Chained Trickster

Classes ended for the day several hours later and Arashi bade farewell to Takamaki before going down to the front of the school where he met up with Sakamoto. “So what do you think about goin’ back to that castle, huh? I tried tellin’ myself it was all a dream, but I don’t think it was…” Arashi shook his head. “It wasn’t. I heard Arsene speak to me last night.” He sighed. “Unless the stress from yesterday started making me hear voices… I really don’t think we can share a dream like that.” “You’re right. Though I thought I heard a voice come from your phone when we got out of there?” Arashi nodded and held up his phone. “It’s called the Metaverse Navigator.” He looked around. “How about we go away from here first?” They were right at the front gate of the school. Sakamoto nodded and they went into the alley in front of the school. He took his bag off and placed it behind a trash can. He hid Sakamoto’s bag as well. “We don’t want people finding those.” “Yeah, that makes sense… My mom would be pissedif I lost all my school supplies.” Sakamoto sighed. “So how’d you figure it out?” Arashi explained what had happened with Sakura the night before and how they were too far from Shujin for the Navigator to work. Sakamoto frowned. “That…doesn’t make any sense.” “Well, that freaky long-nosed guy said it was called the Metaverse Navigator…” “Long-nosed guy…?” “…I’ll explain later. Just some weird dreams I had.” They still felt like he’d been awake. He could remember the details from them well… Why weren’t they fading like other dreams? It didn’t make any sense. “Just listen to me.You don’t have one of those things and you’ll be a sitting duck without one.” He paused. “But yeah, anyway, I think the castle is how Kamoshida sees the school. He thinks it’s his castle. Does that make sense?” Sakamoto nodded. “Yeah, unfortunately.” He punched his palm with one hand. “Let’s go on in there and kick his ass this time!” Aashi nodded and spoke into the Navigator. When they turned to the side, the castle was back. “Yo man… It wasn’ta dream…” Arashi shook his head, then looked down. The weird outfit was back. Honestly, this felt way, waymore natural to him than the dresses, skirts, and blouses he wore on a daily basis. It was flamboyant beyond all words, but it felt…right. Looking back up, he nodded to Sakamoto. “Unless were were somehow sharing the same bizarre dream, it only made sense for it to be real. I haven’t ever heard of people sharing dreams before.” Yeah, that was beyond him. He didn’t think that was possible. “Woah, man, that outfit!” “Yeah, I noticed already,” Arashi said dryly. “Anyway, where do you think we should go? But again, listen to what I say to you. You don’t have the power to protect yourself like I do.” Granted, Arsene was incredibly unstable and he had to fightto keep the being from completely going haywire. Sakamoto sighed. “I get your point, but it sucks.” He kicked the ground. “We should prolly see what those screams were about. That can’tbe good news.” Arashi grimaced. “Yeah, you’re sure as hell right about that.” Screaming like that couldn’t be good news. Honestly, he had been so utterly fixated on getting out that he hadn’t wanted to stop more than necessary. They had seen people in the cells like Morgana had been, but he hadn’t wanted to stop. The strain on his psyche had just been way too much and it had only been his sheer stubbornnesskeeping him on his feet. “Hey, what’s going on out here?” a voice asked. The pair looked to the side and saw Morgana bounding out. “What…? You guys again? Why did you think it was a good idea coming back here again? You barely made it out alive last time!” Arashi sighed. “It’s more himthan me.” He jabbed his thumb toward Sakamoto. “That rat bastard can’t get away with what he’s doing and what he’s done!” “Quiet down! I wondered why the Shadows were making such a commotion,” Morgana said then sighed. “If you really feel the need to come here, then I can teach you about Personas and the Metaverse.” He looked down and folded his paws. “I just want some help in return if it’s not too much to ask… I’ve lost my memories and the Metaverse is all I know… There’s a place called Memementos that I need to investigate… I know if I can get to the bottom, I can find my memories…” His ears went down. Arashi nodded. “I don’t see why not. Fair’s fair. You can help keep us safe and we can help you find your memories. It’s just going to have to wait for right now, though. We’re more worried about Kamoshida’s castle. Does that sound agreeable?” He really didn’t see any reason to not help Morgana. He could be a little bit brash at times, but Sakamoto was allbrashness. Keeping Sakamoto reined in was going to be a headache and a half; he could just tell. He hated controlling people as he hated being controlled himself, but Sakamoto needed to be kept on a short leash so that way they could continue to operate without getting hurt. Morgana looked up and his ears came up as well, pricking toward Arashi. “Really? You mean it?” Arashi nodded. “Yeah. Though, again, our priority is Kamoshida’s castle.” He paused. “Do you know exactly what this place is? We’ve figured out it’s the school in Kamoshida’s mind, but not much beyond that.” Morgana nodded. “We’re in the Metaverse, a place where people’s distorted desires become reality, though they’re not