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1Persona 5
2All rights to Persona 5 belong to its creators
3By: Adam Salgado 
4
5Prologue:
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7“Before you leave, I must ask, have you ever seen a trickster? They’re everywhere and they hide in plain sight to deceive all who fall for their trap. Maybe they’re a corrupt politician, maybe they’re a house maid, maybe they’re a best friend or even a family member. Whoever they may be, their intentions are clear; to corrupt the soul or to manipulate their prey for their own personal desires. No matter where you look, no matter where you scavenge, they’ll be there, watching. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t trust anyone, in fact, it means quite the opposite. Trust everyone, but just look hard enough, look close enough, and catch tricksters before they catch you. From now on, you will live among them, you will live among tricksters and humans alike, but always remember, you are not one of them. You have powers and abilities they could only dream of. You have a Persona. However, you must not get cocky, and you must steal the hearts of the worst tricksters on earth and become one with the closest of friends through confidants; cards of wisdom, power and goodwill. Your best friends and allies are your comrades, treat them well, with love, respect and care, just like you treat yourself. You’re not one of them, but you are not above them. They are just like you. Little by little, they will unlock their own abilities, abilities they have hidden at the deepest depths of their heart, waiting to be discovered. They will fight alongside you, and they will learn with you. You will learn with them, too. Right now, you may not understand what I’m saying, but that’s fine, you don’t have to. One day, though, everything will make sense. But, at this moment, I’m afraid the clock has struck. Go, little one, but don’t leave forever. Return one day, and I will welcome you with open arms. For now, goodbye. Your time has come.”
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10Chapter 1: Wake up, Get up Get out there!
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12There were helicopters everywhere, surrounding the Tokyo Grand Village Casino in its rte. It was nighttime and the Casino I was infiltrating was the main one in Tokyo, in fact, it was the only one in the Giza district. The closest other casino in Tokyo was in the Rizyuh district, an entire town away. Because of this, it was no surprise that the Casino was jam packed with nearly thousands upon thousands of people. The fact that today is the Casino’s 100th anniversary didn’t help much either. People from all over Tokyo came here to celebrate the anniversary and spend the night away. The casino is incredibly huge, so seeing that there is literally no space left for any more visitors was a bit surprising. Grand village casino is so huge, in fact, that it’s considered its own town by the government. An incredibly small town, but still, very impressive. Gaiju river surrounds Grand Village, giving the casino a very pretty view. The casino itself had huge, flashy signs, saying things like ‘WELCOME TO GRAND VILLAGE’ ‘SPEND THE NIGHT AWAY’ with a female narrator reading them out loud. There were huge, colorful cardboard spikes sticking out of the casino rooftops with fireworks blasting from them in all directions. Rainbow themed spotlights shined from the ground as visuals made using lights lit up the scene. Grand village itself was really just a bunch of smaller casinos all connected to each other by multiple streets and passageways. The streets were lively, with food stands and parades taking up most of the space. There was no need for cars; everyone was just in huge crowds, getting drunk, partying, and doing whatever else you do in celebrations. Grand village and its casinos were all connected to one bigger, more important casino, Tokyo Casino, which is where all the action was taking place. 
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14I was standing on a balcony that was right in front of Big Delly, the huge clock that’s located right above the main entrance. I looked below and saw crowds of people walking, chatting, and overall having a great time. They didn’t even know what was coming. I was actually surprised at the fact that the Giza police force was able to keep the public in the dark for this long. Usually, chaos spreads like wildfire when people even catch a glance at a Giza police helicopter, but everyone is acting like nothing’s wrong when multiple Giza helicopters are literally in plain sight all over Tokyo casino. I guess they’re too drunk to even notice. Beep beep…boop! My earpiece started ringing. “Hey, Ren, I’ve got bad news for ya. Mono, (the head master of the Giza police force) now knows about your presence. He should be coming to Tokyo casino in less than a minute, but when he comes, prepare yourself, it’s gonna be utter havoc…” Morgana said. “Wait, WHAT!?” I asked before she hung up. Uh oh. Suddenly, a blinding spotlight shined over me. Multiple helicopters were hovering above, with Mono being inside one of them. 
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16“Well well well…it looks like we finally found him. The runt. You were hiding in front of Big Delly? Really? You couldn’t of picked a more obvious spot. You’re an amateur at this, aren’t you? Well, that’s too bad. Time to go!” Mono said as he ordered around multiple soldiers. They were all wearing special uniforms, and when I tried reading a badge they had on, it said that they were part of the…Tokyo army!? The ARMY is a part of this now!? Mono certainly isn’t messing around. The soldiers all started climbing down ladders that hung off of the helicopters and began making their way toward me. “Uh oh…you’re cornered. All they have to do is run up the stairs that lead to the balcony and capture you. Then, it’s game over. There’s only one option left now, and that option is to BREAK THROUGH BIG DELLY!” Morgana said. “Break through? Are you CRAZY!? How am I supposed to break through THAT? Do I just run up to it with all of my force and break the clock while simultaneously breaking every bone in my body?” I asked. “You got a better idea?” Morgana replied. Sigh…I guess she’s right. It’s all or nothing. I closed my eyes, prepared myself, and then I used all of my force to BREAK through Big Delly. The ear wrenching sound of glass breaking into tiny pieces was all I could hear. Suddenly, everyone who was inside of the casino gasped, stopped what they were doing and began freaking out. Everyone started yelling, throwing food, etcetera. “No way…I didn’t believe he was crazy enough, but by golly, he was. Tokyo army, CAPTURE him before anything else happens,” Mono ordered. “Yes sir!” the soldiers obeyed.
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18I got up and found myself standing on top of another balcony, the only difference being this balcony was made out of glass. I started looking for a way out, and I saw a long glass platform that stretched all the way above and across the casino. The jump from the balcony to the platform was relatively close, but if you don’t make the jump, you’d be falling all the way to the floor, which may lead to DYING. Needless to say, I was pretty scared, but I had to jump or else the soldiers will get me. “STOP RIGHT THERE,” I heard a voice say. I looked behind me and saw 4 soldiers. They all had guns in their hands and they were pointing them right at me. Well, no time to think about it now. I began running and jumped off the balcony. I was in midair when I realized that I might not make it. I had jumped a little bit too early, so I wasn’t really thinking about how I was gonna make it. The platform was right in front of me and I…didn’t make the jump. I quickly grabbed on to the edge of the platform with both of my arms and with full strength so that I wouldn’t fall down. There I was, holding on to the platform for dear life while my legs were dangling down. “Looks like you’re in a tricky situation…hmm. Well, I know what you can do. I’ll just go into the casino and swoop right in!” Morgana said. Swoop right in? She’s inside of the control room right now, which is on the highest floor of the casino, so she should be coming in from the roof. “Look at me, you BRAT” I heard a voice say. I turned around, and I saw Mono with soldiers behind him. “You know…if it was up to ME, I would BLAST your cute little face into smithereens, but unfortunately I have to bring you to my boss in one piece. Looks like you made my job easier for me. Now all I have to do is-“ “MORGANA IS HERE! Make way, you fools!” Morgana interrupted Mono as she exploded a part of the roof into small pieces. The crowd in the casino gasped and panicked even more. The part of the roof that was exploded revealed the control room, which is where everyone was. Ann, Ryuji, Morgana and Yusuke! 
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20“Why’d we pick REN for this mission? He’s useless. I mean, just LOOK at him. He’s literally hanging off of a platform for dear life. He couldn’t even jump from the balcony to the platform for goodness sake. I would’ve been a better candidate for this mission, considering that if we fail this mission, it’s GAME OVER,” Yusuke said. “Shut up. Just a while ago, you couldn’t even open the door to the control room because you were so weak, and you think you can do better than Ren? HAHAHA! Don’t make me laugh,” Ryuji said. “The control room door was literal metal, how was I supposed to do it? …Why you little” Yusuke said while he put up a fist and headed towards Ryuji. “Woah woah WOAH! Stop fighting, it makes both of you look stupid. If you do any more of this shenanigans, I will literally grab you and throw you out of the window and launch you into Gaiju river. This is extremely serious and we don’t need people like you holding us back. Understood?” Ann said as she interrupted the dispute. Ryuji and Yusuke put their heads down as they nodded. “Alright, Morgana. Do your thing” Ann continued. “Got it!” Morgana said as she gave a thumbs up and a wink before she jumped onto the platform. “Here, grab my hand and I’ll pull you up!” Morgana said as she put her hand out. I grabbed her hand and got up onto the platform. “What in tarnation is THIS!? I won’t let this get in my way. Soldiers, capture Ren and don’t stop until you have him in your hands!” Mono ordered. “Sir, I’m afraid that the jump from the balcony to the platform is far too wide. If we jump, we might fa-“ “I DON’T CARE. DID YOU LISTEN TO MY COMMANDS!? BRING REN BACK HERE” Mono yelled. “A-alright, sir” the soldier stuttered. One by one, the soldiers began attempting to jump from the balcony to the platform. I almost wanted to watch, but Morgana didn’t let me. “Ren, don’t waste your time. Let’s get moving!” she said as she began moving forward, “Follow me!”
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22I began walking along the platform, and I won’t lie, it was kinda scary. The platform was made out of glass, so I could see the long fall that would’ve happened had I not held on to the edge of the platform earlier. I continued walking, and chaos was still happening. The bottom floor looked like an absolute mess, a mess I wouldn’t want to be a part of. Most of the floor was covered with casino chips, money and other things you’d find in a casino. The slot machines were broken with wires sticking out, people were frantically yelling and trying to look for an escape, and overall, it was a war zone. ”Poor citizens…they didn’t know it was coming. Why’d it have to be the 100th anniversary today? Of all the days in a year, why’d it have to be this one? If it was a regular day, maybe you’d see hundreds of people in the bottom floor of the Tokyo casino, but no, there’s nearly 2,000! I swear, someone’s gonna get killed in there. Multiple people are. Oh well…I guess we can’t do anything about it,” Morgana said, “Let’s keep moving.” We kept on walking until we were met with some sort of sign that was hung up on the wall. It wasn’t a big sign, but it wasn’t too small either. “STOP RIGHT THERE,” a booming voice said. We looked behind us and we saw a soldier. ”STOP MOVING OR I TAZE YOU”, he said. He was holding some sort of weapon in his hand, one that I’ve never seen before. I’m guessing it does long distance tasing, though. “Guess we have to jump onto the sign, quick!” Morgana said. Both of us did just that, but we could hear the soldier grumbling and marching forward. Once we were on top of the sign, we were met with many more of them. They were all in different colors, shapes and sizes. It was like a metropolis of signs! We began jumping through them, but as we were jumping, we heard what could only be described as a fast moving ray. The ray was so quick, and it reached the bars that held the sign we were on in place. The bars were metal, and this ray shot right through it with ease! The sign began quickly falling down, but Morgana just as quickly jumped on to the next sign. I wasn’t as fortunate. “HEEELLPPP!!” I exclaimed as I began falling down. Morgana grabbed me by the hand, and next thing I knew, I was on top of a sign. “Wow, Ren. Mono was right, you really are an amateur! Come on, you have to be swifter than that if you’re a phantom thieve!” Morgana said. “Why you little…both of you WON’T escape, and that’s a PROMISE” the same voice from earlier said. It was the same soldier, too, and he was on top of one of the signs himself. He was still holding on to that strange weapon in his hand, which is what he probably used to cast that strong ray we saw. Where’d he even get that thing? He began doing something with the weapon, which I assume is him loading it up. “Hurry up!” Morgana exclaimed from afar. I looked in front of me, and Morgana was already way ahead of me! She must have experience with sign jumping. I followed her trail and caught up to her. She was looking down at a long staircase that stretched from the bottom floor all the way to the top floor, which is where we were at. “Alright, let’s jump down to it…one…two…three!” She said as she jumped and landed on the staircase. “Here goes nothing…” I said as I jumped down as well. The staircase led to a dark oak platform, a very fancy looking one too. At the end of the platform, there were some more stairs that led up to another door. “Last one to the door is a poopy head!” Morgana said as she laughed and ran to the door. She was quickly stopped by two guards in black who came in from said door. ”You should’ve stayed home…” one of them said. Both of them began slowly morphing into…something else. They lost their clothes and grew bigger and scarier. They grew large, hideous claws with a large, hideous face. In fact, everything about them grew large and hideous – like. Their new forms didn’t even resemble anything, the only way I could describe it is that they looked like monsters. Ugly monsters that I don’t want anything to do with.
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24Morgana gasped as the monsters began coming closer. “You’re done for kiddo. Say bye-bye FOREVER,” one of them told me. I was panicking and there was really nothing I could do but kill them with my Persona, Arséne. If I do that, I’ll risk people seeing my powers but oh well. Flames surrounded me as my almighty Persona awakened before my presence. “What do you wish, master?” “I wish for you to kill those monsters!” I said while pointing at their direction. “Very well.” A large ball of fire was thrown at the monster’s direction, killing them with relative ease. However, the power was way too strong and it ended up launching us to the other side of the room. “WOOOOAAAHHH!” Morgana exclaimed as she and I flew through the air. We ended up bursting through the door, and once we got up, we were met with a very unpleasant surprise. 
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26Guards that looked similar to the ones from earlier surrounded us. We were on a balcony that was outside, and it was raining too. Mono came onto the scene in a police car and a megaphone in his hand. He parked the car and got out of it. SLAM! I looked behind me and two guards shut the door and blocked it with their bodies. Suddenly, all of the guards and soldiers who were surrounding us pointed their guns at me and Morgana. “Uh oh…I don’t think I have a plan here, Joker,” Morgana said worriedly. “Don’t move an inch or I will tell the soldiers to shoot your arm off,” Mono said through his megaphone. He had a huge grin on his face and began laughing like a madman. “Well well WELL. You really thought you could ESCAPE!? Fools. Imbeciles. Idiots. Guards, take Ren away,” Mono continued as the guards who were behind us grabbed me by the arms. ”Hey! Let Ren g-“ “Shut up,” one of the guards said as he shoved Morgana away. “HEY! YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!” Morgana exclaimed. The other guard grabbed Morgana and started taking her away. “Where are you taking her!? Leave her ALONE!” I exclaimed, “You can take me but let Morgana be.” What in the world are these guards DOING!? “You shut up too! We don’t need chatty prisoners,” the guard who was taking me away said. “Grr,” I said as I struggled but failed to escape. No way that this is happening…there’s just no way! I won’t let these stupid guards do whatever they want. “Oh, just give up already! There’s no point in struggling! You got caught, it’s done,” the guard said as he grabbed something out of his pocket. Once he took it out, I saw that it was a…taser. “HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE-“, before I could finish my sentence, he used the taser on me. After an extremely painful electric shock, I didn’t even have the force to scream or yell. I just felt very sleepy and tired…and then…I passed out.
