Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

4.10.20XX

Sojiro Sakura wasn't entirely sure why he decided to take this kid in, maybe to feel like he could do right by a kid, maybe because the kid reminded him of himself, maybe he just pitied him, the reason doesn't really matter, he was here and there was no way he could get him out now. It's fine, he thought, he'll be gone within a month anyway. Kids like him never stay anywhere long. It's not like he had any compassion for the kid – He really didn't care.

He softly opened the cafe door so as not to wake the kid in the attic, silencing the bell before it made too much noise. Avoiding the creaky boards, he made his way behind the counter, setting up a small cooking station. He gathered his ingredients – Including some of the expensive stuff, not that he wants the kid to like him – and began to cook his special curry, while simultaneously setting up some coffee to brew.

It didn't take too much time, but by the time it was done, the sun had risen a bit more. He imagined he'd have to leave the cafe closed all day, since the kid had to visit his school. It would be bad for business no matter how you slice it, but it might be nice to have a day off. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had one, even if he still had to deal with his ward today. He made his way up the stairs, stepping softly so he wouldn't wake the kid up prematurely. When he reached the top, his mouth involuntarily dropped open at the sight. The room was spotless, literally sparkling, with the way the sun shone. The boxes had all been moved to the shoddy shelving units, the dust had been completely eradicated, the grime that his feet used to leave prints in was gone. He didn't know the kid had it in him, but he felt a strange sort of... pride? He wasn't sure.

On the surface next to the banister, Sakura found a paper with his name on it. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to read it, but he turned it over anyway, and there was suddenly a lump in his throat, who put that there? On the paper, which had probably been torn out of the kid's probation notebook, were a few cartoonish doodles, almost childish, of himself and the kid holding hands, with the words “thanks for taking me in” scrawled above it. He choked up, so he could have seen something that wasn't there... but was the kid wearing a skirt? Sakura decided that wasn't the point and flipped it back over, turning back to the room. The last thing he noticed in the spotless room was one very large spot that happened to be in the middle of the floor, vaguely human shaped, and asleep. He cleared his throat.

“Kid?” The kid stirred slightly, turning over just enough for Sojiro to see his arm. Although, to be honest, there wasn't much arm to see, other than scar tissue and roughly parallel scars across the whole length he could see. A pang of recognition and hurt slammed into him, but he told himself he had a job to do, and he couldn't waste time, clearing his throat again. “Kid, you up? I made you some food, we've gotta go soon, okay?”

Akira bolted straight upright, forgetting about the stiffness and the pain of sleeping on the floor, and just barely remembering where he was enough to respond appropriately. He notices his sleeve has ridden up, revealing his forearm, and very covertly rolls it back down, rubbing his eyes.

“Where are we going?” He asked, the fog of sleep somewhat leaving, but the regular fog staying just as stuck to him as it always did.

“You have to visit Shujin, remember? You start tomorrow. Get a move on, why don't you?” Sakura grumbles. “I made you curry and coffee from my own reserves, and I don't want it to get cold and go to waste.” Sakura takes his leave downstairs, and Akira scrambles to his feet to get ready, despite the Destinyland light show that happens before his eyes after he stands up too fast.

“Jeez, usually I don't allow guys in my passenger seat. You really are needy, kid, you know that, right?” Sakura complained as Akira clambered into the front seat of the car.

“I could be a girl if that makes you feel better,” Akira said with mock sincerity.

“Don't be weird.” Sakura started the car and peeled off, going much faster than is safe or legal. “You're... something else, kid.” The rest of the drive was silent, except for the blare of talk radio.

Shujin Academy looks significantly more terrifying in person than it does in pictures, Akira found out. Sakura had to practically drag him into the building when his nerves overtook him and he started wailing that he'd rather go to jail than here. The few staff members he was introduced to greet him at arms length, as he expected.

“So, Kurusu. You understand that you are here on probation for the year, and any behavioral problems will send you directly into the law, correct?” The potato – Principal, sorry – questioned Akira. Akira nodded, he's used to saying whatever it takes in order to get out of a situation faster, and he wasn't really listening. The fog in his mind had fully overtaken, and there he was again thinking about random bullshit that doesn't pertain to his situation even remotely. Why was he wondering about the air resistance of a golf ball? He doesn't play golf, he never has and never will. It occurred to him that he never actually caught the Principal's name. He's sure it won't come up.

Next, Akira met his homeroom teacher, Kawakami. She seemed exhausted. That's about all Akira was able to glean from their interaction before she gave him his uniform and sent him on his way. He had never really liked uniforms, he wasn't sure why, but they always made him uncomfortable to a degree his regular baggy hoodie and sweatpants never did.

Regardless, he climbed back into Sakura's car, where they immediately hit a traffic jam. This was certainly unusual; Sakura turned on the radio.

“- It would appear that another mental shutdown has occurred. Witnesses are unsure what exactly happened, but some are saying the subway conductor suddenly went unres-” Sakura punched the off button on the radio.

“Another mental shutdown? How many of these are gonna happen before we do something about them?” He thoughtfully stroked his beard and looked over at the kid, currently curled up on the seat and leaned on his arm against the door. “Kid, you know how unsafe that is, yeah? If I got in an accident...” He trailed off as soon as he realised the kid was far too asleep to hear his nagging. He sighed, leaning over and opening the glove box. He pulled out a small blanket he kept in there for emergencies, and softly tucked it on top of the kid. “Jeez, kid, you're making me soft. You're really going to be the death of me someday.”

Akira found himself shaken awake by the man in the driver's seat. His glasses were pressed into his face, he didn't know where he was.

“Come on, kid, head inside. I'm not carrying you in.” Akira rubbed his eyes. He almost wished Sakura would just carry him, like he were a kid. Unfortunately, it didn't look like that was an option, so he stretched and tried to stand up, forgetting he was still buckled in. He sorted himself out, fearfully sorted the mysterious blanket out, and made his way into the cafe. He wished to be asleep again, wished for something to change, wished to feel something at all. He fumbled his way up to his room, ignored the inexplicable mirror, threw his uniform on the floor, and collapsed onto his bed. He pulled out his phone, not entirely sure why, but found an app he did not download. At least, he's fairly sure he didn't. The eye on the app badge stared into his soul. After about a minute of staring back at it, frozen, he realized how stupid that was and deleted it.

He instead turned his attention to the world wide web. It had almost become a nightly ritual at this point, though he knew it was stupid. He opened up an incognito tab so he wouldn't be tracked, and typed in a URL he'd had memorized for a while now. It was a forum for those exploring their gender, for support. He'd never posted anything, just looked at the day's topics. It wasn't like he was even really interested in it, it was just something he did and he didn't know why it had even started. On this night, though, he came across a post by transfem-je-sus-christ, a pair of selfies, one a masculine frame that reminded Akira of himself, and the other the prettiest girl he thought he'd ever seen, with the caption “transition timeline” - and many other words Akira didn't read because his head was already spinning. He might be a girl.

Shit.

Chapter Text

4.11.20XX

The day started out like any other. Akira tried to forget the weird dream about the Nose Man and his weird nieces, unenthusiastically got out of bed and put on the shitty uniform he didn't want to wear, before heading downstairs to meet Sakura.

“Ah, you're up. I made you some curry. I'm not driving you today, or ever again, you got that? Now eat, you already look half starved and I can't have you passing out on the train.” About what Akira expected. Unfortunately for his caretaker, he was still reeling from the revelation of last night, so he (she?) didn't say much. Akira ate largely in silence before leaving the cafe with a nod. He made it onto the train without much issue and eventually made it to... a street. One of them. He'd never admit he didn't know where he was, but he had no idea. He saw a girl, probably in his grade, and was immediately taken aback. She was pretty. And he'd seen pretty girls before but here it was... different. Maybe it was the gloomy atmosphere of the rain, but she made his stomach turn, just a little bit.

He was woken up from his thoughts by a white sedan pulling up. He'd never seen it before, but the girl seemed to recognize it – and she didn't like it very much. She tensed up almost imperceptibly as the window rolled down, revealing a clean-shaven man he barely recognized. The man spoke with a grating, gross voice.

“Hey Takamaki! Need a ride?” The blonde girl, Takamaki, presumably, looked around as if searching for someone to help, which Akira realized a moment too late, as she resigned, and got into the passenger seat. Akira reached out to try and help, before realizing he didn't know what he could do, and the car sped off. His eye was caught by a flash of bright bleached hair running in his direction. As it got closer, he saw that it belonged to a boy in his grade, and he was yelling profanities directed towards the sedan. He didn't think they'd seen each other before, but he also wasn't at all paying attention yesterday, so he could be wrong. Instead of doing the socially appropriate thing and saying “hello” or perhaps “what the fuck are you doing,” Akira just simply looked at the boy, partly in shock and partly just not knowing what to do. The boy caught his breath, and Akira just stood there, looking at him, until the boy started yelling.

“That pervy teacher pisses me off!” Akira was taken aback at the hostile yelling, the boy's voice cracked at the strain, and Akira stepped back instinctively.

“Pervy teacher?” He didn't really know how to respond, so he tried an open-ended question.

“Dude, that's Kamoshida!” The vulgar boy fortunately picked up on Akira's need for any information, and seemed raring to talk. “He abuses his power to get whatever he wants, he's thinks he's the king of a castle!” Akira didn't know what to say to this, so he just nodded. “Shit, dude, school's startin' soon, we need to go! C'mon, I'll show you a shortcut. Name's Ryuji, by the way.”

“Uh – Akira. Where are we going?” The boy – Ryuji – had already started walking, and he turned into an alleyway.

“Just follow me, I know a faster way!” He seemed to have calmed down a little, splashing through the puddles. Akira pulled out his phone and tried to get into the map without looking too hard at it, so he wouldn't get too far away from Ryuji – and admittedly because he didn't want to get his lower half any wetter than it already was. Of course, this meant that he didn't realize the eye app icon was open on his phone, or the automated voice talking to him.

“Okay, just turn here, and... What the shit?” Ryuji sounded dumbstruck, and Akira could see why. Instead of the expected school that he had seen the day before, there was a castle. Not a small one, even, the castle looked to be bigger than the school, and it was imposing. The sky had turned streaks of purple and red, the sun was nowhere to be found, and Akira's head hurt like hell. It was like someone had it in a vice, and there was nothing he could do to get out.

“Did they do some renovations here?” Akira asked, gritting his teeth through the pain.

“Nah, dude, I think I took a wrong turn.” Ryuji pulled out his phone. “No service? The hell?”

“Let's just look around again, see if we can go the right way this time?”

“Y-yeah, sure.” The pair went around in a circle again, and Akira was left with the dull pain in his head telling him he wasn't who he should be, the disorientation of the city, and the newly-recalled memory of his dream.

He had woken up in a blue jail cell, stood up, and walked to the bars. He had felt his hair on his shoulders (was that right? That's not how it should be.) and the chill of the iron in his hands. A deep, grumbling voice greeted her (him.)

“Welcome... to the Velvet Room,” the man had said. His nose was long, and his mouth hadn't opened when he spoke. “I... am Igor. This is a place between dream and reality, mind and matter... Only one who is bound by a contract may enter.” The man had gestured to two young girls Akira hadn't previously seen.

“Hey, inmate! You look different than I expected, what's your problem?” One of them had asked. Akira hadn't known how to respond to this. He had looked down at himself, seen the woman (man) and simply blinked.

“Caroline, no need to be rude,” the mirrored other girl had responed, “I apologize for my sister. Welcome to our realm,” she bowed curtly.

