Chapter Text
* 7/5/20XX - Saturday - After School *
Gathered around in their usual rooftop hideout, the Nudist Thieves of Hearts were currently a little dejected. Though just a few days ago they had talked big about continuing to try and use their powers for good, there were simply no obvious targets in sight, and with the threat of exams looming over their heads it was no surprise they were rather frustrated.
“None of these posts are any good. Everyone’s just bitchin’ about their parents or their boyfriends… There ain’t even a hint of a hint about a new Palace…”
“We can’t get everything online… Finding a post with a name and location is asking a lot…”
“Prolly doesn’t help people won’t wanna include anything that could link the post back to them since they’re tied to pics of their privates…”
“It’s a miracle anyone posts anything on there at all… Let alone women…”
“There are definitely a lotta dicks…”
“Ugh… Would you quit looking at those… Let’s just find a target ourselves.”
“Finding somebody even the police have overlooked will be hard.”
“...Yeah. We should prolly just hold off ‘til exams are done with, huh?”
“We can wait and see for a little longer, then worry about comin’ up empty-handed if it happens…”
The sound of the door down to the main building opening suddenly caught the thieves attention. Sitting up from their slumps they cautiously peeked out from behind their cover to see who had come up to the rooftop.
“Isn’t that the student council president?”
“I think so.”
Approaching them was a familiar third year student. A woman with a neat brown bob cut, accessorized with a french braid style headband that blended perfectly with the rest of her hair. Her blood red eyes locked straight onto them, despite their attempts to be covert. There was no hiding now.
“This place is off-limits, you know.”
“...We’ll get outta here once we’re done chattin’.”
“Anyways, what’s Miss Council President want with us?”
“The troublemaker, the centre of gossip, and the infamous transfer student. Hmm, an interesting combination.”
“Great way to start a conversation….”
“By the way… It seems as though you all got to know Mr. Kamoshida pretty well.”
“Who didn’t?”
“Anyone who attends this school would have interacted with him, whether they liked it or not.”
Turning her attention towards Ren, the brunette’s accusatory gaze felt like it was prying its way into his very soul. The whole time she spoke her outward demeanour remained calm and calculating. There was hardly any emotion behind her words.
“Hm… I heard Mr. Kamoshida used a volleyball team member to spread details of your past record.”
“Don’t you hate him? Mr. Kamoshida, I mean.”
“What’s all this about? My friend here’s an upstanding guy.”
“I don’t mean to offend. Many students have been shaken up by what happened with Mr. Kamoshida. The rumours about that odd, calling card-esque posting aren’t going away either.”
“I didn’t expect someone like you would care about that tactless stuff, Niijima-senpai.”
“I dunno that it was tactless…”
“Anyways, we done here? We can’t leave if you keep talkin’ to us.”
“At least try to understand my position. Being forced to deal with this horseplay…”
“Horseplay!? My friend tried to-”
“Ah yes, by the way… It’s been decided that this place will be closed off due to what happened.”
“I heard some people are coming up here without permission, after all.”
“...I’m sorry to have interrupted you.”
Taking her leave, the agitated students made sure to wait until the door was well and truly closed before they continued their conversation. Getting up from her seat, Ann looked particularly steamed.
“What was that about?”
“...She’s on to us. That girl seems rather sharp. We should be cautious of her.”
“She really pisses me off!”
“Be careful. We can’t let our emotions out us.”
“Talk about a pain in the ass…”
“That reminds me… Study hard. Especially you, Ryuji. There are bound to be traps that will need to be solved with brains.”
“Keep in mind that everything you do in your daily lives has an impact on your abilities.”
“Not to mention if your grades suddenly drop it may draw us unwanted attention.”
“True, studying won’t be so bad if we just think of it as helping us prepare to be Nudist Thieves…”
“I guess you got a point… But man, it’s just so lame… I was all fired up about helpin’ people, not about studyin’...”
“Well, I do have somewhere interesting to show you beforehand. You guys did originally promise to help me out with my mission, after all.”
“Huh? Mission?”
“Follow me.”
* * *
Morgana ended up leading them all the way out of the school and onto a train to Shibuya. Once they arrived at the station square he investigated the area at the top of some stairs down to a platform before confidently declaring this was the place.
