April 28
Thursday
Morning
Cloudy
Akira hesitantly walked into Shujin. He knew that at any point the police could come for him. He already had an escape route planned. Morgana had mentioned a 'Mementos' off handedly once and while Akira had never been there he could use it to escape. Akira would get the cat in his backpack to help.
At this point the only thing that could save him were the skills of 'Alibaba'. But he doubted that any hacker could seriously delay or disrupt a police investigation.
However, he still came to school. He needed to see this to its end. He had nearly died for it, he needed to make sure it ended.
He needed to calm down. Looking nervous wouldn't help anyone. He pulled out his phone to reply to some messages he had ignored yesterday in his haste.
Haru: What is going on today!?
Haru: Did you hear about Kamoshida?
Haru: It's insane! Right?
Haru: Do you think it was a former volleyball player? Or someone's family member?
Akira: Yeah, sorry I read these but got distracted.
Akira: Kamoshida has a lot of enemies.
Akira: Honestly it could be anyone in Shujin.
He closed the chat and opened the next.
Makoto: Where are you? I don't see you anywhere outside?
Makoto: Sakamoto and Takamaki aren't here either. Where are you?
These must have been sent while he was fighting Kamoshida in the alley. The next few messages came a few hours later.
Makoto: Did you see the news!? Sis is going insane!
Makoto: She's mobilizing everyone she can!
Makoto: It's rare for Sis to get this upset.
That wasn't good news. Time to lie.
Akira: Sorry, I was with Ann for a while. Her and Kamoshida had a 'history'.
Akira: Not a good one. When those cards showed up she wanted to leave.
Akira: And it's crazy. I heard Kamoshida will be at school today.
Akira: We'll see what he says.
Akira closed his phone and walked through the halls. Ann and Ryuji met him at their pre-planned location. If their plan failed, they would fail together.
He appreciated it more than they knew. It was his fault if their plan failed. They might all experience the fallout of Kamoshida's wrath because of him.
Shujin felt somber. Every conversation was muted and about Kamoshida. The man hadn't told anyone anything so far, not even his volleyball team. There would be a speech later where he would address everything.
People stared at him with open fear in their eyes. They thought he was the one who beat Kamoshida to near death. They weren't wrong, but he didn't like that people suspected him.
The speech would start soon in the auditorium. The team walked there silently. Akira's heartbeat picked up as they drew closer. It boomed so loud that he wondered if anyone else could hear it. His body was filled with adrenaline, but for once it wasn't for a fight. He was ready to run the second any officer approached him.
He entered the room and spotted a few. He froze, terrified, but they ignored him and continued scanning the crowd. He kept walking, doing his best to seem inconspicuous. His palms sweat uncomfortably and he had to wipe them on his pants.
The group found a spot near one of the exits. Akira doubted they were planning on using it as an escape too. He could outrun and outmaneuver most officers, and any that tried to stop him he could deal with. A taser could be a problem, but he would figure it out.
They had guns too, but officers tried not to use them. Maybe he could take one when he was running away. Officers were trained in self-defense, so it would be risky, but getting a gun would change everything.
He had a plan. Run, avoid the police, fight if need be, get somewhere safe and use Morgana to enter the metaverse, then disappear forever.
The four waited in silence as the room filled up.
April 28
Thursday
Morning
Cloudy
Makoto strolled into the auditorium and peered around. Right near an exit, just as she expected, was Akira Kurusu.
The man who assaulted Kamoshida.
She had no physical proof of this claim, but it wasn't an insane reach. Akira, a delinquent who had been convicted of assault, had attacked Kamoshida, who was probably a criminal himself. The two hated each other so it wasn't hard to connect the dots.
Sae had come to the same conclusion last night. Makoto had attempted texting Akira but, as she expected, he didn't answer. It was so clear anyone could see it.
She had, regretfully, listened in on Sae's calls about this last night. It wasn't like she had to work hard to do so either, considering all the yelling Sae was doing.
It turned out that all security footage in 10 square blocks around Shujin had gone out. It was a 'freak accident' the police said. The cameras inside Shujin had failed too, which wasn't a surprise. Half the cameras in the school didn't work for 'reasons' and no one could ever answer Makoto why. The principal really avoided answering questions about the cameras in Kamoshida's room and the gym. But where she failed, Sae wouldn't. Heads would roll no matter what the conclusion was.
But normally half the cameras in school still worked. The weird part was that ALL of the cameras stopped working from slightly before school started to an hour after the assault. The sheer coincidence of it was mind boggling. So much so that Sae didn't believe it was a coincidence.
Sae left after that call to go into work. She was going to get to the bottom of this. And while she wasn't a police officer most people didn't tell her sister no. Especially when Sae started throwing her weight around. She had the police currently desperately looking for anyone who's cameras could have survived or could have been near the event, but they hadn't found anything yet.
Makoto didn't know how to feel about any of this. Kamoshida had almost… done something to her. And Akira had saved her. But Akira was also a criminal with a violent background. But he was also her friend.
She didn't like thinking about that day. It was better to just pretend it didn't happen.
A part of her thought Kamoshida received what was coming to him. But another part knew that the rule of law was important and that assaulting someone, no matter who, needed to be punished. She didn't know how to feel.
She looked towards Akira stealthily. He didn't notice her, so she got a good look at his face. No cuts, no bandages. She couldn't see any signs of injury. Maybe he hadn't done it?
He looked right at her.
She turned her head and ducked into the crowd. His stare was especially intense today.
No point in staring anymore. When Kamoshida came out, he would tell everyone who did it and the police would arrest Akira. She assumed that was what they were here for.
And if he didn't, then the police would still catch the person who did it. A lot of blood and DNA was found at the crime scene. So whoever did it would be caught soon.
On that note, Kamoshida slinked out from behind the curtain. She nearly took a step back in surprise. He looked so different. His face was a mess, and it looked like a tooth or two was missing. He had numerous bandages covering his body and an eyepatch on. He looked like he should still be in the hospital. There wasn't any pride or arrogance in his posture either. He just looked really… sad?
He reached the podium and took a deep breath. "I need to start this off with an apology. To everyone. I am… deeply, deeply sorry. For everything I've done."
What!? The crowd erupted into whispers.
Kamoshida continued. "I'm guilty of everything I was accused of and more. I sexually assaulted numerous students, physically assaulted many others, and I raped Shiho Suzui and caused her to attempt suicide. I am guilty of everything. I deeply, deeply, regret everything I have done. I am truly sorry. I apologize to everyone who I might have harmed in any way, what I did was unforgivable. I know this isn't enough, but I'm sorry."
The whispers turned into a loud buzz of conversation. Everyone was going crazy!
Makoto couldn't believe it. This wasn't what she expected to happen at all. He had done everything. She always knew he had probably done something, that had been made especially clear a few days ago. But he had done more than she ever even knew... She knew Shiho was on the volleyball team, and that something had happened, but he had… raped Shiho and caused her to attempt suicide.
Oh god, she wanted to vomit. How could this have happened!? She never imagined something that awful had happened to the girl. Shiho hadn't been at school recently… oh god.
From the corner of her eye she saw the principal running from the back of the room towards the podium. He didn't make it as a black blur tripped him.
A single voice spoke louder than any other in the crowd, "Who else knew about this!?" It was Akira's voice. What the hell!?
Kamoshida replied, "Akira… I'm sorry for the way I bullied you and tried to ruin your life. You never deserved any of it. I'm sorry for revealing your secrets. Kobayakawa knew. He helped me cover it up."
The crowd erupted into roars. Makoto could feel herself about to vomit as her vision swam.
Everything she knew was a lie. She had respected Kobayakawa. He was the principal!
The fat man was up again and running towards the stage, "LIES! Kamoshida! get off the stage you idiot!" The man screamed. He tried to climb the stairs to get on stage but was stopped by a confused looking officer. No one had expected this.
Kamoshida ignored the man's outburst. "And now, as an apology. I plan on killing myself to make up for everything. I'm sorry everyone. I'm a failure."
A female voice burst in the crowd, "You weak asshole! How dare you kill yourself after what you did! You cannot take the easy way out! Everyone else has to suffer for what you did, why don't you!? After what you did to Shiho, after what you did to me!? You need to spend your life in a jail cell!"
The man nodded along slowly, "You're right. It is the easy way out. I'm sorry Ann, if it helps, I did care about you."
The voice called out again, "You make me sick. I hope you rot and suffer for the rest of your life. The world's a better place without you in it."
The man nodded again, "I hope I do too."
More female voices called out from the crowd, along with some male ones too. Kamoshida had done things to a huge portion of the student body.
A police officer walked up on stage, "Mr. Kamoshida, before we take you away you promised to tell us which student assaulted you. Can you point them out so we can leave?"
