Taking Hearts, Breaking Limits (Persona 5 Royal x Final Fantasy VII)

XXVI

5/9 - Monday - After School

Cloud's POV

It was another average day at school. Seatwork. Homework. Discussion. All that stuff. Same as always. Cloud was starting to understand why people never really enjoyed school.

To make matters worse, there was a pollen warning today. Almost half the school had allergies and were sneezing everywhere. Disgusting.

To make up for the unenjoyable experience, the Phantom Thieves were currently at the rooftop again, discussing about a possible target to have their heart changed.

"If we're all here... that means you wanna go to Mementos, right?" Ryuji assumed.

"Don't we need to study for exams though?" Ann worried.

"Eh, don't worry 'bout that stuff. Let's just ignore the details and just go chargin' in headfirst!"

"That's easy for you to say... but we don't even have a target."

"That's not actually a problem anymore, Lady Ann!" Morgana said. "Some intel has come in from Mishima."

"Ooh, perfect timin'! Let's just go in right now then!" Ryuji suggested.

"You'll really do anything to avoid studying, huh..?" Ann sighed.

"We'll just study at home." Cloud said. "By the way... what's the target about?"

"Wait... first things first." Morgana said. "Do you guys remember the most important step the Phantom Thieves need to take before they can steal someone's heart?"

"C'mon, just tell us..." Ryuji said impatiently.

"You mean a calling card, right?" Ann assumed. "But wait a sec... did we send one the last time?"

"The Treasure materializes when we change the target's subconscious with a calling card. That's the rule when dealing with a Palace." Morgana explained. "But it Mementos, it seems like we can just go for the target immediately."

"Wait, what?" Ryuji said confused. "We don't need a calling card or nothin'?"

"Yeah, 'cause something else already exists that fulfills that role."

"You mean the Phan-site?" Ren asked.

"Yup. Fortunately for us, Mishima put a comment up in the forum saying the Phantom Thieves are coming. For a small target, that's enough for a calling card. That alone will put some fear in them for a while."

"Even if the comment was posted multiple days ago?" Cloud asked.

"Theoretically, yeah. Take our previous target for example. I bet that Nakanohara guy must have seen Mishima's comments about him on the Phan-site. And that's why the Nav picked up on him."

"Can we really leave something that important to someone else though?!" Ann asked worriedly.

"The desires of Mementos Shadows are nothing compared to those of Palace rulers. Still... we need to unanimously agree on out target. No ignoring the rules, even for smaller ones."

"Well said." Ren complimented him. The feline let out a satisfied meow.

"Now about the target..." Cloud said.

"Ah... right. I'll discuss the intel we've gathered." Ren said. "According to Mishima, this intel is on an arrogant brown-haired bully here in Shujin. Things went a bit too far for just bullying though. he's been abusing and blackmailing kids."

"He's the perfect target!" Ryuji said filled with determination. "C'mon, let's take him down!"

"Are you sure you aren't just excited to go to Mementos?" Ann said. "Then again... we can't really leave a guy like that be... we should go."