aware of it. A place they see as important becomes a warped version of itself and turns into whatever they see it as here in the Metaverse. Whatever it is depends on their heart and how it distorts. There can be a wide array of different distortions from what I’ve seen while I’ve traversed the Metaverse.” “I…didn’t get anyof that,” Sakamoto said. “It’s simple enough,” Arashi said. “Basically, the Metaverse is a reflection of how a person perceives reality. It turns into whatever they perceive their relationship to a location is. Does that make more sense?” “Not really,” Sakamoto said, shaking his head. Apparently Sakamoto wasn’t the best with abstract concepts. Arashi could get it pretty well. He doubted Sakamoto was stupid; some people just really struggled with certain types of thinking. That definitely included abstract concepts. Some people just could not get it no matter howmany times it was explained to them. For now, he’d just write off Sakamoto being able to understand the incredibly abstract concept of how the Metaverse worked. “Anyway, our plan was to go back down to the dungeon and investigate those screams we heard,” Arashi explained. “Could you take us there?” Morgana nodded, his tail twitching. “So you want to see the slaves?” “The slaves?”Sakamoto asked, raising his voice again. “Can you quiet down? Seriously. You’re going to give us away if you keep giving such knee-jerk reactions,” Arashi chided. He knew some people were more impulsive than others, but this was going to put them in seriousdanger if Sakamoto kept raising his voice and giving their position away. Sakamoto sighed. “Sorry… I’ve just always been a bit of a loud mouth, y’know?” He kicked at the ground. “But slaves?” Morgana nodded. “Yeah. I saw them while I was poking around… It obviously reflects something in the real world, but keep in mind they’re not real before you go yelling up a storm again.” Arashi nodded. He could definitely keep that in mind. Plus, he was used to keeping as silent as possible. He could definitely rage if he allowed himself to, but he tried to keep that under control… Whatever had happened in the cell the previous day had enraged him more than he’d ever been in his life… There was somethingpushing him toward the darker aspects of himself that he kept under lock and key at times… It seemed to be in conflict with Arsene and bleeding into when he summoned the being… Persona, apparently, if Morgana was telling the truth. They started hearing screaming and Sakamoto looked at them. “Oh shit… That can’t be—” The screaming came again. “It isfor real…” He looked at Arashi and Morgana. “C’mon man, we gotta go check it out!” Arashi nodded. “Let’s go, Morgana.” Morgana led them to a little hole by the main doors and they traversed through the dungeon. Once again, Arashi had a hellof a time trying to keep Arsene under control. He kept trouncing Shadows and blowing through them when he was trying to negotiate with them to get them to his side. The frustration only seemed to make it even worse, creating a vicious cycle that left him incredibly frustrated by the time they reached a safe room where they could rest and regather themselves. He slammed his fist against the table. “Why does that keep happening?! I knew I didn’t have full control of Arsene, but this is ridiculous! I need more skills so that way we can cover different weaknesses and stuff.” He looked at Morgana. “Do youhave any idea?” “Your eyes keep glowing golden when you lose control of Arsene. They’re the same as Kamoshida’s Shadow, so my guess is that you really don’t have full control over your psyche. There’s a part or multiple of you that you don’t accept. It’s coming through in your lack of control over Arsene. If you want to have full control over your Personas, then you need to have control over yourself. You need to spend time introspecting and trying to find a balance between the parts of yourself that you don’t want to accept,” Morgana said. “You have the Fool Arcana, but also the Eight of Swords.” Arashi raised an eyebrow. “What in the world does thatmean?” He had no idea what Arcana were. “Are you familiar with the Tarot at all?” Arashi shook his head. “Never heard of it.” “It’s a system of divination that uses cards. There are Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. People often correspond to one or two cards and you correspond to the Fool and the Eight of Swords. Each card has its own meanings, upright and inverted. “The Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. It’s a card of new beginnings and setting out on a journey in the unknown. You’re going to grow personally and that there are important choices to be made. “The Eight of Swords upright is a card that shows you feel trapped somehow and that you feel powerless. You might be playing the victim and are waiting to be rescued. You’re at an impasse with a painful decision of some sort, uncertain of where to go. “There’s a lot more to each different card than that, of course, but that’s a very basic description of what each card symbolises that you correspond to,” Morgana said. “You’d probably do pretty well to study the Tarot since it seems like each of your different Personas correspond to one of the Major Arcana. And the Fool should meet somebody from every Major Arcana as well. If you choose to interact with those people and learn about