"Well, where do you want to start?" Morgana asked.
"Well first of all, you said something about cognitizant or something. What was that?" Ryuji asked.
"Daydream, Ryuji," Ren reminded him.
"Ah, right. School is a castle in that dick's mind." Ryuji waved it off.
"...Yes. And he is the king," Morgana revealed. "That is a self-contained world I call a 'Palace.' From what I know, they're formed by an individual's twisted cognition—or distortion."
'...Hm.' Ren thought.
"From what you know?" Ryuji asked, confused.
Morgana glanced at each of their faces before steeling himself. "I have amnesia. I know things like this, but I don't remember anything else. I don't even know why I look like this."
"...Sorry, Morgana," Shiho said softly.
"So you think the key to your memories is in that Palace?" Ren asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. I want to find the core. Something inside me is telling me to. But I can't do it alone," Morgana said.
"I mean, I wanna help, but what can we even do? Only you and Ren have those Persona th—" Ryuji started, rubbing the back of his neck, before the rooftop door opened.
"Oh—am I interrupting?" a gentle feminine voice asked.
She was a beautiful girl with soft, fluffy brown hair, wearing a muted pastel zip-up, the school uniform skirt, and polka-dot stockings.
"Huh?!" Ryuji yelped, falling backward in his chair.
"Oh! I'm so sorry—are you okay?!" the girl said, rushing forward as Morgana dove into Ren's bag.
Ren helped Ryuji up while Shiho bowed slightly. "Hello, senpai."
"I'm fine, don't worry. Just a little jumpy today," Ryuji said, shaking his head.
"Am I interrupting? I can come back later," the girl offered timidly.
"It's okay, Haru-senpai. We were about to leave anyway," Shiho said with a smile. "I know how much you love your garden."
"Oh—okay!" Haru said, perking up. "It's good to see you up here with friends, Shiho-chan!" she added brightly.
"Ah—and I don't know your names. I'm sorry," she said politely.
'She's extremely shy,' Ren noted.
"I'm Ryuji Sakamoto. This here is our friend Ren," Ryuji said, patting his chest and nudging him.
"Ren Amamiya, at your service," Ren replied, unconsciously channeling Arsène.
Both girls blushed briefly before bursting into laughter.
"Well, let's go. I feel like we should talk to Ann about this too. This is too important to keep to ourselves," Shiho said.
"Ann is my best friend," she whispered as they headed down the stairs. "I don't want to lie to her."
"Lady Shiho..." Morgana sighed from inside the bag.
"Hey, Shiho, can I ask you something?" Ren asked casually.
"Huh? Sure," she giggled as they walked toward their classrooms.
"Where did all—" Ren began, then stopped as Shiho suddenly froze.
Ren followed her gaze.
Kamoshida stood ahead, his form flickering for a moment—arrogance slipping, replaced by outward concern.
"Suzui, you had me worried," Kamoshida said loudly, drawing attention from nearby students.
"Huh? Did those two threaten her?"
"Ugh. They're not even bad-looking. Why do they have to act like scum?"
Ignoring the murmurs, Kamoshida continued. "You know one of them has a criminal record, correct? You should be more careful. I would have let you eat lunch somewhere safe."
"I'm pretty sure what you just said is illegal in almost every civilized country on Earth," Ren said flatly.
Kamoshida sneered. "You even threatened me earlier when I asked Takamaki if she needed a ride—only to find you here harassing her best friend."