A/N: Hey, I'm sure you know what comes next… And I'm sorry for not including more scenes building up to it which, of course, lessens the impact here. But this story is mostly told from Kyotaro's perspective and the scenes from the game do happen, just off the page. I guess that's on me for deciding to not have any interactions with Shiho but I can't see him and her having many interactions before the incident.

I hope you enjoy either way. Thank you for your time.

[Ryuji S.] So, whaddya think about what Morgana told us?

[Ryuji S.] I dunno if I get all that stuff about stealing desires… And Kamoshida's gonna turn like, brain dead if we mess up, right?

[Ryuji S.] I mean, I'm sure pissed at him…

[Ryuji S.] But I don't know if I really want to kill the guy...

[Kyo W.] I think it's psychotic, to just kill someone like it's no big deal.

[Akira K.] Yeah, that's too much.

[Ryuji S.] For sure. I mean, maybe I'm just freaking out, but I don't wanna end up a murderer cause of this shit.

[Ryuji S.] Oh well… I'll try and see if I can come up with some other way tonight.

[Kyo W.] Maybe we can find some investigator and have them blow the whistle for us?

[Akira K.] I don't think anyone will go off the word of some highschoolers with a history of troublemaking. Plus, they'll probably see it as a waste of time.

[Ryuji. S] Yeah… we're all on our own here. Ugh! I'll find a way, just you wait!

Day: April 15th: Friday

Time: Early Morning

Location: Shujin Academy

"I can't believe Suzui-senpai missed such an important meeting. I wonder what happened." Two first-year girls conversed in front of Akira and Kyotaro. To which the two of them listened in closely at the mention of 'Suzui'.

"Mr. Kamoshida asked to see her…"

"You know, I've been hearing rumors about how Mr. Kamoshida and Suzui-senpai stay late… She always shows up to meetings though. It's weird she wasn't at the one yesterday…"

Kyotaro turned to Akira as they walked, "That's Takamaki's friend, the one that Kamoshida would take off the team right? Based on that, I have a feeling Kamoshida's been… doing what he's done before."

"Right, I think we need to talk to Suzui." Akira nodded as he gnawed at his upper lip. "Something tells me she really needs help if Kamoshida has been spending time around her."

TAKE YOUR TIME

Ms. Usami's lesson seemed to fade in the back of Kyotaro's head. His mind wandered off to the proposed plan to talk to Suzui, if they had the chance. But he was interrupted when he felt something tap his shoulder, Ryuji, who signalled him to pull out his phone. And once Kyotaro did, he found a text from him.

[Ryuji. S] It's no use… I can't think another way.

[Akira K.] Concentrate on class, we'll talk about Kamoshida later.

[Ryuji S.] I can't deal with that shit right now. I mean, what ARE we gonna do about Kamoshida? Do we just gotta go along with what that cat says? Urgh, that damn furball…

[Kyo W.] Look, me and Akira decided to talk to Suzui afterschool. We overheard some girls talk about her and Kamoshida, she might be able to testify. We don't know until then, though.

... Is what Kyotaro would have typed, if not for what came next.

"Hey, What's that?!"

"Sit back down, now's not the time for‒"

"Suzui! She's gonna jump!"

The whole class went into disarray as they flooded out of the class, ignoring Ms. Usami's calls to return to their seats. They rushed to the windows where they watched it all unfold. Kyotaro and Ryuji stood in the hallways, where the blonde began rushing to meet with Akira. However, Kyotaro stepped into the group beside the window. Where he saw Suzui…

It was hard to just describe how everyone's heart just stopped after seeing the girl fall off the edge. Tilting forward as if she had barely enough energy to do it. And how breaths just escaped from everyone. Kyotaro felt himself retreat backwards, as if what he saw was just some hallucination. To see someone lose the will to live, and end it all right before someone's eyes. But it wasn't, Suzui fell off that building.

