Tokyo Psychic

And in the space of its image, the endless trains crisscrossing the tunnels, the intricate railway network expanding endlessly, a crimson as deep as blood.

Kurusu Akatsuki and Toyokawa Shoko were standing in the waiting room waiting for the train to arrive.

Shoko Toyokawa looked down at the open pendant in her hand, and suddenly asked Kurusu Akatsuki beside her in a low voice.

"Can I take this away?"

"This is a realization of cognition, one of the few things that can create a sense of memory."

As he finished speaking, a tram began to run over the rails in the tunnel, making a clanging sound.

The white light that gushed out like steam instantly filled the vision of the two people.

The carriages were like a long dragon, wrapped in a howling gale and accompanied by furious roars. They rushed out of the dark abyss in an instant, emitting a strong presence that could not be ignored in the blood-red halo.

Anger is a more tiring emotion than sadness and hatred. It bursts forth for a moment, but like a burning flame, without oxygen and fuel, it will soon die out.

After burning out, what remains are temperatureless ashes.

The tram came to a complete stop at the platform.

Shoko Toyokawa walked into the carriage almost instinctively. The pale light shone on her body, making her feel cold as if she had no body temperature.

Completely cooled ashes are very sticky and will stick to your skin if you touch them lightly. It is difficult to clean them by just shaking your hands. You must rinse them with water and then wipe them carefully.

During this process, it will completely obtain the temperature that does not belong to it. Even if it is continuously blown by the cold wind at night, it will try hard to cling to this warmth and will never accept the separation.

When leaving the impression space, Kurusu Akatsuki discovered that Toyokawa Shoko was still following him.

"It's already late, don't you want to go home quickly?"

"Dad probably won't be home tonight, so I can wander around the streets for a while."

"Yes, if he really wants to repent, he should go to the Metropolitan Police Department for interrogation first. After all, during the day, a police officer must have called to question his qualifications as a father..." Kurusu Akatsuki walked under the street lights, then turned to look at Toyokawa Shoko and the long shadow trailing behind her.

"The premise is that you show mercy to his shadow."

Toyokawa Shoko hung the pendant around her neck. "There were many times when I felt he was terrifying... But strangely, even when he transformed into a monster, I still couldn't give it my all... I've thought many times before that I must teach him a lesson if I had the chance. But now that I have the chance, it seems I've forgotten everything."

Kurusu Akatsuki looked up at the night sky filled with hazy light in the city.

"That's normal. No matter how terrible or hideous he is, even if he becomes an inhuman monster and pounces on you, ready to kill you, at the last moment, you'll always subconsciously hesitate. After all, fathers are rare. There's only one, and if you break one, there's no replacement."

He was very sensitive to the lingering feeling of helplessness in Toyokawa Shoko's heart, as if time had gone back to thirteen years ago when the cafeteria in Moonlight House was empty because of Christmas Eve.

The lonely boy was holding a donut covered with colorful needles, but suddenly the girl's rose-red eyes appeared in the round hole, curious and surprised, like a flame, instantly burning his cold heart.

If it was that girl named Shiomi Kotone, what would she do now...

Kurusu Akatsuki has never been the leader of any organization or team. He has long been accustomed to facing difficulties alone, solving them, and then quietly returning to his daily life.

Now if I want to learn how to be a qualified "captain" or "leader", the only idol I can imitate is Kotone Shiomi from the "Special Extracurricular Activities Club" of Gekkoukan Academy.

He took out his cell 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."

Shoko Toyokawa was stunned for a moment and hesitated to speak.

Kurusu Akatsuki quickly approached, not giving her a chance to regret. "As the leader of the Phantom Thieves, it's my duty to take care of the safety of my members... I can't let a 16-year-old high school girl wander the streets alone late at night."

Shoko Toyokawa looked at her wrist being held, and her eyes seemed to be filled with the colorful lights of a distant bustling commercial street.

From the cold winter of her third year at Tsukinomori Junior High School to the entire spring of her first year at Yugaoka, she had never been able to figure out how she could save the family from the suffering that seemed to be everywhere.

It was very easy to escape. All she needed was a phone call and a cry, and she could immediately turn back into the eldest daughter of a prominent family.

The price he paid was abandoning his biological father who had taken care of him for fifteen years.

The confrontation between emotion and rationality, the innocence of adolescence and the heart-wrenching pain of being forced to grow up, and finally the entanglement caused by self-esteem, together they weave a hell called "life" and imprison her in that old apartment.

Shoko Toyokawa is waiting to be rescued.

She reached out to the world outside the window more than once, but the only responses she got were the wind, the moonlight, and the mocking chirping of sparrows.

