Persona X TWEWY X Kingdom Hearts
Summary: Trapped in an unfair game? Fighting against society? Changing the hearts of evil adults? Save the world? Discovering oneself? Nothing out of the ordinary for these teenagers.
Chapter Twenty-Two:
Phantom Thieves Party.
*Tuesday 2/5*
"Incredibly rude of you…" Joshua teases as he finishes his last treat while Neku begrudgingly stuffed his phone into his pocket, "The first thing you do after seeing an old friend is try to call the police?".
"Have you ever heard of knocking and informing me you're coming over?" Neku growled, "Don't need you appearing in my room like a pervy Santa Clause delivering unwanted attention". Joshua rolls his eyes playfully and chucked the empty packet of treats in the air and makes it disappear into nothingness as Neku settles down on the bed while keeping his piercing glare fixed on the Composer. The boss of the Reapers and the usually overseer of the Reapers' Game, someone who had introduced Neku to the Game all those years ago, and the one who affectively tried to turn him into the doom bringer of Shibuya.
And the same person who went radio silent for two years after he and his friend saved Shibuya from annihilation, and like the smug prick he is he shows up after the worst thing that could possibly happen to them.
"I suppose congratulations is in order," Joshua says, "Though unsurprising that my chosen pick succeeded in the first mission of this new game, it was a pleasant surprise that your new friends have stepped up to the challenge in equal measures".
"So happy I made my killer slash partner proud…" Neku grumbled, "Now how about you explain to me what the hell is going on and why the hell are playing ANOTHER game of yours?".
Joshua pulls up a seat and settles down with a small sigh and like a smug noble, sits up and folded his arms. "Ahh right, I suppose considering you DID succeed in the first game you're entitled to having an idea on what's going on". He leaned into his seat and recounts that he and Igor have made a wager between them about two weeks before Ren showed up to Shibuya. "You see a few weeks ago, Igor came to me with an interesting gamble that would make a fine game for us," he revealed, "And when your fate crossed with Ren, that was when the game was set in motion at last".
"What?" Neku asked, "You mean when he saw Arsène for the first time that's when it all started?".
"Not entirely" Joshua rebuked, "It was when you first set foot into the Metaverse did we decide that would be your first mission". He takes out his phone and showed him the mission details on the screen. To the music lover's dismay, it was a mission structured similarly to the usual Reaper missions except it was detailed specifically to the Phantom Thieves. The mission was as he expected and it was for them to steal and change Kamoshida's heart, with the failure beneath the results.
If they hadn't Ren and the other students would have indeed been expelled while he and the former Players would…have been erased from existence. "The hell!?" Neku snaped, snatching the phone from Joshua's hand, "If we didn't steal his heart, you'd erase us!?".
"It was a suitable punishment for losing the game, considering the fate that lied in store for Ren should you have failed," Joshua reveals, "You think expulsion would have been it?". Neku glowers at the teenager for answers but the silver haired youth casually plucks his phone back from Neku and continues: "But seeing as you indeed changed Kamoshida's heart, you completed the mission and survived".
Neku scoffed and settles down on the bed again and asked: "What the hell is going on here, why are we in this game again? And what's the deal between you and Igor? Who IS Igor!?".
"A rather bizarre lookin creature, truth be told. He's been around the block for as long as I have, though he's more reclusive than I. He's had a hand in the fates of many others in the past, and now he's taken an interest in the Trickster," Joshua explained, "Though a tad bit random and severely unpredictable".
"Think of him as a referee or advisor to those whose fates are connected to ruin," Joshua says, "He controls the Velvet room, a world between mind and matter, reality and dreams. And Ren is his chosen champion, as it were".
"You mean like I was your chosen player back then?" Neku asked, "So what? Did he make Ren his doom bringer too?".
"Oh no, nothing amusing like that. Instead, he has high hopes for the boy to save his future and complete his rehabilitation," Joshua says with a smirk, "But enough of him for now, I think its time I explain how this Game is going to work". He snapped his finger and then a pin appears into his hands. "You see, Neku-Dear, Igor and I have a wager, like I mentioned, and currently I have a Reapers' Game going on at such a peculiar time. So I thought, why not incorporate that into this little game of fate defying and twisting?".
"Ahh but you're asking yourself: "Golly gee, shouldn't we be dead in order to enter the game?" Yes? Well I, your ever loving and benevolent Composer~" he rambled.