them is your choice, though.” Arashi nodded a bit. “Guess I’ll have to try to pony up some money from Sakura then…” “Y’know, there are probably websites with that info for free,” Sakamoto said. “Not sure about the cards themselves, but meanings and shit? There are probably a bunch of sites that you can easily look shit up on. Honestly, I get some allowance every week, so if you wanted a deck, I might be able to getcha one.” Arashi blinked. “Really? We barely know each other though.” Sakamoto grinned. “C’mon man! We’ve been through a lot with each other the past couple days! We’ve bonded! Right?” Arashi sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t trust that easily.” He couldn’t lie to Sakamoto about it. He didn’t trust anybody easily because he knew how people reacted when they met someone like him. When he came clean about identifying as male, then there would be a falling out. It was best to not get tooterribly comfortable with people because they’d just straight-up abandon him. He knew better. People never accepted him. He always had to be on his own and be self-sufficient. Sakamoto frowned. “Rough, man… But I’ll just keep hangin’ out with ya until then.” He grinned again. Arashi mentally shook his head. Stubborn one, apparently. He was quiet for a bit longer. “All right; we should probably get back to it.” They headed back out and, after a particularly rough Shadow fight, they found a place called… “Kamoshida’s Training Hall of Love?” Sakamoto asked. “That sounds like bullshit.” “This is where the bulk of the torture occurs. And remember, the people you see in here aren’t real.They don’t impact the real world. They’re cognitive doubles,” Morgana explained. “…Huh?” Sakamoto asked. “I guess…think of them as hyper realistic dolls.They might seem to have agency, but they’re nothing like you and her.” Arashi cringed hearing ‘her’ from Morgana. “They’re just…figments of Kamoshida’s imagination that you can interact with. Does that make more sense?” “Yeah, I guess,” Sakamoto said. “C’mon; let’s go in.” They walked to the first area of the training hall which had kids tied to nets and Arashi grimaced. “Damn it, what the hellis this?” Sakamoto asked. He walked up to the bars of the cell which held them. “There were rumors of physical abuse, but I didn’t know they were real! This is—” “Be quiet, you loudmouth!” Morgana hissed. “I told youthat they were fake.” “Oh, hush!” Sakamoto pulled his phone out. “We gotta take some pictures for evidence!” He fiddled around with it for a moment until he looked at it. “The camera app won’t work.” He looked at Arashi. “What about yours?” “If yours doesn’t work, I doubt mine will either.” Sakamoto really was the ‘act first, ask question later’ type, huh? Working with him was going to be really annoying, but there wasn’t much Arashi could do about it. Sakamoto was going to hound him, so they might as well work together. Of course, he’d be much, muchmore efficient on his own but he’d already struck a deal with Morgana to help him and Sakamoto was just going to charge headfirst into the entire thing if Arashi didn’t hold him back. Tch, this was annoying. Why did people want friends? All they did was hold people down. They added nothing of value to a person’s life; they were just an inconvenience at best. “Fine then, I’ll just have to memorise their faces.” Sakamoto stared hard at the screaming slaves for several minutes until he nodded slowly. “All right. Let’s move to the next part.” The next section of slaves being tortured were kids on a treadmill, being forced to run in front of a rotating cylinder of spikes. Sakamoto was clearly more agitated than before. He stayed for several minutes, memorising their faces, and then repeated it at the next section which were kids hung by their arms and assaulted by a volley of cannon fire via volleyballs. “I knew that bastard was screwed up, but I didn’t think he’d sink this low…” Sakamoto growled. “Rat bastard… We needto take him down.” He turned around and looked at Arashi and Morgana. “Yo, you gonna help me take this bastard down or what?!” “I mean I don’t have a goat in this race, but I can’t have you running headfirst into this place without a Persona.” Arashi sighed. He knew Kamoshida was a bastard, his Palace made that much clear, but Kamoshida hadn’t done anything to him… He didn’t like getting involved with other people’s issues because it only made life harder. He should never have tried to help that woman. Now he had a convicted criminal record that would follow him through the rest of his life. He’d rather still be on the streets than dealing with all of thisdamn nonsense. Sakamoto sighed. “You’re real cold, dude, you know that?” Arashi shrugged. They were strangers. Why would he warm up to a stranger in only about 24 hours? That didn’t make any sense to him, personally. Sakamoto seemed to think otherwise, but they were strangers. Arashi had no desire to grow close to people. He knew what would happen if he came out as identifying male to anybody. His parents had dumped him on the streets and the rest of his town knew. They treated him like garbage. The only people that had been kind to him had been the small handful of other homeless people that were homeless. But he didn’t like relying on people, so he mostly stayed away from them. “Let’s get out of here. There’s nothing else to do here for