Fanfic / The Body Reflects the Heart, the Shadow Reflects the Soul

The Body Reflects the Heart, the Shadow Reflects the Soul is a Persona 5 FanFiction by Raptorclaw. It is a crossover with Persona 4 and Persona 3 and is the primary story in the Reflectionverse series.

One year after the events of Persona 5 Strikers, the Metaverse encroaches upon reality once more, now without any false gods pulling the strings. With far too many infiltrations in such a short time, the barrier between reality and the Metaverse has lost its strength, and Shadows begin infesting the real world.

Three generations of Persona-users come together, but with the threat's nature, they can only mitigate it. However, one bright side is that both worlds' fusion has made it possible for anyone to Awaken to a Persona. And one of the first is a new Wild Card from Shujin Academy, a quiet loner named Kenzo Okuda, who slowly opens up to the ones around him to unlock the Wild Card's potential.

It can be read on Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction.net.

This story has also spawned several spin-off fics that are part of the Reflectionverse series.

As the story takes place after them, it and its spinoffs will contain references and spoilers for all four games mentioned above, along with Persona 4: Arena, Ultimax and Persona 5 Royal.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

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Tropes contained in The Body Reflects the Heart, the Shadow Reflects the Soul:

Tropes A-M

• Abhorrent Admirer: Mia the cat towards Morgana, even in his humanoid form.
• Abusive Parents: Unfortunately common.
  • Ryuji's Disappeared Dad—alcoholic, controlling, and so forth—reappears in Chapter 37, back to harass him and his mother for a place to stay. Ryuji finds him pounding on his door, and when it comes to blows, he effortlessly overpowers the man. And when his Shadow starts taking control, Ryuji knocks him out with a solid right hook, leaving the officers (called by the commotion) to arrest him.
  • Downplayed with Arisu's parents: they decide many things for her and set very high expectations. Not good, but not as bad as other examples on this page.
  • Satomi's parents believed that beating a child whenever she stepped out of line was the best way to keep them from becoming a delinquent. What it did was cause her to run away from home at the first chance she got.
• All-Powerful Bystander: Igor and the residents of the Velvet Room are, traditionally, out of sight of the main action and leave the protagonists to work for their answers, only offering assistance as they seek it. Here, Igor is candid about the nature of the threat and how to fix it, as there is neither a single perpetrator nor a single solution to be located with enough effort. The story also states that he and his attendants are trying to mitigate the damage on their side.
• All There in the Manual: The Discord server and this appendix contains a lot of information about the story's current state and future.
• Animal Testing: One of the crimes of Sandā Arsenal. In Chapter 40, the strike force finds an abundance of cages filled with mutilated animals that the company has been trying to turn into Anti-Shadow Weapons.
• Anti-Magic: The Persona-jammers made by Futaba.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Sho Minazuki has this as part of his Humans Are Bastards rant, listing off achievements of the species such as genocide, illegal experiments, and reality TV; subverted, though, as Word of God states that he was talking about the Midnight Channel.
• Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving: Sho Minazuki rants at a Black Ooze in this vein while he's pulling a Big Damn Heroes to save the first people who ever showed him unconditional kindness:
  Sho: You know something? I really. Hate. People. They're selfish, ignorant, loud, obnoxious pricks with basically no redeeming qualities whatsoever! I mean really! Look at all they've achieved! Genocide, illegal experiments, reality TV, it’s just a never-ending parade of failures and f***-ups! They are, without question, a complete write-off of a species, AND HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME CARE ABOUT THEM!!
• Artifact of Doom: Vanes of Order are golden feathers soon revealed to be shards of Yaldabaoth. If handled with care by a Persona user, they're harmless, and the Persona user can use them as supernatural reality-warping batteries. If consumed by a Shadow, it instantly grows more robust. If wielded by a regular person, it serves as a conduit to help them unleash their Persona but acts as a Corrupter to them. And for someone with a darker heart, it can release darker impulses and eventually a Corporeal Shadow. At worst, it can corrupt the Personal Shadow itself and force it to go berserk even if its owner accepts it.
• Artistic License – Law Enforcement: Akihiko is stated to be Chief of Police; however, this rank does not exist within the hierarchy of Japanese law enforcement. Additionally, within American law enforcement, the position "Chief of Police" is generally associated with small or medium-sized municipalities, and would not exist as part of the Tokyo police department - with the correct title for the head of Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department being "Superintendent General".
• Ascended Extra: Akane Hasegawa goes from a prominent side character to a Phantom Class Persona-user and one of Kenzo's Confidants (The Empress).
  • From an In-Universe standpoint, Yuuki Mishima - who Futaba referred to multiple times as an NPC - when he receives a Shattering Shackle in Chapter 45.
• Ascended Fanon:
  • In-Universe, Kenzo's terminology for Persona classification goes viral.
• Awesome by Analysis: Kenzo is this, being able to reason things out quickly and accurately with little information. He guesses two of the Thieves' true identities before he gets an invite to the Thieves' Den.
• Badass Boast: How Yu introduces himself at the end of Chapter 39:
  Yu: The name's Yu Narukami, resident Wild Card of Yasoinaba and leader of the Investigation Team. We solved the case of the foggy day murders about seven years ago and kicked the ass of the goddess responsible for it. Now we patrol the countryside around here, hunt monsters, and guard the pocket dimension that was the source of all our original adventures. Nice to meet you.
• Badass in Distress: In Chapter 36, Sho gets captured by Sandā Arsenal goons.
• Badass Normal: Sae Niijima, unsurprisingly. She beats a lesser Shadow with her bare hands on her way to get proper weapons from Iwai.
• Become a Real Boy: Several characters have this desire.
  • Morgana becomes mostly human with the help of a Vane of Order, which he seems content with for now.
  • Sophia gets an android body from the Kirijo Group but hopes to become human once they gather enough Vanes. Labrys is also interested, but Aigis considers herself most valuable in her mechanical form.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Akari Amamiya, Ren's mother, is a sweet and kind woman who is scary when angry or vindictive, even frightening her husband.
  • Haru Okumura, a.k.a. Noir, is very much this in canon. At the end of Chapter 25, even utter psychopath Sho Minazuki is utterly cowed when faced with Noir's cheerful threats while she sharpens her axe; as are Yu, Naoto, Aigis, Labrys, Kenzo, and possibly even Joker.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • In Chapter 2, Oracle arrives and rejuvenates Fox just in time to save him from being overwhelmed by Shadows.
