was nowhere to be seen. Ren quickly wrote it off as Morgana going to explore or something.

“So, you take the bed, I take the couch?” Ren offered, trying to be as gentlemanly as possible.

Sumire gave Ren a shocked look. “A-Are you sure?” She asked. “I wouldn’t want to intrude too much… I just wanted to spend the night with you.”

“You’re not intruding,” Ren dispelled her worries. “If you’re staying the night here, I want you to be comfortable- err.” He gave a pointed look to the milk crates supporting the mattress. “As comfortable as possible, I mean.” He gave a small chuckle.

Sumire giggled too. “It’s fine, Senpai. I’m really okay with just the couch.” She insisted.

“Please,” Ren shook his head. “If Sojiro or Morgana found out I had you sleep on the couch, I’d never hear the end of it. Just take the bed.” He offered once more.

Sumire’s face formed into a pout, that wasn’t good. He didn’t want to upset her.

“Senpai…” If Ren had any remaining doubt of her being frustrated, that ended all of it.

“Fine, fine.” Ren raised his hands in defeat.

There was still a problem though: he didn’t want Sumire to take the couch. Ren looked around to see if he could come up with any place more comfortable for her to sleep, but couldn’t think of anything. She clearly wasn’t going to give up him not taking the bed though…

“What if we shared the bed?” Ren absentmindedly said under his breath, the very idea causing some color to fill his cheeks.

“What was that, Senpai?” Sumire asked, looking confused now.

Ren sighed. “Do you want to share the bed?” He said a little louder.

Immediately, Sumire blushed and looked down at the floor. “A-Are you sure, Senpai…? I’d really be fine taking the couch!”

“W-Well, it’s the only solution I can think of since I don’t want you to have to take the couch either…” Ren nervously replied, scratching his head.

“Mmmmm… I-I’m okay with it…” Sumire finally answered after a few seconds of hesitation.

Ren chuckled a bit, though his nervousness hadn’t waned at all. In an attempt to keep them both from freezing up though, Ren tried not to let his nerves get to him too much. He should probably leave the room so Sumire could change into something more comfortable, but then he remembered something.

He activated his Third Eye and looked around the room. Honestly, he still had some reservations about using this ability, seeing as it was given to him by Yaldabaoth. It was certainly a useful ability to have, however, being able to increase his reaction time and perceive things that most other people would never even notice. Even on occasion seeing invisible things within the metaverse.

He wondered if it would even work on invisible ink… though that was something he could test another time.

With Ren’s sharpened senses, he continued examining the room, rolling his eyes as he found several of Futaba’s bugs littered around it.

With a sigh, he turned back to Sumire. “Give me one second.” He told her.

Sumire seemed confused, tilting her head as she looked at him.

Ren went around the room collecting each and every one of Futaba’s bugs, hearing his phone buzzing constantly as he did. Once he collected all of them, he put them in a spare cardboard box and began to take it downstairs.

“You can change now.” Ren informed a still bewildered Sumire.

He put the box downstairs and began to look at some of the messages on his phone. Unsurprisingly, they were all from Futaba. He didn’t even bother to respond to any of them, Futaba should just be thankful he didn’t break the equipment.

After waiting a bit longer, Sumire finally called him back up to the attic. Ren made his way back up the stairs to see his lovely girlfriend with her hair now down from its ponytail and dressed in pink pajamas with white polka dots. Ren felt a stupid smile slowly form on his face as he saw this.

Once again her wardrobe had proven to be just as adorable as she was.

“Okay. Your turn now, Senpai?” Sumire said as she saw him.

Ren tilted his head, confused. “Huh?”

“To change your clothes.” Sumire added.

“Oh.” Ren chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck once more. “That’s probably a good idea.”

Sumire giggled in response. “Mhm! Wouldn’t want to go to bed in your jeans, would you?”

“Yeah.” Ren nodded his head in agreement. “Anyway, you should probably head downstairs so I can actually change.”

Sumire nodded her head and made her way towards the stairs. As she passed Ren, he pecked her on the cheek, causing a small blush and a massive smile to form on her face as she made her way down the stairs.

Once she was out of view, Ren turned and walked towards the cardboard box that contained all of his clothes. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a black sweatshirt and began changing clothes.

Once done, he walked back over to the stairs and called Sumire back up. Once Sumire came back up, Ren’s nerves began to attack once again. He had never done anything like this before.

Working past the nerves, however, Ren walked up to Sumire.

“So… uhhh… Ready for bed?” Ren forced himself to ask.

Sumire’s blush from earlier came back with a vengeance as he said this, turning her face almost completely red. Despite that, she nodded her head.

With a gentle smile, Ren took her by the hand and gave it a squeeze. Sumire smiled a bit, but remained silent. Not that Ren could blame her, he found it hard to speak himself.

Forcing himself to act once more, Ren began walking towards the bed, Sumire following closely behind him. Once they arrived at the bed, Ren looked at Sumire.

“So uhhh… Which side do you want?”

Sumire made a small adorable “Eep!” as she was addressed, clearly far more nervous than even Ren felt. After a little hesitation though, she slowly got down on the bed, picking the side nearest to the wall. Ren turned off the light and settled down next to her in the bed, his heart thumping as they were squished together on the small bed.

“G-Goodnight, Sumi.” Ren said, pulling the covers over both of them.

“G-Goodnight… Senpai…” Sumire replied.

***

Sumire had gotten used to this a lot quicker than Ren had, falling asleep only about half an hour after they lied down together, with both her arms wrapped around him and her face pressed to his chest. Ren, on the other hand, was still awake, with one arm wrapped around her back as well. Even though he was still awake, he had gotten more comfortable as time passed.

Still, this was the first time they’d ever spent the night together and they did so in the same bed. Ren still couldn’t quite get over the idea, but it was still quite warm and comfortable.

He’d cuddled with Sumire before, of course, so it wasn’t like the position was particularly new. The sleeping part, however, was. Probably part of the reason he’d failed to do so thus far.

…Maybe if he started thinking about something aside from how Sumire was fast asleep right next to him, he’d be able to fall asleep.

This thought process led him to the only other thing that had really been on his mind today, which immediately put a damper on his mood: Shido’s conspiracy. Ren let out a depressed sigh as his mind went back to the thoughts from when he was just released from detention.

Come to think of it… They only ever learned of a small handful of the people directly under Shido, but had all the reason to believe the conspiracy had very deep roots. Taking out Shido may expose some of them, but what about the rest?

Ren already didn’t have much faith in the justice system being able to root them out, but he also supposed that with Sae on the case it’d be more worthwhile than any digging he could do on his own. Even with Futaba’s help, they’d still have to get the courts to actually accept the evidence, which was highly unlikely if it’s obtained illegally.

So he was stuck with relying on Sae.

…

Ren knew it was best to try to move on from the incident, he’d done all he could.

Yet he couldn’t help but imagine, think of ways that the conspiracy could possibly be collapsed entirely. He felt all the legal and even illegal means led to dead ends, but he couldn’t help but wonder…

Much of this started back when Wakaba was first researching cognitive psience. Shido still had power, but he had less means to strong arm opposition into joining him. If only Wakaba never died, or her research was never stolen…

If only Ren could somehow turn back time and stop Shido before he even started.

That was impossible though. Still, it was interesting to think about.

A light snore next to Ren snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to see Sumire snuggling closer to him.

Although what Ren was thinking about wasn’t the lightest topic, it had helped calm him somewhat. He tightened his grip on Sumire slightly and closed his eyes, attempting once again to fall asleep.

This time, he was successful.

***

“Trickster…”

Ren was awoken by a soft sound. He must’ve been really on edge if small noises were waking him up. He turned over and tried to fall back asleep… Only for his arm to make contact with something cold and metallic feeling.

Ren opened his eyes and groaned.

The chain slowly swinging above his head, the cold hard surface he was resting on, the deep blue color to the space, all of this could mean only one thing: He was back in the Velvet Room.

“Trickster!”

Ren swung his legs off the “bed” and got up on his feet. He turned towards the source of the sound to see a young looking girl with golden eyes, blonde hair, and an elegant blue dress.

“Is something wrong, Lavenza?” Ren asked.

Surely he wouldn’t have been called for anything less.

Lavenza shook her head. “No, not at this particular moment.”

This was confusing to Ren. Although he was relieved nothing else went wrong, that still begged the question of why he was called here.

“So… Why am I here?” Ren tilted his head. “And where’s Igor?” He added, noting the lack of the familiar long-nosed attendant.

“My master does not oft tend to wildcards who have already completed their journeys.” Lavenza explained. “I have called you here for a separate reason.”

Ren nodded his head in understanding. “What is it?” He asked.

“I believe I share your feelings towards this ordeal.” She told him empathetically. “I understand your worry towards all the distortion still present in the world.”

Ren sighed. “Yeah… I don’t know how much I can really do about it at the moment though.” He said, remembering his thoughts from earlier. “Right now it’s probably best that I just focus on my own life… I do wish I could do more though.”

“That is why I have called you here.” Lavenza explained. “There is something you could indeed do to ensure that conspiracy crumbles entirely.”

Ren’s eyes widened as she said this. He made a quick step forward in anticipation.

“Wh-What is it!?” Ren excitedly asked.

This could be the answer to everything.

“It is related to something you were considering earlier,” Lavenza told him. “You can turn back time, put an end to the conspiracy before it even has a chance of starting.”

“W-Wait,” Ren was bewildered now. “I thought you said that ‘time cannot be rewound’?”

“Indeed,” Lavenza nodded her head. “However, time is a concept formed by the cognition of humanity. With the power of the masses, and the will to direct it, you may be able to influence time itself.”

“Of which I have neither.” Ren frowned.

“That isn’t right.” Lavenza shook her head. “Do you not possess the power of the World? Similarly, who did the Councillor put his faith in after he was defeated?”

“Uh, me? What does that have to do with-”

“Have you forgotten how the Councillor gained his power in the first place, Trickster?” She pressed.

Ren was beginning to follow her logic. “Because the masses put their faith in us, and we put it in him.”

Lavenza smiled as he began to understand. “So now where does that power rest?”

“...With me.” Ren answered, fully understanding her implication.

“Indeed.” Lavenza nodded once more. “Although I must warn you, given the nature of cognition, messing with time can be fairly difficult, you may end up with a result separate from what you expected. This would also be a one way trip, so to speak, as the power of the masses would no longer rest with you once you took this journey.”

Ren put a finger to his chin in thought. This could be the solution to everything he was struggling with. He could go back and save Wakaba, prevent Shido from ever getting his hands on her research while also avoiding pushing the world into more distortion as Maruki had.

There was one thing that didn’t sit quite right with Ren though…

“Would my friends remember? Or otherwise could I retain their memories?”

“That I do not know.” Lavenza lamented. “It may be possible, but I think it best not to change anything unnecessary. I have faith that you could rekindle those bonds regardless if you choose to take this route.”

Ren frowned. He’d lose all of his bonds in the process, some of his closest friends and allies. Even Sumire…

Sure, maybe he’d be able to reunite with all of his friends, reestablish all those bonds but… many of them happened by pure chance, especially his relationship with Sumire. He just couldn’t give that up.

Ren shook his head. “I can’t do it. I’m sorry, Lavenza, I’ll try to find another way to deal with Shido’s conspiracy.”

Lavenza nodded her head in understanding. “I understand, Trickster. Just know that the option is within your power should you ever reconsider.”

Ren nodded his head in response. “I’ll give it more thought, Lavenza. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?”

Lavenza shook her head. “I don’t believe so. Sleep well, Trickster.”

“Goodbye, Lavenza, it was nice to see you again.” Ren gave her a smile.

Lavenza returned the smile. “Likewise, Trickster.”

After one final nod, Ren felt his body drift back to sleep.

***

As Ren awoke the next morning, he slowly opened his eyes before snapping them wide open at the sight before him. Sumire was lying on top of him, her hands gripping his shirt as her head was pressed against his chest. For a moment Ren wondered if she was awake, but her light snoring quickly proved him wrong.

Ren began rubbing her back while he looked around the room, the morning sunlight illuminating everything with a nice orange glow. Strangely, Morgana still wasn’t here, which worried Ren a bit. Although it was entirely possible that he arrived after they fell asleep and left before he woke up.

Eventually Ren looked back at his girlfriend, who was still lightly snoring. After taking in her gorgeous morning appearance one last time, Ren decided it was time to wake her up.

“Sumi?” Ren asked in a soft voice.

“Mmmm… Senpai?” Sumire replied.

“It’s time to get up, Sumi.” Ren couldn’t help but smile as he saw her sleepily opening her eyes.

“Five more minutes…” She closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into his chest.

This caused Ren to chuckle, he never thought Sumire would’ve been the kind of person to say that. Especially considering she usually had to get up pretty early anyway due to her gymnastics.

Though they probably still had to get ready for school soon.

“Sorry, Sumi… We really do need to get up now.” Ren softly said once again.

“Mmmm…” Sumire sleepily replied. “Fine…”

With some effort, Sumire opened her eyes again and locked eyes with Ren. Ren was filled with great amusem*nt as her expression slowly transformed from half-asleep, to wide-eyed surprise, to a cute red blush filling her cheeks.

Ren felt his smile ever so slightly widen as he saw the familiar look of embarrassment on his partner’s face.

“Good morning, Sumi.” Ren cheerily said, lifting up his head until their noses touched.

The contact led to a small squeak from Sumire, who was still clearly super embarrassed. Ren could only imagine what was going through her head as she simply stared at him wide-eyed.

Ren couldn’t help but treasure the sight before him. Sumire had been slowly getting better about this recently, but Ren still appreciated the times he could catch her off guard like this.

He was a little sad it didn’t last.

“G-Good morning, Senpai.” Sumire shyly replied, her blush receding as she then pressed her forehead against his.

Although she seemed to be slowly getting over her nervousness, Ren still enjoyed the feeling of being this close to her. With that thought in mind, Ren removed his hand from her back and grabbed one of her hands that was still gripping his shirt, giving it a gentle squeeze.

A smile slowly sprouted on Sumire’s face, which only made Ren feel happier.

The memory of what Lavenza told him the night before reentered his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. He felt he made the right choice, how could he give up this? The world they fought so hard for? The bonds he shared with all of his friends?

He could live with the imperfections that remained, as long as he had them.

***

Unfortunately, his time with Sumire had to be cut short due to the ultimate scourge of all teenagers: highschool.

It wasn’t all bad though, he got to talk with many of the confidants and allies he’d acquired and connected with over the course of his year in Tokyo. He was greeted by Mishima and Kawakami by the school entrance, and many of the girls he’d met had given him friendship chocolates for Valentine’s day, even Hifumi had waited for him outside the school entrance to give him some. Ren hadn’t even realized it was Valentine’s day.

Sumire never stopped by to give him any, but he was sure she had her own plans for the day.

Once he got back to Leblanc of course, Sojiro needed his help. Valentine’s day had attracted many couples to the small café, so Ren’s guardian needed as much help as he could get. Even Futaba ended up coming over to help.

Once the last customers had finally left, it was already dark outside, which caused Ren to feel a little sad. He’d hoped to be able to go on a date with Sumire that day…

Ren finished washing the dishes before practically collapsing into one of the stools by the counter, Futaba following shortly after. Ren rested his head against the counter for a while before hearing the sound of a cup being placed in front of him.

Looking up, Ren saw Sojiro smirking at him. “Felt you two could use this.”

Sojiro had placed one cup of coffee next to Ren and another next to Futaba.

“I hope you’re cleaning these cups.” Ren sarcastically remarked, causing Sojiro to chuckle.

“Of course.” Sojiro assured him. “Although, it is Valentine’s Day. You gonna see your girl?”

Ren shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s always busy with gymnastics, I’m sure she’d be here if she could.” he replied, trying to reassure himself more than Sojiro. “You and Futaba gonna do anything now that the café’s closed?” he added, hoping to change the subject.

“W-Well, that’s…” Futaba nervously stuttered.

Ren found Futaba’s response odd, but when he looked up to Sojiro, he suddenly looked tense. Silence enveloped the room for a number of minutes.

Eventually, Sojiro just sighed and spoke up. “...We were hoping that Futaba’s family might be more amicable towards her since her uncle’s heart was changed. Over the last year I was too worried about you kids to really think about it, but I thought it would be a good idea to contact them near a holiday, just to see if we could make anything happen.”

Sojiro went quiet again.

“...And?” Ren reluctantly asked, nervous about what Sojiro would say next.

“Well,” Sojiro shook his head. “Let’s just say they didn’t take too kindly to the idea.”

Ren sighed somberly. He’d heard the sorts of things they said to Futaba in her palace; he could only imagine how harsh they were to poor Futaba…

Futaba didn’t deserve this kind of treatment; no one did. If only there was some way to make it better…

“It is related to something you were considering earlier,” Lavenza told him. “You can turn back time, put an end to the conspiracy before it even has a chance of starting.”

Turn back time… That could work.

Ren quickly shook the thought away. No. If Futaba’s family would be so harsh towards her for something she didn’t do, then it’s best she stay away from them anyway.

Still, if the crime never happened, surely things would be better for-

Stop.

Ren sighed to himself once more.

“Well, can I do anything for you two?” Ren offered.

Sojiro shook his head. “You’ve done more than enough, kid.” he then smirked. “We’ll just take it easy at home, spend some family time together. Perhaps you should try calling your girl?”

Ren nodded his head as Sojiro went to put his apron away. He put on his coat and hat before leaving the establishment with a very quiet Futaba.

Ren remained standing still for several seconds, still feeling bad for Futaba. That was until he felt something brush past his leg.

He looked down to see Morgana walking past him.

“You should call up Sumire, I’ll stay at Futaba’s tonight.” He explained.

“Thanks, Morgana.” Ren smiled.

Morgana gave him a smirk. “It’s what a gentleman would do, after all!”

Ren chuckled as Morgana went back up the stairs, presumably to jump out the window to follow Sojiro and Futaba. Just as Ren pulled his phone out of his pocket to call his girlfriend, he heard a knock on the door.

Looking up, he saw the wondrous sight of his girlfriend. She was wearing her typical red jacket, but she had her hair down and was wearing glasses this time.

Jumping to action, he quickly went up to the door and let her inside.

“Hey, Sumi!” Ren excitedly greeted his girlfriend.

“Hey, Senpai!” Sumire replied before looking a little apologetic. “Sorry I took so long… Today’s just been so busy with gymnastics and I had to do some stuff at home before I came over and then we had dinner and-”

Ren silenced her with a kiss, which she soon melted into. Once the kiss ended, Ren stepped back from Sumire and gazed at her with loving eyes.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Sumi.” He said.

Sumire smiled in response, a light blush on her face. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Senpai!”

Smiling back at his girlfriend, Ren grabbed her hand and guided her to one of the booths to sit down. He was relieved Sumire didn’t forget or get so sidetracked she couldn’t come over, he’d been rather worried.

The two spent the rest of the day together, Sumire spending yet another night with him.

***

As the days went on, Ren tried to spend as much time as he could with his friends before he’d have to leave for his hometown. He would spend each day with as many friends as were available that day and then leave the evenings to spend time with Sumire, at least on the days she was available.

Today he got a text not long after school ended.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he saw it was a text from Haru:

Haru: Hey, Ren? Can we talk?

It must be important if she texted him as soon as school was over.

Ren: Sure, what’s up?

Haru: Meet me by the entrance, please.

Ren: Got it. See you there.

Ren put away his phone and began making his way out of the classroom. Sumire was already at gymnastics, so he didn’t feel bad for not going to see her first or texting her to explain. Instead, he simply headed straight for the entrance.

Upon getting there, he saw Haru waiting for him. Walking up to her, he gave her a greeting.

“Hey, Haru.” Ren waved his hand, getting her attention. “What did you need?”

Haru looked a bit off, she seemed kind of down.

“Well…” She seemed to hesitate. “I was… going to visit my father’s grave today… and I wanted you to come along.”

Ren flinched as he heard that, before being overwhelmed by immense guilt. Whether they knew or not, the Phantom Thieves had played a part in his death. Ren still felt he owed Haru a proper apology. Something words couldn’t get him.

“A-About that, Haru…” Ren stuttered. “If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know.”

Haru gave him a sad smile. “That’s okay, Ren, you’ve already done more than enough. I would, however, still appreciate it if you accompanied me.”

Ren nodded his head. “Sure. You can count on me, Haru.”

Haru’s sad smile became ever so slightly brighter. She then began leading the way to a car that had been parked near the school. Ren followed and the two got in the back seat of the car.

This was not Ren’s first experience accompanying Haru in her chauffeur’s car, though he was still a little stiff and awkward. He would never get used to being around so many expensive things.

They were soon driven to a private cemetery, where Kunikazu had been buried. Ren and Haru got out of the car and went up to the cemetery, following the concrete path to a particular grave.

Upon actually seeing it, Ren averted his eyes, opting instead to stare at the ground.

“Do you mind if I say a few words, Ren?” Haru asked.

Ren shook his head, the returning guilt causing him to remain silent.

He heard Haru’s footsteps approach the grave.

“Greetings, father…” Haru spoke, her voice only growing more somber. “I hope you’re doing well, wherever you are…”

She took a deep, sorrowful, breath.

“The work of the Phantom Thieves is finally over,” she continued. “I know you never liked them, but they’re my friends, and they were able to save you at least for a little while…” Haru let out a small sob, causing Ren to wince. “Regardless of how you may still feel about them, I hope your heart being changed has offered you some peace…”

She let out another sob, going silent for a while before finally taking another deep breath.

“They really are wonderful people, they’ve helped me so much…” She began once more. “I wish you could’ve met them on better terms…” silence once more. She then shakes her head. “It’s not worth dwelling on though, not after all I’ve learned…”

Haru let out yet another sigh.

“That’s all I have to say right now… Goodbye, father…”

She turned and began walking over to Ren, who finally looked up from the ground. She wiped some tears from her eyes before stopping in front of him.

“Thank you truly for accompanying me, Ren.” She bowed slightly.

“No problem, Haru.” He gave her what was as close to a smile as he could muster.

She gave him a small smile once more before turning back toward the grave.

“I know that Maruki’s reality was wrong… but still… I can’t help but wonder how different everything could have been, had my father never passed.” she lamented.

Yet again, Lavenza’s words echoed in Ren’s mind.

Yet another problem that this could solve… Ren would be lying to say his initial resolve wasn’t somewhat shaken.

He wasn’t ready to give up on this outcome yet, however.

He gave Haru a comforting pat on the back. “I’m sorry, Haru…”

Haru shook her head once more. “It really isn’t your fault, Ren… but thanks.”

After wiping more tears from her eyes, Haru stood up straighter. “Well… Let us head back.”

Ren nodded his head and followed Haru as they made their way back down to the car. They spent some more time together after, mostly tending to Haru’s rooftop garden, but Ren soon went to Kichijoji and spent more time with Sumire.

For the rest of the day he remained distracted, however:

Was it really right to keep things the way they were?

***

As yet more days passed, Ren continued spending time with his friends and girlfriend, treasuring each and every moment he got to spend with them. Although he still had his concerns over what the right thing to do really was, he was still able to enjoy his time with his friends.

Today though, he was invited over for dinner with Sae and Makoto. Apparently Sae had been making a lot of progress on the case against Shido and a lot of new evidence was being discovered.

They didn’t want to do a huge celebration though until after everything was said and done though. So this dinner was mostly to help catch Ren up on everything that’s been happening, as he was the most involved in it of any of the thieves.

Thoughts of what Sae could have found flooded Ren’s mind as he made his way to their residence. Although he found it unlikely, he had a slight hope that this evidence could dismantle the conspiracy as a whole. Remove any risk from him and his allies and simply allow them to live their lives.

At this point though, he found that to be a pipe dream.

Filing that thought away, Ren finally arrived at the residence and knocked on the door.

It didn’t take long for Ren to hear shuffling behind the door before it’s unlocked and someone opens it.

“Ah, Ren. You’re here.” The familiar face of Makoto greeted him. “Please, come inside.”

Ren gave her a smile before entering. “Good to be here.”

“Sis is still working,” Makoto explained as Ren took his shoes off. “She should be here soon though. Then we can talk about what she found out.”

Ren nodded his head in understanding as Makoto guided him to the living room.

“So, is Yoshizawa-san still doing well?” Makoto asked, seemingly just to make conversation. “I don’t really see her often at school, but I assume you spend a lot more time with her.”

Ren chuckled and nodded his head. “Yeah she is. I think she’s just happy our days of thieving are over though, no longer has to really worry about me.”

“Not just her.” Makoto reminded him with a slight smirk. “You have a nasty habit of making all of us worry, you know.”

Ren put his hands in the air. “Hey, it’s not my fault that the universe hates me.” he snarkily remarked.

“It is if you choose to antagonize it.” Makoto giggled a bit. “In all seriousness, you need to be more careful, Ren. There are people who care about you, and it hurts all of us when we see you so willingly put your life on the line. Especially your girlfriend.”

Ren hesitated for just a moment before responding. “You know how it is, Makoto. If it means a better life for all of you, then of course I’m going to pick it.”

“I understand.” Makoto nodded her head. “It’s an aspect of you I really do respect. Just watch yourself, okay? I’m sure Yoshizawa-san would want the same.”

Ren simply nodded his head in return, though his thoughts were more complicated.

Makoto would clearly be against him ever going back to the past for the simple chance of things being better. Ren knew Sumire would be as well, but…

He still wasn’t sure what the right thing to do really was.

At that moment, the door to the house opened once again. That must be Sae.

Ren turned his head towards the door and saw that it was indeed Sae. Something was wrong though.

She looked… pissed off.

“Is everything okay, Sis?” Makoto ventured to ask, Ren was curious too.

“No.” Sae responded emotionlessly.

Sae approached the two and gave a glance at Ren. “Oh, hi, Amamiya-san. I trust you made it here well?”

Ren nodded his head. “No problems here. What’s going on?” he had to ask.

Sae took a deep breath and some of the tension on her face eased. She then sat down on the couch.

“I…” She paused for a good while, seemingly to put her words together. Eventually she just seemed to get frustrated and spoke a single sentence: “Shido is behind Dad’s death.”

Ren’s eyes widened and he quickly looked over to Makoto to see if she knew about this. Makoto seemed just as shocked.

“Wh-What!?”

Sae took another deep breath. “All the evidence for it is there, paired with Shido’s own confession. It was around the time he started establishing puppets within the police.” she paused for a few seconds once more. “Dad was apparently highly suspicious of what was going on around him, and Shido felt threatened. He ended up… ordering a hit on our father, Makoto…”

Another few minutes of silence passed as Ren and Makoto’s jaws dropped to the floor.

“It’s impossible to trace down who actually did the hit. All we got out of Shido is that he passed it onto his ‘cleaner’.” Sae continued in a frustrated tone. “Not even Shido knows who he is, so that lead’s dead.”

That was… a lot to take in.

“It’s just… urgh!” Sae groaned, clearly still pissed off.

As Makoto stood up to comfort her sister, Ren’s mind finally processed what Sae said.

If he stopped Shido before any of this could happen, he could stop so much suffering.

Futaba, Haru, and now Makoto and Sae.

As much as he didn’t want to leave them all behind. Would all of this truly be better if he did? If he went back?

…It might just be.

***

As yet more days passed, Ren struggled with the dilemma of what he should do. Of what was right to do. He didn’t want to leave all his friends behind, didn’t want to leave Sumire behind, but he still pondered. Was he just being selfish? Would this truly lead to a better outcome for everyone?

