#i also love yusuke he is my special little guy

[twow]

okay i am roughly 20 hours into persona 5 so far and my favorite characters are definitely akechi and kasumi. i simply think they are extremely fun. every time either one of them shows up i go like this ^_^

[awriternamedart]

One of the many things Akira noticed about Sakamato Ryuji was just how quietly he loved.

He didn’t mean specifically in a romantic sense. Friends, family, strangers- the way Ryuji showed his care and affection was almost silent.

It had first made itself apparent when Akira learned that Ryuji’s bright, yellow blonde wasn’t his natural tone- it was in fact, a bleach job he kept up on. He had noticed that Ryuji’s roots were growing in- a dark brown color that stood out starkly- and made an idle comment on it, drawing a fidgeting Ryuji’s hand to his thick, unruly hair.

“Oh, yeah. Been savin’ up to get some more bleach ‘n toner ‘n shit soon- ain’t let it grow out this long in a while.”

“You bleach it?”

“Yeah, started doin it round secondary and just- never stopped, I guess.”

He had later found out that he had done it so that Ann wouldn’t be alone as the only blonde, and even though they had fallen out over the years, he had still kept up with it. And considering the price of that kind of bleach job, the fact that he was always reminded to dye it back- it wasn’t an easy endeavor to keep up with.

And yet, he did so without even a thought of stopping.

It really had caught Akira’s eye when Yusuke had joined their little group.

For the first time, Akira got to witness Ryuji get along with someone from the beginning- and it wasn’t exactly easy. Ryuji, for all his sunny grins, had more than a few walls up when it came to new people. He got to see a gruffer, more agitated Ryuji- and also got to witness him slowly lower that outward mask to let their teammate in.

When Akira caught Ryuji suddenly always having a pencil on hand, he had known Yusuke had his seal of approval.

This type of pattern just kept repeating itself, mostly. With Makoto it was… a little more difficult- but that was because they had a history by ear. Ryuji’s reputation was the stark opposite of Makoto’s so there was bound to be friction- but Ryuji wasted no time in trying to help her anyway.

Even if Akira would forever shiver at the memory of Ryuji throwing himself in front of a moving car.

From there- Futaba, Haru, even Morgana, Sae, Sojiro and Kasumi on the off chance of meeting her- Ryuji would always have a special way that he loved. That he cared.

Something even Ryuji himself hadn’t seemed aware of when Akira first brang it up.

“Eh? Whaddya mean?”

“The pencil in your pocket. It's for Yusuke, isn't it?” Akira prodded, a nonchalant question more than anything. The quiet tenor of his voice carried a much lighter lilt to it now that they had taken down Shido.

“How'd you know I got a pencil- well, dudes always mumblin ‘bout drawin this or that.” Ryuji offhandedly waved, leaning back onto the comforter atop Akira’s mishmash assembly of a bed. “ ‘s easier to shut him up with it."

“Haru never running out of soil or fertilizer?”

“The bags aren’t that heavy- sides, it ain't like I got anythin’ else to do after school, ‘less ‘m hangin’ out with you.”

“Morgana’s treat pocket in your bag?”

“Keeps him from yowlin’ at me.”

“Futaba’s ever growing manga collection?”

“They were just gonna rot in my room.”

“Makoto mentioned that her notes are always nice and neat whenever she gets them back from you.”

“Well, duh, they aint mine. Gotta keep them in nice condition.”

“Your hair?”

“What about it?”

Akira just rolled his eyes. This guy was impossible- so silence fell over the pair in the quiet room overlooking the backstreets. Wood creaked nearby, a quiet snapping noise that neither paid much attention to.

There was more Akira could have gone into to- the dishes when Sojiro was out and Ryuji was hangin around, Akira catching him looking up gymnastics specifics one evening- hell, Ryuji had even begun to look through how to properly play billiards before.. yeah.

For all the shit Ryuji was dragged through, the butt of the joke, the beaten up punch line- he never stopped caring. Akira couldnt help but be proud of his choice in a loyal right hand.

“Uh oh.”

“Hm?"

“Ya got that look on yer face.” Ryuji leaned forward, a smirk rising on his face. “That stupid calculatin look like your takin a shadow apart with your mind.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

The repressed smirk said it all to Ryuji, the way grey glinted behind faux glasses- Akira had all but two seconds before an arm was slung over his shoulder, gasping as he was tugged down and a hand was playfully ruffling with his hair. Laughter erupted, Ryuji’s demands that he tell him whats going on in his head almost lost to the tussle.

“Cmon, ‘Kira- you cant hide nothin from me!”

“Unfortunately.” Glasses knocked askew, Akira straighted up, going to fix them before they were snatched off his face. “Hey-!”

Ryuji just grinned back, shark teeth and all.

“So, gonna tell me or do I gotta hold these hostage?”

And Akira just rolled his eyes, easily snatching back his glasses and slipping them on his face. He looked back to Ryuji to see brown shining back, amber flecks dancing in the setting sun. Straw gold hair caught the few orange rays that managed to worm their way into the backstreets of Yongen-Jaya, freshly touched up blonde roots barely visible through the thicket of mismatched cut hair.

He felt himself just shake his head, melting easily to his partner in crime who just blinked- looking at Akira in slight confusion.

“Dude, you sure you're good?"

Neither of them were PDA people- maybe thats why it was easy for them to just exist around each other like they did. But for the rare moments- the quiet touch of their lips, the stolen moments they had, hands hesitantly bumping against the others- Akira knew.

For all the ways Ryuji loved, this was the way Akira liked the most.

-

The Quiet Way He Cares - awriternamedart

[milaisreading]

Hiii good morning i was reading ur manager series and am totally in love with it specially the scenes where rin and reo decide to use their captain and rich-boy powers (the plushie one is my absolute fav) and i was wondering if i could request shidou and sae/kaiser/ness reaction to yns plushie or keychain? More than anyone else i wanna know shidous reaction🤭

Author : I didn't expect that story to be so popular since I came up with it at like 3 am☠️ but I hope you like this and thank you for the request🩷

Warnings ⚠️: Reader uses she/her. Requests are open

⚽️Blue lock belongs to:Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

Shidou:

"Blue Lock is really that big now?" Loki commented as him and a few of his teammates were in the changing room of PXG, looking at a phone.

"Yeah! My sister wanted to buy one of the plushies and the site crashed like 3 times."

"Geez. Blue Lock 11 have boy group level fame." One chuckled as Shidou walked in, confused with the commotion.

"What are you guys looking at?" The blonde asked as he walked up closer, with the teammate showing him his screen.

"The guys who beat you, Blue Lock have now merch. Every girl or guy I know won't stop talking about them. My sister ordered like a collection of these plush toys."

"Haha my brother ordered all the keychains." Shidou was amused at the revelation, taking a mental note to tease Rin about it later.

"My sister has been complaining how hard it was to get the (Y/n) plush toy version. Every time there was a restock it got like sold out in a matter of minutes."

Now that was something Shidou had great interest in. The manager of Blue Lock has plushies? Shidou wanted to laugh.

'Hah! This is gold! But why would anyone buy that? A smaller version of (Y/n)? The whole replica? Small and soft...' Shidou's thoughts wandered off and he felt giddiness the more he imagined the item.

"Shidou, where are you going? We still need to train?" Loki called out as the taller walked out.

"I need to make fun of Rin for that plush toy of his!"

"Not again." Loki sighed and facepalmed.

The same night Shidou went on the Blue Lock website, where he found the said plush toy of the girl, and with absolutely no 2nd thought bought it.

'So adorable~' The boy grinned.

'I think 10 of these are a reasonable number.'

Sae:

Once in a while Sae would travel back to Japan to visit Blue Lock and his brother. Although he spent most of the time around (Y/n), trying to get her to join Madrid as their manager. The idea itself would be shut down by not only (Y/n), but also by Rin, who by now wouldn't leave the girl's side if he was around. This visit was a little bit different though. Since it was holiday season, Ego and Anri has sent everyone home and Sae was bummed a little. His brother wouldn't tell him anything relating to (Y/n).

'Brat.' Sae would roll his eyes at Rin's glares and him telling the older how his manager was none of Sae's business. The two weeks in Japan went by pretty quickly and it was Sae's time to go back. His mom, dad and Rin would drive him to the airport.

"It's in Rin's room?" Sae asked as his mom nodded her head.

"Yeah, I left your scarf there on accident, can you please get it? We need to hurry up to the airport and Rin is already outside."

Sae sighed and nodded his head, walking to the familiar door.

Opening it, Sae immediately spotted his red scarf and went to take it, only to freeze up when he noticed something on Rin's bed. On it was a smaller and softer version of (Y/n) staring up at him. Sae stood there for a moment and then quickly walked to the bed, picking the item up.

Sae stared at the soft toy in awe, astonished with how detailed it was.

'She looks adorable... nearly as adorable as the real (Y/n)? Where did Rin even find this? And why us he so reckless with it...' Sae sighed, patting (Y/n)'s head over and over.

"Sae! Hurry up!"

He turned to the door as his mother called for him. Sae shook his head and put the plush toy in his backpack and then took his scarf.

"Since you refused to tell me anything, I am taking (Y/n) with me. She is too adorable for Rin, anyways."

The next day, Sae was in his room and hugging the plush toy, enjoying the softness.

'So cute... so soft... I wonder if the real (Y/n) is even better to hug.' Sae's moment of peace was interrupted by his phone ringing.

"Hello." He said, already knowing who it is. He has been ignoring Rin's calls ever since he landed in Madrid.

"You thief! Did you take her?!" Rin yelled, obviously upset that his plushie was missing.

"Yes. She is really soft." Sae taunted.

"You bastard! I will come to Madrid and beat your ass!" Rin threatened.

"Do it and I will tell (Y/n) you had this thing to begin with. Imagine how much easier it will be to get her on my club then." Sae smirked as he got no answer in return and ended the call.

'Mine.' He thought as he hugged the plushie closer to himself.

Kaiser:

"What are you even looking at, Ness?" Kaiser raised his eyebrow as he saw his teammate and close friend smiling down at his phone.

'He looks like a child in a candy store.' Kaiser thought as Ness looked up at him in surprise, before showing him his phone.

"My package arrived today! I can't wait till I pick it up." The boy admitted as Kaiser went over the tracking history.

"From Japan? What did you even get there?"

"Huh? You didn't see it?" Ness wondered, making Kaiser even more confused.

"See what? Stop talking in circles."

"Blue Lock just released new merch and restocks-"

"Ness... please don't tell me you bought merch from THEM?"Kaiser asked in disbelief. As far as he knew, the only person in Blue Lock Ness liked was (Y/n).

'But there is no way they made merch of her. It's always about the players, not managers.' Kaiser thought.

"There was a cute plushie of (Y/n) and her figurine as well as a keychain... I had to get it!" Ness defended with an embarrassed look.

"Hold up... there is merch of her?" Kaiser wondered as Ness nodded his head.

"Yes! The plushie looks so adorable, I can't wait till I hold it." Ness cheered while Kaiser went to look at the item.

"Hmmm..."

A few weeks later...

It was late at night in Japan as (Y/n)'s phone rang. Panicked and still dizzy from her sleep, she took her phone and answered it.

"Helloo?" She slurred out, wondering who it could be.

"What a day to be alive, you never told me you had merch!" Kaiser laughed from the other side.

"Kaiser? Do you even know how late it is here? And what about the merch?" (Y/n) asked, a little annoyed but she was too tired to argue.

"It's kinda cute that my little Liebling is a star now. Don't forget about me when your merch sells out." Kaiser laughed.

"Shut up! I want to sleep!" She yelled but Kaiser kept on going and (Y/n) was forced to listen to his talk for another 10 minutes.

Kaiser on the other hand was sitting in his living room as the (Y/n) plushie sat on his lap, getting headpats from time to time.

Ness:

Ness was honestly not expecting to fin anything interesting the evening after a training. It was honestly normal, he showered, ate his dinner and went on his phone, to see what Blue Lock were up to. In all honesty he just wanted to see if there were any pictures or video clips with (Y/n) in them. But instead of that, he found an announcement on new merch.

"Huh? Plushies, keychains and figurines?" Ness mumbled and opened the link, boredly scrolling down the site as all of them were from players.

"Boring-" Ness stopped himself as he saw a familiar shade of (h/c) hair and stopped. Blinking at the items that were displayed, Ness took in the plushie, keychain and figurine that was displayed of (Y/n), all tiny and adorable.

"I need this. I don't even know what I entered this site for again." Ness mumbled as she put the items into the cart.

"You bought it?!" (Y/n) yelled from the other side of the phone. Ness giggled and hugged the plushie of the girl.

"Yeah! You have no idea how soft it is! I have been hugging it ever since it came hours ago." Ness said as the line went quiet for a moment.

"...and what do you think? How is the merch of me?" (Y/n) asked nervously as Ness looked down lovingly at her plushie replica.

"It's cute! Very soft and I love how well detailed it is. It's nearly as cute as you."

"A-ah?! You think so?! I... I need to go now and talk with Ego-san over something! See you, Ness!"

"See ya~" Ness said and ended the call, then looked down at the plushie again.

"So cute..." He smiled, giving a small kiss to the toy's forehead.

[haejjoon]

Hi hi i read through all of your character analysis and i completly agree with most of the stuff. Like i really love these guys but atlus did some of them so dirty???

Like i LOVE morgana, but like everyone i really hate his whole arc during the okumura arc. And it pisses me of so so much cuz i know that that whole thing was stupid and morgana shouldve AT LEAST apologized to my guy ryuji but still i love my little furball of a friend. And then i get so sad every time i watch a playthrough and most of the players dont like morgana. Like i absolutely get where they come from but it still makes me sad. I think i just got really attached to his snarky commentary through my day to day life and him telling me to GO TO BED while other people just got really annoyed by it. But you are absolutely right that the writers shouldve just picked the story for morgana and stuck to it cuz it really is just all over the place... but still i cant keep from loving him (maybe it also got somewhat to do with de fanon version of him)

COMPLETLY different thing, but with all the characters we have been talking about that got done dirty, WHY does ann have like the most compelling arc about going against a f ing RAPIST, standing up for herself and just overall giving a big ass fuck you to everyone seeing her as only a object of sex appeal, and then the IMMEDIATE next arc goes "haha you want to unwillingly pose NUDE for some random guy? Haha nevermind you dont get a choice its either this or nothing else" like WHAT??? At least let her have her own say in this??? And then the rest of the game keeps doing this by giving her and ryuji constant scenes of him making eyes at her... I just kinda ignored all that. I think its really sad that everytime these scenes happen in japanese media i got to roll my eyes and think okay thats the required fan service out of the way lets get on with ANYTHING else. But thats the way it is i guess

Sorry to just put all of this here i was getting really passionate about how i feel about some of these characters reading all your (very based) analysis haha. I dont really got any good analysis for you but boy do i have FEELINGS

absolutely understand why you like morgana so much!! snarky characters always have a special place in my heart. for me personally morgana wasn't as snarky as he was just straight up mean sometimes, but that's just a matter of perspective. ur so valid

hard agree with ur grievances about ann. the dichotomy of "im my own person and i wont stand by when im harassed" vs "h-he wants me to pose NUDE?!?? okay... only because I Have To..." like girl no you don't have to. we can figure it out. yusuke couldnt even press charges back there anyway, what was he gna tell the police??? "i let these three teenagers in of my Own Accord, officer, and they started questioning me about my very abusive father figure and i didnt like it so i decided to call you to kick them out"??? it was such a non issue. atlus pls.