"Damn…! Damn it!" Kyotaro rushed over to the courtyard, holding his breath for Suzui's survival. That height couldn't kill someone, could it? There had to be a chance she was alive, and he needed to see that she lived. Someone he barely knew, barely had an interaction with. But he needed to know that she was alive.

He reached the courtyard entrance, blocked by a crowd that was pushed up against the glass. "God damn it!"

"Kyotaro!" Ryuji frantically called out from behind, "There's no way we're gonna get past all these goddamn people… C'mon, let's try goin' through the practice buildin'!"

"Right…" Kyotaro growled, tailing behind Akira and Ryuji down the hallway. As they did, he only got more infuriated. Listening to the students treating it like some attraction made him sick. Nothing's changed… No matter who it is.

The entrance near the practice building was scarce, it was here they saw students crowd around the scene like animals. The sounds of camera's flickering could be heard muffled behind the glass and voices practically filled the school by now. As Akira and Ryuji went ahead, Kyotaro found Makoto talking to a teacher.

"I-It's going to be a huge problem if this turns into a scandal! And do keep in mind that class is currently in session… I'm certain you understand."

Makoto looked dejected, unnoticed by Kyotaro as he stared daggers into the back of the teacher's head. But what he did hear had shot him out of his state, "...Understood, I'll go outside and notify the student's outside."

The teacher ran off, leaving Makoto alone to do her job. But before she could walk out those doors, she was stopped when Kyotaro grabbed her by the arm. He spoke coldly, "What the hell…?! Is this school, seriously going to just ignore this! Suzui could be dead outside! Hurt, heavily injured, damn near crippled, any of the sort‒ but the school doesn't care! Makoto, you're just gonna comply with this?!"

"... I have a job to do, Kyotaro." That was all she said before slipping out of his grasp and walked out to round out the students with the principal. It was as if he had a knife being plunged into his gut, nobody cared…

But he did not have much time to think, as he saw Ryuji catch Mishima by the arm and pulled him towards the building with Akira beside him. He let the door open for them, Ryuji silently continued to pull Mishima and pushed him into a corner. Kyotaro joined the two in this odd hazing of sorts, unsure of what was going on.

"That hurts!" Mishima cried out, raising his hands in defense as Ryuji stepped forward.

"Why'd you run like that? Huh!?"

"I didn't run…"

Kyotaro decided on keeping his mouth shut for once. He was in the dark here, and he couldn't contribute to anything. He looked to Akira, who's almost expressionless eyes had now shown a subtle flare of intensity.

"She jumped and tried to kill herself!" Ryuji stomped his foot in anger.

Mishima stepped back a bit, his shoulders raised in defense. " …L-Leave me alone…"

"Just tell us." Akira said calmly, though he seemed a bit snappy based on his tone.

"He's right! We ain't tryin' to get you busted. We won't say you talked either!" Ryuji joined in, lightening up the tension with a more subdued passion in his voice.

Mishima paused, his head dropped to the ground, and his eyes were crestfallen. He said in a whisper that gradually grew louder, "Suzui… She was called out by Mr. Kamoshida!"

Ryuji reeled back in surprise, "Wait, what!?"

"I was called by him a number of times too… to the teacher's room. It wasn't just me or Suzui either. He'd nominate someone when he was in a bad mood… and hit them."

"So the physical punishment thing was for real…" The blonde gnawed at his lip in frustration.

"But yesterday, he called Suzui out of the blue. She didn't make any mistakes or anything… Mr. Kamoshida seemed really irritated that day, so it must've been… worse than usual…"

"He didn't…!" Ryuji exclaimed in an airy voice, "That son of a bitch!"

Without warning, Ryuji ran off. Fists tightened and nails dug into his palms. Gritting his teeth as he rushed up the stairs.

Kyotaro called out, "Hey! Where are you going?!"

"I bet…" Mishima began, "Sakamoto's going to find Mr. Kamoshida… He might be in his office on the second floor."