He even almost forgot about White Day until Sojiro brought it up. Thank goodness for Sojiro’s connections because Ren was far too distracted to set up everything in time without them.

The date itself was really nice, and taking Sumire out to a fancy restaurant almost made him forget about the dilemma he was currently facing. Almost.

***

As Ren and Sumire made their way up to Leblanc’s attic, the two huddled close together. Not just from the cold, but also simply because they enjoyed being close to one another. Feeling each other’s warmth.

“Tonight was wonderful, Senpai…” Sumire happily stated with a peck to Ren’s cheek. “Thank you so much!”

Ren returned her peck with one of his own. “Anytime, Sumi. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” he told her with a smile.

A genuine smile. Though as genuine as it may have been, he was still feeling tense, his dilemma still present in the back of his mind. Right now though, he just wanted Sumire to be as comfortable as she could be.

“So, do you want to change first or me?” Ren asked.

“I’ll change first.” Sumire answered, a bright smile still in her face.

Ren nodded his head and, finally separating from her, went down the stairs to allow her to change. At this point, her staying over had become a much more normal thing. Still rare, but he was slowly getting used to it, and he loved waking up beside her.

Once Sumire was done they switched places and Ren changed. Afterwards, the two finally went to bed while Morgana was spending the day at Futaba’s once more.

Yet again, Sumire was the first to fall asleep, leaving Ren to his thoughts.

The dilemma was suddenly at the forefront of his mind as he watched Sumire’s comfortable sleeping form.

Ren turned his face away from hers and closed his eyes. He genuinely didn’t know what to do.

Here he was, faced with all he’d have to leave behind, yet certain that going back could provide many new opportunities. Opportunities that could save his friends from much of their struggles without distorting the world as Maruki had.

All it would take is a leap, one from which he could not go back. But wasn’t he used to taking such risks?

With a deep breath, Ren gently removed Sumire’s arms from around him. The task was not easy, both due to his own desires as well as Sumire simply not wanting to let go. Eventually he managed to wriggle his way out of her grasp, however, and he sat up, getting out of bed.

He slowly began pacing the room as he considered his options. He felt it pointless to debate the possibilities with his friends, who he knew would be against him going back. Besides, it wasn’t like they’d remember anyway.

So here he was: stuck with his own thoughts and decisions.

Ren stared at the decorations scattered throughout the room, gifts from many of his closest friends and allies. Everything in the room was screaming at him not to take the leap. Yet at the same time several other things were screaming at him to do the opposite.

Futaba’s mother, Haru’s father, Makoto’s father. Akechi. All the people who suffered mental shutdowns thanks to Shido. Everyone Shido stomped on to reach his ultimate goal. Even Ren himself.

All of this could be stopped by this one, small, decision.

Ren turned back to Sumire, who was still comfortably sleeping. Oblivious to Ren’s turmoil, simply sleeping peacefully.

…Unaware of what Ren was about to do.

“Sorry… Sumi…” Ren felt a tear run down his cheek.

It felt like he was betraying everyone, despite doing this for them.

Ren took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure exactly how he was about to turn back time, but he felt it would come to him.

He felt Satanael deep within the recesses of his consciousness, the persona imbued with the will of the masses, his ultimate persona.

It was odd to feel this amount of power within reality. Ren had never summoned a persona in the real world before. Perhaps he could do so because of the will of the masses? Or something else?

Regardless, Ren summoned Satanael.

His size was scaled down by a lot, just small enough to fit in the room, his wings nearly touching each wall.

Satanael looked down at Ren in acknowledgement, and together, they began the process of reversing time.

As time was formed from cognition, it wasn’t as simple as turning back the clock. No, he had to ensure that every detail was preserved, simply pushed back in time. Ren suddenly felt overwhelmed with all the information that began entering his mind.

Every pristine detail of everything that existed in the world. Knowledge of everything that was happening right at this moment in time. From the positions and livelihoods of each individual on the planet down to each subtle movement of every insect.

Ren began feeling a massive headache form, but he continued pressing forward. The world faded around him as he began pushing it back through time. He tried to keep the details as consistent as possible with reality as they kept going back. Second after second, day after day, month after month.

Eventually he could push no further, but he felt he did a pretty good job of containing the world, preventing any irregularities from occurring. Or so he hoped.

“Sorry, Sumi…” He once again repeated, his mind flashing through each event of their relationship. “I had to…”

Everything went black.

***

Ren awoke in a cold sweat before quickly sitting up from his bed and looking around. It was too dark to see anything, but he felt he knew where he was. He turned on a nearby lamp and saw he was in his old room, the one from back when he was living with his family.

Ren pressed a hand to his head, which had just been burning with a massive headache as he forced time backward, but it no longer hurt. In fact, he could no longer remember the details he knew he saw when he started turning back time, they had all faded from his mind.

He could still feel Satanael, but no longer the will of the masses that accompanied him before. Ren wasn’t surprised, however, Lavenza had told him this would happen.

Now only one question remained: How far back did he manage to go?

Ren pulled out his phone and…

His heart immediately sank.

It was the night of March 15th, 2016.

The day he was arrested. Great. Nowhere near where he needed to be to save Wakaba or Makoto’s father.

But wait, wasn’t he at the police station at this time? Did something slip through?

Just as he was beginning to panic, he heard a voice on the other side of his door, accompanied by knocking.

“Akira! Akira!”

It sounded just like his mother… but his name wasn’t ‘Akira’.

Regardless, Ren opened the door.

His mother immediately got to the point. “We just got a call from the police station! Your sister’s been arrested!”

Ren’s eyes widened at that. Not for the reason his mother probably expected, however:

He didn’t have a sister.

***

*beep beep beep*

Sumire’s eyes opened and she let out a tired yawn as she sat up in her bed.

Wait, her bed?

Sumire looked around the room to indeed find she was in her own room. She could’ve sworn she went to bed with Ren last night though…

Perhaps that part was a dream and she actually did just end up going home after their date?

Sumire shrugged it off and turned off her alarm, which was still blaring. She then got out of bed and began changing. She still had school today, after all.

…Where was her uniform? It wasn’t in her bag or her closet, the two places she normally would have left it, could it still be at Ren’s place? Before she could worry about that anymore, however, she heard knocking on her door.

“Sumire? You up? We have to get to school soon!”

That voice… No, it couldn’t be.

Sumire opened up her door to see Kasumi standing before her.

“Uhh, Sumire? Are you alright? You’re looking kinda pale…” Kasumi said in a worried tone.

Sumire fainted.

Chapter 3: New Family

Chapter Text

Sumire slowly opened her eyes, sweating profusely as she once again found herself in her bed. Was her seeing Kasumi again just a dream? Then… why wasn’t she in Ren’s bed where she could’ve sworn she’d fallen asleep?

Sitting up in her bed, she found a note on her nightstand. Putting on her glasses, she found that it read:

“Sumire, whenever you wake up and see this, don’t worry. We already told your instructors and the school that you’re sick today. In the meantime, there’s some leftover breakfast in the refrigerator that you can heat up if you’re still not feeling well. Hope you feel better soon. We couldn't get an appointment today, but we're taking you to the doctor tomorrow, okay?

Love, Mom, Dad, and Kasumi.”

Kasumi… So that wasn’t a dream? How was she alive then? Was reality being manipulated by someone like Maruki again?

Sumire had to talk to Ren about this. Grabbing her phone off of her nightstand, she opened her contacts only to find… Ren’s name was no longer there. In fact none of the Phantom Thieves were.

It was only Kasumi, Coach Hiraguchi, some of the members of her club, and some of Kasumi’s old friends. All of whom sent texts telling her to feel better.

Even more confused now, Sumire quickly checked the date on her phone:

March 16th, 2016.

Wait… She knew that date. That was the day Kasumi died.

Sumire put her phone back and lied down on her pillow. The gravity of the situation was finally beginning to hit her: She went back in time, somehow.

She didn’t have a way to contact any of her friends; Ren probably didn’t even know who she was anymore, she hadn’t even met Maruki yet… and Kasumi would most likely live.

There was one source of comfort for her, however: she could still feel Ella in her mind. Her persona, her resolve, was still intact, yet she wasn’t certain of what she should do.

Let things play out like last time? Maybe make sure she enters the Metaverse with Ren whenever he comes back to Tokyo?

…But what if the others did remember? Should she try contacting them? Contacting Ren? She had his number memorized, after all, even though he was in her contacts. If it was the same number. Perhaps she could give it a try?

Taking a deep breath, Sumire entered Ren’s number into her phone and sent him a text:

Sumire: Hello?

***

Ren- Er, Akira, as he was now known, had the day off from school so he could be home when Hikari was released. He had to admit, he was rather curious. He’d never had a sister before, in his reality he was an only child.

If she got arrested doing the same thing he did, then she probably had her heart in the right place, although that also begged a serious question: Was she the Trickster of this new timeline? If so, what did that mean for Akira?

He could still feel all his personas. In fact he could feel the presence of each and every one he had ever fused or made a deal with. So he was still a wildcard, but perhaps this journey was no longer his? Akira had a hard time wrapping his head around that idea.

As he was pondering this on the couch of his family’s living room, the door to the house opened and his parents, along with a very disgruntled looking Hikari, entered.

“Akira! We’re home!” His mother announced, causing Akira to get off the couch to greet them.

“Welcome home!” Akira waved, trying to be cheerful in hopes it’d improve Hikari’s mood.

After all, he felt he could’ve used a bit of cheerfulness when he was in those shoes.

“...So what happened?” Akira decided to ask, even though he was certain he already knew.

Hikari silently looked away and at the floor, as if in shame. Was Akira wrong about what had happened? Why would she be ashamed of protecting someone?

“She was protecting a woman from being assaulted by some drunk man. The police were called and apparently they took his word over hers.” His mother answered. “...The court date’s later this month.”

So Akira was right then.

“Well I’m sure everything will work out,” Akira lied before looking at the still ashamed Hikari. “You did the right thing.”

Hikari huffed. “Easy for you to say.” She replied. “You never get in trouble.”

Akira was taken aback by that reply, he hadn’t expected her to be so hostile. Maybe he should change his tune?

“Sorry, Hikari.” Akira scratched the back of his neck. “But really, you did the right thing, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Whatever.” Hikari looked away. “I’m tired, it’s not easy to sleep in a police station. Can I go to my room?”

“O-Of course.” Their mother replied, looking worried.

“Thanks.” Hikari blew both of them off and walked off to her room.

Once she was out of sight, Akira’s mother let out a sigh.

“Why did this have to happen?” She said under her breath before she and Akira’s father walked off to their own room, leaving Akira alone.

Now alone, Akira walked back to the couch and practically collapsed into it. That was much harder than he expected it to be. Still, he had to let her know that she did the right thing. He felt that was an important thing to communicate to her, should she be a Trickster.

At that moment, however, Akira’ phone buzzed.

Taking it out of his pocket, he looked at who it was from. There was no contact listed but… he recognized that number. It was Sumire’s number.

The possibility of her remembering struck him immediately, causing Akira’s eyes to widen, both in excitement as well as in surprise. He quickly messaged her back:

Akira: Sumire?

Hopefully he was right. Otherwise, this will be extremely awkward.

Sumire: Do you remember?

Akira was just about ready to shout in pure joy that she remembered. Keeping his actions in check, however, he replied to the message.

Akira: Yes

Sumire: Oh thank goodness! Can we meet soon, then?

Sumire: Actually, where are you right now?

Akira: I’m in Inaba, sorry…

Sumire: Oh…

Sumire: Uhm, can we call?

Akira: Absolutely!

Mere seconds later, Akira received a call from Sumire, which he answered.

“Sumire?”

“Senpai!” Sumire cheerily greeted. “I’m so glad you remember! I-I thought I fell asleep in your bed and then when I woke up I didn’t know why I was suddenly in mine, then when I got up I-”

“Slow down, Sumi…” Akira requested, trying to keep quiet so as to not disturb his family.

“Kasumi’s alive! Senpai, she’s alive!”

Akira’s eyes widened even further and his jaw dropped.

“Wh-Wha?”

“Today was the day my sister originally died, and now she’s back!” Sumire told him. “I-I almost couldn’t believe it! When I saw her I, I don’t know what happened, I think I fainted? But she’s back, Ren!”

Akira couldn’t believe it. He figured he didn’t go far back enough to really save most people, but Kasumi is still alive?

A smile crossed his face, perhaps going back was a good idea after all. Although, since Sumire remembered, another thought crossed his mind.

“Have you been contacted by any of the others yet?” Akira asked.

“No… Do they remember too?” Sumire asked.

“I don’t know.” Akira responded. “I haven’t heard anything from them either. I’m sure Ryuji or Makoto would have already tried to contact me if they did though…”

“...So it’s most likely just us?” Sumire asked.

“Well… On the plus side, if I had one choice for someone to remember, I’d rather you than anyone else.” Akira said, intentionally sounding flirty.

“S-Senpai!”

Akira smirked, he could tell Sumire was blushing.

“So… Is there any chance we could meet up in person?” Akira asked.

“In Inaba?” Sumire replied. “Maybe? It’s an hour or two by bullet train, right?”

“Yeah.” Akira said. “If it’s possible, you could come down here and we could go on a date and discuss the situation.”

“I’d love to, but I’m not sure…” Sumire answered. “I’ll have to ask my parents.”

Akira nodded his head, it was to be expected, after all. “Well, good luck asking them. I probably shouldn’t talk for too long so… call you later?”

“Of course! See you later, Senpai!”

Akira took a deep breath as he ended the call. The fact Sumire actually remembered made him really want to see her in person. He desperately hoped she’d be able to convince her parents.

***

Hikari wanted to punch a wall. Or herself. Whichever came first.

As she practically launched herself face first into her bed, she felt immense guilt and shame. She had known Akira was doing his best to help her mood. She knew her accusations weren’t fair. Yet, even when he insisted that she had done the right thing, she effectively spat in his face.

Worst of all, he didn’t even seem upset about her attitude, he just took it like he always does. Hikari shook her head. She had known for many years this was just how her twin brother was, and that just made speaking with him in times like this all the more infuriating.

…Whatever, there were more pressing things for her to think about right now. Like the court date.

Akira was ultimately right: She did the right thing! Yet with that woman testifying against her, was it possible she would be convicted anyway?

No, she should trust her older brother. There was surely no way the court would accept the case, right?

Regardless, Hikari opened her calendar app on her phone and marked the court date. Hopefully everything will be alright.

***

Gymnastics practice was finally over and Kasumi could return home. She’d been waiting for this all day so she could go home and check on Sumire. Before she could leave, however, her coach stopped her.

“Kasumi! One moment please!” Hiraguchi called out to her, causing Kasumi to stop moments before she reached the locker room to change.

Sighing, Kasumi walked up to her coach.

“What is it, coach?” Kasumi asked.

“You haven’t been performing as well as you normally do today, Kasumi.” Hiraguchi said. “Is there something you want to talk about?”

“Oh…” Kasumi responded. "It's about Sumire... Sorry."

“Sumire?” Hiraguchi seemed confused. “I knew she was sick, but is it something more serious?”

Kasumi shrugged, but kept her head down. “I’m not sure… She was looking very pale this morning and passed out right in front of me… I really hope she's alright...”

“That sounds troubling…” Hiraguchi seemed just as concerned as Kasumi. “If she needs any more time off, let me know, okay?”

Kasumi nodded her head, determined. “I will!”

“Well don’t let me hold you up, go and check on Sumire.” Hiraguchi told her.

“Yes! Goodbye, coach!” Kasumi waved before finally rushing to the locker room to change.

Changing and showering as quickly as she could, Kasumi left the building and rushed to the train station, managing to catch a ride on one that had just arrived by the time she’d gotten there. A short train ride and some walking later, she finally arrived at her family’s apartment in Kichijoji.

Wasting no time, she threw open the door and immediately made her way to Sumire’s room. Entering her sister’s room, she saw that Sumire wasn’t in there. Had she gotten up?

Kasumi decided to head to the living room instead. Once she got there, she was confused. She saw that Sumire was in there, but she looked… healthy?

“Sumire?” Kasumi called out, getting Sumire’s attention. “Are you feeling better already?”

“H-Huh?” Sumire turned to see her, seeming a bit nervous but otherwise completely fine. “Uhm… Yeah, I don’t know what happened earlier, sorry Kasumi…” she replied, looking extremely apologetic.

“It’s no worry! Really, Sumire!” Kasumi frantically waved her hands. “I’m just glad you’re alright. You had us all really worried earlier!”

“R-Right, sorry about that-”

Before either of them could continue the conversation, however, Kasumi heard the door open once again. That must be their parents. Sumire quickly got up to go meet them.

Following closely behind, Kasumi caught up just as Sumire was greeting them.

“Welcome back!” Sumire said in an oddly confident tone.

“Sumire? Are you feeling better?” Shinichi asked.

“Mhm!” Sumire nodded her head. “But uhm… I had a request…”

Shinichi tilted his head. “What is it?”

“So… Uhm…” Sumire’s voice dipped down to the more uncertain tone Kasumi was familiar with. “C-Can I go down to Yasoinaba soon?”

Kasumi raised a brow. Yasoinaba? Why would she want to go there?

“That’s… quite far. And you need to see the doctor tomorrow, remember?” Shinichi seemed just as confused. “Why would you want to go there anyway?”

Sumire blushed a bit and broke eye contact as she stroked her bangs with her pinky. “Uhhh… I have a really good friend who lives there! A-And he was asking if we could meet up soon, s-so I offered to ask if I could come down to see him.”

“‘Good friend’?” Akahana replied, a smirk on her face. “Does our baby girl have herself a boyfriend?”

Kasumi was expecting a “No”, but that wasn’t what happened. Instead Sumire blushed more and looked to the side.

Why was this the first she was hearing of Sumire having a boyfriend?

“Even so,” Shinichi still seemed uncertain. “Yasoinaba is a couple hours away by bullet train alone.”

“Wh-what about if I went between years!” Sumire offered. “Then I’d only have to worry about gymnastics!”

Shinichi sighed and turned to Akahana. “I’m still not so sure. What do you think, dear?”

Akahana put a finger to her chin, her teasing attitude stopping. “I could go down with her. I want to meet this ‘good friend’ of hers.”

“So…?” Sumire asked, looking extremely hopeful.

Shinichi sighed once more. “Alright alright, but only if the doctor says you're okay. We can't take any risks, remember?”

Sumire nodded her head frantically, her excitement overpowering any confusion she would have had at her father's words. “Thank you thank you!”

She hugged both her parents tightly while Kasumi once again found herself confused. Who was it that could mean so much to her sister?

***

Dinner was rather tense in the Kurusu household. Hikari was barely eating, Akira’s father looked just about prepared to burn the police station down, and all the while Akira’s mother looked incredibly stressed out. Akira himself was just staying quiet, not wanting to upset Hikari further. After all, it wasn’t like he knew her yet.

While Akira was eating, however, his phone started ringing.

Taking a look at his phone, he saw it was Sumire’s number. Debating whether he should answer it here or leave first, he eventually decided to just answer it now. He could avoid talking about sensitive subjects if it was just Sumire getting back to him about coming down.

“Hello?” He answered the call.

“They said yes!” Sumire cheered from the other side. “I can go to Inaba over the break.”

Akira’s father raised a brow as he heard Sumire’s voice through the phone, but Akira paid him no mind.

“That’s great!” Akira replied, genuinely happy he’d be able to see her again. “I’ll make sure to be at the station to greet you. Do you know specifically when you’re coming?”

“Not yet, but I can work that out with my parents.” Sumire explained. “My mother will be coming down with me, by the way.”

“Huh,” Akira pondered aloud. “I don’t think I’ve met her before.”

Sumire giggled. “No you haven’t. She’s… a lot. She’s been grilling me about you ever since I asked.”

Akira snorted. “Well I’m eating dinner with my family right now, so I’ll have to get back to you later. See you soon!”

“Oh, I didn’t realize! See you later, I love you!” Sumire said.

“I love you too.” Akira replied automatically.

He ended the call and was immediately greeted by the bewildered stares of his family.

“Uhhh…” Akira thought of what to say. “That was my girlfriend?”

“You have a girlfriend!?” Hikari seemed genuinely shocked. “Who is it?”

The revelation of Akira having a girlfriend seemed to knock her out of her sour mood.

“Her name is Sumire Yoshizawa.” Akira explained.

“You’re lying.” Hikari accused him. “She’s one of those gymnast twins that lives all the way in Musashino!”

Akira shrugged, a smirk setting on his face. “You can see for yourself. She’s coming down after the school year ends.”

“But that’s when-!” Hikari complained before cutting herself off and looking down at the floor. “...That’s the court date.” She finished.

At that moment Akira wanted to facepalm. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten when his own court date was, of course it’d be the same for Hikari.

“S-Sorry, Hikari.” Akira quickly apologized.

“It’s fine…” Hikari then looked at her mother. “Can I go to my room now?”

Akira’s mother glanced at her plate, which was nowhere close to clean, before reluctantly nodding her head. “That’s fine, sweetie…”

Hikari then got up and left to go back to her room.

After a few moments, Akira began rushing to finish his food. Once that was done he stood up as well.

“I’m going to go check on her, is that okay?”

His mother nodded her head, but said nothing else.

Akira walked down the hallway to where he now knew his sister’s room was and knocked on the locked door.

“Hikari?” He asked through the door, getting no response. “Can we talk?”

He heard a grumble through the door, but nothing else. Silently cursing to himself, Akira went back to his room. He hoped she was alright. He could only imagine how she was taking the arrest, at least he had some distance from it.

Perhaps it would be better to leave her alone. Just for now.

***

Hikari just wanted to go to sleep and forget about the last two days of her life. From saving a woman from a drunk man to being accused of assault, to the court date, to her sour attitude towards her family. She just wanted it all to be over.

She crawled onto her bed and turned off her light. She didn’t even bother to change clothes first. Try as she might, however, after tossing and turning for what felt like hours, she couldn’t fall asleep. Her mind kept flashing back to the court date and the uncertainty of her future.

In response to her brain being a pain to deal with, she shoved a pillow against her face to make the thoughts stop.

…

She wondered what the story was between Akira and Yoshizawa. That was a better thing to think about than the court date at least.

She just wasn’t sure how they could have met. No gymnastics competitions have ever been held in or near Inaba. Maybe Akira met them during last summer’s family vacation to Tokyo? He never said anything though, but it didn’t seem like he was lying about dating her either.

Maybe after the court date, if she wins, she could grill Akira about more information.

Maybe… Maybe…

Hikari finally fell asleep.

Chapter 4: Preparation and Regret

Chapter Text

Sumire woke up the next day to her blaring alarm clock in a rather good mood. Although she may have school, she’d be able to see Ren once the school year ended. Her parents seemed rather concerned the day before about her fainting, which Sumire understood, but she felt it likely wasn’t a big deal.

Not that she could explain that to her parents though. Maybe someday, but not today. Maybe not even this year. She didn’t want to lie to them forever of course, but she felt that now was not the time.

For now though, she could look forward to seeing Ren. With a smile on her face, Sumire got out of her bed and began changing into her uniform. It was a little odd, admittedly, changing into the uniform of her old middle school again, but she still remembered how to put it on.

By the time she was finished changing, however, she heard a knock on her door followed by her father’s voice.

“Sumire?” Shinichi asked through the door. “Are you ready?”

“Uhm… Yeah!” Sumire said, walking to the door and opening it.

She was a little confused, however, as usually she’d just take the train to school.

Shinichi seemed just as confused when he looked at her.

“Why are you in your uniform?” He asked. “We’re going to the doctor, remember? I already called the school and told them about your appointment.”

“I thought I’d be going after school?” Sumire asked.

Shinichi sighed. “You really should take this more seriously, Sumire. You fainted yesterday and Kasumi told us you looked really pale too.”

“I know but I feel fine, Dad. I figured it could wait until after school, that was all.” Sumire told him.

Her father gave her an incredulous look. “We can’t take any chances, Sumire. If I could get you that appointment yesterday, I would have.”

Sumire felt there was something she was missing here, but she couldn’t even begin to grasp what it was. Eventually, her father just sighed.

“I worry about you sometimes, Sumire…” He said. “Your mother’s made some breakfast in the kitchen already, we should eat before we go.”

Sumire nodded her head, saying nothing else as she silently followed along.

Breakfast was tense, though Sumire wasn’t entirely sure why. All the while she was eating, her parents and sister looked very stressed out and worried. She knew that her fainting was probably a really bad sign to them, but she wasn’t sure how warranted all of this was when she said she felt fine.

Eventually, they finished breakfast and Kasumi silently left for school. After a few more moments of silence, Shinichi finally spoke up.

“Well… Time to go.” He said.

Sumire could feel the weight in those words, but she wasn’t sure why. Regardless, she got up from the table with her parents and made her way to the car.

***

Once they arrived at the doctor’s office, Sumire and her family walked up to a receptionist, told her about the appointment, and then were immediately allowed to see the doctor. This struck Sumire as quite odd, as in previous occurrences of her going to any sort of doctor, particularly for physicals, she always had to wait at least for a little.

This time it almost felt like she was being prioritized.

Soon afterward, they met up with a doctor Sumire didn’t recognize, but seemed to recognize her.

“Ah, you’re here.” The doctor said, seeming to be really familiar with Sumire’s family. “We should get started right away.”

“Thank you.” Shinichi said. “I need to know if she’s alright.”

The doctor smiled gently and nodded her head. “We’ll let you know right away if we find anything.”

Shinichi nodded his head and the doctor turned to Sumire.

“Now, follow me.” She said, turning and walking down the hall.

After a moment’s hesitation and a glance back at her parents, Sumire followed.

Not long after, Sumire found herself sitting on a chair with a stethoscope against her chest. While the doctor was monitoring her heart, she began asking Sumire some questions.

“Have you had any other symptoms recently?” ‘Other symptoms’? “Muscle weakness, shortness of breath, chest pain, headaches, leg cramps, cold feet, or nosebleeds?”

That felt oddly specific…

“Uhm… no.” Sumire answered. “I just fainted yesterday and that was it.”

“Hmmm…” The doctor removed the stethoscope from her chest and took some notes on a clipboard. “I’m not hearing anything odd, but we can’t take any chances. We should get some x-rays as well.”

X-rays?

Sumire gave her a confused look, which the doctor returned, before seeming to understand.

“I know you don’t like it,” The doctor told her. “But do you really want to risk your aorta narrowing again?”

Sumire’s eyes widened at that. Again?

The doctor seemed to think that Sumire just agreed with her, however. “Let’s head to the x-ray room.”

As Sumire followed along for the rest of the examinations, she finally understood why everyone was so freaked out about her fainting. She wasn’t sure how or why, but this new timeline was different.

Sumire had a heart condition.

***

Everything made a lot more sense once Sumire realized she had a condition, and what it was. Thankfully, it was fairly mild and Sumire had apparently already gone through a surgery in the past so she didn’t have to take medication for it, but it was there.

It took a large chunk of the day to go through all of the tests and by the end of it, Sumire decided to rest in her bedroom. Despite not moving around much, she felt rather tired. Thankfully, the tests came up with nothing.

She stared at her ceiling as she laid in her bed as she thought about her new condition. Sumire always felt she was rather lucky in the original timeline. She had no real physical restrictions when it came to gymnastics, nothing extra to worry about besides doing her best.

But now she does, and apparently she has a scheduled checkup every month. The next one wouldn’t get in the way of her visiting Ren, thankfully, but it was still something she’d have to learn to live with.

Speaking of Ren… She should probably call him. He should be back home from school by now.

