The Thieves take a good look at Kasumi

It was fair to say that life had taken some peculiar turns for the scion of the Yoshizawa clan. There was the tragedy of her sister’s ****, of course, an event that still haunted and pushed her forward well after the fact (far more than “Kasumi” yet realized). There was her continued struggles with mastering her gymnastics and dance skills, which seemed to fall perpetually just an inch short of expectations no matter how much she tried. And of course there was the strange odyssey of meeting her Senpai and awakening to her Persona. No indeed, life seemed quite uninterested in letting the young girl set her own course, and of late seemed to take some sadistic delight in dragging her completely out of her depth. For example, Kasumi had sincerely desired to simply focus on her studies and dancing over this past year. And yet, despite all her misgivings about the Phantom Thieves and the possible negative consequences their actions might cause there was something seductive and captivating about their increasingly bold exploits. And that growing interest was teasing at the back of her thoughts even before she had learned that her senpai and current crush (a crush that was sudden, intense, and completely absurd, a fact she herself admitted to Maruki during one of their sessions…an admission that did precisely nothing at all to dispel the feeling or the intensity for the befuddled freshman) was also the LEADER of this covert group of psychic vigilantes. The truth was that every new calling card that showed up in the media was another passionate urge to sneak out into the night and beg to join in their next heist. Despite herself it was becoming obvious that sooner or later she would give into that urge, and one night she was going to confront those mysterious associates.

Kasumi choked back a small sob as she hunched forward, her trembling hands trying vainly to hide her naked breasts and shaven sex in a doomed attempt to preserve her modesty. Her face and the rest of her bare body were tinged a light pink hue that seemed to be growing redder by the second as her embarrassment and humiliation grew more intense. It was taking every inch of willpower to avoid the urge to start screaming and run in the opposite direction. The foreboding labyrinth of Mementos seemed infinitely preferable to the shocked stares of her upperclassmen. This couldn’t be happening! Of all the ways she had rehearsed this encounter in her mind, all the things she might say, all the ways she might stumble or the bad impressions she might leave....Never in her worst nightmares had she imagined standing in front of her classmates and the clandestine heroes she had come to so respect and admire so shamefully exposed and embarrassed, the classy and stylish costume she had hoped to awe and impress them all replaced with some utterly degrading mockery of itself that left her naked and humiliated in the most lewd way possible!

“Your…name…” Makoto said, finally breaking the horrible silence that had settled over the group. “The shadows stole your name. What does that mean exactly?”

“I don’t know!” Kasumi whimpered. “Its just what they said! I tried to fight them, and then they said they knew my name, and then I was…like this!”

“That doesn’t….” Makoto began, pondering the cryptic story. “Futaba, are you getting any strange readings?”

There was a long pause.

“Futaba?” Makoto asked, glancing behind her.

“FUTABA!” Makoto snapped, startling the younger hacker out of the stupor she had fallen into while ogling her classmate. “Scan her! NOW!”

“Yeah, yeah, on it! Jeez!” Futaba said. “Readings are coming in kind of strange, though. This might take a few minutes.”

“Just hurry. We need as much information as possible.” Makoto said in exasperation.

“….so what your saying is…I need to do a extra intense scan…” Futaba said, an enormous smile spreading across her face.

Makoto glared.

“You know…get in real close…make sure I get every angle…scan every nook and cranny…” Futaba continued.

“Futaba-chan…” Makoto said evenly. “Do you remember what happened to Ryuji the last time he started acting like a pervert?”

“….You…heh…you smacked him into the ground with the fist of justice.” Futaba said nervously.

“Mmm-hmmmm. It’s a very powerful technique. Painful, but not a move that will leave permanent damage. Well, not physical damage, anyway. It’s the perfect teaching technique for students who step out of line or act like perverts in front of me.” Makoto said.

“…..”

“And of course as student council president, I have a duty to set a good example. I can’t afford to discriminate on who I discipline when it is needed. I’ve learned never to hesitate when applying the technique.” Makoto spoke softly, pointedly cracking her knuckles one by one to emphasize each word. “Whether an upperclass, or a freshman. A boy…or a girl…”

“….Welp! Nice talking to you Queen! but gotta go run those scans! Some nice, simple, non-pervy, quick scans! Be right back!” Futaba whimpered.

“I thought you might.” Makoto said, with a voice and smile roughly as welcoming as the rattle of the Reaper’s chains.

Ann and Haru watched the neon clad teen make a hasty exit in Kasumi’s direction.

“Harsh.” Ann whispered.

“Better to be feared than loved.” Makoto deadpanned.

“And thus our Queen reigns with an iron fist.” Haru chimed in.

“Well, that’s only natural. Iron fists are the only ones she has.” Ann said with a laugh.

“Sigh. Moving on. Does what she said about the shadows stealing her name make any sense to you, Ann? You’ve been doing this the longest.” Makoto said.

“Not really. We usually just run in and beat the snot out of the Shadows. Some of them realize who we are…like, Haru’s dad recognized her. And Kamoshida saw me transform right there in his Palace.” Ann shuddered. “And trust me on this one. Kamoshida having some kind of sleazy magic that could have gotten me as naked as she is and somehow never using it on me? No chance in hell.”