“The Velvet Room reflects the state of your own heart. How strange, to think a prison would appear,” the long-nosed man had begun, mouth still not moving, “There is no mistake that ruin awaits you in your future.”

“Ruin?” Akira had asked the question without thinking.

“That is correct. The end of everything. However. There is a way to oppose this fate. You must be rehabilitated towards freedom. Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?”

“I'd rather avoid ruin,” Akira had said, with a strange, different, confident air to it. The man had laughed.

“Forgive me, I have not introduced the others. Allow me. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They will be acting as your wardens here. I shall explain their duties another time. For now, the night wanes. Look at yourself, Trickster. And remember this.”

Akira was shaken out of the memory by the yelling of Ryuji. He found himself missing the slight weight of his long hair, just a little, but shook it off.

“Come on! Are you kiddin' me? You getting any signal, dude?” The boy yelled. Akira checked; nothing. Nothing, that is, except for the eye. It had a name; MetaNav... Sure. Whatever. That made about as much sense as everything else he'd seen recently.

“Nothing. Sorry.”

“Shit, let's just go in!” Fortunately, the doors were not locked, and it appeared that Ryuji thought this was an elaborate prank, for some reason, even as they were attacked by armored men and thrown in a cell. Akira had grown detached since the morning; his headache was wearing off – at least that's what he thought, it could just be the usual numbness creeping in – and he felt nothing but exhaustion. Ryuji was still yelling and fighting, but it felt faint and distant. Akira had been knocked unconscious, he thought, and had been laying on a prison bed. He kept his eyes closed and tried to sleep, to get out of the nightmare, maybe, he didn't really understand what was going on here, and he didn't care. Unfortunately, he was awakened by the clang of something rapping on the bars.

“Ready yourselves, slaves. It is time for the execution!” Akira didn't like that word in this context in the position he was in, so he sat up and tried to sharpen his mind. Is that... Kamoshida? The figure that stood before him was practically naked, wearing just a kingly cape and a Speedo.

“Execution!? What the hell, Kamoshida? Let us out!” Ryuji fumed, as the king and three guards stepped into the cell. He leaned back and took a heavy swing at Kamoshida, throwing his full body weight at him. It would have worked, had it not been for the guard shoving him out of the way.

“Sakamoto. Always so violent. I should've known it would be you trespassing in my castle. Very well. We'll kill her first.” Ryuji was on the ground, wind knocked out of him, unable to protest. One guard raised up its sword. Akira tried to run, tried to save Ryuji, tried to do anything, but he couldn't. The guards shoved him back against the wall. His mind raced. He couldn't think straight. He could barely see. He heard a voice. He... heard a voice.

“This is truly an unjust game... Your odds of winning are slim to none. But if my voice is reaching you, there is a possibility open to you.” Akira couldn't move. Couldn't think. “What's the matter? Are you simply going to watch? He will die if you do nothing. Are you turning back on your previous decision?” The guard looked to Kamoshida for instructions. Akira could barely make out anything, but choked out one word.

“No.” The voice continued. Akira struggled.

“Very well. I have heeded your resolve. Vow to me.” Akira's mind was sharpening. “I am thou, thou art I. Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage!” Akira struggled out of the guard's grip, shoving himself forward.

“That's enough.” Akira's confidence scared him. The guard's threw him back against the wall, crossing their spears across his neck and knocking his glasses off. The fact that he could no longer see was not a concern, due to the fact that his life was being threatened.

“Oh, you want to die so bad? Fine! Execute him instead, we'll get to the peasant after.” Kamoshida looked unbothered. The spears cut into Akira's cheeks, and he felt his blood dripping down.

“Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thy own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!” The voice returned.

“Kill him!” Kamoshida ordered. Ryuji crumpled to the ground, leg giving out. Akira's mind jolted alert, his mind sharpening past what he had felt for as long as he could remember. Akira was alive. They could feel their dripping blood clot, growing thicker and darker, until it was almost tar-like. The emptiness was still there, but they felt in control of it, as if it was power to be harnessed, to fight back, to become their own true form. It wasn't something to be fought, but something to be fought with.

Energy radiated off of Akira, knocking over Kamoshida. There was a mask on Akira's face. It had to go. The guards backed away, and Akira grasped at their mask. It wouldn't move. They tugged on it. An almost whine-like sound escaped their mouth. Tears escaped their eyes without them allowing it. Their face peeled along with the mask. They yanked the mask further. They bit their tongue to stop the scream they knew was coming. The mask was stuck. It took all of Akira's strength and more to tear it away. They gripped the mask and yanked, and it finally ripped off, along with half of their face, eliciting a scream as blood poured from the massive now-open wound. It stung and burned and hurt for a moment, until adrenaline kicked in and numbed the pain. Akira was alive.

“Come... Hermine!” Blue flames engulfed Akira's body as spectral chains lash out. Her power flowed freely, exploding out into the room and blowing away the guards. Kamoshida backed into a corner, quivering, his guards down against the wall.

“What the...” Ryuji didn't know what to make of the sudden transformation, his jaw agape. Akira was alive for the first time in what felt like forever, and an uncharacteristic smile found itself on her face. They spun around and found an abnormally tall spectral woman. She appeared to lack a full face, but wore a mask that mimicked Akira's own, along with an incredibly tall top hat. She wore a waistcoat layered on top of a short dress, with long boots, broken up by a pair of abyssal wings along her waist. Her whole form was somewhat blurry and difficult to ascertain, but Akira could tell they were one and the same. The woman curtsied.

“I am the Countess of Twilight, Hermine. I am the rebel's soul that lives within you. If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to survive this crisis.” Akira heard the voice again as their energy high dipped. Their head threatened to fall, and they almost wanted to fall asleep right there and then, but they couldn't.

“I'd rather not die,” they responded, energy actively draining.

“Guards! Get rid of that one!” Kamoshida shrieked, his confidence shot. “Who the hell are you!?” He scrambled backwards as two guards animated themselves off the floor, dissolving into a pair of pumpkin-headed floating mages.

“Go on, then. Kill them however you want. Run wild to your heart's content!” Hermine called out. “My power is yours. You are free.”

Akira knew immediately what to do, pulling out her stiletto knife and stabbing the first mage, the knife sinking into it without much trouble, killing it instantly. The second mage countered, swinging its lantern at Akira. She responded in turn, and tore off her mask, harnessing Hermine's power, engulfing the mage in darkness from the floor, finishing it off.

“Dude... what the hell was that?” Ryuji asked. Akira was still coming down off the adrenaline high, breath heaving and heart pounding.

“I don't – I don't know. Shit, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...” Akira started rambling, repeating the words over and over. He had lost the soaring high of the power and the adrenaline, and he was disoriented. He felt sick, his head hurt, his body ached, he didn't know who he even was. Shit, shit, shit.

“Dude – It's fine – Hey listen, let's just – Got it.” Ryuji was not prepared for this. He'd never been good at the whole empathy thing, no matter how much he'd tried, and it made comforting people hard. And he certainly wasn't sure how to do it in this context, without knowing where he was, with a new friend he'd only just met a few hours ago, in front of the shitbag Kamoshida. But he did know something, and that something was running.

Ryuji scooped up Akira in his arms, grabbed the keys Kamoshida had dropped on the floor, and bolted. He slammed and locked the cell door behind him – An effort that was significantly more difficult with a person his height and weight in his arms – and sprinted as far away from the cell as possible. He ran out of breath and he kept running. He had no destination, no direction in particular, he just needed to go. Akira was still rambling his apologies, and his head was buried in Ryuji's chest. He hadn't bothered to wear a binder today, and he was kicking himself for it – Akira either didn't notice or didn't care, but it was the only thing Ryuji could think about, aside from the survival instinct.

Ryuji's leg spasmed; he faltered and almost ate shit but managed to only land on one knee. He had instinctively wrapped his arm around Akira's head to protect it, in case he hadn't been able to recover from the fall.

“Shit, I'm sorry. You alright dude? Let's – let's take a break here,” Ryuji tried to reassure the boy still half laying in his lap. Ryuji still had no idea what to do, so he just hugged Akira and tried his best to comfort him and calm him down. He threaded his fingers into Akira's curly hair and rubbed his head. He wasn't sure how long they'd sat there, but eventually, Akira had stopped crying.

“Dude – okay – I got one question for you, but first before that – you alright?” Ryuji asked. Akira wasn't sure how to respond, or if he even had words to say, so he just nodded. “Okay. So – is it alright if I ask a question? Uh, no offense, but – Why are you wearin' a skirt?”

Akira considered this. He looked down at himself, and was taken aback. Why was he wearing a skirt? His whole outfit had changed, actually, he was in the aforementioned skirt, with long leggings and boots underneath, a waistcoat and a trench coat like the woman from before – Hermine? Just as he'd become aware, however, the blue flame was back, and he was back in his school uniform.

“This has been real tear jerking, but could someone please let me out of here?” A voice meowed from inside a cell behind the pair. “I'll help you get back to your world if you help me!”

“The hell? Is that a cat?” Ryuji half scoffed.

“I'm not a cat!” The voice bit back. Ryuji, still holding Akira's partially conscious body, stood up to try to look for the cat. He found it in a cell nearby, and was thankful he'd kept the keys.

“You're not gonna try to kill us, right? 'Cause I've had enough of that already today.”

“No, I'm not going to kill you, I just want out!” The cat looked at him, then the figure in his arms. “What's the story with curly hair there?”

“Uh – shit, that's a good question. Kamoshitbag was gonna kill me and him, but he exploded with power and there was a lot of blue fire and then there was a tall woman who talked in a big voice, and they looked like each other and-” The cat cut him off.

“You have a Persona user... Here, let me out, and I'll heal him up good and you two can get out of here, sound good?” Ryuji fumbled with the keys. He tried to set Akira down, but the boy clung to him with more strength than he thought possible for a half asleep teenager, so he held on and resigned to just unlock the door one-handed.

“How'd you even get in there? Who are you?” He asked.

“I am Morgana! The guards captured me while I was looking for treasure. I don't really... remember much else. Whatever. Set him down, I'll heal him!” Ryuji does as told. Another spectral figure, a man with a rapier, appears behind the cat, and with a magical flourish, Akira blinks awake. “See? What'd I tell you? I'm kind of the best at this.” It seems to conveniently be forgetting about the fact that it just had to be released from captivity by two high school students.

“Okay, so how do we get out!?” Ryuji asks impatiently.

“Hang on, hang on. Jeez, are you always this frustrating? Give me a moment, I'll show you.”

Ryuji, Akira, and Morgana found themselves in the front room, surrounded by an inordinate amount of guards. Three of them melted, like the previous ones, but two of these are the archetypical faeries seen in children's books.

“Don't worry, curly hair and I will handle this!” Morgana called out. Akira didn't remember signing up for this, and didn't know what he could even do. “Just summon your Persona! It's easy!”

“...Persona?”

“Oh, you're hopeless. Just do what I do!” Morgana summoned a tall man effortlessly, blasting the faeries with what appeared to be wind. “Now it's your turn! Take off your mask!” Akira hadn't even realized that he'd had one on, but he did. The same one as before. He tore at it, ripping it off, with a much less bloody conclusion this time, blasting the pumpkin-head mage into oblivion with Hermine's darkness.

“Okay, now run! Run while you have the chance, and don't come back! You'll find your way out, go!” Morgana yelled at the pair, who followed suit and booked it.

Akira came to along the same street he'd left, face to face with a police officer.