“What’re you bringin’ us here for?”
“Just do as I told you on the train.”
“All right, I’ve got the Nudist Aficionado Website up. Now what?”
“Look for a post with a full name in it.”
“I already said there’s no info on any big shots. Don’t you remember?”
“But man, some people actually do go and put real names… That’s some scary shit…”
“There’s actually one from a woman. Wow… She’s completely shaved. Do guys really like that?”
“Depends on the guy.”
“He won’t listen to what I say- No wait, never mind, there’s no name included.”
“Someone’s bad-mouthin’ me in online chat rooms… This one’s got a name.”
“Aren’t there any posts about more serious trouble?”
“This one’s from another woman. She’s mostly covering herself up in the picture though. I don’t know what to do about my ex who’s stalking me. His name is Natsuhiko Nakanohara.”
“It says he’s a teller at City Hall.”
“A government worker’s stalkin’ someone?”
“That should be a suitable target. All right, now get the Meta-Nav ready.”
“We’re just gonna jump right into a Palace? Fine by me!”
“Hey, what happened to all that talk of unanimous decision? What do you think we should do, Ren?”
“Well, I am curious as to what Morgana wants to show us.”
“I suppose if you're into it too then we should try and help this lady. Fine.”
“We need a name and a place, right? So the name is…”
“Actually, we don’t need a location this time. Just enter exactly what I say.”
“The keyword is… Mementos.”
“Huh? What’re you tryin’ to pull?”
“Just listen to me. It should work… I think.”
“Geez, that again?”
“He’s not failed us so far.”
“I guess. Uhhh… M-e-m-e-n-t-o-s, was it?”
“Location found.”
“We got a hit!?”
“Just as I thought!”
In a familiar haze the thieves felt like they were entering a Palace, but once the sensation ended they remained in their previous spot with no discernible changes to the area aside from the sudden lack of people. They were even still dressed in their Shujin uniforms and Morgana still resembled a normal cat.
“Everyone disappeared!”
“And that feeling… It’s the same walking on air sensation we had in the castle.”
“Is this that Nakanohara guy’s Palace?”
“That’s half right, but half wrong.”
“This is a type of Palace, but it’s different from the normal ones. Come on, let’s head down. The Shadows here lurk underground.”
“I don’t quite understand why. It may be because they’re drawn to something.”
“Underground? How are we going to get there?”
“How? You use it every day on your way to school. Follow me!”
“Ah! Wait up, cat!”
Rushing after Morgana they began to head down the steps down to the platform, the walls around them growing darker as they descended the much longer than usual stairs. Ahead of them the not-cat began to morph into his humanoid form, growing back to his much larger 5ft tall figure as an ominous red light began to wash over them. When they finally reached the bottom of the steps, they noticed the station layout had completely changed. Black gooey veins ran along the walls and pillars and the electrical advertisements were all static. There was even another set of stairs descending even deeper.
“The hell is this place?”
Looking around the blonde boy was the first to realize their outfits had changed back to their exposing masked costumes.
“We’re naked again…”
Ann sighed as she half-heartedly covered herself with her arms.
“It’s been a while since I was exposed like this… I forgot how intense it feels…”
“Doesn’t this mean the Shadows know we’re here?
“Since the moment we stepped in.”
“You should’ve told us!”
“We’re still safe right here. I’ve come to investigate a number of times. Shadows never come up to this floor.”
“But it’s a different story once you go down. This place is simply teeming with them.”
“More importantly, what is this Mementos!? It’s about time you start explaining.”
Jumping up onto a nearby ticket reader, Morgana placed his hands on his hips and took a wide stance as he looked down at the others with a determined look on his face. Thanks to the way his legs were spread they all had a bit of a view of his labia poking through the thick black fur covering his crotch, and Ren swore his previously tiny breasts had somehow grown to at least a b-cup since he last saw them.
“Mementos is… everyone’s Palace.”
“Huh? Whaddya mean, everyone’s?”
“A Palace as grand as the previous castle only forms when a person’s wishes are extremely distorted. So, instead of many individual Palaces, the general public has one gigantic shared Palace.”
“That’s where we are now… Mementos.”