Kyotaro nodded, turning to Akira. "Right, let's stop him before he does something stupid!"

Akira mumbled something before running off, Kyotaro and Mishima following close behind. Once they reached the 2nd floor, they saw Ryuji run into the faculty office. Kyotaro cringed at this, the last thing he wanted was to see that bastard's face.

"He went into the PE faculty office! Let's hurry, we have to go after him." Mishima and Akira both ran into the office, while Kyotaro lagged behind. His feet failed him.

Whatever the reason, the thought of seeing Kamoshida's face made him sick. If it really was that son-of-a-bitch that pushed Suzui to that point, then Kyotaro just couldn't bear to be in the same room as him. But he continued but before he could enter the office, the sounds of tension growing had stopped him.

"You bastard! The hell did you do to that girl!?" Ryuji shouted with a great fire in his voice. Kyotaro instinctively stepped backward, listening into the confrontation.

"What are you talking about?" Kamoshida sounded almost real but Kyotaro could hear the hidden malicious in it.

The sound of a chair being kicked could be heard as Ryuji lashed out, "Don't play dumb with me!"

"That's enough!"

"What you did… wasn't coaching!" Amongst this, Mishima's voice could be heard shaking. "You… You ordered me to call Suzui here… I can only imagine what you did to her…!"

But Kamoshida would have none of this, "You're going on and on about things you have no proof of… Basically, you're simply making these claims because you can't be a regular on the team, right?"

"That's not what this is about…!" Mishima attempted to stand firm but tremor was rampant in his voice.

"Even if it is exactly as you imagine to be, hypothetically speaking… What can you do?" Kyotaro felt his lung drop to his stomach. He couldn't be that evil, to take advantage of a girl's suicide attempt and brush it off?! But his thoughts were proven incorrect.

"We just received a call from the hospital. Suzui's in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim… How would someone like that make a statement?" The amount of slime he spewed out could cause anyone to burst with anger. "There's no chance of her getting better, I hear… The poor girl."

"No… That can't be…"

Ryuji could be heard stepping forward, most likely seeing crimson at this point. " You goddamn…!"

"This, again…?" Kamoshida's sinister voice interrupted Ryuji's anger, only to add fuel to the inferno. "Does this mean we need to have yet another case of 'self-defense'?"

"You shut your mouth, you son of a bitch!" Kyotaro could imagine what came next from what he heard. Ryuji raised his fist, not thinking or caring about what came next so long as he had the chance to deck the 'fucker in the face. But Akira wouldn't let that happen.

" Why're you stoppin' me…!?"

"Calm down." Akira's voice was quiet but he could be heard shaking in anger. "Hitting him will just make it worse."

"But still!"

"Oh? You're stopping him? What a surprise. There's no need to hold back. Why not attack me? ...Ohhh, you can't. Hahaha, but of course you can't." Hearing this would have made Kyotaro come into and… do something or rather. But what came next, it would have made Kyotaro rush in and claw the bastard's eyes out if it wasn't for his hesitation.

"Everyone present right now… will be expelled. I'm reporting all of you at the next board meeting."

Mishima muttered up some more courage at an attempt to retaliate, "You can't make a decision like that…!"

"Who would seriously consider what scum like you say? You threatened me too, Mishima, so you're just as responsible." Mishima's breath could be heard stopping at what Kamoshida said. "To think you didn't know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team. You act like you're a victim, but you leaked his criminal records, didn't you? It's all over the internet, correct? How terrible."

"Mishima?" Akira sounded betrayed at this, "You did that?"

The sounds of knees falling to the ground could be heard, "He told me to do it… I had no choice."

"Now, are we finished here?" Kamoshida laughed a sickening laugh, "You're all expelled! You're done for; your futures are mine to take. Now get out of my sight."

Ryuji and Akira had trotted over to the frame of the door, where they saw Kyotaro near the wall. Ryuji scowled at him for a moment before giving a crestfallen sigh. Kyotaro rubbed his arm and looked to the ground in silence, not even a word yet it felt like he was punched in the gut.