Makoto's head shot towards Akira who stood there stone-faced as ever. He didn't look guilty, he just looked angry. He had a wild look in his eyes. It wasn't something she had ever seen before, on anyone. His eyes looked like a caged animal's.
Kamoshida spoke up, "I lied about that. I don't know who assaulted me, and I don't know if it was a student. They were short, with short black hair, and… that's all I know. They looked plain I guess. I think I attacked them first, I don't remember, but I think I started the fight."
The policeman sighed and patted Kamoshida down. After a moment he grabbed Kamoshida from behind and pinned him while calling for some backup. Two officers ran forward and one helped hold Kamoshida down while the other pulled a large ceremonial knife from Kamoshida's waistband.
Kamoshida was going to kill himself. On stage!? He couldn't, that was insane!
What the fuck was going on today!? She never cussed, but what the fuck!?
She stared at Akira. He still had that intense, wild, look on his face. She nearly wanted to take a step away from him as a few students already had. He looked so angry.
And somehow it wasn't him! Akira hadn't done it! Akira had long curly black hair, he was tall, and he wasn't plain looking. It was impossible to describe Akira as such. But, then again, everyone was short to Kamoshida. The appearance still didn't fit Akira though.
And Kamoshida admitted to starting the fight. So even if it had been Akira, who was at fault? Was it a self-defense case?
She went over the details in her head. The fight took place after she had a conversation with Akira that morning. So Akira would have needed to leave school, walk there, been attacked or started the fight, and left without anyone finding out. That would make sense why she couldn't find him outside the school.
But Kamoshida described someone that wasn't Akira. And Akira had no injuries she could see either. He would have injuries if Kamoshida started the fight. But there were none on his face. Maybe he had only been hit in the torso?
She didn't know what to do.
The police started filing Kamoshida and Kobayakawa away. They were also trying to collect statements from students who were more than happy to give them. They were talking to the school nurse too, who seemed extremely chatty. Probably scared she might get caught up in this, and she probably would be. There was no way that woman would keep her job when this was all over.
"This isn't what I expected." She jumped in shock at the sound of her sister's voice. She twisted around to find Sae towering over the crowd and looking directly at Akira. "I guess I could never have expected Kamoshida to admit to everything. This is going to be a hell of a lot of paperwork."
Before Makoto could respond Kobayakawa called out, "Niijima-san! Please! Tell these people there's been a mistake! You know me! This isn't true!"
Sae sneered. It was rare to see someone make Sae show disgust. "I'll take your case, and when I find what I know I'm going to find, I'll make sure that you spend the rest of your life in prison." Sae said and grasped Makoto's shoulder. "Let's go home. The officers here will do everything and I can file some warrants from my office."
Makoto let Sae quietly lead her from the packed auditorium. They passed Akira on their way out, who gave them both a quick, confident, nod. Makoto gave one back, but Sae just stared him down.
Once they were clear Sae leaned over to whisper in her ear, "DNA comes back soon, I had it expedited. If it was Kurusu, I need to know before he comes to stay with us."
Makoto nearly jumped out of her skin. Sae still thought it was Akira!? She wasn't so sure about that anymore. She continued to let her sister lead her along. It wasn't like anyone was going to go to school today.
What had happened to this school?
Entering Sae's car sent uncontrolled flashbacks spiraling in her mind. She normally could ignore these, but after everything that had happened today she couldn't get the invasive thoughts out. Uncomfortable events and situations played out in her mind.
Sae tried to make small talk all the way home, but Makoto couldn't. Kamoshida had raped Shiho Suzui. She had been president of the student government and had done nothing. She knew the rumors that Kamoshida was doing something terrible, and she had sat aside. She had been too afraid to rock the boat.
She had asked the principal a few times, but that never went anywhere. He always confirmed nothing was happening and that it was just rumors. And she believed him. She trusted him. And she was too weak to push the subject. She always listened to the man and stopped investigating Kamoshida. But Kobayakawa was guilty of everything too.
She felt sick. She felt guilty. Kamoshida had tried to do something to her, and she hadn't done anything to him after that. She hadn't even told her sister. She was so afraid of upsetting the norm that she didn't do anything. She should have been taken away with Kamoshida.
Sae was saying something, but Makoto couldn't pay attention. She bit back a sob and looked out the window the rest of the ride. She had been spared from Kamoshida's actions, but Shiho hadn't.
They took the elevator and walked to their apartment. Makoto wanted to be alone. She made to go to her room, but a soft hand on her shoulder stopped her and pulled her aside. She let Sae gently lead her to the couch and sit her down.
Sae sat down next to her and reached over to rub her arm. Sae looked hesitant, a rare emotion for her. "Makoto, is there something you want to talk about? You know I'm always here for you and would never judge you."
"No, I- I just need to go to my room. "She started. "I'm fine."
Sae bit her lip, "You know, if there is anything you want to tell me, about anything that happened, I just want you to know it's not your fault. I love you."
"I just-" Makoto couldn't stop herself from gasping, "Nothing- I- It's-" Another gasp came out and the dams broke. She couldn't stop the tears from spilling freely. She shivered and leaned back into the couch and covered her face in shame.
She felt Sae's arms wrap around her. She felt her sister begin stroking her hair and whispering comforting words into her ear. She leaned into her sister and hugged back. She needed the comfort.
After a few minutes of such treatment she told Sae everything. She told her about what Kamoshida had almost done to her, what Akira had done for her, her regrets about her lack of action against Kamoshida. She couldn't hold herself back. She even told Sae about her friendship with Akira, how it started, about her birthday dinner, and about how they hadn't spoken since. She only left out a few details from each story. She told Sae about everything that had happened, and Sae spent her night comforting Makoto.
April 28
Afternoon
Thursday
Cloudy
Ryuji stood on top of the outside park bench and raised a bottle in the air. "And that's a wrap folks! We did it!" He said and popped the bottle, spraying champagne everywhere.
Ann burst out laughing and clapped her hands. Morgana jumped in the air and did a trick. Akira couldn't keep the smile off his face.
They did it. They beat Kamoshida.
Even if Mr. Ushimaru had tried to keep everyone in school, no one stayed. After leaving Akira went into a store and purchased them a bottle of champagne and some plastic cups to celebrate with. Today was a great day.
"Pour me some Ryuji!" Ann cried out happily.
"You think you can handle it?" He teased but poured her a glass.
Ann raised an eyebrow, "Have you ever even drinken alcohol before?"
Ryuji blushed and didn't answer while he poured Akira a glass. It tasted sweet and was quite bubbly. His smile broadened. Everything had worked.
Ryuji chimed in, "This is nice, but we gotta do somethin better! We got money now, we should go somewhere really fancy! Oh, or like, rent some place! A house party anyone?" He grinned.
Ann laughed. "What money? We're not rolling in cash. How could we afford any of that?"
Akira had a thought. "Actually, I did get an offer to go out on someone's yacht. They're a friend of mine. I can ask if we can take it out."
Both Ann and Ryuji balked at the suggestion. Ryuji voiced his thoughts. "You have friends? Other than us?"
Akira glared at him jokingly, making Ann laugh again. "Yes, I have friends. I'll send them a text right now." He had, maybe, one or two friends. But that was friends, right? He pulled out his phone.
Akira: Hey Haru.
Akira: Today was insane right?
Haru's response bubbles popped up immediately.
Haru: I can't believe it.
Haru: Kamoshida was guilty the whole time and I had no idea.
Haru: Good job calling out Mr. Kobayakawa too.
Haru: Why did you do that?
Shit, he needed to make something up.
Akira: Kamoshida's an asshole. I knew from day 1.
Akira: Kobayakawa was an asshole too, so I just thought they might be working together.
Akira: It was just a guess. Maybe someone was helping him?
Akira: I just needed to know.
Haru: Well, good job.
Haru: I can't believe it. Still. Especially about Shiho.
Haru: Please give Shiho and Ann my thoughts. I'm so sorry for what happened to them.
Haru: If there's any way I can help just tell me.
Akira: No problem. Ann's with me right now.
Akira: We're celebrating Kamoshida finally being caught.
Haru: That's great!
Haru: What are you doing?
Akira: Drinking some champagne.
Akira: I was wondering, was the offer of a yacht ride still on the table?
Haru: Wait. Was that why you messaged me?
Shock flooded Akira. He began writing a response, then deleting it, then writing something new. What should he say to that? Was Haru upset!?
Haru: Just kidding lol!
Haru: Of course it is! Invite whoever you want! We can go anytime.
God damnit. Akira couldn't help but smile a bit.
Akira: Yeah, how about Sunday?
Haru: Perfect! Who are you bringing?
Akira: Me, Ryuji, Ann, my cat, and maybe one or two more people?
Haru: Your cat?
Akira: Yeah, is that okay?
Haru: I didn't know you owned a cat, but I think it's okay.
Haru: I'll set it up for you.
Akira: You're coming too right?
Haru: You want me there?
