Do you know in video games, it's like you can finish a whole dungeon in one day? Does this Court remind you of a dungeon, and the idea of a character speed running it easy as pie?

So, it would be a good assumption when Kokichi said let's go, that meant he would be finishing up the fourth and five doors right about now?

Yeah... well, prepare to be disappointed. They are prepared to go home.

Why, you may ask?

Firstly, fighting that Shadow took a toll on them, lowering their HP and SP greatly.

Secondly, they have limited items to replenish any HP and SP at all, so moving forward to complete the fourth and fifth door would be suicidal.

Thirdly, they were just overall tired. It's surprising how in video games, it takes an hour or so to complete dungeons like this type but truthfully, they took a few hours and it takes a toll on them. And only for just one door on one floor. But hey, that's life. That's reality for you. Plus games are basically accelerated timelines where after an hour of gaming, it's day to night in the game itself.

And it was mostly their fault. They had forgotten to prepare themselves in hindsight.

"Hmm... but this is a good time to stop. And now I know that you really do have what it takes to stand against the Court. Good job, King," Sophia said.

"Wait, the way you said it, it sounds like you were testing me," Kokichi said, now looking at Sophia for any lie she might give against his statement.

"Yep, I was just testing you," Sophia said, which shocked Kokichi, because, wow... such straightforward honesty.

So he asked, in that same straightforwardness "Why?"

"I wasn't confident about your abilities to battle the Shadows nor your infiltration with Courts. And even though you are the Rebel, I wasn't sure of such abilities that it worried me. So I wanted to observe you for a while as I taught you. If you weren't able to stand it, I would have tried to convince you to give up, which is why I didn't tell you about medicines or food for HP and SP. Because if I didn't think you can then I rather we not go on any further than this. I'm sorry, but I did what I thought necessary."

Wow... Sophia really was honest, if nothing else. Was it because she was an AI? Hmm... how would Kokichi know?

Was he annoyed that he had to be tested? Yep, usually he was the one doing it. Will he throw a fuss about it? Well, he wanted to be dramatic but he also didn't want to catch any Shadows' attentions. Because currently it's better to save energy to kick ass when there's an emergency.

So all Kokichi did was pout at Sophia and said, "Man, did you really have to do it? If you have reminded me about the medicine and food, we could have gone much farther instead of simply testing me and leaving now. How anticlimactic."

"I had to know," Sophia insisted, "I just wanted to make sure that you could handle your own so that you won't get hurt. I don't want people to get hurt over battles they can't do."

"Well, I won't," Kokichi said cheekily, "You really shouldn't underestimate someone like me, but urgh... fine, let's go home before- Huh?"

Kokichi was about to call it a day and use the teleport function to get the nearest safe point near the exit, because it's only once you get out of the Court, you can travel back to your own world. But something stopped him as Kokichi touched upon his mask, frowning.

Even if Sophia couldn't see the expression, Sophia noticed something was wrong.

"King?" Sophia muttered to Kokichi when she noticed his expression.

"An idiot made his way into here and got captured," Kokichi hissed.

"Idiot?" Sophia asked, her voice clueless of who it is and Kokichi provided.

"Amami-chan," Kokichi said lowly, still disbelieving, and by the look of Sophia, so did she.

"Rantaro?!" Sophia gasped, and asked:

"Are you sure?"

"Cait Sith informed me via mask. He said of a green haired boy that was with me yesterday suddenly captured by a group of guards. There's no mistaking it," Kokichi said.

"But how did he-?" Sophia asked.

"It does not matter now. What matters is we're saving an idiot, and making him do loads of favors for this because we are evil and won't do this out of the goodness of our hearts for such stupidity," Kokichi said, as he straightened a little.

"While I disagree with the 'evil and won't do this out of the goodness of our hearts', yes... let's go and rescue Rantaro before anything bad happens," Sophia said.

And thus, they teleported out of here to save an adventurer's ass.

***

'That teleporting function was the best thing to happen,' Kokichi thought to himself.

Apparently, Kokichi could use it to teleport anywhere as a save point except during battles. Because that moment he wasn't in battle, he could safely use it. It was better than using the <Goho-M> which can even be used as an escape from battles or using it as a checkpoint when say... you are very near to your destination but almost out of HP and SP. If quit now, and your last safe point is like, further away from your destination... that so close yet so far kind of thing.

With <Goho-M>, when you use it, you can even pick up from where you were last off. Convenient as hell.

Cait Sith had given him the coordinates as Kokichi had also ordered to at least intercept the ones who captured Rantaro here...

