Persona: Shibuya Stories

Jin had never considered himself much of a planner.

He vaguely remembered something his Chinese teacher once said before he came to Japan—a comparison between two characters from Water Margin: Lu Zhishen and Li Kui.

Lu Zhishen, the teacher had emphasized, was rough but meticulous.

For kids, nothing in school was as interesting as playing, so naturally, most of them found ancient literature boring. But those few exciting excerpts from classic novels? Those always stuck. Jin had listened to the teacher's analysis, then rummaged through his grandfather's bookshelf to find the complete Water Margin.

Every night, he'd lie in bed with a flashlight, flipping through the six-volume illustrated edition, lost in the world of outlaws and warriors.

If he had to pick a character most like himself, it would be Lu Zhishen.

Straightforward. Outspoken. Capable of making some plans—just not the smartest ones.

And now, Jin had proven it yet again.

The moment he heard the name Amamiya Ren, he immediately remembered the student that had been talked about endlessly in the school group chats—the problem student.

Which was why, before thinking, he blurted out that Ren was the student with a criminal record.

That was Jin. Saying whatever came to mind.

But mid-sentence, it hit him—if he said that out loud, Dr. Takemi would hear it. And that meant Ren would be under scrutiny.

So, at the last second, he forced himself to change it.

"...rich."

Did he actually know if Ren had money? Not at all.

"Ah? Ahahaha… then you must have me confused with someone else," Ren said, scratching his head awkwardly.

He looked genuinely confused.

Which made sense. No rich person would take the subway to school every day. If someone did, you'd have to wonder if they just had a weird fetish for being packed into a crowded train like a sardine.

"Ah… ahahaha, sorry. My mistake," Jin said, brushing it off.

There was no reason to keep talking. They had nothing in common. At best, this was a nodding acquaintance—the kind where you acknowledge each other's existence but don't bother with deeper conversations.

But…

The second Jin stepped out of the clinic, he leaned against the wall like a third-rate spy in an action movie, then whispered to Kasumi, "Kasumi, hurry! Go back inside and eavesdrop on them."

"Ooh! Got it, sir!"

Kasumi's eyes lit up, and she gave him an exaggerated military salute before disappearing into the clinic.

Jin smirked.

She was way too into this.

It made him wonder—maybe Kasumi didn't have any lingering attachments to the world. Maybe she was just sticking around because she was having fun.

Regardless, now that he knew Ren was accompanied by a cat demon, he needed to find out what that thing was after.

And while Kasumi did that, he could finally think.

Because, honestly? He hadn't been thinking much since the castle.

Like Lu Zhishen, Jin wasn't a strategist, and exhaustion had made it even worse. His thoughts had been a tangled mess, refusing to process anything logically.

But after taking medicine and getting a few hours of proper rest, his mind had finally cleared up.

He bought a can of grape juice from a vending machine, popped in a straw, and leaned against the wall. As the sweet liquid soothed his nerves, he went over the day's events.

(No matter how I look at it… the key is Sakamoto Ryuji.)

That was his best lead.

Because he had seen Ryuji escape from that weird castle with his own eyes.

Ryuji Sakamoto was famous.

As mentioned before, the real authority at Shujin Academy wasn't the principal—it was Mr. Kamoshida. Everyone at school knew that.

And Ryuji?

Ryuji was the idiot who had openly rebelled against him.

He used to be on the track and field team—a hot-blooded fool straight out of a sports manga. He showed up early for morning practice every single day.

But that changed when the track team started overshadowing the volleyball team—Kamoshida's team.

What happened next was… predictable.

Long story short, Ryuji stood up to Kamoshida. Kamoshida broke his leg for it.

It made sense. One was a high schooler still in the middle of physical development. The other was a world-class athlete. Neither had any real combat training, so the fight came down to sheer physical ability.

The end result?

Ryuji was punished for intentional assault. Kamoshida walked away as a victim defending himself. Ryuji's mother was forced to come to school and apologize.

After that, Ryuji bleached his hair—probably as a silent "screw you" to Kamoshida.

But honestly? If you didn't know the story, he just looked like a delinquent.

Even Jin, who was on leave from school, had heard about it. The impact of that incident was huge.

