Freaking Out To Figure It Out

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

“Huh, yeah… that’s on me… um, okay. Let’s just send you away from here for now. I won’t be able to chat as readily unless you’re in the Velvet Room, but I’ll figure out a way to communicate… dude, stop screaming.” AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! “No, I can hear it in your mind too… whatever. Just, sshhh. Look, I’ll help you out, you said you were going to only be away from Kasumi for an hour, so let’s rewind the clock to right before you went through the door and send you back to the alley…”

“Senpai?”

“BAH!” I yelped, jumping back into nothingness and falling on my ass. Scrambling to find my senses, wherever I’d left them, probably the floor was the best place to look. “No no no! I'm s-sorry!”

I was vaguely cognizant of Kasumi’s presence, kneeling down to try and level with me even while I scratched my nails along the floor in panic. “Senpai! W-what happened?! Where’s Sumire?”

Blood thumping in my ears, I couldn’t hear a word that she said.

Oh god, oh god, oh god, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Elizabeth, Margaret, Lavenza… the thing about the sisters?! Using Persona skills for sex?! ...that, that… I’d crossed so many lines. I thought I could just… just not change reality…

But he took away all my fears, I felt… all the changes I made were still me. My thoughts. Obviously I can’t stop my perverted mind thinking about how I’d use this power, but I didn’t actually want to use it! I didn’t actually want to…

“Senpai! Ren-kun! Stay with me!”

I’m an awful person. Deep down, take away my morals, and I’m scum. I’d… I’d enjoyed it, I know I did. The euphoria using the Velvet sisters, even looking back I can only remember it as… but I shouldn’t! I’m, they’re…

“Whatever happened, it’s okay! Just focus on my voice!” Huh…? I… no, it’s… “That’s it, just breathe, Senpai. In and out, in and out. Good. That’s good.” Slowly my head raised up, finding itself on Kasumi’s soft lap, “I may not know what happened in there, but after so many competitions, I know that panic attacks feed themselves the more you’re severed from reality.”

I shook my head, wanting to believe her, but feeling like I deserved to be rolling around in the dirt, “Too much… it-it-”

Her sympathetic hand pet my hair, “My coach always said that you can stop an avalanche one snowball at a time. Just think about what you can fix, then your problem won’t be so big. Just remember to breathe.”

…okay.

Okay, I think I can handle that.

Maybe… maybe I am scum, maybe I crossed a line that wasn’t meant to be crossed, but… but I can still undo it. If I beat Sae’s Palace, Benzaiten has agreed to reverse time and get reality back to where it was before he got me to change it. Then I’ll apologize properly to everyone I’d wronged. Even if I’ll have to use more reality changing to beat him, I should be able to make sure things go my way now… but I should get out of here and avoid people as much as I can.

I continued to breathe, feeling the overwhelming urge to throw up finally start to subside. My body sat up, away from the soft legs I’d been treated to. “Thank you, Kasumi…”

“No problem. If you tell me where my sister is, immediately.”

Scarier eyes than I thought possible from the sweet brunette. Urge to vomit returning as I remembered I’d left Sumire in the Velvet Room, the place I really didn’t want to return to right now. Hopping up to my feet, I could feel the gymnasts murderous intent rising. “Uh… th-that’s a weird question to ask, considering Sumire is right behind me, unfrozen, perfectly healthy, and we’ve just spent the last ten minutes asking her questions and confirming that my Meta-Verse virus worries were completely unfounded, right?”

As if by magic, the redhead stepped forwards from behind me, “He’s right… I’m not that forgettable, am I?”

All anger disappeared entirely, as she looked incredibly embarrassed to have forgotten the last ten minutes of her new life, “N-no way! I-I think I was trying to ask… ‘W-where’s Sumire going next?’ Yeah. That’s it, what are your plans now? You’re coming back home with me now, right?”

“Oh! I…” Sumire trailed off, her face beginning to match her hair colour, awkwardness rising as I remembered how much I’d fucked up her life with those last few questions before I froze her, “S-Senpai… about what happened in there…”

Without giving her a chance to continue, I bundled up my bag and began hurrying out of the alleyway, “Sorry Sumire, I really really have somewhere I have to be right now. So I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“I see… sorry for bothering you, and th-thank you for letting me be useful…”

Fuck.

Oh god, I really should just leave, but those eyes… she’s… looks, reality shifted, okay? That means, devoid of the context of my actions, this nice girl who is having massive self esteem issues asked out the boy she has a crush on and he didn’t give her an answer.

