My Key Item (Joker X Futaba) Persona 5 Royal

Chapter Twenty - Debts

"HE DID WHAAAAT!?"

"How can this gruesome display be his doing??"

"There's no way Senpai could do this!!"

I slam my hand on the wall, making everyone go quiet, even Ryuji. "It doesn't matter whether or not he did this, or who's fault it was. What matters right now is finding out where he is! Akira is fast, he could be anywhere in Tokyo, especially if he used the Metaverse to get there." Ryuji nods, grabbing my hand.

"I got an idea. We all split up and travel to all the different areas of Tokyo we know he likes to visit. If anyone sees him, text the group chat and do NOT engage. Just try to keep tabs on him until we can get to him." I look over at Ryuji, impressed.

*******

"Not a bad plan, Skull." Sojiro nods in agreement, pulling out an old school paper map, and we set up our designated areas, mine being the Meiji Shrine, Narajuku, and Shinjuku.

We all set off at once, and as I expected, the Shrine and Narajuku were busts. I head to Shinjuku, the Red Light district bustling with midnight activity. I look around, getting only lecherous looks from the men around me.

I bump into someone and fall to the ground. Before me is a young lady with long blonde hair and a beautiful blue and pink dress. "Sorrysorrysorrysorry!!" I scramble to my feet. "I'm looking for someone really important to me. He's about this tall, with messy black hair and glasses?" She tilts her head.

"Do you mean your boyfriend, Akira Kurusu? I know him well. My name is Chihaya. I'm a fortune teller." I blink in surprise.

"I've heard of you! Akira helped you uncover the scam of your Holy Stones! But how do you know who I am?" She smiles, and leads me back to her booth.

"He showed me your photo and asked for your fortune. He and I have become rather good friends." I sit down across from her.

"Can... Can you show me his? His fortune?" She nods. And shuffles her deck of cards, dealing and flipping cards. Chihaya's eyes widen, and she puts the cards back in the deck hurriedly, and reshuffles, dealing them again, the flips remaining exactly the same.

"NO!!" She throws her arm across the cards, scattering them to the wind. "No... It can't be right... It just can't..."

"What? What is it, what did you see?!" She looks at me, genuine fear in her eyes.

"If fate is left unchanged, you will die... again? And he will lose himself forever. I see great strife in your future, but... Please pick up the cards again. I must see something." I help her gather the cards, and she shuffles once more, dealing and flipping her cards. "I see... The only one who can save him is... one who rules over power... Even I'm not entirely sure what that means." I smile thinly at her.

"Thank you for all your help. Please, contact this number if you see him. It's imperitive that we find him now... At whatever you do, don't talk to him." She nods and I run off down the street, arriving at a bar named Crossroads. I run inside, looking around. Akira had told me about this place.

"Helloooo, honey. How can I help you? Running from authorities or a boyfriend?" I smile. This must be Lala, the owner of the bar." I run up to the bar.

"I'm sorry, but have you seen one of your patrons, Akira Kurusu come through here? I can't find him anywhere." She shakes her head.

"Sorry doll, but I haven't seen him since last week when he covered my shift. Hmmmm... Long orange hair, glasses, and a shy, yet perky demeanor. You must be Futaba. So tell me, what went wrong?" I shake my head.

"I'm sorry, I can't stay if you haven't seen him. I need to catch the train home." Lala laughs softly.

"Oh, honey, the trains aren't running right now. It's past 10PM. You're stuck in our district until morning, and this is the safest place for you. So, what happened that sent him running who knows where, with you and likely all of the Phantom Thieves running around Tokyo?" I sigh. If i'm stuck here, I might as well talk about it to someone I can trust.

"Well... He's been having this... thing happen to him... If he sees me getting hurt, he goes... kinda berserk... He... he beat a couple of girls who were hurting me to near death." Lala holds her hands to her mouth, handing me a drink.

"Drink up, honey. You sound parched! So why are you out here?" I sigh, taking a swig from the glass.

"Well, he's scared of what's happening to him of course. When I saw him last, he was covered in blood, running to who knows where... And now... I... YAAAAWN... Have to... Find..."

*******

I frown as the girl slumps onto the counter. He is going to love her, and I hate having to do this. I pretend to try to wake her up, knowing full well that she won't be able to for quite some time. I set a pillow under her head, and pull out my phone.

"What do you want, Snail?"

I sneer into the phone, my feminine inflection dropping. "I've got one for you. She's young, cute, and you're going to love this part, she's the girlfriend of Akira Kurusu." I hear the voice on the other end gasp.

"You mean that little shit that lost me the high school bitch?!" I grimace, trying to put on a brave face..

"Damn right. And she's all yours, but after this, I'm done. It breaks my heart to do this to the kid, but consider her my final payment, paid off on delivery. Deal?"

The man at the other end laughs. "I'll be there in 30." Good. The drug would only last about that long, which means it's time to pull out the other half of my plan. I throw up my female voice again, and call Ichiko.

"Where are you, honey? I've been missing you over here." I hear Ichiko's voice, surprisingly sober.

"Sorry, I'm about to get my fortune read. Akira swears by this girl. I'll be over in about 25 minutes. The line is a little long." I hang up, and swear. This would be tight. I need Ichiko to be here for this to work. Otherwise, this is just another girl whose life I'll be ruining.

*******

When I wake up, I'm on the floor, three men standing around me. My mouth is being covered by something sticky.

"Well, Escargot, you did a good job with this one. Consider your debts paid." The man crouches down, his white suit pristine. He has long brown hair, and eyes of the same color, a pair of blue flowers adorning his chest, his lapels blood red. He stands up and the other two men pull me up by the arms, dragging me toward the door. I try to kick them, but I'm not strong enough to do any significant damage.

When we get outside, I see a van parked right in front of the entrance, prepared to take me away. Tears start to form in the corners of my eyes, when I hear a thump, one of the men dragging me falling to the ground, then another thump, both men going down, holding their crotches. A hand rips the tape off my mouth and shoves me toward the street.

"GET OUT OF HERE, RUN!!!" I don't even see who saved me. I start running, trying to pull out my phone and text someone, and hear a gun go off. I scream, my phone falling from my hands, as the world shimmers around me.

I can't hear any more yells. I look around, the world shaded red, something nearby glowing pink. I walk up to it, and gasp. In front of me is something that can only be described as Hell.