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35Chapter 2: Eerie facility
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37	“Ugh…where…am I?” I asked myself. I was still slowly regaining my consciousness and my five senses weren’t completely on yet. My eyes were closed too, but once I steadily opened them up, I saw that I was in a very, VERY dark room. It was pitch black, and I also realized that I was laying down. I was on top of a bed, I’m guessing. There was also a large, very comfortable blanket covering me. I almost didn’t want to get out of the bed, but I knew I had to. I got up, but I didn’t get out of the bed just yet. I needed a bit of time to completely come back to my senses. There was also tons of worries that were hovering around in my mind. Where’s Morgana? Is she ok? Where’s everyone else, too? What happened to Ann, Ryuji and Yusuke? So many questions, so many thoughts. But, I couldn’t stay there pondering forever, so I eventually got up, but those questions were still at the back of my mind. I was barefoot, I didn’t have any shoes or sandals on. This was pretty inconvenient since the floor was very, very cold and, weirdly, it was pretty wet too. In the corner of the room, I saw rain and some moonlight coming in. I walked up to the place and saw that part of the roof was missing. This was causing rain to seep into the room I was in, which was the reason why the floors were wet. Whoever built this room was pretty careless, but I guess I would be too if I were building rooms for people I hate. The room was still pitch black, so it was hard to navigate through it, but I eventually found what felt like a wooden door. I managed to find the handle and I opened the door. 
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39The door made an extremely horrid screeching sound, it felt like my ears were going to bleed. Opening the door led to some stairs, along with walls that  had lanterns lighting them and some weird posters. The posters said things like, “Kill the phantom thieves!” or “The Mafia will get them.” There were red colored smiley faces, black clovers, and other types of weird symbols covering the walls, along with graffiti. Also, why were there lanterns on the walls? This isn’t the 16th century, we have more modern means of lighting now. I’m guessing that lanterns are cheaper than paying the electric bill, which suggests that whoever runs this place must be scraping by. I also noticed that I was in…pajamas? I was wearing regular clothing before, so someone must’ve changed me into pajamas? But why? Strange, but I continued going on my way.
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41I kept on walking down the stairs until I was met with a hallway. There were people talking and chatting and I didn’t want to get noticed, so I hid behind a wall and eavesdropped. “Have you heard? They caught the leader of the phantom thieves, Ren. He was jumping around inside of Tokyo casino. Crazy, right? Why would a phantom thief need to be inside of a casino of all places? Anyway, Mono got in touch with the Tokyo army and they all got Ren with relative ease. There were some rumors, though, that Ren used his persona, Arséne. Could it be true? Are personas still a thing? They were wiped out a long time ago, or at least that’s what the government told us. Maybe they just said that so that the public would stop causing such an uproar, but who knows. They’re just rumors, after all,” a man said. I haven’t been much into politics for a while, but people are still after us? Wow. I guess it’s true what Igor told me when I was a kid. ‘There will be challenges and threats that will stop you in your way to full rehabilitation. They will continue barking and barking like dogs, never satisfied until they get what they want. Don’t let that stop you.’ I was still hiding behind the wall, but I couldn’t eavesdrop for too long. I have to go if I want to make progress, but where could I go? This entire facility is filled with people, there’s no way I could go unnoticed! I started thinking about how to get through, and I also started getting pretty lost in my thoughts, too. The worries that were in the back of my mind came back, and everything just began piling up. Those posters from earlier just brought up even more questions, and so did the conversation I just heard. Is this it? Is it really…game over?
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43Of course, it wasn’t really all over, part of me knew that, but the other part of me didn’t. I just kept on thinking…and thinking…and I think that I might’ve thought a bit too hard. Why do I say this? Well, out of nowhere, a blue butterfly popped into existence and it flew around me. Everything got much darker, in fact, it got so dark that all that was in existence was just me and the butterfly. The butterfly continued flying around without a care in the world, that was until it began talking. “We’ve met before. Remember when you were little and you still lived in the shadow dimension? You lived on the ‘good side’ of this place, the side where all the friendly fairies flew and all the hearty horses hollered with laughter. Anyway, I lived in that place too, I still do. When you were little, you were frolicking through the fields (with Igor’s supervision) and you couldn’t help but notice a bright blue butterfly. I was on top of gentle grass, relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. The moment I caught wind of you, I knew you were special. I am not a butterfly, I am something else, something your mind simply cannot comprehend. I live in a completely different plane of existence, one even more complex than the shadow dimension, but that does not matter now. What matter’s now is the question of wether you can hear me or not. If my voice is reaching you, you may still have a chance. Your journey is far, long and very difficult, nearly impossible. If you hear me, I will aid you. I will breaketh thy chains of captivity and give birth to a new power, a power that is anything but human – like. May freedom cast upon you, and you shall rebirth!” the butterfly boomed. I had little to no idea what it just said, but after that speech, I began feeling something deep in my heart. Something…unexplainable. Then, I began feeling a pain. A sharp, horrible pain. Everything began hurting, it hurt so much that I even began screaming. Screaming out of pure dread. “MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP,” I yelled in utter horror. I kneeled down and the butterfly began talking again. “My my. How foolish. How STUPID. You really are a human. Pathetic. You’ll never rehabilitate if you act like this. Whatever, just take your magical powers and leave. We’ll meet again one day. Don’t forget about me,” the butterfly said dismissively as it disappeared from existence. Everything turned white, and then, I was back into the real world. 
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45What in the world was all of that about? The sharp, horrible pain disappeared, (thankfully) but now, I didn’t feel as confused, which is weird because I should probably be feeling even more confused. I couldn’t help but notice I was feeling a bit more uncomfortable, it felt as if I was wearing itchy clothing. Sure enough, I looked down at my clothes, and I wasn’t in pajamas anymore. I was in a long, black trench coat with red gloves on too. What the…? I would never dress like this! These clothes are…peculiar, to say the least. I don’t really brush my hair, either, I just let it do whatever it wants, so this didn’t help my look much either. I was too busy contemplating that I forgot I was in the real world for a second! I freaked out when I noticed a person walking to where I was. I quickly tried to escape, but it was too late…or I thought. The person who was walking toward me had a cup of coffee in one hand and a doughnut in the other, he also looked like he didn’t get much sleep last night. Not only that, but he walked straight past me, almost as if I didn’t exist. This was…odd, considering that I’m very noticeable. Either this man is blind or something else is going on. I carefully continued to walk (with my back still against the wall). I walked all the way to the hallway, the place I was avoiding. I noticed that the wall my back was against had…shadows? That’s the only way I could describe it. It was some type of black aura, black smoke or whatever, but it was there. No one seemed to noticed to it, only me. Ok, this was just getting way too weird. I was not prepared for this, mentally or physically. All that we had to do was just infiltrate the casino, and Morgana was supposed to be telling me what to do, but we all know how that turned out. I was not expecting this. But, despite my thoughts, I trudged along anyway. Not a single soul was looking at me or staring in my direction, they were all doing whatever people do in eerie facilities. This was exactly what I wanted, but not exactly in this form. I’m guessing that I just have to stay in the shadows in order for no one to notice me, so I did just that. 
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47The lights for this hallway were very dim, and they flickered every once in a while, making this place look very abandoned. There were cockroaches in the hidden nooks of this place, dead and alive. Not only that, but this place had a strange smell that reeked. What did it reek of? I don’t know, but whatever it was, it smelled horrible. How do these people put up with these conditions? Isn’t this illegal or something? Well…not my problem I guess. Mostly everyone who works here looks old, tired and overall just sad. A very gloomy workplace indeed. I felt bad for these people because they probably didn’t have a choice in deciding wether to work here or not. Whoever the boss of this place is probably forced them to be here because, after all, this is a political bureau, and no one wants to be working here in this political landscape. I swear, some of the people in the public are bloodthirsty for my death. I’m not even sure why myself, but not my concern. I kept on sliding through the walls until I noticed what sounded like a bug crawling. Oh no…I looked up and I saw…a cockroach. The cockroach stared right at me, right through my soul, so I stared at it back. We were having a staring contest, until the cockroach decided to…fall off…into my mouth. 
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49My mouth was open, so the cockroach was literally inside of there. I was so grossed out, but I couldn’t yell or anything because I might cause a disturbance, and we all know how that’ll end up. I quickly tried to get the cockroach out of my mouth by grabbing it and throwing it into the ground, but that’s hard to do without screaming out of pure disgust. It got to the point where I just couldn’t take it anymore. So…I screamed. I screamed the loudest that I’ve ever screamed in my life, and thankfully, the cockroach ran straight off. Not so thankfully, everyone was looking at me now. I was out of the shadows, but if I tried to go back in, it would look like I disappeared in plain sight, which will cause an even bigger mess, a mess I don’t want. I tried walking normally and I tried acting like a normal worker would when he walks through the halls, but needless to say, that didn’t work. Soon enough, soldiers from the Tokyo army came into the hall, along with other police force and Mono. “HE WAS SUPPOSED TO STAY IN THE CELL. HOW DID HE ESCAPE!? DID YOU FORGET TO LOCK THE DOOR!?” Mono scolded one of his soldiers. “I-I-I’m so sorry sir! It won’t happen aga-“ “YOU’RE REALLY TICKING ME OFF. YOU KNOW WHAT!? YOU’RE FIRED! BYE BYE!” Mono continued the scolding. The soldier looked as if he was about to cry. Moments after, he did, he ran away crying. “Ugh. We don’t need crybabies like him anyway” Mono said as he crossed his arms. All the other soldiers looked at him with intimidated looks on their faces. “Well, what’re you waiting for? You want to be fired too? No? Then go capture Ren!” Mono ordered. “Y-yes sir!” they obeyed. Soldiers, guards and police force of all type began running after me, so I did what came naturally, I ran to my heart’s extent. Surprisingly, all the workers who were there didn’t seem worried or panicked at all. They had surprised looks on their faces, but that’s about it. I guess that just goes to show how weak their senses have become.
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51The hallway I was running through was pretty long, almost seemed never ending. The police force behind me yelled things like “Just give up! We’ll capture you one form or another” or “SURRENDER NOW AND WE’LL SHOW AS MUCH MERCY AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR PUNISHMENT.” “Ha, losers!” I always yelled back at them while I mockingly stuck out my tongue. They’ll never catch me, never in a million years! The hallway itself had many posters and weird symbol drawings on it, just like what I saw before. I eventually got to the end of the hallway and there were stairs. I started going up to them but was interrupted halfway by 2 big body guards blocking the way. “Too little, too late” they said. I looked behind me and saw soldiers and guards of all types. Mono got through the crowd and said, “You escaped again but you were caught again. You’re not a real phantom thief. You’re a joke. Guards, take him away! But this time, put him in the interrogation room.” The two body guards picked me up and started taking me away again. I…didn’t even feel like doing anything. I just felt too tired and exhausted from everything. What could I do? Even if I ran away again, Mono and his army won’t stop trying to find me and capture me, it’ll just be an endless cycle, so I decided to play along. For now, at least, but I knew that I would get out of this situation one way or another.
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56Chapter 3: Joji
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59	“Hey, can you lose the grip?! I need to stay in good shape if I’m going to be interrogated or whatever”, I said. The guards didn’t respond. They just had a blank face on as they continued to carry me in their arms. They had bulky and big clothing, which made this experience even more uncomfortable. Finally, after a bit, they opened the door to a room and threw me inside. “STAY PUT OR ELSE,” one of the guards said before slamming the door shut. Ouch. 
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61	The room I was in looked the same as the room I was originally in all that time ago, except there was a table and two chairs in the middle this time. So, I’m guessing I’m gonna be interrogated by someone, but why? And who’s gonna do the interrogating? Hopefully it’s someone more understanding and nicer than Mono. After all, a criminal investigator needs to empathize with the wrongdoer. There was a clock on the wall, an old, rusty clock, but it still worked surprisingly. The ticks of the clock was the only thing you could hear. Tick, tock, tick, tock. What felt like hours passed by, even though it was probably only a couple of minutes. Thankfully, I heard the footsteps of someone walking through the hall. If I spent any more time in complete silence, I might go crazy. The footsteps stopped for a moment, and then there was some dialogue. “What’d you want here, woman? Get lost,” a voice said. “Um, excuse me? Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m Mono’s BOSS, and I won’t hesitate to fire you from your position, even if you’re a high ranked official. If you don’t have respect, no need for you,” a female voice said. “Pfft, does it look like I care? I’m the owner of this FACILITY. If you’re in here, you have to follow MY rules. Rule #37, no woman is allowed to be in the same room as me. They don’t deserve to bask in my almighty presence.” “Why, you little,” the female voice said threateningly. “Hey hey HEY! What’s going on here? Joji, you’re not supposed to be here yet. You don’t have a warrant yet to be near the leader of the phantom thieves; Ren. Only a select group of people get to be near him, a select group of people whom we can trust. You didn’t even finish the paperwork,” Mono said. “Ugh, this is unbelievable! I’m the one who’s responsible for this case, and I’m not even being allowed a simple interrogation? You know what, whatever. I’ll do this myself, I don’t need anyone’s permission. If I get thrown in jail, so what? I have enough money to bail out anyway,” Joji said before opening the door to the interrogation room and stepping inside. She shut and locked the door too and sat down in one of the chairs. “So, Ren, you getting up?” she asked. I was still laying down on the floor and I was pretty intimidated. I haven’t even met this girl, who knows how she’ll act? But, I didn’t want to look stupid, so I slowly got up and sat down in the chair across from her. 
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63She stared at me in a way that was pretty scary, as if she was looking straight at my soul. That’s all she did, she just stared at me. I’m guessing she wants me to speak first. “Umm…hello…your name is Joji, right? That’s…a pretty name,” I said. I couldn’t think of anything else. Joji slammed her hands against the table before saying, “This is not social hour. We both know why we’re in here. In case you’ve forgotten, you’re here not only because you’re the leader of the phantom thieves, the world’s most wanted criminals, but also because of the multiple horrible crimes you and your little team have orchestrated. Let’s see…you’ve committed manslaughter, destruction of property, distributed illegal drugs, the works! That’s only the first three on the list, but oh boy is the list long. Over 50 crimes. You’re gonna be in jail for a long, LONG time,” she continued. 