Haru: I thought it was going to be a party for you guys
Akira: Well, yeah.
Akira: If you want to come that is.
Haru: Of course I do! I'll get it ready!
Akira: Thank you! I'll see you then.
Haru: See ya!
Akira looked back up at the group, "Alright, I got us a yacht for Sunday." He said and enjoyed watching Ryuji and Ann's jaws hang open. Morgana's surprised cat face was actually pretty cute.
Ryuji was the first to speak back up, "Wha-how?" To which Akira shrugged.
Ann let out a whoop, "We got a party! We'll get drinks, we'll get some food, we'll live it up! Oooh! I'll get Shiho to come too! This is gonna be great!"
Akira could help but laugh along with the group. Even after what he had done, they were still willing to be his friends. That meant a lot to him.
Neither had talked to him about his fight with Kamoshida yet. He expected it soon, but for now he wouldn't worry.
The group continued to laugh and drink champagne in the park for a few hours. Akira actively tried to be a part of the conversation as well, to better results than usual. The conversation eventually moved towards the events of the day prior.
"Oh yeah, Morgana." Ryuji started, "Can you explain what happened in the metaverse? What was up with that void."
Morgana let out a sigh. "I've been thinking about that a lot actually. I have a working theory right now, but I can't confirm it. Basically, the events of the past few weeks have drastically changed Kamoshida's worldview. That's why the castle looked to be in disrepair when we visited it a few days and why it was mostly destroyed yesterday. His palace was crumbling as his perception on Shujin was forced to change."
Ann cut in. "So if we hadn't done anything his heart would have changed anyways? You're saying his palace would have disappeared?"
Morgana scratched his head. "Not exactly. His treasure wouldn't have disappeared, I think, but the palace would have changed. I think we were there right when it was starting its transition from a castle to something else. That's why it was so destroyed and weird and why there was so much void. If we had tried to steal his heart a few days later, it might have been all void, if we went in a few weeks it would probably be a different kind of building."
"So what was that void? You said it was common in 'Mementos'." Ryuji asked.
"Yes." Morgana continued. "I'll show you guys later but if you go outside within mementos, which will make sense when you see it, you get to the normal city. If you walk far enough away you reach the same kind of void. I think it was in Kamoshida's palace because his mind was going through a reforming stage after being fractured due to stress and trauma. It would have been replaced by palace again once Kamoshida got a grasp on reality."
"But is that common?" Ann asked, "Like, for palaces to change."
"Not really." Morgana added. "Not as quickly and drastically as what was happening with Kamoshida. Sometimes small details change, but never really the entire palace. Most people who can make a palace are so set in their worldview that nothing can change it. But I've also never tried to change a palace by changing someone's cognition, so who knows? I'd imagine it's really difficult."
"Geez." Ryuji sighed out, "This is confusing."
Morgana scoffed, "Maybe to you. Basically, Kamoshida's palace was changing because of outside forces and we caught it as it was going through that change. We still needed to steal his heart, so we did good. Is that simple enough for you?"
Ryuji growled, "Watch it cat."
Ann sighed and interrupted their impending argument, "Before you guys fight again we need to talk. What do we do now?"
That was a question all of them had pondered, but no one had any answer to. Their enemy had been beaten, everything had worked out, so what did they do with their superpowers now.
"I think." Ryuji began. "I think. We should continue being Phantom Thieves. Kamoshida was a monster and no one could do anything about him, except for us. There are other people out there like him. I want to do that again to help people."
His idea wasn't met with much enthusiasm.
While Akira was planning on continuing to use the Metaverse, for himself and maybe for others, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a part of the team anymore. He wasn't sure if the team wanted him to be there either.
"Well." Morgana started. "I don't like agreeing with Ryuji, but there is a lot of good we can do. There are many people in this world, even just in this city, who could really use our help. And we can get some treasure while we're at it." He finished with a grin.
Ann still looked hesitant. She bit her lip and her eyes darted between the group members. "I just. I don't know. I need some time to figure it out. Taking down Kamoshida was personal. I don't know if I can do that again."
Ryuji scoffed, "Is that the problem Takamaki? You're like, super strong. If you wanted to I'm sure you could have beaten Kamoshida by yourself."
Ann snorted and lightly punched Ryuji's shoulder, "Idiot. That's not what I meant. But thank you. I do want to help people, but I need to figure things out before I do. Personal things. And group things." She finished her sentence by staring straight at Akira.
Akira didn't want to talk about what happened that day. It made him uncomfortable. But he didn't regret what he had done. He coughed into his hand. "I'm on the fence too. Give me a few days to think about it."
Ryuji sighed. "Alright, how about this. You guys figure out by Sunday. That way the Yacht party will either be a going away party, or a 'just getting started' kinda party. Sound good?"
That was fair. Both him and Ann nodded in response.
"Good, for now let's just enjoy ourselves! And let me finish my story from before…" Ryuji continued his story from earlier.
This was fun. Akira was going to miss this if he left the team.
?
?
?
?
His head pulsed uncomfortably.
Where was he? He let out a groan as his leg spasmed in pain.
Some woman was staring at him. She didn't look happy. Who was she again?
She was saying something. He tried to pay attention.
"-So you were the one who assaulted Kamoshida?" She asked in a way that needed no answer. "I knew it. I knew it the whole time. I have been looking for months for a man living under my roof." She said angrily. "But how did you do it? More specifically, how did you cover up your crimes? Someone had to be working with you."
Someone was, but who? Not that he would ever give them up. He felt like that was a bad thing. But he couldn't remember them anyways.
The woman spoke again. "It had to be a hacker of some sort. They got rid of the videotapes day one, and then they somehow got into the police databanks. Who was it? Are they the reason the DNA evidence always came back as inconclusive? Who hacked the police to help you!?"
He wouldn't have answered even if he knew.
A new spasm of pain erupted in his head. He groaned again and a tear slipped out. Whatever drug they injected him with was killing him. He lay his head against the table in an attempt to quiet it.
He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. Who? He looked to his side to find the woman standing near him with a stony look on her face.
She spoke again. "Tell me more. I care about you Akira. I need to know everything if I'm going to save you. Akira. You have to tell me the whole story."
He would. He needed to buy himself time. But why? There was a plan, wasn't there? He felt like he had a plan, right?
But he couldn't remember any plan. All he remembered was the police catching him and beating him. Everything seemed fuzzy.
No, there was no plan. He never had one. He had been captured by surprise. He couldn't rely on anyone.
He needed to get out by himself.
He needed to distract this woman and recover. The more time he had the better.
He wasn't handcuffed to the table. Once he recovered enough strength he could get out of here. He had fought before. He had killed before.
He didn't mind adding to the body count.
The woman sat back down and spoke up, "Now let's continue. The Phantom Thieves set their sights on a bigger target next." She slid a photo of an old man across the table. "Tell me, how did you find out about the Madarame killings? And how did you get one of the most prolific serial killer of the modern eras to confess?"
He continued his story.
April 29
Friday
Morning
Cloudy
Akira waited by the train station with Ryuji. Ann and Shiho would be arriving soon. It would be Shiho's first day back in school since the incident.
This was going to be tough, but Morgana had already volunteered to help any way he could. He bitched about the cat, Ryuji did too, but the little guy had a better heart than most.
Ryuji nudged his shoulder. Akira looked to his side to see him grinning. "Dude, so about this weekend, you pumped? A yacht just to ourselves!? We're gonna live it up!"
Akira couldn't help but smile along with him. "I'll get us some drinks for the party."
Ryuji gave him a friendly pat on the back. "Yes dude! So, its you, me, Ann, Shiho, Morgana, and who else? Do we know anyone else?"
"Haru is coming too, is that cool?"
Ryuji's grin grew further. "Of course man! The more the merrier! Especially more chicks, you know any other girls?"
He knew a few their age, and a few more much older than them. But he doubted Dr. Takamaki would want to party with some kids. But it was a party on a yacht… nah, that wasn't her scene. And Hanae… well, that would be weird.
He spoke up. "I know a few girls, but I don't know."
"Like who?"
Makoto and Mitsuko. He had gone on separate dates with both, although he wasn't sure his dinner with Makoto was a date, and both had ended terribly. But they were the only other girls he knew. Even though Makoto was likely out of the picture. He listed them off.
Ryuji's eyebrows raised. "You know Mitsuko?"
"Yeah, we went to this thing a few weeks ago. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal dude!? You didn't tell me that you went on a date with one of the hottest chicks in school! What the hell man!?"
Akira shrugged and blushed lightly. "It never came up."
Ryuji scoffed. "Whatever. If you think it's a good idea, then invite her. And for the prez? That's up to you too. I don't know your relationship with her. Or even if she would be fun to have around, she's kinda a stickler for the rules. But the more chicks the better."
His relationship with Makoto wasn't particularly good. There was no way he could invite her to their party considering his relationship with Sae.
