Chapter 10: Mementos, our next target sighted!

(A/N: I know there's a lot of time skips, but Persona 5 is a big game and has a ton of story. Also, I'm doing the Persona 5 Royal story (minus the red-haired chick)! So, the time skips are here to make things easier for all of us.)

(Mari's pov)

It was May 7'th, Saturday, afternoon on the roof of Shujin Academy. Two days after I'd unveiled my actual self to Akira, and told him my past. Two days, since he was given the Black Cat Miraculous, and I picked up the Ladybug Miraculous once again. I instructed Akira on how to maintain his Miraculous and how to take care of Plagg. The basic:

"Don't let him be seen by other people, feed him regularly, try not to get too annoyed with him, etc." The next day at school, Akira told me that Morgana had an amusing reaction to Plagg. Apparently, Morgana thought that Plagg was a new toy, and Plagg got defensive. Morgana tried to chase the black Kwami around, but Akira stopped him and explained the situation to his feline companion.

"Morgana was worried about sharing his tuna with Plagg, but I told him that Plagg preferred cheese over fish. Morgana settled down after that, but I did hear the two have an argument about which is better." Akira told me on our way to school that day.

"Now, I have two annoying cats..." He added with a sigh. I laughed, and he smiled. At that moment, I felt like a normal girl. It felt like I had an ordinary life, with no worries about the metaverse or the Miraculous. I was just a girl walking to school with a friend without a care in the world. If I was being honest, I had almost forgotten what a moment like that felt like. I was at peace with Akira by my side. I felt my heart race whenever Akira smiled at me, I felt so happy. And when I was lying in bed at night thinking about the day, I realized something... I had fallen in love with Akira, the leader of the Phantom Thieves, and the new holder of the black cat.

I decided that I wouldn't go the same route I did with Adrien (give me a break, that was years ago! I've matured since that mess!). I decided that I would continue to be the bubbly girl that he and everyone else knew. Besides, I can't focus on romance, I need to focus on my studies and future! So I pushed my feelings for my black haired friend to the back of my brain and concentrated on school and Phantom Thief work. Back to the present, I was with my friends on the roof of Shujin Academy, looking over the Phan-site for a new target.

"None of these posts are any good. Everyone's just b***in' about their boyfriends or parents!" Ryuji complained as he scrolled through his phone.

"You're right, Ryuji-kun. I can't find anything that would single a possible palace either." I said with a sigh, looking through mine.

"We can't get everything online... Finding a post with a name and a location is asking a lot." Ann sighed.

"Guess we better find one ourselves then." Ryuji sighed.

"Are you seriously suggesting we look for a target that even the police overlooked?" Morgana asked.

"You're right, Morgana. Let's wait until exams are over so that we have more free time to do Phantom Thief stuff." I said to my friends. The sound of the roof door opening made us jump, and Morgana jumped behind the massive air conditioners to avoid being spotted.

"Oh!" Ann exclaimed. Makoto Nijima walked out of the door and towards our group.

"This place is off-limits, you know," She said, scowling at my friends. She then noticed me and did a double-take.

"What the- Why are you with this group, Cheng-san?!" She asked with confusion in her eyes.

I sighed and looked into her eyes.

"I am with my friends, and despite the rumors and their looks, they're good people," I said calmly. I'm starting to get tired of explaining why I hang out with my friends.

"Anyway, we'll get out once we're done chatin'," Ryuji said in an upbeat tone.

"But why does miss council president want with us?" He added with a raised eyebrow.

"The troublemaker, the center of gossip, and the infamous transfer student. Hmm, what an interesting combination." Makoto mused. I was becoming irritated by her comments, how dare she say that about my friends!

"Are you implying something?" I asked, a hint of anger in my voice.

"Oh! and you... The sweet girl who hangs around them for some reason." Makoto continued. Okay, now I'm angry.

"You know... ever heard the saying: Ne jamais juger un livre à sa couverture?" I asked.

"What?" Makoto asked.

"it's French for: Never judge a book by its cover. You can't believe rumors and whispers without evidence, you of all people should know that." I said, walking up to the brown-haired girl.

"True... but still... if you're uncomfortable in any way, you would be wise to speak up," Makoto calmly said to me. An idea came into my head, something that piqued my curiosity. Makoto acted strangely, almost like a robot. It felt like she was being forced to do this. So, I decided to do a little experiment.

"And you would be wise to tell your family about how you're probably being bribed/threatened by the school to do their dirty work for them," I said, just as calmly. That caught her off guard.

"How did you..." Makoto began, but I cut her off.

"You're right, we do need to head home. Come on, everyone!" I say to my friends. We walked away from the stunned girl and headed out of school. On the way down, my friends gave me strange looks.