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65The door handle began moving and moving until the door burst open. “Why’d you lock the door? You aren’t doing anything suspicious, right?” Mono asked with a clipboard and paper in his hand. Joji didn’t say anything and just sighed. “No, stupid. Why would I? Also, I need to have peace and quiet in here in order for me to complete this interrogation without having a complete mental breakdown, so do you mind leaving? Actually, I don’t care if you mind, leave either way,” Joji said. “Well, I’ll leave, but I must do something first. Ren is going to a prison that’s not in this district, in fact, it’s not even in Tokyo. It might not even be in Japan, but anyway, in order for him to go anywhere out of city or country, he needs to sign a paper. After he signs it, we have full custody over him. He’ll belong to us. It’s not like his parents care about him anyway, in fact, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even have any,” Mono said while giving a menacing chuckle afterwards. I…was at a loss for words. I just stared blankly at the ground with hatred for Mono building up inside of me. “Mono, no need to get personal. Just get the job done,” Joji said a bit irritated. “Get the job done? Oh, I’ll get the job done. I’ll get the job done alright…do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this moment? To finally have Ren in our possession? I’ve been waiting too long. Him and his team has caused so much pain and suffering for Tokyo and myself. Too many problems. Every night, I can’t sleep because that’s all I can think about. All I think about is how satisfying the day I get Ren will be. I’ve lost all of my jobs because of him, I’ve gone bankrupt because of him. My life has gone nothing but downhill ever since he came. I’ve heard the community’s outcries, and they want to kill Ren as well. The economic and social problems he has caused are far too much to count. I’ve been waiting for this moment for far too long. You’ll pay for this…” Mono stated as he began walking towards me, clenching his fists in the process. “Mono, calm down…no need to get violent. I understand your pain, but this is just unprofessional. But…I guess I can’t really stop you. Do what you will but I’m not looking,” Joji said as she got out of her chair and stepped outside, “Just make sure he’s still in one piece.” …I’m not liking the look of this. Mono got to where I was and simply held my chin up before showing me his clipboard and piece of paper. “Sign here,” he said in a chilling tone. 
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67I read the piece of paper that he was sticking in my face, and it was actually a contract. There were tons of boring words and phrases in there, but what really caught my eye was at the very bottom. ‘I hereby declare that I will give up my rights to whomever it may concern, and they may do whatever they want with me’. Under that, there was a big line that had an X at the beginning of it, along with ‘Sign here’. Mono wants me to sign THAT!? No way, not in a million years. I threw the clipboard and contract out of my face and across the room. “…So you ain’t signing? Listen, I’m not giving you a choice, you have to sign it or else I’ll force you to,” Mono said. “No,” I responded firmly. Mono’s face filled with anger. “Ok, I’ve been holding back on you, but this is the LAST STRAW. YOU’VE GOTTEN ON MY LAST NERVE, AND I WON’T HOLD BACK ANY LONGER,” Mono yelled. He stood up and kicked me as hard as he could right in the face, knocking a tooth out. He then walked over to me and sturdily squished my foot with his foot, pinning me down to the floor. “I don’t care if you lose a limb,” Mono said as he pressed tightly on my leg. I was shaking. Mono really isn’t joking. I was in extreme pain, but I couldn’t scream or anything in fear that Mono will get more aggressive. He got the clipboard contract again and shoved it in my face and gave me a pen. “Sign here,” Mono said condescendingly as he lunged his body over me. I didn’t want to sign it, if I did, he would have legal authority to do whatever he wants with me. If that happens, then the entire phantom thieves would become pointless. Everything that we’ve done so far, everything that we’ve worked for would be gone because of some stupid contract. I had to sign it though or else I would experience more of Mono’s abuse. I still have to play along, but there has to be a way out of this. I’ll find it, eventually. I grabbed the pen and signed the contract and I threw it into Mono’s face afterwards. That wasn’t the smartest idea. “YOU PIECE OF-“ Mono yelled before punching me in my face with full force. The punch was so strong that it made me tumble over to the other side of the room. Mono was quick to come to me and he grabbed me by my hair. He held tightly as he whispered into my ear, “You should know your place in the world. You may be a phantom thieve but you are no more than some stupid kid. You are worthless, worthless I tell you. You’re not even good at your job. Look where you are now, you’re useless. Nobody’s gonna come to save you now. You’re in our custody, so you can say bye bye to any hopes and dreams you have for your non existent future. Oh, and also say bye bye to all your little friends. They’re gone. Forever.” I…was speechless. Was it true? No, the part of me being useless isn’t true, I’m worried about my friends. Are they really…gone? Mono let go of my hair before giving me one final brutal kick in the stomach, nearly making me vomit. “See you in prison. You’re going to be in there for life,” Mono said as he exited the room, taking the clipboard contract with him. “Ugh…did you really have to do that? Sigh…,” I overheard Joji ask Mono. Mono didn’t say anything and simply continued walking down the hall. Joji stepped into the room and saw me lying down in the corner. I was so beat up that almost everything felt numb. “Well…that’s just the real world for you. If it really hurts, I do have some medical supplies in the cabinet…,” Joji said as she walked up to a cabinet that I haven’t noticed before. It blended in well with the wall. She opened it, and everything medical was in there. Medicine, bandaids, casts and much more. She took out some painkillers and some towels and walked up to me. “Here, take one,” she said while giving me a painkiller. I took it in and she also gave me a large towel to cover up and treat my bruises. I did just that, and things weren’t hurting as bad. “Ok, enough of that. Let’s continue the interrogation,” Joji said as she sat down in a chair. I sat down in the other one and she began talking again.
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69“Listen…I’m responsible for your case, but I’m on your side. I don’t want you to go to prison for life, that seems too unfair. I know that I can’t change anything, and what the contract says is final, but maybe someone else can…,” Joji said. Moments after, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the blue butterfly from earlier reappear. The butterfly simply said “Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I’ve got this, just continue the interrogation!” After that, the butterfly winked, let out some type of blue sparkly dust and it disappeared from sight. I’m not sure wether I should be feeling more confident or if I should be feeling worried. “Ren! Stop zoning out. This is serious. I need to ask you some questions before Mono takes you outside of Tokyo’s boundaries. First of all, why? Why did you create the phantom thieves? When did you find out about that other world? How is it even possible to steal another person’s heart? Why did you fight against the people you did? I read through the paper that Yongen (the government of Tokyo) gave out. The paper listed the sequence of events that supposedly happened, but they just don’t make any sense at all. I don’t want to waste this opportunity, tell me absolutely everything. I’ve been dying to know. If I get enough information out of you, I might be able to change your situation. It’ll be hard because Yongen is not one to listen to other’s opinions when it comes to criminal forgiveness, but maybe, just maybe, I can change something. So please, tell me,” Joji asked desperately. After that, the blue sparkly dust that the butterfly let out reached me, and everything came flooding back. All of my memories, all of my friends, everything that I ever did. So, I began to speak. I told Joji everything that happened, starting from day one. “It all began almost a year ago…”
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88Chapter 4: The Beginning of it all
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90	I was in the Giza airport, getting ready to set foot in Tokyo for the first time. Just a few hours ago I was in the USA. It’s crazy to think about how one airplane trip across the ocean can change your life. When I still lived in America, I had parents, but they abandoned me for reasons beyond me. I grew up in an orphanage, and I had a pretty normal childhood in there, well, as normal of a childhood one could have when they live in an orphanage. My infant years are probably the most mysterious things about my life, though. I didn’t live on Earth (I think), I lived in a shadow dimension, a dimension completely different from Earth. My memory is fuzzy, but I had a dad in that place named ‘Igor’, I didn’t have a mother. I’m not sure how the shadow dimension even looked like, but I remember that living there was heaven. Every single day was a new adventure with completely new people and things to discover and explore. My dad raised me so well and it was just the best. The shadow dimension wasn’t all love and roses, though. I was lucky to even live for so long, most children there die. The dimension is split up into 4 regions and I was fortunate enough to be born into the right one. The place I lived in was amazing, but mostly everywhere else was horrible. My region was under the rule of a just king, a king who deeply cared for its people, which explains a lot. The other regions are mostly the exact opposite of this. In fact, most people who live there don’t even get past the age 20 because of how easy it is to die. Poverty and crime reign supreme and the place doesn’t even have its own government, any political figures were taken over by criminals. Ruthless criminals. That’s about all I know, but even then, I’m not even sure if what I remember is completely factual. I haven’t been to that place since I was 4 years old, it’s strange that I even remember any of it at all. Although I did meet a peculiar magical butterfly when I was there, so maybe that has something to do with it but I don’t even know. 
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92“If you’re not moving, get out of line, kid,” an old sounding voice said. I looked behind me and saw an old man with children. I was too busy thinking that I forgot I was in a line. “S-sorry,” I apologized as I moved forward. I was in a large, long line that ultimately led to getting out of the airport. Once I get out of this place, I should be moving into Leblanc, a café that’s in the Yongen – Jaya neighborhood. Yes, the government named an entire neighborhood after himself, he’s pretty egotistical. 
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94	About 2 whole hours passed by until I finally got out of that cramped airport. I spent most of that time installing and uninstalling free games to play on my phone. I swear, the gaming industry in Tokyo is lacking, at least in this area. Which company is the main one here? I’m guessing it’s Yodo1 games, because that company’s name is literally everywhere. Once I get to the exit checkpoint, they had to check my bag and other stuff, the usual. All I have in my bag is my laptop, TONS of clothes and other supplies I need if I’m going to be living in a café. Because of that, my bag is pretty huge and heavy, which is a pain considering that I’m going to be walking all around Tokyo with it. Finally, I got off of the airport. I’ve spent the whole morning in there! Cautiously, I slowly touched the ground with my feet, one toe at a time. I’ve never been on Japanese soil ever, so this was more than exciting. This was an adventure! I finally got both of my feet onto the ground and I felt alive. From this moment onward, I will live a completely new life, one different from the life I lead in the USA. I lived in the orphanage for practically my entire life up until a month ago. Why did I leave the orphanage? I didn’t, I got kicked out of it. Let me tell you what happened. 
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96I was walking through the streets at night to relax and take my mind off of things because I was feeling especially stressed out that day. Spending all day with nothing but screams can really take a bite out of you. It was around midnight or 1 AM in the morning, a pretty bad time for a kid like me to be roaming around. It’s not like my caregivers at the orphanage would notice, they have too many kids to deal with. The neighborhood was a relatively safe one, it kinda has to be in order for an orphanage to be in it. That night, though, wasn’t as safe. There was a strip club located at the very end of the street, a location my caregivers always told us to avoid. Why would a strip club be located in the same street as an orphanage? Who knows, but anyway, I must’ve gotten too caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t notice I was walking straight towards the club. I stopped walking once I heard yells of despair. “AH! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAK!” a woman cried out. I decided to hide behind some bushes to sneak my way into whatever was going on. Once I got to the location, I made sure not to make a sound. 
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98I was still behind the bushes and I saw a middle aged looking man holding a woman who looks like she’s in her late teens, maybe 16 or 17. He grabbed her tightly around the neck and had a very crazed and drunken look on. His speech was also slurred. “L-listen hEre woMan…you’re MINE now and I suGgest you stop struggLing *BURP* or or or or ELSE!” he said. The woman was yelling out cries and saying things like, “SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!” It was clear what the man’s intentions were. The strip club was already closed and the man began dragging the woman into his car. “I-I’ll call the police!” the woman cried. “Pfft, sO wHAT!? I OWN the poLice. I RULE THE WORLD! HAHAHAHA!” the man laughed crazily. I felt an immense guilt in my heart, like someone struck an arrow through it. I couldn’t just sit around and watch this happen, I knew I had to do something. I know that a kid like me shouldn’t be messing with things like this, but I obeyed what my conscience told me. I stopped beating around the bush (literally) and I began my attempt in stopping this crime.
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100“STOP RIGHT THERE!” I ordered heroically. Note, I’m not doing this to make myself feel or look better, I’m doing this because it’s just the right thing to do. The drunken man stared at me confusedly. “Did you mishear me? Do you understand English? I said STOP!” “…hehe. dOn’t make me laugh kIddo. I may bE drunk but I’m not cOmpleTely out of…it. You want to FiGht? Let’s gO!” the drunken man spoke rather confidently. I know better than to pick a fight with a drunk guy, so I dodged the question. “Pfft. Try saying that in court. You’ll be whimpering in no time,” I said. I was trying to irritate him so that he could snap. After that, he’ll knock himself out considering how out of it he is. “P-p-pick your OWN f-f-fights…*BURP*. Do you really beLieve thiS is worTh it!?!?!?”, he asked. How ironic. I was starting to lose my patience. I won’t get anywhere with more monologuing. If I continue, nothing will happen, so I walked up to him, pretending to want to fight. “You said you wanted to fight, right? Let’s GO!” I spoke. The man gave me a death stare. Just what I wanted! He let go of the woman and put his fists up. “C-cmon! LeT’s GO!” The woman (now free from the drunk man’s grip) furiously grabbed the man by the neck. “HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, HUH!? DOESN’T FEEL TOO GOOD, DOES IT?” the woman yelled as she kicked the man as hard as she could, dropping him onto the ground. He fell onto broken glass that used to hold the beer he was drinking. She then kicked the man on his stomach as hard as she could, making the man vomit! This woman is amazing! He then grabbed a beer bottle he still had in his hand and threw it at the woman. The bottle ended up hitting a building wall and the bottle made a screeching shattering noise. The man groaned and moaned in pain as the woman pushed away veins she had covering her forehead to the side, revealing her face. She had blonde hair and pigtails, along with luxurious blue eyes and multiple small hair accessories (which included a lucky clover). Her clothes were comfortable and normal looking, apart from her sweatshirt which had a cute sparkly cherry logo on it. The woman gave me a wholehearted smile and said “Thanks. You saved me from him. Who knows what could’ve happened, but I really do owe it to ya.” I felt a bit flattered but I couldn’t conjure up anything to say. I finally made up my mind, but by the time I did, police sirens could be heard nearby…
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102“Great…we should probably leave, like right now!” the woman said before disappearing into the streets. “W-Wait!” I tried to call back. No response. I was going to tell her that she had dropped her phone, it fell off of her purse while she was running. It was just lying in the ground, and the screen was cracked slightly. I decided to keep it for now but give it to her if I see her again. 
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104Eventually, police cars began pulling up. I would’ve escaped if I could, but if I ran into the streets, I’ll get horribly lost and lose location of the orphanage. Even though I live here, I don’t really remember street names or locations. I’m terrible when it comes to that stuff. There was only one police car in front of me, but seconds later, more of them began coming. Police officers got out of the cars with notepads and pens in their hands and dismissive looks on their faces, as if saying “Not this again…” I had no real plan, I also had no real way to get out of this. There’s no way that they’ll believe that I fought a drunk man from violating a woman, there’s just no way! I have no real evidence apart from some broken glass pieces, but that’s about it. If only the woman stayed here, she would’ve at least served as a witness. But, I guess it’s my fault for not running away with her…now that I think about it, she could’ve probably given me directions. 