  • In Chapter 20, the newly ascended Yu and Rise arrive just in time to save Kenzo from his own Personal Shadow and the horde of Shadows that comes with him.
  • In Chapter 28, Sho Minazuki saves Rumi and Maruki from a group of Shadows that were about to overwhelm them.
  • Chapter 42 has Sumire jumping into a Shadow fight Minako, Sho, Trench, Ayaka, and Monty found themselves in, blasting a troublesome Hecatoncheires with much-needed Bless magic.
• Big Damn Kiss: When Rumi regains her memories, her love for Maruki eclipsing the trauma from her parents' murders, thus allowing the two reunited lovers to rekindle their relationship.
  • Happens again at the end of Chapter 37, between Ann and Ryuji, solidifying their relationship.
• Big Eater: In Chapter 46, Yu, Sumire, Satomi, Atsuko, and Shen attempt the Mega Beef Bowl Challenge, with the former two being particularly voracious, as in canon.
  • Partially averted with Kenzo, as he mentions having a small stomach, though he does eat up pretty quickly and still feels hungry.
• Big "WHAT?!":
  • Ryuji, at the end of Chapter 7, upon finding out that Ren and Makoto are dating.
  • Ren in Chapter 14 when Futaba tells him that Sophia is at Leblanc in her own body (courtesy of the Kirijo Group).
  • Ryuji again in Chapter 14, in response to Futaba making Morgana (mostly) human.
  • Mitsuru in Chapter 21 when she learns that Kenzo fused a Velociraptor Persona on his own by sheer force of will.
  • The Investigation Team in Chapter 31, when they find out that Kenzo and Futaba's class has chosen their backwater hometown of Yasoinaba as the destination for their class trip due to its ties to Risette and Persona-users.
  • Yukari in Chapter 49 when she hears about Chidori Awakening to a new Persona.
• Bond One-Liner: In base Persona 5 and Royal, the Thieves have distinctive one-liners following All-Out Attacks. A couple of new ones in the fanfic are:
  • Wolf's is "Hunt Completed."
  • Raven's is "Fear the wrath of the Phantom Thieves!"
• Boss in Mook's Clothing: Rumi's Corporeal Shadow takes the form of Eris, the Greek goddess of discord, and Oracle states at the start of Chapter 29 that she's as strong as Shido's Shadow.
• The Bus Came Back: Every living and non-villain Persona-user since the time of SEES is in this story and fighting the good fight.
• Call-Back: In Chapter 46, Yu repeats a line of dialogue from the original Persona 4 anime when he, Sumire, Satomi, Atsuko, and Shen take on the Mega Beef Bowl Challenge.
  Yu: To finish this monster of a meal, you must have Understanding of your limits, Knowledge to set the proper pace, Courage to tackle the mountain of meat and Diligence to keep on eating. All of these skills are required to finish off the Mega Beef Bowl!
• Calling Your Attacks: The Spellstone only works if you call out the spell infused inside it.
• Canon Foreigner: Minako Arisato, the FeMC from Persona 3 Portable, appears in this story. Minato died forming the Great Seal, but Minako, his twin sister, had been separated from him for a long while and only learned of his death several weeks after the events on Tatsumi Port Island. She's a recent addition to the Shadow Operatives and a Wild Card, but instead of a female Orpheus, her Persona is Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus.
  • Keiko Miyahara from the fic Covering the Phantom Thieves by RantingOverGlennFrey makes a cameo in Chapter 22, though it's unlikely that this Keiko is the same as CtPT!Keiko (as that story diverged significantly from the game in later chapters as a result of Keiko's reporting). The most likely matter is that they're the same person in two different universes. Doubles as a Shout-Out.
• Canon Welding: Persona 5 Royal and Strikers don't happen in the same continuity. Here, the events of Strikers occur after the true ending of Royal. However, it's currently unknown what the Thieves did between Royal and Strikers.
• Casting a Shadow: Akane's Persona, Cosette, uses Curse attacks.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Common.
  • In Chapter 2, Naoto calmly exchanges introductions with Queen and Noir while fighting Shadows in the Shibuya subway station.
  • Also, in Chapter 2, Skull banters with Wolf as they tear through another group of Shadows.
  • In Chapter 41, Naoto explains the nature of Palaces to some reporters while she and her Persona are slaying and incapacitating many Shadows coming from the Palace that manifested in the real world to prompt the explanation.
• Chekhov's Gun: A literal example in Chapter 22, when Joker notices a model for a British World War II De Lisle Carbine rifle, one of the rarest and quietest guns in the world, and Iwai says with a grin that it's the only model in the store that he'll never sell. Word of God says that "it'll be used by someone specialized in urban guerrilla warfare." It's not much of a surprise, then, that Iwai himself winds up using it in Chapter 45.
• Cliffhanger: Several.
  • Chapter 4 ends with Joker approaching Yu in a not specifically conflict-free way.
  • Chapter 6 ends with Kuon Ichinose and Sophia arriving at the Shadow Operatives' secret base and asking for their help.
  • Chapter 9 ends with Kenzo's Awakening to his Persona, Quasimodo, with the aid of a strange artifact.
  • Chapter 10 ends with Igor welcoming Kenzo to the Velvet Room.
  • Chapter 11 ends with Zenkichi calling Ren to tell him about Akane's kidnapping.
  • Chapter 12 ends with Akane Awakening to her Persona, Cosette.
  • Chapter 17 ends with Ren euphoric at seeing his parents in Leblanc.
  • Chapter 19 ends with the following line from Kenzo's perspective: "A hand with a cloth grabbed me by the nose and mouth."
  • Chapter 20 ends with Kenzo forcibly fusing a Velociraptor Persona from the depths of his heart to fight against his Shadow.
  • Chapter 22 ends with a look at Sho Minazuki, who's in Tokyo, being tailed by mobsters, and trying to track down Yu.
  • Chapter 28 ends with Rumi's Shadow taking form and taking the host hostage. And it seems to be more than the average Corporeal Shadow, introducing herself as Eris, the Greek goddess of strife.
  • Chapter 33 ends with Sho Minazuki revealing that he stowed away on the strike team's trip to Osaka.
  • Chapter 36 ends with Sandā Arsenal goons kidnapping Sho.
  • Chapter 38 ends with thieves pickpocketing Kenzo's wallet and running away while he chases after them.
  • Chapter 40 ends with Yasuo Isobe defying the Thieves with so much ardor that his company headquarters transforms into a Palace.
  • Chapter 45 ends with Akari revealing that Shoichi Takada is the name of the man who raped her.
  • Chapter 46 ends with Satomi entering the Velvet Room in her dreams.
• Code Name: With the revelation that the Phantom Thieves are more potent than the previous teams of Persona-users because they've fully embraced their Shadows, everyone will be getting one when they find the strength to reach that level of self-acceptance.
  • Akane chooses Raven as her codename at the end of Chapter 13.
  • Kenzo plans to choose Raptor once he reaches the Phantom Thieves' level.
• Comically Small Demand:
  • As in canon, the Velvet Room affords a willing Wild Card all of the assistance that Igor and those who rule above power can provide. The price is no different from the base games, but this story shows an actual contract that new Wild Cards must sign for this assistance, and it's only one sentence long: "I will take full responsibility for my actions."
