Despite what happened in the past, Akira surprisingly found herself becoming popular very fast. All the students in her class, male and female alike, were gathered around her asking questions.

"Your hair is so pretty, Sakura-chan. Can I touch it?" One of the girls says then asks.

"Uh... Sure, I guess..." Akira replies, a little uncomfortable as the girl start fingering her ponytail. Soon the other girls started touching it too.

"It's so soft. Just like silk." Another girl says.

"And long too. How long have you been growing it out?" Another asks.

"Uh, since elementary." Akira replies shyly.

"Well, its gorgeous. It's almost like a doll's hair." The girls all start fangirling. Just then, Mr. Inui walks back into the room.

"Okay, class, lunchtime is over, so return to your seats." He says and the students all return to their desks. Mr. Inui prepares for the lesson when the door is suddenly thrown open and everyone turns to the newcomer.

"Ah, Sakamoto-kun. Glad you could finally join us, take your seat. Class is about to begin." Mr. Inui says. The blonde grunts and makes his way to the empty desk, next to Akira's. The girl opted to keep her head down and act like she doesn't see him as he walks by.

"Huh?!" Akira was startled when she heard the boy shouting behind her. She, as subtlety as she could, looks over her shoulder at the boy. Who was staring at her with a look of shock on his face.

"Sakamoto? Is there something wrong?" Mr. Inui inquired at the boy's behavior.

"Uh... N-Nothing, sir." The blonde, Sakamoto, replies and takes his seat, but he continues to stare at Akira.

"What's his deal with Sakura-chan? Do they know each other?" A student asks.

"Doubt it. He probably just thinks she's pretty." Another says in response.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan clearly isn't that kind of girl." A third remarks.

"He should just give up now. Sakura-chan out of his league." A boy then comments.

~Take Your Time~

It was official, Shujin was a nightmare. Right when Ren was introduced to his new classmates of Class 2-D, they all began whispering about how he was "the transfer student with a criminal record". Great, everyone knew. God, dammit! There went the second chance he was hoping for.

Didn't help he was so late on his first day. He managed to lie to Kawakami, saying he got lost, who in turn said he wasn't feeling well. Though it seemed it was too late to turn back now, so he just walked to take his seat.

"...Lies." At the sound of the voice, he turns to see the girl he saw earlier at the station. Crap, she knew. He decided to just take his seat, but the class saw.

"Woah, did you just catch that? Do those two know each other?" A classmate questions.

"Ew... Does that mean he hit on her before transferring here?" A girl remarks.

"Does that means she's cheating actually on him with Mr. Kamoshida?" Another asks.

"Then again, this is Takamaki-san we're talking about..." Another girl comments.

"For real. That side of the room is totally awful. Cursed even." Yet another mocks.

"Why couldn't we get the other transfer student? I heard she's nice." One bemoans.

Great. So his class were a bunch of gossiping mongrels, and they knew he had a record. Though, it sounded like he wasn't the only with a reputation. He looks at the blonde girl sitting in front of him. Takamaki, so that was her name. Well, her surname probably. And other transfer student? They must mean Sakura-san.

"Oh, right! The volleyball rally's in two days... Everyone's just changed classes, so make sure you use that time get to know each other. Well then, let's get class started then." Kawakami says, sounding totally disinterested. "Why couldn't I have gotten the other one." She mutters, but Ren hears. Sakura-san again.

Class went on with Kawakami teaching their lesson and the other students all gossiping about his record and about the "other transfer student". He sighs, just wishing for this day to end. He thought coming to Shujin would be an opportunity to start over, make some new friends, put his past behind him, but that got shot in the foot before it could take even one step.

When class finally, he wasted no time in leaving the classroom, hoping to get back to the café and just sulk. But as he steps out of the room, the school hallway suddenly warped and for a moment it was the castle, before turning back into the school hallway. Ren felt a headache and rubs his temples.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Kawakami asks as she came out of the classroom.

"This is a school right?" Ren asks absentmindedly before turning to her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" The teachers asks with a sigh. "Also... it seems like people already talking about you, but I'm not the one who told them." She says then sighs again. "I can't even catch a break... Why do it have to deal with this?" She complains, then turns back to the boy.

"You should head straight home without stopping anywhere. Sakura-san sounded pretty angry when I talked to him earlier." She continues. Great. Could this day get any worse? "Oh, and about Sakamoto-kun. You really shouldn't get involved—" She began when Ryuji himself appeared.

"Speak of the devil..." Kawakami says at his appearance. "What do you want? I heard the police caught you cutting class." She says to him.