Grabbing her phone, she called up her lover. It didn’t take long for him to answer.

“Sumi?” Ren answered. “Is something wrong?”

“Uh-Uhm…” Sumire began to get pretty nervous. “You could say that, yes.”

“What is it?” Ren asked, sounding concerned.

“So… Have you noticed any changes since we went back in time?” Sumire asked, part out of curiosity and to lead into what she was about to reveal.

“Uhhh… Yeah actually.” Ren told her. “I have a sister now, for one, and also my name’s different.”

“A sister?” Sumire was confused.

“I’ll get into it later.” Ren told her dismissively. “Did you notice anything different?”

“Uhhh… Yeah…” Sumire swallowed her nerves. “I-I have a heart condition now…”

…

“What!?”

“It-It’s nothing too serious, I swear!” Sumire assured him. “It’s just aortic narrowing, but I apparently already had it repaired. I should be fine.”

That seemed to calm down Ren, if only a little. “Well, that’s better but…” he seemed to hesitate. Eventually he sighed. “We can talk about it more when you come down here. I’m really sorry you have to deal with this though, Sumi…”

“It’s okay…” Sumire found his response odd, it was as though he was taking personal responsibility for what happened. “I love you, Ren.”

“I love you too, Sumi…”

***

After the phone call Akira felt awful. He wanted to go back. He needed to go back.

…But it was too late for that, wasn’t it?

Akira had expected differences and changes in the new timeline, to an extent. With how difficult it was to control the power of the masses to precisely alter time, he figured there would be some mistakes.

Never had he thought it would be something like this.

Sumire…

Of all the things that could have happened. He gave Sumire heart problems. Severe or not, he was responsible.

Akira clenched his fist. Now he was all the more certain he had to make this timeline worthwhile.

***

“Sumire…” a familiar feminine voice roused Sumire from her sleep. “We’re almost there, it’s time to get up…”

Sumire slowly opened her eyes, stretched, and yawned as she woke up. It took her a second to figure out what was going on: She was on the bullet train with her mother, heading to Inaba.

“How much longer?”

“The announcer said it would be a few more minutes.” Akahana told her. “Soon we’ll get to meet your boyfriend.” She added with a smirk.

Sumire was compelled to smile as she thought about Ren, well, Akira now. He’d finally told her what his new name was a couple of days ago. She was still surprised just how much different this timeline was to their original.

Following that thought, she touched her chest. She still hadn’t had any complications, but she’d only grown more concerned of the possibility after her visit to the doctor.

Sumire still wasn’t sure how they had even traveled through time, however. Akira seemed to know more, but he wanted to tell her in person.

Regardless, she was still happy to get to see her boyfriend again.

Through the corner of her vision, she could see her mother smirk once more.

“You know, you’ve never denied it when I said he’s your boyfriend,” Akahana added. “So is he?”

Sumire blushed a bit, but slowly nodded her head.

“Yeah, uhm…” Sumire wasn’t sure what to say. “We met last year and began dating in January.”

Akahana raised a brow. “That recent? Even though he doesn’t live anywhere near Tokyo?”

“Most of the time we talk is over the phone,” Sumire half-lied. “It’s part of why I wanted to see him in person so badly…”

Sumire hated lying to her mother, but what was she supposed to say? That she was from the future? That somehow she and Akira went back in time and only they remembered anything from that future?

They might just think she’s crazy; they might force her to go see Maruki again. Maruki, who at this point in time is eager to see how much he can “help” people by changing their cognitions.

Even if they just wanted what’s best for her, Sumire couldn’t take that chance.

“I understand.” Akahana gave her a gentle smile. “You know, your father and I had a similar scenario growing up.” She continued. “Living so far away from each other; rarely getting to meet. It doesn’t work out for everyone, but it did for us. I hope it works out for you two as well.”

Sumire smiled at the sentiment. “I’m sure it will!”

At this point in time, Sumire couldn’t even imagine being with anyone besides Akira.

Soon the train arrived in Yasoinaba and the two slowly got off the train. Sumire was fast to leave the train, excited to see her beloved Senpai once again. She was distracted for a moment as she left, however, never having been in Inaba before. It was a rather beautiful country town.

The lack of crowds of people gave it a rather peaceful vibe, Sumire supposed it made sense though, having such a lower population compared to Tokyo. Before Sumire could look around more, however, she finally heard what she’d been waiting to hear all day.

“Sumire! Over here!”

Sumire turned towards the familiar voice calling her to see it was her beloved Senpai.

“Re-Akira!” Sumire barely remembered to call him by his new name as she ran towards him.

Once she reached him she jumped and wrapped him in a tight tackle-hug. She’d missed being so close to him, she never knew how she’d deal with him leaving for a year.

Akira responded in kind, wrapping his arms around her just as tightly.

“I missed you, Sumire…” Akira gently whispered in her ear.

“Me too, Akira…” Sumire replied, putting her chin over his shoulder.

“So this is your boyfriend.” Akahana said, approaching the two. “Nice to meet you, I’m Sumire’s mother.”

Akira released Sumire, but kept a tight grip on her hand as he turned to look at Akahana.

“I’m Akira Kurusu. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Yoshizawa-san.” Akira bowed in greeting.

“No need for such formality.” Akahana waved her hand. “With how Sumire’s been talking about you, you might as well be a part of the family!” she added with a giggle.

Sumire blushed at the statement, but Akira chuckled.

“No family I’d rather be part of, besides my own.” Akira told her before smirking and giving Sumire a look. “Perhaps it could be both one day?”

Sumire thought she had gotten used to Akira’s teasing by this point. She was wrong.

Her face turned a deep red and she hid it in the only place she could think to hide it: Akira’s chest. She didn’t even care that her glasses squished against her face as a result, she could clean them later.

“Mmmmmm…” She whined, muffled by Akira’s chest.

This caused both Akira and Akahana to laugh.

After a while of laughing, Akahana finally spoke up once more. “Well, it’s been a pleasure meeting you, Akira-kun, but I’m sure you and Sumire want some time alone.” She then looked at Sumire. “I think I’ll take a look around the town, just call me when you’re ready to leave.”

Sumire, still blushing, silently nodded her head.

Akahana gave one last smile before leaving the two alone. Once she was out of sight, Akira turned to Sumire once again, a much more serious glint in his eyes.

“So… Wanna go somewhere private to talk?”

Sumire nodded her head.

***

Thankfully, in Inaba it really wasn’t difficult to get some privacy. The population wasn’t exactly as sparse as Sumire figured it would be, but it was still low enough that they didn’t have to go far before being completely alone.

Akira guided Sumire up to a nearby cliff overlooking the town. People rarely came up there, so he was sure he could talk to Sumire privately there.

Once they arrived, Akira leaned against the railing, looking down at the town below, seemingly thinking about how he should start the conversation.

“So…” Akira began to look a little nervous. “I guess I should start by saying: I’m really, really sorry, Sumire…”

Sumire had a feeling she knew what this was about, and had already prepared something to say:

“Ren, really… It’s no big deal!” She told him. “It’s really not your fault I have this condition-”

“But it is!” Akira told her before taking hold of both of her hands. “Sumire… I’m the reason we’re back in time.”

“Wh-What?” Sumire couldn’t believe it. There’s just no way. “Senpai… There’s more to it right? I-It must’ve been something you had to do, right? O-Or it wasn’t your choice!”

Akira sighed and looked down on the floor. “Now I wish I could tell you that… but no.” He shook his head. “I wanted to make things better for everyone, Sumire…”

Sumire thought Akira was getting into rather dangerous and familiar lines of thinking, but he continued.

“Shido took so much from so many people, especially after getting Akechi on his side…” Akira told her. “I figured if I could go back to before Akechi met Shido, then maybe I could change things.” He almost seemed to be on the verge of tears… “But that failed, clearly. And now I’ve given you a heart condition. I’m so sorry, Sumire…”

Sumire wasn’t sure how to respond to this. She was seeing a whole new side of Akira that she had never seen before. He always seemed so strong and confident, determined to do the right thing. Yet here he was, on the verge of tears, profusely apologizing to her for his mistakes.

She wanted to tell him it was okay. To hug him and tell him she still loved him and that they could make this right together.

But…

“You should’ve discussed it with all of us first, Ren…” Sumire told him, pulling her hands away from his grip.

Akira nodded his head. “I know but… I thought everyone except me would forget anyway. I figured that being forced to rebuild my bonds with everyone was a fair price for what I could’ve given them.”

“Even me…?” Sumire had to ask, staring him right in the eyes.

Akira slowly nodded his head, breaking Sumire’s heart.

“Ren…” Sumire started, putting some distance between her and him. “I-I thought you loved me. I-I thought you were happy with me. Was it all a lie? Did you only say you loved me because you thought it’d make me happy?”

Akira vehemently shook his head. “No!” He shouted, but there was no anger, only desperation. “Sumire, I love you! We’d be able to get back together eventually-”

“Would you have told me if I didn’t remember?” Sumire asked.

Akira hesitated.

“Would. You. Have. Told. Me?” Sumire reiterated.

“I-I’m not sure…” Akira said. “I-I don’t think I would have ever told anyone…”

“Isn’t that what Maruki tried to do?” Sumire asked, causing Akira to flinch. “Remove himself from the world, changing it without anyone else ever knowing? E-Even if you planned to reconnect with me… Would you have left everyone else behind?”

Sumire hated pressing him so hard on this, but he had to know how she felt about all this.

“Please, Senpai…” Sumire requested. “Let’s go back…”

“I can’t…” Akira told her.

“Wh-What?”

“I was only able to rewind time because of the will of the masses, which I no longer have.” Akira explained. “I’m sorry, Sumire… But we’re stuck here.”

“And you still went through with it without talking to anyone!?” Sumire yelled, causing Akira to wince once more. “I’m sorry for yelling, Senpai… but you really should’ve talked to us first!”

Akira sighed. “I-I know… I really am sorry, Sumire.”

Silence fell between the two, both parties clearly hurt by what had just transpired.

Eventually, Sumire sighed. She felt she should throw Akira some kind of bone. She didn’t want this to be the end of their relationship, after all.

“Ren…” Sumire started. “I still love you… And I still want to spend time with you… but please… Can you promise me that you’ll never do something like this again?”

Akira slowly nodded his head. “I promise… And if anything this drastic ever comes up again, I’ll make sure to tell you first.”

Sumire gave Akira a gentle smile and walked up to embrace him in a hug.

“That’s all I wanted to hear.” Sumire assured him, holding him close.

Akira returned the hug and Sumire felt tension slowly release from him. She smiled as she felt his warmth. As much as she loved him for his confidence, skill, and snarky nature… The times he was vulnerable and she could help him like this felt so rewarding.

She was glad that he acknowledged his wrong, it would’ve hurt so much if she had to hold this against him.

Slowly, Sumire separated from Akira.

“Well…” Sumire decided to throw yet another bone. “If we’re going to be going through the whole year again together… We may as well make the most of it.”

Akira chuckled at that. “Yeah… Thank you, truly, Sumire.”

The situation felt so backwards Sumire just had to giggle.

“Guess I’m taking care of you sooner than we thought, huh?” Sumire told him.

“I guess so.” Akira laughed again. “Anyway… Now that we got that out of the way, wanna discuss plans over lunch? Our local Junes has a food court.”

Sumire’s stomach proceeded to growl.

“Uhm… That sounds wonderful, Senpai!” Sumire blushed slightly, but smiled regardless.

Taking Sumire’s hand in his own, Akira guided her back down to the town.

***

While Sumire and Akira waited for their food at Junes, Sumire decided to ask Akira a question that had been weighing on her.

“So… Se-Akira…” Sumire started. “If your sister’s the one who got arrested, how are you going to get to Tokyo this time?”

Akira tapped on the table a few times. “I’m not entirely sure. I’d have to get approval from both my parents and a different school to transfer, my parents would probably have to pay more for my education than they already do, and I’d need somewhere to live.”

Sumire began getting a bit down about it, that is a pretty tall order for them to be able to see each other again and get whatever Akira’s plan was going.

“I can probably convince my parents to approve of it if it’s a scholarship though.” Akira told her. “Especially if it’s to Shujin or somewhere near Shujin so I could keep an eye on Hikari.”

Sumire thought for a bit. “Hmmm… Oh!” She remembered something. “Kosei’s offering scholarships right now too! They offered Kasumi and I scholarships there first, but we went with Shujin since, at the time, they had a better reputation.”

That piqued Akira’s interest. “What kind of scholarships?”

“Right now I think they’re offering art and sports.” Sumire told him. “They have a football team and a basketball team. Think you could apply to one of those?”

Akira nodded his head. “Yeah. I don’t think I mentioned it before, but I was, or I guess I am currently, on Yasogami’s basketball team. I should be able to apply to Kosei’s.” He put a finger to his chin as he reminisced. “That’s actually why I was so late going home the night I got arrested. We had a club activity after school.”

“Were you planning on returning to the team when you got back…?” Sumire asked.

Akira’s expression darkened slightly. “No… They didn’t want anything to do with me after my arrest.” He shook his head before lightening up a bit. “That’s fine though, when I got back I was planning on cooking instead. You and Sojiro really helped give me a taste for it.” He gave her a smirk.

Sumire returned the smile with a small blush. “Senpai…”

Akira chuckled a bit. “Either way, Yusuke and Hifumi both go to Kosei, so that could be a pretty good option for me. Thanks, Sumi.”

Sumire gave him a bright smile. Soon after, their food was ready and they went to get it. They spent a long time together eating and chatting.

***

After figuring out what their next move should be, Akira and Sumire spent the rest of the day simply enjoying being around each other. It was a relief to Akira personally that they could do this despite what he did to her. He hoped to make up for his mistakes with every moment he spent with his girlfriend.

He showed her his house, which was empty as his parents and Hikari were busy at the trial, some of the shops around town, and finally, as they were huddled up together on a bench overlooking the town, Sumire received a call on her phone.

“Hello?” Sumire asked as she answered her phone. “Oh… Yeah, I’ll be there. See you soon, Mom.”

As she put away the phone she looked at Akira with a sad expression. “That was my mother, she said our train will be here soon so I have to go.”

Akira nodded his head, though just as disappointed as she was. “I’ll see you when I get to Tokyo.” He told her with a smile.

Sumire smiled back before taking off her glasses. Knowing what she wanted, Akira removed his own and the two shared a tender kiss. After a few moments, the two released each other and Sumire went on her way.

Without much more reason to be outside, Akira decided to return home.

***

After looking into it at home, Akira found that surprisingly Kosei’s scholarships were still open. They were looking for some people to join their basketball and football teams, just as Sumire had said. Akira had to assume it was because most athletes went for Shujin or other schools more well known for sports, whereas Kosei was mostly known as an art school. Students needed parental signatures to apply, of course.

Akira checked the time, he wanted to get on this as soon as possible, but his parents were still out at the trial.

He proceeded to spend the next hour making sure the slots were still open until his parents got home. Once he’d heard the sound of the door opening and closing, Akira got off of his computer and went out to see them.

They were all looking very down, and Akira knew why.

Hikari looked at Akira for only a second, tears running down her cheeks, before rushing to her room and slamming the door.

On second thought… It’d probably be best to bring it up after Hikari’s invited to Shujin Academy. Silently, Akira walked away from his parents, who looked equally distraught to Hikari, and went back to his room.

He bookmarked the page with Kosei’s scholarships before looking up a few more and then turning off his computer once it got dark. He then decided to text Sumire to make sure she got home safely.

Akira: Get home safely?

Sumire: Yes! We got home no problem.

Sumire: Were you able to apply?

Akira: Not yet, I think I’ll wait until Hikari has to go to Shujin.

Sumire: Isn’t that kind of risky? The applications may not even be open by then…

Akira: I don’t think my parents will agree at all if I ask them now. I have no choice.

Sumire: Fine… I hope everything goes well for you.

Akira: Same here. I love you.

Sumire: I love you too, hope to see you soon!

Smiling to himself, Akira put his phone away. He seriously hoped he could pull this off.

***

Over the next few days, Hikari rarely left her room. Her parents were frantically searching for a school that would take her, Akira was rarely in the house anymore and when he was it seemed like he was also looking into schools for her. She’d entered his room to vent once and saw he was looking into some school in Tokyo called Kosei.

It seemed rather prestigious from what Hikari had glanced at so she had to wonder why Akira even bothered. Maybe it had dorms? Hikari didn’t know.

Finally, one day while Hikari was lying on her bed with nothing to do, simply staring at the ceiling, her parents came into the room. Sitting up to look at them, Hikari tilted her head curiously.

“Mom? Dad?” She asked.

“We finally found a place for you to go!” Her mother told her. “Shujin Academy agreed to accept you into their school!”

Hikari’s eyes widened; she was honestly surprised by this outcome. She didn’t think anyone would be willing to take her.

“Really?”

“Yes!” Her mother confirmed. “You’ll be starting on the twelfth!”

“Do they have dorms?” Hikari had to ask, still shocked that she had somewhere to go.

“No, but we found somewhere for you to stay, don’t worry.” Her father told her. “It’s probably best to start packing now, since you can’t bring all your luggage on the train with you.”

“...So I’ll be all alone there?” Hikari asked, looking down.

Her mother looked away.

“Yes… but if you don’t have another incident for a year, your probation will be lifted.” Her father told her. “Please, stay safe.”

“I-I will…” Hikari looked down at the floor.

A whole year…

“...Well, we’ll leave you to pack.” Her mother finally spoke up. “You can ask us for help if you need it.”

Hikari nodded her head once again, soon after her parents left her room. Not wanting to waste any time, she began packing her clothes. After days of nothing, she wasn’t sure whether to be grateful things were beginning to move again, or sad she’d be so far away from home.

…She felt more of the latter.

***

Not long after Akira heard Hikari and his parents talking about Shujin, he made his way to the living room with his laptop. Thankfully, Kosei scholarships were still open.

“Mom! Dad!” Akira called out. “Uhm… Can I apply for a scholarship to Kosei?” he asked, presenting his laptop to them.

His parents seemed confused as they looked over it.

“Are you sure?” His mother asked. “This is all the way in Tokyo…”

“I’d be able to help out Hikari that way,” Akira told them, completely serious. “She wouldn’t have to be completely alone.”

“Would they even accept you?” His father raised a brow as he looked over the page.

“They’ve been asking for players for several days.” Akira informed them. “I’m sure I’d at least be allowed to apply. Plus, they have dorms, so you wouldn’t have to worry about housing me.”

Despite his persuasion, his parents still seemed hesitant.

“...but you’d be gone for even longer than Hikari.” His mother said. “You still have two years left of school.”

“I can visit,” Akira told them. “Like how Sumire came down here just a little bit ago. Please, I want to make sure Hikari is okay while she’s up there…”

His mother still seemed hesitant, she looked towards his father. “I don’t know about this…”

His father looked him in the eyes. After a while, he gave the laptop back to Akira and sighed.

“Fine.” He said simply.

“Fine?” Akira and his mother asked.

“You can go.” He said.

“What!?” His mother cried out.

“We can apply and pay for a ticket to get you there if they accept.” His father continued.

“Honey!” Akira’s mother cried out once again. “We’re really just going to let both our children go!?”

Akira’s father sighed in response. “Go to your room, Akira. I’ll talk with your mother.”

Akira nodded his head, heading to his room. His parents began quietly discussing the issue before his door closed behind him. He really hoped his father could convince his mother.

He had to get to Tokyo. No matter what.

***

The next day, Akira was going for a jog around Inaba. He’d gotten into the habit of doing this ever since he turned back time. He found it was a great way to clear his head and process everything that had happened.

This time around he decided to run up one of the trails that went up towards the surrounding mountains of the town. The paths were narrow, but he’d dealt with worse during his time as a Phantom Thief.

As he was jogging up one of the trails, admiring the greenery, his mind drifted to the two major things that had occupied his mind recently:

Sumire and Hikari.

He still wasn’t quite sure if Hikari was the Trickster now. Her story seemed rather closely similar to his own, but that could have been a complete coincidence.

A part of him hoped she was, admittedly, as that would allow him free reign to focus on taking down Shido without needing to deal with people like Kamoshida first. The other part didn’t want Hikari to have all the same pressures he had. If he could do everything with just himself, Sumire, and potentially Morgana, he felt he would prefer that.

Akira still couldn’t deny the possibility that Hikari was a Trickster, however.

Akira shook the thoughts away. He wouldn’t know until she got to Tokyo.

Once those thoughts were out of the way, his mind moved onto the next thing: Sumire’s condition.

Oh how he wished he could take all of this back now. Sumire…

He had to make it up to her. Somehow. Even if she wasn’t really mad at him for it, he still wanted to.

Coming up on a more narrow path next to a steep incline, Akira began planning dates he could take Sumire on or gifts he could give her.

Perhaps Shinagawa? He knew Sumire loved that place. He smiled as he remembered her reaction to the fish there. Oh, there was also the penguin exhibi-

Akira’s right foot suddenly found nothing but air and he began stumbling. Unable to regain his balance, he fell off the path and tumbled down the cliff. He frantically scrambled to find something to cling onto. Any weeds he managed to grab simply unrooted from his weight.

Surprisingly, he managed to retain consciousness even as he barreled down the mountain, until he came to a sudden stop.

Groaning, Akira pushed himself up off the solid ground he now found himself on. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel any broken bones, and he was able to stand up with no issue.

Akira looked up towards the steep mountain he’d fallen off of and found he had to have tumbled at least a hundred or so meters. Yet here he was, only feeling some bruises. To most, this would be considered a miracle. But not to Akira.

He looked around to make sure nobody was watching, and then tried to summon the last persona he’d used: Satanael.

His ultimate persona appeared before him, around the same size as he was when Akira had rewound time. With that confirming his suspicions, Akira allowed Satanael to disappear.

Looking over himself, covered in dirt and deeply bruised, he decided to switch personas to Maria next. Without even summoning her, his bruises quickly disappeared on their own thanks to Maria’s special regenerative abilities.

Akira smirked as he saw this happen. This would make taking down Shido a lot simpler.

***

After talking it out with his team at school and sending an application to Kosei, Akira was accepted into their team and given a scholarship to the school, including a dorm room. His parents and Kosei made an agreement that he’d start there the same day Hikari started at Shujin Academy, so he could take the bullet train with her to Tokyo. Once they’d get there, however, they’d be separated as Kosei and Yongen were in completely different districts of the city.

So here he was. Saying goodbye to his parents yet again.

His mother wrapped him and Hikari in a hug, tears in her eyes.

“You both stay safe, okay?”

“Yes, Mom.” Hikari and Akira replied in unison.

She released the hug and gave them each a long look in the eyes.

“I’ll miss you.” She said once again just as the train arrived. “Goodbye…”

“Goodbye… Mom…” Akira replied, looking down at the floor.

It never got easier, did it?

Akira’s father didn’t say anything. Not much of a surprise considering how rarely he even talked in the first place, but Akira could tell he didn’t want them to go either.

Akira turned to Hikari. “Shall we?”

Hikari didn’t look at him, but nodded her head.

The two made their way onto the train and quickly found a pair of empty seats to sit in. Once they were settled in, Hikari finally talked.

“You didn’t have to do this for me, you know.” She told him.

“I know.” Akira replied. “But I wanted to.”

Hikari rolled her eyes and looked out the window. Soon, the train began moving once again. Knowing how Hikari felt, Akira said nothing more.

***

After the two hour ride, the siblings arrived in Shibuya. Getting off the train, the two made their way to station square. Nothing but silence persisted between the two of them as they made their way. Suddenly, Hikari froze behind Akira and he turned to look at her.

Was this what it looked like when he…?

She’d completely frozen still. Not moving an inch. Nobody around them paid them any mind, simply walking around them as though they didn’t notice anything was wrong.

It was just like what Akechi had asked Sumire about Maruki’s palace when they first discovered it.

Suddenly, Hikari began moving again, looking around really confused.

Playing the role of concerned brother who definitely didn’t know what just happened, Akira gave her a worried look.

“You okay, Hikari?”

“Uh… Yes?” Hikari replied. “I just thought I saw something, that’s all.”

“Alright then…” Akira tried to give her a slightly unconvinced tone. “We’re almost to station square, come on.”

Hikari nodded her head and the two continued on their way.

Once they arrived, Akira turned back to Hikari. “Well… I suppose this is where we say goodbye, for now.”

Hikari nodded her head before hugging him.

“Goodbye, Akira…”

She quickly turned around and ran off towards her station. Closing his eyes and shaking his head, Akira made his way to his own.

The journey to Kosei was nothing of particular note. He arrived at the building, got the key to his room, and was told he’d be introduced to the team on Monday. He could use Sunday to explore the school building. One thing that interested Akira was that Kosei didn’t have school on Saturday. There were no students around, only staff.

Having gone to Yasogami High and Shujin, this was… different. But it gave Akira more time to plan, so it was a welcome change.

Finally making his way to his room, Akira looked around before putting his bag on his bed. A box delivered to the room with all the stuff he brought with him was there too. He spent the rest of the day unpacking and organizing his stuff.

At least he didn’t have to clean an entire dusty cluttered attic this time. Staring out his window as the sun was setting, Akira clenched his fist.

He was ready to change everything. For the better.

Chapter 5: First Day

Chapter Text

*beep beep beep* *beep beep beep* *beep bee-

Akira awoke, slightly startled by his surroundings before remembering how he got here. Turning off his alarm, he saw that it was rather early in the morning. He got up and quickly got dressed in his Kosei uniform, taking a look at himself in the mirror just to make sure he was wearing it right.

Today was the day he’d be introduced to the basketball team, although he still had some time before he had to be there. Sumire would be at gymnastics right now, so Akira decided to spend his time getting a feel for the layout of the school.

There were three floors and a rooftop, much like Shujin Academy. Unlike Shujin Academy, however, the third floor was for third years and the first floor was for first years, and the rooftop wasn’t off limits to students.

After searching around to make sure he knew where his classroom, the library, the student council room, and the nurse’s office was, he decided to make his way to the gym to be introduced to the basketball team. It didn’t take long to get there, the layout of Kosei wasn’t too different from Shujin, luckily, and he got there with fifteen minutes to spare.

Looking around the room, he saw the basketball team playing games against each other, likely members who got here early and had nothing else to do.

Upon arrival, the coach saw him and approached him.

“Ah, you must be Kurusu-kun.” The coach bowed in greeting. “Welcome to Kosei, we’ve been looking for more basketball players here.”

Akira bowed in return. “It’s good to be here, coach. I hope I can get along with the team well.”

The coach smiled at that. “That’s what I like to hear. Basketball is a team game, after all. Maybe with you on our team, we’ll actually have a chance of winning this year.” He gave a hearty laugh.

Akira chuckled along with him. “I’ll do my best.”

“Well, let’s not waste anymore time and get ya introduced to the team already.” The coach said before calling out to everyone else.

It was an odd feeling, being positively received by his peers. A far cry from the treatment he got at Shujin, but of course he was also transferring on better terms this time. He felt he could really enjoy his time here.

***

Hikari was absolutely not enjoying her time here. She had to sleep in a dusty cluttered attic, she was on probation so she had a strict curfew, she had to document her daily activities in a diary, and not even her dreams were safe from the nightmares!

The only silver lining here is the unimaginably amazing curry she had for breakfast. How did Sakura manage to make it so good!?

She really wanted to ask about it, but she also didn’t want to risk drawing more of Sakura’s ire. Instead, Hikari opted to remain quiet in her seat as Sakura drove her to the school.

