Welcome to chapter two, Constant Readers!

I'd like to take a moment to thank ShadowUzumaki55 for giving me some ideas and for helping me finalise the pairings for this story. They are as follows: Hiroyasu/Ann, Akira/Haru, Ryuji/Makoto, and Yusuke/Futaba. They may seem a tad weird to some people, but I think I can make them work. I kinda like going for more bizarre pairings every now and then.

I wish to give you fair warning that the Persona Hiroyasu has been given doesn't fit in with the others. To tell you the truth, my original plan was to have his Persona be Quasimodo from Notre Dame de Paris (more commonly known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame), but after a conversation with Theboblinator, he made a really good case for the Persona I ended up using. If it's a little too … "out there" for you, then fine, feel free to leave. Otherwise, just try to have fun. If you need a reason for it … fanfiction. XD

"Persona!" – Normal Speech

Persona! – Thoughts

"Persona!" – Writing

[Persona!] – Sign Language

{Persona!} – Phone Speak

"Persona!" – Shadows

"Persona!" – Berserk Shadows/Personas

Let's begin.

Tuesday, 12 April 2016

I did eventually get to sleep on the Monday night, but not before I had done a few drawings. It was therapeutic, in a way, getting some of those things I'd seen on paper in a visual format. My brain just wouldn't stop focusing on the whole mess until I had the drawings done.

My morning went very much like the morning of the day before. I ran into neither of my parents because Otou-sama had a business trip and Okaa-sama was in the living room. She didn't acknowledge my presence, as per usual, so I didn't acknowledge hers. I just made some toast, filled my Thermos with some tea, and went on my way. The big difference was that I noticed that it was raining this time and grabbed an umbrella before I went out.

From there, it was business as usual. People from school blanked me or gave me dirty looks, and I just walked on without giving a fuck.

Once again, I bumped into Akira-san as he was leaving the train station. It was amazing that despite how crowded the trains get, plus the seriousness of the subway accident a couple of days before, that the trains were still so perfectly on time. Give them points for organisation.

"Hey, Hiro-san," Akira-san greeted me.

I gave him a little wave and we started walking together.

We hadn't gotten far when the rumour mill that made up 99% of the student body's knowledge got Akira-san's attention enough for him to stop in his tracks. I stopped with him, though since it was a pair of gossiping girls, I knew it could only be one of two people they were talking about.

"I feel so down when it's raining," said a melancholy-sounding girl. "I guess we're playing volleyball in the gym for PE today."

"I'm not looking forward to that," said her much louder friend. "Why'd I have to be on the same team as Takamaki? She's only a magazine model because of her stupid ridiculous body. Being near her disgusts me."

"Yeah, but we can't just ignore her, either, because of what happened with Kamoshida-sensei."

"Dealing with her is such a hassle. I wish she'd just not come to school."

I tapped Akira-san on the shoulder and nodded my head in the direction of the school to indicate that we should get walking. [You know, if you're going to eavesdrop on people, it's generally not a good idea to stand still right next to them and make no effort to hide yourself. Especially given the crappy reputation you've already got. It'd be like me, Ryuji-san, or even Takamaki-san doing it – people would be even more likely to notice,] I signed.

"I'll keep that in mind," said Akira-san. "Speaking of reputations, I heard you being called the 'silent spook' a few times yesterday. You mind telling me what that's about?"

I thought for a few moments before signing. [Kamoshida started spreading shit about me awhile back. It was before I lost my voice, but I wasn't exactly talkative even back then. I don't really have much to do with my time other than school, never have, so I decided to try joining one of the sports teams to do something with my spare time. Volleyball, it was. I saw how Kamoshida used the others as punching bags and snapped at him for it on my very first day. I'll admit that I have a bit of a temper, though it only used to make me shout. Needless to say, I was cut from the team, but Kamoshida didn't stop there. He started telling people I was quiet because I liked sneaking around. Specifically, he said I liked sneaking around in the girls' locker room when they were getting changed. Suddenly I was the 'ghost of the girls' locker room.' 'Silent spook' came later, after I had the,] I hesitated, [accident that lost me my voice.]

"… I'm sorry."

I shrugged to make it look like I wasn't bothered.

I was grateful for something, though. Akira-san said he was sorry but there was no pitying look on his face or tone in his voice. Maybe it was his own circumstances that did it, the fact that we were both guys the world had been shit to. Either way, it made me happy.

As we turned the corner and went through the school gate, I half-expected the castle to be there again. But it wasn't.

The school day was dull, as usual. People continued to mutter about the two "good for nothing delinquents" and the "mute pervert." Some were spoken about Takamaki-san, but I didn't really pay attention to that, it wasn't any of my business. I still thought it was stupid, though – the girls were jealous of her looks and the guys thought her being that hot made her "easy." It was all just so backwards.

Speaking of Takamaki-san, she left the classroom mere moments before Akira-san and me. We got outside just in time to see Kamoshida walk up to her.

"Hey there, Takamaki," he said to her with that shit-eating grin of his. "You looking for a ride home? Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents."

"Sorry, I have a photo shoot today," said Takamaki-san. "It's for the special summer issue, so I can't afford to miss it …"

"Hey, now … Being a model's fine and dandy, but don't work your pretty little self to the bone. You mentioned you weren't feeling well, right? Something about appendicitis?"

"Yes. I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I've been too busy … Sorry to worry you."

"You must be lonely, too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often. That's why I asked you out in the first place. Oh, and … be careful around that transfer student. He's got a criminal record, after all. If something were to happen to you …"

"… Thank you. Please excuse me."

She left.

Kamoshida's smile vanished the second the walked away. An irritated scowl took its place on his face. "Tch," he spat before walking away.

That will never get any less uncomfortable to watch, I thought. Kamoshida was a complete dickhead at the best of times, but watching him act like that with Takamaki-san sent an actual chill down my spine. It may have been the perversion – it also may have been the simple thought of Kamoshida procreating.

Whichever it was, it had no baring on the course Akira-san and I took. We walked out of the building and were just about through the gates when a "Yo" got our attention.

It was Ryuji-san.

I offered a little wave of greeting.

"What's up?" Akira-san asked him.

"I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday," said Ryuji-san.

"The one you decided was all a dream?" I wrote.

"Oh, ha-ha, laugh it up," he said sarcastically. "I kept tryin' to tell myself it was all a dream … but I couldn't do it. I can't act like nothing happened. It's all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all. I wanna find out what's up with that place, no matter what. And y'know, you two're the only people I can rely on for this stuff. So, you in?"

I thought about it. I thought about that castle and those weird demonic Shadow things. I thought about "King" Kamoshida and how eerily like regular Kamoshida he was. I thought about all those people in the cells. I thought about Morgana-san, still in there (even though he was no longer trapped). I thought about that whole damn mess from yesterday …

… and I thought about the possibility of absolutely sticking it to that prick of a PE teacher.

"I am SO fucking in!" I wrote.

"Sure," said Akira-san. "What next?"

"Ooh …" said Ryuji-san. "Looks like I managed to talk some sense into you."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"I think we should try and retrace our steps from yesterday," he continued. "In the meantime, you're walkin' to the station, right?"

I shook my head.

"Oh …"

"He does have to walk past it, though," Akira-san said before I had to write anything down. "I'm the one who has to take the train."

"Let's all go together, then," said Ryuji-san. "Lemme know if you notice any other weird buildings on the way."

We all started walking together.

It felt … odd to be part of a group, even one as small as this. But I would be lying if I said I hated it. It was just a new experience. I've always been kind of a loner, but that was mostly because the people at school were pretty much all idiots – they took rumours as facts immediately after hearing them and never questioned anything. Akira-san and Ryuji-san were different, though. They didn't believe the bullshit because, like me, they were on the receiving end of such bullshit.

"If a huge castle like that really exists," said Ryuji-san, "I'm sure we'll find it in no time. … When'd they build something like that, though?"

We stopped beside the alleyway we'd walked down the day before.

"We walked that way from here, right?" asked Ryuji-san.

I nodded.

"Maybe," said Akira-san.

"When you put it that way, I'm not so sure anymore …" said Ryuji-san. "… All right, this way. Lemme know if you notice something."

We walked down the alleyway, turned the corner, and … found ourselves back at Shujin Academy.

"Huh …?" said Ryuji-san. "We're at the school …"

No shit, Sherlock.

"There wasn't anything out of place along the way, right? I didn't see no castle, either … We must've made a wrong turn somewhere. Let's try again."

"I want to go home," Akira-san sighed.

I half-agreed with the sentiment. We had taken exactly the same route as we had the day before and found the school exactly the way it should be. It was starting to seem like the castle really didn't exist … but there was part of me that denied that possibility entirely. It had all felt far too real for that to be true. We were missing something, I just didn't know what …

"C'mon," said Ryuji-san, "you gotta stick with me to the end. Let's go."

"For real …?" Ryuji-san said in disappointment when we ended up at the school again. He leaned against a wall and sighed. "Is it smaller than we think it is? What do you guys think?"

I shrugged. It was just as confusing to me.

"Check your phones," Akira-san said suddenly. His voice was much more enthusiastic than it was before.

"I already did that," said Ryuji-san. "I didn't see anything like it around here …"

I didn't argue. I took my phone out and turned it on. There was nothing different about it. I started to put it away when Ryuji-san spoke again, this time with a note of realisation in his voice.