the day.” Sakamoto dropped his head. “Yeah, I guess so.” With that, they retreated and headed out of the Palace, only to get caught by Kamoshida’s Shadow in the main entrance. Oh hell. “What in the hell are you doing in my castle again?! You barely escaped last time.” Kamoshida scoffed. “Well, it looks like we’re going to have to put you down for goodthis time.” “Oh shut the fuck up, Kamoshida! This place ain’t your castle! I got dirt on ya and you’re going down!” Sakamoto roared. Arashi facepalmed. Goddammit, he just had to keep opening his giant mouth, didn’t he?! The last thing they needed was to face down these guards Kamoshida wanted to send after them. They could’ve probably ran out the main door and escaped via the Metaverse Navigator, but now, they had Kamoshida’s eyes straighton them and they might go down this time because of his carelessness! Kamoshida made a condescending clicking noise and shook his head. “My, my, my how far the star of the track team has fallen… The one who ended his teammates’ hopes and dreams of making it big one day… The violent one that made it all end. You were so selfishwith your violence.” “Urgh…” Sakamoto tensed. Arashi wished he could say he was surprised but…he really wasn’t. Sakamoto was definitely the type to go after someone because they had pissed him off, or so it seemed. But by the same token… This was Kamoshida. There hadto be more to the story. “What’s the story, Sakamoto-san?” Arashi asked. Kamoshida had to be lying through his teeth or twisting and contorting the truth in some form. This bastard of a teacher couldn’t be trusted no matter what. “Wait, so you’re helping him out and you don’t know anything about him?” Kamoshida laughed. “He completely betrayed the entire track team and crushed all their hopes and dreams.” “You know what you did!” Sakamoto snarled. “It was you! It was all your fault!” “Tch, kill them all. I don’t care. Just get them out of here.” Kamoshida turned around to walk off and the guards surrounded them. Great… Just fucking great. The guards attacked and Morgana and Arashi soon found themselves on the ground. The Shadows were waytoo powerful for them… Ugh… He had tried to let Arsene take over, but the Shadows resisted whatever abilities he had on him… This wasn’t good… They were going to die here, weren’t they? Well, at least Sakura wouldn’t have to worry about him any longer… Kamoshida stepped on Morgana and ground him into the ground, getting a pained sound from Morgana. “Get off of me you piece of—” “Oh, be quiet. You’re going to die here whether you like it or not,” Kamoshida said then laughed as he looked at Sakamoto. “You probably didn’t think anything through before coming in here, did you? It’s going to be all your fault that they’re dead. You’re fartoo willing to sacrifice others for your own selfish desires.” Arashi looked up at Sakamoto who was on the ground on his knees. “No… I didn’t… It’s not selfish…” He sounded defeated. “You needto go down…” “You’re a real piece of work, you know. Getting emotional so quickly…You always have been one to act without thinking and you dragged these two along with you,” Kamoshida said. Arashi looked back at him and he grinned. “And to think you’re putting the kindness of me supervising your track practices to waste… You wasted not only your own future but that of your teammates!” He made a condescending clicking noise again. “So selfish, Sakamoto.” Sakamoto fell to his hands and knees. “That was physical abuse! It wasn’t no practice! You just didn’t like it!” “Yeah, because it was full of idiots like you. They needed to be taken care of. Results are all that matter.” He scoffed. “Your coach was completely useless too. The track team was nothing but a pointless endeavor that nobody needed. My volleyball team is all that matters at Shujin.” He laughed. “Too bad he actually had something to say. If he hadn’t, I would’ve only broken his star’s leg.” Sakamoto looked up. So that was what happened to piss Sakamoto off so much… He’d had his entire future taken away from him. That…was something Arashi could understand fartoo well. “What…? What do you mean?” Sakamoto asked. “Oh do you need your other leg broken? The school will take my side anyway; self-defense and all.” Kamoshida gave a wicked smile. “I can’t… I can’t lose again… I can’t lose it all again…” Sakamoto said, his voice wavering. “No!” Arashi finally found his voice and felt the guard grind its heel into his back again. “You’re not going to lose again! You’re too damn spirited for that!” Sakamoto looked up, his eyes wide. The grinding into his back was painful but he had to ignore it. “Are you really going to let that rat bastard win against you again? He might’ve taken your future, but he can only take your dignity and will if you let him!” Sakamoto nodded and stood up. “Even though the track team is gone and I can’t run anymore…I can’t let him win!”

