Finally, at the celebration

Hayato kept talking about his experience with Personas in the real world, but Shin had already gotten all the information that he needed.

'The power of friendship, huh? I heard that sacrifices are needed to progress, but... So be it. I have to believe in my friends!'

The teen shivered at the last sentence. Hayato didn't notice that, and intended to continue, but the sound of the doorbell ringing distracted him.

He opened the door, and what he saw made his blood run cold. There was Nanako and a... boy.

Shin could feel the man's bloodlust leak all the way from the living room, but he continued sipping from his drink regardless.

'This coffee is some good shit. Ozpin had his priorities straight.'

Hayato wordlessly led the 2 kids to the living room, where Nanako was shocked to see Shin.

"Yo, Nanako. Missed me?" he asked.

"Mr Yuuta? Why are you here?"

"So cruel! Do you not want me here?" said Shin, with a fake-hurt expression.

"N-No, I didn't mean it like that."

"So you DID miss me!"

"Eh? Ah, that-"

"Ahem." said Hayato, whose left eyebrow was twitching severely.

He was really pissed at that kid who got close enough to his dear Nanako that she'd invite him over. The little girl didn't say anything, but he was smart enough to deduce that.

"So who is he?" the man asked, nudging with his chin towards the black-haired kid.

"Ah, my name is Boku. Nice to meet you." said the boy.

'So that's why I thought he looked familiar.' thought Shin.

Even if he held a stoney face on the outside, his inner thoughts were anything but calm.

On the other hand, Hayato was having a crisis. If he could, he would've disposed of the boy already. And he wasn't the only one who had dark thoughts.

Meanwhile, Boku, the small black-haired boy, was scared out of his wits. The two older males were looking at him as if he had murdered their entire family.

Nanako was simply oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

Suddenly, Shin stood up and went to the door.

"I think it's time for me to take my leave. But before that..."

The teen bent down so he was at the same level as Boku's head.

"If you do anything to her, I will make sure the police will have a scavenger hunt with your body parts. Got it?"

The kid pecked his head up and down at breakneck speeds. Shin smiled and patted him on his head.

"Good."

The teen opened the entrance door and left, leaving Boku at the mercy of Hayato.

-INTERMISSION-

5th of May.

"Thish ish shooo good!" exclaimed Ryuji, who was stuffing his mouth with large pieces of steak.

"No wonder Lady Ann chose this place!" said Morgana.

"Of course it's good. This is a famous hotel, after all." Ann too was quickly devouring some cakes.

Shin and Shiho, the only people at their table that didn't eat as if they were starved for weeks, were just quietly sitting on the sofa, eating their food at a normal pace.

"I heard that the police are coming to our school to interview some people at school." said Shiho.

"How troublesome." sighed Shin.

Ryuji swallowed a bit of steak before he said.

"Our names are gonna come up for sure. There's those rumours about us and Kamoshida going around... But I heard some believe in the Phantom Thieves. It feels kinda... weird. Oh, check this out!"

The blond took his phone out of his pockets and showed the screen to the others.

"The Phantom Enthusiast Website? What is this?" asked Ann.

"Someone from our school made it. I don't know who, though. I've been looking through it and a lot of people are thanking us for the stuff with Kamoshida."

"We were just desperate to deal with our own problems, but other people thanking us like that feels... strange." said Shiho.

"Yeah. By the way, what are we doing now?" asked Ryuji.

"We eat. Only 50 minutes left and I want to see how bad of an indigestion I can get." replied Shin.

"Ah! This place has a time limit!" exclaimed Ann.

"I won't be able to finish all the beef dishes at this rate!" said Ryuji.

"And I need to eat my way through the entire dessert menu." said the blonde girl as she walked away from the table.

Ryuji too wanted to leave, but Shin handed him the bag with Morgana inside so that he's is assured Ryuji will take something besides meat.

Shin continued eating his sushi in silence, as Shiho too concentrated on eating her dish.

Several minutes later, Ann returned first with a pile of cakes. She set some aside for the others and started digging into the mountain of cakes.

Ryuji too had a heap of meat, but there were some vegetables on the side, thanks to Morgana. The vegetables went mostly on another plate put next to the one with meat for the others.

"Ahh! That hit the spot!" said Shiho, patting her stomach.

"Yup." said Shin, leaning back onto the sofa.

"Hey! I want some too!" said Morgana.

He had to stay inside the bag most of the time as the restaurant staff wouldn't appreciate an animal going around food.

"Alright, alright." said Shin, stretching over Shiho and placing the bag closer to the table.

The teen took a look around, appreciating the spaciousness of the room. His sight eventually fell on Shiho and didn't move away.

"Hey, Shiho." he said.

"Hm?"

The girl turned her head to face him. She saw Shin's intense glare which made her bashful for some reason and tried to look the other way.

Unfortunately, the black-haired boy had caught her chin with his hand and kept her head from moving. The girl had a feeble to break free of his hold, but alas, it was in vain. The two made eye contact, and Shiho couldn't help but be drawn into the pitch-black orbs that were Shin's eyes.

She moved her face forward, with her mouth slightly lowered and her eyes dazed. Shin reciprocated the action, and soon their faces were in proximity of each other.

Shiho closed her eyes, anticipating Shin's next action.

But the expected action never arrived. Instead, the boy held a napkin in his free hand and gently wiped some sauce left on Shiho's face.

As the recent developments registered into her mind, Shiho almost blanked out, her face becoming nothing short of a tomato.

She couldn't believe how easily she was led by him. Although she'd be lying if she said she didn't want it to happen.

Luckily, the others were too busy stuffing themselves to notice. She breathed a sigh of relief.

How could she have faced them after that?

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This chapter's additional info is on... Izanagi!

Izanagi is a Japanese creation deity born of the seven divine generations in Japanese mythology. He is also referred to in various chronicles such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shiki as Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the "male-who-invites." He and Izanami created many of the islands and deities of Japan. When Izanami died, Izanagi tried to retrieve her from the underworld, but failed. He mistakenly looks at her while she's in a rotting, monstrous state in the underworld, which shames her. She attempts to kill him, and swears to kill a thousand of his men a day. Izanagi claims that he will make sure that a thousand and five hundred will be born each day.

Izanagi is the Initial Persona of Hayato.

According to Izanami herself, she gave the Persona of Izanagi to three outsiders who represent Hope, Despair, and Emptiness.

Hayato represented Hope and thus his Izanagi is 'pure'. Adachi represented Emptiness, and as he refused to see the truth and gave into murderous corruption his version of Izanagi became tainted and malevolent as well. Namatame, presumably, would also receive another version of Izanagi, which represented Despair, reflecting his desperate idea of "saving" people from the murders by throwing them in the Midnight Channel, although his Izanagi is never shown.

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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 4