"Huh? Phone … Hey, that reminds me – didn't you have a navigation app thingy on, back then?"

"Navigation app?" asked Akira-san.

I felt my eyes widen as I remembered the words that had come from Akira-san's phone after we escaped the castle. Tapping Akira-san on the shoulder hyperactively, I signed, [Your phone said something about returning to the 'real world' after we escaped that castle!]

"Yeah, yeah, that was it!" Ryuji-san said excitedly. "Lemme see your phone for a bit."

Akira-san handed Ryuji-san his phone.

Ryuji-san tapped around for a few seconds. "What's this eyeball-lookin' thing?" he asked.

"Cute logo, huh?" said Akira-san with a bit of humour in his tone.

"That's not how I'd describe it …" said Ryuji-san. "What a weird app … Oh, wait, this is it!" He turned the phone to face us – the symbol for the app was pretty much all black with a crimson red eyeball. "I knew it – it is a navigation app! There's even your search history! Oh, man, I'm such a genius!"

Well, Akira-san is the one who suggested checking the phone, I thought. I'm not so sure following a suggestion counts as an act of genius.

"Let's try usin' it."

"I dunno about this," said Akira-san.

"Why?" asked Ryuji-san. "All we're doin' is startin' an app." He pressed the button.

The robotic woman's voice came from the phone again. {Kamoshida … Shujin Academy … Pervert … Castle … Beginning navigation.}

"There we go!" Ryuji-san cheered. "… Then, we went in a certain direction, and—"

A strange buzzing noise filled the air for a moment. I noticed the air seemed to ripple around us.

"Hey, what're you—" Ryuji-san cut himself off. "Huh? What the hell?"

I echoed the thought as the ripples in the air increased in number and then turned black and red. The world around us looked like it was warping itself, reshaping. The ripples eventually faded and I noticed the sky was black and red in colour … and where the school once was, the castle now stood as it had yesterday.

Holy shit! I thought. So … fucking hell, we actually travelled to another fucking WORLD!?

"Look!" exclaimed Ryuji-san. "It's the castle from yesterday!"

I'm mute, not blind, I can see it.

We ran into the castle grounds and toward the door we went in through yesterday. It was still closed like it was when we were trying to escape last time.

"We made it back …" said Ryuji-san. "That means what happened yesterday was for real, too …"

Looks like it, I thought, nodding with a relieved half-smile on my face. As much as I would have loved for all this shit to have been in my head, the fact that I was just proven sane was very comforting.

Ryuji-san released a startled yell. "Those clothes …!"

I looked directly at Akira-san for the first time since we'd re-entered this place. Those weird clothes were on him again in place of his school uniform, and they didn't appear to be fluctuating on and off this time, either. Considering the only way we had of defending ourselves was that Persona thing of his, which was only available if he had that mask to rip off, I chose to take this as a good sign.

"That happened last time, too, huh!?" said Ryuji-san. "What's with that outfit!?"

"You jelly?" asked Akira-san.

"I-I ain't jealous!" Ryuji-san denied.

[I kind of am,] I signed in admittance. [That look is pretty awesome.]

Akira-san grinned.

"What's goin' on here!?" Ryuji-san exclaimed. "This makes no fuckin' sense at all …"

"Hey!" said a familiar voice. Morgana-san was peaking at us from behind one of the walls. He came over to us, looking annoyed. "Stop making a commotion."

"Ah … You!?" said Ryuji-san.

"The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be …" said Morgana-san. "… To think you guys would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape."

"What is this place? … Is it the school?"

"That's right."

Time the fuck out, I thought, then started writing. "How can this be the school? From what I can tell, we're in a completely separate world from ours."

"Well, at least I don't have to explain that to you," said Morgana-san. "This castle is the school, but only to the castle's ruler."

I'm sorry I asked, I thought, starting to get something of a headache.

"The castle's ruler …?" said Ryuji-san.

"I think you called him Kamoshida?" said Morgana-san. "It's how his distorted heart views the school."

That was a much more concrete explanation which made a lot more sense to me. "So what, we're in his head?" I asked.

"… In a way, I guess. But only the part of it that pertains to the school."

Ryuji-san groaned. "Explain it in a way that makes sense!" he demanded.

Morgana-san sighed. "I really shouldn't have expected the moron to get it …"

"What'd you say!?"

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

That had to be one hell of a loud scream considering just how far in we'd been when we saw the prisoners the day before.

"What was that!?" Ryuji-san asked frantically.

"It must be the slaves captive here," said Morgana-san.

"For real!?"

"IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Oh, shit …" Ryuji-san summed up my thoughts perfectly. "It's for real! We saw other guys held captive here yesterday … I'm pretty sure they're from our school."

"Most likely on Kamoshida's orders," said Morgana-san. "It's nothing out of the ordinary: it's like that every day here. What's more, you three escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit."

"That son of a bitch …!" Ryuji-san growled.

My fists tightened at my side and I gritted my teeth. There goes that sack of shit, lording over everyone again because he can. He thinks we're all just his fucking playthings, his fucking TOYS! If only I could speak, I think I'd have a few choice words for that son of a bitch …!

"Ryuji …? Hiroyasu …?" Morgana-san said in concern.

"… This is bullshit!" Ryuji-san yelled. He ran over to the entrance doors of the castle and shoulder barged it. "You hear me, Kamoshida!?"

"Doing that isn't going to open it, you know … Still, it seems you have your reasons."

Ryuji-san turned back around. "Hey, Monamona!"

"It's Morgana!"

"Do you know where those voices are comin' from …?"

"You want me to take you to them? … Well, I guess I could guide you there." Morgana-san looked at Akira-san. "But only if he comes with us."

"Why me?" Akira-san asked curiously.

"I just want to get a better look at your powers."

[Plus, you're the only one out of all of us other than Morgana-san who can fight these Shadow things,] I signed.

"Even if you don't agree," said Morgana-san, "I bet these guys'll go on even if they have to do it alone. Are you gonna leave them?"

"I never said that," said Akira-san. "I was just curious, is all."

"It's settled, then!"

"For real …!?" Ryuji-san asked in excitement. "Thanks, man." He looked at me. "You comin'?"

I nodded once. I wanted to make Kamoshida pay for all of this.

"All right, let's do this," said Morgana-san. "Follow me!" He walked to the left of where the door was, and we followed. He stopped after a short while next to the weirdly-shaped vent in the wall that we'd used to escape yesterday. "This is our infiltration point."

"Ain't that where we escaped outta last time …?" asked Ryuji-san.

"That's right," said Morgana-san. "Not barging in through the entrance is one of the basics of phantom thievery."

"How're we supposed to know about that stuff …?"

It seemed pretty logical to me. Especially considering the fact that we'd gone in through the front door yesterday and been caught pretty much immediately.

"I'll make sure to teach you as we go," said Morgana-san. "Come on, follow me!" He jumped up into the vent and started to walk through.

"So, uh …" said Ryuji-san, "… sorry for draggin' you two into all of this … But I just can't forgive that bastard Kamoshida doin' whatever the hell he wants! Really, though, thanks for comin' along. I owe you both big time!"

I wrote him a little something. "You don't owe me anything. I want to bring that bastard down just as much as you do. He's been the ruler of this messed up little 'kingdom' for way too long. This isn't just for us – it's for EVERYONE who's ever suffered because of him."

Ryuji-san read it and smiled at me. "Glad to know we're on the same page," he said.

Then I added: "That being said, if I die and you don't, I am HAUNTING your ass."

Ryuji-san laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Come on," said Akira-san. "Morgana-san's probably getting tired of waiting."

Climbing into the vent this time took a lot of boosting and lifting because of how high it was. Ryuji-san boosted Akira-san up by letting him step into his hands, then Akira-san gave Ryuji-san a lift up. Ryuji-san gave me a lift up, too, but I had to jump a bit because I wasn't as tall … Okay, that's a complete lie. I just spend so much time hunching over to avoid being visible that standing up straight is really uncomfortable. I think my bones are just used to it now, to be honest.

Jumping down from the bookcase when I got inside wasn't as big an issue. My ankle smarted a bit, but it didn't go any further than that.

"Man, this place is as creepy as always," said Ryuji-san.

"Mm-hm," said Morgana-san. "Now, make sure you do exactly as I say, all right?" He ran a little way out of the room. "… Follow me!" He ran off to the right, toward the entrance hall.

We followed him. Akira-san ran first, and Ryuji-san and I followed behind him. We knew enough after yesterday to know that we had a better chance of survival if we let Akira-san go first.

We got inside the entrance hall and stood in the centre of the circular red carpet.

"Hey …" said Ryuji-san. "We went by here when we came in the front …"

Maybe it seems pointless at the moment, but imagine if we'd used the front door and they'd all been standing here. I was about to give voice – so to speak – to this thought when I suddenly found I was looking around the locker-filled entrance of Shujin Academy. The change was so sudden, it sent me reeling for a few seconds. Then the school went away and we were in the castle again. If my vocal chords were still working, I'm sure a little yell of surprise would have torn through. As it was, however, all I produced was a little wheeze of air that may have passed for a weak gasp.

"What the …!?"

Ryuji-san seemed to be having the same reaction, albeit vocal.

