First visit to the Velvet Room

'You know, if you told me yesterday that I'd wake up chained in a prison cell, with two loli wardens right at the door, and a creepy old man staring in my direction, I'd have laughed in your face. But now...'

"Trickster, welcome to my Velvet Room."

'They say that reality is stranger than fiction, but I didn't expect I'd experience it.'

"So you've come to, Inmate." spoke the little girl to his right.

"The you in reality is currently fast asleep. You are only experiencing this as a dream." said the one to his left.

"You're in the presence of our master. Stand up straight!" spoke the one on the right, before both of the girls turned to face the man at the desk.

"Welcome. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only those bound by a contract may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well." the old man said, tapping his fingers on the desk.

"I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well."

"I see."

"You're taking this very well, Inmate." said the girl on the left.

"Still, this is a surprise... The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a "prisoner" of fate. In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you."

"Well, that's not ominous at all..." muttered Shin.

"Watch your words, Inmate!" spoke the girl on the right, snapping her electric shock baton on the bars of the cell, causing sparks to fly.

"However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be "rehabilitated". Rehabilitated toward freedom... That is your only means to avoid ruin... Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"

"I'd rather avoid ruin." said Shin.

"Hmm... Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation." spoke Igor.

The little girls stepped in and turned to face Shin again.

"Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here."

"Hmph, try and struggle as hard as you like." said Caroline.

"The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators. That is, if you remain obedient." said Justine.

"I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion. For now, it seems the night is waning... It is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually..." as he finished his sentence, an alarm rang throughout the room.

"Time's up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep." said Caroline.

-INTERMISSION-

'I wonder how can I be in the Velvet Room in my dream if Igor said that the room is between dream and reality...'

"Looks like you're up." said Sojiro while walking up the stairs. He was also wearing a white trilby with a red-white-and-blue striped hatband for some reason.

"Well then, let's go introduce ourselves properly to the staff about your transfer. The school you're attending is in the Aoyama district. It'll cost you a bit to ride the train there, and the route transfers are a pain. I'll drive you there, but just for today. Come on." he said, gesturing with his hand.

While he was going down the stairs he muttered.

"Sheesh... Men aren't usually allowed in my passenger seat."

-INTERMISSION-

In the principal's office, Sojiro signed some documents regarding Shin's transfer.

"To reiterated, just so we're clear, you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems. Honestly, I hesitated on accepting someone like you, but there were some circumstances on our side..." the principal, Kobayakawa, said.

"You might have done a variety of things in hiding in your hometown, but you will behave yourself here. If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind."

He stopped to turn slightly to the left and point at the woman standing there.

"This is the teacher in charge of your class."

"I'm Sadayo Kawakami. Here's your student ID." she said, handing said object to Shin.

"Be sure to read the school rules. Any violation will send you straight to the guidance office. And, if by chance you cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all." she paused to look at the principal.

"That IS your promise, yes, Principal Kobayakawa?" she questioned.

"He is responsible for all his actions." the fat man hummed in response.

"But really though, why me...? There should've been better candidates.."

"It was a sudden transfer, and your class was the only one that had an opening." replied the principal.

"If you're done explaining things, mind if we get going? I got a store to get back to." said Sojiro.

"Mr Sakura, please keep a close eye on him. Don't let him cause any trouble outside..."

"Well, I'll be sure to have a serious talk about the situation he's in."

Sojiro and Shin were about to turn around to leave, but Kawakami stopped them.

"Come to the faculty office when you arrive at school tomorrow. I'll show you to your classroom."

"Alright." replied Shin.

On the way out of school, Sojiro and Shin were talking.

"They're treating you like some kind of nuisance. I guess that's what it means to have a criminal record. Turns out your past follows you wherever you go."

Sojiro sighed.

"By the way... if you get expelled now, I won't hesitate to kick you out. Got it?"

"Yeah, I'll be careful." said Shin.

Meanwhile, still in the school.

Kawakami encountered a walking talking human-shaped piece of shit... Ahem!... a tall man with long black unkempt hair and thick eyebrows, who was wearing sporty clothes.

"What a troublesome situation." said the man.

"I can't believe they pushed someone with a record on me. A male teacher would be better suited for this..." Kawakami sighed.

"Why in the world was someone like that admitted here?" wondered the male.

"Who knows? It was the principal's decision. I was told that it's for the school's reputation."

"I would've thought that my volleyball team has contributed more than enough to cover that."

"That's certainly true."

"Be careful, OK? Then again, if anything were to happen, I'd kick out a student like that right away."

"I keep wishing that he'd just end up not coming to school. Still, that isn't something I should say as a teacher..."

"Well, I should be returning to practice."

"Oh, right. The tournament's coming up, isn't it?"

The man made a lame air pump gesture with his fist and grinned like an idiot.

"Hehe, having such high expectations placed on you by others is quite a problem in itself. We'll have to work hard to make up for the track team too."

"Yes... that's true."

The man left to go on his way.

"Why'd it have to be my class...?" muttered the female teacher.

-INTERMISSION-

"Traffic's not moving at all... You're taking the train starting tomorrow."

Sojiro tapped his index finger on the steering wheel impatiently.

"So, how was it? The school, I mean. Think you can manage it?"

"Eh, we'll see."

"..."

"Now listen up. Don't even think of doing something stupid. Still, you were expelled once already. To think you'd re-enrol at a different one."

Sojiro took a moment to close his eyes.

"If it was like that at school, people might say stuff about me too in the future... What a troublesome kid I've taken in..."

"So, why did you even take me in?" asked Shin.

"I was asked to do it, and I just... happened to agree to it. I've already been paid for it too."

