Tokyo is a city that never sleeps. When night falls, extravagant entertainment venues replace the laborious workplaces. The dazzling lights illuminate the sky a faint, dusky red, and various streetlights and landscape lights burn brightly all night long.
Flipping to its Mementos, similarly, never-ending trains shuttle through tunnels. The intricate railway network expands infinitely, appearing even more crimson, like blood.
Kurusu Akira and Togawa Sakiko stood in the waiting area, waiting for the train to arrive.
Togawa Sakiko looked down at the open pendant in her hand, then suddenly asked Kurusu Akira in a low voice,
"Can I take this with me?"
"This is a materialized cognition, one of the few things that can be taken out of the Mementos."
As he finished speaking, the train in the tunnel began to rumble, producing a clanging sound as it rolled over the tracks.
The white light, like steam, instantly filled both their visions.
Carriage after carriage, like a long dragon, swept along a fierce gale, accompanied by an enraged roar, rushing out of the dark abyss in an instant, emitting a strong, undeniable presence within the blood-colored halo.
Anger is an emotion that exhausts people more easily than sadness and hatred; it is an instantaneous burst, but just like a burning flame, without oxygen and fuel, it quickly extinguishes.
After burning out, what remains is temperatureless ash.
The train came to a complete stop at the platform.
Togawa Sakiko instinctively walked into the carriage, the pale light illuminating her body, making her feel cold as if she had no body temperature.
Completely cooled ash is very sticky; it will cling to the skin with just a light touch, and it's difficult to clean off by simply shaking your hand. It must be rinsed with water and then carefully wiped.
During this process, it will completely acquire a temperature that is not its own, and even if it is continuously blown by the cold night wind, it will try to cling to this warmth, unwilling to accept departure.
When leaving the Mementos, Kurusu Akira found that Togawa Sakiko was still by his side.
"It's already very late, aren't you going home quickly?"
"Father probably won't be home tonight, so I can wander the streets a bit longer."
"That's true. If he genuinely wants to repent, he should first go to the Police Department for questioning. After all, during the day, police officers must have called to question his qualifications as a father…" Kurusu Akira walked under the streetlights, then turned to look at Togawa Sakiko and the long shadow trailing behind her.
"Provided you were lenient with his Shadow."
Togawa Sakiko hung the pendant around her neck. "Many times, I found him terrifying… But it's strange, even when he transformed into a monster, I couldn't go all out… I remember thinking many times before that if I had the chance, I would definitely teach him a lesson. Now that I have the chance, it's as if I've forgotten everything."
Kurusu Akira looked up, gazing at the night sky where the city's hazy light floated.
"That's normal. No matter how terrible or repulsive he is, even if he becomes an inhuman monster and lunges at you, trying to kill you, at the last moment, you'll always subconsciously hesitate—after all, a father is a rare thing; there's only one, and if you break him, there's nowhere to replace him."
He keenly sensed the lingering sense of helplessness in Togawa Sakiko's heart, as if time had returned to the empty cafeteria at Gekkoukan thirteen years ago on Christmas Eve.
The lonely boy held up a donut sprinkled with colorful sprinkles, but in the circular hole, a girl's rose-red eyes suddenly appeared, curious and surprised, like a flame, instantly scalding his cold heart.
If it were the girl named Shiomi Kotone, what would she do now…
Kurusu Akira had never been the leader of any organization or team; he had long been accustomed to facing difficulties alone, solving them, and then quietly returning to his daily life.
Now, learning how to be a qualified "captain" or "leader," the only idol he could emulate was Shiomi Kotone from the "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad" at Gekkoukan Academy.
He took out his phone to check the time; it was almost 24:00.
"Where do you want to go? I'll go with you and take you home after you've had enough fun."
Togawa Sakiko paused, hesitating to speak.
Kurusu Akira quickly approached, giving her no chance to back out. "Caring for the safety of my members is my duty as the leader of the Phantom Thieves… I can't just let a 16-year-old high school girl wander the streets alone late at night."
Togawa Sakiko looked at her wrist, which was being held, her eyes seemingly shimmering with the colorful lights of a distant, bustling commercial street.