"I was seein' double or somethin' just now …! Was that Shujin!?"

"I've told you before," Morgana-san said to him. "This place is your school. Regardless, we don't have the time to stand around. Who knows when a Shadow might show up? Come on, this way!"

Two days in, and I was already getting used to chasing a vaguely anthropomorphic cat around …

I said a brief farewell to my mental health.

We ran down the imposingly dark-bricked spiral staircase that we had run up the day before when we'd been escaping the dungeon. Now we were going back into the dungeon. A part of me – a cowardly part, born from the days when my rebellious side had been forced into a coma, that I have never stopped being ashamed of – did not want to go back down there, was telling me I should run back to the real world, that my lack of communication ability would make me little more than dead weight and that Akira-san, Ryuji-san, and Morgana-san would not miss me, nor even notice that I was gone.

I pushed that side of me down as best I could, and briefly felt something else stir but a little.

We were forced to duck around the corner when we came to the first gate, as a guard was pacing around on the other side of it. My ankle ached a bit as I crouched down on it.

"Darn … I had a feeling there would be guards here …" said Morgana-san. He looked between us three humans with what I gathered was a serious expression (it was hard to tell, really, what with him being a cat and all). "It looks like we won't be able to avoid conflict from this point forward."

"F-For real …?" asked Ryuji-san.

I doubt he's making it up for shits and giggles, I thought, but kept that one to myself.

"Oh well," Morgana-san said in a tone that should have come with a shrug. "I'll just teach you the basics of battle right now. You had better remember all of this. As a rule of thumb, try to ambush as many enemies as you can. Attack them from behind whenever possible. You'll need to rip off their masks to momentarily break the control the Palace ruler has over them. If you succeed, the enemy will be caught off guard, allowing us to jump in for a pre-emptive attack."

"So we wanna ambush 'em and go for the first strike …" said Ryuji-san. "All right, I got it!"

I tapped him twice on the shoulder and gave him a look. Easy there, cowboy, I hoped it would convey. I did not think it was wise for he or I to be getting involved with the fighting at this stage since we had no real way of defending ourselves.

"I think what Hiroyasu is getting at is that you two won't be fighting," said Morgana-san. "You'll be watching. You guys can't use Personas." He turned his attention to Akira-san. "Anyway, let's go!"

Akira-san darted out from behind our cover, followed closely by Morgana-san. I wanted to see this, so I stuck my head around the corner, as did Ryuji-san. Akira-san leapt onto the Shadow's back as if it were nothing, like he was trying out a bull at a rodeo. With a grace I did not expect to see from him, he flipped over the Shadow's body, reaching out an arm and ripping the blue mask from the guard's face in his descent. The guard fell over and melted away into a black sludge, which then moulded into a new shape. This guard became a single Crypt-Dwelling Pyromaniac.

Akira-san ripped his mask off – easier for him now, but it still looked fucking painful – and yelled, "Cleave!" His mask turned into Arsene, who slashed his wings at the Shadow.

Morgana-san summoned Zorro and shouted, "Garu!" The circle of wind that formed around the Shadow rendered it nothing.

As Ryuji-san and I walked over, I noticed something glistening on the ground. Curious, I knelt down. It was money. I took it in one hand and counted it out. ¥149.

I blinked down at the money in my hand. Wait … the Shadows drop money? I asked myself. It was the only explanation I could think of; otherwise, why would this have turned up directly beneath where the Shadow had just been? But if they drop money, that means … Holy shit, this place is a potential goldmine! Imagine all the money you could make from "farming" these freaky things!

If this were animated, I imagine I would have had the ¥ symbol in place of my eyes.

It did not take me long to catch up with the others. We ran across the bridge on the left and came upon the wide staircase that would lead us further downward.

"Why ain't anyone here …?" asked Ryuji-san. He was looking in one of the nearby prison cells. He turned back toward us, his expression nearly thunderous. "Damn it, they were here before! Where'd they go!?"

"Quiet down!" Morgana-san snapped at him.

"Oh yeah, there were more of 'em further in, too …!" He started running ahead.

Morgana-san, clearly exasperated, turned to Akira-san and myself and started talking. "They might have been transferred already …"

Then Ryuji-san ran back toward us, limping a little on one leg. "Crap, I can hear footsteps comin'! Lots of 'em!"

"It would be a problem if they discovered us now …" Morgana-san muttered. He looked around for a moment, then gestured toward a wooden door. "Hey, let's head into that room. We should be able to hide in there until they leave."

We went in.

The room was rather small. There was a single chandelier-esque round metal thing (I have never known what those are called) hanging from the ceiling with a brightly-burning fire in the centre, allowing us to see the room in a flickering yellow-orange hue. There was very little in the way of furniture: two bookcases, a bench, and four smaller benches surrounding a small wooden table.

Morgana-san jumped up onto the table. "The Shadows probably won't come in here," he said.

Ryuji-san struggled to speak as he panted. "How can you tell?"

No one spoke when I started writing. The silence lasted until I showed Ryuji-san what I wanted to say. "Honestly, at this point, why even ask? He knows a hell of a lot more about this place than we do and hasn't been wrong so far, so we should probably just run with it."

"… Point," said Ryuji-san.

"If you must know, there's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak," Morgana-san explained, anyway.

As if to demonstrate the point, the dark bricks of the room faded around us, and I found myself looking at the chalkboard surrounded by white walls with a podium in front of it that was a Shujin Academy classroom. It faded away again just as quickly.

"Is this a classroom …?" asked Ryuji-san.

"Now do you understand?" Morgana-san asked us. "This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."

"This is Kamoshida's reality …? Shit makes no sense at all!"

I sighed – breathing heavily enough could allow me to do that, at least – and tried not to think too harshly of Ryuji-san's intelligence despite the fact that this had already been explained to us. I was wondering what part of this was so difficult to grasp. Most people with a grasp on pop culture these days were familiar with the concept of a mindscape even if not by name, and this did not seem to be very different. I suppose Ryuji-san was lucky I could not speak …

"One could say it's a world in which one's distorted desires have materialised," said Morgana-san. "I call such a place a 'Palace.'"

"A Palace …?" said Ryuji-san.

"This is happening because he thinks the school is his own castle."

"So, it became like this 'cause he just thought of it like that!? Hahaha …"

I'm unashamed to say that his sudden laugh unnerved me. But I could understand why, even if his lack of ability to pay attention irritated me. Though I suppose my condition left me more inclined to listen to others than most, since listening was the vast majority of what I could do. Thinking about it like that, my irritation softened and I even began to feel ashamed of myself. I really did lack people skills.

Although, I thought, that might be because most of the people around here are dickheads.

"That son of a bitch!" Ryuji-san shouted.

"You must really hate this Kamoshida guy," Morgana-san commented.

You don't know the half of it, I thought, but did not get a chance to say that one before Ryuji-san said, in a very similar vein of thought, "Hate doesn't even cover how I feel."

"Everything is that asshole's fault!" he declared.

I wished I had few enough problems that I could pin them all on Kamoshida.

"I don't know what happened between you two," said Morgana-san, "but don't let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere inside." He perked up and addressed Akira-san, who had been standing quietly. In some ways, I noticed, he was even quieter than I was, which was quite an accomplishment. "You're curious about your outfit, aren't you?"

"'Curious' is certainly the milder word for it, yes," said Akira-san.

"Yeah, I'm curious as hell about it, too," said Ryuji-san.

I nodded my own affirmation.

"That's also because of this world," Morgana-san explained.

"More stuff that makes no sense …" Ryuji-san complained under his breath.

Might wanna let him get to explaining it first, I thought.

Morgana-san went on without acknowledging Ryuji-san's complaints. "Anything distorts to how a ruler pleases within his Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all. In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebellion that you hold within."

"Uuugh, I'm so fed up with all this!" Ryuji-san growled. "I'm more curious about you than his clothes! What the hell are you anyways!?"

"I'm a human – an honest-to-God human!"

Even I was rather sceptical about that little piece of information.

"No, you're obviously more like a cat!"

"This is, well … It's because I lost my true form. … I think."

"You think?"

"But I do know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means. Well, I ended up getting caught, though … Besides, I've been tortured by Kamoshida, too! I'm gonna make him pay for sure!"

Finally, something everyone can agree on. I punctuated the thought by letting loose a little burst of clapping. Not for the first time, I felt a warmth in my cheeks from the childish gesture. Communicating like that, while practical for swiftness purposes, was always rather embarrassing for me.

"What is this, a comic book?" asked Ryuji-san. "This is seriously crazy …"

"If we're gonna keep going, we should hurry along," said Morgana-san. "I'll be counting on your skills this time, too, rookie. Got it?"

"Yeah, got it," said Akira-san.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna force it all on you," said Ryuji-san. "I thought it might help, so …" He reached behind him and pulled a gun out of his pocket. "I brought this just in case! It's a model gun, though, so it only makes sounds!"

Well, thank God for that, I thought. Could you imagine if he'd brought a real gun out in public and waved it around? We'd be carted off to the police station in an instant … But no one's dumb enough to wave a potentially deadly weapon around in public while there's a big investigation going on, of course.

I got the feeling I was wrong.

"That's a toy!" said Morgana-san.

"But it looks totally real, so it'll at least fake 'em out," Ryuji-san argued. "I brought some medicine, too. You know what they say: 'Provide is pre … something.' Huh? Huh?"