"Tch! It was nothing." The blonde replies with a dismissive tone.

"And you haven't dyed your hair back to black either..." She comments.

"Sorry about that." He replies with an apathetic tone, then turns and walks past to Ren. "...I'll be waiting on the rooftop." He says then leaves.

"See? That's why I don't want you getting involved. Understood?" Kawakami says then walks away before even hearing his reply. Then Kamoshida and Principal Kobayakawa walk by talking.

"Why did you allow a student like him to transfer here? The other I understand, but he's already started associating with Sakamoto." Kamoshida questions. "A student with a criminal record, and the culprit of an assault case. At this rate, it'd be pointless how much I contribute to the school." He states.

"Now don't be like that... This school counts on you, Kamoshida-kun. You are our star." The principal encourages. "Still, a steady build-up is necessary behind such brilliance as well." He adds.

"Your troubles never seem to end, do they, Principal Kobayakawa?" Kamoshida says. "All right, I understand. I'll continue to do my best to answer to your expectations of me." He adds with a smile and the two men walk away. Ren hangs his head. He knew the real reason he was accepted here was for the school's rep. Shujin Academy, the school that reformed a criminal into a law-abiding citizen. God, he almost gagged at the thought. 

Anyway, Sakamoto-kun had something to say to him so he made his way up to the rooftop. It was oblivious that the boy had something to say to him so he made his way up the stairs to the top. He found the door to the roof, with a off-limits sign on it, but he opened to the door anyway to find the other boy sitting on a chair by a bunch of extra desks waiting.

"There you are." He says as Ren walks up to him. "Sorry for calling you up here like this. I bet Kawakami already told you stuff like, 'don't get involved with him', huh?" He says.

"Actually, yes. She said you were trouble." Ren replies.

"Heh, we're pretty much in the same boat then." The blonde says. "I heard you got a criminal record. Everyone's talking about it. No wonder you were so gutsy." He adds and Ren sits on one of the desks. "By the way, you got a twin or a cousin, or something? Cause I swear I saw a female you in my class." He then asks.

"Huh? Oh, no. That was probably Sakura-san. She's my parole guardian's daughter." Ren answers.

"Really? Are you guys by any chance related somehow?" Ryuji asks.

"Not as far as I know." The fluffy-haired boy replies.

"Anyway... What was all that, that happened? You know, how we almost got killed in that castle... I mean, it wasn't a dream... right? You remember it too, yeah?" He asks.

"Yeah, I do. Kind of hard to forget something like that." Ren replies.

"Well, just cause we both remember it, doesn't mean much though..." The blonde says. "I mean, even if it was a dream, you saved me from Kamoshida. So yeah... Thanks, man." He thanks the other boy.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you're okay after that." The raven-haired boy replies.

"But man, that Kamoshida we saw there... You probably don't know about it, but there are some rumors about him." The faux blonde says.

"You mean the guy from earlier?" Ren inquires.

"Yep, that's the one. The asshole who was all full of himself at the castle." Ryuji confirms. "No one says anything against cause he's some Olympic gold medalist who took the volleyball team to nationals. The way Kamoshida was king of that castle felt crazy real cause of that..." He explains.

"I wonder, if we could go back to that castle again..." He wonders aloud, then he stood up. "Ah! Forget it. Must've all been a dream! I has to be!" He exclaims, clearly wanting to forget the whole thing. Ren understood. "Sorry to drag you out here like this. That's all I had to say." He says.

"You know, we might be pretty similar. I feel like we're gonna get along just fine as 'troublemakers'. I'm Ryuji Sakamoto, by the way. I'll come talk to you again if I see you around. Don't ignore me, alright?" The blonde boy finishes and leaves.

Ren soon follows and walks down the stairs to the first floor and prepares to leave and head back to the café.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" A familiar voice calls and he turns to see Sakura-san approaching, not looking pleased. Oh no... "Apparently, someone waited a whole half a day to get here. What's more, you're associating with a delinquent? You do remember about your probation, right?" She chastises him.

"Yes." Ren replied, suddenly feeling small, despite her being shorter then him. It didn't help that the people around them were all whispering.

"Do Sakura-chan and Amamiya-kun know each other?" A female student asks.

"Lover's spat? Ex-lover's spat?" A male one theorizes. 

"Don't they look kind of alike?" One notices.

"You think they're related?" His friend asks.

"It's looks like she's talking him down." One of the girls remarks.

"Guess she's trying to keep him in line." Her companion then says.

"Then you know how much this affects me and Dad right?" Akira continues, despite the whispering around them. "What even took you so long? I called Dad and he said you did leave beforehand." She questions him next. A nervous Ren knew if he told her the truth she would never believe him. Plus, it'd just make the situation worse, so he went with the same lie again.