“Now that you mention it, this place does feel a bit different from Kamoshida’s.”
“When you say shared… you mean they’re all put together? Even though they’re just strangers?”
“Think of it as the collective unconscious… No, never mind. You wouldn’t understand that.”
“So what you’re saying is… Using this place, we can change the hearts of people who don’t have a Palace?”
“Correct! The steps to do so are slightly different though.”
“But this place looks pretty huge. Are we gonna be able to get around by just walkin’?”
Morgana smiled.
“It seems the time has finally come…”
“Huh?”
“Morganaaa…. Transfoooooorm!”
After performing a series of rather bizarre hand gestures the humanoid cat leapt into the air next to them, and in a puff of smoke transformed into a full sized metal mini van. His large blue eyes seemed to have taken the place of the vehicle's headlights, and it retained his colour scheme. There was even a set of cat ears on the van’s roof.
“Come now, Panther. Ladies first.”
“A car…!?”
“What the fuck!”
“This comes from the way cognition materializes in the Metaverse, plus a bit of extra training.”
“It’s not dissimilar to how you guys transform.”
“You turnin’ into a fucking van is totally different than our clothes coming off!”
“Well, for some reason, “cats turning into minivans” is an extremely widespread cognition among the general public. It’s the same with the form I take normally. A lot of people seem to imagine cat’s becoming humanoid.”
“That makes no sense…”
“Wait, why didn’t you do this at the castle!?”
“I would have if I could! It was too cramped, there were tons of stairs, and no way this fits on top of a chandelier!”
Skull did not respond, as he was too busy climbing into the back of the Mona-van with Panther not far behind.
"Hey, Skull! Ladies first!”
“Stop pullin’ me! If you’re gonna make such a fuss about being touched yourself you better stop bein’ so hypocritical!”
Their kerfuffle was starting to cause the van to shake around… Joker watched on, still completely baffled by the whole situation.
“Panther! Please be gentle…”
Eventually they all took their seats in the back of the vehicle, Joker firmly between the other two, partly to stop them squabbling but also because it was a tight squeeze for three and Panther insisted if she was going to be pressed up against someone it was him over Ryuji.
Casually resting his arm over the back of the red leather seat, Skull had a wide smile on his face.
“All aboard! Let’s go!”
“Why are you all just sitting back there? I’m a car, remember? I’m not going anywhere unless someone drives me.”
“You can’t drive yourself!?”
“Do you know how to drive Ren?”
“I’ve driven in games…”
“That’s a bit worrying, but I’ll let you handle it. I don’t even have that experience to lean on.”
“You’re prolly more skilled than I am too.”
“Right…”
“All right then, we’ll leave the driving to you! Skull you join him in the front so I can have some privacy.”
“Ugh… Why do you get the special treatment.”
“Because I’m a lady!”
“Now start the engine! You can’t drive if it’s not running!”
“Ah, geez. What a pain… Where’s the key to this thing?”
“Why would you need a key!? There’s a switch just down next to the steering wheel.”
Mona suddenly let out a sensual moan as Joker’s hand brushed across an instrument.
“N-Not there! That’s… Never mind, just look lower, lower!”
After a little more investigation he found the right switch and the van began to hum to life.
“Oh, there you go… That feels strangely good…”
“Uh, is that purrin’ I hear? What a creepy-ass car!”
“Don’t underestimate my meowtary engine. We’re going full throttle! It’s time to fly!”
As Joker slowly got the hang of driving Mona across the wide tracks of the distorted subway tunnels, they realized more and more how distorted things really were. For starters the tunnels were much larger than usual, and aside from the ominous red glow of the place there were still tones of black vein like patterns coating the walls.
They encountered a few Shadows too, this time taking the form of large bulky humanoids made up of hundreds of dark distorted masks instead of the knights from before. It seemed that tearing the mask from their faces still revealed their true forms and the thieves had little trouble taking them down. After a bit more driving they eventually came across a creepy looking red and black vortex at the end of a tunnel.
“Dude, the hell is this? It’s all wavy and shit.”
“This is the place… I sense the target up ahead. Are you ready Joker?”
“Let’s do it.”