"So you were planning this from the start … Well, fine. If you're ready to go, we'll resume our infiltration."

Ryuji-san handed Akira-san the gun.

Morgana-san hummed. "There are probably still soldiers making their rounds outside. Let's use this time to sort through our current situation."

"Did we not literally just do that?" I asked.

"Let's eavesdrop on the soldiers outside," he continued, like I hadn't spoken … well, I hadn't, but still. "We might be able to learn something from them."

We gathered by the door, which Akira-san opened just a snip, and listened. The soldiers were pretty much right outside, so I couldn't help the fear that they might discover us.

"I thought I just heard something from over there …" one of them said. "Guess it was my imagination …"

"And what of the slaves?" asked a second.

"They're all in the training hall," answered the third. "I'd assume they're screaming in pain by now."

"Very well. By the way, I heard we may have intruders around. Stay on your guard."

The three guards all walked off in different directions.

"Did you hear that?" Morgana-san asked us.

Considering the weird echoey effect their voices have, it's kinda difficult not to, I thought.

"How could we not?" asked Akira-san, mirroring my own thoughts.

We all emerged from the side room.

"They said trainin' hall, right?" asked Ryuji-san.

"I think that's just a little further ahead," said Morgana-san. "Let's go!"

We got moving and almost immediately ran dick-first into another guard, which Morgana-san oh so helpfully pointed out as though we couldn't see the massive fucker in the armour.

"Shoot. There's a guard on duty here …"

Really? I would never have guessed.

Luckily, he wasn't facing us.

"The way to the training hall should be just past those bars …"

"So … what're we gonna do?" asked Ryuji-san. "Do we gotta fight it?"

"Seems so. Just don't let it notice you beforehand … If it does, the Palace's security level will rise."

"A-And what do we do if that happens? Run away?"

"Well, the security level will go back down if we can beat more enemies without getting noticed."

"Th-That sounds, uh … complicated."

"Fine … I'll put together some info on the security level. Understanding this is crucial to Palace infiltration, so make sure you read it carefully, okay?"

I made the assumption that he would give us whatever it was later because stopping to do a bit of light reading seemed like it would be incredibly dangerous right now.

Akira-san ran ahead, jumped on the guard from behind, and ripped its mask off. The Shadows it revealed were a pair of weird-looking flower things with green bodies and red petals sticking out from the tops of their heads. Akira-san and Morgana-san managed to take out one with an Eiha and a Garu respectively, but the other got a kick in on Morgana-san twice before they managed to take it out.

We went through the barred-off door like Morgana-san said and found ourselves in another hallway.

"The trainin' hall's up ahead, right?" clarified Ryuji-san.

"Yeah, it's a little further," Morgana-san confirmed. "Make sure you watch out for any guards along the way."

Speaking of those devils, we very nearly ran into a couple of them when we got to the bottom of the staircases that were presented to us at the end of the relatively short hallway.

"Hey, have you seen anyone who looks like an intruder?" asked one.

"No, nobody yet …" answered the other.

"Shoot …" muttered Morgana-san. "I had a feeling there would be a lot of enemies. It'd be impossible to dodge all of them …"

"Then, what do we do?" asked Ryuji-san. "Should we try and take 'em down like before?"

"It's not that simple. We still have a long way to go, so we should be conserving energy."

"I-I see … Sorry … Damn it, I wish I could fight … I'd at least be able to help out a little bit …"

I knew the feeling, to be honest. If I had one of those Persona things, I might be more than the dead weight who lacks even the simple ability to call out if I see anything wrong or the like. But that was always me, I suppose. Absolutely no use to anyone, kept around because of pity, knowing that the amount of effort it took to communicate with me properly was definitely the most annoying thing about being around me …

"Okay, we'll use that to take down the enemies!"

Morgana-san's excited words snapped me out of my thoughts and made me realise I had managed to miss some of the conversation.

"What!?" Ryuji-san asked in confusion. "Were you listenin' to me? It don't even shoot pellets …"

I figured out that they were talking about the fake gun.

"Don't worry, I'm sure this'll work," Morgana-san reassured him. "Attack away, Frizzy Hair!"

"Leave it to me," said Akira-san.

"Wait, dude!" Ryuji-san exclaimed. "I keep sayin', it's not gonna fire anything!"

Akira-san and Morgana-san leapt out from around the corner we were hiding behind and attacked the first Shadow they ran into, which exploded into one of those plant things and one of those fairy ladies.

"You have the gun with you, right?" asked Morgana-san. After Akira-san gave his ascent, he continued, "Point it at a Shadow and fire!"

Akira-san took the gun from his pocket, raised it, and fired.

Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!

Five shots fired from the gun I was sure was fake and sent the fairy lady to the ground. Three more were fired off at the plant thing – Blam! Blam! Blam! – but one missed and it kept its footing.

"How about that!?" Morgana-san asked. "Surprised? Be mindful of how much ammo you have left!"

Akira-san ripped his mask off and sent an Eiha at the downed Beguiling Girl, killing her.

"All right, I'll show you my weapon, too!" Morgana-san announced.

He pulled out a slingshot and sent two shots at the Gallows Flower. Much to my surprise, it actually seemed to do some damage, but nowhere near enough to put it down.

The Gallows Flower ran over and hit Akira-san in the chest, sending him stumbling back.

Akira-san ripped his mask off again, and Arsene slashed his wings across the Gallows Flower, ending its life.

"Whoa!" Ryuji-san exclaimed as we rejoined the two of them. "Did that toy gun just shoot real freakin' bullets!?"

"This is a cognitive world," Morgana-san explained. "As long as your opponent sees it as real, it becomes such. It's a good thing it's realistic-looking."

"… I don't get it."

You never seem to, I thought in exasperation.

Morgana-san seemed to share the sentiment. "I wasn't expecting someone with your brains to understand. You get it, don't you, Hiroyasu?"

I nodded in the affirmative and wrote Ryuji-san a little message.

"It's actually incredibly simple. So long as the weapons LOOK real, they ARE real in here."

"It's simple logic," Akira-san agreed.

Ryuji-san looked irritated. "Wait, if it's better havin' something realistic, why do you got that slingshot!?"

That … is a genuinely valid point.

"And it was just as strong as a God damn gun! What about your whole cognitive whatever!?"

"W-Well, um …" Morgana-san sighed. "Fine, you can choose to understand it however you want. Oh, by the way, we should choose how we divvy up our roles in battle from here on out."

"He totally dodged my question …" Ryuji-san muttered under his breath.

"As you can see, there are quite a lot of enemies. It'll be important to coordinate our moves well. I can keep providing intel for us, but you should decide how we fight, Frizzy Hair."

"Whaddya mean, 'how we fight'?" asked Ryuji-san.

"Basically, what we do in battle. He can order us directly, or let us decide what we do. … Though I guess I'm the only other one fighting right now …"

Now I felt even worse.

We got moving again, running down the long, dark hallway. The dark grey bricks this place was built out of made for quite the ominous environment, and the occasional torch flickering the yellow-orange light against the walls didn't make it any better. We had an encounter with a couple of Crypt-Dwelling Pyromaniacs that Akira-san and Morgana-san made quick work of. Shortly after that encounter, we came to another corner.

"A guard …" Morgana-san said after taking a peak. He sounded as annoyed as the rest of us were. "I'm pretty sure that's where we need to be going, too …"

"You guys gonna take it down again?" Ryuji-san asked eagerly.

"I guess that's our only choice … But wait, this might be a good time … Okay, I've decided! I'm going to teach you three a special way to fight enemies!"

Akira-san and Morgana-san ran ahead to fight while Ryuji-san and I watched from the back. Again.

"Listen," Morgana-san said to Akira-san after the Shadow had turned into a Beguiling Girl, "there's a distinct flow to battles. Let me show you. After all, seeing is … something?"

I really wanted to tell him "seeing is believing," but I couldn't, for obvious reasons.

"First, knock down all the enemies! Everything starts at that crucial step!"

Akira-san hit the Beguiling Girl with an Eiha and landed her on her ass pretty quickly. It looked almost embarrassingly easy.

"All right, now rush on in for an All-Out Attack!" said Morgana-san.

The two of them charged the Beguiling girl and started wailing on it with their weapons.

So basically a pile-on, huh? I thought, bemused. Well … I guess the phrase "crude but effective" is appropriate here. When they're down, just gang up on them and beat the shit out of them … Okay, I can dig that.

"That went really well!" Morgana-san celebrated. "You're definitely fit for this."

We went through the door the Shadow had been guarding.

There was another door on the other side of a small room with a table and some benches in the middle. Above the door was a silk banner.

Kamoshida's Training Hall of Love

I felt the burning sensation of bile rising in my throat. I could practically taste it. Kamoshida, that son of a bitch, what he would associate with "love" was the molestation of female students. No one could prove it, just like they couldn't prove the physical abuse he committed on the boys, but everybody knew. Everybody.

Ryuji-san read the writing on the banner aloud. "What kinda bullshit is this!?"

We went in.

We were greeted by another hallway with some stairs in front of us. On a wall to the right was a small red flag with Kamoshida's smug fucking face on it.

And the screams …

We ran toward the screams.