“Son, what are you doing? Why are you not in school?” He asked.

“Uh – I was trying to get to school but there was a castle instead and-” Akira tried. The officer was not convinced, but also didn't care.

“Just, get to Shujin, okay?”

Ryuji and Akira made it to the front of Shujin, only to be met by the same face they had just left. Shit.

“Kurusu. I see you've been hanging out with Sakamoto. I would recommend rethinking that decision, he's a real troublemaker. You especially don't want to get involved with the wrong people.” Unfortunately for Kamoshida's intimidation attempt, Akira didn't care. Akira wasn't listening. Akira missed the skirt.

Akira just wanted to go home.

Chapter Text

4.14.20XX – Mid-night

Akira was restless. The past few days had passed without much issue, but he was still on edge about Kamoshida. He wasn't sure what the deal was with that castle, but he honestly just wanted to survive the first week of school before he worried about that too much. He knew that ignoring it wouldn't help anyone, but he didn't know what he could do about it, so he was mindlessly scrolling forum posts while trying (and failing) not to worry. Something about 'dysphoria,' something about 'finding your true self with transition,' he was barely taking any of it in. It made him wonder about his own 'true self,' Hermine, was it?

His pondering was interrupted by a rapid fire series of vibrations – it was Ryuji. He didn't even know when they'd exchanged numbers.

dude

dude

we have to go back to the castle

it just doesnt sit right w me

u no?

first we saw all that shit w kamoshida there

then at the volleyball rally yesterday (Which Akira had skipped out on, smoking weed in the stairwell with the guy who sat behind him in class with the cool green pencil case – not that he'd told Ryuji about it)

where were u btw?

n e way

kamoshitbag fuckin spiked that shit directly into mishimas face

and he didnt even care!!

he pisses me off

abusin people like that

i heard hes been goin harder on takamaki too

you dont know her i dont think

n e way we need to go back to the castle

or investigate kamoshida

we have to stop him dude

Finally after the onslaught of messages, Ryuji stopped typing, leaving Akira to try to formulate a response.

Kamoshida is a problem, sure. Tomorrow we should look into it.

Though I'm not sure if the castle has anything for us. I think

I met Takamaki the other day at the station, she told me about

what all had been going on, and it's disgusting.

. . .

Akira tried to write anything more, but failed horribly. He elected not to tell Ryuji his whereabouts during the Rally. In truth, though he did talk to Takamaki, he wasn't entirely sure why she opened up to him. He'd seen her crying and wanted to help, but his anxiety had kicked into overdrive upon actually starting the “can I help” conversation and he found it hard to form sentences. The pair had ducked into a cafe while she calmed down, and he tried his best to help her, but couldn't explain the empathy he felt. It was as if he felt her pain, but didn't know why. He decided to skim over these details while filling in Ryuji.

oh shit fr?

dude

thats huge actually

she NEVER tells ppl shit

she always tries to do everything herself

wtf happened?

shit

that actually just means its getting rly bad

we need to do something

ok

night dude

meet me tmrw 

Akira thought about responding, but ultimately decided it didn't really need one.

actually one more thing

try not to smell like pot this time k?

idc but the teachers probly will

Damn it, so he did notice. Akira had hoped that little detail from after the Rally had gone under the rug. Now he really didn't want to respond.

4.15.20XX – Early Morning

Akira sat tucked into himself on the train, taking up as little space as possible. The train pulled to a stop at some station he didn't pay attention to the name of, and a girl wearing a Shujin uniform sat beside him, and whoops there goes his train of thought because this lady was everything he wanted to be – everything he wanted in a girl. Yeah, that. He had no envy of her hair, or her skin, or her uniform's skirt, that would be ridiculous. He quietly apologized and shifted away to give her more room. She responded in equally low volume, a slight “it's alright” that was hardly audible. She seemed as if something was bothering her, she rocked back and forth in her seat and clutched herself tightly, staring blankly at nothing. Akira chewed his lip as he tore out a sheet of paper from his notebook.

You alright? He wrote in the neatest chicken-scratch he could muster, before passing it to the girl. She looked down at it and was taken aback. She took the pen and paper, but hesitated.

no

She finally wrote, before crumpling up the paper and finally meeting Akira's eyes. He wasn't sure how, but he knew that this girl was Shiho, the girl Takamaki had talked about when they'd met the other day. And she was panicking. He could see her breath come in fast and ragged, her eyes wide, body tense. He held out his hand, and she took it, gripping it like it was her last lifeline to the world. She tried to speak through uneven breaths.

“A-Akira – Ann said you helped her. Th-thank you. Kamo-shida's been – Kamoshida's – He-” Akira squeezed her hand and leaned his forehead to hers, trying as hard as possible to not have a complete panic attack – he needed to help her. He breathed slow and steady as he formulated a sentence.

“I, I know. I know. I'm sorry. It sucks, I – I get it.” Akira's voice cracked with remembrance. Her hands-my thigh-blood-couldn't stop-she hated me – “I know that nothing I can say will change it, and I'm sorry. I'm here. You're still here. I – I know that you feel powerless, but you're stronger than you think, I promise.” Hurts-can't think-you didn't believe me-I'm sorry - “Believe me, I know. I know.” The girl had calmed down a little, and was breathing more steadily. She looked back at Akira with tear-filled eyes and smiled a shaky smile. She was tired, but she was resolved. She looked as if she knew what she had to do to move forward – she was relieved, almost happy.

4.14.20XX - Morning

Shiho stood on the roof, powerless but relieved. Her pain wouldn't last much longer. She just had to do it. Her toes tipped over the edge, barely enough to stay on as she steeled herself. She tried to think of last words, but all that was in her head was Kamoshida. She wanted to vomit. She already had, last night, and the night before, filling the sink with it as well as the dripping blood from self inflicted pain. She hadn't bothered to clean or bandage the wounds, just hoped that they wouldn't stain her uniform too badly. Not that it would matter soon enough, anyway. Her head flashed with memories she had to shake away. She couldn't do this anymore.

Unbeknownst to her, Uchimaru's class noticed, as a few students stood watching and filming, like it was the most entertaining show on TV. Ann pounded on the glass trying to get her attention to no avail. Shiho took a step forward into nothingness and began to plummet.

Ann stood in shock for a moment before sprinting to the stairs, in a futile attempt to make it to the courtyard before the force of gravity takes her friend away.

Akira began to panic and stood out of his chair and skidded into the hallway, finding Ryuji at the stairs.

“Dude, we need to get to the courtyard!” Akira already knew that, and wordlessly rushed past him down the stairs.

Time felt slow as the ground approached Shiho. Her mind still raced. Lungs emptied. Ribs compressed. Unable to breathe. Unable to speak. Yells filled her ears. Bruises all over.

Akira. She remembered the morning, the boy on the train. I'm sorry, she lamented in her mind. He would no doubt blame himself. So would Ann, but she'd already apologized to her several times. She didn't know why the boy cared, but she hated herself for it. She'd tricked another person into caring about her.

Ann made it into the Courtyard in time to hear a sickening crunch and see her friend's body hit the ground. Already there was a crowd of people holding their phones up to film. Several teachers were gathered, trying to corral the students and cover up the problem. They urged the students to get back to class. Akira and Ryuji were a few moments behind Ann, and they pushed through the crowd to see what was going on.

The ambulance arrived in minutes. Ann volunteered to accompany Shiho to the hospital, but was turned away after sharing only a few words. Shiho lost consciousness and the EMT elected to take one of the teachers with to the hospital, rather than another unaccompanied child.

Akira watched the blonde girl go through several emotions in the span of a few moments, before reluctantly accepting. A short, meek boy, upon seeing this, turned tail and ran away, tripping over himself in the process, making it out of the courtyard within moments. Ryuji was the only one to notice him, but made sure Akira knew.

“Dude. D'you see that? Mishima just ran off. What's his deal?” Akira tried to respond, but breath wouldn't come. He couldn't form words. The girl from the train. Bile rose in his throat as the truck of guilt hit him. His head was spinning. This is my fault.

“Dude, you okay? Hey – wait, let's go get Mishima. He knows something, I'm sure of it.” Ryuji tried to take Akira's arm. Akira tried to keep himself cool.

“You – yougoahead I'llmeetyouthere-” Akira spat out before taking off toward the closest bathroom.

Akira found himself in the men's room – the worst room in the school – with his cheek resting on the toilet seat, dry heaving his stomach out. He hadn't really eaten much for a few days now (beside the school store bread Ryuji bought him so the money he spent wouldn't be wasted) so he had pretty much evacuated his stomach on the first go. Now, he was still stuck here, trying to keep his organs inside, sweating through his clothes. This is my fault.

Ryuji was speechless. He hadn't really seen Akira act like this before. He wondered if he should go after him, but decided not to go against his wishes. He trusted that Akira would meet him. Where, exactly, he wasn't sure, but he'd figure something out. For now, he had to get to Mishima.

He found the smaller boy cowering in the locker room. Is this guy trying to seem suspicious?

“Yo, Mishima! Why'd you run off like that, huh?”

Ann had knelt on the site of Shiho's fall for many minutes before she finally decided she had to leave. She stood up on shaky legs, brushed herself off, and walked. She had no destination in mind, she was so far in a daze, where she just had to walk.

She finally stopped when her knees buckled in an alley across from the entrance of the school. Shiho... She couldn't process, she couldn't think, and she had no one to talk to. Kamoshida.

“Ryuji! Uh – I-I don't know w-what you mean!” Mishima stammered, almost squealing.

“Dude. I watched you do it. I just wanna know what your deal is, k? I won't snitch, I don't want you to catch shit either, I just – I need to know.” The boy appeared to calm down a little.

“O-okay. Just don't tell Kamoshida. Please.” He took a deep breath, steeling himself. “Kamoshida, when he was mad at someone, he would – he would call one of the team members into his office, and – and he'd hit them. It's happened to me and most of the team, but we didn't say anything because we were scared to hurt the team. The other day, he called Suzui in... he seemed really upset that day too, so it must have been really bad.” At this, Ryuji didn't say anything. He simply nodded, about-faced, and practically marched out of the room.

Akira pressed his forehead into the porcelain. He didn't care about the germs at the moment, he just needed the cooling sensation. He'd messaged Sojiro about his “mystery illness” without really expecting a response, and he was surprisingly wrong. Sojiro responded within a minute.

Kid, you know I can't take off. Put on a mask, I'll check on you when you get back to Leblanc. If you really need it, there's a doctor's office near the cafe.

-Sakura

Akira didn't have the energy to say anything to this, so he just sent a thumbs-up emoji and went back to dry heaving. He was slowly beginning to feel a little better, but he really didn't want to leave yet. Unfortunately, that would not be an option for him.

dude

mishima spilled his guts

parently kamoshidas been beating the volleyball players

that asshole

and the other day he called in suzui

mishima sed he was rly mad

i fuckin wonder why she tried to kill herself

meet me outside kamoshidas office when you can

Another message, another thumbs-up as a response. Akira dragged himself up and out of the stall, washed his hands, and glared at his reflection. He didn't linger.

He found Ryuji right where he said he would be, fuming.

“We can't let this asshole get away with this anymore. You just know the school's gonna try to cover this shit up, too.” Ryuji skipped the greeting.

“I already heard the teachers trying to quiet people down. Do you have a plan?”

“'Course I do, dude! C'mon, follow me.” Ryuji burst through the door without properly knocking to find Kamoshida inside at his desk, apparently pretending to do work.

