Confession

5th of May, Shujin Academy's Gym.

The entirety of the student body was called for a morning assembly. Most of the students were confused as to why they were there.

"I bet it's about that boy that jumped the other day." theorized a boy.

"They don't have to tell us not to commit suicide." said a brown-haired girl.

"Come to think of it, wasn't there that weird card posted on the bulletin boards? Guess the teachers are freaking out."

At that moment, Principal Kobayakawa appeared on the podium and stepped up to the lectern.

"Great, Principal Dumpling is here..." muttered Ryuji.

"Let's begin this school-wide morning assembly. As you all know, a tragic event took place the other day. Thankfully, we have been informed that he will pull through, but it will take a long time until he recovers. Everyone here has a bright future ahead. I implore that you rethink of the importance of life and-"

When Ryuji was about to doze off, Kamoshida entered the gym. The principal looked shocked, so he asked.

"Mr Kamoshida, what's the problem?"

"I... have been reborn." said Kamoshida as he slowly walked to the podium.

He looked downcast, as he held his head low while walking.

"That is why I will confess everything to you all... I have repeatedly done things that were... unbecoming of a teacher. Verbally abusing students... physically abusing my team, and... sexually harassing female students. I am the reason why Yuuki Mishima tried to kill himself!"

At that point, the man collapsed on his knees and broke out in tears.

"I thought of this school as my own castle... There were even students that I sentenced to expulsion, simply because I didn't like them... I will, of course, rescind those... I am truly sorry for putting innocent youths through such horrible acts... I am an arrogant, shallow... and shameful person. No, I'm worse than that..." he said, between sobs.

Kamoshida lowered his head until it touched the floor.

"I will take responsibility and kill myself for it!"

The principal looked around like a retarded chicken. Perhaps if it wasn't for his next action, the more naive and unknowing students in the hall might've believed he wasn't in cahoots with Kamoshida.

"Mr Kamoshida! Please get off the stage now!" he shouted.

The rest of the teachers immediately guided the students to their classes.

"Don't you dare run, you bastard! Mishima's still alive, even after all that! You can't just get rid of the consequences like that!" shouted Ryuji.

"Ah, you're right... You're absolutely right... I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes... I did horrible things to Sakamoto as well. Because I didn't want to have another important team that I couldn't coach, I had gotten the last coach fired. His broken leg wasn't self-defense. I just needed some incident like that to break up the track team."

The man partially rose from his completely submissive position, although he was still kneeling.

"As of today, I resign from my position as an instructor and I will turn myself in. Someone, please call the police!" he said, looking around the gym.

The students went out of the gym. On the hallways, Ann, Ryuji and Shiho encountered Shin.

"Where have you been, man? You don't know what you missed!" said Ryuji, excited.

"I just went to the toilet."

'And I didn't want to see Kamoshida sobbing.'

"Did something happen?" asked Shin, although he already knew the answer.

"Yeah, you did! Kamoshida just confessed of everything he did! In front of the whole assembly!" said Ann.

"Damn..."

Just then, several teens approached Ryuji. Among them was Nakaoka.

"Sakamoto... Sorry..."

"Huh?" Ryuji was shocked.

"I... we blamed you for the disbanding of the track team, but... Kamoshida would've kept abusing members like that even if you didn't try and punch him."

"We just wanted someone to blame."

Shin turned towards Ryuji and slapped him on the back.

"I think you can handle dealing with these guys. We'll meet up later." he said.

The black-haired boy left along with Ann and Shiho.

-INTERMISSION-

"Why did you have to leave me there?! It got so awkward!" shouted the blond boy.

"You survived, didn't you?" said Shin.

"That's besides the point!"

The four teens and Morgana were on the rooftop, sitting on some benches. They headed there as soon as the teachers let them.

"Anyway, that confession was so sudden." said Shiho.

"That totally freaked me out." said Ann.

Morgana seemed to ponder something, before he opened his mouth and said.

"So they won't have a mental shutdown even if their palace disappears. Then why...?"

"I guess we just needed to make their Shadows confess." said Ryuji.

"Well, that's settled. But was Kamoshida the only one with a Palace, though?" asked Shiho.

"It's something everyone could have if their heart became warped from their desires." said Morgana.

"Anyone..." muttered Ann.

"Wanna check it out now?" asked Morgana.

"You know, people are gonna be talking about Kamoshida now. Maybe we should be staying low for some time. Then again, it's not like they'd find out." said Ryuji.