We looked through a set of bars we came across …

Oh … my God …

It was the volleyball team – looked like the volleyball team, at any rate – and they were in restraints. Their arms were chained to a raised board in the middle of the room, forcing them to stand up with their arms raised. They yelled out in pain every time one of the guards – torturers, really – whacked them on the back with long wooden sticks.

"Damn it!" Ryuji-san cursed. "This is bullshit!"

I couldn't agree more.

I turned my gaze to the floor, my fists clenching painfully. That … that bastard. That complete and utter fucking BASTARD.

My knuckles turned white and I started to see little droplets of blood drip past my fingers as my nails dug into the palms of my hands.

Don't get angry, I advised myself. Don't get angry, don't do anything rash … That was your mistake when …

My right hand instinctively unclenched and found its way to my throat, where I lightly ran my fingers over the little indentation there.

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down!?" Morgana-san hissed.

Ryuji-san clenched his teeth and went quiet for a few seconds. "But this is beyond messed up!" He moved to the barred door and looked for a bit. "How do I open this …?"

"Stop it …!" one of the volleyball teamm— oh, fuck it, I'm going to call them what they are. One of the slaves pleaded. This one wasn't chained up. He came right up to the bars and looked at us with lifeless, broken eyes. "Leave us alone … It's useless …"

"Huh!?" said Ryuji-san.

Another slave came over and started speaking, too. "If we stay obedient, we won't be executed like you guys!"

Ryuji-san growled and grabbed the bars. "You're tellin' me you wanna stay in a place like this!?"

"Wait a minute …" said Morgana-san. "Were you planning on taking these guys out of here?"

"We can't just leave 'em here!"

I wrote. My hands were shaky in my anger, which now seemed omnipresent, so the handwriting wasn't exactly up to par with my usual neat scripture, but I didn't care. I was pissed off, and Ryuji-san's constant inability to comprehend the situation no matter how many times it was plainly spelt out … well, let's just say it wasn't exactly helping me keep a level head. When I finished writing, I pretty much shoved it into Ryuji-san's hands.

"They're not real! Morgana-san has explained it several times now. This is a cognitive world. None of this is what it is in reality. The castle is really the school, "King" Kamoshida is really our gym teacher, and those slaves are really the students. But none of it is real. This isn't the real world, it's how that cunt sees the real world. Liberating those slaves of their imprisonment would be like cutting the strings of a marionette. It would go lifeless. I can't say for sure without asking Morgana-san, but I feel it safe to assume the slaves work the same way. The second we go back to the real world, they'll fucking vanish just like the castle. Get it through your thick head and let's focus on what to do about the fucker who runs this place!"

When Ryuji-san finished reading, he looked up at me with wide eyes. I just nodded my head toward Morgana-san as though to say, "Go ahead and ask if you don't believe it."

"H-Hey, Morgana …" Ryuji-san started. "Those guys in there … they ain't real, right? You mean … savin' 'em would be pointless?"

"Well, duh," said Morgana-san. "I keep telling you this is a cognitive world. These aren't people who have come into this world like you. They are humans only as Kamoshida sees them."

"So the school's a castle, and the students are slaves …" Ryuji-san actually released a little laugh. "It's so on point that it makes me laugh."

Yeah, no shit. I could see how it mirrored the real world, too. Despite my little outburst (GOD, I wish I was still capable of real outbursts!), the realism of the scenario had come close to fooling me, too. It was real uncanny valley stuff.

"This really is inside that asshole's head …!" Ryuji-san growled.

Morgana-san walked over so he could see through the bars. He winced as he looked at the view inside. "Still, this is horrible. It must mean he treats them as slaves in the real world, too."

Sounds about right, I thought grimly.

"Wait, I know these guys …" said Ryuji-san.

I knew them, too. I didn't interact with a lot of people as a general rule – they were all either assholes who believed all the rumours, terrified out of their minds, or completely indifferent – but I was observant. When you don't have any real friends, there's not much you can do except watch from the sidelines.

"They're members of the volleyball team – the one Kamoshida coaches for!"

"They must be physically abused every day …" said Morgana-san. "There's no way they'd be so beat up normally."

"Don't tell me … They're going through similar shit in reality!?"

"Most likely. I mean, this proves that Kamoshida thinks of them as slaves."

"So it might be for real … I heard that Kamoshida's usin' physical punishment. They're just rumours, but …"

[Probably true,] I signed to Akira-san, rather than waste time writing things down again. [The rumour mill at that school is full of shit, but sometimes, something of some worth crawls through the gaps. It's like finding a needle in a haystack, and a very small needle at that, but it's been known to happen. A good rule of thumb is seeing whether the rumours in question are about anyone Kamoshida has beef with.]

"Sounds more like an Orwellian future than a school," Akira-san mused, then relayed what I'd said to Ryuji-san and Morgana-san.

"He's right," said Ryuji-san. "It's kinda why even I have some reservations about believin' the rumours, even if they do fit my view of Kamoshida. It's kinda hard to split up the truth and the bullshit in Shujin. Still, this kinda proves 'em, so isn't this the sort of thing we should report to the police …? We could use these guys as evidence. If all goes well, we can take down that asshole Kamoshida …!"

He took his phone from his pocket, held it up, and started tapping.

"… Huh? It's not workin'!? We can use the navigation app, but the camera's a no go!?"

I couldn't say I didn't have a sneaking suspicion beforehand, but God knows they probably wouldn't have appreciated the one person it takes an effort to communicate with doing the testing of that sort of thing.

"A navigation app?" asked Morgana-san.

"That's what we used to come here," Ryuji-san explained. He looked between Akira-san and me. "What about yours?"

I checked my phone, saw the camera wasn't working and shook my head.

"Nothing," said Akira-san.

"Whatever you do is fine," said Morgana-san, "but we're gonna get caught if we stand around like this. We need to head back!"

"Hang on a sec!" Ryuji-san said urgently. He stared intently into the torture chamber. "There's no other way … I'll just memorise their faces before goin' home!"

It was a good idea. I started to do the same.

We ended up looking into all the different cells. It was horrifying. One of them contained three high-speed treadmills that had a guy running on each; alone, this wouldn't have been so bad, but there was a large rotating cylinder covered in spikes behind them that would have no doubt crushed and impaled them if they'd stopped running. There was one guy hanging by his feet as a cannon fired explosive volleyballs at him over and over. The second one made my breath catch in my throat. I could have sworn that was Mishima.

"Hurry!" Morgana-san urged us. "We need to get out of here, quick!"

We left and made our way back into one of the brick-built area with the wooden bridges.

"All right, we're back," said Ryuji-san. "We gotta get outta here, quick!"

"The watch post near the training hall has ceased reporting," said a nearby guard we couldn't see. "Chances of intruder activity are extremely high! All personnel, increase security measures!"

We took that as our cue to duck behind one of the many piles of crates scattered around this castle for some reason.

"Tch, we've stayed here too long …" said Morgana-san. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

I second that, I thought. It was weird how being unable to speak got you just saying what you normally would have said in your head.

That probably made no sense.

Our run back to the entrance hall was uneventful, mostly because we moved fast and hid rather than fight like we had been.

Unfortunately, we weren't so lucky upon arrival.

"… You knaves again?" asked King Kamoshida, two guards flanking him on either side. There was a third, this one in pristine golden armour, just behind. "To think you'd make the same mistake again. You're hopeless!"

Ryuji-san took a brave step forward. "The school ain't your castle! I've memorised their faces real good. You're goin' down!"

I nodded my agreement. It occurred to me that this probably wasn't worth much and once again missed my own voice.

"It seems it's true when they say 'barking dogs seldom bite.'" He turned his vile gaze on me and his cruel grin widened. "Then again, I guess even the quiet ones aren't exactly dangerous. How the star runner of the track team and the little hero wannabe have fallen."

I squeezed my fists tightly.

"The hell are you gettin' at!?" Ryuji-san yelled.

"I speak of the 'Track Traitor' who acted in violence, ending his teammates' dreams, and the 'Silent Spook' who tried to act against me and ended up a social pariah. Oh, I can imagine the others who were dragged under your … selfish act, Sakamoto. Don't you remember the looks in their eyes, Ochiai, as you realised nothing you said mattered and they were resigned to their fates?"

I remembered it. I remembered it well. I could still speak back then. I remembered trailing off as I saw the looks in everyone's eyes, and by the time it hit me that there was nothing I could do while the idiots refused to help themselves, I was on the floor with a newly-developing black eye.

I squeezed my fists tighter.

"Ngh," Ryuji-san grunted.

"What's he talking about?" asked Akira-san.

King Kamoshida seemed amused. "What a surprise. So you're accompanying them without knowing anything at all? Sakamoto betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever. Didn't you ever wonder why Ochiai, the smartass that he is, never spoke up? So to speak, anyway." He laughed. "Because he already tried! He was on quite a roll, too, until he saw how futile it was, and then all I had to do was give him one little push to put the final nail in his hope's coffin."

"That's not true!" Ryuji-san shouted.

Bastard, I thought and tried to hiss it out under my breath, but all that came out was air and pain in my throat.

"You've come along with these fools and now you are going to end up dead. … How unlucky of you." He nodded to his guards. "Go. Kill them all. Don't sully my castle with garbage."

The two regular guards exploded into black sludge and reformed into a trio of large ram-like Shadows.