[petorahs]

☀️ anon

"I like girls that are mean to me" - not me but dude I get it

And i live persona 3 Portable. i think they really give you a completely new perspective with Minako and the social link with Ryoji is fantastic, best one, they are so cute. I know a lot of people dislike Minako bc they say she completely negates the theme of Memento Mori, but I think she is just the flipside of the coin. Like that meme about "nothing in life matters" where one is a depressed emo (Minato) and thr other is a sunglasses-wearing party man (Minako). She does fit the theme but /differently/ and that's rhe whole point of it. That's why I long for Atlus to do that again, give us femc with a different perspective on the same theme!!!! And yes, I know it was easier in p3p bc the cutscenes were basically a narated slideshow, so it just needed a modelswap and some new social links but honestly it was so damn good QwQ

I guess thats also why I took kind of an issue with Kasumi. When she was shown there was the hope she might be a Femc, but no Atlus proceeds to be a male protag waifu game-

Tangent: the fact you can date Kawakami but not your bros Ryuji-protects-women-daily-Sakamoto or Yusuke who is just a sweet nice guy living his best artist life, is a crime and I am personally pissed about it. I really hope that future games do shake things up and dont go down this path further. You can't just give Ryuji a line that's basically "my place is by your side/right next to you" and NOT expect me to see a budding romance.

i like how that's your takeaway LMAO what can i say...... me when im just a bisexual mess. girls can be mean to me. guys too im never picky but... girls. <3 obv my appreciation for yukari and her character goes deeper than that like i think shes the realest ever but thats another analysis for another day. for now hehe heart choker go brrr

?!!!!!!! PEOPLE SAY THAT ABOUT MY GIRL FEMC?!?! who what when where Why!! let me at em!! throwing hands!! i havent experienced minako/kotone in her entirety because well. p3fes the answer depression slump. but a large part of why i chose to p3 as my backwards dive into persona series and not p4g is because its arguably the only game to have a FeMC (maya p2 counts but also doesnt? cause she has the benefit of speaking in innocent sin that future silent protags don't). the sheer novelty of an unabashedly cute, girly girl in a social sim rife with the theme of death... her presentation alone could've told you how she's on the 'toxic positivity' side of the spectrum when dealing with grief? your description fits so well LMAO p3 MCs are so nihilistic love them both fr....

the glorified slideshow thing, their choice to port p3p instead of giving us a revamped, definitive persona 3 with fes' benefits (The Answer, control over team members, animated cutscenes) is just proof that they need to remake persona 3 with p5-level graphics now. god what are they doing over ther...

oh man now that you've got me started on it. kasumi, kasumi... she had So Much to Her that they just kinda. fumbled. do you want me to get into it? i kinda want to get into it. but it'll turn into a whole rant and these asks get long enough as is (not that I'm complaining! bro i love these back-and-forths theyre a highlight of my day fr) so i'll save it for another time I think LMAO. just know that im sharing grievances right there with you in the "kasumi-should-have-been-a-FeMC-of-sorts" camp.

lastly. OH for sure for real i get you like i feel the guy party members in 5 (aside from akch since. hes a special case) are kinda so agreeable to the point of simpery but like in a good way. in a dateable way. i feel like yusuke is so obvious about it too... shakes him affectionately. for a series not afraid of social commentary they really are afraid of blatant yaoi arent they. it couldve been baby steps like how fire emblem series did it... the time was right anyhow. scratches head... little known fact about me is that pegoryu and shukita kinda have my whole heart, almost as much as shuake does!! something about boys... just let them love, ATLUS!!

[msfbgraves]

Sensei Yusuke Nagano: or if a young Miyagi watched Cobra Kai

Guys, any CK stans who have not yet gotten around to this young sensei's Cobra Kai reaction videos are missing out on a goldmine of great content.

The reason I call him a young Miyagi is that he breathes the same respect and gentleness of Pat Morita's Miyagi, not because he happens to be Japanese, but the effect is that if you want a running commentary on what Mr. Miyagi would be thinking about all this, this is probably it. Part of that is because he knows America well, having lived there, but of course is still from a different culture; most of all he is a Japanese sensei, and what that means is a very natural part of how he perceives the world. And it comes very close to what strikes me, a Westerner, as so special about Mr. Miyagi. Whether that is his craft, his culture or simply his character I cannot judge, but what it is, is heartwarming.

The first thing is, he loves the sport. He loves seeing people do the sport, and he loves giving background on it. So one of the many things you'll hear him say is: "Oh... good kick! Yes, get close, good- no, that one you block - oh, well done! (*clapping*)" "Is that a stunt? Can I do stunts?" "That's... Tae kwon do, I think." "Now guys, if you do a sweep, what you want to do is aim with the big toe, not the little toe, and your arm..."

But one of the things he says the most is: "These kids fight so much. They have to grow up." "Did they talk? Yay!" He was particularly distraught after the school fight, even if he did compliment a lot of techniques, because he was like: "No... it's not the karate! If you live like this, it will only give you a small burst of confidence, but it will get you nowhere in life. These are just kids..."

And because I adore Daniel with all my heart, the insights in his character make my whole week.

The thing is - in America, and big parts of Europe, sports involving combat are often about intimidation. Brute strength. Outposturing someone before the fight even begins. A dangerous person is bulky, loud, and eh, unkept, because it shows they can withstand the circumstances where grooming is impossible. I know I exaggerate. But being strong and dangerous in combat means 'not having to show respect for convention or dress' [or hygiene]. You need to intimidate with your physicality before you even fight. Show your muscles. The fact that the Cobra Kai's often barely bow is part of the 'not owing anyone respect because you're strong enough to beat them'.

Now Daniel's not like that.

A lot of what Daniel does, in American eyes, reads as effeminate. Demure. I have to admit that watching his Miyagi-do commercial was insane to me. He's trying to advertise a combat sport - on his knees? The position of ultimate defeat? Or is he trying to appear Japanese? He's not Japanese, wtf?

But when you watch Yusuke's reaction to Daniel's conduct, he's delighted. "Oh, look - he's in proper position!" Because on your knees is the most respectful way to sit in a dojo. Doesn't matter how tough you are, or who. It is simply polite. Same when Daniel visits Miyagi's grave. Miyagi is his sensei. If you sit, that is how you sit. Basta.

Cleanliness, too, is paramount in a dojo. Johnny's obstacle courses make no sense for that reason alone.

Then there is respectful dress. (I think that part also appealed to Daniel's Italian side. Italians take care of their appearance as a matter of self-respect anyway.)

I like how Yusuke is also very appreciative of the kanji used throughout, but what I especially love: he gets so excited about kata!

Now kata is often framed in Karate Kid and Cobra Kai as 'useless in a fight'. Spiritual mumbo jumbo. Even Terry Silver says that, although I doubt he really believes that.

Sensei Yusuke is so excited about kata, people! It really is the foundation of what he does too. It's really not about not being 'badass' enough to actually fight. It's the basis of everything. Kata is what will perfect your training. There's different katas with different names and a clear order (Yusuke recreates a lot of the katas, so you can see them in totality), and more than in the fight scenes, through that, you can see that Daniel actually knows his stuff. He has a point that Johnny's karate feels incomplete. (It's like teaching people music without ever doing scales. Teaching people dance without letting them do barre. Or only half of it.)

But I think kata also teaches you a level of respect for yourself that doesn't have to come from besting anyone else. You know you've improved. You can see it, and you can respect the act of self-improvement and your own being through the ritual of it all. And if need be it makes you a better fighter. And sure, Johnny sometimes you have to show your toughness, but how better to do that? By destroying a beer bottle or by giving another a concussion? Do you know what the societal cost of a broken beer bottle is, compared to you incapacitating someone for days?

And again, Daniel has a lot of knowledge that I wouldn't have picked up on, especially about Japanese customs, that Yusuke points out. And again, no wonder the Japanese like him. A lot of things he lives - proper dress, proper position, beautiful kanji, using the right terms (though his pronounciation aint all that), all the kata, Yusuke honestly appreciates. Again, when Daniel visits Miyagi's grave: "Is that a bonsai? Oh, he trims it, good!"

But he also has a lot of respect for Miguel and Johnny's fighting, and anyone who does land a good block or kick! And sometimes he's appropriately baffled: "Hai kyu? Why are they shouting that? That means volleyball in Japanese...?" "Why does he call him Sally? What's a Sally? Tell me in the comments, guys!" "O, he says *Japanese term I forget* but we don't wear those hats anymore guys!"

And of course lot of martial arts knowledge: "No, Daniel! Don't back off in a straight line!"

I'll keep that in mind, sensei Yusuke!

[zephyr-mew]

twitter: @ZyxousMew

fandoms I'm currently love very much

✨Yakuza (mainly Infinite Wealth)✨ ❤️Ichiban❤️ 🩶Kiryu🩶 💛Zhao💛 🖤 Masato🖤 (!!untagged spoilers will be happening!!)

I have SO MANY FEELINGS-- • kiryuichi when • polycule when • dub defender, hearing people actually speak like local boys is wild (it actually feels like here!! ;w;) dub obispo my beloved

fave boys: (I've got love in my heart for most of the boys tbh)

ichi • kiryu • masato • zhao • daigo • ryoma • majima • akiyama • nishiki • yamai • tomi • adachi • shinada • kaito •

fave ships: (I ship most things ngl, this is by no means an exhaustive list)

kiryuichi • masadai • kiryuichitomi • kiryuichizhao • tomiyamai • nishikiryu • masaichi • ichizhaohan • minedai • kirinan • ebisawa • yamaichi • shinakitani • shinadai •

honestly anything yakuza has consumed my soul, so that's uh,, kinda it right now lmao

×

faves of yore

📺 RTVS + Friends 📺

love all of them so much 💜

🌌 Arcana 💚Muriel💚❤️Julian❤️💜Asra💜

mash these boys together in every which way and I'll die happy 💜 also lucio/valerius fucks. unfortunately a simp for devil lucio

Jerma

jerma

Stanley Parable

ultra deluxe reignited my love for this :3 check out the demo, it's a completely separate thing from the main game + absolutely worth playing

Homestar Runner

a formative childhood experience + permanent vocabulary alterer

Jak and Daxter

Jak ✔️ Erol ✔️ Torn ✔️

Hotel Dusk + Last Window

thinkin bout Hyde... and Jeff... and Charles... and Louis... and Tony...

Dan Vs

official episodes are all free on youtube 👀 all my love for this fucked up little dude

Subeta

honestly the best avatar and pet site I've ever seen, hmu @ LyricZephyr for buddy gold account gifts :3 please they're just sitting there uselessly otherwise

Ace Attorney

Apollo best boy ❤️ haven't played anything past 5 tbh, they did my boy dirty and I needed a long break from the fandom

OFMD

izzy meow meow - particularly fond of steddyhands and rizzy

Hotline Miami

×

other things that I have liked at some point under the cut

A Way Out

acab ✌️

Animal Crossing

Kicks is bae, he's the only one who didn't make a Big Fucking Deal of me trying on femme stuff as a guy back in New Leaf

Be My Princess

Roberto my love my life ❤️

Beginner's Guide

Bugsnax

these bitches gay, your honor

Cause of Death

iOS game that shut down in like 2010 ;_; I miss Mal. and Kai. Fun fact, I shipped Mal with Hyde from Hotel Dusk - mainly bc they're both detectives lol. nevermind the fact that they're in different time periods

Créme de la Créme

from Choice Of games - literally writing up a whole rec post for this, there's so many queer options it's great

Dem Salty Bois + Friends

Pat 💜 Wade 🐔 Gar 🐺 JP 🍍 special guest BreadHeroDan 🍞

Dragon Age Origins + 2 + Inquisition

tbh I haven't personally played much, but I watched a lot of my sibling's playthroughs. I've got a soft spot for a lot of these guys. god I wish I didn't have to draw/commission stuff myself to see more of my inquisitor/warden/hawke

Dream Daddy

Damien especially 💜

Fire Emblem Awakening + Fates

admittedly weak for takumi. and a lot of the boys tbh. maaaybe someday I'll play 3H

Gabriel Knight 3

why this. damn my weakness for shitty 90s games and a sassy bitch boy with chaotic bi vibes

Journey

Legend of Dragoon

The Longing

the scronkly bab ;w;

Markiplier

look

Metal Gear Solid 1-3

I haven't played myself, but I grew up watching my sibling play these a lot. Ocelot's stupid hand guns gesture and Raiden slipping on bird shit are forever burned into my brain.

Motorcity

lost before its time

My Little Pony

Braeburn 💛

Osomatsu-san

def a Karamatsu boy 💙

Oxboxtra

Persona 3/4/5/Q

tbh I've only fully finished 3s male mc route and q, the rest I've roughly half finished? I'm aware of 4s major spoiler, somehow never seen 5s I think - but honestly, I don't care about spoilers for this fandom. yusuke best boy

Portal

Professor Layton 1-6

Punch-Out Wii + Super

I don't know why I love these characters as much as I do, but hey

Return of the Obra Dinn

Sam & Max

alas I am not immune to Jergen the goth german vampire and his fucking doorknocker-ass nipple piercings

Sims 2 DS

I like Sims in general, but this particular weirdass game had a stranglehold on me for a hot minute

Smosh

Sorted Food

Stumpt

Tales Runner

Rough... Kai... Ocean... Maki... I forget what they changed their names to in the newest server, they're dumb and I'm not using them

TF2

trucks 👏 n 👏 vans // hmu for my decade-old playlist of sfms and music~

Wild Kratts

stg Chris looks like Apollo Justice, Martin looks like Chris Dan Vs, Zach looks like Dan Dan Vs... what is up with this

Witcher

I'm gay

Wolf Among Us

I just,, really like Bigby okay

~

for any youtube types, hmu for my most likely absurdly long playlists of them ✌️

[boypussydilf]

MY TURN give me. all your thoughts about akira. right now

HERE COME THE AKIRA THIUOUGHTS,. I’m so bad at typing

How I feel about this character: you think i can put that into words? You think I can go oh yeah here’s a general overview of how I feel about this guy. With HUMAN WORDS? And anything short of TELEPATHY? I’ll give it a try. First of all I love him <3 he’s like. The best protagonist ever actually. No literally the AUDACITY of some people to act like he doesn’t have a personality- look at him. He is a silent self insert protag in GAMEPLAY ONLY. In the actual narrative? That’s Just A Guy. And a really fun and interesting guy. He wants to help people so bad, it’s so important to him. Where’d he get that from. *squeezes atlus* Show Me His Family. “Really just wants to help people” as a defining trait for a character never gets old like yessssss show me the goodness of humanity the urge to do whatever you can to make things better for someone else even if it’s hard. But at the same time he’s also like. Verging on insufferable sometimes. He has SO many dialogue options to make SO many dumb jokes, he’s just like me <3. He’s the king of *gently bullies his friends* *gently bullies his friends* *gently bullies a complete stranger* he’s a complete dork and an overdramatic showoff and the chuuni of all time and a guy who wants to be a superhero and a guy who just wants to be normal and a guy with social anxiety and a guy who couldn’t shut up to save his life. He chronically adopts younger wiglojgs. SORRY WHAT? SIBLINGS. I TRIED TO TYPE SIBLINGS. IM KEEPING THAT. GOD and that’s not even getting into the way he like… kind of lies a lot. Like for a bunch of the confidants he just Lies about why he’s talking to them, I mean honestly you could say that all the things he says are true if you WANTED I wouldn’t argue with you on that it’s a cool and funny concept but like in my eyes. He’s like. “oh this is because I want to be a politician” “oh im just a model gun enthusiast” and etc etc etc etc and its like. Yeah it’s because all this is because his cat yells at him “THAT PERSON LOOKS USEFUL TALK TO THEM” and he can’t possibly explain That so he just has to come up with a plausible reason but also it’s like. *shakes him* are you good? Like 100%? At the very least lying all the time is really uncomfortable. Like that’s a strain. Oh also he’s so smug <3 Basically I think he’s fun and awesome. Basically he is like a little guy to me. Basically he just does whatever he wants and good for him. He’s a little weirdo who can’t stop being dramatic even in his internal monologue. Has there ever been a better protagonist? Well. That’s a huge paragraph. Hopefully I expressed my thoughts well.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: is there… really gonna be that huge of a gap between these sections? I don’t know if that’s just how it looks for me i or if there’s just gonna be a mile wide gap. Well, either way. Look at me, the man who has probably made at least one tumblr post containing the term “akeshu” every day for the past, like, four days, and take a wild guess. He’s just straight up flirting with akechi in that one confidant. Also see my earlier post abt ryuji being like “THE PLACE YOU BELONG IS WITH ME! ALSO I WOULD DIE FOR YOU” like….. i DO believe in the healing power of best bros. So basically akechi and ryuji r my favorite akira ships. Special mentions go to yusuke and haru as well. Akira may have One girlfriend.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I mean like all of the phantom thieves they’re a fun little found family of bffs but. *banging pots and pans together* FUTABA. FUTABA. FUTABA. SISTER OBTAINED. SISTER ACQUIRED. all futaba and akira do is be siblings and hang out and joke with each other and teach each other things okay? Okay? I am talking directly into your ear now young man? Also gotta mention sojiro their shared dad. Gee akira how come i let you have THREE dads (his actual dad, sojiro, and yoshida)

My unpopular opinion about this character: *leaning in and whispering conspiratorially* i dont interact much with persona fandom… i dont know which opinions are popular or unpopular… I guess my earlier point of just. He DOES have a personality. Some people act like he doesn’t! He DOES! Literally just LOOK AT THE GAME! He makes jokes relentlessly & does cool backflips just bc he realized He Can & he spends every single class every day staring pointedly out the window & he insists on helping people no matter what & he loves his friends & I might have had another thing to say but I got so busy building up to it that I lost it. Anyway. He’s literally just NOT a self insert. He’s his own guy who just occasionally supplies you with dialogue options when he doesn’t feel like talking. Ok? Ok? People stop saying he doesn’t have a personality. He does.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: oh god idk uh. I wish he actually swapped outfits with akechi. I mean there’s still time, I guess, but I know how these things work, so I’m just, like, assuming it won’t happen. Uhh. I wish atlus had not been cowards and gave him the option to date his guy friends too <3 seriously it’s a missed opportunity all around. I wish uhhhhhhhhh. I think I had something else but I forgot it 😐 honestly despite my passion about his personality i DONT wish he wasn’t a silent protag bc like- then so much of the charm is lost. What makes m get so excited abt his personality is the fact that you have to LOOK for it. I LOVE looking at characters and keeping an eye out for things that are less than obvious about them and piecing together details that lie under the surface and akira woild be fun anyway but also hes kind of more fun for his personality having to be something you grow to understand yourself. As much as it infuriates me when people Don’t understand. Also I wish you got to call sojiro dad.