Ryuji turned to Akira, not bothering to acknowledge Kyotaro. "I can't believe this asshole's gettin' away with this…!"

"He'll eat his words," Akira looked between the two of them as he spoke with confidence. "We only have one other option, I think we should use it."

Ryuji quietly coughed before giving a stern nod, "Right…"

"Huh? Have you lost your minds? Why are you standing in my doorway?" Kamoshida growled from his desk, "I don't understand what garbage like you are thinking, but go ahead and try. All you can do is wait for your disposal though…"

With that, the three silently rushed to the courtyard. Where they met up with Morgana for their next step.

TAKE YOUR TIME

Ryuji slammed his fist into a vending machine, "We can't waste any time. We gotta hurry up and go to that world and beat the shit outta that asshole!"

"...We're not beating him up." Morgana corrected, "We're simply stealing his distorted desires. Can I assume that you've made up your minds about this—about how he might suffer a mental shutdown?"

"...I have." The venom in Ryuji's voice was transparent, unbridled hate fueled him. "Someone almost died because of him! I don't give a rat's ass what happens to him anymore!"

Morgana turned to both Akira and Kyotaro, his eyes determined and stern as he waited for an answer.

"No other way," Akira's calm voice edged on the same hate exuding from Ryuji. "If he loses everything, so be it…"

"Right," Kyotaro nodded, "I backed down earlier, I won't back down now."

"There you have it."

"By the way, is gettin' rid of a Palace hard…?" Ryuji turned around and asked the cat. "You've tried it before, right?"

Morgana slightly tilted his head at this, " ...When did I ever say that?"

"...Eh?" Ryuji had a delayed reaction to this before yelling out, "WHAT!? Were you just pretendin' to know!?"

"Is it true that you're getting expelled?" Ann's voice caused them to turn their heads to where she stood. She rubbed her arm as she spoke in an emotionless voice, "Everyone's talking about it…"

"That asshole's at it again…!" Ryuji growled at this, he looked at the girl with a frown. "So you came all this way to tell us that?"

Ann paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath before looking at the four with a stern expression. Declaring something that caused them to reel back in surprise. "If you're going to deal with Kamoshida… let me in on it too. I can't just sit back and do nothing after what happened to Shiho!"

Ryuji shook his head at this, "This has nothing to do with you… Don't butt your head into this…"

"But it does! Shiho's my-"

"I said don't get in our way!"

Ann stood there in silence for a second. Her eyes could be seen welling up before she ran off.

"Damn…" Kyotaro sighed, "Did you have to be that harsh?"

"Oh shut up, we can't take her somewhere like that…" Ryuji quietly stated. "It's best this way."

"I hope that she doesn't torment herself over this." Morgana solemnly shook his head, "When it comes down to it, women don't hesitate."

Ryuji paused for a second before regaining momentum, "We just gotta hurry up and deal with Kamoshida. Let's go already!"

TAKE YOUR TIME

The four of them were back in the alley where they first entered that pervy castle, they checked every in case someone spotted them doing this. Lord knows what would happen if a person was just passing by while they disappeared in thin air.

Morgana announced, "The moment we cross over, we'll treat each other like phantom thieves, so I hope you're ready."

"Huh?" Ryuji tilted his head at the name, "Phantom Thieves?"

"Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure—that is what we become!"

Akira rubbed his chin at the prospect, "Not bad. Sounds interesting…"

"Sounds badass, is what it is!" Kyotaro pumped his fist, "All we gotta do is say a few words and then we go down that rabbit hole to take that bastard down!"

"Yeah but…" Ryuji raised his phone with a quizzical raise of his brow. "How the hell's all this work? Someone make it?"

Akira paused for a moment before responding, "It doesn't matter. We have it, it's all that matters."