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106“Hmm…let’s see…you beat up a middle aged man? For what? Money? An item? I just don’t get teenagers…sigh. Well, come with me…look at the time, it’s way too dark outside to be doing this,” an officer said. “N-no! You got this all wrong…the man was a drunk one. Not only did he try to kidnap a woman, but he also tried to pick a fight with us. Either I ran away and let the man capture the woman or I stood up for what’s right,” I replied. “…Oh really now? The man was drunk and was trying to abduct a woman? Where’s your proof?” the officer asked arrogantly. Two female officers walked up to me, put my arms together and slipped handcuffs on them. “H-HEY! I’M GOING TO JAIL!? WHAT DID I DO WRONG!? Also, how did you guys even get here?! Who called you?” I asked, genuinely concerned and worried. “First of all, no, you’re not going to jail. We’re simply taking you to the police department to see what we should do about you. We’re putting handcuffs on you for extra measure. You can never be too safe. Secondly, the person who called us was anonymous,” the officer said as he got in a police car. The two female officers followed with. “W-WAIT! THIS IS WAY TOO SUDDEN, I-I NEED TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS!” ”And finally, shut yer mouth.”
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135Chapter 5: Consequences
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138	“How old are you? 15? 16? 4? This is RIDICULOUS. Most CHILDREN wouldn’t do something like this! Leave it to criminals and crooks. This will NOT look good on your record…so young yet so prickly, like a cactus. If you want to get anywhere in life, you gotta remove those spikes. Nobody will want to get near you or they’ll get hurt. Do you really think you’ll continue living normally after everyone hears that you beat up a middle aged man? Not only that but you nearly KILLED HIM! He’s in the hospital right now, slowly recovering from his attack. The man doesn’t have enough money to fit the bill and his parents are out of the country. We can’t get in contact with any of his other family members either. You know what this means, right? If the victim of a felony (or above) can’t pay the price of the actions committed by the felon, the felon has to pay instead. That’s how it works around here. But what price would be appropriate for a teen like you to pay? Hmm…oh! I know! It’s something along the lines of getting a CRIMINAL RECORD and PROBATION FOR A YEAR. Maybe longer than a year but that might be pushing it. Before I do anything, though, I have yet to review your documents. I don’t have much free time on my hands, you know,” a female gaudy prosecutor said rather firmly. She put on some glasses she had located on her desk and began skimming through my documents. She flipped and flipped until something caught her eye. She put her finger on what she was seeing and read it out loud.
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140“Ren lives in an orphanage as his parents abandoned him. The orphanage is getting crowded and if he ever gets in trouble with crime related situations, please don’t let him come back. There are more than enough children who need to be taken care of and we don’t want any trouble with the authority. Donate him to a new home or do whatever but don’t bring him back. Sincerely – Ren’s caregivers.” There was silence between me, the male officer and the prosecutor. Finally, the prosecutor spoke up. “There you go. Your prickly cactus spikes are taking action. Sigh…I honestly don’t know what to do with you.” She got up and grabbed a huge stack of paperwork that sat on a cabinet. She let it fall onto her desk, making the documents jump a little. She flipped through the documents again, this time being more observant. “Let’s see let’s see…aha! Your uncle lives in Tokyo! He’s Sojiro. You know him, right? Or is his place in your family tree too far away?” Sojiro? Haven’t heard that name since I was 7. He booked a trip to the USA to visit me in the orphanage. He’s my real dad’s brother. Well…technically Igor’s my real dad but I’m talking about the dad I had on Earth. “Yes,” I responded. “Good. Excellent! Just what I wanted! Let me call him right now. I’m on to something. In the meantime, officer Johnson, you mind telling our little guy over here what paperwork he needs to fill out?” “No, I don’t mind ma’m.” “Awesome!” The male officer (or officer Johnson) grabbed some papers from the stack of paperwork, gave me a pen told me what do. “You have to fill out these sheets so that the prosecutor has the permission to take you out of country,” he said. Out of country? “Is she taking me outside of the U.S…?” I asked. “I don’t know, ask her.” I looked over to the prosecutor and she was holding a wall phone up to her ear, eagerly waiting for someone to pick up. Finally, someone did pick up.
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142	“Hello? Sojiro here, Tokyo.” “Ah, yes! I’m a public prosecutor from the Jamestown Police Department. I’m calling because your cousin, Ren, has committed a crime. As you may or may not know, he lives in an orphanage but his caregivers can’t keep him in anymore. They don’t want trouble with the authorities and they need the extra space for new children. Because of this, I wanted to ask if you could take care of him. We can’t contact any other family members because we don’t have their information. If you don’t want to, please direct us to someone who will take care of him.” “Ah, yes, Ren! I love him. I visited him once when he was barely 7 years old. How old is he now!? Wait, don’t answer that, I want to find out myself! Anyway, I’d be more glad to take care of him, unless I have to pay the expenses to take him to Tokyo. If that’s the case, I’m afraid I won’t be able to take him in. I work in a café, which isn’t the highest paying job you know.” “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll pay! I have way more money than I need so that shouldn’t be a problem.” “Excellent! Well, I’ll be waiting in my shop. Once he’s ready to go on the airplane trip, tell me!” “Sounds good to me. Bye!” The prosecutor hung up the phone. “You hear that? You’re going to Tokyo! Well, of course, only if you’re okay with that. It’s either you go to Tokyo or you live homeless on the streets. What do you want?” I had a blank look on my face. This was all so sudden. But…what she said is true. Either I go live with my uncle or I stay homeless. “F…Fine,” I managed to say under my breath. I’m gonna need a lot of time to prepare. 
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144“You know you have an entire week to decide, right? And if you already decided yes, you have an entire week of preparation! Imagine that…you know, I’ve always wanted to visit Japan. That country is so beautiful and gorgeous, so many great things to learn, do and explore. It’s life changing, really. Once you go there, you may not want to leave. That’s probably what happened to your uncle, Sojiro. Even if you do leave, you will have an entirely new view of life. Imagine what will happen there, you never know! Anything can happen, even things that are only possible in your wildest imagination. Consider this as a free trip, after your year of probation is over, if you want, you can come back to the USA. Contact me, I’ll pay for it. Even though you committed a horrendous crime, it’s in your nature. I believe that you have many problems and thoughts circling around your head, especially since you lived in an orphanage. The fact that you’re a teen doesn’t help either. Those years are usually some of the worst years you’ll ever experience. After you visit Japan, you’ll become nicer, kinder and generous. It’s kinda impossible for a kid like you to stay good forever. Everyone snaps at some point. I’m on your side. We have to attend to other crimes now, but since you don’t really have much of a place to go, I’ll let you stay in a homeless shelter for teens. You’ll only be there for a week. It’s two streets behind the orphanage!” the prosecutor said enthusiastically. You know…that was the first time someone ever really believed in me. I felt…glad. 
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156Chapter 6: Story of my Life
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158	The homeless shelter for teens (HSFT for short) was an experience that felt just like school. New people everywhere and I didn’t fit in with any of them. They were all around the same age as me, most of them were pretty nice but I didn’t really bother with them. Even if I did make friendships, they would be very short ones because I’m only staying here for a week. I mostly just stayed in my little room and prepared for the trip across the Atlantic Ocean. There was a laptop in there and I used it to learn as much Japanese as I could, it was pretty hard because it’s a very complex language. I learned things like “Hi” is “Kon’nichiwa”, “How are you” is “Ogenkidesuka”, etcetera. I learned much more than that though, I learned so much in one week that you could say I had the vocabulary of a Japanese 5 year old. Finally, on Sunday, I got a call back from the police department in the morning. “Hello? You there Ren? It’s Alexandra, the female prosecutor from the Jamestown police department. Have you made up your mind?” “Yes. I’m going!” “I knew you’d say that! Come back at 5 in the afternoon, the airplane leaves at 5:30! You sure you got all of your supplies ready? Your toothbrush, clothes, etc?” “Yeah, I’ll be sure to pack all of my stuff up in a huge bag!” “Alright! See ya later!” 
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160	I was pacing around my room, eagerly checking the clock every couple of seconds. 4:48 PM, two minutes left. I double checked, no, I triple checked my bag to make sure I had absolutely everything I needed. More than enough clothes? Check. Toothbrush, tons of snacks and other necessities? Check. I looked over to the laptop in my room and debated leaving it in here or stealing it for myself. Having a laptop is always handy, in fact it can be even considered a necessity. I stuffed it into my bag and started heading out. Hopefully I won’t get caught.
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162	“Ah, yes, the infamous Tokyo airlines. The place is usually crowded because, unsurprisingly, Tokyo is a famous hotspot for tourists. That’s why I booked the trip early in the morning! Well…I guess this is goodbye. You’ll be leaving America, the place you lived and grew up in for your entire life. You’ll miss it dearly…even though we only knew each other for a bit, I feel like we made a great connection. I’ll miss you, but you’ll be gone now for a year. Once your year of probation is over, as long as you didn’t do anything bad, you’ll be able to return to the USA if you wish. Hope you continue to live an amazing life!” Alexandra cheered me on. “Thank you, and the same goes to you. We definitely made a connection! See ya!” I got on the airplane and thought for a bit. I’ll miss America greatly, but at the same time, it’s the place where I lived miserably. Going to Japan will change me forever. I’ll make sure it does. And that’s the story of my life. Or, at least the story of how I got into this situation. 
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164	It was daytime and I was in Central street, aka the downtown area of Tokyo. The place was crowded with so many people that there was little to no personal space you could have. I was in between the crowd, and it didn’t feel good to be squished for so long. Finally, I found some breathing room underneath a tree. Phew! I took a minute to appreciate the scenery. Big bountiful buildings with flashy signs on them. The sun shining high in the sky with people laughing and living. What a wonderful place to live! I sat down and took my laptop out of my bag. I had to research a way to get to the Shibuya subway station, that’s the subway I need to take to get to Yongen – Jaya. As soon as I opened my laptop, though, something immediately caught my attention. There was a strange, evil looking app on the front screen. It was some sort of red bleeding eye with a black background. I was paralyzed. What in the world could it be? After a minute or so of contemplating, I convinced myself to open it. When I opened it, all that showed up was a map. A map of Tokyo. It looked like your normal navigation app or GPS. Why did it look so weird, then? At the top, there was a title that read “Metaverse navigator – A gift from a special butterfly friend.” What the…? When will that weird butterfly stop following me around? Sigh. I did my best to ignore it and looked up directions for the subway. Once I got done memorizing them, I closed the laptop and got up.
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166	Shibuya subway was incredibly cramped (as to be expected). Once I got off, I was in Shibuya station. There were posters everywhere that advertised all types of companies, ranging from food businesses (like Big Bang Burger) to Takemi clinic. There were colorful poles and many, many shops that took up most of the space. I took my laptop out again and searched where I should go from here. Apparently, I needed to take another subway called “Giza subway.” I was about to go there until I was stopped by a loud crashing noise, followed by gasps and cries. 
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168“NOT AGAIN!”, “AH! SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE,” people yelled out. What the!? Everyone began panicking and running out of the station like their lives depended on it. “CITIZENS, PLEASE REMAIN CALM. WE ARE TRYING OUR BEST TO TAKE CARE OF THE SITUATION,” someone announced through the station intercom. I had no idea what was going on but I was scared. I did what everyone else was doing and ran outside of the station.
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170	Gasp…pant…I was bent down and holding my knees. I was back on Central street. On a building, there was a screen which showed the news. “Can you believe it!? I sure can’t. Less than an 10 minutes ago, there was ANOTHER subway accident in the Shibuya underground subway station. There was one yesterday and the day before that. What in the world is going on!? The most peculiar thing is that, just like the accidents from before, it was caused by the driver having a psychotic breakdown and losing control of the subway car. Crazy…” a news anchor said. Subway accidents? Psychotic breakdowns? Where was this coming from? Needless to say, the subway closed, so I had to walk by myself all the way to Yongen – Jaya. 
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172	“Yongen – Jaya, the neighborhood of your dreams!” a welcoming sign read. Yup. I made it. The neighborhood had no gate, everything was open. Anyone could enter or leave from it easily and freely. Everything in Yongen – Jaya was close together. The supermarket, the batting cages, all of the vending machines, etcetera. There was not too many people around either, at least compared to everywhere else in Tokyo. The streets were narrow and unkept; the walls were all messy with graffiti, foods and cigarettes were all over the floors and overall, the place didn’t look so good. There were only a couple of apartments but most other buildings were shops or whatever else. There were random people outside doing random things, like listening to strange music, singing, that type of stuff. This place just reeked of “Tokyo suburban neighborhood.” And I LOVED it.
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174	Before going to Japan, Alexandra had given me a paper that instructs the first things I should do once I get there. One of those things were “Look for Sojiro’s home!” I searched and eventually I found it. His home was a nice, comfortable dark oak log cabin that had well – cut bushes on the front lawn. It stood out from the rest. I rang the doorbell and waited for a response. “You lookin’ for Sojiro? He’s usually tending to his café Leblanc around this time. Heck, he’s usually always in his café,” a delivery man told me. “Ah, thanks” I responded. I got my way to Leblanc and I slowly opened the entrance door.
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176	“H-Hello?” I asked. The lights were turned on and so was the ceiling fan. I looked around, and then, “BOO!” I jumped a little, and then I was in Sojiro’s arms. “REEEEEENNNNN! I MISSED YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!” Sojiro exclaimed as he jumped around. He hugged tightly, and then he stopped and apologized. “Sorry, I’m just so glad to see you here. It’s been too long.” “I’m happy to see you too, Sojiro! You’re one of the few family members I have left.” “Yup. Also, a public prosecutor told me you committed a crime. Is this true?” Right…I almost forgot about that. “Well, you see, there was this drunk middle aged man harassing a woman. He started dragging her into his car, and I couldn’t just stare and watch. I had to do something and then woman ended up beating the man up. She ran off afterwards and the police caught me. They believe I beat up a man for no reason. There was no real evidence to back up my claims either,” I said. “Very well…I believe you. If you’re lying, karma will punish you. Anyway, this is your new home. What’d you think?” The café looked like your ordinary café; neat, concise and tidy. “It’s awesome!” “That’s great to here! You won’t be living downstairs, though. You’ll be living in the attic.” Sojiro walked up some stairs and led me to said attic. 