"Guys, move!" Morgana-san warned.

Damn it, I thought as I stepped back with Ryuji-san. Useless. Again. God fucking damn it!

King Kamoshida had brought all those feelings flooding back. The humiliation, the feeling of hopelessness, that I wouldn't be able to do anything. It was all back. But now there was something else in there, too. There was anger. There was hatred. Fuck what Yoda said in Revenge of the Sith, I was pissed. Something was tugging at the back of my head, but it wasn't fully formed, so I couldn't tell what it was, but I knew it was there. I glared past the rams at King Kamoshida, wanting, desperately, to punch that smug fucking look from his face.

"I'll kill you!" said one of the Dirty Two-Horned Beasts. "I'll kill you 'cause King Kamoshida told us! I'll kill 'cause that's what he wants!"

An already bad situation got somehow worse.

The three Dirty Two-Horned Beasts surrounded Akira-san and Morgana-san, and one of them charged horns-first, catching Morgana-san from behind. He didn't go down, but he was knocked out of place and clearly hurt. As Akira-san moved to defend him, he got hit, too, not once but twice. He wasn't hurt as much as Morgana-san, but he gritted his teeth, clearly trying not to give in to whatever pain he was feeling.

"Eiha!" Akira-san shouted.

Arsene appeared and sent his attack at one of the Shadows. It hit home … but the Shadow didn't so much as flinch.

"Garu!" Morgana-san announced.

Zorro appeared and sent wind at one of the Shadows. It clearly did a lot of damage, enough that bits of the Shadow had to reform from darkness, but it did not die.

Morgana-san looked around at the Shadows and seemed to finally notice they weren't doing so well.

"There's more of them?" he asked, exasperated. "This is bad …"

As if to emphasise his point, another one hit him from behind. This time he went down.

"Morgana-san!" Akira-san shouted, turning to glare at the one that had done it.

Another Shadow charged him from the side and sent him to the floor, too.

King Kamoshida came forward and stamped a foot down on Morgana-san.

Morgana-san grunted out in pain. "You piece of—"

Akira-san tried to stand up, but the guard in the gold armour put a foot on his back and pushed him down. He didn't do it gently.

"I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this," said King Kamoshida. "Isn't that right?"

He seemed to be talking to the two being pinned down, but he was looking at Ryuji-san and me.

"No …" Ryuji-san said weakly.

My palms had started to bleed from my nails digging into them again.

"What worthless pieces of trash, getting emotional so quickly … How dare you raise hand or voice to the likes of me? Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice? Or my willingness to let you join the volleyball team, even though you were skinny and weak?"

That's just why you let me join, I wanted to say but had to think. You wanted a whipping boy, someone you didn't have to go easy on because I wasn't as strong or useful as the others. If I'd known what you were like before, I never would have tried. I never would have …

"Wasn't no practice – it was physical abuse!" Ryuji-san shouted, falling to his knees and punching the floor. "You just didn't like our team!"

"It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! That coach who got fired was hopeless, too … Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with only breaking his star's leg."

… I knew Ryuji-san had beef, but I didn't know about that …

I didn't think it was possible, but I actually hated Kamoshida even more now.

"… What?" Ryuji-san breathed out.

"Do you need me to deal with your other leg, too? The school will call it self-defence, anyway!"

I got a sudden feeling of nausea when he turned his golden eyes toward me.

"And you … Hmm, how to top someone wrecking your ability to speak …? Well, there are a lot of people who are born deaf who can't speak, so how about I take your ears? You'll have two out of three! Speak no evil and hear no evil."

I was barely aware of Ryuji-san speaking as his threat ran through my head. I couldn't stop flashes of the incident where my voice was lost to me as they ran through my mind … That wasn't Kamoshida, but the parallels were there … I could still practically feel that fist hitting me in the throat … once … twice … again and again … Was I really ready to go through that again, at the hands of another asshole? Was I really going to sit back and take it again? Was I really just going to adhere to the status quo once more, even after my hope had been given … well, hope of being brought back these last two days …?

I broke out of my thoughts as King Kamoshida brought his foot down on Morgana-san hard once again.

"Once these two are dealt with, you two are next," he promised us. He cackled.

"Ryuji! Hiroyasu!" Morgana-san exclaimed.

"Stand up for yourselves!" Akira-san shouted.

No, I decided. I unclenched my fists and glared at King Kamoshida. HELL NO! I'm not gonna give up, not now, not again!

"… You're right," said Ryuji-san. "Everything important to me was taken by him … I'll never get 'em back …!"

"Stay there and watch, you two. Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you."

Ryuji-san stood up, and I moved to stand beside him. He nodded at me. I nodded back. We both looked at King Kamoshida with defiant glares. I couldn't speak, but my thoughts at that moment were projected loud and clear to all present: I am DONE being fucked with!

"No …" said Ryuji-san. "That's what you are … All you think about is using people … You're the real scumbag, Kamoshida!"

I raised both of my middle fingers.

"What are you doing?" King Kamoshida demanded as we started to walk toward him. "Silence them!"

I smirked at the irony of his statement.

Ryuji-san pointed a finger at King Kamoshida and shouted: "Stop lookin' down on us with that stupid smile on your face!"

I knew he couldn't understand, but I didn't care. I moved my hands and signed. [I won't lie down and let shit slide any more! Regardless of how things turn out, I will never stop fighting you!"]

"Fuckin' finally!" a feminine voice with a growl to it said from nowhere. "How long were ya plannin' on letting me wait, dumbass?"

Then my head exploded in pain.

It was like having my skull cracked open and lava was being poured in. I gripped my head instinctively and opened my mouth in a silent yell of pain. I was vaguely aware of Ryuji-san doing the same beside me.

"You want the power to kick this prick's ass, huh?" the voice asked me. "I guess we could cut a deal. Your name's already dirt, so what've ya got to lose? Run wild and let those sons of bitches judging you know that you don't give a damn! Your 'other self' really wants to kick this annoying prick's ass! I am thou, thou art I … There's no coming back now … This badass bitch and her scissor blade have got your back from now on, ya hear me?"

I stood up, rigidly straight, as something appeared on my face. It was a mask. Without even seeing it, I somehow knew it was a white open-mouthed ghost-like image, not unlike the one from the Scream TV series, but with angrier eyes and what appeared to be fangs in the mouth. It felt … wrong on my face, somehow, like it was keeping me back. That wouldn't do. I raised my hands to the mask, wanting to be free, and pulled.

It hurt.

Like a bitch.

I felt it stick, not moving. So I pulled again. This time the bottom detached somewhat and pain burned the lower part of my face. I felt the wetness of blood. I pulled again. More came loose. I pulled a third time.

The mask fell from my face, blood spurted from all over my face, and blue exploded all around me.

I could feel whatever was trapped behind that mask leap out into the world, and the pain I felt from the flesh being ripped from my face paled in comparison to the elation I felt at finally being truly free of the chains that had held me down up until this moment.

The blue all around me cleared. My face was dry of the blood that had been coating it mere moments before.

Something was hovering behind me.

"Ugh … These two as well!?" grunted King Kamoshida.

I glanced to my left and saw that Ryuji-san had gone through a change. He was wearing a jacket and trousers, both a matching black colour, with knee pads, a red ascot, and combat boots. He was maskless, as I was. Floating behind him was a skeletal pirate with a classic skull-and-crossbones black pirate hat, one eye with a patch over it and one empty socket with a red glow inside, Where his right hand should have been – or, more accurately, where the hook-hand would have been on any other pirate missing a hand – there was a canon. He was dressed in a blue shirt and black trousers, with what looked like metal restraints drawn across his chest, around his neck, and attached to his left arm. The stand-out point, however, was the fact that he was standing on a pirate ship.

I glanced down at myself and saw that I was wearing an all-white bodysuit with a cape flowing out behind me that seemed to have a hood. I pulled the hood up. I liked it.

I looked behind me and saw my Persona. As I had suspected from her voice, it was a girl. She looked about 17, so not that much older than me. She had mid-length, scruffy black hair with a single left-sweep highlight of red on her bangs. Her eyes, which were blue, had peculiarly-shaped pupils, resembling eight-groove gears. Her skin was fair. She wore a navy-blue sailor uniform, though it was slightly odd – it consisted of a crop top with mid-length sleeves that bore her midriff, a sailor-style collar with red pinstripes tied up by a multicoloured scarf and resembling an eye, the other side of which was covered by an "eyepatch" with an X-shaped scratch over it, a skirt held up by suspenders that were attached to a belt, and a single fingerless glove.

"Watcha fuckin' staring at?" she asked me.

I abruptly turned my eyes away.

"Right on …" Ryuji-san said. "Wassup, Persona … This fuckin' rocks!"

That it does, I thought eagerly. A massive grin pulled up the muscles on my face. I had the power to fight back.

Morgana-san and Akira-san stood up from their places on the floor as Ryuji-san continued to speak.

"Now that I got this power, it's time for payback … Yo, I'm ready … Bring it!"

Akira-san, Morgana-san, Ryuji-san, and I stood together, all of us capable of fighting against our oppressors for what felt like the first time. It felt good. Really good.

The Shadow in the gold armour grunted. "Don't mock me, you brat!"

It exploded into darkness and reformed into a large red devil-like creature riding on a black horse.