WELL I HOPE MY RAMBLINGS ARENT UHH. TOO INCOMPREHENSIBLE TO READ. ENJOY THESE HUGE CHUNKS OF TEXT. THE GUY <3

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #943: Single Bros Day (Persona 5)

10:23 a.m. at LeBlanc Café........

Ryuji: (Takes a Sip of his Coffee Before Sighing ) Another year of being a single man on Valentine's Day......

Yusuke: You seemed a lot less bothered by it than usual.

Ryuji: (Shrugs) Yeah, well.... It's not the biggest deal in the world. So it's no use being hot and bothered by it every year. ('Sigh') But man, I STILL can't believe frickin' Mona of all people, got himself a girlfriend before I could! (Turns to Morgana and Lavenza Happily Chatting to One Another From a Bit of a Distance) I mean, I'm proud of the twerp and all, but damn.....

Yusuke: It's not all bad. At the very least, we can be single lads together.

Ryuji: Yeah. But I'm pretty sure it won't be too long for you and Futuba make it official one of these days.

Yusuke: You really think she would have romantic interest in me?

Ryuji: Well, I don't hear her talk about any other guys I know besides you. Plus, she has been calling "Inari" more times than I can count.

Yusuke: ('Sigh') A nickname I still have little to no knowledge of it means.....

Ryuji: (Gives Yusuke a Bit of a Reassuring Smile on his Face) Hey, It gotta mean something special if she only calls you that. And besides, you like spending some time with her, right?

Yusuke: I do enjoy her company from time to time. (Places his Hand Under his Chin) But regardless, I believe I'm still inexperience in romance and love related gestures.....Do you think I should ask Mr. Sojiro for advice?

Ryuji: (Starts Rolling his Eyes) Yeah, sure. Take advice from a guy who's literally your crush's dad. That sounds a terrific idea......

Yusuke raises a finger to speak before getting interrupted by Ryuji.

Ryuji: That was sarcasm by the way. DON'T ask her dad for advice.

Yusuke: ('Sigh') Very well.....How about Ren? He seems to be the most romantic type out of the two of us.

Ryuji: True. But he's also a big brother to Futuba. So if he finds out that you have the hots for her, then he'll interrogate you faster than you can say magnif-

Yusuke: (Quickly Says.....) Magnificent! ('Exhales Breath') How's that?

Ryuji: (Gives Yusuke a Deadpinned Look om his Face) ..............Dude. You didn't have to do all of that.

Yusuke: Ah. Right. ('Clears Throat') My apologies. (Places his Hand Under his Chin Once Again) Still, I wonder who else should I ask for advice.......

Ryuji: (Starts Smirking Confidently) Probably someone who's the best bro around.

Yusuke: (Snaps his Fingers) Ah. You mean King Dedede?

Ryuji: (Eyes Widened a Little) What? No, dude, it's me. I can give you love advice.

Yusuke: (Raised an Eyebrow in Confusion) You? But....You're single, aren't you not?

Ryuji: (Starts Rolling his Eyes Again) Way to point out the obvious, Einstein......But seriously, with my help, you'll be able to know a thing or two about the whole thing in no time.

Yusuke: You would really take the time to do that for me?

Ryuji: (Smiles Brightly) Of course, man. We're bros. We always have each other's back no matter how single we are.

Yusuke: (Stares at Ryuji For a Brief Second Before Smiling Softly Before Nodding in Agreement) Right. (Eyes Suddenly Begins to Widened a Little) Oh! Speaking of which.....(Starts Getting Something From out of his Art Bag) There's something I want to give you on this fine occasion.

Ryuji: (Eyes Begins to Widened at What Yusuke is Holding) No way.......You got me a box of Chocolates?

Yusuke: (Simply Nodded) That's right. I've noticed how angsty you would get whenever you haven't received any Chocolates of your own in the previous Valentines. So I figured I'd break the cycle and give you one of my own, if you like.

Ryuji: (Almost at a Loss of Words) Dude.......(Smiles Softly as he Receives his Gift) You didn't have to do all of that for me, man. Thank you. ('Sigh') Now I feel even more of a dick for not getting you anything myself.......

Yusuke: (Gives Ryuji a Reassuring Smile) There's no need for you to feel bad about anything. Us Bros have each other back no matter what.

Ryuji: (Chuckles Lightly) Yeah, man. Bros for life.

Meanwhile at the Distance......

Lavenza: (Watches Ryuji and Yusuke Makes a Toast With Their Respective Drinks With a Smile on her Face While Having her Hand on to of Morgana's) It's nice to see these two spend quality time with One Another in this special occasion....(Turns Back to her Boyfriend in Front of Her) Do you think this is a sign of them forming a romantic bond?

Morgana: (Smiles Sheepishly) I'm....pretty sure that's just them hanging out as friends, Lavenza. (Places his Hand Under His Hand) Though, it would be pretty interesting to see them date if that were the case.......

Lavenza: (Smiles Brightly) Well, whatever bond they form, I will them my upmost support, while still shipping them in my inner conscious, of course.

Morgana: (Gives Lavenza a Deadpinned Look on his Face) You really gotta stop listening to Futuba about this sort of thing......

Happy Valentines and Single Awareness Day Everybody!

@princekirijo

@keyenuta

@26shann

@ma-lemons

@caleb13frede

@cyber-wildcat

@theweebmaster31

[nightshadedawn]

Persona 5 Royal Playthrough pt3

I ended up going through two Palaces before I could update y’all. Oh well.

...Yeah, no, quit calling me Miss Special Snowflake's boyfriend. It's not happening.

Ryuji, Morgana, and Yusuke having a conversation in the laundromat: "It's like he's our mom," says Ryuji... the mom friend.

Every time Morgana is like "I have to turn into a human so no one else can have Lady Ann!" then expects no one else to hear him makes me laugh. Like, bitch, no.

I have the restaurant in my Thieves Den 'cause I like it. Yusuke, Ryuji, and Morgana are there. They're so precious.

I got a three in a row Tycoon on cutthroat!!!

Ryuji and Ann just keep going "Shoulda figured" and other versions of the statement every time I win.

Ann just rejected Morgana's feelings HARD. I am happy.

Ryuji is too good, honestly. Why would anyone not like him? He's... He's always trying to build the team up, make them proud of themselves and what they've done. I will admit that he has his moments of being not a great human, but they're teenagers who were given absurd powers, so honestly, can you blame them?

I didn't know darts was an actual minigame! There's so many minigames. I'm so happy.

I don't like Akechi. I don't know why some people do. Like, his death scene was a bit... too late for a redemption for me, right after he tried to kill Joker, several times. His pain is understandable, but still... I can't.

Their "two sides of the same coin" also doesn't seem particularly fair. It's totally uneven in everything but color schemes.

Guys, GUYS, please, PLEASE decide whether you're going to react to my teasing or not.

"We don't have to deal with them directly," Ryuji says joyfully about the mafia. Oh you sweet, sweet, innocent child, if only you knew what I do.

I literally can't play this game around anyone else because I tend to yell "BABY!" to Ryuji, Ann, and Yusuke and "BITCH" or "FUCKER" to... a rather long list of villains in this game... and Makoto.

I can literally feel Yusuke's anxiety about his painting when you take him to Leblanc to see Sayuri.

How can you say Yusuke isn't gay when he says everything I do is beautiful?

I love Ryuji's 9th social link. It's LITERALLY written like a confession scene. This also means I kinda hate it because... I can't date him.

Also... PRETTY BOY RYUJI PRETTY BOY RYUJI PRETTY BOY RYUJI

I actually kinda thought that the new scene for Ryuji being a crossdresser is kinda funny??? Is this bad??? I wanna see him in a dress, tho. I gotta agree, he'd be a natural. Not the like, painfully obviously not taking it seriously from the dancing game, though.

Though I do think it's valid that he freaks out when two strange adults come up to him and try to take him somewhere, especially in a place known for being shady, and at night.

...When Ryuji complains about it, I do feel bad about ditching him. Then again, I blame the cat.

Ryuji may be my ideal type on paper, but I'm also highly attracted to Yusuke and this is so totally unfair.

*softly chanting* butlers butlers butlers butlers

Don't mind me just... *makes meticulous plot to avoid having Makoto join the team that i may or may not write a fanfic about*

Makoto is one dumbass bitch. Like, honestly, there's nothing she does that's in any way remotely smart.

...I thought I'd just skip Makoto's scenes until she became relevant, but here I am, still skipping her scenes. Does that mean she’s still irreleveant?

"Witch" I suggest, and Makoto complains! "Would you prefer "Bitch"? I can use that too.

I put Yusuke on the team in the middle of the palace through settings, replacing Morgana, who had been standing right behind me. Which made Yusuke stand right behind me. It looked like he was holding onto my waist and standing uncomfortably close. Bro, babe, I love you, but not in front of my boyfriend and girlfriend!

Just accept the compliment, guys, I'm not going to compliment Queen.

...Opening chests with Ann or Ryuji is just so sweet because they're so affectionate and touchy feely. Especially Ryuji.

Math. Fucking. Sucks. I should not have to use math in a game. I hate this. Obviously it's the Palace Makoto comes in that this happened.

Well, I finished the Palace in a day. I love the feeling. But it was getting close there. Joker and Yusuke were down to no spells...

...Yoshizawa hasn't showed up yet. When is she getting shoehorned in?

WHY IS THE VELVET ROOM RED!?

My very first playthrough I didn't execute a single execution except for the first one we have to do. It  really screwed me over my second playthrough...

...I broke the electric chair. That's certainly something that happened.

147 games of Tycoon later and I've only been a beggar 31 times in total, versus the pure thirty wins in just Cutthroat.

They're in their summer uniforms and it makes make miss warmer weather already. It's fucking snowing outside. Grrrr.

Beat Kaneshiro! ...Wasn't a fan of his new boss battle. I'm even playing on safe mode! But whatever.

Makoto is a DISASTER at Tycoon. She exclusively got beggar all three times I played with her!

...RYUJI YOU CAN'T SAY SHIT LIKE THAT AND NOT LET ME DATE YOU.

Ann, sweeties, baby, you're doing so well.

She confessed to me, then in the call afterwards it was basically insinuated I proposed... WHICH IS LIKE FUCK YEAH 'CAUSE SHE ACCEPTED IT.

It makes me think of the future conversation where they're talking about marriage.

Anyway, if you haven't noticed, l love Ann.

My next playthrough I'm not gong to date her, though. I'm a completionist and I want ALL of the possible awards. But... I refuse to cheat on Ann. So I'll date everyone else then just hang with Ryuji... despite how cringy some of the date things are.

...If Akechi wasn't, you know EVIL and tried to KILL ME, SEVERAL TIMES, I might, MIGHT, like him. But in truth, I think that's really just the Persona 5: Revival talking. We get... into some stuff during that.

I know that either Atlus or the translators know EXACTLY what goes on in the Persona fandom because otherwise "He's too pretty to be wrong" would not be an option when talking to the newspaper girl about Akechi. I have to agree with her that his looks aren't really, you know, awesome enough for that.

Also, I read it as "He's too petty to be wrong" at first and I think that's an accurate sum of his character.

YO AKECHI-FUCK I HAVE NO NEED TO SEE YOUR ASS LIKE THAT WHEN I HAVE BOTH A BF AND AND GF.

...fucker fucking giving me shit about my fake glasses...

If you COULD date the boy out of mod, Akechi would definitely be the one they were pushing you to date. Like Makoto. Or Yoshizawa.

But hey, at least I get to not be nice to him.

I remember seeing this picture where Ann, Ryuji, and Joker kept going to the movies together and seeing 3D movies, and Joker couldn't wear the 3D glasses properly because of his own. I keep imagining that picture during this event with Caroline and Justine.

You know what? Some people call Joker a loli lover because of them, but nope! He's just adopted two more siblings. That is my stance on it.

FUcking

Fucker

WHAT THE FRRRRRRRR

FUCK YOU ATULS OR TRANSLATORS OR WHATEVER

APHRODITE AND MARS ARE FROM TWO DIFFERENT MYTHOS. Aphrodite is GREEK, Mars is ROMAN. Their reversed are VENUS and ARES. USE ONE OR THE OTHER PEOPLE.

I get very pissed about this, and it's worse with Hades.

7/4 is the day I am screaming at, if you were wondering.

My dad asked me if the other students think Joker's stupid because every time I answer a question right they get all surprised.

I don't really like Makoto, as I'm sure you've noticed, but she was super nice about Ryuji's special move idea. And that put her ahead of Akechi in my book.

TESTS ARE NERVE WRACKING EVEN WHEN THEY'RE FICTIONAL

Yusuke and Ryuji are good boys, the best boys. And they're so awesome about their special move.

AND RYUJI OFFERED MONEY FOR YUSUKE'S FOOD. And implied that he did it before???? Ryuji, you best boy.

This boys' outing DOES make me happy, though. Like, insanely happy. Dunno why.

Maybe because Joker gets to be so flipping cheesy.

...fuck you, Yoshizawa.

HONESTLY WHAT THE EVER LOVING--- Grr. Too many choices while with her. Too many. OOC Joker when with her. 0/10.

I LOVE THE FESTIVAL PHOTO

And you know, it's really hard to choose between Lala-chan and Ann, but... GONNA TAKE ANN ON A DATE

Got her some flowers. Lets see if we can give them to her this time!

"Such a good FRIEND." Babe, we're DATING. For like, TWO WEEKS NOW.

AND I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO GIVE HER FLOWERS

Ann called Yusuke a pretty boy, but then she's missing out on the REAL pretty boy, Pretty Boy Ryuji.

Ryuji, why're you so worried about other girls when you've got ME?

"I like the shade." "What are you, moss!?" Oh, admit it, Ryuji, I'm growing on you.

Cargona. Snrk. Gods, I love you, Ryuji.

Dome town with Ryuji! "Isn't it all couples?" That's the point!

I COULD GIVE RYUJI THE ROSES!?

Sadly, I bought those for Ann. Ryuji, you get the noodles.

AND HE FUCKING LOVED IT.

"It feels like I really captured Ryuji's heart!" FUCK YEAH I DID

Gonna give Yusuke the bracelet when I get the chance.

Why is everyone color coded in the chat room? Kawakami, Akechi, Mishima, and the reporter are all ORANGE. What's the point? Well, Akechi's more of a golden orange, but close enough.

While Mishima is not my first choice for a date, he's definitely not my last.

...But the boy really needs some fucking sleep. He's not drawn with the bags under his eyes, but I can see them!

It's not fair that they give Akechi a kicked puppy sprite. I'm... goddamnit, they're trying to make me not hate him.

When Makoto doesn't know something, I'm brought great joy.