"You calling yourself loving and benevolent is the biggest lie I've ever heard…" Neku snapped. Joshua, unbothered, continues: "Decided that since you can't be as useful to Ren and company within the UG, Igor and I managed to work around that little issue by granting you access to the Metaverse". Neku however inquired about the other players Kairi and her group met back in the Metaverse weeks ago, recalling they could use Psych without Personas. Something he and Beat struggled with when they first entered the Metaverse.
"Ahh yes, that…" Joshua hummed, "That's where my Game comes into play~". He tosses Neku a pin and with a skilled nimble hand, Neku catches the pin. He looks to see it was a like his Reaper Player pin, except the colours were in reverse. The skull was black while the pin white as snow, but Neku's previous connection to the pin told him the energies around this pin was different. "This Pin is your gateway into the UG without dying, and your key to winning more games~" he sang.
"A way in…how?" Neku asked, "And why the hell would we do that?".
"Because when the time comes, when the next target of the Phantom Thieves comes knocking, you'll bee needing it," he says, "You see, Reapers' Game Players will be able to enter the Metaverse with pins of their own, which will allow them to use their Psych". Joshua explains that since the Players in the UG are already dead, they're still connected to the UG and can use their Psych within the Metaverse. Difference between them and Neku's group was simply Neku's team was alive and needed Personas while the other Players just need access to the Metaverse.
"They'll be having missions take place there too and even combat you as well for prizes or missions sake," he explained, "Yes Neku-Dear, you're team will be combating other teams this time".
"Why?" Neku asked, "Kairi's team wiped the floor with them! You've essentially sent them to get erased!".
"Oh no, Neku-Dear," Joshua says waving his finger, "I never sent them. The Game Master did, and evidently he neglected to keep up to date with them,". Neku asked about this new Game Master, but Joshua shrugged off his question with a wave of his hand, assuring him he wouldn't have to worry about that until the next session. "Rest assured, the next time you encounter the Players, you might actually meet their whole team".
"So those shark…scholar…guys, were a team? When was team ups a thing?" Neku asked.
"Spice things up, I think. Besides, you have your own team don't you?" he asked playfully. Neku crosses his arms and asks more about this wager between him and Igor. Joshua's smirk faded and a look of contemplation and secrecy dances around his eyes. "…too soon, Neku," he says before he gets off his seat, "As of now, you've only begun this game~" he said, "And until Igor is satisfied with Joker's performance, I won't be telling anymore~".
Before Neku could stop him, Joshua suddenly vanishes in light, leaving him in his room alone. He falls on his back with a massive sigh.
"…I hate you so much…smug prick…" he groaned.
*Early Morning: Tuesday: 5/3*
*Café Leblanc*
Humming away to himself, Ren's first day working at his care giver's coffee house started off with a rush hour. The moment he woke up, which was an hour later than normal, he heard Sojiro calling out to him for, surprisingly, assistance in his café. Turned out Golden Week was also when the place actually have a rush hour, and no sooner had he come down and dressed for the occasion, it was more full than usual.
In that there was more than one booth occupied by someone.
He and Sojiro had been rushing to make some coffees and curries here and there for the costumers while the old man was teaching Ren the ropes of how to make everything, what beans were what and how to make curry. It was hectic and not what the Phantom Thief expected to do on his first day on the job, much less his day off from school. Soon enough when things quietened down and when Café Leblanc returned to its slow pace of costumers, he started to wash the dishes left behind, yawning occasionally as he cleans.
"Sorry I pressured you into helping me out like," apologizes the old man whilst taking a sip of his coffee, "Wasn't expecting a slew of costumers this early".
"And there you were a few days ago complaining about making only one cup of joe," Ren reminds with a playful smirk, "Be careful what you wish for". Sojiro lets a small huff, grumbling about the memory of his ward. Then above the boy, the news channel came to life and as Ren and likely the other thieves thought, it was regarding Kamoshida. Titled "Fall from Grace, the story of dishonoured Olympic medallist".
It regurgitated what happened in the school assembly hall, and his achievements in the Olympics had caused a stir within the school and more, which Ren regarded as an understatement. The thing that got his attention though was when the news reporter asked what exactly caused the man to have suddenly confessed his crimes seemingly out of nowhere, especially when the reporter revealed Kamoshida had been able to get away with it for quite some time. There is some hope that the police interrogation will get something from him, though Ren doubted they'd get much from it.
