8 Spoiled suicide attempt

During Mr Ushimaru's class, Shin decided to take a toilet break. On the way to the bathroom, he sneakily went up the stairs to the roof. There, the wind breeze gently ruffled his already messy hair.

'I swear, this hair is cursed. Vehemently refusing to change shape.' he thought while curling the bang hanging in front of his eyes with one finger.

He leaned on the wall next to the door, thinking about what is going to happen.

'Shiho would've attempted to kill herself today, although since she was no longer violated by Kamoshida, I doubt she'd do that. Nevertheless, she still suffered at his hands, so the suicide is a possibility.'

Shin didn't want to risk it, so he stood there, waiting for anyone that would come. He whipped out his phone and started camping.

Finally, about half an hour later, the door slowly opened, and a nervous-looking black-haired girl appeared in Shin's sight.

The boy saw that Shiho went near the fence and intended to start climbing it. The girl didn't see him since the opened door covered him just enough to not be noticeable at the first glance.

"What are you doing, Shiho?" he asked.

The girl looked like a deer caught in the spotlights.

"Wha! I-I-" she stuttered.

Shin frowned as he approached her.

"Did you plan on jumping?" he asked grimly.

Shiho let her head hang down.

"Even after I went out of my way to stop Kamoshida..." started Shin, annoyed.

"Sorry..." muttered the girl.

"You shouldn't apologize to me, but to your friend. She did some things for your sake. Don't make them be in vain, alright? Now come on, let's get out of here." said the boy, gesturing with his hand.

Shiho started crying, and she used her hand to wipe her tears.

'Good grief... Why do I feel a sense of Déjà vu?' he thought, shaking his head.

"Why... why do you care so much...?"

Shin sighed.

"So that's why... Listen, I can't just let something like that happen. If I can intervene, then I will."

"But... going against Kamoshida..."

The boy grinned.

"You seem to be under the false impression that I actually give a shit about whether Kamoshida wants me gone or not. He doesn't like me, and he can't do anything about it. If he does try anything, though, he better know how to subtract 7 from 1000 repeatedly."

Shin had such a bloodthirsty grin on his face, if anyone were to see it they'd piss themselves in fear. Shiho was too busy crying to notice it, and, by the time she could keep her emotions in check, the grin vanished.

"It's pretty late now. I should make a good excuse for Mr Ushimaru so he doesn't get too mad."

Since Shiho was calm, she went on her way back to her class. Shin followed her, just to make sure, and returned to his class. On his way, he encountered Mishima, who had been sent after him, since he spent a lot of time in the bathroom.

The odd part was that Mishima didn't come with him to the class, but he didn't think much of it.

"What took you so long!?" shouted the middle-aged teacher.

"Well, you see, when I got in the bathroom-"

Unfortunately, his amazing excuse was interrupted when the student near the door stood up and pointed out of the window.

"What's he doing...?"

As more and more students looked out of the window, a commotion broke out in the classroom.

"Wait... He's going to jump...!"

The teacher tried to control the students.

"Stay in your seats! Do not step foot outside of this room!"

However, it was all in vain. Crowds were already formed on the hallways. Save for a few lazier students who decided to watch through the windows, most headed outside.

Shin met Ryuji on the hallways. The blond teen suggested that they went to get a closer look. The two had to go through the Practice building to reach the courtyard, which delayed them by some time.

Outside, on a stretcher, laid Mishima's unmoving body. The ambulance had been called earlier, it seemed. Most students were shocked that something like that happened at their school, however Shin too was shocked, but for other reasons.

'So that's why he didn't return to class. Fuck! I should've been more careful!'

"We need someone to go with him... Are there any teachers around?" asked one of the paramedics.

"I'll go with him. He was supposed to be in my class." said Mr Ushimaru.

Even after the ambulance left, the students remained in their places in the courtyard. Ryuji turned to look at Shin and asked.

"Hey... What the hell happened...?"

It seemed like Ryuji was still in shock in light of the recent events.

"I don't know."

The boys went further away from the crowd so they could talk in relative privacy.

"Why do you think this happened?" asked Ryuji.

"I don't know for sure but... Mishima was, like, a 'special' student of Kamoshida, right?"

