Tokyo Psychic

The line suddenly became quiet, with only the occasional sobbing sound making people feel uneasy.

Kurusu Akatsuki looked at the Phantom Thief calmly staring at him through the window glass. "You should have read the news about this, right? This is actually a case of 'out-of-control incidents'."

Still no answer.

Kurusu Akatsuki then asked her, "Have you called the police?"

"I've been trying to contact the police since this morning, but the Metropolitan Police Department... the operator at the Metropolitan Police Department keeps giving me these inexplicable excuses."

"You don't go out because you know there might be someone blocking your way outside, right?"

"Yes... I'm very sorry to have caused you trouble, Mr. Amemiya. I... I'm sorry." The sobbing voice gradually became firm.

After saying this, the phone was hung up in a hurry.

Kurusu Akatsuki looked down at the terminated call in some surprise.

I feel like I'm being looked down upon.

He put his phone in his trouser pocket and looked at his own phantom helplessly, "Look at you, you were looked down upon by an ordinary girl."

The Phantom Thief also looked at him but said nothing.

Kurusu Akatsuki sneered, then reached out to touch the window glass in front of him. The phantom of the thief disappeared in an instant, leaving only a boy in school uniform with bright deep blue fire burning in his eyes.

He pressed his palm lightly on the cold glass, the lines on his palm were pressed, and he suddenly felt an astonishing heat through the slight chill, as if with a little more effort he could touch the shadow of the thief.

This time, he could clearly feel the presence of a door there.

That is the gate to the world of "heart", where everything belonging to the "Phantom Thief of the Mind" is stored.

Kurusu Akatsuki stared at the beautiful and fantastic world reflected in the glass with complicated eyes.

The Velvet Room, I'm really late.

But it was just right, allowing me to return to work without any complaints.

*

*

(I've been in the hospital with a high fever these past few days, so it's not convenient for me to return to school. So I'm typing on my phone, so I really can't update any more.)

(I should be able to go back to school on Friday, so I'll try to update again over the weekend.)

022.Whenever Night Falls (Two in One)

There must be a "God" in this world.

Its name is "Pheremon" - the collection of rationality in the collective subconscious of mankind.

He created the concept of the "Velvet Room" between the world's "consciousness" and "matter" to deal with catastrophes that could cause devastating blows to human civilization.

No one knows what kind of crisis "Pheremon" is preventing for mankind.

Anyway, Kurusu Akatsuki has been under contract with the Velvet Room for so many years, but he has never met the mysterious boss once.

The only people he could contact on a daily basis were "Igor", a company executive, and "Lavenda", his personal secretary assigned by the company.

Igor is a Servant created by Philemon, a very amiable old man. As the manager of the Velvet Room, he is the starting point of the "Fool's Journey" for every contractor, and serves as their spiritual guide.

However, Igor is very busy at work and always has to help the boss do all kinds of messy and dirty work.

So most of the time, Kurusu Akatsuki and Lavenda were left alone in the Velvet Room.

......

"It's only been a dozen days, but I feel so nostalgic for some reason."

Kurusu Akatsuki looked at the world reflected in the window glass, then reached in.

Without any sense of obstruction, he naturally passed through the material realm. It was as if an eraser had wiped out all traces of reality, leaving only a cascade of defeated light, landing on the empty music classroom.

*

There were no lights on in the huge and spacious space. Outside the twelve portholes was a clear and bright sky, and a gentle, soft light filled every corner within sight.

The blue wool carpet covering the floor exudes a mysterious and noble atmosphere, and the dark furniture surface is filled with beautiful rainbow light, together creating an illusion that transcends the world.

Faintly, one could hear the tiny hum of an airplane cutting through the air at high altitude.

As soon as Kurusu Akatsuki entered the Velvet Room, she felt a small, warm creature crash into her arms.

"Lavenda?"

The girl with long platinum hair as smooth and soft as silk hugged Kurusu Akatsuki tightly, buried her face in him like a kitten, and nervously and anxiously sniffed the smell of detergent remaining on the surface of his clothes.