"Wonder what exactly they could do, since Kamoshida wouldn't have said anything at all if we hadn't changed his heart. And somehow I doubt even Kamoshida will be able to explain it without looking like a maniac trying to get the insanity plea…" he thinks to himself.
Sojiro watches the report with eyes of interest and wanting to see what his ward had been putting up with, watching the reporter interview some students. Only up to their necks as to keep their faces out of the public eye, many of them were saying exactly what ren and the other thieves were asking about in their first botched investigation. The students coming back from practice covered in bruises, female students confessing he would touch them and stuff, sighing in relief that they wouldn't have to deal with all the sexual harassment.
Then another student talked about the rumours and how not a lot believed them. She even had the nerve to say she was shocked they were true and was grateful she could go back to school without that. Ren rolls his eyes and quietly scoffed. "Jeez, this whole thing is crazy," says Sojiro as he sips his coffee again, "But at least that man's finally been arrested". Ren agrees while drying some plates, and confessed he was just glad that his expulsion was revoked.
"Yeah but listen. Things maybe turbulent but you still need to keep your head down," warns the old man, "Remember even if that expulsion isn't an issue anymore, your record is still out in the open".
And then he reminds Ren to keep his hands busy and has way more work for him to be done. The leader resumes his task with a small salute and resigns himself to the fate the day has in store for him. Much to Morgana's whining, who was lazing nearby and grumbling about wanting to just nap for the day. Ren rolls his eyes while Sojiro comments on the cat's whining, wondering what it was complaining about.
"He hates it when I work because apparently its like he's working too," Ren explains.
*Shibuya*
"Stupid app…" Rhyme sighs, glaring at said app on her phone before deleting it all together. Beat, carrying the umbrella above her, snickers at the pouting girl stuffing her phone into her pocket. "Those five stars were severely unearned and completely overrated," she rambled on as they approached the air-soft shop, eager to get this deal done and out of the way before they catch a cold. Much as Rhyme hated to go to a place like this, especially given how rough the area looked compared to the other parts of the city, she didn't want her brother to end up getting into a stupid situation.
"Hey, Rhyme," her brother says, stopping their walk and gesturing to a couple of men in suits. Straining her ear, she over hears them talking about something about a warrant and how narrow this alleyway is. Blinking, she looks at them again and notes that one of them, a tough guy, was eager to just go in and get it, whatever *it* is, done and over while the other was going on about a warrant. She shares a glance with Beat, who shrugged and just walks ahead, nearly leaving his sister in the rain.
Inside, scarce as before, she and her brother approached the counter with the owner, Iwai, in the same position he was in last time. Beat wondered if this place ever changed. Iwai looks up and greets Beat with a "you again?" look, then narrows his eyes when he sees Rhyme. "Don't even think about it, I'm not selling any models to a minor," he says firmly. Rhyme, pouts and quickly rebukes she was not a child, and even showed her school ID that was she at least sixteen years old. Iwai rebuffed that she was still a minor, and she grumbles, pouts harder and sulks while Beat negotiates.
"Anyways, what do you want?" he asked.
Beat pulls out the golden medal and asked if he were interested in buying it from the punk. Subtle as a rock and without ANY explanation as to why a school student would even TOUCH a golden medal, Rhyme slapped her forehead and quietly whined. Iwai, expectedly, asked why they would have something like that before he waved them off, claiming they don't buy fake or stolen goods. "What? You sayin' I stole it?" Beat growls, "Ain't anythin' like that man!". Iwai rolled his eyes, but then takes another look at the medal just before Beat stuffed it back into his pocket.
Beat places the medal on the counter and leaves Iwai to inspect it. To both Bitos' surprise he thoroughly inspected it and gave a few hums before facing the two punks. "Okay…I'm gonna do the smart move and not ask why and where you got this. So how does thirty-thousand yen for this sound?" he asked.
"Perfect!", Rhyme says, "That's the best we'll probably get". They exchanged funds and the product, the man smirking at the two's grins as Rhyme puts the envelope in her back pack. Then Iwai looked at the clock and mutters something about time, and then reached down and plants a paper bag with a red sticker on it. "Here, take this with you," he says, "It's a thanks for sellin' me the medal". They look at him and the bag but when Beat attempts to peel back the top of the back, Iwai suggests they not open it, that they should just bring it back next time they come here.