Technically I’m a jerk no matter what I do… but, I guess I can at least make her smile before I go and try and reverse reality back to what it was.

“H-hey… don’t look so downtrodden… we’re still on for that d-d-date I agreed to, r-right?” Ugh, my life was just a series of mistakes from a horny fool.

But… the way her eyes lit up in happiness did bring a smile to my face. “Yes! Yes, we're definitely definitely still going to do that! Um, I-I’ll text you! Th-thank you!” Her sad slumped shoulders were now jumping around with glee, her feet unable to stand still like an excited rabbit. It was too cute, but not something I should be indulging in, dammit!

With one final nod, I rushed from the alleyway and away from making their lives worse.

“Are you sure about him?”

Sumire spun around in shock at her sister’s doubt, “W-what? Do you not like Senpai?!”

“I mean… I just have a weird vibe about him.” Kasumi admitted, the pair taking a slower pace but same route as the running boy, her chin between her fingers, “Why did he have a panic attack? We just had a conversation and then…”

Not to take slander lying down, her sister quickly got defensive, “I-it’s fine! He’s a busy man, and that’s why he ran away so quick!”

“Still… there’s something not quite right about him…”

Anger rose up inside Sumire. How dare Kasumi talk about her crush like that? He was a brave man, a Phantom Thief that had stolen her heart by working hard to save others! Kasumi just needed to see things from her perspective. Slowly she concentrated on her sister…

“...in fact, maybe I should go on this date with you?”

Her eyes went wide as she suddenly realised the error of her sharing plan, “W-wait! No!”

Slapping Sumire’s shoulder, Kasumi quickly picked up the pace with a big smile, “It’s no big deal! I’m just doing it to… uh, protect you! Now come on, now that we did that, you promised you’d help me relieve some stress before my practice!”

Having to hurry to keep up, Sumire couldn’t help but regret her actions, “B-but Kasumi! Wait~!”

Well, it was a brief goodbye, but that’ll be the last I see of any human for a while.

Okay, not really, I was heading for the fucking train station. But, the last humans I knew the names of and had to verbally communicate with for more than a minute at a time.

Now, the question (ugh, questions) is where to hide?

Leblanc is the easiest to spend the longest time in, but it’s not exactly the bastion of solidarity I’d hope it was. Sojiro, Morgana, Futaba, just to name a few names that could walk up those stairs and start a conversation with me. So where else? I could just bounce around a few places, the batting cages, a maid café, the bath, the cinema… it’ll be expensive, but considering how much money we accrue defeating shadows I could afford it. Especially with reality shifting back to what it was…

…Kasumi’s ****…

Stop! No! I hear you, voice that doubts everything I do! I’m adamant that I’ll still change reality back, no matter what! E-even if it means that some things stop being real, some very nice people stop being here anymore, I-I have to accept real life and how it was before Benzaiten…

Even if that means giving countless people cancer?

FUck off. Fuck OFF. I am not evil for not wanting to give in to an evil demon’s desire to make reality a chaotic mess!

This is why I’m going to go into hiding! It wasn’t just avoiding the chance to make reality worse, if I make it better as well, then I’ll have more reasons to not change it back! My morals and decisions can’t be what reality is based upon. I am just one man, I… gah! M-maybe I can change it all back and keep the no cancer thing at least… a-and maybe Kasumi, ngh.

My head hurts already. I should just find somewhere quiet to die and get it all over with.

Bzzt!

“Hm?” I hummed, stopping just after I’d entered the train station barriers to look at my phone.

It was on the main group chat, a message saying… Ann’s address?

Ann: costume party reminder! I wanna cut loose with some partying! <3

Ann: don worry if your costumeless~ I got a bunch of spares from a cosplay shoot I did for work~

Ann: that means no excuses for being fashionably late ;P :3 <3

Oh, okay… yeah, they did mention the party before I left today.

Only an hour away… hehe, w-why do I wanna go so badly? Th-this isn’t a normal feeling, I-I should… I should just hide in a maid café, r-right? But… but I really wanna go… it’s like I’m compelled to attend…

…

Shit balls.

I totally made attendance mandatory at some point, didn’t I?

After just under half an hour of travel, I was standing outside Ann’s front door two hours later.

How did that work out time wise? Well, it was simple. I was thinking of every possible scenario to get out of attending the party, and what I’d have to ask when I was there.

This was going to be my life now. Planning every question I asked down to the wire. Figuring out exactly the words I said before I ever even thought about opening my mouth. I may as well just get a zipper mouth at this rate, just to make sure I was 1000% sure.

