[5th June, SIU director's office]
"...The suspect has repeatedly testified that he does not have any recollection of his actions." The newscaster said through the TV stand in the office. "A full psychiatric evaluation will be performed to further investigate the crime's details and motives."
Two people were watching TV with a frowned brow. One was a young woman with long ashen brown hair asymmetrically parted on her right side and brown eyes, similar to Makoto's, and the other is a balding man with a pair of glasses, resting his head on the back of his hands.
The young woman turned around to face the man. "First Kamishida at Shujin Academy, and now Madarame and Mitsuyo..." She started with a professional tone, but the frown on her face showed a hint of frustration. "I've found a number of points of commonality between the three."
"For example, they were sent a 'calling card' before their unforeseen changes of heart."
The man nodded. "...I see." He said. "But isn't tying their cases to the series of psychotic breakdowns jumping to conclusions?"
"Furthermore, the police will frown upon you stepping into this..."
"Now isn't the time to worrying about things like jurisdiction and honor...!" She retorted, holding a hand on her chest. "We need to dig deeper and find a correlation among the incidents these past two, three years. This time two individuals got a change of heart at the same time, who knows what'll happen next."
The man sighed. "Very well, I leave it up to you. However, you must not let this interfere with your regular duties."
The woman gave him a formal bow in return. "Thank you, sir." With that said, she left the room without another word, leaving the man alone.
Once the door had closed, the man groaned in annoyance, staring at the TV with frustration. "That damn woman just had to stick her nose into this...!" He murmured to himself, shaking his head. "And now, with Mitsuyo Togo's change of heart, Shido's not going to be happy about this..."
"'The Phantom' and 'Le Fool'... You two are giving us a bigger headache than we expected..."
[Evening, Leblanc]
Sojiro was finishing another cigarette and alone in the cafe when the doorbell suddenly rang, revealing Ren coming back.
"I heard customers say it's gotten pretty dangerous over there. Don't let yourself be a target, got it?" He said plaining, which Ren just nodded in response.
Seeing a nod from him, the cafe's owner looking away from him back to the TV. And the fuzzy-haired boy's phone suddenly buzzed, signaling a message from the PT group chat.
Yusuke: You have my gratitude.
Ryuji: What're you so polite for all of a sudden?
Hifumi: Actually, I wanted to thank you all too. But I'll let Yusuke speak first.
Ryuji: You too?
Yusuke: I truly am thankful you for making me come to my senses.
Ren: You're exaggerating.
Akira: Yeah, I'm with Ren here.
Yusuke: I most certainly am not. I must express my gratitude earnestly.
Ryuji: You're one of us now, man. We'll be countin' on you, mkay?
Akira: Well, I'm with Ryuji. We're counting on you, Yusuke.
Yusuke: Of course.
Ann: And if anything comes up, we won't hesitate to lend a hand.
Shiho: We'll be by your side!
Keigo: Me too :)
Yusuke: Thank you.
Yusuke: Well, then, see you.
Hifumi: Wait, you forgot about me, Yusuke.
Yusuke: Oh. I am sorry.
Hifumi: It's okay, but I also want to thank you all for saving my mother. Now she's back to her old self. We can start to rebuild our bond, one step at a time.
Akira: That's fantastic!
Ryuji: But Madarame's sudden conference just took all the attention of your mom, not even a single news report on her when she has the meeting...
Hifumi: I know, but mother didn't mind that. She just wants to let people know the truth and apologize. Maybe not much of the news around mother is actually a good thing.
Ren: Well, good on both of you, Hifumi, Yusuke.
Hifumi: I know. Well, see you later.
And with that, Ren closed the phone and put it back to his pocket. "Well, there were a lot of ups and downs, but we still pulled off our first job!" Morgana said, poking his head out and gave his owner a grin. "Yusuke joined the team too, so let's continue reforming society like this!"
"Yeah." Ren nodded, pulling his phone again and saw a message from Yoshida, a politician who Ren was helping while he gave his speech to the pedestrians. He answered the messages and went to Shibuya again.
On the other hand, Akira was entering his apartment when his phone suddenly buzzed, catching him by surprise. He took out the phone and checked. It was a phone call from Mitsuru herself.
Accepting the call, Akira put the speaking next to his ears as he sat down on to the couch. "Mitsuru-San?"
"Hey, Akira." The head of Kirijo Group's voice rang from the other side of the line, a sense of genuine was noticeable in her tone. "I just wanted to call you to see if you're fine."