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178The place was all messy and clumped up. No furniture except for a mattress and some shelves. There were tons of items in there, such as cardboard boxes, vases, etcetera. Some of the items were still stuck inside plastic bags. “It’s not the greatest thing in the world but it’ll do. Alexandra gave me documents which noted some requirements. The first one is that you are not allowed to go to Yongen – Jaya or downtown when it’s 9:00 PM and you must immediately go to sleep. Other than that, you are free to go wherever, whenever. The second is that you have to listen to anything I tell you and you must follow any directions. Finally, I must take you to Shujin Academy and you must attend every day on time no matter what. Failure to do so may lead to suspension or worse. You must also not cause any trouble or crime, this will lead me to automatically kicking you out and sending you back to the USA. You will strive to do your best when it comes to grades too, don’t expect to be here if you have all F’s. You also cannot shop for anything and you must ask me permission before you buy an item or items. This is all because you’re on probation and have a criminal record. Your life isn’t exactly a free one right now. Trust me, I don’t want to do this either,” Sojiro said. “I’ll comply,” I responded. “Good. Currently it’s 9:24 PM, already past your bedtime. Tomorrow I’ll take you to Shujin Academy, the school you’ll be attending! I must go return to my home now,” Sojiro said before walking away, “behave yourself.” I guess I didn’t have much of a choice but to sleep. I cleaned my room to make it look tidier and nicer and then I went to bed. 
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201	I felt something cold and damp on my face, something almost metal – like. I quickly opened my eyes and I was in some sort of…prison cell? There were chains hanging from the ceiling, they rocked back and forth. I was on a bed and I had black and white stripped clothes, something only a crook would wear. I got up and walked around. The room was dimly lit with a blue light and it was a small room too. There was an opening in the front which allowed me to view another bigger room. I couldn’t go to that room because prison bars prevented me. The bigger room had a large fancy purple carpet and a table and chair in the middle. Then…the blue butterfly popped into existence again.
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203	“Hello. We already know each other. I am your guardian. I am your protector. I am what gives you life. Welcome to Igor’s velvet room,” the butterfly said. …Igor?! Suddenly, the dimly lit room turned brighter. Moonlight shined in from revealed windows, making everything livelier. Then, I saw him. Igor. But…he didn’t look like I remembered. He looked…dare I say like a monster. “Welcome to my velvet room. This place exists between dream, mind and matter. You are currently fast asleep in the real world. This is all just a dream. None of this is real. This is just how your mind perceives the shadow dimension. The shadow dimension is all about cognition. You view this place as a prison because that’s what your life is. A prison. You may not know this, but you are a prisoner of fate. Everything that will happen in your future is already predetermined. You have absolutely no control over your life. Ruin will come and destroy everything. What is ‘Ruin’? I am, of course, speaking about the end of everything. There is nothing you can do about it. There is no one you can save. However, you can change that. The only way to save the world is by rehabilitating. Once you reach full rehabilitation, you will have the power, you will have the capacity, to stop Ruin from happening. Why is this happening right now? The shadow dimension and your dimension are colliding. Ruin can no longer be avoided. The time to act is now. I sent the blue butterfly over to you to give you a taste of how power feels like. Gaining power is not easy. Your mind and everything in your body has to be in perfect sync with each other. It seems like you are not yet ready for such power, seeing as how painful the experience was. This is fine, you are not expected to be ready. You will not be ready until you have a change of heart yourself. The only way to have a change of heart is by discovering a power or motivation that is so strong it makes you summon your Persona. Your Persona is your true self. The self you have hidden deep within you. Once you summon your Persona for the first time, you will accomplish the very first step of rehabilitation. I told you all of this when you were a child, but because of Ruin, you forgot it all. You even forgot how I look like. That’s why my appearance to you is monstrous. This is fine. It’s inevitable. Your blue butterfly friend is named ‘Caroline’. She is your guardian, she will guide you through your journey of rehabilitation. She will aid you, but only if you are capable of that aid. If you are not yet ready for such powers, you will not be helped. Do you agree or disagree with my conditions? Will you change your fate and rehabilitate?” Igor asked. …WHAT!? “Why am I chosen for this mission? Why don’t you choose someone who’s more capable of doing this? I am definitely NOT the person who can do something so huge like that,” I said. “Well well well. You are right. You are NOT capable of doing this mission. But once you rehabilitate, you will be. You did not disagree or agree with your conditions,” Igor said. “I…I…” I was speechless. I couldn’t disagree because I was too confused and scared to say anything. “You gonna speak up, INMATE?! You are in front of your master, you could at least show some respect,” Caroline (the butterfly) scowled. “I…I…I agree,” I answered. I said yes mostly so that I could be left alone. If I agreed, hopefully this strange dream will end. “Very well. Listen to what I said before. Summon your Persona by finding that motivation. Then, you will complete your first step of rehabilitation. You must now AWAKEN”
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217Chapter 8: Shujin Preparatory Academy
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219       GASP GASP. I frantically touched my body to make sure I was back in the real world. I looked around and saw a room that was slightly tidy but still pretty messy. I touched my bed and it was rock hard solid. Yes! I’m back in the real world, baby. But, what in the world was all that about…? It’s probably just some weird dream that I had, but still, I couldn’t help but ponder. “Hey, Ren, you ready? Today’s the big day! You’re going to your new school!” Sojiro said from downstairs. “Uh…yeah! Coming!” Darn. I’ve completely forgotten! I quickly changed into a casual black shirt and red and black stripped pants. I went over to my big bag that I left laying in the corner of my room and grabbed a whole bunch school supplies! I ran downstairs and quickly began making coffee. “Woah, kiddo! Slow down there! We still have 20 minutes left. After you eat breakfast, go to the car. It’s parked in the front. Hurry, though, I want to get there early to beat the traffic! It has gotten a lot worse since the subway accidents…” Sojiro said. He grabbed keys, a coat and went outside. After I drank my coffee and ate spare doughnuts, I followed Sojiro into the car.
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221	“Gee…guess I didn’t get on the road early enough. You’ve heard, right? Ever since a string of subway accidents in Shibuya station, everything has gotten slower. The roads are all crammed up by people who were supposed to attend the subway. Shibuya is closed almost all the time, making many, many people late to their jobs or other locations. Tokyo’s economy is tight because of the dense population and this definitely does not help. Who knows what’ll happen if this doesn’t stop. It’s not like politicians will hear our cries anyway, they’re too corrupt. All they care about is money and fixing a subway station ain’t cheap. Strange, though, the accidents were caused by the drivers having psychotic breakdowns and losing control…” Sojiro said. Definitely strange. It was a rainy, gray sky day and we were stuck in traffic for nearly an hour. Afterwards, we finally made it. The entrance to Shujin had quartz stairs, vases with flowers, a gate, bushes, vending machines, everything! The inside had spotless white walls and sharply cleaned and waxed wooden floors. Beautiful décor filled the halls, fancy windows and paintings! The place looked very modern and cleansed. Sojiro pointed to a door labeled “Principal’s office” and we walked inside. 
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223“Troublemaker. That’s what you are. You’re nothing but a baboon. Why in Lord Heaven’s name would you ever do something LIKE THAT!? Is this a new fad I haven’t heard about? Beating old men senseless? Sigh…your past follows you wherever you go. The fact that you nearly killed an old man for no reason is horrible. You should be deeply ashamed of yourself. What if you actually DID kill him? You’d be charged for murder and a possible imprisonment for LIFE. You should feel lucky that Alexandra only gave you a criminal record and probation. That punishment is not enough, but she’s known for being incredibly sympathetic. You did something horrendous in your hometown, but you WILL behave yourself here. You cause any trouble in the slightest, you’re EXPELLED. That’s what it means to have a criminal record. There are CONSEQUENCES. Your home – room teacher will be Ms Kawakami, you will be under her careful supervision while in school. She will make SURE you don’t cause or be involved in trouble,” the school principal said. He then looked over at a young woman who looks like she’s in her 20’s (which I’m assuming is my teacher) and waited for her to introduce herself. She looked timid, a bit shy and her hair was messy, but she managed to speak. 
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225“H-hello. I’m Ms Kawakami. I, will be your new home – room teacher from now on. Like Principal Kobayakawa said, you will behave yourself here, and I will make sure you do!” Ms Kawakami said enthusiastically. Then, she looked over at the principal, covered her face with some papers and whispered into his ear. “Why’d it have to me? You know me. I’m not good when it comes to this stuff. I can’t keep track of Ren and what he does, that puts pressure on me and I’m definitely the worse when it comes to that.” “Ms Kawakami, I do know you, and I know that you can succeed. If you truly couldn’t do this, I wouldn’t put you in this situation in the first place. However, I understand your worries. I can assign this task to gym coach Kamoshida. Do you wish to forfeit?” “…Alright fine. I’ll comply with your task. Sorry, I just get really nervous. I’ll try my best, Principal Kobayakawa!” “Good! Glad to hear that.” After that, the principal looked over at us. “Everything clear? Any questions? Alright. Since you came in late (which I’m assuming is because of the traffic), you’ll be going to school tomorrow instead of today. This’ll also give you time to fully prepare because trust me, things won’t be easy. Many will avoid you because they’ll think you’re a murderous crook. Don’t worry though, I’m sure there will be people whom you can connect with. This is a preparatory school for kids of all ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds. You’re definitely not the first troublemaker and you certainly won’t be the last! You must go now. I have more duties to attend to. Don’t forget, though, you and I know what you did. We all do. Hopefully, by the time your days in this school end, you’ll be a better person than you were when you entered. See you tomorrow.” Principal Kobayakawa dismissed. 
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227	“Gee, kid. You got it rough. Don’t mean to be rude, but you kinda did it to yourself. Well…I guess that’s a lie. The woman beat the man up, you didn’t. Still though, the world doesn’t listen easily. Who knows how your classmates will react…hey, if anyone starts bullying you, let me know, ok?” Sojiro said. We were walking down the halls, getting ready to exit. Fortunately everyone was in their classes so we didn’t have to deal with any annoying students bothering me. “I’ll definitely !et you know!” I responded to Sojiro as we walked out the front doors. “Hey, next time I ain’t driving ya. Traffic ain’t gonna slow down any time soon and I have a café to tend to. Sorry, if I could, I would drive. You’ll have to walk by yourself to school tomorrow!” Sojiro said.
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229	Phew…taking a walk around the courtyard is so relaxing! Especially with the sound of raindrops pouring on the metal rooftop. But…why would Principal Kobayakawa assign me such a difficult task? I’m Ms Kawakami, I am not fit for this job at all. What if I fail? Will I be fired?! Oh geez…oh, hey. I see Mr Kamoshida coming up. I should go talk to him! “Hello Mr Kamoshida! The weather is kinda gloomy, huh?” “I agree, Ms Kawakami! But, nothing will get in the way of my path to stardom!” “Haha! You’re such a talented guy. I’m sure that you’re doing absolutely fantastic! But, unfortunately, the same can’t be said about me. Principal Kobayakawa recently assigned me with the task of taking care of the new transfer student. You know, the guy who nearly killed someone? Yeah, that guy. I have to supervise him when he’s in school grounds but I’m afraid I might not be able to do it. I’m not good when it comes to things like this!” “Don’t you worry a single bit, Ms Kawakami! I will aid you in your duty! Trust me, everything is going to be fine. But, I’m also afraid the new guy might tarnish the school’s reputation. I’ve worked so hard and so long to give Shujin the praiseworthy status it deserves. All of my efforts and desires have been poured with love and care. First, it was the track team with Ryuji. Now, we have to volleyball team but I’m not sure accepting a guy who nearly killed someone was the brightest idea. Oh well, nothing we can do about it now! See ya on the flip side!” Mr Kamoshida said as he walked away. Hmm…that is true. He is a man that cares deeply for his reputation and Shujin. This academy is the birthplace of his stardom. It’s the place where he’ll make it big!
230Chapter 9: The Rainy Walk to School
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233	I was downstairs, getting ready to leave. “See ya Sojiro, I’m going!” “Alright, take care!” I decided to quickly grab my laptop too and put it in a backpack. I’ll definitely need it for school! I opened it just to make sure it still functioned after the rainfall. Fortunately, it worked, but my concerns were almost immediately turned to the strange, evil app that I saw 2 days ago. The bleeding eye with the black background was enough to give anyone chills. I’m guessing Caroline the butterfly must’ve given me this, but why? What will a regular navigation app do? It was creeping me out a bit too much, so I decided to delete it and thought nothing more of it. I grabbed an umbrella to cover me because it was still raining and off I went!
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235Shujin isn’t too far away, you only have to go to central street and cross it, get to Shibuya station and take the Giza subway and boom! You’re in the front gate. Well, you have to cross an entire street before you get to the front gate, but still, it’s an easy walk. I got to said street, and unsurprisingly, it was simply named “Shujin street.” There were girls and boys running about, trying to make it to school on time since it should start in less than 10 minutes. It starts at 9:00 AM, currently it’s 8:52! I kept on walking until I noticed a girl with a sweatshirt on. She had a hoodie on as well, but she didn’t seem like your average girl. Something about her was…different. She pulled her hoodie off and revealed her hair. She…had blonde hair and pigtails with a lucky clover hair accessory. Not only that, but her sweatshirt had a cute, sparkly cherry logo on it too. She looked at me and I saw her luxurious blue eyes. The way she stared at me was the same way I stared at her: Confused and a bit shy, along with a hint of relative closeness. It’s almost if we knew each other but not too well, I was still unsure wether these feelings were correct in the first place and she probably felt the same way. She then gave me a wholehearted smile. The smile was incredibly unique. It was something special, something only she could pull off. That’s when it clicked…is this woman the woman who I saved from the drunk guy all that time ago!? Before I could say anything, a car pulled up.
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237“Hello, Takamaki! This weather’s not too nice, yeah? Why don’t I ride you to school today?” a man said from the car. “Oh…thanks…Kamoshida,” the woman responded. I’m guessing Takamaki’s her name! She got into the car and the man smiled at me. Takamaki slanted her head down and gave a worried/sad expression…why? The man drove off into the distance. Darn. I should’ve talked to her. From behind, I heard what sounded like panting. “Grr! THAT DARN KAMOSHIDA!” a boy said. The boy looked the same age as me. He had blonde spiky hair and had a star themed shirt on. He was out of breath, presumably from running a long distance. “Hey, you go to Shujin?” I asked. “Duh! No other school is beyond Central street! Most of them ARE in Central street. Hey…are you that new transfer student that everyone’s been talking about? You nearly KILLED a guy!” the boy said. “Pfft, you believe them? I didn’t kill a guy, I bravely saved a woman from an attack!” I responded braggingly. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Hey, you saw that man, right!? That man’s name is Kamoshida. I HATE that man with a burning passion. He took Takamaki into his car too, right? That bastard…” the boy said while clenching his fist and angrily mumbling. “Why do you hate him?” “It’s kinda a long story…but, we shouldn’t worry about that for now. He already drove off anyway. C’mon man, 2 minutes until school starts! Oh, and the name’s Sakamoto,” the boy said, “Follow me. I know a shortcut!” At that moment, I felt a tingling sensation coming from my backpack. I followed Sakamoto into a hidden alleyway and I stopped to recheck everything in my bag. Nothing looked out of the blue…what could it have been? Wait. I think I might now. I opened up my laptop and noticed that the evil “Metaverse Navigator” app was on the front screen again. I thought I deleted it…? Then, the app opened up by itself. It started freaking out and giving a bunch of random directions simultaneously until it stopped. Then, it gave directions to a location simply named “???” We were right on the spot.