Driving forwards into the unknown they quickly found themselves being sucked into a smaller section, far more distorted than the rest of what they’d seen so far. The walls and floor here were an odd sort of carved black stone, and ominous red glowing patterns decorated them like ancient carvings. Seemingly forced to transform back to his usual figure, Mona stepped forward towards a lone figure standing ahead of them.
“Hey, something’s there!”
“That seems to be Nakanohara’s Shadow.”
“Lemme see. Some front desk guy at City Hall became a stalker, right?”
“I don’t know how much evil he’s done, but we have to do something if he’s bothering other people.”
“All right, we’ll go talk to him.”
As they continued their approach it quickly became clear the man was nude. Though his eyes glowed a familiar yellow he was otherwise a rather normal looking young Japanese man. His black hair was styled in a bowl cut and his skin was rather pale. With all his body hair seemingly shaved, there was nothing obscuring the three and a half inch cock hanging between his legs.
“Hm what’s this?”
“So you’re that stalker!? Are you seriously creeping on your ex in the buff?”
“She’s my property! I can do whatever I want with her!”
“I don’t think that’s why he’s naked, Panther. I get the feeling all the Shadow doubles down here will all be nude.”
“Without the level of distorted desires Palace owners have to form their outfits these manifestations only represent a person’s base form.”
“It’s not like she didn’t treat me like a plaything! What’s wrong with me doing the same!?”
“You can’t just treat someone like shit just ‘cause they did it to you! What a load of crap…”
“We’re gonna change the hearts of all the bastards like you!”
“There are millions of people far worse than me! What about Masami…? She stole everything from me, but you’re letting her off the hook!?”
“...Masami? That the name of his ex? The hell’s this guy goin’ on about?”
Before they had the chance to ask anymore questions he transformed into a bizarre little monster. Though he still maintained his bowl cut he now looked like a short orange skinned creature with a large head and fangs. His oversized fists swung wildly as he moved in to attack.
“Get ready! Here he comes!”
Though he was surprisingly durable, the Nudist Thieves eventually took him down, and in a burst of black goop he returned to his human form, slowly picking himself of the ground.
“I-I’m sorry… Please forgive me…”
“I-I couldn’t stop obsessing… N-Not after this person I trusted used me and then disposed of me.”
“Still blaming others?”
“Joker wait. I think he seems like he’s changed. Doesn’t he look genuinely sorry?”
Panther had a point. The maliciousness from behind his eyes seemed to have faded and there was a clear look of remorse upon his face.
“So this person you trusted… Is this the Masami that you were talking about before?”
“I… was afraid of being thrown away again like some worthless thing.”
“So some selfish bastard was making you suffer too… Still you shouldn’t have dragged an unrelated woman into your mess.”
“Yes, I know that now. I’ll put an end to my love for her…”
“...Hey, you can change people’s hearts, right? In that case…”
“Won’t you change Masami’s heart!? Before more people fall victim to her…”
Just like before with Kamoshida, the Shadow double then disappeared in a flash of white light, leaving a floating shiny orb In his place.
“Change… Masami’s heart?”
“What’s that shinin’ thing?”
“It’s the bud of a Treasure. Had we left it be, it very well may have blossomed into a Palace.”
“Joker, this should make a perfect reward.”
“So Nakanohara had a change of heart, right?”
“Most likely.”
“But how are we supposed to know if we succeeded?”
“The lady posted the dude’s name online. If he really does change, she’ll prolly comment again.”
“Hm, you do have a point.”
“Either way, trainin’ against Shadows down here’s the best! It’s great prep for our next target!”
“It’s also nice to be able to give courage to the people who post their problems online.”
“On top of that, we can sell whatever treasure we get for some cold, hard cash!”
“Sounds like things are goin’ pretty great for us!”
“There’s one more place I want to show you guys before we leave.”
“What? There’s more to this place?”
“Don’t worry, it won’t take long.”
* * *
Finished with their main objective, the gang were fortunately able to leave the strange section back through the vortex and return to the Mona-van in order to see whatever the no-cat now car wanted to show them.
“There should be another train platform around here somewhere. One with a way further down.”
“Wait, you’ve been here before, right? Don’t you got like a map or something?”
“That would hold no meaning in this place. The layout changes every time you enter.”
“Wait, so our path changes too!?”