"I got lost. Really, really, lost. I ended up getting twisted around and missing the train and..." He realizes he was rambling at this point and decides to stop.

"Okay. In that case, you're coming with me." She says with a sigh, than grabs Ren's arm and begins dragging him out of the school.

"Uh... What's going on?" Ren asks nervous as they stop in the train station.

"From now on, you'll be coming with me to school. But you'll have to go home yourself. I have ballet lessons on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays." The girl answers and states.

"Okay. That's fair." Ren replies then realizes something. "You take, ballet?" He asks the girl, who was playing her ponytail.

"Yeah, since I was eleven." She replies. "Also, you shouldn't be hanging out with that Sakamoto-kun. He's in my class and seems to be trouble. You do want to get through your probation right? So it's best to avoid bad influences like him." She tells him.

"Problem there is he's the only one who's nice to me though." Ren thought, just as the train arrives.

"I'll take you home today and go with you to school tomorrow, but you're have to get home on your own. Like I said, I've got lessons tomorrow and won't be going home till late then." She says as the two board the train.

Ren made sure to stay by Sakura-san's side as she led him through the subway stations and lines. They eventually made it back to Yongen-Jaya he and Sakura-san went to Café Leblanc. They stepped inside to find Sojiro waiting behind the counter.

"Hey, I got a call from the school." He spoke and Ren froze. "I hear you ditched half a day on your first day of school." He says.

"Sorry..." Ren spoke softly, a little ashamed.

"Ugh! Just when I think you had it together this morning... Look, just behave yourself. Remember, Akira goes to your school too. Don't cause her trouble." The man groans then says to the boy quite angrily.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'll be taking Amamiya-kun to school from now on. That way he won't get lost again, and won't be late." Akira tells him.

"Alright. You get going home, I'll see you there." Sojiro says and Akira heads back to the house. "As for you... You should get upstairs to bed. I'm closing up shop for the day." The man says and Ren obliges, heading up to the attic for the night, while Sojiro locks up the café.

"Today was exhausting." He sighs as he sat down on his bed. "Just what the hell was that castle? And that speedo wearing Kamoshida. Ulgh! I need brain bleach for that image. Oh, god." He thought while rubbing his temples.

"But, seriously, what the hell happened today? Ugh! On second thought, I'm going to put that behind me and focus on school and the year." With that thought, he changes into his pajamas and went to bed.

~Take Your Time~

At the tone of familiar music and the sound of rattling chains, Ren awoke to find himself once again in the Velvet Room prison cell. He quickly sat up on the cot and looked out the cell front door to see the twins and Igor again.

"About time you've come to. On your feet, inmate!" Caroline demands while kicking the bars, causing Ren to jump to his feet.

"Our master wishes to speak with you. It's for your own sake that you take his words to heart." Justine says next.

"First off, let us celebrate our reunion." Igor begins, though Ren wasn't sure this warrants a celebration. He had almost forgotten this place. "Oh...? You've awakened to your powers— and special ones at that. Your rehabilitation can finally begin." The long nosed man says next.

"My, powers? You mean Arsène?" Ren asks, recalling the being he summoned in the castle.

"There is no need to understand it all for the time being. You will be training the power of Persona, which you have awakened to. Personas are, in other words, a 'mask'— an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters. I have high expectations for you." The man proceeds to explains then states.

"What do you mean?" Ren asks, hoping this time to get a straightforward answer.

"There is no need to worry. You will learn when the time comes." The man replies. Well that doesn't help. "By the way... have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? Using it will allow you to come and go freely between reality and Palaces." He then asks.

"What? Palaces? Metaverse, Navigator? What are you talking about?!" Ren yells, getting seriously frustrated with all this cryptic shit.

"I bestowed it to you as a means, to train yourself as a thief." Igor replies.

"The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better take care in using it, Inmate!" Caroline says aggressively.

"Devote yourself to your training so that you may become a fine thief." Justine then says next. Honestly, he didn't know which twin was scarier... Caroline with her almost violent temper sounding ready to hit him at any time, or Justine who's calm attitude made it hard to read her.

"It must be disheartening, to make use of the Metaverse Navigator alone." Igor spoke, snapping Ren from his thoughts. "Should there be other who would prove beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well. this is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief..." He says next. What was all this talk about being a thief? Wasn't this whole thing supposed to about rehabilitation?

"Hmph, it's time. Go back and enjoy whatever rest you might have..." Caroline snarks and everything then began fading away.