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You made me wait quite a while.A voice rang in Ryuji’s head. Huh? Where was that coming from? He looked around, trying to find the source. It wasn’t Morgana or Honoka. It was coming from within him. A sudden pain ripped through his head and he gripped it with one hand, grunting in pain. What…? What was this pain? Why was it happening? He hadn’t hit his head or anything. But it kept coming. You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact. Maybe we can take down your opponent together. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain, still crying out. What was going on? Who was talking to him? This pain was some of the worst of his life! He dragged his fingers along the carpet, trying to get a hold on the pain. He felt like he was going to die! Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…? You can do some damage to that rat bastard if you accept my help. Help…? Whose help? This voice… It made no sense, but he definitely couldn’t accept Kamoshida being allowed to lord over people any longer. The ‘other you’ who exists within desires it thus. Give me your power! He reached out to the voice although the pain still ripped through his body. He couldn’t let Kamoshida continue to hurt people… The volleyball team had to be saved so it didn’t suffer the same fate as the track team. He couldn’tallow that to happen. He couldn’t let Kamoshida rob more teens of their future like his. He rolled onto his back, still screaming and writhing in agony. I am thou, thou art I… There is no turning back. The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth! A hail of blue fire blinded his vision for a moment and he stood up. He felt something on his face. A mask… Just like Honoka’s yesterday. He knew exactly what he had to do. “Hm, what can you do?” one of the guards asked. “Cower in fear and watch!” It raised its sword toward Honoka. He reached for the mask and pulled it off, screaming in pain again. A pillar of blue fire engulfed him. And when he stepped out, he grinned wickedly. It looked like the guards and Kamoshida had been blown back a fair bit away so Honoka and Morgana could get up. Good. He didn’t want them to die because of him. He was definitely impulsive… He felt bad for getting them into such a situation, but now wasn’t the time to ruminate on that fact. He looked at his hands which had yellow gloves on. “Right on… Wassup, Persona… This fucking rocks!Now that I got this power, it’s time for payback…” He cracked his knuckles and looked at Morgana and Honoka who had gotten up. “Yo, I’m ready. Bring it!”

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“Don’t mock me, you brat!” one of the guards roared. They entered battle and Sakamoto’s Captain Kidd provided invaluablefor knocking the enemies down and allowing them to escape through the castle’s main entrance. They scuttled off to one of the walls where the Shadows wouldn’t find them. Arashi sat against the wall and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Damn, I wasn’t expecting thatfrom you… But it definitely makes things easier. I don’t have to worry about protecting you now.” Sakamoto nodded. “Yeah, sorry for being such a drag…” He grinned. “But that was awesome, right?!” “Yeah, it was definitely pretty intense… Though once we leave here, you’re gonna be exhausted, I can promise you that.” Granted, it didn’t seem like Sakamoto had the same issues Arashi had when it came to controlling his Personas. That was beyond annoying, but there wasn’t a lot he could do about it. Arashi desperately wanted to control Arsene and his other Personas, but apparently his mind was so unhealthy that he couldn’t handle it without dipping into his Shadow. Beyond annoying… “We should get out of here,” Morgana said. “We shouldn’t be sitting around the Palace and talking with everyone on high guard.” Arashi nodded. “Fair enough.” He got into his phone and went to the Metaverse Navigator, turning it off. He felt a warping of reality and blinked when Morgana turned into a cat. Like… An honest-to-god cat. He couldn’t help but snort. “What? What are you laughing at?” Morgana asked. Then he looked down and let out a hiss. “I’m a cat?! Why am I a cat?!” “Because you are one?” Sakamoto said. However, he leaned against the wall and slid down it. “Oh, my head… It’s not as bad as Captain Kidd awakening, but I don’t feel so good…” Arashi nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I feel that… It’s not as bad as yesterday but still not great.” And he had a doctor’s appointment. Explaining the physical ailments to whatever doctor Sakura had booked him at would have a lotof questions for him and he wasn’t certain how to explain them. Keeping this from people was going to be hard… And he still had schoolwork to take care of too. He hoped he’d get control over Arsene and his Personas sooner rather than later. He couldn’t function like this. Arashi got up and went over to where their bags were, retrieving them. Then he looked at Morgana. “I don’t want to just leave you out here on the streets, Morgana. It’d feel cruel.” No, he didn’t have bonds with Sakamoto or Morgana yet, but he knew what was cruel and what wasn’t. Forcing Morgana onto the streets to fend for himself didn’tfeel right. Arashi knew the difficulties of living on the streets. If he struggled on the streets, he could only imagine how much tougher it’d be for a cat. Sakamoto frowned. “My mom’s under a strict no-pet lease. I can’t take him.” “And I can’t either! I live above a café! I can only imagine what would happen if health and safety found out about it!” Arashi retorted. Morgana’s ears and tail drooped. He sighed. “I’ll have to talk to Sakura about it… He already knows about all this nonsense since I told him.” No point in hiding it from Sakamoto. “You