What the hell is he doing here? How the hell did he get here? Those were questions he could get from Rantaro once he saved his stupid ass. And Kokichi thought Rantaro would at least be smarter than this. Kokichi was 50 shades of disappointment right now.

Or that was a lie! What he felt more was a certain curiosity of why the adventurer sought out this far to pursue Kokichi. Why go to such a dangerous place when he didn't even have the powers unlike Kokichi and Sophia to even tackle this place.

And Kokichi pegged Rantaro as an observant type once he played along with his lies, interrogated Kokichi better than most others just yesterday even though they just met.

'Amami-chan should be smarter than this. And he had no business in here in the first place,' Kokichi thought.

So... why?

Soon enough, Kokichi and Sophia snuck to the place where they have so far brought Rantaro. His own subordinate, Cait Sith seemed to be negotiating with the other guards, and Kokichi crept closer to overhear the conversation.

"... to you?" One of the guards asked.

"Because you all are only carrying one prisoner. What if any other intruders come by when you are just hauling this one prisoner?"

"But what if he proved dangerous? After all, the other two intruders... they have that power. What if this one has it too? We need as much as we can to overpower him if that happens."

"But he's not even showing that power. And I'm sure I can handle him if it comes to it."

"Don't act so arrogant now, you bastard! You cannot underestimate intruders like that. And if you do, it's your neck. Don't argue. Instead, go get the boss. They need to know of this."

This is really getting nowhere. If this is really how Cait Sith's persuasion skills are, Kokichi seriously needed to recommend Persuasion 101 to him.

Otherwise, maybe Kokichi had to do something to make sure that Rantaro would've in the grasp of his own subordinate.

"But what if someone else-"

"Do you see or hear someone else-"

Bang!

"What the-?!" The guards all said as an explosion happened around the vicinity that startled everyone present.

"It must be the other intruders! Quick, I take the prisoner, and the rest of you handle that!"

"Fine, fine! But if you let that one escape, it's all on you!"

And with that, Rantaro was flung into Cait Sith's arms as the rest went toward that commotion, a commotion that Kokichi made use one of his Persona skills. The one that made him and Rantaro walk on the ceiling at one time. It was Illusions. They only saw an illusion of a bombing.

Sophia looked at him, surprised because she knew that it was most likely his doing, but Kokichi winked and said, "I will explain later."

So Sophia nodded and waited until the coast was clear for both of them to step in much to Rantaro's shock which only increased when Cait Sith pushed him towards Kokichi.

"Here you go King," Cait Sith said.

"Thank you very much~ You keep up this work and maybe I will promote you. I could reward you with something, but I'm scarce on items. Sowwy but at least you kept up the good work," Kokichi said, patting Cait Sith on the shoulder to which he relaxed and nodded minutely.

Meanwhile, Rantaro was obviously confused as hell, "Wha- what...?"

Kokichi rolled his eyes, "Didn't I already say? He's like my subordinate, so he's on our side. Also let's go outside, so I can berate your terrible choices and make you do a huge favor for me because I saved your ass."

Rantaro thought a while, still looking unnerved by guard turned subordinate but managed to relax because it has yet to attack.

As they walked towards the exit, Kokichi decided to give a quick check on the security level of the place and cursed softly.

It was about 50%, halfway through which was completely not good.

The security level is something both Sophia and Kokichi were wary about. The first thing that Sophia told him when they first ambushed a guard. Afterwards, the security level was put in his app, and every so often, they checked on it to make sure they don't step their boundaries.

Because sometimes, when getting to Trial doors, they had to risk the security level a bit and then made sure to ambush a bunch of guards to lower it down.

But right now, they being spotted by that Trial Guardian and Rantaro's capture... and that explosion, well sue him... what else would distract them without having a head on fight? There were too many guards and they were low on HP, SP and items. They still have to ration them in case of emergencies as soon as they got out of here.

Sophia had warned him about the security level prior, that if it reached a 100%, they would be forced to leave. But what Kokichi worried more was the fact that if the security level increased, that would mean Natsumi was bound to notice.

And it was too early to take on a boss fight when they didn't have all the pieces. So right now would be a good time to escape than anything.

Next time, he had to be more prepared for the Court. More food and medicines to charge up. Maybe even accessories that could boost their stats, but that one... he had to consult Sophia.

After all, weapons from another world do not work here, so how about clothes? There are many unknown to come, so Kokichi was unsure about the type of clothes from his world that would even work here, or if they even could.

But right now, all's left to do was to sneak outta here and call it a day.

"Rantaro..." Sophia said, as they walked along, "Why did you come back here? Unlike us, you don't have a Persona and can't protect yourself like us. It is too dangerous and reckless in that case, so why?"