When she was almost completely despairing of this kind of life.

A young thief in a black windbreaker swung down from the sky on a rope.

He kicked open the tightly closed window, grabbed Toyokawa Shoko's hand, and as the clouds of neon lights rose from the tall buildings in the distance, he took her into a night beyond the ordinary.

*

Late at night.

White-collar workers walking off work under the shadows of neon-lit buildings present two sides of the story on the bustling streets. On one side are men and women lingering in the dazzling array of shops and luxurious high-end restaurants, and on the other side are urban blue-collar workers working the night shift, hunched over their work areas in the darkness, or call girls standing by street lights holding signs with ambiguous messages waiting for customers.

Everyone can see the brightest side of Tokyo, but they try their best to ignore the dark tide surging in the light, as if this can make them forget the existence of the abyss.

The abyss is omnipresent, closing in ever closer, ready to provoke the extreme amplification of human desires into a state of distortion. Because everyone turns a blind eye to their own desires, this undoubtedly exposes their vulnerable backs to the prying eyes of invisible malice.

The Phantom Thief and his partner walked among the crowd, keeping an eye on dangers beyond reality for them.

When passing by a dark alley on Shibuya Central Street, it seemed like an illusion that Shoko Toyokawa saw a blue door opening in the void.

A silver-haired girl, clutching a thick, old book, leaned against the doorway, gazing up at the night sky. She looked to be in middle school. She was as lovely as the most exquisite doll in the closet, yet possessed the splendor and grace of a princess. Perhaps every child has gazed at her through the glass window, eyes filled with the purest longing, a desire to take her home.

But the princess was always thinking about her own hero. She suddenly looked over and smiled at the hero and his companions. It seemed like encouragement, comfort, and more of a concern that was almost doting, as well as some unspeakable envy and emotion.

Shoko Toyokawa rubbed her eyes subconsciously. The girl in the alley had disappeared, and of course there was no glowing blue door.

Kurusu Akatsuki led her forward, "Are you very sleepy?"

"Not sleepy yet," Toyokawa Shoko whispered.

"You've done a perfect job in your first battle as a Persona user."

"...Thanks."

"Hmm, that's a bit of a perfunctory answer... Has verbal encouragement completely lost its effectiveness? Young people these days are such a hassle."

"You're only one year older than me."

"It may seem like just a one-year age difference, but it could actually be a generation gap of ten years of experience."

Kurusu Akatsuki took Toyokawa Shoko's wrist and led her into the bustling world opposite the Tokyo daylight.

He asked his partner in a casual tone, "Is there any gift you would like?"

Toyokawa Shoko stared at the tips of her shoes, which were stained with scattered dust, looking a little out of place with her dazzlingly white, spotlessly clean lace socks. "I don't think I have the qualifications to ask you for a gift."

"Then be a little more willful. It's okay to have a wish or a goal. Although I may not necessarily help you achieve it, at least I can understand what you really want by listening."

"desire?"

"Yes, as long as we are human, we will have desires. Only when we know what our desires are can we more firmly reject external obstacles."

"He's clearly a heart-stealing thief..."

"Of course there are desires," Kurusu Akatsuki repeated his point. "Only those with desires are human, and only humans can be called 'heroes'."

"What exactly is a hero?" Sixteen-year-old Shoko Toyokawa recalled the only Ultraman special film she had ever seen. She only remembered that after the lights went out, Ultraman Nexus would stand up and continue fighting to protect the city even if his life was burned.

What exactly is a hero?

Someone once asked Qi Xiao a question like this.

Not long after asking this question, she walked towards death alone and never came back.

Kurusu Akatsuki thought of many scenes in an instant, almost all of which were the other person's laughter, anger and scolding in daily life, various wild jokes, or some unrealistic delusions of adolescence, and even the crying mumbling in his sleep when he talked about his parents late at night.

It turns out that even a savior who has mastered the power of the universe and controls the personality mask called "Messiah" will be worried because her pocket money is not enough to buy her favorite game cartridges, and will be depressed because of failing the exam. She has her own emotions and troubles, and every step of her growth process is as heartbreaking as that of ordinary people.

Thinking of this, the Phantom Thief couldn't help but smile with a nostalgic look.

"Heroes are not that great, nor are they perfect..."

"If you don't let life knock you down, you're already a hero."

"That......"

"So, even without me, you're still a remarkable 'hero,' Toyokawa-san. Please give yourself more recognition for your strength and courage."

Unconsciously, the thief loosened his grip on Toyokawa Shoko's wrist. Just when he was thinking of holding it again, the girl had already taken the initiative to put her little hand into his palm.

