DOG NO MORE!

“ I’m just doing what I can to help. Not really feeling like being a police officer would be a good move for me, too many rules. And when I can work with someone like you and do exactly what I wanted to do in the first place? “ There was no need to become an officer. Makoto could do more good on the inside than the former delinquent could. His record might be scrubbed now, but even then it was hard enough get a normal job during college, let alone something with authority.

Nope, running around in the cognitive world was more than productive for him. He could let the police take the credit for things, he could help people more running around as a Phantom Thief of Hearts.

“ And besides, Boss did the same for me when I needed it. I would love to do the same for others. You might not have come to us with the right intentions initially, but you needed help not unlike the person who posted this request.”

He paused when he heard Mona shouting for him, letting him know that he was ready to take them down to their destination. He wasn’t entirely sure on whether or not he would have Mona help them. It would be good to have someone slightly more skilled with healing magic, but he also wanted Wolf to understand how they did this when they weren’t being swarmed with shadows.

“ I’m not in the habit of ditching people, even if they aren’t sure what exactly they themselves want. “

Even if it stings his pride a little, Zenkichi knows Akira’s words are true - he did need help when Akira met him. He was desperate; falling apart, and he couldn’t even really see it. It’s only now, for the first time in a long time, that Zenkichi actually feels like he’s living again.

“If you keep saying stuff like that so casually, you’re gonna make me feel jealous, you know.” That’s what he says, but it’s obvious he’s just joking. While it’d make sense for a part of him to be jealous - at the fact that this kid can seemingly effortlessly be so good, where Zenkichi has struggled with himself for so long... really, all he can feel is pride in Akira. It brings him hope to know that there are people like that out there in the world.

“ I’ve been driving down here for a while, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it too much. It’s not like driving in the other world though, I will run down shadows in lieu of attacking them in standard combat. “ It made for a jarring ride, so that was why he had to warn the other. There had been more than one occasion when they had to stop because someone was getting sick from the motions. “ Mona, go ahead and get ready while I explain. “

To his credit, the cat just wandered off with a jump in his step, making a loud show of stretching like the transformation was anything more than him willing his form to change. Not that he really knew much about the cat creature, but still…

“ The Reaper is an entity meant to get rid of intruders. If we spend too long on a floor, it will appear and hunt us down. You haven’t seen Arsene’s true form, it’s something I can’t use very often because of how exhausting it is for me. I can’t take it down with that form of Arsene. That should tell you how much we want to avoid it. “ Akira wasn’t really fond of bringing up how he was basically on another level than the rest of his group, but it was a good show of just why they wanted to avoid the Reaper.

“ Just keep an ear out for rattling chains. I should hear them, but if I don’t just tell me. It means we need to get off the floor before we get cornered. “

“Right. Got it.”

Not for the first time, Zenkichi can’t help but feel like this is all some crazy fever dream he’s having. The stuff coming outta this kid’s mouth is absolutely insane, yet he knows that it’s all true. How would Akane react to knowing about any of this? What about his Boss? It’s ridiculous!

The Reaper sounds... worrying, especially with just the three of them here, but Zenkichi trusts that Akira knows what he’s doing. It’s a surprising amount of trust to have in someone you’ve only met recently, but... Akira’s earned it in spades. He really turned Zenkichi’s life around, didn’t he?

...Zenkichi thinks once more about what he’s here to witness. A change of heart will be occurring right before his eyes, and he’ll have to decide whether or not he wants to play a part in that, going forward. Not to mention, whether or not he’ll be staying in the police force as well... it’s so much to take in, so much to think about, yet he can feel a determination burning within him he hasn’t felt in a long time.

Realizing he’s been silent for a while now, Zenkichi suddenly speaks up again.

                           “Okay... you didn’t go crazy... This is real, Zenkichi...”

“That’s... well, it’s a little hard to explain.” But he’s going to try. Or so Zenkichi had thought, but...

“Wait- you’re hurt!” he exclaims, suddenly noticing the gash in Jessica’s side.