"Ah, I guess I do have to explain myself, now don't I?" Rantaro sighed, before he continued talking.

"Well, as you know since someone was avoiding me," Rantaro said, giving a pointed look to Kokichi where he smiled unabashedly at that accusation, "I've been trying to look for you and discuss about all this."

"Eventually, I have heard that you have came back to Hope's Peak after you left for break and I tried to find you. But no one's seen hide nor hair of you and it's been hours. The only possible conclusion that I had was that you were in here."

"And you followed us here? But how did you get here? You would need that app to get in here like King," Sophia said.

"King?" Rantaro asked and Kokichi answered.

"Codenames. I'm King, she's Sophie. We use them for infiltration just like criminals for safety insurance, duh. Plus, it would be so uncool for criminals to use their real names for these type of things anyway unless you want your name spread out and be caught."

"OK, then. Well, to answer your question, Sophie," Rantaro said, taking out his phone and showing them...

"That app!" Sophia cried out as she saw the same black and white aesthetic app that graced Kokichi's phone yesterday as well, "Did you always have it?"

"No, it downloaded itself into my phone last night. It had that navigation function that sent us to here and I put two together. More reason to discuss but you kept avoiding me. Why?" Rantaro asked.

Kokichi tilted his head, unbothered, "Why couldn't I? An evil supreme leader doesn't go trusting round rando strangers for super big operations like these. Of course, I won't talk to you! What if you leaked it to my enemies?"

"I just met you yesterday, so how will I know anything about your enemies?" Rantaro asked, and Kokichi smiled.

"Yeah, you got me. But I still didn't want to talk to you. Bleh," Kokichi stuck out his tongue, because something bothered him throughout that conversation.

Because there was the fact that the app downloaded itself in Rantaro's phone after that short excursion to the Court. That app by that bear... what did that mean...?

"But it wasn't nice to leave me hanging like that," Rantaro argued.

"Since when have I ever been nice? Shouldn't that be obvious when I started that food fight and gave the class that wrong number?" Kokichi asked, tilting his head.

Rantaro remained silent, as if trying to find words to argue back but was unable to when Sophia cut in:

"You still didn't really answer my question. Why did you come here when it was too reckless and dangerous and you didn't have a Persona to protect yourself?"

Rantaro almost looked sheepish as he said, "It had been a few hours. I can't help worry about you two and I thought that I had to at least make sure you are alright."

"Even though we only just met yesterday? Even though we are basically complete strangers to each other?" Kokichi asked.

"I know that, but it's just... I won't go into much detail, but the situation you guys are in although not at all similar felt too nostalgic to me, and because of that nostalgia, I wanted to do something about it. I don't want to fail again," Rantaro said.

"Don't want to fail again...?" Sophia asked, but Rantaro kept a tight lipped smile.

"That's my business for now, and I would appreciate it that you won't pry. But bottom line is I'm a guy who just wants to help out people when I think they are in trouble, like most people."

"That sounds a little too heroic for my taste," Kokichi stuck his tongue out, "And as an evil supreme leader, I don't even want that type of help especially from someone who probably couldn't even help me."

Rantaro looked shocked and hurt at that, but it was the truth. And Sophia added to it:

"King is right. In this situation, you don't have a Persona. And you can't fight against the Shadows. Like that, I don't know how you can help us in anyway. Also, I don't think you have a connection with Natsumi Kuzuryu unlike King, so I can't see why you are involving yourself in the first place. Don't worry, we can handle ourselves just fine. So please don't do this again."

Sophia patted Rantaro who laughed awkwardly, as he said:

"I know that, but in the end, I guess it was just you two were gone for hours and I just had to make sure. But is there really no way that I can help?" Rantaro asked.

"Nope, not unless you have a Persona. Please, Rantaro, leave this be," Sophia said.

"Fine, I understand. Still, I'm glad you guys are safe, but at least let me help you on the outside. Because the last thing anyone needs is for you guys to be in danger. People will worry, including me, so I rather prevent all that," Rantaro said, petting Sophia and Kokichi's on the head.

"Thank you, Rantaro," Sophia said, smiling at him.

"Hey! I'm not a little kid!" Kokichi pouted, and Rantaro raised his hands in mock defeat, as he said, "Sure, sure."

At the very least, they were almost at the exit. Kokichi rewound Rantaro's story in his head and felt that he understood a bit, that at least he had his reason for his recklessness.

And by the sound of it, it wasn't entirely unreasonable. After all, it was simply worry and possible noble interest that Rantaro infiltrated here.

And although Kokichi completely disagreed with those reasons because he was evil to the core, he knew that some of the world simply had that type of good people so it wasn't entirely surprising either.