toldsomebody?” Arashi shrugged. “What else was I supposed to say?” “And they believedyou?” Arashi nodded. “Sakura’s my guardian while I’m here in Tokyo. He said he had a friend that studied weird stuff… I’m still surprised he believed me.” It was really odd to have an adult believe him over such intense nonsense. But it was the truth. He really didn’t like lying to people, but he’d learned that it was a necessity for survival at times. But in this case… What was he supposed to say? He just had no idea, none at all.There was no conceivable way to explain why he’d missed half a day and couldn’t hold himself upright. “I guess I’ll have to meet him some time. But I should probably get home…” Arashi nodded. “Yeah, rest up. Awakening to a Persona isn’t easy.” He opened his bag and held it out to Morgana. “I know it’s not super comfortable with my school supplies, but it’s the best I can offer right now.” Morgana nodded and hopped into Arashi’s bag. He made it back to LeBlanc a while later and Sakura looked at him. “Go to the castle again?” Arashi nodded. “Yeah. Also…I have something to talk to you about. Can you come upstairs with me?” “Yeah, sure. I already closed up the café anyway so I could take you to Takemi-sensei’s.” Arashi went upstairs with Sakura in tow, then opened the backpack. Morgana jumped out onto the mattress and looked around. “Wait… You got a cat?You know I can’t just let a stray stay up here. It violates health codes when it comes to food,” Sakura said. Morgana hissed. “I’m not a cat! Don’t treat me like a stray!” Sakura blinked. “That…didn’t sound like normal meowing. I used to have cats and that definitelywasn’t normal.” Arashi nodded. “Yeah, that’s because it wasn’t…” He explained how they’d met Morgana in the Metaverse and saved him, and how Morgana was helping them understand their Personas and how the Metaverse worked. “I couldn’t just leave him on the streets. It felt cruel.” He scratched under Morgana’s chin and he purred. He sure was acting catlike for someone who claimed to not be a cat… But he wasn’t going to say that. “I know what it’s like to be on the streets… I just…don’t want anybody else to suffer that if I can help it.” His voice was soft and Morgana looked up at him. Normally he wouldn’t be this vulnerable around people, but he couldn’t help it in this case… Sakura sighed and looked at Morgana. “If you actually do understand me, you have got to stay up here. Understand? I’m already breaking health codes by even considering allowing you to stay. Allergies can be a veryserious concern for some people.” Morgana nodded which left Sakura looking spooked. “I understand.” He looked at Arashi. “He can’t understand me, but if we take him to the outside of Mementos, he might be able to.” “What’s Mementos?” Arashi asked. “It’s the Palace of the general public. There are lots of people with distorted desires, but they aren’t strong enough to make Palaces. That place you took me through… The train. That’s where Mementos is. If we just take him outside, that’d still be in the Metaverse, but it wouldn’t be dangeroussince that’s not where the Shadows are in Mementos. They’re underground. If we stay above ground, then he’ll still be able to see me in my normal form, then probably be able to understand me.” Arashi nodded, then looked at Sakura and explained what Morgana was getting at. Sakura rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t believe you’re having a conversation with a cat…But it would be nice for you to not have to play middleman. Maybe we can do that this weekend. Right now, your week is packed with you being at school and delving into that castle.” Arashi nodded again. “Yeah… The weekend would probably be a lot better. I know we probably shouldn’t take the weekend off, but I’d rather not have to deal with castle diving on the weekends…” He sighed. “Sakamoto also wants to meet you since I told him I told you about all of this.” “Oh, the boy you mentioned? Well, I’m glad you’ve made a friend.” Not a friend… A hindrance. He didn’t have friends. Maybe now that Sakamoto was able to fend for himself, it wouldn’t be so bad. It didn’t have to be solely him and Morgana fighting… Well, having more people was definitely helpful if only from the perspective of being able to handle more enemies. Though Sakamoto’s brash, impulsive nature would make things a lot harder for them currently. Arashi understood Sakamoto’s issue with Kamoshida now. Breaking a runner’s leg would definitely be something that would be upsetting…and the fact that the school covered it up. Disgusting. Shujin was a rotten corpse of a school. He petted Morgana’s head. “Uh, what about supplies for Morgana?” he asked Sakura. “Well… I can probably get some stuff tomorrow and just open the café later than normal. Does he think he knows what he needs?” Sakura asked. “Morgana, do you want toys or anything like that? I mean, unfortunately, you can’t go downstairs to use the toilets, so we’ll have to deal with a litter box,” Arashi said. Morgana’s ears went back. Arashi looked up at Sakura. “What about food? He’s…not really a cat, so I’d feel bad giving him kibble or even wet food.” Granted, Arashi didn’t know what food would be best… He didn’t know anything about pets because he’d never had one before. Sakura rubbed his beard. “Well, I can make him a couple small meals everyday. How does that