“Shit!” he swears, before remembering to get it together - he’s the one supposed to be helping her stay calm right now. Quickly, he runs over to get a better look at the wound, though it’s pretty hard to see just how bad it is. He’s so engrossed in making sure she’s okay that he doesn’t even notice whether his presence is helping or making her panic further. Either way, though-

“You need to put pressure on that. ...Can you do that for me?” Zenkichi asks, hesitant to touch her after knowing how badly he scared her just moments before. He tries to keep his voice gentle and steady, and luckily, years in a high-pressure job come in handy in situations like this, but... he can’t stop his heart pounding nonetheless.

When asked about whether Sojiro was her guardian or not, that caused her to look at him a bit more seriously again. He was in fact her guardian yes but the exact circumstances of that were a little bit complicated. “He is in fact. But he’s not my birth father. I never knew my birth father growing up.” All Wakaba would ever say was that he was a bad man and not worth interacting with for some reason. She never understood why but at some point, she kind of stopped caring really.

“Um, I’m sure you probably saw this at some point since you’re part of the police and all but…my mom died a couple of years ago. At the time it was ruled a suicide. She uh–ran into a car and all that. But we found out that she was killed thanks to the whole cognitive world thing. A-Anyways, after she died I was tossed around from family member to family member like some unwanted toy.” It was so chaotic during that time she couldn’t remember much of it, other than being neglected by her uncle.

“Sojiro was a good friend of moms. He worked for the government as a middleman between the government and her research. He hung around often and became an extended part of our family actually.” If only she could find some of those pictures from back then. Zenkichi would see how close the two were despite being friend zoned. “He ultimately got a court order to take custody of me after hearing that I was being neglected. So, I went from being Futaba Isshiki to Futaba Sakura. So yes, he is my guardian. He adopted me and I couldn’t be any more grateful to him.”

“Right... I remember.”

He’s read the files, of course. But after actually getting to know Futaba, and hearing her speak about her trauma with her own words... it fills him with a crushing feeling - pain and anger combined, knowing that someone like her had to suffer so much; and knowing that it was somebody else’s fault.

Zenkichi’s eyes widen and he straightens in surprise as Futaba tells him that her mother’s death was due to the cognitive world. That, he hadn’t known, and it sends a million questions running through his head - but he holds back, because he feels like now isn’t the time for them. Instead...

“He sounds like a great guy. I’m glad you had someone like him in your corner.” Zenkichi smiles, and he really means what he says, even if the smile is somewhat bittersweet. He doesn’t know if he should give her condolences, or how else to respond to everything she’s told him... it’s that frustration of wishing he could do something for her that’s the hardest to take. There is one thing he can say, though.

It wouldn’t take Akira long to pull the name on his phone and for it to register a hit. Figures that Zenkichi would be one of very few people to find someone worthy of being a target on his first try. A few moments later he was all but dragging the Inspector back around the corner as the world warped around them, blending with the crowd as best he could while they disappeared from the feet upwards. It was a familiar and welcome feeling for the teen, like coming home. The MetaVerse was practically his second home at this point, with how much time he spent here.

Completely unbidden, Arsene would summon himself the moment he was able crouching to a semi normal size on the train platform as Morgana stretched from his nap.

“ welcome back, my trickster. i trust the time you’ve been away was restful? “ As always, Arsene’s voice was feather light when speaking to his user, aware of the others in attendance but uncaring if they heard any amount of the conversation he would have with his trickster. 

“ I’ve been alright, thank you Arsene. I’ll need you to be a little more proactive today, It’ll just be Wolf, Mona, and I. Just try not to exhaust me if possible? “ Arsene would merely nod, disappearing back into his mask as he stood, letting Akira turn to Morgana and Zenkichi. “ The MetaNav says that they aren’t too far, floor 15 maybe? I’ll be driving, sorry Wolf. This isn’t quite like driving a patrol car around, and if we take too long we might end up in some serious trouble. “

“ That’s right! We don’t wanna encounter the Reaper when we don’t have the whole team. Joker will already be pulling extra weight with only three of us, so we really don’t wanna run into it. “ Morgana didn’t miss his chance to chime in, fully awake and ready to go whenever Wolf cave the indication he’d adjusted from the real world to the cognitive world. “ You’ve got smoke bombs on you in case it comes early, right? “

“ Of course, when am I not prepared for everything that can go wrong? ”

It’s fascinating, watching Joker work. Zenkichi still doesn’t know if it’s possible for him to talk to Valjean - but watching Arsene and Akira, he can’t help but wonder if one day he’ll be able to do so. It’s an incredibly surreal thought.