His relationship with Mitsuko wasn't great either. He had turned her down when she asked him out a few days ago. But, if he wanted this to be a real party she was their best bet. She would certainly get drunk with him. And she was hot. He knew that for a fact, considering he still had those photos of her on his phone…
Maybe he should delete those considering Alibaba had hacked it. It probably didn't matter at this point though. Alibaba had them for sure. He hoped Alibaba wasn't a pervert or a terrible person. He'd feel awful if Alibaba put those photos online.
But he would think about both of them. He needed to see how Shiho was doing first before he started inviting more people too.
He needed to ask Ryuji one more thing before the girls arrived. "Just to be sure. Is there anything else, more uhh, serious you want to talk about?"
Ryuji was quiet for a second before letting out a sigh. "You mean the thing that happened between you and Kamoshida? I don't know dude, do you wanna talk more about it?"
"No, not really."
Ryuji crossed his arms and looked away. "I don't really know what to say. I don't wanna give some long speech or anything. You did what I wanted to do but never could, although you went way farther than I wanted to. But, I don't know, it was risky and you know that. You've had my back through this whole thing, so I'll have yours. Just, don't do that again. Kamoshida was a monster, but I'm not comfortable beating him to death."
Akira nodded. He tried to say something, but words couldn't form. He really thought Ryuji would want nothing to do with him anymore, but instead the guy had his back. They really were friends.
Ryuji scratched his head and began repeating himself "Just. I'm not comfortable with people being killed. Even though Kamoshida is alive, you get what I'm saying. It's not like I care if you're a street punk like me. I just want to do good and help people, but that wasn't helping people. You get it? That cool?" He finished awkwardly.
Akira nodded again. He didn't plan on fighting anytime soon. He still felt drained emotionally after that whole experience. He wasn't sure how comfortable Ryuji really was too. There was a lot of hesitation in his statements, but he would try not to think about it.
Ryuji spoke up. "But what are you gonna do about the cops? That's not just gonna go away."
"I have someone working on it. I'm not sure if I can share more than that."
Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "Are they doing something illegal?"
"Probably."
Ryuji nodded. "Alright dude, tell me when you can. I won't push it though. Just know that if you need anything, I'm ready. I'm sure Takamaki is too, even if she doesn't seem like it right now. She really appreciates all you've done for her. Just talk to her and I'm sure you two will be good again."
"Hey" A new voice called out. "Uh, Akira?"
It sounded familiar. Akira turned towards it to find Mishima standing nervously a few feet from him. His foot moved in circles awkwardly while he looked at them. The boy looked smaller than ever.
"What." Akira responded.
Mishima looked caught off guard. Did the boy expect Akira to ignore him? "Oh, um, are you the ones who took down Kamoshida? Are you the Phantom Thieves?" He asked quickly.
This guy was pissing him off. Akira let out a fake sigh. "No. Why?" He answered shortly. He looked towards Ryuji and found him looking more nervous than Akira was comfortable with. Ryuji better not give anything away.
Mishima's eyes locked onto his own feet. "Well, uh, I just wanted to thank the Phantom Thieves. And, uh, say that I made them a website. It's called the Phan-site, get it?" The boy said with a hollow laugh.
Akira stared him in the eyes without laughing and Mishima looked away. "Yes. Now go away. I don't care about the Phantom Thieves."
Mishima took a hesitant step back. "Okay, well if you want to use-"
"I don't care. Go away."
Mishima turned tail and walked away quickly.
After he was out of sight Ryuji spoke up. "A little harsh huh?"
Akira looked at him. "No. No one can know we're 'that' group. If they do, everything could be over. Trust me. It's better we shut down any talk of that now before it gets out of control."
Ryuji nodded and didn't say anything else. Which was good as Akira wasn't in the mood to argue about the need for secrecy.
He also didn't like Mishima. For a backup spot on a high school volleyball team the boy had ruined Shiho's life. How many people had Mishima helped hurt due to his desire for a role on the team? He didn't view Mishima as a victim. Yes, Kamoshida had beaten him like the others. But which other team members had sacrificed their fellow classmates for personal gain? It wasn't something Akira could easily forgive. He would need to look into this 'Phan-site' however and possibly take action.
Ann and Shiho walked out of the subway derailing his train of thought. Ann wore her usual outfit while Shiho was wearing something new. She wore the usual Shujin skirt but had long dark leggings under it. A bulky white jacket covered most of her upper body and only revealed her hands and neck.
But Shiho was smiling, which was an improvement. He gave the two a short wave, which they returned.
"Hey guys! You ready?" Ann called out.
Ryuji had a face splitting grin on, "You know it! Let's get this dumbass day over with." Ryuji had classes with Shiho, so his job was to make sure she was okay in class. And if anyone said anything to her he needed to first, stop them, then second, tell Ann and Akira.
There wouldn't need to be a third step.
Morgana jumped out of Akira's backpack and jogged towards the two of them.
Akira appreciated that. Morgana never complained about spending time with Shiho. Akira joked about it just being an opportunity to get closer to Ann, but he didn't think it was. He believed the cat actually cared about Shiho's well-being.
The five of them fell into step and started making conversation. The school looked normal from outside, but the atmosphere was a totally different. There was a layer of hostility that wasn't there before.
The group split up soon after getting to Shujin. Ann, Morgana and himself went to Kawakami's class while Ryuji and Shiho went to theirs.
He hoped today went quickly.
April 29
Friday
After School
Cloudy
Akira walked down the hallway alone. He had separated from his friends a bit ago.
School had been a mess. Every teacher was nervous they were going to get caught up in the scandal, and for good reason. Some of them might lose their jobs. Some might even go to jail when all was said and done.
But for now, for the first time in a week, Makoto wanted to meet up to study again. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. He couldn't be near her long for fear of Sae. But within school grounds his GPS couldn't be accurate enough to detect which floor he was on, giving him plausible deniability.
They were supposed to study in the student council room today. Which was an interesting change from the library they normally spent time in.
He made it to the room and slowly walked in. The room was rather normal. There were a few tables, a couple of lockers, a few desks, some pictures on the wall, and a long window that took up most of the wall on the opposite side from the door.
Makoto was the only person in the room. She looked at him as he slowly closed the door. There was a cloth on the table for some reason.
She gave him a small smile. "Akira. How are you?"
"Good. How about you?"
"Good. Oh wait, you have something on your face." She said and quickly got up and wiped at his cheek.
"Uh, thank you but-" He said, trying to grab her hands.
"Oops! Other cheek!" She said and wiped at his other cheek. She looked surprised afterwards for some reason.
"Is it gone?" He asked confused.
"Oh, uh, yeah. You ready to study?" She asked with a hesitant smile.
He let out a breath. "I actually can't stay for long. For, reasons." Those reasons being that her sister might actually kill him.
"I kinda expected that. I just wanted to talk anyways."
That confused him. "What do you want to talk about?"
She turned her chair towards him and sat down in it. She leaned backwards and looked him in the eyes seriously. "I just had a few questions to ask you. Would you mind taking a seat?"
He met her gaze. After a moment she broke eye contact and looked away. He didn't like doing this to people he liked but he also wouldn't give someone else power in a conversation. He had been interrogated by people more intimidating than Makoto. "I'm good."
Makoto deflated slightly. The Sae-like expression fell from her face. "Oh, um, well I still would like to ask you some questions." Her confidence had taken a blow. She must have hoped he would give in. She collected herself soon after, but the serious expression didn't seem as intimidating.
He nodded. "Go for it."
Makoto took a breath. "Are you the Phantom Thieves of Heart?"
He raised an eyebrow. "I told you no a few days ago."
"I don't believe you."
That did make him a little nervous. "Why?"
She met his eyes. Her confidence had returned. He messed up. He should have shut her down. "Well, you're one of the few people who has an active, well-known dispute with Kamoshida. You're one of the few people who has the confidence to do something like that. And if I'm correct, then you're one of the few, if only, people in Shujin who has the strength and experience to beat Kamoshida in a fight."
Everything she said was true. He needed to lie, and quick. "That's a serious accusation. But I'm on probation and was with people when the assault on Kamoshida occurred."
Makoto raised an eyebrow. "You mean your friends? The other members of the Phantom Thieves? It's a plural name, so there's probably more than one of you."
Shit. Shit. Shit. If she put this together, Sae probably had too. "Well, I was with them at the time. I can't say anymore. But your theory doesn't hold up. Didn't Kamoshida specifically say that the person who assaulted them was short with short dark hair?"
Makoto slowly nodded. "Yes. That part I haven't figured out yet."
"Then." He cut her off. "Why would you think it's me? I don't fit the description, and Kamoshida had many enemies."
She nodded slowly. "Well, okay, maybe you weren't the one to assault him. I can't confirm or deny that. But, you are a member of the Phantom Thieves aren't you? Of everyone, you knew more about Kamoshida's crimes than anyone."