So the plan was thus: I think all I had to do was attend the party. That means I could show up late, say ‘oh dear, I have a headache’ then ask if it was okay for people to mostly ignore me. If that flies, then I should be able to keep my head down and not be **** to ask any more questions. If any girl tries to flirt with me, I ask them if I smell bad, or if I’ve said something that’s offended them, or if they think I’m hideous. That way, I’m not doing any ‘backsies’ style questions, I’m just altering reality further to make them unlikely to pick me as a romantic partner. My main goal is to make sure Ann, Makoto, Futaba, and Haru aren't taken advantage of by me. They've been through enough, and even if I want a harem (I dunno if that's fucking mandatory at this point) it doesn't have to be them, so keep it on a leash, deny them the chance to flirt, and get through this damned party.

After that, I’ll still need to figure out a way to cum four times a day with someone’s help, but maybe I could find some sort of very clean prostitute to follow me everywhere who doesn’t mind being paid a fuck ton of cash for making one guy cum a lot.

After that, my only task is to change Sae’s heart. I already asked someone on the train if Sae Niijima’s heart was changed, and they said no, so I can assume Benzaiten doesn’t want to make it that easy for me. So the other thing I’ll have to ask them to do is finish up early and follow me into the Meta-Verse on their day off. They won’t like it, but the sooner we revert reality back the better.

It’ll be tricky… but I think I can get through this party. I think I can win.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzzt!

That’s probably the other party goers, wondering where I am…

…

Caller ID says: Benzaiten.

“Heeeeyyyy! Guess who figured out how to contact youuuuu!” I heard down the line, his voice sending waves of anxiety down my spine.

“Great. What do you want?”

“Eyy, don’t be like that! I just wanted to tell you about your chore list.”

I could feel a sense of dread hit my stomach as another vibration from my phone rumbled against my cheek, “Th-that’s fine. I already don’t wash my own clothes enough, I-”

“Nah man, no chores like that. I just want you to show me some things while you’re changing the prosecutor’s heart! Check 'em out!”

Knowing my fate was doomed either way, I sighed and made him loudspeaker, so I could look down at the chore list.

It had taken the form of a new app on my phone. Just titled ‘B-Boy’s List’ with a strange red-headed girl on the front. I clicked on it, and after a brief loading screen it brought me to the front page. The right side of the screen was dedicated to the redhead, a girl in a white lumpy outfit, looking like a mix of Sumire and Baymax. She was cute, and she even waved at me from the featureless white spinning circle she was sat on, but it was weird so much of the screen was dedicated to her.

To the right were a few options, aligned as a rectangle of smaller squares and rectangular buttons down the right side. First was ‘Tasks To Complete’, then below that it was two squares of ‘Completed Tasks’ and ‘Timed Events’, then the next row was ‘Call Benzaiten’ and ‘Options’, with the last box being another wide rectangle of 'Current Reality Changes'.

Regretting this already, I tapped the first option. With a flourish of style, the next page came up.

Holy shit… this was definitely nothing like washing clothes…

Hundreds of tasks, each with a checkmark next to it, wanting me to do some of the craziest things for his amusement. ‘Spend the night at a girl’s house,’ ‘Bathe with at least three girls,’ ‘Kiss a girl so hard she cums,’ ‘Milk some tits,’ ‘Cuck a dude,’ 'Seduce a shadow,' ‘Finger bang someone in a public place,’ ‘Convince an actual stranger to help relieve you,’ ‘Spend a day with someone without wearing clothes.’

My thumb pushed me through the huge list of tasks, “W-what is this?”

“Oh yeah! That’s Sophia~” Benzaiten explained, “I guessed you wouldn’t want me to be the app's mascot, so I made it a familiar face… forgetting she’s actually from your future, oops! I’m sure she’ll be helpful though~”

“Not her! The tasks!”

“Yeah, yeah, quit yelling already. I’m just worried you’ll try and skip to the end of our adventure, so I came up with some fun things for you to do! I did mention the chores before you agreed to this.” I don’t think I ever even agreed, “Because I’m so nice, I might not get you to do do all of them, but if you don’t complete enough then I won’t revert time back or whatever like you want. So make sure do have some fun completing some sexy chores before you actually change Sae’s heart, k?”

This was insane. Even if I don’t have to do all of them, how many is ‘enough’ for him?

I can’t stop looking through the list. There were even person specific requests: ‘Do something naughty with Futaba with Sojiro’s blessing’. ‘Fuck Makoto on a bike, or bike-like Persona’. ‘Get Ryuji a girlfriend'. ‘Be a cock model for an explicit shoot with Ann’. ‘Seed Haru’s precious garden’. ‘Do something naughty with Sophia’. The list went on and on.