Once they arrived, Hikari and her guardian entered the building and began making their way to the principal’s office. Hikari was a little disappointed by the appearance of the school. Sure, it was clean, but compared to Yasogami it just looked so boring. White walls, wood floor. As many problems as Hikari had with Yasogami’s staff, at least the school was interesting to look at.

Before she could continue that line of thought, however, Sakura began talking.

“Please behave yourself,” Sakura sighed as he told her. “I don’t want you causing any more trouble.”

Hikari looked away before nodding her head.

“Good. Let’s go.”

Sakura continued heading forward, Hikari following behind. Once they entered the principal’s office, Hikari saw a few people already in there. Two men and one woman. Upon seeing them, the man sitting behind the desk, presumably the principal, greeted them.

“Welcome,” The principal said. “I am Kobayakawa, the principal of Shujin Academy.”

“I am Sadayo Kawakami.” The woman introduced herself. “I’m the vice principal.”

“Just call me Ushimaru.” The second man said. “I’ll be your homeroom teacher. You better behave.”

“Yes,” The principal agreed. “Be on your best behavior. If you get expelled from here, you will have nowhere else to go.”

“I understand…” Hikari nodded, not making eye contact.

The principal then turned his attention to Sakura. “You must be her current guardian.” He said, pointing to some papers on the desk. “Just sign here and she’ll be an official student of Shujin Academy.”

Sakura nodded his head before reading over them and signing.

“Thank you.” The principal nodded his head. “We’ll see you on Monday.”

Sakura nodded his head, yet another reminder of Hikari’s situation was brought up, and then they left. Honestly, that went better than Hikari had expected it to. She figured they’d be way harsher against her than they were.

Regardless, Hikari went back to Leblanc with Sakura. She wondered if she had enough time to visit Akira after they got back…

***

After meeting his team and going through a couple of team bonding practice games, Akira was allowed to return to his dorm. Once he got back, he wondered if Sumire was done with her own practice yet. After all, she would’ve started earlier than he did, and they needed to go over his plan.

Giving her a call, it didn’t even take one ring for Sumire to pick up.

“Senpai!” She cheerily greeted. It never failed to make him smile, when she got enthusiastic. “Did you want to meet up?”

“Yes, actually.” Akira let out a chuckle. “Although, we also need to discuss the plan.”

“Oh… Right…” Sumire seemed disappointed.

“We can go on a date after though.” Akira rolled his eyes as he smirked.

Sumire giggled in response. “I’d love to, Senpai! Where did you want to meet?”

“I was thinking Kichijoji.”

“Got it! I’ll wait for you by the station! See you then!”

“See you then, Sumi.”

Akira ended the call and checked his wallet to make sure he had enough for the fare. He should probably get a job in the area or do some grinding in Mementos soon.

Once sure he had enough, Akira made his way out of the school property and to the train station. He kept Sumire updated on where he was until he got there.

Upon leaving the train station at Kichijoji, he looked around for where Sumire could be waiting. Only to hear the very familiar voice of his cute girlfriend behind him.

“Konnichi…” Sumire quietly spoke, nearly whispering. “Wah!” She said much louder as she wrapped him in a hug from behind.

It gave Akira a good laugh. She hadn’t done that since Hawaii.

“Miss me?” He asked between chuckles.

“Mhm!” Sumire nodded her head. “I know it hasn’t been that long, but I really wanted to see you again!”

Sumire released him so he could turn around. Once facing her, the two hugged once more.

“I missed you too.” Akira told her, giving her a small peck on the forehead. “We have more important things to discuss, though…”

“Right…” Sumire nodded her head. “Uhm… Nobody’s home right now so we could talk at my place.” She told him, blushing a little.

“Perfect.” Akira agreed. “Let’s go.”

Still blushing, Sumire led the way. Akira already knew where she lived, of course, having been there once before. Once they arrived, Sumire unlocked the door with her key and the two entered, taking their shoes off by the foyer.

They made their way to the living room and sat side-by-side on one of the couches. Looking around, the house was just as clean as he last saw it. The only difference was the lack of any memorial for Kasumi.

“You have a nice house.” Akira mentioned.

“Thanks.” Sumire smiled. “So… What’s the plan?”

“Right,” Akira nodded before thinking for a bit. “I think… you should join Hikari on her first day of school tomorrow.”

Sumire tilted her head. “Why?”

“Well think about it,” Akira explained. “That was the day I first entered the Metaverse myself and befriended Ryuji. I think if you’re there with them, and Kamoshida doesn’t yet consider you a threat, you should be able to pretend you don’t know anything about the Metaverse either.”

Sumire’s seemed to get what he was saying. “So I can keep an eye on them better?” She asked. “Are you sure, Senpai? We don’t want too much attention on us.”

Akira nodded his head. “I think we gain more from this than we lose. Just hold back enough that they don’t notice you’re an experienced persona-user. Can you do that?”

Sumire nodded. “I’ll do my best!” She then put a finger to her chin in thought. “What are you going to do though?”

Akira thought for a moment once again. “I think… I’m gonna reach out to Futaba.”

“This soon?” Sumire asked. “Didn’t you say she has a palace right now?”

Akira nodded his head. “Yes. However, I think if I can help her overcome herself, then she could really help us in taking Shido down for good.”

Sumire giggled a bit as Akira explained. “Seems like you have this all planned out. As always.”

Akira chuckled along with her, before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer.

“Well, I think that’s just about everything I wanted to talk to you about.” Akira said, his voice lower as he leaned closer to Sumire. “How about that date?”

Knowing what was about to happen, Sumire removed Akira’s glasses as he removed hers, then wrapped her arms around Akira as he began to kiss her. Not long after, Akira pulled Sumire on top of him and they laid down on the couch together.

Once the first kiss ended, Sumire whispered. “I really missed this…”

Akira gave her another peck on the forehead before responding. “Me too.”

The two put their glasses on the coffee table before snuggling up on the couch in pure bliss. Akira could feel the dumb grin on his face and, looking at Sumire, her expression mirrored his.

He then pulled her into a second kiss, which she gladly accepted. Once they separated, Sumire rested her head on his chest, snuggling up to him even more.

Akira smiled in response. “Thank you again for helping me, by the way. I know you’re not exactly happy about it…”

“You’re welcome, Senpai.” Sumire replied with a smile. “But I do want to help, even if I don’t agree with what you did.”

“I love you so much, Sumi.” Akira told her, pecking her on the head. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“Hmmm…” Sumire tapped a finger against Akira’s chest. “I think saving me and the world multiple times would do it.”

Akira chuckled a bit, Sumire giggling along with him.

“I love you too, Senpai.” Sumire replied. “Sometimes I wonder the same thing…”

“Well, in your case,” Akira smirked. “I think it’s because you’re the kindest, cutest, most beautiful, and most determined girl I’ve ever met. How could I not fall for you?”

Sumire blushed a bit. “Senpai…”

They kissed one final time before Sumire returned to her position, laying on his chest. The two remained there for a long while.

***

*ping ping ping* *ping ping ping*

Akira opened his eyes, slightly annoyed his peaceful snuggling session with Sumire was being interrupted. Regardless, he sat up while Sumire got off of him and looked at his phone to see Hikari was calling.

“Hello?” He asked as he answered.

“Hey Akira…” Hikari replied in a down voice. “Is it okay if we hang out for a bit?”

Akira looked between Sumire and his phone before reluctantly agreeing.

“Sure.” He told Hikari. “I was just spending some time with my girlfriend. Want me to head down to Yongen?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of-”

“It’s really okay, Hikari.” Akira quickly dismissed her concerns. “I’ve already spent plenty of time with Sumire today.”

“...” Hikari said nothing for a few seconds, making Akira worried that the call had disconnected. “If you’re certain…”

“I am. See you soon, Hikari.”

“See you, Akira…”

Akira ended the call and turned to Sumire. “Sorry.” He apologized.

Sumire waved his concerns away. “It’s fine, Senpai. As much as I love spending time with you, she needs you more than me right now.”

Akira smiled at that. “I love you, Sumire.”

“I love you too, Senpai.” Sumire smiled right back.

The pair exchanged one final kiss before Akira left to spend some time with his sister. He had to admit, he was rather curious how this would play out. He hadn’t had the opportunity to spend much time with her prior to this.

***

Hikari hated this.

Well, she didn’t necessarily hate this. Hanging out with her brother was fun. Or at least, it used to be.

Back before all this happened.

Now her brother had to look out for her, had to cut time with his girlfriend just to tend to her needs. She couldn’t say she didn’t appreciate it, but she just wished it didn’t have to be like this.

“You feeling okay, Hikari?” Akira asked, seeming concerned and snapping her out of her thoughts. “You haven’t said anything since we met up…”

Hikari sighed. “I know, I know. I thought it’d be fun to hang out like we did when we were younger.” She told him. “But now…”

Akira nodded his head. “Can’t stop thinking about it?”

He said that like he understood. Come to think of it, Akira had been acting a bit different recently. Probably some effort to make Hikari feel more comfortable, she rationalized.

“Yeah,” Hikari admitted.

Akira frowned before looking around the area they were walking in Yongen-Jaya.

“You know, I heard that Yongen-Jaya has batting cages. Why don’t we try that?” Akira offered.

Of course he picked the sporty option.

“Sounds like fun.” Hikari agreed.

Akira went on ahead, leading Hikari to the batting cages. As they went, Hikari tried to put her thoughts aside and simply enjoy what little freedom she had left.

***

Sumire combed her hair as she got ready for her “first” day at Shujin Academy. Thankfully, she and Kasumi were going to the school separately today, so Sumire had no problem waiting with Hikari once she got there.

It was rather good timing too. Kasumi wanted to head there early to check out the gym and try some practice routines there, whilst Sumire was content with leaving closer to the time school actually started.

Sumire finished combing her hair and left her room. She’d already eaten breakfast and got changed into her uniform, so she grabbed her bag and was about to grab an umbrella as she went out the door. She then remembered that she needed to get caught in the rain with Hikari and retracted her hand.

She made her way to the station and rode it to Shibuya station. Once she got off there, she went to the station to Aoyama-Itchome and looked around to see if she could spot Hikari. The only problem was she had black hair, just like Akira and… Just about everyone else in the country.

Sumire sighed to herself when she couldn’t find Hikari, but she knew the awning that Akira took cover under when he first found out about Kamoshida’s palace. So she opted to try to find Hikari there instead.

A train ride later, the first drops of rain began falling. Sumire knew she’d have to find that awning fast, or she’d get soaked.

She began jogging until she found it, then she quickly hid under. Sumire wasn’t the first person there however, as she saw Ann next to her. She debated greeting the older girl, but figured it wouldn’t be appropriate. They weren’t friends yet, and Ann was one of her senpai.

While she was thinking, she heard someone else take cover underneath the awning. Taking a look, Sumire saw that it was unmistakably Hikari. Sumire hadn’t seen her yet, but she could recognize silver eyes like that anywhere. They were almost identical to the ones she loved staring at so much.

“Good morning.” Sumire decided to greet Hikari.

Hikari looked over at her before tilting her head in confusion.

“Do I know you?” Hikari asked. “You look a little familiar…”

“Ah, I don’t think we’ve met before, no.” Sumire shook her head. “My name is Sumire Yoshizawa.”

Hikari’s eyes immediately widened upon hearing that. “You’re Sumire Yoshizawa?” She asked. “You look way different than when I’ve seen you in competitions…”

Sumire giggled a bit at that. “Well, I can’t exactly wear my glasses and keep my hair loose during a competition, Kurusu-senpai.”

Hikari seemed to loosen up a bit at that.

“I suppose not.” Hikari gave her a smile.

The conversation appeared to get Ann’s attention as well. She didn’t say anything, however, simply looking at them as they talked.

Before Sumire could continue the conversation, however, a white car drove up to them and one of the windows opened revealing Kamoshida. He didn’t seem to notice Sumire or Hikari at the moment, only looking at Ann.

Sumire may have had phases of popularity during her time at Shujin, but she can’t imagine being the target of a creep like Kamoshida. She could feel Ann’s despair when the man began speaking.

“Hey, you’re going to be late for school at this rate. Need a lift?” He asked Ann.

Ann’s expression instantly shifted to hide her despair. “Thanks.” She replied, getting into the back seat.

Kamoshida didn’t look entirely pleased by her choice of seat, but didn’t say anything as he turned his attention to Sumire and Hikari.

“You’re Yoshizawa-san, right?” He asked, causing her to nod. “Do you and your friend need a lift too?”

Sumire shook her head. “We’re fine.”

“Your loss.” The man chuckled before closing his window and driving off.

Sumire and Hikari simply watched him leave until they both heard someone shouting. Sumire turned around to see Ryuji spewing insult after insult at Kamoshida.

“Damn pervert.” Ryuji seethed as the car left view.

“Pervert?” Hikari asked, causing Ryuji to turn to them.

The Meta-Nav picked up on that. Sumire recognized the sound, but neither Hikari nor Ryuji seemed to notice.

“Huh?” He gave them both a look over. “You plannin’ on tellin’ Kamoshida?”

“Kamoshida?” Hikari asked.

The Meta-Nav picked up on that too. Was this how Akira had originally entered the Metaverse?

“He’s one of the teachers at Shujin.” Sumire mentioned before looking down, wondering how she should approach the subject. “I’ve only met him once but… he creeps me out.”

Ryuji huffed at that. “‘Course he does. Guy does nothin’ but prey on students, acts like he’s the king of some castle.”

The Meta-Nav picked up on that too.

“Anyway.” Ryuji changed subjects. “I’ve never seen you two before. You two new to Shujin?”

Sumire nodded. “Yeah, we’re transfers.”

“Gotcha…” Ryuji looked around. “Seems the rain’s stopped. We’re gonna be late if we take the normal way, I know a shortcut though, follow me.”

“Thanks.” Sumire bowed.

Ryuji seemed caught off guard. “Uhhh… No problem?”

It was a little goofy, but also kind of sad. Ryuji was probably the closest person to Akira besides Sumire in their original timeline, he deserved better than to be treated like a delinquent.

Ryuji began walking towards the alley, Sumire and Hikari following behind. Shortly after entering, Sumire felt slightly lightheaded. It seemed Hikari and Ryuji did as well, if them briefly clutching their heads was anything to go by.

They entered the Metaverse.

***

“Hello everyone! Today we’re introducing a new student to the class,” Akira’s homeroom teacher introduced him. “He’s transferring here on scholarship as a member of the basketball team.” She then turned to Akira. “Please, introduce yourself.”

“Nice to meet all of you. I’m Akira Kurusu.” Akira introduced himself.

Unlike Shujin, there weren’t any whispers upon him introducing himself. Akira chalked it up less to Kosei having a smaller rumor mill and more to just the fact his enrollment at the school wasn’t as interesting as it was before.

“Alright,” The teacher clasped her hands before pointing to an empty seat. “You can sit there.”

Akira nodded his head and went to the seat. It was just about the same arrangement he had in Shujin, ironically enough.

After taking a seat, class began.

***

Hikari clutched her head after feeling a small headache come. It was gone as fast as it came, however. Perhaps she was simply dehydrated? She could fix that when she got to the school though.

With the blond kid in front and Yoshizawa in the back, the three made their way through the alleyway. Eventually, just as they were about to make it out the other side, the boy stopped and seemed shocked about something.

Following his gaze, Hikari shared his sentiment. Where the school was had been replaced by a gigantic castle.

“What.” Was all she said.

Reading the sign confirmed it. This was definitely Shujin. But Hikari couldn’t wrap her head around how something like this was even possible.

“Do you guys see what I’m seeing?” Hikari asked, turning to look at Yoshizawa and the boy.

They both nodded their heads, although Yoshizawa didn’t seem nearly as surprised as the boy or Hikari were. Hikari didn’t think much of that, however, perhaps she was simply more reserved about her emotions. She knew Akira was.

“Uhhh…” The boy didn’t seem sure what to do. “Should we head inside?”

Hikari wasn’t sure about that, but she didn’t know what else they could do if this really was Shujin.

Shrugging, she took the first steps into the castle grounds, the others following behind her. They soon made it into the castle itself and looked around at the decor.

Red carpets, expensive chandeliers, torches for lighting, everything you’d expect of a medieval castle.

“Who would even have the time to set something like this up? And so quickly?” Hikari asked in disbelief. “I must be dreaming…”

“That’s what I’m thinkin’!” The blond boy agreed. “The hell’s goin’ on here!?”

Hikari winced as he shouted. “Be quiet! We might not be the only ones here!” She hissed.

The boy rubbed the back of his head. “Right. Sorry…”

Just as she said that, what looked to be a bulky knight approached them with a strange blue mask replacing what she would’ve expected to be a face. Perhaps it was some elaborate costume? It looked so unsettling though…

“Woah! You freaked me out.” The boy said before approaching it. “You a student? That’s some costume…”

Yoshizawa, on the other hand, appeared a little more wary of the knight. Her hand seemed to instinctively go to her side. Before Hikari could think too much about that, more knights approached until they were surrounded.

“H-Hey! You guys are startin’ to freak me out!” The boy tried to get them to back off.

Without a word, one bashed him with its shield, causing the boy to keel over in pain.

“Ow! You’re gonna break my bones!”

“Stop!” Hikari cried out. “Please!”

The knights ignored her, however, as one bashed the boy over the head with the hilt of his sword, rendering him unconscious. Meanwhile, some of the knights seemed to take a special interest in Yoshizawa.

“Didn’t the king want this one to himself?” It asked the other knights.

“Yes, take her away!” The other knight answered.

“Leave her alone!” Hikari cried out, charging straight into the knight, knocking it off balance.

Before she could do anything else, however, she was knocked to the floor. As she felt her consciousness fading, she reached out to Yoshizawa, who was being escorted away by some of the other knights, seeming fairly worried.

Then the world faded to black.

***

Sumire said nothing as Hikari and Ryuji were dragged away. She wanted so badly to summon Ella right then and there and save them. But she had to wait, she couldn’t risk interrupting Hikari’s awakening.

So she let herself be escorted to a particular room in the palace. Once the door was opened, Sumire felt the knight push her inside before closing it behind her.

“Wait right there!” The knight commanded through the door. “The king will see you shortly!”

With that, she heard the footsteps of the knight leave the door. Out of curiosity, she tried to open the door, only to find it was locked. Taking a look around, Sumire wanted to vomit.

Akira had told her about this place. It was where Ann had awakened. The room was full of the topless female members of the volleyball team. All of them were whining for Kamoshida to come back.

The way he saw his own team made Sumire’s stomach churn. She may not have been involved the first time, but she’s really going to enjoy putting him in his place this time.

…

She should wait for a while before breaking out. Akira said he was unconscious until around lunchtime. Without anything else to do, Sumire found a place where none of the volleyball girls were in her vision and then waited.

***

“Hey! You’re that transfer, Kurusu-kun, right?” A boy with tan skin called out during lunchtime. “Do you want to eat with us?”

Akira looked at the group to find a bunch of athletic looking students sitting together. Some he recognized from the basketball team, others were probably part of other clubs.

“Sure.” Akira nodded his head, giving them all a charismatic smile.

As he sat down by them, he couldn’t help but once again be surprised by how well he was being treated. It was a very stark contrast from Shujin. He really hoped it wouldn’t get to Hikari too much…

“The coach seemed pretty impressed by you.” One of the boys from the basketball team told him. “We might actually win this year with you on the team!”

Akira gave a few chuckles. “I’ll do my best.”

The boy nodded his head and then got back to his food. Fortunately, the dorm Akira was staying in had access to a kitchen, so Akira was able to make himself a bento for lunch.

As he ate with the other boys, a familiar girl made her way through the cafeteria. It was Hifumi. Her presence immediately got attention from everyone.

No wonder she spent so much time at the church if this was how school was for her. Akira decided to politely look away. Perhaps he could befriend her again, similar to how he did last time.

Oh! Maybe he could introduce her to Hikari as well? She’ll need the strategy expertise.

Looking out of the corner of his eye, Akira saw Hifumi pick the least crowded space in the cafeteria and silently eat her own lunch. Now wouldn’t be a good time to do it, perhaps he should head up to that church sometime.

Akira finished his lunch with minutes to spare before the next class started. So he grabbed his bag, waved goodbye to the team, and then left for his classroom.

***

Sumire heard the door behind her open and she quickly stood up. Kamoshida’s shadow wasn’t the one who opened it, however, it was one of the knights. One with gold armor.

“The king has requested you be moved to his bedroom while he interrogates the other intruders. Come along now.”

“No.” Sumire told it.

If Kamoshida was going down to the dungeon, she could break out now and meet them down there.

“What was that, slave?” The knight asked, seeming pissed off by her response.

“I don’t intend to go anywhere with you.” Sumire told the knight.

She summoned her outfit and drew her rapier. Interestingly enough, it was the same one Akira had given her back in Maruki’s palace.

“Such insolence!” The knight shouted before contorting and bursting into a different kind of knight, wearing red armor and riding a black horse.

Sumire readied herself for the fight. The Eligor charged, thrusting its spear at her. Sumire gracefully dodged the attack, returning the strike with one of her own.

She thrust towards the horse with her rapier, cutting deeply into its flesh as it charged past her. The horse didn’t make any sound, but it stopped as quickly as it could. Sumire almost expected the knight to be thrown out of the saddle, but that didn’t happen.

In retaliation, it charged her again. This time Sumire jumped over it, slicing downwards as she did. Her sword might be designed for thrusting, but it was plenty sharp on the edges as well.

The rapier cut through the Eligor’s armor like it was paper, nearly slicing the knight in two. Thankfully, this being a shadow, there was no blood that came with it. She landed on the other side, turning to see the shadow disintegrate behind her.

Overall, it wasn’t a difficult fight, but Sumire still frowned. She’d need to get a weaker sword if she were to blend in with Hikari’s team.

Filing that thought away for later, she sheathed her rapier and ran out of the room towards the dungeons, ensuring no other shadows spotted her as she went.

***

Hikari felt a massive headache as she slowly awoke. Clutching her head, she slowly sat up as her vision became clearer. She was in some kind of medieval prison cell. She saw the blond kid from earlier examining the bars, likely trying to find some way out.

“So… I guess that wasn’t a dream, huh?” Hikari thought aloud, getting the attention of the boy.

“Hey, you’re up!” He said, running over to her. “You okay?”

“My head hurts, but I think so.” Hikari replied, slowly standing up.

“Same here,” The boy responded before looking around. “Damn… How are we gonna get outta here?”

Hikari looked around the room again, but failed to find anything that would be useful to them. She was beginning to panic. She tried to push the bars, just to see if they’d move. No dice. She pushed harder until eventually she was banging on them.

“H-Hey!” The boy called out, wincing from the noise. “I already tried that! It’s no good…”

Hikari sighed, crumpling to the ground and sobbing a little. She just wanted to see Akira again. She wanted to get out of here, get Yoshizawa out as well, and hug her older brother.

While she was crying, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned to look and saw it was the boy. She grabbed his hand and pushed it away.

“Don’t.” She told him simply.

The boy silently complied.

A nearby scream made them both jump a little. But while the boy tried to peer out of the cell to see where it came from, Hikari remained on the floor.

Eventually, they heard some heavy metallic sounding footsteps approach. As they stopped in front of the cell, Hikari got up on her feet and backed away, wiping away her tears as she did.

On the other side, she saw Kamoshida. Seemingly wearing nothing but a red cape and some underwear.

He looked different from before. There was something twisted and arrogant about the way he looked at them.

“Of course it’d be you, Sakamoto.” Kamoshida spoke as ‘Sakamoto’ seemed just as surprised to see him.

“K-Kamoshida!?” Sakamoto yelled before seeming angry. “Wh-What the hell is all of this!?”

“Silence!” Kamoshida ordered. “This is where you learn that nobody gets to do as they please in my castle.”

“Your castle!?” Sakamoto seemed infuriated by that sentence.

“Silence!” Kamoshida reiterated.

One of his knights unlocked the cell and they surrounded Sakamoto, pushing Hikari to the side.

“H-Hey, what are you doing!?” Sakamoto cried out.

Kamoshida didn’t answer him, the following was hard for Hikari to watch. Kamoshida spat insult after insult at Sakamoto, punching him harder and harder with each one.

“Stop it!” Hikari cried out. “Please…”

That turned Kamoshida’s attention to her.

“And what do we have here?” He said. “The delinquent transfer student? Of course you’re siding with scum like him.” He told her before spitting on Sakamoto. He then turned to the other knights. “Keep her in place, make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”

The knight closest to her nodded its head and pushed her shoulder against the wall, holding it there. Hikari struggled against the grip, but it was no use.

She watched as Kamoshida lifted a sword above Sakamoto’s head, ready to cut it off. She struggled more and more.

Suddenly a voice spoke in her head, causing her to calm down just a little. Time seems to freeze as she sees a blue butterfly fly through the room. Its presence was comforting, and it seemed to comfort her.

Eventually, the voice went away and time resumed.

Are you content to let him die? To do nothing as his execution nears?

Not just him… but putting your brother’s dearest through the unspeakable?

Hikari felt a stray tear fall down her face. She could never let that happen.

Is that how you wish this heist to end?

“No.” Hikari said under her breath.

Wonderful! Allow us to seal the deal!

I am thou, thou art I…

Hikari suddenly felt immense pain in her head, she writhed as the voice continued booming in her head.

Allow us to conspire together to punish all of those who would take from us.

To protect those we hold most dear, and take from those we do not.

Break free of your restraints, and call upon my name!

The pain stopped, leaving Hikari panting. Just as Kamoshida was about to strike Sakamoto down, wind swept through the room, knocking everyone but Hikari and Kamoshida down.

Kamoshida dropped the sword he got from the knight on the floor and turned to look at Hikari.

Hikari felt something on her face. Reaching up, she felt a mask covering it, it felt like some kind of fabric mask with eyeholes.

She tried to pull it off, but it wouldn’t budge. She pulled harder, eventually bringing both hands up to peel it from her face. She screamed as she did, but it finally came loose.

Suddenly she was engulfed in blue flames, but they didn’t burn her. As the flames receded, she found herself in a new outfit. Black gloves covered her hands, large dark red boots covered her feet, but her skirt was replaced by some black jeans. She was now wearing a thin dark red open jacket as well over a black shirt.

It felt like the kind of outfit that would be near perfect at robbing a place at night, but not completely colorless. Although not particularly stylish either.

Behind her, she saw a woman, the voice in her head, standing amidst blue flames. She towered over everyone else in the room, holding two revolvers in her hands, pointing both at Kamoshida. The woman was dressed like an old western outlaw, but she didn’t look quite human.

Her skin was far paler than any human could be, but she didn’t look unhealthy.

Turning back to Kamoshida, it seemed as though the shock had finally worn off.

“Guards!” Kamoshida ordered, causing the guards to get back up off the ground. “Change of plans, kill that one first!” He said, pointing at the woman.

The guards contorted and transformed into pumpkins carrying lanterns. Despite the surprise, Hikari was ready for them.

“Let’s do this, Belle!”

Chapter 6: Day of Sisters

Chapter Text

Hikari struck one of the pumpkins with her knife that came from nowhere before ducking under some fire that had come her way from the other one. It was a strange feeling to be fighting like this.

Akira knew a little about how to fight by virtue of roughhousing with his friends, but Hikari never actually fought anyone before. Yet her actions felt almost instinctual, they weren’t graceful or refined, but they more than got her by while fighting the two pumpkins.

“Belle!” Hikari called out, removing her mask and striking the same pumpkin with a burst of some kind of black energy.