"Blast him away … Captain Kidd!" Ryuji-san shouted.

Let's teach these fuckers a lesson … Ryuko, I thought.

"I thought you'd never ask," she said to me. I wasn't sure whether it was just me hearing her, or if the others could, as well.

Our fight began.

"What troublemakers that trouble King Kamoshida with trifle matters," the Shadow said.

"Kamoshida's cognition ain't changin', right?" said Ryuji-san. "Then I'll act like the troublemaker I am! Let's do this, Captain Kidd!"

If he wants to peg me the sneak, then that's exactly what I'll be, I thought. I'll rip his soldiers limb from limb, all from the shadows. From behind the scenes, I'll tear his little kingdom apart! You, Ryuko, will be my weapon, the thing that's seen while I remain hidden. Is that a deal you're particularly interested in?

I could feel her grin without looking. "Just point me to whoever's ass I need to kick," she said.

I think the Horseman of the Apocalypse wannabe there would be a good start.

Two of the Dirty Two-Horned Beasts joined the Guard Captain on the battlefield. Good. We would probably need at least three between us in order to adequately air out all our frustrations.

Captain Kidd spun around at Ryuji-san's orders and rained lightning down on one of the Dirty Two-Horned Beasts.

Ryuko – it felt silly giving part of my own being an honorific – lunged at the Guard Captain and delivered a devastating Cleave with the blade she'd been holding, which looked like half of a giant pair of scissors. He stumbled but stayed put.

Ryuko vanished and I was wearing a mask again.

"Yeah, have some of that!"

Despite my elation, I didn't fancy the prospect of ripping bits of my face off again.

Ryuji-san ripped off his mask – which resembled the top half of a skull – and summoned Captain Kidd again, who rained down lightning on the other Dirty Two-Horned Beast. Both of them were down. Ryuji-san then ran up to one of them and delivered a swift kick then a whack with the lead pipe he had all of a sudden. The Shadow exploded into black smoke and then was nothing.

Akira-san summoned Arsene, who delivered a Cleave of his own to the other downed Shadow. It died.

Morgana-san sent Zorro in with a Garu to attack the Guard Captain.

The Guard Captain aimed his lance at Morgana-san and made to attack, but I ripped my mask off, gritting my teeth through the pain, and sent Ryuko in with her scissor blade. She knocked the lance off course, then took a second swing and whacked the flat edge of her blade across the Guard Captain's head, dazing him.

Lightning rained down on the Guard Captain and curse energy from Arsene's Eiha rose from the ground to meet him. He stood no chance now that he was outnumbered.

Morgana-san had Zorro hit the Guard Captain with another blast of wind, and then it was over.

"I am …" the Guard Captain said weakly, "a loyal subject … of the glorious King Kamoshida … So why … have I lost …!?"

"It just proves that Kamoshida ain't anything special," said Ryuji-san.

"Not just that, but it proves that he's full of shit, and so are you!"

The Guard Captain vaporised.

King Kamoshida looked at the rapidly disappearing leftovers in shock.

Ryuji-san, breathing heavily, said, "… How 'bout that!?"

"I don't know what's surprising me more," Morgana-san commented. "The fact that Ryuji-san had the Potential, too … or the fact that Hiroyasu is talking …"

I looked at him inquisitively.

"You didn't notice?" asked Akira-san. "You've talked twice in the last few minutes."

"No, I haven—"

I froze. That was me. It was metallic, almost robotic, but that was very much me. Though it seemed to be coming less than me and more from the mask, one irrefutable fact remained: I could talk.

"… Hey, Kamoshida," I … I said. "I'd just like to take this opportunity to say what I've been wanting to say to you so many times in the last year." I cleared my throat for emphasis. "FUCK. OFF. AND DIE!"

I felt so elated I could have died happily at that moment. I could talk again! It wasn't just the opportunity to say that to Kamoshida, it was the fact that I could talk! I could communicate without being annoying! I COULD ACTUALLY SAY THINGS TO PEOPLE!

Kamoshida growled at us. "I told you that this is my castle." His irritation vanished and that grin – that annoying fucking grin – spread across his face again. "It seems you still don't understand …"

Someone walked in from the side and stood close to Kamoshida's side. Very close. She was practically hugging onto him.

Even wearing as little as she was – a red bra and panties, gold high-heels, and cat ears – I recognised the girl as Takamaki-san.

"Wh—" said Ryuji-san, realising what I had. "Takamaki!?"

"Oh …!" Morgana-san gasped. "Wha … What a meow-velous and beautiful girl …!"

"We need to kill the cat," Ryuko said in my mind.

Agreed, I thought.

The other Takamaki-san put an arm around King Kamoshida and hugged herself to him.

I shocked myself with how angry I got.

I already knew he saw her as nothing but a sex object, but actually seeing it … I saw red, and it had absolutely nothing to do with what she was wearing, I swear. He saw Takamaki-san, a living, breathing girl with a life of her own, who had an unfair reputation for … promiscuousness as it was, as just something to stick his dick in. I held nothing but rage and hatred for this absolute bastard of a teacher.

"What's going on …?" Ryuji-san asked.

"It's how he sees Takamaki-san," I growled. The metallic nature of my new voice didn't quite capture all the emotion, but it came close enough. "Nothing but a walking sex doll. Bastard."

As though to emphasise my point, Kamoshida started to stroke this other Takamaki-san's face. It was anything but affectionate. It was creepy.

"Hey!" Ryuji-san yelled. "Let go of her, you perv!"

"How many times must I tell you until you understand?" King Kamoshida asked condescendingly. "This is MY castle – a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me. … That is, everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you."

"Something tells me your definition of 'love' is something you only share with the female genitalia," I said.

King Kamoshida smirked at me. "Are you jealous? Well, I'm not surprised. Women aren't drawn to problematic little sneaks like you. Especially since I made the entire student body think you were spying on the girls' locker room and that little sketchbook of yours is filled with your memories of them."

"I think my next drawing will be of you fucking yourself. Not a pretty image, but seeing your face when it's found on your desk would be worth it."

"Clean them up this instant!"

About four guards sprouted from the ground.

"We're outnumbered …" said Morgana-san, troubled. "Let's scram before we get surrounded!"

"We're not gonna do anything and just run!?" Ryuji-san protested.

"Just shut up and go," Akira-san ordered seriously.

"Thank God you've got a level head," said Morgana-san.

"As much as I'd love to pound this fucker's face into paste, I have to admit that I don't like these odds," I said when it once again occurred to me that I could speak.

Ryuji-san clicked his tongue in annoyance, then shouted at King Kamoshida past the Shadows. "We'll expose what you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us …!"

King Kamoshida laughed. "I was beginning to get bored of torturing the ones here! Come at me whenever you want, if you don't care about your life!" He laughed again.

"Ignore him," Morgana-san advised. "Let's go!"

We ran.

Ryuji-san panted as we stood outside the castle. After hearing about his leg, it made sense to me that he wouldn't be as good at running these days, even if he was a member of the track team at one point.

"Anyways!" he said, eventually. "I don't remember changin' into this!"

"Nor I, this," I said. "And I doubt Akira-san switched wardrobes really quickly while we weren't looking when he first got his getup, you know?"

"You guys look pretty cool," Akira-san commented.

"Uhh … Should I be happy about that?" asked Ryuji-san.

"I am," I said. "You should be, too. We look pretty badass."

"Did you find them!?" a Shadow said inside the castle.

"Quiet!" Morgana-san hushed us.

"No! Search that way!" said another Shadow.

We relaxed. They didn't seem to be coming outside. Using our secret exit had paid off.

"So what's goin' on?" Ryuji-san asked. "I'm completely lost, man …!"

"I told you before," said Morgana-san. "When a Persona-user opposes a Palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It's to prevent you from being affected by distortions."

Ryuji-san felt his mask. "Is this … a skull?"

"I look like a vaguely evil ghost," I threw in. "Kind of appropriate, no? 'Silent Spook' and 'Ghost of the Girls' Locker Room' are both looking kinda funny right now."

"Your appearance reflects your inner self," said Morgana-san. "It's the rebel that slumbers within …" He eyed Ryuji-san. "Not that you'll get it."

"Nope …" Ryuji-san agreed instantly.

"Well, at least he acknowledges it," I said.

"Then stop asking questions," said Morgana-san, "and accept what you see for what it is."

"Easy for you to say," said Ryuji-san. He gasped. "Wait, we're in deep shit!"

"I said to be quiet!" Morgana-san hissed at him.

"We might've gotten away here, but we're still screwed with Kamoshida at the real school …"

"That's quite sharp of you! … For being an idiot. Relax. The Kamoshida in reality can't possibly know about what happens here. A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed – a side of one's personality they don't want to see."

"Plus," I added, "we were in here yesterday, and he didn't react to us any worse than usual when we got to school, did he? We should be fine, Ryuji-san."

"All right!" said Ryuji-san. "Now that we know that, all we gotta do is—"

"Wait," Morgana-san interrupted. "I guided you as promised. It's your turn to cooperate with me. That's why I was super nice about teaching you idiots everything."

"Huh? Cooperate?"

"Don't you remember? I originally came here for an investigation. I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form! That's why we must delve deep into Mementos and—"

"Whoa, hold up. What're you goin' on and on about? We never said anything about helping you out."