“Oh- no worries. I trust you know what you’re doing?” he responds, half-jokingly, as Joker mentions that he’ll be driving - though the irony of a kid without a license taking the wheel is not lost on Zenkichi. It’s admittedly still nerve wracking to be here, but his experiences with the Jails have left him feeling much more prepared than he was the first time he stepped into the Metaverse. And on top of the anxiety, there’s another feeling, one he’s familiar with by now... something that seems almost like excitement.

Of course, there is one obvious thing he can’t help but question-

“ Yeah, that’s pretty much it. It’s easy to take it too far. We’ve spent far too long doing this for me to say we haven’t made a mistake, but no one was seriously hurt. “ It was one of their learning experiences, and one of the reasons that he was always present when they were doing Thieves work. So many things could go wrong, and he had to be there to stop any of his teammates, even if it meant taking a hit for their target. “ I guess it’s something to do with me being the leader, but I’m also the voice of reason when we go after a target. Orders are absolute. If I say stop, you stop no matter what. I’ve had to take a hit or two for a target to keep them safe, but its worth it in the end. “

He’d fall into silence when they boarded the train, too many people to continue their conversation without drawing eyes or interest. PubSec and the police may be keeping tabs on him, but he wasn’t about to let random people in on the secret. They’d have to wonder about the Phantom Thieves’ leader on the internet like everyone else. 

Only when they reached their destination would he address the investigator again, grabbing him and dragging him to a secluded location in the Shibuya underground. Entertainingly enough, the most secluded location was where Kiritani had been sleeping when he wasn’t in police custody. 

“ Unlike hunting down Monarchs, targets in Mementos are just normal people. They don’t understand what they are doing is wrong, they are just looking out for themselves. If they are amenable, we can just talk to them and they will change their ways, leaving something like a treasure behind. Whatever made them change in the first place, or something that might only make sense to me. Again, I am a lot different from the rest of our team, and if I could I’d show you why. “

A pause as someone, a foreigner wandered around the corner before realizing that they had the wrong place. “ If necessary, we will fight them. They won’t risk their lives, and once they realize that we aren’t going to roll over, they tend to give up and try to defend their actions. We talk to them, make them realize how they are hurting their loved ones, and most of the time they apologize and give up. “

The only one that hadn’t was Kiritani himself, and it’d taken grievous injury and scaring the daylights out of his Shadow before he’d given up for fear of his impending death if he didn’t. Akira booted up the app on his phone without any further preamble, putting in the information for Mementos before handing Zenkichi his phone. 

“ Speak their full name, and if they are a viable target, the app will let us know. Then I just need to navigate us to Mementos and wake up Morgana. “

“Right. I suppose I’ll get to see how it works soon.” Zenkichi isn’t used to taking orders from a kid, but he’s easily able to recognize that Akira is the expert here, so he’s the one who should be in charge in this situation. Because of that, Zenkichi isn’t reluctant at all to defer to him.

But the fact that changing a target’s heart is as simple as talking to their Shadows - it’s interesting. Akira said ‘if they’re amenable,’ which presumably means that there’s some people who won’t change their ways - which in a strange way, makes Zenkichi almost feel better. It makes the whole thing feel less like brainwashing, somehow - as if the targets are playing a willing part in the process, too.

What is a Shadow, anyway? Zenkichi has a rough idea, but even now he isn’t really sure. It sounds like it’s easier to change the mind of a Shadow than a person’s conscious self, but will they just believe anything they’re told, or are they simply more willing to listen to reason?

...That’s what he’s about to find out.

“Uhh, alright, I’ve got someone. His name is... Kagawa Hideko?” Now that they’re so close to going into Mementos, Zenkichi feels oddly nervous. Funny, how a man who’s seen so many things on the field can still find himself like this. Is the racing of his heart from fear, or anticipation? It’s difficult to say.