From the winter of her third year at Tsukinomori Junior High to the entire spring of her first year at Haneoka, she had never been able to figure out how to save her family from its seemingly omnipresent suffering.
Running away was simple; with just one phone call, one tearful plea, she could immediately revert to being the young lady of a prestigious family.
The cost, however, would be abandoning her biological father who had cared for her for fifteen years.
The conflict between emotion and reason, the innocent naiveté of adolescence versus the heartbreaking pain of forced growth, and finally, the entanglement caused by her self-esteem—they collectively wove a hell called "life," trapping her in that old apartment.
Togawa Sakiko waited to be saved.
She had reached out to the world outside her window more than once, but only the flowing wind, the moonlight, and the mocking chirps of sparrows responded to her.
Just as she was about to completely despair of this life,
A young Phantom Thief in a black trench coat swung down from the sky.
He kicked open the tightly shut window, grabbed Togawa Sakiko's hand, and, as the cloud-like neon lights rose among the distant tall buildings, led her into a night beyond the ordinary.
----------------
Late at night.
Office workers leaving work walked in the shadows of neon-lit buildings. The bustling streets presented two scenes: men and women lingering in front of dazzling shops and luxurious, high-end restaurants, and on the other side, urban blue-collar workers on night shifts, hunched over, walking through the darkness towards their workplaces, or call girls holding signs with ambiguous phrases, standing by streetlights, waiting for customers.
Everyone could see the most glamorous side of Tokyo, but they tried their best to ignore the surging dark currents within the light, as if that would make them forget the abyss's existence.
In fact, the abyss is everywhere, pressing in, ready at any moment to incite people's extremely magnified desires to twist into depravity. Because everyone pretends not to see their own desires. This is undoubtedly exposing a vulnerable back to the gaze of that invisible malice.
The Phantom Thief and his partner walked among the crowd, monitoring dangers beyond reality for them.
As they passed a dimly lit alley in Shibuya Central Avenue, it seemed like an illusion, but Togawa Sakiko saw a azure blue door open in the void.
A silver-haired girl held a thick, old book, leaning against the door and gazing up at the night sky, appearing to be of junior high school age. The girl was as lovely as the most exquisite doll in a display cabinet, yet possessed a princess-like splendor, elegance, and serenity. Perhaps every child had once gazed at her through a glass window, with the purest longing in their eyes, wanting to take her home.
But the princess's heart was constantly thinking of her own hero; she suddenly looked over, then smiled sweetly at the hero and his companion, as if encouraging, or perhaps relieved, and more so, with an almost doting concern, and some unspoken envy and emotion.
Togawa Sakiko subconsciously rubbed her eyes; the girl in the deep alley was gone, and of course, there was no glowing blue door.
Kurusu Akira led her forward, "Are you very sleepy?"
"Not yet," Togawa Sakiko said in a low voice.
"For your first battle as a Persona user, you did perfectly."
"...Thank you."
"Hmm, that answer is a bit perfunctory… Has verbal encouragement completely lost its effectiveness? Young people these days are so troublesome."
"You're only one year older than me."
"It only seems like a 'one-year' age difference, but it might be a generational gap of ten years of experience."
Kurusu Akira held Togawa Sakiko's wrist, leading her into the bustling realm opposite Tokyo's daytime.
He asked his partner in a relaxed tone, "Is there anything you want as a gift?"
Togawa Sakiko stared at the tip of her shoe, where specks of dust clung, creating a slight incongruity with her dazzlingly white and seemingly spotless lacy socks. "I don't seem to have the right to ask you for a gift."
"Then be a little more willful. A wish or a goal, even if I can't necessarily help you achieve it, at least by listening, I can know what kind of desires you truly have."
"Desire?"
"Yes, as long as you're human, you'll have desires. Knowing what your desires are allows you to more firmly reject external interference."
"You're clearly a Phantom Thief who steals hearts…"
"Of course there are desires," Kurusu Akira reiterated his point. "Having desires is what makes us human, and only humans can be called 'heroes.'"
"What exactly is a hero?" Sixteen-year-old Togawa Sakiko recalled the only Ultraman tokusatsu film she had ever watched, remembering only how Ultraman Nexus, even after the lights went out, would stand up and continue to fight to protect the city, even if it meant burning his own life.
