Persona 5: Metanoia

Chapter 1

A pleasant female voice filled the train car.

"Thank you for using this line today. We will soon arrive at Shibuya. This is the last stop. Please transfer at this station if you would like to use our subway lines."

Akira made his way through the crowd of people, remembering the events that transpired prior to his arrival...

Akira was walking through the city when he saw it...

A man, clearly drunk, was trying to force a woman into his car.

"Please, help me!"

Akira attempted to stop the man's advances. "Stop it...!"

The man stepped backwards. He tripped and fell onto his head.

"You son of a bitch, I'll sue..!"

Next thing he knew, Akira was taken away in cuffs...

Akira shook his head. He tried to forget about the incident and focused on his goal.

As it was his first offense, Akira was not sent to jail and only received one year's probation. His temporary guardian for the year would be a man named Sojiro Sakura.

As Akira rode the train to his guardian's hometown, Yongen-Jaya, he overheard two girls gossiping about the current situation.

"Woah, really? They went insane or something?"

"That's what it says... of course it's true!"

"You mean someone goes crazy all of a sudden? You're kidding me, right..? You're really obsessed with this kind of stuff..."

Akira stopped listening. He exited the train and walked along the bustling streets of the city.

Suddenly, he noticed something odd: a strange app on his phone that he hadn't downloaded. Its logo was a strange red and black eye.

Upon opening the app, time seemed to stop and the people around him froze. Akira saw an unfamiliar figure, covered in flames...

But time began again and the figure disappeared before he can get a good look at it. Akira shrugged and deleted the app.

-

Akira eventually arrived in the back streets of Yongen-Jaya, where his guardian's home was nestled. He rang the doorbell, but no one answered...

Perhaps he wasn't home. Akira noticed a delivery guy behind him. He was mumbling to himself - something about a café.

Of course... Akira remembered that Sakura was running a nearby café called LeBlanc.

-

The curly-haired boy pushed open the café door, hearing a pleasant *ding* as he entered.

The barista looked up. He was a man who looked to be in his 30's or 40's, with black hair, an off-white hat, and a goatee. His glasses glinted in the light as he turned his gaze to Akira.

"Hello. What can I get you?" He said.

Akira stared at him. "Are you Sakura?" 

The barista nodded, a twinge of annoyance in his expression. "Yup. Sojiro Sakura. So you're the kid, then, huh?" He put down the dish towel he had in his hand and grabbed a coffee cup. 

"I'm still working with customers right now. You can stay up in the attic." He pointed at the stairs in the back of the café. Sojiro turned his gaze back at his customers. 

Akira made his way to the stairwell and climbed up.

The room was... cluttered, to say the least. Akira sighed. A box in the middle caught his attention - it was his belongings from home.