"Cheng?" Akira whispered.

"That's my last name," I whispered back. When we arrived at the front of the school, my friends started to question me.

"How did you know about Nijima-san being threatened/bribed by the school?" Ann asked.

"I can tell when a person is being forced into something, I've seen it happen multiple times. I just took a gamble, and it paid off." I said.

"In any case, I want to show you guys something!" Morgana said, appearing next to Akira.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well, you guys did agree to help me with my mission after all," Morgana said while Akira put him in his bag.

"Okay?" Ann said.

"Come on, let's go to the subway station!" Morgana said.

(Time skip! Brought to you by Plagg shipping Akiranette!)

We arrived at the subway station and sat in a secluded spot outside the entrance.

"I've got the Phan-site pulled up, now what?" Ryuji asked.

"Look for a post with a full name in it," Morgana instructed.

"I already said there're no big shots in here!" Ryuji whined.

"Let's just look, Ryuji-kun," I said to the blonde. After some digging, we found something of interest.

"'I don't know what to do about my ex who's stalking me, his name is Natsuhiko Nakanohara.'" Ann read aloud.

"It says that he's a teller at city hall." She continued.

"A government worker stalking someone?" Ryuji said.

"I know it sounds small, but stalking is serious!" I said to my friend. I remember a few Akumas being caused by stalking in one way or another.

"Alright, sounds like we found a target!" Morgana said.

"Now load up the Meta-nav," he continued.

"Jumping right into a palace? Sounds good to me!" Ryuji said, pulling up the nav on his phone.

"What happened to the unanimous decision talk? What do you think, Akira-san?" Ann asked.

"Let's do it," Akira responded.

"But, we don't have the other two keywords," I said.

"Don't worry! Just type in 'Mementos'!" Morgana said.

"What are you trying to pull?" Ryuji asked the cat. But I had already whipped out my phone and typed in everything.

"Alright, it was Mementos, right?" I asked.

"Yeah... Wait, did you just type in everything?" Morgana asked. I ignored him and pressed enter.

The nav said confirmed the words.

"We got a hit?!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Just as I thought!" Morgana said, triumphantly. Next thing I knew, my friends and I were the only ones at the subway.

"Everyone disappeared!" Ann exclaimed.

"It kind of feels like I'm walking on air?" She added.

"Yeah... What an unusual feeling!" I said.

"Are we in the palace?" I asked.

"Not exactly..." Morgana answered.

"This is a type of Palace, just not the ones you guys are used to." He continued.

"Come on, the shadows here lurk underground."

"But how do we..." I started, but then I remembered where we were.

"Oh..." I said. We walked into the deserted subway station and headed downward.

"Well, this is... something..." I said, looking around.

"Yeah, what's with this place?" Skull said. He then looked around.

"Wait, our clothes changed!" He said. He was right everyone was in their Phantom Thief attire. I snuck a peek at Joker, why did he look so good?

"The shadows know we're here!?" Panther asked in a panicked voice.

"Since the moment we stepped in," Mona confirmed.

"Sacrebleu! Why didn't you tell us, Mona?" I asked the cat (Translation (according to google translate): Damn it!).

"Don't worry, we're still safe!" Mona reassured us. He then went off and explained how Mementos is made up of the collective unconscious, and therefore, everyone's Palace. It basically meant that we could change people's hearts without the hassle of infiltrating a Palace.

"But how will we get around?" I asked.

(Ten seconds later...)

If I'm being honest... I don't know what came over me! The moment Mona turned into a bus, I lost it. I fangirled and hugged the cat bus (to the best of my ability). I babbled in French about My Neighbor Totoro and how I always wanted to ride on a cat bus.

"Princess! Get a hold of yourself!" Mona scolded. I snapped out of it and hid my face in embarrassment.

"Sorry... I love Studio Ghibli movies. I grew up watching them. My Neighbor Totoro was my favorite." I said through my hands.

"It's okay... it was just unexpected. Actually, it was kinda cute..." Joker said, mumbling the last part.

"What was that last part, bro?" Skull asked.

"Nothing!" Joker yelped with a bright red face. I giggled and boarded the Mona-mobile (A/N: That's what I'm gonna call Mona's car form now!).

After navigating through Memento to our best abilities, we found our target, Natsuhiko Nakanohara's shadow. He started to ramble about being used as a plaything and how it isn't fair. He wasn't making any sense, so my fellow Phantom Thieves and I beat the crap out of him.

"Why am I the only one being punished? What about Madarame? He's the one who made me like this!" The shadow cried.

"Madarame?" I muttered. I know that name... He's a famous artist! I studied his art to develop my own skills. What does he have to do with this? Why do I have a bad feeling about this?