What exactly is a hero?
Someone once asked Kurusu Akira a similar question.
Not long after asking that question, she walked alone towards the Grim Reaper and never returned.
Kurusu Akira instantly thought of many scenes, almost all of them her laughter, anger, and various wild jokes in daily life, or some unrealistic adolescent fantasies, and even her tearful dream talk about her parents late at night.
It turns out that even a savior who wielded the power of the Universe and controlled the Persona named Messiah would fret over not having enough pocket money to buy a desired game cartridge, or be filled with despair after failing an exam. She had her own emotions and troubles, and every step of her growth was just as heartbreaking as anyone else's.
Thinking of this, the Phantom Thief couldn't help but reveal a somewhat nostalgic smile.
"Heroes aren't that great, nor are they flawless…"
"Not being defeated by life is already being a 'hero.'"
"Then…"
"So, even without me, you are already an amazing 'hero,' Togawa. Please give more recognition to your own strength and courage."
Unconsciously, the Phantom Thief somewhat relaxed his grip on Togawa Sakiko's wrist. Just as he was thinking of re-grasping it, the girl had already actively slipped her small hand into his palm.
Togawa Sakiko's voice trembled slightly, "Can it be anything, no matter how willful?"
Kurusu Akira smiled, encouraging her, "Honestly facing your desires is also a part of growth."
"Amamiya… what is your desire right now?"
"Me? I want to earn a lot of money… then drive luxury cars and live in luxury homes. In the luxury homes, there will be a group of cute personal maids who belong only to me, and I won't have to work every day; I'll just lie in bed, and the money in my account will naturally grow… That's what I think."
"A little…"
"Vulgar?" Kurusu Akira smiled even more broadly. "Almost all boys after puberty have had such fantasies. If you ask me what I thought when I first gained this power? It was probably just wanting a game console of my own."
"Not vulgar." Togawa Sakiko explained very anxiously.
Her eyes seemed to sparkle, and her gaze was fervent, clinging tightly to Kurusu Akira's face. "I think… you're amazing."
"Alright, our 'amazing' Togawa, can you please tell me, who is also 'amazing': Is there anything you currently desire to achieve?"
Togawa Sakiko held his hand tightly, her other hand gripping the pendant at her chest. Through the hard, cold metal, she could almost feel her constantly accelerating heartbeat. "I want to go with you…"
She felt her heart pounding like a drum.
The young lady from a prestigious family, who had only ever attended an all-girls school, didn't understand what kind of emotion this scorching heat was, surging through her entire body as if setting her blood on fire.
She just gazed at the Phantom Thief's back with an admiring and longing look. That was no longer a phantom lingering in dreams, but a shield in reality that she could rely on and give her complete trust to.
In the pendant in her hand, a family photo of the three of them at Disneyland leaped from her memory, filling all her thoughts.
"I want to go to Disneyland with you."
Togawa Sakiko finished the entire sentence with difficulty.
"Hm?" Kurusu Akira was amused by her bewildered expression. "Of course. How about we set the time for after the band performance this weekend?"
"…Okay." Togawa Sakiko felt as if all the rapid warmth flowing through her body had rushed up, her cheeks and ears burning hot. The hand intertwined with Kurusu Akira's seemed to have an electric current passing through it, a tingling, pricking sensation of thrill, her heartbeat almost inaudible; it was a thrill that made her entire soul tremble.
The clamor of the crowd seemed to recede in an instant.
Only Kurusu Akira's figure was reflected in the girl's amber eyes.
The dark and profound night sky was illuminated by tens of thousands of billboards and electric lights, gradually becoming coated with a colorful, pearlescent glow as time passed.
...
By the time the two left Central Street, it was already two in the morning.
Kurusu Akira had a plastic bag full of sweets hanging on his arm. He slowly walked along the path beside the Shibuya River, carrying a physically and mentally exhausted, sleepy Togawa Sakiko on his back.
Looking out at the dark river, one could see the distant city center still brightly lit and prosperous. Reflected on the river surface, the entire city seemed to flow with the water, swaying with vulgar noise, the crowd cheering, as if immersed in a bizarre, long dream.
