CHAPTER 1
A/N:
x x x x x x x x x x means the start or the end of a past event.
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Glynda Goodwitch POV
She wasn't actually a hater of coffee. In fact, she loved to drink it, just not the instant crap that Beacon had.
Glynda Goodwitch hated Beacon's options of coffee. It was either Ozpin's go-to instant coffee or Oobleck's caffeinated coffee that tasted so bad she almost vomited on the spot. No, she craved for a well-made coffee from a well-reviewed store with authentic roasted beans.
So, when she heard that a café opened nearby of Beacon, along with the fact that the reviews for the place had been splendid, she simply had to try it out. It near Beacon was a plus to her decision.
So, dressed commonly, she took off to the café once her classes had ended and all papers had been graded. By then it was already almost 7, so she hastened her steps as she walked from her room in Beacon Academy to the air docks for a ride to Vale.
All for a cup of coffee.
Looking back at the reviews that were posted on the Net, she remembered the directions to the little café as she just smiled at the name of the café.
Leblanc.
What a nice name.
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Ozpin Wiz POV
Glynda was late.
That was Ozpin thought to himself when he arrived in his office at his usual time of 6 a.m., wondering where his Deputy Headmaster was. Usually, she would already be here in his office when he reaches his office at the highest floor of Beacon, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Humming, he sips on his instant coffee in his favorite mug (One can't be a century old being without a favorite item) as he just sat down, thinking that she would arrive soon enough.
A few minutes of him reviewing emails and documents later, Glynda bursts into the office with haste as she apologized for her lateness. Looking at the woman, he could see that her hair, usually tied neatly into a bun, was disheveled and tied into a messy ponytail. Her clothing was not ironed as usual, and there was a hint of heavy breathing in her respiration from the running.
... He honestly thought that she just woke up late when his eyes wandered and saw what looked like a 24 oz sized paper cup on her hand, with the logo "Leblanc" on it. Smirking, he teased her at it.
"So, Glynda, I see that a cup of coffee made you late today?"
She just blushed before taking a sip from her cup, it must be good coffee to make someone as diligent as herself to get it first thing in the morning.
...
Darn, his cup of coffee now felt very inferior to hers.
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Blake Belladonna POV
Blake Belladonna was interested the moment she saw the signboard when she passed through the café named Leblanc for the first time. The signboard had a cute little coffee logo at the top with an arrow pointing at the café.
But the most curious thing about the sign was the words below the arrow.
"Faunus Friendly!"
Usually, a store that was friendly to the Faunus don't directly say it due to anti-Faunus humans who would cause a ruckus in the store, causing them to remove it immediately as it would affect sales.
But she had passed this café once more, and after two months of being in Vale, the signboard is still saying that it was "Faunus Friendly". And by the look of the café through the window, Faunus and Humans were enjoying their time together as well!
She ran away from the White Fang almost three months ago now, with Tukson giving her a space to rest until Beacon started, and seeing this just makes her so happy, proving that no violence was needed to get equality.
Her curiosity was now peaked, so she entered the café, hearing a ding as she closed the door. She was instantly hit with the aroma of coffee, the place felt very retro for her taste, but her emotions started to calm down, as if when inside the homely café, her burdens were gone, disappearing into this air.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked over at the barista behind the counter who was serving someone a drink. Observing the boy, she noticed that the boy had no presence to him whatsoever, he looked simple and plain, and along with glasses, he looked like someone who couldn't hurt a fly.
"Oh, good morning. What can I get you?"
His voice was velvet smooth as he politely asked what she wanted. Taking a seat near the counter, she looked over at the menu above the boy before making her order.
"... A hazelnut latte with almond milk, please."
The boy just looked at her for just a split second before nodding with a smile.
"Coming right up, Miss..."
"Blake."
She had no idea why she even gave him her name, but she was just transfixed on his dark onyx eyes as he gave her a smile.
"Blake. Very well, a hazelnut latte with almond milk for a beautiful Ms. Blake, coming right up."
He said, testing her name with his voice before turning back to prepare her cup of latte, ignoring the face that she was making.
... She couldn't help but to shove her blush down as she looked down at her hands which were shut tight. What was going on? Her heart was beating so fast for no reason at all!
'... Maybe it was the smut. Yeah... That must be the reason. Yeah, she's gonna stop reading it for now.'
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Glynda Goodwitch POV
Rin Junichiro was his name. Glynda was quite shocked that such a young man like himself was the sole owner and worker of the cafe, what of his education? He was only 17 from their talks.
Still, he made a darn perfect cappuchino every time, and she loved it. The authentic roasted beans, the perfect mixture, the blend, everything was perfect. Even her to-go cafe au lait tastes amazing every day.
He had honestly ruined her for life, now that she had tasted paradise and heaven. Gods, she was so screwed if Rin stopped selling her coffee.
"I'm glad you like it, Ms. Glynda."
He said with a grin, satisfied that even a woman like her would sigh in relief at the sip of his coffee.
"No need to downplay your skills, Mr. Rin. It was perfect as usual."
They always conversed in small talk, due to the fact that she was his regular customer who came every day at dawn and in dusk.
Being a Hunstwoman made a lot of money, and coupled with the fact that she had been teaching in the most prestigious Hunstmen Academy for over a decade now, has made her as rich as the highest status citizens in the whole world.
Paying for coffee everyday was like burning paper, or Lien in this case, at this point. Money will never be an issue for her, and a few future generations.