NO DAD MAKOTO IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND ANN IS AND SHE IS LITERALLY R I G H T T H E R E

First day in Futaba's Palace! I've gotta say, this is my second favorite palace. Kamoshida, Futaba, Madarame, Sae, Okumura, Shido, Kaneshiro, Holy Grail. In that order. I HATE Kaneshiro's place and dealing with the Holy Grail. But whatevs, man. I love this game. (Vanilla, at least, this one is still on the fence)

I found out a cool little thing. On the uphill sand slopes in the town (don't know about anywhere else) if you're running and turn back quickly, Joker will do a little animation to steady himself. It was cool and made it seem, I dunno, more human? Anyway, while I was admiring this, Ryuji and Yusuke just stood at the top of the slope and Ann followed me while I was running. Best girlfriend ever.

Kin-Ki is looking pretty kin-ky if you know what I'm sayin'

Please don't murder me because I do terrible puns.

*we fall through the trap door* *Ryuji starts screaming* Same, baby, same.

...Makoto is seriously annoying. Like, she's got no business acting as familiar with Futaba's situation. The one who WOULD be the most familiar is Yusuke, and I'm glad he recognizes that. It's not the exact same, none of their stories are after all, but I feel like those two get each other better than even Ryuji and Joker understand each other.

Yusuke and Ryuji's special attack is THE BEST

Ryuji and Joker getting up close and personal in the shadows. All those fanfics coming true, man.

I thought Futaba was sloth, not wrath? Why are her Will Seeds called Wrath?

Beat it in one day! It's so satisfying to watch all those achievements when I leave the palace.

You know, I'm thinking of wearing the Christmas outfits for the final battle. Just to be kinda funny.

Spending a relaxing day with Yusuke after going through Futaba's Palace... kinda want to take him to the bathhouse to check out that new scene, but I also REALLY wanna feed the boy... gonna feed the boy.

Apparently I can only make 'decent curry.' Which is fine. Because "I" can't make curry at all. Joker, you've done much better than I.

THE DATE CHANGE SCREEN HAD A RAINBOW AND RYUJI WAS COMING OVER ON THE SAME DAY FUCK YEAH MY BISEXUAL BABY

...Broooooo, the way you talk about your manga is how I talk right before I start shipping.

Took him to the bathhouse, 'cause I don't gotta worry about Mama Sakamoto feeding him.

...Can I take Ann to the bathhouse?

Asked Ryuji to move in. He was all up for the idea until he remembered that I live in an attic.

I'm Charismatic now!

...I was all hoping Ann would stop by but then Akechi asked me out. Laaaaaaaame.

Ryuji's smile is so fucking cute.

...I say we just be honest, and everyone's so fucking stupid about it until Makoto explains it. This pisses me off. They're not that dumb... At least, they weren't until Makoto showed up.

Futaba's hiding in the closet. ...I've spent too many weeks making jokes about closets to not have a joke about it.

Really, Yusuke? You see those books and think she can't understand?

...Wait, that sassy tone of voice... You were TRYING to pull a reaction of her. I knew I shipped those two for a reason. OTP and BroTP. Doesn't matter, they're both awesome.

I love you Ann, but I don't think your situations were the same at all. It's not like both are valid and bad, but... different.

Joker is SO fast compared to the others, especially when he's speeding.

What the...

Holy fuck...

JOKER IS TOO EFFING COOL

THAT MOVE TO GET FROM THE ENTRANCE TO TO TREASURE DOOR? Awesome!

Damn, Joker has my heart too.

I kinda wish we could see Futaba's costumes in her Persona. That would be pretty neat.

The moment right before Wakaba appears is so aesthetically pleasing.

...Futaba being happy is almost enough for me to accept Maruki's offer, and I haven't gotten there yet.

Ryuji and Ann keep smacking each other out of their ailments. Like, you guys just love each other so much! It's awesome.

Joker has lackluster responses to Wakaba... I'm hoping that isn't one of those "Answer these wrong and you break her!" things... Not that I think I was, but still.

I liked Futaba's new animation for when she defied her mother.

I wish the anime looked more the cutscenes. I'm trying to rewatch the anime so I can pinpoint specific moments for future editing purposes, but it's kinda painful.

1- This is the SECOND TIME you've landed on Yusuke while running from trouble.

2- YUSUKE LET GO OF MY GIRL

No Makoto, I don't want to go see Futaba with you! I can go see her myself.

So, I like Takemi's new voice with her lines during this scene.

Sure, she collapses every so often and sleeps for a while. Stays like that for a few days. Sorry that I put her into a coma for a month, Boss...

SHE LOOKS SO CUTE WITHOUT GLASSES

Guys, we have a month. Stop worrying.

THE TWINS ARE SO CUTE WHILE HANGING ONTO THE BENCH PRESS

Damn, Joker's dying to the amusement of two little girls.

I'm kinda disappointed I didn't get results for all that training. But I liked the scene.

Yusuke just casually be lugging bigass paintings around.

Taking the girls to the church may have been one of the funnier moments. These cement them as Joker's little sisters. With Futaba. Damn, Joker, you got no brothers.

Yusuke promises to come by every day and we can tell him to take his clothes off. ATLUS, you have some EXPLAINING to DO.

..And Yusuke took it and ran with it. My sweet summer child, I don't think I could handle you in as little as possible on the day to day.

"The heat induced delirium made me think outside the box." Same.

Guts takes sooooooooooooo long to level up.

"Punish me more" he says, as if Takemi won't do it.

"Good god. Well, none of my medicine can cure THAT." AT LEAST WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE

BATHHOUSE WITH YUSUKE

Awe, he had fun. :)

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

Z for Kaoru/Yusuke with Bonus Shouichi/Makoto (Double Date)

Z is for double date

Makoto’s wanted to work directly with Ichijo Kaoru for years, and now that he’s getting to, what strikes him is just how tired the man seems. Not that it makes anything but sense--his work ethic is legendary, which mostly means that he never seems to relax. He’s always doing something. Makoto’s never heard him mention hobbies, vacations, no girlfriend or wife. Work, work, work.

Which is why, when Ichijo turns to him one day and says, “You couldn’t recommend a good restaurant around here, could you?” Makoto’s first response is to say, “Pardon?”

Once he’s gathered himself, which only takes a second or two, he does manage to continue with, “Right, ah, restaurants. Yes, I know a few, are you--who are you entertaining?”

“A friend of mine just came back from a long trip.” And--this perpetually harried man’s eyes soften, and he doesn’t quite smile, but he’s definitely thinking of smiling. “I thought we might get something to eat, I haven’t taken a real evening off in a while.”

Makoto can’t help smiling himself. “Well, what kind of food does your friend like?”

“Oh, he’ll eat just about anything. He loves to cook, actually, he makes an amazing curry--” Ichijo cuts off abruptly, as if he thinks he’s said too much, but then continues. “In any case, he’s been out of the country for a few months, and I’d like to treat him. He enjoys visiting new restaurants.”

Makoto’s smile becomes a grin. “I have a friend like that. Who loves food, I mean, not that he’s been out of the country. He runs a restaurant, he almost never travels. I’ve been trying to convince him to take a break for a while.”

“Really? Well, I’d say I should go to your friend’s restaurant, but it sounds like maybe he could use an evening off as much as I could.” As if to punctuate, Ichijo takes a long sip of his coffee, blinking tiredly. “Actually, you know, Hikawa, why don’t you come with us? Talk your friend into taking a night off too and we’ll all get dinner together. It’ll be my treat, senior to junior.”

“That’s, I--that’s incredibly kind of you to offer, thank you, I’d, we’d love to.” I’ll make Shouichi take a night off if it kills me. “Do you, uh--you said your friend eats pretty much anything. Do you like yakiniku?”

--

It takes less work than Makoto had been expecting to talk Shouichi into it. No work at all, actually--he explains, and Shouichi immediately brightens and says, “Oh, a double date, that sounds fantastic.”

“Well, no, I mean--I don’t think. I don’t know if Ichijo is. He just said friend.”

“That’s also what you call me.” Shouichi beams at him. “Don’t worry, I can think it’s a date without saying so.”

Makoto blushes. “I’m sorry, I just--worry. I mean, they might be, but if they aren’t--Ichijo’s my senior, I don’t want to offend him.” A pause. “But whatever it is for them, it’s a date for us.”

--

The first thing that strikes him about Ichijo’s friend is the smile, one hundred watts directed squarely at him from across the yakiniku place. The second thing, when they’re shaking hands, is the eyes.

“Godai Yusuke,” Ichijo’s friend says, and Makoto thinks, he has Shouichi’s eyes.

Not exactly, of course--it’s not as if they’re the same shape or color as Shouichi’s, his eyelashes are longer, laugh lines deeper. There’s a look, though, that he and Shouichi share, an intensity that Makoto finds jarringly familiar.

Granted, it’s not the first time he’s met someone else with eyes like that. Some people just have them. A journalist who interviewed Mana once for an article about psychics. The guy who does Makoto’s dry-cleaning. A man who stopped him once to ask for directions to the airport. Some people just have a gaze that knocks you flat.

Ichijo snaps him out of his brief surprise by clapping him gently on the shoulder. “I was going to introduce him, but he beat me to it. Godai, this is Hikawa Makoto, he’s a colleague of mine.”

“I’ve heard about you.” The hundred-watt smile again. “Ichijo thinks pretty highly of you, it’s great to get a chance to say hello.” He glances past Makoto’s shoulder.

“Right, ah. Ichijo, Godai, this is my friend Tsugami Shouichi, he runs Restaurant Agito over in--”

Godai brightens more, if such a thing is possible. “Agito? I’ve heard of there, I’ve been meaning to try it for a while but I just never seem to have the time. It’s your restaurant?”

Shouichi grins at him. “Yeah, for a few years now. You should come there sometime, since you’re friends of Makoto’s I’ll cook you something special.”

They all sit down at the table, and within a few minutes Shouichi and Godai are deep into a heated discussion about gardening techniques, of all things. Lost, Makoto glances across the table and catches Ichijo’s eye, and Ichijo flashes him a brief smile. “And until five minutes ago I didn’t realize that Godai knew how to garden. I should have guessed, of course. He knows how to do most things.”

Then he looks back at Godai, and there’s an expression that crosses his face, and it hits Makoto hard, that this is Ichijo looking at someone he’s in love with.

He wonders if Godai knows.

He hopes so, really, anyone who’s got Ichijo’s attention like that must be something special.

And Godai and Shouichi are talking about cooking now, and having an entirely different friendly disagreement about seasoning blends, and Godai turns to Makoto and says, “So do you cook, Hikawa? Because Kaoru doesn’t much, and someone’s going to have to settle this.”

“Oh, uh. I’m all right as a cook. I don’t actually cook much, though, I don’t think I can settle anything for you.”

Shouichi leans in a bit to say, in a loud stage whisper, “He’s good with tofu.”

Makoto groans. “Please don’t bring up the tofu.”

“I’m sensing that there’s a story behind this.” Ichijo turns to flag down a server as he’s speaking. “Please, bring up the tofu.”

Makoto covers his face with his hands. “Shouichi’s going to tell you every embarrassing thing he knows about me now, I can sense it.”

“Don’t worry too much.” Godai elbows Ichijo lightly. “I’ll keep it even by telling you embarrassing things about Kaoru.”

Ichijo’s eyes go wide. “You wouldn’t.”

Fortunately, this is when the server reaches them, and for another couple of minutes they all devolve into good-natured bickering as they order drinks and ask for recommendations about what meats are best today. Of course, they’ve all got favorites, and none of them are the same, so the server takes just the drink order with a promise to help settle things when she returns.

And--something odd happens.

They’re looking at the menu, talking over the different platters available, and Shouichi says, “Actually, look, you know, the number four selection looks good, we can always add stuff to it.”

Godai flinches.

It’s very slightly, almost imperceptible. Just a twitch, a flicker. And then it’s gone, and Godai is nodding and saying, “Maybe that and then the pork belly and--are those garlic mushrooms? Are they good here?”

Makoto’s known people in the past who got superstitious about the number four, but somehow he doesn’t think that’s it. He doesn’t want to ask, though, and risk disrupting their nice time. So he just says, “Yeah, those are newer on the menu, but they’re really delicious.”

The flinch stays with him, itching at the back of his mind. Something about it reminds him of...he’s not sure what.

The server returns with their drinks and takes their dinner order. Godai and Shouichi resume their seasoning argument, which somehow transitions seamlessly into a discussion of coffee-brewing. Ichijo, when he isn’t talking, continues to watch Godai like he’s the only person in the world.

“I feel like Tsugami and I might be dominating the conversation,” Godai says brightly after a bit. “So, Hikawa, are you allowed to talk about what you and Kaoru are working on? I would’ve gotten the story from him, but I only got back to Japan two days ago, haven’t had the time yet.”

“Oh, uh. We’re consulting in the new stage of an ongoing project.”

“Trying to convince the brass that the solution to their problems isn’t always to build a bigger gun.” Ichijo sighs. “Speaking of that, Hikawa, how’s your shoulder with the wet weather we’ve been having?”

“It aches, but at least it’s not seizing up. I was the bigger gun once,” Makoto says to Godai, who looks a little thrown by the segue. “In the, uh, Unknown situation, a few years ago. Or at least I wore it, I was G3′s equipper. I’m on this project now because I have hands-on experience with, um. Unusual situations.”

“That’s how we met,” Shouichi says unexpectedly next to him, “the Unknown thing. Makoto was interviewing a friend of mine about part of it.”

“Oh, I see. I was, ah, out of the country when that was going on,” and for some reason Ichijo reaches over and squeezes Godai’s hand as Godai continues talking. “I didn’t hear too much about it. What was G3?”

“It was--” Makoto scratches the back of his head, flips his piece of skirt steak on the grill. “Well, this might sound odd, but it was a sort of robot suit for fighting monsters? It was based on--”

Number Four. It was based on Unidentified Life Form Number Four.

The tiny flinch from earlier clicks into place with the vague knowledge Makoto has of Ichijo’s past work, Ichijo’s hand on Godai’s, “I was out of the country.”

I’m sitting across the table from Number Four.

The minuscule flinch replays itself in his mind again and again, and even as he’s suppressing the urge to jump up and shout he also changes tack. “--the designs of a friend of mine, Professor Ozawa, maybe you’ve heard of her? She actually won a fairly major engineering award a few years ago.”

His eyes meet Ichijo’s across the grill for a moment, and what he sees is alarm fading into clear, profound relief. They can’t nod at each other, not right now, not about this, but Makoto’s fairly sure he knows what Ichijo is thinking.

Fortunately--or maybe it’s not just fortune, maybe it’s intentional--Shouichi chooses this moment to say, cheerfully, “You know, this is making me realize that I never did tell you guys the tofu story.”

“Oh no.” Makoto groans. “Please. Please don’t.”

Ichijo actually laughs. Godai says, “Now I think he has to.”

--

By the time they finish dinner it’s late, and the street outside the restaurant is empty and quiet. It feels solemn. Good-byes are also quiet, friendly, Godai extracting a promise that they’ll all meet up again sometime soon before the group splits in two to go their separate ways.

Makoto turns back to look right before he sits down to drive, and in the dim streetlights he catches a glimpse of Godai leaning over from the passenger’s seat of Ichijo’s car, their mouths meeting in the shadows for a moment, and relief washes over him as he thinks, Good for them.

At home, he and Shouichi dance sleepily around each other as they change clothes, brush their teeth, try to decide whether to maybe watch something and then realize that they’re both too tired for it. They fall into bed, Shouichi curls up against his side, and it’s just as perfect as it always is.

Except that Makoto can’t sleep. Instead he stares at the bedroom ceiling, thinking about Shouichi, about Godai, about the other people he’s met with eyes like earthquakes. What have their lives been like? Did they, too, save humanity from things that no one remembers or will ever thank them for?

He glances down at Shouichi, expecting to find him asleep, and instead is, as usual, knocked down by a thoughtful, focused gaze. “What are you thinking about, Makoto?”

He shrugs. “I was thinking about Godai, mostly.”

Shouichi pouts comically in the dim light of the bedroom. “You’re not allowed to get a crush on your senior’s boyfriend.”

“I--no.” He can feel himself blushing. “No, that’s, that’s not it. He just...seems like someone who’s had an interesting life.” Maybe they can talk about Number Four tomorrow, or maybe they won’t talk about it ever.