The allure of a sleepless night is the hope that the sun will not rise the next day. This idea is to prolong the night, to extend time as a pure illusion, just as in sleep and dreams, yet without losing consciousness.
Countless people drown in the dreams of reality.
Walking all the way from Shibuya to the North District was, of course, unrealistic.
Kurusu Akira planned to take Togawa Sakiko into the Mementos at a more remote location and then begin a "mental leap."
Feeling the girl's increasing drowsiness on his back, he casually searched for meaningless topics, trying to keep her slightly awake.
"How does Shibuya feel late at night?"
"Very lively."
"That's it?"
"Hmm…"
Togawa Sakiko's eyes were almost completely closed. She rested her chin on Kurusu Akira's shoulder, breathing evenly.
A warm breath caressed Kurusu Akira's nape, a warm sensation, slightly ticklish, yet reassuring.
The half-asleep, half-awake girl intimately rubbed her feverish cheek against his earlobe, hugging his shoulders defenselessly and with complete trust.
At this distance, with just a slight turn of his head, he could admire the girl's adorable sleeping face.
He could clearly see her lightly trembling eyelashes, delicate nose bridge, and pearl-colored lips slightly parting with soft, dream-like breaths. Kurusu Akira thought of many things: a seminary nun praying by the river on Cambridge or chanting hymns in a church, a delicate puppet dancing on strings under stage lights, an angel kissing a boy with moonlight wings late at night...
All sorts of religiously sacred imaginations abruptly ceased with the sound of a car horn honking in the distance.
A taxi was parked on the road not far away.
The driver was a well-dressed, refined, and steady man wearing glasses and gloves.
Seeing the boy walking towards him, he waved, "Last ride for me, where are you headed?"
"Akabane Town in the North Ward."
"No problem, I live in the North Ward, I can give you a ride along the way."
Kurusu Akira opened the car door, first placing Togawa Sakiko, whom he was carrying on his back, into the back seat, then getting in himself.
"It's almost three o'clock, why are you still working, mister?"
"It's better not to casually pry into the adult world," the driver said with a chuckle. "Instead of worrying about a stranger you've never met, I think you should take better care of your girlfriend."
"We're not dating yet."
"Even if you're not officially dating, you shouldn't let a girl's first night feel 'terrible,' right? Although it might be a bit painful, there's a sweet, honey-like happiness and satisfaction. First love is like that; a little bit of passion and some cheesy, cheap sweet talk can turn into an invaluable memory that lasts a lifetime."
"I think it's already pretty bad coming from you, mister, with all that greasy, philosophical talk."
"Haha, does it feel out of place?"
"Extremely out of place."
"Then carry on with that 'sense of incongruity'," the driver chuckled as he stepped on the accelerator, uttering the lines in a chuunibyou-like manner.
When the taxi pulled up to an old apartment building, Kurusu Akira got out, still carrying Togawa Sakiko on his back.
He was sly enough not to pay the fare immediately, but instead asked the driver to wait a little longer after the meter ran.
If he waited long enough, the driver might lower his bottom line, charge him a little less, and quickly get it over with.
After all, it was very late, and no one would want to waste valuable sleep time on a few coins.
Kurusu Akira used the key Togawa Sakiko had given him in advance to open the apartment's security door, then walked into the neatly tidied house, finding her room in the hallway—the difference between a daughter's and a father's room was almost immediately apparent.
He took off Togawa Sakiko's shoes and socks for her, then placed her on the bed, pulling the covers over her. Only then did he place the door key by her pillow and quietly leave.
As the door closed, the girl, who had seemed to be sound asleep, almost immediately opened her eyes. She covered her cheeks, which were already flushed crimson, and cried into her pillow, whimpering. The intense surge of shyness and embarrassment within her made her wish she could faint on the spot... but she couldn't.
Her mind was filled with every moment Kurusu Akira touched her feet and calves; the tension and strangeness of her shoes and socks being removed one by one almost made Togawa Sakiko cry from shyness.
"I can't sleep at all..." She tossed and turned on the bed, finally taking out her phone and somewhat dazedly opening her chat app. When she saw the selfies and group photos Kurusu Akira had sent in various channels, she couldn't help but save them.