Rhyme looks at the bag with suspicion while Beat asked him if it was leftovers from Big-Bang Burger, gesturing the bag had the logo on the front. Iwai shrugs and says: "Don't worry about it. And nah, I'm not that generous". Once more Rhyme looks uncertain but Beat takes the bag up and just when they were about to leave, the two men from earlier enter the store. The tough jerk immediately opened up with Iwai, using his full name Munehisa Iwai, and wanted to discuss some matters with him.
Iwai turns to the two and gestures them to get going, which Beat does. He ushers Rhyme to walk ahead of him and lets the two men approach the counter. When Rhyme reached the door though, she and her brother stilled and subtly listened into the conversation. It seemed they were undercover cops who had some leads, quote unquote, on some illegal activities occurring around Iwai's store and asked him if knew anything about it. Iwai, smugly and confidently, asked if they were looking for evidence, baiting them.
The man in the black suit slammed his hand on the counter, and demanded he'd watches his tone. Like a teacher dealing with a irritable student, Iwai tells them to just hurry up and do whatever meaningless task they had in store. He even bragged that an upstanding citizen should cooperate with he police, which made Beat frown. The way he was talking to the cops and how to handle a pretty heated situation like that was like a professional whose had way more run ins with the law than one needed.
The other detective didn't seem to carry on the same confidence Iwai was displaying, voicing his doubts on the leads regarding this man and his establishment. This incensed the other detective, snapping that he was sure Iwai was up to no good, and Iwai's blatant disrespect to them was truly burning whatever patience this man had left. In no time and possibly out of desperation, he snapped his head to Beat and Rhyme, who was opening the door the leave before they inevitably get involved. And sure enough, they were dragged in.
"Hey you two! What's in that bag?" he demands. He stormed over to Rhyme, only to have her brother step in, aggressively eyeing up the detective. "Back off from my sister, asshole," he growls, and had he not learned to control his temper, probably would have punched the man. The detective raises his voice at him but Iwai cuts him off: "Hey! You came into my establishment to harass me over some idiots bullshit leads, NOW you're harassing my costumers?".
Iwai spun a monitor near his counter and says: "Those two are just regular costumers of mine, namely the brother, and if you want evidence, check the sodding cameras". The detective growls and snapped that he ordered Rhyme to show him what was in the bag and was pulled back by his partner. "Hey now, we're interrogating him, not these kids," he reminds, then turns to them, "Look, why don't you two just get out of here?".
"Gladly," Rhyme says, grabbing Beat's hand and basically running out of the store with him.
Outside and after some distance was made between them and the store, the two blondes huddled near an alleyway to catch their breaths. Rhyme tugged her beanie and straightened it out before leaning against the wall with a small huff. "That was close…" she whispers to herself. Beat grumbles that they hadn't any reason to act so suspicious, seeing as they had nothing to do with Iwai or whatever he was doing. Rhyme mostly points out they carried an Olympian medal without ANY explanation as to why they have it and they were Shujin students as well. With Kamoshida's actions getting more coverage she didn't want to take any chances.
Beat begrudgingly handed her that, and then looked at the bag in her hands and asked what exactly Iwai put in it. Curious and feeling the bag, the girl frowns when she feels it was significantly heavier than she thought now that she wasn't so fixed on not being caught by the proper authorities. Beat approached her as she unfurls the bag and opens it, and almost shouts in shock and terror. Inside the bag was a gun, a very REAL gun.
She panics and starts to shake before her brother takes the bag and looks at the weapon, before he says: "Hold da phone, sis. This ain't real". He lowers it so she could see the contents and points out that true it looked more real then the one Ryuji bought a while back, it was miles ahead. He notes the quality of metal used for the main base and the handle's surface was more cared for, well made too compared to the toy Ryuji got.
"So that's why those detectives were investigating him…maybe that lead's information was false, and he was saying Iwai was selling real weapons…" Rhyme theorized, "Jeez…almost gave me a heart attack". She closes up the bag and stuffed it back into her backpack, saying: "Better not carry this out in public. Unless we want to get some stares and questions thrown our way". Together they headed home for the day after she texted the gang about the sale, and as they crossed the street, Beat speaks up.
"Hey Rhyme…you think he's got more of those models?" he asked.
"Possibly…why?" she answers.