“ I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m just a high schooler with a criminal record that I shouldn’t have. “ Akira did his best to keep his voice level while he played the victim card, failing right at the end as his voice cracked with a laugh. It was easy enough to do to someone that he didn’t know, just another mask to wear when he needed to. But when it was with his friends, because that was really what Zenkichi was, it was so much harder. The trickster couldn’t quite bemoan the fact that coming to Tokyo had been the best thing that ever happened to him.

He’d push Shido Masayoshi into traffic if it meant getting back here again.

“ It’s how we pick some of our targets. Unlike how you are used to it, our targets have to be a consensus between all members. We don’t just randomly choose people. We do our research, figure out if what we are being told is incorrect. “ Akira made sure to walk just a little behind the other, steering him around people as they headed for the Yongen-Jaya station. It wouldn’t be anything obvious, just a hand occasionally pulling on his jacket or a hand at the small of his back.

Did it look odd, something that should be the other way around? Sure. But people in Yongen-Jaya are used to him doing all sorts of odd things and leading around random people.

“ Say… say you find someone who has been getting madder and madder, blaming the world for what has happened to them and ends up being a rotten person. They might be an awful person, but they might not be in Mementos. It could be because they aren’t twisted enough yet, or because it really is someone else just making them miserable. We tend not to go after those, instead going for people who have sudden and inexplicable changes in their personality. Like someone blowing their entire life savings on a idol for no apparent reason. “

Akira breathed, mussing with his hair. “ I never could explain this well, but basically we all have to agree. I trust your judgement, so I’m not going to call the rest of the group about the target. But it works a lot like EMMA did. Once we are at the top of the station staircase in Shibuya, I’ll open the app on my phone, and you just speak their name. If they are a valid target, they’ll register on the app. “

Zenkichi chuckles at Akira’s comment - cheeky kid. But he listens carefully to the rest of Akira’s explanation, looking through the Phansite as he does.

There’s all kinds of requests on the site. Ranging from the ridiculous to the deeply worrying, he’s especially struck by one thing - the sheer amount of people asking the Phantom Thieves for help. He knows that a lot of trust in the police has been lost by the public at large, and instinctively, while he questions why some of these people haven’t gone to the police with their complaints - deep down, he knows exactly why. And he can’t blame them, either. Zenkichi knows all too well just how powerless- or how corrupt- the police can be when it comes down to it.

What he’s most interested in are cases where he knows the police won’t step in- maybe because the law says they can’t, or for any number of other reasons, though he supposes it’s a little selfish to focus on what he wants to do. All of these people need help, and...

One request catches his eye- a plea from someone young about what sounds like an abusive parent. Maybe it’s because he’s a father himself, but his lip twists in displeasure as he thinks about the pain lying just behind the message.

“I guess what I want to know is... how does the actual process of the “change of heart” take place? Morgana mentioned something about Treasures, before... so you just, what, beat up their shadows? Steal their treasure, or something?”

It sounds awfully similar to just brainwashing someone, when it comes down to it, and that’s what makes him hesitate. But at the same time- all they really seem to be doing is making people who’re doing awful things see the consequences of their actions. When it comes to the Monarchs, each and every one they took down was someone who needed to be stopped. But what is it that makes a desire count as “twisted?”  Could they make someone feel guilty about something that wasn’t actually their fault? What about moral dilemmas, where it’s not so obvious if what someone has done is wrong or not?

Jessica has absolutely no idea where she was… The last thing she remembered, she’d just been finishing up her 12 hour shift at the coffee shop. She’d clocked out and was on her way to get her daily meal of one single discounted pastry when…things had turned strange.

She’d found herself suddenly alone, the chaos of the shop replaced by an almost creepy silence. A silence that had only been broken by what sounded like…moaning? She wasn’t sure what she’d call the sound exactly, but she’d unfortunately run into the source very early on in her wanderings.

She’d managed to escape the creepy faceless figured that had jumped her, but not without a fair amount of cuts and bruises. Cuts that, while not life-threatening, had forced her to stop in the middle of one of the reddish tinted walkways.

She was in agony, and then…a voice? Not the ghostly groans of whatever she had outrun, but an actual voice.