Sipping another sip of the ambrosia on her hands, she contemplated to just invite him over to Beacon to serve coffee everyday in the Academy. As the Deputy Headmaster, she had more power than people might think, but unfortunately digressed. After all, she wanted his skills to be free for the public.
Plus, she did not want Ozpin to get a taste of this, after torturing her with instant coffee for almost 3 years now. Low budget for coffee, her ass, they had billions every year!
"Oh, talking about coffee. I finally figured out the recipe for something new. It's called "Leblanc's Curry and Coffee Set"..."
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x x x x x x x x x x
??? POV
" — lothes are back to normal!"
Futaba said in shock as she patted herself down, causing the whole group to check as well.
"Look!"
Morgana exclaimed as they looked around their surroundings.
"... Huh? Shibuya?"
Haru asked confused as the passerby walked past them without a thought, a common thing in Shibuya.
"W-We're back?!"
Yusuke asked with a hint of worry in his voice. They were just fighting against the Holy Grail, so how...
"We didn't come back ourselves though... We must've been driven out by the Holy Grail."
"... Is that even possible? To forcefully remove one's self from the Metaverse..."
Makoto asked a very important question herself.
"... Did we lose?"
"... I think so."
Akira said with a sigh, this was getting weirder and weirder by the second. Why did the Grail even send them back to the real world when it already had defeated them?
"I know that, but..."
She stopped interruptedly when rain started falling from the sky. Rin, who was always quick on the uptake, looked at the droplets in curiosity before his eyes widened.
"Wait, what?"
Futaba who noticed his expressions followed what he did before taking a step back in shock.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, a bone-like structure shot out from the ground. In an instant, Shibuya was filled with the bone-like structures all over the place, from the nearby skyscraper on the skies, to the ground.
"What the F?"
Ryuji muttered in shock as Makoto gasped in realization. From the red blood-like rain to the bony structures that were only seen in a place along with the usual feeling whenever in the metaverse.
"M-Mementos... Here in Shibuya?"
Ann looked at the surrounding people who were just walking without a care, as if they were the only ones that could see Mementos in the real world.
"H-Hey, is this what it meant by "the fusion"?"
She noted it out verbally to the Thieves as Morgana in his cat form quickly jumped to a higher vantage point.
"To think this would happen..."
"No way... You got to be shittin' me!"
The way that everyone continues with their own lives in such a state was really unpleasant, from a businessman making a meeting to two friends talking about the "good" weather, it was very irksome.
The people around them started to talk about how the Phantom Thieves were just a myth, or just not believing in them anymore.
The sudden change in their opinion was as if someone was controlling them to think that the Thieves were just some made up story.
"Why is no one mentioning this?"
Yusuke looked around at the happy expressions of everyone else while Makoto replied to him.
"It's probably because they don't feel that it's odd at all..."
Suddenly, Futaba dropped to her knees in a painful groan, clutching on her head. The Thieves immediately went to her side as she continued writhing in pain.
"Futaba? What's wrong — ?!"
Ryuji who went to comfort her suddenly yelled in pain as he dropped to the ground, his head feeling like it was splitting to two.
Then, it was Ann's turn to drop. Panicking, Rin felt his Ultimate Persona's presence wrapping around his body in a familiar warmth.
Something is affecting everyone, Rin.
That's when the pain finally hits, shocking him as he clutches his head, breathing hard as he closes his eyes at the pain. It was like someone was shoving knives into his head.
"W-What is happening?"
He questioned both the group and his Persona.
It's attacking your soul directly. I'm trying to hold it back, but —
The connection gets broken before he could even finish his sentence. The pain multiplied ten folds as he drops to the ground.
Looking around him, he wasn't the only one. Everyone was to their knees or straight to the floor in pain. Even Akira, the more powerful fighter in their group.
"Is this... By the Holy Grail too?"
Makoto asks in pain as Ryuji slams his leg to the ground in anger.
"That... Son of a bitch! Goddammit... What's this creepy ass shit abou — Ugh!"
Without any warning at all, he drops flat to the ground as if someone pushed him.
"Ow... Huh?"
His face suddenly pales before he screams. His hand was fading away, more specifically, it was getting transparent. He wasn't the only one.
Everyone was fading away, from their hands to their legs. Rin's hands eventually faded until his shoulders as he stiffed a yell, looking around panicking to find someway to stop it.
"Wait! Don't tell me!"
Morgana yelled in realization on what was happening to them.
"Hahahaha..."
The laugh of the Holy Grail caught everyone's attention.
"This isn't my doing. You imbeciles are about to disappear from the people's cognition.
Mementos and reality have become one... Thus, those who have disappeared from the cognition of others cannot exist anywhere."
Ryuji was the first to fade away.
"Ryuji — !"
Ann disappeared next.
"Is this really it? Arghhh — !"
Yusuke.
"No! No! NO — !"
Futaba.
"M-Morgana... Where did we.. Go wron — ?"
Makoto.
"Ah... Aahh — !"
Haru.
And now it was Rin's turn to fade. Looking at the remaining two left, he just gave them a smirk instead of the dreadful faces that everyone wore as he fought to quickly say his piece.
Dying was surprisingly not painful at all at the end.
"I guess... I'll be seeing Crow... in Hell. Don't... visit... us."
Finally, the pain intensified as he dropped his head onto the floor with a groan, feeling his body fade away into black motes. Then all went black.
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