"Yeah, well..." started Shiho.

"Rumours are already going around about us. Something like, we threatened Kamoshida together."

"People won't believe that phantom thieves exist so easily. Not that shocking." said Shin.

"They must be thinking it was just a prank." said Morgana, nodding his head.

"We were the ones who did it and I still can't completely believe it either." said Ryuji as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"So what are we going to do about that medal?" asked Shiho.

"Oh, right. Let me just..."

Ryuji quickly browsed on his phone.

"Thirty thousand yen?! That's it?!"

At that moment, Ann smiled smugly.

"Remember that time in middle school? I lent you some money." she said to Ryuji.

"There's no way I borrowed thirty thousand yen from you!" he replied.

"Wouldn't it be that much with compounded interest?"

"As if!"

"You should've just paid me back all those years ago. It's just common sense!"

"What about a celebration?" suggested Shiho.

"I like the sound of that." said Shin.

"There's actually a place I've been meaning to check out. You know what I'm talking about, right Shiho?" asked Ann.

"Mmhm."

"I owe money so I can't really complain..."

"I'll trust your judgement, Lady Ann." said the cat.

"I'll call and check the prices later then. But when should we go?"

"Soon? Like tomorrow?" said Ryuji.

"Maybe at the end of the holiday? So we're pumped up for school the next day." said Ann.

"That's on the... 5th, Children's Day. Alright then. But who's gonna sell this?"

"Leave it to me. I know a guy." said Shin.

-INTERMISSION-

"Huh? You again? What do you want?" asked the owner of Untouchable.

Shin had only visited to get better weapons for Ann and Shiho. He had to bear the man's weird stare when he asked for a whip. The teen intended to get some swords for training, though he quickly found out that the cheapest swords sold were out of his price range.

'I did beat the shit out of those Shadows to get money.' he thought.

Indeed. Besides his fights with the Reaper, he also spent his time farming money from Shadows.

'Wonder where all that money comes from. It's possible that I'm practically emptying their pockets, although it's quite a lot of money.'

"I want to sell this." he said, showing the gold medal.

"A gold medal? Why do you have this? We don't buy any fake or stolen good here, kid." said the man.

The man looked at the medal again and said.

"I'm just... not gonna ask where you got this from. How's 30,000 yen sound for it?"

"That's a good price." said Shin.

"Alright."

The man placed the medal somewhere behind the counter and handed Shin his money.

"Anything else?"

"Swords."

"..."

"I have some, but it'll take some time before they arrive. I'll need payment up front, though." he said.

"Fair enough." said Shin as he handed the man 100,000 yen.

"They should be here in some time. Come by the shop tomorrow." said the man.

-INTERMISSION-

The next day, after Shin woke up, Sojiro called him to have him help out around the cafe.

"Heh, sorry I kinda pressured you into doing this."

Meanwhile, on the news, the newscaster brought up a subject Shin was quite familiar with.

"On our next topic... Fall from Grace: the story of a dishonored Olympic medalist."

The TV displayed a photo with Kamoshida.

"Just recently, a high school coach confessed at an assembly that he had been repeatedly abusing students. Given his previous achievements, it caused quite a stir. What made this habitual offender to suddenly confess these heinous crimes to his entire school? The police are hoping that the upcoming interrogations will bring light to this question."

Sojiro felt the man looked familiar, although he couldn't put his finger on it.

"This is...?"

"My school coach, yeah. Always looked shady."

"Things are going to get turbulent at your school, you know? Just keep your head low. And keep those hands moving. I've got other stuff I need you for."

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This chapter's additional info is on... Initial Personas!

The initial Persona is the Persona that represents the most inner thought of its host. As a beginning Persona, its ability is usually relatively weak, so the mythological or historic figure that the Persona takes form is often less significant in the respective mythology or history, though there is some exception.

As the Persona "closest" to the user, the initial Persona will always be able to be summoned by the user, even if they previously returned it or transformed it into another Persona.

Persona 5 is the first game to feature initial Personas mostly from modern fiction or historical figures, whether proven or contested.

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Confidants:

Igor (The Fool) - Rank 2

Morgana (The Magician) - Rank 2

Sojiro Sakura (The Hierophant) - Rank 2

Ann Takamaki (The Lovers) - Rank 3

Ryuji Sakamoto (The Chariot) - Rank 4

Tae Takemi (The Death) - Rank 3

Shiho Suzui (The Hope) - Rank 3