Anyway, at least it would get Rantaro off his back, and maybe it would have been good to talk to Rantaro before or this wouldn't happen. But he vaguely knew what happens when people have these types of talks after a dangerous situation, whether the people know each other well or not.

They usually end with either 'Please don't go,' or 'Let me come with you.' Since Kokichi didn't want either, well... of course he avoided Rantaro.

If he knew Rantaro had that app and could follow him...

Ah well, why worry about what-ifs when they can get out of here home free?

Kokichi spoke too soon.

***

"An ambush!" Sophia cried out as Shadows suddenly jumped out of nowhere surrounding them and catching them in their arms as one person emerged out of the fray.

"Kuzuryu-chan..." Kokichi said, himself being defensive when the mismatched eyed girl of a Shadow squared against them with a cocky grin on her face.

"You really think you can make a ruckus in my place without me knowing? Ha, unbelievable! That explosion alerted me immediately and when I heard they caught this one..." Natsumi said, nodding toward Rantaro, "I knew you wouldn't be too far behind."

"But I didn't think the faker would be too stupid to come back here after nearly missing his own execution. Do you really have a death wish? I don't mind... I wonder whether your death would actually give me a chance of becoming an Ultimate," Natsumi mused.

"How does King's death mean you can become an Ultimate?" Sophia asked.

"Hmm... King? You mean this faker? Well, one less Ultimate means that Hope's Peak would be able to fill in the spot. It would give me a chance, and a chance is what I need to become an Ultimate and be by my brother's side like I should be..." Natsumi said, her eyes becoming dreamy before someone spoke up.

"But is that what your brother really wants? For you to get your hands dirty just to be by his side?" Rantaro asked.

"What do you know?" Natsumi snapped, "What do you know about doing anything just to get close to your sibling so they could be proud of you, so you can always be with them no matter what? I will do whatever it takes for that to happen, because he is my brother and I am his sister."

"Whatever it takes..." Rantaro mumbled, "I... do understand that, but you cannot just kill someone over it just like that."

"Yes, I can," Natsumi said dismissively, "I can kill him, because why would I care about his life? His subordinate ruin my life so I can ruin his and in the process, his subordinate. I wonder how she would feel when she sees your body. I wonder..."

Natsumi got out a knife as it brushed near Kokichi's neck, blood spilling out of it in drips as it painted the knife's steely silver.

"King!" Both Sophia and Rantaro cried out but Kokichi chose to be unfazed, his smile never letting up. His eyes steely as that knife's against Natsumi's own.

"So you really want to kill me? What a filthy murderer. I can't believe my subordinate was friends with someone like you," Kokichi sneered.

"But do you really think something like this will make you an Ultimate? Don't make me laugh. There are plenty people with more potential than you to become an Ultimate. What makes you think that you would really become one?"

"They said I can. All I need is the right opportunity and they will give it to me! So be quiet and die!" Natsumi said, as she dug the knife a little deeper into Kokichi's neck and he knew he was in deep shit so he said, "Like they would have given it to Sato if you died?"

Natsumi's knife faltered a little, away from the cut made but held steadily when she demanded, "You know?!"

"Of course I do," Kokichi said cheekily, "You think my subordinate won't tell me everything?"

When she just told him earlier today, but details, details.

"So why are you so confident that killing me would result anything? The fact is that nothing will change!" Kokichi said.

The knife faltered as it drew a little more away from Kokichi's neck but she still had that determined steely gaze.

"You say nothing will change? You are wrong, faker. What will change is when Hatsura-san finds your body. I wonder if she would feel the same way I felt when I was dealt that blow by her and that other bitch. So, good- Ahh!" Natsumi said, as she was suddenly head banged by Kokichi. Natsumi swung her knife at him in retaliation but Kokichi pushed the Shadow holding him backward as he, even from that firm grip, managed to swing the white sword towards the Shadow making him let go of Kokichi and once let go, he swung his black sword in the direction of the Shadows holding Sophia and Rantaro which effectively made them confused enough to drop the both of them.

"King!" Rantaro hurried over to where Kokichi is, while Sophia engaged in battle mode against the Shadows to bring them away from the fallen Kokichi.

Rantaro checked the wound on as he got a cloth and some disinfectant, "We will have to bandage this soon, but this will do."

"How are you prepared with disinfectant?" Kokichi asked.

"Comes with my Ultimate," Rantaro said, "I'm always prepared. What I'm more interested is how you were able to swing that sword of yours considering that tight grip of that Shadow without him noticing."

"Comes with my Ultimate," Kokichi grinned mischievously, "Never underestimate a supreme leader of evil, emphasis on evil. Evil is a crafty bunch, won't you say?"

