Persona 5: Beneath The Mask

CHAPTER XIII

Chapter 13: To Mementos
(Y/N) - Your Name
(Y/NN) - Your Nickname
(L/N) - Last Name
Default Name: Arisaka Souta,
Nickname: Sou

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WITHOUT ANYONE noticing, or perhaps even caring, about the strange object poking out from the top of your bag, you made your way toward the nearest metro station. Once you boarded the train, you found a seat a little farther from the other passengers and discreetly shifted the straps of your bag to better conceal the shinai inside.

As you settled in, your fingers brushed the pocket of your school uniform, feeling the reassuring shape of the painkillers and paracetamol you had stolen from the clinic earlier that afternoon. It wasn't much, but it would have to do.

You didn't exactly know how the rules of the Metaverse worked yet. The first two times you'd entered that strange place, you were in Shibuya, so your logic told you that maybe going back there was the key-some sort of catalyst to entering that other world.

So, you decided to head there again. Using some of your hard-earned money from your part-time job at Corner 24, you took the train to Shibuya Station. Once there, you began scouting for a quiet, hidden spot-somewhere you could slip away unnoticed and do what you needed to do.

Shibuya, though, was as busy as ever. Finding a secluded spot without drawing attention proved harder than you expected. You spent the next ten to twenty minutes wandering around the station, trying to avoid security, who could easily mistake your behavior for something suspicious.

Frustrated, you finally gave up on the search and approached a lonely vending machine in the corner of the station. You bought your preferred drink and leaned against the wall, taking a moment to enjoy it under the vibrant glow of a Risette banner above you. The bright, lively colors of the ad almost seemed to mock the otherwise gray, bustling atmosphere of the station.

You found a nearby bench and sat down, letting your tired legs rest after wandering the station since you arrived. Your eyes drifted toward a clock hanging nearby, and you grumbled under your breath when you saw how little time you had left before nightfall. You'd need to head home soon, but not before doing what you came here for. There wasn't time to be picky about the spot anymore. You'd have to make do with wherever you could find and hope you wouldn't regret it.

With a sigh, you pulled your phone from your pocket. Staring at the wallpaper for a while, of a photo of you and your mother, during a basketball game-a precious memory for you. She had been one of the few, if not the only, supporters of your love for the sport in your family.

I miss her... You thought for a moment.

Your mother was running an interior design business abroad. You'd even spent time with her on a few occasions when you were younger, but balancing both a business and a child proved too difficult for your mother. So, you were sent back to Japan to be raised by your grandmother, Shinomura instead.

Your father, too, worked alongside your mother, leaving you with few opportunities to speak with him. On the rare occasions he showed up at school, it felt like an obligation more than anything. Maybe he believed that providing for you financially and materially was all it took to be a father.

You inhaled deeply, trying to push those thoughts aside. Now isn't the time to dwell on your complicated family situation, you reminded yourself.

With a final surge of resolve in your heart, you finally pressed the strange icon on your phone's home screen, and the world around you bled away in an instant.

The station around you transformed in just the blink of an eye, its colors warping and twisting as the familiar surroundings melted into something far darker. The air thickened with a nauseating stench, something vile and rotten, like the very essence of decay. Darkness pulsed around you like a living thing, and the faint sound of dripping water can be heard somewhere in the distance.