Chapter 1: Prologue

It was odd, to one Akira Kurusu. He was now living in another city, away from his friends. He was no longer wearing the Shujin uniform, instead donning something else. He was no longer fighting against shadows and corrupt palace rulers or Mementos targets to change the hearts of the corrupt people of Japan. He was no longer chatting with his teammates or confidants about potential targets in Mementos. He was no longer spending time with his Confidants, helping them or when they needed a listening ear.

Instead, what was he doing? He was standing outside of an apartment that his parents had bought for him. He didn't like this place very much. There was no Sojiro to help out with in Cafe Leblanc, no Futaba to talk with when she needed to.

Morgana was in his bag, still asleep from the long and draining journey that had taken almost the whole day. His legs were still quite sore from just trying to find this place. Apparently, he wasn't told just how far away this place was. Sighing, he wished that his friends were here. Ryuji would be commenting about how lucky he was to have a place like this while Yusuke would be having self monologues about wanting to paint the apartment as the sun set. Indeed, it did look good as the sun continued to set. Akira however was not certainly expecting this apartment to be in a apartment complex that was in the richer parts of Kuoh.

Before he stepped into his new door, he could tell that it was already going to be quite expensive, given how the oak door had many fine details and there was a rug right under his feet. Twisting the key, he pushed the door open, to be greeted with the sight of a clearly modernised apartment.

To put it in Ryuji's terms, holy shit. He felt that it was the correct way to describe the apartment, there was no other way. He was standing in a short and narrow hallway, which also had a shoe rack for him to put his shoes. Beyond that, he found himself staring at a fifty inch plasma TV screen with a game console set up. A PS4 Slim, to be precise. Beside it, a few disc boxes which Akira knew would contain games. A L shaped sofa faced the screen, and it had enough room for four or five people. In front was a small glass table for placing beverages or other things. Behind the Sofa was a dining table enough for seven people, if they squeezed. The walls were painted white with a bit of black and grey which gave off the vibe of a comforting home to Akira as those were his favourite colours. There were large glass panes, facing the sunset.

The kitchen didn't seem like much at first, until Akira noticed that the equipment there were from well known international brands. Just how much did his parents pay for this? He would use it though, to make coffee. It was time for him to source out quality coffee beans for some brewing. He could also probably practice the recipes that Sojiro had given him. Sighing, he walked away, taking note of the fact that the toilet was in the kitchen. He found himself looking at two doors.

Neither was labelled, but one of the doors was left slightly ajar, indicating that someone had recently been here. Opening the door, he knew that his parents or had been here, since there was a note left on the desk. This was the room that they gave him, it seemed. Akira noted the walls were painted grey here. His clothes and other things were already unpacked for some reason. At least they saved him some time. He decided to read the note next.

Dear Akira

I know we haven't been here for the past year of your life, and I'm sorry that we can't be here for the next few months either. I don't really have any words to say nor any excuses to give. I just hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive us.

-Your Father

A tear dropped onto the note. Was he crying? His parents actually cared for him, just that they couldn't do so. They are pretty large figures in the business world, thus having a son who had a criminal record was enough to destroy their hard earned reputation. More tears began to fall onto the paper, before Akira managed to control himself and stifle a sob as he wiped his tears. Apparently, the sound of his near crying woke Morgana up. "You ok, Akira?"

Akira nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. If he had to guess, the other room was for either a study or a guest bedroom. For now, he had to organise his things for tomorrow and sleep. The journey had taken its toll on him after all. He held out what seemed to be the blazer for the academy. It should be a normal school, right?

Scene Break

Unfortunately, it was apparently too much to ask for a normal school. Akira had donned the blazer for the Kuoh Academy, with a white turtleneck shirt that had two chevrons on it. It came along with black trousers or a dark blue that he also donned finishing up with black loafers. His eye twitched as he looked at the girls' uniforms, which seemed to be designed by perverts for some reason. It seemed to emphasise the bust of female students, while having skirts that didn't go past the knee. Even Shujin Academy had somewhat stricter uniform rules than this.

Sighing, he made his way in, blending in along with other students that were also making their way in. Thankfully, he wasn't drawing too much attention, due to the fact that he had always been able to blend in smoothly in any environment given that he wore the correct clothes. Turning, he made his way to the office.