“And?”

“And what?”

“There’s an and, I can tell.”

“Well...” Makoto sighs. “Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I hadn’t met you.”

Shouichi curls in closer. “I wonder the same thing about you. I think I’d be a very different person. I think I’d probably be pretty unhappy.”

“So I was thinking about that, and about Godai.”

“And?”

Makoto stares at the ceiling and wraps his arm around Shouichi’s shoulders and wonders how long it took Godai to be able to smile like that, after everything Number Four had to do. “I’m glad he has someone who loves him.”

[biomic]

What happened in zvd, if you don’t mind me asking? I heard through thirdhand accounts that some people didn’t like it but since I have no clue how to watch it (and have no intentions to) I’d really like to know.

uhhh well i didn’t watch it either, i wasn’t interested when it was announced because more zi-o + another inoue/shirakura power hour didn’t entice me, and then it came out and everyone said it was somehow worse than anyone could’ve imagined. i have seen other people post about it tho, so these are a few of the “highlights” i gleaned from it

first up, we’ve got unnecessary blood and gore, bc of course we do. you’ve got inves eating a bunch of students and then i think there’s a death game aspect? or something? so more people die and get covered in extremely fake looking blood. ow the edge

time jacker baby boy uhr comes out as gay for sougo which like. cool i guess. then he’s murdered or something so it’s worth less than nothing. but hey we had a throwaway line about how love between two men is okay so people on twitter can take that out of context and praise inoue for being a based kino swag gigachad or whatever the fuck they’re talking about over there

then he comes back i think?? and it’s revealed he’s been an alien this whole time. or an alien cyborg, or just a cyborg. who fucking knows. they reused a metal heroes suit from jiraiya/the space squad movies for this but apparently he’s not the actual guy from jiraiya so. Okay.

there’s seven clones or alternate universe versions of sougo running around and one of them is a basketball player who’s revealed to be a robot at the end? i don’t know why they included this whole bit it seemed very stupid

tsukasa gets a dumb ugly updated version of complete form to sell a new toy but he literally jobs so hard apparently. like from what i understand he transforms into this new form and then just fucking loses anyway. i don’t fucking get it

yusuke from decade is back after not appearing in the franchise for over ten years, which is incredible! but then they reveal that it’s an alternate reality version of yusuke who’s evil and a serial killer or something. we do not see the original yusuke to my knowledge, so they completely wasted this rare opportunity to bring ryouta murai back to the role for something special

then tsukasa fucking dies forever and fades away and is like “my journey’s finally come to an end...” so that’s it for our favorite destroyer of worlds. great sendoff. but then i think they tease that he’ll come back ~someday~ at the end 

oma zi-o’s also a thing in this but he’s a little kid? like an actual child? don’t ask me i have no clue

woz is there

that’s all i got, if i remembered anything else or dug any deeper i think my brain would deflate. if this sounds incoherent and insane to you that’s because it is

[kazimakuwabara]

A Name (part 10)

Previous chapter can be found HERE

***

“This is exciting!”

“You’re not a child! Hold still.”

Hiei shook his head, and tightened Kuwabara’s sling.

Kuwabara couldn’t believe he was doing this! That Hiei was doing this! He forced himself to stay still, and tried to calm his eager heartbeat.

Hiei was going to take him to some place in demon world, where Kuwabara could ask some Fae prince by the name of Wicker, if he could see the Áine Sovereign Blade one more time.

After Kuwabara had talked about his desire to see the sword to Hiei, Kuwabara  had also explained the dreams he had had... and the latest one where a girl promised to help return his memory. If he remembered her as well. This part he didn’t understand, but Kuwabara had a hunch he needed to see the blade one more time. Surely, all this would be connected.

Hiei had sat quietly listening to Kuwabara, his eyes a storm, but his face calm. Something about Hiei’s placid face made Kuwabara feel calm, and able to talk about his strange dream. It was nice to have Hiei listen, and not get tense, or morose, or suddenly have a piteous look in his eye.

Kuwabara knew Yusuke and Kurama didn’t mean any harm... but it was good to have someone who seemed willing to take Kuwabara’s desires seriously, and not coddle him. Shield him.

And after Kuwabara finished talking, Hiei had simply nodded his head and announced, “We should go. To where this sword is. I’ll take you there.”

“Really?!” Kuwabara had asked eagerly, all smiles, and suddenly very excited.

“Yes. We’ll leave now... and the others can catch up,” Hiei said opening the closet door next to Kuwabara’s bed. Hiei rifled through the closet, tossing garments on the floor, muttering, “You’ll need something to keep you warm if we’re traveling that far...”

He pulled out a long white jacket, and his nose wrinkled with distaste, “Ugh... you still have this?”

He tossed the white coat across the room as if it was cursed, and Kuwabara found himself giggling, inexplicably excited. “I cant believe you’re helping me!”

“Why?” Hiei asked still pulling things from Kuwabara’s closet. He pulled out an old school uniform, and Hiei shook his head and muttered, “Packrat.”

Kuwabara ignored Hiei’d latter comment, and answered his question with a shrug.

“I don’t know. I brought up the sword... and it got... weird with the others. And you’re just helping me right away! No questions asked, even!” Kuwabara explained, glancing at a jean jacket Hiei had tossed to the floor.

“If they weren’t so sensitive, they’d help too,” Hiei explained without looking at Kuwabara. He was appraising a plain, but thicker Kimono and a bright blue haori. Pinching the fabric in his hand, he nodded once before continuing to say, “They’ve always coddled you in times like this. If these past few months hadn’t been so traumatic, they would be listening to you and helping you without question. But the ordeal you’ve gone through... hurt them too. They don’t want you to hurt anymore... but I know better.”

Kuwabara chose not to bring up Hiei’s quick retreat just a few weeks earlier.

Hiei turned to Kuwabara and held out the haori and kimono, “You are strong. You do not need coddling or protection. You just need assistance sometimes to get to your goals.”

After that, Kuwabara quietly let Hiei help him get dressed. Hiei’s words had made him suddenly feel very touched and sentimental. It was only as Hiei finished adjusting Kuwabara’s sling, Kuwabara remembered to say thank you.

Hiei made a face, “I’m not doing anything special.”

“You all are. Every one of you,” Kuwabara insisted with a nod and big grin.

“You’re enduring my memory loss; helping me recover. It’s in different ways... but you all obviously care. I know... I know you guys don’t think of it this way, but for me... it’s like being helped out by really kind strangers, I’m eager to know,” Kuwabara explained.

Hiei motioned for Kuwabara to stoop, and when he did, Hiei wrapped the haori around Kuwabara’s shoulders. As he affixed it to Kuwabara, even using a sash to help kept it tied to Kuwabara’s arm, Hiei muttered, “We have over twenty years of history. A little issue like memory loss isn’t going to change how we feel about you. Even if its hard... abandonment has never been a trait of yours... and therefor it is not a trait of ours.”

Kuwabara smiled, standing tall, bursting with a sense of pride and feeling... well, loved. It made his ears flushed.

He really hoped he’d get his memories back now... what kind of life had he had with these people?

Hiei pat Kuwabara’s chest, and nodded approvingly, “Kurama and Yusuke will see you’re gone, panic, but then figure out it was me.” He smiled savagely, eyes flashing, “They’re going to be very angry when they will catch up. It will be hilarious.”

Despite the evil cackle, Kuwabara still found himself rather charmed by Hiei.

[milaisreading]

Hello, is possible for you to make fanfic in which ego makes y/n change teams to manage for like 1-3 week?

(So sorry if it’s difficult to understand, English isn’t really my first language)

Author: ofc! Thank u for requesting, it really makes me feel happy that u all are interested in the series so much 💗 💖 hope u enjoy this🩷

Warnings ⚠️: nothing really. Reader uses she /her and there is mention of Bastard München (manga spoilers). Requests are open! Also, if u all are interested I will write a pt 2 to this request from the Reader's perspective and her stay in Germany

⚽️Blue lock belongs to: Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

The Blue Lock team was watching in curiosity as (Y/n) kept talking and showing things to an older staff member. The team was a little farther away, so they weren't able to make out what (Y/n) was saying, but all they knew it must have been important, as the girl had an unusually serious face and the man tried to write down every word she was saying.

"Ahhh~ (Y/n) looks so cute when she is explaining things." Reo sighed, dreamily watching the girl as Otoya and Gagamaru nodded their heads in agreement.

"Her eyes shine a special way when she is all serious." Gagamaru added.

"I honestly wish we went together to school, would have loved to have her as my tutor." Otoya said.

"I would have failed all my classes for that then." Bachira chuckled as the others started adding their own thoughts. Rin and Baro were the only ones who didn't say anything, too immersed in their own thoughts.

'Who is that guy? Is he here to write down some inventory or?' Rin raised an eyebrow and looked over at Baro, who had a similar expression.

"You think this off too?"

"Yeah. It's also weird how much more often Ego-san has been calling (Y/n) into the office. Teieri-san seemed a little upset these past few days too." Baro said as they watched (Y/n) say goodbye to the man and walk over to the group.

"Did something happen? You guys don't usually stop training unless Ego-san tells you to." The girl wondered as she sat down between Isagi and Kunigami.

"We were just wondering who the man was. He has been coming over often these past few days." Nagi said, not looking up from his video game. That earned him a small scolding from Reo and Yukimiya, but it was left ignored by him.

"Oh, that's Suzuki-san. He is a very sweet staff member, he will be my substitute for the next 3 weeks."

"Oh, that's good." Chigiri said as Niko nodded his head in agreement. There was a short silence, until (Y/n)'s words fully sank in and they all looked at her in horror.

"Substitute?! What do you mean by 3 weeks?!" Nagi and Karasu yelled as Bachira jumped in front of her.

"Where are you going for 3 weeks?! We won't be able to survive here without you!" Hiori yelled as (Y/n) got over the initial shock and rolled her eyes.

"Now you are being dramatic, it's just 3 weeks, and Suzuki-san is more than enough capable for the job."

"Where are you even going? On a break?" Kurona was the next one to speak up, trying to hide his disappointment.

"Ego-san got a request from Noel-san to help out the Bastard München for the next 3 weeks, since their manager seemed to have had an accident or something..."  (Y/n) explained as Kunigami and Isagi grew stiff at the mention of the German team.

"What?! Why them?! (Y/n), you can't go there alone!" Isagi argued, dreading the fact that his manager will now be shared with Kaiser. Kaiser of all people!

"Why not? Except for some of them being obnoxious, they seem like a solid team. And based on what Ego-san told me, Kaiser and Ness recommended me to Noel-san. As much as I don't get along with Kaiser, it is a huge thing to get a recommendation from him." (Y/n) explained truthfully.

"Not Ness... I completely forgot he was on the team..." Aryu whispered to Rin and Baro, the whole group remembering how (Y/n) eyed the payer when they visited the last time.

"Let's hope that creep lost interest in her and will treat her like anyone else."

Baro added, making sure that (Y/n) didn't hear them.

"Yeah, (Y/n) shouldn't be with someone like him... even my brother is a better option." Rin muttered.

"When are you leaving?" Reo suddenly asked, feeling his heart squeeze in pain as Nagi silently watched her, his game long abandoned.

"This friday."

"Oh..." Was the only thing that came out of Chigiri's mouth.

"Will we stay in contact tho?!" Niko suddenly asked, thankful that his eyes were hidden behind his hair.

"Of course! I am not abandoning Blue Lock, just helping out another team. Don't worry, we can talk everyday, as long as the timezones allow us."

Reo, Nagi and Kunigami let out sighs of relief as they heard she wasn't abandoning them.

"Wait Friday? So you are leaving in 2 days?" Gagamaru suddenly asked as he remembered that today was Wednesday.

"Yeah."

"This isn't good! We are spending the next two days hanging around! Forget the training!" Otoya said quickly, in the heat of the moment forgetting that Ego could hear them.

"If you don't start training again, I am sending (Y/n) to Germany tonight." Ego's voice came from the speakers. This triggered most to get up and resume what they did previously. Bachira, Isagi and Hiori stayed around for a while, using the excuse of needing more rest.

As Friday came the boys grew more and more nauseous, the thought of (Y/n) being alone in a different country scared them. But as fate will, the moment she had to leave came and the team was... less than pleased. Bachira tried to stop her by throwing some weird excuses of needing help, which were shut down by Ego calling Suzuki to help. Once she was gone, Ego and Anri went to look for the team, only to find them moody and depressed in their shared room.

"What are you all doing here? Training is still going." Ego sighed in annoyance as Anri sent them a sympathetic look.

"Do we have to? Today is a tragedy!" Bachira yelled as Aryu nodded his head.

"Yes, a national day of mourning."

The black-haired man blinked and narrowed his eyes at them.

"I don't care what today is! Get out and train, otherwise you all are out of Blue Lock." Groaning, the boys got up and slowly walked to their designated spot. Once everyone was gone, Anri let out a small sigh and looked at the agitated man.

"Don't be like that, you know how close they are with (Y/n). You yourself were pretty upset too when you approved of (Y/n) going."

"I do not know what you are talking about. That wasted talent can go wherever she wants, I wouldn't care." Ego coughed.

"You literally started googling and telling (Y/n) which places to avoid in Munich-"

"I don't want any issues with her parent."

Anri sighed, giving up on arguing and following after the man.

'It's kind of sweet how much of a soft spot he has for her.'

The 1st week for the Blue Lock team was... was quite a rollercoaster of emotions. The team went through nearly all the stages of grief, except for acceptance. Reo and Nagi were more snappy and snarky than usual. Baro was more aggressive on the field and no amount of warnings from Suzuki could stop him from starting arguments with Kunigami. The said orange-haired boy was way easier to provoke now and he was doing a lot more dirty tricks while playing. Isagi and Rin were less motivated to play and would argue way more than usually. Gagamaru was just standing next to the goal, not even bothering to keep up with the team. Niko was way more moodier and less willing to get out of bed, only when Ego starts threatening him does he do that. Chigiri and Aryu missed (Y/n) and her braiding and playing with their hair. It always relaxed them after a long day of training. Karasu tried to keep up with his daily routines, but it was less fun when he knew there wasn't someone cheering him on. Yukimiya and Otoya were trying to keep the peace as much as possible, as they didn't want (Y/n) to hear any of this. And Bachira... well he was just there, he was playing but less enthusiastically. Hiori was more moodier and Kurona shut himself completely off. The only time they really were their normal selves was when they texted or called (Y/n), which wasn't as much as they wished.

Ego was slowly losing his mind as well, since he couldn't take Suzuki's complaining any longer, so that's why Anri started listening to him and writing everything down.

'Two more weeks...' The black-haired man sighed.

'Hope that brat is at least having fun.' Ego smiled a little, which was hidden by his hand as Anri talked about some decisions the JFU made.

"V-vielen Dank." (Y/n) stuttered as she took her fries and joined Kaiser and Ness.

"Was that right?" She asked as the magenta-eyed boy smiled as usually and nodded his head, while Kaiser patted her back.

"Yep! On point, seems like I am a better tutor than you expected." Kaiser said smugly, and as much as (Y/n) hated it, he was right.

"Yeah you are... the fries here are very good!" The girl said as she bit into her food.

"Told you these food stands have better quality than any restaurant in Munich. Now let's go, we got to show you the most popular bar here. They have non-alcoholic drinks too." Ness said softly as (Y/n)'s phone went off. Kaiser and he raised an eyebrow as she quickly typed something back and put the phone away.

"Your phone has been going off a lot in the past hour." Kaiser remarked.

"Yeah, during this time the boys usually finish off with their training, so we text a lot then."

"Oh." Was the response that came from Ness and Kaiser hid a irritated look.

2nd week was a bit....a bit better,at least Suzuki was telling it to himself. While the boys were more willing to listen to him and commit to training, it was like some soulless people were playing the whole time. Gagamaru for example was more willing to avoid the ball flying past him, but there wasn't the same amount of euphoria he usually had. Bachira kept on saying how his monster didn't like this anymore, Chigiri wasn't in his usual speedster mood. Isagi and Rin were arguing less and were just doing their own things on the opposite sides of the stadium. Reo would mop around in the shared bedroom along with Baro after training, and Nagi was just sleeping. Sleep helped him escape this hellhole for now. Karasu was somewhat back in his usual shape after he would reread the compliments (Y/n) had sent him. Yukimiya and Otoya's guards were less on now, as the group was getting less wild and Niko, Hiori and Kurona were just training together, often exchanging what they missed about (Y/n).