“Hey asshole! We know all about what you've been doing with the volleyball team!”

“Sakamoto, this again? We've been over this, you have to stop these false accusations. I am a respected staff member here, we don't want to ruin the school's reputation, do we?” Kamoshida asked with mock sincerity. It was clear he was almost foaming at the mouth with rage.

“Cut the shit! You've been doin' this for years! If you don't stop beatin' your team, we're gonna take it to the school board!” Ryuji spat back.

“Is that a threat? Don't make me laugh, Sakamoto. We both know that you have no power here. I'm an Olympic gold medalist, and you're just some punk kid.” The coach stood up. “Now, I would recommend stopping the threats. Unless, that is, you want me to have to 'defend myself' again.”

Ryuji balled his hands into white-knuckled fists, grinding his teeth together to bite back the words he desperately wanted to say. Akira reached out and, as subtly as he could, touched his hand to Ryuji's back, in an attempt to comfort the boy. He took a deep breath.

“Kamoshida, Shi-Suzui tried to kill herself. You can't just ignore that. It reflects back-” Akira tried to work with diplomacy.

“Oh, Kurusu. I thought I'd warned you to stay away from this ape. Nothing but trouble, like I said. What's he told you? That I took her off the lineup when she let down the rest of the girl's track team?” Ryuji's face turned red-hot, and he glared at the ground. Akira didn't know what to say. Didn't know what he could say.

Still, she tried.

“Actually, he and multiple other people have told me that you beat and abuse your entire volleyball team, as well as the track team when they existed, and that the only reason you're still here is because the students are too afraid of you to speak out and the staff are too afraid of losing funding to do anything about it. But, you know, about the same thing as what you said.” She had no idea where this confidence came from. She felt a burning in her heart, and somehow knew it was her Other Self. She felt more real than she had since the day in the castle. Even Ryuji was stunned. He looked at her, wide-eyed, and saw the blue flames of her eyes. Shit, she's good.

“You dare talk back to me? Such impudence!” Kamoshida began to shout. “Alright, that's it. You don't understand how much power I have? I'll show you. The next school board meeting, you both will be expelled! Get. Out. Of my sight.” The man extended a finger toward the door. Akira, drained of the spirit from his other self, turned and darted out the door with his metaphorical tail between his legs, while Ryuji lagged behind slightly, stunned.

Ryuji found Akira curled up under the stairs, in the most secluded area he could find. He plopped himself down next to the boy with a sigh.

“Dude. I'm – I'm so sorry, I-” Akira tried to inhale without sobbing, and it did not work, leading to a loud, choked, high-pitched sound coming from deep in his lungs. Ryuji didn't dare try and continue his sentence, he just put his arm around Akira. Akira's neck went limp, letting his head fall onto Ryuji's shoulder, but he didn't want to risk any further contact for fear of... he wasn't quite sure.

“I'msorry I'msorry I'msorry I'msorry I'msorry...” He continued to blubber apologies, ashamed of his weakness, his vulnerability, his futile attempt at helping. He should never have talked to Ryuji, he should never have spoken to anyone, he should have just had his headphones on and ignored the world like he usually did. He thought this would be a new start, but everything was causing him to feel shit he'd never felt before. He didn't want to be crying on anyone's shoulder, least of all someone he barely even knew, he should be stronger than this.

“Dude. Dude – Kira.” Ryuji pulled out a new nickname in hopes it would shock his friend out of his apology loop. He was correct, and while Akira didn't stop crying, he took a few moments to stop and take a breath. “You have nothing to apologize for. You didn't do anything wrong.” Akira considered this.

“Really?” He wasn't sure why he even asked, but the conversation was helping him stop shaking. “But I-”

“For real. Like, honestly I'm glad you were there. Even if shit hit the fan, like, if you weren't there, I woulda gone ballistic. I'd prolly be goin' straight to juvie if it weren't for you, man.” Ryuji still wasn't good at the whole comforting people thing, but he was going to try his damnedest.

Ann was alone. She didn't even have her own mind to deal with, what with the fugue she was in. She had been sitting on the ground in the alley for who knows how long, just trying to process the day. It was all so unfair. Shiho didn't have to go and do that, if it weren't for K- Him. She should have at least been allowed to accompany her best friend to the hospital, fuck, it's so fucking unfair, it should have been me, I should have been up there!

Shiho had only been able to say one thing:

“Sorry.”

Slowly but surely, Akira began to calm down. He hated himself for having another episode in front of Ryuji, and getting both of them expelled.

Ryuji was happy that Akira was feeling better, but...

“Hey dude, can I be honest with you real quick?” He spoke slowly. Akira found this strange.

“Uh – sure, what's up?” Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit-

“Okay, you prolly heard Kamoshida, when he was talking about the track shit?” Akira nodded. Shitshitshitshitshitshit- “Well – I guess the thing with that is, and you maybe already figured it out, but – ah hell, I'll just say it – I'm trans.” Ryuji pulled back as if he were expecting an attack. Akira just blinked. His mouth tried to form several different sentences, but only one came out.

“Me too.” SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT- “I mean – shit – uh – sorry – fuck – shit – I-” Akira began to back away, afraid of what would come next, trying to hide from himself.

“Dude, I kinda guessed. I'm glad you said it, I really didn't wanna ask. I assume you wanna be a girl? Like your Other Self or whatever in the castle...” Akira nodded. “Sweet. You can have some of my old clothes and shit if you want. You want me to call you a girl at school or nah?” Akira simply shrugged, unsure of the protocol for any of this. “All good, man. Go at your own pace. Love you, dude.” Ryuji pulled Akira into a short hug.

“Uh – S-so anyway, what are we going to do about the whole getting expelled thing?” Akira tried to shift the topic away from herself.

“I dunno yet, really. I'm thinkin' we go to the castle, see if we can change anything there.”

“Are you sure that's a good idea?”

“I mean, we ain't got many other options, right? Besides, if that's got somethin' to do with the school, it's kinda our business to look into.” Akira considered this. Head cocked, he (she?) agreed. “Alright, then. Let's get to it!”

Akira and Ryuji left Shujin without much care for their attendance of the last period, and Akira opened up the weird phone app. Apparently this was how they'd gotten in last time? There was one option, the Castle of Lust. Akira assumed that would be right, and selected it.

The world bent around the pair, and they found themselves back at the entrance to the castle. Just inside, they found the cat from their first visit.

“Hey, I thought I told you two not to come back! I'm still figuring things out here.”

“Dude, I don't care what you said, we ain't got another option! We also need to know what's goin' on here, or we're gonna have bigger problems than a shit-talking cat,” Ryuji retorted. He tried to push past the cat, who forcefully blocked his way.

“I'm not a cat! I'm – well, I'm not really sure, but I'm Morgana!”

“Wait – I'm sure we can figure something out here,” Akira tried to mediate.

“Hey, curly hair! Actually, you may be right. You're the strongest presence I've felt in here, you could come help me out!” It was almost scary how fast the cat – Morgana – had switched tone. “Tell you what – you tell me why you guys are here, and I'll help you get to your goal. In return, you help with mine! Sounds perfect!” He laughed in a way that betrayed his “not a cat” protests.

Ann's head hurt like hell. She dug in her bag for painkillers, coming up with her last Tylenol. She hadn't brought water, so she had to dry swallow. Eugh. She stood up slowly, bracing herself against the wall, and scanned her surroundings. It was weirdly... purple. She turned to the school and saw not the school. In its place was a castle, for some reason. Was that... Shit, what was his name again? That boy who sat behind her in class, and... Ryuji? It'd been so long since she'd actually seen him. What were they doing here? School was over – though she supposed this wasn't school anymore. The pair disappeared into the building through some side entrance, which she noted down, and she started towards the gate.

“Dude, here. Got this for ya.” Ryuji held out an unfamiliar item toward Akira. A gun. Wait. A gun?

“Ryuji what the fuck.”

“Chill, chill, it ain't real! I figured you could maybe use it to intimidate the bad guys. Pretty smart, huh?”

“Actually,” Morgana started, “You may be onto something, blondie! The Metaverse is a world based on cognition, so even if it's a fake gun, the Shadows should take real damage from them as long as they believe they're real! Nice going!” Ryuji sheepishly laughed off the praise and pressed the airsoft pistol into Akira's hands.

“Let's uh – Let's get back out there, huh?”

Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana found themselves in another hall, the “Training Hall of Love,” as it said on the map. Of course everything needed a special name. Akira tried not to look at the torturous scenes on display; the volleyball players getting shredded for being unable to keep up speed, the balls flung at helpless students. It was almost impossible to ignore. Was this really how Kamoshida saw his students? Akira shuddered to think what they'd find on the female students.

Akira noticed a small vent leading out of the room, deciding to check it out, to the protests of Ryuji.

“I've got a good feeling we'll find something good here. Come on,” Akira said matter-of-factly, and crawled in without awaiting a response. Ryuji stuttered a response, but after a moment decided his only choice was to follow.

On the other side, after a quick fall, Akira found the entrance hall. Only, there was one big difference, one that he couldn't quite put his finger on – Oh, the six foot BDSM crucifix surrounded by guards would probably be it. Without thinking, he called out toward the scene, before covering his mouth as if it would stop him from saying it in the first place. Three guards turned toward him. Shit.

“You alright, dude?” Ryuji dropped down from the vent with a sharp pained inhale. “Oh, shit.” Morgana seemed unbothered, though.

“It's alright. We'll handle this, right, curly?” Morgana started down the stairs toward the center of the room, giving Akira no choice but to follow, and behind him, Ryuji. Two of the guards dissolved their bodies and shed their armor to reveal a pair of bi-horned beasts, while the third appeared as an armored knight. All three charged at Morgana and Akira, surrounding them in an instant. Akira began to panic. His breath came short and rapid. He couldn't think straight. All his confidence and reality from earlier was gone. He tried to draw his pistol. His hands shook.

“Come on, curly! This shouldn't be hard for you! Just summon your Persona!” Morgana yelled over the screams of someone else in the room, someone that Akira couldn't see.

“P-Persona...?” Akira could only get one word out before the air was crushed out of his lungs, one beast slamming into him and knocking him to the ground.

“This isn't good! Curly, get up!” Morgana urged, trying desperately to fend off the other bicorn. Akira still heard calls for help. He tried to look and find it, still making a futile attempt to breath, and he saw a blonde woman chained to the crucifix. Shit.

Ryuji watched as his friend slammed into the ground, incapable of getting back up. The world darkened around him, and he took a step forward. He didn't know quite why, a twinge in his heart told him to go help. His hair stood on end, his blood charged. His heart beat to an elaborate poly rhythm. He took another step, adrenaline numbing his knee.

The chains around Ann's arms retracted, pulling her hands into the harsh wood. She was powerless, immobile like this. Kamoshida stood in front of her, taunting, shit-eating grin plastered on his face. He was talking, but she wasn't listening. After Shiho – After what he did, she refused to put any stock in his words. She focused on the remaining guard in front of her. Her eyes sharpened as the sword raised. Her heart twinged, and her blood boiled. The air in her lungs felt thin, as if it burned just being there.

“My... it's taken far too long,” Came a voice in her head.

“You made me wait quite a while,” Ryuji heard.

“Tell me, who is going to avenge her if you don't?

“You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact.”

“Forgiving him was never an option...

Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within.”

“Since your name has been disgraced already,

why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc?

The other you who exists within desires it thus...”

“I am thou, thou art I...”

“We can finally forge a contract.”