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239“I see…very interesting. I was involved with taking care of the subway accidents, my SIU director was very adamant about it. Anyway, so you had a dream with your real dad, Igor, and you met your butterfly helper. Then, you met this boy Sakamoto and your Metaverse app took you to the other dimension. Am I wrong?” Joji asked. The painkillers were temporary, the pain that Mono caused was coming back. I was feeling incredibly tired and I just wanted to get out of here honestly. My mind wasn’t thinking too straight either. “…y-yes…” I mumbled under my breath. Joji angrily slammed her hands against the table. “REN! DON’T MAKE ME ANGRY. I’m trying to help you. Being vague isn’t going to get us anywhere. Tell me, on that day, were you still an ordinary student? …Let me rephrase. You transferred to Shujin Academy, correct? An ordinary prep school that could be found in any ordinary city. That’s what it should’ve been. What happened around that time? What caused this fact to change? Tell me everything. Truthfully.” 
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262Chapter 10: King of the Castle
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265	“Sakamoto! Come over here!” I called out. He came and I showed him the Metaverse app. He was just as afraid as I was. “D-dude…that’s CREEPY.” He continued walking but more cautiously this time. I followed him but noticed what could only be described as purple dust particles trailing his footsteps. The particles morphed into vibrant colorful splashes of water every step that he took. It looked…other – worldly. The alleyway got narrow and thin until we finally found a small passageway. The passageway led to a parking lot of a building which led to the front gate of Shujin Academy…or, at least it should’ve.
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267“Dude…is this real…?” Sakamoto asked with his jaw dropped. I was speechless. Right in front of us was a castle. A legitimate, real castle, one you could find in works of fiction. But this wasn’t fiction. This was reality. Surrounding the castle was a moat and the entrance was a dropped drawbridge that led to gigantic double doors. Strangely, there were flags planted on the sides that imprinted Kamoshida’s face. “…Should we…enter? I mean, this is where Shujin’s located, unless this is just some type of weird decoration,” Sakamoto suggested. The gray rainy sky was no more. A red, purple – like sky replaced it. The colors it emitted only added to the mysterious atmosphere. Coincidentally, this theme was the same used in the Metaverse app. There was absolute silence. Not a single soul sang. “…Guess this is it. No more stalling.” Sakamoto walked across the drawbridge and I followed him. I knocked on the doors and no one answered. “Hello?” my voice echoed. The doors really were gigantic. We were probably 1/5 the size of them. I tugged slightly on the doors, accidentally opening them. “Weak infrastructure, huh?” Sakamoto said while giggling a bit. He quickly stopped as soon as he saw the inside. 
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269The inside of the castle looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. “Quick, pinch me!” I told Sakamoto. He pinched me as hard as he possibly could, leaving a bruise. Good. Now I know that I’m in reality and not in another weird dream. We carefully walked forward, inspecting the site. There were golden chandeliers hanging from the walls; windows with fancy red and gold curtains just as big as the doors from before. The floor had a regal black and white diamond pattern along with a royal red carpet stretching across the room. We followed the carpet. It led to stairs that parted into two other stairs that went off onto the sides and stretched above. In the middle of this was a brave painting of Kamoshida courageously giving a wink as he flipped his crown and hair to the side with gorgeous flowers and sprinkles decorating his pose. He was also shirtless. “Is this some sort of…prank? Did Kamoshida do this?” I asked. “Wouldn’t doubt it. That jerk has an ego the size of his stupidity,” Sakamoto said fiercely. Suddenly, the sound of doors slamming against the wall broke the calm silence. “STOP RIGHT THERE!” a man announced. Guards in hefty metal armor surrounded us. You couldn’t see any skin, assuming these are humans. They held long, pointy swords that looked like they were precisely constructed for major league jousting. They also held metal, probably unbreakable shields. “Woah there! Why didn’t anyone tell me? There’s a Halloween event going on in school!? It’s only March but count me in!” Sakamoto yelled with excitement. One of the guards kicked him with full force, harshly dropping him onto the cold, hard ground. “Next time, know when to shut up,” the guard said. Sakamoto rolled and ached in pain as he groaned and moaned. “How DARE you enter without anyone’s permission. You shall be PUNISHED,” the same guard said as he fiercely knocked me onto the ground as well. Then…everything went white.
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271“DUDE, REN. GET UP!” Sakamoto yelled out worriedly. I opened my eyes but not completely. A light was right overhead, making it nearly impossible to see. I eventually got up and took a minute to recuperate. “W-Wait…h-how do you know my real name?” I asked. “Ren? Bro. It says it in your backpack!” Sakamoto answered, “No time stay calm. Right now, we HAVE to get out of this place.” We were in some sort of dungeon prison cell. There were handcuffs on the walls with chains holding them in place. The walls were made using red bricks but the dim light made them look orange. The only lighting was a couple of torches up on the walls. There was also a small opening in the top which allowed the reddish purple light from outdoors come inside. 
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273From the outside of our cell, we could hear people talking. The voice that was talking sounded eerily familiar. “I see…two high school aged boys trespassed? How foolish. NO one, and I mean NO ONE gets away with entering MY castle,” the voice said. We could hear the sound of chains straggling against the ground and the sound of hefty metal footsteps. Finally, we saw someone. We saw…Kamoshida.
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275“Sakamoto. Ha! I knew it would be you. You bastard. Pathetic piece of scum. Why don’t you just stop trying? You’re never going to accomplish anything. You’re hopeless,” Kamoshida said confidently. Sakamoto growled. He ran up to the prison bars and punched them violently. The prison bars were the only thing that kept Sakamoto from beating Kamoshida. They were the only thing holding him back. “Ha HA! You make me laugh, Sakamoto. You’re just going to end up hurting yourself. Just give up. Because of the unlawful trespassing, you shall be punished with DEATH. You and your little friend,” Kamoshida said. He looked at me with evil intentions in his eyes. I was shell shocked. There’s just no way that this is real. Even though it was happening right in front of me, I simply couldn’t believe it. “K-Kamoshida…what have you done? Where is Shujin? This is Shujin Academy…what did you do to it?” I asked with a shaky voice. I couldn’t comprehend anything. “Pffft. I know who you are. You’re Ren. The new transfer student. Everyone’s been talking about you, you murderous psychopath. Shujin is MINE. This academy and everything about it is for ME to take. I am what brought it fame, after all. Without me, this school would be NOTHING. Pests like you should just stay back and let me steer things into MY direction. There is absolutely NOTHING you can do,” Kamoshida said with a huge grin. “AAAAAAHHH! I HATE YOU KAMOSHIDA. I HATE YOU WITH ALL OF MY HEART. YOU WILL PAY. YOU WILL PAY FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE DONE!” Sakamoto screamed furiously as he used all of his anger to punch a hole in the wall. The hole wasn’t small either. “Whatever. Animals like you aren’t worth my attention,” Kamoshida said as the prison bars lifted up. Sakamoto quickly ran towards Kamoshida but was easily stopped by one of the prison guards. The guard lifted Sakamoto up in the air by holding him by his shirt as he struggled to break free. Kamoshida entered the cell. He had no clothes on except for a single pink underwear. He had a red royal cape on his back along with a bejeweled crown on his head. How hideous. His eyes lit up like stars as he watched Sakamoto struggle.
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277“HA! Weakling. You’ve always been the worst. You’re never going to get anywhere in life, just admit defeat.” Kamoshida grabbed Sakamoto’s skinny arms and tightly grabbed them with full force. Sakamoto yelled in pain. “How pathetic. You can’t sustain anything. All I’m doing is grabbing your arm. Stop yelling like that YOU FREAK,” Kamoshida roared as he punched Sakamoto, making him fall to the ground. Kamoshida quickly lifted him up and told his guards to hold him in place. The guards did as they were told and Sakamoto was used as a punching bag. Kamoshida punched him in his face, kicked him in the stomach, making him scream in utter pain. “WEAKLING. PATHETIC GARBAGE. YOU’RE BETTER OFF LIVING WITH ANIMALS!” Kamoshida yelled as his punches and kicks got more aggressive. He then grabbed Sakamoto by the hair and lifted him up. Afterwards, he flung him to the ground as hard as he could, making a bone cracking sound. Tears ran down Sakamoto’s face as he tightly held his stomach. His star themed shirt was all ripped and torn, his hair was all messy and his pants had stitches. His face was all bruised and scratched as well. You could even see blood marks. He didn’t make any noise except for the sound of panting and trying his best to hold back tears. Kamoshida walked up to him and kneeled. “Aww, what a little baby,” he said as he rubbed Sakamoto’s stomach. He said something but it was inaudible. “What’s that? You mind REPEATING IT LIKE A REAL MAN!?” Kamoshida said as he quickly stood up and furiously kicked Sakamoto in the face. Before he could do anything else, I yelled “STOP!” Kamoshida did stop, but then he slowly turned his head towards me and gave me a terrifying look. “…What’s that?” he asked. “I SAID STOP YOU HIDEOUS MONSTER!” I fiercely responded. “…Oh, I see. You really wish to be killed that badly? Fine then. Guards, DECAPITATE HIM!” Kamoshida ordered. The guards grabbed me and they pinned me against the wall. They used handcuffs to hold me in place. Then, they put their swords closely under my neck. Kamoshida walked towards me. “How foolish. You can’t do ANYTHING. You’re HOPELESS. Guards, keep him in that position, don’t let him go. After I’m done killing Sakamoto, Ren is next,” Kamoshida said as he began walking towards Sakamoto. He grabbed him by the shirt, but this time, he was ready to kill. 
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292	“My my…what a troublesome situation you’re in. Listen to my voice. Follow my song. Your life depends on it. If my voice is reaching you, you may still have a chance. Your journey is long, far and very difficult, nearly impossible. I will breaketh thy chains of captivity and give birth to wings of rebellion. You shall rebirth. Awaken your PERSONA. SAVE THE WORLD,” an enchanting voice commanded. I looked to the side and saw Caroline. Moments after, she disappeared. Then, I heard another voice. “What’s the matter…? Are you simply going to stare and watch? Are you forsaking him to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision…A MISTAKE THEN!?” an almighty voice asked. The voice was powerful. It was like the sound of a roaring beast. “You agreed to Igor’s terms. Was it all a lie? Will you fail your mission out of pure selfishness?” the voice asked with anger. “N-NO!” I responded. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Kamoshida killing Sakamoto. The way he beat him up was unwatchable. He then grabbed a sword and pointed it right at Sakamoto’s head. My face turned white. “Very well…I have heeded your resolve,” the voice continued. Suddenly, I started feeling a pain. The pain was all over my body. I struggled and moved frantically because the pain was incredibly strong. It was unbearable. I screamed and yelled. 
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294“Vow to me. I am thou. Thou art I. Thou art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts in the name of the divine holy order. I am nothing. You are everything. I am you. You are me. CALL UPON ME IN YOUR DAYS OF ANGUISH. RELEASE THY RAGE,” the voice said mightily as the pain became even more insufferable. “SHOW THY STRENGTH AND PROVE YOU WILL FOLLOW. PROVE YOU WILL LISTEN. PROVE YOUR MIGHT. YOU SHALL NO LONGER BE CHAINED TO HELL ITSELF!” the voice resounded like thunder. Then, flames began surrounding me. The pain stopped and I felt like the ruler of the world. I felt heavenly. The flames burst into all directions, flinging the guards into the walls. The guards turned into black smoke and disappeared. Kamoshida stopped what he was doing and whined out of fear. He crawled and tried to escape, but he stopped after something extraordinary happened. The flames turned into a brilliant bright blue and mystically wrapped around my body. The sound of chains burning filled the room. Then, the powerful voice from before spoke, but this time everyone could clearly hear it. 
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296	“I am the pillager of twilight – Arséne!” the voice announced. I looked behind me and I saw a mystical creature. It was wearing red and black robes along with a top hat. It had long, red high heels and it had a rose in its shirt pocket. Horns stretched from black smoke which made up its head. The face was eyes and a smile carved with red flames. “W-what the…?” Sakamoto questioned. He was on the floor and his expression was one of pure amazement. Even though he was still horribly injured, this made him forget. “I am the rebel’s soul that resides within you. You proved that you could handle my power. Your desire to save Sakamoto and defeat Kamoshida was so strong that you managed to bring your inner self out. That inner self is me. I already know what you wish to do,” Arséne said. “W-who are you…? Whatever, doesn’t matter. Guards! Come here!” Kamoshida beckoned. More guards came into the prison cell. “First, kill that creature thing!” Kamoshida ordered as he pointed towards Arséne, “You shall realize the true strength of my men!”