“This place is the fused cognition of a countless number of people. It’s constantly shifting.”
“Through there! That’s it!”
Disembarking at the new train platform, the Thieves got out of Mona just in time to witness a full on subway train drive by on another rail. Its windows were all obscured by a strong glowing red light but otherwise it was just like what they were used to seeing on their commutes to Shujin.
“The trains’re totally runnin’!”
“Of course they are. We’re in the subway, you know.”
“Yeah, but I thought this was a Palace!”
“Then maybe this is how the public views the place? I don’t know.”
“People go through this darkness everyday?”
“Forget that! You sure we’re cool runnin’ around on these tracks!?”
“It should be fine as long as we’re not on the same ones… I think. I’m no train expert.”
“You gotta be kiddin’ me…”
“Anyway, let’s head to the lower area. It should be right down that escalator.”
Shifting back into his humanoid form, Mona led the way forward. As they began to descend, Skull awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he contemplated what he was about to say.
“So… Mona… I’m a little curious.”
“Isn’t your chest a fair bit bigger than it was before?”
“Now that he mentions it, it does seem like you’ve gone up a cup size.”
“I’ve told you before! They’re not boobs! I just have a padded chest… I don’t know why it’s suddenly bigger…”
“Right… It’s just that-”
“Quiet!”
“What I wanted to show you is just up ahead.”
Having reached a lower floor, the thieves rushed along a straight platform surrounded by trains running either side. At the far end of the large open room was a wall resembling the dark stone architecture they saw back with Nakanohara.
“...What is this place? It’s kinda creepy.”
“And a dead end at that. Why’s it even exist?”
“Now hold on… Just watch. This is most likely not an ordinary wall.”
“If my hunch is correct…”
Placing his paws upon the dark stone, a sudden rumbling shook everyone as the wall started to open like a hidden door. When the shaking finally stopped another passageway further down into the darkness was revealed.
“It opened!”
“A new area has been confirmed in the depths. Updating guidance information.”
“The Meta-Nav?”
“See!? It’s just as I thought!”
“What do you mean?”
“That wall wouldn’t budge when I came here by myself before. But it’d be weird for the deepest part of Mementos to be some normal place like this, wouldn’t it?”
“So you were thinkin’ there’s gotta be more to it?”
“Yeah! Now that Kamoshida’s Palace is gone and people are actually starting to talk about us I knew something had to have changed down here!”
“How deep is it? Should we try going further down?”
“Let’s not. That’s not why we’re here today, remember?”
“We’ve already accomplished our goal. We should head back and I'll explain more once we’re home.”
* * *
Having finally concluded their business in the strange palace, the thieves returned to the real world and the comfort of their Shujin uniforms. Taking a breather outside the once more populated station square, Ryuji leaned back against a nearby street lamp.
“Mementos, huh? I still don’t really get that place. Oh, and what was that wall thing we saw at the end?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but that wall must’ve been there for a reason. If Mementos is the public’s Palace though… it might be affected by the general public’s belief in us.”
“Why do you know so much about it, Morgana?”
“My memories are a little foggy in that regard… However, I need to know what lies in the depths of Mementos, no matter what.”
“No matter what?”
“Mementos is not just everyone’s Palace, it’s the source of all Palaces. It used to be that Palaces like Kamoshida’s with one ruler simply didn’t exist.”
“So, if we can do something about the greatest cause of distortions, I’m certain my appearance will…”
“You wanted someone to save you too…”
“I-I just needed pawns.”
“I see… So that’s why you came pokin’ your nose around with us.”
“...I’ll help you. I hope you can regain what you’ve lost.”
“I’ll… be relying on you guys.”
“By the way Morgana… Why are you so certain you’re a boy? Considering your body and all.”
“Of course I’m male! I mean, I…”
“...What is it?”
“No… It’s nothing. We’re done talking about that!”
“Anyway, we now know that we can perform minor changes of heart in Mementos. If we come across any eye-catching leads, it may be worth dealing with them for a bit of combat practice.”
“There weren’t any other outstanding ones though…”
“I bet we’ll get tons of ‘em if we can change someone famous and make the Nudist Thieves well-known.”
“The big fish are our main targets after all.”