  • Mitsuru buys the Phantom Thieves a building in Yongen-Jaya to expand their home base, partly as an apology for being unable to help with Shido's conspiracy and partly as a way to assist fellow Persona users. So, it's unsurprising that the only thing she asks in return is that they continue fighting Shadows and helping people who need it.
• Contrived Coincidence: While Persona-users are appearing worldwide, there seems to be only one team per area in Japan. So what are the chances of two groups of Persona-users starting as students at Shujin Academy?
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: The head of Sandā Arsenal is exposed to be this: he founded his company after nearly going bankrupt, and since then has had a possessive, controlling streak for everything close to him as well as a lack of scruples, selling weapons to anyone who can pay.
• The Corrupter:
  • The Vanes of Order, as mentioned above.
  • Shoichi Takada, second-in-command of Sandā Arsenal, coaxed his boss to give in to his dark desires in a successful attempt to manifest a Palace in the real world. Of particular note, he started it during the mental shutdown epidemic before the Phantom Thieves' time.
• Damned by Faint Praise: Lethal Chef Yukiko says the following in Chapter 43:
  Yukiko: My cooking’s been getting better! It now takes almost thirty minutes before the kitchen staff kick me out!
  (Beat)
  Yu: Impressive.
  Yukiko: (swats Yu with her fan)
• Deadly Ringer: Kenzo's first Persona, Quasimodo, wields a giant bell as his weapon.
• Defeat Means Friendship: In Chapter 39, Kenzo defeats Satomi and Atsuko, and they end up in a conversation at a Chinese Diner afterward.
• Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: In Chapter 32, Shen displays the ability to load his crossbow with Spellstone. Kenzo scolds him for wasting a sample for a demonstration but compliments his ingenuity.
• Don't Make Me Destroy You: In Chapter 39, Kenzo gives Atsuko and Satomi several chances to walk away if they return his wallet, even offering to let them keep the cash. When they lash out with their powers instead, they regret it.
• Dynamic Entry:
  • At the end of Chapter 2, Joker makes his dramatic entrance by one-shotting the boss Shadow of the first Outbreak from behind and calmly walking into the daylight to join his fellow Thieves and the police.
    Joker: Am I late to the party?
  • Happens again in Chapter 35, where a falcon dive-bombs a Gryphon Shadow, knocking it down with a rock.
• Easily Forgiven: Kenzo pulls a Don't Make Me Destroy You on Atsuko and Satomi in Chapter 39. After they get violent and he curb-stomps them, he immediately heals them and starts talking things out.
• Elemental Powers: In addition to Fire, Ice, Electricity, Wind, Nuclear, Psychokinesis, Bless, and Curse magic, the author brings in a few more elements from the series that weren't in Persona 3, 4, or 5: Earth, Water, Force (Blast), and Gravity.
• Ensemble Cast: With so many characters and groups, the story often rotates the focus and POVs of the characters and groups.
• "Eureka!" Moment:
  • Ryuoto Yoshino watches Kenzo's group in Chapter 32 and, with an effort, gets a glimpse of a Shattering Shackle past its Perception Filter. With some thinking, he recognizes the golden feather from seeing it on his way home one day around the Outbreaks' beginning.
  • Two separate ones in quick succession in Chapter 49: when Minako hears about how the flowers Chidori healed brought her back to life, she reasons she can use Minato's Personas that Aigis still has to help revive him. And her own determination to save her brother causes Mitsuru to explain to Yukari that due to the Outbreaks, the general public now knows about Shadows, which has an effect on Erebus. Yukari immediately resolves that they need to do whatever they can to research ways to save Minato as well.
• Exact Words:
  • In Chapter 17, when Akane Hasegawa transfers to Shujin, rumors work overtime about her relation to Zenkichi Hasegawa, the Phantom Thief Wolf. She dissuades them by saying that Hasegawa is a common surname and that she's gotten a lot of grief from the rumor mills at her old school inquiring about the same thing, never denying that the rumors are entirely correct.
  • Coupled with Ambiguous Syntax in Chapter 44. Here, Shen is referring to Satomi, Atsuko, and Futaba, but everyone thinks he's talking about Satomi, Atsuko, and Arisu instead. It works, as everyone assumes that Arisu already has a Persona, and no one notices Shen's slip-up.
    Shen: Uh, maybe a guy who doesn't want to get absolutely blasted by the three Persona-users on the other side of that wall?
• Extra-Long Episode: Chapters 1-41 ranged from 1800-5300 words per chapter. Chapter 42 is a whopping 8000+ words.
  • Chapters 40 and 41 prior broke the 5000-words milestone.
• Flat-Earth Atheist: Chapter 4 mentions that the United States Government vehemently tried to dismiss the Outbreaks as a hoax. A few days later, a strong Shadow attacked Washington D.C. and slaughtered several executives and legislators who refused to evacuate. The country bounced back after that.
• Flat "What": Sho Minazuki has this reaction—somewhat understandably—when after solving a puzzle in an escape room that he wound up trapped in after jumping through a TV, the room suddenly becomes filled with water, and he grows gills, fins, and scales. It Makes Just As Much Sense In Context.
• Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Ren's mother politely turns down Futaba's request to hunt down Ren's biological father and punish him, sincerely saying that she's moved on from her past with him. However, she then tells Futaba that she'll gladly give her the man's name if he comes back to bother them again in the present.
• Forgot About His Powers: In Chapter 42, after defeating a Hecatoncheires mini-boss with effort, Sho facepalms so hard that he knocks himself over when he realizes that he has a Persona with its weakness and forgotten all about it.
• Genre Savvy: Ryouto may be desperate and determined enough for his power to go looking for a Vane of Order, but he's also aware that recklessly listening to the otherworldly whispers of a strange artifact promising power is a bad idea. It's without noting the scar on Kenzo's hand caused by another Vane.
• Glowing Eyes: Whenever a Wild Card activates their Zero Skill, their eyes turn blue.
  • In the case of Sho, his scar glows blue as well, and considering his Zero Skill, activating it pretty much leans into Glowing Eyes of Doom.
• Good Parents: Ren's parents, Akari and Kazushi Amamiya. Despite being absent in canon, they have a close and loving relationship with their son, and they are the only people from his hometown to believe that he got framed for assault. They move to Tokyo in Chapter 18, and the Thieves throw a welcome party for them in the next chapter.
• Green Rocks: Black rocks, rather. Kenzo finds that many Greater Shadows drop them, but they don't appear to have effects. In Chapter 16, he gives one to Joker, who realizes with Raoul's help that they're used for enchantment, storing spells like Eigaon for later usage. However, only Persona-users or those close to Awakening Personas can use them. They're then immediately christened Spellstone.
• Gruesome Grandparent: The CEO of Sandā Arsenal sells guns to anyone who can afford them, kidnaps Persona-users for his purposes, and is a ruthlessly controlling man towards his family. Ayaka Tani, his granddaughter, who lost her mother (his daughter) to the Outbreaks, fled from him and went into hiding out of fear that she'd never step outside again if she went to him.