Sona's POV

She sighed once again as she looked at the latest stack of complains. She glared at the stack, wishing that it would go away. When that failed, she picked the first complain out. A complain from the Kendo girls. It seemed that the Perverted Trio were at it again. For the fourth time in a week, they had peeked at them once again. She figured that the girls would have beaten them enough times, yet they still kept coming back like persistent files.

Oh, how she wished to expel those three. They were like a plague which could she could not rid of, due to the fact that she was not the only owner of this land. Sighing, she looked at the piece of paper once more. Her fingers itched to hold the accept seal and slam it down, but she could not do so. With a heavy mind, she picked up the denied seal and stamped it. She looked at the mountainous pile of paperwork in front of her. She was going to need some coffee, if she wanted to clear the stack.

Honestly speaking, she would have liked to skip doing paperwork like her sister. But unlike her sister, she was a responsible person, so responsible that she hated herself at times for that trait. It was one of those traits that ran down the Sitris, but it seemed to have skipped her sister for some reason.

A knock on her door stopped her train of thoughts. It seemed that the paperwork would have to wait, for now. "Come in." She called out. The door opened, revealing one person. It was a male who seemed to be a blank slate of sorts. He was probably the new transfer student from Shujin that she had been informed about. "Welcome to Kuoh Academy, Akira Kurusu. I am Souna Shitori, Student Council President."

"Thanks." Akira replied tersely, as if he was on guard.

"This school does not tolerate rule breakers and such. Kurusu-san, I trust that you are not a pervert?" Sona nearly sighed in relief as she saw Akira shake his head. The school already had enough perverts as it was and didn't need anymore. There was a nagging feeling that she couldn't ignore about the student in front of her, and she decided to do a scan of those two. What she found however, was anything that fell short of normal. She nearly did a spit take at the result.

The boy right in front of her had magic reserves that were superior to a normal human's, heck even some magicians would be put to shame! In fact, it was as high as both of her Bishops! She knew that she had to have him in her peerage. He would be a good member, even if they were only pawns. He could always easily promote into Bishop and take advantage of his expanded reserves to cast more spells. "Shitori-san?" Akira's probing snapped her out of her thinking.

"I would advise you to avoid The Perverted Trio. You'll know them when you see them." She quickly said, handing him his schedule. Nodding his head, he left. Sona was too absorbed in her thinking once again to see Akira send a suspicious look at her before the door closed.

Akira's POV

When the Student President remained silent for a few seconds there, Akira felt as if he was being probed. It was similar to Futaba's Treasure Skimmer, only this one was trying to analyse them fully. Dismissing those thoughts, he found himself standing in front of a class. 3B, it seemed.

As he knocked on the door, the door opened and Akira found himself looking into a class of roughly 30 students with an empty seat right near the window in the middle row. Just like his last seating arrangement in Shujin. "Please introduce yourself." The teacher stated sharply.

"I am Akira Kurusu. Third Year Transfer from Tokyo." Murmurs were rampant around the room, and Akira could easily hear every single one of them thanks to Morgana's training. It was pretty much murmurs of how plain he looked and how he didn't seem to be a pervert, nothing more. It was going to be hard to fit in for sure, after learning that he was the only male in the Third Year. At least it wasn't too bad, honestly speaking for the girls tended to be less judgemental by their male counterparts.

As he settled down on the table, he found himself nearly beginning to doze off into the teacher's lecture. "Kurusu-san! Are you paying attention?" She yelled while Akira nodded sheepishly. "Then who was the origin of the term 'magistrate's patronage'?"

"Minamoto no Yoshitsune." He answered smoothly. It seemed that Shujin and Kuoh had different learning milestones, for he covered the question in Shujin last year. He sighed, the teachers weren't going to give him any rest, would they?

Lunch Break

Lunch had finally rolled around, and Akira found himself tired. The teacher had been relentless in trying to catch him off guard, before giving up seeing how he had been able to answer all the questions posted to him. Sighing, he took out a flask of coffee that he had brewed after finding some beans at home. His home apparently was stocked with coffee beans for now, so he wouldn't need to find some. He had to admit, the coffee he made was pretty good.

He took out his lunch box, which was basically Sojiro's curry with rice. He should probably try the other recipes on Sojiro's notebook if he wanted something else besides curry for lunch. He began digging into the curry, which was not too bad, honestly speaking. It was still one of those little things that tied him back to Cafe Leblanc in Tokyo. It was with gusto that he finished wolfing down his food within mere minutes. He should probably take the time to explore this school and get himself acquainted. It was going to be another long year at this school after all. He should also figure out a club to join, perhaps Kendo?