"Yo jus' thinkin', what if I bought the gun from him?". Rhyme stops and looks at her brother who to her surprise had a solid argument. "Those guns were life savers for Ren's group back in the Metaverse, and if what kitty-cat says about the cogni…cog…thingy, about them guns are true, the more real and deadly they look the better affect, wouldn't it make sense if we got them?" he asked. Rhyme bites her inner cheek with an uneasy hum, voicing her worries that if Beat gets involved around a man like Iwai, who knows what sort of trouble is in store for him.
But she couldn't, nor would the others, deny that he makes a solid point on the use of those noisy life-stealing things. Having more powerful and deadlier weapons in the Metaverse against the heartless, shadows and more could turn their battles into walks in the parks. "But what makes you think he'd sell you the weapon?" she asked. "Don't sweat it! I know my way around models like them, he'd probably take me on if I show him I'm serious!".
"Hmm…I guess…well, we can worry about that later. Lets just head home for today," she says with a little breath.
*Later*
King: "Hey, everyone seeing the news about Kamoshida?".
Naminé: "Who hasn't? Its all over the place".
Reaper: "Reactions are a lot bigger than I thought…I mean, wasn't expecting it to be small but still…".
Joker: "Yeah, its kinda surprising".
Eri: "Hey, we didn't do anything wrong though, right? I mean maybe this might have helped someone speak up!".
Panther: "Its pretty amazing, huh? Here we are, helping those in need speak up against bastards like Kamoshida!".
Scarlet: "Darn right! Celebrations!".
Panther: "Tzu, Jet? You guys did sell the medal right?".
Tzu: "Yes. We've gotten at least thirty-thousand yen, so that should cover King's ingredient bill and then some".
Jet: "Yeah for real! We gave it to him and everythin'".
Skull: "Sure ya can handle it King?".
King: "No sweat! But that means I'm gonna need everyone out of Wildkat for awhile to get it ready!".
Panther: "No worries, we'll meet everyone around noon, that ok?".
King: "Sure, see you then!".
*Afternoon: Thursday 5/5*
*Wildkat*
There weren't a lot of things that could surprise Riku and Kairi at this point their lives. Being guardians of light, even before that just being chosen by fate, a lot of strange oddities have occurred and many things they once knew has drastically changed over the years. Sure in comparison Kairi didn't have THAT many changing experiences but she had her share of "oh my lord" moments that would qualify her as experienced in the many worlds' surprises.
This one? Neither were prepared.
Following the meet up, Sora had insisted everyone scram from the café while he did the work of making a feast worthy of the Phantom Thieves. So to kill time everyone went off to their own things, like Eri having the girls model for her, Neku and Ren checking out some shops in Shibuya and things like that. Sora did text everyone that he would be done in ten minutes so they should make their way back to him, and by the time they all gathered up and did, he welcomed them dinner.
And to say they were stunned was an understatement.
Inside the café-turned-restaurant was a long table that stretched from the counter all the way to the living space, with several chairs placed by the table with the chandelier hanging above them glistening with glass shells. On the table was an assortment of food that stretched all the way from the top to the bottom, wonderous scents wafted into the air and looked like they had just popped out of the oven, fresh and hot. Sora standing by the table with a confident grin just wiggled his brows and said: "Dinner is served".
No sooner had the gang settled in and taken their first bite, whatever doubts they had about his cooking skills were shot and buried in an instant. Ren couldn't help but let out a moan of approval from the taste of his meal and the others were no exception. Praises sung about his culinary arts to some even asking where he learned to cook and what recipes did he make up. Sora wisely kept his mentor's identity (and species) to himself and explained his keyblade master taught him a few here and there, rest was self-taught.
Halfway into the dinner, still singing praises for his skills…
"This is way better than the hotel I was thinking of," Ann says as she nibbles a piece of her food, "And you said this was mostly self-taught?".
"I mean I had help here and there but most of it was from watching cooking shows and reading recipe books," Sora explains humbly while cutting a piece of his steak, "I gotta hand it to the markets here, these were pricy but definitely worth the price!".
"No kidding…I imagine the sushi alone costed more than an average student's budget…" Ventus remarks, gesturing to Morgana nibbling his meal. Morgana mewls in delight and thanks the boy for including him as well while Xion sipped her soda nearby, giving him an eye out of suspicion. Sora shrugged and confessed he managed to strike a bargain with some haggling skills he learned from Donald once, and even managed to convince the seller to sell him a discounted price when he bought more.