"Just to see if I'm fine?" The persudo-detective asked, raising an eyebrow and smirked. "You've heard the news, right?"
"Of course, about the 'The Phantom' and 'Le Fool.'" Mitsuru answered with a hint of amusement. "I should not have let Shirogane teach you some detective skills..."
"Too late." Akira joked, earning a chuckle from her.
"I know," She said. "But from the report from Kamisaki, another Persona user is roaming in Metaverse..."
"Right, the 'Black Mask.'"
Mitsuru sighed. "You're getting into something much more than we've imagined. Please, be careful."
"I'll take care of or myself and the others," Akira paused. "Especially Shiho."
"Shiho? You mean Suzui, right?"
"Yeah..." The persudo-detective trailed off, deciding whether to disclose the truth to her or not. "Actually, I have something to ask you, Mitsuru-San."
"Oh?" Mitsuru asked, drinking her coffee and readied for anything. "That's rare."
"Do you have any advice to hide your relationship in a group of friends?" He asked, putting the phones a bit away as the sound of heavy coughs rang from the other side.
"W-wait, what?"
"Uh... Mitsuru-San, I remembered you used to secretly dating with Akihiko-San, right?" Akira continued, the silence from the other side only formed a picture of her blushing in his mind. "I just wanna know how did you two manage to do that-"
"We never dated." The head of Kirijo Group said plainly. "And I don't have any advice to help you."
"What's with the sudden change in tone..."
"It's nothing. Just be careful, OK?" She hastily said, sounding like that she's finding an excuse to cut the call as soon as possible. "And if you want to have any advice, just ask someone like Iori or Yukari."
With that said, Mitsuru cut the call before Akira can even say another word. Putting down her phone on the table, she dropped her head on it with a 'thud.'
"Kirijo-Sama, you're OK?" Hearing the loud 'thud' from the private room, Mitsuru's childhood friend and personal maid- Kikuno Saikawa rushed in with a concerned face. "I just heard a loud thud..." She trailed off, deadpanning at her master's uncharismatic action.
(Sidenote: Kikuno Saukawa is a canon character, she appeared in Persona 4 Arena and Ultimax.)
Mitsuru grunted in frustration and embarrassment, still refuse to get her head away from the table. "Who told Akira that I'm dating Akihiko?" She asked out loud, earning a raised eye from Kikuno.
"Mitsuru, you never told anyone about that, right?"
"Of course," The head of Kirijo Group nodded. "You are the only one who knows about my relationship with Akihiko."
"Well, now we can add Akira to the list," The personal maid sighed, helping Mitsuru to sit up from the table. "Maybe he noticed the hint between you two, or just figured it out on his own."
"If that's the case..." Mitsuru sighed, hiding her face in her palms. "Why did I let him learn how to be a detective..."
"Don't worry, he's not going to spread this information out," Kikuno shrugged, giving her a reassuring smile.
"Why are you so sure about that?"
"Well, aside from you and SEES, I'm the person who knows him the most," The personal maid replied. "I have faith in him."
"Maybe..." Mitsuru sighed. "Anyway, where's Kamisaki's report?"
"Here," Kikuno said, giving her a file. "I was going to give it to you, but that loud 'thud' interrupt me."
The president lowered her head in awkwardness. "S-sorry..." She murmured, taking the file from her.
Quickly returned to her usual professional tone, Mitsuru opened the file and read it. "...Everything seems to be normal for Akira... Wait." She stopped, re-reading the paragraph with widened eyes.
"In the fight with Mitsuyo Togo's shadow, Akira startled for a few seconds before coming back to reality. Not only that, he rushed in front of Suzui to protect her... as if he foresaw the event..."
Kikuno frowned. "As if he foresaw the event?"
"...That's going to be troublesome..." The president murmured, closing the file and sighed. "If Akira did foresee the event, that means it's influences is increasing..."
"How can you tell, Mitsuru-Sama?"
Mitsuru paused, biting her lips at the memories about her SEES days. "...After the battle with Nyx, Akira had been acting weird around Minato."
"At first, we assume that he noticed the weird tiredness of him..." She continued, closing her eyes for a second. "Until the day of graduation."
"That... that's just like what I saw..."
She paused again. "If Kamisaki's hypothesis is correct, then Akira's awakening also awoken it..."
[6th June, afternoon]
Ever since the two conferences happened and the mention of both 'The Phantom' and 'Le Fool', the two teams became the talk of the whole school. With Kobayakawa pressuring her, Makoto's stress only skyrocketed.