It was simply as Kokichi distracted Natsumi by talking shit and letting her hold that knife over his neck that he subtly tried to move one of his hands to a certain sword, and ta-da!

As Rantaro rubbed the disinfectant on Kokichi and hissed, he looked at the situation... and knew it was no good. So, he took something out of his pocket, which Rantaro pointed out.

"What is that?" Rantaro asked.

"A <Goho-M>," Kokichi said, and explained it's usage, which Rantaro's mouth started gaping open at.

"Why didn't you use this in the first place?" Rantaro demanded.

"Well, I only had one," Kokichi protested and I only wanted to use it during emergencies! Which is right now! Sophie!"

Sophia looked at Kokichi as he now stood up and ran toward her, with Rantaro behind him as he showed her the <Goho-M>, "We are getting out. Now."

"Oh no you don't," Natsumi said, as she nodded toward one of the Shadows, a heavenly punisher that looks like a strong angel with wings that nodded back and unleashed a skill, to which Kokichi did not hesitate activating the <Goho-M>, as Sophia ran towards him and they can all go home to-

"Huh?" Kokichi asked, because they were still in the Palace and he once again tried to activate the <Goho-M> to no avail. Natsumi smirked.

"You actually think I will let you escape?" Natsumi asked with a smirk, "Those <Goho-Ms> don't always work when there's someone actively preventing you from escaping," Natsumi said.

Oh yeah... nothing in the world is foolproof, how could Kokichi forget? Having something completely foolproof is like having world peace forever, so in other words; impossible.

Fine, life is a game anyway and foolproof things ruin game balance, but that means...

"That means we have to fight that Shadow and once it's defeated, quickly activate the <Goho-M> before Natsumi could delay our escape anymore," Sophia whispered as they faced the angel, which was seriously giving some boss fight vibes. But because Kokichi knew that the real boss would be Natsumi, this was mini boss level but that was exactly the last thing he needed when their HP and SP were hanging in the balance...

"Tch, Sophie, heal us," Kokichi ordered, which she did as Kokichi took out a <Freeze Spray> and used it against the angel that proved quite effective to render them another turn. Sophia and Kokichi looked at each other, as they nodded and proceeded with an All-Out Attack. Although they know that it won't defeat the enemy that easily, it was one of the moves that surprisingly doesn't drain their HP and SP so could be used as many times without draining them, but only when the enemy is incapacitated.

Of course, it didn't make a dent against the angel who seemed to be struggling against the ice until one of their hand is at least free from it. From that hand, a powerful beam shot at both Kokichi and Sophia where they tried to dodge, but Kokichi proved to be unsuccessful so he had to heal with one of his food items.

Meanwhile, Sophia was debuffing the angel, because they needed all the help they can get. But it wasn't enough.

Crash!

The angel broke out from the ice!

And with its big sword, swung a wide sweep, as it knocked the wind out of both Kokichi and Sophia that they were swept into the other Shadows' arms.

Sophia and Kokichi both tried to struggle but by then, they were both tired and it was quite futile.

"King! Sophie!" Rantaro cried out, but he couldn't do much as he too was held back by a Shadow and even though he had much more energy than them, it was infinitely harder to get out of a Shadow's grasp without a Persona.

Natsumi laughed evilly.

"Now nothing's going to stop your deaths," Natsumi thrilled, "I wonder what they would think if I bested the so called Ultimate Supreme Leader? Oh, this is going to be so good, guards, finish them-"

"What would your brother think of this?!"

But just before Natsumi could do anything, that cry was enough for Natsumi to hold everything and look at the person who said it: Rantaro.

"What did you say?" Natsumi hissed.

"You have a big brother, right? Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu? What would he think of this?" Rantaro asked.

"What...? What are you saying? Of course he would be proud. When I become an Ultimate like him and have the right to stand next to him, he will be proud. Proud to call me his sister, proud that I will be able to help him as the heir of the yakuza along with Pekoyama-san..."

"You are wrong," Rantaro said bluntly.

"What do you know?!" Natsumi cried aghast, "What makes you say I'm wrong when you had nothing to do with me or my brother? What reason do you even have?!"

"I'm a big brother myself," Rantaro said simply, with three widened eyes now stared at him.

"And as a big brother, I wouldn't like to see my little sister lose herself like this because as a brother I would care about here and want to keep her safe. I would never want her to endanger herself and make mistakes like this at all."

"What bullshit," Natsumi dismissed easily, "You say that but you are not part of the yakuza. You don't know how harsh, how cruel-"

"But I don't think your brother was like that to you," Rantaro interrupted, "Otherwise you wouldn't have admired him as much as you do, love him as much as you do. That's why you are doing this."