“There is no turning back.”

“Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself.

Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my power.”

“The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!”

Ann and Ryuji simultaneously tore their masks from their faces. Ryuji broke into a full sprint. Ann snapped her chains and executed the executioner with his own sword, rushing to take place beside the blond boy.

“Dance... Carmen!”                                                                            “Blast him away... Captain Kidd!”

The familiar blue flames Ryuji had seen from Akira enveloped them both, as he summoned his own Persona. This shit rocks! The pirate captain aimed his ship and blasted away the beast standing over Akira with an arc of electricity.

Ann calmed her panic by looking at the tall spectral woman standing beside her. They both nodded, and with a pirouette, hurled a ball of magma at the second bicorn, engulfing and melting it away until it disappeared into sludge. That just left one Shadow: the rider. Kamoshida made a rather undignified yelp and tripped away before the pair could turn their rage on him, and the rider himself focused on the two that had just destroyed his troops.

Akira struggled to his feet, glad that the Shadows were no longer focusing on him – no, her. She noticed the blue flames had swathed her, and her outfit was now different, like it was the first time she had been here. The rider began to gallop over to her friends. She felt the strangely familiar weight of her mask and smirked.

“Ravage them. Hermine!” She flipped her bangs out of her face and tore off her mask with a spin. She was alive. She was herself. She was real. She felt something change in her heart.

“Ah, I see you have finally begun to accept me. Good girl.” She heard a familiar voice in her head, and tried not to get too flustered at that second sentence. “Very well. I'll show you something more you can do.” Without the voice having to say anything, Akira already knew what to do.

“Alright, let's do it! Hermine, Mudo!” The rider was halted in place by dark energy, powerless to stop the ring of nails from pressing into him. He tried to fight back, but was turned to sludge soon enough, and Akira sprinted to her two friends before they both collapsed from exhaustion. She made it just as Ryuji's knees buckled and Ann doubled over. She threw an arm in front of Ryuji's chest and stabilized him, before the rest of his body crumpled, and she had to pick him up. She held him bridal style, which may not have been the optimal choice, but was also the easiest way to carry a human the same height as her. She then turned her attention to Ann.

“Are you alright?” This felt like the more polite way to ask 'how are you still standing,' but she wasn't sure exactly if the meaning would get across. Ann paused a minute to catch her breath.

“I... Yeah... Maybe... I think? We'll say yes for now,” she struggled out.

“Think you can walk? We... really need to get out of here.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that's alright. You got Ryuji, I see – why are you... dressed like that?” She tried to stop herself from asking the question, but didn't succeed. Clearly. Akira flushed in the face.

“Uh – yeah, about that. You're not gonna hate me, right?” Ann shook her head. “I – well – I guess I'm a girl?” Akira really didn't want to spill her guts like this to some girl she had a total of two interactions with, but they decided to spill themselves, and she decided to blame this alternate world.

“Now. I'd rather not dwell here, we really need to leave. I know the way out, come follow me.”

The three made it out back to the alley outside Shujin without much trouble. Ryuji was conscious again, and thanked Akira for the help. Exhausted from the day, they decided to part ways for now and meet back up another day. Taking a look at her phone, Akira's heart rate jumped when she saw several missed messages from Sakura.

Kid, are you alright? I know you said you were sick earlier, and then you never came back to the cafe. Just checking in.

Checking in again, you didn't get rushed to the hospital, did you? I heard the ambulance a bit ago.

Kid, if we're going to do this whole parole thing, you need to respond.

Akira had to think of a lie, as fast as possible.

Sorry

I'm alright- I spent a little time in the nurse's office

Then I went to the library to try and study

I didn't get much done, too many people

Head hurts, I'm going to go to the doctor you mentioned

Be back soon

Well, that's about as good as she could have hoped.

Akira made her way to the doctor, and found a very pretty lady behind the desk, not that she was jealous. Okay, she was totally jealous. Her head, in truth, did really hurt, so she wanted to see if she'd gotten a concussion or whiplash or any other various head trauma.

“Hey, I'm sorry, do you take walk-ins?” She almost squeaked, she could barely form a sentence. The lady simply looked at her, then at the empty waiting room.

“Nobody books appointments here, kid. Get in the exam room.” Very straight-to-the-point, not that that was a bad thing. Akira followed orders. “What do you need?”

“Uh – I just – I just wanted to s-s-s-s-s-s – fuck – uh – head. Can you check it out? I m-m-m-may have gotten a concussion-” She began to wonder if her pre-existing stutter had been worsened by the head trauma, or if she was just more anxious than usual and worse at hiding it.

“...I'll take a look.”

“Well. It's possible you may have gotten a minor concussion, but... how exactly did you say you got the injury?”

“I uh – tripped.”

“...Uh-huh.” The doctor did not believe her. “Well, just take a couple painkillers and avoid too much stimulation of the brain for a bit, you should be fine within a week. Need anything else?”

“Yeah – there's o-one thing, actually. Could you make me a girl?” SHIT.

Chapter Text

4.18.20XX

Akira was skipping Uchimaru's class again. Fuck that guy.
“Yeah, so the shady doctor across the street from my attic said she'd give me estrogen if I tested her shady medication.” The guy with the green pencil case who Akira could never remember the name of simply nodded. He didn't quite get it, but it was always something new with this guy, so he decided to just go along with it. “...But I'm kinda terrified to do that, so I'm gonna have to work up my Guts for it.” Another nod. Akira was glad to have a chill friend like this guy to hang out with, outside of all the drama and Phantom Thief bullshit. Green pencil case guy just thought the guy with the cat was a scary delinquent that actually turned out to be surprisingly chill, all things considered. Plus, he got to pet the cat while on illicit substances. So. That's a plus.
The bell signaling the end of the school day blared, Akira barely noticing. Soon enough, she was met with a smattering of notifications from her phone. Of course from Ryuji.
Dude
Dude
Dude
We doin the palace today?
I dont wanna get expeled
expeled
expelled
fuck whatever
we need to go to the palace sometime
im free all day
just lemme know!
Akira closed the message, overwhelmed, only to hear more notifications, from Ann this time.
Hey Kira
Do you think we could do the Palace today?
I'd do anything to make that bastard pay
Give it some thought, mkay?
Akira pressed the back of her head into the wall she'd been sitting against, sighing. She knew she should go to the Palace, and she even wanted to. But god, was she dreading it. That last time had taken too much out of her. Fuck... She tried to respond.
N
(Backspace)
I'm not
(Delete)
I can't to
(No that's not right)
Not to
(Fuck.)
Yes. Give me a little bit to prepare, and we'll go
She decided to head to the weapon store first, while she had money. She fixed her headphones to her ears and plugged them into her iPod, going on her way. She ignored the sights and sounds of the world around her as she walked into the alley. Left here, past the creepy blue jail cell door.... the what. She turned to find a creepy blue jail cell door that looked strangely familiar. Likely due to the short white-haired child sitting on top of it, and the almost identical child standing in front.
“Our master would like a word with you, inmate.” The softer-spoken one said.
“Yeah! Get in here before I make you!” the brash one added.
“....Can it wait. I'm not in the mood right now.” Akira brushed past them and into Untouchables, hoping with all hope that they wouldn't force him in there.
“You're back. What do you need this time?” The gruff man – Munehisa, was it? - grumbled from behind the counter.
“Yeah... do you happen to have any whips I could buy?” Akira stuttered out, afraid to even meet the man's eyes.
“What's that, kid? I could barely hear you. Speak up.” Oh that's scary actually why does he hate me?
“Um – sorry. I'm looking for a whip...?” She raised her voice slightly. Iwai leaned forward, taking his legs off the countertop they had rested on.
“Well now, what d'you need one of those for? The daggers and clubs I could kinda get,,, what's your deal, kid?” I cannot tell him the truth he would not believe me and then beat me to death he would fucking kill me he would hate me forever and - “Ah, I s'pose it doesn't really matter. I got a few in stock here, take your pick,” Iwai said, opening up a case of short whips. Akira quickly counted out her money in her head and picked the best looking one she could afford with what little she had, before booking it out of the store before he could thank her for the payment.
“Ahem! Inmate! I thought I told you to get your sorry self in here so our master can talk to you!” The brash twin called out.
“And I thought I told you that I'm not doing that shit, okay?” Akira wasn't sure why he was so pissed off, but the twins didn't bother fighting him too much on it. Akira called Ryuji and Ann to their meeting place on the roof of the school.

“Dude, what's your deal today?” Ryuji asked. The group had been around the castle for what felt like hours, but Akira – Joker, sorry – had barely said a word. Even when asked about tactics, it was silence, lucky to get a nod or a head shake. Now they were in a safe room before what felt like a large shift in the castle's cognition, at least according to the cat, and Ryuji had cornered their leader. Joker made a sound sometime between a scoff, a grunt, and an “I don't know” hum, and tried to duck away from the blond boy. Unfortunately for him, Panther had made her way beside Skull. Joker's eye twitched
“Mhm, I've noticed too. What's wrong? If you're not feeling alright, we can go back... I don't want you to get hurt,” she added.
Akira was cornered in the Palace, disoriented, head pounding. Damn it, they did catch on. He'd thought he'd hidden it well enough, but his head was apparently further gone than he thought.
“That last Shadow was begging for its life, and you decided to blow its head off. What's goin' on with you, dude?” Ryuji pressed. Shut up. Leave me alone. If you think you can do better, maybe you should lead. Go fuck yourself.
“I'm going back h – to Leblanc. Feel free to stay here if you want. I don't care.” Akira ducked out from the corner and left the Safe Room before anyone could protest. He started down the hallway, hoping it would lead him out of this shithole. He was enveloped in blue flames for a moment, and he was back in his fucking school uniform, jeans and all. Whatever.
A lone knight was seen wandering just a few dozen feet in front of Joker. He hid, but he was a half second too late, as the Shadow noticed movement and started towards him. Fuck. The Shadow approached and raised its sword. Joker instinctively reached to tear off his mask.
“Fuck this. Hermine, get out here!” He tore his hand away. And his vision went blurry, no Persona showing up. He had a beat to think. I just took off my glasses. Where's my – Joker's rib cage caved in as a great sword slammed into his chest. Alarm bells sounded in his head as the knight melted away into four enemies, surrounding him. A pair of blonde, blindfolded women locked in shackles, a floating green woman in a red dress, and a holy knight with crimson wings. Joker's eyes darted between the enemies as he jammed his now cracked glasses onto his face. Shit shit shit shit shit I'm so fucked I'm so fucked.
He stumbled to his feet, staggering forward a step, trying to catch his breath. The woman in the red dress clasped her hands together, almost as if praying. Joker's head still spun as a chill washed over him, his arms freezing up as a ball of ice formed around him, shattering and knocking him on the ground once more.
Fuck-can't breathe-cold-please-help-I'm sorry-come on-inhale- Akira wasn't processing his vision, he could see that things were happening, but couldn't perceive exactly what. The whole world was blurry, fog crept in, and his lungs refused to fill. He couldn't even see the Shadow acting again until its backhand crashed into his face. His vision blurred and clouded, and everything went dark.

