6 May

How were they going to find their next target? Jessikah had decided to talk to Sae Niijima when she got home. Ryuji was hanging around, an ear for the rumors. Ann was digging for dirt online. Sadayo was talking with her colleagues.

There was a new website going around, the Phantom Aficionado Website, or Phan-site for short. It was more a forum than a website, though. Many people went posting, either to thank the mysterious Phantom Thieves of Heart – the thieves were fairly certain most of the posters were from Shujin and thus knew who they were – or to ask for a "change of heart" in another person. Sadayo shook her head. Most of the requests could be easily solved by the student council, some even by the students themselves if only they mustered the guts.

After school, Jessikah was surprised to see Mishima joining her side as she scrolled through the requests.

"Hey."

"Hey." Jessikah smiled. "Your bruises are gone."

"Yeah. It still hurts inside, but I'm doing better."

"Good. Kamoshida was merciless with you. I'm glad to see you're recovering."

Mishima smiled. He looked at Jessikah's phone.

"You're checking the Phan-site."

"It's interesting." Jessikah admitted. "Funny how who the Phantom Thieves are is the most open secret in Shujin."

"Yeah… they may be cowards, but they aren't snitches." His voice lowered. "I'm the one who made the Phan-site."

Jessikah's eyes widened. She remembered Kamoshida had told them the teen was good with computers, but to create a brand new website? It took skills. At least, given how good he was with computers, making a website was a tall order.

"You're much better than I am…"

"Yeah… I wanted to apologize to you for spilling your records. Kamoshida used me. I thought I could redeem myself by doing something that could help you."

"Kamoshida made you an offer you couldn't refuse." Jessikah retorted softly. "You didn't have a choice. I don't blame you. And your website could actually have its use."

Mishima beamed.

"I knew it! When I made the website, I wanted it to be a place where people could thank you while keeping the secret and post about their problems. I mean, Kamoshida's not the only nasty adult out there. The Phantom Thieves helped us. I'm sure they can help a lot of people too. I even made a poll."

Jessikah looked at the site. Indeed, in a corner, was a bar with a percentage and a question.

Do you believe in the Phantom Thieves, or not?

It was only at six percent at the moment and most people called bull on it. Somehow, Jessikah wasn't surprised.

"Keep being a Phantom Thief, keep looking at the Phan-site, and I'll make sure you'll find plenty more."

On this, he left. Ryuji and Ann joined Jessikah's side.

"So, he's the one who made that website." Ryuji grinned. "That's nice of him."

"Indeed." Ann agreed. "This could be invaluable in finding our next target. I wonder what Sensei has to say about it."

Ryuji rolled his eyes.

"Knowing her, she's gonna find a thousand little things wrong and will want it modified."

"That would be in-character." Morgana agreed. "But still. What matters is that they don't know about the Metarverse. As long as they think our methods are mundane, we're good."

"Exactly. Now, let's tell Sensei about the website."

As it was, Sadayo had already heard about the site. She even had an idea how the Phantom Thieves could use it, and told them as much.

"The way I see it, this is mostly a forum right now. We need more than that if we want to work properly. I've checked the posts. Most can be dealt with by the student council or the posters themselves. They don't fit our code."

"We only target despicable people beyond the reach of the law." Ann recalled. "Most of the posts are just students' quarrels."

Sadayo nodded.

" The website is a good idea." The teacher finally said. "But it could use improvement. As it is now, this is barely more than a forum. We plan to use it as a source of information, but it will have to be upgraded to full-blown website for that."

Mishima's eyes lit up. He leaned forward.

"I'm all ears. We can begin working on it right now, if you want. I brought my laptop."

"Wait, let's not put the cart before the horse. Layout first, looks seconds. We need the homepage, and then people will navigate from there. I'll link the forum last, once everything's set. Now, what do we put where?"

Mishima smiled as he upgraded the website. Atop the homepage, in large, was the Phantom Thieves' logo. Right below, they decided to state their code. A quick pause to Pictureshop the masks into proper icons, and the homepage was set.

"Now, all I need to work on is the look. Maybe I should make different pages, one dedicated to support and another for requests."

"Maybe. This is a good start for now."

The teen grinned.

"Always happy to help. Just tell me if you need anything else."

Mishima nodded.

Their business over, the teens headed to the door, only for Ryuji to stop dead in his tracks.

"Wait! Shit, I'd totally forgotten!"

"Ryuji, language, and what had you forgotten?" Kawakami asked.

"We got an exam coming."

Sadayo rolled her eyes.

"I wish I could say I called it. Given your record, Sakamoto, I don't expect you to ace it."

Sadayo looked at Ren, Ann and Yuki. The three were in her class and, more than the so-called delinquent, they were well and truly her charges.

"We'll see about this tomorrow after school. That aside, focus on your good subjects. You have a head for literature, just like Ann. Work on the subjects that use it and you should do well enough to compensate for your science grades."

"Got it. And see you tomorrow, Sensei."

Sadayo crossed her arms. The two starred at each other, taunting. Ryuji, Yuki and Ann looked at one another.

"There's no way we're missing that."