"But killing us is wrong. Because when it's pointed all back to you, and you are in trouble, I think your brother would never forgive himself for putting yourself in trouble," Rantaro said adamantly.

It was as if he was speaking from personal experience, but all Natsumi did was smirk.

"You are just delaying your death," Natsumi said, "You don't know anything. Of course my brother would be proud. I really have no beef against you but you want to help my enemy like this," Natsumi said, waving toward Kokichi, "So you are going to the gallows with him."

"And I will do it myself," Natsumi declared, "This is for Hatsura-san who weakened my chances of being an Ultimate when I was comatose, almost killed me and dared to lie to me that Sato-san was dead."

Kokichi's eyes widened, "You knew?"

"You think I would take the word of a liar," Natsumi hissed, "I investigated her claim and found out Sato-san is now residing somewhere in New Zealand."

"And did you already kill her?" Kokichi asked.

"Oh... not yet," Natsumi said lightly, "The yakuza is still buying the lie that Sato-san who almost killed me is dead. That one... I rather deal myself, along with Hatsura-san. A two for one deal, if you get what I mean," Natsumi said.

"Ah, how sadistic of you," Kokichi commented.

Natsumi giggled, "After all, an eye for an eye. And I plan to pay it in full for all I have been through. Starting with you... I know where Sato-san is, but not Hatsura-san. Maybe your death will bring her out."

"But this isn't the answer. Revenge is not the answer," Sophia said, "Why would you do something so bad when Kokichi didn't really do anything to you?! And Akari-"

"Oh shut up!" Natsumi shouted, "Of course he's done something to me and that was stealing my chances of being an Ultimate by being an Ultimate himself, no doubt by Hatsura-san's hand. He is going to die, and there's nothing you could do about it," Natsumi said, now taking out a gun.

With one feral smile, Natsumi said, "Goodbye you little shit."

"I WON'T LET YOU!"

And that came from Rantaro eyes flashing pink, as a blue-ish fog emitted from him, blowing the Shadows away and a hood appeared right on his face.

"He's awakening! His Persona is awakening!" Sophia exclaimed in shock, the exact feeling that everyone was having at this very moment.

***

There's nothing you could do about it.

"Akari just left by herself. How could you have known? There was nothing you could do about it."

"Enju really wanted to find Akari. There was nothing you could do to stop her from going."

"Ricka, Myu and Itsuki just disappeared. You had your own things to do. You can't keep an eye on them every time, there was nothing you could do about it."

"Cy had an active imagination. She shouldn't have wandered far by herself like that. There wasn't much you could do about it."

"Tengge and Lily had no right to be angry at you. You were trying your best and now they are lost. They shouldn't have let their anger clouded their good sense and now this happened, you couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't your fault."

"Nanao shouldn't have let Hotaru do as she pleased and now those girls are lost? Don't worry about it, just keep trying to find them, because you couldn't have done anything to prevent it so just try your best to fix this, alright?"

"Yamabuki just lost her patience. What could you do about it? She really had too much fun with Nanao, so it was obvious she would be upset about this. Don't blame yourself."

"The last thing Setsuna did was get mad at you, huh? But don't let it get you down. Just imagine the day you find all your sisters and be reunited again. That's the only thing you could do now, because you couldn't have done anything to prevent it in the beginning. So don't worry."

It was as if those words Natsumi uttered before committing to kill Kokichi flashed those moments before Rantaro Amami's eyes, when he lost all twelve of his sisters with his father there to comfort him.

When there was nothing he could do about it...

So all he could do instead was salvage the aftermath and find his sisters instead as they were lost one by one.

But this... if Kokichi was killed, he couldn't do anything to salvage it. And then Natsumi was going to do more things like this, including this Hatsura and Sato. Hatsura whose first name coincidentally was the same as his youngest sister that was the first one lost.

He knew it was a coincidence but still his heart twinged at the idea of Akari dead, but in this situation... can he do anything? Was it really like his sisters, that there was nothing he could-

"But that is not the case, right?"

As if the world stopped, Rantaro had a flash of a ball, his own silhouette with a bloody mark on his head and flashing pink eyes before the voice came again, as he clutched his head in agony.

"Nothing you could do, when your sisters disappeared one by one, thinking everything could be resolved once you found them in your adventures but deep down you knew you could have done something even back then."

A flash every time before his sisters disappeared, his father, people, money, his other sisters protesting, accusing and trying along with him...

"But trying wasn't enough. You had to do, but you failed and you ignored it."

Rantaro started remembering his sisters' anger, their accusations, the desperation and hurt.