Sojiro was interrupted by a news report on the radio. The newscaster mentioned a derailed subway at Shibuya Station.

"So that's why it's so crowded. There's been a lot of those lately." said Sojiro.

-INTERMISSION-

Now back at LeBlanc, Shin was alone in his room. Sojiro left in a hurry once he got a call from someone.

'Now, what should I do? I could go to sleep like I'm supposed too... Or, I could do something else, since tomorrow I wouldn't get to school early anyway.'

'I don't have money on me, nor can I get out of the cafe. Hmm...'

'Perhaps planning for the future?'

'Soon, Kamoshida's palace will begin, then the Phantom Thieves of Hearts will be formed. Madarame's palace is after that, then the maid thingy. Then Makoto will try to spy on us, and then Kaneshiro's palace. Futaba will contact us, and then we'll go to the beach after doing her palace. Then the trip to Hawaii... Wait, that's it!'

'Since I'll go to the beach and to Hawaii, I gotta make sure I look good.'

'Stage 1 of Operation: 6 pack: Begin!'

'First I gotta get some information about how to train myself, at the same time testing my ability to obtain knowledge easily.'

'Let's see... How about Sho Minazuki's training regimen?'

Suddenly, a sharp pain assaulted Shin's brain. It was like hundreds of tiny needles poked around inside his head.

Rolling on the floor in an attempt to bear with the pain better, Shin screamed his lungs out.

"Arghhh!!! God-fucking-dammit!!!"

Several colourful screams later, Shin was lying on the floor, sweating profoundly and breathing hard. It was a very exhausting experience. But he did gain a lot.

'Sho's sword training! This thing is so broken!'

Unfortunately, he was so tired he couldn't lift himself off the floor.

'Really wish I had Morgana to drag my body to bed.'

-INTERMISSION-

Waking up earlier than usual, Shin got started on training his body. Sadly, the closest thing to a sword that he had was a broom, and even then, it's only one, when Sho's style uses two swords.

Wiping the sweat that had built up on his forehead, he changed into his school uniform and went down the stairs. With his bag slung on his shoulder, Shin was about to exit the cafe when Sojiro called out to him from the kitchen.

"You're up pretty early, huh? Here, I made you some curry for breakfast. Just make sure you finish it before the customers start coming in."

Shin nodded and started digging in.

'Such complex flavours, and this bold spiciness contrasts with the sweetness amazingly...'

Offering common courtesy, the teen hurried on his way to school. Thankfully, he had memorized the way to school.

Unfortunately, rain began pouring heavily when he got off the subway in Shibuya. Shin managed to get some cover under a building on the way since he didn't have an umbrella.

'At this point in the story I should meet Ryuji and get into Kamoshida's palace.' he said, opening the mysterious app that had appeared in his phone once again.

He almost didn't notice the platinum blonde-haired beauty that stopped next to him. She had her hair styled in pigtails and she wore Shujin's uniform for girls.

'This must be Ann... She looks prettier in person.'

Once she noticed Shin was looking at her, she turned to face him and said.

"Hello there."

Shin had a wry smile on his face, although he was having an internal war.

"H-Hello."

Eventually, a grey car stops in front of the two, and the sporty teacher from before is at the wheel. The girl reluctantly goes in the car with the man. He asked Shin if he wanted to get in too, but the teen refused.

After he drove off, a teenager with spiky dyed blond hair came rushing after the car. He stopped near Shin.

"Dammit! Screw that pervy teacher!" he cursed.

"Pervy teacher..." muttered Shin, somewhat amused.

"What do you want?" said the blonde.

He turned around to look at Shin.

"You planning to rat me out to Kamoshida?" he questioned.

"Kamoshida?" even though he knew who Kamoshida was, he had to act since he hadn't introduced himself before.

"Huh? In that car just now. It was Kamoshida. He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is? The king of a castle? Don't you agree?"

"How should I know?"

"..."

"Wait... Are you for real? You go to Shujin, right?"

"Yeah, I just got transferred here."

"So that's why you don't know Kamoshida. We better hurry up or we'll be late. This rain ain't that bad."

All of a sudden, a strong headache assaulted both Shin and Ryuji.

"Uuugh, my head hurts... Dammit... I wanna go home..."

The two had travelled between buildings to reach the school faster.

Ryuji, who was ahead, shouted.

"What the?"

Instead of seeing Shujin Academy, there was a giant stone castle with a drawbridge.

"We didn't... come the wrong way... did we? No, this should be right... So why?"

"I suppose the only way to find out would be to... go and ask." said Shin.

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This chapter's additional info is on... Arcana!

The Arcana are the different classes of Tarot Cards. They are a major thematic element of the Persona series. The Arcana are divided into the Major Arcana (22 unique cards) and the Minor Arcana (four suits of 14 cards each, not unlike those of traditional playing cards).

Starting from Persona 3, each Arcana has a related Social Link or Confidant, usually with a "story arc" that represents the Arcana it's related to, with the exception of the World Arcana, which is rarely seen in game-play and does not have a related confidant, as it is to symbolize the end of the protagonist's journey. Each Persona user also has an Arcana they are related to as well, usually defined by their first Persona.

The Major Arcana are the Fool(0), the Magician(1), the Priestess(2), the Empress(3), the Emperor(4), the Hierophant(5), the Lovers(6), the Chariot(7), the Justice(8), the Hermit(9), the Fortune(10), the Strength(11), the Hanged Man(12), the Death(13), the Temperance(14), the Devil(15), the Tower(16), the Star(17), the Moon(18), the Sun(19), the Judgement(20), and the World(21).

(and you know I was serious cuz I said the World not ZA WARUDO!!!)