He let out a fake sigh. She wasn't letting up. "More than members of the volleyball team? I heard one of them even set up a fan page for the Phantom Thieves. I'm not trying to go back to Juvie. And whoever did the card thing is going to give themselves up soon, no one can ignore the fame for long."
"But why would a member of the volleyball team, people who had never spoken up before, finally give in?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Maybe he went too far. Maybe he pushed what people were ready to accept and someone finally cracked. I don't know who, I don't know if we will ever know, but it wasn't me."
"Then why did you ask if he had help yesterday?"
Shit shit shit. "I knew about what Kamoshida had done. Everyone did. I'm friends with Ann and Shiho. I knew about what happened to Shiho. When he admitted to it I needed to find out if he had help. I got angry and wanted to know." He felt bad using Shiho's tragedy to guilt Makoto, but he needed the girl to give up.
It hit Makoto a lot harder than he expected. She turned away from him and wiped at her eyes. He didn't say anything as she got up and turned around fully. He felt even worse now about guilting Makoto, but he needed the girl to stop asking questions. He picked up the cloth and silently handed it to her.
After a second Makoto spoke back up. "You're right. I don't know. I'm sorry for assuming it was you and all this. I… I'll let you go. Please don't be upset, I just needed to know."
"It's fine." He said softly.
"Sae will figure it out soon anyways, and if it is you." She said and glared at him with red puffy eyes. "I won't forgive you for lying to me."
He nodded. "That's fine I'm not a Phantom Thief. Do you think I would accept that as a team name anyways?"
She let out a chuckle. It sounded fake. "I guess not."
"Okay, well, I'm gonna head out. I'll see you later I guess."
"Before you go." She interrupted. "Are we… are we still friends?" She asked carefully.
He didn't know. They could never really be friends because of Sae, but he didn't want to say that. "If you want to be." He would leave the choice up to her. This way, he couldn't say the wrong thing.
She smiled at him softly. "I'd like that."
He nodded back at her. "Then I guess we are." He said and made his way to the door. After a small wave he was gone.
That all went better than expected. He got Makoto off his back and didn't have to confirm anything. He liked Makoto, she was nice. But her sister could be terrifying.
April 29
Friday
After School
Cloudy
Makoto sat alone in the Student Council room. She wiped at her eyes with the cloth, cleaning up a stray tear. Thinking about Shiho broke her heart.
She really didn't know if Akira was a Phantom Thief anymore.
Maybe he didn't assault Kamoshida. It could have easily been someone with a blunt weapon. Sae had said over the phone that in the initial review of Kamoshida's body that there were injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, further proven by the bloody rock found nearby.
Makoto working hypothesis was that someone had met Kamoshida in that alley for some reason and started the fight by hitting the tall man with a rock. Kamoshida hadn't been taken out of the fight and had managed to retaliate, namely slamming the person into the dumpster leaving a line of blood, but the person managed to fight back and hit Kamoshida with a rock again.
There was a lot of blood, so Kamoshida must have gotten a few hits in, but the rock won in the end. That was how the shorter individual had won.
It didn't make much sense all things considered. With Kamoshida's height and weight advantage a rock by itself shouldn't have changed the fight, but who knows? She wasn't there, and she wasn't a detective.
Kamoshida had admitted to owning the knife found in the alleyway too. He had also admitted to luring the other person, whoever they were, into the alleyway.
Makoto had regretfully read through many of Sae's papers once her sister went to sleep last night. Sae locked the door to her office, but Makoto knew where she hid the spare key. In a cabinet under some rarely used kitchen items. For such a smart person, it was a bad hiding place.
But Sae probably didn't think Makoto would ever break her trust. Makoto was ashamed to think about it, but she needed to know.
DNA should be back tonight. Makoto would figure out who assaulted Kamoshida. Well, Sae would, and then Makoto would read the report. Or she would hear Sae yelling about it. One of the two.
Although, based on the videos they were able to get, Kamoshida had been planning this event for weeks. He had repeatedly gone to the same alleyway, sometimes more than once a day. He one time brought two shady looking individuals with him when he went. They didn't have any footage of the alleyway, most likely why Kamoshida chose that alley, but they had him walking there numerous times.
So the events had been planned in advance by Kamoshida, but not the other party. No one else visited that alleyway frequently. So whoever had fought Kamoshida had been lured there.
The potential charges that could be laid against a person were decreasing by the day according to Sae's angry tirade this morning. With the findings that Kamoshida had lured someone there it was becoming harder to classify this as an assault and it was turning into a self-defense case.
Should someone be found through DNA evidence it was going to be hard to put them away for any length of time if at all. Especially considering that all of Kamoshida's crimes that had come to light. If it was a family member of one of Kamoshida's victims or a victim themselves? It would be hard to get any time at all. It might be impossible to even get community service. Public opinion would kill someone trying to punish one of Kamoshida's victims.
The timeline was so weird though. Why would Kamoshida set up the assault, then lure in a family member of one of his victims? Someone who knew too much? Why lure in anyone at all? What did someone know that pushed Kamoshida to that point?
This whole thing was weird.
The only person who could get serious time was someone already disliked by society, someone on parole. Which meant only Akira. Who, despite not fitting the physical description, was still one of the biggest suspects. Although, Makoto personally believed that if Akira pushed a 'Getting revenge for Shiho' angle the case would fall apart.
A man on parole with a secret heart of gold? The public would see it as him getting revenge for a girl he loved, although that wasn't likely to be entirely true. People would love the story about the violent criminal and the abused girl. But while Shiho might be part of the reason Kamoshida had hurt many of Akira's other friends. As she thought about it she also was starting to side more with imaginary-Akira.
This whole thing was a mess. And from the crime scene photos, the fight had been too. Those were gruesome. She had to swallow some bile after just briefly glancing at them. But that also led back to the biggest reason it couldn't be Akira.
Kamoshida had said he had cut the cheek of the person who assaulted him. He remembered that clearly. And Akira had no scar on his cheek.
A few people in school did, that shorter kid in the year below her for instance, but not Akira.
That was why she brought the cloth. She was going to wipe his makeup off. But there wasn't even a smudge.
She dropped her head into her hands. She wanted to stomp her feet in frustration. She had looked like a weirdo for nothing.
But she still couldn't get it out of her mind. If Akira hadn't assaulted Kamoshida, who had? And why did Akira seem nervous when she talked about it?
Nothing made sense.
April 29
Friday
After School
Cloudy
Akira walked home. He didn't feel like taking the subway today.
"Akira!" Ann's voice called out from behind. "Wait up!"
God damnit. He let out a sigh. He didn't want to have another serious conversation.
Ann caught up with him. "Walking home? You missed the station."
"Yeah. I just want some air today."
Ann nodded. "I'll join you. I could use some air. My parents are still away, so it's not like anyone's waiting for me." She said with a laugh.
"What about Shiho?" He hoped she would leave.
"Her parents picked her up from school. They don't trust anyone else." That made sense. It made him bad though. He nodded so she continued. "So, uh, anyways. You have time to talk?"
He didn't want to. "Yeah, I can walk you home if you want." Shit. Why did he say that?
She smiled at him. "Thanks! I'll accept it! It's not far from Leblanc. Well, not far by subway at least."
He needed to dissuade her. "The walks over an hour."
She waived him off, "When we get tired we'll just grab a ride."
She wasn't going to be dissuaded. She was probably the most strong-willed person his age he knew. If she wanted to talk about something, she would. He tried to gather his confidence and man up. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
She looked at him with piercing eyes. "What happened a few days ago."
He tried to meet her gaze. "If you want to, we should wait until we get somewhere private."
She nodded. "Alright. We can chat near my house. There's a subway entrance up ahead we can take."
He let out a sigh. It looked like he wasn't getting that air he wanted.
He followed Ann all the way back to her house. It was farther from LeBlanc than he thought, but not too far. It was in an upscale suburban part of town filled with modern or western style houses. People had yards, although some were smaller than others.
They finally arrived at a large, for a house in a good part of Tokyo, western style house. It was nicer than the rest and had a bigger yard too. He followed Ann around the side of her large house.
He licked his lips, "Ann, how did your parents afford this?"
She looked back at him. "Hmm? Oh, well my dad's from America and he got rich with the internet boom and my mom is a former Japanese model now fashion designer. My dad loved Japan and wanted to raise his kids here. This is actually two plots of land, my dad bought two houses being sold back to back, demolished both houses, and built my parents dream house here."
That was amazing. They walked past the end of the house and to the start of a mesh-enclosed pool. There were a few fancy lounge chairs to sit on. "You guys own a pool!?" It was rare to own enough land to have a pool in his hometown. He imagined it was similar here.
She looked inside with him, "Yeah, my dad likes to swim. It's not large enough to do laps or anything, but it's fun to hang out in."