He had come back late at night to Leblanc. Sakura seemed as if he'd been borderline chain smoking behind the counter, sign flipped to “closed” but the door left unlocked and the lights on.
“Where have you been?” The man's gruff voice smashed into Akira like a gut punch. “I've been waiting here for hours, you can't be breaking curfew so early in your probation.” Akira's mouth had dried up, he hadn't known how to speak.
“Mm- D-doctor. I-” Akira couldn't get even a full sentence out. It was then that Sakura had noticed the woman to Akira's side, holding practically his whole weight up, as he'd been unable to stand himself.
“...And what exactly are you doing with him? What's his problem?” Sakura's voice had further hardened. Akira had been woozy, head spinning, world blurry.
“You are her caretaker, is that correct?” Takemi had asked, not really expecting an answer. “She came to me with complaints about her head. I gave her some medication, and she asked me if I could-” Akira had heard her talking, and tried to get her to stop, but he had been unable to move, merely twitching, interrupting her only slightly. “If I could make her a girl. Then the medication kicked in and she passed out on the floor. I gave her a bed to rest on for a while, then when she woke up, she was... like this.” This had been a half-truth, but it had been Takemi's “special medicine” that had caused Akira to faint.
“I – Excuse me?” Sakura had asked, before Akira was ripped from the memory.

“Get up, inmate! How many times do I have to tell you!? Our Master wants to speak to you! Do you seriously think that you have any power here?” Akira's eyes flew open as he shot up to a seated position. Blue. Fuck, he was in the velvet room. He felt his body both in the Palace, collapsed on the ground, and in the cell of his heart.
“My, my. This is an interesting turn of events. A Fool who would reject their own rehabilitation. You truly are a special case.” The unfortunately familiar voice grumbled from the center of the room. Akira stood and hobbled over to the bars.
“What do you want from me.” He asked.
“Why, your rehabilitation. We are expending much power to rehabilitate you, yet you fail it every time. I ask you this: How do you expect to avoid ruin, if you refuse our help?”
“I just want to survive. I don't care about your bullshit ruin, I just want to make it through the year. I just want to stay alive.”
“We are giving you the tools to survive. You are rejecting your truth. The Velvet Room exists to give power to the Wild Card, to allow them to utilize the infinite possibilities inside. The power of Persona.”
“I already have that, it just made my life worse! Now I'm just confused and Sakura hates me! I'm gonna get kicked out of the only home I have, expelled, then shipped off to jail because of you!” Why am I yelling? “So no, I don't give a shit about your fucking Velvet Room, Wild Card, Persona bullshit. I just want to be normal.” He teared up. “I just – want – to be normal.” Tears began to flood out from Akira's eyes without his permission. What the fuck is wrong with you? He bit his lip.
“So, you have lost your will of rebellion? How tragic. What will we do with you, if your only will is to survive?” Igor continued, unfazed.
“Hey, inmate! Our master's been nothing but kind to you, don't make him kick you out!” Caroline shouted.
“If the Fool's will no longer remains, neither then will your ability to enter the Velvet Room. You will have voided your contract, and lose any power you may have gained. Is this truly what you want?” Justine added softly. Akira thought about his friends. They'd be fine without him. Right? They have the same power.
“I had initially called you here today to bestow upon you a new power, the ability to fuse multiple Personas to create further power for yourself, but now I see that you have neither the will to use the power, nor the Personas needed to fuse. If one yearns to improve their power, they must first sacrifice their previous strength. You have not utilized your full potential, never stepping outside your initial Persona.”
“Like I said... I don't want your fucking Persona. I don't care. I just want to survive this and make it back home.” The 'wherever that is' end of the comment hung in the air. His parents didn't want him, and now he's pretty sure neither did Sakura. He had nowhere else to go. The twins looked at each other, then to the long-nosed man, who nodded.
“Very well, inmate. We shall bestow upon you the power to survive this excursion. This is truly an unorthodox situation you find yourself in, so unorthodox measures must be taken.” Justine spoke soft as ever, before producing a mask from her jacket, seemingly out of nowhere. She passed it to Caroline, who inspected it before handing it to Akira through the cell bars.
“Here, inmate! Take better care of it than you did with your last one – you won't get another chance! Take it and go, before our Master changes his mind!” Of course Caroline couldn't go without comment, as she hmph-ed before Akira had even taken the mask.
“One more thing. Should you ever regain your will of rebellion, you will be called here again. Until then, this will be farewell,” Igor grumbled, flicking his hand in Akira's direction.

Akira stood on the Palace floor, still surrounded by enemies. A familiar weight on his face. Alright, fine. He tore off the mask with no difficulty. The comforting warmth of the blue flames surrounded him. Soon, a waistcoat and vest combo enveloped him, a masculine form of his other outfit. Behind him, a man floated, summoned from his mask.
“I am Arsene, the gentleman thief. I shall be your power from now on.” Akira didn't care much what had happened to the other one, just glad to be able to survive. He snapped his fingers.
“Maeiha!” Dark energy enveloped the four Shadows, stunning them just long enough for Akira to vault over one of the blonde women and darted away. He pulled out his phone and left the Palace once he had made it to the entrance.

Train. Woman talking on the phone. Yongen-Jaya, next stop. Brakes screech. Leave train. Backstreets. Leblanc. Ding. Returned. Foggy.
“Dude. What the fuck is wrong with you!? You just abandoned us there!?” Ryuji.
“You've been so pissy, what's your problem? You can talk to us if something's wrong...” Ann. Whatever. Don't care. Ignore them. Just go past. Should sleep. Hand on shoulder.
“No. You're not brushing past again. Siddown.” Ryuji. Sat down. Eye contact. “Look at me dude. Talk to me. What's really wrong? You can tell us. The old guy said he'd leave us alone for a bit. Said he'd been worried about you too.” Akira groaned. Was sat sideways in the booth. Leaned back. Soft. Hm? Person.
“Hi there, Kira,” Ann. Shit. Tried to sit up. Arms around him.

Akira's world snapped into focus. Ann had her arms around him, holding him to her. The pair was sitting in the booth, back against the wall. Akira couldn't see her face. One of her legs was up on the booth's seat, straight forward, the other resting on the ground. Ryuji sat in front of Akira. Ann noticed him jump, humming in response. Akira felt the vibrations in her chest against his own.
“What's wrong, Kira? You can talk to us, we're here for you.” What the fuck is wrong with these guys,,, they shouldn't be nice to me. They should fucking hate me. Akira choked on his breath.
“I'm sorry.” He began to sob again. God, I'm so fucking weak. What's wrong with me. I need to be strong. I can't be crying like this again. Fuck. He tried to pull away, tried to leave, tried to get away from the pair so they wouldn't see him cry. Ann just tightened her hold on him.
“Kira. Kira. Just – hold on. You don't have to apologize, just tell us what's going on. Mkay?” Ryuji put his hand to Akira's face, brushing away the tears that threatened to fall off his cheeks. Akira tried desperately to inhale without choking or hyperventilating, and failed both.
“I'm sorry. I've been so confused. I don't know what's going on. I don't understand. I'm not me. I'm not me, I'm wrong and I don't know anything, the Persona shit is so fucking confusing I don't know what's going on with Kamoshida and I made that girl try to kill herself and I'm gonna get kicked out of school and Leblanc and I'm gonna have nowhere to go and-”
“Kira. Breathe.” Ann took a deep inhale, before letting it out. “It's okay. Think about it, tell us slowly, from the start. Do you want Ryuji to go?” She tried to lighten the mood.
“Hell no, I ain't leavin'!” Ryuji shouted. “...Though... actually, if that's what you wanted...” Akira took several seconds to breathe, taking Ann's forearm in his hand and pressing his cheek into the crook of her arm. He hummed in protest like a child.
“'M fine.” In truth, the world was so fuzzy, he couldn't even tell what was wrong to begin with.
“Are you? Really?” Ryuji prodded.
“Mhm.” Akira buried her face further into Ann's arm, as if hiding.
“Kira,” Ann started in a soothing, almost cooing voice, “We can tell something's up, and we just met you. It's pretty obvious. We just want to know what's going on, to see if we can help.” Akira heard her from behind a cotton veil, her voice blurring and fog setting in.
“Mmmm.” Akira didn't want to talk. “'M a girl.” Ann didn't react instantly.
“...So you've said. Do you think we don't like you cause of that?” Akira nodded. “Why? We're both... the same way. Did your caretaker say anything about it?”
“D'know. Don' rember.” The fuzzy feeling had fully encroached, and Kira couldn't form sentences. “'Kemi took me home, Pa- Sak'ra was mad. Din't say anything to me today. Havn't seen him.” Ann looked at Ryuji, trying to see if he understood.
“...I think he was prolly just worried about you, coming home late with a mysterious older woman. I don't think he was mad at you. Why did Takemi take you home? That's the doctor lady, right?” Kira nodded.
“Coulnt stand. Said she'd make me a girl if I helped her with her medsin. Fainted.” Ryuji furrowed his brow looking at Ann, mouthing that sounds like extortion before softening his expression looking back at Kira.
“Yeah, then he was definitely just worried bout you. It's all good! Was that all that's bothering you?” Ryuji had always been good with kids, and he felt that treating this situation like that would be helpful.
“Th' Persona. Nose man said I was being bad. Took Er-mean. Gave me Arsene. Told me I coulnt go to the blue jail n e more. Er-mean confused me. Made me think I was a girl,” Akira fought against the fuzziness. He had to be strong. “E-Hermine. Hurt. That's what started this shit. Goddamn Persona. I can't use that, it just makes everything hurt. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.” He was semi conscious.
“That's not the only reason you don't like the Palace though,” Ann spoke. It wasn't a question. She knew something. “You feel guilty about Shiho. But that's not all either...” What the fuck how does she know this. She appeared to have put together some puzzle pieces in her mind, though she didn't say it out loud, just held Akira tighter. Akira also neglected to comment.
“So, dude. I think we need to make a plan. So that – this – doesn't happen again.” Ryuji gestured vaguely at the situation. “'S that sound alright?” He needed reassurance. Akira stared blankly.
“Can you,, not call me dude?” Akira's voice squeaked.
“Sorry, what was that?”
“Uh – Just – um,, I don'twannabecalleddudesorry-” She flinched automatically.
“Oh! Oh shit – yeah I'm sorry d – uh – Kira, I'll try, sorry – force of habit.” Ryuji sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “Other than that, what else can we do?”
“Uh, I'm ah – I'm fine – I should really be doing things for you guys-” Akira started.
“Nope! We're talking about you right now!” Ann cut her off. “We can't change Kamoshida's heart without you, so if not for friendship, at least let us help you for that. Kay?” Akira pressed further into her.
“I-it's not really anything either of you did – I'm just like this. I'm sorry.” Ryuji appeared to consider this, looking reluctant but ultimately accepting it. “We can go to the Palace tomorrow?”
“Only if you're feeling up to it. Promise us that we won't go unless we're all feeling well enough, ok? If we want to change this shithead's heart, we gotta be running on all cylinders as much as we can. Otherwise we're all dead. Got it?” Ryuji improvised a rousing speech. Akira, exhausted, simply nodded. Ann hummed in agreement.
“Now, I gotta split. Keep on bonkin'!” Ryuji stood up and took his leave, bell ringing as he left. Akira didn't want Ann to leave too. She was comfy, not that she'd ever admit it. She curled up into Ann's embrace.
“I'm sorry, Ann,” she whispered.
“For what? You don't have anything to apologize for...”
“I dragged you into this whole Persona mess, now on top of everything you have to comfort me after I hurt you. That's – that's not fair. I'm sorry I met you.”
“Oh, honey. There's nothing to be sorry for. If it weren't for you, I never would've found the strength to actually do anything about Kamoshida. It was because you found me in the mall that day that I'm still here right now.”
“But... Shiho... And-”
“I've visited Shiho in the hospital a few times, and the one time she was conscious, she told me all about you. She said you helped her through a panic attack on the train, and how you were a pretty girl who empathized with her. She told me that on the way down, she thought about how guilty you'd feel, and asked me to apologize for her. She said that one day she wants to maybe see you again. ...She's still in recovery and probably will be for a while, but it looks like she'll hopefully survive. She told me that when it gets hard, she thinks about that pretty girl from the train, and it gives her the strength to push through.” Somewhat true, Shiho had said a lot about Akira, but she was actually thinking about Ann. Though, Ann figured, Akira didn't really need to know that part right now. “Now, is there anything else you want to apologize for? I need to tell you you're wrong at least one more time. Make it a hat trick, y'know?” Pretty clear bait, but Akira took it anyway.
“I'm sorry I'm confused, and don't know who I am. I wish I could be a normal girl, like you.”
“Oh, Kira... if by normal, you mean cis, you're outta luck with me. You and me are in the same boat.”