After seven years of being together, this was the first time he saw this elegant and gentle velvet assistant reveal such vivid and excited "dependence" and "fear".

He was clearly a demigod born from the ocean of human consciousness, but now he looked like a little girl who was worried about losing everything because her family was almost destroyed...

But soon, he seemed to realize his own gaffe.

Lavenda reluctantly released her arms from around Kurusu Akatsuki, took a few steps back, and lowered her head to adjust her gorgeous blue court dress.

At this moment, one can clearly see the beauty that has conceptually reached the limit of human cognition, the golden eyes that exude divinity, the delicate facial features that are perfect enough to arouse anyone's favor, the long platinum hair tied with a blue ribbon, and the edge of the ribbon is decorated with a pair of butterfly hair accessories.

Then, she lifted the hems of her skirt on both sides, knelt down towards the young man in front of her and nodded with a smile, a standard curtsy, like a princess of high status.

"Long time no see, my 'Master', Lavenda has been waiting here for a long time."

Her voice is so soft that it easily reminds people of falling cherry blossoms or feathers.

Kurusu Akatsuki was surprised by the title of "Master." "In this world, I actually got the ownership of the Velvet Room?"

Lavenda's expression immediately grew serious. "Master, please be mindful of your words. Lavenda is your secretary, and once you've accomplished your mission of saving the world, everything in this room...including me, will remain with you through any unexpected events or disasters."

“The Velvet Room is essentially a world of the ‘subconscious,’ and it has long been part of its owner’s ‘subconscious.’”

Kurusu Akatsuki walked over to the desk and sat down. He looked at the Personality Mask Register on the table and asked, "Then why can't I come in until now?"

Lavenda lowered her eyes. "Because we are all outsiders, including the room we are in now."

"In fact, your previous calls were all conveyed to the original Velvet Room in this world, but it has repeatedly rejected your visits."

"It took me a long time to finally reconnect with my 'master' today..."

"Now I guess that you in this world must have died in the original Velvet Room."

Lavenda walked lightly to Kurusu Akatsuki's side, tiptoed slightly, picked up the pen on the table for him, and wiped it carefully with a handkerchief.

Kurusu Akatsuki drummed his fingers on the table for a while, then opened the Personality Mask Register.

The register that once listed hundreds of personas now only has three lonely lines left:

-

1. "The Fool's Path's End", [The Fool] "Arsene".

2. "The Almighty, the Lord of All Spirits, the Beginning and Conclusion of Humanity", [World] "???".

3. [Belief] "Dioscuri".

-

"Is this register still usable?"

"Of course you can use them. They are your power."

"Can we force our way through that room and investigate? I need to figure out why this strange thing called 'time travel' happened."

"I'm afraid it's difficult. The door is hidden by an evil force. It must be afraid of your coming."

"Now that things have developed to this point, I guess it's impossible to contact Igor, right?"

"Yes, I have tried many ways to ask the 'Sea of ​​the Subconscious', but I have never received an answer from Master Igor. Fortunately, however, the most powerful personas registered here have long been engraved with your great deeds and achievements in saving the world, so the world is willing to acknowledge their existence."

Kurusu Akatsuki picked up the pen from the desk and ticked the only remaining items, "The Fool" and "The World," on the register.

"Since the enemies are deliberately avoiding my attention, I can only try to find a flaw in them from a small point."

He closed the empty Persona register and handed it back to Lavenda. "That's just right. I have some people I need to repent of."

"Then please allow me to help the Master prepare this notice."

Lavenda held the register in her arms and bowed gracefully to the Phantom Thief.

*

at the same time.

Tokyo, Shinjuku Ward.

The dusk erased the sharp outlines of the trees outside the window, the blue sky gradually darkened, and a crescent moon appeared in the boundless night.

In the darkness, a black car sped along the road.

A blue-haired girl with her hands tied sat in the back seat of the car. Next to her sat a woman with thorn tattoos covering her arms.