Jeez, he needed to know more. "If you don't mind me asking, what did your dad do in the internet boom?"
She looked at him confused. "Why would I mind? He was an investor and got in early on some companies before they got big. We're not super rich or anything, but we have a good amount of money. We also bought these properties for cheap too. This neighborhood's not the most expensive."
Jeez, what was expensive to her? It wasn't like any property in Tokyo was cheap. He had lived in a small apartment his whole life and now an attic. He couldn't even imagine.
He continued to follow Ann past her pool. Following the pool and outside the mesh screen was an outside porch with few nice wooden chairs there for them to sit it, which Akira did. After the porch there was a small grass filled backyard with a closed hot tub off to one side. At the end of the plot of land was a fence surrounding the property with large Bamboo stalks surrounding every side but where the gate was.
It was a very nice, private, place. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable but she was rich. Few people could afford this kind of luxury. "So, what do you want to talk about?" The sooner this was done the better.
Ann sighed. After a moment she began speaking slowly. "I need to know. What happened that morning? Why did you fight Kamoshida?"
He didn't want to answer, but she deserved the truth. "Because, it just happened. He threatened you guys, and I just got mad and lost it. I thought about everything that had happened. To you. To Shiho. To Ryuji. To me. To everyone. And, I was stupid and lost control."
Ann nodded, but didn't say anything. After a moment she spoke back up softly. "Were you planning on killing him?"
Should he tell the truth about that? He would try to do so to the best of his ability. "No. I didn't have any plans. Kamoshida tried to slice my throat and that's when I, you know, started really hurting him."
She looked shocked. "Jesus. What the hell, I didn't know that."
He nodded. "Yeah. He brought a knife and probably would have killed me."
"But." She continued. "When we found you, were you going to kill him if Ryuji didn't tackle you?"
He sat there for a moment. "I don't know." He said then paused. "I… I don't know. I was really mad. But I think, I think I would have stopped." He didn't know if he would have.
Ann let out a breath. "Kamoshida's a monster, but he deserves to be in prison not being beaten to death. If you had continued we couldn't have changed his heart and his crimes would never come to light. Everyone would have to suffer and know that Kamoshida would never punished."
He nodded slowly. "I know. You're right. I messed up."
"If you knew it was a bad idea, why did you do it?" She asked. She looked at him with a concern he had rarely, if ever, seen on a person's face before. Most people didn't care about him enough to show concern.
This was getting very personal. He was uncomfortable with it. And for some reason he was getting angry at the idea that someone cared about him. "I just. I don't know. I got mad and that's that."
"But why? Akira, if you want to talk about things, I'm here for you. We're friends you know?"
He didn't want to chat. "It's fine. I got mad, I get mad sometimes. Never at my friends or random people, just at people like Kamoshida. I made a mistake."
"Has this happened before?"
Yes. He had beaten people badly in Juvie. People that needed to know he wasn't playing around. It was for his own safety. "No. This is the first time."
"What about Jiro?"
He nearly cursed. "That, that was also me losing control. He threatened Ryuji and made fun of him. I couldn't just accept that."
Ann nodded. "I'm not sure what to say to that."
"You don't have to say anything."
She sighed. "Well, I would be lying if I said I hadn't wanted to do that a few times. I normally hate violence, but I just can't feel get mad about this for any length of time. I was upset that you almost messed everything up, but I'm not mad that Kamoshida was hurt."
"Have you tried feeling mad?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I kept trying to get pissed at you. I wanted to scream about how selfish and stupid you were, but then I just kept thinking 'Imagine how powerless Kamoshida must have felt. Think about how he made Shiho feel that way.' and then I can't. It even makes me a little happy that he had to experience that feeling. It's weird, I don't like feeling that way."
He sighed. "I understand."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Ann spoke back up. "Just, don't do that again. I can't go through this kind of stress again. Dealing with the police maybe finding us, finding you as a bloody mess, thinking about how we might not be able to change Kamoshida's heart."
"It won't happen again. And don't worry about the police. I have that handled."
She looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"
"I have a contact. They'll handle it."
She looked skeptical. "Something like that never comes for free."
He leaned back in his chair. "I'm sure I will have to pay for the help one way or another, but that's a problem for another day. Right now we need the help."
She nodded and leaned back as well. They sat in silence for a long time. It was a comfortable silence however.
After a while he made to get up. "I better get going before it gets dark out."
"Before you go though." Ann started. "We've talked about me a lot but I don't know if we've ever really talked about you. Tell me about yourself, what do your parents do?"
"I don't like talking about my parents."
Ann looked taken aback. "Oh, uh, sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." She said guiltily.
Now he felt bad. He let out a sigh. "It's not a big deal. Alright, they don't do anything. At least when I was there. They were old and we survived on a government stipend and disability." It was awful. These were his adopted parents he was talking about. The plan was always for him to support them after he graduated, but that wouldn't happen anymore.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Ann didn't seem to know what to say. That was rare for her.
"It's whatever. I haven't talked to them in over a year. So it's not like I care about them anyways."
Ann nodded and didn't say anything. Good. Talking about his 'family' always made him upset.
He got up to leave. "I'm going to head out now. I don't wanna be out at night."
Ann nodded and got up with him. "Yeah. I'm sorry you can't come inside. My parents don't like guests being inside that they don't know. The servants would tell them about you immediately too. Just come meet them for dinner soon and then I can show you my place. We can all go swimming here too or something."
He nodded. "Yeah. Tell me when they're back in the country." He wanted to see what the inside of such a nice house looked like.
Ann walked him to the front of the house and spoke up when they arrived. "Akira. This has been a really long two weeks, probably longer for you, but thanks for bringing me into this. We didn't really get off on the right foot at first, me beating you up and all." She said with a snort. "But you've been a good friend and helped change my life."
He scratched the back of his head. He didn't like talking about mushy things. "Well, I feel like you've said that a few times. But you've been a good friend too."
She let out a short laugh. "Thanks. I appreciate that. Well, I'll see you later buddy." She said mockingly with a short salute.
He couldn't help but grin and send one back. "See ya." And walked away.
It took a while for the grin to leave his face. He was happy for the first time in a long time.
He had friends. And they weren't abandoning him like everyone else.
April 29
Friday
Night
Cloudy
Akira left LeBlanc feeling great. He had plans and was going to enjoy himself tonight. Morgana was off doing Morgana things, which meant he was most likely with Sojiro snoozing as he went to bed early. But that wasn't his problem. He locked the store and left.
He made his way to a bar in Shinjuku called 'The Crossroads' to meet Ohya. It felt like forever since he had saved her life, but it had really been only two weeks.
He was ready to get drunk too. Ohya had offered to pay for his drinks tonight. That was something he easily agreed to.
He had some other texts as well. He ignored the messages from the weird blue-haired boy he met on Haru's yacht. He had no interest in being painted.
Kawakami had also messaged him. She was panicking a lot over the recent events. It wasn't unreasonable either. The National media was already eating the Kamoshida story up and while he didn't think she played any role in Kamoshida's actions there was no guarantee the government wouldn't do a clean sweep of their school.
The government might decide it would be easier to fire everyone and hire new teachers than deal with routing out all the corruption in Shujin, of which there was a lot. And while he doubted Kawakami knew anything a government board might see her lack of action against Kamoshida as an admittance of wrongdoing.
And would they be wrong? Kawakami was a teacher at the school and must have seen the numerous students coming in with new injuries. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. He had done so, and then fixed the problem, within a month of arriving.
Kawakami was… complicated. There was something going on in her life he didn't know about. He would withhold any serious judgment for now. But, when the opportunity arose he would ask about it. He didn't feel comfortable paying someone who knew about Kamoshida's actions and did nothing.
But that was too serious to think about now. For now, he wanted to think about drinking and hanging out with an older woman.
He took a quick train to the Shinjuku and made his way to the bar. On his way there he passed by an odd blonde fortune teller. It was an interesting site. A pretty young blonde woman who could read the future. But fortune tellers are always a scam so he ignored her table.
He continued walking down the street passing by the various host clubs, seedy bars, bright restaurants, sex toy shops, and numerous other red-light district stores. A few really caught his interest and he made a mental note to come back soon. There were a few places that seemed to be strip clubs or brothels. He would be sure to come back to those. He really wanted to check out some of the night clubs too. Maybe the others would want to come to that with him.
He finally found 'The Crossroads' after circling the block a few times. It was another seedy looking bar. He had to walk down a short corridor to reach the entrance. Opening it revealed a dimly lit but surprisingly well-kept looking bar. He only had to walk a few feet to reach the bar that stretched nearly to the door. To his immediate right was another door and to his left was an open area with couches and tables to sit at.
Ohya sat at the far end of the bar and waved to him as he entered. She was wearing her usual outfit of a t-shirt and jeans with large sunglasses on her head and a light amount of makeup. She didn't accentuate it well but she was good looking.