Chapter Text

4.20.20XX

Akira wasn't sure how she'd gotten to this point, but here she was, high out of her mind, being pampered and treated like a doll by this girl who definitely didn't make her heart do weird fast hot things, they'd just met, that would be weird, that would be – oh man she's cupping my cheeks and looking in my eyes. Akira hoped Ann didn't notice the blush coating her face. Ann had dressed her in a skirt that was significantly shorter on her than she assumed it was on Ann, paired with a tank top she was pretty sure was actively trying to get away from her chest. She wasn't sure how to feel about it.

“A-Ann,,” she breathed. Words were hard. Something else was too, against her will. Come on now's not the time I'm just scared I can't do this right now

“You're beautiful.” Ann smiled. Akira blinked, and suddenly her eyes were wet with tears, and she was forced to blink them away. She was choked up, though, and couldn't say anything out loud. She just nodded. Ann pressed her forehead to Akira's, closing her eyes, one hand still on Akira's cheek. “I mean it.” Akira swallowed, finding the invention of language unusable.

Ann didn't move her one hand, but pulled Akira in for a hug with her other, hand wrapped around the girl's waist, not helping the whole half-erection thing she had going on against her will. The other half of her blood rushed to her face, becoming the shade of a barely ripe tomato, and she held down the hem of her skirt, trying to not let Ann know.

“You're so fucking beautiful. You're so fucking pretty. I'm so happy I met you.” Akira couldn't help but wonder –

“Why are you being so nice to me?” She whispered.

“Because I've been where you are, I know how it feels. If I can help at all, I want to. Also, you're my – my friend. I care about you. Why wouldn't I be nice to you?” Akira considered this, held in the embrace of this girl her heart had complicated feelings for, almost hyperventilating. Ann pushed her backwards, onto her bed. If Akira had been able to pay attention, she would have noticed Ann's face completely beet red. Unfortunately, she did not. “Now! We gotta get you another outfit to try on! Do you like that one, or do you want something else for this next one?” Akira, still unable to form phonemes into words into sentences, gave two thumbs up, as if that meant anything, and stared down at the ground, body shaking. Unfortunately for her desire to not make eye contact was not in the cards, as Ann crouched down in front of her, her big ol autistic blue eyes staring directly into Akira's.

“You alright?” She asked. Akira's jaws felt wired shut. Ann cocked her head.

“A-Ann – you know – the whole-” Sentences were hard. And again, so was her cock.

“Hm?” She cannot seriously be this stupid. She's kneeling directly in front of it. Shit. Is this just me? Am I the only one thinking this? I'm fucked up. I'm a fucking bitch. Pervert. That's your first friend, don't fuck this up. Whore.

“Ann. Ann. Please don't make me say it,” Do not fuck this up, “It's... embarrassing...” Yeah. Getting a boner over basic compliments is pretty fucking embarrassing. Shouldn't be any more embarrassing to say it. Fucker. “I'm sorry,” she whispered. Ann finally unlocked her eyes from Akira's and looked at the hem of the skirt rising to attention.

“Ohhhhh. Oh.” It was again Ann's turn to blush furiously and stammer. “Ah – It – See – Kay – so – don't apologize, Kira! It-it's alright! Sorry – I'm I guess a bit – surprised?”

“Oh – It's not cause of any – you know – I don't want to – but – uagh – fuck – sorry – sorry I just – I just kinda – haven'treallyhadafriendbefore. So I don't know what a compliment feels like. I guess...? Shit, sorry-” Akira stuttered through a single sentence for what felt like hours. The words hung in the air.

“Hey – it's alright! I get it – kinda,,, I know a trick. Here – just flex your biceps, it takes the blood away!” Akira followed Ann's lead. “Just like that, good girl.” And she needed to do it again. That's alright. Ann placed a kiss on Akira's forehead. “Now. I'm gonna go get you another outfit to put on. You just stay right there, alright?” Akira wasn't sure if she was a human or a dog, and also wasn't sure if she regretted the drugs she did before she came here or not. Regardless, she obediently stayed put while Ann left her sight, and she only felt a little bit of separation anxiety.

Three weeks later (A minute and a half), Ann returned.

“Here, I got another skirt, with a short sleeved shirt this time. Take this, and this, put these on!” She grinned. Akira simply paused, unsure of what to do. “Ah – need help? I got you. Just, gimme this,,,” She tugged at the hem of Akira's shirt. Akira wasn't quite sure why she was afraid now, aside from the obvious few things, the apparent praise kink being one of them, because she had clearly gotten into this outfit just fine – though her brain was so foggy, she didn't remember how. Her brain was beginning to shut down, she could almost feel it, as if a switch was flipped and she was afraid of what potential harm this care would cause. She retreated, closing into herself, pulling her arms in and leaning back. Her high was wearing off now, and she was beginning to remember why she didn't usually do this sort of thing.

“Hey, it's alright hun. Don't be scared. I got you. I'm not gonna hurt you.” Is that Ann, or... Akira acted on instinct, freezing and trying to hide herself. It was about this point that Ann realized something was really wrong. “Kira, hun? Are you alright?” She expected the answer she got (A resounding no), but she asked anyway, as a starting point.

“Please – don't – d- don't t-t-t-t-touch m-m-m-me – please.” Akira was stuttering. This was new for Ann. She was out of her depth.

“Okay, of course,” she pulled her hands away, “can you tell me what's going on?”

“S-sh-sh-she's – not – gone – I still – f-f-f-feel her-” Akira scratched at her thighs violently, as if trying to remove the skin.

“Hey, Kira, it's okay, sh-sh-shhhh,,, will you give me your hand?” Ann put out hers, and Akira shakily took it. “Good, good. Can I have your other one?” She attempted the other hand to stop Akira from scratching herself, and it worked. “Thank you. You know, you shouldn't scratch yourself like that – it hurts.” The absurdness of the statement snapped Akira back to reality, and she burst out laughing in pure confusion.

Eventually, she had calmed herself back down to normal, though by that point she had laid down in Ann's lap.

“Now, can I try the outfit on?” She asked sheepishly.

“Of course! Do you want my help?” Akira shook her head, and asked Ann to just turn around as she stood up off the bed to change.

When she was given the all-clear, Ann turned back around and saw quite possibly the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Akira was dressed in an old cropped band tee that fit her scarily well, along with a skirt that was just a little bit too big on her hips, but more than likely not long enough for casual wear. Ann launched herself towards the girl and attacked her with a hug and many compliments that all blurred together. She was practically latched around Akira's neck, hanging off her and grinning. The height gap became apparent as Ann could easily hang on Akira's neck without touching the ground. She stared into her friend's eyes, sparkling in a way she hadn't noticed before. Ann's heart fluttered somewhat, seeing Akira happy like this.

“You're – so cute. I know it's kinda not your size, but – eventually, if we can get you on some estrogen, it should be perfect.” Ann was looking up at Akira, faces inches apart. “W-would you ah – like to stay the night? We can – do more outfit things if you'd like and uh – yeah! Oh – only if you wouldn't mind, of course...” alsdflajsfldsajflkdsflheqfhfdjl FUCK.

“Adj augh I uh – um – auw – woah I – aaaaahhh yes lemme check aiaauguahgh-” Akira shot a text to Sakura.

I'm not sure exactly what your rules are, so I figured I'd ask

Is it alright if I spend the night at my friend Ann's house?

. . .

I don't want you spending time out of my care at night. Come back before nightfall.

-Sakura

Oh.

Yeah okay that's

Fine.

Ann noticed Akira's face fall.

“Um – Yeah, so – I'm uh – I'm sorry, I-”

“It's fine, Kira – It's – it's alright. Don't – worry about it. We'll do it another time! Hey – Hey – Look at me. It's alright. Promise!” Ann hugged Akira again. “Though, I bet you've gotta get home, right? Here – I'll send you off with some chocolates I made! Let me know if they're any good, of course, I'm still learning,,,” Ann dragged Akira behind her by the hand to go fetch the chocolates she spoke of, handed them off, and Akira was gone.

4.21.20XX

dude

dude

dude

we need 2 go through the palace

the cat said we need 2 get a invasion root down

rite

so we should do that soon

2day?

Akira sighed softly, putting her head down on her desk. She knew they should, but really didn't want to. Fuck that place. But she also figured they were running out of time, and if she didn't do it soon, she wouldn't be able to, so she replied to Ryuji's message with a thumbs up.

The cat said they were getting closer to the Treasure, and the group had no choice but to believe him, since they had no experience compared to his questionable experience. It did feel like they were nearing the top of the tower; Joker had found all three of the will seeds – whatever those were – and seemed to have a relatively complete map of the place. The group came up to a hall, where Joker deftly clambered up some ass statues to make it in. There, they saw Kamoshida himself, addressing several guards, and Morgana was rather insistent on getting them to the end of the hall, where he said the treasure was.

“Dude, what the fuck is this? This ain't a treasure!!” Ryuji hissed.

“Quiet down! Do you want Kamoshida to hear us?” Morgana hissed back, in a somewhat different meaning of the word hiss, “Besides, of course it doesn't look like a treasure. We haven't made it manifest yet!”

“...Manifest? This is the first I'm hearin' about it.”

“I'll make it simple. In order to steal the heart of a target, we need to make their Treasure appear. We do that by giving them a reason to protect it! Up til now, Kamoshida hasn't known about our meddlings, so his Treasure hasn't appeared. But now, we need to take it! We manifest the Treasure by sending a calling card to our target, making sure they know about us. That way, the Treasure shows up for them to guard. That's when we strike, and take it for ourselves!” Morgana meowled, clearly impressed with himself.

“Wait, so there's nothin we can do right now? Bullshit.”

“So we have to head back for today,,, alright! Joker, I'll leave it to you to decide when we send the calling card!” Ann added. Akira flashed a thumbs up as they made their way back to the safe room.

4.22.20XX

Ryuji had posted the calling card on the bulletin board in the hall, and Kamoshida had flipped out at the sight of it, immediately rushing to blame the track failure and his new delinquent assistant. Akira had hidden from this, and it was now time to enter the Palace once more.

They entered as usual from the school rooftop, rushing to the safe room right before the Treasure. There it was, a massive crown, not there before. Morgana asserted that this was, in fact, the Treasure. It took all three humans to lift it, and they had begun lugging it out when they heard the telltale sound of a man clearing his throat.

“And just where do you think you're going with my crown?” Kamoshida stood before them, in all his... well, glory wasn't the right word, but something like that. He wasn't followed up by any guards this time.