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298	The guards lost all of their armor and morphed into strange pumpkin creatures. They wore a hat that looks like something a witch would wear. The clothes were ragged dark purple robes. The creatures floated in the air and held a lantern. “Detest the enemies before you. Change that animosity into power…and UNLEASH IT!” Arséne commanded, “RUN WILD TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT!” I felt fury building up in my hands. They were turning into bright blue flames. Then, BOOM! A beautiful display of blue and red fire launched towards the enemies. The enemies put the lanterns in front of their heads to block the incoming shot. The fire weaved around the lanterns and ended up shooting the wall, leaving a crater. The fire only managed to catch onto the creature’s robes, setting them on fire but quickly burning out. Then, the creatures looked at us with an agitated look. “DIE!” they yelled as they quickly lunged towards our direction. They hit my arm and almost made me fall but I held my balance. I ran towards their direction while they were looking the other way and smacked them into the ground. One of the pumpkin’s faces slightly smashed, making seeds come out of one of their eye-sockets while the other two pumpkins simply got their lanterns smashed. “YOU LITTLE,” one of the pumpkins said as it threw its fist at me. It hit my face and knocked me out. My skull hit the ground so hard that it nearly cracked. The pumpkins used their magic to pull me up in the air and throw me against the wall. I let out a shrieking scream before cruelly falling to the ground. I slowly began getting up but the pumpkins punched me in the face before I could even breathe again. Blood started to come out of my face. “YOU’RE JUST GOING TO LET THIS HAPPEN?! YOU FOOL! YOU AREN’T STRONG AT ALL. I KNEW CHOOSING YOU WAS A MISTAKE,” Arséne yelled. I quickly got up with a mighty groan and ran towards the pumpkins. I summoned a fire fist midair and uppercutted the pumpkins, throwing them to the ceiling and leaving a large hole. I looked back and saw Arséne nod in agreement. Arséne flew up to the pumpkins and let out a set of FURIOUS multiple fast fire punches, burning the pumpkins in the process! Arséne quickly punched and smacked with ABSOLUTE full force! The furious and harsh attacks managed to break through the ceiling, launching the pumpkins all the way into the air. They fell back down and one of them went SPLAT on the ceiling. Bursts of pumpkin and seeds exploded and flew in all directions, some of it even sticked to my face. Two remained! One of the pumpkins flung their lantern right at me. The large metallic object hit my face with extreme severity. It made 2 of my teeth break into small microscopic pieces. Blood started POURING out of my mouth but I still stood strong. “I didn’t want to resort to this but I must. The force of this attack will be too much. It’ll make me disappear,” Arséne said. He gathered up so much force and power to use it in a final absolutely DEVASTATING punch the made a MASSIVE opening in the castle ceiling. I then let out a huge, incredibly exaggerated sigh and fell to the floor. The horrible creatures were DEAD!
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300	“I’m impressed! You definitely deserve my power. You deserve ME! We’ll surely meet again,” Arséne said before slowly evaporating out of existence. All of the flames evaporated with him. A loud roaring sound could be heard as he disappeared. The sound was incredibly strong, I could feel it reciprocate all over my body. Power. Power was the only thing I could feel. I felt…POWERFUL! I stood up before falling back down and let out the biggest laugh ever. A laugh of nothing but excitement and happiness! “I DID IT!” I announced to the whole world, “I DID IT!!!!” I didn’t even care that I was profusely bleeding!
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302	“…I…I’m officially amazed” Sakamoto said before standing up. So much pain was throbbing through Sakamoto’s body, I could tell. Kamoshida nearly killed him. Instead of walking, he limped. “Here, get up!” he said as he put his hand out. I got up and Sakamoto took off his star shirt and gave it to me. “Here, use this to clean yourself up,” he said. I cleaned up the blood and wrapped the shirt around my wounds. “Y-you…you’re no human. You’re a demon. You’re a MONSTROUS DEMON!” Kamoshida exclaimed while pointing at me. He charged toward me like a bull. Sakamoto quickly intervened by giving Kamoshida a fierce kick, dropping him to the ground. “Y-YOU’RE NOT GETTING OUT OF HERE ALIVE!” Kamoshida said courageously but with a bit of fear mixed in. I was amazed at how even though Sakamoto was suffering unbearable pain and had deep scars all over his face and body, he still managed to be brave and stand up for what’s right. “HOW DOES IT FEEL YOU STUPID IDIOT?!” Sakamoto hollered as he harshly kicked Kamoshida multiple times. “THAT’S ENOUGH!” Kamoshida ordered as he stood up and looked at both of us vilely. “You won’t leave this place alive. That’s a PROMISE!” Kamoshida howled. He ran towards us with full speed but not before Sakamoto grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me out of the way. Kamoshida ended up hitting the wall. “LET’S GET OUT OF HERE, RUN!” Sakamoto said urgently. We both ran the fastest that we’ve ever ran in our lives!
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318	Now this was an interesting scenario if I’ve ever seen one. A shirtless, badly wounded boy helping his magical friend escape from a guy wearing a pink underwear. This’ll be a day I’ll never forget. “I’LL MURDER YOU AND FEED YOU TO THE DOGS!” Kamoshida screamed as he started running even faster. We were running through some sort of underground lair. Everything was dark except for the occasional lamp on the wall. The ground we were stepping on was marshy, boggy terrain. We were on the sides of this area, but right next to us was a long river that stretched farther than the eye can see. There were many more prison cells too, although no one was in them. “Uh oh,” Sakamoto said as he halted to a stop. Right in front of us was a rusty gate with no entrance. “HAHA! THIS IS IT, YOU INSECTS. YOUR LIFE ENDS NOW!” Kamoshida mocked as he brought his eyes to the direction of a cardboard box. He grabbed it and threw it at our direction. It hit Sakamoto right on the head. The box burst into pieces as Sakamoto fell to the floor. He was knocked out. “IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, GET UP!” I yelled. No response. Kamoshida was still running towards us and I was FREAKING OUT. WHAT SHOULD I DO!? IS HE DEAD!? I grabbed Sakamoto and held him over my shoulders. Thankfully, I could feel his breath hitting my neck. Thank goodness, he’s only unconscious! I looked down at the hearty currents and waves of the river. They splashed and swayed violently. Here goes nothing. I jumped into the river and did my absolute hardest to swim while making sure Sakamoto didn’t fall. Kamoshida simply looked down at me and laughed. “HAHA! LOOK AT YOU! PATHETIC WHIMP.” He took off his crown and threw it straight at the back of my head. The object hit me so hard that it made everything go white for a few seconds, but I quickly regained consciousness thankfully. Though, because of the attack, I was now inside the river. 
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320The currents swayed and threw me all over the place. I honestly didn’t care about that, though. My main priority was to save Sakamoto. I held him tightly, making sure he was completely safe. I knew I couldn’t stay down here for long, I needed to get back up but the violent waves made it incredibly difficult. I almost had absolutely no control of where I went, the waters did. Then, a huge wave came like a storm. The turbulent wave had so much force that it made me lose grip of Sakamoto. His body was pushed and shoved all over the place until it finally went to a place unseeable. I straggled through the hurricane – like water and searched for Sakamoto. I will not rest until he is found. I pushed myself to the limits and let out a booming groan of power as I jolted across. All I could think about is Sakamoto. Is he okay!? Where is he!? I swam and swam and swam until I finally found his body in the sea floor. His mouth was open. I quickly grabbed him but I started feeling incredibly light – headed. I’ve been underwater for far too long. Any longer and I’ll DROWN. I mightily carried him upstream but my force started getting stupidly weak. I…I couldn’t keep up much longer. I almost felt like completely giving up…but I didn’t. Instead, I dawdled. I tried to propel myself upwards but the currents were just too much. My eyesight became blurry. My breathing became slower. But, against all odds, I managed to keep swimming. I found a small opening on the wall and I traversed inside of it with no thought at all. This was a mistake, as the opening was small. My head cruelly hit the harsh rocks that made up the opening’s ceiling, knocking down large loose stones. The huge stones were hard and heavy, they hit my legs with a crack. I let out a painful screech. I couldn’t feel my legs and they were pinned down, making it impossible to move. The stones dipped deeper, making me feel another burst of horrific pain. It felt like I was dying. My light – headedness only got worse, I felt like vomiting my insides out. I didn’t want to die at such a young age. I had so many plans, so many things planned for my life. The large stones fell down even deeper but I couldn’t feel my legs at this point so I felt no pain. Thankfully, though, the stones blocked the opening fully, preventing any water to come in. I let out a humongous sigh. I could finally BREATHE again! 
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322There was only the slight light that seeped through cracks and crevices that kept me from being in complete darkness. I quickly looked down to see Sakamoto. I moved some small rocks and pebbles out of the way to let more light seep in. Then, I could see Sakamoto with full clarity. The water had cleaned his wounds of blood, the only visible damage now was deep scars and purple bruises. His arms were wrapped around my body and his torso laid on my legs. His head rested on my chest. Thankfully, his legs weren’t trapped under the large stones. His legs were in an upward position and they stood against the large stones. I turned him on his side and touched his chest to look for a heartbeat. I didn’t feel anything. I frantically touched again, and then, I felt something. It was small, but it was something. …tun tun…tun tun. His heart pulsed slowly. I used both of my hands and pressed hardly on his chest. I pushed with all of my strength and I saw a bit of water come out of his mouth. I pushed again, even harder this time. I pushed and pushed until finally, water started coming out in larger amounts. One, two, six large amounts of water came out. Finally, on the 23rd push, Sakamoto started opening his eyes. Nothing but adrenaline and excitement filled my body, so I accidentally gave another powerful push on his chest. “H-HEY! That hurts, you know. Your hands are freezing cold as well, geez!” Sakamoto protested. I was speechless. Then, my soul brightened with happiness and joy.
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324“SAKAMOTOOOO!!!” I yelled out with glee as I gave him the tightest hug I have ever given. “D-dude, y-you’re making me suffocate” Sakamoto said. I hugged him even tighter. Finally, I let go. Sakamoto let out an exhausted pant. Then, he hugged me tightly too with tears in his eyes. “Thank you thank you THANK YOU! You saved my LIFE. I honestly couldn’t repay you. Even though I have no shirt on and I have bruises all over my body, I feel everything but pain. I honestly cannot thank you enough. YOU’RE AMAZING!” Sakamoto said with a semi – trembly voice. We stayed in that position for a bit. All that could be heard was the sound of Sakamoto sobbing and muffled water currents. Finally, after a bit, Sakamoto let go and wiped his tears. “S-sorry about the whole crying thing. I couldn’t contain myself, I was just so happy that I’m alive. I was just so happy that you saved me. You mean everything to me,” Sakamoto said. “Oh, don’t worry about you crying. It’s only natural to show emotion. Also, I owe it to ya. You saved me back there with Kamoshida. Even though you were suffering so much turmoil, you stood up for what’s right. It should be me who should be thanking you!” I responded. Sakamoto’s cheeks turned red as he tried to hide his bashfulness. “Oh, uh, thanks!” Sakamoto said with a smile and a laugh, “So, where are we?” “We’re underwater, in this small cave thing. It’s surprising that it’s big enough to fit the both of us,” I said. 
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326I sat down perfectly fine with the ceiling only pressing on my head slightly. Sakamoto, however, had to bend his head down a bit to fit. There was enough space between us to have breathing room. Kelp and other things you would find underwater stuck right on Sakamoto’s bare torso. He crossed his arms as he trembled. “M-man…it’s c-cold in here, ain’t it?” he said, “H-how are w-we going to escape?” I looked all around. There were no obvious places to escape from. Plus, my legs were still pinned to the large stones. “Mind helping?” I asked as I pointed to where the stones and my legs met. Sakamoto and I both used our force to attempt to move the boulder – like objects. We pushed it and kept on pushing until one of them finally moved away. It steamrolled one of my legs but thankfully they were completely paralyzed anyway. Once the stone moved away, water came pouring in like a flood. “Uh…did you think this through?” Sakamoto asked. Uh oh…”I didn’t!” The other stone was pushed away thanks to the savage currents. But, now we had quite the dilemma. Water poured in from all angles and from whichever small crack or crevice there was. I couldn’t move either because me legs were immobilized. “Guess it’s my time to repay you!” Sakamoto said as he chuckled. He grabbed me with a mighty pull. “WHOOPEE!” he said as he launched me out of the cave. He threw me out if his grasp but just as quickly got a hold of me again. All he did was swim straight forward, carrying me on his back. He had so much energy built up inside of him that it made this an incredibly easy task! He swam all the way up until we finally got to the surface! Then, he playfully threw me over the river! I laughed and once he got out of the water, we both laughed together. Best day EVER! “Wow, Sakamoto. I didn’t know you were a mermaid!” I joked. We laughed a bit more until Sakamoto got up. “Wait…did you hear that?!” he asked worriedly. I listened closely. Then, I heard it. A shrieking, painful scream could be heard. Sakamoto looked at me with a surprised expression. “DUDE. LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!” he said. And just like that, we were on our feet again!
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328We continued running and thankfully, we didn’t see any sign of Kamoshida being anywhere. This was definitely more than a bit odd though, where could he have went? Oh well, it’s just good news for us! We continued running until we saw something strange. There were blue pixel lights floating around like little bugs which gave off light. We also saw beautiful bright flowers growing, something unheard of. Not only that, but they emitted a light as well. A yellow light. The currents also seemed to get a bit calmer. I looked around and saw a statue of Kamoshida’s head. Right next to it was an upward drawbridge that led across the river and onto the other side. “Hey, bozos, quit looking around and come over here!” a girly voice said. “Hey, who you calling a bozo?!” Sakamoto asked. “I’m talking about you, idiot! Wait…you guys aren’t guards of this place, are you?” the girly voice questioned. “Pfft, who wants to work for Kamoshida?” I responded. “Okay, whatever, JUST GET OVER HERE!” the voice asked agitatedly. “Ok, fine, sheez!”
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330The voice was coming from a prison cell. The person talking wasn’t really a person either. It was…”A CAT?!” Sakamoto asked. The cat’s eyes lit up with fury. “DON’T YOU DARE CALL ME A CAT AGAIN, BLONDIE!” the cat spoke, “My name is MORGANA! I’m a human, just like you.” Sakamoto looked at me as if saying ‘Can you believe this thing?’ “Oh, and where’s your shirt? Why are you all wounded?” Morgana asked. “Long story. Anyway, what’d you call us up here for? We’re gonna leave. Bye!” Sakamoto said as he walked away, “C’mon Ren, let’s go!” 
331“YOU FOOLS! YOU DON’T KNOW A DARN THING ABOUT THIS PLACE. If you help me escape from this cell, I will help you escape from this palace. We’re currently on the underground level,” Morgana plead. “This thing sounds like it’s all talk. What if it ends up being another enemy?” Sakamoto proposed. He then looked at me to give me a say in this. “I…I think I’ll have to go with Morgana here. Even if it’s another enemy, we can easily beat it anyway,” I said. Sakamoto’s lips wobbled as he looked at the cat and then looked back at me. He did this two more times until he finally gave in. “F-…Fine,” he said with a groan. “Yes! I knew you would accept. Grab that key over there and unlock the cell!” Morgana said. She pointed at a keychain that was being held over a rock. I used it to unlock the cell. “Ahh…freedom tastes SO GREAT! Thanks so much! I’ve been trapped in there for 2 weeks, that’s a new record!” Morgana said as she purred delightfully, “Alright, no time to waste. I’ll lead the way!”
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353	“My goodness. It’s already 4th period, where could they have gone? Oh geez, Principal Kobayakawa is gonna KILL ME!” Ms Kawakami said with a semi – playful tone but she understood the situation. If the boys didn’t come to school today, they could possibly get expelled ON THE FIRST DAY! Something Ms Kawakami definitely did not want.