The pumpkin faded into a black mist, leaving just her and the other pumpkin. It threw more fire in her direction which she was able to easily dodge, kicking the pumpkin to the floor and slicing it a couple of times before it turned into black mist like the other one.

She then turned her knife to Kamoshida.

Before she could do anything, however, Sakamoto knocked him down.

Thinking fast, Hikari took the keys one of the guards dropped and escaped the room with Sakamoto, locking it behind them.

Huffing in slight exhaustion, her new outfit suddenly disappeared.

“L-Let’s get out of here.” Hikari told Sakamoto.

“How did you do all that!?” Sakamoto asked, seeming more concerned with her outfit and powers.

As intrigued as Hikari was by it, they had more pressing matters.

“Later, Sakamoto! We have to save Yoshizawa!”

“R-Right!” Sakamoto nodded his head. “Let’s go!”

Hikari, despite her exhaustion, stood up straight and began trying to navigate the dungeon with Sakamoto.

***

After a while of attempting to escape the dungeon, Hikari and Sakamoto found themselves at a dead end.

“Dammit!” Sakamoto cursed. “Is there no way out!?”

Hikari leaned against a wall, huffing slightly. She’d never felt so drained in her life…

“Hey, uhhh… You okay?” Sakamoto asked as he looked over at her.

Hikari knew that there was no time to rest, so she forced herself to stand up straight, no matter how exhausted she was.

“Yes,” She answered, letting out a deep breath before looking around. “Think there’s any way we could lower that drawbridge?”

“I’m not seein’ anything to lower it…” Sakamoto answered hopelessly.

Hikari gave it a look over herself, although she was having a hard time focusing her vision while she did so. Needless to say, outside of a statue of Kamoshida, there wasn’t anything there.

“Hey! Over here!”

For a second, Hikari thought they’d got caught, before looking around and seeing a small bipedal cat thing waving them over. Seeing as it was behind bars, Hikari felt comfortable walking closer to it.

“You guys are trying to get out, right?” The cat thing asked. “I can help if you let me out. The keys are right over there.” He pointed to a rack holding a keyring.

“And why should we trust you?” Sakamoto asked, looking suspicious.

“Do I look like a guard?” The cat fired back. “Please! Just let me out of here!”

Hikari wasn’t sure why, but she felt a small connection to the cat. She felt like she should let it out, but still… Sakamoto was right to be suspicious.

“Do you really know the way out?”

“Yes! I do!” The cat insisted.

Hikari wasn’t sure, but they didn’t exactly have many more options.

“Fine, I’ll let you out and you’ll get us out of here.” She told the cat.

She grabbed the keyring as the cat profusely thanked her, she then unlocked the cell, allowing the cat out.

If he knew the way out, though…

“Do you know where Kamoshida keeps special prisoners?” Hikari had to ask.

“Special prisoners?” The cat asked.

“We came in with a third person, but she was taken somewhere else, not these dungeons.”

“Hmmm… I’m not sure.” Morgana answered. “I didn’t really get the opportunity to explore this place very thoroughly. I only know the dungeons and the entrance.”

“Dammit!” Hikari hissed, looking away. She then sighed to herself. “Let’s just try to get out of these dungeons…”

The cat nodded his head before walking over to the drawbridge. After showing them how to lower it, the trio proceeded through the dungeons, fighting only when absolutely necessary.

***

With a strike of her knife, Hikari downed the last fairy-looking monster. As the fight ended, her outfit again disappeared and she slumped over in pure exhaustion. It was only getting harder to continue after every fight.

“Are you alright, lady?” The cat, Morgana, asked.

Hikari forced herself to again stand up straight.

“Y-Yeah… Let’s just try not to get into too many more fights.” Hikari told him, her legs shaking a bit.

“H-Here, I got ya.” Sakamoto spoke up, putting her arm over his shoulder to support her.

“Well, we definitely can’t afford to get into any more fights with you like this…” Morgana told her. “Let’s hope those are the last guards we encounter.”

Morgana began moving ahead while Sakamoto helped Hikari follow.

“Thanks, Sakamoto-san.” Hikari told him gratefully.

She wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand without his help. Hopefully they could find Yoshizawa and get out of here in one piece…

As the trio progressed through the dungeons, Morgana’s ears perked up.

“Wait!” He hissed, just loud enough for them to hear. “I sense something ahead coming our way!”

Hikari held her breath. Was this it? She wasn’t sure if she could fight anymore…

She heard footsteps drawing nearer. Looking up from the ground, she saw what looked to be a girl approaching them. She was wearing a black mask, jacket, leotard, stockings, and heels.

The girl saw them and rushed forward, running up to them. Hikari closed her eyes, preparing for the worst.

“Thank goodness I found you guys!” She spoke up.

Hikari recognized that voice.

“Y-Yoshizawa!?”

Morgana looked between the two of them. “Is this the girl you said came with you?”

Hikari nodded her head. She was so relieved to see her.

“You awoke to a persona as well?” Hikari asked.

Yoshizawa nodded her head. “Yes!” She then looked Hikari up and down and seemed confused. “Are you okay?”

“Interesting…” Morgana interrupted. “It seems Yoshizawa has a greater grasp of her power than you do. As I said before, your outfit usually wouldn’t fizzle out like that.”

“I’m okay,” Hikari nodded her head. “Just very tired…”

“Well let’s get out of here then!” Yoshizawa waved to them. “I remember the way out of the dungeon, follow me!”

Thankful for the extra security Yoshizawa provided, Hikari and the others followed her before finally managing to get out of the dungeons. With a little assistance from Morgana in finding a vent, and crawling through it, they all managed to escape the castle and took off running as far from it as they could get.

They ended up right back where they started. Under the awning. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining anymore.

“A-Are we finally safe?” Hikari asked, feeling the urge to vomit.

“I believe so, yes.” Yoshizawa answered, unphased by the run entirely.

As expected of an athlete, Hikari supposed.

As the adrenaline wore off though, Hikari was having a harder and harder time standing up straight. At least they weren’t trapped in the castle anymore…

“Thank… goodness…” Hikari spoke as black spots filled her vision.

Then her entire world went dark.

***

Before Hikari could hit the pavement, Sumire managed to catch her.

“W-Woah! Are you okay?” Sumire asked, looking over Hikari.

Hikari, however, was unresponsive. It seemed she had passed out. Sumire sighed as she thought about what to do.

“Is she okay!?” Ryuji asked, looking extremely concerned.

“I’m not sure…” Sumire replied. “I think she passed out from exhaustion though.”

“Think it could have something to do with her summoning that thing in the castle?” Ryuji asked.

Sumire shrugged. “Maybe.”

She hoped that was the case, but as far as she was aware, Akira hadn’t passed out when he first awakened, and neither had Sumire.

“We should get her to the school so she can rest in the Nurse’s office.” Sumire suggested, suppressing a wince as it reminded her of someone. “If there’s something wrong we can’t see, then the school should be able to call an ambulance.”

“A-Are ya sure?” Ryuji replied. “Ya really think we should go back to that castle?”

Sumire sighed. “It’s our best bet, maybe we made a wrong turn before.”

“...Fine.” Ryuji didn’t seem all too sure. “Do ya want help?”

Sumire gave him a small smile. “It’d be appreciated.”

With that, Sumire and Ryuji carried Hikari to the school.

***

With much struggle, Sumire and Ryuji managed to carry Hikari to the school. It made them a little late, and Sumire felt some buzzing from the blazer’s pocket, but she couldn’t check it at the moment while she was helping Hikari.

As they approached the building, they got many stares from nearby students. Sumire supposed it must be lunch right now if there were students out and about… Which meant it was probably Akira texting her.

With that thought in mind, she tried to pick up pace as much as was manageable and eventually the two made it to the school. It didn’t take very long for the vice principal, Kawakami, to notice them.

Sumire had honestly almost forgotten that Kawakami was the vice principal now. She should probably tell Akira next chance she gets. She hoped that Kawakami was still a good person…

“What happened!?” Kawakami asked as she approached them. “And why are all of you half a day late!? ”

Sumire winced. “S-Sorry,” She stuttered a bit, trying to come up with a story. “We got lost a-and then Kurusu-senpai collapsed!”

Kawakami ran a hand through her hair. “Okay okay, just get her to the nurse’s office and don’t let it happen again, okay? Especially you, Sakamoto.”

“Yeah yeah. I know.” Ryuji replied, seeming more concerned about Hikari than his attendance.

With Kawakami letting them off the hook, Sumire and Ryuji took Hikari the rest of the way to the nurse’s office before dropping her off.

“Thanks for the help, Sakamoto-senpai.” Sumire said with a deep breath as she finally let go of Hikari.

“No prob.” Ryuji replied. “She saved my life, it was the least I could do in return.”

Sumire smiled at that. She remembered just how selfless Ryuji could be according to Akira. It was too bad that not many people saw him that way.

“We should probably get to class now…” Sumire said. “See you later?”

Ryuji seemed surprised by that. “Uhhh… Sure, yeah. I kinda wanted to discuss everything with you and Kurusu anyway.”

Sumire nodded her head before waving goodbye to him and leaving the room. Before she got to her class, however, she checked her phone to see that she had texts from Akira and Kasumi.

She opened Akira’s first.

Akira: Did everything go well with Hikari?

Akira: Sumire?

Akira: Sumire, are you alright?

Akira: Sumire, please respond…

In a slight panic, Sumire finally responded.

Sumire: I’m fine, Senpai!

Sumire: Hikari collapsed when we left the Metaverse so I had to take her to the nurse’s office.

Akira took a moment before responding.

Akira: Oh thank goodness… I hope Kamoshida’s palace wasn’t too hard on you.

Akira: Do you want to meet up after school?

Sumire: I’d love to! See you then!

Sumire then opened up Kasumi’s texts.

Kasumi: Why isn’t anything going through!?

Kasumi: Finally!

Kasumi: Sumire, where are you? I texted Mom and Dad that you never made it to school and that my texts weren’t going through, they’re super worried!

Kasumi: I just heard that you arrived with an unconscious student, what happened!?

Sumire winced as she looked at her texts. She really had to get to class now.

Putting away her phone, Sumire walked as fast as she could to the faculty office where she was sure she was in for a scolding.

***

Hikari slowly opened her eyes and sat up. Looking around, she saw she was in… some kind of hospital bed? The room didn’t look like a hospital room, however. Where were Sakamoto and Yoshizawa? Was all that stuff with the castle even real?

Hikari began to feel a little dizzy and lied back down. It wasn’t long before her homeroom teacher, Ushimaru, entered the room.

He looked grumpy, but somehow slightly relieved to see she was awake.

“Feeling better?” He asked gruffly. “You missed the entire day.”

Hikari nodded her head. “Yeah, um. I’m just feeling a little dizzy, Ushimaru-sensei.”

The man huffed. “According to Yoshizawa and Sakamoto, you three got lost on the way to school before you suddenly passed out and they had to carry you here.” Despite his tone, there was definitely still some concern there. “If that’s all true, and we have no reason to doubt it right now, I’ll let you off the hook just this once. But I expect you to get to class on time tomorrow. Your guardian has already been informed.”

Hikari winced. Sakura wasn’t going to be happy about this… She should at least count herself lucky she got let off the hook.

“Thank you, Ushimaru-sensei.” Hikari replied, attempting to stand up from her bed before stumbling slightly. After getting her balance, she bowed. “I’ll be on my way.”

She walked past Ushimaru and out the door to the school. She still wasn’t sure if her memory was serving her correctly. Had she really gone through some strange castle? Awakened to a persona as that cat said? A power that Yoshizawa apparently also gained?

Just thinking about it made Hikari dizzy again. She needed to get back to the café and talk it out with Sakura… maybe grab something to eat since she missed lunch.

Keeping herself from stumbling once more, Hikari boarded the train.

***

There was an awkward silence between Sumire and Kasumi all the way home. Sumire had the sense that Kasumi wanted to say something, just not around so many other people. Once they got to Kichijoji and got off the train, Kasumi finally spoke up.

“Hey, Sumire… Can we talk?” Kasumi asked.

Sumire took a deep breath before answering. “Of course.”

Kasumi grabbed Sumire’s arm and pulled her along to an alley with no people in it.

“I just wanted to ask…” Kasumi started. “Is everything okay?”

Sumire tilted her head. “Yes… I just got lost on the way to school.”

“Well,” Kasumi continued. “First you wanted to visit your boyfriend that nobody besides you knew about, then he suddenly moves to Tokyo, and now you got lost on the way to school with his sister without any phone service.” She concluded. “I don’t know if it’s all just coincidence… but is something going on, Sumire?”

Sumire let out a sigh, she really didn’t want to lie, but she had to. “I’m sorry for worrying you Kasumi, but nothing’s wrong. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Kasumi smirked, just a little, but her expression seemed conflicted. “I’m the older sibling, it’s my job to be worried about you.” She sighed. “Fine. Just let me know if anything’s wrong, okay?”

Sumire nodded her head. “Of course.”

Kasumi then turned her head to the edge of the alley. “Guess we oughta get home. I’m sure Mom and Dad are gonna scold you for being so late, but I’ll try to get them to understand.”

“Thank you, Kasumi.” Sumire smiled. “Let’s go.”

***

Akira ran a hand through his hair in stress. He had to check up on Hikari. He definitely didn’t collapse on his first day, so something must be up. He’d been planning to try and appeal to Futaba somehow today… but Hikari, as the Trickster, the one who needs to win against Yaldabaoth, as well as his sister, Akira just couldn’t ignore it.

He had to be sure.

As soon as classes finished, he practically sprinted to his dorm room to put away his bag before getting on the closest train to Yongen.

After around twenty minutes, Akira arrived in Yongen and sprinted for Leblanc. Bursting through the door, he quickly scanned the room to see that Hikari wasn’t there. Sojiro was, however.

“Excuse me!” Akira spoke, getting Sojiro’s attention as he ran up to him. “Where’s Hikari?”

The man looked him up and down before responding. “You her brother?”

Akira frantically nodded his head.

Sojiro sighed. “After she collapsed at school she came back and hasn’t left her room since.”

“Can I see her?” Akira requested.

Sojiro looked unsure. “...Fine. But she’s already exhausted as is, don’t make it worse.”

Akira nodded his head. “Thanks.”

Akira turned to the stairs and began walking up them, taking in a deep breath as he looked over the attic that had once been his own home. It wasn’t as clean or decorated as he had left it, but he was sure Hikari would get around to cleaning it up more thoroughly later on.

He wasn’t here to admire his old room, however, he had to talk to Hikari.

As he approached the bed where Hikari was seemingly sleeping, she seemed to stir a bit.

“Sakura-san? Is everything okay…?” She asked before her eyes fully opened. “Akira!?”

She shot up in her bed before clutching her head, clearly dizzy.

“Easy…” Akira gently spoke, lightly pushing her back down. “Are you okay? I heard what happened…”

“I’m fine, Akira.” She assured him, though allowing herself to be pushed back down. “I’m just… completely exhausted…”

Akira nodded his head. “Sumire told me… What happened, anyway?”

Hikari rolled her eyes. “Of course she told you…” She rubbed her brow a bit. “I’m not sure… I just got really tired and I guess I passed out while we were looking for the school?”

Akira sighed. He knew she was lying, but he also knew why. Still, he hadn’t collapsed, so perhaps…

“Did you drink or eat enough?” Akira asked. “Get enough sleep?”

Hikari nodded. “I did, Sakura-san gave me some curry for breakfast as well, and I got something to eat on the way home.” She then sighed. “I… haven’t been sleeping well recently, though…”

“...Still thinking about it?” Akira asked.

“Yeah…” Hikari nodded her head.

Akira hated seeing that pained look on her face. He knew exactly how she felt.

“I promise you, Hikari.” Akira told her. “I will make this better.”

Hikari gave him a confused look.

“Akira, you don’t have to.” Hikari told him. “Besides, there’s nothing you can do about it anyway.”

That’s where you’re wrong. Akira thought to himself.

“Get plenty of rest, Hikari.” Akira told her. “I’ll see you this weekend, okay?”

Hikari gave him a small smile. “I look forward to it.”

Akira smiled back, but as soon as she fell back asleep, he frowned. He had to get Futaba’s assistance. That’s the best way to expose Shido and expunge Hikari’s record.

***

Meanwhile, Futaba was looking over documents she shouldn’t technically have the authority to access whilst listening in on Leblanc. She didn’t particularly care about who Sojiro kept in the attic. So far the girl doesn’t seem threatening, so Sakura isn’t in any real danger.

The girl had a conversation with her older brother, which was interesting, but nothing to get Futaba’s full attention.

She was much more interested in reading these secret government documents and emails. Embezzlement of funds? She should leak that anonymously later. A police captain being paid off to cover up a trafficking ring? Higher priority, but she needed to find more documents or else people might not take it seriously. Let’s see…

She saved those documents and emails to a folder in the meantime before delving back in and seeing what else she could find.

After a bit more digging, she couldn’t seem to find anything else about the trafficking ring. An email could simply be edited, she had to find something more to prove that it was happening. The only other stuff must be physical, but she had no way of obtaining those…

As she was thinking, she heard her phone buzz on her desk. It must be Sojiro. Grabbing her phone, she looked at it to see what he wanted.

???: Alibaba, I need your help.

Futaba’s heart immediately sank. She would’ve assumed it was a random spam message had it said anything else. How did they find her number!? And more importantly, connect it to her online identity!?

Alibaba: Who is this? You have no idea who you’re messing with, I assure you.

Why is she even bothering asking? She should check the number against online databases.

…

It seemed the number was a temporary one from some prepaid phone. Still, she should be able to figure out who sent the text.

As Futaba was working on hacking into and sorting through purchase histories for the phone associated with the number, she felt a breeze pass through the room.

…But her window shouldn’t be open.

Futaba turned to see it ajar, she hadn’t even heard it open. She stopped her search immediately, freezing in her seat and she looked around her room.

Then she saw him. A figure towering over her wearing a domino mask and a trench coat. He looked like some kind of superhero in the comic books she read. In fact, despite the scenario, his presence didn’t seem entirely threatening.

She still felt threatened, however.

“Wh-Who are you!?” Futaba asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I need your help, Alibaba.” The man replied, reiterating his earlier request.

“A-Are you another hallucination?” Futaba asked, clutching her head. “Please, just go away… I don’t want to remember anymore!”

She curled up in her chair.

The man didn’t leave, however.

“Alibaba,” The man spoke her name more gently. “It wasn’t your fault.”

That confirmed this man was an apparition. There was no way anyone else could’ve known about that.

She quickly shook her head. “It was! I killed my mother!”

“Is that really how the events went?” The man asked her.

“Y-Yes…” Futaba told him. “She was always so annoyed with me, I only got in the way of her work!” She sobbed. “Th-Then she committed suicide and left me that note! It’s all my fault!”

As much as she didn’t want it, she remembered each event in vivid detail. She killed her mother, she killed her mother, she killed her mother, she killed her mother…

…The breeze left the room.

Futaba looked up around her room. Nothing was moved or touched, the man was gone, and the window was closed.

That was a new one. Futaba turned back to her computer, then shut it off. She probably just needs more sleep, that’s all…

***

Akira wiped a tear away from his face as he stood just out of view of Futaba’s window. He’d almost forgotten just how hard it was to see Futaba like this. She’d been making such good progress, and now he has to see her go through all of it again…

He had to fix this.

Stealing her treasure was out of the question, any sort of calling card could easily push her over the edge. She trusted the thieves, but she doesn’t trust him.

Rubbing a hand through his hair, he thought about what to do.

The puzzle.

That puzzle represented her jumbled up dishonest memories. If he just sorted those… He could probably convince her.

Akira sent a quick text to Sumire.

Akira: Are you free tomorrow?

It took only a few seconds for Sumire to respond.

Sumire: I believe so. Why?

Akira: We’re going to save Futaba.

Sumire: Got it. I’ll meet you in Yongen after school then?

Akira: Thanks, I love you, Sumi.

Sumire: I love you too!

Akira became suddenly curious about another thing, however.

Akira: You were late to school today though, will that impact anything?

Sumire: No, my parents were very understanding of the reasoning. They just want me to follow Kasumi this time since she knows the way.

Akira: That’s a relief, I’ll see you tomorrow then.

Sumire: See you!

Akira put away his phone before dismissing his thief outfit. He wasn’t certain if he’d be able to use it in reality, but thankfully he still could. That would make speaking with Futaba without exposing himself much easier.

Sneaking away from the property, Akira made his way back to his dorm.

Chapter 7: Rescue of the Hermit

Chapter Text

After school the next day, Sumire left her classroom only to find Hikari and Ryuji on the other side.

“Kurusu-senpai, Sakamoto-senpai?” Sumire asked, tilting her head.

“Hey, uhm… We need to talk.” Hikari spoke quietly to her. “About what happened yesterday.”

Sumire nodded her head. She supposed that was only natural.

Just as Sumire was about to follow them, however, Kasumi approached.

“Sumire?” Kasumi asked as she walked up to them. “Who are they? Are you guys friends?”

Sumire nodded her head as she introduced them. “This is Kurusu-senpai, Akira’s sister, and Sakamoto-senpai.”

Kasumi’s eyes immediately lit up with recognition. “Oh! It’s nice to meet you two!” She then smirked. “So when are you going to introduce me to your boyfriend?”

Sumire blushed slightly before looking away. “Kasumi…”

Kasumi giggled a bit. “Well I assume all of you probably want to hang out. I’m heading home, don’t stay out too late, okay Sumire?”

“Okay. I got it.” Sumire replied with a nod.

Kasumi smiled before walking off.

Ryuji looked at Sumire curiously, however.

“You have a boyfriend?”

Sumire nodded her head. “Uhm… Yes. Akira Kurusu.” She wished she could say his actual name, though she smiled regardless.

“Huh…”

Hikari, however, rolled her eyes. “Come on, let’s just talk on the roof, okay?”

Sumire and Ryuji both nodded in response and began to go up with her. Once at the top, Hikari took a deep breath.

“So, from what Ryuji’s been telling me… None of yesterday was a dream, right?” Hikari asked. “The school really did become a castle, I really awoke to a persona, and I collapsed as soon as you all left?”

Sumire shook her head. “No, that’s all right.”

“...But, how did we even end up there?” Ryuji asked. “I can’t remember makin’ any different decisions on the way to school yesterday…”

Hikari shrugged. “We could try different paths and see where we end up. That is, if we even want to go back there.”

“Of course I do!” Ryuji replied loudly, causing Sumire to wince. “I wanna know why Kamoshida was goin’ completely mask off there but still actin’ like he’s all nice here! On top of setting free all those prisoners he had!”

Hikari nodded her head. “Yeah… That’s the part I just don’t get.” She shook her head. “So, we should go back?”

“Yeah!” Ryuji replied in anticipation.

“Uhm… About that…” Sumire spoke up.

Hikari and Ryuji turned to her with confused looks.

“I kind of… Planned a date with Akira beforehand.” She half-lied.

She and Akira still need to save Futaba, after all.

Hikari frowned. “You awakened too though, didn’t you? We may need the manpower.”

Sumire nodded her head. “I know but… I’m sorry, I really don’t want to cancel it.”

Hikari seemed to sympathize with her a little. “Fine. Ryuji and I will go in alone, is that okay?”

“Just stay safe, okay?” Sumire told them. “We already know how dangerous that place can be…”

Hikari nodded her head. “I promise. Ryuji, do you still want to go?”

“Yeah!” Ryuji replied. “Let’s figure out what Kamoshida’s up to!”

Sumire smiled internally as she saw Ryuji’s enthusiasm. However, she still needed to get to Akira.

With that thought in mind, she bowed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

She then waved goodbye as she headed back for the stairs. She pulled out her phone, telling Akira what just happened, before heading out of the building and to the train station.

***

Despite the situation, Akira couldn’t help but smile as his girlfriend approached him from the station. Hikari was in the Metaverse and Sojiro would be managing Leblanc around now, so Akira didn’t think it would be much of a risk to hang around here.

As Sumire approached, Akira gave her a small peck on the cheek before holding her hand.

“It’s good to see you, Sumire.” He said with a smile before his tone changed to a more serious one. “Are you ready?”

Sumire nervously swallowed before nodding her head. “Mhm… I really hope we can help Futaba.”

Akira nodded his head. “Me too.”

He hated seeing Futaba like this. Before he even had a sister, Futaba filled that role for him. It was nice, although he loved his parents, that he was able to be a part of Sojiro and Futaba’s family as well.

Suddenly, he felt Sumire’s lips on his cheek. After pulling away, she gave him an understanding look.

“We’ll help her, okay?” Sumire assured him.

Akira smiled, squeezing her hand as he did. “We will.”

With that, the two snuck behind the Sakura residence, where Akira had intruded from the day before. Once there, Akira crouched below the window with Sumire by his side.

“Uhm…” Sumire whispered. “How are we supposed to get into the palace?”

“I think I know how.” Akira told her, squeezing her hand once more. “Just trust me.”

Sumire gave him a small smile and nod. Akira then took a deep breath.

He’d theorized that if the world arcana was able to grant him so much influence over the will of the masses, even more than Maruki or Yaldabaoth had ever exercised, then perhaps even without the will of the masses, he’d still be able to access the Metaverse.

He focused on Satanael in his mind, and as he did, he was able to feel the distortion in the space around him. Futaba’s palace.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed onto Sumire tight and took the plunge.

***

Sumire wasn’t sure what had just happened. One moment they were beneath Futaba’s window, the next she felt a light headache and they were in the desert. She wasn’t sure what Akira had done, but it had worked.

“Wow…” Sumire spoke aloud as she looked around in awe. “Uhm… Where’s the palace?” She asked, a little worried.

Akira sighed. “Should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy…”

Sumire tilted her head at him before he gestured to a pyramid that looked to be many kilometers away. How would they even get there? In this heat?

Sumire passed Akira a worried glance, who seemed to be deep in thought.

“Hold on, I have an idea.” Akira told her before stepping away a few feet.

Before Sumire could even ask what he was doing, he summoned a persona.

“Kohryu!” Akira shouted out, summoning a golden dragon.

She’d seen this persona before, it was representative of his bond with Sojiro. Sumire had to admit, she always blushed when he used Maria. Although there were only so many personas he could carry at once, he always had that one on him.

Akira set a hand on the golden beast before gesturing for Sumire to come over.

Sumire approached as Akira hopped on top of the persona. Akira held out a hand for her to get on as well. Sumire graciously took it, sitting behind him.

“Hold on tight.” Akira told her.

She nodded her head before wrapping her arms tightly around him.

“Let’s go, Kohryu!”

The dragon took off into the sky and shot into the direction of the palace. All the while, Sumire held onto Akira as tight as she could.

***

“How did you and Yoshizawa meet, anyway?” Sakamoto asked as they snuck their way through the castle back to the dungeons.

“We didn’t.” Hikari answered quietly, peeking around a corner for any guards.

“For real?” Sakamoto seemed surprised. “Even though she’s datin’ your brother?”

Hikari shrugged. “I didn’t know they were dating until last month. And that was when… you know.”

“Wait, Yoshizawa was that redhead, right?” Morgana asked. “Her boyfriend is your brother?”

Hikari nodded her head. “Yeah. That’s right.”

Morgana seemed astonished. “Two persona-users so closely connected… Maybe it’s fate?”

“Are persona-users rare?” Hikari asked.

“Yeah- well, I think so.” Morgana told her. “You and Yoshizawa are the first ones I met since I lost my memory. And I’ve been in a lot of palaces.”

“I wonder if Akira could become a persona-user…” Hikari questioned aloud.