"True." Ryuji nodded his head, "There's no point in thinkin' about it now. We'll show that effin' Kamoshida!"

"Let's go!" With that last word from Morgana, the app was activated. Unbeknownst to the four, they brought along someone else into their little quest.

TAKE YOUR TIME

The three shujin boys were in their, now titled, 'Phantom Thief' outfits. They stood in front of the drawbridge of the castle, preparing themselves to steal Kamoshida's so-called treasure.

"All right!" Ryuji whooped, "Time to bust through!"

And, almost immediately, the person they inadvertently brought with them revealed themselves with a very reasonable question.

"What is this?" Ann exclaimed as her cyan blue eyes frantically bounced around the area.

"T-Takamaki?"

"That voice… Sakamoto!?"

"Oh boy… Here's trouble." Kyotaro brought a hand to his face.

"Watanabe...?!" She looked to Akira, who slightly backpedaled in surprise. "And… are you Kurusu-kun!?"

"Wh-Wh-Why are you here!?" Ryuji raised a shakened finger, completely taken aback by the situation they were faced with.

"How should I know!?" She calmed down by a tiny increment, her eyes scanning the place in front of her. "What's going on? Hey, where are we?! Is that the school?!"

In the midst of her confusion, Morgana leaped in a lovesick kick. Even somehow manifesting a pink heart above his head like a cartoon… Somehow.

"I see. Perhaps she was dragged in because of that app thing. If multiple people can enter with the person who uses it, it stands to reason it'll pull anyone nearby." Morgana theorized, his eyes still locked onto Ann.

"For real…?"

Ann stepped up to the four, "Wait, so THIS is related to Kamoshida!?"

"Sonuvabitch! She knows too much!" Kyotaro exclaimed, "We gotta get her outta her!"

"No! No way!" Ann shook her head with her fists tightened.

"The Shadows are going to find us if you make a scene." Morgana explained with a gentle tone.

But Ann wasn't so appreciative of this, she was more focused on what she was seeing. "No way! It talked!? Oh my god, it's a monster cat…!"

"Monster…?"

"You better explain what's going on!" Ann jabbed a finger to Ryuji, her face scrunched up in frustration. "I won't leave until you do! No, I'm not leaving if this IS related to Kamoshida!"

Ryuji sighed as he turned to Akira and Kyotaro, "Looks like we gotta force her. But… how're we supposed to do that?"

"Just take her back to where we came in. That's how it worked last time, right?" Morgana chimed in, getting out his little funk after the 'monster' comment.

"Alright," Kyotaro nodded, "Let's get this over quick."

"I feel kinda bad, she deserves to know something." Akira rubbed the back of his neck and sighed reluctance.

But Ryuji was the one to point out the reason why they came here, "We can't deal with Kamoshida if we don't, so let's just…"

"Hey, what are you‒" Ann paused in surprise, seeing the three approach her slowly with their hands raised.

"We'll explain after everything's over!" Ryuji quickly explained before gently pushing her back.

She reliated, so that meant Kyotaro and Akira had to join in on the little contest of wills. It had gotten to the point where they heaved up Ann into the air. If they weren't in some bizarro parallel world then this would have been strange for passersbys to witness.

"Hey! And just where are you touching!?"

"Whoa, sorry, I didn't mean- ...That's not important!"

"Yeah, let's brush aside you copping a feel…"

"Shuddup Kyo! Takamaki, just‒! We'll deal with this later!"

"You guys seriously- Ah!?" The three dropped her off in the exact place where they came from, where Ann was devoured into a distortion of red ripples that appeared from thin air. Once she went through, the ripples vanished as if they were never there.

The three thieves paused in surprise, unable to comprehend this even though they have passed through the same way. Without thought, Kyotaro slowly pressed his fingers against it. The waves of red appeared once again as if he was brushing against water. He stroked his hand against more of the air and began side stepping as he did, revealing that it wasn't just one spot that they could leave from. Akira and Ryuji joined him in on this evaluation. They pressed down onto the field, noting how it had a bit of resistance.