"Seriously?" Eri asks, "You managed to bargain sushi and can cook too?". She gave him a cat like smile and teases he was crossing off everything on hers, and likely a lot of girls, list. With a sheepish laugh, Sora scratched the back of his head while Kairi quietly glares at Eri with daggers in her eyes. The spunky girl just wiggles her brows tauntingly at Kairi before resuming her meal, but Ann remarked: "Seriously Sora. Just bring a bento into school, offer to a girl and BAM! Your single life is over!".
Sora turns rosy in the face while some boys snickered and the more jealous one, Ryuji, grumbles something. Neku however asked: "Hold on, did you have to spend all the thirty-thousand?". "Nope, just fifteen. The rest I gave to Riku, and he said something about making a "vault fund" or something," Sora explained.
"AND you're frugal with money too? Another item crossed off the list!" teases Eri. She turned slightly to Kairi, who was now cutting into her meal with more passive aggressiveness in her hands. "What do you think, Kairi?".
Kairi quietly huffed and just eats in peace, ignoring the catlike smile on the girl's face and trying not to agree that Sora was slowly but surely turning into the ideal boyfriend. "Jeez…maybe look into becoming a banker or accountant if you ever give up on that keyblade stuff, sounds like you've a mind for it," Neku sighed. Sora hummed in thought before he continues to enjoy his portion of food, and listens into the conversation happening among the team. Ann brought up the school after some silence.
"I heard from a few girls that the police are going to be interviewing some students at Shujin," she revealed, and then gestures the group: "So how much do you guys wanna bet our names are gonna come up during those interviews?".
"Considering how much we were involved with Kamoshida and our investigation? On top of the rumours about us in the school? Very likely," Riku sighed, "But luckily like Morgana says, there's nothing connecting us to Kamoshida's change of heart".
"Plus nobody even knows how or why he confessed," Rhyme reminds, brushing her carrots aside and scooping up some potatoes. Beat just gave her a knowing look and she glares at him, daring him to say a word about her disdain for the orange veg. "Point is, so long as we maintain ignorance, I think we should fly under their radar".
"Yeah, but that's not the only thing the students are talking about," Roxas says, taking his phone out, "Take a look". He and Ryuji, who suddenly remembered, show off their phones to the party. On their screens were several replies and messages posted on some site expressing their gratitude to the thieves for stopping Kamoshida's cruelty. Many of them certainly didn't express belief in the existence of the thieves certainly, but the genuine gratitude was there. Naminé inquired where the messages were being posted to, and then Ryuji shows the website.
"The Phantom Aficionado Website?" Kairi voices.
"Well done Phantom Thieves. Now I can keep going too… Thank you for giving us hope," Xion lists the messages, "Aww that's nice of them!".
"Yeah, pretty cool huh?" Ryuji asked, "Kinda feels nice to have some of that, huh?".
"More focused on not getting expelled in my first month but seeing all of those comments…is actually pretty nice," Ren says with a fond smile, "But more importantly they can breathe easy now that he's gone".
"For real…bet'cha the volleyball team are sleeping like babies now," Beat remarked.
Soon the plates were empty and whatever leftovers remained Sora and a few helped box them up and place them in the fridge with the boy offering the others to take some home for later or save them from doing dinners. Then he went into the kitchen and brought out the deserts.
"Sora, marry me!" Ann pleads as she held her cake up with stars in her eyes.
"…maybe you should keep your culinary skills outside of the school…" Riku warned as the girls gush about his deserts and even some of the boys. Sora sheepishly laughed and agreed that he'd rather have Riku be the girl magnet, too much pressure. Everyone settled into a more relaxed setting in the living room after Ventus and Roxas tidied up the tables, offered to Sora and just hang around the living room space and talked away into the evening.
"All thing said and done, I'm glad we did this instead of going to the restaurant…" Ren says as he took a bite out of his cake. Everyone glances at his thoughtful looks and when Naminé teases that he liked having Sora slaving away, he chuckled that partially it was nice to have a gourmet chef as a friend, he said: "I meant in that here the atmosphere is nicer and way more friendlier…plus be honest, if you were someone who could afford that restaurant on a regular basis, what would you think of a couple of teenagers just coming and eating?".