• Guns Are Worthless: Played with; because reality and the Metaverse have overlapped, any gun—real or model—can be an effective weapon against Shadows, especially flying ones. But in the hands of regular civilians, it takes a mob to be effective against anything but bottom-rung Shadows like Pixie and Jack-O-Lantern, so it still falls to Persona users to handle the bigger messes. And, of course, it's still played straight with some Shadows that are naturally immune to gunfire, like Shiki-Ouji.
• Hates Being Touched: 'Hate' is a strong word, but Sophia seems to shy away from any physical shows of affection; in Chapter 15, she is unhappy when Rise hugs her without permission. This trait is canon, as she bluntly refused Ann's request to floof her in Strikers.
• Hammerspace: Word of God says that Phantom Class Persona-users have access to some form of this trope. Weapons stored here appear in a flash of blue fire and return there likewise.
• Head Desk: In Chapter 31, Yosuke has this reaction upon hearing why Kenzo and Futaba's class chose Yasoinaba as their class trip destination.
• Heroic Bastard: In this story, Ren's birth father raped his mother while she was drunk at his party; she never told Ren his name. However, his mother raised him lovingly, and she later met a man who began helping her; they married when he was twelve. The other Thieves resolve to track down the glorified sperm donor and bring him to justice as soon as they learn this, though Ren's mother refuses to share his name unless he comes back to trouble them again, preferring to leave that part of her life behind. Of course, he then turns out to be a major antagonist...
• Home Base: As an apology for being unable to help the Phantom Thieves against Shido and EMMA, Mitsuru purchases a building beside Leblanc and gives it to the Thieves, renovating a secret passage from Leblanc's attic into the establishment. They soon turn it into the Thieves' Den: black walls, red carpet, bright furniture, plants in the corners, Yusuke's paintings everywhere, and, with some help from the Vanes of Order, much Bigger on the Inside.
• Hot Springs Episode: The latter half of Chapter 44 boils down to this.
• Hypocritical Humor: In Chapter 39, Shen calls Satomi and Atsuko amateurs even though he's only had his Persona for under a week at that point.
• I Always Wanted to Say That: Kenzo has been waiting for a while to taunt a giant spider with the "Old fat spider spinning in a tree!" poem by J. R. R. Tolkien.
• Ice Queen: Mitsuru Kirijo is this to a T, an assertive and stoic woman born to power and wealth who uses ice magic. But it's frequently shown that she's actively repressing some of her emotions for her position's sake, thus implying that she'll need to embrace those parts of herself to reach her full power.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: Shoichi Takada, a high-ranking businessman, believes that there can be no victory against the endless Shadows and so instead elects to join them by creating Palaces.
• I Know You're Watching Me: In Chapter 7, Ren and Makoto muse on the likelihood that their relationship is still a secret from the other Thieves, considering that Futaba—with her wiretapping tendencies—is watching them and has gotten several of the other Thieves in on the watching, and is planning on barging in on them at the most embarrassing possible moment. They're entirely correct, and Futaba is annoyed.
  Futaba: What's the point of being sneaky if the people you're trying to be sneaky around know you're there anyway?
• Imagination-Based Superpower: Kenzo's Magician's Flame is this, as he can create almost anything if he has the right Personas on hand and the energy to maintain his constructs.
• Improbable Weapon User:
  • In Chapter 9, people use bottles of alcohol as weapons three separate times.
  • Quasimodo uses a giant bell as his weapon.
• Japanese Honorifics: Abounds, as is typical for Persona fics. Of note, Ken Amada refers to all his fellow Persona-users with honorifics; the other Shadow Operatives are all his senpai, while he doesn't know the Investigation Team or the Phantom Thieves as friends yet.
• Joined Your Party: Averted with Satomi and Atsuko in Chapter 39, when Kenzo lampshades the awkwardness that would bring.
• Katanas Are Better: Inverted with Kenzo in Chapter 19, who prefers western swords over them.
  • Humorously, in the next chapter, he ironically uses a katana to fight against his own Shadow.
• Letting Her Hair Down: Ann does this for her date with Ryuji in Chapter 37. His brain briefly short-circuits at how nice it makes her look.
• Little Bit Beastly: Futaba's first experiment with a Vane of Order is to turn Morgana human. It mostly works; he looks like a twelve-year-old human but still has cat ears and a tail. The reaction from most of the Thieves was in the Squee family.
• Little "No": The reaction of Kenzo's Shadow to Kenzo as he rejects the latter's peace offering, steals his Persona and Vane of Order, and tries to kill him.
• The Load: Discussed between Kenzo and Akane, who, despite being a Phantom Class Persona-user, feels unhelpful among the others who have so much more experience under their belts. Kenzo helps her realize that she only needs to grow more potent and independent, possibly finding her team (despite not being a Wild Card).
• Magical Accessory: In Chapter 25, Kenzo helps Futaba spark up an idea for making Evoker-like items out of the Vanes of Order. One chapter later, Futaba has a prototype, and in Chapter 32, she completes the Shattering Shackle. In addition to allowing anyone with the potential to become a Hunter Class Persona-user, it has a Perception Filter that makes it Invisible to Normals unless they're actively looking for it. It acts as a Clingy MacGuffin that can't leave the user's wrist until they can summon a Persona without it; and, of course, dampening effects to ensure that the Vanes of Order don't take over the user. Word of God states that navigation Personas help make the Shackles' creation more manageable, as Futaba was proficient in making two full Shackles in around three days.
• Mugging the Monster:
  • A couple of thugs who used to be part of Shido's conspiracy under Owada decide to kidnap Akane and ransom her to get Owada released from jail. They make two crucial mistakes. First was underestimating the Phantom Thieves, who tracked them down within an hour of arriving in Kyoto. And second, misjudging Akane; almost as soon as she woke up, her Shadow began speaking with her, and she Awakened to her Persona.
  • A literal example occurs at the end of Chapter 38; a couple of vagabonds pickpocket Kenzo and run. Then, in the next chapter, they try to fight him despite the Wild Card trying to negotiate. They get thrashed.
• Myth Arc: The long-term goal of the Persona-users is to separate the Metaverse from the real world again, but the fic focuses on smaller arcs and Slice of Life moments.
• Mythology Gag:
  • In Chapter 1, Skull is the first Thief to jump into action after a group of Shadows interrupts him while eating. Much like his Showtime with Fox in Royal.
  • In Chapter 28, Minako mentions that her aunt and uncle tried to change her and her brother's names to Makoto and Kotone Shiomi. Makoto is Minato's first name in Persona 3: The Movie, and Kotone Shiomi is Minako's full name in Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade.