"Great job you two! The fans will surely enjoy the game in two weeks!" (Y/n) told Ness and Kaiser as they were leaving the training grounds of the club.

"And you can't stay a week longer? Getting you a VIP pass won't be hard if you decide to stay." Ness said, a little sad that they only had a week with the girl left.

"Sorry, I have my own team to return to and your manager probably misses his work, too." (Y/n) said, a little sad that she has to leave the country soon, as she did grow attached to the duo. But she was very happy to go home to her team, she missed the chaos they cause at times.

"Well, if you do decide to stay, it won't be hard to find an arrangement. Just tell Ness or I." Kasier added, hoping that she might agree eventually.

And finally, finally the end of the 3rd week came and the boys were in their old form as it dawned on them that (Y/n) will be back soon! Ego was happy that the boys were back to their normal and was busy telling Chris off for a manager exchange.

'No way am I going through this mess again.' The man thought.

"(Y/N)!!" Bachira, Isagi and Hiori yelled as they hugged the girl as soon as she entered the building.

"We missed you!"

"Please don't leave like that again!"

"It was hell!"

"Ahh it was? I heard that Suzuki-san had everything under control though." (Y/n) said as Isagi helped her up and Bachira kept on hugging her.

"It's really not the same."

"Yeah, please never leave like that." Kurona and Isagi protested as Reo and Nagi ran to their side and hugging the girl.

"We missed you!"

"The new arrangement was such a drag."

"Lukewarms, move away."

"Hey, I want a hug too!"

"Welcome back, (Y/n). Never leave again."

The whole team was soon at the entrance, hugging the girl and saying how much they missed her.

"I missed you too guys! But I need to go and talk with Ego-san now-"

"No!"

"Come on, we will catch up in our room."

"Ego-san can wait."

As the group started dragging the girl away, Ego watched the interactions with amusement.

"Welcome back." He whispered, deciding to let some of the comments slide for now.

[k7l4d4]

Kamen Rider Info and Ideas (Feel free to ignore)

As a huge fan of Kamen Rider, I always wondered about ways it could be expanded, and maybe not improved so much as become More. So, right now, I am gonna make a list of Kamen Rider Series, starting with Black and RX, and continuing all the way to the Reiwa Era! Everybody clap your hands!! *Cricket noises* Okay, here we go!

Kamen Rider Black, and its sequel, Black RX, details the journey of Kohtaro Minami, or Minami Kohtaro for those who prefer the traditional Japanese naming conventions, on his mission to defeat Gorgom, an ancient tribe/organization that has evolved into a cultic terrorist organization bent on world domination. While still holding to the Showa era’s tradition of having Cyborg Riders, Black and RX were the first in which, aside from Kamen Rider Amazon, the supernatural played a prominent part in the powers of the riders, as Kohtaro and his stepbrother Nobuhiko were the designated heirs to the leader of Gorgom, the Century King, and infused with the relics that contained his power, the Kingstones. Both Kohtaro and Nobuhiko were infused with the Kingstones, in the attempt to convert them into the Villains Black Sun and Shadow Moon, with only Kohtaro managing to escape.

One of the things that I felt could’ve been at least a little better in regards to the series was if Shadow Moon could regain his original self and rejoin the path of justice. It would’ve also been pretty cool if Shadow Moon gained his own upgraded form, which did actually happen in tie-in novels and manga, and if either or both of them gained the ability to unleash a final form that drew upon the power they wielded as the New Century Kings. Ah well, that’s what fanfiction is for!

Kamen Rider Kuuga details the battles of Yusuke Godai, the successor to the ancient warrior of justice, Riku, as the Kuuga. Kuuga’s powers are derived from Growth, allowing him to access a variety of forms and powers based on what he needs to grow into, and can be bolstered by mystical energy sources to ascend even further! Yusuke’s enemies are the Gurongi tribe, ancient monsters who abandoned their humanity to satisfy their love of death and conflict, and wished to have all of humanity become as dark and twisted as them, with the “honor” of being the Gurongi to start the process going to whichever of them managed to win their tournament, in which the Gurongi Tribal-members all battled to the death as a whole.

One of the things that bugged me a little, was that Kuuga never fully evolved all his forms, and that his true final form was even used in his series! I mean, seriously, what!? Once again, budget concerns limit the awesomeness of a series before it can bloom, sigh.

Kamen Rider Agito is the story of Shoichi Tsugami, a young amnesiac who belongs to an offshoot of the human race known as the Agito. Agitos possess incredible psychic powers and exist in a perpetual state of evolution, adapting to the changes in themselves and the world around them at an incredible rate.

My only real beef with this series was the limited number of forms Agito had as compared to Kuuga, and that one of the Extra Riders had the lazy name of Another Agito. You heard me right. All in all, not to bad, but a little frustrating.

Next up, Kamen Rider Ryuki, which also served as part of the inspiration for the list. Honestly, with how much I plan on covering JUST for Ryuki, I’ll probably leave this off after this and pick up more tomorrow. Ryuki is one of the first series in the franchise to fully exploit the nature of multiple riders, and basically invented the concept of Dark Riders, which I will also explain.

Ryuki involves the Rider War, a conflict taking place in the real world, and a parallel realm known as the Mirror World, populated by unfeeling monsters known as, you guessed it, Mirror Monsters, which must constantly kill when in our world in order to remain stable, or at least they are allegedly supposed to. The Rider War was a conflict set up by a man known as Shiro to revive his dead sister, under the guise of a tournament to the death for a reality-warping wish, which Shiro wanted for himself. The war brought together 13, yes you read that right, 13 Riders, all with variances in their styles and abilities. This selfish conflict is partially, if not entirely why I said that introduced Dark Riders properly to the franchise; Dark Riders are individuals who bear the same transformative powers of Kamen Riders, but instead of using them to fight against the wicked and monstrous, are instead put towards their own selfish ends, and none of them are the type of individual you wanna run into in a dark alley.

The Riders of Ryuki derived their power from two things, their Contract Monster, a Mirror Monster that they formed a bond with in order to exist without needing to bring about death, and an Advent Deck, a Deck of Cards that harnessed the power of the Mirror Monster it bonded to and allowed the Riders to survive in the Mirror Realm, which is inherently fatal for humans to be in. One of the key aspects of Advent Cards is how they work, each one draws and harnesses an aspect of the Contract Monster it is connected to, or wields a power specifically to fight other Advent Riders. Now, before I get to my thoughts and ideas, I am going to list each Rider from Ryuki, as well as the nature of their Advent Decks and fighting styles.

Shinji Kido: Kamen Rider Ryuki himself, and contracted to the fierce Dragon-Type Mirror Monster, Dragonredder. With a Dragon on his side, you’d expect him to be the powerhouse of the group, right? HAHAHAHAHA no. Shinji stumbled upon the Rider War by near-complete accident, and, being the nice guy he is, decided if he was going to be a part, he would protect the bystanders from the conflict and ensure as many of the Riders made it out alive as he could. Easier said than done. Out of all the Riders, Ryuki has the least straight-forward fighting style, not helped by his incredible clumsiness, with his deck emphasizing the ability to have as many options as possible; jack of all trades master of none, but better master of none than master of one.

Ren Akiyama: Kamen Rider Knight, and the contract holder of the Bat-Type Mirror Monster, Darkwing. He comes across as aloof, cold even, whose only in it for himself, but in truth he decided to enter the war to save the life of his ill fiance. Knight’s fighting style blends straight-up direct combat, and subterfuge based war tactics, with his deck emphasizing this by providing him with both weapons and special abilities that optimize getting the drop on his foes. Hmm... themed after a bat, a knight, and mixing close combat with dark and spooky tactics. Now where have I seen THAT before?

Masashi Shido: Kamen Rider Scissors, a Dark Rider, and the contractor of the Crab-Type Mirror Monster, Volcancer. A corrupt cop and detective, Scissors took bribes and cuts in illegal dealings, and used his Mirror Monster to liberally dispose of witnesses as he pleased. He ultimately died when his contract was destroyed and Volcancer turned on him. Despite his practices necessitating subterfuge, Scissors’ fighting style is rather extravagant, emulating that of a gladiator, with his deck providing cards that mix heavy combat with putting his enemy into an unfavorable situation to seal the deal, fitting for a backstabber.

Shuichi Kitaoka: Kamen Rider Zolga, one of the neutral and later heroic elements in the war, and the bearer of the contract for the Minotaur-Type Mirror Monster, Magnugigas, a colossal bio-mechanical behemoth. A shady lawyer with a lot of wealth, Zolga was diagnosed with fatal cancer, and desired to become immortal to continue living his lifestyle forever. While initially uncaring and selfish, he ultimately came to see the value in others, and lamented all the criminals that walked free due to his actions, hoping Ryuki would win. Cunning, intellegent, and crafty, Zolga’s fighting style favors both heavy defense and massive firepower, burying an enemy in a storm of blasts while he hunkers down, with his deck further emphasizing this with a bevy of long-distance combat cards and barriers.

Miyuki Tezuka: Kamen Rider Raia, a fortune-teller beyond compare, he enters the war to save lives and honor his deceased friend, and bears the contract of the Stingray-Type Mirror Monster, Evildiver. Raia’s fighting style places heavy importance on movement, offering cards that can offer him superior movement, and uses a whip as his principle weapon.

Jun Shibaura: Kamen Rider Gai, an utterly selfish and monstrous beast of a man, he wields the contract of the Rhino-Type Mirror Monster, Metalgelas. A prodigy of computers and gaming, Gai sees the death match that is the Rider War as nothing more than a game, and the fighters as players he can wipe out at his leisure. Gai’s fighting style is a straight up rush of overwhelming force, with his cards emphasizing interfering with his opponent’s options to force them to fight him directly and his brutal power of himself and his Contract Monster gives him an edge.

Takeshi Asakura: Kamen Rider Ouja, and the main Dark Rider of the series, holder of the contract for the Snake-Type Mirror Monster, Venosnaker. A sadistic monster to his core, Takeshi killed his own family as a child, and left a bloody trail in his wake for years, remorselessly cutting down anyone who falls in his path in his bloodlust. Despite his seemingly simple minded nature, Ouja is immensely cunning, favoring a sadistic fighting style that emphasizes causing as much pain to his enemy as he can before they die at his hands, and he is far from afraid to get his hands dirty. Ironically, Ouja has one of the weaker decks in the war, bearing limited options to fight with, Ouja thrives due to his sheer brutality, fighting ability, and utter ruthlessness. “Fun” fact, unlike the other Riders, Takeshi never realized that a wish was up for grabs, he was just having a good time! When he finally learned that the winner got a wish, he decided his wish would be to have ANOTHER Rider War, so he could kill another pack of warriors! Ouja’s deck does have two solid advantages over the other riders; Ouja possesses extra Contract Cards, meaning he can add other Mirror Monsters and their powers to his deck, ultimately deciding to save them to take the Mirror Monsters of the Riders he kills, with his other big trick his Unite Card, which allowed him to COMBINE his Mirror Monsters into the horrifying Chimera-Type Mirror Monster, Genocider (ain’t that a name).

Odin: Kamen Rider Odin, a Rider not designated Dark only due to the fact he doesn’t have enough of a mind to be one, and wielder of the Phoenix-Type Mirror Monster as his Contract, Goldphoenix. Odin is unusual, in that he is essentially a puppet, a brainwashed shell that acts as Shiro’s representative in the war that occupies whatever body Shiro gives the Contract to. Out of all the Riders, Odin has the greatest immediate strength, allowing him to overwhelm just about anything in ideal situations, and if things go wrong, Odin (along with Shiro) can REWIND TIME to reset the war until Shiro gets the outcome he wants, only giving up when he accepts that he won’t be able to bring his sister back.

Satoru Tojo: Kamen Rider Tiger, a man who wants to be a hero, and wields the power of the Tiger-Type Mirror Monster, Destwilder. Tiger is a broken individual, lacking a LOT of basic understanding in regards to people, he wavers between good and evil in his desire to be a hero due to his incomprehension of what it means to be heroic, ultimately becoming a hero when he selflessly sacrificed his life to save a father and son about to be hit by an oncoming truck, finally realizing what it truly meant to be a human in his last moments. A highly inexperienced fighter, Tiger often lost, which didn’t help his instability, forcing himself to rely on ambushes to win, his deck favored close-range melee and offered him support in the form of ice attacks.

Mitsuru Sano: Kamen Rider Imperer, a self-styled mercenary rider, and wielder of the multi-type contract allowing him to command the power of the Gazelle-Type Mirror Monsters, with Gigazelle serving as the leader of his horde. Imperer was raised to believe that wealth was what was most important in life, completely missing the fact that his idea to be a mercenary in the Rider War was impossible as all but one of the contestants must die for it to complete and you cannot quit either. After falling in love, Mitsuru seemed to be realizing that there is more to life than money, he tragically died before he could act on his new views, trapped in the Mirror World, reaching out to the image of his love, screaming in fear. Imperer’s fighting style makes use of boxing, and bum-rushing his enemies with his massive swarm of Contract Monsters.

And, because I am starting to grow tired and this is REALLY LONG, I am gonna finish this later today before I burn out.

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 56: Rise Up

Ren was running a bit late getting to the hideout. She asked everyone there to begin investigating now that they have a name. Upon arrival, Ren was surprised to find Makoto among them, and she looked PISSED. “Ummmmmm…”

“She didn’t tell us why she was here either,” Ann explained. “She wanted to wait until we were all there.”

Ren was still stunned, but tried to proceed. “Well, the good news is we got a name…”

“And HOW did you get that name?” Makoto asked

Ren was confused. “I talked to a reporter…? Are you mad because I entered a bar? Because the lovely bartender was super adamant about not giving me anything alcoholic.”

Makoto was taken aback. “You entered a bat?”

“...No…” Ren lied.

Makoto sighed. “Well, if you’re telling the truth, then how do you explain this?” She showed Ren and everyone else a news article on her phone. The article was about the three gang members that got beaten up.

Ryuji panicked. “That wasn’t us!” He exclaimed.

Makoto was more confused now. “So if it’s not you who did it, then can you prove it?”

“...Maybe” Ren said. “We might have witnesses, depending on the time.”

“Well, as it just so happens, one of the gangster’s was wearing a watch that got broken,” Makoto explained. “Can you explain what you were doing at about 10:30?”

“Ah, what were we doing?” Ryuji wondered. “I think that was after we left.” Ren and Ryuji realized what they were doing. While Ren had a mile-wide grin on her face, Ryuji’s face contorted in horror. “We beat them up!”

Everyone but Ren looked at him, confused. “Oh, come on Ryuji. It won’t hurt to tell them.”

“What do you mean, we beat them up,” Ryuji insisted, his face turning red.

Makoto was not having it. “What’s going on?”

Ren snickered. “Lucky for us, not only do we have two witnesses, but also photographic evidence that places us somewhere else.”

Everyone looked at Ryuji. Ryuji couldn’t hold out any longer. “I want my 5000 yen back.”

“Done” Ren said, handing it to him.

Makoto turned to Ren. “So, where were you?”

“Well, after we had gotten the information…” Ren began.

It flashes back to last night. Ren and Ryuji were making their way through Shinjuku. “Alright, so, you wanna test it out? See if we got the right dirtbag?” Ryuji asked.

“Hmmmm” Ren thought. “I dunno. I kind of want to wait for the team to be there.”

Ryuji looked at her. “I mean, I guess I get it, but what if we have the wrong guy?”

“That’s part of the reason I wanna wait,” Ren said. Ryuji was confused. “I’m a little scared.”

Ryuji chuckled. “I get it. I was always scared before a big meet. But the trick is to not let it get to you.”

Ren smiled. “Maybe you and Sumire should talk.” Ryuji laughed rather loudly.

“Oh my, what an adorable laugh” a voice said. The two teens looked over to see two men. The two men walked over. “I know he already LOOKS perfect, but I think he has the energy for it too.”

“Oh, without a doubt,” the other man said.

“Um, what?” Ryuji said.

“Oh, pardon me, where are my manners?” the first man said. “My name is Julian.”

“And I’m Angel,” the other one said.