“Fuck… this is too much… you dickhead, where do you get off on this stuff?” I mumbled, feeling anger boil up in me again at how he was setting up to manipulate me.

“You know, Ren, I don’t think you’re appreciating me enough.” His voice took a slightly more annoyed tone, making me slightly regret being so sassy to this deity, "You think I suck that much? Well, why don’t we play a game then. I'll flip the script for a bit. See how rough things can be when reality changes as you’re the one compelled to say ‘yes’.”

“I-what?!” Wait, that… can he do that?! I haven’t mentally prepared for that scenario! I can’t control anything if I’m not the one asking questions!

“Why don’t you hang up the phone and go inside already?”

"Sure."

Beep

Oh, piss in my dick.

“Ren!” I heard my friends call out as I opened Ann's door. The warm atmosphere of their smiles was somehow very unsettling considering the tension in my heart. All of them were hanging out in various costumes while sitting on Ann's two couches. Only one of them got up to come greet me, the host herself bounding up.

I swallowed my fears, hoping that Benzaiten was just bluffing about the question reversing, “H-hey everyone… yo, so, uh, anyone want to go to Sae's Palace today?”

“No way. Quit joking around already, we’re here to party!” Ann beamed as she got closer to me. She was certainly arguably wearing... clothes. The costume was from an anime I had only seen in passing, but looked fairly accurate, even if it was just a light blue wig and a yellow tiger print bikini. I think it was a size too small for Ann though, as her creamy breasts jiggled about on her approach, looking poured into the tight confines as much as the bottoms strained against her fat behind.

This was all wrong, I was already oversexualising Ann in my brain, this was going to end with me taking advantage again, I just know it. I’d attended party, done, so time to go.

“I-I just remembered, I should be… doing some errands! It was a fun party, Ann! But-!”

“Wait! I don’t want you to go so soon!” She insisted, stopping my attempts to leave by kabdenoning me to her front door. Slamming it shut before I could open, “Can’t the errands wait? Won’t you stay for me? Please?”

Yup, that God really wasn’t bluffing.

“...yes… of course I will…” I nodded, knowing I really should stay for Ann's sake. Her eyes looked so certain I should stay, but now I don't know if reality was changing my feelings or if they were genuine. How cruel that he let me percieve my own downfall...

Plus, there's something about being trapped here by my friend’s desires was only more mortifying, and the fact I was already getting hard again as her soft body pressed into mine was just showing the world how much of a scumbag I was. Her minx-like smile at my shame just making me want to give in even harder.

“What’s the matter, Ren? The party’s only started, yet you’re getting excited, aren’t you?” Less than three minutes into my first conversation, and I was already nodding into pure defeat, feeling excitement indeed bubble inside of me, “Don’t worry, we have plenty of reasons for you to stick around for today. But first, go into my room and pick out a costume! Oh, and are you thirsty?”

I coughed immediately as a drought level dryness hit my throat, “Y-yes!” I barely choked out.

“No worries, what do you want?” She asked, pointing at the various bottles of carbonated and alcoholic drinks she’d bought for us. I guess we were all of-age now… but Jesus, no water option?

I pointed at the brown bottle in the back, “Coke…”

She looked guilty as she brought it up, revealing it wasn’t what I thought it was, “Ah, actually, is Pepsi okay?”

No. I hate Pepsi… “Yep, all good.” I smiled with thin lips, taking the plastic cup and giving it a sip to at least parch my quench. My body followed her towards her room, a sense of dread clouding my thought as I already saw exactly how the rest of this party was going to go...

At one point, I had been planning on writing a story similar to another on this site: Danganronpa Trigger Havoc. A very good story that people should check out, and I was going to rip it off for a Persona themed version of it. It never quite came together though. Monokuma is a great villain for that situation, with the kids all trapped as the only occupants and stuck together. I played around making Maruki or Elizabeth the villain, or having them trapped in the PQ2 cinema, but nothing ever felt right.

It eventually morphed into this story, and these chores are aiming to help close the gap to what that original story was going to be. That being said, if people want me to set up a 'Persona Triggers' story for their own fun, or just flat out make your own, you have my blessing, what little worth it has for a stolen idea anyway lol. Dunno if I'd ever write my own thread of it, since I usually pour most of my ideas for a franchise into the main story I write, but it could be nice for others.

Thanks for reading~!