Tropes N-Z

• Narrative Profanity Filter: A particular curse word is written as "F***" in this story whenever it appears. Later, "D**k" also appears.
• Nebulous Evil Organization: Hinted at starting in Chapter 19 and fleshed out in Chapter 31 as the first true villains of the story: Sandā Arsenal is a weaponry organization that's been booming in business since the Outbreaks began. They've been smuggling weapons for decades and had ties to Shido's conspiracy. Their latest plot involves trying to harness the power of Persona users by abducting ones that aren't in the public eye. The business with them concludes in Chapter 41 with the fall of their leader's Palace.
• Named by the Adaptation:
  • Rumi's last name was unknown in canon. Here, her last name is Tominaga.
  • Also, the former Vice Principal's (now Principal) surname is Yamanaka.
• The New '10s:
  • The fic takes place in 2018, with Persona 5 occurring in 2016 and Strikers in the summer of 2017.
  • Additionally, The_Anonymous_User wrote down the dates of most of the chapters on the Discord server, with Raptorclaw saying that he likes the idea and counts it as canon.
• Next Tier Power-Up: Kenzo classifies Persona-users this way, with each generation being at a higher tier: SEES was 'Hunter Class,' people capable of summoning Personas with the aid of a particular item; the Investigation Team was 'Sage Class,' people capable of calling upon Personas on their own; and the Phantom Thieves are 'Phantom Class,' where they immerse themselves fully in the Metaverse's power by embracing their Shadows. The terminology becomes official in-universe.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Sandā Arsenal sending its goons to attack Minako's group in Chapter 26 is the only reason the Persona-users found out about their organization. Akihiko even lampshades it in Chapter 31:
  Akihiko: In a way, I suppose you could thank those thugs for attacking Minako's team the other day. If they hadn't made such a blatant move, the department would have been dithering for ages about taking action.
• Noodle Incident:
  • In Chapter 18, Ren's mother shares a few stories about him:
    • He ran off to play in the woods without telling her when he was ten.
    • He got into a fight with an armed mugger when he was fourteen (Ren wasn't the instigator).
    • He tried to sneak out when they went on a trip to Iwatodai when he was nine because "the sky turned green and people turned into coffins." Pity that no Shadow Operatives were around to hear that one.
  • In Chapter 31, the Investigation Team shuts down Teddie's request to join the Osaka strike team due to an unspecified incident at Junes.
  • In Chapter 38, Kenzo's youngest sister Mizuki asks him to zap her sister Chiyo for some unspecified incident.
• No-Sell:
  • Kenzo had plans of confronting his Shadow and suspicions about how the Vane of Order would affect it; hence, he's completely unaffected by all of his Shadow's taunts. Unfortunately, his Shadow does yield to the Vane of Order's influence and rejects him, stealing his Persona and trying to kill him.
  • Eris seemingly does this in Chapter 29, but she's shrugging off the damage; she can't keep it up for long.
• Not So Stoic: Mitsuru Kirijo.
  • She utterly hated Masayoshi Shido and his Conspiracy. Hence, when he heard that the Thieves were going after him, she wanted to scream and jump for joy.
  • In Chapter 20, she suppresses all urges to try petting the cat-boy Morgana.
• Oblivious to Love: Ren mentions in Chapter 18 that his mother dropped hints for years before his father asked to date her.
• Oh, No... Not Again!: The title of Chapter 1 is along these lines.
• One-Steve Limit: Accidentally and unintentionally averted, as OC Ryouto Yoshino shares his last name with Chidori (or at least her maiden name) without being related to her.
• Original Character: Several, primarily focused around Kenzo.
  • Kenzo's Velvet Room attendant is Saraiah, a young woman whose personality is impish like Elizabeth's.
  • Mita Eri is a mild-mannered Shujin student who becomes acquainted with Akane as soon as she enrolls.
  • Sho Minazuki's attendant is Lucy, a stern and belligerent individual.
  • Shen Kurata-Yang is a half-Chinese Australian who moved to Japan for safety. He becomes Kenzo's Magician Confidant and uses a Shattering Shackle to summon Leigong, the Chinese god of thunder.
  • Tamotsu Kojima is a blacksmith Iwai knows, a sour senior man who grudgingly agrees to apprentice Kenzo. He becomes Kenzo's Strength Confidant.
  • Arisu Fukuda is Kenzo's class representative at Shujin, quiet but strong-willed with the nickname 'Storm Girl' who joins Kenzo and Shen in learning to fight Shadows.
  • Ryouto Yoshino is a timid boy who follows Kenzo's group around, trying to soak in the knowledge of how to fight Shadows, but not willing to ask to join them.
  • Akio Fujita is a quiet boy from Shujin who is a friend of Kaoru.
  • Trench and Sakiko are Persona-users from Osaka that the strike team meets in Chapter 36.
  • Ayaka Tani is a college-aged girl who falls in love with Sho in Osaka.
  • Ayu is a ghost-obsessed girl in Inaba who's close friends with Nanako.
• Original Generation: Zig-Zagged. The characters from the main game get as much focus as the OCs, if not more, in the fic's early parts.
• Outdoor Bath Peeping: Defied. When class pervert Yuichi attempts to peek at the girls at the Amagi Inn's hot springs, Kenzo stops him by freezing his feet to the floor. Word of God mentions that he doesn't like that kind of scene, which is why it was written like this.
• Out of Focus: Though Kenzo is the narrator, the focus is mainly on the Phantom Thieves for the first several chapters. Once he Awakens, he's more front-and-center, but it's clear that he's someone who's integrating himself into the main characters without being more prominent than any of the main Thieves.
• Perspective Flip: A one-shot side story, Halfway To Tokyo With None Of The Fare, fleshes out the two crooks who pickpocket Kenzo at the end of Chapter 38.
• Playing with Fire: Quasimodo, and later Hephaestus, specialize in fire magic.
• Polyglot: Kenzo grew up on the Western Coast of the United States; hence, he is fluent in both Japanese and English. His Magician Confidant Shen Kurata-Yang is half-Chinese and grew up in Australia, so he's fluent in English and Japanese, along with Chinese.