Kairi snickered and got up, with her nose up turned and in her most snooty tone, rants: "My word, who let these barbarians into our fancy restaurant? Pish Posh, they're dragging dirt into our very expensive carpets!".
Every snickers and laughs at her performance, adding in their own snobbish tones and teases. They relax after some the laughter dies out, settling down into their chairs and let the silence take over. Until Ryuji, after scooping another bite of his sundae into his mouth, turns to Morgana and asked if there were more Palaces out there. The cat shrugged and repeated that if someone's desires are distorted enough then chances were they could have a Palace.
"Why bring this up all of a sudden?" Kairi asks. Ryuji sighed and explained that on the way back to the restaurant, himself, Beat and Rhyme were bothered by some "shitheads" who were looking down on them, adults. Rhyme sighed that they bumped into her and spilled their coffees on themselves, and SHE was blamed for it. They didn't even try to resolve this like civilized people but completely jerks who went off on her.
Riku confessed that he and Roxas got the same treatment on their way out of a store. An older man was just glaring at them accusingly when Roxas just walked by the alcohol section because he got a bit turned around, and when he muttered something about becoming a bum at the age of nineteen, Roxas called him out. Sora turns to Ryuji and asks why that brought up the distorted hearts, and the spiky punk said: "I was wonderin' if we'd be able to, ya know, change their hearts too".
Everyone looked at him with surprise, and Ann voices their question: "You mean…you wanna continue as the Phantom Thieves?".
"Yeah. I've been thinkin', we put a lot of work into changin' Kamoshida's heart, but nobody believes in the Phantom Thieves," he starts, "Plus… those guys weren't any different from us. They had no other choice but to deal with it, now they're thankin' us. Us, of all people". There were more glances made between the gang, and Shiki settles into her seat with a small frown. "There were so many victims Kamoshida left behind…everyone of them had no other option but to either do what he said or worse…" she reminds.
"Yeah…and if we just ignore the people who are still in trouble, we'd just go back to who we used to be…," Ann says, mostly to herself. Morgana concurs with both Ryuji and Ann, and then bragged that under his tutelage, there isn't a lot they can't accomplish as the Phantom Thieves. Ryuji poised the question to the three leaders, and each of them pondered his words.
Neku wouldn't call himself as selfless as his friends made him out to be, and truth be told had he not encounter Ren and Sora maybe he wouldn't have gone out of his way to take down the pervy coach. Yet now that he was among people who shared the same beliefs as the other, helping others who were in their own turmoil sounded more of a hassle to him. But then again, his world nearly came to an end because of Kamoshida's shadows.
Nobody had any right to take away somebodies' chances of creating or expanding their world, and that perv was no exception. Others could have been in the same position as him where his own future was taken away by some shithead.
Helping people was in Sora's nature, no matter what. It was one of the things he loved about being a guardian of light, apart from seeing worlds and going on countless adventures with his best friends. In this situation he'd be able to help more hearts mend from the pain inflicted upon them by scumbags like Kamoshida, and it'd be with his closest confidants this time. But that also meant to him, putting those sacred friends who mean the world to him in harms way.
Would it be selfish of him to not for a change? Of course it would be. And he knows even if he, if possible, said no, they'd go forth with heads held high.
All this started with a chance of fate, and then being wrapped in her game. A fate that could determine his future, whether he wanted it or not. Ren pondered on Igor's words about the bonds he needed in order to prevent his ruination from coming true, or heavens forbid something even worse coming his way. He has the power to help those who could be in his position in the law have a second chance, protect those who are being abused or forgotten by people who were supposed to help them in need.
Is this the road he'd have to walk in order to prevent his own destruction…or was it something entirely different?
"But if we do continue to be thieves…wouldn't that mean we'd have to fight shadows again?" Ann asked, sighing when she reminded them how tough they were.
"Not to mention the Reapers' Game…remember, we're part of it now whether we like it or not," Shiki sighed, "Even if we have no idea when the next mission is supposed to pop up…".
"…I think we should continue".
All eyes bar Neku and Sora's fall to Ren. "Like Ryuji said, there are more people who suffer under those who abuse their places in society, social status shielding them from consequences. People like Mishima, Shiho and more had their lives torn apart by Kamoshida, and who knows what other terrible adult could be doing," he lists, "They can't do anything, the police either can't or won't do anything, so that falls to those who can do something outside the law".