"Whenever you enter the cognitive world, a field appears where we can exit from." Morgana summarized their discoveries with a bit of intrigue in his voice. "And the radius depends on the location we entered from…"

"Man, weird!" Ryuji commented, but he quickly shook off the fascination with the field and got back on task. "But we'd better be more careful when we use that app, don't wanna have to deal with this again…"

"You should've checked the tools you used!" Morgana scolded with a shake of his head, "Why do I—the one who was just watching—know more about it than you three?!"

"Sh-Shuddup! Geez, Takamaki found out right when we were startin'off… " Ryuji attempted to save face while Akira and Kyotaro awkwardly nodded along. Ryuji coughed into his fist and shifted their attention to their job at hand. "We gotta deal with this fast! We'll worry about her later!"

But Morgana was a bit more interested in 'her' for a second. "That girl's name is Ann Takamaki, right? Lady Ann…"

"What… the‒"

"The shadows noticed us." Morgana quickly became stern, standing with confidence as he addressed the group. "You better prepare yourselves, got it?" He looked to Akira with a smirk. "We're counting on you, Joker!"

Kyotaro raised a brow, "Uh… Do we need name tags or‒"

"No, you dolt! It's a code name." Morgana announced which again raised some brows, "What kind of stupid phantom thief would use their real name!? I'm not down for that! And there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace. It's just a precaution."

"So, why Joker?" Ryuji hiked his thumb to Akira.

"Because he's our trump card when it comes to fighting strength." Morgana raised a paw towards Akira with a glint in his large-cartoon eye. "Just go with it! You're Joker!"

"Not a bad name," Akira rubbed his chin with a grin, "Joker… Sounds pretty cool, actually."

"It ain't too bad, yeah?" Ryuji pumped a fist at the name.

"Next up is you, Ryuji." The cat rubbed his chin and pursed his lips as he inspected him. "You'll be… Let's see… 'Thug'."

"Are you pickin' a fight with me!? I'll choose it myself!" Ryuji began pressing his hands against the skull mask on his face, his eyes flickered as he did. "Hm… When it comes to me, it's gotta be this mask. Honestly, I actually kinda like it. What if we named me after this?"

"Ah…" Kyotaro nodded, "Your code name is Cranium. Got it…"

Ryuji simply scoffed at his joke, not bothering to acknowledge Kyotaro further. To which Kyotaro bit his tongue back in response. Seeing as Ryuji was still upset for his lack of action back when dealing with Kamoshida, he decided it would be best to just be quiet.

"How about 'Skull' then?" Morgana proposed, ignoring the odd pause between the two of them.

"Ooh! That sounds awesome! I'm Skull!"

Akira turned to Kyotaro, who was awkwardly kicking the ground. "So, you're up next." He said with a small smile, to which Kyotaro mirrored back.

"Hm… This mask is kinda like the 'Phantom of the Opera'." He trailed his fingers down the short streaks at the corners of his mask. "Can't take Phantom, really… Might muddle with our role as Phantom Thieves… Might seem strange with the ringmaster motif but how about 'Ghost'?"

"Sounds fine…" Ryuji said with an impassive voice. He turned to Morgana, "What do we do about this one's code name?"

"I think anyone's good really." Akira shrugged, mentally questioning why the not-cat needed a code name.

Ryuji rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before throwing something out there, "How 'bout 'Mona'?"

The smallest of the thieves gave a stern nod, "Well, if it works for the mission, then I'll go with it. All right. From here on out, we're Joker, Skull, Ghost, and Mona. We need to be absolutely thorough about using those code names from now on!"

The four Phantom Thieves turned to the castle, letting their shared despise for Kamoshida drive them forward. Kyotaro looked to both Akira and Ryuji, who had a great fire in their eyes as they stepped forward. If only he had the same intense passion as they did.