• Pungeon Master: Kenzo enjoys making bad puns and has to restrain himself the first time he meets Yu.
• Redemption Demotion: At his peak, Takuto Maruki was strong enough to evenly oppose the entirety of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts (besides Sophie and Wolf, who joined later). After his defeat, as part of his graceful loss, he allowed his will to fade, setting him back to square one. But after enough time passes with Rumi being in danger, he joins the Shadow Operatives.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: If this happens to a Persona user, they are outraged. Such as when the Thieves learned about Akane's kidnapping.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • Zenkichi Hasegawa is the only Thief who goes public with his true identity due to his ties with the police, playing middleman to keep the others' identities under wraps from the general public.
  • Before Chapter 16, Sumire was the only Thief who knew that Ren and Makoto were dating. Subverted when it turns out that all of the other Thieves—or at least the girls—already knew through Futaba's wiretapping.
  • In Chapter 32, Shen and Arisu learn that Akane is not only related to Wolf but is a Phantom Class Persona-user when she joins them for a night of hunting. The two of them promise to keep the secret.
  • In Chapter 41, the appearance of Isobe's Palace and the subsequent horde of Shadows cause Sumire's meet to get canceled before it can begin. Coach Hiraguchi then notices and points out the blue fire reminiscent of a Persona-user around her feet from her anger and pulls a Could Say It, But... to let Sumire run off to join the fight.
• Secret Test of Character: Ren puts Yu through one with Futaba and Sumire's help to ensure that the other group of Persona-users is trustworthy; he's satisfied when Yu proves that he's genuinely (and fiercely) protective of his friends.
• Self-Insert: The author has stated that he based Kenzo Okuda on himself.
• Self-Deprecation: Word of God states that he keeps referring to Atsuko with the wrong pronouns (he/him instead of they/them) and had Kenzo refer to Atsuko as a "he" for this reason.
• Shipper on Deck: Mrs. Sakamoto wholeheartedly supports her son's relationship with Ann.
• Shout-Out:
  • Kenzo's initial Persona is Quasimodo.
  • In Chapter 12, Akane Hasegawa awakens to, rather appropriately, Cosette, the daughter of Valjean.
  • In Chapter 13, Ren calls Futaba 'Bug'; this nickname comes from another Persona 5 fic, The Many Quirks of Phantom Thievery.
  • In Chapter 16, Kenzo taunts a spider-shaped Shadow with Bilbo's "Old fat spider spinning in a tree!" poem/song from The Hobbit.
  • In the author's notes of Chapter 17, Raptorclaw muses on how many people have had many interpretations of Ren's absentee parents:
    Raptorclaw: Several amazing P5 fics have done their own takes on Ren's parents, having them range from chaotic (Shots Through the Heart) to loving (Homecoming) to neglectful or abusive (Reforming the Shattered and Dark Hour in P5) or having one be AWOL (The Many Quirks of Phantom Thievery) or having one or both of them be dead (Forearmed). Ultimately, I couldn't decide on just one I wanted to pay homage to, so I decided to make my own take based on bits and pieces compiled from the best parts of some of these great fanfictions. See if you can guess next chapter which parts come from which fanfics.
    • Raptorclaw also takes inspiration from The Many Quirks of Phantom Thievery for Ren's mother's name (Akari) and Dark Hour in P5 for Ren's father's name (Kazushi).
  • In Chapter 18, Kenzo mentions that he's been into swordplay and archery since he saw The Adventures of Robin Hood and has been dual-wielding "since before a certain anime character ever uttered the words 'Starburst Stream'."
  • In Chapter 21, a chat group's name is "Somehow We Are All Still Alive," which Raptorclaw cites as a reference to "Phantom Dumbasses" by Cipherian.
  • Another time in Chapter 21, Kenzo says he'd "sooner put his brain in a microwave."
  • In Chapter 22, Keiko Miyahara from the fic Covering the Phantom Thieves by RantingOverGlennFrey makes an appearance as the president (and only member) of Shujin Academy's newspaper club. In the same chapter, she's also compared to Coco from RWBY.
  • In Chapter 25, Futaba creates the Samsara Room video game to avert the Television Portal that Sho Minazuki could use to exit his otherwise escapable room. That is to say, if he tries escaping, he winds up in an escape room.
  • In Chapter 28, Sho's rant is almost identical to Kirito's in Episode 8 of Sword Art Online Abridged.
  • Introduced in Chapter 29, Minako's Persona evolves into Gerda, the protagonist of The Snow Queen.
  • In Chapter 31, sometime after Kenzo introduced Futaba to Doctor Who, she was inspired to use some of the Vanes of Order to make it so that the Thieves' Den is, much like the TARDIS, bigger on the inside.
  • In Chapter 33, Dragon Rider, Kenzo's Special Persona of the Star Arcana, is based on Hiccup and Toothless.
  • In Chapter 37, the Sandā Arsenal goons who captured Sho have him enwrapped in restraints. Yet they're still intimidated even though he's just sitting there... menacingly.
  • An extremely obscure one in Chapter 39, where Kenzo says the following, which is an elusive quote from The Avengers (2012):
    Kenzo: Either way, this stuff is monsters and magic and nothing that any sane person on this planet ever expected to be real.
  • In Chapter 40, Ayaka gives the name Monty to a Mamushi snake. Never mind that it's a viper and not a python.
• Shapeshifting: With the world's fusion, Morgana can shapeshift between his cat form, his Metaverse form, and his van form. Later, there's also his cat-boy form.
• Shown Their Work:
  • In Chapter 35, Raptor describes a modern smithy and the dangers of metalworking with extreme accuracy:
    Comment by Riddle78 on AO3: That... Is an extremely accurate description of a modern smithy. Bravo! Most people would've gone for an oven and an anvil, or even worse, an open-topped casting station. And yeah, glowing hot iron comes with its own safety label. Hot but stable iron doesn't.
  • He also includes a real-life reason why Arisu (and most Japanese people) don't like Root Beer:
    Kenzo: There's this brand of pain-reliever patches. You can get them at pretty much any drugstore here in Japan, and they smell a lot like Root Beer. I don't use them, but it's pretty much why most Japanese people hate Root Beer.
  • Isobe's Palace in Chapter 41 incorporates real-life World War II Japanese tactics such as Banzai charges and frequent uses of Disaster Shadows, akin to kamikaze tactics. The Banzai chargers even shout “Tennōheika Banzai!”
• Signs Of The Endtimes: A couple of earthquakes herald the first Outbreak, and over the next few months, several countries fall apart due to the Shadows' invasion.