"Goodbye you little shit," Natsumi said to Kokichi as she pointed the gun to Kokichi.

"When it really counts, are you really going to do nothing? Are you going to excuse it with nothing can be done about it and fix only the aftermath? Are you going to make the same mistake again and again thinking you tried but really, you never did?"

Kokichi... the gun facing him one bullet away from a short life ending and grief for a classmate he just met, could have known better, Natsumi who was doing all these evil things for her brother when Rantaro knew that was the last thing a brother would want, Rantaro unable to do anything, but...

"I WON'T LET YOU!" Rantaro shouted. He could do something about it. He had to do, instead of try. He cannot let this lie down!

Suddenly, pain sprouted all over his head all over as a hood covered his face as he clutched onto it.

"Good... good... you are not going to give yourself excuses this time. Shall we do this then? I am thou... thou art I. Are you going to let another one lost, like what you did all those years, or are you finally going to do something? You have always shown a strong will yet push all the blame to yourself of the past. Instead look in the present and do something about it instead of dwelling the past. Let me lend you my power in this contract to finally save people so they won't end up like you nor your sisters and finally stop being useless like you lament yourself to be!"

Rantaro could hear that through all the pain, and he wanted it so bad. He knew that was worth more than the pain of anything he was experiencing now.

He knew he had been suppressing himself, he knew that he made excuses, he knew he always called himself useless because of his sisters...

But he had to stop doing that. He had to finally open his eyes, like he knew deep down in his heart which was why his heart was opening to him now and crying to take this chance.

With difficulty, Rantaro's hand slowly went to the hood and took it off with flourish, finally sealing the contract.

"I will never succumb to the mistakes that made me useless," Rantaro vowed quietly to himself, before he spoke in a louder tone, "Now, let's help out King, Columbus!"

***

Rantaro really looked dashing. He wore a hood over his clipped with a compass, a dark blue vest over a long white sleeved cuffed shirt and dark green pants ripped at the cuffs with brown boots to finish the look. Both his hands were strapped with grappling hooks which he used to immediately knock the gun out of Natsumi's hand and the other knocking the guard that was holding him as Rantaro rushed ahead and scooped Kokichi bridal style away from Natsumi.

"No homo though," Kokichi blurted out because maybe it was his confused sexuality but being rescued by Rantaro, whose face was half hidden by a hood giving a mysterious aura in dashing clothes as he was carried bridal style was screaming gay in his radar. And no, he wasn't having a gay panic.

Rantaro laughed, relieved, "Looks like you are fine if you can joke like that. Let's go."

"And where to?" Natsumi asked, sneering, "You cannot use the Goho-M and you are surrounded."

"Through the front door," Rantaro said calmly.

"How can you do that?" Natsumi sneered, as she pointed at the duo, "Get them and this time don't let them go!"

But Rantaro gave a low chuckle as he let down Kokichi, and said, "Hold tight."

Kokichi did as Rantaro dual the grappling hook once again, one aiming at the guard holding Sophia as he shouted to her, "Grab on!"

Sophia did as the rope from the hook descended towards her and grabbed onto it as Rantaro's other grappling hook hitched onto the ceiling above and they ascended... as Rantaro swung away to-

"Fire at will!" Natsumi shouted as the Shadows started aiming their beams or any weaponry at the swinging trio but Kokichi got a smokescreen from his inventory and covered themselves with smoke until...

"Damn it, they got away!" Natsumi cried in frustration as once again Kokichi was out of her grasp, "Damn it!"

Natsumi got down to her knees and punched the floor. Failure... another failure. With fiery determined eyes, she hissed, "Not again..."

If Kokichi was once again foolish to come back, then...

Natsumi will not fail again.

Meanwhile, the trio indeed exited through the front door, with Kokichi activating the app to get them out of here into a darkening Hope's Peak.

"That was awesome, Onii-chan! I didn't know that you could also summon a Persona!" Kokichi finally shouted, because the escape was damn awesome ask him. He wonder he can do a repeat in one of his heists...

"Seems like I can. Could anyone summon a Persona?" Rantaro mused.

"No," Sophia said adamantly as she popped out from the phone, "Not everyone can summon a Persona. Don't you remember the pain you felt when you were awakening?"

Both Kokichi and Rantaro nodded as Sophia said, "It's the ability to go through that pain with high will and resolve that you can rip your mask off to unleash the power within you. Not everyone is capable of that."

"Ripping your mask off?" Kokichi asked, "But I put my mask on."

"Oh, is that so?" Sophia asked, "There are a few ways for one to awaken a Persona but what is truly needed through any awakening is a tremendous will for the power through the pain of being true to yourself. I can only assume Rantaro's awakening might relate to finding something true of himself during that time and resolving to act upon it."