The woman looked up, only to see a very human like figure in black coming her way. Her body tensed up… She couldn’t run anymore, couldn’t hide or avoid the strangely dressed person. She was trapped…

“P-Please don’t…” she breathed, only able to grip at the gash in her side. She was in so much pain that even if she did try to run, she was sure she wouldn’t make it far.

For the first time since she was a teenager, she was sure that she was going to die…

For a moment, Zenkichi’s worried that a Shadow’s appeared somewhere, and he looks behind him in a panic, only to realize that the one Jessica is afraid of is him. His stomach drops, and as he turns back, he raises his hands in what he hopes is an nonthreatening gesture - it doesn’t feel good to be looked at like that, but he can’t blame her at all. He’d be exactly the same.

“Hey, hey! I’m not gonna hurt you. Okay?” he starts, trying to keep his tone light and reassuring. For once, the outfit is not working in his favor here. Zenkichi remembers how shocked he’d been when he first entered the metaverse all too well, and he’d had people there to explain it to him beforehand - this woman must be terrified right now.

...Wait a second. Hasn’t he seen her somewhere before...?

Yeah, he has! At that cafe that he visits - he’s seen her before, working there. It’s enough to throw him off for just a second, but he quickly recovers - that’s not what’s important right now.

There was a light in his expression that hadn’t been there when the man walked into the café. Honestly it fit him far better than the severe and nearly downtrodden look that he carried since they’d taken care of everything over the summer. It brought a smile to the high schooler’s face, pulling the apron off and grabbing his phone and wallet. “ Sure. We’re slow enough today that Sojiro won’t mind if I close for a little bit. He’ll be here in something like 20 minutes, so it won’t be an issue. You’re welcome to follow me upstairs while I collect Morgana. “

Akira didn’t wait for his response, heading upstairs to the under construction room. Now that he was staying in Tokyo permanently, Sojiro had splurged and informed the boy that the room was being torn apart to make a better living space. Not that he really minded how it had been before, but the café owner had been scandalized when he told the other this. 

So it was unlivable currently, but Morgana preferred staying up there instead of sitting on the counter all day.

He’d speak again only after locking up the café with the three of them outside, Morgana happily sleeping in his ever present bag. “ I hope you are ready for an experience. Mementos isn’t like the Jails. Just as vast but instead of sprawling outward, it’s downward. We can’t navigate it without Morgana, for reasons you’ll see when we get there. “

“ Unlike Jails, Palaces never move, and we have to be by their entrance to enter them. So we are taking the train to Shibuya. Until we get there, you are welcome to look on the PhanSite and see if there are any posts that make you uncomfortable. Someone that you think might benefit from a change of heart. “ Akira kept his instructions simple. Best not to overwhelm him when he would need the other functioning if they were going to take on a target.

“ Also, because I didn’t forget or mishear your comment, why would I mind? You are one of us, age aside. I’d be a poor excuse for a leader if I singled you out for something you can’t control. “

As Akira goes upstairs and locks up, Zenkichi takes a moment to think about everything that’s happened since he showed up. He’d been so sure about quitting his job, and now Akira’s hit him with something so far out of left field that he’s questioning himself all over again. Of course it’d be Akira, though - he’s already turned Zenkichi’s life upside-down once before!

...Maybe he’s jumping the gun, here. Maybe he’s thinking about this too idealistically. Zenkichi really does believe that the Phantom Thieves are good kids, and everything that they did with him in that trip across Japan was both good and necessary - but that doesn’t mean that they can’t make mistakes. He needs to look at what they’re doing - really look, carefully - and evaluate whether or not he thinks it’s right. Whether he wants to be a part of it.

...It feels like his heart is beating much too quickly in his chest. Honestly... shouldn’t he be able to handle all this by now?

As they’re locking up, and Akira explains a little about Mementos, Zenkichi listens carefully, trying to take it all in. And then, at Akira’s last comment.

“Heh - you really are something, kid.” He’s their leader for a reason, after all. Zenkichi can’t deny that it feels good to be included. “This site, it’s how you pick your targets, yeah? I’ll have a look. You can keep explaining, if you want.”