“Anyone with a strong will of rebellion can.” Morgana told her. “Does that describe your brother?”

“Yeah… I suppose it does.”

***

Sumire had to admit. Flying on her boyfriend’s persona high in the sky was quite fun. Although the circ*mstances could’ve been better, she couldn’t help but beam in excitement and nuzzle her boyfriend’s back as she held onto him.

“Having fun?” Akira asked her.

“Absolutely!” Sumire answered, a little breathless. “We have to do this again sometime!”

That caused Akira to laugh. “Of course!”

Only a short few minutes later, due to Kohryu’s speed, they arrived at the palace and landed on the ground.

Sumire had almost forgotten how hot it was, the air above being much nicer, if still dry. Akira got off first before offering his hand to Sumire to help her down as well. Once they were both down, Kohryu disappeared.

“We should probably get into the palace…” Akira told her, sweating slightly.

Sumire nodded and the two ran up the stairs and into the palace. As soon as they entered, Sumire felt her thief outfit appear. It saddened her a little, to know that Futaba saw her as a threat.

“So…” Sumire spoke up. “Where to, Joker-senpai?” She asked.

She couldn’t help but smile a bit as she said that. Although she never quite agreed with the actions of the Phantom Thieves, infiltrating Maruki’s palace with them was probably a highlight of her life.

She never felt like she didn’t belong, even if she wasn’t really a thief.

Akira gave her a smirk as she spoke his codename. “Follow me, Violet.”

Sumire blushed a bit at the codename. She nodded her head and Akira began walking towards a giant door that seemed to block off the rest of the palace.

Regardless, however, Akira still approached the door. Sumire wasn’t sure what he was doing, even when he rested a palm against the door.

“Senpai?” Sumire asked.

“Sorry,” Akira seemed to snap out of it. “It’s just a lot… To see all of this again.”

Sumire understood what he meant and wrapped him in a tight hug from behind.

“We’ll save her.” Sumire assured him. “It’s what you do best, right?”

Akira smiled a bit and Sumire released him. He then pointed to a wall above the entrance.

“That’s another doorway, even if it doesn’t look like one.” Akira told her. “We’ll have to open it to proceed. Are you ready?”

“Always.” Sumire assured him with a smile.

***

It took a while, but Akira and Sumire eventually got to a room with a weird disfigured hieroglyphic that appeared after Akira set some stones into the palms of a couple of Anubis statues.

“What’s that?” Sumire had to ask as she looked at it. Part of it looked like Futaba, but she wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at.

“This is a memory of Futaba’s.” Akira answered somberly. “It’s part of the reason she blames herself for her mother’s death.”

Sumire couldn’t help but feel awful for Futaba. She’d heard the story from Akira before, but it was just as terrible a feeling to see it for herself.

Suppressing tears, Sumire asked the next question that was on her mind. “Why is it all scrambled?”

Akira didn’t seem to have a solid answer for that. “Well… I think it has to do with how her memories leading up to Wakaba’s death are all scrambled and she can’t make sense of them. I’m hoping that by solving these puzzles, we can help Futaba remember what really happened.”

Sumire nodded her head. “Scrambled memories…”

“Something wrong, Violet?” Akira asked, concerned.

“I think I know what that feels like.” Sumire told him. “During the time I was uh… Under Maruki’s influence… I couldn’t make sense of the day Kasumi died. I rarely ever thought of it as a result.” A tear ran down her cheek. “I think I knew the whole time that something was wrong though… I just chalked it up to trauma.”

“Sumi…” Akira instantly wrapped her in a hug.

“I’m okay, Senpai…” Sumire gave Akira a small smile to reassure him. “Let’s save Futaba, okay?” She told him yet again.

Akira squeezed her just a bit with his hug before letting go. After taking a deep breath, they got to work fixing the memory.

***

After some time, they finally finished the last one, revealing the scene of Wakaba’s death. Sumire couldn’t help but cry as she saw it, saw how similar it was to Kasumi’s passing.

Though Kasumi may be alive now, Sumire would live with the memory of her death forever.

Sumire wasn’t the only one having a hard time, however. She caught Akira shedding a few tears himself.

“...Senpai?” Sumire called out to him.

“S-Sorry.” Akira wiped beneath his mask where the tears were showing. “It’s just… Sparing Futaba from this trauma was a big reason I came back here in the first place. No one should have to watch their family die, much less blame it on themselves.”

Sumire frowned at that and clutched her arm. She knew what that felt like.

“That includes you, Sumi.” Akira told her, ditching her codename yet again. He walked over to her and wrapped his hand around hers. “You know that, right?”

Sumire nodded her head and rested her head against his chest before speaking up.

“...You still should’ve at least talked it out with all of us before you did it.” Sumire told him.

“I know, and I’m sorry, Sumi.” Akira told her as he rubbed her back. “We should probably get out of here now. I’ll try to talk to Futaba again tomorrow.”

Sumire nodded her head and jumped back down to the stairway with Akira. Once they exited the pyramid, Sumire expected to have to trek all the way back to where they came from, but as soon as they left the general area of the pyramid, she found herself back outside of Futaba’s window.

She let out a small sigh of relief, as she figured, even with Kohryu, that they’d have to be in the heat for a while.

The two snuck away from Futaba’s window after getting their bearings, heading towards the train station.

“So…” Sumire spoke up. “See you tomorrow, Senpai?”

“Actually…” Akira shook his head. “There’s one more thing I want to talk to you about.”

Sumire tilted her head. “What is it?”

“Shiho.”

Sumire’s eyes widened as she remembered what had happened before to that student.

“She’s… Ann-senpai’s friend, right?” Sumire asked, to which Akira nodded his head.

“We probably shouldn’t discuss this here though.” Akira looked around. “Hikari could be coming back any minute.”

“How about my place, then?” Sumire asked.

Akira nodded his head. “If your sister and parents aren’t there, sure.”

Sumire shrugged. “Mom and Dad both work late, and Kasumi’s pretty much never home. She’s never liked being stuck indoors.”

Akira nodded his head, took Sumire’s hand in his own, and the two set off for Kichijoji.

***

The two arrived at Sumire’s house not long later and entered, taking a seat on the couch together as Akira prepared to explain his idea. He didn’t like having Sumire do this alone, but he didn’t really have any options.

“Kamoshida is going to… rape Shiho in two days.” Akira did his best to hold in the tears as he remembered what happened.

Shiho was Ann’s best friend, after all.

Sumire looked down at the floor and bit her lip after Akira told her that. Akira scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her towards his chest.

“I really hate to ask this of you, Sumi, but…” Akira trailed off as he took a deep breath. “I want you to save her.”

“Of course, Senpai…” Sumire nodded her head. “No one deserves what she had to go through…”

Akira smiled slightly at that.

“I think that turning off the power and tripping off the fire alarm should be enough to interrupt Kamoshida.” Akira continued. “He doesn’t care about Shiho, so if she’s already in his office, then he’d likely leave her behind. Do you think you can use that opportunity to get her out?”

Sumire nodded her head. “I’ll do my best.” She answered, determined.

Akira loved her so much…

“Thank you, Sumi.” Akira told her. “As for tomorrow, I’m going to try and appeal to Futaba.”

Sumire nodded her head. “So… Is that all?”

“Do you want me to stay over for longer?”

“Obviously!” Sumire told him, brightly smiling.

Akira pulled her away from his chest slightly before nuzzling her nose against his. He then laid down on the couch, pulling her down with him, still nuzzling her. Sumire smiled as he did so, eventually resting her head against his chest.

After a few minutes, Akira heard light snores coming from her. He supposed he couldn’t blame her, they had just gone through practically an entire palace today.

As he thought about that, his own eyes got droopy. He gave Sumire’s head a quick peck before allowing sleep to take him.

***

Kasumi wiped sweat from her forehead as she completed her run. Although she had already done her training for the day, she enjoyed staying active. She was hoping to invite Sumire for a run, but it seemed Sumire had some other friends to hang out with.

With a sigh, Kasumi walked home. She was still in Kichijoji, so it didn’t take long, thankfully.

Once inside, she took a deep breath and shut the door, removing her shoes as she did.

Heading into the living room, she saw Sumire and another teen she didn’t recognize. They were cuddling on the couch, sound asleep. Must be her boyfriend. Seemed as though her words about meeting Sumire’s boyfriend went through one ear and straight out the other.

Alternatively, she’d brought her boyfriend here to introduce them and then got too cozy.

Regardless, Kasumi wasn’t sure whether she should disturb them. They looked so relaxed together, in a way that Kasumi hadn’t seen Sumire for a long time. Not since before her first surgery.

Kasumi frowned. Nothing connected to her heart had surfaced since, but she knew that there was always a possibility that it could. She walked over to Sumire, stroking her hair lightly.

She never wanted that to become a reality. Hopefully Sumire fainting that one time was a one off thing, nothing more.

Kasumi turned her attention to the frizzy-haired boy holding Sumire closely to his chest. Unsurprisingly, he looked a lot like the girl Kasumi saw with Sumire earlier. Sumire did mention they were siblings, after all.

She just hoped he treated her well.

If he does anything to hurt her, Kasumi will never forgive him. Sumire had to deal with enough as is.

Kasumi closed her eyes. For now, she decided not to disturb them, instead heading to her room, grabbing some spare clothes, and taking a shower.

***

Futaba woke up at her desk, strangely well rested. Checking the time, she saw it was the afternoon of the next day. She’s not sure why, but she felt… different now. Like she was seeing things from a whole new perspective, but she wasn’t quite sure what that perspective was.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention to her computer. Ah, that’s right. She was working on digging for more information on that police captain.

Without much else to do, Futaba continued her search. Though it quickly became clear yet again to her that most of the records were probably physical only. Little she could do about that.

She’d keep tabs on his texts and emails for the time being, instead focusing on other projects.

Not long into her search, she felt a breeze again. Chills ran through her body, but not because of the breeze.

Not another hallucination.

Futaba turned to her window to see it open again. She, quivering slightly, turned her chair around. She once again saw the man in the domino mask towering over her.

However, this time, once she finally saw him, he didn’t seem so intimidating. His posture was very relaxed, almost lazy. Instead of panicking, she was instead extremely weary.

“Do you remember what happened now, Alibaba?” The man asked her.

Futaba wasn’t sure what he meant at first, then it hit her. Her mother’s death flashed through her mind.

The day she asked her mother to go on a trip, the day the letter was read to her, and the day her mother died. Out of order, yet, now those memories felt more complete.

Futaba clutched her head regardless. She didn’t want to remember those things.

“You didn’t kill your mother.” The apparition(?) spoke. “Try to remember, please.”

“I-I can’t!” Futaba cried out, tears filling her eyes. “It’s too much! Please, don’t make me!”

“That letter was fake.” The man continued. “Designed to pin all the blame on you, rather than those actually responsible.” His voice slowly became gentler. “Come on, Futaba… You can do it. Don’t you want to avenge her?”

“Avenge…?” Futaba’s mind became clearer. “Th-That’s right… That letter, my mom’s demeanor before she died… Her research papers… It was all so suspicious… So convenient.”

Everything became clear to her.

Futaba looked up at the apparition, her savior.

“...Who are you? Are you… really a hallucination?”

The man smiled and shook his head, then held out his hand. “Call me Ren.”

***

Sumire took a deep breath as she snuck into the basem*nt of the school. It had been two days since she discussed the plan with Akira. Shiho had just been called into Kamoshida’s office. Now was the time to save her.

Sumire quickly navigated to the breaker, flipping all of them off. She had to be quick now. Running back up the stairs, she found her way to the nearest fire alarm and flipped it, covering her hand in ink in the process.

As the sirens blared, she ran up the stairs to Kamoshida’s office, hiding around a corner as Kamoshida passed her. As expected, Shiho wasn’t with him.

Sumire quickly ran to Kamoshida’s office, seeing a very shaky Shiho slowly making her way out of the room. Her clothes weren’t on completely right, her shirt only being partially buttoned. Was she too late? Swallowing her nerves down, Sumire ran up to her.

“Suzui-senpai!” Sumire called out to her. “Come with me!”

Shiho fearfully turned toward Sumire, before relaxing slightly. Sumire ran up to her, grabbing her arm and guiding her out of the school through the back entrance, as to avoid Kamoshida.

Thankfully, no one was around.

Sumire, breathing heavily from nervousness, slowly turned to Shiho.

“Are you alright?” Sumire asked. “He didn’t… You know?”

Shiho suddenly stiffened, before shaking her head. “He didn’t get that far before the alarm went off…” She then turned to Sumire. “How did you know I was there…?”

Sumire showed Shiho her ink-covered hand.

Shiho immediately understood, wrapping Sumire in a tight hug. “Thank you so much!”

Sumire returned the hug for a moment, before pushing her away and giving her a serious look. “Suzui-senpai… You have to tell Takamaki-senpai everything.” She told her. “And your parents. Stay away from Shujin for as long as you can. Switch schools if you have to.”

“B-But…”

“Kamoshida will only try again if you stay here.” Sumire implored her. “Please… for your own sake, and for Takamaki-senpai’s…”

A tear ran down Shiho’s cheek, but she nodded. “Okay, okay… I will.”

Sumire gave her a smile.

“What about you though…?” Shiho asked. “Kamoshida’s… said some things while I was in his office.” She seemed reluctant. “About you… and your sister…”

Sumire felt disgusted immediately by the idea of Kamoshida thinking such things.

“I’ll be fine, Suzui-senpai.” Sumire told her. “Ryuji-senpai, Hikari-senpai, and I have a plan.”

Shiho didn’t seem convinced. “Please… I don’t want you three to suffer for me…”

Sumire shook her head. “You don’t have to worry. We’ll take care of him quickly. I promise.”

Shiho looked away.

The fire alarm shut off.

“We should get going before they check who flipped the alarm.” Sumire told her, looking down at her hand.

“R-Right…” Shiho replied.

With that, the two departed Shujin, heading for Shibuya.

Chapter 8: A Change in Leadership

Chapter Text

The next day, Kasumi approached Sumire after school ended.

“Hey, Sumire,” Kasumi greeted. “Would you like to spend some time with me after school? We rarely hang out together anymore…”

Sumire winced internally. She had been somewhat neglecting Kasumi between all the stuff with the thieves and Akira’s plan.

But she couldn’t stop just yet, she needed to convince the thieves to change Kamoshida’s heart. She’d gotten a text from them the previous day about Morgana’s idea and how neither Hikari nor Ryuji felt confident in it.

Sumire knew from both working with the thieves and Akira before, however, that changing a heart had no negative side effects. Perhaps she could use Akira’s logic for why changing a heart isn’t the same as killing a shadow…

For now, however, she had to give Kasumi an answer.

“Hmmm…” Sumire tapped her chin in thought. “How about we go somewhere this evening? Akira’s busy today anyway.”

Kasumi beamed. “Of course!” She then grabbed her bag. “I’ll see you later, Sumire!”

Sumire couldn’t help but smile as Kasumi rushed out of the room. She was like an energetic child. Well, Sumire supposed she was still a child too.

Shaking those thoughts away, Sumire left her desk and headed to the rooftop to discuss Morgana’s idea with the others. Unlike before, where Shiho triggered Akira’s desperation, she was safe this time. So how would Sumire convince them?

She climbed up the stairs to the roof where Hikari, Ryuji, and Morgana were already waiting.

“Good afternoon, Sakamoto-senpai, Kurusu-senpai.” She then turned to Morgana. “Uhm… Morgana-senpai?”

She never was sure quite how she should refer to Morgana. She just called him “senpai” because he was more experienced with thief work. But was that still the case?

Regardless, Morgana seemed pleased by the way she addressed him.

“Have you decided what to do yet?” Sumire asked, wondering if they’d made any progress.

She was met with three shaken heads.

“Kamoshida’s a piece of sh*t, sure…” Ryuji replied first. “But I’m not sure I’m prepared to make that kinda decision.”

“Akira would never forgive me if I took a life…” Hikari added.

Sumire disagreed with the sentiment, especially considering it wouldn’t have been intentional, but she moved her head to Morgana.

“So… let me make sure I have this straight.” She started, taking a deep breath. “The root of every palace has a treasure, a representation of the distorted desires of the palace owner, and stealing that would lead to the whole palace falling. Is that right?”

Morgana nodded his head.

“Would I have a palace then… or Sakamoto-senpai or Kurusu-senpai?”

“That’s impossible,” Morgana replied. “Having a persona at all should be impossible if you’re distorted.”

Sumire knew that wasn’t quite true, given her own experiences with Maruki, but she supposed that was a special case.

“Where are you going with this?” Hikari asked, seeming more intrigued.

Sumire decided to use Akira’s reasoning.

“So we can be certain that having a palace isn’t necessary to have desires, right? If the treasure is the root of the palace, nothing else, then wouldn’t removing it only take away distorted desires?” Sumire asked. “The desires to eat, sleep, and function in general would still be present, would they not?”

“That… makes a lot of sense.” Morgana’s eyes widened. “Actually… Yeah, I think that’s it. As long as we don’t kill the shadow, then the person in real life should be fine. Well, as fine as someone with crippling guilt can be.”

“So…?” Sumire asked, seeming hopeful that they may make some progress here.

Hikari shook her head. “This still feels all too speculative to me.” She stood up from her seat. “I… I don’t think I can do it.”

Sumire frowned, unsure what to say next. She knew she had to get them to take Kamoshida down, but she did not yet know how. Perhaps she could do it by herself? No… That would arouse too much suspicion.

As she was thinking it through, the door to the rooftop opened once again. Sumire turned to see Ann breathing heavily, as though she had sprinted all the way there.

As soon as her eyes settled on Sumire, she ran towards her and Sumire braced herself, not sure what to expect.

What she didn’t expect to happen, but probably should have in retrospect, was the tight hug that Ann had embraced her with.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Ann cried out, similar to how Shiho had.

Sumire was stunned, unsure what to do.

“Ta-Takamaki-senpai…” Sumire tried to speak up, only to realize that Ann’s hug was kind of crushing her. “C-Can’t breathe.”

Ann seemed to realize immediately and released her, causing Sumire to take a few deep breaths.

“R-Right…” Ann took a step back. “Still, if it weren’t for you, Shiho might’ve been-”

“Ann?” Ryuji seemed surprised to see her. “What’re you doing here?”

Ann paused before looking around at everyone. Sumire wasn’t sure what to do, so she remained quiet.

“You guys are trying to take Kamoshida down, right?” Ann asked. “Let me help you.”

Sumire hid a smile as she heard that. During the short time she had been with the thieves, Sumire found that Ann was really good at keeping up morale in the team, especially for herself. Ann was one of the few people Sumire ever hung out with outside of Phantom Thieves missions and gatherings.

The team wouldn’t be the same without her. Though Sumire also knew it wouldn’t be the same without Akira. Perhaps he could join too after he takes care of Shido…

“Absolutely not.” Ryuji said, sounding almost protective. “This ain’t your business.”

Ann instantly looked offended. “Of course it’s my business! That monster nearly raped Shiho!”

Everyone was stunned to silence at the words, even Sumire, despite being aware of what happened.

Seeing there was no retort, Ann continued. “If it weren’t for Yoshizawa-san, he very well would have!” Everyone turned to Sumire when she said that. “I don’t care what risks I or you guys have to take as long as Kamoshida pays!”

Everyone passed a glance at each other. Morgana and Ryuji seemed pissed off by what they heard.

“That piece of sh*t!” Ryuji spoke up. “I don’t care what happens now, we’re doin’ this!”

Hikari, however, just looked at Ann. She seemed furious too, but she was clearly trying her best to keep it under the surface.

“Takamaki-san,” Hikari spoke. “We can’t take you with us. But I promise you, Kamoshida will pay.”

Ann didn’t like that response, but unlike before, she didn’t blow up. “I don’t accept that.” Was all she said before storming off back down the stairs.

Once she was out of sight, Hikari turned to Sumire.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Hikari asked. “Did you know he was going to…?”

Sumire looked away, slightly ashamed despite her good intentions.

“Yes…” Sumire admitted. “But I didn’t want anyone else to get in trouble over it.”

Hikari seemed disappointed, but determined. It was a kind of determination not dissimilar to Akira’s drive to take down Shido.

“Fine.” Hikari finally said. “Morgana, we’re infiltrating the palace today.”

Morgana smiled, seeming pleased that they were making progress. “I thought you’d say that.” He seemed to count in his head as he looked over everyone. “We should have enough manpower to take on the palace now, but… I don’t know if we have the right weaponry for it.”

“And where exactly do you expect us to find weapons?” Hikari asked, raising a brow.

“They don’t have to be real weapons.” Morgana retorted. “They just have to be lifelike. They can’t look like toys.”

Hikari rubbed her forehead as she sighed. “Sumire… You have more experience with Tokyo than I do, do you know where we could find some?”

Sumire, of course, knew about Iwai’s shop, but she wasn’t sure if she should say it. Wouldn’t that raise questions?

“Oh, I know a place!” Ryuji spoke up. “I could take ya there to check it out later.”

Sumire turned away to let out a small sigh of relief as that happened. So it turned out Ryuji already knew then.

Everything was falling into place. Perhaps, despite Akira’s intervention, they could get back to something close to normal again.

***

“So… Let me get this straight.” Futaba spoke as Ren stood behind her in her room. “You want to break into Masayoshi Shido’s office? Are you sure that’s even possible?”

“Not without your help.” The man told her. “There’s only so far I can get on my own.”

Futaba was unsure. Shido’s office was in the Diet Building, one of the most secure buildings in the country. How could Ren possibly hope to break into that? Even with a hacker’s help?

“You remember what I told you, right? About who stole your mother’s research?” Ren asked.

“Yes.” Futaba nodded her head. “...And I promised I’d help you bring him to justice.” She turned to him with an unsure look on her face. “...But if everything you’ve said is true, this isn’t the kind of person you want to cross. Especially in person.”

Ren gave her a determined look. “That’s exactly why I want to bring him down. He’s ruined the lives of too many people not to be brought to justice. Isn’t that what you’re all about, Alibaba?”

Futaba sighed, but nodded her head. “Yeah… I just hope you know what you’re doing.” She turned her attention back to her computer. “By the way… are you working with anyone else? I mean, if you were able to find me, you have to have some kind of team behind you, right?”

“Just one other person, but she isn’t a hacker.” Ren explained before pausing. “...As for how I found out who you are… that’s a story for another time.”

Futaba let out another sigh. She supposed it only made sense he was being cautious with this information. Wouldn’t hurt to close off any means of discovering who she was though.

She was lucky with Ren, he only seemed to want help with something, but what if bad actors found out who she was? What then?

Perhaps she could ask again after she’s built some good faith between her and Ren.

“It could take a while to find an efficient way to bypass all the security measures,” She told him. “If you have any other preparations you want to make, I think you should do them now.”

Ren nodded his head and Futaba went back to examining building schematics, trying to find any exploitable holes in the security she could.

With not so much as a sound, Ren left her room, leaving Futaba completely alone. Unlike before, however, there were no hallucinations or paranoia. Just her, her computer, and the makings of a plan to take down the people who killed her mother.

***

Sumire had to admit: she was a little worried if Ann would still follow them into the Metaverse, considering it wasn’t the same day. However, her worries were unwarranted as Ann still followed them into the Metaverse the next time they went and awoke to Carmen.

She supposed it made sense, a little bit of delay between infiltrations wouldn’t have changed how she felt about Shiho and everything that happened.

So their party of four increased to five and Sumire got a new rapier to use. It wasn’t nearly as high quality as the old one, but that was probably better since she’d at least be able to appear to progress at the same rate as her friends.

When they finally got to their next infiltration, Hikari seemed to want to get as close to the treasure room in this initial infiltration as possible.

After many fights, negotiations, and rest stops, they finally arrived at a particular corridor.

Sumire stayed close behind Hikari as they explored this new area of the castle. There were hallways surrounding two rooms, with a strong shadow guarding another door. They managed to sneak past all the shadows without engaging in further combat, making it into one of the rooms to see… a bunch of bookshelves and desks.

She felt Akira had described this area to her once before, but she couldn’t quite remember why.

“Think this area is based on the school library?” Ryuji mused quietly. “Can’t think of any other reason for Kamoshida to have a library.”

“Maybe.” Hikari replied, looking around the room at the different books. She eventually paused at a particular book. “This one seems different…”

Sumire walked up to her and examined the same book. It was called “The Queen Book”. Instead of having what a normal book would, it instead listed a bunch of names.

As she and Hikari read through them, she saw Hikari’s grip slowly tightening on the book. These were the names of the female volleyball students and a few others.

Ann Takamaki, Shiho Suzui, and…

Sumire felt sick to her stomach as she saw her own name and her sister’s name on the book. Hikari’s name wasn’t listed, but Sumire was sure that it would be once she drew Kamoshida’s attention.

Regardless, Hikari closed the book and turned to Sumire and Ann. She didn’t say anything, but Sumire could feel the rage boiling just beneath the surface.

“We’ve spent too long here, let’s continue.” She finally spoke, clearly trying extremely hard not to let her rage get the better of her.

***

It didn’t take long for the group to find more books like the first. They contained the names of even more students who were beneath Kamoshida’s thumb. With each book found, Hikari’s rage grew and grew.

Yoshizawa and Takamaki were seen as nothing but objects for his lust. Ryuji and his old friends, seen as nothing but slaves.

This was so much more infuriating than her arrest and that kangaroo court she was thrown into.

Eventually, they found a room with yet more shelves full of books, but there were empty slots as well. Quietly heading over to look at them, Hikari found that each space had similarly named books surrounding it to the ones she was already carrying. Aside from the Beefcake book, anyway.

Slotting the books into the relevant spaces caused a secret door to open. Cliche, to be sure, but what was on the other side pissed Hikari off to no end.

She heard Takamaki and Ryuji fuming and Yoshizawa gasping as the door opened.

The whole room was covered from ceiling to floor with pictures of Suzui and the things he would have done to her, had it not been for Yoshizawa’s intervention.

As the other thieves were stunned, Hikari summoned Pyro Jack.

“Agi.” She spoke simply, lighting the room ablaze.

“Wh-What are you doing, Joker!?” Morgana cried out as he backed away from the flames.

“That monster is going to pay for everything!” Hikari suddenly shouted, causing everyone to wince.

They heard shadows begin to approach and Hikari prepared to fight as the blaze behind them consumed everything in the secret room. While she was distracted, Takamaki grabbed something and Yoshizawa drew her rapier.

The door to the room soon opened, and the team began to fight their way out.

All the while, Hikari swore to herself that Kamoshida would go down.

No. Matter. What.

***

“Belle!”

“Captain Kidd!”

“Carmen!”

“Zorro!”

“Ella!”

The fight began with a bang as each team member summoned their personas. Sumire’s physical attack completely annihilated the shadow in front of her before she turned around to see her allies struggling a bit more against the shadows.

She nearly smacked herself on the head as she remembered she needed to hold back. She has way more power and experience than the others at this time. Maybe later she can go all out.

Sumire watched as the others fought. Each member of the team was currently fighting a shadow.

Hikari was brawling it out with an Incubus, Ryuji and Morgana were dealing with some Eligors, and Ann was fighting a Bicorn. Sumire recognized all of the shadows and knew their names, having been told by Akira before. Before he reversed time.

Sumire focused in on Hikari's fighting. Usually the way she fought was more like Akira. Calculated, striking weaknesses, but now she was just swinging her knife wildly and using whatever attacks her persona could manage. She wasn’t even switching personas.

It reminded Sumire of the time she lost control. So desperate to find answers when she was actualized that she only tired herself out instead of actually achieving anything.

