Bloodthirsty (Persona 5 AU)

Chapter One: On that day

I'm jolted awake from my dreamless slumber. I look at my surroundings and realize that I'm on a train. A woman's voice came through the speaker, saying that we'll be arriving at Shibuya shortly. My eyes then fall on the signs and add on the train talking about mental shutdowns. I look back, remembering what happened that night. That man, the woman, police. I got arrested. But I didn't do anything wrong! I was just trying to do the right thing...

My attention is then quickly drawn to two girls opposite of me talking about mental shutdowns as well. I decide to ignore them and in a few minutes, I arrive at my stop. I got quickly out and went above the ground. I quickly glanced around, only to be astonished by how big Shibuya, and Tokyo overall, are.

I hear a sound from my phone. It was a notification. An app with a weird icon popped up out of nowhere. Out of curiosity, I click on it. As soon as I did the world around me started to slow down until it completely came to a stop. I look around, stunned by the sight until something draws my attention to the center of the street. It was a figure, seemingly made out of blue flames. I look at it in bewilderment as from the flames, another figure emerged. It was... me... He or I had golden-yellow eyes and wore a maniac slime.

And just like that, both the flaming figure and my doppelganger were gone, leaving me to stare in shock. I quickly blink to regain myself and look back at my phone, deciding it would be best to delete the weird app.

Another train ride and a few minutes of walking and I find myself in Yongen-Jaya where my caretaker is supposed to reside.

Starting today, Sojiro Sakura will be taking care of me. His house should be in the backstreets of this residential area...

I see a police officer and I go over to ask him for directions. He pointed me in the direction of the house and I thanked him. As I walked over to the house, I noticed the nameplate.

The nameplate here says 'Sakura'. It looks like this might be Sojiro Sakura's house...

I ring the doorbell a few times, but no one answers.

...Even after ringing the doorbell, it doesn't seem like anyone will answer the door. Maybe he's gone out...

"Looks like no one's home. Oh, yeah... Sakura-san's usually in his cafe around this time. Well, Lablanc's in the back alley so I should make my deliveries first..." A delivery man said from behind me. Hearing him say about the cafe and where it is, I turn around and go look for it.

After a few minutes of looking around, I finally spot what might be it. I walk closer.

It looks like this place is Lablanc... I'll go inside.

As I stepped inside I noticed how retro the cafe looked. It gave off a very cool and calming vibe. In the cafe, at one of the booths sat an old couple and on a counter chair sat an older man with newspapers in his hands. The TV could be heard in the background.

"A public transit bus was driven down an opposite line with its customers still in it! The citizens can't live in peace if this keeks up." the TV reporter said.

"How frightening." an elder man said.

"What could be going on? Didn't something similar happen just the other day?" the old woman asked.

"Vertical is... the name of a shellfish used for farming pearls..." the man who seemed like the manager mumbled to himself. He then seemed to notice me as he said, "...Oh, right. They did say that was today."

"We'll be going now. The payment's on the table." the elder man said to the manager.

"Thanks for coming." the manager thanked them.