And Akira's report only worsened it.
"What do you mean by 'no information?'" The brunette exclaimed in disbelief and stood up, causing Akira to shirk in fear.
"E-exactly that." He shuttered. "I can't get anything out from him."
Even though she's frustrated at the report, but Makoto could only sigh. "It's fine..." She trailed off, sitting back onto the seat. "I'm planning to get some information out by myself."
"Huh?"
"I don't want to do this, but I'll follow him after school." She said, leaning further into her chair.
"Isn't that stalking?"
"Yes, it is... But I have no other choice left."
"...I'll just leave you be on this one."
"I'm asking you to go with me," Makoto said with a grim expression on her face. "You're Amamiya's friend, he'll notice you in no time."
"But can you help me with locating Amamiya?" She asked. "Like, tell me where is him if I lost his track."
Akira hesitated, divided on whether to agree with her or not. '...I'm dropping into a deeper rabbit hole than I expected...' He thought, sighing before reluctantly nodded. "OK, I'll help you on that front."
[Afterschool]
After the bell rang and signaling the end of school, Ren was about to leave and held a meeting when Akira suddenly sent a text to him. Even though he's right behind him in his seat.
Akira: Nijima is stalking you for information, don't hold a meeting today.
Widening his eyes in surprise, the fuzzy-haired boy turned around to face him. However, Akira shook his head in response, sending another text.
Akira: It'll be suspicious, we'll only talk via text for now.
Sighing, Ren turned back and left the classroom. "Morgana, watch my back." He whispered, and the feline stumbled and opened a small hole to watch behind him.
"Akira's right, Nijima's following you." He answered. "And... it was... not threatening at all."
Unable to hold his curiosity, Ren peeked around and saw the one Akira warned. Makoto was following him, and she did it... while holding a comic book on her face.
Before Makoto could notice his gaze, the fuzzy-haired boy instantly moved his gaze to somewhere else, trying his best to hold his laughter. "O-oh my god..." He murmured. "Is she doing this to trick me or not?"
"Uh... I don't think so, Ren," Morgana sweatdropped. "This is straight out of a cheesy romantic comic..."
However, as he regained his composure and calmed down, a stupid idea suddenly came up in Ren's mind. "Morgana, I have a really, really stupid idea." He whispered.
"Please don't be what I'm thinking..."
"Maybe that's exactly what I'm thinking." He answered, peeking around his shoulder to see if Makoto is looking at him or not. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Makoto is still hiding behind the book.
Smirking, Ren walked around the school for a few loops. Hearing the frustrated groan and whisper from her, he turned around and faced her in the hallway, casually walking toward his stalker.
Intentional or not, Makoto didn't notice his coming toward her until a finger suddenly appeared on the book. The comic book was pulled down, revealing Ren with a smirk on his face.
"Please, watch the road, miss president," He said, widening his smirk. "I know you're dedicated to studying, but I never thought you're into comics."
Instead of her usual composed and formal response, Makoto opened her mouth but said nothing. "...I-I'm just passing by, don't mind me." She said after moments of silence, avoiding his gaze.
"Oh, passing by." Ren said, emphasizing the word 'passing by.' "I've been looping around for a few minutes by now, but every time I look back, you're behind me."
"I-I..."
"It's fine, I'm not suspicious of you or anything," He reassured her, internally smirking at what he's going to say next. "If you want to ask me out on a date, just say it."
Makoto, on the other hand, was completely shocked at his word. "D-date?!" She squealed, cheeks burning and covered in a shade of crimson. "N-No! I'm not stalking you, or asking you onto a date!"
"I know," Ren's smirk widened. "But you're adorable when you're blushing, it's such a shame that you're still single."
Giggling at her blushing look in response, turning around and left without another word. Leaving the blushing Makoto in the middle of the hallway, still not sure of what to do. 'W-what did he just said?!'
On the other hand, Akira was watching the whole thing played out from around the corner dropped his mouth. Fully in disbelief of what Ren just did.
"You've got to be kidding me..." He trailed off, blinking for a few times before snapping back to reality. "You got to be effin' kidding me!" He exclaimed in disbelief, taking his phone out and texted him.
Akira: Dude! What the hell are you doing!
Ren: What? I'm giving her a little tease.
Akira: Oh god, I'm friend with a protagonist straight out a harem anime!
Ren: Huh?! You're serious?! I only have a crush on Nijima.