Toyokawa Shoko's voice trembled. "No matter how willful it is, is it okay?"

Kurusu Akatsuki smiled and encouraged her, "Being honest with your desires is also a part of growing up."

"Amamiya...what are you desires right now?"

"Me? I want to make tons of money... Then I can drive a luxury car and live in a mansion with a group of cute maids who belong only to me. I don't have to work every day, I can just lie in bed and the money in my account will grow naturally... That's what I think."

"A bit..."

"Vulgar?" Kurusu Akatsuki's smile widened. "Almost every boy after puberty has had this fantasy. If you ask me what I was thinking when I first gained this power, it was probably just a simple desire for my own game console."

"It's not vulgar." Shoko Toyokawa explained anxiously.

Her eyes seemed to be shining, and her gaze was burning, glued tightly to Kurusu Akatsuki's face, "I think... you are amazing."

"Well, our 'remarkable' Ms. Toyokawa, could you please tell me, who is also 'remarkable', what is it that you are longing to achieve right now?"

Toyokawa Shoko held his hand tightly, and with the other hand she held the pendant on her chest. Through the hard and cold metal texture, she could almost feel her own heartbeat accelerating, "I want to be with you..."

She felt her heart beating as loud as a drum.

The eldest daughter of a prominent family who had been studying in a girls' school did not understand what kind of emotions were running through her body, the fiery heat that seemed to set her blood on fire.

She just stared at the thief's back with longing and admiration. That was no longer an illusion preserved in dreams, but a barrier that she could rely on and trust in reality.

In the pendant in her hand, a photo of a family of three at Disneyland jumped out of her memory, filling her entire thoughts.

"I want to go to the amusement park with you."

Toyokawa Shoko finished the whole sentence with great difficulty.

"Hmm?" Kurusu Akatsuki was amused by her naive look. "Of course. How about setting the time for after the band's performance this weekend?"

"...Okay." Toyokawa Shoko felt as if all the heat rushing through her body seemed to have surged up. Her cheeks and ears were burning hot. It felt like an electric current was passing through her hand, which was held by Kurusu Akatsuki. It was a tingling and tingling sensation. The sound of her heartbeat was almost inaudible, but it was a throbbing sensation that made her entire soul tremble.

The noise of the crowd seemed to disappear in an instant.

The girl's amber eyes only reflected Kurusu Akatsuki's figure.

The dark and deep night sky is illuminated by tens of thousands of advertising screens and electric lights, and as time goes by, it is gradually coated with a layer of colorful jewels.

......

By the time the two left Central Avenue, it was already two o'clock in the morning.

Kurusu Akatsuki had a plastic bag full of desserts hanging on his arm. He carried the exhausted and sleepy Toyokawa Shoko on his back and walked slowly along the trail beside the Shibuya River.

Gazing towards the pitch-black river, one can see the city in the distance still bustling with bright lights. Their reflections on the river surface mean that the entire city is flowing with the river, swaying with vulgar noise, and the crowds cheering, as if immersed in a long and bizarre dream.

The allure of a sleepless night is the hope that the sun won't rise the next day, the idea of ​​prolonging the night, of extending time as a pure illusion, as in sleep and dreaming, without losing consciousness at the same time.

Countless people have drowned in their dreams of reality.

Of course, it is unrealistic to walk all the way from Shibuya to Kita Ward.

Kurusu Akatsuki planned to take Toyokawa Shoko to a more remote place, sneak into the impression space, and then start the "mind leap".

He felt the girl on his back becoming increasingly sleepy, so he randomly found some meaningless topics to try to wake her up a little.

"What's it like in Shibuya late at night?"

"Very lively."

"that's it?"

"Well......"

Toyokawa Shoko's eyes were almost completely closed. She rested her chin on Kurusu Akatsuki's shoulder and breathed evenly.

The warm breath hit the back of Kurusu Akatsuki's neck. It was a warm feeling, a little itchy, but also comforting.

The half-asleep girl rubbed his earlobe affectionately with her hot face, and hugged his shoulders defenselessly and with complete trust.

At this distance, you only need to turn your head slightly to appreciate the girl's cute sleeping face.

He could clearly see her trembling eyelashes, the delicate bridge of her nose, and the pearly lips that opened and closed with her dreamy breaths. Kurusu Akatsuki thought of many things: seminary nuns praying to the river on Cambridge or singing hymns in church, exquisite puppets dancing on silk threads under stage lights, and angels spreading their wings to kiss young men in the moonlight at night...

All the religious and sacred imaginations came to an abrupt end with the sound of a car horn in the distance.

A taxi was parked on the road not far away.

The driver was a well-dressed man wearing glasses and gloves, looking elegant and steady.