“Um, OK?” Ryuji said, still confused.

“And don’t think we don’t know what you’re doing here” Julian said. Ryuji looked at him blankly. “Why, you’re here to let yourself go.”

“What?” Ryuji said.

“Oh, don’t be so modest,” Angel said. “Or do. It’s very becoming of you.”

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Ryuji said.

“Aww, we’re all friends here,” Julien said. “You want to let out your inner drag queen.”

“WHAT?!” Ryuji yelped.

“We saw you hanging around Crossroads,” Angel explained. “Too nervous to go in.”

“B-Bullshit!” Ryuji snapped back. “I was waiting for her!” Pointing to Ren.

“It’s true,” Ren admitted. Ryuji was relieved. “He wanted me to scout the place to make sure it had what he needed.”

Ryuji panicked again. He pulled Ren aside. “What are you doing?” he whispered.

“We can’t tell a perfect stranger that we’re out hunting for information about a gangster” Ren whispered. Ryuji looked shocked, then sheepish. “What did you do?”

“Well, uh, this guy, I was kicking rocks, you know?” Ryuji began explaining. “One hit him, I apologized, and we got to talking.” Ren glared at him. “I didn’t say anything about the Phantom Thieves, I didn’t even mention gangs. I just said we were helping the student council.” Ren was still glaring at him. “OK, fine, I’ll go along with this as an apology. We humor them for a bit, tell them we have to get home, and leave before the last train departs.”

“...’We’?” Ren said, still glaring. Ryuji was sweating bullets. “Ha!” Ren said, smiling. “Just kidding. You know I wouldn’t want to miss this.” Ryuji grumbled, but accepted it.

They broke away from their huddle. Ryuji got slightly embarrassed. “Ha ha, you got me.”

“Well don’t worry your pretty little head,” Angel said. “We’ve got the BEST stuff to make you SHINE!”

“Just like I always wanted,” Ryuji said. “But uh, could we take her along too?” Julian and Angel looked at Ren. “It’s just...she’s the only person I’ve told about this. I’d feel more confident with her there, you know?”

“Oh, of course,” Julian said. “Well now, come come.” The two kids followed the two men to a place close to Crossroads that was more specialized to the art of drag. The group spent some time picking out the right clothes for Ryuji. Ren explained that one of Ryuji’s hang ups was that he still wanted to feel tough, but it was no problem to find a tough look that was more feminine.

Ren also applied Ryuji’s make-up. Once she finished, she backed up. “There.”

Julian and Angel looked on. “Wow, I’m impressed” Angel said

“If you ever feel like making some extra cash, I’m sure some of our regulars would LOVE to have you on make-up” Julian said.

“Thanks,” Ren said, “but for now, I only work with him.”

“Aw, that's a shame,” Julian said. “Well, if you ever change your mind, the offer stands.”

“Thank you,” Ren said.

“So, what now?” Ryuji said.

“Well now we gotta get you in some of those CUTE outfits” Angel said. “And then PHOTOSHOOT!”

“Ph-Photoshoot?!” Ryuji said, surprised.

“Realx, it’ll be just for us” Angel said.

“Yeah, come on,” Ren said. “It’ll be fun.”

Ryuji looked at Ren. He relented. “PHOTOSHOOT!” he said with as much gusto as he could muster.

“Splendid!” Angel said. They capped the night off with Ryuji modeling various outfits, while everyone else took photos.

“You look gorgeous!” Ren complimented, taking another shot.

“Oh, you’re just saying that…” Ryuji answered, trying to play into the bit

“No, I mean it,” Ren said. “I’m honestly a little jealous.”

“Well, I’m sure that you’ll have your time to shine too” Julian said. “Your make-up game is SO on point!”

“Thank you,” Ren said. They took more pictures.

After the photoshoot, Ryuji and Ren left. “Take care you two!” Angel yelled out.

“Thank you!” Ren said.

“Yeah! Thanks!” Ryuji, smiling. Once he was far enough away, he let go of his smile. “Ugh.”

“Alright. 5000 yen, or this is going to Ann” Ren said. There was no reaction from Ryuji. “5000 yen or this DOESN’T go to Ann?”

Ryuji became more alert. “What? No! The first one! Ann cannot see these!” He took out some money and handed it over. “Ugh.”

Ren giggled. “Still, you gotta admit, tonight was fun.”

“Maybe” Ryuji admitted. “But I’m not keen on doing it again.” Ren giggled some more.

In the present, Ren was showing off the photos she had taken of Ryuji. “So, that’s what we were doing.”

“Huh,” Makoto said.

“UGH!” Ryuji groaned.

“I must say, you have a nice aesthetic presence,” Yusuke admitted.

“You really do look good here,” Jose said.

Ann looked at the pictures. “Ryuji? Have you ever thought about being a model?”

“Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!” Ryuji said in a frenzy.

Sumire giggled. “But I will say, those guys are right.” Everyone looked at her. “Ren-senpai is REALLY good at make-up. I wouldn’t mind you applying make-up to me sometime.”

A light blush covered Ren’s face. “Th-Thanks.”

Makoto sighed, relieved. “Well, at least you aren’t going around assaulting people.”

Ryuji hung his head down. “I almost wonder if that’d be better.”

“BUT” Makoto said. “There is the matter of that person Sakamoto told stuff to.”

Everyone looked at Ryuji, while he recoiled. “Hold on. I didn’t say anything that would give anything away.”

“Are you sure?” Makoto asked. “Remember whose voice I have on recording?”

“Ugh,” Ryuji said.

“Well, I believe him,” Ren said. “I doubt Ryuji has much of a capacity to lie like this.”

“Hm, I guess that’s true,” Makoto agreed. “But it’s still something to consider.”

“Yeah,” Ren said. “It might be hard to find them, but if there’s no commotion, we might be safe.”

Makoto nodded. “So, what now?” The thieves looked at each other confused. “I’m assuming you’re going to begin your ‘work’ now that you have a name.”

“Well, yeah…” Ann said. “But that’s members only.”

“There’s a bit more finesse to it than just knowing their name,” Ren explained. “And besides, we might not have the right name to begin with.”

“I suppose that’s true…” Makoto admitted. “But I would like to see your process. You know, to make sure everything is above board and all.”

The thieves exchanged a look. Ren sighed. “It’s not that we don’t trust you, or want to keep you out exactly,” she said, deciding to be direct, “it’s just it’s a lot, and it might seem unbelievable. So, unless you’re ready to take the dive with us, it might be better to leave us be.”

Makoto stared at her. “Fine. I’ll let it go for now. But I WILL figure this out.” She walked off. With that determination, came something else: The app. Not that anyone noticed right away.

Once she was far enough away, the thieves were relieved. “Man, she’s determined!” Ryuji noted.

Morgana popped out. “Are you sure that was the right thing to do?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t know if there was any other way,” Ren answered. “You were there when I tried to dodge her inquiries about the Phantom Thieves.”

“I guess that’s true…” Morgana admitted. “Still, you’re better at letting others know just enough than Ryuji.”

“Shut up!” Ryuji shouted back. “You don’t even need to worry about shooting your mouth off, because most people just hear you meowing!”

“Are cats allowed at your school?” Yusuke asked.

“Well...he does have you there…” Ann said.

“You know what I mean…” Ryuji said, still a bit frustrated.

“I don’t think we should belabor the point any longer,” Ren said. She got out her phone and loaded up the app. “Junya Kaneshiro.”

“Match found” the phone responded.

“It IS him,” Ryuji said, amazed.

Ren looked at her phone. Just as before, Kaneshiro’s name is in black, and following that is one more line in black, then a line in white. “Yeah, and we know it’s the right guy because someone’s taking over already.”

“WHAT?!” the thieves yelled in unison.

“But didn’t Eris tell you no one was taking over yet?” Sumire asked.

“Well, something must have happened,” Ren said, giving some serious side-eye to Ryuji.

“Hold on. We can’t be SURE it’s my fault” Ryuji said.

“That’s true,” Jose said, defending Ryuji. “He did say he didn’t go into specifics.”

“Besides,” Ann interjected, “if this Kaneshiro person is doing business in all of Shibuya, that gives him a LOT of people who could be his enemy here.”

“Match found” Ren’s phone sounded off.

“What was that?” Ann asked.

Ren looked. “Well, it seems we’ve stumbled into the second thing needed to get into his palace. Apparently, it covers ‘All of Shibuya’.”

“You’re kidding,” Ann said.

“That’s massive,” Yusuke added.

“But we’re still missing the take over word,” Morgana said. “And unlike with Madarame, I doubt Kaneshiro is having a big public event.”

The thieves all thought. Something clicked in Sumire. “You don’t think that the person who beat up those guys could be it, do you?”

“Hmmmm” Yusuke said. “I cannot deny the possibility.”

“Yeah, but how are we supposed to figure this out?” Ann asked

“Well, it’s better than nothing,” Ren said. She thought some more. “Maybe we can get Makoto’s help on this?”

“Really?” Sumire wondered.

“Well, I don’t have any better ideas,” Ren admitted.

“I’ll go see if I can’t find her still” Ryuji said. “She couldn’t have gotten too far.” Ren nodded at him. He rushed off.

Meanwhile, Makoto was walking around. “I don’t think they’d do anything illegal,” she rationalized. “But why won’t they tell me what it is they do? They said it’d be unbelievable, but how much of that is just bluster on their part?” She bumped into someone. “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s alright Makoto” they said.

Makoto looked up to see Naoko. “Naoko?”

Naoko smiled. “How are ya doing, champ?”

“Oh…” Makoto said, taken by surprise. “Well, I’ve been better, but I think I'm doing alright.”

Naoke lowered to her level. “Well, if there’s anything you need, you know you can always come to me, right?”

“Of course,” Makoto said. Naoko kept looking at her. Makoto was confused. “Ummmmm.”

“Anything,” Naoko repeated.

“Right…” Makoto said. Naoko kept looking at her.

He stood up. “Ah, I’m sure you’re fine,” he laughed.

“...OK?” Makoto said. At that moment, Ryuji came up and saw those two conversing. He immediately hid, but kept watch.

Naoko laughed a little more. “Sorry. I’m just working on a case, so my mind is more focused on that at the moment.”

“Oh, you got a case?” Makoto said. “Well, with you on the job, I’m sure it’ll get solved.”

“Thanks kiddo” Naoko. “You doing well in school?”

“Yeah,” Makoto answered.

“Good” Naoko nodded. “Keep it up, and take care now.”

Naoko started walking off. “Wait!” Makoto called out. “I can ask Sae for a date if you’d like to have dinner sometime. Or maybe we could plan a picnic for...well…”

Naoko smiled. “Sorry, but I’m going to be rather busy. Plus, I think your sister has a lot on her plate as is. Still, thanks for the offer.” He finished walking off.

Makoto smiled, feeling a little more refreshed. Just then, Ryuji walked up to her. “Oh, Sakamoto-kun.”

“Um, you know that guy?” Ryuji asked.

“Yeah. He worked with my father on the police force” Makoto explained. “They were partners.”

“But he’s not an officer now?” Ryuji inquired further.

Makoto shook her head. “He’s a private investigator now. But more importantly, why are you here?”

“Oh, um, well,” Ryuji began explaining, “we might need a little more information, so we were hoping to ask for your help.”

“Well, I’m here to help. What do you need?” Makoto asked.

Ryuji was concerned about what to say, and more importantly what not to say. “We might need to investigate who beat those people up, but we might not now.”

“What do you mean?” Makoto asked.

“That guy you were talking to,” Ryuji answered, “that was the guy I talked to last night.”

Makoto was a little stunned, but she refined her composure quickly and chuckled. “OK then, so nothing to worry about.”

“What?” Ryuji responded.

“I mean, he’s not going around beating people up, if that’s what you’re thinking” Makoto kept going.

“But he COULD be,” Ryuji responded. “He MIGHT know.”

“Even if he did, I trust him not to do it,” Makoto said.

“But…” Ryuji blurted out. He was struggling to find the words without saying everything.

“But what?” Makoto asked.

Ryuji remained focused on what to say. He managed to muster “Ugh. It’s complicated.”

“Well, it sounds like you have some more talking to do with everyone else” Makoto. “Still, once you get your bearings straight, I’ll gladly help in whatever capacity is needed.” She walked off. Ryuji, frustrated, walked back to the group.

“Did you find Miss Niijima?” Yusuke asked.

“Yeah…” Ryuji answered.

“What’s wrong?” Jose asked, sensing something off about Ryuji.

“Well…” Ryuji said. “Things are a bit mixed.”

“How?” Ann asked.

“So, when I found her, she was talking to someone,” Ryuji said. “Specifically, the person I met in Shinjuku.”

“Did you go and reintroduce yourself?” Morgana asked.

“NO! I ain’t THAT stupid!” Ryuji countered. “I hid until he left and then I talked with Niijima.”

“What did she say?” Sumire asked.

“She’s very confident it’s not him, but I think it could be,” Ryuji explained. “But I couldn’t think of a way to tell her without saying everything.”

“Hmm” Ren pondered. “That IS tricky.”

“What do we do?” Ryuji asked.

They all thought about the question. Ren finally answered. “I guess we just need to be completely honest with her.”

“Are you sure?” Morgana asked.

“I don’t think we’ll get anywhere otherwise” Ren answered.

After letting the information settle for a bit, Ann spoke up and said “I think Ren’s right.” Everyone looked at her. “It’s just, she’s been fighting tooth and nail for the students of the school. I think it’s only fair that she should have all the knowledge to continue the fight, you know?”

“I do know” Yusuke chimed in. “However, I think the reveal should be a united front. A one-on-one meeting would be lacking.”

“Plus, if all of us were here, it might seem more believable,” Jose added.

“OK” Ren nodded. “I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

“Why not now?” Sumire asked.

“I think it’d be a bit awkward at this point,” Ren admitted. “So, do you want to do it here again?”

“I dunno,” Ryuji interjected. “I think it’d be a bit suspicious.”

“I think we should do it in Shibuya,” Yusuke suggested. “That way, if the person Niijima was talking to IS the person taking over, and she IS willing to believe us, we might get the third thing we need.”

“What an excellent idea Yusuke-senpai!” Sumire said. Yusuke went deep into thought. “Was that too much?”

“Oh. No. Sorry” Yusuke answered. “I just started thinking. ‘The person taking over’ is a bit of a mouthful. I think we need a better term for these people.”

Everyone got to thinking. “...Rebels?” Ryuji suggested.

“But we’re the rebels,” Morgana explained. “We’re the ones standing against corruption.”

“Yeah, but so are they in a way,” Ryuji said, defending his answer. “It’s just different from us.”

“Still, I don’t think we should put them in the same category as us, at least entirely,” Ann added. “If we were the same, we’d be no better than that Akechi kid thinks we are.”

“Well, you officially sunk my idea,” Ryuji said.

“What about ‘Conquerors’?” Sumire suggested.

“That’s not bad,” Jose said. “But I think we don’t want them to conquer. Otherwise the palace rulers would be dead.”

“Oh, right,” Sumire said.

They thought some more. “Well, this might be something we come back to later” Ren said. Everyone nodded. “In the meantime, we have a plan: we meet Makoto in Shibuya, and explain the truth.” Everyone nodded again. “Alright, then, meeting adjourned.”

Before everyone could leave, Ann shouted “WAIT!” Everyone looked at her. “Do you think you can send us those pictures of Ryuji?”

Ren smiled. “Of course.”

“Wait, don’t I get a say in this?” Ryuji asked. It was too late though, as Ren had already posted the album in the group chat. “Ugh.”

That evening, Makoto was having dinner when Sae walked in. “Sis!” Makoto stood up. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.” Sae wasn’t answering. “Your food is in the fridge.” Sae still said nothing. Makoto noticed she was holding something. “What’s that?”

Sae finally answered. “Huh? Oh, sorry. I found this in the mail slot.”

“What is it?” Makoto inquired further.

Sae got a bit frustrated. “I haven’t read all of it, but it appears to be a manifesto. The person writing it claims to have beaten up some gangsters last night.” Makoto was alerted. “So, you said my food was in the fridge?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah” Makoto answered. Sae set the manifest down on the table and walked into the kitchen. Makoto quickly walked over and took a picture of it with her phone. Once she did, she noticed the app. She stared at it for a bit, until the microwave dinged. Makoto returned to her seat and continued eating.