Akira: Well, that's exactly like how every harem anime plays out!
Ren: Don't worry. I'll be fine.
Akira: If you say so...
Sending the final text, the persudo-detective sighed and looked back at Makoto, who still hadn't snapped back to the reality. "Great..."
[7th June, morning]
Ren was walking toward his classroom when some murmurs from some students aside took his attention. He stopped and overheard them with a raised eye.
"...What's this?" A female student asked, tilting her head at a poster on the wall. "'A request to the student body'...?"
"It says they're looking for information." Another female student answered. "I heard Principal Kobayakawa put it up."
The other female student sighed, shifting her head back to the poster. "' Please consult the student council president if you have any details.'" She read.
A male student frowned at the words on the poster. "So we can go to her for anything?" He asked, gazing at her. "Why the student council president though? What does she have to do with Principal Kobayakawa?"
"I mean, Nijima-San is his favorite. Maybe that's why he asked her to do it."
Seeing that there's nothing more interesting to overhear, Ren sighed and walked away. 'Weird, Nijima won't post something like this...' He thought, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "What if it's Kobayakawa's own doing?"
"Kobayakawa's own doing?" Morgana asked, raising an eye of his own. "What do you mean?"
"It doesn't like what Nijima'll do," Ren whispered back. "Why would she brought more things to be frustrate about when she already has us to worry about?"
"You mean... Kobayakawa is adding pressure on her?"
"Maybe, but we'll see."
[Afternoon]
Ren, Ann, and Akira were listening to Mr. Inui lessons when their phones suddenly buzzed. Raising an eye and pulled his phone out, Ren found that it's Ryuji.
Ryuji: Our name did spread a bit thanks to Madarame and Mitsuyo...
Ryuji: But I bet people still wouldn't care if we came out and said we're the Phantom Thieves.
Ren: I'm not that sure, maybe we can try it some times.
Keigo: You serious?
Akira: Here he is again...
Yusuke: But I must agree with them.
Yusuke: What good would come of telling people our identities?
Ryuji: Maybe they'd at least start treating us with some respect.
Yusuke: Well, I can understand why you feel that way...
Ann: That's just how things are now, but if we keep doing stuff like this, that will definitely change.
Yusuke: We simply need to devote ourselves to the cause. Our praise will come later.
Hifumi: Let's just take it one step at a time.
Shiho: I'm on Hifumi's side.
Ann: What he said!
Ann: I'm sure some people out there will understand.
Ryuji: Ugh, I guess we just gotta act like modest heroes for now...
Akira: Well, there's no real target.
With that said, the trio put their phones back into their picket and continued on their lessons.
[Afterschool, student council's room]
The room was empty, two members of the union were sitting on the opposite of the table, a grim expression settled on their faces. And their postures stiffened when the door suddenly opened, and Makoto came in with a frown.
"President..." A male council member asked, matching her frown with his. "What is the meaning of that posting?"
Makoto sighed, punching her chin and closed her eyes. "Principal Kobayakawa put that up without my-"
"We've already received some anonymous information." The female council member said, interrupting the president in mid-sentences. "' I heard some students are getting threatened. I'm so scared... Please do something...'"
"What...?!" Makoto murmured in shock, taken back by the information.
The male member continued. "' They have dirt on me, and they're demanding money. I can't go to the police... What should I do...?'"
"Isn't this talking about the crimes that have been rumored to be occurring in Shibuya...?"
"So there are even victims at our school... What should we do?" The female member added.
"This isn't the responsibility of the student council. This is frightening for us too..." The male member said. "Principal '
Makoto nodded. "Now, I want to talk with you about something else." She sighed, pinching her nosebridge before continuing. "Recently, there's a mafia in Shibuya who's targetting high school students."
Akira only nodded in response, letting her continue.
"The student council has some information..." The brunette sighed again, her head hung low and she bit her lips. "Principal Kobayakawa called you yesterday, right? Did he tell you anything about this?"
Makoto hesitated. "Well, no..." She murmured, remembering the meeting with Kobayakawa before meeting up with Akira.
"How are things going in regard to that matter we spoke of earlier?" Kobayakawa asked.
"I..." Makoto trailed off for a moment. "I have nothing to report yet..."
The principal frowned in response. " Nothing at all?" He asked, the annoyed undertone was obvious to her. "How many students are there who could provoke a teacher?"
"I've already narrowed it down. I just... can't get any solid evidence..."
He only groaned in more annoyance.