Sighing, he found himself in front of a building that looked somewhat abandoned. It was the fact that moss was rampant on the wood of the building that made it so. Though, the grass patch in front was quite a nice place for him to slack. That was when he noticed someone staring at him. A buxom redhead, observing him. He returned the favour by staring into her eyes, it was almost as if Akira was able to see her insecurities. Shaking his head, he looked up, only to notice that the window that the girl had observed him through was closed.

"Persona." That word rung through his head once more. As he walked back towards his class, he wanted to laugh in denial. It wasn't possible, was it? After all, he had lost his ability to use his Personae after defeating Yaldabaoth. Then his mind drifted to the last time to when he had been in the Velvet Room. He remembered the card, spinning around on his hand as he had grasped it. The World Arcana. It was the completion of his journey, or at least phase of it. The ability to stand on his own two feet thanks to the bonds that he had forged. He was no longer someone who was a lone wolf. As if he was trying to relish the feeling once more, he reached his hand out, trying to grasp something. Nothing happened.

Sighing, he turned back into the classroom, prepared for an afternoon of lessons. Things were going to be brutal from here on out.

After School

Sure enough, school was brutal. The teacher that had entered for the afternoon tested his mettle with a very difficult question, even by his standards. And he scored the highest in his cohort during his second year in Shujin. It was only pure luck that he had managed to guess the answer.

As he reached his home, which was a stone's throw away from the school, Akira found himself looking at a Morgana who was still asleep. The cat seriously slept too much for his own good. Though, what should he do now? He had pretty much nothing to do and was in an unfamiliar place. It was one of those times again, except that he had no part time job to help him kill the time. That left only one option. Exploration of the city. Sighing, he began changing into his other clothes before his phone rang. His mother was calling. "Hello, Kaa-san."

"How are you doing, Akira-kun?"

"I'm doing fine. Why are you calling?" Akira sighed. His mother normally wouldn't call him unless she had something to tell him. And she only informed him about formal events. His mother helped to manage his Dad's schedule after all.

"We're coming to Kuoh soon." Akira inhaled sharply. Whatever they were going to do here, it wasn't going to be good. "I would also recommend that you buy some formal clothes. We are going to an event." An event? That was not going to be that bad, it could be worse after all. He released his breath that he apparently been holding without realising.

"When is it?" Akira asked. He had to check the date and prepare accordingly after all.

"Somewhere in July. I'll give the specifics later on. But I'm going to have you meet with one or two of our clients. Do try to look good, alright?" The last part was said in a gentler tone, but it did little to lessen the impact of the previous statement. His parents were trying to play matchmaker and set up something. He knew that it was pointless to argue with his mother.

She was headstrong when it came to settling things. "Yes, Mother." He forced out through gritted teeth. As the call ended, Akira badly wanted to throw the phone against the window, but decided against it. His parents were trying to interfere in his love life. Sighing, he put down his phone before he changed his clothes. He desperately needed a walk, anything to free him.

"Are you ok?" Morgana asked, having woken up just after the call ended.

"My parents just called. They are coming here somewhere in July." Morgana noticed the sour look on Akira's face and decided to not probe any further.

"Weren't you going out?" Morgana thankfully managed to find another topic, seeing how Akira was dressed and ready to leave the house. Quickly jumping into Akira's bag, they left the house.

Scene Break

Akira found himself in a Ramen Shop, chomping down on a large bowl of noodles. No, large would not do it justice. It was terrifyingly humongous. Every customer's eye was on him. Could Akira do it? Could he beat the legendary Tsukumen challenge that many had failed to do?

With seconds to spare, Akira finished the last bit of noodles and bamboo shoots. "Done." He declared, slamming the chopsticks down. Honestly speaking, he had taken up this challenge to vent his frustration from earlier.

"I-Impossible." Someone stammered before a loud cheer rang through the resturaunt. Apparently, he received the a badge along with some gift vouchers for completing the challenge. Best part of all, this was free if you completed it. This pretty much saved Akira 4000 yen.

As he left the restaurant, full and somewhat feeling better, Akira found himself at a park, petting Morgana as he sat down on a bench. "Man, I feel full just from watching you." He commented.

"Yeah." Akira replied before letting out a loud burp.