"Huh? Don't tell me … Are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you?" He turned his eyes to Akira-san. "Especially you! You're going to up and leave, even though you're already part of my master plan!?"

"What plan?" asked Akira-san.

"Is it because I'm not human …?" Morgana-san asked. "Because I'm like a cat …? Is that why you're making a fool of me!?"

"I'd be happy to help you out," I said. "But I only just got these powers and we know absolutely nothing about what you're talking about. How do you expect us to help at all if you won't explain? I know Ryuji-san hasn't left the best impression …"

"Hey!"

"… but I'm sure Akira-san and I will pick up on whatever you tell us pretty quickly."

"We're busy!" Ryuji-san argued. He knelt down and patted Morgana-san on the head in a slightly condescending manner. "Thanks for everything, cat. You've got guts, bein' a cat and all! See you around!"

Ryuji-san ran off. Akira-san followed a moment after.

"Sorry," I said to Morgana-san, then I followed them.

The poor cat was still shouting at us when we left.

{You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.}

The three of us were standing in the alley again.

"… Thank God, we're back," said Ryuji-san.

I tried to speak, to say that leaving Morgana-san like that probably wasn't very nice of us … but all I got was pain and wheezing noises. I choked on the words that I had intended to speak and started coughing and sputtering into my hand. When I opened my hand, there was fresh blood on it, and not from when I opened it with my nails earlier. I grimaced, disappointed, but I was used to not being able to speak.

"Can't speak out here, huh?" Akira-san asked. "That sucks, man. I'm sorry."

I waved him off like I didn't mind. I did.

"I dragged you guys around a lot, huh?" Ryuji-san asked. "Sorry, guys."

"I wanted to bring him down, too. Don't even worry about it," is what I wrote and showed him.

He nodded at me, then sighed. "I'm dead tired. How're you guys holdin' up?"

"I could use a nap," Akira-san mused.

A yawn tore through my lips, showing them my answer.

"I guess we're all gonna sleep like rocks when we get home," said Ryuji-san. "But damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good! I totally remember the faces of the guys Kamoshida was treatin' like slaves. Once we make 'em fess up to any physical abuse, Kamoshida will be done. So … wanna help me look for those guys or any witnesses?"

I nodded without hesitating.

"Sure," said Akira-san.

"Awesome," said Ryuji-san. "Hey, so … If you're thinkin' of layin' low 'cause you got a record, I don't think that'll help … Everyone already knows. They totally got you pegged as a criminal."

"I know," said Akira-san. "Jesus, how could I not? Everyone's talking about it. What I can't figure out is the how."

"How else? Kamoshida opened his damn mouth!"

"Right … but why? I never did anything to him."

"And you think that matters? It doesn't matter if it's a student or a club; that asshole just wrecks things he doesn't agree with. Just like he did with me …! No one'll take anything I say seriously."

I signed to Akira-san. [Me, too. Not that I can 'say' anything, but you know what I mean. Now that our reputations are dirt, we can't get anyone to so much as hear us out.]

"Still, those rumours about him gettin' physical might be real," said Ryuji-san. "And after seeing Kamoshida's distorted-heart thing in person, there's no way I can just sit back!"

"Of course," Akira-san agreed.

"I'm countin' on you!" He paused. "No, we're countin' on you." He tapped me on the shoulder. "Don't worry; I'm hyped about this, too!"

I looked between the two of them and smiled. I felt closer to these two after just two days than I'd felt to anyone in years. It was refreshing. It felt good.

Ryuji-san's stomach growling kind of ruined the moment.

"Oh …" he said, embarrassed. "Right. I haven't eaten anything since lunch. It'd be weird splittin' off now, so why don't we grab a bite somewhere?"

"What did you have in mind?" asked Akira-san.

"Meat, man. Just follow me."

I followed along with them. I hadn't eaten since lunch, either. Getting some meat in me sounded like a damn good idea.

"WHAT!?" Ryuji-san exclaimed after Akira-san had finished his story.

Akira-san had been walking home one night when he'd come across a man trying to force himself on a woman. Akira-san had interrupted, and the man had fallen down. The man sued him. It turned out that the guy – whose name Akira-san didn't appear to recall – was some hotshot politician with big connections. He got away with everything and Akira-san was given a record and a year on probation at our school. This miscarriage of justice was pretty fucked up.

I guess Kamoshida isn't the only guy who gets away with sexual harassment just because he's a big shot, I mused unhappily. The words "fuck the world" occurred to me, not for the first time.

"The hell, man!" Ryuji-san went on. "How much shittier can that asshole get!?"

"It's in the past …" Akira-san said uncomfortably.

"Fuck that!" Ryuko's voice resounded in my head. "I'd have kicked seven shades of shit outta that guy!"

"Are you for real!? If it was me, I wouldn't calm down until I punched that dick in the face!" He carried on eating. I had finished sometime ago. "So … you left your hometown, and … you're livin' here now, huh? We might be more alike than I originally thought."

"What did you do?" Akira-san asked.

"I don't got a record like you do," Ryuji-san said humorously. "I mean, that's not the point. I guess it's like how we're treated like a pain in the ass by the people around us, like we don't belong. You, too, Hiroyasu. I did something stupid at school before, too." He tipped his head back and poured the remainder of his bowl's contents down his gullet. "The place you're livin' now is in … Yongen, right? It's rush hour on the subways. I suggest you kill some time before headin' home." He peered curiously into Akira-san's bowl and looked affronted. "What the hell, man. You barely touched your food."

It was then that I noticed Ryuji-san had put all the money on the table.

Shaking my head, I reached into my pocket.

"I can do that," Akira-san said.

Ryuji-san waved us both off with an air of ease. "Just lemme do it. I gotta thank you two for helpin' me. Anyways, I got your backs like you got mine from tomorrow on. As long as we do something about Kamoshida, I'm sure we'll all feel better about bein' at school. Oh, yeah! Tell me your numbers. Chat IDs, too."

We exchanged numbers between us.

"Just you wait, Kamoshida …" Ryuji-san muttered with relish. "We're gonna start right away tomorrow. First, let's hit up those guys that were kept as slaves. The volleyball rally's tomorrow, huh? Shit's recommended by Kamoshida. Makes me wanna gag. But thanks to that, we got no classes in the afternoon, and we can walk around unnoticed."

[I think you'll find I'm an expert in that area,] I signed to Akira-san. He smiled and relayed it to Ryuji-san.

"Think you can listen in on anyone, see if you can pick anything up?" he asked.

I nodded resolutely. I would certainly try.

"Man, you're the best," he said, making me look down and blush. "I guess we can work out the full details tomorrow." He looked again at Akira-san's bowl. "C'mon, you gotta eat more. There's tons of ginger here."

We stayed for a while more. It was fun.

I went home and spent the night how I always did. I listened to music, I drew, and eventually, I fell into an uncomfortable sleep.

Goodnight, Ryuko, I thought as I drifted off.

"Night," she responded.

In defence of Hiroyasu's Persona being an anime character, two things. 1) The Personas are just representations of the characters' psyches, and the inclusion of the literary characters proves that to fit the theme, in this case "rebellion," they don't have to come from the same sort of place as the others, so I think the rebellious girl Ryuko Matoi of Kill la Kill fits the bill. 2) I was originally planning on having his Persona be Quasimodo from Notre-Dame de Paris (better known as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) due to his rebellion against his tyrannical father figure Claude Frollo, but Theboblinator talked me into using Ryuko when I explained Hiroyasu's personality to him and he made a very convincing argument about how the two fit together. Moral of this story: IF YOU'RE UPSET, BLAME THEBOBLINATOR!

Only joking. Feel free to be displeased with me. I only ask that you leave any outright abuse in your own head. I will block people who are abusive without providing constructive criticism.

If it's the gender not matching that bothers you … then Naoto. Naoto's Persona was male. I get that's meant to symbolise her conflicted gender issues and all that, but the point stands that she proves that it CAN happen.

Also, no hate on Ryuji, but I did get frustrated when I was playing the game and everything Morgana said just went right over his bloody head. That's not just me, is it?

Anyway, enough of that. I hope you enjoyed.

Before I go, I shall answer some reviews.

Fanboy of the Multiverse: Cheers, mate.

ShadowUzumaki55: Thank you, I was hoping so. As you can see, he can talk, but only in the cognitive world. I don't want to get too unrealistically upbeat by giving him the ability to speak all the time.

pyrojack25: I … don't think I've ever heard the word you're referring to. If I was accidentally racist, I apologise, but I honestly don't know what you're talking about. I will neither confirm nor deny that.

Golden-Black Dragon: Yes, Hiroyasu is mute. That was kind of the idea, but I also just wanted to give Hiroyasu a disadvantage of some sort in the real world. Thank you.

ARSLOTHES: Thank you.

Isamaru: Thank you very much!

JayH120: Ann is my favourite girl, too, followed closely by Futaba. As you can see from the chapter, yes, he talks, but not in the real world. We'll go into exactly why he's mute as the story progresses. Thank you. Heh, that is kinda funny. I hope you enjoyed the second chapter.

haye2: Thank you.

VirtualDelirium: Thanks. I hope you enjoyed the second chapter.

Before I go, I'd just like to ask that guest reviewer who keeps asking me to update my DxD stories to stop. I'll get to them when I get to them.

See you all next time!