• Simultaneous Arcs: The Osaka Strike Team and the Inaba Visit arcs occur over the same week.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Chapter 31 reveals that Chidori is alive, having married Junpei, and currently pregnant with their child.
• Spin-Off: Several: ''Halfway to Tokyo With None of the Fare'' is a one-shot focusing on Satomi and Atsuko, ''A Friendship Revived'' focuses on Sumire and her friends and cousins, and ''Hearts of Liberty'' is a Gaiden Game style work that focuses on events happening in America.
• Spy Speak: Chapter 5 marks the first of many times where trustworthy people use the phrase "I'm looking for a game of cards" as the password to let Sojiro know that he can let them into the Thieves' hideout.
• Super-Empowering: A few examples:
  • With the fusion of the two worlds, everyone has the potential to become a Persona-user (except innocent little kids). All Joker's Confidants seem to have more potent potential than most, with Hifumi and Mishima closest to Awakening. But the first new addition to the Thieves is Akane Hasegawa, who awakens to Cosette and gets the code name of Raven.
  • With the revelation that the Phantom Thieves are more robust than the other Persona-users due to fully embracing their Shadows, the other Persona-users begin working to reach the Thieves' level of self-acceptance. The first ones to succeed are Yu and Rise at the end of Chapter 16, though their Personas don't evolve further.
  • Minako Arisato's Persona changes from Penelope to Gerda upon solidifying her resolve to free her brother from the Abyss of Time; she jumps straight from Hunter Class to Phantom Class.
  • In Chapter 30, Igor cites certain Wild Cards having unique abilities, such as Minato being able to summon two Personas briefly at once and Ren having the Third Eye ability that Yaldabaoth gave him. Igor proceeds to give each of the other Wild Cards unique powers as well:
    • Yu gains Perfect Memory, allowing him to review his experiences with the clarity and ease of watching a movie.
    • Minako gains Foresight, allowing her to see a few seconds into the future.
    • Kenzo gains Magician's Flame, allowing him to use Hard Light and fire to manifest objects related to whichever Persona he has equipped.
    • Sho Minazuki gains Devil's Aura, a lesser version of the power he had from Hi-no-Kagutsuchi that he can train to be as potent as it once was.
  • Mishima receives a Shattering Shackle and Awakens in Chapter 45.
• Superpowered Evil Side: If someone with a strong Shadow fails to overpower its influence but doesn't refuse it, it becomes a Corporeal Shadow, taking over the host's body and causing chaos. The most common victims are members of Shido's conspiracy.
• Tarot Troubles: Chihaya's already accurate fortune-telling abilities have grown more accurate since the worlds merged.
• The Team Benefactor: Mitsuru Kirijo. Money is no object with her, as shown with her casually buying an entire building for the Phantom Thieves or easily providing top-notch expensive medical care for Trench's comatose sister.
• Tempting Fate: In Chapter 40, when Joker has a sitrep with the Osaka commissioner concerning their raid on Sandā Arsenal, the commissioner asks aloud what's the worst that could happen. Joker is well aware of the worst-case scenario: a Palace materializing in the real world. And unfortunately, that's what happens.
• This Cannot Be!: At the close of Chapter 20, Yu, Rise, and Kenzo's Shadow all have this reaction when Kenzo forcibly conjures a Persona, albeit an incomplete one, from the depths of his heart to replace his stolen Quasimodo.
• Through His Stomach: Kenzo earns Atsuko and Satomi's favor by treating them to Aiya's.
• Trap Door: In Chapter 42, Shoichi Takada causes the ground to crumble beneath the Persona-users who confront him, and three of the four veteran Persona-users present fall into the hole. It doesn't harm them, but it takes half an hour for them to return, by which time the fight against Takada's summoned Shadows has long finished.
• Trauma Button: The one victim of Maruki's actualization that didn't recover after the fall of his Palace was his fiancée, Rumi, whose trauma from losing her parents remains suppressed. But she gets a panic attack whenever she sees a gun.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Skull feels this way in Chapter 1 when the police arrive on the scene after he just killed several monsters, and they point their weapons at him. It lasts five seconds before a Shiki-Ouji shows up, and Skull kills it when their bullets don't work.
• Uplifted Animal: One of the many creatures that Sandā Arsenal had been experimenting on, a Japanese moccasin, latches onto Sho's finger while he's hold a Vane of Order and a Plume of Dusk. An explosion of power imbues the serpent with enhanced intellect, soon even enabling it to speak. Ayaka quickly claims him as a companion and names him Monty.
• The Unmasqued World: The premise is that the barrier between reality and the Metaverse has been so damaged by many infiltrations close together that Shadows can now spawn in the real world, and it may take years, even decades, for the two worlds to properly separate; with that being the case, the Persona-users are perfectly candid to the general public about the nature of the threat and their powers. And while Mitsuru is worried about people abusing the knowledge, she concedes that the alternative is leaving many innocent people ignorant of the danger and thus unprepared to defend themselves.
• Weak, but Skilled: Rise's combat abilities. Kouzeon is still mainly a Navigation Persona, but Rise can read Shadows far more efficiently than most Persona-users. Her attacks may not be powerful, but they're flexible in their affinities, so they always aim straight for the weak spots, which lets her hold her own just as well as anyone else.
• Weapon-Based Characterization: Every Persona-user has at least one. Aside from the canon ones:
  • Raven uses a pair of ninjaken (short swords) for melee and, like her father, dual revolvers for ranged weapons.
  • Sae, like her sister, uses brass knuckles and a revolver.
  • Kenzo uses Wolverine Claws.
  • Shen uses a Jian, then later a wrist-mounted crossbow.
  • Arisu uses a carbine rifle and a poleaxe.
• We Will Meet Again: Eris implies this as she fades away in defeat:
  Eris: This is not over. Pain and strife are eternal. I shall never die… so long as… man… remains…
• What Is This Feeling?: Sho Minazuki has this sentiment when he finds himself fighting on behalf of Maruki and Rumi simply because they showed him unconditional kindness. Due to this, he realizes the full potential of being a Wild Card and finally accepts the Velvet Room's contract, granting him its services and his attendant, Lucy.