“First you need to find a way to get through your exams.”
“You’re right… I still gotta study…”
“Wanna hit the books together?”
“Right now? Damn, you sure gotta a lot of stamina man.”
“Mind if I come along too?”
“The more the merrier.”
“Alright, fine! Let’s at least go to a diner or something so we can get a drink.”
* 9/5/20XX - Monday - After School *
“Here you go… The effects should be instant this time.”
Doctor Takemi handed Ren a yellow looking vial. Once again the frizzy haired boy found himself sitting in the exam room of her clinic, butt ass naked drinking strange drugs. He’d decided to take a break from studying for his exams today, and although the goth woman definitely scared him, he couldn’t help but always find himself drawn back. Secretly, there was something he found very arousing about the way the beautiful dark blue haired woman liked to take charge.
After downing the foul tasting liquid they sat staring into each other's eyes. He knew she was just examining him but it all felt very intimate. The alluring look behind her beautiful hazel eyes was surely on purpose, she wasn’t just messing with him right?
“...Let’s see. Eyes are focused. Look this way. One, two, three, four…”
“Not feeling anything yet, huh?”
Briefly glancing down at the cock resting between the boy's legs, Takemi smirked.
“Still flaccid too.”
The inside of his mouth slowly began to burn and an itchy sensation built up in his nose. Noticing his sudden discomfort, the doctor's eyes widened as her smirk grew to a full on smile.
“Oh, there it is. The inhibitory effect is just as I had hoped.”
“Your weight was the primary reason it took longer to kick in than expected…”
“This is exactly what I expected from a teenager.”
Swivelling around in her chair, Ren couldn't help but take a moment to admire her long slender legs through the pain. Thanks to the short dress beneath her lab coat they were left mostly bare, and the only thing she wore on her feet were a pair of rather extravagant high heels.
“We’re making great progress. Practice makes perfect, right?”
“Hold tight for one more moment. I just need to compile all this data, then we can move on.”
Leaving the doctor to her work, Ren laid back on the exam bed. He made no effort to cover himself as by this point he was certain she’d seen everything anyway. As he tried to take his mind of the discomfort of the drug he heard the clinic phone begin to ring. Sighing deeply before putting down her pen and picking up the handset. Takemi began to speak down the line.
“Hello, Takemi Medical Clinic of Internal Medicine. How can I help you?”
“...An emergency, huh? But we’re not a designated hospital.”
“...Besides, the head physician here is Tae Takemi.”
“Ugh…”
Putting down the phone the goth woman looked pretty pissed.
“..Awfully rude, just hanging up on a lady like that.”
“What was that about?”
“Oh, he basically just called the wrong number. An ambulance driver was for looking for a transfer location. All the designated hospitals are full.”
“To think they’d accidentally call a general practitioner… Must’ve been a new paramedic… He seemed to at least know my name though.”
Rolling her chair over to the side of the bed, Takemi seemed rather glum.
“I’ve been blacklisted by the larger medical community. They call me the Plague… due to a grave medical error I made.”
“What was the error?”
“Something at my old job. I used to work at a university hospital in the city. I was never actually convicted of anything, but I’m still considered a pariah in the medical industry.”
Looking straight into Ren’s eyes he felt a shiver run down his spine. Something about the intensity of her gaze made him feel slightly uneasy.
“...Does that scare you? Participating in clinical trials run by a doctor like that?”
“I need the medicine.”
“Right. For those entrance exams yeah?”
Slowly running her hand across his thigh in the vague direction of his crotch, she smiled.
“I guess we’re both equally shady, hm?
Ren shivered as her soft hand finally came to rest upon his manhood. Though she showed no signs of reacting to the rather inappropriate contact he was quite the opposite. This was the first time a woman had touched him down there, at least outside of the Metaverse and the sensation of her warm slender hands, casually resting upon his dick and balls caused him to nearly instantly become aroused. Though she must have been able to feel him growing beneath her fingers, Takemi never broke eye contact.
“I never saw it as too much of a problem. Being ostracized has enabled me to focus on my own, much more interesting research and development.”
The disappointment he felt when she then proceeded to remove her hand entirely and sit back in her chair was painfully immeasurable. Taking a moment to observe his now fully erect dick she seemed rather satisfied with herself.