"Hey, do you think that something is wrong with your school?" Akira frowned at Morgana's statement. Yeah, it was somewhat strange. There were few people that frequented the Old School Building, from what he had heard. Not to mention the girl who had observed him, she seemed somewhat malicious in a way as if she was plotting or something. And thirdly, why would the school not tear down such an old building? It seriously did not make any sense. Kuoh Academy was supposed to have a modernised outlook after all.

"It seems to smell of desire." What was going on?

"I don't think we can get any answers for now." Akira responded, before leaning back. He froze mid motion, sensing that something was amiss. "Something's not right."

Indeed, for the park was deserted. This was a park near the town, so there would be many people here. Plus, Akira had seen people come in and out of the park earlier, so why was it empty all of a sudden? "So this is the target. A shame you have to die." Akira turned his head to face the owner of the voice. She emerged out from a tree to his right. The strangest things however, was that she held some sort of light in her hands. A light spear, meant to be thrown in any case. "Now, die." She declared before hurling it at Akira.

His instincts screamed at him to dodge, and dodge was what he did. Morgana leapt out of the bag as well. His bag immediately turned into a pin cushion, the light spear poked a hole through it. Damm it, he was gonna have to get a new one. He had to defeat her somehow and get info. But how?

He could try to reach her and fight hand to hand combat. The difficult part however was reaching her, as she had those things which could be thrown at him. He dashed between bushes and weaved around, dodging light spears as he did. "To the side!"

Hearing Morgana's advice, he stepped to the side, dodging another light spear that was aimed for his earlier path. "Tch! This guy has good reflexes." Akira knee that the voice behind him was a man's given how deep it was. Dodging another light spear from the woman in front of him, he quickly leapt up to avoid two spears that were obviously not thrown by the guy behind him and the woman in front.

"Well, to think that he can avoid our light spears like that. Well, it won't matter." Akira dared to turn to the side, finding himself facing another two. However, these two were flying and had black wings.

"Who are you? Fuck that, what are you?"

"Funny you should ask, mortal. Then again, you are about to die. We are fallen angels." Akira swore, this day just got weirder and weirder. "Maybe we should start off with that cat of yours. You seem to treasure it a lot." Akira found himself starring at a gothic girl who held Morgana by the scruff, a light spear ready to enter his head. What could he do? He was powerless in this situation.

"Remember the bonds you have forged." The voice rang through his head like an echo. A never ending echo. His bond... with Morgana was an unbreakable one, wasn't it? The Magician Arcana had made it so. Yet he was here, ready to see Morgana's self execution. He shook his head, he couldn't let Morgana die.

A card that Akira was familiar with floated in front of him and glowed blue. "The World." Akira breathed. The fallen angels had ceased all activity, watching him. They were confused. The World, in a card?

Before they could say anything, he crushed his fist, and the card shattered like glass.

So, you seek to protect once more?

Akira heard that voice, that very same voice that had confronted him when he tried to stop Ryuji's execution. "No matter what it takes." He promised the voice.

It's been a while. Vow to me then. I am thou, thou art I

Akira's hands made his way to his face, where a bird shaped mask was already there for no reason. The fallen angels watched, paralysed in shock and a slight hint of fear of what was about to come.

Thou who art willing to perform sacrilegious acts for thine own justice, call thy name and release thy rage.

Akira began to pull the mask, hard. He could feel the blood seeping as he did, but he needed a bit more. Just a bit more!

Even if you fall to the depths of hell, call thy name and release thy rage!

"AHHHHH!" Akira screamed to the heavens as he pulled the mask, searing agony overloading his nerves as he finally pulled the mask. Blood flowed down his face freely, but he was smiling. The smile was disturbing to the fallen, but Akira didn't care. He had a wicked expression, his eyes now golden as he grinned sadistically. A blue light surrounded Akira, blinding everyone in the area.

When the light finally died down, Akira was different. He now wore a confident look, as his clothes changed. He now wore a black trench coat with a grey collared shirt, paired with black trousers, dark brown Cuban heeled boots and red gloves. He now held a weapon. A blade that was too long to be a dagger, yet a blade too short to be a proper short sword. It had a D guard on its hilt with a blood red gem glinting wickedly.