"Haha, I guess so," Rantaro said, placing a hand behind his head, "And also because I can't let Ouma-kun die. But awakening to my Persona, it did open my eyes a bit."

"And what is that?" Kokichi asked, getting to his face. Call him curious but he wondered what was the reason that made him awaken.

But Rantaro simply smiled and said, "Sorry, but that's my own business."

"Aww, come on, Onii-chan," Kokichi whined, "I really want to know."

"Nope," Rantaro popped the p and Kokichi was about to whine some more before his stomach growled.

"Looks like you are hungry, little man," Rantaro teased.

"That wasn't my stomach, that was the lion behind you. You better run before you become a pile of bones!" Kokichi said, pointing to a non-existent lion behind Rantaro as he chuckled knowing it was a lie.

"Yeah, let's run," Rantaro said, following along the lie anyway, "And maybe the lion could come with us to eat something in the cafeteria."

"Yeah, yeah, Amami-chan," Kokichi said.

Archive

Persona-> Columbus: After Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer and navigator who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Also the person to first discover America.

***

It was quite late so there were only stragglers having a late dinner in the cafeteria but Kirumi and Teruteru, Ultimate Cook who prefers being called Ultimate Chef were more up to it to prepare meals for both of them regardless.

As they continued eating, Rantaro finally broke the silence, by saying, "What are you going to do now?"

"Having a long siesta. I dunno bout you amigo, but I'm tired like heck," Kokichi said.

"I can agree on that," Rantaro said, "I don't know why but I feel drained. At least the food helps."

"Oh, that's a side effect of awakening to your Persona. Every Persona user would be drained of their energy after their awakenings," Sophia quipped.

"Oh, I see," Rantaro nodded, "So, Ouma-kun, what are you going to do... about that place?"

"Ah, there. Well, I'm not going for a while because I need to raid some drugs, get myself my own clothesline, maybe make a food empire and get the goods from the slut if she comes to me with that side deal," Kokichi said.

"Uh huh," Rantaro said, disbelieving, "What are you really going to do?"

"But I told you already, Amami-chan. I don't have to repeat myself to you," Kokichi said, and Rantaro sighed so Sophia piped up.

"Actually Rantaro, he was telling the truth. Translating all that from Kokichi speech, Kokichi meant he needed to get some medicines and food so we don't run out of HP and SP at Court. Also, some accessories can be useful to boost stats in the Court so some clothes here could prove useful. Finally, Kokichi made a deal with Miu that he gets her inventions if he does her a favor."

"Oh, so that's what Ouma-kun meant. Basically, it's all prep work before you go back there," Rantaro said.

"Ah, is this the part where Onii-chan says that I can't go back there because it's too dangerous?" Kokichi pouted, "I'm sure that's what you were planning to do all along so of course I avoided you."

"Well, yeah, I was trying to dissuade you from going back because it would be too dangerous and- wait, you knew I was going to dissuade you and that's why you avoided me?" Rantaro started saying but suddenly asked when Kokichi's words fully sunk in.

"Well, duh? It's a 101 where two people come back from such a dangerous place and when one wants to go back, the other will dissuade them. Happens in most flicks," Kokichi said.

"Well, is it 101 if that person says they want to come with to make sure that you won't get into danger?" Rantaro asked.

"Actually, yes," Kokichi said, "So now you got your Persona you are getting cocky and think you can join in the cavalry?"

"I don't mind," Sophia said, "Having more people would mean more battle power against the Court and Rantaro really did save us back then. He would be a great ally to have."

"True," Kokichi agreed, "But Amami-chan never had any business with Kuzuryu-chan and now he's involving himself... for what?"

"I have my own agendas, but it won't hurt to tell you some of them," Rantaro laid out.

"Firstly, I can't leave you alone in such a dangerous mission as this. What kind of person would I be if I let you?" Rantaro asked.

"Secondly, I don't want to see Kuzuryu-san like that. You could say it's a big brother thing but I don't want to see any little sisters acting like that. Even if they are not related to me. But you could say it's just coincidences."

"Thirdly, the power I have... I might as well make use of it and what better way than accompanying you guys and defeating the despair out of Kuzuryu-san?"

After all that, Kokichi and Sophia looked at each other before Kokichi spoke up, "Fine, fine. Plus you have that app with you now. It's not like I can stop you anyway."

Rantaro ruffled Kokichi's hair, saying, "That's the spirit."

Kokichi pouted at that as they continued discussing a few things at length before calling it a night. Two days in a row of action filled adventures. That was something he didn't anticipate. Maybe it was time to mellow a little...