sound?” “What’s kibble?” Morgana asked. “A hard, dry food for animals.” Morgana’s ears went flat again. “That sounds disgusting! And you better keep that box clean!” “I will, I will; relax,” he assured Morgana. He looked back at Sakura. “Yeah, he wasn’t happy with the idea of kibble.” Sakura nodded. “I’ll cook for him everyday, then.” He looked at his watch. “It’s getting close to your appointment. We better leave.” Arashi petted Morgana one last time and followed Sakura out of the café. He locked up then turned to Arashi and held out a key to him. “Here. I can’t always be waiting around for you to get home, so if you’re out late, then you can come and go as you please.” Arashi felt his throat stick a bit. He hadn’t been expecting this. “I… Thank you.” He slipped it into the uniform’s blazer pocket. He would need to find a keyring or something to keep it on. He was getting some money from Shadows (best not to ask how that worked) so he had some pocket money. He hoped it’d be enough to get a Tarot deck too… Maybe a book to learn Tarot as well. But they’d only been fighting for a couple of days, so it wasn’t like he’d gotten a tonof funds… Guh, he’d probably have to take Sakamoto up on his offer as much as he didn’t want to. Sakura started walking. “I know I probably shouldn’t be enabling this behavior, this bizarre phantom thievery, but it seems like you were dragged into it against your will. Just try to stay safe.”He shook his head. “I don’t know if supernatural phantom thievery goes against your parole or not, but you really need to be careful. I can’t always cover for you.” Arashi nodded. “I understand.” He paused. “Yeah, I don’t know if this sort of nonsense is covered by parole or not either… It is weird and I don’t really have a goat in the race for Kamoshida, but Sakamoto-san needs someone to rein him in and make sure he doesn’t lose his life. He got his Persona today so he can protect himself now, but he keeps getting us in trouble. He’s pretty impulsive and loud mouthed.” Sakamoto’s nature was definitely chafing on him more than a little bit. He really didn’t want to spend more time around him, but Sakamoto needed someone to keep him from rushing headfirst into every battle. The guy really was a hindrance, but Arashi knew he couldn’t leave him behind. If he did, then Sakamoto would possibly do something that would get him irrevocably harmed. “So what’s the deal with this Kamoshida guy?” Arashi hesitated before explaining what he knew. He didn’t particularly care for Sakamoto’s nature, but it was a bit too important to skimp out on. To think a teacher had assaulted a student to the point of breaking the student’s leg…Disgusting. “Shujin seems to be a corpse rotting from the inside out. The teachers and principal are complicit in all of this.” “That’s… What about the castle?” Arashi explained about the slaves and Sakura was quiet for a good, long several minutes. “I can’t believe it… Shujin has a great reputation around here, but this is how they treat their students…? Honestly, if it weren’t for your situation, I would withdraw you immediately and have you go somewhere else. But considering it’s what the courts ordered…” Arashi wasn’t entirely certain what to say to that. Sakura was some sort of manipulator, that was clear. He kept pretending to care for Arashi. Arashi knew better than to trust the man fully. He was trying to keep him at an arm’s distance but Sakura was making it hard with how nosyhe was… But Arashi knew he’d get yelled at and berated if he didn’t tell Sakura the truth. “I wish I could go somewhere else too, but I have a feeling this would follow me regardless…and Sakamoto-san wouldn’t leave me alone either.” That and there was still Sakamoto’s safety as well. He didn’t entirely trust Sakamoto to not go bum rushing into every possible situation. Plus, he didn’t really understand the ins and outs of the Metaverse either… And Arashi wasn’t sure if he had the Metaverse Navigator or not. They hadn’t exchanged numbers yet, so Arashi couldn’t ask him… They’d have to trade numbers the following day. He hoped and prayed for a relatively quiet day aside from diving back into the Palace. “That’s…unfortunately fairly true. Some people just have a habit of attracting odd stuff and it not leaving them alone.” There was a knowing in Sakura’s tone, but Arashi had no idea what it meant. The man was obviously hiding something from Arashi. There was more to Sakura than just an older barista that ran a café on his own. He knew better. There was something hiding behind the mask. The fact that Sakura believed himabout this entire castle nonsense and even about Morgana… He knew more than he was letting on. But they fell silent and finished the walk to the clinic. They came inside and Sakura went to the window. Arashi sat down and pulled out his phone, starting to mess around with it while he waited to be called back. Thankfully, that didn’t take too long. He found himself sitting with a woman in a lab coat, short shorts, a t-shirt, and weird, tall, strappy sandals. Something told him that those shoes wouldn’t normally be approved… She had short, messy black hair and brown eyes. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Takemi Tae.” She smiled at him. “So Kurusu Honoka, huh? Your guardian called me because you had a health scare yesterday, right? What happened?” Uh, shit. He didn’t want to lie to a doctor, but he would almost definitelybe committed if he told her about the castle and Metaverse. “I got lost on my way to school yesterday for several hours and I think the stress of it made me pass out.” He frowned. “Do you know about my past?” “Not really, no. What’s happened to you?” Arashi was quiet at her question. “I know your guardian made your appointment today, but you’re still covered by doctor/patient confidentiality. Honestly, I shouldn’t have even lethim make your appointment, but considering everything, I didn’t have much of a choice. Anything you say here will stay strictly between us…and anybody else you let access your medical records. You can tell me anything.” He sighed, his shoulders dropping. “I’ve been on the streets since I was nine years old… I’m probably lucky to still be alive, frankly… The mountains get cold in the winter. So if you go looking for my old medical records, they stop at nine years old. My parents tossed me out because I’m a freak.”He didn’t know what else to say. “I was only taken to the optometrist for the first time since I was nine a few days ago. “That…and I have a convicted criminal history. A man was attacking a woman and all I did was try to get him off her… I’m here because the courts decided Shujin is where I should go. But I didn’t hurt that man; all that happened was he fell on the ground.” Takemi was taking notes while he talked and she nodded. “I see… What do you think makes you a ‘freak’? I know adolescence is a tough time, but for your parents to throw you out… There had to be some impetus. And, again, nothing you say here will go out to even your parents, let alone your guardian. Not unless you choose to have him be able to access your medical records. I legally cannot tell anybody anything without your consent.” Her tone was gentle and pleasant, obviously just trying to reinforce the legality of everything. He looked down and squeezed his hands together. “I’m… I don’t identify as female.” His voice was tiny and he could barely choke it out. “Oh, so you’re trans? While it’s not legal to allow minors to transition, if you want to, there are other things that can I can do to help. Considering you were on the streets and without proper nutrition for so long, we need to build your body back up. I can see you’re incredibly skinny. Of course, I’ll only help you start this if it’s what you want.” Arashi sighed and nodded. “I…do. I hateliving like this…” His shoulders dropped and he gripped his hands together so tightly that it hurt. “But I know what happens when I tell people… They just leave me alone and drop me on the streets…” “Obviously I can’t tell you what to do, but not everyone is like that. When you feel safe, you can start telling people and doing the social side of transitioning. But, for now, we just need to focus on getting your body healthy.Would you mind allowing me to do a full physical today? And I should do a blood draw in order to get a baseline of where a lot of your labs are anyway.” She explained what a full physical would entail. “Do you consent to treatment?” “Yeah…” He was going to be beyond uncomfortable with someone touching him really at all,but there wasn’t a lot he could do about it. This was the doctor’s and a general physical didn’t sound terrible… So he allowed Takemi to do what she needed. Although the blood draw was particularly bad for him. He looked away from what she was doing. His arm started to fall asleep from the tie, but she thankfully got what she needed. “All right, all done,” she said. “But maybe stay sitting for a few minutes. I’ve had some patients nearly pass out.” She paused. “Actually, how about some juice?” Arashi nodded. His mouth was extremelydry after that. Takemi slipped out of the room for a moment and came back with a small box of orange juice. It was the ones for kids with the straw attached. He slowly sipped the juice. “By the way, do you have a preferred name? I won’t use it in front of your guardian, but when we’re back here, I can use it.” “…Arashi.” She nodded. “I’ll note it on your records. Arashi then.” Honestly…how was it that easy? Why was she so non-judgemental? Everyone back home had known he was a freak when he’d been kicked out. He got called some awful things. His entire townhad hated him aside from the homeless population which treated him well…but he’d still avoided them. “Thank you.” His voice was small. He finished the juice box and handed it to Takemi who threw it in the trash. “Okay, all done.” He stood and headed out to the waiting room. Takemi came and talked to Sakura about the list of prescriptions. “And I’ll probably have more once I get the labs back along with some supplements.” Sakura nodded. “All right then.” He looked at Arashi. “Ready to head back?” Arashi nodded. “Yeah.” They headed back to LeBlanc. “I’ll pick these up probably some time tomorrow if they’re filled by then. I knew your life was rough but I didn’t expect this.” Arashi sighed. “Sorry.” He shook his head. “No, it’s fine, kid… I just wasn’t expecting this was all. For now, just go and do your homework, relax, and go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” “Okay.” He unlocked the door then went upstairs. He did what Sakura suggested. He did what he could of his homework, got ready for bed, then tucked in for the night. What a long day…