Hikari didn’t even bother dodging, simply tanking attacks and returning them in kind.

She took down one Incubus, then the next, then the next, but she was getting slower. Weaker.

As more shadows entered the room, Sumire knew they wouldn’t make it out at this rate. Nevermind holding back, she had to do something.

“Ella! Vorpal Blade!”

***

Sumire found herself a little nervous as Morgana was giving Hikari the death stare. As soon as they escaped from the horde of shadows, they ran to the nearest safe room to hide from any further pursuit. The entire time, Morgana was staring Hikari down.

“We have to leave for the day now!” Morgana shouted. “Because you burned down that room, the security level’s skyrocketed!”

Hikari, on the other hand, simply stayed silent. But Sumire could feel the fury burning just beneath her skin.

She didn’t think she’d ever seen even Ryuji that angry before.

Finally, Hikari spoke.

“And what should I have done, Mona?” Hikari retorted. “He sees everyone around him as a plaything for his own pleasure! Including two members of our own team! Any pain I caused by burning down that disgusting room to the real him is deserved.”

Morgana, however, was not convinced.

“Even so!” Morgana shouted. “Thus far we’ve had you as the de facto leader of this group because of your special power. But if you can’t keep a level head, we should appoint a new one!” He pointed at Sumire with his paw. “Violet’s about as strong as you are, and, despite being in that book, she still did what needed to be done to fix your mistake!”

Sumire quickly waved her hands, however.

“No no!” Sumire intervened. “I still think Joker should be giving the orders. Let’s just all take a moment to calm down and think about this, okay? We have to leave anyway s-so that should give Joker plenty of time to calm down.”

It was so strange calling someone else “Joker”.

“Precisely my point!” Morgana retorted before turning back to Hikari. “Look at that! That’s what a leader should be doing right now!”

“Mona, please.” Sumire drew his attention once more. “Let’s give Joker a second chance, okay?”

Morgana groaned in disapproval, but nonetheless nodded his head.

“Fine…” He replied. “But if something like this happens again, I’m not going to take orders from her ever again.”

Sumire grew more and more worried as Morgana clearly held some intense disdain for Hikari’s actions. Hikari had to be the leader though, Sumire definitely couldn’t take that place.

Perhaps she could try talking to her soon? Just to ensure it didn’t happen again.

As she was thinking this, Morgana put his ear up to the door.

“I think the coast is clear.” He told them. “Let’s take this chance to get out.” He shot another glare at Hikari.

With that, the team quickly fled the palace.

***

As soon as they got out, Hikari quickly made her way out of the alley and away from the team.

“Uhm…” Ryuji spoke up for the first time in a while. “I’m gonna go after her and see what’s up, okay?”

“Good idea,” Ann replied. “I’m worried about her…”

Ryuji nodded and ran off in the direction of Hikari.

Ann then turned to Sumire and Morgana. “I think… I’m just going to go home. Maybe call Shiho.”

She ran off as well, seeming rather disconcerted by everything that had happened, leaving Sumire and Morgana alone.

“...Uhm… Don’t you usually stay with Kurusu-senpai?” Sumire asked.

Morgana nodded his head. “Honestly… For tonight I’d rather stay with a different teammate. Think I can stay at your place?”

Sumire wasn’t sure. “I’m sure it’d be fine just for a night…” She decided to stand her ground, however. “But this can’t be a regular thing, okay?”

Morgana nodded his head. “I understand. It’ll only be for tonight.”

Sumire nodded her head. “Good.”

She set her bag down for Morgana to hop into before throwing it back over her shoulder. Once he was securely in place, Sumire took Morgana home.

***

By the time Ryuji ran out of the alley to find Hikari, she was already out of sight. How’d she get out of sight so quickly? Regardless, Ryuji began running in the last direction he saw her go.

Despite his bad leg, he tried as hard as he could to stay upright as he ran. As he was running though, he heard something.

He heard a sniffle.

He stopped instantly, nearly falling over as he did, before turning his head to try to locate the source of the sound. Eventually, he found it.

Looking at another alley, he saw Hikari burying her head in her legs, sitting against a wall.

“Hikari?” Ryuji called out to her, causing her to look up at him.

Her eyes were swollen with tears.

Ryuji instantly changed his approach when he saw her like that.

“What’s up?” Ryuji asked, approaching her slowly.

Hikari didn’t answer, merely turning to look away.

Ryuji didn’t really know how to handle girls, considering he had absolutely no luck whatsoever getting a girlfriend. Not wanting to leave Hikari alone, however, Ryuji did the first thing to jump to his mind.

“Uhhh… Wanna get some beef bowls together?” He asked.

Hikari snapped her head back towards him, her sad expression replaced with immediate confusion. After a moment, she nodded her head.

“Yeah…” Hikari told him.

Ryuji held out a hand for her to take, which she did, and he helped her up. Once she was up, Ryuji tried to give her a good smile.

“Alright, follow me!”

***

Hikari poked at her beef bowl with her chopsticks as she thought about what to say. After a while, she supposed she should start.

“Do you think Akira would be disappointed in me?” Hikari asked.

“Huh?” Ryuji seemed caught off guard. “Your brother?”

Hikari nodded her head.

“Why would he be disappointed?” Ryuji asked, not understanding at all.

But of course he didn’t. He didn’t know Akira.

“I’m supposed to be the leader, aren’t I?” Hikari asked. “I mean, all of you follow my command, right?”

“Yeah…” Ryuji said before chuckling a bit. “I mean, it’s not like I’d take orders from the cat!”

Hikari just gave him a look, which immediately ceased his chuckling. “I can’t be losing my temper like that.” She dropped her chopsticks and brought her hands to her face. “I-I caused so much trouble for the home team. If it weren’t for Yoshizawa-san, we could’ve all died there!” She shed a few tears. “Morgana’s right… maybe Yoshizawa-san should be the leader…”

“H-Hey now!” Ryuji frantically waved his hands. “You heard what Yoshizawa-san said! She doesn’t want to be the leader!”

Hikari shook her head. “I could still convince her to try…” She admitted. “My temper’s always been a problem.” She let out a half-chuckle. “I’m surprised Akira even still talks to me after how I acted when I was… Arrested.”

Ryuji gave a lighthearted laugh at that. “Temper, huh? Same here!” He told her. “...but it doesn’t seem to be an issue most of the time? I mean, sure, ya lost ya temper at Kamoshida, but who wouldn’t?” He told her. “It was just one mistake, we can prove Morgana wrong tomorrow, right?”

Hikari looked at him. “...I’ll try.”

Ryuji seemed very insistent she be the leader, but Hikari still held her doubts.

“Now, let’s dig into the beef bowls!” Ryuji enthusiastically said.

Hikari just stared at him as he began to eat. She supposed it wouldn’t be good to waste the food, however, so she joined in too.

Despite Ryuji’s reassurances, Hikari still held doubts about her ability. As she ate her food, however, she decided that she would try one more time.

No more stupid mistakes that almost get everyone killed. No more losing her temper. She needed to be a good leader. If they ever hoped to take down Kamoshida, and if Ryuji preferred her as the leader, then that’s what she had to do.

***

“So this is your room?” Morgana asked in awe as he looked around. “It’s way nicer than that dusty attic Hikari lives in.” He complimented as Sumire brought him into her room.

She still wasn’t sure about letting him stay here, despite Shinichi allowing her to watch over him for a day, but there wasn’t much of a choice after Hikari left without him.

“Kurusu-senpai’s been through a lot…” Sumire reminded Morgana. “She deserves better than what she’s been given…”

“After today? I couldn’t disagree more.” Morgana reminded her in turn. “She was no better than that dumb ape!”

Sumire sighed. Seemed Morgana was still in a really bad mood about it.

“She won’t do it again,” Sumire assured him. “I’m sure she wasn’t happy about her conduct either.”

“Sure didn’t sound like it…” Morgana replied quietly before shaking his head. “Anyway. It’s okay if I sleep on the bed tonight, right?”

“Huh? I mean, I guess.” Sumire told him. “I don’t have anywhere more comfortable for you to sleep…”

The only other person who’d slept in her bed before was Akira, but Morgana wasn’t exactly human, so Sumire figured it’d be fine. Just think of him like a cat… Even if he really hated it when people did that.

Morgana, in response to Sumire, hopped on her bed and laid down.

“Wow! This is a lot softer than Hikari’s too!”

Sumire smiled at that. Having slept on Akira’s bed in Leblanc before. It may not have been the most comfortable place to sleep, but she didn’t mind the times she shared it with Akira.

Granted, her boyfriend made for a very comfortable pillow.

“Is something up, Yoshizawa-san?” Morgana asked. “You’re smiling pretty wide…”

Sumire blushed a bit as she realized her thoughts had gotten sidetracked.

“O-Oh, it’s nothing… I just thought of something funny is all.” Sumire quickly explained.

Just then, Sumire heard someone calling her.

“Sumire! Your boyfriend’s here!” Kasumi’s voice echoed through the hall.

“Oh!” Sumire made her way to her bedroom door before turning toward Morgana. “I’ll be right back.”

She rushed out of her room before Morgana could reply and dashed to the front door. Upon getting there, she saw Akira and immediately hugged him.

“Good evening, Se-Akira!” Sumire excitedly greeted him.

Akira immediately returned the hug before smirking.

“Someone’s happy to see me.” Akira chuckled before getting a bit more serious. “There’s some stuff we need to discuss…”

Sumire nodded her head. “Oh! Uhm…” She released her grip on him, stepped a bit away, and tapped her fingers together. “I’m watching Morgana today…”

That seemed to surprise Akira. “What? Why?”

“He got in a fight with Hikari.” Sumire whispered to him. “We have to be careful about what we say around him.”

Akira nodded his head. “Right…” He said. “Guess I’ll tell you what I’ve found out later.”

Sumire nodded her head. “We can still talk about other things though!” The two began walking towards Sumire’s room. “How’s practice been going for you?”

“It’s been pretty good,” Akira replied, running a hand through his hair. “Even though I’d rather focus on my uh… other tasks… It’s a nice break.”

“I’m glad,” Sumire replied with a frown. “Just don’t overwork yourself, okay?”

“I’m fine, I promise.” Akira replied with a smile. “I’m not new to this sort of thing, remember?”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it…” Sumire replied as they entered her room.

“Is this your boyfriend?” Morgana asked as he looked at them from the bed.

Sumire met Morgana’s gaze and turned to Akira.

“Oh, this is Morgana.” She acted. “Your sister’s cat. She’s having me look after him today.”

Akira, catching onto what she was doing, acted himself. “Ah, I didn’t know she had a cat…” He replied, looking over at Morgana.

The two of them sat on Sumire’s bed, just a small amount away from where Morgana was. He eyed Akira with something between curiosity and apprehension.

Sumire wondered if he supposed Akira was similar to Hikari. Of course, in her experience, the two did have fairly similar personalities. Akira just had a better level of control than Hikari did.

…Or so she would have thought had he not reversed time.

“W-Well anyway,” Sumire stuttered a bit. “Do you wanna go on a date, Akira?”

If they can get out of the house, they might be able to talk about whatever Akira discovered.

“Do you even need to ask?” Akira asked, smirking at her. “I’d love to.”

He grabbed her hand and stared into her eyes. Sumire blushed a bit as he did, but squeezed his hand in response.

As she rested her head on his shoulder, she followed up on her question. “Where would you like to go?”

Before Akira answered, Morgana rolled his eyes and hopped off her bed, leaving the room. Probably to look around the house.

Still, it wasn’t safe to talk while he was around.

“How about Inokashira?” Akira asked. “It’d be nice to spend some time there while it’s peaceful and quiet.”

“Mhm!” Sumire agreed, nuzzling his shoulder a bit. “Let me get ready, then we can go!”

Akira nodded his head, stepping out of the room so Sumire could change into better clothes for a date. Once he was out of the room, she examined her closet, trying to figure out what the best outfit for a date would be.

She knew Akira really liked how she looked in her blue dress… but it’d easily get ruined in a place like Inokashira.

To that end, she decided to wear her sports outfit. A red tank top atop black shorts. Thankfully her red shoes she wore for school worked well with this outfit.

Leaving her room, she said goodbye to her family and Morgana before heading to the park with her boyfriend.

Chapter 9: Coup D'état

Chapter Text

“So… You had no choice?” Akira asked as he walked through Inokashira with Sumire.

Sumire shook her head. “If I didn’t… Everyone there would have died.”

Akira sighed and Sumire was worried he’d be disappointed in her. If anyone could have thought of an alternative solution, it would’ve been him.

However, her worries were short-lived, as Akira wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his side. After a small while, he began speaking.

“There was no choice, Sumi. You did the best you could.” Akira assured her. “I’m more concerned about Hikari…”

“I’ve been meaning to ask…” Sumire spoke up. “What was your reaction to seeing that room?”

Akira’s face tensed. “I was furious.” He told her plainly. “...But I was more focused on making sure Ann didn’t set the room ablaze than I was setting it ablaze myself.” He sighed. “I should talk to Hikari soon. Maybe I can help her control herself better.”

“...But how will you do that without revealing everything?” Sumire had to ask.

Akira shook his head. “I’m not sure. But in order to defeat Yaldabaoth again, we need her to lead the thieves.” He explained. “I’ll go talk to her tonight.”

Sumire frowned. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Senpai…” She looked up in the sky and saw the sun was beginning to set. “We should probably be getting back now, Senpai. It’s getting late.”

Akira nodded his head. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Wrapping her hand in his own, Akira took Sumire back home.

***

After kissing Sumire goodbye, and enduring some teasing from her parents and sister, Akira made his way back over to Shibuya. Once he was there, he pulled out his phone and called Hikari.

It didn’t take long for her to pick up, just one ring.

“A-Akira?” Hikari asked from the other end.

Akira deliberated for a moment about how he should bring this up before responding.

“Hey, Hikari.” Akira greeted her. “Sumire told me you were in a bad mood earlier, do you want to talk about it? Is it about last month?”

He hoped he wasn’t coming off as insensitive, but he needed to supply some alternative to what actually happened.

“N-Not really…” Hikari answered. “I don’t want to talk about it…”

“Oh…” Akira replied. “Well… Uhm…”

What would a good brother say?

“I guess just… Stay safe, keep up with your studies, don’t let the rumors get to you. Okay?” Akira told her.

“Mhm…” Hikari replied.

“Well, have a good night’s rest.”

“Yeah, same to you. Goodnight, Akira.”

Akira ended the call with a frown on his face. She seemed extremely reluctant to talk to him. Though maybe she’s just that way with everyone right now, he should try again some other time.

Putting away his phone, Akira headed back to his dorm. Although he didn’t really need to study, he still had some homework to do.

***

After school the next day, Sumire met up with the other thieves with Morgana in tow. She had to admit, she was exceedingly nervous about how the interaction between Morgana and Hikari would go.

Morgana wasn’t exactly all that excited about seeing Hikari again, still not having forgiven her for the previous day.

“Do we really have to go talk to her again?” Morgana complained from within Sumire’s open bag.

“She’s still the leader, Morgana.” Sumire calmly explained yet again. “Besides, we already agreed to infiltrate the palace again today.”

“Hmph.” Morgana replied. “I’m sure everyone would be willing to follow you if you became the leader, Yoshizawa-san…”

“Just please relax, Morgana…” Sumire pleaded with him. “I’m sure Hikari’s already learned her lesson.”

“She better have…”

With that, the two continued on their way to the roof, where the rest of the team was waiting. Upon entering the rooftop, Morgana hopped out of Sumire’s bag and they waited for the rest of the team.

It didn’t take long for everyone to arrive, Ann arriving first, with Hikari and Ryuji arriving just a bit later.

Tension was thick in the air as Morgana observed Hikari, meanwhile Hikari looked like she was deep in thought. Nobody spoke for a few minutes, before Hikari finally spoke up.

“I feel the need to apologize for what happened yesterday…” Hikari bowed as she spoke. “I promise never to let my rage get the better of me. And if I do…” She pointed to Sumire. “I want Yoshizawa-san to take over as the leader.”

Sumire’s eyes widened as she said that. “Wait wait! Don’t get too hasty!”

Hikari shook her head. “Yoshiza-Sumire… If I can’t lead this team effectively, the only other person everyone would follow is you.”

Sumire looked around at everyone after she said that. Sumire knew she was right. Ann and Ryuji weren’t the strategic type, and Ryuji would have a hard time taking orders from Morgana. Sumire herself may not be the best strategist, but her power probably made them feel safer with the decision.

Still… This was not how this should go.

“Hikari-senpai… You have your flaws, but you can be a great leader.” Sumire assured her. “Don’t give up on yourself so easily, please…”

“I agree with Sumire, Hikari.” Ryuji spoke up. “It’s like I told ya before. Who wouldn’t get so pissed off at Kamoshida? I’m sure you’ll do better in the future!”

Hikari sighed, but smiled. “I’m glad you all still have faith in me, but if I put us in a bad situation again, I’m still leaving my role as leader.”

Morgana, who had been silent through all of this, finally spoke up. “Hikari…” She looked down at him as he walked up to her. “I accept your apology. Let’s take Kamoshida down.” He smiled at her.

Hikari smiled back. “Yeah. Thanks, you guys…” She took a deep breath before a determined look crossed her face. “Alright, let’s go!”

***

“No matter how I look at this, there’s just no way.” Futaba shook her head as Ren observed her work behind her. “Even if you were to go at night, there’s just too much security to break in undetected.”

“What about the roof?” Ren asked.

Futaba looked at him weirdly. “Well… I suppose that’d work better if you had a way up there. The problem is that you don’t.”

She didn’t see how he’d be able to get up there though.

“I have a way.” Ren assured her. “Just see if we can figure out a route from there.”

“Mmmm…” Futaba groaned. “It’s a long shot, but I’ll try.”

“Thank you, Futaba.” Ren gratefully replied.

“Now let’s see here…” Futaba looked at the building’s blueprints once more. “If you enter from the roof, then the best way in would probably be that vent. It won’t get you all the way into Shido’s office, but it’s the most undetectable way for you to get inside.”

Ren took a closer look at her screen as she said that. “I see. Any idea of how to get the vent cover off and back on without being detected?”

“Hmmm…” Futaba looked over it again. “It’s bolted on, so I’m not sure… Maybe if you put the vent cover back on after and try to get the bolts in, even if it’s rough, they’ll assume it was just damaged from something else?”

Ren shook his head. “Seems like a long shot to me. I think as long as I get in and out without them seeing me, they won’t know who broke in or if anything was even taken.”

“Think it’d really work?”

“As long as Shido’s not in his office at the time, it should.” Ren answered.

“We’ll go with that then.” Futaba replied before moving on. “Now then: His office is guarded twenty-four seven. There’s always someone on shift to make sure it’s not broken into. We’ll need some way to lure the guards away for a short while.”

Ren put a hand to his chin in thought. “The fire alarm probably won’t work for a building like that… the automatic sprinklers might just end up damaging the information I need.”

Futaba sighed as she put a hand to her chin. “Hmmm… Well what if we use the damage to the vent to throw them off? Shido’s office is pretty close to the rooftop, so the nearest people to go check it out would be those guards.”

“That… could work.” Ren told her. “And I know just how to make enough noise to draw them in without me actually being there.” He smirked.

Futaba wondered what he could mean by that, but she supposed she should just trust him. He had entered and left her room without her even noticing before, after all.

“Well then, as long as you have a way to unlock his office door, we should be good.” She opened a drawer and fished out a small USB drive, which she handed to him. “This should be able to download all the files off of his office computer. There’s probably something there worth knowing, even if he keeps most of his information somewhere else. You can stick it in while you search for physical files.”

Ren took the drive from her and examined it before pocketing it. “Good idea. Now all we need is to find a good day to pull off this operation.”

“A ton of people are going on trips with their kids for golden week, including some of the security at the Diet Building.” Futaba told him. “Maybe one of those days would work?”

Ren frowned, but nodded his head. Perhaps he had some plans on one of those days?

After letting out a sigh, he agreed. “Alright. Thanks, Futaba, I’ll come back the day of the infiltration.”

Futaba nodded her head, and Ren snuck out of her room quickly. She checked over the blueprints and schedules several times before closing the document. This could work, they might actually be able to find something.

With a smirk of her own, Futaba allowed herself to relax and turned on her favorite game.

She spent the rest of the afternoon wrecking noobs.

***

The day had finally come. They’d sent the calling card and were finally able to steal Kamoshida’s treasure. According to Morgana, this should change Kamoshida’s heart, causing him to confess to everything.

Hikari dearly hoped he was right. Kamoshida absolutely has to face justice for what he’s done.

As Hikari was thinking to herself, Morgana jumped on the safe room table and gave her a look.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” Morgana asked.

Hikari… had not thought that far ahead.

“Uhm… Take the treasure and deal with any shadows we run into on the way?” Hikari suggested. “Just like before.”

“We can’t do that if there’s a massive hoard of shadows guarding the treasure though! We’ll just exhaust ourselves before we can take it!”

Hikari shrugged, slightly disappointed in herself. But she honestly couldn’t think of what to do if they did run into a bunch of shadows. Morgana said they only had one day to do this and no do-overs.

“I have no idea.” Hikari shook her head. “If there really are a bunch of shadows guarding the treasure… I’m not sure how we could get past them.”

Morgana sighed. “Well, I guess there’s no point in just waiting around here… Let’s get going.”

Hikari nodded her head, before noticing Sumire looking at her. She had a puzzled look on her face, did she have a plan?

“Violet? Is something wrong?” Hikari asked.

“Oh! It’s nothing, it’s just…” Sumire paused for a moment. “I guess I was hoping you’d have a plan…”

Hikari felt kind of bad, but she shook her head.

“Unfortunately… Not really.” Hikari told her. “We’ll just have to see what happens, I guess. Avoid as many shadows as we can.”

Sumire nodded her head and the team soon left the safe room, before heading toward the throne room where Kamoshida’s treasury was located. Strangely, there was nobody there. Hikari thought this would make things easy, believing that all of Kamoshida’s guards had been called to other places within the palace.

While that may have still been true, what Hikari was not counting on was Kamoshida knocking the treasure out of their hands as they were leaving with it, all while being cheered on by the cognitive Ann.

Although seeing this perverted version of Ann pissed off Hikari once more, she tried to keep it cool as the team confronted Kamoshida at last.

“It’s over, Kamoshida!” Hikari yelled. “Hand over the treasure! Now!”

“Hmph. How dare you try to order me around.” Kamoshida replied. “Don’t you know who I am? I’m the king of this castle! And I won’t let petty thieves like you take my treasure from me!”

“And what’re ya gonna do about it?” Ryuji gloated. “There aren’t even any guards here for ya to hide behind!”

Hikari smirked as well. Everytime Kamoshida’s guards were defeated, he ran away. They’ve got this, right?

That’s what Hikari thought, until she looked over at Sumire. Sumire wasn’t smirking like everyone else, she looked prepared to fight, if anything. Is there something she’s noticed that nobody else has yet?

“Tch. As if I need them.” Kamoshida smirked back. “I’m the demon who rules this world!”

As Hikari looked away from Sumire, she found out exactly why she looked ready for a fight. Kamoshida began transforming, not unlike how the guards of the palace transformed into various demons. This felt different though, instead of taking on another form entirely, he simply grew into some giant pink naked baby thing.

It would’ve been humorous, had it not been so imposing.

A goblet had also appeared in front of him, filled with… Hikari didn’t even want to think about it. Though surely it didn’t mean nothing, and she made note of it just in case.

Seeing Kamoshida transform knocked the smirks off of everybody’s faces, and they began taking similar battle stances to Sumire.

“Hahaha!” Kamoshida laughed, sounding downright demonic now. “What are you gonna do now?”

Without giving Kamoshida another inch, Hikari immediately shot forward from where she was standing, aiming to stab Kamoshida. She’d have summoned a persona, but she wanted to conserve energy for the time being while she got a better idea of what she was dealing with.

Kamoshida blocked her attack with his fork, pushing her back to where she was standing, nearly causing her to lose her balance.

Seemed he wasn’t helpless without his guards after all.

“Belle!” Hikari cried out, her mask bursting into flames as her persona appeared behind her.

The persona shot some dark energy at the giant man-baby, but it didn’t seem to do much.

Hikari groaned internally before two figures shot towards Kamoshida from either side of her.

Ryuji and Ann had both begun attacking. Ryuji swung his pipe at Kamoshida, only to be blocked by the fork yet again. Whilst he was distracted, however, Ann was able to summon Carmen, who shot a fireball at Kamoshida’s hand holding the fork, causing him to drop it.

“Yargh!” The demon screamed.

Taking the opportunity, Ryuji bashed his leg with the pipe, causing more injury to Kamoshida.

So he could be hurt.

Not that it mattered much. At the sight of a lightly injured Kamoshida, his slaves began coming to his aid, throwing volleyballs at everyone.

Hikari dodged a few, but eventually had to block as they kept coming. It didn’t hurt too badly, but she was sure she’d bruise soon.

Ryuji and Ann were in a similar circ*mstance, but seemed no worse for wear than Hikari herself was. Morgana and Sumire, meanwhile, were able to dodge flawlessly.

Strangely, the two had yet to make attacks of their own, probably trying to find a better way to damage Kamoshida.

While the thieves fell back, Kamoshida ate out of his goblet, and his injuries had recovered almost instantly. Prying his fork back out of the ground, he cried out:

“That’s it! Time for my killshot!” He yelled. “Mishima! Get over here!”

Hikari’s eyes widened as a cognition that looked almost exactly like the real Mishima approached Kamoshida’s side.

“H-Here’s the ball, K-Kamoshida-sama!” He whimpered.

Unlike the other slaves Hikari has seen thus far, this one looked far more like a real person. Hikari has a feeling she knows why Mishima in particular is so detailed within Kamoshida’s condition.

She didn’t like it. Not one bit.

Before she could do anything, however, Mishima threw the ball up in the air and Kamoshida launched it back down. Straight at Hikari.

It was moving so fast, Hikari started to move out of the way, but there was no way she’d be able to get out of the way in time! However, just as she was about to be hit, something moving incredibly quickly knocked it off course, causing it to veer towards a wall, going straight through it, leaving a large hole in its place.

Hikari fell over from shock and looked up to see that Sumire was standing over her, her rapier extended. She must’ve knocked it out of the way. But how did she move so quickly?

Sumire reached out a hand, and Hikari took it as Sumire helped her back onto her feet. Before she could question it, however, Kamoshida threw a tantrum.

“Useless slave!” Kamoshida barked at the cognition of Mishima, who quickly fled. “Suzui, get over here!”

Mishima’s position was replaced by Shiho, who was wearing a bunny outfit. Hikari was filled with rage as she saw this, remembering how she felt when they first discovered that room of the palace.

She kept herself under control, however. Nobody needed a loose cannon right now.

However, while Hikari had gotten her own rage mostly under control, Ann had not.

“You perverted piece of sh*t!” She screamed as she saw the cognition of Shiho, launching yet another fireball at Kamoshida.

The fireball didn’t do much, as Kamoshida simply knocked it away with his fork once again.

The cognition of Shiho was preparing to throw the ball again, and Hikari wondered if this one would be even stronger than the last. Although she knew that she needed to take out the cognition before the ball was thrown, something about attacking her just didn’t sit right with Hikari.

She looked over at Ann, who seemed to be having the same dilemma, as did Ryuji.

They had to do something soon though. Otherwise…

As Shiho was about to throw the ball in the air, Hikari saw numerous swords spinning around her. Was that part of the attack?