Behind him stood Arsene. Arsene still beheld that demonic face, with gentlemen clothing to go along with it, although his limbs were covered in red cloth. He had his hand held on his top hat, ready for combat. Two black wings extended out from behind. Akira noticed that Morgana was on the ground, he must have taken the time to slip away from his captor. "So what if you summoned a familiar? Not like its gonna do any good." The one dressed in a BDSM suit commented. "You, mortal. Know your rightful place beneath us." He noticed how the male gave her a disgusted look before dismissing it.

"Go, Arsene." Arsene flew up to the air, taking on the male fallen and the gothic female one. The other two flew down to fight Akira on equal terms. How long had it been since he held the sword? He didn't know. He began charging towards the two fallen, causing one to dodge his charge. The one who had talked just now engaged him in combat, a light spear against Paradise Lost. Breaking the deadlock, Akira took out the Tyrant Pistol and fired it. The Tyrant Pistol was a thing of disgusting beauty. Yusuke had once questioned when he saw the pistol, "How can one be so beautiful when yet ugly at the same time?" Akira only laughed at that.

It was forged from Lucifer, a soul that had gone through many phases from being a beautiful Angel to an ugly devil. Thus, he was not that the pistol caused the fallen angel to scream in pain even though it grazed the sides of the fallen angel as she tried to dodge it. Akira had once seen it penetrate through concrete with ease and still continue to fly after that. "You, you bastard! You will not live to see another day!" She declared before charging in again, her comrade helping her.

Akira knew that he could not let them live, not the BDSM one at the very least. She seemed to be too blinded by her hatred. She would only come back to hunt him if he left her alive. "I'm sorry." He muttered before dodging the move with ease and piercing her heart with his blade. The red gem on Paradise Lost seemed to glow as it relished the taste of the blood.

Akira looked up at the fallen angel's eyes, only to see smothering hatred in the depths of the violet eyes as she died. It seemed that killing her was the only option. "Who exactly are you, to kill one of our brethren?" The woman literally growled out.

"Just a Trickster." He idly commented. That however garnered attention from the fallen angels, even the two who were still fighting Arsene.

"What?" It seemed that him being a Trickster was supposed to have some sort of impact that was at least large enough for them to notice. When Yaldabaoth had addressed him as the Ultimate Trickster, he didn't think how huge the title was. He would see how things would play out.

"Kalawarner, Millet. We are leaving." The male snapped before hurling two more spears, one at Arsene and one at Akira, forcing them to dodge. With them distracted, they quickly unfurled their wings and flew off into the night. He scratched his head, noticing that now that he had no use for his Persona, his clothes disappeared along with Arsene, but his weapons remained. He should keep those with them, right?

"Well done, Akira. I'm sorry that you had to make your first kill though." Morgana commented, stepping out of his cover behind a tree.

"Come on. We should go home first, then we can discuss this." He said, carrying the fallen angel. He would have to get rid of the body, perhaps bury it. After all, if her comrades wouldn't, then who else would? Or maybe, he could revive her. This was going to be a huge pain in the ass, that was for sure. But then again, he was not without mercy. Mercy was something he had, unlike Akechi Goro who was a cold blooded killer until the end of his life. He redeemed himself by sacrificing himself for the Phantom Thieves so that they could stop Shido.

For some reason, the Justice Arcana Tarot card came spiralling down on his hand. It seemed that he would need to crush the World to gain his outfit and armour that he had and to summon his Persona instantly. Otherwise, he would have to wait for the card to spiral down. It was a small time difference, but even one bit could cost his life. "Metatron!" He gestured to the fallen angel and the Angel knew what he needed to do.

"Samarecarn." The metallic angel with six pairs of wings whispered. Flowers began to surround the fallen as she opened her eyes once more.

"W-what?" She said before staring into Metatron's face. "Metatron." She breathed in, admiring the metallic like face.

"I do not get it, Trickster. Why do you ask me to revive her after you heal her? Then again, humans are queer creatures indeed." He laughed before fading away. Akira decided that Raynare was getting too comfortable in his hands and he put her down. Realising that Akira had carried her, she blushed a crimson red before she realised that Akira had killed her. Then she realised the title that Metatron used.

"Y-you are a Trickster?" Akira stayed silent, meeting her eyes.

"You have a problem?" He deadpanned as she flapped her wings and flew away. He did not know whether reviving her was a mistake. Yet.

"What's done is done." Morgana said as the walked back to the apartment. Akira laughed as they did, it was truly a hidden world that they lived in.