"That bastard! It's his fault again! I've had enough of this!" said Ryuji as he ran off.

Shin shook his head.

'That guy... He doesn't even know where his office is..."

The teen went after Ryuji, albeit not running.

Near them, Ann and Shiho were also talking. Ann, who had heard what the two teens just said, urged Shiho to come with her after them. The black-haired girl helplessly followed the blonde.

Shin had obviously noticed the girls since they weren't too subtle in their efforts, but he continued on his way.

He arrived just in time to see Ryuji was about to punch Kamoshida. He deftly caught Ryuji by the wrist.

"Why are you stopping me...!?"

"Calm down."

Shin could see Ryuji's knuckles turn white. He was barely holding himself from punching Kamoshida again.

"Oh? You're stopping him? What a surprise. There's no need to hold back. Why not attack me?"

'Oh how quickly they forget your threats when they think they're in a position of power.'

"Hahaha, but of course you can't!" said Kamoshida with a grin.

Suddenly, the tall man lost his smile as he sat back at his desk.

"Everyone present right now... will be expelled. I'm reporting all of you at the next board meeting."

"What!?" Ryuji was shocked.

"You can't make a decision like that...!" muttered Shiho, who was standing just outside the room.

Kamoshida spun on his chair like a third-rate villain and said.

"Who'd seriously consider what scum like you say? Now, are we finished here? You're all expelled!" he said, shooing the teens with his hand.

"Can't believe this asshole's getting away with this...!" said Ryuji, under his breath.

"Don't worry about that." said Shin.

"...Oh right. We have that!" said Ryuji.

"Huh? Have you lost your minds? I don't understand what garbage like you are thinking, but go ahead and try. All you can do is wait for your disposal though..."

-INTERMISSION-

The students who had occupied the courtyard were gone now, so Shin and Ryuji could discuss their plan there.

"We can't waste any time. We gotta hurry up and beat the shit out of that asshole!" said Ryuji.

"We're not beating him up. We're simply stealing his distorted desires. Can I assume you've made your mind about this; about how he might suffer a mental shutdown?" asked Morgana.

"...I have. Someone almost died because of him! I don't give a rat's ass what happens to him anymore!"

"Then it's settled."

"By the way, is getting rid of a Palace hard...? You've tried before, right?" asked Ryuji.

"When did I ever say that?"

"Eh?"

Morgana's response took a few seconds to register in Ryuji's brain.

"WHAT!? So you were just pretending to know!?"

Right at that moment, Ann and Shiho appeared from behind the corner.

"Hey... If you're going to deal with Kamoshida... let us in on too." said Ann.

"This has nothing to do with you... Don't butt your head into this..." said the blond boy.

"But it does! We-"

"I said don't get in our way!"

"..."

After a quick stare-off between the blonds, the girls left.

"...That was harsh." commented Morgana.

"We can't take them somewhere like that..."

"I hope they don't torment themselves over this. When it comes down to it, women don't hesitate."

"We just gotta hurry up and deal with Kamoshida. Let's go already!

-INTERMISSION-

Standing in the all-familiar alley, the group of 3 had a last-minute planning.

"The moment we cross over, we'll treat each other like phantom thieves, so I hope you're ready." said Morgana.

"Huh? Phantom thieves?" wondered Ryuji.

"Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal treasure! That is what we become!"

"Not bad, Morgana. Not bad at all." said Shin.

"Yeah. It sounds kinda cool!"

Ryuji took his phone from his pocket and opened the navigation app.

"So we just gotta say the school, Kamoshida's name, and... castle? Then we end up in bizarro world."

The blond looked at his phone's screen for a few seconds.

"How the hell does this work? Who made this...?" he muttered.

"It doesn't matter. It's helpful anyway."

"I guess..."

Meanwhile, Ann and Shiho, who were peeking around the corner, heard everything.

"They really are going to do something..." whispered Shiho.

"They're doing something on their phone." muttered Ann.

After entering the Metaverse, the trio was about to enter the castle, when a sudden scream drew their attention.

"What is this!?" Ann and Shiho were both shocked.

"T-Takamaki!? And Suzui too!?" said Ryuji.