“Not bad at all my little guinea pig.”
“I’m looking forward to continuing my work with you.”
“We’re finished for today. You can go ahead and get dressed before heading home.”
“Come again soon, if you’re still alive.”
So this is what it means to be blue balled…
After dressing Ren headed home still very erect and certainly very disappointed. He wondered if anything, what the touch meant. Was she testing his reaction or simply messing with him? Either could be possible but what if it was something else… A part of him was now deeply looking forward to his next visit but first, he had a bit of a problem to take care off, rather unfortunately alone.
* 11/5/20XX - Wednesday - Early Morning *
“I can’t believe this… A school assembly? During exam week? The hell are they thinking?”
As Ren walked through the doors to Shujin ready to face his trial by papers he was surprised to see a large gathering of students surrounding the notice board.
“It’s just after the first period right? I wonder if it’s gonna be about Mr. Kamoshida again…”
“Ugh, I can’t believe the school is messing with our schedules like this.”
“I don’t care what it’s about-it’s gonna have nothing to do with us students. I wish they’d stop dragging us into their mess.”
“A mandatory assembly during exam week, huh? Sounds rough for all of you.”
* * *
After gathering in the gym for the surprise assembly, the principal walked out onto the stage and began to address the crowd. It started off as the usual ramble about Kamoshida but then something rather interesting happened.
“Ever since that specific incident, many of you have voiced concerns that I could not bear to ignore.”
“We believe the mental health of our student body is absolutely vital, so we’ve acquired the services of a therapist.”
“The floor is yours, Doctor…”
Waltzing out onto the stage was a young looking woman in a doctor's coat. Her messy wavy dark brown hair ran down just bellow her shoulders and her figure seemed moderately slim. A pair of thick circular black glasses sat on her kind yet tired looking face and she had a rather welcoming smile.
“Oh my god she’s hot!”
When she spoke Ren was surprised at her monotone, slightly deep feminine voice. "It’s nice to meet you all.”
“Woah, her voice is sexy!”
“My name is- Huh…?”
It seemed the doctor was having some trouble with the microphone. Many of the male students watched on, enamoured, as she did her best to fix it on the fly.
“My name is Takara Miyuki. Thank you for welcoming me to your school.”
Lowing herself for a respectful bow she promptly knocked her head into the instrument in front of her. Recoiling in pain as a fair amount of laughing spread through the gym she did her best to play it off. Promptly resuming her speech she awkwardly scratched the back of her head.
“No need to be formal with me, though. I’m just here to counsel anyone who’s interested.”
“You can even call me Doc, if that would help you feel more comfortable. Any assistance you need, I’ll be- Oh…”
“I guess I’m not really any good for helping with money problems…”
Taking back the spotlight the principle practically forced the young woman out of his way.
“...Thank you, Dr. Miyuki.”
The rest of the assembly continued rather uneventfully. When it was finally over Ren began to walk back to hiss class with Ann.
“Yo.”
It seemed Ryuji had decided to come after them.
“You ever expect this place to actually give a shit about our mental health?”
“Well, our school’s made national news. Maybe they figured they’d look even worse if they didn’t do anything for us.”
“And Doctor, uh… Doctor Whatshername.”
“Miyuki-Sensei.”
“Yeah-wasn’t that lady just basically clownin’ it up onstage? You really think she’ll do us any good?”
“Ryuji…”
Ann tried to warn the blonde man as the doctor in question walked up behind him.
“Hey there.”
“Sakamoto-kun and Takamaki-san, right? And that must make you Amamiya-kun.”
“How d’you know our names?”
“Well, I was informed of certain students before beginning my tenure here.”
“Those that had, ah… previous interactions with Mr. Kamoshida. Amamiya-kun, it must’ve been especially tough for you after having just transferred here.”
“It was… certainly something…”
“I can definitely believe that.”
“So… whaddya want with us?”
“Ah yes, I’d forgotten…”
“I know I already offered my services to the student body earlier, but would you three be interested in counselling?”
“Nope, not at all.”
“Huh!?”
“How’s that surprising?”
“You were just a touch more emphatic about it than I’d expected…”
“Ah! But, if you come to my office, you can have free snacks! All you can eat… would be nice, but there’s still plenty to be had. So, how about it?”