Across from her and behind the bar stood a large woman wearing a formal kimono. She had short purple hair and glared at him as he approached. "How old are you kid?" She asked with a deep voice.
"Don't worry about him Lala-chan!" Ohya interrupted. "He's with me! He's the kid that saved my life! Remember?" She was a little flushed. She had been drinking before he arrived.
The woman looked him up and down. "Hmmm. I don't like it." She said and picked up a glass. "If the cops come by it's on you. How old are you?"
He sat down next to Ohya. "Eighteen." He lied. He wasn't going to have either one of them think of him as a child. He was a legal adult. Or close enough to one.
Ohya's eyebrow raised. "Aren't you still in high school?"
He shrugged. "I'm in my final year." He lied again.
Ohya let out a chuckle. "Whatever, I was doing way worse than this when I was your age. Lala-chan! Refill! And get my friend here a drink too! On my tab!"
Lala-chan quickly and professionally refilled Ohya's mixed drink and poured him a beer. He had no idea what brand it was, but it was bitter. She muttered the whole time about how large the tab was getting.
Ohya patted him on the back with a large smile on her face as he drank. "There ya go! Is this your first-time drinking?"
He nearly coughed out his drink at her slaps. "No, I've drinken before."
She grinned at him slyly, "But never with a pro I bet. By the time we're done I'll have taught you everything. That's called a pale ale, because its pale, get it?" He nodded, and she chuckled. "Alright! Nice! See? I am a good influence Lala-chan, I'm basically a teacher!" To which Lala sighed and shook her head. Ohya scoffed. " Like you know anything. Is anyone using the backroom?"
Lala-chan raised an eyebrow. "No. Tonight's pretty tame. Do you want to?"
Ohya grinned. "You know it! I want to get to know my friend here better!"
The large woman sighed and waved her hand at the door by the entrance. Ohya gave the woman a short salute as she led Akira towards it.
Entering the room revealed a massive table surrounded on three sides by one long couch. It was big enough to fit a party of fifteen or twenty people. Red heart pillows decorated the comfortable leather couch. Red lights coming down from a disco ball and a giant heart on the wall gave the room an intimate feeling.
Ohya slide down one side of the couch and scooted down around the corner. She patted the couch and he sat down with her but didn't round the corner so that they could face each other. He took a big sip from his glass. He was still sober and thus slightly uncomfortable.
He needed to say something. "So, what do you do for a living?"
She smiled at him. "Well, I'm a reporter from the Tokyo Times, we're the fourth largest newspaper in Tokyo! And getting better too. I do tabloid." She spat the word out. "Articles right now. You know, 'Dog walks himself to store to buy toys.' Absolute garbage stuff. I used to do politics you know, the good stuff." She picked up her drink and drowned the whole thing in a few gulps. "Whatever, tell me about you.
He quickly finished his beer. "There's not much to me."
"There's gotta be somethin, where do you go to school?"
Lala-chan came over with a new beer, which he took a big gulp of. "Shujin-."
Ohya immediately cut him off. "Shujin! You go to the Shujin! With Kamoshida right!?"
He tensed up. This could go very badly if she was amazed for the wrong reason. "Yes?"
She looked shocked. "I've been reading everything about him! I'm supposed to write an article about him! He's one of the most horrible people I've ever had to write about, and I did articles on politicians! Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"
The tension left him. "It's alright. He was an asshole and I'm happy he's behind bars now."
She nodded. "I can drink to that. The next guy up should be that Madarame guy." She sipped her drink.
Madarame? "Who? What did he do?"
Her eyes widened and she nearly spilt her drink "Shit! Forget I said that!"
He looked at her confused. "What?"
She slowly placed her drink down. "Don't worry about it. Unless you got any info just forget I said it. It's a piece I'm working on but don't tell anyone or you could ruin it. But, I will say, it's gonna be a big one."
Madarame? The nice old man he met on Haru's yacht? He would look into that later. "Alright, you sure you can't tell me anything?"
She nodded. Her face was quite flushed now. "Yeah. It's not a fun subject. Let's talk about fun subjects. Tell me, you talkin to any girls your age?" To which he blushed and coughed making her laugh. "Kidding! Kidding, I won't pry. Unless you wanna share?"
He needed to sound cool. "I'm doing fine. What about you?" He said trying to flip the conversation.
She slid her head into her arms. "You don't wanna hear about my love life. Ugh. There's nothing fun or exciting there. That is, unless you consider Lala-chan, then I'm basically married."
The door opened revealing Lala-chan. "Ignore her! I have my own things going on thank you very much!" She said and slid a new drink with a straw in it to Ohya.
Ohya's head sank farther into the table, "How did I get to where Lala-chan is in a relationship and I'm not."
"I've always been better than you with men. And women too."
Ohya sank even farther, "Don't remind me."
He couldn't help but ask, "Women?"
She sat up and waved him off, "I went through a phase. College stuff, don't ask about it. Happens to everyone. Now, what's a bad boy like you got going on? You must be swimming in girls." She finished with a teasing grin.
He blushed again which made her laugh. Swimming in girls? He hadn't even had a real girlfriend yet. His one and only kiss was when he was in grade school, and he didn't count that.
Well, he had almost had sex with Hanae that one time. And he probably could have gone farther with Mitsuko too. So he wasn't doing that bad. He drank some more. He needed to sound confident. "Some. Just talking to some right now. I think I prefer talking with girls not in high school more though."
Ohya looked at him for a second then laughed. "Are you trying to flirt?"
He blushed. "No." He tried to drink to cover it.
She laughed more. "Well, if you were, it was a good attempt. Maybe sound more confident next time. But I appreciate the effort. If I have to admit, I like talking to younger guys more too." She said breathily as she picked up her drink and met his eyes. She brought it to her lips and her tongue reached out and played with the straw in an extremely erotic manner.
This time he did cough up his drink. His body felt really hot. Ohya bust a gut laughing and slapping the table as he tried to catch his breath. She managed to get a few words out as she laughed and wheezed, "God you're easy to mess with. You okay kid? Your pride still intact?"
No. "Yeah."
She scooted closer to him and slapped his back lightly. "Stop trying to sound suave! I just saw you spit up your drink idiot." She laughed and he looked away. "Alright, I'll let up I'll let up. Looks like you weren't ready to play with the big girls huh. I bet those lines work on high school girls, but you'll need to get better ones if you wanna flirt with me. Now let's talk about something else, tell me more about you. What's your secret?"
He was silently happy for the change of subject. He probably looked as uncool as possible.
And as for his secret, well, he could enter people's minds and change their memories. He was also a criminal. He had superpowers. He had a lot.
"I'm a student-"
She slapped the table. "I know that! Tell me something else!"
Fine. "I got out of Juvie a bit ago." He said and finished his third drink. The alcohol was starting to really hit him.
She clapped her hands. "Good! Good! Tell me more!"
"I was put in there for a crime I didn't commit."
She stopped clapping and looked at him curiously. "What?" He nodded and told her the short version of his story. She seemed enthralled the whole time. "Wow. I can't believe it, really?"
He nodded again. "Yeah, so now I'm here."
"Damn. You might need a drink more than I do." She said with a laugh.
He shrugged. He didn't have any more to say on the subject. Memories filled him, bad ones.
"Hey, did I bum you out? Sorry about that, I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories." Ohya said with concern on her face. "How about we get out of here. I'll show you another cool place then you can walk me home."
That sounded like fun. He was drunk and wanted to see where this night could go.
Ohya waved to Lala as she took him out of the bar. She took him down the street towards a 'great' restaurant she knew about near her apartment. The restaurant, a small Japanese-styled place, was only fifteen minutes from the bar.
Ohya sat at the bar and ordered them both a drink and one plate of the 'chef special'. She made small talk about the restaurant and area as they waited while Akira tried to sound interested. It apparently wasn't the best part of town but had a lot of interesting things to do.
The meal finally came out. It was a large squid in a bowl of rice and vegetables.
Akira looked at the meal awkwardly. "How do I eat this?" He had never eaten a full squid before. Most places that served this kind of meal were out of his price range.
Ohya chuckled. "Here, when I pour this on it you have to eat it really quickly."
He looked at her confused. "Why-"
"Go!" She shouted and poured a hot liquid on the squid. It started uncomfortably dancing in the bowl.
He looked at it uncomfortably. "I'm supposed to eat that?"
"Yes! Go!" Ohya said and shooed him forward.
"Is it alive?"
"Go!"
He gulped and hesitantly reached forward with his chopsticks. Ohya cheered him on. He carefully grabbed one of the wiggling tentacles and slowly took a bit out of it. It tasted salty.
"You did it! Good job!" Ohya said and patted his back. "You ate something alive!" He nearly spit the bit still in his mouth out. Ohya erupted in laughter. "Just kidding! It just dances when you pour this on it." She finished and poured more liquid on the squid.