Some students who loved conspiracy theories even speculated that Kamoshida spread the story himself—to make an example of Ryuji.

Ever since then, any voices of rebellion—whether secret or outright—had been completely silenced.

And Jin?

Jin had mentally added Ryuji's name to the list of people to avoid.

But now, he had no choice.

He had no way of tracking down the cat demon. No way of identifying the masked man in black.

But Ryuji? Ryuji was a fool.

Which meant he could be tricked.

(If I bait him with the right words, he'll definitely talk. And whoever comes to defend him is likely the masked guy.)

Slurp.

His straw made a loud, hollow noise—his juice was gone.

Jin squeezed the carton, forcing out the last drop.

He paid for it. He wasn't going to waste it.

If the plastic wasn't inedible, he might've eaten the carton too.

"Ah! Jin, you liar! You didn't even get one for me?!"

Kasumi's voice rang out, full of exaggerated betrayal.

Jin glanced at her puffed-up cheeks, barely holding back a laugh. She looked like a hamster stuffing its face.

Amused, he popped two more coins into the vending machine. A bottle of soda dropped into the tray.

"Alright, alright. Here."

Kasumi folded her arms, pouting. "You know I can't drink it!"

Jin smirked. "Oh? You saw through my evil plan?"

He put on a villainous tone, deep and dramatic, like some cheesy anime antagonist.

A passing policewoman gave him a suspicious glance.

Jin immediately lowered his voice and took a sip of his drink.

Right. Other people couldn't see Kasumi.

Which meant, to them, Jin was just some weirdo talking to himself, then offering a drink to thin air.

It was giving schizophrenic poet vibes.

And unfortunately, Jin was not Li Bai.

"Humph, Jin is mean and a bully," Kasumi huffed. "I won't tell you what I overheard."

Jin immediately smiled. "My dear Miss Kasumi, please, don't be mad! I was wrong!"

"I don't care! I want a drink!"

"...You—" Jin sighed. "You're asking me to pull a Xiang Yu here?"

"Who?"

Of course. A famous Chinese general wasn't exactly on a Japanese middle school curriculum.

Jin sighed. "Xiang Yu was a great Chinese hero who, when cornered, chose to slit his own throat rather than surrender. Do you want me to do the same? Then I'd be Xiang Yu, and you'd be Yu Ji—his tragic love."

Kasumi stuck out her tongue. "Ugh! Who wants to be in a tragic love story with you?!"

Jin snorted.

But then—

(Wait. Drinks…?)

A thought struck him.

But seeing Kasumi finally ready to spill the details, he held it back.

Next time. I'll test it next time.

Now that Jin had a plan, it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

As for what had happened in the clinic after he left, he had a pretty good idea—thanks to Kasumi's enthusiastic performance of the Great Espionage Report.

Apparently, Ren Amamiya had come to Takemi looking for medicine.

According to him, he needed something to relieve mental fatigue so he could focus on studying for entrance exams.

Jin didn't believe a word of it.

A high school student so obsessed with studying that they needed black market medication to stay focused? Please.

And even if someone was that serious about exams, that kind of stress wouldn't hit until senior year—no one freaks out that much in their first or second year.

(In other words… this transfer student needs medicine for some other reason. And not the kind you can buy in a store, but Takemi's homemade stuff. Is it the drug's effect he's after? The fact that it's secret? …Or is he just into Takemi herself?)

Jin analyzed the situation quickly.

Then, Kasumi got to the part where Takemi led Ren into the back room—the office, lab, lounge, and guinea pig testing bed all rolled into one. And then... click.

The door locked.

At this point, any normal teenage boy would start imagining certain things.

Jin, however, just sighed.

He knew exactly what was happening in there.

Takemi had found a brand-new test subject.

Most people didn't understand the job of a drug tester. They assumed it was something that would wreck your body.

But the truth was, no one could test medicine every day—that would be impossible. Drug testing was all about isolating effects. If the previous medicine was still in your system, it would mess up the data for the next test.

It was like that one research study claiming coffee causes cancer. Scientists later figured out that their test subjects were all heavy smokers who just happened to drink a lot of coffee.

The actual conclusion?

"We don't know about coffee, but smoking definitely kills you."

A complete waste of a study.