“Tell me more of these snacks…”
“Hey, don’t fall for that!”
“To be frank, I’ve been explicitly ordered to provide counselling to the students directly involved with Mr. Kamoshida. It’s in the school’s interest… for its students.”
“Ahhh, the school’s interest, huh?”
“I know that asking you to be open with a complete stranger like myself is a lot. Making this mandatory wouldn’t do you any good, either. Might as well turn it into a worthwhile experience…”
“...Oooh, I know!”
“If you attend my counselling sessions, I’ll teach you different ways to improve your mental acuity. Like, ways to hone your concentration before exams, or not getting nervous on dates.”
“How’s that sound?”
“Uh…”
Mental training… If I make good use of this, it may aid in our Nudist Thieves activities too…
“There’s also snacks…”
“Alright, alright, enough with the snacks!”
“What are you thinkin’ Ren?”
“I’m sold.”
“Ugh, I guess it’d just be more trouble for us if we didn’t go.”
“Hmm, yeah.”
“Really? Then, I guess it’s a deal. I’ll be in the nurse’s office-feel free to come by whenever it’s convenient for you.”
“Welp, we should get goin’.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later.”
“Thanks for taking my counselling into consideration. Now that we have a deal, I promise I’ll do my best to help you.”
"I am thou, thou art I…”
“Thou hast acquired a new vow.”
“It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chain of captivity.”
“With the birth of the Councillor Nudesona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power..."
“What’s the holdup, dude?”
“Sorry for keeping you like this. Well then….”
* 13/5/20XX - Friday - After School *
As the pressure of exams continued to plague Ren’s life he sat back at his desk exhausted. Classes may be over for now but he still had one more day before he’d actually be free. With his evenings taken up with revision he hardly had time to do anything fun at all, let alone any Nudist Thief activities. The sudden buzz of his phone told him he had a message.
It’s from Ann.
Ann: Well, I went in for counselling.
Ann: You’re going soon too, right, Ren?
Ren: How’d it go?
Ann: Hmm… Well, it honestly wasn’t as rough as I was expecting.
Ann: I think you should just go and give it a shot.
Ann: Dr. Miyuki’s easier to talk to than you’d think.
Ann: Okay, see you tomorrow.
Even Ann was recommending the guy. He supposed he could swing by the nurses office before heading home. With any luck he’d actually learn a thing or two.
As he walked towards the room, to his surprise his friendly red haired Kohai was just leaving. He’d run into her a lot recently, though he supposed she did stand out a fair bit.
“Ah, hello senpai. Are you here for a session as well?”
“That’s right.”
“Is that so?”
“ Dr. Miyuki is a wonderful counsellor. I’ve actually been seeing her for a while, before she ever came to Shujin.”
“Oh? I didn’t know you two were acquainted.”
“Don’t go overselling me too hard though, Yoshizawa-san. I’m really nothing special.”
“Well, I need to get going. Please excuse me.”
With a cheerful smile, Yoshizawa made her exit leaving Ren alone with the counsellor.
“What say we get started?”
“Sure.”
Ren had never received counselling before but the session didn’t seem like anything particularly special. The two of them simply sat down with some snacks and had a nice chat. Dr. Miyuki had apparently been informed of his particular circumstances but seemed rather pleasantly understanding, she even went as far as to compliment Ren for reconciling his internal world with his external one, whatever that meant. Something about achieving his ideal conception of himself despite his situation. He wasn't too sure he fully understood what she meant by that but it was kinda nice to just see the passion in her face. He didn't notice before but she had some pretty heavy bags under her eyes too, perhaps caused by her sacrificing sleep to continue her studies.
The session ended with the doctor making a request of him to help her with her research. He’d listen to new theories about people’s metaphorical hearts and offer his own insight. A line of thought that seemed rather interesting to Ren considering his recent activities. Miyuki even offered to sweeten the pot with even more snacks and mental training. In the end he left feeling rather happy. Perhaps that was the secret to therapy, just having a chance to air things out with a kind understanding person, either way he felt as though he had a lot to learn from this new doctor, and with any luck it would be of some use in the Metaverse too.