"That voice... Sakamoto!? And... is that you, Shin!?"

"Sup."

"Wh-Wh-Why are you here!?"

"What's going on?" asked Shiho, looking around.

"Isn't this the school!?"

Morgana had finally snapped out of the lovestruck haze he had since he saw Ann and said.

"Perhaps she was dragged in because of that app thing. If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, it makes sense it'll pull anyone nearby." he reasoned.

"For real...?" wondered Ryuji.

"Wait, so THIS is related to Kamoshida!?"

"Anyways, you have to leave!"

"No!"

"The shadows are gonna find us if you make a scene."

"No way! It talked!? Oh my god, it's a monster cat...!"

"Monster..." Morgana looked depressed.

"You better explain what's going on! We won't leave until you do!"

"Looks like we gotta force them. But, how are we supposed to do that?" said Ryuji, looking at Shin.

"Just take her back to where we came in. That's how it worked last time, right?" said Morgana.

"Oh yeah. Can you lend me a hand?"

"Alright." said Shin as he went towards Shiho.

The boy hoisted her over his shoulders in a fireman's carry and went on his way. The girl tried to struggle out of his hold, but soon she gave up and let herself be carried.

Ann, on the other hand, was shocked seeing Shin casually lifting Shiho and was taken by surprise when Ryuji and Morgana picked her up. The two struggled to lift her, since Morgana was much shorter than Ryuji.

Once the girls were back safely in the real world, they could finally start their mission.

"Geez, Takamaki and Suzui found out right when we were about to start. We have to deal with this fast!" said Ryuji.

"That girl's name is Ann Takamaki, right? Lady Ann..."

"The shadows have noticed us." commented Shin.

"Yeah. You better brace yourselves, got it?" Morgana stopped to turn to face Shin.

"We're counting on you, Joker!"

"Joker? Is that a nickname?"

Morgana frowned.

"It's a code name. What kind of stupid phantom thief would use their real name!? I'm not down for that! And there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace..."

"So... Why's he Joker?" asked Ryuji.

"Because he's our trump card when it comes to fighting strength."

"That's nice." said Shin.

"Next up is you, Ryuji. You'll be... Let's see... "Thug"."

"You picking a fight with me!? I'll pick it myself!"

Ryuji pondered a bit on what to say.

"When it comes to me, it's gotta be about this mask. Honestly, I actually kinda like it. What if we named me after this?"

"Fine... Why not "Skull" then?"

"Ohh! That sounds awesome! I'm Skull! So, what do we do about this one's code name?" asked Ryuji.

"Hmm... Morgana... Morgan... Morgan le Fay... Fay..." muttered Shin.

"What about Fay?"

"If Joker thinks it's easier to call me that, then I'll go with it. All right. From here on out, we're Joker, Skull and Fay. We need to be absolutely through about using those codenames from now on!"

"Alright! Let's go nab this treasure thingy!"

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This chapter's additional info is on... the Metaverse!

Much like Tartarus and the Midnight Channel, the Metaverse is formed from the collective unconscious, although unlike those respective areas, the areas in the Metaverse are personalized spaces cognitively overlaid into areas in real-life Tokyo. While usually not directly affecting the real world, the Metaverse is known to have fused with it should its master wish to. For most, a Metaverse Navigator is required to traverse into any areas of the Metaverse, and anyone without a Persona will inevitably run into a life-threatening situation inside it.

The Metaverse takes the form of Palaces, with a central Palace manifesting under the Shibuya subway known as Mementos, where Shadows of the general public are imprisoned. However, certain distorted desires, such as an overwhelming desire for control or suicidal depression can result in personalized spaces known as Palaces to form. All of these personalized places overlay onto certain areas of its owner's interest, and are representations of its host's distorted desires, powered by a Treasure, or an item of significance to its owner. Usually, the Palace's host is unaware that such a place exists, and most events that the Shadow encounters there is of no relevance to the real person.

To enter a Palace, one must enter three keywords: the owner's name, the type of distortion and the location of the distortion. In case of Mementos, the Palace of the public, only "Mementos" needs to be inserted.

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Confidants:

Igor (The Fool) - Rank 1

Ryuji Sakamoto (The Chariot) - Rank 1