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355	“You seriously don’t know where to go? AMATEURS,” Morgana said as she pulled a lever that was badly hidden in the Kamoshida head statue. This caused the upward drawbridge to lower, paving a way across the ravage river. “Hurry, go!” Morgana said as she led the way and spectacularly pointed forward. We all RUSHED outta there. “WAIT, STOP. SHOOT, IT’S THEM!” Sakamoto wailed. He fell to the floor and gave out a yell. “Ugh, YOU AMATEURS!” Morgana exclaimed as she dominantly jumped forward. “You, frizzy hair! You know how to fight, right?” “Me?” “Yeah, YOU! C’mon, THIS IS HOW YOU FIGHT!” 
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357	Right in front of us was a fairy creature in a tight blue suit. Next to it was a tiny devil – like creature. “HAHA!” Morgana shouted, “ZORRO, SHOW YOUR MIGHT!” Wind and nature surrounded Morgana as she flew upwards. Intimidating eyes summoned before. “AHA!” Morgana exclaimed. A blast of vibrant colors shot out in all directions. Before you knew it, Zorro was already swiping away. He cascaded a ritzy tuxedo, his weapon a precisely whetted sword. I was unfazed at the fact that it was a feline. Those cute little cat ears and whiskers were enough to magic anyone! The fairy summoned a blast of tsunami and launched! The water was so vehement that we hurled. The devil creature dealt a fierce punch. Zorro blockaded, he lofted. The devil creature flew mighty high and came down with a POOF! “GRAAAHH!” Sakamoto whipped his hand in circular and WHIRLED! POW! The fairy was seeing STARS! They exchanged shots, Sakamoto used his brutal fists while fairy launched energy balls. Each energy ball casted a huge, deadly BOOM. “It’s no use, GET OUT OF HERE!” Morgana yelled urgently. The blast sent Sakamoto flanking into the air, harshly hitting his skull on the cold ceiling. Everyone else ran away, Sakamoto was still behind! Morgana found a hidden passageway, the fairy shot out an explosive that made an opening! Sakamoto got flung into the air again, this time not getting up. “HURRY, GET OUT OF HERE!” We were in the upper palace, frantically scrambling about. We ran straight through and across the grand drawbridge. Sakamoto limped, “WAIT, I…I CAN’T WALK” He charged with all of his strength, next thing I knew, everything was white…
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359	 Ugh…I feel lightheaded. I shook my head in dismay. I…I felt like I was in a bad dream. Surrounding was nifty fertilized trees and bushes. The sky was blue and the breeze crisp. A little girl cried because her cone of ice cream had splatted. Yup, I’m back. Sakamoto was painfully grunting, he was on my lap. “Bro…I don’t think I ever want to go outside ever again.” “HEY! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DELINQUENTS DOING HERE?!” a police officer scorned. “I – I CAN EXPLAIN! T -there was a huge castle, w – we walked into it and KAMOSHIDA WAS –“ “WHAT?! Sigh…let me search you. You better not be doing any drugs.” “NO! WE AREN’T! THIS STUFF’S REAL.” “It’s no use…just go to school. I’ll call your principal.” 
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361	“My goodness. Look who we have here. The kooky transfer student and the infamous troublemaker. Ren…oh, Ren. What did I TELL YOU?!” Principal Kobayakawa scolded. He was mid – step on the front Shujin entrance. Kamoshida carefully followed. “K-KAMOSHIDA!” Sakamoto rumbled as he put his front foot forward, ready to pounce. “HEY! WHAT’S THE MEANING OF THIS?!” Kobayakawa demanded. “It’s nothing. You know how Sakamoto is and has always been,” Kamoshida dismissed. Sakamoto’s fists trembled. “Sakamoto, if you act like this any more, I WILL EXPEL YOU, ALONG WITH REN!” Kobayakawa hollered. “Ugh…WHATEVER,” Sakamoto pouted, “Come on, Ren. You’re the only reason why I haven’t completely lost it. Sakamoto’s just my surname. You can call me by Ryuji, my real name.” As we walked into the school, he mocked Kamoshida behind his back by sticking his tongue out and spitting on his shoe. 
362
363	“You walked into a palace of the other world, summoned your Persona, met a magical talking cat and faced two creatures?! Are you hallucinating from the painkillers? I will  stop this entire interrogation if you’re lying,” Joji said. “I’m not! Why would I?” I said. Well…that’s a lie. I would lie to get out of here but this isn’t a lie. This is simply the reality I have to put up with. “Well then. Your first target was Kamoshida, correct?” Joji asked as she got out a set of documents. The documents were Kamoshida’s. She pointed at a picture of him holding a gleaming medallion as he gave a huge smile. People cheered him on. “An alumnus of the University of Tokyo, a bachelor’s degree in physical education. His passion to become a world – famous sports superstar blooms in Shujin Academy...”
364Chapter 14: “Half a day late on your first day of school?
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366	I can’t BELIEVE IT,” Ms Kawakami said as she put her head against her hand and let out a drained sigh. Her head tilted. “Why?” “Well…you won’t believe me if I tell the truth but you’ll get angry if I lie so…” “Tell me the truth!” “Well…me and Ryuji were stopping gang violence in the streets.” She looked at me with vacant eyes. “Oh, goodness…” she said before fainting and falling back into her chair. I checked her arm to find a pulse. Nothing. …Then, she erupted. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU, KOBAYAKAWA WILL –“ “Relax, it was only a joke!” “…Ren, THIS IS NOT A JOKE. There is a greater chance that you will be expelled, if that happens, your life is basically OVER. This school, this city, Alexandra had high hopes for it to foster you. I am ashamed that you have not learned at all,” Ms Kawakami distressed. “I understand. I…I apologize. Today was messy, tomorrow’ll be better!” I responded. “Very well…continue on that track, please. Oh, and you were with Ryuji? …Don’t get involved with him, he’s but nothing but trouble,” Ms Kawakami warned, “Though…he wasn’t like that when he devoted his considerable efforts to track and team.” Interesting… “Well, it’s already noon. You missed lunchtime, that shall serve as discipline. Follow me, you will introduce yourself to your classmates.” ‘You know…maybe looking after the transfer student won’t be as bad as I thought,’ she reflected. 
367
368	‘Hey, isn’t that the new transfer student?’ ‘The guy who nearly killed a guy?’ ‘Yeah’ ‘Best not to look him straight in the eye, he might beat you up.’ ‘Though…he seems a bit normal.’ ‘That’s what they want you to think. Next thing you know, KABLAM! You’re on the floor BAWLING!’ the students whispered amongst themselves. They made faces too, mocking me. Boy, this sure does feels great…”Settle down,” Ms Kawakami ordered. “As you may know, this is the new transfer student from the Americas. His name is Ren. He also happens to have a criminal record but we shouldn’t be hasty. He is trying his best to reform himself.” She gave me a beam. “He wants to say something.” Uhh, NO I DON’T. Ugh…whatever, no point in retaliating. “M-…my name i-is Ren.” The whole class burst into laughter. I felt like shrinking into oblivion. Although…there was one person who didn’t laugh. A person in an eerily familiar sweatshirt. She peered out the window and had an almost saddened look on her face. “Okay, everyone. Please be polite. He is a new student, how did you feel on the first day? Probably the same. Let’s see…where should I put you? Hmm…aha! Over there, the seat that’s open, right by the window.” She pointed at an empty desk, right behind the girl. “Share any necessary supplies with him too.” “This sucks,” a student blurted. 
369
370	There were posters on the walls, announcing a volleyball rally against Giza High. Sports seem to be taken pretty seriously here. But, the leader of the team was none other than...Kamoshida. What’s with that guy?! I looked around. Everyone in the class looked like your average adolescents, except for one. A guy with blue, presumably dyed hair. Bandages, straps and freckles coated his face. He was attentive to his studies, his behavior polite. Though, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of jitters. Almost as if he’ll break down at any moment…or maybe it’s just me. Class was going on but I zoned out for most of it. My mind was hard to contend. 
371
372	“Psst, over here,” a voice whispered. School was over, I was trying to find an exit. I searched for where the voice might be coming from, but whoop! I got forcefully pulled into a little nook. It was the space between the lockers and the wall. “Ryuji?! What’re you doing here?!” “SHH, DON’T BE SO LOUD.” “You’re louder!” “Whatever, just, look at this.” He pointed at a window behind him. It unveiled a classroom with Kamoshida and Takamaki being in there. “How are you doing today?” Kamoshida asked with a creepy smile. “Um…I’m…doing fine. I…I have to go to modeling now, sorry, but can we talk later?” Takamaki said anxiously. “Suuree. Don’t work your pretty little self too much, okay?” Kamoshida winked. “Thanks.” She got out from the room and quickly walked away. “Wow…I didn’t know she models! WHERE CAN I GET HER MAGAZINES!?” Ryuji exclaimed. I whacked him with my elbow. “HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!” “You know exactly why I did that. Poor Takamaki…who knows what’s happening with her. I wonder…what if she’s the girl I saved from the drunk man all that time ago…?” “What’re you talking about?” “Oh, just thinking out loud. Anyway, you know this place, right?” “Yup. I know most of the kids and every crack and crevice in this school! Oh, that reminds me! I already planned out a hideout we can use. Follow me!”
373
374	‘ROOFTOP,’ a sign said. ‘DO NOT ENTER,’ was right below it. Ryuji got out some keys and opened the locked door. “Custodian sleepin’ on the job. No one else should be able to get here!” As the door opened, a wave of the crisp breeze whelmed. The sky was a creamy blend of orange, pink and red with streaks of clouds. There was a giant fan blowing, in the middle of the rooftop was a table and some chairs. Ryuji sat down on one and lazily laid his hand on it. “So…whatcha think?” “It’s nice for a hideout! I gotta go home soon though.” “Ok, well…we should talk about what happened, with Kamoshida and that MYSTICAL BEING. T-that wasn’t a dream, right?!” Ryuji questioned. “Well…I think I might know what’s going on. I…wanna admit something. You don’t have to believe me but I know this is true. I’m pretty sure I’m not human. I mean, my physical form is of a human but I was born in a different dimension, the Shadow Dimension. I…had a dad named ‘Igor.’ He appeared in one of my dreams and told me about this. The other being that I summoned, I think it’s called a ‘Persona’? He said something along those lines…GAH. THIS IS TOO CONFUSING.” Ryuji looked at me, a bit in disbelief. “Well…I guess I believe you. I mean, I don’t really have any other options. So, you’re a magical being? …AWESOME. I’ve always wanted a magical friend!” We laughed together. “Ha…oh, another thing. The guy that was on the school entrance next to Principal Kobayakawa, that’s Kamoshida. Ugh…even saying his name makes me sick,” Ryuji stated. He emphasized his wounds and bruises. “No one even cared that I had these. All that the school counselor did was give me a shirt. I guess that’s just what it means to be a delinquent. Kamoshida’s gonna PAY, I’ll make sure he does.” Only the gentle breeze could be heard. “…Uh, anyway, sorry to drag you out here like this. You should probably get going, you’re under probation, right? Everyone’s been talking about it…that sucks. Well, see ya!” “Bye!”
375
376	Creeak. “Well well well. I’ve been expecting you. You think I haven’t heard? You were HALF A DAY LATE on your first day of school. If you get expelled, I’ll be the one accused. I’m busy enough as it is, I don’t need a lawsuit to add on to that,” Sojiro lectured. He had a pink straw fedora on. Ring ring! He picked up his cellular. “Hello? Sojiro here” He and the person on the line chatted like best buds. They talked about the good ol’ days, when Sojiro lived in a mansion. I decided to go upstairs to my room.
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383Chapter 15: First Step Complete
384	
385	 AH! A…am I back? Into the velvet room? “Your master wishes to speak to you, INMATE. It is in your best wishes to take his words to HEART,” Caroline ordered. “Firstly, let’s congratulate our reunion. You have completed the first step of your rehabilitation by awakening to your powers. Your journey has officially begun. You shall hone and take full control of your Persona Arséne, it is the other you that summons only in the Shadow Dimension. I expect great things from you, this is your fate. You are not a human. You are something more. The Metaverse Navigator app is a gift, you will use it to travel between reality and palaces, or the other dimension. What do you have to say?” I…was speechless. This really isn’t a dream. This is reality. Before I could say anything, a bell rang. “You hear that? It’s time to go. Go get whatever rest you may have!” Caroline dismissed. 
386
387Chapter 16: School daze
388
389	Well, I guess I’ll just keep that at the back of my mind…I have other things to focus on, such as GETTING TO SCHOOL ON TIME OR ELSE I’ll get expelled. I scurried to get on the subway and got to school a little early. 
390
391	School was the same as yesterday. After it ended, I noticed Takamaki and Kamoshida were talking again. I eavesdropped. “Sorry for keeping your friend at practice for so long. You must be lonely. I can give you a ride home,” Kamoshida said. Takamaki simply said “I can go by myself, um…please excuse me.” “Alright…oh, and don’t talk to that new transfer student. I don’t want him to do anything to your little self.”
392
393	“Yo!” Ryuji exclaimed, “I kinda wanted to see if we could go to that castle again. Don’t get me wrong, I would avoid that place at all costs, but…I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t think it was a dream. You saw it too! I…I just need to go there again. It’s something too strange to simply ignore. You in?” Hmm…well, I understand that place a bit more now. “Sure!” 
394
395	We walked all around the school. “The castle was colossal, it’ll be pretty tough to miss. Let’s recall. How did we get in last time?” Ryuji pondered. Actually…I think I might know. I took off my backpack and got out my laptop. I opened up the Metaverse Navigator. “Castle…king…pervert,” the app said. “What the?” Ryuji said. Suddenly, things became distorted. Everything was wavy. “…You have arrived at your destination,” the app announced. Right in front of us was the castle from before. “C’mon! Let’s go!” We ran straight through and were met with Morgana. “You guys CAME BACK?! Y – you barely escaped last time, why would you want to COME BACK?” Morgana asked. “I can’t stop thinking about this place. IS IT A CURSE!?” Ryuji exclaimed. “Moron. I came here because the shadows started acting up. Escape while you still can!” A large yell in the distance could be heard. “W – what was THAT?!” “Kamoshida got even more furious because of yesterday. Who knows what he’s doing to those poor slaves…” “WHAT?!” “Ugh, whatever. Since you guys aren’t leaving, just follow me.” I wasn’t sure about this…but I complied anyway. 
396
397	“I am a phantom thief. Basically, I can sneak through palaces like a pro! So do as I do,” Morgana ordered. She snuck through boxes, lamps and walls. Everything was dimmer than yesterday. We got into the main palace room, or the upper palace. The room with the extravagant chandeliers and carpet. For a second, everything turned into Shujin and back. “Woah…this is the school?” “That is correct. This place is only a manifestation of the ruler’s view, the ruler being Kamoshida.