Noticing the faces he made, Makoto remembered the word Akira told him earlier and decided to ask him about this. "You knew, didn't you...? about Mr. Kamoshida sexually harassing students."
Kobayakawa only looked away in response.
"Sir!"
"What will come of you asking that?"
"This investigation is for a just cause, correct?"
"I believe I understand how flustered this must be making you." Deepening his frown, Kobayakawa retorted with a hint of anger. "I'm sure it was truly shocking for you as student council president to see a peer attempt suicide..."
"Yes..."
"We must provide a school environment where all students can feel at ease." He continued. "That is the most pressing issue we have to tackle at the moment."
"So..." Makoto trailed off, narrowing her eye in suspicion. "That's your reason behind this investigation on the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?"
"We don't even know if they truly exist. Why are you-"
"You heard about the incident with that Madarame fellow, I assume?"
"...They said there was a similar calling card to the one used on Mr. Kamoshida's case."
"I wish to believe that this is unrelated to our students-"
"Nijima-Senpai?" The voice of the members suddenly rang into Makoto's ears, snapping her back to reality.
"Is everything OK?" The female member asked. "You looked zoned out for a second."
"I-I'm fine," Makoto said, shaking her head. "Anyway, he's out today, but I will ask him tomorrow. Please wait on this for the time being..."
"If you say so..."
Looking at the downed look from the two, the president sighed. "...My apologies for the confusion."
"Don't worry, I'll do something about all of this..." She trailed off, taking her phone out to give Akira a text.
Makoto: Ichijou, can you come by to the student council room?
Fortunately, his response was almost in an instant.
Akira: Of course.
Akira: Is it about that posting Kobayakawa posted?
Makoto: No, it's about something else.
Makoto: And I don't think there's anyone else to help.
[A few minutes later]
After the two members had left and Makoto's alone again, Akira came in with a curious look on his face. "Nijima-Senpai, what's with the sudden calling?"
Makoto took a few seconds to sigh, before looking at him directly. "Ichijou, have you heard of the crime happening in Shibuya?"
"Crime?" The persudo-detective tilted his head for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, about those scam and 'part-time job', right?"
"It is." The president answered with a nod. "We got some information concerning the crimes from our students." She explained. "I wanted to do something about it, but I can't..."
"So you want me to investigate that too?"
"Unfortunately, yes..." Makoto trailed off, giving him a saddened look. "Since your word about Kamoshida, I had asked the principal about the sexual harassment..."
"He evaded my question, and probably will not do anything on the crime as well." She continued. "Ichijou, can you help to find a lead or a name to find the group behind it?"
"But that's too dangerous..." Akira trailed off, furrowing his brow.
"I'll go to give that information to sister," The president answered, avoiding his worried gaze. "And if it was needed, I'll handle them myself."
Akira's frown deepened at her words, remembering Ren's small crush on her. "Please don't say that." He said. "You're only going to make the matter worse, for the school, your sister... and someone else."
"But if I don't do something-"
"I'll help you, for the second time." The persudo-detective said, interrupting her with a determined look. "And you never owe me on these two."
"I-Ichijou..." Makoto was speechless, and couldn't respond to his words. "T-thank you..."
"It's fine," Akira said, giving her a reassuring smile. "We can't just sit here and pretend there's nothing wrong, right?"
"Yes..."
"Well then... I'll try to find any lead on that front." He nodded, standing up and gave her another reassuring smile. "And I won't come back empty-handed, I promise."
And with that, chapter 28 concluded! Thank you for reading!
Now not only he's involved with Makoto's investigation to the PTs, now he's also dragged himself to the whole crime stuff early... Well, he kind of volunteered to do so... and we can't really blame him too much, people are suffering because of those crimes.
Reviews response:
RosyMiranto18:
Yeah, after a week-long of pondering, Cendrillon would probably appear into the story. Just when is Kasumi going to get her, and will the others to get one as well.
Speaking of which, Kasumi hung out with Shinji, Rei, and Asuka because Rei was the first person she met in Shujin(And the only one she actually know), and Rei introduced her to Shinji and Asuka... And the four became friends.
As for IDBH, I'm now on the P3 flashback from Minako and oh boy, it's basically the entirety of P3. No wonder that it got to 2.4m words.
And for Okumura... yeah, he's destined to die, poor man(And Haru too). But with Akira's vision of future... Maybe, just maybe, Okumura will survive the gunshot, and ruin Shido's plan.
I hope you guys like the story so far, review are welcome!