They slowly ate the squid and drank more alcohol. Ohya could be very funny and had a lot of interesting stories. She had gotten into some wild situations in her life.
After finishing the meal, they made their way back to Ohya's apartment. She lived close enough that they could walk.
But as they got farther from the nightlife the worse the area got. Ohya told him not to worry about the few people still out, they were harmless. But Akira felt the need to keep an eye out.
"It's the next block." Ohya mumbled.
Akira nodded and scanned the area. The largest danger right now was the three youths walking towards them. They couldn't be more than sixteen years old. They met Akira's gaze and grinned. Why did people look at him like he was a challenge?
The one in front spoke up. "You guys are out late-"
"Fuck off." Akira immediately responded and stepped in front of Ohya. "I'm not in the mood."
That caught the one in front off guard. "Wha-"
Akira took another angry step forward. He was tired of only reacting to aggressive people. "Fuck off before I make you."
One of the two in the back started pulling on his friends to leave. The one in front looked back at his friend and said something.
Akira yelled out again. "Are you deaf!?"
All three stared back at him until the leader twisted around and left mumbling. Akira could hear one of the lackies talking. "I knew it! That was that Juvie kid from Shujin. He beat the shit out of Jiro and apparently some teacher. He put both in the hospital."
Rumors about him were starting to spread. But at this point, he was used to it. It would be annoying if every teenager who thought they were hot shit wanted to fight though. He looked back at Ohya whose mouth was slightly agape.
She closed her mouth and gave him a contemplative look. She looked entirely sober as she scanned him. After a few seconds she realized what she was doing and stopped. "Oh! Uh, good work on that. Punks like to hang out around here looking for purses to snatch. They are easy to avoid but can get annoying."
He nodded. He was used to punks being drawn to him. He didn't say anything as he continued to lead Ohya home.
It only took a few minutes to reach her building. The mood had improved and returned to the drunken celebration from before.
He couldn't help but grin as he walked her to the entrance. Ohya stopped by the door to her apartment complex. It was a large grey building with numerous windows surrounded on all sides by other large grey buildings.
Ohya stood near her door. "I had a good time tonight. It's been a long time since I've hung out with someone other than Lala-chan. Thanks for coming out." She said with a smile.
"Thanks for inviting me." He said. He hoped he didn't sound awkward. He wasn't sure what to say. The last time he had gone home with someone, the only time, Hanae had done most of the work.
"I'll send you a text soon. We should do this again. I spend most my time at Lala's anyways." She finished with a laugh.
He nodded. "Yeah. Uh, I'll see you later I guess."
She gave him a teasing smile. "You didn't think you were going to be invited up did you?" She asked. "You're a little young for that."
His body felt really hot. How did she know? He fumbled out a "No." but it didn't sound real at all.
Ohya burst out in laughter. "Oh, just kidding. Gotcha! You're really easy to tease. Either way, thanks for the fun night! See ya later!" She finished and scanned herself in.
He couldn't help but grin and wave goodbye to her. He had fun tonight. Ohya knew how to have a good time. And she got him drunk, which was nice. He would make sure to bring some drinks to the yacht party.
He was feeling good. Maybe he should text some people? That was a good idea, right? No time like the present.
Akira: Hey Makoto.
Akira: I know this is out of the blue but me and some friends were going to have a party soon.
Akira: We're renting a place if you want to come.
Akira: It's this Sunday.
He switched conversations.
Akira: Hey Mitsuko.
Akira: Me and some friends are having a party this Sunday.
Akira: You should come.
There. That was good. Now there might be quite a few girls there. This would be fun. A yacht party with girls and alcohol. His life had improved tremendously over the course of a few weeks.
He thought about texting Hanae but that might be weird. The last time he had seen her it had ended both greatly and awfully. He wasn't sure drunkenly texting her after midnight was the correct move if he wanted to meet her again. She was pretty hot.
That was a problem for later. He started making his way home. It had been a tough two weeks, but here he was.
He had completed his goals. Everyone who had threatened him or stood in his way was gone. No one had been spared.
He couldn't stop himself from grinning darkly. He had won. Shujin had been dealt a blow they could never recover from at his hands. That was the fate of people who crossed him. Shujin had fallen.
He knew that he wanted to continue being a Phantom Thief. He needed to take more people down. He wanted the thrill of making people pay for their crimes. He wanted to see the mighty fall.
He was going to continue this. He needed to feel the energy of a fight again. Of risking his life. Of flying through the air and doing battle with unimaginable creatures. He was addicted to the rush. He just needed to find his next target.
He looked down at his phone to check the time. He had missed some texts somehow. He opened the first one.
Sae Niijima: Akira. Are you free tomorrow? I would greatly appreciate if we could get dinner.
Shit.
A/N
Another Chapter down!
So Kamoshida is finally done! He's been taken down, and Kobayakawa went along with him. I never understood how he didn't go down in-game with Kamoshida. But, either way that's done!
Just as a side note this is the end of the Kamoshida Arc! I'm super proud that it's taken less than a year, and that's with me not having a set schedule for writing in the first few months. My productivity went up like crazy as the story kept going. I hope to keep it up through the next arc.
We got a lot of Makoto development this chapter, and some Sae too. It seems like the reality of events is really hitting her hard. She blames herself for things outside her control. We'll see where that leads.
And the groups celebrating! On Haru's Yacht! That's gonna be a really fun chapter to write lol. I'm super pumped for it. Haru is one of Akira's good friends now too. And a bunch of teenagers, on a boat, with alcohol and partying. It's gonna be fun.
The schools in complete disarray, which makes sense. Kamoshida's story has taken over Japan. A scandal of this magnitude wouldn't just blow over. Especially with the added mystic of a 'Who did it?' Story. Who assaulted Kamoshida? An abused student? An angry parent? Who broke the man down enough to confess to everything?
So while the Kamoshida story has reached a conclusion there is more to come. The next villain has been revealed.
For Mishima, Akira isn't as quick to forgive as Akira in the game was. Mishima did some awful things to keep his spot on the team. But if he hadn't, someone else would have. But Akira doesn't really care about that. He thinks more along the lines of, why didn't you refuse? Akira stayed strong and refused to give into evil in Juvie and he holds other people to that standard. Even though he's stronger mentally and physically than most people.
Makoto really thought that Akira was a Phantom Thief, correctly, but Akira was able to get out of that. It was in a morally questionable way, but it was needed. I don't think Akira knows how guilty and awful Makoto feels about the whole situation though. Either way, Makoto and Akira ended up on better footing by the end.
And we learned about Ann's parents. They're rich. Not Haru rich, but pretty wealthy. Their house is nice and I hope I did a good job of explaining it. It will show up again later too, so if I didn't I will try to fix it next time. It's a western style house because Ann's dad is American.
Ann and Ryuji both forgave Akira, but for different reasons. Ann ended up not being able to feel upset about the actions, but about the consequences. And for Ryuji, he didn't like any of it. There was some massive hesitation and awkwardness there, but he ended up forgiving his friend. Will that be the last we hear of this whole thing?
Ryuji is a punk with a good heart. He's got some spunk to him. He's not upset about fighting, just about how far it went.
Then we got Ohya. I've been planning this scene since like chapter 5 but it kept getting delayed again and again by other things. I finally found a place to put it though.
Ohya's storyline will be entirely different. As most people think, her plotline is one of the worst in the game. I think a big part of that is how disjointed it feels from the main adventure. I like the character and I actually don't dislike her design like a lot of people do. I have a lot more planned for her, stuff that will really elevate her storyline, and I'm excited to write it.
One benefit of fanfiction is that Ohya's storyline isn't limited to just the bar either. In-game it might be hard to model out new places, but it's easy enough just to move the characters around in a story.
So one thing that's difficult on Fanfiction is texting. There was a lot of it this chapter, especially in a back and forth conversation between Akira and Haru. I can't control line spacing or coloring and I don't know if its a mess or difficult to read on this website but shoot me a PM or leave a review if it is and I'll see what I can do. Sorry if it is a serious problem and I'll come up with something if it is. On AO3 I can color coordinate texts and control line spacing, making everything flow a lot better.
Welp, that's it guys! That's another chapter down, and a big one! The end to the Kamoshida Arc! Only 150k+ words and we're here! I think it's pretty good, I don't think I would change anything. I may go back when I get free time and edit some of the older chapters that really need it (just grammar and stuff, I wouldn't change any details) but I'm prioritizing keeping the story going. I'd rather get a new chapter out than spend 2-3 months reworking things. Maybe that's a background thing I would do, but it's just an idea.
Either way, thank you all so much for reading up to this point! I've loved writing everything and I'm excited to keep going! I love reading reviews, so leave one if you feel like it! PM me if you have any questions or comments you want to share, I always respond! I hope to see you guys again next chapter!