Before Hikari could worry, however, they all struck the cognition at once. Hikari jumped in surprise before turning to see Sumire with Ella standing behind her. She must’ve attacked the cognition.

Everyone else gave Sumire a surprised look, sans Morgana.

“I-It was just a cognition!” She assured them. “The real one is okay! Let’s just finish this!”

“Urgh!” Kamoshida grunted in anger. “You can never rely on slaves these days!”

Dropping his fork, he carefully grabs the ball between his giant fingers before throwing it up in the air. Once again, he jumped up and launched it at Sumire, likely enraged that she had foiled his attack twice.

“Take that, thief!” Kamoshida shouted as the ball traveled at great speeds towards Sumire.

Sumire managed to dodge the ball without much difficulty, causing it to slam into the door, knocking it off its hinges and onto the ground.

“Nice dodge, Violet!” Ryuji congratulated her with a huge smile on his face. “What’s wrong Kamoshida?” He taunted. “No more ‘slaves’ to throw at us?”

“Shut up!” Kamoshida shouted, picking up his fork once again and throwing it straight at Ryuji.

Ryuji barely managed to dodge, causing the oversized utensil to hit the pillar behind him, which quickly crumbled, pinning Ryuji to the ground.

“Skull!” Hikari cried out as she saw this happen.

“Agh! I-I’m stuck! I can’t move!” He shouted back, trying to push the debris pillar off his legs.

As he was desperately trying to escape, Kamoshida actually stood up and began approaching Ryuji, a creepy laugh emanating from him.

Hikari was absolutely not going to let that happen.

Not even thinking, Hikari rushed forward. “Ryuji!”

Jumping in the air, Hikari plunged her knife into Kamoshida’s side, causing him to cry out in pain.

“Damn thief!” He grabbed her, dislodging the knife from his side in the process, and threw her at a pillar on the other side of the room.

Hikari slammed right into it before falling to the ground in pain, but she wasn’t done yet. Getting back up, Hikari rushed back toward Kamoshida, who was now facing her.

***

Sumire watched as Hikari rushed back at Kamoshida. She wasn’t sure how much she should get involved in the fight when Hikari and the others must learn how to fight better. She wanted to ensure they became the thieves she knew before.

The thieves that Sumire, to some extent, looked up to.

As the fight went on, however, Sumire found more and more that she had to do something. Otherwise, Hikari is just going to get herself killed.

“Mona, Panther!” Sumire called out, getting their attention. “Keep Joker healed! I’m going after the crown!”

They understood what she meant immediately and summoned their personas, healing up Hikari’s back. Sumire let out a small breath of relief as Hikari’s movements became more smooth, without the pain they had before.

However, Sumire couldn’t stand there watching Hikari and the others fight. She had a different goal in mind.

Sumire jumped up to the balcony above, what was left of it, anyway, and made her way to a vantage point above where Kamoshida was fending off Hikari.

With a quick leap, Sumire kicked the crown off of Kamoshida’s head.

“Nooooo! My precious!” Kamoshida cried out, reaching up to his head.

“Belle!” Hikari shouted, summoning her persona.

Whilst Kamoshida’s guard was down, he didn’t even block as Belle flew right into his face, knocking him onto his back.

“Agh!” Kamoshida cried out.

Before he could regain his senses, Sumire grabbed the crown, which had shrunk back down, and dashed to cover. Thankfully, she was much faster than Kamoshida.

However, as she looked around, she realized that Kamoshida had shrunk back down to his normal form. He ran at her, trying to grab the crown, but Sumire simply kicked him back, causing him to fall onto the floor.

“Pl-Please! I need it!” Kamoshida shouted in desperation.

“You’re pathetic…” Ann told him, a mix of spite and pity on her face, as she walked up. “You lost, we’re taking the treasure.”

“Y-You’re right…” Kamoshida cried as he lay on the floor. “It’s all over when you lose… What do I do now?”

“Confess your crimes.” Hikari said, approaching with Ryuji’s arm over her shoulder as he leaned on her in pain. “Tell everyone what you’ve done and don’t even think about seeking out Ann ever again.”

“R-Right… I promise I will…” Kamoshida told them, fading from existence.

Sumire knew what this meant. They changed Kamoshida’s heart.

…But didn’t that mean?

The whole ground began shaking just as Sumire thought that, causing Morgana to speak up.

“We need to get out of here!” Morgana told them. “This whole place is falling apart!”

As he said that, Sumire felt more rumbling. This was just like what happened when Maruki’s heart was changed.

“Let’s go!” Sumire shouted, grabbing the nearest person to her, Ann, and dashing towards where the volleyball had broken off a chunk of the wall. “I think we can get out faster through here!”

The others nodded and quickly followed suit. Hikari threw Ryuji over her shoulder and jumped out the hole with the others. Sumire slid down the roof and rolled as she impacted the floor, Ann and Morgana doing the same, while Hikari simply landed on her legs whilst holding Ryuji.

Thankfully being in the metaverse far enhanced their physical endurance, so falls like that were largely inconsequential.

Aiming to take advantage of that, Sumire ran to the edge of the rooftop and jumped down into the alley below, the others following closely behind her.

Just as the castle fully caved in on itself, the thieves reached the exit and made it back to the real world.

***

Hikari heaved a sigh of relief as they finally managed to make it out. She finally removed Ryuji from her shoulder and set him next to the alley’s wall before collapsing herself. Unfortunately, they didn’t have time to heal up properly before making their escape.

“So…” Hikari spoke between deep breaths. “We won, right?”

“I think so.” Morgana nodded his head. “This is my first time doing this, but there’s no doubt this will have a major impact on the real Kamoshida.”

Hikari rested against the wall. Not exactly the reassurance she was looking for, but she’ll have to take it for now.

“Here.” Sumire said, causing Hikari to turn towards her. She was holding out a gold medal. “I think this is Kamoshida’s treasure. You can decide what to do with it.” She let out a deep breath of her own before stretching a bit. “...I’m going to go see what Akira’s doing.”

Without another word, Sumire began walking towards the train station, seeming nearly unphased by what just happened.

“I’m… gonna go sleep the rest of the day away.” Ann said next before heading in the same direction, clearly trying not to stumble.

Morgana walked over to Hikari as he looked in the direction Sumire went. “That girl has some crazy stamina… We should take advantage of that in the future.” He noted.

Hikari was inclined to agree. Not only that, but Sumire almost made Kamoshida look easy. Unlike everyone else, it really didn’t feel like she was struggling.

Guess that’s what being a gymnast does to you. Maybe they could train together in their spare time.

For now though, Hikari had bigger fish to fry.

“We should get Ryuji to Takemi.” Hikari told Morgana. “I don’t know how badly he’s injured, but we should get him checked up.”

“Don’t worry about it, Hikari.” Ryuji finally spoke up with a grunt. “I don’t think anythin’ broke. I can get home on my own.”

As if to immediately disprove his own point, he stood up, stumbled, and Hikari had to quickly get up to catch him.

“Yeah no. You’re going to see Takemi.” Hikari then turned to Morgana. “Sorry about losing control again today…”

Morgana nodded his head. “Don’t worry about it. This time you didn’t really make things any worse than they already were. Plus, it served as a good distraction for Sumire.”

“Sumire…” Hikari mumbled in thought before shaking her head. “I’ll meet you at Leblanc, Morgana. My window’s open so you can probably just get in through there without disturbing Sojiro.”

Morgana nodded his head and made his way to the train station. Although he looked like a cat, Hikari wasn’t worried about him being caught. He’d already proven to be fairly good at getting around undetected.

Helping Ryuji to the station herself, she set him down in one of the seats and watched over him the whole way home. Hopefully he’s alright.

***

The moment Akira answered the door to his dorm for Sumire, she hugged him, nestling her head against his chest.

“W-Woah!” Akira gasped before settling down and hugging her back. “Tough day?”

Sumire nodded her head. “Mhm… Can we sit down on your bed?”

Akira smirked, closed the door behind her, and walked over to the bed with her still in his arms. Once they sat down, Sumire rested her head on his shoulder.

“We finally defeated Kamoshida today…” Sumire spoke up. “We don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“I always knew you could do it.” Akira kissed her head. “You’re gonna have to tell me about how it went.”

Sumire giggled. “Mhm… Can we just relax for a little while first?”

“Of course.”

With that, the two lovers simply snuggled in Akira’s bed in a comfortable silence. Loving every moment of their time together.

Chapter 10: Infiltration

Chapter Text

Days later, the confession went exactly as Sumire remembered it. Kamoshida confessed in front of the whole school, then the police were called to take him into custody.

The rumors surrounding Ann were also culled yet again, leading the other students to be more friendly with her and less prejudiced about her looks.

Ryuji and Hikari, however, still had half the student body terrified of them, with the other half being indifferent or silently judging them. She wondered whether she should have told Kamoshida’s shadow to confess to exposing the record as well… but that probably wouldn’t have changed anything.

Kamoshida didn’t know the record was rigged, after all.

Life for Sumire had returned to the closest thing to “normal” she had since she got here. School, practice, then study in the evening. However, the monotony would come to an end soon.

The thieves were planning to have a private celebration for their victory. They’d opted not to invite Akira and Shiho since they just didn’t have the funds for it. They’d also all decided not to tell Akira and Shiho anything yet.

Sumire, of course, kept Akira’s secret.

Sumire passed a glance at her calendar as she studied. To be honest, she did feel a little guilty.

While she’d be celebrating with what used to be Akira’s team, he was going to be hard at work.

Breaking into Shido’s office.

Sumire bit her lip. She just hoped Akira would be safe…

***

Those thoughts never left Sumire, even as she entered the hotel with her friends and began digging into the delectable food there. This, of course, did not go unnoticed by her peers, who kept looking at her.

“Are you doing okay, Sumire?” Hikari eventually asked after swallowing a bite of her food.

“O-Oh, it’s nothing.” Sumire quickly replied. “I was just… kinda wishing Akira was here?”

“D’awww…” Ann immediately replied with a teasing grin. “I’ve never even met Akira and I can already tell you two make a cute couple!”

Sumire blushed at that, not that she disagreed. She loved being around Akira, and she knew Akira loved being around her.

“Come to think of it…” Hikari spoke up yet again. “Doesn’t Kosei have a preliminary competition soon?”

Sumire nodded her head. “Yeah, I hope Akira is selected.”

Not that she had any doubts. Although Akira might not be the most passionate person when it comes to sports, his skills as a thief will surely come in handy.

“Why don’t we all go and watch him compete?” Hikari suggested. “We could talk with him after it’s over.”

“That’s a great idea!” Ryuji replied. “Given how you talk about him, I’m sure he’s cool!”

“He is…”

“I actually did meet him once,” Morgana spoke up. “I didn’t really get a good read of his personality though,” He then smirked at Sumire. “They were all over each other when he visited!”

“M-Morgana!” Sumire covered her face as she felt it go a red she hadn’t experienced since the day she and Akira started going out.

The others began laughing at her expense, causing Sumire to press her hands against her face even harder. Eventually, it died down and Sumire was able to calm herself down before releasing her hands from her face.

“A-Anyway…” Sumire spoke up. “I’m sure we’re all thinking about this right now, but… Are we going to continue as Phantom Thieves?”

“Like, keep it goin’?” Ryuji asked. “That would be cool!”

“Yeah, I agree!” Ann replied with a smile. “Looking at all the people who were able to gain the strength to talk about their experiences with Kamoshida… It was really nice to know that we had something to do with it. I’d love to continue giving people courage.”

“Well said, Lady Ann!” Morgana piped up. “I also think we should continue. Maybe one of the palaces we discover could help me become human again!”

Hikari nodded. “Yeah…” She looked a bit somber though. “Uhm… Who will be our leader though?”

“Whatcha talkin’ about?” Ryuji gave her a smile. “It’d be you, of course!”

“I don’t know…” Hikari looked to her side. “I lost control during Kamoshida again, can you all really depend on me?”

“Hikari-senpai…” Sumire gave her a look. “You’ve done fine, you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.”

Sumire, of all people, would know how detrimental that could be.

“I agree with Sumire,” Morgana added. “As much as I’d like Sumire to be the leader, it’s probably better if you are instead, being the most versatile member of our team.”

“I suppose…” Hikari was still unsure.

“Well, hey Hikari.” Ryuji attempted to reassure her. “We both have issues losin’ control when we get angry. Why don’t we try to figure that out together? That way we won’t need our other teammates to bail us out.” He looked at Sumire as he said that last part.

Hikari, while still unsure, gave him a small smile. “I’d like that…”

Sumire looked between Ryuji and Hikari. They seemed to have a fairly deep connection for having met so recently, she wondered if it was similar to her own bond with Akira.

“Uhm… Not to spoil the moment, but…” Ann spoke up. “We only have twenty minutes left! There’s still three more sweets for me to try!”

“Shoot!” Ryuji suddenly yelled. “I still have more meat to try!”

Sumire giggled as Ryuji and Ann grabbed their plates and went to grab more food.

“Aren’t you gonna get more, Sumire?” Morgana asked as he eyed her empty plate.

Sumire waved her hand. “It’s fine, if I eat any more than I have, I might gain weight.”

“Come on, Sumire!” Hikari gave her a smile. “We’re all here to celebrate!”

Sumire smiled back, but shook her head. “Sorry, but I can’t fall behind.”

Hikari didn’t seem satisfied, but she relented, instead grabbing the monabag and grabbing some extra food for herself.

Now alone, Sumire sighed and leaned back against her seat. Right now, Akira was infiltrating Shido’s office, wasn’t he? She hoped he’d be okay…

***

“Tonight’s the night.” Futaba said as Ren stood behind her. “You ready?”

Ren smirked. “It’s showtime!”

Futaba giggled a bit at that. Who knew this mysterious guy could be such a dork? Though she quickly wiped her grin from her face as she thought about the circ*mstances.

“I don’t get it… Why are you so confident in being able to get on the roof?” Futaba had to ask. “I mean, it’s not like you can fly or anything…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ren grinned. “I have a plan.”

“Mmmm…” Futaba sighed. “Fine. I’ll trust you.” She grabbed something off of her desk. “Here.”

“What’s this?” Ren asked as he took it from her.

“A communication device.” Futaba explained. “It’ll let me see what you’re doing and communicate with you from here. Don’t worry, nobody else will be able to hack into it!”

“I’d expect nothing less from you, Alibaba.” Ren smirked as he put the device on his ear.

“And here’s the drive you requested.” Futaba handed him a small flash drive. “It should be able to download everything from Shido’s computer if you get enough time.”

Ren nodded as he took it.

“Well, I think that’s everything. Just remember the plan and you should be good to go!” Futaba told him.

Ren smiled as he silently left her room.

Afterwards, Futaba looked at the time. It was about to get dark, so the operation would begin soon. A smile on her face, Futaba cracked her knuckles. She hadn’t had this much fun in a while.

***

Once out of Futaba’s room, Akira jumped up to the fence, then to the wall of a building behind Sojiro’s, then used his legs to propel himself up to the roof of the Sakura residence.

Oh how he loved having Metaverse mobility in the real world.

He wasn’t done yet, however.

He began leaping from the rooftops of the buildings, heading away from Shibuya and more towards the outskirts of Tokyo. Of course, it’d take a while to get all the way there by foot, but he only needed to get to a lower populated area.

“Where are you going?” Futaba asked him through the device she’d given him. “The Diet Building isn’t in that direction!”

“Just wait.” Akira calmly told her. “I need to get somewhere nobody will see.”

“Why? Aren’t the rooftops already enough?”

Akira didn’t respond. He continued jumping for a while, until he felt like he finally got to a good area. It was a construction zone, so there was nobody inside of the building he was standing on to hear what he was doing.

With a deep breath, he summoned Kohryu, causing the mask to disappear from his face.

“I-Is that a dragon!?!?!” Futaba cried out from the earpiece.

“This is why I had to get so far away.” Akira smirked.

“I figured maybe you had access to a helicopter or something!” Futaba said in pure surprise. “I didn’t expect you to be a freaking wizard!”

Akira chuckled. He guessed that wasn’t too far off. Regardless, he hopped onto Kohryu’s back, and the dragon began to fly in the air. He went up into the clouds, ensuring nobody would see him travel to the Diet Building.

Akira loved how it felt to be so high up in the air, above all the buildings below. Perhaps one day he should do this again, and bring Sumire with him. Just like in Futaba’s palace.

It didn’t take long, only about twenty minutes, for Akira to finally reach the Diet Building. He willed Kohryu to fly above the building, high enough not to be noticed, and then dropped down.

He landed on the rooftop without making too much noise, then Kohryu disappeared, Akira’s mask reappearing on his face.

Akira then switched from Kohryu to Pixie, and summoned her into reality. He’d need her here to attract the guards from Shido’s office. This time, Futaba didn’t comment on the small fairy.

Pulling out his dagger, Akira slid it in a gap between the vent cover and the shaft, leveraging it to bend the metal until he could fit his fingers in the gap. Once it was large enough, he sheathed his dagger and began trying to pull it off with his hands.

After some time, it became clear that it wouldn’t budge.

“Hmmm…” Futaba thought from the other end. “We probably should’ve considered how stubborn it’d be… Do you have any tools with you?”

“Don’t worry, I have an idea.” Akira replied quietly.

Pixie disappeared as he switched to Yosh*tsune. Using one of the persona’s abilities, Akira felt a huge boost in strength flow through his body.

Utilizing it, Akira carefully separated the cover from the shaft, ensuring not to make too much noise. At least not yet.

With a small huff from the effort, Akira set the cover on the floor and resummoned Pixie. He then climbed inside, having Pixie lift the cover back on from the other side.

In the darkness of night, hopefully nobody would notice the slight bend of the metal.

“Alright, it doesn’t seem like the guards heard anything yet.” Futaba told him. “I’ll guide you through these vents until you’re close enough to Shido’s office.”

“Thanks.” Akira whispered.

True to her word, Futaba guided Akira through the vents, informing him when to go down, left, right, or forward. It didn’t take long at all for Akira to get on Shido’s floor.

Unfortunately, the vents going through the actual hallway were too small for Akira to fit through, so instead he dropped into a larger office room on the same floor as Shido’s office. One of the ones that there wasn’t anybody inside at the time.

“We’ll have to be quick,” Futaba told him. “While it’s empty right now, there are still people on shift who work in this office.”

Akira nodded his head and quietly dashed to the door. There was nobody in the hallway immediately outside of it, so he opened it and carefully navigated each corridor. Eventually, he made it to the hallway where Shido’s office was.

Sure enough, two guards were stationed right outside of it. Ducking down and letting the shadows envelop him, Akira had Pixie act.

Akira heard a loud thump emanate from the rooftop, getting the attention of the guards.

“What was that?”

“Dunno, think we should check it out?”

“And leave Shido’s office unguarded!? Do you want to be sued into oblivion!?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll go check it out, you stay here.”

Akira cursed under his breath as only one of the guards left the scene, heading down the hallway where Akira was hiding, only to pass him by as though the guard hadn’t even seen him.

“Darn…” Futaba whispered through the earpiece. “Do you have any ideas? I’m not sure how to get the last guard’s attention. He may not leave his post even if we made another noise.”

“Hmmm…” Akira thought. “I have an idea, but that means leaving some evidence.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing…”

Akira switched personas yet again, from Pixie to Silky. Taking a deep breath, he crept down the hallway, getting closer and closer to the guard.

The guard seemed to notice the movement, causing Akira to freeze in place. The guard tilted his head, as though confused, and began approaching the spot Akira was in. Once he got close enough, it seemed he finally realized what he was seeing. With a gasp, he quickly pulled out his gun, but he wasn’t fast enough.

Akira swiftly leapt out of his hiding spot, disarmed the guard, and pushed his head onto the ground. He then summoned Silky and put the guard to sleep.

Honestly, Akira expected to be caught sooner. Perhaps while he was in costume, he had all the advantages of the Metaverse? He certainly felt faster and stronger, on top of how the guard didn’t even seem to notice him until he got closer.

He couldn’t blame Futaba for being so confused.

Regardless, he entered the office, slowly shutting the door beside him. If he were quick enough, then he should still have time to download everything before the other guard got back.

Rushing over to Shido’s desk, he turned on the computer and put the drive in the appropriate slot. Just like Futaba’s drive in the original timeline, this one bypassed the password and any other security measures before starting a download of all the files on Shido’s computer.

Unfortunately, Shido had quite a lot. Only one percentage point was filled every two or three seconds. He couldn’t waste time, however, and began looking through the drawers at Shido’s desk, scanning through all the documents on each folder he took out.

Most of them weren’t useful, simply being menial paperwork. Akira did keep hold of certain financial documents, even if they weren’t really what he was after, though.

He could turn them into Sae and start an investigation once he took down Shido’s support.

“Ren, the guard’s coming back, you need to get out of there!” Futaba hissed into his ear.

Akira closed the drawer and looked up, enhancing his senses with Third Eye, he could hear the guard coming back down the stairs and through the hallway.

Akira looked at the drive that was still downloading stuff, cursing to himself as it was only barely at twenty percent. He took the drive out and shut down the computer before the office doors opened.

He switched to Lucifer as soon as he noticed the gun.

“Put your hands up!”

Akira looked around for some way to escape without being tracked down, and his eyes settled on the window. With Lucifer as his current persona, such a fall shouldn’t hurt him.

He smirked at the guard who was still aiming at him.

“See ya.”

He jumped out the window and quickly found himself falling down to the streets below. He’d need a bit of extra height to make it to a nearby rooftop. He didn’t want to use it quite yet, as he hadn’t finished testing it in the Metaverse, but he activated the grappling hook on his wrist, one nearly identical to the one that Morgana had initially given him, and wrapped it around a piece of geometry jutting out of the Diet Building.

With a quick swing, he practically flew towards the neighboring rooftops before finally falling again, hitting the ground and rolling to break his fall. Not that he really needed to with Lucifer backing him up.

He peered over the edge of the roof he landed on, and heard police sirens heading towards the Diet Building. They’d come for him soon enough if he stayed here.

He jumped from rooftop to rooftop yet again. Once he was far enough away, he slid down one into the alley below, finally dismissing his outfit.

He felt the extra speed and strength granted by the Metaverse leave his body, but that didn’t matter. He began making his way to the train station so he could reconvene with Futaba.

***

Shido’s knuckles were clenched so tight they were practically white as he stared at the shattered window of his office. To think some thief would break into his office, bait one guard away and drug the other. It was yet more proof of the incompetence of his subordinates.

An act that would not go unpunished.

He picked up his phone and called his personal assassin. It only took one ring for Akechi to pick up.

“What do you need?”

“I have two new targets to add on to your list.” Shido told him. “I’d rather you deal with them before your scheduled target for today.”

“Got it.”

“One more thing.” Shido told him. “Someone may be onto us.”

“I heard your office was broken into, have any idea who it could’ve been?”

“None right now,” Shido angrily replied. “If you find any information on who it could’ve been though, bring it back to me.”

“Will do, it shouldn’t be too hard to do so with the Metaverse.”

“Good.” Shido relaxed a bit. “They’ll sorely regret messing with me. Now find out who it is.”

“I’ll let you know whatever I find.”

Shido hung up and stared back through the window. With a scoff, he turned and left as the maintenance crew came in to examine the damage.

Shido didn’t know what was going on. Who could possibly have the audacity to rise up to a rebellion against him? But he would find out.

And they would pay dearly.

***

Akira stared at his gloved hand as he considered what he learned from last night’s excursion, whilst waiting for Futaba to find anything useful to his investigation.

He hoped Shido had the names of his allies somewhere within these documents, but he wasn’t certain. It was only twenty percent of the total data stored on the computer, and on top of that Shido may not even keep any evidence there.

Still, it was his best shot.

On top of that, he discovered it wasn’t just his outfit, personas, and speed, but also the extra stealth options afforded to him by the Metaverse. Would all that, besides personas, go away once Mementos is destroyed? Or are these extra abilities actually separate from the Metaverse entirely?

He shook his head as speculation would get him nowhere, and turned his attention to Futaba’s monitors.

“Got anything yet?”

“Not really, but there’s a lot here.” Futaba told him before frowning and looking at him. “So… Are you an alien?”

“Alien?” Akira asked.

“Yeah!” Futaba replied. “How else would you do all that stuff! Summoning creatures and deities, effortlessly climbing onto the rooftops, somehow not being spotted by those guards in the hallway, and then also falling from that high up and walking it off? Whatever you are, it’s not human!” She then grinned like the gremlin she truly is. “I feel sorry for whatever Shido did to piss you off.”

Akira chuckled a bit. “Well, sorry to disappoint, but I am human.”

“So…?”

“It’s a long story. I promise I’ll tell you everything, but it’s not the right time yet.” Akira told her. “Don’t worry though, you won’t have to wait longer than a year.”

“Ugh… Fine, keep your secrets.” Futaba groaned, but there was no genuine anger in it. “I’ll keep taking a crack at this, I’m sure you have other things to do.”

Akira nodded his head, climbing out her window before exchanging one last look with her and sneaking away from the house.

He didn’t have much else to do until Futaba found something, and Sumire was at practice, so he just went back to his dorm and studied.

***

Akira sighed in content as he lay down next to Sumire on her bed. Although she wasn’t available the previous day, she is now. Especially after infiltrating Shido’s office, he really needed to relax like this.

“Now I know how you felt…” Akira muttered, remembering how cuddly she was after taking down Kamoshida.

“Mhm…” Sumire hummed in return, resting her eyes as her head snuggled against Akira’s chest.

A few moments passed as they relaxed together.

“So…” Akira spoke up once again. “How did the celebration go?”

“Would’ve been better if you were there…” Sumire smiled a bit. “But it was pretty good. I think we convinced Hikari to remain leader.”

“That’s good,” Akira smiled in return. “I love you, Sumi.”

“I love you too, Senpai…” Sumire nuzzled his chest.

Akira felt a buzz come from his pocket, but he ignored it, wanting to get as much out of his time with Sumire as he could. Call him selfish, but whoever it was could wait a few minutes.

Of course, those few minutes quickly turned into another thirty until Sumire’s door was knocked on.

“Hey, lovebirds!” Kasumi’s voice came through the door. “Dinner’s ready!”

Akira gave a small irritated sigh as he and Sumire unlatched from each other. Holding hands, they got off the bed, went to the door, and exited the room, where Kasumi was still standing on the other side.

Kasumi smirked as she looked at their intertwined hands. “You two are too much sometimes. I’m almost jealous.”

Sumire and Akira both lightly blushed.

“Kasumi…” Sumire mumbled.

Kasumi, rather than apologizing, simply laughed at them. “Come on! Dinner’s gonna get cold!”

Without another word, she turned and walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Sumire sighed and Akira squeezed her hand a bit. Looking at him, she gave him a smile, squeezed back, and then began walking down the hall.

Although they had to leave Sumire’s bed for now, at least he didn’t have to leave quite yet. Akira quickly fell in step with Sumire as he thought this.

Although, as he entered the kitchen, he remembered the text from earlier and got his phone out. Ah, it seemed Futaba had found something useful: Shido’s hitlist.

He quickly read through it before his eyes froze on one of the names.

No, that wasn’t supposed to be there. That couldn’t be there.

“Akira, what’s wrong?” Sumire asked, snapping him out of his stupor. “You… you look really pale.”

Akira couldn’t hide this from Sumire. He flipped his phone around, zoomed in on the name, and showed her, causing her to adopt his same fearful look.

Shinichi Yoshizawa, Sumire’s father, was on the list.