The tattooed woman laughed mockingly, "Toyokawa-san, your security door doesn't seem to be working very well~"

The tall and thin man sitting in the front passenger seat was rummaging roughly in an old schoolbag, and soon he found a graduation certificate.

The cover of the diploma has the school emblem of "Tsuki no Mori Girls' Academy" embossed on it.

"Oh, so you used to be the eldest daughter of Tsuki no Mori Academy."

He laughed and threw the diploma back. "Toyokawa Shoko, that's a nice name. She's pretty, too, and she used to be a student at Tsuki no Mori... Hey, maybe you can pay off a lot of your father's debts."

The woman sitting next to Toyokawa Shoko also let out an unpleasant laugh. "Even though you've been working hard, it seems you haven't completely gotten over your life as a 'young lady'... Maybe if you work there for a while, you'll be completely ruined in every sense of the word, you know?"

"Boss Kamo probably hasn't slept with any of Tsukinomori's students, right?"

"It can't be helped. After all, it's a prestigious school, very influential in all aspects, and the boss doesn't want to be too arrogant."

It's like being treated like a commodity and getting random reviews.

Toyokawa Shoko did not cry panically and desperately like ordinary girls. She just stared at the chair in front of her with a gloomy and hateful look.

"You bunch of criminals, the Metropolitan Police Department will definitely arrest you..." She stopped talking abruptly. Obviously, she also realized that if the Metropolitan Police Department could be used, she would not have been forced to break into her house and be taken away.

"I've been threatened," the man driving suddenly said.

"It seems that you really don't realize your own situation at all." The woman was not good-looking, with many acne scars on her face, which looked hideous and vicious in the dim light.

The next moment, her palm slapped Toyokawa Shoko's face fiercely. With a loud thud, her fair and delicate face became red and swollen, and even the corner of her mouth was cracked and bleeding.

But even so, Toyokawa Shoko didn't say a word, but instead stared at the other person with hatred and anger.

It was really infuriating... The woman simply pinched her slender neck, and her sharp nails dug into the delicate skin, leaving some bloody marks.

Just as she was about to pin Toyokawa Shoko down and give her a good beating, she heard a low growl from the passenger seat.

"Hey!" The man in the passenger seat angrily stopped her. "This daughter of the Toyokawa family is very precious. If you keep hitting her like this, her price will drop! Then all the losses suffered by Boss Kamo will be blamed on you!"

The woman smacked her lips and then let go of Toyokawa Shoko obediently.

"Just wait and see, bitch," she cursed in a low voice, and then suddenly kicked Toyokawa Shoko hard on the back, causing the girl's forehead to hit the car window with a dull sound.

Even so, the crying, begging, screaming, and cries for help that she wanted...none of them appeared.

Shoko Toyokawa curled up quietly in the corner of the back seat of the car, like a doll.

After about half an hour, we finally arrived at our destination, a hotel that looked a bit old.

The car drove into the hotel's underground garage in the dark night.

The driver and the thugs got out of the car first and went around to observe the situation.

"You go up first." The tall and thin man lit a cigarette and stood by the car door, occasionally glancing at the ceiling with some jealousy and unwillingness in his eyes.

The tattooed woman roughly pushed Shoko Toyokawa out of the car door.

One after another, they walked into the elevator covered with advertising papers and posters of out-of-date stars.

After pressing the button for the top floor, as the elevator door closed, the woman couldn't help but start mocking the "young lady" whose hands she had handcuffed.

"Remember, this is where you'll work from now on. Making money here is much easier than playing the piano or working as a customer service representative... All you have to do is spread your legs in front of a man."

She admired Toyokawa Shoko's gradually pale face and couldn't help laughing. "But before that, I have to take you to see your father... well, maybe for the last time?"

The elevator reached the top floor of the building, a huge ballroom.

As the elevator door opened, an exaggerated and noisy atmosphere instantly hit us -

The tattooed woman was stunned.

The scene was indeed lively, but why was it different from what she had imagined?