“Shhit. Get the hell outta the way, shitbag!!” Ryuji dropped his side of the crown to the ground with a clang in order to yell at the man better.

“Skull!” Ann hissed, struggling to keep her end up. Akira was doing somehow worse, limbs shaking wildly – that is, until she too dropped her end, forcing Ann to do the same. The crown began to roll towards the Ruler, and Akira began to wonder if everything would actually turn out alright. Her ponderings were too early, though, as Kamoshida simply caught the crown, melted into a proportionally similar pink monster with bulging yellow eyes and a tongue the length of his body. He placed the crown on his head.

“Damn brats! Have you forgotten who I am? The power I hold is undisputed! Everyone loves an Olympic gold medalist! I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson!” His voice boomed. Well shit.

“Looks like we have no choice but to fight our way out!” Thanks, Morgana. Really needed that. Hadn't figured that out.

“Everyone in formation!” Akira shouted, trying her best to not let her fear show. She was about twelve percent sure it worked. Okay, more like two. “Arsene!” Her voice cracked. Ah, shit. Ann looked at her and made a heart with her free hand, trying to encourage her. Akira cast Eiha, engulfing the massive pink body in cursed energy – not that it seemed to do anything, as Kamoshida just laughed and jammed his fork into his golden cup, slurping up a girl's stiff body, healing him back up.

“You think you can do anything to me!? Don't make me laugh!” He boomed, before bringing his human-sized knife down onto Ryuji, who recoiled and crumpled onto one knee.

“Shit!” Ryuji struggled to his feet, hand on his mask.

“Skull! Hold on, I'll heal you!” Ann cast Dia as quickly as she could. “Joker, are you sure we can do this!?”

“Hang on, team! I have an idea!” Morgana started. “What if we take out his cup there? That seems to be the source of his healing, if we can get rid of it we should have a much easier time!” Ryuji nodded, and tore off his mask.

“Captain Kidd, kill em!” He cast Headbutt on the goblet. A Critical Hit! The goblet began to crack, and he took the One More opportunity to blast it with all his shotgun shells, shattering it with ease.

“You bastard! Alright, fine. You asked for it... my ultimate attack! Mishima, get me my ball!”

“Shit, this isn't good! Everyone, on the defensive!” Morgana shouted desperately as he covered his head, the others following suit. Mishima ran up to Kamoshida's side, and passed the ball over to him. Kamoshida began to glow with power as he launched the ball up unbelievably high, jumping up beside it. The world seemed to slow down as he raised his arm, bringing it back down on the ball, launching it back towards the earth. Akira watched as the ball flew towards the group, jumping back to avoid the brunt of the force, letting the ball crash into the ground, exploding like nothing she'd ever seen before. She squeezed her eyes shut and remembered what she learned about surviving a nuclear attack – eyes closed, mouth open – to avoid her head exploding, in case this was at all similar. The force of the explosion crashed into her just the same, as it did with the rest, forcing her onto the ground on her back beside Ann, who had landed on her side. Morgana deftly recovered, while Ryuji was face down on the ground. Shit.

“I got you guys!” Morgana cast Media, and while it didn't make the pain go away, the energy boost helped. Akira stood up, legs shaking, helping Ann to her feet as well. Shit.

“Ah, I see you're still alive. Very well. That won't last long. Slave! Bring me another ball!” Kamoshida shouted.

“Mona – what do we do? I don't know if I can take another...” Akira trailed off as she saw the slave bringing his ball, and she got run over by the train of guilt. Shiho. Shit. Akira faltered for a moment, leg buckling, sending her down to one knee. Shit. Her breaths became shallow and ragged. I'm responsible. She almost died because of me. Logically, she knew this was insane to think, but that part of her brain was so far away she couldn't hear it screaming – she just had the irrational, overpowering instinct of guilt. The others hadn't seen her yet.

“Joker! Joker!” Ann dropped to a squat beside Akira. “Kira – What's going on!?” She almost whispered.

“It's my – fault – she jumped. I didn't – help her.” Ann looked confused for a moment, before she looked up and saw her. Shiho. Standing there, ball in hand, skimpy rabbit outfit on, sultry smile. She wanted to throw up.

“N-no – no it's – not. H-hold on.” She couldn't think straight. “Skull! We need you right now! Mona, take care of things for a bit, please?” Ann put on the veneer of confidence, which fell as soon as she finished talking. Morgana just nodded, while Ryuji sprinted over to the pair on the ground.

“What's goin' on? Why's she all... like that?” Tact was not Ryuji's strong suit.

“Shiho. Sh-she talked to Shiho – the morning it happened.” Ann tried to explain through the white-hot tears threatening to escape. Seeing her best friend like that, even though she knew it was fake, made her sick. She wondered if she'd spent her volleyball practices like that, and if so, for how long, without anyone else noticing the pain she went through.

“H-hey, it's alright. She was gonna do it anyway. You didn't do anything. The real person who needs to feel guilt is right in front of us, and right now, we need to focus on him.” The trio heard Shiho's screams of pain behind them. “Ann. You seem of more sound mind right now. Look away as Mona does his thing, I know you can put this away and cry about it later. Akira. You need to get your head in the game. Fuckin' focus. Kamoshida is the culprit here, so we need to do our job and get him to confess. Even if you were the problem, don't you think that doin' something about it would be better than givin' up halfway through? What would Shiho want? Think about it. She'd been strong for who the hell knows how long, and just finally broke. You think that she'd be okay seeing you like this? Or do you think she'd be pissed off that you ain't helping more and broke so fuckin' early.”

Akira wasn't sure how to react. Scalding tears broke out of her eyes, dripping violently down her face and crashing to the floor. Ryuji's right. You're fucking pathetic. You feel so guilty? Get up and fucking do something about it. Otherwise, why didn't she kill herself sooner? Why don't you? If you can't even fucking do this, why is she the one in the ICU instead of you in the fucking morgue? It's not like anyone would give a shit anyway. Akira choked, standing up, still crying.

“Dude – I'm sorry. That was really aggressive, I don't know-”

“No. Let's fucking get this asshole. Skull, you go off to the side. If you can climb the pillar, you should be able to knock Kamoshida's crown off so we can take it. Panther, Mona, stick with me.” Joker brushed the dust off her waistcoat and ripped off her mask, casting another dark magic spell to hold Kamoshida's focus.

“There's our leader. I took out the Shadow before he could take the ball, and now he should be out. We're in the endgame here!” Morgana mewled. Ryuji rushed off to the side of the room.

“We just have to keep him focused on us so he doesn't see Skull. Got it?” Morgana and Ann nodded.

Kamoshida stared almost vacantly at Ann, seemingly refusing to act just yet. The trio kept up the offense, hitting him with the strongest spells they knew, until he finally acted again.

“Takamaki, you teasing bitch. Why don't you join me, here, forever?” He almost growled. Akira acted on instinct as Kamoshida's tongue lashed towards Ann, jumping in front of the attack and shoving her out of the way. It was dry, and rough like sandpaper, but Akira stood there and took the brunt of the attack as if it were nothing.

“What if she didn't? I think she's got some better things to do, back in the real world.” Akira winked, the cocky bastard. “I can think of at least three people she'd rather spend her time with, none of them in your age range.” Now she just shrugged, causing Kamoshida to cry out, a low, guttural noise that she wasn't even entirely sure how he made. Ann looked at her in awe, eyes wide, catching her breath. She wanted to say something in thanks, but couldn't form the words.

“Now then. Let's say we could come to an agreement. What would that – Skull, NOW!” Ryuji launched himself off the second floor directly into Kamoshida's cranium, knocking the enormous crown to the ground, shrinking as it fell, until Akira effortlessly caught it. It was actually quite small. Interesting. She tossed it up and down a few times.

“Please – please don't kill me!!” Kamoshida stammered, back in his humanoid form. He nervously stepped backwards. Ann twirled, tearing off her mask.

“Carmen, I've hated this man from the moment I've met him. He's caused so much pain to everyone he meets, but is never punished. He almost killed Shiho when I wouldn't let him keep hurting me. I want you to put everything into this one.” The woman behind her nodded as the pair formed a fireball half as tall as Ann herself. “Dance, Carmen.” She thrust her hand forward, launching the flaming ball towards the terrified, mostly naked man.

Kamoshida saw the flames approaching him, and immediately accepted his fate. He knew that this was the right thing to happen, and closed his eyes, waiting for the heat to reach him.

But it didn't.

Ann twisted her hand at the last moment, curving the fire to miss him by a hair.

“I am not going to kill you. But. You must confess, publicly. I don't believe that death is an adequate enough punishment for you, I want you to spend the rest of your days rotting somewhere no one will ever have to be hurt by you again.” Kamoshida nodded as his Shadow disappeared into a white light, and the Palace began to rumble.

4.22.20XX

Kamoshida confessed the next day during a school assembly. Akira wasn't really cognizant of it, due to her getting impressively high before the assembly, but she at least knew it happened. Now, she was in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Takemi was with a man in a suit, and they were arguing about something or other. Akira didn't really care or understand.

Finally, the man left, and Takemi came out into the waiting room to call in the girl. They entered the exam room, and Akira took a seat on the table.

“This should be good, just... don't tell anyone if I've messed something up terribly.” She had two syringes. Akira had asked if she could come with a friend, for moral support, but Takemi had simply told her that it would be a liability. “Traditionally, these go in the thigh. Is that alright with you?” Akira nodded her head, somewhat terrified.

“Should I uh-”

“Yes, please do remove your pants. At least down to the thigh. I won't make it weird if you don't.” She was trying to lighten the mood. It sort of worked, as Akira gave her a half smile while she pulled down her tight school pants to the mid thigh. Takemi worked quickly, cleaning both legs with rubbing alcohol and injecting the first one without so much as a warning. Akira inhaled sharply with a whimper.

“Scared of needles? Don't worry, I'm good at this. Been doing it on myself for twenty years.” Takemi smiled, and the first needle was out as soon as it was in, with a fresh bandage placed on it. She noticed Akira's worried face. “What, you want a kiss, too?” Akira didn't want to say yes, but she also really wanted to say yes. She nodded sheepishly. “Well, it's certainly not traditional, but... fuck it. Just... don't make this weird.” She pressed a motherly kiss onto Akira's thigh, and noticed Akira relax significantly.

“So that one was Lupron, that's to block Testosterone. This next one is going to be Estradiol, which I'm sure you can guess – gives you estrogen.” She again worked with practiced speed, and the syringe was in and out within a few seconds. This time, she didn't have to ask, and kissed the wound again. She felt strange towards this kid.

“You know what, kid? You kind of remind me of this other patient I had, before I moved here...” Her eyes went wide as she realized she was about to overshare. “But, that's everything for today. Since you were a good girl, you may have a sucker, if you would like.” She turned her head to see a teary-eyed Akira, half smiling, mouth half covered by the thumb she'd stuck partially in.

Akira was fuzzy again. The pretty lady had helped her an she was sooo nice an she was even giving her candy! She felt warm inside. She hugged Kemi.

Takemi wasn't sure how to handle this situation, but she softened and hugged the kid back. She had a feeling the kid would be like this. Guess we're more similar than I thought... She pulls back from the kid and looks her in the eyes.

“Alright, kid. We should get you home. Wanna walk with me?” Kira was unable to speak, thumb back in her mouth, but she nodded happily. Kemi stood up an held her finger out, which Kira quickly took in her hand as Kemi led the way back to Leblanc.

Akira felt as if she'd gotten closer to Takemi.