...
"So fast?"
The driver, whose surname was Maruki, rested his hand on the car door, smiling as he watched Kurusu Akira emerge from the apartment building.
"I just took her home, none of those messy things you're thinking of."
Maruki shook his head, "This was the best opportunity. Her family shouldn't be home, right? Not being home at this hour means they probably won't be back all night."
"That means you had a whole night to make an empty-hearted little girl firmly remember your body temperature, your scent, all your reliable and trustworthy qualities, to be completely dependent on and trusted by her, to erect an insurmountable monument in her heart, with your name and story carved on it. So that for the rest of her life, she could clearly recall the experience of this night, remembering that a boy once made her fall deeply in love."
Kurusu Akira's mouth twitched, "Are you sure I wouldn't be accused of 'rape' the next day and then be handcuffed by several armed police officers and escorted to a juvenile detention center?"
Maruki waved his hand, "You know the answer yourself. Stop the car, go upstairs, with such a big commotion, she must have woken up long ago. If she was willing to pretend to be asleep and let you carry her to bed, she must have had expectations for what would follow... But you missed it, so wait for the next opportunity."
"Do you have superpowers?" The Phantom Thief finally couldn't help but retort.
"My major in university was psychology, and my research topic back then was 'love.' Maybe I haven't completely forgotten what I learned in class," the taxi driver said with a gentle smile. "Oh, we've had such a good chat, I won't charge you for the ride. Get in, I'll take you home."
Kurusu Akira obligingly got into the back seat. The air still seemed to linger with the jasmine scent of Togawa Sakiko's shampoo... Upon closer inspection, it actually came from his school uniform.
"Won't it be too much trouble for Maruki-san?"
"Trouble? No trouble at all." Saying that, Maruki handed Kurusu Akira a business card. "You can contact me if you need anything in the future; since we've met, I'll give you a discount."
Kurusu Akira took the business card, which had the name "Maruki Takuto" written on it.
Maruki Takuto turned the car key, "With your looks, you'll have many opportunities to meet pretty girls in the future. Not taking things all the way this time... probably isn't a bad thing."
"Wouldn't getting involved in multiple relationships simultaneously lead to a bad outcome?" Kurusu Akira thought of the classic work titled "School Days."
"For ordinary people, of course, it's a tragic drama where everyone suffers, but you, my student, don't seem like an ordinary high school boy."
"Then what do I seem like?"
Maruki Takuto snapped his fingers, "Heian era general, Minamoto no Yoshitsune."
Kurusu Akira, hearing this famous historical figure, immediately sat up straight, "Please elaborate."
"I see you have the potential for Hasso Tobi... or, ten ships? Twelve ships? Countless, anyway, you don't seem like a man who can be devoted to just one."
"I mean, how do I deal with the consequences of multiple conflicting relationships?" Kurusu Akira was genuinely asking for advice.
Maruki Takuto adjusted the rearview mirror so that Kurusu Akira could see himself in it, "With a face like yours, what kind of romantic tricks do you need? As long as you don't deliberately seek death, and just coax them a little, even if the girls guess the truth, they won't actively expose it."
The car got onto the highway, and Maruki stopped talking to Kurusu Akira.
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.
Kurusu Akira also leaned against the seat back and dozed off for a while.
No one knows how long the night is. Some people feel like they've endured a century, while others just close their eyes and wake up to sunlight streaming across the entire bed.
Perhaps out of empathy, Kurusu Akira dreamt of many memories that weren't his own during the excessively long night.
The prison-like Velvet Room, an old man with a sinister smile, and twin girl wardens with contemptuous expressions.
The human body has memory; it will recall familiar sensations from the past in a certain moment...
It was the moment the car door opened, and he involuntarily stepped out.
His muddled consciousness gradually regained clarity as his legs lifted and fell.
The sound of the taxi driving away receded like a tide, along with blurred memories.
Kurusu Akira stood in the middle of the cement road, suddenly turning around to find himself alone, drifting in the night wind of Yongen-Jaya.
Alone again.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To Read Advanced Chapters, and support this novel, please join me on [email protected]/geats2000
(Note: Replace "@-" with "a" on your web browser.)