Sae came back out with her plate. She ate slowly, but aggressively, as she continued reading the letter. “Ugh. This guy.”

“What’s wrong?” Makoto asked.

“He’s just insulting us like we’re not even trying,” Sae said. She took another bite. She sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not going to be pleasant company tonight. This on top of everything else is driving me up a wall.”

“Oh. Well, I could finish in my room if you want” Makoto said. “I still have some homework left to do.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Sae said. Makoto took her food and headed for her room. Once there, she pulled up the picture of the manifesto and began reading it herself. After she finished, she had a stunned look of horror on her face.

The next day, during lunch, Ren got out her phone and messaged Makoto.

Ren: Hey.

Ren: We need to talk.

Makoto: Funny. I was about to say the same thing.

Ren: Oh.

Ren: I guess that works then.

Ren: Can you meet us in Shibuya?

Makoto: Sure, but why?

Ren: That’s one of the things that needs explaining.

Makoto: I see.

Makoto: Well, It might be easier if I just come with you.

Ren: Yeah.

Makoto: Well, see you after school then.

Ren: Seeya.

Ren put her phone away.

After school, Ren met up with Ann, Ryuji, and Sumire. Once gathered, they waited for Makoto. She showed up a few minutes later. “Sorry, just had to take care of some business. Well, shall we get going?” The other thieves were uneasy, but Ren nodded. She and Makoto started walking off. The other thieves followed behind them.

It took a bit, but they met up with Yusuke and Jose around Shibuya Crossing. The thieves all banded together, looked at Makoto, who was looking at them, feeling unsure of what was going to come next. “What’s on your mind?” Makoto asked, nervously.

Ren sighed. “You want the truth?” she asked. Makoto nodded. “Alright. But please note, what I am going to say is the truth, no matter how ludicrous it seems.” She took a deep breath. “So, here’s just a basic overview. There’s a parallel world that’s shaped by people’s congitions. We can tap into it using an app that was given to us by a powerful entity to save the world.

People with really distorted desires form these things called ‘Palaces’ and at the center is their desire, which is their treasure. We sneak in to steal that to make them confess. But there’s another bit of complication.

This figure, Eris, corrupts people in order to take over the palace and kill the palace ruler. We not only go in to stop the palace ruler, but this person as well. BUT in order to get into the palace, we need three keyword: the name of the ruler, where the distortion is centered, and what the distortion is. When someone takes over, that last one becomes their’s, and not the palace ruler’s.

So, we need help figuring out who the person taking over might be. We have almost everything we need, but we can’t go until we figure this out. If you’re willing to help us, we’d like that.”

Makoto watched as Ren explained this, unblinking. The thieves were worried that Makoto would laugh this off, or get angry with them. Instead, she said “Huh. I guess that explains a few things.”

The thieves were confused. “Like what?” Ren asked.

“Why you’re never seen, first of all,” Makoto explained. “But I’m guessing it would also explain this.” She held up her phone to them. They were all stunned to see the Metaverse app. “I found it on my phone last night. I tried deleting it a few times, but it always came back.”

“Oh. I see” Ren said, awkwardly.

Makoto grew a little more serious. “And you need something from the person taking over? Well, I think I can provide that too.”

“What do you mean?” Ren asked, confused again.

“Last night, someone left a note in our mailbox claiming to be the person who beat up those gangsters,” Makoto said.

“Um, why?” Ryuji asked.

“My sister works for the prosecutor’s office,” Makoto said.

“Ooooooooohhhhhhhh” Ryuji said, remembering that the man he talked to mentioned a Niijima working at the prosecutor’s office.

“I heard from her this morning that it was sent to some of her coworkers, an assortment of police stations, and some news outlets as well,” Makoto continued. She glared at Ryuji. “And after reading it, I think you’re right.”

“Oh, about that guy?” Ryuji asked, his heart beating a mile a minute.

Makoto nodded. “I think he, Naoko, is the one who is taking over.”

“But, Ryuji told us that you denied that accusation,” Ann explained.

“And I did,” Makoto said. “But reading this, I knew. And with you explaining that this Eris person manipulates people into doing things, I understand now.”

“So what does it say?” Jose asked. “Is there anything that could be helpful to figuring out how to get into the palace?”

“Yeah, so far, we only have the guy’s name, Junya Kaneshiro, and we accidentally figured out the place, which is all of Shibuya,” Ann explained.

Makoto nodded. “His name appears in the note” she said. “I did a little research, and it appears he’s a big time gangster who you don’t want to mess around with. Ugh. Well, he knows I’m involved, but at least he doesn’t know about Kisa.”

“Wait, he knows Hagiwara too?” Ryuji said.

Makoto looked at him, glaring daggers. “Yeah. She’s his niece. Did you tell him she was involved too?” Ryuji looked pale as a ghost, and as much as he wanted to say something, he felt like anything he would say would not be well received. Makoto sighed. “Well, at least this whole thing makes more sense now.”

“So, the letter?” Ren said, awkwardly shifting the subject back.

“Oh right,” Makoto said. “I think it could be useful.” She pulled up the photo she took. “It goes as follows: ‘Greetings Tokyo, It has been a long time since I’ve graced your presence.’”

“It has?” Ryuji said. “How?”

“I’m getting to that,” Makoto said. “‘In case you were wondering, I am the one who beat up those criminals recently. That was only the beginning. I have decided to fight for Tokyo once again. However, it appears that things have gotten too out of control for The Night Raider to handle.’”

“The...Night Raider?” Ryuji asked.

“Ah, I remember,” Yusuke said. “Night Raider is a superhero from a comic from a long time ago. Madarame had the full collection.”

Makoto nodded. “It was my father’s favorite when he was a kid. Naoko’s too. They bonded over that when they first became partners.”

“If I remember correctly, The Night Raider would also put out messages for Tokyo to assure them they were safe” Yusuke said. Makoto nodded.

“Oh, so it that when you figured it out?” Ryuji asked.

“No” Makoto responded bluntly. She continued. “‘A prosecutor’s office that goes after the innocent while the police do nothing to get the truly heinous. Hence, I am making my return as The Dark Raider. The Night Raider vowed never to kill, but with things so terrible, there is no other choice but to kill. And I’m going to start with a man rotten to the core: Junya Kaneshiro. His tyrannical rule over Shibuya will come to an end upon his execution July 11th. In the meantime Tokyo, stay safe. From, The Dark Raider.’”

Ryuji seemed a little confused. “So, when did you figure it out?”

Before Makoto could answer, Sumire interjected. “It was the date, wasn’t it?”

Makoto nodded. “That was the day my father died. I knew then it HAD to be Naoko.”

“WHAT?!” Ryuji screeched. “So, let me get this straight: this Naoko guy is pretending to be a superhero to kill criminals, and he’s going to start by killing Kaneshiro on the anniversary of your father’s death? That’s one messed up personal crusade.”

“That’s it!” Yusuke exclaimed. They all looked at him. “The name for the people taking over: Crusaders!”

“Um, I guess?” Ryuji said. “But I don’t know if now’s the time for this.”

“Well I like it, Yusuke-senpai,” Sumire said.

“Thank you,” Yusuke said. “Although it was Ryuji who inspired me.” Ryuji didn’t say anything, but this time he was too dumbfounded to do so.

“OK, now with that out of the way, let’s see if we can’t figure out something from this,” Ren said.

“Um, I think it’s kind of clear,” Ryuji said. “He’s imitating his favorite comic book.”

“Navigating,” the phone said.

“What the?!” Ryuji said before the world warped around them.

The thieves and Makoto found themselves in a Shibuya with a green skyline, and everything around them looked like it was hand-drawn from a comic. “Woah!” Makoto said, freaking out. “This...This is insane.”

“Please,” said Morgana. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Makoto looked down. “Is that a talking cat?”

“I am NOT a cat,” Morgana explained.

“I don’t think this is a good time to explain that,” Ren said.

Makoto looked up to see everyone in their thief outfits. “Who are you?”

“Um, it’s us,” Ann explained. “This is just what we look like in the other world.”

Makoto was still shocked. “Oh. Wait, when did we get over here?”

Ren checked her phone. “Probably when Skull here said the words ‘comic book’.” Everyone else checked their phone. They saw Junya Kaneshiro, All of Shibuya,” and in white, Comic Book.

“Ugh. I need to learn to shut my mouth” Ryuji said.

“Wait, Skull?” Makoto said.

“Oh yeah,” Ryuji said. “Over here, we use codenames.”

“I’m Joker, this one’s Mona, she’s Panther, he’s Sunshine, she’s Violet, and he’s Fox.”

“I see,” Makoto replied, intrigued. She peered over them. “Is that normal too?”

The thieves looked at what Makoto was pointing at. They looked like walking, talking ATMs. “Well, it’s not entirely unusual,” Ren explained, “but this is odd. Let’s investigate.” The thieves walked up to the ATM while Makoto followed behind cautiously. “Excuse me.”

“GAH!” The ATM said. “I’m making the payments! I just need more time.”

“Wha?” Ren said.

“Oh, Mr. Kaneshiro won’t give me the time though” the ATM said. “Please, help!”

Ren was still bemused by this, but said. “We will.”

“Thank you,” the ATM said. “I don’t want to end up like them.” They pointed to another ATM, this one broken and on its side. The ATM hurried off to try and save itself.

“Um, what’s going on?” Makoto asked.

“Well, this is just a guess,” Ren said, “but I think these ATMs represent people in the real world.”

“So Kaneshiro thinks of these people as nothing but ATMs?!” Ryuji exclaimed. “That’s effed up!”

“Well, if he’s extorting money from people, it makes sense,” Sumire lamented.

“Well, yeah, but we gotta put a stop to this!” Ryuji said. Suddenly, a beam went off. Everyone looked to see a giant lime green beam blasting through the sky. They followed it and saw that a floating bank was being pulled by it.

“FOLLOW THAT BANK!” Ren shouted. They all chased the falling bank to its new destination. They arrived just as the bank was setting into the space around it. Once it stopped moving completely, two shadow guards walked out, and in the middle of them was a very angry purple man in a white suit. Ren halted everyone. “I think that might be Kaneshiro” she whispered.

The man furiously looked around. He saw the thieves and Makoto. “You!’ he said, walking up closer to them. “Are YOU the ones who took my bank out of the sky?” Ren shook her head.

“Um, pardon me?” Makoto said, stepping forward. “Are you by chance, Junya Kaneshiro?”

“That’s right,” he said, cautious.

“Why was your bank in the sky?” Makoto continued.

Kaneshiro’s shadow laughed. “Because that made me untouchable. That allowed me to act with impunity. I can control all of Shibuya without lifting a finger, because when I do, everyone but me gets PUNISHED.

But now I’m brought down to your level. And so, I need to punish whoever’s responsible.” He took a better look at Makoto. “Say, your uniform looks like the one of the girl who tried to get evidence on me.”

Makoto was afraid, but stood her ground. “That’s right. She’s a student at my school. And I’m the student council president. And you’ve made a grave mistake crossing me.”

“Oh ho” Kaneshiro said. “Feisty, aren’t we? But I think it’s the other way around. I have those photos of her, and I have the police under my thumb.So tell me, what are you going to do?”

Makoto took a step forward. “I’ll stop you!”

Kaneshiro laughed. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard a joke THAT good. Guards, take care of her. And her little friends too.” The shadows started to inch forward, but before they could touch Makoto, one of them got kicked out of the way.

The person responsible for the kick was a superhero with a black suit, black cape and cowl that was torn and tattered, white gloves, white boots, and white trunks. Across his chest was a stylized “DR” to symbolize that this person was the Dark Raider. This person was Naoko.

The other shadow turned their attention to him, but he pulled out some boomerangs and threw them at the shadow. He then walked up to Kaneshiro. “I’m the one you’re after,” he said. “I dragged you down here so we can fight like men. Leave them out of this.”

“Heh,” Kaneshiro chortled. “You think someone playing dress-up scares me?” Naoko grabbed Kaneshiro’s arm and twisted it. “GAH!”

“I’m not playing,” Naoko explained. “You saw what I did to some of your goons, right? Well that’s only a sample of what I’m going to do to you. You will pay for your sins with your LIFE!”

He twisted Kaneshiro’s arm harder. “AH!” Kaneshiro yelped in pain.

“NAOKO!” Makoto called out. Naoko looked at her. “STOP!”

Naoko let go, while Kaneshiro fell to the ground. “This isn’t your fight Makoto. Run while you still have the chance.”

“No,” Makoto said.

“What?” Naoko replied.

“This IS my fight” Makoto said, filled with determination “This man has been harassing my fellow students.”

“This man is DANGEROUS!” Naoko argued.

“Don’t you think I know that?” Makoto retorted. “But I have to try. Otherwise, what am I?”

Naoko walked over. “You’re a student. Your job is to get good grades, get into a good college, and have a good life. Not take on some mobster with a known body count of 22!”

“STOP!” Makoto shouted, surprising everyone. “Quit telling me what to do! If I’m supposed to be in charge of what I do, why is everyone else telling me what it should be, or what I am?! I’m the student council president, and I’m supposed to protect my own! But no one trusts me because of what other people have placed upon me, and I’m SICK of it! I want to earn that trust back by doing whatever it takes! So you either help me, or GET OUT OF MY WAY!”

Kaneshiro stood up in this moment where everyone else was distracted. “GUARDS!” He called out. More shadows appeared as Kaneshiro retreated into the bank. The thieves rushed to protect Makoto, while Naoko had already begun.

Meanwhile, a voice was ringing out inside Makoto’s head. “Have you decided to tread the path of strife?”

Makoto was struggling. She fell to her knees. “Yes,” she answered.

“Very well,” the voice continued. “Let us proceed with our contract at once. I am thou, thou art I... You have finally found your own justice. Please..Never lose sight of it again.” A mask appeared on Makoto’s face. “This memorable day marks your graduation from your false self.”

Makoto ripped it off, shouting “JOHANNA!” Blood sprayed out of her face. A blinding light surrounded her. Once the dust settled, Makoto was dressed as a biker, and her Persona had manifested as a motorcycle she was riding.

“Woah!” Ryuji said.

“I’m impressed!” Morgana exclaimed.

“Hm” Ren smiled.

Makoto revved up Johanna. “JAH!” she belted out, as she began attacking the shadows. Between her, the other thieves, and Naoko, the shadows were dealt with. Afterwards, Makoto was out of breath. “Woah…”

Naoko looked at them. “Tell me: Are these the rumored Phantom Thieves?”

Makoto looked up. “Yeah... I asked them to help me... And now... I’m joining them...”

“I see,” Naoko said. He reached his hand out. “We can work together, you know. Taking down criminals left and right.”

Makoto was still out of breath. “Sorry” Ren said, stepping in. “But so long as your plans involve murder, we can’t accept.”

Naoko retracted his hand. “Very well. I will allow you to try your way. But make no mistake, I don’t intend to lose. Kaneshiro will stop at nothing to get his way. You have to be willing to do the same in order to take him on.”

“I’ll stop where I want!” Makoto yelled. Naoko stared, nodded, and then leapt away.

The thieves looked around. “Let’s call it here for today” Yusuke suggested. Everyone nodded and they all went back to the real world.

Once they were back, Makoto was again stunned. “Woah. That just happened.”

“Yeah,” Jose said. “But it was pretty cool.”

“Boy, I’ll say,” Morgana said. “I’ve never seen a motorcycle persona before!”

“Yeah,” Makoto said. “Wait, the cat talks here too?”

“I am NOT a cat!” Morgana said, holding his position.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Makoto said. “Then what are you?”

“Well…” Morgana said.

“This is Morgana. He’s a creature from the same person who gave us the app,” Ren explained. “He just has the form of a cat.”

“OK” Makoto said, taking this alright. “Why is he here?”

“He was always here,” Ren explained. “I usually carry him around in my bag. But you couldn’t hear him speak unless you go to that other world.”

“Oh” Makoto said. “How peculiar.”

“Yeah, that’s one way to describe him,” Ryuji remarked.

“Can it!” Morgana said. “At least I’m not a loud mouth.”

“Those two argue from time to time,” Ren said. “Don’t worry about it.” She reached her hand out. “For now, welcome to the team.” Makoto smiled. She gathered what strength she had left to accept Ren’s handshake, and accept the title of Phantom Thief.