"…not to mention Joshua said the next game could be related to whoever's Palace winds up on our radar," Neku sighed, "Which means even if we don't wanna continue to be heroes…our lives are still riding on us being heroes…". He then chuckled, "But not gonna lie. Helping people while giving Joshua the middle finger and winning another game against fate? Sounds good to me".
With a laugh, Sora says: "So either way, we're all on board with being the Phantom Thieves and Players? But helping people out along the way is a bonus, right?". Smiles and grins plastered on the party, each of them agreeing with the reasoning behind their choice. "Alright! Its settled then!" Ryuji boasts, "We're gonna catch all these shitty adults by surprise, and make the ourselves known to the world!".
"But…is Ren still gonna be the shot-caller?" Ann asked, "I mean I know we all kind agreed he'd be in charge when we took on Kamoshida but…".
"Huh? Yo, why not Phones? He's got WAY more experience!" argued Beat and got support from Rhyme and Shiki.
"Personally I think Sora should be in charge…" Riku said, "Considering everything he's done and if we're talking about experience I think he has all of us beat…".
"OR the three of us can lead," Ren offers, "We can work something out later but there's no point in there being only one leader". "Yeah, I know you three better than anyone else…in terms of the Reapers' Game Eri…" he sighed when she opened her mouth to argue, "And I've got no issue sharing the responsibilities with Ren and Sora".
"Hey I'm cool with it! Me and the others can be the scouts or somethin'! I'll leave the planning stuff to Ren," laughed Sora. Neku nodded in agreement, conceding that he and his group worked better as in the moment kind of thinkers and trusted Ren to manage. "Hold on a second, why am I having all the responsibilities in this arrangement?" Ren asked with exasperation, "If you two want to be leaders, you need to pick up the slack!".
"OH for goodness sake, you three haven't even worked as leaders yet and you're already acting like married people!" Eri laughed.
"Hold on a sec, why wasn't I considered being the leader?" Morgana whined.
"You're a cat…" Rhyme reminds, "And also, considering YOU were the one who elected Ren as the leader originally, I feel as if you sort of threw your privileges as leader into the trash". Morgana pouts but ultimately relents in his questioning. Ren sighed and asked if they should stick with their name as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts as their team name, and everyone conceded with it after several flops of team names.
Rhyme was more miffed that hers was turned down, and Xion vehemently warned she'd leave if they name themselves the "Neko of Hearts".
"Okay, so we have the team, the name and the determination to continue this…all we need now is a target," Ventus says, "So…who do we go after?".
"Well there's a lot of rotten adults in the world, so how about we go after some bigwig. Like that's gotta get our names on the news, right?" Ryuji asked.
"True, the bigger and well-known our target, that will definitely get attention…" Naminé agreed, "Trouble is finding out who has a distorted heart". "But I don't want to pick someone out of the blue, I mean if we want to help give people courage it has to be someone whose doing terrible things to. Plus the bigger we get, the more courage we give people, right?".
"Hold on, before we actually do this, I want to make somethings clear," Ren says, "If we go after someone, we have to unanimously agree on it. If a few of us are uncertain, then we wait on it and then come back to it, agreed?". The party nods, and then Sora added: "Also the person we go after? I wanna make absolutely sure that they are the bad guy, not just some poor jerk who got mixed up". Again, the gang agreed.
"Then its settled," Neku says, "Think we can talk more about it when we go back to school". Everyone grabbed their drinks, and with wide grins, clinked their glasses together and cheered:
"TO THE PHANTOM THIEVES OF HEART!"
A/N:
Again, sorry for the delay.
Really not on top of my game lately, and I really hope this chapter doesn't show that. But hey, the Phantom Thieves are officially a thing now, and soon they'll have a new target to go after!
So now we have until the 6th of may for the team to back to school, which means more downtime! But for a little teaser, one day is gonna be dedicated to Naminé and Sae Nijima, so look forward to those two getting some of the spot light! Plus more confidant building as well as fluff…and maybe a return of a running gag~
QUESTIONS!
Q1: Thoughts?
Q2: Sora, Neku and Ren's thoughts on continuing being the thieves?
Q3: Beat's interaction with Iwai?
Q4: Dinner?
Q5: Who else do you wanna see in the time off?
Q6: How do you find the direction of the story?
Q7: Joshua's appearance and exposition?
As always everyone, thanks for reading this. Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!