Drug testing worked the same way. If Takemi gave someone a new medicine while the last one was still in their system, she couldn't trust the results.

So, of course, she was thrilled to have another guinea pig. With Ren in the mix, she could double her research speed.

In the end, they made a deal—Takemi would sell Ren her medicine, but in exchange, he had to become a test subject.

(Does this guy even understand what being a drug tester means? Or… does he have a reason to do it, even if it's bad for him?)

Jin was deep in thought when he suddenly noticed—Kasumi had stopped talking.

It was like a teacher noticing their students weren't paying attention and cutting the lecture short.

"I worked so hard gathering intel and giving you a detailed performance, and you're just sitting there in silence?!"

From the way Kasumi whined, she might as well have been born in the Year of the Rabbit.

Why?

Because rabbits die from loneliness.

Kasumi clearly couldn't stand being ignored.

"My throat is dry from talking so much, and you're over there drinking juice all by yourself—ugh, that's so unfair! You owe me! You must compensate me!"

Jin laughed and held out the unopened bottle in his hand. "Here, it's yours. Don't be shy."

It was a joke, of course.

But—

"Uh? Thanks."

It wasn't Kasumi who responded.

It was Ren.

(Wait, hold on—Kasumi was eavesdropping inside. If she's back, that means Ren is done talking with Takemi. Which means he's leaving now!)

Jin had been so focused on Kasumi that he hadn't noticed Ren stepping outside.

And since no one could see Kasumi, from Ren's perspective, it looked like Jin had stood outside the clinic just waiting for him—then, the moment Ren approached, Jin held out a drink and said:

"Here, you can have this. Don't be shy."

This was…

This was the first time anyone had shown Ren this kind of friendliness at Shujin.

Ever since certain rumors spread, everyone at school knew he had a criminal record. No one talked to him. They avoided him, whispered about him behind his back.

At this stage, even Ryuji wasn't really a friend—more like a comrade-in-arms against Kamoshida.

So, for a classmate to suddenly reach out to him like this…

"Oh! Could it be that this person wants to be friends with you?!"

The black cat on Ren's shoulder suddenly spoke.

Jin tensed.

Once again, no one reacted to the talking cat. Not Ren, not Takemi.

Which meant…

No one else could hear it but me.

As if controlled by the cat, Ren repeated, "Do you… want to be friends with me?"

Awkward phrasing aside, it was a good way to cover for what just happened.

Jin quickly went along with it. "Yeah, exactly! You got it!"

"I see… Earlier at the clinic, thanks for changing your words."

Jin shrugged. "No problem. It was nothing."

Ren must have noticed the way Jin had intentionally corrected himself earlier.

No matter the reason, the fact remained—Ren had been forced to transfer schools because of his record. And now, at Shujin, everyone was treating him like a criminal.

So, having someone actually talk to him felt… comforting.

And just like that, they were friends.

Now, two socially awkward guys—plus a talking cat and a ghost—were walking through the streets of Yongen-Jaya in complete silence.

Neither had any idea what to say.

For high school boys, the most common conversation topics were complaining about school, how was the latest media, the club activities, and of course...cute girls.

But—

Jin had been on leave from school for years. Ren had just transferred. They had no right to complain about school.

As for anime, manga, and games… Jin barely had money for food, let alone hobbies.

Clubs? Neither of them belonged to any.

And girls?

The only girls they knew at Shujin could be counted on one hand. If they excluded teachers, the number became even sadder.

So, in complete awkwardness, they ended up in front of Leblanc Coffee.

This was the place where Jin had eaten curry earlier that morning.

Why was he a regular?

Simple. The curry was cheap, the shop was quiet, and the owner didn't talk much.

"I'm staying in the loft above Leblanc right now," Ren suddenly said.

Jin blinked. "Ah? Uh, I—I live nearby. That two-story apartment over there."

It was an instinctive response.

That's what friends do, right? They exchange addresses?

Ren gave a small nod, then opened the door and disappeared inside.

Jin stood there for a moment, staring at the shop. Then, he exhaled and walked home.

Today had been exhausting.

For someone who didn't like socializing, this had been way too much interaction.

It felt like his brain had overheated.

And it wasn't over yet.

Because now, he had to prepare for tomorrow.