• Will They or Won't They?: It's apparent to everyone, including themselves, that Ryuji and Ann are crushing on each other (even if the latter denies it until Chapter 24). They train together frequently, but that's all that happens. In Chapter 32, Morgana finally accepts that he'll never be with Ann and practically orders Ryuji to make her happy. They ultimately begin outright dating in Chapter 37.
• Wham Line: In Chapter 45:
  Akari: Shoichi Takada is the name of the man who raped me.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: And the power wasn't even that great, either. One of Shido's old supporters got ahold of a Vane of Order and decided it would be a good idea to kidnap Akane Hasegawa. He did it in hopes of forcing the only known member of the Thieves to negotiate to get Jyun Owada released from prison, the first step in rebuilding Shido's empire. The Thieves' reaction to his "master plan" is a deadpan disappointment, and they defeat him with all the ease and exposition of a tutorial fight.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: With how much reality and the Metaverse have overlapped, cognition has significant power:
  • In Chapter 8, Morgana theorizes that because the general public knows that the Thieves hide their identities, it's much harder for anyone to discern who they are behind the masks.
  • In Chapter 17, Futaba uses a Vane of Order to put a cognitive lock on the Thieves' Den, making it impossible to open the door unless you've already seen it open.
  • Somewhat the inverse in Chapter 32, where the Shattering Shackles have a perception filter that makes them Invisible to Normals.
  • Word of God states that physically restraining a Persona-user prevents them from summoning because of this; however, certain mindsets can allow them to do so even while restrained. Sho's own was that he could lash out so long as he had at least the ability to move, forcing the Sandā Arsenal goons to wrap him up extensively in Chapter 37.
• You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You: At the beginning of Chapter 4, Commissioner Kaburagi is initially outraged that Zenkichi didn't tell her about his Persona and the Metaverse, but when he cites this as his reasoning, she calms down and concedes the point.
  Zenkichi: I mean, if one hadn't seen it for themselves, who would believe that there's a dimension parallel to this one where monsters of human cognition roam and people can awaken to supernatural powers?

---

Premise for A Friendship Revived:

In the aftermath of a Palace in Osaka forming and disintegrating, a family friend reaches out to Sumire Yoshizawa to reconnect with her, a friend she lost because Kasumi died. As she catches up with them, Sumire not only learns about how other countries are dealing with their Shadow crisis but also how their lives are different than before. How will this change her perspective on the new normal?

Disclaimer: the reader must read until Chapter 42 before reading this story.

Tropes contained in A Friendship Revived:

• Heartfelt Apology: In Chapter 1, a family friend reconnects with Sumire. After Ryoko Shinonome and Sumire establish enough rapport, they talk about Kasumi's death. Sumire confessed she felt jealous and thought no one would care if she died. Ryoko is shocked. After calming down, she apologizes for not checking on Sumire more often.
• Just Friends: Chapter 2 reveals one of Sumire's family friend has feelings for Ken Amada. Usami Inaba has to make him fall for her so that when she does confess, Ken too will reciprocate back. Ken, at least, doesn't notice girls being attracted to him.
• Oblivious to Love: According to Usami, Ken doesn't notice that girls are attracted to him.