“Yes. Obviously nothing like that happened with my father either. Although I don’t think he would have been especially interested in stripping me.” Haru offered.

“I mean, maybe not him, but there was that creepy fiancée robot we fought…” Ann offered.

“ANYWAY.” Makoto said as Haru made a disgusted face.

“But names are important in the Metaverse, aren’t they?” Haru said suddenly. “We can’t enter a Palace unless we know the name of the Shadow that controls it. And I do remember Mona-chan telling me never to use my real name in the Metaverse. It was a little vague but he seemed to think there could be consequences if the Shadows learned who we really are. That’s why he insisted on using code names.”

There was a brief sound of sneakers running on stone as Futaba ran back to the group, clearly in higher spirits. Kasumi followed behind at a slower pace, careful to ensure her hands were covering her nudity.

“Mission complete! Returning to checkpoint to save progress and begin the next level!” Futaba announced.

“Good. What did you learn?” Makoto asked.

“Well…I dunno. This is super weird. It reminds me of Haru when we first met. You remember, she could transform and she had a little bit of power but she couldn’t summon her Persona and couldn’t do much in a fight? I mean, until she totally committed to the whole ripping her face off thing and rebelled against her dad 100%? A little like that. Kasumi’s persona is still there, but suppressed in a really weird way. I can sense a little bit of power in her…but aside from the baseline stuff like enhanced endurance and reflexes she’s not much stronger than she is as a human. No magic. And she can’t seem to summon her Persona at will anymore. The scans say it should be possible but the conditions are a lot more difficult and obscure. Its like someone came along and reduced her to the absolute bare minimum of power.” Futaba trailed off. “Errr…no pun intended.”

“That’s all you can tell me?” Makoto said, crossing her arms.

“….look. The Metaverse is all about cognition, you know? The will of the Shadow determines the shape of the Palace, and that sort of thing. When we called up our Personas it was basically our cognition rebelling against the cognition of the Shadow. Our costumes are basically all our willpower and determination getting turned into a physical expression. Our armor, in a sense. Its what keeps the Shadow from manipulating us the way it manipulates the Palace. And normally that’s how it is, us and the Shadows in this sort of cognitive tug of war- we control how we are dressed and what we carry, the shadow shapes everything else in the area. Except…Kasumi can’t do it anymore! I’ve never seen anything like it before. She has the willpower to fight, and I can sense her Persona still buried inside her heart. But her power is all dormant now. Its like the Metaverse or the shadows have…I dunno, found a backdoor to sneak past her firewall. It has way, way more influence over her than normal. It can’t control her mind completely- she still has pieces of her usual outfit, after all. But its suppressing her cognition way more than it should be able to.”

“Ummmm…..Senpais?” Kasumi asked timidly.

The five stared back at her.

“You know, Queen…” Futaba said telepathically. “I’m having a hard time sensing her energy. But the rest of you I can pick up just fine. I can see your vitals right now. And let’s just say I’m not the only one with dirty thoughts!”

“Yes, Kasumi!” Makoto said, slightly more loudly than intended.

“Did…did you bring any spare clothes with you? I’d really like to get dressed now!”

Makoto blinked. “O-Of course, Kasumi. I’m sorry. We should have given you those already!”

“Well, we were a little distracted.” Futaba said telepathically.

“In any case!” Makoto said, grabbing the duffel bag they had brought from the mundane world. “Ummm…can you return to normal?”

“S-sort of?” Kasumi said softly. Closing her eyes, the girl was enveloped in a cloud of black and red. And when she stepped forward, face still burning red, she indeed no longer wore the jacket, boots or other items left over from her costume. Now the blushing girl stood shyly in front of the others on her tip toes, her legs, feet, arms now as bare as the rest of her still was.

The five girls stared, Kasumi bowing her head in utter humiliation.

“Easy there, Queen. Can’t go around thinking all those dirty thoughts. A student council president needs to set a good example!” Futaba said.

“Shut up and explain! Where are her clothes?”

Futaba shrugged. “Like I said, the shadows have influence on her cognition that they shouldn’t. It looks like if she transforms, the transformation eats her street clothes in the process. Guess it’s a good thing she didn’t try to run back to the real world when this happened.”

“S-Senpai…” Kasumi moaned.

Makoto offered the bag to the red-head, then cajoled her comrades into turning around. A few moments later Kasumi was dressed once again, under a certain definition of being ‘dressed’. The provided gym clothes certainly offered more modesty than her previous nudity had. But the red gym shorts and matching sports bra were not much better than a bikini, and the blush was still quite prominent on her face.

“….Was that really all we could find?” Makoto asked.

“It was short notice! We didn’t think she’d be naked!” Ann shot back

Haru and Ann shared a glance. Hoped she’d be naked, certainly, but thought it was likely, no, not at all.

“I-its fine!” Kasumi squeeked. “Its…better than being completely naked! At least I can…walk home…in this.”

The blush on her face and body showed her clear dismay at even this prospect, while the stiffness of the nipples below the fabric of her sports bra hinted that she was feeling more than just humiliation.

Makoto cleared her throat, mentally reminding herself not to stare and offering a pointed look at Futaba daring her to make any further comments.

“All right. Kasumi, now that you have some clothes, can you tell what happened? How did you get into this situation?”